Page:History of Australia, Rusden 1897.djvu/324

honour not to act in any service which might be considered as directly or indirectly hostile to France or its allies during the course of the present war," the generosity of Napoleon enabled Flinders to leave for the Cape of Good Hope in the sloop Otter, which was cruising off the Mauritius. Even then his letters and papers, a volume of his log-book, and two boxes of despatches were retained. The English Government applied for the missing documents, but neither originals nor copies could be obtained.

Against these injuries Flinders lived to frame a stinging indictment in his account of his voyages. He sowed the truth, but saw neither blossom nor fruit. He died as his work issued from the press, leaving a name cherished by all who knew him^[1] as that of a loyal Englishman, enthusiastic in discovery as he was dutiful to his country. The hardships of his career induced the legislatures of New South Wales and Victoria to grant in after years pensions to some of his family.

The fate of Flinders makes more notable the entertainment of the French in Sydney. The Geographe and Naturaliste, after some investigations on the west coast of New Holland and in Van Diemen's Land, were parted in a gale of wind. The Naturaliste went to Western Port without discovering the excellent watering-place at Phillip Island;^[2] the Geographe proceeded westward, without seeing indications of a harbour at Port Phillip, and met Flinders at Encounter Bay. Sickness was in both ships. On the 25th April 1802, Captain Hamelin appeared off the coast at Sydney, with much misgiving as to the reception his vessel might meet. The French narrator declares: "Les inquiétudes ne furent pas longues. Les Anglois l'accueillirent dès le premier instant avec cette générosité grande et loyale que le perfectionnement de la civilisation Européenne peut seul expliquer et que lui seul a pu produire."^[3] To Hamelin's letter asking permission to