Dauxion-Lavaysse was an enigmatic and paradoxical personage whose problematic identity is reflected even in the rare biographical entries written about him. His reputation rests on the publication in Paris in 1813 of the Voyage aux îles de Trinidad et Tobago. In this work that remained faithful to the canons of the Encyclopedia, the author uses multiple facets of the enlightened and impassioned observer, in turn naturalist collector, cartographer, geologist, a planter involved in social and political upheavals, a chronicler and an historian. He represents the transition from the genre of travel literature to the journalism of large-scale reportage. Dauxion-Lavaysse used this reputation to obtain advantages in his career. He was a military officier in the general staff at a time when this military institution was less than steady, as well as a diplomat in the service of a power that used his talents for the reestablishment of the colonial order in Santo Domingo, whereas he, himself, displayed abolitionist sentiments close to those of the Abbe Gregoire – contradictions that would only led to failure, then force him into secrecy, and later into exile. Although traces of him grew obscure in Europe, he resurfaced on the American continents, first in the United States, then in the Rio de la Plata, and finally in Chile, always using multiple identities : military officer, naturalist, journalist.