uch a condition, without any news of her husband, who
had accompanied the landing. The amputation of the shattered limb was
therefore performed on the Theseus.

The wisdom of permitting a naval officer to take his wife on a long
voyage in a ship of the navy may well be questioned, and the contrary
rule is now well established. But it was not invariably observed a
century or more ago; and that Flinders acted in perfect good faith in the
matter is evident from the correspondence, which, on so delicate a
subject, he conducted with a manliness and good taste that display his
character in an amiable light.

In all probability Mrs. Flinders would have been allowed to proceed to
Port Jackson unchallenged but for the unlucky circumstance that, when the
commissioners of the Admiralty paid an official visit of inspection to
the ship, she was seen "seated in the captain's cabin without her
bonnet."* (* Flinders' Papers.) They considered this to be "too open a
declaration of that being her home." Her husband first heard of the
matter semi-officially from Banks, who wrote on May 21st:--

"I have but time to tell you that the news of your marriage, which was
published in the Lincoln paper, has reached me. The Lords of the
Admiralty have heard also that Mrs. Flinders is on board the
Investigator, and that you have some thought of carrying her to sea with
you. This I was very sorry to hear, and if that is the case I beg to give
you my advice by no means to adventure to measures so contrary to the
regulations and the discipline of the Navy; for I am convinced by
language I have heard, that their Lordships will, if they hear of her
being in New South Wales, immediately order you to be superseded,
whatever may be the consequences, and in all likelihood order Mr. Grant
to finish the survey.

To threaten to supercede Flinders if it were even heard that his wife was
in New South Wales was surely an excess of rigour. His reply was written
from the Nore, May 24th, 1801:

"I am much indebted to you, Sir Joseph, for the information contained in
your letter of the 21st. It is true that I had an intention of taking
Mrs. Flinders to Port Jackson, to remain there until I should have
completed the voyage, and to have then brought her home again in the
ship, and I trust that the service would not have suffered in the least
by such a step. The Admiralty have most probably conceived that I
intended to keep her on board during the voyage, but this w