Terre Napoleón

Chapter 1. Flinders and the Investigator.

The Investigator at Kangaroo Island. Thoroughness of Flinders' work. His aims and methods. His explorations; the theory of a Strait through Australia. Completion of the map of the continents. A direct succession of great navigators: Cook, Bligh, Flinders, and Franklin. What Flinders learnt in the school of Cook: comparison between the healthy condition of his crew and the scurvy-stricken company on the French vessels.

Chapter 2. the Affair of Encounter Bay.

Meeting of the Investigator and Le Geographe in Encounter Bay. Flinders cautious. Interview of the two captains. Peron's evidence. The chart of Bass Strait. Second interview: Baudin inquisitive. Baudin's account of his explorations.

Chapter 3. Port Phillip.

Conflict of evidence between Baudin, Peron, and Freycinet as to whether the French ships had sighted Port Phillip. Baudin's statement corroborated by documents. Examination of Freycinet's statement. The impossibility of doing what Peron and Freycinet asserted was done.

Chapter 4. Terre Napoleon and Its Nomenclature.

Imprisonment of Flinders in Mauritius. The French atlas of 1807. The French charts and the names upon them. Hurried publication. The allegation that Peron acted under pressure. Freycinet's explanations. His failure to meet the gravest charge. Extent of the actual discoveries of Baudin, and nature of the country discovered. The French names in current use on the so-called Terre Napoleon coasts. Difficulty of identifying features to which Baudin applied names. Freycinet's perplexities. The new atlas of 1817.

Chapter 5. Did the French Use Flinders' Charts?

Assertions commonly made as to French plagiarism of Flinders' charts. Lack of evidence to support the charges. General Decaen and his career. The facts as to Flinders' charts. The sealed trunks. The third log-book and its contents; detention of it by Decaen, and the reasons for his conduct. Restoration of Flinders' papers, except the log-book and despatches. Do Freycinet's charts show evidence of the use of Flinders' material? How did the French obtain their chart of Port Phillip? Peron's report to Decaen as to British intentions in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and the effect on his mind. Liberation of Flinders. Capture of Mauritius by the British. English naval officers and the governor. Later career of Decaen.

Chapter 6. the Motives of Bonaparte.

Did Bonaparte desire to establish French colonial dominions in Australia? The case stated.

CHAPTER 7. GENESIS OF BAUDIN'S EXPEDITION.

Baudin's one of a series of French expeditions. The building up of the map of Australia. Early map-makers. Terra Australis. Dutch navigators. Emmerie Mollineux's map. Tasman and Dampier. The Petites Lettres of Maupertuis. De Brosses and his Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes. French voyages that originated from it. Bougainville; Marion-Dufresne; La Perouse; Bruni Dentrecasteaux. Voyages subsequent to Baudin's. The object of the voyages scientific and exploratory. The Institute of France and its proposition. Received by Bonaparte with interest. Bonaparte's interest in geography and travel. His authorisation of the expedition. The Committee of the Institute and their instructions. Fitting out of the expedition. Le Geographe and Le Naturaliste. The staff. Francois Peron. Captain Nicolas Baudin.

Chapter 8. Exodus of the Expedition.

The passports from the English Government. Sailing of the expedition. French interest in it. The case of Ah Sam. Baudin's obstinacy. Short supplies. The French ships on the Western Australian coast. The Ile Lucas and its name. Refreshment at Timor. The English frigate Virginia. Baudin sails south. Shortage of water. The French in Tasmania. Peron among the aboriginals. The savage and the boat. Among native women. A question of colour. Separation of the ships by storm. Baudin sails through Bass Strait, and meets Flinders. Scurvy. Great storms and intense suffering. Le Geographe at Port Jackson.

Chapter 9. Port Jackson and King Island.

Le Naturaliste at Sydney. Boullanger's boat party. Curious conduct of Baudin. Le Naturaliste sails for Mauritius, but returns to Port Jackson. Re-union of Baudin's ships. Hospitality of Governor King. Peron's impressions of the British settlement. Morand, the banknote forger. Baudin shows his charts and instructions to King. Departure of the French ships. Rumours as to their objects. King's prompt action. The Cumberland sent after them. Acting Lieutenant Robbins at King Island. The flag incident. Baudin's letters to King. His protestations. Views on colonisation. Le Naturaliste sails for Europe.

Chapter 10. Return of the Expedition.

Le Geographe sails for Kangaroo Island. Exploration of the two gulfs in the Casuarina by Freycinet. Baudin's erratic behaviour. Port Lincoln. Peron among the giants. A painful excursion. Second visit to Timor. Abandonment of north coast exploration. Baudin resolves to return home. Voyage to Mauritius. Death of Baudin. Treatment of him by Peron and Freycinet. Return of Le Geographe. Depression of the staff and crew.

Chapter 11. Results.

Establishment of the First Empire. Reluctance of the French Government to publish a record of the expedition. Report of the Institute. The official history of the voyage authorised. Peron's scientific work. His discovery of Pyrosoma atlanticum. Other scientific memoirs. His views on the modification of species. Geographical results. Freycinet's charts.

Chapter 12. Conclusions and Consequences.

Further consideration of Napoleon's purposes. What Australia owes to British sea power. Influence of the Napoleonic wars. Fresh points relative to Napoleon's designs. Absence of evidence. Consequences of suspicions of French intentions. Promotion of settlement in Tasmania. Tardy occupation of Port Phillip. The Swan River Settlement. The Westernport scheme. Lord John Russell's claim of "the Whole" of Australia for the British. The designs of Napoleon III. Australia the nursling of sea power.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

INDEX.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS.

LE GEOGRAPHE AND LE NATURALISTE. From the drawing in Freycinet's Atlas of 1807.

MAP OF NEW HOLLAND (AUSTRALIA). From Freycinet's Atlas of 1807.

ADMIRALTY CHART OF ENTRANCE TO PORT PHILLIP.

TRACK CHART OF LE GEOGRAPHE. From Freycinet's Atlas of 1812.

MAP OF TERRE NAPOLEON. From Freycinet's Atlas of 1807.

FRENCHMAN'S ROCK, KANGAROO ISLAND. From a photograph by Mr. Alfred Searcy, Harbourmaster, South Australia.

GENERAL CHARLES DECAEN. After the portrait in the Library at Caen.

CAPTAIN NICOLAS BAUDIN. From an engraving.

FRANCOIS PERON. From the drawing by Lesueur.

TITLE-PAGE OF FREYCINET'S ATLAS OF CHARTS, 1812.

COMPARATIVE CHRONOLOGY.

1602. Abel Tasman born.

1603. Death of Queen Elizabeth.

1606. Voyage of Quiros; finding and naming of Austrialia del Espiritu Santo.

1606. First charter to the Virginia Company.

1620. Pilgrim Fathers found colony of New Plymouth.

1642. Tasman's first voyage; discovery of Tasmania.

1643. Death of Louis XIII.

1644. Tasman's second voyage; exploration of northern Australia.

1649. Execution of Charles I.

1652. Birth of William Dampier.

1655. English conquest of Jamaica.

1658. Death of Oliver Cromwell.

1659. Death of Tasman.

1682. Penn founds Pennsylvania.

1683. The French found Louisiana.

1686 to 1688. Dampier's voyage in the Cygnet; anchorage in Cygnet Bay, Western Australia.

1688. Fall of the Stuart dynasty; accession of William of Orange.

1699. Dampier's voyage in the Roebuck; anchorage in Sharks Bay.

1714. Death of Queen Anne.

1728. Birth of James Cook.

1756. Birth of Nicolas Baudin. De Brosses publishes his Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes.

1759. Wolfe captures Quebec.

1765. Watt's invention of the steam-engine.

1766. Bougainville's voyage to the South Seas.

1768 to 1770. Cook's voyage in the Endeavour; discovery of Botany Bay, Port Jackson, and eastern Australia.

1769. Charles Decaen born.

1769. Birth of Napoleon Bonaparte.

1771. Marion-Dufresne's voyage to Tasmania and New Zealand.

1773. Boston tea riots.

1774. Matthew Flinders born.

1774. Meeting of first American Congress.

1775. Francois Peron born.

1776. Declaration of Independence.

1778 to 1779. Cook's third voyage and death.

1778. Death of Chatham.

1785 to 1788. Voyage of La Perouse; call at Port Jackson.

1788. Founding of New South Wales.

1789. Mutiny of the Bounty.

1789. Washington elected first President of United States. Fall of the Bastille.

1790. Flinders joins the Navy.

1790. Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution.

1791. Vancouver on the western Australian coast. Dentrecasteaux's voyage to Australia. Flinders sails with Bligh's second bread-fruit expedition.

1791. Passing of the Canada Act.

1795. Flinders' first voyage to Australia in the Reliance.

1795. Ceylon surrendered to the British by the Dutch. Establishment of the Institute of France.

1797. Battle of Cape St. Vincent. Battle of Camperdown.

1798. Discovery of Bass Strait and of Westernport by George Bass. Flinders and Bass circumnavigate Tasmania in the Norfolk.

1798. Battle of the Nile. Irish Rebellion.

1799. Bonaparte becomes First Consul of the French Republic.

1800. (May) Bonaparte authorises the despatch of Baudin's expedition. (October) The expedition sails. (December) Grant reaches Port Jackson in the Lady Nelson.

1800. Battle of Marengo.

1801. (May) Baudin's ships reach Australia. (July) Flinders sails from England in the Investigator. (August) Le Geographe reaches Timor. (November) Baudin's ships sail from Timor to Tasmania. (December) The Investigator reaches Australia.

1801. Battle of Copenhagen.

1802. (January) Murray discovers Port Phillip. (February) Flinders discovers Spencer's Gulf; Murray enters Port Phillip. (March) French ships separated by storm. (April) Meeting of Flinders and Baudin in Encounter Bay; Flinders enters Port Phillip. (May) Investigator reaches Port Jackson. (June) Baudin reaches Port Jackson. (July) Flinders sails for Gulf of Carpentaria. (November) French ships leave Sydney. (December) Le Naturaliste sails for Europe; the Cumberland at King Island; Robbins erects the British flag; Le Geographe and Casuarina sail for Kangaroo Island.

1802. Peace of Amiens.

1803. (January) Freycinet in Spencer's and St. Vincent's Gulfs. (June) Le Geographe again at Timor; Le Naturaliste enters Havre; Investigator returns to Port Jackson. (July) Baudin abandons exploration and sails for Mauritius. (August) Flinders wrecked in the Porpoise. Derwent River Settlement formed. (September) Death of Baudin. (December) Flinders calls at Mauritius in the Cumberland; is imprisoned.

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