of England for the merchant service. She had been purchased by the
Government for naval work, and, under the name of the Xenophon, had been
employed in convoying merchant vessels in the Channel. Her name was
changed to the Investigator, her bottom was re-coppered, the plating
being put on "two streaks higher than before," and she was equipped for a
three years' voyage. Flinders took command of her at Sheerness on January
25th, 1801. He was promoted to the rank of commander on the 16th of the
following month.

The renovated ship was good enough to look at, and she commended herself
to Flinders' eye as being the sort of vessel best fitted for the work in
contemplation. In form she "nearly resembled the description of vessel
recommended by Captain Cook as best calculated for voyages of discovery."
But, though comfortable, she was old and unsound. Patching and caulking
merely plugged up defects which the buffetings of rough seas soon
revealed. But she was the best ship the Admiralty was able to spare at
the time. Long before she had completed her outward voyage, however, the
senility of the Investigator had made itself uncomfortably evident.
Writing of the leaks experienced on the run down to the Cape, Flinders
said:--

"The leakiness of the ship increased with the continuance of the
southwest winds, and at the end of a week amounted to five inches of
water an hour. It seemed, however, that the leaks were above the water's
edge, for on tacking to the westward they were diminished to two inches.
This working of the oakum out of the seams indicated a degree of weakness
which, in a ship destined to encounter every hazard, could not be
contemplated without uneasiness. The very large ports, formerly cut in
the sides to receive thirty-two pound carronades, joined to what I have
been able to collect from the dockyard officers, had given me an
unfavourable opinion of her strength; and this was now but too much
confirmed. Should it be asked why representations were not made and a
stronger vessel procured, I answer that the exigencies of the navy were
such at that time, that I was given to understand no better ship could be
spared from the service; and my anxiety to complete the investigation of
the coasts of Terra Australis did not admit of refusing the one offered."

The history of maritime discovery is strewn with rotten ships. Certainly
if the great navigators, before venturing to face the unknown, had waited
to be provided wit