BY CLIVE E. LORD. 123 



some of the crew who discovered it, owing to the number 

 of quail seen there. These were mistaken for partridges. 

 Two of the ship's officers, who had landed further to the 

 North on Bruny Island, saw several natives who fled at 

 their approach. The aborigines left behind baskets made 

 of rushes, some of which were filled with shell fish and 

 others with pieces of "flint"' and fragments of the bark 

 of a tree, as well as several Kangaroo skins and drinking 

 vessels made of the leaves of kelp. 



On the 23rd of May, the pinnace, which had been 

 sent out on an exploring expedition returned after having 

 surveyed the whole length of the Channel. Following 

 on this survey the larger vessels were navigated through 

 the strait, and on the 28th of May they sailed from t ho 

 Channel after having completed a geographical discovery 

 of great importance. The historian of the voyage states 

 that- — "The Beason was advanc d and the thermometer had 

 "not yet been lower than 70 degrees above 0. although we 

 "were near the 44th d I 8. latitude. Impetuous 



"winds reigned in the open Bea, while in the strait ( 27 i 

 "we enjoyed the greatest tranquillity. We did 'iot expect 

 "to experience so much security near the Bay of Tempests." 



128) 



After circumnavigating Australia the Recherche and 

 Eeperance arrived off the South West Coast for the second 

 time in January, L793. Both ships needed repairs, and tho 

 water supply had run very short, so it was resolved to 

 again steer for Van Diemen's Land. They sighted Tas- 

 mania on the 19th, and four days later came to anchor 

 in tho "Bay of Rocks" at the south end of Recherche 

 Bay, where they r tnained until the 15th of February. 

 Whil i here various repairs were carried out, and it is 

 1 <1 that the trials made the year before of the wood 

 of the Eucalyptus globulus (Blue Gum) induced the carpen- 

 ters to employ it in preference to the other species of tho 

 same genus. 



Many excursions were made ashore and several boat 

 expeditions *ent out. On their passage up the Channel the 

 ships were compelled to anchor on several occasions, and 

 on the 15th of February a party from the ships landed 

 on Bruny Island "on some low ground, whence it was 

 easy to reach Adventure Bay in a short time. On the 

 18th a start was again made, but several natives being seen 

 on the inland a number of the ships' company set out to 

 interview them. The aborigines gave the French to un- 

 derstand that they had seen ships before in Adventure 

 Bay. The French vessels were detained by contrary 

 winds, and it took them several days to work clear of 



(27) D'Entrec.isteaux Ch.inncl. 



(28) Storm Bay. 



J 



