CHAPTER XVII 

 FLINDERS, 1791-1814 



EARLY LIFE AND VOYAGE TO AUSTRALIA IN THE 

 " INVESTIGATOR," 1801-2 



ENTERS NAVY. THE " BELLEROPHON." JOINS THE "PROVIDENCE" UNDER BLIGH. 

 Is THE HISTORIAN OF THE " BREADFRUIT " VOYAGE. REJOINS THE " BELLERO- 

 PHON." THE BREST NAVAL ACTION. MIDSHIPMAN ON THE " RELIANCE." REACHES 

 SYDNEY WITH GOVERNOR HUNTER. FRIENDSHIP WITH SURGEON BASS OF THE 

 " RELIANCE." BASS AND FLINDERS EXPLORE SOUTH COAST IN " TOM THUMB." 

 FLINDERS IN THE " RELIANCE " TO CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, FOR CATTLE TO STOCK 

 THE COLONY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. BASS IN A WHALEBOAT TO WESTERN PORT. 

 SHIPS " FRANCIS " AND " ELIZA " DISPATCHED TO WRECK OF " SYDNEY COVE " 

 AT FURNEAUX ISLANDS. TOTAL LOSS OF THE " ELIZA." FLINDERS ON THE 

 " FRANCIS." THE KENT ISLANDS. FLINDERS AND BASS, IN THE " NORFOLK," 

 CIRCUMNAVIGATE TASMANIA. FLINDERS, IN THE " NORFOLK," SAILS NORTH TO 

 MORETON AND HERVEY BAYS. RETURNS TO ENGLAND IN THE " RELIANCE." 

 GIVEN THE COMMAND OF THE " INVESTIGATOR." His MARRIAGE. Is REFUSED 

 PERMISSION TO TAKE HIS WIFE WITH HIM. SAILS FOR SYDNEY. His PROVISIONS 

 FOR FOOD SUPPLY AND SANITATION. ROUND THE LEEUWIN. COAST FROM 

 LEEUWIN TO FOWLER'S BAY ALREADY KNOWN. FLINDERS SURVEYS FOWLER'S BAY. 

 CAPE CATASTROPHE. BOAT'S CREW DROWNED. KANGAROO ISLAND. SPENCER'S 

 GULF EXPLORED AND CHARTED. SlTE OF ADELAIDE. EASTWARD. BAUDIN, IN 

 THE " GEOGRAPHE," MET IN ENCOUNTER BAY. " GEOGRAPHE " HAD COME 

 THROUGH BASS STRAIT. EXCHANGE OF COURTESIES. FLINDERS TO KlNG ISLAND 

 AND CAPE SCHANCK. ENTERS PORT PHILLIP, BUT THE DlSCOVERY OF THE SlTE 

 OF MELBOURNE HAD ALREADY BEEN MADE BY CAPTAIN GRANT IN THE " LADY 

 NELSON." ARRIVES AT SYDNEY. A CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH. TEMPORARY 

 PEACE WITH FRANCE. THE " NATURALISTS " AND " GEOGRAPHE " IN PORT 

 JACKSON. 



NO attempt to estimate the value of the contribution made 

 by Matthew Flinders to the geography of Torres Strait 

 and the Cape York Peninsula would be complete without 

 a relation of the circumstances which led to his visiting 

 that part of the world and the events which followed, and which 

 put a tragic end to his career. The story is taken in the main from 

 his own work on Terra Australis l and the atlas issued with it ; but 

 there is an immense mass of other documents, both French and 

 English, to be carefully considered. Indeed, in a biography 

 brimful of touching human interest the chief difficulty of a writer 



1 A Voyage to Terra Australis, undertaken for the Purpose of Completing the 

 Discovery of that Vast Country, and prosecuted in the Years 1801, 1802 and 1803, in 

 His Majesty's Ship the " Investigator." 2 vols., 4to. London, G. and W. Nicol, Book- 

 seller to His Majesty, 1814. 



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