Fifteen Thousand Miles in a Ketch

The voyage in the French fishing ketch of 45 tons described took place between 1907 and 1909. It took the young adventurers from Boulogne to Melbourne, via the South Atlantic, the Antarctic and Indian Seas. pp.vi, 218 illusts #1219 (No dustjacket!)

Raymond Rallier du Baty (30 August 1881 – 7 May 1978) was a French sailor and explorer, from Lorient in Brittany, who carried out surveys of the subantarctic Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean in the early 20th century.

Rallier du Baty took part in the 1904-1907 Third French Antarctic Expedition led by Jean-Baptiste Charcot.

From September 1907 to July 1909 Captain Raymond Rallier du Baty sailed from Boulogne to Melbourne in a French fishing ketch, known as the J. B. Charcot. The J. B. Charcot weighed forty-eight tons and completed this trip in 15,000 miles. The reason for this voyage was primarily to chart the subantarctic Kerguelen Islands. Du Baty and his brother Henri du Baty funded this expedition by harvesting the oil of the southern elephant seals in the area. Raymond Rallier du Baty wrote a book detailing his experience on the J. B. Charcot, entitled 15,000 Miles in a Ketch.

They returned again in 1913-1914 in La Curieuse to carry out further surveys. These efforts led to the publication of the first full map of the archipelago in 1922.

Rallier du Baty is commemorated in several geographic features, including Péninsule Rallier du Baty in the Kerguelen Archipelago, and Rallier Island and Rallier Channel in the Wilhelm Archipelago of the Antarctic Peninsula.