slightly more to southward there is another small island.
This large island to which we have been unwilling to give a name, leaving this matter to the Honourable Lord Governor-General's pleasure, may be seen at 7 or 8 miles' distance out at sea in fine weather. I surmise that brackish or fresh water might be obtainable there, and likewise good firewood, but not without great trouble.
In his 1681 chart the English captain John Daniel marked an island as Maiden's Isle, possibly referring to Rottnest. The name did not survive, however.
The island was given the name "Rotte nest" (meaning "rat nest" in the Dutch language) by Dutch captain Willem de Vlamingh who spent six days exploring the island from 29 December 1696, mistaking the quokkas for giant rats. De Vlamingh led a fleet of three ships, De Geelvink, De Nijptang and Weseltje and anchored on the northern side of the island, near The Basin. He described the island as a "...a paradise on earth".
Other explorers who stopped at the island included members of the French expedition of Nicholas Baudin in the Naturaliste and the Geographe in 1801 (when he planted a flag and left a bottle with a letter) and 1803, Phillip Parker King in 1822, and Captain James Stirling in 1827. Early visitors commonly reported that much of the island was heavily wooded, which is not the case today.
In 1831, shortly after the establishment of the British Swan River Colony at nearby Fremantle, William Clarke and Robert Thomson received land grants for town lots and pasture land on the island. Thomson moved to the island with his wife and seven children in 1837. He developed pasture land for hay production west of Herschel Lake as well as salt harvesting from the several salt lakes which was then exported to the mainland settlement. Salt was an important commodity before the advent of refrigeration.
Aboriginal prison
Six Aboriginal prisoners were sent to Rottnest Island in August 1838
