378 THE DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA 



their wages ! " So, with light hearts in sick bodies, 

 the French sailed the long coast of New Guinea, which 

 seemed " an everlasting chain of islands." In fact, Bou- 

 gainville formed the opinion that " all New Guinea itself 

 is a heap of great islands." At length he found a passage 

 which he called " the French passage," and made his way 

 to the little Dutch factory at Boero, and obtained refresh- 

 ment. It was full time. Not a man was free from scurvy. 

 Half the crews were unable to do duty. ; ' If we had 

 kept the sea another week, we should have lost great 

 numbers, and all would have fallen sick." 



A square Boero was next best to Tahiti. The Dutch Governor's 

 meal at duty was to explain that he was expressly forbidden to 

 receive foreign ships into port. But he accepted Bougain- 

 ville's plea of urgent necessity, and invited him to a supper, 

 which was " one of the most delightful moments " of his 

 life. The Hollanders, he says, were so amazed by the French 

 hunger, that " none of them durst eat anything for fear 

 of wronging us. One must have been a sailor, and reduced 

 to the extremities which we had felt for several months 

 together, in order to form an idea of the sensations which 

 the sight of greens and a good supper may produce." 

 At Batavia, The passage to Batavia was one of the most difficult 

 Sept. 1768. p ar t s o f the voyage. The Dutch refused information, 

 and " took the greatest precaution to keep their charts 

 secret," while the French charts were " more proper to 

 cause the loss of ships than to guide them." However, 

 the French arrived ; and Bougainville's opinion was that 

 the Dutch deliberately exaggerated the dangers of the 

 navigation. He anchored in Batavia in September, 1768. 

 The people of Batavia tried to make the Frenchmen's 

 stay agreeable. There were feasts in town and country, 

 concerts, and charming walks. Bougainville was not 

 ungrateful, but it was the duty of a French patriot to 

 say what advantages might be gained by his country. 

 The His hosts were very wealthy, and they were also very weak, 



weakness of Exclusive commerce had made the Company "more like 



the Dutch. . . 



a powerful republic than a society of merchants ; but 

 " the time is nigh at hand when their monopoly will receive 



