Matthew Flinders, maritime explorer of Australia / Kenneth Morgan.

A detailed biography of Matthew Flinders (1774-1814). Flinders was the first naval commander to complete a detailed circumnavigation of Australia while in command of the Investigator, a voyage supported and promoted by Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society. Earlier in his career, Flinders developed his navigational skills as a midshipman on Captain William Bligh's voyage on the Providence and while in command of the Norfolk, he and George Bass circumnavigated Tasmania (Van Dieman's Land) for the first time. This text sets his achievements in the wider context of Cook's discoveries and Pacific exploration and focuses on the nautical, geographic and other scientific work undertaken during the voyage by Flinders and the 'scientific gentlemen', who accompanied him. Flinders discovered and recorded many offshore islands around the Australian coast, found a navigable route through the Torres Strait and the Great Barrier Reef and undertook the first thorough survey of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Returning to England, he was held hostage at the Ile de France (Mauritius) for six years delaying the publication of A Voyage to Terra Australis and his atlas of maps until 1810. Flinders is credited with popularising the use of the term Australia and is commemorated throughout the country. The book has detailed notes and bibliography.