altered to that of Cape Murat, as a change for the better. However, as might have been expected, the new names soon fell away from the old localities, though wherever the coast of Swan River had not been previously explored it retains Captain Baudin's nomenclature to this day.
The bay on which the little town of Busselton is situated and its promontory are still called Géographe Bay and Cape Naturaliste, whilst Port Leschenault, near Bunbury, and Cape Péron, south of Perth, perpetuate the memory of two savans who accompanied the expedition. Cape Hamelin enshrines the name of the commander of the 'Naturaliste,' whose observation that the pearl-oyster flourishes on part of the West Australian coast in great quantities is now confirmed by the daily experience of many who make a livelihood in fishing for it.
Captain Hamelin also made an examination of the river of Black Swans, and was, perhaps, the mythical Frenchman of whom the settlers were fond of repeating a story that he had anchored at night, and had sailed away before daybreak in a panic caused by the croaking of the frogs in an adjacent swamp. The colonial John Bull was evidently at a loss for a laugh against his old enemy when he invented this canard, for otherwise he would surely have represented the French commander as having been cheered beyond measure by sounds which conveyed to himself and his crew an abundant promise of their favourite food.
M. Péron relates in his journal that he and two brother naturalists lost their way on one occasion when they landed for the purpose of searching for curiosities, and his description of what they endured from heat and thirst, and from the scorching sand, will be appreciated by all who are
