Beginning about December 1831, a Noongar named Yagan had been leading a number of attacks on settlers in retaliation for the killing of one of his friends.
He discovered the names of many local geographic features and acquired knowledge about the Noongars' culture and traditions.
This information was published in a series of editions of the Perth Gazette in March 1833, under the title A Glance at the Manners and Language of Aboriginal Inhabitants of Western Australia.
Lyon remained on Carnac Island from 8 October until 15 November 1832, when Yagan and a companion stole an unattended dinghy and escaped to the mainland.
On reporting to the governor, Lyon asserted that if he had had three more weeks with Yagan, he might have been able to negotiate a treaty between the natives and the settlers.
In retrospect, it also revealed his misunderstanding of Aboriginal culture, whose tribes acknowledged no leaders with whom a binding treaty might be negotiated.
[2] In March 1834, Lyon left Western Australia for Mauritius, where he became professor of Latin and Greek at the College of Port Louis.
There, he wrote and published a book entitled Australia: An Appeal to the World on Behalf of the Younger Branch of the Family of Shem under the name Robert Menli Lyon.