During Bass and Flinders voyage to establish a route to Van Diemen’s Land, they sought shelter in Twofold Bay during adverse winds and took the opportunity to survey the
area and named Twofold Bay.
Below is an excerpt from Matthew Flinders’ journal recording what was most likely the first contact between local aboriginals and Europeans.
“In order to make some profit of this foul wind, Mr. Bass landed early next morning to examine the country, whilst I went with Mr. Simpson to commence a survey of Two-fold Bay. In the way from Snug Cove, through the wood, to the long northern beach, where I proposed to measure a baseline, our attention was suddenly called by the screams of three women, who took up their children and ran off in great consternation. Soon afterward a man made his appearance. He was of middle age, unarmed, except with a whaddie, or wooden scimitar, and came up to us seemingly with careless confidence. We made much of him, and gave him some biscuit; and he in return presented us with a piece of gristly fat, probably of a whale. This I tasted; but watching an opportunity to spit it out when he should not be looking, I perceived him doing precisely the same thing with our biscuit, whose taste was probably no more agreeable to him than his whale was to me. Walking onward with us to the long beach, our new acquaintance picked up from the grass a long wooden spear, pointed with a bone; but this he hid a little further on, making signs that he should take it on his return. The commencement of our trigonometrical operations was seen by him with indifference, if not contempt; and he quitted us, apparently satisfied that, from people who could thus occupy themselves seriously, there was nothing to be apprehended.”