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In 1840, Edward John Eyre led an expedition from Adelaide to try to reach the centre of Australia. The project was abandoned at Mt. Hopeless in the Flinders Ranges, and the party moved down to Fowler's Bay. Deciding to attempt to find an overland route to Albany, Eyre, accompanied by Baxter and three aboriginal people, set out from Fowler's Bay in February, 1841. Shortage of water proved a serious handicap from the beginning and Baxter was murdered by two of the aboriginal people, who had plundered the camp and deserted. Eyre, with Wylie, the remaining aboriginal, struggled on and reached a bay in the south-east of Western Australia. There he was rescued by a French whaling ship which, under the command of Captain Rossiter, chanced to be there. Eyre named the bay Rossiter Bay. After two week's rest, Eyre and Wylie set out again and reached Albany early in July.
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