The Cyprus mutiny took place on 14 August 1829 in Recherche Bay off the British penal settlement of Van Diemen's Land. Convicts seized the brig Cyprus and sailed her to Canton, China, where they scuttled her and claimed to be castaways from another vessel. On the way, Cyprus visited Japan during the height of the period of severe Japanese restrictions on the entry of foreigners, the first ship from Australia to do so.
Japanese watercolour from 1830 depicting a British-flagged ship believed to be the brig Cyprus
Recherche Bay, Tasmania, where the convicts took control of the brig
A watercolour by samurai Makita Hamaguchi showing one of the mutineers with a dog from the ship
Truganini sporting the hair style unique to and characteristic of Aboriginal Tasmanian women
Recherche Bay is an oceanic embayment, part of which is listed on the National Heritage Register, located on the extreme south-eastern corner of Tasmania, Australia. It was a landing place of the d’Entrecasteaux expedition to find missing explorer La Pérouse. It is named in honour of the Recherche, one of the expedition's ships. The Nuenonne name for the bay is Leillateah.
A beach on Recherche Bay near Cockle Creek
