Letter received by Banks from Matthew Flinders, 16 May 1805(Series 65.34) - No. 0001

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Isle of France May 16 1805

In my last letter to you, Sir Joseph, dated Feb. 24. I mentioned the ill state of health of Mr Aken the master of the Investigator, my companion in misfortune. This seems to have induced the French general to accord his petition to be set at liberty, and in a few days he sails after having signed a parole as a prisoner of war. At first this appeared very extraordinary, it having been all along held out that we were not prisoners of war, but detained for reasons of state; and conceiving it might be caused from orders received from France to let us depart in this way, but which he would not do without our application, I also sent as humble a letter as I could bring myself to write, in the hope of obtaining liberty also; but no answer has been, or is now likely to be, returned to it; and I believe it was the representation of Mr Akens ill health that obtained his release.
I am therefore preparing to send home all the accounts in my possession relating to the Investigator by Mr Aken. Concerning the voyage, there will be sent all my original charts, in number sixteen, including the general chart, in which some late alterations have been made in the borrowed parts With these goes an explanatory memoir as far as it is written up, and the remainder will follow by the first safe conveyance. A copy of my log book written in this island will also be sent, which goes up to March 1803, when we quitted the north coast on account of the rottenness of the ship, and is nearly as far as I can go, my last journal being refused to me. This log book contains an account of all our transactions, remarks, boat excursion, our surveying, astronomical observations etc; in short, almost the whole that I have to relate concerning the voyage so far: general observations upon the winds, tides currents etc excepted. This book, Sir Joseph, with the charts and memoir, I am extremely anxious you should see, because you will then be able to form a just judgment of my exertion and success in prosecuting the investigation of New Holland. You will see by the course of our tracks, their distance from the shore, and the soundings, how far we have done all that could be done under the existing circumstances, and whether it is likely we have missed anything of importance in the parts examined