made a variety of unfavourable
conjectures, and in due time, that is, when these conjectures had passed
through several hands, reports were in circulation of my having chased a
vessel on shore on the south side of the island--of soundings and surveys
of the coast found upon me--and of having quarrelled with the governor of
New South Wales, who had refused to certify on my passport the necessity
of quitting the Investigator and embarking in the Cumberland; and this
last seemed to have acquired credit. I will not pretend to say, that
general De Caen had any part in propagating these reports, for the
purpose of satisfying the curiosity of an inquisitive public and turning
its attention from the truth, though far from thinking it improbable; be
that as it may, the nature of my voyage, our shipwreck, the long passage
made in the little Cumberland, and our severe imprisonment, had excited a
considerable degree of interest; and I was told that this imprisonment
had been mentioned in an anonymous letter to the captain-general, as one
of the many tyrannical acts committed in the short time he had held the
government of the island.

One of the persons who asked permission to see me, was M. Augustin
Baudin, brother of the deceased commander of Le Geographe; he testified
the grateful sense his brother had always entertained of the generous
reception and great assistance received from governor King at Port
Jackson, and expressed his own regret at not being able to do any thing
for my release. On learning from him that a letter still existed, written
by captain Baudin to a member of the tribunal of appeal in Mauritius, I
succeeded in obtaining an extract, of which the following is an exact
translation.

On board Le Geographe, New Holland,
Port Jackson, the 3rd December, 1802.

After having traversed the sea in different directions for nine months
after leaving Timor, I came to Port Jackson to pass the winter. The
scurvy had then made such rapid progress, that I had no more than twelve
men fit for duty when I arrived in this colony. The succours which were
lavishly bestowed, the affectionate and obliging cares of governor King,
his unremitting conduct and proceedings beyond example, every thing in
fine, has concurred to make the effects of this disorder less fatal than
the first (a dysentery contracted at Timor), although the cause was not
less serious. I cannot pass in silence an act of humanity to which our
situation gave rise.