Certainly if M. Baudin failed it would not be the fault of the First
Consul.
On the 27th of May, 18oi, the coast of New Holland was made—"a blackish stripe from the north to the south was the humble profile of the continent first caught sight of." Their first acquaintance with the coast was not encouraging. Landing at Géographe Bay to examine a river reported to be there, the longboat was lost, a sailor named Vasse drowned, and the NATURALISTE lost two anchors. The ships now parted company, the GÉOGRAPHE steering north to Dirk Hartog's Road, or Shark's Bay. Here they waited some time for the appearance of the NATURALISTE, but that vessel not appearing, the GÉOGRAPHE sailed north, and on the 27th July they were in the neighbourhood of the much visited Rosemary Island. On the 5th of August the Lacepede Islands were found and named, but no landings were effected, and the voyagers described the appearance of the islands as "hideously sterile."
"In the midst of these numerous islands there is not anything to delight the mind. The soil is naked; the ardent sky seems always clear and without clouds; the waves are scarcely agitated, except by the nocturnal tempests: man seems to fly from these ungrateful shores, not a part of which, at least as far as we could distinguish, had the smallest trace of his presence. The aspect is altogether the most whimsical and savage, at all parts raising itself into a thousand different shapes of sandy, sterile, and chalky isles, many of them resembling immense antique tombs; some of them appear united by chains of reefs, others protected by immense sand-banks, and all that one could see of the continent displayed the same sterility, and the same monotony of colour and appearance. The dismayed and astonished navigator turns away his eyes, fatigued with the contemplation of these unhappy isles and hideous solitudes, surrounded, as he views them, with continual dangers; and when he reflects that these inhospitable shores border those of the archipelago of Asia, on which nature has lavished blessings and treasures, he can scarcely conceive how so vast a sterility could be produced in the neighbourhood of such great fecundity. We continued to range the coast, which seemed to make part of the archipelago, everywhere bordered with reefs and quicksands, against which the sea struck with violence, and varied itself as it were in sheafs of foam. Never was such a spectacle before presented to our observation. 'These breakers,'" says M. Boulanger, in his journal, "'seem to form several parallel lines at the shore, and little distant one from the other, above which the waves are seen raising themselves, successively breaking with great fury, and forming a horrible cascade of about fifteen leagues in length. We navigated at this time in the midst of shallows; the lead found only at times six fathoms. Then, though more distant from the land, we were not out of sight of it. This part of New Holland is truly frightful. All the islands that we could reconnoitre presented alike hideous characters of sterility. We continued to sail in the midst of shallows and sandbanks, compelled to repeatedly tack, and avoiding one danger only to fall into another.'"
Their privations were very heavy at this time; the food to which they had been reduced since their departure from the Isle of France had affected the health even of the strongest, and the scurvy increased its ravages. Added to that, the allowance of water beginning to fail, and their belief in the utter impossibility of taking any from these shores, the GÉOGRAPHE, after naming the archipelago of the north-west coast, BUONAPARTES, a name now obsolete, sailed for Timor, and here, after a lapse of some time, was joined by her consort. The stay at Coepang was a long one, for scurvy and sickness was rife amongst the crews and many died.
During the time Captain Hamelin of the NATURALISTE was absent from his consort, he had been busy along the coast. The Swan River was explored by Bailly the naturalist, and the island of Rottnest examined.
"The River of Swans," says M. Bailly, .'was discovered in 1697 by Vlaming, and was thus named by him, from the great number of black swans he there saw. The river cannot be considered as proper to supply the water necessary for a ship; in the first place it is difficult to enter, and its course is obstructed by many shoals and sandbank; and secondly, the distance from the mouth of the river is too great before we can find any fresh water.
"In the meantime the days fixed by Captain Hamelin to wait for the GÉOGRAPHE had expired, and we had heard nothing of her, nor did it now appear likely that we should obtain any news of her by staying any longer on this coast, we therefore determined to sail for Endracht's Land, leaving on this island of Rottnest a flag, and a bottle with a letter for the Commander, in case he should touch there."
Leaving the Isle of Rottnest, they sailed north, intending to examine the shore, but the wind compelled them to keep off the land. After several attempts they succeeded in keeping near enough to distinguish the general constitution of the soil, and pronounced this part of Edel's Land of the same melancholy appearance as the shore of Leeuwin's Land. On the 9th of July they were in sight of the Isles of Turtel-Duyf and the Abrolhos, on which Pelsart was wrecked in the year 1629. Their first care on anchoring in the "Bay of Sea-dogs"—or Shark's Bay—so called by Dampier—was to find if the GÉOGRAPHE was there, or had been there, this being the second rendezvous appointed. No signs being found, they concluded to wait eight or ten days in the hope she would appear.
"Our chief coxswain, on his return from the island of Dirck Hartighs, brought us a pewter plate of about six inches in diameter, on which was roughly engraven two Dutch inscriptions, the first dated 25th of October, 1616, and the second dated 4th of February, 1697. This plate had been found on the northern point of the island, which for this reason we named Cape Inscription. When found it was half covered with sand, near the remains of a post of oak-wood, to which it seemed to have been originally nailed.
"After having carefully copied these two inscriptions, Captain Hamelin had another post made and erected on the spot, and replaced the plate in the same place where it had been found. Captain Hamelin would have thought it sacrilege to carry away this plate, which had been respected for near two centuries of time, and by all navigators who might have visited these shores. The Captain also ordered to be placed on the N.E. of the island a second plate, on which was inscribed the name of our corvette, and the date of our arrival on these shores."