Consequently Baudin Argued
That He Could Not By Any Possibility Afford To Remain In These Waters
Longer Than Three More Weeks; And As In That Time Not Much Could Be Done,
He Determined To Return Home At Once.
His decision gave pleasure to his
unhappy people; but surely it was that of a man whose heart was not in
his work.
No attempt was made to send parties ashore to search for fresh
water. When Flinders ran short, and did not come across a convenient
spring or stream, he dug and found water, as at Port Lincoln; and a very
experienced traveller has observed that "in nearly all parts of Australia
it is usually found a few feet beneath the surface of the ground."* (*
Ward, Rambles of an Australian Naturalist page 109.)
But there were other reasons which conduced to create in Baudin that
depression which is inimical to the protracted pursuit of an allotted
task. Sickness once more laid its hand upon the crews. The commander
himself was in bad health. The demands upon the resources of the doctors
were so numerous that their medicines became exhausted, and they were
unable to attend satisfactorily to the necessities of a constantly
increasing number of ailing men. Bernier, the astronomer, died before the
order to return was given. He was a young man of great promise - "savant
et laborieux," as Peron wrote of him - whose original work before he
reached full manhood had attracted the notice of Lalande. Selected by the
Institute to fill a scientific post with the expedition, he did excellent
work, and his death cut short a career that gave indications of being
brilliant and useful.
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