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 mainland 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
maritime 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 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 prepared 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."* (* Flinders
relates the story of his meeting with Baudin, in his Voyage to Terra
Australis, 1 188, and in letters to the Admiralty; and to Sir Joseph
Banks, printed in Historical Records of New South Wales, 4 749 and 755.
The official history of the French voyage was written by Francois Peron,
and is printed in his Voyage de Decouvertes aux Terres Australes, 1 324.
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.)
It has already been explained (Chapter 11) 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 important fact relating to this part of his voyage is
that he missed the entrance to Port Phillip. In his letter to 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 to 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 subsequently 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."* (* Flinders to Banks,
Hist. Rec. 4 755.) 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,* a thing impossible to do from the situation in which they
were. (* Voyage de Decouvertes 1 316 and 3 115.)
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
crew were incapacitated. On the morning of April 8th some of Baudin's
people had been engaged in harpooning 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 degrees 40
minutes south and 138 degrees 58 minutes 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, enquiring "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
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 conversation 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 understood." 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 passport
carried by Flinders. He put it aside without inspection.
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 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, "doubtless in the hope of being able to make the
discovery himself."
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, explaining 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
Observations, published before he left England, as related in Chapter 12.
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 commanded 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
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
misunderstood. 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.* (* Peron, Voyage de Decouvertes 1 323. Flinders
also said that "some of his officers learnt from my boat's crew that our
object was also discovery.") 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 Paris 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 interview Flinders was
"reserved"; whilst Flinders, on the other hand, was surprised that Baudin
"made no enquiries concerning my business on this unknown coast, but as
he seemed more desirous of communicating information 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 breakfasted with Baudin.* (* 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.) 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 abundance of fresh food and water. He handed to Baudin a
copy of his little book on Bass Strait and its accompanying 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 missing 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
required there. The interview was thoroughly cordial, and the two
captains parted with mutual expressions of goodwill. Flinders and Brown
returned to the Investigator 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 investigation in a gale of wind. Have been from
France 18 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
exploration 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 convenient to relate after describing
the remainder of the voyage of the Investigator up to her arrival in the
same port.