Difficulties & Disasters
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Many different difficulties and disasters contributed to the misfortunes of Baudin's voyage, and partly explain why the expedition has only received recognition in more recent times. The political upheavals in France at this revolutionary period were also a contributing factor.
Adding to the difficulties of exploration in strange, unknown waters and lands, the French ships were not well matched, with Le Naturaliste and later ship Casuarina being a much slower sailers than Le Geographe. Several times Le Geographe and her accompanying ship were separated, causing considerable anxieties and delays while they searched for one another - for example, when Le Geographe and Casuarina did not rendezvous in 1803, after Baudin had stayed at Kangaroo Island while Freycinet explored the two gulfs in Casuarina.
The perils of sea exploration were evidenced in April 1802, when Baudin's expedition experienced such violent gales in Gulf St Vincent, it was named 'Golfe de la Mauvaise' due to the exhaustion it caused the crew.
Numerous desertions and deaths depleted Baudin's crew and scientific staff. Calling in to Mauritius en route to the southern continent, many scientists and artists deserted due to personal and political differences with the captain. Hostility and resentment between Baudin and many of the scientific staff and crew strained relations on board. Baudin's officers were selected by the Ministry of Marine, unlike Flinders' who were chosen by the captain himself. The large scientific team was selected by Institut National.
With his early career in the merchant navy and a different social background, coupled with his authoritarian application of naval discipline on the expedition, relations between Baudin and the civilian artists and scientists were extremely tense. When Peron wrote his account of the voyage, his personal hatred for Baudin is only too clear, and contributed to the disgrace of the captain's reputation.
The French expedition suffered from overcrowding, and limited food and water supplies. Their health was affected, with many suffering from scurvy. Flinders was shocked at the sorry state of the crew when they arrived at Port Jackson in 1802. Fever and dysentery contracted in Timor disabled many, and Baudin lost his friends Mauge and Riedle to sickness on the voyage. Baudin himself died from tuberculosis on the homeward journey, and was unable to refute versions of the voyage. French authorities were embarrassed by the difficulties and disasters of this expedition, and official records made no reference to Baudin's name.
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Baudin, Nicolas. The journal of post Captain Nicolas Baudin. - page 340 : 20-21 February 1802Extract from Nicolas Baudin's The journal of post Captain Nicolas Baudin [translated from the French by Christine Cornell]: the death of Baudin's friend, Rene Mauge, a zoologist with the expedition; on 21 February Mauge is buried on Maria Island. |
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Baudin, Nicolas. The journal of post Captain Nicolas Baudin. - page 386 : 17 April 1802.Extract from Nicolas Baudin's The journal of post Captain Nicolas Baudin [translated from the French by Christine Cornell]: rationing of water. |
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Baudin, Nicolas. The journal of post Captain Nicolas Baudin. - page 399 : 6 May1802Extract from Nicolas Baudin's The journal of post Captain Nicolas Baudin [translated from the French by Christine Cornell]: state of Baudin's crew - "everybody was longing for a rest"; Baudin's resolve to continue. |
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Baudin, Nicolas. The journal of post Captain Nicolas Baudin. - page 400 : 7 May 1802.Extract from Nicolas Baudin's The journal of post Captain Nicolas Baudin [translated from the French by Christine Cornell]: St Francis and St Peter Islands - the quality of the ship's provisions. |
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Baudin, Nicolas. The journal of post Captain Nicolas Baudin. - page 401 : 8 May 1802.Extract from Nicolas Baudin's The journal of post Captain Nicolas Baudin [translated from the French by Christine Cornell]: Cape Adieu - bad weather; weakness of the crew; decision to abandon the coast survey and proceed to Port Jackson. |
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Baudin, Nicolas. The journal of post Captain Nicolas Baudin. - page 413 : 31 May 1802.Extract from Nicolas Baudin's The journal of post Captain Nicolas Baudin [translated from the French by Christine Cornell]: complaints from sick crew members, who blame Baudin for their plight. |
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Baudin, Nicolas. The journal of post Captain Nicolas Baudin. - pages 458-459 : 2 January 1803.Extract from Nicolas Baudin's The journal of post Captain Nicolas Baudin [translated from the French by Christine Cornell]: Kangaroo Island; Cape Willoughby. |
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Peron, Francois. A voyage of discovery to the southern hemisphere [vol. 1] / translated from the French. - page 54.Extract from Francois Peron's publication on Baudin's voyage: Peron's account of the limited provisions on board the ship, 25 April 1801. |
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Peron, Francois. Voyage de decouvertes aux terres australes. Tome premier [vol. 1] - page 329.Extract from Francois Peron's publication on Baudin's voyage: Peron's account of dysentery afflicting the crew, 15 September 1801. |
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Peron, Francois. A voyage of discovery to the southern hemisphere [vol. 1] / translated from French. - page 131.Extract from Francois Peron's publication on Baudin's voyage: Peron's account of dysentery afflicting the crew, 15 September 1801. |
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Peron, Francois. Voyage de decouvertes aux terres australes. Tome premier [vol. 1] - pages 163-164.Extract from Francois Peron's publication on Baudin's voyage : Peron's comments on Baudin's orders concerning the treatment of Aborigines, 22 February 1802. |
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Peron, Francois. A voyage of discovery to the southern hemisphere [vol. 1] / translated from the French. - page 216.Extract from Francois Peron's publication on Baudin's voyage : Peron's comments on Baudin's orders concerning the treatment of Aborigines, 22 February 1802. |
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Peron, Francois. Voyage de decouvertes aux terres australes. Tome second [vol. 2] - pages 120-121.Extract from Francois Peron's publication on Baudin's voyage : Peron's comments on Baudin's orders concerning the treatment of Aborigines, 22 February 1802. |
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Peron, Francois. Voyage de decouvertes aux terres australes. Tome premier [vol. 1] - page 321.Extract from Francois Peron's publication on Baudin's voyage: Peron's account of scurvy afflicting the crew, [date?] |
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Peron, Francois. A voyage of discovery to the southern hemisphere [vol. 1] / translated from the French. - page 127.Extract from Francois Peron's publication on Baudin's voyage: Peron's account of scurvy afflicting the crew, [date?] |
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Peron, Francois. A voyage of discovery to the southern hemisphere [vol. 1] / translated from the French. - pages 130-131Extract from Francois Peron's publication on Baudin's voyage: Peron's description of Charles-Alexandre Lesueur's near fatal snake bite, 12-14 September 1801. |
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Peron, Francois. A voyage of discovery to the southern hemisphere [vol. 1] / translated from the French. - page 132.Extract from Francois Peron's publication of Baudin's voyage: Peron's account of Baudin's illness with 'a dangerous ataxic fever', 25 September - 1 October 1801. |
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Peron, Francois. Voyage de decouvertes aux terres australes. Tome second [vol. 2] - pages 207-210.Extract from Francois Peron's publication on Baudin's voyage: Peron's account of the perils of the sea - hurricanes, storms, wind squalls, shoals and breakers, and how dwindling provisions and scurvy impacted upon the crew. |
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Peron, Francois. A voyage of discovery to the southern hemisphere [vol. 1] / translated from the French. - pages 254-256.Extract from Francois Peron's publication on Baudin's voyage: Peron's account of the perils of the sea - hurricanes, storms, wind squalls, shoals and breakers, and how dwindling provisions and scurvy impacted upon the crew. |
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Flinders, Matthew. A voyage to Terra Australis [vol. 1] - page 230 : June 1802, '[East coast. Port Jackson]'.Extract Matthew Flinders' journal A voyage to Terra Australis: Flinders' account of the state of Baudin's ship and crew on reaching Port Jackson in June 1802 after surveying the southern coast. |
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South Australian geographical journal, vol. 99, 2000 - pages 16-19.Hasenohr, Geoffrey. 'Health factors as they affected the attitudes and decisions on the voyage of Le Geographe.' |
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Further sources
Brown, Anthony J. Ill-starred captains: Flinders and Baudin. Hindmarsh, S. Aust.: Crawford House Publishing, 2000.
Cooper, H. M. French exploration in South Australia: with special reference to Encounter Bay, Kangaroo Island, the two gulfs and Murat Bay 1802-1803. Adelaide: the author, 1952 (printed by MacDougalls Pty Ltd).
Cornell, Christine. Questions relating to Nicolas Baudin's Australian expedition, 1800-1804. Adelaide: Libraries Board of South Australia, 1965.
Horner, F. B. The French reconnaissance: Baudin in Australia 1801-1803. Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 1987.
