The Sun.
London, England, 1807-10-02 00:00:00

LIEUT. PM:PERS.

in the early part .f).l the year titot 1n E%pfAitian
of Discovery was fitted (r.lt by the British .Govern-
inent, consisting ofa ship of 420 totis burthen, pro-
sided with gin, aqronotner, a botanist, a botanical
draugbtsman,and a portrait ,and larkkc.pe. painter;
to which were added
.a botanic gardener, and a
.pradical miner.
The coni iand. of this vessel was given to Lieut.
11141-ru ENV I.tnurss,,a young officer distinguished
for" his nautical abilities, the correaness of his charts,
and the time and pains be had previously taken to
improve our knowledge of the extensive coasts of
New Holland. The ship, which had before been
called the Xenophon, was named the Investigator,
and Lieut. .Putin.qts, previously to her sailing in
July of the same year, was.promoted to the rank of
Master and Commander.

Nothing authentic has yet appeared as to the ob-
jea of this expedition : the following brief state-
ment of such circumstances as occurred, cannot fail
therefore to prove acceptable to the public.
Nothing particular happened till their arrival at
Madeira, the longitude of which, as set down in the
" requisite tables," was about a quarter of a degree
too far west • indeed, from what was afterwards 'ob-
served on their arrival in Symons Bay, an, error of
the same kind had also crept into the account of the
longitude of Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope. In
December. the Invadigator made the west coast of
New Holland about Lewin's Land. From this time'
till May 1802 they were employed coasting the
,south-west shore, examining the survey
,of King
George's Sound given-by Vancouver, a»d in deli-
neating accurately the whole of that extensive range,
of coast,from Lewin's Land, to Western Port ; of,
which little had been knoWn but t.roin accounts pub-•
lished by the batch in the early part of the seven:.
teenth century.
In exploring this traa of almost unknownJand,
off the part of the coast near Western Port,',Captain ;
FLINDERS fell in •with two French Frigates just be-
ginning the examination of the coast which he had.
then completed it appears
_these vessels had left
France twelve months before the Investigator quitted
England, and.that their particular objea -was to ex-
plore the unknown south-west coast of New Hol-
land, or Australasia.

In July 1802, in cOmpany with thelady `Nelson,
a small vessel intended to assist the Investigator
Capt. Fwingits left Port Jackson, and proceeded in
his examination of the east and north-east coasts ; •
and, after anchoring one night under Murray's
Island, making a passage in thirty-six hours through
. Torre's Strait, arrived in the Galph of Carpentaria,
situated at the north end of New Holland, some
time in:November, or December of the same year.;
.He continued examining this Galph, and the coast
north-west of it, . until March 180 a, When, from
the infirm state of the 'vessel, and Sickliness of the
crew, hu was obliged to leave a part of this coast un-
examined; and Strike off for the Island of Timor,
where, having, refreshed his people,' he returned, by'
the south, to Port Jackson thus having, in about`
eighteen; months., circumnavigated New
.Holland,
and surveyed the Coasts of an Island: little Ulterior in
extent to all Europe.
In August -t tioa he sailed froM Port Jackson, In' I
Ow Porpoise, ir)te.oding tp convey himself and his
eries to. England, but was, untbrtunately*, on
the night of the 17th of that month, Wrecked on
an unknown coral reef vin miles freni that Settle.
went, winch, however, he afterwards reached in an
open boat from thence he conducted a vessel to,
the spot, saw all 'his officers and people safely
barked in a ship for Chip, and still persevering in'
his former resolution pt conveying his' tiktiVeriCS.
to England with all eXpedition; he again Made sail
in a little vessel 'of nineteen tons, which he bad pro-
cured frdtu' the Governor of Port Jackson.

in this vessel, which was called the Cumberland,
he crosst,:d the great South 'Sea, and, in December
18(13 arrived at the Mauritius, or isle of France ;
where; contrary to a passport granted him by the'
French and their Allies, and, contrary to the law of
nations, honour, and humanity, ho was detained,
together with his books, his papers, and the most
'valuable and extensive collection of charts which
have appeared since the days of the immortal COOK.
Mit, since the period of the French'Revolution,
sinceihe time when anarchy and confusion have
trampled upon morality and virtue, could we wonder
at any thing, It would be, that the, British Govern-
ment has not yet 'Made any regular' laim of the sub-
jest titey employed On such au' enterprize, and the
fruits of whose labours they ought to possess.. It is
by a Gentleman , who resided in the isle 'of
l'rance, that' General DE CAIN desires to receive
orders, by which, to tcrnlinate
mew, and gives as a reason, fi.4' the continuanceof
thii.detention, " that' no official- demand from the
British Government had been made for his deliver-
ance." . "