In the ordinary course of things he would, there can hardly be a doubt, have followed his profession along normal lines.

His virile intellect and resourceful courage would probably have won him eminence, but it is not likely that he would have entered upon that career of exploration which shed so much lustre on his name, and in the end found him a grave beneath the immemorial snows of the frozen north.

It was by Flinders that young Franklin was diverted into the glorious path of discovery; from Flinders that he learnt the strictly scientific part of navigation.

"It is very reasonable for us to infer," writes one of Franklin's biographers* (* Admiral Markham, Life of Sir John Franklin page 43.) "that it was in all probability in exploring miles of practically unknown coastline, and in surveying hitherto undiscovered bays, reefs, and islands in the southern hemisphere, that John Franklin's mind became imbued with that ardent love of geographical research which formed such a marked and prominent feature in his future professional career.

Flinders was the example, and Australian exploration was the school, that created one of our greatest Arctic navigators and one of the most eminent geographers of his day." Another matter with which Flinders was occupied during his stay in England was the preparation of a small publication dealing with his recent researches.