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AN HISTORICAL JOURNALOF THE TRANSACTIONS ATPORT JACKSON AND NORFOLK ISLANDWITH THE DISCOVERIES WHICH HAVE BEEN MADE INNEW SOUTH WALES AND IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN, SINCE THE PUBLICATION OFPHILLIP'S VOYAGE, COMPILED FROM THE OFFICIAL PAPERS;INCLUDING THE JOURNALS OF GOVERNOR PHILLIP AND KING, AND OFLIEUT. BALL;AND THEVOYAGESFROM THE FIRST SAILING OF THE SIRIUS IN 1787, TO THE RETURNOF THATSHIP'S COMPANY TO ENGLAND IN 1792

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BY JOHN HUNTER Esq. , POST CAPTAIN IN HIS MAJESTY'S NAVY

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ILLUSTRATED WITH SEVENTEEN MAPS, CHARTS, VIEWS AND OTHER EMBELLISHMENTSDRAWN ON THE SPOT BYCAPTAINS HUNTER AND BRADLEY, LIEUTENANT DAWES AND GOVERNOR KING

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LONDONPrinted for John Stockdale, PicadillyJanuary 1, 1793. 

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CONTENTS

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERSLIST OF PLATESCHAPTER I

The ships destined for Botany-Bay rendezvous at the Mother-Bank. --Leavethat place, and proceed on the voyage. --The convicts on board one ofthe transports attempt an insurrection. --Are timely discovered, and thering-leaders punished. --Arrived at Santa Cruz. --Transactions there. --Attempt of a convict to escape. --Description of Laguna, and the adjacentcountry. Departure from Santa Cruz. --Pass Cape Frio. --Arrive atRio Janeiro. Transactions there. --City of St. Sebastian described. --Tableof Winds, Weather, etc. 

CHAPTER II

Anchor in Table-Bay. --Refreshments procured there. --Departfrom the Cape of Good Hope. --Captain Phillip quits the Sirius, and proceeds on the voyage in the Supply. --The Sirius arrives inBotany-Bay. --Finds the Supply at anchor there. --Arrival of theBussole and Astrolabe. --Leave Botany-Bay, and anchor in PortJackson. --The Table of Winds, Weather, etc. 

CHAPTER III

Frequent interviews with the natives. --Weapons described. --Ornaments. --Persons, manners, and habitations. --Method of hunting. --Animalsdescribed. --Birds, and insects. --Diary of the weather. --Departure ofthe Bussole and Astrolabe. --A convict pretends to have discovered a goldmine. --The fraud detected. --Observations for the longitude, etc

CHAPTER IV

The Sirius leaves Port Jackson. --Sails for the Cape of GoodHope, by the Eastern Passage. --Falls in with many large islandsof ice. --Casts anchor at Robin's Island. --Tables of the winds, weather, etc. 

CHAPTER V

Depart from Robin's Island, and anchor in Table Bay. --The sicksent on shore. --Arrival of the Alexander transport. --Provisionsprocured for the settlement at Port Jackson. --Departure of theSirius. --In great danger from a violent tempest. --Arrives safe atPort Jackson. --Tables of the winds, weather, variation of thecompass, etc. 

CHAPTER VI

The small-pox makes its appearance among the natives. --Itsfatal effects. --A criminal court held. --Six marines tried andconvicted. --Governor Phillip visits Broken-bay. --Explores itsvarious inlets. --Returns to Port Jackson. Broken-baysurveyed. --Botany-bay surveyed. --Two natives brought to thesettlement, and kindly treated. --One of them makes hisescape. 

CHAPTER VII

The Sirius and Supply sail for Norfolk Island. --Land themarines and convicts. --Wreck of the Sirius. --Some provisionssaved. --Martial Law established. --Ratio of provisionssettled. --Vast numbers of birds caught. --In distress forprovisions. --Receive a supply from Port Jackson. --Officers andcrew of the Sirius leave Norfolk Island, and arrive at PortJackson. --Norfolk Island described. --Its situation andextent. --Soil. --Climate, etc. --Table of Winds, etc. 

CHAPTER VIII

Great improvement of the country at Rose Hill. --Vicissitude ofthe climate. Norfolk Island remarkably healthy. --A native runsaway from the settlement. --Frequent visits from thenatives. --Governor Phillip wounded by the natives with aspear. --Natives again visit the settlement. --Entertain thegovernor, etc. With a dance. --Decorate themselves for thatpurpose. Method of dancing described. --Music and singing. 

CHAPTER IX

Captain Hunter leaves Port Jackson in the Waaksamheydtransport. --In danger amongst some islands. --Isle of Pinesdescribed. --Stewart's islands discovered. --Fall in with Bradley'sshoals. --Discover a cluster of islands. --Name them Lord Howe'sGroupe. --The natives described. --Attempt to find anchorage on thecoast of New-Britain. --Are disappointed. --Anchor at the Duke ofYork's island. --Attempt to procure water. --Are attacked by thenatives. --A few shots fired. --The natives dispersed. --Areconciliation effected. --Natives described. --Weapons. --Ornaments, etc. --Produce and soil. --Leave the Duke of York's island. --Nativesfrom the Admiralty islands visit the ship. --Their canoesdescribed. --Phillip's islands discovered. --Anchor at Hummockisland. --Refreshments procured. --Visited by the Raja. --A quarrelensues. --Several of the natives killed. --Articles of barter inrequest. --Canoes described. --Leave Hummock island. --Anchor atBatavia. --Tables of latitude and longitude, etc. 

CHAPTER X

Captain Hunter waits on the Governor at Batavia. --Applies fora passage to England. --Purchases the Waaksambeyd for thatpurpose. --Leaves Batavia. --Passes the Keelings. --Arrives at theCape of Good Hope. --Leaves that place, and anchors at SaintHelena. --Departs from Saint Helena. --Arrives at Portsmouth. --Tablesfor the variation of the compass. --Captain Hunter's letter to theLords of the Admiralty. 

CHAPTER XI

Lieutenant King visits Monsieur De la Peyrouse atBotany-Bay. --Polit reception there. --An account of hisadventures. --Lieutenant King returns to Port Jackson. --Sent byGovernor Phillip to form a settlement on Norfolk Island. --LeavesPort Jackson. --An island discovered. --Arrival at NorfolkIsland. --Difficulty in finding a landing-place. --Lands theconvicts, provisions, and stores. --Ground cleared, and tentsfixed. --A store-house erected. --Vegetables, and various sorts ofgrain sown. --Distressed by rats. --General orders for theregulation of the settlement. 

CHAPTER XII

Regular employment of the convicts. --Meet with an unluckyaccident. --Thefts detected. --The robbers punished. --Pestered withrats. --Method of destroying them. --Live stock on thesettlement. --Trees discovered which afford food for hogs. --Someof the settlers poisoned. --Cured with sweet oil. --A convictpunished for using seditious language. --Birds on the island. Description of Arthur's Vale. --His Majesty's birth-daykept. --Flourishing state of the gardens. --Arrival of theSupply. --Four persons drowned. --Provisions and storesreceived. --Queries from Governor Phillip, and theanswers. --Ball-Bay described. --The landing-placecleared. --Arrival of the Golden Grove transport. --Marines andconvicts brought in the Golden Grove. --Provisions and stores. 

CHAPTER XIII

Quantity of provisions received by the Golden Grove. --Timbersent to Port Jackson. --Observations on the navigation nearNorfolk Island. --Number of persons on the settlement. --Nepean andPhillip Islands described. --Corn reaped. --A party sent to BallBay. --Talk-work of the convicts. --The free peopleexercised. --Plot to seize the island discovered. --Orders madepublic for the preservation of regularity. --Oath of allegianceadministered. --Provisions and stores examined. 

CHAPTER XIV

A violent hurricane at Norfolk Island. --Arrival of theSupply. --Convicts sent from Port Jackson. --Provisions andstores. --Departure of the Supply. --Robberiescommitted. --Employment of the convicts. --Wheat infested withcaterpillars. --A store-house erected. --Arrival of a party ofmarines from Port Jackson. --Thefts committed. --Orders read forpreserving regularity. --A female convict punished. --Perniciouseffects of the grub-worm. --Gardens plundered. --A granaryerected. --Wheat destroyed by paroquets. --Number of inhabitants onthe island. 

CHAPTER XV

The arrival of the Sirius and Supply at Norfolk-Island. --Theloss of the Sirius. --Captain Hunter and the crew saved. --Ageneral meeting of the officers convened. --Sundry regulationsadopted. --Martial-Law proclaimed. --Lieutenant-Governor Ross takesthe command. --Lieutenant King leaves Norfolk-Island. --Descriptionof Norfolk-Island. --Face of the country. --Water--Soil--Climate--Timber--Insects--Fish--Seasons--Winds--Coast, and Bays. --Present state ofcultivation. --General behaviour of the convicts. --Number of inhabitantson the island. --Grain and live-stock. --Lieutenant King arrives atPort Jackson. --Finds the country greatly improved. --Manners andcustoms of the natives. --Vocabulary of the language. 

CHAPTER XVI

Lieutenant King sails for Batavia. --Meets with a dangerousshoal. --Discovers Tench's-Island. --A description of theinhabitants. --Prince William-Henry's Island described. --Touchesat Kercolang. --A description of the inhabitants, their cloathingand utensils. --Passes through the Streights of Salayer. --Arrivalat Batavia. --Interview with the governor. --Bataviadescribed. --Situation and extent. --Manners and customs of theinhabitants. --Government and police. --Annual exports. --Departurefrom Batavia. --Mortality amongst the sailors. --Arrival at theIsle of France. --An account of that island. --Sails from the Isleof France. --Arrival in the English Channel. 

CHAPTER XVII

The Lady Juliana Transport arrives at Port Jackson. --Loss ofthe Guardian. --A settlement made at Sydney-Cove. --A state of thesettlements at Sydney-Cove and Rose-Hill. --A general return ofmale convicts, with their employments. 

CHAPTER XVIII

An excursion into the country. --An interview with thenatives. --Governor Phillip wounded with a spear. --A secondinterview with the natives. --Occurrences on that occasion. --Fiveconvicts effect their escape in a boat. --The settlement visitedby the natives. --Their customs. --Arrival of the Supply fromBatavia. 

CHAPTER XIX

Fruits in season described. --The manners of the natives. --Disputeswith them. --Arrival of a vessel from Batavia. 

CHAPTER XX

The depredations of the natives. --Bannelong's behaviour. --TheSupply sails for Norfolk-Island. --The quantity of provisionsbrought in the Waaksam-heid from Batavia. --The appearance of aprodigious number of Bats. --The return of Bannelong. --The mannersof the natives further described. 

CHAPTER XXI

An excursion into the country. --Occurrences on thejourney. --Surprising dexterity of the natives in climbingtrees. --Their superstition. --Their method of curingwounds. --Their language. --Their manners and disposition. 

CHAPTER XXII

A second excursion into the country. --The first grants of landto settlers. --A barter with the natives established. --The arrivalof several vessels from England. --A new harbour discovered. --Thenames of the first settlers. 

CHAPTER XXIII

Arrival of the Gorgon, and several transports at PortJackson. --The number of convicts brought out in these vessels. --Awhale-fishery established on the Coast of New South Wales. 

CHAPTER XXIV

The Supply leaves Port Jackson. --Receives some damage in astorm. --Doubles Cape Horn. --Passes Staten's land. --Anchors at RioJaneiro. --Refreshments procured. --Departure from RioJanciro. --Proceeds towards England. --Arrives off theLizard. --Particulars respecting Norfolk-Island. 

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A LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS

A. Altamont, Countess ofAndrews, James Pettit, Esq;Abercorn, Marquis ofAtkins, Edwin Martin, Esq; Kingston-LisleAddington, Right Hon. Henry, Speaker of the House of CommonsArden, Sir Richard Pepper, Master of the RollsArden, John, Esq; Ashley-Hall, CheshireAppleyard, Mr. 6 CopiesArch, J. And A. 6 CopiesAnderson, Mr. J. 2 CopiesArcher, Mr. John, Dublin, 12 CopiesAstley, Mrs. Duckenfield Lodge, CheshireB. Banks, Sir Joseph, Bart. Bolton, Duke ofBerkeley, CaptainBath, Marquis ofBuckingham, Marquis ofBadcock, Colonel, Little Missenden-Abbey, Bucks. Best, Richard, Esq; ChathamBuccleugh, Duke ofBradshaw, Mr. Beaufort, Duke ofBunbury, Sir Charles, Bart. Barnard, Mr. Jun. Bredalbane, Earl ofBarker, Lieutenant-ColonelBarwell, Richard, Esq;Bayham, LordBrowne, Mr. William, BristolBaldwin, Mr. 6 CopiesBecket, Mr. 6 CopiesBell, Mr. 6 CopiesBrown, Mr. 3 CopiesC. Curzon, Lady CharlotteChesterfield, Earl ofCherry, George, Esq;Chalmers, George, Esq;Charlston LibraryCharlston, Senate ofChichester, Sir John, Bart. Chatham, Earl ofCastera, J. ParisClarke, George Hyde, Esq; Hyde-Hall, CheshireCock, Thomas Theophilus, Esq; Messing, EssexClarke, Edward, Esq;Cadell, Mr. 2 CopiesClarke and Son, 2 CopiesCrowder, Mr. 2 CopiesCole, Lieutenant GeorgeCoxe, Daniel, Esq;D. Dacre, LordDarby, W. T. Esq;Dartmouth, Earl ofDorset, Duke ofDalrymple, Alexander, Esq;Davison, Alexander, Esq;Dimsdale, R. J. Esq;Delaval, LordDonowell, Mr. John, ArchitectDover, LordDeighton, Mr. 7 CopiesDonegal, Marquis ofDe Lancy, ColonelDe la Pole, Sir John, Bart. De Saussure, H. W. Esq; CharlstonDarton and Harvey, 6 CopiesDilly, Mr. 12 CopiesDangerfield, Mr. E. Elgin, Earl ofEkins, Charles, Esq;Eardley, LordEliot, LordEnys, John, Esq;Enderby, Samuel, Esq;Edwards, Mr. R. 8 CopiesEdwards, Mr. J. 6 CopiesEgerton, T. And J. 6 CopiesEvans, Mr. James, 6 CopiesEdwards, John, Esq;F. Forbes, Hon. John, Admiral of the FleetFife, Earl ofFrederick, Sir John, BartFitzhenry, Thomas, Esq;Faulder, Mr. 30 CopiesFaden, Mr. W. 6 CopiesG. Gloucester, His Royal Highness the Duke ofGrenville, LordGrote, George, Esq;Gardner, Alan, Esq;Green, Sir William, Bart. Graeme, Charles, Esq;Grantham, LadyGoldsmith, Mr. 4 CopiesGoulding, Mr. Gray, Mr. 2 CopiesH. Hillsborough, Earl ofHobart, MajorHardwicke, Earl ofHowe, Hon. Mrs. Howe, CountessHowe, Lady MaryHall, Rev. Mr. Howard de Walden, LordHeathcote, Thomas, Esq;Home, Patrick, Esq;Hood, LordHopetoun, Earl ofHunter, John, Esq;Hawkesbury, LordHawke, LordHaydon and Son, Plymouth, 3 CopiesHamilton, Mr. 3 CopiesHookham and Carpenter, 6 CopiesHodgson, Mr. 2 CopiesHanmer, Job, Esq; Holbrook-Hall, SuffolkJ. Jackson, Sir George, Bart. Jones, Robert, Esq; Fonmore-Castle, Glamorganshire. Jeffery, Mr. 3 CopiesJohnson, Mr. 12 CopiesK. Kelly, Earl ofKirby, Mr. 2 CopiesL. Leeds, Duke ofLenox, Lord GeorgeLaw, Thomas, Esq;Lucadou, James, Esq;Lettsom, Dr. Leslie, Mr. George, EdinburghLegg, Mr. BasingstokeLoveden, Edward Loveden, Esq;Long, Charles, Esq;Long, Samuel, Esq;Law and Son, 12 CopiesLowndes, Mr. 2 CopiesLackington, Mr. 2 CopiesLongman, Mr. 6 CopiesM. Montrose, Duke ofMartindale, John, Esq;Mossop, Rev. Mr. Academy, BrightonMac Leod, ColonelMacdonald, Sir Archibald, Attorney-GeneralMitchell, CaptainMeyrick, John, Esq;Macaulay, Mr. AldermanMontagu, M. Esq;Madden, James, Esq;Mornington, Earl ofMiller, LadyMadox, John, Esq;M'Queen, Mr. 2 CopiesMurray, Mr. 25 CopiesMiller, Mr. 3 CopiesN. Newcastle, Duke ofNepean, Evan, Esq;Nelthorpe, John, Esq; LincolnNicholls, Mr. Northesk, Earl ofO. Otridge, Mr. 4 CopiesOgilvie and Co. 2 CopiesP. Pitt, Right Hon. WilliamPeachy, John, Esq;Peachy, Sir James, Bart. Petrie, William, Esq;Patterson, John, Esq; NorwichPutland, William, Esq;Pye, Henry James, Esq;Pinckney, Charles, Esq; CharlestonPayne, Mr. 6 CopiesPhillips, Mr. 6 CopiesR. Rivers, LordRose, George, Esq;Rittson, John, Esq;Rastall, Rev. Mr. NewarkRobinson, Thomas, Esq;Rolt, Colonel, Bagden-Lodge, MarlboroughRegiment, 73d BengalRudge, Samuel, Esq;Robson, Mr. 27 CopiesRobinsons, Messrs. G. G. J. And J. 50 CopiesRivingtons, Messrs. F. And C. 6 CopiesRichardson, Mr. 6 CopiesRedhead, Henry, Esq;S. Salisbury, Marquis ofStafford, Marquis ofSydney, ViscountSt. John, LordSanderson, Sir James, Lord Mayor of the City of LondonSmyth, John, Esq;Salisbury, E. W. V. Esq;Spencer, EarlStanley, ColonelSmith, Sir John, Bart. Stephens, Phillip, Esq;Sotheron, William, Esq;Sturt, Charles, Esq;Scawen, James, Esq;Spence, George, Esq;Sylvester, Mr. JohnStockdale, Mr. Jeremiah, Mill-Maker to his MajestyScott, Rev. GeorgeSael, Mr. 2 CopiesSouthern, Mr. 3 CopiesSewell, Mr. 6 CopiesStrachan, Mr. 6 CopiesScatchard and Co. 6 CopiesSymonds, Mr. 12 CopiesSteel, Mr. 6 CopiesT. Thornton, Robert, Esq;Townshend, Hon. J. T. Tihe, Robert Stearne, Esq; Clanville Lodge, AndoverThornton, Mr. U. Urry, Captain, R. N. V. Vansittart, Nicholas, Esq;Vernor and Hood, 6 CopiesW. Walsingham, LordWarren, Dr. Worcester, Marquis ofWeymouth, LordWray, Sir Cecil, BartWoodford, Sir Ralph, Bart. Warwick, Earl ofWedgewood, Josiah, Esq;Wentworth, LordWright, Mr. William, Academy, Apsley, Wooburn, BedfordshireWenman, Right Hon. ViscountWood, Mr. HuttonWorcester SocietyWatts, Lieutenant John, R. N. Warren, Sir John Borlase, Bart. Wilkie, Mr. 6 CopiesWhite and Sons, 6 CopiesWalker, Mr. David, 2 CopiesWalker, Mr. John, 6 CopiesWalter, Mr. 12 CopiesY. Young, Arthur, EsqYates, Joseph, EsqYoung, Sir GeorgeYorke, Charles, Esq. 

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LIST OF PLATES. 

1. Captain Hunter2. Vignette on the Title Page. [Refer to paragraph "On our speaking to her, she raised herself up"... ]3. A Map of New South Wales4. View of the Settlement on Sydney Cove, Port Jackson5. The Southern Hemisphere, showing the Track of the Sirius6. A Chart of Botany-Bay, Port Jackson, and Broken-Bay, with the Coast and Soundings7. View at Rose-Hill8. A Man of Lord Howe's Groupe9. A Man of the Duke of York's Island10. Canoes of the Duke of York's-Island11. Canoes of the Admiralty Islands12. Track of the Waaksamheyd Transport13. A Plan of Norfolk-Island14. A Family of New South Wales15. Non-Descript Shells, of New South Wales, Plate I. 16. Non-Descript Shells, of New South Wales, Plate II. 17. Non-Descript Shells, of New South Wales, Plate III. 

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A VOYAGE TO NEW SOUTH WALES

Chapter I

October 1786 to September 1787

The ships destined for Botany-Bay rendezvous at the Mother-Bank. --Leavethat place, and proceed on the voyage. --The convicts on board one ofthe transports attempt an insurrection. --Are timely discovered, andthe ring-leaders punished. --Arrived at Santa Cruz. --Transactionsthere. --Attempt of a convict to escape. --Description of Laguna, andthe adjacent country. Departure from Santa Cruz. --Pass Cape Frio. --Arriveat Rio Janeiro. Transactions there. --City of St. Sebastian described. --Table of Winds, Weather_, etc. 

It being the intention of government to remove theinconvenience, which this country suffered, from the goals beingso exceedingly crouded with criminals, who had been by the lawscondemned to transportation, the east coast of New Holland wasthe place determined upon to form a settlement for this salutarypurpose. The east coast of New Holland is that country, which wasdiscovered and explored by Captain James Cook, in his firstvoyage round the world, and by him called New South Wales. BotanyBay, the only place he entered with the ship, which could becalled a harbour, having been mentioned in the narrative of thatvoyage, as a convenient place for a settlement, was fixed upon bygovernment for the intended design. 

On the 25th of October, 1786, his Majesty's ship Sirius, lyingin the dock at Deptford, was commissioned, and the command givento Arthur Phillip, Esq; the Supply armed tender was also put incommission, and Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball was appointed tocommand her. 

The Sirius was a ship of about 540 tons burthen, exceedinglywell calculated for such a service; she mounted 20 guns, and hada spar deck over them, was of a round full built, and was alltogether a very capacious and convenient vessel. The Supply armedtender was a brig, and was one of the vessels which were employedin carrying naval stores from one of his Majesty's dock-yards toanother; she was a very firm strong little vessel, very flatfloored, and roomy, mounted eight guns, and had a deep waist, which I feared would be found a very great, if not a dangerousinconvenience in so low a vessel on so long a voyage. TheSirius's compliment was 160 men; that of the Supply, 55 men. These two ships were intended, after having performed the serviceof escorting the convicts to the place of their destination, toremain in the country to be employed as the governor might findnecessary for the public service, until they should be relievedby other ships from England. 

I had some reason, during the equipment of those ships, tothink I might be employed upon this service, in some way orother; and as Captain Phillip was appointed governor of the newsettlement, and of course had much business to transact inLondon, I frequently visited the Sirius, and frequently receivedhis directions in any thing that related to the fitting her; shewas out of the dock and the rigging in hand when I first went onboard, On the 9th of December, the ship being ready to fall downthe river, we slipped the moorings and sailed down to Long-Reach, where we took in the guns and ordnance stores. On the 15th, I wasinformed by a letter from Mr. Stephens, Secretary to theAdmiralty, that there was a commission signed for me in thatoffice, and desiring I would come to town and take it up. Thenature of the service upon which the Sirius might be employed inthose seas to which she was bound, having been considered, it wasjudged necessary that an officer, bearing a certain rank, shouldcommand that ship in the absence of Captain Phillip, whoseprefence, it was to be supposed, would be requisite at all timeswherever the seat of government in that country might be fixed. In consequence of Mr. Stephens's letter, I repaired to theAdmiralty, and received a commission, appointing me SecondCaptain of his Majesty's ship Sirius, with the rank of PostCaptain, and with power to command her in the absence of herprincipal Captain; subject nevertheless to his controul, and tosuch orders and directions for my proceedings as he might seeoccasion to give me, for the good of the service. Thisappointment of a Second Captain, to a private ship, being thefirst instance in our service, it could not, consistent with theestablished regulations of the navy, take place, but by theauthority of the King's order in council: an order from hisMajesty in council, authorizing the Lords of the Admiralty tomake such appointment, was therefore given. 

On the 30th of January, 1787, two transports, one having male, the other female convicts on board, dropt down to Long-Reach, butthey having business to transact with the owners of the ships, relative to their ships companies, were permitted to proceed aslow as Gravesend, where the Sirius joined them the next day, andproceeded immediately to the Nore, where we anchored the sameday, and were joined by his Majesty's armed tender Supply: on the4th of February, we anchored in the Downs, and were detainedthere by bad weather and contrary winds, until the 19th, when weput to sea in company with the Supply and transports, and arrivedon the Mother-Bank on the 21st: at this anchorage, all thetransports and store-ships were directed to rendezvous; thelatter were already arrived, and, while we lay here, the othertransports joined us from the westward. 

On the 9th of May, Captain Phillip arrived in Portsmouth, andthe next day came on board, and issued the signals and othernecessary orders to Lieutenant John Shortland, the agent fortransports, to be delivered to the masters of the differentships. 

On Sunday the 13th, we sailed from the Mother-Bank in companywith the Supply armed tender, six transports, having on board 600male, and 200 female convicts, and three store-ships, carryingprovisions and various other stores: on board the ships carryingconvicts, were embarked 160 marines, with their proper officers;Major Robert Ross was commandant of the battalion, and appointedlieutenant-governor of the new settlement; a surgeon and threeassistants were also embarked in the transports, with medicinesand necessaries for the people under their care. The wind beingeasterly, we ran out at the Needles, and were accompanied by hisMajesty's ship Hyena, Captain De Coursey, who had received ordersfrom the Admiralty to see us 100 leagues to the westward. 

We had light breezes with fair and pleasant weather down thechannel, but had the mortification to find that two of ourtransports sailed exceedingly bad; one of which, the Hyena towedtwo or three days. On the 15th, at sun-set, the Start Point borenorth-east half east by compass, distant seven or eight leagues:at noon on this day (which finishes the nautical and begins theastronomical day) the longitude, by account, was 5°. 01'. West of the meridian of Greenwich, and by a timepiece made by Mr. Kendal, with which the Board of Longitude had supplied us, it was4°. 59'. West; we had a variety of weather from this timetill the 21st. When being in latitude 47°. 52'. North, andlongitude 12°. 14'. West, Captain Phillip put his dispatcheson board the Hyena; she saluted us with three cheers, and weparted company; the wind was now, and had been for some daysbefore, in the south-west quarter, with hazy weather, ourprogress to the southward was therefore but slow; much attentionwas required on our part to the rate of sailing of the differenttransports, in order to prevent separation. 

At this time a report was made from one of the transports, both by the commanding marine officer on board, and the master ofthe ship, that a discovery had been made of an intendedinsurrection amongst the convicts in that ship; in which, if theyhad succeeded, they were to have quitted the fleet in the night, and afterwards to have made such use of the ship, as they should, upon farther consideration of the matter, determine amongstthemselves. Captain Phillip had very humanely, a few daysprevious to this scheme, directed that the irons with which mostof the male convicts had hitherto been confined, should be takenoff them generally, that they might have it more in their powerto strip their cloaths off at night when they went to rest, bealso more at their ease during the day, and have the fartheradvantage of being able to wash and keep themselves clean; thisindulgence had no doubt left it more in the power of those whomight be disposed to exert their ingenuity, in so daring anattempt, to carry their plan into execution with a greaterprobability of success; but I am thoroughly convinced, that sostrict an attention to duty was paid by the whole of the marinesemployed on this service, that such an attempt would haveterminated in the destruction of those who appeared most activeand forward in it. Two of the principals were brought on boardthe Sirius, severely punished, and sent on board anothertransport, properly secured in heavy irons. 

On the 23d, the wind inclined to the north-west, and, afterheavy rain, settled in that quarter; by the favour of this changewe proceeded to the southward, at the rate of between 70 and 100miles in 24 hours. On the 26th, the wind shifted to thenorthward, and from that to the north-east; our latitude at thistime was 42°. 10'. North, and the longitude 11°. 36'. West; variation of the compass, 20°. 19'. West. 

On the 29th in the evening, (as we intended making the islandsof Porto Sancto and Madeira) being but a little distance from theformer, and the weather being hazy, we shortened sail, to preventthe convoy from falling suddenly in with the land in the night:at day-light the next morning, we saw the Deserters off Madeira, bearing west-south-west, five leagues distant; we had passed theisland of Porto Sancto in the night, having steered to pass eightor nine leagues to the eastward of it; we found the ship set thislast 24 hours 12 miles to the southward of the log. At noon thesouth-easternmost Deserter bore by compass north 17°. West, by which we made its latitude 32°. 29'. North, and itslongitude by the time-keeper 16°. 38'. West of Greenwich; thevariation of the compass was here 17°. 00' west: from hence, with a light breeze from the northward, we steered south halfwest, by compass, and at five P. M. On the 1st of June, we madethe Salvages; which was rather sooner than we expected, by thedistance we had run from the Deserters off Madeira, and thelatitude observed the preceding noon, by which we judgedourselves not less than 17 leagues from them. At midnight we wereexactly in their parallel, and saw them very distinctly by thelight of the moon, which was very clear; their latitude, deducedfrom the preceding, as well as following meridian observations, is 30°. 12'. North, which is 12 miles to the northward ofwhat they are generally placed, either in tables or charts; theirlongitude, by our time-keeper, is 15°. 53'. West. I had neverseen these rocks before, and always understood them to be smallinconsiderable spots, but the largest is so high as to be seen atthe distance of seven or eight leagues, and appears to be about amile and a half in length, from north-west to south-east; thereare a few scattered rocks appear above water, to the westward;and I have been told, that a reef of considerable extentstretches out from them to the westward. 

From the time of our passing these rocks until the evening ofthe 3d, we had very light airs and variable, but mostly from thesouth-west quarter, and every day found we were affected by asoutherly current of 10 or 12 miles in 24 hours. The wind nowsprung up from the northward, and we steered for the island ofTeneriffe, directing our course by the longitude determined fromthe time-keeper, the account being 1°. 04'. To the westwardof it, and our lunar observations within three miles of it: atday-light in the morning we saw the island of Teneriffe, and atnoon Point de Nagara, or north-east point, bore south-west bysouth, distant five leagues; some of the convoy beingconsiderably astern we brought to, and in the afternoon, therebeing a fresh of wind from the north-east, we bore away and madethe signal for the convoy to make all the sail possible, inorder, as we were strangers to Sancta Cruz road, that we mightsave day-light to the anchorage, which we effected, and had thewhole convoy in before dark; at half past six in the evening weanchored in 15 fathoms water, soft ground, being a mixture ofsand and black mud: we moored with the bower anchors, and had thechurch of St. Francisco south 73°. 00'. West, the easternmostpoint in sight, called Point Roquet, (from a small rock whichlies a little detached from it) north 78°. 00'. East, and afort to the south-west of the town, south 45°. 00'. West, distant from the nearest shore about two and a half cableslength. The ground all over this bay is said to be foul; wetherefore buoyed up our cables, but had no reason, upon examiningthem afterwards, to believe there was any foul ground where welay. 

The next morning, Captain Phillip sent an officer to wait onthe governor with the usual information of whom we were, and ourbusiness at that island; but, previous to our anchoring, themaster attendant, and some other officers, were on board theSirius for this very purpose; a ceremony which I believe isseldom neglected. When the officer returned, he brought a verypolite reply from the governor, signifying his sincere wishesthat the island might be capable of supplying us with sucharticles as we were in want of, and his assurances that everyrefreshment the place afforded we should certainly have. CaptainPhillip then waited on the governor, accompanied by Major Ross, myself, and several other officers; we were most politelyreceived by him, and he repeated his hope that Teneriffe mightafford every refreshment which we had occasion for. 

Two days after this visit, the governor, who was then theMarquis Branceforte, and captain-general of the whole of theCanary Islands, notwithstanding he had the day before returnedCaptain Phillip's visit by an officer, came on board himself, attended by several officers. He remained about an hour on board, and asked many questions respecting the extent of our voyage, andsituation of the place where we were going to settle, all ofwhich we explained to him by a general chart of the world. A dayor two after this visit, Captain Phillip received an invitationto dine with him, and to bring as many of the principal officersas could be spared from the ships: we waited on him in a partyabout twelve, and were very hospitably and politely entertained;in short, on the whole, I never met with so polite and sopleasant a man in any foreign port I have ever visited. 

During the time we lay in this road, the ships companies, themarines, and convicts, were every day supplied with freshprovisions, of which there appeared to be great abundance on theisland: vegetables and fruit were at this time scarce; potatoes, onions, and pumpkins _only_ were to be had, and those but insmall quantities. It was Captain Phillip's intention, when wearrived here, to have remained only three or four days, but wefound that the watering of the ships was a business which couldnot be completed in so short a time. During our stay, thewatering the ships was our principal consideration, and it wasoften unavoidable to be employed in this necessary business onboard the transports after dark; the watering-place being onlycontrived to load two boats at a time. 

A convict one evening, while every body was employed inclearing a boat of water, contrived to slip into a small boat, and dropt away from the ship unperceived; when he got to someconsiderable distance off, he then exerted himself at his oars, and got on board a foreign East-India ship, which was lying here, and offered himself as a seaman, but was refused; finding himselfdisappointed in his hope of getting off in that ship, he judgedit necessary, knowing that he would very soon be missed, andsearch made after him, to quit that ship; he landed to thewestward of the town, but on a place where there was a good dealof surf, and where the rocks behind him were inaccessible. Theofficer of marines on board that transport, having ordered theconvicts to be mustered as usual at setting the watch, when theywere always put below, found this man was missing, and immediateinformation of it sent to Captain Phillip; who next morning sentan officer from the Sirius to the governor, requesting hisassistance in recovering the deserter; orders were immediatelygiven by the governor for that purpose; in the morning early, boats were dispatched from the ships to row along shore to thewestward, to endeavour to recover the boat he had taken away, anda little to the westward of the town, they discovered the boatbeating on the rocks; and rowing in to pick her up, theydiscovered the fellow concealing himself in the cliff of a rock, not having been able to get up the precipice: the officerpresented a musket at him, and threatened if he did notimmediately come down and get into the boat he would shoot him;the fellow complied, rather than run the hazard of being shot, and was taken on board, punished, and put in irons until we gotto sea, when he was liberated in the same manner as the rest. 

Before we were ready to put to sea, a party of us haddetermined to make a short excursion into the country, where wehad no doubt of finding its aspect more inviting than theprospect from the ships: for this purpose, we set out one morningvery early, accompanied by two British gentlemen, who weremerchants resident here, (Mr. Little and Mr. Armstrong, ) and whohad shown us upon every occasion much civility and attention:those gentlemen had previously provided horses, mules, provisions, etc. We directed our journey to the city ofLaguna, which was, and is still called the capital of the island;it is said to be but three or four miles from Santa Cruz; but, whether from the badness of the road, (which is certainly theworst I ever saw in any country, ) or the slowness of our progressfrom that cause, I thought it not less than twice thatdistance. 

When we arrived at Laguna, we walked through many of thestreets, which are very regular, and cross each other at rightangles; the buildings in general are good, and some of thestreets are wider than you generally see them in any of theSpanish or Portuguese towns: there are two parish churches, whichhave short square steeples, but they appear above all the otherbuildings; there are also two nunneries, and three or fourconvents, which are built in a quadrangular form, and have goodgardens. In the middle of the town is a conduit, which suppliesthe inhabitants with water. This city stands on a plain ofconsiderable extent, over part of which we rode, until we came tothe foot of the hill from whence the town is supplied with water. We ascended the mountain, and traced the stream to itsfountain-head, where we found it issuing from cavities in severalparts of the hill, and was conveyed down the declivity instone-troughs, and received on the plain by troughs of wood, supported about seven or eight feet above the ground by props;through this aqueduct, the water is carried to the center of thecity, over a plain, from a distance of four or five miles. 

The plain on which Laguna stands, is pleasant and fertile; itwas now the height of their harvest, and many people wereemployed in cutting down the corn, with which this plain seemedto be well planted; there were also many pleasant gardens here, and the soil in general appeared rich. The plain is surrounded byvery high mountains, down the sides of which in the rainy season, (for their rains are periodical, ) vast torrents of water run, from which cause, I apprehend, its unhealthiness must proceed;for I was told, when remarking how thinly the town of Lagunaappeared to be inhabited, that very few, who had it in theirpower to choose their place of residence, would continue inLaguna. The governor has a palace here, but generally resides atSanta Cruz; and this city, once the residence of persons in greatauthority, is now quite deserted by people of any distinction. Isaw nothing of the lake from which it derives its name, but wasgiven to understand that it was now a very inconsiderable pieceof water; probably the accounts given of there having been alarge lake here, may have originated from the plain being quite aswamp during the fall of the heavy rains. We returned to SantaCruz the same evening, very much pleased with our excursion: Iregretted much, that the time proposed for settling our businesshere, would not admit of a visit to the Peak, a mountain so muchspoken of by all who have visited this island, for its wonderfulheight. 

The bay of Santa Cruz is defended by many small batteries offour or five guns each, which are placed at certain distancesfrom each other, round the bay, and close to the water-side, which exposes them much to the annoyance of ships; but theirprincipal fort is near the landing place, and is a strong work, but the water being deep very near in, they are all exposed tothe attack of ships: on the whole, it is said, they mount nearone hundred pieces of cannon. 

The town of Santa Cruz is very irregularly built; theprincipal street is broad, and has more the appearance of asquare than a street; the governor's house stands at the upperend; it is but a mean looking building, and has more theappearance of a country inn, than the palace of a governor: atthe lower end of the street there is a square monument, commemorating the appearance of Notre Dame to the Guanches, theoriginal inhabitants of the island. The out-skirts of the townhave more the appearance of a place deserted and in ruins, than aplace of trade, for many of the houses there are either left halfbuilt, or have fallen to decay from some other cause, and thestone walls, which were their principal fences, are broken downand in ruins. 

On the ninth of June, in the afternoon, the transports havingcompleted their watering, the signal was made from the Sirius forevery person of our fleet to repair immediately on board theirrespective ships, and on the 10th, in the morning, we put to seawith a light air of wind from the land. 

The island of Teneriffe is situated in latitude as observed inthe road, 28° 29' 5" north, and longitude, determined by thetime-keeper, 16° 18' 00" west. 

We steered to the south-west until we were near the meridianof the island of Sal, the northernmost of the Cape De VerdeIslands, and then shaped our course so as to fall in a little tothe eastward of it. At 10 in the evening of the 18th, being at nogreat distance from the island, we made the signal for the convoyto shorten sail, the distance not being sufficient to admit ofour carrying sail all night; at nine the next morning we saw theisland bearing north-west by north, distant four leagues: I makethe latitude of the north end 16° 48' north, and itslongitude, determined by the time-keeper, is 23° 03' west, the south end is in latitude 16° 39' north. We steered fromabreast the center of this island, south half east by compass, which carried us about three or four miles wide of the reef, which extends from the north-east part of Bonavista, and runsfrom the shore in a south-east direction three or four miles: itwas about two o'clock in the afternoon when we made the island ofBonavista, so that we had a very good opportunity of seeing thereef, from which I observe Captain Cook says, in one of hisvoyages, he was in great danger, and that it lies off thesouth-east part of the island; which is certainly a mistake, forwe ran down the east side of the island, at the distance of threemiles from the reef, and I make its latitude and longitude asfollows:--

Island of Bonavista:Latitude of the north end 16° 13' north. Longitude by time-keeper 22° 51' west. Latitude of the south end 16° 00' north. Variation of the compass 11° 19' west. 

At twelve o'clock at night, having an intention of anchoringin Port Praya Bay, in the island of Saint Jago, we made thesignal and brought-to till day-light; we then made sail, theweather very hazy, which is generally the case among theseislands: we ran close round the south end of the isle of May, andstretched over for the south end of Saint Jago; but when weopened Port Praya Bay, we were suddenly taken aback with the windfrom north-west, and every ship appeared to have the wind in adifferent direction. In this situation it was thought that anyattempt to gain the anchorage under such unfavourablecircumstances might be attended with the danger of some of theships getting on board each other; it was therefore determined togive up the intention, and the signal was made for thatpurpose. 

The object for which we endeavoured to get into this bay, was, a supply of fresh vegetables for the ships companies andconvicts, an article with which we had been but scantily providedat Teneriffe. Port Praya Bay, on the island of Saint Jago, issituated in latitude 14° 54' north, and longitude 23° 37'west. This was about noon of the 20th of June, and we took ourleave of these islands, and steered to the southward, intendingto cross the equator, if possible, two or three° to theeastward of the meridian of Saint Jago. 

We had a fresh gale from the north-east until we were in thelatitude of 10° 30' north; the north-east trade now becamefaint and variable, and in 9° 30' north we had frequentcalms, with dark cloudy weather, and heavy showers of rain;squalls were seen now rising from every part of the horizon, andappeared to threaten much wind, but they seldom contained anything but torrents of rain; the breezes, which were very light, and were generally from the southward, very much retarded ourprogress towards the line. In latitude 8° 30' north, the windfixed in the south-west quarter (rather an extraordinarycircumstance in these latitudes) and blew a fresh gale, withwhich we stood to the eastward; but as it was generally farsoutherly, we were soon in longitude 18° 26' west, by thetime-piece, on which we had more reliance than on the deadreckoning, for here we found a current setting considerablystrong to the eastward; our lunar observations, which we neverfailed to make at every opportunity, constantly confirmed thetruth of the watch. 

Finding no prospect of a change of wind by continuing to standto the eastward, we tacked in the above longitude, and latitude6° 48' north, and stood to the westward; for the wind nowappeared fixed between south-west and south, a steady gale with alarge sea from the southward; many of the convoy sailed so heavy, and were so leewardly, that to gain ground thus circumstanced wasimpossible; we had therefore only to hope, that by standing offto a greater distance from the coast of Africa, we might find thewind incline to the eastward of south: we, therefore, keptworking in this manner for twelve days, in the course of whichtime our dead reckonings were four° to the westward of thetruth, occasioned by the the strong easterly currents; in thelatitude of 4° 30' north, and longitude, by the time-keeper, 19° 40' west, the wind began to incline to thesouth-south-east, which gave us some reason to hope that thesouth-east trade wind was at no great distance. 

It continued wavering between the south by east and south-eastuntil we had got another degree to the southward, when it settledat south-east a steady breeze; but the easterly current, whichwould now have been an advantage to us by keeping the transportsto windward, had ceased, and we found a strong westerly onerunning for several days, from 30 to 45 miles in 24 hours, bywhich our account was brought back to its original agreement withthe time-keeper and lunar observations. The greatest velocity ofthe westerly current, was between latitude 3° 00' north andthe line, and its direction appeared to have been nearly west, for we never found our observations for the latitude materiallyaffected by it; the same was the case with the easterly current, which may account for the ships from the northward, bound to thecoast of Brazil, who may have no other way of determining theirlongitude but by account, scarcely having been sensible of anycurrent; so very nearly does the westerly set, counteract, in thepassage, that to the eastward. 

On the 14th of July, in the evening, we crossed the equator inlongitude 26° 10' west, and with 5° 00' of westvariation. The south-east trade wind now made us ample amends forthe failure of the north-east, for it blew a fresh and steadybreeze from east-south-east to east, which I believe is ratheruncommon when the sun has so great north declination: if the windhad not favoured us so much, we must have fallen in with thecoast of Brazil, far to the northward, which, with this convoy, would have been attended with much loss of time, and some degreeof danger; however, with this favourable slant, we carried allthe sail possible, and were enabled to keep at a distance fromthe coast, but not so far as to be able to make the island ofTrinidada, which it was Captain Phillip's intention to have done, had the wind permitted. 

We passed its parallel 4° 30' to the westward of it, andhad for several days kept a look out for an island, which thePortuguese call Ascencao, and is said to lie between Trinidadaand the coast of Brazil; but the existence of which there is muchreason to doubt. We did not see any thing until the 3d of August, when we made Cape Frio; at 12 o'clock at night we were rightabreast of it, and had it bearing north half west five or sixmiles; its longitude, by the time-keeper, is 41° 40' west ofthe meridian of Greenwich* and its latitude is 22° 58' south. This cape is an island distant two or three miles from the mainland; we had very light airs and variable weather between theCape and Rio Janeiro, which is a distance of 18 or 20 leagues; wenever approached the shore nearer than five or six miles, atwhich distance we had 30 fathoms water over a soft bottom, and atfour leagues distance had 42 and 43 fathoms, with the same softground. 

[* It will appear hereafter that we had not the truerate of the watch, and consequently that the above longitude isnot correct. ]

On the 6th of August, a light breeze from the sea carried uswithin the islands which lie off the harbour, where we anchoredfor the night, with the convoy, in 14 fathoms water, clear softground, the island Raz (a low flat island) bearing south by westtwo miles, and Rodondo (a high round island) south-west by south. The next morning an officer was sent to the town, to wait on theviceroy, and give him information who we were, and for whatpurpose we had visited that port: in the afternoon of the 7th, with a breeze from the sea, we weighed, and, with the wholeconvoy, sailed into the harbour. 

As we passed Fort Santa Cruz, we saluted with 13 guns, whichwas returned by an equal number from the fort; we anchored offthe town in 17˝ fathoms water, over a good soft bottom, and moored with best bower to the south-east, and the small bowerto the north-west; Fort Santa Cruz south 36° 00' east; theSugar Loaf south, 7° 00' east; and the Flag-Staff, on theIsland Cobres, north 78° 00' west, distant from the town onemile and a half. In going into the harbour, there being verylittle wind, some of our convoy were alongside of each other, andwere drifting in with the tide; at which the master of the port, who was on board the Sirius, expressed much uneasiness; but hewas told our seamen knew very well how to manage their ships, andthat there was no danger: the Portuguese will not allow more thanone of their ships in the narrows at a time. 

The ships in general had been remarkably healthy; the wholenumber buried since we left England was sixteen, six only of thatnumber had died between Teneriffe and this place, which certainlyis a very trying part of the voyage to people who have not beenaccustomed to warm climates, and being fed wholly on saltprovisions; many of those whom we had lost since we leftPortsmouth, had been lingering under diseases with which theywere afflicted when they embarked; consequently little hope couldbe entertained of their recovery in such a situation and undersuch circumstances. 

On our arrival here, there were but four out of the wholenumber in fevers, and a few others with various but triflingcomplaints; and between 20 and 30, in whom symptoms of the scurvyhad lately appeared, the seeds of which it was hoped and expectedwould be effectually eradicated before we left this place. Freshprovisions were immediately provided on our arrival, and servedto the ships companies, marines, and convicts; vegetables werealso provided, of which they were to have a proportion servedwith their other provisions every day whilst we remained here;oranges and other tropical fruits were in vast abundance at thistime; the convicts also had a proportion of oranges with theirother provisions, this fruit being in such great plenty, that theexpence attending the purchase of a few for each individual aday, was too inconsiderable to be noticed. Indeed, it was nouncommon thing to see the country boats, as they passed theships, throw in a shower of oranges amongst the people. 

We had not been ten days in this harbour, before we found theconvicts in every ship much more healthy than when we leftSpithead. Much pains had been taken by some (who, from whatevercause, were averse to the expedition) to make the world believethat we were, whilst lying at the Mother-Bank, so very sickly asto bury eight or ten every day; and that a malignant diseaseraged with great violence on board the transports: how far thosereports were true, will best appear by the returns which will nodoubt be sent to England from this place. Among such a number ofpeople confined in small ships, to have no sick on board, was notto be expected; but the reports spread by some industriouspersons exceedingly exaggerated our numbers. I may, without aprobability of being much mistaken, venture to say, that thereare few country towns in the island of Great-Britain, whichcontain 1500 inhabitants, (the number which the ships employed onthis service had on board) which have not frequently as many sickas we had, at the time it was given out we buried such numbersdaily. 

At this place we met with every thing that was civil andpolite; a day or two after our arrival, the whole of the officerswere introduced and paid their respects to the Vice-King, whoseemed desirous of making the place as convenient and pleasant aspossible, consistent with his instructions, relative toforeigners, from the court of Portugal. 

It has ever been a custom here, that when any foreign shipsare in this harbour, a guard boat rows constantly night and day, and when any boat from such foreign vessel goes on shore, asoldier is put into the boat, and continues on board her duringher stay on shore: this custom is intended to prevent smuggling, a crime which is punished here with the utmost severity; and whenany foreign officer lands, an officer from the guard is orderedto attend him wherever he goes: this restraint, which wouldcertainly have been very ill relished by us, however necessary itmight have been for our own convenience to have complied withit--was not even in the beginning offered, but every officerpermitted to walk where he pleased, except in the forts; aliberty never granted to strangers; nor was any centinel everplaced in any of the King's boats at landing, not even in thoseof the transports; an extraordinary mark of civility andconfidence, and of which every officer in our fleet was perfectlysensible. But when the masters of the transports went on shore, anon-commissioned officer from the guard attended them whereverthey went, and their sailors were attended by a privatesoldier. 

During our stay here, we were permitted to erect a tent on theisland Enchados, (a small island about a mile and a half fartherup the harbour than where we lay with the ships, ) for the purposeof landing a few of the astronomical instruments which werenecessary for ascertaining the rate of the time-keeper; they wereput under the charge and management of Lieutenant William Dawes, of the marines, a young gentleman very well qualified for such abusiness, and who promises fair, if he pursue his studies, tomake a respectable figure in the science of astronomy. 

The weather was rather unfavourable, during the time theinstruments were on shore for ascertaining the rate of thetime-keeper, but as constant attention was paid, everyopportunity that offered was made use of, and the watch was foundto be 2"-27. Which is near a second more than was its rate atPortsmouth. 

The 21st of August being the anniversary of the Prince ofBrazil's birth-day, at sun-rise in the morning we displayed theflag of Portugal at the fore top-mast head, and that of our ownnation at the main and mizen: half an hour after ten, theVice-King received compliments upon that occasion; all theofficers of our fleet which could be spared from duty on board, landed, and in a body went to the palace to make theircompliments upon this public day; the viceroy upon this, as wellas upon every other occasion, showed us particular attention. Wewere the first company admitted into the levee-room, then theclergy and military, after which, the civilians and some of themilitary promiscuously. 

When we entered the room a signal was made from the palace, and the fort began to fire. Orders had been left with thecommanding officer on board the Sirius, to begin to salute afterthe fort had fired two guns, which was particularly attended to, and a salute of twenty-one guns was given. It is rather uncommonupon such occasions, for an English ship of war to salute at soearly an hour, but certainly the greatest compliment which wecould at such time pay them, was to observe in this case thecustom practised by their own ships. 

On Monday the 3d of September, the watering of the convoy, andevery other part of their refitting being compleated, the signalwas made from the Sirius for every person to repair immediatelyon board their respective ships, and at the same time the signalfor unmooring was shown; and on Tuesday morning, with a lightbreeze from the land, we weighed with the convoy. When the Siriushad got within about half a mile of Fort Santa Cruz, that castlesaluted us with 21 guns, which was answered by us with the samenumber; a very high and uncommon compliment, and such I believeas is seldom paid to any foreigner; but was no doubt meant as asuitable return to the attention paid by his Majesty's ship tothe birth-day of the Prince of Brazil. We carried wind enough outto run us clear without the islands before night. 

The harbour of Rio de Janeiro may be known when you are offit, by a remarkable hill at its entrance, called Pao d'Asucar, from its resemblance to a loaf of sugar; but there is a hill tothe south-east of the harbour, which is called by some the FalseSugar-loaf; but which, as you view it from the eastward, I thinkhas more the appearance of a church, with a short spire steeple;this hill points out the harbour to ships at a distance, muchbetter than Pao d'Asucar. The land to the westward of the harbouris high and broken, and is commonly so covered with clouds, thatyou cannot discover the true make of it. 

Right off the harbour lie several small islands, all steep to, or nearly so; a few rocks project a very small distance from someof them, but which cannot be considered dangerous, as no personpossessed of common prudence would ever take a ship so near asthey lye; within those islands (if you have not wind to carryyour ship into the harbour) you may anchor; the best birth forgetting under way with any wind, is to bring the island Raz (alow island) to bear south or south half west one mile, in 14 or15 fathoms water, soft bottom; there is nothing in the waybetween this anchorage and the harbour; you will observe in theentrance a small island or rock, fortified, called Lage; you sailabout mid-channel between this island and Fort Santa Cruz, observing that the tide of flood sets upon Santa Cruz point, andthe ebb upon the island; the soundings from the outer anchoragedecrease from 14 fathoms, where we lay, regularly, till nearabreast of the Sugar-loaf, where it is six and a half fathoms:from this depth you drop into 12, 14, and 16 fathoms. Run up, andanchor off the town in 17 or 18 fathoms, clear soft ground. 

CITY OF ST. SEBASTIAN. 

Latitude: 22° 54' 13" south

Longitude, deduced from our time-keeper of the meridian ofGreenwich, and which agrees with that laid down in the newrequisite tables, but which certainly are not correct: 42°44' 00" west. 

Longitude, determined by two astronomers sent from Portugalfor that and other purposes: 43° 18' 45" west. 

Longitude, by an eclipse of Jupiter's third satellite, takenby Lieutenant Dawes, on the island Enchados: 43° 19' 00"west. 

Longitude, by a mean of several distances of sun and moontaken by me at the outer anchorage: 43° 11' 15" west. 

Longitude, by Lieutenant Bradley: 43° 33' 00" west. 

The tide flows here at full and change of the moon, north-eastby north and south-west by south, and rises between six and sevenfeet. 

The harbour is very extensive and commodious; there are manyconvenient bays in it, where a vast many ships may be laid up inperfect security from any bad weather. The town is large, wellbuilt, and populous, but ill situated for the health of itsinhabitants: it stands upon low ground, which was formerlyswampy, and is surrounded with hills of immense height, whichentirely exclude the benefit of the refreshing sea and landbreezes; so that in the summer time, it is really suffocatinghot, and of course very unhealthy. The streets, some few of them, are pretty wide, the others in general rather narrow, and mostlyintersect each other at right-angles. The square, or parade, opposite to which the boats land, is large, and the buildingsround it are good, and on the south side of this square standsthe viceroy's palace. The churches are very good buildings, andtheir decorations exceedingly rich, and they seem to haveexcellent organs in them; all those which I saw here, as well asat Teneriffe, had what in a large church I conceive to be aconsiderable improvement, and it is what I never have seenapplied to any of our organs, even in the largest churches inEngland; each pipe of the organ has a tube which projects fromits lower part in a horizontal direction, and is wide at theouter end, like a trumpet: these tubes throw every notedistinctly into the church, and prevent, what I have frequentlyobserved, in many of our organs, some of the tones being almostlost in the body of the instrument. 

I observed here, that the different mechanics carry on theirbusiness in distinct parts of the town, particular streets beingset apart for particular trades; you find one street filled withtaylors, another with shoemakers, a third with carpenters, etc. Etc. 

As far as numerous forts and guns can be said to give strengthto any place, the city of Saint Sebastian may be considered asstrong; the island of Cobres, which overlooks and lies close tothe town, has a strong work upon it, the east end of it is ratherlow, and there is good depth of water off it, so that ships ofvery large size may come very near in, and there are many hillsvery near, which command the town and most of the works whichdefend it. 

The annual exports from Rio de Janeiro are, 3, 200 arobes ofgold, which are sent to Portugal, and of which the King has atenth part; 6, 000 cases of sugar, each weighing 40 arobes; 5, 000cases of rice, and 1, 500 casks of rum, each cask containing eightalmudas*. 

[* An arobe is thirty-two pounds; an almuda, fourgallons and a half. ]

Before we left this port, we took on board the following seedsand plants, viz. 

Coffee plant and seed, cocoa-seed, jalap, ipecacuhana, tamarind, banana, orange, lime, and lemon-trees, guava seed, prickly pear, with the cochineal in seed upon it, pomrose, grape, tobacco, and rice for seed. 

[A TABLE of the WINDS and WEATHER, etc. Etc. In the Passagefrom the Island of Teneriffe to Rio de Janeiro, Coast of Brazil, on board His Majesty's Ship SIRIUS. ][The table is included in the HTML version]

Chapter II

September 1787 to January 1788

Anchor in Table-Bay. --Refreshments procured there. --Depart from theCape of Good Hope. --Captain Phillip quits the Sirius, and proceedson the voyage in the Supply. --The Sirius arrives in Botany-Bay. --Findsthe Supply at anchor there. --Arrival of the Bussole and Astrolabe. --Leave Botany-Bay, and anchor in Port Jackson. --The Table of Winds, Weather, etc. 

We had light and variable winds for the two first days afterleaving Rio de Janeiro, then it veered round to the north-east, and freshened up, and was some times as far to the northward asnorth by east; we steered off east-south-east and south-east. Inlatitude 25° 50' south, the weather became dark and cloudy, with much rain and lightning all round the horizon, which shiftedthe wind to the southward, and the weather cleared up. On the19th, we saw several Pentada birds. On the 29th, having had thickhazy weather during the night, some of the convoy had beeninattentive to the course, and were found at day-lightconsiderably scattered and to leeward; we bore down and made thesignal for closing. Nothing worth relating happened this passage. On the 12th of October, as we were expecting every hour to makethe land, the weather being hazy, with a strong westerly wind, atmidnight we made the signal and brought to; at day-light we boreaway and made sail, and at six o'clock saw the land, distant 10leagues; at noon, the entrance of Table-Bay, at the Cape of GoodHope, bore east three leagues. At the distance of seven or eightleagues from the land, the Supply armed tender being ordered towait for the sternmost of the convoy, Lieutenant Ball took thatopportunity of sounding, and at the before-mentioned distance had115 fathoms, over a black sandy bottom; and at five leaguesdistance he had 90 fathoms, sand with small stones. The waterappeared, at a much greater distance, considerably discoloured, from which I think there is reason to suppose that the soundingsfrom this part of the coast run farther off to the westward. Wewere all this time in the parallel of 34° south. On the 14thof October, at five in the evening, we anchored with all theconvoy in Table-Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and at sun-rise the nextmorning we saluted the fort with 13 guns, which was answered bythe same number. 

By altitudes taken this morning for the time-keeper, itappeared that we had not had sufficient time at Rio Janeiro forascertaining the true rate of the watch's going, havingdetermined what we have allowed this passage, viz. 2"-33 from avery few observations, and those not to be relied on, the weatherhaving been very unfavourable; for, by the difference of timebetween the meridian of Rio Janeiro and the cape, both whichplaces are well determined, the watch has lost at the rate of3"-17, which we shall hereafter allow to be the true rate; and asa proof of that having been really its rate all along, byallowing it from the time of our leaving Portsmouth, until ourarrival at Rio Janeiro, we shall have the longitude of that place43° 33' 30" west of the meridian of Greenwich, which is 45'45" to the westward of that laid down in the new RequisiteTables, and which agrees very nearly with the observations madeon the spot. 

As Table-Bay was the last port at which we could touch forrefreshments during our voyage, such articles as we were in wantof, both for present consumption, and for stocking the intendedsettlement, were applied for, in such quantities as we could findroom for on board the different ships. Eight or ten days elapsedbefore any answer could be obtained from the council, whatnecessaries and in what quantities they could supply us with:this delay occasioned our passing more time here than was atfirst intended or expected. 

A few days before we sailed, having compleated such articlesof provisions as we wanted, we embarked on board the Sirius sixcows with calf, two bulls, one of which was six or seven monthsold, with a number of sheep, goats, hogs, and poultry ofdifferent kinds; on board one of the transports were put threemares, each having a colt of six months old, and a youngstallion; a quantity of live stock was also put on board thestore ships; so that the whole on government account, I think, amounted nearly to one stallion, three mares, three colts, sixcows, two bulls, forty-four sheep, four goats, and twenty-eighthogs. The officers on board the transports, who were to composethe garrison, had each provided themselves with such live stockas they could find room for, not merely for the purpose of livingupon during the passage, but with a view of stocking their littlefarms in the country to which we were going; every person in thefleet was with that view determined to live wholly on saltprovisions, in order that as much live stock as possible might belanded on our arrival. 

November 12th, having completed all our business at the Cape, we made preparations for our sailing; and on the 13th, we weighedwith the whole convoy, and stood out of the bay. 

During the time we lay in this bay, I took a considerablenumber of lunar observations, by a mean of which I make CapeTown, in longitude 18° 24' 30" east of the meridian ofGreenwich: latitude observed in the bay, 33° 55' south, andvariation of the compass, observed about 18 leagues to thewestward, 21° 52' west. 

We had fresh gales from the south-south-east and south-east, and sometimes at south, for the first eight days, which, with alarge sea, so very much distressed our cattle, that we were veryapprehensive we should lose some of them. On the 25th, being inlatitude 38° 40' south, and longitude 25° 05' east, Captain Phillip embarked on board the Supply, in order to proceedsingly in that vessel to the coast of New South Wales, where hemade sure of arriving a fortnight or three weeks before us, assome of the convoy sailed very heavy; he took with him from theSirius, Mr. Philip Gidley King, second lieutenant, and LieutenantDawes, of the marines, who had hitherto kept an account of thetime-keeper, which he also took with him; several carpenters, sawyers, and blacksmiths were likewise put on board the Supply, in order, if they arrived in sufficient time, to examine theplace attentively; and the governor had fixed on the mosteligible spot to build upon, there to erect some temporarystore-houses for the reception of the stores, when the convoyarrived; but as a number of working people would be wanted incarrying on such service, three of the best sailing transports, under the command of Lieutenant Shortland, the agent, were alsodirected to quit the convoy, and make the best of their way toBotany-Bay; Major Ross, the lieutenant-governor, embarked in oneof those transports; the remaining transports and store-shipswere left under the care of the Sirius. 

The next day, after parting company, the Supply was in sightfrom the mast-head, and the three transports were about seven oreight miles from us, but the wind having shifted to thesouth-east in the night of the 27th, we stood to the southwardand saw no more of them. I was at this time of opinion, that wehad hitherto kept in too northerly a parallel to ensure strongand lasting westerly winds, which determined me, as soon asCaptain Phillip had left the fleet, to steer to the southward andkeep in a higher latitude. 

We had the winds from the north-east with squalls and hazyweather, until the 29th, when it backed round to the westwardagain, and the weather became fair. After the time-keeper wastaken from the Sirius, I kept an account of the ship's way by myown watch, which I had found for a considerable time, to go verywell with Kendal's; I knew it could be depended on sufficientlyto carry on from one lunar observation to another, without anymaterial error; for although its rate of going was not so regularas I could have wished, yet its variation would not in a week orten days have amounted to any thing of consequence; it was madefor me by Mr. John Brockbank, of Cornhill, London, upon animproved principle of his own. The lunar observation, which Inever failed to take every opportunity, and which LieutenantBradley also paid constant attention to, gave me reason to think, by their near agreement with the watch, that it continued to gowell. On the 1st of December our longitude, by account, was36° 42' east; by the watch 36° 48' east; and by distanceof sun and moon 36° 24' east: latitude 40° 05' south, andthe variation of the compass 29° 40' west. 

For three successive days both Mr. Bradley and myself had avariety of distances, by which our account seemed to be verycorrect. I now determined (if I could avoid it) never to get tothe northward of latitude 40° 00' south, and to keep betweenthat parallel and 43° or 44° south. After the 3d, Ifound, by altitudes taken for the watch, that we went farther tothe eastward than the log gave us, and no opportunity offered forgetting a lunar observation to compare with it until the 13th, when both Mr. Bradley and I got several good distances of the sunand moon, by which our longitude was 70° 22' east, by thewatch 70° 07' east, and by account 67° 37' east. 

On the 14th, the weather being very clear, we had another setof distances, which gave our longitude 73° 06' east, by thewatch 73° 09' east, and by account 70° 34' east. Again, on the 15th, I observed with two different instruments, one byRamsden, and the other by Dolland, and the results agreed withinten miles of longitude; the mean was 75° 18' east, by thewatch 75° 16' east, and by account 72° 49' east. Mr. Bradley's mean was also 75° 18' east; so that, as I havealready observed, the ship seemed gaining on the account; butthere was no reason to believe, that in the middle of this veryextensive ocean we were ever subject to much current: I thereforeattribute this set to the eastward, to the large following sea, which constantly attended us, since we had taken a more southerlyparallel. The variation of the compass continued to increasepretty fast, until we were as far to the eastward as 39° 00'east, where we found it 31° 00' west; from that longitude to54° 30' east, it increased very slowly to 32° 00' west, which was the highest we had; during all that time we were in theparallels of 40° 00' and 41° 00' south. 

We saw many whales, of a very large size, during this part ofour passage, but very few birds. On the 16th, we saw a quantityof sea weed, which I suppose might have come from the island ofSaint Paul, as we were now near its meridian, and not more than60 leagues from it. We had at present every prospect of anexcellent passage to Van Diemen's Land: for although the windsometimes shifted to the north-east, it seldom continued morethan a few hours; then backed round again to north-west andsouth-west, between which quarters it seemed to blow as a tradewind; from north-north-east to the westward, and round tosouth-south-west are in general its limits: we had frequentlyhazy weather, but not so thick as to be called foggy; the wind ingeneral very fresh. 

Whenever there was an appearance of hazy weather coming on, the signal to close was always made, and the convoy kept in asclose order as possible, to prevent those ships which sailedheavy from the risk of being separated from the Sirius. On the20th, the wind increased and was steady between west-north-westand south-west; we seldom sailed less than 50 leagues in the 24hours, and frequently more. With the north-west winds wegenerally had foul weather, but whenever the wind changed to thesouth-west quarter, it cleared up and became pleasant. It seemsto be exactly the reverse of the effects produced by those windsin the northern hemisphere, where it is well known to seamen, that southerly and south-west winds are generally attended withhazy and foul weather, often accompanied with strong gales; itwas exactly so here with the wind from the north-west. We knew byexperience, when in the open ocean at a distance from land, ineither hemisphere, that the winds which blow from those quartersof the compass next to the elevated pole, are generally dry andclear, and from the opposite, generally wet and hazy. 

On the 1st of January we had a very heavy gale of wind fromnorth-north-west to west-north-west, attended with frequent andvery violent squalls or gusts, and hazy weather; the convoy ingeneral were brought under a reefed fore top-sail, and the Siriuscarried her three storm stay-sails; so that the transports shouldnot find it necessary to attempt carrying more sail than wasconsistent with safety: the sea was very high and irregular, andbroke with great violence on some of the ships; the rolling andlabouring of our ship exceedingly distressed the cattle, whichwere now in a very weakly state, and the great quantities ofwater which we shipped during this gale, very much aggravatedtheir distress; the poor animals were frequently thrown with muchviolence off their legs, and exceedingly bruised by their falls, although every method, which could be contrived for their easeand comfort, was practised; the ship was very ill fitted for sucha cargo; and the very lumbered condition she had constantly beenin rendered it impossible to do more for them, except by puttingslings under them; a method which, when proposed, was rejected bythose to whose care and management they were intrusted; from anidea, that they would entirely lose the use of their legs by suchmeans, although it were only practised in bad weather. 

We perceived the sea now covered over with luminous spots, much resembling so many lanthorns floating on its surface;whether this appearance proceeded from the spawn of fish, whichmay swim in small collected quantities, or from that animal of ajelly-like substance, which is known to sailors by the name ofblubber, I cannot tell, but I believe the latter, as we had seenin the day some of a large size. We had now also many sea-birdsabout the ship, such as albatrosses, gulls of different kinds, and a large black bird, which, in the motion of its wings, hadmuch the appearance of a crow, but its neck and wings are longerthan those of that bird, and it is altogether larger. 

On the 4th of January we had a number of good observations forthe longitude, and as it was probable they might be the last weshould have an opportunity of taking, before we should make VanDiemen's Land, the result, which gave 135° 30' east, wasmarked with chalk in large characters on a black painted board, and shown over the stern to the convoy; at the same time a signalwas made which had been previously appointed. 

On the 6th in the evening, as I intended running in for theland all night, I made the signal for the convoy to close, and todrop into the Sirius's wake, under an easy sail; the night wasdark, but clear in the horizon, so that we could see near twoleagues a-head. This night the aurora austreales were verybright, of a beautiful crimson colour, streaked with orange, yellow, and white, and these colours were constantly changingtheir places: the highest part was about 45° above thehorizon, and it spread from south by east to south-south-west. Onthe next morning at sun-rise, one of the transports having pusheda little a-head, made the signal for seeing the land, in which, however, she was mistaken: we at this time judged ourselves notless than 33 or 34 leagues from it, deducing our distance fromthe last lunar observation. 

It may not be improper, before I proceed farther, to observeof the compass, that its westerly variation decreased from thelongitude of 54° 30' east, where it was greatest, (viz. 32° 10' west, ) to longitude 135° 30' east, where it was1° 00' east. 

We continued steering in for the land, and the weather beingcloudy, in order to make sure of our latitude, which, in ourpresent situation, was of consequence, we took two altitudesbefore noon, by which we were in 44° 05' south, which beingseventeen miles to the southward of the rock, called theMewstone, we hauled from east-north-east to north-east, and atthree P. M. Of the 8th, (by log, ) we made the land in thatdirection, stood well in with the Mewstone, and, as the wind wasfresh from the westward, I would have gone within it, and rangedalong the coast from point to point; but having a convoy oftransports and store-ships astern, who were to be led by theSirius, I was apprehensive, in case it fell little wind under theland, and night set in, an accident might have happened to someof those ships, which all the knowledge I could have gained, by anearer examination of the coast, would not have compensated: Itherefore stood on without the Mewstone, and steered in for thesouth cape, which we passed at three miles distance, leaving therocks Swilly and Eddistone without us. The south cape terminatesin a low rocky point, and appears to be a bold shore, and thehills within it, which are moderately high, appear to have manytall trees upon them, which are very streight, and seem to haveno branches, except near the top; from which circumstance, Isuppose them to be the palm or cabbage tree. 

To the eastward of the south cape, between that and the nextpoint of land, which is called Tasman's-head, is a large bay, atthe bottom of which there appears to be an island or two; fromthe south-west cape to the south cape there are several bays, andpretty deep bights, which may probably afford some good harbours;there are also several appearances of islands on this part of thecoast, but most of them seem to lie pretty near the land, exceptthe Mewstone, (a high ragged rock) which is about ten miles off, and Swilly and Eddystone, which lie about south by east from thesouth cape, about five leagues distant. Swilly is a high rock, and the Eddistone has, at a distance, the appearance of a sail;these two rocks are at the opposite ends of a ledge of sunkenrocks, on which the sea seemed to break very high: this ledgelies east-north-east and west-south-west; the two rocks are inone with that bearing. 

The latitudes and longitudes of the different points or capes, seem to have been very correctly determined by Captains Cook andFurneaux, when they were here; it would therefore be superfluousto mention them here from any other authority; they have settledthem as under:

South-west cape lat 43 37 00 S. Long 146 07 00 E. Of GreenwichSouth cape lat 43 42 00 long 146 56 00Tasman's-head lat 43 33 00 long 147 28 00Swilly Island, or rock lat 43 55 00 long 147 06 00Adventure bay lat 42 21 20 long 147 29 00

Such observations as we had an opportunity of making near thiscoast, agree very well with the above. 

We had just got to the eastward of the south cape as it becamedark, and were about four miles from it when it fell calm, andsoon after a very light air sprung up from east-north-east, which, with a large westerly swell, scarcely gave the shipssteerage way: this situation gave me some anxiety, as I wasuncertain whether the sternmost ships had seen Swilly, and theywere at this time a little scattered; the breeze, however, favoured us, by freshening up at north-east, which enabled thewhole of us to weather those rocks, without the apprehension ofpassing too near them in the dark: in the morning at day-lightthey bore west-south-west three leagues. 

Here we saw many animals playing along-side, which were atfirst taken for seals; but, after having seen a considerablenumber of them, I did not think they were the seal, at least theyappeared to me a very different animal from the seals to be metwith on the coast of America and Newfoundland; for they have ashort round head, but these creatures heads were long, andtapered to the nose; they had very long whiskers, and frequentlyraised themselves half the length of the body out of the water, to look round them, and often leaped entirely out; which I do notever recollect to have seen the seal do: from thesecircumstances, I judged them to be something of thesea-otter. 

On the night of the 8th, it blew so strong fromnorth-north-east and north, as to bring us under close reefedmain top-sail and fore-sail; this gale was accompanied withthunder, lightning, and rain, which soon changed it to thesouth-west quarter, and immediately cleared the weather. On the10th, we had two very violent white squalls from north-west, withlightning, thunder, and rain: these squalls came on so verysuddenly, that some of the convoy were taken with too much sailout, which obliged them to let go their tacks and sheets, bywhich means one ship carried away her main-yard in the slings, another had her three top-sails blown from the yards, and a thirdlost her jibb, and some other trifling accident: this occasioneda short delay, but as soon as these accidents were repaired wemade sail, and availed ourselves of every slant of wind, to getin with the coast. I was desirous of falling in with it aboutCape Howe, which is in latitude 37° 30' south, and longitude150° 00' east, and from thence to have run down along thecoast to Botany-bay; but the wind prevailed so long from thenorth-ward and north-west, that we could not fetch that part ofthe coast. 

On the 15th, by a good lunar observation, I found ourlongitude to be 152° 43' east, which was twenty-five leaguesfarther from the coast than I expected we were. Every endeavourwas exerted to get to the westward, and on the 19th in theevening, judging from the last observation, (the dead reckoningbeing out, ) that we could not be above eight or nine leagues fromthe land, the wind being from the eastward, I made the signal andbrought to with the convoy till day-light, when we made the landin latitude 34° 50' south, six or seven leagues distant. Westeered in slanting to the northward, until we were within aboutsix or seven miles of the shore, and then steered along the coastat that distance, not choosing, as the wind was easterly, tocarry the convoy nearer. 

At noon, we were abreast of Red-point, which is welldetermined by Captain Cook: I observed its latitude to be 34°29' south; this point being only ten leagues from Botany-bay, Imade sail a-head of the convoy, in order if possible, to getsight of its entrance before night. There are a number ofprojecting points hereabout, which by being so near in shoredeceived us a good deal; however, we perceived from the mastheadbefore dark, what I had no doubt was the entrance of the bay, aswe were now near its latitude; which is certainly the only trueguide whereby you can find it; for the coast has nothing soremarkable in it as to serve for a direction for finding thisharbour. 

About three leagues to the southward of Botany-bay, there is arange of whitish coloured cliffs on the coasts, which extend somedistance farther south, and over these cliffs the land ismoderately high and level; on this level land there is a smallclump of trees, something like that on Post down hill, nearPortsmouth: these, I think, are the only remarkable objectshere. 

As soon as we had brought the entrance of the bay to bearnorth-north-west, we brought to, and made the signal for theconvoy to pass in succession under the Sirius's stern, when theywere informed, that I intended, as the wind was easterly, to keepworking off under an easy sail till day-light, and that theentrance of the harbour bore north-north-west seven or eightmiles; which I supposed they could not have been near enough tohave seen before dark. 

The next morning being fair, with a south-east wind, we madesail at day-light for this opening, and, by signal, ordered theships into the Sirius's wake. When the bay was quite open, wediscovered the Supply and the three transports at an anchor; theformer had arrived the 18th, and the three latter the 19th. Ateight A. M. Of the 20th, we anchored with the whole of the convoyin Botany-bay, in eight fathoms water. 

As the ships were sailing in, a number of the nativesassembled on the south shore, and, by their motions, seemed tothreaten; they pointed their spears, and often repeated thewords, wara, wara. The Supply had not gained more than fortyhours of us, and the three transports twenty. We probably metwith fresher winds than they had done, otherwise I think theseships, all sailing well, should have had much more advantage ofthe heavy sailing part of the convoy. 

On the first day of my arrival, I went with the governor toexamine the south shore, in order to fix on a spot for erectingsome buildings; but we found very little fresh water, and not anyspot very inviting for our purpose: we had a short conversationwith a party of the natives, who were exceedingly shy. During thetime we lay here, we sounded the bay all over, and found aconsiderable extent of anchorage in four, five, six, and sevenfathoms water, but wholly exposed to easterly winds, and nopossibility of finding shelter from those winds in any part ofthe anchorage. 

We anchored on the north shore, off a sandy bay, which I thinkas good a birth as any in the bay; Cape Banks boreeast-south-east, and Point Solander south-south-east, the groundclear and good. The wind, either from the north-east orsouth-east quarters, set in a prodigious sea. Higher up the baythere is a spot of four fathoms, where a few ships might be laidin tolerable security, but they must be lightened, to enable themto pass over a flat of twelve feet, and that depth but of narrowlimits. 

The day after my arrival, the governor, accompanied by me andtwo other officers, embarked in three boats, and proceeded alongthe coast to the northward, intending, if we could, to reach whatCaptain Cook has called Broken-bay, with a hope of discovering abetter harbour, as well as a better country; for we found nothingat Botany-bay to recommend it as a place on which to form aninfant settlement. In this examination, a large opening, or bay, about three leagues and a half to the northward of Cape Banks, was the first place we looked into: it had rather an unpromisingappearance, on entering between the outer heads or capes thatform its entrance, which are high, rugged, and perpendicularcliffs; but we had not gone far in, before we discovered a largebranch extending to the southward; into this we went, and soonfound ourselves perfectly land-locked, with a good depth ofwater. 

We proceeded up for two days, examining every cove or otherplace which we found capable of receiving ships; the country wasalso particularly noticed, and found greatly superior in everyrespect to that round Botany-bay. The governor, being satisfiedwith the eligibility of this situation, determined to fix hisresidence here, and returned immediately to the ships. 

On the 25th, we received the time-keeper from the Supply, which I am sorry to say, had been let down while on board her, during the passage from the Cape of Good Hope; and the same day, the governor sailed in the Supply, with a detachment of marines, to the new harbour, which Captain Cook had observed as he sailedalong the coast, and named Port Jackson; he did not enter it, andtherefore was uncertain of there being a safe harbour here: ithas the appearance from sea of being only an open bay. 

The convoy was again left to my care, the masters of the shipshaving had previous orders from Captain Phillip to prepare forsea. On the 26th, I made the signal for the transports to getunder way. We perceived this morning two large ships in theoffing, standing in for the bay, under French colours: theseships had been observed two days before, but the wind blowingfresh from north-west, they were not able to get in with theland. I sent a boat with an officer to assist them in, and aboutan hour after, a breeze sprung up from the south-east, and theywere safely anchored in the bay. I then got under way, and withthe transports worked out of the bay, and the same eveninganchored the whole convoy in Port Jackson. 

The two strangers proved to be the Bussole and Astrolabe, which sailed from Brest in June, 1785, upon discoveries, and werecommanded by Mons. De la Perouse; Mons. De L'Angle, who commandedone of the ships when they left France, had been lately, when theships were at the Islands of Navigators, murdered, with severalother officers and seamen, by the natives; who had, before thatunfortunate day, always appeared to be upon the most friendly andfamiliar terms with them. This accident, we understood, happenedwhen their launches were on shore filling water, on the last daywhich they intended remaining at those islands: during the timethey were employed in filling their water-casks, having the mostperfect confidence in the friendly disposition of the natives, the sailors had been inattentive to the keeping the boats afloat;some misunderstanding having happened between some of the seamenand the natives, an insult had been offered by one or other, which was resented by the opposite party; a quarrel ensued, andthe impossibility of moving the boats, exposed the officers andcrews to the rage of the multitude, who attacked them with clubsand showers of stones, and would inevitably have massacred thewhole, if there had not been a small boat at hand, which pickedup those, who depending on their swimming, had quitted theshore. 

Many of the natives were killed upon this occasion; and theloss of the ships was said to have been fourteen persons killed, including Captain de L'Angle, and some other officers; severalwere much wounded; and the boats were entirely destroyed. 

This account of the accident is by no means to be consideredas a correct statement of it; as it is only collected from littlehints dropt in the course of conversation with different officersof those ships: they did not appear disposed to speak upon thatsubject, we therefore did not presume to interrogate. The voyageof those ships will no doubt be published by authority; till thenwe must wait for the particulars of that, and another unfortunateaccident which happened to them upon the west coast of America, where they lost two boats and twenty-two men, including sixofficers, in a surf. 

[A TABLE of the WINDS and WEATHER, etc. Etc. On a Passagefrom Rio de Janeiro to the Cape of Good Hope; and from thence toBotany-Bay, on the East Coast of New Holland, on board HisMajesty's Ship SIRIUS, in 1787, and Beginning of 1788. ][The table is included in the HTML version]

Chapter III

January 1788 to August 1788

-Frequent interviews with the natives. --Weaponsdescribed. --Ornaments. --Persons, manners, andhabitations. --Method of hunting. --Animals described. --Birds, andinsects. --Diary of the weather. --Departure of the Bussole andAstrolabe. --A convict pretends to have discovered a goldmine. --The fraud detected. --Observations for the longitude, etc_. 

A Few days after my arrival with the transports in PortJackson, I set off with a six oared boat and a small boat, intending to make as good a survey of the harbour ascircumstances would admit: I took to my assistance Mr. Bradley, the first lieutenant, Mr. Keltie, the master, and a younggentleman of the quarter-deck. 

During the time we were employed on this service, we hadfrequent meetings with different parties of the natives, whom wefound at this time very numerous; a circumstance which I confessI was a little surprized to find, after what had been said ofthem in the voyage of the Endeavour; for I think it is observedin the account of that voyage, that at Botany-bay they had seenvery few of the natives, and that they appeared a very stupidrace of people, who were void of curiosity. We saw them inconsiderable numbers, and they appeared to us to be a very livelyand inquisitive race; they are a straight, thin, but well madepeople, rather small in their limbs, but very active; theyexamined with the greatest attention, and expressed the utmostastonishment, at the different covering we had on; for theycertainly considered our cloaths as so many different skins, andthe hat as a part of the head: they were pleased with suchtrifles as we had to give them, and always appeared chearful andin good humour: they danced and sung with us, and imitated ourwords and motions, as we did theirs. They generally appearedarmed with a lance, and a short stick which assists in throwingit: this stick is about three feet long, is flattened on oneside, has a hook of wood at one end, and a flat shell, let into asplit in the stick at the other end, and fastened with gum; uponthe flat side of this stick the lance is laid, in the upper endof which is a small hole, into which the point of the hook of thethrowing stick is fixed; this retains the lance on the flat sideof the stick; then poising the lance, thus fixed, in one hand, with the fore-finger and thumb over it, to prevent its fallingoff side-ways, at the same time holding fast the throwing-stick, they discharge it with considerable force, and in a very gooddirection, to the distance of about sixty or seventy yards*. Their lances are in general about ten feet long: the shell at oneend of the throwing-stick is intended for sharpening the point ofthe lance, and for various other uses. I have seen these weaponsfrequently thrown, and think that a man upon his guard may withmuch ease, either parry, or avoid them, although it must be ownedthey fly with astonishing velocity. 

[* I have since seen a strong young man throw thelance full ninety yards; which, till then, I did not believepossible. I measured the distance. ]

While employed on the survey of the harbour, we were onemorning early, in the upper part of it, and at a considerabledistance from the ship, going to land, in order to ascertain afew angles, when we were a little surprized to find the nativeshere in greater numbers than we had ever seen them before in anyother place: we naturally conjectured from their numbers, thatthey might be those who inhabited the coves in the lower part ofthe harbour, and who, upon our arrival, had been so much alarmedat our appearance, as to have judged it necessary to retirefarther up; they appeared very hostile, a great many armed menappeared upon the shore wherever we approached it, and, in athreatening manner, seemed to insist upon our not presuming toland. 

During the whole time we were near them, they hailed eachother through the woods, until their numbers were so muchincreased, that I did not judge it prudent to attempt making anyacquaintance with them at this time: for, as I have alreadyobserved, we had only a six-oared boat and a smaller one; ourwhole number, leaving one man in each boat, amounted to tenseamen, three officers, and myself, with only three muskets; wetherefore for the present, contented ourselves with making signsof friendship, and returned to the ship. 

In two days after, we appeared again in the same place, betterarmed and prepared for an interview. Their numbers were not nowso many, at least we did not see them, although it is probablethey were in the wood at no great distance; but having occasionto put on shore to cook some provisions for the boats crews, Ichose a projecting point of land for that purpose, which we couldhave defended against some hundreds of such people: I ordered twomarine centinels upon the neck, in order to prevent a surprize, and immediately set about making a fire. 

We soon heard some of the natives in the wood on the oppositeshore; we called to them, and invited them by signs, and an offerof presents, to come over to us, the distance not being more thanone hundred yards across: in a short time, seven men embarked incanoes and came over; they landed at a small distance from us, and advanced without their lances; on this I went up to meetthem, and held up both my hands, to show that I was unarmed; twoofficers also advanced in the same manner; we met them and shookhands; but they seemed a good deal alarmed at our five marineswho were under arms by the boats, upon which they were ordered toground their arms and stay by them; the natives then came up withgreat chearfulness and good humour, and seated themselves by ourfire amongst us, where we ate what we had got, and invited themto partake, but they did not relish our food or drink. 

I was one day on shore in another part of the harbour, makingfriendship with a party of natives, when in a very short time, their numbers encreased to eighty or ninety men, all armed with alance and throwing-stick, and many with the addition of a shield, made of the bark of a tree; some were in shape an oblong square, and others of these shields were oval; these were the firstshields we had seen in the country*. Upon examining some of theseshields, we observed that many of them had been pierced quitethrough in various places, which they by signs gave us tounderstand had been done with a spear; but that those shieldswill frequently turn the spear, they also showed us, by settingone up at a small distance, and throwing a spear at it, which didnot go through. They were much surprized at one of our gentlemenwho pulling a pistol out of his pocket, that was loaded withball, and standing at the same distance, fired the ball throughthe thickest part of the shield, which they examined withastonishment, and seemed to wonder, that an instrument so smallshould be capable of wounding so deep. 

[* It has since been found that the shields are ingeneral made of wood. ]

Our numbers at this time were what I first mentioned, withonly three muskets, one of which I carried. The natives were verynoisy, but did not appear disposed to quarrel; we gave them suchlittle presents as we had with us, with which they seemed wellpleased; although we had much reason afterwards to believe, thatsuch trifles only pleased them, as baubles do children, for amoment: for at other times we had frequently found our presentslying dispersed on the beach, although caught at by these peoplewith much apparent avidity at the time they were offered. 

While we were employed with this party, we observed at adistance, a number of women, who were peeping from theirconcealments, but durst not gratify their natural curiosity, byappearing openly and conversing with us; as the men appeared hereto be very absolute. I signified to the men that we had observedthe women, and that I wished to make them some presents, if theymight be permitted to come forward and receive them. The menseemed unwilling to suffer them to advance; for we had frequentlyobserved, that they took particular care upon every occasion tokeep the women at a distance, and I believe wholly from an ideaof danger. They desired to have the presents for the women, andthey would carry and deliver them, but to this proposal Ipositively refused to agree, and made them understand, thatunless they were allowed to come forward, they should not haveany. Finding I was determined, an old man, who seemed to have theprincipal authority, directed the women to advance, which theydid immediately, with much good humour; and, during the wholetime that we were decorating them with beads, rags of whitelinen, and some other trifles, they laughed immoderately, although trembling at the same time, through an idea of danger. Most of those we saw at this time were young women, who I judgedwere from eighteen to twenty-five years of age; they were allperfectly naked, as when first born. 

The women in general are well made, not quite so thin as themen, but rather smaller limbed. As soon as the women were orderedto approach us, about twenty men, whom we had not before seen, sallied from the wood, compleatly armed with lance and shield;they were painted with red and white streaks all over the faceand body, as if they intended to strike terror by theirappearance: some of them were painted with a little degree oftaste, and although the painting on others appeared to be donewithout any attention to form, yet there were those who, at asmall distance, appeared as if they were accoutred withcross-belts: some had circles of white round their eyes, andseveral a horizontal streak across the forehead: others again hadnarrow white streaks round the body, with a broad line down themiddle of the back and belly, and a single streak down each arm, thigh, and leg. These marks, being generally white, gave theperson, at a small distance, a most shocking appearance; for, upon the black skin the white marks were so very conspicuous, that they were exactly like so many moving skeletons. The coloursthey use are mostly red and white; the first of which is a kindof ochre, or red earth, which is found here in considerablequantities; the latter is a fine pipe-clay. 

The bodies of the men are much scarified, particularly theirbreasts and shoulders; these scarifications are considerablyraised above the skin, and although they are not in any regularform, yet they are certainly considered as ornamental. 

The men, thus armed and painted, drew themselves up in a lineon the beach, and each man had a green bough in his hand, as asign of friendship; their disposition was as regular as any welldisciplined troops could have been; and this party, I apprehend, was entirely for the defence of the women, if any insult had beenoffered them. We also observed at this interview, that two verystout armed men, were placed upon a rock, near to where our boatslay, as centinels; for they never moved from the spot until weleft the beach: I therefore suppose they were ordered there towatch all our motions. We left these people, after a visit ofabout four hours, both parties apparently well satisfied with allthat passed. 

In the different opportunities I have had of getting a littleacquainted with the natives, who reside in and about this port, Iam, I confess, disposed to think, that it will be no verydifficult matter, in due time, to conciliate their friendship andconfidence; for although they generally appear armed on our firstmeeting, which will be allowed to be very natural, yet, wheneverwe have laid aside our arms, and have made signs of friendship, they have always advanced unarmed, with spirit, and a degree ofconfidence scarcely to be expected: from that appearance of afriendly disposition, I am inclined to think, that by residingsome time amongst, or near them, they will soon discover that weare not their enemies; a light they no doubt considered us in onour first arrival. 

The men in general are from five feet six inches, to five feetnine inches high; are thin, but very straight and clean made;walk very erect*, and are active. The women are not so tall, orso thin, but are generally well made; their colour is a rustykind of black, something like that of soot, but I have seen manyof the women almost as light as a mulatto. We have seen a few ofboth sexes with tolerably good features, but in general they havebroad noses, large wide mouths, and thick lips; and theircountenance altogether not very prepossessing; and what makesthem still less so, is, that they are abominably filthy; theynever clean their skin, but it is generally smeared with the fatof such animals as they kill, and afterwards covered with everysort of dirt; sand from the sea beach, and the ashes from theirfires, all adhere to their greasy skin, which is never washed, except when accident, or the want of food, obliges them to gointo the water. 

[* See a plate of the natives in Phillip'sVoyage. ]

Some of the men wear a piece of wood or bone, thrust throughthe septum of the nose, which, by raising the opposite sides ofthe nose, widens the nostril, and spreads the lower part verymuch; this, no doubt, they consider as a beauty; most of those wehad hitherto met, wanted the two foremost teeth on the right sideof the upper jaw; and many of the women want the two lower jointsof the little finger of the left hand, which we have not as yetbeen able to discover the reason or meaning of. This defect ofthe little finger we have observed in old women, and in younggirls of eight or nine years old; in young women who have hadchildren, and in those who have not, and the finger has been seenperfect in individuals of all the above ages and descriptions;they have very good teeth in general; their hair is short, strong, and curly, and as they seem to have no method of cleaningor combing it, it is therefore filthy and matted. 

The men wear their beards, which are short and curly, like thehair of the head. Men, women, and children go entirely naked, asdescribed by Captain Cook; they seem to have no fixed place ofresidence, but take their rest wherever night overtakes them:they generally shelter themselves in such cavities or hollows inthe rocks upon the sea shore, as may be capable of defending themfrom the rain, and, in order to make their apartment ascomfortable as possible, they commonly make a good fire in itbefore they lie down to rest; by which means, the rock all roundthem is so heated as to retain its warmth like an oven for aconsiderable time; and upon a little grass, which is previouslypulled and dryed, they lie down and huddle together. 

And here, we see a striking instance of the particular care ofProvidence for all his creatures. These people have not the mostdistant idea of building any kind of place which may be capableof sheltering them from the severity of bad weather; if they had, probably it would first appear in their endeavours to cover theirnaked bodies with some kind of cloathing, as they certainlysuffer much from the cold in winter. 

Their ignorance in building, is very amply compensated by thekindness of nature in the remarkable softness of the rocks, whichencompass the sea coast, as well as those in the interior partsof the country: they are a soft, crumbly, sandy stone; thoseparts, which are most exposed to, and receive the most severityof the weather, are generally harder than such parts as are lessexposed; in the soft parts time makes wonderful changes; they areconstantly crumbling away underneath the harder and more solidpart, and this continual decay leaves caves of considerabledimensions: some I have seen that would lodge forty or fiftypeople, and, in a case of necessity, we should think ourselvesnot badly lodged for a night. Wherever you see rocks in thiscountry, either on the sea-shore, or in the interior parts, asthey are all of this soft sandy kind, you are sure of findingplenty of such caves. 

In the woods, where the country is not very rocky, wesometimes met with a piece of the bark of a tree, bent in themiddle, and set upon the ends*, with a piece set up against thatend on which the wind blows. This hut serves them for ahabitation, and will contain a whole family; for, when theweather is cold, which is frequently the case in winter, theyfind it necessary to lie very close for the benefit of thatwarmth to which each mutually contributes a share. These barkhuts, (if they deserve even the name of huts) are intended, as wehave lately discovered, for those who are employed in hunting thekangaroo, opossums, or in short, any other animals which are tobe found in the woods; for at certain seasons, when those animalsare in plenty, they employ themselves frequently in catchingthem. 

[* For an exact description and representation ofthis hut, see Governor Phillip's Voyage. ]

As most of the large trees are hollow, by being rotten in theheart, the opossum, kangaroo rat, squirrel, and various otheranimals which inhabit the woods, when they are pursued, commonlyrun into the hollow of a tree: in order, therefore, to make sureof them, which they seldom fail in, when they find them in thetree, one man climbs even the tallest tree with much ease, bymeans of notches at convenient distances, that are made with astone hatchet; when he is arrived at the top, or where there maybe an outlet for the animal, he sits there with a club or stickin his hand, while another person below applies a fire to thelower opening, and fills the hollow of the tree with smoak; thisobliges the animal to attempt to make its escape, either upwardsor downwards, but whichever way it goes, it is almost certain ofdeath, for they very seldom escape. In this manner they employthemselves, and get a livelihood in the woods. 

They also, when in considerable numbers, set the country onfire for several miles extent; this, we have generallyunderstood, is for the purpose of disturbing such animals as maybe within reach of the conflagration; and thereby they have anopportunity of killing many. We have also had much reason tobelieve, that those fires were intended to clear that part of thecountry through which they have frequent occasion to travel; ofthe brush or underwood, from which they, being naked, suffer verygreat inconvenience. The fires, which we very frequently saw, particularly in the summer-time, account also for an appearance, which, when we arrived here, we were much perplexed to understandthe cause of; this was, that two-thirds of the trees in the woodswere very much scorched with fire, some were burnt quite black, up to the very top: as to the cause of this appearance wediffered much in our opinions; but it is now plain, that it hasever been occasioned by the fires, which the natives sofrequently make, and which we have seen reach the highestbranches of the trees: we sometimes, upon our arrival here, conjectured that it proceeded from lightning, but upon lookingfarther, it appeared too general amongst the woods to have beenoccasioned by such an accident. 

We had reason to believe, that the natives associate in tribesof many families together, and it appeared now that they have onefixed residence, and the tribe takes its name from the place oftheir general residence: you may often visit the place where thetribe resides, without finding the whole society there; theirtime is so much occupied in search of food, that the differentfamilies take different routs; but, in case of any dispute with aneighbouring tribe, they can soon be assembled. 

We are well informed by those whom we have had among us, thatthey sometimes have quarrels, and that they endeavour fromconcealments, to destroy those they are at war with. They are byno means a brave and determined people, except when passionovercomes them, and when they act as all savages do, like madmen. In all their quarrels with one another, they put themselves underthe direction of a chief: how those chiefs are chosen we have notlearnt, but have reason to believe it is from an opinion of theirdexterity in war. 

All the human race, which we have seen here, appear to livechiefly on what the sea affords, and consequently we find thesea-coast more fully inhabited than the interior, or that part ofthe country which we have had an opportunity of visiting moreremote from the sea. The men fish with a spear, or fish-gig, inthe use of which, it is apparent they are very dextrous. Thefish-gig is in length something more than the war lance, but theycan, according to the depth of water, increase its length, by avariety of joints; some have one, some two, three, or fourprongs, pointed and barbed with a fish, or other animal's bone. We have sometimes, in fine weather, seen a man lying across acanoe, with his face in the water, and his fish-gig immersed, ready for darting: in this manner he lies motionless, and by hisface being a little under the surface, he can see the fishdistinctly; but were his eyes above, the tremulous motion of thesurface, occasioned by every light air of wind, would prevent hissight: in this manner they strike at the fish with so muchcertainty, that they seldom miss their aim. 

The women are chiefly employed in the canoes, with lines andhooks; the lines appear to be manufactured from the bark ofvarious trees which we found here, of a tough stringy nature, andwhich, after being beaten between two stones for some time, becomes very much like, and of the same colour as a quantity ofoakum, made from old rope: this they spin and twist into twostrands: in fact, I never saw a line with more than two. Theirhooks are commonly made from the inside, or mother of pearl, ofdifferent shells; the talons of birds, such as those of hawks, they sometimes make this use of; but the former are considered asbest. 

In this necessary employment of fishing, we frequently saw awoman with two or three children in a miserable boat, the highestpart of which was not six inches above the surface of the water, washing almost in the edge of a surf, which would frighten an oldseaman to come near, in a good and manageable vessel. Theyoungest child, if very small, lies across the mother's lap, fromwhence, although she is fully employed in fishing, it cannotfall; for the boat being very shallow, she sits in the bottom, with her knees up to her breast, and between her knees and body, the child lies perfectly secure. The men also dive forshell-fish, which they take off from the rocks under water; wefrequently saw them leap from a rock into the surf or brokenwater, and remain a surprizing time under: when they rise to thesurface, whatever they have gathered they throw on shore, where aperson attends to receive it, and has a fire ready kindled forcooking. 

They have no other method of dressing their food, than that ofbroiling. Boiling water they have no conception of, as appearedvery lately; for when one of our boats was hauling the seine, oneof the sailors had put a pot on the fire ready to dress somefish, and when the water was boiling, some fish were put in; butseveral natives, who were near, and who wished to have more fishthan had been given them, seeing the fish put into the pot, andno person watching them, a native put his hand into the boilingwater to take the fish out, and was of course scalded, andexceedingly astonished. 

With respect to religion, we have not been able yet todiscover that they have any thing like an object of adoration;neither the sun, moon, nor stars seem to take up, or occupy moreof their attention, than they do that of any other of the animalswhich inhabit this immense country. 

Their dead they certainly burn, of which I have been wellconvinced lately, when employed on the survey of a distant branchof Port Jackson. Some of my boat's crew having, when on shore, discovered a little from the water-side, upon a rising ground, what they judged to be a fresh grave, I went up and ordered it tobe opened; when the earth was removed, we found a quantity ofwhite ashes, which appeared to have been but a very short timedeposited there: among the ashes we found part of a humanjaw-bone, and a small piece of the scull, which, although it hadbeen in the fire, was not so much injured, as to prevent ourdistinguishing perfectly what it was. We put the ashes togetheragain and covered it up as before; the grave was not six inchesunder the surface of the ground, but the earth was raised theheight of our graves in Europe. 

In the months of March and April, we found the natives todecrease in their numbers considerably; but we have no reason tosuppose that they retire back into the interior parts of thecountry; for in all the excursions which have been made inland, very few have been seen. The sea-coast, we have every reason atpresent to believe, is the only part of this country which isinhabited by the human race; the land seems to afford them but avery scanty subsistence. We have seen them roast and chew thefern-root. There is a small fruit here, about the size of acherry; it is yellow when half grown, and almost black when ripe;it grows on a tree, which is not tall, but very full and bushy atthe top; of this fruit we have often seen them eat: it has a gooddeal the taste of a fig, and the pulp, or inside, very muchresembles that fruit in appearance: but the sea is theirprincipal resource, and shell, and other fish, are their chiefsupport. 

They frequently attended our boats when hauling the seine, andwere very thankful to the officer for any fish he might givethem, as in cold weather the harbour is but thinly stocked;indeed, when we arrived here it was full of fish, and we caughtas many as we could use, but in the winter they seem to quit ourneighbourhood. I had reason to think, that the people whoinhabited Port Jackson when we first entered it were gone fartherto the northward, and that it is their constant custom, as thecold weather approaches, to seek a warmer climate, by followingthe sun; and in this practice they have another very powerfulincitement, as well as the comfortable warmth of the sun, whichis, that the fish incline to the northward, as the cold weathercomes on: this conjecture seems, in some degree, to account forCaptain Cook's having seen so few natives while he lay inBotany-bay, and that it appeared to him the seacoast was thinlyinhabited; for I think it was in April, or May, that he wasthere. 

The animal described in the voyage of the Endeavour, calledthe kangaroo, (but by the natives patagarang) we found in greatnumbers; one was lately shot which weighed 140 pounds; its tailwas 40 inches long, and 17 in circumference at the root; it isvery well described in Phillip's Voyage: we ate the flesh withgreat relish, and I think it good mutton, although not sodelicate as that which we sometimes find in Leadenhall-market. The strength this animal has in its hind quarters is very great:in its endeavours to escape from us, when surprized, it springsfrom its hind legs, which are very long, and leaps at each boundabout six or eight yards, but does not appear ever in running tolet its fore-feet come near the ground; indeed they are so veryshort, that it is not possible that the animal can use them inrunning: they have vast strength also in their tail; it is, nodoubt, a principal part of their defence, when attacked; for withit they can strike with prodigious force, I believe withsufficent power to break the leg of a man; nor is it improbablebut that this great strength in the tail may assist them inmaking those astonishing springs. 

We for some time considered their tail as their chief defence, but having of late hunted them with greyhounds very successfully, we have had an opportunity of knowing that they use their clawsand teeth. The dog is much swifter than the kangaroo: the chase, if in an open wood, (which is the place most frequented by thatanimal, ) is seldom more than eight or ten minutes, and if thereare more dogs than one, seldom so long. As soon as the houndseizes him, he turns, and catching hold with the nails of hisfore-paws, he springs upon, and strikes at the dog with the clawsof his hind feet, which are wonderfully strong, and tears him tosuch a degree, that it has frequently happened that we have beenunder the necessity of carrying the dog home, from the severityof his wounds: few of these animals have ever effected theirescape, after being seized by the dog, for they have generallycaught them by the throat, and there held them until they wereassisted, although many of them have very near lost their livesin the struggle. 

Some of the male kangaroos are of a very large size; I haveseen some, that when sitting on their haunches, were five feeteight inches high, such an animal is too strong for a single dog, and although he might be much wounded, would, without the dog hadassistance at hand, certainly kill him. We know that the nativedogs of this country hunt and kill the kangaroo; they may be morefierce, but they do not appear to be so strong as our largegreyhound; there was one not long ago seen in pursuit of akangaroo, by a person who was employed in shooting, who mistakingthe two animals as they passed him to be of the kind he waslooking for, he fired at the hindmost and brought him down, butwhen he came up it proved to be a native dog. 

Of those dogs we have had many which were taken when young, but never could cure them of their natural ferocity; althoughwell fed, they would at all times, but particularly in the dark, fly at young pigs, chickens, or any small animal which they mightbe able to conquer, and immediately kill, and generally eat them. I had one which was a little puppy when caught, but, notwithstanding I took much pains to correct and cure it of itssavageness, I found it took every opportunity, which it met with, to snap off the head of a fowl, or worry a pig, and would do itin defiance of correction. They are a very good natured animalwhen domesticated, but I believe it to be impossible to cure thatsavageness, which all I have seen seem to possess. 

The opossum is also very numerous here, but it is not exactlylike the American opossum; it partakes a good deal of thekangaroo in the strength of its tail and make of its fore-legs, which are very short in proportion to the hind ones; like thatanimal, it has the pouch, or false belly, for the safety of itsyoung in time of danger, and its colour is nearly the same, butthe fur is thicker and finer. There are several other animals ofa smaller size, down as low as the field-rat, which in some partor other partakes of the kangaroo and opossum: we have caughtmany rats with this pouch for carrying their young when pursued, and the legs, claws, and tail of this rat are exactly like thekangaroo. 

It would appear, from the great similarity in some part orother of the different quadrupeds which we find here, that thereis a promiscuous intercourse between the different sexes of allthose different animals. The same observation might be made alsoon the fishes of the sea, on the fowls of the air, and, I mayadd, the trees of the forest. It was wonderful to see what a vastvariety of fish were caught, which, in some part or other, partake of the shark: it is no uncommon thing to see a skait'shead and shoulders to the hind part of a shark, or a shark's headto the body of a large mullet, and sometimes to the flat body ofa sting-ray. 

With respect to the feathered tribe, the parrot prevails; wehave shot birds, with the head, neck, and bill of a parrot, andwith the same variety of the most beautiful plumage on thoseparts for which that bird here is distinguished, and a tail andbody of a different make and colour, with long, streight, anddelicate made feet and legs; which is the very reverse of anybird of the parrot kind. I have also seen a bird, with the legsand feet of a parrot, the head and neck made and coloured likethe common sea-gull, and the wings and tail of a hawk. I havelikewise seen trees bearing three different kinds of leaves, andfrequently have found others, bearing the leaf of the gum-tree, with the gum exuding from it, and covered with bark of a verydifferent kind. 

There are a great variety of birds in this country; all thoseof the parrot tribe, such as the macaw, cockatoo, lorey, greenparrot, and parroquets of different kinds and sizes, are cloathedwith the most beautiful plumage that can be conceived; it wouldrequire the pencil of an able limner to give a stranger an ideaof them, for it is impossible by words to describe them*. Thecommon crow is found here in considerable numbers, but the soundof their voice and manner of croaking, is very different fromthose in Europe. There are also vast numbers of hawks, of varioussizes and colours. Here are likewise pigeons and quails, with agreat variety of smaller birds, but I have not found one with apleasing note. 

[* See very accurate representations, drawn fromnature, and described by that ingenious and able naturalist, JohnLatham, Esq; in Phillip's Voyage. ]

There have been several large birds seen since we arrived inthis port; they were supposed, by those who first saw them, to bethe ostrich, as they could not fly when pursued, but ranexceedingly fast; so much so, that a very strong and fleetgreyhound could not come near them: one was shot, which gave usan opportunity of a more close examination. Some were of opinionthat it was the emew, which I think is particularly described byDr. Goldsmith, from Linneus; others imagined it to be thecassowary, but it far exceeds that bird in size; it was, whenstanding, seven feet two inches, from its feet to the upper partof its head; the only difference which I could perceive, betweenthis bird and the ostrich, was in its bill, which appeared to meto be narrower at the point, and it has three toes, which I amtold is not the case with the ostrich: it has one characteristic, by which it may be known, and which we thought veryextraordinary; this is, that two distinct feathers grew out fromevery quill*. The flesh of this bird, although coarse, wasthought by us delicious meat; it had much the appearance, whenraw, of neck-beef; a party of five, myself included, dined on aside-bone of it most sumptuously. The pot or spit received everything which we could catch or kill, and the common crow wasrelished here as well as the barn-door fowl is in England. 

[* See an elegant engraving of the Cassowary inPhillip's Voyage. ]

Of insects there are as great a variety here as of birds; thescorpion, centipede, spider, ant, and many others; the ants areof various sizes, from the smallest known in Europe, to the sizeof near an inch long; some are black, some white, and others, ofthe largest sort, reddish; those of this kind are really aformidable little animal; if you tread near the nest, (which isgenerally under ground, with various little passages or outlets)and have disturbed them, they will sally forth in vast numbers, attack their disturbers with astonishing courage, and even pursuethem to a considerable distance; and their bite is attended for atime with a most acute pain. Some build their nests against atree, to the size of a large bee-hive; another kind raises littlemounts on the ground, of clay, to the height of four feet. 

In speaking of the spider, it would be improper to be silentupon the industry of this little creature; I call them little, although, if compared with our common spider, they are verylarge; they spread their web in the woods between trees, generally to a distance of twelve or fourteen yards, and weavethem so very strong, that it requires considerable force to breakthem. I have seen the silk of which the web is composed, woundoff into a ball, and think it equal to any I ever saw in the samestate from the silk worm; it is of the same colour, a paleyellow, or straw colour. None of the gentlemen employed here haveas yet made any particular observations upon the manner in whichthis animal is produced, or how they prepare their silk. I havefound upon bushes, on which the web has been hanging in clusters, a thin shell, something like that wherein the silk-worm preparesits silk, but of this shape, [The image is included in the HTMLversion] and, upon opening them, I have seen a quantity of this silkwithin, in which a spider was found wrapped up. 

Of reptiles, there are snakes from the smallest size known inEngland, to the length of eleven feet, and about as thick as aman's wrist; and many lizards of different kinds and sizes. 

The natives we have seen accompanied by dogs, which appear tobe domesticated the same as ours in Europe; they are of the wolfkind, and of a reddish colour. 

When speaking of birds, I should have mentioned, that some ofour gentlemen have seen in the lagoons and swamps which they havefallen in with, in their shooting excursions, the black swan, which is said to have been found in some parts of the west coastof this country; the extremity of their wings are described to bewhite, and all the rest of the plumage black. I have seen onewhich has been shot. It answered the above description as tocolour, but the bill was a pale pink or crimson; it was about thesize of a common white swan, and was good meat. 

The vast variety of beautiful plants and flowers, which are tobe found in this country, may hereafter afford much entertainmentto the curious in the science of botany; but I am whollyunqualified to describe the different sorts with which we findthe woods to abound; we sometimes met with a little wild spinach, parsly, and sorrel, but in too small quantities to expect it tobe of any advantage to the seamen. The flax plant has been foundhere in several places, but not in any considerable quantity; Ihave heard it reckoned a good kind, but in that also I mustconfess my ignorance. 

In the infancy of a distant settlement, the want of timber tocarry on the necessary buildings, will be allowed to be a verygreat inconvenience; but we were here in the middle of a wood, inwhich were trees from the size of a man's arm to twenty-eightfeet in circumference; but they were either so very crooked, sorent, or so very rotten in the heart, that we could scarcely getone sound or serviceable in a dozen; and what in our situationwas a very great misfortune, we had not as yet found one piece oftimber that would float in water. The wood is so exceedinglyheavy, that when a large tree was cut down, in order to clear apiece of ground, it would sometimes take a party of men three orfour days to dispose of it, or move it from the place. 

We arrived in this country in the end of January, 1788; theweather was then very fine, though warm; the sea and land breezespretty regular, and Farenheit's thermometer was from 72° to80°. 

In February, the weather was sultry, with lightning, thunder, and heavy rain; this sort of weather continued for a fortnight, with few and very short intervals of fair weather; a flash oflightning fell one night near the camp, and struck a tree near tothe post of a centinel, who was much hurt by it; the tree wasgreatly rent, and there being at the foot of it a pen in whichwere a sew pigs and sheep, they were all killed. Towards thelatter end of the month the weather was more settled, littlethunder, lightning, or rain, and the thermometer from 65° to77°. 

In the middle of this month, Lieutenant King of the Sirius, amaster's mate, and surgeon's mate, with four other men from theship, together with a few men and women convicts, embarked onboard the Supply armed tender, and she sailed with them forNorfolk Island. In the passage thither, they fell in with a smallisland which had not before been discovered; it lies in latitude31° 36' south, and about 140 leagues to the eastward of thiscoast; lieutenant Ball named it Lord Howe's Island. After havinglanded the party intended to remain on Norfolk Island, with theirprovisions and stores, Mr. Ball, in his return to Port Jackson, called at Lord Howe's Island, in order to examine it moreparticularly. He found anchorage on the west side of it, but thebottom was coral rock. He landed, with his boat, within a reef, and caught a number of excellent turtle upon a sandy beach: thisisland also abounded with a variety of birds, which were sounaccustomed to being disturbed, that the seamen came near enoughto knock down as many as they wanted with sticks. 

In March, the weather was variable, sometimes strong galesfrom the southward and south-east, with moist and hazy weather; agreat sea rolling in upon the coast. This month the marines wereordered to clear ground and begin to build huts and barracks forthe winter; the convicts were also directed to employ certainhours in the same necessary work for themselves. The mornings andevenings were now rather cold; the thermometer from 60° to75°. 

In the month of April the weather was much the same as inMarch; rather variable; a few days of cloudy weather with rain, which generally fell in the night, and southerly and south-eastwinds; but when the wind shifted to the westward or north-west, the weather became fair and pleasant, and this weather wasfrequently attended with sea and land breezes; the mornings andevenings cold, and the middle of the day (if calm) very hot. Thermometer from 68° to 72°. 

The beginning of this month much bad weather; strong galesfrom south to south-east, generally attended with rain in thenight; middle of the month fair and settled weather for severaldays together, with a regular land and sea wind; towards the endof the month the wind prevailed between south-west andsouth-east, weather unsettled, showers of rain commonly in thenight; in the day little wind and warm weather. The thermometerfrom 56° to 67°. 

The beginning of June fair and pleasant weather, attended withland and sea breezes; from the middle to the latter end, stormyweather with much rain, wind chiefly from the south-east quarter. The thermometer from 52° to 62°. 

This month begun as the last ended, with blustering, rainyweather; the middle was less windy, though cloudy and dull, withfrequent showers; the end of the month fair weather with westerlywinds. The thermometer from 52° to 63°. 

This month commenced with cloudy weather and much rain, southerly and south-east winds; the middle moderate and fair withvariable winds; the latter part was fair weather with light andvariable winds. The thermometer from 56° to 72°. 

From the beginning till about the 20th, the weather was cloudywith frequent showers of rain; but the latter part had stronggales from the south-east quarter. 

I was furnished with the following months by LieutenantWilliam Dawes, of the marines. 

The first and middle parts of this month the weather wasmoderate and cloudy, and the wind very variable, frequent thunderand lightning with showers of rain; the latter part was clear, fine weather in general, with distant thunder and lightning, anda few violent squalls of wind, which happened generally in thenight. The Thermometer from 49° to 81°. 

In the beginning of this month the weather was generallycloudy and hazy, the wind from the eastward; the middle part alsocloudy with frequent light showers of rain, thunder, andlightning, sometimes distant and sometimes very heavy; latterpart, cloudy and hazy, with violent thunder, lightning, and rain;wind from north-east to south-east; and the thermometer from53° to 93°. 

The first part was cloudy and hazy, with some thunder, attended with light rain; middle, same kind of weather, withfrequent and light showers of rain; latter part, moderate weatherwith a good deal of rain; the wind chiefly from the northward andeastward. The thermometer from 53° to 102°. 

During the whole of this month, the weather was cloudy andhazy, with light showers of rain, and sometimes distant thunder;the wind chiefly, though from the north-east and south-east, andduring the night, westerly, or land winds. The thermometer from63° to 112°. 

The thermometer, as marked for these last four months, was inthe open air occasionally exposed to the sun and wind. 

I judged it better, while mentioning the weather during thedifferent months, to go on with that by itself, and not to mix itwith any other occurrences: I must, therefore, return back as faras the beginning of March, at which time, as the two French shipsalready spoken of were preparing to leave this coast, Idetermined to visit Monsieur de la Perouse before he shoulddepart; I accordingly, with a few other officers, sailed round toBotany-Bay, in the Sirius's long-boat. We staid two days on boardthe Bussole, and were most hospitably and politely entertained, and very much pressed to pass a longer time with them. 

When I took my leave the weather proved too stormy to be ableto get along the coast in an open boat; I therefore left thelong-boat on board the Bussole, took my gun, and, with anotherofficer and two seamen, travelled through the woods and swamps, of which there were many in our route. We directed our course bya pocket compass, which led us within a mile of our ownencampment; the distance from Botany-Bay to Port Jackson, acrossthe land, and near the sea shore, is, in a direct line, eight ornine miles; and the country about two miles to the southward ofPort Jackson abounds with high trees, and little or no underwood;but between that and Botany-Bay, it is all thick, low woods orshrubberies, barren heaths, and swamps; the land near the sea, although covered in many places with wood, is rocky from thewater-side to the very summit of the hills. 

Whilst walking on shore with the officers of the French shipsat Botany-Bay, I was shown by them a little mount upon the northshore, which they had discovered, and thought a curiosity; it wasquite rocky on the top, the stones were all standingperpendicularly on their ends, and were in long, but narrowpieces; some of three, four, or five sides, exactly (inminiature) resembling the Giants Causeway in the north ofIreland. 

The Bussole and Astrolabe sailed from Botany-Bay the 11th ofMarch. 

As I have mentioned something of the country betweenBotany-Bay and Port Jackson, I must farther observe, that in theneighbourhood of Sydney Cove, which is that part of this harbourin which Governor Phillip has fixed his residence, there are manyspots of tolerably good land, but they are in general of butsmall extent; exclusive of those particular spots, it is rather apoor steril soil, full of stones; but near, and at the head ofthe harbour, there is a very considerable extent of tolerableland, and which may be cultivated without waiting for its beingcleared of wood; for the trees stand very wide of each other, andhave no underwood: in short, the woods on the spot I am speakingof resemble a deer park, as much as if they had been intended forsuch a purpose; but the soil appears to me to be rather sandy andshallow, and will require much manure to improve it, which ishere a very scarce article; however, there are people whosejudgment may probably be better than mine, that think it goodland; I confess that farming has never made any part of mystudies. The grass upon it is about three feet high, very closeand thick; probably, farther back there may be very extensivetracts of this kind of country, but we, as yet, had no time tomake very distant excursions into the interior parts of this newworld. 

On the 6th of May, three of the transports, which werechartered by the East-India Company to load tea at China, sailedfrom this port; the Supply also sailed for Lord Howe Island. 

The carpenter of the Sirius, with his crew, had beenconstantly employed on shore since our arrival in this country, assisting in erecting store-houses, and other necessarybuildings. The ship's company were variously employed out of theship upon the business of the settlement. The scurvy had, forsome time past, appeared more amongst the seamen, marines, andconvicts, than when on board the ships, which will appearstrange, after having enjoyed the advantage of being much uponthe land, and eating various vegetable productions; but this thegentlemen of the faculty say is no uncommon thing, particularlywhen men are under the necessity of continuing the same saltdiet; setting aside this, and a few with dysenteries, the healthof the people cannot be said to be bad. 

About the middle of this month a convalescent, who had beensent from the hospital to gather wild spinach, or other greens, was murdered by the natives; there were two of them together, theone escaped, but was wounded, the other has never been heard ofsince; but as some part of his cloaths were found which werebloody, and had been pierced by a spear, it was concluded he hadbeen killed. A short time after this accident, a reportprevailed, that part of the bones of a man had been found near afire by which a party of the natives had been regalingthemselves; this report gave rise to a conjecture, that as thisman had been killed near this place, the people who had committedthe murder had certainly ate him. 

Whether any of the natives of this country are cannibals isyet a matter on which we cannot speak positively; but the murderof two other men, as related immediately after this, seems tocontradict the conjecture that they are cannibals, as the menwere left on the spot where they were killed: however, thefollowing circumstance may, in some degree, incline us tobelieve, that although the natives in general do not eat humanflesh, yet that that horrid custom is sometimes practised. I wasone day present when two native children were interrogated on thesubject of the quarrels of their countrymen; they wereparticularly asked, what the different chiefs did with those theykilled; they mentioned some who burnt and buried the slain, butthey also particularly named one who ate those he killed. 

Some short time after the before-mentioned accident happened, two convicts who had been employed at a little distance up theharbour, in cutting rushes for thatching, were found murdered bythe natives. It has been strongly suspected that these people hadengaged in some dispute or quarrel with them, and as they hadhatchets and bill-hooks with them, it is believed they might havebeen rash enough to use violence with some of the natives, whohad, no doubt, been numerous there; be that as it might, theofficer who went to look after those unfortunate men, and to seewhat work they had done, after hailing some time for them withoutany reply, set his boat's crew upon the search, who, having founda considerable quantity of blood near their tent, suspected whatthey soon found to be the case: for they discovered the two menimmediately after, lying in different places, both dead; the onehad his brains beat out with a club or stone, besides severalother wounds; the other had many wounds, and part of a spear, which had been broke, sticking quite through his body. Theirtent, provisions, and cloaths remained, but most of the toolswere taken away. 

The 4th of June being the birth-day of our much belovedsovereign, and the first we had seen in this most distant part ofhis dominions, it was celebrated by all ranks with every possibledemonstration of loyalty, and concluded with the utmostchearfulness and good order. 

Having at this time of the year much bad weather, and veryheavy gales of wind, I must observe, that I had, as well as manyothers, believed till now, that the gales had never blown uponthe coast in such a direction, but that a ship, on being close inwith the land when such a gale commenced, might gain an offing onone tack or the other; but we now found, that those gales are asvariable in their direction upon this coast as any other duringthe winter season: I would, therefore, recommend it to shipsbound to any port here to the southward of latitude 30° 00'south, at this time of the year to get in or near the parallel oftheir port, before they attempt to make the land; as in thatcase, if a gale from the eastward should take them when near theland, they would have their port under their lee, for it would benext to an impossibility for a ship to keep off the land withsuch a sea as these gales occasion. 

In the month of July, our scorbutic patients seemed to berather worse; the want of a little fresh food for the sick wasvery much felt, and fish at this time were very scarce: such ofthe natives as we met seemed to be in a miserable and starvingcondition from that scarcity. We frequently fell in with familiesliving in the hollow part of the rocks by the sea-side, wherethey eagerly watched every opportunity of moderate weather toprovide shell or other fish for their present subsistence: if abird was shot, and thrown to them, they would immediately pluckoff the feathers, put it upon the fire without taking out theintestines, and eat the whole; sometimes they did not pull offthe feathers, and, if it were a small bird, did not even throwthe bones away. 

This season, in which fish is so scarce, subjects these poorcreatures to great distress, at least we were apt to believe so;they were frequently found gathering a kind of root in the woods, which they broiled on the fire, then beat it between two stonesuntil it was quite soft; this they chew until they have extractedall the nutritive part, and afterwards throw it away. This rootappears to be a species of the orchis, or has much of itsnutritive quality. 

Large fires were frequently seen in this season upon some ofthe hills, and we had been much at a loss to know for whatpurpose they were so frequently lighted, at this time of theyear; but in going down the harbour one day, with an intention toget upon the North Head, for the purpose of ascertaining itsexact latitude, we observed on a hill near that point, one ofthose large fires, which (with the first lieutenant and surgeonwho were with me) we determined to visit; and as we thought itmight probably be some funeral ceremony, which we were verydesirous of seeing, we took our guns, and intended getting upamongst them unperceived; but when we arrived at the place, toour very great disappointment, not a person was to be seen: Ibelieve there were not less than three or four acres of groundall in a blaze; we then conjectured that these fires were madefor the purpose of clearing the ground of the shrubs andunderwood, by which means they might with greater ease get atthose roots which appear to be a great part of their subsistenceduring the winter. We had observed that they generally took theadvantage of windy weather for making such fires, which would ofcourse occasion their spreading over a greater extent ofground. 

On the 14th of July four transports, under the command ofLieutenant Shortland, sailed for England; they intended going tothe northward, and passing through the streights of Macassar andSunda, the season being too early either to attempt going roundVan Diemen's land, and to endeavour to get to the westward bythat tract, or to go to the eastward by Cape Horn. 

The 12th of August being the birth-day of His Royal Highnessthe Prince of Wales, a salute of 21 guns was fired from theSirius and Supply, and the officers of the settlement and shipsdined with the governor, as on His Majesty's birth-day. 

We began at this time to take equal altitudes for ascertainingthe exact rate of the time-keeper. On the 17th, the governordirected two boats from the Sirius, with a proper officer ineach, to go up the harbour; one to take the north, the other thesouth side; they were to enter every cove in their way up, inorder to ascertain, as exactly as possible, the number of canoesand natives within the harbour of Port Jackson; for the samepurpose, two other boats went down the harbour; in one of whichthe governor went, and I proceeded in the other; in the lower ornorth part of the harbour there was a considerable number ofcanoes, some of which were then employed in catching fish. 

Upon my going round the coves, they all left their work andpushed with great precipitation for the land, which convinced methat they were women who were thus employed; as they had alwaysshown a desire, as much as possible, to avoid us. I did everything in my power to prevent their being alarmed, or in anyrespect uneasy, by keeping at a distance from them, and makingevery friendly signal I could, but to no purpose; for althoughthere was no other boat in company, they did not seem disposed totrust us near them: there were many men upon the shore, who spoketo us in their usual familiar and chearful manner, and invited uswith much apparent earnestness and friendship to come on shore, which, however, I declined, in order to prosecute the business Iwas engaged in; although I own I thought the counting them fromthe boat was a very uncertain method of coming at theirnumbers. 

It blew fresh, and there was so much surf on shore, that itwas impossible to land where the people stood, without the dangerof hurting the boat, otherwise it is probable that I, togetherwith Lieutenant George Johnston, of the marines, who was in theboat with me, should have landed: we went as near as possible tothe shore, I believe within twenty yards, and whilst in friendlyconversation with them, and lying upon our oars, we observed oneof them place his lance upon the throwing-stick, but had no ideathat he meant to throw it amongst us, after so friendly aninvitation as we had received from them to land: but I was nowconvinced, that they only wanted us within their reach, no doubtfrom an opinion that we had no fire arms, as they did not appear:as soon as they thought that they could throw it with effect, alance was discharged, which passed about six feet over our heads;I saw the lance in the air, and immediately snatched up my gun, which, as they run off the moment they had shown their hostileintention, I was determined to discharge amongst them, and shouldprobably have killed one of their number, if my gun had notmissed fire. Mr. Johnston, upon my gun having missed, immediatelydischarged his into the bushes in which they had shelteredthemselves from our sight; but as it was charged only with smallshot, I think it could not have hurt any of them. 

What reason they could have had for this treacherous kind ofconduct, I am wholly at a loss to guess, for nothing hostile ormischievous had appeared on our part; on the contrary, the mostfriendly disposition had been manifested in every thing we saidor did; even when their women took the alarm upon our approach, Ispoke to them, and made such signs of friendship as we judgedthey would understand, and went round at a distance to preventtheir apprehension of any insult. It was perhaps fortunate thatmy gun did not go off; as I was so displeased at their treachery, that it is highly probable I might have shot one of them. 

On comparing the accounts, which were taken by the differentboats employed upon this business, it appeared that we hadseen--Canoes 67--men 94--women 34--children 9, --which is by nomeans a just account of the numbers who, at that time, lived inand about this harbour; for I have since seen in one part of theharbour more than that number. 

On the 27th, the Supply tender arrived from Norfolk Island, where she had been with a quantity of provisions and stores forthat settlement; she brought the melancholy account of the lossof Mr. James Cunningham, and four others, who were drowned in thesurf, by their boat being overset in landing the stores from theSupply; so exceedingly difficult of access is the shore of thatisland, from an almost continual surf breaking on a reef whichencompasses the coast on that part where the settlement isformed. 

In this month a report prevailed in the settlement, whichseemed at first to gain some credit:--It was, that one-Dailey_, a convict, had discovered a piece of ground, wherein he had found a considerable quantity of a yellow colouredore, which, upon its being tried, appeared to have a certainproportion of gold in it; at this time the governor happened tobe absent on a short excursion into the country, to thenorthward: the report having been made to thelieutenant-governor, he, of course, examined the man, who hadmade the discovery, and who told his story with so muchplausibility, that it was not doubted but an ore of some kind hadbeen sound. 

Dailey was interrogated as to the place, but this he refusedto give any information of until the return of the governor, towhom he would give a full account of the discovery, provided hewould grant him what the discoverer considered as but a smallcompensation for so valuable an acquisition; this reward was, (asthere were ships upon the point of sailing) his own and aparticular woman convict's enlargement, and a passage in one ofthe ships to England, together with a specified sum of money, which I do not now recollect. The lieutenant-governor insisted, that as he had already mentioned the discovery he had made, heshould also show what part of the country it was in, otherwise hemight expect punishment, for daring to impose upon those officersto whom he had related this business: the fear of punishmentdisposed him to incline a little, though apparently with muchreluctance; he proposed to the lieutenant-governor, that anofficer should be sent down the harbour with him, for the mine, which, he said, was in the lower part of the harbour, and nearthe sea shore, and he would show the place to the officer. 

Accordingly, an officer, with a corporal and two or threeprivate soldiers were sent with him; he landed where he said thewalk would be but short, and they entered the wood in their wayto the mine; soon after they got among the bushes, he applied forpermission to go to one side for a minute upon some necessaryoccasion, which was granted him; the officer continued there somehours without seeing the discoverer again, who, immediately ongetting out of his sight, had pushed off for the camp by land, for he knew the road very well, and he had cunning enough topersuade the officer to send the boat away as soon as they hadlanded, as he supposed he would not choose to quit the placeuntil a good guard came down; for which purpose, the officer wasto have dispatched a man by land, as soon as he arrived at theplace, and was satisfied that it merited attention. 

The convict arrived in camp pretty early in the afternoon, andinformed the lieutenant-governor, that he had left the officerwho went down with him in full possession of the gold mine; hethen got a few things out of his own tent, and disappeared; theparty, after waiting for some hours hooping and searching throughthe woods for the cheat, left their stations and marched round tothe camp, where they arrived at dusk, heartily tired, and not alittle chagrined at the trick the villain had played them. Thewant of provisions soon brought him from his concealment, and asevere punishment was the necessary consequence of thisimposition: however, he still gave out, that he had made thediscovery which he before had mentioned, and that his reasons forquitting the officer who went with him was, that he thought, ifhe gave the information to the governor himself, he shouldcertainly get what he had asked. 

When the governor returned, another officer was sent with him, although every person now believed that there was no truth inwhat he had hitherto reported. This officer informed him, ingoing down in the boat, that he would not suffer him to go threeyards from him when landed, and that he would certainly shoot himif he attempted to run from him; for which purpose he showed him, that he was loading his gun with ball: this so terrified thecheat, that he acknowledged he knew of no gold mine. He was theninterrogated respecting the ore which he had produced, and heconfessed he had filed down part of a yellow metal buckle, andhad mixed with it some gold filed off a guinea, all which hadbeen blended with some earth, and made hard. The man who triedthe ore was bred a silversmith, and upon separating the differentparts, he discovered that it contained a small quantity of gold:the inventor was, of course, well punished for his trick. 

[The observations which I made here, both for the latitude andlongitude, as well as those that were made by Lieutenant Bradley, were the same as are inserted in the following tables. ][The tablse are included in the HTML version]

Chapter IV

A VOYAGE TO CAPE OF GOOD HOPE

September 1788 to January 1789

The Sirius leaves Port Jackson. --Sails for theCape of Good Hope, by the Eastern Passage. --Falls in with manylarge islands of ice. --Casts anchor at Robin's Island. --Tables ofthe winds, weather, etc. -

In the month of September, Governor Phillip signified to me, that it was his intention very soon to dispatch the Sirius to theCape of Good Hope, in order to purchase such quantity ofprovisions as she might be capable of taking on board; and thatshe might be made as light as possible for that purpose, hedesired I would land eight or ten of her guns and carriages, withany other articles which I judged the ship could spare, for thetime she might be absent, and which might answer the purpose oflightening the ship and the making of room. 

In consequence of this order, eight guns, with theircarriages, and 24 rounds of shot for each gun, 20 half barrels ofpowder, a spare anchor, and various other articles, were put onshore at Sydney-cove: he also directed that I should leave theship's long-boat behind for the use of the settlement: this orderI confess I with reluctance obeyed, as the want of such a boathas often been very severely felt; at the same time I was desiredto endeavour, on my arrival at the Cape, to purchase such a boatfor the settlement; and that written directions for that andother purposes would be given me, when I received my finalinstructions. Whilst upon this subject, I thought it a properopportunity to represent, that the Sirius was (except in thecarpenter's department, ) perfectly ready for sea; but thecarpenter's crew, together with the carpenter of the shiphimself, having all been employed constantly on the business ofthe settlement, since our arrival in this country, the ship had, in consequence, been much neglected in that department; and asshe was soon to go to sea, it was highly necessary that thosepeople should be immediately sent on board to prepare her for avoyage. 

We had, it is true, (upon my representing the absolutenecessity of having the ship's decks and sides caulked, ) employedan old man, the carpenter's yeoman, and a convict caulker, uponthe weather work of the ship; but that work, we had afterwardsreason to know, had not been so well executed as it might havebeen, had the carpenter of the ship been permitted to stay onboard and attend so necessary a duty. 

On Tuesday the 30th of September, I received my final orders, and on Wednesday the Ist of October, unmoored the ship; thegovernor and his family dined on board, and the wind beingeasterly, we got under weigh and worked down to the loweranchorage, where we came to, intending to take advantage of theland wind in the morning to put to sea. The Golden Grovestore-ship also came down and anchored below, having on boardprovisions and other stores, for Norfolk Island; she had also onboard a number of men and women convicts for that island; I thinktwenty men and twelve women, together with six marines and threeseamen from the Sirius. In the evening, the governor and theother gentlemen who were with him took their leave, and early inthe morning of the 2d, with the wind at south-west, we sailed outof the harbour. 

As I have not at any time, when speaking of this harbour, given any description of it, or any directions for sailing intoit, I will take this opportunity. 

The entrance of the harbour of Port Jackson has nothing in itsappearance, when six leagues from the land, by which it may beknown; your latitude will be your most infallible guide to thisharbour, or indeed to any other upon this coast. Steer in for theland, which here lies about north by east half east and south bywest half west; keep as near as you can in latitude 33° 50'south; the entrance, when you come near, will show itself, by theheads on each side, which are high, steep, perpendicular cliffs, of a light reddish colour; a ship bound in here, may run inwithout fear between the heads, which are distant from each otherone mile and three quarters; there is nothing in the way, and theshore pretty steep to on each side; the sea breaking, which itdoes even in fine weather, will show any rocks which may lie nearunder the shore. Steer in between the heads for a high bluffpoint, which is called Middle Cape or Head, and is steep to, until you open to the southward of you a very extensive arm ofthe harbour. 

If the wind be sufficiently large to run up this branch, (which lies by compass south-west by south) on either shore, haulround the east-most point of this arm, which is called the Inneror South Head; it is a low rocky point; give it a birth oftwo-thirds of a cable, and steer right in for the first sandycove above it, on the same side, called Camp Cove; keep at aconvenient, but small distance from the shore, in three and ahalf and four fathoms, and observe, that right off this cove, andnear mid-channel, lies a patch of rocks, which appear athalf-tide; the shoaling toward them is gradual all round, upon asmooth sandy bottom; it is rocky only about half a cable's lengthfrom the dry part; you may keep near the upper point of CampCove, in six and seven fathoms, and from thence steer directly upthe harbour. If you intend to go on the west shore, and to leavethis patch of rocks to the eastward of you, steer in as beforefor Middle Head, and when within a cable's length of it, steer upfor the next point above it, on the same side, observing not tomake too free with that point, as it is rocky something more thanhalf a cable's length off. In this channel, which is much thebest, being rather broader than the eastern channel, you willhave four, four and a half, and five fathoms. When you are abovethis second point, on the west shore, you may take what part ofthe channel you please, or anchor wherever you wish, there beingnothing in the way from shore to shore. 

The chart will certainly be the best guide in going in. If thewind should be southerly, a stranger would not venture to workup, but he might anchor with safety in the north part of theharbour, which he will perceive by the chart, to which I wouldrefer him, rather than to a written description*. 

[* For an accurate survey of this harbour, see aChart of Port Jackson, by Captain Hunter, in Phillip's Voyage, 4to. Edition. ]

We were no sooner clear of the harbour, than the wind veeredmore to the southward, and began to blow strong, with thick, hazy, and dirty weather; and, what gave me privately a good dealof concern, the carpenter reported, that the ship, which hadhitherto been very tight, now made water. This piece ofinformation, with such a voyage as the Sirius was now enteredupon, was no doubt very unwelcome; and more particularly so, whenit was considered, that the ship's company, from having been longupon salt diet, without the advantage of any sort of vegetables, were not so healthy and strong as a leaky ship might require. 

I had often observed, that when this voyage, upon which wewere now entered, was the subject of conversation, in companywith the governor, he always spoke in favour of the passage roundVan Diemen's land, and to the westward; but when I signified awish that he would direct by what route I should endeavour toperform the voyage, he declined that; and said that I should begoverned by circumstances, and that he should leave it to mydiscretion and judgment; at the same time expressing his opinionstrongly in favour of the western route; which I confess I was alittle surprised at, as it had never yet been attempted, not evenby ships employed in that kind of service which leaves it intheir power to make experiments. 

I do not say that the passage from Van Diemen's land to theCape of Good Hope, by the westward, is impracticable, as thatremains yet to be tried; but from my own experience of theprevalence of strong westerly winds across that vast ocean, I aminclined to think it must be a long and tedious voyage; and atthe same time so very uncertain, that the time for which theSirius was victualled, (for four months, and of some articles notmore than two weeks, for the number of men on board; having lefta considerable quantity of our provision for the use of thesettlement, ) and the nature of the service she was going upon, which was no doubt of considerable consequence to the colony, wasnot an opportunity for trying such an experiment; as theconsequence of a disappointment would have been, that I must havereturned again to Port Jackson for a fresh supply of provisions, and the season for another passage would have been too faradvanced. I therefore determined, judging from the experience ofthose who had before made the eastern passage, to pass to thesouthward of New Zealand and round Cape Horn. 

We stood off to the eastward, determined as early as possibleto get an offing of fifty or sixty leagues; the wind continued tothe southward, with the same hazy and squally weather, until the5th, when it shifted to south-south-east; by this time we wereabout 70 leagues from the coast, which enabled us to tack andstand to the south-west: with this change of wind from thesouth-west to the south-east quarter, the same squally andunsettled weather continued. The ship upon the larboard tack mademuch more water than on the starboard, so much as to render itnecessary to pump her every two hours, to prevent too long aspell; she made in general from ten to twelve inches in twohours. 

There was reason to conjecture, from this difference on theopposite tacks, that the leak was somewhere about the starboardbow, and near the surface of the water, and if it proved so, Ihad a hope that we might, the first moderate weather, with smoothwater, be able to come at and stop it. I was the more sanguine inthis expectation, as the carpenter, in a few days after, discovered it to be under the after part of the fore-channel, alittle below the surface of the water; and seemed to think itproceeded from one of the butt-bolts being corroded by thecopper, which I now understood had never been taken off since theship's being first sheathed, which was now more than eightyears. 

On the 6th, the weather cleared up, and both Mr. Bradley andmyself had a few distances of the sun and moon, by which ourlongitude was 157° 10' east, by the time-keeper 156° 55'east, and by account 156° 17' east; the latitude 34° 49'south; variation per Azimuth 11° 40' east. At noon, the windgot round to east and east by north, with which I steeredsouth-south-east; still favouring our endeavours to get to thesouthward; it next came to north-east and north, and in latitude40° 33' south, it came to north-west, but the weather stillcontinued squally and unsettled. As the weather began now to berather cold, and as in the track I meant to prosecute my voyageby I might expect to have it considerably colder, andconsequently the ship's company would require a shift ofcloathing, slops were served to all who stood in need of them. 

On the 9th, we were near as far to the southward as VanDiemen's Land, or South Cape of New Holland; and the wind beingapparently settled in the south-west quarter, I steered a coursefor the south cape of New Zealand. From Port Jackson to VanDiemen's Land we had run parallel to the coast, at the distanceof 60 leagues from it, and have not seen any thing; so that wemay venture to say, that there are no islands lie off that partof the coast, at the above distance from it. On the afternoon ofthis day (9th) we had several good setts of distances of the sunand moon, by which our longitude was 157° 26' east, by thetime-keeper 157° 19' east, and by account 157° 48' east;the latitude 43° 30' south; the thermometer was now 57°. 

On the 12th, we passed the south cape of New Zealand, but theweather being very hazy and squally, we did not attempt to makeit, but kept a degree and a half to the southward of it; here wemet with vast numbers of birds of various kinds, mostly aquatic, such as albatrosses, pentada birds, divers, peterels, and avariety of gulls; some of a kind I had not before seen during thevoyage, very large, of a dark brown or mouse colour; and anothersort not quite so large, with a white body, dark wings, and thehead of a light blue or lead colour: much sea-weed was also seenhere in very large patches. 

We now had the wind fresh from the north-west quarter, withfrequent squalls, attended with rain, and the weather cold. Wefound the variation of the compass 40 leagues south-south-eastfrom the south cape of New Zealand, to be 16° 54' east. Mr. Worgan, the surgeon, having recommended the essence of malt to beserved at this time to the ship's company, a certain quantity ofwort was made every morning, and a pint served to each man. 

On the 15th, by an observation of the moon's distance from thestar aquila, our longitude was 171° 16' east, the latitudewas 50° 45' south, and the variation of the compass 16°20' east; longitude by the time-keeper 171° 32' east, and byaccount 172° 10' east. From this time to the 22d, we hadlight and variable winds, sometimes from the south andsouth-east, and sometimes from the northward, with moist and hazyweather. 

On the 22d, the wind inclined from the westward, and the weatherbecame fair; we had this day a set of distances of the sun and moon, which gave our longitude 182° 46' east, the time-keeper 182° 37' east, and the account 184° 10' east; the latitude 51° 03' south; the variationwas now 13° 45' east, and the thermometer 48°. For three successive dayswe had lunar observations, by which it appeared that the reckoning afew days before had been more than a degree and a half to theeastward of the observations and time-keeper; but by our lastdistances of the sun and moon (26th) the ship was gaining on theaccount; these differences seem wholly to proceed from the sea, occasioned by the prevailing winds for the time; the easterlyvariation was decreasing, being now only 11° 00' east, inlatitude 52° 42' south, and longitude 196° 11' east. Wenow very frequently heard the divers in the night, and as oftensaw them in the day; it is really wonderful how these birds getfrom or to the land, at such an immense distance from it as from800 to 1000 leagues: they undoubtedly lay their eggs, and hatchthem on shore, and yet we plainly perceived that those we metwere of the penguin kind, and could not fly: from the slowprogress such a bird can make in the water, it might be supposedthat it would take them many years (were instinct to point outthe direct and shortest course for them) before they couldpossibly reach any land, unless there are islands in these seas, and not far from our track, which have not yet beendiscovered. 

I endeavoured, in sailing from New Zealand to Cape Horn, tokeep as much as possible in a parallel between the tracks of theResolution and Adventure; so that if any island lay between theparallels in which these ships sailed, we might have a chance offalling in with them. We have bad very variable weather for somedays past, with equally variable winds, and a confused jumble ofa sea, which the very frequent shifting of the windoccasioned. 

On the 2d of November, by a lunar observation, we were inlongitude 214° 27' east; the time-keeper gave 214° 19'east, and by account 213° 02' east; the latitude 55° 18'south, the variation was here 11° 00' east, and the height ofthe thermometer was 50°. From the 2d to the 6th, we had thewinds from north by west to north-north-east: on the 6th and 7th, we had very good observations for the longitude by the sun andmoon; the former gave 223° 57' east, and the latter 227°58' east; the longitude by account was 226° 20' east, thelatitude 56° 12' south: the variation increased again, beingin this situation 12° 20' east, thermometer 46°. 

From the 7th until the 17th, the weather was very variable, and the wind very unsettled, between the south-east andsouth-west quarters, attended with strong gales and dark hazyweather, with frequent showers of snow and hail; the thermometerwas down at 42° in the cabin, where we sometimes had a fire, but in the open air it was at 35°; the showers were commonlyaccompanied with heavy gusts or squalls of wind. Notwithstandingwe were, with these winds from the southward, subject to snow andhail, yet we frequently found that some of the gales which hadblown from the northward were attended with a more piercingdegree of cold. On the 18th, the weather became more moderate andfair, and the wind shifted to west, with a moderate breeze: wewere now in longitude 261° 50' east, and latitude 55° 23'south, and had 14° 43' east variation. On the 19th, we foundthat the variation had increased, in a run to the eastward of 25leagues, to 17° 30' east. 

On the 22d, we had several good distances of the sun and moon, and found our longitude to be at noon 280° 22' east, by thetime-keeper 281° 08' east, and by account 283° 09' east;the latitude was 57° 15' south; the variation of the compassincreased very fast as we approached Cape Horn, being now 20°30' east; and on the next day (23d) 22° 30' east; but a tableof the variation will be inserted at the end of the chapter, where it will appear at one view. 

We now very frequently fell in with high islands of ice. Onthe 24th, we had fresh gales with hazy and cold weather, and metso many ice islands, that we were frequently obliged to alter ourcourse to avoid them. On the 25th, we had strong gales with veryheavy and frequent squalls: as we were now drawing near CapeHorn, and in all the charts of Terra del Fuego which I had seen, there is an island laid down, bearing from the Cape aboutsouth-south-west, and called Diego Ramirez, distant from the landten or twelve leagues; and as I do not find that the existence ofsuch an island has ever been contradicted by any person who hassailed round this promontory, I determined to keep as near aspossible in its parallel, the wind being from west-north-west towest-south-west, and the weather rather hazy; if I should makeit, I could pass either within or without, as might beconvenient; and it would be as good a land-fall as the Capeitself, as, in case the wind should incline to the southward, weshould have offing enough to clear the land, which, to us whowere upon a service that would not admit of any loss of time, wasof consequence. 

At noon on the 26th, we had a good meridian observation, andwere exactly in the parallel of Diego Ramirez; and at eight A. M. An opportunity offered, for about an hour, for taking a set ofdistances of the sun and moon, of which both Mr. Bradley and myselfavailed ourselves; the result of which was (taking the mean ofboth observations, which agreed within a few miles) 292° 38'east, at the time of observation; so that we must then have beenvery near the place in which this island is laid down, for wecould rely upon the observations: but as nothing appeared, wehauled in for the land, the looming of which we frequently saw, but the heavy black squalls which were constantly gathering uponit, rendered it too indistinct to be able to determine anyparticular point. 

At this time several long strings of wild ducks flew past theship: in the evening the weather cleared a little in the horizon, and we set the extremes of Terra del Fuego from north by west towest-north-west, distant about 10 leagues. We continued ourcourse north-east, and I think we may safely venture todetermine, that there is no island so situated from Cape Horn asthis Diego Ramirez is said to be. 

For several days before we made the land, and every day afterwe left it, until the 27th, we fell in with a great number ofvery high ice islands. Here also we met with divers and seals. Wehad got but a very small distance to the eastward of the cape, when the winds inclined to the northward, and from that to thenorth-east, and blew a fresh gale. 

From the 27th of November until the 12th of December, we hadthe wind constantly in the north-east quarter, which I believe tobe rather uncommon near Cape Horn for such a length of time; asships in general, that are bound into the south sea, find itrather tedious getting to the westward round this cape. 

The ship's company now began to show much disposition to thescurvy, and what made it more distressing, we had nothing in theship with which we could hope to check the progress of thatdestructive disease, except a little essence of malt, that wecontinued to serve to the ship's company. We had only to hope fora speedy passage to the Cape of Good Hope, where we should, without a doubt, with the good things which were to be had there, be able to re-instate their health perfectly: I was so far frombeing surprised at this appearance of the scurvy amongst thecompany of the Sirius, so soon after leaving her port, that itwas with me rather a matter of wonder that it had not shownitself sooner; and so it must be with every person who considershow they had lived since we left the Cape outward bound; duringthat time (about 13 or 14 months) they had not tasted a bit offresh provisions of any kind, nor had they touched a single bladeof vegetables. 

We began now to be subject to hazy moist weather, withfrequent very thick fogs; the latitude 55° 30' south, andlongitude 306° 00' east; the weather was very cold, and veryhigh islands of ice were seen in every quarter, some of aprodigious size: for fourteen days after we got to the eastwardof Cape Horn, we were beating to the north-east, anxious to getso far to the northward as to feel the influence of the summersun, by which it was to be hoped and expected our scorbuticpatients might be much relieved. In latitude 52° 30' south, and longitude 318° 20' east, the wind inclined to thesouthward of east, with hazy moist weather, and we steered to thenorth-east. We found many large whales here; they seemed to go indroves of from five and six to fifteen and twenty together, spouting within a cable's length of the ship, and sometimes sonear that it would have been no difficult matter to harpoon themfrom the fore part of the ship as they passed under the bows. 

On the 12th of December, Henry Fitz-Gerald, a feaman, departedthis life; he was troubled with a disease in his lungs, but thescurvy was his principal malady. 

On the 13th, in the morning, we passed one of the largestice-islands we had seen; we judged it not less than three milesin length, and its perpendicular height we supposed to be 350feet. 

In latitude 51° 33' south, and longitude 321° 00'east, the wind seemed set in at south-west, and blew a freshsteady gale, frequently attended with showers of snow or hail;the variation of the compass decreased fast, as will appear inthe table annexed. On the 16th the wind shifted suddenly to thenorth-west quarter, and blew a steady gale. On the 19th, it blewvery strong from west-north-west, with hazy weather, and frequentshowers of rain, which again changed the wind to the south-westquarter, and the weather, as usual upon those changes, becamefair and pleasant. 

We now seemed to have got out from among the ice-islands, withwhich, from South Georgia to the latitude of 46° south, thisocean seems at this season of the year to be overspread. Inlatitude 44° 00' south, we saw the last piece of ice, and inthe whole, we had been twenty-eight days among the ice, andsailed a distance of 800 leagues. We had run for several daystogether, at the rate of from 50 to 60 leagues in the 24 hours, in a north-east direction; and had passed through a lane orstreet, if it may be so called, of ice-islands, the whole of thatdistance: in general they were from the size of a country church, to the magnitude of one, two and three miles in circumference, and proportionably high. 

Were it not that at this season of the year we had in suchhigh latitudes very short nights, and scarcely an hour whichcould be called dark; it would certainly be attended withconsiderable danger to run in the night, the ice islands were insuch vast numbers; indeed, we seldom sailed more than three orfour miles, without having several upon each beam. I think thedirection, in which those pieces of ice seemed to have beendriven, is a strong proof of the prevalence of south-west windsin this part of the ocean. It is highly probable that they hadbeen formed upon the coast of South Georgia and Sandwich Land, and separated from the ground early in the spring, or probably ina gale of wind during the winter. Many of them were half black, apparently with earth from the land to which they had adhered, orelse, with mud from the bottom on which they had lain: for it iswell known, that ice-islands, after having been driven about atsea for a length of time, become so light and spungy in that partwhich has been immersed in the water, that the upper part becomesheavier, and thereby they frequently overset, and may, by such achange, show some part of the ground on which they had rested. Others had large and distinct portions of them thoroughly tingedwith a beautiful sea-green, or bright verdigrease colour. 

In latitude 45° 30' south, and longitude 342° 00'east, the variation of the compass, which had decreased verygradually, was only 00° 4' east. We carried on strongwesterly winds with us, which amply compensated for the northerlyand easterly gales which detained us so long between Cape Hornand South Georgia; and it was exceedingly fortunate for us thatwe were so favoured by the winds, for the ship's company werefalling down very fast with the scurvy; and as I have alreadyobserved, we had nothing on board with which we could hope tocheck its progress, much less to cure it. 

Nothing certainly can promise so fair to effect so desireablea purpose, as carrying a good stock of various vegetable acids inevery ship, but particularly in ships employed upon such servicesas the Sirius was. The elexir of vitriol, hitherto allowed, and-formerly considered_, not only as a preventive, but as acure, was found by no means to answer the purpose of the former, far less of the latter. The vegetable acids, which might beprovided for the use of ships upon long voyages, I apprehendwould be found to occasion a very small additional expence, ifany; and I am convinced in the end would be found a considerablesaving. 

Having on the 25th of December arrived upon the meridian ofGreenwich, from which we had sailed in an easterly direction, andcompleted 360° of east longitude, and consequently gained 24hours, I dropt 360° and repeated, Thursday, 25thDecember. 

On the 30th, John Shine, a seaman, died of the scurvy. 

On the 31st, I had a few sets of distances of the sun and moon, bywhich our longitude at noon was 17° 16' east; by Mr. Bradley, it was 16° 58' east; the mean of both gave 17° 07' east, and by the time-keeper it was 18° 10' east; and we had notyet made the land; the latitude was 33° 48' south. This was aproof that the time-keeper must have altered its rate since weleft Port Jackson; we had then determined it to be losing 4"-77. This change of its rate, since we left Port Jackson, I had sometime suspected, and attributed it to the effects of the weatherwe had off, and near, Cape Horn. This evening we made a shorttrip off till midnight, when we tacked and stood for the landagain: Joseph Caldwell, a seaman, died of the scurvy. Atday-light we saw the land; the nearest, or that part which wewere a-breast of, was distant about four leagues, and the TableMountain bore south by east about nine or ten leagues; the wind, for the last twenty-four hours, had been strong from thesouthward, and we had, occasioned by there being too much of it, fallen to leeward. 

Nothing could have been more correct than our observations forthe longitude. The wind coming from the sea, we stood along shoreto the southward, and in the afternoon were a-breast of Robin'sIsland, but could not fetch round the reef, and into TableBay. 

The weakly condition of that part of the ship's company, whowere able to do duty upon deck, and the very dejected state ofthose who were confined to their beds, determined me, ifpossible, to bring the ship to an anchor before night; as thevery idea of being in port, sometimes has an exceeding goodeffect upon the spirits of people who are reduced low by thescurvy; which was the case with a great many of our ship'scompany; and indeed, a considerable number were in the last stageof it. 

After endeavouring in vain to weather the reef off the southend of the island, I bore away, and ran round the north end, andanchored within, right off the flag-staff and landing-place, innine fathoms water, coarse ground; the flag-staff bearing west, and the south end of the island, just on with the Lyon'sRump. 

[A Table of the winds and weather, etc. On a passage from the coastof New South Walesto the Cape of Good Hope (by the route of Cape Horn)in His Majesty's ship Sirius, in the months of October, November andDecember, 1788. ][An Account of Observations for finding the variation of the compass... ][The tables are included in the HTML version]

Chapter V

A VOYAGE TO CAPE OF GOOD HOPE AND VOYAGE TO PORT JACKSON

January 1789 to May 1789

-Depart from Robin's Island, and anchor in TableBay. --The sick sent on shore. --Arrival of the Alexandertransport. --Provisions procured for the settlement at PortJackson. --Departure of the Sirius. --In great danger from aviolent tempest. --Arrives safe at Port Jackson. --Tables of thewinds, weather, variation of the compass, etc. -

As soon as the ship was anchored, we sent a boat with thefirst lieutenant on shore to the island, for such news fromEurope as the commanding officer there might be able to give; Iwished also to know if Governor Van de Graaff was still at theCape, and if Colonel Gordon was still commander in chief of thetroops in garrison there. 

The officer commanding at the island was exceedingly civil tothe lieutenant who went on shore, and gave him every informationhe could; but it was unfortunate that the one could not speak aword of English, nor the other understand a word of Dutch:however, it was observed, that he wore a large orange cockade inhis hat, and although he could not converse, he made the officersufficiently understand, by broken expressions of half Englishand half Dutch, that the English and Dutch were very good friendsagain, and that the French had no connection at all with Holland:from all which I conjectured, that some considerable changes hadtaken place in the affairs of the republic, since our departurefrom England, and that the Stadtholder had been reinstated in allhis rights. 

On hearing what a long voyage we had come, the officer was sokind as to send a basket of such fruit as his garden afforded;which, (to make the dejected sick well assured we were really inport, ) were sent down and divided among them, for until then someof them very much doubted. 

In the morning of the 2d of January, with a fine breeze fromthe northward, we got under way, and sailed up to Table Bay. Ihad generally understood, that the depth of water between thisisland and the anchorage in Table Bay, was so very considerableas to be unsafe for anchorage, in case of being becalmed, orotherwise not able to reach the proper anchoring ground. I wasthe more inclined to believe that to be the case, from neverhaving seen the soundings laid down in any chart of this bay, except where ships commonly anchor: I therefore, to ascertainwhether that were the case or not, determined to go up under aneasy sail, and to keep the lead going; the soundings wereregular, and the deepest water was 15 fathoms; the ground washard and probably not very clear, but still there is anchorage, which I did not before know. 

At ten o'clock in the morning, we anchored in Table Bay, inseven and a half fathoms, and moored a cable each way. As soon asthe ship was secured, I sent an officer to wait on the governor, and to inform him of the business I was come upon: he verypolitely informed the officer, that there was great abundance ofevery thing to be had, and that I had nothing to do but tosignify in writing the quantity of each article wanted, anddirections would be immediately given respecting it. Hisexcellency also took that opportunity of sending me information, that he should in a few days, send a ship for Amsterdam; and, that if I had any dispatches to forward, and would send them tohis house, he would answer for their being delivered into thecustody of the British ambassador, at the Hague, as far as thesafety of the ship could be depended on. 

The governor also confirmed the political accounts we had(though imperfectly, ) received at the island: he sent me thetreaty of alliance formed between the Kings of Great-Britain andPrussia, and also that between the States-General and these twosovereigns, which was a very pleasing piece of intelligence. Every person here, either military or civil, wore a mark of theirattachment to the Orange party and the old constitution; theformer by an orange cockade, the latter, by a bit of ribbon ofthat colour, either at the breast, button-hole, or sleeve. 

Immediately after our arrival, I directed that sick-quartersshould be provided for the sick, which was done; and theinvalids, to the number of forty, were landed under the care ofMr. Worgan, the surgeon of the ship. Their expeditious recoverywas of much consequence to the service upon which I was at thattime employed; and it was also of consequence to that service, that they should be perfectly recovered before they were taken onboard again; as we had yet a very long voyage to perform beforewe could arrive at any port, after leaving the Cape. When wearrived in this bay, we had just twelve men in each watch, andhalf that number, from scorbutic contractions in their limbs, were not able to go aloft. 

Every person here, with whom any of the officers fell incompany, spoke of our voyage from the east coast of New Holland, by Cape Horn, to the Cape of Good Hope, with great surprise, nothaving touched at any port in our way, and having sailed thatdistance in ninety-one days. 

I was now very anxious to get some account of the transports, which, under the command of Lieutenant Shortland, the agent, hadleft Port Jackson on the 14th of July, 1788, and which I wassorry to understand had not been in this bay: for I thought ithighly probable, that as their route was to the northward, by theMolucca Islands and Batavia, they would certainly touch here intheir way home. It being now seven months since they sailed, Iwas apprehensive for their safety; particularly when I consideredthe very weakly condition of some of their crews, by the scurvy, when they left us, and not a surgeon in any one of the ships. This must be allowed to be very improper oeconomy in the ownersof those ships, when the extent of the voyage they had undertakenis considered, together with the well known impossibility oftheir being able to procure seamen, or any recruit of strength totheir ships companies, in that inhospitable and far distant partof the world. 

I cannot help here taking the liberty of saying, that it ismuch to be lamented, when ships are hired for the service ofgovernment, to perform such long and trying voyages to the healthof those employed in them, that it is not made a part of thecontract and practice, that they carry a surgeon; for I knowwell, that seamen, when taken ill upon such long passages, are, at the very idea of being without the assistance of a surgeon, (although careless and void of thought at other times, when inperfect health, ) apt to give way to melancholy, and a totaldejection of spirits; and that many a valuable subject has beenlost to the country by such a trifling saving. Out of the ninetransports which were employed on this service, one only had asurgeon; and that one, had she not been bound upon some otherservice, after leaving Port Jackson, would in all probabilityhave been without one also. 

On the 5th, a Dutch India ship arrived here from Rio deJaneiro: by this ship I received information of the arrival atthat place of two vessels from the east coast of New Holland;that they arrived singly, and in very great distress, fromsickness, and the death of many of their people; that the firstwhich arrived, had her name on her stern, (-Prince of Wales, ofLondon_;) from which circumstance, there could be no doubt ofits being one of our transports: the other vessel was also sowell described, that I knew it to be the Borrowdale store-ship. The officers of this India ship observed farther, that they wereso weak, that had they not been boarded by boats without theharbour, they had been unable to bring their vessels intosafety. 

These ships, I apprehended, had parted company with LieutenantShortland, soon after sailing from Port Jackson, and had thendetermined to go to the eastward by Cape Horn; but they werewrong in my opinion, (and I judge from my own experience, ) afterpassing Cape Horn, in preferring a port at Rio de Janeiro to theCape of Good Hope, which last place, I have no doubt, they wouldhave reached in less time, and with considerable less fatigue totheir sickly crews; beside the advantage of being able to procuremore seamen, if they were in want; which I apprehend they willfind much difficulty in obtaining at Rio de Janeiro. 

As westerly winds are prevalent between Cape Horn and the Capeof Good Hope, if it should so happen that these winds blow morefrom the north-west than the south-west quarters, their progressto the northward would be but slow along the coast of SouthAmerica; but from both these quarters it is fair, if bound overto the coast of Africa: and farther, with respect to a passage toEurope, they would have been more conveniently situated at theCape of Good Hope, than at Rio de Janeiro, for making thatpassage with expedition; for at Rio you are within the limits ofthe south-east trade, and upon that coast are consequently toleeward; so that you may be obliged to stretch as far from thenceto the southward as the latitude of 30° 00' south, andsometimes 32° 00' along that coast, before you can tack andstand to the north-east, in order to be able to cross the equatorfar enough to the eastward, to ensure a tolerable passage acrossthe north-east trade; but at the Cape, you are far to windward, and steer to the northward with a large wind. 

On the 19th, a small Dutch frigate arrived here from Batavia;from which I learned, that Lieutenant Shortland had arrived atthat port with a single ship, about the beginning of December, ina very distressed condition; that he had buried the greatest partof the ship's company, and was assisted by the officers andcompany of the above frigate to secure his vessel and hand thesails, which he could not have done without assistance; and thathe had been reduced to the necessity, some time before hearrived, to sink the other vessel which was in company with him, for the purpose of manning one out of the remaining part of thetwo ships companies; without which, he never could have reachedBatavia with either: for when he arrived there, he had only fourmen out of the two crews, who were capable of standing on thedeck. I was now particularly anxious for the arrival of Mr. Shortland at the Cape, that I might have something more authenticthan these reports to give Governor Phillip, on my return to PortJackson. 

By altitudes taken for the time-keeper, since we had beenhere, we found its error to be 1° 31' easterly, andBrockbank's watch erred 3° 01' easterly also; from which Iconjecture, that the very cold weather which we experienced sometime before we reached, and for a considerable time after wepassed, Cape Horn, had affected the watch's going: when we madeTerra del Fuego, it appeared to be about 1° 00' to theeastward. I made a present of a dog from New South Wales, to agentleman who came on board, and thought it a curiosity: it wastaken by many who visited the Sirius for a jackall, as it wasmuch of that make and colour. 

On the 18th of February, to my no small satisfaction, (for Iwas preparing to sail the next day, ) Mr. Shortland arrived in theAlexander transport. I was going off from the shore, when Idiscovered the ship coming round Green Point; I rowed directly onboard, and his people were so happy to see their old friends inTable-Bay, that they cheered us as we came alongside. I nowreceived from Mr. Shortland an exact confirmation of all theintelligence which I had received concerning him from theofficers of the Dutch frigate. The two ships which I hadcollected some accounts of from Rio de Janeiro, he told me, hadparted company with him two days after he left Port Jackson; andthat he was nineteen weeks and four days on his passage toBatavia. 

On the 20th of February, I sailed from Table-Bay, after havingtaken on board twelve months provisions for the ship's company;and, in addition, about six months flour for the wholesettlement; together with various stores for the colony, and manyprivate articles for the different officers, etc. Etc. Inshort, the ship's hold, between decks, every officer's apartment, and all the store-rooms were completely filled. 

During the time we lay in Table-Bay, I received manycivilities, indeed many marks of the most polite and friendlyattention from Governor Van de Graaf, Colonel Gordon, and manyother officers of this settlement. 

Before we embarked any of the provisions, we heeled the ship, to endeavour to stop the leak, which had kept the pumps so muchemployed during the voyage, and which I mentioned before, I wasin hopes of being able, in fine weather, to get at, and stop atsea; but, after several attempts, we found it impracticable: wewere now so fortunate as to get at it; it proceeded from an ironbolt, which had been corroded by the copper, and by the workingof the ship had dropt out, and left a hole of more than an inchin diameter. A wooden plug was put in, and covered again withcopper. But beside this leak, there were many other smallerholes, which were occasioned by the decay of long spikenails withwhich the skirting-board (which secures the upper edge of thecopper) had been fastened on, and had gone quite through the mainplank of the ship's bottom. All were closed, as far as weexamined, and the ship for the present made less water, but wasnot so tight as formerly; it was therefore my intention, upon myarrival at Port Jackson, to represent to Governor Phillip thenecessity there was to lighten and examine the ship some distancebelow the wales; that such defects as we might find might beremedied while they were trifling. 

The time-keeper, which I have already mentioned to have hadupon our arrival here an error of 1° 31', seemed, during thetime we lay in Table-Bay, to have gradually recovered itsoriginal rate, (viz. 4"-77, ) it was now losing 4"-78; this servedto convince me of the justice of my conjecture, that it had beenconsiderably affected by the very cold weather we had near CapeHorn. 

After we left the Cape of Good Hope, we had, for three weeks, strong gales from the southward, with squally disagreeableweather, which sometimes reduced our sails as low as courses; wedid not meet with westerly winds quite so soon as I expected, oras we had done the last time we made this passage. In latitude38° 30' and in the meridian of the Cape, we had, for twodays, a current to the northward of 44 miles each day; and inlatitude 40°, and longitude 22° east, we were, in twodays, set 68 miles to the southward, and by the watch, 60 milesto the eastward, more than the log gave. In latitude 41° 50'south, and longitude 28° 09' east, the wind shifted from thesouthward to the north-north-east, and blew a very strong galefor two days; it then settled in the north-west quarter. 

At that time, being in latitude 43° 00' south, andlongitude 37° 30' east, we found the variation of the compasshad encreased as high as 32° 20' west, before we had reachedas much east longitude as we found that variation in lastpassage; but we were now in a higher latitude, as will appear bythe variation table which is annexed at the end of thischapter. 

On the 20th of March, having sprung the trussle trees of themain-top-mast, we struck and unrigged them, and fitted new ones. On the 22d, we had a very heavy gale of wind fromnorth-north-east and north, with a prodigious high broken sea;our course (east-south-east) being at right angles to the wind, we kept the ship in the trough of the sea, which occasioned ourshipping several heavy seas, and made me very apprehensive forthe safety of the boats and booms; I was therefore under thenecessity of laying the ship to, under a balanced mizzen, forabout four hours; when the wind shifting suddenly to north-west, enabled me to bear away and set the reefed fore-sail. 

It continued to blow very hard all night, and we shipt muchwater, but the ship having a flush deck, no weight could lay onit, the only danger was that of filling the boats; to preventwhich, I, after this gale, had them turned bottom up; the shipnow made about as much water as she did on the former passage. The wind continued in the north-west quarter, and blew stronguntil the 8th of April, when it inclined a little to the eastwardof north for two or three days, but it had not so much easting init as to be unfavourable for our course. On the 16th, we were inlatitude 44° 45' south, and in longitude 135° 30' east;and at night we perceived the sea spread over with luminousspots, resembling lanthorns floating on its surface; when nearlyabout the same longitude on the last voyage we discovered thesame appearance upon the sea: this observation may have its use, and serve as a hint for your being at no great distance from VanDiemen's Land. On the 20th, we had a strong gale fromwest-north-west to north-north-west, which suddenly moderated inthe night, and veered round to the westward, with a light air atsouth-west by south, by which we were encouraged to make all thesail possible; but we had no sooner got every thing set, than thewind veered round to the southward, and began to blow; in a fewhours it increased to a very violent gale of wind. 

We were now in latitude 44° 29' south, by account, andlongitude 144° 30' east, being so near Van Diemen's Land, andso well to the southward as I supposed we were, I had no doubt ofbeing able to cross it, and, availing myself of this southerlywind, to run along the coast to the northward, and reach PortJackson in a few days; but as we drew near the meridian of thesouth cape, the gale increased to a mere tempest, attended withthick hazy weather, and a most astonishing high sea; this broughtus under a reefed fore-sail, balanced mizzen, and the three stormstay-sails. 

At day-light on the morning of the 21st, the fore, main, andmizzen stay-sails were all split by the violence of the wind; bythis accident we were reduced to the reefed fore-sail andbalanced mizzen; and for some time we were under the necessity ofhanding the fore-sail, the gale still continuing to increaserather than abate; and inclining to the eastward of south, was inour situation at this time particularly unfortunate: for we werenow so far advanced to the eastward as to hope that in a fewhours we should have been able to have made a fair wind of it, ifit had continued to the southward. 

I still flattered myself, that we were so far to thesouthward, as not to have a doubt of passing some distance to thesouthward of Rock Swilley, and consequently at a sufficientdistance from the south cape, which is the southern point orextremity of this promontory; for this rock, or ledge of rocks, is not less than fifteen miles from the south cape, and we werenow about its meridian, both by the longitude carried on from thelast lunar observations, which were taken five days before, andby our time-keeper, from which our situation had been determinedsince these observations, as long as the sun was to be seen inany part of the day: it now blew a most violent gale of wind, with thick hazy weather. 

It may not be improper here to observe, that three days hadnow elapsed without a sight of the sun during the day, or a starduring the night, from which we could _exactly_ determineour latitude; but as every allowance had been made for thedrifting of the ship to leeward, under a very low sail, and anexceeding heavy sea, and for every other disadvantage attendingsuch a situation; there remained not a doubt with me, or anyofficer on board, but that we were near half a degree to thesouthward of the south cape, and as the distance from west toeast, across this promontory, is not more than a degree and ahalf of longitude, or about twenty or twenty-two leagues indistance, (that is, from the south-west cape to Tasman's Head) wehad every reason to think we were near round it; but at half pastthree in the afternoon it cleared a little in the horizon, and wesaw the land bearing east; the haze was such that we could notwell guess the distance, but it was very near; on this we worethe ship immediately, and stood to the westward. 

The wind had now got to south-south-east, but continued toblow with great violence, the ship upon this tack lying upsouth-west, we set the reefed main-sail, and at half past six wesaw the land again, through the haze close under our lee bow, andthe sea breaking with prodigious force upon it it, was impossibleto weather it; therefore we wore the ship immediately, whilethere was a chance of having room for doing so. I now found thatwe were embayed, and the gale not in the least likely to abate, and the sea running mountain high, with very thick weather, along dark night just coming on, and an unknown coast I may callit, (for although it has been seen by several navigators, it isnot yet known) close under our lee; nothing was now left to bedone but to carry every yard of canvass the ship was capable ofbearing, and for every person on board to constantly keep thedeck, and attentively to look out under the lee for the land, andas often as it might be discovered, to wear, and lay the ship'shead the other way: but as we knew not what bay, or part of thecoast we were upon, nor what dangerous ledges of rocks might bedetached some distance from the shore; and in our way, we hadevery moment reason to fear that the next might, by the shipstriking, launch the whole of us into eternity. 

Our situation was such that not a man could have escaped tohave told where the rest suffered: however, whatever might havebeen the private feelings of each individual, I never saw ordersexecuted with more alacrity in any situation; every officer andman took his station for the look-out; and, the ship being woreto the eastward, notwithstanding the strength of the gale, theclose reefed fore and main top-sails were set over the reefedcourses. 

Fortunately at this instant the wind favoured us near twopoints, and the ship lay better up upon this tack, than hercourse upon the other had promised, but still the weather was sothick, the sea so high, the gale so strong, and so dead upon theshore, that little hope could be entertained of our weatheringthe land. We stood on to the eastward, and the ship, to myastonishment, as well as to that of every person on board, boresuch a press of sail wonderfully. We had, about midnight, runback the distance made from the first land we saw to the second, and perceived, through the haze, the looming of that land underour lee, nearly on the beam; this advantage we had gained by theshifting of the wind two points. We now stood on, and I had hopesthat this might be the most projecting land; but at two in theafternoon, as I was looking from the quarter deck very anxiouslyto leeward, I observed the looming of a high and very steep pointof rocky land, and the sea foaming with frightful violenceagainst it. I made no mention of it; but just at that instant itwas discovered by the sailors stationed forward, and they calledout, "Land, close under our lee;" I replied it was very well, Ihad seen it some time, and that as it was now upon our beam(which it really was, for I discovered it through the mainshrouds) there could be no danger from it, we should soon passit: if this land had been seen a little sooner, the fear of notbeing able to weather it might have occasioned our wearing, whichwould have been unfortunate, as the weather just cleared up at atime when we could see that no danger was to be apprehended fromit. 

The ship was at this time half buried in the sea by the pressof sail, since she was going through it (for she could not besaid to be going over it) at the rate of four knots. 

We soon shot past this head, and from the course we had made, I was convinced it was Tasman's Head, which is the eastern pointof a bay, of which the south cape is the western, and was calledby Tasman, _Storm-Bay_. The first land we had seen waswithin the bay, on the east shore, not so far out as Tasman'sHead; and the western land, under which we wore at half past six, was the south cape. 

After passing Tasman's Head, we kept our wind still, andcarried sail, in order, if possible, to weather Maria's Islands, which lay about six leagues to the north-east, for we had nosooner got round the last head, than the wind headed us, and wefell off from east by south to east by north; had this changetaken place a little sooner, it must have proved fatal to us. 

At eight the next morning, we passed to the windward ofMaria's Islands, which, from the haziness of the weather, we didnot see until they were upon the lee quarter. If I had found itimpossible to have got round those islands, it was my intentionto have stood back to the westward, and have got sight of theland, between Tasman's Head and Adventure-Bay; to have run alongthe coast, close in, until I found the opening of that road, andthere to have depended upon our anchors. 

In this trying situation, the ship being leaky, our pumpsduring such a night were a distressing tax upon us; as they werekept constantly at work. 

I do not recollect to have heard of a more wonderful escape. Every thing which depended upon us, I believe, was done; but itwould be the highest presumption and ingratitude to DivineProvidence, were we to attribute our preservation wholly to ourbest endeavours: his interference in our favour was so veryconspicuously manifested in various instances, in the course ofthat night, as I believe not to leave a shadow of doubt, even inthe minds of the most profligate on board, of his immediateassistance!

After having weathered Maria's Islands, we continued to standon with a press of sail to the eastward, for I was anxious togain an offing from the coast, the ship being exceedinglydisabled. All the rails of the head, round houses, and figure ofthe head, were washed entirely away; and the rails to which thebumkins were secured were so much weakened as to require to befrapped down to the knee of the head; the jibboom, thesprit-sail-yard, and the fore-top-gallant mast were necessarilykept down upon deck to ease the bow-sprit, in case any of itssecurities should be in danger from the shattered condition ofthe cutwater. 

We were no sooner to the eastward of Maria's Islands, than thewind shifted round to south-east and east-south-east, whichbrought us again upon a lee shore, for we could not weatherMaria's Islands upon one tack, nor Shooten's Isles and Bay ofShoals upon the other; however, as it did not now blow so hard, and the land was near 20 leagues distant, I was not under anyapprehensions from it. 

On the 26th, the wind set in from the northward, and blewfresh, frequently attended with the most violent squalls; itcontinued northerly until the 2d of May, when it inclined to thesouthward, and from that to the eastward: I had on this dayseveral distances of the sun and moon, the result of which was155° 25' east longitude, which was little more than onedegree to the eastward of the time-keeper. On the 6th, in themorning, we made the land in latitude 33° 30' south; and atnoon Cape Three Points bore west by south, distant off shore fourleagues. Here, upon a rough examination of the error of thetime-keeper, it appeared to be a degree or little more to thewestward of the Truth, but we expected, upon our arrival at PortJackson, to examine its error more particularly. 

On recurring back to the last altitudes taken for thetime-keeper before our making Van Diemen's Land, and carrying iton by the log, we found that the error on making that land wasbut a very few miles of longitude, and that error most probablywas in the carrying on the log; so that there was every reason tothink, that the violent agitation of the ship during that time, was the cause of that change in the watch, and which I own I wasnot at all surprised at, but think it highly probable, as thewatch lay in a box upon soft cushions, and that box screwed downto a place securely and firmly fixed for that purpose: I cannothelp thinking but that so very valuable a piece of watch-work(for I do really think, from the experience I have had of it, that a superior piece of work was never made) would be betterfixed upon a small horizontal table, made on purpose, and wellsecured; and under the box which contains the watch, a kind ofspiral spring or worm, which, with every jerk or pitch of theship, would yield a little with the weight of the watch, andthereby take off much of that shock which must in some degreeaffect its going. 

The winds now (rather unfortunately for us), after 24 hourscalm, inclined again to the southward, and we kept plying towindward with all the sail we could carry. Right off Cape ThreePoints, at six leagues distance from the shore, we sounded in 75fathoms, over a bottom of fine grey sand. 

On the 8th, a light air from the northward in the night, carried us by day-light in sight of the entrance of Port Jackson;and in the evening of the 9th, we entered between the heads ofthe harbour, and worked up to Sydney Cove, where we anchoredbefore dark, after an absence of 219 days, 51 of which we lay inTable-Bay, Cape of Good Hope: so that, although during thisvoyage we had fairly gone round the world, we had only been 168days in describing that circle; and, by taking a mean of thehighest and lowest latitudes we sailed in, we shall find ourtrack nearly in latitude 45° south. We found in the cove theSupply armed tender. 

Our passage, since we came round Van Diemen's Land, had beenattended with much bad weather, very violent squalls, and a thickhaze; particularly with the wind from the eastward: I had beforeobserved, that in the winter-time, upon this coast, we weresubject to much bad weather; and this passage convinced me of thenecessity, when ships are intended to be sent to this settlement, that the season should be considered and attended to. During thesummer months we were sometimes subject to thunder, lightning, and strong squalls; but in general the weather is fine. If in thefairest weather you observe it to lighten in the lee part of thehorizon, you should prepare for a squall from that quarter, whichis in general pretty severe. 

In passing (at a distance from the coast) between the islandsof Schooten and Furneaux, and Point Hicks; the former being thenorthermost of Captain Furneaux's observations here, and thelatter the southermost part, which Captain Cook saw when hesailed along the coast, there has been no land seen, and from ourhaving felt an easterly set of current, when the wind was fromthat quarter (north-west) we had an uncommon large sea, there isreason thence to believe, that there is in that space either avery deep gulf, or a straight, which may separate Van Diemen'sLand from New Holland: there have _no_ discoveries been madeon the western side of this land in the parallel I allude to, between 39° 00' and 42° 00' south, the land there havingnever been seen. 

[A Table of the winds and weather etc. On a passage from the Cape ofGood Hope to Port Jackson in His Majesty's ship Sirius, 1789. ][An Account of Observations for finding the variation of the compass... ][The tables are included in the HTML version]

Chapter VI

TRANSACTIONS AT PORT JACKSON

May 1789 to January 1790

-The small-pox makes its appearance among thenatives. --Its fatal effects. --A criminal court held. --Six marinestried and convicted. --Governor Phillip visitsBroken-bay. --Explores its various inlets. --Returns to PortJackson. Broken-bay surveyed. --Botany-bay surveyed. --Two nativesbrought to the settlement, and kindly treated. --One of them makeshis escape. -

As soon as the ship was secured, I went on shore to wait onthe governor, whom I found in good health; he was sitting by thefire, drinking tea with a few friends; among whom I observed anative man of this country, who was decently cloathed, and seemedto be as much at his ease at the tea-table as any person there;he managed his cup and saucer as well, as though he had been longaccustomed to such entertainment. 

This man was taken from his friends, by force, by LieutenantBall, of the Supply, and Lieutenant George Johnston, of themarines, who were sent down the harbour with two boats for thatpurpose; the governor having found that no encouragement he couldgive the natives, would dispose them to visit the settlement oftheir own accord: this method he had therefore determined upon, to get one man into his possession, who, by kind treatment, mighthereafter be the means of disposing his countrymen to place moreconfidence in us. This man, whose name was _Ara-ba-noo_, wastaken, as I have already said, by force, and in the followingmanner. 

After having been a short time in conversation with some ofthe gentlemen, one of the seamen, who had been previouslydirected, threw a rope round his neck, and dragged him in amoment down to the boat; his cries brought a number of hisfriends into the skirts of the wood, from whence they threw manylances, but without effect. The terror this poor wretch suffered, can better be conceived than expressed; he believed he was to beimmediately murdered; but, upon the officers coming into theboat, they removed the rope from his neck to his leg, and treatedhim with so much kindness, that he became a little morechearful. 

He was for some time after his arrival at the governor'shouse, ornamented with an iron shackle about his leg, to preventhis being able to effect his escape with ease; this he was taughtto consider as _bang-ally_, which is the name given in theirlanguage to every decoration; and he might well believe it acompliment paid to him, because it was no uncommon thing for himto see several (of the most worthless of the convicts, who hadmerited punishment) every day shackled like him; the cause ofwhich he could not of course understand. However, he was verysoon reconciled to his situation, by the very kind treatment hereceived from every person about him, and the iron growinguneasy, it was taken off, and he was allowed to go where hepleased. 

He very soon learnt the names of the different gentlemen whotook notice of him, and when I was made acquainted with him, helearnt mine, which he never forgot, but expressed great desire tocome on board my _nowee_; which is their expression for aboat or other vessel upon the water. 

The day after I came in, the governor and his family did methe honour to dine on board, when I was also favoured with thecompany of _Ara-ba-noo_, whom I found to be a very goodnatured talkative fellow; he was about thirty years of age, andtolerably well looked. 

I expressed, when at the governor's, much surprize, at nothaving seen a single native on the shore, or a canoe as we cameup in the ship; the reason of which I could not comprehend, untilI was informed that the small-pox had made its appearance, a fewmonths ago, amongst these unfortunate creatures, and that it wastruly shocking to go round the coves of this harbour, which wereformerly so much frequented by the natives; where, in the cavesof the rocks, which used to shelter whole families in badweather, were now to be seen men, women, and children, lyingdead. As we had never yet seen any of these people who have beenin the smallest degree marked with the small-pox, we had reasonto suppose they have never before now been affected by it, andconsequently are strangers to any method of treating it: and, ifwe consider the various attitudes, which the different deadbodies have been found in, we may easily believe, that when anyof them are taken ill, and the malady assumes the appearance ofthe small-pox, (having already experienced its fatality to wholefamilies, ) they are immediately deserted by their friends, andleft to perish, in their helpless situation, for want ofsustenance. Some have been found sitting on their haunches, withtheir heads reclined between their knees; others were leaningagainst a rock, with their head resting upon it: I have seenmyself, a woman sitting on the ground, with her knees drawn up toher shoulders, and her face resting on the sand between herfeet. 

Two children, a boy of six or seven years of age, and a girlabout ten, were lately picked up, labouring under the samedisease; two old men, whom we had reason to believe were thefathers of the two children, were picked up at the same time, andbrought to the hospital, and much care taken of them: the two menlived but a few days, but the children both recovered, and seemedwell satisfied with their _very comfortable situation_. Through the means of these children, if they should retain theirnative language, a more intimate and friendly intercourse withthe people of this country may in time be brought about. 

Five or six days after my arrival, poor Ara-ba-noo was seizedwith the small-pox, and although every possible means for hisrecovery were used, he lived only till the crisis of the disease. Every person in the settlement was much concerned for the loss ofthis man. 

I was exceedingly concerned on hearing of the death of CaptainShea, of the marines, which happened while we were absent; hisdisorder was a general decay, which I think must have taken placevery suddenly, for he was apparently strong and healthy when theSirius sailed from Port Jackson. 

Several people had been lost in the woods during our absence, and had either been killed by the natives, or perished there. 

Another melancholy piece of information which we received onour arrival, was, that six marines had been tried by a criminalcourt, and found guilty of robbing the public stores: they weresentenced to death, and executed accordingly. It appeared uponthe trial of these infatuated men, that they had carried on thisiniquitous, (and I may add from our situation) dangerous practiceto the settlement at large, for several months; and alloriginally occasioned by some unfortunate connections they hadmade with women convicts. 

The settlement had been, during our absence, remarkablyhealthy. 

Before the Sirius sailed from Port Jackson, the governor haddetermined to send a detachment of the marines, with aconsiderable number of convicts, for the purpose of clearing asmuch as might be necessary, and preparing a tract of land at thehead of this harbour, (which place I have already mentioned) inorder to sow corn. When we returned from our voyage, I went up tosee what progress was made at this farm, which had been namedRose Hill: it certainly very much exceeded my expectations; thequantity of ground prepared for receiving grain at the propertime, was considerable; a number of huts were built, the gardenswere in tolerable appearance, and there was altogether everyprospect, in due time, of a very extensive farm; and we knew thatif there were people enough to labour, it might be carried atleast twenty miles to the westward, and every foot of the groundapparently as good as that on which they were now at work; but wefound here, that although the land was tolerable, there would begreat, and I think an insurmountable difficulty, in attempting anextensive farm, chiefly for want of water. 

At Rose Hill, there is in dry seasons but very little water, and that by no means good; but farther back to the westward, youcan but now and then meet with as much as will quench the thirstof a traveller: you may walk many miles, particularly in hot drysummer weather, without meeting with as much as you may want fordrinking; this scarcity, though I do not pretend to any knowledgein farming, I cannot help thinking, were water wanted only forthe use of a family, a vast difficulty, and an inconvenience notto be got the better of, unless it were possible to get water bysinking wells at every half mile distance. 

There have been several attempts made by the gentlemen here, who had little farms in the neighbourhood of Sydney Cove, toraise grain of different kinds, for the purpose of feeding a fewpigs, goats, or poultry; but although their endeavours seemed fora time to promise an ample reward, for the corn shot up veryquickly, yet it no sooner formed into ear, than the rats (withwhich, as well as other vermin, this country is over-run)destroyed the whole of their prospect: the Indian corn, which wasremarkably promising, was destroyed in a night; but I am sorry tosay, that such of the corn as had escaped the vermin, notwithstanding its very promising appearance in the beginning, turned out the most miserable empty straws I ever beheld; thegreatest part was mere straw of about two or two feet and an halfhigh, and the whole produce of a patch of an acre, when cut down, could be carried in one hand. 

Having, since our arrival, examined the error of thetime-keeper, we found it amount to 5' 20", or 1° 20' oflongitude westerly, which made the error, in sailing the wholecircle, only 00° 11' of longitude easterly; and as I had keptBrockbank's watch going the whole time, I examined its erroralso: I have already mentioned that it was, upon our arrival inTable-Bay, 3° 01' eastward; but upon our return to thisplace, it was correct to the fraction of a second; so thatwhatever its errors might have been during the voyage, it hadnone upon our arrival. I did not keep the account of longitude byit, but every day, when the sun could be seen, I determined ourplace by the time-keeper; in doing which, I generally compared myown watch with it, both before and after the altitudes weretaken, and carried it upon deck, the time-piece being fixed inthe cabin. 

On the 6th of June, I was engaged in a party, with thegovernor, on a visit to Broken-Bay, in order to examine some partof that harbour which had not been (for want of time andopportunity) noticed in his last visit to that place; two boatswere dispatched under the care of Mr. Keltie, master of theSirius, with provisions, etc. And the party, which consistedof the governor, Captain Collins (the judge-advocate), CaptainJohnston, of the marines, Mr. White, principal surgeon of thesettlement, Mr. Worgan, Mr. Fowell, and myself, from the Sirius, and two men, all armed with musquets, etc. 

We landed on the north part of Port Jackson, and proceededalong the sea coast to the northward; in the course of our march, we had many long sandy beaches to cross, which was a veryfatiguing part of the journey: when we ascended the hills, we hadfrequently thick woods to pass through, but as we often fell inwith paths, which the natives in travelling along the coast hadtrod very well down, these paths rendered our march, not only onaccount of pointing to us the most easy and accessible parts ofthe hills and woods, but, in point of direction, the shortestwhich could be found, if we had even been better acquainted withthis tract. 

We left Port Jackson at six o'clock in the morning, just asthe day was dawning, and arrived at the south branch ofBroken-Bay at three in the afternoon, after a pretty warm andfatiguing journey, loaded as we were with provisions for severaldays, water, and ammunition: when we arrived at the water-side, we found our boats, which had left Port Jackson at midnight, weresafely arrived. As it was now too late in the day, and we wereall too much fatigued to attempt any part of the main businessupon which we came here, we pitched our tents, and hauled theSeine for fish, and being successful, we sat down to regaleourselves on fresh fish and salt beef, and rested the remainderof the day. 

In the course of the little excursions of our boats' crewsthis afternoon, a native woman was discovered, concealing herselffrom our sight in the long grass, which was at this time verywet, and I should have thought very uncomfortable to a poor nakedcreature. She had, before the arrival of our boats at this beach, been, with some of her friends, employed in fishing for theirdaily food, but were upon their approach alarmed, and they hadall made their escape, except this miserable girl, who had justrecovered from the small-pox, and was very weak, and unable, froma swelling in one of her knees, to get off to any distance: shetherefore crept off, and concealed herself in the best manner shecould among the grass, not twenty yards from the spot on which wehad placed our tents. She was discovered by some person whohaving fired at and shot a hawk from a tree right over her, terrified her so much that she cried out and discovered herself. Information was immediately brought to the governor, and we allwent to see this unhappy girl, whom we found, as I have alreadyobserved, just recovered from the small-pox, and lame: sheappeared to be about 17 or 18 years of age, and had covered herdebilitated and naked body with the wet grass, having no othermeans of hiding herself; she was very much frightened on ourapproaching her, and shed many tears, with piteous lamentations:we understood none of her expressions, but felt much concern atthe distress she seemed to suffer; we endeavoured all in ourpower to make her easy, and with the assistance of a fewexpressions which had been collected from poor Ara-ba-noo whilehe was alive, we soothed her distress a little, and the sailorswere immediately ordered to bring up some fire, which we placedbefore her: we pulled some grass, dried it by the fire, andspread round her to keep her warm; then we shot some birds, suchas hawks, crows, and gulls, skinned them, and laid them on thefire to broil, together with some fish, which she eat; we thengave her water, of which she seemed to be much in want, for whenthe word _Baa-do_ was mentioned, which was their expressionfor water, she put her tongue out to show how very dry her mouthwas; and indeed from its appearance and colour, she had aconsiderable degree of fever on her. 

Before we retired to rest for the night, we saw her again, andgot some fire-wood laid within her reach, with which she might, in the course of the night, recruit her fire; we also cut a largequantity of grass, dried it, covered her well, and left her toher repose, which, from her situation, I conjecture was not verycomfortable or refreshing. 

Next morning we visited her again; she had now got pretty muchthe better of her fears, and frequently called to her friends, who had left her, and who, we knew, could be at no great distancefrom her; she repeated their names in a very loud and shrillvoice, and with much apparent anxiety and concern for the littlenotice they took of her intreaties to return: for we imagined, inall she said when calling on them, she was informing them, thatthe strangers were not enemies, but friends; however, all herendeavours to bring them back were ineffectual, while we remainedwith her; but we were no sooner gone from the beach, than we sawsome of them come out of the wood; and as there were two canoeson the shore belonging to this party, they launched one into thewater, and went away. 

We employed this day in going up the south branch which thegovernor named Pitt Water, and so much of the day was spent inexamining it, that when we returned down near the place where wehad passed the last night, it was thought too late to proceedfarther; we therefore encamped on the same spot. Our tents wereno sooner up, than we went to visit our young female friend, whomwe found in a little bark hut upon the beach; this hut was theplace in which she and her friends were enjoying themselves, whenthe arrival of our boat alarmed them. She was not alone, asbefore, but had with her a female child, about two years old, andas fine a little infant of that age as I ever saw; but upon ourapproach (the night being cold and rainy, and the child terrifiedexceedingly) she was lying with her elbows and knees on theground, covering the child from our sight with her body, orprobably sheltering it from the weather, but I rather think onaccount of its fears. 

On our speaking to her, she raised herself up, and sat on theground with her knees up to her chin, and her heels under her, and was at that moment, I think, the most miserable spectacle inthe human shape I ever beheld*: the little infant could not beprevailed on to look up; it lay with its face upon the ground, and one hand covering its eyes. We supplied her, as before, withbirds, fish, and fuel, and pulled a quantity of grass to make hera comfortable bed, and covered her little miserable hut so as tokeep out the weather: she was now so reconciled to our frequentvisits, seeing we had nothing in view but her comfort in them, that when she wanted _baa-do_, or _ma-gra_, whichsignifies fish, she would ask for them, and when she did, it wasalways supplied her: in the morning we visited her again; thechild had now got so much the better of its fears, that it wouldallow us to take hold of its hand; I perceived, that young as itwas, it had lost the two first joints of its little finger, ofthe left-hand, the reason or meaning of which we had not yet beenable to learn. 

[* See the Vignette in the Title Page. ]

We gave her all the fish we had remaining, and having put aquantity of fire-wood and water within her reach, we took ourleave. We embarked in the boats, and sailed across the bay to thenorth branch, which has a very shoally and narrow entrance. Weproceeded but a small distance up, before we landed on the westshore and refreshed ourselves; after which we rowed round thefirst opening on the east side; this we followed up until we cameto its head. It is very shallow and narrow, and ended in a largebason, full of shoals, and surrounded with mangroves; it extendednear four miles to the north and eastward. 

When we returned from this branch, we pitched our tents on thewest shore for the night, and early the next morning we proceededto the northward: in this route we fell in with many shoals ofconsiderable extent; and after rowing about six or seven milesup, we arrived at the head of it, which divides into two largebays, in one of which I observed the latitude to be 33° 26'30" south. We returned from hence to a point near the entrance ofthis north harbour, where we encamped and spent the night; inthis harbour we did not see more than twenty natives, some few ofwhom came and conversed with us. 

Across the mouth of this north harbour there is a bar or spitof sand, which extends from the sandy beach, or west point of theentrance, almost over to the eastern shore, and on which, fromthe wind having been from the southward the preceding night, thesea broke prodigiously from side to side, so that near low waterit was impossible for the boats to get out; we were on thataccount obliged to remain there until it was more than two-thirdsflood, when, in the deepest part of the channel, where the seadid not break, we pushed out, and pulled over for the south-westarm, or harbour, up which we went; but as part of this branch hadnot been looked into last winter, we entered an arm on the northside of it, and proceeded up about a mile and a half to an islandwe had visited the last winter. 

Here we encamped for the night, and hauled the seine withgreat success; and from the vast quantity of excellent mullet andother fish caught here, it got the name of Mullet Island. Nextmorning we rowed into a branch, which the boats had been in thelast time we were here, but had not thoroughly examined; weproceeded to the top, and found it very shoally, extending to thenorthward about four miles, and navigable only for boats, havingbut four, five, and six feet water in it. After having satisfiedourselves as to the extent of this arm, we returned to MulletIsland, where we caught fish and dined. 

In the afternoon, the governor and myself went in one of theboats, leaving the rest of the party with the tents on MulletIsland; we entered another branch which had also been seen lastwinter, but was not examined; we rowed up this about seven oreight miles, until it became so very narrow and shoally, havingscarcely water enough to float the boat, or room to use the oars, that we thought it was not worth prosecuting any fartherdiscovery at the risk of grounding the boat, and being leftduring the night; we therefore returned to Mullet Island, andspent another night upon it. This branch is all shoal water, onlyfive and six feet. 

The next morning we struck our tents and proceeded, in theboats, to examine a point of high land, which, from our situationin the boat the day before, had the appearance of an island; ofthis we were determined to be satisfied, and we found it to be anisland as we had conjectured. In examining this, we were led intoa branch which had not before been discovered: we proceeded upthis for a considerable distance, found good depth of water, andevery other appearance of its being the opening of an extensiveriver: we continued to row up in it the whole of this day, and inthe evening we went on shore, on the most commodious spot wecould find, which was a low marshy point. Here we raised ourtents, and spent the night. 

At day-light in the morning it was so foggy, that we wereobliged to defer our departure from this situation until teno'clock, when the influence of the sun dispelled the mist, and wecontinued our course upwards, still finding good depth of waterand strong tides; both which we considered as indications of aconsiderable river. The whole of this day was employed inexploring and making what progress we could; the ebb tides weobserved thus far up were considerably stronger than the floods, and the water had very little the taste of sea water; indeed, itscarcely could be called brackish. We continued going up untilthe evening, when it was found impossible, at this time, to makeany farther discovery; our provisions being nearly expended: wefilled our water-casks, where we gave up the pursuit, and there, although the tide was high, the water was perfectly fresh. 

The general depth of this river was from three to sevenfathoms, and its breadth was from 100 to 300 fathoms. There aresome shoals, but they generally extend from low mangrove ormarshy points. Its general direction, as far as we were up, is tothe north-west. We were, when farthest up, about twenty milesfrom the entrance of the south-west arm of Broken-Bay. The banksof the river, on the lowest part, had many mangrove trees alongit; higher up, reeds grew along its margin, and behind thesereedy banks were immense perpendicular hills of barren, rockylands, with trees growing from between the rocky cliffs; thedepth of the river, when we were highest up, was six and sevenfathoms. 

We were so anxious to prosecute this discovery, that we didnot think of returning until it was near dark; and in our presentsituation, there was not a spot on which we could erect a tent, so very steep were the shores, except where they were marshy. Wepushed down as fast as possible, in order to find alanding-place, before it should be very late; and soon afterdark, we put a-shore on a parcel of rocks, which was, indeed, theonly spot near on which we could find room for our tents, andhere we passed the night. 

The morning of the next day was again foggy, until the sun hadsufficient power to disperse it; we then returned down the river, and as the wind was fair, and blew fresh, we sailed down, and inthe afternoon arrived in the south branch, or Pitt-Water, fixedour tents for the evening, and caught some fish, in order to spinout our provisions. Our female friend had left this place. 

The governor was now determined to return as fast as possibleto Port Jackson, and, after resting a few days, to prosecute thisuseful discovery to its source. We struck the tents at night, andembarked them in the boats; for, as the wind was northerly, itwas intended they should sail at midnight; a wigwam was made toshelter us during the night, and a large fire before it, by whichwe lay till day-light. The boats having sailed in the night, weset off at dawn of day in the morning by land; we found an easierpath than that by which we came, and arrived at the north cove ofPort Jackson by two in the afternoon, where the boats werealready arrived. 

In our journey we fell in with several dead bodies, who hadprobably fallen by the small-pox, but they were mere skeletons, so that it was impossible to say of what disease they died. 

Boats were upon our arrival immediately ordered to beprepared, and provisions got ready for another excursion, thesame party being engaged to go again, and, if possible, tracethis river to its source. As far up as we advanced, I made an eyesketch of it. 

On Sunday the 28th of June, the boats being ready, provisionsembarked, and the wind fair for another visit to Broken-Bay, theysailed before day-light on Monday morning; the party engaged togo by land were put on shore at the north part of the harbour atsix o'clock; the same gentlemen who were on the former expeditionwere on this also, and an addition of five marines; on the whole, our numbers amounted to about forty, including those in theboats: we were all well armed, and capable of making a powerfulresistance, in case, as we advanced up the river, we should findthe interior parts of the country well in-habited, and the peoplehostile. 

Having, on our last expedition, found a good track to travelby, we were soon in the neighbourhood of the south branch ofBroken-Bay, at which place one boat had been ordered to meet us, in order to save us by much the worst part of the journey. Wearrived at the head of Pitt-Water before eleven o'clock, but noboat appeared, which obliged us to walk round all the bays, woods, and swamps, between the head and entrance of this branch;by which, when we joined the boats, we were exceedingly fatigued;the weather being rather warm, and each person having hisknapsack and arms to carry, this last part of our journeyincreased the distance from twelve or fourteen miles to abouttwenty-five; in the course of which we had very high and steephills to climb, and many deep swamps to wade through: by the timewe joined the boats the day was too far advanced to think ofproceeding any farther, we therefore pitched the tents, andoccupied the spot which we had formerly done when here. 

On Tuesday the 30th, we embarked in the boats at day-break, intending to reach as high up this day as possible; we passedMullet Island, and proceeded into the river, and before night, wehad advanced as far up as a point on which we had rested a nightthe last time we were here, and which was within three or fourmiles of the place, where we left off the pursuit: here we sleptfor the night, and at day-light on the 1st of July we embarked, and after advancing a very little way beyond our farthestdiscovery, the river divided into two branches, one leading tothe north-west, the other to the southward. 

We took that which led to the north-west, and continued allday rowing up this arm, which was in general shoal water, fromfour to ten and twelve feet, and its breadth from about 20 to 40fathoms; the banks of this branch were in general immenseperpendicular mountains of barren rock; in some places themountains did not reach the margin of the river, but fell back alittle way from it, and were joined by low marshy points, coveredwith reeds or rushes, which extended from the foot of themountains to the edge of the river. At five in the evening, weput on shore, and raised our tents at the foot of one of themountains, where we found a tolerable dry spot for that purpose;and in the morning of the 2d, we proceeded higher up, but thismorning's progress was a good deal retarded by many large treeshaving fallen from the banks, and which reached almost across theriver; for here it was so narrow, that it hardly deserved thatname. 

By ten o'clock we were so far up, that we had not room for theoars, nor indeed water to float the boats: we therefore found itnecessary to return, and before noon we put on shore, where Itook the meridian altitude of the sun, which gave our latitude33° 21' south, and we judged, by the estimated distancesmarked in my sketch, that we were about thirty-four miles aboveMullet Island. 

At the place where we passed the last night we were examiningthe ground round us, as was customary wherever we placed ourtents for the night; and about half a mile distant, some of thegentlemen found a small hut; they saw a person whom they took fora native woman, and who, upon our approach, fled with greatprecipitation into the woods. They went to examine the hut, andfound two small helpless children in it; the poor littlecreatures were terribly frightened, but upon their being kindlytreated, they seemed to recover a little from their fear. Theyappeared to be in great distress, apparently for want of food;they had a little fire by them, and in it was found a few wildyams, about the size of a walnut: upon a supposition that theparents of these children would soon return, after our leavingthe place, a hatchet and some other trifles were left in thehut. 

Next morning, while the people were employed in striking thetents, some of the gentlemen again visited the hut which they nowfound unoccupied; the whole family were gone, and the hatchet, etc. Were left lying by it. It is really wonderful, that thesepeople should set so little value upon such an useful article asan axe certainly must be to them; this indifference I havefrequently seen in those who have been shown the use of it, andeven when its superiority over their stone hatchets has beenpointed out by a comparison. It is not easily to be accountedfor. 

We had now a strong ebb tide, and we rowed late, in order, ifpossible, to get out of this branch before we stopt for thenight. About six o'clock in the evening we entered the southernbranch, and very soon after encamped for the night. The nextmorning (Friday 3d) we proceeded up this arm for about seven oreight miles, where it again divided into two branches; thus farwe found the depth from three to nine fathoms, and the breadth ofthe river from 100 to 150 fathoms; we took the branch which ledto the northward, (the other went to the southward) but we hadnot advanced more than a quarter of a mile before we found thewater very shoally; however, as it might lead to a good country, the governor determined to go as high as the boats could findwater; we went through various windings, and met with manydifficulties from the shoallyness of the water: notwithstandingwhich, we made shift to get about 13 miles up; the depth was fromfour to twelve feet, and the breadth from 20 to 50 fathoms; thebanks of this branch were the same as the last, high, steep, androcky mountains, with many trees growing down their sides, frombetween the rocks, where no one would believe there could be anysoil to nourish them. 

Both this and the last branch we examined, probably extendmany miles farther than we with our boats could trace them, butthey did not appear, where we left off the examination of them, to be navigable for any vessel but the canoes of the natives, which do not draw more than two or three inches water. We sawseveral natives in these branches, but they fled into the woodson our approach: the wretched condition of the miserable nativeswho have taken up their residence, for a time, so far back fromthe sea coast, where no fish are to be had, is far beyond mydescription; they, no doubt, have methods of snaring or killingthe different kinds of animals which are to be found here, otherwise I think it impossible they could exist at any distancefrom the sea: for the land, as far as we yet know, affords verylittle sustenance for the human race. 

Having advanced as far as possible with the boats, wereturned, and having rowed two or three miles down to a pointwhere there was tolerable landing, we put a-shore, and pitchedthe tents for the night. In the morning of the 4th, while thetents were putting into the boats, I measured the height of theopposite shore, which I found to be 250 feet perpendicular abovethe level of the river, which was here 30 fathoms wide: at seveno'clock we embarked, and rowed down until we came to the entranceof the second southern branch, where we found good depth ofwater, in six and seven fathoms. This, from its depth, encouragedus to hope that it might extend a great distance to the westward:we went up this branch about 13 or 14 miles before we put onshore for the night: in this distance, the general depth of waterwas from two to seven fathoms, and the breadth of the river from70 to 140 fathoms; but the country still wore a very unpromisingaspect, being either high rocky shores, or low marshy points. 

After having rested for the night, we were again under way atday-light, and this day advanced about fourteen miles against thetide. In the woods we frequently saw fires, and sometimes heardthe natives; in the afternoon we saw a considerable number ofpeople in the wood, with many fires in different places; wecalled to them in their own manner, by frequently repeating theword _Co-wee_, which signifies, come here; at last, two mencame to the water-side with much apparent familiarity andconfidence: I thought, from this circumstance, that they hadcertainly seen us before, either at Botany-Bay, Port Jackson, orBroken-Bay; they received a hatchet, and a wild duck, which hadbeen just before shot from the boat; and in return, they threw usa small coil of line, made of the hair of some animal, and alsooffered a spear, which was refused. The only argument againsttheir having seen us before is, that they were the first we hadmet with who appeared desirous of making a return for any presentthey received. 

Here the banks of the river are low and covered with what wecall the pine-trees of this country; which indeed have receivedthat name merely from the leaf, which is a good deal like thepine, but the wood is very different. 

The natives here, appear to live chiefly on the roots whichthey dig from the ground; for these low banks appear to have beenploughed up, as if a vast herd of swine had been living on them. We put on shore, and examined the places which had been dug, andfound the wild yam in considerable quantities, but in generalvery small, not larger than a walnut; they appear to be in thegreatest plenty on the banks of the river; a little way back theyare scarce. 

We frequently, in some of the reaches which we passed throughthis day, saw very near us the hills, which we suppose as seenfrom Port Jackson, and called by the governor the BlueMountains. 

At five in the evening, we put ashore at the foot of a hill, where we passed the night; and at day-light in the morning of the5th, we embarked, and continued our way up the river; in which westill found good depth of water, from two to five fathoms, and 60or 70 fathoms wide. As we advanced, we found the river tocontract very fast in its breadth, and the channel becameshoaler; from these circumstances, we had reason to believe thatwe were not far from its source: the ebb tides were prettystrong, but the floods were only perceptible by the swolling ofthe water. 

In the evening we arrived at the foot of a high mountain, which was spread over with Iofty trees, without any underwood;and saw a pleasant looking country, covered with grass, andwithout that mixture of rocky patches in every acre or two, as iscommon in many other places: we ascended some distance, anderected our tents for the night. The river here is not more thantwenty fathoms wide. In the night, when every thing was still, weheard distinctly the roaring of what we judged to be a fall ofwater; and imagined from this circumstance, that we should not beable to advance much farther. 

In the morning, we walked to the top of the hill, and found wewere not more than five or six miles from a long range ofmountains, between which, and that where we stood, there is adeep valley, or low country, through which, probably, a branch ofthis river may run. This range of mountains we supposed to bethose which are seen from Port Jackson, and called the BlueMountains: they limit the sight to the west-north-west. In thatrange of high land there is a remarkable gully, or chasm, whichis seen distinctly at a distance, and from which we appeared tobe distant about five miles. The hills on each side of this gapwere named by Governor Phillip; on one side the Carmarthen, onthe other, the Lansdown hills; and that on which we stood wascalled Richmond-hill. 

In the morning of the 6th, we examined the river, which, as Ihave before observed, was narrow and shoally; its bed wascomposed of loose round stones and sand: it was now low water, and not a sufficient depth to float the boats: we thereforedelayed any farther attempt to get up until it should be nearhigh water; and, in the mean time, determined to take a view ofthe country round this hill; which, had it been clear of trees, would from its commmanding height, have given a most extensiveprospect to the eastward, northward, and southward; but the rangeof hills before-mentioned were still higher, and of courselimited our view to the westward. 

While the other gentlemen of the party were along with thegovernor, examining the country, I employed myself in taking themeridian altitude of the sun, by which I found the highest partof the hill to be in latitude 33° 37' south. 

The gentlemen spoke highly in favour of the country as far asthey walked; it was perfectly clear of any kind of under-wood;the trees upon it were all very tall, and stood very wide apart;the soil was also examined, and found very good: a small patchwas dug up, and a few potatoes, Indian-corn, melon, and otherseeds sown. This was a common practice, when a piece of ground, favourable from its soil, and being in an unfrequented situation, was found, to sow a few seeds of different kinds: some of thelittle gardens, which had been planted in this manner, and leftto nature, have been since visited and found thriving, othershave miscarried. 

After making these observations, the tide being made, we putoff in the boats, and endeavoured to get higher up, but werefrequently aground: by the time we had reached half a mile higherthan the foot of Richmond-hill, we met the stream setting down sostrong, that it was with much difficulty we could get the boatsso high. We here found the river to divide into two narrowbranches, from one of which the stream came down withconsiderable velocity, and with a fall over a range of stoneswhich seemed to lye across its entrance: this was the fall whichwe had heard the night before from our situation on the side ofRichmond-hill. 

We found too little water for the boats which we had with usto advance any farther, and the stream was very strong, althoughweak to what it may reasonably be conjectured to be after heavyrains; for here we had evident marks of the vast torrents whichmust pour down from the mountains, after heavy rains. The lowgrounds, at such times, are entirely covered, and the trees withwhich they are overgrown, are laid down (with their tops pointingdown the river, ) as much as I ever saw a field of corn after astorm; and where any of these trees have been strong enough toresist in _any degree_ the strength of the torrent, (forthey are all less or more bent downwards) we saw in the clifts ofthe branches of such trees, vast quantities of large logs whichhad been hurried down by the force of the waters, and lodged fromthirty to forty feet above the common level of the river; and atthat height there were great quantities of grass, reeds, and suchother weeds as are washed from the banks of the river, hanging tothe branches. 

The first notice we took of these signs of an extraordinaryswelling of the water, was twelve or fourteen miles lower down, and where the river is not so confined in its breadth: there wemeasured the same signs of such torrents twenty-eight feet abovethe surface of the water: the common rise and fall of the tidedid not appear to be more than six feet. 

On the banks here also we found yams and other roots, and hadevident marks of the natives frequenting these parts in search ofthem for food. They have no doubt some method of preparing theseroots, before they can eat them; for we found one kind which someof the company had seen the natives dig up; and with which beingpleased, as it had much the appearance of horse-radish, and had asweetish taste, and having swallowed a small quantity, itoccasioned violent spasms, cramps in the bowels, and sickness atthe stomach: it might probably be the casada root. 

We found here many traps, for catching animals, in which weobserved the feathers of many birds, particularly the quail. 

We now gave up the hope of tracing this river higher up withour boats; and, as in case of heavy rains setting in, which mightbe expected at this season of the year, there would beconsiderable danger, while confined in this narrow part of theriver, we pushed down and encamped the night of the 6th, aboutseven miles below Richmond-hill. 

In the morning early, we set off on our return, and encampedon the 7th at night, about twenty-six miles down: at seven in themorning of the 8th, we embarked again, and by four in the eveninghad reached a point about forty-three miles down, where wepitched our tents for the night, which was very foggy. In our waydown, we stopped, and measured the perpendicular height of a hillon the north side of the river, (or more properly one of thebanks of the river; for it is a long range of level land, andnearly perpendicular from the water; the opposite shore is lowand marshy;) which I found to be 399 feet: the river was here 120fathoms wide. 

On the 9th in the morning, we proceeded to examine some of theinferior branches; their general direction was to the southward, and the longest was not more than five or six miles in length, and was navigable for such boats as ours; the general depth wasthree and four fathoms for about four miles up, and then shoalwater; the others were inconsiderable. 

In one of these branches we passed the night of the 9th, andsaw a few natives, who came off to us in their boats with muchchearfulness and good humour; I thought I had seen them before:they received a few presents, among which was a looking-glass, which we took much trouble to show them the use of: they weresome time before they observed their own figure in the glass, butwhen they did, they turned it up and looked behind it; thenpointed to the water, signifying that they could see their figurereflected as well from that. 

Having now examined every thing which was thought worth ourattention, we made the best of our way to Mullet-island, where welanded on the 10th in the evening, and caught some fish. Thisnight, and all the next day, (11th, ) it blew a gale of wind fromthe southward, so that we were obliged to pass a second nighthere. In the morning of the 12th, it was more moderate, althoughvery squally and unsettled; we struck our tents and sailed forPitt-water, where about noon we encamped upon a point pretty highup. 

In our way, we put ashore to fill some fresh water, and in acave near the stream we found a native woman, who appeared tohave been dead some time, for her skin was as hard as a piece ofleather; it was impossible to know whether she had died of thesmall-pox or not. 

In the morning of the 13th, as we intended to land well upthis branch, in order to avoid the most difficult and tiresomepart of the road to Port Jackson. We embarked, after we hadbreakfasted, and rowed up about a couple of miles, when the partyfor walking went on shore, each with his arms, and knapsack, containing two days provisions; we were about half an hour ingetting through the wood, which led us to the sea-coast, where wefell into our old and well known path, and by four o'clock in theafternoon arrived at the north part of Port Jackson; but we mightas well have been fifty leagues off, for here we could have nocommunication either with the Sirius or the settlement, and noboat had been ordered to meet us. We went immediately to work andmade a large fire, by which we lay all night, which happened tobe very cold. 

The next day we crossed the hills, and came to the mouth ofthe north-west harbour, but could not find the means of crossingit; muskets had been frequently fired during the night, in hopesthat some boat might have been down the harbour fishing, andheard them. We found this morning a canoe upon the beach, withwhich we had no doubt of getting two men across the water, whocould in a short time walk over to the cove where the Sirius lay;but this prospect was disappointed by the first man who enteredthe canoe having overset her, and she immediately sunk, and hewas obliged to swim ashore: after this we went to work and made acatamaran, of the lightest wood we could find, but when finishedand launched, it would not, although pretty large, bear theweight of one man. 

It was now proposed to walk round the head of the north-westharbour, which would have been a good long journey for at leasttwo days, and our provisions were nearly expended; to thisproposal I was under the necessity of objecting, for want ofshoes, the last march having tore all but the soals from my feet, and they were tied on with spun-yarn; I therefore declined theproposed walk, and determined to go back to Broken-bay and rejointhe boats; which I had no doubt of being able to effect in thecourse of that day, and with far more ease than I could, withoutshoes, climb such rocky mountains, and thick woods, as lay in theway round the head of the north-west harbour. But as it waslikely I might fall in with some parties of the natives in theway, I wished to have a companion. 

Captain Collins preferred accompanying me in the intendedwalk, and we were just upon the point of setting out, when two ofthe people who were with us proposed swimming over the water, andto cross through the wood to the Sirius; the distance they had toswim was not more than two cables length, or four hundred yards;they immediately stripped, and each having had a dram, they tiedup in a handkerchief a shirt, trowsers, and a pair of shoes each, which was rested upon their shoulders: thus equipped, they tookthe water, and in seven minutes landed on the opposite shore; butone being seized with the cramp, was obliged to disengage himselffrom his bundle, which was of course lost: they set off throughthe woods, and in a short time got on board the ship, the onewith his shirt and trowsers, the other perfectly naked. 

Upon their information, a boat was sent down, and took us onboard, after a pretty fatiguing journey. I cannot help hereremarking how providential it was, that we did not all agree towalk round the north-west harbour. At eight in the morning weheard the report of a great gun, which led me to suspect thatsome person belonging to the Sirius was missing, and had probablybeen lost in the woods; we frequently fired muskets that morning, and sometimes imagined we heard a musket at a considerabledistance in the woods; in consequence of this suspicion, wefrequently fired several together, and as often heard the reportof that which we believed was meant to answer us. 

In short, by means of these repeated vollies, we drew nearerto that which answered us, and by hallooing all together, foundwe had got within hearing of the person who had answered ourfiring; for, after calling out, we listened attentively, andheard a very faint voice in answer; in that direction we walked, and at last, by frequent calling, and answering, we found theperson out, who proved to be Peter White, sail-maker of theSirius; who had been four days lost, and when he set out from theship had not more than four ounces of biscuit with him, one ounceof which he had still left; he was very faint, and appeared to usto be stupid and almost exhausted, for he staggered like a mandrunk; we took him with us, and by giving him such provisions aswe had, in small proportions, he was in a few hours a good dealrecovered; but I think if he had not been found as he was, intwenty-four hours more he would not have been able to make anyfarther effort to save himself, and must have perished where helay down. 

It is remarkable, that the flint of his gun being worn to astump, he could not get fire out of it the whole of the daybefore, when trying to shoot some birds for his subsistence, until night came on, when it was necessary for him to have a fireto sleep by; he then tried it again with very little hope ofsucceeding, but contrary to his expectations he got a fire andsat by it the whole night; the next morning it failed himrepeatedly, until he had occasion to answer our musquets, when itstruck fire every time he wished to answer us, otherwise, in allprobability, we should not have found him. This is exactly hisown account. 

In the end of August, the governor having expressed a wish tohave a survey made of Broken-Bay and Botany-Bay, I offered toperform that service. The Sirius had some time ago been removedfrom Sydney Cove, to a cove on the north side of the harbour, much more convenient for giving her those repairs of which shenow stood so much in need. The carpenter and his crew, who hadbeen employed on shore upon the business of the settlement, eversince our return from the last voyage, were now ordered on board, to attend the repairs of the ship; a temporary wharf was built bythe ship's company, and a piece of ground levelled to receive theprovisions and stores: every person was now employed inlightening the ship, and in cutting down timber for the repairswanted. 

A survey upon the defects of the ship was ordered by CaptainPhillip, and she was reported to be very weak in her upper works;several bolts were decayed under her wales, which occasioned hermaking much water at sea; and that it was absolutely necessary toexamine as many of the butt bolts as possible: it was alsothought necessary to fix seven pair of top riders on each side, to strengthen her upper works; various other defects were givenin. 

While the ship's company were employed in lightening the ship, and the carpenters were cutting down timber for riders and plank, I determined, before any thing material in the repairs was setabout, to go round and make a survey of Broken-Bay: in thisexcursion I was accompanied by several gentlemen of thesettlement; the boats were dispatched round, under the care ofLieutenant Bradley, by whom, and Lieutenant Ball, of the Supply, I was assisted in this work: the party went by land, but as Iwished also to make a sketch of the coast between the twoharbours, we determined to be two days on the journey, and to lyeall night in the woods. After taking a sketch of the coast, wearrived at Pitt-Water, and joined the boats in the afternoon ofthe second day. We visited all those parts, which are navigablefor shipping, and having before very particularly sounded andexamined all the branches here, the business was finished inlittle more than a fortnight. Mr. Bradley returned with theboats, and we walked along shore to Port Jackson. 

The entrance of Broken-Bay lies in latitude 33° 34' south, and longitude 151° 27' east; the bay is large and clear; thedistance from north to south head, is two miles, and the depth iseight, ten, and twelve fathoms; but as you run up the bay itshoals to six, seven, and five fathoms. Just within the northhead of the bay is the entrance of the northern branch, which, from the shoalness of the water, is only navigable for boats, orsmall vessels; the channel going in is very narrow, occasioned bya long spit of sand, which extends from a low sandy point on thewest side of the entrance, and on which, when the wind is fromthe eastward, the sea breaks very high. 

A little within the south head of the bay is the entrance ofthe Southern Branch or Pitt-Water; this is a good harbour, thoughthe entrance is rendered rather narrow by a shoal bank, whichextends from the eastern point full two-thirds across; keep thewest shore on board, which is pretty bold, and is a high, steep, rocky point, and steer right up the branch; three fathoms is themost you will have at low water, and that depth is only in thenarrows, which are of very short extent, for as you run up, youvery soon deepen to four, five, six, and eight fathoms; to theshoal which narrows the entrance, it is very gradual soundings. When you are above the second point on the west shore, you havegood depth of water and good room; you may run up in mid-channelwithout fear; both shores are pretty bold to, except off thepoints, from some of which it is shoal a small distance: in thisbranch there are several coves, in which a ship might lighten andcareen; there is also fresh water in various parts of thisharbour, with wood in abundance, and fish may be caught in allthe sandy bays. 

The entrance of this branch is divided from the south-west armby several rocky points; the land over them high and steep;between which are some small sandy bays; and right off the mouthof this arm is a very high rocky island, of but small extent; itseastern end is very high and perpendicular; this island is a goodmark, for any part of the bay may be known, with certainty, bythe situation of it, which the chart will point out. If astranger were coming in here for shelter in a gale of wind, Iwould recommend his pushing up the south-west arm, and steeringin for the island, which is now called Mount Elliot, from itssimilarity to the north end of Gibraltar Rock. 

You may pass on either side, but the south side is fairest forgoing up the south-west arm; keep mid-channel between the islandand south shore: this shore is so bold that you may run withintwo cables length of it. In your way up you will perceive abranch on the north side, which runs up north-west; when thushigh, you are above a bank or middle ground, on which the leastwater is 16 feet; you may, by keeping near the shore, pass oneither side of this shoal, which has gradual soundings to it; thesouth side has most room and deepest water; the north side hasfive fathoms: when above this, you may keep in the middle, if youwish to go higher, and the least water will be five or sixfathoms for several miles higher: from this south-west armseveral branches extend, most of which have good depth of water, but the chart will be the best guide. 

If you wish to enter the north-west branch, enter it bykeeping the larboard shore on board, and for some distance up, asfrom the starboard shore a shoal extends one-third of thedistance over. 

After having rested a few days, I determined not to lose anytime, but go immediately and make a survey of Botany-Bay, whilethe weather was cool and pleasant. 

Towards the end of September, two boats with provisions, tents, etc. Were got ready, and dispatched round, under thecare of Mr. Keltie, the master of the Sirius, by whom, and Mr. Blackburn, the master of the Supply, I was assisted in my work atBotany-Bay. A few gentlemen of the settlement having signified awish to accompany me, the party resolved to walk over and meetthe boats there; this route being now well known, and the pathwell trodden, it was not an unpleasant walk. We joined the boatsabout noon, and found our tents pitched. 

The same afternoon we began our operations, and in about tendays had finished the survey of the bay. The anchorage in thisbay, as I have before observed, is extensive, and the passageinto it easy; there is a cluster of rocks, which liesouth-south-east, about two cables length from a little bareisland on the north shore, on which the sea frequently breaksvery high; but if you keep Cape Banks open, you will avoid them;both shores are bold to, till you come thus high. A little abovePoint Southerland (south shore) is another patch of rocks, which, to avoid in turning, keep the land below this point open. Although the anchorage here is extensive, yet by looking at thechart, it will appear a small spot for so very large a piece ofwater: from both the north and south sides, and from the bottomof the bay, the flats run off a great distance, from four tofifteen feet water. 

I did formerly believe, that there was an easy channel overthe flats into the west river, but on this examination I think itrather difficult, if practicable at all, as the soundings arevery irregular. 

This river in some parts has good depth, and that near andwithin its entrance; but higher up it is all shoal water, andfull of knowls of sand; in short, it is only to be navigated byboats: it has two branches, in which there are several coves, orbays, containing shoal water. 

After having gone to the head of this river, and returned tothe bay again, we then entered a small river which empties itselfin the north-west part of the bay; this river, as far as I wentup, which was about five miles, is all shoal water (it has sincebeen examined to the head by Lieutenant Bradley): in short, theserivers were _with me_ no object at this time to throw awaytime upon; I therefore made no other survey than an eye sketch;every reach is laid down true with respect to direction; thesoundings are the depth at or near low water; and the distance isestimated by short portions at a time, that they might be themore correct. 

It will easily be perceived, by looking at the draft of thisbay, that it is not possible to lie land locked with a ship inany part of it; you will always be exposed to the large sea whichtumbles in here with an easterly wind. The edge of the flatts (inthree fathoms) is determined by many intersections, so that itsextent is pretty nearly ascertained. 

In the end of October it was judged necessary to shorten theallowance of provisions one-third; for although we might expectstore-ships from England by the end of January, 1790, yet asthere did not remain above five months provisions in thesettlement, the governor thought it necessary to issue an orderfor two-thirds allowance to commence the 1st of November. 

Having finished the placing of the top riders in the Sirius bythe end of October, we took our provisions and stores on board;and on the 7th of November, we moved the ship from Careening Coveover to Sydney Cove. 

A few days before that time, John Mara, the gunner's mate, hadbeen missing, and was supposed to have been lost in the woods;parties were sent out in search of him: the third day after hedisappeared, I was going up the harbour in a boat early in themorning, and some distance up, I thought I heard the voice of aman upon the north shore; we lay upon the oars a considerabletime, and listened attentively; we again heard the voice, androwed immediately towards that part of the shore from whence thevoice came, and there we found the person missing: he was sittingupon a rock, was exceedingly faint, and scarcely able to get intothe boat; having had nothing to eat during his absence but anherb which the people use by way of tea, and which is sopalatable they can drink it without sugar; it has exactly thetaste of liquorish root. I interrogated him with respect to themanner of his losing himself; he said, "That having been sent onshore in the evening to fill a few water-casks, which were landedat a run of water near the ship, and that having just before hewas sent on shore taken a copious drink of grog, he felt himself, soon after he landed, a good deal disposed to sleep; that theweather being warm, and the evening well advanced, he laid downupon the hill, some distance from the run of water, and fell fastasleep upon the grass; that he did not wake until it was late, and the night being dark, and he a little confused when he awoke, he went farther into the wood instead of coming out of it, and bythat means lost himself entirely. " He also said, "That when Itook him up, he was so exhausted that he should not have beenable to walk much longer, and that he had only reached thewater-side the night before. "

He had no arms of any kind; it was therefore fortunate that hedid not fall in with any of the natives, as we have much reasonto believe that they are disposed to take the advantage of thosethey meet without fire-arms. 

The night before we left Careening Cove, Mr. Francis Hill, oneof the master's mates, had desired permission to go over toSydney Cove, and to return early the next morning; he went over, and was the next morning early put across to the nearest part ofthe north shore, intending to walk round to the ship, a routewhich had been often taken by many of our gentlemen, and was notmore than an hour and a half's walk, but in this short distanceMr. Hill lost himself. The next day, parties were sent outdifferent ways, and boats were sent both up and down the harbourin search of him; a gun for their and his direction was firedfrom the ship every two hours, and this continued for two days. The third day, many additional parties were sent, to the numberof nine or ten; in short, every piece of ground where it wasthought possible he might have passed, was traversed over andover by the different parties, but without effect; we had, therefore, much reason to believe that he fell in with a party ofthe natives, who probably murdered him, for he had no arms of anykind with him. 

That this opinion of a disposition in the natives to takeadvantage of a single person, particularly when unarmed, is notill founded, we have had many instances to prove; one of which inthis place may suffice, as it had happened very recently, andnear to the place where Mr. Hill was lost. A man belonging to theSirius, who had generally been employed in shooting for theofficers, was, a few days previous to the supposed death of Mr. Hill, in the woods looking for game, and had been seen by a partyof the natives from the skirts of a wood; they had not beenobserved by him, and taking the advantage of that, threw a largestone at him, which very narrowly missed his head, at which itwas very well aimed; had it hit him, it would have knocked himdown and deprived him of his senses, which opportunity they wouldno doubt have availed themselves of to dispatch him; but as theydid not succeed in their attempt, they stood their ground, and hefired a charge of small shot at them, which I suppose they feltno inconvenience from, as they laughed at him, and advanced withtheir lances; he was pretty quick in loading his gun again, intowhich he put a heavy charge of buck shot, and as they appeared tohim to be determined on mischief, he resolved, for his ownsafety, to be before-hand with them; he took very good aim, andfired right amongst them; two of them fell, and the rest, withgreat precipitation, made off, but he believed they carried theirwounded (probably dead) friends with them; he stood where he wasand loaded his gun, then came towards the ship without seeing anymore of them. They are exceedingly terrified by fire-arms. 

There was one circumstance which disposed me to believe thatMr. Hill had been murdered by the people of the country, whichwas, that one of the boats which went down the harbour to lookfor him put a-shore in one of the coves in the north part of it;the young gentleman who had charge of this duty went up thebeach, with five of the boat's crew, while two remained to takecare of the boat; they had only been landed a few minutes, andwere near the skirt of the wood, when two spears were launchedfrom a rising ground; one of which struck the hat of one of theseamen; and as no fire-arms had appeared, the natives showedthemselves, to the number of between twenty and thirty; themidshipman and the sailors returned to the boat, and brought up amusquet loaded with ball, which the natives observing, alldisappeared, except two, and the ball was fired at them; whetherwith or without effect we knew not, but they also disappearedimmediately. 

These hostile appearances, I think, may have been the effectof their success, in having lately murdered some of our people;for as we have had several such accidents here, we have had anopportunity of remarking, that they have generally shownimmediately after them, a more than ordinary degree ofhostility. 

The want of one of the people of this country, who, from ahabit of living amongst us, might have been the means ofpreventing much of this hostile disposition in them towards us, was much to be lamented. If poor Ara-ba-noo had lived, he wouldhave acquired enough of our language to have understood whateverwe wished him to communicate to his countrymen; he could havemade them perfectly understand, that we wished to live with themon the most friendly footing, and that we wished to promote, asmuch as might be in our power, their comfort and happiness. 

The two children mentioned formerly, and who were very happyamongst us, were yet too young to be of use in reconciling thenatives to us; they now understood almost every thing we said, and could make themselves very well understood; but the governorwas desirous of having a man or two in our possession, to whom wemight teach enough of our language without the danger of losingany part of their own, to render them useful to their countrymen;it had therefore for some time past been in agitation toendeavour, by force, to secure one or two. 

For that purpose, on the 25th of November, Lieutenant Bradley, with some other officers, and a party of men, were sent down theharbour in an armed boat: they went to the north part of theharbour, where, upon one of the sandy beaches, they observed twonative men walking; they immediately formed a scheme to enticethem to a conversation; for that purpose, a few large fish wereheld up, and they were called to, which had the desired effect;the men with much confidence came forward unarmed, and with muchchearfulness received the fish, and held a conversation withthose who presented them. 

At this time there were about five of our people upon thebeach, and the boat lying afloat, with her stern close to theshore, and the sailors lying on their oars: Mr. Bradley, who wasin the stern of the boat, seeing the opportunity good, gave thesignal for securing them; in a moment their heels were knockedup, and they were tumbled into the boat, followed by those whosecured them, and the boat pulled immediately off. They calledout to their friends the moment they were taken hold of, butthough a considerable number appeared in the skirt of the wood, on seeing arms in the hands of those in the boat, who stood upready to fire, they did not venture an attack. The men werelashed to the thwarts of the boat, on their first being takeninto her, but after having got to such a distance from the shore, as to prevent the possibility of an escape, their hands wereloosed, and they were secured by only one leg; but until theywere thus far liberated, their terror was considerable. 

On their being landed at Sydney-Cove, they were immediatelytaken up to the governor's house, where they were very kindlytreated; but to prevent any attempt to escape being at allprobable, they had each an iron-shackle put on one of their legs, to which a piece of rope was spliced, and a man was ordered foreach, who was to be answerable for their security; wherever theywent those keepers accompanied them, holding one end of the rope. When these two strangers landed in Sydney-Cove, many people, prompted by curiosity, went to see them; among that number werethe boy and girl, natives, whose names, I think, when speaking ofthem, I have never yet mentioned; the girl was called _A-ba-roo_, and the boy _Nan-bar-ry_, or _Bal-der-ry:_ the moment they sawthe men, they with raptures of joy called them both by theirnames; the children were also known to them, and it was notimprobable but that their very comfortable appearance, afterhaving lived so long amongst us, might, in some degree, calmthat perturbation of mind, which we would naturally believemight attend them in such a state of captivity; for it should berecollected, that not one of those natives whom we have had amongstus, had ever returned to inform their friends, what kind oftreatment they had met with from us; it was therefore not to bewondered at, if they supposed that such as fell into our handswere put to death. 

The two old men who were picked up when very ill with thesmall-pox, at the time _A-ba-roo_ and _Nan-bar-ry_ werefound, (and whom we believed to be the fathers of the children)died very soon. Poor _Ara-ba-noo_, who was at liberty to gowhere he pleased some time before he died, was so well reconciledto us, that he never showed the smallest inclination to go fromus; he unfortunately did not survive the small-pox, and the girland boy were now so accustomed to our manner of living, that itwas not at all probable they would relish that of their owncountry. 

We soon discovered, upon the arrival of these two strangers, whom the children called by name, that one was a chief, ordistinguished person, among those of the tribe of-Ca-di-gal_; his name was _Co-al-by_; he was a man ofabout 35 years of age; the other was about 25 years old, and wascalled by several different names, such as _Ba-na-lang, Vogle-troo-ye_, or _Vo-la-ra-very_; the first we thoughthis proper name, the others we understood from himself were namesby which some of his particular connections were distinguished, and which he had, upon their death, taken up: this man was a verygood looking young fellow, of a pleasant lively disposition. 

The presence of _Co-al-by_ seemed to be a check upon thechearful temper of _Ba-na-lang_, which inclined us to thinkthat he paid a kind of deference to him; he was always verysilent in his company. 

Seventeen days after these people were taken, they appeared sowell satisfied, that their keepers began to be less apprehensiveof their attempting to make their escape, which they did not failto notice, and had no doubt laid a plan to avail themselves of, for they were very far from being destitute of observation andcunning. One evening, when it was pretty dark, their keepers weresitting within the door of their house, eating their supper;_Ba-na-lang_ was within also, and employed in the samemanner; _Co-al-by_ was at the door, sitting just on theoutside, and had with him something for his supper, which hepretended to be employed about, the end of his rope was in thehand of his keeper; while they in the inside were thus amused, -Co-al-by_ drew the splice of his rope from the shackle, andin a moment was over the paling of the yard, and out of sight; animmediate search was made for him, but without effect, we saw himno more: however we heard afterwards that he joined his friendsagain, and will no doubt be careful how he confides hereafter inus: his friends would certainly be something surprized to see himso well cloathed, for he carried off his whole wardrobe. Isuppose it would cost him some trouble to get the shackle fromhis leg, which was riveted on. 

The other man was much more chearful after _Co-al-by-'sabsence, which confirmed our conjecture, and the children'saccount, that he was a man more distinguished in his tribe than-Ba-na-lang_. 

In the month of January, 1790, in every company, theconversation turned upon the long expected arrivals from England, which we had been for some past in daily expectation of, with asupply of provisions; our store here was now in a very exhaustedstate, much more so than we ever expected it would have been: forit was the general opinion, that I should the last year, on myarrival at the Cape of Good Hope, have there met with store-shipsbound to this country, as it was always understood that thesettlement would never have been reduced lower than one year'sprovisions in store. 

We landed in this country with two years provisions, at leastwith what was supposed, when we sailed from England, would be thecase; that time was now elapsed, yet we had not been visited byany ships from Europe, and we still had remaining provisions, athalf allowance, to last until June. We all looked forward withhope for arrivals with a relief; and that every assistancenecessary for strangers might be at hand, I offered, with a fewmen from the Sirius, to go down to the south head of the harbour, there to build a lookout-house, and erect a flag-staff upon theheight, which might be seen from the sea; and which might alsocommunicate information of ships in the offing to the governor atSydney-cove. 

The governor approved my proposals. I went down with six men, and was accompanied by Mr. White and Mr. Worgan, the surgeons ofthe settlement and Sirius. We erected a flag-staff, and lived ina tent for ten days, in which time we compleated a tolerably goodhouse. At the end of ten days, I was relieved by Mr. Bradley witha fresh party. 

Chapter VII

TRANSACTIONS AT NORFOLK ISLAND

February 1790 to February 1791

-The Sirius and Supply sail for NorfolkIsland. --Land the marines and convicts. --Wreck of theSirius. --Some provisions saved. --Martial Law established. --Ratioof provisions settled. --Vast numbers of birds caught. --Indistress for provisions. --Receive a supply from PortJackson. --Officers and crew of the Sirius leave Norfolk Island, and arrive at Port Jackson. --Norfolk Island described. --Itssituation and extent. --Soil. --Climate, etc. --Table of Winds, etc. -

In February, we began to look a little serious on ourdisappointment of arrivals: we had not now more than provisionstill June, at the allowance I have already mentioned. Thegovernor now saw a necessity for dividing the settlement, andsignified his intention that such division should take placesoon, by sending a certain number of marines and convicts, underthe command of Major Ross, the lieutenant-governor, to NorfolkIsland; at which place he understood there were many resources, which Port Jackson, or the country round it, did not afford; andthe gardens and cultivated lands here also would then be moreenjoyed by the remaining numbers. 

Accordingly an arrangement took place, and on the 26th ofFebruary, I received an order to prepare the Sirius for sea, andto embark the lieutenant-governor, with one company of marines, and the officers, baggage, and also 186 convicts; in all, 221persons; with such a proportion of the remaining provisions andother stores, as the settlement at that time could furnish; and Iwas directed to land them upon Norfolk Island: Lieutenant Ball, commander of his Majesty's armed tender Supply, was ordered undermy command, and he also embarked a company of marines, and twentyconvicts. 

We sailed from Port Jackson on the 6th of March, and the windbeing from the westward, we made Lord Howe's Island on the 9th, at four in the afternoon, bearing east-north-east, distant about16 or 18 leagues. The south end of this island is two very highmountains, nearly perpendicular from the sea; those hills are theonly land you see until you come within six or seven leagues, when the lower land begins to appear, extending from the foot ofthe mountains, northward: it was calm most of the night, with nowand then a light air, with which, and an easterly set of current, which is generally found here, we were enabled to get in with theland by noon of the 10th. I made the Latitude of the southermosthill:

(Mount Gower) 31° 35' S. Longitude, by time-keeper, 159° 10' 30" E. Of Greenwich. Longitude, by distance of the sun and moon, taken at 10, A. M. 159° 08' 00" E. 

There is a very remarkable rock, which lies about 12 or 14miles to the southward of the island, and which is namedBall's-pyramid, and has much the appearance of a church steepleat a distance; but as you come near, it is exceedingly high andperpendicular: we passed in the evening between the island andthe pyramid, and had 26 fathoms within two miles of Mount Gower, over a rocky bottom. This island I judge to be about three milesand a half long, north-north-west and south-south-east; it isvery narrow across. There is anchorage on both sides of it, butthe bottom is foul. On the west side there is a bay, off whichlies a reef parallel to the shore, with good swatches, orpassages through for boats; this reef breaks off the sea from theshore, which is a fine sandy beach, so that there is nodifficulty in landing. I have observed before, that turtle aresometimes caught here, and that there are many birds upon theisland. 

On the 13th, at two o'clock in the morning, we made NorfolkIsland, which I did not expect we should have done quite so soon, but the easterly current, which is commonly found here, had beenstrong: we brought to till day-light, and then, as the wind wasfresh from the south-west, I well knew there could be no landingin Sydney-bay, where the settlement is fixed, on account of thehigh surf, which southerly winds occasion, I therefore bore away, and ran round to the north-east side of the island into a baycalled Cascade-bay; where, after a few days of moderate weather, and an off-shore wind, it is possible to land; but that only onone spot, which is a rock that projects some distance into thesea, and has deep water to it: on that rock I landed, on theafternoon of the 13th, all the marines, and a considerable numberof the convicts, but being set to the eastward in the night, Idid not land the remainder until the 15th, when they were alsoput on shore on the same place. 

These people were no sooner on shore than the wind shifted tothe eastward, and the weather became hazy and blew strong, sothat I had no prospect of being able to land any part of theprovisions. We had put on shore from the Sirius and Supply 270people, and had no opportunity of sending any stores with them, as we were now driven out of sight of the island. I knew theexhausted state of the stores there; I was also acquainted withthe many difficulties which Lieutenant Ball, commander of theSupply, had met with in the different voyages he had made fromPort Jackson to this island, with provisions; and the length oftime he had, in some of these voyages, been obliged to cruize, before he could have any access to the shore; so continually doesthe surf break all round it: these considerations gave me muchanxiety and uneasiness. 

On the 19th, a slant wind from the south-east brought me againin with the island: the Supply had the preceding night partedcompany, but as they were better acquainted here than we were, Ijudged they had stood for the land in the night before I did. Aswe stood in, finding we could fetch the windward part of theisland, I steered in for Sydney-bay; and as we drew near, Iobserved the Supply lying to in the bay, and the signal upon theshore was flying, that long-boats, or any other boats might land, without any danger from the surf. Anxious to avail myself of thisfavourable signal, I steered in as far as I judged safe, andbrought to with the ship's head off shore, in the south-east orwindward part of the bay, hoisted out the boats, loaded them withprovisions, and sent them in; but observing that the ship settledfast to leeward, we made sail, and immediately hauled on boardthe fore and main tacks, the Supply had also made sail, and wasto leeward of the Sirius. 

There is a reef of sunken rocks, which lies off the west pointof the bay, and which (as the wind freshened and the sea rose)broke a considerable way out; the Supply having drawn a-head, could not weather this reef: on this she tacked; and, as we drewnear, I plainly perceived that we settled so fast to leeward thatwe should not be able to weather it: so, after standing as nearas was safe, we put the ship in stays; she came up almost head towind, but the wind just at that critical moment baffled her, andshe fell off again: nothing could now be done, but to wear herround in as little room as possible, which was done, and the windhauled upon the other tack, with every sail set as before; but, still perceiving that the ship settled into the bay, and that sheshoaled the water, some hands were placed by one of the boweranchors, in five fathoms water; the helm was again put down, andshe had now some additional after-sail, which I had no doubtwould ensure her coming about; she came up almost head to wind, and there hung some time; but by her sails being all a back, hadfresh stern way: the anchor was therefore cut away, and all thehaulyards, sheets, and tacks let go, but before the cable couldbe brought to check her, she struck upon a reef of coral rockswhich lies parallel to the shore, and in a few strokes wasbulged. 

When the carpenter reported to me, that the water flowed fastinto the hold; I ordered the masts to be cut away, which wasimmediately done. There was some chance, when the ship waslightened of this weight, that by the surges of the sea, whichwere very heavy, she might be thrown so far in up the reef, as toafford some prospect of saving the lives of those on board, ifshe should prove strong enough to bear the shocks she receivedfrom every sea. 

It was now about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and after themasts were gone, all hands were employed in getting out of thehold such provisions as could be come at, and securing them uponthe gun-deck, that they might be at hand in case any opportunityoffered of floating them on shore. 

In the evening the wind freshened still more, and the surf wasconsiderably increased; in consequence of which, it was stronglyrecommended by the gentlemen on shore, who knew the place muchbetter than we could, that every person should quit the ship: forthis purpose the end of a small rope was floated through thesurf, and over the reef, to the shore, by an empty cask; and bythat rope a seven inch hawser was hauled on shore, with a woodenheart upon it for a traveller, and the end was made fast to atree. 

By this traveller I corresponded with those on shore, andreceived their opinions. To the traveller three or four sailorsat a time were made fast, and were hauled by the people on shorethrough the surf, and over a ragged reef to the land; anotherpart this evening, and the remainder the next day. The whole crewwere intended to have been landed that night, but when it becamedark the hauling rope of the traveller got often foul of therocks, which might have occasioned the drowning of those who wereat such a time on the traveller: for the long scope of hawser(nearly the length of two hawsers) by the weight of three or fourpeople, was more than two-thirds of the way in the surf, and themen on it under water. 

The second day after the landing of the crew, the weatherbeing more moderate, and the surf less dangerous, a few of theseamen, who could depend, in case of accident, upon their goodswimming, were got on board by the hawser, and the utmostexertion used to get some part of the provisions sent on shore;but it was the fifth day before any could be landed. 

We were now upon this little island 506 souls, upon halfallowance of provisions; and that could, with our presentnumbers, last but a very short time; as the supply intended forthe island was yet on board the Sirius; and consequently itssafety very uncertain. 

Providence was kind to us. We had for several days the weatherfine, and the surf uncommonly smooth, for this place: foralthough there was a continual surf breaking upon the ship, andall the way between her and the shore, yet it was considered hereas uncommonly smooth: each of those fine days we got on shorefrom twenty to thirty casks of provisions, with various otherarticles of both public and private property; such articles aswould swim were entrusted to the chance of being thrown on shoreby the surf: all that I or any other officer saved, was foundwashing upon the beach; but as the shore was lined with themarines, to prevent the convicts from committing depredations, itwas much, but not wholly prevented. Every thing which came onshore was placed under the care of centinels, until claimed bythe proprietor, before certain officers. 

But that success which attended those things that werecommitted to the sea, proved at last a misfortune; for itoccasioned their trusting every thing promiscuously of privateproperty to the surf; by which many valuable articles of mine andsome of the officers were lost, being too heavy to float, acircumstance that those who threw them overboard had notconsidered. The provisions being the first object, nothingbesides was allowed to be sent by the traveller; andnotwithstanding it was all dragged through the sea, the damagedpart was but trifling. Some casks were washed out of the slings, dashed to pieces upon the rocks, and of course lost; but, takingthe whole together, we saved more provisions than we could havereasonably expected. 

By the time we had landed the principal part of theprovisions, the weather began to be rather unfavourable to ourwishes and endeavours; the wind set in from the southward, thesea rose and occasioned a very high surf, which rendered itunsafe for any person to remain on board; the small bower cable, which had hitherto kept the ship's head to the sea, being cut bythe rocks, and the ship being considerably lightened by what hadbeen taken out of her, she was lifted so high by every sea, as tooccasion her striking very heavily; and by those repeated shocksshe was thrown for a short time broad-side to the sea: had shekept in that position, she would soon have gone to pieces; butfrom her being very light forward, the iron ballast having droptout of her bottom, she was lifted fairly round, and was thrownmore than her own length nearer to the shore, and was, by thischange in her position, almost out of the reach of the break ofthe sea; that is, the surf, which before generally broke uponher, now broke outside, and its force was considerably spent, before it reached her; so that when the weather was moderate andthe surf low, we got with more ease on board, and could remainthere with less danger. 

One of the bow ports was enlarged for the purpose of gettingcasks and other parcels out; the hauser and traveller were alsofitted and hove taught from the bow, and various stores were senton shore with more ease and certainty than before; but the kneesof the beams, being many of them broke, and the ends of the beamsbeing dislodged from the clamps, the orlop deck blown up, and thelower deck beams loose, and many of them broken, it was dangerousto attempt going into the hold; for by every stroke of the sea, the decks were all in motion: however, every thing that could begot at by the sailors on board was sent on shore. 

A few days after the unfortunate loss of the Sirius, theship's company being all on shore, with very little provisions onthe island for so great a number of people, and the supply fromthe wreck being yet in a very precarious situation, thelieutenant-governor assembled all the officers in the settlementtogether; and in order that the description of people now amongus in so considerable a number, (I mean the convicts, who Ibelieve to have been some of the worst characters ever sent fromGreat-Britain) should fear the commission of any crime here, morethan they had ever done under the laws hitherto established inthis settlement, it was unanimously judged necessary for thegeneral safety and good of the whole, that martial law be nowestablished in this island until such time as we might berelieved from the distressing prospect that was now before us, bya supply of provisions, or until the governor in chief of hisMajesty's territory in this part of the world might think fit, either to approve or disapprove of it. 

The necessity of such a measure in the situation we were nowreduced to, I apprehend, will be apparent to every considerateperson. By the proclamation of the law martial, which wasgenerally consented to, not by an oath, as I believe is commonlythe case, where it is found necessary: but, the service we had toperform not admitting of the delay that such ceremony would haveoccasioned, the general approbation was taken by every individualpassing under the king's colours, which were displayed for thatpurpose; _that ceremony_ every person was previouslyinformed would be considered as an assent, and which was donewith a degree of solemnity, and at the same time an apparentchearfulness through the whole. 

By this proclamation of the law martial, much mischief I am ofopinion was prevented: hitherto, every convict, or any otherperson on this island, who had committed any crime which meriteda trial by the criminal court, were to be sent the firstopportunity to Port Jackson, with all the necessary evidence, andthere to be tried. This, in our situation, would have beenattended with innumerable inconveniences and many badconsequences, which, as I have already said, I confidentlybelieve were prevented by this proclamation; which may be said tohave been held out in terrorem only: for, during the whole timeof its existence, we had but once occasion to put it in force;the fear of an immediate trial, and, if found guilty, immediateexecution, kept every body tolerably honest and attentive to thenecessary duties, which it became the whole of us now to lookforward to. 

As the Supply tender sailed from this island on the 24th ofMarch, which was the fifth day after the loss of the Sirius, andwe had not at that time been able to get any part of theprovisions from the wreck; she could not carry to the governorany certain account, whether we should or should not be able toget any thing on shore, to help out the very scanty proportion ofprovisions which now remained in the store; we thereforeentertained a glimmering of hope that she might, in the course offive or six weeks, return to us with the very comfortable news ofarrivals from England. 

However, after the expiration of that time, during which welooked anxiously to the sea, our situation began to wear a veryalarming aspect. We now had no doubt, but that in consequence ofa disappointment in the expected arrivals, the governor had foundit necessary to dispatch Lieutenant Ball to some Europeansettlement, and that he could not relieve us with provisions fromPort Jackson. In consequence of this deplorable situation, on the14th of May, the officers composing the council met thelieutenant-governor agreeable to appointment, and published thefollowing orders:--

"At a meeting of the governor and council held toconsider of the very exhausted state of the provisions in thissettlement, and to consult upon what means are most proper to bepursued, in order to preserve life until such time as we may berelieved by some arrivals from England, of which we have been solong in expectation, but probably disappointed by someunfortunate accident having happened to the ships intended forthis country. The state of the provisions having been laid beforethe council, and the alarming situation of the settlement havingbeen taken into the most serious consideration, the followingratio of provisions was unanimously resolved and ordered to takeplace on Saturday the 15th instant, viz. 

Flour--three pounds per week, for every grownperson. 

Beef--one pound and an half per ditto; or, in lieu ofthe beef. 

17 ounces of pork. 

Rice--one pound per ditto. 

Children above twelve months old, half the aboveratio. Children under twelve months old, one pound and an half offlour and a pound of rice per week. In future, all crimes whichmay by any three members of the council be considered as not of acapital nature, will be punished at their discretion, by afarther reduction of the present allowance ofprovisions. "

Every day, and during every breeze from the westward, we nowlooked out upon the sea; but on this unfrequented ocean we couldexpect nothing to appear but what might be intended for us. Dayafter day we talked to each other respecting our situation, as noother subject seemed to occupy the mind of any one among us. Wewere here situated upon an island of only five miles long, andthree in breadth, three hundred leagues from the nearest part ofthe Coast of New South Wales, deprived of every hope of findingany relief by a change of situation, and we had the additionalmortification of anticipating, in a short time, a fartherreduction of our allowance of provisions. 

At this particular season we had one advantage, which, whenthat leaves us, will reduce us to very great distress; I think, then, that many of the convicts (who are indolent toastonishment, and who can, and frequently do, eat at one mealwhat they are allowed for a week) must, when the resource I amgoing to mention fails, perish for want, or suffer death for thedepredations they are so much inclined, even in times of plenty, to commit upon others. 

In the month of April we found that Mount Pitt, which is thehighest ground on the island, was, during the night, crowded withbirds. This hill is as full of holes as any rabbit warren; inthese holes at this season these birds burrow and make theirnests, and as they are an aquatic bird, they are, during theday-time, frequently at sea in search of food; as soon as it isdark, they hover in vast flocks over the ground where their nestsare. Our people, (I mean seamen, marines, and convicts) who aresent out in parties to provide birds for the general benefit, arrive upon the ground soon after dusk, where they light smallfires, which attract the attention of the birds, and they dropdown out of the air as fast as the people can take them up andkill them: when they are upon the ground, the length of theirwings prevents their being able to rise, and until they canascend an eminence, they are unable to recover the use of theirwings; for this purpose, nature has provided them with a strong, sharp, and hooked bill, and in their heel a sharp spur, with theassistance of which, and the strength of their bill, they havebeen seen to climb the stalk of a tree sufficiently high to throwthemselves upon the wing. This bird, when deprived of itsfeathers, is about the size of a pigeon, but when cloathed, isconsiderably larger, for their feathers are exceedingly thick;they are webb-footed, and of a rusty black colour; they maketheir holes upon the hills for breeding their young in; they laybut one egg, and that is full as large as a duck's egg. 

They were, at the end of May, as plentiful as if none had beencaught, although for two months before there had not been lesstaken than from two to three thousand birds every night; most ofthe females taken in May were with egg, which really fills thewhole cavity of the body, and is so heavy that I think it mustfatigue the bird much in flying. This _bird of Providence_, which I may with great propriety call it, appeared to me toresemble that sea bird in England, called the puffin: they had astrong fishy taste, but our keen appetites relished them verywell; the eggs were excellent*. 

[* For a further description, and an engraving ofthis bird, see the Norfolk-Island Petrel, in Phillip's Voyage, 4to Edition. ]

We were highly indebted to Providence for this vast resource;but as these singular advantages could only be for a season, wereflected, with pain, that they must have an end, and that in allprobability this would be the case before we got a relief. Fishwas generally mentioned by Governor Phillip, when speaking ofthis island, as an inexhaustible resource; he also mentioned thevast quantity of birds (tropic birds and gannets) which were tobe caught here upon the two small islands (Mount Pitt was notthen known to be the resource we have found it). 

If the governor had ever been here himself, or spent a winterupon Norfolk Island, as I have done, he certainly would not havelaid any stress upon resources so very precarious as we had foundthem; and consequently not to be depended upon as a certainadvantage. I have seen the weather so stormy, and the surf sohigh for near a month together, that a boat could not be launchedmore than twice during that period, and then only for a fewhours; and even when they had got out, they would sometimes bringin a hundred fish of from two to four pounds weight, and at othertimes only five or six fish: so that this supply was veryuncertain and very trifling, when it was considered that we wereabove 500 people. 

The procurement of the birds upon the small islands wasattended with the same disadvantages, by the difficulty oflanding, from the constant surf. 

In the end of May the wreck of the ship still held together, but the beams and knees were all either broken or loose; she wasso much out of the reach of the surf when it was very heavy, thatit broke with considerable less force upon her than formerly. Every time that the weather would admit, a few sailors were senton board to save whatever articles could be got at, and to sendthem on shore. 

Our distress did not occasion us to forget that the 4th ofJune was the birth-day of our much beloved sovereign. On themorning of this day the colours were displayed, and at noon threevollies of musquetry were fired by the marines; as anacknowledgment that we were Britons, who, however distant anddistressed, revered our king, and loved our country. 

The seamen, having but little to do on the wreck, were nowemployed in clearing ground for a garden, that they might have afew vegetables to lengthen out their pittance of provisions. About the middle of this month I sent some sailors on board tosee if any alteration had taken place in the wreck, that mightrender it possible to get at the best bower and sheet cables, orany cask from the hold; but it was found impracticable, from theorlop and lower decks lying down on the contents of the hold. 

On the 6th of July, a convict man who had been out in searchof birds, reported, that he had been robbed of his shirt by threeother convicts, who, being too lazy to work, had left thebusiness they had been employed at, and had taken shelter in thewoods: and as it became necessary to check an evil of sodangerous a nature as early as possible, lest from anyinattention to it many of the very worthless characters, whichwere now upon the island, might be encouraged to assemble inconsiderable numbers, to the very great annoyance of the moreindustrious part of the settlement, the lieutenant-governordirected two small parties of marines, and expressed a wish thatI would also order two parties of the seamen, who might probablybe less suspected of any design, to apprehend them. Each man sentupon this duty was provided with a ship's pistol, and a fewcharges of powder and ball: in the evening of the same day onwhich the parties went out, the culprits were brought in, pinioned by two of the seamen who had been sent after them. A fewdays after, a court-martial was assembled for the trial of theabove convicts, and they were sentenced to receive 300 lasheseach. 

The Sirius's men were now wholly employed, when the weatherwould admit, in fishing for the settlers; and when the surf wastoo high, in making fishing-lines and hooks. A party of marines, and all the convicts, were employed in clearing ground for cornand potatoes. On the 24th of July, there being at that time nomore than ten or twelve days salt provisions left, at the shortallowance before-mentioned, and as birds, though growing scarce, were yet still to be had, it was judged necessary by thelieutenant-governor and council to stop the salt provisionsentirely during the time which birds were to be caught; so thatthe ratio now was three pounds of flour, and one pint of rice perweek, or in lieu of the flour, the same quantity of Indian cornmeal, or wheat ground, with the husks and bran in the meal. 

The people in general were now reduced so low in bodilystrength for want of a sufficiency of food, that much work couldnot be expected; however, it was absolutely necessary thatsomething should be done to get seed into the ground. Aconsiderable portion of the cleared land was planted withpotatoes, as the first thing from which we could expect anyrelief. 

On the 4th of August, one of the seamen who had been walkingtowards the south-east part of the island, casting his eyestowards the sea, _saw a sail_; without waiting a moment toexamine her particularly, he ran back with as much speed aspossible, calling out as he ran, A ship! a ship! This news wasall over the settlement in a few minutes, and men, women, andchildren were hastening in different directions to welcome theexpected relief. I took a spy glass in my hand, and went to theplace from whence the ship had been seen, and there, to my verygreat happiness, I observed a ship with an English ensign flying, not more than six or seven miles off shore. 

The wind at this time blowing strong from south-west, it wasnot possible for her to appear off Sydney-Bay, she thereforewore, and seemed to intend going under the lee of the island, inorder to land a boat there. Captain Johnstone, of the marines, and myself, agreed to walk across the island and receive them. Weset off, and when we arrived at the sea-side, it is impossiblefor me to describe our feelings, when we observed the ship beforethe wind, and making sail from the island. We did all we could toshow ourselves, but they did not think proper to speak to us. 

The effect this disappointment had upon every individual onthe island will be easier to conceive than to express by words. Every one agreed in opinion, that it would have been much betterif no ship had been seen. There surely was an appearance of agreat want of the common feelings of humanity in the commander ofthis ship: for although we afterwards knew that he had no relieffor us, he had it in his power to have given us some comfort, some hope of relief being at no great distance; that would, in aconsiderable degree, have relieved the anxiety of mind underwhich we had laboured for five months past, and he would not havelost two hours in doing it. 

As Captain Johnstone and I were on our way home, lamenting ourdisappointment, it struck me that this ship must be from PortJackson, and that the commander was bound to China; had nothingon board for the island, and therefore did not choose to lose anytime; but if this conjecture should be just, he must have knownfrom our friends what the probable state of this island was, andtherefore might readily suppose that five minutes conversationwould have been a vast relief to our anxiety. 

After having determined to believe that he was from PortJackson, and that we should soon have something from thence, wekept a very good look-out, and, to our great happiness, on the7th, a ship was discovered in the offing, and towards theevening, another appeared in sight; the surf being low, a boatwas sent immediately off to go on board the nearest: they provedto be the Justinian and the Surprize, from Port Jackson, withprovisions for the relief of this island, and with an addition tothe number of convicts, of about 200. The masters informed us, that five ships had arrived in New South Wales with 980 convicts, and provisions for the settlement, and that they had been arrivedabout two months; a delay of great length, when it is consideredthat our situation, when the governor last heard from us, wasrather an alarming one: nothing had then been saved out of thewreck of the Sirius, so that there was no certainty that we hadbeen able to exist. Such were the reflections which I made duringa moment of anxiety, and which, in a period of quiet, I do notwish to repeat. 

We received information, by these ships, of the unfortunateaccident which befel his Majesty's ship Guardian, in her passageto this country, with provisions and stores; and also that theGorgon was fitting, to bring farther supplies, with anotherlieutenant-governor, who commanded a corps that had been raisedfor this particular service, the marines being ordered forEngland. 

The Justinian and Surprize, by the good fortune of an uncommontime of fine weather, were cleared in little more than threeweeks, and proceeded upon their voyage to China on the 30th. Ifthese ships had been here two months before they did arrive, theweather was such that they could not have been cleared two daysbefore the time that they were. We were now looking eagerly forthe arrival of the Gorgon, which ship, the governor informed meby letter, was to take the Sirius's crew and marines off thisspot, which has cost me so much distress. 

As soon as the above ships arrived, and we had communicationwith them; for their safety, as well as for the moreexpeditiously landing the provisions, I sent Lieutenant Bradleyon board the one, he being now perfectly acquainted with the setof the tides, their uncertainty, and all the other dangers aroundthe island; I also sent Mr. Donovan, a midshipman, on board theother, he having been near two years upon duty on this island, and was well acquainted with the above particulars: thisassistance enabled them at all proper times to make more freewith the shore. Mr. Keltie, the master of the Sirius, and Mr. Brooks, the boatswain, attended with me the whole day at thelanding-place. 

The boats employed on this business were manned by theSirius's crew; so that every possible attention to prevent dangeror accident was used: but, notwithstanding which, on the 17th ofAugust, in what was considered as good landing, one of the boats, in coming into the passage, was overtaken by a succession ofheavy surfs, which threw her on one of the reefs, where sheparted in less than two minutes, and seven people were drowned. Iwas with several other officers within twenty yards of them, andwith at least thirty people beside, and could render them verylittle assistance. 

Of the persons who were drowned, there were two of the boat'screw, who belonged to the Sirius; three women convicts, who werecoming from the ship in this boat, a child, and one convict man, who went off with many others to try to save the women. Therewere two women brought on shore, by the exertions of the peopleon the reef, who were, when landed, apparently dead, butrecovered by the surgeons; one was mother of the child which waslost; one convict man, who was exerting himself to save others, was himself brought on shore apparently drowned, but was alsobrought to again. The people who were lost, were carried out bythe outset from the shore, which at a certain time of tide is sostrong that a boat can scarcely pull a-head against it, even whencalm. 

This serves to convince me of the unfounded illiberality of anobservation which I have seen in a certain publication, latelycome out from England, wherein it is mentioned, when speaking ofthis island, that there was a boat's crew drowned at a certaintime, but that it was occasioned by the imprudence of themidshipman, who did not attend to the orders which were givenhim: yet certain it is every officer here, at this time, wasfully satisfied it had not been in his power to obey, owing tothe out-set above-mentioned: and therefore it is equally certain, the reflection upon that gentleman's conduct was highly unjust. If there had been any act of imprudence committed at that time, it was not by the midshipman, whose duty it was to obey orders, but by sending in that narrow and intricate passage, one boat tomeet another, where they must be in each other's way, andsubject, by that means, (if a surf should rise at the moment) tovery great danger. 

I found it necessary, in unloading the ships which arrived atthis time, (in consequence of seeing the boats going out andmeeting those coming in considerably endangered by the entanglingtheir oars, so narrow is the passage in its most dangerous part, )to give orders that no boat should put off from the shore, when aloaded boat was near in, nor indeed until such loaded boat wassafely landed. 

The arrival of supplies for our relief at this very criticaljuncture, was truly comfortable, and a strong instance of thekindness of Divine Providence to us: for our great and indeedonly resource began to fail us very fast, --the Mount Pitt birds, on which it may justly be said we had for a very considerabletime principally lived, were now very scarce; many people whowent out to catch them, were frequently, after remaining a wholenight on the ground, where they were, during the plentifulseason, so very numerous, contented to bring in six or eightbirds, and were sometimes unable to find one. The fish alsofailed us entirely; for the ships, during the time they werecruizing about the island and landing the provisions, did notcatch one fish: it will therefore appear, that had not thesesupplies arrived so timefully, or had they been detained sixweeks longer, through any accident, or other cause, what adeplorable situation we should have been reduced to. 

Thank God, such consequences as must have attended it, wereprevented by this providential relief, and the dejected gloom, and pale sickly look, which was to be seen in every countenance, now gave way to a chearful and happy appearance ofsatisfaction. 

In the month of January, 1791, finding it impossible to getany of the remaining stores out, which were under the lower andorlop decks of the wreck, I determined to attempt getting theguns out, which, until then, I did not incline to try; the gundeck being in so infirm a state, I was suspicious, that by movingthe guns, which had hitherto (being housed) hung chiefly by thebolts in the side, it might cause the deck to fall in, as thebeams, from the opening of the ship's sides, did but barely keephold of the clamp, the bolts of the knees being all broken: hadthis deck fallen in upon the others, it would have preventedevery endeavour to save such stores as were under it, and which, from time to time, by the alterations which every heavy surf madeon the wreck, we were sometimes enabled to get at: however, afterevery thing, which there was any possibility of getting at, wassaved, we began with the guns, and in a few days got every gunand carriage on shore, by means of a traveller upon a nine inchhawser; there were only of our ordnance two carronades lost, which were carried away by the fall of the masts. 

We had just compleated this business of the guns, when a sailwas discovered in the offing, which we all believed to be theGorgon, that we had so long expected; but upon her nearerapproach, we discovered it to be the Supply armed tender. She hadbeen, upon her return from Norfolk Island with the account of ourmisfortune, immediately dispatched to Batavia; where LieutenantBall was directed to endeavour to hire a vessel, and to load herwith such articles of provisions as he could procure, for therelief of the settlement: this service Mr. Ball succeeded in;having procured a Dutch snow, of about 300 tons, and put on boardsuch provisions as he could procure; consisting of beef, pork, flour, rice, and various hospital stores. The season, at Batavia, while the Supply was there, was very sickly; he lost many of hismen by fevers, and among the number was Mr. Newton Fowell, thesecond lieutenant of the Sirius, who had been put on board toassist in bringing the vessel, which might be hired, to PortJackson. I was exceedingly concerned for the loss of this younggentleman, who was a good, well disposed, and promising youngman. 

Mr. Ross, the gunner of the Sirius, who had been left at PortJackson on duty, when she sailed for Norfolk Island, died also atBatavia: he had been put on board the Supply, in order to belanded at Norfolk Island, if she should be able to reach thatplace in her way to Batavia. 

After the return of the Supply to Port Jackson, she was foundto require some repairs, which having been compleated, she wasordered upon the service wherein we now found her, viz. Bringinga few stores for Norfolk Island, with orders to embark theremaining officers and crew of the Sirius, and to return withthem to Port Jackson. 

This information I received with joy, as our situation was nowbecome exceedingly irksome: we had been upon this small islandeleven months, and during great part of that time, throughvarious causes, had been oppressed by feelings more distressingthan I can find words to express. On the 11th of February, Iembarked, with the officers and ship's company, on board theSupply, having taken my leave of a place which had cost me somuch distress and vexation. We had fine weather during ourpassage to Port Jackson, where we arrived on the 27th, and werekindly and hospitably received by all our friends there. 

I now understood from the governor, that he had entered into acontract with the master of the Dutch snow, for carrying theofficers and ship's company of the Sirius to England; a piece ofinformation which I did not by any means feel a pleasure inhearing: for, anxious as I was to reach England as soon aspossible, I should with much patience rather have waited thearrival of an English ship, than to have embarked under thedirection, or at the disposal, of a foreigner: however, preparations were then making for sending us off as fast aspossible. 

As I have spent so much time upon an island, which has of latebeen much spoken of, and of which many flattering accounts seemto have been given, it will be expected that I should saysomething concerning it. 

NORFOLK ISLAND. 

Mount Pitt, or the highest land, lies in Latitude 29° 02'south. Longitude 168° 05' east of the meridian of Greenwich. 

Ships, on making Norfolk Island*, may stand boldly in, therenot being any thing farther out than half a mile from the shoreto take them up. If the wind is west to south or south-east, there is generally too much surf in Sydney-Bay for boats to land, which circumstance is signified from the shore by not hoistingany flag at the lower flag-staff; in which case you willgenerally find good landing in Cascade-Bay, where I think therewould not be any difficulty in landing provisions from aship. 

[* The remarks and directions for Norfolk Island andSydney-Bay were made by Captain Bradley. ]

If she should put in here, she might always be getting hercargo out either there or at Sydney-Bay, as the winds thatprevent landing in Cascade-Bay generally make smooth water inSydney-Bay. People may at times be landed in Ball-Bay, Duncombe-Bay, and Anson's-Bay, but neither stores nor provisionscan be landed, on account of the perpendicular hills thatsurround them. The ground of the north side of the island isclearer of rocks than in Sydney-Bay. 

Great attention should be paid to the tides, and on the southside of the island particularly; with southerly and south-eastwinds I have known the tide shift six points, at different times, in the space of half an hour; and if you cannot lie upsouth-south-west, standing off upon the larboard tack, the ebbtide will heave you in upon the shore. There is a mud bank to thenorth-east by north of Nepean's island, where a ship might safelyanchor in westerly winds, and prevent being driven off NorfolkIsland. 

SYDNEY BAY*, Lies in latitude 29° 05' south; longitude 168° 02'east; and variation 11° 00' east. The tide flows full, andchanges at three quarters past seven, and rises from five toseven feet: the flood runs to the south-west by south; and theebb to the north-east by north. 

[* For Sydney-Bay, Norfolk Island, upon a largescale, see Phillip's Voyage. ]

In general the tides are equal each way, the ebbs and theflows regular along the shore six each tide: the eastern tide isstronger than the western tide; sometimes the eastern tide runsseveral hours beyond its usual course, and sometimes the westerntide thus irregularly, which irregularities, although they seldomhappen, make it necessary to bring to, and try the tide beforeyou come within the outer part of the Nepean Island; and be awareof an indraught, which sometimes sets into the bight on the westside of the bay, on both tides, while you are baffled by thesouth-east and southerly winds, as you come in withSydney-Bay. 

All within Nepean Island is foul ground, and very irregularsoundings, and no safe passage between it and Point Hunter; butif a ship should be pressed by necessity, I would recommendkeeping within half a cable's length of Nepean Island, afterhaving passed the bed of rocks to the westward of the littlebay. 

Norfolk Island lies north-west by north and south-east bysouth, and is in this direction about five miles long, and nearlythree in breadth; it is very thickly covered with wood, of whichthere are six or seven different kinds, and some I believe mightbe applied to naval purposes. 

The Pines, which has been particularly spoken of by CaptainCook, and by others, who have lately visited this island, is themost conspicuous of any tree here; they grow to a prodigioussize, and are proportionably tall, being from 150 to 200 feet, and in circumference from 12 to 14 feet, some to 28 and 30 feet. These trees, from their immense height, have a very nobleappearance, being in general very straight, and free frombranches, to 40, sometimes 60 feet, above the ground; they havebeen by some thought fit for masts, for ships of any size; inlength and diameter they certainly are, but with respect toquality they are, in my opinion, wholly unfit; even admittingthem to be found, which, from experience, I know is seldom thecase. 

I employed the carpenters of the Sirius, while here, to cutdown a few sticks, which it was intended should be sent home bythe first opportunity, in order for trial in his Majesty'sdock-yards, to see if they were, as had been said, fit for hisMajesty's navy, or not. In providing a top-mast and atop-sail-yard for a seventy-four gun ship, a thirty-two, atwenty, or a sloop, and one rough spar, in all seven sticks, 34trees were cut down, 27 of which were found defective. When thesetrees were falling, it was observed that most of them dischargeda considerable quantity of clear water, which continued to flowat every fresh cut of the axe; there is no turpentine in thesetrees but what circulates between the bark and body of the tree, and which is soluble in water. It is a very short grained andspongy kind of timber, and I think fit only for house-building, for which we know it to be very useful. 

When fresh cut down, five out of six will sink in water, thewood is so exceedingly heavy: and, if we suppose for a moment, that great part of the pine timber were fit for naval purposes, the great difficulty, and indeed I may say impossibility, ofgetting it from the interior parts of the island to the sea, would render it of little value, if designed for masts; but iffor plank, it could be cut up where fallen. Those which grow onthe south-east point of the island, where the land is low, arethose which have hitherto been made use of. 

Norfolk Island, if correctly laid down in a plan, with all thehills and vallies represented accurately, would very muchresemble the waves of the sea in a gale of wind; for it iscomposed wholly of long, narrow, and very steep ridges of hills, with deep gullies, which are as narrow at the bottom as the hillsare on the top, so that there is scarcely any level country uponit; but as viewed from the sea, it appears quite level, thedifferent ridges being nearly the same in height. 

Arthur's Vale, which is near the settlement, and the firstplace which was cleared for cultivation, is a pretty spot oflevel ground, and the most extensive flat yet cleared; itcontains eleven acres. This very great unevenness of the groundoccasions much labour in cultivation, and renders it whollyimpossible to use the plough, even if the ground weresufficiently cleared, and there were cattle to work; every labourof that kind must be done by hand. There was, when I left theisland, in February, 1791, something more than 100 acres clearedfor the public, exclusive of private gardens, but all the rootsof the trees were left in the ground, which would no doubt occupya fifth part of it, for many of them were very large. 

The soil over the whole of this island is generally allowed tobe remarkably fine, and it is very deep; indeed, the luxuriancewith which almost every thing grows sufficiently indicates a veryrich soil: it seems to be composed principally of a deep, fatclay, and decayed vegetable matter; in short, without pretendingto natural knowledge, that unhappily I do not possess, I shallonly observe, that a more luxuriant soil I never met with in anypart of the world. 

The flax plant mentioned by Captain Cook grows chiefly on thesea coast, or on points which project into the sea; but as thesepoints seem to have the same kind of soil as the other parts ofthe island, there can be no doubt of its succeeding in theinterior parts, if planted there. 

In the very sanguine opinions which we find have been given ofthis island, since we arrived in this southern part of the world, it appears that the size of it has been wholly overlooked, otherwise I think such expectations and opinions of its value, asappears to have been entertained, could not have taken place. Ionly judge of such expectations by the number of people whichGovernor Phillip has thought proper to send there: opinions havebeen given, that it will maintain 2000 inhabitants; if it wereall cleared and cultivated, it would no doubt furnish many of thenecessaries of life for such a number; but in its present state, I should think a fourth part of that number too many, and, in myhumble opinion, they should be such as have forfeited every hopeof seeing their native country again; such a description ofpeople would find it their particular interest to be industrious, as their existence might depend upon it. 

The crops here are very subject to blights from the sea winds, and there are immense numbers of the grub worm and caterpillars:there is also a fly of a very destructive nature to the gardensand corn; but when such vermin do not appear until the crops havearrived at a certain age, and have gained their strength, theireffects are not so very ruinous; there is no certain period atwhich they appear; probably when a large extent of ground iscleared these vermin may not be so frequent. 

Indian corn grows here with great advantage, producing fromforty to fifty bushels an acre, planted with about a peck. Thislittle island is extraordinary well watered; there are severalfine streams which seem to flow from the body of Mount Pitt, andempty themselves on both sides of the island into the sea. On thenorth side, in Cascade-Bay, there are two pretty falls from steepcliffs into the sea; there are two streams upon this island, which I have often noticed even in very dry weather, and thoughtthem capable of turning a mill. 

With respect to landing upon the shore, as it is frequentlyattended with great difficulty and danger, stores should never besent here but in the summer time, when there is much fine weatherand easy landing; but when the landing is impracticable inSydney-Bay, it is possible to get light stores a-shore inCascade-Bay, which will then be smooth, if it do not blow hard;when it does, the whole island is inaccessible, for it is not ofsufficient extent to prevent the sea, occasioned by bad weather, from affecting every part of the shore. 

[A TABLE, distinguishing those Days on which Landing was good, and those of High Surf, when there could be no landing, at theannexed Landing Places, in _Norfolk-Island_, between the19th of _March_, 1790, and the 12th of _Feb. _ 1791. ByCAPTAIN BRADLEY. ]

Chapter VIII

February 1791 to March 1791

Great improvement of the country at Rose Hill. --Vicissitude of theclimate. Norfolk Island remarkably healthy. --A native runs away fromthe settlement. --Frequent visits from the natives. --Governor Phillipwounded by the natives with a spear. --Natives again visit thesettlement. --Entertain the governor, etc. With a dance. --Decoratethemselves for that purpose. Method of dancing described. --Musicand singing. -

After my arrival at Port Jackson I went to Rose Hill, wheregreat improvements were carrying on; a considerable town was laidout, many good buildings were erected, and roads were cut, withabout two hundred and thirteen acres of land cleared for corn, and eighty acres for buildings and gardens; that is, the treeswere cut down, but the roots remained in the ground, which wouldcertainly lessen the quantity of cleared ground; this groundbeing grubbed up and laid open, gave me an opportunity ofexamining what the soil consisted of, and although I do notpretend to any knowledge in farming, yet I thought it required novery great judgment to perceive and determine this favourite spot(which, to do it justice, is certainly better than any upon ornear this harbour) to be a poor, sandy, steril, soil; the surfaceis covered a few inches deep with a soil which seems to beproduced from decayed vegetation, rotten leaves, burnt andwithered grass; and under that is a mere bed of sand. 

Rose Hill is certainly a pretty situation, but the countrywill require much manure, much dressing, and good farmers tomanage it, before good crops can be expected from it; the bestthey have ever had, I have been informed, has amounted only tosix or seven to one, and this last season has been little morethan two to one, but that may in some measure be accounted for bythere being a great scarcity of rain. 

If it be the determination of government to persevere inestablishing a settlement in this country, upon an extensiveplan, the nation must be contented to submit to a very heavyexpence. It must be stocked with cattle, were it only for themanure, for without manure this country is too poor ever to yieldtolerable crops; and if it should be resolved upon to stock itwith cattle, it will be found highly necessary to employ aconsiderable number of people in the care of them, to preventtheir being frequently attacked by the natives, whom we know arefrequently driven to very great distress for food. 

The country about Rose Hill, which I have formerly mentionedas requiring not much labour in clearing, from its being coveredonly with lofty, open woods, without any underwood, and which Ithen observed ran to the westward about twenty miles, has sincebeen travelled over by several gentlemen, who admit that thatkind of country does extend near the distance above-mentioned tothe westward, but in a north and south direction, it does notextend more than three or four miles, when you come again intobarren, rocky land, wholly unfit for cultivation; in short, as Ihave walked over a good deal of ground since I have been here, and have frequently travelled from Botany-Bay to Broken-Bay alongthe sea coast, I can with much truth declare, that I have nevermet with a piece of ground any where sufficient for a small farm, which has not been so rocky as to be unfit for cultivation; thebest of it appears to be a poor, miserable, sandy soil; and whatmust subject those who live on it to much inconvenience is, thevery great scarcity of water. 

Upon my arrival here from Norfolk Island, all the streams fromwhich we were formerly supplied, except a small drain at the headof Sydney-Cove, were entirely dried up, so great had been thedrought; a circumstance, which from the very intense heat of thesummer, I think it probable we shall be very frequently subjectto. This frequent reduction of the streams of fresh waterdisposes me to think, that they originate from swamps and largecollections of rain water, more than from springs. 

When the sudden vicissitudes of heat and cold are considered, we might be too apt to pronounce this country very unhealthy; butnear four years experience has convinced us that it is not thecase: it is no uncommon thing at Rose Hill, and frequently atSydney, for the thermometer to be in the morning at 56° or60°; and by two hours, afternoon, at 100°, sometimes112°; and after sun-set, down to 60° again; this is, withthe thermometer exposed to the air, in a shade, and not withinthe house. When I went last to Rose Hill, I left Sydney at fiveo'clock in the morning, and rowed up the harbour, a great coatwas then comfortable; at noon I walked over the cleared ground, the thermometer was then more than 100°. 

Norfolk Island is also subject to such sudden changes, but isalso remarkably healthy. I do not think I can give a strongerproof of the salubrity of the climate, than by observing, that Inever saw the constitutions either of the human race or any otheranimal, more prolific in any part of the world; two children at abirth is no uncommon thing, and elderly women, who have believedthemselves long past the period of child-bearing, have repeatedlyhad as fine healthy strong children as ever were seen. And therehas but one old woman, who was sickly before she came to thecountry, and one infant, died of a natural disease on the island, since it has been settled. 

I have some time ago mentioned the name of Ba-na-lang, anative man, who had been taken in the lower part of the harbour, with another of the name of Co-al-by, who soon after made hisescape. Ba-na-lang had been kept in his shackle, and treated withso much kindness, that it was now supposed he might be trustedwith his liberty, without any fear of his leaving us; he wastherefore, in the month of April, 1790, which was soon after weleft Port Jackson for Norfolk Island, set at liberty, and did notappear at all disposed to leave the governor's house, or absenthimself from his new acquired friends; this appearance ofsatisfaction he feigned with success for several days, for noperson seemed to suspect him; he at last, however, took Frenchleave; having, after dark, one evening, stripped himself of hisvery decent cloathing, left them behind, and walked off. Both heand Co-al-by were frequently seen by our fishing-boats, and wereso familiar as to converse with the people, who often invitedthem to come up to Sydney (the name by which the settlement iscalled) but this invitation they were not much disposed toaccept, until the governor in person should invite them, and givethem his promise that they should not be detained; the governordid invite them, and promised to give them many things, of whichthey were very much in want. 

It was scarcely to be expected that these people, who had beendeprived of their liberty in so treacherous a manner, and hadbeen so long detained from their families and connections, shouldhave had confidence enough to trust their liberty again in ourhands; however, as the governor and every other person in thesettlement had ever been kind to them, they were inclined todepend on the governor's promise, and did come to Sydney; werekindly received, went from house to house, and saw all their oldacquaintances; they received many little presents, and returnedto their friends when they thought proper. 

This confidential visit from two men, who appeared to havesome influence among their countrymen, soon brought about a moregeneral intercourse, and the next visit from those men broughtthe same favour from their wives and families, whose example wasfollowed by many others; so that every gentleman's house was nowbecome a resting or sleeping place for some of them every night;whenever they were pressed for hunger, they had immediaterecourse to our quarters, where they generally got their belliesfilled. They were now become exceedingly fond of bread, whichwhen we came here first, they could not bear to put into theirmouths; and if ever they did, it was out of civility to those whooffered it; but now the little children had all learnt the words, -hungry, bread_; and would, to show that they were hungry, draw in their belly, so as to make it appear quite empty. 

Co-al-by's wife had a young female child in her arms, aboutthree or four months old; this little creature had a ligatureround the little finger of the right hand, in order to separatethe two lower joints, which in the course of three weeks or amonth it effected: I saw it just as the finger was about droppingoff, but as it hung by a bit of skin, they begged Mr. White, thesurgeon, to take it off, which he did, with a pair of scissars, and which the child did not seem to feel. This taking off thefinger of the right hand appeared to be a mistake in the mother, who frequently pointed that it should have been the lefthand. 

A short time previous to this friendly and general visitingfrom the natives, the governor, as I have already observed, inorder to dispose them the more to confide in us, went down theharbour himself, to see and converse with our old friendsBa-na-lang and Co-al-by, and to invite them to come to his house, where they should get whatever they might be in want of; and bepermitted to return when they pleased. The governor havingreceived information that these two men with several othernatives were in Collins's-Cove, went thither, accompanied byseveral other gentlemen, and they were all unarmed; thisunfortunate want of necessary caution had very near proved fatalto the governor; the particulars of this accident were related tome by an officer who was of the party, and were, as near as I canrecollect, as follows:

On Thursday the 7th of September, the governor, with a fewother gentlemen, went down to the look-out, in order to fix on aspot for erecting a column, or pyramid, as a mark, by whichstrangers might, at sea, the better know the harbour; and werereturning, when they were met by a boat which had been landing aparty of gentlemen, who intended walking along the coast toBroken-bay: by the cockswain of this boat, the governor wasinformed, that Mr. White, who was one of the above party, hadseen Co-al-by and Ba-na-lang, and had a long conversation withthem; that these men enquired for every body they knew, andparticularly for the governor; that they had sent his excellencya piece of whale, which had been thrown on shore, and which theyhad been regaling themselves upon; that Ba-na-lang would go up toSydney, if the governor would come for him. 

In consequence of this information, the governor returned tothe look-out, and got together every thing that he could find, which he thought would be acceptable to his old friends: he alsotook with him four muskets, and went immediately toCollins's-Cove, where those people had been seen. In their waythey examined the muskets, and found that only two of the fourwould strike fire, and these they loaded: when they reached theplace, they observed a number of the natives sitting round a firewhich was near the place where the dead whale lay; the governorstood up in the boat, and asked in their language whereBa-na-lang was; Ba-na-lang answered, I am here; the governor thensaid, I am the governor your father; (a name he wished thegovernor to be known by when he lived with him. ) The governor, after desiring Captain Collins and Mr. Waterhouse to remain inthe boat, and to have the muskets ready, landed, and walked upthe beach with his arms extended, to show that he was unarmed, and that they might not be alarmed: they did not seem inclined tomeet him; however he followed them into the wood, and one of themfrequently called out governor and father; in consequence ofthis, and having shook hands in a friendly manner, the governorreturned to the boat, and desired one of the men to bring up somewine, beef, and bread, and a jacket or two, which had beenbrought on purpose, and went back with those articles to them: onhis holding up a bottle, one of them called out wine, andrepeated several English words; two of the natives came forwardand received the things, and one drank a little wine; they hadlikewise received from the governor a few knives. 

In a short time, the governor came to the boat again, andmentioned all that had happened; observing at the same time, thatBa-na-lang and Co-al-by were not among the number: he askedCaptain Collins to walk up with him, and desired Mr. Waterhouseto stay by the boat. When they went up, Mr. Waterhouse frequentlyheard one of the natives call to Ba-na-lang, and informed him ofwhat observations he made upon those who remained in the boat, the people being employed in keeping her afloat, upon her oars. Shortly after, one of the men came down from the governor, andinformed Mr. Waterhouse, that both Ba-na-lang and Co-al-by werethere, and that the former had frequently asked for Mr. Waterhouse, and the governor desired he would come up, which hedid. On his arrival, he observed a considerable number of thenatives on each side, and eight or ten in front, all armed withtheir spears, except two, with whom the governor and CaptainCollins were in conversation. 

Mr. Waterhouse went up, but did not know Ba-na-lang, until hewas pointed out to him; he then shook hands with him andCo-al-by. Ba-na-lang had at this time two jackets on, which hehad received from the governor and Captain Collins; Co-al-by hadalso a jacket given him; after Ba-na-lang had been asked severalquestions, he took Mr. Waterhouse round the neck and kissed him;these questions were relative to various circumstances whichhappened while he lived with the governor, all of which he seemedto recollect very well: Co-al-by shook hands again with Mr. Waterhouse, and begged him to put on the jacket which had beengiven, and which he held in his hand, not knowing how to put iton himself, which Mr. Waterhouse did for him. Ba-na-lang, on thegovernor's first meeting him, had a remarkable fine spear, whichthe governor asked him for, but he either could not or would notunderstand him, but laid it down on the ground. 

During all this time, there was the greatest appearance ofharmony and friendship. However, the natives seemed closing roundthe party, which being observed, the governor proposed going downto the boat, for they had by this time nearly formed a crescent, and had the governor's party in the centre: there were nownineteen armed men near, and a considerable number in the woodout of sight. The governor now told Ba-na-lang that he wouldreturn in two days, and bring him the cloaths he used to wearwhen in his house, and would also bring him a couple of hatchetsfor himself and Co-al-by; with which promise they seemed wellpleased, and often repeated that it might not be forgot. 

Just as the governor and his party were going, Ba-na-langpointed out and named several of the natives who were strangers, one of whom the governor went up to and offered to shake hishands, at which the man seemed much terrified, and immediatelyseized the spear, which Ba-na-lang had laid on the ground, fixedit on the throwing-stick, and discharged it with astonishingviolence: he with all his associates made off with the utmostprecipitation. The spear entered the governor's right shoulder, just above the collar-bone, and came out about three inches lowerdown, behind the shoulder-blade. 

Mr. Waterhouse, who was close by the governor at the time, supposed that it must be mortal, for the spear appeared to him tobe much lower down than it really was, and supposed, from thenumber of armed men, that it would be impossible for any of theparty to escape to the boat. He turned round immediately toreturn to the boat, as he perceived Captain Collins to go thatway, calling to the boat's crew to bring up the muskets; thegovernor also attempted to run towards the boat, holding up thespear with both hands, to keep it off the ground, but owing toits great length, the end frequently took the ground and stoppedhim (it was about twelve feet long). Governor Phillip, in thissituation, desired Mr. Waterhouse to endeavour, if possible, totake the spear out, which he immediately attempted, but observingit to be barbed, and the barb quite through, he saw it would beimpossible to draw it out; he therefore endeavoured to break it, but could not. 

While he was making this attempt, another spear was thrown outof the wood, and took off the skin between Mr. Waterhouse'sfore-finger and thumb, which alarmed him a good deal, and hethinks added power to his exertions, for the next attempt, hebroke it off. By this time, the spears flew pretty thick, one ofwhich he observed to fall at Captain Collins's feet, while he wascalling to the boat's crew: the governor attempted to pull apistol out of his pocket, but the spears flew so thick, that itwas unsafe to stop: however he got it out and fired it, upon asupposition, that their knowing he had some fire-arms would deterthem from any further hostility. 

The whole party got down to the boat without any furtheraccident, and in two hours they arrived at the government-house, when the surgeons were sent for: Mr. Balmain, who was the firstthat arrived, after examining the wound, made every body happy, by assuring them he did not apprehend any fatal consequences fromit; he extracted the point of the spear, and dressed the wound, and in six weeks the governor was perfectly recovered. 

Immediately on the arrival of the governor at Sydney, it wasjudged necessary to send an armed party of marines towardsBroken-bay, to escort the gentlemen who had walked that way backagain; lest the same hostile disposition in the natives, shouldincline them to make an attack on them on their return. 

Before I left Port Jackson, the natives were become veryfamiliar and intimate with every person in the settlement; manyof them now took up their rest every night in some of thegentlemen's houses; their very unprovoked attack on the governorand his party being passed over and almost forgot. 

We have frequently observed, since this familiar intercoursetook place, that they often had a dance amongst themselves atnight, on the lower part of Sydney-cove, where a small house hadbeen built by the governor's order, for their accommodation. Ithad been signified to some of the principal amongst them, that weshould be glad to have an opportunity of seeing them dance, whichthey readily agreed to, and the following night was appointed, when the governor and a considerable number attended; every onebeing provided with arms of some kind: a caution which, notwithstanding friendly appearances, was generally allowed to benecessary; for experience had convinced us that these people havea good deal of treachery in their disposition. 

Preparatory to this exhibition, much attention was paid to thedecorating themselves; they were all Adams and Eves, without evena fig-leaf, but without their dignity. The young women wereemployed with all their art in painting the young men, who werechiefly ornamented with streaks of white, done with pipe-clay, and in different forms, according to the taste of the manhimself, or to that of the lady who adorned him: no fop preparingfor an assembly was ever more desirous of making his personirresistibly beautiful. This paint, so much in use among them, could not be applied without a little moisture, and the lady, indrawing those marks on the face, which were so essential a partof the decoration, I observed frequently to spit in the face ofher friend, whom she was employed in adorning, in order to makethe white clay mark the stronger. When they were all prepared, wewalked down to the place appointed, after dark, for they prefertaking their amusement by fire-light; we found several fireslighted, and a considerable number of people assembled. We walkedround to see that there were no armed lurkers among thebushes. 

The dancers being ready, we were placed in a semicircle, byBa-na-lang, and Co-al-by, who seemed to have the chief authorityand direction. The dance was begun by a few young boys, and wasencreased by men and women, chiefly by the former, until theirnumber amounted from twenty to twenty-six. Their dance was trulywild and savage, yet, in many parts, there appeared order andregularity: one man would frequently single himself out from thedance, and running round the whole of the performers, sing out ina loud voice, using some expressions in one particular tone ofvoice which we could not understand: he would then join thedance, in which it was observed that certain parties alternatelyled forward to the front, and there exhibited with their utmostskill and agility, all the various motions which, with them, seemed to constitute the principal beauties of dancing: one ofthe most striking was, that of placing their feet very wideapart, and by an extraordinary exertion of the muscles of thethighs and legs, moving the knees in a trembling and verysurprizing manner, such as none of us could imitate; which seemedto show that it required much practice to arrive at any degree ofperfection in this singular motion. 

There appeared a good deal of variety in their differentdances; in one of which they paired themselves, and frequentlydanced back to back; they then changed suddenly and faced eachother: sometimes all the performers sat down on the ground withtheir feet under them, and at a particular word, or order, theyall raised themselves up: this motion they performed without anyassistance from the hands; now they ran back in direct rows, thenadvanced in the same order; again they would form a circle, withsome distinguished person in the center, and sometimes the wholeof the performers would appear with a green bough in their hands, which they held up in a conspicuous manner. 

In all the different figures which they performed, I observedthat they generally finished by certain numbers of theirprincipal dancers advancing to the front, and going through thatfavourite part of the dance, the quivering motion of the knees;whenever this was done, the whole company faced to the front andwent through the same motions; but it was noticed that some weremore frequently in the front than others, and those, I concluded, were such as had great confidence in their own skill in theexecution of this very difficult part of the performance, and nodoubt were vain enough to outshine in their ability the rest ofthe company. 

On the whole, this exhibition was well worth seeing; and thiswas the first opportunity that had offered for us to see anything of the kind, since we had been in the country. Their musicconsisted of two sticks of very hard wood, one of which themusician held upon his breast, in the manner of a violin, andstruck it with the other, in good and regular time; theperformer, who was a stout strong voiced man, sung the wholetime, and frequently applied those graces in music, the piano andforte; he was assisted by several young boys and girls, who satat his feet, and by their manner of crossing the thighs, made ahollow between them and their belly, upon which they beat timewith the flat of their hand, so as to make a kind of sound whichwill be better understood from the manner of its being produced, than from any verbal description: these children also sung withthe chief musical performer, who stood up the whole time, andseemed to me to have the most laborious part of theperformance. 

They very frequently, at the conclusion of the dance, wouldapply to us for our opinions, or rather for marks of ourapprobation of their performance; which we never failed to giveby often repeating the word _boojery_, which signifies good;or _boojery caribberie_, a good dance. These signs ofpleasure in us seemed to give them great satisfaction, andgenerally produced more than ordinary exertions from the wholecompany of performers in the next dance. 

Chapter IX

A VOYAGE TO BATAVIA

March 1791 to September 1791

-Captain Hunter leaves Port Jackson in theWaaksamheyd transport. --In danger amongst some islands. --Isle ofPines described. --Stewart's islands discovered. --Fall in withBradley's shoals. --Discover a cluster of islands. --Name them LordHowe's Groupe. --The natives described. --Attempt to find anchorageon the coast of New-Britain. --Are disappointed. --Anchor at theDuke of York's island. --Attempt to procure water. --Are attackedby the natives. --A few shots fired. --The natives dispersed. --Areconciliation effected. --Nativesdescribed. --Weapons. --Ornaments, etc. --Produce andsoil. --Leave the Duke of York's island. --Natives from theAdmiralty islands visit the ship. --Their canoesdescribed. --Phillip's islands discovered. --Anchor at Hummockisland. --Refreshments procured. --Visited by the Raja. --A quarrelensues. --Several of the natives killed. --Articles of barter inrequest. --Canoes described. --Leave Hummock island. --Anchor atBatavia. --Tables of latitude and longitude, etc. -

On the 27th of March, 1791, every thing being embarked, weleft Sydney-cove, in the Waaksamheyd transport, and sailed downthe harbour; when we were accompanied by the governor, and mostof the civil and military officers in the settlement. When wepassed the lower point of the Cove, all the marines and the NewSouth Wales corps, who were off duty, came down and cheered ourpeople, by way of taking leave, and wishing us a goodpassage. 

Never, upon any service, did there a better, or a morefriendly, understanding subsist between different corps, than hadever been the case between the seamen and soldiers employed uponthis. When we came near the lower part of the harbour, ourfriends took leave, and soon after the wind setting in from thesea, we were obliged to anchor until the next morning, when aland wind carried us clear out. The master of the ship had ordersfrom Governor Phillip to call at Norfolk Island, in order to takeon board the dispatches of Lieutenant-Governor Ross; but thisorder was meant only in case it could be done without anymaterial loss of time. 

We were in all, on board that little vessel, one hundred andtwenty-three souls, victualled for sixteen weeks. We had a verylong voyage before us. It was my wish, if possible, to avoidtouching at Batavia, in order to prevent sickness among ourpeople, in the very crouded state they were in, which, at theseason we should probably be there, was much to be dreaded. I hadexpressed a desire to pass through amongst the Molucca Islands, and endeavour to call at Timor, for the purpose of watering, andgetting such other articles as could be had there; as by the timewe could arrive among those islands, the easterly wind would beset in strong; and from thence, to have proceeded as far as Icould with the provisions I had, either to the Mauritius, or theCape of Good Hope. 

We therefore could not afford to lose much time in an attemptto call at Norfolk Island; three weeks, however, we persevered inendeavouring to reach it, and had arrived within twenty-fiveleagues of it, when the wind set in strong from the eastward. Inow called the officers and the master of the ship together, toconsider of our situation, with respect to water and provisions. We had been fitted out in a very hasty and careless manner, withwater-casks built from old worm-eaten staves, which had beenlaying exposed to the sun for more than a year; so that by thetime we had arrived within the above distance of the island, wehad lost by leakage full three weeks water, and had every reasonto fear the loss of much more from the same cause: it was nottherefore time, with a heavy sailing vessel, to attempt beatingto windward, in order to reach a place, which we knew we couldnot gain without a change of wind; and the very great difficultyand uncertainty of getting a supply of water there, determinedevery one's opinion in favour of bearing away to thenorthward. 

Much time had already been lost in making the attempt, wetherefore steered to the northward, intending to pass between theNew Hebrides and Nova Caledonia; but in this intention we weredisappointed. Upon making the Isle of Pines, (on the 23d ofApril, ) which lies off the south end of New Caledonia, (theisland bore when we made it north, ) the wind blew so strong fromthe northward of east, that we could not weather and pass to theeastward of it. We had not Cook's Second Voyage on board, so thatwe had no account of this land, and as I had always understoodthat the Isle of Pines was a small inconsiderable spot, with manytall pine-trees upon it, we all concluded, that, what afterwardsproved really the island was the land which Captain Cook hadcalled the Prince of Wales's Foreland, and is the south-west partof New Caledonia. 

We had moreover farther reason to believe this to be the case, from the circumstance, that from this land to the south-eastthere lay a low island on which grew high pine-trees; from whichcircumstance, we considered it to be the Isle of Pines; and beingunable, as I have already observed, to weather it, we bore away, intending to run along the western coast of New Caledonia: thismistake had nearly proved of fatal consequences to us, for afterwe had coasted along for a few leagues, and had been employed intaking angles for ascertaining the shape of the coast, as wesailed along it, land was discovered a-head; upon which thecourse was altered: soon afterwards, more land was seen stilla-head, and as we hauled up to avoid it, more land and brokenkeys or low islands were discovered a-head, and as far towindward as the eye could reach; we consequently hauled our wind, and stood towards it, in order to discover our situation withmore certainty. 

We soon found that we had sailed into a very deep bay, formedbetween the Isle of Pines to the eastward, and a most dangerousreef on the west, which extended from the high land or south-westpoint of New Caledonia, not less than ten or eleven leagues, andwas nearly that distance in a south-west direction from the highpart of the Isle of Pines: in this situation there was noalternative; for we must either beat to windward to go round thereef, find a channel through it, or go on shore: the first, therefore, we determined to attempt, so we made all the sail theship could bear, and stood towards the reef, and it being thenevening we wished to ascertain our exact situation beforedark. 

We found the reef composed of a number of low islands or keys, and many rocks above the water, and of considerable breadth; inshort, there was not the smallest hope of passing through it, thesea broke very high on every part of it, which we could reachwith the eye from the mast-head. As soon as it was dark, and wethought ourselves near enough to it, we tacked, and kept everyperson upon deck during the night. We had, during the time wewere running to leeward and making observations on the coast, passed by a number of low islands, covered with trees or shrubs, and had observed they were all surrounded with a reef, which thesea broke upon, and among these little islands were many reefs, which appeared only by the breaking of the sea: we were thenthoroughly sensible of our mistake, and that the land which wehad taken from its extent to be a part of New Caledonia, was theIsle of Pines; and that the height which we had steered down for, and thought to be a part of the coast which Captain Cook had notseen, was what he called the Prince of Wales's Foreland, and wasthe farthest land he had seen to the westward. 

We kept working to windward all night, between that extensivereef to the westward, and those small keys and reefs which laybetween us and the land, and of which I have since observed, Captain Cook, in his sketch, takes no notice; the outer reef hemarks, but leaves a large open space between it and the land, which describes the reef to be a round cluster of rocks above andunder water: he probably had not an opportunity of observing thisdangerous place so near to the land as we had: there may be achannel to the leeward between the inner end of this reef and theshore, but it had very little the appearance of it; as we sawmany low shrubby islands between us and the shore, to which theywere probably connected by a reef under water, which, at thedistance we were from it, could not be ascertained. 

At day-light in the morning of the 24th, we observed with nosmall degree of pleasure, that we had gained ground to windward;but this we knew was not owing to any weatherly qualities in theship, but to the wind having varied several points during thenight, and of which we had availed ourselves: by noon we were sofar to windward as to perceive the utmost extent of the reef tothe southward under our lee, and we had a prospect of weatheringit; we, of course, carried a press of sail, and did weather itabout two or three miles: when a-breast of it, the highest partof the Isle of Pines was just to be seen above the horizon, whichwas very clear, and it bore by compass north-east by north, distant ten or eleven leagues; having passed without the reef, atnoon we observed our latitude to be 23° 7' south, so that thesouth extremity of this dangerous reef lies in latitude 23°00' south nearly: as soon as we were fairly clear of thissituation, we bore away to the westward. 

The Isle of Pines, so far from being an inconsiderable spot, as I had believed, is not less than 14 or 15 miles over in asouth-east and north-west direction; it is high and remarkable inthe middle, being quite a pointed hill, sloping towards theextremities, which are very low; the low land had many tallpine-trees upon it; these trees, in length, seemed exceedingly tosurpass those of Norfolk Island, but their branches did notappear to extend so far from the body of the tree. 

We continued to steer to the north-westward without seeing anything, and when we had reached the latitude of 19° 00' south, which is supposed to be as far to the northward as any part ofNew Caledonia extends, we hauled to the north-east, so as to passbetween Queen Charlotte's Islands and that large track of landwhich had been seen by Monsieurs Bougainville and Survilleformerly, and lately by Lieutenant Shortland, in the AlexanderTransport, and more recently still by Lieutenant Ball, in hisMajesty's armed tender Supply. The part seen by Lieutenant Ballis, I believe, more to the southward, than that seen by theFrench, and is no doubt the same as that seen by LieutenantShortland; but the one sailed along the east, the other along thewest side of it. It is highly probable that there is acontinuation of the same track, and it is farther probable, bythe breaks which have been observed in it, that it is a chain ofislands extending in a south-east and north-west direction, andvery nearly connected with the coast of New Guinea. 

On the 5th of May we were near as far to the northward as thesouthermost part of this land, but did not see it, being by ourlongitude in 163° 33' east, which is more than a degree tothe eastward of the south part seen by the Supply; the weatherwas now dark and gloomy, with heavy rain at times, and light, variable winds. Queen Charlotte's Islands certainly lie fartherto the eastward than has generally been supposed, otherwise wemust have made them, for we crossed their latitude in 163°30' east longitude, which is nearly what the west end of EgmontIsland is said to lie in. 

On the 8th of May we had a number of very good observations ofthe sun and moon's distance, by which our longitude was at noon163° 32' east, and the latitude at the same time 9° 33'south. On the 10th, in the morning, we saw land bearingwest-north-west, distant about seven leagues; we bore down tomake it plain, and it proved to be a cluster of small islands, five in number; they were well covered with trees, amongst whichwe thought we observed the cocoa-nut. 

These islands, when we first discovered them, appeared as onlyone, which induced me to think it might be Carteret's Island; andhad it not been that by going nearer we discovered that therewere five of them, and that they did not at all answer thedescription of that given by Captain Carteret, I should haveconcluded that it was so, although the longitude of his islandmust have been very erroneous, had it been the case. Theirlatitude is 8° 26' south, which is nearly the latitude ofCarteret's; and their longitude, deduced from the preceding day'sobservations, is 163° 18' east. We steered from them directlyto the northward, in order to see if we could discover Gower'sIsland, which Captain Carteret says lies about ten or elevenleagues to the northward of Carteret's; but as we saw nothing, Iconcluded they had never been seen before; I therefore calledthem Stewart's Islands, as a mark of my respect for thehonourable Keith Stewart. 

The two largest of the islands just mentioned I judged to beabout three miles in length; whether they were inhabited or notwe could not discover: we passed to windward of them, and notbeing situated conveniently for making discoveries, or exploringunknown lands, we made the best of our way to the northward: justafter we left these islands, we passed through a very strongripling of a tide or current, and saw the trunks of several largetrees in the water. On the 12th, at nine o'clock in the morning, the man at the mast-head discovered breakers on the starboardbow, and not more than six miles distant; soon after, breakerswere seen on the starboard quarter, and on the beam, extending inthe direction of east-south-east and west-north-west five leaguesdistant: at eleven, breakers were seen on the larboard beam, indifferent patches about two miles long, and lying parallel tothose on the starboard side. 

On this we brought to, and sounded with 130 fathoms of line, but had no ground. This had the appearance of a dangerous clusterof shoals, for being situated in a climate where it seldom blowsso strong as to raise a large sea, a ship might in the night, without a very good look-out, be in very great danger before theycould be perceived: they appeared to be sand shoals, and verylittle below the surface: the passage we sailed through is inlatitude 6° 52' south, and longitude 161° 06' east: thesepatches should not be crossed in the night: I called themBradley's Shoals. The variation was here 8° 01' east. 

On the 14th, at day-light in the morning, we saw land, and atsunrise we observed this land to be a number of islands; somewere of considerable extent, and many of a smaller size. Thirty-two were distinctly counted from the mast-head, bearingfrom north-west half north to north-east half east; many of themwere considerably distant, so far as to make it probable that wedid not see the whole of this extensive groupe. At ten o'clock weperceived six or seven canoes coming off, with large triangularsails; a little after noon, one of them, with nine men in it, came up with us, although we did not shorten sail: we could notpersuade them to come along-side, or touch the ship, but we threwa few beads and nails, and other trifles, into their boat, withwhich they appeared much pleased; and in return, they threw somepieces of cocoa-nut on board; at one o'clock a fresh breezesprung up, and they left us. The men in this boat were a stout, clean, well made people, of a dark copper colour; their hair wastied in a knot on the back of their head, and they seemed to havesome method of taking off their beards; for they appeared to usas if clean shaved, but they had an ornament, consisting of anumber of fringes, like an artificial beard, which was fastenedon between the nose and mouth, and close under the nose; to thatbeard hung a row of teeth, which gave them the appearance ofhaving a mouth lower than their natural one; they had holes runthrough the sides of the nose into the passage, into which, aswell as through the septum, were thrust pieces of reed or bone;their arms and thighs were marked in the manner described byCaptain Cook, of some of the natives of the islands he visited inthese seas, called tatowing; and some were painted with red andwhite streaks; they wore a wrapper round their middle. Theircanoe was about 40 feet long; it was badly made, and had anout-rigger. 

The islands appeared very thickly covered with wood, amongwhich the cocoa-nut was very distinguishable; I think it highlyprobable that there may be good anchorage amongst them, but mysituation would not admit of my examining into that matter. Theylie in an east and west direction along that side on which wesailed (south side), and their latitude on that side is 5°30' south, the longitude from 159° 14' east to 159° 37'east*. 

[* These islands I called Lord Howe'sGroupe. ]

On the 18th, at eight o'clock in the morning, we saw threesmall islands bearing west-north-west, and very high land bearingsouth-west: at eleven o'clock two more islands were in sight fromthe mast-head, and two smaller ones, which appeared no largerthan rocks: at noon five islands and two rocks were to be seen;they seemed all to be connected by a reef which on the west sideextended some distance from them; great part of a sand bankwithin the reef appeared dry, and some natives were seen upon it;two canoes, with triangular sails, endeavoured to reach the ship, but it blew very fresh, and we could not afford to lose time. These I took to be a part of Captain Carteret's nine islands;they seemed to lie in the direction of south-east andnorth-west. 

We sailed round the south end, from which, to the westward, areef extends about two miles. The southermost island lies in thelatitude of 4 53' south, and longitude 155° 20' east; thesouth-westernmost island is in 4° 50' south, and longitude155° 13' east. The land seen in the south-west wasexceedingly high, and bore at noon south-south-west half west: atsun-set, the extremes of the high land bore from south by east towest-south-west, and seemed to terminate to the northward in alow woody point; about the middle part of this high land there isa considerable breach or opening, which had much the appearanceof a streight or passage through; and as I judge this is theland, along the west side of which Lieutenant Shortland, in theAlexander transport, sailed, until he found an opening throughwhich he passed to the eastward, I think it highly probable thatthis may be the streight; particularly as he says, "That soonafter he was clear, and stretching to the north-east, he fell inwith four islands, which he took to be part of Carteret's nineislands*. " This opening was intersected from two stations, andthe run of the ship, and was found to lie in the latitude of5° 25' south, and longitude 154° 30' east. 

[* See Shortland's Journal and Charts in Phillip'sVoyage, fourth Edition; and "Discoveries of the French, " by M. Fleurieu, late minister of the French Navy: a very ingenious andable work on the discoveries of the French and Spaniards in theSouth Seas. ]

Whether these islands, which I have last mentioned are CaptainCarteret's nine islands, or those Lieutenant Shortland saw, Iwill not be very positive; he says, they extended north-west bywest and south-east by east; the direction is nearly the same, and the distance in that direction is fifteen leagues, and theirnumber nine. We did not see much more than half that distance, inwhich seven only were to be seen. 

Our latitude, considering that he passed round the north end, and we the south, will agree very well; and with respect tolongitude, his was determined by the reckoning of the ship, mineby lunar observations, and the difference is only about adegree. 

At day-light in the morning of the 19th, we saw Sir CharlesHardy's Island, bearing north 2° 00' west, five leaguesdistant; and Winchelsea, (or Lord Anson's Island, as marked inCaptain Carteret's chart) south 48° 00' east; this last wascertainly the point which terminated the high landbefore-mentioned, for we had kept it in sight since the eveningbefore, and were a-breast of it at two in the morning, and werenot more than fourteen or fifteen miles from it. Its latitudewill be 5° 08' south, and the longitude 154° 31' east. Sir Charles Hardy's Island is low, level, and covered with wood;its latitude is 4° 41' south, and the longitude 154° 20'east. 

At noon on the 19th, we saw high land bearing from west towest-north-west. It was very cloudy over it, so that we could notsee its extent to the northward; it was distant eight or nineleagues: the west point of it was, no doubt, Cape Saint George, New Ireland. At six in the afternoon of the 20th, Cape SaintGeorge bore north 80° 00' west, five leagues distant. We hadlight winds during the night, and in the morning, the land was socovered with clouds that we could not discover the extremity orpoint of the Cape; we steered to the north-north-west, havingfound, from the general bearings of the land, that we had beenset to the southward during the night: at noon it was clearer, and the Cape bore north 14° 00' east ten or eleven milesdistant. We had very light and baffling airs during the night ofthe 21st, which made me apprehensive, from what Captain Carterethas said of strong westerly currents here, that as we had nowopened St. George's Channel, we might be set past both Gower andCarteret's harbours, before we could get as much wind as wouldcommand the ship; for she was as dull and heavy sailing a vesselas I ever was embarked in, and in my opinion was wholly unfit forthe service she was now employed in. When any other vessel wouldbe going three knots with a light wind, we could scarcely giveher steerage-way. 

In the evening, finding, as I apprehended, the ship settingfast to the westward, we hauled up to the eastward, in order tokeep as near the Cape as possible, until day-light. That nightalso we had little wind, and that was variable; we kept her headas much as possible to the eastward, and at eight in the morningthe Cape bore north 16° 00' east, distant eleven or twelvemiles; which was much farther off than I wished; at the sametime, a projecting point on the coast of New-Britain bore westnorth-west: we were becalmed most of this day, and were stillsetting to the westward. In the afternoon of the 22d, a verylight breeze sprung up from the eastward, with which weendeavoured to get within Wallis's island; we sounded frequently, but had no ground with 130 fathoms of line: this situation wastruly distressing, for although we had every thing set, we couldnot force the ship more than a knot and a half through the water, and had the mortification to see that we were driving to thewestward: about two o'clock the breeze freshened up a little, andalthough we were within three miles of anchorage in Gower'sharbour, we saw plainly we could not fetch it; however I hadhope, as Carteret's harbour is laid down in the chart fourleagues to leeward of it, that we might with ease get in there;we had a boat in shore at this time sounding, and it was thegeneral opinion, that unless we bore away soon, we should not runthe distance before dark, we therefore made the signal for theboat, and bore away. 

The northermost point in sight from the ship was, according tothe sketch made in the Swallow, Point Carteret; we considered thenorth-west entrance as near to that point, but intended of courseto avail ourselves of being to windward to go in at thesouthermost passage. The distance, as I have already mentioned, being marked four leagues from Wallis's Island to Carteretharbour, unfortunately deceived us; and Cocoa-nut island beinglow, when compared with the high land under which it lies, appeared like a low point projecting from it: we were past thesouth entrance of this harbour, before we thought ourselveswithin six miles of it, and had now a strong south-east wind, which two hours sooner, would have enabled us to have got intoEnglish Cove, in Gower harbour: the distance from harbour toharbour did not appear to me to be more than two leagues, if somuch. It was our misfortune, that the distances marked in thesketch just mentioned, did not agree with our judgment ofthem. 

And there is another error which I must take the liberty tocorrect, and which also tended to deceive us; Point Carteret, inthe Swallow's sketch, is the extremity of the land westward, which can be seen from a ship off Gower harbour, and the landfrom that point inclines immediately to the northward; but thereis a point which lies north-west from Point Carteret, not lessthan four miles, and from that point the land trends to thenorthward: this point comes suddenly down from very high land toa round bluff point, which is steep to, and Point Carteret is lowand woody. We discovered our mistake when it was too late torecover it in such a vessel. 

We ran along the shore close in, and endeavoured to findanchorage; we had also a boat a-head for the same purpose, butalthough we went sometimes within a cable's length of the shore, we could not find bottom. Our situation now became serious, forour water was become short, and we had yet a long voyage beforeus; it was now absolutely necessary to look for some supply ofthat article, and as we were only victualled for sixteen weekswhen we left Port Jackson, and had already been eight at sea, wecould not on that account lose much time, lest we should meetwith calms as we came near the Line. Full allowance of water, inso sultry a climate, and so crowded a ship, was a matter which Iwas exceedingly anxious about, for without a sufficiency of thatarticle, sickness amongst the people was much to be dreaded. 

Before we went any farther to the northward, I was determinedto try the coast of New-Britain; we therefore stood over for thatland, intending, if possible, to find an anchoring place. On themorning of the 22d, we came within three or four leagues of theshore; it then fell calm, and the boat was sent in shore with Mr. Keltie, the master of the Sirius, who had directions to make acertain signal if he found anchorage: in the afternoon, a lightbreeze sprung up, which enabled us to stand in and meet the boat. Mr. Keltie reported, that the part of the coast which he had beenin with, was streight, and had no appearance of any sort of bay, or the smallest probability of anchorage; that he had frequentlytried to get bottom within three cables length of the shore, butwithout success. On this coast we found a regular tide, itsgeneral direction was south-east and north-west. 

The hills mentioned by Captain Carteret, on the coast ofNew-Britain, by the name of the Mother and Daughters, are veryremarkable; a little way within the south-eastermost Daughter, there is a small flat-top'd hill, or volcano, which all the timewe were within sight of it, emitted vast columns of black smoke. On this coast there appeared many extensive spots of cleared, andapparently cultivated land. 

The next step that was to be pursued, was to examine the Dukeof York's Island, and on the night of the 22d, we ran off theeast point of it, with a light air from the westward, and broughtto till day-light; having been near enough to the south-east partof the island the whole of the preceding day, to discover thatthere was little prospect of anchorage on that side. In the nightwe heard breakers at no great distance from us; this we found atday-light was a spit, which runs a small distance off the eastpoint of the island. 

On the 23d in the morning, we had very little wind, and theboat was sent in shore to sound; the ship was at this time abouta mile and a half off. Many canoes came off, with everyappearance of friendly disposition; we gave them a few trifles, and they seemed to insist on making a return for every thing theyreceived; cocoa-nuts, yams, and bananas, were held out on thepoint of a long spear, or pole, for they seemed afraid to touchthe ship; the boat which was sounding endeavoured to make themunderstand that we wanted water, and showed a small keg, intimating by signs that they wanted it filled; the people in oneof the canoes went to the boat, received the keg, wentimmediately on shore, filled it, and brought it back to the boat:the officer then gave them another small keg, which he meant as apresent, but it was immediately sent on shore by another canoe:in the mean time a breeze sprung up, the boat steered along shoreand the ship followed: the people who had taken the last keg, after having filled it, followed our boat with the utmost speed, came up with her and delivered it; this I thought a strikingproof of the honesty of these people, and it will particularlyappear so, when it is considered, that the keg was hooped withiron. 

As we ran round the western side of the island, we observed asmall bay or cove, into which the boat went, followed by manycanoes, and an immense multitude of people on the shore. Weshortened sail to give the boat time to examine it; she very soonreturned, and Mr. Keltie informed us that there was anchorage inthe bay; we immediately made sail into it, and at noon of the23d, anchored in twenty-one fathoms soft ground, with some loosepatches of coral; here we were within a cable and a half of thebeach. 

In the afternoon, we sent the boats armed to look for freshwater; a vast multitude of the natives were by this timeassembled on the shore, and the bay was filled with canoes; inconsequence of which we got the ship's guns loaded and ready;(she mounted six three-pounders) but although they wereexceedingly clamorous, they were still apparently well disposed;they showed the officer in the boat how to find water by diggingholes in the sandy beach, in the manner frequently practised inthe West-Indies; we followed their advice, and sunk a cask in thesand; the water flowed into it, but was too much mixed with thesea water to be used. Some of the natives, however, afterwardspointed out another place, from which the fresh water issued in aconsiderable stream, out of chasms in the rocky face of a highbank: this discovery set our people upon farther searches, andthey found several such discharges from the side of the bank, enough to answer our purpose, if the natives remained quiet andfriendly. 

This business I was particularly desirous we might be able toeffect, without being under the necessity of convincing them ofour superiority in arms. The first day was spent in endeavouringto show them, that we were desirous of a friendly intercoursewith them, and that we wanted nothing but water, which they couldwell spare: however, on discovering that water was to be had, wewere of course determined to have as much as might be necessaryfor our purpose, and by such means as might be found necessaryand effectual. 

This first night there was a very strict look-out kept, aswell by the natives as by us; they had a regular watch-word, which they sung out in a very pleasing and musical manner, and itwas answered by those on the next post, and so all round theskirt of the wood. The next morning we loaded one boat with emptycasks, and had the other armed, to lie off the shore and coverthe people employed filling water; the ship's guns were loadedwith round and grape shot, and were within less than two cableslength of the watering-place; twelve men, with small arms, attended on shore with the waterers. 

The watering business was now begun, and might have satisfiedthe natives what our business was there; however, their numbersincreased to such a degree, all armed, and they were so verytroublesome, that very little work could be done in the watering. An old man, who was powdered all over with a white powder, andwho seemed to possess great authority and influence amongst hiscountrymen, disposed them to be more and more troublesome;presents were offered him, but he rejected every thing with avery surly and determined air; in short, he seemed resolved thatwe should not fill water, or remain upon their territory; hecarried every appearance of an intention to dispute the point byforce; every means were used to please this old fellow, butwithout effect. 

At last some stones were thrown from a sling, but this was notdone until the principal part of the natives had retired to somedistance from the place where our people were employed; the menwho were armed for the protection of the waterers, stood thewhole time with their arms ready to fire at a moment's notice, and the natives, ignorant of what the musquets were, hadcertainly taken them for clubs. Some of the stones, which theythrew, came with the force of a shot from a gun among thesailors. The consequence of this unmerited attack was, that theofficer was obliged to fire, the covering boat fired, and a fewshot were fired from the ship: at this time, there were thirty orforty canoes about the ship, full of people; their terror andconsternation at the noise, and probably the effect of the guns, was such, that many leaped from their boats overboard, and swamunder water as far as they were able; such guns as were firedfrom the side on which the canoes were, were pointed well overthem, being more intended to intimidate than destroy. This firingoccasioned a general dispersion of the natives, and the fillingof water was carried on with case and expedition. 

We received on board that afternoon about seven tons. The nextmorning, before the boats went on shore, we fired a few grapeshot into the woods, and the boats landed without seeing any ofthe natives; at the same time we warped the ship within a cable'slength of the watering-place, and secured her head and stern forcovering the party on shore; the covering boat was directed tofire whenever any of the natives were seen in the woods over thewatering party, which, in the course of the day, they hadfrequent occasion to do. 

Many canoes came into the bay this day, but kept at an awfuldistance, holding up green boughs as a signal of peace and amity;to some we made signs to go away; to others, who ventured alittle nearer, we showed signs of friendship, and made themperfectly understand, that our firing was occasioned by theirslinging of stones among our people, who were watering: afterthese hostilities, our watering went on without the smallestinterruption, except that the covering boat had occasionsometimes to fire a few musquets into the woods over the wateringplace. 

In four days we compleated our water, and on the last evening, as the sailors were coming from the shore, a number of thenatives from the woods right above the watering place, came downto the beach with green boughs in their hands, bringing with themcocoa-nuts, yams, plantains, etc. Accompanied by a song offriendship: they seemed earnestly to with for a reconciliation, and took every means in their power to testify their concern forwhat had happened; a boat was sent on shore to meet them, with agreen branch in the bow, and the boat's crew were desired tospread open their arms when they came near the breach, to showthey were well disposed to peace. 

When the boat landed, the natives retired back a little, butnot out of sight; having piled up upon the beach theirpeace-offering, which consisted of yams, cocoa-nuts, plantains, bananas, sugar-cane, and some other articles: on the top of thispile was laid a small living male and female dog, with theirmouths and feet tied: (they appeared to be of the small terrierkind) in the middle of the heap was stuck in the sand, a youngtree of the palm kind, upon a branch of which were hung a numberof braded lines, like what is called by seamen, _sennit_, and much of the same colour, being made of the bark of aparticular tree: what this could mean we were wholly at a loss tocomprehend, unless, as the head of this young tree was designedlybent down by the lines above-mentioned, it was meant as a tokenof submission; be that as it might, they received the boat'screw, etc. With every demonstration of a true concern for whathad happened; and I fear and believe they had much cause to besorry, for I think some must have lost their lives by the grapeshot from the ship. 

It is much to be regretted, that after having seen us employedin getting what we wanted, in doing which every person wascompletely employed, and not the most distant appearance ofinsult, or any sort of provocation had been offered them, theycould not have desisted from hostility until some kind of offencehad been offered, a circumstance which, during the whole time, was most particularly guarded against in those employed on shore:but from an ignorance of the effect of our arms, and from theirvery superior numbers, they were inclined to be insolent andtroublesome; our sailors on shore were so very few, when comparedwith their numbers, that it became absolutely necessary to resentthe first unprovoked offence which they gave, and thereby toconvince them, before it might be too late, that although theirnumbers far exceeded ours, their real force was veryinferior. 

After peace had been re-established on shore, the conk shellwas sounded, which is the signal whereby they assembleconsiderable numbers; and in a very short time, they appearedcoming from all parts of the wood round the bay, and were met bythose who had been the means of bringing about a reconciliation, with a song of friendship, in which the whole joined, and whichwas really harmonious and very pleasing: the canoes crowded thebay from different parts of the island, and were as familiar asever, except that they would not now venture on board, which manyhad done before this quarrel: every boat brought a green bough, that was conspicuously held up; they also brought many things tobarter, and were pleased with such trifles as we had to give themin return. 

They are, I believe, the only people in those seas, who do notset a value upon iron work, in preference to any other thing;beads or looking-glasses they were not much pleased with, butrags of white linen, strips of scarlet cloth, or any thing of gaycolours, they were very anxious to have: nails they would notaccept at all. 

The natives of the Duke of York's Island are a stout, robust, well made people, of a light copper colour; I saw none who couldbe called black; they go entirely naked; the hair is woolly, butit is so managed by some sort of grease or ointment, and a whiteor red powder with which they dress it, that it hangs on somelike so many candle wicks, or rather like the thrums of a new mopreversed, or turned upside down; they are generally as fullypowdered as a beau dressed for an assembly; some have their hairof a yellow, sun burnt colour, others quite red, as if powderedwholly with the true marechall; none are seen with the hair ofits natural colour. 

This yellow or red appearance, I believe, may be occasioned bythis universal method of powdering, for the powder seems to bemade from burnt shells, or coral, and is really a kind of lime;they generally carry a small goard or box filled with it aboutthem, and when they are hostilely disposed, they frequently takea quantity of this powder into the hollow of the hand, fromwhich, with a strong blast from the mouth, they blew it beforethem; and at a small distance it has exactly the appearance offiring gunpowder, and no doubt is meant as a token of defiance. This practice is certainly used by the people of New Guinea, forCaptain Cook takes notice of it when his boat landed on thatcoast near Cape Walsh, and says, that he supposes those peoplehave some method of producing fire in that sudden manner. 

He also observes, that they had a bamboo or hollow cane fromwhich fire and smoke was observed to issue; but I am disposed tothink, that the conjecture of having seen fire could only havebeen occasioned by the appearance of smoke, which we naturallysuppose to have proceeded from fire, for it is probable that fireand smoke being projected suddenly from any confined engine, would occasion some degree of explosion, although it is alsoprobable that the gentlemen in the Endeavour's boat might nothave been near enough to have heard it: however, after all, thereis much reason to believe, that what Captain Cook saw upon thatcoast was the very practice used here, where we saw it in a muchnearer interview, as some of our people had it blown in theireyes. Their chief, upon hostile occasions, powdered his body allover, so that it was no difficult matter to discover him. 

They also upon such occasions painted their faces red; somehad marks upon their arms and shoulders, occasioned by scarifyingthose parts in long stripes, and letting the sore rise above thesurface of the skin; they frequently wore a bone or reed thrustthrough the septum of the nose, and, like the natives of LordHowe's Groupe, had also holes cut through the wings of the nose, into which were fixed short pieces of hollow reed, as ladies wearwires to keep the ears open when newly bored; into these hollowsor rings they occasionally stuck long pieces of reed, which areno doubt considered by them as ornamental. The men in generalwere well looking people, but such of their women as I saw werevery ordinary. 

The weapons used by the people of this island were lances ofdifferent kinds, some were made of a kind of ebony, or hard wood, about ten feet long, frequently ornamented with feathers ofdifferent colours at the upper end; others were made of bamboo, pointed with hard wood; the lance is thrown by hand, but they hadnot the use of the throwing stick, like the natives of New SouthWales: they also, in their quarrels, used the sling for throwingstones, which appears to be made of some tough dried leaf, several times doubled; the strings were manufactured from somesoft, silky, and fibrous plant; they throw a round hard pebble, of which they generally carried a small nett full about them; thestones were about the size of a small fowl's egg, and flew withmuch force, and great exactness from the sling: they had also along unhandy kind of club. They used, in fishing, a fishingspear, small seine netts, and hooks and lines; their hooks wereof tortoise-shell, from which circumstance there can be no doubtbut they have either turtle in their neighbourhood, or thetortoise upon the island. 

They had a kind of musical instrument, with which theysometimes, in their canoes alongside, endeavoured to amuse us; itwas composed of a number of hollow reeds of different lengths, fastened together, but they did not seem to be very expert inproportioning their lengths, or tuning them to harmony: sound, not concord, seemed to be all they expected from it; they blewinto the mouth of the different reeds by drawing the instrumentacross their lips, and in that manner they produced sounds: theirvocal music was far more harmonious, although there was not muchvariety in it. Those who were considered as people of distinctionwere always to be found in a better sort of boat than common; andI observed, that when any canoe came near the ship with people ofdistinction on board, the higher ranks were always to be known bya man sitting in the middle of the boat, who held a woodeninstrument in his hand, resembling in shape a common paddle, buthandsomely carved and painted, with its handle finished somethinglike the hilt of a sword. 

When those people were disposed to be kind and friendly, theyfrequently sung out in one particular tone, in which, if therewere five hundred together, the nicest ear could not discover oneto differ in the tone or particular note; and immediately afterthey all mimicked the barking of a dog: this was meant by them asa _certain proof_ of their friendly disposition. Before wehad cause to quarrel with them many came on board and wereshaved, an operation with which they were much pleased. 

This island, by its appearance from the sea, I judged to beabout ten miles long, in a south-south-west and north-north-eastdirection; it is not high, nor can it be called low land, butappears, when near it, of moderate height and flat: it is wellcovered with wood, and along the sea shore were to be seen manyhuts of the natives, which were small and neatly made; they werechiefly built of bamboo, and generally situated under the shadeof a grove of cocoa-nut trees, with a fence or railing beforethem, within which the ground was well cleared and trodden, whichgave their little habitations a very neat and cleanly appearance:I examined whilst we lay there several neat and well fencedinclosures, in which were the plantain, banana, yam, sugar cane, and several other articles, which they seem to take some pains tocultivate. 

In short, from what we could discover in the little time weremained there, I may venture to pronounce the island a perfectgarden, as far as it can with propriety be called so in the handsof a people, who, no doubt, trust chiefly to nature, and who areignorant of the means of assisting her, in the improvement ofthose advantages, which she has so bountifully bestowed uponthem. 

Although our time here was so short, we had an opportunity ofknowing that this island produced cocoa-nuts, yams, plantains, bananas, sugar-cane, beetle-nut, mangos, bread-fruit, and guavas. There are also dogs, hogs, and the common fowls, and some spices, (the nutmeg I saw). Most of the natives chew the beetle, and withit used the chenam and a leaf, as practised in the East-Indies;by which the mouth appeared very red, and their teeth, after atime, became black. 

Their canoes were neatly made, and of various sizes, with anout-rigger to balance them. I sent the carpenter of the Sirius onshore, to examine the different kinds of timber; he reported tome, that he found one tree which was hard, and had something likethe appearance of ebony, but was not quite so black; all theothers he tried were soft and spongy, like the palm or cabbagetree. 

The soil I think for richness beyond any I ever saw; itexceeded Norfolk Island in that respect: I had a man with me whohad been upon that island from its first settlement, and who hadcleared and cultivated land there; he assured me that this wassuperior to any he had ever opened at that island. 

On the 27th in the morning, we prepared for sailing; before wegot under way, two English pointers, male and female, which hadbeen given to the master of the ship at Port Jackson, were senton shore, and given to a party of the natives, who seemed highlydelighted with them; a cock and hen were also given to them. 

At ten o'clock we sailed out of the bay. This bay was namedPort Hunter; its latitude is 4° 7' 30" south, and longitude152° 42' east; although it is not large, it is convenient andsafe at this season; it lies on the north-west part of theisland, and you may anchor in any part of it, from twenty-five tofifteen fathoms, but the shoal-water has the worst ground: intwenty fathoms it is soft, with loose patches of coral; thewatering place is on the east side, but as the tide flows up tothe place from whence the fresh water issues, it is best to fillfrom half ebb to half flood. The water is so exceedingly soft, that there were some amongst us who were so prejudiced against itthat they believed it brackish; a quality I own which I nevercould discover in it; I was therefore of opinion that thisprejudice could only have proceeded from knowing that the saltwater was so very near it at high water time; such opinions werenot however confirmed from experience, as we never felt anyinconvenience from it. The tide here seemed to rise five or sixfeet, but the exact period of high water was not noticed, we hadso much business to do. 

We steered north-west by west, and west-north-west, and ateight o'clock in the morning, saw Sandwich Island, bearingnorth-west; at noon, our latitude was 3° 13' south, andlongitude 150° 42' east; the south-west point of SandwichIsland bearing north 45° west, distant from the nearest shoresix leagues. The latitude of the south-west point will be 2°58' south, and its longitude 150° 27' east. This island is ofmoderate height, and well covered with wood; we passed on thesouth side; its general direction is about east-north-east andwest-south-west, and in that direction is about seven leagues inlength: it appeared to be of considerable breadth at its easternend, and narrow towards its western, where it terminates in anarrow point, off which lies a small woody island, with a narrowpassage between that and the main island, to which it appearsconnected by a reef. On the north side of Sandwich Island, weobserved the remarkable peaked hill mentioned by CaptainCarteret, and also the corresponding one on the coast of NewIreland. 

As soon as we were passed Sandwich Island, we observed thatthe western current, which we had hitherto experienced in thisstrait, now took a turn more northerly, having opened the strait, or passage between New Ireland and New Hanover, which last landwe saw before night. We steered during the night west by north bycompass, intending to pass at a convenient distance from thePortland Islands, but at day-light we were obliged to haul upwest by south, having been more to the northward than weexpected: we passed them at four miles distance; they are nine innumber, are low and covered with wood; the center of them is inlatitude 2° 38' south, and longitude 149° 08' east. 

During the night of the 30th, we had heavy dull weather, withlight and variable winds, and the appearance of the windthreatened much rain, which, however, fell only in light showers. At seven the next morning, we saw an island bearing north-west bywest, and at eight, saw more land from the mast-head, bearingwest; those we supposed to be part of the Admiralty Islands: thewind was now at south-west, and we could not weather thesouthermost, on which we bore away and passed between them. Thesmaller, which we left to leeward, was a pretty looking spot, ofmoderate height, its latitude was 2° 19' south, and longitude147° 52' east. As we had seen much land, and in differentdirections, before dark, we determined to bring to for the night;it then fell calm, so that we had by the morning only drifted alittle with a current to the north-west. 

At day-light of the 31st, we saw much land to the northwardand westward. Five large canoes came off from the nearest island, in each of which were eleven men; six paddled, and five stood upin the center of the boat, who appeared to be of the better sort, being painted and ornamented, and seemed as if intended for war;but when they came near, they showed no hostile appearance: weinvited them by signs to come on board, but they would notventure near the ship; they held up various articles, which theyseemed desirous of exchanging; such as lines, shells, ornamentsof different kinds, and bundles of darts or arrows: they were astout well-looking people, rather darker than the natives of theDuke of York's Island; their hair appeared woolly, and and wasknotted or tied upon the top of their head; they wore a wrapperround their waist. One of them made various motions for shaving, by holding up something in his hand, with which he frequentlyscraped his cheek and chin; this led me to conjecture, that someEuropean ship had been lately amongst them, and I thought it notimprobable, that it might have been Mons. De la Perouse, in hisway to the northward from Botany-Bay. 

Their canoes appeared from forty to fifty feet long, wereneatly made, and turned a little up at the extremities; there wasa stage which lay across the midships of the boat, and projectedout some distance on one side; it was bent upwards a little atthe outer end, to prevent its dipping in the water, by the motionof the boat; this stage seemed intended for the warriors to usetheir weapons upon: on the opposite side, was fitted in adifferent manner, an out-rigger to balance the boat; three of therowers sat before and three abaft the stage, so that thoseintended for battle were not at all incommoded by them. 

A heavy black squall coming on at this time, they all pushedfor the land, otherwise I believe we might have prevailed on themto come alongside. 

The north-west end of this island is in latitude 2° 21'south; longitude 147° 28' east; and the southermost point insight was in latitude 2° 28' south, and longitude 147°33' east. A fresh breeze now sprung up, and we wished if possibleto clear the islands before night: all sail was made, and as weran past this large island, we raised many others; in short, landwas seen in every direction; four islands were seen from themast-head, bearing east-north-east, and two low level islandsa-head, between which there appeared an open passage; we steeredfor it, and at noon passed through it: its latitude is 2° 10'south; longitude 147° 26' east. 

At four in the afternoon, the western extremity of a very longisland bore west half south, and we steered west-north-west, determined to run no farther during the night than we could seebefore dark. The night was very dark, with heavy rain, and a verylight air of wind. 

At day-light the extremity of a very large island, bore fromsouth-east to south-west by south; at noon the latitude observedwas 1° 44' south, and the extremes of this island, as far asthe eye could reach, bore from south 23° 00' east, to south50° 00' west, distant from the nearest shore five leagues. This island is so very extensive, that I believe it to be thelargest of the Admiralty Islands: I do not think that we saw itswestern extremity, for as far as we could discern from aloft, trees were to be seen just above the horizon: the westermostpoint seen from the ship was in latitude 1° 59' south, andthe longitude of it was 146° 30' east. 

This groupe of islands is very extensive, as well in a northand south direction as east and west. Having now got to thewestward of the Admiralty Islands, I considered myself clear ofSt. George's Channel; and I agree perfectly with CaptainCarteret, in thinking it a very safe, and (to ships boundnorthward, which want water, ) a very convenient navigation; hischart was of much use to us in coming through, although, had timepermitted, considerable additions, and some improvements, mighthave been made to it. 

On the 3d of June, we saw land, about two points before thestarboard beam; this proved to be two islands: at eight o'clockthe next morning, we saw another island, bearing south 42°00' west; and by intersections taken by the ship's run, this lastisland was ten leagues distant; it was high land: at noon wedetermined that island in the south-west to be in latitude 1°36' south; longitude 145° 35' east; and those to thenorthward, I judged to be in latitude 0° 55' south; longitude146° 09' east. I think it probable that these islands mayhave been seen before, as in a general chart of these seas whichI have seen, there are three islands laid down nearly in thissituation. 

From those islands we steered to the north-west andwest-north-west, with light and variable winds, and sometimessqually and very unsettled weather, with a disagreeable head-sea, against which we made very slow progress. On the 8th, at noon, bya considerable number of very good lunar distances, our longitudewas found to be 144° 13' east, which agreed so very near withour account carried on from the last observations, that I thinkthe longitude of the different lands, as marked in this Journal, will not be found very erroneous. In this part of our passage, wesaw many very large trees floating about the sea. 

We now found the ship had set fourteen or fifteen miles a dayto the northward more than the log gave; and in the parallel of4° 00' north, or nearly, we found, that for the space ofeight days, from the 19th, we had been set to the eastward at therate of thirty-nine miles in the twenty-four hours; and there wasmuch reason to fear, that from the next observations for thelongitude which we might have, we should have the mortificationto find, that this easterly current continued; for at that time, (the 28th of June, ) the wind seemed to be set in fromwest-north-west to west-south-west. 

On the 30th died William Phillips, seaman. 

On the 5th of July, by observations of the sun and moon, wewere in longitude 140° 32' east, which was 10° 10'eastward of our account, and the wind continued fixed from thewestward. On the 11th of July, necessity obliged us to reduce theallowance of water; the whole allowance now to each man for allpurposes, cooking, drinking, etc. Was two purser's quarts fortwenty-four hours, and the weather was exceedingly sultry, whichmade it the more distressing. 

On the 13th, I found it necessary, from the very unfavourableprospect before us, to call together my own officers, and themaster of the ship, and to consult upon the most eligible plan tobe pursued, for enabling us to reach some port or settlement, where it might be possible to obtain some supply of provisionsand water, sufficient for the relief of one hundred andtwenty-one men, the number now on board this small vessel. Thegeneral opinion was, that it would be highly imprudent in thepresent reduced state of our provisions and water, to persevereany longer in an attempt to reach the strait of Macassar, in theface of fresh westerly winds and a strong easterly current;particularly, in a vessel so very ill constructed for working towindward; and what rendered it still more necessary to give upsuch an attempt in our situation was, that the master of theship, (who had been a number of years in the Dutch service amongthe Molucca Islands) assured me, in the presence of some of theofficers, that he did not know of any one place in our route, short of Batavia, where any supply for our numbers could be had. The quantity of provisions now on board, at half allowance, was asupply for about ten weeks, and the water at about two purser'squarts a man per day, was a supply for the same time, provided wehad no leakage. 

We were now driven by currents, notwithstanding our utmostendeavours to get to the westward, eleven° of longitude, or 220 leagues farther to the eastward than the account by theship's run; and that had happened within the last month, andbetween the latitudes 3° 00' north, and 6° 30' north. 

On the 13th of July we bore away to the northward, it beingdetermined either to attempt the strait through which theAcapulco ships pass to the port of Manilla, or to go round thenorth end of Luconia, and endeavour to fetch Macao, in China, though we were a little doubtful about fetching the latter in soleewardly a vessel. It appeared from the winds that we then had, that the south-west monsoon at times blows very strong throughthe opening between the islands of Mindanao and Celebes, andreaches a considerable way to the eastward; I can with certaintysay as far as 142° 00' east longitude. 

On the 14th in the morning, we saw land bearing north; this wefound to be two islands joined together, or nearly so, by a longsandy spit, above water, which reached for about two-thirds ofthe distance from the eastermost or largest island, to thewestmost, which is small. All round the largest is a sand-bankabove water, which extends from the foot of the higher land abouthalf a mile into the sea, and may have shoal water from it. Wesaw on the beach a few natives running along shore, as the shipsailed past. These islands are dangerous to people in the night, on account of the sandy spits which project from them; they werecovered with shrubs, and had but few tall trees on them, and theland is but low: the latitude of the large or eastmost island, is8° 06' north, and longitude 140° 03' east. I did at firstsuppose them to have been part of the New Carolines, but theyseem to lie quite alone, and are about five miles asunder. Icalled them Phillip Islands, after Arthur Phillip, the governorof New South Wales. 

On the 17th of July in the morning, we saw land from themast-head, bearing west by south nine or ten leagues distant; atnoon we could see it from the deck, and it appeared to be threeislands; at four in the afternoon, they bore south by westthree-quarters west, and were by intersections taken from theship, distant eight leagues. A considerable number of fish beingat that time round the ship, the people, in looking over the sideat them, discovered rocks under the bottom; we immediatelysounded, and had fifteen fathoms: the rocks appeared very large, with patches of white sand between them; in twenty minutes, thewater appeared to deepen, and we had no ground with forty fathomsof line. This ridge of rocks appeared to be about half a mile inbreadth, and was seen from the mast-head to stretch to thesouthward towards the islands, and considerably to the northwardof the ship; although it be of great extent in a north-north-eastand south-south-west direction, yet I do not think there is anyvery shoal water upon it, for we saw no break, surf, or rippling, which would indicate shoal water; and there was a sufficientswell of the sea to have occasioned some appearance where anyship would have struck the ground. 

These islands lie in the latitude of 9° 33' north;longitude 137° 30' east, and are probably a part of the NewCarolines; at least, from the situation of those islands in thecharts, they answer to the place of some of them; but as the NewCarolines are marked as very numerous, and very contiguous to oneanother, I did expect to have seen many more; there were ofthese, three only; the largest was very high, but not extensive. From the time of our making these islands until the 23d, when wewere in latitude 11° 56' north; longitude 132° 20' east, we had light and variable winds, but chiefly from the eastward;in the above latitude and longitude it inclined to the northward, and from that to the westward, and became very squally andunsettled weather, with very heavy rains at times. 

During these heavy showers, which were in our situation verycomfortable, whether in the day or night, every one was employedin spreading his blanket or rug, for the purpose of saving asmuch water as he could for his own use; for, as we had no meansof providing a quantity for the general good, every one did thebest he could for himself. The sun being almost vertical, and theweather exceedingly sultry, the scarcity of water was very muchfelt. 

It continued this squally and unsettled weather until the30th, during some part of which time it blew so strong as tobring the ship under her reefed courses: after the 30th, the windshifted to west and west by south, with which we stood to thesouth-ward; for with this wind we could not now fetch the BasheeIslands, and upon the southern tack we could not reach in withany part of the coast of the Philipine Islands; it was therefore, in our situation, judged best to keep as near in with theparallel of Cape Espiritu Sancto as possible, that being thenearest land, which with a hope of a short spurt of wind from theeastward, or a slant either from the northward or southward, would serve to carry us in with the coast: we were then inlatitude 13° 25' north; longitude 128° 37' east; CapeEspiritu Sancto bearing south 75° 00' west, 58 leaguesdistant. 

It was very clear to me, from the winds we had experiencedsince we came to the northward of the Line, that at this time ofthe year, and generally during the height of the south-westmonsoon, in the China seas, these winds do sometimes extend farto the eastward of the Philipine Islands, and frequently blow invery heavy gales. The easterly winds, which we had after crossingthe Line, had been constantly so very light, that the run for thetwenty-four hours, seldom exceeded from twenty to fiftymiles. 

The wind now became very variable, but chiefly from thesouth-west quarter. On the 2d of August, it shifted towest-north-west, and we stood to the south-west. On the 4th, wemade the land, bearing west-south-west twelve leagues; the nextmorning, it bore from west-south-west to west, and at noon we sawit from south-west to west half south; this proved to be thenorth end of the island of St. John, and is in latitude 9°30' north; longitude 126° 32' east. From the 31st of July tothis time, we had been set to the southward one hundred miles. The wind being again set in at south-west, we could only nowstand to the southward, and avail ourselves of the strongsoutherly current which we every day experienced so muchassistance from, and which we had some reason to hope would leadus to the southward of Mindanao. 

If this current should fail us, we could not expect to get tothe southward, but must then have steered along the coast to thenorthward, as far as Cape Espiritu Sancto, and enter the Straitof Manilla, where probably we might have found some settlement, short of that port, capable of assisting us with such relief asmight have enabled us to proceed on our voyage. 

On the 6th, we saw the coast of Mindanao from south tonorth-west by west; it is very high land in the interior parts ofthe country, but moderately so on the sea-coast, which makes itrather difficult to judge of your distance from it. The currentto the southward still continued from thirty to fifty miles intwenty-four hours. 

On the 8th, in standing to the southward, we saw an islandbearing south five or six leagues; this, from its situation, musthave been the island of Palmas; it seemed to lie east by south, sixteen or seventeen leagues distant from the south-east point ofMindanao; it is a high round hummock at the north-east end, andruns out in a low point to the south-west, on which are a numberof round lumps or hillocks, that at five leagues distance appearlike rocks just above water. Its latitude is 5° 33' north, and its longitude is 127° 00' east. Being now to thesouthward of Cape Augustine, which we never saw distinctly, wecarried all the sail possible to get to the westward. On the 9thin the afternoon, the south-east point of Mindanao bore north20° 00' west, five or six leagues distant. 

At day-light the next morning, the coast of Mindanao bore fromwest by north to north by east, and a high island west by south, off shore five leagues: at noon, the south point of Mindanao borenorth 76° 00' west: we intended to have passed to the southward of this island, but the wind inclining from that direction, we could not weather it, we therefore bore away, intending topass between it and Mindanao. 

We now observed that what we had taken for one island, wasthree distinct islands; the westmost is very high, and is thatwhich Captain Carteret saw from his anchorage on the south coastof Mindanao, and called Hummock Island; it appeared to be sixmiles long from north to south; the next, to the eastward of it, is about the same length, moderately high and level, and theeastmost of the three, is a little round spot, covered with smalltrees or shrubs; from the east side of this small island there isa reef stretches to the eastward a considerable distance, and onwhich the sea generally breaks: the other islands appear to bequite encircled by a reef, at the distance of a cable and a halffrom the shore. We passed between the small island and the next, having previously sent a boat to try the channel; we found it aclear safe passage, of one mile and a half wide; we kept aboutone-third of the distance from the largest island, and had fromten to twenty-five fathoms: in the shoalest water the ground washard, but in sixteen and eighteen fathoms it was soft: here thetide or current set strong through to the westward; I ratherthink it a regular tide, for we did not drift at the same rateall day. 

We continued to work between the south point of Mindanao andthese islands, during the remainder of the day; in the afternoon, a boat was seen coming off from the high island, with twelvepersons on board, and a white flag flying; we stood towards them, and answered their signal with a white flag at the ensign staff;they came within a little distance of the ship, and asked avariety of questions, whether we came from _Ternate_, (asmall island among the Moluccas, on which the Dutch have afactory) and if we were going to Batavia; to which they wereanswered in the affirmative; the conversation was carried on inthe Malay language, of which the master of the ship had someknowledge, and as he had for a part of his crew twelve orfourteen Javanese, who all spoke that language, and who alsospoke Dutch, we could be at no loss to be understood, or tounderstand those with whom we conversed. Dutch colours werehoisted to confirm the answer given: from this boat we learnt, that they were upon intimate and friendly terms with the Dutch, and that we might have as much water, wood, and various articlesof refreshment as we wanted. They desired to have a note from themaster of the ship to the Raja, by whom these islands weregoverned, which was given them, with such information as might benecessary. 

A larger boat armed came off also the same evening, but as itwas dark they did not choose to come on board, but conversed withus at a distance. The next morning (the 11th) we stood in forHummock Island, and sent a boat in shore to search for anchorage, which she very soon made the signal for having found; and at noonwe came to in twenty-two fathoms water, over a bottom of coarsesand and loose coral, about one mile from the shore. A short timebefore we got into anchorage, the same canoe which had spoken usthe evening before, came off again with Dutch colours flying, andbrought a note from the Raja to the master, written in the Malaycharacters, signifying, that we should have what we wanted. 

In the afternoon we sent a boat to look for water, which wasfound in great abundance under the high land near the north-eastpoint of the island; we went immediately to work to water theship, and very soon had a number of canoes from the shore, onboard, with a variety of refreshments, which we were very much inwant of; a brisk trade was carried on for poultry, goats, fruitsof various kinds, honey, sago, and tobacco; but what we wantedprincipally was rice, to issue to the sailors at sea, being nowexceedingly short of every species of victualling. Those who wereemployed on shore were kindly treated by the natives, and everything bore the most friendly and promising appearance. This daythe Raja, according to previous information, which he had given, came on board in a large boat, and did us the honour of a visit;this boat was covered with an awning of split bamboo; he wasattended by the person next in authority, and a considerablenumber of people, and was, on his arrival, saluted with fiveguns. Upon this occasion, it was thought necessary to have aparty of ten men armed, placed on the top of the round houseabaft, where they continued during the Raja's visit. The Raja andhis attendants were, on coming on board, led down to the cabin, and he had every mark of civility and attention shown to him: onhis taking leave, he was presented by the master of the ship witha very handsome piece of silk, and on embarking in his boat, wassaluted with a volley of musquetry. While he remained on boardmuch conversation passed between him and the master of the ship, but it being carried on in the Malay language, I could onlycollect, that the Raja was strongly pressed to assist us with aquantity of rice, or paddy, (which is the rice in husk. ) Heshowed us, while in the cabin, that he was supported in hisauthority over these islands by the Dutch East-India Company, byproducing his written appointment, which he had brought with himfor that purpose: this writing I looked at, but being in theDutch language, I did not understand it, but observed, that itwas subscribed by a number of officers in the Company's service;I also perceived it was subscribed by a very respectable officerin the naval service of the States, with whom I had the pleasureof being a little acquainted, the last time I was at the Cape ofGood Hope: so that the interest of the Dutch Company seemed to bewell established in these islands. 

When the Raja left us, he promised to be on board the nextday, and said, he would bring with him the articles that we werein want of. All this time we were busily employed in gettingwater on board, and refitting the rigging; intending, as soon asthe water was completed, to employ one day in cutting wood. 

The next day, (the 14th) in the afternoon, the Raja again cameon board, but, to our very great disappointment, instead of theexpected supply, he produced four small baskets of sago powder, and one bag of paddy, which would scarcely have maintained twomen for a week; this return for the civilities he received theday before, was by no means a proper one, particularly as I wastold he had been given to understand, that we were much in wantof provisions, and he had been greatly pressed for a quantity ofpaddy, sufficient to serve two hundred men, until we could reachBatavia, to which place he was told we were going; and he wasalso informed, that it should be paid for in bar iron and otherarticles. 

Our demand was more than perhaps might have been necessary, but it was made large from an opinion that we might not get nearthe quantity applied for. We had reason to believe, that theisland could well furnish the supply we had asked for, withoutany inconvenience to the inhabitants; for eight hundred weighthad been purchased out of a common boat the day before, for a fewpieces of bar iron, and the natives appeared to make more use ofsago and fruits than of paddy: the master of the ship showed somedispleasure, and I own (if he had made our wants well understoodthe day before, which I had my doubts of) not without cause: hecame to me at the gangway, and told me he intended to detain theRaja until he sent some of his boats on shore for the paddywanted: I advised him against any violent measures, left ourwants had not been perfectly understood; and that I did not see, that it could, in our present situation, answer any good end: atthis time we had a boat and several people on shore. 

I recommended to him to endeavour to make the Raja understand, that unless he sent for the supply we had asked, and he hadpromised, that he, as commander of the Company's ship, wouldrepresent his conduct to the governor and council at Batavia, whowould certainly take notice of it; I thought a threat of thatsort might answer our purpose better than the means he proposed:for we were in no respect prepared for a quarrel with thosepeople, the meanest of whom wore a cress or dagger constantly byhis side, and the decks were at that time almost full of them;many of our people were also upon deck, but wholly unarmed andoff their guard. 

The master of the ship returned, and entered again intoconversation with the Raja, who was on the after part of thequarter deck, but what was said I did not understand: however, Ijoined them, and again recommended prudence and moderation to themaster of the ship, and desired he would recollect, that we werenot prepared for such violent measures as he seemedinconsiderately disposed to; that as there were a few stand ofarms in the ship, and a few pairs of pistols among the officers, they should have been upon deck, and people stationed withammunition for them; instead of which, we had not one armed manupon deck, nor a single necessary for using the carriage guns;all which rested with him, such articles being in his care andcustody as master, for his owners: notwithstanding this, theviolence and perverseness of his temper was such as to disposehim (probably because he was advised against it) to create adisagreement between those people who were all armed, and ourpeople who were defenceless. 

Some of these islanders paid much attention to the nature andextent of our force, and some of them shrewdly observed, that thegreat guns were very good at a distance, but of no use when boatsgot alongside of the ship; if they had any fear of us, itproceeded from our numbers, which amounted now to one hundred andtwenty, and when all upon deck in this small vessel, theyappeared still more numerous. 

During the conversation between the Raja and master of theship, our people were employed in hoisting the long boat in, atwhich the Raja seemed very much agitated, and at this veryjuncture, the master having ordered some cutlasses upon deck, ofwhich he had but very few in the ship, they were imprudently laiddown on the quarter deck, in the presence of the Raja and hisattendants; this conduct confirmed me in the opinion I alreadyentertained, that he had made use of some threats which made suchpreparation necessary: be that as it might, the Raja was alarmedfor his liberty; his people took the alarm also, and called theircompanions from their boats, who boarded us with drawn daggers:an old man, about seventy years of age, who stood near the Rajaand held him by the sleeve, drew his dagger, and in great rageendeavoured to reach and stab the master of the ship, but washeld back by the Raja; on this, the master snatched up a hangerto defend himself, and with great vehemence called out for smallarms. 

I was close to him at the time, and however much I disapprovedof his general conduct, (which was certainly, in our unguardedsituation, destitute of thought, common sense, or discretion, andwas the effect of one of the most perverse and diabolical tempersI ever met with, ) I judged it necessary to draw my sword anddefend him: he continued to call for small arms with muchagitation, which should have been previously prepared. 

A number of my sailors being on the fore part of the deck, trading with the natives, (a considerable number of whom were onboard, but who all drew their cresses upon the alarm given bytheir countrymen) armed themselves with handspikes, billets ofwood, or whatever lay in their way, while the petty officers ofthe Sirius got up the small arms, and kept up a smart fire on thenatives, who were in a short time driven overboard; some intotheir boats, and others were obliged to take to the water; theRaja, during the scuffle, tumbled himself from the gunwall intohis boat, accompanied by his faithful attendants, who certainlydid themselves much honour by their attention to his safety. 

If I had been prepared with my loaded pistols, as I was uponthe Raja's first visit, I should certainly have shot the old manbefore-mentioned, although I am sure, that upon a little seriousreflection, and consideration of the motives of his conduct, Ishould have exceedingly regretted having done so: he certainly insome respect occasioned the disturbance, (although it originatedwith the master of the ship) but it was in consequence of anindignity offered to the person of his sovereign in his presence:we should, therefore, be disposed more to commend than condemnhis conduct; the insult was too much for a loyal and affectionatesubject to bear; he therefore preferred certain death in hisdefence, to that of living to see him so degraded. 

As soon as the Raja and his people were in their boat, theycut the rope which held them, and pulled from the ship with theutmost precipitation; many were killed in their boats, which (nowthat this affair had arrived at such length) became reallynecessary, to prevent their rallying and reboarding the ship; forafter they got into their boats, many lances were thrown into theship, which occasioned the fire of musquetry to be kept upsomething longer than it would have been. I saw the Raja pullingat an oar himself, and did every thing in my power to prevent hisbeing shot: for as every person knew him by his dress, it wasprobable he might be particularly marked; I fear much he waswounded, perhaps mortally, notwithstanding my endeavours to savehim, as he dropt his oar several times: during the short time, which I had been in his company, I was much pleased with him;there was a certain graceful ease and affability in his manner, which was highly prepossessing, and a degree of dignity, whichbespoke him of superior rank: he appeared to be about forty-threeor four years of age. 

In this unlucky rencontre, we were so fortunate as not to havea man wounded, which was rather extraordinary, and I believe musthave been owing to the panic occasioned by so sudden andunexpected an alarm. 

Our boat returned from the shore just at the conclusion ofthis unlucky scuffle; which common prudence, or a disposition tobenefit by the advice that had been offered, might haveprevented; for whatever may be the natural disposition of theinhabitants of these islands, they had shown nothing eitherunfriendly or suspicious to us; at the same time, to placeimplicit confidence in the friendly disposition of such people, Ithink, would be highly imprudent. A ship calling here for watershould be ever on her guard, a precaution which was not in anyone respect taken by the master of the ship, except upon myproposing, on the Raja's first visit, to have ten of my menplaced with small arms upon the top of the round house abaft, from which situation they could command the whole deck: thisproposal he agreed to, which was more than I expected; for it wasno uncommon thing with him to reject any plan, however necessary, which his duty should have suggested, without the assistance ofother opinions. 

These observations I cannot help making; for they naturallyarise from the distressing situation in which I found myself andofficers who were placed under the direction of this mostignorant and disagreeable man. If he had felt himself qualifiedto have navigated a ship in the seas we had to pass through, hisconduct would in all probability have been more unsufferable, ifpossible, than it was; but our assistance was absolutelynecessary, otherwise I believe his vessel had never reachedBatavia. 

At eight o'clock in the evening we weighed from the road andput to sea; one unfortunate Javanese seaman was by accident lefton shore, but he spoke a language which most of these peopleunderstand. I therefore hope it might be the means of saving hislife, but as their rage, when once roused, does not quicklysubside, I feared much for the safety of this innocent man: thisunlucky affair prevented our being able to complete our water, orcut any wood; however, we had filled as much as would prevent ourbeing distressed for some time, and the sailors had received manyrefreshments, of which they were much in need. 

These islands, I have already mentioned, are three in number:Hummock Island, on which the Raja resides, is exceedinglyfertile, and seemed to produce most of the tropical fruit; wefound here rice, sugar cane (exceedingly fine and large), pineapple, mango, sour oranges, limes, jack, plantain, cocoa-nut, sago, sweet potatoes, tobacco, Indian corn, and a small kind ofpea: dogs, goats, fowls (very fine), parrots, and many other moreuseful articles; but I judge that their principal article oftrade with the Dutch is bees-wax, of which they appear to have aconsiderable quantity, and of course much honey. 

The islands lie about five leagues south, from the southernpoint of Mindanao: the road where we anchored is on thenorth-east side of Hummock Island, and is in latitude 5° 27'north, longitude 125° 12' east: there appeared to be apassage between this island and the next to it, lying in a northand south direction, but there is a long rocky spit, which runsfrom a low point on Hummock Island, and seems to throw thechannel through upon the other shore: we had not an opportunityto examine it, but we found here a regular tide, which was highat full and change of the moon at seven o'clock, and rose by theshore six or seven feet. There were several inlets or openings onthe west shore of the other island, which may be probablyconvenient and well sheltered coves. 

The articles, which seemed of most value here in exchange forstock, were light cloathing of white or printed linens, orcottons, such as loose gowns or jackets, coloured handkerchiefs, clasp knives, razors, and bar iron; metal buttons had for sometime a good run, which a stranger on board here would soon haveperceived, as there was scarcely a coat or jacket to-be seen upondeck with a button on it. The natives on these islands are thesame sort of people, and speak the same language, as people onMindanao; they have a great deal of the Malay both in appearanceand disposition; they are nearly the same size, make, and colour, and have many of their features; they wore in general jackets andtrousers, but the lower orders had seldom any thing but a wrapperround the waist; they commonly wore a handkerchief, or otherpiece of linen round the head, in the manner of a turban. In thesash or wrapper, which all wear round the waist, they had theircress or dagger stuck, the scabbard of which was a case of wood. Many of these natives were troubled with a disease muchresembling the leprosy; their skins were covered with a dryscurf, like the scales of a fish, which had a very disagreeableappearance. 

Their canoes were of various sizes; the bottom is hollowed outof the trunk of a tree, and they were generally raised with anupper work of split bamboo, which was set very close and light;they had an outrigger on each side to balance them; they had alsoa larger boat on which they mounted three small pieces of cannon, of brass; these pieces, I was told, were of their ownmanufactory, which I could readily believe, as they were of avery different make to any I had ever seen; they were very long, and of narrow bore, and were mounted with a swivel, upon posts, placed one at each end, and one in the center of the boat; theyhad a long wooden tail fixed to them, by which they turn aboutand point them. 

These boats will contain and conceal a great number of men;they were commonly covered with an awning of split bamboo, raisedsome distance above the gunwall, like the ridge of a house. Theirmast was composed of three bamboos, two of which stood as a pairof sheers, and required no shrouds; the third stood forward, andanswered the purpose of a stay; and upon this mast they set asquare sail. On Hummock Island, as well as the south side ofMindanao, were many pleasant looking spots, which appeared to becultivated land. 

When we left these islands, the wind being from the westward, we steered to the southward. At seven o'clock in the morning, wesaw a small island, bearing south-west; at ten, we saw two more, and by four in the afternoon of the 15th, there were sevenislands in sight, bearing from south-west to west-north-west: atsix o'clock we saw a large island a-head, with a number ofsmaller ones, and some single rocks of considerable height abovethe water, lying off it: at noon, we were near enough to observe, that several of the rocks and smaller islands had reefs lyingfrom them, on which the sea broke. Here we found a strongsouth-west set of current; we sounded, and had seventy-twofathoms, over a bottom of coarse sand and coral. 

One of the small islands was distant little more than a mile. This island, which is very high land, is that laid down in thechart by the name of Poolo Sanguy: we observed the latitude ofits north end to be 3° 44' north, and its longitude 125°11' east; there is a continued chain lying in a north and southdirection from the south coast of Mindanao thus far to thesouthward; and, by such charts as I have seen, this chain seemsto be continued from Poolo Sanguy quite over to the north-eastpoint of Celebes. Poolo Sanguy is a large tract of land. 

The wind now inclined from the southward, otherwise we shouldhave stood on, with a view of reaching some of the Dutchsettlements amongst the Molucca Islands, in order to endeavour toprocure some sort of supply of provisions, as we were now reducedvery low; but with this southerly wind we could only stand to thewestward and push for the Strait of Macassar: the wind continuedfrom the southward and sometimes from the south-east, but in verylight airs. 

At day-light in the morning of the 25th, we made the island ofCelebes, bearing from south 11° 00' east, to south 54°00' east, distant eight or nine leagues: at noon on the 26th, thenorth-west point of Celebes bore south-south-east about tenleagues. This part of the coast runs down in a low point into thesea, and a little way back, rises in a round hill or hummock, butconsiderably lower than the back land, which is very high; fromthis point the land seems to take its direction about south-westby west. The latitude of the north-west point is 1° 22'north, and the longitude, by lunar observations, 121° 00'east. 

On the 27th at noon the land of Celebes was distant abouteight or nine leagues; between us and the southermost land insight there was a small island. Ever since we had made the coastof Celebes we had very little wind, and that had generally beenfrom south-east to south-west; no current was perceptible; theweather was exceedingly sultry; the freshest winds we had werefrom south-west; on which account, we endeavoured to get over onthe Borneo shore. At four in the morning of the 29th, we had avery heavy squall from west-north-west, which obliged us to clewall up. 

On the 30th, at five in the morning, we saw the island ofBorneo, bearing west-north-west; this part of the coast is highland: we saw, at the same time, from the mast-head, a smallisland, bearing west-north-west; this I took to be one of thesmall islands which are laid down to the southward of the TabaIslands, and near in upon the coast: at eight in the evening, wetacked, and in the night, the wind came from the land, butsqually, with which we stood to the southward. This part of thecoast of Borneo seems to be a projecting point, and is in thelatitude of 1° 02' north; longitude 119° 00' east. 

On the 31st, at day-light, the land of Celebes bore east bynorth half north; we had a heavy squall of thunder, lightning, and rain. 

On the 1st of September, about eight o'clock at night, when itwas very dark, we suddenly discovered something on our weatherquarter, which had much the appearance of a large row-boat, andthere being but a very light air of wind, we prepared, with allpossible silence, for the reception of a pirate; but as it didnot approach us as we expected, we supposed it to have been alarge tree adrift. 

In crossing from Celebes to Borneo and back, we passed nearlyover the place where seven islands are laid down in the charts, about 00° 40' to the northward of the line; but, as we sawnothing, I conclude, as Captain Carteret did, "that they existonly upon paper;" or that they may have been some of thoseislands which have been seen near the coast, and by an incorrectaccount of their situation, in point of longitude, have beenplaced here in mid-channel. In the morning, the Island of Celebesbore from east half north to south-south-east, and a small islandcovered with wood bore south-east half east, four or five milesdistant. This island is in latitude 00° 03' south, longitude119° 54' east; it lies off the opening of a large bay. On the5th, we were in the latitude of 00° 50' south, and longitude119 06' east, and were about six or seven leagues from the coastof Celebes; here the land near the sea is of a moderate height, but the back land is remarkably high. 

On the 7th, we saw two large proas, in the south-west; we werestanding towards them, and as they were at some distance fromeach other, the one bore down and joined the other, and bothstood for the land; we however judged it necessary to be preparedfor them all the succeeding night: they might have been tradingvessels, but as they can conceal their numbers, and as we knewthat these seas are infested with piratical vessels of thatdescription, it was necessary for us to be on our guard. 

At noon we were in latitude 1° 47' south; longitude118° 50' east, and no part of the Celebes shore in sight. Iam convinced, from the many observations made for the longitudehere, by myself, as well as by Lieutenants Bradley andWaterhouse, that the west coast of Celebes is laid down in allthe charts which I have seen, much farther to the westward thanit should be. On the 8th, in the evening, we were looking out forthe Little Pater Nosters, being near the latitude of their northend, as determined by Captain Carteret; but although we stood tothe westward all night, we saw nothing of them; I thereforesuppose they lay nearer the Celebes shore than we were at thistime. 

On the 9th in the morning, observing the water muchdiscoloured, we sounded, and had thirty-five fathoms over a sandybottom; soon after, we saw, from the mast-head, a small sandyisland, bearing south-west by west: at noon we were within fivemiles of it, and observed several shoals breaking to thenorthward and southward of it, with some dry patches of sand. These shoals have been taken by some for the LittlePater-Nosters, but are called by the Dutch, the Triangles; theylie in latitude 2° 58' south; longitude 117° 53' east:they are so very low, that a ship in the night would be ashorebefore they could be perceived; there are good soundings at somedistance to the eastward of them. 

The whole time we had been in this strait, the wind had beenvariable from south-south-west to west-north-west; in the nightit sometimes inclined in very light airs from south-south-east tosouth. On the 11th, in the afternoon, as we were standing to thewestward, the water appeared suddenly of a very light colour, andon looking over the side, we perceived the ground under the ship:before we had time to heave a cast of the lead, it appeared to bedeeper, and we had ten and twelve fathoms; but I am inclined tothink, from what I saw of the bottom, that there could not havebeen more than five or six: the bottom was white sand, with somedark patches upon it. From the mast-head, at the same time, wasseen a dry sand-bank, bearing north-north-east six miles distant;a little way to the eastward of it, the water seemed to break. This shoal is very dangerous, and does not appear in any chartwhich I have seen: there is a shoal marked in the Dutch charts, nearly in the same parallel, but it is so very much misplaced inits longitude, or distance from the land, that I cannot supposeit has been meant for the same shoal. The latitude of this shoalis 3° 37' south, and the longitude 117° 54' east; itextends from the two small islands which are called the Brothers, and lie off the east part of Borneo, east half north, distantfifty-one miles. 

We made the Brothers at day-light in the morning, afterpassing this shoal, and at ten o'clock we passed within threemiles of them, in from twenty-two to seventeen fathoms water, over a sandy bottom. The latitude of the Brothers is 3° 41'south, and the longitude 117° 00' east. We stood on to thesouth-west, after passing the Brothers, expecting that coursewould have carried us clear of every part of Borneo, but thesouth part of Borneo, and the large island called Poolo La'oot, form a considerable bight; into this bight we found a strongin-draught, by which, and the wind being light, we were drawn, and could not fetch round Borneo; we stood off and on there withlight and baffling winds, and a short chop of a sea, and gainedno ground: after passing two days and a night in this situation, we got a breeze, which enabled us to weather the Brothers again, and stand to the eastward, where we had more room. This situationgave me some uneasy moments; for we dropt in so fast upon theshore, that we found it necessary to prepare for anchoring; thiswould have occasioned a loss of time, which, from a variety ofcircumstances, we could not afford: the anchorage off here isclear soft ground, and shoals regularly to the shore; we hadtwelve fathoms four miles off. This bight ought to be carefullyavoided, for certainly during the prevalence of the easterlymonsoon here, there is a very strong set into it: it would bemuch better for ships bound to the westward to get as far to thesouthward as the south point of Borneo, before they stretched tothe westward of the Brothers, unless they may have a fresh galethat they can depend on. 

The southermost part of Borneo which we saw, lies in latitude4° 00' south, and longitude 116° 35' east, but there island to the southward of that, which appeared to us like twoislands, on the northermost of which are two remarkable roundhills; whether these are really islands, or any part of Borneo, we could not ascertain; but in all the charts the south part ofBorneo is laid down farther south than that land which we atfirst supposed to be it, and agrees nearly with this whichappeared to us like two islands, the southermost of which is inlatitude 4° 15' south, and longitude 115° 16' east. 

Having determined after we got out of this bight and to theeastward of the Brothers, to endeavour to get nearer the Celebesshore, and to work up on that side to the southward of 4° 00'south latitude, before we should attempt to cross the meridian ofthe Brothers, we stood to the eastward, and had the wind in thefore part of the day from south-south-east and south-east, andafter sun-set it inclined to the south-west, but in very lightairs; however, with these slants we got southing; but if ever thesouth-south-east breeze continued long enough to carry us insight of the south east part of Borneo, we were then sure to beset to the northward: this having been the case, on the 15th, itobliged us to stand to the eastward, although it were anunfavourable tack. 

At day-light in the morning, we tacked to the southward, andagain fell in with the dry sand-bank already mentioned; we passedit at four miles distance, and had thirty-five fathoms water (tothe eastward). The dry part of this sand-bank is so very small, that in bad weather the sea must break entirely over it: there isregular soundings between it and the Brothers, from twenty-fiveto seventeen fathoms. Being now determined not to stand fartherto the westward than we could by that means gain southing, we, bythe different changes of the wind, got, by the 19th, as far as4° 42' south latitude: that morning, as we were steering tothe westward, ground was discovered under the ship which ofcourse drew every body on deck; we had ten fathoms, over a rockybottom, which we saw very distinctly. The latitude of this ridgeis 4° 35' south, and longitude, observed that morning is117° 19' east: I judge that it must extend from some smallislands, which are laid down in most of the charts, and which wesupposed lay at that time directly to the southward of us, but wesaw nothing of them. 

From this reef we steered west-south-west, and at six in theafternoon, we saw an island bearing west half south; we hauled tothe southward to weather it, and at day-light in the morning ofthe 20th, it bore north, distant seven leagues; its latitude is4° 56' south, and the longitude observed that morning115° 40' east; this we supposed to be Poolo Laut: we kept thelead going all night, and had from twenty to twenty-eightfathoms; the wind fresh from south-east by south. 

We continued to steer west-south-west, and, for about fourteenleagues, we crossed a flat of sixteen fathoms. At midnight on the21st, we saw an island bearing west-north-west three or fourmiles distant; this we supposed to be the island of Solombo; itslatitude is 5° 42' south, and the longitude 114° 24'east. We continued to steer to the westward, and had fromtwenty-five to thirty-five fathoms until day-light in the morningof the 23d, when we made the islands called Cariman Java; themiddle or principal one is large, and of very considerableheight; it is encompassed by many smaller ones, some of which arewell covered with wood: the latitude of the south side of theseislands is 5° 21' south, and the longitude 110° 33'east. 

On the morning of the 24th, we saw a number of water spoutsand whirlwinds, some of which came so very near that we fired afew guns, in hopes that the concussion of the air would havedispersed them; but our guns were too small to give a sufficientshock to the atmosphere; however, a good breeze of wind sprung upand carried us clear of them. We steered from Cariman Java, west, and in the evening of the 25th, we made the small islands calledthe Boomkins, which lie about five leagues from the Coast ofJava; we passed about three miles within them, and saw the shoreof Java. During part of the night we steered west-north-west toavoid some sunken rocks which are laid down to the westward. Thesouth side of the Boomkins lies in latitude 5° 56' south, andlongitude 108° 21' east. 

In the morning, we saw Carawang Point on Java, bearingsouth-south-west six or seven miles; and at five in the afternoonof the 27th, we anchored in Batavia Road, after a passage fromPort Jackson of twenty-six weeks. 

[A Table of the winds and weather, etc. On a passage from Port Jackson, New South Wales, to Batavia in the Waaksamheid Transport. ][The tables are included in the HTML version]

Chapter X

A VOYAGE TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE

September 1791 to April 1792

Captain Hunter waits on the Governor at Batavia. --Applies for apassage to England. --Purchases the Waaksambeyd for that purpose. --LeavesBatavia. --Passes the Keelings. --Arrives at the Cape of Good Hope. --Leavesthat place, and anchors at Saint Helena. --Departs from Saint Helena. --Arrives at Portsmouth. --Tables for the variation of the compass. --CaptainHunter's letter to the Lords of the Admiralty. -

The master of the ship went immediately on shore, to informhis owner (the Shebander) of his arrival: that gentleman wrote mea note the same night, begging to see me the next morning asearly as possible, that he might introduce me to the governor; heinformed me at the same time, that it was quite unnecessary towrite to the governor upon any business I might have to settlewith him, (which the master of the ship informed him I intended)as my business could be done with more ease in a personalinterview. 

I landed the next morning, and went with the Shebander (whospoke English) to the governor, who lived about three miles outof town. I had previously told the Shebander, in writing, what mybusiness was, which he thought necessary for enabling him thebetter to interpret between us. I informed the governor, thatGovernor Phillip had found it necessary, for the forwarding ofhis Majesty's service, to employ the vessel in which I wasembarked to convey to that port the officers and company of hisMajesty's lost ship the Sirius, with a view, that after we hadprocured the necessary provision and refreshments, we should bepermitted to proceed in the same vessel to England: I thereforedesired permission to have her refitted, and to proceed with allpossible expedition. 

The governor, in answer to my request, informed me, that hecould not consent to any vessel belonging to the company beingemployed as a transport, and that it was contrary to theestablished regulations of the company to permit that vessel, asDutch property, to proceed from thence to Europe. 

I desired that he would take the trouble to consider thenature of my application; and I begged he might understand, thatI was not soliciting a favour to myself, as an individual, butthat I was an officer in the king's service, and that although Iwas not at that port in the command of one of his Majesty'sships, that I nevertheless was in actual service, and had at thattime a ship's company, and their proper officers, under mycommand; that he would be pleased, therefore, to understand mecorrectly, that it was for his Majesty's service I was thenmaking the application he had heard; and I hoped, and believed, that himself and the council would find no difficulty orinconvenience to the company's concerns, in deviating a littlefrom their established rules for the accommodation of hisBritannick Majesty's service. 

To this he only replied, he could do nothing of himself, andthat my application must be made to the council; to which, Iinformed him, I had no sort of objection. 

The Shebander, therefore, wrote an application from me in theDutch language, founded on the letter which I had written to himon that subject; to which he added one paragraph that, he said, would very much facilitate the business, and prevent delay; thiswas, after having desired permission to let the vessel proceed toEurope, "That if it were impossible, consistent with theestablished rules of the company, to grant such a request, thatthey would be pleased to give permission for my purchasing thevessel, if I could settle the business with the proprietor. "

I waited on the governor and council in person, and receivedmy answer from the governor, which was, that the council hadcomplied with my request, and would permit me to purchase thevessel; a business which the proprietor and I had previouslysettled. I cannot help noticing here, that this vessel wassometimes considered as belonging to the company, and at othertimes as the sole property of a private individual; probably, those gentlemen who hold considerable appointments under thecompany, and are at the same time employed in an extensivecommerce on their own account, may be authorised to use the nameof the company, whenever it may be necessary to promote their ownprivate interest. 

This gentleman, whose name was Engelhard, acted with muchliberality in the equipment of his ship, although those whom heemployed on that business did not act with the same goodintention: he was, upon every occasion, civil and attentive. 

A short time before we arrived here, the town of Batavia hadbeen very unhealthy, and was, though much better, still sickly. Our sailors continued to enjoy good health until about a weekbefore we were ready for sea, when they fell down fast with afever which had raged much at Batavia: this fever was, however, in some of the seamen, brought on by a little intemperance. Onthe 19th of October died Daniel Buddle, seaman. 

On the 20th, we left the road and sailed to the island ofOnrust, where we anchored and received some stores for the use ofthe ship. On the 22d, we sailed from Onrust, and the 26th clearedthe streight of Sunda: at this time Terence Burne, seaman, died, and we had twenty-two down with the Batavia fever; it was of theintermitting kind, and exceedingly obstinate and difficult toremove; it reduced the patient to a very weakly state in a veryshort time, and occasioned much sickness at the stomach, and aloathing of every kind of food. 

On the 30th, as we were steering south-west, we kept a goodlookout all night for the islands called Keelings, or CocosIslands; being uncertain whether their situation was wellascertained: at noon on the 31st, the latitude observed was12° 10' south; this I supposed to be rather to the southwardof them, and altered the course to west-south-west: at three inthe afternoon, we discovered the islands under our lee, distantabout four leagues: there are three of them well covered withwood, but they are very low and flat; there are several smallerspots like rocks above water; the larger islands have sandybeaches, and in many places there were very high breakers: thelatitude of the south side is 12° 06' south; the longitude byaccount from Java Head, but afterwards confirmed by observationsof is 98° 03' east. 

On the 14th of November, Robert Henderson, seaman, died; andon the 11th of December died Edward Moore, seaman. 

On the 15th we made Cape Lagullus, and the 17th anchored inTable-Bay, at the Cape of Good Hope; but it blew so strong fromthe south-east that we were not able to fetch the upperanchorage: it continued to blow from the same quarter for severaldays, and on the 20th, it blew so violent a gale, that the twobower anchors would not hold the ship: finding in the eveningthat the gale did not in the smallest degree abate, and that if Icontinued to trust any longer to anchors, which it was plain weretoo light for the ship, we should run a risk of being drove uponthe reef off Robbin's Island in the night, for every heavy gustset the ship a-drift, we cut both the cables before dark, and hadjust day-light enough to run to sea under the foresail. When wegot a few leagues to sea we found the weather quite moderate, andmade sail, with the hope of being able to recover the bayagain. 

On the 22d, in the evening, we fetched close round GreenPoint, and hoisted the signal of distress, having but one smallanchor left: his Majesty's ship Providence, the Assistant armedtender, and Pitt transport, being in the bay, repeated our signalwith many guns, and sent all their boats; several English whalersand some Americans also sent their boats with anchors andhausers, and we were very soon got into safety. 

I was much obliged to Captain Bligh, as well as to thecommanders of all the other ships for their exertions, withoutwhich we must again have been driven to sea. The same night wereceived anchors and cables from the shore, and secured the ship. The anchors which we had left being far down the bay when wequitted them, were entirely lost. 

On the 23d, the Providence and Assistant tenders left the bay, and on the 24th the Pitt transport sailed for New SouthWales. 

As our sick, from the very low state they were in when wearrived, were likely to detain me longer here than it was my wishor intention to have staid, I determined to avail myself of thattime, and convert a spare top-mast into a mizen-mast; the shipbeing in certain situations, very unsafe for want of after-sail;and the head of the main mast being much crippled by the weightof the try-sail, I set the carpenters immediately to work uponthis job, which was soon completed; but on examining the head ofthe fore-mast, I found it was also very defective, whichdetermined me to reef both the top-masts. 

On the 13th of January, 1792, having completed our provisionsfor sixteen weeks, I directed that such of the men as weresufficiently recovered to proceed upon the voyage, might bedischarged from sick quarters and sent on board. On the 18th, with a breeze from south-south-east, we ran down to Robbin'sIsland, where, it falling calm, we anchored. On the 19th, with asouth-west breeze, we stretched out to sea. We left five men atsick quarters who were too weakly to be taken on board. 

On the 4th of February, at five in the afternoon, we saw theisland of Saint Helena, and at noon we anchored off James'sValley in fourteen and a half fathoms, and moored ship: I sent anofficer on shore to wait on the governor, who wrote me a verypolite note, expressing his concern for the misfortune I had metwith, and offering every refreshment the island could afford tomy seamen. On the 5th, I landed, and was received by the governorunder the usual salute given to captains of his Majesty's ships(eleven guns). On the 13th, we left the island, having receivedfresh beef for our ship's company during our stay there, andhaving completed our water. 

I should very ill deserve the civilities I received here, if Iwere not to take this opportunity of expressing my obligations toLieutenant Colonel Brooke, the governor of this island, and toevery individual of his family, for their great politeness andvery friendly attention to myself and officers whilst we remainedat this island. 

On the 22d of April we arrived at Portsmouth. 

[An account of the observations for finding the variation of the compass... ][The tables are included in the HTML version]

A Voyage From Port Jackson to England

* * * * *

The LORDS of the ADMIRALTY, from a zealous wish to promote thenautical interests of Great-Britain, were pleased to permit thepublication of the following letter from CAPTAIN HUNTER; whichgives his opinion on the best course from NEW SOUTH WALES toEUROPE; and which closes the instructive communications of thatable navigator. 

To the RIGHT HONOURABLE the LORDS COMMISSIONERS of theADMIRALTY:

My Lords, As the settlement, which is now established on the coast ofNew South Wales, will no doubt occasion a frequent intercoursebetween the Mother Country and that part of the world, I conceiveit to be a duty in those, who, from their own experience andobservation, may be qualified to give any information in theirpower, relative to the navigation to and from that distantcountry: it is with this hope, that I presume to trouble yourlordships with an opinion, which, I can with truth say, has beenfounded on my own experience and observation. 

The passage from England to the Cape of Good Hope is alreadyso well known that it would be superfluous in me to make anyobservations upon it. From the Cape to our settlement at PortJackson, the navigation is now much better known, than it waswhen the first convoy to that country was left in my charge; itis a plain and easy track; any person who is acquainted with thecommon rules of navigation, and finding the variations of thecompass, may, with the necessary look-out, run across thatextensive ocean without danger: I have sailed over it twice, andit has been crossed by many other ships since. The advantage ofbeing able to ascertain the ship's place in longitude, byobservations of the moon, will ever be satisfactory, but moreparticularly through so vast a tract of sea, in which the errorof the log may considerably accumulate, when ships arrive uponthat coast where the land lies so nearly in a north and southdirection, there can be no difficulty in discovering what part ofthe coast they are upon, their latitude observed will alwayspoint that out, by applying to the general chart, given from theauthority of that most correct and able navigator Captain Cook. When they arrive off Botany-Bay, Port Jackson, or Broken-Bay, they will I hope receive some assistance into any of theseharbours, from the surveys done by me, copies of which Idelivered to the governor, as the different harbours werecompleted, in order that fair copies might, as early as he shouldjudge proper, be transmitted home: but that nothing in my powermay be wanting to assist those who may be strangers on theirarrival off that part of the coast, separate copies of thoseports, with directions more full than were given with the first, will be delivered at your lordship's board, with this, and also acopy of the three harbours, on one sheet, connected with theintermediate coast. 

It is the return from that country immediately for Europe, bythe safest, most certain, and expeditious route, that should bethe object of our particular attention. The passage from VanDiemen's Land westward, to the Cape of Good Hope, has never yetbeen attempted; we can therefore say but little upon it; some, however, are of opinion, that a passage may be made that way withas much ease and expedition as by any other route. I confess thatI differ from these opinions: I admit that the passage may bemade; but I think, whenever it is tried, that it will be foundtedious, and fatiguing to the ship's company. The ship whichpursues that route should be strong and well found, and her crewhealthy and capable of bearing much blowing, and some coldweather. It is not from a single voyage that we are to judge ofthe eligibility of this passage; it will happen in some seasonsthat the wind may be more favourable for making that passage thanin others; but it is on the general prevalence of westerly windshere, and the heavy sea which is constantly rolling from thewestward, that I conceive this route may be tedious andfatiguing, and on which account I give the preference to thesouthern route by Cape Horn. This passage has been frequentlytried, and never yet failed of being safe and expeditious; theother never having yet been tried, leaves in my mind some doubtof its certainty and expedition, and a strong suspicion, thatwhenever it is, it may be found twice out of three times, attended with the difficulties I have hinted at; but if fromrepeated experience it should be found to be as practicable, expeditious, and certain, as some imagine, it will no doubt bepreferable to all the others, as being a shorter distance. 

This passage will of course be attempted only in the Summermonths: for admitting a ship to have gained so much to thewestward, as to enable her to clear the west coast of NewHolland, and to stretch to the northward, until she falls intothe south-east trade wind, she will carry this trade in theSummer time probably quite home to the Cape; but in the Winter, north-west winds prevail in the neighbourhood of that coast, which would exceedingly retard her arrival there. 

The passage southward by Cape Horn, I have sailed, and as aproof of the prevalence of westerly winds in those highlatitudes, I made my voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, inninety-one days, from Port Jackson, although I was so unlucky asto be detained beating off Cape Horn for seventeen days, with anorth-east wind; which I believe is not very common there. Thisis rather a long voyage to be performed in that time, and yet Ithink it will be done twice in three times in less, although adistance of about 3300 leagues. 

The northern passage, which can only be attempted during theWinter season, in the southern hemisphere, on account of theperiodical trade winds in the Indian seas, and undertaken in suchtime as to ensure their reaching Batavia, before the setting inof the westerly winds there, which is generally in the middle orend of October. The dangers, currents, calms, and other delays towhich we are liable in these little known seas, and of which wehad much experience in the Waaksamheid transport, is the subjectof the preceding narrative, which was written particularly forthe information of your lordships, and principally with a view ofshowing the very great uncertainty of an expeditious voyage toEurope by that passage. I sailed from Port Jackson in March, andI can take upon me, without, I hope, being supposed to havepresumed too much on my own judgment and experience to assert, that a ship leaving that port in the end of September, orbeginning of October, taking her route by Cape Horn, would havereached England as soon as I have. The time I stopped at suchplaces as I was obliged to touch at, will appear in thenarrative. 

If ever government should find it necessary to send ships tothat country, which may be intended to return immediately fromthence to England, I beg leave to suggest to your lordships, thatthe particular seasons in the southern hemisphere should beconsidered, in order to prevent those delays in the return of theships which must inevitably attend their sailing at anunfavourable time. 

If such ships leave England in February, or earlier, if foundmore convenient, they should refresh at Rio de Janeiro inpreference to the Cape of Good Hope; as by the time they couldarrive at the Cape the north-west winds will be setting in there, which will oblige them to go into the False bay; this willconsiderably encrease their expences, and probably occasion somedelay: sail immediately from Rio Janeiro for the coast of NewSouth Wales, where, if they are not uncommonly unfortunate, theywill arrive early in September; this is giving them goodtime. 

They will then have time to clear, ballast, and to refreshtheir people for six weeks or two months, and return by CapeHorn; or, if the western passage be found preferable, the seasonwill be equally favourable for it. If they should take theirroute by Cape Horn, as they will no doubt require to refreshsomewhere in their voyage home, they may either stop at SantaCatherina or Rio Janeiro, on the Brazil coast, or go to the Cape;in this case I would recommend the Cape, as more convenient, inmore respects than one. If they are sickly, there they may get asupply of men, which it is well known they cannot at either ofthe other places; and in sailing from the Cape homeward they willhave the advantage of being to windward; however, if as late asApril, they would probably prefer Brazil. If water only werewanted, that could be had at Falkland's Islands. 

In taking the liberty to offer these hints, I mean only, thatin order to prevent any loss of time, upon such a service, theships may be dispatched from England in such time as to insuretheir having the Summer months to return either by Cape Horn, orthe western route, as may be directed. 

The ships upon this service will no doubt be under theinconvenience of coming upon the coast of New South Wales in someof the Winter months; we have some bad weather on that coast inthe Winter, and some smart gales of wind; the easteriy galesalways bring thick or hazy weather: I would recommend the notmaking too free with the coast, until they be near the parallelof their port. In steering in for Port Jackson, if they shouldfall to leeward, either with a northerly or southerly wind, theycan avail themselves of either Botany-Bay or Broken-Bay, PortJackson being the center harbour. 

In the sketches which will accompany the narrative of my lastpassage, I beg leave to inform your lordships, that the bearingsand relative situations of the different lands which we fell inwith were determined by intersections taken from the ship byLieutenants William Bradley and Henry Waterhouse, who paidparticular and constant attention to those very necessaryobservations; and that the situations of the lands in generalwere determined by observations for the longitude as well aslatitude, which were made by myself and the above officers. 

I have now only to request that your lordships will do me thehonour to believe, that in the liberty I have taken, I amprompted wholly by a sense of duty, and that I am, with theutmost respect, My Lords, -June_, 1792. 

Your Lordship's most obedient and devoted humble servant, JOHN HUNTER. 

* * * * *

LIEUTENANT KING'S JOURNAL. 

The public owe an obligation, and the publisher a kindness, toSir Joseph Banks and Mr. Stephens, of the Admiralty, to whosecharge Lieutenant King had committed his journal, for liberallyallowing the free use of this intelligent manuscript, in order tothe publication of such parts of it as might be supplementary inits notices to the foregoing narrative of Captain Hunter. 

The journal of Lieutenant King, like the narrative of CaptainHunter, begins with the _plan_ of a settlement on the coastof New South Wales, for the present banishment of convicts, inthe hope of future benefit to the nation; and with the outfit ofthe ships which had been appointed for this uncommon expedition. Like Captain Hunter, under whom he sailed in the Sirius, heconducts their little fleet from England to the Canaries; fromthese islands to the Brazils; from Rio de Janeiro to the Cape ofGood Hope; recording such professional notices, and making suchuseful remarks, as occurred on a voyage, which being nowperfectly known, could afford in the recital little diversity, and could furnish in the publication neither information noramusement. 

Of the Sirius, which was never more to return to _theThames_, he tells the following anecdote: "She was built in-the river_ for an east country ship; and in loading her, she took fire and was burnt down to her wales. The governmentwanting a roomy vessel to carry stores abroad, in 1781, purchasedher bottom, which was rebuilt with such stuff as, during the war, could be found. She went two voyages as the Berwick store-ship;and without any repairs she was reported, when the presentexpedition was thought of, as fit for the voyage to New Holland, when she was named _The Sirius_. " Experience, however, evinced, that she was altogether adequate to the service forwhich she was destined; and carried her crew safe through one ofthe most tremendous gales, on a lee shore, that the oldest seamanremembered. 

Lieutenant King describes the Cape of Good Hope, of which somany accounts have been given. Here was it determined, that withGovernor Phillip and other officers, he was to change his shipfrom the Sirius to the Supply, an armed tender of one hundred andseventy tons: but this measure was not executed till the fleethad sailed 352 miles from the Cape of Good Hope, when they yethad 5582 miles of an ocean to traverse, before they could expectto see the south cape of New Holland, the object of their hopes. Soon after they had parted from their associates in the voyage, they were alarmed in the night with the cry of _rocks under thelee bow:_ but having put the helm a-lee, they soon perceived, that the Supply had passed over two enormous whales, which gaveher a shock that was felt by all. Without any other accident, though they had heavy gales and a boisterous sea, they anchoredat Botany-Bay on the 19th of January, 1788, after a voyage ofthirty-seven weeks and a day, since their departure fromEngland. 

On the fifth day after their arrival, two strange ships wereseen standing into the bay, which proved to be the La Boussoleand L'Astrolabe under the command of Monsieur De la Peyrouse, andwhich have been long wishfully looked for by all the good andwise of Europe. 

Chapter XI

A VOYAGE TO NORFOLK ISLAND

February 1788 to April 1788

Lieutenant King visits Monsieur De la Peyrouse at Botany-Bay. --Politereception there. --An account of his adventures. --Lieutenant Kingreturns to Port Jackson. --Sent by Governor Phillip to form a settlementon Norfolk Island. --Leaves Port Jackson. --An island discovered. --Arrivalat Norfolk Island. --Difficulty in finding a landing-place. --Lands theconvicts, provisions, and stores. --Ground cleared, and tents fixed. --Astore-bouse erected. --Vegetables, and various sorts of grain sown. --Distressed by rats. --General orders for the regulation of the settlement. 

On the 1st of February, at day-light in the morning, Lieutenant Dawes, of the marines, and myself, left Sydney Cove ina cutter, in order to proceed to Botany-Bay, and visit MonsieurDe la Peyrouse, on the part of Governor Phillip, and to offer himany assistance he might stand in need of. We soon got down to theharbour's mouth, and finding a light breeze from the southward, we were obliged to row all the way: we arrived on board theBoussole at ten o'clock in the morning, and were received withthe greatest attention and politeness by Monsieur Peyrouse, andthe few officers he had. 

After delivering my message to him, he returned his thanks toGovernor Phillip, and made us similar offers to those he hadreceived, adding at the same time, that he should be in Francewithin the space of fifteen months, and as he had stores, etc. Sufficient to serve him for three years, he should be happy tosend Governor Phillip any thing that he might want. MonsieurPeyrouse informed me, that a number of the convicts had been tohim, and wanted to enter on board his ships, but that he haddismissed them with threats, and had given them a day'sprovisions to carry them back to the settlement. 

The wind coming on to blow fresh from the northward, Iaccepted Monsieur Peyrouse's invitation to pass the day with him, and to return to Port Jackson the next morning. 

In the course of our conversation, I learned that he hadtouched at, and been off, the following places, viz. Madeira, Teneriffe, and Santa Catherina: he had run down the coasts ofChili and California, on the last of which he had lost boats, officers, and men, by the surf. He had been at Kamschatka, wherehe replaced the wooden inscription that had been erected to thememory of Captain Clerke, (which was nearly defaced) with acopper one: for this attention I thanked him. From Kamschatka, hewent to Macao; from thence to the Phillippines, the SandwichIslands, Isles des Navigateurs, Friendly Islands, and NorfolkIsland, from whence he came to Botany-Bay. 

At the Island Macuna, (one of the Isles des Navigateurs) inlatitude 14° 19' south, longitude 173° 00' 20" east ofParis, he had been so very unfortunate as to lose Monsieur DeLangle, captain of the L'Astrolabe, together with eight officers, four sailors, and one boy; all of whom were killed by thenatives, besides a number who were wounded. This melancholyaffair happened in the following manner: The two ships had beenat the island just mentioned some days, and were on very goodterms with the natives, who had furnished them with every articleof stock in the greatest profusion, for barter: Monsieur De laPeyrouse, however, had sound it very necessary to be on his guardagainst a treacherous disposition which he discovered in them. When every thing was ready for their departure, and the shipswere under weigh, De Langle requested M. Peyrouse to permit himto get another turn of water; this M. Peyrouse consented to, butwith as much reluctance as De Langle seemed solicitous to obtainhis request: as the long-boats were not hoisted in, they weresent on this service, with two other boats to attend them, underthe direction of the unfortunate De Langle. At this time theships were lying to, and a strong current set them round a pointout of sight of the place where the boats were to land. When theboats landed, the men were, as usual, surrounded by theinhabitants, who did not immediately discover any hostileintention: unfortunately, the sailors in the long-boats hadsuffered them to take the ground, and whilst they wereendeavouring to get them afloat again, the natives were verytroublesome, and pressed close in upon the sailors; on this, DeLangle ordered the men in the rowing-boats to be ready to fire onthe natives, but not to do it until he ordered them. Somealtercation happening at this juncture, in consequence of theirpressing so close upon the French, probably occasioned a blowwith a club from one of the natives, which was instantly taken asa signal by the rest, and the massacre began. The natives werearmed with short heavy clubs, by which means they rendered thefire-arms useless. Orders were given to fire the swivels, etc. In the rowing boats, but it was too late, although the nativesfled the moment they were fired, dragging the dead bodies afterthem. 

It was supposed that thirty of the natives were killed in thisunfortunate affray. Those belonging to the ships, who escaped themassacre, swam to the rowing boats, and were carried on board theships: many of them had received violent contusions on the head, as all the blows were aimed at that part. 

De la Peyrouse thought proper to quit the island immediately, after endeavouring to regain his long-boats, which he found thenatives had destroyed: he describes the inhabitants of theseislands as a very strong and handsome race of men; scarcely onewas to be seen amongst them less than six feet high, and wellproportioned; the women are delicately beautiful; their canoes, houses, etc. Are well constructed, and they are much moreadvanced in internal policy and order than any of the islands inthe Pacific Ocean. These, islands are surrounded by a coral reef, but boats may land with great safety. 

After dinner I attended M. Peyrouse and his officers on shore, where I found him quite established; he had thrown round histents a stockade, which was guarded by two small guns, and inwhich they were setting up two long boats, which he had in frame. After these boats were built, it was the intention of M. Peyrouseto go round New Ireland, and through the Moluccas, and to pass tothe Island of France, by the streights of Sunda. An observatorytent was also fixed on shore, in which were an astronomicalclock, a quadrant, and other instruments under the care ofMonsieur D'Agelet, Astronomer, and a member of the Academy ofSciences at Paris: he, as well as Monsieur De la Peyrouse, informed me, that at every place they had touched at, and beennear, they had found all the nautical and astronomical remarks ofCaptain Cook to be very exact and true; and he concluded withsaying, "Enfin Monsieur Cook a tant fait, qu'il ne m'a rienlaissč a faire, que d'admirer ses oeuvres. "

In the evening I returned on board the Boussole, and was shownall the drawings they had made during their voyage; and at fiveo'clock the next morning I set out on my return to Port Jackson, but did not arrive on board the Sirius before seven in theevening, having been obliged to row all the way against the windand a great swell. 

On the 4th, I went by land to Botany-Bay, accompanied byLieutenant Ball, and some other officers: we found the countrybetween that place and Port Jackson to consist chiefly of deepbays and sand hills, interspersed with a vast number of rocks: wedid not return until the evening of the 5th. 

About this time two criminal courts were assembled in order totry offenders, and as the proceedings in these cases are, in agreat measure, new, a short account of them may not beunacceptable. 

The judge-advocate issues his precept for the three seniornaval officers and three military officers to assemble at thetime appointed, dressed in their uniforms and their side-arms:when they are met, the judge-advocate administers an oath to themembers, similar to that which is used at militarycourts-martial; afterwards, one of the members administers thesame oath to the judge-advocate, who presides at the court, andthe rest take their seats according to their rank. The prisoneris then asked, whether he is guilty or not, and, as the generalanswer is, "not guilty, " the accusations against him are read, and witnesses are examined on oath to support or prove thecharge; after which the prisoner enters on his defence, andbrings evidence to prove his innocence: the court is thencleared, and the members consider what sentence to pronounce; ifit be death, five out of the seven must concur in opinion. Thegovernor can respite a criminal condemned to die, and thelegislature has fully empowered him to execute the sentence ofthe law, or to temper it with mercy. 

Actions for debt, for a certain amount, are cognizable by thiscourt, as are all other actions at common law, where they aredecided according to the law of England, as nearly as thesituation will allow. 

On the 6th, Governor Phillip signified his intention ofsending me to Norfolk-Island, with a few people, and stock tosettle it, and lieutenant Ball was ordered to receive on boardthe Supply the stores and provisions necessary for that purpose:this business engaged the whole of my attention until the 15th, when, having received my commission and instructions from thegovernor, (and taken the oaths of fidelity and allegiance, etc. Etc. And the customary oath as a justice of the peacefor Norfolk-Island;) by which I was appointed superintendent andcommandant of Norfolk-Island, I embarked the following persons, who were appointed to go along with me, viz. Mr. JamesCunningham, master's mate of the Sirius; Mr. Thomas Jameson, surgeon's first mate of the Sirius; Mr. John Altree, assistant tothe surgeon; Roger Morly, weaver; William Westbrook, and----Sawyer, seamen; Charles Heritage, and John Batchelor, marines;with nine male and six female convicts; in all, twenty-threepersons. 

We sailed from Sydney-Cove at seven o'clock in the morning, with a fine breeze at west-south-west, and at eight, we got outof the harbour, when we found it blew very fresh, and as we gotoff the land it came on to blow a perfect hurricane, with a mosttremendous sea running, which often broke into the vessel: thegale kept up with great violence, as did the sea during the wholeday, and I often thought the vessel in a critical situation. 

At two o'clock in the morning, the wind veered round tosouth-by-west, and moderated, but a heavy sea was still running. At noon, the latitude was 32° 22' south, 154° 11' eastlongitude. In the evening, a flying-fish flew on board, which israther an extraordinary event in this latitude. At day-break inthe morning of the 18th, land was discovered bearingeast-south-east; and, from its appearance, we judged it to be twosmall rocks or islands, not more than six leagues distant. At thetime we first saw the land, we were standing to the northward, with the wind at east-south-east: at eight in the morning, wetacked towards the land, but the wind being light during thewhole day, our progress was very slow. 

Early the next morning, having neared the land considerably, we perceived a pointed rock right a-head, at some distance fromthe island; on which, we hove to, and soundings were tried forwith 120 fathoms of line, but we got no bottom. At day-light wemade sail, and perceived that the two islands or hills we hadseen the day before, were two very high rocky mountains, on thesouth side of an island, extending from north 37° east, tonorth 55° east. This side of the island formed a deep bay, inwhich there appeared to be good shelter from the north-east. Atnoon, we had a very good meridian altitude, by which the latitudewas 31° 40' south, and the center of the island bore north40° west, distant about six miles; consequently, its latitudeis 31° 35' south, and the longitude 159° east ofGreenwich. 

The form of the island is a crescent, and it is very small inproportion to the two stupendous rocky mountains which rise atits southern extremity. One of the rocks rises perpendicularlyfrom the sea, and has the appearance of a regular pyramid, whenseen from the westward: we sailed from it in a direct course 22leagues, and could then see it very plainly. Lieutenant Ball, whowas certainly the discoverer of this island, has named its pointsand rocks, as they are marked in the chart*. At noon on the20th, we lost fight of Ball's pyramid in the haze, after havingrun 22 leagues from it in the direction of east by south: Ithink, in clear weather, it may be seen at the distance of thirtyleagues. We had light winds and pleasant weather until the 24th, when we had very strong gales from east-south-east, with a highcross sea. 

[* For this Chart, and a View of Ball's Pyramid, witha full Description, see Phillip's Voyage, 4to. Edition. ]

Early in the morning of the 28th, the wind veered tosouth-west, and, imagining ourselves to be about fifteen leaguesto the westward of Norfolk-Island, we hove to at seven in theevening. The next morning, at day-light, we made sail, steeringeast: we had great numbers of birds round us, and the cloudshanging very thick to the eastward, indicated our being near theland; but it was not till eleven o'clock in the forenoon that wemade the largest of the two small islands which lie off thesouth-west end of Norfolk-Island, bearing east 16° north, five leagues distant. 

At noon, the body of Norfolk-Island bore north 61° east, distant seven or eight leagues. At four in the afternoon, werounded the northern point of the island, which I named PointHowe, in honour of the first lord of the admiralty, at the timewe left England: we soon after hove to, off a cascade, which issituated near the middle of the north side of the island: theboat was hoisted out, and lieutenant Ball and myself went toexamine if it were possible to land on a stony beach, which issituated a little to the eastward of the cascade; but we found sogreat a surf rolling on the shore, that the loss of the boat, andperhaps of the sailors lives, would have been the consequence ofour attempting to land; so that at sun-set we returned on board, and the boat was hoisted in. 

Early the next morning, lieutenant Ball and myself went in aboat to examine whether we could find a landing-place from thesouthermost, or Point Ross, to the north-west, or Point Howe, which was (the wind being then west-north-west, ) the lee side ofthe island. From the cascade to a small bay, which lies on thenorth-east side of the island, we found the shore lined withsteep inaccessible cliffs, against which the sea broke with greatviolence, and rendered the boat's approach impracticable. Thesmall bay, which I named Ball-bay, (after lieutenant HenryLidgbird Ball) lies in a west-north-west, and east-south-eastdirection, and is about four cables length deep, and two cableslength wide: the bottom of the bay is a stony beach, on which thesurf broke with too much force to risque the boat; though attimes, the surf probably may be less. 

From this bay, we rowed round the south-east point, and openedthe two islands, the largest of which, I named Phillip-Isle, after Governor Phillip; and the smallest, Nepean-Isle, after EvanNepean. The point of Norfolk-Island, opposite Nepean-Isle, Icalled Point Hunter, after captain John Hunter, of his Majesty'sship the Sirius. 

Between Point Hunter and Point Ross, there is a large, thoughnot a deep, bay, with several fine sandy beaches; but without thebeaches, there runs a reef parallel with the shore, which seemedto prevent any landing on it; and, as we were opening the weatherside of the island, and a great swell running, which prevented usfrom pulling the boat a-head, we returned along shore, andendeavoured to land on a stony beach to the westward of thecascade, but could not: we then rowed to the north-east point ofthe island, off which lies a cluster of high rocks; I called themCook's rocks, in memory of the late Captain James Cook, whodiscovered this island, and landed near these rocks in 1774: butwe found landing impossible, on account of the surf, which brokeevery where, though this may not be the case in fine weather. Inthe evening we returned on board, without being able to set ourfeet on shore. 

During the night, we had light winds from the south-west; anda current, or tide, had set us a considerable distance to thenorth-east of the island; which, at eight o'clock the nextmorning, bore south-east, eight miles distant: from this time, until three in the afternoon, we were employed in working upunder the north-east point of the island, where we anchored innineteen fathoms, distant from the nearest shore one mile. A boatwas hoisted out, and after two attempts, I landed with LieutenantBall, on the side of a large rock, which lies close to the shore, at the west end of a small stony beach; it must have been on thisrock that Captain Cook landed, as there is no other place at thisside of the island, where it is possible to attempt a landing atany time, and that is only practicable here, from half ebb tohalf flood, in very fine weather, and the wind off the island. Asit was near the evening when we landed, we very soon returned onboard again, with a quantity of sorrel that we had gathered. Wefound this a very improper place to land either people or stores, it being impracticable to get them further than the beach, andthere was no fresh water near it. 

At day-light in the morning of the 3d, I left the Supply, andwent in her boat along with Mr. Cunningham, to examine thesouth-west side of the island, which we rowed round, until weopened Phillip and Nepean Isles off the south point; but it blewtoo hard, and there was too great a sea running for us to pullthe boat any farther, so that at two in the afternoon we returnedon board. 

There is only one place on this side of the island, wherelanding is at all practicable, and that is in a small bay justwithin the west point: the bottom of it is a fine sandy beach, but the surf broke on it with such violence, as to put landingout of the question. 

As it blew very fresh all night, I landed the next morningabreast of the Supply, with the midshipman and surgeon: we walkedacross the island to the bay which I had seen the day before. After ascending a very steep hill, we got to the top of theisland, which we found to be a plain, but every foot of groundwas covered with trees, or the large roots of trees which roseabove the surface of the earth; these were not the onlyimpediments to our march, as it was impossible for us to walkfour yards, without encountering an almost impenetrable net-work, composed of a large kind of supple-jack, or vine; which was sovery strong, as to suppress the growth of several trees, bybending them in every direction; and they so completely stoppedour progress, that we were obliged to cut our way through them. No grass, or herb of any kind, grew between the roots of thesetrees, although the soil every where was extremely rich and good;but this may be attributed to the total exclusion of the sun, andthe want of air, which doubtless prevent this sort ofvegetation. 

The pines, which are numerous, are of an incredible growth:one of them, which had been blown down, or had fallen by age, measured 140 feet in length, and several which were measuredstanding, were 30 feet in circumference: they grow quitestraight, and have no branches for near 80 feet from theground. 

We found it impracticable to get into Anson's bay, although wesaw down into it; but the hill over it was a perpendicular cliff, with a large kind of iris growing on the sides of it, which was aprovidential circumstance, for, in our endeavour to get into thebay, we were all in the greatest danger of falling down thecliff; indeed, if the iris had not been sufficiently strong tohave supported our weight, we must have fallen down a depth of 90feet. We were too much pleased with, and thankful for our escape, to attempt a second trial, as the whole of this side of theisland had the same steep appearance. 

In our return, we frequently heard a very distinct cry of"yaho, " which seemed as if it was uttered by an animal orbird. 

During this excursion, we did not see a leaf of flax, or anyherb whatever; the ground, although a rich and deep soil, beingquite bare, which is rather extraordinary, as Captain Cook saysthat the flax plant is rather more luxuriant here than at NewZealand. We saw pigeons, parrots, parroquets, doves, and avariety of other birds, in great numbers, and so very tame, thatthey might be knocked down with a stick. 

Large pieces of pumice stone were seen in every part; probablya crater, or the remains of one, may be found at, or near amountain, which rises to a considerable height in the middle ofthe island, and which I called Mount Pitt, in honour of thechancellor of the exchequer. 

As the sandy bay, on the south-west side of the island, hadnot been examined to my satisfaction, Lieutenant Ball proposedgoing round in the brig, and endeavour to land, which there was agreat probability of effecting, as the wind was then ateast-north-east: accordingly, at day-light in the morning of the5th, we weighed, and ran round to the bay, which I had namedAnson-bay, after the parliamentary representative forLitch-field. We found the surf too violent to land there, and Inow began to think it would be impossible to land on the island;as I had nearly made a circuit of it, and had not found a placewhere I could attempt landing. 

There yet remained one place unexamined, which was the southside of the island, in a bay, that appeared to be entirely linedwith a reef, on which the surf broke with great violence. Thewind being at east-north-east, we worked up for the bay, and atnoon, the master was sent to examine if there were any openingthrough the reef; on his return he informed us, that landing inthe bay was very safe and practicable, as the reef terminatedabout two-thirds of the bay over, and round the point of thisreef, landing was easy and safe. 

On hearing this report, Lieutenant Ball and myself went toexamine the place, and found it exactly to answer the master'sdescription. The shore, close to the beach, was covered with along kind of iris, within which was an impenetrable forest: thesoil was good. Here I resolved to fix, and was pleased at havingfound a place where I could make a commencement. I had no doubtbut water would be procured, and that at no great distance fromthe spot; but as it was very late in the evening, I returned onboard the Supply, and she was soon after brought to an anchor in20 fathoms, over a sandy bottom. 

At day-light on the 6th, I left the Supply with two boats, having in them all the persons belonging to the settlement, together with the tents a part of the provisions, and some of themost useful tools; all which we landed, and began clearing asmall piece of ground to erect the tents on: the colours werehoisted, and before sun-set, every person and article belongingto the settlement were on shore, and the tents pitched. Beforethe colours were hauled down, I assembled my small colony underthem, (Lieutenant Ball and some of his officers being present, )and drank the healths of his Majesty, the Queen, the Prince ofWales, and success to the settlement: and, as we had no other wayof testifying our loyalty, we gave three cheers on theoccasion. 

The wind blew very hard the whole of the 7th, and the surf ranso high that no boat could land: the Supply still remained atanchor in the road. This day I began to clear a piece of groundfor sowing some seeds; the spot, which I fixed on for thatpurpose, is on the east side of an hill which has a tolerableeasy ascent, and the soil is rich and deep. Soon after landing, we found a very fine rivulet of water, which ran close at theback of the ground where the settlement was made. 

I took the first opportunity of examining the island aroundme, and found it almost impenetrable from the size of the trees, and the entangled state of their roots, which were in general twofeet above the ground, and ran along it to a considerabledistance. On the spaces of ground unoccupied by these roots, there grew a kind of supple-jack, which in general was as thickas a man's leg; these supple-jacks ran up the trees, and as theygrew in every direction, they formed an impenetrable kind ofnet-work; bending some trees to the ground, and then taking rootagain, they twined round other trees in the same manner, untilthe whole became an impervious forest. 

As I had only twelve men, (one of whom was seventy-two yearsold, and another a boy of fifteen, ) exclusive of the mate andsurgeon, my progress for some time must of course be very slow. On the 8th we had strong gales of wind and cloudy weather: atnine in the morning, we hoisted the colours in a west, as asignal that the Supply's boat might land; and at eleven, wereceived the last of our baggage, provisions, and stores, andhauled the boat up. In the afternoon, Lieutenant Ball came onshore to ask if I had any farther occasion for the Supply, and, as I had not any, he took leave and returned on board; and in theafternoon sailed for Port Jackson. I sent by him a journal of myproceedings to Governor Phillip. 

The 9th, being Sunday, every person in the settlementassembled in my tent, where I performed divine service; afterwhich my commission from the Governor, to whom we weresubordinate, was read, appointing me superintendant andcommandant of this island: I then assured every person, that myintention was to forward the King's service to the utmost of mypower; and (addressing myself to the convicts) I endeavoured toconvince them, that those who were idle or dishonest should notescape that punishment, which is due to useless and destructivemembers of society: I also informed them what ration ofprovisions would be allowed daily, and I held out everyencouragement for them to behave with propriety and industry. 

In the afternoon I saw some turtle lying on a sandy beach atthe east end of the bay; two of which we turned and brought tothe tents for general use; they were issued out in lieu of saltprovisions. Finding we had turtle on the island, I gave strictorders that no person whatever should go near the beach wherethey were seen, in order to prevent them from being frightened, which might occasion the loss of this valuable resource: the twoturtle we had caught weighed two hundred weight each. From thistime until the 15th, every person was employed in clearing away, and turning up the garden ground, which, when finished, wasenclosed by a hedge, and sown with a small quantity of all thedifferent kinds of seeds I was furnished with. The size of theenclosure was eighty-seven feet square: the soil very rich anddeep. 

This afternoon I turned three more turtles, which were broughtto the settlement. We generally saw three lying on the beach atlow water, in clear weather, but when cloudy, they never land;this, together with there being no appearance of any pits wherethey lay their eggs, leads me to suppose that they do not breedon any part of the island; especially as this is the only placewhere there is a possibility for them to make their pits. 

The 16th, being Sunday, I performed divine service. Twoconvicts, whom I had given leave the preceding day to take anexcursion into the interior part of the island, returned this dayat noon quite naked: they had several cuts in different parts oftheir bodies, some of which were deep, occasioned by theentangled state of the woods, and the sharpness of the briars:they had not been an hour from the settlement before they lostsight of the sun from the thickness of the woods; this causedthem to wander about till eleven o'clock, when they heard thenoise of our church bell, which was a man beating on the head ofan empty cask, and presently afterwards they returned to thesettlement. 

As my own situation, and that of every other person was veryuncomfortable, owing to the tents being close to the sea shore, on which a heavy surf continually beats: I set the people to workon the 17th, to clear a piece of ground to the right of thegarden, and a little above it; here I intended to move the tents, or to build houses; and having two sawyers and a carpenter, I setthem to work in digging a sawpit, in order to saw pine forbuilding a store-house for the provisions and stores, they atpresent being lodged in my tent, which was made of the Sirius'ssprit-sail. 

The surgeon, in walking about the island, found out theflax-plant, which proved to be what we had hitherto called theiris: not having any description of this plant, I had no idea ofits being what Captain Cook calls the flax-plant of New Zealand;the cliffs and shore near the settlement were covered with it;its root is bulbous, and eight leaves issue from it, which are, in general, five or six feet in length, and about four inchesbroad, close to the root: the plant bears a great resemblance tothe iris, except that the leaves are much thicker and larger; theflaxy part is the fibres, which extend the whole length of theleaf; towards the root they are very thick and strong, anddiminish in size as they approach the end of the Jeaf. Thisplant, in its green state, is of a surprising strength: from thequantity of dead leaves about the root, I imagine it is anannual, and that the root sends forth fresh leaves. 

The method of preparing the New Zealand flax not beingdescribed by Captain Cook, I caused three bundles of ours to beput in the rivulet to soak, intending to try it after theEuropean method of dressing flax. The sawpit being finished onthe 18th, a small pine was cut down near it, which measured 115feet in length, and two feet six inches diameter at the base: atwelve foot length was got on the pit, and the sawyers begansawing it into framings and scantlings for the store-house. Bythe 19th, the greatest part of the seeds we had procured at theCape of Good Hope, and sown in the garden, were out of theground, and seemed likely to do well; but scarcely any of theEnglish seeds grew, they, in general, being spoiled. 

From this time till the 1st of April, two men were employed insawing up wood for the store-house; one man was building it, sixwere clearing away the ground, and the women burnt up the smallboughs. 

The store-house was finished on the 2d: its dimensions weretwelve feet square, and nine feet high. All the provisions andstores were immediately brought from my tent and deposited in thestore-house. 

During the last three days the wind blew very strong from thesouth-west, which blighted every plant that was come up and doingvery well; I had also the mortification to find that the ratswere very numerous; they destroyed some Indian corn which wasthree inches out of the ground. 

As there was every reason to suppose that the south-west windswould be frequent during the winter, I began to clear the groundon the north-east side of the hill, (which I named Mount George)which, of course, would be sheltered from the south andsouth-west winds; and it was my intention to continue clearingthe ground in that situation until the middle of June, when Ipurposed sowing it with wheat and barley. I now found that novegetables would thrive at this season of the year on the southside of the mount; I therefore ordered the garden ground to beturned up and sown with wheat. 

The ground which we had for some time been clearing to fix thetents upon, being now ready for that purpose, all the tents weremoved to it on the 3d, and some of the men began to build huts:the sawyers were employed in sawing scantling, and othernecessary timber to build me a house. 

I had much reason to fear that the turtle were frightenedaway, as we had not seen any on the beach since the 14th ofMarch, although every precaution had been used to prevent theirbeing molested. This resource we could not help feeling the wantof, as its good effects had already been experienced by everyperson on the island; indeed, there was not an individual who hadnot the scurvy on landing, and some of the convicts had it verybad; but they were now quite recovered. 

Another unfortunate circumstance was, that as yet we had notbrought any vegetables to perfection; however, to make someamends for this accident, we found a vast number ofcabbage-trees, the excellence of which are well known: they are avery good substitute for other vegetables, but one tree producesonly a single cabbage. 

The wheat, which was sown in the garden ground on the 2d, wasentirely eat up with rats by the 4th; they did not leave a singlegrain in the ground. As I had no cats, and only one dog, thesevermin were likely to prove a serious nuisance; however, in orderto rid ourselves of them as much as possible, I caused all theempty casks to be converted into traps. 

Behind the hill where the settlement was fixed, there was avery large swamp, occasioned by the overflowing of the rivulet:at the head of this swamp there is a fine valley, in which anumber of plantain or banana trees were found on the 5th; and asmall spot being near them which would not cost so much pains ortrouble to clear as many other places, I judged this would be avery good place for a garden; especially as the surrounding hillsentirely sheltered it from the sea winds, and, from theappearance of the banana trees, I expected they would thrive verywell when cultivated; at present, they were in thick clusters, choaking each other; and being covered with wild vines andaquatic shrubs, their growth was considerably retarded. Somefruit was found on them, but the birds had destroyed it before itwas ripe. 

The sixth, being Sunday, I performed divine service; and assome irregularities had taken place, that did not merit corporalpunishment, being anxious to prevent any ill behaviour, whichmight render such a step necessary, I read the following ordersfor the preservation of regularity and decorum. 

ORDERS. 

As it is highly necessary, for the preservation of good order, regularity, and cleanliness, to establish certain rules andregulations, the following are to be observed and performed withthe strictest attention. 

I. No person is to absent himself from public worship, whichwill begin every Sunday morning at eleven o'clock, in thecommandant's house, when every one will come clean and orderly, and behave themselves devoutly. 

II. The hours of work are as follow: until further orders, tobegin work at day-light, and work till half past seven; at halfpast eight, to work again until half past eleven; and then towork again at two until sun-set. 

III. In order to encourage the cultivation of gardens, everyone will have the Saturdays to clear away and cultivate gardensfor themselves; and those who are industrious will be encouraged, but those who misapply that indulgence will be deprived ofit. 

IV. On application, at the proper time of the year, seeds willbe distributed to those who have cleared away garden ground; andthose who raise the greatest quantity of seeds and vegetableswill be encouraged and rewarded. 

V. The women are to sweep round the houses or tents everymorning, and to cook the victuals for the men; and every personis strictly forbid cleaning any fish or fowls in or near thehouses, but to go to the sea-side for that purpose. 

VI. Every person is strictly forbid going near Turtle Bay, andthose who are found in it, or going there, will be instantly andseverely punished. 

VII. The women are to collect the dirty linen belonging to themen every Friday, and to return each man his proper linen, washedand mended, on the Sunday morning. 

VIII. No person is to cut down or destroy any banana tree. 

IX. Exchanging or selling cloaths by the convicts is strictlyforbid. As their cloathing is the property of the crown, they arenot to dispose of it. A disobedience of this order will be deemeda theft, and meet with a suitable punishment. It is recommendedto every one to be careful of their cloathing and bedding, asaccidents may happen which may prevent a speedy supply. 

X. Great care is to be taken of all the tools; each man takinghis axe or hoe to his tent, or delivering them to thestore-keeper, that they may not be injured by the weather. 

XI. As the future welfare of every person on this islanddepends on their good behaviour, it is recommended to them topersevere in that willing disposition to work which they havehitherto shown; and above all, to be honest and obliging towardseach other, which will recommend them to those who may have it intheir power, and who have a wish and inclination to serve them:but the dishonest or idle may not only assure themselves of beingtotally excluded from any present or future indulgences, but alsothat they will be chastised, either by corporal punishment on theisland, or be sent to Port Jackson, to be tried by a criminalcourt there. 

Chapter XII

TRANSACTIONS AT NORFOLK ISLAND

April 1788 to October 1788

-Regular employment of the convicts. --Meet withan unlucky accident. --Thefts detected. --The robberspunished. --Pestered with rats. --Method of destroying them. --Livestock on the settlement. --Trees discovered which afford food forhogs. --Some of the settlers poisoned. --Cured with sweet oil. --Aconvict punished for using seditious language. --Birds on theisland. Description of Arthur's Vale. --His Majesty's birth-daykept. --Flourishing state of the gardens. --Arrival of theSupply. --Four persons drowned. --Provisions and storesreceived. --Queries from Governor Phillip, and theanswers. --Ball-Bay described. --The landing-placecleared. --Arrival of the Golden Grove transport. --Marines andconvicts brought in the Golden Grove. --Provisions andstores. -

The settlement being now brought to some degree of order, Idistributed the people into regular working parties, in order tofacilitate the different operations which I was anxious to getforward as fast possible. Five men were sent to clear away groundon the north-east side of Mount George; two were employed inclearing a road from the ground where we had pitched the tents, to the fresh-water rivulet; two sawyers were sawing timber tobuild me a house; two men were employed in building huts; and Isent Mr. Altree, (the surgeon's assistant) to the valley whichhas already been mentioned, in order to make a commencementthere, but as he had only a boy to assist him, his progress wasof course very flow. 

For some time, the people were thus invariably employed; butthe work was often retarded by colds, which was the only sicknesswe had as yet experienced: the workmen, indeed, had been oftenblinded for four or five days together, by the white sap of atree, which getting into their eyes, occasioned a mostexcruciating pain for several days. The best remedy we couldapply, was Florence oil; which, dropped into the eye, destroyedthe acrimony of the sap. One man was totally blinded with it, forwant of making timely application to the surgeon. 

On the 17th, I detected John Batchelor, one of the marines, inmy tent, stealing rum out of a small vessel, which contained whatwas drawn off to serve the officers and men belonging to theSirius; and was kept in my tent, as I had not a more secure placeto put it in. In the afternoon, I assembled the settlement, andpunished the thief with three dozen lashes; causing him to be ledby a halter to the place of punishment: I also stopped thedeficiency of rum out of his allowance. 

Though there was reason to hope that this example would deterothers from committing crimes of the like nature, yet it had notthe desired effect; for on the 20th, a convict boy was detectedstealing the surgeon's allowance of rum, out of his tent. Thisboy was only fifteen years old, and was transported for sevenyears. I ordered him to be punished with an hundred lashes, whichI hoped would have a good effect. 

We now had two formidable enemies to encounter in the rat andgrub-worm, both which were very numerous and destructive: somewheat had been sown in the garden ground on the 11th, and thenext morning there was not a grain of it left, being all eat upby the rats; and the few potatoes and other vegetables, whichescaped the bad effects of the southerly wind, were all eat up bythe grub-worm. I have before observed, that on our firstdiscovering the rats to be numerous, I ordered the empty casks tobe converted into traps, and for some time they were verysuccessful, thirty or forty rats being caught for several nightstogether: these were killed, and scattered about the garden, todeter the rest from coming to the place; but they soon grew toocunning to be caught in the traps, and too bold to be intimidatedby their dead companions. I next caused some glass to be poundedvery fine, and mixed with oatmeal, which being distributed aboutthe garden, killed vast numbers of them. 

To prevent the bad effects of the grub-worm, I tried ashes, lye of ashes, and urine, but to no purpose, so that the womenwere kept constantly employed in picking them off the few plantswe had left. 

Out of six ewes which I brought to the island, five died withthe scab, notwithstanding every possible care was taken of them;and one of my sows was poisoned, by eating something noxious inthe woods. The remainder of my small stock was likely to do verywell: it consisted of two ewes, three sows, two boars, four hens, one cock, three ducks, one drake, and one goat. 

The sugar-cane, two Rio Janeiro banana trees, and two orangetrees, which I brought with me, were kept in tubs, until I shouldfind a sheltered situation to plant them in. The wind seemed nowto be set in from the southward, and the weather was very raw andcold, so that I called this the beginning of winter. Another ofmy sows was poisoned on the 24th, so that I found it necessary toconfine them in a hog-pen, which, in regard to feeding them, wasa great inconvenience, as they used to provide very well forthemselves in the woods; fortunately, however, a tree was foundwhich afforded them very good food: this tree grows to the heightof eighty feet, and the branches, which resemble those of thepalm-tree in their growth, fall off every year, leaving anindentation in the trunk. The leaves of these branches, which aretwelve in number, are much like the heath-fern, from whence thistree obtained the name of the fern-tree. The middle of the tree, from the root to the apex, consists of a white substanceresembling a yam, and when boiled, it tastes like a bad turnip;this the hogs fed on very eagerly: the outside of the trunk ishard wood, and full of regular indentations from the top to thebottom. The tree is found in great plenty in all parts of theisland. 

At the end of this month, I sent some of the people to assistMr. Altree, at the plantation in Arthur's Vale, which was thename I gave to the valley he had begun to clear; the rest wereemployed in clearing the ground at Mount George, except threemen, whom I set to dig a cellar under my house. 

On the 8th of May, the two sawyers, the carpenter, and threeconvicts were poisoned, by eating some beans, which had a verytempting appearance, and much resembled the Windsor bean: theyhad gathered a quantity, which were boiled, and afterwards friedwith butter: in two hours time, they were seized with violentgripings, retchings, and cold sweats; fortunately, I had a gallonof sweet oil, which, with other medicines administered by thesurgeon, happily gave them relief; but they were so much weakenedand exhausted that they were not able to work for a weekafterwards. 

For some time past, we had seen no turtle, and it was probablethat the cold weather had driven them to a warmer climate. 

As we could catch no fish from the shore, I launched the boaton the 9th, and sent her into the roads to fish; they returnedwith the boat in two hours, and brought thirty-six very finefish, weighing from six to eight pounds each: these I caused tobe issued out in lieu of salt provisions, at the rate of sixpounds of fish for one pound of beef. The boats grapnel was leftin the road, and being hooked in the rocks, we never could clearit. 

This ample supply of fish was a most fortunate event; yet theycould not be depended on as a constant resource; for sometimes itwould happen, that a boat could not go without the reef for afortnight together, on account of the very violent surf; but whena boat could be sent out, there was no danger of catching a vastquantity. 

On the 10th, I was obliged to inflict a punishment of fortylashes on one of the convicts, for making use of very threateningand seditious language. I had received orders from GovernorPhillip, to make a saving of the salt provisions, whenever fishor turtle could be obtained, in order that they might last aslong as possible: the putting this order in execution when theturtle were caught, produced murmuring; but, when the fish wasissued on the 9th, the convict who was punished, said, "thepeople (meaning those in the settlement) were fools for sufferingtheir salt provisions to be stopped, " and "that the convictswould soon be the strongest, and then it would be seen who weremasters. " As I thought this language deserved punishment, Iassembled the people, and pointed out to them, that, independentof the orders I had received, I saw the greatest necessity formaking every possible saving of the provisions: I represented tothem that misfortunes might happen to vessels, provisions mightget spoiled, and many other accidents might happen, which wouldrender it necessary for us to go to a short allowance; and, thatthe greater quantity of provisions which could be saved would beso much the better for the whole settlement: I concluded withassuring them, that I should invariably attend to my orders, andput them in execution; and that a very severe punishment would beinflicted on any who presumed to excite sedition, or behavedimproperly on that, or any other pretext. 

On our first landing, we found a great number of pigeons, which were so tame, that we knocked them down with sticks; butlatterly they quitted the low boughs, and generally harbouredabout the tops of the pines: when plucked and drawn, they weighedfrom three-quarters, to one pound each. The parrots are numerous, and the ugliest bird of the kind I ever heard of; this, added tothe harshness of their note, makes them a very disagreeable bird. The parroquets are entirely green, except a red tuft on theirhead. Hawks are numerous and of two different kinds, the grey andblue: they were great enemies to the young chickens, and it wasno unusual sight to see them take up the rats. Quails and curlewsare plentiful, but very shy. The owls, which have very handsomeplumage, make a noise like one man calling to another, and theypronounce the word "yaho" very distinctly. Many of the smallerbirds have a most melodious note, and their plumage is verybeautiful. 

There are also a species of birds which burrow in the groundlike rabbits, where they hatch their eggs, and rear their young:they are web-footed; which is rather extraordinary, and theirbill is like that of other sea-fowl; but they have not the leastfishy taste, and their flesh is very fine. These birds never quittheir holes till sun-set; from which time, until midnight, theair is full of them: they afforded us many fresh meals. 

I now set the two sawyers and two carpenters to work inbuilding houses; one man was employed in making a crab to heavethe boat by, another attended the live-stock, and the remainderwere busied in clearing ground at Mount George, and Arthur'sVale. 

By the 17th, the rain was almost incessant, and, as I hadevery reason to suppose it would continue so three or four monthslonger, which would endanger the health of those who lived intents; I caused the provisions to be removed from the store-houseto a cellar under my house, which was dry, and the stores I putinto a loft; and, as five men and three women lived at present intents, I put them into the store-house, until they could buildhuts for themselves. The whole settlement were now wellsheltered, except the surgeon and the midshipman; for whom Iproposed to begin a house immediately. 

On the 18th, the shell of my house was finished: itsdimensions were twenty-four feet long by twelve feet wide, andeight feet under the eaves: the sides and roof wereweather-boarded. 

I sent the boat out this afternoon, and she returned withfifty very fine fish, which were issued out as usual. 

I set out on the 19th, with an intention of tracing therivulet which runs through Arthur's Vale, to its source, andlikewise to examine the extent of the valley; but, afterwandering about the greatest part of the day, I returned back, much fatigued, and all the cloaths torn off my back by the briarsand the entangled state of the woods. 

Arthur's Vale is situated between the north side of MountGeorge and the opposite hills: its direction is aboutnorth-north-west into the interior part of the island. The bottomof this valley, in some places, is not more than thirty yardswide; in others, at least three hundred. The hills on each sideare cloathed with a thick forest; their ascent is not too steepfor cultivation, and the soil is excellent, being a fat brownearth. 

A very fine rivulet runs through this vale, sufficiently largeto turn any number of mills. As the bank of the sea-shore isconsiderably above the level of the rivulet, it sinks into theearth; and, after passing under the bank, it forces a passage foritself through a fissure of the rock, on Stony Beach and TurtleBay, between high and low water marks, where it boils up withgreat force, and is excellent water. As the whole of this wateris not carried off by the passage just mentioned, sufficient tokeep the low ground clear, what does not pass under the bank, overflows the lower part of the valley, for the space of half amile: this swamp might be drained by cutting a channel for therivulet to empty itself on the sea-shore; but the operation wouldrequire time and a number of hands, and, when finished, it is notclear but that the force of the sea would soon fill the channelup again. 

I cannot ascertain the length of this vale, but I think itruns as far as Mount Pitt, where, most probably, the rivulettakes its rise. That part of the vale which I have already saidMr. Altree was clearing, is half a mile from the settlement, neara large cluster of plantain trees; he transplanted some of theyoung suckers, an operation which was likely to improve themmuch: a garden, which measured ninety rods was planted, and mostof the plants were up and likely to do very well. The sugar-cane, orange trees, and Rio Janeiro plantains, which had hitherto beenkept in tubs, were now planted in the vale, and I had hopes theywould thrive, as the situation was well sheltered: I also planteda quantity of cotton seeds, as some which were sown when we firstcame on shore, rotted in the ground. 

The 1st of June, being Sunday, I performed divine service asusual. In the afternoon, I went in the boat, and attempted toland on Nepean Isle, on the south-west side of which is a smallcreek that goes in a considerable way, with a small sandy beachat the end of it; but as there was a number of rocks in thecreek, and a surf beating on the shore, I did not land. Thisisland is covered with pines, which grow at a distance from eachother: there is a reef off the south-east side, which stretchesnear a mile; within a ship's length of it, there is fourteenfathoms water, and nine fathoms all round the east side, withinhalf a mile of the shore. The passage between Point Hunter andNepean Island is a very good one, there being three fathoms closeto Nepean Isle, and eight fathoms in mid-channel. I sounded closealong the back of the reef which runs along Sydney-Bay, and foundfour fathoms within a ship's length of the reef. I returned atsun-set, having caught thirty-six very fine fish, which wereissued out as usual. 

I brought only five months bread and flour to the island, andit being now expended to three casks of each, which was twomonths bread at full allowance, and as I had near six months saltprovisions, I put myself and every person on the island totwo-thirds allowance of flour and bread on the 2d, until thearrival of more provisions. 

The 4th, being the anniversary of his Majesty's birth-day, Icaused it to be observed as a holiday. The colours were hoistedat sun-rise; every person had a good dinner, of the produce ofthe island, and I gave the convicts some liquor to drink theirsovereign's health: the evening concluded with bonfires, which, exclusive of the joy we felt at the return of his Majesty'sbirth-day, and the celebrating it in this distant part of theglobe, we with pleasure saw some large piles of wood burnt thathad been along time collecting, and which were a greatincumbrance to us. 

At day-light in the morning of the 15th, the midshipman andfour men went out in the boat to fish: they were returning atnine o'clock, and in passing the point of the reef, the fineweather, and the absence of surf, threw them so much off theirguard, that the boat shipped a sea which filled her, and washedJohn Batchelor, a marine, overboard: the boat, with the rest ofthe men, drove in among the rocks to the westward of thelanding-place, where they were saved with great difficulty, having received violent contusions. The boat was got round to thecrab and hove up; she was much damaged, and her repairs werelikely to take up a considerable time, as I had only two men whocould assist in this business. 

The wheat which was sown on the north-east side of MountGeorge, the 15th of June, being all rotten in the ground, except260 blades, which I transplanted and put together, that patch ofground was sown with barley on the 1st of July. The wheat had avery bad appearance when put into the ground, being much heatedand destroyed by the weevil. 

The labourers were employed the greatest part of this month inclearing away and turning up some ground near my house, for agarden; its size about thirty rods. The barley which was sown onthe 1st came up on the 10th, and every thing at the plantationhad a promising aspect. On the 15th, the last cask of beef andpork were opened, which would serve forty-four days at fullallowance; it therefore was my intention to put every person tohalf allowance on the 28th, should no provisions arise beforethat period. 

On the 17th, we had a most tremendous gale of wind from thenorthward, accompanied by a deluge of rain. The gales of windwere now very frequent from the south-west and north-west, but itseldom blew hard from the eastward. These gales generally happenabout the full and change of the moon, and continue three or fourdays. 

We planted upwards of one thousand cabbages on the 23d, andevery vegetable at the plantation was in a thriving state: we hadturneps, carrots, lettuces of three sorts, onions, leeks, parsley, cellery, five sorts of cabbages, corn sallad, artichokes, and beet in great forwardness; but there was reasonto fear that the potatoes and yams were quite destroyed by thegrub-worm. 

At five in the evening of the 26th, his Majesty's armed tenderthe Supply hove in sight, coming round Point Ross: she ran toleeward of this island, between Nepean and Phillip Isles, to rideout the gale, which blew very strong at west-south-west. Mr. Waterhouse, and a midshipman belonging to the Supply, arrived atthe settlement on the 27th, with my dispatches from the governor;they were sent by Lieutenant Ball, who landed them in Ball's Bay. I found the Supply had brought provisions, tools, and seeds ofvarious kinds for the settlement. I was informed by GovernorPhillip, that as the Sirius would go to the northward in themonth of September, he had deferred sending any more convictsuntil he heard my account of the island; and that if he thoughtit adviseable to send more settlers, they would be brought in theSirius, which ship he intended sending among the islands, toprocure stock for breeding. At day-light on the 28th, themidshipman returned to Ball Bay, in order to go on board theSupply. The labourers were employed in removing some large stonesfrom the landing-place, and making a road to roll up thecasks. 

I received a message from Lieutenant Ball on the 29th, intimating, that as the wind was southerly and blew strong, hemeant to anchor under the north-east part of the island; and as Iexpected he would anchor in Cascade Bay, I sent a man across theisland on the 30th with a letter for him. 

At ten in the morning of the 31st, the Supply's boat landedwith some light articles; Lieutenant Ball sent a carpenter in herto offer his assistance in building a convenient boat for the useof the settlement: I directed him to begin his work immediately, and set the sawyers to work in sawing plank for his use. Theother workmen were employed in turning up a piece of ground tosow two pecks of good seed wheat on, which came in theSupply. 

From the 1st to the 4th of August, the wind blew very strongfrom the southward, which prevented the Supply from coming onthat side of the island; but at sun-set on the 4th, the windveering to north-east, she came round Point Ross, and anchored inthe roads. The man whom I sent on the 30th of July across theisland to find the Supply, returned this day at noon, muchexhausted and fatigued: he had lost his way, and had been withoutfood for three days; fortunately, the Supply was standing in forthe shore and saw him, otherwise he must have perished. 

Landing was very safe in the afternoon of the 5th, and wereceived on shore a part of the provisions and stores. 

At day-light in the morning of the 6th, we hoisted the coloursas a signal that the landing was safe, and at seven o'clock thecolours were struck half staff, this being the signal thatlanding was dangerous, the surf having considerably increasedwith the flowing tide. At half past seven the Supply weighed, andsoon afterwards she hove to and hoisted her boats out, and sentthem towards the shore. I perceived her small boat was determinedto come in, and being apprehensive that some accident mighthappen, I ordered Mr. Cunningham (the mate) into our boat, withfour men, to lie within the point of the reef, in order to assistthe Supply's boat, should any misfortune happen to her. 

Unfortunately, our boat was swept away to the westward by thetide, and whilst they were endeavouring to get under the point ofthe reef again a heavy surf broke on her broad side and oversether. The anguish I felt at this shocking accident may be moreeasily conceived than described: small as our numbers werebefore, they were now decreased by the loss of Mr. Cunningham, (whom I sincerely cherished as a good young man) the sawyer, andone of the best of the convicts; a seaman belonging to the Supplywas also drowned, and another convict narrowly escaped the samesate. Immediately after this dreadful misfortune the Supply'sjolly-boat landed with three casks of flour, and as the largeboat was coming near the shore, I ordered some musquets to befired, on which she returned on board: the Supply bore up, andran to leeward of the island. At one o'clock, there beingscarcely any surf, the jolly-boat went off, and ran to leeward ofthe island, to get on board the brig. 

On the 7th, I was obliged to punish one of the convicts withthirty-six lashes, for stealing a hatch of eggs from under a henwhich was sitting on them. 

At day-light on the 8th, the Supply anchored in the road, andthe landing being good, we received part of the provisions andstores; the remainder were landed on the 10th. 

Our new boat being finished, I sent the carpenter and Mr. Waterhouse on board the Supply, in the morning of the 11th, withmy letters for the Governor; and soon afterwards she hoisted hercolours, and set sail for Port Jackson. 

I received from Governor Phillip seventeen queries, which, with my answers to them, are as follow:

Query 1. In what time do you think the island will be able tosupport the people you have with you, independent of suppliesfrom this settlement?

Answer. From the excellence of the soil, and the presentappearances, the island will produce more than a sufficiency ofgrain in two years: animal food depends on the supply andbreeding of stock; and cloathing on the flax-plant being broughtto work. 

Q. 2. Do you wish to have more people sent you, and whatnumber of men and women do you wish to have in addition to thoseyou have already. 

Ans. With twenty more men, and women in proportion exclusive, I should be able to make a little progress in clearing andcultivating the ground. 

Q. 3. In what time do you think the island will be able tomaintain the additional number of people you wish to have sentyou?

Ans. I think in two years, but in three at most, as answeredby the first question. 

Q. 4. What ground have you in cultivation?

Ans. Two acres and an half in barley, and one acre in gardenground: in September I shall have an acre in Indian corn andrice. 

Q. 5. Have you discovered the flax-plant?

Ans. Yes: some bundles of the flax-plant which I put intowater on the 17th of March were taken up the 27th of July, whenwe found that the thick vegetable of the fibres had rotted away, but still they were covered with an hard woody substance, fromwhich we have ineffectually tried to separate the flaxy part, which I have no doubt would make good cordage, canvas, and linen, as it appears to be of a fine and strong texture. Some lines weremade of it, which were tolerably strong and good; but the want ofa method to separate the woody part from the flax, will be agreat hindrance to its being made useful. 

Q. 6. How many acres of clear ground have you found in theisland?

Ans. Not a yard square. 

Q. 7. Have you any place round the island at which a vessel ofthirty or forty tons can remain at anchor in security all theyear round?

Ans. None; without removing to the lee side of the island asthe wind changes. Anchorage is good all round the island, as thebottom is a coral sand: at about two miles from the land thecircular depth is twenty-two fathoms. An harbour might be made bycutting a channel through the reef about four hundred feet long, but it would be necessary to blow up some sunken rocks tofacilitate the entry: if it should ever be thought proper to dothis, five vessels of seven feet draught might lie all the yearround in security within the reef: they will not be able to enterbut in the finest weather, with the wind from north-east tonorth-west, and then they must warp in: perhaps less difficultywill be found when I am informed of the state of the weatherduring the Summer months. 

Q. 8. How far will it be possible to load any ship hereafterwith spars for ships of the line; I mean with respect to thegreat difficulty, I am told, there is to land any thing on theisland, or to take any thing off?

Ans. I cannot answer this question so fully as I could wish, until I am acquainted with the state of the weather during thesummer months. In fine weather, with the wind at north-east, spars of any dimensions may be sent off from Sydney-Bay, bymooring a boat without the reef, and hauling the spars off. Ihave great reason to suppose anchorage will be very safe offSydney-Bay in the summer. I think vessels might be built andlaunched in Ball-Bay; and when the flax-plant can be brought towork, cordage and sails can be made of the finest and strongestsort. 

Q. 9. How does your stock thrive, and what does the islandproduce?

Ans. Of the stock I brought with me, five ewes are dead withthe scab, and two sows poisoned: the rest are all very thrivingand likely to do well. The productions of the island, are timberfor the construction of vessels, pines for masting them, and, when the flax-plant can be worked, a sufficiency of cordage forthe navy of Great-Britain, which needs no cultivation, as theisland abounds with it, and fresh leaves shoot from the roots. Pigeons, parrots, parroquets, and other birds, are in abundance;the sea abounds with fish, and probably we may have turtle duringthe summer months. A number of banana trees have been found onthe island. 

Q. 10. What live stock do you wish to have sent you?

Ans. Stock of any kind would be acceptable for breeding. Ihave no she-goats. The leaves of the trees and underwood, affordample and wholesome food for many animals, and the fern-tree, which is very plentiful, is very good food for hogs. 

Q. 11. Are those who are with you satisfied, or do they wishto be relieved?

Ans. Every one is satisfied, and no person wishes to berelieved. 

Q. 12. What weather have you in general?

Ans. During the months of March and April, we had very fineweather; since when, it has been variable; and when the wind hasbeen at south, and south-west, the air was raw and cold. The fulland change of the moon has generally been accompanied with veryheavy gales of wind and torrents of rain, from the north-east, orsouth-west, both of which have been very violent at times. Wehave had no thunder or lightning, nor ice. 

Q. 13. What are the prevailing winds?

Ans. The winds have been variable: westerly winds appear to bemost frequent during the winter, and I have great reason tosuppose easterly winds are constant during the summer. 

Q. 14. Have you been at the small islands?

Ans. I have been round Nepean Island once, but could not landon it, the wind being westerly, which made a great break in thesmall sandy bay which lies on the south-west side of that isle. My not having men to row, and the uncertainty of the weather, hasprevented my going to Phillip isle. 

Q. 15. Are there any animals on the island, and of what kindare they?

Ans. None but rats, which are distructive, and have been verynumerous; but now they are much thinned. 

Q. 16. Have you found any lime or chalk stone?

Ans. None. 

Q. 17. Have you been supplied with fish?

Ans. Fish in great numbers, and of a large size, abound allround the island. Some turtle were caught soon after I landed, but the approach of cold weather drove them off. I have not beenable to send the boat off so often as I wished, not having men torow, but when she has gone out, a plentiful supply of fish hasbeen obtained. 

* * *

At sun-rise on the 12th of August, we hoisted the colours, inobservance of the birth-day of his Royal Highness the Prince ofWales; and the same day a rood and an half of ground was sownwith a peck of seed wheat, which I received by the Supply. 

From this time till the 17th, every person was employed inclearing a piece of ground to sow the remainder of the seedwheat, which was brought by the Supply; and this being completed, I sent the labourers to clear away, turn up, and plant half anacre of ground in Arthur's Vale, with Indian corn. 

The frequent accidents which had happened to boats here, mademe anxious to search for a better landing place, or a place wherelanding might be practicable, when the surf ran too high to landin Sydney-Bay; and Lieutenant Ball having mentioned one as likelyin Cascade-Bay, on the north side of the island, I set out atday-light in the morning, taking three men along with me, insearch of it; proposing, at the same time, to examine Ball-Bay inmy road. I left the surgeon commanding officer at the settlement, and I cannot help testifying the great satisfaction I felt athaving a person of his character, to superintend the work in myabsence, and his steadiness and general knowledge, made him avaluable associate. After climbing and descending a number ofsteep hills, and cutting our way through the thick woods whichcovered some small plains, we arrived at a gully to the westwardof Ball-Bay, about eleven o'clock; from whence we walked round tothe bay by the sea-shore, it being low water. 

The distance between the two points of Ball-Bay is about amile and a half; it goes in west-north-west, and is nearly a miledeep. At the distance of two hundred yards from the shore, thebay is entirely surrounded with steep hills, except in thecenter, where there is a valley, down which, a stream of freshwater runs, and empties itself on the beach. The sides of thesehills are cloathed with pines and the flax-plant; the beach iscovered with large round stones, under which is a hard bottom, formed by the incrustation of sand and shells. The wind being nowat south-south-east, there was not the least surf on the beach;and I apprehend, that when the wind blows from the south-west, which makes very bad landing in Sydney-Bay, the landing is verygood here; so that, should I not find Cascade-Bay a more eligibleplace than this, it was my intention to make a creek on thebeach, by removing the stones for the breadth of twenty feet, until the bottom is clear, and as they are very heavy, I do notthink it would be liable to fill up again. 

I passed the remainder of the day here, and slept under a tentwhich I had brought with me. The next morning at day-light, weset out from Ball-Bay in order to go to Cascade-Bay, on the northside of the island, which is not more than three miles distant, yet we did not arrive there before five o'clock in the afternoon, quite exhausted and fatigued; having been under the necessity ofcutting our way through the entangled underwood, whichintercepted us in every direction. 

The landing place mentioned by Lieutenant Ball, is on a rock, a little detached from the island, and has communication with itat half tide: there is no objection to this being a very goodlanding place, if it were not for the almost total impossibilityof getting any article of provisions or stores further than therock, which is at least three hundred yards from the valley thatleads down to it. Between this rock and the cascade, there is astony beach, similar to that at Ball-Bay, on which landing isvery good, with southerly winds, and they generally prevailduring the winter. Spars might be sent off from hence with greatease; but should the island remain settled, it will be necessaryto make the landing at this place more convenient than it is atpresent. We passed the night in the valley above the cascade:this valley is extensive, and a very large deep rivulet runsthrough it. 

At day-light on the 19th, we set out on our return toSydney-Bay, where we arrived at four in the afternoon, withscarcely a rag to cover ourselves, the cloaths being torn off ourbacks by the briars. 

I observed the soil to be very good in every part of theisland I visited during the excursion, and it was well watered;but the woods were almost impassable. There is a deal of levelground on the tops of the hills, and most of them will admit ofcultivation; and where they are too steep for that purpose, thetimber which grows on them might he reserved for fuel. 

The wheat which we had sown on the 12th and 17th, was all outof the ground by the 24th, and had a very promisingappearance. 

Early in the morning of the 25th, the surgeon, with six men, went to Ball-Bay, to make a commencement on the creek; taking aweek's provisions and four tents along with them. 

I visited this party on the 27th, and found they had made goodprogress, considering that their labour was greatly retarded byneap tides, and an easterly wind, which threw a great surf uponthe beach. 

The surgeon and his party returned on the 30th, and the nextmorning, at day-light, I set out, with some men, to see whatfurther could be effected: we got to the bay by half past eighto'clock, and found the tides of the preceding day had thrown anumber of loose small stones into the cut. As the tide ebbed, Idirected the labourers to clear away a number of large stoneswhich lay in the entrance of the cut; and at low water, all thestones were removed as far out as possible, which was compleatedat five o'clock in the afternoon. The out was about three feetdeep, and at half tide there was upwards of six feet at theentrance: with any other wind than between south-west andnorth-west, there is a surf on the beach, which often breaks withso much violence, as to render any attempt to land highlydangerous. As I found every thing done at this place, which couldbe effected with the small number of men I had, we returned toSydney-Bay on the 3d. 

Hitherto, the people on the settlement had not done much workfor themselves; and, all the good seed of Indian corn being sown, I gave every person liberty from this time till the 14th, toclear away their gardens, and sow them. For four days past, asingle turtle had been observed on the beach; I was loath to turnit, hoping it would draw others on, but finding that did nothappen, it was turned on the 6th day, and brought to thesettlement, where it was served out as usual. 

This turtle had been recently wounded between the shoulderswith a kind of peg; which circumstance, together with some piecesof canoes, a wooden image resembling a man, and a freshcocoa-nut, found in Ball-Bay, induced me to suppose that there isa considerable island undiscovered, not far from the eastward ofNorfolk-Island. The Indian-corn sown during the last and presentmonth, was now all up, and likely to do well. 

I set off at day-light in the morning of the 15th, and went tothe western or rocky point. The entangled state of the woods onthis part of the island, were worse, if possible, than any whereelse, but the soil and general appearance was much the same. FromPoint-Ross to Rocky-Point, the shore is inaccessible; consistingaltogether of steep cliffs, which rise perpendicular from thesea. I returned at sun-set, much fatigued, and my cloaths, asusual on these excursions, were torn from my back. 

As the houses and tents were surrounded by a thick wood, I setthe men to make an opening to the sea-side, by cutting down thetrees and piling up the timber. 

In the course of this month, we saw a great number of whalesand thrashers, some of which came close to the reef: indeed, onour first landing here, I found the entire skeletons of twowhales, which had every appearance of having been driven onshore, and the flesh destroyed by rats and birds. 

On counting some of the plants of barley, I found one grainproduced 124 stalks; this pleasing prospect induced me to setabout building a granary of eighteen feet long by twelve feetwide; and I set the sawyers and carpenters to work in sawing woodfor that purpose: some of the labourers were ordered to assistthem in placing the granary on posts, others were employed inmaking shingles to cover it with, and the rest were digging acellar under the surgeon's house, for stowing provisions: thewomen were employed in picking grubs off the Indian corn. 

In the beginning of October, we found a sensible alteration inthe weather, it being very warm, except the mornings andevenings, which were still cold: gales of wind were lessfrequent, and the landing was better in general than it had beenfor two months back. Some heavy rain fell on the 3d, which lodgedthe barley, that had been some time in ear, and the rats got toit, so that our return was likely to be but small. 

The Indian corn, which was about eight inches high, sufferedgreatly from the grub-worm, which got into the plant and cut itoff close to the ground, destroying forty or fifty plants in thecourse of one night, which obliged me to keep the womenconstantly employed in picking them off: every other remedy wastried; such as sprinkling ashes, and lye of ashes round theroots, but with no good effect. 

I made an excursion to Mount Pitt in the morning of the 4th, and arrived there at noon: from the top of this mount, I had acomplete view of the whole island, and a part of its sea-coast. The whole exhibited a picturesque scene of luxuriant naturalfertility, being one continued thick wood, and I found the soilevery where excellent. Within a mile of the summit of Mount Pitt, the ground, which is a red earth, was full of very large holes, and I fell into one of them at every step, as they were concealedby the birds making their burrows aslant. Near the summit of themount, there grew a number of very large pines, which I wassurprised at; it is indeed wonderful how they can withstand theviolent gales of wind which often blow here. 

On the 13th, at day-light, we saw the Golden-Grove transportlying at an anchor in the road, and soon afterwards, Mr. Donovan, a midshipman belonging to the Sirius, came on shore, anddelivered the governor's letters: by this gentleman I alsoreceived a letter from Mr. Blackburn, the master of the Supply, informing me that he sailed from Port Jackson on the 24th ofSeptember, being ordered by Governor Phillip to conduct thetransport to this island; that he had brought Mr. Donovan, aserjeant, a corporal, and five private marines, two gardeners, who were seamen belonging to the Sirius, and twenty-one men andeleven women convicts; also the Supply's jolly-boat and boat'screw, to assist in unloading the Golden-Grove. 

In the course of the 15th, we received on shore the party ofmarines and all the convicts; also most of the stores, and someprovisions. The next day we landed 56 casks of flour, and 18casks of salt provisions, besides a quantity of stores. 

This day I turned a turtle, which weighed 200 pounds. 

Towards evening, the Golden-Grove weighed, and stood off andon during the night. Ever since her arrival the weather had beenfine, and not the least surf. 

Chapter XIII

TRANSACTIONS AT NORFOLK ISLAND

October 1788 to February 1789

-Quantity of provisions received by the GoldenGrove. --Timber sent to Port Jackson. --Observations on thenavigation near Norfolk Island. --Number of persons on thesettlement. --Nepean and Phillip Islands described. --Cornreaped. --A party sent to Ball Bay. --Talk-work of theconvicts. --The free people exercised. --Plot to seize the islanddiscovered. --Orders made public for the preservation ofregularity. --Oath of allegiance administered. --Provisions andstores examined. -

The flood tide running strong all the morning of the 16th, andthe wind being to the eastward, prevented the Golden Grove fromworking up; and though she fetched Point Ross in the afternoon, the flood making, she was swept to leeward. 

Having received instructions from Governor Phillip to send allthe useful timber I conveniently could to Port Jackson, I set themen to work in cutting spars, and sawing boards for that purpose. At day-light in the morning of the 17th, the Golden Grove stoodinto the road and anchored, but the surf ran so high that noboats could pass before low water, which was at three in theafternoon, when I sent the Coble off; but as the surf increased, I made the signal for her to be hoisted in, and soon afterwardsthe transport got under weigh. 

The next forenoon, the coble came on shore, and soonafterwards the Golden Grove anchored in the road. The sameafternoon we landed eighteen casks of flour, and ten of saltprovisions. 

Landing was very good until the evening of the 21st, andduring that time we received the whole of the stores andprovisions from the Golden Grove: I also received two sows andfourteen young pigs belonging to the crown, and a she-goat, whichwas the property of Mr. Collins, the judge-advocate. Theprovisions received were--one hundred and twenty-six barrels offlour, thirty-nine tierces of beef and twenty-two tierces ofpork, twenty-three firkins of butter, thirty-three casks of peas, and five puncheons of rum, which were about seventeen monthsprovisions at the following ratio:--For one man for a week, flour, seven pounds: beef, three pounds and a half: pork, twopounds: butter, six ounces: peas, three pints. For one woman fora week, flour, four pounds and a half: beef, two pounds and aquarter: pork, one pound and a quarter: butter, four ounces:peas, two pints. It should be observed, that the above ratio wasfull avoirdupoise weight, without any deduction whatever. 

During the night of the 22d, we had very strong gales of wind, and at day-light, I perceived the Golden Grove had left the road;I afterwards learnt that she parted her cable at ten o'clock, andwas not more than her own length to windward of the reef of rockswhich lie off the south-east end of Nepean Island in passingit. 

From this time to the 28th, we had only three days goodlanding, during which a number of spars and planks were sent onboard the Golden Grove, for Port Jackson. Previous to thedeparture of that vessel, I wrote a letter to Mr. Blackburn, requesting him to communicate his remarks on the navigation roundthese islands; as he had a better opportunity of making himselfacquainted with it than I possibly could have, to which hereturned the following answer; and, from the abilities of thisofficer, I believe his observations are very accurate. 

"North-north-west, about five miles from Duncombe Bay, thereis a bank of coarse sand and coral, with sixteen and seventeenfathoms on it, between which and the anchoring place there aretwenty-five fathoms: there are also soundings north-east fromPhillip Isle, from thirty-five to twenty-five fathoms at leastfour leagues off; at which distance it is foulest and shoallest. The bearings, when at anchor in Duncombe Bay, were Cook's rockseast-south-east, and the rocks off Point Howe, west-south-westone quarter west, the landing rock south, distance off one mile;the depth nineteen fathoms, coarse sand and coral. The bestanchorage in the Cascade Bay is with the great cascadesouth-west, and Cook's Point north-east; distance off shore abouta mile and a half; the ground tolerably good. Cascade Bay is avery good road in the strong south-west wind, and very smoothwater; the landing is easy, as is the access to the island. Asthe ebb goes very strong nine hours to the eastward, the mostconvenient place for anchoring off Sydney Bay, on account of theboats, is, with the body of Nepean's Isle east-north-east halfeast, or east by north; the flag-staff north-north-east halfeast, Point Ross north-west by west, and the west end of PhillipIsle south-south-east nineteen fathoms; _but here the ground isrocky:_ the best anchoring is with the middle of Nepean Isleeast-north-east half east, the west end of Phillip Isle south byeast, the outermost breaker off Point Ross north-west by westhalf west, the flag-staff north by east half east, and Collins'sHead north-east by east half east, seventeen fathoms clearground. 

"The tides round the island are very strong, and from theobservations I have been able to make, and the difficulty wealways found in the Supply of getting from Cascade Bay round toSydney Bay, (which ever end of the island we tried at) I haveevery reason to believe that the flood sets south-south-west, andthe ebb north-north-east: it flows about seven o'clock all roundthe island: now as the ebb runs nine hours north-north-east, itstrikes directly against Rocky Point, which divides the tide, theeastern part runs with rapidity through the islands, and thenresumes its former course of north-north-east: the other partgoes north-north-west past Anson Bay, round the west end of theisland, and then north-north-east; so that in coming from thenorth side of the island (unless the wind gives aslant) you havethe tide right a-head which-ever end of the island you attempt toget round. As to the flood it runs but three hours, and withlittle strength. "

The master of the Golden Grove's observations, which Irequested him to communicate to me, are as follow:--"The floodcomes directly from the south-east, strikes in with Ball Bay, andsets up through between the islands: the other part, as itdivides itself, sets round the north-east part of the island; sothat a ship coming round from Cascade Bay, can never work up withthe wind to the southward and westward, as both tides take herdirectly on the weather bow. From what I have seen of Ball Bay, Iby no means like it; my reason is, it is a bay that a ship cannever get out of with an _in-blowing wind_, and I do notthink it a safe one to ride in: the Cascade Bay I give much thepreference to, as it can hardly happen but a ship can get to seaon one tack or another, and ride in very smooth water at anchor. I could load the Golden Grove very well with timber or masts, taking the advantage of the winds in Cascade and Sydneybays. "

As I was very much in want of a carpenter, a man who had beendischarged from the Sirius, and was on board the Golden Grove asa sailor, offered to remain on the island on any terms, but Icould make no agreement with him, not being impowered to take anystep of that kind; I therefore informed him, that if he chose toremain he must take it on himself: this he with great readinessconsented to, and I found him a great acquisition. 

The Golden Grove sailed for Port Jackson on the 29th. 

As an encouragement to the convicts who came by the GoldenGrove, I gave them from the time of their landing until the 30thto build houses for themselves, and to clear away a little gardenground. The huts were very soon built, being composed of logs, and thatched with bullrushes and flaggs, which made them verycomfortable; and as a farther encouragement, I gave some of them(who had the best characters) permission to build their houses inthe vale, and to clear away ground near them for their ownuse. 

The settlement now consisted of the following persons, viz. 

Mr. Stephen Dunnavan, midshipman of the Sirius 1Mr. Thomas Jamieson, surgeon's first mate of ditto 1Mr. John Altree, assistant-surgeon 1Roger Morley, Robert Webb, Thomas Webb, seamen belonging to ditto 3John Livington, carpenter, late belonging to ditto 1Serjeant, corporal, six private marines 8 16 free. Male convicts 29Female convicts 17The total number, besides two children, 62

Soon after the departure of the Golden Grove, I made publicthe following extract from Governor Phillip's letter to me:--

"You will return any marine, convict, or other person, withwhose conduct you are not satisfied; and you are at liberty topermit those, whose good behaviour merits the indulgence, to workone day in the week on lots of land, one or two acres of groundto a convict, which you will cause to be pointed out for thatpurpose, and which they may consider as their own property whilethey behave well; after the time for which they are sentenced mayexpire, lands will be granted them, if they wish to remain assettlers, and you may give them such part of the public stock tobreed from, as you may judge proper, forbidding any person on theisland ever to sell any fowl, hog, or any other animal, withouthaving first obtained your permission; and you are not to permitthe killing of any live stock until you have a sufficientquantity on the island for your support, except in cases ofsickness. 

"You will make the report to me, when opportunity offers, ofsuch who are not convicts, and who are desirous of settling onthe island; and you are at liberty to permit them to cultivateground for their own benefit, not exceeding ten acres to any oneperson; they will receive the indulgence of such part of the livestock as you may judge necessary to give them, but neithersettler, nor any other person on the island, is to be at libertyto kill any animal without having obtained your permission. Hereafter, grants will be made to those who wish to remain on theisland, of a larger extent of ground. "

During the month of November, the weather was very warm, except four days, when we had strong gales of wind from thesouthward, which made it as cold as winter. 

On the 14th, I planted about thirty rod of ground with Indiancorn: some which had been planted in September was now five feethigh, and the wheat grew so very rank that I was obliged to cropit. 

I went out in the coble on the 22d, and sounded between PointHunter and Nepean Isle: there is a good channel, and there arenot less than three fathoms close to Point Hunter; and on thenorth side of Nepean Isle in mid-channel, there are eight fathomswater. 

On the 29th, I landed on Nepean Island, and found it toconsist entirely of one mass of sand, held together by thesurrounding cliffs, which are a border of hard rocks:notwithstanding there was not the least appearance of earth ormould on the island, yet there were upwards of two hundred veryfine pines growing on it; the surface was covered with a kind ofcoarse grass. 

The weather being now very hot, I changed the working hours, and gave the labourers from half past ten o'clock until half pasttwelve, to avoid the heat of the sun: they were employed inclearing ground for cultivation, making shingles, cutting a roadfrom the settlement to Ball Bay, and reaping wheat andbarley. 

The heat of the sun split the weather boarding with which myhouse was covered; and it being very leaky, I fet the carpentersand sawyers to work to put a new roof on, and to raise the housefive feet, in order to make room for stores and provisions. 

At day-light in the morning of the 2d of December, I went inthe coble to Phillip Isle, where I landed on a rock, in a smallbay on the north side. It was with difficulty that I ascended thefirst hills, which were covered with a sharp long grass that cutlike a knife; this was interspersed with brushwood. The soil is alight red earth, and was so full of holes, which had been made bythe birds, that walking was very laborious. A small valley runsthe whole length of the island, in which, and on some of thehills, a few pines grow, but I think the whole island does notproduce more than one hundred and fifty. I found no fresh wateron the island, but probably there may be some, as I saw a numberof hawks, pigeons, and parrots; but as I had only two convicts torow the boat, I left the island, and got to Sydney Bay in theevening. 

On the 8th, I housed all the barley which had been raised onan acre of ground, and was sown in June and July. During thefirst of its growth, it had a most promising appearance, but whenthe ear was shot and nearly filled, some heavy rains in Septemberlaid a great part of it down, and the quantity destroyed by therats and quails was almost incredible: there was every prospectof getting at least fifty bushels of grain, but the wholequantity, when gleaned, yielded only ten bushels. The barley wasvery fine, and 116 ears were produced from one grain. Gardenvegetables throve very well, and cabbages were cut weighingtwenty-six pounds each. I have no doubt but potatoes would thrivevery well here; unfortunately, we had only two sets on theisland, which were brought by the Golden Grove. Most of themarines and convicts had now very good gardens, but the grub-wormwas a great and perpetual enemy to their vegetables. 

It has already been observed, that 260 plants of wheat weretransplanted the beginning of June; these were threshed on the15th, and the produce was three quarts of a very fine fullgrain. 

The weather often was very favourable for landing inSydney-Bay, and the boat was frequently sent out; but the surfoften rose presently afterwards which made it dangerous for herto come on shore, so that she was obliged to go to Ball Bay, andmen were sent from the settlement to haul her up, whichoccasioned a great loss of time: I therefore resolved to send Mr. Altree, who was a very trusty young man, a gardener, and oneconvict, together with three women to remain there, as they wouldnot only cultivate the ground in the valley, but would, at alltimes, be ready to assist in hauling the boat up. 

This party went to Ball-Bay on the 18th, where they foundlanding as fine as could be wished, though the surf ran very highin Sydney-Bay; the wind being at south, and blowing hard. 

Some wheat was reaped on the 22d, which had been sown on the11th of August: the grain was very full and fine, but as it wassown late the stock was not so fine as might have beenexpected. 

The 25th, being Christmas-day, it was observed as a holyday. The colours were hoisted at sun-rise: I performed divine service;the officers dined with me, and I gave each of the convicts halfa pint of rum, and double allowance of beef, to celebrate thefestival: the evening concluded with bonfires, which consisted oflarge piles of wood, that had been previously collected for theoccasion. Spring-tides were now at the height, and I sent everyperson on the 26th to Ball-Bay to make the cut deeper, and toclear away some stones which were washed into it. The wheat whichwas sown the latter end of August, was reaped on the 29th, andthe Indian corn was nearly fit for the sickle. 

I now began to perceive a very great difference between thework done since the arrival of the convicts by the Golden-Grove, and what was done before, in proportion to our numbers; thereason was, that when the number of convicts was increased, I hadnot persons sufficient to overlook them and keep them at work: Itherefore adopted the plan of talking them; for which purpose Iconsulted those whom I thought conversant in the differentemployments that were carrying on; and their opinions, added towhat I had observed myself, determined me to six the differenttasks as follow, with which they were all contented. Six men wereto cut the timber down on an acre of ground in one week: six mento clear away and turn up an acre of ground fit for receivingseed, in twenty-eight days: two sawyers to saw one hundred feetof sawing each day. At these tasks the convicts would have anopportunity of saving time to themselves; and, as that time wasto be employed in clearing gardens and ground to cultivate fortheir own use, what was thus saved from the public work would notbe lost to society; although it was to be feared that some wouldpass their time in idleness. 

Having six musquets on the island, exclusive of the marinesarms, I thought it necessary to instruct the few free persons Ihad (which were six) in the use of fire-arms, in case the marinesshould be sick, or any other exigency should happen; I thereforegave orders to Mr. Dunavan to exercise them every Saturdaymorning; and the serjeant was to exercise the marines at the sametime, or oftener: I intended that the former, after they were alittle expert, should fire half a dozen rounds once a month. 

I went in the boat on the 5th, and examined the north and westside of the island, which I found every where surrounded byperpendicular cliffs. I landed on the beach in Anson's-Bay, whereI found the remains of a canoe, which had been washed there bythe tide; a very good cocoa-nut was also found. This beach isvery small, and appeared to be a mere quicksand; there is nofresh water near it, and the bay is surrounded by steep hills, onwhich there grows a quantity of the flax-plant. 

The 8th ushered a male child into the world, and as he was thefirst born on the island, he was baptized by the name of Norfolk. At noon on the 15th, parties were sent out in search of thecockswain of the coble, who had lost himself in the woods, as hewas returning from Ball-Bay, where the boat had been hauled upthe preceding day at sun-set: he was found on the 18th, naked andalmost exhausted, insomuch that he was obliged to be carried tothe settlement, having received several deep cuts and bruiseswhich rendered him incapable of getting out of his bed for sometime. 

Thomas Watts, a convict, was punished with twenty-four lashes, on the 19th, for contemptuously refusing to work, and beingabusive to the corporal of marines, who reprimanded him for notgoing to work with the rest of the convicts. 

The weather, during this month, was very fine and settled, andthe wind northerly until the 22d; from which time to the end ofthe month, we had constant heavy rain, without an hour's intervalof dry weather: such a continuance of rainy weather I never heardof, and it was frequently attended with heavy gales of wind fromthe north-east. 

In consequence of some irregularities which had happened, Ifound it necessary to assemble all the free people on the 23d, and to read the articles of war. 

The next day, Robert Webb, a seaman belonging to the Sirius, but who was employed as a gardener on the island, came to me, andsignified a wish to speak with me in private, which beinggranted, he informed me that a plan had been concerted among theconvicts, to surprize me, with the rest of the officers, marines, and free people; and to possess themselves of the public stores, and afterwards to endeavour to surprize the Supply, or any othervessel that might come here, and make their escape from theisland. On my interrogating him, he said that Elizabeth Anderson, a female convict, who lived with him, had given him thisinformation the day before, and on his doubting the truth of whatshe advanced, she offered to convince him of the truth of herassertion, by bringing him within hearing of a convict whom shewould entice to relate the plan; which being agreed to by Webb, this morning (the 23d. ) Elizabeth Anderson invited WilliamFrancis (a convict) into the hut, to drink a dram, when herelated the circumstances of the plan, and how it was to becarried into execution; Webb being at this time hid from the viewof Francis, by a piece of tent which was hung before the bed helay in. 

As I thought it necessary to substantiate this information, Icaused Robert Webb and Elizabeth Anderson to be kept apart, andtook their depositions on oath separately, both of whichperfectly agreed in every particular, and were in substance asfollow:

"That yesterday (the 22d. ) between nine in the morning andnoon, Elizabeth Anderson being washing, she sighed, when WilliamFrancis, who stood near her, asked what she sighed for; sheanswered, she was very low; William Francis then asked her, ifshe could get her liberty, whether she would leave Webb, and onher saying yes, he said, the first ship that comes here, exceptthe Sirius, we will every man and woman have our liberty, towhich we were all sworn last Saturday; and we (the convicts)would have had it already, if the Sirius was not the first shipexpected, and the day that Watts was flogged was intended to havebeen the day for making Mr. King and the free peopleprisoners. "

Francis added, "that it was proposed to take the Golden-Groveon her passage, as they (the convicts) were all for it, exceptone man, and he was the forwardest in the present plot. RobertWebb appearing, put an end to this conversation; and ElizabethAnderson repeated to Webb all that passed between her andFrancis: on Robert Webb's suspecting the story being an inventionof hers; they agreed that he should lie concealed in the bed, which had a curtain made of a piece of tent, while she shouldendeavour to draw from Francis a fuller account of the plan laidby him and the rest of the convicts; and this morning (the 23d. )at day-light, Robert Webb being still in bed, Elizabeth Andersongot up, and on seeing Francis near the hut, she wished him the'good morrow, ' and informed him that Webb was gone to town togrind his tools; she then said, 'come Bill, sit down and drink alittle rum, it will do us both good, and drink to the boys of theship that will take us from this place:' to which health theyboth drank. Elizabeth Anderson then asked Francis how long it wassince they (the convicts) had planned the scheme; he said theywere all sworn on this Saturday month past, at Thompson's, in thevale, excepting Widdicome and Rice, (convict rope-makers, ) whowere Mr. King's right-hand men, and therefore not to be trusted:Lucas (the convict carpenter) had not been asked, but they weresure he would be on their side, when they (the convicts) got theday. 

"Francis continued saying, 'I'll tell you how it is to bedone; the whole is left to my management, and the best time willbe the first Saturday after the arrival of any other vessel thanthe Sirius. Most of the marines and free people will bea-cabbaging*, and as Mr. King generally goes to the farm twice aday, in his absence I will step into his house and hand out thearms** to my men; then I will go out and take Mr. King, and afterthat the other officers, and what marines are in camp, and therest as they come in from cabbaging: we will then put them all inirons, two and two together, when they will be as helpless asbees. We will then make the signal for a boat, and when shelands, we'll _nab_ the boat's crew; then send the coble offwith Mr. King's compliments, and request another boat may be sentto carry off plank, as the first boat was stove, and the coblecould not carry luggage: when the second boat comes, the peoplebelonging to it will be _nabbed_, and the two boats with thecoble will be filled with our people (the convicts) and thewomen, and take possession of the ship. Three of the sailorsmight remain, if they were willing, and one officer should bekept to navigate the ship; the rest of the officers and ship'scompany will be left on Nepean or Phillip-Island, with the coble, from whence they might go to Norfolk-Island and liberate thecommandant. 

[* Getting the wood-cabbages. ]

[** The marines arms were kept in myhouse. ]

"Elizabeth Anderson then expressed her wishes that it mightsucceed, and Francis left her. "

The taking Webb and Anderson's depositions, and interrogatingthem, took up two hours; and it being Saturday, most of theconvicts were out getting cabbages: there was a possibility thatthe accusation against William Francis might be an invention;yet, having received that information, it became necessary to useevery precaution against a surprize; I therefore ordered aconstant guard of three privates, to be commanded by Mr. Dunavan, the serjeant, and corporal, and a guard-house was built betweenmy house and the surgeon's, in which the provisions and storeswere deposited. The store-house occupied by the marines, Iremoved from the water side nearer to my house. Every person, without exception, was ordered to live in the town, or camp, andI recalled the party who had been sent to Ball-Bay. 

Being still desirous to obtain fuller proof the criminality ofthe parties concerned in this diabolical scheme, I desiredMessrs. Dunavan and Jamieson to watch the return of John Bryant, a convict, who had always behaved very well: they were tointerrogate him respecting the plan laid by the convicts, and toassure him of a pardon, if he would discover all he knew. I alsosent to the house of William Thompson, in the Vale, to search forany written agreement that might have been drawn up, but none wasfound; however, the persons employed in this search found aquantity of Indian corn in a chest in Thompson's house, which, from its not being quite hard, must have been stolen from theKing's grounds in Arthur's Vale, as there was no other on theisland. 

The next step I took was to order William Francis, JohnThompson, Samuel Picket, and Joshua Peck to be taken intocustody, on their return from cabbaging. 

Messrs. Dunavan and Jamieson met John Bryant, and persuadedhim to discover all he knew about the plot; presently afterwards, they brought him before me, when he was sworn on the cross, beinga catholic, and I took his deposition; the substance of which wasas follows:

"That on the passage from Port Jackson to Norfolk-Island itwas talked among the convicts to take the Golden-Grove transportfrom the officers and crew and run away with her, and on itsbeing proposed to Bryant he said they could be only fools tothink of such a thing. That in going out to work on the 14th ofthis month with all the "convicts, Samuel Picket remarked howeasy it would be to take the island, by making the commandantprisoner, when going to, or returning from the farm in Arthur'sVale; after which, coming in and seizing the arms, and makingprisoners of the marines and other free people. It was soonafter agreed that the rest of the convicts were to be consulted, and if they were willing, a meeting was to be held at JohnThompson's house in the Vale; Samuel Picket and Joshua Peckbeing inmates of his. "

The remainder of Bryant's deposition, respecting how theisland was to be taken, agreed in every particular with thetestimony of Elizabeth Anderson and Robert Webb. 

I next sent for Joshua Peck, and examined him on oath, andafter much prevarication, he gave nearly the same account how thebusiness was to be conducted as the others had done, except as tothe manner how the officers were to be made prisoners, which was, "that after "they had secured me, they were to go to Mr. Dunavan's house at "the entrance of the vale, and take him andconduct him to the farm, "where we were to be tied back to back;after which, one of the "convicts was to be sent in with amessage as from me, to speak with "the surgeon, serjeant ofmarines, and the rest, and they were to be "secured one by one asthey came out. "

To Bryant and Peck, I put the two following questions, tellingthem, that as their depositions and examination would be sent tothe Governor, it was necessary that they recollected the natureof the oath they had taken, and to give a just answer. 

Question. --Can you assign any reason for the aforesaid plotbeing formed? Answer. --None, but the hopes of regaining ourliberty. 

Question. --Have you at any time heard any convict on theisland express any discontent at the conduct of officers, or onany other ground? Answer. --None. 

It was now clear to me that a scheme had been entered into, inwhich all the convicts were concerned, except the rope-makers andcarpenter already mentioned; and their succeeding in it, so faras regarded the taking myself and the officers prisoners was notto be doubted; for, I must own, that I was not sufficiently uponmy guard against the description of people I had to deal with; asthe apparent satisfaction which they often expressed at being onthis island in preference to Port Jackson, added to the greatindulgences they had frequently received from me, lulled anysuspicion of their having the most distant idea of the kind. 

The second part of their plan, viz. That of taking any shipwhich might come to the island, was very doubtful; but had thefirst succeeded, the destruction of the provisions and storeswould have followed; and it is difficult to say what fatalconsequences would have ensued from the drunken state they wouldhave been in whilst the rum lasted: indeed, I must in justice tothem observe, that no sanguinary measures were thought of; on thecontrary, they proposed good treatment to myself and the freepeople; but how far that intention would have been observed by aset of men of their description, when in a state of drunkenmadness, may easily be conceived. 

I ordered Samuel Picket and William Francis to wear irons, andthe next day (Sunday), after prayers, I addressed the convicts, and pointed out to them the absurdity of their plan, admittingthey had made themselves masters of a vessel. I endeavoured toconvince them of the advantages they enjoyed on this island, where nothing but industry was requisite to insure them a happyand comfortable livelihood; after which, I exhorted them to lettheir future conduct wipe away the present impropriety of theirbehaviour: those who distinguished themselves by a regular, honest, and industrious line of conduct, I promised tocountenance and encourage, whilst those of a contrary descriptionwere sure to be made severe and dreadful examples of. I likewisecautioned them against stealing and plundering the grounds andgardens; assuring them that they would be severely punished ondetection. 

Having finished my address to the convicts, I caused thefollowing orders to be read, in addition to those which werebefore made public for the preservation of order. 

"The commandant strictly forbids any officer, soldier, freeperson, or convict, male or female, ever absenting themselvesfrom the camp or town for ten minutes together, without havingfirst obtained leave from the officer charged with the guard, whowill obtain the commandant's leave, if he should think fit togrant it. The officer of the guard will take an account of thenames of those who are absent on leave, on a slate, which will bekept in the guard-house for that purpose. 

Every person returning from that leave, is to acquaint theofficer of the guard of their return. 

Every convict who is observed to go over the hill to the farm, without having obtained leave, or going to work there, will befired at by the centinel. 

The convicts, and not more than three together, are to buildhouses for themselves, at their leisure hours, in such places aswill be pointed out. 

No person for the future will be suffered to live out of thecamp. 

John Thompson and Samuel Pickett are dispossessed of theirgarden ground, in consequence of their ill behaviour. 

Though I had not the most distant reason to suspect any freeperson whatever, of being in the least disaffected, yet I judgedit necessary to finish this affair by administering the oaths ofallegiance and fidelity to the officers, marines, and free peopleindividually, in the presence of the convicts. The theft of theIndian corn being fully proved, on the 26th, I ordered WilliamThompson to be punished with fifty lashes; and Thomas Jones, another convict, was punished with thirty-six lashes, for abuseand insolence to Messieurs Jamieson and Dunavan. 

The whole of the convicts were now employed in cutting downtrees, and clearing the ground near the houses, in order to givemore room for building others. 

As the rains were very violent, and seemed to be set in, andthe heat of the weather had made much of our Indian corn to shootout, I began gathering that which was sown in September. 

Joseph Long, a convict, was punished with twelve lashes on the28th, for quitting his work and absenting himself withoutleave. 

The month of February commenced with heavy gales of wind anddeluges of rain, which greatly damaged the Indian corn, anddifferent plants that were seeding. The small patch of barleywhich was cut on the 20th of last month, was quite spoiled by theconstant rain, and the swamp was entirely overflowed. On the 6th, we had a very heavy gale of wind from the northward, attendedwith lightning, which was the first I had seen since my arrivalon the island. 

Two convicts were punished on the 9th, for absentingthemselves after ten o'clock at night from their quarters, with abad intention. 

The 15th, being Sunday, after performing divine service, andreading the orders, I forgave the prisoners, Samuel Pickett andWilliam Francis, for their ill behaviour in the affair of theplot; but it was my intention to send Francis to Port Jackson thefirst opportunity, as he was a worthless, troublesomevillain. 

The heavy rains had now in a great measure subsided, and theweather on the 16th being fair, we embraced that opportunity ofexamining the provisions which were stowed in the cellars. Ongetting up the ground tier of flour casks from under thesurgeon's house, I found a quantity of water had lodged amongstthem; and although they were well dunnaged, yet we found many ofthe casks much damaged, and the flour in them spoiled; but thequantity lost could not immediately be ascertained: however, itwas of the utmost consequence to have the whole overlooked, andevery person was employed till the 21st in cleaning the flour andseparating the damaged part of it from that which was dry and ingood condition. 

Chapter XIV

TRANSACTIONS AT NORFOLK ISLAND

February 1789 to March 1790

-A violent hurricane at Norfolk Island. --Arrivalof the Supply. --Convicts sent from Port Jackson. --Provisions andstores. --Departure of the Supply. --Robberiescommitted. --Employment of the convicts. --Wheat infested withcaterpillars. --A store-house erected. --Arrival of a party ofmarines from Port Jackson. --Thefts committed. --Orders read forpreserving regularity. --A female convict punished. --Perniciouseffects of the grub-worm. --Gardens plundered. --A granaryerected. --Wheat destroyed by paroquets. --Number of inhabitants onthe island. -

The interval of fine weather, which gave us an opportunity ofexamining the state of our provisions, and cleaning the damagedflour, was succeeded by a hurricane that was dreadful beyonddescription. In the morning of the 25th, we had light winds fromthe north-east, and very dismal, dark, cloudy weather, withconstant torrents of heavy rain: towards noon, the wind blew aheavy gale, and kept increasing in violence. At midnight, itshifted to east-south-east, and blew with great fury, attendedwith constant deluges of rain. At four o'clock the next morningseveral of the largest pines were blown up by the roots, one ofwhich fell on the hog-stye and killed a very fine English sow anda litter of seven pigs that were my property, and three sows andtwo boars belonging to the crown. This was a severe loss to youngcolonists, but a still worse accident afterwards happened, andwhich had nearly deprived us of our flour. 

From four in the morning until noon, the wind increased to avery severe hurricane, with the heaviest rain I ever saw or heardof. Pines, and oak-trees of the largest size, were blown downevery instant; the roots were torn up, together with rocks thatsurrounded them; frequently leaving pits at least ten feet deep. Some of the very large trees, which measured 180 feet in length, and four feet diameter, were thrown by the violence of thetempest to a considerable distance from the place where theygrew; and others, whose roots were too deep in the earth to betorn up, bent their tops nearly to the ground. 

In addition to the horror of this scene, a very large treefell across the granary and dashed it to pieces, staving a numberof flour casks that were in it; but by the general activity ofevery person on the settlement, the flour, Indian corn, andstores were in a short time collected, and removed to my house, with the loss of a few pounds of flour and some small stores thatwere blown away. 

The gale now raged with the most violent fury, which defiesall description: whole forests seemed, as it were, swept away bythe roots, and many of the trees were carried to a considerabledistance. By one o'clock in the afternoon, there were as manytrees blown down round the settlement as would have employedfifty men for a fortnight to cut down. The swamp and theadjoining vale were overflowed, and had every appearance of alarge, navigable river: the surf ran mountains high, but did notoverflow the bank, although very near its level: in the road, thesea ran very high, often eclipsing Nepean Isle. 

At two in the afternoon, the gardener, two convict men, andone woman, who lived in the vale, came to the settlement, havingnarrowly escaped with their lives from the falling of trees, andgreat depth of water in many parts of the valley; and theirhouses, which had been built and framed with strong logs, wereblown down. Three acres of ground that had recently been clearedwere almost covered with trees: every thing in the gardens wasnearly destroyed, and an acre of Indian corn, which was in apromising state, and nearly fit for reaping, was laid flat andcovered with water four feet deep; nay, incredible as it mayappear, the violence of the wind blew up cabbages, turnips, andother vegetables by the roots; and what remained in the gardenswere turned as black as if they had been burnt. 

At three o'clock, the wind veered round to south, andmoderated, and at sun-set, the weather was very pleasant. 

It was a providential circumstance that the discovery of theplot (as has already been related) happened previous to thisdreadful storm, as, on that account, the convicts had altogetherbeen employed in cutting down large trees round the settlement, to make room for building other houses: had not this been done, our houses would probably have been destroyed and many liveslost, as we had no asylum or retreat whatever: fortunately, however, only one man was hurt; he received a violent contusionon his right side by the branch of a tree falling on him. Therewas no appearance on any part of the island of such a stormhaving ever happened before. 

During the remainder of the month we had very pleasantweather; the wind at south-west, but a heavy surf kept stillrunning. 

On the 2d of March, at day-light, we saw the Supply in theroad; on which I sent Mr. Dunavan on board her: he soon returned, bringing letters for me from Governor Phillip, who, I learnt, hadsent twenty-one men and six women convicts, with three childrenin the Supply, to be landed on this island. As I had the fullestconfidence in the few free persons who were with me, I did nothesitate one moment in receiving the additional number ofconvicts who were now arrived, although some of them had very badcharacters. By the Supply I also received a bushel of potatoes, and some seed-wheat and barley, that had been saved at PortJackson; and in the course of the day, all the convicts and thegreatest part of the provisions and stores were landed. One turnof provisions were got on shore early the next morning, but thesurf increasing, no more boats passed that day. 

Landing was very practicable on the 4th, and we received theremainder of the provisions and stores; also two three-poundersand their carriages belonging to the Supply, which should havebeen landed when I first came to the island, but were preventedby the surf. The surf ran so high on the 5th, that no boats couldland: at two o'clock the Supply parted her cable, and stood offand on during the night. The Supply's boats were employed duringthe 6th, in sweeping for her anchor, as no landing could beattempted; but the surf abating on the 7th, we received everyarticle on shore that was intended for the settlement. 

I now ordered the surgeon to examine all the convicts who hadlately arrived, in order to discover if any of them were infectedwith diseases, or troubled with complaints of any kind; but onexamination, he found them all healthy. 

The Supply having ineffectually swept for her anchor till themorning of the 10th, she made sail for Port Jackson at teno'clock in the forenoon. The ground in the road off Sydney-Bay isvery foul in general, although there may be some clear spots. TheGolden-Grove parted her cable in the road, but regained heranchor, which the Supply was not lucky enough to accomplish; andshe had the additional misfortune of nearly ruining two newcables in sweeping for it. It is somewhat remarkable, that thebeach in Sydney-Bay has at times five feet of sand on the stones, and at other times it is all cleared away: this has happened whenthe wind has been at south-east, and when the beach was filledwith sand, the wind has been at south-west: this probably may bethe case in the road. 

I gave the convicts who were newly arrived until the 18th, tobuild habitations for themselves; the others were employed attask-work. The numbers now on the island were as follows, viz. 

Officers, marines, and free men, 16Male convicts, 50Female convicts, 23Children, 5Total 94

In order to prevent the water from overflowing the cultivatedgrounds in the upper part of Arthur's Vale, I set eight labourersto work on the 19th, in cutting a water-way of sixty rods long, by six feet deep. 

I have hitherto forborn mentioning the numerous thefts thathad almost daily been committed; and, notwithstanding the utmostvigilance, we had not been able to detect any person. Gardens hadbeen constantly plundered; the harness cask, containing theprovisions that were daily issued out, had been robbed; and onenight an attempt was made to get into the upper part of my house, where the slops were deposited. Great rewards had been offered totempt one or other to discover their accomplices, but withouteffect: however, at eleven o'clock in the night of the 23d, Thomas Watson, a convict, was detected in another convict'shouse, stealing a bag of flour. 

From the number of daring thefts which had been committed, without my being able to fix on the thief, it became necessary toinflict a very severe punishment on this offender; and as I hadno authority to give him any very severe corporal chastisement;after examining witnesses upon oath, and fully proving the theft, I ordered him into confinement, with an intention of sending himto Port Jackson to take his trial. In order to prevent thesedepredations as much as possible in future, I gave orders for theconvicts to be mustered in their huts three times every night, and the hour of muster to be constantly changed: this had a goodeffect, but did not entirely prevent robberies from beingcommitted. 

James Davis, a convict, was punished with twenty-four lashes, on the 25th, for using seditious expressions, and throwing awaysome fish which had been issued, in a contemptuous manner. 

On inspecting the seed-wheat, I found the weevil had begun itsdepredations, on which, I set some of the labourers to winnow andclear it. On the 30th, some atrocious villain stabbed one of thehogs belonging to the crown, which occasioned its death: this, amongst many other actions which happened, of a similar nature, served to show that there are wretches equal to any act ofinhumanity and barbarity. 

The sugar-cane, which I planted soon after my arrival on theisland, being in a very exposed situation, I removed it on the31st, and planted out 106 very good joints, which were producedfrom only four canes. The Indian corn, that had been damaged bythe hurricane, was reaped this afternoon. 

The different employments of the convicts were as follows:

At task-work, clearing away ground for cultivation, 30Sawyers, sawing boards, for building a store-house, 2 2 free. Carpenters, building a store-house, 2 1 free. Blacksmith, making fish-hooks, and other necessary work, 1 1 free. Coble-men fishing, 3Gardeners, 3 1 free. Making shingles, 4Schoolmaster, 1; officers servants, 3; care of stock, 1, 5Total 50 5

On the 2d of April, three quarters of an acre of ground wassown with wheat, the produce of that ground which had been firstcleared on the north side of Mount George. The season for sowingwheat was as yet rather early, but I did it to try differentperiods, and to see which would answer best. 

April On the 5th, (Sunday) after divine service, Thomas Jones, a convict, acquainted me that the term of his transportationexpired that day. I had been informed by Governor Phillip thatthe different terms for which the convicts were sentenced was notknown, as the masters of the transports had left the papersnecessary for that information with their owners; but that he hadwrote to England for them, and until their arrival no steps couldbe taken, as the convicts words were not sufficient: I thereforeinformed Thomas Jones that he was at liberty to work for whom hepleased, and if he chose to work for the public good, he would beused the same as others were, until I received further ordersconcerning him. 

An acre of ground, in Arthur's Vale, was sown with wheat onthe 6th; and on the 8th, Noah Mortimer, a convict, was punishedwith sixty lashes, for refusing to work, on being ordered by theoverseer, and being abusive. The 10th, being Good-Friday, Iperformed divine service, and no work was done on thesettlement. 

On the 13th, three acres of wheat were sown with four bushelsof seed. Every garden vegetable, now growing, were much blightedby west and south-west winds; indeed, this was a very impropertime to sow any garden seeds, it being the commencement ofwinter; but the potatoes I had by me grew out so very fast, thatI was obliged to sow them all. I had found the last year thatJune and July were the best months for sowing the general crop. We had a very heavy gale of wind this day from the south-west, which was the first southerly wind that had blown with any degreeof force since last August; and the last year, the southerlywinds did not begin until the 10th of April: from which Iconclude that southerly and westerly winds are not frequent inthe summer; especially as we had not one gale from that quarterduring the last summer. 

Three acres of wheat were sown in Arthur's vale on the 16th, and by the 21st eight acres of wheat were up, and had a promisingappearance. 

As there was a projection of the reef where boats used toland, which, if taken away, would greatly lessen the danger oflanding; I set six men to work about removing it on the 22d, withorders to continue at the employment every tide until it wasfinished. 

Notwithstanding every convict had suffered exemplarypunishment for their crimes, whenever they were detected; yetthis was not sufficient to keep the free people in propersubordination; for on the 26th, John Williams, a marine, quittedhis guard, and raised a quarrel in a convict's house; theconsequence of which was a battle between himself and anothermarine: on which, I assembled the marines and all the other freepeople under arms, under the flag-staff, on which the colourswere hoisted; and I punished him with twenty-four lashes, forquitting his post, and fighting with his comrade. 

I observed on the 7th of May, that all the wheat whichhitherto had a very fine appearance, was blighted in many places, and particularly where it was thinnest sown: on examining it, Ifound it entirely covered with a small black caterpillar, whichhad eat off the stems within an inch of the ground: thesedestructive vermin kept on the wheat during the whole month; theybegan on the lower part of the eight acres that were sown inArthur's Vale, and proceeded regularly through it, destroyingevery blade. We tried various methods to extirpate them, such asrolling the wheat with a heavy roller, and beating it withturf-beaters, in order to kill them, but with little effect; forin an hour's time they were as numerous as ever, and dailyincreased in size. I found they were bred from a small moth, vastnumbers of which infested the air in the mornings and evenings:the number of these caterpillars on the wheat was incredible; andthey were so thick in the gardens that we swept them in heaps:the adjoining rivulet was also covered with them. The whole wheatof eight acres (which was a foot high when these perniciousvermin first attacked it) was eat close to the ground by the28th, and three acres of it never grew afterwards. Having gonethrough the gardens and wheat, these destructive insects left uson the 29th. 

The carpenters had now finished the new store-house: itsdimensions were thirty feet long by eighteen feet wide, and tenfeet under the eaves: the sides were covered with weatherboarding, and the roof was shingled. I ordered the provisions tobe brought from my house and from the surgeon's, and deposited inthe new store-house: the stores were also removed, and lodgedthere. 

The 4th of June, being the anniversary of his Majesty'sbirth-day, it was observed as a holiday. The colours were hoistedat sun-rise: at noon, the marines and free people drew up underarms, to the right and left of the two three-pounders which wereon the parade, in front of my house. The male convicts were alsodrawn up on the right, and the females on the left. Three roundsof the guns and musquetry were fired; after which, the wholeparty gave three cheers, and were dismissed. 

In consideration of the behaviour of the convicts on the daywhen the hurricane happened, and their general conduct since thediscovery of the plot, I was induced to let them partake of thegeneral festivity of the day; and ordered half a pint of rum foreach man, and a pint of wine for each woman, for them to drinkhis Majesty's health: the officers dined at my table, and on ourdrinking the King's health after dinner, three rounds of thegreat guns were fired: in the evening bonfires were lighted up, and the front windows of my house were illuminated with theinitials G. R. 

When every person was assembled, and before the firing began, I ordered the prisoner, Thomas Watson, who was in confinement fora theft, (and whom I proposed sending to Port Jackson to betried) to be brought out, and in consideration of the day Iforgave him. 

The remaining four acres of wheat, which the caterpillars hadnot totally destroyed, were now shot out again, and had a verypromising appearance. 

On the 11th, I drilled thirty pints of wheat into sixty roodsof ground; and, as I had but little seed left, this was, in myown opinion, disposing of it to the best advantage; especially asit was probable that the increase would be equal to that whichhad been sown at a broad cast: I also drilled in eighteen pintsof marrow-fat peas. 

At day-light in the morning of the 13th, we perceived hisMajesty's armed tender, the Supply, in the road: the surf at thattime ran very high in Sydney-Bay, and there being but littleeasterly wind, with a strong flood-tide, she could not get toBall-Bay before three o'clock in the afternoon; when I receivedmy letters from Governor Phillip, who informed me, that he hadsent Lieutenant John Cresswell, of the marines, with fourteenprivates, to the island; that Mr. Cresswell was to put himselfunder my command; and that in case of my death, or absence, thegovernment of the island was to devolve on him. I had also thepleasing satisfaction to find that my conduct was approved of byGovernor Phillip. 

The surf ran very high on the 14th, until three o'clock in theafternoon, when Lieutenant Cresswell landed with his detachmentand part of their baggage; but nothing else could be received onshore until the 17th, when part of the provisions and stores werelanded. As another boat was now become necessary for the use ofthe settlement, I wrote to Lieutenant Ball, requesting him tosend his carpenter on shore to build a coble, that being the mostconvenient sort of boat for going out and coming into this place. The carpenter landed in the afternoon, and immediately got towork in building a boat. 

During the 18th, all the provisions were received on shore, except sixteen casks of flour; but the surf increasing very muchin the evening, I made a signal for the Supply to hoist the coblein. The sea ran so very high, that no boat could land until the21st, when we received the remainder of the provisions andstores; after which, the boats were employed in carrying offwater for the Supply, and planks for Port Jackson. 

Two pecks of wheat were drilled into an acre of ground inArthur's Vale, on the 24th; and on the next day, one acre and aquarter was sown with half a bushel of wheat at a broad cast. 

We now had very strong gales at south-west, and at nineo'clock in the morning the Supply passed between Nepean Isle andPoint Hunter. The gale continuing heavy from the south-west, Isent a person round to the lee side of the island on the 26th, tolook for the Supply; but she could not be seen until day-light inthe morning of the 30th, when she was perceived hull down to thesouthward, and working up to the island. By this time the newboat was in great forwardness, and my own workmen being able tofinish it, I sent the carpenter of the Supply on board; and atfour in the afternoon that vessel made sail for Port Jackson. 

Lieutenant Ball had orders to examine a shoal, which was seenby the master of the Golden Grove, on her return from this islandin October last, in latitude 29° 25' south, longitude159° 59' east of Greenwich: he was also to look for an islandand shoal that were seen by Lieutenant Shortland, in theAlexander transport: the shoal, in latitude 29° 20' south, longitude 158° 40' east, and the island 28° 10' southlatitude, and 159° 50' east longitude. Mr. Shortland namedthem Sir Charles Middleton's Island and Shoal, and imagined theywere joined together. 

On the 1st of July, the new coble was finished, and her bottompayed: her dimensions were twenty-two feet long, by six feet sixinches wide. This business being compleated, the sawyers andcarpenters began to erect a house for Lieutenant Cresswell, ofeighteen feet long, by 12 feet wide, with a back part nine feetsquare. The garden in Arthur's Vale being quite exposed and open, I employed six men to surround it with a wattled hedge. 

Edward Gaff, a convict, was punished with 100 lashes on the6th, for stealing three quarts of wheat: indeed, scarcely a daypassed without complaints being made of thefts, which werecommitted with such dexterity that it was impossible to detectthem. That thefts in so small a society should so frequentlyhappen was really astonishing; but when it is considered, thatthe greatest part of that society were hardened villains, thewonder will cease. 

Eleven acres of wheat were now up in Arthur's Vale, and had avery promising appearance: every vegetable in the gardens werealso in a thriving state. 

Nothing material happened in the course of this month untilthe 28th, when a tree fell on John Bryant, a convict, whichbruised his head so much that he died two hours afterwards. Thisman was one among the very few honest convicts which I had on theisland. 

Two bushels of seed wheat, being the remaining part of what Ihad left, was sown this day, on the sides of Mount George, on twoacres of ground. Most of the marines who came to the island withLieutenant Cresswell, had now very comfortable huts and goodgardens. 

In the month of August we had, in general, heavy gales ofwind, chiefly at north-west and south-west, attended withrain. 

The general employment of the convicts was now as follows:

Clearing away ground for cultivation and other necessary work 30Sawyers sawing scantlings, and boards for buildings 2 2 free. Carpenters building a house for Lieutenant Cresswell 2 1 free. Blacksmith making and repairing necessary iron work 1 1 free. Coblemen fishing 3Gardeners 2 1 free. Making shingles 4Schoolmaster 1, officers servants 3, care of stock 1 5Total 49 5

The 12th, being the anniversary of his Royal Highness thePrince of Wales's birth-day, the colours were hoisted atsun-rise, and it was observed with the same ceremony as hisMajesty's birth-day, except giving liquor to the convicts, astheir recent behaviour, with regard to thefts, had totallyexcluded them from that indulgence. As the wheat in Arthur's Valegrew very rank, I was advised to crop it, which was done on the13th: however, I let three acres remain in order to see which wayit would be most productive. 

The carpenters having finished the shell of LieutenantCresswell's house, I employed them in building an addition to theback part of my habitation, as I was apprehensive of its beingblown down by the violent south-west winds, which were now almostconstant. After divine service on the 16th, (Sunday) thefollowing orders were read for preserving regularity and goodorder among the inhabitants of the island. 

ORDERS

I. All persons on the island are regularly to attend musterand divine service, unless prevented by sickness: a disobedienceof this order will be punished by extra-work, or by stopping aday's provisions for the first offence; which, if repeated, willbe punished by corporal chastisement. 

II. No persons are to absent themselves from their quarters, either by night or day, except they have obtained leave, or aregoing to their respective work; and if any one is observedlurking about after the watch is set, he will be fired at by thecentinel. 

III. The working hours are to be regularly attended to, andall persons absent from their work after the drum beats for thatpurpose, will lose a portion of the time they may save from theirtasks; and in case of a second offence, they will be severelypunished. 

IV. The tasks will be continued as usual, and the time savedby the gangs is at their own disposal: those who distinguishthemselves by employing their time in cultivating their gardens, and clearing ground for their own use, will meet withencouragement and reward. 

V. If the overseers, or the greatest part of any gang, shouldhave reason to complain of the idleness of any one man belongingto that gang, and the complaint should be found just, theoffender will be severely punished. 

VI. Those who render themselves unable to work by theirneglect or obstinacy, in not building themselves warm huts, orwho cut themselves through carelessness, will have a part oftheir provisions stopped until they are able to go to workagain. 

VII. All the tools and utensils are to be returned regularlyevery night to the store-house when the retreat beats; and anyperson who is found secreting any tool, or any article of theKing's stores, or committing any robbery whatever, will, ondetection and conviction, receive such punishment on the islandas his Majesty's Justices of the peace may judge the offencedeserves; or the offender will be sent to Port Jackson, to betried by the criminal court, as the commandant may judgeproper. 

VIII. It is recommended to every one to be very careful oftheir cloathing, and every free person or convict is strictlyforbid buying or selling any article of slop cloathing: those whodisobey this order will be prosecuted for buying or selling theKing's stores, whether free people or convicts. 

IX. Whenever it may be necessary to make any complaint, theperson making the complaint is to inform the corporal of theguard, who will immediately report it; when the commandant (or, in his absence, Lieutenant John Cresswell, ) will hear thecomplaint and decide upon it. 

X. Disobedience of orders, insolence to officers or overseers, or any other improper behaviour, tending to the disturbance ofthe peace, or hindrance of the King's service, will meet withsevere punishment; and a regular, honest, good behaviour, willmeet with encouragement and reward. 

His Majesty's justices of the peace for this island, viz. TheCommandant and Lieutenant John Cresswell, (on whom the governmentof the island devolves, in case of the commandant's death orabsence) have appointed Roger Morley and John Altree, to hold theoffice of constables; and every person is ordered to be assistingto either or both of them in the execution of their office. 

Such were the laws, which our then situations required. 

Four acres of ground in Arthur's Vale were planted with Indiancorn on the 24th; and, as the rats had dug up most of that whichhad been planted in the gardens, I replaced it, putting fivegrains of corn into each pit. During the remainder of this month, we had heavy gales of wind from the south-west, which turned allthe wheat quite black, that was growing on the south side ofMount George: but I did not apprehend that it was otherwiseinjured than by being kept back. This gale was of longerduration, and blew with greater force than any I had hithertoobserved. 

On the 29th, Ann Coombs, a female convict, received fiftylashes at the cart's tail, for defrauding Thomas Jones, of someprovisions: this punishment, however, did not deter her fromcommitting crimes of a similar nature; for the very next day shewas detected stealing two new check shirts from Francis Mew, aprivate marine, and was punished with 100 lashes. 

The weather during the month of September was variable; we hadsome heavy gales of wind from the south-west and east-north-east, but they were not of long duration. 

Frequent notice has been taken of the destructive effects ofthe grub-worm, and they were now as troublesome as ever. Thesepernicious vermin are generated from the eggs of a fly, which areleft on the leaves of plants: here they come to life, and dailygathering strength and vigour, they destroy the leaves; andafterwards, falling on the ground, they cut off the roots andstalks. The surgeon, who, with great perseverance and industry, had got a very good garden, and every thing in it in greatforwardness, had all his plants and vegetables nearly destroyedby the grub-worm, and most of the other gardens shared the samefate. The mischief done at my garden in Arthur's Vale was not sogreat, which I attributed to the quantity of cultivated groundnear it; and, probably, when more extensive pieces of ground cometo be cleared, the bad effects of the grub-worm will be in agreat measure prevented, but at present, these destructivevermin, and the depredations of the convicts, rendered thecultivation of gardens very discouraging to individuals. 

The corporal of marines, who was a very industrious young man, had cleared and planted a piece of ground, and by attention andassiduity, had raised a quantity of vegetables, besides a veryfine crop of potatoes, which would have yielded him at least fivebushels; but, on the evening of the 5th, between sun-set and thetime of the watch being set, some villains dug up every one ofthe potatoes, and destroyed a quantity of other vegetables; andalthough the convicts were mustered in their huts at sun-set, andthree times more during the night, yet the theft was notdiscovered until the next morning, when a very strict search wasmade, in order to find out the offender, but to no purpose, asthe potatoes were (in the cant phrase) _all planted_; viz. Buried in the ground, so as to be taken out as they werewanted. 

This was one of the many acts of villainy that were dailycommitted by these atrocious wretches. 

Catherine Johnson, a female convict, was punished with fiftylashes on the 7th, for abusing the store-keeper, and accusing himof theft wrongfully. 

Two acres were sown with Indian corn on the 16th, and theground being quite shaded from the sun, I employed a gang oflabourers to cut down the trees from three acres of land, inorder to let the sun in upon the corn. On the 28th, the produceof 240 sets of potatoes, which had been planted on three roods ofground the first of June, were dug up, and yielded five bushelsof very fine potatoes. 

During the month of October, the weather was in general verymild; the wind chiefly from the south-east. On the 1st, thecarpenters, with two men to assist them, began framing a barn, which I proposed to erect in Arthur's Vale. The grub-worms werestill very numerous, notwithstanding the women convicts weredaily employed in picking them off the plants and out of theground: they totally destroyed one acre of Indian corn, and cutoff every cabbage and other plants as fast as they sprang up. 

As it would be very convenient to have a path to the west sideof the island, I employed six men to cut a road from thesettlement to Mount Pitt, and from thence to Anson-Bay, whichbusiness was completed on the 21st. 

I went out in the morning of the 23d, to survey the west sideof Sydney-Bay, in the course of which, I found most of the bonesbelonging to the body of one of the men who were drowned on the6th of August, 1788: I brought them to the settlement, where theywere interred. 

On the 27th, we had a strong gale of wind from the east, attended with heavy rain, which was the first that had happenedsince the 23d of September, and was much wanted. Fifteen acres ofwheat were now in ear, and had a good appearance; and the Indiancorn, of which we had seven acres, was in a thriving state, although much thinned by the grub-worm: one acre of barley wasalso in ear, and the garden vegetables were in great forwardness. The grub-worm had totally disappeared, but still our calamitieswere not at an end; for the parroquets (of which we had myriads)were constantly destroying the wheat, and the garden productions;insomuch that we were obliged to keep a number of personsemployed in beating them away with long poles. 

During the month of November, the weather was hot and sultry, with only one shower of rain; the wind from the east-south-east. The carpenters finished the barn on the 9th: its dimensions were30 feet long by 16 feet wide, and 17 feet under the eaves, with aloft over it. The roof was well shingled, and the sidesweather-boarded: in short, it was a complete building, andconveniently situated, being in the center of the cultivatedgrounds in Arthur's Vale. 

On the 13th, Lieutenant Cresswell turned a turtle in a smallbay, to the westward of the settlement, which he distributedamongst the free persons and others, as far as it would go. 

Robert Webb, a seaman belonging to the Sirius, went on the15th, to the valley above the Cascade-Bay; having obtained mypermission to become a settler, if Governor Phillip should haveno objection to it. 

Some barley which had been sown the latter end of May, aboutthree quarters of an acre with one bushel and an half of seed, was cut this day, and the produce was twenty-three bushels of avery fine full grain. The potatoes which were sown during themonth of September, in Arthur's vale, were all running to stalk, and not one potatoe formed at the roots: the fibres were verystrong and shooting out of the ground, notwithstanding they hadbeen well earthed: this was probably owing to the very great heatand drought which we had recently experienced. Large flocks ofparroquets still infested the wheat, and made great havock in oneacre; but as it ripened very fast, I did not apprehend muchfarther damage from them or the caterpillars, which were againbecome very numerous. 

As it would be necessary to have the hogs and poultry near thegranary, during the time of harvest, I employed a party oflabourers in bringing logs to make an inclosure round the barn, and other conveniencies for the stock; and on the 30th, we beganthe wheat harvest. 

On the 3d of December, at day-light, the Supply arrived in theroad, and soon afterwards, I received my letters from GovernorPhillip. In the course of the day, six men and eight womenconvicts were landed, with some provisions and stores for thesettlement. By an order from Governor Phillip, all persons on theisland were to be put to two-thirds allowance of provisions, which commenced on the 5th: the settlement at Port Jackson wentto this allowance in November. Having received every thing fromthe Supply, that vessel sailed for Port Jackson on the 7th. 

All the labourers were now employed in reaping, stacking, andthatching the wheat, which business was all finished by the 24th. Four acres of the wheat were greatly damaged by some very heavyrain, which fell from the 14th to the 18th, and caused it toshoot out; but this was put into a stack by itself for presentconsumption. The wheat now reaped had been sown at differentperiods, notwithstanding which, it was ripe nearly at the sametime; but the last sown did not stock so well as that which wasput more early in the ground: that which was sown in drills, suffered much from the blighting winds; and, as this island issubject to these winds at all times of the year, the method ofdrilling wheat or barley in rows, will not answer so well as whensown at a broad cast. The best time for sowing wheat, is from thelatter end of May to the middle of June; indeed, that which wassown in August, yielded a very large sound grain; but, (as I havealready observed) it did not stock so well as the other. 

At sun-rise on the 25th, the colours were hoisted, inobservance of Christmas-day; divine service was performed at teno'clock, and I ordered two hogs, belonging to the crown, to bekilled and issued out to the free people and convicts, at therate of one pound and an half to each person: and, as the crop ofwheat had turned out tolerably well, I ordered two pounds offlour to each man, and the women one pound each, to celebrate thefestival. 

During the month of January, the weather was very variable, with frequent strong gales of wind from the south-east. Thegeneral employment of the labourers was clearing away ground forthe next season, and turning up the fifteen acres of wheatstubble, threshing, making shingles, cutting logs, to make alog-house for the store-keeper, and other necessary business. 

The small union flag had hitherto been used as a signal forlanding, but as it could not easily be distinguished from theroads, on the 11th, I had a flag-staff fixed in the front of myhouse, the lower mast of which was 20 feet long, and the top-mast36 feet; on which a large union was occasionally to behoisted. 

Some villain stabbed a very fine sow which was near farrowing, on the 18th, but though the strictest enquiry was made, I couldnot discover who was the perpetrator of this atrocious act. 

Most of the labourers were now employed in cutting down, gathering, and cleaning the Indian corn, a vast quantity of whichwas destroyed by the parroquets, although men were constantlyemployed in beating them off with long poles. 

A greater number of people were sick during this month, thanhad been the case since my landing on the island. The complaint, in general, was a diarrhoea, but those who had this disorder weresoon recovered. The surgeon was of opinion that the great changeof weather which had happened, joined to the great quantity ofvegetables that were daily consumed, was the cause of thissickness. 

The appearance of a vessel in the road at day-light in themorning of the 29th, caused the greatest acclamations of joythrough the whole settlement; every person imagining that shipshad arrived from England; especially as the Supply had been withus so recently: but, presently afterwards, we perceived it to bethat vessel; and on receiving my letters from the governor, Ifound that no ships had arrived from our native country; whichpiece of intelligence being circulated through the settlement, adejection took place equal to the joy that was visible a shorttime before. 

Twenty-two male convicts and one female arrived by the Supply, but no provisions were sent along with them, there being only asufficient quantity at Port Jackson to serve until the latter endof May, at the present allowance; and as our crops had been good, and our resources, with respect to fish and vegetables, weregreater than at Port Jackson, the governor had thought proper tosend this additional number of convicts. 

Our present numbers were now as follow, viz. 

Civil and military, 32Male convicts, 79Female convicts, 33Children, 5Total 149

I was also informed by Governor Phillip, that as it wasnecessary for the Sirius to have her full complement of officers, he had ordered me to be discharged from that ship; and hadappointed Mr. Newton Fowell to be second-lieutenant in my room, and Mr. Henry Waterhouse to be third-lieutenant, instead ofLieutenant George William Maxwell, who was reported by thesurgeons to be insane. 

Having received all the convicts from the Supply, and sent myletters for Governor Phillip on board, she set sail for PortJackson on the 2d of February. 

During this month we had heavy gales of wind, with someintervals of fine weather, and the rain becoming frequent, Iordered sheds to be built over the saw-pits, that the sawyersmight work without interruption. 

Those few amongst the convicts who had been industrious, werenow rewarded for it, as some had raised from one thousand tofifteen hundred cobs of Indian corn; which, together with thefish that was procured from time to time, was of great service tothem now that their allowance of salt provisions was reduced. Theremainder of the Indian corn was got in on the 19th. 

Richard Phillimore, a convict, had informed me that the termof his transportation expired on the 16th of January; and havingtaken the oath administered on that occasion, he signified a wishof becoming a settler: as he was a sober, industrious man, I gavehim time to consider of it, and to look out for a situation wherehe would like to settle at: he informed me on the 22d, that hestill was desirous of fixing on the island, and had found a spotwhere he wished to reside; on which, I sent some labourers tobuild him an house, and to clear away a little ground for acommencement; I also gave him a sow with young, and some poultry, and he was fully of opinion, that in one year, or two atfarthest, he should be able to support himself, without anyassistance from the settlement. 

During the month of March, we had a deal of blowing weather, and much rain; the wind generally from the south-west. Thelabourers were employed in clearing ground for cultivation, husking and stripping Indian corn, and other necessary work; andsix men were sawing frames for building barracks. 

Chapter XV

TRANSACTIONS AT NORFOLK ISLAND AND PORT JACKSON

March 1790 to April 1790

-The arrival of the Sirius and Supply atNorfolk-Island. --The loss of the Sirius. --Captain Hunter and thecrew saved. --A general meeting of the officers convened. --Sundryregulations adopted. --Martial-Lawproclaimed. --Lieutenant-GovernorRoss takes thecommand. --Lieutenant King leavesNorfolk-Island. --Description of Norfolk-Island. --Face of thecountry. --Water--Soil--Climate--Timber--Insects--Fish--Seasons--Winds--Coast, and Bays. --Present state of cultivation. --General behaviour ofthe convicts. --Number of inhabitants on the island. --Grain andlive-stock. --Lieutenant King arrives at Port Jackson. --Finds thecountry greatly improved. --Manners and customs of thenatives. --Vocabulary of the language. -

At the break of day on the 13th of March, I was alarmed with atumultuous noise of huzzaing and rejoicing; on enquiry into thecause, I found that two vessels were seen in the offing. Everyone of us were now fully persuaded that the long looked for andmuch expected relief was at length arrived, and we began tofelicitate each other that the time was now come, when we shouldhear news from England: some of us anticipated pleasing andunpleasing accounts from our friends in the northern hemisphere, as we had been near three years absent, without having receivedthe least intelligence from our relatives, or native country. 

As the wind blew strong at south-west, and a great sea wasrunning in the bay; the vessels, (which we found were the Siriusand Supply, ) bore up for Ball-Bay, to which place I went, andreceived from Lieutenant Ball my letters from Governor Phillip. Our expectations were once more blasted, for, instead of thosepleasing hopes being realized, which the appearance of thevessels had created in the morning, we were informed that norelief had arrived, nor had any intelligence been received fromEngland. 

I found by the governor's letter, that he had sentLieutenant-Governor Ross in the Sirius, to take the command atNorfolk-Island, as the service rendered it necessary for myreturning to England, in order to give such information to hisMajesty's ministers, respecting the settlement I had established, as could not be conveyed by letter. I was also directed tofurnish Lieutenant-Governor Ross with copies of all such ordersas I had from time to time received from the governor, and whichhad not been put in execution; together with all the informationI had acquired respecting the nature of the soil, and the mode ofcultivation which had been followed; as also my observationsrespecting the climate, and the general line of conduct of thepeople under my direction; and to leave him such rules andregulations as I had established for preserving good order andregularity among the convicts. 

I was farther directed to embark on board the Sirius, whosecommander had orders to receive me on board, with all such pettyofficers, seamen, and marines, belonging to that ship, who werenot desirous of becoming settlers; directions having been giventhe Lieutenant-Governor to that effect. Lieutenant-Governor Rossbrought with him, one captain, five subalterns, a number ofnon-commissioned officers and privates, with the colours: also anumber of male and female convicts, and children; with theirproportion of cloaths, provisions, and stores. 

The two vessels went round to Cascade-Bay, where part of thedetachment of marines and some of the convicts were landed; andthe next forenoon, the remainder of the marines and convicts, with a great part of their baggage, were landed, and they marchedto the settlement. The Lieutenant-Governor arrived at thesettlement at noon. In the orders for the night, he requestedthat I would continue the command of the island until mydeparture. 

On the 15th, the remains of the provisions and other stores onthe island were surveyed by Captain Johnston and LieutenantsCresswell and Clark: after which, I got the receipts from Mr. Roger Morley, to whom I had given an order to act asstore-keeper, with the approbation of Governor Phillip. The windblew strong from the east-south-east; and on the 16th, we hadstrong gales from the north-east, with almost constant heavyrain. The Sirius and Supply were seen from Mount Pitt, somedistance at sea, in the south-east quarter. 

This day, Jeremiah Leary, a convict, ran the gantlet among theconvicts for a theft, and was severely punished. 

We had very strong gales from the north-east on the 17th, attended with almost constant rain. The two vessels were workingup for the island; and at one o'clock in the afternoon, theSupply came into the road, and landed a quantity of luggage, somestock, and thirteen casks of provisions. No landing could beattempted on the 18th, the wind still blowing very strong atnorth-east; but on the 19th, the wind shifted to theeast-south-east, and grew more moderate; so that at day-light, the Supply came into the road, and the Sirius was at somedistance to the southward, standing in for the island. Therebeing very fine landing, I made the signal that large boats couldland safely, and by ten o'clock every thing was received from theSupply. 

Soon afterwards, the Sirius hove to, in order to hoist herboats out, which, being accomplished, she made sail; but the tideof flood still ran very strong, and she could not weather theouter rock of the reef which runs off Point Ross: after anunsuccessful attempt to stay, she wore and came to the wind onthe starboard tack: unfortunately, the wind shifted to thesouth-east, and the strong hold which the tide had on the ship, forced her near the island, and she got to the back of the reef:she was now hove in stays, but having fresh stern way, she tailedon the reef and struck. The masts were instantly cut away, andthe surf increasing along-side of her, only two boats load ofprovisions could be got out: an anchor was let go, whichprevented the ship from coming broadside to on the reef. Fromnoon until four o'clock, every person was employed in getting ahawser from the ship, and fastening it to a tree on the shore: aheart was fixed on the hawser as a traveller, and a grating wasslung to it, fastened to a small hawser, one end of which was onshore and the other end on board. 

At five o'clock, the surgeon's mate came on shore by thegrating, being hauled through a very great surf: he brought me anote from Captain Hunter, desiring to know if I thought it wouldbe safe for the sailors to abide by the wreck all night. The windwas now at south, and the weather had a very threateningappearance, and as the surf had risen considerably, I thoughtthere was the utmost danger of the ship's parting at the flowingtide, the consequence of which must have been the destruction ofevery person on board: I therefore made a signal for the wreck tobe quitted, and by the time it grew dark, the captain and most ofthe sailors were on shore, being dragged through a very heavysurf; many of them received violent blows from the rocks overwhich they were dragged. 

Captain Hunter and Mr. Waterhouse were got on shore together, and just as they got footing on the reef, the captain was so muchexhausted, that he had nearly quitted his hold: the first andsecond lieutenant, with some of the sailors, remained on boardall night. 

The instant the ship struck, Lieutenant-Governor Ross orderedthe drums to assemble all the marines and convicts: martial lawwas then proclaimed, and the people were told that if any onekilled any animal or fowl, or committed any robbery whatever, they would be instantly made a severe example of. The officersand marines were ordered to wear their side-arms: guards were setover the barn and store-houses, and some other necessaryregulations were ordered by the Lieutenant-Governor. 

On the 20th, we had very strong gales of wind at south, and agreat surf running: by four o'clock, every person were got out ofthe wreck without any other accident than receiving a fewbruises. Those who came last from the wreck, reported, that thebeams of the lower deck were started from the side, and that athigh water, the sea came to the after hatchway on the lower deck, the fore part of the ship being under water; and that theprovisions were mostly on deck. 

The gale continued very strong on the 21st, with a heavy surfrunning; but the wreck being in the same position as thepreceding day, we entertained the pleasing hopes of being able tosave all the provisions, and most of the ship's effects. 

At ten in the morning, Lieutenant-Governor Ross, CaptainHunter, all the commissioned officers of marines and of theSirius, and myself, assembled in the government-house, when thelieutenant governor laid the situation of the island before themeeting, and pointed out the necessity of a law being made, bywhich criminals might be punished with death for capital crimes, there being no law in force on the island that could noticecapital offences: he also proposed the establishment of martiallaw until further orders, which was unanimously agreed to; andthat in all cases where sentence of death was pronounced, fivepersons out of seven should concur in opinion: it was alsoresolved, that all private stock, Indian corn, and potatoesshould be given in to the store-keeper, and appropriated for theuse of the public; and that every person should go to halfallowance of provisions until it should be known what quantitycould be saved from the wreck; also, that three locks should beput on the store-house and barn; one key to be in the possessionof Captain Hunter, another in possession of a person to be namedby the lieutenant-governor, and the third to be kept by a personto be named by the convicts. 

These resolutions were agreed to, and signed by thelieutenant-governor and the rest of the officers assembled. 

At eight o'clock in the morning of the 22d, all persons on theisland were assembled near the lower flag-staff, on which theunion was hoisted: the marines were drawn up in two lines, leaving a space in the center, at the head of which was theunion. The colours of the detachment were then unfurled, and theSirius's crew were drawn up on the right, and the convicts on theleft, the officers being in the center. The proclamation was thenread, declaring, that the island was to be governed by martiallaw, until further orders: the lieutenant-governor next addressedthe convicts, and, after pointing out the situation of thesettlement, he exhorted them to be honest, industrious, andobedient. This being concluded, the whole gave three cheers; andevery person, beginning with the lieutenant-governor, passedunder the union flag, taking off their hats as they passed it, intoken of an oath to submit and be amenable to the martial law, which had then been declared. 

After this ceremony was concluded, the convicts and theSirius's crew were sent round to Cascade-Bay, where a proportionof flour and pork was received from the Supply, and brought roundto the settlement. 

In the afternoon, John Brannagin and William Dring (twoconvicts) offered to go on board the wreck, in order to heave thelive stock over-board; and having obtained the permission ofCaptain Hunter and the Lieutenant-Governor, they went to thewreck, and sent a number of pigs and some poultry on shore, butthey remained on board; and at the dusk of the evening, a lightwas perceived in the after part of the ship; on which, a volleyof small arms were fired, to make them quit the wreck, or put thelight out; which not being done, a three pounder shotted wasfired into the wreck, but with no effect: on this, John Arscot, aconvict carpenter, offered to go off; and although it was quitedark, and the surf ran very high, yet he got on board, andobliged the other two convicts to quit the wreck by the hawser. Arscot hailed the shore, but we could not understand what hesaid, except that he should stay on board the wreck. Brannagin(one of the convicts) was drunk when he came on shore. 

On the 23d, we had very strong gales of wind at west by north, but the landing was good early in the morning, and the largecoble was sent on board the Supply, (which was in the road) withsome of my baggage, and the officers and men belonging to theSirius, who were going to Port Jackson. The master of the Sirius, with eight men, went on board the wreck by the hawser, and atriangle was erected on the reef, to keep the bight of the hawserfrom the ground; which would greatly facilitate the landing anyarticle from the wreck. The master informed Captain Hunter, by anote, that Brannagin and Dring (the two convicts) had set fire tothe wreck, which had burnt through the gun deck; but had beenhappily extinguished by Arscot, who went on board to send themout of the ship: on this, they were ordered into confinementprevious to their being tried for setting fire to the wreck. 

The weather being moderate and pleasant in the morning of the24th, I went on board the Supply, along with LieutenantsWaterhouse and Fowell, and twenty-two of the crew, belonging tothe late Sirius; and at noon, we made sail for Port Jackson. 

As I have now taken leave of this island, I shall add mygeneral observations on it; and although several of them mayprobably have been made before, in the course of this journal, yet it perhaps may not be amiss to collect them together in onepoint of view. 

NORFOLK ISLAND. 

By the mean of several meridional altitudes of the sun, and agreat number of lunar observations, the latitude of Sydney-Bay is29° 04' 40" south, and its longitude 168° 12' east, ofGreenwich. The form of the island is a long square, and itcontains about fourteen thousand acres: it is six miles in lengthand four in breadth. 

Face of the country_. --The island is very hilly, andsome of the valleys are tolerably large, considering the size ofthe island; but most of them are only deep hollows, formed by thesteep hills on each side, some of which rise so perpendicularthat they cannot be cultivated. There are some extensive plainson the summits of the hills. Mount Pitt is the only remarkablehill on the island, and is about two hundred fathoms high. Thecliffs round the island are about forty fathoms high, and arequite perpendicular: the basis of them, as well as most of therocks and reefs round the island, is a hard, firm clay, of a veryfine texture. The whole island is covered with a very thickforest, choaked up with underwood, which makes it impassableuntil it is cleared away. 

-Water_. --The island is well supplied with many streamsof very fine water, some of which are sufficiently large to turna number of mills: it is probable that most of these rivuletsoriginate from springs near Mount Pitt. On a hill, near themiddle of the island, between Cascade and Sydney bays, there is apond of fresh water, about half an acre: there is no rivulet nearit, nor can any spring be perceived, yet, in the greatestdrought, it constantly remains full, and has a very good taste. All these streams abound with very fine eels. 

-Soil_. --From the sides of the cliffs which surround thecoast, to the summit of Mount Pitt, there is a continuation ofthe finest soil, varying from a rich brown mould to a light redearth. Some large stones are found on different parts of theisland. 

-Air_. --As a proof of the salubrity and wholesomeness ofthe air, it is to be remarked, that there had been scarcely anysickness since I landed, nor had we any illness whatever, excepta few colds. 

-Timber and trees_. --There are only five sorts of treeson the island which can be called timber; viz. The pine, a woodresembling the live oak; a yellow wood; a hard black wood; and awood resembling the English beech. The pine-trees are of a greatsize, many of them being from one hundred and eighty to twohundred and twenty feet high, and from four to eight feetdiameter some distance from the ground. Those trees, whichmeasure from one hundred to one hundred and eighty feet high, arein general sound, and are without branches for eighty or ninetyfeet, but the upper part is too knotty and hard to be useful;indeed, it frequently happens, that after twenty feet have beencut off from the butt, the trees becomes rotten and shaky, and isalso very brittle; for which reason, no dependance can be put onthem for masts or yards. The turpentine which exudes freely fromthe bark, is of a milk-white glutinous substance; but it israther remarkable, that there is none in the timber. We tried torender this turpentine useful in paying boats, and otherpurposes, but without success; as it would neither melt nor burn:we also tried to make pitch or tar, by burning the old pines; butthere being no turpentine in the wood, our efforts were useless. The pine is very useful in buildings, and being dispersed invarious parts of the island, is well calculated for suchbuildings as hereafter may be necessary: from what I have beenable to observe, it is very durable, as that which we had usedfor erecting houses, stood the weather very well. Two cobles werebuilt of this wood, one of which was built in June, 1788: she waswater-soaked, owing to our want of any kind of stuff to pay herwith. 

The live-oak, yellow-wood, black-wood, and beech, are all of aclose grain, and durable; in general they are from fourteen totwenty inches diameter. The branches of the live-oak are fit fortimbers and knees of boats or small vessels. 

There are a variety of other small trees on the island, but asthey are not useful, it is unnecessary to enumerate them here;though I should not omit the fern-tree, the bark of which servesmany purposes, instead of twine and rope. The cabbage-palm werein great plenty when I first landed on the island, but, bycontinual cutting, they were almost destroyed. There is a plantamong the underwood, which produces a kind of pepper; its leavesare broad, and have an aromatic, pungent taste: the core whichcontains the seed, shoots out between the leaf and the stalk, andis in general two or three inches long, and full of small seeds, which have nearly the same taste as the leaves; but, on theirbeing dried, the smell and taste leaves them: it is alsodifficult to find them in a state of ripeness, as the parroquetsdestroy them before they can arrive at any degree ofperfection. 

The flax-plant of New Zealand, grows spontaneously, and ingreat quantities on many parts of the island, but chiefly on thecoasts and in the vallies near the sea: the leaves of this plant, when full grown, are from six to eight feet long, and six incheswide at the bottom: each plant contains seven leaves, and a woodystalk rises from the center, which bears the flowers: it seedsannually, and the old leaves are forced off by the young oneevery year. The method of soaking and preparing European flax andhemp, had been tried, but with no other effect than separatingthe vegetable part from the fibres; and a ligneous substancestill remaining, it could not be reduced to an useful state. Somelines have been made of it, but they were not very strong; thoughthe flax appears capable of being worked into a very finesubstance, if the method of preparing it were known. 

-Insects_. --These have already been described. The groundis much infested by the grub-worm, which are very destructive tothe growth of vegetables: they are mostly troublesome about thespring. Various methods have been tried to destroy these vermin, but without effect. The caterpillar has also been verytroublesome in the spring; having destroyed acres of Indian cornand acres of wheat: they came in upon the grain quite suddenly, and after remaining three weeks, they went away with the samerapidity. 

-Fish_. --The coasts of the island abound with very finefish, which are principally the snapper, and weigh from four toeight pounds each. A few fish are at times caught from the shore;this, however, happens but seldom; so that a supply of fish mustdepend on the weather and the surf permitting boats to go out. Inmoderate weather, boats might land in Collins's-Bay, onPhillip-Island, where a great quantity of fish might be cured, from March to September; after which time the fly preventsit. 

-Seasons_. --The spring is very visible in August, but thetrees on many parts of the island are in a constant succession offlowering and seeding the whole year round. The summer is veryhot: I had no thermometer to determine the degree of heat, but itis excessive. From the 23d of September, 1789, to the 22d ofFebruary, 1790, not one drop of rain fell, excepting on two daysin December; but it should be remarked, that we had no drought inthe former year. All the grain, and the European plants seeded inDecember. From February to August may be called the rainy season;not that I think there is any regular time of rains during thesemonths, as the weather is sometimes very fine for a fortnighttogether; but when the rain does fall, it pours in torrents. I donot recollect more than three claps of thunder, or lightning, during the time I remained on the island. The winter, (which maybe said to commence in April, and end in July, ) is very pleasant;there is never any frost; but when the south-west winds blow, which are very frequent and violent in these months, the air israw and cold. It is very remarkable, that during some days inDecember and January, the weather has been much colder than inthe winter months. The south-east, and east winds are veryparching and dry, as no dew falls when those winds prevail. 

-Winds_. --During the winter months, the wind is mostlyfrom south to west, blowing with great violence for a weektogether; afterwards it veers round to the southward andsouth-east, which brings fine weather for a few days, then itveers to east, north-east, and north-west, blowing in heavygales, and generally accompanied with violent torrents of rain:after which it shifts to south-west: indeed, I do not rememberone instance of the wind coming to the north-east, round by west. The south-east wind blows during the summer with very littlevariation, and sometimes very strong. 

-Coasts of the island_. --The coasts of the island are ingeneral steep to, and (excepting Sydney, Anson, Ball, and CascadeBays, ) are inaccessible; being surrounded by steep cliffs, whichrise perpendicularly from the sea. A number of large rocks liescattered about close to the shore, on which a continual surfbreaks with great force. 

SYDNEY-BAY, (which was so named after Lord Viscount Sydney, )lies on the south side of the island, and here the settlement wasformed: this bay is formed by Point Hunter and Point Ross, whichlie east half north, and west half south of each other, and areabout a mile and three-quarters asunder. A reef of clay and coralextends from Point Hunter, at the distance of 150 yards from theshore, and parallel to it, for about three-quarters of a mile:close to the back of this reef, there is four fathoms water; itterminates abreast of the settlement with a corner, round whichis the landing place; but, as the surf breaks with great violenceon the reef, it sometimes breaks into the passage off the corner, so that landing is then impossible. The landing in this bay, entirely depends on the state of the sea without, and thedirection of the wind; great attention should also be paid to thesignals from the shore. I have seen the landing, for a monthtogether, as good as could be wished; and sometimes a very heavysurf would continue for a fortnight: on the whole, the best timefor landing is from half ebb to half flood, and an easterly, north-east, and north-west wind, generally make smooth water. 

There is another reef off Point Ross, which stretches abouthalf a mile into the sea; and no vessel ought ever to go withinthe outer breaker of this reef, and the south point ofNepean-Isle. The tide sets right through between the islands, andwhen the flood runs to the westward, it sets very strong roundNepean-Island into the bight of Sydney-Bay; therefore all vesselsought to be particularly cautious not to go within Nepean-Islandwith an inblowing wind: should the wind be from the eastward orwestward, vessels might stand very close in; but even this oughtnot to be done, except for the purpose of taking a boat up, andthen the tide must be considered. 

The passage between Point Hunter and Nepean-Island is a verygood one, there being three fathoms water close to Nepean-Isle, and nine fathoms in mid-channel. There lies a rock off PointHunter in the direction of south-west with one fathom and a halfon it, but it is out of the passage. The tide occasions a verystrong race between the islands, which makes it very difficultfor vessels to have communication with the shore, as they cannotanchor, the bottom being rocky. The ebb runs nine hours to theeast, and the flood three hours to the west, but at times, theflood has been observed to run five hours: it flows in this bayat seven hours and an half, full and change, and rises seven feetperpendicular. 

ANSON-BAY, (which was named after George Anson, the member ofparliament for Litchfield, ) is a small bay with a sandy beach:the landing here is tolerably good in settled weather, and whenthe sea is quite smooth; but as the interior parts of the islandare so very difficult of access from thence, no ship's boats haveever landed there. 

BALL-BAY, (which was named after Lieutenant Henry LidgbirdBall, ) goes in about three-quarters of a mile: the beach isformed of large loose stones, which renders beaching boats heredangerous, though it often happens that the landing here is verygood when the surf has increased so much in Sydney-Bay as torender landing there impracticable. A good landing place wascleared away here, but in the course of three months the stoneswere washed into it again, although many of them weighed twohundred pounds each. This bay is surrounded by very steep hills, which renders the access to the settlement from hence ratherdifficult. 

CASCADE-BAY. --The south-west winds, which generally prevailduring the winter months, make this the best side of the islandfor landing on at that season. A good landing place may easily bemade, where any thing might be landed from half ebb to halfflood. It is the intention of the lieutenant-governor to erect astore-house, and make a good landing place; indeed this wouldhave been done before, but the want of hands prevented it. TheGolden-Grove and Supply have both lain at anchor in this bay, bringing the great Cascade to bear south-west, at one mile fromthe shore, in seventeen fathoms coral and sand, but the bottom isfoul, as there is great reason to suppose it is all round theisland. 

-Present state of cultivation_. --The proper time forsowing wheat or barley is from May to August: that which is sownin sheltered situations, should be sown in May, June, and July:and that which is sown in places that are exposed to thesea-winds on the south side of the island, should not be sownbefore July; and if so late as August, it would yield well. Thewheat, which has been sown, produced more than twenty fold; and, I think in future, it will yield a still greater increase. Wehave found a bushel and an half of seed sufficient for an acre ofground newly broke up. Two bushels of barley sown in May on anacre of ground yielded twenty-four bushels. Indian corn should beplanted from June until August, in places not much exposed to thesea winds: it yields well, and is in my opinion the best grain tocultivate, on account of the little trouble attending its growth, and the manufacturing it for food. 

The sugar-cane grows very strong, and I think will come toperfection; although it suffers much from the blighting winds, and the grub-worm. Vines, orange, and lemon trees, are in a verythriving state: the banana trees found growing on the island, will, I make no doubt, thrive very well, when those which havebeen planted out from the old trees come to perfection; indeedsome of them have already yielded good fruit. That useful articleof food, the potatoe, thrives amazingly, and two crops a year maybe obtained with ease: I have seen 120 potatoes at one root, 80of which were larger than an hen's egg. Every kind of gardenvegetable (which the grub spares, ) grows well and comes to greatperfection: cabbages weigh from ten to twenty-seven pounds each:melons and pumpkins also grow very fine. 

I think situations might be found on the island, where cottonand indigo will thrive: of the latter, there are two trees, bothwhich are very large and fine, but the ant destroys the blossomas fast as it flowers. Rice has been sown twice, viz. Once eachyear, but the south-east winds blighted a great part of it: thatwhich escaped the blight, yielded a great increase. The quantityof ground cleared and in cultivation on the 13th of March, 1790, was thirty acres belonging to the crown, and about eighteen acrescleared by free people and convicts, for their gardens. 

It was my intention to put as many labourers as could bespared from other necessary work, to clear ground forcultivation; and I had reason to believe that I should have hadfrom fifty to seventy acres sown with grain by the end ofOctober: I purposed to continue clearing ground in Arthur's Vale, and on the hill round it, in order to have all the cultivatedlands belonging to the public as much connected together aspossible; this would have answered much better for the growth ofwheat, Indian corn, or barley, than their being sown in confinedsituations; which experience had shown were not at allproductive: the parroquets and other birds would not havedestroyed so much of the grain before it was got in, and it mightbe much better guarded from thieves than if the cultivatedgrounds were dispersed in different parts of the island: anothervery material reason for clearing all the ground in thisparticular situation was, that the barn was situated in thecenter of the vale. 

I proposed building a strong log store-house at Cascade-Bay, and making the landing place there more easy of access; which, from the increased number of the inhabitants on the island, wasnow become absolutely necessary; especially as landing there ismuch oftener practicable than in Sydney-Bay: indeed, I shouldhave got this business done, but that it would have been a greathindrance to cultivation, which I ever thought was the principalobject to attend to. The other buildings which I meant to erect, were barracks for the soldiers, of 54 feet long by 16 feet wide;a granary, 36 feet long by 20 feet wide, and a store-house, 60feet long by 24 feet wide; all which, I hoped, would have beencompleted by the ensuing December. 

Respecting the flax, although we made repeated trials, yet, having no person conversant in the preparation of it, I found itcould not at present be brought to an useful state: but I mayventure to say, that if proper flax-dressers could be sent to NewZealand, to observe their method of manufacturing it, they mightrender it a valuable commodity, both to furnish the inhabitantswith cloathing, and for other purposes. 

It was my intention to have built an house and a shed onPhillip-Island, and, after landing three or four months water onit, to have sent six convicts with a boat to catch and cure fish;this would have been a great resource for Norfolk-Island; but thefish must have been cured from April to September, on account ofthe fly. 

I apprehend, from the goodness of the soil, thatNorfolk-Island is very capable of maintaining at least onehundred families, allowing to each an hundred acres of ground, and reserving two thousand acres for fuel: with industry, theywould have in a short time, all the necessaries of life, exceptcloathing, and that must depend on the flax of the island, or thegrowth of European flax. 

The want of a safe harbour for vessels to lie in, is a verygreat inconvenience, and renders it difficult to have access tothe island; indeed, vessels may load and unload, by going to thelee-side, and embracing other favourable opportunities, butunfortunately the vast quantity of coral rocks which cover thebottom, render anchorage very unsafe. 

However, should the settlement at Port Jackson be continued, in the course of a few years these difficulties will scarcely bethought on, when compared with the advantages arising from thequantity of grain that there is every reason to suppose may bedrawn from this island, for the support of the inhabitants of NewSouth-Wales. 

-General behaviour of the convicts, and otherremarks_. --The few convicts that first landed with me, ingeneral behaved well; but, as their numbers increased, theyrenewed their wicked practices: the most artful and daring theftswere now almost daily committed, and the perpetrators couldseldom be discovered; and nothing but the certainty of meetingwith a very severe punishment, and the mustering them frequentlyduring the night in their huts could prevent these thefts in anydegree whatever: indeed, they were often troublesome, and some ofthem were incorrigible, notwithstanding every encouragement washeld out to them, and the indulgencies they received were fullysufficient to convince them that they would be treated accordingto their deserts: some few of them were susceptible of theadvantages arising from industry and good behaviour; those ofthis description had the satisfaction of enjoying a quantity ofIndian corn, potatoes, and other vegetables, which were a greatassistance to them at the time they were put to short allowanceof provisions; and some of them had cleared from one to threeacres of ground, which they proposed sowing with Indian corn andpotatoes: these formed a respectable set of convicts, compared tothe greater part, who were idle, miserable wretches. 

When I first landed on the island, the convicts were kept atday-work, having stated times for their dinners and other meals:this method answered very well whilst there were few to lookafter; but when their numbers increased, I had not people ofconfidence to overlook them and keep them at work: I thereforejudged it would be more eligible to task them, taking the opinionof those whom I thought most conversant in the different kinds ofwork that were going forward. 

The numbers of inhabitants I left on Norfolk Island were as follow:

Civil, military, and free 90Belonging to the Sirius 80Male convicts 191Female convicts 100Children 37Total 498

The quantities of grain, potatoes, and live stock I left wereas follow:

Wheat, from 250 to 300 bushels. Barley 6 bushels. Indian corn 130 to 140 bushels. 

Potatoes, one acre, would be ready to dig in May. 

Hogs, large and small, belonging to the public, 26, besides 18hogs, a quantity of poultry, 3 goats, and 1 ewe, my property; andsome stock belonging to individuals. 

Before I take my final leave of this island, (where I remainedtwo years) I cannot help acknowledging the great assistance Ihave received from the few officers I had with me; nor was thispropriety of conduct confined to the officers alone, as all themarines and other free people were steady and regular in theirbehaviour; and it gives me a sensible satisfaction to remark, that, excepting on one or two occasions, I never had any reasonto be dissatisfied with any of the few free persons I had undermy command. 

Exclusive of this general approbation of the good conduct ofthe free people, I must particularise Mr. Cresswell, the officerof marines; Mr. Stephen Dunavan, midshipman; and Mr. ThomasJamieson, surgeon's mate, of the Sirius, I feel the greatestsatisfaction in saying that a constant, uniform propriety ofconduct, and a readiness in forwarding the service, were everzealously shown by these gentlemen. 

At noon on the 24th, the Supply made sail, and we arrived atPort Jackson on the 4th of April. 

When I left Port Jackson in February, 1788, the ground aboutSydney-Cove was covered with a thick forest, but on my arrival atthis time, I found it cleared to a considerable distance, andsome good buildings were erected. The governor, thelieutenant-governor, the judge-advocate, and the greatest part ofthe civil and military officers were comfortably lodged. Thegovernor's house is built of stone, and has a very goodappearance, being seventy feet in front. Thelieutenant-governor's house is built of brick, as are also thosebelonging to the judge and the commissary: the rest of the housesare built with logs and plaistered; and all the roofs are eithercovered with shingles or thatched. The hospital is a goodtemporary building: the soldiers were in barracks, and theofficers had comfortable huts, with gardens adjoining to them;but unfortunately, these gardens afford but little, as there isnot more than two feet of soil over a bed of rocks, and this soilis little better than black sand; and to this inconvenience mustbe added, the depredations of rats and thieves. 

At the distance of an hour's walk from Sydney-Cove, the soilis better in some places, and these are occupied by the officersand others, as their farms: there are also brick-kilns and apottery, both which articles they make very well, but a greatinconvenience arises in their not being able to glaze theearthenware. 

From the little I saw of the soil about Sydney-Cove, I thinkit is very bad, most of the ground being covered with rocks, orlarge stones, which are used for building, and when cut, greatlyresemble the Portland stone; they are easily worked, and hardenvery much after being wrought. A little below Sydney-Cove, thereis another, called Farm-Cove, at the head of which there areabout fifteen acres of ground in cultivation, but the soil isvery indifferent. 

Governor Phillip, it seems, had made several excursions, inorder to inform himself more fully about the nature of the soil, and to find out a place more proper for cultivation, than theland about the lower part of the harbour; and, at length, hadfixed on a situation at the head of it, about eleven miles fromSydney-Cove. The soil here was found to be much better than atSydney-Cove, and a number of convicts were sent there in 1789, with a captain's guard, in order to prevent any disputes with thenatives, and to preserve regularity amongst the convicts. 

I accompanied Governor Phillip to this place, which is namedRose-Hill, on the 9th: we left Sydney-Cove at eight in themorning, and arrived at Rose-Hill before noon. About two milesbelow this settlement, the harbour becomes quite narrow, beingnot more than ten or twelve yards across, and the banks are aboutsix feet high: here, the country has the appearance of a park. Inrowing up this branch, we saw a flock of about thirty kangaroosor paderong, but they were only visible during their leaps, asthe very long grass hid them from our view. We landed about halfa mile from the settlement, and walked up to it. 

This settlement is on an elevated ground, which joins to afine crescent, as regular as if formed by art; it is probablethat this crescent, and the regular slopes which surround thesettlement, have been formed by very heavy rains. The soil isloam, sand, and clay: the trees are not so large here as lowerdown the harbour, but the large roots lying on the ground renderit difficult to clear. A fine stream of fresh water runs into thehead of the harbour, which, in the winter, and when heavy rainsfall, sometimes rises seven or eight feet, and becomes a rapidtorrent. A redoubt is constructed here, in which are very goodbarracks for officers and soldiers: there is likewise astore-house. 

On the opposite side of the brook, there is a farm-house, where a servant of Governor Phillip's resides, who is chargedwith the superintendence of the convicts and the cultivation ofthe ground; to which charge he is very equal, and is of thegreatest service to the governor, as he has no other free personwhatever to overlook any piece of work carrying on by theconvicts. Near to this farm-house, there is a very good barn anda granary. The convicts houses form a line at some distance, infront of the barracks, with very good gardens before and behindeach house: indeed, the whole, joined to the pleasantness of thesituation, makes it a beautiful landscape. 

In 1789, the quantity of ground sown with wheat here, and atSydney-Cove, was twenty-two acres; with barley, seventeen acres;flax, Indian corn, and beans, three acres. The quantity of wheatraised was two hundred bushels; of barley, sixty bushels; flax, beans, and other seeds, ten bushels: the wheat is a fine fullgrain. This year (1790) near one hundred acres will be cleared atRose-Hill, of which forty are to be sown with wheat. 

After dinner, I accompanied the governor from Rose-Hill toProspect-Hill, which is about four miles distant: we walkedthrough a very pleasant tract of country, which, from thedistance the trees grew from each other, and the gentle hills anddales, and rising slopes covered with grass, appeared like a vastpark. The soil from Rose-hill to Prospect-Hill is nearly alike, being a loam and clay. It is remarkable, that although thedistance between these two places is only four miles, yet thenatives divide it into eight different districts. 

Prospect-Hill is a small elevation, which commands a veryextensive prospect of the country to the southward: a range ofvery high mountains bound the view to the westward: thesemountains, which lie nearly north and south, are about fortymiles from Prospect-Hill; and the intervening country is a thickforest: the northernmost of these mountains is calledRichmond-Hill, at the foot of which the Hawkesbury takes its risefrom a bed of fresh water coal. 

A river has been discovered by Captain Tench, of the marines, which runs near the foot of Lansdown-Hills; its direction appearsto be north and south, but how far it runs to the southwardcannot be ascertained, though there is great reason to suppose itruns a considerable way, as it does not empty itself intoBotany-Bay, it therefore appears probable that it may come intothe sea about Long-Nose, or Cape St. George, where there is anappearance of a good harbour. 

There were at this time three of the natives who lived at PortJackson, viz. A man about twenty-eight years old, a girl aboutthirteen, and a boy about nine years old. The man was taken bystratagem, by Lieutenant Bradley, who enticed him and anothernative to the boat by holding up a fish: they were both secured, a number of the natives being at the same time on the shore;these threw a number of spears, and although they are only madeof wood, yet one of them went through four folds of the boat'ssail, and struck the apron of the boat's stern with such violenceas to split it. One of these natives made his escape presentlyafterwards, but the other grew reconciled to his situation, andlives with the governor: he is a very intelligent man, and muchinformation may, no doubt, be procured from him, when he can bewell understood. Mr. Collins, the judge-advocate, is veryassiduous in learning the language, in which he has made a greatprogress. 

This native has no less than five names, viz. "-Bannelon, Wollewarre, Boinba, Bunde-bunda, Wogé trowey_, " but helikes best to be called by the second: he is a stout, well mademan, about five feet six inches high, and now that the dirt iswashed from his skin, we find his colour is a dark black: he islarge featured, and has a flat nose; his hair is the same as theAsiatics, but very coarse and strong: he is very good-natured, being seldom angry at any jokes that may be passed upon him, andhe readily imitates all the actions and gestures of every personin the governor's family; he sits at table with the governor, whom he calls "-Beanga_, " or Father; and the governor callshim "-Dooroow_, " or Son: he is under no restraint, nor is hethe least aukward in eating; indeed, considering the state ofnature which he has been brought up in, he may be called a politeman, as he performs every action of bowing, drinking healths, returning thanks, etc. With the most scrupulous attention. Heis very fond of wine, but cannot bear the smell of spirits, although they have often tried to deceive him, by mixing veryweak rum or brandy and water, instead of wine and water; but hewould instantly find out the deception, and on these occasions hewas angry: his appetite is very good, for he soon began toperceive the difference between a full and a short allowance. 

He walks about constantly with the governor, who, to make himsensible of the confidence he placed in him, always took off asmall sword which he usually wore, and gave it toWolle-warrč, who put it on, and was not a little pleasedat this mark of confidence. His dress is a jacket, made of thecoarsest red kersey, and a pair of trowsers; but on Sundays, heis drest in nankeen. The governor's reason for making him wearthe thick kersey is, that he may be so sensible of the cold asnot to be able to go without cloaths. 

Wolle-warre has had a wife, who, it seems, died a short timebefore he was taken: he sometimes mentions this circumstance, andit occasions a momentary gloom; but this his natural gaiety soondissipates: he sings, when asked, but in general his songs are ina mournful strain, and he keeps time by swinging his arms:whenever asked to dance, he does it with great readiness; hismotions at first are very slow, and are regulated by a dismaltune, which grows quicker as the dance advances, till at lengthhe throws himself into the most violent posture, shaking hisarms, and striking the ground with great force, which gives himthe appearance of madness. It is very probable that this part ofthe dance is used as a sort of defiance, as all the natives whichwere seen when we first arrived at Port Jackson, always joinedthis sort of dance to their vociferations of "-woroo, woroo_, " go away. 

To what I have already said, respecting this man, a few moreparticulars will be added in the following vocabulary, which Mr. Collins permitted me to copy. 

The native boy lived with Mr. White, the surgeon, who, withthat humanity for which he is distinguished, cured both the boyand girl of a confluent small-pox, which swept off hundreds ofthe natives in the winter of 1788. This dreadful disorder, which, there is no doubt, is a distemper natural to the country, together with the difficulty of procuring a subsistance, rendersthe situtation of these poor wretches truly miserable. 

The girl lived with the chaplain's wife, and both she and theboy were very tractable; but the girl at times would be out oftemper, and could not bear to be thwarted. 

I shall now add a vocabulary of the language, which I procuredfrom Mr. Collins and Governor Phillip; both of whom had been veryassiduous in procuring words to compose it; and as all thedoubtful words are here rejected, it may be depended upon to becorrect*. 

[* This Vocabulary was much enlarged by CaptainHunter. ]

Allocy, _To stay_. Annegar, _To ask any thing_. A-ra-goon, _A war shield_. Ar-row-an, _Distant, or far off_. Bňe, _or_ Bo-y, _Dead_. Bourbillie remul, _Buried_. *Bado-burra, _or_ Burra-bado, _To pour water_. [* It should be observed, that in speaking, Wolle-warrefrequently changes the position of his words, as in Bado-burra:so when walking one night from Prospect-Hill to Rose-Hill, wefrequently stumbled against the roots, and he exclaimed"Wčrč Wadč, and Wadč Werč, "bad wood, or bad roots. ] Bado-go-bally-vuida, _I am dry, or I want water todrink_. Barong-boruch, _A belly-full_. Boor emil diow, _To put on_. Bo-me, _To breathe_. Bo-gay, _To dive_. Boorana, _Yesterday_. Boora-Carremay, _A fine day_. Beal, _or_ Bidgeree, _Good_. Byalla, _To speak_. Bomar, _A grave_. Bourra, _A cloud, or the clouds_. Bengalle, _Ornaments in general_. Barrong, _The belly_. Booroow, _The testicles_. Boon-abbiey, _To kiss each other_. Berille, _The finger-Bib-be, _The ribs_. Boot Boot, _The heart_. Bur-ra, _A fish-book_. Bur-boga, _To rise_. Bir-ra, _The cheek_. Bin-ning, _The leg_. Bin-yang, _A bird_. Bee-an-bing, _A quail_. Ba-ra-goo-la, _The flood-tide_. 

Birrang, _The stars_. Be-anga, _A father_. Boon-ya, _To kiss_. Ban-ga-ray, _The red kanguroo_. Bo-ra-ya, _To sing_. Bur-ra-doo, _or_ Moona, _A louse_. Ba-rin, _An apron worn by young females_. Bin-ny, _With young_. Bul-mie, _To clap hands in dancing_. Ba-na-rang, _The blood_. Barbuka, _To get up_. Boming, _A bird called the red-bill_. Bun-ya-dil, _To singe the beard off_. Bolwara, _To stare, or open the eyes_. Bur-ra-nč, _To-morrow_. Baggy, _The skin_. Boo-roo-an, _An island_. Bň-ye, _Death, or a ghost_. Cowull, _The male of animals_. Car-re-nar-e-bille, _To cough_. Cannadinga, _To burn_. Can-no-can, _Any vegetable fit to eat_. Cŕ-ma, _To call_. Carre-mille-bado, _To soak, or wash in water_. Coing-bibo-la, _The sun-rise_. Coing-burra-go-lah, _The sun-set_. Camurra, _A day_. Chiang, _or_ Chang-ulah, _To chew_. Cot-ban-jow, _Broken_. Cot-bŕnič, _or_ Cot-barry, _To cut_. Carra-duin, _A fishing-line_. Canno, _A belly-full_. Caberra, _The head_. Cad-lwar, _or_ Col-liang, _The neck_. Corungun, _A nail_. Carra-mah, _A gut_. Camye, _A spear, or lance_. Ca-la-ra, _A large fish-gig, with four prongs_. Ca-rall, _The black cockatoo_. Ca-ra-ga-rang, _The sea_. Ca-ra-goo-la, _The cbb-tide_. Cow-ee, _To come_. Can-ning, _A cave in the rock_. Can, _A snake, guana, or lizard_. Ca-la-ba-ran, _A large sword, or scymetar_. Ca-ra-goon, _A centipede_. Cud-yal, _Smoak_. Ca-ban, _An egg_. Cal-loo-a, _To climb_. Cur-ra-yura, _The sky_. Cot-ban-la, _It is broke_. Cot-ban, _To break_. Diera, _A bone_. Din, _and_ Din aillon, _Women_. Derra-bangel-dion crelli bow, _To take off, or imitate_. Dyennibbe, _Laughter_. Dčre-nignan, _To sneeze_. Didgerry-goor, _I thank you_. Didgerry goor Wogul Banne, _I thank you for a bit_. Die, _Here_. Diŕm-o-wau, _Where are you?-Dara, _The teeth_. Diwarra, _The hair_. Da-ma-na Beril, _The hand and fingers_. Duralia, _A hearn_. Doo-roy, _The grass_. Doo-ra, _A musquito_. Doo-ra-gy-a, _To spit_. Door-a-lang, _To prick_. Dir-gally, _To scratch_. Dar-ra-Burra-Booriŕ, _To pick the teeth_. Dooroow, _A son_. Eo-ra, _Men or People_. Era-mad-ye-winnia, _To snatch_. Eranga, _T'other side of the hill_. Eri, _Full_. Elabi-la-bo, _To make water_. E-roo-ka, _To sweat_. E-li-mang, _A small shield, made of bark_. Gall Gall, _Small-pox_. Gnoowing, _The night-Gna-oong, _The nose ornament_. Gnia-na, _To sigh_. Go-wally, _A shag, or cormorant_. Goomun, _The fir-tree_. Godie-by, _Rotten, or decayed_. Go-roon, _A muscle_. Gorey, _Juice_. Gnia, _I myself!-Ger-rub-ber, _Any thing that gives fire, as a gun, etc_. Gorai, _The ear_. Gor-rook, _The knee_. Gading, _The arm_. Gwo-meil, _Feathers_, Gnal-loa, _To sit_. Go-ril, _A parrot_. Ga-ra-way, _A white cockatoo_. Girra-girra, _A fishing-gull_. Gwarra, _The wind_. Gur-gy, _The fern-root-Gon-yi, _A house or hut_. Goor-ing, _A female child_. Gwee-ang, _Fire_. Gar-ree, _To cough_. Go-mi-ra, _A hole_. Goon-gan, _A barbed spear, for close fighting_. Gur-go, _A meteor, or shooting star_. Gong-ara, _Ornamental scars on the body_. Gweč-rang, _Ornaments made of reeds, and strung roundthe waist or neck_. Gna-ra, _A knot in a line_. Goora, _To drown_. Gu-na-murra, _A stink, or bad smell_. Gitte-Gittim, _To tickle_. Go-roo-da, _To snore when asleep_. Ilga, _To leap_. Jamel Jamel, _A hawk_. Kalga, _The mouth_. Kamai, _A spear_. Kibba, _A rock_. Ka-ra-ma, _To steal_. Mogo, _A stone hatchet_. Mulla, _A man_. Moola, _Sick, to vomit_. Maugerry, _Fishing_. Murray, _Every thing large_. Murray-nowey, _The Sirius_. Murray-cara-diera, _Swelled wrist_. Mediey, _I do not know_. Maracry, _or_ Mar-ry-ang, _The emu_. Mullin-ow-ule, _To-morrow morning_. Murray-yannadah, _Full moon_. Marroway, _To creep_. Manioo, _To pick up any thing_. Morun-gle, _Thunder_. Moor-rone, _A large fly that bites_. Morungle-birrong mongle, _Struck with thunder andlightning_. Murong, _Sand_. Man-ye-ro, _I do not know_. Mi, _The eye_. Murray-can-na dinga mi, _The effect of the hot burning sun onthe eye_. Menoe, _The foot_. Me-noe-wa, _The feet_. Moo-tang, _A small fiz-gig_. Mur-tin, _Milk_. Med-yanq, _A sore_. Ma-gra, _Fish_. Mang-a, _Lightning_. My-ang-a, _A fly_. Mong, _An ant_. Man-a-ro, _The navel_. Moo-tang, _Living_. Me-gal, _Tears_. Ma-na-ran, _The teeth of the kanguroo stuck in the head withgum as an ornament_. Mawn, _A ghost or apparition_. Moono, _The bill of a bird_. Mo-ro, _A path or road_. Min-ney, _To scrape_. Myi-mogro, _To shut the eyes_. Maur, _To take hold_. Narrong, _Any thing small_. Nowey, _A canoe_. Narrong nowey, _The Supply_. Narra-dew, _To hear_. Noone, _Now_. Nogur, _The nose_. Naga, _The liver_. Nar-ra-mee, _A net_. Nan-ga-ra, _To sleep_. Nabanq, _Womens breasts-Nul-la, _The forehead_. Na-ro-wang, _A paddle_. Nang-oon, _A bone or piece of wood thrust through the septum ofthe nose_. Nam-mel, _A sinker for a fish-line_. Narri-keebu, _Stand on the rock_. Oôna, _The elbow_. Pyalla-pya-bow, _To fight or beat_. Pan-nie-jeminga, _To give one the hand_. Patanga, _An oyster_. Paddewah, _A fish called a flat-head_. Parry-buga, _To-morrow_. Paran-banie-diow, _Eating (the act of)_. Pa-boo-nang, _A black ant_. Parra-berry, _Empty_. Par-rangle, _The throat_. Pan-ne-ra, _The blood_. Pow-book, _An owl_. Pan-na, _Rain_. Pa-ta-ga-rang, _The large grey kanguroo_. Pil-lia, _To laugh_. Pe-mall, _Earth or clay_. Po-cul-bee, _The flag or iris of this country_. Teura, _A musquito_. Teura-dieny, _Musquito bite_. Tag-go-rah-yago, _To shiver_. Taboa-millie, _Painted white_. Tonga-doro, _You must say_. Talling, _or_ Ta-lang, _The tongue_. Tamira, _The hand_. Tarra, _The leg_. Tarong, _The shoulder_. Troo-gad-ya, _A large gull_. Ta-ga-ra, _Cold_. Tingo, _A dog_. Tonga, _To weep_. Tang o-ra, _To dance_. Te-re-nang, _To sneeze_. Ta-ra, _Teeth_. Ter-ra-wan-a, _A magpie_. Ta-lang-a, _To yawn_. Ter-ral, _Feathers used as an ornament for the head_. Taman, _A berry_. Toon, _The tail of a bird, or any animal_. Tan-naing, _Mine_. _(My property. )-Ury-diow, _To sit nearer any one_. Wering, _Female_. Womerraa, _To run_. Womerra-berra, _To jump_. Wčrč, _Bad_. Wadby, _To swim_. Warre-wee, _To stand_. Wanne-bow, _To throw away_. Waltegal, _A large fish_. Woolamie, _A fish called a light-horseman_. Waré, _Where_. Wogan-minnering, _Cutting off_. Womar, _A throwing-stick_. Wea-ja-minga, Wea-jow-inia. Wianga, _Relating to the giving ofany thing_. Wal-lu-merun-wea, _Will you have any more?-Walloo-bu-diown, _To turn when walking_. Woroo-woroo! _Go away, or an exclamation of defiance_. Willin, _The lips_. Wallo, _The chin_. Woo-da, _A club_. Wee-de, _To drink or suck_. Wan-aree, _The eyebrow_. Wee-lang, _Lips_. War-ra, _The breast of a man_. Wa-gan, _A crow_. Wir-gan, _A bird called fryar_. Wad-dy, _A stick or tree_. Wong-ara, _A male child_. Wy-anga, _A mother_. Wo-la-ba, _A young kanguroo_. Waregal, _A large dog_. Wy-a-jenuriga, _Give me_. Wur-ra, _A rat_. Wil-bing, _To fly, or the wing of a bird_. Wa-ra-bee, _A cockel_. Worgye, _To whistle_. Wya-bo-in-ya, _Take this_. We-ring, _The female of animals_. Wa, _Where_. Wong-ara jug-ga-me, _A child carried on the shoulder_. Yenu, Yenmow, Yenminia, Yen, _The termination of the verb--towalk_. Yu-ru-gurra, _Hungry_. Yenna, _Gone_. Yennibun, _Walking away_. Yagoona, _To-day_. Yannadah paragi, _New moon_. Yery, _or_ Curna, _To throw_. Yery-dioma, _To fall down_. Ya-ban, _To sing_. Yarre, _or_ Yerring, _A beard_. Yer-ra, _A sword_. Yen-our-yenna, _Go away_. Yo-ra, _A number of people_. Goang-un, _A spear about eight feet long, with four barbs oneach side_. --The natives make use of this spear when theyadvance near their adversary, and the thrust, or rather thestroke, is made at the side, as they raise the spear up, and havea shield in the left-hand. A wound from this spear must bemortal. 

The only colours we have as yet discovered they have anyknowledge of, are--Red, _Morjal_; White, _Taboa_;Black, _Nand_; Green, _Boolga_. 

The females of each tribe are distinguished by the word"-Leon_, " added to the name which distinguishes the chief:it is supposed that the word "-Gal_, " signifies-tribe_, and the word preceding it is the word ofdistinction; probably, it is the place where the triberesides. 

The following instances may serve to confirm thesesuppositions. 

MEN. WOMEN. Camera-gal Cameragal-leon. Cadi-gal. Cadigal-leon. Won-gal. Wongal-leon. Gwea-gal. Gwea-gal-leon. Boora me di-gal. Booramedigal-leon. Norongera-gal. Norongera-gal-leon. Wallume-de-gal. Wallume-degal-leon. Borogegal-yurrey. Borogegal-leon. Gommerigal-tongara. Gommerigal-leon. 

We have every reason to believe, that the natives are dividedinto tribes, and that the persons belonging to each tribe derivetheir name from the chief. We have heard much of-Camme-ro-gal_, who lives in the interior part of thecountry, and is a great warrior. Wolare-warrč must havehad some severe conflicts with this chief, as he showed severalscars which proceeded from wounds that he had received fromhim. 

The tribe of Camerra inhabit the north side of Port Jackson. The tribe of Cadi inhabit the south side, extending from thesouth head to Long-Cove; at which place the district of Wanne, and the tribe of Wangal, commences, extending as far asPar-ra-mata, or Rose-Hill. The tribe of Wallumede inhabit thenorth shore opposite Warrane, or Sydney-Cove, and are called-Walumetta_. I have already observed, that the space betweenRose-Hill and Prospect-Hill is distinguished by eight differentnames, although the distance is only four miles. 

Wolare-warrč has given us to understand, that there areapparitions in the country which he calls "-Manč:-"he describes them as coming up with a strange noise, and catchinghold of any one by the throat: he made use of many words on thisoccasion, and pointed up to the sky: he also informed us, thatthese apparitions singe the beards and the hair: this, hedescribes as a very painful operation, rubbing his face afterevery application of the brand. 

They put their dead, for some time, in a fire, after whichthey are laid at length in a grave, dug very clean out, thebottom being first very carefully covered with long grass, orfern; the body is then put in, and covered over with long grass, and the grave is then filled with earth, the mould rising aboveit as in England. 

No signs of any religion have been observed among them, yetthey are not entirely ignorant of a future state, as they say thebones of the dead are in the grave, and the body is in theclouds; or, as those we have had with us may have beenmisunderstood, they probably mean that the soul is in the clouds:Wolare-warrč once asked the judge-advocate, if the whitemen went to the clouds also. The sun, moon, and stars, they call-Werč_ (bad): the native girl once went into veryviolent convulsions on seeing a falling star, and said that everybody would be destroyed, although some who were about herobserved, that she particularly alluded to the "-Murraynowey_, " the Sirius. 

The Emu, (Maroang) the Patagorang, and the Menagine, (a smallanimal) are all named "-Goa-long_, " which term is supposedto mean an animal, as Wolarewarrč uses it incontradistinction to a bird or a fish: on being asked, if the Emuwas a bird, (Binyan) he shook his head, and said, "-Goa-long_. " He calls Governor Phillip, _Beanga-(father); and names himself, _Dooroow_ (son): the judge andcommissary he calls _Babunna_ (brother). He sings a greatdeal, and with much variety: the following are some words whichwere caught--"E eye at wangewah-wandeliah chiango wandegomangenny wakey angoul barre boa lah barrema. " He throws the spearninety yards with great force and exactness. In counting thenumerals, he cannot reckon beyond four; viz. One, Wogul, orYa-ole; Two, Bulla and Yablowxe; Three, Boorooi, or Brewč;Four, Cal-una-long. On laying down a fifth object, he named itwith the rest, "-Marry-diolo_. " He calls the four principalwinds by the following names:--The North, Boo-roo-way; The South, Bain-marree; The West, Bow-wan; The East, Gonie-mah. 

The natives sing an hymn or song of joy, from day-break untilsunrise. They procure fire with infinite labour, by fixing thepointed end of a round piece of stick into a hole made in a flatpiece of wood, and twirling it round swiftly betwixt both hands, sliding them at the same time upwards and downwards until theoperator is fatigued, when he is relieved by some of hiscompanions, who are all seated in a circle for that purpose, andeach takes his turn in the operation until fire is procured: thisbeing the process, it is no wonder that they are never seenwithout a piece of lighted wood in their hand. 

Chapter XVI

VOYAGE TO BATAVIA AND VOYAGE FROM BATAVIA TO ENGLAND

April 1790 to December 1790

-Lieutenant King sails for Batavia. --Meets witha dangerous shoal. --Discovers Tench's-Island. --A description ofthe inhabitants. --Prince William-Henry's Islanddescribed. --Touches at Kercolang. --A description of theinhabitants, their cloathing and utensils. --Passes through theStreights of Salayer. --Arrival at Batavia. --Interview with thegovernor. --Batavia described. --Situation and extent. --Manners andcustoms of the inhabitants. --Government and police. --Annualexports. --Departure from Batavia. --Mortality amongst thesailors. --Arrival at the Isle of France. --An account of thatisland. --Sails from the Isle of France. --Arrival in the EnglishChannel. -

Having received the dispatches for his Majesty's principalSecretary of State, and for the Secretary of the Admiralty, fromGovernor Phillip, together with his order for me to go on boardthe Supply, and to proced in her to Batavia, and from thence, tomake the best of my way to England, with the above dispatches, and Lieutenant Ball having also received his orders, I took myleave of the governor, and at noon on the 17th of April, we setsail; carrying with us the fervent prayers of those we leftbehind, for our safety. 

From this time till the 22d, we had variable weather, the windin general from the south-east. Lieutenant Ball was directed tocall at Norfolk-Island, if it did not occasion him too much lossof time; but, as the winds seemed to hang to the eastward, therewas every probability of losing at least a fortnight; and, as theSupply did not carry any thing which could be of the leastassistance to those on the island, he thought proper to proceedon the voyage, and accordingly bore up in order to go to thewestward of the shoal seen by the Golden-Grove, in latitude29° 25' south, and 159° 59' east longitude: LieutenantShortland also saw another shoal, as hath already been mentioned, which may probably be the same, if they exist: this, however, seems to be a matter of doubt, as Lieutenant Ball, in July, 1789, cruized in these and the adjacent latitudes and longitudes for afortnight, and could not see the least appearance either of anisland or shoals; although Mr. Blackburn, the master of theSupply, who was at that time on board the Golden-Grove, is veryconfident that a shoal was seen in that vessel. 

We had very heavy gales of wind from east until the 28th, withviolent squalls, attended with rain: the air in general thick andhazy, and a high hollow sea running. At one o'clock on the 28th, we perceived a great alteration in the sea, which was become sosmooth, that at four o'clock it was, comparatively speaking, smooth water: at half past five, the man who was stationed at themast-head, saw breakers in the south-east, which were found to bea shoal, bearing from south-east by east to east-south-east, about seven miles distant: it appeared to trend south-south-eastand north-north-west; and the north end seemed to break offsuddenly in a small bluff. 

The man at the mast-head had seen this shoal a considerabletime before he spoke of it, and, when asked why he did notmention it sooner, he said that he took it for the reflection ofthe setting-sun; forgetting that the sun, if it had been visible, set to the westward: this circumstance occasioned Lieutenant Ballto name it "-Booby shoal:-" its latitude is 21° 24'south, and the longitude, by the time-keeper, 159° 24' eastof Greenwich. Immediately after passing this shoal, we found thesame high hollow sea running as we had in the morning. 

At noon on the 3d of May, our latitude was 12° 13' south, and the longitude, by the time-keeper, 161° 33' east. We werenow drawing near the situation in which Lieutenant Shortland haddiscovered land, and being surrounded by birds, and a number oftrees floating about the vessel, we were induced to supposeourselves not far distant from it. In the evening of the 4th wesounded, but got no ground with 150 fathoms of line. The nextmorning high land was seen, bearing from north-north-west towest-north-west, seven or eight leagues distant; it seemed totrend about north-north-east, and south-south-west. At noon, thelatitude was 11° 7' south, and the longitude 162° 34'east: the northernmost land bore north by west, five leaguesdistant: it appeared like a small island covered with trees; andin the center of it there is a conspicuous mount, formed by somevery high trees: the land to the west-ward, which extends fromthis island as far as north-west a quarter north, is low, and inclumps like islands. The weather now was very hot and sultry, with dark heavy clouds all round the horizon: we had also a greatdeal of thunder and lightning, attended with heavy rain. 

In the afternoon of the 6th, we perceived the northernmostland to be two small islands, which appeared to trendnorth-north-east and south-south-west; the main land lying alittle to the westward of them. The easternmost of these twoislands Lieutenant Ball named Sirius's-Island; it is situated in10° 52' south latitude, and 162° 30' east longitude: theother was named Massey's-Island. We observed by the land, that avery strong current, or tide, set us fast to the northward. It isunfortunate that the changeable state of the wind and weather didnot permit us to range this coast, by hauling in with the land, as something might have probably been discovered, withoutoccasioning any loss of time. In the evening we had very heavysqualls, attended with rain, thunder, and lightning. 

At eight o'clock the next morning, we saw land, which had theappearance of a large high island, lying along the shore:Lieutenant Ball named it Smith's-Island; it is situated in 9°44' south latitude, and 161° 54' east longitude. On the 8th, at day-light, the land bore from west by south to south by west, seven or eight leagues distant: Smith's Island then bearingsouth-south-east ten leagues. 

This land in general is very high, and appears well wooded:there is the appearance of a number of openings, resembling baysor harbours; but our distance from shore was too great toascertain any observation of that kind. At noon our latitude was9° 00' south, and the longitude 161° 41' east; and theland trending away to the north-west, it was evident that we hadrounded the east part of that island which Lieutenant Shortlandcoasted on its south side, from the latitude of 10° 44' southlongitude 161° 41' east, to 6° 55' south latitude, and156° 30' east longitude. 

As Lieutenant Shortland made the land on the opposite side ofthis island in latitude 10° 44' south, longitude 161° 30'east, and the Supply being this day in latitude 9° 00' south, longitude 161° 41' east; there remains a space between thesituation of the two vessels, which, reduced to bearings anddistances from these latitudes and longitudes, will give south6° east; distance 104 miles: now, the Supply was ten leaguesoff shore, and, admitting the Alexander (Lieutenant Shortland'sship, ) to have been four leagues, it will make the breadth of theisland 62 miles, and its length and bearings will be south57° east, and north 57° west, 436 miles. 

The eastern extremity of this land is an island about 18 milesin circuit, lying at a small distance from the main island: Ihave before observed that it was named Sirius-Island, betweenwhich, and the Queen Charlotte's Islands, there cannot be manyleagues, supposing Captain Carteret's longitude to have beenright. 

The north-east coast of this island Lieutenant Ball named"-Ball's Maiden Land_;" and the passage between Sirius andQueen Charlotte's Islands, "-Supply's Passage_. "

At day-light in the morning of the 9th, land was seen, bearingfrom south to west, eleven leagues distant; it was very high, andthere appeared to be a number of openings in it. Our latitude atnoon on the 10th, was 7° 16' south, and the longitude162° 23' east. We now daily found the vessel set considerablyto the northward and westward, and on the 16th she was set 48miles west-north-west during the 24 hours. 

A different kind of sea-fowl was seen about the vessel to anywe had hitherto met with; it was of the ganet kind; the back, wings, and head being a glossy black, and the breast entirelywhite. 

At ten o'clock in the morning of the 19th, we saw an islandbearing west by north six or seven leagues distant: the latitudeat noon, was 1° 44' south, and the longitude 150° 39'east. With a fine breeze at east-south-east, we steered for theisland, as it lay directly in our course, and soon perceived thatit was inhabited, as we saw a number of people standing on thesouth point, and a great many canoes were coming off to meet us;but as the vessel approached them they paddled towards the shore;yet they seemed desirous to have some communication with us, andthe vessel being hove to, in a short time they came near us, butno invitation or intreaty could prevail on them to comealong-side. 

At length, two of the canoes, which had seven men in each, andtwo others, with two men each, came close under the stern, butnone of them would venture on board, and it was with greatdifficulty they were persuaded to come near enough to receive astring of beads which were let down over the stern; after this, they all paddled on shore. 

During the time these canoes were near the vessel, the beachon the island was covered with natives; and on the south point ofthe island, a man stood alone, with a long pole in his hand, which had something large at the end of it, and which he seemedto use as a signal to those in the canoes. These canoes appearedto be made out of a large tree, and were well shaped, with a hookmade of wood at each end, the use of which we could not possiblyguess: the largest of them appeared to be about 28 feet long. Each canoe had a long out-rigger, to prevent them fromoversetting. 

The natives who were in the canoes, were the stoutest andhealthiest looking men I ever beheld; their skin was perfectlysmooth and free from any disorder: they were quite naked, and ofa copper colour; their hair resembled that of the New-Hollanders. Some of their beards reached as low as the navel, and there wasan appearance of much art being used in forming them into longringlets; so that it should seem as if the prevailing fashion onthis island was that of keeping the beard well combed, curled, and oiled. Two or three of the men had something like a bead orbone suspended to a string, which was fastened round the neck. The size and very healthy appearance of these people excited ouradmiration very much; indeed it is wonderful how so small a spotof ground can support the vast number of inhabitants we saw onthe island, all of whom appeared equally strong and handsome asthose who were in the canoes. 

The island cannot be more than two miles in circumference: itis low, but entirely covered with trees, many of which are thecocoa-nut; we likewise saw a number of large trees which bore avery fine red blossom, but the red was so very conspicuous, thatI am inclined to think the leaves were of that colour. Thesetrees reached to the margin of a very fine sandy beach, whichentirely surrounds the island; a great number of canoes werelying on the beach, and, from the number of natives we saw there, besides what were in the canoes, there cannot be less than athousand inhabitants on the island. Lieutenant Ball named thisplace _Tench's Island_, after Captain Watkin Tench of themarines: it is situated in 1° 39' south latitude, and150° 31' east longitude. 

After lying-to near an hour, and finding we could have nofarther intercourse with the natives, without considerable lossof time, we bore up and kept on our course, steering west bynorth. At sun-set, we saw another island bearing west by north, Tench's Island bearing east half north. The next morning atday-light, the island seen the preceding evening, bore from southby west, to west by south, about three leagues distant; on this, we altered our course, in order to run along the shore. Thisisland is pretty high, and appears to be about 70 miles incircumference, if I may judge from the length of its east side, which I measured by angles. It is well wooded, and there were anumber of clear cultivated tracts of ground, on which somethingwas growing that had the appearance of Indian corn, orsugar-cane. 

As we ran along shore, we could not perceive any place ofshelter for a vessel on the east side of the island, but thereprobably is on some part of it. The island is surrounded by asandy beach, on which the surf beats with some violence: a numberof canoes were lying on the beach, and some parts of the shorewere covered with the natives; but none of them attempted to comeoff, although the vessel was not more than a mile and a half fromthe shore. We saw several houses amongst the trees, whichappeared to be large and well constructed. This island has aluxuriant and picturesque appearance, and there can scarcely be adoubt but it is very fertile and well peopled. The natives werequite naked, and seemed to be the same sort of people we had seenat Tench's Island; and their canoes were apparently of the sameconstruction. 

At ten o'clock in the forenoon, being abreast of thesouth-east point of the island, we bore up and made sail, steering west-north-west. Lieutenant Ball requesting me to namethis island, I called it _Prince William-Henry Island_, inhonour of his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence. In making thisisland from the eastward, a very high mount rises in the centerof it, which Lieutenant Ball named _Mount Phillip_, inhonour of Governor Phillip: it lies west-north-west fromTench's-Island, and is situated in 1° 32' south latitude, and149° 30' east longitude. 

At midnight on the 22d, we had a perfect deluge of rain, butit did not continue more than a quarter of an hour. We had now avast number of tropic birds and ganets round the vessel: the seawas covered with trees of the largest size, which had both rootsand branches to them; there were also cocoa-nut trees, sugar-cane, bamboo, and a variety of other drift wood: many ofthe trees were so large, that we could plainly see them at thedistance of two leagues: most of the roots lay to thewest-north-west, from which circumstance, and the vessel beingconsiderably to the westward of account by the time-keeper, wewere induced to suppose that a strong current set in thatdirection. We steered west-north-west until the 4th of June, withmoderate breezes from the eastward, and pleasant weather: the seawas constantly covered with large entire trees, junks of wood, bamboos, and a variety of other drift wood and rock weed. Ourlatitude at noon on the 4th, was 4° 33' north, and thelongitude, by the time-keeper, 127° 58' east. 

At day-light the next morning, we saw an island bearingnorth-west, which is called _Kercolang_ in the charts;finding we could not weather the south end, we bore up to go tothe northward of it. At noon, it bore from north 68° west tosouth 41° west: our latitude was 4° 25' north, and thelongitude, by lunar observation, 126° 50' east. Anotherisland, called _Kerolang_ in the charts, bore from north tonorth 14° east; having a remarkable hummock on the east endof it. 

At eight o'clock in the morning of the 6th, being close underthe east side of Kercolang, we saw a canoe with a matt sailcoming towards us: the natives soon came under the stern withoutany signs of fear. There were twelve Malays in this canoe, whowere all cloathed: the outriggers of the canoe, which were longand slight, would not permit them to come alongside, but a jacketand a hatchet being given them, and signs made for them to go onshore and bring something to eat, they left the vessel and wenttowards the shore, where we followed them. Before they landed, astill larger canoe, with fifteen Malays in it, went to the canoewhich had left us; and as we were not more than two miles fromthe shore, Lieutenant Ball and myself went in the jolly-boat andjoined the two canoes; on this, two of the Malays jumped out ofthe canoes into our boat, and went immediately to the oars: sucha step could not be misunderstood, it was saying, "we putourselves entirely in your power without any precaution. "

When we came near the beach, observing the surf to break onit, we made signs for the canoes to go on shore, and bring ussome cocoa-nuts and plantains, as we saw vast quantities on thetrees. They were very desirous for our boat to land; but that notbeing agreed to, they left a native in the jolly-boat, and one ofour men went on shore in the canoe: he soon returned with severalcanoes which were laden with cocoa-nuts, yams, plantains, sweetpotatoes, rice, a little flour, and several other articles, allwhich we purchased for axes and other barter: soon afterwards wereturned on board, and were followed by upwards of an hundredcanoes. At noon, a breeze springing up from the northward, wemade sail, and many of the canoes followed us to a considerabledistance. 

The latitude of the north end of Kercolang is 4° 28', andthe longitude of the center 126° 31' east. This island isbetween eighty and one hundred miles in circumference, and is ingeneral of a very good height: the face of the country seems tobe steep hills and extensive vallies, and every part of it wascovered with trees and verdure: there were also some cultivatedgrounds which had a very pleasant appearance. These Malays woreno erid or cress, nor did we see any offensive weapons amongstthem, excepting two which were on the beach, who had somethinglike halberts in their hands, but whether they were of iron orwood we could not discern. The houses stood on posts; theyappeared to be well built, and neatly thatched. 

Their canoes were also neatly made, being hollowed out oftrees, with bamboo outriggers on each side to prevent them fromoversetting; a piece of wood is left at the stern, which projectslike a proa, to break the water before it comes to the bow: eachcanoe has a mast, on which they hoist a square piece of matt as asail. Their fishing-hooks and lines are mostly European, and itis possible that there is a Dutch resident on the island, as wesaw a small Dutch flag placed before a house to the northward ofthe place where we went with the boat; though it is natural tosuppose, that if any European had been there, he would have cometo the boat, or that the natives would have made us understandthere was one on the island. 

The cloathing these people in general wore, was made of acoarse kind of callico, though some of them wore silk, and mostof them had something resembling a turban round their heads; afew, indeed, wore a Chinese pointed hat. There can be no doubtbut the Dutch supply these people with cloathing and othernecessaries, which, of course, must be for some production of theisland. I showed one of the natives some cloves, and he gave meto understand that they had the same. I do not think the Dutchsend very often to this island, from the extreme avidity thenatives showed in purchasing our hatchets and cloathing: they aremild, and apparently a quiet people, and the confidence theyplaced in us was sufficient to prove that strangers were notunwelcome guests among them. 

From the 6th to the 10th, we had fresh gales of wind at west, with very heavy squalls and much rain, which often obliged us toclew all up. During the last four days we only got eight leagueson our course, and there being every appearance of a continuationof westerly winds, (this being the south-west monsoon in theChina seas) with heavy squalls, or rather tornados of wind andrain, which endangered the masts: on the 10th, Lieutenant Ballrelinquished the purpose of going through the streights of-Macasser_, and adopted that of making the passage between-Celebes_ and _Gilolo_, through the _Moluccas_ andthe streights of _Salayer_; accordingly, at six in themorning, we bore up for the south point of _Lirog_, whichlay south-east by east twelve or fourteen leagues distant. Atday-light on the 12th, we saw the island of _Morotia_, whichbore from south 31° east, to south 4° east. 

At noon, we were in 2° 36' south latitude, and 127°51' east longitude: in a chart of Hamilton Moore's, there is anisland without a name laid down exactly in that situation; but, as the weather was very clear, and no such land could be seen, the existence of it is very doubtful. The weather was nowextremely pleasant, with light winds from south by west tosouth-east. At noon on the 14th, Gilolo bore from south by westhalf west, to east by north: there is a chain of small islandslaying the whole length of these bearings about two leagues fromGilolo; between which and that island, there appears to be goodshelter. On the 16th, we were directly opposite three remarkableconical hills; they are very high; the southernmost lies in1° 30' north latitude, and 127° 5' east longitude. Theland near this situation is high and well wooded, with somecultivated spots: the shore appears bold to. At midnight, we hada perfect deluge of rain, attended with loud thunder and veryfierce lightning, which lasted two hours; after which, theweather became serene and pleasant. 

The next morning, the island of _Ternate_ boresouth-south-east, and a little to the northward of it thereappears to be a large and safe harbour, on the island of Gilolo, which now bore east by south five or six leagues distant. Ternaterises in a high conical mount; its latitude is 00° 50' north, and the longitude 127° 4' east. A very pleasant little islandlies about two miles to the north-north west of Ternate, which, in the charts, is called _Heri_; it is pretty high, and notmore than two miles in circumference. The cultivated spots onthis island, contrasted with the brown shade of the trees, andthe interspersed situation of the houses, give this little spot amost picturesque appearance: it appeared, as well as Ternate, tobe in a perfect state of cultivation; and from the number ofhouses we saw, they must both be well inhabited. The latitude, atnoon, was 1° 2' north, and the longitude 126° 49' west:Heri then bore south-east by east; the peak of Ternate, south-east half south; the south point of Tidere, south by east, and Makian, south-south-east. 

All these islands are very high; they rise in peaks, and arewell cultivated. We saw a vast number of fires on Ternate, whichprobably were lighted for a signal. Besides the island of Makian, which is not more than two miles in circumference, there are anumber of other small islots, which form a considerable group, and they were all cultivated. A number of boats were passing fromone islot to another, with some Europeans in them. The weatherwas excessive hot and sultry; the thermometer, when in the openair and shade, being 91°. 

On the 19th, we perceived a great ripling on the water, whichappeared to be a strong current, and we afterwards found it hadset the vessel considerably to the westward. At noon, thenorth-west point of _Manere_ or _Batachina_ boreeast-north-east nine leagues distant; its latitude is 0° 16'south, and the longitude 126° 41' east. At noon on the 20th, an island a head, which we took to be _Pulo Oubi_, bore easthalf south about twelve leagues distant, and _Stemo Sulla_, south-south-west thirteen leagues: the latitude was 1° 17'south, and the longitude 126° 22' east. Hitherto, we hadfound the currents set us to the westward; but in the morning ofthe 21st, a strong ripling of a current set the vesselconsiderably to the east-south-east, which may easily beaccounted for: the passage between New Guinea and Aigeu was quiteopen, and bore from us south-east, and I think that the currentwe now felt is an out-set; and as we had experienced a southerlycurrent ever since we made the island of Morotia, it may bepresumed that there is an indraught between the Celebes andGilolo; and an out-set between Gilolo, New Guinea, and Aigeu, which is called "-Pitt's Passage_. "

In the afternoon, the boat was hoisted out in order to try thecurrent, when it was found to set east by south, at the rate of amile and an half an hour; however, the current among theseislands is by no means certain, as we found, on the 22d, a strongcurrent or tide setting to the north-west. A great number of verylarge whales were seen, which moved exceeding slow, and came verynear the vessel. At noon, the center of _Burro_ bore south, and the south point of _Sulla Bessi_, north 76° west. Burro is a very high island, and may be seen at the distance oftwenty leagues with great ease. 

As the following latitudes and longitudes were taken withgreat exactness, they perhaps may not be unacceptable. 

 South latitude. East longitude. ° ' ° 'East point of Burro 3 7 126 38West point of ditto 3 4 125 41North-east point of Sulla Mangol 2 0 126 3South point of Sulla Bessi 2 29 125 57

In the afternoon of the 23d, being clear of the south point ofBurro, we found a strong south-east trade, with which we steeredsouth-south-west. We passed a great quantity of drift wood, andsome very large trees with both roots and branches to them, someof which were so large as to be taken for vessels. 

In the morning of the 25th, we saw two small islands bearingsouth-east about six miles distant; we imagined them to be thenorthernmost of the small islands, called _Touchaeilly_, inthe charts: soon afterwards, we saw land bearing south-west, which we took to be _Bouton_, but we soon perceived it to bethree islands lying nearly north and south. At this time, ourlongitude, by the time-keeper, was 123° 39' east, and thelatitude, by two altitudes, was 5° 36' south. 

Concluding the islands we saw in the morning were those of St. Matthew's, and the others _Touchaeilly_, we bore up in orderto run between the northernmost and middle of three islands insight. In our run from Burro to St. Matthew's Island, we found astrong current setting to the south-east. St. Matthew's Islandsare situated in 5° 23' south latitude, and 123° 51' eastlongitude. With a moderate breeze from the south-east, we steeredwest-south-west between the Toucaheilly Islands; and at noon onthe 26th, we passed a sandy key, which had a tuft of green busheson its north end, and its south end runs off in a long spit forthree or four miles, on which the sea breaks very high. Theseislands are covered with wood, and well cultivated. 

At four o'clock in the afternoon we hove to, and soonafterwards a small proa came alongside loaded with cocoa-nuts, which we purchased. The people in this canoe gave us tounderstand, that the island on our starboard hand was called-Combado_, and that on the larboard _Toucambaso_. Athalf past four, we made sail, and soon afterwards, a man, who wasstationed at the mast-head, said he saw a shoal a-head of thevessel; on this we looked out, and saw a reef about six milesdistant, extending from the west-north-west as far as the eyecould reach in a south-east direction: on this, we hauled thewind and lay under Combado during the night. 

The next morning, we made sail and steered west-north-west, looking out for the shoal and running along its eastern sideabout four miles distant. This reef is very large, and itseastern side is bound with rugged rocks, and when the water issmooth there is no breaker on it. At four in the afternoon, werounded the shoal at two miles distance, and steered for thesouth end of _Bouton_, which we passed early the nextmorning, and soon afterwards passed the streights, steering westhalf north. When you are to the eastward of Camborra, theentrance of the streights of Bouton may be known by three smallislands which lie off the east point that forms the streights, one of which is large, and the other two are small: off the largeone lie several rocks, but at no great distance. The only chartwe had on board, which took any notice of these islands and theshoal, was one of Hamilton Moore's, which we found tolerablycorrect, except in some instances where the islands aremisplaced, as _St. Matthew's Islands, Toucambessis_, thesouth end of _Bouton_ and _Kercolang_, with some othertrifling differences; however, upon the whole, it may be called agood chart. 

At day-light, the island of Salayer bore from south 40°west to north 80° east, and the entrance of the streightsnorth 70° west. On entering the streights, we found a verystrong ripling of the sea, which we were apprehensive wereoverfalls; but we found it was a strong current setting to thewestward. At noon, being through the streights, we hauled up westby south. The best passage through these streights is between thetwo small islands, the southernmost of which lies close to-Salayer_. The island of Salayer appears to be wellinhabited, and cultivated to advantage, as each piece of groundwas fenced in, and the houses appeared to be very good ones. 

The course from the streights of _Salayer_ to-Cambona_ is east by south eighty-four miles: they lie westby north half north, and east by south half south, about fivemiles through: the entrance to the westward is in 5° 45'south latitude, and 120° 3' east longitude. This latitude wasdetermined by a good meridional altitude, and the longitude bythe time-keeper and lunar observations, so that there is a veryconsiderable mistake in Hamilton Moore's chart respecting theposition of these streights. At three in the afternoon, a man, who was stationed at the mast-head, said he saw a great ripling, and on looking over the side, the bottom was distinctly seen; onthis, we hauled off to the southward, and hove the lead, but gotno ground, and the vessel going very fast, we immediately lostsight of the bottom, and soon afterwards steered west by south. At the time we were on this bank, the south end of Salayer boresouth-south-east, and the north end, east. 

In my opinion, ships going through the streights of Salayerfrom the westward, should bring the north point of _Salayer-to bear east, or east half north, with which course there couldbe no risk from that bank. We now steered west by south, andhaving run sixty-six miles in that direction from the streightsof Salayer, on the morning of the 29th, we saw some high land onthe Celebes, bearing north-east nine leagues distant; this mustbe the land between the south-west point of Celebes, and theislands called, by Captain Carteret, _Tonakiky_; so that theend of Celebes from the streights of Salayer to the south-westpoint cannot be more than twenty leagues, as Mr. Dalrymple hasalready observed in a small pamphlet. 

Lieutenant Ball directed the vessel to be keptnorth-north-west, in order to make the land plainer; but thecharts we had on board differed so much in the position andextent of the land, and some time might perhaps be lost inlooking for Tonakiky, to take a departure from, Mr. Balldetermined on bearing up and running in that parallel of latitudewhich was likeliest to keep the vessel clear of danger, viz. 5° 45' or 5° 50' south. At noon, the observed latitudewas 5° 48' south, and the longitude 118° 44' east. Athalf past two in the afternoon, having steered west twelve milessince noon, we saw what we took for _Tonyn-'s Islands, or-Sarras_, bearing north. Hamilton Moore's chart places thesouth end of this shoal in 5° 58' south, but it cannot befarther than 5° 40' south at most, as we were now in latitude5° 48', and the island could only be seen from the mast-head, bearing north: the longitude of the south end of these islandsand shoal (if there be any) is 118° 11' east. 

On the 30th, at ten in the forenoon, we saw the great-Solombo_ bearing north by west half west two leaguesdistant. On sounding, we struck the ground with 32 fathoms, overan oozy bottom. The next morning, the island of _Lubeck-bore from south 14° west to south 55° west, five leaguesdistant. This island is considerably misplaced in the charts. Avery good altitude was got at eight in the morning, for thetime-keeper, and a very good meridional altitude was also takenfor the latitude; which, with the bearings of Lubeck in themorning and at noon, places it in 5° 50' south latitude, and112° 22' east longitude. 

On the 3d, at three o'clock in the afternoon, the isles of-Cariman Java_ were seen, bearing south 79° west. Duringthe night, the weather was very squally, attended with muchthunder and lightning. The latitude of Cariman Java is 5° 56'south, and the longitude 110° 12' east. 

At half past three o'clock in the morning of the 5th, we saw asmall island bearing west half south, not more than a mile and ahalf from the vessel; on this we hauled our wind to thesouthward, and tacked occasionally until day-light. We soundedwith twenty-six fathoms, over a bottom of blue mud. This islandis called in the charts _Pulo Packit:_ it is very low andcovered with trees. There are two islands laid down in Dunn's andMoore's charts, but we only saw one island, and a rocky reef:this island is laid down in Dunn's chart in 6° 18° south, but its real latitude is 5° 50' south: this mistake had verynear proved fatal to the Supply, but it being a moon-light night, the danger was discovered, though at the distance of two milesonly. Ships bound to the westward, or to Batavia from CarimonJava, should steer west half north, or west by north, to avoidthe shoal to the northward of Pulo Packit. 

In the afternoon, seeing a brig at anchor under the land, webore up in order to speak her, and in standing in, had regularsoundings to seven fathoms. I went with Mr. Ball on board thebrig, where we learned that the point of _Pamonakan_ boresouth-south-west from us; on this, we returned on board theSupply and made sail, and in the afternoon of the 6th, weanchored in Batavia Road. Upwards of thirty Dutch ships werelying there, besides a number of snows and Chinese junks. 

The next morning, I waited on the general, at the request ofLieutenant Ball, and settled the salute, which took place at fivein the evening, when the Supply saluted the fort with nine guns, which were returned by an equal number. 

On the 8th, Lieutenant Ball waited on the general, accompaniedby the Shebander and myself. As the general could not speak anyother language than Dutch, and the Shebander could not speaksufficient English to explain himself, I was obliged to interpretbetween Lieutenant Ball and the latter; and I beg here to remark, that during this conversation, which was in the general's office, we were not asked to sit down; indeed, had the general beenpolite enough to have made the offer, there was not a secondchair in the room; so unusual a thing is it to be seated in thegeneral's presence, when talking to him on business. 

After Lieutenant Ball had signified his business, and theservice he was sent on, a number of frivolous enquiries were maderespecting the setlement at New South Wales, and muchastonishment was expressed, that we came from that country andcould not tell _what became of the Bounty, Lieutenant Bligh'sShip_. 

No other answer could be got, than that the council were to berequested to permit Lieutenant Ball to purchase whatever hewanted, and to hire a vessel to carry what he might want to PortJackson: this being settled we took our leave. The Shebander drewup a request, which Lieutenant Ball signed, and the next day itwas presented to the council, (at which the director-generalpresided, on account of the general's indisposition) when everything was granted; but they refused to interfere in taking up avessel, or in purchasing provisions, saying, that those matterswere to be managed by Lieutenant Ball. 

As every vessel here either belonged to the company, or weretoo flimsy to go on such a voyage, it was for a short timedoubtful whether one could be procured: at length, the Shebanderhearing that a snow of 250 tons or upwards lay at a port called-Samarre_, on the east side of Java, he offered her toLieutenant Ball; saying that he would purchase her and fit herout completely, if Mr. Ball would contract with him to pay eightyrix-dollars a ton for the voyage; the Shebander to take allrisques upon himself, with respect to the loss of the vessel. Asthe necessity for a supply of provisions was very great, and asthere was no other vessel to be procured, Lieutenant Ball wasobliged to make the agreement, and the snow was sent for. Provisions were easily purchased, and at a cheap rate: veryexcellent beef and pork at six-pence per pound. Of flour, therewas little to be procured, as all the people here eat rice, Europeans as well as natives. 

Batavia has been so very well and so fully described inCaptain Cook's first voyage, that any attempt of mine to describethis vast and splendid settlement may be deemed superfluous;however, as these pages may probably fall into the hands of somewho have read no other account, I shall subjoin what few remarksoccurred to me during my stay there. 

According to the best accounts I could obtain, the city andits environs cover a space of eight square miles: it is situatedabout half a mile from the sea-shore, and has communication withit by a canal, which will admit vessels of eight feet draught ofwater. The city stands on a flat, which extends forty leagues tothe foot of the nearest mountains. Two large rivers, which aredivided into a number of canals, run through all the principalstreets of the city, and on both sides of the different roads:these canals are navigable for large boats; they are planted withtrees on each side, which are kept cut in the form of a fan. 

The streets are all drawn at right angles, and are in generalwide, with very good pavements; along the sides of which a doublerow of trees are planted, which greatly prevents the circulationof air, and tends very much to increase the natural unhealthinessof the place. Within the past four years, most of the canalswhich contained putrid water have been filled up, and greatattention is now paid to removing dirt and other nuisances. 

All the houses are well built; indeed, some of them aremagnificent buildings, and are finished with elegant neatness;which, added to the great cleanliness observed by theinhabitants, renders them very agreeable retreats from theintense heat which is constant here. 

No European can do without a carriage, the paint of which, andhis other equipage, denote the rank of the owner; to whom thenecessary respect must be paid by people of an inferior rank; fora noncompliance with this custom, a fine is levied by the Fiscal. The town is but indifferently defended, as the fortifications areirregular and extensive, and the walls (which are painted) arevery low: it is surrounded with a deep and wide canal, but thebest defence of this settlement is its extreme unhealthiness. Thecitadel, or castle, stands on the right of the city: in it aredeposited a vast quantity of cannon and other munitions of war:the governor-general, and the rest of the company's servants, have apartments in it, and here the governor and council meettwice a week, to transact public business. 

The police of this city is strictly attended to, and iscalculated to preserve great order and regularity; but it isattended with some mortifying and degrading circumstances, whichEuropeans find great difficulty and repugnance in complying with;however, the inhabitants and the company's servants must observeits rules with a scrupulous attention, not only to avoid payingthe fines, but also to avoid the resentment of those who have itentirely in their power to advance or retard their promotion. 

The suburbs are inhabited by the Chinese and Portuguese: thehouses of the former are very numerous, but they are low anddirty. The number of Chinese resident in and about Batavia in1788, was 200, 000: it is these people who are the support of thisimportant settlement; and if they were obliged to abandon it byany impolitic measure, it would soon lose its splendor. TheChinese carry on every trade and occupation; the better sort arevery rich, but they are subject to great exactions from thecompany, or their servants. They are suffered to farm the dutiesof exportation and importation, for which they pay the company12, 000 rix-dollars in silver money per month. All goods belongingto the company are exempt from duties, but those of every otherperson pay eight per cent. 

About three quarters of a mile from the city is the Chineseburying-ground, consisting of fifteen or twenty acres: for theannual rent of this ground they pay 10, 000 rix-dollars, and, atthe end of every ten years, they repurchase it for a very greatsum, which in general is regulated by the governor and council. Aperson of consequence assured me, that the Chinese pay a tax of20, 000 rix-dollars a year, for the privilege of wearing theirhair queued; and, besides what I have already mentioned, theseindustrious people are subject to many more exactions. 

The Chinese are subject to a set of officers (appointed by thegovernor and council) who are Chinese, and are previously chosenby that people: they are called captains and lieutenants, andhear all complaints, and their sentence is decisive; but cases ofproperty, above a certain sum, and all felonies, are takencognizance of by the fiscal and court of justices. The policeestablished among them is so very good, that, except in cases ofproperty, the fiscal or justices are seldom troubled with aChinese criminal. They trade to every part of India, and thenumber of large junks which arrive annually from China, isbetween thirty and forty. 

It is remarkable that the Chinese are the only strangers whichare not affected by the unhealthiness of this place: indeed, muchmay be said in favour of their temperance and regular manner ofliving, although one would imagine that the close manner in whicha number of them live together could not fail to producediseases, but it certainly does not. 

The roads, or rather handsome avenues, which lead from thedifferent gates of the city, are lined with buildings, wherenature and art have been exhausted to render them elegant andcommodious beyond description: each house has a large garden, inwhich a degree of elegance and convenience is observable, equalto what there is in the magnificent piles which they surround. These houses are inhabited by the principal people of Batavia, where they pass most of their time, and those amongst them whohave no inducement to return to Europe, and who enjoy theirhealth, may spend their days very comfortably here. 

The government of this island, and indeed of all the Dutchpossessions in India, is lodged in the governor-general, who isassisted by a number of counsellors, called "counsellors ofIndia, " or "-edele heerens:-" twelve of these counsellorsmust reside at Batavia, but the number is not fixed; at thistime, there is one who governs at each of the following places, viz. Cochin, Ceylon, Macasser, and at the Emperor's court at-Jamarre_, or Java, where, I am told, 400 European cavalryare kept, to _do honour_ to the emperor. 

The council meet every Tuesday and Friday in the council-roomat the castle; the general presides, but, if prevented by illhealth or any other circumstance, the director-general supplieshis place, who, as well as the edele heerens, are received intothe castle, and conducted to the council-room with great pomp andceremony. Every thing relating to the civil and militarygovernment, commerce, and every other concern of the company, istransacted by this council, but the governor-general has aplenary power to put into execution any measure he may judgenecessary for the good of the company. 

The present governor-general, whose name is William ArnoldAlting, has been resident upwards of thirty years at Batavia, eleven of which he has been governor-general: I am told hisprivate character is very amiable and respectable, but how anyman possessed of common feelings, can suffer such humiliationsfrom those around him, I cannot conceive. When any personapproaches the general to speak to him, his behaviour and addressmust be the most abject imaginable, and the respect and profoundsubmission which every servant of the company, and everyinhabitant must necessarily assume on these occasions, are littleshort of the adoration paid to the Divinity: this homage iscarried to so great a height, that when the general enters thechurch, although the congregation may be at prayers, yet everyperson is obliged to get up and face him until he is seated inhis pew, bowing as he passes. 

The deference paid to the several ranks, is not confined tocarriages, but extends to the cloathing of individuals, as noperson under the rank of an _edele heeren_ is permitted towear velvet: there are a number of other distinctions in dressequally ridiculous, but they seem to be wearing away: a few yearsago, the women were strictly forbid wearing any European dress, and ordered to conform to the Malay custom. 

At the time I was at Batavia, there were only five Europeanwomen on the island of Java, the rest being born of Malay orCreole mothers; and it is really distressing to see how much theyaffect the manners of their Malay slaves in chewing beetle, andother actions equally disagreeable. Their dress is a loose whiteor flowered muslin robe, which is open and large, reaching to thewrists and neck: but if the adjustment of their garments does nottake up much time at the toilet, the arranging of their hairmakes sufficient amends for it: they have in general very thicklong black hair, which is gathered into a knot on the back partof the head, and is so nicely combed that not a single hair isout of its place; round this a wreath of diamonds is fixed, whichis more or less valuable, according to the circumstances of thewearer. In the evenings, a large wreath of jessamine is also putround the hair, which gives a very agreeable perfume. Not morethan two women in Batavia could speak any other language thanDutch or Malay, the former of which they understand veryimperfectly, always preferring Malay. 

The office of shebander is a principal one in this place, andis a situation of much profit; no stranger can transact the leastbusiness without his permission; the exports and imports areentirely regulated by him; every boat which goes into the roadpays him a certain sum; he also regulates and comptrols theChinese in the receipt of duties: this post is very laborious, but is also very lucrative. 

Nineteen thousand pekul* of tin are brought every year from-Palambam_, or Sumatra, to the company's stores on-Onrust_, which is sent in their ships to China. The companysend annually from hence to Europe 20, 000 pekul of pepper, forwhich they pay on an average two stivers and an half per pound, and sell it in Europe for fourteen stivers per pound: they alsoexport annually 200, 000 pekul of coffee, at two stivers and anhalf per pound, which is sold in Holland at ten stivers perpound. 

[* A pekul is equal to 130 pounds. ]

Onrust is a very small island, about a quarter of a mile incircumference, and situated about two leagues and an half fromBatavia: here the company's ships refit and heave down, therebeing very good wharfs for that purpose, at which five ships mayheave down at one time; there are also large machines fordismasting vessels. Small as this island is, there are generallyfrom five to six hundred people on it; of which number, onehundred are European carpenters, but, excepting a few officersand a few other Europeans, the rest are slaves. The _baas_, or master carpenter, is the commandant of the island: an undermerchant is also resident here, to receive and take care of thetin, pepper, and coffee, which is brought into the company'sstores here, from Sumatra and different parts of Borneo and Java. Onrust is surrounded by guns, and there is a kind of citadel onit; but as no troops are kept there, in the war, the carpenterswere trained to the use of great guns. 

It is supposed that Onrust is more healthy than Batavia, andit may be so; but when I say that twenty men are constantlyemployed in making coffins for those who die on this island, itcannot be supposed to have a very healthy scite. 

During my stay at Batavia, I lived at the hotel, which was thegovernor-general's house at the time Captain Cooke was here: itis a large and spacious building, divided into two parts, one ofwhich is occupied by strangers, and the other by Dutch. Everyperson, who is a stranger, is obliged to live at this hotel: theterms are three rix-dollars a day, for which you have goodlodging, and a well furnished table is provided. Gratitudeinduces me to say, that I received the greatest attention andcivility from many of the first people at Batavia, who, notcontent with showing me every politeness in their power during mystay there, extended their good offices to me after mydeparture. 

On the 21st of July, the _Snelheid_, a packet of 140tons, belonging to the company, arrived at Onrust, and I madeapplication to the governor and council for a passage to Europein that vessel: on this, the captain of the packet was ordered toreceive me, for which I paid 190 rix-dollars into the company'schest. The order to the captain specified, that in considerationof that sum being paid, I was to have a passage to Europe in theSnelheid, and to be accommodated and victualled as a sailor: Itherefore found myself necessitated to make a further agreementwith the captain for the use of half of his cabin, (Mr. AndrewMillar, late commissary of stores and provisions at Port Jacksonhaving the other half) for which I was to pay him 300rix-dollars, and my proportion of what provisions were laid in byhim, above what the company allowed. 

Being informed that the packet would be dispatched in a fewdays, I went to Onrust on the 31st, in order to be in readiness. Lieutenant Ball expected to sail for Port Jackson on the 8th ofAugust, and the snow which he had taken up was to be dispatchedon the 24th. 

The captain of the packet having received his final orders, wesailed from Onrust on the 4th of August; and in the evening ofthe 5th, were clear of the streights of Sunda. 

It was now that the pestiferous air of Batavia began to showitself; for the vessel had not been five days at sea before sixmen were taken ill with the putrid fever; and very soonafterwards, the captain, his two mates, and all the sailors, except four, were incapable of getting out of their beds; andwhat aggravated the horror of this situation was, that thesurgeon, who indeed knew very little of his profession, was soill that he could not even help himself. 

In this dilemma, I found it absolutely necessary to use everymeans for self-preservation; and having obtained the consent ofthe captain (who was not yet delirious) and the chief mate, Ispoke to the only four men who were well, and represented tothem, that going below would subject them to the infection; Iassured them that I would never go below myself, except onextraordinary occasions, when I should use every precautionagainst the infection; and I further observed, that thepreservation of our lives and the vessel, with the recovery ofthose who were sick, depended on their conforming to my orders;and that I hoped, with God's assistance, not only to preservethem in health, but to get the vessel into a port. 

They promised me implicit obedience, and I began to make atent on the after part of the quarter deck, for us to lie under. I had great difficulty to make them relinquish the drams of newarrack, of which they got ten a day; but this was effected, andin lieu of it, I gave to each man three large wine glasses ofport wine, with two tea-spoons full of bark in each glass:fortunately, I had a small supply of those articles, as therewere not any medicines on board. Three of the sick men soon diedof the putrid fever, their faces being covered with purple spots:I ordered them to be lashed up in their hammocks, and hoveoverboard with their cloaths, making those who performed thatoffice, wash themselves very freely with vinegar, and fill theirnoses with tobacco. The captain was now delirious, as were mostof those who were sick. 

On the 12th, I obtained the captain and chief mate's consentto bear up for the Isle of France, when we should get into thelatitude of it. The chief mate's complaint terminating in anintermitting fever, I prevailed on him to lie under the tent; andby a plentiful administration of bark and port wine, he becameable to keep a day watch. 

On the 14th, my friend and companion Mr. Millar was taken ill, and the captain and most of the sailors were dying, not havinghad any medicine administered to them during their illness: threeor four among them, of a strong constitution, were in a state ofraving madness, uttering dreadful imprecations against thedoctor, so that I was obliged to order them to be lashed in theirhammocks, and they died a few days afterwards. 

Being in 18° 46' south latitude, and 80° 59' eastlongitude, after some persuasion, the chief mate consented tobear up for the Isle of France; it may, indeed, be thoughtstrange that he should hesitate one moment in our presentdistressing situation: however, going to the Isle of France didnot destroy the hopes he had formed, when he objected to bearingup. Between the 12th and the 27th, five men died; and on the28th, Mr. Millar departed this life: the whole were carried offby a most malignant putrid fever. 

On the 29th, we made the Island of Mauritius, and anchored thesame day at the entrance of the north-west harbour. The captainand three sailors died as we were carrying them on shore. 

Most providentially, we had a succession of the finest weatherand the fairest winds we could have wished, from the time we leftthe streights of Sunda until our arrival at the Isle of France;and another great consolation was, that the vessel was perfectlytight. 

From the direction of the wind being at south-east, allvessels going to the north-west harbour, must luff close roundthe gunner's quoin, and haul over for the island, taking care toavoid the reefs with which the shore is lined, and on which thesurf breaks with great violence. A continuation of forts andbatteries extend from the harbour's mouth as far as it ispossible for any vessel to fetch; though, independent of theseforts, landing here must be attended with much danger, from theconstant surf which breaks on the reefs already mentioned; and asthe wind always blows out of the harbour, every vessel is obligedto warp in. No vessel ought to touch at this island during thehurricane months*, as the harbour cannot afford shelter for morethan six or eight vessels. In 1788, six large ships were wreckedin this harbour. 

[* October, November, and December. ]

At this time there were lying in the harbour, _LaThetis_, of 38 guns, commanded by Compte M'Namarra, Chef deDivision; _La Nymphe_, 38 guns, Le Compte de Forineaux, Chefde Division; _La Medusa_, 38 guns, Le Compte de Rossilly;three American vessels, and a great number of French merchantships. 

The revolution of this island, which had taken place aboutthree weeks before our arrival, was attended with great excessesby the people, who carried Le Compte M'Namarra to the gallows, where he was near being executed. The governor, _Le Compte deConway_, had resigned his government to a Monsieur _DeCaussigny_, commandant of Bourbon, who arrived here only threedays before us. Monsieur de Conway waited the equipment of LaNymphe frigate, in which ship he proposed returning toFrance. 

The town of Port Louis is large, and covers a deal of ground, but the houses are in general paltry buildings. Here are largestores, and every thing necessary for the equipment of fleets. The number of inhabitants on the island, exclusive of themilitary, is about 8000; and blacks, 12, 000. 

Fresh provisions, especially butchers meat, are very scarcehere; what there is costs 20 sous per pound; but turtle isprocured from _St. Branden_, and sold at a much cheaperrate. 

The general object of cultivation on this island is theindico, of which from four to five crops a year are procured: oneperson sent to Europe 30, 000 lb. In 1789, of a very superiorquality. Attempts have been made here to rear cochineal, as theisland abounds with the plant which the insects lie on, but asmall bird destroys the insect. The soil of this island is littlesuperior to that at Port Jackson. At the distance of threeleagues from the port, is _le gardin du Roi_, which is keptwith the utmost care: a gardener lives here at the King'sexpence, who rears the plants, and distributes them, gratis, tothe colonists. This year the following plants were to bedistributed to those who chose to ask for them. 

300 True acacias. 150 Bibeaux. 84 Avocayers. 10 Baobabs. 180 Bibaciers. 80 Bilembiers. 300 Badamiers. 17 Brindaonniers. 86 Cocoa-nut trees. 50 Camphor trees. 104 Caneficiers. 148 Caramboliers aigres. 50 Ditto doux. 10 Quince trees. 200 Dolbiers. 20 Foccias. 4163 Clove trees. 50 Illipes. 50 Jamiers. 12 Jaquiers, large kind. 8 Jambou--boles. 3000 Jambou--rosadiers. 92 Lataniers nains de la chine. 23 Longaniers. 20 Lit-chis, grosse espee. 36 Sapotes, negros de Moluquas. 30 Tata-mapacas of Madagascar. 3000 Small voakoas. 80 Mangostans. 56 Molavis. 1544 Nutmeg trees. 218 Sweet oranges. 4 Peach trees. 50 Perchers. 40 Rangoustans. 400 Rouffias. 40 Savonniers des Antillas. 80 Spirceas de la China. 300 Sagoutiers. 145 Wova-jourindis of Madagascar40 Wouau guasailliers. 

It should be observed, that 550 of the nutmeg trees werereserved for _Cayenne, St. Domingo, Martinico_, and theSeyehilles. 

I cannot omit mentioning the great civilities I received fromMessieurs De Conway, M'Namarra, Fourneaux, Rossilly, and in shortall the respectable people here, who all did their utmost topersuade me to take my passage in La Nymphe frigate: Monsieur deFourneaux very politely offered me half his cabin, and noinducement was wanting to make me accept it; besides, there was aprobability of the fever not being totally eradicated in thepacket; but as I heard of a misunderstanding between England andSpain; I thought it my duty to remain with that vessel. I mentionthis circumstance for no other reason than to express mygratitude to the above officers for their polite attention to meduring my short stay at this island. 

The packet being thoroughly cleansed, and a fresh crewentered, which was composed of all nations, we sailed on the 21stof September, having only four sailors on board out of thetwenty-six, which came from Batavia, the rest being either dead, or left at the hospital with little hopes of recovery. 

Nothing material happened during our passage from the Isle ofFrance until our arrival at the Cape of Good Hope, on the 9th ofOctober. Here I found Lieutenant Riou waiting for orders fromEngland. As I understood that all vessels belonging to the DutchCompany were strictly forbid stopping at any port, or havingcommunication with any vessels during their passage from the Capeto Amsterdam, I wrote a letter to Mr. Van de Graff, the Dutchgovernor, representing my being charged with dispatches, andrequesting that the captain might be permitted to heave thevessel to, off the most convenient port in the English channel, in order to land me with the dispatches: this request he veryreadily granted, giving the captain an order for that purpose, and furnishing me with a copy of it. 

Five large French ships put in here loaded with slaves fromthe east coast of Africa, and bound to the West-Indies. On the20th of October, La Nymphe frigate arrived here from the Isle ofFrance, and the same day the packet sailed. On the 2d ofNovember, we passed the Island of St. Helena, with a strong galeat south-east; and on the 7th, we saw the Island of Ascension. Wecrossed the equator in 20° 18' longitude west of London. Thesouth-east trade carried us as far as 5° north latitude, whenwe got the north-east trade, which did not come to the eastwardof north-east until we got near the western islands. 

After a pleasant voyage of two months from the Cape of GoodHope, I arrived in England on the 20th of December, having beenabsent on the public service, in various stations, and indifferent places, in the southern hemisphere, three years andseven months. 

* * * * *

Here ends Lieutenant King's _Journal_, which, as it givesan authentic account of the first settlement of a new colony, ina very distant region, must ever be interesting to those, whodelight in tracing the origin of nations. The following Narrativewas taken from the official dispatches of Governor Phillip, andforms a continuation of the history of the people and countryunder his charge, from the conclusion of his late Voyage to the Itest period. 

Chapter XVII. 

TRANSACTIONS AT PORT JACKSON

June 1790 to July 1790

-The Lady Juliana Transport arrives at PortJackson. --Loss of the Guardian. --A settlement made atSydney-Cove. --A state of the settlements at Sydney-Cove andRose-Hill. --A general return of male convicts, with theiremployments. -

The Lady Juliana transport, which sailed from England inSeptember, 1789, arrived at Port Jackson on the 3d of June, 1790, bringing supplies from England, and also dispatches from theGuardian at the Cape of Good Hope; which having sailed fromEngland in August, struck unhappily on the 23d day of December, 1789, in 44° south latitude, and 41° 30' east longitude, on an island of ice. 

By the unfortunate loss of the Guardian the colony wasdeprived of those liberal supplies, which had been sent fromEngland, the want of which threw the settlement back so much, that it will require a length of time to put it in the situationit would have been in, had the Guardian arrived before GovernorPhillip was obliged to send away the Sirius, to give up labour, and to destroy the greatest part of the live stock. 

Nevertheless, the settlers had little to apprehend from thenatives; against whom, no one ever thought any defence necessary, more than what out-houses and barracks afforded: indeed, at thefirst landing, a barrier would have been very desirable; but atthat time, and for months afterwards, the slighest defence couldnot have been made, without neglecting what was so absolutely andimmediately necessary, for securing the stores and provisions. There is, however, little reason to think that the natives willever attack any building, and still less to suppose they willattack a number of armed men: not that they want innate bravery, but they are perfectly sensible of the great superiority offire-arms. Setting fire to the corn was what was most feared, butthis they had never attempted; and, as they avoided those places, which were frequented by the colonists, it was seldom that any ofthem were now seen near the settlement. 

If the natives should find any cattle in the woods, theyundoubtedly would destroy them, which mischief is all that thesettler would have to apprehend. They naturally attack thestrangers, who go out to rob them of their spears, and of the fewarticles they possess; and who do this too frequently; since thepunishments that the delinquents sometimes meet with are notattended with the desired effect. 

The situation of Port Jackson, between two harbours, so thatif a ship fall in with the coast in bad weather, a few mileseither to the northward or to the southward, she can findimmediate shelter, is a great advantage; and it perhaps will befound hereafter, that the seat of government has not beenimproperly placed. Governor Phillip observes, that they, as firstsettlers, laboured under some inconvenience from not being ableto employ the convicts in agriculture on the spot where theprovisions and stores were landed; but this was the onlyinconvenience, as having the convicts at some distance from themilitary was attended with many advantages. 

When the governor first arrived, he had little time to lookround him, as his instructions particularly pointed out, that hewas not to delay the disembarking of the people, with a view ofsearching for a better situation than what Botany-Bay mightafford. He was obliged to look farther, but did not think himselfat liberty to continue his searches after he had beenSydney-Cove. 

Had he seen the country near the head of the harbour, he mighthave been induced to have made the settlement there, but nothingwas known of that part of the country, until the creek which runsup to Rose-hill was discovered, in a journey that the governormade to the westward, three months after they landed; andalthough he was then fully satisfied of the goodness of the soil, and saw the advantages of that situation, most of the stores andprovisions were landed, and it required some little time to doaway the general opinion, that such a situation could not behealthy, and that he was inclined to think himself, until he hadexamined the country for some miles round, and was satisfied thatthere was a free circulation of air, in the goodness of which, few places equal it. The numbers of people, who had been settledat Rose-Hill, on an average for eighteen months, exceeded onehundred; and during that time they had only two deaths: a woman, who had been subject to a dropsy, and a marine, who had beenthere but a very short time before he died. 

It is in that part of the country, that the governor proposedemploying the convicts in agriculture, and in the neighbourhoodof which, he proposed fixing the first settlers who might be sentout. 

The impossibility of conveying stores and provisions for anydistance inland obliged the governor to mark out the firsttownship near Rose-Hill, where there is a considerable extent ofgood land: the sea-coast does not offer any situation withintheir reach at present, which is calculated for a town, whoseinhabitants are to be employed in agriculture. 

In order to know in what time a man might be able to cultivatea sufficient quantity of ground to support himself, the governor, in November, 1789, ordered a hut to be built in a good situation, an acre of ground to be cleared, and once turned up: it was thenput into the possession of a very industrious convict, who wastold, if he behaved well, he should have thirty acres. This manhad said, that the time for which he had been sentenced wasexpired, and he wished to settle: he has been industrious, hasreceived some little assistance, and in June, 1790, informed thegovernor, that if one acre more were cleared for him, he would beable to support himself after next January: this was muchdoubted, but it was thought he would do tolerably well, afterbeing supported for eighteen months. Others may prove moreintelligent, though they cannot well be more industrious. 

The river Hawkesbury will, no doubt, offer some desirablesituations, and the great advantages of a navigable river areobvious; but before a settlement can be made there, proper peopleto conduct it must be found, and they must be better acquaintedwith the country. 

The Lady Juliana being the only vessel, which was at that timein the country, Governor Phillip was obliged to send her toNorfolk-Island with a part of the provisions; and had not thatship been chartered for China, he proposed sending the Sirius'sofficers and men to England in her; but this intention was laidaside, as the master of her informed him, that it would beattended with a loss of more than six thousand pounds to theowners, and consequently might occasion an expence to government, which would exceed what attended their remaining a few monthslonger in the country: besides, he was not willing to breakthrough the charter-party, as other ships were coming out. As theLady Juliana was to touch at Norfolk-Island with provisions, andone of the superintendants professed himself to understand thecultivation and dressing of the flax-plant, the governor sentthither most of the women who came out in that ship, and heintended to send an equal number of male convicts, when otherships should arrive. 

Of the superintendants sent out in the Guardian, for thepurpose of instructing the convicts in agriculture, five onlyarrived in the Lady Juliana, and of the five superintendants whoarrived, one only was a farmer; two said that they were used tothe farming business when seventeen and nineteen years of age, but they were then unable, from the knowledge they formerlyobtained, to instruct the convicts, or direct a farm. The twogardeners were said to be lost, having left the Guardian in asmall boat after the unfortunate accident, which deprived thecolony of her invaluable cargo. 

The Neptune, Surprize, and Scarborough transports arrived atPort Jackson the latter end of June, 1790, with about six hundredcasks of beef and pork, which were sent round from the Guardian, and nineteen convicts, who had been transported in that ship. 

In order to ascertain the time in which it is probable thecolony will be able to support itself, it will be necessary topoint out those circumstances, that may advance or retard thesettlement. It will depend on the numbers who are employed inagriculture, and who, by their labour, are to provide for thosethat make no provision for themselves. 

Governor Phillip did not reckon on the little labour which maybe got from the women, though some were employed in the fields;as the greatest part would always find employment in making theirown, and the men's cloathing, and in the necessary attention totheir children. The ground, which the military may cultivate, will be for their own convenience. The providing of houses andbarracks for the additional number of officers and soldiers, therebuilding of those temporary ones, which were erected on theirfirst arrival, and which must be done in the course of anotheryear, as well as the building of more store-houses and huts forthe convicts as they arrive, employed a considerable number ofhands, and works of this kind will always be carrying on. 

Temporary buildings on their first landing were absolutelynecessary; but they should be avoided in future; as, after threeor four years, the whole work is to be begun again; and the wantof lime greatly increases the labour of building with bricks, asthe builders are obliged to increase the thickness of the walls, which cannot be carried to any height; at the same time, if veryheavy rains fall before the houses are covered in, they areconsiderably damaged. 

The annexed return will show in what manner the convicts areemployed at present; and the governor had increased the number ofthose employed in clearing the land for cultivation, as far as itwould be possible to do it before January, 1791, except byconvalescents, from whom little labour could be expected. Hehoped next year, that a very considerable quantity of groundwould be sown with wheat and barley: but the settlement has neverhad more than one person to superintend the clearing andcultivating of ground for the public benefit, or who has everbeen the means of bringing a single bushel of grain into thepublic granary. One or two others had been so employed for ashort time, but were removed, as wanting either industry orprobity; and if the person who has at present the entiremanagement of all the convicts, who are employed in clearing andcultivating the land, should be lost, there would be no one inthe settlement to replace him. 

It was originally supposed that a sufficient number of goodfarmers might have been found amongst the convicts to havesuperintended the labours of the rest; and men have been employedwho answer the purpose of preventing their straggling from theirwork; but none of them were equal to the charge of directing thelabour of a number of convicts, with whom most of them wereconnected by crimes, which they would not wish to have broughtforward. From their former habits of life, it may easily besupposed, that few of the convicts would be good farmers. 

From what has been said, it may be seen how impossible it wasto detach a body of convicts to any distance, if there had beenany necessity for it. The land at Rose-Hill is very good, and inevery respect well calculated for arable and pasture ground, though it be loaded with timber, the removal of which requiresgreat labour and time; but this is the case with the wholecountry, as far as had been seen, particular spots excepted. Asthe good land could not at present be cultivated by thecolonists, it was reserved for the first settlers that shouldcome out. 

The consequence of a failure of a crop, when the colony can nolonger expect supplies from Great-Britain, is obvious; and toguard against such consequences, it would be of great use to havea few settlers, to whom great encouragement should be given. Thefixing the first settlers in townships would, indeed, tend toprevent that increase of live stock, which might be raised infarms at a distance from villages, where the stock would be lessliable to suffer from the depredations, which may be expectedfrom the soldier and the convict, and against which there is noeffectual security. 

The many untoward circumstances which the colony had hithertomet with were done away; and at length there was reason to hope, that after two years from July, 1790, they would want no farthersupply of flour, though various accidents might render a supplynecessary after that period. How long a regular supply of beefand pork would be necessary depended on the quantity of livestock which might be introduced into the settlement, and on itsincrease, of which no judgment could be formed. 

A town was now laid out at Rose-Hill, of which the principalstreet was to be occupied by the convicts: the huts were buildingat the distance of one hundred feet from each other, and each hutwas to contain ten convicts. In these huts they will live morecomfortably than they could possibly do if numbers were confinedtogether in larger buildings; and having good gardens tocultivate, and frequent opportunities to exchange vegetables forlittle necessaries which the stores do not furnish; theseaccommodations will make them feel the benefits they may drawfrom their industry. 

Some few inconveniences, indeed, ensue from the convicts beingso much dispersed, but their being indulged with having their owngardens is a spur to industry, which they would not have, ifemployed in a public garden, though entirely for their ownbenefits, as they never seemed to think it was their own; and itwas not observed, that many of those who had been for some monthsin huts, and consequently were more at liberty than they would beif numbers were confined together, had abused the confidenceplaced in them, any farther than the robbing of a garden. 

A GENERAL RETURN of MALE CONVICTS, with their respective employments, on the 23d of July, 1790. 

AT SYDNEY. 

40 Making bricks and tiles. 50 Bringing in bricks, etc. For the new store-house. 19 Bricklayers and labourers employed in building a store-houseand huts at Rose-Hill. 8 Carpenters employed at the new store, and in building huts atRose-Hill. 9 Men who can work with the axe, and who assist thecarpenters. 2 Sawyers. 9 Smiths. 10 Watchmen. 40 Receiving stores and provisions from the ships. 12 Employed on the roads--mostly convalescents. 18 Bringing in timber. 4 Stone-masons. 10 Employed in the boats. 3 Wheelwrights. 6 Employed in the stores. 38 Employed by the officers of the civil and military departmentsat their farms. These men will be employed for the public whenthe relief takes place. 2 Assistants to the provost marshal. 3 Gardeners and labourers employed by the governor. 3 Coopers. 6 Shoe-makers. 4 Taylors. 5 Bakers. 6 Attending the sick at the hospital. 3 Barbers. 3 Gardeners, and others, employed at the hospital. 3 Employed by the governor bringing in of wood, etc. 316413 Under medical treatment. ---729

AT ROSE-HILL. 

2 Employed at the store. 3 Servants to the three superintendants. 1 Employed in taking care of the stock. 2 Employed at the hospital. 5 Men who work with the axe in building huts. 1 Baker. 1 Cook. 4 Boys variously employed. 1 Assistant to the provost marshal. 3 Thatchers. 1 Servant to the store-keepers. 1 Ditto to the assistant surgeon. 4 Overseers. 25 Sick. 113 Clearing and cultivating the ground. 12 Sawyers. ---179

Chapter XVIII

TRANSACTIONS AT PORT JACKSON

August 1790 to October 1790

-An excursion into the country. --An interviewwith the natives. --Governor Phillip wounded with a spear. --Asecond interview with the natives. --Occurrences on thatoccasion. --Five convicts effect their escape in a boat. --Thesettlement visited by the natives. --Their customs. --Arrival ofthe Supply from Batavia. -

Towards the latter end of August, 1790, several officers madean excursion into the country, and going south-south-westfrom-Prospect-Hill for twenty miles, they came to a run of water, which they supposed to be the head of the Nepean river. Theydescribed the country through which they passed to be good landfor ten miles, the rest ordinary ground, intersected by deepravines and a large marsh, which they supposed, formed a veryextensive piece of water, after heavy rains. 

A number of convicts going out to search for sweet tea, someof them separated from the rest, and were lost in the woods forseveral days, and one of them was never heard of afterwards. Itis hardly possible to conceive the obstinacy and inattention ofmany of these people, even in matters which concern only theirown safety. 

In the morning of the 7th of September, Governor Phillip wentdown the harbour to fix on a spot for raising a brick column, which might point out the entrance to ships which wereunacquainted with the coast, as the flag-staff could not be seenby vessels until they drew very near the land, and was alsoliable to be blown down. 

A rising ground at the distance of a cable's length from thesouth head was chosen, and the stone necessary for the base ofthe column being already cut, that work was immediately begun, and the party were returning to Sydney, when the governor wasinformed by some officers, who had landed in Manly-Bay, and whowere going on a shooting excursion, that they had seen-Bannelong_, a native who had ran away from the settlement, and who had enquired after all his friends, and received severalpresents. It seems Bannelong, and _Colebe_, another nativewho had escaped from the settlement, with near two hundredothers, were assembled in Manly-Bay to feast on a dead whalewhich was lying on the beach. Bannelong sent a large piece of itto the governor, as a present, which the sailors had in the boat:he was very glad to see those he knew of the party, particularlya native boy named _Nanbarre_, but seemed afraid of beingretaken, and would not permit any one to come so near as to laytheir hands on him. 

As Governor Phillip had always been desirous of meeting withthis man, and had sought an opportunity from the day he left hishouse, he returned to the look-out, and collecting every littlething which was likely to please him, went to the spot where hehad been seen. Several natives appeared on the beach as thegovernor's boat rowed into the bay, but on its nearer approach, they retired amongst the trees. 

It had ever been the governor's opinion, and what he hadobserved of these people confirmed it, that the best means ofobtaining the confidence of a native was by example, and byplacing confidence in him; with this purpose, he left thejudge-advocate and Lieutenant Water-house, who had accompaniedhim in the boat, and landed himself, followed only by a seamanwho had some beef and bread, with a few other articles which hewas desirous of giving to such of the natives as might join him:after calling repeatedly on his old acquaintance by all hisnames, he was answered by a native who appeared with severalothers at a distance, and as he increased his distance from theboat, the native approached nearer, and took a number of littlepresents, on their being laid down at the distance of a fewpaces; but he would not come near the governor, although inanswer to the question--"where was Banne-long?" he repeatedlysaid he was the man; this, however, could not be believed, as hewas so much altered: at length a bottle was held up, and on hisbeing asked, what it was in his own language, he answered, "_the King_;" for as he had always heard his Majesty'shealth drank in the first glass after dinner at the governor'stable, and had been made to repeat the word before the drank hisown glass of wine, he supposed the liquor was named "the King;"and though he afterwards knew it was called wine, yet he wouldfrequently call it King. 

This convinced the governor that it could be no other thanBannelong, and every method was tried to entice him to come near, but he always retired on their approaching him nearer than hewished, so that they were presently out of sight of the boat, though at no great distance from it; but on eight or ten of thenatives placing themselves in a situation to prevent Bannelongbeing carried off, had it been attempted, he came up, togetherwith Colebe, and held out his hand; but he was so changed, andappeared so poor and miserable, that even then there was a doubtwhether he were the man, though Colebe was well known. 

After some conversation, Governor Phillip went down to thebeach, and the two officers came on shore; the boat's crew, withthe arms, were still in the boat, for as the natives kept theposition they had taken, which showed they were under someapprehensions, he was afraid of alarming them. Bannelong appearedglad to see his old acquaintances; he was very chearful, andrepeatedly shook hands with them, asking for hatchets andcloaths, which were promised to be brought him in two days: hepointed to a small fire which was burning near them, and said heshould sleep there the two nights until the governor's return. Knives, hats, and various other articles were given to him andColebe; and the latter, laughing, showed them that he had got theiron from his leg by which he had been secured when at thesettlement: he also seemed glad to see his former acquaintances, and made himself very merry at the manner of his friendBannelong's getting away from Sydney, by laying his head on hishand, shutting his eyes, and saying, "Governor _nangorar_, "(asleep) and imitating the manner in which his companion had ranoff. 

The governor and his party now began to retire towards thebeach, when they were joined by a stout, corpulent native who hadbeen for some time standing at a small distance; he approachedthem under strong marks of fear, but this soon subsided on hisbeing treated in a friendly manner, and he became veryconversable: he showed them a wound he had received in his backwith a spear; Bannelong also was desirous of showing that he hadbeen wounded in various parts of the body since he left thesettlement; one of his wounds was made with a spear which wentthrough his left arm, and was pretty well healed, but anotherdangerous one over the left eye was not in so good a state: thesewounds, he said, were received at Botany-Bay. 

After a pretty long conversation, our party were going away, but they were detained by Bannelong, who was still solicitous totalk about the hatchets and cloaths he was to have sent him intwo days, and a native who had been standing for some time at thedistance of twenty or thirty yards, was pointed out by him in amanner which showed he wished him to be taken notice of; on this, the governor advanced towards him; and on the man's making signsthat he should not come near, and appearing to be afraid, hethrew his sword down, still advancing towards him, at the sametime opening his hands to show that he had no arms. 

In the course of this interview, they had stopped near a spearwhich was lying on the grass, and which Bannelong took up; it waslonger than common, and appeared to be a very curious one, beingbarbed and pointed with hard wood; this exciting GovernorPhillip's curiosity, he asked Bannelong for it; but instead ofcomplying with this request, he took it where the stranger wasstanding, threw it down, and taking a common short spear from anative who, with several others, stood at some distance behindhim, he presented that and a club to the governor, which gavereason to suppose that the spear which had been asked for did notbelong to him. As Governor Phillip advanced towards the man whosefears he wished to remove, he took up the spear in question, andfixing it in a throwing-stick, appeared to stand on his defence;but as there was no reason to suppose he would throw it withoutthe least provocation, and when he was so near those with whomour party were on such friendly terms, the governor made a signfor him to lay it down, and continued to approach him, at thesame time repeating the words---weree weree_, which thenatives use when they wish any thing not to be done thatdispleases them. 

Notwithstanding this, the native, stepping back with his rightleg, threw the spear with great violence, and it struck againstGovernor Phillip's collar bone, close to which it entered, andthe barb came out close to the third vertebrae of the back. Immediately after throwing the spear, the native ran off, as didBannelong and Colebe, with those that were standing to the rightand left; and the latter, in their retreat, threw several spears, which, however, did no farther mischief. 

As bringing any arms on shore would probably have prevented aninterview taking place, the musquets had been left in the boat;but the governor having a pistol in his pocket, he discharged itas he went down to the beach, as several of the natives stoppedat no great distance, and the cockswain coming up at the sameinstant, fired a musquet, though there was no reason to apprehendthe natives meant to molest them any farther. 

The conduct of this savage may be supposed to do away any ideathat had been formed of the natives not abusing a confidenceplaced in them; and yet, there is no great reason to draw thatinference from the accident just mentioned; for, it should beremembered that the man who wounded Governor Phillip was astranger, and might fear their taking him away, as they hadcarried off others; against which he might not think theirnumbers a sufficient security; besides, he had not joined theparty, nor probably thought the friendship, which-subsistedbetween them and others of a different tribe, any way binding onhim; for it is supposed the different tribes are in every respectperfectly independant of each other. This man had stood for sometime peaceably and quietly, and the governor certainly was morein his power before he went to call the officers out of the boat, than at the time the spear was thrown; it is therefore mostlikely that the action proceeded from a momentary impulse offear; but the behaviour of Bannelong on this occasion is not soeasily to be accounted for; he never attempted to interfere whenthe man took the spear up, or said a single word to prevent himfrom throwing it; he possibly did not think the spear would bethrown, and the whole was but the business of a moment. 

A few minutes before this affair happened, nineteen of thenatives had been counted round our party, and the position theytook showed their judgment: on the ground where Bannelong andColebe joined them, the trees stood at the distance of forty orfifty feet from each other, and, had the natives kept together, shelter might have been found from their spears behind a tree;but whilst four of them remained in front, at the distance offorty yards, four or five others placed themselves on the right, and the same number on the left, at about the same distance;others again were planted between them and the beach, at thedistance of ten or fifteen yards, which rendered it impossibleeither to carry off their companions or to gain shelter fromtheir spears, if hostilities commenced; and though these peopledo not always keep their spears in their hands, they are seldomwithout their throwing-sticks, and generally have a spear lyingnear them in the grass, which they move with their feet as theychange their ground: however, it is not likely that thisdisposition was made with any bad intention, but merely as asecurity for Bannelong and Colebe; indeed, these men directed themanoeuvre and waited till it was made, before they came nearenough to shake hands. 

It may naturally be supposed that many would be desirous ofpunishing what was generally deemed an act of treachery, butGovernor Phillip did not see the transaction in that light, andas soon as he arrived at Sydney, he gave the necessary directionsto prevent any of the natives being fired on, unless they werethe aggressors, by throwing spears; and, in order to prevent theparty who were out on a shooting excursion from meeting with anattack of a similar nature, an officer and some soldiers weresent after them: they returned the next day, and coming by theplace where the accident happened, some of the natives appearedon an eminence; on their being asked who had wounded thegovernor, they named a man, or a tribe, who resided to thenorthward: the boy, Nanbarre, was their interpreter, and he saidthe man's name was _Caregal_, and that he lived at, or nearBroken-Bay. Nanbarre was also directed to enquire after Bannelongand Colebe, and those to whom the question was put, pointed tosome people at a distance. 

One of these natives threw a spear to an officer who asked forit, and this he did in such a manner that very particularlymarked the care he took it should not fall near any person. 

It may be thought remarkable that, after what had happened, the natives should appear in the fight of seventeen armed men;and what was more extraordinary, the cockswains of the two boatswhich lay at anchor all night near the beach, with severalsoldiers in them, said, that after the party they landed weregone off, the natives returned, made up some fires, and sleptthere all night; but, as the officer who went to bring home theparty that were out a shooting, found by the marks on the sand, when he was returning the next morning, that he had been followedby three men and a dog, it is probable that they had otherslooking out likewise, and had the boats approached the beach inthe night, they would have immediately fled into the woods. 

It was Governor Phillip's intention, as soon as he should beable to go out, to endeavour to find Bannelong, and, if possible, to have the man given up who wounded him, or some of his tribe;not with a view of inflicting any punishment, but of detainingone or more of these people till they understood each other'slanguage. 

Some days after this affair, as several officers were goingdown the harbour, they saw some natives, and amongst themBannelong and his wife; on this, the boat's head was put to therocks, and he came down, shook hands with several of the party, and enquired if the governor was dead; they told him no; on whichhe promised to come and see him; said he had beat the man whowounded him, and whose name he told them was-Wil-le-me-ring_, of the tribe of Kay-yee-my, the place werethe governor was wounded. 

The native boy and girl were in the boat, and through themthis conversation was held: the girl pointed out one of thenatives who she said was her father: none of these people showedany signs of fear, though they saw the officers were armed, andthe girl was very desirous of remaining with them; she was now ofan age to want to form a connection with the other sex, which shehad no opportunity of doing in the clergyman's family where shelived, and very innocently told him, when she asked to go away, that she wanted to be married. As it would be difficult toprevent her getting away, if she was determined to go, it wasthought most prudent to consent to her leaving the settlement, and she was told that she would be permitted to go, and to takeall her cloaths with her; and that whenever she chose to come andsee her friends, whatever she wished for should be given her; atthe same time, several reasons were urged, that were likely toinduce her to remain in her present situation a few monthslonger, as she did not sufficiently understand the language toexplain their intentions towards the natives so sully as couldhave been wished. 

On the 16th of September, a shoal of fish appeared on thecoast, which extended as far as the eye could reach, and part ofthem entering the harbour, as many were caught at two hauls withthe seine, as served the whole settlement: there were not lessthan three thousand, which, on an average, weighed about fivepounds each. As a party were going to visit Bannelong, some fishwere sent him, which he received, and appeared free from anyapprehensions; and the same afternoon, the commissary andGovernor Phillip's orderly serjeant, for whom he had alwaysshowed great friendship, went with an additional supply: theyfound him on the rocks with his wife, who was fishing, and thoughon their first approach he ran into the woods, yet as soon as heknew them he returned, and joined them when they landed, bringingdown his wife, as he had done to those who visited him before, and on these occasions, he showed that he was still fond of aglass of wine. 

Governor Phillip was so well recovered of his wound, as to beable to go in a boat on the 17th, to the place where Bannelongand his wife then resided: he found nine natives on the spot, whoinformed him that Bannelong was out a fishing; the native girlwas in the boat, and her father being among the natives, ahatchet and some fish were given him; in return for which, hegave the governor a short spear that had been pointed with aknife, which the natives now used when they could procure one, inpreference to the shell. 

The party had just left these people, and were going fartherin quest of Bannelong, when they perceived four canoes comingtowards them, in one of which was the person they wanted; on thisthey returned to the Cove. As soon as Bannelong had laid up hiscanoe, he came to the boat, and held up both his hands, to showthat he had no arms: presently afterwards, the party landed, andhe joined them very readily, asked Governor Phillip where he waswounded, and said that he had beat the man who wounded him, andwhose name he repeated: being told that the man would be killedfor this treacherous action, he desired it might be done. Ahatchet, some fishing-lines, and several other articles weregiven him, and he wanted to have some presents that were broughtfor his wife _Ba-rang-aroo_, but this being refused, hereadily went to fetch her: a petticoat, and several other littlepresents were given to the lady, and a red jacket with a silverepaulet, which Bannelong used to wear when at the settlement, were now given him, which pleased him more than any thingelse. 

On being asked to dine with Governor Phillip the next day, hereadily consented, and promised to bring his wife: he likewisepointed out a youth and two men to whom hatchets had been given, and said he would bring them with him also. 

Bannelong's wife, Ba-rang-aroo, appeared to be older thanhimself, and had had two children by a former husband, both ofwhich were dead: this probably was the woman he had so oftenmentioned when at the settlement, and whom he had taken as a wifesince he left it; she likewise had been twice wounded by spears, one of which had passed through her thigh. 

Though Bannelong probably might be glad that Governor Phillipwas not killed, yet there is not doubt but that the natives throwtheir spears, and take a life in their quarrels, which are veryfrequent, as readily as the lower class of people in Englandstrip to box, and think as little of the consequences. 

Mau-go-ran, the father of the native girl who lived with theclergyman, bad a bad wound on the back of his head, which he toldthe surgeon who dressed it, was done by a spear: it seems adispute had taken place amongst these people, about sharing thewhale, in which several lives were lost, and this man got hiswound; and on the girl naming to her father a youth at-Kay-yee-my_, who she said would marry her, he told her notto go there, for they had quarrelled, and would throw spears, andthat they would also throw spears at any white man; indeed, ifthis man's information could be depended on, the natives werevery angry at so many people being sent to Rose-hill; certain itis, that wherever our colonists fix themselves, the natives areobliged to leave that part of the country. 

The weather being now very dry, the natives were employed inburning the grass on the north shore opposite to Sydney, in orderto catch rats and other animals, whilst the women were employedin fishing: this is their constant practice in dry weather. 

Though Bannelong did not pay Governor Phillip a visit, as hehad promised, he readily joined those he saw in different partsof the harbour, notwithstanding they were armed, and went in hiscanoe to the longboat, though he saw several musquets in her: hiswife was along with him in the canoe, and he gave those in theboat to understand that he would pay the governor a visit;probably the fear of being detained had hitherto prevented him, but whilst there was the least chance of his coming voluntarily, Governor Phillip was not willing to take him a second time byforce, as it was likely he would soon be reconciled to pass aconsiderable part of his time at Sydnev, when he found he couldbe his own master, and go and come when he pleased. 

On the 19th, Governor Phillip went to Rose-hill and returnedto Sydney in the evening. The corn looked better than could beexpected; but, the earth was so parched up by the dry weatherthat they could not get the remainder of their Indian corn intothe ground until some rain fell. The weather for the lastfortnight had frequently been cloudy and unsettled, and somelight showers of rain had fallen at different times, but verylittle compared to what the ground required, or what might havebeen expected at this season. In the night of the 24th it beganto rain, and some smart showers fell the next day, which enabledthem to sow the remainder of their Indian corn; it was also ofgreat service to the wheat and the vegetables in the gardens. 

The column intended as a mark for the entrance of the harbourwas now finished; it stands (as has already been observed, ) on acliff, a cable's length from the south-head: it is a brick columnon a stone base, and rises to the height of thirty feet. 

In the night of the 26th of September, five convicts took apunt from Rose-Hill, in which they came down to the look-out, where they exchanged the punt for a four-oared boat, and got offundiscovered. These people certainly meant to go along the coastto the northward, and to attempt getting to some of the Friendlyislands; but this project must be almost impossible, and therewas every reason to suppose they would perish in a very fewdays. 

As Governor Phillip and a party were going to Rose-Hilltowards the latter end of September, a native was seen on one ofthe points; and being asked where Bannelong was, he replied, -Memilla_ (at Memill): on this, they rowed up to the island, and when they drew near the rocks, Bannelong came down to theboat, and brought his wife without the least appearance of fear, though they were the only persons on the island. There was nofish in the boat, but they were glad of some bread, and presentlyafterwards the governor and his party left them, and from theconfidence Bannelong now placed in his visitors, there was nodoubt but he would soon come to the settlement as usual. On thegovernor's return, two days after this meeting, Bannelong hadleft the island. The governor again went to Rose-Hill on the 6thof October, and on his return he was repeatedly called to byBannelong, who was on the north shore with several officers; andthe surgeon, in whom he placed great confidence, being of theparty, persuaded him to come over to the governor: he broughtthree natives in his canoe, and they were all well pleased withhatchets and fishing-lines which were given them. It seemsBannelong's wife had opposed his coming, and finding her tearshad no effect, she flew into a violent passion, and broke a veryfine fiz-gig, for which she would probably have been veryseverely chastised on her husband's return, but for theinterference of the surgeon, who carried these people back totheir cave on the north shore, where they intended to reside forsome time. 

Bannelong appeared very much at his ease, and not under theleast apprehension of being detained; promising, when he wentaway, to bring his wife over, which he did two days afterwards:his sister and two men came likewise, and a third soon followed:blankets, and some cloathing were given them, and each had abelly-full of fish; Bannelong sat down to dinner with GovernorPhillip, and drank his wine and coffee as usual. 

The governor bought a spear from one of his visitants, andendeavoured to make them understand that spears, lines, birds, orany thing they brought should always be purchased; at the sametime he promised Bannelong a shield, for which he was to bring aspear in return, as accustoming these people to barter was judgedthe most likely means of bringing them to reside amongst thecolonists. The next day, a large party came over for the shield, but it was not finished: two men of this party were owned by thenative girl, who lived with the clergyman, as her brothers, andfor whom she procured two hatchets, which appeared to be the mostvaluable articles that could be given them. When Bannelong camefor his present, those who accompanied him, after staying a shorttime, went away, but he staid dinner, and left the place highlydelighted with his shield, which being made of sole leather andcovered with tin, was likely to resist the force of theirspears. 

As it was late in the afternoon before Bannelong thought ofdeparting, his wife and sister, with two men, came over in theircanoes to fetch him, so that there was every appearance of thesepeople being perfectly reconciled, and no doubt could beentertained but that they would visit the settlement asfrequently as could be wished. 

Some days after this interview, a canoe with Bannelong'ssister and several young people coming to one of the points ofthe cove, the girl who had now lived seventeen months with theclergyman's wife, joined them, and was so desirous of going awaythat it was consented to: the next day she was seen naked in acanoe, but she put on a petticoat before she joined the clergymanand some others who went to visit her; she appeared to be pleasedwith having her liberty, and the boy, Nanbarre, who was of theparty that went to see her, now wished to stay with the nativesall night; he was left behind, but the next morning he returnedto the surgeon, with whom he lived, and having fared but badly, did not seem inclined to go to them again. 

The very little rain, which had fallen since the latter end ofJune, had destroyed all their hopes of good crops, and which theyhad every reason to expect till the beginning of September: atpresent, there was the appearance of rain, though it was feared, that it would come too late to be of any great service to thecorn, though it might save the few vegetables they had in thegardens which were parched up. Some rain fell on the 14th and15th of October, but it was barely sufficient to refresh theground. 

The natives now visited the settlement daily, and Bannelong, who had not been there for several days, came early in themorning of the 17th, but took leave of Governor Phillip afterbreakfast, saying, that he was going a great way off, and wouldreturn, with two young men who were with him, after three days:there was reason to suppose that he was going to fight. 

If the natives of this country be less civilised than theinhabitants of the neighbouring islands, they are much honester;for they very seldom attempt to take any thing by stealth; and, it is certain, that when a thief is caught, they beat him todeath with sticks. On the 18th, Governor Phillip was informed, that Colebe, with two little girls and two young men who hadbefore been at the settlement, were waiting at the next cove tosee him; on this, he went to the place: a hatchet was, as usual, desired and given, and Colebe promised to come to dinner the nextday. 

A convict had been missing some time, and was reported to havebeen killed by the natives: those who could have given anyinformation of this man must have been with him, and consequentlyexpected punishment, if they were known, for having left theirhuts contrary to orders; it was, therefore, impossible to fix thereport on any individual, and no information could be gained bythose who were sent to search the country for some miles round;but two parties of the natives had been seen, one partyconsisting of about forty, the other not more than half thatnumber: soon afterwards, Bannelong, with sixteen men and boys, were met by a serjeant and three men who had been sent after theconvict that was missing; Bannelong pressed them very much toreturn with him and kill a native who was well known from havinglost an eye, and who was supposed to be a leader of the tribethat reside about Botany-Bay; but this request not being compliedwith, the natives continued their route, and Colebe, who was ofthe party, came to dine with the governor as he had promised, Bannelong and several others accompanying him. 

At dinner, Bannelong observed that his shield was a good one, and said, that he had been to fight the man who had some timebefore wounded him, and that his spear had gone through both theshield and hand of his antagonist; he also said, that the peoplehe had been to fight with had killed the man who was lost:however, admitting that to be the case, it is more than probablethat he had been found by the natives stealing their spears orgum, and which the convicts continued to procure, and contrive tosecrete until ships arrive. 

On the 18th of October, the Supply armed tender returned fromBatavia: they had lost a lieutenant, the gunner of the Sirius, and several seamen at that unhealthy settlement. The commander ofthe Supply had intended to go through the streights of Macasser;but when to the westward of Kercolang, meeting with strong galesfrom the westward, he bore away to the southward, running downnear the small islands which are on the western coast of Gillola;and going to the westward of the island of Bouro, to thesouthward of Bouton, and between Salayer and Celebes, had fineweather and favourable winds. 

Ships leaving the coast of New South Wales for Batavia, between the months of April and September, should keep to thesouthward, and go between New Guinea and Gillola; they then mightmake their passage in seven or eight weeks, probably in lesstime. The Supply was eighty days on her passage, and sixty-fouron her return. 

On the 28th of October, two convicts suffered death forrobbing a hut, and dangerously wounding a man who endeavoured toprevent their carrying away his property. 

The settlement had now some heavy showers of rain, and theweather continued showery for several days, but the long droughthad destroyed a very considerable part of the wheat andbarley. 

The native girl, who had left the settlement, returned, afterbeing absent fourteen days; but though she appeared to have faredbadly, and had been beat by her friend Colebe, yet she would notremain at Sydney more than two days, after which she returned toher companions. 

It now appeared, that Governor Phillip did not wrong thenatives in supposing that they treated their women with verylittle tenderness; for Bannelong had beat his wife twice veryseverely in a short time, and for which, as far as could belearnt from the girl, he had very little reason: still sheappeared very fond of him, and he professed great affection forher, but laughed when he was told that it was wrong to beat awoman: he now visited the settlement daily, with his wife, several children, and half a dozen of his friends, and Colebe wasgenerally one of the party. 

Several of these people had recently a dispute, in which oneof them received two severe wounds in the head from a spear, andtwo others were wounded in the head by hatchets; but the partiesappeared two days after the affray as good friends as ever. 

It has already been observed, that the natives have some ideaof a future state, and that they believe in spirits; thefollowing circumstance leaves no doubt but that they likewisebelieve in charms:--Bannelong's wife one day complaining of apain in the belly, went to the fire and sat down with herhusband, who, notwithstanding his beating her occasionally, seemed to express great sorrow on seeing her ill, and afterblowing on his hand, he warmed it, and then applied it to thepart affected; beginning at the same time a song, which wasprobably calculated for the occasion: a piece of flannel beingwarmed and applied by a bye-stander, rendered the warming hishand unnecessary, but he continued his song, always keeping hismouth very near to the part affected, and frequently stopping toblow on it, making a noise after blowing in imitation of thebarking of a dog; but though he blew several times, he only madethat noise once at every pause, and then continued his song, thewoman always making short responses whenever he ceased to blowand bark. 

How long this ceremony would have continued was uncertain, forGovernor Phillip sent for the doctor, and she was persuaded totake a little tincture of rhubarb, which gave her relief, and soput an end to the business. 

Bannelong, with his wife and two children, who appeared tohave been adopted by him when their parents died, now lived in ahut built for them on the eastern point of the cove; they werefrequently visited by many of the natives, some of whom dailycame to the barracks: all of them were very fond of bread, andthey now found the advantage of coming amongst the settlers. 

The Supply immediately after her arrival began to refit, asGovernor Phillip was desirous of sending to Norfolk Island someprovisions, and many little articles which were wanted, and withwhich he now had it in his power to supply them; but on strippingthe lower masts, the foremast was found to be so bad that it wasnecessary to get it out, and when examined, it proved to be somuch decayed that they were obliged to cut several feet off thehead of the mast, and several feet from the heel: the tops, likewise, were so much decayed, that they could not be repaired, so that new ones were to be made. 

It had hitherto been the opinion at Sydney, that the custom oflosing the front tooth amongst the natives was confined to themen only, but a woman was lately seen who had lost the fronttooth, and two women were met with who had the septum of the noseperforated; one of them was Barangaroo, who now visited thesettlement daily, in company with her husband, and seemed to bepleased as though she thought herself drest when her nose wasoccasionally ornamented with a small bone or a bit of stick: sheis very strait and exceeding well made; her features are good, and though she goes entirely naked, yet there is such an air ofinnocence about her that cloathing scarcely appearsnecessary. 

These people are frequently ornamented, or, to speak moreproperly, disfigured with broad white marks under the eyes and onthe breasts; but they seem to have another motive for using thismode of ornament, besides a wish of appearing handsome, though asyet it had not been discovered. The red earth is likewisefrequently used, generally about the nose and under the eyes. 

Chapter XIX

TRANSACTIONS AT PORT JACKSON

November 1790 to December 1790

-Fruits in season described. --The manners of thenatives. --Disputes with them. --Arrival of a vessel fromBatavia. -

The new moon, in the beginning of November, brought a fewhours thunder, and rain for a short time, which they stillcontinued greatly to want. 

Several fruits peculiar to the country were now in season:that which was supposed to be the fruit Captain Cook calls acherry, the natives call _mizooboore_; the taste of it isinsipid, and it differs little from another fruit similar in itsappearance, but something smaller, and which, as well as theformer, is found in great abundance: there is likewise a thirdsort which differs as little in appearance and taste. Thoughthere is little variety either in the shape or taste of thefruits just mentioned, yet, it is very remarkable that the treeson which they grow are of very different kinds. 

The fruits, or berries, just mentioned, have so insipid ataste, that they are held in very little estimation by ourcolonists; but that is not the case with the acid berry, which isabout the size of a currant, and grows on a tree, the leaves ofwhich resemble the broom: the acid of this fruit, even when ripe, is very strong, and is, perhaps, the purest in the world: it ispleasant to the taste, and Governor Phillip found it particularlyso when on a journey in hot weather: the surgeon held it in greatestimation as an antiscorbutic; and, with a large proportion ofsugar, it makes excellent tarts and jellies. 

There is also another fruit, which, when ripe, is of atransparent red colour, about the size of a currant, and shapedlike a heart: it has an agreeable flavour, leaving an astringencyon the palate, and cannot be otherwise than wholesome, as thesettlers had ate great quantities of it at times, without anypernicious consequences. 

There is likewise a nut, which had violent effects on thosewho ate it unprepared: the natives soak it in water for seven oreight days, changing the water every day; and at the expirationof that time they roast it in the embers; but the kernel is takenout of the hard shell with which it is enclosed, previous to itsbeing put into the water: it is nearly equal to the chesnut ingoodness. 

-Boorong_, the native girl who had lived with theclergyman, returned to him again, after a week's absence: someofficers had been down the harbour, and she was very happy toembrace that opportunity of getting from the party she had beenwith. By her own account, she had joined the young man she wishedto marry, and had lived with him three days; but he had anotherwife, who the girl said was jealous, and had beat her; indeed, evident marks of this appeared about her head, which was sobruised as to require the surgeon's attention: in return for thisunkind treatment, it seems her favourite had beat his wife. 

But opportunities were not now wanting to show that the womenare in general treated very roughly; for Colebe brought his wifeto visit Governor Phillip, and though she was big with child, andappeared to be within a very few days of her time, there wereseveral wounds on her head, which she said he had lately givenher: he seemed to be pleased that she could show her marks, andtook some pains to inform the governor that he had beat her witha wooden sword. 

Early in the morning of the 13th of November, sixteen of thenatives visited the settlement, and some fish being distributedamongst them, they made a fire in the governor's yard, and satdown to breakfast in great good humour: those that werestrangers, appeared highly delighted with the novelties thatsurrounded them. Amongst the strangers, there was a woman whoseskin, when free from dirt and smoke, was of a bright coppercolour; her features were pleasing, and of that kind of turn, that had she been in any European settlement, no one would havedoubted her being a Mulatto Jewess. 

Bannelong, who had been for two days with some of his party atBotany-Bay, came along with these people and brought his wifewith him: she appeared to be very ill, and had a fresh wound onher head, which he gave Governor Phillip to understand she hadmerited, for breaking a fiz-gig and a throwing stick. Thegovernor's reasoning with him on this subject had no effect; hesaid she was bad, and therefore he had beat her; neither could itbe learned what inducement this woman could have to do an actwhich she must have known would be followed by a severe beating;for Bannelong either did not understand the questions put to him, or was unwilling to answer them. When these people had finishedtheir breakfast, they all went to the hospital to get the womens'heads dressed; for besides Bannelong's wife, a woman who was astranger, had received a blow on the head, which had laid herscull bare. 

After this business was over, most of them returned and satdown in the yard at the back of Governor Phillip's house; butBannelong went into the house as usual, and finding the governorwriting, sat down by him: he appeared very much out of humour, and frequently said that he was going to beat a woman with ahatchet which he held in his hand: it was impossible to persuadehim to say he would not beat her, and after some time he got up, saying that he could not dine with the governor, as he was goingto beat the woman. 

Governor Phillip then insisted on going with him, to which hemade no objection, though he was given to understand that hewould not be suffered to beat any woman, and they set off for hishut at the point. The governor took his orderly serjeant alongwith him, and they were joined by the judge advocate. 

Though Bannelong had frequently said he would kill the woman, when Governor Phillip was endeavouring to persuade him not tobeat her, yet, it could not be believed that he had any suchintention; nor did they suppose there would be much trouble inpreventing his beating her; however, fearing he might strike hera blow with the hatchet which must have been fatal, it was takenfrom him before they got to the hut, and as he seemed unwillingto part with it, the governor gave him his cane; but hisexpressions and his countenance soon made them think even thecane too much for him to be trusted with, and that was taken fromhim also. 

On their arrival at the hut, they found five men, two youths, and several women and children: some of these people were on thegrass before the door of the hut, and though the governor fixedhis eyes on Bannelong, in order to find out the object of hisrevenge, and whom he determined to protect, yet this furioussavage seized a wooden sword, and struck a young female, who waseither asleep, or seeing him coming had hid her face, over thehead, and repeated his blow before the weapon could be wrestedfrom him; he then got a hatchet, which was likewise takenaway. 

Reasoning with him was now out of the question; the savagefury which took possession of him when he found himself kept fromthe girl, who was lying senseless, is not to be described: he hadnow got another wooden sword, but the judge-advocate and theserjeant held him, and what passed being observed from theSupply, Lieutenant Ball and the surgeon of the hospital, cameover to the spot armed, and the poor girl was put into the boatwithout any opposition on the part of the natives, who had armedthemselves the moment they saw Governor Phillip and his partyinterfere, and one of them repeatedly pressed him to giveBannelong the hatchets and sword which had been taken fromhim. 

None of these people, either men or women, (the two youthsexcepted, who appeared to be much frightened, ) showed the leastconcern at the girl's fate, though they must have known, thatBannelong intended to kill her, and they certainly armed in hisdefence. 

When the boat was gone off with the girl, our party returnedto the governor's house, several of the native men and boysjoining them, as well as Bannelong; and, after some time, whenhis passion began to subside, Governor Phillip gave him tounderstand, that he was exceedingly angry with him for attemptingto kill a woman, and tried to divert him from his purpose bythreats, telling him that if he did kill her, or even beat herany more, he should lose his life; but threats had no greatereffect than entreaties, and all his answers showed that hethought himself greatly injured by having his victim taken fromhim; saying that she was his, that her father was the man who hadwounded him over the eye, that all their tribe were bad, and thatthe governor should see he would kill her; and when thejudge-advocate reasoned with him, and told him that if he killedthe girl the governor would kill him, he marked with his fingerthose parts of the head, breast, and arms, where he said he wouldwound her, before he cut her head off: in this resolution he wentaway, and the girl was removed in the evening from the Supply toGovernor Phillip's house, where a young man who lived withBannelong desired to remain with her, and, from the tenderness heshowed her when Bannelong was not present, was supposed to be herhusband; though he had not dared to open his lips, or even tolook dissatisfied, when her life was in danger. 

Several of the natives came to see this girl, and (except thesupposed husband) they all appeared very desirous that she mightreturn to the hut, though they must have known that she would bekilled; and, what is not to be accounted for, the girl herselfappeared desirous of going. 

After an absence of two days, Bannelong returned to thegovernor's house, apparently in good humour, and said he wouldnot beat the girl; at the same time he gave them to understand, that he had again beat his wife about the head, and that he hadreceived a severe blow on the shoulder from a club in return; onthis, Governor Phillip proposed their going to the hospital tohave his own shoulder and his wife's head drest, but this herefused, saying, that White (the surgeon) would shoot him, andthat he durst not sleep in the house which had been built forhim, as the surgeon would shoot him in the night. 

This story was not told without many threats on his part; andduring the recital, he twice went out to fetch a spear, which thegovernor had made him leave in a back room, in order to show thathe was not afraid, and that he would use it if he saw thesurgeon; however, Governor Phillip soon convinced him that he wasnot to be shot unless he killed the girl, or threw spears at thewhite men. The moment Bannelong was satisfied that the surgeonwas still his friend, he said he would go to him for a plaisterfor his shoulder, and another for his wife's head; but, as thegovernor wished to be present when they first met, he sent forthe surgeon, whom Bannelong received as usual, gave him part ofwhat he was eating, and went with him to the hospital; afterwhich, he went to the surgeon's house, and the girl being thereto whom he had lately shown so much animosity, he took her by thehand, and spoke to her in a friendly manner. 

But this attention so exasperated his wife, and put her insuch a rage, that those who were present at the time could not, without some difficulty, prevent her from knocking the girl onthe head with a club which she had taken from one of the men forthat purpose; nor did her husband seem inclined to prevent hertill he was spoke to, when he gave her a pretty smart slap on theface; on this, his wife left them crying with passion, and cameover to the governor's house, where the girl was now brought forgreater security, and was followed by several men. 

Governor Phillip had ordered the girl to be put into his maidservant's room, with which Bannelong seemed pleased, and desiredhim to let the young man who had remained with her at thesurgeon's, stay there likewise; in the mean time, his wife wasvery noisy, and used many threats; she had got her husband'sspears, which she sat down upon, and would not give them up to asoldier, whom the governor had ordered to take them from her, until force was used; and when the soldier had them, Bannelongwanted to take them from him, saying he would give them to thegovernor: they were then delivered to him, and he immediatelygave them to Governor Phillip, making signs for them to be putinto the house: this, at a time when there was a guard ofsoldiers drawn up in the yard, and when he was telling hiscompanions, that the soldiers would fire, showed that he placedsome confidence in the governor; though at the same time, he wasvery violent, and appeared very much inclined to use his clubagainst those who prevented his going into the house; and one ofthe natives who was generally his companion, seemed ready tosupport him in any attempt he might be disposed to make. 

On this they were given to understand, that if any of thesoldiers were struck, they would be put to death, and GovernorPhillip immediately ordered them all to be turned out of theyard, except Bannelong and the young man he had desired mightremain with the girl: Bannelong's wife was turned away amongstthe rest, but this did not prevent his staying to dinner, andbehaving with the same indifference as if nothing had passed;and, in the evening when he was going away, a scene took placewhich was little expected: the young man who had been so desirousof remaining with the girl, would now go away, and the girlcried, and forced her way out of the room to go with Bannelong:she was brought in again, and told if she went away she would bebeat, but Bannelong said he would not beat her, neither was hiswife angry with her now; and the young man pressed GovernorPhillip very much to let her go, saying Barangaroo would not beatthe girl, as her passion was over, and she was now very good. 

As the information of Barangaroo's anger having so entirelysubsided, could only have been brought by a boy, who had returnedto the house in the afternoon, the governor was not the leastinclined to let the girl go away; but there was no possibility ofdetaining her unless she was confined, and there appeared so muchsincerity in Bannelong's countenance, when he said she should notbe beat, that leave was given, and the moment the girl waswithout the gate, she ran towards Bannelong's hut, withoutwaiting for those who were going along with her. 

Governor Phillip himself was fully persuaded that Bannelongwould keep his word, but the general opinion was, that the girlwould be sacrificed; and in the evening, a considerable number ofnatives being seen about the hut, gave rise to various stories;but the next day, Bannelong came to dinner, and said, he had sentthe girl to her father, which was afterwards confirmed byothers. 

How Bannelong got this girl into his possession could not belearnt; but it appeared she was the same girl whom he went tolook after when he ran away from the settlement: she appeared tobe about fifteen years of age, and when she went away, her woundswere in a fair way of doing well: fortunately for her, the weaponwhich had first presented itself when Bannelong beat her, was aboy's wooden sword, and made of very light wood; but these peoplepay little attention to wounds, and even those which by thefaculty are deemed dangerous, do not seem to require the commonattention of closing the lips of the wound and keeping it clean;this shows that they must be of a most excellent habit ofbody. 

Governor Phillip having occasion to go to Rose-Hill, Bannelongsaid he would accompany him: accordingly they set out, andstopped at the point, in order to take Barangaroo into the boat;but she refused, and persuaded her husband not to go. On thegovernor's return to Sydney, he was informed that this party hadbeen lamenting the loss of a brother, who had been killed by oneof the Cammeragals: the women were crying in the usual manner, but their grief was not of long duration, and Bannelong went tobreakfast with some officers, who, hearing the womens' cries, hadgone to the hut to learn the cause; and as they were going downthe harbour to look after a small boat belonging to the hospital, which had been lost, with five convicts, he desired them to landhim on the north shore, in order, it was supposed, to collect allhis friends, and revenge his brother's death. 

However, he was seen soon afterwards with some of theCammeragals, who were collecting the wild fruits which were nowin season; so that he must have been misunderstood as to hisintention of fighting with the Cammeragals; nor can we accountfor his being frequently with a tribe whom he always spoke of asbad, and desired Governor Phillip to kill; and what was equallymysterious, a man belonging to the Botany-Bay tribe had for morethan a fortnight slept at his hut, though he said the man wasbad, and spoke of him as his enemy. 

The party who went in search of the boat found the wreck ofher, and one of the bodies; as the boat had been seen under sailwhen it blew hard, it should seem that the men sent in her didnot know how to manage her, and were driven on the rocks. Severalnatives assisted in saving the oars and other articles that weredriven ashore; and Colebe, who was on the spot, exerted himselfgreatly on this occasion, and saved the seine, which wasentangled amongst the rocks: for these services, they were allrewarded with blankets and some cloathing. 

But, however well you may cloath these people, they generallyreturn naked the next day. Of all the cloaths and themultiplicity of other articles which had been given to Bannelong, very little now remained in his possession; his shield, and mostof his cloaths, were, by his own account, sent a great distanceoff; but whether he had lost them, or given them away, wasuncertain. 

In the evening of the 21st of November, Bannelong and his wifecame to Sydney, and he requested leave to sleep in GovernorPhillip's house, as there were a great number of people at-Tubow-gule_, the point on which their hut stood. Bannelongtold the governor, that the Cammeragals had killed his-friend_, or _relation_, for we are not clear thatthese words in their language, which had been supposed to meanFather or Brother, are made use of by the natives in that sense:he said, they had burnt his body, which he seemed to lament; andbeing told, that Governor Phillip would take the soldiers andpunish them, he prest him very much to go and kill them: indeed, from the first day he was able to make himself understood, he wasdesirous to have all the tribe of Cammeragal killed, yet he wasalong with that tribe when Governor Phillip was wounded, and, ashath already been observed, was seen with them since the loss ofhis friend, or brother. 

After Bannelong and his wife had supped they retired to sleepin a back room, and he was particularly anxious for the governorto lock the door and put the key in his pocket; from whichcircumstance, it is probable he had other reasons for coming thatevening to sleep at the governor's house, besides that of havinga number of people at his own habitation. 

When Governor Phillip's guests left him, the girl who livedwith the clergyman went away with them, and slept at their hut, nor would she probably have returned till she was compelled byhunger, or had received a beating; but being seen the nextmorning in a canoe, fishing, she very readily returned with theperson who had been sent to look after her. 

Many of the small streams of water in different parts of theharbour were dried up, and at Sydney, the run of water was small, but it afforded sufficient for the use of the settlement; nor wasthere any reason to suppose they would ever want water. AtRose-Hill, the settlers never can be under any apprehensions onthat head, and though from the stream being small in dry weather, the water has an unpleasant taste, occasioned by a number of deadtrees falling into the brook, yet that may be preventedhereafter: it will also be necessary, at some future period, tomake a dam across the creek, in order to prevent the tides makingthe water brackish at the lower part of it: when that is done, itwill not be a difficult matter to carry a run of water at theback of those houses which are situated at the greatest distancefrom the brook. 

A new store at Rose-Hill, which the workmen had been buildingfor some time past, was tiled in on the 25th of November, and abarrack of the same dimensions (100 feet by 24 feet 6 inches) wasimmediately begun. At the latter end of the month, the weatherwas unsettled, with frequent showers of rain: most of the barleywas now ripe, and they began to house it. The 3d of December wasa day of constant rain, which continued during the night. 

Governor Phillip had recently ordered a small hut to be builtfor his own accommodation at Rose-Hill, and he was going toremain there a few days, when several of the natives weredesirous of accompanying him, amongst whom were Bannelong andColebe: the governor got into his boat with three of them, andBannelong, going to fetch his cloak, was detained by his wife;however, as they were going out of the cove, he appeared on therocks, and got into the boat notwithstanding her threats; but, the moment the boat put off, she went to her canoe, which was anew one, and after driving her paddles through the bottom, shethrew them into the water, and afterwards went off to their hut, probably to do more damage. The husband had endeavoured to pacifyher, and promised several times not to be absent more than onenight; as it was likely that he would prefer remaining behind, though he appeared unwilling to ask to be landed, it was proposedto him, and after picking up the paddles which his wife hadthrown away, he was put on shore. 

The governor then proceeded to Rose-Hill, with Colebe and twoother natives, none of whom ever opened their lips during thisaltercation: indeed, none of these people have ever been seen tointerfere with what did not immediately concern themselves. 

The three natives slept that night at Rose-Hill, and thoughfed very plentifully, yet, the next morning, they were verydesirous of returning; on this, Governor Phillip sent the boatdown with them, on the return of which he fully expected to hearthat mistress Barangaroo's head was under the care of thesurgeon; but, to his great surprise, both she and her husbandcame up in the boat the next morning, and Bannelong said he hadnot beat her; but whether he was deterred by what had sofrequently been said to him on the subject, or from some othercause, could not be known: however, a reconciliation had takenplace, and they both dined with the governor in great goodhumour. Every thing this couple wished for was given them, andthey had both fish and _baggaray_; but after dinner wasover, the lady wanted to return, and Bannelong said she would cryif she was not permitted to go; so that late in the afternoon, the governor was obliged to send the boat down with them. 

It is rather singular that none of the natives like Rose-Hill, probably because fish is seldom procured there: both Arrabannuand Bannelong, whilst they lived with Governor Phillip, alwaysappeared to dislike going there, and after the first day, wouldbe continually pressing him to return to Sydney. 

Lieutenant Ball, who commanded the Supply, had been ill forsome time; and when Governor Phillip returned from Rose-Hill onthe 11th of December, the surgeon informed him that there werelittle hopes of Mr. Ball's recovery: at the same time he wastold, that his game-keeper had been brought in so dangerouslywounded by a spear, that there was little probability of savinghis life. 

It seems the game-keeper went out with three others, one ofwhom was a serjeant; and in the heat of the day, they retired toa hut which they had made with boughs, and went to sleep. One ofthem waking, and hearing a noise in the bushes, supposed it to besome animal; but on their coming out of the hut, four nativesjumped up from amongst the bushes and ran away: the game-keeper, supposing one of them to be a man who had been at Sydney, as heappeared to have been shaved and his hair cut, followed themwithout his gun, (though the most positive orders had been givenfor no one ever to join the natives unarmed) calling on them tostop, and he would give them some bread; and observing that oneof those who followed him from the hut had a gun in his hand, hebid him lay it down, saying, that the natives would not hurthim. 

The game-keeper had now advanced forty or fifty yards beforehis companions, and was not more than ten yards from one of thenatives, who stopped; and getting on a tree which had been burntdown, and was lying on the ground, he surveyed those whoapproached him: in a moment he found they were unarmed, so, fixing his spear, he threw it at the man who was nearest to him:the spear entered on the left side, and penetrated the lower lobeof the lungs: it was barbed, and consequently could not beextracted till a suppuration took place. Immediately afterthrowing the spear, the native fled, and was soon out of sight ofthe man who followed him. 

As they were eleven miles from Sydney when this accidenthappened, it was not without some difficulty that the unfortunategame-keeper could be brought in after his strength failed him: hewas of the catholic persuasion, but on being brought to thehospital, he desired to have the clergyman sent for, to whom heconfessed that he had been a bad man, and desired his prayers;but, at the same time, he declared that he had never killed orwounded any native, except once; when, having had a spear thrownat him, he discharged his piece, which was loaded with smallshot, and possibly wounded the man who threw the spear. 

This declaration, made at the time he requested the surgeonnot to attempt taking out the spear, until he had asked pardon ofhis God, whom, he said, he had often offended, added to thetestimony of those who were with him, left no room to doubt thatthe native had taken the advantage of their being unarmed, without having received any kind of provocation. 

The natives had been frequently told, that numbers of themwould be killed if they continued to throw spears; and bothBannelong and the girl who lived with the clergyman hadrepeatedly said, that the tribes which resided about Botany-Bayand the inland parts near the head of that harbour, always killedthe white men; yet, as it was evident that they had generallyreceived some provocation on the part of our settlers, GovernorPhillip was unwilling to proceed to extremities whilst there wasa possibility of avoiding it: many of the natives had recentlyvisited the settlement; they had all been well received, and someof their children frequently remained there for several days, without their parents ever seeing them; and if any of them weregoing where their children would be an incumbrance, they used toleave them at Sydney. 

Bannelong, Colebe, and two or three others, now lived atSydney three or four days in the week, and they all repeatedlydesired those natives might be killed who threw spears; at thesame time, Governor Phillip began to suspect, though veryunwillingly, that there was a great deal of art and cunning inBannelong; he had lately been at Botany-Bay, where, he said, theydanced, and that one of the tribe had sung a song, the subject ofwhich was, his house, the governor, and the white men at Sydney:the people of that tribe, he said, would not throw any morespears, as they and the Cammeragals were all friends, and weregood men; this was only a few days after he had said that heliked his house at the point, because the Botany-Bay men and theCammeragals would not come to it on account of the white men; andhad, as usual, whenever those tribes were mentioned, requestedthe governor to kill them all. 

The game-keeper was well known to those natives who frequentedSydney, and when they saw him at the hospital, they expressedgreat marks of sorrow, all the women and several of the menshedding tears. Colebe, who, it seems, understood the nature ofwounds, and their method of drawing teeth, said, that the spearmust remain for some time before it was drawn out, as it wasbarbed: at the same time he made signs that the man woulddie. 

It appeared rather extraordinary that the natives shouldimmediately know the man who wounded the game-keeper, and histribe; they said, his name was _Pemullaway_, of the tribe of-Bejigal_, and both Colebe and Bannelong promised to bringhim to the settlement; but the former, after remaining at Sydneythat night and part of the next day, went off, as was supposed, to Botany-Bay; and Governor Phillip going down the harbour, inconsequence of a number of natives being seen armed at thelook-out, found Colebe there, who returned to Sydney the nextday, did not seem inclined to give himself any trouble aboutPemullaway, but left the governor's house after dinner, to go, ashe said, to his wife, who was at Botany-Bay. Bannelong had notappeared for some days; he was said to be gone to assist at theceremony of drawing the front tooth from some young men, and ashe went to the district in which the Cammeragals reside, therecan scarcely be a doubt but that the tooth is paid as atribute. 

The native girl who lived with the clergyman, had left hishouse some time, and now resided with the Cammeragals: on goingaway, she promised to return with the young man she wanted tomarry, and his present wife; from which circumstance it seemspretty clear, that when a native can procure two women, thecustom of the country allows them to have two wives; and there issome reason to suppose that most of their wives are taken byforce from the tribes with whom they are at variance, as thefemales bear no proportion to the males. 

It became absolutely necessary to put a stop to the nativesthrowing spears, against which it was impossible to guard ingoing through the woods, and Governor Phillip wished to do itwith as little severity as possible; yet he was well convincedthat nothing but a severe example, and the fear of having all thetribes who resided near the settlement destroyed, would have thedesired effect: for this purpose, a party were sent out on the14th of December, consisting of two captains, two lieutenants, four noncommissioned officers, and forty privates: the surgeon, and a surgeon's mate belonging to the Sirius, went with theparty, and the three persons who were with the game-keeper whenhe was wounded, went as guides. 

The governor's motive for sending so large a party was, thatif a number of the natives should be found together, they mightbe deterred from making any resistance, or attempting to rescuethose who might be secured as prisoners. 

The officer who commanded this party was directed to proceedto the spot where the game-keeper had been wounded, and to searchfor the natives in that part of the country; six of whom were tobe secured and brought in as prisoners; or if that was foundimpracticable, six of them were to be put to death; spears, andall other weapons which they happened to meet with, were to bedestroyed and left on the ground, that the natives might see itwas intended as a punishment inflicted on them; particularattention was also to be paid to the women and children, who werenot to be injured on any account whatever; and, as GovernorPhillip wished to impress the natives with an idea that no deceitwas ever used, and that they might always depend on havingprotection after it had been once offered; on this occasion, noneof the party were ever to hold up their hands, (which, amongstthe natives, is a signal that they come as friends) nor to answerthat sign of friendship if made to them. 

It was more than probable that the man who threw the spearwould not be found, though Colebe had said he might easily beknown by the toes of his left foot having been bruised with aclub; and there was reason to fear that the innocent mightsuffer; but the natives had lately behaved with a boldness andinsolence on several occasions, which it was absolutely necessaryto check, and the punishments inflicted on a few, would, in theend, be an act of mercy to numbers. 

A suppuration taking place in the game-keeper's wound, thespear was taken out; it was armed with small pieces of red stone, and had penetrated seven inches and an half into his body, thoughthe point was broke off by striking against a rib: from thiscircumstance, some judgment may be formed of the force with whichthese spears are thrown. They generally are armed for seven oreight inches from the point, with small bits of sharp stone, bone, or shells; and, since our settling amongst them, bits ofglass bottle: these are fixed on with the yellow gum, which issoftened by fire, and afterwards grows hard and firm, making avery good cement; this the natives also use to stop the leaks intheir canoes. 

The spear with which the game-keeper was wounded, being shownto one of the natives, he immediately named the tribe to whom itbelonged; which shows that some of them arm their weaponsdifferently from others, and that they are all marked; this, asthey have no places to secure them in, effectually prevents theirrobbing one another. 

The party who had been sent out in search of the natives, returned on the 17th of December, without being able to get nearany of them, as they all fled at their approach, and eluded theirpursuit. They found Colebe near the head of Botany-Bay, where hewas striking fish, and ran some risk of being shot. 

The same afternoon, the vessel arrived which had been hired atBatavia to bring provisions to the colony, having beeneighty-eight days on her passage, and buried sixteen of hercrew. 

In the evening of the 22d, a party were again sent out towardsthe head of Botany-Bay; they were to endeavour to secure some ofthe natives, and had the same orders as were given before on thathead. They left the parade in the evening, and hopes wereentertained that they would be able to surprize some of thenatives at their fires; but they did not see a single inhabitantduring two days which they remained out. 

Colebe had left his wife at Botany-Bay, and she came over toSydney on the 23d of December, bringing an infant with her notmore than two or three days old; the child was laid on a piece ofbark, and both the parents appeared to treat it with greattenderness: they took up their residence for that night inGovernor Phillip's house, and a family, who accompanied Colebe'swife, gave an opportunity of observing, that the marriageceremony in this country, whatever it may be, is not verybinding: this man belonged to the tribe who reside aboutBotany-Bay, but he had occasionally lived at Sydney for some timepast, and a woman whose name was _Mawberry_, had been hiswife; but, it seems, he had broke her arm with beating her, andhad turned her away; and he had got another woman for a wife, whocame along with him, bringing also a child about three years ofage. Mawberry, his first wife, happened to be at the governor'shouse when he came in, and did not seem pleased at themeeting. 

This man, with his wife and child, after remaining at GovernorPhillip's two days, were going away; and, as usual, had bread andfish given them for their journey; but, it should seem, that theycould not agree, for he took away his first wife, and left thewoman and child who came along with him behind. The poor womanshed tears when Governor Phillip enquired into the matter, and, after repeatedly using the word _yalloway_, which is a termof execration, she said she would live with his servants, whichshe was permitted to do. 

Besides this person, Governor Phillip had a further additionto his family of a young woman, who for some time had beendesirous of being received amongst his maid servants, and a youthabout fourteen years of age, both of whom appeared much pleasedwith their situations. 

The weather was so intensely hot on the 27th of December, thatthe thermometer stood at 102° in the shade. 

Chapter XX

TRANSACTIONS AT PORT JACKSON

December 1790 to February 1791

-The depredations of the natives. --Bannelong'sbehaviour. --The Supply sails for Norfolk-Island. --The quantity ofprovisions brought in the Waaksam-heid from Batavia. --Theappearance of a prodigious number of Bats. --The return ofBannelong. --The manners of the natives furtherdescribed. -

Several of the natives who had been pretty constant visitorsat Sydney for some weeks, were detected stealing potatoes on the28th of December; and, on the person they belonged to, endeavouring to drive them out of his garden, a fiz-gig wasthrown at him. 

These people had lately made a practice of threatening anyperson whom they found in a hut alone, unless bread was given tothem; and one of those who were suspected in the presentinstance, had, on several occasions, shown himself to be a daringfellow, who did not seem to dread any consequences. As it wasnecessary to prevent these depredations in future, a serjeant andsix privates were sent out in order to secure the three nativeswho had been digging up the potatoes, and particularly the manwho threw the fiz-gig; but not to fire on them, unless they madeuse of their spears or other offensive weapons. 

Governor Phillip, accompanied by two or three officers, followed the party to a place where the natives had retired andmade a fire; at which, the serjeant, who arrived there a fewminutes before, found two men, one of whom he laid hold of, andthe other was seized by the surgeon's mate of the Sirius, whowent with the party, as he knew the men they were in search of:both these men, however, got away; and a club, which at first wastaken for a spear, being thrown by one of them, three musquetswere fired. Two women and a child were found at the fire, but asit was then dark, it was in vain to look for the two men, thoughone of them was supposed to be wounded. The women were broughtaway, together with several sticks, which the natives use fordigging roots, and some other articles, in order to learn morefully who were the aggressors. 

The women, though alarmed at first, yet, when they got toGovernor Phillip's house, appeared under no concern, but sleptthat night in a shed in the yard, as much at their ease as ifnothing had happened; though it was impossible for them to knowthat the men fired at were not killed; and one of them washusband to one of the women: the other woman was she who had beenleft at the governor's house, when her husband took away a formerwife. 

The fiz-gig, which had been thrown at the man in the garden, being shown to these women, they said it belonged to a native whohas already been noticed as a daring fellow; indeed he was somuch so, that though Governor Phillip thought it necessary towatch for an opportunity of checking his insolence, he could notbut admire his spirit. Some bread and fish being given to thewomen the next morning, they went away, well pleased with theirreception. 

On the 29th of December, Bannelong made his appearance atGovernor Phillip's house, after an absence of ten days, andbrought his wife with him: he said he had been with a greatnumber of the Cameragals, and they had drawn the front tooth fromseveral young men, and had raised those scars which the nativesregard as ornaments. The largest of these scars are made bycutting two lines through the skin, parallel to each other, witha sharp shell, and afterwards stripping off the intermediateskin: this operation is repeated till the wound risesconsiderably above the flesh, after which, it is suffered to healover. These scars, or ornaments, are not very common among thewomen, yet some have them on the arms, back, and breasts. 

Bannelong had a throwing-stick, which he took pains to showhad been cut for the purpose of knocking out the front tooth, andthere was some reason to think he had performed that office: itseems, he was now on good terms with the Cameragals, as he saidthey were all good men; and being asked if he had seen the manwho threw the spear at Governor Phillip, he said yes, and hadslept with him; nor was there any reason to suppose he had everbeat, or even quarreled with him on that account. 

Bannelong's wife, who had been with him on this excursion, waspainted in a different manner to what she had been seen before, and it appeared to have been done with a good deal of attention:her cheeks, nose, and upper lip, were rubbed over with red ochre, on which, and under the eyes, some white clay was laid in spots;the small of her back was likewise rubbed with red ochre, and sheseemed to be sensible that she was finer than common. 

After dinner, this couple went away, and the girl who had beendesirous of living with the governor's servants, wanted to goalong with them, which she was permitted to do. This girl, whomight be about eighteen years old, stripped herself before shewent away, but kept her night-cap to sleep in, as her head hadbeen shaved when she was first taken into the governor's family:she never had been under any kind of restraint, so that her goingaway could only proceed from a preference to the manner of lifein which she had been brought up, and which is rather surprising, as the women are certainly treated with great cruelty; this, however, the custom of the country seems to have perfectlyreconciled them to. 

Two colonists, who had been in a boat fishing, returned with apiece of intelligence very little to the credit of Bannelong, whohad robbed them of what fish they had caught; and, as they had noarms, and he had several spears in his canoe, along with his wifeand sister, they were deterred from making any resistance. Inconsequence of the fishing-boat being robbed, orders were giventhat no boat in future should go out of the cove unarmed, and thenatives were forbid ever going to the western point of the cove, where they stole the potatoes and threw the fiz-gig. 

Three convicts, who went into the woods contrary to orders, were lost for several days; and when found, they were prettyseverely punished: this, however, did not prevent one of thesemen from going out again, and he had now been so long absent, that there was no doubt but that he perished from hunger: anotherfell into the brook at Rose-Hill, and was drowned. 

The number of deaths this year, 1790, were, From sickness, 142Lost in the woods, 4Executed, 4Drowned, 6The total number of deaths, 156

On the 3d of January, 1791, several of the natives came toGovernor Phillip's house, and told him that the native who hadbeen fired at on the 28th of December, was wounded and would die;it was explained to them, that the reason of his being fired at, was, his attempting to wound a white man: on this, they did notappear dissatisfied. 

Bannelong and his wife came in soon afterwards, and GovernorPhillip charged him with taking the fish from the two colonists, which he denied; saying he had been a great way off; but when thetwo persons were sent for, and he found himself known, he enteredinto a long conversation, the purport of which was, an endeavourto justify himself; and this he did with an insolence thatexplained itself very clearly: he frequently mentioned the manwho had been wounded, and threatened revenge; but appearing torecollect himself, he offered the governor his hand, which notbeing accepted, he grew violent, and seemed inclined to make useof his stick. One of the centinels was now called in, as it wasmuch feared he would do some violent act, that would obligeGovernor Phillip to order him to be put to death; for hisbehaviour was the height of savage insolence, and would have beenimmediately punished in any other person; but this man had sooften made use of the word _be-ah-nah_, that they wished tobring him to reason without proceeding to force; especially, asit was suggested by an officer who was in the room, that he mightnot be understood clearly, and the governor was very unwilling todestroy the confidence Bannelong had for some time placed in him, which the slightest punishment or confinement would have done: hetherefore told him to come near, for he was then standing at somedistance, but he refused and went away. 

Bannelong had not left the governor with any intention ofreturning; for, in passing the wheelwright's shop, the workmenbeing at dinner, he stole a hatchet, with which, though pursuedhe got clear off. 

In the afternoon of the 3d, the surgeon and some others wentto the place where the wounded native was said to be, havingdirections to bring him to the hospital, if there were any hopesof his recovery. 

When they got to the spot to which the native boy and girl, who were in the boat, directed them, two natives appeared; one ofwhom, having been concerned in stealing the potatoes, kept at adistance; the other came near enough to converse with them, andsaid, the man they were in search of was dead, in an adjoiningcove, whither they went and found his body. The ball had passedthrough the shoulder, and had cut the subclavian artery: the bodywas warm, and as his friends had left it covered with some boughsand fern, it was probable they did not intend either to bury orburn it. It proved to be the man who had thrown the fiz-gig; andas there was a necessity for firing on him, the taking place ofthe ball was rather to be wished for. 

The woman who had been deserted by her husband, afterremaining eight or ten days at Governor Phillip's house, wentaway on the 5th of January, and was reconciled to him again; hisfirst wife now lived with another man, but she frequently visitedSydney, and was said to have granted favours to several of theconvicts. 

All the wheat and barley was now housed, except what was sownvery late, and yielded better than could have been expected afterthe long drought. On the 18th, her Majesty's birthday wascelebrated with the customary marks of respect. The Supply, having been put into thorough repair, sailed out of the cove onthe 19th, with provisions and stores for Norfolk Island; but thewind coming round to the south-east, she was obliged to anchor, and did not get out of the harbour till the 22d. 

The game-keeper, who was wounded on the 9th of December, ashath already been related, died on the 20th of January: his deathwas sudden, as at one time he was thought to be in a very fairway of recovery, being able to walk about. On opening the body, it appeared that the lungs on the left side, which had beenwounded, were entirely wasted away: the pleura firmly adhered tothe ribs for some inches round the wound; several of the smallstones with which the spear had been armed, were found adheringto the side, and the rib against which the spear had broke, wassplintered. 

A considerable quantity of ground was now cleared, and largeenclosures were made for cattle, which there was reason to hopewould be brought from the Cape of Good Hope, by the ships dailyexpected to arrive with the remainder of the corps raised for theservice of this country, and the convicts from Ireland. 

The person who had hitherto superintended the labour of theconvicts, died on the 28th of January. This man left England withGovernor Phillip, as a servant; but he had employed him in thepublic service from their first landing, and few men, who mayhereafter be placed in his situation, will attain that ascendencywhich he had over the convicts, or be able to go through so muchfatigue. He was replaced by a superintendant who came fromEngland in the last ships. 

The Dutch vessel, which had been hired at Batavia to bringprovisions purchased for the Colony, and which arrived at PortJackson on the 17th of December, 1790, was cleared, and was readyfor sea by the 5th of February. The provisions brought in herconsisted of one hundred and seventy-one barrels of beef, onehundred and seventy-two barrels of pork, thirty-nine barrels offlour, one thousand pounds of sugar, and seventy thousand poundsof rice: five pounds in the hundred were to be allowed as loss onthe rice; and after that deduction, there was a deficiency offorty-two thousand nine hundred pounds; for which, the master ofthe vessel would only allow the commissary at the rate of onehalfpenny a pound; or, if paid in butter, at the rate of onepound of butter for eighteen pounds of rice: he had rice andflour on board, which he called his own property; and as he was aforeigner, and particularly circumstanced, the commissary wasordered to accept the butter in lieu of the deficiency ofrice. 

This vessel was hired by the officer, who commanded the Supplyarmed tender, and who was obliged to accept her at three hundredand fifty tons measurement, though she did not measure threehundred tons: the freight for bringing the provisions was fixedat twenty-eight thousand rix-dollars; bills for which had beengiven at Batavia. The master on his arrival, said, that afterleaving Port Jackson, he should proceed to New Guinea in searchof spices, which that island was supposed to produce; he was alsoto stop at Timur and several other settlements before he returnedto Batavia: at the same time, he offered the vessel for sale, orto lett her on freight; but as he conjectured that the colonywanted such a vessel, his demands were exorbitant. He firstvalued her at sixty thousand rix-dollars, and before he was readyto sail, he offered her for two and thirty thousand rix-dollars. If she was hired, he talked of eleven pounds sterling per month;but no attention being paid to any of these demands, he came downto forty shillings sterling a ton per month, if let on freight tocarry the officers and seamen who had belonged to the Sirius toEngland; that freight to be paid until the vessel should returnto Batavia. He was now ready to sail, and finding no attentionwould be paid to any such proposals, he offered to sell thevessel for thirty thousand rix-dollars, or to go to England onfreight at forty shillings per ton; the vessel to be continued inpay for two months after her arrival at Portsmouth or Plymouth;or to have twenty thousand rix-dollars for the voyage. 

A considerable time had passed since Governor Phillip hadreason to expect the arrival of some ships from England, and hewished to secure a vessel for sending home the officers and menwho had belonged to the Sirius, or to send for a farther supplyof provisions, should no ships arrive before the month of March:the Dutch vessel was, therefore, hired at twenty shillings perton. 

Two native youths who had frequently left Governor Phillip'shouse, in order to have their front teeth drawn, had now beenabsent several days for that purpose. They were seen in a baydown the harbour on the 8th of February, where a considerablenumber of the natives were assembled, it was supposed not lessthan a hundred, including women and children. Most of the menwere painted, and it should seem that they were assembled for thepurpose of drawing the front teeth from several men and boys. Soon afterwards, the two youths returned to the governor's; theyhad their heads bound round with rushes, which were split, andthe white side was put outwards: several pieces of reed werestuck through this fillet and came over the forehead; their armswere likewise bound round and ornamented in the same manner, andeach had a black streak on his breast, which was broad at oneend, and terminated in a point. They had lost their front teeth, and considering their manner of drawing teeth in this country, itwas not surprising to see that one of them had lost a piece ofhis jaw-bone, which was driven out with the tooth. 

Both these boys appeared to be in pain, but they would not ownit, and seemed to value themselves on having undergone theoperation; though why it is performed, or why the females lose apart of the little finger, could not as yet be learnt. 

The weather was very close and sultry, and the natives havingfired the country for several miles round, the wind, which blewstrong on the 12th, was heated to a very extraordinary degree, particularly at Rose-Hill, where the country was on fire forseveral miles to the northward and southward. 

Great numbers of parroquets were picked up under the trees, and the bats, which had been seen frequently flying aboutRose-Hill soon after the evening closed in, and were supposed togo to the southward every night, and return to the northwardbefore the day broke, now appeared in immense numbers: thousandsof them were hanging on the branches of the trees, and manydropped down, unable to bear the burning winds. 

The head of this bat strongly resembles that of a fox, and thewings of many of them extend three feet ten inches: GovernorPhillip saw one which measured upwards of four feet from the tipof each wing. Some were taken alive, and would eat boiled rice, or other food readily out of the hand, and in a few days were asdomestic as if they had been bred in the house: the governor hadone, a female, that would hang by one leg a whole day withoutchanging its position; and in that pendant situation, with itsbreast neatly covered with one of its wings, it ate whatever wasoffered it, lapping out of the hand like a cat. Their smell isstronger than that of a fox; they are very fat, and are reckonedby the natives excellent food. From the numbers which fell intothe brook at Rose-Hill, the water was tainted for several days, and it was supposed that more than twenty thousand of them wereseen within the space of one mile. 

The dry weather still continued, and many runs of water whichwere considerable at this season the last year, were now driedup; but the brook at Rose-Hill, though greatly reduced, was stilla run of water that would supply more inhabitants than thatsettlement is likely to contain for many years; and in all theponds there was plenty of good water; nor had the dry weatheraffected a spring that rises on the side of a hill, the water ofwhich is better than what the brook affords. At Sydney, the runof water was now very small, but was sufficient for all culinarypurposes; and should it hereafter be found necessary, wells mayeasily be made: a well at Governor Phillip's house was verylittle affected by the drought. 

The natives continued to visit Sydney after Bannelong stolethe hatchet, and behaved in a manner that gave every one reasonto think he never would return; this, however, was not the case;for, after having frequently visited the fishing-boats, and mademany enquiries to know if Governor Phillip was angry, and wouldshoot him, he ventured to go to the hospital, and seemed verydesirous of knowing if he might come to the governor's house; atthe same time, he named a man who, he said, had stolen thehatchet, and denied having ever used any threats: however, notbeing satisfied with the answers which were given to him, he wentaway. 

But some days afterwards he came to the governor's, who, happening to be in the yard when he came to the gate, ordered himaway. He was seen soon afterwards, and as he appeared verydesirous of being received again, and disclaimed any knowledge ofthe hatchet, or any intention of revenging the death of thenative who had been shot, Governor Phillip appeared to believehim, and he was permitted to come into the yard, which was alwaysopen to the natives, and some bread and fish were given him; buthe was no longer permitted to enter the house; this was puttinghim on a level with the other natives, and he appeared to feelhis degradation; but it did not prevent him from repeating hisvisits very frequently. 

-By-gone_, who has been mentioned as the daring fellowwho lived with Bannelong, and was in campany with the man who hadbeen shot, ventured to come to Rose-Hill; and as Governor Phillipwished for a friendly intercourse to be kept up with the natives, he was well received, and no notice was taken of past offences, so that he soon became perfectly at his ease. 

A second store-house of brick was now tiled in, and though thecrops in the ground had suffered from the very dry weather forthe last eight months, it had been favourable for the buildings. The barrack at Rose-Hill was nearly ready to receive the men, andone wing of the officers barracks was ready for tiling. 

The Supply returned from Norfolk Island on the 26th ofFebruary, with the officers and seamen who had remained thereafter the loss of the Sirius; and the Dutch vessel being hired tocarry them to England, she began to prepare for the voyage. 

In the night of the 27th, they had very heavy rain, which washighly acceptable. On the 28th, it blew very fresh, and a fishingboat, in working up the harbour, filled; fortunately, she was anEnglish cutter, and did not sink. A young woman, a little girl, and two children, (all natives) were in the boat when theaccident happened: the young woman had the two children on hershoulders in a moment, and swam on shore with them; the girl alsoswam on shore, as did such of the boat's crew that could swim. Several of the natives seeing this accident as the boat drovetowards the rocks, gave them every possible assistance, withoutwhich, in all probability, one of the crew would have beendrowned. After clearing the boat, they collected the oars andsuch articles as had been driven on shore in different places;and in these friendly offices, Bannelong was very assiduous: thisbehaviour gave Governor Phillip an opportunity of receiving himin a more kindly manner than he had done since his badbehaviour. 

Though our colonists had never been able to learn the reasonfor the females losing two joints of the little finger, they nowhad an opportunity of seeing in what manner that operation isperformed. Colebe's wife brought her child to Governor Phillip'shouse a few days after it was born, and as it was a female, boththe father and mother had been repeatedly told, that if thefinger was to be cut off, the governor wished to see theoperation. The child was now two months old, and a ligature wasapplied round the little finger at the second joint; but two orthree days afterwards, when she brought the child again, theligature was either broke, or had been taken off: this beingmentioned to the mother, she took several hairs from the head ofan officer who was present, and bound them very tight round thechild's finger. After some time, a gangrene took place; andthough the child appeared uneasy when the finger was touched, itdid not cry, nor was any attention paid to it after the ligaturewas applied. 

It has already been observed, that this operation always tookplace on the left hand of the females; but this child was anexception, for it was the little finger on the right hand onwhich the ligature was applied: this bandage was continued untilthe finger was ready to drop off, when its parents carried it tothe surgeon, who, at their request, separated it with aknife. 

Making love in this country is always prefaced by a beating, which the female seems to receive as a matter of course. Thenative girl, who still resided occasionally at the clergyman's, had been absent two days, when she returned with a bad wound onthe head, and some severe bruises on her shoulder; the girl whoselife Governor Phillip had saved, returned with her; she also hada wound on her head, and one of her arms was much bruised by ablow with a club: the story they told was, that two men whofrequently visited the settlement, wanted to sleep with them, andon their refusing, had, as usual on such occasions, beat themmost unmercifully. 

Bannelong, after an absence of several days, returned to thesettlement; and the services he had rendered the boat's crew whenthey were in danger of being lost, being considered as anatonement for his past offences, he was admitted into GovernorPhillip's house; in consequence of this reconciliation, thenumber of visitors greatly increased, the governor's yard beingtheir head quarters. 

Chapter XXI

TRANSACTIONS AT PORT JACKSON

April 1791 to May 1791

An excursion into the country. --Occurrences on the journey. --Surprisingdexterity of the natives in climbing trees. --Their superstition. --Theirmethod of curing wounds. --Their language. --Their manners and disposition. 

On the 11th of April, 1791, Governor Phillip left Rose-Hillwith a party, intending to reach Hawkesbury-River, oppositeRichmond-Hill; and, if possible, to cross the river and get tothe mountains. Besides the governor, the party consisted of aservant, and three convicts, who were good marksmen, eightsoldiers, two serjeants, one captain, Lieutenant Tench, andLieutenant Dawes; they took seven days provisions with them. 

As a few hours heavy rain would raise the waters at the headof the Hawkesbury, and render their return very difficult, if notimpracticable, the party were made so considerable, that theymight divide if it was possible to cross the river, which thegovernor meant to do with only half a dozen persons; leaving theremainder to prepare a raft of light wood, if any could be found, or to assist their return, with lines carried for thatpurpose. 

It was near eleven o'clock when the party set off, and, aftercrossing Rose-Hill creek, they went to the northward, as GovernorPhillip wished to see if, after so long a drought, there was anywater in a ravine near to which he intended to place a settler, the ground being good, lying well for cultivation, and havingplenty of water where the farm-house was intended to be fixed. This track of good ground runs to the eastward, and was separatedfrom the cultivated land on the north side of Rose-Hill creek bya small patch of brush-wood, and a narrow slip of poor sandysoil. 

Water being found in the bottom of the ravines, our partyshaped their course so as to cross a part of the country, withwhich they were unacquainted, going north-west by the compass, and counting their paces. Colebe, and Ballederry, the young manwho has been mentioned as living chiefly at Governor Phillip'shouse, were desirous of joining this party; and, as muchinformation was expected from them, they were encouraged to go, and they carried their own provisions. 

After passing several deep ravines, and going round the headsof others, over a barren country for an hour, the land grewbetter, and was tolerable, till one o'clock, when it again grewbad and rocky. The natives informed them that this part of thecountry was inhabited by the _Bidjigals_, but that most ofthe tribe were dead of the small-pox. Though the country theypassed over in their morning's walk was chiefly poor stonyground, it was covered with timber, and was pleasing to the eye. At half past one o'clock, the party came to a low piece of groundwhere they found water, and which, in any future excursion, wouldbe a good sleeping place. The country continued a dry, arid soil, and the surface was mostly covered with loose stones, till fortyminutes past three o'clock, when they came to some pools of goodwater, which were very acceptable, as one of the party was takenill. Here they made fires and laid down for the night. In thecourse of the day, they had seen numbers of Pattagorong, andBaggaray; in one herd, it was supposed there could not be lessthan forty. 

Soon after the fires were lighted, the voice of a native washeard in the woods, hunting his dog; and, as Colebe andBallederry were very desirous of having an interview with him, though they said the tribe of _Bu-ru-be-ron-gal_, who werebad men and their enemies, resided near the spot, they frequentlyhallooed, and were answered by the stranger; and, as the voicedrew nearer, they desired our party would all lie down and keepsilence. A light was now seen in the woods, and our nativesadvancing towards it, a pretty long conversation ensued betweenthem and the stranger, who approached them with great precaution:a little boy who was with him carried the fire, which was a pieceof the bark of the tea-tree. This boy being sent forward first, joined Colebe and Ballederry, who, having told the stranger theirnames, the tribe to which they belonged, and received the likeinformation from him, they joined, and the stranger was now toldthe names of the party who remained at the fire; at the sametime, some of them were desired to speak. 

At Governor Phillip's approach, the boy ran away, and the mandid not appear perfectly at his ease when he saw four or fivepersons near him, though none of them were armed. They were allintroduced to the stranger by name, and he was pressed to come totheir fire, which was forty or fifty yards distant; but this hedeclined, saying he would go and fetch his family, and wouldreturn in the morning. Colebe and Ballederry told this man thattheir party were going to the river, which he pointed out aslying in the direction they had taken. 

When these natives first endeavoured to make themselves heardby the stranger, they had advanced some little distance from therest, but as he approached them they retreated, and wanted theserjeant, in whom they always placed great confidence, to takehis gun, and go with them, which was not permitted: this showedthat they, as well as the other native, thought there was somedanger in the meeting; and the caution with which the strangerapproached them was very great; by sending the boy before himwith the fire, he could see if those he was going to join werearmed or not, whilst the trees kept him from their view. This manhad a stone hatchet, a spear, and a throwing-stick, which one ofour natives was very desirous of his leaving; probably as apledge for his returning in the morning, but this he refused: hewas a young man, of the tribe of Bu-ru-be-ron-gal, and named-Bur-ro-wai_; his hair was ornamented with the tails ofseveral small animals, and he had preserved all his teeth. OnColebe being asked how this man lived, he said that he had nocanoe, but lived by the chace. 

The next morning, (the 12th of April, ) our party set off athalf past six o'clock, keeping their course north-west, through apoor country, though covered with timber, till three quarterspast eight, when they saw the river, which, in this situation, isabout 300 feet wide: the banks are high, and the soil a lightsand, but producing fine strait timber: this sand, which in someplaces does not appear to have any mixture of mould, extendsseveral hundred yards from the river. The party were now eighteenmiles and an half from Rose-Hill, which bore from them north28° west. 

The current in the river was running down, and they set off athalf past ten o'clock, to follow its windings, as it ran to theeastward. The person who was charged with counting his paces, andsetting the objects to which they directed their march, hadhitherto gone first; but the long sedge, the dead branches whichhad fallen from the trees, the nettles, and a weed resembling ivywhich entangled the feet, made walking on, or near the banks ofthe river very fatiguing; he was therefore directed to follow theparty, and to take the bearings of those who went before him fromtime to time, still counting his paces, that they might alwaysknow their situation in the woods, and the direction it would benecessary to take when they returned across the country. 

They proceeded in an Indian file, the person who went first, always falling into the rear whenever he found himselffatigued. 

Several good situations were seen on the opposite side of theriver as our party went along, and the ground appeared to begood: they also passed some good spots on their side of theriver, and saw several places where the natives had slept on itsbanks. Ducks were seen in great numbers, but the party seldom gota shot. 

In the afternoon, a creek obliged them to leave the banks ofthe river, and go round its head, as it was too deep to cross:having rounded the head of this creek, they found themselves onthe borders of a river not more than eighty feet wide; the bankswere low, and covered with a thick brush, which did not makewalking less laborious to those who went first. Their view wasnow very contracted, the ground rising on the right so as toconfine the prospect to fifty or one hundred yards; and what theycould see was mostly a poor stony soil. In the afternoon, theyfell in with one of the native's hunting-huts, which Colebe andBallederry would have cut to pieces, had not Governor Phillipprevented them; they said it belonged to their enemies, and theywere much displeased at not being permitted to destroy it. 

The natives were known to eat a grub which is found in thesmall gum-tree, and when our party came to the creek alreadymentioned, a native fled on their approach, leaving his fire, andsome decayed wood he had drawn out of the creek, for the purposeof procuring a large worm which is found in it, and which theyeat. The smell of this wood is so strong, that few Europeans areable to bear it for any length of time; indeed, it cannot bedistinguished from the foulest privy. 

At four o'clock the party halted and made fires for the night, being all pretty well tired. Just before they stopped for thenight, several natives were heard, and Colebe and Ballederrywanted to join them, but they went away in their canoes. 

In the morning of the 13th, the party set off again, stillfollowing the creek, which was now little larger than a goodditch, and went through a very barren rocky country, until noon, when, being at the head of the creek they crossed it, and, afterresting some time, they endeavoured to go to the north-west, inorder to fall in with the river which they had lost by goinground the creek in the afternoon of the preceding day; but theywere soon stopped by a deep ravine; and the surgeon going to arising ground on the left, saw the country open to the westward, and thought he could distinguish Richmond-Hill; this led them allto the spot, and, from the break in the mountain, and thetrending of the land, Governor Phillip imagined it to beRichmond-Hill, which they saw, being the southern extremity of arange of hills. It bore west by south, and appeared to be fromeleven to thirteen miles distant, as near as could bedetermined. 

The place from whence our party had this prospect, was called-Tench's Prospect-Hill_, that officer being of the party, and having from thence seen Richmond-Hill for the first time. 

The spot where they had made the river on the 12th, beinglittle more than four miles distant, it was thought best toreturn there, and from thence to trace the river to the westwardtill they got opposite to Richmond-Hill. The Governor was wellaware of the difficulties they would have to encounter on thebanks of a river where walking was laborious, and every littlecreek they met with would oblige them to follow it up the countrytill they could cross it; but in a country like this, you maytravel many miles through the woods and not get sight of veryhigh land, though it may not be half a mile from you. 

Our party set off, in order to get back to sleep near the headof the creek, which they had crossed at noon, and which they soonattained: it was flood-tide when they got there, and they foundthe tide to rise about eighteen inches, making high water at nineo'clock: this was on the night of the 13th. After crossing thecreek at half past seven o'clock the next morning, they shaped acourse that was likely to carry them to the river, without beingembarrassed with the bad walking on its banks, or the windings ofthe creek, until they got near the spot, from whence theyproposed taking a fresh departure. 

After crossing the creek, and some very rocky ground, they hadgood walking over a country, full of timber and pleasing to theeye; but the ground was poor, and the surface mostly covered withstones. Here some ants nests were seen, composed of an amazingnumber of small stones, which formed a circle of five or six feetdiameter, rising regularly in the center to the height of twentyor thirty inches. An hour and a half s walking brought them to aswamp, where they stopped to fire at some ducks, and thencrossing it, they continued their course nearly west 8° northtill eleven o'clock, when they came to a pool of good water. Thecountry was now sandy, and presently afterwards, they arrived onthe borders of the river, and soon got to the place where theyfirst stopped in the morning of the 12th. 

Several canoes being seen, our two natives were very desirousof speaking to the persons in them, and the party were alldesired to hide themselves in the grass until the canoes shouldcome abreast of them; Colebe and Ballederry also concealedthemselves, but the canoes stopping on the opposite shore beforethey came near, one of our natives was told to call to them, which he did, and was soon answered by an old man, who, after ashort conversation, came over in his canoe, being known toColebe. 

This man joined the party without the least fear; and from thequestions that were put to him respecting the river, Colebe andBallederry concluded they had come this journey in order toprocure stone hatchets, as the natives get the stones whereofthey make their hatchets from that part of the river nearRichmond-Hill, which the old man said was a great way off, andthe road to it was very bad. 

Colebe and Ballederry had at first supposed, that GovernorPhillip and his party came from the settlement to kill ducks andpatagorongs; but finding they did not stop at the places wherethose animals were seen in any numbers, they were at a loss toknow why the journey was taken; and though they had hithertobehaved exceedingly well, yet, as they now began to be tired of ajourney, which yielded them no sort of advantage, theyendeavoured to persuade the governor to return, saying, it was agreat way to the place where the stone hatchets were to beprocured, and that they must come in a boat. 

On the party leaving this place, the old native returned tohis canoe, but he joined them soon afterwards, and gave GovernorPhillip two stone hatchets, two spears, and a throwing-stick:this present was made in consequence of our two natives tellinghim who all the party were. In return for the old man's present, he had some bread, some fish-hooks, and a couple of smallhatchets given him. The spears were well made; one of them had asingle barb of wood fixed on with gum, the other had two largebarbs cut out of the solid wood, and it was as finely brought toa point as if it had been made with the sharpest instrument. Thethrowing-stick had a piece of hard stone fixed in gum instead ofthe shell which is commonly used by the natives who live on thesea coast: it is with these stones, which they bring to a verysharp edge, that the natives make their spears. 

The old native followed our party in his canoe as they keptalong the banks of the river, and another canoe, with a woman andchild, joined him: the old man observing that they did not keepnear enough the water's edge to have the least fatigue inwalking, came out of his canoe and took the lead, and he soonbrought them to a path made by the natives, where it was verygood walking, and which ran alongside the river. It was near fouro'clock when they stopped for the night, and were joined by ayoung man and a lively little boy, who they soon found intended, as well as the old man, to take up their residence with them, though their families were on the opposite bank, and they had twofires lighted. 

Though our natives appeared to be on very friendly terms withtheir new acquaintances, yet they certainly had no particularaffection for them, and spoke of them very lightly when they wereout of hearing; particularly Ballederry, who said the youngestman of the two was bad: his name was _Yal-lah-mien-di_; theysupposed him to be the old man's son, and the child to be hisgrandson. The old man called himself _Go-me-bee-re_, andsaid the child's name was _Jim-bah_; they were of the tribeof _Bu-ru-be-rong-al_. 

Colebe and Ballederry, in describing that tribe on the secondday's journey, had called them _climbers of trees_, and menwho lived by hunting; certainly, no persons can better deservethe appellation of climbers, if we may judge from what was seenof Go-me-bee-re, who, for a biscuit, in a very few minutes cuthis notches in the bark of a tree and mounted it with surprisingagility, though an old man. These notches are cut in the barklittle more than an inch deep, which receives the ball of thegreat toe; the first and second notches are cut from the ground;the rest they cut as they ascend, and at such a distance fromeach other, that when both their feet are in the notches, theright foot is raised nearly as high as the middle of the leftthigh: when they are going to raise themselves a step, theirhatchet is held in the mouth, in order to have the use of boththeir hands; and, when cutting the notch, the weight of the bodyrests on the ball of the great toe: the fingers of the left handare also fixed in a notch cut on the side of the tree for thatpurpose, if it is too large to admit their clasping itsufficiently with the left arm to keep the body close to thetree. 

In this manner do these people climb trees, whosecircumference is ten or fifteen feet, or upwards, after anopossum or a squirrel, though they rise to the height of sixty oreighty feet before there is a single branch. 

Governor Phillip had occasionally seen a few of the nativesclimb the trees at Sydney and Rose-Hill, but this old man greatlysurpassed them. In the evening, the four natives and the childtook their places at the fire, and a scene ensued which showsthat these people are not a little superstitious. 

Colebe had been wounded below the left breast with a fiz-gig, and though it must have been done many years back, or the woundmust have been slight, as it was difficult to discover any scar, yet it was supposed he felt some pain, though it probably mightbe occasioned by the straps of his knapsack; however, theyoungest of the two strangers was applied to for relief. 

He began the ceremony by taking a mouthful of water, which hesquirted on the part affected, and then applying his mouth, hebegan to suck as long as he could without taking breath; thisseemed to make him sick, and when he rose up, (for his patientwas sitting on the ground) he walked about for a few minutes, andthen began to suck again, till it was again necessary for him totake breath: this was repeated three times, and he seemed, bydrawing in his stomach, to feel the pain he had drawn from thebreast of his patient; and having picked up a bit of stick orstone, which he did with so little caution that several of theparty saw him, he pretended to take something out of his mouthand throw it into the river. He certainly did throw somethingaway, which must be what he picked up; but Colebe, after theceremony was over, said it was what he had sucked from hisbreast, which some understood to be two barbs of a fiz-gig, as hemade use of the word _Bul-ler-doo-ul_; but Governor Phillipwas of opinion he meant two pains. 

Before this business was finished, the doctor felt hispatient's back below the shoulder, and seemed to apply hisfingers as if he twitched something out; after which, he sat downby the patient, and put his right arm round his back; the oldman, at the same time, sat down on the other side the patient, with his face the contrary way, and clasped him round the breastwith his right arm; each of them had hold of one of the patient'shands, in which situation they remained a few minutes. 

Thus ended the ceremony, and Colebe said he was well. He gavehis worsted night cap and the best part of his supper to thedoctor as a fee; and being asked, if both the men were doctors, he said, yes, and the child was a doctor also, so that it may bepresumed the power of healing wounds descends from father toson. 

This affair being finished, most of the party fell asleep, whilst the two doctors were amused by Colebe and Ballederry, withan account of the buildings at Sydney and Rose-Hill, and in whatmanner the colonists lived: in this history, names were asparticularly attended to as if their hearers had been intimatelyacquainted with every person who was mentioned. 

Though the tribe of Buruberongal, to which these men belonged, live chiefly by hunting, the women are employed in fishing, andour party were told, that they caught large mullet in the river. Neither of these men had lost their front tooth, and the namesthey gave to several parts of the body were such as the nativesabout Sydney had never been heard to make use of. Ga-dia (thepenis), they called _Cud-da_; Go-rey (the ear), they called-Ben-ne_; in the word _mi_ (the eye), they pronouncedthe letter _I_ as an _E_; and in many other instancestheir pronunciation varied, so that there is good reason tobelieve several different languages are spoken by the natives ofthis country, and this accounts for only one or two of thosewords given in Captain Cook's vocabulary having ever been heardamongst the natives who visited the settlement. 

Having taken leave of their new friends the-Car-ra-dy-gans_ (doctors), our party set off at a quarterpast seven o'clock in the morning of the 15th of April, andfollowed the natives path along the banks of the river, walkingat a good pace till a quarter past eight o'clock, when they cameto a creek which was too wide to be crossed by cutting down atree, and was too deep to be forded; they were, therefore, obliged to follow its windings till they supposed themselves atthe head of it, and then they endeavoured to regain the banks ofthe river; but they presently found that they had only rounded asmall arm of this creek, the principal branch of which theycontinued to trace with infinite fatigue for the remainder of theday. 

It was high water in this creek at forty minutes past twelveo'clock, and at half past three, they found it divide into twobranches, either of which might have been crossed on a tree; butby this time the party were tired, and threatened with heavyrain, which would make their night very uncomfortable, as theyhad no tent; they therefore took up their residence at a spotwhere a quantity of timber, from trees, which had already beenburnt down by the natives, promised them good fires with littlelabour. 

The rain went off after a few light showers, but our twonatives now began to grow quite impatient to return home. Colebetalked about his wife, and said his child would cry; andBallederry lost all patience when the rain began, telling thegovernor, that there were good houses at Sydney and Rose-Hill, but that they had no house now, no fish, no melon (of which fruitall the natives are very fond); and there is no doubt but theywould have left the party, had they been acquainted with thecountry through which they had to return. It was most likely thatthe greatest part of the next day would be spent in getting tothat part of the river which the creek had obliged them to quit, so that two days would be taken up in getting to the oppositeside of a creek, not one hundred feet wide; it was, therefore, determined to return to Rose-Hill, which bore from the sleepingplace south-east, sixteen miles distant. 

The river which Governor Phillip had named the Nepean in aformer excursion, was then traced for some miles, and he expectedto have fallen in with it this journey, and to have traced itdown to where it empties itself into the Hawkesbury, which it issupposed to do above Richmond-Hill: indeed, during the first dayof this excursion, he supposed it possible that the river theywere then tracing might be the Nepean, but what they saw of itafterwards, left no doubt but that they had fallen in with theHawkesbury some miles below Richmond-Hill. 

In the morning of the 16th of April, at half past seveno'clock, Governor Phillip and his party set off on their returnto Rose-Hill; and, as soon as they were clear of the creek, theywent south 40° east, which, they supposed, would carry theminto the path leading from Rose-Hill to Prospect-Hill. --The faceof the country where they slept, and for several miles in theirroad, was a poor soil, but finely formed, and covered with thestately white gum-tree. At noon, they came to a hollow, in whichthey found some very good water; here they stopped near an hour:after passing this gully, and a rocky piece of ground, the soilgrew better, and they soon came to a brook of good water, whichthey had occasion to cross twice; the soil was good, and coveredwith long grass: they were now drawing near to Rose-Hill, wherethey arrived a little before four o'clock. 

The dry weather still continued, and though they had a fewshowers, the quantity of rain which fell in the month of April, was not sufficient to bring the dry ground into proper order forsowing the grain; a few acres, however, of what was in the bestcondition, were sown with wheat the last week in the month. Thislong continuance of dry weather, not only hurt their crops ofcorn very much, but the gardens likewise suffered greatly; manybeing sown a second and a third time, as the seed nevervegetated, from the want of moisture in the soil; this was adouble misfortune, for vegetables were not only growing scarce, but seed also. 

The expected supply of provisions not arriving, GovernorPhillip was obliged to reduce the ratio of daily subsistence; butthis reduction did not extend to the women and children. 

After saying that there were many of the convicts, who, if notattended to, ate their week's allowance of provisions in two orthree days; it will be obvious that the labour hitherto drawnfrom that class of people, must be greatly lessened by thenecessity the Governor was under of reducing even that allowance;indeed, it was felt by every individual, for the daily ratio ofprovisions issued from the public stores, was the same to theconvict as it was to the governor. 

Two seamen, who had belonged to the Sirius, became settlers, and were fixed on the creek leading to Rose-Hill, where they hadsixty acres of ground each allotted them, and they were to bevictualled from the public store for eighteen months. A personwho was sent from England to superintend the labour of theconvicts, also became a settler, and one hundred and forty acresof land were allotted him on the creek: he was allowed the labourof four convicts for a year, and himself and his daughter were tobe victualled from the public store for twelve months. 

Several convicts, whose terms for which they were sentencedwere expired, were permitted to cultivate ground at the foot ofProspect-Hill, and to those who became settlers, Governor Phillipgave what live stock he could spare, as there was not anybelonging to the public in the settlement; nor were individualspossessed of any considerable quantity of live stock, thegreatest part having been killed the last year, when they weredistressed for want of provisions; and those who were able tocultivate a little maize, were glad to make use of it as asubstitute for bread. 

Little more than twelve months back, hogs and poultry were ingreat abundance, and were increasing very rapidly; but, at thistime, a hen that laid eggs sold for twenty shillings; pork soldfor a shilling per pound, but there was seldom any to sell; aroasting-pig sold for ten shillings, and good tobacco for twentyshillings per pound: tobacco, the growth of this country, which, if properly cured, would probably equal the best Brazil tobacco, sold in its green state, for ten shillings per pound. 

Such was the state of the colony at this time. 

All the maize was now got in, and, notwithstanding theextraordinary drought for some time before, and long after it wasput into the ground, the crop was not a bad one, and the cobswere remarkably large where the ground had been wellprepared. 

In the beginning of May, the officers and men of the NewSouth-Wales corps went into the new barrack at Rose-Hill. Thebarrack for the soldiers had been finished some time, but one ofthe wings, which was intended for the officers, could not becompleated before the end of the month. 

Those natives who had been most accustomed to live at thesettlement, would now leave it frequently for several daystogether, as they found plenty of fish towards the head of theharbour. 

The savage ferocity of these people shows itself whenever theyfind themselves thwarted. Bannelong and Colebe with their wives, dined at the governor's on the 8th of May, and came in as usual, to have a glass of wine and a dish of coffee; after which theyleft the house to go and sleep at Bannelong's hut on the point;but, in the middle of the night, Governor Phillip was called upby the cries of the young girl whom he had formerly rescued fromBannelong: she, it seems, had gone to sleep in a shed at the backof the governor's house, and Bannelong, Colebe, and two othersgot over the paling, and were endeavouring to carry her off, which the centinels prevented; and, as Governor Phillip did notknow at the moment, but that Bannelong and those who were withhim, had returned to sleep in the yard after he went to bed, andbefore the gate was locked, they were permitted to escape; which, indeed, could only have been prevented by ordering them to be putto death. 

One of these men was seen the next day, and, being taxed withattempting to carry off the girl, he denied the charge; as thenatives always do when they are not caught in the fact. Bannelongand Colebe were not seen for a week, and the latter appearingfirst, when accused, said he was asleep at the time, and laid theblame on Bannelong, who coming soon after, and not being able tomake any excuse, or to deny being in the yard, appeared sullen;and when Governor Phillip told him that he was angry, and thatthe soldiers should shoot him if he ever came again to take anywoman away, he very cooly replied, that then he would spear thesoldier; at the same time, he said he was very hungry; and, as noadvantage would have followed punishing him, he was orderedsomething to eat, after the threat had been repeated of his beingshot, if ever he came again in the night. 

It was probable, that the displeasure of Governor Phillip withBannelong would have a better effect than any corporalpunishment, which might only lead him to revenge himself on someof those who frequently went into the woods unarmed; at the sametime, orders were given for the centinels to fire on any of thenatives who might be seen getting over the paling in the night, and the sleeping of the women in the yard when their husbandswere not with them was discouraged, The girl was asked if the natives were going to take her awayin order to beat her, --she said no, it was to force her to sleepwith them; at the same time these men had left their own wives attheir fires. 

The Supply had now so far exceeded the time in which shegenerally made the voyage to and from Norfolk-Island, that fearswere entertained for her safety, but they were removed by herarrival on the 30th of May. As she was the only vessel in thiscountry, it was not without great concern that Governor Phillipfound the necessary repairs she wanted would require more timethan he could have wished her to remain in the harbour. 

Chapter XXII

TRANSACTIONS AT PORT JACKSON

June 1791 to September 1791

-A second excursion into the country. --The firstgrants of land to settlers. --A barter with the nativesestablished. --The arrival of several vessels from England. --A newharbour discovered. --The names of the firstsettlers. -

The weather continuing dry, two officers (Tench and Dawes, )who were with Governor Phillip on his last excursion, and twosoldiers, set off in the beginning of June, 1791, to trace theHawkesbury, from the place where the former party were turned offby the creek. They got opposite Richmond-Hill on the 5th dayafter their departure, and were assisted in crossing the river bya native, who lent his canoe to one of the soldiers that couldnot swim; but they afterwards found the river so very shallownear the fall, that the water did not reach above the ancles. Ithas already been observed, that when the floods come down fromthe mountains, the flat country near the head of the Hawkesburyis, in many places, under water, and the river, in that part, rises to a great height. 

It now appeared that the Nepean does, as was supposed, emptyitself into the Hawkesbury; and, in Governor Phillip's opinion, the fall and the sudden contraction of that noble river are verysufficient reasons for confining its name from where it emptiesitself into Broken-Bay up to the fall; and for continuing thename given to the river (Nepean) which was discovered in goingwestward from Prospect-Hill. 

The buildings at Rose-Hill being carried on so far as to formhereafter a regular town between Rose-Hill and the landing-placein the creek, Governor Phillip named it _Parramatta_; thename given by the natives to the spot on which the town wasbuilding. Grants of land were now given to those who becamesettlers; and those who had been permitted to clear ground intheir leisure hours, and on one day of the week which was allowedthem for that purpose, went on very well. 

The grants which had already been made, were, to James Ruse, thirty acres, which is called in the grant _ExperimentFarm-: to Philip Schaffer, who came from England as asuperintendant, one hundred and forty acres; called in the grant, the _Vineyard-: to Robert Webb and William Reid, who wereseamen, lately belonging to the Sirius, sixty acres each, andwhich were called in the grants, _Webb_ and _Reid'sFarms_. 

On the 4th of June, the anniversary of his Majesty's birth-daywas celebrated, and, on this occasion, an addition was made tothe daily ratio of provisions; a pound of pork and a pound ofrice were given to each man, half that quantity to every woman, and a quarter of a pound of pork, with half a pound of rice toevery child. 

Some refreshing showers of rain had lately fallen, but notsufficient to bring up the wheat that was sown in April and thebeginning of May; however, some came up well where the ground, lying low, had a little moisture in it. 

The Supply's main-mast being got out was found very rotten, and that vessel wanted repairs which they found difficult to giveher. 

A soldier of the New South Wales corps, going from Parramattawith some of his comrades for the purpose of procuring sweet tea, left them to go after a pattegorong, and lost himself in thewoods: after roving about for some time, he saw a number of thenatives, who fled on seeing his gun, except one that hadfrequently visited the settlement, and was known by the name of-Botany-Bay Colebe_. This man joined the soldier, and wasfollowed by one of his companions; the soldier, to gain theirgood-will, and in hopes of inducing them to show him the way toParramatta, offered them some of his cloaths, which were notaccepted; he made them understand where he wanted to go, but theywere on the point of leaving him till he offered his gun, whichthe native, who was known at the settlement, took, and thenconducted him to Sydney; making him understand that Parramattawas a great way off. 

When they drew near to Sydney, Colebe returned the soldier hisgun, and, bidding him tell _Beanah_, (the governor) that hewas _Botany-Bay Colebe_, he left him, without even takingwhat the soldier had first offered him as a present. 

As the natives frequently caught more fish than was necessaryfor their own immediate use, and such of them as had livedamongst the colonists, were very fond of bread, rice, andvegetables; some pains had been taken to make them carry thesurplus of what fish they caught near the head of the harbour, toParramatta, and exchange it for bread, etc. Several of themhad carried on this traffic lately, and Governor Phillip hadreason to hope that a pretty good fish-market would beestablished the ensuing summer. Amongst those who thus barteredtheir fish, was a young man that had lived some months with thegovernor, but had left him from time to time in order to go afishing: his canoe was a new one, and the first he had ever beenmaster of, so that it may be supposed he set no small value onit. 

Strict orders had been given, that the natives' canoes shouldnever be touched, and the interest which both the soldiers andthe convict had in inducing them to bring their fish, which theyexchanged for a very small quantity of bread or rice, would, itmight have been supposed, have secured them from insult; but thisbarter had not been carried on many days, when the young man justmentioned, came to Governor Phillip's hut at Parramatta in aviolent rage, said the white men had broke his canoe, and hewould kill them: he had his throwing-stick and several spears, and his hair, face, arms, and breast were painted red, which is asign of great anger: it was with some difficulty that he was madeto promise not to kill a white man; which he at length did, onthe governor's telling him, that he would kill those whodestroyed his canoe. A short time afterwards, the villains werediscovered and punished: they were convicts, and the young nativesaw the punishment inflicted, yet it was thought necessary totell him that one of the offenders had been hanged, with which heappeared to be satisfied; but, whilst these men were underexamination, his behaviour showed, that he thought it belonged tohim to punish the injury he had received; and three weeks afterthe loss of his canoe, when every one thought he was sufficientlyrepaid for his misfortune by several little articles, whichGovernor Phillip had given him, by his seeing the aggressorpunished, and by his supposing one of them had been put to death, he took his revenge; which confirmed the general opinion, thatthese people do not readily forgive an injury until they havepunished the aggressor. 

A convict, who strayed some distance from the settlement, wasmet by two young native men, a woman, and two children, whopassed by him, but immediately afterwards he was wounded in theback with a spear; several spears were thrown at him, and hereceived a second wound in the side; however, he got away; and asit did not appear that the natives followed him to get hiscloaths, or attempted to take any thing from him, there was nodoubt but the canoe being destroyed was the cause of this attack;especially as the same evening, when Governor Phillip wasreturning from Parramatta to Sydney, he saw some nativesassembled round a fire, and asking them who it was that woundedthe white man, he was immediately answered, _Ballederry_;(the owner of the canoe which had been destroyed) he was alsotold the name of the young man who was with him, and of the womenand children. 

Indeed, it is not a little extraordinary, that these peoplealways tell the names of those who have thrown a spear, or whohave stole any thing, if the question is asked them, though theyknow that you intend to punish the offenders; and it cannot befrom a principle of strictly adhering to truth; for, should oneof them be charged with doing any thing wrong, he is sure to denyit, and to lay the blame on another who is not present; and it isnot only surprising that they should always tell the name of theoffender, but that they do it openly; nay, often in the hearingof women and children. 

The destruction of this canoe was very unfortunate, as it waslikely to prevent the natives carrying up their fish to barter;and no canoe was seen in the creek for some time afterwards. Ballederry, the owner of the canoe, was one whom Governor Philliphad hopes of attaching to himself, and intended bringing him toEngland. 

Hawks and crows were now frequently seen in great numbers, though, at times, several months would pass without one of eitherspecies being seen. At Parramatta, after the wheat was sown, thecrows were very troublesome, and though frequently fired at, theydid great damage. 

On the 21st of June, they had rain, which continued till themorning of the 24th, and, at times, was very violent; indeed, more rain fell in three days than had done in many months past, so that the low grounds were thoroughly soaked. 

On the 9th of July, our colonists had the pleasure of seeingthe signal made for a sail, and the next day, the Mary Anntransport anchored in the cove, having on board one hundred andforty-one women, and six children, all very healthy, some fewexcepted, who had disorders which were contracted in England, andonly three persons died on the passage. 

This vessel had passed through the Downs on the 25th of thepreceding February, and stopped eight days at St. Jago. By thisship our colonists received some stores, and nine monthsprovisions for the women who came in her: they had also thesatisfaction of hearing that the Gorgon, whose arrival had beenexpected for twelve months back, was safe, and was to sail forthe colony a week after the Mary Ann. 

Two pounds of rice were now added to the weekly ratio ofprovisions, the stores not admitting a greater addition; forthough an ample supply of provisions might reasonably be expectedby the middle of the ensuing month, yet their situation did notadmit their trusting to the various accidents, which had hithertobeen so very unfavourable to the colony: however, they were nowconvinced, that from the plan proposed by government forfurnishing the settlement with provisions until it could supportitself, there was no reason to fear in future thoseinconveniences which they had already laboured under. 

In the night of the 16th of July, a serjeant, going therounds, found the door of the spirit cellar open, and thecentinel in the cellar, drawing off wine: this man, being orderedfor trial, offered himself as an evidence for the crown, andcharged two of his comrades with having frequently robbed thestore, of which there was not the least doubt: however, the onlyevidence against these men being that of an accomplice, it wasnot sufficient to convict them, and he saved his own life bybeing admitted as an evidence for the crown. He was afterwardstried by a batallion court-martial, (as being a marine, he couldnot be tried by a general court-martial) and sentenced to receivecorporal punishment, and to be drummed out of the corps. The menhe had accused were the two who had been charged with robbing thestore at Rose-Hill, by one of those marines who suffered deathfor robbing the store at Sydney in 1788, at which time, likewise, they escaped, the only evidence against them being an accompliceunder sentence of death. 

The rice which they received from Batavia was not of the bestkind, and was very full of dirt and wevil when landed; and thewevil had now increased to such a degree that a very considerablequantity of rice was destroyed: indeed, what remained had beenthought too bad to issue to the garrison, had the stores admitedof its being given to the hogs. Five pounds of this rice wereestimated as only equal to two pounds of flour, with respect tothe nourishment it afforded, and this estimation was deemedpretty just. 

It being the intention of government, that as the time forwhich the convicts were sentenced, expired, they should bepermitted to become settlers; those who chose to accept thisbounty were received as such, and lands were granted them in thefollowing proportion; viz. Thirty acres to the single men, fiftyacres to those who were married, and ten acres more for everychild. It had been proposed to victual and cloath them from thepublic store for twelve months, from the time they becamesettlers; but to encourage those who first offered themselves, Governor Phillip promised to cloath and support them for eighteenmonths from the public stores: they were to have the necessarytools and implements of husbandry, with seeds and grain to sowthe ground the first year; two young sow pigs were also to begiven to each settler, which was all the governor's stock wouldafford, and it has already been observed, that they had no livestock in the settlement belonging to the crown. On theseconditions, twenty-seven convicts were admitted settlers; twelveof them were fixed at the foot of Prospect-Hill, four miles fromParramatta, and fifteen, at some ponds, an eligible situationabout two miles to the northward of those settlers who wereplaced on the creek leading to Parramatta. 

In laying out the different allotments, an intermediate space, equal to what was granted the settler, was retained between everytwo allotments, for the benefit of the crown; and as this setthem at some distance from each other, and there being a woodbetween every two settlers, in which the natives might concealthemselves, if they were inclined to mischief, several musquetswere distributed amongst the settlers, and they took possessionof their allotments on the 18th of July, and began to erect theirhuts: however, very few days elapsed before a large body of thenatives appeared in the grounds of one of the new settlers atProspect-Hill, who, alarmed at the sight of a number of natives, (by his account more than a hundred) fired off his musquet andretreated; this, of course, encouraged them, and they advanced, and set fire to his hut, which was nearly finished. --On hearingthe report of a musquet, another settler took up his arms, andrunning to the spot, fired on the natives, who retired to somedistance. 

As soon as this affair was known at Parramatta, a party ofsoldiers were detached, who, getting sight of about fifty of thenatives, obliged them to disperse. 

This circumstance induced Governor Phillip to deviate from theroyal instructions, which pointed out in what manner theallotments of land were to be made; and as the only means ofenabling the settlers to defend themselves against similaraccidents, he granted all those intermediate lands which had beenreserved for the use of the crown, to the settlers: by thismeans, all the land would be cleared of timber, so that thenatives could find no shelter, and, in all probability, therewould be little danger from them in future: however, anoncommissioned officer and three privates were detached to eachsettlement, with orders to remain there until the lands werecleared. 

In making this arrangement, no additional ground was given tothe settler, but their allotments were brought more into asquare, and the ground not occupied at present, would be grantedto others in future. When these settlers were placed at such adistance from Parramatta, it was on account of the soil beinggood, and that their live stock and gardens might not be soliable to depredations as they would have been if nearer thetown. 

On the 1st of August, the Matilda transport anchored atSydney, with cloathing, provisions, and two hundred and five maleconvicts. She sailed from England on the 27th of the precedingMarch, in company with four others, and parted with them thefirst night. Although this ship had made so good a passage, sheburied twenty-four convicts; twenty were sick, and many were inso emaciated a state, that scarcely any labour could be expectedfrom them for some months. The Matilda had lost three days inendeavouring to get into St. Jago; she lay nine days at the Capeof Good Hope, and was two days at anchor on the Coast of NewSouth Wales, within an island in the latitude of 42° 15'south, where the master found very good anchorage and shelter forfive or six vessels. This island, by the master's account, liestwelve miles from the main. 

Off Cape Dromedary, he saw a small island, which boresouth-west by west, seven miles from the cape; within which, hewas of opinion, two or three ships would find good shelter. Anensign and twenty privates, of the corps raised for the serviceof this country, came out in the Matilda, and a serjeant died onthe passage. 

Governor Phillip intended to have sent the Matilda to NorfolkIsland, with the stores, provisions, and convicts she had broughtout, as soon as the sick were landed; but she being leaky, hercargo was put on board the Mary Ann, with one hundred andthirty-three male, and one female convict; and that vessel sailedon the 8th of August. A noncommissioned officer, and elevenprivates of the New South Wales corps, were sent for the securityof the ship, and they were to remain on the island. 

Ballederry, the young native who absented himself afterwounding a man, in revenge for some of the convicts havingdestroyed his canoe, had lately made several enquiries by hisfriends, whether Governor Phillip was still angry; and they werealways told in answer to those enquiries, that he was angry, andthat Ballederry should be killed for wounding a white man; yetthis did not deter him from coming into the cove in a canoe, andthe governor being informed of it, ordered a party of soldiers togo and secure him; but Bannelong, who was present at the time, seeing the soldiers go towards the point, gave him the alarm, andhe went off. 

Governor Phillip was in the garden at the time Bannelong wastalking to the young man who was in his canoe going out of thecove, and gave him to understand, that Ballederry should bekilled; on which, he immediately called to him, and said, thegovernor was still very angry: Ballederry, on hearing this, wentoff pretty briskly to the other side of the harbour, but, inanswer to the threats of punishment, spears were mentioned, though he was then at so great a distance that the governor couldnot distinguish whether it was himself or the soldiers which hethreatened: certain it is, that these people set little value ontheir lives, and never fail to repay you in kind, whether youpraise or threaten; and whenever a blow is given them, be itgentle or with force, they always return it in the samemanner. 

The Atlantic transport, Lieutenant Bowen, who was one of theagents to the transports, arrived on the 20th of August. Thisship sailed from Plymouth the 23d of March, in company with theSalamander and the William and Ann, but she parted with theformer vessel on the 5th of July, and with the latter on the12th. These vessels had been to Rio de Janeiro, where theyanchored the 28th of May, and sailed from thence on the 12th ofJune, 1791. 

The Atlantic's passage may be reckoned a very good one, particularly from Rio de Janeiro to the South Cape, which wasonly sixty-nine days. This vessel brought out a serjeant andseventeen privates, belonging to the New South Wales corps; alsoprovisions, stores, and two hundred and two male convicts. Onesoldier was lost in a gale of wind, and eighteen convicts died onthe passage: few of the convicts were sick when landed, but manyof them were very weak, and in a few days, forty were undermedical treatment. 

Lieutenant Bowen had stood into a bay on this coast, which hasbeen mentioned as promising a good harbour, and of which he gavethe following particulars. --"The latitude where he made hisobservation was 35° 12' south, the entrance from a mile to amile and a half wide; the southernmost point of which is anisland, almost connected with the main land; the north point ispretty high, and rises perpendicularly out of the sea. It is thesouthern extremity of a peninsula, that at first was taken for along low island: the entrance runs in west-north-west for about amile, and then turns suddenly round to the northward, forming avery capacious bason, three or four miles wide, and five or sixmiles in length. The soundings, as far as they could be examined, were very regular, with a bottom of slimy sand; the depth, for aconsiderable extent round the middle of the bay, is from thirteento fourteen fathoms. The west side, and the head of the bay, is awhite sandy beach; the eastern shore is bold and rocky. There isa small ledge or shoal in the middle of the entrance, bearingabout south from the second point on the north shore, on whichthere was conjectured to be twenty feet water*. "

[* It does not appear that there is any shoal in theentrance, as it has since been examined by the Master of theMatilda. ]

The Salamander arrived on the 21st; she brought out twelveprivates belonging to the New South Wales corps, and one hundredand fifty-four male convicts, with stores and provisions. Most ofthe convicts on board this ship were in a weak emaciated state;and they complained that they had not proper attention paid tothem, after parting company with the agent. The master of theSalamander was ordered to proceed to Norfolk-Island, with theconvicts, stores, and provisions he had brought out; butunfortunately it had not been foreseen that it might be expedientto send some of these ships to land their cargoes at that place, and it was therefore necessary to clear this vessel of thegreatest part of the stores, in order that they might be stowedin such a manner as to permit the landing of the cargo, where, there being no good anchorage, it must be done with the shipunder sail, and subject to blowing weather, where there was anecessity of keeping her always in proper trim for working. 

On the 23d of August a number of natives visited thesettlement, and six men, with seven or eight and twenty women andchildren came to Governor Phillip's house; amongst whom somebread was dividing, when he was informed that Ballederry was onthe opposite side of the cove, with a number of the natives, andthat he was armed, as were most of his companions. 

Whether his coming in, after what had passed, proceeded froman opinion that Governor Phillip would not punish him, or fromsupposing himself safe whilst surrounded by so many of hiscountrymen, it was thought necessary to order him to be seized, as soon as those who were then in the yard eating what had beengiven them should be gone; for, as Ballederry could not be takenwithout their hearing the dispute, it was probable they wouldsuppose themselves in danger, and make use of their spearsagainst those who were treating them with kindness; in which casesome of them must have suffered; indeed, this was the more likelyto happen, as several of these men and women were strangers, whohad now come to Sydney for the first time. 

This party were going to dance at Botany-Bay, and, havingfinished their meal, and received some fish-hooks, they set off;immediately after which, a party of soldiers were ordered out tosecure Ballederry; but before they got sight of him, the boyNanbarre had heard what was going forward and left the place: onthis, a serjeant with a party were sent after him; they came upwith several natives, who joined them in a friendly manner, and, whilst they were talking to the serjeant, one of them attemptedto wrest a firelock from a soldier, and immediately afterwards aspear was thrown, supposed to be by Ballederry. Two musquets werethen fired, by which a native was wounded in the leg; butunfortunately it was neither the man who attempted to take themusquet, nor the person who threw the spear. 

Soon afterwards, the natives were said to be assembled nearthe brick-fields; an officer was therefore ordered out with astrong party to disperse them, and to make a severe example ofthem, if any spears were thrown; but they never saw a native, forthe boy Nanbarre, true to his countrymen, on seeing the soldiersform on the parade, ran into the woods, and stripping himself, that he might not be known, joined the natives, and put them ontheir guard; after which, he returned, and seeing the governor gopast with some officers, whilst he was hid in a bush, heafterwards showed himself to an officer's servant, and askedwhere the governor and the soldiers were going, and being told, he laughed, and said they were too late, for the natives were allgone. 

Bannelong came in soon afterwards with his wife, and though hewas told that the soldiers were gone out to punish Ballederry forwounding a white man, yet this intelligence did not prevent himfrom eating a hearty dinner; and when he was going away, he lefta large bundle of spears, fiz-gigs, and various other articlesunder Governor Phillip's care. 

It might be supposed that the natives, after being fired at, and one of them being wounded, would not have trusted themselvesagain at the settlement for some time: this, however, was not thecase: they very well understood that nothing more was intendedthan to punish the person who wounded the white man, and thatthey would not have been fired on, had not a spear been thrown atthe party, who, they well knew, were looking for Ballederry; and, on the 24th, more than twenty of them called at GovernorPhillip's house, in their way from Botany-Bay to the lower partof the harbour, where most of them resided; and others went tothose with whom they were acquainted, with the same freedom as ifnothing had happened. On enquiry being made after the man who hadbeen wounded, they said he was gone to his tribe. Several ofthese people remained at the settlement all night, and amongstthem were two strangers, who seemed as much at their ease asthose who were old acquaintances. 

Bannelong's wife was now very near her time, which gave ourcolonists an opportunity of seeing the preparations the women ofNew South Wales make on these occasions: she had two nets hangingfrom her neck, one of which being new, Governor Phillip wasdesirous of obtaining, and it was given him, after she had takena large piece of the bark of the tea-tree out of it, nicelyfolded up, and which was intended to lay her infant upon; thisseems to be the only preparation, which is made by lying-in womenin that country. 

The bark of the tea-tree is thick in proportion to the size ofthe tree, and is composed of a great number of layers of verythin bark, in appearance not unlike the bark of the birch-tree;but it is so very soft, that nothing this country affords can bebetter calculated for the purpose for which it was intended:Bannelong, however, desired to have a blanket for the child, which was given him, and the next day, a net made in the Englishmanner, which appeared more acceptable to his wife than the oneshe had parted with. He told Governor Phillip that his wifeintended doing him the honour of being brought to bed in hishouse; but the governor at length persuaded him that she would bebetter accommodated at the hospital. 

The women do not appear to suffer any great inconvenience, while in this state, and they all seem best pleased with havingboys: Bannelong often said his was to be a son. 

A disorder had frequently been seen amongst the natives, whichhad the same appearance as the itch, and yielded to the sameremedies; it was now so common, that nearly the whole of themwere infected with it, and several boys were cured at thehospital by rubbing in of brimstone. Bannelong was a perfectLazarus, and though he was easily persuaded to go to the hospitaland rub himself, yet it was not possible to make him stay theretill he was cured. 

On the 28th of August, the William and Ann transport anchoredin the cove. This vessel brought out stores and provisions, witha serjeant and thirteen privates belonging to the New South Walescorps, and several of their wives and children; also one hundredand eighty male convicts: seven died on the passage, andthirty-six were sick when they landed. 

The continuance of the dry weather gave our colonists reasonto fear that their crops would suffer more this year than theydid the last: it was now the season for putting the maize intothe ground, which was so extremely dry that there was littleprobability of its vegetating, if sown, before some rain fell:the sun also began to have great power, and several ponds, adjoining to which Governor Phillip had placed several settlers, were losing their water very fast. 

It has already been observed, that on some particular days, the winds were heated to such a degree as to be almostinsupportable, which had always been imputed to the country roundthe settlement being fired by the natives. Early in the morningof the 31st of August, the wind was northerly, and heated asthough it came from the mouth of an oven, though no fires couldthen be seen; however, as the day advanced, smoke appeared overthe hills, and in the evening, a considerable tract of countrywas seen to be on fire; some natives were likewise burning theground on the north side of the harbour, opposite the settlement:this firing of the country, which the natives constantly do whenthe weather is dry, renders any observation made by thethermometer very uncertain. But if the 31st of August was anunpleasant day, the evening made ample amends, for it began torain, and continued raining until the next day at noon. 

Although few of the convicts were sick when they were firstlanded from the transports, yet many of them were extremely weakfrom long confinement, and a few days carried numbers of them tothe hospital. The surgeon's returns, on the first of September, were two hundred and eighty-five convicts under medicaltreatment: several soldiers and seamen were likewise in thehospital with a fever of a bad sort, which was supposed to bebrought on board by the convicts. 

On the 4th of September, the Salamander sailed forNorfolk-Island, with one hundred and sixty male convicts, somestores, and provisions: two non-commissioned officers, and elevenprivates of the New South Wales corps went as a guard. 

The Mary-Ann transport returned from Norfolk-Island on the8th, having landed all the stores, provisions, and convicts safe;but they had lost a boat in going off from the island: thesailors, however, were all saved. 

A number of emu's had been seen lately, and this appears to bethe season in which they breed, as a nest was found near somefresh water, at the head of the harbour, containing fourteeneggs. The nest was composed of fern, but it had more theappearance of a quantity of fern collected for a person to siton, than a nest. Soon after taking these eggs, an old emu wasseen near Prospect-Hill with some young ones; several of thesettlers chased them, and the young birds were taken: they didnot appear to be more than a week old, and great pains were takento rear them, but they died, after being in Governor Phillip'spossession near five weeks. Thirteen of these old birds were seentogether in the course of this month, but it was a considerabletime since an emu had been shot. 

The pattagorong and baggaray frequently supplied our colonistswith fresh meals, and Governor Phillip had three young ones, which were likely to live: he has not the least doubt but theseanimals are formed in the false belly, having frequently seenthem in that situation, when they were so small, that it did notappear possible for them to be placed there by the female for thepurpose of gaining strength, which is the general opinion, andfor which purpose it is supposed nature has given them the falsebelly; indeed, the idea of their being formed in the false belly, and not in the womb, seems to be confirmed from the followingparticulars, communicated to Governor Phillip by a person who hada male and a female opossum in his possession near two years. 

"On the 10th of May, I discovered the young one in the bellyof the female opossum, apparently not larger than the end of mylittle finger. I do not exactly recollect when I had examinedbefore, but I am sure it could not have been long, as I made aconstant practice of searching for what I then found, but alwayshad much difficulty in introducing my finger, the femalecontracting the orifice so extremely close. The belly of thefemale had for some days been observed to be increasing in size, and on the 15th of August, I saw a young one, for the first time, the mouth, or opening of the false belly, being very muchdilated. In the first week of September, it was compleatlyhaired, and it ventured out, getting on the mother's back, but onthe least alarm, it instantly returned to the false belly. On the18th of September, I observed the young one eating sow-thistle, and it continued on the mother's back, but at night it got intothe false belly. From the day I first saw the young one untilnow, I have generally seen the mother licking it with her tongue, and it is to be remarked, that she has driven the male away fromher since the 15th of August. "

Notice has already been taken of those persons who becamesettlers, and of the quantity of land allotted them; however, asthe subjoined table shows every particular respecting them in onepoint of view, it may not, perhaps, be unacceptable. 

THE FIRST SETTLERS

Names. When became Quantity of Place where. Settlers. Land granted. 

Philip Schaffer. Superintendant. One hundred and On the north side 30th March, 1791. Forty acres. Of the creek leading to Parramatta. The following were all marines or sailors. Robert Webb. Ditto Sixty acres. William Reid. Ditto Sixty acres. Robert Watson. 5th April. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. John Drummond. 5th April. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. James Proctor. 5th April. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Peter Hibbs. 5th April. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Owen Cavenaugh. 5th April. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. James Painter. 5th April. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. William Mitchell. 5th April. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. William Hambly. 5th April. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Charles Heritage. 5th April. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Samuel King. 5th April. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. William Mitchell. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Thomas Bramwell. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Thomas Bishop. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. John M'Carthey. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Lawrence Richards. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. John Munday. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Thomas Chipp. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. William Strong. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. James M'Manus. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Thomas O'Bryen. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Richard Knight. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Abraham Hand. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. William Dempsey. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Thomas Sculley. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. John Barrisford. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. James Redmond. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. William Tonks. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Thomas Halfpenny. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. William Standley. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. John Gowen. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Thomas Dukes. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. James Williams. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Daniel Standfield. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. John Roberts. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. William Simms. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. John Foley. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Patrick Connell. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. John Redman. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. Thomas Spencer. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. John Scott. Sixty acres. Norfolk Island. 

THE CONVICT SETTLERS. 

Names. When became Quantity of Place where. Settlers. Land granted. 

James Ruse. 30th March, 1791. Thirty acres. Parramatta. Charles Williams. 18th July. Thirty acres. South side of the creek leading to Parramatta. James Stuart. 18th July. Twenty acres. South side of the creek leading to Parramatta. George Lisk. 18th July. Thirty acres. Four miles to the westward of Parramatta. William Kilby. 18th July. Fifty acres. Four miles to the westward of Parramatta. William Butler. 18th July. Fifty acres. Ditto. John Nicholls. 18th July. Thirty acres. Ditto. John Ramsay. 18th July. Fifty acres. At the ponds, two miles to the north-east of Parramatta. Mathew Everingham. 18th July. Fifty acres. Ditto. John Summers. 18th July. Thirty acres. Ditto. John Richards. 18th July. Thirty acres. Ditto. William Field. 18th July. Fifty acres. Ditto. Joseph Bishop. 18th July. Fifty acres. Ditto. Curtis Brand. 18th July. Thirty acres. Ditto. John Silverthorn. 18th July. Thirty acres. Four miles to the westward of Parramatta. Thomas Martin. 18th July. Thirty acres. Ditto. Samuel Griffiths. 18th July. Thirty acres. Ditto. James Castles. 18th July. Thirty acres. Ditto. Joseph Morley. 18th July. Fifty acres. Ditto. William Hubbard. 18th July. Fifty acres. At the ponds, two miles to the north-east of Parramatta. John Anderson. 18th July. Fifty acres. Ditto. William Elliott. 18th July. Thirty acres. Ditto. Joseph Marshall. 18th July. Thirty acres. Ditto. Edward Varndell. 18th July. Thirty acres. Ditto. Simon Burn. 17th August. Fifty acres. At the northern boundary farms, two miles from Parramatta. John Brown. 17th August. Sixty acres. Ditto. William Moulds. 17th August. Thirty acres. Ditto. John Baffen. 17th August. Fifty acres. Ditto. John Williams. 17th August. Fifty acres. Ditto. Edward Pugh, 17th August. Seventy acres. Four miles to the westward of Parramatta. William Parish. 17th August. Sixty acres. Ditto. Robert Forrester. Ten acres. Norfolk Island. James White. Ten acres. Norfolk Island. William Cross. Ten acres. Norfolk Island. James Walbourne. Ten acres. Norfolk Island. Benjamin Fentum. Ten acres. Norfolk Island. Peter Woodcock. Ten acres. Norfolk Island. Edward Kimberly. Ten acres. Norfolk Island. John Welch. Ten acres. Norfolk Island. William Bell. Ten acres. Norfolk Island. John Turner. Ten acres. Norfolk Island. Thomas Kelley. Thirty acres. At the ponds, two miles to the north-east of Parramatta. William Parr. Fifty acres. At the northern boundary farms, two miles from Parramatta. John Herbert. Sixty acres. Four miles to the westward of Parramatta. 

Chapter XXIII

TRANSACTIONS AT PORT JACKSON

September 1791 to December 1791

-Arrival of the Gorgon, and several transportsat Port Jackson. --The number of convicts brought out in thesevessels. --A whale-fishery established on the Coast of New SouthWales. -

On the 21st of September, 1791, the Gorgon, Captain JohnParker, came into the harbour. She sailed from Spithead on the15th of the preceding March, had stopped at Teneriff, St. Jago, and the Cape of Good Hope; and having received on board as muchof the provisions and stores, which were of the Guardian's cargo, as the ship could stow, together with three bulls, twenty-threecows, four rams, sixty-two ewes, and one boar; she left the Capeon the 30th of July. 

Captain King returned in this ship, his Majesty having beenpleased to give him the rank of master and commander in the navy, with a commission as Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island, inconsideration of his useful services. 

The chaplain of the New South Wales corps, and several whowere appointed to civil employments, came out likewise in theGorgon, and as she was to bring out stores and provisions, herlower deck guns were left in England, and her complement reducedto one hundred men. Of the cattle received on board the Gorgon, at the Cape of Good Hope, three bulls, six cows, three rams, andnine ewes died on the passage; one cow died soon after landing, and the ewes were severely afflicted with the scab, but it washoped they would soon recover: the bulls all dying was anunfortunate circumstance; however, our Colonists had a bull calfand patience still left. Seed and a variety of fruit-trees ingood condition were likewise received by the Gorgon; and when sheleft the Cape, five transports were preparing to leave it forthis colony. 

Thirty male convicts were on board the Gorgon, and assisted inworking the ship, her complement as a store-ship being only onehundred men, officers included. On the 26th of September, theQueen transport, having Lieutenant Blow on board as an agent, arrived from Ireland with provisions, and one hundred andtwenty-six male, and twenty-one female convicts: seven maleconvicts and one female died on the passage. 

The Active transport arrived the same day with provisions, andone hundred and fifty-four male convicts: both these shipsbrought a part of the Guardian's cargo from the Cape of GoodHope, and detachments from the New South Wales corps. 

The weather still continued showery, and the gardens began topromise plenty of vegetables; the wheat also, which, it wasfeared, would have been lost by the long continuance of dryweather, improved greatly in appearance: nearly all the maize wasput into the ground, and the greater part of it was up. Theweather had lately been very unsettled, but better than whatGovernor Phillip ever found it in the Brazils at this season ofthe year. 

The surgeon's return of sick was greatly increased since thearrival of the last vessels; for though the number of sickconvicts were not considerable when landed from the ships, theywere, in general, greatly emaciated, and appeared starved, andworn out with confinement. The return of sick on the 1st ofOctober was three hundred and four convicts. One soldier, fifteenmale, and one female convict, with three children, died in thelast month; and two convicts were lost in the woods. 

The Albemarle transport, Lieutenant R. P. Young as agent, arrived on the 13th, and the Britannia came in the next day: theAlbemarle brought out twenty-three soldiers and one woman of theNew South Wales corps, two hundred and fifty male, and six femaleconvicts, one free woman, a convict's wife and one child. Thirty-two male convicts died on the passage, and forty-four weresick on their arrival. The Britannia brought out thirteensoldiers, one woman, and three children of the New South Walescorps, and one hundred and twenty-nine male convicts. One soldierand twenty-one convicts died on the passage, and thirty-eightwere sick when landed. 

When these vessels came in, the Admiral Barrington transportwas off the port, but it blowing hard on the night of the 14th, that ship was not in sight the next day. 

The convicts on board the Albemarle, during the passage, attempted to seize on the ship, and the ringleader, havingknocked down a centinel, and seized his sword, got on thequarter-deck, and was going to kill the seaman at the helm; butthe master of the ship, hearing a noise, took up a blunderbuss, which was loaded, and discharged it at the villain, who findinghimself wounded, dropped the sword and ran away. Many of theconvicts had got their irons off, and were rushing aft for thequarter-deck; but, on seeing their leader wounded, they ranforward and hid themselves, so that the whole business was put anend to in a few minutes. 

After a short conversation amongst the officers, two of theringleaders were hanged, and two seamen, who had furnished theconvicts with knives, and who were to have conducted the ship toAmerica after all the officers and ship's company, with thesoldiers, had been put to death, were landed at Madeira, in orderthat they might be sent to England: they were both Americans, andone of them had a superficial knowledge of navigation. 

The Admiral Barrington arrived on the 16th of October. Thisship brought out a captain, three noncommissioned officers, andtwenty-four privates of the New South Wales corps, with twohundred and sixty-four male convicts: four women came out withtheir husbands, who were convicts, and two children. Ninety-sevenwere sick on board this ship. 

The whole number of convicts embarked on board the tentransports, including thirty in the Gorgon, were one thousand sixhundred and ninety-five males, sixty-eight females, and elevenchildren; of whom, one hundred and ninety-four males, fourfemales, and one child died on the passage. 

What provisions were in the store, added to those which werebrought out in these transports, would not furnish many monthsprovisions for this colony; Governor Phillip, therefore, took theAtlantic into the service as a naval transport. 

The Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island, Captain Paterson, of the New South Wales corps, with part of his company, twenty-nine marines who had been discharged to become settlers;several convicts, whose time of transportation being expired, were admitted as settlers, with thirty-three male, and twelvefemale convicts, and a considerable quantity of stores andprovisions were embarked on board the Atlantic, for NorfolkIsland, under the direction of Lieutenant Bowen, as naval agent;who, after landing what he had on board for the island, hadorders to proceed to Calcutta, where he was to load withprovisions for the colony. 

The great number of spermaceti whales that had been seen onthe coast of New South Wales, induced the masters of thosevessels which were fitted out for that fishery, and intended, after landing the convicts, to proceed to the north-west coast ofAmerica, to try for a cargo here: indeed, the master of theBritannia, a vessel belonging to Messieurs Enderbys, of London, who have the merit of being the first that adventured to theSouth Seas for whales, assured Governor Phillip, that he had seenmore spermaceti whales in his passage from the south cape to PortJackson, than he had ever seen on the Brazil coast, although hehad been six years on that fishery. 

No time was lost by the masters of these ships in gettingready for sea: the Britannia sailed on the 25th of October, incompany with the William and Ann: the Mary Ann and the Matildasailed the day before, and the Salamander sailed on the 1st ofNovember. The Britannia returned from her cruize on the 10th ofNovember, being the first ship which had ever fished for whaleson the coast of New South Wales. 

The following letter from the Master of the Britannia, toMessrs. Enderbys, his owners, we subjoin for the reader'ssatisfaction, because it shows the first introduction of awhale-fishery, on the coast of New South Wales. 

-Ship Britannia, Sydney, Port-Jackson_, -November 29, 1791_. 

Messrs. Samuel Enderby and Sons, Gentlemen, I have the pleasure to inform you of our safe arrival in PortJackson, in New South Wales, October 13, after a passage offifty-five days from the Cape of Good Hope. We were only sixweeks from the Cape to Van Diemen's Land, but met with contrarywinds after we doubled Van Diemen's Land, which made our passagelonger than I expected. We parted company with our agent the nextday after we left the Cape of Good Hope, and never saw him againtill we arrived at Port-Jackson, both in one day. The Albemarleand we sailed much alike. The Admiral Barrington arrived threedays after us. I am very well myself, thank God, and all the creware in high spirits. We lost in all on our passage from Englandtwenty-one convicts and one soldier. We had one birth on ourpassage from the Cape. I tried to make and made the island ofAmsterdam, and made it in the longitude of 76° 4' 14" eastfrom Greenwich, by a good lunar observation: my intention was torun close to it to discover whether the sealing business mightnot have been carried on there; but the weather was so bad, andthick weather coming on, I did not think it prudent to attemptit, likewise to lose a night's run, and a fair wind blowing. 

The day before we made it we saw two shoals of sperm-whales. After we doubled the south-west cape of Van Diemen's Land, we sawa large sperm whale off Maria's-Islands, but did not see anymore, being very thick weather and blowing hard, till withinfifteen leagues of the latitude of Port Jackson. Within threeleagues of the shore, we saw sperm whales in great plenty: wesailed through different shoals of them from twelve o'clock inthe day till after sun-set, all round the horizon, as far as Icould see from the mast-head: in fact, I saw a very greatprospect in making our fishery upon this coast and establishing afishery here. Our people were in the highest spirits at so greata sight, and I was determined, as soon as I got in and got clearof my live lumber, to make all possible dispatch on the fisheryon this coast. 

On our arrival here, I waited upon his Excellency GovernorPhillip, and delivered my letters to him. I had the mortificationto find he wanted to dispatch me with my convicts toNorfolk-Island, and likewise wanted to purchase our vessel tostay in the country, which I refused to do. I immediately toldhim the secret of seeing the whales, thinking that would get meoff going to Norfolk-Island, that there was a prospect ofestablishing a fishery here, and might be of service to thecolony, and left him. I waited upon him two hours afterwards witha box directed to him: he took me into a private room, he told mehe had read my letters, and that he would render me every servicethat lay in his power; that next morning he would dispatch everylong-boat in the fleet to take our convicts out, and take ourstores out immediately, which he did accordingly, and did everything to dispatch us on the fishery. Captain King used all hisinterest in the business; he gave his kind respects to you. 

The secret of seeing whales our sailors could not keep fromthe rest of the whalers here, the news put them all to the stir, but have the pleasure to say, we were the first ship ready forsea; notwithstanding they had been some of them a month arrivedbefore us. We went out, in company with the William and Ann, theeleventh day after our arrival. The next day after we went out, we had very bad weather, and fell in with a very great number ofsperm whales. 

At sun-rising in the morning, we could see them all round thehorizon. We run through them in different bodies till two o'clockin the afternoon, when the weather abated a little, but a veryhigh sea running. I lowered away two boats, and Bunker followedthe example; in less than two hours we had seven whales killed, but unfortunately a heavy gale came on from the south-west, andtook the ship aback with a squall, that the ship could only fetchtwo of them, the rest we were obliged to cut from, and make thebest of our way on board to save the boats and crew. The Williamand Ann saved one, and we took the other and rode by them allnight with a heavy gale of wind. Next morning it moderated, andwe took her in; she made us twelve barrels. 

We saw large whales next day, but were not able to lower awayour boats; we saw whales every day for a week after, but theweather being so bad, we could not attempt to lower a boat down:we cruized fifteen days in all, having left our sixty shakes ofbutts on shore with the Gorgon's cooper, to set up in ourabsence, which Captain Parker was so kind as to let us have, andwanting to purchase more casks of Mr. Calvert's ships, and havingno prospect of getting any good weather, I thought it mostprudent to come in and refit the ship, and compleat my casks andfill my water, and by that time the weather would be moremoderate. 

The day after we came in, the Mary-Ann came in off a cruize, having met with very bad weather, shipped a sea, and washed hertry-works overboard. He informed me, he left the Matilda in aharbour to the northward, and that the Salamander had killed aforty barrel whale, and lost her by bad weather. There is nothingagainst making a voyage on this coast but the weather, which Iexpect will be better next month; I think to make another month'strial of it. 

If a voyage can be got upon this coast, it will make itshorter than going to Peru; and the governor has been veryattentive in sending greens for refreshment to our crew atdifferent times. Captain Parker has been kind, and has given meevery assistance that lay in his power; he carries our long-boathome, as we cannot sell her here: he will dispose of her for you, or leave her at Portsmouth: he will wait upon you on his arrivalin London. Captain Ball, of the Supply, who is the bearer of thisletter, has likewise been very kind, and rendered us everyservice that lay in his power; he will wait upon youlikewise. 

The colony is all alive, expecting there will be a rendezvousfor the fishermen. We shall be ready to sail on Tuesday the 22d, on a cruize. The Matilda has since arrived here; she saw theSalamander four days ago: she had seen more whales, but durst notlower their boats down: she has been into harbour twice. We havethe pleasure to say, we killed the first four whales on thiscoast. 

I have enclosed you the certificates for the convicts, andreceipts for the stores. Captain Nepean has paid every attentionto me, and has been so kind as to let us have a cooper: he dineswith me to-morrow. I am collecting you some beautiful birds, andland animals, and other curiosities for you. The ship remainstight and strong, and in good condition. I will write you by theGorgon man of war; she sails in about a month or six week'stime. 

I am, Sirs, Your humble servant, THOMAS MELVILLE. 

The Matilda and the Mary-Ann transports returned from theirfishing-cruize on the 10th of November. These vessels had run tothe southward in search of seals, and met with very bad weather, but saw no fish. The Matilda had put into Jervis-Bay, which, according to the master's account, is a very fine harbour, theanchorage very good, and capable of receiving the largest ships. These two vessels, after refitting, sailed again to try for fishon this coast. 

Our colonists began to reap the barley on the 22d of November, and the wheat was getting ripe. 

The Supply armed tender, after having been under repair fromthe time she returned from Norfolk-Island, was found, on asurvey, to be in so bad a state, that the best repair which couldbe given her in this country, would only render her serviceablefor six months longer; Governor Phillip, therefore, ordered herto England, and she sailed on the 26th of November. 

From the debilitated state in which many of the convicts werelanded from the last ships, the number of sick were greatlyincreased; the surgeon's returns on the 27th, being upwards offour hundred sick at Parramatta; and the same day medicines weredistributed to one hundred and ninety-two at Sydney. To thenumber of sick at Parramatta, upwards of one hundred may beadded, who were so weak that they could not be put to any kind oflabour, not even to that of pulling grass for thatching the huts. Forty-two convicts died in the month of November, and in thesepeople nature seemed fairly to be worn out; many of them were sothoroughly exhausted that they expired without a groan, andapparently without any kind of pain. 

Showers of rain had been more frequent lately than for manymonths past, but not in the abundance which the ground required;and, from the extreme dryness of the weather, and from the groundnot being sufficiently worked before the maize was put into it, agreat number of acres were likely to be destroyed. This was oneof the many inconveniencies the settlement laboured under, fromthe want of people to employ in agriculture, who would feelthemselves interested in the labour of those that were undertheir direction, and who had some knowledge as farmers. 

The following parcels of land were in cultivation atParramatta, in November, 1791. 

Acres. /Roods. /Perches. 351 2 5 in Maise. 44 1 8 Wheat. 6 1 30 Barley. 1 0 0 Oats. 2 0 3 Potatoes. 4 2 0 Not cultivated, but cleared. 4 2 15 Mostly planted with vines. 6 0 0 The governor's garden, partly sown with maize and wheat. 80 0 0 Garden-ground belonging to individuals. 17 0 0 Land in cultivation by the New South Wales corps. 150 0 0 Cleared, and to be sowed with turnips. 91 3 2 Ground in cultivation by settlers. 28 0 0 Ground in cultivation by officers of the civil and military. 134 0 0 Inclosed, and the timber thinned for feeding cattle. 

The above grounds were measured by David Burton, the publicgardener, who observes, that the soil in most places isremarkably good, and only wants cultivation to be fit for anyuse, for the ground that has been the longest in cultivationbears the best crops. 

Of the convicts who were received by the last ships, therewere great numbers of the worst of characters, particularlyamongst those who came from Ireland, and whose great ignoranceled them into schemes more destructive to themselves than theywere likely to be to the settlement. Some of these people hadformed an idea that they could go along the coast, and subsist onoysters and other shell-fish, till they reached some of theChinese settlements: others had heard that there were a coppercoloured people only one hundred and fifty miles to thenorthward, where they would be free. Full of these notions, threeparties set off; but, after straggling about for many days, several of them were taken, and others returned to thesettlement. Governor Phillip was less inclined to inflict anypunishment on these people, than to punish those who had deceivedthem by the information of "not being far from some of theChinese settlements, and near people who would receive them, andwhere they would have every thing they wanted, and live veryhappy:"

These reasons most of them assigned for going into the woods, and where some of them still remained, dreading a severepunishment if they returned: a general pardon was thereforepromised to all those who came back within a certain time, asseveral were supposed to be lurking in the woods near thesettlement; however, some of these wretches were so prepossessedwith the idea of being able to live in the woods and on thesea-coast until they could reach a settlement, or find a peoplewho would maintain them without labour, that several who werebrought in when almost famished, and carried to the hospital, went away again as soon as they were judged able to return totheir labour; and although what would be called a day's work inEngland is very seldom done by any convict in the settlement, yetsome of them declared that they would sooner perish in the woodsthan be obliged to work; and forty were now absent. 

In order to give those who might be still lurking near thesettlement an opportunity of returning, all the convicts wereassembled, and a pardon was promised to all who returned withinfive days; at the same time they were assured that very severepunishment would be inflicted on any who were taken after theexpiration of that time, or who should in future attempt to leavethe settlement. 

Several appeared sensible of the lenity shown them when theirirons were taken off, but some of them appeared capable of themost desperate attempts, and even talked of seizing on thesoldiers arms; they were, however, informed, that no mercy wouldbe shown to any who were even seen near those that might make anattempt of the kind. 

All the whalers who came into the harbour to refit, sailedagain by the 1st of December, and the Albemarle and the Activetransports sailed on the 2d for Bombay, where they were to loadwith cotton for England. 

A new store was now covered in at Sydney, which was the bestthat had been built in the colony; and was intended for theconvicts cloathing and the implements of husbandry: it has asecond floor, and is eighty feet in length by twenty-four feet inbreadth. A building of fifty-six feet by twenty-four was likewisecovered in at Parramatta, and was intended for a place ofworship, until a church could be built. 

The idea of finding a Chinese settlement at no great distanceto the northward, still prevailed amongst the Irish convicts; andon the 4th of December, two of them stole the surgeon's boat, butthey only got a few miles to the northward of the harbour whenthey were obliged to run her on shore. Some officers who were outa shooting, saw this boat on the beach, and stove a plank in her, that she might not be carried away; they also saw the two men, who ran into the woods; however, a convict who had been six weeksin the woods, and was scarcely able to walk, gave himself up tothe officers, and, with their assistance, was able to return toSydney. 

Many of those convicts who left the settlement, as has alreadybeen related, came back; some were still missing, and severalwere said to be killed by the natives. The miserable situation ofthose who returned to the settlement, would, it was believed, most effectually prevent any more excursions of the likenature. 

On the 5th of December, the Queen transport returned fromNorfolk-Island, with the lieutenant-governor of the territory, who was relieved by Lieutenant-Governor King; a detachment ofmarines who had been doing duty on the island; a party of the NewSouth Wale corps, who were relieved by Captain Paterson, and someconvicts, whose times for which they had been sentenced wereexpired. 

By the 7th, the Gorgon was nearly ready for sea, and thedetachment of marines who came from England in the first shipswas ordered to hold themselves ready to embark, except onecaptain, three lieutenants, eight non-commissioned officers, andfifty privates, who were to stay at Port Jackson until theremainder of the New South Wales corps should arrive: thosemarines who were desirous of becoming settlers, remainedlikewise, to the number of thirty-one. 

Governor Phillip had frequently been solicited by Bannelong, to receive Ballederry, the native who wounded a convict in June, 1791, into favour again, but he always refused; however, on the14th of December, he was informed that Ballederry was extremelyill. The surgeon had been to see him, and found him in a fever;and the first question he asked was, whether the Governor wasstill angry, or if he would let him be brought to the hospital tobe cured. Bannelong had fetched the surgeon to Ballederry, andreturned with him to Governor Phillip; who saying he was notangry, and telling him to bring his companion to the settlement, he said he would; so, early the next morning, Ballederry wasbrought in. At first, he seemed under great apprehensions, butthey presently subsided, on the governor taking him by the hand, and promising that when he was recovered he should reside withhim again. Poor Ballederry appeared to be very ill, and went withthe surgeon to the hospital. 

Of those convicts who were received from the last ships, onehundred and fourteen males, and two females, died before the 15thof December: the number of sick had considerably decreasedlately; the surgeon's list being now reduced from six hundred andtwo to four hundred and three. 

The Matilda and the Mary-Ann transports came into the harbouron the 16th; these ships had been out but nine days. The Matildahad been into Jervis-Bay, but had not seen any spermaceti whales. The Mary-Ann fell in with one shoal; it was in the evening whenall the boats were absent from the ship: the master was in hopesthey should have the fish about them the next morning, but he hadthe mortification to find that a current had driven the shipfifty miles to the southward. 

The Gorgon dropped down the harbour on the 17th of December, Captain Parker intending to sail the next day. The detachmentunder the command of Major Ross were embarked, agreeable to theorders which had previously been given. 

* * * * *

Here closes the Journal of Governor Phillip; which containedthe latest accounts from New South Wales; being received by theGorgon, that left Port Jackon in December, 1791. 

The following Journal of Lieutenant Ball of the Supply, issubjoined; because it contains an account of a voyage from PortJackson by the route of Cape Horn, which was made in a shortertime than had ever been performed by any other vessel. 

Chapter XXIV

VOYAGE TO ENGLAND FROM PORT JACKSON

November 1791 to April 1792

-The Supply leaves Port Jackson. --Receives somedamage in a storm. --Doubles Cape Horn. --Passes Staten'sland. --Anchors at Rio Janeiro. --Refreshments procured. --Departurefrom Rio Janciro. --Proceeds towards England. --Arrives off theLizard. --Particulars respectingNorfolk-Island. -

Having received orders from Governor Phillip to get the Supplyready for sea, I had every thing in readiness by the 25th ofNovember; and early the next morning, we weighed anchor, andstood out of Sydney Cove, with a moderate breeze ateast-north-east, and pleasant weather. 

I had a Kanguroo on board, which I had directions to carry toLord Grenville, as a present for his Majesty. 

Governor Phillip, accompanied by Captain John Parker, of theGorgon, breakfasted on board the Supply the morning of ourdeparture; and soon afterwards they left us, and proceeded to thelook-out at Port Jackson. 

At four o'clock in the afternoon, we lost sight of the land, and stood to the southward, with a moderate breeze at north-east. In the forenoon of the 29th, the wind shifted to the southward, and blew a very strong gale, which brought us under low sail, butat five o'clock the weather grew moderate. 

A vast number of birds were about the ship, and a land bird, of a singular kind, was caught: our latitude, at noon, was38° 31' south, and the longitude 154° 23' east. 

On the 2d of December, we saw a whale; our latitude, at noon, was 44° 21' south, and the longitude, by lunar observation, 156° 20' east: the variation of the compass, 10° 00'east. I now ordered the ship to be well cleaned every day betweendecks, being firmly convinced that cleanliness conduces very muchto preserve the health of seaman. On the 4th, we had light, variable winds, chiefly from the northward: the latitude, atnoon, was 47° 10' south, the longitude, by observed distancesof the sun and moon, 160° 20', and the variation of thecompass 11° 20' east. 

In the afternoon, a thick fog came on, with light drizzlingrain, which continued till the forenoon of the 5th, when the fogdispersed, and the weather cleared up. We saw some rock weed, anda great number of blue petrels and albatrosses were about theship. In the afternoon, we passed more rock weed, and saw anumber of whales. On the 6th, we had a fresh gale from thesouthward, and saw a vast number of petrels; albatrosses, etc. Were about the vessel: we passed a great quantity of rock-weed, and perceiving the water to change colour, we hove to, andsounded, but got no bottom with 120 fathoms of line. The windcontinued to blow strong from the southward, which brought on avery high, irregular swell, and occasioned the ship to labour andwork very much: we still passed vast quantities of rock-weed, andhad a number of birds about the ship. The latitude, at noon onthe 8th, was 50° 44' south, and the longitude, by thetime-keeper, 172° 56' east. The ship laboured greatly, whichoccasioned her to make water in her top-sides. 

Great numbers of petrels, gulls, albatrosses, etc. Weredaily seen about the ship, and a whale was seen in the afternoonof the 10th. The wind continued to blow from the southward, strong and in squalls, until the 12th, when it shifted to thenorthward and westward. The latitude, at noon, was 53° 56'south, and the longitude, by the time-keeper, 188° 49'east. 

At two o'clock in the morning of the 13th, the ship was poopedwith a very heavy sea, which entirely stove in the two midshipwindows of the stern, and filled the cabin with water, great partof which ran down into the bread-room. In the afternoon of the14th, a violent squall came on from the westward, which at sixo'clock increased to a perfect storm, with an exceeding high sea;this occasioned me to keep the ship before it, and I found hersteer very well; indeed, much better than I could possibly haveexpected in such a situation. 

The weather continued squally, with hail and snow, until themorning of the 16th, when the wind shifted to the southward, andthe weather grew more moderate. The latitude, at noon, was52° 58' south, and the longitude 207° 09' east. On the20th, we passed a large patch of sea-weed; several gulls anddivers sea-birds were at that time about the ship. Portable soup, essence of malt, and sour krout were now served out to the ship'scompany. The weather was thick and foggy, which prevented us fromgetting any observation until the 22d, when our latitude, atnoon, was 53° 59' south, and the longitude, by thetime-keeper, 231° 36' east. A number of sheerwaters andpetrels were about the ship. We had frequent squalls, attendedwith hail and snow. 

On the 24th, the wind shifted to the eastward, and the weatherwas more moderate, but on the 27th, it again got to the westward, blowing strong, and in violent squalls, attended with snow andhail. A great number of albatrosses, blue petrels, andsheerwaters were about the ship; a high, irregular sea caused herto labour much, and she made a deal of water in her topsides. Thelatitude, at noon, was 57° 32' south, and 245° 42' eastlongitude. On the 29th, the longitude, by the time-keeper, was259° 16' east, and by account 256° 50' east; at the sametime the latitude was 56° 30' south. The wind was still tothe westward, attended with very heavy rain. In the morning ofthe 31st, the wind blew strong from the northward. Great numbersof gulls were about the ship, and we passed a deal ofrock-weed. 

During the 1st and 2d of January, 1792, the wind was variable, frequently shifting from north-north-west to west-south-west andsouth-east by east. At noon on the 3d, we were in 56° 15'south latitude, and 281° 57' east longitude. The nextforenoon, we saw a seal, and had a number of albatrosses aboutthe ship: we now had strong gales from the north-east quarter, attended with snow and sleet. A heavy squall came on in themorning of the 5th, and in hauling down the main-top-maststaysail, the brails broke, and the sail was blown in pieces, thegreatest part of which fell overboard before it could be got downand stowed. 

In the afternoon, we saw several gulls, a seal, and someshell-drakes. At noon on the 6th, we saw Cape Horn, bearingwest-south-west half west, and the northernmost land in sight, west half south, distant six or seven leagues. At that time, ourlatitude was 56° 02' south, and the longitude 291° 45'east. At eight o'clock in the morning of the 7th, we saw StatenLand, bearing from north by west to north-west by west half west, twelve or thirteen leagues distant: at noon, the north point borenorth, a little westerly, distant about eight leagues. In theafternoon, several whales were seen near the ship, the body ofStaten Land then bore south-south-west. The wind, which for somedays had been to the southward, shifted, in the morning of the8th, to north-west, with a moderate breeze and fine weather. Inthe afternoon, we passed some pieces of sea-weed, amongst whichwas a seal; we also saw another seal and some penguins: severalwhales and large flocks of blue petrels were about the ship. Thenext forenoon, we passed some sea-weed and a number of penguins;on which we sounded, but got no ground with 100 fathoms of line. Our latitude, at noon, was 52° 58' south, and longitude, bythe time-keeper, 296° 13' east. We sounded again in theevening, but got no ground with 145 fathoms of line. At midnight, we had a calm for about two hours, the weather thick and foggy, with thunder and lightning to the southward. 

Early in the morning, the fog cleared a little, and a lightbreeze sprung up from the northward. Many seals and whales wereabout the ship; and in the afternoon, we saw a number ofpenguins. At eight o'clock in the evening we sounded, and had 96fathoms of water, over a bottom of fine sand and mud. During thenight, we had moderate breezes from the southward, attended withsmall rain. In the forenoon of the 11th, we saw a great number ofwhales, and several penguins. During the afternoon and night, wehad strong gales from the southward, attended with frequentsqualls. The next forenoon, we saw several large patches ofsea-weed: the wind still continued to blow very strong from thesouthward, which occasioned a high sea; and the ship rolling verymuch, occasioned her to make a deal of water in her upper works. In the morning of the 13th, the weather grew more moderate: wesaw a port Egmont hen, and several pieces of rock-weed. At noonour latitude was 45° 46' south, and the longitude 302°49' east. 

On the 15th, the weather grew moderate, the wind to thenorthward. Some observed distances of the sun and moon on the16th, gave 305° 46' east longitude; the latitude at that timewas 42° 34' south. In the afternoon of the 17th, we had astrong appearance of a current, and passed a large number ofwhales. The next day, the water being discoloured, we soundedwith 160 fathoms of line, but got no ground. The wind still keptto the northward, with moderate breezes and fine weather. 

Essence of malt and vinegar were served to the ship's companyon the 24th, and every precaution was taken to preserve theirhealth. In the evening, we had much lightning to the northward:the wind blew fresh from the north-east, and we had frequentheavy squalls attended with rain. Towards noon on the 26th, thewind grew light and variable: the latitude was 32° 20' south, and the longitude 311° 02' east. In the evening, we had muchlightning to the northward: towards midnight, a fresh breezesprung up from the south-east. 

The next forenoon, we saw a turtle and several flying-fish;and at six o'clock in the afternoon, we saw a brig to thenorthward, and soon afterwards spoke with her. At six o'clock inthe morning of the 28th, we saw the land bearing from north-westto west-south-west. We sounded in 26 fathoms of water, over abottom of soft mud. At eight o'clock, some high level land borewest half south, eight or nine leagues distant. I ordered thejolly-boat to be hoisted out, and we tried the current, which wasfound to set north-east by north, at the rate of half a mile anhour, or nearly. At noon, we had clear soundings in 24, 22, 20, and 18 fathoms over a bottom of fine brown sand and mud. At sixo'clock, we tacked, the extremes of the land bearing fromsouth-west to north by east; the nearest land about four milesdistant. During the night, we had regular soundings from 13 to 25fathoms. 

The next morning, we tacked and stood towards the land, withlight variable winds. At noon, the extremes of the land were fromnorth to south 50° west; the nearest land about ten milesdistant. In the afternoon, we saw a large turtle; and at threeo'clock, we sounded in 19 fathoms, over a muddy bottom. At sixo'clock, the nearest land bore north by west half west, aboutthree leagues distant. During the night, we had a light breezefrom the westward: we frequently sounded, and had from 17 to 23fathoms water. 

At noon on the 30th, the nearest land bore north 75° west, eight or nine miles distant. We stood along shore, with a lightbreeze at south-south-east; and at sun-set, the land bore fromnorth 32° west to south 50° west. The next morning, westeered along the island of St. Catherine; and at four o'clock inthe afternoon, were abreast of the Fort of Santa Cruz. 

I sent an officer on shore to the fort, and soon afterwards weanchored in five fathoms water; the fort of Santa Cruz bearingnorth-north-west, and the opposite fort north-east. We salutedthe fort with nine guns, which was returned by an equal number. The next morning, we weighed, and anchored nearer to thewatering-place; mooring the ship with a cable each way, (north-east and south-west) in three fathoms and a half, over amuddy bottom. In this situation, the fort of Santa Cruz borenorth-north-east, the opposite fort, south-east; the point to thesouthward of the watering-place south-west, and thewatering-place west, half a mile distant. 

We erected a tent on shore for the cooper, who was busilyemployed in repairing our casks, and the other hands wereemployed in watering and other necessary duties. 

As we had now made 310° 43' of east longitude, which isequal to 20 h. 42 min. 52 sec. Of time, we, of course, droppedone day, and called the 5th of February, Saturday the 4th. Thisafternoon I sent two boats on shore for various refreshments, having nearly completed our water. In the morning of the 5th, thecutter swamped at her moorings aftern; the oars and tiller washedout of her, and were lost. 

On the 7th, most of our business being finished, we unmoored;and after standing a little farther out of the harbour, weanchored with the small bower, in five and a quarter fathoms; theFort of Santa Cruz bearing north-north-west, and the oppositefort, north-east. We completed our water and every other duty onthe 8th, and the next morning weighed and made sail. At eleveno'clock, we saluted the fort with eleven guns, which was returnedby an equal number: at noon, we were abreast of Santa CruzFort. 

With a light breeze from the northward, we were employed inturning down the harbour; and at seven o'clock, we came to infive fathoms, over a muddy bottom; the Island Averade bearingnorth-east half north, and Santa Cruz Fort south-west by west. Early the next morning, we weighed and stood out of the harbour, and the wind being very light, the jolly-boat was sent a-head totow the vessel: in the afternoon, a moderate breeze came on fromthe eastward. 

At noon on the 11th, the land bore from south 57° west, tonorth 82° west: the wind being variable, we tackedoccasionally. Our latitude was 27° 19' south, and thelongitude 48° 21' west. 'Till the 17th, we had light winds, chiefly from the north-east quarter, and fine clear weather; thewind then shifted to the westward, with frequent squalls andheavy showers of rain. The latitude, at noon, was 29° 27'south, and 41° 14' west longitude. On the 20th, we had theship well cleaned between decks, and thoroughly washed withvinegar. The variation of the compass was 4° 40'easterly. 

At noon on the 21st, a severe squall came on, attended withthunder, and very heavy rain; the wind all round the compass:this occasioned us to clew up the top-sails, and reef theforesail; however, towards evening, the weather growing moremoderate we set the top-sails. 

We opened a cask of beef on the 22d, which was marked R. H. N° 72, and was received from the commissary at thevictualling-office, Port Jackson: it contained sixty-six doublepieces, which was four double pieces short of the number thereought to have been. 

During the 23d and 24th, we had light easterly winds, withintervening calms, and dark cloudy weather, attended with rain. On the 25th, in latitude 26° 13' south, and 31° 33' eastlongitude, we found 1° 22' easterly variation; and on the27th the variation was 00° 45' westerly; the latitude being22° 32' south, and the longitude 29° 03' west. I orderedthe cables to be hauled up, the tier to be well cleaned, andwashed with vinegar. The wind now hauled to the westward, with amoderate breeze and clear weather. On the 28th, the wind shiftedto the northward, and at one o'clock in the morning of the 29th, a very severe squall came on from north-north-east, attended withheavy rain: soon after day-light, the weather moderated. 

We now had a settled easterly wind and fine weather, until themorning of the 6th of March, when the wind blew strong and insqualls, and continued very unsettled till the afternoon of the7th, when it grew moderate. The latitude was 14° 26' south, and the longitude 23° 02' west. On the 12th, we were in02° 11' south latitude, and 25' 16" west longitude, and inthe afternoon we saw a sail to the northward; we bore up andspoke her; she proved to be the Cleopatra, of Boston, bound toCalcutta. I ordered the jolly-boat to be hoisted out and sent onboard her; at six o'clock the boat returned, we got her on board, and made sail. 

From the 16th to the 18th, we had squally unsettled weather, attended with thunder, lightning, and heavy rain. Our latitude atnoon on the 20th, was 08° 45' north, the longitude 30°16' west, and the variation by azimuth 7° 52' west: the windblew strong from the north-east, which occasioned a very highsea. 

On the 22d, John Miles was punished for sleeping on his watch, neglect of duty, and contemptuous behaviour. 

In the morning of the 28th, having a strong gale of wind ateast, we clewed up the sails, and kept the vessel before the sea, whilst the masts were stayed, and the rigging set up; which beingcompleted, and the weather growing moderate, we made sail. Duringthe forenoon, we saw a deal of gulph weed. Our latitude was20° 25' north, and the longitude 37° 06' west. 

On the 1st of April, we mustered the ship's company, and readthe articles of war to them: our observation at noon, gave29° 14' north latitude, the longitude was 39° 05' west, and the variation of the compass 07° 45' west. On the 5th, wehad 11° 04' westerly variation; our latitude, at that time, was 35° 39' north, and the longitude, by lunar observation, 36° 16' west. The trade wind had now left us, and we hadstrong breezes generally from the north-west quarter. Thevariation, by azimuth, on the 13th, was 22° 00' west; thelatitude at noon being 47° 09' north, and the longitude17° 46' west. 

In the morning of the 15th, we saw several vessels standing tothe westward, and at ten o'clock, spoke a sloop from Bristol, bound to Saint Michael's. At six o'clock in the afternoon of the17th, we sounded and struck the ground in sixty-five fathoms, over a bottom of fine sand, mixed with black specks. Our latitudeat noon, on the 19th, was 49° 23', and the longitude, bylunar observation, 6° 56' west. At four o'clock in themorning of the 20th, we saw the land, bearing north-north-west, and at noon the Lizard bore from north-north-east, to north-eastby east, five miles distant. 

* * * * *

Transactions at Norfolk Island

The following particulars, respecting NORFOLK-ISLAND, whichcomprehend the substance of Lieutenant-Governor King's latestdispatches, being dated the 29th of December, 1791; and whichwere received the 30th of November 1792, by the William and Annetransport, that ought to have touched at Port Jackson, but wasforced by contrary winds to bear away for England. 

The wheat harvest at Norfolk-Island was finished by the 10thof December, 1791; when about one thousand bushels of wheat weregot in, and well thatched in stacks. The Indian corn had sufferedby a series of dry hot weather ever since the preceding July. 

Lieutenant-Governor King finding great inconvenience from thesize and construction of the frame of a store-house, which was 80feet long by 24 feet wide, as well as from its situation, itbeing near the shore, determined to build one, 40 feet by 24, onthe Terrace, at Mount-George: he had also found it necessary tobuild a goal, opposite the barrack-yard, and another atQueensborough. 

A good road has been made to the landing rock in Cascade-Bay, so that now, any thing may be landed with the greatestsafety. 

Eighteen copper bolts, six copper sheets, two sixteen-inchcables, two hundred weight of lead, one fish-tackle fall, twentypounds of chalk, three rudder chains, two top-chains, andiron-work of various sorts, had been saved from the wreck of theSirius; the greatest part of these articles, Lieutenant-GovernorKing proposed sending to Port Jackson. 

Ten settlers, who lately belonged to the Sirius, were doingexceedingly well, but there was reason to fear that great part ofthe marine settlers, when the novelty of their situation was goneoff, would have neither ability nor inclination to improve theportions of ground allotted them: they had already been extremelytroublesome, and the lieutenant-governor had been under thenecessity of imposing heavy fines on two; the first, for beatingthe watch and using inflammatory language, and the second, forcruelly beating a convict woman. 

The convict settlers were all doing very well, and were quiet, attentive, and orderly: they were increased to the number offorty; the whole number of settlers on the island were eighty, and it will be difficult to fix more until the ground is farthercleared. 

A quantity of coral and other testaceous substances, withdifferent kinds of stones, were burnt forty-eight hours, andproduced a very fine white lime, much superior to any lime madeof chalk, and it proved a very tough cement. 

Eighteen convicts, under the direction of an overseer, who isa settler, were employed in making bricks. A bricklayer was muchwanted, as one who was sent in the Queen, died on thepassage. 

Lieutenant-Governor King finding it necessary to discharge Mr. Doridge, the superintendant of convicts at Queensborough, hasappointed Mr. D'arcy Wentworth to succeed him: Mr. Wentworth hadbehaved with the greatest attention and propriety asassistant-surgeon, which duty he still continued to discharge. Mr. W. N. Chapman was appointed store-keeper atPhillipsburgh. 

A corporal and six privates were stationed in a house with agood garden to it, on an eminence commanding Queensborough, and aserjeant and ten men were fixed in a similar situation atPhillipsburgh, and they were kept as separate from the convictsas possible. 

The lieutenant-governor had been under the necessity ofappointing a town-adjutant and inspector of out-posts, and henamed Lieutenant Abbott for these duties; he also establishedrules and regulations for the observance of every person on theisland, and for keeping a night-patrole: a deputy provost-marshalwas also appointed. 

The wreck of the Sirius went to pieces on the 1st of January, 1792, and every thing possible was saved out of her. The sameday, every person on the island went to a reduced allowance ofprovisions, but the fish daily caught was sufficient to serve allthe inhabitants three times over. 

Some of the settlers were permitted to employ the convicts astheir servants, on condition of maintaining them without the aidof the public store; and some of the convicts were allowed towork for themselves, on the same condition. 

It will be absolutely necessary to establish a court ofjustice, as corporal punishments have but little effect; althoughrobberies were confined only to a particular class of convicts, and were by no means general. 

By the 15th of January, two hundred and sixty bushels ofIndian corn were gathered in; a number of acres were then indifferent states of growth, which were likely to yield aboutthree hundred bushels more. The wheat thrashed well, and yieldedplentifully. The granary was finished, and every endeavour wasused to keep the wevil out of it. 

The End