hi order to place the various explorers 
in their relative position to contem¬ 
porary history, it might Ibe as well to 
recall the fact that in January of 1788 
the First Fleet passed along the South 
('oast of Tasmania (Jtass Straits being 
not then known) on the way to form 
the first sett ement in Australia. From 
now onward there were vessels passing 
to and fro from the settlement at Port 
Jackson, and probably some of them, ot 
whom we have no records, anchored for 
a time in Adventure Bay. Later in the 
same year (1788) Adventure Bay was 
visited by Captain Wm. Bligh in the 
Bounty’, during the course of his tamous 
voyage which resulted in the mutiny at 
Tahiti and BliglTs voyage of 3000 miles 
in an open boat through uncharted seas. 
Again, in February, 1792, Bligh anchor¬ 
ed in (lie bay. This time he had two 
vessels, the Providence and Assistant, 
with which ships he eventually carried 
out the initial plan of the Bounty voy¬ 
age, that of transporting the bread fruit 
tree to the West 'Indies. Bligh saw the 
waters of the Channel, but concluded 
that it was Tasman's Frederick Henry 
Bay. Had the weather proved finer he 
would have investigated the locality, and 
in this case would have anticipated 
D'Entrecasteaux's discoveries by sonic 
months. In 1789 Captain Cox visited 
Tasmania (or, as it wa s then known, 
the south coast of New Ro land) in 
the brig Mercury, a vessel of 152 tons. 
It was bis intention to anchor in Ad¬ 
venture Bay, blit lie worked too far to 
the eastward, and eventually anchored 
at Maria Island. Admiral Bruay D'En¬ 
trecasteaux, in command of the French 
sli ps Recherche and Esperance, discover¬ 
ed the channel between Brnny Island an 
the mainland in April, 1792, and spenv 
a month exploring and charting the 
area. Sailing from Storm Bay, the 
ships spent eight months in circumna¬ 
vigating Australia, and when oil the 
south-west coast the ships became short 
of water, and the French navigator 
again sailed for Recherche Bay to re¬ 
plenish his supplies. Another month 
was spent in the channel, and on Feb¬ 
ruary 24 the French vessels anchored 
in Adventure Bay. where they remain¬ 
ed until March 4. Neither Hayes (1793 1 
nor Flinders and Bass (1708-99) touched 
at Adventure Bay, but the French ex¬ 
plorer Baudin anchored there for a few 
days during May, 1S02. With the ar¬ 
rival at Risdon of the Lady Ne'son on 
September 8, 1803, and the Albion on 
September 11, the first settlement of 
I asmania t ook place, and when Collins 
landed at Sullivan Cove on February 20, 
1804, and founded Hobart, Adventure 
Bay wa, often visited by different ships. 
Permanent settlement did not take place 
in this locality for many years after 
the foundation of the colony, but there 
were "bay whaling” stations in the bay, 
and the remains of these can still lie 
seen, particularly along the track to¬ 
wards Penguin Island. The nomencla¬ 
ture of many of the natural features 
of the district recall the visits of the 
early navigators, but some of these 
have got strangely mixed. For instance, 
Furneaux referred to the cape at the 
south end of Adventure Bay as Fluted 
Cape. D’Entrecasteaux accepted this 
designation, and referred to it as Cap 
Cannele (Le., ‘‘Cape Fluted”). Changes 
have appeared in map s from time to 
time, and the name Fluted Cape now 
appears on the charts as the point at 
the south end of Adventure Bay, while 
a mile or so further south another pro¬ 
jecting point has been designated “Cape 
Connella”—-obviously an adaptation 
,r «m the French Cap Cannele, which was 
identical with Fluted Cape. 
It w’as whilst watching the Easter 
moon rise over the rugged background 
of the cape that we heard the steamer’s 
whistle on the Thursday evening. This 
event recalled us from thoughts of the 
past to those of the present, and as the 
flare of our signal fires showed up the 
white are of the sandy beach, due pre¬ 
parations were made to receive the main 
party of campers. AT were soon ashore, 
and after a welcome supper, duly in¬ 
stalled in their holiday canvas homes 
beneath banksia and oiiealypt, 
On Friday morning the camp was early 
astir, and many paid court to Neptune 
amid the breakers which rolled in upon 
(lie shore. After breakfast, plans were 
made for the day, and different parties 
set. out to visit places of interest. We 
were fortunate in having with us Dr. 
Horne, of Melbourne, and Dr. Pulleine, of 
Adelaide, and their expeditions among 
the old aboriginal kitchen middens and 
chipping grounds were followed with in- 
9 
