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Acknowledgements

First, a grateful thank-you to the Services Culturels de I'Ambassade de France in Wellington, whose financial assistance helped make the publication of this work possible.

I would like to express my gratitude for help I received from the following institutions: the Archives de Paris, the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington; the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch; and the Invercargill Museum and Art Gallery.

My special thanks go to Fiona Gray at the National Library of New Zealand; Paul Dingwall and Chris Edkins at the Department of Conservation; and John Dawson & Rob Lucas' who allowed me to reproduce photos from New Zealand Coast & Mountain Plants(Victoria University Press). My warm gratitude to Tony Legge of the New Zealand Maritime Safety Authority, for his help with maritime calculations, and to Josiane Montaland for her assistance at the Paris Archives.

For assistance in the proofreading and production of the book I thank Captain Nic Campbell and Marian Prince.

Thank you also to my grandchildren, Dominique, Daniel, Alexander, Zoé, and Abby who have been a personal motivation for bringing back Francois Raynal's tale of courage and ingenuity from oblivion. May they in time understand his message and find in themselves the resourcefulness to overcome whatever obstacles life throws in their way.