| has gloss | eng: François Martin de Vitré was a French sailor and adventurer from the city of Vitré who travelled to East Asia as far as Sumatra from 1601 to 1603. He was the first Frenchman to write an account of travels to the Far East. He was however preceded to the Far-East by several French traders, such as Jean Parmentier in 1529. François Martin de Vitré seems to have been the surgeon of his ship. Two ships, the Croissant and the Corbin, were sent around the Cape in May 1601. The Corbin was wrecked in the Maldives, leading to the adventure of François Pyrard de Laval who managed to return to France in 1611. |