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here for the reasons I did, how is it that when your discoverers put into Port Jackson, etc., they were received well? In war-time Baudin and Hamelin took notes, and were not interfered with.... I was chosen by Sir Joseph Banks to complete Cook's work, and am not a spy. If I had come as a spy, what have I done? Why not wait till the eve of sailing to arrest me? I have been a prisoner since the first hour I landed." [Illustration: A DIRECT SOUTH VIEW OF THE TOWN OF SYDNEY. _F. Heath sculpt._ Taken from the brow of the hill leading to the Flagstaff. From Collins' "An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales" [London, 1798]. _To face p._ 208.] The governor's answer was-- [Sidenote: 1804] "It is useless to get up a discussion, as you do not appreciate the delicate motive of my silence. I say, until matters are advanced more, say nothing, as you know so little of the rules of good manners." This rude letter maddened Flinders. He wrote another long epistle, setting forth reasons for letting him go, even to France, promising to say not a word of Mauritius and stating again the absolute simple necessity of his visit. He could extract no answer. The heat was fearful. All the respectable people in the place were gone to the hills, and Flinders and his men nearly died of the horrible confinement. His letters were opened, and very few reached England. At home Sir Joseph Banks set to work, and did his best for the poor prisoner. On August 29th, 1804, he (Banks) wrote to Governor King a long letter, which is full of things he was disinterestedly doing for the colony, and that letter says:-- "Poor Flinders, you know, I suppose, put into the Isle de France for water, and was detained as a prisoner and treated as a spy. Our Government have no communication with the French; but I have some with their literary men, and have written, with the permission of the Government, to solicit his release, and have sent in my letter a copy of the very handsome one M. Baudin left with you. If this should effect Flinders' liberation, which I think it will, we shall both rejoice." In June, 1805, Banks wrote to Flinders from London, detailing what had been done:-- "From the moment that I heard of your detention, I have used every effort in my power towards effecting your release. As the enmity between the Gover
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