* The Investigators Home Page

* References and Further Reading

 

Chapter Notes

 

The references to Flinders Voyage and daily Journal or log in these Notes to the end of Chapter 8 are to Volume I of Flinders’ A Voyage To Terra Australis. From Chapter 9 they refer to Volume II unless otherwise stated. The works quoted will be found in the References and Further Reading appendix

AJCP = Australian Joint Copying Project

NLA = National Library of Australia

SLNSW – State Library of New South Wales

 

HMS Investigator by Geoffrey Ingleton (Wikipedia Commons)

 

The references to Flinders Voyage and daily Journal or log in these Notes to the end of Chapter 8 are to Volume I of Flinders’ A Voyage To Terra Australis. From Chapter 9 they refer to Volume II unless otherwise stated. The works quoted will be found in the References and Further Reading appendix

AJCP = Australian Joint Copying Project

NLA = National Library of Australia

SLNSW – State Library of New South Wales

 

Prologue

Silence. I have relied on Dudley Pope’s The Great Gamble: Nelson at Copenhagen especially Chapters 27 and 28, which tells the story with understanding from both sides. Thanks to my friend, Rear Admiral Ken Doolan RAN for having loaned the book, and for his always helpful comments on all things naval in this and following chapters. Pope page 364 quotes Midshipman Millard on Monarch who speaks of the silence apart from the leadsman’s calls as the British ships approached the enemy: ‘A more beautiful and solemn spectacle I never witnessed.’

Agamemnon. Pope pages 361-3, and Nelson’s signal for Polyphemus to take her place in the line of battle. Nelson battle plan in table form pages 349-50, and map page 415 showing the disposition of the opposing ships and batteries. Wikipedia also has a good, though less detailed plan of the battle stations, and some fine paintings done after the event. One picture shows Polyphemus engaging Provesteenen, with Russell and Bellona aground in the mud but still firing. Log of HMS Polyphemus 2 April 1801, the timings given appear to be only approximations. I have in general used Pope’s times for the sequence of events.

John Franklin. My account of John’s movements during the battle are necessarily imagined. As one of the young gentlemen and only a volunteer, I have assumed Captain Lawford would have used him to convey messages during the action. Pope page 354 quotes Midshipman Millard on the mordant humour with the surgeon in the cockpit and the loblolly boys spreading yards of bandages. Also ‘If you don’t handle me tenderly I’ll never forgive you.’ The orlop deck was the lowest occupied deck of a ship, at or below the waterline, but above the storage, ballast and bilges at the very bottom.

Matthew Flinders. Ernest Scott’s masterly The Life of Captain Matthew Flinders has been my principal source on the great navigator with his commentary on the Investigator voyage, see Chapter 4 for The Battle Off Brest (‘The Glorious Frst of June) where his patron Admiral Pasley lost a leg to a cannon ball. Scott gives a comprehensive account of Flinders’ first explorations of the south coast of NSW in Tom Thumb with George Bass, Bass’ voyage in the whaleboat, the circumnavigation of Van Diemen’s Land in the sloop Norfolk, and early expeditions to the north coast of NSW. See also the lengthy Introduction section in Volume 1 of Flinders’ Voyage to Terra Australis.

Jamie Bell. Pope pages 369-70 quotes a letter from midshipman Alexander Nairn describing Bell’s death on Polyphemus, and of his playing the flute before the battle began.

Signal 39. See Pope Chapter 28 for a full account of the famous incident and the damage suffered by the Danish ships. He quotes page 411 from Robert Southey’s biography of Nelson the line with the telescope to his blind eye, ‘I really do not see the signal!’ A few seconds afterwards Nelson is reported to have said, ‘Damn the signal. Keep mine for closer battle flying. That’s the way I answer such signals. Nail mine to the mast.’

Aftermath. Pope page 413 and following, gives a list of the Danish losses. He says page 417 that Nelson’s ‘victory was complete’, and on pages 521-26 lists the damage sustained by each British and Danish ship. On page 520 there are the casualty lists: 476 men killed or Died of Wounds and 559 wounded on the Danish side, 256 dead and 688 wounded on the British.

Dead bodies. H D Traill in his Life of Sir John Franklin RN notes page 14 the ‘deep impression made on young Franklin’s mind’ at the prodigious number of slain men he saw in the ‘remarkably clear water of the harbour.’ Cockpit. Pope quotes Nairn saying the Polyphemus cockpit was full and they slept on the deck.

 

Chapter 1

Henrietta. Daughter of Matthew’s uncle John Flinders, himself a naval lieutenant who advised what books Matthew should study if he wanted to go to sea, Scott pages 16-17. Henrietta was working as a governess for Captain later Admiral Sir Thomas Pasley, and introduced her cousin to him. Pasley was so impressed with the young man he obtained a place in HMS Bellerophon and later on Providence under Captain Bligh on his second voyage to Tahiti to collect breadfruit for the West Indies plantations. Her attachment to Captain Lawford is clear in a letter Matthew wrote to her 10 May 1801, warning her not to set her hopes too high, and also to his father the previous day. ‘I have endeavoured to persuade her to cut the connection, but the happiness or misery of her future life seems so entirely wrapped up in this procrastinated marriage that all argument and almost matters of fact become wind before it’ (Flinders papers). Letter of Thomas Franklin 17 September 1800 makes it clear that ‘Miss Franklin’ (Henrietta) was corresponding to him about the Polyphemus and Captain Lawford. John wrote to his father from Yarmouth Roads 11 March 1801 wanting him to ask Captain Lawford let him join Flinders on Investigator (Sir John Franklin papers).

Prizes. See Polyphemus log 7 April burning of hulks, and 13 April where five wounded men were sent to the Holsteen hospital ship which sailed for England in company with Isis and Monarch. Holsteen was later renamed HMS Holstein and see Wikipedia for dates. I have assumed John returned on Holsteen, as he was certainly at Spilsby when Flinders wrote there on 2 May and he joined Investigator later that month. Polyphemus did not return to Yarmouth until July. The Royal Naval Hospital at Great Yarmouth opened in 1793 and was relocated in 1815, Wikipedia entry. Captain John Lawford. See his Wikipedia entry including the capture of the galleon.

Elsinore. John Franklin letter to his parents, 11 March 1801, Franklin Papers. Allenby letter ibid 25 October 1800. Gold lace and Dirk see Matthew Flinders letter 2 May 1801 and Thomas Franklin letter 17 September 1800 about ‘this nasty clothes-buying business’. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is set in Elsinore Castle. I have assumed John returned home to Spilsby by the mail coaches.

Franklin family. The principal source is Traill’s comprehensive Life of Sir John Franklin pages 1-9. Published in 1895, Traill drew on memoirs from members of the Franklin family including John Booth, Lady Jane Franklin and her niece Sophia Cracroft q.v. Booth includes such details as the whip, the neighbour, John Franklin’s friend William Henry (Booth’s brother), Louth school, the visit to Saltfleet, the voyage to Lisbon, the text of the letter from the neighbourhood friend ‘Amicus’, and the failure of the Franklin’s bank. Willingham Franklin (1779-1824), the second son, became a Supreme Court Justice of Madras in India and was knighted. James (1783-1834) entered the East India Company as a cadet, was elected to the Royal Society as a noted geologist, surveyor, ornithologist and served as a Major with the 1st Bengal Cavalry. Sarah (1788-1816?) was the mother of Emily Sellwood, wife of the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. It was a very distinguished family. Thanks to Max Gibson of Spilsby for his advice and local knowledge; also search Spilsby and Franklin online.

 

Chapter 2

Flinders marriage. Scott E pages 164-70 has a good account of Matthew’s attachment and sudden marriage to Ann Chappelle in April 1801. Flinders letters to Ann from his letterbook Flinders Papers) refer to her as ‘my charming sister’ March 1795, and ‘my dearest friend’ from Sydney April 1799. On his return to England, he assured her he was ‘her most affectionate friend and brother’ September 1800, and after his promotion to Commander he wrote in April 1801 asking for her hand in marriage. There was now not just the possibility but ‘a probability of living [together] with a moderate share of comfort.’ Matthew’s letter to his cousin Henrietta Flinders 10 May describes in detail the response when writing out his Will, the journey by chaise to Spilsby, the wedding at Partney on 17 April and the return to London after having visited Dr Flinders at Donington. The marriage was witnessed by Hannah Franklin, but it’s uncertain whether that was the mother (sister of the second Mrs Flinders) or her daughter of the same name then aged about 23.

Flinders father. Several letters from Matthew to Dr Flinders, make it clear his father disapproved of his marriage to Ann. Matthew informed him of the proposed wedding in a letter of 14 April stating his wish for it ’to be kept as quiet as possible for several reasons.’ In this letter Matthew enclosed a copy of his Will, leaving half his estate to Ann provided she was unmarried at the time of his death: self-evidently it was written before his proposal was accepted. In a letter of 9 May, Ann sent her affectionate regards and respects to Dr and Mrs Flinders, but they were not wholly returned. In a letter of 10 July, Matthew expressed regrethis father seemed to feel ‘my conduct has not been altogether that of a dutiful or at least an affectionate son.’ While a subsequent letter was more acceptable, nevertheless Ann still ‘feels as under your displeasure, which adds to her present uneasiness.’

Old Dr Flinders had a strange mercenary approach to his children. In a letter of 23 November 1800, he sent Matthew an itemised account of how much he had spent educating and establishing each of his children in their careers, which he seemed to think should be reimbursed in some form. In his letter of 10 May 1801, Matthew assures Dr Flinders he will do all in his power to add to his father’s happiness, ‘not as repaying a debt but as the means whereby I shall add it to my own happiness by gratifying my father’s affection.’ He continued to urge his father to retire from active life and purchase an annuity: one more grief, at departure, to add to his troubles at Ann not being allowed to accompany him on the voyage.

Mount Chappell. A small island off the west coast of Flinders Island in the Furneaux group. Originally spelled with the final ‘e’ – Chappelle – but later dropped.

Sea I am thy servant. From Matthew’s letter to Ann, 16 March 1799, see above.

Midshipman’s uniform. Flinders letter to Thomas Franklin 2 May 1801, Franklin Papers.

Matthew’s Will. In his letter to Henrietta 10 May 1801(see above), Matthew states it was when writing out his Will, in which he’d thought a good deal more of Ann, that he ‘recalled all the fond affection I had been at so much pains to overcome; and with such force as to induce me to reconsider the question.’

Great friends. In his letter to Ann on 6 April 1801, Matthew says it would be better to keep the marriage entirely secret. ‘There are many reasons for it yet, and I have also a powerful one: I do not know how my great friends might like it.’

John to Investigator. I assume John Franklin joined HMS Investigator about the middle of May. He was certainly still at Spilsby when he received the letter from ‘Amicus’ dated 7 May (see Notes Ch 2).

Sextant. My descriptions of John’s equipment are imagined. I assume he used a Navy Board sextant: Samuel Flinders accidentally broke such an instrument when he fell on board Investigator, see Flinders Journal 15 Oct 1801.

HMS Investigator. See Scott E pages 174-176. Also see Investigator entries online. The ship was condemned at Sydney as unseaworthy after Flinders’ circumnavigation of Australia in 1803, which led to his disastrous decision to sail back to England for another discovery ship via Mauritius. In 1805, however, Investigator was repaired and returned to England, eventually being used as a prison hulk. She was sold by the Royal Navy in 1810, rebuilt as a brig, and under her old name Xenophon continued as a merchant vessel for many years. It is believed she was finally broken up around 1872 at Melbourne – the city at the head of Port Phillip Investigator had first entered under Flinders’ command in 1802. See HMS Investigator online.

Ann. In the letter to his cousin Henrietta 10 May 1801, Flinders describes their life in Investigator’s cabin and their walks on shore. ‘My dear partner has pretty well gotten the better of her sea qualms and begins to reconcile herself to her new life.’ Scott page185 notes that navy inspectors found Mrs Flinders ‘seated in the captain's cabin without her bonnet.’ They considered this to be ‘too open a declaration of that being her home.’ This drew Ann’s presence to the Admiralty’s notice with the unhappy results that followed.

Trim. The many anecdotes about Trim I have taken from Flinders’ little book about his favourite cat, ‘The best and most illustrious of his Race, the most affectionate of friends, faithful of servants, and best of creatures.’

Passport. Scott E pages 173-4.

Shipboard Life. I have taken many incidents of life aboard Investigator at the Nore and Spithead from Flinders’ Journal of the voyage, available online through AJCP at e.g Trove resource NLA; also Brown.

Banks letters. The Admiralty had left equipping Investigator for its scientific purposes largely in the hands of Sir Joseph Banks and Flinders. Much of their correspondence will be found under the Flinders papers through the AJCP. The hurried note about Ann’s presence is dated 21 May 1801; Matthew’s reply 24 May; Matthew’s letter saying Ann will return to her family is dated 3 June; and the long letter explaining the incident at the Roar etc. 6 June. Despite his upset over Ann, Flinders always strove to keep his relations with Banks amicable: he knew the importance of such great friends to his career.

 

Chapter 3

Samuel Flinders. Matthew’s younger brother (1782-1834). Four years older than his cousin John Franklin, the two did not get on well together. A letter from Matthew Flinders to Thomas Franklin 10 May 1805 states there had been ‘a difference’ between John and Samuel, Franklin papers. Booth says that Samuel was ‘without industry’; when assisting him with the observations on Investigator John was made ‘to do all the work … for which Samuel had the credit.’ Certainly, John’s few references to Samuel in his letters home are quite curt. Samuel sailed to Port Jackson with Matthew as a 13-year-old in 1795; but in a letter after they returned, their father said that Samuel ‘seemed to have no great liking for the service’, called it ‘a beggarly thing’ and would have changed profession if he could (Dr Flinders to Matthew, 28 November 1800). This may explain his general reputation for disinterest and indolence aboard ship. Matthew named an island in the Investigator Group in the Great Australian Bight after Samuel. Eventually appointed to command the gun-brig Bloodhound, Samuel was court-martialled, apparently for spending too much time ashore (Booth). He was not given another ship.

Scientific gentlemen. Scott E  pages 178-80, also their online entries; Brown. Crosley. Matthew to Thomas Franklin 7 July 1801. ‘Right hand man’ ibid. See also Brown Chapters 1–3. Brown joined Investigator at Spithead on 15 June 1801.

Banks ‘mortified.’ Banks to Matthew 5 June and the reply 6 June 1801, Flinders papers. See note Banks letters Ch 3.

The Roar. See Scott E pages 190-3. Thistle. Matthew letter to Banks 3 June. Mutineers. Flinders Journal 14-15 July 1801. Passport. Scott page 183-4.

Ann.Matthew letters to Ann 30 June, 7, 12 July 1801, Flinders papers; also Scott p 193. Sisters. Letter to Thomas Franklin 7 July. Father. Letter to Dr Flinders 10 July 1801. While Ann Flinders kept all Matthew’s letters after his death, she destroyed all her own to him, making it impossible to quote directly from them.

Portsmouth to Madeira.Incidents from Flinders’ daily Journal and published Voyage I; Brown. British squadron 22 July; luggers 23 July; Swedish vessel 26 July; compass variations 28 July; leak 1 August.

Funchal. Arrive 3 August. Fleas and vermin 6 August; British troops Franklin letters 23 October, Flinders Voyage I 3,6 August 1801.

Madeira to Simon Town.Incidents from Flinders’ daily Journal and published Voyage I; Brown. Drum and fife 26 August; Swallow 27 August; Crossing the Line 8 September; islands 9-10 September; ship 11 September; Diet, health of crew 16 October; Cook’s nautical grandson. Scott E page 194.

Simon Town.Flinders Journal and Voyage I, Franklin papers. Curtis 16 October; water 17 October; provisions and ‘prepare me for promotion’ John letter 23 October; observatory see Journal 17 October; Crossley and visitors, see Voyage I 30 October.

Samuel.In a letter from the Cape on 22 October Matthew tells their father: ‘It is with great satisfaction that I can mention the great improvement which has taken place in him [Samuel] lately instead of being a burthen to me.’ See also note earlier this chapter.

Ann. Flinders letter 3 November in which he says he has written twice. Write me pages and volumes. Scott E page 194. Denis Lacy. ‘Red hot volunteer’ Flinders letter 31 October.

To Cape Leeuwin. Incidents from Flinders’ daily Journal and published Voyage I; Brown. Guy Fawkes guns 5 November; 37 degrees south 10 November; 150 miles a day 12 November; sauerkraut e.g. 22 November; malt wort 27 November; floggings 22 November; 6 December; Land ho! 7 December.

 

Chapter 4

Cape Leeuwin. Robert Westall’s sketches of the Cape made from the deck of Investigator can be seen in the NLA online catalogue. I use the name for convenience: apparently it was agreed by Flinders and Baudin later in Sydney. Admiralty orders. See Flinders Voyage I page 48, also Scott E pages 181-2.

Earlier explorers. Scott pages 205-6 notes Flinders’ generosity to the charts made by his predecessors on this coast, particularly Pieter Nuyts and François Thijssen (1626), George Vancouver (1791) and Bruni d’Entrecasteaux (1792). Section III of the lengthy Introduction to his Voyage I discusses their work in full.

Colpits to take Samuel’s watch. Flinders Journal 6-7 December 1801.

Survey routine. Flinders’ Journal page 73, also Scott page 207.

King George Sound. I use the modern term as opposed to the original King George the Third’s Sound or the later King George’s Sound. The main events taken from Flinders’ daily Journal or published Voyage I 9 December 1801 to 5 January 1802; also Brown. Seal Island 9 December; Dixson 10 Dec; Rigging, Tents 12-13 December; Aborigines 16 December; Lagoons 23-4 December, Franklin’s discussion with Samuel is imagined; military exercises 30 December. Collard, page 3, suggests that Dixson was possibly an American whaler.

Menang Noongar. My thanks to Oscar Colbung and Mark Colbung of the Southern Aboriginal Corporation, traditional owners of these lands, for their advice. The Colbung family has been prominent in the Albany district for many generations. An ancestor ‘Coolbun’ or ‘Koolburn’ was known to settlers in the early years of the British colony in the 1830s. A kinsman, Mokare, an infant when the Investigators visited King George Sound, grew to be a significant mediator between the Menang people and the first settlers. See Green pages 11, 76ff, and search Mokare, especially an article by Ciaran Lynch. I have also been informed by a paper on the contact between Flinders and the Menang Noongar people, written by Professor Len Collard, Clint Bracknell and David Palmer. Titled Nyungar of Southwestern Australia and Flinders: A Dialogue on Using Nyungar Intelligence to Better Understand Coastal Exploration, it offers a cultural interpretation of the events from an indigenous perspective. The paper refers to the Dead Man’s Dance, which evolved from the military display by Flinders’ marines – a profound metaphor which forms the underlying theme of Kim Scott’s award-winning novel That Deadman Dance. I thank Professor Scott for speaking to me, and Catherine Salmaggi and Malcolm Traill of the Museum of Western Australia (Albany) for their advice and reference material on the dance. Daisy Bates in 1945 described how Nebinyan told her of the Koorannup ceremony in 1908 (see Collard pages 13-14).

Flinders Voyage I page 67 gives a list of words comparing the King George Sound language to words from Port Jackson and Van Diemen’s Land, and anatomical measurements page 68. Good humour. Flinders Journal 30 December. He notes, however, that instructions to be friendly to the indigenous people ‘induced us to put up with little things which were not altogether pleasant.’ The ‘most beardless’ youths in the company were obliged to demonstrate they were not, in fact, women.’ See also Brown chapter 4 for encounters with the Menang and the excursion to the lagoons. His details differ a little from Flinders, but not in the essentials. His Menang words and spelling differ in many respects from Flinders.

Archipelago. Investigator sighted the westernmost island of the Archipelago of the Recherche on 8 January. Flinders in his Voyage I described it as ‘this labyrinth of islands and rocks.’ In his remarks on quitting it on 17 January he states that, while his chart is more complete than d’Entrecasteaux, ‘I dare by no means assert that the very great number of islands ... are the whole that exist.’ He adds, ‘The archipelago should not ... be entered without the assurance of carrying fine weather to the proposed anchorage.’

Great Australian Bight. Flinders uses this term for the first time in his published Voyage I on 27 January 1802. He also used the expression ‘Australians’ when discussing the Aborigines on 4 March 1802 at Port Lincoln. While Flinders was not the first to use the term ‘Australia’ to describe the whole continent, he was largely responsible for popularising it. He wanted to call his publication A Voyage to Australia, even though Sir Joseph Banks and the Admiralty ultimately insisted on the more archaic Terra Australis. It was a rear-guard action, however, and by 1817 Governor Lachlan Macquarie was referring to ‘Flinders’ charts of Australia.’ The naturalist, Robert Brown, used the adjectival form ‘Australian’ in his published account of the voyage.

Cliffs. Flinders first mentions the high cliffs and escarpment of the Great Australian Bight on 19 January. He puts their elevation at from 400 to 600 feet, whereas modern maps place their elevation up to 91 metres (approximately 290 feet).

Quarrel. The argument between Matthew and Samuel Flinders took place on 23 January. It is not reported in the published Voyage I, but Flinders’ daily Journal for that day notes: ‘The Second Lieutenant not having given me all the assistance in the astronomical and surveying departments that I expected, he was ordered to keep his own watch during the night. From the stimulus of pride he chose to keep it in the day also, and continued giving me the same proportion of assistance as he had done before.’ Matthew was plainly very angry with his brother.

Samuel. See note 6-7 December for Colpits. Flinders notes in his Log, ‘On making the land I ordered the gunner to keep the 2nd lieut’s watch, the latter having engaged to assist me in the astronom’l department.’ Patrimony. See Flinders letter to his father 10 July 1801, where he mentioned the assistance he has given to Samuel including his promotion. Matthew added: ‘…a considerable part of what may arise from his inattention or inexperience will be placed to my discredit. I have had one unpleasant instance of this already…’ He did not say what, but it was sufficiently serious for Samuel to risk being removed from the ship. Only because of the inconvenience and uneasiness it would cause their father, could Matthew ‘not agree to add this to my weight of responsibility.’ And this was before Investigator had even left Portsmouth.

Pope’s Line. The imaginary line under which Pope Alexander VI divided the known world between Spain and Portugal, eventually fixed at longitude 51 degrees West. When it crosses the poles, the meridian becomes 129 degrees East, which the colonial authorities subsequently used to establish the eastern border of the colony of Western Australia.

Nuyts Archipelago. Pieter Nuyts (1598-1655) a Dutch company official sailed for the East Indies in 1626 on the ship Golden Seahorse captained by François Thijssen. They met the Australian coast near Cape Leeuwin, and mapped the coast as far as the islands of Saints Peter and Francis in the eastern bight, whence it left for Batavia. Thijssen named the lands after Nuyts as the most senior official on board, who has subsequently become thought of as their discoverer. I have retained the original attributions, but it is important to acknowledge Thijssen as the true navigator. Flinders departed the Nuyts Archipelago on 9 February, surveying the coast southward. He anchored at Isle Williams at the mouth of Spencer’s Gulf on 20 February 1802.

Cape Catastrophe. The tragic events of 21-23 February are based on the full descriptions in Flinders’ daily Journaland published Voyage I, alsoBrown. Two could swim and Fortune-teller. Flinders Voyage I page 136 gives a full account of the incident in an extended footnote. Copper plate. Fragmentsof the original are at the SA Maritime Museum and can be viewed online. Franklin’s flag andmonument to Flinders. See Traill pages 279-82, which is itself based on memoirs of Lady Jane Franklin. The original marble inscription is now in the Adelaide museum. Cutter. It is impossible at this distance to say what really happened to the cutter; but Rob Haldane, of Port Lincoln, says that Flinders’ ‘Thorny Passage’ between Thistle Island and the mainland is subject to heavy swells from the Southern Ocean and can be tricky, especially for an open boat under three lug sails crossing against an ebb tide in a moderate wind of say 15-20 knots, as Thistle was. There can be other hazards. In 2019, when passing between Little and Lewis islands in the vicinity where the cutter was lost, Rob came upon an unexpected and dangerous ‘whirlpool’ in a calm sea, about four metres wide. If the cutter had also met a similar phenomenon, it could well have been suddenly overturned – as Lieutenant Fowler also found himself in difficulties when searching for the cutter. Lewis and Little are the names of two of the crew lost with Thistle’s boat.

 

Chapter 5

Inscription. Flinders gives the full text of the inscription on the copper plate in his daily Journalfor 24 February. It reads: Memory Cove/His Majesty’s ship Investigator –Matt. Flinders, Commander/ anchored here February 22 1802/ Mr John Thistle the master/Mr William Taylor midshipman/ and six of the crew were unfortunately drowned near this/ place from being upset in a boat. The wreck of the boat was/ found but their bodies were not recovered./ Nautici cavete! Flinders’ tribute to Thistle and Taylor also appears in the daily Journaland Voyage I 24 February. Fragments of the original plate are in the South Australian Maritime Museum and online.

Water. Flinders in his Voyage I 26 February mentions the pressing need for water, the brackish Sleaford Mere, and finding sweet water in a pit dug in the white clay within 100 yards of the beachhead. Curiously, Flinders named but did not visit Boston Bay, the northern arm of the harbour behind Boston Island. The bay has a fertile shore and fresh water. The present city of Port Lincoln was established there in 1839. In 1816 Captain Dillon of the brig Spring called at Flinders’ landing place, but found the wells dry. He cleaned them out and dug new ones. See Wanklyn page 3. Also search Westall drawings of Port Lincoln.

Names. The Lincolnshire names bestowed on the landforms 24-6 February. Investigator stayed at Port Lincoln from 25 February to 5 March. Pendulum used for survey 27 February; Fowler sent back to Memory Cove 3 March. Thomas Evans made acting Master 25 February. The auction of the dead men’s clothes is recorded in Flinders’ daily Journal6 March.

Australians. The term first appears in relation to the indigenous people in Flinders’ Journaland Voyage I 4 March in a long entry from which I have drawn the conversation with John; also their appearance at the beach on the last day and leaving hatchets etc on the paths and cut trees.

Barngarla. I thank Jason Bilney of Port Lincoln, chairman of the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation, for sharing his knowledge of the Barngarla people and insights into aspects of Flinders’ time in the area. The subliminal thoughts in the text concerning the best places for water, the Mummal, Kalinyala (pronounced Galinyala) ‘bay of the dancing fish’ and ‘singing to the sharks and dolphins’ are based on conversations with Jason. Flinders said he found no evidence the Indigenous people travelled to the islands, but Jason said they did use rafts made from fallen logs. I also thank Louise Mrdjen of the Port Lincoln Library for her kind assistance in sending me Port Lincoln historical material after European contact. The website www.barngarla.comfeatures a language dictionary and translation facilities, audio recordings and videos with Professor Ghil’ad Zuckermann of Adelaide University, profiles of Barngarla people and details of various workshops and projects undertaken by the Barngarla community.

Spencer Gulf. I sometimes use Spencer’s Gulf, the name actually first given to it. Investigator left Port Lincoln on 6 March, visited the Sir Joseph Banks group of islands, and returned to the main the next afternoon, following the western coast north. Elbow Hill seen 8 March, when Flinders first commented on the ‘want of boldness in the shores, and the shallowness of the water.’  The next day he realised he was in a gulf and Investigator reached her furthest point. The excursion to Mount Brown, the head of the gulf and duck shooting 10-11 March; departure to explore the east coast of the gulf 13 March.

Reddish stones. Voyage I 11 March. Whyalla was founded by BHP in 1901, as a port to ship iron ore from Flinders’ Middleback Range. The blast furnace and shipyards established in the 1930s. Port Pirie was first settled in 1846. The first lead smelter was built to treat the Broken Hill ore in 1889. Flinders passed the site 14-15 March. Corny Point reached on the night of 18-19 March, when Investigator returned to Thistle Island to check the timekeepers. Cape Spencer was reached on Saturday 20 March, when they weathered the night in the storm.

Kangaroo Island. Investigator anchored on the east shore of Nepean Bay on the evening of 21 March where the ‘moving rocks’ were seen. The ‘butchery’ of the kangaroos took place over the next two days. ‘Delightful regale’ and ‘Kanguroo Island’ (as Flinders spelt it) 22 March. Mount Lofty seen, and discussion of the forest fires and La Pérouse 23 March. Investigator departed first time 24 March. Also search Westall drawings of Kangaroo Island.

La Pérouse. Jean-Francoise de Gallup, comte de La Pérouse (1744-1788?) led an expedition of two ships L’Astolabe and La Boussole departing Brest in August 1785. He had two compasses that belonged to Cook, apparently arranged by Sir Joseph Banks, and 10 scientists in the expedition. The young Napoleon applied to join him but was not accepted. On such small points can history balance. The expedition visited Chile, Hawaii, Alaska, Siberia and the South Pacific, reaching Botany Bay on 24 January 1788 where it met the First Fleet under Governor Philip who had arrived only four days before. After replenishing at Sydney Cove, La Pérouse left charts, letters and journals to be sent back to France by returning British ships. The expedition left for New Caledonia on 10 March, where it completely disappeared. There were a number of searches, including by d’Entrecasteaux in 1791. Not until 1826 did an Irish sea captain, Peter Dillon, discover evidence proving that the two ships had foundered near the coral atoll Vanikoro, part of the Santa Cruz group in the Solomon Islands. See entry ADB and Wikipedia.

St. Vincent’s Gulf. Investigator entered the gulf about 8 pm on Saturday 27 March. Mount Lofty recognised morning of 28 March. Anchored northern point at sunset 29 March. Stingrays, distance to Spencer’s Gulf, 30 March. Depart to sail down western shore 31 March; Reached Troubridge shoal and returned to Kangaroo Island 1 April. Yorke Peninsula was named after Charles Phillip Yorke, who followed Spencer and St Vincent as First Lord of the Admiralty. The length of the gulf is reckoned at about 139 kilometres (86 miles) from Cape Jervis. Names. It should be noted that some of these more important names were only decided later. The daily Journal often records them only as ‘Cape A’, ‘Point B’ etc.

Timekeepers. Flinders does not say who was responsible for letting down the timekeepers (chronometers), and I have left it open. The entry in the published Voyage and his daily Journalmerely states the timekeepers stopped ‘from having been neglected to be wound up on the preceding day.’ I have assumed John was assisting Samuel, as it is clear the bad blood between them was related to the daily observations (see note for Samuel Flinders re Booth Chapter 3). On the next two occasions the chronometers were not wound Flinders names the party responsible. On 25 September in Broad Sound, Queensland he states that Lieutenant [Samuel] Flinders ‘had forgotten to wind up the timekeepers’; and on 11 December at in the Gulf of Carpentaria he says they had stopped ‘my assistant having forgotten to wind them up at noon.’ As John Franklin was his assistant, I assume Matthew was referring to him. A letter written to Thomas Franklin a few years later warns against John being ‘over-ready to take offence at his superior officers.’

Pelican Lagoon. Flinders’ fine description of the pelicans Sunday 4 April 1802. In his daily Journal Matthew writes loftily: ‘... in this retreat the aged pelican now quietly resigns his small portion of ethereal flame back to the great eternal source of mortality whence it emanated, without having his last moments interrupted and perhaps without a pang. Requiscant ossa in pace barbare!’ (Rest your bones in peace wild creatures!) In his published Voyage (1814), it is put more easily: ‘...nor can anything be more consonant to the feelings, if pelicans have any, than quietly to resign their breath whilst surrounded by their progeny and in the same spot where they first drew it.” I have combined the two, but the elevated, humane sentiment is the same. The scarcity and timidly of the kangaroos in the Voyage 2 April. Seaman injured by seal, 5 April. Winds and tides kept Flinders in the vicinity of Kangaroo Island for two days. He eventually reached the coast east of Cape Jervis on the morning of 8 April.

Encounter Bay.The details of the conversation between Baudin and Flinders are recorded in the daily Journal and Voyage I for 8-9 April. Flinders states that only Robert Brown was present with him during the interviews. I assume the Captain would have had an aide who stayed on deck. Flinders says that the conversation was mostly carried on in English which Captain Baudin ‘spoke so as to be understood.’ Scott page 230 shrewdly remarks that the phrase generally means ‘so as to be misunderstood.’ Drawing on Baudin’s account, Scott E says there were some differences between the two captains: in particular it seems unlikely that Baudin was as ignorant of his visitor as Flinders suggests, or that he had prepared the chart of Bass Strait. Yet Flinders was the one present. See also Brown Chapter 7 for his notes of the conversation.

Nicolas Baudin (1754-1803). A French merchant seaman and naval officer, Baudin was appointed to lead a French scientific expedition to New Holland, his two ships departing in November 1800. There were a large number of scientists of whom the naturalist Francois Péron and surveyor Louis-Claude de Freycinet played a role in the subsequent history of Flinders voyage. Sailing first to Mauritius where 46 seamen and 10 scientists left the expedition due to quarrels and illness, the ships sighted Cape Leeuwin on 27 May 1801. Ignoring instructions to examine the south coast first, Baudin explored the west coast before sailing to Timor to refresh. Géographe Bay south of Perth is named after Baudin’s ship. They departed on 13 November and sailed to Van Diemen’s Land on 13 January 1802, where they spent more than a month surveying near d’Entrecasteaux Channel, before heading to the mainland. The two ships were separated in Bass Strait as Baudin told Flinders. Baudin made a rough survey of the coast east of Wilson’s Promontory, calling the land Terre Napoleon, meeting Flinders at Encounter Bay on 8 April. See ADB and Wikipedia entry. The history of European discovery of the southern coast of Australia might have been very different had Baudin followed instructions and first sailed east from Cape Leeuwin – or if Flinders and not been kept waiting at Portsmouth so long for his passport, and the timekeepers not been let down on his second visit to Kangaroo Island. Also see Brown chapters 6-7 for Kangaroo Island and the meeting with Baudin.

 

Chapter 6

Health. See note later this Chapter

Fertile soil. Flinders voyage 25 April. He was referring to the land east of Cape Otway.

King Island. Investigator was there 23–24 April. Kangaroos 23 April. Charles Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands on HMS Beagle in 1835. His great theory of evolution by natural selection was expressed in his seminal book On the Origin of Species 1859. The island was named after the NSW Governor Philip Gidley King.

Western Port. I have used the original version of the name, rather than the modern single word usage Westernport.

Port Phillip. Called Nerm by the Bunurong people. Flinders noticed the ‘interesting’ gap in the cliffs just after midday on 26 April. At first mistaking it for Western Port, as Baudin said he’d found no inlets in the coast beyond Western Port, Investigator remained in the bay until Monday 3 May. Realising it was not Western Port, Flinders ‘congratulated myself on having made a new and useful discovery’, but found he was in error when he learned at Port Jackson it had been discovered 10 weeks earlier by acting Lieutenant John Murray in the Lady Nelson and it was named Port Phillip. Flinders’ Bluff Mount had been called Arthur’s Seat after the peak near Edinburgh; and the rocky eastern head was called Point Nepean, after the first secretary of the Admiralty.

Arthurs Seat 27 April. I assume the cutter had a sail set, as Flinders refers to it as having been ‘steered’. On the trip across the bay, he explicitly says it was rowed. I visited Arthur’s Seat in September 2019and saw the cairn to Flinders on the western face of the mount identified by Sir John Franklin in 1844 as the place from which they had looked out across the bay.

John Murray (1775-1807). Appointed acting Lieutenant of the Lady Nelson after James Grant returned to London, with orders to continue exploration of the south coast. He found the opening to Port Phillip in early January 1802, but deferred entering it until 14 February, anchoring off the eastern shore near present-day Sorrento. He remained in the bay until 11 March although, like Flinders, adverse winds and the poor condition of his ship kept his exploration confined to the southern part of the bay. On 5 March he said, ‘This day has been so clear that we are able to see the land all round the port and in many places very high headlands.’ The maps he produced are, however, crude in the extreme, with nothing like the accuracy, detail and elegance of the charts produced by Matthew Flinders, who followed his track into the bay 10 weeks later. In this broader sense Flinders has sometimes been regarded as the ‘true discoverer’ of the southern Australian coast for the Europeans (see Scott p 238). Other men – Bass, Baudin, Grant, Murray – might have been the first to record them, but the monuments on the peaks and headlands from the Eyre Peninsular eastwards are almost all to Flinders. Murray was denied his commission by the Navy Board because it said he had not been accurate about his early years of service, and he returned from Sydney to England. See entry ADB and Wikipedia.

Landscape. Murray several times refers to the ‘park-like’, nature of much of the country in the lower eastern shores of the Port, comparing it to Greenwich or Blackheath in London.  On 23 February 1802 he went for a walk not far from Arthur’s Seat and ‘Found the soil to the invariably good, the ground almost clear and the ranges of trees as regular as they are in general in the park, with fine strong, short grass underfoot.’ On 7 March Murray went to the western side, landing near Swan Bay. ‘The soil of the land all around the extensive place is good and exceeds in beauty even the southern shores.’ This open landscape, clear of undergrowth, was noted by many early explorers, and was achieved by the Aboriginal’s regular use of cultural low-level burning – ‘fire farming’ – which Murray and Flinders both seemed to understand. Murray’s journal of his time in Port Phillip can be seen online at POI-Australia.com.au.See also Lee and search John Murray Exploration of Port Phillip. Flinders also found the western side of the bay to have good soil and extensive views through the spaced-out trees. The grass at Indented Head had recently been burned and was green underfoot. See also Brown chapter 8 for Port Phillip and Sydney. He echoes Murray in the description of the landscape around Arthur’s Seat. 'The vallies on each side of the hill … had a very pleasant appearance, in some places being thickly clothed with wood, in others … covered with a bright green verdure.”

Bunurong. Traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River, around the head of Port Phillip, where Melbourne now stands, extending to Wilson’s promontory. It includes the Mornington Peninsular and Westernport. They speak the Boon Wurrung language. I acknowledge the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, and thank Dr Rohan Henry and Dr David Tutchener who read this section of the manuscript and offered valuable corrections. Flinders had no direct contact with the Bunurong although he saw evidence of them everywhere. Acting Lieutenant John Murray had the first interaction with them two months before Flinders arrived. See the previous entry for link to Murray’s log, and search the the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation website which contains important links to the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council, the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages, Stolen Generation testimonials, the Baluk Arts Indigenous Artists and other local indigenous organisations. Search also Boon Wurrung.

Excursion to Indented Head and Station Peak 29 April–2 May. Station Peak is also known as Flinders Peak, and Wurdi Youang in the Wadawurrung language. Flinders makes clear that midshipman Lacy was with the boat during the excursion. I climbed the 450 steps up Station Peak in the interest of exhaustive research in September 2019 and stood on the boulders at the top. There is a plaque to Flinders, but no record of the bottle having been found. From the path a fine stone structure or geoglyph by Andrew Rogers can be seen to Bunjil, with signage on his role as the creator spirit and visible form as a Wedge-tailed Eagle. Swan Pond is thankfully known by Murray’s more agreeable Swan Bay.

Aboriginals. Details taken from Flinders’ Voyage I pages 214-17, where he sometimes refers here and elsewhere to ‘the Indians’. Readings. Samuel Flinders and John Franklin made 12 sets of distances to establish the longitude and latitude of Point Nepean, Voyage I page 220.

Wadawurrung.Traditional owners of the land extending south-west from the Werribee River to the Barwon River, and inland to the district around Ballarat. With their neighbours the Bunurong, members of the Kulin nation. Thanks to Anthony Hume and the staff of the Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Grovedale, near Geelong, which I visited in April 2021. It has some splendid displays of Wadawurrung material and cultural heritage, and an outdoor enclosure including kangaroos, emus, and examples of bush shelters. The Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation website has material on the Wadawurrung people, their history and resilience. I acknowledge Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Corrina Eccles and Stephanie Skinner, and also Dr David Jones who reviewed this section of the book. The website djillong.net.aucontains further information on the Wadawurrung Country, history and people. There are a number of useful short videos on present-day culture and featuring interviews with Elders, leaders and younger members of the Wadawurrung community.

Tom Thumb. A small boat, eight feet long, crewed by Flinders, Bass and a boy, who discovered Port Hacking in March 1796, during which Flinders cut with a pair of scissors the hair and beards of a party of Aborigines they met (Voyage I Introduction pages 99-100). Flinders exchanged a piece of ship’s biscuit for a piece of whale meat with an Aborigine he met at Two-fold Bay when visiting with Bass in the Norfolk September 1798 during the circumnavigation of Van Diemen’s Land (Voyage I Introduction pages 139-40). Flinders Island, the ‘great island’ in the Furneaux Group, was named after the great navigator by Phillip Parker King RN, Governor King’s eldest son.

Healthy crew. See Flinders Voyage I 9 May.

 

Chapter 7

Sydney. Full description of Investigator’s ten weeks in Sydney are in Flinders Voyage I, Chapter IX pages 227-51. He says he visited Governor King as soon as the anchor was dropped. I assume Franklin and the others went with him as it was customary for a captain on such a formal visit to be accompanied by some of his officers. Spalding. John compares Sydney to the market town in a letter to his sister Ann October 1802 (see further Chapter 9). There are a number of excellent early pictures of Sydney available online. Search in particular the plan of the town and views of Sydney Cove by Charles Lesueur, the artist with Baudin’s expedition. His view looking east shows the French ships and tents at Cattle Point (now Bennelong Point), also drawings showing Investigator and the British tents. Other artists to search are Thomas Watling and John W Lewis, who did a fine watercolour of Government House. There are further images and notes on the Sydney Living Museums and Visit Sydney Australia web pages. Where is your wife? Flinders letter to Ann 31 May 1802. Brown (Chapter 8) and his colleagues made several excursions inland from Sydney

John Murray. See notes. Chapter 7.

Investigator refit.Flinders Voyage especially pages 228-9.

Wool. John Franklin’s letter to his mother, 21 July 1802, also comments on sailors and resuming ‘double vigour’ after months at sea, keeping up with his studies, and having to converse in ‘unfamiliar Latin’.  Books. Letter to sister Elizabeth, October 1802. Tycho Brahe. Traill page 19.

Some sweet ship… Flinders letter to Ann 31 May. Also fortune’s unkindness, ship’s politics, not wishing a son to be other than like John ‘but for a little carelessness’, and the King’s Birthday ball.

Governor King’s visit to Investigator and17-gun salute. Flinders daily Journal10 June. Baudin arrived in Le Geographe 20-21 June and visited JournalFlinders the following day. Dinner for Baudin, Colonel Paterson and 11-gun salute, 14 July (the French national day curiously, given what they later did to him at Mauritius). Shows Baudin a chart of south coast and discoveries attributed to him, Voyage page 230.

Treaty of Amiens. Signed 27 March 1802, under which Britain returned the Cape colony to the Dutch and the French gave up Egypt. It was the only period of general peace in Europe between 1793 and 1814, for hostilities broke out again after just over a year (of which Flinders at Mauritius was an unwitting victim).

French names on 1811 chart. Flinders believed Péron had been over-ruled by the French authorities, Scott E page 263. But had Flinders known of Péron’s report, Scott adds, ‘he would certainly not have believed him so blameless.’

Assistance to Baudin. Flinders Voyage page 230, also Scott E pages 247-49. Baudin’s letter of gratitude, Scott pages 251-53.

Péron the spy. Péron’s letter to General Decaen is printed in a full translation as Appendix B to Scott E page 436ff. His Chapter XVII gives a very good account of the French at Port Jackson, including Peron’s activities, and mentions a second, unsigned report to Decaen, probably by Freycinet, detailing how an overland assault might be made on Sydney.  Scott is adamant that he found no evidence suggesting that the French administration had designs on the British colonies in Australia, but later historians have disagreed. See eg an online paper by Margaret Sankey on the Baudin expedition in Port Jackson, especially pages 21ff, and reference to a group of documents at Le Havre Museum d’Histoire naturelle, transcribed and published by Roger Martin. In any event no such attack was ever mounted principally because, as Scott points out page 263-4, that after Trafalgar (1805) Britain had command of the seas. In fairness, it should be noted that the zoological, botanical and other scientific work of Péron and Freycinet during the Baudin voyage was of much importance. It is regrettable, as Scott also observes, that Péron’s reputation could not have been left unstained by his conduct as a spy.

Cumberland. Sailed after Baudin to King Island under acting Lieutenant Robbins in November 1802, Scott page 250-1.

Crew. Details of the crew taken aboard at Port Jackson and Lacy’s transfer to Lady Nelson Flinders Voyage pages 232-5. Of the nine convicts taken on, one died and seven of the remaining eight were emancipated.

Bungaree. Flinders spelt the name Bongaree. Worthy and brave fellow see Voyage I page 235. One of the most important figures in relations between aborigines and European colonists in Sydney during the early years of colonisation. He is the subject of an important book King Bungaree by Dr Keith Vincent Smith, who I thank for his kind assistance and advice with these aspects of the novel. Bungaree’s birthplace and date are both uncertain. Smith states Bungaree was possibly born at Patonga on the northern shore of Broken Bay between c.1772-80. He was likely in his late teens when he sailed with Flinders on Norfolk 1799, and his mid- to late-twenties when he joined Investigator. He later sailed with Captain Phillip Parker King (the Governor’s son) on Mermaid to survey the north and west coasts which Flinders had been unable to do. Many portraits were made of Bungaree and may be seen online. Governor Macquarie gave him a small farm on the north shore and presented him with a neck plate or gorget inscribed Boongaree - chief of the Broken Bay Tribe - 1815. He was a well-known character in Sydney Town before his death in November 1830. See also entries online at ADB and Wikipedia. I thank Tracey Howie and Laurie Bimson, descendants of Bungaree, who read the text relating to him, and for their helpful comments.

Nanbaree. Also spelled Nanbarry, Nanberry and Nanbree on the portrait of him by Thomas Watling. Born c.1780, and cured of smallpox by Surgeon White as a child of nine, Nanbaree was one of only three members of the Cadigal clan to survive the epidemic (Smith, King Bungaree page 22). White named him ‘Andrew Sneap Hammond Douglass White’. In an article on the Dictionary of Sydney website, Smith notes that Nanbaree made several voyages on Reliance as well as Investigator until he returned on Lady Nelson from the Great barrier Reef. Jackie French wrote a children’s book about him, as did ‘Isobel’. Nanbaree died following a ritual tribal battle in 1821, and at his own request was buried in the same grave at Kissing Point as Bennelong (see below).

Smallpox. Called gal-gal-la by the Eora. In King Bungaree, Smith gives a vivid picture of the devastation it wrought to the Aborigines of the Sydney region, and notes Governor Phillips’ estimate of 1500 Aborigines, page 20. It is uncertain how it escaped from the First Fleet arrivals into the aboriginal population – whether by accidental human transmission from Europeans who carried the disease; from a small amount of ‘variolas matter’ brought by Surgeon White to vaccinate the colonists against smallpox; or as a deliberate policy of extermination as some people believe. See also the online article on the Sydney smallpox epidemic on the National Museum of Australia website.

Pemulwuy.A Bidjigal man from the Botany Bay area, born c.1750, he began resisting the spread of settlement on the clan’s traditional lands some two years after the colony was founded. He was involved in the mortal wounding of Governor Phillip’s gamekeeper in 1790, and for the next dozen years led a series of raids against the colonists. In November 1801 Governor King outlawed Pemulwuy and offered a reward for his death or capture. He was shot on 2 June 1802 (when Investigator was at Port Jackson) and the head sent to Banks. Its present whereabouts are unknown. See article and illustration online at the National Museum of Australia website, also Sydney websites noted below.

Bennelong. With Bungaree one of the most important Aboriginal people to help bridge the divide between the Eora and the colonists in the early days of the settlement at Sydney. A Wangal man from the south side of the Parramatta River, Eleanor Dark in the ADB gives his approximate birth date as 1764. He was captured in November 1789 and adapted quickly to life among the Europeans (including their alcohol). Although he escaped back to his people in May 1790, he returned to Sydney after Governor Phillip was speared at Manly in November that year. He sailed to England with Phillip in December 1792. Dark describes his homesickness waiting for Reliance to sail to Port Jackson with Governor Hunter. See also the entry on Bennelong on the Sydney Barani website which notes Barangaroo’s opposition to her husband adopting European ways. Keith Vincent Smith has an extensive article on Woollarawarre Bennelong in the online Dictionary of Sydney. He says that far from being rejected by his people, Bennelong in fact eventually rejected the attempt to Europeanise him. He officiated at an initiation ceremony in 1797, and five years later refused an invitation from a member of the Baudin expedition to sail to France. Sometime after 1803 Bennelong left Sydney to re-establish his authority among an Aboriginal group west of Ryde, and was often wounded in revenge battles. Bennelong died at Kissing Point on the Parramatta River in 1813.

Eora. Pronounced ‘Yura.’ It literally means ‘here’ or ‘from this place’. The name given by the first colonists to the Aboriginal people living in the coastal littoral of the Sydney basin, since adopted by their descendants who refer to the Eora Nation and the Eora language. In 1788 their territory extended from around Botany Bay and the George’s River in the south, north to Broken Bay and the Hawkesbury River, and westwards to the Parramatta district and the Darug people. There were some 29 individual clans or family groups, whose numbers might have ranged from around 50 to 100 people. They included the Cadigal (Gadigal) who occupied the southern shore of Sydney Harbour from South Head (Warrane) to Darling Harbour; the Wangal on the south shore of the Parramatta River; the Gweagal on the south shore of Botany Bay; the Cannalgal and Birrabirrigal among others on the north shore of Sydney Harbour. After the destruction wrought by the smallpox outbreaks, the surviving clans were sometimes so few in numbers the people amalgamated with other groups (see Nanbaree above.) There is much online written and pictorial material about the Eora. Search Eora on the Sydney Barani website, the Dictionary of Sydney, the City of Sydney Aboriginal histories, the NSW State Library archive, and the Eora People site of Dr Keith Vincent Smith, a noted authority on Eora history and author of numerous books and articles. See also Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council.

Flinders letter to Ann. Written aboard Investigator 20 July 1802, the day before they moved from Cattle Point to Neutral Bay prior to departure. Franklin letter to his mother completed 21 July only a few hours before Investigator moved her moorings. Spilsby Bank. Initially successful, it became a financial calamity for the Franklin family. See notes in the Epilogue chapter.

Departure from Part Jackson. See Flinders Journal log entries 20-22 July 1802; Franklin's letter to his mother 21 July.

 

Chapter 8

Larboard. The left-hand side of a ship looking forward from the stern. Now called the port side, which came into use during the early part of the 19th century to avoid confusion with the starboard or right-hand side of a ship. Made official in the Royal Navy around 1844.

Prior discoveries. The long Introductory section of Flinders’ Voyage Vol I is a comprehensive survey of previous European voyages of discovery to Australia, including his own, up to the departure of Investigator from Spithead.

Australia. In a footnote on page iii of the Introduction Flinders notes, ‘Had I permitted myself any innovation upon the original term [Terra Australis] it would have been to convert it into Australia, as being more agreeable to the ear, an as an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the earth.’

Bass. See Estensen Life of George Bass page 160. By the time Flinders returned to Port Jackson in June 1803, Bass had already left in Venus with an illegal cargo for South America. Neither the ship nor Bass were seen again, so far as has been ascertained. Stories he was captured and sent to slave in the Spanish mines have not been verified.

Cook. See in particular Flinders Voyage Volume II pages 12-13. Also John Franklin letter to his sister Elizabeth 18 Oct 1802, Traill page 19.

Skirmish Point.See Smith Bungaree pages 31-32, based on Collins. Flinders doesn’t mention the  cabbage tree hat in his Voyage II, referring readers to Collins Volume II pages 156-59 for a full account of the incident. Bribie Island is the traditional home of the Gubbi Gubbi First Nation. I thank Christine Stuart and Tiana Stuart of the Gubbi Gubbi Dyungungoo Group Inc. for their assistance.

Wide Bay. Opening and channels, Voyage II page 6. Lady Nelson and commander Murray, ibid page 9. Sandy Cape visit ibid pages 10-12.

Ngulungbara. The Ngulungbara people occupied the northern part of Fraser Island, which has now reverted to its traditional Aboriginal name of K’gari (pronounced ‘Garri’) which means ‘Paradise’ in the Butchulla/Badtjala language. The people are part of the Badtjala Ngulungbara Nation. The Queensland Department of Environment and Science website has useful information on K’gari (Fraser Island) Great Sandy National Park, including material on Butchulla culture, lore, creation stories, food and medicine and the devastating impact of European colonisation.

Sharks. Flinders mentions Bungaree’s aversion to sharks and rays on 25 February 1803, Voyage II pages 238-9, and Bungaree’s belief they would kill him. Keith Smith confirms that the taboo was common throughout the Eora clans. See also Smith Bungaree page 62.

Port Curtis.See Smith Bungaree page 54 for the ‘shower of stones’ quoting the journal of the naturalist Robert Brown, also Flinders Voyage II pages 20 for Bungaree fishing with spear,  and 27-8 for the two missing seamen. Also Brown Chapters 10-12 for the east coast voyage.

Bailai. Curtis Island and the mainland coastal zone opposite the island was the traditional country of the Bailai people, one of several First Nations occupying today’s central Queensland seaboard. Native Title has been granted over substantial portions of traditional land. Curtis Island is largely protected either as a national park or conservation park, including the surrounding waters of the Great Barrier Reef, although a small portion to the south-west is an industrial zone including Gladstone’s liquid natural gas port facilities. Search also Port Curtis Coral Coast Trust, also Curtis Island.

Darumbal. The Darumbal people are the traditional owners of coastal lands in central Queensland that include the modern city of Rockhampton, Great Keppel Island and Shoalwater Bay. The lands also extended inland and around the southern part of Broad Sound. I thank Katheen and Nicky Hatfield of the Darumbal People Aboriginal Corporation for their advice and assistance with this section of the text. Search Darumbal website for further historical and cultural information, also Shoalwater Bay and Broad Sound.

La Pérouse.See notes Chapter 6. Also Flinders Voyage II page 49.

Timekeepers. See Flinders Voyage II pages 64-70, also Flinders log or Journal14-25 September 1802. They make it quite clear that the chronometers were let down twice at Broad Sound. Flinders does not say who were the two midshipmen (‘young gentlemen’) who went ashore with Samuel Flinders to check the rates, but as John Franklin was Samuel’s assistant I have assumed he was one of them and that Lound was the other. Booth makes clear that the astronomical observations was a major cause of the friction between the two. I have also assumed that, after the first letting down, Matthew charged Samuel with responsibility for winding the timekeepers, otherwise it is difficult to explain why Matthew took the extraordinary step of naming his brother in his published Voyage II and Journalfor having forgotten to do so. The seriousness of such neglect cannot be overstated, not just for the safety of Investigator’s own navigation, but for the accuracy of the charts Flinders intended to produce based on readings taken from the chronometers. Although the term ‘chronometer’ was first used in the early the 18th century, it was not used widely by  mariners until much later. I have mainly used ‘timekeeper’ in the text, as this was the word used by Flinders and many of his colleagues at the time.

Advice to John.See letter written by Matthew to James Franklin 10 May 1805, offering to get John a lieutenant’s commission if he chose to sail with him again. ‘He has ability enough, but he must be diligent, studious, active in his duty, not over-ready to take offence at his superior officers, not yet humbling too much to them; but in all things he should make allowances for differences of disposition and ways of thinking, and should judge principally from the intention.’

Satisfied with rates. I have taken Flinders’ words directly from the published Voyage II page 70.

Coral. The beauty (and dangers) of the corals and some of the islands are discussed by Flinders in his Voyage II Chapter IV. I have moved his thoughts on the formation of the reefs from Chapter V to this point, where they seemed to fit more naturally with the narrative. Charles Darwin’s views in Coral Formations will be found in Chapter XX of his Voyage of HMS Beagle.

Anchors. FlindersVoyage and Journal11 October; anchors dragged 13 October.

Lady Nelson. Orders to return to Port )ackson 17 October, Voyage II pages 96-7.

Flinders’ letter. Matthew’s letter to Ann written just before the ships parted the next day is indeed brief in the extreme. It is reproduced on page 39 of Retter and Sinclair.

John’s letters.Franklin’s letters to his sisters Elizabeth and Ann were both written just before Lady Nelson returned to Sydney. The letter to Elizabeth is in a typed transcript of John’s letters concerning the Investigator voyage (see also Traill pages 18-19). The interesting one to his sister Ann is in ms form only in a separate file of letters.

Bungaree.The affectionate bond between Bungaree and Trim is recorded in Flinders’ biographical sketch of his cat, Trim, pages 28-29.

Through the reef.Flinders Voyage II, pages 100-1. Advice to commanders. ibid Page 104. Flinders’ exit to the ocean is still known as Flinders’ Passage, lat.18°45’S, long. 148°10’E. It is some 45 miles off Cape Bowling Green, between the towns of Ayr and Townsville on the North Queensland Coast.

Pandora. Flinders gives a full account of Pandora and Providence in Torres Strait in his Introductory chapter to the Voyage I pages xvi to xxix. See also online entries.

Murray Island/Mer. Flinders’ account of Investigator’s brief stay at the islands is in the Voyage II pages 108-10. See also the engraving William Westall’s view of Melanesian canoes, including some with sails, available online. Murray Island/Mer is famous as the home of Eddie Mabo, whose successful case to the High Court led to the establishment of Native Title rights to traditional lands by Australian Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. Search the Torres Strait Island Regional Council. The website has much information on Torres Strait culture and heritage, history, geography, art and tourism.

Torres Strait.The passage from Murray Island to Endeavour Strait, is described in Voyage II pages 114-123, which include the discussions on the formation of coral reefs and the several islands on which the scientists landed.

Difficulties surmounted.Voyage II page 123. In modern times more direct and safer channels for shipping have been charted for shipping through the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait. Yet Endeavour Strait for smaller vessels and the channel north of the Prince of Wales Group for larger ships remain two of the more important routes through Torres Strait. Interested readers will find a full account of Captain Cook’s passage through the ‘Labyrinth’ of the reefs and escape through Endeavour Strait in my book Captain Cook’s Apprentice among other sources.

 

Chapter 9

Jansz. Properly Janszoon, Flinders used the more widely-known abbreviation which I have adopted. Willem Janszoon (c.1570-1630) made two voyages to Australia. The most important was in February 1606 when his ship Duyfken made the first recorded European landfall on the Australian coast at Pennefather River near modern Weipa. He charted some 320 km (200 miles) of the coast southward. Janszoon is said to have lost some ten of his crew killed in skirmishes at Cape Keer-weer. Flinders acknowledges this in the long Introduction to his Voyage I page vii. Janszoon made a second landing near North West Cape, Western Australia in 1618. A replica of Duyfken was launched in 1999, and is now at the National Maritime Museum, Sydney. Search also Janszoon, Duyfken online.

Wik people. A group of Aboriginal clans, speaking several languages, whose territories ranged over the western side of the Cape York Peninsula. The largest branch were the Wik-Mungkan people. The Mapoon Story edited by Janine Roberts et al, contains oral histories of the Dutch landing at Cape Keer-Weer. There are a number of interesting online sites with information on Wik people, culture and language. I thank Mayor Keri Tamwoy and Margaret Lilley of the Aurukun Shire Council and Ngan Aak-Kunch Aboriginal Corporation for their assistance with this section of the book.

Carstenz and van Colster.In January 1623 the yacht Pera with Jan Carstenzoon as captain, and a smaller vessel Arnhem under Willem van Colster (Coolsteerdt) left Ambon for the Gulf of Carpentaria. They reached the east coast in April, sailed further south than Jansz, reaching the Staaten River north of Normanton. After a clash with the Wik after attempts to kidnap some of the men, Carstenz returned to Ambon. Van Colster in Arnhem (named after the city in Holland) continued across the Gulf, sighting the east coast of what became known as Arnhem Land. Carstenz named the Gulf after Pieter de Carpentier, then Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.

Rotten ship. Full report by Aken and Mart Flinders Voyage II pages 141-43. Leakage. ibid page 135; surprise and sorrow page 143; aborigines pages 137-38; skulls page 147. See also Brown chapters 13–15.

Turtles. Flinders Voyage II pages 153-55, including discussion on fecundity and nature’s balance. My children’s book Harriet (Puffin 2006) gives further details on the capture and transport of turtles by seamen as livestock in the age before refrigeration.

Richard Wellesley (1760-1842). First Marquess Wellesley, Governor-General of India 1798-1805. Formerly the Earl of Mornington. His younger brother Arthur became the first Duke of Wellington, victor of Waterloo. The Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, is also named after the family title.

Wellesley Islands. The South Wellesley Islands are the traditional home of the Kaiadilt people. There is a small online presence, including links to a dictionary. The McKenzie Massacre on Bentinck Island told by Roma Kelly, illustrated by high school students at Mornington Island State School, tells of a 1918 massacre of the Kaiadilt. The North Wellesleys, including Mornington Island (Kunhanhaa), were occupied by the Lardil people. The Mornington Shire Council website has much information on the Lardil and other traditional owners of the North Wellesleys, their history and culture. See also Lardil Tribal Council. I thank Violet Taulanga of Mornington Shire Council (Queensland), Roxanne Thomas of Mirndiyan Art Centre, Dr Paul Memmott of the University of Queensland for their kind assistance and advice. Search Sweers and Bentinck Islands for notes on the McKenzie story and the Investigator Tree (see note under Robert Brown below).

Rocks. 11 December 1802 Voyage II page 161. Timekeepers. ibid. I have assumed the fault was John Franklin’s. Flinders’ Journalrefers only to ‘my astronomical assistant’, amended to ‘assistant’ in the published Voyage II. As this was Franklin, I believe it could only be him.

Yanyuwa. Flinders had barely any contact with the Yanyuwa people of the Pellew Islands and the neighbouring coastal strip. However, it is thought they had good trading relations with the Macassans and adopted some of the words into their language. Search the Mabunji Aboriginal Resource Indigenous Corporation and the Roper Gulf Regional Council at Borroloola, whose websites have good information on Yanyuwa culture and current activities. Admiral Sir Edward Pellew (1757-1833), later Lord Exmouth, fought in the American and French Revolutionary Wars as well as the Napoleonic Wars.

Sailor drowned. Limmen Bight, 3 January 1803, Voyage II page 181.

Chasm Island/Barrubarra.14 January 1803, Voyage II pages 188-9. Keith Smith King Bungaree page 57 notes that in 1947 Dr Frederick D McCarthy recorded some 900 Aboriginal rock paintings at some 27 sites on the island. The Anindilyakwa Land Council is the peak body representing the traditional owners of the Groote Eylandt archipelago, and has a very good website about the islands, its people, their culture and activities. I thank Dr Hugh Bland and the Land Council for their kind advice and assistance.

Robert Brown and HMS Beagle. There’s another direct link between these two famous vessels. When Investigator was being repaired at Sweers Island, one of the seamen carved his ship’s name into a tree trunk near the shore. Forty years later, HMS Beagle called at Sweers on another survey voyage commanded by John Lort Stokes. Beneath the name INVESTIGATOR on the tree his crew carved BEAGLE and the date 1841. Later explorers added their names, and the carved wood is now in the Queensland Museum. Incidentally, Sir John Franklin, then Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land, lent one of his colonial vessels to assist Beagle for part of that survey. As noted in the text, Brown helped classify some of Darwin’s botanical specimens from his famous Beagle voyage. Thus is the fabric of history woven from so many entwined threads of human achievement.)

Morgan’s Island. 21 January 1803, Voyage II pages 195-98. Lacy’s narrative is closely based on Flinders’ account. Smith King Bungaree page 58 has a copy of William Westall’s pencil drawing of the dead man, also search Internet. Two Aboriginal clans were living on Woodah and Morgan Islands at the time: Wurragwagwa associated with Groote Island, the other Yolngu. As it is not possible to identify to which clan the deceased man belonged, I have left it open. Thanks to Hugh Bland of the Anindilyakwa Land Council for this advice.

Caledon Bay. 3-10 February 1803, Voyage II pages 205-10, also Smith op cit. pages 59-60, who quotes Robert Brown noting three similarities of Yolngu words to the Port Jackson language: the personal pronoun gni-a, Bungaree-gah and Yehangeree py, the latter word meaning to beat. Brown collected about 50 words of the local dialect.

Yolngu.A significant group of Aboriginal clans, whose traditional territory includes the Gove Peninsula, surrounding lands and offshore islands in north-east Arnhem Land, also known as Miwatj. The word Yolngu mans ‘People’. Each clan belongs to either the Dhuwa or Yirritja moiety or division, as do most things in the Yolngu world view. A person of one moiety marries into the other moiety, but children take their father’s moiety. The clans have their own languages, dialects and traditional areas of land and water, but are connected through a complex kinship system sharing similarities of culture, belief, ritual, social and economic life. Woga. Smith King Bungaree page 60 reproduces William Westall’s sketch of Woga; also search Westall online. I thank Christine Burke CEO of the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation, and Will Stubbs of Baku-Larrnggay Mulka (Yirrkala Art Centre) for their kind advice and assistance. The websites have substantial information on art, culture, history, land and sea management, and visitor permits. The National Museum of Australia has good material about the Yolngu in the introductory notes to the exhibition Yalangbara:Art of the Djang’kawu. Also search Yolngu online.

Macassans. The Yolngu had trading relationships with the Macassan/Makassar fishermen from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi some two centuries before Flinders visited the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Yolngu word for European Balanda, is derived from the Makassar orang belanda (Dutch person). The trepang trade was stopped in the early 20th century. In more recent years the Yolngu have played an important part in the Aboriginal land rights movement, and the growing appreciation of Aboriginal artistic and musical culture at home and internationally.

 

Chapter 10

Malay Roads. The material for the meeting with the Macassan fisherman is taken from Flinders’ Voyage, Volume II pages 229-34. The volume includes a print of a drawing by William Westall of the Roads seen from Pobassoo’s Island. Search online for Westall>Pobassoo which should also yield the artist’s drawing of the chief, reproduced in Smith’s King Bungaree page 61.

Baudin. Baudin did not in fact visit the Gulf of Carpentaria. He didn’t leave Sydney in Géographe until later in 1802, to spend more time examining the southern and western coastline, after which he sailed for Timor and Mauritius. His second ship Naturaliste he sent back to France from Sydney with the reports, charts, readings and natural history collection gathered by the expedition to that point.

English Company Islands. Flinders Voyage Volume II, pages 235-41. Inglis Island, Bungaree page 239. Arnhem Bay, ibid pages 242-45. Flinders first mentions the scorbutic ulcers on his feet Friday 5 March 1803 on quitting Arnhem Bay.

Scurvy.While Flinders closely followed Cook in his shipboard regimen, there is one exception. Everywhere he landed during the Endeavour voyage, Cook records he had his men ashore foraging for edible greenstuff (wild celery, spinach and other leaves), and making ‘spruce beer’ from pine needles or other suitable vegetation. I could find no evidence in his Investigator log that Flinders did so. Cook was mostly able to keep scurvy at bay, whereas Flinders suffered greatly.

Return to Sydney. The decision was made on 6 March, when Flinders records his anguish over the ‘train of ills’ that followed Investigator’s decay, and the utterance of a wish. (He doesn’t state the nature of that wish: but possibly it’s to wish he’d never embarked on the project.)The decision to first head to Timor due to winds and revised plans 26 March, voyage vol II pages 250-51.

Coepang. Today spelled Kupang. Investigator was in the port from 31 March to 8 April, Voyage vol II pages 252-59. See also Brown chapters 16–17. He says the dinner with Governor Geisler on Timor ‘was not splendid but to us who had been living on salt beef and putrid water, was excellent.’ While many of the best fruits were out of season, the oranges were excellent. William Bligh sought to land at several (sometimes hostile) islands during his epic voyage in a longboat following the Bounty mutiny in April 1789. Coepang was the first European settlement he reached, after which he and his men  went to Batavia and took ship back to England.

Bungaree’s debt.The story is told by Smith King Bungaree pages 98-9. It was first recounted by the French explorer d’Urville, who states the debt was incurred the year before Bungaree visited Coepang with P P King in June 1818. As there’s no record of Bungaree having been at Timor in 1817, Smith says it’s more likely to have happened when he was there with Flinders in 1803. In any event, d’Urville said it certainly showed the Eora man’s ‘enthusiasm and despatch.’

Trial Rocks. Flinders Voyage Volume II, pages 261-2. So named after the English ship Trial (or Tryal) which foundered on them in 1622. A bank was also said to extend from them towards Timor, but Flinders found no sign of them in the several positions given on the charts. Today, they have been identified as lying in the Indian Ocean fourteen kilometres (nine miles) off the Montebello group, also known as Ritchie’s Reef or Greyhound’s Shoal. Flinders was not alone in failing to find them. Mariners spent more than three centuries trying to locate what had been described as ‘the theme and dread of every voyager to the Eastern islands.’ See useful entries online.

Return to Port Jackson. Flinders gave up the search on 27 April when he turned southerly for the run to Sydney. Details of the sickness on board, visit to Goose Island bay, deaths, and arrival at Port Jackson taken from Voyage Volume II, pages 264-72. Flinders seems to want to deal with the ghastly sail as shortly as possible. John Franklin’s state of health is imagined, as he makes no mention of it in his brief reference to the voyage from Timor in his letter home on 26 August. Bungaree. For Bungaree’s future career as a prominent member of the local community, see Smith King Bungaree; also search online for many references and portraits.

Sydney.All details from  Volume II, pages 272-81, including the report on Investigator’s inspection and Governor King’s letter setting out Flinders’ options. He spent about a fortnight ‘at the Hawkesbury settlement near the foot of the back mountains.’ I assume it was near Windsor, 46 kilometres from Sydney, which the first British settlers had reached by the early 1790s.

Father’s death. Flinders’ letter to his stepmother (John Franklin’s aunt on his mother’s side) dated 10 June, the day after they arrived at Sydney. Quoted at length in Scott pages 277-79. Matthew asks that the interest on his share of his father’s legacy be applied to the education of his two young stepsisters, until such time as he returns to England to put things on a correct footing.

Letter to Ann. Written 25 June, when Matthew was convalescing on the Hawkesbury. Quoted in Scott and at greater length in Retter and Sinclair. Neither Ann nor the widow of Dr John Flinders (John Franklin’s aunt) could have known it would be another seven years before they would next see their husband and stepson.

Letter to George Bass.Flinders again missed seeing his great friend Bass, who was absent on a voyage to South America when Investigator reached Sydney after the voyage from Timor. He did receive two letters from Bass left for him in Sydney, and wrote a reply left with Governor King to be collected when Bass returned. Tragically, Bass completely disappeared, and his fate has never been established beyond doubt. The letter, now among Flinders papers, is also quoted at some length by Scott, who says that the last sentence can hardly be read without sensing the emotion with which Flinders wrote it: ‘God bless you, my dear Bass; remember me, and believe me to be your very sincere and affectionate friend…’

Porpoise.For the crew and supernumaries on Porpoise see Governor King letter in Flinders Porpoise journal (log); also Fowler’s Porpoise journal. Dr Bell on Bridgewater and disembark at Bombay, letter to Banks 4 April 1804 SLNSW. as noted in the text, Brown and the botanists remained in Sydney until they returned to England on a repaired Investigator in 1805.

Convicts. Of the nine convicts who boarded Investigator as crew in Sydney, one so misbehaved that Flinders could not recommend his freedom. One died, and the other seven were emancipated at the Captain’s request. Four of them boarded Porpoise as crew, but two misbehaved and a third was condemned to the prison hulks not long after returning to England, Voyage II page 279.

John Franklin. The letter from King to Flinders (above) shows John, Denis Lacy, and others in the list of supernumeraries. Letters. In a letter to his father, written when John reached England in August 1804, he states he has not heard from the family at Spilsby since June 1802 (when Investigator berthed at Sydney for the first time). The date is the same in the online typescript and in Traill, page 25, written from the original manuscript. John does not appear to have written home from Sydney in June-July 1803, since the first surviving letter mentioning the rotten state of the ship, the detour to Timor and deaths from dysentery on the return voyage to Sydney was written to his father on 26 August, after the shipwreck, and reads as though he were telling it for the first time: ‘You would not dislike to have some account of our last voyage [to the Gulf of Carpentaria] I suppose…’

 

Chapter 11

The sequence of events at Wreck Reef and Flinders sail in the cutter to Sydney, are drawn from Flinders Voyage II, Book III Ch II; his Civil Account; and Lieutenant Fowler’s Journal. There are online drawings and paintings of the wreck and tents on the sand bank made by William Westall who was among the castaways, search Westall>Wreck Reef. The remains of Porpoise are identified as Shipwreck 3011 by the Australian Government. A permit is required to enter the protected zone.

Wreck. Flinders Voyage II pages 295-303 for lights, cut down Porpoise masts, attempt to fire gun, near miss of Cato and Bridgewater, blue light, gig. John Booth in his Franklin memoir states one sailor spent much of the night calling for his mother, until threatened with a flogging if he didn’t stop, but I’ve not seen this repeated elsewhere; perhaps it was confused with the boy crying he was a ‘Jonah.’

First day. ibid pages 304-11 for ‘Jonah’, Bridgewater sailing away, first night on sand bank, Flinders take command, stores landed, decision to take cutter to Sydney and departure.

Captain Palmer. Flinders Voyage II pages 307-9 has a long footnote quoting Palmer’s report of the wreck from a Calcutta newspaper the Orphan 3 February 1804, also Williams’ journal on the response by the crew to his actions. All references in an online search of Bridgewater state she disappeared without trace after leaving India. Dr Bell stayed in India as a surgeon with the East India Company, see Bell letter to Banks 4 April 1804, Banks Papers SLNSW.

John Franklin.See letter to his father 26 August 1803 about the wreck and Bridgewater. Also letter to his father 6 August 1804 off Berry Head in the English Channel where he says he lost most of his clothes and linen in the wreck. It mentions gifts from China but not New Holland. John Booth in his memoir states John ‘lost his clothes and everything he possessed’ in the wreck.

Sand bank.Events on the bank after Flinders Departure are from Lieutenant Fowler’s Journal.

Floggings23, 28 August, 5 September; first schooner keel laid 29 August, planking started 3 September; Bird Islet 12 September; turtles e.g. 13,15, 19 September; second schooner planking began 21 September; first schooner painted 1 October, launched and named Resource 4 October. Sights Rolla and schooners from Sydney 7 October.

Quarrel. The details of the quarrel between John Franklin and Samuel Flinders are imagined, but John Booth makes clear Franklin felt he was being made to do most of the observational work while Samuel took all the credit. As Booth was Franklin’s brother-in-law (and brother of Franklin’s closest boyhood friend), we must assume he wrote with direct knowledge from Franklin.) In a letter to Thomas Franklin dated 10 May 1805, Matthew said he believed John feared he had lost his friendship when they parted (at Wreck Reef) on account of a difference between him and Samuel. Matthew added, ‘He [John] may rest confident in my friendship…’ John continued to feel he had lost Matthew’s support following this last conversation until as late as 1810, when he read Matthew’s 1805 letter for the first time. See further notes to Chapter 13 and Epilogue.

Matthew’s return. See Flinders Voyage II pages 328-30.

Porpoise. Matthew called her a ‘frail hut impressive monument to our misfortune’ Voyage II page 327.

 

Chapter 12

Rolla. Details of the voyage from Wreck Reef to Macau are from Lieutenant Fowler’s log.

John Franklin.‘Hearts light as feathers’, letter to brother Willingham, 15 August 1804; loss of Matthew’s friendship, letter to Ann Flinders, 1 October 1810; Chinese nick-nacks, loss of clothes and loans, Earl Camden, letter to father, 6 August 1804.

Battle of the Painted ships.Traill gives a good account of the action pages 22-24; also search online ‘Battle of Pulo Aura’, Dance and Linois. An online article on restoration of Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory gives a good idea of the colours British ships of the line were painted. The battle forms the centrepiece of Patrick O’Brien’s novel HMS Surprise, third in the magnificent Aubrey/Maturin series.

Flag Midshipman. John Booth says Franklin told him he received £30 from the East India Company for his part in the action. A midshipman then received about £20 a year. Traill page 24 quotes a letter from Dance to the East India company, praising the role of John Franklin and Midshipman Olive (who’d been Flinders’ secretary) during the action. ‘Whatever may have been the merits of others, theirs in their station were equally conspicuous.’

Captain Birch.John mentioned having met the Captain accidentally at St Helena in the letter to his father 6 August, and said he would call on Mrs Birch when he got home. Flinders. John also tells of Flinders’ detention at Mauritius in this letter.

Prisoner of War. I have relied on Scott E chapter XXII for the overview of Flinders’ arrival at Mauritius, interviews with Decaen, arrest, transactions and imprisonment in Café Marengo and later Maison Despeaux. Flinders Voyage II pages 334-58 gives details of the voyage in Cumberland to Mauritius, and Chapter IV pages 359-89, his imprisonment and subsequent removal to the POW garden prison. ‘What! I am then a prisoner?’ page 361.

Ann. Matthew’s letters to his wife are available through the Australian Joint Copying Project, and can be viewed online through the National Library of Australia’s splendid Trove portal. They have been printed in part or in full by Retter and Sinclair. ‘Without thee the world would be a blank’ pages 57-61, letter 24 August 1803 completed 4 November 1804; ‘my brother will tell you that I am proud’, page 51. Ann later destroyed all her letters to Matthew.

My Evening Song. Retter and Sinclairwith music page 76. In a letter to Ann 20 November 1805, Matthew wrote, ‘…I often retire to the little pavilion which is my study and bedroom, and with my flute in my hand and sometimes tears in my eyes I warble over the little evening song of which I sent thee a copy.’

Thomas. Matthew’s letter to Thomas Franklin stating John ‘may rest confident in my friendship’ dated 10 May 1805. It is unlikely it would have reached Spilsby before John came home on leave August-September, but nevertheless strange that John did not know of it until five years later. Writing to Ann Flinders on 1 October 1810 he says he had read it only that morning, and that the Captain ‘appears satisfied with my conduct.’ After six years of silence it released a torrent of assurance of John’s admiration and respect for Matthew. The sense of relief is palpable. John says in this letter to Ann that he'd written to Matthew about the differences between himself and Samuel after leaving Wreck Reef. Whether Matthew received it is not known, but the letter to Thomas may be taken as a response for John. All the more wonder he was not shown it, despite long absences at sea, given his many ‘uneasy’ years about the matter. See further notes to Chapter 14.

Shirts and stockings.John’s letter to his father, 6 August 1804. Bridgewater. ibid, John asks Father whether he’d seen Captain Palmer’s account of the Porpoise wreck. In his letter to brother Willingham, 15 August, John said he would ‘send some remarks on the wreck of Porpoise, which doubtless will differ from the general current account in the English papers.’ His family, of course, by then would probably have received his letter from Wreck Reef a year earlier.

Enderby house. The description is from the Stamford Mercury 22 November 1816, when Willingham Franklin (father) sold it.

Ann Flinders.I have assumed John visited Ann. Given the letter to his father 6 August saying he would write to her, the fact she lived nearby and the closeness of the family relationship, it’s difficult to believe he wouldn’t call on his commander’s wife. John’s aunt was Ann’s mother-in-law, and the news of Matthew’s imprisonment was quite recent.

 

Epilogue

Franklin career. Franklin/Cracroft, Outline of his life, Traill; Trafalgar pages 25-30.

Trafalgar. Traill op.cit., page 148 flag on mizzen shrouds; Pocock, especially pages 68-9, 75, 90-4 Bellerophon and aftermath; Sniper, Booth page 5. Also search online for Nelson, Bellerophon, Victory and Battle of Trafalgar for summaries and many excellent illustrations.

Bank failure. Traill page 32; Cracroft ms, pages 21-29; Booth page 5; Stamford Mercury November 1804, 19 April, 27 September 1805, 22 October 1807, 16 November 1816, 9 April 1824. Parts of the Cracroft ms appear to have been written or dictated by John Booth, as in several places it refers to ‘the writer (J Booth)’. It may have been transcribed by Miss Cracroft, who was Sir John Franklin’s niece through his sister Isabella. She was a close companion and assistant of Lady Franklin after his death. The section dealing with the bank failure is written from a partisan family perspective and needs to be read with some caution. For John’s five pounds see Traill pages 32-3 and Booth. Sincere thanks to Max Gibson of Spilsby for his assistance with this part of the story. John’s mother Hannah died in April 1810, Lamb page 35

Flinders. Retter and Sinclair page 77 for Banks and relations; Scott pages 367-390 for details of the continuing captivity and orders for release. See esp. pages 376-78 for Decaen’s motivations, and page 263 for influence of Peron’s report. Scott says, ‘Peron’s report … did no mischief where he intended it should. But by inflaming Decaen’s mind with suspicions it may not have been ineffective in another unfortunate direction…’

Péron. Duyker gives not a lot of space to Péron’s report, and quotes Scott dismissing suggestions in his Terre Napoleon (1910) that the naturalist could be considered a ‘spy’, since nothing at Port Jackson had been concealed from him. However, Scott seems to have changed his mind four years later. The chapter on the French at Port Jackson in his Matthew Flinders (1914) has the sub-heading ‘Peron the spy’, there are several references to him as such, and it concludes: ‘He knew the sort of information that would please General Decaen, and evidently considered that espionage would bring him greater favour from his government, at that time, than science.’ In any case, many spies receive information legitimately in the course of their employment, then pass it on to others who wish that employer no good. In fairness, Dr Duyker points out that Flinders also supplied information about Île de France to British commanders, suggesting suitable landing places, after his release from six-and-a-half-years’ detention. One man’s spy, as I remark in this narrative, can be another man’s patriot.

It is worth quoting what Péron had to say about Flinders, Scott page 459. Peron told Decaen that if a formidable military position were found in an archipelago near the rich Spanish possessions in South America, England would occupy it and threaten their neighbours more closely and impatiently. He went on: ‘Mr Flinders, in an expedition of discovery which is calculated to last five years, and who doubtless at the present moment is traversing the region under discussion, appears to have that object particularly in view.’ In fact, Flinders was only a few days sail away from Mauritius in Cumberland, and it is not hard to imagine what effect Péron’s misinformation might have had on Decaen’s already suspicious mind when the navigator suddenly turned up at Port Louis.

Fate of Investigatorcompany. John Franklin letter to Flinders 1 November 1810, Flinders papers; Scott E page 391; Brown pages 452-3 for Denis Lacy. He arrived in Sydney with Resource on 27 October 1803, and sailed on L’Enfant d’Adéle a week later. The ship called at Wreck Reef and the master left a letter in Porpoise. Thereafter the ship disappeared without trace. Fowler is from his online entry

Flinders death. Scott pages 395-401, 39 fate of Investigator crew ; The Naval Chronicle obituary; Morgan pages 193-5; Flinders Will for Samuel and Ann, also Phillips and Retter and Sinclair page 131 Ann’s letter to Pitot. ABC news 25 January 2019 for Flinders’ coffin found, and Spalding Today, author conversation with the Church of St Mary & The Holy Rood, January 2023 for planned re-burial (possibly mid-year). Ann was originally left £1200 in Matthew’s Will, later changed to an annuity of £55. Samuel was initially left all Matthew’s property at Mauritius and Réunion Islands, but this appears to have been changed to one quarter interest in his estate after payments of annuities, legacies and disbursements. It may explain his interest in the islands.

Voyage to Terra Australis. A set of the first edition sold at Christies in 2006 for £20,400 ($36,283), see Christie’s online. For the 2021 Cook and Encyclopaedia Britannica auctions, see e.g. The Age, 16 December 2021 and Christie’s online site.

Franklin. Letters to Ann 1 October 1810, 27 August 1814, correspondence with Flinders, Franklin papers. Death and opinion of Flinders’ Voyage see Morgan page 194-5, Franklin letters to Robert Brown 1814-15. For the very brief outline of Franklin’s polar expeditions and time in Van Diemen’s Land I have relied on his entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, various online entries dealing with Franklin’s ‘Lost Expedition’, and on Traill and Lamb for fuller accounts. Search for Franklin and the Arctic for many photographs and illustrations relating to his two overland and two maritime expeditions to the Arctic, also Lady Jane Franklin. Traill page 435 for giving up snuff.

Epitaph. By Alfred Tennyson, available on Westminster Abbey website with the monument, also Franklin statue in Hobart.