"Whilst the French ships lay here I was on the most friendly
footing with Mons'r Baudin and all his officers. _Entre nous_, he
showed me and left with me his journals, in which were contained
all his orders from the first idea of his voyage taking place, and
also the whole of the drawings made on the voyage. His object was,
by his orders, the collection of objects of natural history from
this country at large and the geography of Van Diemen's Land. The
south and south-west coast, as well as the north-west and north
coast, were his particular objects. It does not appear by his
orders that he was at all instructed to touch here, which I do not
think he intended if not obliged by distress. With all this
openness on his part, I could only have general ideas on the
nature of their visit to Van Diemen's Land. I communicated it to
Mons'r Baudin, who informed me that he knew of no idea that the
French had of settling on any part or side of this continent. They
had not been gone more than a few hours when a general report was
circulated that it had been the conversation of the French
officers that Mons'r Baudin had orders to fix on a place for a
settlement at Van Diemen's Land, and that the French, on receiving
his accounts, were to make an establishment at 'Baie du Nord,'
which, you will observe, in D'Entrecasteaux's charts is what we
call 'Storm Bay Passage,' and the French 'Canal D'Entrecasteaux.'
It seemed one of the French officers had given Colonel Paterson a
chart, and described the intended spot."

So King sent for the colonel, and then,

"without losing an instant, a colonial vessel was immediately
equipped and provided with as many scientific people as I could