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Terre Napoleon

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Throughout the long stay made by Baudin's vessels, the utmost kindness
was shown to the whole company by the British. The governor himself, and
the principal citizens, were hospitable; the scientists were permitted to
go wherever they chose; and guides were provided for them on their inland
excursions; and the scurvy-tortured sailors were attended by Dr. Thomson,
the chief medical officer of the colony, with "the most touching
activity." In addition to this, Governor King gave the French commandant
unlimited credit to obtain whatever stores he needed, even supplying him
with official requisition forms which he could fill up at his own
pleasure; "and these schedules, without any other guarantee than the
signature of the commandant, were accepted by all the inhabitants with
the most entire confidence." The generosity of King in this respect was
all the greater, in that the Government stores were for the time being
short of requirements, and the governor had to reduce temporarily the
rations of his own people in order to share with the French. The
settlement was not yet self-supporting, and the delay of supply ships,
through storms or other hindrances, meant "short commons" for all. At the
time of the arrival of the French, the stock of wheat was very low,
because floods on the Hawkesbury had destroyed a large part of the
harvest; and to meet the requirements of one hundred and seventy extra
men taxed the resources of the administration somewhat severely.

But what King had to offer he gave with a graceful liberality. "Although
you will not find abundant supplies of what are most acceptable to those
coming off so long a voyage, yet I offer you a sincere welcome," he had
written; and, happy as he was to be able to announce that news of the
peace had been received on the day previous to Baudin's arrival--no doubt
the vessel that brought the despatch reported to the governor that Le
Geographe was near the heads--"yet the continuance of the war would have
made no difference in my reception of your ships, and offering every
relief and assistance in my power." Not only Baudin and Peron
acknowledged gratefully the fine courtesy shown by the British, but other
members of the expedition also expressed themselves as thankful for the
consideration extended to them. Bailly the geologist made an excursion to
the Hawkesbury and the mountains, in the interest of his own science,
when boats, oarsmen, guide, interpreter, and everything were furnished by
the Government, "our chief having refused us even the food necessary for
the journey." No more could have been done for a British expedition.

Baudin obtained permission for his officers to erect their tents for the
making of astronomical observations at the same place as had been
appointed for the tents of Flinders' officers, one of whom, delegated for
this service, was the young John Franklin. This proximity of men engaged
in similar work seems to have extended friendly feelings amongst them. It
was possibly on occasions of their meeting in this manner that Flinders
showed his charts to Baudin to illustrate what the Investigator had
already done; and it was after an examination of the drawings that
Freycinet made a remark that reflected the regret of a keen officer for
the procrastination that conduced to the failure of their own expedition
in a geographical sense. "Ah, captain," said Freycinet, "if we had not
been kept so long picking up shells and collecting butterflies at Van
Diemen's Land, you would not have discovered the south coast before us."*
(* Flinders, Voyage 1 190.) That was a mild statement of the case. If
Baudin had applied himself to his task of exploration with diligence
intelligently directed, he would have discovered the south coast before
Flinders reached Australian waters. It was at this time, also, that the
French officers learnt of the existence of Port Phillip, and probably
obtained a copy of a chart of it.

The perfect friendliness prevailing during the whole period of the stay
of the discovery ships was disturbed by only two incidents, neither of
which is of surviving importance. One consisted of a charge against
junior officers of having sold ashore rum which had been purchased, by
permission of the governor, for use during the voyage. The case was
investigated, the accusations broke down, and apologies were made to the
officers affected. The second incident arose out of a misunderstanding of
the French method of honouring the British flag on King George's
birthday. It was an affair of no consequence, and a brief explanation
soon put matters right. A British officer deemed the French mode of
"dressing" their ships to be disrespectful, but Baudin was able to show
that what was done was in accordance with the regulations of his
country's navy, which provided that "the place of honour for the flag of
a foreign nation which we intend to distinguish, must be on the starboard
of the main-yard arm." The fact that these two trivial incidents were the
only recorded elements of misunderstanding during a period of nearly six
months, at a time when animosities between English and French people--and
especially sailors--were extraordinarily acute, testifies to the good
manners of the French, the hospitable feeling of the English, and the
pleasant temper of all parties.

Governor King, notwithstanding his benevolent disposition, was mindful of
his responsibilities. Before a French sail was sighted he had been
advised of the fact that Baudin's ships were to visit Australian waters,
and it is quite clear that, in common with most of his contemporaries, he
was very suspicious of Gallic designs. He was a naval officer himself,
and British naval men at that period were pretty well unanimously of
Nelson's opinion, when he wrote to Hugh Elliot, "I never trust a Corsican
or a Frenchman; I would give the devil ALL the good ones to take the
remainder." The arrival of Flinders in the Investigator on May 9, and his
reports as to the presence of the French on the southern coast, made the
governor wary and watchful; and on May 21 he wrote to the Duke of
Portland suggesting the establishment of a colony at the newly discovered
Port Phillip. "I am more solicitous respecting forming this settlement
from the probability of the French having it in contemplation to make a
settlement on the north-west coast, which I cannot help thinking is the
principal object of their researches."* (* Historical Records of New
South Wales. The north-west coast referred to is, of course, north-west
Tasmania.) The letter exhibits the suspicion in King's mind, and his
alertness to frustrate any attempt to threaten the interests and security
of the colony under his charge by the planting of a foreign settlement in
its neighbourhood.

But Captain Baudin was very frank. In his first letter to the governor,
dated June 23, and written on the day after his arrival in port, he
requested permission to remain for some time, "as we all want a little
rest, having been at sea for nine consecutive months"; and he added the
assurance that "I shall at the first interview it will be your pleasure
to grant me, furnish you with all the information which may be of
interest to you, concerning the expedition which I am making by order of
the French Government."

Baudin kept his promise. He handed over to King his journals, "in which
were contained all his orders from the first idea of his voyage taking
place," and also the whole of the drawings made on the voyage.* (* King's
letter to Banks, Historical Records of New South Wales 5 133.) The
governor was able to examine these at his leisure, and that he made use
of the opportunity is apparent from his brief summary of the orders. "His
object was, by his orders, the collection of objects of natural history
from this country at large, and the geography of Van Diemen's Land. The
south and south-west coast, as well as the north and north-west coast,
were his particular objects. It does not appear by his orders that he was
at all instructed to touch here, which I do not think he intended if not
obliged by distress." Evidently he did not, as was indicated by Hamelin's
resolve to go to Mauritius in May. King had to confess, after a perusal
of the papers, that he was left with merely "general ideas" on the nature
of the French visit to Van Diemen's Land. These, however, he communicated
to Baudin, who "informed me that he knew of no idea that the French had
of settling on any part or side of this continent."* (* King's letter to
Banks, Historical Records of New South Wales 5 133.) It does not appear
that the governor showed any of the French papers or charts to Flinders,
whose statements in his book indicate that he had not seen them.

The governor, then, commenced his relations with the French commandant by
being doubtful and vigilant; but frequent personal interviews, and an
examination of the whole of the ships' orders, journals, and charts,
convinced him that the suspicions were not justified, and that there were
no designs, about which he need be concerned, behind the pacific
professions of the voyagers. From this time forth Baudin and King met
almost daily; and from the beginning to the end of the visit the governor
had not the faintest reason for doubting the good faith of his guests. On
July 11 he gave his authority for Baudin to purchase the little
colonial-built Casuarina, with which to explore shallow waters, thus
facilitating the pursuit of the objects of the expedition.

Baudin's letter of farewell was a worthy acknowledgment of the benefits
he had received. On leaving the colony," he wrote, "I bequeath to the
French nation the duty of offering to you the thanks which are due to you
as governor for all you have done as well for ourselves as for the
success of the expedition; but it is for me to assure you how valuable
your friendship has been and will ever be to me...It will be a
satisfaction for me to correspond with you from whatever country events
may bring me to. It is, as you know, the only means which men who love
and esteem one another can make use of, and it will be the one of which
we shall reciprocally avail ourselves if, on your part, I have been able
by my conduct to inspire you with the feelings which yours has inspired
me with."* (* Historical Records 4 1006.) Baudin also wrote a general
letter, addressed to the administrators of the French colonies of
Mauritius and Reunion, setting forth the aids which Governor King had
rendered to his people, and expressing the hope that if at any time a
British ship whose commander carried a copy of the letter should be
compelled to call at either island, it would be shown that the French
were not less hospitable and benevolent.* (* Ibid 4 968.) Twelve signed
copies of this letter* (* Ibid page 133.) were given to King, who,
however, does not seem to have given one to Flinders when he sailed with
the Cumberland. It is doubtful whether the possession of one would have
made any difference in General Decaen's treatment of the English
navigator, as he was quite well aware of the services rendered to
Baudin's expedition by the British at Port Jackson. In fact, it is not
known that King made any use of the document. A copy of it was found
among his papers after his death.

It was not till after Le Geographe and Le Naturaliste had sailed away
(November 18) that a piece of gossip came to King's ears that caused him
uneasiness. According to the rumour, Lieutenant-Colonel Paterson, of the
New South Wales corps, had stated that one of the French officers had
told him that one of the purposes of the expedition was to fix upon a
site for a settlement in Van Diemen's Land. Paterson did not report this
story to the governor, as it was his obvious duty to do were it true that
he had been so informed. Had he reported it, King could have confronted
Baudin with witnesses before his ships left the harbour. "I should have
required a positive explanation from the French commodore, and would have
taken a vessel up to have preceded any attempt of that kind they might
have in contemplation."

King sent for Paterson, and questioned him as to what he had heard. His
excuse for not personally communicating the story which he had allowed to
drift to the governor's ears by chance, was that he thought that what he
had heard must have come to King's knowledge also: a supine and almost
flippant explanation of neglect in a matter which was serious if the
allegations were true. He affirmed also that one of the French officers
had pointed out to him on a chart the very place where they intended to
settle. It was in what is now known as Frederick Henry Bay, in the south
of Tasmania.* (* Backhouse Walker, Early Tasmania page 15.)

The governor took prompt action. He at once fitted out the armed schooner
Cumberland--the vessel in which Flinders afterwards sailed to
Mauritius--and placed her under the command of Acting-Lieutenant Robbins.
She carried a company of seventeen persons in all, including the
Surveyor-General, Charles Grimes; for Robbins was also instructed to take
the schooner on to Port Phillip after finding the French, and to have a
complete survey made.

Robbins was directed to ascertain where the French ships were; to hand to
Baudin a letter, and to lay formal claim to the whole of Van Diemen's
Land for the British Crown; to erect the British flag wherever he landed;
and to sow seeds in anticipation of the needs of settlers, whom it was
intended to send in the Porpoise at a later date. It was a bold move, for
had Baudin's intentions been such as he was now suspected of
entertaining, the one hundred and seventy men under his command would
surely have had little difficulty in disposing of the handful whom young
Robbins led.

But no assertion of force was necessary at all, and one can hardly read
the letters and despatches bearing upon the incident without feeling that
the proceedings fairly lent themselves to the ridicule which the
nimble-witted French officers applied to them. Baudin and his people had
not gone to Frederick Henry Bay; they had not planted the tricolour
anywhere in Tasmania; they had not even called at any port in that
island. Instead, they were discovered quietly charting, catching insects,
and collecting plants at Sea Elephants Bay, on the east of King Island,
which, it will be remembered, they had missed on the former part of their
voyage.

But Acting-Lieutenant Robbins was young, and was surcharged with a sense
of the great responsibility cast upon him. A more experienced officer,
having delivered his message, might have waited quietly alongside the
French until they finished their work, and then seen them politely "off
the premises," so to speak; in which event Governor King's purpose would
have been fully served and no offence would have been given. But instead
of that, after lying at anchor beside Le Geographe for six days, on
friendly and even convivial terms with the French, Robbins landed with
his army of seventeen stalwarts, fastened the British flag to a tree over
the tents of the naturalists, had a volley fired by three marines--he was
doing the thing in style--and, calling for three cheers, which were
lustily given, formally asserted possession of King Island. There was no
need to do anything of the kind, for the island had been discovered four
years before, and was at this very time occupied by British people, who
used it as the headquarters of the Bass Strait sealing industry.

Robbins' action, though strictly in accordance with the instructions
given to him on the supposition that the French would be found in
occupation of territory in Tasmania, was, in the circumstances, tactless
to the point of rudeness, though it caused less indignation than
amusement among them. It is to be noticed that the flag of the Republic
had not been erected over the tents of the visitors, nor anywhere on the
island. Otherwise, we may suppose, Acting-Lieutenant Robbins would have
gone a step further and pulled it down; and what would have happened then
we can but surmise.

Baudin was on his ship, which was anchored a little way off the shore,
when the "hurrahs" of the assertive seventeen directed his attention to
Robbins' solemn proceedings. In a private letter to King he described
what had happened as a "childish ceremony," which had been made more
ridiculous "from the manner in which the flag was placed, the head being
downwards, and the attitude not very majestic. Having occasion to go on
shore that day, I saw for myself what I am telling you. I thought at
first it might have been a flag which had been used to strain water and
then hung out to dry; but seeing an armed man walking about, I was
informed of the ceremony which had taken place that morning."* (* Baudin
to King, Historical Records 5 829.) He asserted that Petit, one of his
artists, had made an amusing caricature of the ceremony, but that he,
Baudin, had torn it up, and directed that it was not to be repeated.

The tone of Baudin's letters betrayed more annoyance than his language
actually expressed; but assuming that his professions were true, it must
be admitted that he had reason to feel offended. He had left Sydney on
excellent terms with the governor, who had not only wished well to his
undertaking, but had assisted in its prosecution by enabling the
Casuarina to be purchased. He now found himself pursued by a youthful and
exuberant officer, presented with a letter which suggested intentions
that he had explicitly disavowed, and the British flag was virtually
flapped in his face in a somewhat unmannerly fashion. King's letter to
him explained the rumour which had led to the despatch of the Cumberland,
and contained the following passage: "You will easily imagine that if any
information of that kind had reached me before your departure, I should
have requested an explanation; but as I knew nothing of it, and at
present totally disbelieving anything of the kind ever being thought of,
I consider it but proper to give you this information."

Baudin wrote two letters in reply, one officially, and the second, by far
the more interesting document, a personal and friendly epistle. In the
official answer he said: "The story you have heard, of which I suspect
Mr. Kemp, captain in the New South Wales corps, to be the author, is
without foundation, nor do I believe that the officers and naturalists
who are on board can have given cause for it by their conversation. But
in any case you may rest well assured that if the French Government had
ordered me to remain some days either in the north or south of Van
Diemen's Land, discovered by Abel Tasman, I would have stopped there
without keeping my intention secret from you." Baudin's additional
statement that, prior to the flag incident, he had taken care to place in
four prominent parts of the island "proofs sufficient to show the
priority of our visit," must, however, have brought a smile to King's
lips, and certainly makes one wonder what Baudin meant by "priority";
since King Island had previously been visited by Flinders, had been fully
charted, and was the frequent resort of sealers. As a matter of fact, the
Snow-Harrington, which had succoured Boullanger and his boat crew of
abandoned Frenchmen in the previous March, had, after that fortunate
meeting, stayed at the island ten weeks, when there were killed the
enormous number of six hundred sea-elephants and four thousand three
hundred seals.* (* Backhouse Walker, Early Tasmania page 21.) Besides,
Baudin assured King that "I intend" that the island "shall continue to
bear your name," forgetful that it would not have had a name already if
his own visit had been "prior" to others.

The second, unofficial, letter which Baudin wrote to the governor
repeated his positive assurances that the suspicions concerning his
objects were without foundation, but on account of the personal regard
which he entertained for King, he determined to tell him frankly his
opinion regarding the forming of European settlements and the
dispossessing of native peoples. The view expressed by him bears the
impress of the "ideas of '89," ideas which laid stress on the rights of
man and human equality, and professed for the backward races a special
fraternal tenderness. "To my way of thinking," said the commodore, "I
have never been able to conceive that there was any justice or equity on
the part of Europeans, in seizing, in the name of their governments, a
land for the first time, when it is inhabited by men who have not always
deserved the title of savages, or cannibals, which has been given to
them, while they were but children of nature, and just as little savages
as are actually your Scotch Highlanders* (* Had Baudin been reading about
the Sage of Lichfield? "Well, sir, God made Scotland." "Certainly,"
replied Dr. Johnson, "but we must always remember that he made it for
Scotchmen; and comparisons are odious, Mr. Strahan, but God made Hell."
Caledonian Societies, of which there are many in various parts of the
world, will observe with gratitude Baudin's concession that Highlanders
did not eat their fellowmen.) or our peasants of Brittany, who, if they
do not eat their fellowmen, are nevertheless just as objectionable. From
this it appears to me that it would be infinitely more glorious for your
nation, as for mine, to mould for society the inhabitants of the
respective countries over whom they have rights, instead of wishing to
dispossess those who are so far removed by immediately seizing the soil
which they own and which has given them birth. These remarks are no doubt
impolitic, but at least reasonable from the facts; and had this principle
been generally adopted you would not have been obliged to form a colony
by means of men branded by the law, and who have become criminals through
the fault of the Government which has neglected and abandoned them to
themselves. It follows, therefore, that not only have you to reproach
yourselves with an injustice in seizing their lands, but also in
transporting on a soil where the crimes and the diseases of Europeans
were unknown, all that could retard the progress of civilisation, but
which has served as a pretext to your Government. I have no knowledge of
the claims which the French Government may have upon Van Diemen's Land,
nor of its designs; but I think that its title will not be any better
grounded than yours."

After this taste of Baudin's reflections, it is really a pity that we
possess so little from his pen. Had he lived to be the historian of the
expedition, his work would have been very different in character from
that of Peron; though it is hardly likely that an elaboration of the
views expressed in the personal letter to King would have been favoured
with the imprint "de l'Imprimerie Imperiale." Peron's anthropological
studies among Australian aboriginals led him to conclusions totally at
variance with the nebulous "state of nature" theories of the time, which
pictured the civilised being as a degenerate from man unspoiled by law,
government, and convention. The tests and measurements of blacks which he
made, and compared with those of French and English people, showed him
that even physically the native was an inferior animal; his observations
of ways of life in the wild Bush taught him that organised society, with
all its restraints, was preferable to the supposed freedom of savagery;
and he deduced the philosophical conclusion that the "state of nature"
was in truth a state of subjection to pitiless forces, only endurable by
beings who felt not the bondage because they knew of no more ennobled
condition.* (* A more distinguished man was cured of his early
Rousseauism by an acquaintance with peoples far higher in the scale of
advancement than Australian aboriginals. "Up to sixteen years of age,"
said Napoleon in a scrap of conversation recorded by Roederer, "I would
have fought for Rousseau against all the friends of Voltaire. Now it is
the contrary. I have been especially disgusted with Rousseau since I have
seen the East. Savage man is a dog.") Baudin carried away from his visits
to the abodes of untutored races no truer notion than came from his own
unsubstantiated sentiments, nourished by no contact with facts, but
imbibed uncritically from the rhetorical rhapsodists of Rousseau's
school. Crabbe summed them up in half a dozen lines:

"Tis the savage state
Is only good, and ours sophisticate!
See! the free creatures in their woods and plains,
Where without laws each happy monarch reigns,
King of himself--while we a number dread,
By slaves commanded and by dunces led."

Peron spoke of savage peoples, not with less sympathy but with a sympathy
grounded on knowledge; and he wasted no words about the "injustice" of
occupying lands which the aboriginal only used in the sense that lands
are "used" by rabbits and dingoes. Peron's appreciation of well-observed
facts gave him some political insight in the philosophical sense, and he
comprehended the development of which the country was capable. Could
Baudin's shade visit to-day the shores that he traversed more than a
century ago, he would surely acknowledge that orchards of ripening fruit,
miles of golden grain, millions of white fleeces, the cattle of a
thousand hills, great cities throbbing with immense energies, and a
commerce of ever augmenting vastness, ministering to the happiness of
free and prosperous populations, are, in the large ledger of humanity, an
abundant compensation for the disappearance of the few companies of naked
savages whom, when civilisation once invaded their ancestral haunts,
neither the agencies of government nor philanthropy could save from the
processes of decay.

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