192 
A VOYAGE TO 
[South Coast. 
It is said by M. Peron, and upon my authority too, that the Inves- 
tigator had not been able to penetrate behind the Isles of St. Peter 
and St. Francis ; and though he doth not say directly, that no part 
of the before unknown coast was discovered by me, yet the whole 
tenor of his Chap. XV induces the reader to believe that I had done 
nothing which could interfere with the prior claim of the French. 
Yet M. Peron was present afterwards at Port Jackson, when I 
showed one of my charts of this coast to captain Baudin, and pointed 
out the limits of his discovery ; and so far from any prior title being 
set up at that time to Kanguroo Island and the parts westward, the 
officers of the Geographe always spoke of them as belonging to the 
Investigator. The first lieutenant, Mons. Freycinet, even made use 
of the following odd expression, addressing himself to me in the 
house of governor King, and in the presence of one of his compa- 
" riere les lies St. Pierre et St. Fran§ois ; que, lors de son depart d'Angleterre," &c. 
p. 324, 325. 
" En nous foumissant tous ces details, M. Flinders se montra d'une grande reserve 
" sur ses operations particulieres. Nous apprlmes toutefois par quelques-uns de ses 
" matelots, qu'il avoit eu beaucoup a souffrir de ces memes vents de la partie du Sud qui 
" nous avoient ete si favorables, et ce fut alors sur-tout que nous primes appr^cier davan- 
" tage toute la sagesse de nos propres instructions. Apres avoir converse plus d'une heure 
" avec nous" (no person except Mr. Brown was present at my conversation with cap- 
" tain Baudin, as I have already said), le capitaine Flinders repartit pour son bord, 
" promettant de revenir le lendemain matin nous apporter une carte particuliere de la 
tC riviere Dalrymple, qu'il venait de publier en Angleterre. II revint en effet, le 9 avril, 
" nous la remettre, et bientot apres nous le quittames pour reprendre la suite de nos tra- 
" vaux geographiques." p. 325. 
" L'ile principale de ce dernier groupe" (their Archipel Berthier) se dessine sous la 
" forme d'un immense hama§on." (Thistle's Island seems to be here meant.) " Inde- 
*' pendamment de toutes ces lies, il en existe encore plus de vingt autres diss^minees 
" aux environs de la pointe occidentale du golfe et en dehors de son entree : chacune 
l< d'elles fut designee par un de ces noms honorables dont notre patrie s'enorgueillit a 
" juste titre." p. 327- 
Voyage de Decouverte aux Terres Australes, r^dige par M. F. Peron, 
Naturaliste de l'expedition, fyc. Paris, 1807. 
1802. 
April. 
Friday 9 
