Company's ship Bridgewater and the Cato, of
London, both bound for Batavia. It was intended to go north, and through
Torres Strait, in order that further observations might be made there;
and Fowler was ordered to proceed "by the route Captain Flinders may
indicate." Had not Flinders been so eager to take advantage of this as of
every other opportunity to prosecute his researches--had he sailed by the
Bass Strait and Cape of Good Hope route--the misfortunes that were soon
to come upon him would have been averted. But he deliberately chose the
Torres Strait course, not only because he considered that a quick passage
could be made at that season of the year, but chiefly for the reason that
"it will furnish me with a second opportunity of assuring myself whether
that Strait can or cannot become a safe general passage for ships from
the Pacific into the Indian Ocean."

He was destined to see once again the settlement at Sydney, whence had
radiated the series of his valuable and unsparing researches; but on the
next and final occasion he was "caught in the clutch of circumstance."
His leave-taking in August, 1803, was essentially his farewell; and his
general observations on the country he had served, and which does not
forget the service, are, though brief, full of interest. He had seen the
little town grow from a condition of dependence to one of self-reliance,
few as were the years of his knowledge of it. Part of his early
employment had been to bring provisions to Sydney from abroad. In 1803,
he saw large herds spreading over the country. He saw forests giving way
before the axe, and spreading fields of grain and fruit ripening for the
harvest. The population was increasing, the morale was improving, "and
that energetic spirit of enterprise which characterises Britannia's
children seemed to be throwing out vigorous shoots in this new world." He
perceived the obstacles to progress. The East India Company's charter,
which prohibited trade between Sydney and India and the western coasts of
America, was one of them. Convict labour was another deterrent. But he
had vision, and found in the signs of development which he saw around him
phenomena "highly interesting to the contemplator of the rise of
nations."

Seven days out of Sydney, on August 17th, the Porpoise struck a reef and
was wrecked.

The three vessels were running under easy sail, the Porpoise leading on
what was believed to be a clear course. At half-past nine o'