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Abstract

In 1792, a French scientific expedition under the command of Captain Joseph
D'Entrecasteaux dropped anchor in an uncharted bay on the south western
coast of Australia to carry out repairs and replenish supplies of fresh water.
So impressed was D'Entrecasteaux with the skill of the seventeen year old
midshipman at the masthead and the manoeuvrability of his ship in negotiating
the outlying reefs he named the adjacent cape LeGrande after the sailor
and the port Esperance after his ship. He was far
less impressed with the hinterland. Indeed his account and those of other
French explorers of the time describing the infertility of the soils, the lack of
fresh water and in particular the prevalence of saline and brackish water is
credited with deterring the French from any idea of settlement.

Item Type:	Book Section
Authors/Creators:	Lefroy, EC and Hobbs, RJ and Pate, JS and O'Connor, MH
Publisher:	Kluwer Academic Publishers
Additional Information:	© 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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