Use this map to explore the notes and illustrations Flinders' artists & scientists made on their voyage.

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  • Before May 1803
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Middle Island, dash to Port Jackson, Wreck Reef and rescue mission17 May 1803 - 7 October 1803

Dysentery ravages the crew. At Middle Island, Charles Douglas and William Hiller die from the fever. Upon departure Flinders is forced to cut loose the best bower anchor. They make a dash for the colony hospital. Another seven men expire, including Mr Good the gardener. The Investigator is incapable of further service, so Flinders and a reduced crew depart for the Torres Strait in the HMS Porpoise with the Bridgewater and Cato. The vessels run aground on Great Barrier Reef. Three men drown. The others haul up on a sandbank. Captain Flinders and a team of rowers mount a rescue expedition using the largest cutter. Safely reaching Port Jackson, Flinders procures from the Governor the ship Rolla and the Cumberland. Six weeks after leaving Wreck Reef, he triumphantly returns to rescue the 94 stranded survivors.

Flinders

  • Koalas—Phascolarctos cinerus
    Artist Ferdinand L Bauer
    Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London—902081_006, Plate 4

  • Mosquito fern—Azolla pinnata
    Artist Ferdinand L Bauer
    Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London—Australian Botanical Drawings 229, 6959

  • Wreck of the Porpoise, Flinders Expedition
    Artist William Westall
    National Library of Australia—135186095

  • Anchor, HMS Investigator
    History Trust of South Australia—State History Collection, HT 2003.0653