Lapérouse now sails north and reaches Petropavlovsk on the Russian Kamchatka peninsula on September 7, 1787.

Here they rest from their trip, and enjoy  the hospitality of the Russians and Kamchatkans.

In letters received from Paris, Lapérouse is ordered to investigate the settlement the British are establishing in New South Wales, Australia.

Barthélemy de Lesseps, the French vice consul at Kronstadt, Russia, who had joined the expedition as an interpreter, disembarks in Petropavlovsk to bring the expedition's ships' logs, charts, and letters to France, which he will reach after a year-long, epic journey across Siberia and Russia.