ABSTRACT
Initial research by historians has cast some light on both the existence and the content of Baudin's manuscript charts and established some of the differences between Baudin's nomenclature and that of Peron and Freycinet. It is nevertheless evident that, while Peron and Freycinet were happy to allow a certain number of animal names to subsist, they did not consider this a noble enough source of nomenclature for such names to proliferate on their maps in the way they did on those of Baudin. Baudin's nomenclature drew equally on the moral or on the psychological as it did on the physical. Evidence of Baudin's interest in the natural world is provided by his frequent recourse to animals when it comes to naming coastal features. Freycinet and Peron were clearly in the business of honouring by naming which included honouring their own names and, in the case of their commander, of shaming by not naming.
