| Marion Du Fresne left the Isle of France (now Mauritius) in October 1771 to return a native taken by Louis Bougainville from Otaheite. He was also sent to explore the South Pacific. |
The French navigator was on board the Mascarin and along with Marquis de Castries, sighted Van Diemens Land in March 1772 and stayed 6 days at Frederick Hendricks Bay.
Having no knowledge of COOKS discoveries, Du Fresne went on to discover New Zealand, or so he thought!
He befriended the natives whilst stopping to repair his ship and to replenish the crews supplies. Whilst there he made many trips onto land for hunting, fishing and further exploration.
Unwittingly, Du Fresne made the fatal mistake of fishing in a "Tapu" (Maori sacred site) which upset several hundred of the natives causing them to attack & kill Du Fresne and the 26 other members of the fishing party. Once discovered, his 2nd in charge Lieutenant Crozet gave the orders to retalliate and over 250 maori's were gunned down. They named the cove Assasination cove before leaving and heading back to France.
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