Page:A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume 1.djvu/456

230

Captain Baudin arrived in Le Géographe on the 20th, and a boat was sent from the Investigator to assist in towing the ship up to the cove. It was grievous to see the miserable condition, to which both officers and crew were reduced by scurvy; there being not more out of one hundred and seventy, according to the commander's account, than twelve men capable of doing their duty. The sick were received into the colonial hospital; and both French ships furnished with every thing in the power of the colony to supply. Before their arrival, the necessity of augmenting the number of cattle in the country had prevented the governor from allowing us any fresh meat; but some oxen belonging to government were now killed for the distressed strangers; and by returning an equal quantity of salt meat, which was exceedingly scarce at this time, I obtained a quarter of beef for my people. The distress of the French navigators had indeed been great; but every means were used by the governor and the principal inhabitants of the colony, to make them forget both their sufferings and the war which existed between the two nations.

His Excellency, governor King, had done me the honour to visit the Investigator, and to accept of a dinner on board; on which occasion he had been received with the marks of respect due to his rank of captain-general; and shortly afterward, the captains Baudin and Hamelin, with monsieur Peron and some other French officers, as also colonel Paterson, the lieutenant governor, did me the same favour; when they were received under a salute of eleven guns. The intelligence of peace, which had just been received, contributed to enliven the party, and rendered our meeting more particularly agreeable. I showed to captain Baudin one of my charts of the South Coast, containing the part first explored by him, and distinctly marked as his discovery. He made no objection to the justice of