ABSTRACT
His exclusion from an executive role began in 1768 when, through no fault of his own, he was deprived of the command of the Endeavour, and the great achievements of his successor so obscured his own vital contribution that even the memory of his name has been condemned to a shadowy oblivion. This setback was immediately followed by the East India Company's decision to entrust the management of the Balambangan settlement to other hands. Under a good leader Balambangan might have attained the fame of a Singapore. As it was, under Herbert's woeful leadership the settlement came to a disaster, which has diverted the attention of subsequent generations from the seminal importance of that experiment.
