In September 1797, Lieutenant John Shortland became the first European settler to explore the area. His discovery of the area was largely accidental; as he had been sent in search of a number of convicts who had seized a locally-built vessel called Cumberland as she was sailing from Sydney Cove. While returning, Lt. Shortland entered what he later described as "a very fine river", which he named after New South Wales' Governor John Hunter. He returned with reports of the deep-water port and the area's abundant coal. Over the next two years, coal mined from the area was the New South Wales colony's first export.