Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 1.djvu/129

 PHILLIP'S COMMISSION. 31 the project of forming, any settlement on these islands (of 1787 New Zealand) ; and if he should hear that they have actually ^g^^^^^^^ formed a settlement, he will endeavour to repair thither in ^J^,j^ order to learn its condition, strength, and object/'* From which it would appear that, although the voyage was one of discovery, it was also designed to be the means of ac- quiring information with respect to new settlements by the English in New Zealand. It would also seem that the French Government had entertained the project of occu- pying those islands even at that time.f Although it is tolerably clear from La Perouse's instruc- Prevalent tions that the French Government had no intention of mS French anticipating the British in their occupation of New South Wales, a strong impression to the contrary has always prevailed in some quarters. The idea seems to have been suggested by the track of the French ships, as marked on the chart of their voyage fron^ Kamschatka to Botany Bay. But if any suspicion as to their intentions had occurred to Governor Phillip, he would not have omitted to mention it No8u«r)icion in his first despatch from Sydney Cove, when referring to by phimpor the French ships. It may also be assumed that either Cap- tain Hunter or Lieutenant King, of the Sirius, would have made some allusion to it, when writing on the subject. But neither they, nor Judge- Advocate Collins, nor Captain Tench, each of whom also made specific reference to it, appear to have had any impression of the kind. The records left by contem- these authorities point distinctly the other way. Captain S^SJSns. P^rouse. lYanslated from the French, 1799, vol. i, p. 27. The last lines written bv the nnfortonate navisator convey the information he had obtained during his stay at Botany Bay with respect to Phillip's expedition. t The apprehension of French settiement on the coast of New South Wales continued to agitate the British mind for many ^ears after Phillip left the colony. During (Governor King's administration, 1800-1806, the excitement caused by this apprehension reached its climax when the ships sent out by Napoleon in 1800 were known to be cruising in these seas. To appreciate the reasons for the excitement, the reader has only to com- tMffe P^ron's Voyage de D4covverUi8 avx Terres AustrcUes, published by the French (Government in 1807i with the Voyage to Terra Australis, written by Flinders and published in 1814. Digitized by Google
 * A Voyage Roand the World, under the Command of J. F. G. de La