118 EARLY HISTORY OF BRUNY ISLAND, 



"hair and beards smeared with a red ointment, and some 

 "had their faces painted with the same composition." 



The morning of the twenty-ninth of January fell flat 

 calm and prevented Cook from sailing as he had intended. 

 Several parties, therefore, went ashore, and ah out twenty 

 natives soon appeared. One of the aborigines is described 

 as being "not more distinguishable by the hump upon 

 "his back, than by the drollery of his gestures and the 

 "seeming humour of his speeches." 



Cook presented each with a string of beads and a 

 medal. A second party of natives, including some wo- 

 men, also visited another party from the ship who were 

 getting wood elsewhere. 



Cook gives details of his beai'in°*s, and corrects a few 

 minor errors of Furneaux, but fails to notice the great 

 mistake concerning the position of Maria Island and 

 Frederick Henry Bay which Furneaux had made. 



The ships eventually sailed from Adventure Bav on 

 the thirtieth of January, and reached New Zealand ten 

 days later. 



On January 7th, 1788, ("») the First Fleet on the voyage 

 to form the first settlement in New Holland sighted the 

 Mewstone, atypical landmark for the early navigators. The 

 westerly breeze failed them, and they were compelled to 

 lay well off shore in order to weather the outlying rocks 

 off the Coast of Bruny. From this time ( 18b ) onward, par- 

 ticularly until the discovery of Bass Straits, there were 

 vessels passing to and from the new settlement. Certain 

 of these, and of the whaling ships which soon followed, 

 probably anchored off the shores of Bruny. 



In August, 1788, Captain Bligh anchored in Adven- 

 ture Bay in the Bounty. He had previously visited the 

 locality as Cook's sailing master on the Resolution in 1111 , 

 and it was only natural that he should continue to per- 

 petuate the error of Furneaux as regards the position 

 of Frederick Henry Bay. The voyage of the Bounty, cul- 

 minating with the mutiny at Tahiti and Bligh's famous 

 voyage in a small open boat, has become historic. We will 

 therefore deal more fully with Bligh's observations when 



(18;i ) The First Fleet consisted ox the Transports A lexander 453 tons, 

 Scarborough 418, Charlotte. 346, f.ndji Penrhyn "38. Prince of Wales '."-'A. Friendship 

 828 The sto«-eships Fixhbourn 378, Borrowdafr 272, Golden Grove 331. H.M.S. 

 Sirius, 20 guns, 520 tons, and H.M. Brig Supply. 



(18b) At this time practically nothing was known of Australia beyond 

 a. few Coastal features. The following extract from Governor Phillip's 

 Commission is of interest : — 



"We .... appoint you to be Governor of our territory cnlled New 

 "South Wales, extending from the northern cape or extremity of the 

 "coast called Cape York, in the latitude ot 1 ' ° 37 ' south, to the 

 "southern extremity of the said territory of New South Wales or South 

 "Cape, in the latitude of 43° 39' south, and all the country inward 

 "to the westward as far as the one hundred nnrl thirty-fifth degree of 

 "longitude." (See Historical Kecords of Australia, Series I., Vol. 1.) 



