Carte de la partie du détroit de Magellan reconnu par les Corvettes l’Astrolabe et la Zélée.

Map of the eastern part of the Strait of Magellan, surveyed by the ships L’Astrolabe and La Zélée. Published in Paris in 1843 by Clément A. Vincendon Dumoulin (1811-1858), a French hydrographic engineer who took part in Dumont d’Urville’s expedition to Antarctica (1837-1840); the maps appear in the Voyage au pôle sud et dans l’Océanie. It covers the eastern section of the strait, from its Atlantic entrance to Cayetano Island and Carlos III Island. The strait, between Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, was a key passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific, an alternative to the waters of Drake Passage. The map traces the ships’ course, which reached only Carlos III Island: they were held up for more than a month by fog and finally turned back to round the south of Tierra del Fuego. They entered the strait on 12 December and left around 8 January, dates marked on the map.