Editing History of Victoria (section)

==Early European exploration==
Coming from New Zealand in 1770, Lieutenant [[James Cook]] in HM Bark [[HM Bark Endeavour|''Endeavour'']] sighted land at [[Point Hicks]], about 70&nbsp;km west of [[Gabo Island]], before turning east and north to follow the coast of Australia.

Ships sailing from Great Britain to Sydney crossed the Indian Ocean and [[Southern Ocean]], sailing around [[Van Diemen's Land]] before turning north to their destination. Several captains viewed the expanse of water between Van Diemen's Land and the east coast of [[New South Wales]] and wondered whether it was a large bay or a [[strait]]. Survivors of [[Sydney Cove (1796 ship)|''Sydney Cove'']], wrecked in the [[Furneaux Group]] of islands, also thought it might be a strait.

To clear up the question, Governor [[John Hunter (Royal Navy officer)|John Hunter]] sent [[George Bass]] to explore thoroughly the coast in a whaleboat. After reaching [[Wilsons Promontory]] and [[Western Port]] in January 1798 bad weather and lack of provisions forced him to return to Sydney. Bass returned with [[Matthew Flinders]] in December 1798 in ''[[Norfolk (sloop)|Norfolk]]'' and sailed through the strait, proving its existence.

In December 1800, Lieutenant [[James Grant (navigator)|James Grant]] in {{HMS|Lady Nelson|1798|6}}, on way from Cape Town to Sydney, sailed through Bass Strait from west to east. Governor [[Philip Gidley King|King]], disappointed at the vagueness of Grant's chart, sent him back to survey the strait more thoroughly. Bad weather prevented him from proceeding beyond Western Port, where he stayed for five weeks, planting wheat, Indian corn, peas, rice, coffee and potatoes on [[Churchill Island]] off [[Phillip Island]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63281289|title=Facts About Victoria. |newspaper=[[Gippsland Times]] |location=Vic. |date=24 July 1941 |access-date=24 January 2012 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

In 1801 [[Norfolk (1801 brig)|''Harbinger'']], under [[John Black (privateer)|John Black]], was the second vessel to sail through [[Bass Strait]] en route to [[Port Jackson]]. She reached the coast near [[Cape Otway]] on 1 January 1801, then veered sharply south-west to the north-western tip of Governor King's Island (now [[King Island (Tasmania)|King Island]]), which Black named after the Governor of New South Wales, [[Philip Gidley King]]. She then sailed easterly towards [[Wilsons Promontory]]. Proceeding around the tip of the promontory, Black discovered the [[Hogan Group]], which he named after the ship's owner [[Michael Hogan (shipowner)|Michael Hogan]]. ''Harbinger'' arrived in Port Jackson on 12 January 1801.<ref name=Eccleston>
{{Citation
 | last = Eccleston
 | first = Gregory C.
 | title = The Early Charting of Victoria's Coastline
 | publisher = Australian and New Zealand Map Society
 | year = 2012
 | url = http://www.anzmaps.org/publications/ }}
</ref>

In January 1802 Lieutenant [[John Murray (Australian explorer)|John Murray]] in ''[[HMS Lady Nelson (1798)|Lady Nelson]]'' visited Western Port and entered [[Port Phillip]] on 14 February. He named [[Arthurs Seat, Victoria|Arthur's Seat]], explored [[Corio Bay]] and formally took possession of the bay (which he named Port King) for Britain. The bay was then known as Narm-Narm by the people of the [[Kulin nation|Kulin]] Nation, and Murray called the bay Port King after the [[Governor of New South Wales]], [[Philip Gidley King]]. On 4 September 1805, King formally renamed it Port Phillip, in honour of his predecessor [[Arthur Phillip]]. Murray chose to base the ''Lady Nelson'' off what is now known as Sorrento Beach.

During this voyage, Murray records in his journal his first encounter with local [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal]] peoples in the eastern Melbourne region. This initially friendly encounter started with trading, eating, and gifting, and was suddenly interrupted by a violent ambush by another group of Aboriginal people. The crew in response shot at the Aboriginal people, and continued to shoot at them as they fled, inflicting likely mortal wounds on two of them. Murray then ordered the ship [[carronade]]s to be fired at the fleeing Aboriginal people.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Ida |title=The Logbooks of the Lady Nelson |date=1915 |publisher=Grafton & Co. |location=London |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7509/7509-h/7509-h.htm#LN-11 |page=134}}</ref>
<blockquote>"They were all clothed in opossum skins and in each basket a certain quantity of gum was found. ... if we may judge from the number of their fires and other marks this part of the country is not thin of inhabitants. Their spears are of various kinds and all of them more dangerous than any I have yet seen."</blockquote>Three weeks later the French explorer [[Nicolas Baudin]] sailed through the strait from east to west and was the first to properly survey the coast to the west. In April 1802, a French expedition ship [[French corvette Naturaliste|''Le Naturaliste'']] under [[Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin|Jacques Hamelin]] explored the area around [[French Island (Victoria)|French Island]], as part of the [[Baudin expedition to Australia]]. It named the island ''Ile des Français'', since Anglicised as French Island.

On 26 April 1802, Flinders, unaware of Murray's visit, entered Port Phillip in {{HMS|Investigator|1798|2}}, climbed Arthur's Seat, rowed to [[Mornington, Victoria|Mornington]] and across to the [[Bellarine Peninsula]] and climbed the [[You Yangs]].

In January 1803 Acting-Lieutenant [[Charles Robbins (Royal Navy officer)|Charles Robbins]] in the schooner {{HMS|Cumberland|1803|6}} sailed right around Port Phillip. With him were acting surveyor-general [[Charles Grimes (surveyor)|Charles Grimes]], Mr [[James Meehan (surveyor)|James Meehan]] and gardener James Fleming.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5938204|title=[?]RIMES' CHART. |newspaper=The Argus|location=Melbourne |date=21 September 1877 |access-date=27 April 2012 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> At the head of the bay they found a river and followed it upstream where it soon divided. They followed the western branch and named it the Saltwater River (the present [[Maribyrnong River|Maribyrnong]]) to what is now [[Braybrook, Victoria|Braybrook]], and then the eastern fresh-water branch (the [[Yarra River|Yarra]]) to [[Dights Falls]]. They had a friendly meeting with local Aboriginal people and returned to their ship via Corio Bay. They concluded that the best site for a settlement would be on the freshwater at the northern head of the bay, but were unenthusiastic about the soil and its agricultural potential.