lia. But it remains to be seen whether the name will be adopted by European geographers."[1]
After 1804 Flinders repeatedly used the word Australia in his correspondence. Before that date he had invariably written of "New Holland." But in a letter to Banks (December 31st, 1804) he referred to "my general chart of Australia;"[2] in March, 1806, he wrote of "the north-west coast of Australia;"[3] in July, 1806, writing to the King he underlined the word in the phrase "my discoveries in Australia;"[4] in July, 1807, he spoke of "the north coast of Australia;"[5] in February, 1809, of "the south coast of Australia;"[6]and the same phrase was employed in January, 1810.[7] It is therefore apparent that before his return to England he had determined to use the name systematically and to make its employment general as far as he could. We do not find it occurring in any other correspondence of the period.
When he reached England in 1810 and commenced to work upon his book, he wished to use the name Australia, and brought the subject forward at a meeting at Sir Joseph Banks' house. But Banks was not favourable, and Arrowsmith, the chart-publisher, "did not like the change" because his firm had always used the name New Holland in their charts. A Major Rennell was
- ↑ "Il reste a savoir si ce nom sera adopte par des geographes europeens." The paper was printed in the Annales des Voyages by Malte-Brun (Paris, 1810). Flinders kept a copy, and his manuscript is now in the Melbourne Public Library. It is an exquisite piece of calligraphy, perhaps the most beautifully written of all his manuscripts.
- ↑ Historical Records V., 531.
- ↑ Ibid VI., 50.
- ↑ Ibid VI., 107.
- ↑ Ibid VI., 274.
- ↑ Ibid VII., 52.
- ↑ Ibid VII., 275.
