Had It
Been Peron's Manner To Record The Deaths Of The Companions Of His Voyage
With Such Barren Brevity, There Would Be Nothing In The Passage To Excite
Comment.
But when a sailor fell overboard we were told what an excellent
and laborious man he was, and how
Much he was regretted; the death of
Bernier called forth an appropriate sentence of eulogy; when Depuch, the
mineralogist died, we were properly informed that he was as much esteemed
for his modesty and the goodness of his heart as for the extent and
variety of his knowledge. The contrast between these instances and the
summary plainness of the statement when Baudin's end was mentioned,
cannot escape notice; any more than we can mistake the meaning of the
consistent suppression of his name throughout the text of the volumes.
Attention has to be directed to this display of animosity because, in
bare justice to Baudin, we have to remember that the only story of the
expedition which we have is that written by Peron and Freycinet, who were
plainly at enmity with him. If the facts were as related by them, Baudin
was not only an absurdly obstinate and ungenial captain, but we are left
with grave doubts as to his competency as a navigator on service of this
description. Yet even facts, when detailed by those who hate a man, take
a different colouring from the same facts set down by the man himself,
with his reasons for what he did.
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