106 FRENCH IN VAN DIEMEN's LAND. 



the belief. Tliey direct the oaptuin to proceed direct 

 from the Mani'itins to tlie southern ])oint of the Terre de 

 Diemen, doublo the 8outii (."aj)e, carefully exauiine the 

 Canal D'l'jUtrecasteaux in every ))art, ascend all the rivers 

 in this portion of the island as i'ar as they were navigable, 

 explore all the eastern coast, carefully survey Banks' 

 Straits, sail through Bass' Strait, and after exploring 

 Hunter's Islands, ])r()cced to the continent of New 

 Holland and searcii Ibr tiie <4reat strait which was sup- 

 posed to separate the eastern j)art occupied by the 

 Enghsh, froni the western portion claimed hy the Dutch. 

 All this certainly looks very like some further object tiiau 

 geogra])hieal discovery. The French expedition doubtless 

 stirred the English to renewed activity, and through the 

 influence of Sir Joseph Banks, Earl Spencer (then at the 

 head of the Admiralty) consented, earlv in ISO', to 



Fiin.ici-s, i., II. 4. despatcii the Investiyaior, a sloop of 334 tuns, to niak(» 

 a com])lete survey of the coast of New li(dia;id. 'I'hc 

 command was given to Lieut. Matthew Flindi-is, who had 

 already distinguished himself by some daring explorations 

 in company with Dr. George Bass : and am]>ly did he 



ihai, p. 15. justify his ajtjiointnient. The shi])"s complement was 88 

 l)ersons, amongst whom served, as a mitlshipman, John 

 Franklin, afterwards destined, as Sir John Franklin, to 

 become the Governor of Tasnjania, and to die in solving 

 the problem of the iSorth-West Passage. The Investigator 

 sailed from Spithead on the 18th July, 1801, and sighted 

 Cajje Leenwin on Gth December following. iMeuntimo 

 Commodon* Bandin, deviating from his insti'iictions, had 

 gone to the wcjstern coast of Australia, and it wa> not until 



Peron,i.,p.2i8. the 13th January, 1802, that he sighted the De Witts 

 Islands (known to our fishermen as " The Witches "), ofi" 

 the south coast of thi«! island. The French commander 

 anchored next day off Partridgo Island, in the ('hannel ; 

 remained there until the I7tli February — 3() days; 

 0(;cupied the warm summer season in making a very 

 complete examinaii(jn and survey of the Channel, the 

 River Huon and i'ort Cygnet, Frederick Henry and 

 Norfolk Bays, and exploring the Derwent carefully nearly 

 as far as Bridgewater. The French had nniny intervi('ws 

 with the natives, doing everything in their jtower to con- 



nnd, I.I..21H. ciliate them, and with complete success. Peron, the 

 naturalist, who wrot<! the history of the expedition, 

 devotes nearly KMJ pages of his first volume! to Van 



