He Had Left Sydney On
Excellent Terms With The Governor, Who Had Not Only Wished Well To His
Undertaking, But Had Assisted In Its Prosecution By Enabling The
Casuarina To Be Purchased.
He now found himself pursued by a youthful and
exuberant officer, presented with a letter which suggested intentions
that he had explicitly disavowed, and the British flag was virtually
flapped in his face in a somewhat unmannerly fashion.
King's letter to
him explained the rumour which had led to the despatch of the Cumberland,
and contained the following passage: "You will easily imagine that if any
information of that kind had reached me before your departure, I should
have requested an explanation; but as I knew nothing of it, and at
present totally disbelieving anything of the kind ever being thought of,
I consider it but proper to give you this information."
Baudin wrote two letters in reply, one officially, and the second, by far
the more interesting document, a personal and friendly epistle. In the
official answer he said: "The story you have heard, of which I suspect
Mr. Kemp, captain in the New South Wales corps, to be the author, is
without foundation, nor do I believe that the officers and naturalists
who are on board can have given cause for it by their conversation. But
in any case you may rest well assured that if the French Government had
ordered me to remain some days either in the north or south of Van
Diemen's Land, discovered by Abel Tasman, I would have stopped there
without keeping my intention secret from you." Baudin's additional
statement that, prior to the flag incident, he had taken care to place in
four prominent parts of the island "proofs sufficient to show the
priority of our visit," must, however, have brought a smile to King's
lips, and certainly makes one wonder what Baudin meant by "priority";
since King Island had previously been visited by Flinders, had been fully
charted, and was the frequent resort of sealers.
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