The circumnavigation of Australia

Matthew Flinders · 1801 CE – 1803 CE · Earth

The circumnavigation of Australia — Matthew Flinders · 1801 CE – 1803 CE · Earth — Recorded expedition route · schematic map

Chart the whole coast of New Holland and determine whether a strait divides the continent.

Historical context

In 1801 nobody knew whether New Holland was one landmass or two, and a French expedition under Baudin was surveying the same coasts with the same question. Flinders sailed with a passport from both governments, a rotting ship and orders to settle the shape of a continent.

The voyage, step by step

  1. The Investigator sails

    July 1801

    In July 1801 Flinders leaves Spithead with a converted collier, a scientific staff and a passport from the French Republic.

  2. Cape Leeuwin

    December 1801

    In December 1801 the Investigator makes the south-western corner of the continent and begins the survey eastward.

  3. Kangaroo Island

    March 1802

    In March 1802, after weeks on salt rations, the crew find an island whose kangaroos have never seen a human being.

  4. Encounter Bay

    8 April 1802

    On 8 April 1802 two survey ships meet on an unknown coast: the Investigator and Nicolas Baudin’s Géographe.

  5. Bungaree joins the ship

    July 1802

    At Port Jackson in July 1802 Bungaree, a Kuringgai man who had sailed with Flinders before, joins the Investigator for the northern voyage.

  6. Through the Torres Strait

    October 1802

    In late October 1802 the Investigator crosses the strait in three days by a new route among the reefs.

  7. A rotten ship in the Gulf

    1803 CE

    Charting the Gulf of Carpentaria through the wet season, the carpenters report that the Investigator cannot survive another gale.

  8. The circuit closed

    June 1803

    In June 1803 the Investigator limps into Port Jackson, having gone right round the continent for the first time.

Outcome

Completed the first circumnavigation and continuous chart of Australia before the Investigator rotted beneath him.

Matthew Flinders

British navigator who was the first to circumnavigate and chart Australia, and who gave the continent its name.

Read on Wikipedia

Sources

Continue exploring