here he refitted his vessel, and then sailed for the Isle of France, where it was absolutely necessary he should touch, in order that she might undergo a repair, as she was very leaky.  Though he possessed passports from the French government, he was detained at the Isle of France, under the absurd pretence that he was a spy.  All his books, charts, and papers were seized; and he himself was kept a prisoner in a miserable room for nearly four months.  He was afterwards removed to the garden prison, a situation not so uncomfortable and prejudicial to his health as that from which he was taken; at length, in consequence of an application from the Royal Society to the National Institute, the French government sent an order for his liberation; but it was not received, or, at least, it was not acted upon till the year 1810; for it was not till that year that Captain Flinders was permitted to leave the Isle of France:  he arrived in England on the 24th of October of that year.

There are few voyages from which more important accessions to geographical knowledge have been derived, than from this voyage of Captain Flinders, especially when we reflect on the great probability that New Holland will soon rank high in population and wealth.  Before his voyage, it was doubtful, whether New Holland was not divided into two great islands, by a strait passing between Bass’ Straits and the Gulf of Carpentaria.  Captain Flinders has put an end to all doubts on this point:  he examined the coast in the closest and most accurate manner:  he found indeed two great openings; these he sailed up to their termination; and, consequently, as there were no other openings, and these were mere inlets, New Holland can no longer be supposed to be divided into two great islands, but must be regarded as forming one very large one; or, rather, from its immense size, a species of continent.  He made another important and singular discovery, viz. that there are either no rivers of any magnitude in New Holland, or that if there be such, they do not find their way to the sea coast.  This country seems also very deficient in good and safe ports:  in his survey of the south coast, he found only one.  He completed the survey of the whole eastern coast; of Bass’s Straits and Van Dieman’s Land, observing very carefully every thing relative to the rocks, shoals, tides, winds, currents, &c.  Coral reefs, which are so common in most parts of the Pacific, and which, owing their origin entirely to worms of the minutest size, gradually become extensive islands, stretch along the eastern coast of New Holland.  These were examined with great care by Captain Flinders:  he found that they had nearly blocked up the passage through Torres’ Straits, so that it required great care and caution to pass it with safety.  But one of the most important results of this voyage respects the survey of the Gulf of Carpentaria; previously the extent and bearings of this gulf were not known; but from Captain Flinders’s