He Was Disposed To Enter And Remain There For
The Night, But His Journal Records That His People - The Six
Picked
British sailors who were the companions of his enterprise - "seemed
inclined to push for home rather than go up
To the Frenchman's Garden."
Therefore, the wind failing, they took to the oars and rowed to Port
Jackson, reaching home at ten o'clock at night. That is a very
interesting allusion. The Frenchman's Garden must have been somewhere
within the enclosed area where the Cable Station now stands, and it
would be well if so pleasant a name, and one so full of
historical suggestion, were still applied to that reserve.
It may be well to quote in full the passage in which Laperouse relates
his experience of Botany Bay. He was not able to write his journal up
to the date of his departure before despatching it to Europe, but the
final paragraphs in it sufficiently describe what occurred, and what he
thought. Very loose and foolish statements have occasionally been
published as to his object in visiting the port. In one of the
geographical journals a few years ago the author saw it stated that
there was "a race for a Continent" between the English and the French,
in which the former won by less than a week! Nonsense of that sort,
even though it appears in sober publications, issued with a scientific
purpose, can emanate only from those who have no real acquaintance with
the subject. There was no race, no struggle for priority, no thought of
territorial acquisition on the part of the French.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 59 of 82
Words from 15864 to 16131
of 22180
