The French
Officers And Sailors Were Most Hospitably Received By The Governor,
Although England And France Were Still Supposed To Be At War, And Many Of
The French Officers Were Soon On Friendly Terms With The Chief Residents
And Officials.
The news that peace had been concluded between the two
countries, which arrived shortly afterwards, Peron says "could add
nothing to the friendly sentiments of the English at Port Jackson but was
a subject of rejoicing on the part of our companions."
At Sydney Baudin became aware of the full extent of the English
discoveries on the southern coast. Not until then could he have known all
the results of the explorations of Grant and Murray in the Lady Nelson,
for up to the time of the arrival of the French at Sydney, only two ships
had ever visited Port Phillip. One of these was, of course, the Lady
Nelson, the other the Investigator under Captain Flinders.
Flinders had, as we have seen, met Baudin in Encounter Bay, when the
commander of the Investigator was himself ignorant of the fact that Port
Phillip had been discovered and entered by Murray. At this interview
Baudin informed Flinders that the Geographe had "explored the south coast
from Western Port to our place of meeting without finding any river,
inlet or other shelter which afforded anchorage. - This statement of
Baudin's is contradicted by Peron in his history of the voyage, who says,
that on March 30th Port Phillip was seen from the masthead of the
Geographe and was given the name Port du Debut, "but," he adds, "hearing
afterwards that it had been more minutely surveyed by the English brig
Lady Nelson and had been named Port Phillip we, with greater pleasure,
continued this last name from its recalling that of the founder of a
colony in which we met with succour so effective and so liberally
granted." Louis de Freycinet also states that the entrance to the Port
was seen by those on board the Geographe. A drawing of Port Phillip
afterwards appeared under the name Port du Debut on his own charts.* (*
Through the kindness of M. le Comte de Fleurieu some extracts from
Baudin's journal have been placed in the writer's hands. From these it
would appear that the Geographe passed Western Port without recognising
it, and in continuing to voyage westward saw a port which those on board
imagined to be Western Port, but which possibly was Port Phillip.)
Freycinet denied that the map had been plagiarised, as was generally
believed in England, by the unlawful use of Flinders' charts,* (* See
Atlas, 1st Edition Voyage de Decouvertes aux Terres Australes, 1807. F.
Peron and L. de Freycinet. Freycinet was not in the Geographe when she
met the Investigator, he was then in the Naturaliste. He acknowledged
that the drawing of Port Phillip in the Terre Napoleon was taken from a
manuscript chart made on board the English ship Arniston and found among
the papers of the Fame captured by the French in 1806 (Voyage de
Decouvertes 3 430). The Arniston was one of a fleet of ships under convoy
of H.M.S. Athenian which was sent to China via Van Diemen's Land and
Norfolk Island.) and there is no reason to disbelieve him; but it is
quite possible that Flinders did show Freycinet either his own chart of
Port Phillip, or one made by Murray, during the stay of the French at
Port Jackson.
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