had taken prisoner. Phillip once again wanted to learn more about the Aboriginal people, their life and language, so ordered First Lieutenant Bradley of HMS Sirius to capture ‘a Man or two’, which he did so on 25th November 1789, by luring Bennelong and another man, Colebee, from a gathering on the beach with a gift of two large fish. Bradley later wrote “They eagerly took the fish, they were dancing together when the Signal was given by me, and the two poor devils were seiz’d & handed into the boat in an instant…They were bound with ropes and taken by boat to Sydney Cove…It was by far the most unpleasant service I was ever ordered to Execute”. Bradley’s account indicates a level of respect for the Aboriginal people from the beginning of the Australian colony, contrary to the inhumane treatment that they were so often subjected to, and shows him questioning his superior’s actions; actions which caused cultural tension. Bennelong quickly learned simple English and adopted European manners. He became a valuable informant, willingly providing information about Eora clans and their language and customs. It was Bennelong who told Governor Phillip the names and locations of the Sydney clans and the Aboriginal name of Parramatta, which Phillip had at first called Rose Hill, but later renamed. As with every well-known historical figure, Bennelong’s story is surrounded by misunderstanding, and myths have emerged that he ‘collaborated’ with the British, was ‘taken to London to meet the king’ and was ‘despised by his own people’, all of which have been disproved. As there was little discussion of Aboriginal history in Australia until relatively recently, many revisionist interpretations emerged of Bennelong’s story, a good deal of which misrepresent the truth in order to present the British governance in a negative light, although it was doubtless much at fault. Bennelong was certainly no collaborator, and had been active in resisting the British colonists before agreeing to peacefully join the Sydney settlement in October 1790. Bennelong’s relationship with the British improved significantly over the years (despite Phillip being badly injured with a spear when he went to visit Bennelong, having escaped British imprisonment), and he attempted to find a place for Governor Phillip and his officers in the complicated Aboriginal kinship system. He even, as Watkin Tench wrote, “as a mark of affection and respect to the governor, he conferred on him [his own name] and sometimes called him Been-èn-a (father), adopting to himself the name of the governor. This interchange of names, we found is a constant symbol of friendship among them” (13). In 1872, Bennelong became the third Pacific Islander to be taken to Europe (after Ahu-toru, who Bougainville took to Paris in 1768, and Omai, who visited London in 1774, having met Cook on his second voyage). He would sail 10,000 miles to England and back to his homeland, wear fashionable Georgian clothing, possibly meet King George at the theatre and indulge in tourism, visiting St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London and the Houses of Parliament at