Dumont d’Urville commanded his first expedition to gain additional information about the principal groups of islands in the Pacific and to augment the mass of scientific data acquired by Louis Duperry.

The Astrolabe sailed south, around the Cape of Good Hope, and arrived at Port Jackson. Proceeding to New Zealand, its coast, especially the southern part of Cook Strait, was surveyed with great care. Tonga and parts of the Fiji Archipelago were explored, then New Britain, New Guinea, Amboina, Tasmania, Vanikoro, Guam, and Java. The return home was by way of Mauritius and the Cape of Good Hope.

There were two further expeditions and a huge amount of scientific materials were collected and published.

The natural historical results of the famous expeditions to the Pacific were published in a multi-volume set on Zoology by Quoy and Gaimard, and two separately published volumes on Entomology: one on Butterflies and one on Beetles. The plates to all natural history volumes were usually published in one atlas, because of the large size of the plates. The first edition was published in Paris by Tastu, 1830-34.