Life of Captain Matthew Flinders | Page 2

staff of that institution.
Help from this quarter was accorded with such grace that one came to
think giving trouble was almost like conferring a favour.
All copies of documents from Paris and Caen cited in this book have
been made by Madame Robert Helouis. The author was able to indicate
the whereabouts of the principal papers, but Madame Helouis,
developing an interest in the subject as she pursued her task, was
enabled, owing to her extensive knowledge of the resources of the
French archives, to find and transcribe many new and valuable papers.
The author also wishes to thank Captain Francis Bayldon, of Sydney,
who has kindly given help on several technical points; Miss Alma
Hansen, University of Melbourne, who was generous enough to make a
study of the Dutch Generale Beschrijvinge van Indien--no light task--to
verify a point of some importance for the purpose of the chapter on
"The Naming of Australia"; and Mr. E.A. Petherick, whose manuscript
bibliography, containing an immense quantity of material, the fruit of a
long life's labour, has always been cheerfully made available.
Professor Flinders Petrie has been kind enough to read and make some
useful suggestions upon the personal and family passages of the book,
which has consequently benefited greatly.
The whole work has been read through by Mr. A.W. Jose, author of
The History of Australasia, whose criticism on a multitude of points,
some minute, but all important, has been of the utmost value. The help

given by Mr. Jose has been more than friendly; it has been informed by
a keen enthusiasm for the subject, and great knowledge of the original
authorities. The author's obligations to him are gratefully
acknowledged.
It is hoped that these pages will enable the reader to know Matthew
Flinders the man, as well as the navigator; for the study of the
manuscript and printed material about him has convinced the author
that he was not only remarkable for what he did and endured, but for
his own sake as an Englishman of the very best type.
Melbourne, June 1914.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER 1.
BIRTH AND ORIGINS.
Place of Flinders among Australian navigators. Birth. Flemish origins.
Pedigree. Connection with the Tennysons. Possible relationship with
Bass. Flinders' father. Donington.
CHAPTER 2.
AT SCHOOL AND AT SEA.
Education. Robinson Crusoe. Aspirations for a naval career. His
father's wish. John Flinders' advice. Study of navigation. Introduction
to Pasley. Lieutenant's servant. Midshipman on the Bellerophon. Bligh
and the Bounty mutiny.
CHAPTER 3.
A VOYAGE UNDER BLIGH.

The second breadfruit expedition. Flinders in the Providence. Notes
from Santa Cruz. At the Cape. Tahiti. In Torres Strait. Encounter with
Papuans. Return to England.
CHAPTER 4.
THE BATTLE OFF BREST.
The naval war with France. The battle of June 1st, 1794. Flinders as
gunner. Pasley wounded. Flinders' journal of the engagement. Effect of
Pasley's wound on the career of Flinders.
CHAPTER 5.
AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHY BEFORE FLINDERS.
The predecessors of Flinders. How Australia grew on the map.
Mediaeval controversies on antipodes. Period of vague speculation.
Sixteenth century maps. The Dutch voyagers. The Batavia on the
Abrolhos Reef. The Duyfhen in the Gulf. Torres. The three periods of
Australian maritime discovery. Geographers and their views of
Australia. The theory of the dividing strait. Cook and Furneaux. The
untraced southern coast.
CHAPTER 6.
THE RELIANCE AND THE TOM THUMB.
Governor Hunter. Captain Waterhouse. Flinders' passion for exploring
new countries. Joins the Reliance. Hunter on the strategic importance
of the Cape. Sailing of Reliance and Supply for New South Wales.
Flinders' observations. Arrival at Port Jackson. George Bass. The Tom
Thumb. Exploration of George's River. A perilous cruise. Meeting with
aboriginals. The midshipman as valet. Port Hacking. Patching up the
Reliance. Voyage to South Africa.
CHAPTER 7.

THE DISCOVERY OF BASS STRAIT.
Bass in the Blue Mountains. Supposed strait isolating Van Diemen's
Land. Bass's whaleboat voyage. Wilson's Promontory. Escaped
convicts. Discovery of Westernport. Return to Port Jackson.
CHAPTER 8.
THE VOYAGE OF THE FRANCIS.
The wreck of the Sydney Cove. Discovery of Kent's Islands. Biological
notes. Seals. Sooty petrels. The wombat. Point Hicks.
CHAPTER 9.
CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF TASMANIA.
Flinders in command of the Norfolk. Bass's association with him.
Twofold Bay. Discovery of Port Dalrymple. Bass Strait demonstrated.
Black swans. Albatross Island. Tasmanian aboriginals.
CHAPTER 10.
THE FATE OF GEORGE BASS.
Bass's marriage. Part owner of the Venus. Voyages after pork. A
fishing concession. South American enterprise. Unsaleable goods. A
"diplomatic-looking certificate." Bass's last voyage. Probable fate in
Peru. His missing letters.
CHAPTER 11.
ON THE QUEENSLAND COAST.
Flinders and the Isaac Nicholls case. Exploration on the Queensland
coast. Moreton Bay.
CHAPTER 12.

THE INVESTIGATOR.
Return to England in the Reliance. Sir Joseph Banks. Marriage of
Flinders. Ann Chappell and Chappell Island. The Franklins. Publication
of Observations on the Coasts of Van Diemen's Land, on Bass Strait
and its Islands. Anxiety about