MARITIME HERITAGE ASSOCIATION JOURNAL Volume 12, No. 2. June, 2001
A quarterly publication of the Maritime Heritage Association, Inc.
C/o: 4 Cunningham Street, Applecross, W.A. 6153.
Editor: Peter Worsley. 294 C hapman Rd., Geraldton, 6530. ~ HOW STAN MOVED THE STONES The following story came out as an aside during the recording of an oral history by Peter Worsley interviewing Stan Gratte of Geraldton. Though I was not present at the taping, I subsequently listened to the tape and thought you might enjoy the story ...... Jill Worsley.
rank Burton was a fisherman whose family least. interests in fi shing had continued in Ger aldton and across to the islands for over Their equipment consisted of a car tyre hand seventy years by the time of the Second World pump on the dinghy which Dick would use to send War. At that time he was working two boats- the air via an ordinary hose down to Stan. Stan had a Waterwitch and the Lily ofthe West. helmet made from a square 4 gall on kerosene tin with the bottom cut out and a glass window fas The Wuterwitch was working the Abrolhos at that tened to another hole in the front. Scallops were time, and had adventures of her own. The Lily of cut on each side to fit his shoulders and these were the West had been built as a racing boat on the padded with a 2" wide strip of tin soldered around Swan River. She was double ended, a 28' to 30' each curve. Lumps of lead secured on to the kero open boat with a small foredeck. The Burtons sene tin ensured it did not float away. The air used her for fishing, and at the time this story hose was fastened to a tap on the side of the hel started she was moored off what was then met. Stan had a weight belt with a quick release Westend Beach where Geraldton Harbour's No.6 buckle, but he says he can't remember if he had berth now is. anything on his feet.
Lily (~lthe West needed frequent pumping as did This primitive equipment worked "after a fashion" many of the old wooden boats. The Burtons ne but Stan found out that he could only squat down glected to do this for a period because they were to work and even then felt as though the bottom deeply occupied with salvaging the bigger and half of him was likely to float upwards. Bending more valuable Waterwitch which had hit a reef caused a complete failure of their system. The and sunk over at the Abrolhos Islands. As a con two teenagers moved most of the ballast stones sequence Lily ofthe West sank at her mooring in from Lily of the West, though towards the end Stan about 12' ofwater. found that he could shi ft stones almost as effi ciently by free diving. Stan Gratte was a schoolboy friend of the Burtons, and he and young Dick Burton were given the job Unfortunately Stan did not get to see the boat be of shifting the ballast stones so she could be ing raised using air pumped into 44 gallon drums raised. because the school holidays came to an end and his father said that he had to go back to school. Stan was about 15 years old at this time. Dick There must be many tales of adventure as adults was a poor swimmer. They decided that Dick (and children) constructed makeshift diving gear would man a dinghy above the Lily, while Stan using the equipment which became available dur dived down to load the ballast stones into a ing the war years even though that equipment had bucket. Dick would haul the load of stones up, originally been designed for a completely different and tip them out away from the sunken vessel. purpose. How many boys began to explore under Their method of providing Stan with air was in water using gas masks which they modified ac geni ous, but at the same time dangerous to say the cording to their own wild ideas?
4 THE HORSE BOX
This is the first of a series of stories and articles written by Captain Peter Piggford (see editorial). When you have read this reminiscence I know that you will look for ward to future contributions to our magazine which Peter has promised.
t was two years before World War II, I was a muck out. There was a skillion roof j ust enough to Deck Apprentice on the cargo liner Chief clear the horse's ears and rump, and the back and 3 Mackinlay running as a cargo liner between sides were closed in with planking while the front United Kingdom and the Malabar and Coromandal had a very substantial half stable door so that the Coasts of India. animal could look out and eat from a wooden man ger hung on the outside of the door. The ships were old but well found, and the Com pany a good one by the standards of the day. My We had carried horses betore so we knew the drill. pay was the great sum of one pound Sterling per Called at 0530 with a cup of strong tea, we stum calender month, we ate reasonably well provided bled out on deck still half asleep, made up six teeds you liked curry for the ship carried British officers and hung one on the front of each box. About and a Lascar crew and Goanese cooks and stew three weeks out of Liverpool, imagine my surprise ards. when I found one horse with its rump where its head ought to have been. Some how it had turned lt was the boast of the Company that their ships round in its box during the night and now could not would carry anything. Loading in Liverpool be get back. The animal looked at me as best he sides a full general cargo we had six racehorses in could with his head held down by the low roof at individual, portable wooden crates placed on num that end of the box. ber three midships hatch and lashed down securely. The horses were consigned to Madras, our last port The ChiefOfticer who is responsible tor the sate of call after we had worked our way through the delivery of all cargo was on the bridge keeping the fourteen ports of the Malabar and half a dozen on Morning Watch, so I climbed up the ladders tore the Coramandal it would mean that the horses port to him and get my orders for the day's work. would be on board for over six weeks. Disbelievingly he went to the after side of the bridge from where he could view the horse boxes. This was bad news for us two apprentices as we He sent tor the Carpenter, the Serang and his Tin had the chore of looking after them without re dais and held a council of war. Later the Captain ward. [n case this should interfere with our ordi came up and even the Chief Engineer who only nary duties this had to be done outside normal came to see the discomfiture of the Deck Depart working hours. Tum to early to teed and muck ment. After a great deal of discussion, it was de them out, groom them during the lunch hour and cided that the only thing to do was to take the box check their teed and water after we finished work apart plank by plank and rebuild it the other way at 1700 hours. around the horse.
The horse boxes were made of wood, and each one At 0900 they all went to breakfast, while we ap had just enough room for a horse to stand up in . prentices who were only allowed to eat in the Sa They could not lie down nor turn around as they loon at 'Second Table' at 0930 adjourned to the were constrained by two padded side rails the half deck to clean up, and discuss the matter. We width of the horse apart, so that they had to stand could not let the horse out of its box as that was on for the whole six weeks they were aboard. Down top of the hatch, itself three or four feet above the one side of the box there was a narrow alleyway steel deck. We would never get it back in and about eighteen inches wide to allow the attendant there was a fair chance it would jump the bulwark to pass along the length of the box to groom and rail and go overboard, or at least break a leg. 5 in our dungarees took up a good position to Both the other Apprentice and I had some view the fun. The Serang and the T indal equine experience, and he said "You know, were the first to arrive. Thei r astonishment although it looks impossible for the horse to was obvious. The Captain took up his posi tum round like that, he has done it; therefore tion at the after end ofthe bridge deck and it must be possible to turn him back some the Chief Engineer on the boat deck at the how. Look, leCs go out on deck and try it.'' for' d end of the midships accommodation He got me to hold out a handful of oats at hoping to see the Deck Department make a the front ofthe box. The horse looked at me mess of it. The Carpenter and the Mate were with his head between his forelegs. The busy making all the preparations. The latter other Apprentice entered the box and pass said "And the apprentices wi ll. .. .. where are ing alongside the animal, got his back those two useless so and sos ?" At that mo against the rear of the box and his two feet ment he looked up and saw the occupant of on the horse's neck. " Now" he said, .. Move the box the right way round and happily to your left a bit.'' The horse with hi s eye on chomping away at the remains of his break the oats moved his head until he was looking fast. The Mate' s face was a picture and all at me over his shoulder. With a push on hi s he could do was roar "I bet those horrible neck he some how turned a somersault, land wonks are behind all this." ing on his four feet, looking the right way out of the box and attacked his belated lt proved easier to tum a horse around in the breakfast in the manger. confines of a shipping crate than it was to convince the Chief Officer that some how At 0930 we slipped unobtrusively into the whole episode had not been engineered ·'Second Table' breakfast, and at 1000 back by the innocent young men of the half deck
.:. _ -I IMPORTANT NOTICE I;
I' -,: lc~· lr:_.l, ~- MEMBERSHIP FEES DUE NOW lr.!. ~ ~-1 ~ n- -· ;~"'i At the Annual General Meeting it was decided that future membership fees would ~ ;_·-=· cover the period from 1 July to 30 June. The change has been made in order to ~ 1 ~~ rr·-.: make the Treasurer's job easier. ~J.i ~ ~ r, I· Fees are therefore due now. F-"~ = If·'' t1 • Those members who have paid at other times will have their fees adjusted so that ~): 1 t-=· .. .. future payments will be due on 1 July each year. I Jr'" ' ..:-:.: i[_-·
Please see Membership Application Form inside back cover .·,, 1•--·· "'='"".J'------• -I'- -• -~• - :-- ~- .tl ~~-. ~:·~-~ - ~J l.Ji ~ - .1;-.l ··-- . ~ ! .._· I ' .• I~ :!..::!1 l!._ !_! Jl • ~~
6 The Ditty Bag
An occasional collection of nautical trivia to inform, astound, amuse and inspire.
A record for the speed of building Liberty ships unable to stop. By the time they got to Lambing was set when the Robert E Peary was com Flats the riot had been suppressed however and pleted from laying of keel to delivery in just they then turned around and manhandled the eight days. She was launched on 12 November gun 150 miles back to the ship. They arrived 1 1942 only 4 days, 15 / 2 hours after her keel was back on 1 April 1861. laid. Three days of fitting out and she put to sea from the builders, Permanente Metals Corpora tion, Richmond, California. This is probably a Among the many uses whalebone was put to, world record for a vessel of this size. that of water divining with baleen was carried on into modem times. The following is a quote from the Australian Fisheries Newsletter of July ln a smart man-of-war all sail, including stud 1967. ding sails, could be set in five minutes. It was Recently Mrs B.A. Dalby, a member customary to reef topsails while in stays. Jn the of the English Dowsing Society, vis forties a ship of the line was expected to take a ited Australia and asked the l..,'isher reef in her topsails in a minute and a half, while ies Branch ofthe Department (~f a fri gate and a brig were allowed one minute Primary Industry to help her in the and forty seconds respectively. From Sir A. search for suitable whalebone. She Moore, Sailing ships of war 1800-1860, p. 15. explained that whalebone water div ing rods are firm andflexib le and do not drag and break as hazel The accuracy ofthe Global Positioning System twigs do. or GPS relies on extremely accurate clocks against which the length of time the signals Gross registered tonnage A calculation of the transmitted from the satellites are compared. total internal volume of a ship converted to There are five of these clocks with the master weight by the formula 100 cubic feet equals 1 clock in Washington D.C. The alternate master ton. Deducting non-earning spaces like machin clock situated in Colorado does not vary from ery rooms, bunkers and accommodation gives the Washington clock by more than 3 nano net registered tonnage. seconds. This is 0.000,000,003 seconds or the time it takes li ght to travel 3 feet ! Longboats were really long boats in days of yore. The 1618 census of boats in the Royal On 23 February 1861 a contingent from HMS Navy found that the First Rate Prince had a Fawn, a 750 ton sloop armed with sixteen 32 lb longboat 52 ft 4 in length, only a little under muzzle loading cannons, hauled one of their half her own keel length of 115 ft. The Second guns 150 miles from the ship at Port Jackson to Rate Assurance carri ed a longboat of 51 ft 3 in Lambing Flats near Canberra. They had been length and her keel length was 95 ft. lt was pro called in to quell a riot involving European and posed to standardise boat sizes and reduce the Chinese miners and which the Police appeared length of longboats.
1 :, I, .
\ l_ /1' ;; 1
.....__ ' ... ..- ·:-· -
J
!! i .". ! I p LITTLE DIRK LIFTING HER LINES
sa result of the enthusiasm generated by methods of lifting the lines off a boat. Ray's @the previous UTTLE DIRK article, sev choice in this case was to use a wooden, lockable eral MHA members recently journeyed to chain that can be pressed against the si de of the Carnarvon to lift her lines and record her shape hull and set to that shape by tightening each link for posterity. in the chain thus fonning a template that can be transferred direct to the draughting board. The idea was put forward by Bill Leonard ofthe W A Maritime Museum. He emphasised that re We kept to Imperial Measure, sectioning otlthe cording the shape of old boats is, perhaps, even stations at two-foot intervals from the maximum more important than rebuilding them and that beam and working to one sixteenth of an inch this was something the MBA could seriously tolerance. Perhaps in a future article we will de consider doing. Ray Miller endorsed the sugges scribe this method in more detail. While Ray, tion and offered his experience and the use of his Rod and myself grovelled about in the dust and equipment to put it into effect. The current custo prickles inside and underneath the boat, Ron bus dians of LITTLE DIRK, Ray and Dianne Fidock ied himself taking some 150 photographs which generously offered free accommodation at their in conjunction with the internal measurements Carnarvon Beach Holiday Resort. No fewer than gave us a fairly accurate representation of LIT nine MHA members came forward to sacrifice TLE DIRK. their time. After drawing Jots and eliminating all those whose name didn't start with R, we man While all this was happening, Ray Fidock, acting aged to reduce the team to Ray Miller, Rod Dick on a vague recollection that the spars were said son, Ross Shardlow and Ron Richards, four be to be ·somewhere about', lead a land party to a ing the maximum number we could fit into the chook shed on the other side of town and, to our Shardlow van along with the assortment of amazement, recovered the mast, boom and gaff, equipment and tools required for the task. As which were in better shape than the boat itself Carnarvon is a long haul, Jill and Peter Worsley The haul also included a headsail. A search for generously provided a very much-appreciated the rudder and bowsprit proved more elusive, in halfway house at Geraldton, a fine opportunity to fact we are not sure that she had a bowsprit, devour Jill's culinary delights and Peter's library. though a sawn-off bolt in her stem suggested a bobstay. While discussing this, Ray Fidock re LITTLE DIRK was raised from a mud creek called that some years past, while under previous years ago and has been sitting chocked up on the ownership, LITTLE DlRK had been moored bow hard standing in the open ever since. Despite her on to a seawall and as the tide came in her bow age and abuse she has managed to hold her shape sprit caught under the wall's railing and as the rather well, aided no doubt by a massive false boat rose on the tide the bowsprit snapped clean keel that replaced her original centreboard. We ofr were sadly aware however that we had caught her just in time as she is beginning to sag around From the start it was clear to us that LITTLE her props, her bows are laced together with ropes DIRK would never go to sea again. On the other and she is declining in her port quarter. There hand, we believed that she would make a fine fore we chose to lift her lines off the starboard static display if she could be put under cover. si de. Ray Fidock took up the challenge and alerted the A close examination revealed a remnant water Carnarvon Heritage Group of our activities and line scribed into her timbers from which we were invited them over to see what we were doing. able to fix a parallel 'tightwire' from stem to The Group is a refreshingl y progressive organisa stem to fonn our datum line. There are various tion and already has responsibility for the preser- 9 SiA TION .STf:M 2 4 5 6 7 "'IS'- I I i J SHEER 0·2.·11 0 ·10·6 2·2·6 3·4·2 ~ - 10'10 4·2·0 4·6·3 4-· 7 ·(, ·4-· S·-+ !4 · g ·"f ;.f· 7'1 i-1·5"·7 !4-!I ·:Z 3 · /1-.4- 13·5·+ \.t I ' I • i h'L•3 0·2·& 0·!1·6 :2..·0·0 3·1· 13 3.to•lof f·/·3 4·5'·0 4·7·~ :4·6·2 !4 ·&·/•14·7·0 !4 ·>·7 !-4 · .3·l.. 3·ti· :J. i.3·-f·IO O·l.·t ~ ~---+---4--~--~--~~--r---r---r------+------,___ ,_ __ ,_ ____ ~-r--~ LITTLE DIRK @ lol t.~:z. O ·Z · t 0·7 · -:> 1•10·+ 2 ·11·ts 3 · 7·1!:> 3·/l·lf. +·3·15.f·{,·llt-f · 7·1t J4 ·8· , !-f·6· 13 -f·$·1 :4·7.·U I3·'i·(, ::Z ·'1·13 0·2'10 l.I NE.S Pl,'N 1 pRAWI"4 &"C' ~ AAV MillER 0"1E : II APRIL .tOO I It O·:Z·+ O•,·t: ------3·'1·/1.4·2.~ -f·5·" ;-f·6·15'lof·S·0 14·6·S +·+·3 i -4 · f·( 3 ·-f·3 , 1·6·7 0 . 2.-q ~ WL •I __ ---+--r ----:-j --+--,f---+---+---t---1 ) ~CAL-E : 1.. • I fOOT cr L'-'11- O• Z · O·+·IS l· + ·tf 2·5·1/ 3 · 2·0 3 ·(,-8 3·/f·"J 4 · ~ · 7 ! 4·5·3 1 4 ·6 <~ 1 4·4·/0 4- ·Z·7 · 3·/0·:Z.IZ·7·3 0·11·' O·ot•8 ~~----+----+----+----+----~--~--~~~4---~----~, ----+----+----+---~----~--4---~ _, wt.-1 t ·ll-'8 2·1·2 .3·0·2 >·6-ls- -f·3·t i4·o·7 JI ·Z·II 4·0· 1 3-lo·s 3·.%·'1 !1·7·3 o-6·1 o·.z·6 ) r 1---- 1---t---+ - -+--+-·--- ______.. ___ _
II) Wl-2 I·Z·IZ ,.q.g 2·/·J+ j 2·7·0 2•1<1-/2. 3 · /·2. :l•5'!> 3·/·8 2.· 1!-1> 2·0·(3! 1· 0·'!1 O•of•/f. 0·2.· 6 ~~----+----+----+----+-- ~ WL-~ O· S ·.z. 0'8·/ 0·10·'1 / · 1·0 / · f·Z 1·7·8 /·8·// (·6·13 /·5'·':> /·/·4 0·7·0 0·3·14 0·2·6 ~ r----1-----r----+-~ .:.. RA.IIBET O·Z ·~ o-~·tz o·4·!> o-f-10 o ·4·t3 O·f·l4- 0·4·15 0·-4-·~ 0 •4''1 o·4·4 o·3·,0·3·:Z o·l-7 0·2·6 ~~U-ND_E_R-Sf-DE1---~--+----+----t---+----+----~--~~-~----+----t----+---+----4---~----4 o-+ · •~ o-4-~ OF I OffSET$ IH fttT-IHCUU - S.IM.Tt(HTH~ .r-.::11 - / 1 Wl.-3 l--Z~o" ~~:~: :~ ~ / 'S '- 0 0 (0 fP m.- !' .• ------·------.. - .. ------· - - ·--. - ·------vation and protection of the mile long Carnar $ . von jetty (currently under restoration), the light Australia II to sail agatn house keeper's cottage, the ·Kimberley' steam locomotive, abundant rolling stock and trans port machinery (including the steel lifeboat off Australia II will represent Australia at the the World War 11 German raider KORMO 150th anniversary America's Cup regatta at RAN). Pending our final report and recommen Cowes in England in August 2001. dations and Ray Fidock's good will, there may be a place for LITTLE DlRK in the Heritage An agreement between the Western Australian Group's collection Museum and Challenge 2001 syndicate will give some of the 1983 ·winning crew the chance to The ever-diligent Ray Fidock recently uncov sail the yacht at this historic event. ered another gem of information in a copy of Garry Kerr's Craft & Craftsmen of Australian After the Cowes regatta, Australia 11 will be a Fishing, 1870-1970 in which the author states In the 1920's Robin (Bob) Gourley {East centrepiece in the new Maritime Museum being Fremantle boatbuifderj built a number of built at Victoria Quay, Fremantle. boats in the 28 to 32 foot range, which were ofsimilar rig and layout to the half You can share the excitement of behind-the deckers previously mentioned, except that scenes preparations and up-to-the-minute these had a round stern with outboard reports from Cowes through a new e-mail rudder. This type o,fstern was built no newsletter MARITIME LOG-ON. where else in Australia, and is believed to have been introduced to this country by Personal reports from the crew will accompany Gourley from his native Scotland. Boats news updates about the new Maritime Museum. he built with this type ofstern included the LUPIA (sic LUPA}, FELIMJNA and So send us your e-mail address now, and be !Vt4FALDA. The idea was also copied by other hui!dP.rs. If it were not for the out- part of the action. board rudder it could be described as an elliptical stern, but Gourley referred to it as a cart wheel stern, and sometimes a rim stern. The intention of the round stern was to give a clearer quarter when shoot m ing nets, than that which a square stern offered. When Ray Miller completed his beautiful lines E-mail the following details to: plan of LITTLE DIRK he showed it to Bill karen.rnajer@museurn. wa. gov .au Leonard at the Maritime Museum. Before Ray NAME:______had finished unrolling the plan Bill, who is a Scot, exclaimed, "Ooh, l'd know that shape any ORGANISATION (if relevant): _____ where - that's a Loch Fyne Skiff, a common fishing boat in those parts of Scotland. T hey are TELEPHONE: ______also called a ·Nobby' but the locals call them a ' Nabby'." E-MAIL: All in all this has been a most rewarding project • The newsletter is free. for everyone involved, and for the MHA l • Your privacy will be protected - your e-mail heartily agree with Bill Leonard that lifting the address will go onto the MARITIME LOG lines off boats is something the MHA could se ON data base and will not be used for any riously consider as an ongoing activity of the other purpose. Associatj on. • If you decide you don' t wa nt to continue r eceiving the newsletter , it's as simple as a ROSS SHARD LOW May 200 I clic k on the sp ecial " butt on" on the newsletter . } ( '· -~ '-\ .. ~ ' ,'to' ...... . -, j~ "-' t: ;t\ .:~ ~k. . •;!f,,• ~ . ···.'" ~~l ... .. '· ~ \J ..-,. ..' I __! ··. ../• \ \ ·. 'I \ I r" J \ • •. ' I I . ~ ------~ ------The Baudin Bicentennary: Celebrating the Differences of Opinion. Nick Burningham At the end of May I 801 two French ships, Naturaliste the first close survey of parts of the southern Australian and Geographe, commanded by Nicholas Bar~din , coast and parts of Tasmania. The chart of Australia pub sailed into the Bay we now know as Geographe Bay. lished by Louis de Freycinet, who had served on the expe It was the beginning ofa s11rvey ofAllstralian coalt s dition, can be seen as the first chart to show the entire coast that lasted for two years. The expedition lzad twin line of Australia in reasonably surveyed outline. Matthew Ainders felt that he was robbed of that claim by the French. missions - hydrographic Sllrvey to produce accll In truth neither Freycinet or Ainders could really make the rate charts f or navigators, and scientific survey of claim. It was Phillip Parker King whose tireless surveying A llstralia by nat11ralists, anthropologist, mineralo made such a chart possible. gists and geographers. Baudin has been seen as incompetent and given to hasty The combination of these aims is a feature of European and rash decisions. He has been characterised as irascible, expeditions to Australia and the Pacific that goes back at harsh, and having taken no precautions to prevent scurvy least as far as Dampier and de Vlamingh. With the emer among his crew. gence of specialist scientists during the 18'h century it be came possible for the personnel of an expedition to include Leslie Marchant, whose "France Austral ie" is the main scientists. source of information about the French survey of western Bougainville 's circumnavigation is the first scientific Australia, sees "Baudin's scientific mi ssion [as] the great expedition and Cook's first circumnav igation, started a est maritime scientific mission of exploration to leave Eu couple of years later, carried a smaller number of scien rope in the age of discovery by sail .. . " tists, incl uding Joseph Banks. It is said that the Baudin expedition brought to Europe The logic of combining hydrographic survey with bio more biological specimens than any other expedition logical survey was unassail able, but there was inevitable (though no authority for this is cited). But what of the qual conflict between the two objectives. Ship's boats were ity of specimens? If we can beli eve Baudin himself, a sig needed for hydrographi c survey, for watering and provi nificant part of the specimens were broken shells shovelled sioning, and they would also get used for ferrying scien up from the beach by sailors who were bribed to collect ti sts to and from the land. Those scientists would not be them by scientists offering rum. disciplined in the way that naval personnel could be. Ships The critical question when assessing the French part in needed to be ready to slip or weigh anchor and stand away the development of the scientific maritime expedition is to sea when necessary, and in the days before walkie-talk whether the French preference for organising on a grand ies, that could be very di fficult with a number of shore par scale led to greater results than the relatively parsimonious ties wandering around an unknown and inhospitable land. British approach? Baudin himself was quite clear about that. Baudin was acutely sensi tive to the conflict between hy "If . .. a !lent ion had been paid to the observations I made drography and biology. In his journal for 10 Dec, 1802 he likewise on !lte uselessness ofe mbarking so many scient isis described the departure of a shore party. for a voyage upon which haLf the present number would 'The large dinghy also set ojJ, carrying the scientists, still be too many, !hen, perhaps, !he personali!ies might have their knowledge and their baggage, for th ese gentlemen been bel!er suited and I shouLd have had fewer worries." never move without pomp and 1rwgni[lcence. The cooks Baudin's Journal, Santa Cruz, Canary Islands, Nov. 1800. with their utensils, the pots the pans and the saucepans, clullered up the boat so much that no! everyone could fit Baudin's career before 1800 in, and pan of the load had to be put in the longboat. All Born 1754, lie de Re, off Rochelle. Or was he? Another this apparatus so infuriated me that I wen! back int.o my cabin. extremely dissatisfied . .. " source gives 17/2/1756 as his date of birth. Baudin was a noted navi gator. He led expeditions of sci There are widely divergent views about the success or entific survey to the West Indies and to the Indian Ocean. failure of Baudin's expedition and Baudin's role in deter Very little has been published about those expeditions but mining the outcome of the expedition. Baudin died in they were successful and Baudin 's reputation was made by Mauritius on the return voyage so he was never able to state those expeditions. his case. Francois Peron, the expedition's most prominent In 1798 the Paris newspaper Monileur said the collec scientist, with whom Baudin had a very difficult relation tions brought to France by Baudin's expeditions were "the ship, took plenty of opportunity to denigrate the deceased richest and most beautiful collection of plants [and animals] commander. ever brought to Europe . .. " (Translated and quoted in Kell y, On the one hand Baudin has been seen as a timid nav i M., 1965) gator, conducting inaccurate "survey by telescope" from Jussieu, a prominent French politician or statesman wrote much too far off shore. On the other hand, hi s ex pedition "Of all travell ers [Baudin] is the one whose achi evements can be credited with the fi rst accurate survey of Shark Bay, flf ___ MHA]or~mal Vol. 11 (2) ------ ...... ::::. .~- . ' -~f·:.~;,;f;~:~:·· ·.· .,. Geograplte selling only ropsails and sraysails could easily keep pace wilh Naruralisre under all plain sail. in the sphere of natural hi story are the most conspicuous." lie de France (Mauritius). Regarding that decision, which (Translated and quoted in Kelly, M., 1965) must have been a huge relief for most of the ship's com Baudin himself had proposed and promoted a scientific pany, Baudin made a very curious entry in his journal. circumnavigation to emulate Cook's (and to counter the "I leave ro be imagined rhe ejJecl !hal litis change of failure of Laperouse's expedition). course lwd,for 110 one was expecling [ir]. 11troughourrhe He was in his mid- to late-forties when he led the whole voyage, no one has ever known wit ere I was going or Geographe and Naruralisre expedition. what I wanred ro do." Someone else has added at that point in the journal "nor whar I was doing". Baudin's I»crformance in the 1800-1803 Expedition. Baudin obviously didn't much confide in hi s officers or Baudin 's overall performance is difficult to be certain anyone else. about because the assessment hinges on the competence or Sometimes Baudin seems to have been unreasonable. He incompetence of the officers serving under him. At times, seems on occasions to have sailed away and left behind Baudin seemed to bean ineffectual commander and his jour Hamelin, and later Freycinet in Casuarina, when the ships nal is obnoxiously self-serving. One suspects that hi s offic separated. During the voyage down the Atlantics, Baudin ers might have been performing poorly because they were was understandably irritated by the poor performance of exasperated by hi s vacillation, irritability, and arrogance. Natura lisle. He told Hamelin that he should signal when he At other times Baudin seems to be reasonable and compe required Geographe to wait for Naruraliste. This was put tent, and hi s officers seem just the opposite. A basic ques ting the onus on his subordinate and it makes little sense tion is whether Baud in was really the main problem, as some because when Geograplte was too far ahead, Hamelin authorities imply, or was Baudin a good commander strug wouldn't be able to signal. It was properly up to the faster gling to conduct an overblown voyage of exploration while vessel's commander to maintain company with the slower served by callow and lazy officers whom he dared not trust? vessel. Hamelin seems to have ignored the instruction and 7th July, 1803, Baudin, dying of tuberculosis, had been to have been disinclined to show his position at night. Baudin spitting blood for three months. He was worn down, his became more and more aggravated and eventually, in hi s intention to work eastwards along the north coast of Aus journal , accused Hamelin of not showing a light in order to tralia was thwarted by the strong southeast trade winds. sneak ahead at ni ght! Hamelin was presumably doing hi s Finally he decided to give up the unequal battle and run for best to keep up in his inferior ship. He was obliged to carry 15 ------ /6 ---MHA Journal Vol. 11 (2) ------garded as most unsuitable company. Baudin was angry at While sail ing to Mauritius, Casuarina carried away the having been obliged to spend a li ttle time at table with the main boom gooseneck or jaws. Freycinet came close to man and reprimanded young Freycinet. Geographe and reported the problem, saying that he could After leaving Santa Cruz, the Chief steward complained no longer set the mainsail. Baudin sent a carpenter to make that Henri had threatened him with violence. Baudin says the repair and commented on the lack of resource Freycinet that he spoke to Freycinet, and adds that he had judged the demonstrated in not fixing it himself. young man to be a problem in Le Harve. Baudin gave Freycinet written instructions regarding ren Both Freycinet brothers managed to offend Baudin: 22nd dezvous instructions should the ships become separated, Nov 1801 , becalmed, Baudin sent a boat to Naluralisle with which contain harsh criticism. He says the cost of equipping some meat and a message for Hamelin. The boat returned Casuari11a has become "burdensome lo the govemment and with two men from Naturalisle, one of them an officer, pointless for the exhibition." However, the criticism was namely Freycinet, who did not present himself to Baudin. written, not spoken, in instructions to be opened at sea, so Baudin was very angry and wrote Hamelin telling him to that the criticism wouldn't be overheard. He also gave have Freycinet locked in his cabin for two days. Freycinet a letter for the authorities in lie de France in case Casuarina was unable to rendezvous with Geographe, and Baudin and Louis de Freycinct that letter is more temperate and would not have been preju The Australian Dictionary ofBiography says Baudin and dicial to Freycinet's reputation had he need to use it. Freyeinet, Louise-Claud (1779-1842) "worked together as cartographic surveyors and naturalists." Did they work to Baudin's Mistakes gether? Baudin has been accused of sailing away leav ing Baudin was not incapable of admitting mistakes. For ex Freycinet in Casuarina to survey, having given him insuffi ample, on 31" December, 1802, the lookouts reported sight cient time for the task. ing land away "West by South-West" [sic] where land had Casuarina, with Freycinet in command, set out on 11 'h not been expected. "When the position ofthe reported land January 1803, with instructions to be away for no more than was indicated, everyone thought he recognised il and I made twenty days. He was to survey the northern ends and west the same mistake as alllhe others.[or I was convinced (and ern shores of both the Spencer Gulf and the Gulf of St Vincent. for longer even than they were) !hal it as a coastline. " Baudin On 25 th he had been away for 14 days and Baudin wrote he goes on to say in some detail how they spent considerable would only wai t another 4 days. He did however wait the time steering for thi s chimera created by a bank of clouds. full 20 days. As he sailed away, Casuarina was sighted, but On 24th May 1802, also on the Tasmanian coast, Baudin she did not tack to approach Geographe, rather she contin was surprised that he did not recognise a cape and surround ued to stand for the anchorage on Kangaroo island. Freycinet ing coast that they had sailed past earlier in the year. He was sailed from there to Albany without making an effort to join the only person not to recognise the coast. In fact Baudin Geographe at Nuyts Archipelago. had been sick, in bed, when they had previously been there. Not long after sai ling from Albany, Baudin sent Freycinet 'This mistake on my part pleased more than one person on inshore to investigate a possible opening to a bay, wi th in board and did much lo persuade each !hal he was morefillo structions to look and come straight back. Three days later manage !he ship than I was." there was still no sign of Freycinet returning and Baud in was It is just possible that the mistake was disin genuous on very angry, contemplatin g relieving Freycinet of his com Baudin's part- he spent the next ten days tryin g to survey mand if they met agai n. that coast in stormy conditions, apparently to chasten his of They did meet again at the designated rendezvous at ficers who had ne glected to survey the coast when he had Rottnest. Freycinct explained that he only spent five hours been sick in bed (and they had been searching for a missing lookin g at the opening and then stood straight back out to boat). By that time, May 1802, he had only twenty healthy sea where he was astonished at not finding Geographe. seamen and he should have been running for Sydney. Baudin put this down to hazy conditions and did not upbraid 24~~> March, 1803, Baudin thought that they had sailed over Freycinet, commenting that the explanation "seemed fairly the longitude that Bernier had previously fi xed for North reasonable to me." west Cape without seeing land. He sent for Bernier and asked At times, Freycinet docs seem to have been lazy as skip for an explanation. Bernier replied that if the correction for per of Casuarina. He did not supervise the cutting of fire the chronometer error was applied, the longitude given to wood for hi s ship at King George Sound, so the sailors de the Cape was correct. "I had nothing to say to this reply, and tailed to do it wandered off fishing and relaxing. But per recognised my error." haps that was Freycinet's intention. Freycinet claimed to need new suppli es of firewood and in the end Baudin supervised Some accusations of errors levell ed agai nst Baudin are the cutting of firewood, but when the firewood was taken to based on misunderstandings. It is said that Baudin did not Casuarina she was fou nd to be already so full of the stuff fo llow any anti-scorbutic precautions, but that is not entirely that not all the crew could sleep below. While Baudin had true since, on occasions native "celery" was collected to make been peevi shl y supervising firewood cutting, Peron and soup. Cook did the same. Baudin did issue lemon juice cut Taill efer were hav ing a heavy lunch hosted by Freycinet on with water and syrup in particularly hot weather and felt the board Casuarina. Baudin was increasingly angry with need of it himself ( 1" April, 1803). More to the point, Baudin Freycinet, who did seem to be dragging the chai n with pro did not understand the cause and cure of scurvy, and he can visioni ng and preparations to sail from Albany. not be blamed for it, because his med ical officer, Lharidon, QUIZ Answers to March 2001 quiz The James Matthews \vas called /Jon Francisco when she \vas a slave trader O\vned by the slave dealer Don Francisco Felis da Souza. She was captured by HM Brigantine Griffun on 25 April 183 7 and renamed after a court hearing. 2. A moot was used to make trunnels (tree-nails), the wooden dowels used as fastenings for planking and other wooden members of ships. It had a blade similar to a plane blade and was turned on an octagonal piece of wood to convert it to a round dowel. There was one on display at the Ouyfken building shed. 3. The scientific name of the humpback whale is Megaptera novaeangliae. This is derived from the Greek Megus meaning "large" and ptervn meaning "wing" or "fin"; the Latin novus meaning "new", and the Middle English angliae for "England". Quiz for June 2001 What is or was breaming? William Dampier made two voyages to Western Australia. Give the years and name the ships. Two Peoples Bay, to the east of Albany, is named after a meeting ofthe ships of two nations. What were these nations? Maritime Heritage Association Inc. 4 Cunningham Street, Applecross, Western Australia 6153