sentences:  French explorers had been encountered in the Pacific and in order to secure any strategic locations within the southern station of the Pacific Ocean which might have been of use to France, King dispatched an expedition to settle Van Diemen's Land.John Bowen, a 23-year-old lieutenant, had arrived in Sydney aboard HMS "Glatton", on 11 March 1803.King considered him the right man for the task, and towards the end of August 1803, Bowen left for Van Diemen's Land aboard the whaler .