2. Collecting in New Holland

A key goal of Nicolas Baudin’s (1800 -1804) French maritime expedition was to collect flora and fauna specifically for Madame Bonaparte’s unique gardens at Château de Malmaison. Interest in these exotic species was fuelled by Enlightenment ideals, when new ideas about science, culture and the natural world were evolving. The plants, animals, birds, maps and drawings brought back to France were to enrich, amaze and educate the French people, and contribute to learning within all of Europe.

In the 19th century, expeditions of discovery were accompanied by naturalists who made collections that were returned to Europe to be described by various experts. On board Nicolas Baudin’s expedition to New Holland were 22 scientists, including five gardeners, two mineralogists, three botanists, six zoologists, two geographers and two artists.

The two ships of the Baudin expedition, the Géographe and Naturaliste, were fitted out specifically for the expedition, and packed with equipment. Space was added to accommodate the scientists, live animals and plants by adding an additional deck, as well as reducing the number of guns on the gun deck. A large library was also included, containing botanical and zoological texts, journals of mariners, maps and charts.

The ships were filled with cases of scientific equipment to assist with their study and collection of specimens. For example, ‘Zoology Case no. 12’ of the Géographe contained:
        
‘12 insect boxes lined with cork; 5 braces of pistols; 3lbs of thread in bundles; 3lbs of thread in skeins; 2 insect nets; roughly 10,000 insect pins; 400 sewing needles; 100 insect needles; 1 scalpel box; 3 pairs of dentist’s tweezers; 6 pairs of flat pincers; 3 pairs cutting pliers; 1 pair of insect tweezers; 6 paintbrushes; 4 game-bags; 2 elbow shaped powder flasks; 1 ream of brown paper; 5 squires of white paper; 3 small hammers’.

Keeping animals alive on the journey proved challenging.  When some of the live kangaroos were found dead in their pens on deck, Baudin evicted two of the crew from their cabins to house the surviving kangaroos. Both the kangaroos and the emus on board became seasick and stopped eating, so were force-fed wine and rice mash to keep them alive. Water rations were reduced for the human crew so that no animal went thirsty.

Mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, marine creatures, plants, seeds and more were collected, recorded, and drawn. Many birds and mammals were skinned, preserved and stuffed on board the ships.  Other specimens collected were preserved in alcohol, and expedition naturalists sacrificed their meagre weekly ration of alcohol to preserve certain zoological specimens.

Baudin’s expedition secured the most valuable natural history collection of its time, and it was the first time that live animals were transported from Australia to France. Seventy-two survived the journey, and were the first major collection of exotic animals documented to arrive on French shores. These included emus, dingoes, long-necked tortoises, wombats, parakeets, kangaroos, and black swans from Australia, as well as lions, panthers, ostriches, porcupines, deer, monkeys, mongooses, tortoises, a zebra, a hyena and a gnu from the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa, and Île de France (Mauritius).