January 1788
Removal from Botany Bay--Arrival of two French ships--Account of
them--Preparations for encampment--Difficulties--Scurvy breaks out--Account
of the red and yellow gum trees.
24 January 1788
Preparations for a general removal were now made with all convenient
expedition: but on the morning of the 24th the greatest astonishment was
spread throughout the fleet by the appearance of two ships, under French
colours. In this remote region visitors from Europe were very little
expected, and their arrival, while the cause of it remained unknown,
produced in some minds a temporary apprehension, accompanied by a
multiplicity of conjectures, many of them sufficiently ridiculous.
Governor Phillip was the first to recollect that two ships had been sent
out some time before from France for the purpose of discovery, and
rightly concluded these to be the same. But as the opposition of the
wind, and a strong current prevented them at present from working into
the harbour, and even drove them out of sight again to the south, he did
not think proper to delay his departure for the sake of making further
enquiry.
25 January 1788
On the 25th of January therefore, seven days after the arrival of the
Supply, Governor Phillip quitted Botany Bay in the same ship, and sailed
to Port Jackson. The rest of the fleet, under convoy of the Sirius, was
ordered to follow, as soon as the abatement of the wind, which then blew
a strong gale, should facilitate its working out of the Bay. The Supply
was scarcely out of sight when the French ships again appeared off the
mouth of the harbour, and a boat was immediately sent to them, with
offers of every kind of information and assistance their situation could
require. It was now learnt that these were, as the Governor had supposed,
the Boussole and the Astrolabe, on a voyage of discovery, under the
conduct of Monsieur La Perouse.
26 January 1788
On the 26th, the transports and store ships, attended by the Sirius,
finally evacuated Botany Bay; and in a very short time they were all
assembled in Sydney Cove, the place now destined for their port, and for
the reception of the new settlement. The French ships had come to anchor
in Botany Bay just before the departure of the Sirius; and during the
intercourse which then took place, M. la Perouse had expressed a strong
desire of having some letters conveyed to Europe. Governor Phillip was no
sooner informed of this, than he dispatched an officer to him with full
information of the time when it was probable our ships would sail, and
with assurances that his letters should be punctually transmitted. By
this officer the following intelligence was brought back concerning the
voyage of the Astrolabe and Boussole.
These vessels had sailed from France in June 1785. They had touched at
the Isle of Santa Catharina on the coast of Brasil, from thence had gone
by the extremity of South America into the Pacific Ocean, where they had
run along by the coasts of Chili and California. They had afterwards
visited Easter Island, Nootka Sound, Cook's River, Kamschatka, Manilla,
the Isles des Navigateurs, Sandwich and the Friendly Islands. M. la
Perouse had also anchored off Norfolk Island, but could not land, on
account of the surf. In this long voyage he had not lost any of his
people by sickness; but two boats crews had unfortunately perished in a
surf on the north-west coast of America; and at Masuna, one of the Isles
des Navigateurs, M. L'Angle, Captain of the Astrolabe, had met with a
fate still more unfortunate. That officer had gone ashore with two long
boats for the purpose of filling some water casks. His party amounted to
forty men, and the natives, from whom the French had received abundance
of refreshments, and with whom they had been uniformly on the best terms,
did not on their landing show any signs of a change of disposition.
Malice unprovoked, and treachery without a motive, seem inconsistent even
with the manners of savages; the French officers therefore, confiding in
this unbroken state of amity, had suffered their boats to lie aground.
But whether it were that the friendly behaviour of the natives had
proceeded only from fear, or that some unknown offence had been given,
they seized the moment when the men were busied in getting out the boats,
to make an attack equally furious and unexpected. The assault was made
with stones, of which prodigious numbers were thrown with extraordinary
force and accuracy of direction. To this treachery M. L'Angle fell a
sacrifice, and with him twelve of his party, officers and men, the
long-boats were destroyed, and the remainder of those who had gone ashore
escaped with difficulty in their small boats. The ships in the mean time
were under sail, and having passed a point of land that intercepted the
view, knew nothing of this melancholy and unaccountable affray till the
boats returned. This fatal result from too implicit a confidence, may,
perhaps very properly, increase the caution of Europeans in their
commerce with savages, but ought not to excite suspicion. The resentments
of such people are sudden and sanguinary, and, where the intercourse of
language is wanting, may easily be awakened by misapprehension: but it
seems possible to treat them with sufficient marks of confidence, without
abandoning the guards of prudence. Offence is often given by the men,
while the officers are most studious to preserve harmony, and against the
transports of rage which arise on such occasions, it is always necessary
to be prepared. Perhaps, also, a degree of awe should always be kept up,
even to preserve their friendship. It has been uniformly remarked by our
people, that defenceless stragglers are generally ill-treated by the
natives of New South Wales, while towards parties armed and on their
guard, they behave in the most amicable manner.
The debarkation was now made at Sydney Cove, and the work of clearing the
ground for the encampment, as well as for the storehouses and other
buildings, was begun without loss of time. But the labour which attended
this necessary operation was greater than can easily be imagined by those
who were not spectators of it. The coast, as well as the neighbouring
country in general, is covered with wood; and though in this spot the
trees stood more apart, and were less incumbered with underwood than in
many other places, yet their magnitude was such as to render not only the
felling, but the removal of them afterwards, a task of no small
difficulty. By the habitual indolence of the convicts, and the want of
proper overseers to keep them to their duty, their labour was rendered
less efficient than it might have been.
26 January 1788
In the evening of the 26th the colours were displayed on shore,
and the Governor, with several of his principal officers and others,
assembled round the flag-staff, drank the king's health, and success
to the settlement, with all that display of form which on such occasions
is esteemed propitious, because it enlivens the spirits, and fills
the imagination with pleasing presages. From this time to the end
of the first week in February all was hurry and exertion. They who
gave orders and they who received them were equally occupied; nor
is it easy to conceive a busier scene than this part of the coast
exhibited during the continuance of these first efforts towards
establishment. The plan of the encampment was quickly formed, and places
were marked out for every different purpose, so as to introduce, as much
as possible, strict order and regularity. The materials and frame work to
construct a slight temporary habitation for the Governor, had been
brought out from England ready formed: these were landed and put together
with as much expedition as the circumstances would allow. Hospital tents
were also without delay erected, for which there was soon but too much
occasion. In the passage from the Cape there had been but little
sickness, nor had many died even among the convicts; but soon after
landing, a dysentery prevailed, which in several instances proved fatal,
and the scurvy began to rage with a virulence which kept the hospital
tents generally supplied with patients. For those afflicted with this
disorder, the advantage of fish or other fresh provisions could but
rarely be procured; nor were esculent vegetables often obtained in
sufficient plenty to produce any material alleviation of the complaint.
In the dysentery, the red gum of the tree which principally abounds on
this coast, was found a very powerful remedy. The yellow gum has been
discovered to possess the same property, but in an inferior degree.
The tree which yields the former kind of gum is very considerable in
size, and grows to a great height before it puts out any branches. The
red gum is usually compared to that called sanguis draconis, but differs
from it by being perfectly soluble in water, whereas the other, being
more properly a resin, will not dissolve except in spirits of wine. It
may be drawn from the tree by tapping, or taken out of the veins of the
wood when dry, in which it is copiously distributed. The leaves are long
and narrow, not unlike those of a willow. The wood is heavy and fine
grained, but being much intersected by the channels containing the gum,
splits and warps in such a manner as soon to become entirely useless;
especially when worked up, as necessity at first occasioned it to be,
without having been properly seasoned.
The yellow gum as it is called, is strictly a resin, not being at all
soluble in water; in appearance it strongly resembles gamboge, but has
not the property of staining. The plant that produces it is low and
small, with long grassy leaves; but the fructification of it shoots out
in a singular manner from the centre of the leaves, on a single straight
stem, to the height of twelve or fourteen feet. Of this stem, which is
strong and light, like some of the reed class, the natives usually make
their spears; sometimes pointing them with a piece of the same substance
made sharp, but more frequently with bone. The resin is generally dug up
out of the soil under the tree, not collected from it, and may perhaps be
that which Tasman calls "gum lac of the ground." The form of this plant
is very exactly delineated in the annexed plate, and its proportion to
other trees may be collected from the plate, entitled, A View in New
South Wales, in which many of this species are introduced.
The month of February was ushered in by a very violent storm of thunder
and rain. The lightning struck and shivered a tree, under which a shed
had been erected for some sheep, and five of those animals were at the
same time unfortunately destroyed by it. The encampment still went on
with great alacrity, so that in the beginning of this month the work of
building public storehouses was undertaken; and unremitting diligence
began, though very gradually, to triumph over the obstacles which the
nature of the place presented.