Baudin
Considered It Unwise To Undertake The Work In Tasmanian Seas, According
To The Programme Prepared For Him, During Months
When severe storms would
probably be encountered; and he consequently determined not to sail
farther south on making Cape Leeuwin,
But to explore the western coasts
of the continent, reserving the work which the Institute had put first to
be done in the following spring. Peron blamed him for this decision,
inasmuch as the course prescribed in the instructions was the result of
careful thought and extensive research. But though the procrastination
which had let slip the months best suited for exploration in southern
waters was caused by Baudin's own lack of energy and knowledge, his
resolve not to entrust his ships on an unknown coast, where he knew of no
secure harbours, in the months of tempest and cold, was prudent.
On making the Leeuwin, therefore, Baudin steered north. Geography Bay and
Cape Naturaliste, upon current maps, mark the commencement of his work on
the shores of Western Australia. From Sharks Bay the vessels pursued the
course of the first Englishman to explore any portion of the Australian
coast, the resolute, observant, tough old salt, William Dampier. The
biographical dictionary was here for the first time brought forth, and
the names within it were scattered liberally over the lands traversed.
Some of them have adhered, though Baudin's voyage along these shores was
by no means one of discovery, and there is clear evidence that names were
applied to parts which his ships did not investigate with any approach to
care. The Golfe Joseph Bonaparte of the large French chart, if traced
with some degree of particularity, would have led to several highly
important discoveries. But it was not carefully investigated at all, and
thus Baudin totally missed Bathurst Island and Melville Island, which
together stretch for over one hundred miles across the entrance to Van
Diemen's Gulf. Instead of definiteness of outline, the French charts
presented the world with a bristling array of names affixed to contours
which were cloudy and ill-defined, incomplete and inaccurate.
The most serious omission of all was the superb natural harbour of Port
Darwin, the finest anchorage in northern Australia. The French missed it
altogether. Yet here also they peppered their chart of the neighbouring
coasts with the names of their notable countrymen, as though they had
explored the environs meticulously. Baudin certainly lost a fine
opportunity of doing good original work in north-western Australia; and
had his real object been to find a suitable site for French settlement,
his research would have been amply rewarded had he found the port which
now bears the noble name of the greatest modern man of science. There is,
however, one French name which should not escape mention, since it serves
to remind us that Peron was writing his book at the time when, amidst the
smoke and flame and thunder of Trafalgar, two fleets locked in fierce
conflict were deciding momentous issues. Off the very broken coast of
what is now the Kimberley division of Western Australia, the French
styled a small cluster of rocky islets the Isles d'Arcole; and one of
these was named Ile Lucas, "in honour of the captain of the vessel which,
in the combat of the Redoutable against the Victory, has lately attained
so much honour."* (* Peron, Voyage de Decouvertes 1 136.) The English
reader will scarcely need to be reminded that it was by a shot from the
mizzen top of the Redoutable in that immortal fight that Nelson received
his death wound; and thus, by giving his name to a desolate rock, was it
sought to honour the captain of the ship that had accounted for the death
of a nation's hero.
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