BY JAMES B. WALKKB. 105 



familiar in our mouths as household words, — Bruny 

 Islaiid, D'Kiirreciisfoaux Channel, RcH-herclie Bay, P»»rt 

 Esperance, I?ivor llnon. Cape Raoul, and others, — stand 

 a ])erpetnal nionnnient to the memory of the French navi- 

 gators. 



And now, at length, English explorers appear upon the 

 scene. In 1794, Lieut. John Hayes, of the Indian navy, 

 was des))atched from India in the ships Duke of Clarence 

 and Duchess on a voyage of discovery, including the 

 exploration of the coasts of Van Dienien's Land. Pie 

 sailed up the Riviei'e du Nord — which he re-christened 

 the Dervvent — as far as Herdsman's Cove. As the 

 a<liMirable cliarts of D'Entrecasteaux were unknown to the 

 ]']n^•lish until long veai's after, it was on Haves' sketch Fimaers' intio,, 

 that subsequent visitoi's had to rely, and in many cases 

 the name.-; he gave have been substituted for those given 

 by the Fre,nch. 



In December, 1797, l.iie adventurous Bass, leaving 

 Port Jackson in an open whaleboat, had solved the vexed 

 problem ol the strait which bears the name a)id immortalises 

 the intrepid daring of its discoverer ; and late in the year 

 1798, Bass ;ind Fhnders, in the Norfolh, a litth.^ slot)p of 

 25 tons, sailed through Bass' Strait, explored Port Dai- 

 ry iiijde, circumnavigated Tasnnuiia, an<l made a careful 

 examination and survey of the Dej'went and its approaches 

 and neighbourhood. 



On the 19th October, 1800, when Bonaparte was First 

 Ctuisul, an expeilition, con^^isting of two shi))s, the (rlo- 

 fjTdplie and Nat ii rat hie, sailed out of Havre, amidst great 

 demonstrations, for a voyage of discovery round the world. 

 Commodore Baudin, in the Gvotjraphe, was chief of the 

 expedition; Captain Hamelin commanded (lie NutaraHste. 

 Although fierce war was raging at the time between the 

 two nations, the English Admii'alty granted a ])assport or 

 safe conduct to Baudin, on the ground that scientific 

 ex))Hditi(;ns should he exempt fi'om hostilitiv's. Notwith- 

 standino" these courtesies of the Euiflish (iovernment to 

 the Fiench commandor, it was sJu'ewdly suspected that 

 the real design of the expedition was to spy out the state 

 of the l'2iiglish |io.ssessious in ?'*ew Holland, and, if 

 practic^ible, hoist llio standard of Bonajjarte at some cou- 

 ve-'iiciit point of the coa.it and establish a French cLdmiy. RiUntmrgb, 

 Certain it is that Baudin's instructions — aft(M-\vanU jmb- uu^MiVnTiiu^.^^r 

 ll-hc I in Pi'ron's account of the voyage — give colour to ''"'''1'''''"P'»'-3. 



