The Port Has Not Played A Large Part In The Subsequent
Development Of Australia, But Flinders, Who Discovered It And
Named it
after the chief town of his native county, and the French of Baudin's
expedition, who were the second
People to enter it, thought very highly
of its beauty and value. Peron spoke of it as a "magnificent port," in
which all the navies of Europe could float, and concluded two pages of
description with the words: "Worthy rival of Port Jackson, Port Lincoln
is, in all respects, one of the finest in the world; and of all those
which we have discovered [yet they had not discovered a single port of
any kind!], whether to the south, the west, or the north of New Holland,
it appears to be, I repeat, the best adapted to receive a European
colony." After many years of settlement, Port Lincoln boasts of fewer
than a thousand inhabitants; for though the glowing language of
admiration concerning its beauty and convenience written by Flinders and
Peron were fully justified, a back country too arid to support a large
population has prevented it from attaining to great importance among the
harbours of Australia. To the student of the history of exploration,
however, Port Lincoln is interesting even beyond the measure of its
beauty; for there, in 1841, Sir John Franklin, then governor of Tasmania,
erected at his own cost a monument to the honour of Flinders, his old
commander, from whom he imbibed that passion for exploration which was in
due time to place his own name imperishably amongst the glorious company
of great English seamen.
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