CAPTAIN ARTHUR PHILLIP & COMTE JEAN-FRANCOIS La Perouse A BAND OF BROTHERS AND MORTAL ENEMIES
‘All was set in the mid-eighteenth century scene, the contest between Great Britain and the Bourbon powers…different branches of the family of Louis XVI…for sea supremacy and oceanic empire, which was the background of the life of every sailor of Cook’s Age’. J.A Williamson, Cook and the Opening of the Pacific, Hodder & Stoughton , London 1946
1785 and the race for New Holland was on. Britain having just lost the American War of Independence (1775-1783) and the thirteen (13) colonies that made up her ’empire in the west’ had missed the jump in the race to establish ‘sea supremacy’ in the Indian and Southern Oceans.
Brest – 1785, August 1: ‘In 1785 Louis XVI quietly sent the Comte de la Perouse with two ships La Boussole & L’Astrolabe to survey likely spots for French settlements. Aboard were copper plates engraved with the royal arms to be used as permanent notification of French ownership’. Michael Cannon, Australian Discovery and Exploration, 1987
Portsmouth – 1787, May 13: The ‘First Fleet, a large armed convoy of eleven (11) ships with a complement of upwards of 1500 souls, one-half convicted criminals ‘rationed as troops serving in the West Indies‘, commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip RN, sailed from England on 13th May 1787 to invade the island continent of New Holland, now Australia.
Fully funded by government the ‘First Fleet’ was an invasion fleet; ‘but not a hint of it shall ever transpire’. Anon, Bladen, Historical Records of New South Wales
Botany Bay – January 18/20: Within thirty-six (36) hours, after eight (8) months voyaging across 13,000 miles (21,000 km) of ‘imperfectly explored oceans’, the English convoy found safe anchorage in Botany Bay between 18 to 20 January 1788.
21 January: Next day Phillip with Captain Hunter RN and other officers and marines set off in three (3) smalls ship’s boat to search for what in 1770 Captain Cook had named ‘Port Jackson’.
Nine (9) miles (14 km) north of Botany Bay they found and entered its towering headlands into a magnificent harbour of it Phillip wrote ‘here a Thousand Sail of the Line may ride in the most perfect Security’.
Sydney Cove: ‘Four (4) miles’ within the vast excpance, from a myriad bays and inlets, Phillip settled on a ‘snug’ cove naming it after Lord Sydney.
23 January – Botany Bay: ‘The boats returned on the evening of the 23rd…it was determined the evacuation of Botany Bay should commence next morning’. Tench. ibid.
24 January: But ‘next morning ….suprize…at first I [Tench] only laughed’ two (2) French ships La Boussole and L’Astrolabe, under command of Jean-Francois La Perouse stood off the entrance to Botany Bay.
Contrary winds,churning seas and the Sirius’ menacing cannon, forced the French ships to seek shelter at Point Sutherland.
Captain Phillip had not raised ‘English Colours’ at Port Jackson. ‘‘Consternation’ he needed to return there but was hampered by the bad weather.
25 January: Not until after mid-day was Phillip able to quit Botany Bay aboard HMS Supply arriving just on nightfall of the 25th.
26 January – Sydney Cove: At first light with his officers and marines Phillip landed and from a ‘hastily erected flag-staff’ the Union Jack of Queen was hoisted.
Governor Phillip proclaimed Britain’s victory over France. See Australia – Britain By a Nose
Treacherous weather held up the English fleet’s departure from Botany Bay until the afternoon of the 26th when the fleet managed a dramatic exit and made for Sydney Cove.
Cross-currents and sudden wind shifts cross-currents very nearly cost lives and ships. Three (3) Charlotte, Friendship, Prince of Wales swung across each other coming near to crashing onto rocks.
HMS Sirius was last of the fleet to leave. Captain Hunter stayed to guide L’Astrolabe and La Boussole to safe anchorage in Botany Bay at a spot known today as Frenchmens Bay.
By 6 pm on the evening of the 26th all English ships were riding at anchor alongside HMS Supply.
‘His [Phillip’s] failure to invite the French commander there [Port Jackson] reflect some fear that he might be known as a spy’. Alan Frost, Arthur Phillip 1738-1814 His Voyaging, Melbourne University Press
La Perouse and Captain Arthur Phillip RN never met. On opposing sides in war and peace yet as men of the sea they shared a strong bond.
However Phillip knew a great deal about Comte Jean Francois La Pèrouse. It is impossible to believe he did not admire the gallant Frenchman who during the American War earned a reputation for compassion.
The supply position of the ‘First Fleet’ was dire. Almost immediately Phillip was forced to reduce the ration issue. His responsibility – survival of 1500 Englishmen – was absolute.
It left no room for generosity but who could doubt Phillip’s deep concern for La Pèrouse and his men?
1788 – 1 February, Botany Bay: Governor Phillip sent Lieutenant Phillip Gidley King RN his trusted friend together with Marine Lieutenant William Dawes, the fleet’s chief scientific officer, across to Botany Bay with a wish-list of support for the Frenchmen. See: William Dawes and the ‘Eternal Flame‘
‘They [English] offered…every assistance he [Hunter] could give, adding however that circumstances allowed them to give us neither food nor ammunition nor sail. And since they were on the point of weighing anchor to go further to [Sydney Cove] their kind remarks amounted merely to good wishes for the ultimate success of our voyage’. John Dunmore, The Life of Jean-Francois de La Perouse, Where Fate Beckons, 2006
La Perouse already knew via Captain Hunter of Phillip’s parlous supply position and reciprocated in like manner. Lieutenant King’s journal of February 1788 recorded a touching charade.
‘After delivering my message to him, he [La Pèrouse] returned his thanks to Governor Phillip, and made similar offers to those he had received’. Cited, Alan Frost, Arthur Phillip 1738-1814 His Voyaging, Melbourne University Press
French and English honour satisfied King and Dawes stayed on Boussole. Over dinner and long into the night La Perouse related the highs and lows of a wide-ranging, exciting but difficult voyage.
He was able to explain why a defensive stockade had been erected at Botany Bay and why the French were so very wary of local Bidjigal Aborigines.
LA PEROUSE – THE BACK STORY
‘In 1785 Louis XVI quietly sent the Comte de la Perouse with two ships La Boussole & L’Astrolabe to survey likely spots for French settlements. Cannon. ibid.
1785 – 1 August, France: Come Jean-Francois La Perouse in La Boussole and Paul-Antoine Fleuriot, Viscount de Langle at the helm of L’Astrolabe worked a difficult exit from Brest Harbour.
1786 – June, Alaska: While hunting fur-seal at Lituya Bay La Perouse lost twenty-one (21) crew to hypothermia. Caught in a strong current two (2) long boats rolled tipping the men into freezing waters.
1787 – 6 September, Siberia: The Frenchmen after criss-crossing the world’s oceans fetched up at Petropavlovsk – St Peter and St Paul. ‘Edged onto the empty wastes of Siberia. The main town indeed only town of Kamchatka on the edge of Asia…was the furthest possession of the Russian Empire;
[its people] were extremely hospitable, even overwhelming in their welcome, but [were] distressed to find no mail awaited them; luckily their bitterness was short-lived [for] a courier rode in from Okhosk with the missing mail packets’. John Dunmore. ibid.
The ‘courier’ delivered La Perouse instructions to ‘make for Botany Bay without delay’.
‘Among the dispatches was an important letter from the Minister of Marine [Castries]…The British were apparently planning a settlement in New South Wales in eastern Australia…He [La Perouse] advised Castries on the 28 [September 1787] he would make for Botany Bay without delay…All being well he should be there within three months’. Dumore. op. cit.
1787 – October: La Boussole and L’Astrolabe put to sea ‘bound for Botany Bay’ . But all did not go well.
§
1787 – 11 December, Samoa: By mid December they were in great need of fresh water. Some sixty (60) French crew went ashore at Tutuila, Samoa part of the Navigator Island group to refill their barrels.
At first all went well. Later another group of local men armed with heavy clubs and large stones rushed them smashing heads and injuring many.
The mayhem over eleven (11) Frenchmen and de Langle – L’Astrolabe’s captain – lay dead on the sand. The survivors made their escape. Accounts of French retaliation vary.
1788 – 24 January, Botany Bay: Lieutenant Clonard was given command of Astrolabe . The French sailed south arriving at Botany Bay on 24 January 1788.
‘There would seem to be ‘some justification for the saying that England won Australia by six days’. Edward Jenks’, History of the Australian Colonies, cited in British Colonial Policy, Hugh E. Egerton, Metheun, 1928
1788 – 3 February, Sydney Cove: Lieutenants King and Dawes, on returning from their visit to La Perouse, reported immediately to Governor Phillip.
La Perouse after leaving Samoa set a southerly course. As he neared the coast of New Holland La Boussole made two (2) unsuccessful attempts were made to land on Norfolk Island.
King was convinced La Perouse, after departing Botany Bay, intended to repeat his efforts. Governor Phillip’s response? He immediately commissioned Lieutenant Phillip Gidley King Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island.
1788 – 14 February: A night flight. At 6pm Gidley King set off in HMS Supply with a party t of 9 male convicts, 6 female convicts,2 doctors, five male volunteers to establish an outpost of the British Empire on Norfolk Island.
EPILOGUE
‘By Alexander…Lieutenant Shortland is likewise charged with a box of letters from Monsieur La Perouse for the French Ambassador’. Governor Phillip to Under-Secretary Nepean, July 10th 1788, Historical Records of New South Wales.
1788 – 17 February, Botany Bay: Pere Laurant Receveur a noted naturalist and the expedition’s Franciscan chaplain died of his injuries in mid February. A monument marks his resting place at Sydney suburb of La Perouse.
1788 – 10 March: La Perouse and his men departed for France on 10th March 1788 and not seen again. Each year a ceremony commemorates the French presence on the south eastern coast of mainland Australia.
Although Governor Phillip could not give La Pèrouse supplies or ammunition he was able to render the French nation an invaluable service. See: Asleep In the Deep – Merchant Men of the First Fleet
1789 – 26 June, France: Despite tensions and difficulties existing between Britain and France La Pèrouse’s ‘box of letters’ was faithfully delivered. A report of the ‘tragic events…[appeared] in the Journal de Paris on 26 June 1789′.
ADDENDUM
Norfolk Island: If the French had not delayed their arrival at Botany Bay? If the ‘First Fleet’ had found ‘copper plates engraved with the royal arms [as] permanent notification of French ownership’ and the French flag flying would Australia now be an English speaking nation?
Yes it would. See: A Band of Brothers and Mortal Enemies
Tags: arthur phillip, botany bay, empire, french, Frenchmens Bay, L'Astrolabe, La Boussole, La Perouse