Thread: A history question

For an Alternate Theory who promotes the year 1421 as a rough guide to when people first discovered Australia, excluding our Aboriginals and northern Island neighbors?

Dirk Hatog Island is well worth a visit by the way. Especially if you like fishing

Originally Posted by harro

The French?
Louis 15th

The Captain
Louis de Saint-Alouarn

Correct! The West has many 17th & 18th century name places. Hamelin, Freycinet, D'Entrecasteaux.... have to wonder why that part of the country doesn't belong to the French. Bob

Originally Posted by bob10

Correct! The West has many 17th & 18th century name places. Hamelin, Freycinet, D'Entrecasteaux.... have to wonder why that part of the country doesn't belong to the French. Bob

Cape Leveque.

Lovely place.

Originally Posted by NavyDiver

For an Alternate Theory who promotes the year 1421 as a rough guide to when people first discovered Australia, excluding our Aboriginals and northern Island neighbors?

Dirk Hatog Island is well worth a visit by the way. Especially if you like fishing

Reading about Dirk Hartog island at the moment. Sounds well worth a visit. Gavin Menzies, ex R.N. submarine C.O. , wrote a book called 1421, the year China discovered the World. Not everyone agrees with his theory, but it is a good read. Bob

Originally Posted by bob10

Correct! The West has many 17th & 18th century name places. Hamelin, Freycinet, D'Entrecasteaux.... have to wonder why that part of the country doesn't belong to the French. Bob

Because they didn't have a Navy strong enough to maintain control of such a vast coastline/ area whilst also protecting more lucrative holdings elsewhere.


Also (supposition) the efficiency of the guillotine may have meant they had no need for mass transportation of convicts like the Brits did ????

Wasn't one of the Dutch ship's met with extremely hostile natives at the time. Not sure where, but I recall an entire landing party was slaughtered over in the West somewhere, but it could possibly be related to the French (?).

Originally Posted by Chops

Wasn't one of the Dutch ship's met with extremely hostile natives at the time. Not sure where, but I recall an entire landing party was slaughtered over in the West somewhere, but it could possibly be related to the French (?).

The one I was thinking of, the Batavia, they slaughtered each other.

Jeff

Originally Posted by VladTepes

Because they didn't have a Navy strong enough to maintain control of such a vast coastline/ area whilst also protecting more lucrative holdings elsewhere.


Also (supposition) the efficiency of the guillotine may have meant they had no need for mass transportation of convicts like the Brits did ????

One of the greatest, least well known stories of Australian exploration, is the 'race' between Matthew Flinders, and Nicolas Baudin ,Captain of Le Geographe, in an attempt to discover the fabled strait that supposedly separated the two halves of Australia. Nicolas Baudin was a most maligned Captain. Napoleon sent him on a voyage of discovery to the Pacific, he died before reaching France, and Napoleon is reported as having said" Baudin did well to die, on his return I would have had him hanged".


Rightly or wrongly , Baudin was held largely responsible for France's failure in the colonisation of the Pacific. The race between Flinders and Baudin, is documented in a great book by Klaus Toft, called " the Navigators " , the great race between Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin for the North South passage through Australia. It is a tale of exploration, super powers at war, and of the huge collection of plants and animals brought back by Baudin's expedition, which enabled Josephine Bonaparte to create her Australian garden, Malmaison, near Paris. A story of lies and betrayal, ending with the imprisonment of one captain and the death of the other. It was an ABC mini-series. And a great read. Bob