days were to show whether
the old surmise was true--that Terra Australis was cloven in twain by a
strait from the Gulf of Carpentaria to the southern ocean. It was,
indeed, a crisis-time of the discovery voyage.

But before the gulf was examined, a tragedy threw the ship into mourning.
On the evening of Sunday, February 21st, the cutter was returning from
the mainland, where a party had been searching for water in charge of the
Master, John Thistle. She carried a midshipman, William Taylor, and six
sailors. Nobody on the ship witnessed the accident that happened; but the
cutter had been seen coming across the water, and as she did not arrive
when darkness set in, the fear that she had gone down oppressed everybody
on board. A search was made, but ineffectually; and next day the boat was
found floating bottom uppermost, stove in, and bearing the appearance of
having been dashed against rocks. The loss of John Thistle was especially
grievous to Flinders. The two had been companions from the very beginning
of his career in Australia. Thistle had been one of Bass's crew in the
whaleboat; he had been on the Norfolk when Van Diemen's Land was
circumnavigated; and he had taken part in the cruise to Moreton Bay. His
memory lives in the name of Thistle Island, on the west of the entrance
to the gulf, and in the noble tribute which his commander paid to his
admirable qualities. It would be wrong to deprive the reader of the
satisfaction of reading Flinders' eulogy of his companion of strenuous
years:

"The reader will pardon me the observation that Mr. Thistle was truly a
valuable man, as a seaman, an officer, and a good member of society. I
had known him, and we had mostly served together, from the year 1794. He
had been with Mr. Bass in his perilous expedition in the whaleboat, and
with me in the voyage round Van Diemen's Land, and in the succeeding
expedition to Glass House and Hervey's Bays. From his merit and prudent
conduct, he was promoted from before the mast to be a midshipman and
afterwards a master in His Majesty's service. His zeal for discovery had
induced him to join the Investigator when at Spithead and ready to sail,
although he had returned to England only three weeks before, after an
absence of six years.* Besides performing assiduously the duties of his
situation, Mr. Thistle had made himself well acquainted with the practice
of nautical astronomy, and began to be very useful in the surveying
department. His l