will easily imagine that, were the whole universe at my command,
it could offer no compensation; and even the tenderest sympathy of the
truest friend avails but little in a case of such severe trial and
affliction. You will not be surprised when I say that sorrow continually
circles round my heart and tears are my daily companion. 'Tis true the
company of my little girl soothes and cheers many an hour that would
otherwise pass most wearily away, but life has lost its chief charm, and
the world appears a dreary wilderness to me.

An unpleasant feature of the subject, which cannot be overlooked, relates
to the Admiralty's ungenerous treatment of Flinders and his widow. When
he returned from Mauritius, the First Lord was Mr. C.P. Yorke after whom
Flinders named Yorke's Peninsula, who was inclined to recognise that the
special circumstances of the case demanded special treatment. He at once
promoted Flinders to the rank of Post-Captain. But in consequence of his
long detention Flinders had lost the opportunity for earlier promotion.
It was admitted that if he had returned to England in 1804 he would at
once have been rewarded for his services by promotion to post-captain's
rank. Indeed, Lord Spencer had definitely promised him a step in rank. It
was therefore urged in his behalf that, as he had not been a prisoner of
war in the ordinary sense, his commission should be ante-dated to 1804.
Yorke appeared to think the claim reasonable. The Admiralty conceded that
he had not been a prisoner of war, and he was not brought before a
court-martial, although the Cumberland, left to rot in Port Louis, had
been lost to the service. The First Lord directed that the commission
should be ante-dated to the time of the release, but it was not
considered that more could be done without an Order in Council. This
could not be obtained at the moment, because King George III was mentally
incapacitated. When the Regency was established (1811) an application did
not meet with a sympathetic response. "The hinge upon which my case
depends," said Flinders in a letter, "is whether my having suffered so
long and unjustly in the Isle of France is a sufficient reason that I
should now suffer in England the loss of six years' rank." The response
of the Admiralty officials was that the case was peculiar; there was "no
precedent" for ante-dating a promotion.

Flinders asked that he might be put on full pay, while he was writing the
Voyage, which would mak