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 anchored 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 Institute 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 class.
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.
Flinders had occupied forty days in his exploration of the two
gulfs--from February 21 to April 1, 1802. Freycinet occupied only
twenty-one days in traversing precisely the same extent of
coast-line--from January 11 to February 1, 1803. Flinders had settled the
question as to whether there was a passage through the continent to the
Gulf of Carpentaria, and Freycinet and Baudin were by this time aware
that no important discovery of this character was to be expected. But the
navigation was perilous, the risks were unknown, and Freycinet should
have been able to pursue his task unhampered by the fear that if
circumstances compelled him to over-stay his time for a day or two, he
would be abandoned in a small vessel without provisions for more than his
narrowly prescribed period. "But the character of our chief was known."
"Quite sure of being pitilessly abandoned in case of delay," Freycinet
made haste to return to Nepean Bay at the end of the month. But when he
reached the anchorage he found that Baudin had already sailed away. "The
abandonment of our companions in the midst of these vast gulfs, where so
many perils might be encountered, had been a subject of consternation on
board Le Geographe," Peron records. It really was unaccountable
behaviour; even worse than that of the abandonment of Boullanger and his
boat's crew on the east coast of Tasmania in the previous March. A
commander who treated those among his subordinates who were sustaining
the most dangerous and exacting part of the work with so little
consideration, can hardly have maintained their confidence, or deserved
it.
The Casuarina, making all sail for Nepean Bay westward, sighted the
leading ship in Investigator Strait. But Baudin did not wait even then.
He kept Le Geographe on her course, under a full head of sail, without
permitting the Casuarina to come up and report, or inquiring after the
success of her work. The two ships soon lost sight of each other. Next
day Baudin, evidently realising the enormity of his folly, veered round,
and returned to Nepean Bay. But as the Casuarina had kept on westward
during the night, in a frantic endeavour to catch her leader, the two
vessels crossed far apart and out of vision. They did not meet again for
fourteen days, when both lay at anchor in King George's Sound.
It is not wonderful that Freycinet confessed that he was "astonished" at
Baudin's manoeuvres. They were scarcely those of a rational being, to say
nothing of a commander responsible for the safety of two ships and the
lives of their people. The company on the smaller vessel endured severe
privations. They were reduced to a ration of three ounces of biscuit per
man per day, and to a mere drink of water; and the ship herself sustained
such severe damage from heavy seas that, said Freycinet, had he been
delayed a few hours in reaching King George's Sound, he would have been
compelled to run her ashore to prevent her from foundering. "Judge of the
horror of my position," he wrote, and he certainly did not exaggerate
when he used that term; for the coast along which he ran for safety is
one of the most hopelessly barren in the whole world, offering to a
stranded mariner neither sustenance, shelter, nor means of deliverance.
The only feature of much interest pertaining to the geographical work of
the expedition in the region of the gulfs, is the high opinion formed by
Peron of Port Lincoln--called Port Champagny on the Terre Napoleon
charts. The port has not played a large part in the subsequent
development of Australia, but Flinders, who discovered it and named it
after the chief town of his native county, and the French of Baudin's
expedition, who were the second people to enter it, thought very highly
of its beauty and value. Peron spoke of it as a "magnificent port," in
which all the navies of Europe could float, and concluded two pages of
description with the words: "Worthy rival of Port Jackson, Port Lincoln
is, in all respects, one of the finest in the world; and of all those
which we have discovered [yet they had not discovered a single port of
any kind!], whether to the south, the west, or the north of New Holland,
it appears to be, I repeat, the best adapted to receive a European
colony." After many years of settlement, Port Lincoln boasts of fewer
than a thousand inhabitants; for though the glowing language of
admiration concerning its beauty and convenience written by Flinders and
Peron were fully justified, a back country too arid to support a large
population has prevented it from attaining to great importance among the
harbours of Australia. To the student of the history of exploration,
however, Port Lincoln is interesting even beyond the measure of its
beauty; for there, in 1841, Sir John Franklin, then governor of Tasmania,
erected at his own cost a monument to the honour of Flinders, his old
commander, from whom he imbibed that passion for exploration which was in
due time to place his own name imperishably amongst the glorious company
of great English seamen.
Peron himself experienced the cross-grained temper of the commander
during the visit of the ships to Sharks Bay. This was the scene of
Dampier's descent upon the Western Australian coast in 1699, in the
rickety little Roebuck. It was here that his men dined off sharks' flesh,
and "took care that no waste should be made of it, but thought it, as
things stood, good entertainment."* The bay received from Dampier, on
account of the feast, the name it has ever since borne. (* Dampier's men
were unprejudiced in matters of gastronomy, but their taste in fish was
not to their discredit. Shark's flesh, especially when young, is, there
is reason to believe, excellent eating. During some weeks in a recent
summer, when what we may term "orthodox" fish was scarce, a fashionable
Australian sea-side hotel was regularly supplied with young
shark--"gummy"--by a fisherman, for whose veracity the author can vouch.
Neither proprietor, chef, nor guests knew what it was, and all were well
fed and happy.)
Some of the French sailors who had been ashore returned in a wild state
of alarm on account of giants whom they professed to have seen--men of
extraordinary strength and stature, they reported, with long black
beards, armed with enormous spears and shields, who ran at a furious
pace, brandishing their weapons and giving utterance to fearful yells.
"However extravagant these assertions might appear," said the incredulous
naturalist, "it was necessary to collect precise information on the
subject." The scientific Ulysses regarded the reputed Cyclops with a
calculating scepticism. Had Polyphemus been at hand, Peron would have
politely requested him to permit himself to be weighed and measured, and
would have written an admirable monograph on his solitary optic.
There were, he considered, some reasons for thinking that a race of men
of heroic proportions inhabited this western part of the continent. The
Dutch captain, Vlaming, in 1697, had reported finding gigantic human
footprints upon the banks of the Swan River, near where the city of Perth
now stands; and two of Baudin's officers, whose names were not Munchausen
and Sindbad but Heirisson and Moreau, declared that they also had
observed the same phenomena at the same place. Peron set down these
stories to the exaggerative distortion of lovers of the marvellous, "of
whom we counted some amongst us." But when the sailors came scampering
back to the ship with the tale that they had actually seen the giants and
been pursued by them, the naturalist began to think that there was
probably some ground for the belief. At all events, he determined to go
and see for himself.
He requested Baudin to send a few armed men ashore with him, but was
rudely refused. Not to be thwarted in continuing his researches in so
favourable a place, Peron determined to make use of a couple of days
during which a furnace was to be erected for extracting salt from the sea
by evaporation--the ship's supply having been depleted--to run the risk
of an excursion on his own account; whereupon Petit, one of the artists,
and Guichenot, one of the gardeners, resolved to accompany him.
The adventurous three were soon favoured with a visit from a troop of
aboriginals, who, though by no means giants, were certainly formidable
foes. There were forty of them, all armed with spears. Peron and his
companions, to defend themselves, had only a musket and a pair of
pistols. The savages, terrible fellows, advanced with "clameurs terribles
et menacantes." Retreat for the Frenchmen was impossible. A show of
courage was the best policy; and the three, one of whom, Petit, had been
"plein de terreur" when the blacks first made their appearance, put on a
bold front and marched forward "avec assurance a leur rencontre." This
bold tactical manoeuvre met with its deserved reward. The savages were
visibly disconcerted. One of them made signs of invitation to a parley,
but Peron considered it to be hazardous for one of the three to isolate
himself from his companions. The trio continued to advance, resolved to
sell their lives dearly if die they must. Such unexpected audacity threw
the blacks into a state of uncertainty, and, after deliberating for a few
moments, they turned their backs and went away, though slowly, and
without the appearance of fear or disorder. Peron, Petit, and Guichenot,
"to give the aboriginals a higher idea of our confidence and our
courage," did not halt in their advance, but marched in the track of the
retreating forty, who climbed to the height of a steep cliff and there
continued to yell and gesticulate as though desiring to have conference
with one of the white men. "After having responded for some time with
similar cries and gestures"--Ulysses defying Polyphemus will recur to the
mind--Peron and his companions concluded this signal display of coolness
and daring by quietly walking back and proceeding on their journey
inland. They were not pursued nor further molested.
Cool vision detracted from the gigantic stature of the Sharks Bay blacks
as effectually as a cool demeanour disposed of the danger from them. The
tallest man among them Peron declared to be no more than five feet four
or five inches in height, and most of the forty were small sized,
thin-limbed, and of feeble appearance. It is easy to perceive in this
incident, where a disposition to exaggerate looking through the lens of
fear, magnified a group of slight and slender savages into terrific
giants, how many a legend has come to birth. The original sons of Anak
would probably have been severely shortened of their inches had a Peron
been available to bring illusion promptly to the test of measurement, and
perhaps a scientific Jack the Giant Killer could have done deadly
execution with a foot-rule.* (* It may be noted that Peron's researches
regarding the physical proportions and capacities of savage races aroused
much interest in France. The Moniteur of April 25 and June 23, 1808,
published two long articles on "the physical force of savage people,"
founded upon Peron's writings and his records of comparative dynamometric
data.)
The three adventurers suffered far more severely from the heat of the sun
and the fatigues of working among thick bush and sand than from the
natives of the country. They made a fine collection of specimens, and,
congratulating themselves on their success, endeavoured to make their way
back to the boat. But they soon realised that they were "bushed"--a term
familiar enough to those who are acquainted with the story of Australian
inland exploration. The country was covered with thick scrub, through
which they endeavoured to make their way. The afternoon sun poured down a
pitiless flood of heat, the white, glaring sand burnt their feet, the air
in the Bush was stifling. It was as though they were walking through
furnaces; and there were no spreading trees to relieve the ordeal by a
touch of shade. They at length regained the shore, and trudged along the
soft, hot sand; when Peron, exhausted after a walk of three hours, was
compelled to throw aside the greater part of the collection which he had
made at the expense of so much painful labour. Shortly afterwards
Guichenot fell to the ground exhausted by hunger, thirst, and fatigue,
and begged his companions to leave him there to die while they
endeavoured to save themselves. Peron remembered a passage he had read in
Cook's voyages about the reviving effect of a plunge in sea-water; and he
and Petit tried it by wading in up to their necks. They assisted
Guichenot to do the same, and revived him sufficiently to enable him to
continue the weary march. The sun set; a breeze sprang up; and soon the
three travellers saw with joy the smoke of a fire which had been lighted
as a guide to them. They staggered on, and at last all three fell
fainting in sight of their companions, who hurried forward to relieve
them.
There is nothing incredible in Peron's narrative of the sufferings of
himself and his companions on this excursion. It is not surprising to one
with a knowledge of the local conditions. The exertions they had made
should have earned them commendation, or at least compassion, from the
commandant. But Baudin's view was censorious. Three times during the
evening a gun had been fired from the ship as a signal to the boat to
return. The officer in charge of the shore party considered that it would
be unjustifiable to leave until the three travellers returned, and
trusted that this explanation would be accepted as excusing the delay. A
sea fog now prevented the boat from returning forthwith; but the sailors
had neither food nor water to give to the parched and famished
unfortunates. When at last they did reach the ship, they had been for
forty hours without sup or sip; they were prostrate from sheer weakness;
and Peron himself was reduced to the extremity that his leathern tongue
refused to articulate. The commandant was the only man aboard who had no
pity to spare for their misery. Baudin actually fined the officer in
charge of the boat ten francs for every gun fired, because he had not
obeyed the return signal, and for not "abandoning all three." "Those were
the very words of our chief," wrote Peron; "and yet I had, to save his
life at Timor, given to his physician part of the small stock of
excellent quinine that I had brought for my own use."
This heartless conduct, taken in conjunction with Baudin's abandonment of
Boullanger on the Tasmanian coast, and his strange behaviour to the
Casuarina after the exploration of the gulfs, leaves one in no doubt as
to his singular deficiency in the qualities essential to the commander of
an expedition of discovery. It was his invariable practice, we also read,
to provision boats engaged on any special service for the bare time that
he meant them to be absent; so many ounces of food and so many pints of
water per man per day, and no more, leaving no margin for accidents,
allowing of no excuse for unavoidable delay. A sensible person would not
provide for a picnic on such principles.
The exploration of the west and north-west coasts was continued till the
end of April, when Baudin decided to go once more to Timor. His intention
was, after refreshing his men and taking in supplies at the Dutch
settlement, to spend some time in the Gulf of Carpentaria and along the
southern shores of New Guinea. On May 6, Kupang harbour was entered for
the second time. There it was learnt that Flinders had called at the port
in the Investigator in April, after having concluded his exploration of
the northern gulf. He had been compelled to relinquish his work owing to
the rotten condition of his ship's timbers, and had sailed back to Port
Jackson. As he had reached the Gulf of Carpentaria by sailing up the
eastern side of the continent, and returned through Torres Strait down
the western coast, and through Bass Strait on the south, Flinders was the
first sailor to accomplish the circumnavigation of Australia, as he had
also been the first to circumnavigate Tasmania.* (* Tasman, in 1642,
sailed from Batavia, in Java, thence to Mauritius, Tasmania, New Zealand,
the Friendly Islands, northern New Guinea, and back to Batavia. This was
a wide circumnavigation of the whole of New Holland; but he did not sight
Australia, and as, of course, he did not go near Bass Strait, he did not
circumnavigate the continent proper.)
Le Geographe and the Casuarina remained at Kupang till June
3--twenty-eight days--enjoying the hospitality of the Dutch. Peron made
several excursions for collecting purposes, and once shot an alligator
nine feet long, which he skinned. He had the hide and head carried down
to the port by Malays on long bamboo poles, this method of conveyance
being necessitated by the superstitious refusal of the natives to touch
even the skin of the dreaded beast. But the labour was to a large extent
wasted, for putrefaction advanced, while the skin was in transit, to such
an extent that all but the head had to be thrown into the sea.
Baudin's plan, after leaving Kupang, was to continue the exploration of
the coasts of Western Australia. But very light breezes, alternating with
calms, prevented substantial progress, and after spending the greater
part of the month ineffectually in traversing only a few leagues, it was
concluded (June 28) that to continue the work in detail from west to east
at that season of the year would merely lead to a futile waste of time.
Here again the logic of facts was required to convince Baudin, who had
previously rejected sound advice that was offered to him, to the effect
that contrary winds would thwart his designs. The winds blow at certain
seasons with steady consistency in these regions, and an experienced
navigator, knowing what he has to expect, makes his plans accordingly.
When Flinders was driven reluctantly to abandon finishing the exploration
of the north coast through the dangerous condition of the Investigator,
he made his way back to Port Jackson by the western route, because,
although it was considerably longer, he thereby secured favourable winds;
and he reached port in safety. If we may judge from his habitual
perversity, Baudin, under similar circumstances, would have taken the
shorter route, regardless of normal conditions, and would have lost his
ship.
Changing his route after much waste of time, Baudin took his vessels
towards the south-west of New Guinea, with the intention of making
investigations there. But again the sailing was for the most part slow,
especially as the Casuarina made very poor progress; and when within a
few leagues from False Cape--called Cape Walshe on the French
charts--circumstances compelled the commander to review his position and
prospects in a serious light. Once more the supply of water was running
short. The ships carried from Kupang sufficient for ninety-five days.
Apart from the necessities of the crew, some had to be spared for the
plants and animals--kangaroos, emus, etc.--which were being carried to
Europe. Thirty-four days had been dawdled away without achieving any
substantial results. For the ultimate return to Mauritius sufficient
water to last forty days must be conserved. Consequently Baudin argued
that he could not by any possibility afford to remain in these waters
longer than three more weeks; and as in that time not much could be done,
he determined to return home at once. His decision gave pleasure to his
unhappy people; but surely it was that of a man whose heart was not in
his work. No attempt was made to send parties ashore to search for fresh
water. When Flinders ran short, and did not come across a convenient
spring or stream, he dug and found water, as at Port Lincoln; and a very
experienced traveller has observed that "in nearly all parts of Australia
it is usually found a few feet beneath the surface of the ground."* (*
Ward, Rambles of an Australian Naturalist page 109.)
But there were other reasons which conduced to create in Baudin that
depression which is inimical to the protracted pursuit of an allotted
task. Sickness once more laid its hand upon the crews. The commander
himself was in bad health. The demands upon the resources of the doctors
were so numerous that their medicines became exhausted, and they were
unable to attend satisfactorily to the necessities of a constantly
increasing number of ailing men. Bernier, the astronomer, died before the
order to return was given. He was a young man of great promise--"savant
et laborieux," as Peron wrote of him--whose original work before he
reached full manhood had attracted the notice of Lalande. Selected by the
Institute to fill a scientific post with the expedition, he did excellent
work, and his death cut short a career that gave indications of being
brilliant and useful. Cape Bernier, on the east coast of
Tasmania--opposite the southern end of Maria Island--preserves his name.
On July 7 the order was given to turn, and sail for Mauritius. Le
Geographe put into Port Louis on August 7, and the Casuarina, after a
very rough voyage, reached the harbour five days later.
Baudin, whose illness had continued throughout the voyage, died while his
ships lay at Mauritius, on September 16. His death had been expected for
some time before it occurred, and if there was little surprise at the
event, it is pathetic to observe that there was as little regret. Not a
word of sympathy appeared in the studiously frigid terms in which the
decease of the commander was chronicled in the official history of the
voyage. Not a syllable was used expressing appreciation of any qualities
which he may have possessed, either as an officer or a man. After curtly
mentioning his illness, Peron recorded the death and burial in two
sentences sterile of emotion. He showed more regret when he had to throw
away the skin of the alligator which he shot at Timor, than when
mentioning the death of one who had been his chief for three years.
"Finally the last moment arrived; and on September 16, 1803, at about
mid-day, M. Baudin ceased to exist. On the 17th he was buried with the
honours due to the rank he had occupied in the navy; all the officers and
savants of the expedition assisted at the funeral, which was also
attended by the principal authorities of the colony." That is all. Had it
been Peron's manner to record the deaths of the companions of his voyage
with such barren brevity, there would be nothing in the passage to excite
comment. But when a sailor fell overboard we were told what an excellent
and laborious man he was, and how much he was regretted; the death of
Bernier called forth an appropriate sentence of eulogy; when Depuch, the
mineralogist died, we were properly informed that he was as much esteemed
for his modesty and the goodness of his heart as for the extent and
variety of his knowledge. The contrast between these instances and the
summary plainness of the statement when Baudin's end was mentioned,
cannot escape notice; any more than we can mistake the meaning of the
consistent suppression of his name throughout the text of the volumes.
Attention has to be directed to this display of animosity because, in
bare justice to Baudin, we have to remember that the only story of the
expedition which we have is that written by Peron and Freycinet, who were
plainly at enmity with him. If the facts were as related by them, Baudin
was not only an absurdly obstinate and ungenial captain, but we are left
with grave doubts as to his competency as a navigator on service of this
description. Yet even facts, when detailed by those who hate a man, take
a different colouring from the same facts set down by the man himself,
with his reasons for what he did. We have no material for forming an
opinion from Baudin's point of view. If his manuscript journals are
capable of throwing fresh light on the events concerned, their
publication, if they remain in existence, would be welcome. All that at
present we can set against the hard, unsympathetic view of the man as we
see him in the pages written by Peron and revised by Freycinet, is his
conduct and correspondence in relation to Governor King at Port Jackson;
and there he appears as a gentleman of agreeable manners, graceful
expression, and ready tact. We do not form a lower opinion of him in
consequence of the letter which he wrote in reply to the one delivered by
Acting-Lieutenant Robbins, because there he expressed views imbibed as
almost a part of the atmosphere of the Revolution amidst which he had
been reared. If we had only the Baudin-King correspondence, we should
think him not unworthy to be the successor of La Perouse and
Bougainville. If we had only the Voyage de Decouvertes, we should think
him barely fit to command a canal barge. It may not have been the
happiness of many navigators to enjoy the affection of those under them
to such an eminent degree as did Cook and Flinders; but there are
fortunately latitudes of difference between love and hate. Respect is
often felt to be due when deeper sentiments are not stimulated. The cold
chronicle that the honours appropriate to his rank were paid to Baudin at
his funeral seems very harsh; and one feels that Freycinet, at any rate,
whom Baudin had promoted to the command of the Casuarina, and furnished
with a chance of distinguishing himself, might have sunk his grievances
sufficiently to add a word in praise of at least some virtue which we may
hope that the dead captain possessed.
Baudin wrote a letter from King Island to Jussieu which indicated that
the experience had been an unhappy one for him.* (* The letter was
printed in the Moniteur, 22nd Fructidor, Revolutionary Year 11 (September
9, 1803). Baudin's death was recorded in the Moniteur on 13th Germinal,
Revolutionary Year 12 (April 3, 1804).) "I have never made so painful a
voyage," he said. "More than once my health has been impaired, but if I
can terminate the expedition conformably to the intentions of the
Government and to the satisfaction of the French nation, there will
remain little to desire, and my sufferings will soon be forgotten." To a
very large extent Baudin must be held responsible for the misfortunes and
failures attending his command, but it is an act of justice to clear him
from aspersions that have been made upon him for things that occurred
after his death. He had nothing whatever to do with the imprisonment of
Flinders, for which he has been blamed by writers who have not looked
into the literature of the subject sufficiently to be aware that he was
dead at the time; nor was he in any way connected with the issue of the
Terre Napoleon maps, with which his name has also been associated.
General Decaen, Napoleon's newly appointed governor, arrived at the
island eight days after Le Geographe, and at once began to administer
affairs upon new lines of policy. A little later the French admiral,
Linois, with a fleet of frigates, entered port. On the death of Baudin,
Linois directed that the Casuarina should be dismantled, and appointed
Captain Milius to the command of Le Geographe, with instructions to take
her home as soon as her sick crew recovered and she had been
revictualled. Peron, as has already been explained, had some conversation
with Decaen, imparting to him the conclusion he had formulated relative
to the secret intentions of the British for the augmentation of their
possessions in the Pacific and Indian Oceans; but there is no record that
Decaen saw Baudin, who was probably too ill to attend to affairs in the
period between the general's arrival and his own death. It is hardly
likely that Baudin, who, from his intimacy with King, knew more about
British policy than the naturalist did, would have supported Peron's
excited fancies.
Le Geographe sailed from Mauritius on December 15, and reached Europe
without the occurrence of any further incidents calling for comment. She
entered the port of Lorient on March 24, 1804. Captain Milius decided not
to make for Havre, whence the expedition had sailed in 1800, in
consequence of what had happened to Le Naturaliste on her return to
Europe in the previous year. War was declared by the British Government
against France in May, and every captain in King George's navy was alert
and eager to get in a blow upon the enemy. The frigate Minerva, Captain
Charles Buller, sighted Le Naturaliste in the Channel, stopped her, and
insisted, despite her passport, on taking her into Portsmouth. She was
detained there from May 27 till June 6, when the Admiralty, being
informed of what had occurred, ordered her immediate release. She left
Portsmouth and arrived at Havre on the same day, June 6, 1803.
Perhaps nothing can convey more effectually the utter weariness and
depression of officers, staff, and crew, than the language in which
Freycinet chronicled the return. It might be supposed, he wrote, that the
end of the voyage would be heralded with joy. But they were themselves
surprised to find that they were but slightly touched with pleasure at
seeing again the shores of their own country after so long an absence.
"It might be said that the very sight of our ship, recalling too strongly
the sufferings of which we had been the victims, poisoned all our
affections. It was not until we were far away from the coast that our
souls could expand to sentiments of happiness which had been so long
strangers to us."
This, surely, was not the language of men who believed that they had
accomplished things for which the world would hold them in honour. It was
not the language of triumphant discoverers, whose good fortune it had
been to reveal unknown coasts, and to finish that complete map of the
continents which had been so long a-making. Would it, one wonders, have
made Freycinet a little happier had he known that at this very time the
English navigator who had made the discoveries for which Baudin's
expedition was sent out, was held in the clutch of General Decaen in
Mauritius, and that the way was clear to hurry on the publication of
forestalling maps and records whilst Flinders was, as it were, battened
under hatches?