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This chart was published in 1811 as part of Francois Peron's publication on Nicolas Baudin's voyage, Voyage de decouvertes aux terres australes ... pendant les annees 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 et 1804 ... The chart, drawn by Louis de Freycinet, commander of the Casuarina, depicts Baudin's discoveries in South Australian waters. This was the first published map to show the entire South Australian coastline. The chart includes the area of the 1802 encounter between Baudin and Matthew Flinders at Encounter Bay, South Australia, and also shows part of the western coast of Victoria. The longitudes used for the chart are on the meridian of Paris rather than the Greenwich meridian. This map is beautifully enhanced by vignettes of Australian flora and fauna drawn by Charles Alexandre Lesueur. There is no acknowledgement on the chart of Flinders' prior discoveries.

In 1800 the French government sent an expedition under Nicolas Baudin to complete the survey of the Australian coast, in particular the unknown southern coast. With their complex instructions and many other tasks unrelated to the exploration of this section of the coast, Baudin's expedition did not reach the unknown coast until early 1802 approaching from Tasmania and Bass Strait. On 9 April the French ships met Matthew Flinders at Encounter Bay. Flinders had been sent out by the British government to explore the unknown coast but had approached directly from the west and had discovered the peninsulas and gulfs and Kangaroo Island before meeting the French expedition. Misfortune overtook both explorers on their way home. Baudin died on Mauritius and the account of his expedition was written by Francois P ©ron and Louis de Freycinet who did not mention him by name once throughout the narrative. When their charts were published in 1811 they also usurped Flinders' prior discoveries on the southern coast with every feature receiving a French name. Flinders himself had been detained on Mauritius (England and France were again at war) and was unable to get his charts published until 1814.

Baudin, Nicolas, 1754-1803

Peron, Francois, 1775-1810

Freycinet, Louis de, 1779-1842

Flinders, Matthew, 1774-1814

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing. Taking it to the edge August 2004-

State Library of South Australia. Treasures of the State Library. Australia on the map 1606-2006