rees 39 minutes
south latitude. In longitude their possessions had been fixed as reaching
from 105 degrees west of Greenwich to the middle of the Pacific Ocean,
including all the archipelagos with which it is strewn.* (* Note 17: This
is a literal translation of Peron's statement, which is obviously
confused and wrong. 105 degrees west longitude is east of Easter Island,
as well as being an "exact boundary" in the Pacific, which, Peron goes on
to say, did not exist. The probability is that he gives here a muddled
reproduction of the boundaries actually fixed by Phillip's
commission--"westward as far as the 135th degree of east
longitude...including all the islands adjacent in the Pacific Ocean."
[Mr. Jose's note.])

Note especially in this respect that in the formal deed of annexation no
exact boundary was fixed on the Pacific Ocean side. This omission seems
to have been the result of astute policy; the English Government thus
prepared itself an excuse for claiming, at the right time and place, all
the islands which in the future may be, or actually are, occupied by the
Spaniards--who thus find themselves England's next-door neighbours.

So general a project of encroachment alarmed, as it must, all the nations
of Europe. The sacrifices made by England to maintain this colony
redoubled their suspicions. The Spanish expedition of Admiral Malaspina*
had not fulfilled the expectations of its Government. (* Note 18: Two
Spanish ships, commanded by Don Alexandro Malaspina, visited Sydney in
April, 1793. They had left Cadiz on an exploring and scientific
expedition in July, 1789.) Europe was still ignorant of the nature of the
English settlement; its object was unknown; its rapid growth was not even
suspected.

Always vigilant in regard to whatever may humiliate the eternal rival of
our nation, the First Consul, soon after the revolution of the 18th
Brumaire,* (* Note 19: It was on the 18th Brumaire (November 9th, 1799)
that Bonaparte overthrew the Directory by a coup-d'etat, and became First
Consul of the French Republic.) decided upon our expedition.* (* Note 20:
Peron's statement is quite wrong. The matter of despatching an expedition
to Australia had been considered and proposed to the Government by the
professors of the Museum two years before the coup-d'etat of Brumaire:
before therefore Bonaparte had anything to do with the Government. Their
letter to the Minister, making this proposal, is dated 12th Thermidor,
year