Flinders revisited

With good reason, it has been claimed that Matthew Flinders does not occupy theposition he deserves among the pantheon of British maritime explorers. Detained by theFrench while making a dash to England to secure a seaworthy vessel, Flinders was cruellythwarted in his efforts to complete a thorough hydrographic study of the Australian coast-line. While Flinders vegetated on Mauritius, the exploratory work with which he had beencommissioned was gradually taken on by others. When he finally made his way home, hishealth heavily compromised, Flinders was already a largely forgotten man; in Britain to avery large extent that is how things have remained.