As navigators like Furneaux, Flinders and Stokes sailed along the east coast, they described the landmarks we can more easily approach by road today.
Browse through the interactive landscape map below to read more about these features.
The main landmarks along the east coast of Flinders Island were named by Matthew Flinders over the course of his two visits here in 1798/99.
As he sailed up from Cape Barren on 10 Feb 1798 he noted that:
“The two pyramids on the large island now appeared to be three distinct ones, and not unlike each other in form, the middle one being rather the smallest. As we judged them sufficiently old to deserve the title, I called them the Patriarchs.”
While he made mention of another adjacent pyramid (above) standing distinct from the rest of the land at this time, it was only in January of the following year on 8 January that he actually named the Babel Islands:
“Mr. Bass went to the small, south-eastern islet; whence he brought a boat load of seals and gannets. Besides these, the islet is inhabited by geese, shags, penguins, gulls, and sooty petrels; each occupying its separate district, and using its own language. It was the confusion of noises amongst these various animals which induced me to give them name of Babel Isles.”
