Did the French Steal Flinders' Plans ?

This subject concerns Australia as a whole, but to Eyre Peninsula it has particular interest, as its coastline was the greatest length unsurveyed when the English and French expeditions, led by Capt. Matthew Flinders and Capt. Nicolas Baudin respectively, set out on their explorations. The rest of the survey was only filling in gaps, improvements on previous surveys and then making a comprehensive map of Australia.

In the years succeeding the expeditions of Flinders and Baudin, the impression had got about that the French had utilised Flinders' plans when preparing charts to accompany the historical text of the French voyage. We are indebted to Prof. Ernest Scott for his masterly review of all incidents relating to this subject. He says : " It has been too often taken for granted that the evidence of plagiarism is beyond dispute. Not only popular writers, but historians with claims to be considered scientific are substantially in agreement on this point." Mr. A. S. Kenyon (president of the Victorian Historical Society) says: " The things once started are hard to overtake." The tales had been on the rounds for nearly 100 years before Scott set out to prove conclusively that the French, however badly they treated Flinders, did not utilise either his logs or plans in the preparation of the history or charts of the French expedition.

The germ from which the idea grew, was no doubt that planted by the author of an article in the " Quarterly Review" in 1817, when reviewing Volume 2 of "Voyage de Decouvertes aux Terres Australis, etc." by Peron and Freycinet. The reviewer was very bitter against the French. As an instance, he said : " . . . the audacious attempt, which was made in the publication of the first volume of this work, to rob Capt. Flinders of the well-earned merit of his nautical labors and discoveries, while he was basely and barbarously kept in prison in a French colony." This is a fair sample of his vitriolic writing, so one is not surprised to read that "the charts in the small atlas which accompanies it, are like those of Capt. Flinders, only much inferior in point of execution."

THINLY VEILED CHARGE

If any charge was intended, it was thinly veiled, and it may not have been intended to imply a robbery of Flinders's data. The idea, however, was well planted, whatever the intention may have been, and in Mr. Pinkerton, was found an author ready to expand it. Mr. Pinkerton in "a general collection of the best and most interesting voyages, etc.", published in London in 1819, gave a translation from the French of Peron's account of Baudin's expedition, Volume 1, and in a footnote, in connection with Peron's statement that Le Geographe was unable to complete the survey, and Le Casuarina had to do it some months afterwards, Mr. Pinkerton said : " It is more probable that the survey, from which the charts yet to be published was framed, is that of Capt. Flinders, stolen from the manuscripts which were taken from him at the Isle of France (Mauritius) by the Governor of the island, DeCaen, and which were not wholly restored upon his liberation after an imprisonment of upwards of six years ; an imprisonment which stigmatises the Governor of the island with brutality and equally disgraces the government of France, to whom intercession for his release was long made without effect."

Coming down to more recent times we find that Lawrie in his " Story of Australia " (1896) writes : "He Flinders, found that his journal and charts had been stolen by the French Governor of Mauritius and transferred to Paris, where the fullest advantage was taken of them by M. Peron"; and in the " Naval Pioneers of Australia" (1899), " he found that the charts taken from him by Decaen had been appropriated to Baudin's exploring expedition" ; and in " Australasia " (1901) by Jose, is found : " His maps were taken to France to be published there with French names as the work of French explorers." Again in Cambridge Modern History (Vol. IX, 1906) a writer charges the French with " the use of his papers to appropriate for their ships the credit of his discoveries.

THE ACTUAL FACTS

What are the actual facts ? Flinders, on meeting Baudin in Encounter Bay, went on board Le Geographe, and stayed about half-an-hour, and later went on board again, this time taking a chart showing Bass Strait for the edification of Baudin. There is no mention of any other plans or charts being exhibited, and the time of each visit was too short to do any copying, even had the plans been there.

The next meeting between the two expeditions was in Port Jackson. When Le Geographe arrived there, the captain obtained permission to erect his tents alongside Flinders' camp. Flinders remained there a month after Baudin's arrival, and in his usual good nature showed the French captain his charts, on which Baudin, more or less apologising for being unable to reciprocate, said, " We are sending our data to France where our charts will be prepared." The French hydrographical engineer may have seen them, but would not have any opportunity to copy all the details of the survey.

The only other occasion on which the French could have had an opportunity would have been at Mauritius. Flinders, endeavoring to get to England, took the small ship Cumberland, leaving the unseaworthy Investigator in Port Jackson. Owing to the small carrying capacity of the boat, Flinders knew he did not have sufficient provisions to carry him to England. He therefore decided to make for Mauritius (French) in preference to the Cape of Good Hope (Dutch). He had a French passport for the Investigator, but none from the Netherlands Government. He trusted under the peculiar circumstances that his passport for the Investigator would be acknowledged for the Cumberland, but recognised he was taking a risk in doing so. He had no charts of the island and no pilot was obtainable, so he innocently followed a ship into the port. The unfortunate captain of the leading ship thought he was being chased by an English man-of-war of 29 tons! It was not a propitious entry into an enemy's port, and Flinder's reception on landing was far from cordial. Everything conspired against him.

GOVERNOR PUT OUT

DeCaen, the Governor, had only recently arrived, smarting under the indignity of refusal, by the Governor-General of India to hand oven the old French possessions in India, which had to be done according to the Treaty of Amiens. The Governor-General had been privately advised not to hand over the French possessions, as peace would not be of long duration. Naturally DeCaen was sore at the refusal and made haste back to Mauritius, where he arrived on August 15, 1803. Le Geographe (Capt. Baudin) and Le Casuarina (Capt. Freycinet) had arrived on August 7 and 12 respectively.

Baudin died on September 16, 1803, while the ships were still in port. Peron was on board Le Geographe, and had related to DeCaen a very graphic description of the English occupation of Australia and what they contemplated in the Pacific, adding fuel to the already combustible nature of the French Governor's feelings. On top of this, Flinders arrived, "chasing a French boat into port," the day after Le Geographe had sailed for France. Before leaving Port Jackson, Baudin had provided Governor King, of New South Wales, with 12 copies of a "goodwill letter" to the authorities of any French port, calling upon them to render all assistance to any English boat, in return for the generous treatment he had received at Port Jackson. Governor King failed to give a copy of this letter to Flinders, but instead, got him to take home official despatches, some of questionable character for a captain to carry who was sailing under cover of a French passport.

Here again it will be seen how factors conspired against Flinders. Le Casuarina was dismantled at Mauritius and Le Geographe sailed for France on December 15, 1803. Flinders in the Cumberland arrived on December 16, 1803. Next day, Flinders was advised that the Governor intended to detain him, and on the same day all his charts, journals, and letters were sealed in a trunk. On December 18, 1803, the trunk was opened and the third volume of the log book — the record of the trip in the Cumberland — was taken out and handed to DeCaen.

ORDER FOR RELEASE IGNORED

All other papers were returned to the trunk and sealed again. Later in the month all other papers were collected and sealed in another trunk. On December 26, Flinders got permission to get his printed volumes, two or three charts and manuscript book, and the trunk was resealed. In February, 1804, Flinders made application for some more books and papers out of the trunk, but DeCaen would not grant the request. Napoleon signed an order for Flinder's release in 1806, but the order was ignored.

In August, 1807, the remaining documents were restored to Flinders, who gave a clearance to his gaolers as follows: — "I have the honour to inclose a receipt of the books and papers received yesterday. The rats had made great havoc amongst them, and many papers are wholly destroyed; but so far as I have examined, those which are of most importance seem to have wholly, or in part, escaped their ravages . . . . Received from Colonel Monistrol, chef de l'etat-major-general in the Isle of France, one trunk containing the remainder of the books, papers, etc., taken from me in Port North-West on December 17, 1803, and December 21 of the same year ; which books and papers, with those received at two different times in 1804, make up the whole that were so taken, with the following exceptions : —

1 — Various letters and papers either wholly or in part destroyed by the rats, the remains of which are in the trunk:

2 — The third volume of my rough log book, containing the journals of trans-actions and observations on board the Investigator, Porpoise, the Hope cutter and Cumberland schooner, from some time in June to December 17, 1803, of which I have no duplicate ;

3 — Two boxes of despatches, the one from His Excellency Governor King of New South Wales, addressed to His Majesty's principal Secretary of State for Colonies ; the other from Colonel Paterson, Lieutenant-Governor of Port Jackson, the address of which I cannot remember. In truth of which I hereunto sign my name at Port Napoleon, Isle of France, this 24th. day of August, 1807 Matthew Flinders, late commander of H.M. sloop Investigator, employed on discoveries of the South Seas with a French passport."

FRENCH CLEARED

(Port Louis, after having been changed to Port de la Montagne, Port North-West, and I believe after having borne one or two other names, was now called Port Napoleon. Port Bourbon and Isle Boubon underwent similar changes: such was the flexibility of French republicanism.)

In 1807, Volume 1 of Peron's work was issued, accompanied by an atlas containing a map of Australia and another of Napoleon's Land, a number of drawings and some charts of various ports. Full sized charts were issued in 1812 by Freycinet. Volume 3, of the log, taken by DeCaen, was returned by the French Government to the British Government in 1825, but was lost sight of for many years and is now to be found in the Record Office, London. This volume, together with the official despatches, was all that the French took away from Flinders and no information concerning the survey was contained therein. The seals of the trunks were broken only in Flinders's presence, and his certificate clears the French from any chance of surreptitiously stealing the plans at Mauritius, and utilising them in the preparation of their charts.