The country on the eastern side of the bay, is stony and, wherever we landed, is wretchedly barren. He described his initial impression of sailing eastwards from Doughboy Island in Frederick Henry Bay towards Norfolk Bay: įlinders charted the island and his passage through the region on the map Chart of Terra Australis – By M Flinders – 1798–1799 – South Coast, Sheet VI. They observed that the Aborigines paid this scenic spot many visits because of its garden-like qualities as compared with the stony-like terrain of the mainland which, although well-wooded and contained many kangaroos, seemed harsh and uninviting in comparison to their "Garden Island", a title it eventually acquired. But the unhappy and unforseen part of this seemingly natural course taken by the sloop was the denial of the sighting by the ship's personnel of an isthmus which would have been of great importance to them.īut "Smooth Island", as they so aptly named it, was indeed delectable and aforded them two delightful days in exploring its scenery and absorbing its charm and beauty. It was estimated that there must have been at least one hundred acres of good, yielding agricultural ground. Its surface was smooth and the texture of its soil contained a richness which is rarely found in uncultivated land. At close quarters, the island seemed every bit as beautiful as it did from afar. moved on to another island which, from a distance, appeared unusually attractive. He described his impression of the island: He stopped to take bearings and spent two nights on the island. On 15 December 1798 Matthew Flinders was the first Briton to set foot on Smooth Island. The island is found on d'Entrecasteaux's maps, though it is unnamed. In 1793 Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez (of the Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux expedition) was the first European to discover Smooth Island. There is no recorded evidence of any remaining Paredarerme people in the region after the 1830s. Prior to European settlement, the Forestier Peninsula to the east of Smooth Island is believed to have been occupied by the Pydairrerme band of the Oyster Bay (Paredarerme) tribe of Aboriginal Tasmanians. Matthew Flinders' 1798 map of Norfolk Bay shows his passage around Smooth Island.
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