Page:Handbook of Western Australia.djvu/13

 The first land seen by Cook was Point Hicks, now in the Colony of Victoria; his successor, Vancouver, entered and named King George's Sound, in 1791; and the French expedition under Baudin and Freycinet, in the Geographe and Naturaliste, examined the Western coasts and sent boats up the Swan River. Flinders and Bass extended the discoveries of Cook to the West in 1798, and were followed by Murray, in 1802; and in the same year Flinders, now commanding the Investigator, sailing Eastward from King George's Sound, made and named Fowler's Bay, at the present Western limit of South Australia,-just anticipating the visit of the French expedition under Baudin, who, nevertheless, claimed the discovery and took possession, giving the country the name of Napoleon. When, however, after his captivity of seven years in the Mauritius, Flinders published an account of his discoveries, his rightful priority was conceded.

In 1801, the French corvettes Geographe and Naturaliste, with the galliotte Casuarina, which had been attached to the expedition at Port Jackson, made Cape Leeuwin in the month of June, and the names of the three vessels and their officers still maintain, on the Western coast, many reminiscences of their visit. The Vasse River was so named after a Dutch sailor, who accompanied the expedition, and was drowned off its mouth. The coasts of Endraght land, De Witts' land, and Sharks Bay were examined and named; returning southward, the Swan River was entered by boats, June 17, and explored as far as the islands above Perth Water, which were named after M. Hierrisen, Enseigne de Vaisseau. M. de Peron, the historian of the expedition, gave a very particular account of the river, which, however, was not confirmed in its details