The British government sent Captain Arthur Phillip with the First Fleet to start a penal colony in Australia in 1788. He was told start a small settlement on Norfolk Island as soon as possible to stop other European countries from claiming the island. The French ships, "L'Astrolabe" and "La Boussole", commanded by La Pérouse, visited the island in early 1778. They could not land because the waves were too big and rough. La Pérouse thought the island was only suitable for "angels and eagles".