HMS INVESTIGATOR and LE GEOGRAPHE
Date1988
Object number00005475
NamePainting
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 915 x 1220 x 25 mm
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from the Grundy Organisation
DescriptionThis painting depicts the chance meeting between Matthew Flinders' ship HMS INVESTIGATOR and Nicholas Baudin's ship LE GEOGRAPHE in Encounter Bay, South Australia on 8 April 1802. A long boat from the INVESTIGATOR rows towards the French ship. At the time no artists on board produced any depictions of the surprise encounter. This representation was created by the respected maritime artist Ian Hansen some 186 years after the event.HistoryThe chance meeting between Matthew Flinders' INVESTIGATOR and Nicholas Baudin's LE GEOGRAPHE occurred on 8 April 1802. Both commanders were surprised to see each other in the uncharted territory of South Australia, soon to be named Encounter Bay in honour of their meeting. After the French made signals of friendship Flinders boarded LE GEOGRAPHE to exchange information with Baudin, an effort that was hindered by language barriers. Both the British and French captains were charting the coast of New Holland (Australia) and attempting to complete survey information missing on cartographic maps of the period. Their ships coincided once more in Port Jackson, just two months after this initial meeting in South Australia.
Flinders described sighting the French ship at Encounter Bay in his published account of the expedition, 'A Voyage to Terra Australis':
'Before two in the afternoon we stretched eastward again; and at four, a white rock was reported from aloft to be seen ahead. On approaching nearer, it proved to be a ship standing toward us; and we cleared for action, in case of being attacked. The stranger was a heavy-looking ship ... she showed a French ensign ... At half past five, the land being then five miles distant to the north-eastward, I hove to; and learned it was the French national ship LE GEOGRAPHE, under the command of Captain Nicolas Baudin ... a boat was hoisted out, and I went on board the French ship ... 'SignificanceThis painting illustrates the historic encounter between the French and English expeditions of Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders in 1802 at Encounter Bay, South Australia, named in honour of their meeting. It represents the role of both British and French navigators in the exploration and charting of Australia's vast coastline.
