This timeline chronicles the voyage of a French research expedition to Australia in the years 1800-1804. This expedition, led by Captain Nicolas Baudin, made many discoveries about the Western Australian and Tasmanian landscapes, and had many interactions with Indigenous Australians. This project is based on the journal of Nicolas Baudin, translated by Christine Cornell, as well as other resources from the Silent World Foundation and the Australian National Maritime Museum.;xNLx;;xNLx;;xNLx;To adjust the zoom or select to view specific categories press the spanner in the bottom right corner.
20th July 1800: Official documentation of Frederic de Bissy being appointed astronomer to the Baudin voyage. Bissy, then a major in the 17th Division of the army, was appointed to the expedition by Napoleon’s Minister of War, Lazare Carnot. Bissy clashed with Baudin almost immediately, and deserted the voyage while they were at Mauritius, opting to remain ashore.
Marine chronometer number 38 was made by Louis Berthold, a famed chronometer maker. This chronometer, used by Baudin throughout his voyage and for many journeys after, currently resides with the Silent World foundation in Sydney,
After some weeks of delays, the expedition leaves the port of Le Havre, Normandy
While at port Baudin sets about trying to secure 100 casks of wine for the journey, expecting them to cost the same as they had on his previous voyage. He requests this of the consul, Broussonet, but is told that he will have to pay 25% above real value for these 100 casks. Baudin remarks that “The English appear to have captured this market like the Madeira one. The price of the wine has gone up in such a way that today there is no difference in the prices of these two islands, although the quality of the latter colony’s wine is infinitely superior.” With only 25,000 of the asking price of 70,000 francs, Baudin ultimately settled for taking three months worth of alcohol, ¾ wine and the rest English beer. p26
While attending dinner with the consul and his family, the assistant gardener brings word that he and the head gardener Reidle had fallen from a height of 30 feet or so while searching for a rare plant. Both men survive with physical injuries, Reidle sustains a fever but recovers before leaving port. p.29-30
After being forced to wait for the arrival of supplies from the Greater Canary, the ships leave port.
Calculations are made and an arrival date at ile-de-france is set, and “nobody doubted any longer that we must have favourable winds all the time” p.91
Unfavourable winds arise, and an unexpected ocean current carries the ships farther east than expected or desired. Baudin reprimands a crewman ‘Citizen Baudin’ (of no relation to the captain), resigning himself to leave citizen baudin at ile-de-france due to his lack of caution while on watch, however another crewman pleads against this course of action. Baudin reads his reprimanding letter to both men and “I read him the letter which I had definitely intended to send him. And I told him that it was solely to citizen lebas’ entreaties that he owed the delay which I was prepared to allow in taking his command away from him because of his lack of exactitude… I spoke seriously to him about his conduct and inattention while on duty.” p.94
The crew find several jellyfish (Portuguese man of war) and debate whether the fish tangled in the stingers are trying to eat the jellyfish or are being eaten. Baudin concludes the latter is more likely. They also find an albatross which they catch and is inspected by Mauge, the naturalist (?) before being eaten in ragout and described as tender and flavoursome. Image reproduced with permission from "The Art of Science: Baudin’s Voyagers 1800–1804", edited by Jean Fornasiero, Lindl Lawton and John West-Sooby
After a long and arduous journey, the two ships dock in Port Louis. The trip was supposed to take three months but took five, and by the time the Geographe and Nationaliste docked they were short on water and food, and morale was low.
Lots of issues with the intendant of the colony and restocking supplies lead to an extended stay at port. The crew were given meagre food at port and the intendant refused to approve meal rations further than salted meat and biscuits - no fresh meat. After several less than satisfactory interactions Baudin “made it my duty to not see the intendant anymore, and… simply to make my requests in writing in order to make better note of his conduct towards us.” (p125)
“8 men went to hospital with bad attacks of colic and fever. The ship's doctor attributed them to the quality of the water.” (p125)
A friend of Baudin's from the colony “Came and told me that… the constant fear of an attack by the English made it desirable that I should remain longer so that my men could be conscripted if they did appear.” (p126) he came to realise no help was coming from the government at all. The long wait at Île-de-France was making men cagey and eager to either put down roots or leave, and Baudin was worried about mass desertion.
The consul assembled 12 danish and 3 swedish captains who had recently docked. The consul arranged a dinner with baudin and these men, putting forward the idea for the captains to give their remittances intended to Europe to Baudin’s expedition as the colony lacked the resources to fund the expedition themselves. This was an unexpectedly swift and resounding success in securing funding.
Many men desert, and further delays caused by the administration of the ile-de-france allow for more deserting, in what baudin thinks is an attempt to force his expedition to stay in port for longer. Baudin takes on some ‘natives’ to help support his crew given the deserters.
Bernier “in every respect is worth a hundred thousand ! times as much as the one [astronomer] who, luckily for us, remained at ile-de-france” (p.158)
Upon dropping anchor Baudin sent down the dredge of the Naturaliste. They found lots of coral, many sponges and two types of worms which were set in spirit to preserve and carry back to France. Shortly after this a pod of whales passed by the two vessels, creating "with the way in which they spouted water, a completely novel spectacle for our gentlemen" (pp158-159). Image reproduced with permission from The Art of Science: Baudin's Voyagers 1800-1804, edited by
Baudin "For a while we thought that this coast was uninhabited, but it was not long before we had proof to the contrary, for we noticed fires in various parts at night, which showed that it did not lack population" (p.162)
Baudin first sent a small boat carrying Louis Freycinet, Riedle (the Gardener) and Depuch (the Mineralist) to shore to gain an idea of the terrain and soil. Freycinet reported a slightly dangerous reef, brought back a sample of eucalyptus leaves and reported no signs of human life. Depuch highlighted the amount of granite and quartz bands found along the shore, and concluded that the soil was neither volcanic nor sedimentary. They also sighted burrows which they compared to rabbit burrows in France, and cloven hoof marks. Image reproduced with permission from The Art of Science, Baudin's Voyagers 1800-1804, edited by Jean Fornasiero, Lindl Lawton and John West-Sooby
Baudin and several scientists went ashore. As they landed they saw a man "up to his waist in water, busy spearing fish." Upon seeing the French longboat, he left the water and began walking "without hurrying too much... although his step was assured, he frequently looked towards us, no doubt to see if he were being followed" (p.173). The scientists followed him, with Dupech reaching him first and offering him "several necklaces of small glass beads," however the man signaled for them to leave, shouting and pointing at their ships. Finally, "he picked up three types of spears... and fled precipitately, without having made any sort of offensive movement". He was described by Baudin as "very black and naked from head to foot, except for a skin or piece of bark covering his back. Judging by the colour of his beard, which was very long and grey, he must have been a very old man." Image reproduced with permission from The Art of Science, Baudin's Voyagers 1800-1804, edited by Jean Fornasiero, Lindl Lawton and John West-Sooby
Baudin sent Citizen Le Bas and several others in his longboat with instructions to visit a river or lake along the coast and determine the quality of the water. However, the wind conditions became quite rough, and no word came from the longboat for several days. Baudin was quite anxious, and after moving the Naturaliste along the shore in hopes of catching a glimpse of any of his men and finding nobody, he feared the worst. After several days and rescue parties sent from the Geographe and Naturaliste, it was found that the longboat had gotten wedged into the sand quite deeply, and the men had taken shelter out of sight behind a nearby dune. Baudin reluctantly sent them tools to try and retrieve the longboat, but it was a lost cause and the equipment, scientific samples and the life of one man from a rescue party were all lost. Le Bas de St Croix, who was in command of the longboat, apologised immediately upon being brought back to the Geographe, and although Baudin was quite angry he refrained from shouting at Le Croix, as "his condition did not permit of my upbraiding him as he deserved". Le Croix and his men were extremely cold and wet, and needed several days of rest after being stuck ashore. Timothée Vasse, assistant-helmsman on the Naturaliste, drowned in the surf while attempting to rescue some of the samples the men had collected.
The Geographe and Naturaliste are separated in the course of the storm. Baudin takes the Geographe to Geographe Bay as they had previously discussed, but doesn't find the Naturaliste there and assumes they have proceeded to the backup meeting point of Rottnest Island.
The Naturaliste anchors at the previous rendezvous point near Rottnest Island, and begins charting and surveying the Swan River and surrounding areas
A long stretch of terrible weather caused the astronomers to be unable to take latitude measures, and forced Baudin to exit and reenter Geographe Bay several times. He decided to leave the Bay in hopes of returning during better weather and recharting some areas. "This weather twice chased us from the baya and caused us to drift South of Cape Leeuwin, so that for 23 days we did nothing but beat about to stand off from the coast, upon which the winds constantly embayed us whenever we went in fairly close to examine it well
While en route to Dirk Hartog's island, Piquet was left on watch and abandoned his post. Baudin reprimanded him, and maintained a low opinion of him after this. Piquet expressed discontent with Baudin's actions, "he came to my cabin and told me how offended he had been by my having different manoeuvres carried out without informing him... I took advantage of the occasion to tell him that any officer who abandoned his watch was most ungracious, and that, moreover, I considered him scarcely suitable for an expedition such as I was making."
The Naturaliste leaves Rottnest Island and sets sail for Shark Bay
After receiving word of multiple coves which were safe to land in, Baudin and a large number of scientists set off for shore in two boats. They found "twelve or fifteen new kinds of plants, two very handsome lizards and seven birds, two of which are particularly remarkable for the beauty of their plumage." They also saw Kangaroos, but were unable to catch any. For dinner they caught plenty of fish, crabs and oysters. Citizen Peron got lost while exploring and caused a delay, as he did not make his way back to the ship until the next day.
The Geographe set off for the northernmost tip of the Barren Islands, and searched for a suitable place to anchor. Baudin and a large number of the crew set up tents on the shore and explored, mapped, hunted and found several new types of birds. They departed several days later when the weather started taking a turn for the worst.
The Naturaliste drops anchor east of the northern tip of Dirk Hartog Island, opposite the middle entrance to Shark Bay.
Baudin leaves the Terres de la Concorde (his name for the Dutch Landt van D'Eendracht/Dirk Hartog Island and surrounding area). His parting remarks: "I think that our obsercations.... will be satisfactory. And I think they will serve in future as a basis for the lie of this whole coast, which the Dutch appear to have examined carefully and upon which they would no doubt have settled, had it offered the resources they expected to find there. But a land with neither fresh water nor harbour... could not suit them, as, in the years to come, it will not suit anyone to attempt a settlement on it - at least in this part.
The North-East Coast is surveyed, and on occasion small boats are sent to map the coastline and investigate small coves or inlets. The coast is observed by Baudin: "the sight of this coast really showed me what must be called sunken lowlands". On one occasion a small boat got carried too far and the Geographe was forced to move anchor to rescue it, leaving behind the other larger of the small boats which was forced to catch up overnight. Fires are sighted, but no interactions with Indigenous Australians.
Piquet is on watch, and "was occupied solely in tormenting the signalmen because he found that the clock was not moving fast enough to suit his impatience. He made me particularly angry, as his noise prevented me from working in my cabin... I then called out and said in my turn, 'Mr Piquet, you must pay attention to the lead and not the clock!' His pride, wounded no doubt by my remark, brought him in one swift, very reprehensible movement to my door... And he said in so many words, 'Confound it sir! You're quite ridiculous to find anything wrong with my watching the clock!' I replied that he was the only rude and ridiculous person aboard in my opinion, and... I relieved him of the command of a watch until I could get rid of him altogether." A written letter follows, where Baudin expresses his verbal command of removal of Piquet on watch. (p.239)
Contending with dwindling supplies, a lost longboat and increasingly discontented scientists and crew, Baudin decided to detour to Timor to restore supplies and crew morale before heading back to survey more of the coastline.
Baudin orders Piquet to remain ashore in Timor and wait for the Naturaliste, as he no longer has the patience to put up with Piquet's behaviour. Piquet is quite angry, and his rude behaviour further convinces Baudin to arrange for him to be arrested in Timor.
Baudin and his crew are received well by the Governor, who tells him of issues resulting from a brief conflict between the English and Dutch elements on Timor, and provides the crew rooms and help with building a longboat.
Baudin is obliged to pay double price for supplies. The governor gives them plenty of Buffalo meat but few vegetables and more nourishing food can be found. The Governor is extremely courteous during their entire stay, providing them with elegant meals and gifts of pigs, deer, sheep and others.
They meet the Lady who gave up her large house for them to stay in, she is a lovely and gracious host and gives them several shells upon hearing of their scientific mission.
The journal abruptly comes to a stop, and is not picked up again until the 13th of November, 1801. Few things happened during this time, including the arrival of the Naturaliste on the 21st of September. Baudin fell ill, many men caught dysentery as well and the gardener Anselm Riedle died on the 21st of October.
The journal continues from here. The Geographe and the Naturaliste depart together towards Van Dieman's land. Water, tea and coffee consumption is regulated so as to not fall short on supplies as they did during the previous leg. Baudin and several other crewmen are ill, but he is impatient to depart.
Many men aboard both ships die of dysentery which was contracted while at Timor. Riedle's will is discovered, the bulk of his collections had been entrusted to Baudin to turn over to the Museums upon returning to France. Baudin notes that "The authorities, when they learn of his death, will regret it no less than I have"
Officer Louis de Freycinet brings his concerns about the newly rationed food supply to Baudin, stating that it isn't nearly enough and they've been supplied with food to stretch over a month that they would previously eat in a fortnight. Baudin disagrees, and highlights the fact that three of the twelve officers have been sick since leaving Timor, and Baudin invited two to his meal every night, therefore the remaining seven were eating rations meant for twelve and still not satisfied. Baudin did marginally increase the ration after this, but not by much
During heavy rain the two ships sight the west coast of Tasmania, and anchor in what Baudin calls D'Entrecasteaux Island, now known as Bruny Island. They see a group of Indigenous Australians as they sail into the bay but lose sight of them shortly after.
Upon landing Baudin sent several parties to the shore, and went along with them. One man from the Naturaliste, Mr Leschenault, befriended some of the Indigenous Australians, he "took them by hand, embraced them and gave them some presents. Mutual trust was immediately established, and from then on they followed the naturalist wherever he went." Baudin also interacted with this same group, and remarked that "there was nothing unpleasant about these men. Their expression was one of liveliness and even gaiety, and their glance was quick." (p. 302-303)
“If you should meet any natives, which is very likely, you are absolutely forbidden to commit a single act of hostility towards them, unless the safety of anyone in particular, or all in general, is at stake. According to what is known of their character, the people of this country do not appear to be savage, except when provoked. Therefore, you must influence them in our favour by kind deeds and presents…” Baudin’s instructions, p.302
Baudin sent several parties to search inland for freshwater streams to replenish their dwindling supply. The first two were unsuccessful but the third found a stream that was partially usable, and water was brought back to the ship on the 25th of January
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