AustLit

Nineteenth-Century Travel Writing

François Péron (1775-1810) was a French naturalist, explorer and writer who was a scientist on Nicolas Baudin’s expedition to Australia (1800-1803). The work begins with a section of the Report made to the French Government by the Imperial Institute, which described the achievements of the expedition while critiquing the followers of Linneaus and emphasising the predominantly scientific nature of the text. The narrative is somewhat complicated by the inclusion of material from both Peron and Sub-lieutenant Louie de Freycinet, and the courses of their separate ships the Naturalist and the Geographer. The voyage proceeded from France via Isle of France and Timor to North Western Australia, before reaching Tasmania and later Sydney. Peron and Freycinet commented on the Aboriginal populations of Western Australia, Tasmania, and New South Wales, as well as the varieties of flora and fauna. They also gave their opinions of the success of penal transportation, and noted their surprise at the extent and organisation of colonial society in Port Jackson and Sydney. Regarding scientific examinations, they provided information on the climate, weather, rivers, and landscape, and critiqued the "apologists of man in a savage state" for their romantic ideas of noble savagery, reporting the outcomes of experiments testing the strength of the "natives" of mainland Australia, Timor, and Van Diemen's Land.