Neutral Bay
Smallpox among the natives
Captain Hunter in the _Sirius_ returns with supplies from the Cape of
Good Hope
Middleton Island discovered
Danger of wandering in the forests of an unknown country
Convicts
The King's birthday kept
Convicts perform a play
A reinforcement under Lieutenant Cresswell sent to Norfolk Island
Governor Phillip makes an excursion of discovery
Transactions
Hawkesbury River discovered
Progress at Rose Hill
Important papers left behind in England
April.] The governor thinking it probable that foreign ships might again
visit this coast, and perhaps run into this harbour for the purpose of
procuring refreshments, directed Mr. Blackburn to survey a large bay on
the north shore, contiguous to this cove; and a sufficient depth of water
being found, his excellency inserted in the port orders, that all foreign
ships coming into this harbour should anchor in this bay, which he named
Neutral Bay, bringing Rock Island to bear SSE and the hospital on the
west side of Sydney Cove to bear SW by W.
Early in the month, and throughout its continuance, the people whose
business called them down the harbour daily reported, that they found,
either in excavations of the rock, or lying upon the beaches and points
of the different coves which they had been in, the bodies of many of the
wretched natives of this country. The cause of this mortality remained
unknown until a family was brought up, and the disorder pronounced to
have been the smallpox. It was not a desirable circumstance to introduce
a disorder into the colony which was raging with such fatal violence
among the natives of the country; but the saving the lives of any of
these people was an object of no small importance, as the knowledge of
our humanity, and the benefits which we might render them, would, it was
hoped, do away the evil impressions they had received of us. Two elderly
men, a boy, and a girl were brought up, and placed in a separate hut at
the hospital. The men were too far overcome by the disease to get the
better of it; but the children did well from the moment of their coming
among us. From the native who resided with us we understood that many
families had been swept off by this scourge, and that others, to avoid
it, had fled into the interior parts of the country. Whether it had ever
appeared among them before could not be discovered, either from him or
from the children; but it was certain that they gave it a name
(gal-gal-la); a circumstance which seemed to indicate a preacquaintance
with it.
The convicts, among other public works, were now employed in forming a
convenient road on the west side from the hospital and landing-place to
the storehouses; and in constructing a stable at Farm Cove, with some
convenient out-houses for stock.
May.] Of the native boy and girl who had been brought up in the last
month, on their recovery from the smallpox, the latter was taken to live
with the clergyman's wife, and the boy with Mr. White, the surgeon, to
whom, for his attention during the cure, he seemed to be much attached.
While the eruptions of this disorder continued upon the children, a
seaman belonging to the _Supply_, a native of North America, having been
to see them, was seized with it, and soon after died; but its baneful
effects were not experienced by any white person of the settlement,
although there were several very young children in it at the time.
From the first hour of the introduction of the boy and girl into the
settlement, it was feared that the native who had been so instrumental in
bringing them in, and whose attention to them during their illness
excited the admiration of every one that witnessed it, would be attacked
by the same disorder; as on his person were found none of those traces of
its ravages which are frequently left behind. It happened as the fears of
every one predicted; he fell a victim to the disease in eight days after
he was seized with it, to the great regret of every one who had witnessed
how little of the savage was found in his manner, and how quickly he was
substituting in its place a docile, affable, and truly amiable
deportment.
6th.] After an absence of seven months and six days, to the great
satisfaction of every one, about five in the evening his Majesty's ship
_Sirius_ anchored in the cove from the Cape of Good Hope. Captain Hunter
sailed from this port on the 2nd of October 1788, and, during the space
which had elapsed between his departure and his return, had
circumnavigated the globe. He made his passage by Cape Horn, arriving on
the 2nd of last January at the Cape of Good Hope, from which place he
sailed on the 20th of the following month. Off the southern extremity of
this country the _Sirius_ met with a gale of wind, when so close in with
the land that it was for some time doubtful whether she would clear it.
In this gale she received considerable damage; the head of the ship, the
figure of the Duke of Berwick, was torn from the cutwater, and she was
afterwards found to have been very much weakened.
The _Sirius_ brought 127,000 weight of flour for the settlement, and a
twelvemonth's provisions for her ship's company; but this supply was not
very flattering, as the short space of four months, at a full ration,
would exhaust it. It was, however, very welcome, and her return seemed to
have gladdened every heart. Eager were our inquiries after intelligence
from that country from which we had been now two years divided, and to
whose transactions we were entire strangers. With joy, mingled with
concern that we were not personal sharers in the triumph, did we hear of
our country's successful efforts in the cause of the Stadtholder, and of
the noble armaments which our ministers had fitted out to support it. We
trusted, however, that while differently employed, our views were still
directed to the same object; for, though labouring at a distance, and in
an humbler scene, yet the good, the glory, and the aggrandizement of our
country were prime considerations with us. And why should the colonists
of New South Wales be denied the merit of endeavouring to promote them,
by establishing civilization in the savage world; by animating the
children of idleness and vice to habits of laborious and honest industry;
and by showing the world that to Englishmen no difficulties are
insuperable?
We heard with concern that Lieutenant Shortland was near five months in
reaching Batavia in the _Alexander_, in which ship he sailed from this
port on the 14th of last July, in company with the _Friendship_,
_Borrowdale_, and _Prince of Wales_. From this ship and the _Borrowdale_
he parted company very shortly after leaving our harbour; they proceeded
round Cape Horn, to Rio de Janeiro, where in last December they were left
lying ready for sea. The _Alexander_ and _Friendship_ proceeding to the
northward kept company together as far as the island of Borneo, where,
the crews of both ships being so much reduced by the scurvy (the
_Alexander_ had buried seventeen of her seamen) that it was impossible to
navigate both vessels against the strong currents which they met with,
and the western monsoon which had then set in, both ships were brought to
an anchor, and most of the _Friendship's_ stores, with all her people,
being taken out and received on board the _Alexander_, she was scuttled
and sunk. When the Alexander arrived at Batavia, she had, of both ship's
crews, but one man who was able to go aloft.
Lieutenant Shortland, in his letter, noticed some discoveries which he
had made; particularly one of an extensive and dangerous shoal, which
obtained the name of Middleton Shoal, and was reckoned to be in the
latitude of 29 degrees 20 minutes South, and in the longitude of 158
degrees 40 minutes East. He had also discovered an island, which he
placed in the latitude of 28 degrees 10 minutes South, and in the
longitude of 159 degrees 50 minutes East, and named Sir Charles Middleton
Island: his other discoveries, not being so immediately in the vicinity
of this territory, were not likely to be of any advantage to the
settlement; but it was of some importance to it to learn that an
extensive reef was so near, and to find its situation ascertained to be
in the track of ships bound from hence to the northward; for if Sir
Charles Middleton Island should hereafter be found to possess a safe and
convenient harbour, it might prove an interesting discovery for this
colony.
A Dutch ship, bound for Europe, sailing from the Cape of Good Hope on the
9th of last January, Captain Hunter took that opportunity of forwarding
the dispatches with which he had been charged by Governor Phillip. He was
informed by the master of the _Harpy Whaler_, who had put into Table Bay,
that in England there had been a general anxiety to hear of our safety
and arrival in this country, and that ships to be taken up had been
advertised for, but had not been engaged, as the government waited for
accounts from Governor Phillip.
Of these accounts it was hoped that ministers had been some time in
possession, and that in consequence supplies were at this hour on their
passage to New South Wales.
Our attention was now directed to receiving from the _Sirius_ the
provisions she had brought us; and as the flour had been packed in bags
at the Cape of Good Hope, the coopers were immediately employed in
setting up and preparing casks for its reception on shore. These being
soon completed, the flour was landed and deposited in the store. This,
with the building and covering-in of a new hut for the smith's work,
formed the principal labour of the convicts at Sydney during this month.
The boats in the colony not being found sufficient for the purpose of
transporting provisions from the store at Sydney to the settlement at
Rose Hill, a launch or hoy was put upon the stocks, under the direction
of Mr. Reid, the carpenter of the _Supply_, to be employed for that and
other necessary purposes. She was to be built of the timber of the
country, and to carry ten tons.
From that settlement, early in the month, two soldiers of the detachment
doing duty there were reported to be missing; and, though parties had
been sent out daily in different directions to seek for them, yet all was
unavailing. It was supposed that they must have lost their way in some of
the thick and almost impenetrable brushes which were in the vicinity of
Rose Hill, and had there perished miserably. They had gone in search of
the sweet tea plant already mentioned; and perhaps when they resigned
themselves to the fate which they did not see how to avoid, oppressed
with hunger, and unable to wander any farther, they may have been but a
short distance from the relief they must so earnestly have desired. A dog
that was known to have left the settlement with them reached Rose Hill,
almost famished, nine days after they had left it. The extreme danger
attendant on a man's going beyond the bounds of his own knowledge in the
forests of an unsettled country could no where be more demonstrable than
in this. To the westward was an immense open track before him, in which,
if unbefriended by either sun or moon, he might wander until life were at
an end. Most of the arms which extended into the country from Port
Jackson and the harbour on each side of Port Jackson, were of great
length, and to round them without a certain and daily supply of
provisions was impossible*.
[* In many of these arms, when sitting with my companions at my ease in a
boat, I have been struck with horror at the bare idea of being lost in
them; as, from the great similarity of one cove to another, the
recollection would be bewildered in attempting to determine any relative
situation. It is certain, that if destroyed by no other means, insanity
would accelerate the miserable end that must ensue.]
To guard as much as possible against these accidents every measure which
could be suggested was adopted. A short time after the settlement was
established at Rose Hill, the governor went out with some people in a
direction due South, and caused a visible path to be made; that if any
person who had strayed beyond his own marks for returning, and knew not
where he was, should cross upon his path, he might by following it have a
chance of reaching the settlement; and orders were repeatedly given to
prohibit straggling beyond the limits which were marked and known.
Toward the end of the month, some convicts having reported that they had
found the body of a white man lying in a cove at a short distance from
the settlement, a general muster of the convicts at Sydney was directed;
but no person was unaccounted for except Caesar, an incorrigibly stubborn
black, who had absconded a few days before from the service of one of the
officers, and taken to the woods with some provisions, an iron pot, and a
soldier's musket, which he had found means to steal.
Garden robberies, after Caesar's flight, were frequent, and some leads
belonging to a seine being stolen, a reward of a pardon was held out to
any of the accomplices on discovering the person who stole them; and the
like reward was also offered if, in five days, he should discover the
person who had purchased them; but all was without effect. It was
conjectured that they had been stolen for the purpose of being converted
into shot by some person not employed or authorized to kill the game of
this country.
The weather during the latter part of this month was cold;
notwithstanding which a turtle was seen in the harbour.
June 4.] The anniversary of his Majesty's birthday, the second time of
commemorating it in this country, was observed with every distinction in
our power; for the first time, the ordnance belonging to the colony were
discharged; the detachment of marines fired three volleys, which were
followed by twenty-one guns from each of the ships of war in the cove;
the governor received the compliments due to the day in his new house, of
which he had lately taken possession as the government-house of the
colony, where his excellency afterwards entertained the officers at
dinner, and in the evening some of the convicts were permitted to perform
Farquhar's comedy of the Recruiting Officer, in a hut fitted up for the
occasion. They professed no higher aim than 'humbly to excite a smile,'
and their efforts to please were not unattended with applause.
In addition to the steps taken by the commandant of Norfolk Island for
his internal security, the governor thought an increase of his military
force absolutely necessary. Accordingly, the day after his Majesty's
birthday, Lieutenant Creswell, with fourteen privates from the detachment
of marines, embarked on board the _Supply_ for Norfolk Island; and at the
same time he received a written order from his excellency to take upon
himself the direction and execution of the authority vested in Mr. King,
in the event of any accident happening to that officer, until a successor
should be formally appointed and sent from hence.
The _Supply_, on her return from Norfolk Island, was to visit the island
seen by Lieutenant Shortland, and laid down by him, in the latitude of 28
degrees 10 minutes South. She was also to cruise for the shoal seen by
that officer, and stated to be in the latitude of 29 degrees 20 minutes
South, and for the shoal seen by Mr. Blackburn, the south end of which
lay in the latitude of 29 degrees 25 minutes South; all of which, if the
observations of both officers were equally correct, would, it was
supposed, be found contiguous to each other. Lieutenant Ball was directed
to land upon the island, if landing should be found practicable; and to
determine, if he could, the extent and situation of the shoals.
On these services the _Supply_ sailed the 6th of this month; on which day
the governor set off with a party on a second excursion to Broken Bay, in
the hope of being able, from the head of that harbour, to reach the
mountains inland. His excellency returned to the settlement on the
evening of the 16th, having discovered a capacious freshwater river,
emptying itself into Broken Bay, and extending to the westward. He was
compelled to return without tracing it to its source, not having a
sufficient quantity of provisions with him; but immediately made the
necessary preparations for returning to finish his examination of it; and
set off on that design with an increased party, and provisions for
twenty-one days, on Monday the 29th.
Caesar, being closely attended to, was at length apprehended and secured.
This man was always reputed the hardest working convict in the country;
his frame was muscular and well calculated for hard labour; but in his
intellects he did not very widely differ from a brute; his appetite was
ravenous, for he could in any one day devour the full ration for two
days. To gratify this appetite he was compelled to steal from others, and
all his thefts were directed to that purpose. He was such a wretch, and
so indifferent about meeting death, that he declared while in
confinement, that if he should be hanged, he would create a laugh before
he was turned off, by playing off some trick upon the executioner.
Holding up such a mere animal as an example was not expected to have the
proper or intended effect; the governor therefore, with the humanity that
was always conspicuous in his exercise of the authority vested in him,
directed that he should be sent to Garden Island, there to work in
fetters; and in addition to his ration of provisions he was to be
supplied with vegetables from the garden.
The _Sirius_ had, in the gale of wind which she met with off Tasman's
Head, sustained much more damage, and was, upon inspection, found to have
been weakened much more than was at first conjectured. This was the more
unfortunate, as, from the nature of our situation, many important
services were yet to be rendered by her to the colony. It became,
therefore, a matter of public concern to have her damages repaired and
the ship strengthened as expeditiously and as efficaciously as our
abilities would admit. A convenient retired cove on the north shore being
fixed on for the purpose of a careening cove, she dropped down and took
possession of it toward the latter end of the month. She could have been
refitted with much ease at Sydney; but there was no doubt that the work
necessary to be done to her would meet with fewer interruptions, if the
people who were engaged in it were removed from the connections which
seamen generally form where there are women of a certain character and
description.
The gang under the direction of the overseer employed at the brick fields
had hitherto only made ten thousand bricks in a month. A kiln was now
constructed in which thirty thousand might be burnt off in the same time,
which number the overseer engaged to deliver.
The carpenter of the _Supply_, who had undertaken the construction of the
hoy, being obliged to proceed with that vessel on her going to sea, the
direction of the few people employed upon her was left with the carpenter
of the _Sirius_ during his absence.
July 14.] The governor returned from his second visit to the river, which
he named the Hawkesbury, in honor of the noble lord at the head of the
committee of council of trade and plantations. He traced the river to a
considerable distance to the westward, and was impeded in his further
progress by a shallow which he met with a short distance above the hill
formerly seen, and then named by him Richmond Hill, to the foot of which
the course of the Hawkesbury conducted him and his party. They were
deterred from remaining any time in the narrow part of the river, as they
perceived evident traces of the freshes having risen to the height of
from twenty to forty feet above the level of the water. They represented
the windings of the river as beautiful and picturesque; and toward
Richmond Hill the face of the country appeared more level and open than
in any other part. The vast inundations which had left such tokens behind
them of the height to which they swell the river seemed rather
unfavourable for the purpose of settling near the banks, which otherwise
would have been convenient and desirable, the advantages attending the
occupation of an allotment of land on the margin of a fresh-water river
being superior to those of any other situation. The soil on the banks of
the river was judged to be light; what it was further inland could not be
determined with any certainty, as the travellers did not penetrate to any
distance, except at Richmond Hill, where the soil appeared to be less
mixed with sand than that on the branches.
During the governor's absence the sail-maker of the _Sirius_ had strayed
into the woods about the cove where she was repairing, and, not knowing
the country, wandered so far that he could not find his way back to the
ship. Fortunately for him, the governor, on his return from Broken Bay,
met with him in the north arm of this harbour, but so weakened by hunger
and fatigue, as to have all the appearance of intoxication when first
discovered and spoken to, and in a situation so remote from a probability
of assistance, that perhaps a few days more would have fixed the period
of his existence.
On visiting the settlement at Rose Hill, the convicts were all found
residing in very good huts, apparently under proper regulations, and
encouraged to work in the gardens, which they had permission to cultivate
during those hours which were not dedicated to public labour. A barrack
for the soldiers was erected in the small redoubt which had been
constructed, and in which also stood the provision store. Some ground had
been opened on the other side of the stream of water which ran into the
creek, where a small house had been built for the superintendant Dodd,
under whose charge were to be placed a barn and granaries, in which the
produce of the ground he was then filling with wheat and barley was to be
deposited. The people of all descriptions continued very healthy; and the
salubrity of the climate rendered medicine of little use.
Notwithstanding little more than two years had elapsed since our
departure from England, several convicts about this time signified that
the respective terms for which they had been transported had expired, and
claimed to be restored to the privileges of free men. Unfortunately, by
some unaccountable oversight, the papers necessary to ascertain these
particulars had been left by the masters of the transports with their
owners in England, instead of being brought out and deposited in the
colony; and as, thus situated, it was equally impossible to admit or to
deny the truth of their assertions, they were told to wait until accounts
could be received from England; and in the mean time by continuing to
labour for the public, they would be entitled to share the public
provisions in the store. This was by no means satisfactory, as it
appeared that they expected an assurance from the governor of receiving
some gratuity for employing their future time and labour for the benefit
of the settlement. One of these people having, in the presence of his
excellency, expressed himself disrespectfully of the lieutenant-governor,
he was brought before a criminal court and tried for the same, of which
offence being found guilty, he was sentenced to receive six hundred
lashes, and to wear irons for the space of six months.
It must be acknowledged, that these people were most peculiarly and
unpleasantly situated. Conscious in their own minds that the sentence of
the law had been fulfilled upon them, it must have been truly distressing
to their feelings to find that they could not be considered in any other
light, or received into any other situation, than that in which alone
they had been hitherto known in the settlement.
In the infancy of the colony, however, but little was to be gained by
their being restored to the rights and privileges of free people, as no
one was in possession of such abundance as to afford to support another
independent of the public store. Every man, therefore, must have wrought
for his provisions; and if they had been gratified in their expectation
of being paid for their labour, the price of provisions in this country
would certainly have been found equal, if not superior, to any value they
could have set upon their time and labour for the public. As these
considerations must have offered themselves to the notice of many good
understandings which were among them, it was rather conjectured, that the
dissatisfaction which evidently prevailed on this subject was set on foot
and fomented by some evil-designing spirits and associates in former
iniquities. The governor, however, terminated this business for the
present, by directing the judge-advocate to take the affidavits of such
persons as would make oath that they had served the term prescribed by
the law, and by recommending them to work for the public until some
information was received from government on that head.
The observatory which was erected on our first landing being found small
and inconvenient, as well for the purpose of observing as for the
residence of Lieutenant Dawes and the reception of the astronomical
instruments, the stone-cutters began preparing stone to construct
another, the materials for which were found in abundance upon the spot,
the west point of the cove.