Alas, for the Pelicans!: Flinders, Baudin and Beyond

In 1802 a Frenchman and an Englishman famously encountered each other off the southern shores of ‘Terra Australis’. The voyages of discovery of Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders opened the way for the increasingly rapid invasion and colonisation of the Australian continent. This collection of essays, images and poems examines some of the cultural contexts of their voyages and the ramifications of their discoveries over the ensuing years. Flinders himself poignantly noted that the arrival of Europeans in the waters surrounding Kangaroo Island also heralded the passing of what he romantically termed the golden age of the pelicans.

‘There are four small islands in the eastern branch [of Nepean Bay]; one of them is moderately high and woody, the others are grassy and lower; and upon two of these we found many young pelicans unable to fly … Alas, for the pelicans! Their golden age is past; but it has much exceeded in duration that of man.’ - Matthew Flinders, A Voyage to Terra Australis