s, "on the 20th of October
1883, it became my first duty to repair to the royal palace at Windsor,
with an account of my voyage, and to lay at the feet of His Majesty
the British flag which had been hoisted on the Magnetic Pole."

[Illustration: "SOMERSET HOUSE," ROSS'S WINTER QUARTERS ON FURY BEACH.
From a drawing in Ross's _Second Voyage for a North-West Passage_,
1835.]

CHAPTER LVIII

FLINDERS NAMES AUSTRALIA

We must now return to Australia, as yet so imperfectly explored, and
take up the story of the young colony at Sydney.

For seven years it thrived under the careful management of Governor
Phillips, who was then replaced by one Hunter. With the new governor
from England arrived two young men destined to distinguish themselves
in the exploration of New South Wales. They were midshipman Matthew
Flinders and surgeon George Bass. The reading of _Robinson Crusoe_
had created in young Flinders a passion for sea-adventure, and no
sooner had the _Reliance_ anchored in Sydney harbour than the two young
friends resolved on an exploring expedition to the south. For there
were rumours afloat that Van Diemen's Land did not join the main
continent of New South Wales. Little enough help was forthcoming for
the expedition, and the friends had to content themselves with a little
boat eight feet long--the _Tom Thumb_--and only a boy to help them.
But with all the eager enthusiasm of youth they sailed from Port Jackson
on 25th March 1796. It is impossible to follow all their adventures
as they attempted the survey of the coast. A storm on the 29th nearly
swallowed up the little _Tom Thumb_ and her plucky sailors.

"At ten o'clock," says Flinders, "the wind, which had been unsettled
and driving electric clouds in all directions, burst out in a gale.
In a few minutes the waves began to break, and the extreme danger to
which this exposed our little bark was increased by the darkness of
the night and the uncertainty of finding any place of shelter. Mr.
Bass kept the sheet of the sail in his hand, drawing in a few inches
occasionally, when he saw a particularly heavy sea following. I was
steering with an oar. A single wrong movement or a moment's inattention
would have sent us to the bottom. After running near an hour in this
critical manner, some huge breakers were distinguished ahead; it was
necessary to determine what was to be done at once, for our bark could
not live ten minutes longer. On coming to what appeared to