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THE LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

MATTHEW . FLINDERS.
From tke engraving in tHe ^^HronicUr Rafter a ininia-
tnrc in the possession of Mrs. Flinders.

THE LIFE OF
CAPTAIN MATTHEW FLINDERS, R.N.

BY
ERNEST SCOTT
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
AUTHOR OF " TERRE NAPOLEON" AND "LIFE OF LAPEROUSE "

With portraits, maps, and facsimiles

SYDNEY
ANGUS & ROBERTSON LTD.
89 CASTLEREAGH STREET
1914

Printed by W. C. Penfold & Co. Ltd., 183 Pitt Street, Sydney
for
Angus & Robertson Ltd,
London ; The Oxford University Press
Amen Corner, 13. C.

PREFACE
The subject of this book died one hundred years ago.
Within his forty years of life, he discovered a very
large area of what is now an important region of the
earth; he participated in stirring events which are
memorable in modern history; he applied a vigorous
and original mind to the advancement of knowledge,
with useful results; and he was the victim of circum
stances which, however stated, were peculiarly un
fortunate, and must evoke the sympathy of everyone
who takes the trouble to understand them. His career
was crowded with adventures : war, perilous voyages,
explorations of unknown coasts, encounters with savages,
shipwreck and imprisonment are the elements which go
to make up his story. He was, withal, a downright
Englishman of exceptionally high character, proud of
his service and unsparing of himself in the pursuit of
his duty. Yet up to this time his biography has not been
written. There are, it is true, outlines of his career
in various works of reference, notably that contributed
by Sir J. K. Laughton to the Dictionary of National
Biography. But there is no book to which a reader can
turn for a fairly full account of his achievements, and
an estimate of his personality. Of all discoverers of
leading rank Matthew Flinders is the only one about
whom there is no ample and convenient record.
This book endeavours to fill the gap.
The material upon which it is founded is set forth
in the footnotes and the bibliography. Here the author

vi LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
takes pleasure in acknowledging the assistance he has
received from several quarters. A previous book
brought him the acquaintance of the grand-nephew of
that Comte de Fleurieu who largely inspired three
famous French voyages to Australia — those of
Laperouse, Dentrecasteaux and Baudin — all of which
have an important bearing upon the subject. The
Comte A. de Fleurieu had long been engaged in collect
ing material relative to the work and influence of his
distinguished grand-uncle, and in the most generous
manner he handed over to the author his very large
collection of manuscripts and note-books to be read,
noted, and used at discretion. Even when a historian
does not actually quote or directly use matter bearing
upon his subject, it is of immense advantage to have
access to documents which throw light upon it, and
which enable an in-and-out knowledge of a period and
persons to be obtained. This book owes much of
whatever value it may possess to Monsieur de Fleurieu's
assistance in this respect, and the author thanks him
most warmly.
The Flinders papers, of which free use has been
made, were presented to the Melbourne Public Library
by Professor W. M. Flinders Petrie. They are des
cribed in the bibliography. The transcripts of family
and personal documents were especially valuable.
Although they were not supplied for this book, Pro
fessor Flinders Petrie gave them in order that they
might be of use to some biographer of his grandfather,
and the author begs to thank him, and also Mr. E. La
Touche Armstrong, the chief librarian, in whose cus
tody they are, and who has given frequent access to
them. The rich stores of manuscripts in the Mitchell
Library, Sydney, have been thoroughly examined, with

PREFACE vii
the assistance of Mr. W. H. Ifould, principal librarian,
Mr. Hugh Wright, and the staff of that institution.
Help from this quarter was accorded with such grace
that one came to think giving trouble was almost like
conferring a favour.
All copies of documents from Paris and Caen cited
in this book have been made by Madame Robert
Helouis. The author was able to indicate the where
abouts of the principal papers, but Madame Helouis,
developing an interest in the subject as she pursued her
task, was enabled, owing to her extensive knowledge
of the resources of the French archives, to find and
transcribe many new and valuable papers. The author
also wishes to thank Captain Francis Bayldon, of Syd
ney, who has kindly given help on several technical
points; Miss Alma Hansen, University of Melbourne,
who was generous enough to make a study of the Dutch
Generate Beschrijvinge van Indien — no light task — to
verify a point of some importance for the purpose of
the chapter on "The Naming of Australia"; and Mr.
E. A. Petherick, whose manuscript bibliography, con
taining an immense quantity of material, the fruit of a
long life's labour, has always been cheerfully made
available. Professor Flinders Petrie has been kind enough to
read and make some useful suggestions upon the
personal and family passages of the book, which has
consequently benefited greatly.
The whole work has been read through by Mr. A.
W. Jose, author of The History of Australasia, whose
criticism on a multitude of points, some minute, but all
important, has been of the utmost value. The help
given by Mr. Jose has been more than friendly; it has
been informed by a keen enthusiasm for the subject, and

viii LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
great knowledge of the original authorities. The
author's obligations to him are gratefully acknowledged.
It is hoped that these pages will enable the reader
to know Matthew Flinders the man, as well as the
navigator; for the study of the manuscript and printed
material about him has convinced the author that
he was not only remarkable for what he did and en
dured, but for his own sake as an Englishman of the
very best type.
Melbourne, June 1Q14.

CONTENTS Chapter I.
BIRTH AND ORIGINS
Place of Flinders among Australian navigators — Birth —
Flemish origins — Pedigree — Connection with the Tenny-
sons — Possible relationship with Bass — Flinders' father —
Donington . . • ¦ ¦ • ¦ • • • • ¦ 1
Chapter II.
AT SCHOOL AND AT SEA
Education — Robinson Crusoe — Aspirations for a naval career
— His father's wish — John Flinders' advice — Study of
navigation — Introduction to Pasley — Lieutenant's servant —
Midshipman on the Bellerophon — Bligh and the Bounty
mutiny • • • . • • • ¦ • • ¦ ¦ • • • • 11
Chapter III.
A VOYAGE UNDER BLIGH
The second breadfruit expedition — Flinders in the Provi
dence — Notes from Santa Cruz — At the Cape — Tahiti —
In Torres Strait — Encounter with Papuans — Return to
England  29
Chapter IV.
THE BATTLE OFF BREST
The naval war with France — The battle of June 1st, 1794 —
Flinders as gunner — Pasley wounded — Flinders' journal of
the engagement — Effect of Pasley's wound on the career of
Flinders  41
Chapter V.
AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHY BEFORE FLINDERS
The predecessors of Flinders — How Australia grew on the
map — Mediaeval controversies on antipodes — Period of
vague speculation — Sixteenth century maps — The Dutch
voyagers — The Batavia on the Abrolhos Reef — The
Duyfhen in the Gulf — Torres — The three periods of
Australian maritime discovery — Geographers and their
views of Australia — The theory of the dividing strait —
Cook and Furneaux — The untraced southern coast . . 64

x LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Chapter VI.
THE RELIANCE AND THE TOM THUMB
Governor Hunter— Captain Waterhouse— Flinders' passion for
exploring new countries — Joins the Reliance — Hunter on
the strategic importance of the Cape — Sailing of
Reliance and Supply for New South Wales— Flinders'
observations— Arrival at Port Jackson— George Bass—
The Tom Thumb— Exploration of George's River— A
perilous cruise— Meeting with aboriginals — The midship
man as valet — Port Hacking — Patching up the Reliance —
Voyage to South Africa • • ¦ • ¦ • • • ¦ • 77
Chapter VII.
THE DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT
Bass in the Blue Mountains— Supposed strait isolating Van
Diemen's Land — Bass's whaleboat voyage — Wilson's
Promontory — Escaped convicts — Discovery of Western-
port — Return to Port Jackson . . . . . . . . . • 97
Chapter VIII.
THE VOYAGE OF THE FRANCIS
The wreck of the Sydney Cove — Discovery of Kent's Islands —
Biological notes — Seals — Sooty petrels — The wombat —
Point Hicks  "  123
Chapter IX.
CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF TASMANIA.
Flinders in command of the Norfolk — Bass's association with
him — Twofold Bay — Discovery of Port Dalrymple — Bass
Strait demonstrated— Black swans— Albatross Island —
Tasmanian aboriginals . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Chapter X.
THE FATE OF GEORGE BASS
Bass's marriage— Part owner of the Venus— Voyages after
pork — A fishing concession — South American enterprise 
Unsaleable goods— A "diplomatic-looking certificate" 
Bass's last voyage— Probable fate in Peru— His missing
letters  145
Chapter XI.
ON THE QUEENSLAND COAST
Flinders and the Isaac Nicholls case— Exploration on the
Queensland coast — Moreton Bay  157

CONTENTS xi
Chapter XII.
THE INVESTIGATOR
Return to England in the Reliance — Sir Joseph Banks —
Marriage of Flinders — Ann Chappell and Chappell
Island — The Franklins — Publication of Observations on
the Coasts of Van Dicmen's Land, on Bass Strait and its
Islands — Anxiety about French expedition — The Investi
gator commissioned — Equipment of ship — The staff and
crew — East India Company's interest — Instructions for the
voyage — The case of Mrs. Flinders — Sailing orders delayed
— the incident at the Roar — Life on board— Crossing the
Line — Australia reached . . • • • • . . . ¦ 163
Chapter XIII.
THE FRENCH EXPEDITION
Origin of Baudin's expedition — His instructions — Baudin's
dilatoriness — In Tasmanian waters — Waterhouse Island . . 198
Chapter XIV.
SOUTH COAST DISCOVERY
The south coast of Australia — Method of research —
Aboriginals at King George's Sound — Discovery of
Spencer's Gulf — Loss of Thistle and a boat's crew —
Memory Cove — Port Lincoln — Kangaroo Island — St.
Vincent's Gulf — Pelicans — Speculations on the fate of
Laperouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Chapter XV.
FLINDERS AND BAUDIN IN ENCOUNTER BAY
The sighting of Le Geographe — Flinders visits Baudin — Their
conversations — Flinders invites Baudin to visit Port
Jackson ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ . . ¦ • ¦ • ¦ • ¦ ¦ 224
Chapter XVI.
FLINDERS IN PORT PHILLIP
Grant's discoveries — Murray discovers Port Phillip — King
Island — Flinders enters Port Phillip — Ascends Arthur's
Seat — The Investigator aground — Cruise in a boat —
Ascends Station Peak — Flinders' impression of the port —
Arrival in Port Jackson — Healthiness of his crew ¦ • 233

xii LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Chapter XVII.
THE FRENCH AT PORT JACKSON: PERON THE SPY
Arrival of Le Geographe at Port Jackson— State of the crew-
Hospitality of Governor King— Rumours as to French
designs— Baudin's gratitude— Peron's report on Port Jack
son— His espionage — Freycinet's plan of invasion —
Scientific work of the expedition  *™

Chapter XVIII.
AUSTRALIA CIRCUMNAVIGATED
Overhaul of the ship— The Lady Nelson— Flinders sails north
—Discovery of Port Curtis and Port Bowen— Through
the Barrier Reef— Torres Strait— Remarks on Coral Reefs
—The Gulf of Carpentaria— Rotten condition of the ship —
Melville Bay discovered— Sails for Timor— Australia
circumnavigated— The Investigator condemned — Illness of
Flinders— News of father's death— Letter to step-mother—
Letters to Mrs. Flinders— Letter to Bass — The end of the
Investigator ¦ ¦ • • ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ • • • • • • 265

Chapter XIX.
WRECKED ON THE BARRIER REEF
New plans — Flinders sails in the Porpoise — Remarks on Syd
ney — Wrecked — Conduct of the Bridgewater — Plans for
relief — Stores available — Voyage in the Hope to Sydney —
Franklin's description of the wreck . . . . . . . . 285
Chapter XX.
TO ILE-DE-FRANCE IN THE CUMBERLAND
King receives news of the wreck — The Cumberland — Wreck
Reef reached — Voyage to Timor — Determination to sail to
Ile-de-France — Flinders' reasons — Arrival at Baye du Cap
— Arrival at Port Louis  298
Chapter XXI.
GENERAL DECAEN
Decaen's early career — His baptism of fire — War in the Vendee
— The Army of the Rhine — Moreau — Battle of Hohen-
linden — Moreau and Napoleon — The peace of Amiens 
Decaen's arrival at Pondicherry — His reception — Leaves
for Ile-de-France — His character and abilities . . . . 308

CONTENTS xiii
Chapter XXII.
THE CAPTIVITY
Flinders' reception by Decaen — His anger — Imprisoned at the
Cafe Marengo — His papers and books — His examination —
Refusal of invitation to dinner — Decaen's anger — His
determination to detain Flinders — King's despatches —
Decaen's statement of motives — Flinders asks to be sent
to France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Chapter XXIII.
THE CAPTIVITY PROLONGED
Decaen's despatch — A delayed reply — Flinders' occupations —
His health — The sword incident — Anniversary of the im
prisonment — Aken's liberation — The faithful Elder • . 346
Chapter XXIV.
THE CAPTIVITY MODIFIED
Thomas Pitot — Removal to Wilhelm's Plains — The parole — -
Madame D'Arifat's house — Hospitalities — Flinders studies
French and Malay — Further exploration schemes — The
residence of Laperouse — Work upon the charts — King's
protest and Decaen's anger — Elder's departure ¦ ¦ • ¦ 357
Chapter XXV.
THE ORDER OF RELEASE
Influences to secure release — The order of release — Receipt of
the despatch — Decaen's reply — Flinders a dangerous man —
Reason for Decaen's refusal — State of Ile-de-France —
Project for escape — Flinders' reasons for declining . . 367

Chapter XXVI.
THE RELEASE
Blockade of Ile-de-France — Decaen at the end of his tether —
Release of Flinders — Return to England — The plagiarism
charge — Flinders' papers — Work of Peron and Freycinet 379
Chapter XXVII.
LAST YEARS AND DEATH OF FLINDERS
Flinders in London — Prolonged and severe work — His illness
— Death of Flinders — His last words — Treatment of his
widow by the Admiralty . . . . . . . . . . 391

xiv LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Chapter XXVIII.
CHARACTERISTICS
Personality — Portraits — Flinders' commanding look — Geniality
— Conversational powers — Gentleness — Kindness to
wounded French officer — Advice to young officers — An
eager student — The husband • • ¦ ¦ ¦ • • ¦ • • 402
Chapter XXIX.
THE NAVIGATOR.
Technical writings — The marine barometer — Variations in the
compass — Praise of other navigators — Love for his work 414
Chapter XXX.
THE NAMING OF AUSTRALIA
The name Australia given to the continent by Flinders — The
"Austrialia del Espiritu Santo" of Quiros — De Brosses
and "Australasia"— Dalrymple and "Australia" — Flinders'
use of the word in 1804 — His use of it in a French essay
in 1810 — Persistent employment of the word in letters —
Proposes the word "Australia" to Banks— His fight for
his word— "Terra Australis"— The footnote of 1814 . . 420
APPENDIX A -BAUDIN'S NARRATIVE OF THE
MEETING IN ENCOUNTER BAY .. .. 431

APPENDIX B— PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACK
SON

436

APPENDIX C— NAMES GIVEN BY FLINDERS TO
AUSTRALIAN COASTAL FEATURES .. ..465
BIBLIOGRAPHY  475
INDEX  4gl

MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

Portrait of Matthew Flinders, aged 27 Frontispiece
Flinders'" Birthplace, Donington, Lincolnshire xviii
Facsimile of Letter to Sir Joseph Banks, 1794 . . 48
Tablet on Memorial erected by Sir John
Franklin at Port Lincoln, S.A. . . . . 64
Memorial on Mount Lofty, South Australia . . 81
Map of Flinders' Voyages in Bass Strait . . . . 102
Bass's Eye-sketch of Westernport . . . . . . 114
Portrait of George Bass . . . . . . 122
Page from Flinders' MS. Narrative of the
Voyage of the Francts, 1798 . . . . . . 128
Memorial on the Summit of Station Peak,
Port Phillip . . . . . . . . . 135
Port Dalrymple, discovered in the Norfolk, 1798 136
Page from Bass's MS. Account of the Voyage of
the Norfolk . . . . . . . . . . 148
Cairn erected on Flinders' Landing-place,
Kangaroo Island, S.A. . . . . . . . . 164
Portrait of Earl Spencer . . . . . . . . 181
Tablet at Memory Cove, South Australia . . 196
View on Kangaroo Island, by West all . . . . 213
Flinders' Chart of Spencer's Gulf, St. Vincent's
Gulf, and Encounter Bay . . . . . . 218
Tablet at Encounter Bay, South Australia,
commemorating the Meeting of Flinders
and Baudin . . . . . . . . . . 224
View of the Western Arm of Port Phillip, by
Westall  240

xvi MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
Flinders' Map of Port Phillip and Western-

240257

PORT
View of Sydney Harbour, from Vaucluse, by
Westall 
Flinders' Chart of Torres Strait, also showing
Cook's and Bligh's Tracks  270
Flinders' Map of the Gulf of Carpentaria . . 272
Flinders' Map of Australia, showing his
Principal Voyages  272
View on the Hawkesbury River, by Westall . . 278
Wreck Reef Island, by Westall . . . . • • 295
Flinders' Map of Wreck Reef  300
Portrait of General Decaen . . . . • • 308
View of Port Louis . . . . . . • • ¦ • 325
Map of Ile-de-France . . . . . . . . . . 354
Page from Flinders' Copy of his Memorial to the
French Minister of Marine . . . . . . 360
Portrait of Flinders in 1808 . . . . . . 366
Silhouette of Flinders, made after his Return
from Ile-de-France . . . . . . . . 383
Facsimile of Original MS. Dedication of
Flinders' Journal . . . . . . . . 398
Page from MS. of Flinders' Abridged Narrative 404
Extract from Flinders' Letter-book . . . . 406
Flinders' Memorial in Parish Church, Donington 409
Memorial to Bass and Flinders at the Common
wealth Naval Base, Westernport . . . . 424

The maps have been copied from Flinders' Atlas, with the
omission of a few details, which, on the small scale necessarily
adopted, would have caused confusion ; it has been thought better
to make what is given quite legible to the unassisted eye. All
names on the maps are as Flinders spelt them, but in the body of
the book modern spellings have been adopted. In the case of the
Duyfhen (p. 70) the usual spelling, which is also that of Flinders
is retained; but the late J. Backhouse Walker has shown reason to
believe that the real name of the vessel was Duyfken.

CHRONOLOGY

1774 (March 16)
1789 (October 23)
1790 (July 31)
1791-3 1793 (September)
1794 (June)
1795 (February)
1796 (March)
1797 (December)
1798 (January)
1798 (January)
1798 (January 31)
1798 (October)
1798 (November)
1798 (December)
17991799 (July)
1800 (March)
1800 (October)
1800 (December)
1 80 1 (January 17)
1801 (February 16)
1801 (April)
1801 (July 18)
1801 (December)
1802 (February)
1802 (March)

Born at Donington.
Enters the Royal Navy.
Midshipman on the Bellerophon.
Voyage in the Providence.
Rejoins the Bellerophon.
Participates in the battle off
Brest.
Sails for Australia in the Re
liance. Meets George Bass.
Cruise of the Tom Thumb.
Bass's whaleboat voyage.
Discovery of Westernport.
Flinders' voyage in the Francis
Flinders obtains lieutenant's
commission.
Voyage of the Norfolk.
Discovery of Port Dalrymple.
Bass Strait demonstrated.
Return to Port Jackson.
Exploration on Queensland coast.
Return to England in the Re
liance.
Arrival in England.
Plan of Australian Exploration.
The Investigator commissioned.
Publication of Observations.
Obtains commander's rank.
Marriage of Flinders.
Sailing of the Investigator.
Australia reached.
Discovery of Spencer's Gulf.
Discovery of Kangaroo Island
and St. Vincent's Gulf.

CHRONOLOGY

1802 (April)
1802 (May)
1802 (July)
1802 (August)
1802 (November)
1803 (April)
1803 (June)
1803 (July 10)
1803 (August 17)
1803 (September 8)
1803 (September 21)
1803 (November)
1803 (December 17)
1804 (April)
1805 . .
1806 (March 21)
rec'd. July 20, 1807
1810 (June 13)
1810 (October 24)
1814 (July 19) . .

Meeting of Flinders and Baudin
in Encounter Bay.
Flinders in Port Phillip.
Voyage to Northern Australia.
Discovery of Port Curtis and
Port Bowen.
In the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Return voyage; Australia cir
cumnavigated.
Sydney reached ; the Investigator
condemned.
Sails in the Porpoise
Wrecked on the Barrier Reef.
Voyage in the Hope to Sydney.
Arrival in Port Jackson.
Sails in the Cumberland.
Timor reached.
Arrival at Ile-de-France ; made
a prisoner.
Removal to the Garden Prison
(Maison Despeaux).
Removal to Wilhelm's Plains.
French Government orders re
lease of Flinders.
Release of Flinders.
Return to England.
Death of Flinders.

$£ : ¦',¦'¦

\iWS*ui'«

FLINDERS' BIRTHPLACE, DONINGTON, LINCOLNSHIRE.
[From photograph lent by Mr. George Gordon McCrae.)

THE LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

Chapter I.
BIRTH AND ORIGINS
Matthew Flinders was the third of the triad of great
English sailors by whom the principal part of Australia
was revealed. A poet of our own time, in a line of
singular felicity, has described it as the " last sea-thing
dredged by sailor Time from Space;"* and the piece
meal, partly mysterious, largely accidental drag
ging from the depths of the unknown of a land
so immense and bountiful makes a romantic chapter
in geographical history. All the great seafaring
peoples contributed something towards the result.
The Dutch especially evinced their enterprise in
the pursuit of precise information about the southern
Terra Incognita, and the nineteenth century was
well within its second quarter before the name New
Holland, which for over a hundred years had borne
testimony to their adventurous pioneering, gave place
in general and geographical literature to the more con
venient and euphonious designation suggested by
Flinders himself, Australia. f
But, important as was the work of the Dutch, and
though the contributions made by French navigators
(possibly also by Spanish) are of much consequence, it
remains true that the broad outlines of the continent
were laid down by Dampier, Cook and Flinders. These
are the principal names in the story. A map of Aus-
* Bernard O'Dowd, Daunncard (1903).
t Not universally, however, even in official documents. In the
Report of the Committee of the Privy Council, dated May 1, 1849,
"New Holland" is used to designate the continent, but "Australia"
is employed as including both the continent and Tasmania. See
Grey's Colonial Policy I., 424 and 439.

2 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
tralia which left out the parts discovered by other
sailors would be seriously defective in particular
features ; but a map which left out the parts discovered
by these three Englishmen would gape out of all re
semblance to the reality.
Dampier died about the year 1712; nobody knows
precisely when. Matthew Flinders came into the
world in time to hear, as he may well have done as a boy,
of the murder of his illustrious predecessor in 1779.
The news of Cook's fate did not reach England till
1781. The lad was then seven years of age, having
been born on March 16th, 1774.
His father, also named Matthew, was a surgeon
practising his profession at Donington, Lincolnshire,
where the boy was born. The Flinders family had
been settled in the same town for several generations.
Three in succession had been surgeons. The patrony
mic indicates a Flemish origin, and the work on Eng
lish surnames* that bids the reader looking for informa
tion under " Flinders " to " see Flanders," sends him
on a reasonable quest, if to no great resulting advantage.
The English middle-eastern counties received fre
quent large migrations of Flemings during several
centuries. Sometimes calamities due to the harshness
of nature, sometimes persecutions and wars, sometimes
adverse economic conditions, impelled companies of
people from the Low Countries to cross the North Sea
and try to make homes for themselves in a land which,
despite intervals of distraction, offered greater securitv
and a better reward than did the place whence tbey
came. England derived much advantage from the in
fusion of this industrious, solid and dependable Flemish
stock; though the temporary difficulty of absorption
gave rise to local protests on more than one occasion.
* Barker, Family Surnames (1903), p. 143.

BIRTH AND ORIGINS 3
As early as 1108, a great part of Flanders "being
drowned by an exudation or breaking in of the sea, a
great number of Flemings came into the country,
beseeching the King to have some void place assigned
them, wherein they might inhabit."* Again in the
reign of Edward I. we find Flemish merchants carry
ing on a very large and important trade in Boston, and
representatives of houses from Ypres and Ostend
acquired property in the town.f In the middle of the
sixteenth century, when Flanders was boiling on the
fire of the Reformation, Lincolnshire and Norfolk
provided an asylum for crowds of harassed refugees.
In 1569 two persons were deputed to ride from Boston
to Norwich to ascertain what means that city adopted
to find employment for them ; and in the same year Mr.
William Derby was directed to move Mr. Secretary
Cecil, Queen Elizabeth's great minister, to "know his
pleasure whether certain strangers may be allowed to
dwell within the borough without damage of the
Queen's laws. "J
During one of these peaceful and useful Flemish
invasions the ancestors of Matthew Flinders entered
Lincolnshire. In the later years of his life he devoted
some attention to the history of his family, and found
record of a Flinders as early as the tenth century. He
believed, also, that his people had some connection with
two men named Flinders or Flanders, who fled from
Holland during the religious persecutions, and settled,
in Queen Elizabeth's reign, in Nottinghamshire as
silk stocking weavers. It would be very interesting if
it were clear that there was a link between the family
"Holinshed's Chronicle (edition of 1807), II., 58.
t Pishcy Thompson, Collections for a Topographical and His
torical Account of Boston and the Hundred of Skirbecl: (1820),
p. 31. J Boston Corporation mss., quoted in Thompson, History and
Antiquities of Boston (1856).

4 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
and the origins of the great Nottingham hosiery trade.
A Flinders may in that case have woven silk stockings
for the Royal termagant, and Lord Coke's pair, which
were darned so often that none of the original fabric
remained, may have come from their loom.
Matthew Flinders himself wrote the note:
"Ruddington near Nottingham (it is four miles south
of the town) is the place whence the Flinders came;"
and he ascertained that an ancestor was Robert Flinders,
a Nottingham stocking-weaver.
A family tradition relates that the Lincolnshire
Flinders were amongst the people taken over to
England by Sir Cornelius Vermuyden, a Dutch
engineer of celebrity in his day, who undertook
in 1621 to drain 360,000 acres of fen in Norfolk,
Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire. He was financed
by English and Dutch capitalists, and took his
reward in large grants of land which he made fit
for habitation and cultivation. Vermuyden and his
Flemings were not allowed to accomplish their work of
reclamation without incurring the enmity of the natives.
In a petition to the King in 1637 he stated that he had
spent £150,000, but that £60,000 of damage had been
done " by reason of the opposition of the commoners,"
who cut the banks of his channels in the night and
during floods. The peasantry, indeed, resisted the im
provements that have proved so beneficent to that part
of England, because the draining and cultivation of so
many square miles of swamp would deprive them of
fishing and fowling privileges enjoyed from time im
memorial. Hardly any reform or improvement can
be effected without some disruption of existing interests-
and a people deeply sunk in poverty and toil could
hardly be expected to contemplate with philosophical
calm projects which, however advantageous to fortu

BIRTH AND ORIGINS 5
nate individuals and to posterity, were calculated to
diminish their own means of living and their pleasant
diversions. The dislike of the "commoners" to the work
of the " participants " led to frequent riots, and many
of Vermuyden's Flemings were maltreated. He en
deavoured to allay discontent by employing local labour
at high wages ; and was courageous enough to pursue his
task despite loss of money, wanton destruction, and
many other discouragements.* Ebullitions of discon
tent on the part of fractious Fenlanders did not cease till
the beginning of the eighteenth century.
A very simple calculation shows that the great
grandfather of the first Matthew Flinders would
probably have been contemporary with Sir Cornelius
Vermuyden's reclamation works. He may have been
one of the "participants" who benefited from them.
The fact is significant as bearing upon this conjecture,
that no person named Flinders made a will in Lincoln
shire before 1600.1
It is, too, an interesting circumstance that there was
a Flinders among the early settlers in New England,
Richard Flinders of Salem, born 1 637. f He may
have been of the same family as the navigator, for the
Lincolnshire element among the fathers of New Eng
land was pronounced.
The name Flinders survived at Donington certainly
for thirty years after the death of the sailor who gave
lustre to it; for in a directory published in 1842 occur

* See Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, for 1619-23-25-
38-39, et seq.; and White's Lincolnshire, p. 542.
f See C. W. Foster, Calendar of Lincoln Wills, 1320-1600 (1902).
J Savage, Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New
England (Boston, U.S.A., 1860).

6 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
the names of " Flinders, Mrs. Eliz., Market Place,"
and " Flinders, Mrs Mary, Church Street."*
The Flinders papers, mentioned in the preface, con
tain material which enables the family and connections
of the navigator to be traced with certainty for seven
generations. The genealogy is shown by the follow
ing table : —
John Flinders, b. 1682, d. 1741, settled at Donington as a
farmer, m. 1702, Mary Obray or Aubrey
I
John Flinders, surgeon at Spalding, born 1737, still living in 1810

John Flinders, Lieutenant
in Roval Navy, b. 1766,
d. 1793"

Matthew Flinders, surgeon
at Donington, b. 1750, d.
1802, m. 1773, Susannah
Ward, 1752-1783 I

Matthew Flinders the Samuel Ward Flinders,
Navigator, b. March 16, b. 1782, d. 1842, Lieut.
1774, d. July 19, 1814, in Royal Navy, married
m. 1801, Ann Chappell, and left several children
b. 1770, d. 1S52
Ann Flinders, b. 1812, d. 1892, m. 1S51,
William Petrie, b. 1821, d. 1908
Professor W. M. Flinders Petrie,
eminent scholar and Egyptian archas-
ologist, b. 1853, m. 1897, Hilda Urlin
John Flinders Petrie
Ann Flinders Petrie
There is also an interesting connection between
Flinders and the Tennysons, through the Franklin
family. The present Lord Tennyson, when Governor
of South Australia, in the course of his official duties
in March, 1902, unveiled a memorial to his kinsman
on Mount Lofty, and in April of the same year a second
one m Encounter Bay. The following table illustrates

* William White, History, Gazetteer and Directors oi th. r;
and Diocese of Lincoln (1842), p. 193. "^ctory of the City

*&Mk

BIRTH AND ORIGINS 7
the relationship between him who wrote of "the long
wash of Australasian seas " and him who knew them as
discoverer : —
Matthew Flinders (father of Matthew Flinders the navigator)
married as his second wife Elizabeth Weekes, whose sister,
Hannah Weekes, married Willingham Franklin of Spilsby

Sir John Franklin, b. 1786, Sarah Franklin, married 1812
midshipman of the Investi- Henry Sellwood, solicitor, of
gator, Arctic explorer, Lieut.- Horncastle
Governor of Van Diemen's
Land (Tasmania) 1837-44,
d. 1847 Louisa Sellwood married
Charles Tennyson-Turner,
poet, brother of Alfred
Tennyson
Emily Sarah Sellwood, b. 1813,
d. 1896, m. in 1850 Alfred
Tennyson, Poet Laureate, b.
1809, d. 1892  I
Hallam, Lord Tennyson, b. 1852 ;
Governor of South Australia 1899-
1902 ; Governor-General of Aus
tralia, 1902^
The Flinders papers also contain a note suggesting
a distant connection between Matthew Flinders and the
man who above all others was his choice friend, George
Bass, the companion of his earliest explorations.
Positive proof is lacking, but Flinders' daughter, Mrs.
Petrie, wrote "we have reason to think that Bass was
a connection of the family," and the point is too
interesting to be left unstated. The following table
shows the possible kinship: —
John Flinders of Donington, b. 1682, d. 1741 (great
grandfather of the navigator)
I
Mary Flinders, third and youngest daughter, b. 1734,
married as her third husband — Bass
George Bass, who had three daughters, and is believed
to have been an uncle or cousin of George Bass, Matthew
Flinders' companion in exploration.

8 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
It is clear from the particulars stated above that
the tree of which Matthew Flinders was the fruit had
its roots deep down in the soil of the little Lincolnshire
market town where he was born; and Matthew him
self would have continued the family tradition, inherit
ing the practice built up by his father and grandfather
(as it was hoped he would do), had there not been
within him an irresistible longing for the sea, and a
bent of scientific curiosity directed to maritime explora
tion, which led him on a path of discovery to achieve
ments that won him honourable rank in the noble roll
of British naval pioneers.
His father earned an excellent reputation, both pro
fessional and personal. The career of a country
practitioner rarely affords an opportunity for distinc
tion. It was even less so then than to-day, when at all
events careful records of interesting cases are printed in
a score or more of professional publications. But once
we find the elder Matthew Flinders in print. The
Memoirs of the Medical Society of London* contain
a paper read before that body on October 30th, 1797:
" Case of a child born with variolar pustules, by
Matthew Flinders, surgeon, Donington, Lincolnshire."
The essay occupies three pages, and is a clear, succinct
record of symptoms, treatment and results, for medical
readers. The child died; whereupon the surgeon ex
presses his regret, not on account of infant or parents,
but, with true scientific zest, because it deprived him of
the opportunity of watching the development of an un
common case.
Donington is a small town in the heart of the fen
country, lying ten miles south-west of Boston, and about
the same distance, as the crow flies, from the black
muddy, western fringe of the Wash. It is a very old
* Vol. IV., p. 330 (1779).

BIRTH AND ORIGINS 9
town. Formerly it was an important Lincolnshire
centre, enjoying its weekly Saturday market, and its
four annual fairs for the sale of horses, cattle, flax and
hemp. During Flinders' youth and early manhood
the district grew large quantities of hemp, principally
for the Royal Navy. In the days of its prosperity
Donington drew to itself the business of an agricultural
neighbourhood which was so far cultivable as it rose
above the level of desolate and foggy swamps. But the
drainage of the fens and the making of good roads over
what had once been an area of amphibious uncertainty,
neither wholly land nor wholly water, had the effect
of largely diverting business to Boston. Trade that
came to Donington when it stood over its own tract of
fen, like the elderly and respectable capital of some
small island, now went to the thriving and historic port
on the Witham. Donington stopped growing, stag
nated, declined. On the map of Lincolnshire included
in Camden's Britannia (1637) it is marked "Duning-
ton," in letters as large as those given to Boston, Spald
ing and Lincoln. On modern maps the name is printed
in small letters; on some in the smallest, or not at all.
That fact is fairly indicative of its change of for
tunes. Figures tell the tale with precision. In 1801 it
contained 1,321 inhabitants: in 1821, 1,638; in 1841 it
reached its maximum, 2,026; by 1891 it had gone down
to 1,547; in 1901 to 1,484; at the census of 1911 it
had struggled up to 1,564.*
The fame conferred by a distinguished son is hardly
a recompense for faded prosperity, but certain it is that
Donington commands a wider interest as the birthplace
of Flinders than it ever did in any other respect during
its long, uneventful history. The parish church, a fine
Gothic building with a lofty, graceful spire, contains a
* Allen, History of Lincolnshire (1833), I., 342: Victoria History
of Lincolnshire, II., 359; Census Returns for 1911.

10 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
monument to the memory of the navigator, with an
inscription in praise of his character and life, and re
cording that he "twice circumnavigated the globe."
Many men have encircled the earth, but few have been
so distinguished as discoverers of important portions
of it. Apart from this monument, the church contains
marble ovals to the memory of Matthew Flinders'
father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. They
were provided from a sum of £100 left by the navigator,
in his will, for the purpose.
It is interesting to notice that three of the early-
Australian explorers came from Lincolnshire, and were
all born at places visible in clear weather from the
tower of St. Botolph's Church at Boston. While
Flinders sprang from Donington, George Bass, who
co-operated with him in his first discoveries, was born
at Aswarby, near Sleaford, and Sir John Franklin,
who sailed with him in the Investigator, and was subse
quently to become an Australian Governor and to
achieve a pathetic immortality in another field of ex
ploration, entered the world at Spilsby. Sir Joseph
Banks, the botanist of Cook's first voyage, Flinders'
steadfast friend, and the earliest potent advocate of Aus
tralian colonization, though not actually born in
Lincolnshire, was the son of a squire who at the time
of his birth owned Revesby Abbey, which is within a
short ride of each of the places just named.

Chapter II.
AT SCHOOL AND AT SEA
Young Flinders received his preparatory education at
the Donington free school. This was an institution
founded and endowed in 1718 by Thomas Cowley, who
bequeathed property producing nowadays about £1,200
a year for the maintenance of a school and almshouses.
It was to be open to the children of all the residents of
Donington parish free of expense, and in addition there
was a fund for paying premiums on the apprenticeship
of boys. At the age of twelve the lad was sent to the Horb-
ling Grammar School, not many miles from his own
home. It was under the direction of the Rev. John
Shinglar. Here he remained three years. He was
introduced to the Latin and Greek classics, and received
the grounding of that mathematical knowledge which
subsequently enabled him to master the science of navi
gation without a tutor. If to Mr. Shinglar's instruc
tion was likewise due his ability to write good, sound,
clear English, we who read his letters and published
writings have cause to speak his schoolmaster's name
with respect.
During his school days another book besides those
prescribed in the curriculum came into his hands He
read Robinson Crusoe. It was to Defoe's undying tale
of the stranded mariner that he attributed the awaken
ing in his own mind of a passionate desire to sail in un
charted seas. This anecdote happens to be better
authenticated than are many of those quoted to illus
trate the youth of men of mark. Towards the end of
Flinders' life the editor of the Naval Chronicle sent to
n

12

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

him a series of questions, intending to found upon the
answers a biographical sketch. One question was:
"Juvenile or miscellaneous anecdotes illustrative of
individual character?" The reply was : "Induced to go
to sea against the wishes of friends from reading
Robinson Crusoe."
The case, interesting as it is, has an exact parallel in
the life of a famous French traveller, Rene Caille, who
in 1828, after years of extraordinary effort and en
durance, crossed Senegal, penetrated Central Africa,
and was the first European to visit Timbuctoo. He
also had read Defoe's masterpiece as a lad, and
attributed to it the awakening in his breast of a yearn
ing for adventure and discovery. "The reading of
Robinson Crusoe," says a French historian, "made upon
him a profound impression." "I burned to have ad
ventures of my own," he wrote later; "I felt as I read
that there was born within my heart the ambition to
distinguish myself by some important discovery."*
Here were astonishing results to follow from the
vivid fiction of a gouty pamphleteer who wrote to
catch the market and was hoisted into immortal fame
by the effort : that his book should, like a spark falling
on straw, fire the brains of a French shoemaker's
apprentice and a Lincolnshire schoolboy, impelling each
to a career crowded with adventure, and crowned with
memorable achievements. There could hardly be
better examples of the vitalising efficacy of fine litera
ture. A love of Robinson Crusoe remained with Flinders
to the end. Only a fortnight before his death he
wrote a note subscribing for a copy of a new edition of
the book, with notes, then announced for publication.
It must have been one of the last letters from his hand.
Though out of its chronological order, it may be
* Gaffarel, La Politique coloniale en France (1908), p. 34.

AT SCHOOL AND AT SEA 13
appropriately quoted here to connect it with the other
references to the book which so profoundly influenced
his life : —
"Captain Flinders presents his compliments to the
Hydrographer of the Naval Chronicle, and will thank
him to insert his name in the list of subscribers in his
new edition of Robinson Crusoe; he wishes also that
the volume on delivery should have a neat, common
binding, and be lettered. — London Street, July 5,
1814." It seems clear that Flinders had promised himself
the pleasure of re-reading in maturity the tale that had
so delighted his youth. Had he lived to do so, he
might well have underlined, as applicable to himself, a
pair of those sententious observations with which Defoe
essayed to give a sober purpose to his narrative. The
first is his counsel of "invincible patience under the
worst of misery, indefatigable application, and un
daunted resolution under the greatest and most dis
couraging circumstances." The second is his wise
remark that " the height of human wisdom is to bring
our tempers down to our circumstances, and to make a
great calm within under the weight of the greatest
storm without." They were words which Flinders
during strenuous years had good cause to translate into
conduct. The edition of the book to which he thus subscribed
was undertaken largely on account of his acknowledg
ment of its effect upon his life. The author of the
Naval Chronicle sketch of his career* wrote in a foot
note: "The biographer, also happening to understand
that to the same cause the Navy is indebted for
another of its ornaments, Admiral Sir Sydney Smythe,
was in a great measure thereby led to give another
*Vol. XXXII. (1814).

14 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
studious reading to that charming story, and thence to
adopt a plan for its republication, now almost at
maturity;" and he commended the new issue especially
"to all those engaged in the tuition of youth."
One other anecdote of Flinders' boyhood has been
preserved as a family tradition. It is that, while still
a child, he was one day lost for some hours. He was
ultimately found in the middle of one of the sea marshes,
his pockets stuffed with pebbles, tracing the runlets of
water, so that by following them up he might find out
whence they came. Many boys might have done the
same ; but this particular boy, in that act of inquiry con
cerning geographical phenomena on a small scale,
showed himself father to the man.
" Against the wish of friends," Flinders wrote, was
his selection of a naval career. His father steadily but
kindly opposed his desire, hoping that his son would
adopt the medical profession. But young Matthew
was not easily thwarted. The call of the sea was
strong within him, and persistency was always a fibrous
element in his character.
The surgeon's house at Donington stood in the
market square. It remained in existence till 1908, when
it was demolished to give place to what is described as "a
hideous ^ new villa." It was a plain, square, one-
story building with a small, low surgery built on to one
side of it. Behind the door of the surgery hung a slate,
upon which the elder Flinders was accustomed to write
memoranda concerning appointments and cases. The
lad, wishing to let his father know how keen was his
desire to enter the Navy, and dreading a conversation
on the subject— with probable reproaches, admonitions,
warnings, and a general outburst of parental dis
pleasure—made use of the surgeon's slate. He wrote
upon it what he wanted his father to know, hung it on
the nail, and left it there to tell its quiet story

AT SCHOOL AND AT SEA 15
He got his way in the end, but not without dis
couragement from other quarters also. He had an
uncle in the Navy, John Flinders, to whom he wrote
asking for counsel. John's experience had not made
him enamoured of his profession, and his reply was
chilling. He pointed out that there was little chance of
success without powerful interest. Promotion was
slow and favouritism was rampant. He himself had
served eleven years, and had not yet attained the rank
of lieutenant, nor were his hopes of rising better than
slender. From the strictly professional point of view it was
not unreasonable advice for the uncle to give. A
student of the naval history of the period finds much
to justify a discouraging attitude. Even the dazzling
career of Nelson might have been frustrated by a long
protracted minority had he not had a powerful hand
to help him up the lower rungs of the ladder — the
"interest" of Captain Suckling, his uncle, who in 1775
became Comptroller of the Navy, " a civil position, but
one that carried with it power and consequently
influence." Nelson became lieutenant after seven
years' service, in 1777; but he owed his promotion to
Suckling, who " was able to exert his influence in behalf
of his relative by promptly securing for him not only
his promotion to lieutenant, which many waited for
long, but with it his commission, dated April 10, to the
Lowestofte, a frigate of thirty-two guns."*
That even conduct of singular merit, performed in
the crisis of action, was not sufficient to secure advance
ment, is illustrated by a striking fact in the life of Sir
John Hindmarsh, the first Governor of South Aus
tralia (1836). At the battle of the Nile, Hindmarsh,
a midshipman of fourteen, was left in charge of the
*Mahan, Life of Nelson (edit, of 1899), pp. 13-14.

16 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Bellerophon, all the other officers being killed or
wounded. (It was upon this same vessel, as we shall
see later, that Flinders had a taste of sea fighting).
When the French line-of-battle ship L'Orient took fire
she endangered the Bellerophon. The boy, with wonder
ful presence of mind, called up some hands, cut the
cables, and was running the ship out of danger under i
sprit sail, when Captain Darby came on deck from
having his wounds dressed. Nelson, hearing of the inci
dent, thanked young Hindmarsh before the ship's com
pany, and afterwards gave him his commission in front
of all hands, relating the story to them. "The sequel,"
writes Admiral Sir T. S. Pasley, who relates the facts
in his Journal, "does not sound so well. Lord Nelson
died in 1805, and Hindmarsh is a commander still, in
1830, not having been made one till June, 1814." A
man with such a record certainly had to wait long before
the sun of official favour shone upon him; and his
later success was won, not in the navy, but as a colonial
governor. There was, then, much to make John Flinders believe
that influence was a surer way to advancement than
assiduous application or natural capacity. His own
naval career did not turn out happily. A very few
years afterwards he received his long-delayed promo
tion, served as lieutenant in the Cygnet, on the West
Indies station, under Admiral Affleck, and died of
yellow fever on board his ship in 1793.
John Flinders' letter, however, concluded with a
piece of practical advice, in case his nephew should be
undeterred by his opinion. He recommended the study
of three works as a preparation for entering the Navy :
Euclid, John Robertson's Elements of Navigation (first
edition published in 1754) and Hamilton Moore's book
on Navigation. Matthew disregarded the warning
and took the practical advice. The books were pro-

AT SCHOOL AND AT SEA 17
cured, and the young student plunged into their prob
lems eagerly. The year devoted to their study in that
quiet little fen town made him master of rather more
than the elements of a science which enabled him to
become one of the foremost discoverers and
cartographers of a continent. He probably also
practised map-making with assiduity, for his charts are
not only excellent as charts, but also singularly beautiful
examples of scientific drawing.
After a year of book-work Flinders felt capable of
acquitting himself creditably at sea, if he could secure
an opportunity. In those days entrance to the Royal
Navy was generally secured by the nomination of a
senior officer. There was no indispensable examina
tion; no naval college course was necessary. The
captain of a ship could take a youth on board to oblige
his relatives, "or in return for the cancelling of a trades
man's bill."* It so happened that a cousin of Flinders
occupied the position of governess in the family of
Captain Pasley (afterwards Admiral Sir Thomas
Pasley) who at that time commanded H.M.S. Scipio.
One of her pupils, Maria Pasley, developed into a
young lady of decidedly vigorous character, as the
following incident sufficiently shows. While her father
was commander-in-chief at Plymouth, she was one day
out in the Channel, beyond the Eddystone, in the
Admiral's cutter. As the country was at war, she was
courting danger; and in fact, the cutter was sighted by
a French cruiser, which gave chase. But Miss Pasley
declined to run away. She "popped at the Frenchman
with the cutter's two brass guns." It was like blowing
peas at an elephant; and she would undoubtedly have
been captured, had not an English frigate seen tht
danger and put out to the rescue.
* Masefield's Sea Life in Nelson's Time (1905) gives a good
account of the practice.

18 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Flinders' cousin had interested herself in his studies
and ambitions, and gave him some encouragement. She
also spoke about him to Captain Pasley, who seems to
have listened sympathetically. It interested him to
hear of this boy studying navigation without a tutor up
among the fens. "Send for him," said Pasley, "I
should like to see what stuff he is made of, and whether
he is worth making into a sailor"
Young Matthew, then in his fifteenth year, was
accordingly invited to visit the Pasleys. In the later
part of his life he used to relate with merriment, how
he went, was asked to dine, and then pressed to stay
till next day under the captain's roof. He had brought
no night attire with him, not having expected to sleep
at the house. When he was shown into his bedroom,
his needs had apparently been anticipated; for there,
folded up neatly upon the pillow, was a sleeping gar
ment ready for use. He appreciated the consideration;
but having attired himself for bed, he found himself
enveloped in a frothy abundance of frills and fal-lals,
lace at the wrists, lace round the neck, with flutters of
ribbon here and there. When, at the breakfast table
in the morning, he related how he had been rigged,
there was a shriek of laughter from the young ladies;
the simple explanation being that one of them had
vacated her room to accommodate the visitor, and had
forgotten to remove her nightdress.
The visit had more important consequences.
Captain Pasley very soon saw that he had an excep
tional lad before him, and at once put him on the Alert.
He was entered as "lieutenant's servant" on October
23rd, 1789. He remained there for rather more than
seven months, learning the practical part of a sailor's
business. On May 17th, 1790, he was able to present
himself to Captain Pasley on the Scipio at Chatham,
as an aspirant of more than ordinary efficiency and

AT SCHOOL AND AT SEA 19
remained under his command until the next year, follow
ing him as a midshipman when he left the Scipio for
the Bellerophon in July, 1790.
This famous ship, which carried 74 guns, and
was launched in 1786, is chiefly known to history
as the vessel upon which Napoleon surrendered
to Captain Maitland on July 15th, 1815, after
the Waterloo debacle. She took a prominent part
in Nelson's great battles at the Nile and Trafalgar.
But her end was pitifully ignoble. After a glorious
and proud career, she was converted into a convict hulk
and re-named the Captivity. A great prose master has
reminded us, in words that glow upon his impassioned
page, of the slight thought given by the practical
English to the fate of another line-of-battle ship that
had flown their colours in the stress of war. "Those
sails that strained so full bent into the battle, that broad
bow that struck the surf aside, enlarging silently in
steadfast haste full front to the shot, those triple ports
whose choirs of flame rang forth in their courses, into the
fierce avenging monotone, which, when it died away,
left no answering voice to rise any more upon the sea
against the strength of England, those sides that were
wet with the long runlets of English life-blood, like
press-planks at vintage, gleaming goodly crimson down
to the cast and clash of the washing foam, those pale
masts that stayed themselves up against the war-ruin,
shaking out their ensigns through the thunder, till sail
and ensign drooped, steeped in the death-stilled pause
of Andalusian air, burning with its witness clouds of
human souls at rest — surely for these some sacred care
might have been left in our thoughts, some quiet resting
place amidst the lapse of English waters? Nay, not
so, we have stern keepers to trust her glory to, the fire
and the worm. Never more shall sunset lay golden
robe on her, nor starlight tremble on the waves that

20 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
part at her gliding. Perhaps, where the gate opens to
some cottage garden, the tired traveller may ask, idly,
why the moss grows so green on its rugged wood; and
even the sailor's child may not answer nor know, that
the night-dew lies deep in the war-rents of the wood of
the old Temeraire."
But even the decline of might and dignity into
decrepitude and oblivion described in that luminous
passage is less pathetic than the conversion of the
glorious Bellerophon, with her untarnished traditions
of historic victories, into a hulk for the punishment of
rascals, and the changing of her unsullied name to an
alias significant only of shame.
During this preliminary period Flinders learnt the
way about a ship and acquired instruction in the
mechanism of seamanship, but there was as yet no
opportunity to obtain deep-water experience. He was
transferred to the Dictator for a brief period, but as
he neither mentions the captain nor alludes to any other
circumstance connected therewith, it was probably a
mere temporary turnover or guardship rating not to
lose any time of service.*
His first chance of learning something about the
width of the world and the wonder of its remote places
came in 1791, when he went to sea under the command
of a very remarkable man. William Bligh had sailed
with James Cook on his third and fatal voyage of dis
covery, 1776-80. He was twenty-three years of age
when he was selected by that sagacious leader as one of
those young officers who "under my direction could be
usefully employed in constructing charts, in taking
views of the coasts and headlands near which we should
pass, and in drawing plans of the bays and harbours in
which we should anchor;" for Cook recognised that
constant attention to these duties was "wholly requisite
* Naval Chronicle (1814).

AT SCHOOL AND AT SEA 21
if we would render our discoveries profitable to future
navigators."* Bligh's name appears frequently in Cook's Journal,
and is also mentioned in King's excellent narrative of
the conclusion of the voyage after Cook's murder. He
was master of the Resolution, and was on several
occasions entrusted with tasks of some consequence : as
for instance on first reaching Hawaii, when Cook sent
him ashore to look for fresh water, and again at
Kealakeakura Bay (January 16, 1779) when he re
ported that he had found good anchorage and fresh
water "in a situation admirable to come at." It was a
fatal discovery, for on the white sands of that bay, a
month later (February 14), the great British seaman
fell, speared by the savages.
On each of Cook's voyages a call had been made at
Tahiti in the Society group. Bligh no doubt heard
much about the charms of the place before he first saw it
himself. He was destined to have his own name
associated with it in a highly romantic and adventurous
manner. The idyllic beauty of the life of the Tahitians,
their amiable and seductive characteristics, the warm
suavity of the climate, the profusion of food and drink
to be enjoyed on the island with the smallest conceivable
amount of exertion, made the place stand out in all
the narratives of Cook's expeditions like a green-and-
golden gem set in a turquoise sea, a lotos-land "in which
it seemed always afternoon," a paradise where love and
plenty reigned and care and toil were not.. George
Forster, the German naturalist who accompanied Cook
on his second voyage, wrote of the men as "models of
masculine beauty," whose perfect proportions would
have satisfied the eye of Phidias or Praxiteles; of the
women as beings whose "unaffected smiles and a wish to
* Cook's Voyages (edition of 1821), V., 92.

22

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

please ensure them mutual esteem and love;" and of the
fife they led as being diversified between bathing in
cool streams, reposing under tufted trees, feeding on
luscious fruits, telling tales, and playing the flute. In
fact, Forster declared, they "resembled the happy, indo
lent people whom Ulysses found in Phaeacia, and could
apply the poet's lines to themselves with peculiar pro-
' To dress, to dance, to sing our sole delight, ^ ^
The feast or bath by day, and love by night.
In Tahiti grew an abundance of breadfruit. It
was in connection with this nutritious food, one of
nature's richest gifts to the Pacific, that Bhgh under
took a mission which involved him in a mutiny, launched
him upon one of the most dangerous and difficult
voyages in the annals of British seamanship, and pro
vided a theme for a long poem by one of the greatest
of English authors. Byron it was who, writing as
though the trees sprouted quartern loaves ready baked,
said of it ("The Island," II., 11):
" The bread-tree, which without the ploughshare yields
The unreaped harvest of unfurrowed fields,
And bakes its unadulterated loaves
Without a furnace in unpurchased groves,
And flings off famine from its fertile breast,
A priceless market for the gathering guest."
Breadfruit had been tasted and described by
Dampier in the seventeenth century. His description
of it has all the terse directness peculiar to the writing
of the inquisitive buccaneer, with a touch of quaintness
that makes the passage desirable to quote : — *
"The breadfruit, as we call it, grows on a large tree
as big and as tall as our largest apple trees. It hath
a spreading head full of branches and dark leaves. The
fruit grows on the boughs like apples; it is as big as a
?Dampier's Voyages (edition of 1729), I., 294.

AT SCHOOL AND AT SEA 23
penny loaf when wheat is at five shillings the bushel.
The natives of this island (Suam) use it for bread.
They gather it when full-grown ; then they bake it in an
oven, which scorcheth the rind and makes it black; but
they scrape off the outside black crust and there remains
a tender thin crust and the inside is soft, tender and
white, like the crumb of a penny loaf. There is neither
seed nor stone in the inside, but all is of a pure sub
stance like bread; it must be eaten new, for if it is kept
above twenty-four hours it becomes dry and eats harsh
and chokey; but 'tis very pleasant before it is too stale."
By Dampier, who in the course of his astonishing
career had consumed many strange things — who found
shark's flesh "good entertainment," and roast opossum
"sweet wholesome meat" — toleration in the matter of
things edible was carried to the point of latitudi-
nananism. We never find Dampier squeamish about
anything which anybody else could eat with relish. To
him, naturally, the first taste of breadfruit was pleasing.
But Cook was more critical. "The natives seldom
make a meal without it," he said, "though to us the
taste was as disagreeable as that of a pickled olive
generally is the first time it is eaten." That opinion,
perhaps, accords with the common experience of
neophytes in tropical gastronomy. But new sensations
in the matter of food are not always to be depended on.
Sir Joseph Banks disliked bananas when he first tasted
them. The immense popularity of Cook's voyages spread
afar the fame of breadfruit as an article of food.
Certain West Indian planters were of opinion that it
would be advantageous to establish the trees on their
islands and to encourage the consumption of the fruit by
their slaves. Not only was it considered that the use
of breadfruit would cheapen the cost of the slaves'
living, but — a consideration that weighed both with the

24 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
planters and the British Government in view of existing
relations with the United States — it was also believed
that it would "lessen the dependence of the sugar
islands on North America for food and necessaries."*
The planters petitioned the Government to fit out
an expedition to transplant trees from the Pacific to the
Atlantic. Sir Joseph Banks strongly supported them,
and Lord Hood, then First Lord of the Admiralty,
was sympathetic. In August, 1787, Lieutenant Bligh
was appointed to the command of the Bounty, was
directed to sail to the Society Islands, to take on board
"as many trees and plants as may be thought necessary,"
and to transplant them to British possessions in the
West Indies.
The vessel sailed, with two skilled gardeners on
board to superintend the selection and treatment of the
plants. Tahiti was duly reached, and the business of
the expedition was taken in hand. One thousand and
fifteen fine trees were chosen and carefully stowed. But
the comfortable indolence, the luxuriant abundance, the
genial climate, the happy hospitality of the handsome
islanders, and their easy freedom from compunction in
reference to restraints imposed by law and custom in
Europe, had a demoralising effect upon the crew of the
Bounty. A stay of twenty-three weeks at the island
sufficed to subvert discipline and to persuade some of
Bligh's sailors that life in Tahiti was far preferable to
service in the King's Navy under the rule of a severe
and exacting commander.
When the Bounty left Tahiti on April 14, 1787, re
luctance plucked at the heart of many of the crew. The
morning light lay tenderly upon the plumes of the
palms, and a light wind filled the sails of the ship as
she glided out of harbour. As the lazy lapping
I., xf^11 Edwards' History of the British West Indies (1819),

AT SCHOOL AND AT SEA 25
wash of the waters against the low outer fringe of coral
was lost to the ear, the Bounty breasted the deep ocean;
and as the distinguishable features of green tree, white
sand, brown earth, and grey rock faded out of vision,
wrapped in a haze of blue, till at last the only pro
nounced characteristic of the island standing up against
the sky and sea was the cap of Point Venus at the
northern extremity — the departure must have seemed to
some like that of Tannhauser from the enchanted
mountain, except that the legendary hero was glad to
make his return to the normal world, whereas all of
Bligh's company were not. For them, westward.
whither they were bound,
" There gaped the gate
Whereby lost souls back to the cold earth went."
The discipline of ship's life, and the stormings and ob
jurgations of the commanding officer, chafed like an
iron collar. At length a storm burst.
On April 28 the Bounty was sailing towards Tofoa,
another of the Society Islands. Just before sunrise on
the following morning Bligh was aroused from sleep,
seized and bound in his cabin by a band of mutineers,
led out by the master's mate, Fletcher Christian, and,
with eighteen companions, dropped into a launch and
bidden to depart. The followers of Christian were
three midshipmen and twenty-five petty officers and
sailors. They turned the head of the Bounty back
towards their island paradise; and as they sailed away,
the mariners in the tossing little boat heard them calling
"Hurrah for Tahiti!"
The frail craft in which the nineteen loyalists were
compelled to attempt to traverse thousands of miles of
ocean, where the navigation is perhaps the most intri
cate in the world, was but 23 feet long by 6 feet 9 inches
broad and 2 feet 9 inches deep. Their provisions con
sisted of 150 pounds of bread, 16 pieces of pork, each

26 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
about two pounds in weight, six quarts of rum, six
bottles of wine, and 28 gallons of water. With this
scanty stock of nourishment, in so small a boat, Bligh
and his companions covered 3,618 miles, crossing the
western Pacific, sailing through Torres Strait, and ulti
mately reaching Timor.
That Bligh was somewhat deficient in tact and
sympathy in handling men, cross-grained, harsh, and
obstinate, is probably true. His language was often
lurid, he lavished foul epithets upon his crew, and he
was not reluctant to follow terms of abuse by vigorous
chastisement. He called Christian a "damned hound,"
some of the men "scoundrels, thieves and rascals," and
he met a respectful remonstrance with the retort: "You
damned infernal scoundrels, I'll make you eat grass or
anything you can catch before I have done with you."
Naval officers of the period were not addicted to
addressing their men in the manner of a lady with a pet
canary. Had Bligh's language been the head and front
of his offending, he would hardly have shocked an
eighteenth century fo'c'sle. But his disposition does
not seem to have bound men to him. He generated
dislike. Nevertheless it is credible that the explanation
which he gave goes far to explain the mutiny. He held
that the real cause was a species of sensuous intoxication
which had corrupted his crew.
"The women of Tahiti," Bligh wrote, "are hand
some, mild and cheerful in their manners and conversa
tion, possessed of great sensibility, and have sufficient
delicacy to make them admired and loved. The chiefs
were so much attached to our people that they rather
encouraged their stay among them than otherwise, and
even made them promises of large possessions. Under
these and other attendant circumstances equally
desirable, it is perhaps not so much to be wondered at,
though scarcely possible to have been foreseen, that a

AT SCHOOL AND AT SEA 27
set of sailors, many of them void of connections, should
be led away ; especially when in addition to such power
ful inducements they imagined it in their power to fix
themselves in the midst of plenty on one of the finest
islands in the world, where they need not labour, and
where the allurements of dissipation are beyond any
thing that can be conceived. . . . Had their mutiny
been occasioned by any grievance, either real or imagin
ary, I must have discovered symptoms of their dis
content, which would have put me on my guard ; but the
case was far otherwise. Christian in particular I was
on the most friendly terms with; that very day he was
engaged to have dined with me ; and the preceding night
he excused himself from supping with me on pretence
of being unwell, for which I felt concerned, having no
suspicions of his integrity and honour."
Support is given to Bligh's explanation by a state
ment alleged to have been made by Fletcher Christian
a few years later, the genuineness of which, however, is
open to serious question. If it could be accepted,
Christian acquitted his commander of having con
tributed to the mutiny by harsh conduct. He ascribed
the occurrence "to the strong predilection we had con
tracted for living in Tahiti, where, exclusive of the
happy disposition of the inhabitants, the mildness of the
climate, and the fertility of the soil, we had formed
certain tender connections which banished the remem
brance of old England from our breasts." The weight
of evidence justifies the belief that Bligh, though a
sailor of unequivocal skill and dauntless courage, was
an unlikeable man, and that aversion to service under
him was a factor contributing to the mutiny which can
not be explained away.
Bligh is the connecting link between Cook and
Flinders. Bligh learned under Cook to experience the
thrilling pleasure of discovery and to pursue oppor-

28 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
tunities in that direction in a scientific spirit. Flinders
learnt the same lesson under Bligh, and bettered the
instruction. Cook is the first great scientific navigator
whose name is associated with the construction of the
map of Australia; so much can be said without dis
paragement of the adventurous Dutchmen who pieced
together the outline of the western and northern coasts.
Flinders was the second; and Bligh, pupil of the one and
teacher of the other, deserves a better fate than to be
remembered chiefly as a sinister figure in two historic
mutinies, that of the Bounty, and that which ended his
governorship of New South Wales in 1808. Much
worse men have done much worse things than he, have
less that is brave, honourable, enterprising and original
to their credit, and yet are remembered without
ignominy. It is said by Hooker: "as oftentimes the
vices of wicked men do cause other their commendable
virtues to be abhorred, so the honour of great men's
virtues is easily a cloak to their errors." Bligh fell
short of being a great man, but neither was he a bad
man ; and the merit of his achievements, both as a navi
gator and amid the shock of battle (especially at Copen
hagen in 1801, under Nelson), must not be over
looked, even though stern history will not permit his
errors to be cloaked.
Notwithstanding the failure of the Bounty ex
pedition, Sir Joseph Banks pressed upon the Govern
ment the desirableness of transplanting breadfruit trees
to the West Indies. He also proved a staunch friend
to Bligh. The result was that the Admiralty resolved
to equip a second enterprise for the same purpose, and
to entrust the command of it to the same officer.
_ We may now follow the fortunes of Matthew
Flinders under the tutelage of this energetic captain.

Chapter III.
A VOYAGE UNDER BLIGH
Bligh's second expedition was authorised by the Ad
miralty in March, 1791, and the commander was con
sulted as to "what sort of vessel may be best adapted to
the object in view." The Providence, a 28-gun ship,
was chosen, with the brig Assistant as a tender. The
latter was placed in charge of Lieutenant Nathaniel
Portlock. Flinders, eager for sea experience, joined
the Providence as a midshipman on May 8th, and thus
had the advantage of being under the immediate direc
tion of her captain.
He took this step with Pasley's concurrence, if not
actually upon his advice. The captain wrote him an
encouraging letter asking him to send from time to time
observations on places visited during the voyage; and
his protege complied with the injunction. It is to this
fact that we owe some entertaining passages from young
Flinders' pen concerning the voyage. The letters des
patched to Pasley are lost; but Flinders, with the love
of neatness which was ever characteristic of him, sent
only fair copies, and some of his original drafts remain
in manuscript. Pasley's letter was as follows : — *
" Bellerophon, Spithead, June 3rd, 1791
" Dear Flinders,
"lam favoured with your letter on your return from
visiting your friends at the country, and I am pleased to
hear that you are so well satisfied with your situation on
* Flinders' Papers.

30 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
board the Providence. I have little doubt of your gain
ing the good opinion of Capt. Bligh, if you are equally
attentive to your duty there as you were in the Bellero
phon. All that I have to request in return for the good
offices I have done you is that you never fail writing
me by all possible opportunities during your voyage;
and that in your letters you will be very particular and
circumstantial in regard to every thing and place you
may chance to see or visit, with your own observations
thereon. Do this, my young friend, and you may rest
assured that my good offices will not be wanting some
future day for your advancement. All on board are
well. Present my kind remembrances to Captain and
Mrs. Bligh, and believe me, yours very sincerely,
Thomas Pasley."
The Providence and Assistant left England on
August 2nd. From Santa Cruz in Teneriffe Flinders
sent his first letter to Captain Pasley. It is worth while
to quote a few passages :*
"Not a large town; streets wide, ill-paved and
irregular. The houses of the principal inhabitants
large; have little furniture, but are airy and pleasant,
suitable to the climate. Most of them have balconies,
where the owners sit and enjoy the air. Those of the
lower classes ill-built, dirty, and almost without furni
ture. In the square where the market is held, near the
pier, is a tolerably elegant marble obelisk in honour of
our Lady of Candelaria, the tutelar goddess of the place.
The Spaniards erected this statue, calling it Our Lady,
keeping up some semblance of the ancient worship that
they might better keep the Tenerifeans in subjection.
At the top of the obelisk is placed the statue, and at its
base are four well executed figures, representing the
ancient kings or princes of Teneriffe, each of which has
* Flinders' Papers.

A VOYAGE UNDER BLIGH 31
the shin-bone of a man's leg in his hand. This image
is held in great honour by the lower classes of people,
who tell many absurd stories of its first appearance in
the island, the many miracles she has wrought, etc.
"We visited a nunnery of the order of St. Dominic.
In the chapel was a fine statue of the Virgin Mary, with
four wax candles burning before her. Peeping through
the bars, we perceived several fine young women at
prayers. A middle-aged woman opened the door half
way, but would by no means suffer us to enter this
sanctified spot. None of the nuns would be prevailed
upon to come near us. However, they did not seem
at all displeased at our visit, but presented us with a
sweet candy they call Dulce, and some artificial flowers,
in return for which Mr. Smith* gave them a dollar. In
general these people appear to be a merry, good-natured
people, and are courteous to and appear happy to see
strangers. We found this always the case, although
they said we were no Christians : but they generally
took care to make us pay well for what we had. They
live principally upon fruits and roots, are fond of sing
ing and dancing, and upon the whole they live as lazily,
as contentedly, and in as much poverty as any French
peasant would wish to do."
The Cape of Good Hope was reached in October,
and Flinders told Captain Pasley what he thought of
the Dutch colonists :
"The Dutch, from having great quantities of animal
food, are rather corpulent. Nevertheless they keep up
their national characteristic for carefulness. Neither
are they very polite. A stranger will be treated with a
great deal of ceremony, but when you come to the solid
part of a compliment their generosity is at a stand. Of
all the people I ever saw these are the most ceremonious.
Every man is a soldier and wears his square-rigged hat,
*The botanist.

32 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
sword, epaulets, and military uniform. They never
pass each other without a formal bow, which even des
cends to the lowest ranks, and it is even seen in the
slaves." On April 10th, 1792, Bligh's ships anchored at
Tahiti, where they remained till July 19th. There was
no disturbance this time, and the relations between
Bligh and his crew were not embarrassed by the indul
gent kindness of the islanders. Their hospitality was
not deficient, but a wary vigilance was exercised.
At Tahiti Bligh found the major part of the crew
of a whaler, the Matilda, which had been wrecked
about six days' sail from the island. Some of the men
accepted passages on the Providence and the Assistant;
some preferred to remain with the natives; one or two
had already departed in one of the lost ship's boats to
make their way to Sydney.* Two male Tahitians
were persuaded to accompany the expedition, with a
view to their exhibition before the Royal Society, in
England, when at length, laden with 600 breadfruit
trees, it sailed for the West Indies.
The route followed from the Friendly Islands to
the Caribbean Sea was .not via Cape Horn (since that
cold and stormy passage would have destroyed every
plant), but back across the Pacific, through Torres
Strait to Timor, thence across the Indian Ocean and
round the Cape of Good Hope. St. Helena was
reached on December 17, and Bligh brought his ships
safely to Kingston, St. Vincent's, on January 13th 1793.
Three hundred breadfruit trees were landed at that
island, and a like number taken to Jamaica. The
plants were in excellent condition, some of them eleven
feet high, with leaves 36 inches long. The gardener
in charge reported to Sir Joseph Banks that the success

Marchh2nd!ni793nt " Tepott*d " the Star' a London newspaper,

A VOYAGE UNDER BLIGH 33
of the transplantations " exceeded the most sanguine ex
pectation." The sugar planters were delighted, and
voted Bligh £500 for his services.* To accentuate the
contrast between the successful second expedition and
the lamentable voyage of the Bounty, it is notable that
only one case of sickness occurred on the way, and that
from Kingston it was reported that "the healthy appear
ance of every person belonging to the expedition is re-
markable."t But though nothing in the nature of a mutiny
marred the voyage, Flinders' journal shows that Bligh's
harshness occasioned discontent. There was a short
ness of water on the run from the Pacific to the West
Indies, and as the breadfruit plants had to be watered,
and their safe carriage was the main object of the
voyage, the men had to suffer. Flinders and others
used to lick the drops that fell from the cans to appease
their thirst, and it was considered a great favour to get
a sip. The crew thought they were unfairly treated,
and somebody mischievously watered some plants with
sea-water. When Bligh discovered the offence, he flew
into a rage and "longed to flog the whole company."
But the offender could not be discovered, and the irate
captain had to let his passion fret itself out.
Bligh published no narrative of this expedition; but
Flinders was already accustoming himself to keep care
ful notes of his observations. Twenty years later,
when preparing the historical introduction to his
Voyage to Terra Australis, he wrote out from his
journal (and with Bligh's sanction published) an
account of the passage of the Providence and Assistant
through Torres Strait, as a contribution to the history
of navigation and discovery in that portion of Austral
asia. From the Pacific to the Indian Ocean the passage
* Southey, History of the West Indies (1827), III., 61.
't Annual Register, 1793, p. 6.

34 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
was accomplished in nineteen days. "Perhaps," com
mented Flinders, "no space of 3| degrees in length
presents more dangers than Torres Strait, but with
caution and perseverance the captains, Bligh and Port-
lock, proved them to be surmountable, and within a
reasonable time." Bligh's Entrance and Pordock
Reef, marked on modern charts, are reminders of a feat
of navigation which even nowadays, with the dangers
accurately described, and the well-equipped Torres
Strait pilot service to aid them, mariners recognise as
pregnant with serious risks. On this occasion it was
also attended with incidents which make it worth while
to utilise Flinders' notes, since they are of some bio
graphical importance.
The high lands of the south-eastern extremity
of Papua (New Guinea), were passed on August
30th, and at dusk on the following day breakers
"thundering on the reef" were sighted ahead. On
September 1st the vessels edged round the north end
of Portlock Reef. Thence the monotonous record
of soundings, shoals, reefs seen and charted, passages
tried and abandoned, in the prolonged attempt to
negotiate a clear course through the baffling coral
barrier, is relieved by the story of one or two sharp
brushes with armed Papuans in their long, defdy-
handled canoes. On September 5th, while boats were
out investigating a supposed passage near Darnley
Island, several large canoes shot into view. One of
these, in which were fifteen "Indians," black and quite
naked, approached the English cutter, and made signs
which were interpreted to be amicable. The officer in
charge, however, suspecting treacherous intentions, did
not think it prudent to go near enough to accept a green
cocoanut held up to him, and kept his men rowing for
the ship. Thereupon a native sitting on the shed
erected in the centre of the canoe, called a direction to

A VOYAGE UNDER BLIGH 35
the Papuans below him, who commenced to string their
bows. The officer ordered his men to fire in self-
defence, and six muskets were discharged.
"The Indians fell flat into the bottom of the canoe,
all except the man on the shed. The seventh musket
was fired at him, and he fell also. During this time the
canoe dropped astern; and, the three others having
joined her, they all gave chase to the cutter, trying to
cut her off from the ship ; in which they would probably
have succeeded, had not the pinnace arrived at that
juncture to her assistance. The Indians then hoisted
their sails and steered for Darnley Island." Flinders
had watched the encounter from the deck of the Provi
dence, and his seaman's word of admiration for the
skill of the savages in the management of their canoes,
is notable. "No boats could have been manoeuvred
better in working to windward, than were these canoes
of the naked savages. Had the four been able to reach
the cutter, it is difficult to say whether the superiority of
our arms would have been equal to the great difference
of numbers, considering the ferocity of these people and
the skill with which they seemed to manage their wea
pons." Five days later, between Dungeness and Warrior
Islands, there was a livelier encounter. A squadron of
canoes attacked both ships in a daring and vigorous
fashion. The Assistant was pressed with especial
severity, so that Portlock had to signal for help. A
volley of musketry had little effect upon the Papuans;
and when one wing of the attacking squadron, number
ing eight canoes, headed for the Providence, and a
musket was fired at the foremost, the natives responded
with "a great shout and paddled forward in a body."
Bligh had one of the great guns of the ship loaded with
round and grape shot, and fired fair into the first of the
long Papuan war canoes, which were full of savage

36 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
assailants. The round shot raked the whole length of
the craft, and struck the high stern. Men from other
canoes, with splendid bravery, leaped into the water,
and swam to the assistance of their comrades, "plunging
constantly to avoid the musket balls which showered
thickly about them." So hard was the attack pressed,
that three of the Assistant's crew were wounded, one
afterwards dying; and "the depth to which the arrows
penetrated into the decks and sides of the brig was
reported to be truly astonishing." But bows and
arrows, on this as on many another occasion, were no
match for gunnery; so that, after a hot peppering, the
Papuans gave up the fight, paddling back to a safe dis
tance as fast as they could, without exposing themselves
to fire. They rallied beyond reach of musket balls, as
though for a second onslaught, but a shot fired over
their heads from the Providence served to convince
them of the hopelessness of their endeavour, and they
abandoned it.
An incident not without heroic pathos is recorded
by Flinders. One native was left sitting alone in the
canoe which the gun-shot of the Providence had raked
and splintered. The men in the canoes which had
made good their flight observed their solitary com
panion, and some of them returned to him ; whereafter
"with glasses, signals were perceived to be made by the
Indians to their friends on Dungeness Island, expres
sive, as was thought, of grief and consternation."
Whether the lone warrior was too severely wounded to
be moved, or whether he was some Papuan Casabianca
clinging to his shattered craft "whence all but he had
fled" or been killed, or hurled into the sea, we are not
told. But that canoe had been foremost in attack,
perhaps the flagship of the squadron; and the memory
of that solitary warrior still sitting upon the floating
wreck while his defeated companions returned to him,

A VOYAGE UNDER BLIGH 37
and then left him, to explain his case with gestures of
grief to those on the island, clings to the memory of
the reader, as it did to that of the young observer and
historian of the encounter.
No more natives were seen during the passage
through Torres Strait, nor were there other incidents to
enliven the narrative, unless we include the formal
"taking possession of all the islands seen in the Strait
for His Britannic Majesty George III., with the cere
monies used on such occasions" (September 16). The
name bestowed upon the whole group of islands was
Clarence's Archipelago.
Flinders described the natives whom he saw carefully
and accurately ; and his account of their boats, weapons,
and mode of warfare is concise and good. Some
friendly Darnley Islanders were described as stoutly
made, with bushy hair; the cartilage between the nostrils
cut away; the lobes of the ears split, and stretched "to
a good length." "They had no kind of clothing, but
wore necklaces of cowrie shells fastened to a braid of
fibres; and some of their companions had pearl-oyster
shells hung round their necks. In speaking to each
other, their words seemed to be distinctly pronounced.
Their arms were bows, arrows, and clubs, which they
bartered for every kind of iron work with eagerness, but
appeared to set little value on anything else. The bows
are made of split bamboo, and so strong that no man
in the ship could bend one of them. The string is a
broad slip of cane fixed to one end of the bow ; and
fitted with a noose to go over the other end when
strung. The arrow is a cane of about four feet long,
into which a pointed piece of the hard, heavy, casuarina
wood is firmly and neatly fitted ; and some of them were
barbed. Their clubs are made of casuarina, and are
powerful weapons. The hand part is indented, and has
a small knob, by which the firmness of the grasp is

38 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
much assisted ; and the heavy end is usually carved with
some device. One had the form of a parrot's head,
with a ruff round the neck, and was not ill done.
"Their canoes are about fifty feet in length, and
appear to have been hollowed out of a single tree; and
the pieces which form the gunwales are planks sewed on
with fibres of the cocoanut and secured with pegs.
These vessels are low forward, but rise abaft; and,
being narrow, are fitted with an outrigger on each side
to keep them steady. A raft, of greater breadth than
the canoe, extends over about half the length, and
upon this is fixed a shed or hut, thatched with palm
leaves. These people, in short, appeared to be
dexterous sailors and formidable warriors, and to be as
much at ease in the water as in their canoes."
On September 19th the two ships, with caution and
perseverance, had threaded their dangerous way
through the intricate maze of reefs and shoals of Torres
Strait, and found open sea to the westward. In lati
tude 10° 8£' "no land was in sight, nor did anything
more obstruct Captain Bligh and his associates in their
route to the island Timor."
It is easy to imagine the delight with which these
experiences thrilled the young midshipman on the Pro
vidence. His eighteenth birthday was spent in the
Pacific, in the early Autumn of a hemisphere where the
sea was not yet cloven by innumerable keels, and where
beauty, enchantment and mystery lay upon life and
nature like a spell. A few years previously he had
been a schoolboy in the flattest, most monotonous of
English shires. Broad fields, dykes and fen had com
posed the landscape most familiar to his eye. In these
surroundings he had dreamed, as a boy will, of palm-
fanned islands in distant climes, of adventures with
savage peoples, of strange seas where great fishes are,
and where romance touches all that is with its purple

A VOYAGE UNDER BLIGH 39
light. Far horizons steeped in marvels had bounded
the vision of his imagining eye. His passion was to see
and do in realms at the back of the sunrise. He wanted
to sail and explore in parts represented by blank spaces
on the map.
These dreams of the boy, basking with Robinson
Crusoe under remote skies, were suddenly translated
into a reality as dazzling-bright and wonderful as any
thing pictured in pages often and fondly conned. This
was his first voyage, and he was serving under a com
mander who had lived the romance that other men
wrote and read about, who was himself a living part
of an adventure whose story will be told and re-told to
the centuries, and who had served under as great and
noble a captain as ever trod an English deck.
The very nature of the voyage was bound to stimu
late that "passion for exploring new countries," to use
Flinders' own phrase, the hope for which was a strong
factor in prompting him to choose the sea as a career.
It was a voyage whose primary object involved a stay in
two of the loveliest regions on the earth, the paradise
of the Pacific and the gem-like Antilles. The pride
and pleasure of participation in discovery were his
forthwith. A new passage through an intricate and
dangerous Strait was found and charted ; a whole archi
pelago was delineated, named, and taken possession of
for the British nation. The world's knowledge was
increased. There was something put down on the map
which was not there before. The contact with the
islanders in the Strait gave a brisk element of adven
ture to the expedition; and certainly Papuan warriors
are foes as wild and weird as any adventurer can desire
to meet. The rescuing of wrecked mariners at Tahiti
added a spice of adventure of another sort. From
beginning to end, indeed, this voyage must have been as
full of charm as of utility.

40 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
The effect it had upon the future life of Matthew
Flinders was very striking. The whole of the salient
features of his later career follow from it. He made
the most of his opportunities. Captain Bligh found
him a clever assistant in the preparation of charts and
in making astronomical observations. Indeed, says an
expert writer, although Flinders was as yet " but a
juvenile navigator, the latter branch of scientific service
and the care of the timekeepers were principally en
trusted to him."* These facts indicate that he was
applying himself seriously to the scientific side of his
profession, and that he had won the confidence of a
captain who was certainly no over-indulgent critic of
subordinates. The Providence and the Assistant returned to Eng
land in the latter part of 1793. Before Flinders once
more sighted the Australian coastline he was to ex
perience the sensations of battle, and to take a small part
in the first of the series of naval engagements connected
with the Revolutionary and Napoleonic era.

Naval Chronicle, Vol. XXXII., 180.

Chapter IV.
THE BATTLE OFF BREST
When Bligh's expedition returned, Europe was
staggering under the shock of the French Revolution.
The head of Louis XVI. was severed in January; the
knife of Charlotte Corday was plunged into the heart
of Marat in July; Marie Antoinette, the grey dis
crowned Queen of thirty-eight, mounted the scaffold in
October. The guillotine was very busy, and France
was frantic amid internal disruption and the menace of
a ring of foes.
The English governing classes had been clamouring
for war. It seemed to many political observers that it
was positively needful to launch the country into an
international struggle to divert attention from demands
for domestic reform. "Democratic ambition was
awakened; the desire of power, under the name of
reform, was rapidly gaining ground among the middling
ranks; the only mode of checking the evil was by en
gaging in a foreign contest, by drawing off the ardent
spirits into active service and, in lieu of the modern
desire for innovation, rousing the ancient gallantry of
the British people."* French military operations in the
Netherlands, running counter to traditional British
policy, were provocative, and the feeling aroused by the
execution of Louis immediately led Pitt's ministry to
order the French Ambassador, Chauvelin, to leave
London within eight days. He left at once. On
February 1st, acting on Chauvelin's report of the dis
position and preparations of Great Britain, France
formally declared war.
* Alison, History of Europe (1839), II., 128.
41

42 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Flinders was with Bligh, peacefully landing bread
fruit trees in the West Indies, when this momentous
opening of a twenty-two years' conflict occurred. When
the expedition reached England, every port and dock
yard on the south coast was humming with preparations
for a great naval struggle. The Channel Fleet, under
Lord Howe's command, was cruising in search of the
enemy's ships of war. Flinders' patron, Pasley, who
had hoisted his broad pennant as commodore on the
Bellerophon, was actively engaged in this service. In
October, 1793, he was detached by Howe to look for
five French vessels that had some time before chased the
British frigate Circe into Falmouth. Howe himself,
with a fleet of 22 sail, put to sea later in the same month.
On November 1 8 his squadron sighted six French ships
of the line and some frigates, and gave chase. But
they were seen late in the day, and soon darkness pre
vented an engagement. On the following morning the
enemy was again sighted by the chasing squadron under
Pasley; but the Latona signalled that the French were
in superior strength, and the British detachment
retired.* Howe's cruise was barren of results, and the
British fleet returned to Torbay. Naval operations
were suspended for several months.
Flinders naturally took advantage of the earliest
opportunity to report himself to the friend who had first
helped him into the King's Navy. Pasley, who was
promoted on April 12th, 1794, to the rank of Rear-
Admiral of the White, again welcomed him on board
the Bellerophon and, hearing from Captain Bligh excel
lent accounts of his diligence and usefulness, appointed
him one of his aides-de-camp. It was in this capacity
that he took part in the great battle off Brest on June
1st, 1794, signalised in British naval history as "the
glorious First of June."
* James, Naval History (1837), I., 60.

THE BATTLE OFF BREST 43
Lord Howe, with the Channel Fleet (thirty-four
ships of the line and fifteen frigates) put to sea on May
2nd with two purposes : first, to convoy to a safe distance
from the probable field of hostilities a squadron of 148
British merchantmen bound for various ports; second,
to intercept and destroy a French fleet which was known
to be convoying a large company of provision-ships
from America. War, bad harvests, the disorganiza
tion of industry, and revolutionary upheavals, had pro
duced an acute scarcity of food in France, and the
arrival of these vessels was awaited with intense anxiety.
To prevent their arrival, or to destroy the French
squadron, would be to strike a serious blow at the
enemy. Howe had under him a fleet eager for fight;
against him, a foe keenly aware how vitally necessary
to their country was the arrival of the food-ships.
The French fleet (twenty-six ships of the line)
under the command of Villaret-Joyeuse, put to sea from
Brest on May 16. Some foggy days intervened. On
the 28th Howe sighted them. The French admiral
formed his ships in a close line. Howe's plan was first
to get his fleet to windward of the enemy, then to sail
down, pierce his line, and engage his vessels to leeward.
The Bellerophon was in action shortly after coming
within striking distance, on the 28th May. Pasley, at
six o'clock in the evening, attacked the French rear, his
immediate antagonist being the Revolutionnaire, 110
guns. A hot duel, maintained with splendid intrepidity
by the British rear-admiral, continued for over an hour
and a quarter, for the other ships of the British fleet
were unable to get up to support the fast-sailing Belle
rophon. She was severely handled by her large antago
nist, and was hampered in her ability to manoeuvre
by a shot which injured her mainmast. Pasley therefore,
on a signal from the Admiral, bore up. The
Revolutionnaire was now attacked from a distance by

44 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
the Russell, the Marlborough and the Thunderer, and
endeavoured to make off, but was blocked by the
Leviathan. The Audacious (74) took up the work
which the Bellerophon had commenced, and, laying her
self on the lee quarter of the Revolutionnaire, poured a
rain of shot into her. The fight was continued in a
rough sea far into the twilight of that early summer
evening; until, about 10 o'clock, the Revolutionnaire
was a mere floating hulk. Her flag had either been
lowered or shot down, but she was not captured, and
was towed into Rochefort on the following day. The
Audacious was so badly knocked about that she was of
no use for later engagements, and was sent home.
This was Matthew Flinders' first taste of war.
Howe's plan for the big battle that was imminent
involved much manoeuvring, and, as Nelson wrote in
his celebrated "plan of attack" before Trafalgar, "a
day is soon lost in that business." The British
manoeuvred to get the weather gauge; Villaret-Joyeuse
to keep it. On May 29th Howe in the Queen
Charlotte pierced the French line with two other ships,
the Bellerophon and the Leviathan, and there was some
fighting. The Bellerophon got to windward of the
enemy by passing in front of the French Terrible
(110), and put in some excellent gunnery practice. She
sailed so close to the French ship to starboard as almost
to touch her, and brought down the enemy's topmast and
lower yards with a broadside, whilst at the same time
she raked the Terrible with her larboard guns.*
May 30 and 31 were foggy days, and neither fleet
could see the other. On June 1st there was a blue sky,
a brilliant sun, a lively sea, and a wind that favoured the
* There is an interesting engraving of the Bellerophon passing
through the French line and firing both her broadsides in the Naval
Chronicle, Vol. I., and a plan of the manoeuvre, showing the course
of the Bellerophon, in James's Naval History.

THE BATTLE OFF BREST 45
plans of the British Admiral. The signal for close
action was flown from the masthead of the Queen
Charlotte. Howe ordered his ships to sail on an
oblique course down upon the French line, the two fleets
having during the night lain in parallel lines stretching
east and west. The intention was to break the French
line near the centre, each British captain sailing round
the stern of his antagonist, and fighting her to leeward,
thus concentrating the attack on the enemy's rear, cut
ting it off from the van, and preventing flight.
The Bellerophon was the second ship in the
British line, next after the Caesar. Flinders was upon
the quarterdeck as she steered through her selected gap,
which was on the weather quarter of the Eole; and an
anecdote of his behaviour on that memorable occasion
fortunately survives. The guns on the quarterdeck
were loaded and primed ready for use, but Pasley did
not intend to fire them until he had laid himself on the
lee of his chosen adversary, and could pour a broadside
into her with crushing effect. There was a moment
when the gunners were aloft trimming sails. As the
Bellerophon was passing close under the stern of the
French three-decker — within musket-shot, James says — *
Flinders seized a lighted match and rapidly fired as
many of the quarterdeck guns as would plump shot
fairly into her.f Pasley saw him and, shaking him by
the collar, said, sternly: "How dare you do that,
youngster, without my orders?" Flinders replied that
he "thought it a fine chance to have a shot at 'em."
So it was, though not in conformity with orders; and
probably Pasley, as good a fighter as there was in the
fleet, liked his young aide-de-camp rather the more for
his impetuous action.
The guns of the Bellerophon were opened upon the
* Naval History, I., 154.
t Naval Chronicle, XXXIL, 180.

46

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

Eole at 8.45, and battered her severely. The British
vessel was subjected in turn, however, not only to the fire
of her chosen victim, but also to that of the Trajan.
At ten minutes to eleven o'clock a shot from the Eole
took off Pasley's leg, and he was carried down to the
cockpit, whereupon the command devolved upon
Captain William Hope. It must have been a dis
tressing moment for Flinders, despite the intense
excitement of action, when his friend and commander
fell; it was indeed, as will be seen, a crucial moment in
his career. A doggerel bard of the time enshrined the
event in a verse as badly in need of surgical aid as were
the heroes whom it celebrates :
" Bravo, Bowyer, Pasley, Captain Hutt,
Each lost a leg, being sorely hurt ;
Their lives they valued but as dirt,
When that their country called them !"*
The fight was continued with unflagging vigour, in the
absence of the' gallant rear-admiral, who, as another
lyrist of the event informs us, smiled and said —
" Fight on my lads and try
To make these rebel Frenchmen know
That British courage still will flow
To make them strike or die."
At a quarter before noon the Eole had received such a
hammering that she endeavoured to wear round under
shelter of her leader; but in doing so she lost main
mast and foretopmast. The Bellerophon, too, had by
this time been sufficiently hard hit to cause Hope to
signal to the Latona for assistance. Her foretopmast
and maintopmast had gone, and her mainmast was so
badly damaged as to be dangerous. Her rigging was
cut to pieces, all her boats were smashed, and she was
practically as crippled as was her brave commander,
* Naval Songs and Ballads — Publications of the Navy Record
Society, Vol. XXXIII., 270.

THE BATTLE OFF BREST 47
upon whom the surgeons had been operating down
below, amid the blood of the cockpit and the thunder
and smoke of the cannon.
The battle ended about 1 p.m. The French fleet
was badly beaten, and Villaret-Joyeuse at the end of the
day drew back to Brest only a battered, splintered and
ragged remnant of the fine squadron which he had com
manded. Still, the French provision ships slipped by
and arrived safely in port. The squadron had been
sent out to enable them to get in, and in they were,
though it had cost a fleet to get them in. Nelson used
the phrase "a Lord Howe victory" disparagingly.
Nothing short of a complete smashing of the enemy and
the utter frustration of his purposes would ever satisfy
that ardent soul.
For the sake of clearness, the general scheme of the
battle has been described, together with the part played
in it by the Bellerophon; but we fortunately have a
detailed account of it by Flinders himself. Young as
he was, only a few weeks over 20 years of age,
he was evidently cool, and his journal is crowded
with carefully observed facts, noted amidst the
heat and confusion of conflict; and it is doubtful
whether there is in existence a better story of
this important fleet action. The manuscript of
his journal occupies forty foolscap pages. It is
much damaged by sea-water, the paper in some parts
having been rendered quite pulpy. But the sheets re
lating to the 1st of June are entirely legible. As the
reader will see, there is here no rhetoric, no excited use
of vivid adjectives to give colour to the story. It is a
calmly observed piece of history. Read attentively,
it enables one to live through the stirring events with
which it deals in a singularly thrilling style. We feel
the crash and thunder and hustle of battle far more
keenly from the detailed accumulation of occurrences

48

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

here presented than any scene-painting prose could make
us do. The journal begins on September 7th, 1793,
when Flinders joined the Bellerophon, and continues till
August 10th, 1794, when he quitted her. In the early
part it deals principally with cruising up and down the
Channel looking for the enemy's ships. Occasionally
there was a skirmish. We may select a few instances
from this period, before coming to what immediately
preceded the great day: —
"Wednesday, 11th (September, 1793) a.m.
Hoisted a broad pennant by order of Lord Howe, Capt.
Pasley being appointed a commodore of the fleet.
Weighed and anchored in our station in Torbay.
"Monday, November 18th*. Saw nine or ten sail,
seemingly large ships, standing towards us. The
admiral made the Russell and Defence signals to chase,
also the Audacious ; and soon after ours. By this time
the strange ships had brought to, hull down, to wind
ward, seemingly in some confusion. The Ganges'
signal was also made to chase. At 9 the Admiral made
the sign for the strange fleet being an enemy, and for
our sternmost ships to make more sail. At 10 the
signal to engage as the other ships came up was made.
The enemy had now hauled their wind, and standing
from us with as much sail as they could carry. Split
one jib; got another bent as fast as possible. We were
now the headmost line of battle ship and gaining fast
upon the enemy; but the main part of our fleet seemed
rather to drop from them. St. Agnes N. 34° E. 89
miles. Ship all clear for action since 9 o'clock.
"Tuesday, November 19th, 1793. Judge six of
the enemy's ships to be of the line, two frigates and two
brigs .... On the wind shifting at 4 in a squall,
tacked, as did the Latona, which brought her near the
* See note, p. 56.

Fold out

THE BATTLE OFF BREST 49
rear of the enemy's ships, at which she fired several
shot; she tacked again at 5, and fired, which the stern-
most of their ships returned. At dark the enemy passed
to windward of us, about 5 or 6 miles .... 12, set
top-gallant-sails, but obliged to take them in again for
fear of carrying away the masts. Sundry attempts
were made during the night to set, but as often obliged
to take them in. At 12 lost sight of all our ships
except one frigate. The weather very hazy, with
squalls at times, and at 2 a heavy shower of rain, which
lasted a considerable time. When it cleared a little,
saw two or three of the enemy's ships ahead of the
others on the lee bow. Very thick and hazy, with much
rain. Made the signal that the enemy had bore away.
Saw the Latona and Phoenix, who seemed suspicious of
each other, but on discovering they were friends both
bore away after one of the enemy's ships . . . About
9, the Phoenix and Latona being the only friends in
sight, the latter made the signal for the enemy being
superior to the ships chasing. Soon after we made the
signal to call the frigates in. . . . In the firing the pre
ceding evening the Latona received a shot between wind
and water in the breadroom, and another in the galley;
but happily no one was hurt and but little injury
received." An amusing example of an attempt to "dodge,"
under false colours, is related on the following day.
The trick did not succeed.
"Wednesday, November 27th, 1793, a.m. Hazy
weather. Squadron in company. Saw a strange ship
to the southward, who hoisted an Union Jack at the
main topmast head and a red flag at the fore. The
Phoenix being ahead made the private signal, but the
stranger not answering she made the signal for an
enemy. We immediately made the general signal to
chase. At 10 the Phoenix and Latona fired a few shots

50 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
at her, upon which she hoisted French colours, dis
charged her guns, and struck. She proved to be La
Blonde of 28 guns and 190 men. The squadron
brought to. The French captain came on board and
surrendered his sword to the commodore. Separated
the prisoners amongst the squadron. An officer of the
Phoenix sent to take charge of the prize and a party of
men from each ship.
" Tuesday, December 1st, 1793. Brought to. The
Phoenix sent into Falmouth, Mr. Waterhouse,
Lieutenant, sent in her to take charge of the Blonde
prize." The French fleet, as related above, put out of Brest
on May 16, 1794. Flinders tells us how they were
sighted, and what happened during the days preceding
the great battle : —
"Friday, May 23rd. The Southampton brought a
strange brig into the fleet and destroyed her . . . a.m.
A fine little ship, called the Albion, of Bermuda, set on
fire by the Glory. The Aquilon brought a strange ship
into the fleet. A galliot, with Dutch colours inverted,
passed through the fleet, having been set on fire by the
Niger ... A French man-of-war, captured and
brought into the fleet by the frigates, was set on fire.
"Saturday, May 24. The ship brought into the
fleet by the Aquilon left us and stood to the eastward.
She was bound to Hull, and was part of a Dutch con
voy, most of which had been taken and destroyed by the
French fleet on Wednesday last.
"Sunday, May 25th. At daybreak saw four sail
to windward ; our squadron sent in chase. Fired a shot
and brought to a French brig, man-of-war. Made signal
that the prize was not secure, and chased a large ship
further to windward, apparently of the line, and with
another ship in tow. Tacked as soon as she was on
our beam. She had cast off her prize as soon as we

THE BATTLE OFF BREST 51
fired at the brig. In passing, fired at and brought to
a French corvette; but left her for the fleet to pick up.
Passed to leeward of the ship the chase had in tow. She
appeared to be a large merchantman and had up
American colours. The frigates in chase picked her
up soon after. At 10 the chase was nearly hull down,
and gained upon us. Stood back to the fleet, being re
called by signal. Saw one of the prizes in flames, and
found the three had been destroyed at noon; 162
leagues W. by S. of Ushant."
In the ensuing pages we are brought into the thick
of the battle.
"Wednesday, May 28th. Saw two strange sail,
one of which the Phoenix spoke, and soon after made
signal for a strange fleet S.S.W. About 8, we counted
33 sail, 24 or 25 of which appeared to be of the line,
and all standing down towards us. At 8.30 our signal
was made to reconnoitre the enemy — as we were now
certain they were. A frigate of their's was likewise
looking at us. At noon the enemy's fleet S.W. to
W.S.W., on the larboard tack under an easy sail in line
ahead, and distant 3 or 4 leagues. Our fleet 3 or 4
leagues to leeward in the order of sailing or under a
press of sail. Ushant N. 82° E. 143 leagues.
"Thursday, May 29th, 1794. Fresh gales with
rain at times, and a swell from the westward. Re
peated the general signals for chase, battle, etc. Kd.*
* "Kd. ship" is an expression which puzzled Professor
Flinders Petrie, who appended a note to the Flinders papers,
suggesting that it could hardly mean kedged. Captain Bayldon
supplies an exceedingly interesting explanation : —
"Without the least doubt 'Kd. ship' means 'tacked ship.' 'Kd.'
is either a private abbreviation of Flinders' for 'tacked' or else
he intended to have written 'Tkd.' There is no nautical term
beginning with K which would make the least sense under the
circumstances. ' Kedged ' is utterly inadmissable ; both fleets
were under way in pretty heavy weather. ' Working to wind
ward ' practically means ' tacking ship.' So why did Flinders
mention an obvious fact, 'tacked ship' ? Because the weather

52 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
ship occasionally, working to windward under a press
of sail, our squadron and the frigates in company, and
our fleet a few miles to leeward. About 3 the Russell,
being a mile or two to windward of us, began to fire on
the enemy's rear, as they were hauling on the larboard
tack, and continued to stand on with the Thunderer and
frigates, to get into their wake. We tacked a little
before the rear ship was on our beam, which enabled
us to bring them to action a considerable time before
the other ships could come up to our assistance. Our
first fire was directed on a large frigate which brought
up the enemy's rear, but she soon made sail and went to
windward of the next ship (a three-decker)* on whom
we immediately pointed our guns. In a few minutes
she returned it with great spirit, our distance from her
being something more than a mile. My Lord Howe,
seeing us engaged with a three-decked ship, and the next
ahead of him frequently giving us a few guns, made the
Russell and Marlborough's signals to come to our assist-
was bad, strong breezes, heavy swell, and therefore it was very
hazardous to tack ship (on account of throwing the sails aback)
and also many ships could not be forced into tacking with a
heavy head swell. Consequently it is usual to wear ship under
these conditions (turn her round before the wind). So he then
mentions 'under a press of sail,' to force her up into the wind
(also making it a risky manoeuvre, for they could easily lose
their masts — foremast especially). Hence he was proud of
the manoeuvre, so mentions, ' tacked ship occasionally, under a press
of sail.' On the 29th May at 8 a.m., the French van wore in
succession. (Fresh wind, heavy head sea). Soon after noon
(Flinders' old nautical time gives May 30th) Lord Howe signalled
the British fleet to tack in succession. The leading ship, the Caesar,
instead of obeying, made the signal of inability and wore round. The
next ship, the Queen, also wore. So (at 1.30 p.m.) Lord Howe set
the example in the Queen Charlotte and tacked. Pasley's Bellero
phon followed him, and tacked also; the Leviathan tacked and
followed her. These three ships were the only ones to tack. All
the remainder wore, and so did the French. Either their captains
would not take the risk, or else could not force their ships through
the heavy head sea. So I expect Flinders and the 'Bully ruffians'
felt elated at their performance and he intended to record 'Tkd
ship.' "
* The Revolutionnaire.

THE BATTLE OFF BREST 53
ance, they being on the weather quarter. About dusk
more of the fleet had got up with us, the signal having
been made to chase without regard to order. The
Leviathan and Audacious, particularly, passed to wind
ward of us, and came to close engagement; the first
keeping as close to him to leeward as she could fetch,
and the latter fetching to windward of him, laid herself
athwart his stern and gave a severe raking. The head
most of the French fleet were apparently hove to, but
made no effort to relieve their comrade. At this time
our maincap was seen to be so badly sprung as to oblige
us to take in the main topsail; the larboard topsail sheet
block was likewise shot away. Got down the top
gallant yard and mast, and, the ship being scarcely
under command, we made the signal for inability. Soon
after the Admiral called us by signal into his wake. The
enemy's rear ship about 9 had his mizzenmast gone and
he bore down towards us, the Russell and Thunderer
striking close to his weather quarter and lee bow, keep
ing up a severe fire, but he scarcely returned a shot.
Having got clear of them he continued coming down on
us, apparently with the intention of striking to our flag,
but firing a shot now and then. He was intercepted by
one of our ships, who running to leeward of him soon
silenced his guns, and, we concluded, had obliged him
to strike. The enemy's fleet were now collected about
3 miles to windward, carrying lights, as did ours. We
were in no regular order, it having been broken up by
the chase. A.M., employed securing the maincap, etc.
All hands kept at quarters. Fresh breezes and hazy
weather. At daybreak the enemy's line was formed
about 2 miles distant, and our commander in chief made
the signal to form the line of battle, and take stations
as most convenient. We bore down and took ours
astern of the Queen Charlotte, the Marlborough and
Royal Sovereign following. About 8 our fleet tacked

54 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
in succession, with a view to cut off the enemy's rear,
the Caesar leading and my Lord Howe the 10th ship.
As soon as our van were sufficiently near to bring them
to action, the enemy's whole fleet wore in succession, and
ran to leeward of their line in order to support their
rear, and edged down van to van. At 10 the firing
commenced between the headmost ships of both lines,
but at too great a distance to do much execution, and the
Admiral made the signal to tack in succession in order
to bring the enemy to close action, but not being taken
notice of, about noon it was repeated with a gun. The
Leviathan, being next ahead of the Admiral, fired some
guns, but the Queen Charlotte and those astern- did not
attempt it. Flazy weather at noon with a considerable
swell from the westward. Latitude observed to be
47° 35' N. Note — We found this morning at day
break that the Audacious was missing, and we concluded
was the ship who had secured the prize, neither being in
sight.* " Friday, May 30th. Fresh breezes and hazy
weather. The signal for the van to tack was again
repeated, when the Caesar made the signal of inability ;
but at last they got round, and the Admiral made signal
to cut through the enemy's line ; but finding our leading
ships were passing to leeward, we tacked a considerable
time before the ships came in succession, and luffed up
as close to them as possible. The enemy were now well
within point-blank shot, which began to fall very thick
about us, and several had passed through our sails
before we tacked. Immediately we came into the
Queen Charlotte's wake we tacked, lay up well for the
enemy's rear, and began a severe fire, giving it to each
* Of course this surmise was incorrect. The Audacious had not
secured the Revolutionnaire which was towed into Rochefort by
the > Audaaeux (curious similarity in names). The Audacious
bady crippled made her way to Plymouth alone.— [Captain Bayl-
don s note].

THE BATTLE OFF BREST 55
ship as we passed. My Lord Howe in the Charlotte
kept his luff, and cut through their line between the 4th
and 5th ship in the rear. We followed, and passed
between the 2nd and 3rd. The rest of the fleet passed
to leeward. Their third ship gave us a severe broad
side on the bow as we approached to pass under her
stern, and which we took care to return by two on her
quarter and stern. Before we had cleared her, her fore
and maintop masts fell over the side, and she was
silenced for a while, but it was only till we had passed
her. Their rear ship received several broadsides even
from our three-deckers, but kept her colours up. The
Orion then ran down to her, but getting upon her beam
and too far to leeward was obliged to leave her, and she
got to her own fleet, whom we were now to windward of.
Lord Howe made the signal to tack, and for a general
chase, but few of the van ships were able to follow him.
For ourselves, we lay to, to reeve new braces and re
pair the rigging, which was entirely cut to pieces for
ward. The foresail was rendered useless, and was cut
away, and being only able to set a close-reefed main top
sail for fear of the cap giving way, we were not able to
follow his lordship. The French perceiving how few
followed them, rallied, tacked, and supported their dis
abled ships, and even made a feint to cut off the Queen,
who was rendered a wreck. The Admiral, seeing their
intention, bore down with several of the heavy ships
who had not been engaged, and forced them to leeward
of our disabled ships. At 5.30 having got a new fore
sail bent, and the rigging in a little order, we bore down
and joined the Admiral, who soon after formed the line
in two divisions, and stood to the westward under an
easy sail abreast of the enemy, who were to leeward in
a line ahead; the disabled ships in both fleets repairing
their damages, several of theirs being without topmasts
and topsail yards. At sunset saw two ships pass to

56 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
windward, conjectured to be the Audacious and prize.
Employed splicing and knotting the rigging, and repair
ing sails, not one of which but had several shot through
them. The truck of the foretopgallant mast was like
wise shot away. A.M., thick foggy weather. Saw the
enemy at times N.N.W. 4 or 5 miles. At noon very
foggy. Latitude 47° 39' N. by dull observation.
"Saturday, May 31st, 1794. Lost sight of the
enemy and only four of our own ships in sight. People
employed repairing sail, rigging, etc., with all expedition.
At noon thick and foggy. No enemy in sight; 30 sail
of our own ships.
"Sunday, June 1st, 1794.* Moderate breezes and
foggy weather. Before two it began to clear up. Saw
the enemy to leeward, 8 or 9 miles distant, and made
the signal for that purpose. Soon after the whole fleet
bore down towards them by signal. The enemy were
edging away from the wind, and several of their ships
were changing stations in the line; some of them with
out topmasts and topsail yards. About 7, the van of
our fleet being within three miles of the enemy's centre,
the heavy ships in the rear a considerable way astern,
the Admiral made the signal to haul to the wind
together on the larboard tack, judging we should not be
able to bring on a general action to-night. At sunset
the enemy were in a line ahead from N.W. by W. to
N.E. by E. about four miles distant, and apparently
steering about two points from the wind. At 11 the
Phaeton passed along the line, and informed the
different ships that Lord Howe intended carrying single
reefed T.S.F. sail, jib and M.T.M.S. sail.t After
* Nautical reckoning in Flinders' day was 12 hours ahead; i.e.,
his June 1 began at noon on May 31. Occurrences following "a.m.,"
happened on June 1 by the Almanac.
t Letters probably denote single reefed Top Sails, Fore sail, jib
and Main Topmast and Main Stay sails.

THE BATTLE OFF BREST 57
speaking us he kept on our lee bow; each ship
carrying a light by signal. A.M., fresh breezes
and cloudy. At daybreak the enemy not in sight,
our rear ships a long way astern, their signal made
to make more sail ; when the line became tolerably con
nected, the whole fleet bore away and steered N.W. by
signal. A little before six saw the enemy in the N.
by E. about 3 leagues. Made the signal to the Admiral
for that purpose, who by signal ordered the fleet to
alter the course to starboard together, bearing down
towards them. About 8, being nearly within shot of
the enemy's van, hove to for the rear of the fleet to
come up. Lord Howe made the signal 34, which we
understood was to pass through the enemy's line, but it
did not seem to be understood by the rest of the fleet.
At 8.10 the signal was made to bear up and each
engage his opponent. We accordingly ran down within
musket shot of our opponent, and hove to, having
received several broadsides from their van ships in so
doing. We now began a severe fire upon our opponent,
the second ship in the enemy's van, which she returned
with great briskness. The van ship likewise fired many
shot at us, his opponent the Caesar keeping to wind
ward, not more than two points before our beam in
general, and of course nearly out of point-blank shot.
About 8.30 Admiral Graves made his and the Russell's
signal to engage their opponent; we likewise made
Captain Molloy's (the Caesar) signal twice to bear
down and come to close action. About 9 the action
became general throughout the two fleets, but the
Tremendous kept out of the line, but on being ordered
in by signal from the Admiral, she bore down after
some time. A little before 11 our brave Admiral
(Pasley) lost his leg by an 18-pound shot, which came
through the barricading of the quarter-deck. It was now
the heat of the action. The Caesar was not yet come

58 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
close to his opponent, who in consequence of that fired
all his after guns at us. Our own ship kept up a severe
fire, and by keeping well astern to let the Caesar take
her station, their third van ship shot up on our quarter,
and for some time fired all his fore guns upon us. Our
shot was directed on three different ships as the guns
could be got to bear. In ten or fifteen minutes we saw
the foremast of the third ship go by the board, and the
second ship's main-top-sail-yard down upon the cap.
Otherwise the two headmost had not received much
apparent injury, at least in the rigging. At Hi, however,
they both bore away and quitted the line, their Admiral
being obliged to do the same some time before by the
Queen Charlotte. On seeing the two van ships hauling
upon the other tack, we conjectured they meant to give
us their starboard guns. The Caesar's signal was
immediately made by us to chase the flying ships. On
his bearing down they were put into confusion, and their
ship falling down upon them they received several
broadsides from the Leviathan and us, before they
could get clear; which when they effected they kept
away a little, then hauled their wind in the starboard
tack,, and stood away from the opposing fleets. And
now, being in no condition to follow, we ceased firing;
the main and foretopmast being gone, every main
shroud but one on the larboard side cut through, and
many on the other, besides having the main and fore
masts with all the rigging and sails in general much
injured. We made the Latona' s signal to come to our
assistance, and got entirely out of action. When the
smoke cleared away, saw eleven ships without a mast
standing, two of whom proved to be the Marlborough
and Defence. The rest were enemy's, who, notwith
standing their situation kept their colours up, and fired
at any of our ships that came near them. The
Leviathan's opponent particularly (the same ship whose

THE BATTLE OFF BREST 59
foremast we shot away) lying perfectly dismasted, the
Leviathan ran down to him to take possession; but on
her firing a gun to make him haul down his colours, he
returned a broadside, and a severe action again com
menced between them for nearly half an hour, and we
could see shot falling on the water on the opposite side
of the Frenchman, which appeared to have gone
through both his sides, the ships being at half a cable's
length from each other. The Leviathan falling to lee
ward could not take the advantage of him her sails
gave her, and, seeing his obstinacy, left him, but not
before his fire was nearly silenced. About 11.30 the
firing was pretty well ceased on all sides, the Queen
having only a foremast standing was fallen to leeward
between the two fleets. She stood on the larboard tack
to fetch our fleet, keeping to the wind in an astonishing
manner, which we afterwards learnt was effected by
getting up boat's sails abaft. In this situation every
ship she passed gave her a broadside or more, which she
returned with great spirit, keeping up an almost incess
ant blaze. After she had stood on past the fleets, she
wore round and stood back, pursuing the same conduct
as before, but the French, having collected their best-
conditioned ships in a body, and being joined by two or
three other disabled ships, were making off, having
apparently given up all ideas of saving the rest. On
this our fleet stood down a little, and the Queen joined.
We were now employed knotting, splicing, repairing,
etc., the rigging, cutting away the wrecks of the fore and
main topmasts, and securing the lower masts. Fortu
nately no accident happened with the powder, or with
guns bursting. We had but three men killed outright
(a fourth died of his wounds very soon after) and
about 30 men wounded, amongst whom five lost their
limbs, and the other leg of one man was so much
shattered as to be taken off some time after. Our

60 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
brave Admiral was unfortunately in this list, as before
observed. Captain Smith of the Marines and Mr.
Chapman, boatswain, were amongst the wounded on the
second day. Most of our spars were destroyed, and the
boats severely injured. About noon we had still fine
weather and the enemy standing away from us, except
one ship, which did not seem injured, and paraded to
windward, as if with the intention of giving some of us
disabled ships a brush. However, we were well pre
pared for him, having got tolerably clear of the wreck,
and he stood back again and out of sight, having
spoken one of their wrecks. Lord Howe made the
signal to form the line as most convenient, but it was a
long time before that movement could be effected."
Flinders wrote in his journal an estimate of the
French sailors who were put on board his ship as
prisoners. It is of some historical value: —
"Their seamen, if we may judge from our own
prisoners, are in a very bad state both with respect to
discipline and knowledge of their profession; both
which were evidently shown by the condition we saw
them in on the 31st, many of them being without top
masts and topsail yards, and nearly in as bad a state as
on the 29th after the action. 'Tis true they were rather
better when we saw them in the morning of June 1st.
Out of our 198 prisoners there certainly cannot be
above 15 or 20 seamen, and all together were the
dirtiest, laziest set of beings conceivable. How an idea
of liberty, and more so that of fighting for it, should
enter into their heads, I know not; but by their own con
fession it is not their wish and pleasure, but that of those
who sent them; and so little is it their own that in the
Brunswick (who was engaged yardarm and yardarm
with the Vengeur) they could see the French officers
cutting down the men for deserting their quarters In
deed, in the instances of the Russell and Thunderer

THE BATTLE OFF BREST 61
when close to the Revolutionnaire, and ours when cut
ting through the line, the French do not like to come too
close. A mile off they will fight desperately."
Pasley's loss of a leg had a decisive effect upon the
career of Matthew Flinders. So fine a sailor and so
tough a fighting man would unquestionably, if not
partially incapacitated, have had conferred upon him
during the following years of war commands that would
have led to his playing a very prominent part in fleet
operations. As it was, he did not go to sea again,
though he was promoted through various ranks to that
of Admiral of the Blue (1801). He became com
mander in chief at the Nore in 1798, and at Plymouth
in 1799. Had he received other sea commands, his
vigorous, alert young aide-de-camp might have con
tinued to serve with him, and would thus have just
missed the opportunities that came to him in his next
sphere of employment. What young officer would not
have eagerly followed a gallant and warm-hearted
Admiral who had first placed him upon a British
quarterdeck and had made him an aide-de-camp? As
it was, the chance that came to Flinders about two
months after the battle off Brest was one that ministered
to his decided preference for service in seas where there
was exploratory work to do.
Pasley's influence upon the life of Flinders was so
important, that a characterisation of him by one who
has perused his letters and journals must be quoted.*
"It is impossible," writes Miss L. M. Sabine Pasley,
"not to be impressed from these journals with a strong
* Memoir of Admiral Sir T. S. Pasley, by Louisa M. Sabine
Pasley. Sir T. S. Pasley was the grandson of Flinders' Admiral.
It unfortunately happens that the Journals of "old Sir Thomas"
which are extant do not cover the period when Flinders acted as
his aide-de-camp. Miss Sabine Pasley was kind enough to have a
search made among his papers for any trace of Flinders' relations
with him, but without success.

62

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

feeling of respect for the writer, so simple-minded, so
kind-hearted, such a brave old sailor of his time — rough,
no doubt, in manners and language, but with an earnest
and genuine piety that shows itself from time to time
in little ejaculations and prayers, contrasting, it must be
owned, rather strongly with the terms in which the
'rascally Yankies' are alluded to in the same pages."
What Howe thought of him is recorded in a letter
which he sent to the Rear-Admiral a fortnight after
the battle, regretting that "the services of a friend he
so highly esteemed and so gallant an officer, capable of
such spirited exertions, should be restrained by any
disaster from the continued exertion of them." There
is also on record a letter to Pasley from the Prime
Minister, a model of grace and delicate feeling, in
which Pitt signified that the King had conferred on him
a baronetcy "as a mark of the sense which His Majesty
entertains of the distinguished share which you bore in
the late successful and glorious operations of His
Majesty's fleet," and assured him "of the sincere satis
faction which I personally feel in executing this com
mission." On the south-western coast of Australia, eight years
later, Flinders remembered his first commander when
naming the natural features of the country. Cape
Pasley, at the western tip of the arc of the great Aus
tralian Bight, celebrates "the late Admiral Sir Thomas
Pasley, under whom I had the honour of entering the
naval service."* On some current maps of Australia
the cape is spelt "Paisley," an error which obscures the
interesting biographical fact with which the name is
connected. It is notewothy that though the career of Flinders
as a naval officer covers the stormiest period in British
* Flinders, Voyage to Terra Australis, I., 87.

THE BATTLE OFF BREST 63
naval history, the whole of his personal experience of
battle was confined to these five days, May 28 to June 1,
1794. The whole significance of his life lies in the
work of discovery that he accomplished, and in the con
tributions he made to geography and navigation. Yet
he was destined to feel the effect of the enmity of the
French in a peculiarly distressing form. His useful
life was cut short largely by misfortunes that came upon
him as a consequence of war, and work which he would
have done to the enhancement of his reputation and the
advancement of civilisation was thwarted by it.

Chapter V.
AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHY BEFORE
FLINDERS
In order that the importance of the work done by
Flinders may be adequately appreciated, it is necessary
to understand the state of information concerning Aus
tralian geography before the time of his discoveries.
Not only did he complete the main outlines of the map
of the continent, but he filled in many details in parts
that had been traversed by his predecessors. This is a
convenient point whereat to interrupt the narrative of
his life with a brief sketch of what those predecessors
had done, and of the curiously haphazard mode in
which a partial knowledge of this fifth division of the
globe had been pieced together.
There never was, until Flinders applied himself to
the task, any deliberately-planned, systematic, persis
tent exploration of any portion of the Australian coast.
The continent grew on the map of the world gradually,
slowly, almost accidentally. It emerged out of the un
known, like some vast mythical monster heaving its
large shoulders dank and dripping from the unfathomed
sea, and metamorphosed by a kiss from the lips of
knowledge into a being fair to look upon and rich in
kindly favours. It took two centuries and a half for
civilised mankind to know Australia, even in form,
from the time when it was clearly understood that there
was such a country, until at length it was mapped,
measured and circumnavigated. Before this process
began, there was a dialectical stage, when it was hotly
contested whether there could possibly be upon the globe
lands antipodean to Europe ; and both earlier and later

64

TIMS place
I i iiit ^ v ' 1 1 i < ' T 1 1 Iic*< fair - « r i < f i(.'-
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i "rrn I <:\v. I'M. i. \i )i-;i:s TO
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i
' wag eel a pa n
on 12. J~a ji . fr M
with Che sajicr.ion of
[,'[' GOI . . 'A UYI tt . !•, .If
.1 lien C roVornor ni' ( lw ( < . i
^ a n< I. m ( he 1 1 1 ¦.- ( \'ca.r of iW
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adorned wifh mis ATcrfiumenj
to the pei j ><•( ua I Xlcn i< i
of the illi i-i I'ioi!./ N,i\-f<V|.i ( or4
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"H JT- » ,.

TABLET ON THE .MEMORIAL ERECTED BY SIR JOHN
FRANKLIN AT PORT LINCOLN, S.A.

AUSTRALIA BEFORE FLINDERS 65
there were conjectural stages when makers of maps.
having no certain data, but feeling sure that the blank
southern hemisphere ought to be filled up somehow,
exercised a vagrant fancy and satisfied a long-felt want
by decorating their drawings with representations of a
Terra Incognita having not even a casual resemblance
to the reality.
The process presents few points of resemblance to
that by which the discovery of America was accom
plished. Almost as soon as Europe came into touch
with the western hemisphere, discovery was pursued
with unflagging energy, until its whole extent and con
tour were substantially known. Within fifty years
after Columbus led the way across the Atlantic ( 1492) ,
North and South America were laid down with some
thing approaching precision; and Gerard Mercator's
map of 1541 presented the greater part of the continent
with the name fairly inscribed upon it. There were, it
is true, some errors and some gaps, especially on the
west coast, which left work for navigators to do. But
the essential point is that in less than half a century
Europe had practically comprehended America as an
addition to the known world. There was but a brief
twilight interval between nescience and knowledge.
How different was the case with Australia! Three
hundred years after the date of Columbus' first voyage,
the mere outline of this continent had not been wholly
mapped. During the middle ages, when ingenious men
exercised infinite subtlety in speculation, and wrote large
Latin folios to prove each other wrong in matters about
which neither party knew anything at all, there was
much dissertation about the possibility of antipodes.
Bishops and saints waxed eloquent upon the theme. The
difficulty of conceiving of lands where people walked
about with their heads hanging downwards, and their

66 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
feet exactly opposite to those of Europeans, was too
much for some of the scribes who debated "about it
and about." The Greek, Cosmas Indicopleustes, de
nounced the "old wives' fable of Antipodes," and asked
how rain could be said to "fall," as in the Scriptures,
in regions where it would have to "come up."* Some
would have it that a belief in Antipodes was heretical.
But Isidore of Seville, in his Liber de Natura Rerum,
Basil of Caesarea, Ambrose of Milan, and Vergil
Bishop of Salzburg, an Irish saint, declined to regard
the question as a closed one. "Nam. partes eius {i.e. of
the earth) quatuor sunt," argued Isidore. Curiously
enough, the copy of the works of the Saint of Seville
used by the author (published at Rome in 1803),
was salvaged from a wreck which occurred on the Aus
tralian coast many years ago. It is stained with sea-
water, and emits the musty smell which tells of immer
sion. An inscription inside the cover relates the cir
cumstance of the wreck. Who possessed the book one
does not know; some travelling scholar may have
perused it during the long voyage from Europe; and
one fancies him, as the ship bumped upon the rocks,
exclaiming "Yes, Isidore was right, there are
antipodes!" From about the fourth quarter of the sixteenth cen
tury until the date of Abel Tasman's voyages, 1642-4,
there was a period of vague speculation about a sup
posed great southern continent. The maps of the time
indicate the total lack of accurate information at the
disposal of their compilers. There was no general
agreement as to what this region was like in its outlines,
proportions, or situation. Some cartographers, as
Peter Plancius (1594) and Hondius (1595), trailed

iv/r rT-H, Chris^al\TTopography of Cosmas, translated by J W
McCrmdle, p. 17 (Hakluyt Society).

AUSTRALIA BEFORE FLINDERS 67
a wavy line across the foot of their representations of
the globe, inscribed Terra Australis upon it, and by a
fine stroke of invention gave an admirable aspect of
finish and symmetry to the form of the world. The
London map of 1578, issued with George Best's Dis
course of the Late Voyages of Discoverie, barricaded
the south pole with a Terra Australis not unlike the
design of a switch-back railway. Molyneux' remark
able map, circa 1590, dropped the vast imaginary conti
nent, and displayed a small tongue of land in about the
region where the real Australia is; suggesting that some
voyager had been blown out of his course, had come
upon a part of the western division of the continent, and
had jotted down a memorandum of its appearance upon
his chart. It looks like a sincere attempt to tell a bit
of the truth. But speaking generally, the Terra Aus
tralis of the old cartographers was a gigantic antipodean
imposture, a mere piece of map-makers' furniture, put
in to fill up the gaping space at the south end of the
globe. A few minutes devoted to the study of a map of the
Indian Ocean, including the Cape of Good Hope and
the west coast of Australia — especially one indicating
the course of currents — will show how natural it was
that Portuguese and Dutch ships engaged in the spice
trade should occasionally have found themselves in
proximity to the real Terra Australis. It will also ex
plain more clearly than a page of type could do, why
the western and north-western coasts were known so
early, whilst the eastern and southern shores remained
undelineated until James Cook and Matthew Flinders
sailed along them.
A change of the route pursued by the Dutch on
their voyages to the East Indies had already conduced
to an acquaintance with the Australian coast. Origin-

68

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

ally, after rounding the Cape, their ships had sailed
north-east to Madagascar, and had thence struck across
the Indian Ocean to Java, or to Ceylon. As long as
this course was followed, there was little prospect of
sighting the great continent which lay about three
thousand miles east of their habitual track. But this
route, though from the map it appeared to be the most
direct, was the longest in duration that they could take.
It brought them into the region of light winds and
tedious tropical calms ; so that very often a vessel would
lie for weeks "as idle as a painted ship upon a painted
ocean," and would occupy over a year upon the outward
voyage. In 1611, however, one of their commanders
discovered that if, after leaving the Cape, a ship ran
not north-east, but due east for about three thousand
miles, she would be assisted by the winds, not baffled by
calms. Henrick Brouwer, who made the experiment,
arrived in Java seven months after leaving Holland,
whereas some ships had been known to be as long as
eighteen months at sea. The directors of the Dutch
East India Company, recognising the importance of the
discovery, ordered their commanders to follow the
easterly route from the Cape in future, and offered
prizes to those who completed the voyage in less than
nine months. The result was that the Dutch skippers
became exceedingly anxious to make the very utmost of
the favourable winds, which carried them eastward in
the direction of the western coasts of Australia.
Thus it happened that in 1616 the Eendragt
stumbled on Australia opposite Shark's Bay. Her cap
tain, Dirk Hartog, landed on the long island which lies
as a natural breakwater between the bay and the ocean,
and erected a metal plate to record his visit; and Dirk
Hartog Island is the name it bears to this day. The
plate remained till 1697, when another Dutchman,
Vlaming, substituted a new one for it; and Vlaming's

AUSTRALIA BEFORE FLINDERS 69
plate, in turn, remained till 1817, when the French navi
gator, Freycinet, took it and sent it to Paris.
After Hartog reported his discovery, the Dutch
directors ordered their ships' captains to run east from
the Cape till they sighted the land. This would enable
them to verify their whereabouts; for in those days the
means of reckoning postions at sea were so imperfect
that navigators groped about the oceans of the globe
almost as if they were sailing in darkness. But here
was a means of verifying a ship's position after her
long run across from the Cape, and if she found Dirk
Hartog Island, she could safely thence make her way
north to Java.
But ships did not always sight the Australian coast
at the same point. Hence it came about that in 1619
J. de Edel "accidentally fell in with" the coast at the
back of the Abrolhos. Pieter Nuyts, in 1627, "acci
dentally discovered" a long reach of the south coast.
Similarly, in 1628, the Vianen was "accidentally," as
the narrative says, driven on to the north-west coast,
and her commander, De Wit, gave his name to
about 200 miles of it. In 1629 the Dutch ship
Batavia was separated in a storm from a merchant
fleet of eleven sail, and ran upon the Abrolhos Reef.
The captain, Francis Pelsart, who was lying sick in his
cabin at the time of the misadventure, "called up the
master and charged him with the loss of the ship, who
excused himself by saying he had taken all the care he
could ; and that having discerned the froth at a distance
he asked the steersman what he thought of it, who told
him that the sea appeared white by its reflecting the rays
of the moon. The captain then asked him what was to
be done, and in what part of the world he thought they
were. The master replied that God only knew that;
and that the ship was on a bank hitherto undiscovered."
The story of Pelsart's adventure was recorded, and

70 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
the part of the coast which he saw was embodied on a
globe published in 1700.
To the accidental discoveries must be added those
made by the Dutch prompted by curiosity as to the
possibility of drawing profit from the lands to the south
of their great East India possessions. Thus the Dutch
yacht Duyfhen, sent in 1605 to examine the Papuan
islands, sailed along the southern side of Torres Strait,
found Cape York, and believed it to be part of New
Guinea. The great discovery voyages of Tasman,
1643 and 1644, were planned in pursuit of the same
policy. He was directed to find out what the southern
portion of the world was like, "whether it be land or
sea, or icebergs, whatever God has ordained to be
there." In 1606 the Spaniard, Torres, also probably saw
Cape York, and sailed through the strait which bears
his name. He had accompanied Quiros across the
Pacific, but had separated from his commander at the
New Hebrides, and continued his voyage westward,
whilst Quiros sailed to South America.
It is needless for present purposes to catalogue the
various voyages made by the Dutch, or to examine
claims which have been preferred on account of other
discoveries. It may, however, be observed that there
are three well defined periods of Australian maritime
discovery, and that they relate to three separate zones
of operation. First, there was the period with which the Dutch
were chiefly concerned. The west and north-west coasts
received the greater part of their attention, though the
voyage of Tasman to the island now bearing his name
was a variation from their habitual sphere. The visits
of the Englishman, Dampier, to Western Australia are
comprehended within this period.

AUSTRALIA BEFORE FLINDERS 71
The second period belongs to the eighteenth cen
tury, and its hero was James Cook. He sailed up the
whole of the east coast in 1770, from Point Hicks, near
the Victorian border, to Cape York at the northern tip
of the continent, and accomplished a larger harvest of
discovery than has ever fallen to the fortune of any
other navigator in a single voyage. To this period also
belongs Captain George Vancouver, who in 1791, on
his way to north-western America from the Cape of
Good Hope, came upon the south-western corner of
Australia and discovered King George's Sound. In the
following year the French Admiral, Dentrecasteaux,
despatched in search of the missing expedition of
Laperouse, also made the south-west corner of the conti
nent, and followed the coast of the Great Australian
Bight for some hundreds of miles. His researches in
southern Tasmania were likewise of much importance.
The third period is principally that of Flinders,
commencing shortly before the dawn of the nineteenth
century, and practically completing the maritime ex
ploration of the continent.
A map contained in John Pinkerton's Modern
Geography shows at a glance the state of knowledge
about Australia at the date of publication, 1802.
Flinders had by that time completed his explorations,
but his work was not yet published. The map deline
ates the contour of the continent on the east, west, and
north sides, with as much accuracy as was possible, and,
though it is defective in details, presents generally a
fair idea of the country's shape. But the line along the
south coast represents a total lack of information as to
the outline of the land. Pinkerton, indeed, though he
was a leading English authority on geography when his
book was published, had not embodied in his map some
results that were then available.

72 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
The testimony of the map may be augmented by a
reference to what geographical writers understood about
Australia before the time of Flinders.
Though Cook had discovered the east coast, and
named it New South Wales, it was not definitely known
whether this extensive stretch of country was separate
from the western "New Holland" which the Dutch had
named, or whether the two were the extremities of one
vast tract of land. Geographical opinion rather inclined
to the view that ultimately a strait would be found divid
ing the region into islands. This idea is mentioned by
Pinkerton. Under the heading "New Holland" he
wrote:* "Some suppose that this extensive region, when
more thoroughly investigated, will be found to consist
of two or three vast islands intersected by narrow seas,
an idea which probably arises from the discovery that
New Zealand consists of two islands, and that other
straits have been found to divide lands in this quarter
formerly supposed to be continuous." The discovery
that Bass Strait divided Australia from Tasmania was
probably in Pinkerton's mind; he mentions it in his text
(quoting Flinders), though his map does not indicate
the Strait's existence. He also mentions "a vast bay
with an isle," possibly Kangaroo Island.
Perhaps it was not unnatural that competent opinion
should have favoured the idea that there were several
large islands, rather than one immense continent stretch
ing into thirty degrees of latitude and forty-five of
longitude. The human mind is not generally disposed
to grasp very big things all at once. Indeed, in the light
of fuller knowledge, one is disposed to admire the
caution of these geographers, whose beliefs were care
fully reasoned but erroneous, in face of, for instance,
such a wild ebullition of venturesome theory as that attri-
* Modem Geography, II., 588.

AUSTRALIA BEFORE FLINDERS 73
buted to an aforetime Gbttingen professor,* who con
sidered that not only was Australia one country, but that
it made its appearance upon this planet in a peculiarly
sudden fashion. His opinion was that "the vast conti
nent of Australia was originally a comet, which happen
ing to fall within the limits of the earth's attraction,
alighted at length upon its surface." "Alighted at
length" is a mild term, suggestive of a nervous lady
emerging from a tram-car in a crowded street.
"Splashed," would probably convey a more vigorous
impression. The belief that a strait would be found completely
dividing New Holland was a general one, as is shown
by several contemporary writings. Thus James Grant
in his Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery, (1803),
expressing his regret that his orders did not permit him
to take his ship, the Lady Nelson, northward from Port
Jackson in 1801, speculated that "we might also be
times have ascertained if the Gulf of Carpentaria had
any inlet to Bass Straits, and if it be discovered secure
more quickly to Great Britain the right of lands which
some of our enterprising neighbours might probably dis
pute with us. And this I trust will not be thought
chimerical when it was not known whether other Straits
did not exist as well as that dividing New Holland from
Van Diemen's Land." Again, the Institute of France
in preparing instructions for the voyage of exploration
commanded by Nicolas Baudin (1800) directed a
search to be made for a strait which it was supposed
divided Australia "into two great and nearly equal
islands." Another interesting geographical problem to be
determined, was whether a great river system drained
any part of the Australian continent. In the existing
* Professor Blumenbach according to Lang, Historical Account
of Nezv South Wales (1837), II., 142.

74 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
state of knowledge the country presented an aspect in
regard to fluvial features wholly different from any
other portion of the world. No river of considerable
importance had been found. Students of geography
could hardly conceive that there should be so large an
area of land lacking outlets to the sea ; and as none had
been found in the parts investigated so far, it was
believed that the exploration of the south coast would
reveal large streams flowing from the interior. Some
had speculated that within the country there was a great
inland sea, and if so there would probably be rivers
flowing from it to the ocean.
A third main subject for elucidation when Flinders
entered upon this work, was whether the country known
as Van Diemen's Land was part of the continent, or
was divided from it by a strait not yet discovered.
Captain Cook entertained the opinion that a strait
existed. On his voyage in the Endeavour in 1770, he
was "doubtful whether they are one land or no." But
when near the north-eastern corner of Van Diemen's
Land, he had been twenty months at sea, and his
supplies had become depleted. He did not deem it
advisable to sail west and settle the question forthwith,
but, running up the eastern coast of New Holland,
achieved discoveries certainly great enough for one
voyage. He retained the point in his mind, however,
and would have determined it on his second voyage in
1772-4 had he not paid heed to information given by
Tobias Furneaux. The Adventure, commanded by
Furneaux, had been separated from the Resolution on
the voyage to New Zealand, and had cruised for some
days in the neighbourhood of the eastern entrance to
Bass Strait. But Furneaux convinced himself that no
strait existed, and reported to that effect when he re
joined Cook in Queen Charlotte's Sound. Cook was
not quite convinced by the statement of his officer; but

AUSTRALIA BEFORE FLINDERS 75
contrary winds made a return to the latitude of the
supposed strait difficult, and Cook though "half inclined
to go over to Van Diemen's Land and settle the question
of its being part of New Holland" decided to proceed
westward. As will be seen hereafter, Flinders helped
to show that the passage existed.
There were also many smaller points requiring in
vestigation. Cook in running along the east coast had
passed several portions in the night, or at such a dis
tance in the daytime as to render his representation of
the coastline doubtful. Some groups of islands also
required to be accurately charted. Indeed, it may be
said that there was no portion of the world where, at
this period, there was so much and such valuable work
to be done by a competent and keen marine explorer, as
in Australia. A passage in a manuscript by Flinders may be quoted
to supplement what has been written above, as it
indicates the kind of speculations that were current in
the conversation of students of geography.*
"The interior of this new region, in extent nearly
equal to all Europe, strongly excited the curiosity of
geographers and naturalists; and the more so as, ten
years after the establishment of a British Colony at Port
Jackson on the east coast, and the repeated effort of
some enterprising individuals, no part of it beyond 30
leagues from the coast had been seen by an European.
Various conjectures were entertained upon the probable
consistence of this extensive space. Was it a vast
desert? Was it occupied by an immense lake — a second
Caspian Sea, or by a Mediterranean to which existed a
navigable entrance in some part of the coasts hitherto
unexplored? or was not this new continent rather
divided into two or more islands by straits communi-
* Called an "Abridged Narrative" — Flinders' Papers.

76 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
eating from the unknown parts of the south to the im
perfectly examined north-west coast or to the Gulf of
Carpentaria, or to both? Such were the questions that
excited the interest and divided the opinion of
geographers." Apart from particular directions in which enquiry
needed to be pursued, it was felt in England that the
only nation which had founded a settlement on the Aus
tralian continent was under an obligation to complete
the exploration of the country. The French had
already sent out two scientific expeditions with instruc
tions to examine the unknown southern coasts; and if
shipwreck had not destroyed the first, and want of fresh
water diverted the second, the credit of finishing the out
line of the map of Australia would have been earned for
France. "Many circumstances, indeed," wrote
Flinders, "united to render the south coast of Terra
Australis one of the most interesting parts of the globe
to which discovery could be directed at the beginning of
the nineteenth century. Its investigation had formed a
part of the instructions to the unfortunate French navi
gator, Laperouse, and afterwards of those to his
countryman Dentrecasteaux; and it was not without
some reason attributed to England as a reproach that
an imaginary line of more than two hundred and fifty
leagues' extent in the vicinity of one of her colonies
should have been so long suffered to remain traced upon
the charts under the title of Unknown Coast. This
comported ill with her reputation as the first of mari
time powers."
We shall see how predominant was the share of
Flinders in the settlement of these problems, the filling
up of these gaps.

Chapter VI.
THE RELIANCE AND THE TOM THUMB
Apart from Admiral Pasley, two officers who partici
pated in Lord Howe's victory on "the glorious First of
June," had an important influence upon the later career
of Flinders. The first of these, Captain John Hunter,
had served on the flagship Queen Charlotte. The
second, Henry Waterhouse, had been fifth lieutenant
on the Bellerophon. Flinders was under the orders of
both of them on his next voyage.
Hunter had accompanied the first Governor of New
South Wales on the Sirius, when a British colony was
founded there in 1788, and was commissioned by the
Crown to assume the duties of Lieutenant-Governor in
case of Phillip's death. When the office fell vacant in
1793, Hunter applied for appointment. He secured
the cordial support of Howe, and Sir Roger Curtis of
the Queen Charlotte exerted his influence by recommend
ing him as one whose selection "would be a blessing to
the colony" on account of his incorruptible integrity,
unceasing zeal, thorough knowledge of the country, and
steady judgment. He was appointed Governor in
February, 1794, and in March of the same year H.M.S.
Reliance, with the tender Supply, were commissioned to
convey him to Sydney.
Henry Waterhouse was chosen to command the
Reliance, under Hunter, at that officer's request. He
expressed to the Secretary of State a wish that the
appointment might be conferred upon an officer to
whom it might be a step in advancement, rather than
upon one who had already attained the rank of com
mander; and he recommended Waterhouse as one who,

78 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
though a young man and not an old officer, was "the
only remaining lieutenant of the Sirius, formerly under
my command; and having had the principal part of
his nautical education from me, I can with confidence
say that he is well qualified for the charge."
It is probable that Flinders heard of the expedition
from his Bellerophon shipmate, Waterhouse, who by the
end of July was under orders to sail as second captain
of the Reliance. Certainly the opportunity of making
another voyage to Australian waters, wherein, as he
knew, so much work lay awaiting an officer keen for
discovery, coincided with his own inclinations. He
wrote that he was led by his passion for exploring new
countries to embrace the opportunity of going out upon
a station which of all others presented the most ample
field for his favourite pursuit.
The sailing was delayed for six months, and in the
interval young Flinders was able to visit his home in
Lincolnshire. Whatever opposition there may have
been to his choice of the sea as a profession before 1790,
we may be certain that the Donington surgeon was not a
little proud of his eldest son when he returned after a
wonderful voyage to the isles of the Pacific and the
Caribbean Sea, and after participation in the recent
great naval fight which had thrilled the heart of Eng
land with exultation and pride. The boy who had left
his father's house four years before as an anxious
aspirant for the King's uniform now returned a
bronzed seaman on the verge of manhood. His intelli
gence and zeal as a junior officer had won him the es
teem and confidence of distinguished commanders.
He had looked upon the strangeness and beauty of the
world in its most remote and least-known quarters, had
witnessed fights with savages, threaded unmapped
straits, and had, to crown his youthful achievements,
striven amidst the wrack and thunder of grim-visaged

THE RELIANCE AND TOM THUMB 79
war. We may picture his welcome: the strong grasp
of his father's hand, the crowding enthusiasm of his
brother and sisters fondly glorying in their hero's
prowess. The warnings of uncle John were all for
gotten now. When the midshipman's younger brother,
Samuel Ward Flinders, desired to go to sea with him,
he was not restrained, and, in fact, accompanied him as
a volunteer on the Reliance when at length she sailed.
Hunter took not merely an official but a deep and
discerning interest in the colonisation of Australia. He
foresaw its immense possibilities, encouraged its ex
ploration, promoted the breeding of stock and the
cultivation of crops, and had a wise concern for such
strategic advantages as would tend to secure it for
British occupation. He perceived the great importance
of the Cape of Good Hope from the point of view of
Australian security; and a letter which he wrote to an
official of the Admiralty while awaiting sailing orders
for the Reliance (January 25, 1795), is perhaps the
first instance of official recognition of Australia's vital
interest in the ownership of that post. There was
cause for concern. The raw and ill-disciplined levies
of the French, having at the outbreak of the Revolution
ary wars most unexpectedly turned back the invading
armies of Austria and Prussia, and having, after cam
paigns full of dramatic changes, shaken off the peril of
the crushing of the fatherland by a huge European com
bination, were now waging an offensive war in Holland.
Pichegru, the French commander, though not a soldier
by training, secured astonishing successes, and, in the
thick of a winter of exceptional severity, led his ragged
and ill-fed army on to victory after victory, until the
greater part of Holland lay conquered within his grip.
In January he entered Amsterdam. There was a
strong element of Republican feeling among the Dutch,
and an alliance with France was demanded.

80 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
When this condition of things was reported in Eng
land, Hunter was alarmed for the safety of the colony
which he was about to govern. The Cape of Good
Hope was a Dutch possession. Holland was now under
the domination of France. Might not events bring
about the establishment of French power at the Cape?
"I cannot help feeling much concerned at the rapid pro
gress of the French in Holland," he wrote, "and I own
shall not be surprised if in consequence of their success
in that country they make a sudden dash at the Cape of
Good Hope, if we do not anticipate them in such an
attempt. They are so very active a people that it will
be done before we know anything of it, and I think it
a post of too much importance to be neglected by them.
I hope earnestly, therefore, that it will be prevented by
our sending a squadron and some troops as early as
possible. If the Republicans once get a footing there,
we shall probably find it difficult to dislodge them.
Such a circumstance would be a sad stroke for our young
colony." The course which Hunter then advised was that
which the British Government followed, though more
because the Cape was the "half way house" to India,
than for the protection of Australian interests. An
expedition was despatched later in the year to protect
the Cape against French occupation, and in September
the colony, by order of the Stadtholder of Holland,
accepted British protection.
The Reliance and the Supply left Plymouth on
February 15th, 1795, amongst a very large company
of merchantmen and ships of the navy convoyed by the
Channel Fleet under Lord Howe, which guarded them
till they were beyond the range of possible French
attacks and then sailed back to port.
From Teneriffe, which Hunter reached on March
6th, he wrote a despatch to the Government stating his

I

'FUUDERn COUJMH
IN HONOUR or MATTHEW FulDERS
Crii/lr/lA|iDE:RorTHEU!VEr,Tt&HOR
Who from Kangaroo HEAD.KM»GAfc&6 isupd
DISCOVERED APDI-'M/XD MOUHT UjFTY
ONTUPSDAY 2359 M£R'CH I SOS
THIS TAEIXT WAS UI I THE tOUUMN MAMtD
BYHISCXCEU ' DTENNYSON. 22.'.^ MARCH 190 a

MEMORIAL ON MOUNT LOFTY, SOLITH AUSTRALIA.

THE RELIANCE AND TOM THUMB 81
intention to sail, not to the Cape of Good Hope, but
to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and thence to New South
Wales. His avoidance of the more direct route was
due to the causes explained above. "In the present
uncertain state of things between the French and
Dutch," he had written before sailing, "it will be
dangerous for me to attempt touching at the Cape on
my way out;" and writing from Rio de Janeiro in May
he explained that he did not "conceive it safe from the
uncertain state of the Dutch settlements in India to take
the Cape of Good Hope in my way to Port Jackson,
lest the French, following up their late successes in
Holland, should have been active enough to make an
early attack on that very important post." In a des
patch to the Duke of Portland he commented strongly
on the same circumstance, expressing the opinion that
"if the French should be able to possess themselves of
that settlement it will be rather unfortunate for our
distant colony."
Hunter had to complain of discourteous treatment
received from the Portuguese Viceroy, who kept him
waiting six days before according an interview, and then
fixed an appointment for seven o'clock in the evening,
when it was quite dark. "As His Excellency was
acquainted with the position I held, I confess I expected
a different reception," wrote Hunter; and he was so
much vexed that he did not again set foot ashore while
his ships lay in port. The incident, though not import
ant in itself, serves, in conjunction with Hunter's avoid
ance of the Cape, to illustrate the rather limp condition
of British prestige abroad at about the time when her
authority was being established in Australia. With her
army defeated in the Low Countries, her ships deem
ing it prudent to keep clear of the Cape that formed
the key to her eastern and southern possessions, and her
King's representative subjected to a studied slight from

82

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

a Portuguese official in Brazil, she hardly appeared, just
then, to be the nation that would soon shatter the naval
power of France, demolish the greatest soldier of
modern times, and, before her sword was sheathed, float
her victorious flag in every continent, in every sea, and
over people of every race and colour.
On this voyage, as on all occasions, Flinders kept
a careful record of his own observations. Sixteen
years later, a dispute arose, interesting to navigators, as
to the precise location of Cape Frio in Brazil. An
American had pointed out an error in European charts.
It was a matter of some importance, because ships
bound for Rio de Janeiro necessarily rounded Cape
Frio, and the error was sufficiently serious to cause no
small risk if vessels trusted to the received reckoning.
The Naval Chronicle devoted some attention to the
point; and to it Flinders sent a communication stating
that on consulting his nautical records he found that on
May 2nd, 1795, he made an observation, reduced from
the preceding noon, calculating the position of the Cape
to be latitude 22° 53' south, longitude 41° 43' west.
His memorandum was printed over a facsimile of his
signature as that of "a distinguished navigator," and
was hailed as "a valuable contribution towards clearing
up the difficulty concerning the geographical position of
that important headland."* For us the incident serves
as an indication of Flinders' diligence and carefulness in
the study of navigation. He was but a midshipman at
the time, and it will be noticed that it was a personal
observation which he was able to quote, not one taken
as part of his duty as an officer.
The Reliance arrived at Port Jackson on September
7th, and in the following month Flinders, with a com
panion of whom it is time to speak, commenced the
series of explorations which made his fame.
* N.C., Vol. XXVI.

THE RELIANCE AND TOM THUMB 83
This companion was George Bass, a Lincolnshire
man like Flinders himself, born at Aswarby near Slea-
ford. He was a farmer's son, but his father died when
he was quite a child, and his mother moved to Boston.
She managed out of her widow's resources to give her
son an excellent education, and designed that he should
enter the medical profession. In due course he was
apprenticed to a Boston surgeon, Mr. Francis — a com
mon mode of securing training in medicine at that
period. He "walked" the Boston hospital for a finish
ing course of instruction, and won his surgeon's diploma
with marked credit.
Bass had from his early years shown a desire to go
to sea. His mother was able to buy for him a share
in a merchant ship; but this was wrecked, whereupon,
not cured of his love of the ocean, he entered the navy
as a surgeon. It was in that capacity that he sailed in
the Reliance. He was then, in 1795, thirty-two years
of age. All the records of Bass, both the personal observa
tions of those who came in contact with him, and the tale
of his own deeds, leave the impression that he was a
very remarkable man. He was six feet in height, dark-
complexioned, handsome in countenance, keen in ex
pression, vigorous, strong, and enterprising. His
father-in-law spoke of his "very penetrating counte
nance." Flinders called him "the penetrating Bass."
Governor Hunter, in official despatches, said he was "a
young man of a well-informed mind and an active dis
position," and one who was "of much ability in various
ways out of the line of his profession." He was gifted
with a mind capable of intense application to any task
that he took in hand. Upon his firm courage, resource
fulness and strength of purpose, difficulties and dangers
acted merely as the whetstone to the finely tempered
blade. He undertook hazardous enterprises from the

84 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
sheer love of doing hard things which were worth doing.
"He was one," wrote Flinders, "whose ardour for dis
covery was not to be repressed by any obstacle nor
deterred by danger." He seemed to care nothing for
rewards, and was not hungry for honours. The
pleasure of doing was to him its own recompense. That
"penetrating countenance" indexed a brain as direct as
a drill, and as inflexible. A loyal and affectionate com
rade, preferring to enter upon a task with his chosen
mate, he nevertheless could not wait inactive if official
duties prevented co-operation, but would set out alone
on any piece of work on which he had set his heart. The
portrait of Bass which we possess conveys an impression
of alert and vigorous intelligence, of genial temper and
hearty relish. It is the picture of a man who was
abundantly alive in every nerve.
Flinders and Bass, being both Lincolnshire men,
born within a few miles of each other, naturally be
came very friendly on the long voyage to Australia. It
was said of two other friends, who achieved great dis
tinction in the sphere of art, that when they first met
in early manhood they "ran together like two drops of
mercury," so completely coincident were their inclina
tions. So it was in this instance. Two men more pre
disposed to formulate plans for exploration could not
have been thrown together. A passion for maritime
discovery was common to both of them. Flinders,
from his study of charts and books of voyages, had a
sound knowledge of the field of work that lay open, and
Bass's keen mind eagerly grasped the plans explained
to him. It would not have taken the surgeon and the
midshipman long to find that their ambitions were com
pletely in tune on this inviting subject. "With this
friend," Flinders wrote, "a determination was found
of completing the examination of the east coast of New
South Wales by all such opportunities as the duty of

THE RELIANCE AND TOM THUMB 85
the ship and procurable means could admit. Projects
of this nature, when originating in the minds of young
men, are usually termed romantic; and so far from any
good being anticipated, even prudence and friendship
join in discouraging, if not in opposing them. Thus
it was in the present case." The significance of that
passage is that the two friends made for themselves the
opportunities by which they won fame and rendered
service. They did not wait on Fortune ; they forced her
hand. They showed by what they did on their own
initiative, with very limited resources, that they were
the right men to be entrusted with work of larger scope.
Nevertheless it is unwarrantable to assume that
Governor Hunter discountenanced their earliest efforts.
It was presumably on the passage quoted above that the
author of a chapter in the most elaborate modern naval
history founded the assertion that "the plans of the
young discoverers were discouraged by the authorities.
They, however, had resolution and perseverance. All
official help and countenance were withheld."* But
Flinders does not say that "the authorities" discouraged
the effort. "Prudence and friendship" did. They
were not yet tried men in such hazardous enterprises;
the settlement possessed scarcely any resources for ex
ploratory work, and the dangers were unknown. Official
countenance implies official responsibility, and there was
not yet sufficient reason for setting the Governor's seal
on the adventurous experiments of two young and un
tried though estimable men. When they had shown their
quality, Hunter gave them every assistance and en
couragement in his power, and proved himself a good
friend to them. In the circumstances, "prudence
and friendship" are hardly to be blamed for a counsel
of caution. The remark of Flinders is not to be
* Sir Clements Markham in The Royal Navy, a History. IV., 565.

86 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
interpreted to mean that the Governor put hindrances
in their way. They were under his orders, and his
positive discountenance would have been effectual to
block their efforts. They could not even have obtained
leave of absence without his approval. But John
Hunter was not the man to prevent them from putting
their powers to the test.
No sooner had the two friends reached Sydney than
they began to look about them for means to undertake
the exploratory work upon which their minds were bent.
Bass had brought out with him from England a small
boat, only eight feet long, with a five foot beam, named
by him the Tom Thumb on account of her size.* In
this diminutive craft the two friends made preparations
for setting out along the coast. Taking with them
only one boy, named Martin, with provisions
and ammunition for a very short trip, they
sailed the Tom Thumb out of Port Jackson
and made southward to Botany Bay, which they
entered. They pushed up George's River, which
had been only partly explored, and pursued their in
vestigation of its winding course for twenty miles
beyond the former limit of survey. Upon their return
they presented to Hunter a report concerning the quality
of the land seen on the borders of the river, together
with a sketch map. The Governor was induced from
what they told him to examine the country him
self; and the result was that he founded the settlement
of Bankstown, which still remains, and boasts the dis
tinction of being one of the pioneer towns of Australia.

* Flinders' Papers; "Brief Memoir," mss. p. 5. Some have
supposed the measurements given in Flinders' published work to
have been a misprint, the size of the boat being so absurdly small.
But Flinders' lournal is quite clear on the point: "We turned our
eyes towards a little boat of about 8 feet keel and 5 feet beam which
had been brought out by Mr. Bass and others in the Reliance, and
from its size had obtained the name of Tom Thumb."

THE RELIANCE AND TOM THUMB 87
The adventurers were delayed from the further
pursuit of their ambition by ship's duties. The
Reliance was ordered to convey to Norfolk Island an
officer of the New South Wales Corps required for
duty there, as well as the Judge Advocate. She sailed
in January, 1796. After her return in March, Bass
and Flinders, being free again, lost no time in
fitting out for a second cruise. Their object this
time was to search for a large river, said to fall into the
sea to the south of Botany Bay, which was not marked
on Cook's chart. As before, the crew consisted only
of themselves and the boy.
It has always been believed that the boat in which
this second cruise was made, was the same Tom
Thumb as that which carried the two young explorers
to George's River; indeed, Flinders himself, in his
Voyage to Terra Australis, Vol. I., p. xcvii., says that
"Mr. Bass and myself went again in Tom Thumb."
But in his unpublished Journal there is a passage that
suggests a doubt as to whether, when he wrote his book,
over a decade later, he had not forgotten that a second
boat was obtained for the second adventure. He may
not have considered the circumstance important enough
to mention. At all events in the Journal, he writes :
"As Tom Thumb had performed so well before, the
same boat's crew had little hesitation in embarking in
another boat of nearly the same size, which had been
since built at Port Jackson." There was, it is evident,
a second boat, no larger than the first, or that fact would
have been mentioned, and she was also known as the
Tom Thumb. She was Tom Thumb the Second.
Only by that assumption can we reconcile the Voyage
statement with the Journal, which, having been written
up at the time, is an authoritative source of information.
They left Sydney on March 25th, intending to stand
off to sea till evening, when it was expected that the

88 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
breeze would bring them to the coast. But they drifted
on a strong current six or seven miles southward, and
being unable to land, passed the night in the boat. Next
day, being in want of water, but unable to bring the
Tom Thumb to a safe landing place, Bass swam ashore.
While the filled cask was being got off a wave carried
the boat shoreward and beached her, leaving the three
on the beach with their clothes drenched, their
provisions partly spoiled, and their arms and ammuni
tion thoroughly wet. The emptying and launching of
the boat on a surfy shore, and the replacing of the
stores and cask in her, were managed with some diffi
culty; and they ran for two islands for shelter late in
the afternoon. Finding a landing to be dangerous they
again spent the night, cramped, damp, and uncomfort
able, in their tossing little eight-foot craft, with their
stone anchor dropped under the lee of a tongue of land.
Bass could not sleep because, from having for so many
hours during the day had his naked body exposed to the
burning sun, he was "one continued blister."
On the third day they took aboard two aboriginals —
"two Indians," Flinders calls them — natives of Botany
Bay, who offered to pilot them to a place where they
could obtain not only water but also fish and wild duck.
They were conducted to a small stream descending
from a lagoon, and rowed up it for about a mile until
it became too shallow to proceed. Eight or ten
aboriginals put in an appearance, and Bass and Flinders
began to entertain doubts of securing a retreat from
these people should they be inclined to be hostile.
"They had the reputation at Port Jackson of being
exceedingly ferocious, if not cannibals."
The powder having become wet and the muskets
rusty, Bass and Flinders decided to land in order that
they might spread their ammunition in the sun to dry,

THE RELIANCE AND TOM THUMB 89
and clean their weapons. The natives, who increased
in number to about twenty, gathered round and watched
with curiosity. Some of them assisted Bass in repair
ing a broken oar. They did not know what the powder
was, but, when the muskets were handled, so much
alarm was excited that it was necessary to desist. Some
of them had doubtless learnt from aboriginals about
Port Jackson of the thunder and lightning made by
these mysterious pieces of wood and metal, and had had
described to them how blackfellows dropped dead
when such things pointed and smoked at them.
Flinders, anxious to retain their confidence (because,
had they assumed the offensive, they must speedily have
annihilated the three whites), hit upon an amusing
method of diverting them. The aboriginals were
accustomed to wear their coarse black hair and beards
hanging in long, shaggy, untrimmed locks, matted with
accretions of oil and dirt. When the two Botany Bay
blacks were taken on board the Tom Thumb as pilots,
a pair of scissors was applied to their abundant and too
emphatically odorous tresses. Flinders tells the rest
of the story: —
"We had clipped the hair and beards of the two
Botany Bay natives at Red Point,* and they were show
ing themselves to the others and persuading them to
follow their example. Whilst therefore the powder
was drying, I began with a large pair of scissors to
execute my new office upon the eldest of four or five
chins presented to me, and as great nicety was not re
quired, the shaving of a dozen of them did not occupy
me long. Some of the more timid were alarmed at a
formidable instrument coming so near to their noses,
and would scarcely be persuaded by their shaven friends
to allow the operation to be finished. But when their
* Near Port Kembla ; named by Cook.

90 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
chins were held up a second time, their fear of the instru
ment, the wild stare of their eyes, and the smile which
they forced, formed a compound upon the rough
savage countenance not unworthy the pencil of a
Hogarth. I was almost tempted to try what effect a
little snip would produce; but our situation was too
critical to admit of such experiments,"
Flinders treats the incident lightly, and as a means
of creating a diversion while preparing a retreat it was
useful; but it can hardly be supposed to have been an
agreeable occupation to barber a group of aboriginals.
What the heads were like that received Flinders' minis
trations, may be gathered from the description by
Clarke, the supercargo of the wrecked Sydney Cove,
concerning the natives whom he encountered in the
following year (March 1797) : "Their hair is long and
straight, but they are wholly inattentive to it, either as
to cleanliness or in any other respect. It serves them
in lieu of a towel to wipe their hands as often as they
are daubed with blubber or shark oil, which is their
principal article of food. This frequent application of
rancid grease to their heads and bodies renders their
approach exceedingly offensive."
But the adventure, by putting the blacks into a good
humour, enabled Bass and Flinders to collect their
dried powder, obtain fresh water, and get back to their
boat. The natives became vociferous for them to go
up to the lagoon, but the natives "dragged her along
down the stream shouting and singing," until the depth
of water placed them in safety. Flinders, in his
Journal, expressed the view that "we were perhaps
considerably indebted for the fear the natives enter
tained of us to an old red jacket which Mr. Bass wore,
and from which they took us to be soldiers, whom they
were particularly afraid of; and though we did not

THE RELIANCE AND TOM THUMB 91
much admire our new name, Soja, we thought it best
not to undeceive them."
On March 25 they anchored "under the innermost
of the northern islets ... we called these Martin's
Isles after our young companion in the boat."*
They were now in the Illawarra district, one of the
most prolific in New South Wales ;t and the observation
of Flinders that the land they saw was "probably fertile,
and the slopes of the back hills had certainly that
appearance," has been richly justified by a century's
experience. The two friends and their boy had to remain on the
Tom Thumb for a third night; but next afternoon
(March 28) they were able to land unmolested, to cook
a meal, and to take some rest on the shore. "The sandy
beach was our bed, and after much fatigue and passing
three nights of cramp in Tom Thumb it was to us a
bed of down."
At about ten o'clock at night, on March 29th, the
little craft was in extreme danger of foundering in a
gale. The anchor had been cast under the lee of a
range of cliffs, but the situation was insecure, so that
Bass and Flinders considered it prudent to haul up the
stone and run before the wind. The night was dark,
the wind burst in a gale, and the adventurers had no
knowledge of any place of security to which they could
run. The frowning cliffs above them and the smashing
of the surf on the rocks, were their guide in steering a
course parallel with the coast. Bass held the sheet,
Flinders steered with an oar, and the boy bailed out the
water which the hissing crests of wind-lashed waves
flung into the boat. "It required the utmost exertion
to prevent broaching to; a single wrong movement or
* Journal.
f McFarlane, Illawarra and Monaro (Sydney, 1872), p. 8.

92 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
a moment's inattention would have sent us to the
bottom." They drove along for an hour in this precarious
situation, hoping for an opening to reveal itself into
which they could run for shelter. At last, Flinders,
straining his eyes in the darkness, distinguished right
ahead some high breakers, behind which there appeared
to be no shade of cliffs. So extremely perilous was their
position at this time, with the water increasing despite
the efforts of the boy, that Flinders, an unusually placid
and matter-of-fact writer when dealing with dangers of
the sea, declares that they could not have lived ten
minutes longer. On the instant he determined to turn
the boat's head for these breakers, hoping that behind
them, as there were no high cliffs, there might be
sheltered water. The boat's head was brought to the
wind, the sail and mast were taken down, and the oars
were got out. "Pulling thus towards the reef,
through the intervals of the heaviest seas, we found it
to terminate in a point, and in three minutes were in
smooth water under its lee. A white appearance
further back kept us a short time in suspense, but a
nearer approach showed it to be the beach of a well-
sheltered cove, under which we anchored for the rest of
the night." They called the place of refuge Providen
tial Cove. The native name was Watta-Mowlee (it is
now called Wattamolla).
On the following morning, March 30th, the weather
haying moderated, the Tom Thumb's sail was again
hoisted, and she coasted northward. After a progress of
three or four miles, Flinders and Bass found the
entrance of Port Hacking, for the exploration of which
they had made this cruise. It was a much-indented
inlet directly south of Botany Bay, divided from it by a
broad peninsula, and receiving at its head the waters
of a wide river, besides several small creeks; and was

THE RELIANCE AND TOM THUMB 93
named after Henry Hacking, a pilot who had indicated
its whereabouts, having come near it " in his kangaroo-
hunting excursions." The two young explorers spent the
better part of two days in examining the neighbourhood ;
and anyone who has had the good fortune to traverse
that piece of country, with its grassed glades, its
timbered hillsides, its exquisite glimpses of sapphire sea
and cool silver river, its broken and diversified surface,
rich with floral colour — for they saw it in early autumn
— can realise how satisfied they must have felt with their
work. After a nine days' voyage, they sailed out of
Port Hacking early on April 2nd, and, aided by a fine
wind, drew up alongside the Reliance in Port Jackson
on the evening of the same day.
The Reliance was an old and leaky ship. She had
seen much service and was badly in need of repairs.
"She is so extremely weak in her whole frame that it is
in our situation a difficult matter to do what is neces
sary," wrote Hunter to the Secretary of State. Ship
wrights' conveniences could hardly be expected to be
ample in a settlement that was not yet ten years old, and
where skilled labour was necessarily deficient. But she
had to be repaired with the best material and direction
available, for she was the best ship which His Majesty's
representative had at his disposal. The Supply was
pretty well beyond renovation. She was American
built, and her timbers of black birch were never suitable
for service in warm waters. Shortly after the dis
covery of Port Hacking, Hunter set about the over
hauling of the vessel that was at once his principal means
of naval defence, his saluting battery, his official inspect
ing ship, his transport, and his craft of all work. He
wanted her especially just now, for a useful piece of
colonial service.
The Governor had received intelligence from
Major-General Craig, who had commanded the land

94 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
forces when Admiral Elphinstone occupied the Cape of
Good Hope, that a British protectorate had been estab
lished at that very important station. As Hunter had
himself made the suggestion to the Government that
such a step should be taken, the news was especially
gratifying to him. Amongst his instructions from the
Secretary of State was a direction to procure from South
Africa live cattle for stocking the infant colony. He
had brought out with him, at Sir Joseph Banks' sugges
tion, a supply of growing vegetables for transplantation
and of seeds for sowing at appropriate seasons. He
now set about obtaining the live stock.
The Reliance and the Supply sailed by way of Cape
Horn to South Africa, where they took on board a
supply of domestic animals. The former vessel carried
109 head of cattle, 107 sheep and three mares. Some
of the officers brought live stock on their own account.
Thus Bass had on board a cow and nineteen sheep, and
Waterhouse had enough stock to start a small farm;
but it does not appear that Flinders brought any
animals. "I believe no ship ever went to sea so much
lumbered," wrote Captain Waterhouse; and the un
pleasantness of the voyage can be imagined, apart from
that officer's assurance that it was "one of the longest
and most disagreeable passages I ever made." The
vessels left Cape Town for Sydney on April 11th, 1797.
The Supply was so wretchedly leaky that it was con
sidered positively unsafe for her to risk the voyage.
But her commander, Lieutenant William Kent, had a
high sense of duty, and his courage was guided by the
fine seamanship characteristic of the service. Having in
view the importance to the colony of the stock he had
on board, he determined to run her through. As a
matter of fact, the Supply arrived in Sydney forty-one
days before the Reliance (May 16), though Hunter
reported that she reached port "in a most distressed and

THE RELIANCE AND TOM THUMB 95
dangerous condition," and would never be fit for sea
again. Kent's memory is worthily preserved on the
map of Australia by the name (given by Flinders or by
Hunter himself) of the Kent group of islands at the
eastern entrance of Bass Strait.
The Reliance, meeting with very bad weather, made
a very slow passage. Captain Waterhouse mentioned
that one fierce gale was "the most terrible I ever saw or
heard of," so that he "expected to go to the bottom
every moment." He wondered how they escaped des
truction, but rounded off his description with a seaman's
joke : "possibly I may be intended to be hung in room of
being drowned." The ship was very leaky all the way,
and Hunter reported that she returned to port with her
pumps going. She reached Sydney on June 26th.
The unseaworthy condition of the Reliance had an
important bearing on the share Flinders took in Aus
tralian discovery, for it was unquestionably in conse
quence of his being engaged upon her repair that he was
prevented from accompanying his friend Bass on the
expedition which led to the discovery of Bass Strait.
This statement is proved not only by the testimony of
Flinders himself, but by concurrent facts. Waterhouse
wrote on the return of the ship to Port Jackson,
"we have taken everything out of her in hopes of repair
ing her." This was in the latter part of 1797. A
despatch from Hunter to the British Government in
January, 1798, shows that at that time she was still
being patched up. Flinders recorded that "the great
repairs required by the Reliance would not allow of my
absence," but that "my friend Mr. Bass, less confined by
his duty, made several excursions." Finally, it was on
December 3rd, 1797, while the refitting was in pro
gress, that Bass started out on the adventurous voyage
which led to the discovery of the stretch of water
separating Tasmania from the mainland of Australia.

96 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
But for the work on the Reliance, there cannot be the
shadow of a doubt that Flinders would have been with
him. Duty had to be done, however; the "ugly com
manded work,"' in which, as the sage reminds us, genius
has to do its part in common with more ordinary
mortals, made demands that must take precedence of
adventurous cruising along unknown coasts. So it was
that the cobbling of a debilitated tub separated on an
historic occasion two brave and loyal friends whose
names will be thought of together as long as British
people treasure the memory of their choice and daring
spirits.

Chapter VII.
THE DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT
The patching up of the Reliance not being surgeon's
work, Bass, throbbing with energy, looked about him
for some useful employment. The whole of the New
South Wales settlement at this time consisted of an
oblong — the town of Sydney itself — on the south side
of Port Jackson, a few sprawling paddocks on either
side of the fang-like limbs of the harbour, some small
pieces of cultivated land further west, at and beyond
Parramatta, and a cultivable area to the north-west on
the banks of the Hawkesbury River. A sketch-map
prepared by Hunter, in 1796, illustrates these very
small early attempts of the settlement to spread. They
show up against the paper like a few specks of lettuce
leaf upon a white table cloth. The large empty spaces
are traversed by red lines, principally to the south-west,
marking "country which has been lately walked over."
The red lines end abruptly on the far side of a curve in
the course of the river Nepean, where swamps and hills
are shown. The map-maker "saw a bull" near a hill
which was called Mount Hunter, and marked it down.
West of the settlement, behind Richmond Hill on
the Hawkesbury, the map indicated a mountain range.
Bass's first effort at independent exploration was an
endeavour to find a pass through these mountains. The
need was seen to be imminent. As the colony grew,
the limits of occupation would press up to the foot of
this blue range, which, with its precipitous walls, its
alluring openings leading to stark faces of rock, its
sharp ridges breaking to sheer ravines, its dense scrub
and timber, defied the energies of successive explorers.
97

98 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Governor Phillip, in 1789, reached Richmond by way
of the Hawkesbury. Later in the same year, and in the
next, further efforts were made, but the investigators
were beaten by the stern and shaggy hills. Captain
William Paterson, in 1793, organized an attacking
party, consisting largely of Scottish highlanders, hoping
that their native skill and resolution would find a path
across the barrier ; but they proceeded by boat only, and
did not go far. In the following year quartermaster
Hacking, with a party of hardy men, spent ten days
among the mountains, but no path or pass practicable
for traffic rewarded his endeavours. Sydney was shut
in between the sea and this craggy rampart. What the
country on the other side was like no man knew.
In June, 1796, before the Reliance sailed for South
Africa, George Bass made his try. The task was hard,
and worth attempting, two qualifications which recom
mended it strongly to his mind. He collected a small
party of men upon whom he could rely for a tough
struggle, took provisions for about a fortnight, equipped
himself with strong ropes with which to be lowered
down ravines, had scaling irons made for his feet, and
hooks to fasten on his hands, and set out ready to cut or
climb his way over the mountains, determined to assail
their defiant fastnesses up to the limits of possibility.
It was a stiff enterprise, and Bass and his party did not
spare themselves. But the Blue Mountains were a
fortress that was not to be taken by storm. Bass's
success, as Flinders wrote, "was not commensurate to
the perseverance and labour employed." After fifteen
days of effort, the baffled adventurers confessed them
selves beaten, and, their provisions being exhausted,
returned to Sydney. ^
They had pushed research further than any previous
explorers had done, and had marked down the course of
the river Grose as a practical result of their work. But

DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT 99
Bass now believed the mountains to be hopeless; and,
indeed, George Caley, a botanical collector employed by
Sir Joseph Banks, having seven years later made
another attempt and met with repulse, did not hesitate
to tell a committee of the House of Commons, which
summoned him to appear as a witness, that the range
was impassable. It seemed that Nature had tumbled
down an impenetrable bewilderment of rock, the hill
sides cracking into deep, dark crevices, and the crests
of the mountains showing behind and beyond a massed
confusion of crags and hollows, trackless and un-
traversable. Governor King declared himself satisfied
that the effort to cross the range was a task "as
chimerical as useless," an opinion strengthened by the
fact that, as Allan Cunningham had related,* the
aboriginals known to the settlement were "totally ignor
ant of any pass to the interior."
It was not, indeed, till 1813 that Gregory Blaxland,
with Lieutenant Lawson and William Charles Went-
worth (then a youth), as companions, succeeded in
solving the problem. The story of their steady, per
sistent, and desperate struggle being beyond the scope
of this biography, it is sufficient to say that after fifteen
days of severe labour, applied with rare intelligence and
bushcraft, they saw beneath them waving grass-country
watered by clear streams, and knew that they had found
a path to the interior of the new continent.
Bass's eagerness to explore soon found other scope.
In 1797, report was brought to Sydney by shipwrecked
mariners that, in traversing the coast, they had seen
coal. He at once set off to investigate. At the place
now called Coalcliff, about twenty miles south of Botany
Bay, he found a vein of coal about twenty feet above the
surface of the sea. It was six or seven feet thick, and

* On "Progress of Interior Discovery in New South Wales,"
Journal of the Royal Geographical Society (1832), Vol. II., 99.

100 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
dipped to the southward until it became level
with the sea, "and there the lowest rock you can see
when the surf retires is all coal." It was a discovery
of first-class importance — the first considerable find ot
a mineral that has yielded incalculable wealth to Aus
tralia.* He made this useful piece of investigation in
August; and in the following month undertook a
journey on foot, in company with Williamson, the act
ing commissary, from Sydney to the Cowpastures, cross
ing and re-crossing the River Nepean, and thence
descending to the sea a few miles south of his old rest
ing place, Watta-Mowlee. His map and notes are full
of evidence of his careful observation. "Tolerably
good level ground," "good pastures," "mountainous
brushy land," and so forth, are remarks scored across
his track line. But these were pastimes in comparison
with the enterprise that was now occupying his mind,
and upon which his fame chiefly rests.
Hunter's despatch to the Duke of Portland, dated
March 1st, 1798, explains the circumstances of the ex
pedition leading to the discovery of Bass Strait: "The
tedious repairs which His Majesty's ship Reliance
necessarily required before she could be put in a con
dition for going again to sea, having given an oppor
tunity to Mr. George Bass, her surgeon, a young man
of a well-informed mind and an active disposition, to
offer himself to be employed in any way in which he

* It is well to remember that the use of coal was discovered in
England in very much the same way. Mr. Salzmann, English In
dustries of the Middle Ages (1913), p. 3, observes that "it is most
probable that the first coal used was washed up by the sea, and such
as could be quarried from the face of the cliffs where the seams
were exposed by the action of the waves." He quotes a sixteenth
century account relative to Durham: "As the tide comes in it
bringeth a small wash sea coal, which is employed to the making
of salt and the fuel of the poor fisher towns adjoining." Hence,
originally, coal in England was commonly called sea-coal even when
obtained inland.

DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT 101
could contribute to the benefit of the public service, I
enquired of him in what way he was desirous of exerting
himself, and he informed me nothing would gratify him
more effectually than my allowing him the use of a good
boat and permitting him to man her with volunteers
from the King's ships. I accordingly furnished him
with an excellent whaleboat, well fitted, victualled, and
manned to his wish, for the purpose of examining the
coast to the southward of this port, as far as he could
with safety and convenience go."
It is clear from this despatch that the impulse was
Bass's own, and that the Governor merely supplied the
boat, provisioned it, and permitted him to select his own
crew. Hunter gave Bass full credit for what he did,
and himself applied the name to the Strait when its
existence had been demonstrated. It is, however, but
just to Hunter to observe, that he had eight years before
printed the opinion that there was either a strait or a
deep gulf between Van Diemen's Land and New
Holland. In his Historical Journal of the Transac
tions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island (London,
1793), he gave an account of the voyage of the Sirius,
in 1789, from Port Jackson to the Cape of Good Hope
to purchase provisions. In telling the story of the
return voyage he wrote (p. 125) : —
"In passing at a distance from the coast between
the islands of Schooten and Furneaux and Point Hicks,
the former being the northernmost of Captain
Furneaux's observations here, and the latter the
southernmost part which Captain Cook saw when he
sailed along the coast, there has been no land seen, and
from our having felt an easterly set of current and when
the wind was from that quarter (north-west), we had
an uncommon large sea, there is reason to believe that
there is in that space either a very deep gulf or a strait,
which may separate Van Diemen's Land from New

102 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Holland. There have no discoveries been made on the
western side of this land in the parallel I allude to,
between 39° 00' and 42° 00' south, the land there
having never been seen."
Hunter was, therefore, quite justified, in his des
patch, in pointing out that he had "long conjectured"
the existence of the Strait. He seems, not unwarrant
ably, to have been anxious that his own share in the dis
coveries, as foreseeing them and encouraging the efforts
that led to them, should not be overlooked. The Naval
Chronicle of the time mentioned the subject, and re
turned to it more than once.* But if we may suppose
Hunter to have inspired some of these allusions, it must
be added that they are scrupulously fair, and claimed
no more for him than he was entitled to have remem
bered. Bass's work is in every instance properly
appreciated; and in one article (N.C., XV., 62) he is
characterised, probably through Hunter's instrument
ality — the language is very like that used in the official
despatch — as "a man of considerable enterprise and
ingenuity, a strong and comprehensive mind with the
advantage of a vigorous body and healthy constitution."
The boat was 28 feet 7 inches long, head and stern alike,
fitted to row eight oars, with banksia timbers and cedar
planking. One error relating to this justly celebrated voyage
needs to be corrected, especially as currency has been
given to it in a standard historical work. It is not true
that Bass undertook his cruise "in a sailing boat with a
crew of five convicts."t His men were all British
sailors. Hunter's despatch indicates that Bass asked
to be allowed to man his boat "with volunteers from the

™ S£e ,¥££l Chronicle> Vo1- :V., 159 (1800) ; VI., 349 (1801) ;
-X.V ., 62 (1806), etc.
'• The Royal Navy : a History, Vol. IV., 567.

i

FLINP-TT1"'r' ,T"Tr'-CT:c lif BASS STRAIT If

FRANCIS, NORFOLK, AND INVESTIGATOR.

DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT 103
King's ships," and that she was "manned to his wish,"
and Flinders, in his narrative of the voyage, stated that
his friend was "furnished with a fine whaleboat, and
six weeks' provisions by the Governor, and a crew of
six seamen from the ships."
It is, indeed, much to be regretted that, with one
exception to be mentioned in a later chapter, the names
of the seamen who participated in this remarkable cruise
have not been preserved. Bass had no occasion
in his diary to mention any man by name, but it is quite
evident that they were a daring, enduring, well-matched
and thoroughly loyal band, facing the big waters in
their small craft with heroic resolution, and never fail
ing to respond when their chief gave a lead. When,
after braving foul weather, and with food supplies
running low, the boat was at length turned homeward,
Bass writes "we did it reluctantly," coupling his willing
little company with himself in regrets that discovery
could not be pushed farther than they had been able to
pursue it. Throughout his diary he writes in the first
person plural, and he records no instance of complaint
of the hardships endured or of quailing before the
dangers encountered.
It is likely enough that the six British sailors who
manned Bass's boat had very little perception that they
were engaged upon a task that would shine in history.
An energetic ship's surgeon whom everybody liked had
called for volunteers in an affair requiring stout arms
and hearts. He got them, they followed him, did their
job, and returned to routine duty. They did not
receive any extra pay, or promotion, or official recog
nition. Neither did Bass, beyond Hunter's commenda
tion in a despatch. He wrote up his modest little
diary, a terse record of observations and occurrences,
and got ready for the next adventure.
We will follow him on this one.

104 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLIN-DERS
On the evening of Sunday, December 3, 1797, at
six o'clock, Bass's men rowed out of Port Jackson heads
and turned south. The night was spent in Little Bay,
three miles north of Botany Bay, as Bass did not deem it
prudent to proceed further in the darkness, the weather
having become cloudy and uncertain, and things not
having yet found their proper place in the boat. Nor
was very much progress made on the 4th, for a violent
wind was encountered, which caused Bass to make for
Port Hacking. On the following day, "the wind
headed in flurries," and the boat did not get further than
Providential Cove, or Watta-mowley, where the Tom
Thumb had taken refuge in the previous year. On the
7th, Bass reached Shoalhaven, which he named. He
remained there three days, and described the soil and
situation with some care. "The country around it is
generally low and swampy and the soil for the most
part is rich and good, but seemingly much subject to
extensive inundation." One sentence of comment reads
curiously now that the district is linked up by railway
with Sydney, and exports its butter and other produce to
the markets of Europe. "However capable much of
the soil of this country might upon a more accurate in
vestigation be found to be of agricultural improvement,
certain it is that the difficulty of shipping off the produce
must ever remain a bar to its colonisation. A nursery
of cattle might perhaps be carried on here with advan
tage, and that sort of produce ships off itself." Bass,
a farmer's son, reared in an agricultural centre, was a
capable judge of good country, but of course there was
nothing when he saw these rich lands to foretell an era
of railways and refrigerating machinery.
On December 10th the boat entered Jervis Bay, and
on the 18th Bass discovered Barmouth Creek (pro
bably the mouth of the Bega River) , "the prettiest little
model of a harbour we had ever seen." Were it not

DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT 105
for the shallowness of the bar, he considered that the
opening would be "a complete harbour for small craft;"
but as things were, "a small boat even must watch her
times for going in." On the 19th, at seven o'clock in
the morning, Twofold Bay was discovered. Bass
sailed round it, made a sketch of it, and put to sea again,
thinking it better to leave the place for further examina
tion on the return voyage, and to take advantage of the
fair wind for the southward course. He considered
the nautical advantages of the harbour — to become in
later years a rather important centre for whaling —
superior to those of any other anchorage entered during
the voyage. A landmark was indicated by him with a
quaint touch: "It may be known by a red point on the
south side, of the peculiar bluish hue of a drunkard's
nose." On the following day at about eleven o'clock
in the morning he rounded Cape Howe, and commenced
his westerly run. He was now nearing a totally new
stretch of coast.
From the 22nd to the 30th bad weather was ex
perienced. A gale blew south-west by west, full in their
teeth. The situation must have been uncomfortable
in the extreme, for the boat was now entering the Strait.
The heavy seas that roll under the lash of a south-west
gale in that quarter do not make for the felicity of those
who face them on a well-found modern steamer. For
the seven Englishmen in an open boat, groping along
a strange coast, the ordeal was severe. But no doubt
they wished each other a merry Christmas, in quite the
traditional English way, and with hearty good feeling.
on the 25 th.
On the last day of the year, in more moderate
weather, the boat was coasting the Ninety Mile Beach,
behind the sandy fringe of which lay the fat pastures of
eastern Gippsland. The country did not look very

106 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
promising to Bass from the sea, and he minuted his im
pressions in a few words: "low beaches at the bottom
of heights of no great depth, lying between rocky pro
jecting points; in the back lay some short ridges of
lumpy irregular hills at a little distance from the sea."
Nowhere in his diary did Bass seize upon any
picturesque features of scenery, though they are not
lacking in the region that he traversed. If he was
moved by a sense of the oppressiveness of vast, silent
solitudes, or by any sensation of strangeness at feeling
his way along a coast hitherto unexplored, the emotion
finds scarcely any reflection in his record. Hard facts,
dates, times, positions, and curt memoranda, were the
sole concern of the diarist. He did not even mention
a pathetic, almost tragic, incident of the voyage, to
which reference will presently be made. It did not
concern the actual exploratory part of his work, and so
he passed it by. The one note signifying an apprecia
tion of the singularity of the position is conveyed in the
terse words: "Sunday 31st, a.m. Daylight, got out and
steered along to the southward, in anxious expectation,
being now nearly come upon an hitherto unknown part
of the coast."
But men are emotional beings after all, and an
entry for "January 1st, 1798" (really the evening of
December 31), bare of the human touch as it is, brings
the situation of Bass and his crew vividly before the
eye of the reader. The dramatic force of it must have
been keenly realised by them. At night there was
"bright moonlight, the sky without a cloud." A new
year was dawning. The seven Englishmen tossing
on the waves in this solitary part of the globe
would not fail to remember that. They were
near enough to the land to see it distinctly; it was
still low and level." A flood of soft light lay

DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT 107
upon it, and rippled silvery over the sea. They would
hear the wash of the rollers that climb that bevelled
shore, and pile upon the water-line creaming leagues of
phosphorescent foam. And at the back lay a land of
mystery, almost as tenantless as the moon herself, but to
be the future home of prosperous thousands of the
same race as the men in the whaleboat. To them it
was a countiy of weird forms, strange animals, and un
tutored savages. If ever boat breasted the "foam of
perilous seas in faery lands forlorn," it was this, and if
ever its occupants realised the complete strangeness of
their situation and their utter aloofness from the tracks
of their fellowmen, it must have been on this cloudless
moonlit summer night. There was hardly a stretch
of the world's waters, at all events in any habitable zone,
where they could have been farther away from all that
they remembered with affection and hoped to see again.
About half an hour before midnight a haze dimmed the
distinctness of the shore, and at midnight it had
thickened so that they could scarcely see land at all.
But they crept along in their course, "vast flights of
petrels and other birds flying about us," the watch peer
ing into the mist, the rest wrapped in their blankets
sleeping, while the stars shone down on them from a
brilliant steel-blue sky, and the Cross wheeled high
above the southern horizon.
Cook, on his Endeavour voyage in 1770, first
sighted the Australian coast at Point Hicks, called Cape
Everard on many current maps. His second officer,
Lieutenant Zachary Hicks, at six in the morning of
April 20, "saw ye land making high," and Cook
"named it Point Hicks because Lieutenant Hicks was
the first who discovered this land." Point Hicks is a
projection which falls away landward from a peak,
backed by a sandy conical hill, but Bass passed it with
out observing it. The thick haze which he mentions

108 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
may have obscured the outline. At all events, by dusk
on January 1st he found that he had filled up the
hitherto unexplored space between Point Hicks "a point
we could not at all distinguish from the rest of the
beach," and the high hummocky land further west,
which he believed to be that sighted by Captain Tobias
Furneaux in 1773. It is, however, to be observed that
Flinders pointed out that all Bass's reckonings after
December 31st were ten miles out. "It is no matter
of surprise," wrote his friend indicating an error, "if
observations taken from an open boat in a high sea
should differ ten miles from the truth ; but I judge that
Mr. Bass's quadrant must have received some injury
during the night of the 31st, for a similar error appears
to pervade all the future observations, even those taken
under favourable circumstances." The missing of
Point Hicks, therefore, apart from the thick haze, is not
difficult to understand.
On Tuesday, January 2nd, Bass reached the most
southerly point in the continent of Australia, the ex
tremity of Wilson's Promontory. The bold outlines
were sighted at seven o'clock in the morning. "We
were surprised by the sight of high hummocky land
right ahead, and at a considerable distance." Bass
called it Furneaux Land in his diary, in the belief that
a portion of the great granite peninsula had been seen
by the captain of the Adventure in 1773. Furneaux'
name is still attached to the group of islands divided by
Banks' Strait from the north-east corner of Tasmania.
but the name which Bass gave to the Promontory was
not retained. It is not likely that Furneaux ever saw
land so far west. "It cannot be the same, as Mr. Bass
was afterwards convinced," wrote Flinders. Governor
Hunter, "at our recommendation," named it Wilson's
Promontory, "in compliment to my friend Thomas
Wilson, Esq., of London." It has been stated that the

DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT 109
name was given to commemorate William Wilson, one
of the whaleboat crew, who "jumped ashore first."*
Nobody "jumped ashore first" on the westward voyage,
when the discovery was made, because, as Bass twice
mentions in his diary, "we could not land." Doubly
inaccurate is the statement of another writer that "the
promontory was seen and named by Grant in 1800 after
Admiral Wilson."! Grant himself, on his chart of
Bass Strait, marked down the promontory as "accu
rately surveyed by Matthew Flinders, which he calls
Wilson's Promontory," and on p. 78 of his Narrative
wrote that it was named by Bass. The truth is, as
related above, that it was named by Hunter on the
recommendation of Bass and Flinders; and the two
superfluous Wilsons have no proper place in the story.
The Thomas Wilson whose name was thus given to one
of the principal features of the Australian coast — a
form of memorial far more enduring than "storied urn
or animated bust" — is believed to have been a London
merchant, engaged partly in the Australian trade.
Nothing more definite is known about him. He was as
one who "grew immortal in his own despight." Of the
Promontory itself Bass wrote — and the words are ex
ceedingly apt — that it was "well worthy of being the
boundary point of a large strait, and a corner stone of
this great island New Holland."
Bass found the neighbourhood of the Promontory
to be the home of vast numbers of petrels, gulls and
other birds, as is still the case, and he remarked upon
the seals observed upon neighbouring rocks, with "a
remarkably long tapering neck and sharp pointed head."
They were the ordinary Bass Strait seal, once exceed
ingly plentiful, and still to be found on some of the
* The Coming of the British to Australia, by Ida Lee (London,
1906), p. 51.
t Blair, Cyclopaedia of Australia, 748.

110 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
islands, but unfortunately much fewer in numbers now.
The pupping time was passed when Bass sailed through.
and many of the females had gone to sea, as is their
habit. This cause of depletion accounts for his remark
on his return voyage that the number was "by no means
equal to what we had been led to expect." But, he
added, "from the quantity I saw I have every reason to
believe that a speculation on a small scale might be
carried on with advantage."
Foul winds and heavy breaking seas were ex
perienced while the boat was nearing the Promontory.
To make matters worse, leaks were causing anxiety.
Water was gushing in pretty freely near the water-line
aft. The crew had frequently remarked in the course
of the morning of January 3rd how much looser the
boat had become during the last few days. Her planks
had received no ordinary battering. It had been Bass's
intention to strike for the northern coast of Van Die-
men's Land, which he supposed to be at no very great
distance. He may at this time have been under the
impression that he was in a deep gulf. As a matter of
fact, the nearest point southward that he could have
reached was 130 miles distant. Anxiety about the con
dition of the boat made him resolve to continue his
coasting cruise westward. Water rushed in fast through
the boat's side, there was risk of a plank starting, and
ploughing through a hollow, irregular sea, the explorers
were, as Flinders reviewing the adventure wrote, "in
the greatest danger." Bass's record of his night of
peril is characteristically terse: "we had a bad night of
it, but the excellent qualities of the boat brought us
through." He says nothing of his own careful steer
ing and sleepless vigilance.
It was on the evening of the third day, January 3rd,
that an incident occurred to which, curiously enough,
Bass made no allusion in his diary, presumably because

DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT 111
it did not concern the actual work of navigation and dis
covery, but which throws a dash of tragic colour into
the story of his adventure. The boat having returned
to the coast of what was supposed to be Furneaux Land,
was running along "in whichever way the land might
trend, for the state of the boat did not seem to allow of
our quitting the shore with propriety." The coast line
was being scanned for a place of shelter, when smoke
was observed curling up from an island not far from the
Promontory. At first it was thought that the smoke
arose from a fire lighted by aboriginals, but it was dis
covered, to the amazement of Bass and his crew, that
the island was occupied by a party of white men. They
were escaped convicts. The tale they had to tell was
one of a wild dash for liberty, treachery by con
federates, and abandonment to the imminent danger of
starvation. In October of the previous year, a gang of fourteen
convicts had been employed in carrying stones from
Sydney to the Hawkesbury River settlement, a few
miles to the north. Most of them were "of the last
Irish convicts," as Hunter explained in a despatch, part
of the bitter fruit of the Irish Mutiny Act of 1796,
passed to strike at the movement associated with the
names of Lord Edward Fitzgerald and Wolfe Tone,
which encouraged the attempted French invasion of Ire
land under Hoche. These men seized the boat
appointed for the service, appropriated the stores,
threatened the lives of all who dared to oppose them,
and made their exit through Port Jackson heads. As
soon as the Governor heard of the escape he despatched
parties in pursuit in rowing boats. The coast was
searched sixty miles to the north and forty to the south ;
but the convicts, with the breeze in their sail and the
hope of liberty in their hearts, had all the advantage on
their side, and eluded their gaolers.

112 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
In April, 1797, news had been brought to the settle
ment of the wreck of the ship Sydney Cove on an island
to the southward. If the Irish prisoners could reach
this island, float the ship on the tide, and repair her
rents, they considered that they had an excellent chance
of escape. The provisions which they had on their
boat, with such as they might find on the ship, would
probably be sufficient for a voyage. It was a daring
enterprise, but it may well have seemed to offer a pros
pect of success.
Some of the prisoners at the settlement, as appears
from a "general order" issued by Hunter, had "picked
up somehow or other the idle story of the possibility of
travelling from hence to China, or finding some other
colony where they expect every comfort without the
trouble of any labour." It may have been the alluring
hope of discovering such an earthly paradise that
flattered these men. As a matter of fact, some convicts
did escape from New South Wales and reached India,
after extraordinary perils and hardships. They en
deavoured to sail up the River Godavery, but were
interrupted by a party of sepoys, re-arrested, and sent
to Madras, whence they were ordered to be sent back
to Sydney.* But the party whom Bass found never discovered
the place of the wreck upon which they reckoned.
Instead, they drifted round Cape Howe, and found
themselves off a desolate, inhospitable coast, without
knowledge of their whereabouts, and with a scanty,
rapidly diminishing stock of food. In fear of starva
tion seven of them resolved to desert their companions
on this lonely island near Wilson's Promontory, and
treacherously sailed away with the boat while the others
were asleep. It was the sad, sick, and betrayed remnant
* See Annual Register, 1801, p. 15.

DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT 113
of this forlorn hope, that Bass found on that wave-
beaten rock on the 3rd January. For five weeks the
wretched men had subsisted on petrels and occasional
seals. Small prospect they had of being saved; the
postponement of their doom seemed only a prolongation
of their anguish. They were nearly naked, and almost
starved to death. Bass heard their story, pitied their
plight, and relieved their necessities as well as he could
from his own inadequate stores. He also promised that
on his return he would call again at the island, and do
what he could for the party, who only escaped from being
prisoners of man to become prisoners of nature, locked
in one of her straitest confines, and fed from a reluc
tant and parsimonious hand.
Bass kept his word; and it may be as well to
interrupt the narrative of his westward navigation in
order to relate the end of this story of distress. On
February 2nd, he again touched at the island. But
what could he do to help the fugitives? His boat was
too small to enable him to take them on board, and his
provisions were nearly exhausted, his men having had to
eke out the store by living on seals and sea birds. Lie
consented to take on board two of the seven, one of
whom was grievously sick and the other old and feeble.
He provided the five others with a musket and ammu
nition, fishing lines and hooks, and a pocket compass.
He then conveyed them to the mainland, gave them a
supply of food to meet their immediate wants, and
pointed out that their only hope of salvation was to
pursue the coastline round to Port Jackson. The crew
of the whaleboat gave them such articles of clothing as
they could spare. Some tears were shed on both
sides when they separated, Bass to continue his home
ward voyage, the hapless victims of a desperate attempt
to escape to face the long tramp over five hundred miles
of wild and trackless country, with the prospect of a

114 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
prolongation of their term of servitude should they ever
reach Sydney. "The difficulties of the country and the
possibility of meeting hostile natives are considerations
which will occasion doubts of their ever being able to
reach us," wrote Hunter in a despatch reporting the
matter to the Secretary of State. It does not appear
that one of the five was even seen again.*
To return to the discovery cruise: on January 5th,
at seven in the evening, Bass's whaleboat turned into
Westernport, between the bold granite headland of
Cape Wollamai, on Phillip Island, and Point Griffith
on the mainland. The discovery of this port, now the
seat of a naval base for the Commonwealth, was a
splendid crown to a remarkable voyage. "I have
named the place," Bass wrote, "from its relative situa
tion to every other known harbour on the coast,
Western Port. It is a large sheet of water, branching
out into two arms, which end in wide flats of several
miles in extent, and it was not until we had been here
some days that we found it to be formed by an island,
and to have two outlets to the sea, an eastern and
western passage."
Twelve days were spent in the harbour. The
weather was bad; and to this cause in the main we may
* What some convicts dared ancl endured in the effort to
escape, is shown in the following very interesting paragraph,
printed in a London newspaper of May 30th, 1797: — "The female
convict who made her escape from Botany Bay, and suffered
the greatest hardships during a voyage of three thousand
leagues [presumably she was a stowaway] and who was after
wards retaken and condemned to death, has been pardoned and
released from Newgate. In the story of this woman there is
something extremely singular. A gentleman of high rank in
the Army visited her in Newgate, heard the details of her life,
and for that time departed. The next day he returned, and
told the gentleman who keeps the prison that he had procured
her pardon, at the same time requesting that she should not be
apprized of the circumstance i. The next day he returned with his
carriage, and took off the poor woman, who almost expired with
gratitude."

Weftern Port
On&e South Coast of
NY SOUTH WALES
/rum MTBafss Eyt-skadi.
1798.

DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT 115
attribute the paucity of the observations made, and the
defective account given of the port itself. It contains
two islands : Phillip Island, facing the strait, and French
Island, the larger of the two, lying between Phillip
Island and the mainland. Bass was not aware that this
second island was not part of the mainland. Its exist-
ance was first determined by the Naturaliste, one of the
ships of Baudin's French expedition, in 1802.
Bass's men had great difficulty in procuring good
water. He considered that there was every appear
ance of an unusual drought in the country. This may
also have been the reason why he saw only three or four
blacks, who were so shy that the sailors could not get
near them. There must certainly have been fairly
large families of blacks on Phillip Island at one time,
for there are several extensive middens on the coast,
with thick deposits of fish bones and shells; and the
author has found there some good specimens of "black-
fellows' knives" — that is, sharpened pieces of flat, hard
stone, with which the aboriginals opened their oysters
and mussels — besides witnessing the finding of a few fine
stone axes. Bass records the sight of a few brush
kangaroos and "Wallabah"; of black swan he observed
hundreds, as well as ducks, "a small but excellent kind,"
which flew in thousands, and "an abundance of most
kinds of wild fowl."
By the time the stay in Westernport came to an end,
Bass had been at sea a month and two days, and had
sailed well into the strait now bearing his name, though
he was not yet quite sure that it was a strait. His
provisions had necessarily run very low. The condition
of the boat, whose repair occupied some time, increased
his anxiety. Prudence pointed to the desirableness
of a return to Port Jackson with the least possible
delay. Yet one cannot but regret that so intrepid an
explorer, who was making such magnificent use of

116 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
means so few and frail, was not able to follow the coast
a very few more miles westward. Another day's sail
would have brought him into Port Phillip, and he would
have been the discoverer of the bay at the head of which
now stands the great city of Melbourne. Perhaps if
he had done so, his report would have saved Hunter
from writing a sentence which is a standing warning
against premature judgments upon territory seen at a
disadvantage and insufficiently examined. "He found
in general," wrote the Governor to the Secretary of
State, "a barren, unpromising country, with very few
exceptions, and were it even better the want of harbours
would render it less valuable." The truth is that he
had seen hardly the fringe of some of the fairest lands
on earth, and was within cannon shot of a harbour
wherein all the navies of the world could ride.
Shortly after dawn on January 18th the prow of
the whaleboat was "very reluctantly" turned ocean-
wards for the home journey. The wind was fresh when
they started, but as the morning wore on it increased to
a gale, and by noon there were high seas and heavy
squalls. As the little craft was running along the coast,
and the full force of the south-westerly gale beat hard
on her beam, her management taxed the nerve and sea
manship of the crew. Bass acknowledged that it was
"very troublesome," and his "very" means much. This
extremely trying weather lasted, with a few brief
intervals, for eight days. As soon as possible Bass
steered his boat under the lee of Cape Liptrap, not only
for safety, but also to salt down for consumption during
the remainder of the voyage a stock of birds taken on
the islands off Westernport.
On the night of the 23rd the boat lay snugly under
the shelter of the rocks, where Bass intended to remain
until the weather moderated. But at about one o'clock
in the morning the wind shifted to the south, blowing

DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT 117
"stronger than before," and made the place untenable.
At daybreak, therefore, another resting place was
sought, and later in the morning the boat was beached
on the west side of a sheltered cove, "having passed
through a sea that for the very few hours it has been
blowing was incredibly high." When the wind abated
the sea went down, so that Bass was able to round the
Promontory to the east, enter Sealers' Cove, which he
named, and lay in a stock of seal-meat and salted birds.
"The Promontory," wrote Bass, "is joined to the
mainland by a low neck of sand, which is nearly divided
by a lagoon that runs in on the west side of it, and by a
large shoal inlet on the east. Whenever it shall be
decided that the opening between this and Van Die-
men's Land is a large strait, this rapidity of tide and
the long S.W. swell that seems continually running in
upon the coast to the westward, will then be accounted
for." It is evident, therefore, that at this time Bass
regarded the certainty of there being a strait as a
matter yet to "be decided." He was himself thereafter
to assist in the decision.
Though Bass does not give any particulars of
aboriginals encountered at Wilson's Promontory, it is
apparent from an allusion in his diary that some were
seen. The sentence in which he mentions them is
curious for its classification of them with the other
animals observed, a classification biologically justifiable,
no doubt, but hardy usual. "The animals," he wrote,
"have nothing new in them worth mentioning, with
these exceptions; that the men, though thieves, are kind
and friendly, and that the birds upon Furneaux's Land
have a sweetness of note unknown here," i.e., at Port
Jackson. He would not, in February, have heard the
song-lark, that unshamed rival of an English cousin
famed in poetry, and the sharp crescendo of the coach-
whip bird would scarcely be classed as "sweet." "The

id j. Sl

118 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
tinkle of the bell-bird in the ranges" may have gratified
his ear ; but the likelihood is that the birds which pleased
him were the harmonious thrush and the mellow
songster so opprobiously named the thickhead, for no
better reason than that collectors experience a difficulty
in skinning it.*
The cruise from the Promontory eastward was
commenced on February 2nd. Eight days later, the
boat being in no condition for keeping the sea with a
foul wind, Bass beached her not far from Ram Head.
He had passed Point Hicks in the night. Cape Howe
was rounded on the 15th, and on the 25th the boat
entered Port Jackson.
Bass and his men had accomplished a great achieve
ment. In an open boat, exposed to the full rigours of
the weather in seas that are frequently rough and were
on this voyage especially storm-lashed, persecuted per
sistently by contrary gales, they had travelled twelve
hundred miles, principally along an unknown coast,
which they had for the first time explored. Hunter in
his official despatch commented on Bass's "perseverance
against adverse winds and almost incessant bad
weather," and complimented him upon his sedulous
examination of inlets in search of secure harbours. But
there can be no better summary of the voyage than that
penned by Flinders, who from his own experience could
adequately appreciate the value of the performance.
Writing fifteen years later, when Bass had disappeared
and was believed to be dead, his friend said : —
"It should be remembered that Mr. Bass sailed with
only six weeks' provisions; but with the assistance of
* Mr. Chas. L. Barrett, a well known Australian ornitho
logist, and one of the editors of the Emu, knows the Promontory
well, and he tells me that he has no doubt that the birds whicli
pleased Bass were the grey shrike thrush (Collyriocincla
harmonica) and the white-throated thickhead (Pachycephala
guttural is.)

DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT 119
occasional supplies of petrels, fish, seals'-flesh, and a
few geese and black swans, and by abstinence, he had
been enabled to prolong his voyage beyond eleven weeks.
His ardour and perseverance were crowned, in despite
of the foul winds which so much opposed him, with a
degree of success not to have been anticipated from such
feeble means. In three hundred miles of coast from
Port Jackson to the Ram Head, he added a number of
particulars which had escaped Captain Cook, and will
always escape any navigator in a first discovery, unless
he have the time and means of joining a close examina
tion by boats to what may be seen from the ship.
"Our previous knowledge of the coast scarcely ex
tended beyond the Ram Head; and there began the
harvest in which Mr. Bass was ambitious to place the
first reaping-hook. The new coast was traced three
hundred miles; and instead of trending southward to
join itself to Van Diemen's Land, as Captain Furneaux
had supposed, he found it, beyond a certain point, to
take a direction nearly opposite, and to assume the
appearance of being exposed to the buffeting of an open
sea. Mr. Bass himself entertained no doubt of the
existence of a wide strait separating Van Diemen's Land
from New South Wales, and he yielded with the greatest
reluctance to the necessity of returning before it was
so fully ascertained as to admit of no doubt in the minds
of others. But he had the satisfaction of placing at the
end of his new coast an extensive and useful harbour,
surrounded with a country superior to any other harbour
in the southern parts of New South Wales.
"A voyage especially undertaken for discovery in
an open boat, and in which six hundred miles of coast,
mostly in a boisterous climate, was explored, has not,
perhaps, its equal in the annals of maritime history.
The public will award to its high-spirited and able con
ductor — alas ! now no more — an honourable place in

120 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
the list of those whose ardour stands most conspicuous
for the promotion of useful knowledge."
Bass would have desired no better recognition than
this competent appraisement of his work by one who,
when he wrote these paragraphs, had himself ex
perienced a full measure of the perils of the sea.
Was Bass at the time of his return aware that he
had discovered a strait? It has been asserted that "it
is evident that Bass was not fully conscious of the great
discovery he had made."* Bass's language, upon which
this surmise is founded, was as follows: — "Whenever
it shall be decided that the opening between this and
Van Diemen's Land is a strait, this rapidity of tide . . .
will be accounted for." He also wrote: "There is
reason to believe it (i.e., Wilson's Promontory) is the
boundary of a large strait." I do not think these
passages are to be taken to mean that Bass was at all
doubtful about there being a strait. On the contrary,
the words "whenever it shall be decided" express his
conviction that it would be so decided; but the diarist
recognised that the existence of the strait had not yet
been proved to demonstration. His reluctance to turn
back when he reached Westernport was unquestionably
due to the same cause. The voyage in the whaleboat
had not proved the strait. It was still possible, though
not at all probable, that the head of a deep gulf lay
farther westward. The subsequent circumnavigation
of Tasmania by Bass and Flinders proved the strait, as
did also Grant's voyage through it from the west in the
Lady Nelson in 1800.
Hunter had no more evidence than that afforded by
Bass's discoveries when he wrote, in his despatch to the
Secretary of State: "He found an open ocean westward,
and by the mountainous sea which rolled from that
quarter, and no land discoverable in that direction, we
4:" F. M. Bladen, Historical Records of New South Wales, III.,
327, note.

DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT 121
have much reason to conclude that there is an open
strait through." Hunter's "much reason to conclude"
implies no more doubt about the strait than do the
words of Bass, but the phrase does imply a recog
nition of the want of conclusive proof, creditable to the
restrained judgment of both men. Flinders also wrote :
"There seemed to want no other proof of the existence
of a passage than that of sailing positively through it,"
which is precisely what he set himself to do in Bass's com
pany, as soon as he could secure an opportunity. Still
stronger testimony is that of Flinders, when summing
up his account of the discovery: "The south-westerly
swell which rolled in upon the shores of Westernport
and its neighbourhood sufficiently indicated to the pene
trating Bass that he was exposed to the southern Indian
Ocean. This opinion, which he constantly asserted,
was the principal cause of my services being offered to
the Governor to ascertain the principal cause of it."
Further, although Colonel David Collins was not in
Sydney at the time of the discovery, what he wrote in
his Account of the English Colony in New South Wales
(2nd edition, London, 1804), was based on first-hand
information; and he was no less direct in his statement:
"There was every appearance of an extensive strait, or
rather an open sea"; and he adds that Bass "regretted
that he had not been possessed of a better vessel, which
would have enabled him to circumnavigate Van Die-
men's Land" (pp. 443-4).
These passages, when compared with Bass's own
careful language, leave no doubt that Bass was fully
conscious of the great discovery he had made, though a
complete demonstration was as yet lacking.*
* The reasons given above appear also to justify me in saying
that there is insufficient warrant for the statement of Sir J. K.
Laughton (Dictionary of National Biography XLX., 326) that
"Bass's observations were so imperfect that it was not until they
were plotted after his return that the importance of what he
had done was at once apparent."

122 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
An interesting light is thrown on the admiration felt
for Bass among the colonists at Sydney, by Francois
Peron, the historian of Baudin's voyage of exploration.
When the French were at Port Jackson in 1802, the
whaleboat was lying beached on the foreshore, and was
preserved, says Peron, with a kind of "religious
respect." Small souvenirs were made of its timbers; and
a piece of the keel enclosed in a silver frame, was pre
sented by the Governor to Captain Baudin, as a
memorial of the "audacieuse navigation." Baudin's
artist, in making a drawing of Sydney, was careful to
show Bass's boat stayed up on the sand; and Peron, in
his Voyage de Decouvertes aux Terres Australes, re
spectfully described the discovery of "the celebrated
Mr. Bass" as "precious from a marine point of view."

GEORGE BASS.

Chapter VIII.
THE VOYAGE OF THE FRANCIS
During the absence of Bass in the whaleboat, the
repairing of the Reliance was finished, and in February,
1798, Flinders was able to carry out a bit of exploration
on his own account. The making of charts was employ
ment for which he had equipped himself by study and
practice, and he was glad to secure an opportunity of
applying his abilities in a field where there was original
work to do. The schooner Francis (a small vessel sent
out in frame from England for the use of the colonial
government, but now badly decayed) was about to be
despatched to the Furneaux Islands — north-east of Van
Diemen's Land, and about 480 miles from Sydney — to
bring to Sydney what remained of the cargo of the
wrecked Sydney Cove, and to rescue a few of the crew
who had been left in charge. Flinders obtained per
mission from the Governor to embark in the schooner,
"in order to make such observations serviceable to
geography and navigation as circumstances might
afford," and instructions were given to the officer in
command to forward this purpose as far as possible.
The circumstances of the wreck that occasioned the
cruise of the Francis were these : —
The Sydney Cove, Captain Guy Hamilton, left
Bengal on November 10th, 1796, with a speculative
cargo of merchandise for Sydney. Serious leakages
became apparent on the voyage, but the ship made the
coast of New Holland, rounded the southern extremity
of Van Diemen's Land, and stood to the northward on
February 1st, 1797. She encountered furious gales
which increased to a perfect hurricane, with a sea des-
J 123

124 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
cribed in a contemporary account as "dreadful." The
condition of the hull was so bad that the pumps could
not keep the inrush of water under control, and the
vessel become waterlogged. On February 8th she had
five feet of water in the well, and by midnight the water
was up to the lower deck hatches. She was at day
break in imminent peril of going to the bottom, so the
Captain headed for Preservation Island (one of the
Furneaux Group), sent the longboat ashore with some
rice, ammunition and firearms, and ran her in until she
struck on a sandy bottom in nineteen feet of water. The
whole ship's company was landed safely, tents were
rigged up, and as much of the cargo as could be secured
was taken ashore.
It was necessary to communicate with Sydney
to procure assistance. The long-boat was launched,
and, under the direction of the first mate, Mr.
Hugh Thompson, sixteen of the crew started
north on February 28th. But fresh misfortunes, as
cruel as shipwreck and for most of these men more
disastrous, were heaped upon them. They were smit
ten by a violent storm, terrific seas broke over the boat,
and on the morning of March 2nd she suddenly shipped
enough water to swamp her. The crew with difficulty
ran her through the surf that beat on the coast off which
they had been struggling, and she went to pieces
immediately. The seventeen were cast ashore on the
coast of New South Wales, hundreds of miles from the
only settlement, which could only be reached by the
crossing of a wild, rough, and trackless country, in
habited by tribes of savages. They were without food,
their clothing was drenched, and their sole means of
defence consisted of a rusty musket, with very little
ammunition, a couple of useless pistols, and two small
swords. The wretched band commenced their march along

THE VOYAGE OF THE FRANCIS 125
the coast northwards on March 25th. They had to
improvise rafts to cross some rivers; once a party of
kindly aboriginals helped them over a stream in canoes ;
at another time they encountered blacks who hurled
spears at them. They lived chiefly on small shell-fish.
Hunger and exposure brought their strength very low.
On April 16th, after over a month of weary tramping,
nine of the party dropped from fatigue and had to be
left behind by their companions, whose only hope was to
push on while sufficient energy lasted. Two days later,
three of the remainder were wounded by blacks. At
last, in May, three only of the seventeen who started
on this heart-breaking struggle for life against distance,
starvation and exhaustion, were rescued, "scarcely
alive," by a fishing boat, and taken to Sydney. The
others perished by the way.
Captain Hamilton, who had stayed by his wrecked
ship, was rescued in July, 1797; and, as already stated,
in January of the following year, Governor Hunter
fitted out the schooner Francis to bring away a few
Lascar sailors and as much of the remaining cargo as
could be saved. "I sent in the schooner," wrote the
Governor in a despatch, "Lieutenant Flinders of the
Reliance, a young man well-qualified, in order to give
him an opportunity of making what observations he
could among those islands." The Francis sailed on
February 1st.
The black shadow of the catastrophe that had over
taken the Sydney Cove crossed the path of the salvage
party. The Francis was accompanied by the ten-ton
sloop Eliza, Captain Armstrong. But shorty after
reaching the Furneaux Islands the two vessels were
separated in a storm, and the Eliza went down with all
hands. Neither the boat nor any soul of her company
were ever seen or heard of again.
Flinders had only twelve days available for

126 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
his own work, from February 16th till the 28th,
but he made full and valuable use of that time
in exploring, observing and charting. The fruits
of his researches were embodied in a drawing
sent to the British Government by Hunter, when
he announced the discovery of Bass Strait later on
in 1798. The principal geographical result was the
discovery of the Kent group of islands, which Flinders
named "in honour of my friend" the brave and accom
plished sailor, William Kent, who commanded the
Supply. The biological notes made by Flinders on this ex
pedition are of unusual interest. Upon the islands he
found "Kanguroo" (his invariable spelling of the
word), "womat" (sic), the duck-billed platypus,
aculeated ant-eater, geese, black swan, gannets, shags,
gulls, red bills, crows, parrakeets, snakes, seals, and
sooty petrels, a profusion of wild life highly fascinating
in itself, and, in the case of the animals, affording
striking evidence of connection with the mainland at a
comparatively recent period. The old male seals were
described as of enormous size and extraordinary power.
"I levelled my gun at one, which was sitting on the
top of a rock with his nose extended up towards the sun,
and struck him with three musket balls. He rolled
over and plunged into the water, but in less than half an
hour had taken his former station and attitude. On
firing again, a stream of blood spouted forth from his
breast to some yards distance, and he fell back sense
less. On examination the six balls were found lodged
in his breast; and one, which occasioned his death, had
pierced the heart. His weight was equal to that of a
common ox. . . . The commotion excited by our
presence in this assemblage of several thousand timid
animals was very interesting to me, who knew little of
their manners. The young cubs huddled together in

THE VOYAGE OF THE FRANCIS 127
the holes of the rocks and moaned piteously ; those more
advanced scampered and bowled down to the water with
their mothers; whilst some of the old males stood up in
defence of their families until the terror of the sailors'
bludgeons became too strong to be resisted. Those
who have seen a farmyard well stocked with pigs, with
their mothers in it, and have heard them all in tumult
together, may form a good idea of the confusion in con
nection with the seals at Cone Point. The sailors
killed as many of these harmless and not unamiable
creatures as they were able to skin during the time
necessary for me to take the requisite angles; and we
then left the poor affrighted multitude to recover from
the effect of our inauspicious visit."
Flinders' observations upon the sooty petrels, or
mutton birds, seen at the Furneaux Islands, are
valuable as forming a very early account of one of the
most remarkable sea-birds in the world :
"The sooty petrel, better known to us under the
name of sheerwater, frequents the tufted grassy parts
of all the islands in astonishing numbers. It is
known that these birds make burrows in the ground
like rabbits; that they lay one or two enormous eggs in
the holes and bring up their young there. In the
evening they come in from the sea, having their
stomachs filled with a gelatinous substance gathered
from the waves, and this they eject into the throats of
their offspring, or retain for their own nourishment,
according to circumstances. A little after sunset the air
at Preservation Island used to be darkened with their
numbers, and it was generally an hour before their
squabbling ceased and everyone had found its own
retreat. The people of the Sydney Cove had a strong
example of perseverance in these birds. The tents were
pitched close to to a piece of ground full of their
burrows, many of which were necessarily filled up from

128 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
walking constantly over them; yet notwithstanding this
interruption and the thousands of birds destroyed (for
they constituted a great part of their food during more
than six months), the returning flights continued to be
as numerous as before ; and there was scarcely a burrow
less except in the places actually covered by the tents,
These birds are about the size of a pigeon, and when
skinned and smoked we thought them passable food.
Any quantity could be procured by sending people on
shore in the evening. The sole process was to thrust
in the arm up to the shoulder and seize them briskly;
but there was some danger of grasping a snake at the
bottom of the burrow instead of a petrel."
The remark that the egg of the sooty petrel is of
enormous size is of course only true relatively to the size
of the bird. The egg is about as large as a duck's egg,
but longer and tapering more sharply at one end. For
the rest the description is an excellent one. The wings
of the bird are of great length and strength, giving to
it wonderful speed and power of flight. The colour is
coal-black. Flinders saw more of the sooty-petrel on
his subsequent voyage round Tasmania; and it will be
convenient to quote here the passage in which he refers
to the prodigious numbers in which the birds were seen.
It may be added that, despite a century of slaughter by
mankind, and after the taking of millions of eggs —
which are good food — the numbers of the mutton-birds
are still incalculably great.* Writing of what he saw
off the extreme north-west of Tasmania in December,
1798, Flinders said :—
"A large flock of gannets was observed at daylight
to issue out of the great bight to the southward; and
* The author may refer to a paper of his own, "The Mutton
Birds of Bass Strait," in the Field, April 18, 1903, for a study of
the sooty petrel during the laying season on Phillip Island. An
excellent account of the habits of the bird is given in Camp
bell's Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds.

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PAGE FROM FLINDERS' MS. NARRATIVE OF THE VOYAGE OF THE FRANCIS, 1798.
(Melbourne Public Library.)

THE VOYAGE OF THE FRANCIS 129
they were followed by such a number of sooty petrels
as we had never seen equalled. There was a stream of
from fifty to eighty yards in depth and of three hundred
yards, or more, in breadth ; the birds were not scattered,
but flying as compactly as a free movement of their
wings seemed to allow; and during a full hour and a
half this stream of petrels continued to pass without
interruption at a rate little inferior to the swiftness of
a pigeon. On the lowest computation I think the
number could not have been less than a hundred
millions." He explained how he arrived at this estimate, the
reliableness of which is beyond dispute, though it may
seem incredible to those who have not been in southern
seas during the season when the sooty petrels "most do
congregate." Taking the stream of birds to have been
fifty yards deep by three hundred in width, and calcu
lating that it moved at the rate of thirty miles* an hour,
and allowing nine cubic yards for each bird, the number
would amount to 151,500,000. The burrows required
to lodge this number would be 75,750,000, and allow
ing a square yard to each burrow they would cover some
thing more than 18i geographical square miles.
The mutton-bird, it will therefore be allowed, is the
most prolific of all avian colonists. It has also played
some part in the history of human colonisation. When,
in 1790, Governor Phillip sent to Norfolk Island a
company of convicts and marines, and the Sirius, the
only means of carrying supplies, was wrecked, the popu
lation, 506 in all, was reduced to dire distress from want
of food. Starvation stared them in the face, when it
was discovered that Mount Pitt was honeycombed with
mutton-bird burrows. They were slain in thousands.
"The slaughter and mighty havoc is beyond descrip-
* Flinders is calculating in nautical miles of 2026f yards each.

130 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
tion," wrote an officer. "They are very fine eating,
exceeding fat and firm, and I think (though no
connoisseur) as good as any I ever eat." Many people
who are not hunger-driven profess to relish young
mutton-bird, whose flesh is like neither fish nor fowl, but
an oily blend of both.
On this cruise Flinders came in sight of Cook's
Point Hicks; and his reference to it has some interest
because Bass had missed it; because Flinders himself
did not on any of his other voyages sail close enough
inshore on this part of the coast to observe it, and did
not mark it upon his charts ; and because the more recent
substitution of the name Cape Everard for the name
given by Cook, makes of some consequence the allusion
of this great navigator to a projection which he saw only
once. The Francis on February 4th "was in 38° 16' and
(by account) 22' of longitude to the west of Point Hicks.
The schooner was kept more northward in the after
noon ; at four o'clock a moderately high sloping hill was
visible in the N. by W., and at seven a small rocky point
on the beach bore N. 50° W. three or four leagues. At
some distance inland there was a range of hills with
wood upon them, though scarcely sufficient to hide their
sandy surface." That describes the country near Point
Hicks accurately.
The largest island in the Furneaux group, now
called Flinders Island, was not so named by Flinders.
He referred to it as "the great island of Furneaux."
Flinders never named any of his discoveries after him
self, not even the smallest rock or cape. Flinders
Island in the Bight (Investigator Group) was named
after his brother Samuel.
It is a little curious that no allusion to the useful
piece of work done by Flinders on this cruise was made
by the Governor in his despatches. The omission was
not due to lack of appreciation on his part, as the en-

THE VOYAGE OF THE FRANCIS 131
couragement subsequently given to Bass and Flinders
sufficiently showed. But it was, in truth, work very
well done, with restricted means and in a very limited
time. The question whether the islands examined lay in
a strait or in a deep gulf was occupying the attention of
Flinders at just about the same time when his friend Bass,
in his whaleboat on the north side of the same stretch
of water, was revolving the same problem in his mind.
The reasons given by Furneaux for disbelieving in the
existence of a strait did not satisfy Flinders. The great
strength of the tides setting westward could, in his
opinion, only be occasioned by a passage through to the
Indian Ocean, unless the supposed gulf were very deep.
There were arguments tending either way; "the con
tradictory circumstances were very embarrassing."
Flinders would have liked to use the Francis forthwith
to settle the question; but, as she was commissioned for
a particular service, and not under his command, he had
to subjugate his scientific curiosity to circumstances.
Throughout his brief narrative of this voyage we
see displayed the qualities which distinguish all his
original work. Promptness in taking advantage of
opportunities for investigation, careful and cautiously-
checked observations, painstaking accuracy in making
calculations, terse and dependable geographical descrip
tion, and a fresh quick eye for noting natural
phenomena: these were always characteristics of his
work. He recorded what he saw of bird and animal
with the same care as he noted nautical facts. We may
take his paragraph on the wombat as an example. Bass
was much interested in the wombats he saw, and with
his surgeon's anatomical knowledge gave a description
of it which the contemporary historian, Collins, quoted,
enunciating the opinion that "Bass's womb-bat seemed
to be very ceconomically made" — whatever that may

132 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
mean. Flinders' description, which must be one of the
earliest accounts of the creature, is true :
"Clarke's Island afforded the first specimen of the
new animal, called wombat. This little bear-like
quadruped is known in New South Wales, and is called
by the natives womat, wombat, or womback, according
to the different dialects — or perhaps to the different
rendering of the wood-rangers who brought the in
formation. It does not quit its retreat till dark; but it
feeds at all times on the uninhabited islands, and was
commonly seen foraging amongst the sea refuse on the
shore, though the coarse grass seemed to be its usual
nourishment. It is easily caught when at a distance
from its burrow ; its flesh resembles lean mutton in taste,
and to us was acceptable food."
The original manuscript containing Flinders'
narrative of the expedition to the Furneaux Islands is
in the Melbourne Public Library. It is a beautiful
manuscript, 22 quarto pages, neat and regular, every
letter perfect, every comma and semi-colon in place: a
portrait in caligraphy of its author.

Chapter IX.
CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF TASMANIA.
Flinders arrived in Sydney in the Francis about a fort
night after Bass reurned in the whaleboat. It was, we
may be certain, with delight that he heard from the lips
of his friend the story of his adventurous voyage. The
eye-sketch of the coastline traversed by Bass was, by the
Governor's direction, used by him for the preparation
of a chart to be sent to England. He was able to com
pare notes and discuss the probability of the existence
of a strait, and it was but natural that the two men who
had so recently been exploring, the one on the north the
other on the south side of the possible strait, should be
eager to pursue enquiry to the point of proof. Flinders
acknowledged, in relating these events, his anxiety to
gratify his desire of positively sailing through the strait
and round Van Diemen's Land, and he chafed under
the routine duties which postponed the effort. The
opportunity did not occur till September.
In the meantime, Flinders had to sail in the Reliance
to Norfolk Island to take over the surgeon, D'Arcy
Wentworth, father of that William Wentworth whose
name has already figured in these pages, and who was
then a boy of seven. This trip took place in May- July.
In August he sat as a member of the Vice-Admiralty
Court of New South Wales to try a case of mutiny on
the high seas. Certain members of the New South
Wales Corps were accused of plotting to seize the con
vict ship Barwell, on her voyage between the Cape and
Australia, and of drinking the toast "damnation to the
King and country." The Court considered the evidence
insufficient, and the men were acquitted, after a trial
lasting six days. 133

134 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
At last Flinders had an interview with the Governor
about completing the exploration of the seas to the
southward, and offered his services. Hunter, too, was
anxious to have a test made of Bass's contention, which
Flinders' own observations supported. On September
3rd he wrote to the Secretary of State that he was en
deavouring to fit out a vessel "in which I propose to
send the two officers I have mentioned," Bass and
Flinders. Later in the month the Governor entrusted
the latter with the command of the Norfolk, a sloop of
twenty-five tons burthen, built at Norfolk Island from
local pine. She was merely a small decked boat, put
together under the direction of Captain Townson of
Norfolk Island for establishing communication with
Sydney. She leaked; her timbers were poor material
for a seaboat in quarters where heavy weather was to be
expected; and the accommodation she offered for a
fairly extended cruise was cramped and uncomfortable.
But she was the best craft the Governor had to offer,
and Flinders was too keen for the quest to quarrel with.
the means. In those days fine seamanship and en
durance often had to make up for deficiencies in equip
ment. There were not two happier men in the King's
service than these fast friends, when they received the
Governor's commission directing them to sail "beyond
Furneaux' Islands, and, should a strait be found, to pass
through it, and return by the south end of Van Die-
men's Land." The affection that existed between them
is manifest in every reference which Flinders made to
Bass in his book, A Voyage to Terra Australis. "I had
the happiness to associate my friend Bass in this new
expedition," he wrote of the Norfolk's voyage; and it
was a happiness based not only on personal regard, but
on kindred feeling for research work, and a similarity
in active, keen and ardent temperament.

«nCTl<^»w*gr

CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF TASMANIA 135
The sloop was provisioned for twelve weeks, and
"the rest of the equipment was completed by the friendly
care of Captain Waterhouse of the Reliance." A crew
of eight volunteers was chosen by Flinders from the
King's ships in port. It is likely that some of them
were amongst the six who had accompanied Bass to
Westernport, and Flinders to the Furneaux and Kent
Islands, but their names have not been preserved.
The Norfolk sailed on October 7, 1798, in com
pany with a sealing boat, the Nautilus* The plan was
to make the Furneaux Group, then steer westward
through the strait till the open ocean was reached on
the further side; and, that accomplished, and the fact of
the strait's existence conclusively demonstrated, to turn
down the western coast of Van Diemen's Land, round
the southern extremity, and sail back to Port Jackson
up the east coast. This programme was successfully
carried out.
An amusing incident, related by Flinders with dry
humour, occurred in Twofold Bay, which was entered
"in order to make some profit of a foul wind," Bass
undertaking an inland excursion, and Flinders occupying
himself in making a survey of the port. An aboriginal
made his appearance.
"He was of middle age, unarmed, except with a
whaddie or wooden scimitar, and came up to us seem
ingly with careless confidence. We made much of him,,
and gave him some biscuit; and he in return presented
us with a piece of gristly fat, probably of whale. This
I tasted; but, watching an opportunity to spit it out
when he should not be looking, I perceived him doing
* There are three accounts of the voyage: (1) that of Flinders
in diary form, printed in the Historical Records of New South
Waies, Vol. III., appendix B; (2) that of Flinders in his Voyage
to Terra Australis, Vol. I., p. cxxxviii. ; and (3) that of Bass,
embodied in Collins' Account of New South Wales. It is probable
that Bass's diary was lent to Collins for the purpose of writing
his narrative. The original is not known to exist.

135 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
precisely the same thing with our biscuit, whose taste
was probably no more agreeable to him, than his whale
was to me." The native watched the commencement
of Flinders' trigonometrical operations, "with indiffer
ence, if not contempt," and after a little while left the
party, "apparently satisfied that from people who could
thus occupy themselves seriously there was nothing to be
apprehended." It was not until November 1st that the Norfolk
sailed from the Furneaux Islands on the flood-tide west
ward. The intervening time had been occupied with
detailed exploring and surveying work. Soundings and
observations were made, capes, islands and inlets were
charted and named. The part of Flinders' narrative
dealing with these phases abounds in detail, noted with
the most painstaking particularity. Such fulness does
not make attractive literature for the reader who takes
up a book of travel for amusement. But it was highly
important to record these details at the time of the publi
cation of Flinders' book, when the coasts and seas of
which he wrote were very little known ; and it has to be
remembered that he wrote as a scientific navigator, set
ting down the results of his work with completeness
and precision for those interested in his subject, not as
a caterer for popular literary entertainment. He pre
ferred the interest in his writing to lie in the nature of
the enterprise described and the sincerity with which it
was pursued rather than in such anecdotal garniture and
such play of fancy as can give charm to the history of a
voyage. His book was a substantial contribution to the
world's knowledge, and it is his especial virtue to have
set down his facts with such exactitude that our tests of
them, where they are still capable of being tested, earn
him credit for punctilious veracity in respect of those
observations on wild life and natural phenomena as to
which we have to rely upon his written word. He

CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF TASMANIA 137
never succumbs to the common sin of travellers —
writing to excite astonishment in the reader, rather than
to tell the exact truth as he found it. He was by nature
and training an exact man.
On the afternoon of November 3rd the sloop
entered the estuary of the river Tamar, on which, forty
miles from the mouth, now stands the fine city of
Launceston. It was a discovery of first-class import
ance. Apart from the pleasure which they derived
from having made it, the two friends were charmed
with the beauty of their surroundings. They derived
the most favourable impression of the quality of the
land and its suitableness for settlement. They worked
up the river for several miles, but time did not permit
them to follow it as far as it was navigable. Thus they
did not reach the site of the present city, and left the
superb gorge and cataract to be discovered by Collins
when he entered the Tamar again in 1804. The
harbour was subsequently named Port Dalrymple by
Hunter, after Alexander Dalrymple, the naval hydro
grapher. The extent of the survey, with delays caused by
adverse weather, kept the Norfolk in the Tamar estuary
for a full month. On December 3rd her westward
course was resumed. From this time forth Bass and
Flinders were in constant expectancy of passing through
the strait into the open ocean. The northern trend of
the coast for a time aroused apprehensions that there
was no strait after all, and that the northern shore of
Van Diemen's Land might be connected with the coast
beyond Westernport. The water was also discoloured,
and this led Flinders to think that they might be
approaching the head of a bay or gulf. But on
December 7th the vigilant commander made an observa
tion of the set of the tide, from which he drew an
"interesting deduction." "The tide had been running

138 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
from the eastward all the afternoon," wrote Flinders,
"and, contrary to expectation, we found it to be near
low water by the shore; the flood therefore came from
the west, and not from the eastward, as at Furneaux'
Isles. This we considered to be a strong proof, not
only of the real existence of a passage betwixt this land
and New South Wales, but also that the entrance into
the southern Indian Ocean could not be far distant."
On the following day the deduction was confirmed.
After the Norfolk had rounded a headland, a long swell
was observed to come from the south-west, breaking
heavily upon a reef a mile and a half away. This was
a new phenomenon; and both Bass and Flinders "hailed
it with joy and mutual congratulation, as announcing the
completion of our long-wished-for discovery of a
passage into the southern Indian Ocean." They were
now through the strait. What Bass months before had
believed to be the case was at length demonstrated to a
certainty. "The direction of the coast, the set of the
tides, and the great swell from the S.W., did now com
pletely satisfy us that a very wide strait did really exist
betwixt Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales, and
also now that we had certainly passed it."
No time was lost in completing the voyage. The
Norfolk sped rapidly past Cape Grim and down the
western coast of Van Diemen's Land. Amateur-built
as she was, and very small for her work in these
seas, she was proving a useful boat, and one can enjoy
the sailors' pride in a snug craft in Flinders' remark con
cerning her, that "upon the whole she performed
wonderfully; seas that were apparently determined to
swallow her up she rode over with all the ease and
majesty of an old experienced petrel."
The wild and desolate aspect of the west coast, as
seen from the ocean, seems to have struck Flinders with
a feeling of dread. He so rarely allows any emotion

CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF TASMANIA 139
to appear in his writing that the sentences in his diary
wherein he refers to the appearance of the De Witt
range are striking evidence of his revulsion. "The
mountains which presented themselves to our view in
this situation, both close to the shore and inland, were
amongst the most stupendous works of nature I ever
beheld, and it seemed to me are the most dismal and
barren that can be imagined. The eye ranges over
these peaks, and curiously formed lumps of adamantine
rock, with astonishment and horror." He acknow
ledged that he clapped on all sail to get past this for
bidding coast. The passage is singular. Flinders was
a fenland-bred man, and, passing from the low levels
of eastern England to a life at sea in early youth, had
had no experience of mountainous country. He had
not even seen the mountains at the back of Sydney,
except in the blue distance. Now, the De Witt range,
though certainly giving to the coast that it dominates
an aspect of desolate grandeur, especially when, as is
nearly always the case, its jagged peaks are seen under
caps of frowning cloud, would not strike a man who had
been much among mountains as especially horrid.
Flinders' burst of chilled feeling may therefore be
noted as a curious psychological fact.*
* The reader will perhaps find it interesting to compare this
reference with a passage in Ruskin's Modern Painters, Vol.
III., chapter 13: "It is sufficiently notable that Homer, living
in mountainous and rocky countries, dwells thus delightedly on
all the flat bits; and so I think invariably the inhabitants of
mountain countries do, but the inhabitants of the plains do not,
in any similar way, dwell delightedly on mountains. The Dutch
painters are perfectly contented with their flat fields and pol
lards: Rubens, though he had seen the Alps, usually composes his
landscapes of a hay-field or two, plenty of pollards and willows,
a distant spire, a Dutch house with a mast about it, a windmill
and a ditch. . . So Shakspere never speaks of mountains with
the slightest joy, but only of lowland flowers, flat fields, and
Warwickshire streams." Ruskin's citation of the Lincolnshire
farmer in Alton Locke is apt, with his dislike of "Darned ups
and downs o'hills, to shake a body's victuals out of his inwards."

140 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
The naming of Mounts Heemskirk and Zeehan,
the latter since become a mineral centre of vast wealth,
were the most noteworthy events of the run down the
western coast. They were named by Flinders after th&
two ships of Tasman, as he took them to be the two
mountains seen by that navigator on his discovery of
Van Diemen's Land in 1642.
The Derwent, whose estuary is the port of Hobart,
was entered on December 21. Bass's report on the
fertility of the soil led to the choice of this locality for
a settlement four years later.
On the last day of the year the return voyage was
commenced, and on January 1st, 1799, the Norfolk was
making for Port Jackson with her prow set north
easterly. The winds were unfavourable, and prevented
Flinders from keeping close inshore, as he would have
liked to do in order to make a survey. But the pre
scribed period of absence having expired, and the pro
visions being nearly exhausted, it was necessary to make
as much haste as possible. On January 8th the Babel
Isles were marked down, and named "because of the
confusion of noises made by the geese, shags, penguins,
gulls, and sooty petrels." Anyone who has camped near
a rookery of sooty petrels is aware that they are quite
capable of maintaining a sufficiently "babelish con
fusion" — the phrase is Camden's — without any aid
from other fowls.
A little later in the month (January 12) the Nor
folk sailed into harbour, and was anchored alongside
the Reliance. "To the strait which had been the great
object of research," wrote Flinders, "and whose dis
covery was now completed, Governor Hunter gave at
my recommendation the name of Bass Strait. This
was no more than a just tribute to my worthy friend and
companion for the extreme dangers and fatigues he had
undergone in first entering it in the whaleboat, and to

CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF TASMANIA 141
the correct judgment he had formed, from various indi
cations, of the existence of a wide opening between Van
Diemen's Land and New South Wales."
Throughout this voyage we find Bass expending his
abundant energies in the making of inland excursions
whenever an opportunity occurred. To take a boat up
rivers, to cut through rough country, to climb, examine
soil, make notes on birds and beasts, and exercise his
enquiring mind in all directions, was his constant
delight. The profusion of wild life upon the coasts
and islands explored during the voyage astonished the
travellers. Seals were seen in thousands, sea-birds in
hundreds of millions. Flinders' calculation regarding
the sooty petrels has already been quoted. Black swans
were observed in great quantities. Bass, for example,
stated that he saw three hundred of these stately birds
within a space a quarter of a mile square. The Roman
poet Juvenal could think of no better example of a thing
of rare occurrence than a black swan :
" Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima cygno."
But here black swans could have been cited in a simile
illustrating profusion. Bass quaintly stated that the
"dying song" of the swan, so celebrated by poets,
"exactly resembled the creaking of a rusty ale-house
sign on a windy day." The remark is not so pretty as.
but far more true than, that of the bard who would
have us believe that the dying swan
" In music's strains breathes out her life and verse,
And, chaunting her own dirge, rides on her watery
hearse."
The couplet of Coleridge is vitiated by the same error,
but may merit commendation for practical wisdom :
" Swans sing before they die ; 'twere no bad thing
Should certain persons die before they sing."

142 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Flinders also saw from three to five hundred black
swans on the lee side of one point; and so tame were they
that, as the Norfolk passed through the midst of them,
one incautious bird was caught by the neck.
Bass went ashore on Albatross Island to shoot. He
was forced to fight his way up the cliffs against the seals,
which resented the intrusion ; and when he got to the top
he was compelled "to make a road with his club among
the albatross. These birds were sitting upon their
nests, and almost covered the surface of the ground, nor
did they otherwise derange themselves for their new
visitors than to peck at their legs as they passed by."
In the Derwent Bass and Flinders encountered
Tasmanian aboriginals, now an extinct race of men. A
human voice was heard coming from the hills. The
two leaders of the expedition landed, taking with them
a swan as an offering of friendship, and met an
aboriginal man and two women. The women ran off,
but the man stayed and accepted the swan "with
rapture." He was armed with three spears, but his
demeanour was friendly. Bass and Flinders tried him
with such words as they knew of the dialects of New
South Wales and the South Sea Islands, but could not
make him understand them, "though the quickness with
which he comprehended our signs spoke in favour of
his intelligence." His hair was either close-cropped or
naturally short; but it had not a woolly appearance.
"He acceeded to our proposition of going to his hut;
but finding from his devious route and frequent stop
pings that he sought to tire our patience, we left him
delighted with the certain possession of his swan, and
returned to the boat. This was the sole opportunity
we had of communicating with any of the natives of
Van Diemen's Land."
The results of the cruise of the Norfolk were of
great importance. From the purely utilitarian point

CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF TASMANIA 143
of view, the discovery of Bass Strait shortened the
voyage to Sydney from Europe by quite a week. It
opened a new highway for commerce. Turnbull, in
his Voyage Round the World (1814) discussing the ad
vantages of the new route, mentioned that "already has
the whole fleet of China ships, under the convoy of a 64,
passed through these Straits without the smallest acci
dent;" and he pointed out that ships which were late in
the season for China, and availed themselves of the
prevailing winds by taking the easterly route round Aus
tralia, were thus enabled to avoid the tempestuous
weather which generally faced them to the south of
Van Diemen's Land. Governor King, too, writing to
the Governor of Bombay in 1802, sent him a chart of
the strait, and pointed out that the discovery would
"greatly facilitate the passage of ships from India to
this colony."
The discovery also revealed a fresh and fertile field
for the occupation of mankind. Geographically no dis
covery of such consequence had been made since the
noble days of Cook. It brought the names of Bass
and Flinders prominently before the scientific world,
and the thoroughness with which the latter had done his
work won him warm praise from men competent to form
a judgment. Intimations concerning the discovery
published in the Naval Chronicle and other journals
valued the work very highly; and it had the advantage
of bringing the commander of the Norfolk under the
notice of Sir Joseph Banks, that earnest and steadfast
supporter of all sincere research work, who thus became
the firm friend of Flinders, as he had been the friend
and associate of Cook thirty years before.
The turbulent state of Europe in and about 1799,
with Napoleon Bonaparte rising fast to meridian glory
on the wings of war, did not incline British statesmen
to attach much significance to such events as the dis-

144 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
covery of an important strait and the increased oppor
tunities for the development of oversea dominions.
Renewed activity in that direction came a little later.
There is a letter from Banks to Hunter, written just
after the return of the Norfolk, but before the news
reached England (February, 1799), wherein he con
veys a concise idea of the perturbation in official circles
and the difficulty of getting anything done for Aus
tralia. "The political situation is so difficult," said
Banks, "and His Majesty's Ministers so fully employed
in business of the deepest importance, that it is scarce
possible to gain a moment's audience on any subject but
those which stand foremost in their minds ; and colonies
of all kinds, you may be assured, are now put into the
background." But that was no more than a passing phase. The
seeds of a vaster British Empire than had ever existed
before had already germinated, and when the years of
crisis occurred, the will and power of England were
both ready and strong enough to protect the growing
plant from the trampling feet of legions. Meanwhile,
the work on the Norfolk secured for Flinders such use
ful encouragement and help as enabled him very little
later to crown his achievements with a task that at once
solidified his title to fame and ultimately ended his life.

Chapter X.
THE FATE OF GEORGE BASS
It has been already mentioned that Bass Strait was
named by Governor Hunter on the recommendation of
Flinders. There is no reason to suppose that George
Bass himself made any claim that his name should be
applied to his discovery. One derives the impression,
from a study of his character as revealed in his words
and acts, that he would have been perfectly content had
some other name been chosen. He was one of those
rare men who find their principal joy in the free
exercise of an intrepid and masculine energy, especially
in directions affording a stimulus to intellectual curiosity.
He did not even write a book or an essay about the work
he had done. The whaleboat voyage was tersely
recorded in a diary for the information of the
Governor; his other material was handed over to
Collins for the purposes of his History of New South
Wales, and Bass went about his business unrewarded,
officially unhonoured.
It is curiously significant of the modesty of this
really notable man that when, in 1801, he again sailed
to Australia, he mentioned quite casually in a letter that
he had passed through Bass Strait without any reference
to his own connection with the passage. It was not, to
him, "the strait which I discovered," or "my strait," or
"the strait named after me," but simply Bass Strait,
giving it the proper geographical name scored on the
map, just as he might have mentioned the name of any
other part of the globe traversed during the voyage.
The natural pride of the discoverer assuredly would
have been no evidence of egotism; but Bass was singu-
145

146 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
larly free from all semblance of human weakness of that
kind. The difficulties battled with, the effort joyfully
made, the discovery accomplished, he appears hardly to
have thought any more about his own part in it. Not
only his essential modesty but his affectionate nature
and the frank charm of his manner are apparent in such
of his letters as have been preserved.
The association of Bass with Flinders was fruitful
in achievement, and their friendship was perfect in its
manliness ; it is pathetic to realise that when they parted,
within a few weeks after the return of the Norfolk to
Sydney, these two men, still young in years and rich in
hope, ability and enterprise, were never to meet again.
As from this time Bass disappears from the story of
his friend's life, what is known of his later years may
be here related. His fate is a mystery that has never
been satisfactorily cleared up, and perhaps never will
be. He returned to England "shortly after" the voyage
of the Norfolk. So wrote Flinders ; but "shortly after"
means later than April, 1799, for in that month Bass
sat on a board of inquiry into the Isaac Nicholls case,
to be mentioned again hereafter.
In England, Bass married Elizabeth Waterhouse,
sister of his old shipmate Henry Waterhouse, the
captain of the Reliance. With a wife to maintain, he
was apparently dissatisfied with his pay and prospects as
a naval surgeon. Nor was he quite the kind of man
who would, in the full flush of his restless energy, settle
down to the ordinary practice of his profession. Con
fined to a daily routine in some English town, he would
have been like a caged albatross pining for regions of
illimitable blue.
Within three months of his marriage Bass had
become managing owner of a smart little 140-ton brig,
the Venus, in a venture in which a syndicate of friends
had invested £10,890. In the early part of 1801 he

THE FATE OF GEORGE BASS 147
sailed in her with a general cargo of merchandise for
Port Jackson. The brig, which carried twelve guns —
for England v/as at war, and there were risks to be run
— was a fast sailer, teak-built and copper-sheathed, and
was described as "one of the most complete, handsome
and strong-built ships in the River Thames, and will
suit any trade." She was loaded "as deep as she can
swim and as full as an egg," Bass wrote to his brother-
in-law; and there is the sailor's jovial pleasure in a good
ship, with, perhaps, a suggestion of the surgeon's point
of view, in his declaration that she was "very sound
and tight, and bids fair to remain sound much longer
than any of her owners."
But the speculation was not an immediate success.
The market was "glutted with goods beyond all com
parison," in addition to which Governor King, who
succeeded Hunter in 1800, was conducting the affairs
of the settlement upon a plan of the most rigid economy.
"Our wings are clipped with a vengeance, but we shall
endeavour to fall on our feet somehow or other," wrote
Bass early in October, 1801.
A contract made with the Governor, to bring salt
pork from Tahiti at sixpence per pound, provided profit
able employment for the Venus. Hogs were plentiful
in the Society Islands, and could be procured cheaply.
The arrangement commended itself to the thrifty
Governor, who had hitherto been paying a shilling per
pound for pork, and it kept Bass actively engaged. He
was "tired of civilised life." There was, too, money
to be made, and he sent home satisfactory bills "to stop
a few holes in my debts." "That pork voyage," he
wrote to his brother-in-law, "has been our first success
ful speculation"; and he spoke again in fond admiration
of the Venus; "she is just the same vessel as when we
left England, never complains or cries, though we
loaded her with pork most unmercifully." While he

148 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
was pursuing this trade, the French expedition under
Baudin visited Sydney, and they, on their chart of
Wilson's Promontory gave the name of Venus Bay to
an inlet on the west side of Cape Liptrap. They also
bought goods to the extent of £359 10s. from "Mr.
George Basse."*
Bass now secured fishing concessions in New Zea
land waters, from which he hoped much. "The fishery
is not to be put in motion till after my return to old Eng
land," he wrote in January, 1803. Then, he said play
fully, "I mean to seize upon my dear Bess, bring her
out here, and make a poissarde of her, where she cannot
fail to find plenty of ease for her tongue. We have, I
assure you, great plans in our heads, but, like the basket
of eggs, all depends upon the success of the voyage I
am now upon." It was the voyage from which he never
returned. There is another charming allusion to his wife in a
letter written from Tahiti: "I would joke Bess upon the
attractive charms of Tahiti females but that they have
been so much belied in their beauty that she might think
me attracted in good earnest. However, there is
nothing to fear here." He speaks of her again in
writing to his brother: "I have written to my beloved
wife, and do most sincerely lament that we are so far
asunder. The next voyage I have she must make with
me, for I shall badly pass it without her." The pathos
of his reference to her in a letter of October, 1801, can
be felt in its note of manly sympathy, and is deepened
by the recollection that the young bride never saw him
again. "Our dear Bess talks of seeing me in eighteen
months. Alas! poor Bess, the when is uncertain, very
uncertain in everything except its long distances. Turn
our eyes where we will, we see nothing but glutted
markets around us."

:MS. accounts of Baudin, Archives Nationales, BB4, 999.

JQ . < ''-(}¦ <*. y'<^> & <

as? ->

^ On, ^fe cSC*.^4 f4&£r^ cl/^L^ ^tr^^^t^y ffyA*6, *«>*£ /Zrrnr*^**.

*&&

PAGE FROM BASS'S MS. ACCOUNT OF THE VOYAGE OF THE NORFOLK.
( Mitchell Library.)

THE FATE OF GEORGE BASS 149
The pork-procuring ventures continued till 1803.
In that year Bass arranged to sail beyond Tahiti to the
Chilian coast, to buy other provisions for the use of the
colony. Whether he intended to force the hand of
fortune by engaging in the contraband trade can only be
inferred. That there was certainly a large amount of
illicit traffic with South America on the part of venture
some captains who made use of Port Jackson as a
harbour of refuge, is clear from extant documents.
The position was this. The persistent policy of
Spain in the government of her South American posses
sions was to conserve trade exclusively for Spanish ships
and Spanish merchants; and for this purpose several
restrictions were imposed upon unauthorised foreign
traders. Nevertheless the inhabitants of these colonies
urgently required more goods than were imported under
such excessive limitations, and wanted to get them much
cheaper than was possible while monopoly and heavy
taxation prevailed. There was, consequently, a
tempting inducement to skippers who were sufficiently
bold to take risks, to ship goods for Chili and Peru, and
run them in at some place along the immense coast-line,
evading the lazy eyes of perfunctory Spanish officials,
or securing their corrupt connivance by bribes. Contra
band trade was, in fact, extensively practised, and
plenty of people in the Spanish colonies throve on it.
As a modern historian writes: "The vast extent of the
border of Spain's possessions made it impossible for her
to guard it efficiently. Smuggling could therefore be
carried on with impunity, and the high prices which had
been given to European wares in America by the system
of restriction, constituted a sufficient inducement to lead
the merchants of other nations to engage in contraband
trade."* The profits from success were great; but the
consequences of detection were disastrous.
"Bernard Moses, Spanish Rule in America, 289.
r.

150 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Now Bass, as already related, had brought out to
Sydney in the Venus a large quantity of unsaleable
merchandise. He could not dispose of it under con
ditions of glut. He had hoped that the Governor
would take the cargo into the Government store and let
it be sold even at a 50 per cent, reduction. But King
declined to permit that to be done. Here, then, was a
singularly courageous man, fond of daring enterprises,
in command of a good ship, with an unsaleable cargo
on his hands. On the other side of the Pacific was a
country where such a cargo might, with luck, be sold at
a bounding profit. He could easily find out how the
trade was done. There was more than one among
those with whom he would associate in Sydney who
knew a great deal about it.
One or two sentences in Bass's last letters to Henry
Waterhouse contain mysterious hints, which to him, with
his experience of Port Jackson, would be significant. He
explained that he intended taking the Venus to visit the
coast of Chili in search of provisions, "and that they
may not in that part of the world mistake me for a
contrabandist, I go provided with a very diplomatic-
looking certificate from the Governor here, stating the
service upon which I am employed, requesting aid and
protection in obtaining the food wanted. And God
grant you may fully succeed, says your warm heart,
in so benevolent an object; and thus also say I; Amen,
say many others of my friends."
But was the diplomatic-looking paper intended
rather to serve as a screen than as a guarantee of bona
fides? "In a few hours," wrote Bass at the beginning
of February, 1803, "I sail again on another pork
voyage, but it combines circumstances of a different
nature also" ; and at the end of the same letter he added:
"Speak not of South America to anyone out of your
family, for there is treason in the very name." What

THE FATE OF GEORGE BASS 151
did he mean by that? He spoke of "digging gold in
South America," and clearly did not mean it in the
strict literal sense.
It is true that the Governor was anxious
to get South American cattle and beef for the
settlement in Sydney, but can that have been the only
motive for a voyage beyond Tahiti? "If our approach
ing voyage proves at all fortunate in its issue, I expect
to make a handsome thing out of it, and to be much
expedited on my return to old England," Bass wrote in
January. He would not have been likely to make so
very handsome a thing out of beef in one voyage, to
enable him to expedite his return to England.
The factors of the case are, then, that Bass had on
his hands a large quantity of goods which he had failed
to sell in Sydney; that there was a considerable and
enormously profitable contraband trade with South
America at the time; that he expected to make a very
large and rapid profit out of the venture he was about
to undertake; that he warned Waterhouse against
mentioning the matter outside the family circle, "for
there is treason in the very name" ; and that he was him
self a man distinguished by dash and daring, who was
very anxious to make a substantial sum and return to
England soon. The inference from his language and
circumstances as to the scheme he had in hand is
irresistible. The "very diplomatic-looking certificate" which the
Governor gave him was dated February 3, 1803. It
certified that "Mr. George Bass, of the brigantine
Venus, has been employed since the first day of
November, 1801, upon His Britannic Majesty's service
in procuring provisions for the subsistence of His
Majesty's colony, and still continues using those exer
tions;" and it went on to affirm that should he find it
expedient to resort to any harbour in His Catholic

152 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Majesty's dominions upon the west coast of America,
"this instrument is intended to declare my full belief
that his sole object in going there will be to procure
food, without any view to private commerce or any
other view whatsoever."
Notwithstanding the terms of this certificate, how
ever, there is clear evidence that Governor King was
fully aware of the nature of the trade conducted with
the Spanish-American colonies by vessels using Port
Jackson; and though it may be that Bass did not tell
him in so many words what his whole intentions were,
King knew that Bass had a large stock of commodities
to sell, and could hardly have been ignorant that a con
siderable portion of them were re-shipped on the Venus
for this voyage. In a later despatch he alluded to
vessels which carried goods "from hence to the coasts
of the Spanish possessions on the west side of America,"
and he observed "that this must be a forced trade,
similar to that carried on among the settlements of that
nation and Portugal on the east side of America, and
that much risk will attend it to the adventurers."
Bass sailed from Sydney on February 5th, 1803.
He never returned, and no satisfactory account of what
became of him is forthcoming.* Later in 1803 the
brig Harrington, herself concerned in the contraband
trade, reported that the Venus had been captured and
confiscated by the Spaniards in Peru, and that Bass and
the mate, Scott, had been sent as prisoners to the silver
mines. In December, 1804, Governor King remarked
* The writer of the article on Bass in the Dictionary of
National Biography says that " except that he left Australia in
1799 to return to England nothing certain is known of Bass's
subsequent history." But we know fairly fully what he was
doing up till February, 1803, as related above. The Bass
mystery commences after that date. The Encyclopaedia Britannica
(nth edition) finds no space for a separate article on this very
remarkable man.

THE FATE OF GEORGE BASS 153
in a despatch to the Secretary of State that he had been
"in constant expectation" of hearing from Bass, "to
whom, there is no doubt, some accident has occurred."
The Harrington had reported the capture of the Venus
before King wrote that. Why did he not mention the
circumstance to the British Government? Why did he
not allude to the country to which he well knew that
Bass intended to sail? It would seem that King care
fully avoided referring in his official despatches to an
enterprise upon which he had good reason to be aware
that Bass had embarked.
War between Great Britain and Spain did not break
out till December, 1804, after the seizure of the
Spanish treasure fleet by British frigates off Cadiz
(October 5th). But in previous years, while Spain,
under pressure from Napoleon, lent her countenance to
his aggressive policy, English privateers had freely
plundered Spanish commerce in the south Pacific, and
some of them had brought their prizes to Sydney. That
this was done with the knowledge of the authorities can
not be doubted. Everybody knew about it. When the
French exploring ships were lying at Sydney in 1802,
Peron saw there vessels "provided with arms, fitting
out for the western coast of America, stored with
merchandise of various kinds. These vessels were
intended to establish, by force of arms, a contraband
commerce with the inhabitants of Peru, extremely
advantageous to both parties."
It would not, therefore, be wonderful that the
Spanish authorities in Chili or Peru should regard
Port Jackson as a kind of wasp's nest, and should
look with suspicion on any vessel coming thence
which might fall into their hands, however much
her commander might endeavour to make of his
official certificate declaring the Governor's "full
belief" in his lawful intentions. The irritation

154 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
caused by the use that was being made of Sydney
as a privateering and contraband base of operations
can be well imagined. As early as December, 1799, in
deed, Governor Hunter related that a captured Spanish
merchant vessel had been brought into port, and he
acknowledged that "this being the second Spanish prize
brought hither, we cannot be surprised, should it be
known that such captures make a convenience of this
harbour, if it should provoke a visit from some of the
ships of war from the Spanish settlements on that coast."
The Spaniards would naturally be thirsting for revenge;
and a ship sailing direct from the port of which the
raiders made a "convenience" would be liable to feel
their ire, should there be the semblance of provocation.
The authorities would have been justified in holding up
the Venus if they suspected that she carried contraband
goods; and their treatment of her officers and crew
might be expected to reflect the temper of their dis
position towards Port Jackson and all that concerned it.
If, as the Harrington reported, Bass and his com
panions were sent to the mines, the Spanish officials
managed their act of punishment, or revenge, very
quietly. But at that time there v/as not a formal state
of belligerency between England and Spain, though the
tension of public feeling in Great Britain concerning
Spanish relations with France was acute. If it were
considered that such an act as the seizure of the Venus
would be likely to precipitate a declaration of war, the
motive for secrecy was strong. Secrecy, moreover,
would have been in complete conformity with Spanish
methods in South America. It is not recorded whether
the seizure of the Venus occurred at Callao, Valparaiso
or Valdivia; but a British lieutenant, Fitzmaurice, who
was at Valparaiso five years later, heard that a man
named Bass had been in Lima some years before.
A friend of the Bass family residing at Lincoln in

THE FATE OF GEORGE BASS 155
1852 wrote a letter to Samuel Sidney, the author of
The Three Colonies of Australia, stating that Bass's
mother last heard of him "in the Straits of China."
But this was evidently an error of memory. If Bass
ever got out of South America, he would have written
to his "dear Bess," to Waterhouse, and to Flinders.
The latter, in 1814, wrote of him as "alas, now no
more." There is on record a report that he was seen
alive in South America in that year, but the story is
doubtful. He was a man full of affectionate loyalty to
his friends, and it is not conceivable that he would have
left them without news of him if any channel of com
munication had been open, as would have been the case
had he been at liberty as late as 1814. His father-in-law
made enquiries, but failed to obtain news. The report
of the Harrington was probably true, but beyond that
we really have no information upon which we can
depend. The internal history of Spanish America has
been very scantily investigated, and it is quite
possible that even yet some diligent student of archives
may find, some day, particulars concerning the fate of
this brave and adventurous spirit.
The disappearance of Bass's letters to his mother is
a misfortune which the student of Australian history
must deplore. He was observant, shrewd, an untiring
traveller, and an entertaining correspondent. He
probably related to his mother, to whom he wrote fre
quently, the story of his excursions and experiences, and
the historical value of all that he wrote would be very
great. The letters, said the Lincoln friend, were long,
"containing full accounts of his discoveries." His
mother treasured them till she died, when they came
into the possession of a Miss Calder. She kept them
in a box, and used occasionally to amuse herself by read
ing them. But some time before 1852 Miss Calder
went to the box to look at them again, and found that

156 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
they had disappeared. Whether she had lent them to
some person who had failed to return them, or had mis
laid them, is unknown. It is possible that they may
still be in existence in some dusty cupboard in England,
and that we may even yet be gratified by an examination
of documents which would assuredly enable us to under
stand more of the noble soul of George Bass.
It has been mentioned that Flinders and Bass did
not meet again after the voyage of the Norfolk and
Bass's return to England. Though Sydney was the
base of both Flinders in the Investigator and Bass in
the Venus in 1802-3, they always had the ill-luck to miss
each other. Bass was at Tahiti while Flinders lay in
port from May 9th to July 21st, 1802. He returned
in November, and left once more on his final voyage in
February, 1803. Flinders arrived in Sydney again.
after his exploration of the Gulf of Carpentaria, in
June, 1803. A farewell letter from him to h>'s friend
is quoted in a later chapter.

Chapter XI.
ON THE QUEENSLAND COAST
Two more incidents in the career of Flinders will con
cern us before we deal with his important later voyages.
The first of these is only worth mentioning for the
light it throws upon the character of the man. In
March, 1799, he sat as a member of a court of criminal
judicature in Sydney, for the trial of Isaac Nichols, who
was charged with receiving a basket of tobacco knowing
it to have been stolen. The case aroused passionate
interest at the time. People in the settlement took
sides upon it, as upon a matter of acute party politics,
and the Governor was hotly at variance with the Judge
Advocate, the chief judicial officer.
Nichols had been a convict, but his conduct was
good, and he was chosen to be chief overseer of a gang
employed in labour of various kinds. On the expira
tion of his sentence, he acquired a small farm, and by
means of sobriety and industry built himself a comfort
able house. Through his very prosperity he became
"an object to be noticed," as the Governor wrote, and
by reason of his diligent usefulness securing him official
employment, "he stood in the way of others." In
Hunter's opinion, the ruin of Nichols was deliberately
planned; and he was convicted on what the Governor
believed to be false and malicious evidence.
The striking feature of the trial was that the Court
(consisting of seven members — three naval officers and
three officers of the New South Wales Corps, presided
over by the Judge Advocate) was sharply divided in
opinion. The three naval men, Flinders, Waterhouse,
and Lieutenant Kent, were convinced of the accused
157

iSS LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
man's innocence ; the three military men, with the Judge
Advocate, voted for his conviction. There was thus
a majority against Nichols; but the Governor, believing
that an injustice was being done, suspended the execu
tion of the sentence, and submitted the papers to the
Secretary of State. Bass came into the matter in the
month after the trial, as a member of a Court of In
quiry into the allegation that certain persons had carried
the tobacco to Nichols' house with the object of implica-
ing him.
The only point that need concern us here, is that
Flinders wrote a memorandum analysing the evidence
with minute care, in justification of his belief in the
prisoner's innocence. It was a skilfully drawn document,
and it exhibits Flinders in a light which enhances
our respect for him, as the strong champion of an
accused man whom he believed to be wronged. In the
result, the Crown granted a pardon to Nichols ; but this
did not arrive till 1802, so tardy was justice in getting
itself done. Apart from Flinders' share in it, the case
is interesting as revealing the strained relations existing
between the principal officials in the colony at the time.
The Judge Advocate was a bitter enemy of the
Governor, and the very administration of the law, affect
ing the liberties of the people, was tinctured by these
animosities. It is pleasant to turn from so grimy a subject to the
work for which Flinders' tastes and talents peculiarly
fitted him. The explorations which he had hitherto
accomplished were sufficient to convince Hunter that he
had under him an officer from whom good work could
be expected, and, the Reliance not being required for
service, he readily acquiesced when Flinders proposed
that he should take the Norfolk northward, to Moreton
Bay, the "Glasshouse Bay" of Cook, and Hervey Bay,
east of Bundaberg. On this voyage he was accompanied

ON THE QUEENSLAND COAST 159
by his younger brother, Samuel Flinders. He also took
with him an aboriginal named Bongaree, "whose good
disposition and manly conduct had attracted my
esteem." He sailed on July 8th. The task did not occupy
much time, for the sloop was back in Sydney by August
20th. The results were disappointing. It had been
hoped to find large rivers, and by means of them to
penetrate the interior of the country; but none were
found. Flinders missed the Clarence, though he actually
anchored off its entrance. Nor did he find the Brisbane,
though, ascending the Glasshouse Mountains, he saw
indications of a river, which he could not enter with
the Norfolk on account of the intricacy of the channel
and the shortness of the time available.
Uneasiness of mind respecting the condition of the
sloop must have had much to do with the missing of
the rivers. She sprung a leak two days out of Port
Jackson, and this was "a serious cause of alarm," the
more so as grains of maize, with which the Norfolk had
been previously loaded, were constantly choking up the
pump. Weather conditions, also, did not favour taking
the vessel close inshore on her northward course, and
it would have been almost impossible to detect the
mouths of the New South Wales rivers without a close
scrutiny of the coastline. Those considerations are
quite sufficient, when duly weighed, to account for the
omissions. It certainly was a rash statement, after so
imperfect an examination, that "however mortifying the
conviction might be, it was then an ascertained fact that
no river of importance intersected the east coast between
the 24th and 39th degrees of south latitude." But it
is equally certain that he could not have found these
rivers with the means at his disposal. They could not
well have been observed from the deck of a vessel off

160 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
the coast.* A closer inspection of the shore-line was
required. In fact, the rivers were not found by sea
ward exploration; they were discovered by inland
travellers. The most interesting features of the voyage lay in
the meeting with aboriginals in Moreton Bay. Some
of the incidents were amusing, though at one time there
seemed to be danger of a serious encounter. Flinders
went ashore to meet a party of the natives, and en
deavoured to establish friendly relations with them.
But as he was leaving, one of them threw a spear.
Flinders snatched up his gun and aimed at the offender,
but the flint being wet missed fire. A second snap of the
trigger also failed, but on a third trial the gun went off,
though nobody was hurt. Flinders thought that it might
obviate future mischief if he gave the blacks an idea of
his power, so he fired at a man who was hiding behind
a tree; but without doing him any harm. The sound
of the gun caused the greatest consternation among the
natives, and the small party of white men had no more
serious trouble with them while they were in the bay.
Flinders was "satisfied of the great influence which the
use of a superior power has in savages to create respect
and render their communications friendly" ; but he was
fortunately able to keep on good terms without resort
to severity. An effort to tickle the aboriginal sense of humour
was a failure. Two of the crew who were Scotch, com
menced to dance a reel for the amusement of the blacks.
"For want of music," it is related, "they made a very
bad performance, which was contemplated by the
natives without much amusement or curiosity." The
joke, like Flinders' gun, missed fire. There have been,
it is often alleged, other occasions when jokes made by

p. 17

* See Coote, History of Queensland, I., 7, and Lang, Cooksland,

ON THE QUEENSLAND COAST 161
Scotsmen have not achieved a shining success ; and we
do well to respect the intention while we deplore the
waste of effort.
An example of cunning which did not succeed
occurred shortly after the first landing. Flinders was
wearing a cabbage-tree hat, for which a native had a
fancy. The fellow took a long stick with a hook at the end
of it, and, laughing and talking to divert attention from
his purpose, endeavoured to take the hat from the com
mander's head. His detection created much laughter;
as did that of another black with long arms, who tried
to creep up to snatch the hat, but was afraid to approach
too near. The account which Collins, writing from
Flinders' notes, gave of the Queensland natives seen at
Moreton Bay, is graphic but hardly attractive. Two
paragraphs about their musical attainments and their
general appearance will bear quotation: —
"These people, like the natives of Port Jackson.
having fallen to the low pitch of their voices, re
commenced their song at the octave, which was accom
panied by slow and not ungraceful motions of the body
and limbs, their hands being held up in a supplicating
posture; and the tone and manner of their song and
gestures seemed to bespeak the goodwill and forbear
ance of their auditors. Observing that they were
attentively listened to, they each selected one of our
people and placed his mouth close to his ear, as if to
produce a greater effect, or, it might be, to teach them
the song, which their silent attention might seem to ex
press a desire to learn." As a recompense for the
amusement they had afforded him Flinders gave them
some worsted caps, and a pair of blanket trousers, with
which they seemed well pleased. Several other natives
now made their appearance; and it was some time before
they could overcome their dread of approaching the
strangers with the firearms; but, encouraged by the

162 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
three who were with them, they came up, and a general
song and dance was commenced. Their singing was
not confined to one air ; they gave three.
"Of those who came last, three were remarkable for
the largeness of their heads, and one, whose face was
very rough, had much more the appearance of a baboon
than of a human being. He was covered with oily soot;
his hair matted with filth; his visage, even among his
fellows, uncommonly ferocious; and his very large
mouth, beset with teeth of every hue between black,
white, green and yellow, sometimes presented a smile
which might make anyone shudder."
The Norfolk remained fifteen days in Moreton Bay.
The judgment that Flinders formed of it was that it
was "so full of shoals that he could not attempt to point
out any passage that would lead a ship into it without
danger." The east side was not sounded, and he was
of opinion that if a good navigable channel existed it
would be found there. His visit to Hervey Bay,
further north, did not lead to any interesting observa
tions. He left there on his return voyage on August
7th, and reached Port Jackson at dusk on the 20th.

Chapter XII.
THE INVESTIGATOR
Flinders sailed from Port Jackson for England in the
Reliance on March 3rd, 1800. The old ship was in
such a bad condition that Governor Hunter "judged it
proper to order her home while she may be capable of
performing the voyage." She carried despatches,
which Captain Waterhouse was directed to throw over
board in the event of meeting with an enemy's ship of
superior force and being unable to effect his escape. She
lived through a tempestuous voyage, making nine or ten
inches of water per hour, according to the carpenter's
report, and providing plenty of pumping exercise for a
couple of convict stowaways who emerged from hiding
two days out of Sydney. At St. Helena, reached at the
end of May, company was joined with four East India
ships, and off Ireland H.M.S. Cerberus took charge or
the convoy till the arrival at Portsmouth on August
26th. When Flinders left England six years before, he was
a midshipman. He passed the examination qualifying
him to become lieutenant at the Cape of Good Hope
in 1797, and was appointed provisionally to that rank
on the return of the Reliance to Sydney from the South
African voyage in that year. The prompt confirma
tion of his promotion by the admiralty he attributed to
the kind interest of Admiral Pasley.
When he quitted his ship at Deptford in October,
1800, he was a man of mark. His name was honour
ably known to the elders of his profession, whilst he was
esteemed by men concerned with geography, navigation,
and kindred branches of study, for the importance of
16S

164 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
the work he had done, and for the thorough scientific
spirit manifested in it.
Chief among those who recognised his quality was
Sir Joseph Banks, the learned and wealthy squire who
was ever ready to be to zealous men of science a friend,
a patron, and an influence. Banks was, indeed, memor
able for the men and work he helped, rather than for
his own original contributions to knowledge. During
his presidency of the Royal Society, from 1777 to 1820
— a long time for one man to occupy the principal place
in the most distinguished learned body in the world —
he not only encouraged, but promoted and directed, a
remarkable radiation of research work, and was the
accessible friend of every man of ability concerned in
extending the bounds of enquiry into phenomena.
Banks took a special interest in the young navigator,
who was a native of his own bit of England, Lincoln
shire. He knew well what a large field for geo
graphical investigation there was in Australia, and
recognised that Flinders was the right man to do the
work. Banks had always foreseen the immense possi
bilities of the country ; he was the means of sending out
the naturalists George Caley, Robert Brown, and Allan
Cunningham, to study its natural products. That he
was quick to recognise the sterling capacity of Matthew
Flinders constitutes his principal claim to our immediate
attention. The spirit of our age is rather out of
sympathy with the attitude of patronage, which, as must
be confessed, it gratified Banks to assume; but at all
events it was, in this instance, patronage of the only
tolerable sort, that which helps an able man to fulfil
himself and serve his kind.
Before he went to sea again, Flinders was married
(April 1801) to Miss Ann Chappell, stepdaughter
¦of the Rev. William Tyler, rector of Brothertoft, near
Boston. She was a sailor's daughter, her own father

>

«<f

r

*»

< 4

i>-**Mr.

«**S! •¦.If " *¦'¦ -'

<tr "31

CAIRX ERECTED ON FLINDERS' LANDIXG-PLACE,
KANGAROO ISLAND, S.A.

THE INVESTIGATOR 165
having died while in command of a ship out of Hull,
engaged in the Baltic trade. It is probable that there
was an attachment between the pair before Flinders left
England in 1794; for during the Norfolk expedition
in 1798 he had named a smooth round hill in Kent's
group Mount Chappell, and had called a small cluster
of islands the Chappell Isles. He does not tell us why
they were so named, as was his usual practice. He
merely speaks of them as "this small group to which the
name of Chappell Isles is affixed in the chart." But
a tender little touch of sentiment may creep in, even in
the making of charts ; and we cannot have or wish to
have, any doubt as to the reason in this case.
In his Observations, published in the year of his
marriage, Flinders remarks (p. 24) that the hill "had
received the name of Mount Chappell in February,
1798, and the name is since extended to the isles which
lie in its immediate neighbourhood." The fact that
the name was given in 1798, indicates that a kindly feel
ing, to say the least of it, was entertained for Miss
Chappell before Flinders left England in 1795. The
lover in As You Like It carved his lady's name on trees :
" O Rosalind, these trees shall be my books,
And in their barks my thoughts I'll character."
Here we find our young navigator writing his lady's
name on the map. It is rather an uncommon symptom
of a very common complaint.
Miss Chappell and her sister, the sisters of
Flinders, and the young ladies of the Franklin family,
were a group of affectionate friends who lived in the
same neighbourhood, and were constantly together.
The boys of the families were brothers to all the girls,
who were all sisters to them. Matthew on the Reliance
wrote to them letters intended to read by all, address
ing them as "my charming sisters." In one of these

166 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
epistles he told the girls: "never will there be a more
happy soul than when I return. O, may the Almighty-
spare me all those dear friends without whom my joy
would be turned into sorrow and mourning." But
that he nourished the recollection of Ann Chappell
in his heart with especial warmth is apparent from a
letter he wrote to her very shortly after the Reliance
returned to England (September 25th, 1800) :* "You
are one of those friends," he assured her, "whom I con
sider it indispensably necessary to see. I should be
glad to have some little account of your movements,
where you reside, and with whom, that my motions
may be regulated accordingly. . . . You see that I
make everything subservient to business. Indeed, my
dearest friend, this time seems to be a very critical
period of my life. I have long been absent — have
done services abroad that were not expected, but
which seem to be thought a good deal of. I have more
and greater friends than before, and this seems to be the
moment that their exertions may be most serviceable to
me. I may now perhaps make a bold dash forward,
or may remain a poor lieutenant all my life." And he
ended this letter, which Miss Chappell would not fail
to read "between the lines," by assuring "my dear friend
Annette," that "with the greatest sincerity, I am her
most affectionate friend and brother, Matthew Flinders."
From this point the comforting understanding
between the two young people developed in ways as to
which there is no evidence in correspondence; but
shortly after Flinders received promotion he must have
proposed marriage. He wrote a short time afterwards
in these terms :
"H.M.S. Investigator, at the Nore,
"My dearest friend, "April 6, 1801.
"Thou hast asked me if there is a possibility of our
* Flinders' Papers.

THE INVESTIGATOR 167
living together. I think I see a probability of living
with a moderate share of comfort. Till now I was not
certain of being able to fit myself out clear of the world.
I have now done it, and have accommodation on board
the Investigator, in which as my wife a woman may,
with love to assist her, make herself happy. This pros
pect has recalled all the tenderness which I have so
sedulously endeavoured to banish. I am sent for to
London, where I shall be from the 9th to the 19th, or
perhaps longer. If thou wilt meet me there, this hand
shall be thine for ever. If thou hast sufficient love and
courage, say to Mr. and Mrs. Tyler* that I require
nothing more with thee than a sufficient stock of clothes
and a small sum to answer the increased expenses that
will necessarily and immediately come upon me; as well
for living on board as providing for it at Port Jackson;
for whilst I am employed in the most dangerous part
of my duty, thou shalt be placed under some friendly
roof there. I need not, nor at this time have I time
to enter into a detail of my income and prospects. It
will, I trust, be sufficient for me to say that I see a for
tune growing under me to meet increasing expenses.
I only want a fair start, and my life for it, we will do
well and be happy. I will write further to-morrow,
but shall most anxiously expect thy answer at 86 Fleet
Street, London, on my visit on Friday; and, I trust,
thy presence immediately afterwards. I have only time
to add that most anxiously I am, Most sincerely thine,
Matthew Flinders."
He appended a postscript which covertly alludes
to the manner in which Sir Joseph Banks might be
expected to regard the marriage on the eve of com
mencing the new voyage: "It will be much better to
keep this matter entirely secret. There are many rea-

Her mother and stepfather.

168 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
sons for it yet, and I have also a powerful one: I do
not know how my great friends might like it.'
But, taking all the risks in this direction, he snatched
the first opportunity that presented itself to hurry down
to Lincolnshire, get married, and bring his bride up to
London, stuffing into his boot, for safe keeping, a roll
of bank notes given to him by Mr. Tyler at the moment
of farewell. In a letter* to his cousin Henrietta, he relates how
hurriedly the knot matrimonial was at length tied, on
the 17th of April:
"Everything was agreed to in a very handsome
manner, and just at this time I was called up to town and
found that I might be spared a few days from thence. I
set off on Wednesday evening from town, arrived next
evening at Spilsby, was married next morning,! which
was Friday ; on Saturday we went to Donington, on Sun
day reached Huntingdon, and on Monday were in town.
Next morning I presented myself before Sir Joseph
Banks with a grave face as if nothing had happened,
and then went on with my business as usual. We stayed
in town till the following Sunday, and came on board
the Investigator next day, and here we have remained
* Flinders' Papers.
t Captain F. J. Bayldon, of the Nautical Academy, Sydney,
tells me an interesting story about the Flinders-Chappell
marriage registration. His father was rector of Partney,
Lincolnshire, a village lying two or three miles from Spilsby.
When the Captain and his brothers were boys, they found in
the rectory a large book, such as was used for parish registers.
It was apparently unused. They asked their father if they might
have the blank pages for drawing paper, and he gave them per
mission. But they found upon a single page, a few marriage
entries, and one of these was the marriage of Matthew Flinders
to Ann Chappell. Captain Bayldon, a student of navigation then
as he has been ever since, knew Flinders' name at once, and took the
book to his father. The marriage was celebrated at Partney, where
the Tylers lived.

THE INVESTIGATOR 169
ever since, a few weeks on shore and a day spent on the
Essex side of the Thames excepted."
In a letter* written on the day of the marriage to
Elizabeth Flinders the bride's fluttered and mixed
emotions were apparent. At this time she believed
that she was to make the voyage to Australia in the
Investigator with her husband, and hardly knew
whether the happiness of her new condition or the
regretful prospect of a long farewell to her circle of
friends prevailed most in her heart.
"My beloved Betsy, _ "April 17th, 1801.
"Thou wilt be much surprised to hear of this sudden
affair; indeed I scarce believe it myself, tho' I have this
very morning given my hand at the altar to him I have
ever highly esteemed, and it affords me no small pleasure
that I am now a part, tho' a distant one, of thy family,
my Betsy. It grieves me much thou art so distant
from me. Thy society would have greatly cheered me.
Thou wilt to-day pardon me if I say but little. I am
scarce able to coin one sentence or to write intelligibly.
It pains me to agony when I indulge the thought for a
moment that I must leave all I value on earth, save one,
alas, perhaps for ever. Ah, my Betsy, but I dare not,
must not, think [that]. Therefore, farewell, farewell.
May the great God of Heaven preserve thee and those
thou lovest, oh, everlastingly. Adieu, dear darling girl;
love as ever, though absent and far removed from your
" Annette."
We are afforded a confidential insight into Mrs.
Flinders' opinion of her husband in a letter from her to
another girl friend. It was written after the marriage,
* Mitchell Library MSS.

170 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
and when Matthew was again at sea, prosecuting that
voyage from which he was not to return for over nine
years. "I don't admire want of firmness in a man. I
love courage and determination in the male character.
Forgive me, dear Fanny, but insipids I never did
like, and having not long ago tasted such deightful
society I have now a greater contempt than in former
days for that cast of character." An "insipid" Ann
Chappell certainly had not married, and she found in
Matthew Flinders no lack of the courage and determina
tion she admired.
A second marriage contracted by the elder Matthew
Flinders, connecting his family with the Franklins, had;
an important influence upon the life of another young
sailor who had commenced his career in the Navy in the
previous year. The Franklin family, which sprang
from the village of Sibsey (about six miles N.E. of
Boston), was now resident at Spilsby. At the time of
the Flinders-Chappell wedding, young John Franklin
was serving on the Polyphemus, and had only a few days
previously (April 1) taken part in the battle of Copen
hagen. In the ordinary course of things he would,
there can hardly be a doubt, have followed his pro
fession along normal lines. His virile intellect and
resourceful courage would probably have won him
eminence, but it is not likely that he would have entered
upon that career of exploration which shed so much
lustre on his name, and in the end found him a grave
beneath the immemorial snows of the frozen north. It
was by Flinders that young Franklin was diverted into
the glorious path of discovery; from Flinders that he
learnt the strictly scientific part of navigation. "It is
very reasonable for us to infer," writes one of Frank
lin's biographers* "that it was in all probability in ex-
* Admiral Markham, Life of Sir John Franklin, p. 43.

THE INVESTIGATOR 171
ploring miles of practically unknown coastline, and in
surveying hitherto undiscovered bays, reefs, and islands
in the southern hemisphere, that John Franklin's mind
became imbued with that ardent love of geographical
research which formed such a marked and prominent
feature in his future professional career. Flinders was
the example, and Australian exploration was the school,
that created one of our greatest Arctic navigators and
one of the most eminent geographers of his day."
Another matter with which Flinders was occupied
during his stay in England was the preparation of a
small publication dealing with his recent researches. It
was entitled "Observations on the coasts of Van Die-
men's Land, on Bass's Strait and its Islands, and on
parts of the coasts of New South Wales, intended to
accompany the charts of the late discoveries in those
countries, by Matthew Flinders, second lieutenant of
His Majesty's ship Reliance." It consisted of thirty-
five quarto pages, issued without a wrapper, and
stitched like a large pamphlet. John Nichols, of Soho,
was the publisher, but some copies were issued with the
imprint of Arrowsmith, the publisher of charts. Very
few copies now remain, and the little book, which is one
of the rare things of bibliography, is not to be found
even in many important libraries.
Flinders dedicated the issue to Sir Joseph Banks.
"Your zealous exertions to promote geographical and
nautical knowledge, your encouragement of men em
ployed in the cultivation of the sciences that tend to this
improvement, and the countenance you have been
pleased to show me in particular, embolden me to lay
the following observations before you." Generally
speaking, the Observations contain matter that was
afterwards embodied in the larger Voyage to Terra
Australis, and taken from reports that have been used
in the preceding pages. The special purpose of the

172 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
book was to be of use to navigators who might sail in
Australian waters, and it is therefore full of particulars
likely to guide them. He pointed out that there might
be some errors in the longitude records of the Norfolk
voyage because "no time-keepers could be procured for
this expedition," but he pointed out that the survey was
made with great care. "The sloop was kept close to
the shore, and brought back every morning within sight
of the same point it had been hauled off during the pre
ceding evening, by which means the chain of angles was
never broken." This was, as will be seen later, the
method employed on the more important voyage about
to be undertaken.
The task that mainly occupied his attention during
these few months in England, was the making of pre
parations for a voyage of discovery intended to com
plete the exploration of the coasts of Australia. It has
already been remarked that the initiative in regard to
1 the Francis, and Norfolk explorations sprang from
; Flinders' own eager desire, and not from the governing
authorities. Precisely the same occurred in the case of
the far more important Investigator voyage. He did
not wait for something to turn up. Immediately after
his arrival in England, he formulated a plan, pointed
out the sphere of investigation to which attention ought
to be directed, and approached the proper authorities.
He wrote to Sir Joseph Banks, "offering my services to
explore minutely the whole of the coasts, as well those
which were imperfectly known as those entirely un
known, provided the Government would provide me
with a proper ship for the purpose. I did not address
myself in vain to this zealous promoter of science; and
Earl Spencer, then First Lord of the Admiralty, enter
ing warmly into the views of his friend, obtained the
approbation of his Majesty, and immediately set out a
ship that could be spared from the present demands of

THE INVESTIGATOR 173
war, which Great Britain then waged with most of the
Powers of Europe."*
Lord Spencer's prompt and warm acquiescence in
the proposition is not less to be noted than the friendly
interest of Banks. His administration of the
Admiralty in Pitt's Government was distinguished by
his selection of Nelson as the admiral to frustrate the
schemes of the French in sea warfare; and it stands as
an additional tribute to his sagacity that he at once
recognised Flinders to be the right man to maintain the
prowess of British seamanship in discovery.
Three reasons made the Government the more dis
posed to equip an expedition for the purpose. The first
was that in June, 1800, L. G. Otto, the representative of
the French Republic in London, applied for a passport
for two discovery ships which were being despatched to'
the south seas. French men of science had for manyj
years interested themselves in the investigation of these I
unknown portions of the globe. The expeditions of
Laperouse (1785-8) and of Dentrecasteaux (1791-6) :
were evidence of their concern with the problems await
ing elucidation. The professors of the Museum in
Paris were eager that collections of minerals and plants
should be made in the southern hemisphere. The
Institute of France was led by keen men of science, one
of whom, the Comte de Fleurieu, had prepared the
instructions for the two previous voyages. They had
found a warm friend to research in Louis XVI., and the
fall of the monarchy did not diminish their anxiety that
France should win honour from pursuing the enquiry
They represented to Napoleon, then First Consul, the
utility of undertaking another voyage, and his authori
sation was secured in May. A passport was granted
by Earl Spencer when Otto made the application, but
* Flinders' Papers.

174 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
there was a suspicion that the French Government was
influenced by motives of policy lying deeper than the
ostensible desire to promote discovery.
Secondly, the East India Company was concerned
lest the French should establish themselves somewhere
on the coast of Australia, and, with a base of operations
there, menace the Company's trade.
Thirdly, Sir Joseph Banks, after conversations with
Flinders and an examination of his charts, saw the im
portance of the work remaining to be done, and used his
influence with the Admiralty to authorise a ship to be
detailed for the purpose.
Thus imperial policy, trade • interests and scientific
ardour combined to procure the equipment of a new
research expedition. In view of the fact that the
Admiralty became officially aware in June of the inten
tions of the French, it cannot be said that they were
precipitate in making their own plans; for it was not
until December 12 that they issued their orders.
The vessel allotted for the employment was a 334-
ton sloop, built in the north of England for the
merchant service. She had been purchased by the
Government for naval work, and, under the name of the
Xenophon, had been employed in convoying merchant
vessels in the Channel. Her name was changed to the
Investigator, her bottom was re-coppered, the plating
being put on "two streaks higher than before," and she
was equipped for a three years' voyage. Flinders took
command of her at Sheerness on January 25th, 1801.
He was promoted to the rank of commander on the
16th of the following month.
The renovated ship was good enough to look at, and
she commended herself to Flinders' eye as being the sort
of vessel best fitted for the work in contemplation. In

THE INVESTIGATOR 175
form she "nearly resembled the description of vessel
recommended by Captain Cook as best calculated for
voyages of discovery." But, though comfortable, she
was old and unsound. Patching and caulking merely
plugged up defects which the buffetings of rough seas
soon revealed. But she was the best ship the Admiralty
was able to spare at the time. Long before she had
completed her outward voyage, however, the senility
of the Investigator had made itself uncomfortably
evident. Writing of the leaks experienced on the run
down to the Cape, Flinders said: —
"The leakiness of the ship increased with the con
tinuance of the southwest winds, and at the end of a
week amounted to five inches of water an hour. It
seemed, however, that the leaks were above the
water's edge, for on tacking to the westward
they were diminished to two inches. This work
ing of the oakum out of the seams indicated a
degree of weakness which, in a ship destined to
encounter every hazard, could not be contemplated
without uneasiness. The very large ports, formerly cut
in the sides to receive thirty-two pound carronades,
joined to what I have been able to collect from the dock
yard officers, had given me an unfavourable opinion of
her strength; and this was now but too much con
firmed. Should it be asked why representations were
not made and a stronger vessel procured, I answer that
the exigencies of the navy were such at that time, that
I was given to understand no better ship could be spared
from the service ; and my anxiety to complete the investi
gation of the coasts of Terra Australis did not admit of
refusing the one offered."
The history of maritime discovery is strewn with
rotten ships. Certainly if the great navigators, before
venturing to face the unknown, had waited to be pro-

176 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
vided with vessels fit to make long voyages, the pro
gress of research would have been much slower than was
the case. It sounds like hyperbole to say that, when
pitch and planks failed, these gallant seamen stopped
their leaks with hope and ardour ; but really, something
like that is pretty near the truth.
The fitting out of the Investigator proceeded busily
during January and February, 1801. The Admiralty
was liberal in its allowances. Indeed, the equipment
was left almost entirely to Banks and Flinders. The
commander "obtained permission to fit her out as I
should judge necessary, without reference to the supplies
usually allotted to vessels of the same class." The ex
tent to which the Admiralty was guided by Banks is
indicated in a memorandum by the Secretary, Evan
Nepean, penned in April. Banks wrote "Is my pro
posal for an alteration in the undertaking in the
Investigator approved?" Nepean replied "Any pro
posal you may make will be approved ; the whole is left
entirely to your decision."
In addition to plentiful supplies and special pro
vision for a large store of water, the Investigator
carried an interesting assortment of "gauds, nick-nacks,
trifles," to serve as presents to native peoples with whom
it was desired to cultivate friendly relations. The list
included useful articles as well as glittering toys, and is
a curious document as illustrating a means by which
civilisation sought to tickle the barbarian into com
plaisance. Flinders carried for this purpose 500
pocket-knives, 500 looking-glasses, 100 combs, 200
strings of blue, red, white and yellow beads, 100 pairs
of ear-rings, 200 finger rings, 1000 yards of blue and
red gartering, 100 red caps, 100 small blankets, 100
yards of thin red baize, 100 yards of coloured linen,
1000 needles, five pounds of red thread, 200 files, 100
shoemakers' knives, 300 pairs of scissors, 100 hammers,

THE INVESTIGATOR 177
50 axes, 300 hatchets, a quantity of other samples of
ironmongery, a number of medals with King George's
head imprinted upon them, and some new copper coins.
It is a curious assortment, but it may be observed
that the materials, as well as the method of ingratiation,
were very much the same with the earlier as with the
later navigators. An early instance occurs in Rene
Laudonniere's account of his relations with the natives
of Florida in 1565 :* "I gave them certaine small trifles,
which were little knives or tablets of glasse, wherein
the image of King Charles the Ninth was drawen very
lively ... I recompensed them with certaine hatchets,
knives, beades of glasse, combes and looking-glasses."
The crew of the Investigator was selected with
particular care. Flinders desired to carry none but
young sailors of good character. He was given per
mission to take men from the Zealand, and he explained
to those who volunteered the nature of the service, and
its probably severe and protracted character. The readi
ness with which men came forward gave him much
pleasure. "Upon one occasion, when eleven volunteers were
to be received from the Zealand, a strong instance was
given of the spirit of enterprise prevalent amongst
British seamen. About three hundred disposable men
were called up, and placed on one part of the deck; and
after the nature of the voyage, with the number of men
wanted, had been explained to them, those who volun
teered were desired to go over to the opposite side. The
candidates were no less than two hundred and fifty,
most of whom sought with eagerness to be received; and
the eleven who were chosen proved, with one single
exception, to be worthy of the preference they
obtained." * Hakluyt's Voyages (edition of 1904), Vol. IX., pp. 31 and 49.

178 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Of the whole crew (and the total ship's company
numbered 83) only two caused any trouble to the com
mander. As these two "required more severity in re
ducing to good order than I wished to exercise in
a service of this nature," when the Investigator reached
the Cape, Flinders arranged with the Admiral there, Sir
Roger Curtis, to exchange them — as well as two others
who from lack of sufficient strength were not suitable —
for four sailors upon the flagship, who made a pressing
application to go upon a voyage of discovery. Thus
purged of a very few refractories and inefficients, the
ship's company was a happy, loyal and healthy crew, of
whom the commander was justifiably proud.
The officers and scientific staff were chosen with a
view to making the voyage fruitful in utility. The first
lieutenant, Robert Fowler, had served on the ship when
she was the Xenophon. He was a Lincolnshire man,
hailing from Horncastle, and had been a schoolfellow
of Banks. But it was not through Sir Joseph's influence
that he was selected. Flinders made his acquaintance
while the refitting of the vessel was in progress, and
found him desirous of making the voyage. As his
former captain spoke well of him, his services were
accepted. Samuel Ward Flinders went as second
lieutenant, and there were six midshipmen, of whom
John Franklin was one.
Originally it was intended that Mungo Park, the
celebrated African traveller, who was at this time in
England looking round for employment, should go to
Australia on the Investigator, and act as naturalist. But
no definite engagement was entered into; the post re
mained vacant, and a Portuguese exile living in London,
Correa de Sena, introduced to Banks a young Scottish
botanist who desired to go, describing him as one "fitted
to pursue an object with a staunch and a cold mind."
Robert Brown was then not quite twenty-seven years of

THE INVESTIGATOR 179
age. Like the gusty swashbuckler, Dugald Dalgetty,
he had been educated at the Marischal College, Aber
deen. For a few years he served as ensign and assist
ant surgeon of a Scottish regiment, the Fife Fencibles.
Always a keen botanist, he found a ready friend in
Banks, who promised to recommend him "for the pur
pose of exploring the natural history, amongst other
things." His salary was £420 a year, and he earned it
by admirable service. Brown remained in Australia
for two years after the discovery voyage, and his great
Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae, which won the
praise of Humboldt, is a classic monument to the extent
and value of his researches.
William Westall was appointed landscape and
figure draftsman to the expedition at a salary of £315
per annum. The nine fine engravings which adorn the
Voyage to Terra Australis are his work. He was
but a youth of nineteen when he made this voyage.
Afterwards he attained repute as a landscape painter,
and was elected as Associate of the Royal Academy.
One hundred and thirty-eight of his drawings made on
the Investigator are preserved.
Ferdinand Bauer was appointed botanical drafts
man to the expedition at a salary of £315. He was an
Austrian, forty years of age, an enthusiast in his work,
and a man of uncommon industry. He made 1,600
botanical drawings which, in Robert Brown's opinion,
were "for beauty, accuracy and completion of detail un
equalled in this or in any other country in Europe."
Bauer's Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae, pub
lished in 1814, consisted of plates which were drawn,
engraved and coloured by his own hand. Flinders
formed a very high opinion of the capacity of both
Brown and Bauer. "It is fortunate for science," he
wrote to Banks "that two men of such assiduity and

180 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
abilities have been selected; their application is beyond
what I have been accustomed to see."
Peter Good, appointed gardener to the expedition at
a salary of £105, was a foreman at the Kew Gardens
when he was selected for this service. Brown found
him a valuable assistant, and an indefatigable worker.
He died in Sydney in June, 1803, from dysentery con
tracted at Timor. Of John Allen, engaged as a miner
at a salary of £105, nothing is known.
John Crossley was engaged to sail as astronomer,
at a salary of £420, but he did not accompany the
Investigator further than the Cape of Good Hope,
where his health broke down, and he returned to Eng
land. The instruments with which he had been fur
nished by the Board of Longitude were, however, left
on board, and Flinders undertook to do his work in co
operation with his brother Samuel, who had been assist
ing Crossley, and was able to take charge of the
astronomical clocks and records.
The interest taken by the East India Company's
Court of Directors in the expedition was manifested in
their vote of £600 for the table money of the officers
and staff.* They gave this sum "from the voyage being
within the limits of the Company's charter, from the
expectation of the examinations and discoveries proving
advantageous, and partly, as they said" — so Flinders
* The East India Company, through its Court of Directors,
actually voted £1,200 in May, 1801 ; but only i600 of this sum was
paid at the commencement of the voyage. The remainder was to
be paid to the commander and officers as a reward if they success
fully accomplished their task. Flinders' mss. letter-book contains
a copy of a letter dated November 14, 1810, wherein he reminds the
Company of their promise. I have found no record of the payment
of the remaining £600, but Flinders' Journal shows him to have
dined with the directors a few weeks after the letter was sent, and a
little later the Journal contains a record of a merry evening
spent together by Flinders and a party of his old Investigator ship
mates. It is a fair assumption that the money was divided up on
that occason.

GEORGE JOHN, SECOND EARL SPENCER, KG.
Who, as First Lord of the .-Vdmiralty, despatched Flinders on his
discovery voyage in the Investigator.
(Photographed, by permission of Lord Spencer, from the painting
by Copley, at Allhorp, Northamptonshire.)

THE INVESTIGATOR 181
modestly observed — "for my former services." The
Company's charter gave to it a complete monopoly of
trade with the east and the Pacific, and it was therefore
interested in the finding of fresh harbours for its
vessels in the South Seas. But, despite this display of
concern, the East India Company had been no friend to
Australian discovery and colonization. In the early
years of the settlement at Port Jackson, it resisted the
opening of direct trade between Great Britain and New
South Wales, with as jealous a dislike as ever the Spanish
monopolists at Seville displayed in the sixteenth cen
tury concerning all trade with America that did not flow
through their hands. Even so recently as 1806 the
Company opposed — and, strangely enough, successfully
— the sale of a cargo of sealskins and whale oil from
Sydney, on the ground "that the charter of the colony
gave the colonists no right to trade, and that the trans
action was a violation of Company's charter and against
its welfare." The grant to Flinders was not, therefore,
a manifestation of zeal for Australian development,
except in the matter of finding harbours, and except,
also, that there was an uneasy feeling that the French
would be mischievously busy on the north coast. "I
hope the French ships of discovery will not station
themselves on the north-west coast of Australia," wrote
C. F. Greville, one of the Company's directors.
The instructions furnished to Flinders prescribed the
course of the voyage very strictly. They were that he
should first run down the coast from 130 degrees of
east longitude (that is, from about the head of the
Great Australian Bight) to Bass Strait, and endeavour
to discover such harbours as there might be. Then,
proceeding through the Strait, he was to call at Sydney
to refresh his company and refit the ship. After that
he was to return along the coast and diligently examine
it as far as King George's Sound. As the sailing was

182 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
delayed till the middle of July, Flinders expressed a
wish that he should not be ordered to return to the
south coast from Port Jackson. "If my orders do not
forbid it, I shall examine the south coast more minutely
in my first run along it, and if anything material should
present itself, as a strait, gulf, or very large river, shall
take as much time in its examination as the remaining
part of the summer shall then consist of; for I consider
it very material to the success of the voyage and to its
early completion that we should be upon the northern
coasts in winter and the southern ones in summer."
This was written to Banks, who, as we have seen,
could probably have secured an alteration of the official
instructions had he desired to do so. But they were not
modified; and about a fortnight later (July 17)
Flinders wrote: "The Admiralty have not thought
good to permit me to circumnavigate New Holland
in the way that appears to me (underlined) best
suited to expedition and safety." It is probable
that, if Banks discussed the proposed alteration
with the Admiralty, the more rapid run along
the south coast was insisted upon, because that
was the field to which the French expedition might
be expected to apply itself with most diligence; as, in
fact, was actually the case. Governor King had also
written to Banks pointing out the importance of a
southern survey, "to see what shelter it affords in case
a ship should be taken before she can clear the land to
the southward and the western entrance to the Strait."
The instructions continued that after the explora
tion of the south of New Holland, the Investigator was
to sail to the north-west and examine the Gulf of
Carpentaria, carefully investigating Torres Strait and
the whole of the remainder of the north-west and north
east coasts. After that, the east coast was to be more
fully explored; and when the whole programme was

THE INVESTIGATOR 183
finished Flinders was to return to England for further
instructions. The functions of the "scientific gentlemen" were
carefully defined. Flinders was directed to afford
facilities for the naturalists to collect specimens and the
artists to make drawings. The hand of Banks is
apparent in the nice balancing of liberty of independent
study with liability to direction from the commander;
and his forethought in these particulars was probably
inspired by his experience with Cook's expedition many
years before.
One other set of instructions from the Admiralty is
of great importance in view of what subsequently
occurred, and had a bearing upon the expedition as it
affected political relations. Great Britain was at war
with France, and the Investigator, though on a peaceful
mission, was a sloop belonging to the British navy.
Flinders wrote to the Admiralty (July 2) soliciting
instructions as to what he was to do in case he met
French vessels at sea, "for without an order to desist,
the articles of war will oblige me to act inimically to
them." The directions that he received were explicit.
He was to act towards any French ship "as if the two
countries were not at war; and with respect to the ships
and vessels of other powers with which this country is
at war, you are to avoid, if possible, having any com
munication with them ; and not to take letters or packets
other than such as you may receive from this office or
the office of his Majesty's Secretary of State." The
concluding words of the instruction intimately concern
the events which, in the next year but one, commenced
that long agony of imprisonment which Flinders had to
endure in Ile-de-France.
He was also provided with a passport from the
French Government, and the terms in which it was
couched are of the utmost importance for the under-

184 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
standing of what followed. It was issued for the
Investigator, commanded by Captain Matthew Flinders,
for a voyage of discovery of which the object was to
extend human knowledge and promote the progress of
nautical science. It commanded all French officers, at
sea or on shore, not to interfere with the ship and its
officers, but on the contrary to assist them if they needed
help. But this treatment was only to be extended as
long as the Investigator did not announce her intention
of committing any act of hostility against the French
Republic and her allies, did not render assistance to her
enemies, and did not traffic in merchandise or contra
band goods. The passport was signed by the French
Minister of Marine and Colonies, Forfait, on behalf
of the First Consul.*
Before the expedition sailed, Flinders became en
gaged in a correspondence which must have been em
barrassing to him, relating to his wife. He was married,
as has been stated, in April, after he had been promoted
commander, and while the Investigator was lying at
Sheerness, awaiting sailing orders. As the voyage
would in all probability extend over several years, his
intention was to take his bride with him to Sydney, and
leave her there while he prosecuted his investigations
in the south, north and east. He had no reason to think
that his doing so would give offence in official quarters,
especially as he was aware of cases where commanders
of ships had been permitted to take their wives on
cruises when their vessels were not protected by pass
ports securing immunity from attack. There are even
instances of wives of British naval officers being on
board ship during engagements. During Nelson's
attack on Santa Cruz, in 1797, Captain Fremantle of
the Seahorse had with him his wife, whom he had lately

* A transcript of Flinders' own copy of the French passport is
now at Caen, amongst the Decaen Papers, Vol. 84, p. 133.

THE INVESTIGATOR 185
married. It was in that engagement that Nelson lost
an arm ; and when he returned, bleeding and in great
pain, he would not go on board the Seahorse, saying that
he would not have Mrs. Fremantle alarmed by seeing
him in such a condition, without any news of her hus
band, who had accompanied the landing. The ampu
tation of the shattered limb was therefore performed on
the Theseus.
The wisdom of permitting a naval officer to take
his wife on a long voyage in a ship of the navy may
well be questioned, and the contrary rule is now well
established. But it was not invariably observed a cen
tury or more ago; and that Flinders acted in perfect
good faith in the matter is evident from the correspon
dence, which, on so delicate a subject, he conducted with
a manliness and good taste that display his character in
an amiable light.
In all probability Mrs. Flinders would have been
allowed to proceed to Port Jackson unchallenged but
for the unlucky circumstance that, when the com
missioners of the Admiralty paid an official visit of
inspection to the ship, she was seen "seated in the
captain's cabin without her bonnet."* They considered
this to be "too open a declaration of that being her
home." Her husband first heard of the matter semi
officially from Banks, who wrote on May 21st: —
"I have but time to tell you that the news of your
marriage, which was published in the Lincoln paper,
has reached me. The Lords of the Admiralty have
heard also that Mrs. Flinders is on board the Investi
gator, and that you have some thought of carrying her
to sea with you. This I was very sorry to hear, and if
that is the case I beg to give you my advice by no means
to adventure to measures so contrary to the regulations
* Flinders' Papers.

186 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
and the discipline of the Navy; for I am convinced by
language I have heard, that their Lordships will, if they
hear of her being in New South Wales, immediately
order you to be superseded, whatever may be the con
sequences, and in all likelihood order Mr. Grant to
finish the survey."
To threaten to supercede Flinders if it were even
heard that his wife was in New South Wales was surely
an excess of rigour. His reply was written from the
Nore, May 24th, 1801:
"I am much indebted to you, Sir Joseph, for the in
formation contained in your letter of the 21st. It is
true that I had an intention of taking Mrs. Flinders to
Port Jackson, to remain there until I should have com
pleted the voyage, and to have then brought her home
again in the ship, and I trust that the service would not
have suffered in the least by such a step. The
Admiralty have most probably conceived that I
intended to keep her on board during the voyage, but
this was far from my intentions. As some vindication
of the step I was about to take, I may be permitted to
observe that until it was intended to apply for a pass
port, I not only did not take the step, but did not intend
it — which is perhaps a greater attention to that article
of the Naval Instructions than many commanders have
paid to it. If their Lordships understood this matter
in its true light, I should hope that they would have
shown the same indulgence to me as to Lieut. Kent of
the Buffalo, and many others who have not had the plea
of a passport.
"If their Lordships' sentiments should continue the
same, whatever may be my disappointment, I shall give
up the wife for the voyage of discovery; and I would
beg of you, Sir Joseph, to be assured that even this
circumstance will not damp the ardour I feel to accom
plish the important purpose of the present voyage, and

THE INVESTIGATOR 187
in a way that shall preclude the necessity of any one
following after me to explore.
"It would be too much presumption in me to beg of
Sir Joseph Banks to set this matter in its proper light,
because by your letters I judge it meets with your dis
approbation entirely; but I hope that this opinion has
been formed upon the idea of Mrs. Flinders continuing
on board the ship when engaged in real service."
Banks promised to lay before the Admiralty the
representations made to him, but Flinders a few days
later (June 3rd) wrote another letter in which he
conscientiously expressed his determination not to risk
a misunderstanding with his superiors by taking his
wife: "I feel much obliged by your offer to lay the sub
stance of my letter before the Admiralty, but I foresee
that, although I should in the case of Mrs. Flinders
going to Port Jackson have been more particularly
cautious of my stay there, yet their Lordships will con
clude naturally enough that her presence would tend to
increase the number of and to lengthen my visits. I
am therefore afraid to risk their Lordships' ill opinion,
and Mrs. Flinders will return to her friends immedi
ately that our sailing orders arrive."
It can well be believed that "my Lords" of the
Admiralty did not feel very considerate towards ladies
just at that time; for one of their most brilliant officers.
Nelson, was, while this very correspondence was taking
place, gravely compromising himself with Emma
Hamilton at Naples. St. Vincent and Troubridge,
salt-hearted old veterans as they were, were just the men
to be suspicious on the score of petticoats fluttering about
the decks of the King's ships. It seems that they were
inclined unjustly and ungallantly to frown and cry
cherchez la femme about small things that went wrong,
even when Flinders was in no way to blame for them.

188 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
They blamed him for some desertions before properly
apprehending the circumstances, and when he had
merely reported a fact for which he was not responsible.
The next two letters close the whole incident, which
gave more annoyance to all parties than ought to have
been the case in connection with an officer so sedulously
scrupulous in matters concerning the honour and
efficiency of the service as Flinders was. Banks, in
quite a patron's tone, wrote on June 5th:
"I yesterday went to the Admiralty to enquire about
the Investigator, and was indeed much mortified to learn
there that you had been on shore in Hythe Bay, and I
was still more mortified to hear that several of your
men had deserted, and that you had had a prisoner en
trusted to your charge, who got away at a time when
the quarter-deck was in charge of a midshipman. I
heard with pain many severe remarks on these matters,
and in defence I could only say that as Captain Flinders
is a sensible man and a good seaman, such matters could
only be attributed to the laxity of discipline which always
takes place when the captain's wife is on board, and that
such lax discipline could never again take place, because
you had wisely resolved to leave Mrs. Flinders with her
relations." It was a kindly admonishment from an elderly
scholar to a young officer of twenty-seven only recently
married ; but to attribute affairs for which Flinders was
not to blame to the presence of his bride, was a little
unamiable. With excellent taste, Flinders, in his
answer, avoided keeping his wife's name in the contro
versy, and he disposed of the allegations both effectively
and judiciously :
"My surprise is great that the Admiralty should
attach any blame to me for the desertion of these men
from the Advice brig, which is the next point in your
letter, Sir Joseph. These men were lent, among others,

THE INVESTIGATOR 189
to the brig, by order of Admiral Graeme. From her
it was that they absented themselves, and I reported it
to the Admiralty. I had been so particular as to send
with the men a request to the commanding officer to per
mit none of them to go on shore, but Lieutenant Fowler
pointed out to him such of them as might be most
depended on to go in boats upon duty. Nothing more
could have been done on our part to prevent desertion,
and if blame rests anywhere it must be upon the officers
of the Advice. The three men were volunteers for this
voyage, but having gotten on shore with money in their
pockets most probably stayed so long that they became
afraid to return."
On the subject of discipline he said: "It is only a
duty to myself to assert that the discipline and good
order on board the Investigator is exceeded in very few
ships of her size, and is at least twice what it was under
her former commander. I beg to refer to Lieutenant
Fowler on this subject, who knows the ship intimately
both as the Xenophon and Investigator. On the last
subject I excuse myself from not having thought the
occurrence of sufficient consequence to trouble Sir
Joseph with, and it was what I least suspected that my
character required a defender, for it was in my power
to have suppressed almost the whole of those things
for which I am blamed; but I had the good of the ser
vice sufficiently at heart to make the reports which
brought them into light. That the Admiralty have
thrown blame on me, and should have represented to
my greatest and best friend that I had gotten the ship
on shore, had let a prisoner escape, and three of my
men run away, without adding the attendant circum
stances, is most mortifying and grievous to me; but it is
impossible to express so gratefully as I feel the anxious
concern with which you took the part of one who has
not the least claim to such generosity."

190 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
The last two paragraphs refer to an incident which
will be dealt with presently.
Although the Investigator was ready to sail in April,
1801, the Admiralty withheld orders till the middle of
July. Flinders, vexed as he naturally was at having
to leave his young wife behind, was impatient
at the delay for two good reasons. First, he was
anxious to have the benefit of the Australian summer
months, between November and February, for the ex
ploration of the south-west, the winter being the better
time for the northern work; and secondly, reports had
appeared in the journals about the progress of the
French expedition, and he did not wish to be forestalled
in the making of probably important discoveries. The
"Annual Register" for 1801, for example (p. 33)
stated that letters were received from the Isle of France,
dated April 29th, stating that Le N aturaliste and Le
Geographe had left that station on their voyage to New
Holland. While "my Lords" were warming up
imaginary errors in the heat of an excited imagination
on account of poor Mrs. Flinders, the commander of
the Investigator was losing valuable time. In May he
wrote to Sir Joseph Banks : "The advanced state of the
season. makes me excessively anxious to be off. I fear
that a little longer delay will lose us a summer and
lengthen our voyage at least six months. Besides that,
the French are gaining time upon us."
On May 26th, the Investigator left the Nore for
Spithead to wait further orders. She was provided, by
the Admiralty itself, with a chart published by J. H.
Moore, upon which a sandbank known as the Roar,
extending from Dungeness towards Folkestone, between
2\ to 4 miles from land, was not marked. On the
evening of the 28th, in a perfectly calm sea, and at a
time when, sailing by the chart, there was no reason to
apprehend any danger, the ship glided on to the bank.

THE INVESTIGATOR 191
She did not suffer a particle of injury, and in a very
short time had resumed her voyage. If Flinders had
said nothing at all about the incident, nobody off the
ship would have been any the wiser. But as the
Admiralty had furnished him with a defective chart,
and might do the same to other commanders, who might
strike the sand in more inimical circumstances, he con
sidered it to be his duty to the service to report the
matter; when lo! the Admiralty, instead of censuring
its officials for supplying the Investigator with a faulty
chart, gravely shook its head, and made those "severe
remarks" about Flinders, which induced Sir Joseph
Banks to admonish him so paternally in the letter
already quoted. The Investigator had, it seemed to be
the opinion of their Lordships, struck the sand, not
because it was uncharted, but because Mrs. Flinders was
on board between the Nore and Spithead! Flinders'
letter to Banks, June 6th, stated his position quite con
clusively :
"Finding so material a thing as a sandbank three
or four miles from the shore unlaid down in the chart,
I thought it a duty incumbent upon me to endeavour to
prevent the like accident from happening to others, by
stating the circumstances to the Admiralty, and giving
the most exact bearings from the shoal that our situation
would enable me to take, with the supposed distance
from the land. It would have been very easy for me
to have suppressed every part of the circumstance, and
thus to have escaped the blame which seems to attach
to me, instead of some share of praise for my good in
tentions. I hope that it will not be thought pre
sumptuous in me to say that no blame ought to be
attributed to me . . . The Admiralty do not seem to
take much into consideration that I had no master
appointed, who ought to be the pilot, or that having
been constantly employed myself in foreign voyages I

192 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
cannot consequently have much personal knowledge of
the Channel. In truth, I had nothing but the chart and
my own general observations to direct me; and had the
former been at all correct we should have arrived here
as safe as if we had any number of pilots."
It is significant of Flinders' truth-telling habit of
mind that when he came to write the history of the
voyage, published thirteen years later, he did not pass
over the incident at the Roar, though he can hardly have
remembered as agreeable an event for which he was
blamed when he was not wrong. But perhaps he found
satisfaction in being able to write that the circumstance
"showed the necessity there was for a regulation, since
adopted, to furnish His Majesty's ships with correct
charts." A natural comment is that it is odd that so
obviously sensible a thing was not done until an accident
showed the danger of not doing it. The blame
temporarily put upon Flinders did no harm to his
credit, and was probably merely an oblique form of self-
reproach on the part of the Admiralty.
The Investigator arrived at Spithead on June 2nd,
but did not receive final sailing orders till more than
another month had elapsed. "I put an end, I hope, to
our correspondence for some months, concluding that
you will sail immediately," wrote Sir Joseph Banks in
June, "and with sincere good wishes for your future
prosperity, and with a firm belief that you will, in your
future conduct, do credit to yourself as an able investi
gator, and to me as having recommended you." The
true spirit of friendship breathes in those words, the
friendship, too, of a discerning judge of character for a
younger man whom he respected and trusted. The
trust was nobly justified. Flinders undertook the work
with the firm determination to do his work thoroughly.
"My greatest ambition," he had written some weeks
previously (April 29) , "is to make such a minute investi-

THE INVESTIGATOR 193
gation of this extensive and very interesting country that
no person shall have occasion to come after me to make
further discoveries." It was with that downright
resolve that Flinders set out, and in that spirit did he
pursue his task to its end. It was not for nothing that
this man was the nautical grandson of Cook.
Sailing orders arrived from London on July 17th,
and on the following day the Investigator sailed from
Spithead. Mrs. Flinders was at this time residing with
her friends in Lincolnshire. She had been ill from fret
ful disappointment when forbidden to sail with her hus
band, but had recovered before they parted. Many a
weary, bitter year was to pass before she would see him
again ; years of notable things done, and of cruel wrongs
endured; and then they were only to meet for a few
months, till death claimed the brave officer and fine-
spirited gentleman who was Matthew Flinders.
From the correspondence of these weeks a few
passages may be chosen, as showing the heart-side of a
gallant sailor's nature. He wrote to his wife in June :
"The philosophical calmness which I imposed upon
thee is fled from myself, and I am just as awkward
without thee as one half of a pair of scissors without
its fellow," an image for separation which may be
commended to any poet ingenious enough to find a
rhyme for "scissors." The following is dated July
7th: "I should not forget to say that the gentle Mr.
Bauer seldom forgets to add 'and Mrs. Flinders' good
health' after the cloth is withdrawn, and even the
bluff Mr. Bell does not forget you .... Thou
wilt write me volumes, my dearest love, wilt thou
not? No pleasure is at all equal to that I receive from
thy letters. The idea of how happy we might be will
sometimes intrude itself and take away the little spirits
that thy melancholy situation leaves me. I can write
no longer with this confounded pen. I will find a

194 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
better to-morrow. May the choicest blessings of
Heaven go with thee, thou dearest, kindest, best of
women." This one was written from the Cape in November:
"Write to me constantly; write me pages and volumes.
Tell me the dress thou wearest, tell me thy dreams, any
thing, so do but talk to me and of thyself. When thou
art sitting at thy needle and alone, then think of me, my
love, and write me the uppermost of thy thoughts. Fill
me half a dozen sheets, and send them when thou canst.
Think only, my dearest girl upon the gratification which
the perusal and reperusal fifty times repeated will afford
me, and thou wilt write me something or other every
day. Adieu, my dearest, best love. Heaven bless thee
with health and comfort, and preserve thy full
affection towards thy very own, Matthew Flinders."
To return from these personal relations to the
voyage: Some days before the Investigator reached
Madeira, a Swedish brig was met, and had to receive
a lesson in nautical manners during war-time. The
incident is reported by seaman Samuel Smith with a
pretty mixture of pronouns, genders and tenses: "At
night we was piped all hands in the middle watch to
quarters. A brig was bearing down upon our star
board bow. Our Captn spoke her, but receiving no
answer we fired a gun past his stern. Tacked ship and
spoke her, which proved to be a Swede."*
Flinders was, it has been said, the nautical grandson
of Cook. How thoroughly he followed the example of

MS., Mitchell Library: "Journal of Samuel Smith, Sea
man, who served on board the Investigator, Captn Flinders, on a
voyage of discovery in the South Seas." The manuscript covers 52
small quarto pages, and is neatly written. Some of Smith's
dates are wrong. It may be noted here that Smith, on his
return from the voyage, was impressed in the Downs and re
tained in the Navy till 1815. He died at Thornton's Court,
Manchester, m 1821, aged 50. He was therefore 30 years of age
when he made this voyage.

THE INVESTIGATOR 195
the great sailor is apparent from the lines upon which
he managed his ship and governed his crew. This is
what he was able to write of the voyage down to the
Cape of Good Hope, reached on October 16th: "At
this time we had not a single person in the sick list, both
officers and men being fully in as good health as when
we sailed from Spithead. I had begun very early to
put in execution the beneficial plan first practised and
made known by the great Captain Cook. It was in the
standing orders of the ship, that on every fine day the
deck below and the cockpit should be cleaned, washed,
aired with stoves, and sprinkled with vinegar. On wet
and dull days they were cleaned and aired, without
washing. Care was taken to prevent the people from
sleeping upon deck or lying down in their wet clothes;
and once in every fortnight or three weeks, as circum
stances permitted, their beds, and the contents of their
chests and bags were opened out and exposed to the sun
and air. On the Sunday and Thursday mornings, the
ship's company was mustered, and every man appeared
clean-shaved and dressed; and when the evenings were
fine the drum and fife announced the forecastle to be the
scene of dancing; nor did I discourage other playful
amusements which might occasionally be more to the
taste of the sailors, and were not unseasonable.
"Within the tropics lime juice and sugar were made
to suffice as antiscorbutics; on reaching a higher latitude,
sour-krout and vinegar were substituted; the essence of
malt was served for the passage to New Holland, and
for future occasions, on consulting with the surgeon, I
had thought it expedient to make some slight changes
in the issuing of the provisions. Oatmeal was boiled
for breakfast four days in the week, as usual; and at
other times, two ounces of portable broth, in cakes, to
each man, with such additions of onions, pepper, etc.,
as the different messes possessed, made a comfortable

196 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
addition to their salt meat. And neither in this passage,
nor, I may add, in any subsequent part of the voyage,
were the officers or people restricted to any allowance of
fresh water. They drank freely at the scuttled cask,
and took away, under the inspection of the officer of the
watch, all that was requisite for culinary purposes; and
very frequently two casks of water in the week were
given for washing their clothes. With these regula
tions, joined to a due enforcement of discipline, I had
the satisfaction to see my people orderly and full of zeal
for the service in which we were engaged; and in such
a state of health that no delay at the Cape was required
beyond the necessary refitment of the ship."
How wise, considerate, and farseeing this policy
was! It reads like the sageness of a gray-headed
veteran. Yet Flinders had only attained his 27th birth
day precisely seven months before he reached the Cape
on this voyage. He had learned how men, as well as
ships, should be managed. "It was part of my plan
for preserving the health of the people to promote active
amusements amongst them," he said of the jollity on
crossing the line; and we can almost see the smile of
recollection which played upon his lips when he wrote
that "the seamen were furnished with the means and
the permission to conclude the day with merriment."
Seaman Smith, who shared in the fun, tells us what
occurred with his own peculiar disregard of correct
spelling and grammatical construction: "we crossd the
equinocial line and had the usuil serimony of Neptune
and his attendance hailing the ship and coming on board.
The greatest part of officers and men was shaved, not
having crossd the line before. At night grog was
servd out to each watch, which causd the evening to be
spent in merriment."
At the Cape the seams were re-caulked, and the ship
gave less trouble on the voyage across the Indian Ocean

THE INVESTIGATOR 197
than she had done on the run south. She left False
Bay on November 4th. The run across the Indian
Ocean was uneventful, except that the ship ran foul of
a whale apparently sleeping on the water, and "caused
such an alarm that he sank as expeditiously as possible" ;
and that an albatross was captured which, "being
caught with hook and line it had its proper faculties and
appeared of a varocious nature."* On December 6th
the coast of Australia was sighted near Cape Leeuwin

* Smith's Journal, Mitchell Library MSS.
o

Chapter XIII.
THE FRENCH EXPEDITION
It will be necessary to devote some attention to the
French expedition of discovery, commanded by Nicolas
Baudin, which sailed from Havre on October 19th,
1800, nearly two months before the British Admiralty
authorised the despatch of the Investigator, and nine
months all but two days before Flinders was permitted
to leave England.
The mere fact that this expedition was despatched
while Napoleon Bonaparte was First Consul of the
French Republic, has led many writers to jump to the
conclusion that it was designed to cut out a portion of
Australia for occupation by the French ; that, under the
thin disguise of being charged with a scientific mission,
Baudin was in reality an emissary of Machiavellian
statecraft, making a cunning move in the great game of
world-politics. The author has, in an earlier book*
endeavoured to show that such was not the case. Bona
parte did not originate the discovery voyage. He
simply authorised it, as head of the State, when the
proposition was laid before him by the Institute of
France, a scientific body, concerned with the augmenta
tion of knowledge, and anxious that an effort should be
made to complete a task which the abortive expeditions
of Laperouse and Dentrecasteaux had failed to accom
plish. * Terre Napoleon (London, 1910). Since that book was pub
lished, I have had the advantage of reading a large quantity of
manuscript material, all unpublished, preserved in the Archives
Nationales and the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. It strengthens
the main conclusions promulgated in Terre Napoleon, but of
course amplifies the evidence very considerably. The present
chapter is written with the Baudin and other manuscripts, as
well as the printed material, in mind.

THE FRENCH EXPEDITION 199
Moreover, if Bonaparte had wished to acquire terri
tory in Australia, he was not so foolish a person as to
fit out an expedition estimated to cost over half a million
francs,* and which actually cost a far larger sum, when
he could have obtained what he wanted simply by asking.
The treaty of Amiens was negotiated and signed while
Baudin's ships were at sea. The British Government
at that time was very anxious for peace, and was
prepared to make concessions — did, in fact, surrender
a vast extent of territory won by a woful expenditure of
blood and treasure. It cannot be said that Australia
was greatly valued by Great Britain at the time. She
occupied only a small portion of an enormous continent,
and would certainly not have seriously opposed a pro
ject that the French should occupy some other portion
of it, if Bonaparte had put forward a claim as a con
dition of peace. But he did nothing of the kind.
If we are to form sound views of history, basing con
clusions on the evidence, we must set aside suspicions
generated at a time of fierce racial antipathy, when it
was almost part of an Englishman's creed to hate a
Frenchman. Neither the published history of Baudin's
voyage, nor the papers relating to it which are now
available for study — except two documents to which
special attention will be devoted hereafter, and which
did not emanate from persons in authority — afford
warrant for believing that there was any other object in
view than that professed when application for a passport
was made to the Admiralty. The confidential instruc
tions of the Minister-)- of Marine to BaudinJ leave no
* Report of the Commission of the Institute, mss. Bib. Nat., nouv.
acq., France, 9439, p. 139.
t MSS., Archives Nationales, BB4, 999, Marine. I have given
an account of this important manuscript, with copious extracts, in
the English Historical Review, April, 1913.
J Fleurieu to Forfait, mss. Bib. Nat., nouv. acq., France, 9439,
p. 137.

200 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
doubt that the purpose was quite bona fide. "Your
labours," wrote Forfait, "having for their sole object
the perfecting of scientific knowledge, you should
observe the most complete neutrality, allowing no doubt
to be cast upon your exactitude in confining yourself to
the object of your mission, as set forth in the passports
which have been furnished. In your relations with
foreigners, the glorious success of our arms, the power
and wisdom of your government, the grand and
generous views of the First Consul for the pacification
of Europe, the order that he has restored in the interior
of France, furnish you with the means of giving to
foreign peoples just ideas upon the real state of the
Republic and upon the prosperity which is assured to
it." The men of science who had promoted the voyage
were anxious that not even a similitude of irregularity
should be permitted. Thus we find the Comte de
Fleurieu, who drew up the itinerary, writing to the
Minister urging him to include in the instructions a
paragraph prohibiting the ships from taking on board,
under any pretext, merchandise which could give to a
scientific expedition the appearance of a commercial
venture, "because if an English cruiser or man-of-war
should visit them, and find on board other goods than
articles of exchange for dealing with aboriginal peoples,
this might serve as a pretext for arresting them, and
Baudin's passport might be disregarded on the ground
that it had been abused by being employed as a means
of conducting without risk a traffic which the state of
war would make very lucrative."
The question of the origin and objects of the ex
pedition is, however, an entirely different one from that
of the use which Napoleon would have made of the in
formation collected, had the opportunity been available
of striking a blow at Great Britain through her southern
colony. It is also different from the question (as to

THE FRENCH EXPEDITION 201
which something will be said later) of the advantage
taken by two members of Baudin's staff of the scope
allowed them at Port Jackson, to "spy out the land"
with a view of furnishing information valuable in a
military sense to their Government.
The instructions to Baudin were very similar to
those which had been given to Laperouse and Dentre
casteaux in previous years, being drafted by the same
hand, and some paragraphs in an "instruction particu-
liere," show that the French were thoroughly up-to-date
with their information, and knew in what parts of the
coast fresh work required to be done.*
Nicolas Baudin was not a French naval officer.
He had been in the merchant service, and, more recently,
had had charge of an expedition despatched to Africa
by the Austrian Government to collect specimens for
the museum at Vienna. War between France and
Austria broke out before he returned; and Baudin, feel
ing less loyal to his Austrian employers than to his own
country, handed over the whole collection to the
Museum in Paris. This action, which in the circum
stances was probably regarded as patriotic, brought him
under the notice of Jussieu, the famous French botanist;
and when the South Sea expedition was authorised, that
scientist recommended Baudin as one who had taken an
interest in natural history researches, and who had
given "a new proof of his talent and of his love for
science by the choice of the specimens composing his last
collection, deposited in the museum." The Minister of
Marine minuted Jussieu's recommendation in the
margin : "No choice could be happier than that of
Captain Baudin, "t and so he was appointed. He was
* "Projet d'itineraire pour le Commandant Baudin ; memoire
pour servir d'instruction particuliere." MSS., Archives Nationales,
Marine, BB4, 999.
tMSS., Bib. Nat., nouv. acq., France, 9439, p. 121.

202 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
by no means the kind of officer whom Napoleon would
have selected had his designs been such as have com
monly been alleged.
Two ships of the navy were commissioned for the
service. Under the names La Serpente and Le Vesuve
they had been built with a view to an invasion of Eng
land, contemplated in 1793.* They were re-named
Le Geographe and Le Naturaliste on being allotted to
a much safer employment. Both were described as
solidly built, good sailers, and easy to control; and the
officer who surveyed them to determine whether they
would be suitable reported that without impairing their
sea-going qualities it would be easy to construct upon
their decks high poops to hold quantities of growing
plants, which it was intended to collect and bring home.
On these ships Baudin and his selected staff embarked
at Havre, and, a British passport being obtained under
the circumstances already related, sailed south in
October. If Baudin had been the keen and capable commander
that those who secured his appointment believed him to
be, he should have discovered and charted the whole of
the unknown southern coast of Australia, before
Flinders was many days' sail from England. The fact
that this important work was actually done by the Eng
lish navigator was in no measure due to the sagacity of
the Admiralty — whose officials procrastinated in an
inexplicable fashion even after the Investigator had been
commissioned and equipped — but to his own prompt-
ness.^ competence and zeal, and the peculiar dilatoriness
of his rivals. Baudin's vessels reached Ile-de-France
(Mauritius) in March, 1801, and lay there for the
leisurely space of forty days. Two-thirds of a year had
* MSS., Bib. Nat, nouv. acq., France, 9439, report of de Bruix
to the AI mister.

THE FRENCH EXPEDITION 203
elapsed before they came upon the Australian coast.
But Baudin did not even then set to work where there
was discovery to be achieved. Winter was approach
ing, and sailing in these southern seas would be uncom
fortable in the months of storm and cold ; so he dawdled
iap the west coast of Australia, in warm, pleasant waters,
and made for Timor, where he arrived in August. He
remained in the Dutch port of Kupang till the middle
of November — three whole months wasted, nearly
eleven months consumed since he had sailed from
France. In the meantime, the alert and vigorous
captain of the Investigator was speeding south as fast
as the winds would take him, too eager to lose a
day, flying straight to his work like an arrow to its
mark, and doing it with the thoroughness and accuracy
that were part of his nature.
The French on board Le Geographe and Le
Naturaliste were as unhappy as their commander was
slow. Scurvy broke out, and spread among the crew
with virulence. Baudin appeared to have little or no
conception of the importance of the sanitary measures
which Cook was one of the earliest navigators to enjoin,
and by which those who emulated his methods were able
to keep in check the ravages of this scourge of sea
faring men. He neglected common precautions, and
paid no heed to the counsel of the ship's surgeons. As
a consequence, the sufferings of his men were such that
it is pitiful to read about them in the official history of
the voyage. From Timor Baudin sailed for southern Tasmania,
arriving there in January, 1802, and remaining in the
neighbourhood till March. There was no European
settlement upon the island at that time, and Baudin des
cribed it as a country "which ought not to be neglected,
and which a nation that does not love us does not look

204 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
upon with indifference."* A severe storm separated
Le Geographe from her escort on March 7 and 8, in
the neighbourhood of the eastern entrance of Bass
Strait. Le Naturaliste spent some time in Western-
port, making a survey of it, and discovering the second
island, which Bass had missed on his whaleboat cruise.
Her commander, Captain Hamelin, then took her round
to Port Jackson, to solicit aid from the Governor of the
English colony there. Meanwhile Baudin sailed
through the Strait from east to west. He called at
Waterhouse Island, off the north-east coast of Van Die
men's Land, misled by its name into thinking that he
would find fresh water there. The island was named
after Captain Henry Waterhouse of the Reliance, but
Baudin, unaware of this, considered that it belied its
name. "It does not seem," he wrote, "to offer any
appearance of water being discoverable there, and I am
persuaded that it can have been named Water House
only because the English visited it at a time when heavy-
rains had fallen."t Baudin passed Port Phillip,
rounded Cape Otway, and coasted along till he came
to Encounter Bay, where occurred an incident with
which we shall be concerned after we have traced the
voyage of Flinders eastward to the same point.

* Baudin to the Minister of Marine, mss., Archives Nationales,
BB4, 995, Marine.
t Baudin's Diary, mss. Bibliotheque Nationale : "Je suis per
suade qu'on ne l'a nommfi Wather House que par ce que les
Anglais qui l'ont visite y auront eu beaucoup de pluie."

Chapter XIV.
SOUTH COAST DISCOVERY
We now resume the story of Flinders' voyage along the
southern coast of Australia, from the time when he
made Cape Leeuwin on December 6th, 1801.
That part of the coast lying between the south-west
corner of the continent and Fowler's Bay, in the Great
Australian Bight, had been traversed prior to this time.
In 1791 Captain George Vancouver, in the British ship
Cape Chatham, sailed along it from Cape Leeuwin to
King George's Sound, which he discovered and named.
He anchored in the harbour, and remained there for a
fortnight. He would have liked to pursue the dis
covery of this unknown country, and did sail further
east, as far as the neighbourhood of Termination Island,
in longitude 122° 8'. But, meeting with adverse winds,
he abandoned the research, and resumed his voyage to
north-west America across the Pacific. In 1792, Bruny
Dentrecasteaux, with the French ships Recherche and
Esperance, searching for tidings of the lost Laperouse,
followed the line of the shore more closely than Van
couver had done, and penetrated much further eastward.
His instructions, prepared by Fleurieu, had directed
him to explore the whole of the southern coast of Aus
tralia; but he was short of water, and finding nothing
but sand and rock, with no harbour, and no promise of
a supply of what he so badly needed, he did not con
tinue further than longitude 131° 38^' E., about two
and a half degrees east of the present border line of
Western and South Australia. These navigators, with
the Dutchman Pieter Nuyts, in the early part of the
seventeenth century, and the Frenchman St. Alouarn,
205

206 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
who anchored near the Leeuwin in 1772, were the only
Europeans known to have been upon any part of these
southern coasts before the advent of Flinders; and the
extent of the voyage of Nuyts is by no means clear.
Flinders, as we have seen, laid it down as a guiding
principle that he would make so complete a survey of
the shores visited by him as to leave little for anybody
to do after him. He therefore commenced his work
immediately he touched land, constructiong his own
charts as the ship slowly traversed the curves of the
coast. The result was that many corrections and ad
ditions to the charts of Vancouver and Dentrecasteaux
were made before the entirely new discoveries were
commenced. In announcing this fact, Flinders, always
generous in his references to good work done by his
predecessors, warmly praised the charts prepared by
Beautemps-Beaupre, "geographical engineer" of the
Recherche. "Perhaps no chart of a coast so little
known as this is, will bear a comparison with its original
better than this of M. Beaupre," he said. His own
charts were of course fuller and more precise, but he
made no claim to superiority on this account, modestly
observing that he would have been open to reproach if.
after following the coast with an outline of M. Beaupre's
chart before him, he had not effected impdjgtments
where circumstances did not permit so close aiflpmina-
tion to be made in 1792.
Several inland excursions were made, and some of
the King George's Sound aboriginals were encountered.
Flinders noted down some of their words, and pointed
out the difference from words for the same objects
used by Port Jackson and Van Diemen's Land natives.
An exception to this rule was the word used for calling
to a distance — cau-wah! (come here). This is certainly
very like the Port Jackson cow-ee, whence comes the

SOUTH COAST DISCOVERY 207
one aboriginal word of universal employment in Aus
tralia to-day, the coo-ee of the townsman and the bush
man alike, a call entered in the vocabulary collected by
Hunter as early as 1790.
The method of research adopted by Flinders was
similar to that employed on the Norfolk voyage. The
ship was kept all day as close inshore as possible, so that
water breaking on the shore was visible from the
deck, and no river or opening could escape notice. When
this could not be done, because the coast retreated far
back, or was dangerous, the commander stationed him
self at the masthead with a glass. All the bearings were
laid down as soon as taken, whilst the land was in sight;
and before retiring to rest at night Flinders made it a
practice to finish up his rough chart for the day, together
with his journal of observations. The ship hauled off
the coast at dusk, but especial care was taken to come
upon it at the same point next morning, as soon after
daylight as practicable, so that work might be resumed
precisely where it had been dropped on the previous
day. "This plan," said Flinders, "to see and lay down
everything myself, required constant attention and much
labour, but was absolutely necessary to obtaining that
accuracy rj^pimich I was djsirous." When bays or
groups of islands werWreached, Flinders went ashore
with the theodolite, took his angles, measured, mapped,
and made topographical notes. The lead was kept
busy, making soundings. The rise and fall of the tides
were observed; memoranda on natural phenomena were
written; opportunities were given for the naturalists to
collect specimens, and for the artist to make drawings.
The net was frequently drawn in the bays for examples
of marine life. Everybody when ashore kept a look
out for plants, birds, beasts, and insects. In short, a
keenness for investigation, an assiduity in observation,
animated the whole ship's company, stimulated by the

208 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
example of the commander, who never spared himself
in his work, and interested himself in that of others.
As in a drama, "comic relief" was occasionally
interposed amid more serious happenings. The blacks
were friendly, though occasionally shy and suspicious.
In one scene the mimicry that is a characteristic of the
aboriginal was quaintly displayed. The incident, full
of colour and humour, is thus related by Flinders :
"Our friends, the natives, continued to visit us; and
an old man with several others being at the tents this
morning, I ordered the party of marines on shore, to
be exercised in their presence. The red coats and white
crossed belts were greatly admired, having some resem
blance to their own manner of ornamenting themselves;
and the drum, but particularly the fife, excited their
astonishment; but when they saw these beautiful red and
white men, with their bright muskets, drawn up in a line,
they absolutely screamed with delight; nor were their
wild gestures and vociferation to be silenced but by
commencing the exercise, to which they paid the most
earnest and silent attention. Several of them moved
their hands, involuntarily, according to the motions ; and
the old man placed himself at the end of the rank, with
a short staff in his hand, which he shouldered, presented,
grounded, as did the marines their muskets, without, I
believe, knowing what he did. Before firing, the
Indians were made acquainted with what was going to
take place; so that the volleys did not excite much
terror." Seaman Smith was naturally much interested in the
aboriginals, whose features were however to him "quite
awful, having such large mouths and long teeth." They
were totally without clothing, and "as soon as they saw
our tents they run into the bushes with such activity that
would pawl any European to exhibit. Because our men

SOUTH COAST DISCOVERY 209
would not give them a small tommy-hawk they began
to throw pieces of wood at them, which exasperated
our men; but orders being so humane towards the
natives that we must put up with anything but heaving
spears." Furthermore, "they rubbd their skin against
ours, expecting some mark of white upon their's, but
finding their mistake they appeared surprised."
Pleasures more immediately incidental to geo
graphical discovery — those pleasures which eager and
enterprising minds must experience, however severe the
labour involved, on traversing portions of the globe
previously unknown to civilised mankind — commenced
after the head of the Great Bight was passed. From
about the vicinity of Fowler's Bay (named after the first
lieutenant of the Investigator) the coast was virgin to
geographical science. Comparisons of original work
with former charts were no longer possible. The ship
was entering un-navigated waters, and the coasts
delineated were new to the world's knowledge. The
quickening of the interest in the work in hand, which
touched both officers and men of the expedition, can be
felt by the reader of Flinders' narrative. There was
a consciousness of having crossed a line separating what
simply required verification and amplification, from a
totally fresh field of research. Every reach of coast
line now traversed was like a cable, long buried in the
deep of time, at length hauled into daylight, with its
oozy deposits of seaweed, shell and mud lying thick
upon it.
Contingent upon discovery was the pleasure of
naming important features of the coast. It is doubtful
whether any other single navigator in history applied
names which are still in use to so many capes, bays and
islands, upon the shores of the habitable globe, as
Flinders did. The extent of coastline freshly discovered

210 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
by him was not so great as that first explored by some
of his predecessors. But no former navigator pursued
extensive new discoveries so minutely, and, consequently,
found so much to name ; while the precision of Flinders'
records left no doubt about the places that he named,
when in later years the settlement of country and the
navigation of seas necessitated the use of names. Com
pare, for instance, in this one respect, the work of Cook
and Dampier, Vasco da Gama and Magellan, Tasman
and Quiros, with that of Flinders. Historically their
voyages may have been in some respects more import
ant; but they certainly added fewer names to the map.
There are 103 names on Cook's charts of eastern Aus
tralia from Point Hicks to Cape York; but there are
about 240 new names on the charts of Flinders repre
senting southern Australia and Tasmania. He is the
Great Denominator among navigators. He named
geographical features after his friends, after his
associates on the Investigator, after distinguished per
sons connected with the Navy, after places in which he
was interested. Fowler's Bay, Point Brown, Cape
Bauer, Franklin's Isles, Point Bell, Point Westall,
Taylor's Isle, and Thistle Island, commemorate his
shipmates. Spencer's Gulf was named "in honour of
the respected nobleman who presided at the Board of
Admiralty when the voyage was planned and the ship
was put in commission," and Althorp Isles celebrated
Lord Spencer's heir.* St. Vincent's Gulf was named
"in honour of the noble admiral" who was at the head
of the Admiralty when the Investigator sailed from
England, and who had "continued to the voyage that

* Cockburn, Nomenclature of South Australia (Adelaide,
1909), p. 9 is mistaken in speculating that "there is a parish of
Althorp in Flinders' native country in Lincolnshire which
probably accounts for the choice of the name here." Althorp.
which should be spelt without a final "e," is not in Lincolnshire,
but in Northamptonshire.

SOUTH COAST DISCOVERY 211
countenance and protection of which Earl Spencer had
set the example." To Yorke's Peninsula, between the
two gulfs, was affixed the name of the Right Hon. C.
P. Yorke, afterwards Lord Hardwicke, the First Lord
who authorised the publication of Flinders' Voyage.
Thus, the ministerial heads of the Admiralty in three
Governments (Pitt's, Addington's and Spencer Perce
val's) came to be commemorated. It may be remarked
as curious that a naval officer so proud of his service as
Flinders was, should nowhere have employed the name
of the greatest sailor of his age, Nelson. There is a
Cape Nelson on the Victorian coast, but that name was
given by Grant.
In Spencer's Gulf we come upon a group of Lincoln
shire place-names, for Flinders, his brother Samuel, the
mate, Fowler, and Midshipman John Franklin, all
serving on this voyage, were Lincolnshire men. Thus
we find Port Lincoln, Sleaford Bay, Louth Bay, Cape
Donington, Stamford Hill, Surfleet Point, Louth Isle,
Sibsey Isle, Stickney Isle, Spilsby Isle, Partney Isle,
Revesby Isle, Point Boston, and Winceby Isle. Banks'
name was given to a group of islands, and Coffin's Bay
must not be allowed to suggest any gruesome associa
tion, for it was named after Sir Isaac Coffin,
resident naval commissioner at Sheerness, who
had given assistance in the equipment of the
Investigator. A few names, like Streaky Bay,
Lucky Bay, and Cape Catastrophe, were applied from
circumstances that occurred on the voyage. A poet of
the antipodes who should, like Wordsworth, be moved
to write "Poems on the Naming of Places," would find
material in the names given by Flinders.
Interest in this absorbing work rose to something
like excitement on February 20th, when there were indi
cations, from the set of the tide, that an unusual feature

212 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
of the coast was being approached. "The tide from
the north-eastward, apparently the ebb, ran more than
one mile an hour, which was the more remarkable from
no set of the tide worthy to be noticed having hitherto
been observed upon this coast." The ship had rounded
Cape Catastrophe, and the land led away to the north,
whereas hitherto it had trended east and south. What
did this mean? Flinders must have been strongly re
minded of his experience in the Norfolk in Bass Strait,
when the rush of the tide from the south showed that
the north-west corner of Van Diemen's Land had been
turned, and that the demonstration of the Strait's exist
ence was complete. There were many speculations as
to what the signs indicated. "Large rivers, deep inlets,
inland seas and passages into the Gulf of Carpentaria,
were terms frequently used in our conversations of this
evening, and the prospect of making an interesting dis
covery seemed to have infused new life and vigour into
every man in the ship." The expedition was, in fact,
in the bell-mouth of Spencer's Gulf, and the next few
days were to show whether the old surmise was true —
that Terra Australis was cloven in twain by a strait
from the Gulf of Carpentaria to the southern ocean.
It was, indeed, a crisis-time of the discovery voyage.
But before the gulf was examined, a tragedy threw
the ship into mourning. On the evening of Sunday,
February 21st, the cutter was returning from the main
land, where a party had been searching for water in
charge of the Master, John Thistle. She carried a
midshipman, William Taylor, and six sailors. Nobody
on the ship witnessed the accident that happened; but
the cutter had been seen coming across the water, and
as she did not arrive when darkness set in, the fear that
she had gone down oppressed everybody on board. A
search was made, but ineffectually; and next day the boat
was found floating bottom uppermost, stove in, and

VIFAV ON KANGAROO ISLAND.
(Reproduced from the engraving in Flinders Journal, after Jt'estall's drazving.)

SOUTH COAST DISCOVERY 213
bearing the appearance of having been dashed against
rocks. The loss of John Thistle was especially
grievous to Flinders. The two had been companions
from the very beginning of his career in Australia.
Thistle had been one of Bass's crew in the whaleboat;
he had been on the Norfolk when Van Diemen's Land
was circumnavigated ; and he had taken part in the cruise
to Moreton Bay. His memory lives in the name of
Thistle Island, on the west of the entrance to the gulf,
and in the noble tribute which his commander paid to
his admirable qualities. It would be wrong to deprive
the reader of the satisfaction of reading Flinders'
eulogy of his companion of strenuous years :
"The reader will pardon me the observation that
Mr. Thistle was truly a valuable man, as a seaman, an
officer, and a good member of society. I had known
him, and we had mostly served together, from the year
1794. He had been with Mr. Bass in his perilous ex
pedition in the whaleboat, and with me in the voyage
round Van Diemen's Land, and in the succeeding
expedition to Glass House and Hervey's Bays. From
his merit and prudent conduct, he was promoted from
before the mast to be a midshipman and afterwards a
master in His Majesty's service. His zeal for dis
covery had induced him to join the Investigator when
at Spithead and ready to sail, although he had returned
to England only three weeks before, after an absence
of six years.* Besides performing assiduously the
duties of his situation, Mr. Thistle had made himself
well acquainted with the practice of nautical astronomy,

* In a letter to Banks from Spithead on June 3rd, 1801,
Flinders had written: "I am happy to inform you that the
Buffalo has brought home a person formerly of the Reliance
whom I wish to have as master. He volunteers, the captain of
the ship agrees, and I have made application by to-day's post
and expect his appointmnt by Friday." The re'erence was evi
dently to John Thistle.

214 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
and began to be very useful in the surveying depart
ment. His loss was severely felt by me, and he was
lamented by all on board, more especially by his mess
mates, who knew more intimately the goodness and
stability of his disposition."
Taylor's Isle was named after the young midship
man of this catastrophe, and six small islands in the
vicinity bear the names of the boat's crew. It is a
singular fact that only two of the eight sailors drowned
could swim. Even Captain Cook never learnt to swim !
Before leaving the neighbourhood, Flinders erected
a copper plate upon a stone post at the head of Memory
Cove, and had engraved upon it the names of the un
fortunates who had perished, with a brief account of
the accident. Two fragments of the original plate are
now in the museum at Adelaide. In later years it was
beaten down by a storm, and the South Australian
Government erected a fresh tablet in Memory Cove to
replace it.
A thorough survey of Port Lincoln was made while
the ship was being replenished with water. Some
anxiety had been felt owing to the lack of this necessity,
and Flinders showed the way to obtain it by digging
holes in the white clay surrounding a brackish marsh
which he called Stamford Mere. The water that drained
into the holes was found to be sweet and wholesome,
though milky in appearance. As the filling of the casks
and conveying them to the ship — to a quantity of 60
tons — occupied several days, the surveying and scientific
employments were pursued diligently on land.
The discovery of Port Lincoln was in itself an event
of consequence, since it is a harbour of singular com-
modiousness and beauty, and would, did it but possess
a more prolific territory at its back, be a maritime
station of no small importance. Nearly forty years

SOUTH COAST DISCOVERY 215
later, Sir John Franklin, then Governor of Tasmania,
paid a visit to Port Lincoln, expressly to renew acquaint
ance with a place in the discovery of which he had
participated in company with a commander whose
memory he honoured; and he erected on Stamford Hill,
at his own cost, an obelisk in commemoration of
Flinders. In the same way, on his first great overland
arctic journey in 1821, Franklin remembered Flinders
in giving names to discoveries.
It was on March 6th that the exploration of
Spencer's Gulf commenced. As the ship sailed along
the western shore, the expectations which had been
formed of a strait leading through the continent to the
Gulf of Carpentaria faded away. The coast lost its
boldness, the water became more and more shallow, and
the opposite shore began to show itself. The gulf was
clearly tapering to an end. "Our prospects of a channel
or strait cutting off some considerable portion of Terra
Australis grew less, for it now appeared that the ship
was entering into a gulph." On the 10th, the Investi
gator having passed Point Lowly, and having on the
previous day suddenly come into two-and-a-half
fathoms, Flinders decided to finish the exploration in a
rowing boat, accompanied by Surgeon Bell. They
rowed along the shore till night fell, slept in the boat,
and resumed the journey early next morning (March
11th). At ten o'clock, the oars touched mud on each
side, and it became impossible to proceed further. They
had reached the head of the gulf, then a region of man
grove swamps and flat waters, but now covered by the
wharves of Port Augusta, and writhin view of the start
ing point of the transcontinental railway.
The disappointment was undoubtedly great at not
finding even a large river flowing into the gulf. The
hope of a strait had been abandoned as the continually

216 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
converging shores, shallow waters, and diminishing
banks made it clear, long before the head was reached,
that the theory of a bifurcated Terra Australis was im
possible. But as Flinders completed his chart and
placed it against the outline of the continent, he might
fairly enjoy the happiness of having settled an import
ant problem and of taking one more stride towards com
pleting the map of the world.
The Investigator travelled down by the eastern
shore, once hanging upon a near bank for half an hour,
and by March 20th was well outside. The length of
the gulf, from the head to Gambier Island, Flinders
calculated to be 185 miles, and its width at the mouth,
in a line from Cape Catastrophe, 48 miles. At
the top it tapered almost to a point. The whole of it
was personally surveyed and charted by Flinders, who
was able to write that for the general exactness of his
drawing he could "answer with tolerable confidence,
having seen all that is laid down, and, as usual, taken
every angle which enters into the construction."
The next discovery of importance was that of
Kangaroo Island, separated from the foot-like southern
projection of Yorke's Peninsula by Investigator Strait.
The island was named on account of the quantity of
kangaroos seen and shot upon it ; for a supply of fresh
meat was very welcome after four months of salt pork.
Thirty-one fell to the guns of the Investigator's men.
Half a hundredweight of heads, forequarters and tails
were stewed down for soup, and as much kangaroo steak
was available for officers and men as they could consume
"by day and night." It was declared to be a "delight
ful regale." The place where Flinders is believed to have first
landed on Kangaroo Island is now marked by a tall
cairn, which was spontaneously built by the inhabitants,
the school children assisting, in 1906. An inscription

SOUTH COAST DISCOVERY 217
on a faced stone commemorates the event. The white
pyramid can be seen from vessels using Backstairs
Passage.* A very short stay was made at Kangaroo Island on
this first call. On March 24th Investigator Strait was
crossed, and the examination of the mainland was re
sumed. The ship was steered north-west, and, the
coast being reached, no land was visible to the eastward.
The conclusion was drawn that another gulf ran inland,
and the surmise proved to be correct. The new dis
covery, named St. Vincent's Gulf, was penetrated on the
27th, and was first explored on the eastern shore, not on
the western as had been the case with Spencer's Gulf.
Mount Lofty was sighted at dawn on Sunday, March
28th. The nearest part of the coast was three leagues
distant at the time, "mostly low, and composed of sand
and rock, with a few small trees scattered over it; but
at a few miles inland, where the back mountains rise, the
country was well clothed with forest timber, and had a
fertile appearance. The fires bespoke this to be a part
of the continent." The coast to the northward was
seen to be very low, and the soundings were fast
decreasing. From noon to six o'clock the Investigator
ran north thirty miles, skirting a sandy shore, and at
length dropped anchor in five fathoms.
On the following morning land was seen to the west
ward, as well as eastward, and there was "a hummocky
mountain, capped with clouds, apparently near the head
of the inlet." Wind failing, very little progress was
made till noon, and at sunset the shores appeared to be
closing round. The absence of tide gave no prospect
of finding a river at the head of the gulf. Early on the
morning of the 30th Flinders went out in a boat,
* See the account of the making of the cairn, by C. E. Owen
Smythe, I.S.O., who initiated and superintended the work, South
Australian Geographical Society's Proceedings, 1906, p. 58.

21S LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
accompanied by Robert Brown, and rowed up to the
mud-flats at the head of the gulf. Picking out a narrow
channel, it was found possible to get within half a mile
of dry land. Then, leaving the boat, Flinders and
Brown walked along a bank of mud and sand to the
shore, to examine the country. Flinders ascended one
of the foot-hills of the range that forms the backbone
of York's Peninsula, stretching north and south upwards
of two hundred miles.
At dawn on March 31st the Investigator was got
under way to proceed down the eastern side of Yorke's
Peninsula. The wind was contrary, and the work could
be done only "partially," though, of course, sufficiently
well to complete the chart. The peninusla was des
cribed as "singular in form, having some resemblance to
a very ill-shaped leg and foot." Its length from Cape
Spencer to the northern junction with the mainland was
calculated to be 105 miles. On April 1st Flinders was
able to write that the exploration of St. Vincent's Gulf
was finished.
The general character of the country, especially on
the east, he considered to be superior to that on the
borders of Spencer's Gulf; and the subsequent develop
ment of the State of South Australia has justified his
opinion. He would assuredly have desired to linger
longer upon the eastern shore, could he have foreseen
that within forty years of the discovery there would
be laid there the foundations of the noble city of
Adelaide, with its fair and fruitful olive-groves, vine
yards, orchards and gardens, and its busy port, whither
flow the wheat of vast plains and the wool from a
million sheep leagues upon leagues away.
A second visit to Kangaroo Island was necessitated
by a desire to make corrections in the Investigator's
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SOUTH COAST DISCOVERY 219
stay was made. The ship arrived on April 2nd, and
did not leave again till the 7th.
Very few aboriginals were seen upon the shores of
the two gulfs, and these only through a telescope. At
Port Lincoln some blacks were known to be in the
neighbourhood, but the expedition did not succeed in
getting into contact with them. Flinders scrupulously
observed the policy of doing nothing to alarm them;
and his remarks in this relation are characterised by as
much good sense as humane feeling. Writing of a small
party of natives who were heard calling but did not show
themselves, probably having hidden in thick scrub to
observe the boat's crew, he said:
"No attempt was made to follow them, for I had
always found the natives of this country to avoid those
who seemed anxious for communication; whereas, when
left entirely alone, they would usually come down after
having watched us for a few days. Nor does this con
duct seem to be unnatural; for what, in such case, would
be the conduct of any people, ourselves for instance,
were we living in a state of nature, frequently at war
with our neighbours, and ignorant of the existence of
any other nation? On the arrival of strangers so
different in complexion and appearance to ourselves,
having power to transplant themselves over, and even
living upon, an element which to us was impossible, the
first sensation would probably be terror, and the first
movement flight. We should watch these extraordinary
people from our retreats in the woods and rocks, and
if we found ourselves sought and pursued by them,
should conclude their designs to be inimical; but if, on
the contrary, we saw them quietly employed in occupa
tions which had no reference to us, curiosity would get
the better of fear, and after observing them more
closely, we should ourselves risk a communication
Such seemed to have been the conduct of these Aus-

220 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
tralians;* and I am persuaded that their appearance on
the morning when the tents were struck was_ a prelude
to their coming down ; and that, had we remained a few
days longer, a friendly communication would have en
sued. The way was, however, prepared for the next
ship which may visit this port, as it was to us in King
George's Sound by Captain Vancouver and the ship
Elligood; to whose previous visits and peaceable con
duct we were most probably indebted for our early inter
course with the inhabitants of that place. So far as
could be perceived with a glass, the natives of this port
were the same in personal appearance as those of King
George's Sound and Port Jackson. In the hope of con
ciliating their goodwill to succeeding visitors, some
hatchets and various other articles were left in their
paths, fastened to stumps of trees which had been cut
down near our watering pits."
More wild life was seen at Kangaroo Island than
in the gulf region. Thirty emus were observed on one
day; kangaroos, as has been remarked, were plentiful;
and a large colony of pelicans caused the name of
Pelican Lagoon to be given to a feature of the island's
eastern lobe. The marsupial, the seal, the emu, and
the bag-billed bird that nature built in one of her
whimsical moods, had held unchallenged possession for
tens of thousands of years, probably never visited by
any ships, nor even preyed upon by blacks. The re
flections of Flinders upon Pelican Lagoon have a tint
ing of poetic feeling which we do not often find in his
solid pages :
"Flocks of the old birds were sitting upon the
beaches of the lagoon, and it appeared that the islands
were their breeding places; not only so, but from the
number of skeletons and bones there scattered it should
* The only occasion, I think, where Flinders uses this word.
He usually called aboriginals "Indians."

SOUTH COAST DISCOVERY 221
seem that they had for ages been selected for the closing
scene of their existence. Certainly none more likely
to be free from disturbance of every kind could have
been chosen, than these inlets in a hidden lagoon of an
uninhabited island, situate upon an unknown coast near
the antipodes of Europe; nor can anything be more
consonant to the feelings, if pelicans have any, than
quietly to resign their breath whilst surrounded by their
progeny, and in the same spot where they first drew it.
Alas, for the pelicans! their golden age is past; but it
has much exceeded in duration that of man."
The picture of the zoological interests of Kangaroo
Island is heightened by Flinders' account of the seals
and marsupials. "Never perhaps has the dominion
possessed here by the kangaroo been invaded before
this time. The seal shared with it upon the shores, but
they seemed to dwell amicably together. It not un
frequently happened that the report of a gun fired at a
kangaroo, near the beach, brought out two or three
bellowing seals from under bushes considerably further
from the water side. The seal, indeed, seemed to be
much the more discerning animal of the two; for its
actions bespoke a knowledge of our not being kan
garoos, whereas the kangaroo not unfrequently
appeared to consider us to be seals." In the quotation,
it may be as well to add, the usual spelling of "kanga
roo" is followed, but Flinders invariably spelt it
"kanguroo." The orthography of the word was not
settled in his time; Cook wrote "kangooroo" and
"kanguru," but Hawkesworth, who edited his voyages,
made it "kangaroo."
The quantity of fallen timber lying upon the island
prompted the curiosity of Flinders. Trunks of trees
lay about in all directions "and were nearly of the same
size and in the same progress towards decay; from
whence it would seem that they had not fallen from age

222 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
nor yet been thrown down in a gale of wind. Some
general conflagration, and there were marks apparently
of fire on many of them, is perhaps the sole cause which
can be reasonably assigned ; but whence came the woods
on fire? There were no inhabitants upon the island,
and that the natives of the continent did not visit it was
demonstrated, if not by the want of all signs of such
visits, yet by the tameness of the kangaroo, an animal
which, on the continent, resembles the wild deer in
timidity. Perhaps lightning might have been the cause,
or possibly the friction of two dead trees in a strong
wind; but it would be somewhat extraordinary that the
same thing should have happened at Thistle's Island,
Boston Island, and at this place, and apparently about
the same time. Can this part of Terra Australis have
been visited before, unknown to the world? The
French navigator, Laperouse, was ordered to ex
plore it, but there seems little probability that he ever
passed Torres Strait.
"Some judgment may be formed of the epoch when
these conflagrations happened, from the magnitude of
the growing trees; for they must have sprung up since
that period. They were a species of eucalyptus, and
being less than the fallen tree, had most probably not
arrived at maturity; but the wood is hard and solid,
and it may thence be supposed to grow slowly. With
these considerations, I should be inclined to fix the
period at not less than ten, nor more than twenty years
before our arrival. This brings us back to Laperouse.
He was in Botany Bay in the beginning of 1788, and,
if he did pass through Torres Strait, and come round
to this coast, as was his intention, it would probably be
about the middle or latter end of that year, or between
thirteen and fourteen years before the Investigator.
My opinion is not favourable to this conjecture; but I
have furnished all the data to enable the reader to form

SOUTH COAST DISCOVERY 223
his own opinion upon the cause which might have pros
trated the woods of these islands."
The passage is worth quoting, if only for the
interesting allusion to Laperouse, whose fate was, at the
time when Flinders sailed and wrote, an unsolved
mystery of the sea. Captain Dillon's discovery of
relics at Vanikoro, in 1826, twelve years after the death
of Flinders, informed the world that the illustrious
French navigator did not pass through Torres Strait.
but was wrecked in the Santa Cruz group.* The fire,
so many signs of which were observed on Kangaroo
Island, was in all probability caused naturally in the
heat of a dry summer.
Very shorty after leaving Kangaroo Island Flinders
met one of the vessels of the French exploring ex
pedition; and the story of that occurrence must occupy
our particular consideration in the next chapter.

: See the author's Laperouse, Sydney, 1912, pp. 90 et sqq.

Chapter XV.
FLINDERS AND BAUDIN IN ENCOUNTER
BAY
Flinders did not complete the examination of
Kangaroo Island. The approach of the winter season,
and an apprehension that shortness of provisions might
compel him to make for Port Jackson before concluding
the discovery of the south coast, induced him to leave
the south and west parts of the island, with the intention
of making a second visit at a later time. Therefore, in
the afternoon of Tuesday, April 6th, the anchor was
weighed and he resumed the exploration of the main
land eastward from Cape Jervis, at the extremity of St.
Vincent's Gulf. Wind and tide made against a rapid
passage, and the east end of Kangaroo Island had not
been cleared by eight o'clock on the following evening.
At four o'clock on the afternoon of April 8th the
sloop was making slow progress eastward, when the
man aloft reported that a white rock was to be seen
ahead. The attention of everybody on board was at
once turned in the direction of the object. Very soon
it became apparent that it was not a rock but a ship,
which had sighted the Investigator, and was making
towards her. As no sail had been seen for five months,
and it seemed beyond all likelihood that another ship
should be spoken in these uncharted seas, where there
was no settlement, no port- at which refreshment could
be obtained, no possibility of trade, no customary mari
time route, it may be imagined that there was a feeling
of excitement among the ship's company. Flinders of
course knew that the French had a discovery expedition
somewhere in Australasian waters, and the fact that it

FLINDERS AND BAUDIN 225
had secured some months' start of him had occasioned
a certain amount of anxiety before he left England. He
was aware that it was protected by a passport from the
British Government. The approaching vessel might
be one of Baudin's; but she might by some strange
chance be an enemy's ship of war. In any case, he pre
pared for. emergencies : "we cleared for action in case of
being attacked."
Glasses were turned on the stranger, which proved
on closer scrutiny to be "a heavy-looking ship, without
any top-gallant masts up." The Investigator hoisted
her colours — the Union Jack, it may be remarked, since
that flag was adopted by Great Britain at the beginning
of 1801, before the expedition sailed. The stranger
put up the tricolour, "and afterwards an English Jack
forward, as we did a white flag."*
It has already been explained (Chapter XI.) that
Le Geographe, commanded by the commodore of the
French expedition, separated from Le Naturaliste at the
eastern entrance to Bass Strait on March 7th and 8th,
and that Baudin sailed through the Strait westward.
We take up the thread again at that point, and will
follow Baudin until he met Flinders. He was between
Wilson's Promontory and Cape Otway from March
28th to 31st, in very good weather. The most im
portant fact relating to this part of his voyage is that
he missed the entrance to Port Phillip. In his letter to
* Flinders relates the story of his meeting with Baudin, in his
Voyage to Terra Australis, I., 188, and in letters to the Admiralty
and to Sir Joseph Banks, printed in Historical Records of New
South Wales, IV., 749 and 755. The official history of the French
voyage was written by Frangois Peron, and is printed in his
Voyage de Decouvertes aux Terres Australes, I., 324. But Peron
was not present at the interviews between Flinders and Baudin.
Captain Baudin's own account of the incident is related in his
manuscript diary, and in a long letter to the French Minister of
Marine, dated "Port Jackson, 10th November, 1802," both
of which are in the Archives Nationales, BB4, 995, Marine.
These sources have been compared and used in the writing of
this chapter. Baudin's narrative is translated in an appendix.
Q

226 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
the Minister of Marine, he described the Promontory
and the situation of Westernport, and then proceeded
to relate that "from the 9th to the 11th (of the month
Germinal in the French Revolutionary calendar, by
which of course Baudin dated events; equivalent to
March 30-April 1st) the winds having been very
favourable to us, we visited an extensive portion of the
coast, where the land is high, well-wooded, and of an
agreeable appearance, but does not present any place
favourable to debarkation. All the points were exactly
determined, and the appearance of the shores depicted."
That describes the Cape Otway country; and the part
of the letter which follows refers to the land on the west
of the Otway. There is no word of any port being
sighted. The letter agrees with what Baudin told
Flinders, that "he had found no ports, harbours or
inlets, or anything to interest"; and Flinders was subse
quently surprised to find that so large a harbour as Port
Phillip had been missed by Baudin, "more especially as
he had fine winds and weather."* Nevertheless, when
Peron and Freycinet came to write the history of
the French voyage — knowing then of the existence of
Port Phillip, and having a chart of it before them —
they very boldly claimed that they had seen it, and had
distinguished its contours from the masthead, t a thing
impossible to do from the situation in which they were.
The company on board Le Geographe were as
excited about the ship sailing eastward, as were the
Investigator's men when the reported white rock ahead
proved to be the sails of another vessel. The French
crew were in a distressingly sick condition. Scurvy had
played havoc among them, much of the ship's meat was
worm-eaten and stinking, and a large number of the

* Flinders to Banks, Hist. Rec, IV, 755.
t Voyage de D&couvertes, I., 316, and III, 115.

FLINDERS AND BAUDIN 227
crew were incapacitated. On the morning of April 8th
some of Baudin's people had been engaged in harpoon
ing dolphins. They were desperately in need of fresh
food, and a shoal of these rapid fish, appearing and
playing around the prow, appeared to them "like a gift
from heaven." Nine large dolphins had been caught,
giving a happy promise of enough meat to last a day or
two, when the man at the masthead reported that there
was a sail in sight. At first Baudin was of opinion that
the ship ahead was Le Naturaliste, rejoining company
after a month's separation. But as the distance
between the two ships diminished, and the Investigator
ran up her ensign, her nationality was perceived, and
Baudin hoisted the tricolour.
The situation of the Investigator when she hove to
was in 35° 40' south and 138° 58' east. The time was
half-past five o'clock in the evening; the position about
five miles south-west of the nearest bit of coast, in what
Flinders called Encounter Bay, in commemoration of
the event. Le Geographe passed the English ship with
a free wind, and as she did so Flinders hailed her, en
quiring "Are you Captain Baudin?" "It is he," was the
response. Flinders thereupon called out that he was
very glad to meet the French explorer, and Baudin
responded in cordial terms, without, however, knowing
whom he was addressing. Still the wariness of the
English captain was not to be lulled; he records, "we
veered round as Le Geographe was passing, so as to
keep our broadside to her, lest the flag of truce should
be a deception." But being now satisfied of her good
faith, Flinders brought his ship to the wind on the
opposite tack, had a boat hoisted out, and prepared to
go on board the French vessel.
As Flinders did not speak French, he took with him
Robert Brown, who was an accomplished French
scholar. On board Le Geographe they were received

228 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
by an officer, who indicated Baudin, and the three passed
into the captain's cabin.
It is curious that Baudin, in his letter to the Minister
of Marine, makes no reference to the presence of Brown
at this interview, and at a second which occurred on the
following morning. He speaks of inviting Flinders to
enter his cabin, and proceeds to allude to the conversa
tion which followed when they were "alone" ("nous
trouvant seul") . But Flinders' statement, "as I did not
understand French, Mr. Brown, the naturalist, went
with me in the boat ; we were received by an officer who
pointed out the commander, and by him were conducted
into the cabin," can have no other meaning than that
Brown was present. He also says, further on in his
narrative, "no person was present at our conversations
except Mr. Brown, and they were mostly carried on in
English, which the captain spoke so as to be under
stood." It may be that Baudin regarded Brown
merely as an interpreter, but certainly his presence was
a fact. In the cabin Flinders produced his passport from
the French Government, and asked to see Baudin's
from the Admiralty. Baudin found the document and
handed it to his visitor, but did not wish to see the pass
port carried by Flinders. He put it aside without in
spection. The conversation then turned upon the two voyages.
Flinders explained that he had left England about eight
months after the departure of the French ships, and
that he was bound for Port Jackson. Baudin related
the course of his voyage, mentioning his work in Van
Diemen's Land, his passage through Bass Strait, and
his run along the coast of what is now the State of
Victoria, where he had not found "any river, inlet or
other shelter which afforded anchorage." Flinders
enquired about a large island said to lie in the western

FLINDERS AND BAUDIN 229
entrance to Bass Strait (that is, King Island), but
Baudin said he had not seen it, and seemed to doubt
whether it existed. Baudin observed in his letter that
Flinders appeared to be pleased with this reply, "doubt
less in the hope of being able to make the discovery him
self." Baudin was very critical about an English chart of
Bass Strait, published in 1800. He found fault with
the representation of the north side, but commended the
drawing of the south side, and of the neighbouring
islands. Flinders pointed to a note upon the chart; ex
plaining that it was prepared from material furnished
by George Bass, who had merely traversed the coast
in a small open boat, and had had no good means of
fixing the latitude and longitude; but he added that a
rectified chart had since been published, and offered, if
Baudin would remain in the neighbourhood during the
night, to visit Le Geographe again in the morning, and
bring with him a copy of this improved drawing, with
a memorandum on the navigation of the strait. He
was alluding to his own small quarto book of Observa
tions, published before he left England, as related in
Chapter XII. Baudin accepted the offer with pleasure,
and the two ships lay near together during the night.
The story of the interviews, as related by the two
captains, is not in agreement on several points, and the
differences are not a little curious. Baudin states that
he knew Flinders at the very beginning of the first
interview, on April 8th: "Mr. Flinders, who com
manded the ship, presented himself, and as soon as I
learnt his name I had no doubt that he, like ourselves,
was occupied with the exploration of the south coast of
New Holland." But Flinders affirms that Baudin did
not learn his name until the end of the second interview
on April 9th: "At parting ... on my asking the name
of the captain of Le Naturaliste he bethought himself to

230 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
ask mine ; and finding it to be the same as the author of
the chart which he had been criticising, expressed not
a little surprise, but had the politeness to congratulate
himself on meeting me." There may well have been
some misunderstanding between the two captains,
especially as Flinders did not speak French and Baudin
only spoke English "so as to be understood," which, as
experience teaches, usually means so as to be misunder
stood. It is not very likely that Baudin was unaware of
the name of the English captain until the end of the
second meeting. While the interview of April 8th was
taking place in the cabin, Flinders' boatmen were
questioned by some of Le Geographe' s company who
could speak English, and Peron tells us that the men
related the story of the Investigator 's voyage.* It is
difficult to believe that Flinders' name would not be
ascertained in this manner; equally difficult to believe
that Captain Baudin would sustain two interviews with
the commander of another ship without knowing to
whom he was talking. In fact, Baudin had the name
of Flinders before him on the Bass Strait chart which he
had been criticising. It was a chart copied in Pans
from an English print, and was inscribed as "levee par
Flinders." Baudin in his letter to the Minister
observed that he pointed out to Flinders errors in the
chart "that he had given us." Flinders was of opinion
that Baudin criticised the chart without knowing that he
was the author of it. Baudin may have been surprised
at first to learn that the Captain Flinders with whom he
was conversing was the same as he whose name appeared
on the chart; but his own statement that he knew the
name at the first interview appears credible.
Again, Baudin was of opinion that at the first inter-
* Peron, Voyage de Decouvertes, I., 323. Flinders also said
that "some of his officers learnt from my boat's crew that our
object was also discovery."

FLINDERS AND BAUDIN 231
view Flinders was "reserved"; whilst Flinders, on the
other hand, was surprised that Baudin "made no en
quiries concerning my business on this unknown coast,
but as he seemed more desirous of communicating in
formation I was happy to receive it." Reading the two
narratives together, it is not apparent either that
Flinders wished to be reserved or that Baudin lacked
curiosity as to what the Investigator had been doing.
The probable explanation is that the two men were not
understanding each other perfectly.
At half-past six o'clock on the morning of April 9th
Flinders again visited Le Geographe, where he break
fasted with Baudin.* On this occasion they talked
freely about their respective voyages, and, said the
French commodore, "he appeared to me to have been
happier than we were in the discoveries he had made."
Flinders pointed out Cape Jervis, which was in sight,
related the discovery of Spencer's and St. Vincent's
Gulfs, and described Kangaroo Island, with its abund
ance of fresh food and water. He handed to Baudin
a copy of his little book on Bass Strait and its accom
panying chart, related the story of the loss of John
Thistle and his boat's crew, and listened to an account
which his host gave of a supposed loss of one of his own
boats with a number of men on the east coast of Van
Diemen's Land. Baudin intimated that it was likely
that Flinders, in sailing east, would fall in with the miss
ing Naturaliste, and he requested that, should this
occur, the captain of that ship might be informed that
Baudin intended to sail to Port Jackson as soon as the
bad winter weather set in. Flinders himself had
invited Baudin to sail to Sydney to refresh, mentioning
that he would be able to obtain whatever assistance he
* Flinders does not mention this circumstance ; but as he boarded
Le Geographe at 6.30 in the morning and did not return to the
Investigator till 8.30, Baudin's statement is not doubtful.

232 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
required there. The interview was thoroughly cordial,
and the two captains parted with mutual expressions of
goodwill. Flinders and Brown returned to the Investi
gator at half-past eight o'clock.
Seaman Smith has nothing new to tell us concerning
the Encounter Bay incident, but his brief reference is of
some interest as showing how it struck a member of the
Investigator crew, and may be cited for that purpose.
"In the morning (9th April) we unmoord and stood
for sea between Van Diemen's Land and New Holland.
In the afternoon we espied a sail which loomd large.
Cleared forequarters, not knowing what might be the
consequence. On the ship coming close, our captn
spoke her. She proved to be the Le Geography (sic)
French ship upon investigation. Our boats being
lowerd down our captn went on board of her, and soon
returnd. Both ships lay to untill the next morning, when
our captn went on board of her and soon returnd. We
found her poorly mannd, having lost a boat and crew
and several that run away. Her acct. was that they
had parted compy with the Naturalizer (sic) on investi
gation in a gale of wind. Have been from France 1 8
months. On the 20th we parted compy."
Baudin sailed for Kangaroo Island, where his men
enjoyed a similar feast to that which had delighted the
English sailors a little while before. But the scurvy-
stricken condition of his crew made the pursuit of ex
ploration painful, and he did not continue on these
coasts beyond another month. On May 8th he
abandoned the work for the time being, resolving to
pay a second visit to the region of the gulfs after he had
refreshed his people. Sailing for Sydney, he arrived
there on June 20th, in circumstances that it will be con
venient to relate after describing the remainder of the
voyage of the Investigator up to her arrival in the same
port.

Chapter XVI.
FLINDERS IN PORT PHILLIP
Flinders' actual discovery work on the south coast was
completed when he met Baudin in Encounter Bay; for
the whole coast line to the east had been found a
short while before he appeared upon it, though he was
not aware of this fact when completing his voyage. For
about a hundred and fifty miles, from the mouth of the
Murray eastward to Cape Banks, the credit of dis
covery properly belongs to Baudin, and Flinders duly
marked his name upon the chart. Further eastward,
from Cape Banks to the deep bend of the coast at the
head of which lies Port Phillip, the discoverer was
Captain Grant of the Lady Nelson. His voyage was
projected under the following circumstances.
When Philip Gidley King, who in 1800 succeeded
Hunter as Governor of New South Wales, was in Eng
land in 1799, he represented to the Admiralty the
desirability of sending out to Australia a small,
serviceable ship, capable of being used in shallow
waters, so that she might explore bays and rivers. One
of the Commissioners of the Transport Board, Captain
John Schanck, had designed a type of vessel that was
considered suitable for this purpose. She was to be
fitted with a sliding keel, or centreboard, and was
deemed to be a boat of staunch sea-going qualities, as
well as being good for close-in coastal service. A sixty-
ton brig, the Lady Nelson, was built to Schanck's plans,
and was entrusted to the command of Lieutenant Grant.
She was tried in the Downs in January, 1800, when
Grant reported enthusiastically on her behaviour. She
rode out a gale in five fathoms of water without ship-
233

234 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
ping "even a sea that would come over the sole of your
shoe." Running her into Ramsgate in a heavy sea,
Grant wrote of her in terms that, though somewhat
crabbed to a non-nautical ear, were a sailor's equivalent
for fine poetry: "though it blew very strong, I found the
vessel stand well up under sail, and with only one reef
out of the topsails, no jib set, a lee tide going, when
close hauled she brought her wake right aft and went at
the rate of five knots."
Grant was ambitious to make discoveries on his
own account, and did not lack zeal. He was a skilful
sailor, but was lacking in the scientific accomplishment
required for the service in which he aspired to shine.
When at length he returned from Australia, King
summed him up in a sentence: "I should have been glad
if your ability as a surveyor, or being able to determine
the longitude of the different places you might visit,
was any ways equal to your ability as an officer and a
seaman." Grant left England early in 1800, intending to sail
to Australia by the usual route, making the Cape of
Good Hope, and then rounding the south of Van Die-
men's Land. But news of the discovery of Bass Strait
was received after the Lady Nelson had put to sea; and
the Admiralty (April, 1800) sent instructions to reach
him at the Cape, directing him to sail through the strait
from the west. This he did. Striking the Australian
coast opposite Cape Banks on December 3rd, 1800, he
followed it along past Cape Otway, thence in a line
across to Wilson's Promontory and, penetrating the
strait, was the first navigator to work through it from
the far western side. He attempted no survey, and
shortness of water and provisions deterred him from
even pursuing the in-and-out curves of the shore; but
he marked down upon a rough eye-sketch such promi
nent features as Mount Gambier, Cape Northumber-

FLINDERS IN PORT PHILLIP 235
land, Cape Bridgewater, Cape Nelson, Portland Bay,
Julia Percy Island, and Cape Otway. "I took the
liberty of naming the different capes, bays, etc., for the
sake of distinction," he reported to the Governor on his
arrival at Sydney on December 16th.
It was in this way that both Baudin and Flinders
were anticipated in the discovery of the western half of
the coast of Victoria. The Investigator voyage had not
been planned when the Lady Nelson sailed; and when
Flinders was commissioned the Admiralty directed that
Grant should be placed under his orders, the brig being
used as a tender.
The baffling winds that had delayed Flinders'
departure from Kangaroo Island on April 8th, 1802,
continued after he sailed from Encounter Bay, so that
he did not pass the fifty leagues or so first traversed by
Le Geographe for eight tedious days. On April 17th
he reached Grant's Cape Banks; on April 18th passed
Cape Northumberland; and on the 19th Capes Bridge-
water, Nelson and Grant. But the south-west gale
blew so hard during this part of the voyage that, the
coast trending south-easterly, it was difficult to keep the
ship on a safe course; and Flinders confessed that he
was "glad to miss a small part of the coast." Thick
squally weather prevented the survey being made with
safety; and, indeed, it was rarely that the configuration
of the land could be distinguished at a greater distance
than two miles. On the 21st Flinders noticed a subsi
dence of the sea, which made him conclude that he was
to the windward of the large island concerning which
he had questioned Baudin. He resolved to take ad
vantage of a period when the close examination of the
mainland had become dangerous to determine the exact
position of this island, of whose whereabouts he had
heard from sealers in 1799.

236 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
The south part of King Island had been found by
the skipper of a sealing brig, named Reid, in 1799, but
the name it bears was given to it by John Black, com
mander of the brig Harbinger, who discovered the
northern part in January, 1801. Flinders was occu
pied for three days at King Island. On the 24th, the
wind having moderated, he made for Cape Otway.
But it was still considered imprudent to follow the shore
too closely against a south-east wind; and on the 26th
the ship ran across the water to Grant's Cape Schanck.
The details of these movements are of some
moment, for the ship was nearing the gates of Port
Phillip. "We bore away westward," Flinders records,
"in order to trace the land round the head of the deep
bight." In view of the importance of the harbour
which he was about to enter, we may quote his own
description of his approach to it, and his surprise at
what he found :
"On the west side of the rocky point,* there was a
small opening, with breaking water across it. How
ever, on advancing a little more westward the opening
assumed a more interesting aspect, and I bore away to
have a nearer view. A large extent of water presently
became visible withinside, and although the entrance
seemed to be very narrow, and there were in it strong
ripplings like breakers, I was induced to steer in at half-
past one; the ship being close upon a wind and every
man ready for tacking at a moment's warning. The
soundings were irregular, between 6 and 12 fathoms,
until we got four miles within the entrance, when they
shoaled quick to 2|. We then tacked; and having a
strong tide in our favour, worked to the eastward,
between the shoal and the rocky point, with 1 2 fathoms

Point Nepean.

FLINDERS IN PORT PHILLIP 237
for the deepest water. In making the last stretch from
the shoal, the depth diminished from 10 fathoms
quickly to 3 ; and before the ship could come round, the
flood tide set her upon a mud bank and she stuck fast.
A boat was lowered down to sound; and, finding the
deep water lie to the north-west, a kedge anchor was
carried out; and, having got the ship's head in that
direction, the sails were filled, and she drew off into 6
and 10 fathoms; and it being then dark, we came to an
anchor. "The extensive harbour we had thus unexpectedly
found I supposed must be Westernport; although the
narrowness of the entrance did by no means correspond
with the width given to it by Mr. Bass. It was the in
formation of Captain Baudin, who had coasted along
from thence with fine weather, and had found no inlet
of any kind, which induced this supposition; and the
very great extent of the place, agreeing with that of
Westernport, was in confirmation of it. This, how
ever, was not Westernport, as we found next morning;
and I congratulated myself on having made a new and
useful discovery. But here again I was in error. This
place, as I afterwards learned at Port Jackson, had
been discovered ten weeks before by Lieutenant John
Murray, who had succeeded Captain Grant in the com
mand of the Lady Nelson. He had given it the name
of Port Phillip, and to the rocky point on the east side
of the entrance that of Point Nepean."
It was characteristic of Flinders that he allowed no
expression of disappointment to escape him, on finding
that he had been anticipated by a few weeks in the dis
covery of Port Phillip. Baudin, it will be remembered,
observed the satisfaction felt by his visitor in En
counter Bay, when he learnt that Le Geographe had
not found King Island, because he thought he would

238 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
have the happiness of being the first to lay it down upon
a chart. In this he had been forestalled by Black of
the Harbinger; and now again he was to find that a pre
decessor had entered the finest harbour in southern
Australia. Disappointment he must have felt; but he
was by no means the man to begrudge the success that
had accrued to another navigator. He made no re
mark, such as surely might have been forgiven to him,
about the determining accidents of time and weather;
though it is but right for us to observe that, had the
Investigator been permitted to sail from England when
she was ready (in April, 1801) instead of being delayed
by the Admiralty officials till July, Port Phillip, as well
as the stretch of coast discovered by Baudin, would
have been found by Flinders. That delay was caused
by nothing more than a temporary illness of the Sec
retary of the Admiralty, Evan Nepean, whose name is
commemorated in Point Nepean, one of the headlands
flanking the entrance to the Port.
A perfectly just recognition of the real significance
of Flinders in southern exploration has led to his
name being honoured and commemorated even with re
spect to parts where he was not the actual discoverer.
It is a function of history to do justice in the large,
abiding sense, discriminating the spiritual potency of
personalities that dominate events from the accidental
connection of lesser persons with them. In that wider
sense, Flinders was the true discoverer of the whole of
the southern coast of Australia. He, of course, made
no such claim; but we who estimate the facts after a
long lapse of years can see clearly that it was so. Only
the patching up of the old Reliance kept him in Sydney
while Bass was creeping round the coast to Westernport.
Only the illness of an official and other trifling causes
prevented him from discovering Port Phillip. It was
the completion of his chart of Bass Strait, based upon

FLINDERS IN PORT PHILLIP 239
his friend's memoranda, that led the Admiralty to
direct Grant to sail through the strait from the west,
and so enabled him to be the first to come upon the
coast from Cape Banks to Cape Schanck. It was only
the delay before-mentioned and the contrary winds that
hindered him from preceding Baudin along the fifty
leagues that are credited to that navigator.
Thus it is that although not a league of the coastline
of Victoria is in strict verity to be attributed to Flinders
as discoverer, he is habitually cited as if he were. Places
are named after him, memorials are erected to him.
The highest mountain in the vicinity of Port Phillip
carries on its summit a tablet celebrating the fact that
Flinders entered the port at the end of April, 1802;
but there is nowhere a memorial to remind anyone that
Murray actually discovered it in January of the same
year. The reason is that, while it is felt that time and
circumstance enabled others to do things which must be
inscribed on the historical page, the triumph that should
have followed from skill, knowledge, character, pre
paration and opportunities well and wisely used, was
fairly earned by Flinders. The dates, not the merits,
prevent their being claimed for him. His personality
dominates the whole group of discoveries. We chron
icle the facts in regard to Grant, Baudin, Murray, and
Bass, but we feel all the time that Flinders was the cen
tral man.
Not being aware of Murray's good fortune in
January, Flinders treated Port Phillip as a fresh dis
covery, and examined its approaches with as much
thoroughness as his resources would allow. At this
time, however, the store of provisions was running low.
The Investigator was forty weeks out from Englandi
and re-equipment was fast becoming imperative. Her
commander had felt the urgency of his needs before he

240 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
reached Port Phillip. He had seriously considered
whether he should not make for Sydney from King
Island. "I determined, however, to run over to the
high land we had seen on the north side of Bass Strait,
and to trace as much of the coast from thence eastward
as the state of the weather and our remaining provisions
could possibly allow."
As related in the passage quoted above, Flinders at
first thought he had reached Westernport, though the
narrowness of the entrance did not correspond with
Bass's description of the harbour he had discovered
four years previously. But Baudin had told him that
he found no port or harbour of any kind between
Westernport and Encounter Bay. Consequently, it
was all the more astonishing to behold this great sheet
of blue water broadening out to shores overlooked by
high hills, and extending northward further than the eye
could penetrate. It was not until the following day,
April 27th, that he found he was not in the port which
his friend had discovered in the whaleboat. Immedi
ately after breakfast he rowed away from the ship in
a boat, accompanied by Brown and Westall, to ascend
the bluff mountain on the east side which Murray had
named Arthur's Seat. From the top he was able to
survey the landscape at a height of a thousand feet;
and then he saw the waters and islands of Westernport
lying beneath him only a few miles further to the east,
whilst, to his surprise, the curves of Port Phillip were
seen to be so extensive "that even at this elevation its
boundary to the northward could not be distinguished."
Next morning, April 28th, Flinders commenced to
sail round the bay. But the wind was slight and pro
gress was slow; with his fast diminishing store of
provisions vexing his mind, he felt that he could not
afford the time for a complete survey. Besides, the lead
showed many shallows, and there was a constant fear

uci*^

d-Lx.ut 3oil fSu*

¦^Couix^-v^ hS

-- ,.: 'flu .'„ '

^W /Xx/tf/-

a.2

I'dRT PHILLIP. VIEW OF WEST ARM OF THE WESTERN PART.
/'><>»! //ii' f»/>.v (/» r//i' Mitchell Library) of H'estall's original draining in the Royal Colonial Institute, London
Tile view appears to be one of Indented Head. On April 30, 1802. the date of the sketch. Flinders was
"nearly al the northern extremity of Indented Head" and took some bearings "from the brow of a hill a
little wav back."

FLINDERS' MAP OF PORT PHILLIP AND WESTERNPORT.

FLINDERS IN PORT PHILLIP 241
of running the ship aground. He therefore directed
Fowler to take the Investigator back to the entrance,
whilst, on the 29th, he went with Midshipman Lacy, in
a boat provisioned for three days, to make a rapid
reconnaissance of as much as could be seen in that time.
He rowed north-east nine miles from Arthur's Seat,
reaching about the neighbourhood of Mornington.
Then he crossed to the western side of the bay, and on
the 30th traversed the opening of the arm at the head
of which Geelong now stands.
At dawn on May 1st he landed with three of the
boat's crew, for the purpose of ascending the highest
point of the You-yang range, whose conical peaks, stand
ing up purple against the evening sky, had been visible
when the ship first entered Port Phillip. "Our way was
over a low plain, where the water appeared frequently to
lodge. It was covered with small-bladed grass, but al
most destitute of wood, and the soil was clayey and
shallow. One or two miles before arriving at the feet
of the hills, we entered a wood, where an emu and a
kangaroo were seen at a distance; and the top of the
peak was reached at ten o'clock."
From the crest of this granite mountain he would
command a superb view. Towards the north, in the
interior, the dark bulk of Mount Macedon was seen;
and all around lay a fertile, promising country, mile
after mile of green pastures, as fair a prospect as the
eye could wish to rest upon. There can be little doubt
that Flinders made his observations from the flat top
of a huge granite boulder which forms the apex of the
peak. "I left the ship's name," he says, "on a scroll of
paper deposited in a small pile of stones upon the top
of the peak." He called it Station Peak, for the reason
that he had made it his station for making observations.
In 1912 a fine bronze tablet was fastened on the eastern

242 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
face of the boulder on which Flinders probably stood
and worked.*
The boat was reached, after the descent of the
mountain and the return tramp across the sodden flats,
at three o'clock in the afternoon. The party were very
weary from this twenty-mile excursion, a feat requiring
some power of endurance, as one who has walked along
the same route and climbed Station Peak several times
can testify; and especially hard on men who were fresh
from a long voyage. The party camped for the night
at Indented Head, on the west side of the port, and
on Sunday, May 2nd, they again boarded the Investi
gator. The ship was anchored under the shelter of the
Nepean Peninsula, nearly opposite the present Portsea.
On the way back Flinders shot "some delicate teal,"
near the piece of water which Murray had called Swan
Harbour, and a few black swans were caught.
Port Phillip has since become important as the seat
of one of the great cities of the world, and its channels
are used by commercial fleets flying every colour known
to the trading nations. Scarcely an hour of the day
goes by, but the narrow waters dividing the port from
the ocean are churned by the propellers of great ships.
*It is much to be regretted, that this very laudable mark of
honour to his memory was not effected without doing a thing
which is contrary to a good rule and was repugnant to Flinders'
practice. The name Station Peak was sought to be changed
to Flinders' Peak, and those who so admirably occasioned the
erection of the tablet managed to secure official sanction
for the alteration by its notification in the Victorian Govern
ment Gazette. But nobody with any historical sense or proper
regard for the fame of Flinders will ever call the mountain by
any other name than Station Peak. It was his name; and
names given by a discoverer should be respected, except when
there is a sound reason to the contrary, as there is not in this
instance. As previously observed, Flinders never named any
discovery after himself. Honour him by calling any other
places after him by all means; the name Flinders for the Com
monwealth Naval Base in Westernport is an excellent one, for
instance. But his names for natural features should not be
disturbed.

FLINDERS IN PORT PHILLIP 243
The imagination sets itself a task in trying to realize
those few days in May, 1802, when Flinders called it
a "useful but obscure port" and when the only keels that
lay within the bay were those of one small sloop at an
chor near the entrance, and one tiny boat in which her
captain was rowing over the surface and making a map
of the outline. And if it is difficult for us to recapture
that scene of spacious solitude, it was quite impossible
for Flinders to foresee what a century would bring
forth. He recognised that the surrounding country
"has a pleasing and in many places a fertile appearance."
He described much of it as patently fit for agricultural
purposes. "It is in great measure a grassy country, and
capable of supporting much cattle, though much better
calculated for sheep." It was, indeed, largely on his
report that settlement was attempted at Port Phillip in
1803. But it is quaint, at this time of day, to read his
remark that "were a settlement made at Port Phillip, as
doubtless there will be some time hereafter, the entrance
could be easily distinguished, and it would not be diffi
cult to establish a friendly intercourse with the natives,
for they are acquainted with the effect of firearms, and
desirous of possessing many of our conveniences."
Seaman Smith devotes a paragraph in his Journal
to the visit to Port Phillip, and it may as well be quoted
for its historical interest: "On the 28th we came to an
anchor in a bay of very large size. Thinking there was
a good channel in a passage through, we got aground;
but by good management we got off without damadge.
Here we caught a Shirk which measured 10 feet 9 inch
in length; in girt very large. 29th the captn and boats
went to investigate the interior part of the harbr for 3
days, while those on board imploy'd in working ship to
get as near the mouth of the harbr as possible. May 2nd
our boat and crew came on board. Brought with them
2 swanns and a number of native spears."

244 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
At daylight on May 3rd the Investigator dropped
out of Port Phillip with the tide. Westall, the artist,
made a drawing of the heads from a distance of 5 miles.
At dusk on Saturday, May 8th, she stood seven
miles off the entrance to Port Jackson. Flinders was
so thoroughly well acquainted with the harbour that he
tried to beat up in the night ; but the wind was adverse,
and he did not pass the heads till one o'clock on the
following day. At three o'clock the ship was brought
to anchor, and the long voyage of discovery, which had
had larger results than any voyage since the great days
of Cook, was over. It had lasted nine months and nine
days. The horrors of scurvy were such a customary ac
companiment of long voyages in those days that the
condition of Flinders' company at the termination of
this protracted navigation was healthy almost beyond
precedent. But this young captain had learnt how to
manage a ship in Cook's school, and had profited from
his master's admonitions. Cook, in his Endeavour voy
age of 1770-1, brought his people through a protracted
period at sea with, "generally speaking," freedom from
scurvy, and showed how by scrupulous cleanliness, plenty
of vegetable food, and anti-scorbutic remedies the dread
ful distemper could be kept at bay. But, fine as Cook's
record is in this respect, it is eclipsed by that of Flinders,
who entered Port Jackson at the end of this long period
aboard ship with an absolutely clean bill of health.
There is no touch of pride, but there is a note of very
proper satisfaction, in the words which he was able to
write of this remarkable record: —
-, "There was not a single individual on board who
was not on deck working the ship into harbour; and it
may be averred that the officers and crew were, gener
ally speaking, in better health than on the day we sailed
from Spithead, and not in less good spirits. I have

FLINDERS IN PORT PHILLIP 245
said nothing of the regulations observed after we made
Cape Leeuwin. They were very little different from
those adopted in the commencement of the voyage, and
of which a strict attention to cleanliness and a free
circulation of air in the messing and sleeping places
formed the most essential parts. Several of the
inhabitants of Port Jackson expressed themselves never
to have been so strongly reminded of England as by the
fresh colour of many amongst the Investigator's ship's
company." As soon as the anchor was dropped, Flinders went
ashore and reported himself to Governor King, to whom
he delivered his orders from the Admiralty. He also
reported to Captain Hamelin of Le Naturaliste, who
had sought refuge in the port and had been lying there
since April 24th, the intention of Baudin to bring round
Le Geographe in due course. Then he set about making
preparations for refitting the ship and getting ready for
further explorations.

Chapter XVII.
THE FRENCH AT PORT JACKSON: PERON
THE SPY
The condition of Le Geographe when she made her
appearance outside Port Jackson, on June 20th, 1802,
was in striking and instructive contrast with that of the
Investigator on her entry forty-two days before. Flin
ders had not a sick man on board. His crew finished the
voyage a company of bronzed, jolly, hearty sailors, fit
for any service. Baudin, on the contrary, had not a single
man on board who was free from disease. His men
were "covered with sores and putrid ulcers;" the sur
geon, Taillefer, found the duty of attending upon them
revolting; they lay groaning about the decks in misery
and pain, and only four were available for steering and
management, themselves being reduced almost to the
extremity of debility. "Not a soul among us was
exempt from the affliction," wrote the commandant in
his journal. The utmost difficulty had been experienced in work
ing the vessel round the south of Van Diemen's Land
and up the east coast in tempestuous weather. Baudin
obstinately refused, in the teeth of the urgent recom
mendation of his officers, to sail through Bass Strait,
and thus save several days; though, as he had already
negotiated the strait from the east, he knew the navigat
ion, and the distressful condition of his people should
have impelled him to choose a route which would take
them to succour in the briefest period of time. He in
sisted on the longer course, and in consequence brought
his ship to the very verge of disaster, besides intensify
ing the sufferings of his crew. The voyage from the
246

THE FRENCH AT PORT JACKSON 247
region of the gulfs to the harbour of refuge was full of
pain and peril. Man after man dropped out. The sailors
were unable to trim the sails properly; steersmen fell at
the wheel; they could not walk or lift their limbs with
out groaning in agony. It was a plague ship that crept
round to Port Jackson Heads in that month of storms :
" And as a full field charging was the sea,
And as a cry of slain men was the wind."
All this bitter suffering was caused because, as the
official historian of the expedition tells us, Baudin
"neglected the most indispensable precautions relative to
the health of the men." He disregarded instructions
which had been furnished with reference to hygiene,
paid no heed to the experience of other navigators, and
permitted practices which could not but conduce to
disease. His illustrious predecessor, Laperouse, a true
pupil of Cook, had conducted a long voyage with fine
immunity from scurvy, and Baudin could have done the
same had he possessed valid qualifications for his em
ployment. There is no satisfaction in dwelling upon the pitiful
condition to which Baudin's people were reduced; but
it is necessary to set out the facts clearly, because the
visit paid by Le Geographe and Le Naturaliste to Syd
ney, and what the French officers did there, is of the
utmost importance in relation to what happened to
Flinders at a later date.
Baudin brought his vessel up to the entrance to the
harbour on June 20th, but so feeble were his crew that
they could not work her into port. It was reported
that a ship in evident distress was outside, and at once
a boat's crew of Flinders' men from the Investigator
wTas sent down to assist in towing her to an anchorage.
"It was grievous," Flinders said, "to see the miserable
condition to which both officers and men were reduced

248 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
by scurvy, there being not more out of one hundred and
seventy, according to the Captain's account, than twelve
men capable of doing their duty." Baudin's own jour
nal says they were only four; but, whatever the number
may have been, even these were sick, and could only
perform any kind of work under the whip of absolute
necessity. All the sufferers were attended with "the
most touching activity" by the principal surgeon of the
settlement, James Thomson.
The resources of Sydney at that time were slender,
but such as they were Governor King immediately
placed them at the disposal of the French commodore.
The sick were removed to the hospital, permission was
given to pitch tents close to where the Investigator's
were erected, at Cattle Point on the east side of Sydney
Cove,* and everything was done to extend a cordial
welcome to the visitors. "Although," wrote the Gov
ernor to Baudin, "last night I had the pleasure of an
nouncing that a peace had taken place between our
respective countries, yet a continuance of the war
would have made no difference in my reception of your
ship, and affording every relief and assistance in my
power; and, although you will not find abundant sup
plies of what are most requisite and acceptable to those
coming off so long a voyage, yet I offer you a sincere
welcome. I am much concerned to find from Monsieur
Ronsard that your ship's company are so dreadfully
afflicted with the scurvy. I have sent the Naval Officer
with every assistance to get the ship into a safe anchor
age. I beg you would give yourself no concern
about saluting. When I have the honour of seeing you,
we will then concert means for the relief of your sick."
That was, truly, a letter replete in every word of it

* Flinders, Voyage, I., 227. The "Cattle Point" of Flinders
is the present Fort Macquane, or Bennelong Point, behind which
Government House stands.

THE FRENCH AT PORT JACKSON 249
with manly gentleness, generous humanity and hospit
able warmth. The same spirit was maintained through
out of the six months of the Frenchmen's stay at Port
Jackson. King even reduced the rations of his own
people in order that he might have enough to share with
the strangers. Fresh meat was so scarce in the colony
that when the Investigator arrived Flinders could not
buy any for his men; but as soon as the French
appeared, King, pitying their plight, at once ordered the
slaughtering of some oxen belonging to the Government
in order that they might be fed on fresh food. Baudin
was daily at the Governor's house,* and King enter
tained his officers frequently. His tact was as con
spicuous as his good nature. Baudin was not on good
terms with some of his officers, and the Governor was
made aware of this fact. He conducted himself as
host with a resourceful consideration for the feelings of
his quarrelsome guests. And as the Governor com
ported himself towards them, so also did the leading
people of Sydney. "Among all the French officers
serving in the division which I command," wrote
Baudin, "there is not one who is not, like myself, con
vinced of the indebtedness in which we stand to
Governor King and the principal inhabitants of the
colony for the courteous, affectionate, and distinguished
manner in which they have received us."
Not only on the social side was this extreme kind
ness displayed. King did everything in his power to
further the scientific purposes of the expedition and to
complete the re-equipment of Baudin's ships. Le
Geographe required to be careened, and to have her
copper lining extensively repaired. Facilities were at
once granted for effecting these works. Baudin, intend
ing to send Le Naturaliste back to France with natural

* Historical Records, IV.. 952

250 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
history specimens and reports up to date, desired to pur
chase a small Australian-built vessel to accompany him
on the remainder of his voyage. King gave his con
sent, "as it is for the advancement of science and navi
gation," and the Casuarina, a locally-built craft of
between 40 and 50 tons, was acquired for the purpose.
The French men of science were assisted in making ex
cursions into the country in prosecution of their re
searches. Baudin refused the application of his geo
logist, Bailly, who wished to visit the Hawkesbury
River and the mountains to collect specimens and study
the natural formation. The British, thereupon, fur
nished him with boats, guides and even food for the
journey, since his own commander declined to supply
him. Peron, the naturalist, who afterwards wrote the
history of the voyage, was likewise afforded opportuni
ties for travelling in prosecution of his studies, and the
disreputable use which he made of the freedom allowed
to him will presently appear.
There is no reason to believe that any of the French
officers, or the men of science on Baudin's staff, abused
the hospitality so nobly extended to them, with two ex
ceptions. The conduct of the crew appears to have
been exemplary. Baudin himself won King's confi
dence, and was not unworthy of it. His demeanour
was perfectly frank. "Entre nous," wrote King to
Banks in May, 1803, "he showed me and left with me
all his journals, in which were contained all his orders
from the first idea of the voyage taking place. . . . He
Informed me that he knew of no idea that the French
had of settling on any part or side of this continent."
After the departure of the two ships, on November
17th, a rumour came to the Governor's ears that some
of the French officers had informed Lieutenant-Colonel
Paterson that it was their intention to establish a settle
ment on Dentrecasteaux Channel in the south of Van

THE FRENCH AT PORT JACKSON 251
Diemen's Land. The news occasioned grave anxiety
to King, who immediately took steps to frustrate any
such plans. He sent acting-Lieutenant Robbins in the
Cumberland in pursuit of Baudin, informing him of
what was alleged, and calling upon him for an explana
tion. Baudin positively denied that he had entertained
such an intention; and certainly he had not acted, after
leaving Port Jackson, as if he had the design to lay the
foundations of a settlement at the place specified, for he
had not sailed anywhere near southern Van Diemen's
Land. He had made direct for King Island, and was
quietly continuing his exploratory work when Robbins
found him. This vague and unsubstantial rumour,
which Paterson had not even taken the trouble to report
officially to the Governor when he heard it, was the
only incident with which Baudin was connected that
gave King any cause to doubt his perfect good faith;
and Baudin's categorical denial of the allegation is
fully confirmed by his diary and correspondence — now
available for study — which contain no particle of evi
dence to suggest that the planting of a settlement, or
the choice of a site for one, was a purpose of the
expedition. Baudin's gratitude for King's hospitality was ex
pressed in a cordial personal letter, and also in an open
letter which he addressed to the Governors of the
French colonies of Ile-de-France and Reunion. Twelve
copies of the letter were left in King's hands, to be
given by him to the captain of any British ships that
might have occasion to put in to any port in those
colonies. Blanks were left in the letter, to be filled up
by King, with the name of the captain to whom he
might give a copy and the name of the ship.* In this
* Mr. F. M. Bladen, in a note appended to a copy of this
interesting letter, in the Historical Records of New South Wales,
Vol. 4. p. 968 says: "The letter was handed to Governor King
by Commodore Baudin, in case it should be required, but was

252 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
document, it will be noticed, Baudin was bespeaking
from representatives of his country in their own
colonies such consideration as he had experienced from
his British hosts at Sydney. The fulness of his obliga
tion could scarcely have been expressed in more
thorough terms:
"The assistance we have found here, the kindness of
Governor King towards us, his generous attentions for
the recovery of our sick men, his love for the progress
of science, in short, everything seemed to have united
to make us forget the hardships of a long and painful
voyage, which was often impeded by the inclemency of
the weather; and yet the fact of the peace being signed
was unknown, and we only heard of it when our sick
men had recovered, our vessels had been repaired, our
provisions shipped, and when our departure was near at
hand. Whatever the duties of hospitality may be,
Governor King had given the whole of Europe the
example of a benevolence which should be known, and
which I take a great pleasure in publishing.
"On our arrival at Port Jackson, the stock of wheat
there was very limited, and that for the future was un
certain. The arrival of 170 men was not a happy cir
cumstance at the time, yet we were well received; and
when our present and future wants were known, they
were supplied by shortening part of the daily ration
allowed to the inhabitants and the garrison of the
colony. The Governor first gave the example.
retained by King amongst his papers, and never used. Had it
been in the hands of Flinders when forced to touch at the Isle
of France it might have prevented any question, real or pre
tended, as to his bona fides.. Indeed, it is not unlikely that it was
originally intended for Flinders." But, although the letter was
not used by Flinders Baudin gave a copy of it to General
Decaen, Governor of Ile-de-France, when he called there on his
homeward voyage The copy is now among Decaen's manu
scripts at Caen Vol. 84. The blanks are in it, as in King's copy.
Decaen was therefore fully aware of the generous treatment
accorded to his countrymen at Port Jackson.

THE FRENCH AT PORT JACKSON 253
Through those means, which do so great honour to the
humane feelings of him who put them into motion, we
have enjoyed a favour which we would perhaps have
experienced much difficulty in finding anywhere else.
"After such treatment, which ought in future to
serve as an example for all the nations, I consider it my
duty, as much out of gratitude as by inclination, to re
commend particulary to you Mr.  commander of
H.M.S.  . Although he does not propose to call
at the Isle of France, it may be possible some unfore
seen circumstance might compel him to put into port in
the colony, the government of which is entrusted to you.
Having been a witness of the kind manner with which
his countrymen have treated us on every occasion, I
hope he will be convinced by his own experience that
Frenchmen are not less hospitable and benevolent; and
then his mother-country will have over us the advantage
only of having done in times of war what happier times
enabled us to return to her in time of peace."
That letter has been quoted, and the circumstances
attending Baudin's arrival and stay at Sydney have been
narrated with some fulness, in order to give particular
point to the conduct of two members of his expedition,
Frangois Peron and Lieutenant Louis de Freycinet. As
will be seen from what follows, both of them used the
latitude allowed to them while receiving King's
generous hospitality, to spy, to collect information for
the purpose of enabling an attack to be made upon Port
Jackson, and to supply it with mischievous intent to the
military authorities of their nation.
Le Naturaliste returned to Europe from King
Island on December 8th. She took with her all the
natural history specimens collected up to that time, and
reports of the work done. Baudin, with Le Geographe
and the Casuarina, spent six months longer in Aus
tralian waters, exploring Spencer's and St. Vincent's

254 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Gulfs, completing the chart of Kangaroo Island, and
making a second voyage along the coast. On July 7th,
1803, he determined to return to France. He reached
Ile-de-France on August 7th, became seriously ill there,
and died on September 16th. The Casuarina was dis
mantled, and Le Geographe, which stayed there for
three months after her commander's death, arrived in
France on March 24th, 1804.
The military Governor of Ile-de-France at this time
was General Charles Decaen. As a later chapter will
be devoted to his career and character, it is only
necessary to say here that he was a dogged, strong-
willed officer, imbued with a deep-rooted hatred of
British policy and power, and anxious to avail himself
of any opportunity that might occur of striking a blow
at the rival of his own nation. Francois Peron very
soon found that the Governor was eager to get informa
tion that might, should a favourable chance present
itself, enable him to attack the British colony in Aus
tralia, and he lost no time in ministering to the General's
belligerent animosity.
On December 11th, 1804, four days before Le
Geographe sailed for Europe, Peron furnished to
Decaen a long report on Port Jackson, containing some
very remarkable statements.* He alleged that the
First Consul, Bonaparte, in authorising Baudin's ex
pedition, had given to it a scientific semblance with the
object of disguising its real intent from the Govern
ments of Europe, and especially from the cabinet of
Great Britain. "If sufficient time were available to
me," said Peron, "it would be very easy to demonstrate
to you that all our natural history researches, extolled
with so much ostentation by the Government, were
merely the pretext of its enterprise." The principal
* MSS., Decaen Papers, Vol. 92. The complete document is
translated in appendix B to this volume.

THE FRENCH AT PORT JACKSON 255
object was "one of the most brilliant and important con
ceptions," which would, if successful, have made the
Government for ever illustrious. The unfortunate cir
cumstance was, however, Peron declared, that after so
much had been done to conduce to the success of these
designs, the execution of them had been confided to a
man utterly unsuited to conduct them to a successful
issue. That there were such designs as those alleged by
Peron is disclosed by no word in Napoleon's Correspon-
dance; there is no suggestion of anything of the kind in
the papers communicated to Baudin by the Minister of
Marine, or in Baudin's confidential reports to his Gov
ernment. It is in the nature of a spy to flavour with
his own conjectures the base fruit of his illicit inquisi
tions, and Peron knew that he was writing to a man
greedy to obtain such material as he was ready to supply.
There is no word from any other member of the ex
pedition, except Freycinet, written before or after, to
support Peron's allegations ; and it is extremely unlikely
that, if the purpose he indicated had been the real one,
he would have been the man to know about it. Peron
had not originally been a member of the staff of
the expedition. Baudin's ships had been equipped,
their complement was complete, and they were
lying at Havre in October, 1800, awaiting sailing
orders, when Peron sought employment. He had
been a student under Jussieu at the Museum,
and to that savant he applied for the use of
his influence. Jussieu, with the aid of the biologist,
Lacepede, secured an opportunity for Peron to read a
paper before the Institute, expounding his views as to
research work which might be done in Australasia ; the
result was that at almost the last moment he obtained
appointment.* He was not in the confidence of Baudin,

*See the biographies of Peron by Deleuze (1811) and Girard
1 185/ J .

256 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
with whom he was on bad terms throughout the voyage,
and his hatred for whom continued relentlessly after
the unfortunate captain's death. On the point in ques
tion, therefore, Peron is by no means a trustworthy
witness. The very terms in which Baudin wrote of
Sydney, in his confidential letter to the Minister of
Marine, indicate that he was innocent of any knowledge
of a secret purpose. If he had known he would have
referred to it here; and if he did not know of one,
Peron certainly did not. "I believe it to be my duty,"
wrote Baudin, "to warn you that the colony of Port
Jackson ought to engage the attention of the Govern
ment and indeed of other European power also. People
in France or elsewhere are very far from imagining
that the English, in the space of fourteen years, have
been able to build up their colony to such a degree of
prosperity, which will be augmented every year by the
dispositions of their Government. It seems to me that
policy demands (il me semble que la politique exige)
that by some means the preparations they are making
for the future, which foreshadow great projects,
ought to be balanced." That was simply Baudin's
personal opinion: "it seemed to him." But the state
ment Peron made to Decaen, as to what he could
demonstrate "if he had time," together with his other
assertions, may have had an influence on the general's
mind, and may have affected the later treatment of
Flinders; and that constitutes its importance for our
purpose. Peron went on to allege that while he was at Port
Jackson, "I neglected no opportunity of procuring all
the information that I foresaw would be of interest. I
was received in the house of the Governor with much
consideration; he himself and his secretary spoke our
language well. Mr. Paterson, the commandant of the
New South Wales troops, always treated me with par-

VIEW OF SYDNEY HARBOUR, FROM VAUCLUSE.
{Reproduced from the engraving in Flinders' Journal, after H'estall's drawing.')

THE FRENCH AT PORT JACKSON 257
ticular regard. I was received in his house, as one may
say, like a son. Through him I knew all the officials of
the colony. The surgeon, Mr. Thomson, honoured me
with his friendship. Mr. Grimes, the surveyor-general,
Mr. Palmer the commissary-general, Mr. Marsden a
clergyman at Parramatta, and a cultivator as wealthy
as he was discerning, were all capable of furnishing me
with valuable information. My functions permitted
me to hazard the asking of a number of questions which
would have been indiscreet on the part of another,
especially on military matters. I have, in a word,
known all the principal people of the colony, in all walks
of life, and all of them have furnished me with infor
mation as valuable as it is new. Finally, I made in Mr.
Paterson's company long journeys into the interior of
the country; I have seen the best farms, and I assure
you that I have collected everywhere interesting ideas,
and have stated them in as exact a form as possible."
After this illuminating dissertation as to his own
value as a spy, and the clever use he had made of his
functions as a naturalist to exploit unsuspecting people,
Peron proceeded to describe the British establishment
in detail. But he omitted to tell Decaen how kindly he
and his countrymen had been treated there ; not a word
had he to say on that subject; no circumstance was
mentioned that might tend to withhold an attack if a
favourable chance for one should occur. He gave an
interesting description of Sydney and its environs, spoke
of the growth of its trade, the spread of cultivation, the
increase of wealth. Then he gave his views on the
designs of the British to extend their power in the
Pacific. Their ambitions were not confined to New
Holland itself, vast as it was. Their cupidity had been
excited by Van Diemen's Land. They did not intend,
if they could avoid it, to permit any other nation to
occupy that country. They would soon extend their

258 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
dominion to New Zealand. They were even casting
avaricious glances across the Pacific. They had occu
pied Norfolk Island, and he did not hesitate to say that
they were looking for a place further east, whence they
might assail Chili and Peru. The British were quite
aware of the feebleness of the Spaniards in those
regions, and meant to appropriate their possessions in
time. Next Peron gave an account of the transportation
system, of which he approved, as making for rapid
colonization, and as having valuable reformatory effects.
The climate and productiveness of New South Wales
were enthusiastically praised by him, and its eminent
suitability for European occupation was extolled. In
all that the British had done in Australia were to be
recognised great designs for the future. Steps had been
taken to convert felons into good colonists, to educate
their children, and to train them for useful avocations.
He drew attention to the number of Irish prisoners
who had been transported for participation in rebellious
movements at home, and to their implacable hatred of
Great Britain. "The Irish, kept under by an iron
sceptre, are quiet to-day; but if ever the Government of
our country, alarmed by the rapidly increasing power
of that colony, formed the project of taking or destroy
ing it, at the very name of the French the Irish would
rise. We had a striking example of what might be
expected on our first arrival in the colony. Upon the
appearance of the French flag, the alarm became
general in the country. The Irish began to flock
together from all parts, and if their error had not been
speedily dissipated, there would have been a general
rising among them. One or two were put to death on
that occasion, and several were deported to Norfolk
Island."

THE FRENCH AT PORT JACKSON 259
The troops at Port Jackson, said Peron, did not
number more than 700 or 800 men while the French
ships were there, but he believed that as many as 8,000
were expected. He doubted, however, whether Great
Britain could maintain a very large force there, in view
of the demands upon her resources elsewhere owing to
the war; but was of opinion that she would use Port
Jackson as a depot for India, on account of the healthi
ness of the climate. He summed up in eighteen para
graphs the advantage which Great Britain drew, and
was likely to draw, from her possession of Port Jack
son; and he terminated these by telling Decaen that
"my opinion, and that of all those among us who have
been particularly occupied with the organization of that
colony, would be that we should destroy it as soon as
possible. To-day we can do that easily; we shall not
be able to do it in a few years to come." There
followed a postscript in which Peron informed the
General that Lieutenant de Freycinet "has particularly
occupied himself with examining all the points on the
coast in the neighbourhood of Port Jackson that are
favourable for the debarkation of troops. He has
made especial enquiries concerning the entry to the port,
and if ever the Government thought of putting into
execution the project of destroying this freshly set trap
of a great Power, that distinguished officer's services
would be of precious value in such an operation." The
recommendation of Peron's fellow-spy at the end of
the report is interesting, as indicating how the pair
worked together. Peron, under the guise of a man of
science collecting facts about butterflies and grass
hoppers, exploited his hosts for information of a
political and military nature ; whilst Freycinet, ostensibly
examining the harbour in the interest of navigation,
made plans of places suitable for landing troops. Both
together, having been nourished and nursed in their day

260

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

of dire calamity by the abundant kindness of the people
of Sydney, concocted plans for bringing destruction
upon their benefactors, and proffered their services to
show the way. One thinks perforce of a rough speech
of Dol Common in Ben Jonson's Alchemist:
" S'death, you perpetual curs,
Fall to your couples again, and cozen kindly."
Five days after the arrival of Le Geographe in
France, on March 29th, 1804, Peron wrote to the
Minister of Marine* in similar terms, relating the
valuable opportunities he had had of making himself
acquainted with the situation of Port Jackson, and
mentioning the names of leading citizens with whom
he had associated, and from whom he had collected in
formation. A second report upon Port Jackson was furnished
to General Decaen, giving precise information as to
where troops could be landed if an invasion were under
taken. The document is unsigned,! but, having regard
to Peron's statement concerning Freycinet's investiga
tions, there can be no doubt that the information came
from him. The writer described Sydney as "perhaps
the most beautiful port in the world," and observed
that, though its natural defences were strong, the Eng
lish had employed no means to fortify the approaches.
Many of the convicts were Irish, and were capable of
everything except good. J Persons who had played a
part in connection with the recent rebellion in Ireland
were subject to transportation, and were naturally a dis
affected class. England had only 600 troops to main
tain order in that "society of brigands," and discipline
was not very well observed amongst them. Particulars
were given as to how an invasion could be effected :
* Arch. Nat, BB4, 996.
t "Coup d'oeil rapide sur l'establissement des Anglais de la
Nouvelle Hollande," mss., Decaen Papers, Vol. 92, p. 74.
t lis sont capable de tout, excepts le bien."

THE FRENCH AT PORT JACKSON 261
"The conquest of Port Jackson would be very easy
to accomplish, since the English have neglected every
species of means of defence. It would be possible to
make a descent through Broken Bay, or even through
the port of Sydney itself; but in the latter case it would
be necessary to avoid disembarking troops on the right
side of the entrance, on account of the arm of the sea
of which I have already spoken.* That indentation
presents as an obstacle a great fosse, defended by a
battery of ten or twelve guns, firing from eighteen to
twenty-four-pound balls. The left shore of the har
bour is undefended, and is at the same time more
accessible. The town is dominated by its outlying
portions to such an extent, that it might be hoped to
reduce the barracks in a little time. There is no
battery, and a main road leads to the port of Sydney.
Care ought to be taken to organize the invaders in
attacking parties. The aboriginals of the country need
not be reckoned with. They make no distinctions
between white men. Morever, they are few in numbers.
The residence of the Governor, that of the colonel of
the New South Wales Regiment, the barracks, and one
public building, are the principal edifices. The other
houses, to the number of three or four hundred, are
small. The chief buildings of the establishment
captured, the others would fall naturally into the hands
of the conqueror. If the troops had to retreat, they
would best do so by the River Oxburyf and thence to
Broken Bay. I regret very much that I have not more
time to give J to this slight review of the resources,
means of defence of and methods of attack on that
* Middle Harbour.
t i.e., the Hawkesbury ; the Frenchman guessed at the spelling
from the pronunciation.
J Compare Peron's remark concerning the little time at his
disposal. Both reports were written only a few days before
Le Geographe left Ile-de-France for Europe.

262 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
colony. I conclude by observing that scarcely any
coinage is to be found in circulation there. They use
a currency of copper with which they pay the troops,
and some paper money."
There is no need to emphasise the circumstances in
which this piece of duplicity was perpetrated. They
are made sufficiently clear from the plain story related
in the preceding pages. But it should be said in justice to
Baudin that there is no reason to associate him with the
espionage of Peron. Nor is it the case that the ex
pedition originally had any intention of visiting Port
Jackson, for this or any other purpose. As explained
in the chapter relating to the Encounter Bay incident,
it was Flinders who suggested to Baudin that he should
seek the souccour he so sorely needed at Sydney; and
Le Naturaliste, which preceded him thither, was driven
by a like severity of need to his own. "It does not
appear by his orders," wrote King to Banks "that he
was at all instructed to touch here, which I do not think
he intended if not obliged by distress." Such was the
case; and it was this very distress, and the generous
alleviation of it by the British colonists, that make the
singular turpitude of Peron and Freycinet in pursuing
nefarious designs of their own and plotting to rend the
breast that fed them. The great war gave rise to many
noble acts of chivalry on both sides, deeds which are
luminous with a spirit transcending the hatreds of the
time, and glorify human nature; but it is happily
questionable whether it produced an example to equal
that expounded in these pages, of ignoble treachery and
ungrateful baseness.
Flinders, when reviewing the unjust account of his
own discoveries given by Peron in his Voyage de
Decouvertes, adopted the view that what he wrote was
under compulsion from authority. "How came M.
Peron to advance what was so contrary to truth?" he

THE FRENCH AT PORT JACKSON 263
asked. "Was he a man destitute of all principle? My
answer is that I believe his candour to have been equal
to his acknowledged abilities; and that what he wrote
was from over-ruling authority, and smote him to the
heart." Could Flinders have known what Peron was
capable of doing, in the endeavour to advance himself
in favour with the rulers of his country, he would
certainly not have believed him so blameless.
That Port Jackson was never attacked during these
years of war was not due to its own capabilities of de
fence, which were pitifully weak; nor to reluctance on
the part of Napoleon and Decaen; but simply to the
fact that the British Navy secured and kept the com
mand of the sea. In 1810 Napoleon directed the
equipment of a squadron to "take the English colony
of Port Jackson, where considerable resources will be
found."* But it was a futile order to give at that date.
Trafalgar had been fought, and the defence of the
colony in Australia was maintained effectively wherever
British frigates sailed.
Peron's report, then, did no mischief where he
intended that it should. But by inflaming Decaen's
mind with suspicions it may not have been ineffectual
in another unfortunate direction, as we shall presently
see. The action of Peron in trying to persuade Decaen
that the object of Baudin's expedition was not truly
scientific was all the more remarkable because he him
self, as one of its expert staff, did work which earned
him merited repute. His papers on marine life, on
phosphorescence in the sea, on the zoology of the South
Seas, on the temperature of the sea at measured depths,
and on other subjects pertaining to his scientific funct
ions, were marked by conspicuous originality and
acumen. But he was not content to allow the value of
* Napoleon's Correspondance, Vol. XX., document 16, 544.

264 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
his services to be estimated by researches within his
own sphere. He knew the sort of information that
would please General Decaen, and evidently considered
that espionage would bring him greater favour from
his Government, at that time, than science.
Nevertheless, it is right to bring out the fact, in
justice to the diligent savants who worked under Baudin,
that their researches generally were of real importance.
Professor Jussieu, one of the foremost men of science
in Europe, was deputed to report upon them, and did
so in a comprehensive document.* "Of all the collec
tions which have come to us from distant countries at'
different times," wrote Jussieu, "those which Le
Geographe and Le Naturaliste have brought home are
certainly the most considerable." The botanist Les-
chenalt had found over 600 species of plants which
were believed to be new to science; and he eulogised
the zoological work of Peron, who had succeeded in
bringing to France alive seven kinds of kangaroo, an
emu, a lyre-bird and several black swan. Altogether.,
18,414 specimens of Australian fauna had been
collected, comprised in 3,872 species, of which 2,592
species were new to the museum. The men of science
had "succeeded beyond all our hopes." Their task
had been perfectly fulfilled, and their services to science
deserved to be liberally rewarded by a just and generous
government. It would have been a source of satisfaction if it
could be recorded that work so laborious and so well
performed had earned for Peron a reputation unstained
by such conduct as has been exhibited in the preceding
pages.

*MSS., Archives of the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris.

Chapter XVIII.
AUSTRALIA CIRCUMNAVIGATED
Preparations for the continuance of researches in the
Investigator proceeded speedily during June and July,
1802. Friendly relations were maintained with the
staff of the French ships, who on one occasion dined on
board with Flinders, and were received with a salute of
eleven guns. A new chart of the south coast was then
shown to Baudin, with the part which he had discovered
marked with his name. He made no objection to the
justice of the limits indicated, though he expressed him
self surprised that they were so small; for up to this
time he was not aware of the discovery by Grant of the
coast eastward from Cape Banks. "Ah, Captain," said
Freycinet, when he recognised the missed opportunities,
"if we had not been kept so long picking up shells and
catching butterflies at Van Diemen's Land, you would
not have discovered the south coast before us."
A glimpse of the social life of the settlement is
afforded in a letter to Mrs. Flinders, concerning the
King's birthday celebrations.* Very little is known
about the amusements and festivities of Sydney in those
early days, but that gaiety and ceremony were not
absent from the convict colony is apparent from this
epistle, which was dated June 4th, 1802: — "This is a
great day in all distant British settlements, and we are
preparing to celebrate it with due magnificence. The
ship is covered with colours, and every man is about to
put on his best apparel and to make himself merry. We
go through the form of waiting on His Excellency the
* Flinders' Papers. 265

266 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Governor at his levee, to pay our compliments to him
as the representative of majesty; after which, a dinner
and ball are given to the colony, at which not less than
52 gentlemen and ladies will be present. Amidst all
this, how much preferable is such a 'right hand and
left' as that we have had at Spilsby with those we love,
to that which we shall go through this evening."
A few alterations were made in the ship, which was
re-rigged and overhauled; and a new eight-oar boat was
built to replace the one lost in Spencer's Gulf. She cost
£30, and was constructed after the model of the boat
in which Bass had made his famous expedition to
Westernport. She proved, "like her prototype, to be
excellent in a sea, as well as for rowing and sailing in
smooth water."
Fourteen men were required to make up the ship's
complement. A new master was found in John Aken
of the Hercules, a convict transport, and five seamen
were engaged; but it was impossible to secure the
services of nine others from amongst the free people.
Flinders thereupon proposed to the Governor that he
should ship nine convicts who could bring "respectable
recommendations." King concurred, and the number
required were permitted to join the Investigator, with
the promise that they should receive conditional or
absolute pardons on their return, "according to Captain
Flinders' recommendation of them." Several of them
were experienced seamen, and proved a great acquisition
to the strength of the ship. Flinders also took with
him his old friend Bongaree, "the worthy and brave
fellow" who had accompanied him on the Norfolk
voyage in 1799, and a native lad named Nambaree.
It was determined, after consultation with King, to
sail to the north of Australia and explore Torres Strait
and the east side of the Gulf of Carpentaria, as well
as to examine the north-east coast with more care than

AUSTRALIA CIRCUMNAVIGATED 267
Cook had been able to give to it. The Lady Nelson,
under Murray's direction, was to accompany the Investi
gator; if rivers were found, it was hoped that she would
be able to penetrate the country by means of them.
On the 21st July the provisioning of the ship was
completed, the new boat was hoisted into her place, and
the Investigator dropped down the harbour to make her
course northward.
The Lady Nelson proved more of a hindrance than
a help to the work of exploration. She was painfully
slow, and, to make matters worse, Murray, "not being
much accustomed to make free with the land," hugged
the coast, and kept the Investigator waiting for him at
every appointed rendezvous. In August she bumped
on a reef in Port Curtis and lost her sliding keel; in
September she ran aground in Broad Sound and injured
her main keel. Her capacity for beating to windward
was never great, and after she had been repaired her
tardiness became irritating. Murray had also lost one
anchor and broken another. His ship sailed so ill, in
fact, and required so much attention, that she dragged
on Flinders' vessel; and Murray had given many
proofs that he "was not much acquainted with the kind
of service" in which they were engaged. On October
18th, therefore, Flinders sent her back to Sydney, with
an expression of regret at depriving Murray, who had
shown zeal to make himself useful, of the advantage of
continuing the voyage.
On August 7th Port Curtis was discovered, and
was named after Sir Roger Curtis, the admiral at the
Cape who had been so attentive to the requirements of
the Investigator on her voyage out from England. In
Keppel Bay (discovered by Cook in 1770) the master's
mate and a seaman became bogged in a mangrove
swamp, and had to pass the night persecuted by clouds
of mosquitoes. In the morning their plight was

268

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

relieved by a party of aboriginals, who took them to a
fire whereat they dried themselves, and fed them on
broiled wild duck. Natives were encountered at every
landing-place, and were invariably friendly.
Another important discovery was made on August
21st, when Port Bowen was entered. It had not only
escaped Cook's notice, but, owing to a change of wind,
was nearly missed by Flinders also. He named it after
Captain James Bowen of the Royal Navy.
In every bay he entered Flinders examined the
refuse thrown up by the sea, with the object of finding
any particle of wreckage that might have been carried
in. If, as was commonly believed (and was, in fact,
the case), Laperouse had been wrecked somewhere in
the neighbourhood of New Caledonia, it was possible
that remnants of his vessels might be borne to the
Queensland coast by the trade winds. "Though the
hope of restoring Laperouse or any of his companions
to their country and friends could not, after so many
years, be rationally entertained, yet to gain some certain
knowledge of their fate would do away the pain of sus-
pense. *
The Percy Islands (September 28th) were a third
discovery of importance on this northern voyage.
Flinders now desired to find a passage through the
Barrier Reef to the open Pacific, in order that he might
make the utmost speed for Torres Strait and the Gulf
of Carpentaria. Several openings were tried. At
length an opening was found. It is known as Flinders'
* In 1861, remains of a small vessel were found at the back of
Temple Island, not far from Mackay, 150 miles or more north of
Flinders' situation when he wrote this passage. The wreckage is
believed by some to be part of the craft built by Laperouse's people
at Vanikoro, after the disaster which overtook them there. The
sternpost recovered from the wreckage is, I am informed, included
among the Laperouse relics preserved at Paris. See A. C. Mac
donald, on "The Fate of Laperouse," Victorian Geographical
Journal, xxvi., 14.

AUSTRALIA CIRCUMNAVIGATED 269
Passage, in lat. 18° 45' S., long. 148° 10' E., and is
frequently used nowadays. It is about 45 miles N.E.
from Cape Bowling Green, and is the southernmost
of the passages used by shipping through the Barrier.
Three anxious days were spent in tacking through
the intricacies of the untried passage. The per
plexity and danger of the navigation must have re
called to the commander's mind his experiences as a
midshipman under Bligh ten years before. It was nor
until the afternoon of October 20th that a heavy swell
from the eastward was felt under the ship, and Flinders
knew by that sign that the open sea had been gained.
He finished his description of this treacherous piece of
reef-ribbed sea by a bit of seaman's advice to brother
sailors. A captain who wished to make the experiment
of getting through the Barrier Reef "must not be one
who throws his ship's head round in a hurry so soon as
breakers are announced from aloft. If he do not feel
his nerves strong enough to thread the needle, as it is
called, amongst the reefs, while he directs the steerage
from the masthead, I would strongly recommend him
not to approach this part of the coast." Strong nerves
and seamanship had pulled through in this case, with a
few exciting phases; and the Investigator, in the open
ocean, was headed for Torres Strait.
The strait was entered eight days later, by a passage
through the reef which had been found by Captain
Edwards of the Pandora in 1791, and which Flinders
marked on his chart as Pandora's Entrance.* He pre
ferred this opening to the one further north, found by
Bligh in 1792. The ship was brought to anchor on
October 29th under the lee of the largest of Murray's
Islands. * It is generally marked Flinders' Entrance on modern maps ;
but Flinders himself held to his principle of never calling a place
after himself, and of invariably ascribing full credit to his pre
decessors.

270 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Immediately afterwards three long Papuan canoes,
carrying about fifty natives, came in sight. Remember
ing the attacks he had witnessed in the Providence,
Flinders kept his marines under arms and his guns
ready, and warned his officers to watch every movement
of the visitors. But the Papuans were merely bent on
barter on this occasion, hatchets especially being in
demand. Seven canoes appeared on the following
morning. "Wishing to secure the friendship and confi
dence of these islanders to such vessels as might here
after pass through Torres Strait, and not being able to
distinguish any chief amongst them, I selected the oldest
man, and presented him with a handsaw, a hammer and
nails, and some other trifles ; of all which we attempted
to show him the use, but I believe without success; for
the poor old man became frightened on finding himself
to be so particularly noticed."
Darwin, in writing his treatise on the Structure and
Distribution of Coral Reefs, in 1842, made use of
Flinders' chart and description of the Great Barrier
Reef, which extends for more than a thousand miles
along the east side of the continent, and into the throat
of Torres Strait. The hypothesis that as the bed of the
ocean subsides the coral polyps go on building steadily
upwards, occurred to Darwin more than thirty years
after Flinders sailed along the Reef; and what the
navigator wrote was the result of his own observation
and thought. Many absurd and fanciful speculations
about coralline formation were current in his day, and
have often been repeated since. But the reader who
has given any study to Darwin's array of facts and
powerful reasoning will be interested in the ideas of the
earlier observer:
"It seems to me, that, when the animalcules which
form the corals at the bottom of the ocean cease to live,
their structures adhere to each other, by virtue either of

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AUSTRALIA CIRCUMNAVIGATED 271
the glutinous remains within, or of some property
in salt water; and the interstices being gradually
filled up with sand and broken pieces of coral
washed by the sea, which also adhere, a mass of
rock is at length formed. Future races of these
animalcules erect their habitations upon the rising
bank, and die in their turn, to increase, but
principally to elevate, this monument of their wonder
ful labours. The care taken to work perpendicularly
in the early stages would mark a surprising instinct in
these diminutive creatures. Their wall of coral, for
the most part in situations where the winds are constant,
being arrived at the surface, affords a shelter to lee
ward of which their infant colonies may be safely sent
forth; and to their instructive foresight it seems to be
owing that the windward side of a reef exposed to the
open sea is generally, if not always, the highest part,
and rises almost perpendicular, sometimes from the
depth of 200, and perhaps many more fathoms. To be
constantly covered with water seems necessary to the
existence of the animalcules, for they do not work,
except in holes upon the reef, beyond low-water mark;
but the coral, sand, and other broken remnants thrown
up by the sea adhere to the rock, and form a solid mass
with it, as high as the common tides reach. That ele
vation surpassed, the future remnants, being rarely
covered, lose their adhesive property, and, remaining in
a loose state, form what is usually called a key upon the
top of the reef. The new bank is not long in being
visited by sea-birds; plants take root upon it; a cocoa-
nut, or the drupe of a pandanus is thrown on shore;
land-birds visit it and deposit the seeds of shrubs and
trees; every high tide, and still more every gale, adds
something to the bank; the form of an island is gradu
ally assumed; and last of all comes man to take
possession."

272 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
The Gulf of Carpentaria was entered on November
3rd, and a suitable place was found for careening the
ship. As the carpenters proceeded with their work,
their reports became alarming. Many of her timbers
were found to be rotten, and the opinion was confidently
expressed that in a strong gale with much sea running
she could hardly escape foundering. She was totally
unfit to encounter much bad weather. The formal
report to the commander concluded with the depressing
warning, "from the state to which the ship seems now
to be advanced, it is our joint opinion that in twelve
months there will scarcely be a sound timber in her, but
that, if she remain in fine weather and no accident
happen, she may run six months longer without much
risk." Upon receipt of this report Flinders, with much sur
prise and sorrow, saw that a return to Port Jackson was
almost immediately necessary. "My leading object
had hitherto been to make so accurate an investigation
of the shores of Terra Australis that no future voyage
to this country should be necessary; and with this always
in view, I had ever endeavoured to follow the land so
closely that the washing of the surf upon it should be
visible, and no opening, nor anything of interest, escape
notice. Such a degree of proximity is what navigators
have usually thought neither necessary nor safe to pur
sue, nor was it always persevered in by us; sometimes
because the direction of the wind or shallowness of the
water made it impracticable, and at other times be
cause the loss of the ship would have been the probable
consequence of approaching so near to a lee shore. But
when circumstances were favourable, such was the plan
I pursued, and, with the blessing of God, nothing of
importance should have been left for future discoverers
upon any part of these extensive coasts ; but with a ship
incapable of encountering bad weather, which could not

FLINDERS' CHART OF THE GULF OF CARPENTARIA

FLINDERS' MAP OF AUSTRALIA,

e.i+o:

SHOWING HIS PRINCIPAL VOYAGES.

AUSTRALIA CIRCUMNAVIGATED 273
be repaired if sustaining injury from any of the
numerous shoals or rocks upon the coast — which, if con
stant fine weather could be ensured and all accidents
avoided, could not run more than six months — with such
a ship I knew not how to accomplish the task."
Very serious consideration had to be given to the
route by which the return voyage should be made. If
Flinders returned as he had come, the monsoon season
made it certain that storms would be encountered in
Torres Strait, and to thread the Barrier Reef in a
rotten ship in tempestuous weather was to court des
truction. Weighing the probabilities carefully Flinders,
with a steady nerve and cool judgment, resolved to con
tinue his exploration of the gulf until the monsoon
abated, and then to make for Port Jackson round the
north-west and west of Australia — or, if it should
appear that the Investigator could not last out a winter's
passage by this route, to run for safety to the nearest
port in the East Indies. In the meantime all that the
carpenters could do was to replace some of the rottenest
parts of the planking and caulk the bends.
Flinders remained on these coasts, in pursuit of his
plan, till the beginning of March, doing excellent work.
The Cape Van Diemen of Dutch charts, at the head of
the gulf, was found to be not a projection from the
mainland but an island, which was named Mornington
Island, after the Governor-General of India; and the
group of which it is the largest received the designation
of Wellesley Islands* after the same nobleman. The
Sir Edward Pellew group, discovered on the south-west
of the gulf, was named after a British admiral who will
figure in a later part of this biography.
Traces of the visits of Malays to this part of Aus
tralia were found in the form of fragments of pottery,
* Richard, Earl of Mornington, afterwards the Marquess Welles-
ley, was Governor-General of India from 1798-1805.

274 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
bamboo basket-work, and blue cotton rags, as well as
a wooden anchor and three boat rudders. The Cape
Maria of Dutch charts was found to be an island, which
received the name of Maria Island. In Blue Mud Bay,
Morgan, the master's mate, was speared by a native,
and died. A seaman shot another native in revenge,
and Flinders was "much concerned" and "greatly dis
pleased" about the occurrence. His policy throughout
was to keep on pleasant terms with all natives, and to
encourage them to look upon white men as friendly.
Nothing that could annoy them was countenanced by
him at any time. The incident was so unusual a de
parture from his experience on this voyage as to set him
conjecturing that the natives might have had differences
with Asiatic visitors, which led them to entertain a
common enmity towards foreigners.
Melville Bay, the best harbour near the gulf, was dis
covered on February 12th, and on the 17th the Investi
gator moved out of the gulf and steered along the north-
coast of Australia. Six Malay vessels were sighted on
the same day. They hung out white flags as the Eng
lish ship approached and displayed her colours ; and the
chief of one of them came on board. It was found that
sixty prows from Macassar were at this time on the
north coast, in several divisions; they were vessels of
about twenty-five tons, each carrying about twenty men ;
their principal business was searching for beche-de-mer,
which was sold to the Chinese at Timor.
Arnhem Bay was found marked, but not named.
upon an old Dutch chart, and Flinders gave it the name
it bears from the conviction that Tasman or some other
navigator had previously explored it. In the early
part of March he came to the conclusion that it would
be imprudent to delay the return to Sydney any longer.
Not only did the condition of the ship cause anxiety,
but the health of the crew pointed to the urgency of

AUSTRALIA CIRCUMNAVIGATED 275
quitting these tropical coasts. Mosquitoes, swarms of \
black flies, the debility induced by the moist heat of the /
climate, and the scarcity of nourishing food, made
everybody on board anxious to return. Scorbutic ulcers
broke out on Flinders' feet, so that he was no longer
able to station himself at his customary observation-
point, the mast-head. Nevertheless, though driven by
sheer necessity, it was not without keen regret that he
determined to sail away. "The accomplishment of the
survey was, in fact," he said, "an object so near to my
heart, that could I have foreseen the train of ills that
were to follow the decay of the Investigator and prevent
the survey being resumed, and had my existence
depended upon the expression of a wish, I do not know
that it would have received utterance; but Infinite
Wisdom has, in infinite mercy, reserved the knowledge
of futurity to itself."
Even in face of the troubles facing him, Flinders
fought hard to continue his work to a finish. He
planned to make for the Dutch port of Kupang, in
Timor, and thence send Lieutenant Fowler home in any
ship bound for Europe to take to the Admiralty his
reports and charts, and a scheme for completing the
survey. He hoped then to spend six months upon the
north and north-west coasts of Australia, and on the
run to Port Jackson, and there to await Fowler's return
with a ship fit for the service. But this plan was frus
trated. He reached Timor at the end of March, and
was courteously received by the Dutch Governor, also
renewing acquaintance with Baudin and his French
officers, who had put into port to refresh. But no ship
bound for England was met. A homeward-bound
vessel from India had touched at Kupang ten days
before the Investigator arrived, but when another one
would put in was uncertain. A vessel was due to sail
for Batavia in May, and the captain consented to take

276 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
charge of a packet of letters for transmission to Eng
land; but there was no opportunity of sending Fowler.
A few days were spent in charting a reef about which
the Admiralty had given instructions, and by April 16th
the voyage to Port Jackson was being pursued at best
speed by way of the west and south coasts. Flinders
did not even stay to examine the south of Kangaroo
Island, which had not been charted during the visit in
1802, for dysentery made its appearance on board —
owing, it was believed, to a change of diet at Timor —
and half a dozen men died. Sydney was reached on
June 9th, after a voyage of ten months and nineteen
days. Australia had thus been, for the first time, com
pletely circumnavigated by Flinders.
An examination of the Investigator showed how
perilously near destruction she had been since she left
the Gulf of Carpentaria. On the starboard side some
of the planks were so rotten that a cane could be thrust
through them. By good fortune, when she was run
ning along the south coast the winds were southerly, and
the starboard bow, where the greatest weakness lay,
was out of the water. Had the wind been northerly,
Flinders was of opinion that it would not have been
possible to keep the pumps going sufficiently to keep
the ship afloat, whilst a hard gale must inevitably have
sent her to the bottom.
As Flinders said in a letter to his wife:* "It was the
unanimous opinion of the surveying officers that, had
we met with a severe gale of wind in the passage from
Timor, she must have crushed like an egg and gone
down. I was partly aware of her bad state, and
returned sooner to Port Jackson on that account before
the worst weather came. For me, whom this obstruc-
* Flinders' Papers.

AUSTRALIA CIRCUMNAVIGATED 277
tion in the voyage and the melancholy state of my poor
people have much distressed, I have been lame about
four months, and much debilitated in health and I fear
in constitution; but am now recovering, and shall soon
be altogether well." In another letter he describes the
ship as "worn out — she is decayed both in skin and
bone." Of the nine convicts who were permitted to make
this voyage, one died; the conduct of a second did not
warrant Flinders in recommending him for a pardon;
the remaining seven were fully emancipated. Four
sailed with Flinders on his next voyage; but two of
them, no longer having to gain their liberty by good
behaviour, conducted themselves ill, and a third was
convicted again after he reached England.
Upon his arrival in port after this voyage Flinders
learnt of the death of his father. The occasion called
forth a letter to his step-mother, which is especially
valuable from the light it throws upon his character.*
The manly tenderness of his sorrow and sympathy
throbs through every sentence of it. In danger, in
adversity, in disappointment, in difficulty, under tests
of endurance and throughout perilous cruises, we always
find Flinders solicitous for the good of others and un
sparing of himself; and perhaps there is no more
moving revelation of his quality as a man than that
made in this letter :
"Investigator, Port Jackson,
"My dearest Mother, "June 10th, 1803.
"We arrived here yesterday from having circum
navigated New Holland, and I received numerous and
valuable marks of the friendship of all those whose
affection is so dear to me; but the joy which some letters
* Flinders' Papers.

278 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
occasioned is dreadfully embittered by what you, my
good and kind mother, had occasion to communicate.
The death of so kind a father, who was so
excellent a man, is a heavy blow, and strikes deep into
my heart. The duty I owed him, and which I had
now a prospect of paying with the warmest affection
and gratitude, had made me look forward to the time
of our return with increased ardour. I had laid such
a plan of comfort for him as would have tended to
make his latter days the most delightful of his life ; for
I think an increased income, retirement from business,
and constant attention from an affectionate son whom
he loved, would have done this. Indeed, my mother,
I thought the time fast approaching for me to fulfil
what I once said in a letter, that my actions should some
day show how I valued my father. One of my fondest
hopes is now destroyed. O, my dearest, kindest father,
how much I loved and reverenced you, you cannot now
know! "I beg of you, my dear mother, to look upon me
with affection, and as one who means to contribute
everything in his power to your happiness. Indepen
dent of my dear father's last wish, I am of myself
desirous that the best understanding and correspondence
should exist between us; for I love and reverence you,
and hope to be considered by you as the most anxious
and affectionate of your friends, whose heart and purse
will be ever ready for your services.
"I know not who at present can receive my dividend
from his legacy to me; but if you can, or either Mr.
Franklin or Mr. Hursthouse, I wish the yearly interest
to be applied to the education of my young sisters,* in
such manner as you will think best. This, my dear
Madam, I wish to continue until such time as I can see
* His step-sisters.

VIEW ON THE HAWKESBURY RIVER.
From the copy (in the Mitchell Library) of IVcstall's original drawing in the Royal Colonial Institute. London.

AUSTRALIA CIRCUMNAVIGATED 279
you and put things upon the footing that they ought to
remain. "Do not let your economy be carried too far. I
hope you will continue to visit and see all our good
friends, and have things comfortable about you. I
should be sorry that my dear mother should lose any
of the comforts and conveniences she has been accus
tomed to enjoy.
"I have much satisfaction in hearing both from you
and Susan that Hannah* makes so good use of the
opportunities she has for improvement. If she goes on
cultivating her mind, forming her manners from the
best examples before her, and behaves respectfully and
kindly to her mother and elder friends, she shall be my
sister indeed, and I will love her dearly.
"With great regard for you and my young sisters,
I am your anxious and affectionate son,
"Matthew Flinders."
In another vein is a playful letter to his wife
written in the same month, June, 1803.f
"If I could laugh at the effusion of thy tenderness,
it would be to see the idolatrous language thou fre
quently usest to me. Thou makest an idol and then
worshippest it, and, like some of the inhabitants of the
East, thou also bestowest a little castigation occasion
ally, just to let the ugly deity know the value of thy
devotion. Mindest thou not, my dearest love, that I
shall be spoiled by thy endearing flatteries? I fear it,
and yet can hardly part with one, so dear to me is thy
affection in whatever way expressed."
Some account of his companions on the voyage is
given in a letter to Mrs. Flinders written at this time
(June 25th, 1803).f In a letter previously quoted he

* The elder of his two step-sisters.
t Flinders' Papers.

280 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
had referred to being debilitated in health, "and I fear
in constitution"; and in this one he mentions that he,
like the ship's cat, Trim, was becoming grey. Such
hard unsparing service as he had given was writing its
tale on his form and features, and there were worse
trials to come: "Mr. Fowler is tolerably well and my
brother is also well ; he is becoming more steady, and is
more friendly and affectionate with me since his know
ledge of our mutual loss. Mr. Brown is recovering
from ill health and lameness. Mr. Bauer, your
favourite, is still polite and gentle. Mr. Westall wants
prudence, or rather experience, but is good-natured.
The two last are well, and have always remained on
good terms with me. Mr. Bell* is misanthropic and
pleases nobody. Elderf continues to be faithful and
attentive as before; I like him, and he apparently likes
me. Whitewood I have made a master's mate, and he
behaves well. Charrington is become boatswain, and
Jack Wood is now my coxswain. Trim, like his master,
is becoming grey; he is at present fat and frisky, and
takes meat from our forks with his former dexterity.
He is commonly my bedfellow. The master we have
in poor Thistle's placej is an easy, good-natured man."
In another letter to his wife§ he tells her: "Thou
wouldst have been situated as comfortably here as I
hoped and told thee. Two better or more agreeable
women that Mrs. King and Mrs. Paterson are not
easily found. These would have been thy constant
friends, and for visiting acquaintances there are five or
six ladies very agreeable for short periods and perhaps
longer." In a previous chapter it was remarked that Flinders
and Bass did not meet again after their separation
following on the Norfolk voyage. Bass was not in

1 The surgeon. % john Aken
t Flinders' servant. § Flinders' Papers.

AUSTRALIA CIRCUMNAVIGATED 281
Sydney when the Investigator lay there, greatly to
Flinders' disappointment. "Fortune seems determined
to give me disappointments," he wrote to Mrs. Kent;
"when I came into Port Jackson all the most esteemed
of my friends were absent. In the case of Bass I have
been twice served this way."* But he left a letter for
his friend with Governor King.* It was the last word
which passed between these two men; and, remember
ing what they did together, one can hardly read the end
of the letter without feeling the emotion with which it
was penned:
"I shall first thank you, my dear Bass, for the two
letters left for me with Bishop, and then say how much
I am disappointed that the speculation is not likely to
afford you a competency so soon as we had hoped. This
fishing and pork-carrying may pay your expenses, but
the only other advantage you get by it is experience for
a future voyage, and this I take to be the purport of
your Peruvian expedition.
"Although I am so much interested in your success,
yet what I say about it will be like one of Shortland's
letters, vague conjectures only, mingled with / hope.
Concerning the Investigator and myself, there will be
more certainty in what I write. In addition to the
south coast, we have explored the east coast as far as
Cape Palmerston, with the islands and extensive reefs
which lie off. These nan from a little to the N.W. of
Breaksea Spit to those of the Labyrinth. The passage
through Torres Straits you will learn as much of here
as I can tell you. The newspaper of June 12 last will
give you information enough to go through, and it is
the best I have (the chart excepted) until the strait is
properly surveyed. Should these three ships go
through safely, and I do not fear the contrary, the
* Flinders' Papers.

282 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
utility of the discovery will be well proved, and the
consequences will probably be as favourable to me as
the conclusion of the voyage might have been without
it. I do indeed privately hope that, whether the
voyage is or is not further prosecuted, I may attain
another step ; many circumstances are favourable to this,
but the peace and the non-completion of the voyage are
against it. To balance these, I must secure the interest
of the India House, by means of Sir Joseph, Mr.
Dalrymple, and the owner of the Bridgewater, Princeps,
with whom I am acquainted. I am fortunate in having
the attachment of Governor King, who by introductions,
favourable reports, and I believe every proper means
in his power, has, and is still, endeavouring to assist me ;
and you are to understand that my going home for
another ship is in conformity to an opinion first brought
forward by him. The shores of the Gulf of Carpen
taria have undergone a minute examination.
"It might appear that the presence of the French
upon these coasts would be much against me ; but I con
sider that circumstance as favourable, inasmuch as the
attention of the world will be more strongly attracted
towards New Holland, and some comparisons will no
doubt be found between our respective labours. Now,
in the department of geography, or rather hydrography,
the only one where the execution rests with me, they
seem to have been very vague and inconclusive, even by
their own testimony. By comparison, therefore, my
charts will rise in value. It is upon these that I wish
to rest my credit. You must, however, make the
requisite allowance for the circumstances under which
each part was examined, and these circumstances I have
made the charts themselves explain, I hope to your
satisfaction, as you will see on publication.
"I shall see your wife, if in London, as well as her

AUSTRALIA CIRCUMNAVIGATED 283
family. Accounts speak indifferently of her brother*
and his prospects. His sun seems to have passed the
meridian, if they speak true. Your good mother I shall
endeavour to see too, if my business will anyway fit it.
"God bless you, my dear Bass; remember me, and
believe me to be,
"Your very sincere and affectionate friend,
"Matthew Flinders."
One other letter of this period may be quoted for
the insight it gives into the relations between the
Governor and the principal residents of the colony at
this time. The urbanity and good sense of Flinders,
and the fact that his voyages kept him out of the official
circle for prolonged periods, enabled him to avoid
offence under such circumstances. The letter was
written to Captain Kent's wife, a treasured friend:
"The attention of the Governor to me has been
indeed very great, as well as that which I have received
from my kind friend, Mrs. King. It is a cause of
much uneasiness to me that Colonel and Mrs. P  1
should be upon terms of disagreement with  .
There is now Mrs. K  J, Mrs. P  § and Mrs.
M  **, for all of whom I have the greatest regard,
who scarcely speak to each other. It is really a
miserable thing to split a small society into such small
parts. Why do you ladies meddle with politics? But
I do not mean you."
What subsequently happened to the Investigator, a
ship which had played so memorable a part in discovery,
may be chronicled in a few lines. She was used as a
* Captain Henry Waterhouse.
t The quarrel between King and Paterson was bitter, and
affected the affairs of the colony in many directions.
% King.
§ Paterson.
** Marsden.

284 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
store ship in Sydney harbour till 1805. In that year
she was patched sufficiently to take her to England.
Captain William Kent commanded her on the voyage,
leaving Sydney on May 24th. She arrived in Liverpool
in a shattered condition on October 24th, having been
driven past the Channel in a storm. The Admiralty
ordered Kent to take her round to Plymouth. He
carried out the order, but not without great difficulty.
"A more deplorably crazy vessel than the Investigator
is perhaps not to be seen," Kent informed the Admiralty
on reaching Falmouth. She was sold and broken up
in 1810. But those rotten planks had played a part
in history, and if only a few splinters of them remained
to-day they would be preserved with the tenderest
reverence.

Chapter XIX.
THE CALAMITY OF WRECK REEF
There was some anxious discussion between King and
Flinders as to the best course to follow for the
expeditious completion of the survey of the coasts of
Australia. The Investigator being no longer fit for the
service, consideration was given to the qualifications of
the Lady Nelson, the Porpoise, the Francis, and the
Buffalo, all of which were under the Governor's direc
tion. King was most willing to give his concurrence
and assistance in any plan that might be considered ex
pedient. He confessed himself convinced of Flinders'
"zealous perseverance in wishing to complete the service
you have so beneficially commenced," and cheerfully
placed his resources at the explorer's disposal.
Flinders went for a few days to the Hawkesbury
settlement, where fresh air, a vegetable diet and medical
care promoted his recovery from the ailments
occasioned by prolonged ship-life in the tropics; and on
his return, at the beginning of July, determined upon a
course of action. The Porpoise was the best of the
four vessels mentioned, but she was by no means a
sound ship, and it did not seem justifiable to incur the
expense of fitting her for special service only to find her
incapable of finishing the task. It was determined,
therefore, that she should be sent to England under
Fowler's command, and that Flinders should go in her
as a passenger, in order that he might lay his charts
and journals before the Admiralty, and solicit the use
of another vessel to continue his explorations. Brown,
285

286 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
the botanist,* and Bauer, the botanical draftsman,
desired to remain in Port Jackson to pursue their
scientific work, but Westall accompanied Flinders, who
with twenty-one of the remainder of the Investigator's
company, embarked on the Porpoise. She sailed on
August 10th, in company with the East India Com
pany's ship Bridgewater and the Cato, of London, both
bound for Batavia. It was intended to go north, and
through Torres Strait, in order that further observa
tions might be made there ; and Fowler was ordered to
proceed "by the route Captain Flinders may indicate."
Had not Flinders been so eager to take advantage of
this as of every other opportunity to prosecute his re
searches — had he sailed by the Bass Strait and Cape of
Good Hope route — the misfortunes that were soon to
come upon him would have been averted. But he
deliberately chose the Torres Strait course, not only
because he considered that a quick passage could be
made at that season of the year, but chiefly for the
reason that "it will furnish me with a second
opportunity of assuring myself whether that Strait can
or cannot become a safe general passage for ships from
the Pacific into the Indian Ocean."
He was destined to see once again the settlement at
Sydney, whence had radiated the series of his valuable
and unsparing researches; but on the next and final
occasion he was "caught in the clutch of circumstance."

* Brown, in the preface to his Prodromus (which, being in
tended for the elect, was written in Latin), made but one allu
sion to the discovery voyage whereby his botanical researches
became possible. Dealing with the parts of Australia where
he had collected his specimens, he spoke of the south coast,
"Oram meridionalem Novae Hollandiae, a promontorio Lewin
ad promontorium Wilson in Freto Bass, complectentem Lewin's
Land, Nuyt's Land et littora Orientem versus, a Navarcho
Flinders in expeditione cui adjunctus fui, primum explorata, et
paulo post a navigantibus Gallicis visa: insulis adjacentibus
inclusis."

THE CALAMITY OF WRECK REEF 287
His leave-taking in August, 1803, was essentially his
farewell; and his general observations on the country
he had served, and which does not forget the service,
are, though brief, full of interest. He had seen the
little town grow from a condition of dependence to one
of self-reliance, few as were the years of his knowledge
of it. Part of his early employment had been to bring
provisions to Sydney from abroad. In 1803, he saw
large herds spreading over the country. He saw forests
giving way before the axe, and spreading fields of
grain and fruit ripening for the harvest. The popula
tion was increasing, the morale was improving, "and that
energetic spirit of enterprise which characterises
Britannia's children seemed to be throwing out vigorous
shoots in this new world." He perceived the obstacles
to progress. The East India Company's charter,
which prohibited trade between Sydney and India and
the western coasts of America, was one of them. Con
vict labour was another deterrent. But he had vision,
and found in the signs of development which he saw
around him phenomena "highly interesting to the con-
templator of the rise of nations."
Seven days out of Sydney, on August 17th, the
Porpoise struck a reef and was wrecked.
The three vessels were running under easy sail, the
Porpoise leading on what was believed to be a clear
course. At half-past nine o'clock at night the look-out
man on the forecastle called out "Breakers ahead."
Aken, the master, who was on watch, immediately
ordered the helm to be put down, but the ship answered
slowly. Fowler sprang on deck at once; but Flinders,
who was conversing in the gun-room, had no reason to
think that anything serious had occurred, and remained
there some minutes longer. When he, went on deck, he
found the ship beyond control among the breakers, and
a minute later she struck a coral reef and heeled over

288 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
on her starboard beam ends. "It was," says Seaman
Smith, "a dreadful shock." The reef— now called
Wreck Reef— was in latitude 22° 11' south, longitude
155° 13' east, about 200 miles north-east of Hervey
Bay, and 739 miles north of Sydney.* The wind was
blowing fresh, and the night was very dark. The heave
of the sea lifted the vessel and dashed her on the coral
a second and third time; the foremast was carried away,
and the bottom was stove in. It was realised at once
that so lightly built and unsound a ship as the Porpoise
was must soon be pounded to pieces under the repeated
shocks. Anxiety for the safety of the Cato and the Bridge-
water was felt, as they were following the lead of the
King's vessel. An attempt was made to fire a gun to
warn them, but the heavy surf and the violent motion
of the wrecked ship prevented this being done. Before
any warning could be given the Cato dashed upon the
coral about two cables' length from the Porpoise, whose
company saw her reel, fall over, and disappear from
view. The Bridgewater happily cleared the reef.
After the first moments of confusion had passed,
Flinders ordered the cutter and the gig to be launched.
He informed Fowler that he intended to save his charts
and journals, and to row to the Bridgewater to make
arrangements for the rescue of the wrecked people.
The gig, in which he attempted to carry out this plan,
* Extract from the Australia Directory, Vol. II. (Published by
the Admiralty) : — "Wreck Reef, on the central portion of which the
ships Porpoise and Cato were wrecked in 1803, consists of a chain
of reefs extending 184 miles and includes 5 sand cays ; Bird Islet,
the easternmost, is the only one known to produce any vegetation.
Of the other four bare cays none are more than 130 yards in extent,
or exceed six feet above high water ; they are at equal distances
apart of about four miles, and each is surrounded by a reef one to
one and a half miles in diameter. The passages between these reefs
are about two miles wide . . . On the northern side of most of
them there is anchorage."

THE CALAMITY OF WRECK REEF 289
was compelled to lie at a little distance from the ship.
to prevent being stove in; so he jumped overboard and
swam to her. She leaked badly, and there was nothing
with which to bale her out but the hats and shoes of the
ship's cook and two other men who had taken refuge
under the thwarts. Flinders steered towards the
Bridgewater' s lights, but she was standing off, and it was
soon seen to be impossible to reach her. It was also
unsafe to return to the Porpoise through the breakers
in the darkness ; so that the boat was kept on the water
outside the reef till morning, the small party on board
being drenched, cold under a sharp south-easter, and
wretchedly miserable. Flinders did his best to keep
up their spirits, telling them that they would un
doubtedly be rescued by the Bridgewater at daylight;
but he occupied his own mind in devising plans for
saving the wrecked company in case help from that
ship was not forthcoming.
Meanwhile blue lights had been burnt on the ship
every half-hour, as a guide to the Bridgewater, whose
lights were visible till about two o'clock in the morning.
Fowler also occupied time in constructing a raft from
the timbers, masts and yards of the Porpoise. "Every
breast," says Smith's narrative, "was filled with horror,
continual seas dashing over us with great violence."
Of the Cato nothing could be seen. She had struck, not
as the Porpoise had done, with her decks towards the
reef, but opposed to the full force of the lashing sea.
Very soon the planks were torn up and washed away,
and the unfortunate passengers and crew were huddled
together in the forecastle, some lashed to timber heads,
others clinging to any available means of support, and
to each other, expecting every moment that the
stranded vessel would be broken asunder. In Smith's
expressive words, the people were "hanging in a cluster
by each other on board the wreck, having nothing to

290 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
take to but the unmerciful waves, which at this time bore
a dreadful aspect."
At dawn, Flinders climbed on to the Porpoise by the
help of the fallen masts. As the light grew, it was
seen that about half a mile distant lay a dry sandbank
above high-water mark, sufficiently large to receive the
whole company, with such ptovisions as could be saved
from the ship. Orders were at once given to remove
to this patch, that gave promise of temporary safety,
everything that could be of any service; and the Cato's
company, jumping overboard and swimming through
the breakers with the aid of planks and spars, made for
the same spot. All were saved except three lads, one
of whom had been to sea on three or four voyages and
was wrecked on every occasion. "He had bewailed
himself through the night as the persecuted Jonah who
carried misfortune wherever he went. He launched
himself upon a broken spar with his captain ; but, having
lost his hold in the breakers, was not seen afterwards."
The behaviour of the Bridgewater in these distress
ing circumstances was inhuman and discreditable to such
a degree as is happily rare in the history of seamanship.
On the day following the wreck (August 18th) it would
have been easy and safe for her captain, Palmer, to
bring her to anchor in one of the several wide and
sufficiently deep openings in the reef, and to take the
wrecked people and their stores on board. Flinders
had the gig put in readiness to go off in her, to point
out the means of rescue. A topsail was set up on the
highest part of the reef, and a large blue ensign, with
the union downwards, was hoisted to it as a signal of
distress. But Palmer, who saw the signal, paid no heed
to it. Having sailed round the reef, deluding the un
fortunates for awhile with the false hope of relief, he
stood off and made for Batavia, leaving them to their
fate. Worse still, he acted mendaciously as well as

THE CALAMITY OF WRECK REEF 291
with a heartless disregard of their plight; for on his
arrival at Tellicherry he sent his third mate, Williams,
ashore with an untrue account of the occurrence, report
ing the loss of the Porpoise and Cato, and saying that
he had not only found it impossible to weather the reef,
but even had he done so it would have been too late to
render assistance. Williams, convinced that the crews
were still on the reef, and that Palmer's false account
had been sent ashore to excuse his own shameful con
duct, and "blind the people," left his captain's narra
tive as instructed, but only "after relating the story as
contrary as possible" on his own account. He told
Palmer what he had done, and his action "was the cause
of many words." What kind of words they were can
be easily imagined. The result of Williams' honest
independence was in the end fortunate for himself.
Though he left the ship, and forfeited his wages and
part of his clothes by so doing, he saved his own life
from drowning. The Bridgewater left Bombay for
London, and was never heard of again. "How dread
ful," Flinders commented, "must have been his reflec
tions at the time his ship was going down."
On the reef rapid preparations were made for
establishing the company in as much comfort as means
would allow, and for provisioning them until assistance
could be procured. They were 94 men "upon a small
uncertainty" — the phrase is Smith's — nearly eight
hundred miles from the nearest inhabited port. But they
had sufficient food for three months, and Flinders assured
them that within that time help could be procured.
Stores were landed, tents were made from the sails and
put up, and a proper spirit of discipline was installed,
after a convict-sailor had been promptly punished for
disorderly conduct. Spare clothing was served out to
some of the Cato's company who needed it badly, and
there was some fun at the expense of a few of them

292

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

who appeared in the uniforms of the King's navy. With
good humour came a feeling of hope. "On the fourth
day," wrote Flinders in a letter,* "each division of
officers and men had its private tent, and the public
magazine contained sufficient provisions and water to
subsist us three months. We had besides a quantity of
other things upon the bank, and our manner of living
and working had assumed the same regularity as on
board His Majesty's ships. I had to punish only one
man, formerly a convict at Port Jackson; and on that
occasion I caused the articles of war to be read, and
represented the fatal consequences that might ensue to
our whole community from any breach of discipline and
good order, and the certainty of its encountering
immediate punishment."
The stores available, t with the periods for which
they would suffice on full allowance, consisted of :
B^cuit . . • . 940 lbs. i g3 d
Flour .. •• 9644 „ $
Beef in four pounds 1776 pieces ) ^ , g
Pork in two pounds 592 ,, \

Pease Oatmeal Rice
Sugar Molasses Spirits
Wine Porter

45 bushels 107 days

50 „ 48 davs
1225 lbs. 114 days
12" ;; } 84da?s
225 gallons ")
113 „ C 49 days
60 „ )
Water, 5650 gallons at half a gallon per day
In addition there were some sauer kraut, essence of
malt, vinegar, salt, a new suit of sails, some spars, a
kedge anchor, iron-work and an armourer's forge, can-
* Flinders' Papers.
t Sydney Gazette, September 18th, 1803.

THE CALAMITY OF WRECK REEF 293
vas, twine, various small stores, four-and-a-half barrels
of gunpowder, two swivels, and several muskets and
pistols, with ball and flints. A few sheep were also
rescued. When they were being driven on to the reef
under the supervision of young John Franklin, they
trampled over some of Westall's drawings. Their
hoof-marks are visible on one of the originals, preserved
in the Royal Colonial Institute Library, to this day.
As soon as the colony on the reef had been regularly
established, a council of officers considered the steps
most desirable to be taken to secure relief. It was
resolved that Flinders should take the largest of the
Porpoise's two six-oar cutters, with an officer and crew,
and make his way to Port Jackson, where the aid of a
ship might be obtained. The enterprise was hazardous
at that season of the year. The voyage would in all
probability have to be undertaken in the teeth of strong
southerly winds, and the safe arrival of the cutter, even
under the direction of so skilful a seaman as Flinders,
was the subject of dubious speculation. But something
had to be done, and that promptly; and Flinders un
hesitatingly undertook the attempt. He gave direc
tions for the government of the reef during his absence,
and ordered that two decked boats should be built by
the carpenters from wreckage, so that in the event of his
failure the whole company might be conveyed to Sydney.
By the 25th August the cutter had been prepared
for her long voyage, and on the following day she was
launched and appropriately named the Hope. It was a
Friday morning, and some of the sailors had a
superstitious dread of sailing on a day supposed to be
unlucky. But the weather was fine and the wind light.
Flinders laughed at those who talked of luck. With
Captain Park of the Cato as his assistant officer, and a
double set of rowers, fourteen persons in all, he set out
at once. He carried three weeks' provisions. "All

294 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
hands gave them 3 chears, which was returned by the
boat's crew," says Seaman Smith. At the moment
when the Hope rowed away a sailor sprang to the flag
staff whence the signal of distress had been flying since
the morning when help from the Bridgewater had been
hoped for, and hauled down the blue ensign, which was
at once rehoisted with the union in the upper canton.
"This symbolic expression of contempt for the Bridge-
water and of confidence in the success of our voyage, I
did not see without lively emotion," Flinders relates.
Leaving the Hope to continue her brave course, we
may learn from Smith how the 80 men remaining on the
reef occupied themselves:
"From this time our hands are imployd, some about
our new boat, whose keel is laid down 32 feet; others
imployd in getting anything servisible from the wreck.
Our gunns and carriadges we got from the wreck and
placed them in a half moon form, close to our flag staf,
our ensign being dayly hoisted union downward. Our
boats sometimes is imployd in going to an island about
ten miles distant; and sometimes caught turtle and fish.
This island was in general sand. Except on the highest
parts, it produced sea spinage; very plentifully stockd
with birds and egs. In this manner the hands are
imployd and the month of October is set in. Still no
acct. of our Captn's success. Our boat likewise ready
for launching, the rigging also fitted over her masthead,
and had the appearance of a rakish schooner. On the
4th of Octr. we launchd her and gave her name of the
Hope.* On the 7th we loaded her with wood in order
to take it over to the island before mentiond to make
charcoal for our smith to make the ironwork for the
* Smith was in error. The boat built at the reef was named the
Resource. The Hope, as stated above, was the cutter in which
Flinders sailed from the reef to Sydney. See A Voyage to Terra
Australis, II., 315 and 329.

WRECK REEF ISLAND.
(Reproduced from the engraving in Flinders Journal, after li'estall's drawing.)

THE CALAMITY OF WRECK REEF 295
next boat, which we intend to build directly. She
accordingly saild."
A letter by John Franklin to his father* gives an
entertaining account of the wreck and of some other
points pertaining to our subject :
"Providential Bank,
"August 26th, 1803,
"Lat. 22° 12', long. 155° 13' (nearly) E
"Dear Father,
"Great will be your surprise and sorrow to find by
this that the late investigators are cast away in a sandy
patch of about 300 yards long and 200 broad, by the
wreck of H.M.S. Porpoise on our homeward bound
passage on the reefs of New South Wales. You will
then wonder how we came into her. I will explain:
The Investigator on her late voyage, was found when
surveying the Gulf of Carpentaria to be rotten, which
obliged us to make our best way to Port Jackson; but
the bad state of health of our crew induced Captain
Flinders to touch at Timor for refreshment; which
being done he sailed, having several men died on the
passage of dysentery. On our arrival she was sur
veyed and condemned as being unfit for service. There
being no other ship in Sydney fit to complete her in
tended voyage, Governor King determined to send us
home in the Porpoise. She sailed August 10th, 1803,
in company with the Bridgewater, extra Indiaman, and
Cato, steering to the N.W. intending to try how short a
passage might be made through Torres Straits to Eng
land. On Wednesday, 17th, we fell in with reefs, t sur
veyed them, and kept our course, until half-past nine,
when I was aroused by the cry of breakers, and before
* MS., Mitchell Library.
t Cato Islet and reefs.

296

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

I got on deck the ship struck on the rocks.* Such boats
as could be were got out, the masts cut away, and then
followed the horrors of ship-wreck, seas breaking over,
men downcast, expecting the ship every moment to part.
A raft of spars was made, and laid clear, sufficiently
large to take the ship's company in case the ship should
part; but as Providence ordained she lasted until morn
ing, when happy were we to see this sandbank bearing
N.W. quarter of a mile. But how horrible on the
other hand to see the Cato in a worse condition than
ourselves, the men standing forward shouting for assist
ance, but could get none, when their ship was parting.
All except three of them committed themselves to the
waves, and swam to us, and are now living on this bank.
The Bridgewater appeared in sight, and then in a most
shameful and inhuman manner left us, supposing
probably every soul had perished. Should she
make that report on her arrival consider it as false.
We live, we have hopes of reaching Sydney.
The Porpoise being a tough little ship hath, and
still does in some measure, resist the power of
the waves, and we have been able to get most
of her provisions, water, spars, carpenter's tools, and
every other necessary on the bank, fortunate spot that
it is, on which 94 souls live. Captain Flinders and his
officers have determined that he and fourteen men
should go to Port Jackson in a cutter and fetch a vessel
for the remainder; and in the meantime to build two
boats sufficiently large to contain us if the vessels should
not come. Therefore we shall be from this bank in
six or eight weeks, and most probably in England by
eight or nine. Our loss was more felt as we
anticipated the pleasure of seeing our friends
and relations after an absence of two years and
a half. Let me recommend you to give your-

* Wreck Reef.

THE CALAMITY OF WRECK REEF 297
selves no anxiety, for there is every hope of
reaching England ere long. I received the letters by
the Glatton and was sorry to find that Captain F. had
lost his father. He was a worthy man. You would
not dislike to have some account of our last voyage, I
suppose. We were 1 1 months from Sydney, and all
that time without fresh meat or vegetables, excepting
when we were at Timor, and now and then some fish,
and mostly in the torrid zone, the sun continually over
our head, and the thermometer at 85, 86, and 89. The
ship's company was so weakened by the immense heat
that when we were to the southward they were continu
ally ill of the dysentery; nay, nine of them died, besides
eight we lost on our last cruise. Thus you see the
Investigator's company has been somewhat shattered
since leaving England. Our discoveries have been
great, but the risks and misfortunes many.
"Have you got the prize money? I see it is due,
and may be had by applying at No. 21 Milbank St.,
Westminster; due July 22, 1802. If you do not, it
will go to Greenwich Hospital. I had occasion to draw
for necessaries at Sydney this last time £24 from
Capt'n. F.
"John Franklin."

Chapter XX.
TO ILE-DE-FRANCE IN THE CUMBERLAND
Governor King received the news of the wreck of the
Porpoise immediately after the arrival of the Hope in
Port Jackson, on the evening of September 8th. King
and his family were at dinner when to his great amaze
ment Flinders was announced. "A razor had not
passed over our faces from the time of the shipwreck,"
he records, "and the surprise of the Governor was not
little at seeing two persons thus appear whom he
supposed to be many hundred leagues on their way to
England; but so soon as he was convinced of the truth
of the vision before him, and learned the melancholy
cause, an involuntary tear started from the eye of
friendship and compassion, and we were received in the
most affectionate manner."
King in an official letter confessed that he could not
"sufficiently commend your voluntary services, and
those who came with you, in undertaking a voyage of
700 miles in an open boat to procure relief for our
friends now on the reef." It was, indeed, an achieve
ment of no small quality in itself.
Plans for the relief of the wrecked people were
immediately formed. Captain Cumming of the Rolla,
a 438-ton merchant ship, China-bound, agreed to call
at the reef, take some of them on board, and carry them
to Canton, whilst the Francis, which was to sail in com
pany, was to bring the remainder back to Sydney.
Flinders himself was to take command of the Cumber
land, a 29-ton schooner, and was to sail in her to Eng
land with his charts and papers as rapidly as possible.
The Cumberland was a wretchedly small vessel in
298

TO ILE-DE-FRANCE 299
which to traverse fifteen thousand miles of ocean. She
was "something less than a Gravesend passage boat"
and hardly better suited for the effort than a canal
barge. But, given anything made of wood that would
float and steer, inconvenience and difficulty never
baffled Matthew Flinders when there was service to per
form. She was the first vessel that had been built in
Australia. Moore, the Government boat-builder, had
put her together for colonial service, and she was re
puted to be strong, tight, and well behaved in a sea; but
of course she was never designed for long ocean
voyages. However, she was the only boat available;
and though Flinders regretted that the meagre accom
modation she afforded would prevent him from working
at his charts while making the passage, he was too eager
to accomplish his purpose to hesitate about accepting
the means. "Fortuna audaces juvat" might at
any time have been his motto; fortune helpeth them
that dare. An unavoidable delay of thirteen days
caused some anxiety. "Every day seemed a week,"
until he could get on his way towards the reef. But,
at length, on September 21st, the Cumberland in com
pany with the Rolla and Francis sailed out of Port Jack
son. The crew consisted of a boatswain and ten men.
On Friday, October 7th, exactly six weeks after the
Hope had left Wreck Reef, the ensign on the flagstaff
was sighted from the mast-head of the Rolla. At
about the same time a seaman who was out with
Lieutenant Fowler, in a new boat that had been con
structed from the wreckage, saw a white object in the
distance against the blue of the sky. At first he took it
for a sea-bird; but, looking at it more steadfastly, he
suddenly jumped up, exclaiming, "damn my blood,
what's that?" It was, in truth, the top-gallant sail of
the Rolla. Everybody looked at it; a sail indeed it was;
Flinders had not failed them, and rescue was imminent.

300 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
A shout of delight went up, and the boat scurried back
to the reef to announce the news.
At about two o'clock in the afternoon, Flinders
anchored under the lee of the bank. The shell of the
Porpoise still lay on her beam side high up on the reef,
but, her carronades having been landed, the happy
people welcomed their deliverers with a salute of eleven
guns. "Every heart was overjoyed at this unexpected
delivery," as seaman Smith's narrative records; and
when Flinders stepped ashore, he was long and loudly
cheered. Men pressed around him to shake his hands
and thank him, and tears of joy rolled down the hard,
weather-worn faces of men not over-given to a display
of feeling. For his own part "the pleasure of rejoining
my companions so amply provided with the means of
relieving their distress made this one of the happiest
moments of my life."
In singular contrast with the pleasure of everyone
else was the cool demeanour of Samuel Flinders. A
letter previously cited contains a reference to him, which
suggests that he was not always quite brotherly or
generally satisfactory. On this occasion he was oddly
stiff and uncordial. Flinders relates the incident:
"Lieutenant Flinders, then commanding officer on the
bank, was in his tent calculating some lunar distances,
when one of the young gentlemen ran to him calling,
'Sir, sir, a ship and two schooners in sight.' After a
little consideration, Mr. Flinders said he supposed it
was his brother come back, and asked if the vessels were
near. He was answered, not yet; upon which he
desired to be informed when they should reach the
anchorage, and very calmly resumed his calculations.
Such are the varied effects produced by the same circum
stances upon different minds. When the desired report
was made, he ordered the salute to be fired, and took
part in the general satisfaction."

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TO ILE-DE-FRANCE 301
After the welcoming was over, Flinders assembled
all the people and informed them what his plans were.
Those who chose might go to Sydney in the Francis; the
others, with the exception of ten, would sail in the
Rolla to Canton and others take ship for England. To
accompany him in the Cumberland he chose John Aken,
who had been master of the Investigator, Edward
Charrington, the boatswain, his own servant, John
Elder, and seven seamen. Their names are contained
in the logbook which General Decaen detained at Ile-
de-France. They were George Elder, who had been
carpenter on the Porpoise, John Woods, Henry Lewis,
Francis Smith, N. Smith, James Carter, and Jacob
Tibbet, all picked men.
Young Franklin went in the Rolla. As he explained
in a letter to his mother* : "The reason I did not accom
pany Captain Flinders was the smallness of the vessel
and badness of accommodation, he having only taken
the master with him." The young sailor's application
had won the commendation of the commander, who was
a hero to him throughout his adventurous life. We
find Flinders writing to his wifef "John Franklin
approves himself worthy of notice. He is capable of
learning everything that we can show him, and but for
a little carelessness I would not wish to have a son other
wise than he is."
At noon on October 11th, four days after the
arrival of the relieving ships at the reef, they parted
company, with cheers and expressions of good will. The
Rolla accomplished her voyage to China safely, and in
the following year Lieutenant Fowler, Samuel Flinders,
John Franklin, and the remainder of the old Investi
gator's company who sailed in her returned to England
On their return voyage they participated in as remark-

* MSS., Mitchell Library.
t Flinders' Papers.

302 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
able a comedy as the history of naval warfare contains.
Their ship was one of a company of thirty-one sail, all
richly laden merchantmen, under the general command
of the audacious Commodore Nathaniel Dance; and
he, encountering a French squadron under Rear-Admiral
Linois, succeeded by sheer, impudent "bluff" in making
him believe that they were convoyed by British frigates.
and deterred him from capturing or even seriously
attacking them.*
From the very commencement of the voyage the
little Cumberland caused trouble and anxiety. She
leaked to a greater extent than had been reported, and
the pumps were so defective that a fourth part of every
day had to be spent at them to keep the water down.
They became worse with constant use, and by the time
Timor was reached, on November 10th, one of them
was nearly useless. At Kupang no means of refitting
the worn-out pump or of pitching the leaky seams in
the upper works of the boat were obtainable; and
Flinders had to face a run across the Indian Ocean with
the prospect of having to keep down the water with
an impaired equipment.
When discussing the route with Governor King
before leaving Sydney, Flinders had pointed out that
the size of the Cumberland, and the small quantity of
stores and water she could carry, would oblige him to
call at every convenient port ; and he mentioned that the
places which he contemplated visiting were Kupang in
Timor, Ile-de-France (Mauritius), the Cape of Good
Hope, St. Helena, and one of the Canaries. But King
took exception to a call being made at Ile-de-France.
partly because he did not wish to encourage communica
tion between Port Jackson and the French colony, and
* Lieutenant Fowler was presented with a sword valued at 50
guineas for his part m this action, which took place on 14th
February, 1804, off Polo Aor, Malacca Strait. See the author's
1 erre Napoleon, p. 16.

TO ILE-DE-FRANCE 303
partly because he understood that hurricane weather pre
vailed in the neighbourhood at about the time of the
year when the Cumberland would be in the Indian
Ocean. To respect King's wishes, Flinders on leaving
Kupang set a course direct for the Cape of Good Hope.
But when twenty-three days out from Timor, on the
4th of December, a heavy south-west ground swell com
bined with a strong eastern following sea caused the
vessel to labour exceedingly, and to ship such quantities
of water that the one effective pump had to be kept
working day and night continually. If anything went
wrong with this pump, a contingency to be feared from
its incessant employment, there was a serious risk of
foundering. After enduring two days of severe shaking, Flinders
came to the determination that considerations of safety
compelled him to make for Ile-de-France. On Decem
ber 6th, therefore, he altered the Cumberland's course
for that island.
When he wrote his Voyage to Terra Australis, he
had not his journal in his possession, and worked from
notes of his recollections. In telling the story now, the
author has before him not only what Flinders wrote in
this way, but also a copy of the French translation of
the journal which Decaen had prepared for his own
use, and several letters written by Flinders, wherein he
related what passed in his mind when he resolved to
alter his course.
The first and most imperative reason was the
necessity for repairing the ship and refitting the pumps.
Secondly, rations had had to be shortened, and victuals
and water were required. Thirdly, Flinders had come
to the conclusion that the Cumberland was unfit to com
plete the voyage to England, and he hoped to be able to
sell her, and procure a passage home in another ship.
"I cannot write up my journal unless the weather is ex-

304 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
tremely fine," he wrote. Fourthly, he desired "to
acquire a knowledge of the winds and weather at the
island of the actual state of the French colony, of what
utility it and its dependencies in Madagascar, might be
to Port Jackson, and whether the colony could afford
me resources in my future voyages."*
When he sailed from Port Jackson there was, as
far as he knew, peace between England and France.
But there was a possibility that war had broken out
again. In that event, the thought occurred to him
that it would be safer to call at the French colony than
at the Cape, since he had a passport from the French
Government, but not from the Dutch, who would
probably be involved in hostilities against England.
He did not forget that the passport was made out for
the Investigator, not for the Cumberland. "But I
checked my suspicions by considering that the passport
was certainly intended to protect the voyage and not
the Investigator only. A description of the Investi
gator was indeed given in it, but the intention of it
could be only to prevent imposition. The Cumberland
was now prosecuting the voyage, and I had come in her
for a lawful purpose, and upon such an occasion as the
passport allowed me to put into a French port. The
great desire also that the French nation has long shown
to promote geographical researches, and the friendly
treatment that the Geographe and the Naturaliste had
received at Port Jackson, rose up before me as guaran
tees that I should not be impeded, but should receive
the kindest welcome and every assistance. "t
He had no chart of Ile-de-France, but a description
* Journal.
t Flinders to Fleurieu ; copy in Record Office, London. An
entry in his Journal shows that only when he was informed that the
war had been renewed did it occur to Flinders that the French
authorities would interpret literally the fact that the passport was
granted to the Investigator.

TO ILE-DE-FRANCE 305
in the third edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica
informed him that the principal harbour, Port Louis,
was on the north-west side, and thither he intended to
steer. On December 15th the peaks of the island showed
up against the morning sky. At noon the Cumberland
was running along the shore, close enough to be ob
served, and made a signal for a pilot from the fore-top
mast head. A small French schooner came out of a
cove, and Flinders, wishing to speak with her to make
enquiries, followed her. She ran on, and entered a
port, which proved to be Baye du Cap (now Cape Bay)
on the south-west coast. Flinders steered in her wake,
thinking that she was piloting him to safety. The
truth was that the French on board thought they were
being pursued by an English fighting ship, which meant
to attack them; and immediately they came to anchor,
without even waiting to furl sails, they hurried ashore
in a canoe and reported accordingly. Thus from the
very beginning of his appearance at Ile-de-France, was
suspicion cast on Flinders. So began his years of sore
trouble. It was evident from the commotion on shore that
the arrival of the Cumberland had aroused excitement.
Flinders saw the people from the schooner speaking to
a soldier, who, from the plumes in his hat, appeared to
be an officer. Presently some troops with muskets
appeared in sight. Apparently orders had been given
to call out the guard. Flinders concluded that a state
of war existed, and hastened to inform the authorities
by sending Aken ashore in a boat, that he had a pass
port, and was free from belligerent intentions.
Aken returned with an officer, Major Dunienville,
to whom the passport was shown, and the necessities of
the Cumberland explained. He politely invited
Flinders to go on shore and dine with him. It was

306 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
pointed out that the immediate requirements were fresh
water and a pilot who would take the ship round to
Port Louis, as repairs could not be effected at Baye
du Cap. The pilot was promised for the next day, and
Major Dunienville at once sent a boat for the Cumber
land's empty casks.
As soon as he got ashore again, Dunienville wrote a
report of what had occurred to the Captain-General, or
Military Governor of the island, General Decaen, and
sent it off by a special messenger. In this document*
he related that a schooner flying the English flag had
chased a coastal schooner into the bay; that the alarm
had been given that she was a British privateer; that he
had at once called out the troops;. and that, expecting
an attack, he had ordered the women and children to
retire to the interior, and had given orders for cattle
and sheep to be driven into the woods ! "Happily," he
proceeded, "all these precautions, dictated by circum
stances, proved to be unnecessary." The English
captain had explained to him that he had merely
followed the coastal boat because he had no pilot, and
wished to enter the bay to solicit succour; "adding that
he did not know of the war, and consequently had no
idea that he would spread alarm by following it.
Later in the afternoon Dunienville returned to the
Cumberland with the district commandant, Etienne
Bolger, and an interpreter. The passport was again ex
amined, when Bolger pointed out that it was not granted
to the Cumberland but to the Investigator, and that the
matter must be dealt with by the Governor personally.
At first he desired to send the passport to him, but
Flinders objected to allowing it to leave his possession,
as it constituted his only guarantee of protection from
the French authorities. Then it was arranged that he
* Decaen Papers, Vol. 84.

TO ILE-DE-FRANCE 307
should travel overland to Port Louis, while Aken took
round the ship. But finally Bolger allowed Flinders
to sail round in the Cumberland, under the guidance of
a pilot. He was hospitably entertained at dinner by
Major Dunienville, who invited a number of ladies and
gentlemen to meet him; and on the morning of
December 16th he sailed, with the major on board,
for Port Louis, where he was to confront General
Decaen. The character and position of the Captain-General
of Ile-de-France are so important in regard to the
remainder of Flinders' life, that it will be desirable to
devote a chapter to some account of him.

Chapter XXI.
GENERAL DECAEN
Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen was born at
Caen, the ancient and picturesque capital of Normandy,
on April 13th, 1769. Left an orphan at the age of
twelve, his education was superintended by a friend of
his father, who had been a public official. At the end
of his schooldays he studied law under an advocate of
local celebrity, M. Lasseret. Though his juristic train
ing was not prolonged, the discipline of the office gave
a certain bent to his mind, a certain lawyer-like strict
ness and method to his mode of handling affairs, that
remained characteristic during his military career, and
was exceedingly useful to him while he governed Ile-de-
France. Very often in perusing his Memoires* the
reader perceives traces of the lawyer in the language of
the soldier. Thus, when during the campaign of the
Rhine he found that his superior officer, General
Jourdan, was taking about with him as his aide-de-camp
a lady in military attire, Decaen, with a solemnity that
seems a little un-French under the circumstances, con
demned the breach of the regulations as conduct "which
was not that of a father of a family, a legislator and a
general-in-chief." As for the lady, "les charmes de

* The Memoires et Journaux du General Decaen were prepared
for publication by himself, and the portion up to the commencement
of his governorship has been printed, with notes and maps, by
Colonel Ernest Picard, Chief of the Historical Section of the Staff
of the French Army (2 vols., Paris, 1910). Colonel Picard in
formed me that he did not intend to print the remainder, thinking
that the ground was sufficiently covered by Professor Henri Pren-
tout's admirable book LTle de France sous Decaen. I have, there
fore, had the section relating to Flinders transcribed from the manu
script, and used it freely for this book.

GENERAL DECAEN.

GENERAL DECAEN 309
cette maussade creature" merely evoked his scorn. It
does not appear that Jourdan's escapade produced any
ill effects in a military sense, but it was against the regu
lations, and Decaen was as yet as much lawyer as
soldier. When the revolutionary wars broke out, and
France was ringed round by a coalition of enemies,
the voice of "la patrie en danger" rang in the ears of
the young student like a call from the skies. He was
twenty-two years of age when two deputies of the
Legislative Assembly came down to Caen and made an
appeal to the manhood of the country to fly to arms.
Decaen, fuming with patriotic indignation, threw down
his quill, pitched his calf-bound tomes on to their shelf,
and was the first to inscribe his name upon the register
of the fourth battalion of the regiment of Calvados, an
artillery corps. He was almost immediately des
patched to Mayence on the Rhine, where Kleber (who
was afterwards to serve with distinction under Bona
parte in Egypt) hard pressed by the Prussians, with
drew the French troops into the city (March, 1793)
and prepared to sustain a siege.
Decaen rose rapidly, by reason not merely of his
bull-dog courage and stubborn tenacity, but also of his
intelligence and integrity. He received his "baptism
of fire" in an engagement in April, when Kleber sent a
detachment to chase a Prussian outpost from a neigh
bouring village and to collect whatever forage and pro
visions might be obtained. He was honest enough
to confess — and his own oft-proved bravery enabled
him to do so unashamed — that, when he first found the
bullets falling about him, he was for a moment afraid.
"I believe," he wrote, "that there are few men, how
ever courageous they may be, who do not experience a
chill, and even a feeling of fear, when for the first
time they hear around them the whistling of shot,

310 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
and above all when they first see the field strewn
with killed and wounded comrades."*. But he was a
sergeant-major by this time, and remembered that it
was his duty to set an example; so, screwing up his
courage to the sticking-place by an effort of will, and
saying to himself that it was not for a soldier of France
to quail before a ball, he deliberately wheeled his horse
to the front of a position where a regiment was being
shaken by the enemy's artillery fire, and by his very
audacity stiffened the wavering troops and saved the
situation. After the capitulation of Mayence in July, 1793,
Decaen fought with distinction in the war in La Vendee.
In this cruel campaign he displayed unusual qualities
as a soldier, and attained the rank of adjutant-
general. Kleber gave him a command calling for ex
ceptional nerve, with the comment, "It is the most
dangerous position, and I thought it worthy of your
courage." It was Decaen, according to his own
account, who devised the plan of sending out a
number of mobile columns to strike at the rebels
swiftly and unexpectedly. But though he was succeed
ing in a military sense, these operations against
Frenchmen, while there were foreign foes to fight
beyond the frontiers, were thoroughly distasteful to
him. The more he saw of the war in La Vendee, and
the more terribly the thumb of the national power
pressed upon the throat of the rebellion, the more he
hated the service. It was at his own solicitation, there
fore, that he was transferred to the army of the Rhine
in January, 1795.
Here he served under the ablest general, saving only
Bonaparte himself, whom the wars of the Revolution
produced to win glory for French arms, Jean Victor
" Memoires, I., 13.

GENERAL DECAEN 311
Moreau. His bravery and capacity continued to win him
advancement. Moreau promoted him to the command
of a brigade, and presented him with a sword of honour
for his masterly conduct of a retreat through the Black
Forest, when, in command of the rear-guard, he fought
the Austrians every mile of the road to the Rhine.
He became a general of division in 1800. At the
battle of Hohenlinden, where Moreau concentrated his
troops to give battle to the Austrians under the Arch
duke John, Decaen performed splendid service; indeed
it was he who chose the position, and recommended it
as a favourable place for taking a stand.* Moreau
knew him well by now, and on the eve of the fight
(December 2nd) when he brought up his division to
the plateau in the forest of Ebersberg, where the village
of Hohenlinden stands, and presented himself at head
quarters to ask for orders, the commander-in-chief rose
to greet him with the welcome, "Ah, there is Decaen, the
battle will be ours to-morrow." It was intended for a
personal compliment, we cannot doubt, though Decaen
in his Memoires (II., 136) interpreted it to mean that
the general was thinking of the 10,000 troops whose
arrival he had come to announce.
Moreau's plan was this. He had posted his main
force strongly fronting the Austrian line of advance, on
the open Hohenlinden plateau. The enemy had to
march through thickly timbered country to the attack.
The French general instructed Decaen and Richepance
to manoeuvre their two divisions, each consisting of
10,000 men, through the forest, round the Austrian
rear, and to attack them there, as soon as they delivered
their attack upon the French front. The Archduke
John believed Moreau to be in full retreat, and hurried
* Memoires, II., 89.

312 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
his army forward from Haag, east of Hohenlinden,
amid falling snow.
" By torch and trumpet fast array'd
Each horseman drew his battle-blade,
And furious every charger neigh'd
To join the dreadful revelry.
Then shook the hills with thunder riven ;
Then rush'd the steed, to battle driven,
And louder than the bolts of Heaven
Far flashed the red artillery."
Decaen's division marched at five o'clock on the
morning of December 3rd, and shortly before eight the
boom of the Austrian cannon was heard. His troops
pressed forward in a blinding snowstorm. An officer
said that the guns seemed to show that the Austrians
were turning the French position. "Ah, well," said
Decaen, "if they turn ours, we will turn theirs in our
turn." It was one of the few jokes he made in his
whole life, and it exactly expressed the situation. The
Austrian army was caught like a nut in a nut-cracker.
Battered from front and rear, their ranks broke, and
fugitives streamed away east and west, like the
crumbled kernel of a filbert. Decaen threw his battalions
upon their rear with a furious vigour, and crumpled it
up ; and almost at the very moment of victory the snow
ceased to fall, the leaden clouds broke, and a brilliant
sun shone down upon the scene of carnage and triumph.
Ten thousand Austrians were killed, wounded, or taken
prisoners, whilst 80 guns and about two hundred bag
gage waggons fell as spoils to the French. In this
brilliant victory Decaen's skill and valour, rapidity and
verve, had been of inestimable value, as Moreau was
prompt to acknowledge.
The quick soldier's eye of Bonaparte recognised
him at once as a man of outstanding worth. The Con-

GENERAL DECAEN 313
sulate had been established in December, 1799, and the
First Consul was anxious to attach to him strong, able
men. In 1802 Decaen ventured to use his influence
with the Government regarding an appointment to the
court of appeal at Caen, for which Lasseret, his old
master in law, was a candidate ; and we find Bonaparte
writing to Cambaceres, who had charge of the law
department, that "if the citizen possesses the requisite
qualifications I should like to defer to the wishes of
General Decaen, who is an officer of great merit."* He
saw much of Bonaparte in Paris during 1801 and 1802,
when the part he had to play was an extremely difficult
one, demanding the exercise of tact and moral courage
in an unusual measure. The Memoires throw a vivid
light on the famous quarrel between Moreau and
Napoleon, which in the end led to the exile of the victor
of Hohenlinden. Moreau was Decaen's particular friend, the com
mander who had given him opportunities for distinction,
one whom he loved and honoured as a man and a
patriot. But he was jealous of Napoleon's success, was
disaffected towards the consular government, and was
believed to be concerned in plots for its overthrow. On
the other hand, Napoleon was not only the head of the
State, but was the greatest soldier of his age. Decaen's
admiration of him was unbounded, and Napoleon's atti
tude towards Decaen was cordial. He tried to recon
cile these two men whom he regarded with such warm
affection, but failed. One day, when business was being
discussed, Napoleon said abruptly, "Decaen, General
Moreau is conducting himself badly; I shall have to
denounce him." Decaen was moved to tears, and in
sisted that Napoleon was ill informed. "You are good
yourself," said the First Consul, "and you think every-
* Napoleon's Correspondance, Document 5596.

314 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
body else is like you. Moreau is corresponding with
Pichegru," whose conspiracy was known to the Govern
ment. "It is not possible." "But I have a letter which
proves it." Moreover, Moreau was openly disrespect
ful to the Government. He had presented himself
out of uniform on occasions when courtesy demanded
that he should wear it. If Moreau had anything to
complain about, he did not make it better by associating
with malcontents. "He has occupied a high position,
which gives him influence, and a bad influence upon
public opinion hampers the work of the Government.
I have not fallen here out of the sky, you know; I
follow my glory. France wants repose, not more dis
turbance." Decaen manfully championed his friend,
"I am persuaded," he said, "that if you made overtures
to Moreau you would easily draw him towards you."
"No," said Napoleon "he is a shifting sand." Moreau
said to Decaen, "I am too old to bend my back"; but
the latter was of opinion that the real source of the
mischief was that Moreau had married a young wife,
and that she and his mother-in-law considered they were
entitled to as much attention as Madame Bonaparte
received. Pride, jealousy and vanity, he declared, were
the real source of the quarrel. Decaen, indeed, has a
story that when Madame Moreau once called upon
Josephine at Malmaison, she returned in an angry state
of mind because she was not at once admitted, bidding
a servant tell her mistress that the wife of General
Moreau was not accustomed to be kept waiting. The
simple explanation was that Josephine was in her bath !
Decaen came to be appointed Governor of Ile-de-
France in this way. One day, after dining with
Napoleon at Malmaison, the First Consul took a stroll
with him, and in the course of conversation asked him
what he wanted to do. "I have my sword for the ser
vice of my country," said Decaen. "Very good,"

GENERAL DECAEN 315
answered Napoleon, "but what would you like to do
now?" Decaen then mentioned that he had been
reading the history of the exploits of La Bourdonnaye
and Dupleix in India, and was much attracted
by the possibilities for the expansion of French
power there. "Have you ever been to India?"
enquired Napoleon. "No, but I am young, and,
desiring to do something useful, I should like to
undertake a mission which I believe would not
be likely to be coveted by many, having regard to the
distance between France and that part of the world.
And even if it were necessary to spend ten years of my
life awaiting a favourable opportunity of acting against
the English, whom I detest because of the injury they
have done to our country, I should undertake the task
with the utmost satisfaction." Napoleon merely ob
served that what he desired might perhaps be arranged.
A few months later Decaen was invited to breakfast
with Napoleon at Malmaison. He was asked whether
he was still inclined to go to India, and replied that he
was. "Very well, then, you shall go." "In what
capacity?" "As Captain-General. Go and see the
Minister of Marine, and tell him to show you all the
papers relative to the expedition that is in course of
being fitted out."
Under the treaty of Amiens, negotiated in 1801,
Great Britain agreed to restore to the French Republic
and its allies all conquests made during the recent wars
except Trinidad and Ceylon. From the British point
of view it was an inglorious peace. Possessions which
had been won in fair fight, by the ceaseless activity and
unparalleled efficiency of the Navy, and by the blood
and valour of British manhood, were signed away with
a stroke of the pen. The surrender of the Cape was
especially lamentable, because upon security at that
point depended the safety of India and Australia. But

316 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
the Addington ministry was weak and temporising, and
was alarmed about the internal condition of England,
where dear food, scarcity of employment and popular
discontent, consequent upon prolonged warfare, made the
King's advisers nervously anxious to put an end to the
struggle. The worst feature of the situation was that
everybody thoroughly well understood that it was a mere
parchment peace. Cornwallis called it "an experimental
peace." It was also termed "an armistice" and "a
frail and deceptive truce"; and though Addington
declared it to be "no ordinary peace but a genuine
reconciliation between the two first nations of the
world," his flash of rhetoric dazzled nobody but him
self. He was the Mr. Perker of politics, an accom
modating attorney rubbing his hands and exclaiming
"My dear sir!" while he bartered the interests of his
client for the delusive terms of a brittle expediency.
Decaen was to go to India to take charge of the
former French possessions there, under the terms of
the treaty, and from Pondicherry was also to control
Ile-de-France (Mauritius) which the English had not
taken during the war. Napoleon's instructions to him
clearly indicated that he did not expect the peace to
endure. Decaen was "to dissimulate the views of the
Government as much as possible"; "the English are the
tyrants of India, they are uneasy and jealous, it is
necessary to behave towards them with suavity, dissimu
lation and simplicity." He was to regard his mission
primarily as one of observation upon the policy and
military dispositions of the English. But Napoleon in
formed him in so many words that he intended some
day to strike a blow for "that glory which perpetuates
the memory of men throughout the centuries." For
that, however, it was first necessary "that we should
become masters of the sea."*

Memoires, II., 310.

GENERAL DECAEN 317
Decaen sailed from Brest in February, 1803. Lord
Whitworth, the British ambassador to Paris, watched
the proceedings with much care, and promptly directed
the attention of his Government to the disproportionate
number of officers the new Captain-General was taking
with him. The Government passed the information on
to the Governor-General of India, Lord Wellesley, who
was already determined that, unless absolutely ordered
so to do, he would not permit a French military force to
land. Before Decaen arrived at Pondicherry, indeed,
in June, 1803, Wellesley had received a despatch from
Lord Hobart, Secretary of State for War and the
Colonies, warning him that, notwithstanding the treaty
of Amiens, "certain circumstances render desirable a
delay in the restitution of their possessions in India" to
the French, and directing that territory occupied by
British troops was not to be evacuated by them without
fresh orders. Great Britain already perceived the
fragility of the peace, and, in fact, was expediting
preparations for a renewal of war, which was declared
in May, 1803.
When, therefore, the French frigate Marengo, with
Decaen on board, arrived at Pondicherry, the British
flag still flew over the Government buildings, and he
soon learnt that there was no disposition to lower it.
Moreover, La Belle Poule, which had been cent in ad
vance from the Cape to herald the Captain-General's
coming, was anchored between two British ships of
war, which had carefully ranged themselves alongside
her. Decaen grasped the situation rapidly. A few
hours after his arrival, the French brig Belier appeared.
She had left France on March 25th, carrying a despatch
informing the Captain-General that war v/as antici
pated, and directing him to land his troops at Ile-de-
France, where he was to assume the governorship.
Rear-Admiral Linois, who commanded the French

318 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
division, wanted to sail at once. Decaen insisted on
taking aboard some of the French who were ashore, but
Linois pointed to the strong British squadron in sight,
and protested that he ought not to compromise the
safety of his ships by delaying departure. Linois was
always a very nervous officer. Decaen stormed, and
Linois proposed to call a council of his captains. "A
council!" exclaimed Decaen, "I am the council!" It
was worthy of what Voltaire attributed to Louis XIV. :
" I'etat, c'est mois." After sunset Decaen visited
the ships of the division in a boat, and warned
their captains to get ready to follow the Marengo out
of the roadstead of Pondicherry in the darkness. He
considered that it would be extremely embarrassing if
the British squadron, suspecting their intentions, en
deavoured to frustrate them. At an appointed hour
the Marengo quietly dropped out of the harbour, cut
ting the cable of one of her anchors rather than permit
any delay.
On August 15th Decaen landed at Port Louis, Ile-
de-France, and on the following day he took over the
government. He had therefore been in command
exactly four months when Matthew Flinders, in the
Cumberland, put into Baye du Cap on December 15th.
For his conduct in the Flinders affair Decaen has
been plentifully denounced. "A brute," "a malignant
tyrant," "vindictive, cruel and unscrupulous" — such are
a few shots from the heavy artillery of language that
have been fired at his reputation. The author knows
of one admirer of Flinders who had a portrait of
Decaen framed and hung with its face to the wall of
his study. It is, unfortunately, much easier to denounce
than to understand; and where resonant terms have been
flung in freest profusion, it does not appear that an
endeavour has been made to study what occurred from
the several points of view, and to examine Decaen's

GENERAL DECAEN 319
character and actions in the light of full information.
A postponement of epithets until we have ascertained
the facts is in this, as in so many other cases, extremely
desirable. No candid reader of Decaen's Memoires, and of
Prentout's elaborate investigation of his administration,
can fail to recognise that he was a conspicuously honest
man. During his governorship he handled millions of
francs. Privateers from Ile-de-France captured British
merchant ships, to a value, including their cargo, of
over £3,000,000 sterling,* a share of which it would
have been easy for Decaen to secure. But his financial
reputation is above suspicion. His management was
economical and efficient. He ended his days in honour
able poverty.
He was blunt and plainspoken ; and though he could
be pleasant, was when ruffled by no means what Mrs.
Malaprop called "the very pineapple of politeness."
His quick temper brought him into continual conflict
with superiors and subordinates. He quarrelled
repeatedly with generals and ministers; with Admiral
Linois, with Soult, with Decres, with Barras, with
Jourdan, and with many others. When General
Lecourbe handed him a written command during the
Rhine campaign, he says himself that, "when I received
the order I tightened my lips and turned my back upon
him." He speaks of himself in one place as being "of
a petulant character and too free with my tongue."
That concurs with Flinders' remark, after bitter ex-
* Prentout, p. 509, estimates the value of captures at i2,000,000,
but Mr. H. Hope informed Flinders in 1811, that insurance offices
in Calcutta had actually paid £3,000,000 sterling on account of ships
captured by the French at Mauritius. Flinders, writing with ex
ceptional opportunities for forming an opinion, calculated that
during the first sixteen months of the war the French captures of
British merchant ships brought to Ile-de-France were worth
il,948,000 (Voyage II., 416).

320 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
perience of Decaen, that he possessed "the character of
having a good heart, though too hasty and violent."
Decaen's military capacity was much higher than his
historical reputation might lead one to suppose. During
the fierce wars of the Napoleonic empire, whilst Ney,
Oudinot, Murat, Junot, Augereau, Soult, St. Cyr,
Davoust, Lannes, Marmont, Massena and Suchet,
were rendering brilliant service under the eye of the
great captain, and were being converted into dukes and
princes, Decaen was shut up in a far-off isle in the
Indian Ocean, where there was nothing to do but hold
on under difficulties, and wait in vain for the turn of a
tide that never floated a French fleet towards the
coveted India. Colonel Picard, than whom there is
hardly a better judge, is of opinion that had Decaen
fought with the Grand Army in Europe, his military
talents would have designated him for the dignity of a
marshal of the Empire. On his return he did become
a Comte, but then the Napoleonic regime was tottering
to its fall.
Such then was the man — stubborn, strong-willed,
brusque, honest, irritable, ill-tempered, but by no means
a bad man at heart — with whom Matthew Flinders had
to do. We may now follow what occurred.

Chapter XXII.
THE CAPTIVITY
At four o'clock in the afternoon of December 17th the
Cumberland entered Port Louis, where Flinders learnt
that Le Geographe had sailed for France on the
previous day. As soon as he could land he went ashore
to present himself to the Governor, whom he found to
be at dinner. To occupy the time until an interview
could be arranged, he joined a party of officers who
were lounging in a shady place, and gossiped with them
about his voyage, about Baudin's visit to Port Jackson,
about the English settlement there, "and also concerning
the voyage of Monsieur Flindare, of whom, to their
surprise, I knew nothing, but afterwards found it to be
my own name which they so pronounced."
In a couple of hours he was conducted to Govern
ment House, where, after a delay of half an hour, he
was shown into a room. At a table stood two officers.
One was a short, thick man in a gold-laced mess jacket,
who fixed his eyes sternly on Flinders, and at once de
manded his passport and commission. This was General
Decaen. Beside him stood his aide-de-camp, Colonel
Monistrol. The General glanced over the papers, and
then enquired "in an impetuous manner," why Flinders
had come to Ile-de-France in the Cumberland, when
his passport was for the Investigator. The necessary
explanation being given, Decaen exclaimed impatiently,
"You are imposing on me, sir! It is not probable that
the Governor of New South Wales should send away
the commander of a discovery expedition in so small a
vessel." Decaen's own manuscript Memoires show
that when this story was told to him, he thought it
321

322 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
"very extraordinary that he should have left Port Jack
son to voyage to England in a vessel of 29 tons;" and,
in truth, to a man who knew nothing of Flinders' record
of seamanship it must have seemed unlikely. He
handed back the passport and commission, and gave
some orders to an officer; and as Flinders was leaving
the room "the Captain-General said something in a
softer tone about my being well treated, which I could
not comprehend."
It is clear that Decaen's brusque manner made
Flinders very angry. He did not know at this time
that it was merely the General's way, and that he was
not at all an ill-natured man if discreetly handled. On
board the Cumberland, in company with the interpreter
and an officer, who were very polite, he confesses having
"expressed my sentiments of General Decaen's manner
of receiving me," adding "that the Captain-General's
conduct must alter very much before I should pay him
a second visit, or even set my foot on shore again." It
is very important to notice Flinders' state of mind,
because it is apparent that a whole series of unfortunate
events turned upon his demeanour at the next interview.
His anger is perfectly intelligible. He was a British
officer, proud of his service; he had for years been
accustomed to command, and to be obeyed; he knew
that he was guiltless of offence; he felt that he had a
right to protection and consideration under his pass
port. Believing himself to have been affronted, he was
not likely to be able to appreciate the case as it presented
itself at the moment to this peppery general; that here
was the captain of an English schooner who, as
reported, had chased a French vessel into Baye du Cap,
and who gave as an explanation that he had called to
seek assistance while on a 16,000 mile voyage, in a
29-ton boat. Surely Flinders' story, as Decaen saw it
at this time, was not a probable one; and at all events

THE CAPTIVITY 323
he, as Governor of Ile-de-France, had a duty to satisfy
himself of its truth. We can well understand Flinders'
indignation; but can we not also appreciate Decaen's
doubt ?
The officers, acting under instructions, collected all
the charts, papers, journals, letters, and packets, found
on board, and put them in a trunk which, says Flinders,
"was sealed by me at their desire." They then requested
him to go ashore with them, to a lodging at an inn, which
the General had ordered to be provided for him. In
fact, they had orders to take him there. "What! I
exclaimed in the first transports of surprise and indigna
tion, I am then a prisoner!" The officers expressed the
hope that the detention would not last more than a few
days, and assured him that in the meantime he should
want for nothing. Flinders, accompanied by Aken,
went ashore, and the two were escorted to a large house
in the middle of the town, the Cafe Marengo, where
they were shown into a room approached by a dark
entry up a dirty staircase, and left for the night with a
sentry on guard in the passage outside.
That Flinders had no doubt that he would soon be
released, is shown by the fact that he wrote from the
tavern the following letter to the captain of the Ameri
can ship Hunter, then lying in Port Louis: — "Sir,
understanding that you are homeward bound, I have to
represent to you that I am here with an officer and nine
men belonging to His Britannic Majesty's ship Investi
gator, lately under my command, and if I am set at
liberty should be glad to get a passage on board your
vessel to St. Helena, or on any other American who
does not touch at the Cape of Good Hope* and may be
in want of men. I am, Sir, etc., etc., Matthew
Flinders.
* He did not wish to call at the Cape, because if he got clear of
the French fryingpan he did not want to jump into the Dutch fire.

324 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
"If it is convenient for you to call upon me at
the tavern where I am at present confined, I shall be
glad to see you as soon as possible."
Early in the afternoon of the following day Colonel
Monistrol came to the inn to take Flinders and Aken
before the General, who desired to ask certain questions.
The interrogatories were read from a paper, as
dictated by Decaen, and Flinders' answers were trans
lated and written down. In the document amongst
Decaen's papers the French questions and answers are
written on one side of the paper, with the English ver
sion parallel ; the latter being signed by Flinders. The
translation is crude (the scribe was a German with some
knowledge of English) but is printed below literally: —
"Questions made to the commanding officier of an
English shooner anchored in Savanna Bay, at the Isle
of France, on the 24th frimaire 12th year (on the 17th
December, 1803) chasing a coaster, which in conse
quence of the declaration of war between the French
Republic and Great Britain, had intention to avoid the
poursuit of said shooner. Said shooner carried
the next day in the harbour of Port North- West, where
she anchored under cartel colours, the commanding
officer having declared to the officer of the health boat
that his name was Matthew Flinders, and his schooner
the Cumberland.
"Demanded: the Captain's name?
"Answered: Matthew Flinders.
"D. : From what place the Cumberland sailed?
"A.: From Port Jackson.
"D. : At what time?
"A.: The Captain does not recollect the date of his
departure. He thinks it is on the 20th of September.
"D. : What is the purpose of his expedition?
"A. : His only motive was to proceed on to England

VIEW OF FORT LOUIS. ILE-DE-FRANCE.

THE CAPTIVITY 325
as soon as possible, to make the report of his voyages
and to request a ship to continue them.
"D. : What can be the reason which has determined
Captain Flinders to undertake a voyage on board of the
so small a vessel?
"A. : To avoid losing two months on proceeding by
China, for a ship sailing from Port Jackson was to put
in China. "D. : Does not Port Jackson offer frequent oppor
tunities for Europe?
"A. : There are some, as he has observed it above,
but that ship putting in China is the reason which
determined him not to proceed that way.
"D. : At what place had the Cumberland put in?
"A. : At Timor.
"D. : What could be the reason of her putting in at
Timor? "A. : To take fresh provision and water. He has
left Timor 34 days ago.
D. : What passports or certificates has he taken in
that place?
"A. : None.
"D. : What has been his motive for his coming at
the Isle of France ?
"A.: The want of water. His pumpers (sic) are
bad, and his vessel is very leaky.
"D. : To what place does Captain Flinders intend
to go to from this island?
"A. : Having no passport for the Dutch Govern
ment, he cannot put in the Cape, according to his
wishes, and will be obliged to stop at St. Helena.
"D. : What can be the reason of his having none
of his officiers, naturalis, or any of the other persons
employed in said expedition?

326

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

"A. : Two of these gentlemen have remained in Port
Jackson to repair on board of the ship Captain Flinders
expected to obtain in England,* and the rest have pro
ceeded on to China.
"D.: What reason induced Captain Flinders to
chase a boat in sight of the island?
"A.: Being never to this island, he was not ac
quainted with the harbour. Seeing a French vessel he
chased herf for the only purpose of obtaining a pilot,
and seeing her entering a bay he followed her.
"D. : What reason had he to make the land to lee
wards, the different directories pointing out the con
trary route to anchor in the harbour.
"A. : He came to windwards, but the wind shifting
contrary he took to leewards and perceiving said vessel
he followed her and anchored in the same bay. He has
no chart of the island.
"D.: Why has he hoisted cartel colours?
"A. : He answers that it is the custom, since Captain
Baudin coming to Port Jackson hoisted the colours of
both nations.
"D. : Was he informed of the war?
"A. : No.
"D. : Has he met with any ship either at sea or in
the different ports where he put in?
"A. : He met one ship only, by the 6° or 7° to the
east of the Isle of France. He did not speak her,

* "Pour s'embarquer sur le vaisseau que le Cap. Flinders a espoir
d'obtenir en Angleterre," in the French. That is to say, Brown and
Bauer remained behind till Flinders came out again with another
ship. t It is singular that Flinders did not take exception to this word
"chased" in the translation when he signed it. The French version
of his statement is correct : "il forca de voile, non pour luy appuyer
chasse mais pour luy demander un pilote." The German trans
lator boggled between the French and the English.

THE CAPTIVITY 327
though desirous of so doing, being prevented by the
night. He met with no ship at Timor.
"In consequence of the questions made to Captain
Flinders respecting to his wreck, he declares that after
putting in at Port Jackson with the ship under his com
mand, he was through her bad condition obliged to
leave her, being entirely decayed. The Governor
at that time furnished him with a ship thought
capable of transporting him to Europe. He
had the misfortune to wreck on the east coast
of New Holland by the 22° 11' of latitude south
on some rock distant 700 miles from Port Jackson, and
200 miles from the coast. He embarked in the said
ship's boat, taking with him 14 men, and left the re
mainder of his crew on a sand bank. He lost on this
occasion three charts respecting his voyages and
particularly Golph Carpentary. After 14 days' passage
he arrived at Port Jackson. After tarrying in said
place 8 or 9 days, the Governor furnished him with the
small vessel he is now in, and a ship to take the re
mainder of the crew left on the bank. This vessel not
being a government ship and bound to China, proceeded
on her intended voyage with the officers and the crew
which had been left on the bank.
"Captain Flinders declares that of the two boxes
remitted by him one contains despatches directed to the
Secretary of State and the other was entrusted to him
by the commanding officer of the troops in Port Jack
son, and that he is ignorant what they contain.
"Captain Mw. Flinders to ascertain the legality of
this expedition and the veracity of what he expose,*
has opened in our presence a trunk sealed by him con
taining the papers having a reference to his expedition,
and to give us a copy by him certified of the passport
* "La verite de son expose," i.e., the truth of his statement.

328 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
delivered to him by the First Consul and His Majesty
King of Great Britain; equally the communication
of his journal since the condemnation of his ship
Investigator. "Port North- West, He of France, the 26th frimaire
12th year of the French Republic (answering to the
19th December, 1803). "(Signed) Mattw. Flinders."
Flinders corroborates the statement regarding the
taking of papers from the trunk, stating that they con
sisted of the third volume of his rough log-book, which
contained "the whole of what they desired to know,"
respecting his voyage to Ile-de-France. He told
Decaen's Secretary to make such extracts as were con
sidered requisite, "pointing out the material passages."
"All the books and papers, the third volume of my
rough log-book excepted, were then returned into the
trunk, and sealed as before." It is important to notice
that at no time were papers taken from the trunk with
out Flinders' knowledge and concurrence, because the
charge has frequently been made, even by historical
writers of authority,* that his charts were plagiarised
by the cartographers of Baudin's expedition. Flinders
himself never made any such allegation, nor is there any
foundation for it. On ,the contrary, as will be made
clear hereafter, neither Decaen and his officers, nor any
of the French, ever saw any of Flinders' charts at any
time. Immediately after the examination the General, on
behalf of Madame Decaen, sent Flinders an invitation
to dine, dinner being then served. At this point, one
* In the Cambridge Modern History, for instance (ix., 739) :
"The French authorities at Mauritius having captured and im
prisoned the explorer Flinders on his passage to England, attempted
by the use of his papers to appropriate for their ships the credit
of his discoveries along the south coast of Australia."

THE CAPTIVITY 329
cannot help feeling, he made a tactical mistake. It is
easily understood, and allowance can be made for it,
but the consequences of it were serious. He was angry
on account of his detention, irritated by the treatment
to which he had been subjected, and unable in his present
frame of mind to appreciate the Governor's point of
view. He refused to go, and said he had already dined.
The officer who bore the invitation pressed him in a
kindly manner, saying that at all events he had better
go to the table. Flinders replied that he would not;
if the General would first set him at liberty he would
accept the invitation with pleasure, and be flattered by
it. Otherwise he would not sit at table with Decaen.
"Having been grossly insulted both in my public and
private character, I could not debase the situation I had
the honour to hold."
The effect of so haughty a refusal upon an inflamma
tory temper like that of Decaen may be readily pictured.
Presently an aide-de-camp returned with the message
that the General would renew the invitation when Cap
tain Flinders was set at liberty. There was a menace
in the cold phrase.
Now, had Flinders bottled up his indignation and
swallowed his pride — had he frankly recognised that he
was in Decaen's power — had he acknowledged that
some deference was due to the official head of the colony
of a foreign nation with whom his country was at war —
his later troubles might have been averted. An oppor
tunity was furnished of discussing the matter genially
over the wine and dessert. He would have found him
self in the presence of a man who could be kind-hearted
and entertaining when not provoked, and of a charming
French lady in Madame Decaen. He would have been
assisted by the secretary, Colonel Monistrol, who was
always as friendly to him as his duty would permit. He
would have been able to hold the company spell-bound

330 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
with the story of the many adventures of his active, use
ful life. He would have been able to demonstrate his
bona fides completely. It is a common experience that
the humane feelings of men of Decaen's type are easily
touched; and his conduct regarding the Napoleon-
Moreau quarrel has been related above with some ful
ness for the purpose of showing that there was milk as
well as gunpowder in his composition. But Flinders
was angry ; justifiably angry no doubt, but unfortunately
angry nevertheless, since thereby he lost his chance.
He learnt afterwards that "some who pretended to
have information from near the fountain-head hinted
that, if his invitation to dinner had been accepted, a few
days would have been the whole" of his detention.*
That seems probable. He had no better friend than
Sir Joseph Banks; and he learnt to his regret that Banks
"was not quite satisfied with his conduct to the Govern
ment of Mauritius, thinking he had treated them per
haps with too much haughtiness." His comment upon
this was, "should the same circumstances happen to me
again I fear I should follow nearly the same steps. "t
That is the sort of thing that strong-willed men say; but
a knowledge of the good sense and good feeling that
were native to the character of Matthew Flinders
enables one to assert with some confidence that if, after
this experience, the choice had been presented to him,
on the one hand of conquering his irritation and going
to enjoy a pleasant dinner in interesting company with
the prospect of speedy liberation; on the other of scorn
fully disdaining the olive branch, with the consequence
of six-and-a-half years of heart-breaking captivity; he
would have chosen the former alternative without much
reluctance. There is a sentence in one of his own

* Flinders, Voyage II., 398.
t Flinders' Papers.

THE CAPTIVITY 331
letters which indicates that wisdom counted for more
than obstinacy in his temperament: "After a misfortune
has happened, we all see very well the proper steps that
ought to have been taken to avoid it; to be endowed
with a never-failing foresight is not within the power
of man." That the view presented above is not too strong is
clear from a passage in an unpublished portion
of Decaen's Memoires. He stated that after
the examination of Flinders, "I sent him an invitation
from my wife* to come to dine with us, although
he had given me cause to withhold the invitation
on account of his impertinence; but from boorish-
ness, or rather from arrogance, he refused that
courteous invitation, which, if accepted, would indubit
ably have brought about a change favourable to his
position, through the conversation which would have
taken place."t Here it is distinctly suggested that if
the invitation had been accepted, and a pleasant dis
cussion of the case had ensued, the detention of the
Cumberland and her commander would probably not
have been prolonged.
Further light is thrown on these regrettable occur
rences by a manuscript history of Ile-de-France, written
by St. Elme le Duc,J a friend of Decaen, who possessed
intimate knowledge of the General's feelings. It is
therein stated that Decaen received Flinders "in uni-
* Flinders does not state that the invitation came from Madame
Decaen. He may not have understood. But the refusal of it would
on that account have been likely to make the General all the more
angry. t Decaen Papers, Vol. 10. Decaen said in his despatch to the
Minister : "Captain Flinders imagined that he would obtain his
release by arguing, by arrogance, and especially by impertinence;
my silence with regard to his first letter led him to repeat the
offence." % Bibliotheque Nationale, nouveaux acquisitions, France, No. 1
775.

332 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
form, the head uncovered," but that "Captain Flinders
presented himself with arrogance, his hat upon his
head; they had to ask him to remove it." The same
writer alleges that Flinders disregarded all the rules of
politeness. It is fair to state these matters, since the
candid student must always wish to see a case presented
from several points of view. But it must be said that
only an intense feeling of resentment could have un
hinged the courteous disposition which was habitual
with Flinders. A gentler man in his relations with all
could hardly have been found. He was not more
respectful to authority than he was considerate to sub
ordinates; and throughout his career a close reading of
his letters and journals, and of documents relating to
him, can discover no other instance of even temporary
deviation from perfect courtesy. Even in this case
one can hardly say that he was to blame. There was
sufficient in what occurred to make an honest man
angry. But we wish to understand what occurred and
why it occurred, and for that reason we cannot ignore
or minimise the solitary instance wherein a natural
flame of anger fired a long train of miserable conse
quences. What, then, did Decaen intend to do with Flinders,
at the beginning? He never intended to keep him six-
and-a-half years. He simply meant to punish him for
what he deemed to be rudeness; and his method of
accomplishing that object was to report to Paris, and
allow the case to be determined by the Government,
instead of settling it himself forthwith. Here again
Flinders was well informed. His journal for May
24th, 1806, contains the following entry:* "It has been
said that I am detained a prisoner here solely because
I refused the invitation of General Decaen to dine ; that

Flinders' Papers.

THE CAPTIVITY 333
to punish me he referred the judgment of my case to
the French Government, knowing that I should neces
sarily be detained twelve months before an answer
arrived." Or, as he stated the matter in his published
book (II., 489) : "My refusal of the intended honour
until set at liberty so much exasperated the Captain-
General that he determined to make me repent it."
It will be seen presently that the term of detention,
originally intended to endure for about a year, was
lengthened by circumstances that were beyond Decaen's
control; that the punishment which sprang from the
hasty ire of a peppery soldier increased, against his own
will, into what appeared to all the world, and most of
all to the victim, to be a piece of malevolent persecution.
The ball kicked off in a fit of spleen rolled on and on
beyond recovery.
There was, it must be admitted, quite enough in the
facts brought under Decaen's notice to warrant a
reference to Paris, if he chose to be awkward. In the
first place, Flinders was carrying on board the Cumber
land a box of despatches from Governor King for the
Secretary of State. As pointed out in Chapter 12, the
Admiralty instructions for the Investigator voyage
cautioned him "not to take letters or packets other than
those such as you may receive from this office or the
office of His Majesty's Scretary of State." Governor
King was well aware of this injunction. Yet he en
trusted to Flinders this box of despatches, containing
material relative to military affairs. It is true that a
state of war was not known to exist at the time when the
Cumberland sailed from Port Jackson in September,
1803, although as a matter of fact it had broken out
in the previous May. But it was well known that war
was anticipated. It is also true that Flinders knew
nothing of the contents of the despatches. But neither, as

334 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
a rule, does any other despatch carrier in war time. When
the Cumberland's papers were examined by Decaen's
officers, and these despatches were read and translated,
there was at once a prima facie ground for saying, "this
officer is not engaged on purely scientific work; he is the
bearer of despatches which might if delivered have
an influence upon the present war." Flinders himself,
writing to Banks,* said: "I have learnt privately that
in the despatches with which I was charged by Governor
King, and which were taken from me by the French
General, a demand was made for troops to be sent out
to Port Jackson for the purpose of annoying Spanish
America in the event of another war, and that this is
considered to be a breach of my passport. 'Tis pity
that Governor King should have mentioned anything
that could involve me in the event of a war, either with
the French at Mauritius, or the Dutch at Timor or the
Cape; or that, having mentioned anything that related
to war, he did not make me acquainted in a general way
with the circumstances, in which case I should have
thrown them overboard on learning that war was de
clared; but as I was situated, having little apprehension
of being made a prisoner, and no idea that the des
patches had any reference to war, since it was a time of
peace when I left Port Jackson, I did not see the
necessity of throwing them overboard at a hazard. To
be the bearer of any despatches in time of peace cannot
be incorrect for a ship on discovery more than for any
other; but with a passport, and in time of war, it cer
tainly is improper." With characteristic straight
forwardness, Flinders did not hesitate to tell King him
self that the despatches had cast suspicion on him:t
"I have learned privately that in your despatches to the

* Historical Records, VI., 49.
t Historical Records, VI., 105.

THE CAPTIVITY 335
Secretary of State there is mention of Spanish America,
which rendered me being the bearer, criminal with res
pect to my passport. 'Tis pity I had not known any
thing of this, for on finding myself under the necessity
of stopping at the Isle of France, and learning the
declaration of war, I should have destroyed the des
patches; but leaving Port Jackson in time of peace, and
confiding in my passport, I did not think myself author
ised to take such a step, even after I knew of the war,
having no idea there was anything in the despatches
that could invalidate my passport; neither, indeed, is it
invalidated in justice, but it is said to be the under-plea
against me."
These despatches of King are preserved among
Decaen's papers,* and an examination of them reveals
that they did contain material of a military character.
In one of them, dated August 7th, 1803, King referred
to the possibility in any future war "of the Government
of the Isle of France annoying this colony, as the voyage
from hence may be done in less than seven weeks; and
on the same idea this colony may hereafter annoy the
trade of the Spanish settlements on the opposite coast.
But to defend this colony against the one, and to annoy
the other, it would be necessary that some regard should
be had to the military and naval defences. The de
fences of the port may be made as strong as in any port
I know of. By the return of cannon and batteries your
Lordship will observe that those we have are placed in
the best situation for annoying an enemy. Still, a small
establishment of artillery officers and men are wanted
to work those guns effectually in case of necessity."
King went on to make recommendations for the in
crease of the military strength in men, officers, and
guns. The originals of those despatches, which could
* Decaen Papers, Vols. 84 and 105.

336 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
furnish the French Government with valuable informa
tion concerning Port Jackson and the Flinders affair,
are endorsed, "letters translated and sent to France;"
and Decaen commented upon them that in his opinion
the despatches alone afforded a sufficient pretext for
detaining Flinders. "Ought a navigator engaged in
discovery, and no longer possessing a passport for his
ship, to be in time of war in command of a despatch-
boat,* especially when, having regard to the distance
between the period of the declaration of war and his
departure from Port Jackson he could have obtained
there the news that war had broken out?"
In reporting to his Government Decaen related the
story of the Cumberland's arrival from his point of
view at considerable length. He expressed himself as
satisfied that her commander really was Captain Flin
ders of the Investigator, to whom the French Govern
ment had issued a passport; detailed the circumstances
of the examination; and complained of Flinders' "im
pertinence" and "arrogance." Then he proceeded to
describe "several motives which have caused me to
judge it to be indispensable to detain Captain Flinders."
The first motive alleged was "the conduct of the
English Government in Europe, where she has violated
all treaties, her behaviour before surrendering the Cape
of Good Hope, and her treatment of our ships at Pondi
cherry." In no way could it be pretended that Flinders
was connected with these events.
The second motive was "the seizing of Le Natural
iste, as announced by the newspapers." Decaen was
here referring to the fact that, when Le Naturaliste
was on her homeward voyage from Port Jackson, con
veying the natural history collections, she was stopped
by the British frigate Minerva and taken into Ports-
* "Devait-il en temps de guerre conduire un paquebot ?"

THE CAPTIVITY 337
mouth. But no harm was done to her. She was
merely detained from May 27th, 1803, till June 6th,
when she was released by order of the Admiralty. In
any case Flinders had nothing to do with that.
The third motive was that Captain Flinders' log
book showed an intention to make an examination of
Ile-de-France and Madagascar, from which Decaen
drew the inference that, if the English Government
received no check, they would extend their power, and
would seize the French colony. Herein the General
did a serious injustice to Flinders. His log-book did
indeed indicate that he desired "to acquire a knowledge
of the winds and weather periodically encountered at
Ile-de-France, of the actual state of the French colony,
and of what utility it and its dependencies in Madagascar
might be to Port Jackson, and whether that island could
afford resources to myself in my future voyages."
But information of this description was such as lay with
in the proper province of an explorer; and the log-book
contained no hint, nor was there a remote intention, of
acquiring information which, however used, could be
inimical to the security of the French colony.
Decaen's mind had been influenced by reading
Francois Peron's report to him concerning the expansive
designs of the British in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
"There is no doubt," he informed his Government,
"that the English Government have the intention to
seize the whole trade of the Indian Ocean, the China
Seas and the Pacific, and that they especially covet what
remains of the Dutch possessions in these waters." He
derived that extravagant idea from Peron's inflamma
tory communication, as will be seen from a perusal of
that interesting document.
By these strained means, then, did Decaen give a
semblance of public policy to his decision to detain Flin-

338 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
ders. It would have been puerile to attempt to justify
his action to his superiors on the personal ground that
the English captain had vexed him; so he hooked in
these various pretexts, though ingenuously acknowledg
ing that they would have counted for nothing if
Flinders had dined with him and talked the matter over
conversationally !
On the day following the examination and the re
fusal of the invitation, Flinders was again conducted on
board the Cumberland by Colonel Monistrol and the
official interpreter, who "acted throughout with much
politeness, apologising for what they were obliged by
their orders to execute." On this occasion all remain
ing books and papers, including personal letters, were
collected, locked up in a second trunk, and sealed. The
document noting their deposition and sealing was
signed by Flinders,* who was ordered to be detained in
the inn under guard. It was, Decaen reported, the best
inn in the island, and orders were given to furnish the
prisoner with all that he could want; but Flinders des
cribed it as an exceedingly dirty place.
On his return to the inn from the ship Flinders
wrote a letter to the Governor, recounting the history
of his explorations, and making two requests : that he
might have his printed books ashore, and that his ser
vant, John Elder, might be permitted to attend him.
On the following day Elder was sent to him. On the
22nd he wrote again, soliciting "that I may be able to
sail as soon as possible after you shall be pleased to
liberate me from my present state of purgatory."* On
Christmas Day he sent a letter suffused with indignant
remonstrance, wherein he alleged that "it appears that
your Excellency had formed a determination to stop the

* Decaen Papers.

THE CAPTIVITY 339
Cumberland previously even to seeing me, if a specious
pretext were wanting for it," and reminded Decaen
that "on the first evening of my arrival . . . you told
me impetuously that I was imposing on you." He con
tinued, in a strain that was bold and not conciliatory:
"I cannot think that an officer of your rank and judg
ment to act either so ungentlemanlike or so unguardedly
as to make such a declaration without proof; unless
his reason had been blinded by passion, or a previous
determination that it should be so, nolens volens.
In your orders of the 21st last it is indeed said that
the Captain-General has acquired the conviction that
I am the person I pretend to be, and the same for whom
a passport was obtained by the English Government
from the First Consul. It follows then, as I am willing
to explain it, that I am not and was not an imposter.
This plea was given up when a more plausible one was
thought to be found; but I cannot compliment your
Excellency upon this alteration in your position, for the
first, although false, is the more tenable post of the
two." Decaen's reply was stiff and stern. He attributed
"the unreserved tone" of Flinders to "the ill humour
produced by your present situation," and concluded:
"This letter, overstepping all the bounds of civility,
obliges me to tell you, until the general opinion judges
of your faults or of mine, to cease all correspondence
tending to demonstrate the justice of your cause,
since you know so little how to preserve the rules of
decorum." Flinders in consequence of this snub forebore
to make further appeals for consideration; but three
days later he preferred a series of requests, one of which
related to the treatment of his crew :

340 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
"To his Excellency Captain-General Decaen,
"Governor in Chief, etc., etc., etc., Isle of France.
"From my confinement, Dec. 28th, 1803.
"Sir, "Since you forbid me to write to you upon the sub
ject of my detainer I shall not rouse the anger or con
tempt with which you have been pleased to treat me by
disobeying your order. The purpose for which I now
write is to express a few humble requests, and most
sincerely do I wish that they may be the last I shall have
occasion to trouble your Excellency with.
"1st. I repeat my request of the 23 rd to have my
printed books on shore from the schooner.
"2nd. I request to have my private letters and
papers out of the two trunks lodged in your secretariat,
they having no connection with my Government or the
voyage of discovery.
"3rd. I beg to have two or three charts and three
or four manuscript books out of the said trunks, which
are necessary to finishing the chart of the Gulf of
Carpentaria and some parts adjacent. It may be
proper to observe as an explanation of this last request
that the parts wanting were mostly lost in the shipwreck,
and I wish to replace them from my memory and re
maining materials before it is too late. Of these a
memorandum can be taken, or I will give a receipt for
them, and if it is judged necessary to exact it I will give
my word that nothing in the books shall be erased or
destroyed, but I could wish to make additions to one or
two of the books as well as to the charts, after which
I shall be ready to give up the whole.
"4th. My seamen complain of being shut up at
night in a place where not a breath of air can come to
them, which in a climate like this must be not only un
comfortable in the last degree, but also very destructive

THE CAPTIVITY 341
to European constitutions; they say, further, that the
people with whom they are placed are much affected with
that disagreeable and contagious disorder the itch; and
that the provisions with which they are fed are too
scanty, except in the article of meat, the proportion of
which is large but of bad quality. Your Excellency will
no doubt make such an amendment in their condition as
circumstances will permit.
"A compliance with the above requests will not only
furnish me with a better amusement in this solitude than
writing letters to your Excellency, but will be attended
with advantages in which the French nation may some
time share. This application respecting the charts is
not altogether made upon a firm persuasion that you will
return everything to me, for if I could believe that they
were never to be given to me or my Government I
should make the same request.
"Your prisoner,
"Matthew Flinders."
On the day when the letter was despatched, Colonel
Monistrol called, and promised that the books and
papers requested should be supplied; and, in fact, the
trunk containing them was without delay brought to the
inn. The Colonel courteously expressed his regret that
Flinders had adopted such a tone in his letters to the
General, thinking "that they might tend to protract
rather than terminate" his confinement. The complaint
respecting the seamen was attended to forthwith, and
they were treated exactly on the same footing as were
French sailors on service.*
The first thing Flinders did, when he received the
trunk, was to take out his naval signal-book and tear it
to pieces. Next day he was conducted to Government
* St. Eleme le Due's MS. History.

342 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
House, and was allowed to take from the second trunk
all his private letters and papers, his journals of bear
ings and observations, two log-books, and such charts
as were necessary to complete his drawings of the Gulf
of Carpentaria. All the other books and papers "were
locked up in the trunk and sealed as before."
Until the end of March, 1804, Flinders was kept
at the inn, with a sentry constantly on guard over the
rooms. St. Elme le Due, in the manuscript history
already cited, declares that "Captain Flinders was
never put in prison," and that his custom of addressing
letters "from my prison" was an "affectation." But a
couple of inn rooms wherein a person is kept against
his will, under the strict surveillance of a military cus
todian, certainly constitute a prison. It is true that
the Governor allotted 450 francs per month for his
maintenance, sent a surgeon to attend to him when scor^
butic sores broke out upon his body, and gave him access
to the papers and books he required in order that he
might occupy his time and divert his mind with the work
he loved. But it is surely quibbling to pretend that
even under these conditions he was not a prisoner. Even
the surgeon and the interpreter were not admitted with
out a written order; and when the interpreter, Bonne-
foy, took from Flinders a bill, which he undertook to
negotiate, the sentry reported that a paper had passed
between the two, and Bonnefoy was arrested, nor was
he liberated until it was ascertained that the bill was the
only paper he had received. The bill was the subject
of an act of kindness from the Danish consul, who
negotiated it at face value at a time when bills upon
England could only be cashed in Port Louis at a dis
count of 30 per cent. This liberal gentleman sent the
message that he would have proffered his assistance
earlier but for the fear of incurring the Governor's dis
pleasure.

THE CAPTIVITY 343
An attempt was made in February to induce Decaen
to send his prisoner to France for trial. It was sub
mitted in the following terms:*
"Sir, "Having waited six weeks with much anxiety for
your Excellency's decision concerning me, I made appli
cation for the honour of an audience, but received no
answer; a second application obtained a refusal. It was
not my intention to trouble the Captain-General by re
counting my grievances, but to offer certain proposals to
his consideration; and in now doing this by letter it is
my earnest wish to avoid everything that can in the most
distant manner give offence ; should I fail, my ignorance
and not intention must be blamed.
"1st. If your Excellency will permit me to depart
with my vessel, papers, etc., I will pledge my honour
not to give any information concerning the Isle of
France, or anything belonging to it, for a limited time,
if it is thought that I can have gained any information ;
or if it is judged necessary, any other restrictions can
be laid upon me. If this will not be complied with I
request —
"2nd, to be sent to France.
"3rd. But if it is necessary to detain me here, I
request that my officer and my people may be permitted
to depart in the schooner. I am desirous of this as well
for the purpose of informing the British Admiralty
where I am, as to relieve our families and friends from
the report that will be spread of the total loss of the two
ships with all on board. My officer can be laid under
what restrictions may be thought necessary, and my
honour shall be a security that nothing shall be trans-
:' Decaen Papers.

344 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
mitted by me but what passes under the inspection of
the officer who might be appointed for that purpose.
"If your Excellency does not think proper to adopt
any of these modes, by which, with submission, I conceive
my voyage of discovery might be permitted to proceed
without any possible injury to the Isle of France or its
dependencies, I then think it necessary to remind the
Captain-General that since the shipwreck of the Por
poise, which happened now six months back, my officers
and people as well as myself have been mostly confined
either on a very small sandbank in the open sea, or in
a boat, or otherwise on board the small schooner
Cumberland, where there is no room to walk, or been
kept prisoners as at present; and also, that previous to
this time I had not recovered from a scorbutic and very
debilitated state arising from having been eleven months
exposed to great fatigue, bad climates and salt pro
visions. From the scorbutic sores which have again
troubled me since my arrival in this port the surgeon
who dressed them saw that a vegetable diet and exercise
were necessary to correct the diseased state of the blood
and to restore my health; but his application through
your Excellency's aide-de-camp for me to walk out, un
fortunately for my health and peace of mind, received
a negative. The Captain-General best knows whether
my conduct has deserved, or the exigencies of his
Government require, that I should continue to remain
closely confined in this sickly town and cut off from all
society. "With all due consideration, I am,
"Your Excellency's prisoner,
"Matthew Flinders."
To this petition Decaen returned no reply. Feel
ing therefore that his detention was likely to be pro
longed, Flinders, weary of confinement, and longing for

THE CAPTIVITY 345
human fellowship, applied to be removed to the place
where British officers, prisoners of war, were kept. It
was a large house with spacious rooms standing in a
couple of acres of ground, about a mile from the tavern,
and was variously called the Maison Despeaux, or the
Garden Prison. Here at all events fresh air could be en
joyed. The application was acceded to immediately, and
Colonel Monistrol himself came, with the courtesy that
he never lost an opportunity of manifesting, to conduct
Flinders and Aken and to assist them to choose rooms.
"This little walk of a mile," Flinders recorded, "showed
how debilitating is the want of exercise and fresh air,
for it was not without the assistance of Colonel Monis-
trol's arm that I was able to get through it. Convey
ances were sent in the evening for our trunks, and we
took possession of our new prison with a considerable
degree of pleasure, this change of situation and
surrounding objects producing an exhilaration of spirits
to which we had long been strangers."

Chapter XXIII.
THE CAPTIVITY PROLONGED
We shall now see how a detention which had been
designed as a sharp punishment of an officer who
had not comported himself with perfect respect,
and which Decaen never intended to be prolonged be
yond about twelve months, dragged itself into years, and
came to bear an aspect of obstinate malignity.
Decaen's despatch arrived in France during the first
half of the year 1804. Its terms were not calculated
to induce the French Government to regard Flinders as
a man entitled to their consideration, even if events had
been conducive to a speedy determination. But the
Departments, especially those of Marine and War,
were being worked to their full capacity upon affairs of
the most pressing moment. Napoleon became Emperor
of the French in that year (May), and his immense
energy was flogging official activities incessantly. War
with England mainly absorbed attention. At Boulogne
a great flotilla had been organized for the invasion of
the obdurate country across the Channel. A large fleet
was being fitted out at Brest and at Toulon, the fleet
which Nelson was to smash at Trafalgar in the follow
ing year. Matters relating to the isolated colony in the
Indian Ocean did not at the moment command much
interest in France.
There were several other pieces of business, apart
from the Flinders affair, to which Decaen wished to
direct attention. He sent one of his aides-de-camp,
Colonel Barois, to Paris to see Napoleon in person, if
possible, and in any case to interview the Minister of
Marine and the Colonies, Decres. Decaen especiallv

THE CAPTIVITY PROLONGED 347
directed Barois to see that the Flinders case was brought
under Napoleon's notice, and he did his best.* He saw
Decres and asked him whether Decaen's despatches had
been well received. "Ah," said the Minister pleasantly,
in a voice loud enough to be heard by the circle of
courtiers, "everything that comes from General Decaen
is well received." But there was no spirit of despatch.
Finally Barois did obtain an interview with Napoleon,
through the aid of the Empress Josephine. He referred
to "l'affaire Flinders," of which Napoleon knew little;
but "he appeared to approve the reasons invoked to
justify the conduct of Decaen." The Emperor had no
time just then for examining the facts, and his approval
simply reflected his trust in Decaen. As he said to the
General's brother Rene, at a later interview, "I have the
utmost confidence in Decaen." But meanwhile no
direction was given as to what was to be done. It will
be seen later how it was that pressure of business de
layed the despatch of an intimation to Ile-de-France of
a step that was actually taken.
That at this time Decaen was simply waiting for an
order from Paris to release Flinders is clear from ob
servations which he made, and from news which came
to the ears of the occupant of the Garden Prison. In
March, 1804, he told Captain Bergeret of the French
navy, who showed Flinders friendly attentions, to tell
him to "have a little patience, as he should soon come to
some determination on the affair." In August of the
same year Flinders wrote to King that Decaen had
stated that "I must wait until orders were received con
cerning me from the French Government."t A year
later (November, 1805) he wrote: "I firmly believe
that, if he had not said to the French Government,
* Prentout, p. 392.
t Historical Records, VI., 411.

34S

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

during the time of his unjust suspicion of me, that he
should detain me here until he received their orders, he
would have gladly suffered me to depart long since"*
Again, in July, 1806,t he wrote: "General Decaen, if
I am rightly informed, is himself heartily sorry for
having made me a prisoner," but "he remitted the judg
ment of my case to the French Government, and cannot
permit me to depart or even send me to France, until he
shall receive orders."
The situation was, then, that Decaen, having re
ferred the case to Paris in order that the Government
might deal with it, could not now, consistently with his
duty, send Flinders away from the island until instruc
tions were received; and the Department concerned had
too much pressing business on hand at the moment
to give attention to it. Flinders had to wait.
His health improved amidst the healthier surround
ings of his new abode, and he made good progress with
his work. His way of life is described in a letter of
May 18th, 1804:1 "My time is now employed as
follows: Before breakfast my time is devoted to the
Latin language, to bring up what I formerly learnt.
After breakfast I am employed in making out a fair
copy of the Investigator's log in lieu of my own, which
was spoiled at the shipwreck. When tired of writing I
apply to music, and when my fingers are tired with the
flute, I write again till dinner. After dinner we amuse
ourselves with billiards until tea, and afterwards walk
in the garden till dusk. From thence till supper I make
one at Pleyel's quartettes; afterwards walking half an
hour, and then sleep soundly till daylight, when I get
up and bathe."
* Historical Records, VI., 737.
tlbid, VI., 106.
t Flinders' Papers.

THE CAPTIVITY PROLONGED 349
A letter to his stepmother, dated August 25th, of
the same year, comments on his situation in a mood of
courageous resignation :* "I have gone through some
hardships and misfortunes within the last year, but the
greatest is that of having been kept here eight months
from returning to my dear friends and family. My
health is, however, good at this time, nor are my spirits
cast down, although the tyranny of the Governor of this
island in treating me as a spy has been grievous. I
believe my situation is known by this time in England,
and will probably make some noise, for indeed it is al
most without example. The French inhabitants even
of this island begin to make complaints of the injustice
of their Governor, and they are disposed to be very
kind to me. Four or five different people have offered
me any money I may want, or any service that they can
do for me, but as they cannot get me my liberty their
services are of little avail. I have a companion here in
one of my officers, and a good and faithful servant in
my steward, and for these last four months have been
allowed to walk in a garden. The Governor pretends
to say that he cannot let me go until he receives orders
from France, and it is likely that these will not arrive
these four months. I am obliged to call up all the
patience that I can to bear this injustice; my great con
solation is that I have done nothing to forfeit my pass
port, or that can justify them for keeping me a prisoner,
so I must be set at liberty with honour when the time
comes, and my country will, I trust, reward me for my
sufferings in having supported her cause with the spirit
becoming an Englishman."
A letter to Mrs. Flinders (August 24th, 1804)
voices the yearning of the captive for the solace of
home :* "I yesterday enjoyed a delicious piece of misery
* Flinders' Papers.

350 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
in reading over thy dear letters, my beloved Ann. Shall
I tell thee that I have never before done it since I have
been shut up in this prison? I have many friends, who
are kind and much interested for me, and I certainly
love them. But yet before thee they disappear as stars
before the rays of the morning sun. I cannot connect
the idea of happiness with anything without thee. With
out thee, the world would be a blank. I might indeed
receive some gratification from distinction and the
applause of society; but where could be the faithful
friend who would enjoy and share this with me, into
whose bosom my full heart could unburthen itself of
excess of joy? Where would be that sweet intercourse
of soul, the fine seasoning of happiness, without which
a degree of insipidity attends all our enjoyments? . . .
I am not without friends even among the French. On
the contrary. I have several, and but one enemy, who
unfortunately, alas, is all-powerful here; nor will he on
any persuasion permit me to pass the walls of the prison,
although some others who are thought less dangerous
have had that indulgence occasionally."
"When my family are the subject of my medita
tion," he said in a letter to his step-mother, "my bonds
enter deep into my soul."
His private opinion of Decaen is expressed in a
letter written at this period:* "The truth I believe is
that the violence of his passion outstrips his judgment
and reason, and does not allow them to operate ; for he
is instantaneous in his directions, and should he do an
injustice he must persist in it because it would lower his
dignity to retract. His antipathy, moreover, is so great
to Englishmen, who are the only nation that could pre
vent the ambitious designs of France from being put

* Flinders' Papers.

THE CAPTIVITY PROLONGED 351
into execution, that immediately the name of one is
mentioned he is directly in a rage, and his pretence and
wish to be polite scarcely prevent him from breaking
out in the presence even of strangers. With all this he
has the credit of having a good heart at the bottom."
The captain of a French ship, M. Coutance, whom
Flinders had known at Port Jackson, saw Decaen on his
behalf, and reported the result of the interview. "The
General accused me of nothing more than of being trop
vive; I had shown too much independence in refusing
to dine with a man who had accused me of being an
impostor, and who had unjustly made me a prisoner."
Meanwhile two playful sallies penned at this time
show that his health and appetite had mended during
his residence at the Maison Despeaux: *"My appetite
is so good that I believe it has the intention of reveng
ing me on the Governor by occasioning a famine in the
land. Falstaff says, 'Confound this grief, it makes a
man go thirsty; give me a cup of sack.' Instead of
thirsty read hungry, and for a cup of sack read mutton
chop, and the words would fit me very well." The
second passage is from his private journal, and may
have been the consequence of too much mutton chop:
"Dreamt that General Decaen was sitting and lying
upon me, to devour me; was surprised to find devouring
so easy to be borne, and that after death I had the
consciousness of existence. Got up soon after six much
agitated, with a more violent headache than usual."
Flinders lost no opportunity of appealing to
influential Frenchmen, relating the circumstances of his
detention. He offered to submit himself to an exami
nation by the officers of Admiral Linois' squadron, and
that commander promised to speak to Decaen on the
subject, adding that he should be "flattered in con-

' Flinders' Papers.

352 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
tributing to your being set at liberty." Captain Hal-
gan, of Le Berceau, who had been in England during
the short peace, and had heard much of Flinders' dis
coveries, visited him several times and offered pecuniary
assistance if it were required. Flinders wrote to the
French Minister of the Treasury, Barbe-Marbois,
urging him to intercede, and to the Comte de Fleurieu,
one of the most influential men in French scientific
circles, who was particularly well informed concerning
Australian exploration.
The flat roof of the Maison Despeaux commanded a
view of Port Louis harbour; and, as Flinders was in
the habit of sitting upon the roof in the cool evenings,
enjoying the sight of the blue waters, and meditating
upon his work and upon what he hoped still to do,
Decaen thought he was getting to know too much. In
June, 1804, therefore, the door to the roof was ordered
to be nailed up, and telescopes were taken away from
the imprisoned officers. At this time also occurred an
incident which shows that Flinders' proud spirit was by
no means broken by captivity. The sergeant of the
guard demanded the swords of all the prisoners, that
of Flinders among the rest. It was an affront to him
as an officer that his sword should be demanded by a
sergeant, and he promptly refused. He despatched the
following letter to the Governor: — *
"To His Excellency Captain-General Decaen,
"Governor-in-Chief, etc., etc., etc.
"Sir, — The sergeant of the guard over the prisoners
in this house has demanded of me, by the order of
Captain Neuville, my sword, and all other arms in my
possession. "Upon this subject I beg leave to represent to Your
* Decaen Papers, Vol. 84.

THE CAPTIVITY PROLONGED 353
Excellency that it is highly inconsistent with my situa
tion in His Britannic Majesty's service to deliver up my
arms in this manner. I am ready to deliver up to an
officer bearing your Excellency's order, but I request
that that officer will be of equal rank to myself.
"I have the honour to be,
"Your Excellency's most obedient servant and prisoner,
"Mattw. Flinders.
"Maison Despeaux, June 2, 1804."
In a few days Captain Neuville called to apologise.
It was, he said, a mistake on the part of the sergeant
to ask for the sword. Had the Governor required it,
an officer of equal rank would have been sent, "but he
had no intention to make me a prisoner until he should
receive orders to that effect." Not a prisoner! What
was he, then? Certainly not, said Captain Neuville;
he was merely "put under surveillance for a short
period." Inasmuch as Flinders was being treated with
rather more strictness than those who were confessedly
prisoners of war, the benefit of the distinction was hard
to appreciate. Flinders considered that he had been treated rather
handsomely in the matter of the sword. But about
three months later a junior officer, who behaved with
much politeness, came under the orders of Colonel
D'Arsonville, the town major, to demand it. D'Arson-
ville had been instructed by Decaen to take possession of
it, but had been unable to come himself. Flinders con
sidered that under the circumstances he had better give
up the sword to save further trouble, and did so. The
significance of the incident is that, having received no
orders from France, Decaen from this time regarded
Flinders as a prisoner of war in the technical sense. He
felt bound to hold. him until instructions arrived, and
could only justifiably hold him as a prisoner.

354 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
December, 1804, arrived, and still no order of
release came. On the anniversary of his arrest, Flin
ders wrote the following letter to Decaen :*
"Maison Despeaux, Dec. 16, 1804.
"General, "Permit me to remind you that I am yet a prisoner
in this place, and that it is now one year since my arresta-
tion. This is the anniversary of that day on which you
transferred me from liberty and my peaceful occupa-
tions to the misery of a close confinement.
"Be pleased, sir, to consider that the great occupa
tions of the French Government may leave neither time
nor inclination to attend to the situation of an English
man in a distant colony, and that the chance of war may
render abortive for a considerable time at least any
attempts to send out despatches to this island. The
lapse of one year shows that one or other of these cir
cumstances has already taken place, and the consequence
of my detainer until orders are received from France
will most probably be, that a second year will be cut out
of my life and devoted to the same listless inaction as
the last, to the destruction of my health and happiness,
and the probable ruin of all my further prospects. I
cannot expect, however, that my private misfortunes
should have any influence upon Your Excellency's public
conduct. It is from being engaged in a service calcu
lated for the benefit of all maritime nations; from my
passport; the inoffensiveness of my conduct; and the
probable delay of orders from France. Upon these
considerations it is that my present hope of receiving
liberty must be founded.
"But should a complete liberation be so far incom
patible with Your Excellency's plan of conduct concern-

' Decaen Papers.

o<

THE CAPTIVITY PROLONGED 355
ing me as that no arguments will induce you to grant it ;
I beg of you, General, to reflect whether every purpose
of the most severe justice will not be answered by send
ing me to France; since it is to that Government, as I
am informed, that my case is referred for decision.
"If neither of these requests be complied with, I
must prepare to endure still longer this anxious torment
ing state of suspense, this exclusion from my favourite
and, I will add, useful employment, and from all that
I have looked forward to attain by it. Perhaps also I
ought to prepare my mind for a continuance of close
imprisonment. If so, I will endeavour to bear it and
its consequences with firmness, and may God support
my heart through the trial. My hopes, however, tell
me more agreeable things, that either this petition to be
fully released with my people, books and papers will be
accorded, or that we shall be sent to France, where, if
the decision of the Government should be favourable,
we can immediately return to our country, our families
and friends, and my report of our investigations be made
public if it shall be deemed worthy of that honour.
"My former application for one of these alterna
tives was unsuccessful, but after a year's imprisonment
and a considerable alteration in the circumstances, I
hope this will be more fortunate.
"With all due consideration I have the honour to
be, Your Excellency's most obedient humble servant.
"Mattw. Flinders."
To this appeal the General vouchsafed no response.
The return of the hot weather aggravated a consti
tutional internal complaint from which Flinders suffered
severely. The principal physician of the medical staff
visited him and recommended a removal to the high
lands in the interior of the island. John Aken, the
companion of his captivity, also became very ill, and his

356 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
life was despaired of. In May, 1805, having some
what recovered, he applied to be allowed to depart with
several other prisoners of war who were being liberated
on parole. Very much to his surprise the permission
was accorded. Aken left on May 20th in an American
ship bound for New York, the captain of which gave
him a free passage ; taking with him all the charts which
Flinders had finished up to date, as well as the large
general chart of Australia, showing the extent of the new
discoveries, and all papers relating to the Investigator
voyage. There was at this time a general exchange of
prisoners of war, and by the middle of August the only
English prisoners remaining in Ile-de-France were Flin
ders, his servant, who steadfastly refused to avail him
self of the opportunity to leave, and a lame seaman.

Chapter XXIV.
THE CAPTIVITY MODIFIED
Flinders continued to reside at the Garden prison
till August, 1805. In that month he was in
formed that the Governor was disposed to permit him
to live in the interior of the island, if he so desired.
This change would give him a large measure of
personal freedom, he would no longer be under close
surveillance, and he would be able to enjoy social life.
He had formed a friendship with an urbane and culti
vated French gentleman, Thomas Pitot, whom he con
sulted, and who found for him a residence in the house
of Madame D'Arifat at Wilhelm's Plains.
Here commenced a period of five years and six
months, of detention certainly, but no longer of im
prisonment. In truth, it was the most restful period of
Flinders' whole life; and, if he could have banished the
longing for home and family, and the bitter feeling of
wrong that gnawed at his heart, and could have
quietened the desire that was ever uppermost in his
mind to continue the exploratory work still remaining
to be done, his term under Madame D'Arifat's roof
would have been delightfully happy.
Those twenty months in Port Louis had made him
a greatly changed man. Friends who had known him
in the days of eager activity, when fatigues were lightly
sustained, would scarcely have recognised the brisk ex
plorer in the pale, emaciated, weak, limping semi-invalid
who took his leave of the kind-hearted sergeant of the
guard on August 19th, and stepped feebly outside the
iron gate in company with his friend Pitot. A portrait
357

358 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
of him, painted by an amateur some time later, crude
in execution though it is, shows the hollow cheeks of a
man who had suffered, and conveys an idea of the
dimmed eyes whose brightness and commanding ex
pression had once been remarked by many who came in
contact with him.
But at all events over five years of fairly pleasant
existence were now before him. The reason why the
period was so protracted will be explained in the
next chapter. This one can be devoted to the life at
Wilhelm's Plains.
A parole was given, by which Flinders bound him
self not to go more than two leagues from his habitation,
and to conduct himself with that degree of reserve
which was becoming in an officer residing in a colony
with whose parent state his nation was at war.
The interior of Mauritius is perhaps as beautiful a
piece of country as there is in the world. The vegeta
tion is rich and varied, gemmed with flowers and plenti
fully watered by cool, pure, never-failing streams. To
one who had been long in prison pent, the journey inland
was a procession of delights. Monsieur Pitot, who was
intimate with the country gentlemen, made the stages
easy, and several visits were paid by the way. The culti
vated French people of the island were all very glad to
entertain Flinders, of whom they had heard much,
and who won their sympathy by reason of his wrongs,
and their affection by his own personality. Charming
gardens shaded by mango and other fruit trees, cool fish
ponds, splashing cascades and tumbling waterfalls,
coffee and clove plantations, breathing out a spicy
fragrance, stretches of natural forest — a perpetual
variety in beauty — gratified the traveller, as he ascended
the thousand feet above which stretched the plateau
whereon the home of Madame D'Arifat stood.

THE CAPTIVITY MODIFIED 359
In the garden of the house were two comfortable
pavilions. One of these was to be occupied by Flinders,
the other by his servant, Elder, and the lame seaman
who accompanied him. Madame D'Arifat hospitably
proposed that he should take his meals with her family
in the house, and his glad acceptance of the invitation
commenced a pleasant and profitable friendship with
people to whom he ever after referred with deep respect.
A note about the kindness of these gentle friends is
contained in a letter to his wife:* "Madame and her
amiable daughters said much to console me, and seemed
to take it upon themselves to dissipate my chagrin by
engaging me in innocent amusement and agreeable con
versation. I cannot enough be grateful to them for
such kindness to a stranger, to a foreigner, to an enemy
of their country, for such they have a right to consider
me if they will, though I am an enemy to no country in
fact, but as it opposes the honour, interest, and happiness
of my own. My employment and inclinations lead to
the extension of happiness and of science, and not to
the destruction of mankind."
The kindly consideration of the inhabitants was un
failing. Their houses were ever open to the English
captain, and they were always glad to have him with
them, and hear him talk about the wonders of his ad
venturous life. He enjoyed his walks, and restored
health soon stimulated him to renewed mental activity.
He studied the French language, and learnt to speak
and write it clearly. He continued to read Latin, and
also studied Malay, thinking that a knowledge of this
tongue would be useful to him in case of future work
upon the northern coasts of Australia and the neigh
bouring archipelagoes. He never lost hope of pur-
* Flinders' Papers.

360 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
suing his investigations in the field where he had already
won so much distinction. To his brother Samuel, in a
letter of October, 1807, he wrote:* "You know my in
tention of completing the examination of Australia as
soon as the Admiralty will give me a ship. My inten
tions are still the same, and the great object of my
present studies is to render myself more capable of per
forming the task with reputation." He cogitated a
scheme for exploring the interior of Australia "from
the head of the Gulf of Carpentaria to the head of the
great gulf on the south coast," i.e., Spencer's Gulf. "In
case of being again sent to Australia I should much wish
that this was part of my instructions." Much as he
longed to see his friends in England, work, always
work, scope for more and more work, was his domina
ting passion. "Should a peace speedily arrive," he told
Banks (March, 1806), "and their Lordships of the
Admiralty wish to have the north-west coast of Aus
tralia examined immediately, I will be ready to embark
in any ship provided for the service that they may
choose to send out. My misfortunes have not abated
my ardour in the service of science." If there was
work to do, he would even give up the chance of going
home before commencing it. "In the event of sending
out another Investigator immediately after the peace,
probably Lieutenant Fowler or my brother might be
chosen as first lieutenant to bring her out to me." He
spoke of directing researches to the Fiji Islands and the
South Pacific. Rarely has there been a man so keen
for the most strenuous service, so unsparing of himself,
so eager to excel.
Occasionally in the letters and journals appear lively
descriptions of life at Wilhelm's Plains. The follow
ing is a tinted vignette of this kind: "In the evening
* Flinders' Papers.

5

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<*4tc*~s \ <fim~- -m&mer* <*^&*^~ *r<w£a£ j£vm £*-i* t£t~i*£ **, £&>£? /ffiPS \ <&*t*#! ' +*. *s/^fr*<^'

PAGE FROM FLINDERS' COPY OF HIS MEMORIAL TO THE FRENCH MINISTER OF
MARINE (WRITTEN IN ILE-DE-FRANCE).
(Melbourne Public Library.)

THE CAPTIVITY MODIFIED 361
I walked out to visit my neighbour, whom I had not
seen for near a week. I met the whole family going
out in the following order: First, Madame, with her
youngest daughter, about six years old, in a palankin
with M. Boistel walking by the side of it. Next,
Mademoiselle Aimee, about 16, mounted astride upon
an ass, with her younger sister, about 7, behind her, also
astride. Third, Mademoiselle her sister, about 15,
mounted upon M. Boistel's horse, also astride; and two
or three black servants carrying an umbrella, lanthorn,
etc., bringing up the rear. The two young ladies had
stockings on to-day,* and for what I know drawers
also; they seemed to have occasion for them. Madame
stopped on seeing me, and I paid my compliments and
made the usual enquiries. She said they were taking
a promenade, going to visit a neighbour, and on they set.
I could perceive that the two young ladies were a little
ashamed of meeting me, and were cautious to keep their
coats well down to their ankles, which was no easy thing.
I stood looking after and admiring the procession some
time; considering it a fair specimen of the manner in
which the gentry of the island, who are not very well
provided with conveyances, make visits in the country.
I wished much to be able to make a sketch of the pro
cession. It would have been as good, with the title of
'Going to See our Neighbour' under it, as the Vicar of
Wakefield's family 'Going to Church.' "
He was much interested in an inspection of the
Mesnil estate, where Laperouse had resided when as an
officer of the French navy he had visited Ile-de-France,
and which in conjunction with another French officer he
purchased. It was here, though Flinders does not seem

none.

' On a previous day, mentioned in the journal, they had worn

362

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

to have been aware of the romantic fact, that the illus
trious navigator fell in love with Lleanore Broudou,
whom, despite family opposition, he afterwards
married.* "I surveyed the scene," wrote Flinders,
"with mingled sensations of pleasure and melancholy:
the ruins of his house, the garden he had laid out,
the still blooming hedgerows of China roses,
emblems of his reputation, everything was an
object of interest and curiosity. This spot is
nearly in the centre of the island, and upon the
road from Port Louis to Port Bourbon. It was here
that the man lamented by the good and well-informed
of all nations, whom science illumined, and humanity,
joined to an honest ambition, conducted to the haunts
of remote savages, in this spot he once dwelt, perhaps
little known to the world, but happy; when he became
celebrated he had ceased to exist. Monsieur Airolles
promised me to place three square blocks of stone, one
upon the other, in the spot where the house of this
lamented navigator had stood; and upon the upper
most stone facing the road to engrave 'Laperouse.' '
Investigations made in later years by the Comite des
Souvenirs Historiques of Mauritius, show that Airolles
carried out his promise to Flinders, and erected a cairn
in the midst of what had been the garden of Laperouse.
But the stones were afterwards removed by persons who
had little sentiment for the associations of the place.
In the year 1897, the Comite des Souvenirs Historiques
obtained from M. Dauban, then the proprietor of the
estate, permission to erect a suitable memorial, such as
Flinders had suggested. This was done. The inscrip
tion upon the face of the huge conical rock chosen for

* The charming love-story of Laperouse has been related in the
author's Laperouse. (Sydney, 1912).

THE CAPTIVITY MODIFIED 363
the purpose copies the words used by Flinders. It
reads — LAPEROUSE
ILLTJSTRE NAVIGATEUR
A acliete ce terrain en Avril 1775 et l'a habite.

Le Capitaine Flinders dit :
" In this spot he once dwelt, perhaps little known to the
world, but happy."
(Comite' des Souvenirs Historiques. — 1897.)

Flinders' pen was very busy during these years.
Access to his charts and papers, printed volumes and
log-books (except the third log-book, containing details
of the Cumberland's voyage) , having been given to him,
he wrote up the history of his voyages and adventures.
By July, 1806, he had completed the manuscript as far
as the point when he left the Garden prison. An oppor
tunity of despatching it to the Admiralty occurred when
the French privateer La Piemontaise captured the richly
laden China merchantman Warren Hastings and
brought her into Port Louis as a prize. Captain Lar-
kins was released after a short detention, and offered
to take a packet to the Admiralty. Finished charts
were also sent; and Sir John Barrow, who wrote the
powerful Quarterly Review article of 1810, wherein
Flinders' cause was valiantly championed, had resort to
this material. A valuable paper by Flinders, upon the
use of the marine barometer for predicting changes of
wind at sea, was also the fruit of his enforced leisure.
It was conveyed to England, read before the Royal
Society by Sir Joseph Banks, and published in the Trans
actions of that learned body in 1806.

364 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
The friendship of able and keen-minded men was
not lacking during these years. There existed in Ile-de-
France a Societe d'Emulation, formed to promote the
study of literary and philosophical subjects, whose mem
bers, learning what manner of man Flinders was,
addressed a memorial to the Institute of France relating
what had happened to him, and eulogising his courage,
his high character, his innocence, and the worth of his
services. They protested that he was a man into whose
heart there had never entered a single desire, a single
thought, the execution of which could be harmful to
any individual, of whatever class or to whatever nation
he might belong. "Use then, we beg of you," they
urged, "in favour of Captain Flinders the influence of
the first scientific body in Europe, the National Insti
tute, in order that the error which has led to the
captivity of this learned navigator may become known;
you will acquire, in rendering this noble service, a new
title to the esteem and the honour of all nations, and of
all friends of humanity."
The Governor-General of India, Lord Wellesley,
took a keen interest in Flinders' situation, and in 1805
requested Decaen's "particular attention" to it, earnestly
soliciting him to "release Captain Flinders immediately,
and to allow him either to take his passage to India in
the Thetis or to return to England in the first neutral
ship." Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, commander-
in-chief of the British naval forces in the East Indies,
tried to effect an exchange by the liberation of a French
officer of equal rank. But in this direction nothing was
concluded. Under these circumstances, with agreeable society,
amidst sympathetic friends, in a charming situation, well
and profitably employed upon his own work, Flinders
spent over five years of his captivity. He never ceased
to chafe under the restraint, and to move every avail-

THE CAPTIVITY MODIFIED 36S
able influence to secure his liberty, but it cannot be said
that the chains were oppressively heavy. Decaen
troubled him very little. Once (in May, 1806) the
General's anger flamed up, in consequence of a strong
letter of protest received from Governor King of New
South Wales. King's affection for Flinders was like
that of a father for a son, and on receipt of the news
about the Cumberland his indignation poured itself out
in this letter to Decaen, with which he enclosed a copy
of Flinders' letter to him. It happened that, at the
time of the arrival of the letter in Ile-de-France, Flin
ders was on a visit to Port Louis, where he had been
permitted to come for a few days. The result of
King's intervention was that Decaen ordered him to>
return to Wilhelm's Plains, and refused the application
he had made to be allowed to visit two friends who
were living on the north-east side of the island.
John Elder, Flinders' servant, remained with him
until June, 1806. He might have left when there was
a general exchange of prisoners in August, 1805, and
another opportunity of quitting the island was presented
in April, 1806, when the lame seaman departed on an
American ship bound for Boston. But Elder was
deeply attached to his master, and would have remained
till the end had not his mind become somewhat un
hinged by frequent disappointments and by his despair
of ever securing liberation. When his companion, the
lame seaman, went away, Elder developed a form of
melancholy, with hallucinations, and appeared to be
wasting away from loss of sleep and appetite. Per
mission for him to depart was therefore obtained, and
from July, 1806, Flinders was the only remaining mem
ber of the Cumberland's company.
Throughout the period of detention Flinders was
placed on half-pay by the Admiralty. It cannot be said
that he was treated with generosity by the Government

366 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
of his own country at any time. He was not a prisoner
of war in the strict sense, and the rigid application
of the ordinary regulations of service in his peculiar
case seems to have been a rather stiff measure. Besides,
the Admiralty had evidence from time to time, in the
receipt of new charts and manuscripts, that Flinders was
industriously applying himself to the duties of the ser
vice on which he had been despatched. But there was
the regulation, and someone in authority ruled that it
had to apply in this most unusual instance. There is
some pathos in a letter written by Mrs. Flinders to a
friend in England (August, 1806) : "The Navy Board
have thought proper to curtail my husband's pay, so it
behoves me to be as careful as I can; and I mean to be
very economical, being determined to do with as little
as possible, that he may not deem me an extravagant
wife."

FLINDERS IN 1808.
(From portrait drawn by Chazal at Ile-de-France.)

Chapter XXV.
THE ORDER OF RELEASE
The several representations concerning the case of Flin
ders that were made in France, the attention drawn to
it in English newspapers, and the lively interest of
learned men of both nations, produced a moving effect
upon Napoleon's Government. Distinguished French
men did not hesitate to speak plainly. Fleurieu, whose
voice was attentively heard on all matters touching
geography and discovery, declared publicly that "the
indignities imposed upon Captain Flinders were without
example in the nautical history of civilised nations."
Malte-Brun, a savant of the first rank, expressed him
self so boldly as to incur the displeasure of the authori
ties. Bougainville, himself a famous navigator, made
personal appeals to the Government. Sir Joseph Banks,
whose friendly relations with French men of science
were not broken by the war, used all the influence he
could command. He had already, "from the gracious
condescension of the Emperor," obtained the release
of five persons who had been imprisoned in France,* and
had no doubt that if he could get Napoleon's ear he
could bring about the liberation of his protege.
At last, in March, 1806, the affair came before the
Council of State in Paris, mainly through the instru
mentality of Bougainville. Banks wrote to Mrs. Flin
ders^ "After many refusals on the part of Bonaparte
to applications made to him from different quarters, he

* Banks to Flinders, Historical Records, V., 646.
t Flinders' Papers.
aa 367

368 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
at last consented to order Captain Flinders' case to be
laid before the Council of State."
On the first of March an order was directed to be
sent to Decaen, approving his previous conduct, but in
forming him that, moved "by a sentiment of generosity,
the Government accord to Captain Flinders his liberty
and the restoration of his ship." Accompanying the
despatch was an extract from the minutes of the Council
of State, dated March 1st, 1806, recording that: "The
Council of State, which, after the return of His
Majesty the Emperor and King, has considered the re
port of its Marine section on that of the Minister
of Marine and the Colonies concerning the detention
of the English schooner Cumberland and of Captain
Flinders at Ile-de-France (see the documents appended
to the report), is of opinion that the Captain-
General of Ile-de-France had sufficient reason for
detaining there Captain Flinders and his schooner;
but by reason of the interest that the mis
fortunes of Captain Flinders has inspired, he seems to
deserve that His Majesty should authorise the Minister
of Marine and the Colonies to restore to him his liberty
and his ship." This document was endorsed:
"Approuve au Palais des Tuileries, le onze Mars, 1806.
Napoleon." The terms of the despatch with which the order was
transmitted contained a remarkable statement. Decres
informed Decaen that he, as Minister, had on the 30th
July, 1804 — nearly one year and nine months before
the order of release — brought Flinders' case under
the notice of the Council of State. But nothing was
done: the Emperor had to be consulted, and at that
date Napoleon was not accessible. He was superin
tending the army encamped at Boulogne, preparing for
that projected descent upon England which even his
magnificent audacity never dared to make. He did

THE ORDER OF RELEASE 369
not return to St. Cloud, within hail of Paris, till October
12th.* Then the officials surrounding him were kept
busy with preparations for crowning himself and the
Empress Josephine, a ceremony performed by Pope
Pius VII., at Notre Dame, on December 2nd. The
consequence was that this piece of business about an un
fortunate English captain in Ile-de-France — like nearly
all other business concerned with the same colony at the
time — got covered up beneath a mass of more urgent
affairs, and remained in abeyance until the agitation
stimulated by Banks, Fleurieu, Bougainville, Malte-
Brun and others forced the case under the attention of
the Emperor and his ministers.
Even then the despatch did not reach Ile-de-France
till July, 1807, sixteen months after the date upon it;
and it was then transmitted, not by a French ship, but
by an English frigate, the Greyhound, under a flag of
truce. The reason for that was unfortunate for Flin
ders as an individual, but entirely due to the efficiency
of the navy of which he was an officer. In 1805 the
British fleet had demolished the French at Trafalgar,
and from that time forward until the end of the war,
Great Britain was mistress of the ocean in full potency.
Her frigates patrolled the highways of the sea with a
vigilance that never relaxed. In January, 1806, she
took possession of the Cape of Good Hope for the
second time, and has held it ever since. The conse
quences to Decaen and his garrison were very serious.
With the British in force at the Cape, how could
supplies, reinforcements and despatches get through to
him in Ile-de-France? He saw the danger clearly,
but was powerless to avert it. Of this particular des
patch four copies were sent from France on as many

* The movements of Napoleon day by day can be followed in
Schuerman's Itineraire General de Napoleon.

370 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
ships. One copy was borne by a French vessel which
was promptly captured by the British; and on its con
tents becoming known the Admiralty sent it out to
Admiral Pellew, in order that he might send a ship
under a flag of truce to take it to Decaen. The Secre
tary to the Admiralty, Marsden, wrote to Pellew
(December, 1806) that the despatch "has already been
transmitted to the Isle of France in triplicate, but as it
may be hoped that the vessels have been all captured
you had better take an opportunity of sending this
copy by a flag of truce, provided you have not heard in
the meantime of Flinders being at liberty." As a fact,
one other copy did get through, on a French vessel.
Pellew lost no time in informing Flinders of the
news, and the captive wrote to Decaen in the following
terms :*
"General, "J^ 24' 1807-
"By letters from Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew,
transmitted to me yesterday by Colonel Monistrol, I am
informed that orders relating to me have at length
arrived from His Excellency the Marine Minister of
France, which orders are supposed to authorize my
being set at liberty.
"Your Excellency will doubtless be able to figure
to yourself the sensations such a communication must
have excited in me, after a detention of three years and
a half, and my anxiety to have such agreeable intelli
gence confirmed by some information of the steps it is
in Your Excellency's contemplation to take in conse
quence. If these letters have flattered me in vain with
the hopes of returning to my country and my family, I
beg of you, General, to inform me; if they are correct,

' Decaen Papers.

THE ORDER OF RELEASE 371
you will complete my happiness by confirming their con
tents. The state of incertitude in which I have so long
remained will, I trust, be admitted as a sufficient excuse
for my anxiety to be delivered from it.
"I have the honour to be, Your Excellency's most
obedient humble servant, "Mattw. Flinders.
"His Excellency the Captain-General Decaen."
In reply Decaen transmitted to Flinders a copy of
the despatch of the Minister of Marine, and informed
him through Colonel Monistrol "that, so soon as cir
cumstances will permit, you will fully enjoy the favour
which has been granted you by His Majesty the
Emperor and King."
But now, having at length received orders, counter
signed by Napoleon himself, that Flinders should be
liberated, Decaen came to a decision that on the face of
it seems extremely perplexing. We have seen that in
August, 1805, Flinders, well informed by persons who
had conversed with Decaen, believed that the General
"would be very glad to get handsomely clear of me,"
and that in November of the same year he made the as
sertion that Decaen "would have gladly suffered me to
depart long since" but for the reference of the case to
Paris. We have direct evidence to the same effect in a
letter from Colonel Monistrol regarding Lord Welles-
ley's application for Flinders' release.* The Colonel
desired "with all my heart" that the request could be
acceded to, but the Captain-General could not comply
until he had received a response to his despatch. Yet,
when the response was received, and Flinders might
have been liberated with the full approbation of the
* Historical Records, V., 651.

372 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
French Government, Decaen replied to the Minister's
despatch in the following terms (August 20th, 1807) :
"I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that
by the English frigate Greyhound, which arrived here
on July 21st under a flag of truce, in the hope of gather
ing information concerning His British Majesty's ships
Blenheim and Java, I have received the fourth copy of
Your Excellency's despatch of March 21st, 1806, no. 8,
relative to Captain Flinders. Having thought that the
favourable decision that it contains regarding that
officer had been determined at a time when the possi
bility of some renewal of friendliness with England was
perceived, I did not consider that the present moment
was favourable for putting into operation that act of
indulgence on the part of His Majesty. I have since
received the second copy of the same despatch; but, the
circumstances having become still more difficult, and
that officer appearing to me to be always dangerous, I
await a more propitious time for putting into execution
the intentions of His Majesty. My zeal for his service
has induced me to suspend the operations of his com
mand. I trust, Monsieur, that that measure of pru
dence will obtain your Excellency's approbation. I
have the honour to be, etc., etc., etc., Decaen."*
It will be observed that in this despatch Decaen des
cribes the circumstances of the colony he governed as
having become "more difficult," and Flinders as appear
ing to him to be "always dangerous." We must, then,
examine the circumstances to ascertain why they had
become so difficult, and why he considered that it would
now be dangerous to let Flinders go.
It is easy enough to attribute the General's refusal
to obstinacy or malignity. But his anger had cooled
. . *Jhis. desPatch was originally published by M. Albert Pitot, in
his Esquisses Historiques de ITle-de-France. (Port Louis, 1899).

THE ORDER OF RELEASE 373
down by 1807; his prisoner was a charge on the estab
lishment to the extent of 5,400 francs a year, and
Decaen was a thrifty administrator; why, then, should
he apparently have hardened his heart to the extent of
disobeying the Emperor's command? The explanation
is not to be found in his temper, but in the military
situation of Ile-de-France, and his belief that Flinders
was accurately informed about it; as was, indeed, the
case. At this time Decaen was holding Ile-de-France by
a policy fairly describable as one of "bluff." The
British could have taken it by throwing upon it a com
paratively small force, had they known how weak its
defences were. But they did not know; and Decaen,
whose duty it was to defend the place to the utmost,
did not intend that they should if he could prevent in
formation reaching them. After the crushing of
French naval power at Trafalgar and the British occu
pation of the Cape, Decaen's position became untenable,
though a capitulation was not forced upon him till four
years later. He constantly demanded reinforcements
and money, which never came to hand. The military
and financial resources of France were being strained to
prosecute Napoleon's wars in Europe. There were
neither men nor funds to spare for the colony in the
Indian Ocean. Decaen felt that his position was com
promised.* He addressed the Emperor personally
"with all the sadness of a wounded soul," but nothing
was done for Ile-de-France. There was not enough
money to repair public buildings and quays, which fell
into ruins. There was no timber, no sail-cloth to re-fit
ships. Even nails were lacking. A little later ( 1809)
he complained in despatches of the shortness of flour
* "II sentait sa position compromise." Prentout, p. 521 ; who
gives an excellent account of the situation.

374 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
and food. There was little revenue, no credit. Now
that the British had asserted their strength, and held the
Cape, prizes were few. Above all he represented "the
urgent need for soldiers." He felt himself abandoned.
But still, with a resolute tenacity that one cannot but
admire, he hung on to his post, and maintained a bold
front to the enemy.
Did Flinders know of this state of things? Un
questionably he did; and Decaen knew that he knew.
He could have informed the British Government, had
he chosen to violate his parole ; but he was in all things
a scrupulously honourable man, and, as he said, "an
absolute silence was maintained in my letters." He
was constantly hoping that an attack would be made
upon the island, and "if attacked with judgment it
appeared to me that a moderate force would carry it."*
But all this while the British believed that Ile-de-France
was strong, and that a successful assault upon it would
require a larger force than they could spare at the time.
Even after Flinders had returned to England, when he
was asked at the Admiralty whether he thought that a
contemplated attack would succeed, his confident
assurance that it would was received with doubt.
Decaen's "bluff" was superb.
On one point, if we may believe St. Elme le Due,
Decaen did Flinders a grave injustice. It was believed,
says that writer's manuscript, that Flinders had several
times managed to go out at night, that he had made
soundings along the coast, and had transmitted informa
tion to Bengal which was of use when ultimately the
colony was taken by the English. For that charge
there is not a shadow of warrant. There is not the
faintest ground for supposing that he did not observe
his parole with the utmost strictness. Had he supplied

Voyage to Terra Australis, II., 419.

THE ORDER OF RELEASE 375
information, Ile-de-France would have passed under
British rule long before 1810.*
A few passages written for inclusion in the Voyage
to Terra Australis, but for some reason omitted, may
be quoted to show how rigorously visiting ships were
treated lest information should leak out.f
"It may not be amiss to mention the rules which a
ship is obliged to observe on arriving at Port North-
West, since it will of itself give some idea of the nature
of the Government. The ship is boarded by a pilot one
or two miles from the entrance to the port, who informs
the commander that no person must go on shore, or any
one be suffered to come on board until the ship has been
visited by the officer of health, who comes soon after
the ship has arrived at anchor in the mouth of the port,
accompanied with an officer from the captain of the
port, and, if it is a foreign ship, by an interpreter. If
the health of the crew presents no objection, and after
answering the questions put to him concerning the object
of his coming to the island, the commander goes on
shore in the French boat, and is desired to take with him
all papers containing political information, and all
letters, whether public or private, that are on board the
vessel; and although there should be several parcels of
newspapers of the same date, they must all go. On
arriving at the Government House, to which he is
accompanied by the officer and interpreter, and fre
quently by a guard, he sooner or later sees the Governor,
* The belief that Flinders took soundings appears to have been
common among the French inhabitants of Port Louis. In the Pro
ceedings of the South Australian Branch of the Royal Geographical
Society, 1912-13, p. 71, is printed a brief account of the detention of
Flinders, by a contemporary, D'Epinay, a lawyer of the town. Here
it is stated : "It is found out that at night he takes soundings off the
coast and has forwarded his notes to India." Those who gave
credence to this wild story apparently never reflected that Flinders
had no kind of opportunity for taking soundings.
t MS., Mitchell Library.

376 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
or one of his aides-de-camp, who questions him upon his
voyage, upon, political intelligence, the vessels he has
met at sea, his intentions in touching at the island, etc. ;
after which he is desired to leave his letters, packets,
and newspapers, no matter to whom they are addressed.
If he refuse this, or to give all the information he
knows, however detrimental it may be to his own affairs,
or appears to equivocate, if he escapes being imprisoned
in the town he is sent back to his ship under a guard,
and forbidden all communication with the shore. If
he gives satisfaction, he is conducted from the General
to the Prefect, to answer his questions, and if he satisfies
him also, is then left at liberty to go to his consul and
transact his business. The letters and packets left with
the General, if not addressed to persons obnoxious to
the Government, are sent unopened, according to their
direction. I will not venture to say that the others are
opened and afterwards destroyed, but it is much sus
pected. If the newspapers contain no intelligence but
what is permitted to be known, they are also sent to
their address. The others are retained; and for this
reason it is that all the copies of the same paper are de
manded, for the intention is not merely to gain intelli
gence, but to prevent what is disagreeable from being
circulated." Decaen's conduct in refusing to liberate Flinders
when the order reached him need not be excused, but it
should be understood. To impute sheer malignity to him
does not help us much, nor does it supply a sufficient
motive. What we know of his state of mind, as well
as what we know of the financial position of the colony,
induce the belief that he would have been quite glad
to get rid of Flinders in 1807, had not other and
stronger influences intervened. But he was a soldier,
placed in an exceedingly precarious situation, which he
could only maintain by determining not to lose a single

THE ORDER OF RELEASE 377
chance. War is an affliction that scourges a larger
number of those who do not fight than of those who do;
and Flinders, with all his innocence, was one of its
victims. He was thought to know too much. That
was why he was "dangerous." A learned French his
torian* stigmatises Decaen's conduct as "maladroit and
brutal, but not dishonest." Dishonest he never was;
as to the other terms we need not dispute so long as we
understand the peculiar twist of circumstances that in
tensified the maladroitness and brutality that marked
the man, and without which, indeed, he would not per
haps have been the dogged, tough, hard-fighting, reso
lute soldier that he was.
Flinders could have escaped from Ile-de-France on
several occasions, had he chosen to avail himself of
opportunities. He did not, for two reasons, both in
the highest degree honourable to him. The first was
that he had given his parole, and would not break it;
the second that escape would have meant sacrificing
some of his precious papers. In May, 1806, an Ameri
can captain rejoicing in the name of Gamaliel Matthew
Ward called at Port Louis, and hearing of Flinders'
case, actually made arrangements for removing him.
It was Flinders himself who prevented the daring
skipper from carrying out his plan. "The dread of
dishonouring my parole," he wrote, "made me contem
plate this plan with a fearful eye."f In December of
the same year he wrote to John Aken: "Since I find so
much time elapse, and no attention paid to my situation
by the French Government, I have been very heartily
sorry for having given my parole, as I could otherwise
have made my escape long ago." Again, he wrote to
his wife : "Great risks must be run and sacrifices made,

* Prentout, p. 661.
t Flinders' Papers.

378 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
but my honour shall remain unstained. No captain in
His Majesty's Navy shall have cause to blush in calling
me a brother officer."
As time went on, and release was not granted, he
several times thought of surrendering his parole, which
would have involved giving up the pleasant life at Wil
helm's Plains, and being again confined in Port Louis.
But escape would have meant the loss of many of his
papers, the authentic records of his discoveries; and he
could not bring himself to face that.
Consequently the captivity dragged itself wearily
out for three years after the order of release was
received. The victim chafed, protested, left no stone
unturned, but Decaen was not to be moved. Happily
depression did not drag illness in its miserable train.
"My health sustains itself tolerably well in the midst of
all my disappointments," he was able to write to Banks
in 1809.

Chapter XXVI.
THE RELEASE
From June, 1809, the British squadron in the Indian
Ocean commenced to blockade Ile-de-France.* Decaen's
fear of Flinders' knowledge is revealed in the fact that
he ordered him not for the future to go beyond the
lands attached to Madame D'Arifat's habitation.
Flinders wrote complying, and henceforth declined invi
tations beyond the immediate neighbourhood of the
plantation. He amused himself by teaching mathe
matics and the principles of navigation to the two
younger sons of the family, and by the study of French
literature. After October the blockade increased in strictness,
under Commodore Rowley. Decaen's situation was
growing desperate. Fortunately for him, the French
squadron brought in three prizes in January, 1810,
slipping past Rowley's blockade, much to that enter
prising officer's annoyance. The situation was
temporarily relieved, but the assistance thus afforded
was no better than a plaster on a large wound. Here
again we find Flinders accurately and fully informed:
Decaen did not underrate his "dangerous" potentialities.
"The ordinary sources of revenue and emolument were
nearly dried up, and to have recourse to the merchants
for a loan was impossible, the former bills upon the
French treasury, drawn it was said for three millions
of livres, remaining in great part unpaid; and to such
distress was the Captain-General reduced for ways and
means that he had submitted to ask a voluntary contri-
* Flinders to Banks, Historical Records, VII., 202.
379

380 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
bution in money, wheat, maize, or any kind of produce
from the half-ruined colonists. It was even said to
have been promised that, if pecuniary succour did not
arrive in six months, the Captain-General would retire
and leave the inhabitants to govern themselves."
Decaen, in fact, saw clearly that the game was up.
His threat to retire in six months did not mean that he
would not have given the British a fight before he
lowered the tricolour. He was not the man to sur
render quite tamely; but he knew that he could no
longer hold out for more than a measurable period, the
length of which would depend upon the enemy's initia
tive. There was, therefore, no longer any purpose in
prolonging the captivity of the prisoner who was feared
on account of his knowledge of the situation; and
Decaen availed himself of the first opportunity pre
sented in 1810 to grant Flinders his longed-for release.
In March, Mr. Hugh Hope was sent to Ile-de-France
by Lord Minto (who had become Governor-General
of India in 1807) to negotiate for the exchange of
prisoners. This gentleman had done his best to secure
Flinders' release on a former occasion, and had been
refused. But now Decaen realised that the end was
drawing near, and there was no sound military purpose
to serve in keeping the prisoner any longer. It is quite
probable that he would have been glad if information
had been conveyed to the British which would expedite
the inevitable fight and the consequent fall of French
power in Mauritius.
On March 1 5th Flinders received a letter from Mr.
Hope informing him that the Governor had consented
to his liberation. A fortnight later came official con
firmation of the news in a letter from Colonel Monis
trol, who assured him of the pleasure he had in making
the announcement. His joy was great. At once he

THE RELEASE 381
visited his French friends in the neighbourhood to give
them the news and bid them farewell ; next day he took
an affectionate leave of the kind family who had been
his hosts for four years and a half; and as soon as
possible he departed for Port Louis, where he stayed
with his friend Pitot until he went aboard the cartel.
At the end of the month a dinner was_given in his
honour by the president of the Societe D'Emulation, to
which a large number of English men and women were
invited. When Flinders arrived in Ile-de-France, more
than six years before, he could speak no French and
could only decipher a letter in that language with the
aid of a dictionary; but now, when he found himselt
again in the company of his own countrymen, he ex
perienced a difficulty in speaking English !
On June 13th, Flinders' sword was restored to him.
He was required to sign a parole, wherein he pledged
himself not to act in any service which might be con
sidered as directly or indirectly hostile to France or her
allies during the present war. On the same day the
cartel Harriet sailed for Bengal. Flinders was free :
"after a captivity of six years five months and twenty-
seven days I at length had the inexpressible pleasure of
being out of the reach of General Decaen."
Rowley's blockading squadron was cruising outside
the port, and the Harriet communicated with the com
modore. It was ascertained that the sloop Otter was
running down to the Cape with despatches on the
following day, and Flinders had no difficulty in securing
a passage in her. After dining with Rowley he was
transferred to the Otter. He was delayed for six
weeks at the Cape, but in August embarked in the
Olympia, and arrived in England on the 23rd of
October, after an absence of nine years and three
months. News of his release had preceded him, and his

382 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
wife had come up from Lincolnshire to meet him.
He speaks in a letter to a friend of the meeting with the
woman whom he had left a bride so many years before :*
"I had the extreme good fortune to find Mrs. Flinders
in London, which I owe to the intelligence of my
liberty having pfeceded my arrival. I need not des
cribe to you our meeting after an absence of nearly ten
years. Suffice it to say I have been gaining flesh ever
since." John Franklin, then a midshipman on the
Bedford, had come up to London to welcome his old
commander, and, much to his disturbance, witnessed
the meeting of Flinders and his wife, as we find from
a letter written by him: "Some apology would be
necessary for the abrupt manner in which I left you,
except in the peculiar circumstances wherein my de
parture was taken. I felt so sensibly the affecting scene
of your meeting Mrs. Flinders that I would not have
remained any longer in the room under any considera
tion." The capture of Ile-de-France by the British, when
ultimately an attack was made (on 3rd December.
1810), gave peculiar pleasure to naval officers and
Anglo-Indians. "It is incredible," Mr. Hope wrote
to Flinders, "the satisfaction which the capture of that
island has diffused all over India, and everyone is now
surprised that an enterprise of such importance should
never have been attempted before." When the change
of rulers took place, some of the French inhabitants
objected to take the oath of allegiance to the British
Crown, and a letter on the subject was sent to Napoleon.
His comment was pithy: "I should like to see anybody
refuse me the oath of allegiance in any country I con
quered!"* It will be convenient to deal at this point with the
* Flinders' Papers.

SILHOUETTE OF FLINDERS, MADE AFTER HIS RETURN
FROM ILE-DE-FRANCE.
(By permission of Professor Hinders Petrie.)

THE RELEASE 383
oft-repeated charge, to which reference has been made
previously, that charts were taken from Flinders during
his imprisonment, and were used in the preparation ot
the Atlas to Peron and Freycinets' Voyage de Decou-
vertes aux Terres Australes.
The truth is that no charts were at any time taken
from the trunks wherein they were deposited in 1803,
except by Flinders himself, nor was a single one of his
charts ever seen by any French officer unless he himself
showed it. He never made any such charge of dis
honesty against his enemy, Decaen, or against the
General's countrymen. He had, as will be seen, a
cause of grievance against Freycinet, who was respon
sible for the French charts, and gave voice to it; but
plagiarism was neither alleged nor suspected by him.
On each occasion when Flinders applied to Decaen
to be supplied with papers from the trunks, he gave a
formal receipt for them. The first occasion when
papers were removed was on December 18th, 1803,
when Flinders took from one of his trunks his Cumber
land log-book, in order that Decaen might ascertain
from it his reasons for calling at Ile-de-France. It was
never restored to him. Mr. Hope made application
for it in 1810, when he was set free, but Decaen did
not give it up; and in 1813 Decres was still demanding it
unavailingly. This book and the box of despatches
were the only papers of Flinders that Decaen ever saw.
When it was handed over, all other books and papers
were replaced in the trunk, "and sealed as before."
The second occasion was on December 27th, 1803,
when the trunk containing printed books was restored
to Flinders at his request in order that he might employ
himself in confinement at the Port Louis tavern. The
third occasion was on December 29th, when he was
conducted to Government House, and was allowed to
take out of the sealed trunk there his private letters and

384 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
journals, two log-books, and other memoranda neces
sary to enable him to construct a chart of the Gulf of
Carpentaria. All other papers were "locked up in the
trunk and sealed as before." The fourth occasion was
in July, 1804, when Flinders was allowed to take out
of the same trunk a quantity of other books, papers and
charts, which he required for the pursuit of his work.
For these also a receipt was duly given. In that in
stance Flinders was especially vigilant. He had received
a private warning that some of his charts had been
copied, but when the seals were broken and he examined
the contents he was satisfied that this was not true. He
asked Colonel Monistrol, an honourable gentleman who
who was always of friendly disposition, whether the
papers had been disturbed, and "he answered by an
unqualified negative." The fifth occasion was in
August, 1807, when all the remaining papers, except the
log-book and the despatches, were restored to him. He
then gave the following receipt:*
"Received from Colonel Monistrol, chef d' etat-
major general of the Isle of France, one trunk con
taining the remainder of the books, papers, etc., which
were taken from me in Port North- West on December
16th, 1803, and December 20th of the same year,
whether relating to my voyage of discovery or other
wise; which books and papers, with those received by
me at two different times in 1804, make up the whole
that were so taken; with the following exceptions: —
1st, Various letters and papers, either wholly or in part
destroyed by rats, of which the remains are in the trunk.
2nd, The third volume of my rough log-books, contain
ing the journal of my transactions and observations on
board the Investigator, the Porpoise, the Hope cutter,
and the Cumberland schooner, from some time in June,
* Decaen Papers.

THE RELEASE 385
1803, to December 16th, 1803, of which I have no
duplicate. 3rd, Two boxes of despatches; the one
from his Excellency Governor King of New South
Wales, addressed to His Majesty's principal Secretary
of State for the Colonies; the other from Colonel
Paterson, Lieutenant-Governor at Port Jackson, the
address of which I do not remember. In truth of
which I hereunto sign my name at Port Napoleon, Isle
of France this 24th day of August, 1807.
"Mattw. Flinders,
"Late commander of H.M. Sloop the
Investigator, employed on discoveries
to the South Seas, with a French
passport."
The papers which the rats had destroyed were not
described; but there is a letter of Flinders to the
Admiralty, written after his return to England
(November 8th, 1810), which informs us what they
were.* In this letter he explained that, when the trunk
containing the papers was restored, "I found the rats
had gotten into the trunk and made nests of some of
them. I transmitted the whole from the Isle of France
in the state they then were, and now find that some of
the papers necessary to the passing of my accounts as
commander and purser of His Majesty's sloop Investi
gator are wanting. I have therefore to request you
will lay my case before their Lordships and issue an
order to dispense with the papers which from the above
circumstances it is impossible for me to produce." It
is apparent, therefore, that none of the navigation
papers or charts were destroyed. Had any been ab
stracted Flinders, who was a punctilously exact man,
would have missed them. His intense feeling of re
sentment against Decaen would have caused him to
* Flinders' Papers.

386 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
call attention to the fact if any papers whatever had
been disturbed.
The Quarterly Review pointed out the circumstance
that the French charts were "very like" those of Flin
ders, giving sinister emphasis to the words in italics.
They were very like in so far as they were good. It is
evident that if two navigators sail along the same piece
of coast, and each constructs a chart of it, those charts
will be "very like" each other to exactly the degree in
which they accurately represent the coast charted.
Freycinet, who did much of the hydrographical work
on Baudin's expedition, was an eminently competent
officer. Wherever we find him in charge of a section,
the work is well done. His Atlas contained some ex
tremely beautiful work. There is no reason whatever
for suggesting that it was not his own work. He
certainly saw no chart of Flinders, except the one
shown to him at Port Jackson, until the Atlas to the
Voyage to Terra Australis was published.
Moreover, the reports and material prepared by
Baudin's cartographers, upon which Freycinet worked,
are in existence. The reports* to the commander give
detailed descriptions of sections of the Australian coast
traversed and charted, and show conclusively that some
parts were examined with thoroughness. For regions
in which Baudin's expeditions sailed, Freycinet had no
need to resort to Flinders' material. He had enough
of his own. The papers of Flinders which Freycinet
might have wished to see were those relating to the
Gulf of Carpentaria, Torres Strait, and the Queensland
coast, which Baudin's vessels did not explore. But the
French maps contain no new features in respect to these
* I have read the whole of these reports from copies of the
originals in the Depot de la Marine, Service Hydrographique, Paris,
but have not thought it necessary to make further use of them in
this book.

THE RELEASE 387
parts. They present no evidence that Freycinet was
acquainted with the discoveries made there by Flinders.
The accusation of plagiarism arose partly from the
intense animosity felt against Frenchmen by English
writers in a period of fierce national hatred ; partly from
natural resentment of the treatment accorded to Flin
ders; partly from the circumstance that, while he was
held in captivity, French maps were published which
appeared to claim credit for discoveries made by him;
and partly from a misunderstanding of a charge very
boldly launched by an eminent French geographer.
Malte-Brun, in his Annales des Voyages for 1814 (Vol.
XXIII. , p. 268) made an attack upon the French
Atlas. He detested the Napoleonic regime, and pub
lished his observations while Napoleon was in exile at
Elba. He pointed out the wrong done to Flinders in
labelling the southern coast of Australia ' 'Terre
Napoleon," and in giving French names to geographical
features of which Flinders, not Baudin, was the dis
coverer. He continued: "the motive for that species
of national plagiarism* is evident. The Government
wished to create for itself a title for the occupation of
that part of New Holland." Malte-Brun should have
known Napoleon better than that. When he wanted
territory, and was strong enough to take it, he did not
"create titles." He took: his title was the sword.
But the point of importance is that Malte-Brun did
not allege "plagiarism" against the authors of the
French maps. His charge was made against the
Government. It was not that Freycinet had plagiar
ised Flinders' charts, but that the Government had
plagiarised his discoveries by, as Malte-Brun thought,
ordering French names to be strewn along the Terre
Napoleon coasts. In a later issue of the Annales des
* "Le motif de cette espece de plagiat national."

388 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Voyages* Malte-Brun testified to having seen Freycinet
working at the material upon which his charts were
founded. But his former use of the word "plagiat"
had created a general impression that Flinders' charts
had been dishonestly taken from him in Mauritius, and
used by those responsible for the French maps ; a charge
which Malte-Brun never meant to make, and which,
though still very commonly stated and believed, is
wholly untrue.
The really deplorable feature of the affair is that
Peron and Freycinet, in their published book and atlas,
gave no credit to Flinders for discoveries which they
knew perfectly that he had made. They knew where
he was while they were working up their material. It
does not appear that either of them ever moved in the
slightest degree to try to secure his liberation. Peron
died in December, 1810. Malte-Brun, who saw him
frequently after the return of Baudin's expedition, says
that in conversation on the discoveries of Flinders,
Peron "always appeared to me to be agitated by a secret
sorrow, and has given me to understand that he re
gretted not being at liberty to say in that regard all that
he knew." Flinders also believed Peron to be a worthy
man who acted as he did "from overruling authority."
Those who have read the evidence printed in this book,
exhibiting the detestable conduct of both Peron and
Freycinet in repaying indulgence and hospitality by
base espionage, will hardly be precipitate in crediting
either of them with immaculate motives. There is no
evidence that authority was exercised to induce them to
name the southern coasts Terre Napoleon, or to give
the name Golfe Bonaparte to the Spencer's Gulf of
Flinders, that of Golfe Josephine to his St. Vincent's
Gulf, that of lie Decres to his Kangaroo Island, that
* Vol. XXIV, 273.

THE RELEASE 389
of Detroit de Lacepede to his Investigator Strait, and
so forth. They knew that Flinders had made these dis
coveries before their own ships appeared in the same
waters; they knew that only the fact of his imprison
ment prevented his charts from being published before
theirs. The names with which they adorned their maps
were a piece of courtiership and a means of currying
favour with the great and powerful, just as their espion
age, and their supply of illicitly-obtained and flavoured
information to Decaen in Mauritius, were essays to ad
vance their own interests by unworthy services.
Freycinet's anxiety to get his maps out before Flin
ders had time to publish is curiously exhibited in a letter
from him to the Minister of Marine (August 29th,
1811). Flinders was then back in England, hard at
work upon his charts. A volume of text, and one thin
book of plates, containing only two maps, had been
published at Paris in 1807. Then delay occurred, and
in 1811 the engravers, not having been paid for their
work, refused to continue. Freycinet appealed to the
Minister in these terms :* "Very powerful reasons,
Monsieur, appear to demand that the atlas should be
published with very little delay, and even before the text
which is to accompany it. Independently of the advan
tages to me personally as author, of which I shall not
speak, the reputation of the expedition ordered by His
Majesty appears to me to be strongly involved. I have
the honour to remind your Excellency that Captain
Flinders was sent on discovery to Terra Australis a
short while after the French Government had des
patched an expedition having the same object. The
rival expeditions carried out their work in the same field,
but the French had the good fortune to be the first to
return to Europe. Now that Flinders is again in Eng-
* MSS., Archives Nationales, Marine, BB4, 996.

390 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
land, and is occupied with the publication of the
numerous results of his voyage, the English Govern
ment, jealous on account of the rivalry between the two
expeditions, will do all it can for its own. The con
jectures I have formed acquire a new force by the recent
announcement made by the newspapers, that Captain
Flinders' voyages in the South Seas are to be published
by command of the Lords of the Admiralty. If the
English publish before the French the records of dis
coveries made in New Holland, they will, by the fact
of that priority of publication, take from us the glory
which we have a right to claim. The reputation of our
expedition depends wholly upon the success of our
geographical work, and the more nearly our operations
and those of the English approach perfection, and the
more nearly our charts resemble each other, the more
likelihood there is of our being accused of plagiarism,
or at all events of giving rise to the thought that the
English charts were necessary to aid us in constructing
ours; because there will be no other apparent motive
for the delay of our publication."
Here, it will be seen, Freycinet anticipated the
charge of plagiarism, but thought it would spring from
the prior publication of Flinders' charts. He had no
suspicion at this time that the accusation would be made
that he used charts improperly taken from Flinders
when he was under the thumb of Decaen ; and when this
unjust impeachment was launched a few years later he
repudiated it with strong indignation. In that he was
justified; and our sympathy with him would be keener
if his own record in other respects had been brighter.

Chapter XXVII.
LAST YEARS AND DEATH OF FLINDERS
One of the first matters which occupied Flinders after
his arrival in England was the use of his influence with
the Admiralty to secure the release of a few French
prisoners of war who were relatives of his friends in
Mauritius. In a letter he pointed out that these men
were connected with respectable families from whom
he himself and several other English prisoners had
received kindness.* His plea was successful. There
was, surely, a peculiar beauty in this act of sympathy on
the part of one who had so recently felt the pain and
distress of captivity.
Flinders was anxious for news about his old Investi
gator shipmates. The faithful Elder, he found, had
secured an appointment as servant to Admiral Hollo-
well, then on service in the Mediterranean, and was a
great favourite. Franklin was able to enlighten him
as to some of the others. Purdie, who had been
assistant-surgeon, was surgeon on the Pompey. Inman,
who had been sent out to act as astronomer during the
latter part of the voyage, was a professor at the Naval
College, Portsmouth. Lacy and Sinclair, midship
men, were dead. Louth was a midshipman on the
Warrior. Olive was purser on the Heir Apparent, and
Matt, the carpenter, filled that post on the Bellerophon.
Of Dr. Bell Franklin knew nothing. "The old ship,"
he said, "is lying at Portsmouth, cut down nearly to the
water's edge."

* Flinders' Papers. 391

392 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
In naval and scientific circles Flinders was the ob
ject of much honour and interest. He was received
"with flattering attention" at the Admiralty. We find
him visiting Lord Spencer, who, having authorised the
Investigator voyage, was naturally concerned to hear of
its eventful history. Banks took him to the Royal
Society and gave a dinner in his honour. The Duke
of Clarence, afterwards William IV., himself a sailor.
wished to meet him and inspect his charts, and he was
taken to see the Prince by Bligh. In 1812 he gave
evidence before a Committee of the House of Commons
on the penal transportation system.* What he had
to say related principally to the nature of the country
he had examined in the course of his explorations.
"Were you acquainted with Port Dalrymple?" the
chairman asked him. "I discovered Port Dalrymple."
"Were you ever at the Derwent?" "I was, and from
my report, I believe, it was that the first settlement was
made there." He was one of the few early explorers
of Australia whose vision was hopeful; and experience
has in every instance justified his foreseeing optimism.
But save for a few social events, and for some
valuable experiments with the magnetic needle, to be
referred to in the final chapter, his time and energies
were absorbed by work upon his charts. He laboured
incessantly. "I am at my voyage," he said in a letter,
"but it does by no means advance according to my
wishes. Morning, noon and night I sit close at
writing, and at my charts, and can hardly find time for
anything else." He was a merciless critic when the
proofs came from the engravers. One half-sheet con
tains 92 corrections and improving marks in his hand
writing. Such directions as "make the dot distinct,"

* House of Commons Papers, 1812 ; the evidence was given on
March 25th.

LAST YEARS AND DEATH 393
"strengthen the coast-line," "make this track a fair equal
line," "points wanting," are abundant. As we turn
over the great folio which represents so much labour,
so much endurance, so much suffering, it is good to re
member that these superb drawings are the result of the
ceaselessly patient toil of perhaps the most masterly
cartographer who has ever adorned the British naval
service. He took similar pains with the text of A Voyage
to Terra Australis. It was never meant to be a book
for popular reading, though there is no lack of enter
tainment in it. It was a semi-official publication, in
which the Admiralty claimed and retained copyright,
and its author was perhaps a little hampered by that
circumstance. Bligh asked that it should be dedicated
to him, but "the honour was declined."* The book
was produced under the direction of a committee ap
pointed by the Admiralty, consisting of Banks, Barrow,
and Flinders himself.
It abounds in exact data concerning the latitude and
longitude of coastal features. The English is every
where clear and sound; but the book which Flinders
could have written had he lived a few years longer, if it
had been penned with the freedom which made his con
versation so delightful to his friends, might have been
one of the most entertaining pieces of travel literature
in the language. At first he was somewhat apprehen
sive about authorship, and thought of calling in the aid
of a friend; but the enforced leisure of Ile-de-France
induced him to depend upon his own efforts. Before
he left England in 1801, he had suggested that he
might require assistance. In a letter to Willingham
Franklin, John's brother, a fellow of Oriel College,
* Flinders' Papers.

394 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Oxford, and afterwards a Judge in Madras, he wrote
(November 27th, 1801):*
"You must understand that this voyage of ours
is to be written and published on our return. I am
now engaged in writing a rough account, but author
ship sits awkwardly upon me. I am diffident of appear
ing before the public unburnished by an abler hand.
What say you? Will you give me your assistance if
on my return a narration of our voyage should be called
for from me? If the voyage be well executed and well
told afterwards I shall have some credit to spare to
deserving friends. If the door now open suits your
taste and you will enter, it should be yours for the
undertaking. A little mathematical knowledge will
strengthen your style and give it perspicuity. Arrange
ment is the material point in voyage-writing as well as
in history. I feel great diffidence here. Sufficient
matter I can easily furnish, and fear not to prevent any
thing unseamanlike from entering into the composition;
but to round a period well and arrange sentences so as
to place what is meant in the most perspicuous point of
view is too much for me. Seamanship and authorship
make too great an angle with each other; the further a
man advances upon one line the further distant he be
comes from any point on the other."
It did not prove so in Flinders' own case, for his
later letters and the latter part of his book are written
in an easier, more freely-flowing style than marks his
earlier writings. He solicited no assistance in the final
preparation of his work. He preferred to speak to
his public in his own voice, and was unquestionably well
advised in so doing. It is a plain, honest sailor's story;
that of a cultivated man withal.
Intense application to the work in hand brought
* Flinders' Papers.

LAST YEARS AND DEATH 395
about a recurrence of the constitutional internal trouble
which had occasioned some pain in Mauritius. The ill
ness became acute at the end of 1813. He was only
39 years of age, but Mrs. Flinders wrote to a friend
that he had aged so much that he looked 70, and was
"worn to a skeleton." He mentioned in his journal
that he was suffering much pain. Yet he was never
heard to complain, and was never irritable or trouble
some to those about him. He was full of kindness and
concern for his friends. We find him attending sittings
of the Admiralty Court, where his friend Pitot had a
suit against the British Government, and he interested
himself in the promotion of two of his old Investigator
midshipmen. He urged upon the Admiralty with all
his force that his own branch of the naval service was
as honourable and as deserving of official recognition
as war service. The only inducement for young officers
to join a voyage of discovery, and forego the advan
tages arising from prizes and active service, was the
reasonable certainty of promotion on their return.
"This," he observed, "certainly has been relied upon
and fulfilled in expeditions which returned in time of
peace, when promotion is so difficult to be obtained;
whereas I sailed and my officers returned during a war
in which promotion was never before so liberally be
stowed. Yet no one of my officers, so far as I have
been able to ascertain, has received promotion for their
services in that voyage, although it has been allowed the
service was well executed."*
The illness increased during 1814, while the
"Voyage" and its accompanying atlas were passing
through the press. He never saw the finished book.
The first copy of it came from the publishers, G. and W.
Nicol, of Pall Mall, on July 18th, on the day before he

Flinders' Papers.

396 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
died; but he was then unconscious. His wife took the
volumes and laid them upon his bed, so that the hand
that fashioned them could touch them. But he never
understood. He was fast wrapped in the deep slumber
that preceded the end. On the 19th he died. His
devoted wife stood by his pillow, his infant daughter
(born April 1st, 1812) was in an adjoining room, and
there was one other friend present. Just before the
brave life flickered out, he started up, and called in a
hoarse voice for "my papers." Then he fell back and
died. Upon the manuscript of the friend who wrote an
account of his death, there is pencilled a brief memoran
dum, which chronicles a few words muttered some time
before death touched his lips. The pencil-writing is
rubbed and only partly decipherable, but the letters
"Dr." are distinct. I take the meaning to be that the
doctor attending him heard him murmur the words.
They are: "But it grows late, boys, let us dismiss!"
One can easily realise the kind of picture that floated
before the mind of the dying navigator. It was, surely,
a happy vision of a night among friends and com
panions, who had listened with delight to the vivid talk
of him who had seen and done so much in his wonderful
forty years of life. In such a company his mates would
not be the first to wish to break the spell, so he gave the
word: "it grows late, boys, let us dismiss."
Flinders died at 14 London Street, Fitzroy Square,
and was buried in the graveyard of St. James's, Hamp-
stead Road, which was a burial ground for St. James's,
Piccadilly. No man now knows exactly where his
bones were laid.* A letter written years later by his
* The vicar of St. James's, Piccadilly, who examined the burial
register in response to an enquiry by Mr. George Gordon McCrae,
of Melbourne, in 1912, states that the entry was made, by a clerical
error, in the name of Captain Matthew Flanders, aged 40.

LAST YEARS AND DEATH 397
daughter, Mrs. Petrie, says: "Many years afterwards
my aunt Tyler went to look for his grave, but found the
churchyard remodelled, and quantities of tombstones
and graves with their contents had been carted away as
rubbish, among them that of my unfortunate father.
thus pursued by disaster after death as in life."
On the 25th of the same month died Charles Dib-
din, who wrote the elegy of the perfect sailor:
" Here a sheer hulk lies poor Tom Bowling.
The darling of our crew,
No more he'll hear the tempest howling
For death has broached him to."
During his last years in London, Flinders lodged in
six houses successively, and it may be as well to enumer
ate them. They were, 16 King Street, Soho, from
November 5th, 1810; 7 Nassau Street, Soho, from
January 19th, 1811; 7 Mary Street, Brook Street,
from 30th September, 1811; 45 Upper John Street,
Fitzroy Square, from March 30th, 1813; 7 Upper
Fitzroy Street, from May 28th, 1813; and 14 London
Street, Fitzroy Square, from February 28th, 1814.
A letter from the widow to her husband's French
friend Pitot, evidently in answer to a message of
sympathy, is poignant: "You who were in a measure
acquainted with the many virtues and inestimable
qualities he possessed, will best appreciate the worth of
the treasure I have lost, and you will easily imagine
that, were the whole universe at my command, it cculd
offer no compensation ; and even the tenderest sympathy
of the truest friend avails but little in a case of such
severe trial and affliction. You will not be surprised
when I say that sorrow continually circles round my
heart and tears are my daily companion. 'Tis true
the company of my little girl soothes and cheers many

398 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
an hour that would otherwise pass most wearily away,
but life has lost its chief charm, and the world appears
a dreary wilderness to me."
An unpleasant feature of the subject, which cannot
be overlooked, relates to the Admiralty's ungenerous
treatment of Flinders and his widow. When he returned
from Mauritius, the First Lord was Mr. C. P. Yorke
after whom Flinders named Yorke's Peninsula, who
was inclined to recognise that the special circumstances
of the case demanded special treatment. He at once
promoted Flinders to the rank of Post-Captain. But
in consequence of his long detention Flinders had lost
the opportunity for earlier promotion. It was ad
mitted that if he had returned to England in 1804 he
would at once have been rewarded for his services by
promotion to post-captain's rank. Indeed, Lord
Spencer had definitely promised him a step in rank. It
was therefore urged in his behalf that, as he had not
been a prisoner of war in the ordinary sense, his com
mission should be ante-dated to 1804. Yorke appeared
to think the claim reasonable. The Admiralty con
ceded that he had not been a prisoner of war, and he
was not brought before a court-martial, although the
Cumberland, left to rot in Port Louis, had been lost to
the service. The First Lord directed that the com
mission should be ante-dated to the time of the release,
but it was not considered that more could be done with
out an Order in Council. This could not be obtained
at the moment, because King George III. was mentally
incr.pacitated. When the Regency was established
(1811) an application did not meet with a sympathetic
response. "The hinge upon which my case depends,"
said Flinders in a letter, "is whether my having suffered
so long and unjustly in the Isle of France is a sufficient
reason that I should now suffer in England the loss of
six years' rank." The response of the Admiralty

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OF FLINDERS' JOURNAL.
(Mitchell Library.)

LAST YEARS AND DEATH 399
officials was that the case was peculiar; there was "no
precedent" for ante-dating a promotion.
Flinders asked that he might be put on full pay,
while he was writing the Voyage, which would make up
the difference in the expense to which he would be put
by living in town instead of in the country; but Barrow
assured him that the Admiralty would object "for want
of a precedent." He showed that he would be £500
or £600 out of pocket, to say nothing of the loss of
chances of promotion by remaining ashore. It was to
meet this position that the Admiralty granted him
£200; but as a matter of fact he was still £300 out of
pocket,* and was put out of health irrecoverably by
intense application to the task. His friend, Captain
Kent, then of the Agincourt, advised him to abandon
the work. "I conjure you," he wrote "to give the sub
ject your serious attention, and do not suffer yourself
to be involved in debt to gratify persons who seem to
have no feeling." But to have abandoned his beloved
work at this stage would have appeared worse to him
than loss of life itself. The consequence was that
his expenses during this period, even with the
strictly economical mode of living which he adopted,
entrenched upon the small savings which he was
able to leave to his widow. He was compelled
to represent that, unless a concession were made,
he would have to choose between abandoning his
task or reducing his family to distress; and it was for
this reason that the Admiralty granted a special allow
ance of £200, in supplement of his halfpay. This, with
£500 "in lieu of compensation" on account of his
detention in Ile-de-France was the entire consideration
that he received.
When he died, application was made to the
Admiralty to grant a special pension to Mrs. Flinders.
* Flinders' Papers.
cc

400 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
The widow of Captain Cook had been granted a pen
sion of £200 a year. (Mrs. Cook, by the way, was still
living in England at this time; she did not die till
1835). Stout old Sir Joseph Banks declared that he
would not die happy unless something were done for
the widow and child of Matthew Flinders. But his
influence with the Admiralty was not so great as it had
been in Lord Spencer's time, and his efforts were in
effectual. The case was at a later date brought under
the notice of William IV., who said that he saw no rea
son why the widow of Captain Flinders should not
receive the same treatment as the widow of Captain
Cook. The King mentioned the subject to Lord Mel
bourne; he, however, was unsympathetic, and nothing
whatever was done. Mrs. Flinders was paid only the
meagre pension of a post-captain's widow until she died
in 1852. No official reward of any kind was granted
by the British Government for the truly great services
and discoveries of Flinders. The stinginess of a rich
nation is a depressing subject to reflect upon in a case
of this kind.
A gratifying contrast is afforded by the voluntary
action of two Australian colonies. It was learnt, to
the surprise of many, some time after 1850, that the
widow of the discoverer and her married daughter were
living in England, and were not too well provided for.
The Colonies of New South Wales and Victoria there
upon (1853) voted a pension of £100 a year each to
Mrs. Flinders, with reversion to Mrs. Petrie. The
news of this decision did not reach England in time to
please the aged widow, but the spirit of the grant gave
unfeigned satisfaction to Flinders' daughter. "Could
my beloved mother have lived to receive this announce
ment," she wrote,* "it would indeed have cheered her
* New South Wales Parliamentary Papers, 1854, L, 785.

LAST YEARS AND DEATH 401
last days to know that my father's long-neglected ser
vices were at length appreciated. But my gratification
arising from the grant is extreme, especially at it comes
from a quarter in which I had not solicited considera
tion; and the handsome amount of the pension granted
will enable me to educate my young son in a manner
worthy of the name he bears, Matthew Flinders."*
The Voyage to Terra Australis, it may be
mentioned, was originally sold for 8 or 12 guineas,
according to whether or not the atlas was bought with
the two quarto volumes. A copy to-day, with the folio
Atlas, sells for about 10 guineas.

* "My young son'' is the present Professor W. Matthew Flinders
Petrie.

Chapter XXVIII.
CHARACTERISTICS
Matthew Flinders was a short, neatly-built, very-
lithe and active man. He stood five feet six inches in
height.* His figure was slight and well proportioned.
When he was in full health, his light, buoyant step was
remarked upon by acquaintances. Neither of the two
portraits of him conveys a good impression of his alert,
commanding look. His nose was "rather aquiline,"
and his lips were customarily compressed. "He had a
noble brow, hair almost black, eyes dark, bright, and
with a commanding expression, amounting almost to
sternness." So his friend records.
Mrs. Flinders was not satisfied with the engraved
portrait published in the Naval Chronicle, 1814, nor
with the miniature from which it was reproduced. In
a letter to Captain Stuart she wrote: "In the portrait
you will not be able to trace much of your departed
friend. The miniature from which it was taken is but
an indifferent likeness, and the engraver has not done
justice to it. He has given the firmness of the counte
nance but not the intelligence or animation." It is
quite certain that a rapid, piercing, commanding ex
pression of eye and features was characteristic of him.
During his captivity, the look in his eyes forbad all
approach to familiarity. There is record of an
occasion — in all probability connected with the sword
incident — when he was addressed in terms that
appeared to him to be wanting in respect; and the un
lucky Frenchman who ventured thus far was so
* These particulars are from the MSS. sketch by a friend,
previously cited; Flinders' Papers. 402

CHARACTERISTICS 403
astonished at the sternness of countenance that immedia
tely confronted him, that he started back some paces.
He had been accustomed to command from an early
age, and had exercised authority on service of a kind
that compelled him to demand ceaseless vigilance and
indefatigable vigour from himself and those under him.
In a passage written in Mauritius* he makes allusion
to the stern element in his character; and surely what
he says here is worthy of being well pondered by all
whose duty demands the exercise of power over other
men: "I shall learn patience in this island, which will per
haps counteract the insolence acquired by having had
unlimited command over my fellow men. You know,
my dearest, that I always dreaded the effect that the
possession of great authority would have upon my
temper and disposition. I hope they are neither of
them naturally bad; but, when we see such a vast
difference between men dependent and men in power,
any man who has any share of impartiality must fear
for himself. My brother will tell you that I am proud,
unindulgenr, and hasty to take offence, but I doubt
whether John Franklin will confirm it, although there
is more truth in the charge than I wish there were. In
this land, those malignant qualities are ostentatiously
displayed. I am made to feel their sting most poig
nantly. My mind has been taught a lesson in
philosophy, and my judgment has gained an accession
of experience that will not soon be forgotten."
That is a fairly rigorous piece of self-analysis; but
there are abundant facts to show that he exercised
authority with a kindly and friendly disposition, and did
not surpass the limits of wisdom. Men like a com
mander who can command; the weak inspire no confi-
* Flinders' Papers.

404 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
dence. Flinders had the art of attracting people to
him. His servant, the faithful John Elder, willingly
endured imprisonment with him, and would not leave
him until his own health gave way. John Thistle, who
had served under him before 1800, returned to Eng
land shortly before the Investigator sailed, and at once
volunteered for service under him again. He ruled his
crews by sheer force of mind and unsparing example,
and though the good of the service in hand was ever
his first thought, there is plenty of evidence to prove
that the happiness of the men under him was constantly
in his mind.
In hours of relaxation he was genial, a lively com
panion, a warm friend. An intimate friend records:
"He possessed the social virtues and affections in an
eminent degree, and in conversation he was particularly
agreeable, from the extent of his general information
and the lively acuteness of his observations. His in
tegrity, uprightness of intention, and liberality of senti
ment were not to be surpassed."
A scrap of dialogue written for insertion in the
Voyage to Terra Australis, but cancelled with other
matter, enables us to realise that he could recall an inci
dent with some dramatic force. Bonnefoy, an
interpreter in Ile-de-France, told him a story of an
American skipper under examination by one of General
Decaen's officers, and he wrote it down as follows : —
"I was amused with his account of a blunt American
captain who, having left a part of his people to collect
seal-skins upon the island Tristan d'Acuna, had come in
for provisions, and to get his vessel repaired. This
honest man did not wish to tell where he was collecting
his cargo, nor did he understand all the ceremony he
was required to go through. The dialogue that passed
between the old seaman and the French officers of the
port was nearly thus :

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(Melbourne Public Library.)

CHARACTERISTICS 405
"Off.: 'From whence do you come, Sir?'
" 'From whence do I come? Haugh! why, Mon
sieur, I come from the Atlantic Ocean.'
"Off.: 'But, pray, Sir, from what port?'
' 'Port? You will find that out from my papers,
which I suppose you want to see ?'
"Off. : 'It appears, Sir, that you have not above
half your crew on board. Be so good as to inform me
where are the rest?'
' 'O, rny crew? Poor fellows, yes, why, Sir, we
met with an island of ice on the road, and I left them
there a-basket-making.'
"Off.: 'Making baskets on an island of ice? This
is a very strange answer, Sir; and give me leave to tell
you such will not do here; but you will accompany me
to the Captain-General, and we shall then see whether
you will answer or not.'
" 'Ay, we shall see indeed. Why, look ye, Mon
sieur: as to what I have been about, that is nothing to
anybody. I am an honest man, and that's enough for
you ; but if you want to know why I am come here, it is
to buy provisions and to lie quiet a little bit. I am not
come to beg or steal, but to buy, and I fancy good bills
upon M  of Salem will suit you very well, eh,
Monsieur? Convenient enough?'
"Off. : 'Very well, Sir, you will come with us to the
General.' " 'To the General? I have nothing to do with
Generals! They don't understand my business. Sup
pose I don't go?'
"Off.: 'You will do as you please, Sir; but if you
do not, you will soon 
The sheet on which the continuation of this vigorous
bit of dialogue was written* is unfortunately missing, so
*MS., Mitchell Library.

406 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
that we are deprived of the joy of reading the con
clusion of the comedy. But as the passage stands it
presents a truly dramatic picture.
We get a glimpse of the way in which genial spirits
regarded him in a jolly letter from Madras, from
Lieutenant Fitzwilliam Owen, who had been a prisoner
with him in Mauritius, and was on the cartel on which
he sailed from that island. "You cannot doubt how
much our society misses you. We toasted you, Sir, like
Englishmen. We sent the heartiest good wishes of
your countrymen, ay, and women too, to Heaven for
your success, in three times three loud and manly cheers,
dictated by that sincerity which forms the glorious
characteristic of our rough-spun English. Nay, Waugh
got drunk for you, and the ladies did each take an extra
glass to you."*
A pleasant playful touch makes the following letter
to his wife's half-sister worth quoting. He was hungry
for home letters in Ile-de-France, and thus gently chid
the girl: "There is indeed a report among the whales
in the Indian Ocean that a scrap of a letter from you did
pass by for Port Jackson, and a flying fish in the Pacific
even says he saw it; but there is no believing these
travellers. If you will take the trouble to give it under
your own hand I will then believe that you have written
to me. A certain philosopher being informed that his
dear friend was dead, replied that he would not believe
it without having it certified under his own hand ; a very
commendable prudence this, and worthy of imitation
in all intricate cases. As I have a fund of justice at the
bottom of my conscience, which will not permit me to
exact from others more than I would perform myself,
I do hereby certify that I have this day addressed a
letter to my well-beloved sister Isabella Tyler, spinster,
in which letter I do desire for her all manner of bless-

* Flinders' Papers.

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EXTRACT FROM FLINDERS' LETTER-BOOK, REFERRING TO OXLEY'S APPOINTMENT AS
SURVEYOR-GENERAL.

(Melbourne Public Library.)

CHARACTERISTICS 407
ings, spiritual and temporal; that she may speedily
obtain a husband six feet high, if it so pleases her, with
the wishing cap of Fortunatus."
The strictness of the man's conduct, in his relations
with superiors and subordinates alike, sprang from his
integrity of heart. Everybody trusted him. A
memoir published by a contemporary commented upon
the fidelity of his friendships. "He was faithful to the
utmost in the performance of a promise, whether im
portant or trifling in its consequences."
Some of the best friends he ever made were among
the French in Ile-de-France; and he became so much
attached to them that, even when he secured his longed-
for freedom, he could not part from them without a
pang of regret. They saw in him not only a wronged
man, but a singularly high-minded one. Pitot, writing
to Bougainville to urge him to do his utmost to secure
Flinders' release, repudiated, in these terms, the idea
that he could be a spy:* "No, Monsieur Flinders is not
capable of such conduct; his pure and noble character
would never permit him to descend to the odious em
ployment of a spy." One wonders whether by any
chance Bougainville had occasion to show that letter to
Messieurs Peron and Freycinet!
A touching and beautiful example of his gentleness
occurred in connection with a wounded French officer
whom he visited at Port Louis. Lieutenant Charles
Baudin des Ardennes had sailed as a junior officer on
Le Geographe under Baudin (to whom he was not
related) and Flinders had known him at Port Jackson.
In 1807 he was serving as a lieutenant on La Semillante,
in the Indian Ocean. He was badly wounded in a
sharp engagement with the British ship Terpsichore in
March, 1807, and was brought into Port Louis, where
*MSS., Mitchell Library; letter dated 19 Vendemiaire, an XIII.
(Oct. 11, 1804).

408 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
his shattered right arm was amputated. Flinders, full
of compassion for the young man, visited him, and, as
oranges were required for the sufferer, bought up the
whole stock of a fruiterer, 53 of them. Upon his
return to Wilhelm's Plains, he wrote Baudin a letter of
sympathy and encouragemeent, bidding him reflect that
there were other branches of useful service open to a
sailor than that of warfare. He had commenced his
naval career with discovery; he now knew what the
horrors of war were. Which was the worthier branch
of the two? Flinders continued: "No, my friend, I
cannot contemplate this waste of human life to serve
the cause of restless ambition without horror. Never
shall my hands be voluntarily steeped in blood, but in
the defence of my country. In such a cause every other
sentiment vanishes. Also, my friend, if ever you have
thought my actions worthy of being imitated, imitate
me in this. You have, like me, had just sufficient ex
perience to learn what the commander of a voyage of
discovery ought to be, and what he ought to know-
Adieu, my dear friend. May the goodness of God
speedily restore you to perfect health, and turn your
thoughts from war to peace." Young Baudin, it may
be added, was not compelled by the loss of his arm to
leave the service. He became an Admiral in 1839,
and lived till 1854.
Flinders endeavoured to exert a stimulating influence
upon young officers. Writing to his brother (Dec.
6th, 1806) he said:* "Remember that youth is the time
in which a store of knowledge, reputation and fortune
must be laid in to make age respectable. Imitate, my
dear Samuel, all that you have found commendable in
my proceedings, manners, and principles, and avoid the
* Mr. Charles Bertie, of the Municipal Library, Sydney, has
kindly supplied me with this letter, which was obtained from Pro
fessor Flinders Petrie.

FLINDERS' MEMORIAL IN PARISH CHURCH AT HIS
BIRTHPLACE, DONINGTON, LINCOLNSHIRE.

CHARACTERISTICS 409
rest. Study is necessary, as it gives theory. I need
not speak to you now upon this, but active exertion is
still more necessary to a good sea officer. From both
united it is that perfection is attained. Neither would
I have you neglect politeness, and the best society to
which circumstances may permit your admission ; though
not the basis that constitutes a good officer or valuable
member of society, the manners thereby acquired are
yet of infinite service to those who possess them."
There could hardly be a sounder piece of advice to
a young officer from an elder than is contained in a letter
written by Flinders to John Franklin's father. It was
intended for the youth's eye, beyond a doubt. It is
dated May 10th, 1805:* "I hope John will have got
into some active ship to get his time completed before I
go out another voyage, and learn the discipline of the
service. I have no doubt of being able to get him a
lieutenant's commission if it should be agreeable to him
to sail with me again. He may rest confident of my
friendship, although I believe he had some fears on that
head when we parted, on account of a difference
between him and my brother. He has ability enough,
but he must be diligent, studious, active in his duty, not
over-ready to take offence at his superior officers, nor
yet humbling too much to them ; but in all things should
make allowances for difference of disposition and ways
of thinking and should judge principally from the in
tention. Above all things he should be strict in his
honour and integrity, for a man who forfeits either can
not be independent or brave at all times ; and he should
not be afraid to be singular, for, if he is, the ridicule
of the vicious would beat him out of his rectitude as well
as out of his attention to his duty. I do not speak this
from my fear of him, but from my anxiety to see him
* MSS., Mitchell Library.
DD

410 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
the shining charatcer which I am sure he is capable of
being." In a similar strain is a letter to John Franklin
(January 14th, 1812) regarding a lad named Wiles,
the son of a Jamaica friend, who had lately been put
on the Bedford as a midshipman: "I will thank you to
let me know from time to time how he goes on. Pray
don't let him be idle. Employ him in learning to knot
and splice under a quartermaster; in working under
observation, in writing his journal, and in such studies
as may be useful to him. Make it a point of honour
with him to be quick in relieving the deck, and strict in
keeping his watch ; and when there are any courts martial
endeavour either to take him with you or that he may
attend when it can be done. In fine, my dear John,
endeavour to make a good officer and a good man of
him, and be sure I shall always entertain a grateful sense
of your attention to him."
Active-minded himself, he encouraged study among
those who came in contact with him. It gave him
pleasure to teach mathematics to Madame D'Arifat's
sons at Wilhelm's Plains. He mastered French so as
to speak it with grace and write with ease. He worked
at Malay because he thought it would be useful on
future voyages. From the early days, when he taught
himself navigation amidst the swamps of his native
Lincolnshire, until his last illness laid him low, he was
ever an eager student. Intelligent curiosity and a
desire to know the best that the best minds could teach
were a basic part of his character. We find him coun
selling Ann Chappell, at about the time when he
became engaged to her:* "Learn music, learn the
French language, enlarge the subjects of thy pencil,
study geography and astronomy and even metaphysics,
* Flinders' Papers.

CHARACTERISTICS 411
sooner than leave thy mind unoccupied. Soar, my
Annette, aspire to the heights of science. Write a
great deal, work with thy needle a great deal, and read
every book that comes in thy way, save trifling novels."
Flinders read widely, and always carried a good
library with him on his voyages. His acquaintance
with the literature of navigation was very extensive.
Some of his books were lost in the Porpoise wreck; the
remainder he took with him in the Cumberland, and,
when he was imprisoned, his anxiety to secure his
printed volumes manifested the true book-lover's
hunger to have near him those companions of his in
tellectual life. He derived great pleasure from the
French literature which he studied in Mauritius. A
letter to his wife dated March, 1803, when he was upon
the north coast of Australia in the Investigator, reveals
him relieving his mind, amid anxieties about the con
dition of the ship, by reading Milton's Paradise Lost.
"The elevation and, also, the fall of our first parents,"
he comments, "told with such majesty by him whose
eyes lacked all of what he threw so masterly o'er the
great subject, dark before and intricate — these with
delight I perused, not knowing which to admire most,
the poet's daring, the subject, or the success with which
his bold attempt was crowned." He somewhat
quaintly compares his wife with Eve : "But in thee I
have more faith than Adam had when he, complying
with Eve's request of separation in their labours, said
'Go, thou best, last gift of God, go in thy native inno
cence.' But how much dearer art thou here than our
first mother! Our separation was not sought by thee,
but thou borest it as a vine whose twining arms when
turned from round the limb lie prostrate, broken, life
scarcely left enough to keep the withered leaf from
falling off." We should especially have welcomed
notes from such a pen on a few passages in Milton

412 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
which must have stirred his deepest interest, as for
example the majestic comparison of Satan's flight:
" As when far off at sea a fleet descried
Hangs in the clouds, by equinoctial winds
Close sailing from Bengala, or the isles
Of Ternate or Tidore, whence merchants bring
Their spicy drugs ; they on the trading flood,
Through the wide Ethiopian to the Cape,
Ply stemming nightly towards the pole : so seemed
Far off the flying Fiend."
To these characteristics may be added a passage illus
trating the view of our navigator concerning the
marriage state. It must be confessed that when he
wrote it (June 30th, 1807) his experience was not ex
tensive. He left England when he had been a husband
only a few weeks; but the passage is interesting as con
veying to his wife what his conception of the ideal
relation was: "There is a medium between petticoat
government and tyranny on the part of the husband, that
with thee I think to be very attainable; and which I
consider to be the summit of happiness in the marriage
state. Thou wilt be to me not only a beloved wife, but
my most dear and most intimate friend, as I hope to be
to thee. If we find failings, we will look upon them with
kindness and compassion, and in each other's merits we
will take pride, and delight to dwell upon them ; thus we
will realise, as far as may be, the happiness of heaven
upon the earth. I love not greatness nor desire great-
riches, being confident they do not contribute to happi
ness, but I desire to have enough for ourselves and
something to assist our friends in need. I think, my
love, this is also thy way of thinking."
In the few concluding months of her husband's life,
Mrs. Flinders had him beside her under circumstances
that were certainly far from easy. Their somewhat

CHARACTERISTICS 413
straitened means, consequent upon the Admiralty's
niggard construction of regulations, the prolonged
severity of his employment, and the last agonised weeks
of illness, must have gone far to detract from perfect
felicity in domestic conditions. The six changes of
residence in four and a half years point to the same con
clusion. Nevertheless we find Mrs. Flinders writing
to a friend in these terms, wherein her own happiness is
clearly mirrored: "I am well persuaded that very few
men know how to value the regard and tender attentions
of a wife who loves them. Men in general cannot
appreciate properly the delicate affection of a woman,
and therefore they do not know how to return it. To
make the married life as happy as this world will allow
it to be, there are a thousand little amenities to be
rendered on both sides, and as many little shades of
comfort to be attended to. Many things must be over
looked, for we are all such imperfect beings; and to
bear and forbear is essential to domestic peace. You
will say that I find it easy to talk on this subject, and
that precept is harder than practice. I allow it, my
dear friend, in the practical part I have only to return
kind affection and attention for uniform tenderness and
regard. I have nothing unpleasant to call forth my for
bearance. Day after day, month after month passes,
and I neither experience an angry look nor a dissatisfied
word. Our domestic life is an unvaried line of peace
and comfort; and O, may Heaven continue it such, so
long as it shall permit us to dwell together on this
earth."

Chapter XXIX.
THE NAVIGATOR
Not only is Flinders to be regarded as a discoverer
whose researches completed the world's knowledge of
the last extensive region of the habitable globe remain
ing in his time to be revealed; not only as one whose
work was marked by an unrivalled exactitude and fine
ness of observation ; but also as one who did very much
to advance the science of navigation in directions calcu
lated to make seafaring safer, more certain, with better
means and methods at disposal. Malte-Brun declared,
when he died, that "the geographical and nautical
sciences have lost in the person of Flinders one of their
most brilliant ornaments,"* and that criticism, coming
from a foreign critic than whom there was no better
informed savant in Europe, was no mere piece ot
obituary rhetoric.
In 1805 he wrote a paper on the Marine Barometer,
based upon observations made during his Australian
voyages. The instrument employed was one which
had been used by Cook; Flinders always kept it in his
cabin. He was the first to discover, and this essay was
the first' attempt to show, the connection between the
rise and fall of the barometer and the direction of the
wind. Careful observation showed him that where
his facts were collected the mercury of the
barometer rose some time before a change from
landbreeze to Seabreeze, and fell before the
change from Seabreeze to landbreeze. Consequently
a change of wind might generally be predicted
'Annales des Voyages, XXIIL, 268.
Hi

THE NAVIGATOR 415
from the barometer. The importance of these obser
vations was at once recognised by men connected with
navigation. As the Edinburgh Review wrote, dealing
with Flinders' paper when presented before the Royal
Society on March 27th, 1806:* "It is very easy for us,
speculating in our closet upon the theory of winds and
their connection with the temperature, to talk of draw
ing a general inference on this subject with confidence.
But when the philosopher chances to be a seaman on %
very dangerous coast, it will be admitted that the
strength of this confidence is put to a test somewhat more
severe; and we find nevertheless that Captain Flinders
staked the safety of his ship and the existence of him
self and his crew on the truth of the above proposition."
Nowadays, indeed, the principal use of a barometer to
a navigator aboard ship is to enable him to anticipate
changes of wind.
Not less important were his experiments and
writings upon variations of the compass aboard ship.
The fact that the needle of a compass showed devia
tions on being moved from one part of a ship to another
had been observed by navigators in the eighteenth
century, but Flinders was the first to experiment
systematically to ascertain the cause and to invent a
remedy, f
He observed not only that the direction of the
needle varied according to the part of the ship where it
was placed, but also that a change in the direction of the
ship's head made a difference. Further, he found that
in northern latitudes (in the English Channel, for in-

*Edinburgh Review, January, 1807; Flinders' Paper, "Observa
tions on the Marine Barometer," was published in the Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society, Part II., 1806.
t For the history of the matter see Alexander Smith's Intro
duction to W. Scoresby's Journal of a Voyage to Australia for
Magnetic Research (1859).

416 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
stance) the north end of the needle was attracted
towards the bow of the ship; whilst in southern lati
tudes, in Bass Strait, there was an attraction towards the
stern; and at the equator there was no deviation. He
came to the conclusion that these results were due to
the presence of iron in the ship. When he returned to
England in 1810, he wrote a memorandum on the sub
ject to the Admiralty, and requested that experiments
might be made upon ships of the Navy, with the object
of verifying a law which he had deduced from a long
series of observations. His conclusion was that "the
magnetism of the earth and the attraction forward in
the ship must act upon the needle in the nature of a
compound force, and that errors produced by the attrac
tion should be proportionate to the sines of the angles
between the ship's head and the magnetic meridian."
Experiments were made at Sheerness, Portsmouth, and
Plymouth on five vessels. He took a keen personal
interest in them ; and the result was his invention of the
Flinders' bar, which is now used in every properly
equipped ship in the world. The purpose of the bar,
which is a vertical rod of soft iron, placed so that its
upper end is level with or slightly above the compass
needle, is to compensate for the effect of the vertical soft
iron in the ship.* Flinders' work upon this technical
subject was important even in the days of wooden ships.
In this era of iron and steel ships it is regarded by every
sailor as of the utmost value.
In Flinders' day the delicacy of the compass, its
liability to error, the nature of the magnetic force to
which it responds, and the necessity for care in its hand
ling, were very little appreciated. "Among the
nautical instruments taken to sea there are not any so 111—
* See the excellent chapter on "Compasses" in Vol. II. of the
British Admiralty's Manual of Seamanship.

THE NAVIGATOR 417
constructed, nor of which so little care is taken after
wards, as the compass," he did not hesitate to write.*
Compasses were supplied to the Admiralty by contract,
and were not inspected. They were stowed in store
houses without any regard to the attraction to which the
needles might be exposed. They might be kept in
store for a few years ; and they were then sent on board
ships without any re-touching, "for no magnets were
kept in the dockyards, and probably no person there
ever saw them used." When a compass was sent
aboard a ship of the Navy, it was delivered into the
charge of the boatswain and put into his store or sail-
room. Perhaps it was put on a shelf with his knives
and forks and a few marline-spikes. Flinders urged that
spare compasses should be preserved carefully in officers'
cabins. Magnets for re-touching were not kept in one
ship in a hundred. Under these circumstances, he
asked, "can it be a subject of surprise that the most
experienced navigators are those who put the least con
fidence in the compass, or that ships running three or
four days without an observation should be found in
situations very different from what was expected, and
some of them lost? The currents are easily blamed,
and sometimes with reason. Ships coming home from
the Baltic and finding themselves upon the shores of the
Dutch coast, when they were thought to be on the Eng
lish side, lay it to the currents; but the same currents,
as I am informed, do not prevail when steering in the
opposite direction." The last is a neat stroke of irony.
Flinders strongly recommended that the Admiralty
should appoint an inspector of compasses, that there
should be at every dockyard an officer for re-touching
compasses, and that a magnet for re-touching should be
carried on each flagship. The recommendations may
* MS., "Chapter in the History of Magnetism ;" Flinders' Papers ;
another copy was sent to the Admiralty.

418 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
seem like a counsel of elementary precautions to-day,
but they involved an important reform of method in
1810. Flinders also wrote on the theory of the tides ; a ser
of notes on the magnetism of the earth exists in manu
script; a manuscript of 106 pages, consisting of a
treatise on spheric trigonometry, is illustrated by beauti
fully drawn diagrams, and includes an account of eight
practical methods of calculating latitude and five of
calculating longitude. In Mauritius he read all he
could obtain about the history of the island, and wrote
a set of notes on Grant's History.
He was eager to praise the work of previous navi
gators. Laperouse was especially a hero of his, and he
wrote in French for the Societe d'Emulation of Ile-de-
France an account of the probable fate of that cele
brated sailor. In an eloquent passage in this essay,
speaking of the wreck, he cried: "O, Laperouse, my
heart speaks to me of the agony that rent yours. Ah,
your eyes beheld the hapless companions of your
dangers and your glory fall one after another exhausted
into the sea. Ah, your eyes saw the fruit of vast and
useful labours lost to the world. I think of your
sorrowing family. The picture is too painful for me
to dwell upon it; but at least when all human hope
abandoned you, then — the last blessing that God gives
to the good — a ray of consolation shone upon your
eyes, and showed you that beyond those furious waves
which broke upon your vessels and swept away from
you your companions another refuge was opened to your
virtues by the angel of pity."
Knowing the extreme difficulties attaching to navi
gation, even when in the public interest he had to make a
correction in the work of others, he was anxious to cause
no irritation. He sent to the editor of the Naval
Chronicle a correction in Horsburgh's Directions for

THE NAVIGATOR 419
Sailing to and from the East Indies, but requested the
editor to submit it first to the author of that work, and
to suppress publication if Horsburg so desired. He
never expressed a tinge of regret that he had chosen a
field of professional employment wherein promotion
and reward were not liberally bestowed. Entering the
Navy under influential auspices, in a period when active
service provided plentiful scope for advancement, he
deliberately preferred the explorer's hard lot. The
only prize money he ever won was £10 after Lord
Howe's victory in 1794. "I chose a branch," he said
in a letter to Banks, "which though less rewarded by
rank and fortune is yet little less in celebrity. If ad
verse fortune does not oppose me, I will succeed." He
succeeded beyond all he could have hoped.
The excellence of his charts was such that to this
day the Admiralty charts for those portions of the Aus
tralian coast where he did original work bear upon
them the honoured name of Matthew Flinders; and
amongst the seamen who habitually traverse these
coasts, no name, not even that of Cook, is so deeply
esteemed as his. Flinders is not a tradition; the navi
gators of our own time count him a companion of the
watch.

Chapter XXX.
THE NAMING OF AUSTRALIA
The name Australia was given to the great southern
continent by Flinders. When and why he gave it that
name will now be shown.
In the first place a common error must be set right.
It is sometimes said that the Spanish navigator, Pedro
Fernandez de Quiros, named one of the islands of the
New Hebrides group, in 1606, Australia del Espiritu
Santo. This is not the case. The narrative of his
voyage described "all this region of the south as far as
the Pole which from this time shall be called Austrialia
del Espiritu Santo," from "His Majesty's title of
Austria." The word Austrialia is a punning name.
Quiros' sovereign, Philip III., was a Habsburg; and
Quiros, in compliment to him, devised the name
Austrialia as combining the meaning "Austrian land,"
as well as "southern land."*
In 1756 the word "Australasia" was coined.
Charles de Brosses, in his Histoire des Navigations aux
Terres Australes, wanted a word to signify a new
division of the globe. The maps marked off Europe,
Asia, Africa and America, but the vast region to the
south of Asia required a name likewise. De Brosses
simply added "Austral" to "Asia," and printed
"Australasia" upon his map.
The earliest use of the word Australia that I have
been able to find, occurs in the index to the Dutch
Generale Beschrijvinge van Indien (General Description
* See Markham, Voyages of Quiros (Hakluyt Society), Vol. I.,
p. xxx. 420

THE NAMING OF AUSTRALIA 421
of the Indies) published at Batavia in 1638. The work
consists mainly of accounts of voyages by Dutch vessels
to the East Indies. Among them is a history of the
"Australische Navigatien" of Jacob le Maire and
Willem Cornelisz Schouten, made in 1615-17. They
sailed through the Straits of Magellan, crossed the
Pacific, touched at the Solomon Islands, and thence
made their way round by the north of New Guinea to
Java. The word Australia does not occur anywhere in
the black-letter text of the narrative, and the word
Australische in the phrase "Australische Navigatien,"
simply means southern. There are references in the
book to "Terra Australis," but Le Maire and Schouten
knew not Australia. Nor does the narrative make any
allusion to the continent which we know by that name.
The Terra Australis of these Dutch navigators was
land of the southern hemisphere in general. But,
curiously, the indexer of the Generale Beschrijvinge
made four entries, in which he employed the word Aus
tralia. Thus, his entry "Australia Incognita Ondeckt"
(Australia Incognita Discovered) referred to passages
in Le Maire and Schouten's voyage relating to the
southern lands they had seen. But it did not refer to
the Australia of modern geography. It is very strange
that the Dutch indexer in Batavia should have hit upon
the word and employed it when he did not find it in the
text of the book itself.
The use of Australia in an English book of 1693
is also extremely curious. In 1676 Gabriel de Foigny,
under the assumed name of Jacques Sadeur, published at
Vannes a quaint little duodecimo volume, purporting
to give a description of an unknown southern land. He
called his book La Terre Australe connue; c'est a dire,
la description de ce pays inconnu jusqu'ici. It was a
"voyage imaginaire," a pure piece of fancy. In 1693
it was translated into English, and published in London,

422 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
by John Dunton, under the title A New Discovery of
Terra Incognita, or the Southern World, by James
Sadeur, a Frenchman, who being cast there by a ship
wreck, lived 35 years in that country and gives a particu
lar description of the manners, customs, religion, laws,
studies and wars of those southern people, and of some
animals peculiar to that place; with several other
rarities. In the original French the word Australia does
not occur. But in the English translation Foigny's
phrase "continent de la Terre Australe," is rendered
"Australia." Foigny's ingenious piece of fiction drew
its "local colour" from the South American region, not
from any supposed land in the neighbourhood of the
Australian continent. The instance is all the more
interesting from the possibility that the book may have
given a hint to Swift in the writing of Gulliver's
Travels* In 1770-71 Alexander Dalrymple published An His
torical Collection of Voyages and Discoveries in the
South Pacific Ocean. In the preface to that work he
used the word Australia as "comprehending the dis
coveries at a distance from America to the eastward."!
He did not intend it to include the present Australia at
all. De Brosses had used the three names Magellanica,
Polynesia and Australasia, which Dalrymple accepted-®'
but he thought there was room for a fourth for the area '
east of South America. The part of the Australian
continent known when Dalrymple published his book —
only the west and northern coasts — was included within
the division which De Brosses called Australasia.
Here we have three instances of the use of the word
Australia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
* See the Cambridge History of English Literature, IX., 106:
where, however, the English translation is erroneously cited as
'Journey of Jacques Sadour to Australia.
t P. xv. of the 1780 edition of Dalrymple.

THE NAMING OF AUSTRALIA 423
but without reference to the continent which now bears
that name.
In 1793, G. Shaw and J. E. Smith published in
London a Zoology and Botany of New Holland. Here
the word Australia was used in its modern sense, as
applied to the southern continent. The authors wrote
of "the vast island, or rather continent, of Australia,
Australasia, or New Holland, which has so lately
attracted the particular attention of European naviga
tors and naturalists."
The word was not therefore of Flinders' devising.
But it may be taken to be certain that he was un
acquainted with the previous employment of it by the
Dutch indexer, by Foigny's English translator, or by
Shaw and Smith. It is doubtul whether he had observed
the previous use of it by Dalrymple. Undoubtedly he
had read that author's book. He may have had the
volumes in his cabin library. But he was so exact and
scrupulous a man that we can say with confidence that,
had he remembered the occurrence of the word in Dal
rymple, he would have mentioned the fact. The point
if not material, however, because, as already observed,
Dalrymple did not apply "Australia" to this continent,
but to a different region. The essential point is that
"Australia was reinvented by Flinders."*
Flinders felt the need of a single word that would
be a good name for the island which had been demon
strated by his own researches to be one great continent.
It will be remembered that he had investigated the whole
extent of the southern coasts, had penetrated to the
extremities of the two great gulfs found there, had
proved that they did not open into a passage cutting
Terra Australis in two, and had thoroughly examined
the Gulf of Carpentaria, finding no inlet southward
* Morris, Dictionary of Austral English, p. 10.

424 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
there. The country was clearly one immense whole.
But what was it to be called? Terra Australis,
Southern Land, was too long, was cumbrous, was Latin.
That would not be a convenient name for a country that
was to play any part in the world. The Dutch had
named the part which they found New Holland. But
they knew nothing of the east. Cook called the part
which he had discovered New South Wales. But Cook
knew nothing of the west. Neither the Dutch nor
Cook knew anything of the south, a large part of which
Flinders himself had discovered.
We find him for the first time using the word
"Australia" in a letter written to his brother Samuel on
August 25th, 1804.* He was then living at Wilhelm's
Plains: "I call the whole island Australia, or Terra
Australis. New Holland is properly that portion of it
from 135° of longitude westward; and eastward is New
South Wales, according to the Governor's patent."
Flinders' first public use of the word was not in
English, but in French. In the essay on the^probable
fate of Laperouse, written for the Societe d'Emulation
in Ile-de-France (1807), he again stated the need for
a word in terms which I translate as follows: "The
examination of the eastern part was commenced in 1770
by Captain Cook, and has since been completed by
English navigators. t The first (i.e., the west) is New
Holland properly so called, and the second bears the
name of New South Wales. I have considered it con
venient to unite the two parts under a common designa
tion which will do justice to the discovery rights of
Holland and England, and I have with that object in
view had recourse to the name Austral-land or Aus-

* Flinders' Papers.
t By himself ; but in this paper he modestly said nothing of his
own researches.

4U)

MEMORIAL TO BASS AND FLINDERS AT THE
COMMONWEALTH NAVAL CASE, WESTERNPORT, VIC.

THE NAMING OF AUSTRALIA 425
tralia. But it remains to be seen whether the name
will be adopted by European geographers."*
After 1804 Flinders repeatedly used the word Aus
tralia in his correspondence. Before that date he had
invariably written of "New Holland." But in a letter
to Banks (December 31st, 1804) he referred to "my
general chart of Australia ;"t in March, 1806, he wrote
of "the north-west coast of Australia;"! in July, 1806,
writing to the King he underlined the word in the
phrase "my discoveries in Australia;"! in July, 1807,
he spoke of "the north coast of Australia;"** in
February, 1809, of "the south coast of Australia ;"ff
and the same phrase was employed in January, 18 10. J X
It is therefore apparent that before his return to Eng
land he had determined to use the name systematically
and to make its employment general as far as he could.
We do not find it occurring in any other correspondence
of the period.
When he reached England in 1810 and commenced to
work upon his book, he wished to use the name Aus
tralia, and brought the subject forward at a meeting at
Sir Joseph Banks's house. But Banks was not favour
able, and Arrowsmith, the chart-publisher, "did not like
the change" because his firm had always used the name
New Holland in their charts. A Major Rennell was

* II reste a savoir si ce nom sera adopte par des geographes
europeens." The paper was printed in the Annales des Voyages by
Malte-Brun (Paris, 1810). Flinders kept a copy, and his manuscript
is now in the Melbourne Public Library. It is an exquisite piece of
caligraphy, perhaps the most beautifully written of all his manu
scripts. t Historical Records, V., 531.
t Ibid, VI., 50.
§ Ibid, VI., 107.
** Ibid, VI., 274.
ft Ibid, VII., 52.
ttlbid, VII., 275.
EE

426 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
present at one of the meetings, when Flinders thought
he had converted Sir Joseph. But afterwards he found
Banks disinclined to sanction the name, and wrote to
Major Rennell asking whether he remembered the
conversation. The Major replied (August 15th,
1812) :* "I certainly think that it was as you say, that
Australia was the proper name for the continent in
question; and for the reason you mention. I suppose
I must have been of that opinion at the time, for I cer
tainly think so now. It wants a collective name."
Two days after the receipt of Major Rennell's
letter Flinders wrote to Banks, reminding him that he
was the first person consulted about the name Australia.
and that he had understood that it was generally
approved. Bligh had not objected to it. When part
of the manuscript of the Voyage was submitted to
Mr. Robert Peel, Under-Secretary for the Colonies
(afterwards Sir Robert Peel and Prime Minister of
England), and to Lord Liverpool, the principal Secre
tary of State, there had been some discussion respecting
the inclusion of the Gulf of Carpentaria as part of New
South Wales, and it was accordingly erased. But no
objection was raised to the name Australia. Flinders
fought hard for his word, but did not succeed com
pletely. Captain Burney suggested that Terra Aus
tralis was a name "more familiar to the public." Banks
on August 19th withdrew his objection to "the pro
priety of calling New Holland and New South Wales
by the collective name of Terra Australis," and accord
ingly as A Voyage to Terra Australis his book ulti
mately went forth. The work being published under
the aegis of the Admiralty, he had to conform to the
opinion of those who were less sensible of the need for
an innovation than he was, and it was only in a modest
* Flinders' Papers.

THE NAMING OF AUSTRALIA 427
footnote that he used the name he preferred. The
passage in the book wherein he discussed the question
may be quoted, together with his footnote :
"The vast regions to which this voyage was princi
pally directed comprehend, in the western part, the early-
discoveries of the Dutch, under the name of New-
Holland; and in the east the coasts explored by British
navigators, and named New South Wales. It has not,
however, been unusual to apply the first appellation to
both regions; but to continue this would be almost as
great an injustice to the British nation, whose seamen
have had ro large a share in the discovery as it would
be to the Dutch were New South Wales to be so ex
tended. This appears to have been felt by a neigh
bouring, and even rival, nation; whose writers com
monly speak of these countries under the general term
of Terres Australes. In fact, the original name, used
by the Dutch themselves until some time after Tasman's
second voyage in 1644, was Terra Australis, or 'Great
South Land;' and, when it was displaced by 'New
Holland,' the new term was applied only to the parts
lying westward of a meridian line passing through
Arnhem's JLand on the north, and near the isles of St
Francis and St. Peter on the south ; all to the eastward.
including the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria, still
remained as Terra Australis. This appears from a
chart published by Thevenot in 1663; which, he says
'was originally taken from that done in inlaid work
upon the pavement of the new Stadt-House at Amster
dam.' The same thing is to be inferred from the notes
of Burgomaster Witsen in 1705 of which there will be
occasion to speak in the sequel.
"It is necessary, however, to geographical precision,
that so soon as New Holland and New South Wales
were known to form one land, there should be a general
name applicable to the whole; and this essential point

428 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
having been ascertained in the present voyage, with a
degree of certainty sufficient to authorise the measure.
I have, with the concurrence of opinions entitled to
deference, ventured upon the adoption of the original
Terra Australis; and of this term I shall hereafter make
use when speaking of New Holland and New South
Wales in a collective sense; and when using it in the
most extensive signification, the adjacent isles, including
that of Van Diemen, must be understood to be compre
hended. "There is no probability that any other detached
body of land, of nearly equal extent, will ever be found
in a more southern latitude; the name Terra Australis
will, therefore, remain descriptive of the geographical
importance of this country, and its situation on the globe ,
it has antiquity to recommend it; and, having no
reference to either of the two claiming nations, appears
to be less objectionable than any other which could have
been selected."
Then comes the footnote in which the name Aus
tralia is suggested:
"Had I permitted myself any innovation upon the
original term, it would have been to convert it into
Australia; as being more agreeable to the ear, and an
assimilation to the names of the other great portions of
the earth."
The name came into general use after the publica
tion of Flinders' book, though it was not always adopted
in official documents. Governor Macquarie, of New
South Wales, in a despatch in April, 1817, expressed the
hope that the name would be authoritatively sanctioned.*
As already noted, the officials of 1849 drew a
distinction between New Holland, the mainland,

* See M. Phillips, A Colonial Autocracy (London, 1909), p. 2,
note.

THE NAMING OF AUSTRALIA 429
and Australia, which included the island of Tas
mania; and so Sir Charles Fitzroy, Governor of New
South Wales, was styled "Governor-General of Aus
tralia," in a commission dated 1851. The proudest of
all places wherein this name is used is in the forefront
of the majestic instrument cited as 63 and 64 Vict., cap.
XII. — "An Act to constitute the Commonwealth of
Australia."

APPENDICES

Appendix A.
BAUDIN'S ACCOUNT OF ENCOUNTER BAY.
[In a long letter of about 30,000 words, written to the
French Minister of Marine from Port Jackson in 1802,
Captain Baudin described his explorations in Australian
waters up to that date. The manuscript is in the
Archives Nationales, Paris, BB4, 995, Marine. It has
never been published. In this appendix, which relates
to Chapter XIV. of the book, I translate the portion of
the letter concerning the meeting of the Investigator and
Le GSographe in Encounter Bay, with a few notes.]
"On the 18th,1 continuing to follow the coast and
the various coves upon it, we sighted towards the north
east a long chain of high mountains, which appeared
to terminate at the border of the sea. The weariness
we had for a long time experienced at seeing coasts
which for the most part were arid, and offered not the
slightest resource, was dissipated by the expectation
of coming upon a more promising country. A little
later, a still more agreeable object of distraction pre
sented itself to our view. A square-sailed ship was
perceived ahead. Nobody on board had any doubt that
it was Le Naturaliste. As she was tacking south and
we were tacking north, we approached each other. But
what was our astonishment when the other vessel
hoisted a white flag on the mainmast. It was beyond
doubt a signal of recognition, to which we responded.
1 That is,_ the i8th Germinal in the French revolutionary
calendar; April 8th by the Gregorian calendar.

432 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
A little later, that signal was hauled down, and an
English ensign and pennant were substituted.2 We
replied by hoisting our colours ; and we continued to
advance towards each other. The manoeuvre of the
English ship indicating that she desired to speak to us,
we stood towards her.3 When we got within hail, a
voice enquired what ship we were. I replied simply
that we were French. "Is that Captain Baudin?" "Yes,
it is he." The English captain then saluted me graciously,
saying "I am very glad to meet you." I replied to the
same effect, without knowing to whom I was speaking;
but, seeing that arrangements were being made for
someone to come on board, I brought the ship to.
"Mr. Flinders, who commanded the English vessel,
presented himself. As soon as I learnt his name, I no
longer doubted that he, like ourselves, was occupied
with the exploration of the south coast of New Holland ;
and, in spite of the reserve that he showed upon that
first visit, I could easily perceive that he had already
completed a part of it. Having invited him to come
into my cabin, and finding ourselves alone there, the
conversation became freer.4
"He informed me that he had left Europe about eight
months after us, and that he was bound for Port Jackson,
having previously refreshed at the Cape of Good Hope.
"I had no hesitation about giving him information
concerning what we had been doing upon the coast until
2 Flinders says: "Our colours being hoisted, she showed a
French ensign, and afterwards an English jack forward, as we
did a white flag."
3 Flinders' own explanation of his manoeuvring is: "We
veered round as Le Geographe was passing so as to keep our
broadside to her lest the flag of truce should be a deception."
4 "Nous trouvant seul, la conversation devint plus libre."
Flinders says that Brown accompanied him, and went into the
cabin with him. "No person was present at our conversations
except Mr. Brown."

BAUDIN'S ACCOUNT OF ENCOUNTER BAY 433
that moment. I pointed out to him defects which I
had observed in the chart which he had published5 of
the strait separating New Holland from Van Diemen's
Land, etc., etc.
"Mr. Flinders observed to me that he was not un
aware that the chart required to be checked, inasmuch
as the sketch from which it was prepared had been drawn
from uncertain information, and that the means em
ployed when the discovery was made did not conduce
to securing exact results.6 Finally, becoming less
circumspect than he had hitherto been, he told me that
he had commenced his work at Cape Leeuwin, and had
followed the coast to the place where we were met. He
suggested that our ships should pass the night near
together, and that early on the following morning he
should come on board again, and give me some particu
lars which would be useful to me. I accepted his pro
position with pleasure, and we tacked about at a short
distance from each other during the night. It was
seven o'clock in the evening when he returned to his
ship.7 "On the 19th8 Mr. Flinders came on board at six
o'clock in the morning. We breakfasted together,9
5 "la carte qu'il nous a donne des detroits." From this it
appears that Baudin knew Flinders as the author of the chart,
even while pointing out its defects. Flinders had the impression
that Baudin did not know him till he was about to leave
Le Geographe at the end of the second interview
6 Flinders: "On my pointing out a note upon the chart, ex
plaining that the north side of the strait was seen only in an
open boat by Mr. Bass, who had no good means of fixing either
latitude or longitude, he appeared surprised, not having before
paid attention to it."
7 Flinders : "I told him that some other and more particular
charts of the strait and its neighbourhood had since been published;
and that if he would keep company until next morning I would
bring him a copy with a small memoir belonging to them. This
was agreed to."
8 April 9th.
9 Flinders does not mention this incident.

434 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
and talked about our respective work. He appeared to
me to have been happier than we had been with respect
to the discoveries he had made. He told me about a
large island, about a dozen or fifteen leagues away,
which had been visited by him. According to his
account, he stayed there six weeks to prepare a chart
of it;10 and with the aid of a corvette11 had explored
two deep gulfs, the direction of which he sketched for
me, as well as of his Kangaroo Island, which he had so
named in consequence of the great quantity of those
quadrupeds found there. The island,, though not far
from the continent, did not appear to him to be inhabited.
"An accident like that which had unfortunately
happened to us on the coast of Van Diemen's Land had
overtaken Mr. Flinders.12 He had lost a boat and eight
men. His ship was also short of stores, and he was not
without uneasiness as to what would happen.
"Before we separated the Captain asked me if I had
any knowledge of an island which was said to exist to
the north of the Bass Strait islands. I replied that I
had not, inasmuch as, having followed the coast fairly
closely after leaving the Promontory as far as Western-
port, I had not met with any land placed in the position
10 A mistake; Flinders was at Kangaroo Island only six
days. 11 Peron also had the erroneous impression that the
Investigator had been accompanied by a corvette, which foundered
in Spencer's Gulf, and so wrote in his Voyage de Dccouvertes.
Baudin must have confused what Flinders told him about the drown
ing of Thistle and the boat's crew, with an idea of his own that this
boat was a consort of the Investigator as Le Naturaliste was of
Le Geographe. 12 Baudin was referring to a boat party of his own, consist
ing of Boullanger, one of his hydrographers, a lieutenant and
eight sailors. They had gone out in a boat to chart a portion
of the coast which Le Geographe could not reach. They did
not return, and Baudin supposed them to have been lost. But
they were in fact picked up by the sealing brig Snozv-Harrington
from Sydney, which afterwards sighted Le Naturaliste, and
handed the men over to her.

BAUDIN'S ACCOUNT OF ENCOUNTER BAY 435
which he indicated.13 He appeared to be well pleased
with my response, doubtless in the hope of being the
first to discover it. Perhaps Le Naturaliste, in searching
for us in the Strait, will have discovered it.14 At the
moment of his departure, Mr. Flinders presented me
with several new charts, published by Arrowsmith, and
a printed memoir by himself, dealing with discoveries
in the strait, the north coast of Van Diemen's Land, the
east coast, etc., etc. He also invited me to sail, like
himself, for Port Jackson, the resources of which he
perhaps exalted too highly, if I had to remain long in
these seas. At eight o'clock we15 separated. He sailed
south and we went to the west."

!3 What Flinders asked Baudin was whether he had any
"knowledge concerning a large island said to lie in the western
entrance of Bass Strait. But he had not seen it and seemed
to doubt much of its existence." The reference was to King
Island. Baudin marked on his chart, in consequence of this
enquiry, an island "believed to exist," guessing at its situation
and placing it wrongly; though he subsequently stayed at King
Island himself.
14 This sentence is interesting, as showing that Baudin wrote
this part of his letter to the Minister at the time, not at Port
Jackson weeks later. If the sentence had been written later,
he would not have said that Le Naturaliste would perhaps sight
the island. He by then knew that she did not.
15 Flinders: "I returned with Mr. Brown on board the
Investigator at half-past-eight in the morning, and we then
separated from Le Geographe; Captain Baudin's course being
directed to the north-west and ours to the southward."

Appendix B.
PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACKSON.
[The following is a fairly literal translation of Peron's
report on Port Jackson, furnished to General Decaen at
Ile-de-France. J Port N.-O., 20th Frimaire,
Year 1216
Citizen Captain-General,
Fifteen years ago England transported, at great
expense, a numerous population to the eastern coast of
New Holland. At that time this vast continent was
still almost entirely unknown. These southern lands
and the numerous archipelagoes of the Pacific were
invaded by the English, who had solemnly proclaimed
themselves sovereign over the whole dominion extending
from Cape York to the southern extremity of New
Holland, that is to say, from 10° 37' S., to 43° 39' S.
latitude. In longitude their possesions had been fixed
as reaching from 105° W. of Greenwich to the middle
of the Pacific Ocean, including all the archipelagos with
which it is strewn.17
Note especially in this respect that in the formal deed
of annexation no exact boundary was fixed on the Pacific
Ocean side. This omission seems to have been the result

10 i.e.. Port North-West (Port Louis), December n, 1802.
17 This is a literal translation of Peron's statement, which is
obviously confused and wrong. 105° W. long, is east of Easter
Island, as well as being an "exact boundary" in the Pacific,
which, Peron goes on to say, did not exist. The probability is
that he gives here a muddled reproduction of the boundaries
actually fixed by Phillip's commission — "westward as far as the
135th degree of east longitude . . . including all the islands
adjacent in the Pacific Ocean." [Mr. Jose's note.]

PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACKSON 437
of astute policy; the English Government thus prepared
for itself an excuse for claiming, at the right time and
place, all the islands which in the future may be, or
actually are, occupied by the Spaniards — who thus find
themselves England's next-door neighbours.
So general a project of encroachment alarmed, as
it must, all the nations of Europe. The sacrifices made
by England to maintain this colony redoubled their
suspicions. The Spanish expedition of Admiral Mala-
spina18 had not fulfilled the expectations of its Govern
ment. Europe was still ignorant of the nature of the
English settlement; its object was unknown; its rapid
growth was not even suspected.
Always vigilant in regard to whatever may humiliate
the eternal rival of our nation, the First Consul, soon
after the revolution of the 18th Brumaire,19 decided upon
our expedition.20 His real object was such that it was
indispensable to conceal it from the Governments of
Europe, and especially from the Cabinet of St. James's.
We must have their unanimous consent; and that we
might obtain this, it was necessary that, strangers in
appearance to all political designs, we should occupy
18 Two Spanish ships, commanded by Don Alexandro
Malaspina, visited Sydney in April, 1793, _ They had left Cadiz
on an exploring and scientific expedition in July, 1789.
19 It was on the 18th Brumaire (November 9th, 1799) that
Bonaparte overthrew the Directory by a coup-d'etat, and
became First Consul of the French Republic.
20 Peron's statement is quite wrong. The matter of des
patching an expedition to Australia had been considered and
proposed to the Government by the professors of the Museum
two years before the coup-d'etat of Brumaire: before therefore
Bonaparte had anything to do with the Government. Their
letter to the Minister, making this proposal, is dated 12th
Thermidor, year 6 — that is, July 31st, 1797. Bonaparte was then
a young general commanding the army of Italy. The project
was taken up by the Institute of France, and Bonaparte, as First
Consul, sanctioned the expedition in May, 1800. There is no
evidence that he ever gave a thought to the matter until it was
brought before him by the Institute.

438 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
ourselves only with natural history collections. Such
a large expenditure had been incurred to augment the
collections of the Museum of the Republic that
the object of our voyage could not but appear
to all the world as a natural consequence of the
previous action of our Government. It was far from
being the case, however, that our true purpose had to
be confined to that class of work; and if sufficient time
permitted it would be very easy for me, citizen Captain-
General, to demonstrate to you that all our natural
history researches, extolled with so much ostentation by
the Government, were merely a pretext for its enterprise,
and were intended to assure for it the most general and
complete success. So that our expedition, so much
criticised by faultfinders, so much neglected by the
former administrators of this colony, was in its principle,
in its purpose, in its organization, one of those brilliant
and important conceptions which ought to make our
present Government for ever illustrious. Why was it
that, after having done so much for the success of these
designs, the execution of them was confided to a man
utterly unfitted in all possible respects to conduct them
to their proper issue?
You have asked me, General, to communicate to
you such information as I have been able to procure
upon the colony of Port Jackson. A work of that kind
would be as long as it would be important ; and, prepared
as I conceive it ought to be, and as I hope it will be when
presented to the French Government, it would fix our
attention to some useful purpose upon that growing
snare of a redoubtable power. Unfortunately, duty has
made demands upon me until to-day, and now that I
find myself a little freer our departure is about to
take place. Moreover, all the information we have col
lected upon the regions in question is deposited in the
chest which has to be forwarded, sealed, to the Govern-

PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACKSON 439
ment, and without access to this the notes that I should
desire to furnish to you cannot be completed. Never
theless, in order to contribute as far as possible to your
enlightenment on the subject, I take the liberty of furnish
ing you with some particulars of the new establish
ment. In asking you to excuse, on account of the
circumstances, faults both of style and of presentation, I
venture to assure you, General, that you can rely upon
my jealous exactitude in fulfilling as far as was in my
power the intention of the Government of my country.
I have neglected no means of procuring all the informa
tion that as far as I could foresee would be of interest.
I was received in the house of the Governor with much
consideration. He and his secretary spoke our language
well. The commandant of the troops of New South
Wales, Mr. Paterson, a member of the Royal Society of
London, a very distinguished savant, always treated me
with particular regard. I was received in his house, as
one might say, as a son. I have through him known
all the officials of the colony. The surgeon, a dis
tinguished man, Mr. Thompson, honoured me with his
friendship. Mr. Grimes, the surveyor of the colony, Mr.
Palmer the commissary-general of the Government, Mr.
Marsden, a clergyman of Parramatta, and a cultivator
as wealthy as he is discerning, were all capable of
furnishing me with valuable information. My functions
on board permitted me to hazard the asking of a large
number of questions which would have been indiscreet
on the part of another, particularly on the part of
soldiers. I have, in a word, known at Port Jackson all
the principal people of the colony, in all vocations, and
each of them has furnished, unsuspectingly, information
as valuable as it is new. Finally, I made with Mr.
Paterson very long excursions into the interior of the
country. I saw most of the best farms, and I assure
you that I have gathered everywhere interesting ideas

440 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
upon things, which I have taken care to make exact as
possible. ist. — Present Establishments of the English.
Whilst in Europe they are spoken of as the
colony of Botany Bay, as a matter of fact there is no
establishment there. Botany Bay is a humid, marshy,
rather sterile place, not healthy, and the anchorage for
vessels is neither good nor sure.
Port Jackson, thirteen leagues from Botany Bay,
is unquestionably one of the finest ports in the world.
It was in these terms that Governor Phillip spoke of it,
and certainly he did not exaggerate when he added that
a thousand ships of the line could easily manoeuvre
within it. The town of Sydney has been founded in the
heart of this superb harbour. It ie already considerable in
extent, and, like its population, is growing rapidly. Here
reside the Governor and all the principal Government
officers. The environs of Sydney are sandy and not
very fertile; in almost all of them there is a scarcity of
water during the hot summer months.
Parramatta is the largest town founded by the
English. It is in the interior of the country, about six
leagues from Sydney, from which it can be reached by
a small river called the Parramatta River. Small vessels
can proceed close to the town; larger ones have to dis
charge some distance away. A very fine road leads
overland irom Sydney to Parramatta. Some very good
houses have been built here and there along the road.
Already people who have made considerable fortunes
are to be found there. The land around Parramatta is
of much better quality than that at Sydney. The country
has been cleared to a considerable extent; and grazing
in particular presents important advantages.
Toongabbie, further inland, three or four leagues
from Parramatta, is still more fertile. Its pastures

PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACKSON 441
are excellent. It is there that the flocks belonging to the
Government have been established.
Hawkesbury, more than 60 miles from Sydney, is
in the vicinity of the Blue Mountains. It is the richest
and most fruitful of the English establishments. It may
be regarded as the granary of the colony, being capable
by itself of supplying nearly all the wants of the settle
ment. The depth of soil in some parts is as much as
80 feet; and it is truly prodigious in point of fertility.
These incalculable advantages are due to the alluvial
deposits of the Hawkesbury River, which descends in
cascades from the summits of the Blue Mountains, and
precipitates itself upon the plain loaded with a thick mud
of a quality eminently suitable for promoting vegetable
growth. Unfortunately with benefits such as are con
ferred by the Nile it unites its inconveniences. It is
subject to frightful floods, which overwhelm everything.
Houses, crops, and flocks — everything is destroyed unless
men and animals save themselves by very rapid flight.
These unexpected floods are sometimes so prodigious
that the water has been known to rise 60 and even 80
feet above the normal level. But what gives a great
importance to the town of Hawkesbury is the facility
with which large ships can reach it by the river of which
I have just spoken. This part of New Holland will be
a source of rapid and very large fortunes.
Castle Hill is a new establishment in the interior
of New Llolland, distant 21 miles from Parramatta, from
which it is reached by a superb road, which traverses
thick forests. Allotments of land are crowded round
this place, and the clearances are so considerable that
for more than a league all round the town we could see
the forest grants being burnt off.
Richmond Hill, towards the Hawkesbury, is
a more considerable place than the last mentioned, and
is in a fertile situation.
FF

442 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
So, General, it will be seen that this colony, which
people in Europe still believe to be relegated to the
muddy marshes of Botany Bay, is daily absorbing more
and more of the interior of the continent. Cities are being
erected, which, at present in their infancy, present
evidences of future grandeur. Spacious and well-con
structed roads facilitate communication with all parts,
whilst important rivers render access by water still
more convenient and less expensive.
But the English Government is no longer confining
its operations to the eastern coast of New Holland.
Westernport, on the extreme south, beyond Wilson's
Promontory, is already engaging its attention. At the
time of our departure a new establishment there was
in contemplation. The Government is balancing the
expediency of founding a new colony there or at Port
Phillip, to the north.21 In any case, it is indubitable,
from what I have heard the Governor say — it is indubi
table, I say, that such a step will soon be taken. Indeed,
whatever advantage Port Jackson may possess, it suffers
from a grave disadvantage in the narrowness of its entry.
Two frigates could by themselves blockade the most
numerous fleet within. Westernport would in certain
eventualities offer an advantageous position. Moreover,
the navigation of Bass Strait is very dangerous. The
winds there are terrible. Before negotiating the strait,
ships from Europe, fatigued by a long voyage, require
succour and shelter. The new establishment will be able
to accommodate them. A third reason, and no doubt
the most important, is that the English in spite of all
their efforts, in spite of the devotion of several of their
citizens, in spite of the sacrifices made by the Govern-
21 "Le Port Phillip dans le nord de ce dernier." Peron's
information was correct. King had in May, 1802, made a recom
mendation to the British Government that a settlement should
be founded at Port Phillip. The reasons, also, are stated accu
rately by him.

PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACKSON 443
ment, have not yet been able to traverse the redoubt
able barrier of the Blue Mountains and to penetrate into
the west of New Holland. An establishment on the part
of the coast that I have just mentioned would guarantee
them success in their efforts in that direction. At all
events it is indubitable that the establishment to which
I have referred will be immediately founded, if indeed
such is not already the case, as appears very probable
from the letter which the Governor wrote to our com
mandant in that regard a few days after our departure
from Port Jackson.
So then, the English, already masters of the eastern
coast of New Holland, now wish to occupy the immense
extent of the west and south-west coasts which contain
very fine harbours, namely, that which they call Western-
port, Port Phillip, Port Flinders22 at the head of one of
the great gulfs of the south-west, Port Esperance,
discovered by Dentrecasteaux, King George's Sound, etc.
But still more, General, their ambition, always
aspiring, is not confined to New Holland itself, vast as
it may be. Van Diemen's Land, and especially the
magnificent Dentrecasteaux Channel, have excited their
cupidity. Another establishment has probably been
founded there since our departure from Port Jackson.
Take a glance at the detailed chart of that part of Van
Diemen's Land. Look at the cluster of bays and
harbours to be found there, and judge for yourself
whether it is likely that that ambitious nation will
permit any other power to occupy them. Therefore,
numerous preparations had been made for the occupa
tion of that important point. The authorities were only
awaiting a frigate, the Porpoise,23 to transport colonists
and provisions. That establishment is probably in
22 Peron probably meant the present Port Augusta in Spencer's
Gulf; but the name Port Flinders was his own.
23 P£ron spells the name as it sounded to him, La Poraperse.

444 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
existence to-day.24 Several reasons will have determined
it; Ist. — The indispensable necessity, for the English,
oi keeping away from their establishments in that part
of the world rivals and neighbours as redoubtable as the
French ; 2nd. — The desire of removing from occupation
by any other nation those impregnable ports whence
their important trade with New Zealand might be des
troyed and their principal establishment itself be event
ually shaken ; 3rd. — The fertility of the soil in that part of
Van Diemen's Land, and above all the hope of discover
ing in the vast granite plateaux, which seems here to
enclose the world, mines of precious metals or some new
substance unknown to the stupid aboriginals of the
country. I will not refer in detail to the Furneaux and
Hunter's Islands, to King Island and Maria Island. Every
where the British flag is flown with pride. Everywhere
profitable fisheries are established. Seals of various
species, to be found upon these islands, open up a new
source of wealth and power to the English nation.
But New Zealand is especially advantageous to
them in that regard. There is the principal seat of the
wealth of their new colony. Thence a large number of
ships sail annually for Europe laden with whale oil.
Never, as the English themselves acknowledge, was a
fishery so lucrative and so easy. The number of vessels
engaged An it is increasing rapidly. Four years ago there
were but four or five. Last year there were seventeen.25
I shall have occasion to return to this subject.
Let us sum up what has been said concerning the
English establishments in this part of the world. Masters
24 Again, PSron's information was correct. A settlement on
the Derwent, close to Dentrecasteaux Channel, was ordered to
be founded in March, 1803, and the Porpoise, with the Lady Nelson
as tender, was employed to carry colonists and supplies thither.
25 It will be remembered that Bass intended to engage in
the New Zealand fishery. Cf. chapter IX.

PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACKSON 445
of the east coast of New Holland, we see them rapidly
penetrating the interior of the country, clearing pressed
forward on all sides, towns multiplying. Everywhere
there is hope of abundance of great agricultural wealth.
The south coast is menaced by coming encroachments,
which, perhaps, are by now effected. All the ports of the
south-west will be occupied successively, and much
sooner than is commonly thought. Van Diemen's Land
and all the neighbouring islands either are to be occupied
or already are so. New Zealand offers to them, together
with excellent harbours, an extraordinarily abundant
and lucrative fishery. In a word, everything in these
vast regions presents a picture of unequalled activity,
unlimited foresight, swollen ambition, and a policy as
deep as it is vigilant.
Well then — come forward now to the middle of these
vast seas, so long unknown ; we shall see everywhere the
same picture reproduced, with the same effects. Cast a
glance over that great southern ocean. Traverse all those
archipelagos which, like so many stepping-stones, are
scattered between New Holland and the west coast of
America. It is by their means that England hopes to be
able to stretch her dominion as far as Peru. Norfolk
Island has for a long time been occupied. The cedar
that it produces, coupled with the great fertility of the
soil, render it an important possession. It contains
already between 1,500 and 1,800 colonists. No settle
ment has as yet been founded in any of the other islands,
but researches are being pursued in all parts. The
English land upon all the islands and establish an active
commerce, by means of barter, with the natives. The
Sandwich Islands, Friendly Islands, Loyalty Islands,26
Navigator Islands,27 Marquesas and Mendore Islands all
furnish excellent salt provisions. Ships, employed in

26 New Caledonian Group.
27 Samoan Group.

446 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
trade, frequently arrive at Port Jackson; and it increases
every day, proof positive of the advantage that is
derived from it.
The Government is particularly occupied with
endeavouring to discover upon some one of these archi
pelagos a strong military post, a species of arsenal,
nearer to the coasts of Peru and Chili.28 It
is towards these two points that the English
Government appears to be especially turning its eyes.
They are quite aware of the feebleness of the Spaniards
in South America. They are above all aware that the
unconquered Chilians are constantly making unexpected
attacks, that like so many Bedouins they appear un
awares with a numerous cavalry upon places where the
Spaniards are most feeble, committing robberies and
outrages in all directions before sufficient forces have
been collected to repulse them. Then they retire with a
promptitude which does not permit of their being
followed to their savage fastnesses, which are unknown
to the Spaniards themselves— retreats whence they very
soon reappear, to commit fresh massacres. (See the
Voyage of Laperouse). The English, to whom nothing
that occurs in those important regions is unknown, are
equally aware that it is simply a deficiency in arms
and ammunition which prevents the redoubtable
Chilians from pushing much farther their attacks against
the Spaniards. It is to the furnishing of these means
that the English Government are at the present moment
confining their enterprise. A very active contraband
trade is calculated to enable them to carry out their per
fidious ends, whilst at the same time providing a profit
able market for the produce of their manufacturers.
Another manner in which they torment the Spaniards of
Peru is by despatching a swarm of pirates to these
seas. During the last war very rich prizes were captured
28 This statement was entirely false.

PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACKSON 447
by simple whaling vessels, and you can judge what
attacks of this kind will be like when they are directed
and sustained by the English Government itself.
Their hopes in regard to the Spanish possessions are
heightened, and their projects are encouraged, by the
general direction of the winds in these seas. A happy ex
perience has at length taught the English that the prevail
ing wind, that which blows strongest and most constantly,
is the west wind. Determined by these considerations
(would you believe it, General?) the English nowadays,
instead of returning to Europe from Port Jackson by
traversing Bass Strait and doubling the Cape of Good
Hope, turn their prows eastwards, abandon themselves
to their favourite wind, traverse rapidly the great ex
panse of the South Seas, double Cape Horn, and so do
not reach England until they have made the circuit of
the globe ! Consequently those voyages round the world,
which were formerly considered so hazardous, and with
which are associated so many illustrious names, have be
come quite familiar to English sailors. Even their fishing
vessels accomplish the navigation of the globe just as
safely as they would make a voyage from Europe to the
Antilles. That circumstance is not so unimportant as
may at first appear. The very idea of having circumnavi
gated the globe exalts the enthusiasm of English sailors.
What navigation would not seem to them ordinary after
voyages which carry with them great and terrible
associations? Anyhow — and this is a most unfortunate
circumstance for the Spaniards — it is indubitable that
the fact of the constancy of the west wind must facilitate
extraordinarily projects of attack and invasion on the
part of the English, and everything sustains the belief
that they will count for much in the general plan of the
establishment in New Holland, Therefore the English
Government appears day by day to take more interest
in the colony. It redoubles sacrifices of all kinds. It en-

448 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
deavours in every way to increase the population as much
as possible. Hardly a month passes but there arrives
some ship freighted by it, laden with provisions, goods,
and above all with men and women, some transported
people, who have to serve practically as slaves, others
free immigrants, cultivators, to whom concessions will
be granted. Perhaps at first you will be astonished to
learn that honest men voluntarily transport themselves
with their families to the extremity of the world, to live
in a country which is still savage, and which was origin
ally, and is still actually, occupied by brigands who have
been thrust from the breast of society. But your
astonishment will cease when you learn under what con
ditions such individuals consent to exile themselves to
these shores, and what advantages they are not slow in
deriving from a sacrifice which must always be painful.
In the first place, before their departure from
Europe, a sufficient sum is allowed to each individual to
provide for the necessities of a long voyage. On board
the vessel which transports them to Sydney a price is
fixed for the sustenance of the immigrant and his family,
if he has any. Upon his landing at Port Jackson con
cessions are granted to him in proportion to the number
of individuals comprised in his family. A number of
convicts (that is the name they give the transported
persons), in proportion to the extent of the concessions
granted, are placed at his disposal. A house is con
structed for him ; he is provided with all necessary furni
ture and household utensils, and all the clothes he needs ;
they grant him all the seed he needs to sow his land,
all the tools he needs to till it, and one or more pairs
of all domestic animals and several kinds of poultry.
Besides, they feed him, his family, and his assigned
servants during eighteen months. He is completely
sustained during that period ; and for the next twelve
months half rations are allowed to him. At the end of

PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACKSON 449
that time the produce of his land is, with reason, expected
to be sufficient for his requirements, and the Govern
ment leave him to his own resources.
During five years he remains free of all contribution,
accumulating the produce of land all the more prolific
because it is virgin. At the end of that time a slight
repayment is required by the Government. This gradu
ally and slightly increases as time goes on. But mark
here, General, the profound wisdom of the English
Government, that enlightened policy which guides all
their enterprises and assures them success. If the new
immigrant during these five years has shown himself
to be a diligent and intelligent cultivator; if his clear
ings have been well extended and his stock is managed
with prudence; if the produce of his land has increased
rapidly — then, so far from finding himself a debtor to
the Government, his holding is declared to be his own, and,
as a recompense, fresh concessions are made to him,
additional servants are assigned to him, his immunity from
contributions is prolonged, and additional assistance of all
sorts is extended to him. It is to these extensive and well-
considered sacrifices that it is necessary to attribute the
fine farms that daily increase in number in the midst of
what was recently wild and uncultivated forest. Activity,
intelligence and application conduce here more rapidly than
elsewhere to fortune; and already several of the earlier
immigrants have become very wealthy proprietors. Emu
lation of the noblest kind is stimulated everywhere. Experi
ments of all kinds are made and multiplied. The Govern
ment encourages them, and generously recompenses those
who have succeeded.
What still further proves the particular interest
which the English Government takes in the colony is
the enormous expense incurred in procurring commodities
for the new colonists. Nearly everything is furnished
by the Government. Vast depots are filled with clothes

450 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
and fabrics of all kinds and qualities, from the com
monest to the finest. The sinplest furniture and house
hold goods are to be found alongside the most eiegant.
Thus the inhabitants are able to buy, at prices below
those ruling in England,29 everything necessary to not
only the bare wants of life, but also its comforts and
pleasures. Anxious to maintain the settlement on a firm and un-
shakeable basis, it is to agriculture, the source of the
true wealth of nations, that the English Government
endeavours to direct the tasites of the inhabitants
of the new colony. Different kinds of cattle have been
imported, and all thrive remarkably well. The better
kinds, so far from losing quality, gain in size and weight.
But the improvement in sheep is especially astonish
ing. Never was there a country so favourable to these
animals as the part of New Holland now occupied by the
British. Whether it be the effect of the climate or, as I
think, the peculiar quality of the herbage (almost wholly
aromatic), certain it is that the flocks of sheep have multi
plied enormously. It is true that the finest breeds have
been imported by the Government. At first, the choicest
kinds of English and Irish sheep were naturalised. Then
breeds from Bengal and the Cape of Good Hope were
introduced. Finally, the good fortune which seems to
have conspired with the enterprise of our rivals
furnished them with several pairs of merinos from Spain,
which the Spanish Government at great expense were
sending to the Viceroy of Peru, upon a ship which was
captured upon the coast of that country by an English
vessel out of Port Jackson, and which were brought

29 This statement is surprising, but probably true of part of
the period when Peron was in Sydney. There was then a glut
of goods, as Bass found to his cost. He had to sell commodities
brought out in the Venus at 50 per cent, below their proper
values.

PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACKSON 451
thither, much to the satisfaction of the Governor, who
neglected nothing to derive the fullest possible advan
tage from a present valuable to the colony. His
endeavours have not been in vain. This species, like the
others, has improved much, and there is reason to believe
that in a few years Port Jackson will be able to supply
valuable and abundant material for the manufacturers
of England. What is most astonishing is that the Indian
sheep, which naturally produce short, coarse hair instead
of wool, in the course of three or four generations in
this country produce a wool that can hardly be dis
tinguished from that furnished by English breeds, or
even Spanish. I have seen at the Governor's house an
assortment of these differnt kinds of wool, which were
to be sent to Lord Sydney, and I assure you that it would
be difficult to find finer samples. In my excursions with
Mr. Paterson, Mr. Marsden and Mr. Cox, I have seen
their flocks, and really one could not but admire in that
regard the incalculable influence of the industry of man,
so long as it is encouraged and stimulated by enlightened
and just administrators.
Another source of production which appears to
offer great advantages to the English is that of hemp.
In this country it is as fine in quality as it is abundant,
and several persons whose testimony is beyond
suspicion have assured me that New Holland, before
many years have passed, will herself be able to furnish
to the British Navy all the hemp that it requires, thus
freeing England from the considerable tribute that she
pays at present in that regard to the north of Europe.
The climate also appears to be favourable to the
cultivation of the vine. Its latitude, little different from
that of the Cape of Good Hope, combined with its
temperature, lead the Government to hope for great
advantages from the introduction of this plant to the
continent of New Holland. Furthermore, French

452 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
vignerons have been introduced at great expense to pro
mote this object. It is true that their first attempts
have not been very happy, but the lack of success is due
entirely to the obstinacy of the English Governor, who,
in spite of the representations of these men, compelled
them to make their first plantations upon the side of
a small, pleasant terrace forming a kind of semi-circle
round Government House at Parramatta. This was,
unfortunately, exposed to the north-west winds, burning
winds like the mistral of Italy and Provence, the
khamsin of Egypt, etc. The French vignerons whom
I had occasion to see at Parramatta, in company with
the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Paterson, assured me that
they had found a piece of country very favourable to
their new plantations, and that they hoped for the
greatest success from their fresh efforts. Choice plants
had been imported from Madeira and the Cape.
In all the English establishments on these coasts
traces of grand designs for the future are evident. The
mass of the people, being originally composed of the un
fortunate and of wrong-doers, might have propagated
immorality and corruption, if the Government had not
taken in good time means to prevent such a sad result.
A house was founded in the early days of the settlement
for the reception of young girls whose parents were too
poor and too constrained in their circumstances at the
commencement of their sojourn there to be able to
devote much care to them ; while if parents, when eman
cipated, so conduct themselves that their example or
their course of life is likely to have an evil effect on their
offspring, the children are taken from them and placed in
the home to which I have referred. There they pursue
regular studies; they are taught useful arts appropriate
to their sex; they are instructed in reading, writing,
arithmetic, sewing, etc. Their teachers are chosen with
much care, and the wife of the Governor himself is

PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACKSON 453
charged with the supervision of that honourable establish
ment, a supervision in which she is assisted by the wife
of the commandant of the troops. Each or both of them
visit every day their young family, as they themselves
call it. They neglect nothing to ensure the maintenance
of good conduct, the soundness of the education and the
quality of the provisions. I have several times accom
panied these admirable ladies to the establishment, and
have on every occasion been moved by their anxious
solicitude and their touching care.
When these young girls arrive at marriageable age
they are not abandoned by the Government. The follow
ing is the sagacious and commendable manner in which
their establishment in life is provided for. Among the
free persons who come to Port Jackson are many men
who are not yet married. The same is the case with some
of those who by good conduct have earned their freedom.
When one of those young men wishes to take a worthy
wife, he presents himself to the Governor's wife, who,
after having obtained information concerning his
character, permits him to visit her young flock. If he
fixes his choice upon someone, he informs the Governor's
wife, who, after consulting the tastes and inclinations of
the young person, accords or refuses her consent. When
a marriage is arranged, the Government endows the
young girl by means of concessions, assigned servants,
etc. ; and these unions have already become the nursery
of a considerable number of good and happy homes.
It is undoubtedly an admirable policy, and one which
has amply rewarded the English Government for the
sacrifices made to support it.
The defence of the country has not up to the
present been very formidable, and has not needed to be,
on account of the ignorance which prevails in Europe
respecting the nature of this colony. The English
Government is at the present moment directing men's

454 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
minds towards agriculture. It has not, however,
neglected to provide what the physical condition of the
land and the nature of its establishment demand. Two
classes of men are much to be feared at present: first,
the criminals, condemned for the most part to a long
servitude, harshly treated, compelled to the roughest and
most fatiguing labour. That infamous class, the vile
refuse of civilised society, always ready to commit new
crimes, needs to be ceaselessly restrained by force and
violence. The English Government therefore maintains
a strong police. It is so efficient that in the midst of
that infamous canaille the most perfect security reigns
everywhere, and — what may appear paradoxical to those
who do not know the details of the administration of the
colony — fewer robberies are committed than in a
European town of equal population. As to murder, I
have never heard tell of a crime of the kind being com
mitted there, nor, indeed, did I hear of one occurring since
the foundation of the colony. Nevertheless, the first con
sideration entails the maintenance of a very consider
able force; and with equal foresight and steadiness
the Government has taken precautions against the
efforts of these bandits. A second class of society,
more formidable still (also much more respect
able, but having most to complain about, and the
most interesting class for us), is composed of legions
of the unfortunate Irish, whom the desire of freeing
their country from the British yoke caused to arm in
concert with us against the English Government. Over
whelmed by force, they were treated with pitiless rigour.
Nearly all those who took up arms in our favour were
mercilessly transported, and mixed with thieves and
assassins. The first families of Ireland count their
friends and relations upon these coasts of New
Holland. Persecuted by that most implacable of all
kinds of hatred, the hatred born of national animosity

PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACKSON 455
and differing convictions, they are cruelly treated, and
all the more so because they are feared. Abandoned to
themselves, it is felt, they can do nothing, and the
Government gains several interesting advantages from
their residence in this country. First, a population as
numerous as it is valiant is fixed upon these shores.
Secondly, nearly all being condemned to a servitude more
or less long, they provide many strong arms for the
laborious work of clearing. Thirdly, the mixing of so
many brave men with criminals seems to obliterate the
character of the settlement and to provide, by the reten
tion of a crowd of honest men, some sort of a defence
against the opprobrium cast upon it. Fourthly, the
Government has relieved itself in Europe of a number
of enraged and daring enemies. At the same time, one
must admit, this policy has its defects. The
lnish, ruled by a sceptre of iron, are quiet to
day. But if ever the Government of our country,
alarmed by the rapidly increasing strength of this colony,
should formulate the project of taking or destroying it,
at the mere mention of the French name every Irish arm
would be raised. We had a very striking example when
we first arrived at Port Jackson. Upon the appearance
of the French flag in the harbour the alarm in
the country was general. We were again at
war with England. They regarded our second
ship,30 which had been separated from us and
compelled to seek shelter at Port Jackson, as a French
ship of war. At the name the Irish commenced to flock
together. Everywhere they raised their bowed fore
heads, bent under an iron rule; and, if their mistake
had not been so rapidly dispelled, a general rising would
have taken place amongst them. One or two were put
to death on that occasion, and several were deported to
Norfolk Island. In any case, that formidable portion

30 Le Naturaliste.

456 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
of the population will always compel the English to
maintain many troops upon this continent, until, at all
events, time and inter-marriage shall have cicatrized the
recent wounds of the poor Irish and softened their
resentment. The Government, however, appears to feel that con
siderably larger forces are required than are now avail
able. At the time of our departure the regiment form
ing the garrison at Port Jackson did not number more
than 800. But some were being continually removed to
India, and to replace them 5,000 men were expected.
The news of the war must have led to the changing of
these dispositions, because the troops, which were to
have been transported on warships, were drawn from
Europe, and probably the English Government will
have been careful not to despatch so considerable a
force to New Holland in the critical situation in which
it now finds itself. Moreover, General, do not believe
that so many troops are indispensable to the security of
the coasts of New Holland, but rather consider the
advantages that the English nation is likely to draw from
its establishments in that part of the world. The climate
of India, inimical to newcomers from Europe, is still more
so to these British regiments, drawn from the frosty
counties of the north of England and from the icy realms
of Scotland. A considerable loss of men results from their
almost immediate transportation to the burning plains of
India. Forced to look after a population which has little
affinity with its immense possessions in both hemispheres,
England has always set an example of great sacrifices
for all that can tend to the conservation of the health
of its people. The new colony of Port Jackson will
serve in the future as a depot for troops destined for
India. Actually the whole of the territory occupied
up to the present is extremely salubrious. Not a
single malady endemic to the country has yet been ex-

PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACKSON 457
perienced. The whole population enjoys the best of
health. The children especially are handsome and
vigorous, though the, temperature at certain times is
very high. We ourselves experienced towards the
close of our visit very hot weather, though we were
there in the months of Fructidor, Vendemiaire and
Brumaire'31 nearly corresponding to our European spring.
The temperature of New Holland, rather more than a
mean between those of England and India, ought to be
valuable in preparing for the latter country that large
body of soldiers which the Government despatches every
year to Bengal, the Coromandel coast, Malabar, etc., etc.
Consequently the loss of men will be much less, and you
will easily realise the advantage that will accrue to a
power like England, when it contemplates the invasion,
with a mediocre population, of archipelagos, islands,
and even continents.
Note: — This portion of New Holland appears to
owe its salubriousness : —
(1) To a situation resembling that of the Cape of
Good Hope (Port Jackson is in about latitude 34°).
(2) To the nature of the soil, which is very dry,
especially round Sydney;
(3) To the nature of the vegetation, which is not
vigorous enough to maintain a noxious stagnation in the
lower strata of the atmosphere ;
(4) To the great, or rather enormous, quantity of
aromatic plants which constitute the principal part of
the vegetation, including even the largest species ;
(5) To the vicinity of the Blue Mountains, the
elevation of which contributes largely to maintain a
certain salutary freshness in the atmosphere ;
(6) To the remarkable constancy of the light fresh
31 From Fructidor to Brumaire would be from September
22nd to December 20th.
GG

458 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
breezes which blow from the south-east towards the
middle of the day.
I have not yet finished the account of the important
advantages that England draws from this colony. If
time were not so pressing and if I had at my disposal
the abundant material consigned to our Government, I
could write more. I venture to sum up those considera
tions to which I have referred, in a form which will be
useful for determining your opinion upon this important
and rising colony.
(1) By means of it England founds an empire which
will extend over the continent of New Holland, Van
Diemen's Land, all the islands of Bass Strait, New
Zealand, and the numerous archipelagos of the Pacific
Ocean. (2) She thereby becomes the mistress of a large
number of superb ports, several of which can be com
pared with advantage to the most fortunately situated
harbours in other parts of the world.
(3) She thereby excludes her rivals, and, so to
speak, blocks all the nations of Europe from entry to
the Pacific. (4) Having become the neighbour of Peru and Chili,
she casts towards those countries hopes increasingly
assured and greedy.
(5) Her privateers and her fleets in time of war will
be able to devastate the coasts of South America; and,
if in the last war she attempted no such enterprise, the
reason appears to be that her astute policy made her
fear to do too much to open the eyes of Spain, and even
of all Europe.
(6) In time of peace, by means of an active contra
band trade, she prepares redoubtable enemies for the
Spaniards ; she furnishes arms and ammunition of all
kinds to that horde of untamed people who have not yet
been subjugated to the European yoke.

PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACKSON 459
(7) By the same means she enables the products
of her manufacturers to inundate South America, which
is shabbily and above all expensively supplied by Spain.
(8) If amongst the numerous archipelagos that are
visited constantly some formidable military position is
found, England will occupy it and, becoming a nearer
neighbour to the rich Spanish possessions, will menace
them more closely, more certainly, and above all more
impatiently. Mr. Flinders, in an expedition of discovery
which is calculated to last five years, and who doubtless
at the present moment is traversing the region under
discussion, appears to have that object particularly in
view.32 (9) The extraordinarily lucrative whale fishery of
New Zealand is exclusively33 assured to them. No
European nation can henceforth, according to the
general opinion, compete with them for that object.
(10) The fishery, no less lucrative, of the enormous
seals which cover the shores of several of the islands of
Bass Strait, and from which is drawn an oil infinitely
superior to whale oil, guarantees them yet another source
of greatness and of wealth. Note : the seals in question,
distinguished by the English under the name of sea
elephants, are sometimes 25 or 30 feet long. They
attain the bulk of a large cask : and the enormous mass
of the animal seems, so to say, to be composed of solid,
or rather coagulated, oil. The quantity extracted from
one seal is prodigious. I have collected many particu
lars on this subject.
32 "M. Flinders, dans une expedition de decouverte qui
doit durer cinq ans, et qui sans doute parcourt en ce moment
le theatre qui nous occupe, paroit avoir plus particulierement
cette objet en vue." The passage is peculiarly interesting. At
the time when Peron was writing, early in December, 1803,
Flinders was, as a matter of fact, sailing towards Ile-de-France
in the Cumberland. 33 Underlined in original.

460 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
(11) A third fishery, even more lucrative and im
portant, is that of the skins of various varieties of seal
which inhabit most of the islands of Bass Strait, all the
Furneaux Islands, all the islands off the eastern coast
of Van Diemen's Land, and all those on the south
west coast of New Holland, and which probably
will be found upon the archipelagos of the eastern
portion of this vast continent. The skins of these
various species of seal are much desired in China. The
sale of a shipload of these goods in that country is as
rapid as it is lucrative. The ships engaged in the busi
ness are laden on their return to Europe wiith that precious
merchandise of China which gold alone can extract from
the clutch of its rapacious possessors. Accordingly, one
of the most important objects of the mission of Lord
Macartney34 to China, that of developing in that country
a demand for some of the economic and manufacturing
products of England, so as to relieve that country of the
necessity of sending out such a mass of specie — that
interesting object which all the ostentatious display of
the commercial wealth of Europe had not been able to
attain, and all the astute diplomacy of Lord Macartney
had failed to achieve — the English have recently
accomplished. Masters of the trade in these kinds of
skin, they are about to become masters of the China
trade. The coin accumulated in the coffers of the
Government or of private people will no longer be sunk
in the provinces of China. That advantage is incon-
testably one of the greatest that they have derived from
their establishment at Port Jackson.
(12) This augmentation of distant possessions is
likely to occasion a fresh development in the British
34 Lord Macartney's embassy to China, 1792-4, was, says the
Cambridge Modern History (II., 718), "productive only of a some
what better acquaintance between the two Powers and an in
creased knowledge on the part of British sailors of the naviga
tion of Chinese waters."

PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACKSON 461
Navy. The practice of voyaging round the world should
exalt the enthusiasm of their sailors, whilst it increases
their number and efficiency. I may add here that to
attain the last-mentioned end the English Government
compels each ship which sails for these, regions, and
above all for New Zealand, to carry a certain number
of young men below 19 years of age, who return from
these voyages only after having obtained a very valuable
endowment of experience.
(13) The temperature and salubriousness of the
country will enable it to look after a very large number of
soldiers who used to be incapacitated every year by the
burning heat of Asia.
(14) The abundance of the flocks, and the superiority
of their wool, will furnish an immense quantity of excel
lent material to the national manufactures, already
superior to those of the rest of Europe.
(15) The cultivation of hemp and vines gives cause
to the English to hope that before very long they will
be freed from the large tribute which they now pay
for the first-named to all the Powers of the north of
Europe, and for the second to Portugal, France and
Spain. (16) I will not discuss with you some substancas
indigenous to the country which are already in use,
whether in medicine, or in the arts — of eucalyptus gum,
for example, which is at once astringent and tonic to a
very high degree, and is likely soon to become one of
our most energetic drugs. Nor will I say much about the
resin furnished by the tree which the English mis-name
gourmier,as a resin which by reason of its hardness may
become of very great value in the arts. It will be
sufficient to say, General, that I possess a native axe
obtained from the aboriginals of King George's Sound.

35 Peron's word.

462 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
It is nothing better than a chip of very hard granite
fastened to the end of a piece of wood, which serves as
a handle, by means of the resin to which I have referred.
I have shown it to several persons. It will rapidly split
a wooden plank and one can strike with all one's force,
without in the least degree injuring the resin. Though
the edge of the stone has several times been chipped,
the resin always remained intact. I will say little of the
fine and abundant timber furnished by what is called
the casuarina tree, and by what the English improperly
call the pear. This pear is what the botanists term
Xylomelum, and by reason of its extremely beautiful and
deep grain, and the fine polish which it is susceptible
of receiving, it appears to be superior to some of the
best known woods. I will not refer at length to the
famous flax of New Zealand, which may become the
subject of a large trade when its preparation is made
easier; nor to cotton, which is being naturalised; nor
to coffee, of which I myself have seen the first planta
tions, etc., etc. All these commodities are secondary in
importance in comparison with others to which I have
referred ; yet, considered together, they will add greatly
to the importance of this new colony. Similarly, I will
pass over the diverse products which are sure to be
furnished by the prolific archipelagos, and of which several
are likely to become of great value and to fetch high
prices for use in the arts and in medicine. For example,
the cargo of the last vessel that arrived in Port Jackson
from the Navigator Islands, during our stay, consisted
partly of cordage of different degrees of thickness, made
from a plant peculiar to those islands, the nature of
which is such that, we were assured, it is almost indes
tructible by water and the humidity of the atmosphere;
whilst its toughness makes it superior to ordinary
cordage. (17) The English hope for much from mineral dis-

PERON'S REPORT ON PORT JACKSON 463
coveries. Those parts of the country lying nearest to
the sea, which are of a sandstone or slaty formation,
appear to contain only deposits of excellent coal ; but the
entire range of the Blue Mountains has not yet been
explored for minerals. The colony had not up to the
time of our visit a mineraolgist in its service, but the
Governor hoped soon to obtain the services of one, to
commence making investigations ; and the nature of the
country, combined with its extent, affords ground for
strong hope in that regard.
(18) There are, finally, other advantages, apparently
less interesting, but which do not fail to exert an in
fluence upon the character and prestige of a nation. I
refer to the conspicuous glory which geographical dis
coveries necessarily following upon such an establish
ment as this bring upon a nation's name; to all that
which accrues to a people from the discovery and col
lection of so many new and valuable things ; to the dis
tinguished services which new countries call forth and
which confer so much distinction upon those who watch
over their birth.
Time does not permit me to pursue the enquiry. I
wish only to add here one fresh proof of the importance
which England attaches to this new colony. When we
left Port Jackson, the authorities were awaiting the
arrival of five or six large vessels laden with the goods
of English persons formerly domiciled at the Cape of
Good Hope, whom the surrender of that possession to
the Dutch had compelled to leave.38 That very great
accession of population ought sufficiently to indicate to
you how great are the projects of the British Ministry
in that region.
Before concluding I should have liked to point out
the impossibility, for France, of retarding the rapid pro-

36 The Cape was surrendered to Holland in 1803, but British
rule was restored there in 1806.

464 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
gress of the establishment at Port Jackson, or of enter
ing into competition with its settlers in the trade
in sealskins, the whale fishery, etc. But it would take
rather too long to discuss that matter. I think I ought
to confine myself to telling you that my opinion, and
that of all those among us who have more particularly
occupied themselves with enquiring into the organiza
tion of that colony, is that it should be destroyed as
soon as possible.37 To-day we could destroy it easily;
we shall not be able to do so in 25 years' time.
I have the honour to be, with respectful devotion,
Your very humble servant,
PERON.
P.S. — M. Freycinet, the young officer, has especially
concerned himself with examining all the points upon the
coast of the environs of Port Jackson which are favour
able to the landing of troops. He has collected particular
information concerning the entrance to the port; and, if
ever the Government should think of putting into execu
tion the project of destroying this freshly-set trap of
a great Power,38 that distinguished officer would be of
valuable assistance in such an operation.

37 Mon sentiment et celui de tous ceux d'entre nous qui se
sont plus, particulierement occupes de ['organisation de cette
colonie seroit de la detruire le plus tot possible."
38"Le projet de detruire ce piege naissant d'une grande
puissance."

Appendix C.
NAMES GIVEN BY FLINDERS TO IMPORTANT
AUSTRALIAN COASTAL FEATURES.
Among the Flinders Papers is a list of names given by
Flinders to points on the Australian coast, with his
reasons for doing so. The list is incomplete, but has
served as the basis of the following catalogue, for help
in the enlargement of which I am greatly indebted to
Mr. Walter Jeffery : —
TOM THUMB VOYAGE, WITH BASS—
Hat Hill, named by Flinders from Cook's suggestion
that it "looked like the crown of a hat."
Red Point.
Martin's Isles, after the boy who accompanied them.
Providential Cove (native name, Wattamowlee).
VOYAGE OF THE FRANCIS—
Green Cape.
Cape Barren Island.
Clarke Island, Hamilton's Rocks, after members of
the crew of the Sydney Cove.
Kent's Group, after the Captain of the Supply.
Armstrong's Channel, after the Master of the Supply.
Preservation Island.
VOYAGE OF THE NORFOLK—
Chappell Islands, after Miss Ann Chappell.
Settlement Island, Babel Islands (from the noises
made by the sea-birds), and other names in the
Furneaux Group.

466 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
VOYAGE OF THE NORFOLK (continued)—
Double Sandy Point.
Low Head.
Table Cape.
Circular Head.
Hunter Islands, after Governor Hunter.
Three-Hummock Island.
Barren Island.
Cape Grim.
Trefoil Island.
Albatross Island.
Mount Heemskirk and Mount Zeehan, after Tasman's
ships.
Point Hibbs, after the Master of the Norfolk.
Rocky Point.
Mount de Witt.
Point St. Vincent, after the First Lord of the Admiralty
Norfolk Bay and Mount.
Cape Pillar.
After the voyage was over, Hunter, apparently at
Flinders' suggestion, named Cape Portland, Bass
Strait, Port Dalrymple and Waterhouse Island.
VOYAGE OF THE NORFOLK TO QUEENSLAND—
Shoal Bay.
Sugarloaf Point.
Pumice-stone River.
Point Skirmish.
Moreton Island.
Curlew Inlet.
VOYAGE OF THE INVESTIGATOR (Western Aus
tralia)- —
Cape Leeuwin, "the most projecting part of Leeuwin's
Land."

NAMES GIVEN BY FLINDERS 467
VOYAGE OF THE INVESTIGATOR (continued)—
Mount Manypeak.
Haul-off Rock.
Cape Knob.
Mount Barren.
Lucky Bay, discovered when the ship was in an awk
ward position.
Goose Island.
Twin Peaks Islands.
Cape Pasley, after Admiral Pasley.
Point Malcolm, after Capt. Pulteney Malcolm.
Point Culver.
Point Dover.
VOYAGE OF THE INVESTIGATOR (South Aus
tralia) —
Nuyts' Reefs and Cape.
Fozvler's Bay and Point, after the First Lieutenant of
the Investigator.
Point Sinclair, after a midshipman on the Investigator.
Point Bell, after the surgeon of the Investigator.
Purdie's Islands, after the Assistant-surgeon of the
Investigator.
St. Francis Islands, adapted from the name given by
Nuyts.
Lound's Island, Lacy's Island, Evans' Island, Frank
lin's Island (in Nuyts' Archipelago), after mid
shipmen on the Investigator.
Petrel Bay.
Denial Bay, "as well in allusion to St. Peter as to the
deceptive hope we had found of penetrating by it
some distance into the interior country."
Smoky Bay, from the number of smoke columns rising
from the shore.
Point Brown, after the Botanist of the Investigator.
Streaky Bay, "much seaweed floating about."

468 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
VOYAGE OF THE INVESTIGATOR (continued)—
Cape Bauer, after the Botanical Draftsman of the
Investigator.
Point Westall, after the painter.
Olive Island, after the ship's clerk.
Cape Radstock, after Admiral Lord Radstock.
Waldegrave Isles.
Topgallant Isles.
Anxious Bay, "from the night we passed in it."
Investigator Group.
Pearson's Island, after Flinders' brother-in-law.
Ward's Island, after his mother's maiden name.
Flinders' Island, after Lieut. S. W. Flinders.
Cape (now Point) Drummond, after Captain Adam
Drummond, R.N.
Point Sir Isaac, Coffin's Bay, after Vice-Admiral Sir
Isaac Coffin.
Mount Greenly, Greenly Isles, after the lady to whom
Sir Isaac Coffin was engaged.
Point Whidbey, Whidbey's Islands, after "My worthy
friend the Master-attendant at Sheerness."
Avoid Bay and Point, "from its being exposed to the
dangerous southern winds."
Liguanea Island, after an estate in Jamaica.
Cape Wiles, after the Botanist on the Providence.
Williams' Isle.
Sleaford Bay, from Sleaford in Lincolnshire.
Thistle Island, after the Master of the Investigator.
Neptune Isles, "for they seemed inaccessible to men."
Thorny Passage, from the dangerous rocks.
Cape Catastrophe, where the accident occurred.
Taylor's Island, after a midshipman drowned in the
accident.
Wedge Island, "from its shape."
Gambier Isles, after Admiral Lord Gambier.
Memory Cove, in memory of the accident.

NAMES GIVEN BY FLINDERS 469
VOYAGE OF THE INVESTIGATOR (continued)—
Cape Donington, after Flinders' birthplace.
Port Lincoln, after the chief town in Flinders' native
county.
Boston Island, Bay and Point, Bicker Island, Surfleet
Point, Stamford Hill, Spalding Cove, Grantham
Island, Kirton Point, Point Bolingbroke, Louth
Bay and Isle, Sleaford Mere, Lusby Isle, Langton
Isle, Kirkby Isle, Winceby Isle, Sibsey Isle, Tumby
Isle, Stickney Isle, Hareby Isle. All Lincolnshire
names, after places familiar to Flinders.
Dalby Isle, after the Rev. M. Tyler's parish.
Marum Isle, after the residence of Mr. Stephenson,
Sir Joseph Banks' agent.
Spilsby Island, after the town where the Franklins
lived.
Partney Isles, after the place where Miss Chappell
lived, and where Flinders was married.
Revesby Isle, after Revesby Abbey, Banks' Lincoln
shire seat.
Northside Hill.
Elbow Hill, from its shape.
Barn Hill, from the form of its top.
Mount Young, after Admiral Young.
Point Lowly.
Mount Brown, after the botanist.
Mount Arden, Blinders' great-grandmother's name.
Point Riley, after an Admiralty official.
Point Pearce, after an Admiralty official.
Corny Point, "a remarkable point."
Hardwicke Bay, after Lord Hardwicke.
Spencer's Gulf and Cape, after Earl Spencer.
Althorp Isles, after Lord Spencer's eldest son.
Kangaroo Island and Head.
Point Marsden, after the Second Secretary to the
Admiralty.

470 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
VOYAGE OF THE INVESTIGATOR (continued)—
Nepean Bay, after Sir Evan Nepean, Secretary to the
Admiralty.
Mount Lofty, from its height.
St. Vincent's Gulf, after Admiral Lord St. Vincent.
Cape Jervis, Lord St. Vincent's family name.
Troubridge Hill, after Admiral Troubridge.
Investigator Strait.
Yorke's Peninsula, after the Hon. C. P. Yorke.
Prospect Hill.
Pelican Lagoon.
Backstairs Passage.
Antechamber Bay.
Cape Willoughby.
Pages Islets.
Encounter Bay.
VOYAGE OF TFIE INVESTIGATOR (Victoria)—
Point Franklin.
Indented Head (Port Phillip).
Station Peak (Port Phillip).
VOYAGE OF THE INVESTIGATOR (Queensland)—
Tacking Point.
Mount Larcom, after Captain Larcom, R.N.
Gatcombe Head.
Port Curtis, after Admiral Sir Roger Curtis.
Facing Island, the eastern boundary of Port Curtis,
facing the sea.
Port Bowen, after Captain James Bowen, R.N., Naval
Commandant at Madeira when the Investigator
put in there.
Cape Clinton, after Colonel Clinton of the 85th Regi
ment, Commandant at Madeira.
Entrance Island.
Westwater Head.
Eastwater Hill.
Mount Westall, after William Westall the artist.

NAMES GIVEN BY FLINDERS 471
VOYAGE OF THE INVESTIGATOR (continued)—
Townshend Island — Cook had so named the Cape
which is its prominent feature.
Leicester Island.
Aken's Island, after the Master of the Investigator.
Strongtide Passage.
Double Mount.
Mount Funnel, from its form.
Upper Head.
Percy Isles, after the Northumberland family.
Eastern Fields, coral banks near Torres Strait.
Pandora's Entrance, after the Pandora.
Half-way Island, convenient anchorage for ships going
through Torres Strait.
Good Island, after Peter Good, the botanist.
VOYAGE OF THE INVESTIGATOR (in the Gulf of
Carpentaria) —
Duyfken Point, after the first vessel which entered the
Gulf of Carpentaria.
Pera Head, after the second vessel that sailed along
this coast in 1623.
Sweers Island, after a member of the Batavia Council
in Tasman's time.
Inspection Hill.
Lord William Bentinck's Island (now Bentinck Island),
after the Governor of Madras.
Allen's Island, after the "Miner" — i.e., Geologist — of
the Investigator.
Horseshoe Island.
Investigator Road.
Pisonia Isle, from the soft white wood of the Pisonia
tree found upon it.
Bountiful Island.
Wellesley Island, Mornington Isle—Aiter the Marquess
Wellesley, Governor-General of India, whose
earlier title was Lord Mornington.

472 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
VOYAGE OF THE INVESTIGATOR (Northern
Territory) —
Vanderlin Island, the Dutch "Cape Vanderlin."
Sir Edzvard Pellew Group, Cape Pellew, after
Admiral Pellew.
Craggy Isles.
West Island.
North Island.
Centre Island.
Observation Island.
Cabbage-Tree Cove.
Maria Island, the Dutch "Cape Maria."
Bickerton Island, after Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton.
Cape Barrow, after Sir John Barrow.
Connexion Island.
North Point Island.
Chasm Island, "the upper parts are intersected by
many deep chasms.
North-West Bay.
Winchelsea Island, after the Earl of Winchelsea.
Finch's Island, after the Winchelsea family name.
Pandanus Hill, from the clump of trees upon it.
Burney Island, after Captain James Burney, R.N.
Nicol Island, after "His Majesty's bookseller."
Woodah Island, "it having some resemblance to the
whaddie, or woodah, a wooden sword used by the
natives of Port Jackson."
Bustard Isles — They "harboured several bustards."
Mount Grindall, Point Grindall, after Vice-Admiral
Grindall.
Morgan's Isle, after a seaman who died there.
Bluemud Bay, "in most parts of the bay is a blue mud
of so fine a quality that I judge it might be useful
in the manufacture of earthenware."
Point Blane, after Sir Gilbert Blane of the Naval
Medical Board.

NAMES GIVEN BY FLINDERS 473
VOYAGE OF THE INVESTIGATOR (continued)—
Cape Shield, after Commissioner Shield.
Cape Grey, after General Grey, Commandant at Cape
town.
Point Middle.
Mount Alexander.
Point Alexander.
Round Hill Island.
Caledon Bay, after the Governor of the Cape of Good
Hope.
Cape Anthem, extremity of Arnhem's Land.
Mount Saunders.
Mount Dundas, Melville Isles — After Dundas, Vis
count Melville, a colleague of the younger Pitt.
Mount Bonner.
Drimmie Head.
Cape Wilberforce, after W. Wilberforce, M.P., the
slave-emancipator, who was a friend of Flinders.
Melville Bay, after Viscount Melville.
Harbour Rock.
Point Dundas.
Bromby Islands, after the Rev. F. Bromby, of Hull, a
cousin of Mrs. Flinders.
Malay Road.
Pombasso's Island, after the chief of the Malay praus.
Cotton's Island, after Captain Cotton of the East India
Co.'s Directorate.
English Company Islands, after the East India Co.
Wigram Island.
Truant Island, "from its lying away from the rest."
Inglis Island.
Bosanquet Island.
As tell Island.
Mollis on Island.
Point Arrowsmith, after the map-publisher.

474 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
VOYAGE OF THE INVESTIGATOR (continued)—
Cape Newbald, Newbald Island — After Henrietta
Newbald, nee Flinders, who introduced him to
Pasley.
Arnhem Bay.
Wessell Islands, name found on a Dutch chart.
Point Dale.
Wreck Reef,

BIBLIOGRAPHY
A.— MANUSCRIPT SOURCES.
i. The Flinders Papers, in the Melbourne Public
Library, consisting of a letter-book of Flinders (Aug. 31,
1807, to May 31, 1814) ; ms. narrative of the voyage of the
Francis; miscellaneous notes and memoranda by friends and
relatives, a short ms. memoir, and a large quantity of tran
scripts of journals, family letters, etc. This material is not
at present numbered, and allusions to it in the text of the
book are therefore made by the general reference, "Flin
ders Papers."
2. Decaen Papers, in the Municipal Library of Caen,
Normandy. General Decaen's manuscripts fill 149 volumes.
The documents relating to Flinders, including a translation
of portions of the Cumberland's log, are principally in
volumes 10, 84, 92, and 105. Peron's important report
upon the British colony at Port Jackson is also in this col
lection, which includes many original letters of Flinders.
3. Archives Nationales, Paris, Marine BB4, 996-9, con
tains a quantity of manuscripts relative to Baudin's ex
peditions, including reports and letters by him, and many
miscellaneous papers.
4. The Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, nouveaux
acquisitions, France, contains many documents relative to
Baudin's expedition, including the diary of the commander.
5. The Archives du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle de
Paris contain reports and documents concerning the
scientific work of Baudin's expedition.
6. The Depot de la Marine, service hydrographique,
Paris, cartons 6, 22, and 23, contains many reports upon the
Australian coast made to Captain Baudin by his officers.

476 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
7. The Library of the Royal Colonial Institute, London,
contains Westall's original drawings executed on the
Investigator voyage. Photographed copies are in the
Mitchell Library, Sydney.
8. The Mitchell Library, Sydney, contains Smith's ms.
journal of the Investigator voyage, and many Flinders and
Franklin papers, as cited in the text.
B.— PRINTED DOCUMENTS.
Most of the Flinders material contained in the Record
Office, London, and the British Museum, is printed in
Vol. III., IV., V., VI. and VII. of the Historical Records
of New South Wales, edited by F. M. Bladen (Sydney,
1893-1901). Copies of other letters and documents, mainly
from the same source, are in course of publication by
the Commonwealth Government, under the direction of
the Commonwealth Library Committee, edited by Dr. F.
Watson.
C— WORKS BY FLINDERS.
Flinders, Matthew, A Voyage to Terra Australis,
2 vols., London, 1814. The principal authority for the
voyages of the navigator.
Flinders, M., Observations on the Coasts of Van
Diemen's Land, etc., London, 1801.
Flinders, M., Papers on the Marine Barometer and
on Variations of the Mariner's Compass, printed in the
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London,
1806-7. Flinders, Matthew, Reise nach dem Austral-Lande, in
der Absicht die Entdeckung desselben zu vollenden
unter nommen in den Jaksen, 1801, 1802 and 1803. Aus
dem Englischen, von F. Gotze. Weimar, 1816. A German
translation of the Voyage to Terra Australis. An accom
panying map is of great interest, as it essays for the first
time to indicate by colours the portions of the Australian

BIBLIOGRAPHY 477
coast discovered by the English, the Dutch and the French.
The map errs with regard to Kangaroo Island, in attributing
the discovery of the north to the French and the south to
the English. The reverse was the case.
Matthew Flinders, Ontdekkings-reis naar het
Groote Zuidland anders Nieuw Holland; bezigtiging van
het zelve in 1801, 1802 en 1803; noodlottige schipbreak,
en gevangenschap van 6T/i jaar by de Franschen op
Mauritius. Uit het Engelsch. 4 vols., Haarlem, 181 5-16.
A Dutch translation of the Voyage to Terra Australis.
D.— OTHER PRINTED BOOKS.
Barrow, Sir John, articles in Quarterly Review, 1810
and 1817, strongly condemning the work of Peron and
Freycinet (see below), and championing the cause of
Flinders. Barrow had access to material in possession of
the Admiralty, sent to England from Mauritius by Flinders.
Becke, L., and Jeffery, W., Naval Pioneers of Aus
tralia, London, 1899. Very useful.
Dalrymple, Alexander, Collection of Voyages and
Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean, 2 vols., London,
1770. Edinburgh Review, 1807, reviews with commendation
Flinders' "Observations upon the Marine Barometer."
Grant, Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery, London,
1803. Labilliere, F. P., Early History of the Colony of Vic
toria, 2 vols., London, 1878-9. Prints extracts from Flin
ders' ms. journals relating to Port Phillip.
Laughton, Sir J. K, article on Flinders in Dictionary
of National Biography.
Maiden, J. H., Sir Joseph Banks, the Father of Aus
tralia, Sydney, 1909.
Fowler, T. W., "The Work of Captain Matthew Flin
ders in Port Phillip," Victorian Geographical Journal, 1912,
Good topographical account.

478 LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS
Malte-Brun, Annales des Voyages, 1810 and 1814.
Interesting references to Flinders; biographical sketch in
Vol. XXIII., 268.
Naval Chronicle, Vol. XXXII. (1814), contains a bio
graphy of Flinders, with portrait.
Paterson, G., History of New South Wales, New-
castle-on-Tyne, 181 1. Contains account of the early dis
coveries of Bass and Flinders.
Peron and Freycinet, Voyage de decouvertes aux
Terres Australes, Paris, 1807-17. Second edition, with
additions by Freycinet, 1824. Very important, but the
historical statements have to be checked by reference to
Baudin's ms. diary and letters (see reference to mss.
above) .
Scoresby, W., Journal of a Voyage to Australia for
Magnetic Research, 2 vols., London, 1859. The introduc
tion by A. Smith deals with Flinders' discoveries regarding
variations of the compass.
Scott, Ernest, Terre Napoleon, London, 1910. Deals
generally with French explorations in Australia and particu
larly with the work of Baudin and Flinders. See also the
bibliography to that book.
Scott, Ernest, English and French Navigators on the
Victorian Coast, with maps, etc., in the Victorian Historical
Magazine, 1912.
Scott, Ernest, "Baudin's Voyage of Exploration to
Australia," in English Historical Review, April, 1913.
Smith, E., Life of Sir Joseph Banks, London, 1911.
South Australian Geographical Society's Proceedings,
1912. Prints from Baudin's letter to Minister of Marine
his account of the meeting with Flinders in Encounter Bay,
and Decaen's statement of his reasons for detaining
Flinders. Picard, Ernest (editor), Memoires et Journaux du
General Decaen, 2 vols., Paris, 191 1.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 479
Pitot, Albert, Esquisses historiques de I' He de France.
1715-1810, Port Louis, Mauritius, 1899.
Prentout, Henri, L'lle de France sous Decaen, Paris,
1901. Very important.
Victorian Geographical Journal, Vol. XXVIII. (1910-
11) prints a biographical sketch of Flinders from a ms.
found in a copy of A Voyage to Terra Australis in Doning
ton vicarage in 1903. It is printed with an Introduction
(by G. Gordon McCrae) wherein it is stated to be "hitherto
unpublished." But it is simply the Naval Chronicle sketch,
with a few paragraphs added, and it is from the same pen
as the ms. sketch mentioned above.
Walckenaer, C. A., biography of Flinders in the
Biographie Universelle, Vol. XIV; excellent.
Walker, J. Backhouse, Early Tasmania, Hobart, 1902.
Gives an admirable account of Flinders' explorations in
Tasmania.

INDEX

Where the reference is to a footnote, the letter n follows the number
of the page.

Aboriginals, references to, 34,
89, 135, 142, 159, 160-2, 176,
206, 208, 219, 243, 266, 270,
274
Admiralty's treatment of Flinders,
365-6, 398
Aken, John, 266, 280, 287
Sails in Cumberland, 301
At Ile-de-France, 305, 323, 324
Departure of, 355-6
Albatross Island, 142, 466
Allen, John, miner, joins Investi
gator, 180
Althorp Isles, 210, 469
Amiens, treaty of, 199, 315
Arnhem Bay, 274, 474
Arthur's Seat, Port Phillip, 240
Australasia, name of, 420
Australia, discovery of, 1
Name of, In, 306, 420 et seq.
Geography of, before Flinders,
64 et seq.
Theories concerning, 72 et seq.,
212
French expedition to, 198 et seq.
South Coast discover)', 205 et
seq.
Influence of Flinders on dis
covery, 238
Circumnavigation of, 265 et
seq.
"Australians,'' Flinders' use of
word, 220
Babel Isles, 140, 465
Backstairs Passage, 217, 470
Banks, Cape, 234
Banks' Group, 211

Banks, Sir Joseph, promotes
breadfruit expedition, 24, 28
His friendship for Flinders,
143, 164
His interest in Australian de
velopment, 144, 164
Dedication of Flinders' Obser
vations to, 171
His letters concerning Mrs.
Flinders' proposed voyage on
Investigator, 185 et seq.
Disapproves of Flinders' con
duct towards Decaen, 330, 367
His dislike to word Australia,
425
Barmouth Creek, 104
Barois, Colonel, 346
Barometer, marine, Flinders'
paper on use of, 363, 414
Barrow, Sir John, his article on
Flinders' case, 363
Bass, Elizabeth, her marriage to
George Bass, 146
Letters from her husband, 148
Bass, George, family of, 7
Medical training of, 83
Sails in Reliance, 83
Character of, 83-4
Friendship with Flinders, 84
Discovery of Bass Strait, 97 et
seq., 120 et seq.
Exploration of Blue Mountains,
97 et seq.
Discovery of coal, 99
Plans discovery voyage, 100 et
seq.
Whaleboat crew, 102

4?1

482

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

Bass, George —
Discovery of Twofold Bay, 105
Discovery of Wilson's Promon
tory, 108
Adventure with escaped con
victs, 111
Discovery of Western Port, 114
French admiration for, 122
Report on Derwent, 140
Fate of, 145 et seq.
Indifference to fame, 145
Marriage of, 146
Purchase of Venus, 146
Voyage to Tahiti, 147
New Zealand fishing project,
148
South American projects, 149 et
seq.
Reports concerning his end,
155
Letters to his mother, 155
Flinders' last letter to, 281
See also Flinders.
Bass Strait, discovery of, 97 et
seq., 120 et seq.
Governor Hunter on, 100, 134,
140
Naming of, 140, 466
Importance of discovery, 143
Flinders' chart of, 102-3
Baudin des Ardennes, Lieut.
Charles, wounded, and visited
by Flinders, 407
Baudin, Captain Nicolas, his
expedition to Australia, 198
et seq.
Instructions to, 199, 200
His career, 201
Reaches Ile-de-France, 202
Sails for Southern Tasmania,
203
At Waterhouse Island, 204
In Encounter Bay, 224 et seq.,
431 et seq.
At Kangaroo Island, 232

Baudin, Captain Nicolas —
At Port Jackson, 246 et seq.
Rumours of intended French
settlement, 250
Letter to Governor King, 251
Report on Port Jackson, 256
His account of the Encounter
Bay meeting, 431 et seq.
Bauer, Cape, 210, 467
Bauer, Ferdinand, botanical
draftsman, joins Investigator,
179, 280, 286, 326n
Baye du Cap, 305
Beautemps-Beaupre, 206
Bell, Point, 210, 467
Bellerophon, H.M.S., 16, 19, 20,
29
Flinders appointed to, 42
Battle off Brest, 43 et seq.
Bennelong Point, 248m
Bergeret, Captain, 347
Blaxland, Gregory, his explora
tion of Blue Mountains, 99
Bligh, Captain William, voyage
under Captain Cook, 20
Command of the Bounty, 24
Mutiny of the Bounty, 25
Character of, 28
Second breadfruit expedition,
28, 29
Expedition reaches Tahiti, 32
Voyage from Pacific to West
Indies, 33
Introduces Flinders to Duke of
Clarence, 392
Asks for dedication of Flin
ders' book, 393
Blue Mountains, exploration of,
97 et seq.
Blue Mud Bay, 274, 472
Bolger, Commandant, 306-7
Bongaree, aboriginal, accompanies
Flinders on Queensland voy
age, 159
On Investigator, 266

INDEX

483

Boston, Point, 211, 469
Botany Bay, 440
Bougainville, 367
Boullanger, hydrographer on Le
Geographe, 434/i
Bounty, H.M.S., voyage to Tahiti,
24"
Mutiny of, 25
Bowling Green, Cape, 269
Breadfruit, 22 et seq.
Bridgewater, 282, 286, 288
Behaviour at Wreck Reef, 290
Wreck of, 291
Bridgewater, Cape, 235
Brisbane River, 159
Brouwer, Henrick, his new route
to Java, 68
Brown, Point, 210, 467
Brown, Robert, botanist, 227, 280,
285, 326k, 432h, 435it
Joins Investigator, 178
His Prodromus, 179, 286n
Burney, Captain, and name Aus
tralia, 426
Cape of Good Hope, Flinders at,
31, 196
Importance of to Australia, 79
Voyage of Reliance to from
Sydney, 94
Carpentaria, Gulf of, 272
Catastrophe, Cape, 211, 468
Cato, 286
Wreck of, 288
Cattle Point, 248
Chappell, Ann, see Flinders, Mrs.
Ann
Chappell Isles, 165, 465
Chappell, Mount, 165
Clarence River, 159
Clarke's Island, 132, 465
Coal, discovery of in New South
Wales, 99
Coalcliff, 99
Coffin's Bay, 211, 468

Compass, variations of, Flinders'
experiments, 415
Convicts, 102
Escaped, 111 et seq., 129
Isaac Nichols, 157
Irish, Peron on, 258, 260
On Investigator, 266, 277
Cook, Captain James, his voyage,
71
His belief in a strait between
New Holland and Van
Diemen's land, 74
Pension to his widow, 400
Coral reefs, Flinders on, 270
Crossley, J., 180
Cumberland, schooner, voyage to
Ile-de-France, 298 et seq.
At Kupang, 302
Arrival at Ile-de-France, 305
Enters Port Louis, 321
End of, 398
Dalrymple, Alexander, naval
hydrographer, 137
His use of word Australia, 422
Dalrymple, Port, 137, 392, 466
Dampier, William, 22
Dance, Commodore Nathaniel,
302
D'Arifat, Madame, 357 et seq.
Darwin, on coral reefs, 270
Decaen, General Charles, 251n,
254, 256, 260, 263, 306
Career of, 308 ct seq.
Napoleon's opinion of, 313
Sent to India, 315
Arrival at Pondicherry, 317
Sails for Ile-de-France, 318
Arrival at Port Louis, 318
Character of, 319-20
Examination of Flinders, 321
Interrogates Flinders, 324
Invites Flinders to dinner, 328
Flinders' refusal, 329

484

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

Decaen, General Charles —
Accuses Flinders of imperti
nence, 331
His intentions, 332
Report to French Government,
336
Motives for detaining Flinders,
336 et seq.
Anger against Flinders, 339
Despatch arrives in France, 346
Flinders' opinion of, 350
Receives order for Flinders'
release, 368
Refuses to liberate Flinders,
371-2
His reasons, 373
Release of Flinders, 380
Decres, French Minister of
Marine, 346, 368
Dentrecasteaux, 71, 76, 173, 198,
205
Derwent, estuary of the, 140, 392,
444m
Dirk Hartog Island, 68
Donington, birthplace of Flinders,
2, 8
Flinders' monument at, 9, 409
Free school, 11
The Flinders' house, xviii., 14
Donington, Cape, 211, 469
Dunienville, Major, 305-6
Dutch navigators, discoveries in
Australia, 67 et seq.
East India Company, its interest
in Australia, 174, 180
Interest in Investigator voyage,
180
Elder, John, Flinders' servant,
280, 391
Sails in Cumberland, 301
At Ile-de-France, 338, 359, 365
Encounter Bay, 204, 470
Flinders and Baudin in, 224 et
seq., 431 et seq.
Everard, Cape, 107, 130

Fitzroy, Sir Charles, 429
Fleurieu, Comte de, prepares
instructions for French dis
covery voyages, 173, 200, 205,
352, 367
Flinders, John, naval career, 15
Flinders, Matthew, surgeon,
father of the navigator, 2, 8
Marriage into Franklin family,
170
Death of, 277
Flinders, Matthew, genealogy, 6
School days, 11
Study of Robinson Crusoe, 12
Anecdotes of childhood, 14
Desire to go to sea, 14
Advice of Uncle, 15
Study of navigation, 17
Introduction to Admiral Pasley,
18
Anecdote of visit to Pasley, 18
On the Scipio, 19
On the Bellerophon, 19
On the Dictator, 20
Midshipman on Providence, 29
Description of Teneriffe, 30
Description of Dutch at the
Cape, 31
In Torres Strait, 34
Return to Europe, 40
Aide-de-camp on Bellerophon,
42
First experience of war, 44
Anecdote of battle, 45
His journal of the engagement,
48 et seq.
Estimate of French seamen, 60
Appointed to Reliance, 78
Careful record of observations,
82
Arrival at Port Jackson, 82
Friendship with Bass, 84
Exploration of George's River,
86

INDEX

485

Flinders, Matthew —
Voyages in Tom Thumb, 86 et
seq.
Adventure with aboriginals, 89
Voyage on Francis, 123 et seq.
Discovery of Kent Group, 126
Biological notes, 126
On the sooty petrel, 127
Description of wombat, 132
Voyage to Norfolk Island, 133
Exploration projects, 134
Voyage of Norfolk, 135
Character as an author, 136
Discovery of Bass Strait, 138
Circumnavigation of Tasmania,
130 et seq.
Description of Tasmanian
mountains, 139
Banks' friendship for 143, 164
On Queensland coast, 157 et seq.
Adventures with Queensland
aboriginals, 160-1
Return to England, 163
Marriage, of, 164, 168n
His Observations, 165, 171
Naming of Mount Chappell, 165
Letters to his wife, 167, 193,
276, 279, 349, 410
Suggests new discovery voyage,
172
Instructions for voyage, 181 et
seq.
Passport from French Govern
ment, 183
Correspondence concerning
Mrs. Flinders' proposed voy
age in Investigator, 184 et seq.
Reports sandbank at the Roar,
190
Management of crew, 195-6
On Australian coast, 206
Method of research, 207
Coastal names given by, 209 et
seq., 465 ct seq.

Flinders, Matthew —
On the character of John
Thistle, 213
Exploration of Spencer's Gulf,
215
Discovery of Kangaroo Island,
216
Discovery of St. Vincent's Gulf,
217
In Encounter Bay, 224 et seq.,
431 et seq.
In Port Phillip, 233 et seq.
At King Island, 236
Description of Port Phillip
entrance, 236
Influence on Australian dis
covery, 238
Departure from Port Phillip,
244
Arrival at Port Jackson, 244
On Frangois Peron, 262
Circumnavigation of Australia,
265 et seq.
On coral reefs, 270
Forced to return to Port Jack
son, 272, 276
Death of father, 277
Last letter to Bass, 281-3
Sails in Porpoise, 285
Observations on Sydney, 287
Wrecked on Porpoise, 287
Sails for Port Jackson in Hope,
293
Arrives at Port Jackson, 298
Arrival at Wreck Reef, 300
Arrival at Kupang, 302
Decides to sail for Ile-de-
France, 303 et seq.
Sights Ile-de-France, 305
Appears before Decaen, 321
Seizure of his papers, 323
Detained, 323
Interrogated by Decaen, 324
Invited to dinner by Decaen, 328
His refusal, 329

486

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

Flinders, Matthew —
Accused of impertinence, 331
Carries despatches for Gover
nor King, 334
Letters to Decaen, 339 et seq.
Obtains books and papers, 341
Prolongation of captivity, 348
et seq.
Occupations in Garden Prison,
348
Opinion of Decaen, 350
Solicits examination by French
officers, 351
Refuses to surrender his sword,
352-3
Removal to Wilhelm's Plains,
357
Life at Wilhelm's Plains, 359 et
seq.
Works on his Voyage, 363
Paper on marine barometer, 363
Treatment by Admiralty, 366
Release ordered, 368
Decaen refuses release, 371-2
Knowledge of weakness of Ile-
de-France, 374
Allegations as to taking sound
ings, 374
Possibilities of escape, 377
Released, 380
Arrival in England, 381
Receipt for books, papers, etc.,
384
Interest in French prisoners of
war, 391
Honoured in London, 392
Evidence before House of
Commons Committee, 392
Works at his Voyage and
charts, 392-3
Illness of, 395
Death of, 396
Place of burial, 396-7
Characteristics, 402 et seq.

Flinders, Matthew —
Visit to wounded French
officer, 407
Advice to young officers, 408-10
As a navigator, 414 et seq.
Naming of Australia, 420 et seq.
Flinders, Mrs. Ann, marriage to
Matthew Flinders, 164
Flinders' letters to, 167, 193,
276, 279, 349, 410
Proposed voyage in Investi
gator, 184 et seq.
On Admiralty's treatment of
Flinders, 366
Meets Flinders on his return,
381
Pension voted by Australian
colonies, 400
Flinders, S. W., joins Investiga
tor, 178
On Wreck Reef, 300
Flinders' bar, invention of, 416
Flinders' Entrance, 269n
Flinders family, 2
Connection with Tennysons, 7
Flinders' Island, 130, 468
Foigny, Gabriel de, his La Terre
Australe connue, 421
Forfait, French Marine Minister,
instructions to Baudin, 199
Fowler, Robert, joins Investiga
tor, 178, 209, 275, 280
On Rolla, 301, 302n
Fowler's Bay, 209, 210, 467
Francis, schooner, voyage of, 123
et seq., 133, 285
Sails with Cumberland, 298 et
seq.
Franklin, Sir John, connection
with Finders' family, 7
On the Polyphemus, 170
Influenced by Flinders, 170
Joins Investigator, 178
At wreck of Porpoise, 295

INDEX

487

Franklin, Sir John —
On Rolla, 301
On Flinders' return to England,
382
Franklin's Isles, 210, 467
French Island, 115, 204
French Revolution, 41
Freycinet, Lieut. Louis de, at
Sydney, 253, 464
On military situation at Port
Jackson, 259, 260, 261
His hydrographical work, 386
Charge of plagiarism against,
387
Publication of his charts, 389
Furneaux, commander of Adven
ture, 74, 108
Furneaux Land, 108
Gambier Isles, 216, 468
Gambier, Mount, 234
Garden Prison, see Maison Des-
peaux
Geographe, Le, 190, 202-4, 225 et
seq., 246 et seq., 253-4, 304,
321, 431 et seq.
George's River, exploration of,
86
Glasshouse Bay, 158
Glasshouse Mountains, 159
Good, Peter, gardener, joins
Investigator, 180
Grant, Captain, in command of
Lady Nelson, 233
Governor King on, 234
Sails for Australia, 234
Harrington, brig, and the Ameri
can contraband trade, 152 et
seq.
Hartog, Dirk, his metal plate, 68
Hawkesbury River, the, 261, 285,
441
Heemskirk, Mount, 140, 466
Hervey Bay, 158
Hicks, Point, 107, 130

Hindmarsh, Sir John, his naval
career, 16
Hohenlinden, battle of, 312
LI ope, cutter, 293-4, 298, 384
Howe, Lord, battle off Brest, 43
Hunter, Captain John, appointed
Governor of New South
Wales, 77
Interest in Australian colonisa
tion, 79
Discourteous treatment of by
Portuguese Viceroy, 81
Encourages Bass and Flinders,
85
On Bass Strait, 100 et seq.
Ile-de-France, 302
Flinders at, 305 et seq.
Interior of, 358
Military situation of, 373, 379
Regulations concerning visiting
ships, 375
Blockade of, 379
Captured by British, 382
Investigator, 163 et seq.
Reasons for expedition, 173
Formerly the Xenophon, 174
Refitting of, 175-6
Leakiness, 175
Selection of crew, 177
Sailing delayed, 190
Sailing of, 190, 193
On South Coast, 205 et seq.
In Encounter Bay, 224 et seq.,
431 el seq.
In Port Phillip, 233 et seq.
Arrival at Port Jackson, 244
Circumnavigation of Australia,
265 et seq.
Decrepit condition of, 272, 275,
276
Taken to England, 284
End of, 284
Investigator Strait, 217, 389, 470
Jervis Bay, 104
Julia Percy Island, 235

488

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

Jussieu, French botanist, recom
mends Baudin to command
discovery voyage, 201, 255, 264
Kangaroo Island, discovery of,
216, 434, 469
Wild life on, 220
Baudin at, 232, 276, 388
Kent, Lieut. William, 94, 126, 157,
186, 399
Kent's Group, 126, 465
Keppel Bay, 267
King, Governor, P. G., and Bass's
South American project, 149
et seq.
His hospitality to French ex
pedition, 248
Receives news of Porpoise
wreck, 298
Entrusts despatches to Flinders,
334
Protest against Flinders' im
prisonment, 365
King George's Sound, 205
King Island, 229
Discovery of, 236
French at, 251
Kupang, 275
Lacepede, 255
Lacy, midshipman, 241, 391
Lady Nelson, 73, 120, 233 et seq.,
267, 285
Laperouse, 71, 76, 173, 198, 222,
223, 247, 268, 361, 418
Launceston, 137
Lawson, Lieut., his share in cross
ing Blue Mountains, 99
Leeuwin, Cape, 197, 206, 466
Linois, Rear-Admiral, 302, 317-18
Little Bay, 104
Liverpool, Lord, 426
Lofty, Mount, 217, 470
Louis XVI., his interest in dis
covery voyages, 173
Louth Bay, 211

Louth Isle, 211, 469
Lucky Bay, 211, 467
Macquarie, Fort, 248m
Macquarie, Governor, his use of
word Australia, 428
Maison Despeaux (Garden
Prison), 345
Malaspina, Admiral, 437
Malte-Brun, 367
Championship of Flinders, 387,
414
Maria Island, 274, 472
Marsden, Revd. Samuel, 439
Martin's Isles, 91, 465
Mauritius, see Ile-de-France
Melville Bay, 274, 473
Memory Cove, 214, 468
Monistrol, Colonel, 321, 324, 329,
338, 341, 345, 371, 384
Moreau, General, 311 et seq.
Moreton Bay, 158, 162
Mornington, 241
Mornington Island, 273, 471
Murray, Lieut. John, discovers
Port Phillip, 237
Accompanies Flinders, 267
Mutton birds, 127 et seq.
Napoleon, authorises French dis
covery voyage, 173, 198, 255
His opinion of General Decaen,
313
Sends Decaen to India, 315
Hears of the Flinders case, 347
Orders release of Flinders, 368
His comment on oaths of
allegiance, 382
Naturaliste, Le, 115, 190, 202-4,
225 et seq., 247 et seq., 253,
304, 336, 434«-5
Navy, the British, promotion in,
15
Entrance to, 17
Nelson, 15, 211
Nelson, Cape, 211, 235

INDEX

489

Nepean, Evan, Secretary of the
Admiralty, 176, 238
Nepean Peninsula, 236n, 238, 242
Nichols, Isaac, case of, 157
Norfolk, sloop, 134
Flinders' description of, 138
Importance of voyage, 142-3
Voyage to Queensland coast,
158 et seq.
Northumberland, Cape, 234
Nuyts, Pieter, 69, 205
Observations on the Coast of Van
Diemen's Land, publication
of, 171
Otto, L. G., 173-4
Otway, Cape, 234, 235, 236
Palmer, Captain of Bridgewater,
290-1
Pandora's Entrance, 269, 471
Papuans, fight with in Torres
Strait, 34 et seq.
Park, Mungo, and the Investiga
tor, 178
Parramatta, 440
Partney Isle, 211, 469
Pasley, Admiral Sir Thomas,
Flinders' introduction to, 18
His interest in Flinders' career,
29
Command of Bellerophon, 42
Wounded in battle off Brest, 46
Character of, 61-2
Pasley, Cape, naming of, 62, 467
Paterson, Lieut-Col, 250, 251, 257,
439
Peel, Sir Robert, 426
Pellew, Rear-Admiral, his interest
in Flinders' case, 364
Pellew Group, 273, 472
Pelsart, Francis, on the Aus
tralian Coast, 69
Percy Isles, 268, 471

Peron, Frangois, at Sydney, 253
His report on British settlement,
254, 436 et seq.
Plays the spy on British de
signs, 257
Flinders on, 262
Scientific work of, 263
Effect of his report on Decaen,
337
Malte-Brun on, 387-8
Death of, 388
Petrie, Professor W. M. Flinders,
grandson of Matthew Flin
ders, 6, 401m
Phillip Island, 115
Pinkerton, Modern Geography, 71
Pitot, Thomas, 357, 358, 407
Pitt, Mount, 129
Plagiarism, allegation against the
French, 327, 383 et seq.
Freycinet on, 390
Pondicherry, 316
Porpoise, Flinders sails in, 285
Wreck of, 287, 344, 384
Port Bowen, 268
Port Curtis, 267
Port Hacking, 92, 104
Port Jackson, see Sydney
Port Lincoln, 211
Discovery and survey of, 214
Port Louis, 305, 307, 321 et seq.
Port Phillip, 116, 225
Flinders in, 233 et seq.
Discovery of, 237
Attempted settlement of, 243
Portland Bay, 235
Portlock, Lieut. N., Commander
of Assistant, 29
Portsea, 242
Preservation Island, 127, 465
Providence, H.M.S., 29 et seq.,
270
Providential Cove, see Watta-
molla

490

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

Quarterly Review, article on Flin
ders' case, 363, 386
Queensland coasts, Flinders' voy
ages on, 157-162, 267-73
Quiros, voyage of, 70, 420
Red Point, 89, 465
Reliance, H.M.S., 77, 80, 86m, 87,
93 et seq., 100, 133, 140, 158,
163, 238
Revesby Isle, 211, 469
Robbins, Acting-Lieutenant, 251
Robinson Crusoe, influence of on
Flinders, 11-12
Rowley, Commodore, 379
St. Alouarn, 205
St. Vincent's Gulf, 210, 470
Discovery of, 217, 388
Schanck, Cape, 236
Schanck, Captain John, designs
Lady Nelson, 233
Seal-fisheries, 444, 459-60
Shaw and Smith, their use of the
word Australia, 423
Shinglar, Rev. John, schoolmaster
of Flinders, 11
Ships not elsewhere indexed —
Adventure, 74, 108
Advice, brig, 188-9
Agincourt, 399
Albion, 50
Alert, 18
Aquilon, 50
Assistant, 29 et seq.
Audacious, 44, 48, 53, 54
Barwell, 133
Batavia, 69
Bedford, 382
Belicr, brig, 317
Belle Poule, La, 317
Berceau, Le, 352
Blenheim, 372
Blonde, La, 50
Brunswick, 60
Buffalo, 186, 213h, 285

Ships not elsewhere indexed —
Caesar, 45, 52re, 54, 57-8
Cape Chatham, 205
Captivity, 19. See also Bellero
phon
Casuarina, 250, 253, 254
Cerberus, 163
Circe, frigate, 42
Cygnet, 16
Defence, 48, 58
Dictator, 20
Duyfhen, yacht, 70
E en drag t, 68
Eliza, sloop, 125
Elligood, 220
Endeavour, 74, 107
Eole, 45, 46
Esp'erance, 205
Ganges, 48
Glatton, 297
Glory, 50
Greyhound, frigate, 369, 372
Harbinger, brig, 236
Harriet, cartel, 381
Heemskirk, 140
Heir Apparent, 391
Hercules, 266
Hunter, 323
Java, 372
Latona, 42, 46, 48, 49, 58
Leviathan, 44, 51n, 53, 54, 58-9
Lozvestoft, frigate, 15
Marengo, French frigate, 317-18
Marlborough, 44, 53, 58
Matilda, whaler, 32
Minerva, frigate, 336
Nautilus, 135
Niger, 50
Olympia, 381
Orient, L', 16
Orion, 55
Otter, 381
Pandora, 269

INDEX

491

Ships not elsewhere indexed —
Phaeton, 56
Phoenix, 49
Piemontaise, La, privateer, 363
Polyphemus, 170
Pompey, 391
Queen, Sin, 55, 59
Queen Charlotte, 44, 45, 51h, 53
et seq., 77
Recherche, 205
Resolution, 21, 74
Resource, 294ra
Revolutionnaire, 43, 52», 54m, 61
Rolla, 298 et seq.
Royal Sovereign, 53
Russell, AA, 48, 52, 53, 57, 60
Scipio, 17, 19
Seahorse, 184-5
Semillante, La, 407
Serpente, Le, 202. See Le Geo
graphe
Sirius, 77, 78, 129
Southampton, 50
Supply, tender, 77 et seq., 93,
94, 126
Tcmeraire, 20
Terpsichore, 407
Terrible, AA
Theseus, 185
Thetis, 364
Thunderer, AA, 52, 53, 60
Trajan, A6
Tremendous, 57
Vengeur, 60
Vesuve, Le, 202. See L<?
Naturaliste
Vianen, 69
Warren Hastings, 363
Warrior, 391
Xenophon, 174. See Investiga
tor
Zealand, 177
Zeehan, 140
Shoalhaven, 104

Sibsey Isle, 211, 469
Sleaford Bay, 211, 468
Smith, Samuel, journal of, 194n,
197, 208, 232, 243, 288, 289,
294, 300
Spanish-American colonies, 149
Contraband trade with, 152 et
seq.
Alleged British designs on, 258,
446-7, 458
Spencer, Earl, First Lord of the
Admiralty, supports Flinders'
exploration project, 172-3
Grants passport to French dis
covery voyage, 173
Visited by Flinders, 392
Spencer's Gulf, 210, 212, 469
Exploration of, 215, 388
Spilsby Isle, 211, 469
Stamford Hill, 211, 215, 469
Station Peak, 241, 242;j, 470
Stickney Isle, 211, 469
Streaky Bay, 211, 467
Surfleet Point, 211, 469
Swan Harbour, 242
Swans, black, 141
Sydney, growth of, 97
Arrival of Investigator at, 244
Baudin's expedition at, 246 et
seq.
Peron's report on, 254, 436-64
Military forces at, 258-9
Flinders' observations on, 287
Sydney Cove, wreck of, 112, 123
et seq.
Tahiti, 21 et seq.
Bass's voyages to, 147
Tamar, discovery of, 137
Tasman, voyage of, 70, 140
Tasmania, circumnavigation of,
133 et seq.
Taylor's Isle, 210, 214, 468
Teneriffe, Flinders' description of,
30

492

LIFE OF MATTHEW FLINDERS

Tennysons, connection with Flin
ders' family, 6-7
Termination Island, 205
Terra Australis, 67, 175
Thistle, John, drowning of, 212
Character, 213
Thistle Island, 210, 468
Tides, theory of, Flinders'
writings on, 418
Tom Thumb, measurements of,
&6n
Second boat of same name, 87,
104
Torres, voyage of, 70
Torres Strait, 269
Trafalgar, battle of, 263, 373
Transportation system, Peron on,
258
Twofold Bay, discovery of, 105
Adventure with aboriginal in,
135
Vancouver, voyage of, 71
His discoveries on Australian
coast, 205
Van Diemen, Cape, 273
Venus, brig, Bass's purchase of,
146
Voyages to Tahiti, 147
Voyages to South America,
150-1
Seizure of, 154
Venus Bay, 148
Vlaming, his metal plate, 68
Waterhouse, Captain Henry, 77,
94 et seq. 204, 283;i
Waterhouse, Elizabeth, see Bass,
Elizabeth
Waterhouse Island, 204, 466

Wattamolla (Watta-Mowlee), 92,
104, 465
Wellesley, the Marquess, Gov- -
ernor-General of India, 273 it,
317
His interest in Flinders' case,
364
Wellesley Isles, 273, 471
Wentworth, W. C, his share in
crossing Blue Mountains, 99
Westall, Point, 210, 467
Westall, William, artist, joins In
vestigator, 179, 280
Westernport, discovery of, 114
Le Naturaliste in, 204
Whaleboat, Bass', measurements
of, 102
Wilhelm's Plains, Flinders' resi
dence at, 357 et seq.
William IV. inspects Flinders'
charts, 392
On proposed pension to Mrs.
Flinders, 400
Williams, mate of Bridgewater,
291
Williamson, acting commissary,
100
Wilson's Promontory, 108, 117,
225, 234
Winceby Isle, 211, 469
Wombat, Flinders' description of,
132
Woolgrowing, 450-1
Wreck Reef, 285, et seq., 474
Yorke's Peninsula, 211, 218, 470
You-yang Range, 241
Zeehan, Mount, 140, 466

W. C. Penfold & Co. Ltd., Printers, Sydney.

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