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.
When Baudin sailed westward along the south coast from Wilson's
Promontory towards Encounter Bay - before his meeting with Flinders - he
bestowed French names upon places that had been already discovered and
named by the English, giving to Cape Patton (of Grant) the title of Cape
Suffrein, Cape Albany Otway (of Grant) that of Cape Marengo, and Cape
Schanck (of Grant) that of Cape Richelieu. Portland Bay, also named by
Grant, became Tourville Bay; Montaigne Cape took the place-name of Cape
Solicitor; Lady Julia Island became Fourcroy Island; Lawrence's Island,
Dragon Island; and Cape Bridgewater, Cape Montesquieu. In this manner
nearly the whole of Grant's discoveries were rechristened.* (* Some
writers give the French name of Cape Desaix, bestowed in honour of one of
Napoleon's famous generals, to Cape Albany Otway. Pinkerton's translator
of the History to Southern Lands, however, states that the French named
Cape Otway, Cape Marengo.)
The presence of Baudin's expedition in Australian waters may be said to
have considerably hurried on the British colonisation of Tasmania.
Although Bass and Flinders had in 1798 circumnavigated the island, adding
extensive discoveries to those already made by Furneaux, Hayes, Bligh,
and other British seamen, it was realised in Sydney that the French might
lay claim to some portion of the island.
During Baudin's visit his officers surveyed the eastern coast more
thoroughly than any previous navigators, although they must have known
that Tasmania was then regarded by the British as their territory.* (*
The commission of Governor Phillip, read publicly when he landed at
Sydney in 1788, had proclaimed him ruler of all the land from Cape York
to South Cape in Tasmania.) Baudin's enquiries elicited as much from
Governor King at Sydney. It was natural therefore that after the
departure of the French ships, when King heard a rumour that they
intended to take possession of a port in Tasmania,* (* Baie du Nord.) he
should send Acting-Lieutenant Robbins in the Cumberland after the
vessels, who, finding them at anchor at King Island, immediately hoisted
the Union Jack there and daily saluted it during their stay. It was upon
seeing the British flag flying on this island that Baudin is said to have
observed "that the English were worse than the Pope, for whereas he
grasped half the world the English took the whole of it."
Commodore Baudin afterwards wrote to Governor King assuring him that the
rumour as to his intentions was without foundation, but, he added,
"Perhaps he (Robbins) has come too late as for several days before he
hoisted the flag over our tents we had left in prominent parts of the
island (which I still name after you) proofs of the period at which we
visited it." This insinuation evidently raised King's ire, as he made a
note on the margin of the letter, "If Mr. Baudin insinuates any claim of
this visit the island was first discovered in 1798* (* King writes 1799
in the chart.) by Mr. Reid in the Martha and afterwards seen by Mr. Black
in the Harbinger and surveyed by Mr. Murray in February 1802." Baudin
seems to have totally ignored what could not have been a secret at Port
Jackson, namely, the fact that the Lady Nelson had surveyed King Island
from Cape Farewell to Seal Bay.
To return to the story of the logbooks. After another voyage to Norfolk
Island, whither the Lady Nelson conveyed troops to relieve the men there,
Murray was forced to resign his command, the Governor being informed, in
despatches from the Admiralty, that he had sent them an erroneous
statement of his services. In writing to Secretary Nepean, King remarks,
on April 12th, 1803, "I had the honour of receiving yours respecting the
discovery...about Mr. Murray's statement of servitude which appeared in
his passing certificate at the Cape of Good Hope, in consequence of which
he has been superseded in the command of the Lady Nelson and goes home a
passenger in the Glatton. He promises himself being able to clear the
point up to their Lordships' satisfaction. Should he be able to
accomplish this, I consider it but doing common justice to his
perseverance and good conduct while in command of the Lady Nelson to say
that his future services in that vessel would be very acceptable to me
and beneficial to the service that the vessel is employed on. In
consequence of Mr. Murray's being superseded from the Lady Nelson, I
applied to Captain Colnett for a person to command her not having anyone
who can be spared, either from the Buffalo or Porpoise.
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