Casuarina (schooner)
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The Casuarina schooner was purchased by
Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 175416 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. He carried a few corms of Gros Michel banana ...
at
Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...
(Sydney) in 1802, during the
Baudin expedition to Australia The Baudin expedition of 1800 to 1803 was a French expedition to map the coast of New Holland (now Australia). Nicolas Baudin was selected as leader in October 1800. The expedition started with two ships, '' Géographe'', captained by Baudin, a ...
. The vessel took its name from the local
casuarina ''Casuarina'', also known as she-oak, Australian pine and native pine, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Casuarinaceae, and is native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and e ...
timber used in her construction. Purchase of Vessel KABLE & UNDERWOOD to Captain Nicolas BAUDIN: '' 'Sir,'' ''You having a wish for that Boat now in our possession, we here Send you our proposals for her, and mention the Articles We Expect for the purchase; / Viz. / Two Hundred and Thirty Gallons of Rum; Fifteen Bolts of Canvass; Sixteen Hundred-weight of Rope; One Ton of Bolt and Rod Iron; half a Barrel of Gunpowder; and Fifty Pounds Sterling in Cash - - -'' ''For which Articles we will Finish her and make her Compleat And in the Water, Except Oakum, Copper for Sheathing, Copper Nails, and Brown paper—'' ''All her Spars shall be Compleat. Fit for Rigging— Yours &etc.'' '' JAMES UNDERWOOD,
HENRY KABLE Henry Kable (1763–16 March 1846), born in Laxfield, Suffolk, England, was an Englishman transported to Australia in the First Fleet and became a prominent business man. Conviction and transport to Australia On 18 March 1783, Kable was conv ...
. July 7, 1802 GOVERNOR KING to BAUDIN: Sir, 11 July 1802.'' ''I had the honour of receiving yours of yesterday. As the vessel you request to purchase is the property of an individual, and as I have no reason to'' ''suppose His Majesty's Ministers will disapprove of my acceding to your wish, as it is for the advancement of science and navigation, I shall take it'' ''upon myself the responsibility of allowing you that permission, to which I am the more inclined from the peculiarity of your situation. I have, &c.'' ''
PHILIP GIDLEY KING Captain Philip Gidley King (23 April 1758 – 3 September 1808) was a Royal Navy officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1800 to 1806. When the First Fleet arrived in January 1788, King was detai ...
James UNDERWOOD to Captain BAUDIN: Commodore N. Baudin,'' ''September 1802.'' ''Bought of Messrs Henry Kable & J. Underwood'' ''A Vessel Upwards of 30 Tons Burthen'' ''Paid 15 Bolts of Canvass, 4 Cwt of Gunpowder, One Ton of Bolt & Square Iron, 150 Gallons of Spirits, 16 Cwt of Cordage, By Cash £50. Received the'' ''Contents for self & Etc. J. UNDERWOOD Crew (Ages upon entry in crew-roll or as recruited; town of origin; rank/position on board): FREYCINET, Louis Claude DeSaulces de, 21, Montélimar. Sub-Lieutenant. Commander of le Casuarina, under secondment from le Naturaliste BOULLANGER, Charles Pierre, 29, Paris. Geographic Engineer DEBRÉVEDENT, Léonard François, 22, Le Havre. Seaman 1st class. Disembarked at Kupang, 31 May 1803 RANSONNET, Jacques Joseph, 22, Liege. Midshipman 2nd class. Embarked at Kupang, 31 May 1803 BRUÉ, Adrien Hubert, 15, Paris. Novice 2nd class CHIRON, Louis, 17, Isle-of-France. Novice 2nd class CLAVEAU, Antoine. La Rochelle. 2nd Caulker DUFLOS, Adrien Victor, 24, Fécamp. Seaman 1st class HARDY, artly illegible: ''Benoitte?''Pierre, 21, Rouen. Seaman 4th class HORVILLE, Louis François Xavier, 19, Le Havre. Seaman 4th class LAMY, Jean-Baptiste Pascal, 27, Le Havre. Boatswain LELIEVRE, Pierre Louis Michel, 28, Caloire. Coxswain 3rd class tand in for LeThiers LENÔTRE, Jean Nicolas, 17, Le Havre. Novice Seaman 1st class LETHIERS, Jean-Baptiste Robert, 27, Rouen. Coxswain 2nd class MARTIN, Pierre Alexandre, 21, Rouen. Seaman 3rd class MARUQUE/MARUC, Guillaume. Age unknown. Seaman SOUDAY, Nicolas Auguste, 22, Le Havre. Assistant Sailmaker 4th class John DOE, nglish Sealer, ''LYONS?''Embarked on board ''Casuarina'' at King Island, 6 December 1802, as either Cook or Carpenter. Transferred to the ''Hunter'' (Capt Campbell), Kupang, 27 May 1803 Baudin left France with two ships, '' Géographe'' and '' Naturaliste''. The ''Naturaliste'' was sent home from King Island, Bass Strait, with the specimens collected to date. The ''Casuarina'', under
Louis de Freycinet Louis Claude de Saulces de Freycinet (7 August 1779 – 18 August 1841) was a French Navy officer. He circumnavigated the Earth, and in 1811 published the first map to show a full outline of the coastline of Australia. Biography He was born at M ...
, then accompanied ''Géographe'' on the expedition, and conducted the close inshore survey work not possible in the larger vessel. By July 1803 Baudin and many of the crew were ill; Baudin abandoned the survey to return home to France. In September 1803 Baudin died at
Isle de France (Mauritius) Isle de France (, ) was a French colony in the Indian Ocean from 1715 to 1810, comprising the island now known as Mauritius and its dependent territories. It was governed by the French East India Company and formed part of the French colonial e ...
, and the ''Casuarina'' was abandoned there. Disarming of Vessel Nicolas BAUDIN to the Administrators-General of the Isle-of-France and of Reunion. Citizen. /.'' ''the schooner of the Republic, the Casuarina, which I had constructed at Port Jackson for replacing the Naturalist; sent to France completely loaded with objects of natural history that we collected during our Sojourns on the coast of New Holland and elsewhere, having Separated from me in the crossing from the Port of King George to Willem River, I have given orders to Citizen Freycinet, the lieutenant de vaisseau in command, of reaching the Isle-de-France and handing over his ship in order to be employed in the service of the colony however you judge convenable. I think that this officer will be well pleased to keep command until the epoch of my return which is why I pray you of well wanting to permit him to do so. As I account of going as soon as possible into the Gulf of Carpentaria to complete in entirety the instructions of the government, I cannot furnish you the precise time of my arrival at Isle-de-France, however I think of being in that place in eight or ten months at the latest. /.'' ''I shall not enter in detail for the moment into what we have done and discovered, but I think that the government will be content and the public satisfied. /. Salut & respect N.B. Journal of Baudin: MARINE/5JJ/40A. Vol.4, Pgs 8 & 9. Archives nationales, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, Paris.


References

Maritime history of Australia History of New South Wales