A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay

by

Watkin Tench

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

1. From the Embarkation of the Convicts, to the
   Departure of the Ships from England.
2. From the Departure, to the Arrival of the Fleet
   at Teneriffe.
3. From the Fleet’s Arrival at Teneriffe, to
   its Departure for Rio de Janeiro, in the Brazils.
4. The Passage from Teneriffe to Rio de Janeiro, in
   the Brazils.
5. From the Arrival of the Fleet at Rio de Janeiro,
   till its Departure for the Cape of Good Hope; with some Remarks
   on the Brazils.
6. The Passage from the Brazils to the Cape of Good
   Hope; with an Account of the Transactions of the Fleet
   there.
7. The Passage from the Cape of Good Hope to Botany
   Bay.
8. From the Fleet’s Arrival at Botany Bay to
   the Evacuation of it; and taking Possession of Port Jackson.
   Interviews with the Natives; and an Account of the Country about
   Botany Bay.
9. The taking Possession of Port Jackson, with the
   Disembarkation of the Marines and Convicts.
10. The reading of the Commissions, and taking
    Possession of the Settlement, in form. With an Account of the
    Courts of Law, and Mode of administering Public Justice in this
    Country.
11. A Description of the Natives of New South
    Wales, and our Transactions with them.
12. The Departure of the French from Botany Bay;
    and the Return of the ‘Supply’ from Norfolk Island;
    with a Discovery made by Lieutenant Ball on his Passage to
    it.
13. Transactions at Port Jackson in the Months of
    April and May.
14. From the Beginning of June, to the Departure of
    the Ships for Europe.
15. The Face of the Country; its Productions,
    Climate, &c.
16. The Progress made in the Settlement; and the
    Situation of Affairs at the Time of the Ship, which conveys this
    Account, sailing for England.
17. Some Thoughts on the Advantages which may arise
    to the Mother Country from forming the Colony.
18. A list of the Civil and Military
    Establishments in New South Wales

POSTSCRIPT

INTRODUCTION

In offering this little tract to the public, it is equally the
writer’s wish to conduce to their amusement and information.

The expedition on which he is engaged has excited much
curiosity, and given birth to many speculations, respecting the
consequences to arise from it. While men continue to think
freely, they will judge variously. Some have been sanguine enough
to foresee the most beneficial effects to the Parent State, from
the Colony we are endeavouring to establish; and some have not
been wanting to pronounce the scheme big with folly, impolicy,
and ruin. Which of these predictions will be completed, I leave
to the decision of the public. I cannot, however, dismiss the
subject without expressing a hope, that the candid and liberal of
each opinion, induced by the humane and benevolent intention in
which it originated, will unite in waiting the result of a fair
trial to an experiment, no less new in its design, than difficult
in its execution.

As this publication enters the world with the name of the
author, candour will, he trusts, induce its readers to believe,
that no consideration could weigh with him in an endeavour to
mislead them. Facts are related simply as they happened, and when
opinions are hazarded, they are such as, he hopes, patient
inquiry, and deliberate decision, will be found to have
authorised. For the most part he has spoken from actual
observation; and in those places where the relations of others
have been unavoidably adopted. He has been careful to search for
the truth, and repress that spirit of exaggeration which is
almost ever the effect of novelty on ignorance.

The nautical part of the work is comprized in as few pages as
possible. By the professional part of my readers this will be
deemed judicious; and the rest will not, I believe, be
dissatisfied at its brevity. I beg leave, however, to say of the
astronomical calculations, that they may be depended on with the
greatest degree of security, as they were communicated by an
officer, who was furnished with instruments, and commissioned by
the Board of Longitude, to make observations during the voyage,
and in the southern hemisphere.

An unpractised writer is generally anxious to bespeak public
attention, and to solicit public indulgence. Except on
professional subjects, military men are, perhaps, too fearful of
critical censure. For the present narrative no other apology is
attempted, than the intentions of its author, who has endeavoured
not only to satisfy present curiosity, but to point out to future
adventurers, the favourable, as well as adverse circumstances
which will attend their settling here. The candid, it is hoped,
will overlook the inaccuracies of this imperfect sketch, drawn
amidst the complicated duties of the service in which the Author
is engaged, and make due allowance for the want of opportunity of
gaining more extensive information.

Watkin Tench, Capt. of the Marines.

Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, New South Wales, 10 July,
1788.

CHAPTER I

From the Embarkation of the Convicts, to the Departure of the
Ships from England.

The marines and convicts having been previously embarked in
the River, at Portsmouth, and Plymouth, the whole fleet destined
for the expedition rendezvoused at the Mother Bank, on the 16th
of March 1787, and remained there until the 13th of May
following. In this period, excepting a slight appearance of
contagion in one of the transports, the ships were universally
healthy, and the prisoners in high spirits. Few complaints or
lamentations were to be heard among them, and an ardent wish for
the hour of departure seemed generally to prevail.

As the reputation, equally with the safety of the officers and
soldiers appointed to guard the convicts, consisted in
maintaining due subordination, an opportunity was taken,
immediately on their being embarked, to convince them, in the
most pointed terms, that any attempt on their side, either to
contest the command, or to force their escape, should be punished
with instant death; orders to this effect were given to the
centinels in their presence; happily, however, for all parties,
there occurred not any instance in which there was occasion to
have recourse to so desperate a measure; the behavior of the
convicts being in general humble, submissive, and regular: indeed
I should feel myself wanting in justice to those unfortunate men,
were I not to bear this public testimony of the sobriety and
decency of their conduct.

Unpleasant as a state of inactivity and delay for many weeks
appeared to us, it was not without its advantages; for by means
of it we were enabled to establish necessary regulations among
the convicts, and to adopt such a system of defence, as left us
little to Apprehend for our own security, in case a spirit of
madness and desperation had hurried them on to attempt our
destruction.

Among many other troublesome parts of duty which the service
we were engaged on required, the inspection of all letters
brought to, or sent from the ships, was not one of the least
tiresome and disagreeable. The number and contents of those in
the vessel I was embarked in, frequently surprised me very much;
they varied according to the dispositions of the writers: but
their constant language was, an apprehension of the
impracticability of returning home, the dread of a sickly
passage, and the fearful prospect of a distant and barbarous
country. But this apparent despondency proceeded in few instances
from sentiment. With too many it was, doubtless, an artifice to
awaken compassion, and call forth relief; the correspondence
invariably ending in a petition for money and tobacco. Perhaps a
want of the latter, which is considered a great luxury by its
admirers among the lower classes of life, might be the more
severely felt, from their being debarred in all cases whatever,
sickness excepted, the use of spirituous liquors.

It may be thought proper for me to mention, that during our
stay at the Mother Bank, the soldiers and convicts were
indiscriminately served with fresh beef. The former, in addition,
had the usual quantity of beer allowed in the navy, and were at
what is called full allowance of all species of provisions; the
latter, at two thirds only.

CHAPTER II.

From the Departure, to the Arrival of the Fleet at
Teneriffe.

Governor Phillip having at length reached Portsmouth, and all
things deemed necessary for the expedition being put on board, at
daylight on the morning of the 13th, the signal to weigh anchor
was made in the Commanding Officer’s ship the Sirius. Before six
o’clock the whole fleet were under sail; and, the weather being
fine and wind easterly, proceeded through the Needles with a
fresh leading breeze. In addition to our little armament, the
Hyena frigate was ordered to accompany us a certain distance to
the westward, by which means our number was increased to twelve
sail: His Majesty’s ships ‘Sirius’, ‘Hyena’, and ‘Supply’, three
Victuallers with two years stores and provisions on board for the
Settlement, and six Transports, with troops and convicts. In the
transports were embarked four captains, twelve subalterns,
twenty-four serjeants and corporals, eight drummers, and one
hundred and sixty private marines, making the whole of the
military force, including the Major Commandant and Staff on board
the Sirius, to consist of two hundred and twelve persons, of whom
two hundred and ten were volunteers. The number of convicts was
five hundred and sixty-five men, one hundred and ninety-two
women, and eighteen children; the major part of the prisoners
were mechanics and husbandmen, selected on purpose by order of
Government.

By ten o’clock we had got clear of the Isle of Wight, at which
time, having very little pleasure in conversing with my own
thoughts, I strolled down among the convicts, to observe their
sentiments at this juncture. A very few excepted, their
countenances indicated a high degree of satisfaction, though in
some, the pang of being severed, perhaps for ever, from their
native land, could not be wholly suppressed; in general, marks of
distress were more perceptible among the men than the women; for
I recollect to have seen but one of those affected on the
occasion, “Some natural tears she dropp’d, but wip’d them soon.”
After this the accent of sorrow was no longer heard; more genial
skies and change of scene banished repining and discontent, and
introduced in their stead cheerfulness and acquiescence in a lot,
now not to be altered.

To add to the good disposition which was beginning to manifest
itself, on the morning of the 20th, in consequence of some
favorable representations made by the officers commanding
detachments, they were hailed and told from the Sirius, that in
those cases where they judged it proper, they were at liberty to
release the convicts from the fetters in which they had been
hitherto confined. In complying with these directions, I had
great pleasure in being able to extend this humane order to the
whole of those under my charge, without a single exception. It is
hardly necessary for me to say, that the precaution of ironing
the convicts at any time reached to the men only.

In the evening of the same day, the Hyena left us for England,
which afforded an early opportunity of writing to our friends,
and easing their apprehensions by a communication of the
favourable accounts it was in our power to send them.

From this time to the day of our making the land, little
occurred worthy of remark. I cannot, however, help noticing the
propriety of employing the marines on a service which requires
activity and exertion at sea, in preference to other troops. Had
a regiment recruited since the war been sent out, sea-sickness
would have incapacitated half the men from performing the duties
immediately and indispensably necessary; whereas the marines,
from being accustomed to serve on board ship, accommodated
themselves with ease to every exigency, and surmounted every
difficulty.

At daybreak, on the morning of the 30th of May we saw the
rocks named the Deserters, which lie off the south-east end of
Madeira; and found the south-east extremity of the most southerly
of them, to be in the latitude of 32 deg 28 min north, longitude
16 deg 17 1/2 min west of Greenwich. The following day we saw the
Salvages, a cluster of rocks which are placed between the
Madeiras and Canary Islands, and determined the latitude of the
middle of the Great Salvage to be 30 deg 12 min north, and the
longitude of its eastern side to be 15 deg 39 min west. It is no
less extraordinary than unpardonable, that in some very modern
charts of the Atlantic, published in London, the Salvages are
totally omitted.

We made the island of Teneriffe on the 3d of June, and in the
evening anchored in the road of Santa Cruz, after an excellent
passage of three weeks from the day we left England.

CHAPTER III.

From the Fleet’s Arrival at Teneriffe, to its Departure for
Rio de Janeiro, in the Brazils.

There is little to please a traveller at Teneriffe. He has
heard wonders of its celebrated Peak, but he may remain for weeks
together at the town of Santa Cruz without having a glimpse of
it, and when its cloud-topped head emerges, the chance is, that
he feels disappointed, for, from the point of view in which he
sees it, the neighbouring mountains lessen its effect very
considerably. Excepting the Peak, the eye receives little
pleasure from the general face of the country, which is sterile
and uninviting to the last degree. The town, however, from its
cheerful white appearance, contrasted with the dreary brownness
of the back ground, makes not an unpleasing coup d’oeil. It is
neither irregular in its plan, nor despicable in its style of
building; and the churches and religious houses are numerous,
sumptuous, and highly ornamented.

The morning of our arrival, as many officers as could be
spared from the different ships were introduced to the Marquis de
Brancifort, Governor of the Canary Islands, whose reception was
highly flattering and polite. His Excellency is a Sicilian by
birth, and is most deservedly popular in his government. He
prefers residing at Teneriffe, for the conveniency of frequent
communication with Europe, to the Grand Canary, which is properly
the seat of power; and though not long fixed here, has already
found means to establish a manufactory in cotton, silk, and
thread, under excellent regulations, which employs more than
sixty persons, and is of infinite service to the common people.
During our short stay we had every day some fresh proof of his
Excellency’s esteem and attention, and had the honour of dining
with him, in a style of equal elegance and splendor. At this
entertainment the profusion of ices which appeared in the desert
was surprising, considering that we were enjoying them under a
sun nearly vertical. But it seems the caverns of the Peak, very
far below its summit, afford, at all seasons, ice in
abundance.

The restless importunity of the beggars, and the immodesty of
the lowest class of women, are highly disgusting. From the number
of his countrymen to be found, an Englishman is at no loss for
society. In the mercantile houses established here, it is from
gentlemen of this description that any information is derived,
for the taciturnity of the Spaniards is not to be overcome in a
short acquaintance, especially by Englishmen, whose reserve falls
little short of their own. The inland country is described as
fertile, and highly romantic; and the environs of the small town
of Laguza mentioned as particularly pleasant. Some of our
officers who made an excursion to it confirmed the account
amply.

It should seem that the power of the Church, which has been so
long on the decline in Europe, is at length beginning to be
shaken in the colonies of the Catholic powers: some recent
instances which have taken place at Teneriffe, evince it very
fully. Were not a stranger, however, to be apprized of this, he
would hardly draw the conclusion from his own observations. The
Bishop of these islands, which conjunctively form a See, resides
on the Grand Canary. He is represented as a man in years, and of
a character as amiable as exalted, extremely beloved both by
foreigners and those of his own church. The bishopric is valued
at ten thousand pounds per annum; the government at somewhat less
than two.

In spite of every precaution, while we lay at anchor in the
road, a convict had the address, one night, to secrete himself on
the deck, when the rest were turned below; and after remaining
quiet for some hours, let himself down over the bow of the ship,
and floated to a boat that lay astern, into which he got, and
cutting her adrift, suffered himself to be carried away by the
current, until at a sufficient distance to be out of hearing,
when he rowed off. This elopement was not discovered till some
hours after, when a search being made, and boats sent to the
different parts of the island, he was discovered in a small cove,
to which he had fled for refuge. On being questioned, it appeared
he had endeavoured to get himself received on board a Dutch East
Indiaman in the road; but being rejected there, he resolved on
crossing over to the Grand Canary, which is at the distance of
ten leagues, and when detected, was recruiting his strength in
order to make the attempt. At the same time that the boats of the
fleet were sent on this pursuit, information was given to the
Spanish Governor of what had happened, who immediately detached
parties every way in order to apprehend the delinquent.

Having remained a week at Teneriffe, and in that time
completed our stock of water, and taken on board wine, &c.
early on the morning of the 10th of June we weighed anchor, and
stood out to sea with a light easterly breeze. The shortness of
our stay, and the consequent hurry, prevented our increasing much
any previous knowledge we might have had of the place. For the
information of those who may follow us on this service, it may
not, however, be amiss to state the little that will be found of
use to them.

The markets afford fresh meat, though it is neither plentiful
nor good. Fish is scarce; but poultry may be procured in almost
any quantity, at as cheap a rate as in the English sea-ports.
Vegetables do not abound, except pumpkins and onions, of which I
advise all ships to lay in a large stock. Milch goats are bought
for a trifle, and easily procured. Grapes cannot be scarce in
their season; but when we were here, except figs and excellent
mulberries, no fruit was to be procured. Dry wines, as the
merchants term them, are sold from ten to fifteen pounds a pipe;
for the latter price, the very best, called the London
Particular, may be bought: sweet wines are considerably dearer.
Brandy is also a cheap article. I would not advise the voyager to
depend on this place for either his hogs or sheep. And he will do
well to supply himself with dollars before he quits England, to
expend in the different ports he may happen to touch at. Should
he, however, have neglected this precaution, let him remember
when he discounts bills, or exchanges English money here, not to
receive his returns in quarter dollars, which will be tendered to
him, but altogether in whole ones, as he will find the latter
turn to better account than the former, both at Rio de Janeiro
and the Cape of Good Hope.

The latitude of the town of Santa Cruz is 28 deg 27 1/2 min
north, the longitude 16 deg 17 1/2 min west of Greenwich.

CHAPTER IV.

The Passage from Teneriffe to Rio de Janeiro, in the
Brazils.

In sailing from Teneriffe to the south-east, the various and
picturesque appearances of the Peak are beautiful to the highest
degree. The stupendous height, which before was lost on the
traveller, now strikes him with awe and admiration, the whole
island appearing one vast mountain with a pyramidal top. As we
proceeded with light winds, at an easy rate, we saw it distinctly
for three days after our departure, and should have continued to
see it longer, had not the haziness of the atmosphere interrupted
our view. The good people of Santa Cruz tell some stories of the
wonderful extent of space to be seen from the summit of it, that
would not disgrace the memoirs of the ever-memorable Baron
Munchausen.

On the 18th of June we saw the most northerly of the Cape de
Verd Islands, at which time the Commodore gave the fleet to
understand, by signal, that his intention was to touch at some of
them. The following day we made St. Jago, and stood in to gain an
anchorage in Port Praya Bay. But the baffling winds and lee
current rendering it a matter of doubt whether or not the ships
would be able to fetch, the signal for anchoring was hauled down,
and the fleet bore up before the wind. In passing along them we
were enabled to ascertain the south end of the Isle of Sal to be
in 16 deg 40 min north latitude, and 23 deg 5 min west longitude.
The south end of Bonavista to be in 15 deg 57 min north, 23 deg 8
min west. The south end of the Isle of May in 15 deg 11 min
north, 23 deg 26 min west; and the longitude of the fort, in the
town of Port Praya, to be 23 deg 36 1/2 min west of
Greenwich.

By this time the weather, from the sun being so far advanced
in the northern tropic, was become intolerably hot, which, joined
to the heavy rains that soon after came on, made us very
apprehensive for the health of the fleet. Contrary, however, to
expectation, the number of sick in the ship I was embarked on was
surprisingly small, and the rest of the fleet were nearly as
healthy. Frequent explosions of gunpowder, lighting fires between
decks, and a liberal use of that admirable antiseptic, oil of
tar, were the preventives we made use of against impure air; and
above all things we were careful to keep the men’s bedding and
wearing apparel dry. As we advanced towards the Line, the weather
grew gradually better and more pleasant. On the 14th of July we
passed the Equator, at which time the atmosphere was as serene,
and the temperature of the air not hotter than in a bright summer
day in England. From this period, until our arrival on the
American coast, the heats, the calms, and the rains by which we
had been so much incommoded, were succeeded by a series of
weather as delightful as it was unlooked for. At three o’clock in
the afternoon of the 2nd of August, the ‘Supply’, which had been
previously sent a-head on purpose, made the signal for seeing the
land, which was visible to the whole fleet before sunset, and
proved to be Cape Frio, in latitude 23 deg 5 min south, longitude
41 deg 40 1/4 min west.

Owing to light airs we did not get a-breast of the city of St.
Sebastian, in the harbour of Rio de Janeiro, until the 7th of the
month, when we anchored about three quarters of a mile from the
shore.

CHAPTER V.

From the Arrival of the Fleet at Rio de Janeiro, till its
Departure for the Cape of Good Hope; with some Remarks on the
Brazils.

Brazil is a country very imperfectly known in Europe. The
Portugueze, from political motives, have been sparing in their
accounts of it. Whence our descriptions of it, in the
geographical publications in England, are drawn, I know not: that
they are miserably erroneous and defective, is certain.

The city of St. Sebastian stands on the west side of the
harbour, in a low unhealthy situation, surrounded on all sides by
hills, which stop the free circulation of air, and subject its
inhabitants to intermittents and putrid diseases. It is of
considerable extent: Mr. Cook makes it as large as Liverpool; but
Liverpool, in 1767, when Mr. Cook wrote, was not two-thirds of
its present size. Perhaps it equals Chester, or Exeter, in the
share of ground it occupies, and is infinitely more populous than
either of them. The streets intersect each other at right angles,
are tolerably well built, and excellently paved, abounding with
shops of every kind, in which the wants of a stranger, if money
is not one of them, can hardly remain unsatisfied. About the
centre of the city, and at a little distance from the beach, the
Palace of the Viceroy stands, a long, low building, no wise
remarkable in its exterior appearance; though within are some
spacious and handsome apartments. The churches and convents are
numerous, and richly decorated; hardly a night passes without
some of the latter being illuminated in honour of their patron
saints, which has a very brilliant effect when viewed from the
water, and was at first mistaken by us for public rejoicings. At
the corner of almost every street stands a little image of the
Virgin, stuck round with lights in an evening, before which
passengers frequently stop to pray and sing very loudly. Indeed,
the height to which religious zeal is carried in this place,
cannot fail of creating astonishment in a stranger. The greatest
part of the inhabitants seem to have no other occupation, than
that of paying visits and going to church, at which times you see
them sally forth richly dressed, en chapeau bras, with the
appendages of a bag for the hair, and a small sword: even boys of
six years old are seen parading about, furnished with these
indispensable requisites. Except when at their devotions, it is
not easy to get a sight of the women, and when obtained, the
comparisons drawn by a traveller, lately arrived from England,
are little flattering to Portugueze beauty. In justice, however,
to the ladies of St. Sebastian, I must observe, that the custom
of throwing nosegays at strangers, for the purpose of bringing on
an assignation, which Doctor Solander, and another gentleman of
Mr. Cook’s ship, met with when here, was never seen by any of us
in a single instance. We were so deplorably unfortunate as to
walk every evening before their windows and balconies, without
being honoured with a single bouquet, though nymphs and flowers
were in equal and great abundance.

Among other public buildings, I had almost forgot to mention
an observatory, which stands near the middle of the town, and is
tolerably well furnished with astronomical instruments. During
our stay here, some Spanish and Portuguese mathematicians were
endeavouring to determine the boundaries of the territories
belonging to their respective crowns. Unhappily, however, for the
cause of science, these gentleman have not hitherto been able to
coincide in their accounts, so that very little information on
this head, to be depended upon, could be gained. How far
political motives may have caused this disagreement, I do not
presume to decide; though it deserves notice, that the Portuguese
accuse the Abbee de la Caille, who observed here by order of the
King of France, of having laid down the longitude of this place
forty-five miles too much to the eastward.

Until the year 1770, all the flour in the settlement was
brought from Europe; but since that time the inhabitants have
made so rapid a progress in raising grain, as to be able to
supply themselves with it abundantly. The principal corn country
lies around Rio Grande, in the latitude of 32 deg south, where
wheat flourishes so luxuriantly, as to yield from seventy to
eighty bushels for one. Coffee also, which they formerly received
from Portugal, now grows in such plenty as to enable them to
export considerable quantities of it. But the staple commodity of
the country is sugar. That they have not, however, learnt the art
of making palatable rum, the English troops in New South Wales
can bear testimony; a large quantity, very ill flavoured, having
been bought and shipped here for the use of the garrison of Port
Jackson.

It was in 1771 that St. Salvador, which had for more than a
century been the capital of Brazil, ceased to be so; and that the
seat of Government was removed to St. Sebastian. The change took
place on account of the colonial war, at that time carried on by
the Courts of Lisbon and Madrid. And, indeed, were the object of
security alone to determine the seat of Government, I know but
few places better situated in that respect than the one I am
describing; the natural strength of the country, joined to the
difficulties which would attend an attack on the fortifications,
being such as to render it very formidable.

It may be presumed that the Portuguese Government is well
apprized of this circumstance and of the little risque they run
in being deprived of so important a possession, else it will not
be easy to penetrate the reasons which induce them to treat the
troops who compose the garrison with such cruel negligence. Their
regiments were ordered out with a promise of being relieved, and
sent back to Europe at the end of three years, in conformity to
which they settled all their domestic arrangements. But the faith
of Government has been broken, and at the expiration of twenty
years, all that is left to the remnant of these unfortunate men,
is to suffer in submissive silence. I was one evening walking
with a Portuguese officer, when this subject was started, and on
my telling him, that such a breach of public honour to English
troops would become a subject of parliamentary enquiry, he seized
my hand with great eagerness, “Ah, Sir!” exclaimed he, “yours is
a free country–we”!–His emotions spoke what his tongue
refused.

As I am mentioning the army, I cannot help observing, that I
saw nothing here to confirm the remark of Mr. Cook, that the
inhabitants of the place, whenever they meet an officer of the
garrison, bow to him with the greatest obsequiousness; and by
omitting such a ceremony, would subject themselves to be knocked
down, though the other seldom deigns to return the compliment.
The interchange of civilities is general between them, and seems
by no means extorted. The people who could submit to such
insolent superiority, would, indeed, deserve to be treated as
slaves.

The police of the city is very good. Soldiers patrole the
streets frequently, and riots are seldom heard of. The dreadful
custom of stabbing, from motives of private resentment, is nearly
at an end, since the church has ceased to afford an asylum to
murderers. In other respects, the progress of improvement appears
slow, and fettered by obstacles almost insurmountable, whose
baneful influence will continue, until a more enlightened system
of policy shall be adopted. From morning to night the ears of a
stranger are greeted by the tinkling of the convent bells, and
his eyes saluted by processions of devotees, whose adoration and
levity seem to keep equal pace, and succeed each other in turns.
“Do you want to make your son sick of soldiering? Shew him the
Trainbands of London on a field-day.” Let him who would wish to
give his son a distaste to Popery, point out to him the sloth,
the ignorance, and the bigotry of this place.

Being nearly ready to depart by the 1st of September, as many
officers as possible went on that day to the palace to take leave
of his Excellency, the Viceroy of the Brazils, to whom we had
been previously introduced; who on this, and every other
occasion, was pleased to honour us with the most distinguished
marks of regard and attention. Some part, indeed, of the numerous
indulgencies we experienced during our stay here, must doubtless
be attributed to the high respect in which the Portuguese held
Governor Phillip, who was for many years a captain in their navy,
and commanded a ship of war on this station: in consequence of
which, many privileges were extended to us, very unusual to be
granted to strangers. We were allowed the liberty of making short
excursions into the country, and on these occasions, as well as
when walking in the city, the mortifying custom of having an
officer of the garrison attending us was dispensed with on our
leaving our names and ranks, at the time of landing, with the
adjutant of orders at the palace. It happened, however,
sometimes, that the presence of a military man was necessary to
prevent imposition in the shopkeepers, who frequently made a
practice of asking more for their goods than the worth of them.
In which case an officer, when applied to, always told us the
usual price of the commodity with the greatest readiness, and
adjusted the terms of the purchase.

On the morning of the fourth of September we left Rio de
Janeiro, amply furnished with the good things which its happy
soil and clime so abundantly produce. The future voyager may with
security depend on this place for laying in many parts of his
stock. Among these may be enumerated sugar, coffee, rum, port
wine, rice, tapioca, and tobacco, besides very beautiful wood for
the purposes of household furniture. Poultry is not remarkably
cheap, but may be procured in any quantity; as may hops at a low
rate. The markets are well supplied with butcher’s meat, and
vegetables of every sort are to be procured at a price next to
nothing; the yams are particularly excellent. Oranges abound so
much, as to be sold for sixpence a hundred; and limes are to be
had on terms equally moderate. Bananas, cocoa nuts, and guavas,
are common; but the few pineapples brought to market are not
remarkable either for flavour, or cheapness. Besides the
inducements to lay out money already mentioned, the naturalist
may add to his collection by an almost endless variety of
beautiful birds and curious insects, which are to be bought at a
reasonable price, well preserved, and neatly assorted.

I shall close my account of this place by informing strangers,
who may come here, that the Portuguese reckon their money in
rees, an imaginary coin, twenty of which make a small copper
piece called a ‘vintin’, and sixteen of these last a ‘petack’.
Every piece is marked with the number of rees it is worth, so
that a mistake can hardly happen. English silver coin has lost
its reputation here, and dollars will be found preferable to any
other money.

CHAPTER VI.

The Passage from the Brazils to the Cape of Good Hope; with
an Account of the Transactions of the Fleet there.

Our passage from Rio de Janeiro to the Cape of Good Hope was
equally prosperous with that which had preceded it. We steered
away to the south-east, and lost sight of the American coast the
day after our departure. From this time until the 13th of
October, when we made the Cape, nothing remarkable occurred,
except the loss of a convict in the ship I was on board, who
unfortunately fell into the sea, and perished in spite of our
efforts to save him, by cutting adrift a life buoy and hoisting
out a boat. During the passage, a slight dysentery prevailed in
some of the ships, but was in no instance mortal. We were at
first inclined to impute it to the water we took on board at the
Brazils, but as the effect was very partial, some other cause was
more probably the occasion of it.

At seven o’clock in the evening of the 13th of October, we
cast anchor in Table Bay, and found many ships of different
nations in the harbour.

Little can be added to the many accounts already published of
the Cape of Good Hope, though, if an opinion on the subject might
be risqued, the descriptions they contain are too flattering.
When contrasted with Rio de Janeiro, it certainly suffers in the
comparison. Indeed we arrived at a time equally unfavourable for
judging of the produce of the soil and the temper of its
cultivators, who had suffered considerably from a dearth that had
happened the preceding season, and created a general scarcity.
Nor was the chagrin of these deprivations lessened by the news
daily arriving of the convulsions that shook the republic, which
could not fail to make an impression even on Batavian phlegm.

As a considerable quantity of flour, and the principal part of
the live stock, which was to store our intended settlement, were
meant to be procured here, Governor Phillip lost no time in
waiting on Mynheer Van Graaffe, the Dutch Governor, to request
permission (according to the custom of the place) to purchase all
that we stood in need of. How far the demand extended, I know
not, nor Mynheer Van Graaffe’s reasons for complying with it in
part only. To this gentleman’s political sentiments I confess
myself a stranger; though I should do his politeness and
liberality at his own table an injustice, were I not to take this
public opportunity of acknowledging them; nor can I resist the
opportunity which presents itself, to inform my readers, in honor
of M. Van Graaffe’s humanity, that he has made repeated efforts
to recover the unfortunate remains of the crew of the Grosvenor
Indiaman, which was wrecked about five years ago on the coast of
Caffraria. This information was given me by Colonel Gordon,
commandant of the Dutch troops at the Cape, whose knowledge of
the interior parts of this country surpasses that of any other
man. And I am sorry to say that the Colonel added, these unhappy
people were irrecoverably lost to the world and their friends, by
being detained among the Caffres, the most savage set of brutes
on earth.

His Excellency resides at the Government house, in the East
India Company’s garden. This last is of considerable extent, and
is planted chiefly with vegetables for the Dutch Indiamen which
may happen to touch at the port. Some of the walks are extremely
pleasant from the shade they afford, and the whole garden is very
neatly kept. The regular lines intersecting each other at right
angles, in which it is laid out, will, nevertheless, afford but
little gratification to an Englishman, who has been used to
contemplate the natural style which distinguishes the pleasure
grounds of his own country. At the head of the centre walks
stands a menagerie, on which, as well as the garden, many pompous
eulogiums have been passed, though in my own judgment,
considering the local advantages possessed by the Company, it is
poorly furnished both with animals and birds; a tyger, a zebra,
some fine ostriches, a cassowary, and the lovely crown-fowl, are
among the most remarkable.

The table land, which stands at the back of the town, is a
black dreary looking mountain, apparently flat at top, and of
more than eleven hundred yards in height. The gusts of wind which
blow from it are violent to an excess, and have a very unpleasant
effect, by raising the dust in such clouds, as to render stirring
out of doors next to impossible. Nor can any precaution prevent
the inhabitants from being annoyed by it, as much within doors as
without.

At length the wished-for day, on which the next effort for
reaching the place of our destination was to be made, appeared.
The morning was calm, but the land wind getting up about noon, on
the 12th of November we weighed anchor, and soon left far behind
every scene of civilization and humanized manners, to explore a
remote and barbarous land; and plant in it those happy arts,
which alone constitute the pre-eminence and dignity of other
countries.

The live animals we took on board on the public account from
the Cape, for stocking our projected colony, were, two bulls,
three cows, three horses, forty-four sheep, and thirty-two hogs,
besides goats, and a very large quantity of poultry of every
kind. A considerable addition to this was made by the private
stocks of the officers, who were, however, under a necessity of
circumscribing their original intentions on this head very much,
from the excessive dearness of many of the articles. It will
readily be believed, that few of the military found it convenient
to purchase sheep, when hay to feed them costs sixteen shillings
a hundred weight.

The boarding-houses on shore, to which strangers have
recourse, are more reasonable than might be expected. For a
dollar and a half per day we were well lodged, and partook of a
table tolerably supplied in the French style. Should a
traveller’s stock of tea run short, it is a thousand chances to
one that he will be able to replenish it here at a cheaper rate
than in England. He may procure plenty of arrack and white wine;
also raisins, and dried fruits of other sorts. If he dislikes to
live at a boarding-house, he will find the markets well stored,
and the price of butcher’s meat and vegetables far from
excessive.

Just before the signal for weighing was made, a ship, under
American colours, entered the road, bound from Boston, from
whence she had sailed one hundred and forty days, on a trading
voyage to the East Indies. In her route, she had been lucky
enough to pick up several of the inferior officers and crew of
the Harcourt East-Indiaman, which ship had been wrecked on one of
the Cape de Verd Islands. The master, who appeared to be a man of
some information, on being told the destination of our fleet,
gave it as his opinion, that if a reception could be secured,
emigrations would take place to New South Wales, not only from
the old continent, but the new one, where the spirit of adventure
and thirst for novelty were excessive.

CHAPTER VII.

The Passage from the Cape of Good Hope to Botany Bay.

We had hardly cleared the land when a south-east wind set in,
and, except at short intervals, continued to blow until the 19th
of the month; when we were in the latitude of 37 deg 40 min
south, and by the time-keeper, in longitude 11 deg 30 min east,
so that our distance from Botany Bay had increased nearly an
hundred leagues since leaving the Cape. As no appearance of a
change in our favour seemed likely to take place, Governor
Phillip at this time signified his intention of shifting his
pennant from the Sirius to the ‘Supply’, and proceeding on his
voyage without waiting for the rest of the fleet, which was
formed in two divisions. The first consisting of three
transports, known to be the best sailors, was put under the
command of a Lieutenant of the navy; and the remaining three,
with the victuallers, left in charge of Captain Hunter, of his
Majesty’s ship Sirius. In the last division was the vessel, in
which the author of this narrative served. Various causes
prevented the separation from taking place until the 25th, when
several sawyers, carpenters, blacksmiths, and other mechanics,
were shifted from different ships into the ‘Supply’, in order to
facilitate his Excellency’s intention of forwarding the necessary
buildings to be erected at Botany Bay, by the time the rest of
the fleet might be expected to arrive. Lieutenant Governor Ross,
and the Staff of the marine battalion, also removed from the
Sirius into the Scarborough transport, one of the ships of the
first division, in order to afford every assistance which the
public service might receive, by their being early on the spot on
which our future operations were to be conducted.

From this time a succession of fair winds and pleasant weather
corresponded to our eager desires, and on the 7th of January,
1788, the long wished for shore of Van Diemen gratified our
sight. We made the land at two o’clock in the afternoon, the very
hour we expected to see it from the lunar observations of Captain
Hunter, whose accuracy, as an astronomer, and conduct as an
officer, had inspired us with equal gratitude and admiration.

After so long a confinement, on a service so peculiarly
disgusting and troublesome, it cannot be matter of surprise that
we were overjoyed at the near prospect of a change of scene. By
sunset we had passed between the rocks, which Captain Furneaux
named the Mewstone and Swilly. The former bears a very close
resemblance to the little island near Plymouth, whence it took
its name: its latitude is 43 deg 48 min south, longitude 146 deg
25 min east of Greenwich.

In running along shore, we cast many an anxious eye towards
the land, on which so much of our future destiny depended. Our
distance, joined to the haziness of the atmosphere, prevented us,
however, from being able to discover much. With our best glasses
we could see nothing but hills of a moderate height, cloathed
with trees, to which some little patches of white sandstone gave
the appearance of being covered with snow. Many fires were
observed on the hills in the evening.

As no person in the ship I was on board had been on this coast
before, we consulted a little chart, published by Steele, of the
Minories, London, and found it, in general, very correct; it
would be more so, were not the Mewstone laid down at too great a
distance from the land, and one object made of the Eddystone and
Swilly, when, in fact, they are distinct. Between the two last is
an entire bed of impassable rocks, many of them above water. The
latitude of the Eddystone is 43 deg 53 1/2 min, longitude 147 deg
9 min; that of Swilly 43 deg 54 min south, longitude 147 deg 3
min east of Greenwich.

In the night the westerly wind, which had so long befriended
us, died away, and was succeeded by one from the north-east. When
day appeared we had lost sight of the land, and did not regain it
until the 19th, at only the distance of 17 leagues from our
desired port. The wind was now fair, the sky serene, though a
little hazy, and the temperature of the air delightfully
pleasant: joy sparkled in every countenance, and congratulations
issued from every mouth. Ithaca itself was scarcely more longed
for by Ulysses, than Botany Bay by the adventurers who had
traversed so many thousand miles to take possession of it.

“Heavily in clouds came on the day” which ushered in our
arrival. To us it was “a great, an important day,” though I hope
the foundation, not the fall, of an empire will be dated from
it.

On the morning of the 20th, by ten o’clock, the whole of the
fleet had cast anchor in Botany Bay, where, to our mutual
satisfaction, we found the Governor, and the first division of
transports. On inquiry, we heard, that the ‘Supply’ had arrived
on the 18th, and the transports only the preceding day.

Thus, after a passage of exactly thirty-six weeks from
Portsmouth, we happily effected our arduous undertaking, with
such a train of unexampled blessings as hardly ever attended a
fleet in a like predicament. Of two hundred and twelve marines we
lost only one; and of seven hundred and seventy-five convicts,
put on board in England, but twenty-four perished in our route.
To what cause are we to attribute this unhoped for success? I
wish I could answer to the liberal manner in which Government
supplied the expedition. But when the reader is told, that some
of the necessary articles allowed to ships on a common passage to
West Indies, were withheld from us; that portable soup, wheat,
and pickled vegetables were not allowed; and that an inadequate
quantity of essence of malt was the only antiscorbutic supplied,
his surprise will redouble at the result of the voyage. For it
must be remembered, that the people thus sent out were not a
ship’s company starting with every advantage of health and good
living, which a state of freedom produces; but the major part a
miserable set of convicts, emaciated from confinement, and in
want of cloaths, and almost every convenience to render so long a
passage tolerable. I beg leave, however, to say, that the
provisions served on board were good, and of a much superior
quality to those usually supplied by contract: they were
furnished by Mr. Richards, junior, of Walworth, Surrey.

CHAPTER VIII.

From the Fleet’s Arrival at Botany Bay to the Evacuation of
it; and taking Possession of Port Jackson. Interviews with the
Natives; and an Account of the Country about Botany Bay.

We had scarcely bid each other welcome on our arrival, when an
expedition up the Bay was undertaken by the Governor and
Lieutenant-Governor, in order to explore the nature of the
country, and fix on a spot to begin our operations upon. None,
however, which could be deemed very eligible, being discovered,
his Excellency proceeded in a boat to examine the opening, to
which Mr. Cook had given the name of Port Jackson, on an idea
that a shelter for shipping within it might be found. The boat
returned on the evening of the 23rd, with such an account of the
harbour and advantages attending the place, that it was
determined the evacuation of Botany Bay should commence the next
morning.

In consequence of this decision, the few seamen and marines
who had been landed from the squadron, were instantly reimbarked,
and every preparation made to bid adieu to a port which had so
long been the subject of our conversation; which but three days
before we had entered with so many sentiments of satisfaction;
and in which, as we had believed, so many of our future hours
were to be passed. The thoughts of removal banished sleep, so
that I rose at the first dawn of the morning. But judge of my
surprize on hearing from a serjeant, who ran down almost
breathless to the cabin where I was dressing, that a ship was
seen off the harbour’s mouth. At first I only laughed, but
knowing the man who spoke to me to be of great veracity, and
hearing him repeat his information, I flew upon deck, on which I
had barely set my foot, when the cry of “another sail” struck on
my astonished ear.

Confounded by a thousand ideas which arose in my mind in an
instant, I sprang upon the barricado and plainly descried two
ships of considerable size, standing in for the mouth of the Bay.
By this time the alarm had become general, and every one appeared
lost in conjecture. Now they were Dutchmen sent to dispossess us,
and the moment after storeships from England, with supplies for
the settlement. The improbabilities which attended both these
conclusions, were sunk in the agitation of the moment. It was by
Governor Phillip, that this mystery was at length unravelled, and
the cause of the alarm pronounced to be two French ships, which,
it was now recollected, were on a voyage of discovery in the
southern hemisphere. Thus were our doubts cleared up, and our
apprehensions banished; it was, however, judged expedient to
postpone our removal to Port Jackson, until a complete
confirmation of our conjectures could be procured.

Had the sea breeze set in, the strange ships would have been
at anchor in the Bay by eight o’clock in the morning, but the
wind blowing out, they were driven by a strong lee current to the
southward of the port. On the following day they re-appeared in
their former situation, and a boat was sent to them, with a
lieutenant of the navy in her, to offer assistance, and point out
the necessary marks for entering the harbour. In the course of
the day the officer returned, and brought intelligence that the
ships were the Boussole and Astrolabe, sent out by order of the
King of France, and under the command of Monsieur De Perrouse.
The astonishment of the French at seeing us, had not equalled
that we had experienced, for it appeared, that in the course of
their voyage they had touched at Kamschatka, and by that means
learnt that our expedition was in contemplation. They dropped
anchor the next morning, just as we had got under weigh to work
out of the Bay, so that for the present nothing more than
salutations could pass between us.

Before I quit Botany Bay, I shall relate the observations we
were enabled to make during our short stay there; as well as
those which our subsequent visits to it from Port Jackson enabled
us to complete.

The Bay is very open, and greatly exposed to the fury of the
S.E. winds, which, when they blow, cause a heavy and dangerous
swell. It is of prodigious extent, the principal arm, which takes
a S.W. direction, being not less, including its windings, than
twenty four miles from the capes which form the entrance,
according to the report of the French officers, who took uncommon
pains to survey it. At the distance of a league from the
harbour’s mouth is a bar, on which at low water, not more than
fifteen feet are to be found. Within this bar, for many miles up
the S.W. arm, is a haven, equal in every respect to any hitherto
known, and in which any number of ships might anchor, secured
from all winds. The country around far exceeds in richness of
soil that about Cape Banks and Point Solander, though
unfortunately they resemble each other in one respect, a scarcity
of fresh water.

We found the natives tolerably numerous as we advanced up the
river, and even at the harbour’s mouth we had reason to conclude
the country more populous than Mr. Cook thought it. For on the
Supply’s arrival in the Bay on the 18th of the month, they were
assembled on the beach of the south shore, to the number of not
less than forty persons, shouting and making many uncouth signs
and gestures. This appearance whetted curiosity to its utmost,
but as prudence forbade a few people to venture wantonly among so
great a number, and a party of only six men was observed on the
north shore, the Governor immediately proceeded to land on that
side, in order to take possession of his new territory, and bring
about an intercourse between its old and new masters. The boat in
which his Excellency was, rowed up the harbour, close to the
land, for some distance; the Indians keeping pace with her on the
beach. At last an officer in the boat made signs of a want of
water, which it was judged would indicate his wish of landing.
The natives directly comprehended what he wanted, and pointed to
a spot where water could be procured; on which the boat was
immediately pushed in, and a landing took place. As on the event
of this meeting might depend so much of our future tranquillity,
every delicacy on our side was requisite. The Indians, though
timorous, shewed no signs of resentment at the Governor’s going
on shore; an interview commenced, in which the conduct of both
parties pleased each other so much, that the strangers returned
to their ships with a much better opinion of the natives than
they had landed with; and the latter seemed highly entertained
with their new acquaintance, from whom they condescended to
accept of a looking glass, some beads, and other toys.

Owing to the lateness of our arrival, it was not my good
fortune to go on shore until three days after this had happened,
when I went with a party to the south side of the harbour, and
had scarcely landed five minutes, when we were met by a dozen
Indians, naked as at the moment of their birth, walking along the
beach. Eager to come to a conference, and yet afraid of giving
offence, we advanced with caution towards them, nor would they,
at first approach nearer to us than the distance of some paces.
Both parties were armed; yet an attack seemed as unlikely on
their part, as we knew it to be on our own.

I had at this time a little boy, of not more than seven years
of age, in my hand. The child seemed to attract their attention
very much, for they frequently pointed to him and spoke to each
other; and as he was not frightened, I advanced with him towards
them, at the same time baring his bosom and, shewing the
whiteness of the skin. On the cloaths being removed, they gave a
loud exclamation, and one of the party, an old man, with a long
beard, hideously ugly, came close to us. I bade my little charge
not to be afraid, and introduced him to the acquaintance of this
uncouth personage. The Indian, with great gentleness, laid his
hand on the child’s hat, and afterwards felt his cloaths,
muttering to himself all the while. I found it necessary,
however, by this time to send away the child, as such a close
connection rather alarmed him; and in this, as the conclusion
verified, I gave no offence to the old gentleman. Indeed it was
but putting ourselves on a par with them, as I had observed from
the first, that some youths of their own, though considerably
older than the one with us, were, kept back by the grown
people.

Several more now came up, to whom, we made various presents,
but our toys seemed not to be regarded as very valuable; nor
would they for a long time make any returns to them, though
before we parted, a large club, with a head almost sufficient to
fell an ox, was obtained in exchange for a looking-glass. These
people seemed at a loss to know (probably from our want of
beards) of what sex we were, which having understood, they burst
into the most immoderate fits of laughter, talking to each other
at the same time with such rapidity and vociferation as I had
never before heard. After nearly an hour’s conversation by signs
and gestures, they repeated several times the word whurra, which
signifies, begone, and walked away from us to the head of the
Bay.

The natives being departed, we set out to observe the country,
which, on inspection, rather disappointed our hopes, being
invariably sandy and unpromising for the purposes of cultivation,
though the trees and grass flourish in great luxuriancy. Close to
us was the spring at which Mr. Cook watered, but we did not think
the water very excellent, nor did it run freely. In the evening
we returned on board, not greatly pleased with the latter part of
our discoveries, as it indicated an increase of those
difficulties, which before seemed sufficiently numerous.

Between this and our departure we had several more interviews
with the natives, which ended in so friendly a manner, that we
began to entertain strong hopes of bringing about a connection
with them. Our first object was to win their affections, and our
next to convince them of the superiority we possessed: for
without the latter, the former we knew would be of little
importance.

An officer one day prevailed on one of them to place a target,
made of bark, against a tree, which he fired at with a pistol, at
the distance of some paces. The Indians, though terrified at the
report, did not run away, but their astonishment exceeded their
alarm, on looking at the shield which the ball had perforated. As
this produced a little shyness, the officer, to dissipate their
fears and remove their jealousy, whistled the air of Malbrooke,
which they appeared highly charmed with, and imitated him with
equal pleasure and readiness. I cannot help remarking here, what
I was afterwards told by Monsieur De Perrouse, that the natives
of California, and throughout all the islands of the Pacific
Ocean, and in short wherever he had been, seemed equally touched
and delighted with this little plaintive air.

CHAPTER IX.

The taking Possession of Port Jackson, with the
Disembarkation of the Marines and Convicts.

Our passage to Port Jackson took up but few hours, and those
were spent far from unpleasantly. The evening was bright, and the
prospect before us such as might justify sanguine expectation.
Having passed between the capes which form its entrance, we found
ourselves in a port superior, in extent and excellency, to all we
had seen before. We continued to run up the harbour about four
miles, in a westerly direction, enjoying the luxuriant prospect
of its shores, covered with trees to the water’s edge, among
which many of the Indians were frequently seen, till we arrived
at a small snug cove on the southern side, on whose banks the
plan of our operations was destined to commence.

The landing of a part of the marines and convicts took place
the next day, and on the following, the remainder was
disembarked. Business now sat on every brow, and the scene, to an
indifferent spectator, at leisure to contemplate it, would have
been highly picturesque and amusing. In one place, a party
cutting down the woods; a second, setting up a blacksmith’s
forge; a third, dragging along a load of stones or provisions;
here an officer pitching his marquee, with a detachment of troops
parading on one side of him, and a cook’s fire blazing up on the
other. Through the unwearied diligence of those at the head of
the different departments, regularity was, however, soon
introduced, and, as far as the unsettled state of matters would
allow, confusion gave place to system.

Into the head of the cove, on which our establishment is
fixed, runs a small stream of fresh water, which serves to divide
the adjacent country to a little distance, in the direction of
north and south. On the eastern side of this rivulet the Governor
fixed his place of residence, with a large body of convicts
encamped near him; and on the western side was disposed the
remaining part of these people, near the marine encampment. From
this last two guards, consisting of two subalterns, as many
serjeants, four corporals, two drummers, and forty-two private
men, under the orders of a Captain of the day, to whom all
reports were made, daily mounted for the public security, with
such directions to use force, in case of necessity, as left no
room for those who were the object of the order, but to remain
peaceable, or perish by the bayonet.

As the straggling of the convicts was not only a desertion
from the public labour, but might be attended with ill
consequences to the settlement, in case of their meeting the
natives, every care was taken to prevent it. The Provost Martial
with his men was ordered to patrole the country around, and the
convicts informed, that the severest punishment would be
inflicted on transgressors. In spite, however, of all our
precautions, they soon found the road to Botany Bay, in visits to
the French, who would gladly have dispensed with their
company.

But as severity alone was known to be inadequate at once to
chastize and reform, no opportunity was omitted to assure the
convicts, that by their good behaviour and submissive deportment,
every claim to present distinction and future favour was to be
earned. That this caution was not attended with all the good
effects which were hoped from it, I have only to lament; that it
operated in some cases is indisputable; nor will a candid and
humane mind fail to consider and allow for the situation these
unfortunate beings so peculiarly stood in. While they were on
board ship, the two sexes had been kept most rigorously apart;
but, when landed, their separation became impracticable, and
would have been, perhaps, wrong. Licentiousness was the
unavoidable consequence, and their old habits of depravity were
beginning to recur. What was to be attempted? To prevent their
intercourse was impossible; and to palliate its evils only
remained. Marriage was recommended, and such advantages held out
to those who aimed at reformation, as have greatly contributed to
the tranquillity of the settlement.

On the Sunday after our landing divine service was performed
under a great tree, by the Rev. Mr. Johnson, Chaplain of the
Settlement, in the presence of the troops and convicts, whose
behaviour on the occasion was equally regular and attentive. In
the course of our passage this had been repeated every Sunday,
while the ships were in port; and in addition to it, Mr. Johnson
had furnished them with books, at once tending to promote
instruction and piety.

The Indians for a little while after our arrival paid us
frequent visits, but in a few days they were observed to be more
shy of our company. From what cause their distaste: arose we
never could trace, as we had made it our study, on these
occasions, to treat them with kindness, and load them with
presents. No quarrel had happened, and we had flattered
ourselves, from Governor Phillip’s first reception among them,
that such a connection might be established as would tend to the
interest of both parties. It seems, that on that occasion, they
not only received our people with great cordiality, but so far
acknowledged their authority as to submit, that a boundary,
during their first interview, might be drawn on the sand, which
they attempted not to infringe, and appeared to be satisfied
with.

CHAPTER X.

The reading of the Commissions, and taking Possession of the
Settlement, in form. With an Account of the Courts of Law, and
Mode of administering Public Justice in this Country.

Owing to the multiplicity of pressing business necessary to be
performed immediately after landing, it was found impossible to
read the public commissions and take possession of the colony in
form, until the 7th of February. On that day all the officers of
guard took post in the marine battalion, which was drawn up, and
marched off the parade with music playing, and colours flying, to
an adjoining ground, which had been cleared for the occasion,
whereon the convicts were assembled to hear His Majesty’s
commission read, appointing his Excellency Arthur Phillip, Esq.
Governor and Captain General in and over the territory of New
South Wales, and its dependencies; together with the Act of
Parliament for establishing trials by law within the same; and
the patents under the Great Seal of Great Britain, for holding
the civil and criminal courts of judicature, by which all cases
of life and death, as well as matters of property, were to be
decided. When the Judge Advocate had finished reading, his
Excellency addressed himself to the convicts in a pointed and
judicious speech, informing them of his future intentions, which
were, invariably to cherish and render happy those who shewed a
disposition to amendment; and to let the rigour of the law take
its course against such as might dare to transgress the bounds
prescribed. At the close three vollies were fired in honour of
the occasion, and the battalion marched back to their parade,
where they were reviewed by the Governor, who was received with
all the honours due to his rank. His Excellency was afterwards
pleased to thank them, in public orders, for their behaviour from
the time of their embarkation; and to ask the officers to partake
of a cold collation at which it is scarce necessary to observe,
that many loyal and public toasts were drank in commemoration of
the day.

In the Governor’s commission, the extent of this authority is
defined to reach from the latitude of 43 deg 49 min south, to the
latitude of 10 deg 37 min south, being the northern and southern
extremities of the continent of New Holland. It commences again
at 135th degree of longitude east of Greenwich, and, proceeding
in an easterly direction, includes all islands within the limits
of the above specified latitudes in the Pacific Ocean. By this
partition it may be fairly presumed, that every source of future
litigation between the Dutch and us will be for ever cut off, as
the discoveries of English navigators alone are comprized in this
territory.

Nor have Government been more backward in arming Mr. Phillip
with plenitude of power, than extent of dominion. No mention is
made of a Council to be appointed, so that he is left to act
entirely from his own judgment. And as no stated time of
assembling the Courts of justice is pointed out, similar to the
assizes and gaol deliveries of England, the duration of
imprisonment is altogether in his hands. The power of summoning
General Courts Martial to meet he is also invested with, but the
insertion in the marine mutiny act, of a smaller number of
officers than thirteen being able to compose such a tribunal, has
been neglected: so that a Military court, should detachments be
made from headquarters, or sickness prevail, may not always be
found practicable to be obtained, unless the number of officers,
at present in the Settlement, shall be increased.

Should the Governor see cause, he is enabled to grant pardons
to offenders convicted, “in all cases whatever, treason and
wilful murder excepted,” and even in these, has authority to stay
the execution of the law, until the King’s pleasure shall be
signified. In case of the Governor’s death, the Lieutenant
Governor takes his place; and on his demise, the senior officer
on the spot is authorised to assume the reins of power.

Notwithstanding the promises made on one side, and the
forbearance shewn on the other, joined to the impending rod of
justice, it was with infinite regret that every one saw, in four
clays afterwards, the necessity of assembling a Criminal Court,
which was accordingly convened by warrant from the Governor, and
consisted of the judge Advocate, who presided, three naval, and
three marine officers.

As the constitution of this court is altogether new in the
British annals, I hope my reader will not think me prolix in the
description I am about to give of it. The number of members,
including the judge Advocate, is limited, by Act of Parliament,
to seven, who are expressly ordered to be officers, either of His
Majesty’s sea or land forces. The court being met, completely
arrayed and armed as at a military tribunal, the Judge Advocate
proceeds to administer the usual oaths taken by jurymen in
England to each member; one of whom afterwards swears him in a
like manner. This ceremony being adjusted, the crime laid to the
prisoner’s charge is read to him, and the question of Guilty, or
Not guilty, put. No law officer on the side of the crown being
appointed, (for I presume the head of the court ought hardly to
consider himself in that light, notwithstanding the title he
bears) to prosecute the criminal is left entirely to the party,
at whose suit he is tried. All the witnesses are examined on
oath, and the decision is directed to be given according to the
laws of England, “or as nearly as may be, allowing for the
circumstances and situation of the settlement,” by a majority of
votes, beginning with the youngest member, and ending with the
president of the court. In cases, however, of a capital nature,
no verdict can be given, unless five, at least, of the seven
members present concur therein. The evidence on both sides being
finished, and the prisoner’s defence heard, the court is cleared,
and, on the judgement being settled, is thrown open again, and
sentence pronounced. During the time the court sits, the place in
which it is assembled is directed to be surrounded by a guard
under arms, and admission to every one who may choose to enter
it, granted. Of late, however, our colonists are supposed to be
in such a train of subordination, as to make the presence of so
large a military force unnecessary; and two centinels, in
addition to the Provost Martial, are considered as
sufficient.

It would be as needless, as impertinent, to anticipate the
reflections which will arise in reading the above account,
wherein a regard to accuracy only has been consulted. By
comparing it with the mode of administering justice in the
English courts of law, it will be found to differ in many points
very essentially. And if we turn our eyes to the usage of
military tribunals, it no less departs from the customs observed
in them. Let not the novelty of it, however, prejudice any one so
far as to dispute its efficacy, and the necessity of the case
which gave it birth.

The court, whose meeting is already spoken of, proceeded to
the trial of three convicts, one of whom was convicted of having
struck a marine with a cooper’s adze, and otherwise behaving in a
very riotous and scandalous manner, for which he was sentenced to
receive one hundred and fifty lashes, being a smaller punishment
than a soldier in a like case would have suffered from the
judgement of a court martial. A second, for having committed a
petty theft, was sent to a small barren island, and kept there on
bread and water only, for a week. And the third was sentenced to
receive fifty lashes, but was recommended by the court to the
Governor, and forgiven.

Hitherto, however, (February) nothing of a very atrocious
nature had appeared. But the day was at hand, on which the
violation of public security could no longer be restrained, by
the infliction of temporary punishment. A set of desperate and
hardened villains leagued themselves for the purposes of
depredation, and, as it generally happens, had art enough to
persuade some others, less deeply versed in iniquity, to be the
instruments for carrying it on. Fortunately the progress of these
miscreants was not of long duration. They were detected in
stealing a large quantity of provisions at the time of issuing
them. And on being apprehended, one of the tools of the superiors
impeached the rest, and disclosed the scheme. The trial came on
the 28th of the month, and of four who were arraigned for the
offence, three were condemned to die, and the fourth to receive a
very severe corporal punishment. In hopes that his lenity would
not be abused, his Excellency was, however, pleased to order one
only for execution, which took place a little before sun-set the
same day. The name of the unhappy wretch was Thomas Barret, an
old and desperate offender, who died with that hardy spirit,
which too often is found in the worst and most abandoned class of
men. During the execution the battalion of marines was under
arms, and the whole of the convicts obliged to be present. The
two associates of the sufferer were ordered to be kept close
prisoners, until an eligible place to banish them to could be
fixed on; as were also two more, who on the following day were
condemned to die for a similar offence.

Besides the Criminal court, there is an inferior one composed
of the Judge Advocate, and one or more justices of the peace, for
the trial of small misdemeanours. This court is likewise
empowered to decide all law suits, and its verdict is final,
except where the sum in dispute amounts to more than three
hundred pounds, in which case an appeal to England can be made
from its decree. Should necessity warrant it, an Admiralty court,
of which Lieutenant Governor Ross is judge, can also be summoned,
for the trial of offences committed on the high seas.

From being unwilling to break the thread of my narrative, I
omitted to note in its proper place the sailing of the ‘Supply’,
Lieut. Ball, on the 15th of the month, for Norfolk Island, which
the Governor had instructions from the ministry to take
possession of. Lieut. King of the Sirius was sent as
superintendent and commandant of this place, and carried with him
a surgeon, a midshipman, a sawyer, a weaver, two marines, and
sixteen convicts, of whom six were women. He was also supplied
with a certain number of live animals to stock the island,
besides garden seeds, grain, and other requisites.

CHAPTER XI

A Description of the Natives of New South Wales, and our
Transactions with them.

I doubt not my readers will be as glad as I feel myself, to
conclude the dull detail of the last chapter. If they please,
they may turn from the subtle intricacies of the law, to
contemplate the simple, undisguised workings of nature, in her
most artless colouring.

I have already said, we had been but very few days at Port
Jackson, when an alteration in the behaviour of the natives was
perceptible; and I wish I could add, that a longer residence in
their neighbourhood had introduced a greater degree of cordiality
and intermixture between the old, and new, lords of the soil,
than at the day on which this publication is dated subsists.

From their easy reception of us in the beginning, many were
induced to call in question the accounts which Mr. Cook had given
of this people. That celebrated navigator, we were willing
believe, had somehow by his conduct offended them, which
prevented the intercourse that would otherwise have taken place.
The result, however, of our repeated endeavours to induce them to
come among us has been such as to confirm me in an opinion, that
they either fear or despise us too much, to be anxious for a
closer connection. And I beg leave at once, to apprize the
reader, that all I can here, or in any future part of this work,
relate with fidelity of the natives of New South Wales, must be
made up of detached observations, taken at different times, and
not from a regular series of knowledge of the customs and manners
of a people, with whom opportunities of communication are so
scarce, as to have been seldom obtained.

In their persons, they are far from being a stout race of men,
though nimble, sprightly, and vigorous. The deficiency of one of
the fore teeth of the upper jaw, mentioned by Dampier, we have
seen in almost the whole of the men; but their organs of sight so
far from being defective, as that author mentions those of the
inhabitants of the western side of the continent to be, are
remarkably quick and piercing. Their colour, Mr. Cook is inclined
to think rather a deep chocolate, than an absolute black, though
he confesses, they have the appearance of the latter, which he
attributes to the greasy filth their skins are loaded with. Of
their want of cleanliness we have had sufficient proofs, but I am
of opinion, all the washing in the world would not render them
two degrees less black than an African negro. At some of our
first interviews, we had several droll instances of their
mistaking the Africans we brought with us for their own
countrymen.

Notwithstanding the disregard they have invariably shewn for
all the finery we could deck them with, they are fond of adorning
themselves with scars, which increase their natural hideousness.
It is hardly possible to see any thing in human shape more ugly,
than one of these savages thus scarified, and farther ornamented
with a fish bone struck through the gristle of the nose. The
custom of daubing themselves with white earth is also frequent
among both sexes: but, unlike the inhabitants of the Islands in
the Pacific Ocean, they reject the beautiful feathers which the
birds of their country afford.

Exclusive of their weapons of offence, and a few stone
hatchets very rudely fashioned, their ingenuity is confined to
manufacturing small nets, in which they put the fish they catch,
and to fish-hooks made of bone, neither of which are unskilfully
executed. On many of the rocks are also to be found delineations
of the figures of men and birds, very poorly cut.

Of the use or benefit of cloathing, these people appear to
have no comprehension, though their sufferings from the climate
they live in, strongly point out the necessity of a covering from
the rigour of the seasons. Both sexes, and those of all ages, are
invariably found naked. But it must not be inferred from this,
that custom so inures them to the changes of the elements, as to
make them bear with indifference the extremes of heat and cold;
for we have had visible and repeated proofs, that the latter
affects them severely, when they are seen shivering, and huddling
themselves up in heaps in their huts, or the caverns of the
rocks, until a fire can be kindled.

Than these huts nothing more rude in construction, or
deficient in conveniency, can be imagined. They consist only of
pieces of bark laid together in the form of an oven, open at one
end, and very low, though long enough for a man to lie at full
length. There is reason, however, to believe, that they depend
less on them for shelter, than on the caverns with which the
rocks abound.

To cultivation of the ground they are utter strangers, and
wholly depend for food on the few fruits they gather; the roots
they dig up in the swamps; and the fish they pick up along shore,
or contrive to strike from their canoes with spears. Fishing,
indeed, seems to engross nearly the whole of their time, probably
from its forming the chief part of a subsistence, which,
observation has convinced us, nothing short of the most painful
labour, and unwearied assiduity, can procure. When fish are
scarce, which frequently happens, they often watch the moment of
our hauling the seine, and have more than once been known to
plunder its contents, in spite of the opposition of those on the
spot to guard it: and this even after having received a part of
what had been caught. The only resource at these times is to shew
a musquet, and if the bare sight is not sufficient, to fire it
over their heads, which has seldom failed of dispersing them
hitherto, but how long the terror which it excites may continue
is doubtful.

The canoes in which they fish are as despicable as their huts,
being nothing more than a large piece of bark tied up at both
ends with vines. Their dexterous management of them, added to the
swiftness with which they paddle, and the boldness that leads
them several miles in the open sea, are, nevertheless, highly
deserving of admiration. A canoe is seldom seen without a fire in
it, to dress the fish by, as soon as caught: fire they procure by
attrition.

From their manner of disposing of those who die, which will be
mentioned hereafter, as well as from every other observation,
there seems no reason to suppose these people cannibals; nor do
they ever eat animal substances in a raw state, unless pressed by
extreme hunger, but indiscriminately broil them, and their
vegetables, on a fire, which renders these last an innocent food,
though in their raw state many of them are of a poisonous
quality: as a poor convict who unguardedly eat of them
experienced, by falling a sacrifice in twenty-four hours
afterwards. If bread be given to the Indians, they chew and spit
it out again, seldom choosing to swallow it. Salt beef and pork
they like rather better, but spirits they never could be brought
to taste a second time.

The only domestic animal they have is the dog, which in their
language is called Dingo, and a good deal resembles the fox dog
of England. These animals are equally shy of us, and attached to
the natives. One of them is now in the possession of the
Governor, and tolerably well reconciled to his new master. As the
Indians see the dislike of the dogs to us, they are sometimes
mischievous enough to set them on single persons whom they chance
to meet in the woods. A surly fellow was one day out shooting,
when the natives attempted to divert themselves in this manner at
his expense. The man bore the teazing and gnawing of the dog at
his heels for some time, but apprehending at length, that his
patience might embolden them to use still farther liberties, he
turned round and shot poor Dingo dead on the spot: the owners of
him set off with the utmost expedition.

There is no part of the behaviour of these people, that has
puzzled us more, than that which relates to their women.
Comparatively speaking we have seen but few of them, and those
have been sometimes kept back with every symptom of jealous
sensibility; and sometimes offered with every appearance of
courteous familiarity. Cautious, however, of alarming the
feelings of the men on so tender a point, we have constantly made
a rule of treating the females with that distance and reserve,
which we judged most likely to remove any impression they might
have received of our intending aught, which could give offence on
so delicate a subject. And so successful have our endeavours
been, that a quarrel on this head has in no instance, that I know
of, happened. The tone of voice of the women, which is pleasingly
soft and feminine, forms a striking contrast to the rough
guttural pronunciation of the men. Of the other charms of the
ladies I shall be silent, though justice obliges me to mention,
that, in the opinion of some amongst us, they shew a degree of
timidity and bashfulness, which are, perhaps, inseparable from
the female character in its rudest state. It is not a little
singular, that the custom of cutting off the two lower joints of
the little finger of the left hand, observed in the Society
Islands, is found here among the women, who have for the most
part undergone this amputation. Hitherto we have not been able to
trace out the cause of this usage. At first we supposed it to be
peculiar to the married women, or those who had borne children;
but this conclusion must have been erroneous, as we have no right
to believe that celibacy prevails in any instance, and some of
the oldest of the women are without this distinction; and girls
of a very tender age are marked by it.

On first setting foot in the country, we were inclined to hold
the spears of the natives very cheap. Fatal experience has,
however, convinced us, that the wound inflicted by this weapon is
not a trivial one; and that the skill of the Indians in throwing
it, is far from despicable. Besides more than a dozen convicts
who have unaccountably disappeared, we know that two, who were
employed as rush cutters up the harbour, were (from what cause we
are yet ignorant) most dreadfully mangled and butchered by the
natives. A spear had passed entirely through the thickest part of
the body of one of them, though a very robust man, and the skull
of the other was beaten in. Their tools were taken away, but some
provisions which they had with them at the time of the murder,
and their cloaths, were left untouched. In addition to this
misfortune, two more convicts, who were peaceably engaged in
picking of greens, on a spot very remote from that where their
comrades suffered, were unawares attacked by a party of Indians,
and before they could effect their escape, one of them was
pierced by a spear in the hip, after which they knocked him down,
and plundered his cloaths. The poor wretch, though dreadfully
wounded, made shift to crawl off, but his companion was carried
away by these barbarians, and his fate doubtful, until a soldier,
a few days afterwards, picked up his jacket and hat in a native’s
hut, the latter pierced through by a spear. We have found that
these spears are not made invariably alike, some of them being
barbed like a fish gig, and others simply pointed. In repairing
them they are no less dexterous than in throwing them. A broken
one being given by a gentleman to an Indian, he instantly
snatched up an oyster-shell, and converted it with his teeth into
a tool with which he presently fashioned the spear, and rendered
it fit for use: in performing this operation, the sole of his
foot served him as a work-board. Nor are their weapons of offence
confined to the spear only, for they have besides long wooden
swords, shaped like a sabre, capable of inflicting a mortal
wound, and clubs of an immense size. Small targets, made of the
bark of trees, are likewise now and then to be seen among
them.

From circumstances which have been observed, we have sometimes
been inclined to believe these people at war with each other.
They have more than once been seen assembled, as if bent on an
expedition. An officer one day met fourteen of them marching
along in a regular Indian file through the woods, each man armed
with a spear in his right hand, and a large stone in his left: at
their head appeared a chief, who was distinguished by being
painted. Though in the proportion of five to one of our people
they passed peaceably on.

That their skill in throwing the spear sometimes enables them
to kill the kangaroo we have no right to doubt, as a long
splinter of this weapon was taken out of the thigh of one of
these animals, over which the flesh had completely closed; but we
have never discovered that they have any method of ensnaring
them, or that they know any other beasts but the kangaroo and
dog. Whatever animal is shewn them, a dog excepted, they call
kangaroo: a strong presumption that the wild animals of the
country are very few.

Soon after our arrival at Port Jackson, I was walking out near
a place where I observed a party of Indians, busily employed in
looking at some sheep in an inclosure, and repeatedly crying out,
‘kangaroo, kangaroo!’ As this seemed to afford them pleasure, I
was willing to increase it by pointing out the horses and cows,
which were at no great distance. But unluckily, at the moment,
some female convicts, employed near the place, made their
appearance, and all my endeavours to divert their attention from
the ladies became fruitless. They attempted not, however, to
offer them the least degree of violence or injury, but stood at
the distance of several paces, expressing very significantly the
manner they were attracted.

It would be trespassing on the reader’s indulgence were I to
impose on him an account of any civil regulations, or ordinances,
which may possibly exist among this people. I declare to him,
that I know not of any, and that excepting a little tributary
respect which the younger part appear to pay those more advanced
in years, I never could observe any degrees of subordination
among them. To their religious rites and opinions I am equally a
stranger. Had an opportunity offered of seeing the ceremonies
observed at disposing of the dead, perhaps, some insight might
have been gained; but all that we at present know with certainty
is, that they burn the corpse, and afterwards heap up the earth
around it, somewhat in the manner of the small tumuli, found in
many counties of England.

I have already hinted, that the country is more populous than
it was generally believed to be in Europe at the time of our
sailing. But this remark is not meant to be extended to the
interior parts of the continent, which there is every reason to
conclude from our researches, as well as from the manner of
living practised by the natives, to be uninhabited. It appears as
if some of the Indian families confine their society and
connections within their own pale: but that this cannot always be
the case we know; for on the north-west arm of Botany Bay stands
a village, which contains more than a dozen houses, and perhaps
five times that number of people; being the most considerable
establishment that we are acquainted with in the country. As a
striking proof, besides, of the numerousness of the natives, I
beg leave to state, that Governor Phillip, when on an excursion
between the head of this harbour and that of Botany Bay, once
fell in with a party which consisted of more than three hundred
persons, two hundred and twelve of whom were men: this happened
only on the day following the murder of the two convict rush
cutters, before noticed, and his Excellency was at the very time
in search of the murderers, on whom, could they have been found,
he intended to inflict a memorable and exemplary punishment. The
meeting was unexpected to both parties, and considering the
critical situation of affairs, perhaps not very pleasing to our
side, which consisted but of twelve persons, until the peaceable
disposition of the Indians was manifest. After the strictest
search the Governor was obliged to return without having gained
any information. The laudable perseverance of his Excellency to
throw every light on this unhappy and mysterious business did
not, however stop here, for he instituted the most rigorous
inquiry to find out, if possible, whether the convicts had at any
time ill treated or killed any of the natives; and farther,
issued a proclamation, offering the most tempting of all rewards,
a state of freedom, to him who should point out the murderer, in
case such an one existed.

I have thus impartially stated the situation of matters, as
they stand, while I write, between the natives and us; that
greater progress in attaching them to us has not been made, I
have only to regret; but that all ranks of men have tried to
effect it, by every reasonable effort from which success might
have been expected, I can testify; nor can I omit saying, that in
the higher stations this has been eminently conspicuous. The
public orders of Governor Phillip have invariably tended to
promote such a behaviour on our side, as was most likely to
produce this much wished-for event. To what cause then are we to
attribute the distance which the accomplishment of it appears at?
I answer, to the fickle, jealous, wavering disposition of the
people we have to deal with, who, like all other savages, are
either too indolent, too indifferent, or too fearful to form an
attachment on easy terms, with those who differ in habits and
manners so widely from themselves. Before I close the subject, I
cannot, however, omit to relate the following ludicrous
adventure, which possibly may be of greater use in effecting what
we have so much at heart, than all our endeavours.

Some young gentlemen belonging to the Sirius one day met a
native, an old man, in the woods; he had a beard of considerable
length, which his new acquaintance gave him to understand, by
signals, they would rid him of, if he pleased; stroaking their
chins, and shewing him the smoothness of them at the same time;
at length the old Indian consented, and one of the youngsters
taking a penknife from his pocket, and making use of the best
substitute for lather he could find, performed the operation with
great success, and, as it proved, much to the liking of the old
man, who in a few days after reposed a confidence in us, of which
we had hitherto known no example, by paddling along-side the
Sirius in his canoe, and pointing to his beard. Various arts were
ineffectually tried to induce him to enter the ship; but as he
continued to decline the invitation, a barber was sent down into
the boat along-side the canoe, from whence, leaning over the
gunnel, he complied with the wish of the old beau, to his
infinite satisfaction. In addition to the consequences which our
sanguine hopes led us to expect from this dawning of cordiality,
it affords proof, that the beard is considered by this people
more as an incumbrance than a mark of dignity.

CHAPTER XII.

The Departure of the French from Botany Bay; and the Return
of the ‘Supply’ from Norfolk Island; with a Discovery made by
Lieutenant Ball on his Passage to it.

About the middle of the month our good friends the French
departed from Botany Bay, in prosecution of their voyage. During
their stay in that port, the officers of the two nations had
frequent opportunities of testifying their mutual regard by
visits, and every interchange of friendship and esteem. These
ships sailed from France, by order of the King, on the 1st of
August, 1785, under the command of Monsieur De Perrouse, an
officer whose eminent qualifications, we had reason to think,
entitle him to fill the highest stations. In England,
particularly, he ought long to be remembered with admiration and
gratitude, for the humanity which marked his conduct, when
ordered to destroy our settlement at Hudson’s Bay, in the last
war. His second in command was the Chevalier Clonard, an officer
also of distinguished merit.

In the course of the voyage these ships had been so
unfortunate as to lose a boat, with many men and officers in her,
off the west of California; and afterwards met with an accident
still more to be regretted, at an island in the Pacific Ocean,
discovered by Monsieur Bougainville, in the latitude of 14 deg 19
min south, longitude 173 deg 3 min 20 sec east of Paris. Here
they had the misfortune to have no less than thirteen of their
crews, among whom was the officer at that time second in command,
cut off by the natives, and many more desperately wounded. To
what cause this cruel event was to be attributed, they knew not,
as they were about to quit the island after having lived with the
Indians in the greatest harmony for several weeks; and exchanged,
during the time, their European commodities for the produce of
the place, which they describe as filled with a race of people
remarkable for beauty and comeliness; and abounding in
refreshments of all kinds.

It was no less gratifying to an English ear, than honourable
to Monsieur De Perrouse, to witness the feeling manner in which
he always mentioned the name and talents of Captain Cook. That
illustrious circumnavigator had, he said, left nothing to those
who might follow in his track to describe, or fill up. As I
found, in the course of conversation, that the French ships had
touched at the Sandwich Islands, I asked M. De Perrouse what
reception he had met with there. His answer deserves to be known:
“During the whole of our voyage in the South Seas, the people of
the Sandwich Islands were the only Indians who never gave us
cause of complaint. They furnished us liberally with provisions,
and administered cheerfully to all our wants.” It may not be
improper to remark, that Owhyee was not one of the islands
visited by this gentleman.

In the short stay made by these ships at Botany Bay, an Abbe,
one of the naturalists on board, died, and was buried on the
north shore. The French had hardly departed, when the natives
pulled down a small board, which had been placed over the spot
where the corpse was interred, and defaced everything around. On
being informed of it, the Governor sent a party over with orders
to affix a plate of copper on a tree near the place, with the
following inscription on it, which is a copy of what was written
on the board:

Hic jacet L. RECEVEUR, E.F.F. minnibus Galliae, Sacerdos,
Physicus, in circumnavigatione mundi, Duce De La Perrouse. Obiit
die 17 Februarii, anno 1788.

This mark of respectful attention was more particularly due,
from M. De Perrouse having, when at Kamschatka, paid a similar
tribute of gratitude to the memory of Captain Clarke, whose tomb
was found in nearly as ruinous a state as that of the Abbe.

Like ourselves, the French found it necessary, more than once,
to chastise a spirit of rapine and intrusion which prevailed
among the Indians around the Bay. The menace of pointing a
musquet to them was frequently used; and in one or two instances
it was fired off, though without being attended with fatal
consequences. Indeed the French commandant, both from a regard to
the orders of his Court as well as to our quiet and security,
shewed a moderation and forbearance on this head highly
becoming.

On the 20th of March, the ‘Supply’ arrived from Norfolk
Island, after having safely landed Lieutenant King and his little
garrison. The pine-trees growing there are described to be of a
growth and height superior, perhaps, to any in the world. But the
difficulty of bringing them away will not be easily surmounted,
from the badness and danger of the landing place. After the most
exact search not a single plant of the New Zealand flax could be
found, though we had been taught to believe it abounded
there.

Lieutenant Ball, in returning to Port Jackson, touched at a
small island in latitude 31 deg 36 min south, longitude 159 deg 4
min east of Greenwich, which he had been fortunate enough to
discover on his passage to Norfolk, and to which he gave the name
of Lord Howe’s Island. It is entirely without inhabitants, or any
traces of any having ever been there. But it happily abounds in
what will be infinitely more important to the settlers on New
South Wales: green turtle of the finest kind frequent it in the
summer season. Of this Mr. Ball gave us some very handsome and
acceptable specimens on his return. Besides turtle, the island is
well stocked with birds, many of them so tame as to be knocked
down by the seamen with sticks. At the distance of four leagues
from Lord Howe Island, and in latitude 31 deg 30 min south,
longitude 159 deg 8 min east, stands a remarkable rock, of
considerable height, to which Mr. Ball gave the name of Ball’s
Pyramid, from the shape it bears.

While the ‘Supply’ was absent, Governor Phillip made an
excursion to Broken Bay, a few leagues to the northward of Port
Jackson, in order to explore it. As a harbour it almost equals
the latter, but the adjacent country was found so rocky and bare,
as to preclude all possibility of turning it to account. Some
rivulets of fresh water fall into the head of the Bay, forming a
very picturesque scene. The Indians who live on its banks are
numerous, and behaved attentively in a variety of instances while
our people remained among them.

CHAPTER XIII.

Transactions at Port Jackson in the Months of April and
May.

As winter was fast approaching, it became necessary to secure
ourselves in quarters, which might shield us from the cold we
were taught to expect in this hemisphere, though in so low a
latitude. The erection of barracks for the soldiers was
projected, and the private men of each company undertook to build
for themselves two wooden houses, of sixty-eight feet in length,
and twenty-three in breadth. To forward the design, several
saw-pits were immediately set to work, and four ship carpenters
attached to the battalion, for the purpose of directing and
completing this necessary undertaking. In prosecuting it,
however, so many difficulties occurred, that we were fain to
circumscribe our original intention; and, instead of eight
houses, content ourselves with four. And even these, from the
badness of the timber, the scarcity of artificers, and other
impediments, are, at the day on which I write, so little
advanced, that it will be well, if at the close of the year 1788,
we shall be established in them. In the meanwhile the married
people, by proceeding on a more contracted scale, were soon under
comfortable shelter. Nor were the convicts forgotten; and as
leisure was frequently afforded them for the purpose, little
edifices quickly multiplied on the ground allotted them to build
upon.

But as these habitations were intended by Governor Phillip to
answer only the exigency of the moment, the plan of the town was
drawn, and the ground on which it is hereafter to stand surveyed,
and marked out. To proceed on a narrow, confined scale, in a
country of the extensive limits we possess, would be
unpardonable: extent of empire demands grandeur of design. That
this has been our view will be readily believed, when I tell the
reader, that the principal street in our projected city will be,
when completed, agreeable to the plan laid down, two hundred feet
in breadth, and all the rest of a corresponding proportion. How
far this will be accompanied with adequate dispatch, is another
question, as the incredulous among us are sometimes hardy enough
to declare, that ten times our strength would not be able to
finish it in as many years.

Invariably intent on exploring a country, from which curiosity
promises so many gratifications, his Excellency about this time
undertook an expedition into the interior parts of the continent.
His party consisted of eleven persons, who, after being conveyed
by water to the head of the harbour, proceeded in a westerly
direction, to reach a chain of mountains, which in clear weather
are discernible, though at an immense distance, from some heights
near our encampment. With unwearied industry they continued to
penetrate the country for four days; but at the end of that time,
finding the base of the mountain to be yet at the distance of
more than twenty miles, and provisions growing scarce, it was
judged prudent to return, without having accomplished the end for
which the expedition had been undertaken. To reward their toils,
our adventurers had, however, the pleasure of discovering and
traversing an extensive tract of ground, which they had reason to
believe, from the observations they were enabled to make, capable
of producing every thing, which a happy soil and genial climate
can bring forth. In addition to this flattering appearance, the
face of the country is such, as to promise success whenever it
shall be cultivated, the trees being at a considerable distance
from each other, and the intermediate space filled, not with
underwood, but a thick rich grass, growing in the utmost
luxuriancy. I must not, however, conceal, that in this long
march, our gentlemen found not a single rivulet, but were under a
necessity of supplying themselves with water from standing pools,
which they met with in the vallies, supposed to be formed by the
rains that fall at particular seasons of the year. Nor had they
the good fortune to see any quadrupeds worth notice, except a few
kangaroos. To their great surprize, they observed indisputable
tracks of the natives having been lately there, though in their
whole route none of them were to be seen; nor any means to be
traced, by which they could procure subsistence so far from the
sea shore.

On the 6th of May the ‘Supply’ sailed for Lord Howe Island, to
take on board turtle for the settlement; but after waiting there
several days was obliged to return without having seen one, owing
we apprehended to the advanced season of the year. Three of the
transports also, which were engaged by the East India Company to
proceed to China, to take on board a lading of tea, sailed about
this time for Canton.

The unsuccessful return of the ‘Supply’ cast a general damp on
our spirits, for by this time fresh provisions were become
scarcer than in a blockaded town. The little live stock, which
with so heavy an expense, and through so many difficulties, we
had brought on shore, prudence forbade us to use; and fish, which
on our arrival, and for a short time after had been tolerable
plenty, were become so scarce, as to be rarely seen at the tables
of the first among us. Had it not been for a stray kangaroo,
which fortune now and then threw in our way, we should have been
utter strangers to the taste of fresh food.

Thus situated, the scurvy began its usual ravages, and
extended its baneful influence, more or less, through all
descriptions of persons. Unfortunately the esculent vegetable
productions of the country are neither plentiful, nor tend very
effectually to remove this disease. And, the ground we had turned
up and planted with garden seeds, either from the nature of the
soil, or, which is more probable, the lateness of the season,
yielded but a scanty and insufficient supply of what we stood so
greatly in need of.

During the period I am describing, few enormous offences were
perpetrated by the convicts. A petty theft was now and then heard
of, and a spirit of refractory sullenness broke out at times in
some individuals: one execution only, however, took place. The
sufferer, who was a very young man, was convicted of a burglary,
and met his fate with a hardiness and insensibility, which the
grossest ignorance, and most deplorable want of feeling, alone
could supply.

CHAPTER XIV.

From the Beginning of June, to the Departure of the Ships for
Europe.

Hours of festivity, which under happier skies pass away
unregarded, and are soon consigned to oblivion, acquire in this
forlorn and distant circle a superior degree of acceptable
importance.

On the anniversary of the King’s birthday all the officers not
on duty, both of the garrison and his Majesty’s ships, dined with
the Governor. On so joyful an occasion, the first too ever
celebrated in our new settlement, it were needless to say, that
loyal conviviality dictated every sentiment, and inspired every
guest. Among other public toasts drank, was, Prosperity to Sydney
Cove, in Cumberland county, now named so by authority. At
day-light in the morning the ships of war had fired twenty-one
guns each, which was repeated at noon, and answered by three
vollies from the battalion of marines.

Nor were the officers alone partakers of the general
relaxation. The four unhappy wretches labouring under sentence of
banishment were freed from their fetters, to rejoin their former
society; and three days given as holidays to every convict in the
colony. Hospitality too, which ever acquires a double relish by
being extended, was not forgotten on the 4th of June, when each
prisoner, male and female, received an allowance of grog; and
every non-commissioned officer and private soldier had the honor
of drinking prosperity to his royal master, in a pint of porter,
served out at the flag staff, in addition to the customary
allowance of spirits. Bonfires concluded the evening, and I am
happy to say, that excepting a single instance which shall be
taken notice of hereafter, no bad consequence, or unpleasant
remembrance, flowed from an indulgence so amply bestowed.

About this time (June) an accident happened, which I record
with much regret. The whole of our black cattle, consisting of
five cows and a bull, either from not being properly secured, or
from the negligence of those appointed to take care of them,
strayed into the woods, and in spite of all the search we have
been able to make, are not yet found. As a convict of the name of
Corbet, who was accused of a theft, eloped nearly at the same
time, it was at first believed, that he had taken the desperate
measure of driving off the cattle, in order to subsist on them as
long as possible; or perhaps to deliver them to the natives. In
this uncertainty, parties to search were sent out in different
directions; and the fugitive declared an outlaw, in case of not
returning by a fixed day. After much anxiety and fatigue, those
who had undertaken the task returned without finding the cattle.
But on the 21st of the month, Corbet made his appearance near a
farm belonging to the Governor, and entreated a convict, who
happened to be on the spot, to give him some food, as he was
perishing for hunger. The man applied to, under pretence of
fetching what he asked for, went away and immediately gave the
necessary information, in consequence of which a party under arms
was sent out and apprehended him. When the poor wretch was
brought in, he was greatly emaciated and almost famished. But on
proper restoratives being administered, he was so far recovered
by the 24th, as to be able to stand his trial, when he pleaded
Guilty to the robbery with which he stood charged, and received
sentence of death. In the course of repeated examinations it
plainly appeared, he was an utter stranger to the place where the
cattle might be, and was in no shape concerned in having driven
them off.

Samuel Peyton, convict, for having on the evening of the
King’s birth-day broke open an officer’s marquee, with an intent
to commit robbery, of which he was fully convicted, had sentence
of death passed on him at the same time as Corbet; and on the
following day they were both executed, confessing the justness of
their fate, and imploring the forgiveness of those whom they had
injured. Peyton, at the time of his suffering, was but twenty
years of age, the greatest part of which had been invariably
passed in the commission of crimes, that at length terminated in
his ignominious end. The following letter, written by a fellow
convict to the sufferer’s unhappy mother, I shall make no apology
for presenting to the reader; it affords a melancholy proof, that
not the ignorant and untaught only have provoked the justice of
their country to banish them to this remote region.

Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, New South Wales, 24th June,
1788.

“My dear and honoured mother!

“With a heart oppressed by the keenest sense of anguish, and
too much agitated by the idea of my very melancholy condition, to
express my own sentiments, I have prevailed on the goodness of a
commiserating friend, to do me the last sad office of acquainting
you with the dreadful fate that awaits me.

“My dear mother! with what agony of soul do I dedicate the few
last moments of my life, to bid you an eternal adieu! my doom
being irrevocably fixed, and ere this hour to-morrow I shall have
quitted this vale of wretchedness, to enter into an unknown and
endless eternity. I will not distress your tender maternal
feelings by any long comment on the cause of my present
misfortune. Let it therefore suffice to say, that impelled by
that strong propensity to evil, which neither the virtuous
precepts nor example of the best of parents could eradicate, I
have at length fallen an unhappy, though just, victim to my own
follies.

“Too late I regret my inattention to your admonitions, and
feel myself sensibly affected by the remembrance of the many
anxious moments you have passed on my account. For these, and all
my other transgressions, however great, I supplicate the Divine
forgiveness; and encouraged by the promises of that Saviour who
died for us all, I trust to receive that mercy in the world to
come, which my offences have deprived me of all hope, or
expectation of, in this. The affliction which this will cost you,
I hope the Almighty will enable you to bear. Banish from your
memory all my former indiscretions, and let the cheering hope of
a happy meeting hereafter, console you for my loss. Sincerely
penitent for my sins; sensible of the justice of my conviction
and sentence, and firmly relying on the merits of a Blessed
Redeemer, I am at perfect peace with all mankind, and trust I
shall yet experience that peace, which this world cannot give.
Commend my soul to the Divine mercy. I bid you an eternal
farewell.

“Your unhappy dying Son,

“SAMUEL PEYTON.”

After this nothing occurred with which I think it necessary to
trouble the reader. The contents of the following chapters could
not, I conceive, be so properly interwoven in the body of the
work; I have, therefore, assigned them a place by themselves,
with a view that the conclusions adopted in them may be more
strongly enforced on the minds of those, to whom they are more
particularly addressed.

CHAPTER XV.

The Face of the Country; its Productions, Climate,
&c.

To the geographical knowledge of this country, supplied by
Captain Cook, and Captain Furneaux, we are able to add nothing.
The latter explored the coast from Van Diemen’s land to the
latitude of 39 deg south; and Cook from Point Hicks, which lies
in 37 deg 58 min, to Endeavour Streights. The intermediate space
between the end of Furneaux’s discovery and Point Hicks, is,
therefore, the only part of the south-east coast unknown, and it
so happened on our passage thither, owing to the weather, which
forbade any part of the ships engaging with the shore, that we
are unable to pronounce whether, or not, a streight intersects
the continent hereabouts: though I beg leave to say, that I have
been informed by a naval friend, that when the fleet was off this
part of the coast, a strong set-off shore was plainly felt.

At the distance of 60 miles inland, a prodigious chain of
lofty mountains runs nearly in a north and south direction,
further than the eye can trace them. Should nothing intervene to
prevent it, the Governor intends, shortly, to explore their
summits: and, I think there can be little doubt, that his
curiosity will not go unrewarded. If large rivers do exist in the
country, which some of us are almost sceptical enough to doubt,
their sources must arise amidst these hills; and the direction
they run in, for a considerable distance, must be either due
north, or due south. For it is strikingly singular that three
such noble harbours as Botany Bay, Port Jackson, and Broken Bay,
alike end in shallows and swamps, filled with mangroves.

The general face of the country is certainly pleasing, being
diversified with gentle ascents, and little winding vallies,
covered for the most part with large spreading trees, which
afford a succession of leaves in all seasons. In those places
where trees are scarce, a variety of flowering shrubs abound,
most of them entirely new to an European, and surpassing in
beauty, fragrance, and number, all I ever saw in an uncultivated
state: among these, a tall shrub, bearing an elegant white
flower, which smells like English May, is particularly
delightful, and perfumes the air around to a great distance. The
species of trees are few, and, I am concerned to add, the wood
universally of so bad a grain, as almost to preclude a
possibility of using it: the increase of labour occasioned by
this in our buildings has been such, as nearly to exceed belief.
These trees yield a profusion of thick red gum (not unlike the
‘sanguis draconis’) which is found serviceable in medicine,
particularly in dysenteric complaints, where it has sometimes
succeeded, when all other preparations have failed. To blunt its
acrid qualities, it is usual to combine it with opiates.

The nature of the soil is various. That immediately round
Sydney Cove is sandy, with here and there a stratum of clay. From
the sand we have yet been able to draw very little; but there
seems no reason to doubt, that many large tracts of land around
us will bring to perfection whatever shall be sown in them. To
give this matter a fair trial, some practical farmers capable of
such an undertaking should be sent out; for the spots we have
chosen for experiments in agriculture, in which we can scarce be
supposed adepts, have hitherto but ill repaid our toil, which may
be imputable to our having chosen such as are unfavourable for
our purpose.

Except from the size of the trees, the difficulties of
clearing the land are not numerous, underwood being rarely found,
though the country is not absolutely without it. Of the natural
meadows which Mr. Cook mentions near Botany Bay, we can give no
account; none such exist about Port Jackson. Grass, however,
grows in every place but the swamps with the greatest vigour and
luxuriancy, though it is not of the finest quality, and is found
to agree better with horses and cows than sheep. A few wild
fruits are sometimes procured, among which is the small purple
apple mentioned by Cook, and a fruit which has the appearance of
a grape, though in taste more like a green gooseberry, being
excessively sour: probably were it meliorated by cultivation, it
would become more palatable.

Fresh water, as I have said before, is found but in
inconsiderable quantities. For the common purposes of life there
is generally enough; but we know of no stream in the country
capable of turning a mill: and the remark made by Mr. Anderson,
of the dryness of the country round Adventure Bay, extends
without exception to every part of it which we have
penetrated.

Previous to leaving England I remember to have frequently
heard it asserted, that the discovery of mines was one of the
secondary objects of the expedition. Perhaps there are mines; but
as no person competent to form a decision is to be found among
us, I wish no one to adopt an idea, that I mean to impress him
with such a belief, when I state, that individuals, whose
judgements are not despicable, are willing to think favourably of
this conjecture, from specimens of ore seen in many of the stones
picked up here. I cannot quit this subject without regretting,
that some one capable of throwing a better light on it, is not in
the colony. Nor can I help being equally concerned, that an
experienced botanist was not sent out, for the purpose of
collecting and describing the rare and beautiful plants with
which the country abounds. Indeed, we flattered ourselves, when
at the Cape of Good Hope, that Mason, the King’s botanical
gardener, who was employed there in collecting for the royal
nursery at Kew, would have joined us, but it seems his orders and
engagements prevented him from quitting that beaten track, to
enter on this scene of novelty and variety.

To the naturalist this country holds out many invitations.
Birds, though not remarkably numerous, are in great variety, and
of the most exquisite beauty of plumage, among which are the
cockatoo, lory, and parroquet; but the bird which principally
claims attention is, a species of ostrich, approaching nearer to
the emu of South America than any other we know of. One of them
was shot, at a considerable distance, with a single ball, by a
convict employed for that purpose by the Governor; its weight,
when complete, was seventy pounds, and its length from the end of
the toe to the tip of the beak, seven feet two inches, though
there was reason to believe it had not attained its full growth.
On dissection many anatomical singularities were observed: the
gall-bladder was remarkably large, the liver not bigger than that
of a barn-door fowl, and after the strictest search no gizzard
could be found; the legs, which were of a vast length, were
covered with thick, strong scales, plainly indicating the animal
to be formed for living amidst deserts; and the foot differed
from an ostrich’s by forming a triangle, instead of being
cloven.

Goldsmith, whose account of the emu is the only one I can
refer to, says, “that it is covered from the back and rump with
long feathers, which fall backward, and cover the anus; these
feathers are grey on the back, and white on the belly.” The wings
are so small as hardly to deserve the name, and are unfurnished
with those beautiful ornaments which adorn the wings of the
ostrich: all the feathers are extremely coarse, but the
construction of them deserves notice—they grow in pairs
from a single shaft, a singularity which the author I have quoted
has omitted to remark. It may be presumed, that these birds are
not very scarce, as several have been seen, some of them
immensely large, but they are so wild, as to make shooting them a
matter of great difficulty. Though incapable of flying, they run
with such swiftness, that our fleetest greyhounds are left far
behind in every attempt to catch them. The flesh was eaten, and
tasted like beef.

Besides the emu, many birds of prodigious size have been seen,
which promise to increase the number of those described by
naturalists, whenever we shall be fortunate enough to obtain
them; but among these the bat of the Endeavour River is not to be
found. In the woods are various little songsters, whose notes are
equally sweet and plaintive.

Of quadrupeds, except the kangaroo, I have little to say. The
few met with are almost invariably of the opossum tribe, but even
these do not abound. To beasts of prey we are utter strangers,
nor have we yet any cause to believe that they exist in the
country. And happy it is for us that they do not, as their
presence would deprive us of the only fresh meals the settlement
affords, the flesh of the kangaroo. This singular animal is
already known in Europe by the drawing and description of Mr.
Cook. To the drawing nothing can be objected but the position of
the claws of the hinder leg, which are mixed together like those
of a dog, whereas no such indistinctness is to be found in the
animal I am describing. It was the Chevalier De Perrouse who
pointed out this to me, while we were comparing a kangaroo with
the plate, which, as he justly observed, is correct enough to
give the world in general a good idea of the animal, but not
sufficiently accurate for the man of science.

Of the natural history of the kangaroo we are still very
ignorant. We may, however, venture to pronounce this animal, a
new species of opossum, the female being furnished with a bag, in
which the young is contained; and in which the teats are found.
These last are only two in number, a strong presumptive proof,
had we no other evidence, that the kangaroo brings forth rarely
more than one at a birth. But this is settled beyond a doubt,
from more than a dozen females having been killed, which had
invariably but one formed in the pouch. Notwithstanding this, the
animal may be looked on as prolific, from the early age it begins
to breed at, kangaroos with young having been taken of not more
than thirty pounds weight; and there is room to believe that when
at their utmost growth, they weigh not less than one hundred and
fifty pounds. A male of one hundred and thirty pounds weight has
been killed, whose dimensions were as follows:

After this perhaps I shall hardly be credited, when I affirm
that the kangaroo on being brought forth is not larger than an
English mouse. It is, however, in my power to speak positively on
this head, as I have seen more than one instance of it.

In running, this animal confines himself entirely to his
hinder, legs, which are possessed with an extraordinary muscular
power. Their speed is very great, though not in general quite
equal to that of a greyhound; but when the greyhounds are so
fortunate as to seize them, they are incapable of retaining their
hold, from the amazing struggles of the animal. The bound of the
kangaroo, when not hard pressed, has been measured, and found to
exceed twenty feet.

At what time of the year they copulate, and in what manner, we
know not: the testicles of the male are placed contrary to the
usual order of nature.

When young the kangaroo eats tender and well flavoured,
tasting like veal, but the old ones are more tough and stringy
than bullbeef. They are not carnivorous, and subsist altogether
on particular flowers and grass. Their bleat is mournful, and
very different from that of any other animal: it is, however,
seldom heard but in the young ones.

Fish, which our sanguine hopes led us to expect in great
quantities, do not abound. In summer they are tolerably
plentiful, but for some months past very few have been taken.
Botany Bay in this respect exceeds Port Jackson. The French once
caught near two thousand fish in one day, of a species of
grouper, to which, from the form of a bone in the head resembling
a helmet, we have given the name of light horseman. To this may
be added bass, mullets, skait, soles, leather-jackets, and many
other species, all so good in their kind, as to double our regret
at their not being more numerous. Sharks of an enormous size are
found here. One of these was caught by the people on board the
Sirius, which measured at the shoulders six feet and a half in
circumference. His liver yielded twenty-four gallons of oil; and
in his stomach was found the head of a shark, which had been
thrown overboard from the same ship. The Indians, probably from
having felt the effects of their voracious fury, testify the
utmost horror on seeing these terrible fish.

Venomous animals and reptiles are rarely seen. Large snakes
beautifully variegated have been killed, but of the effect of
their bites we are happily ignorant. Insects, though numerous,
are by no means, even in summer, so troublesome as I have found
them in America, the West Indies, and other countries.

The climate is undoubtedly very desirable to live in. In
summer the heats are usually moderated by the sea breeze, which
sets in early; and in winter the degree of cold is so slight as
to occasion no inconvenience; once or twice we have had hoar
frosts and hail, but no appearance of snow. The thermometer has
never risen beyond 84, nor fallen lower than 35, in general it
stood in the beginning of February at between 78 and 74 at noon.
Nor is the temperature of the air less healthy than pleasant.
Those dreadful putrid fevers by which new countries are so often
ravaged, are unknown to us: and excepting a slight diarrhoea,
which prevailed soon after we had landed, and was fatal in very
few instances, we are strangers to epidemic diseases.

On the whole, (thunder storms in the hot months excepted) I
know not any climate equal to this I write in. Ere we had been a
fortnight on shore we experienced some storms of thunder
accompanied with rain, than which nothing can be conceived more
violent and tremendous, and their repetition for several days,
joined to the damage they did, by killing several of our sheep,
led us to draw presages of an unpleasant nature. Happily,
however, for many months we have escaped any similar
visitations.

CHAPTER XVI.

The Progress made in the Settlement; and the Situation of
Affairs at the Time of the Ship, which conveys this Account,
sailing for England.

For the purpose of expediting the public work, the male
convicts have been divided into gangs, over each of which a
person, selected from among themselves, is placed. It is to be
regretted that Government did not take this matter into
consideration before we left England, and appoint proper persons
with reasonable salaries to execute the office of overseers; as
the consequence of our present imperfect plan is such, as to
defeat in a great measure the purposes for which the prisoners
were sent out. The female convicts have hitherto lived in a state
of total idleness; except a few who are kept at work in making
pegs for tiles, and picking up shells for burning into lime. For
the last time I repeat, that the behaviour of all classes of
these people since our arrival in the settlement has been better
than could, I think, have been expected from them.

Temporary wooden storehouses covered with thatch or shingles,
in which the cargoes of all the ships have been lodged, are
completed; and an hospital is erected. Barracks for the military
are considerably advanced; and little huts to serve, until
something more permanent can be finished, have been raised on all
sides. Notwithstanding this the encampments of the marines and
convicts are still kept up; and to secure their owners from the
coldness of the nights, are covered in with bushes, and thatched
over.

The plan of a town I have already said is marked out. And as
freestone of an excellent quality abounds, one requisite towards
the completion of it is attained. Only two houses of stone are
yet begun, which are intended for the Governor and Lieutenant
Governor. One of the greatest impediments we meet with is a want
of limestone, of which no signs appear. Clay for making bricks is
in plenty, and a considerable quantity of them burned and ready
for use.

In enumerating the public buildings I find I have been so
remiss as to omit an observatory, which is erected at a small
distance from the encampments. It is nearly completed, and when
fitted up with the telescopes and other astronomical instruments
sent out by the Board of Longitude, will afford a desirable
retreat from the listlessness of a camp evening at Port Jackson.
One of the principal reasons which induced the Board to grant
this apparatus was, for the purpose of enabling Lieutenant Dawes,
of the marines, (to whose care it is intrusted) to make
observations on a comet which is shortly expected to appear in
the southern hemisphere. The latitude of the observatory, from
the result of more than three hundred observations, is fixed at
33 deg 52 min 30 sec south, and the longitude at 151 deg 16 min
30 sec east of Greenwich. The latitude of the south head which
forms the entrance of the harbour, 33 deg 51 min, and that of the
north head opposite to it at 33 deg 49 min 45 sec south.

Since landing here our military force has suffered a
diminution of only three persons, a serjeant and two privates. Of
the convicts fifty-four have perished, including the executions.
Amidst the causes of this mortality, excessive toil and a
scarcity of food are not to be numbered, as the reader will
easily conceive, when informed, that they have the same allowance
of provisions as every officer and soldier in the garrison; and
are indulged by being exempted from labour every Saturday
afternoon and Sunday. On the latter of those days they are
expected to attend divine service, which is performed either
within one of the storehouses, or under a great tree in the open
air, until a church can be built.

Amidst our public labours, that no fortified post, or place of
security, is yet begun, may be a matter of surprise. Were an
emergency in the night to happen, it is not easy to say what
might not take place before troops, scattered about in an
extensive encampment, could be formed, so as to act. An event
that happened a few evenings since may, perhaps, be the means of
forwarding this necessary work. In the dead of night the
centinels on the eastern side of the cove were alarmed by the
voices of the Indians, talking near their posts. The soldiers on
this occasion acted with their usual firmness, and without
creating a disturbance, acquainted the officer of the guard with
the circumstance, who immediately took every precaution to
prevent an attack, and at the same time gave orders that no
molestation, while they continued peaceable, should be offered
them. From the darkness of the night, and the distance they kept
at, it was not easy to ascertain their number, but from the sound
of the voices and other circumstances, it was calculated at near
thirty. To their intentions in honouring us with this visit (the
only one we have had from them in the last five months) we are
strangers, though most probably it was either with a view to
pilfer, or to ascertain in what security we slept, and the
precautions we used in the night. When the bells of the ships in
the harbour struck the hour of the night, and the centinels
called out on their posts “All’s well,” they observed a dead
silence, and continued it for some minutes, though talking with
the greatest earnestness and vociferation but the moment before.
After having remained a considerable time they departed without
interchanging a syllable with our people.

CHAPTER XVII.

Some Thoughts on the Advantages which may arise to the Mother
Country from forming the Colony.

The author of these sheets would subject himself to the charge
of presumption, were he to aim at developing the intentions of
Government in forming this settlement. But without giving
offence, or incurring reproach, he hopes his opinion on the
probability of advantage to be drawn from hence by Great Britain,
may be fairly made known.

If only a receptacle for convicts be intended, this place
stands unequalled from the situation, extent, and nature of the
country. When viewed in a commercial light, I fear its
insignificance will appear very striking. The New Zealand hemp,
of which so many sanguine expectations were formed, is not a
native of the soil; and Norfolk Island, where we made sure to
find this article, is also without it. So that the scheme of
being able to assist the East Indies with naval stores, in case
of a war, must fall to the ground, both from this deficiency, and
the quality of the timber growing here. Were it indeed possible
to transport that of Norfolk Island, its value would be found
very great, but the difficulty, from the surf, I am well
informed, is so insuperable as to forbid the attempt. Lord Howe
Island, discovered by Lieut. Ball, though an inestimable
acquisition to our colony, produces little else than the mountain
cabbage tree.

Should a sufficient military force be sent out to those
employed in cultivating the ground, I see no room to doubt, that
in the course of a few years, the country will be able to yield
grain enough for the support of its new possessors. But to effect
this, our present limits must be greatly extended, which will
require detachments of troops not to be spared from the present
establishment. And admitting the position, the parent country
will still have to supply us for a much longer time with every
other necessary of life. For after what we have seen, the idea of
being soon able to breed cattle sufficient for our consumption,
must appear chimerical and absurd. From all which it is evident,
that should Great Britain neglect to send out regular supplies,
the most fatal consequences will ensue.

Speculators who may feel inclined to try their fortunes here,
will do well to weigh what I have said. If golden dreams of
commerce and wealth flatter their imaginations, disappointment
will follow: the remoteness of situation, productions of the
country, and want of connection with other parts of the world,
justify me in the assertion. But to men of small property,
unambitious of trade, and wishing for retirement, I think the
continent of New South Wales not without inducements. One of this
description, with letters of recommendation, and a sufficient
capital (after having provided for his passage hither) to furnish
him with an assortment of tools for clearing land, agricultural
and domestic purposes; possessed also of a few household
utensils, a cow, a few sheep and breeding sows, would, I am of
opinion, with proper protection and encouragement, succeed in
obtaining a comfortable livelihood, were he well assured before
he quitted his native country, that a provision for him until he
might be settled, should be secured; and that a grant of land on
his arrival would be allotted him.

That this adventurer, if of a persevering character and
competent knowledge, might in the course of ten years bring
matters into such a train as to render himself comfortable and
independent, I think highly probable. The superfluities of his
farm would enable him to purchase European commodities from the
masters of ships, which will arrive on Government account,
sufficient to supply his wants. But beyond this he ought not to
reckon, for admitting that he might meet with success in raising
tobacco, rice, indigo, or vineyards (for which last I think the
soil and climate admirably adapted), the distance of a mart to
vend them at, would make the expense of transportation so
excessive, as to cut off all hopes of a reasonable profit; nor
can there be consumers enough here to take them off his hands,
for so great a length of time to come, as I shall not be at the
trouble of computing.

Should then any one, induced by this account, emigrate hither,
let him, before he quits England, provide all his wearing apparel
for himself, family, and servants; his furniture, tools of every
kind, and implements of husbandry (among which a plough need not
be included, as we make use of the hoe), for he will touch at no
place where they can be purchased to advantage. If his sheep and
hogs are English also, it will be better. For wines, spirits,
tobacco, sugar, coffee, tea, rice, poultry, and many other
articles, he may venture to rely on at Teneriffe or Madeira, the
Brazils and Cape of Good Hope. It will not be his interest to
draw bills on his voyage out, as the exchange of money will be
found invariably against him, and a large discount also deducted.
Drafts on the place he is to touch at, or cash (dollars if
possible) will best answer his end.

To men of desperate fortune and the lowest classes of the
people, unless they can procure a passage as indented servants,
similar to the custom practised of emigrating to America, this
part of the world offers no temptation: for it can hardly be
supposed, that Government will be fond of maintaining them here
until they can be settled, and without such support they must
starve.

Of the Governor’s instructions and intentions relative to the
disposal of the convicts, when the term of their transportation
shall be expired, I am ignorant. They will then be free men, and
at liberty, I apprehend, either to settle in the country, or to
return to Europe. The former will be attended with some public
expense; and the latter, except in particular cases, will be
difficult to accomplish, from the numberless causes which prevent
a frequent communication between England and this continent.

A list of the Civil and Military Establishments in New South
Wales

Governor and Commander in Chief, His Excellency Arthur
Phillip, Esq.

Lieutenant Governor, Robert Ross, Esq.

Judge of the Admiralty Court, Robert Ross, Esq.

Chaplain of the Settlement, the Rev. Richard Johnson.

Judge Advocate of the Settlement, David Collins, Esq.

Secretary to the Governor, David Collins, Esq.

Surveyor General, Augustus Alt, Esq.

Commissary of Stores and Provisions, Andrew Miller, Esq.

Assistant Commissary, Mr. Zechariah Clarke.

Provost Martial, who acts as Sheriff of Cumberland County, Mr.
Henry Brewer.

Peace Officer, Mr. James Smith.

MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT.

His Majesty’s Ship ‘Sirius’, John Hunter, Esq. Commander.
Lieutenants, Bradley, King, Maxwell.

His Majesty’s armed Brig, ‘Supply’, Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird
Ball, Commander.

FOUR COMPANIES OF MARINES

Major Robert Ross, Commandant.

CAPTAINS COMMANDING COMPANIES

James Campbell, John Shea, Captain Lieutenants, James
Meredith, Watkin Tench.

FIRST LIEUTENANTS

George Johnson, John Johnson, John Creswell, James Maitland
Shairp, Robert Nellow, Thomas Davey, James Furzer, Thomas Timins,
John Poulden.

SECOND LIEUTENANTS

Ralph Clarke, John Long, William Dawes, William Feddy.

Adjutant, John Long.

Quarter Master, James Furzer.

Aide de Camp to the Governor, George Johnson.

Officer of Engineers and Artillery, William Dawes.

HOSPITAL ESTABLISHMENT.

Surgeon General of the Settlement, John White, Esq.

First Assistant, Mr. Dennis Considen.

Second Assistant, Mr. Thomas Arndell.

Third Assistant, Mr. William Balmain.

POSTSCRIPT

Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, New South Wales.
October 1st, 1788.

Little material has occurred in this colony since the
departure of the ships for England, on the 14th July last. On the
20th of that month His Majesty’s ship Supply, Captain Ball,
sailed for Norfolk Island, and returned on the 26th August. Our
accounts from thence are more favourable than were expected. The
soil proves admirably adapted to produce all kinds of grain, and
European vegetables. But the discovery which constitutes its
value is the New Zealand flax, plants of which are found growing
in every part of the island in the utmost luxuriancy and
abundance. This will, beyond doubt, appear strange to the reader
after what has been related in the former part of my work: and in
future, let the credit of the testimony be as high as it may, I
shall never without diffidence and hesitation presume to
contradict the narrations of Mr. Cook. The truth is, that those
sent to settle and explore the island knew not the form in which
the plant grows, and were unfurnished with every particular which
could lead to a knowledge of it. Unaccountable as this may sound,
it is, nevertheless, incontestably true. Captain Ball brought
away with him several specimens for inspection, and, on trial, by
some flax-dressers among us, the threads produced from them,
though coarse, are pronounced to be stronger, more likely to be
durable, and fitter for every purpose of manufacturing cordage,
than any they ever before dressed.

Every research has been made by those on the island to find a
landing-place, whence it might be practicable to ship off the
timber growing there, but hitherto none has been discovered. A
plan, however, for making one has been laid before the Governor,
and is at present under consideration, though (in the opinion of
many here) it is not such an one as will be found to answer the
end proposed.

Lieut. King and his little garrison were well when the
‘Supply’ left them: but I am sorry to add, that, from casualties,
their number is already five less than it originally was. A ship
from hence is ready to sail with an increase of force, besides
many convicts for the purpose of sawing up timber, and turning
the flax-plant to advantage.

So much for Norfolk. In Port Jackson all is quiet and stupid
as could be wished. We generally hear the lie of the day as soon
as the beating of the Reveille announces the return of it; find
it contradicted by breakfast time; and pursue a second through
all its varieties, until night, welcome as to a lover, gives us
to sleep and dream ourselves transported to happier climes.

Let me not, however, neglect telling you the little news which
presents itself. All descriptions of men enjoy the highest state
of health; and the convicts continue to behave extremely well. A
gang of one hundred of them, guarded by a captain, two subalterns
and 20 marines, is about to be sent up to the head of the
harbour, at the distance of 3 leagues, in a westerly direction,
from Sydney Cove, for the purpose of establishing a settlement
there. The convicts are to be employed in putting the land around
into cultivation, as it appears to be of a more promising nature
than that near the encampment. Indeed this last hitherto succeeds
but very indifferently, though I do not yet despair, that when
good seeds can be procured, our toil will be better rewarded. But
as this is an event at a distance, and in itself very precarious,
Governor Phillip has determined on procuring a supply of flour
and other necessaries from the Cape of Good Hope, as our stock on
hand is found to be, on examination, not quite so ample as had
been reckoned upon. To execute this purpose his Excellency has
ordered the Sirius to prepare for the voyage; by which conveyance
the opportunity of writing to you is afforded me. It was at first
intended to dispatch the Sirius to some of the neighbouring
islands (the Friendly or Society) in the Pacific Ocean, to
procure stock there, but the uselessness of the scheme, joined to
the situation of matters here, has, happily for us, prevented its
being put into execution.

FINIS