Terre Napoleon-a History of French Explorations Part 9

Throughout the long stay made by Baudin's vessels, the utmost kindness was shown to the whole company by the British. The governor himself, and the princ.i.p.al citizens, were hospitable; the scientists were permitted to go wherever they chose; and guides were provided for them on their inland excursions; and the scurvy-tortured sailors were attended by Dr. Thomson, the chief medical officer of the colony, with "the most touching activity." In addition to this, Governor King gave the French commandant unlimited credit to obtain whatever stores he needed, even supplying him with official requisition forms which he could fill up at his own pleasure; "and these schedules, without any other guarantee than the signature of the commandant, were accepted by all the inhabitants with the most entire confidence." The generosity of King in this respect was all the greater, in that the Government stores were for the time being short of requirements, and the governor had to reduce temporarily the rations of his own people in order to share with the French. The settlement was not yet self-supporting, and the delay of supply ships, through storms or other hindrances, meant "short commons" for all. At the time of the arrival of the French, the stock of wheat was very low, because floods on the Hawkesbury had destroyed a large part of the harvest; and to meet the requirements of one hundred and seventy extra men taxed the resources of the administration somewhat severely.

But what King had to offer he gave with a graceful liberality. "Although you will not find abundant supplies of what are most acceptable to those coming off so long a voyage, yet I offer you a sincere welcome," he had written; and, happy as he was to be able to announce that news of the peace had been received on the day previous to Baudin's arrival--no doubt the vessel that brought the despatch reported to the governor that Le Geographe was near the heads--"yet the continuance of the war would have made no difference in my reception of your ships, and offering every relief and a.s.sistance in my power." Not only Baudin and Peron acknowledged gratefully the fine courtesy shown by the British, but other members of the expedition also expressed themselves as thankful for the consideration extended to them. Bailly the geologist made an excursion to the Hawkesbury and the mountains, in the interest of his own science, when boats, oarsmen, guide, interpreter, and everything were furnished by the Government, "our chief having refused us even the food necessary for the journey." No more could have been done for a British expedition.

Baudin obtained permission for his officers to erect their tents for the making of astronomical observations at the same place as had been appointed for the tents of Flinders' officers, one of whom, delegated for this service, was the young John Franklin. This proximity of men engaged in similar work seems to have extended friendly feelings amongst them. It was possibly on occasions of their meeting in this manner that Flinders showed his charts to Baudin to ill.u.s.trate what the Investigator had already done; and it was after an examination of the drawings that Freycinet made a remark that reflected the regret of a keen officer for the procrastination that conduced to the failure of their own expedition in a geographical sense. "Ah, captain," said Freycinet, "if we had not been kept so long picking up sh.e.l.ls and collecting b.u.t.terflies at Van Diemen's Land, you would not have discovered the south coast before us."*

(* Flinders, Voyage 1 190.) That was a mild statement of the case. If Baudin had applied himself to his task of exploration with diligence intelligently directed, he would have discovered the south coast before Flinders reached Australian waters. It was at this time, also, that the French officers learnt of the existence of Port Phillip, and probably obtained a copy of a chart of it.

The perfect friendliness prevailing during the whole period of the stay of the discovery ships was disturbed by only two incidents, neither of which is of surviving importance. One consisted of a charge against junior officers of having sold ash.o.r.e rum which had been purchased, by permission of the governor, for use during the voyage. The case was investigated, the accusations broke down, and apologies were made to the officers affected. The second incident arose out of a misunderstanding of the French method of honouring the British flag on King George's birthday. It was an affair of no consequence, and a brief explanation soon put matters right. A British officer deemed the French mode of "dressing" their ships to be disrespectful, but Baudin was able to show that what was done was in accordance with the regulations of his country's navy, which provided that "the place of honour for the flag of a foreign nation which we intend to distinguish, must be on the starboard of the main-yard arm." The fact that these two trivial incidents were the only recorded elements of misunderstanding during a period of nearly six months, at a time when animosities between English and French people--and especially sailors--were extraordinarily acute, testifies to the good manners of the French, the hospitable feeling of the English, and the pleasant temper of all parties.

Governor King, notwithstanding his benevolent disposition, was mindful of his responsibilities. Before a French sail was sighted he had been advised of the fact that Baudin's ships were to visit Australian waters, and it is quite clear that, in common with most of his contemporaries, he was very suspicious of Gallic designs. He was a naval officer himself, and British naval men at that period were pretty well unanimously of Nelson's opinion, when he wrote to Hugh Elliot, "I never trust a Corsican or a Frenchman; I would give the devil ALL the good ones to take the remainder." The arrival of Flinders in the Investigator on May 9, and his reports as to the presence of the French on the southern coast, made the governor wary and watchful; and on May 21 he wrote to the Duke of Portland suggesting the establishment of a colony at the newly discovered Port Phillip. "I am more solicitous respecting forming this settlement from the probability of the French having it in contemplation to make a settlement on the north-west coast, which I cannot help thinking is the princ.i.p.al object of their researches."* (* Historical Records of New South Wales. The north-west coast referred to is, of course, north-west Tasmania.) The letter exhibits the suspicion in King's mind, and his alertness to frustrate any attempt to threaten the interests and security of the colony under his charge by the planting of a foreign settlement in its neighbourhood.

But Captain Baudin was very frank. In his first letter to the governor, dated June 23, and written on the day after his arrival in port, he requested permission to remain for some time, "as we all want a little rest, having been at sea for nine consecutive months"; and he added the a.s.surance that "I shall at the first interview it will be your pleasure to grant me, furnish you with all the information which may be of interest to you, concerning the expedition which I am making by order of the French Government."

Baudin kept his promise. He handed over to King his journals, "in which were contained all his orders from the first idea of his voyage taking place," and also the whole of the drawings made on the voyage.* (* King's letter to Banks, Historical Records of New South Wales 5 133.) The governor was able to examine these at his leisure, and that he made use of the opportunity is apparent from his brief summary of the orders. "His object was, by his orders, the collection of objects of natural history from this country at large, and the geography of Van Diemen's Land. The south and south-west coast, as well as the north and north-west coast, were his particular objects. It does not appear by his orders that he was at all instructed to touch here, which I do not think he intended if not obliged by distress." Evidently he did not, as was indicated by Hamelin's resolve to go to Mauritius in May. King had to confess, after a perusal of the papers, that he was left with merely "general ideas" on the nature of the French visit to Van Diemen's Land. These, however, he communicated to Baudin, who "informed me that he knew of no idea that the French had of settling on any part or side of this continent."* (* King's letter to Banks, Historical Records of New South Wales 5 133.) It does not appear that the governor showed any of the French papers or charts to Flinders, whose statements in his book indicate that he had not seen them.

The governor, then, commenced his relations with the French commandant by being doubtful and vigilant; but frequent personal interviews, and an examination of the whole of the ships' orders, journals, and charts, convinced him that the suspicions were not justified, and that there were no designs, about which he need be concerned, behind the pacific professions of the voyagers. From this time forth Baudin and King met almost daily; and from the beginning to the end of the visit the governor had not the faintest reason for doubting the good faith of his guests. On July 11 he gave his authority for Baudin to purchase the little colonial-built Casuarina, with which to explore shallow waters, thus facilitating the pursuit of the objects of the expedition.

Baudin's letter of farewell was a worthy acknowledgment of the benefits he had received. On leaving the colony," he wrote, "I bequeath to the French nation the duty of offering to you the thanks which are due to you as governor for all you have done as well for ourselves as for the success of the expedition; but it is for me to a.s.sure you how valuable your friendship has been and will ever be to me...It will be a satisfaction for me to correspond with you from whatever country events may bring me to. It is, as you know, the only means which men who love and esteem one another can make use of, and it will be the one of which we shall reciprocally avail ourselves if, on your part, I have been able by my conduct to inspire you with the feelings which yours has inspired me with."* (* Historical Records 4 1006.) Baudin also wrote a general letter, addressed to the administrators of the French colonies of Mauritius and Reunion, setting forth the aids which Governor King had rendered to his people, and expressing the hope that if at any time a British ship whose commander carried a copy of the letter should be compelled to call at either island, it would be shown that the French were not less hospitable and benevolent.* (* Ibid 4 968.) Twelve signed copies of this letter* (* Ibid page 133.) were given to King, who, however, does not seem to have given one to Flinders when he sailed with the c.u.mberland. It is doubtful whether the possession of one would have made any difference in General Decaen's treatment of the English navigator, as he was quite well aware of the services rendered to Baudin's expedition by the British at Port Jackson. In fact, it is not known that King made any use of the doc.u.ment. A copy of it was found among his papers after his death.

It was not till after Le Geographe and Le Naturaliste had sailed away (November 18) that a piece of gossip came to King's ears that caused him uneasiness. According to the rumour, Lieutenant-Colonel Paterson, of the New South Wales corps, had stated that one of the French officers had told him that one of the purposes of the expedition was to fix upon a site for a settlement in Van Diemen's Land. Paterson did not report this story to the governor, as it was his obvious duty to do were it true that he had been so informed. Had he reported it, King could have confronted Baudin with witnesses before his ships left the harbour. "I should have required a positive explanation from the French commodore, and would have taken a vessel up to have preceded any attempt of that kind they might have in contemplation."

King sent for Paterson, and questioned him as to what he had heard. His excuse for not personally communicating the story which he had allowed to drift to the governor's ears by chance, was that he thought that what he had heard must have come to King's knowledge also: a supine and almost flippant explanation of neglect in a matter which was serious if the allegations were true. He affirmed also that one of the French officers had pointed out to him on a chart the very place where they intended to settle. It was in what is now known as Frederick Henry Bay, in the south of Tasmania.* (* Backhouse Walker, Early Tasmania page 15.)

The governor took prompt action. He at once fitted out the armed schooner c.u.mberland--the vessel in which Flinders afterwards sailed to Mauritius--and placed her under the command of Acting-Lieutenant Robbins.

She carried a company of seventeen persons in all, including the Surveyor-General, Charles Grimes; for Robbins was also instructed to take the schooner on to Port Phillip after finding the French, and to have a complete survey made.

Robbins was directed to ascertain where the French ships were; to hand to Baudin a letter, and to lay formal claim to the whole of Van Diemen's Land for the British Crown; to erect the British flag wherever he landed; and to sow seeds in antic.i.p.ation of the needs of settlers, whom it was intended to send in the Porpoise at a later date. It was a bold move, for had Baudin's intentions been such as he was now suspected of entertaining, the one hundred and seventy men under his command would surely have had little difficulty in disposing of the handful whom young Robbins led.

But no a.s.sertion of force was necessary at all, and one can hardly read the letters and despatches bearing upon the incident without feeling that the proceedings fairly lent themselves to the ridicule which the nimble-witted French officers applied to them. Baudin and his people had not gone to Frederick Henry Bay; they had not planted the tricolour anywhere in Tasmania; they had not even called at any port in that island. Instead, they were discovered quietly charting, catching insects, and collecting plants at Sea Elephants Bay, on the east of King Island, which, it will be remembered, they had missed on the former part of their voyage.

But Acting-Lieutenant Robbins was young, and was surcharged with a sense of the great responsibility cast upon him. A more experienced officer, having delivered his message, might have waited quietly alongside the French until they finished their work, and then seen them politely "off the premises," so to speak; in which event Governor King's purpose would have been fully served and no offence would have been given. But instead of that, after lying at anchor beside Le Geographe for six days, on friendly and even convivial terms with the French, Robbins landed with his army of seventeen stalwarts, fastened the British flag to a tree over the tents of the naturalists, had a volley fired by three marines--he was doing the thing in style--and, calling for three cheers, which were l.u.s.tily given, formally a.s.serted possession of King Island. There was no need to do anything of the kind, for the island had been discovered four years before, and was at this very time occupied by British people, who used it as the headquarters of the Ba.s.s Strait sealing industry.

Robbins' action, though strictly in accordance with the instructions given to him on the supposition that the French would be found in occupation of territory in Tasmania, was, in the circ.u.mstances, tactless to the point of rudeness, though it caused less indignation than amus.e.m.e.nt among them. It is to be noticed that the flag of the Republic had not been erected over the tents of the visitors, nor anywhere on the island. Otherwise, we may suppose, Acting-Lieutenant Robbins would have gone a step further and pulled it down; and what would have happened then we can but surmise.

Baudin was on his ship, which was anch.o.r.ed a little way off the sh.o.r.e, when the "hurrahs" of the a.s.sertive seventeen directed his attention to Robbins' solemn proceedings. In a private letter to King he described what had happened as a "childish ceremony," which had been made more ridiculous "from the manner in which the flag was placed, the head being downwards, and the att.i.tude not very majestic. Having occasion to go on sh.o.r.e that day, I saw for myself what I am telling you. I thought at first it might have been a flag which had been used to strain water and then hung out to dry; but seeing an armed man walking about, I was informed of the ceremony which had taken place that morning."* (* Baudin to King, Historical Records 5 829.) He a.s.serted that Pet.i.t, one of his artists, had made an amusing caricature of the ceremony, but that he, Baudin, had torn it up, and directed that it was not to be repeated.

The tone of Baudin's letters betrayed more annoyance than his language actually expressed; but a.s.suming that his professions were true, it must be admitted that he had reason to feel offended. He had left Sydney on excellent terms with the governor, who had not only wished well to his undertaking, but had a.s.sisted in its prosecution by enabling the Casuarina to be purchased. He now found himself pursued by a youthful and exuberant officer, presented with a letter which suggested intentions that he had explicitly disavowed, and the British flag was virtually flapped in his face in a somewhat unmannerly fashion. King's letter to him explained the rumour which had led to the despatch of the c.u.mberland, and contained the following pa.s.sage: "You will easily imagine that if any information of that kind had reached me before your departure, I should have requested an explanation; but as I knew nothing of it, and at present totally disbelieving anything of the kind ever being thought of, I consider it but proper to give you this information."

Baudin wrote two letters in reply, one officially, and the second, by far the more interesting doc.u.ment, a personal and friendly epistle. In the official answer he said: "The story you have heard, of which I suspect Mr. Kemp, captain in the New South Wales corps, to be the author, is without foundation, nor do I believe that the officers and naturalists who are on board can have given cause for it by their conversation. But in any case you may rest well a.s.sured that if the French Government had ordered me to remain some days either in the north or south of Van Diemen's Land, discovered by Abel Tasman, I would have stopped there without keeping my intention secret from you." Baudin's additional statement that, prior to the flag incident, he had taken care to place in four prominent parts of the island "proofs sufficient to show the priority of our visit," must, however, have brought a smile to King's lips, and certainly makes one wonder what Baudin meant by "priority"; since King Island had previously been visited by Flinders, had been fully charted, and was the frequent resort of sealers. As a matter of fact, the Snow-Harrington, which had succoured Boullanger and his boat crew of abandoned Frenchmen in the previous March, had, after that fortunate meeting, stayed at the island ten weeks, when there were killed the enormous number of six hundred sea-elephants and four thousand three hundred seals.* (* Backhouse Walker, Early Tasmania page 21.) Besides, Baudin a.s.sured King that "I intend" that the island "shall continue to bear your name," forgetful that it would not have had a name already if his own visit had been "prior" to others.

The second, unofficial, letter which Baudin wrote to the governor repeated his positive a.s.surances that the suspicions concerning his objects were without foundation, but on account of the personal regard which he entertained for King, he determined to tell him frankly his opinion regarding the forming of European settlements and the dispossessing of native peoples. The view expressed by him bears the impress of the "ideas of '89," ideas which laid stress on the rights of man and human equality, and professed for the backward races a special fraternal tenderness. "To my way of thinking," said the commodore, "I have never been able to conceive that there was any justice or equity on the part of Europeans, in seizing, in the name of their governments, a land for the first time, when it is inhabited by men who have not always deserved the t.i.tle of savages, or cannibals, which has been given to them, while they were but children of nature, and just as little savages as are actually your Scotch Highlanders* (* Had Baudin been reading about the Sage of Lichfield? "Well, sir, G.o.d made Scotland." "Certainly,"

replied Dr. Johnson, "but we must always remember that he made it for Scotchmen; and comparisons are odious, Mr. Strahan, but G.o.d made h.e.l.l."

Caledonian Societies, of which there are many in various parts of the world, will observe with grat.i.tude Baudin's concession that Highlanders did not eat their fellowmen.) or our peasants of Brittany, who, if they do not eat their fellowmen, are nevertheless just as objectionable. From this it appears to me that it would be infinitely more glorious for your nation, as for mine, to mould for society the inhabitants of the respective countries over whom they have rights, instead of wishing to dispossess those who are so far removed by immediately seizing the soil which they own and which has given them birth. These remarks are no doubt impolitic, but at least reasonable from the facts; and had this principle been generally adopted you would not have been obliged to form a colony by means of men branded by the law, and who have become criminals through the fault of the Government which has neglected and abandoned them to themselves. It follows, therefore, that not only have you to reproach yourselves with an injustice in seizing their lands, but also in transporting on a soil where the crimes and the diseases of Europeans were unknown, all that could r.e.t.a.r.d the progress of civilisation, but which has served as a pretext to your Government. I have no knowledge of the claims which the French Government may have upon Van Diemen's Land, nor of its designs; but I think that its t.i.tle will not be any better grounded than yours."

After this taste of Baudin's reflections, it is really a pity that we possess so little from his pen. Had he lived to be the historian of the expedition, his work would have been very different in character from that of Peron; though it is hardly likely that an elaboration of the views expressed in the personal letter to King would have been favoured with the imprint "de l'Imprimerie Imperiale." Peron's anthropological studies among Australian aboriginals led him to conclusions totally at variance with the nebulous "state of nature" theories of the time, which pictured the civilised being as a degenerate from man unspoiled by law, government, and convention. The tests and measurements of blacks which he made, and compared with those of French and English people, showed him that even physically the native was an inferior animal; his observations of ways of life in the wild Bush taught him that organised society, with all its restraints, was preferable to the supposed freedom of savagery; and he deduced the philosophical conclusion that the "state of nature"

was in truth a state of subjection to pitiless forces, only endurable by beings who felt not the bondage because they knew of no more enn.o.bled condition.* (* A more distinguished man was cured of his early Rousseauism by an acquaintance with peoples far higher in the scale of advancement than Australian aboriginals. "Up to sixteen years of age,"

said Napoleon in a sc.r.a.p of conversation recorded by Roederer, "I would have fought for Rousseau against all the friends of Voltaire. Now it is the contrary. I have been especially disgusted with Rousseau since I have seen the East. Savage man is a dog.") Baudin carried away from his visits to the abodes of untutored races no truer notion than came from his own unsubstantiated sentiments, nourished by no contact with facts, but imbibed uncritically from the rhetorical rhapsodists of Rousseau's school. Crabbe summed them up in half a dozen lines:

"Tis the savage state Is only good, and ours sophisticate!

See! the free creatures in their woods and plains, Where without laws each happy monarch reigns, King of himself--while we a number dread, By slaves commanded and by dunces led."

Peron spoke of savage peoples, not with less sympathy but with a sympathy grounded on knowledge; and he wasted no words about the "injustice" of occupying lands which the aboriginal only used in the sense that lands are "used" by rabbits and dingoes. Peron's appreciation of well-observed facts gave him some political insight in the philosophical sense, and he comprehended the development of which the country was capable. Could Baudin's shade visit to-day the sh.o.r.es that he traversed more than a century ago, he would surely acknowledge that orchards of ripening fruit, miles of golden grain, millions of white fleeces, the cattle of a thousand hills, great cities throbbing with immense energies, and a commerce of ever augmenting vastness, ministering to the happiness of free and prosperous populations, are, in the large ledger of humanity, an abundant compensation for the disappearance of the few companies of naked savages whom, when civilisation once invaded their ancestral haunts, neither the agencies of government nor philanthropy could save from the processes of decay.

The account given by Peron of the flag-raising incident was quite accurate, but he presented his readers with a wholly untrue version of Governor King's letter to Baudin. With the doc.u.ment before us, we must doubt whether Peron ever saw it. The pa.s.sage printed by him in quotation marks bears hardly a resemblance to the courteous terms of the actual letter, which did not contain any such threat as that "all these countries form an integral part of the British Empire," and "it will be my duty to oppose by every means in my power the execution of the design you are supposed to have in view." It seems probable that Peron heard the letter read, or its contents summarised, but, in writing, mixed up the substance of it with bl.u.s.tering language which may have been used by Acting-Lieutenant Robbins.* (* Backhouse Walker also held this view.

Early Tasmania page 18.) At all events, King used no word of menace, while conveying plainly that the establishment of a French settlement would require "explanation."

There is no good reason for disbelieving Baudin's disclaimer. It was plain and candid; and there was nothing in his actions while he was in Australian waters which belied his words. The baseless character of the gossip promulgated by Lieutenant-Colonel Paterson, and the alleged exhibition of the map indicating the exact spot where the French intended to settle in Frederick Henry Bay, were disposed of by the fact that Baudin's ships went nowhere near that place after leaving Sydney. If any French officer did show Paterson a chart, he must have been amusing himself by playing on the suspicions of the Englishman, who was probably "fishing" for information. Baudin's conduct, and that of his officers, never suggested that search for a site for settlement was part of the mission of the expedition; and, in the face of the commodore's emphatic denials, positive evidence, or a strong chain of facts to the contrary, would have to be forthcoming before such a story could be entertained.

Suspicions were natural enough in face of the strained feelings, the wars, the plots and counter-plots of diplomacy, Napoleon's menaced invasion of England, and all the other factors that made for racial animosity at the beginning of the nineteenth century; but viewing the circ.u.mstances in the perspective made by the lapse of a hundred years, cool judgment must dismiss the jealous alarms of 1802 as being unfounded.

Yet a patriotic Frenchman, as Peron was, could not witness this remarkable growth of a new offshoot of British power in the South Seas without regret and misgiving. "Doubtless," he commented on Robbins'

action, "that ceremony will appear silly to people who know little about English polity; but for the statesman such formalities a.s.sume a much more serious and important character. By these public and repeated declarations England seems every day to fortify her pretensions, to establish her rights, in a positive manner, and to devise pretexts to repulse, even by force of arms, all other peoples who may wish to form settlements in these distant countries." We shall not honour Peron the less because he expressed an opinion so natural to a man solicitous for his country's prestige.

It has been stated by one or two writers that the action of Robbins put an end to the cordial relations which had previously existed between him and the French. But that is an error. They had cause to be offended, but the young man was treated with indulgence. Peron records that both Grimes and Robbins visited the tents of the French after the flag incident, and shared their frugal dinner; and Baudin informed King that, the c.u.mberland having lost an anchor, his forge was at work for a whole day supplying the wants of the British schooner--a service akin to heaping coals of fire on the head of the zealous acting-lieutenant. At the same time, other members of the French expedition experienced very kind treatment from British fishermen. Faure, one of the scientific staff, was sent in a small boat to complete a chart of the island. A violent storm compelled him to go ash.o.r.e on the western end, where he and his sailors were for three days most hospitably entertained by sealers, who, on their departure, forced upon them some of their finest furs as presents. "How is it," comments Peron, "that such touching hospitality, of which voyages offer so many examples, is nearly always exercised by men whose poverty and roughness of character seem to impose such an obligation least upon them. It seems that misfortune, rather than philosophy and brilliant education, develops in mankind that n.o.ble and disinterested virtue which induces us to minister to the woes of others."

Le Naturaliste sailed for Europe from King Island on December 8, carrying with her all the plants and natural history specimens collected up to date, as well as the charts. The collections were, as King wrote to Sir Joseph Banks, "immense."* (* Historical Records 4 844.) Le Geographe and the Casuarina left on December 27, and sailed direct for Kangaroo Island, to resume in that neighbourhood the charting which Baudin had abandoned in the previous year. They did not, as the logs show, make any attempt to examine Port Phillip. Robbins and his seventeen guardians of British rights on the c.u.mberland remained for some time longer making a thorough examination; after which they sailed for Port Phillip, and Grimes made the first complete survey of that great sheet of water.

It is only necessary to add that King reported to the Admiralty his approval of Robbins' action, and that to "make the French commander acquainted with my intention of settling Van Diemen's Land was all I sought by this voyage." But it is obvious from a letter which he wrote to Banks, after Baudin's death, and after his soul had been moved to righteous wrath by the iniquitous treatment of Flinders--whom he so warmly admired and so loyally aided--that suspicion, once implanted in King's mind, was not eradicated by explicit disavowals. Had Baudin lived another year, he said, "I think it very possible that the commodore would most likely have visited the colony for the purpose of annihilating the settlement." But surely here, if ever, the lines were applicable:

"In the night imagining some fear, How easy is a bush supposed a bear!"

Baudin, after his remarkable exploits in 1800 to 1804, was the last man whom Napoleon would have chosen to try to annihilate a British settlement anywhere. Rather, in such an unlikely event, would his own crew have been in danger of annihilation from his methods.

CHAPTER 10. RETURN OF THE EXPEDITION.

Le Geographe sails for Kangaroo Island.

Exploration of the two gulfs in the Casuarina by Freycinet.

Baudin's erratic behaviour.

Port Lincoln.

Peron among the giants.

A painful excursion.

Second visit to Timor.

Abandonment of north coast exploration.

Baudin resolves to return home.

Voyage to Mauritius.

Death of Baudin.

Treatment of him by Peron and Freycinet.

Return of Le Geographe.

Depression of the staff and crew.

Le Geographe sighted Kangaroo Island on January 2, and anch.o.r.ed on the 6th in Nepean Bay on the eastern side. The Casuarina joined her consort on the following day.

Freycinet, who was in command of the smaller vessel, was instructed to make a complete survey of the two gulfs named by the French after Bonaparte and Josephine, and by Flinders, their discoverer, after Lord Spencer and Lord St. Vincent, who were First Lords of the Admiralty when his own expedition was authorised and when it sailed from England.

The Casuarina was provisioned for twenty-six days for this task, and Freycinet took with him Boullanger, one of the hydrographers, who prepared the charts under his supervision. No part of the French work was better done than was the charting of the two gulfs and Kangaroo Island, and, as previously indicated, its quality very naturally aroused the suspicion that the improvement owed something to the charts of Flinders.

It has been shown, however, that this was not the case. Of Boullanger's training and qualifications nothing can be said, except that it may be presumed that the Committee of the Inst.i.tute of France which selected him, comprising two such experts as Bougainville and Fleurieu, must have been satisfied of his attainments. Much of his work was certainly done under severe trials and difficulties, but it is chiefly significant that the improvement in the charting synchronises with the presence in command of Freycinet; and allusion may again be made to the beautiful work done by this officer when he commanded the Uranie and the Physicienne a few years later, as showing his deep interest and practical skill in employment of this cla.s.s.

There can be no doubt that the work would have been better done throughout had Captain Baudin been a more sympathetic commander. To what extent the deficiencies of the French charts of the remainder of the Terre Napoleon coasts are attributable to his failure to appreciate the requirements of his scientific staff, can be conjectured; but the peremptory manner in which he allotted so many days and no more for the survey of the gulfs, and then sailed off leaving the Casuarina to shift for herself, reveals an extraordinary temper in a commander on such service, as well as a fatuous disregard of the many hindrances that made rigid time conditions difficult to observe.