Flinders Had Settled The Question As To Whether There Was A Passage Through The Continent To The Gulf Of Carpentaria, And Freycinet And Baudin Were By This Time Aware That No Important Discovery Of This Character Was To Be Expected.

But the navigation was perilous, the risks were unknown, and Freycinet should have been able to pursue his task

Unhampered by the fear that if circumstances compelled him to over-stay his time for a day or two, he would be abandoned in a small vessel without provisions for more than his narrowly prescribed period. "But the character of our chief was known." "Quite sure of being pitilessly abandoned in case of delay," Freycinet made haste to return to Nepean Bay at the end of the month. But when he reached the anchorage he found that Baudin had already sailed away. "The abandonment of our companions in the midst of these vast gulfs, where so many perils might be encountered, had been a subject of consternation on board Le Geographe," Peron records. It really was unaccountable behaviour; even worse than that of the abandonment of Boullanger and his boat's crew on the east coast of Tasmania in the previous March. A commander who treated those among his subordinates who were sustaining the most dangerous and exacting part of the work with so little consideration, can hardly have maintained their confidence, or deserved it.

The Casuarina, making all sail for Nepean Bay westward, sighted the leading ship in Investigator Strait. But Baudin did not wait even then. He kept Le Geographe on her course, under a full head of sail, without permitting the Casuarina to come up and report, or inquiring after the success of her work.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 229 of 299
Words from 63524 to 63809 of 83218