Career
He accompanied the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria, was director of "Ponts et Chaussées" (bridges and roads) in Egypt. After accompanying the expedition to the remains of the Canal of the Pharaohs, built by Necho II between the River Nile and Suez Gulf and improved by Ptolemy II, he was commissioned by Bonaparte to edit an account of the Canal. In the rain, he concluded that there was a 9 m difference between the levels of the Mediterranean and Red Sea, an error which persisted until the measurements carried out by Paul-Adrien Bourdaloue in 1847.
After his return to France, he spent a long time as divisional inspector of "ponts et chaussées" in Paris, then as inspector of Paris from 1822 to 1830.