I INTRODUCTION 21 



that Van Diemen's Land was an island, cut off 

 from the mainland by wide straits, and in the 

 following year Governor Hunter, of New South 

 Wales, sent Flinders and Bass in a twenty- ton sloop 

 to settle the matter finally and report on the 

 possibility of using Van Diemen's Land for settle- 

 ment. They circumnavigated the island, and 

 stayed for a long time exploring the Derwent 

 River ; and it was Bass's rather misplaced en- 

 thusiasm for Risdon on the north bank of the 

 Derwent, a few miles inland of where Hobart now 

 stands, which subsequently led to this spot being 

 chosen for the site of the first settlement. The 

 names of Flinders and Bass, especially the former, 

 are now household words in Australia ; and the un- 

 happy fate that put a term to their career throws 

 their great achievements into a strong light. 

 Flinders, second only to Captain Cook in naviga- 

 tion and the exploration of the Australian coasts, 

 was seized by the French and detained in Mauritius 

 for nearly seven years as a close prisoner ; the fate 

 of Bass is uncertain, but he disappeared while still 

 a young man, and it is supposed that he and his 

 crew were seized in Valparaiso and sent to the 

 quicksilver mines. 



The last bid for Van Diemen's Land was made 

 by the French in the First Consulate, when the 

 Geographe and Naturaliste were sent out under 

 Baudin, with Peron as naturalist, to follow up 

 D'Entrecasteaux's discoveries at the Derwent. 

 Peron' s account of the natives is exceedingly 



