Castelnau (1842)
Castelnau, Francis de La Porte, comte de (1812-1880). Vues et souvenirs de l'Amérique du Nord. Paris: A. Bertrand, 1842.
Francis de La Porte, Comte de Castelnau, was born in London in 1812. From 1837 to 1841 he visited North America "to study its institutions," taking pains to understand everything during his stay. Very much up on European political systems, he paid special attention to those of Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario and Quebec) and that of the United States. Like several of his European contemporaries, he concluded that the latter was superior: "If I am right in thinking that the best government is the one that gives the largest amount of security while demanding the sacrifice of the smallest portion of liberty, that of the United States comes singularly close to perfection."
Soon after his return to France he undertook a long voyage of exploration together with two botanists and a taxidermist. From 1843 to 1847 Castelnau crossed South America from Rio de Janeiro to Lima. In later years he worked in various French consulates, and in 1862 he became consul general himself in Melbourne. He retired in 1877 and died in Melbourne in 1880.
In addition to his Vues et souvenirs de l'Amérique du Nord, Castelnau published a 14-volume account of his travels in South America (1850-1859). He also wrote Expédition dans les parties centrales de l'Amérique: histoire naturelle des insectes coléoptères (1840) and Mémoires sur les poissons de l'Afrique australe (1843).
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