A Voyage to Terra Australis: Undertaken for the Purpose of Completing the Discovery of that Vast Country, and Prosecuted in the Years 1801, 1802, and 1803, in His Majesty's Ship the Investigator was written by English mariner and explorer
Matthew Flinders. It describes his near circumnavigation of the Australian continent in the early years of the 19th century, and his imprisonment by the French on the island of Mauritius from 1804-1810.
Details of contents
Volume 1
Introduction
Prior Discoveries in Terra Australis
:Section I: North Coast
:Section II: western Coasts
:Section III: South Coast
:Section IV: East Coast with Van Diemen's land
Book I: Transactions from the beginning of the voyage to the departure from Port Jackson.
:Chapter I: January, 1801 - July, 1801
::Appointment to the Investigator
::Outfit of the ship
::Instructions for the execution of the voyage
:: Details of the officers and company of the Investigator, and men of science who embarked
:Chapter II: July, 1801 - November, 1801
::Spithead to Cape of Good Hope, via Madeira and Trinidad
:Chapter III: November 4, 1801 - January, 1802
::Towards New Holland, Cape Leeuwin, and the coast from thence to King George's Sound
:Chapter IV: January, 1802 - January 28, 1802
::King George's Sound to the Archipelago of the Recherche, and then to the end of Nuyts' Land
:Chapter V: January 28, 1802 - February 5, 1802
::Fowler's Bay and then examination of the other parts of Nuyts' Archipelago, and of the main coast
:Chapter VI: February 9, 1802 - March 6, 1802
::Anxious Bay to Port Lincoln
:Chapter VII: March 6, 1802 - March 23, 1802
::Port Lincoln to Kangaroo Island via Spencer Gulf
:Chapter VIII: March 24, 1802 - April 4, 1802
::Kangaroo Island to the South Coast
::Meeting, and communication with Le Geographe
:Chapter IX: April 9, 1802 - May 1, 1802
::Encounter Bay to Port Phillip
:Chapter X: May 3, 1802 - July, 1802
::Port Phillip to Port Jackson
:Chapter XI
::Of the winds and currents on the south coast of Terra Australis, and in Bass' Strait
Appendix: Account of the observations by which the Longitudes of places on the north coast of Terra Australis have been settled.
Volume 2
Book II: Transactions during the cirumnavigation of Terra Australis, from the time of leaving Port Jackson to the return to that port.
:Chapter I: July 22, 1802 - August 17, 1802
::Port Jackson to Keppel Bay
:Chapter II: August, 1802 - September 2, 1802
::Keppel Bay to Shoal-water Bay
:Chapter III: September 4, 1802 - September 26, 1802
::Shoal-water Bay to Broad Sound
:Chapter IV: September 28, 1802 - October 19, 1802
::The Percy Isles to Great Barrier Reef
:Chapter V: October 21, 1802 - November 3, 1802
::Great Barrier Reef to Torres Strait
:Chapter VI: November 3, 1802 - November 28, 1802
::Examination of the coast on the east side of the Gulph [sic] of Carpentaria
:Chapter VII: December 1, 1802 - December 25, 1802
::Sweers' Island to Cape Vanderlin
:Chapter VIII: December 27, 1802 - February 8, 1803
::Sir Edward Pellew's Group to Caledon Bay, via Groote Eylandt
:Chapter IX: February 10, 1803 - March 31, 1803
::Caledon Bay to Timor
:Chapter X: April 8, 1803 - July 4, 1803
::Timor to Port Jackson
::Preparations for return to England
:Chapter XI
::Of the winds, currents, and navigation along the east coast of Terra Australis, both without and within the tropic; also on the north coast.
::Directions for sailing from Port Jackson, through Torres' Strait, towards India or the Cape of Good Hope.
::Advantages of this passage over that round New Guinea.
Book III: Occurrences from the time of quitting Port Jackson in 1803, to arriving in England in 1810.
:Chapter I: July 20, 1803 - August 25, 1803
::Departure from Port Jackson in the Porpoise, accompanied by the Bridgewater and Cato
::Shipwreck of the Porpoise and Cato in the night
::Measures adopted for getting back to Port Jackson
:Chapter II: August 26, 1803 - October 10, 1803
::Return to Port Jackson
::Return to Wreck Reef with a ship and two schooners
:Chapter III: October 11, 1803 - December 9, 1803
::On the Cumberland from Wreck Reef to Mauritius
:Chapter IV: December 17, 1803 - March, 1804
::Arrival at Mauritius
::Seizure of the Cumberland, with the charts and journals of the Investigators voyage; and imprisonment of the commander and people
:Chapter V: April, 1804 - August, 1805
::In prison at Mauritius
:Chapter VI: September, 1805
::Parole given
:Chapter VII: September, 1805 - July, 1806
::At Mauritius
:Chapter VIII: September, 1806 - January, 1810
::At Mauritius
:Chapter IX: January, 1810 - October, 1810
::A prospect of liberty, which is officially confirmed
::Passage to the Cape of Good Hope, and from thence to England
Appendices
:Appendix I: Account of the observations by which the longitudes of places on the east and north coasts of Terra Australis have been settled
:Appendix II: On the errors of the compass arising from attractions within the ship, and others from the magnetism of land; with precautions for obviating their effects in marine surveying
:Appendix III:
::General remarks, geographical and systematical, on the botany of Terra Australis. By Robert Brown, F.R.S. ACAD. Reg. Scient. Berolin. Corresp., Naturalist to the voyage.
::A list of plants native both of Terra Australis and of Europe.
::Description of plants figured in the Atlas.
