PARLEY TELLS ABOUT NEW SOUTH WALES.
At the termination of the American war, of which I have just given you a
short account, the United States of America, which had been called by
England her American Colonies, ceased to be any longer subject to Great
Britain.
The province of Virginia, in America, had for a long time been the only
authorized outlet for those criminals in Great Britain and Ireland, who
had been sentenced to transportation.
It now became necessary for the English government to fix upon some
other country, to which those of her subjects might be transported,
who were condemned to banishment for their crimes.
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After much deliberation in the British Parliament, it was determined to
form a penal settlement in New South Wales.
If you will look at a globe, or, if you have not a globe, at a map of
the world, turning the South Pole from you, or uppermost, and, supposing
yourself to be in a ship, sail across the Atlantic Ocean till you come
to the Equator, which is an imaginary line that divides the northern
half of the globe from the southern; then "cross the line," as it is
called, and sail along the South Atlantic, in the direction of the coast
of South America, till you arrive at its southern extremity, which you
will see is called Cape Horn; then sailing round Cape Horn, (which is
called doubling Cape Horn), and directing your course westward, right
across the Great Pacific Ocean. After having sailed across these three
great oceans, you will find yourself, if you have a prosperous voyage,
exactly on the opposite side of the globe, and before you, an extensive
chain of large islands, lying off the South-eastern extremity of the
continent of Asia.
This group of islands has been named Australasia, which means Southern
Asia, and the largest of these, which is the largest island in the whole
world, has been called Australia, or New Holland.
This is so large an island, that if you were to divide the whole of
Europe into ten parts, New Holland is as large as nine of them: and
hence, from its great extent, some geographers have dignified it with
the title of a continent.
The northern and western coasts of this vast island were discovered by a
succession of Dutch navigators, who gave them the name of New Holland.
The eastern coast, which has been explored, and taken possession of by
the English, was discovered by Capt. Cook, who gave it the name of New
South Wales.
At the southern extremity of Australia or New Holland, you will see
VAN DIEMEN'S LAND, which was discovered by Tasman, one of the
Dutch navigators, who was sent from Batavia by Anthony Van Diemen, the
Dutch governor-general of the Indies, to survey the coast of New
Holland.
In this voyage Tasman discovered an extensive country lying to the south
of New Holland; in giving a name to which, he immortalized his patron,
by calling it "Van Diemen's Land," having no suspicion at the time that
it was an island.
It was not till the year 1798 that it was discovered to be such; as in
all the old maps and charts it is represented as part of the main land
of New Holland.
This important discovery was effected in an open boat, by Mr. Bass, a
surgeon in the royal navy, who found it to be separated from Australia
by a broad strait, which has ever since borne the name of its
discoverer, "BASS' STRAITS."
A fleet of eleven sail was assembled at Portsmouth in March, 1783, for
the formation of the proposed settlement on the coast of New Holland.
On board of these vessels were embarked 600 male, and 250 female
convicts, with a guard consisting of about 200 soldiers, with their
proper officers. Forty women, wives of the marines, were also permitted
to accompany their husbands, together with their children.
Captain Arthur Phillip, an officer highly qualified in every respect for
the arduous undertaking, was appointed governor of the proposed colony.
The little fleet which was thus placed under the command of Captain
Phillip, and which has ever since been designated by the colonists "_the
first fleet_," set sail from Portsmouth on the 13th of May 1787, and
arrived at Botany Bay, in New South Wales, in January 1788, after a
long, but comparatively prosperous voyage of eight months and upwards.
Captain Phillip soon found, to his disappointment, that Botany Bay was
by no means an eligible harbour; nor was it, in other respects, suitable
for the establishment of a colony, and he determined, even before any
number of the convicts had been permitted to land, to search for a more
eligible site.
In Captain Cook's chart of the coast, another opening had been laid
down, a few miles to the northward of Botany Bay, on the authority of a
seaman of the name of Jackson, who had seen it from the
foretop-mast-head; and Captain Cook, conceiving it to be nothing more
than a harbour for boats, which it was not worth his while to examine,
called it Port Jackson.
It is no wonder that Captain Cook came to this conclusion; for no
opening of any kind can be perceived till you come close in with the
land.
This opening Captain Phillip examined, and the result of that
examination was the splendid discovery of Port Jackson,--one of the
finest harbours, whether for extent or security, in the world.
To this harbour the fleet was immediately removed, and the settlement
was ultimately formed at the head of Sydney Cove, one of the numerous
and romantic inlets of Port Jackson.
The labour and patience required, and the difficulties which the first
settlers must have had to encounter, are incalculable; but their
success has been complete.
The forest has been cleared away, the corn-field and the orchard have
supplanted the wild grass and the bush, and towns and villages have
arisen as if by magic. You may hear the lowing of herds where, a few
years before, you would have trembled at the wild whoop of the savage,
and the stillness of that once solitary shore is broken by the sound of
wheels and the busy hum of commerce.
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