Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni d’Entrecasteaux led a French expedition searching for the missing La Pérouse. Recherche and Espérance spent extended periods in southern Tasmania in 1792 and 1793, producing detailed surveys and scientific observations.

Recherche Bay as a base

The sheltered bay provided water, timber and a place for repairs. Survey boats traced the channel now named for d’Entrecasteaux, while hydrographer Beautemps-Beaupré applied systematic methods to mapping the coast.

Historic illustration of the d’Entrecasteaux voyage
Recherche and Espérance surveyed southern waters in 1792 and 1793.Jeffdelonge, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Science and the shore

Naturalist Jacques Labillardière collected plants and recorded landscapes. Expedition members established a garden with European crops. These activities occurred on Aboriginal Country whose people already held detailed knowledge of the environment.

D’Entrecasteaux Channel between mainland Tasmania and Bruny Island
Survey boats traced the channel from a base at Recherche Bay.KevMorse, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Charts, names and limits

French names remain across the southern map, including Recherche Bay, Huon River and Bruny Island. Voyage records are valuable, but they should be read alongside Aboriginal history rather than treated as the first knowledge of these places.

Historic map of southern Tasmanian bays and channels
Later maps incorporated observations from successive European surveys.jkokavec, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Continue with Recherche Bay, John Hayes and Nicolas Baudin.