rst met with Cape
Northumberland. He saw and named Cape Nelson, Portland Bay, Cape
Schanck, and other features of the coast. When he arrived in Sydney he
called the attention of Governor King to a small inlet which he had not
been able to examine, although it seemed to him of importance. In 1802
the Governor sent back the _Lady Nelson_, now under the command of
Lieutenant Murray, to explore this inlet. Lieutenant Murray entered
it, and found that a narrow passage led to a broad sheet of water,
thoroughly landlocked, though of very considerable extent. He reported
favourably of the beauty and fertility of its shores, and desired to
name it Port King, in honour of the Governor; but Governor King
requested that this tribute should be paid to the memory of his old
commander, the first Australian Governor, and thus the bay received its
present name, Port Phillip. Only sixty days later Flinders also entered
the bay; but when he arrived, some time afterwards, in Sydney, he was
surprised to find he was not the first discoverer.

It was at this time that the Governor in Sydney was afraid of the
intrusion of the French upon Australian soil, and when he heard how
favourable the appearance of this port was for settlement he resolved to
have it more carefully explored. Accordingly he sent a small schooner,
the _Cumberland_, under the charge of Mr. Robbins, to make the
examination. The vessel carried Charles Grimes, the Surveyor-General of
New South Wales, and his assistant, Meehan; also a surgeon named
M'Callum, and a liberated convict named Flemming, who was to report on
the agricultural capabilities of the district.

[Illustration: THE FIRST HOUSE BUILT IN VICTORIA.]

On arriving at Port Phillip they commenced a systematic survey, Robbins
sounding the bay, and making a careful chart, while the other four were
every morning landed on the shore to examine the country. They walked
ten or fifteen miles each day, and in the evening were again taken on
board the schooner. Thus they walked from the site of Sorrento round by
Brighton till they reached the river Yarra, which they described as a
large fresh-water stream, but without naming it. Then they went round
the bay as far as Geelong. They carried a good chart and several long
reports to the Governor at Sydney, who would probably have sent a party
down to settle by the Yarra, had it not been that an expedition had
already set sail from England for the purpose of occupying the shores