Yemmerrawanne died while in Britain after a serious chest infection, and Bennelong's health deteriorated. He returned to Sydney in February 1795 on HMS "Reliance", the ship that took surgeon George Bass to the colony for the first time. Bass nursed him back to health and in exchange Bennelong taught him a sufficient amount of Dharuk to enable the former to communicate with the indigenous Eora on arriving in Sydney. Of the 2 years and 10 months he spent abroad, 18 months had been passed either at sea or on board ships in a dock.