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 himself 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.* (* Flinders'
Papers.) 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 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 pounds, 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 Cook had been able to give to it. The Lady Nelson, under Murray's
direction, was to accompany the Investigator; 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 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 suspense."* (*
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. Macdonald, on "The Fate of Laperouse," Victorian
Geographical Journal 26 14.)
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' Passage, in latitude 18 degrees 45 minutes south, longitude 148
degrees 10 minutes east, and is frequently used nowadays. It is about 45
miles north-east 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
perplexity and danger of the navigation must have recalled to the
commander's mind his experiences as a midshipman under Bligh ten years
before. It was not 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.* (* 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 predecessors.) He preferred 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.
Immediately afterwards three long Papuan canoes, carrying about fifty
natives, came in sight. Remembering 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 confidence of these islanders to such
vessels as might hereafter 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 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 wonderful 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 leeward 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 elevation 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 cocoanut, 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 gradually assumed; and last of all comes
man to take possession."
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 surprise 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 pursue, 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 because 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 be
repaired if sustaining injury from any of the numerous shoals or rocks
upon the coast--which, if constant 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 destruction. Weighing the probabilities carefully
Flinders, with a steady nerve and cool judgment, resolved to continue 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.
(* Richard, Earl of Mornington, afterwards the Marquess Wellesley, was
Governor-General of India from 1798 to 1805.) 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 Australia were found in
the form of fragments of pottery, 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 displeased" 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 departure 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 discovered on February
12th, and on the 17th the Investigator 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 English 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 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 frustrated. 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 charge of a packet of
letters for transmission to England; 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, completely 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 running 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:* (* Flinders' Papers.) "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 obstruction 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.* (* Flinders' Papers.) 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 unsparing 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, June 10th, 1803.
"My dearest Mother,
"We arrived here yesterday from having circumnavigated 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 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.
Independent 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,* (*
His step-sisters.) in such manner as you will think best. This, my dear
Madam, I wish to continue until such time as I can see 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 accustomed to enjoy.
"I have much satisfaction in hearing both from you and Susan that Hannah*
(* The elder of his two step-sisters.) 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.* (* Flinders' Papers.)
"If I could laugh at the effusion of thy tenderness, it would be to see
the idolatrous language thou frequently 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 occasionally, 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).* (* Flinders' Papers.)
In a letter previously quoted he 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 knowledge 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* (* The surgeon.) is
misanthropic and pleases nobody. Elder* (* Flinders' servant.) 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 place* (* John Aken.) is
an easy, good-natured man." In another letter to his wife* (* Flinders'
Papers.) he tells her: "Thou wouldst have been situated as comfortably
here as I hoped and told thee. Two better or more agreeable women than
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 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.* (*
Flinders' Papers.) It was the last word which passed between these two
men; and, remembering 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 'I 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 run from a little to the
north-west 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 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 Carpentaria have undergone a minute examination.
"It might appear that the presence of the French upon these coasts would
be much against me; but I consider 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 family. Accounts
speak indifferently of her brother* and his prospects. (* Captain Henry
Waterhouse.) 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---* (* The quarrel
between King and Paterson was bitter, and affected the affairs of the
colony in many directions.) should be upon terms of disagreement with
----. There is now Mrs. K---,* (* King.) Mrs. P---* (* Paterson.) and
Mrs. M---,* (* Marsden.) 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 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.