subsequently commanded an expedition which resulted in the discovery of South Australia on his way home, and suffered a lengthened captivity in the Mauritius. From his "Terra Australis" we learn that the Norfolk sailed up the North river of D'Entrecasteaux, the name of which was changed by Captain Hayes to the Derwent, and on the banks of which the young men observed the Natives. Doubtless the stirring events of the next few years so occupied the thoughts of the navigator, and employed his pen, that Captain Flinders could give but a brief account of the Derwenters in his work.
It is quite amusing to observe the blunders into which so shrewd an observer as he could fall. He was quite confounded with evidences of the Aborigines having been upon an island in the Straits, not far from the mainland, when, as he so prematurely conjectured, they had no boats, and were quite ignorant of the art of swimming. Had he read the tale of Labillardière or Peron, before the publication of his own work, he would have been better informed. He even ventures to repeat his conviction of the Blacks' antipathy to cold water. But up to that time he had not seen a single inhabitant. His only intercourse with the race was near the site of the future capital—Hobart Town. It is thus described by Mr. Flinders:—
"Our attention was suddenly called from contemplating the country by the sound of a human voice coming from the hills. There were three people, and as they would not comply with our signs to come down, we landed, and went up to them, taking up with us a swan. Two women ran off, but a man, who had two or three spears in his hand, stayed to receive us, and accepted the swan with rapture. He seemed entirely ignorant of muskets, nor did anything excite his attention or desire except the swan, and the red kerchiefs about our necks. He knew, however, that we came from the sloop, and where it was lying. A little knowledge of the Port Jackson and of the South Sea Island languages was of no use in making ourselves understood by this man; but the quickness with which he comprehended our signs spoke in favour of his intelligence."
The consequences of this interview were most disastrous to the unfortunate Tasmanians: Mr. Flinders' report of the advantages presented by the Derwent induced Captain Collins to found his colony upon the banks of that stream.
