The _Salamander_ sails for, and the _Mary Ann_ arrives from Norfolk Island
Bondel, a native, returns
A seaman, for sinking a canoe, punished
The _Gorgon_ arrives
Commission of emancipation, and public seal
The _Active_ and _Queen_ arrive
Complaints against the master of the _Queen_
_Supply_ ordered home
_Albemarle_ arrives
Mutiny on board
_Britannia_ and _Admiral Barrington_ arrive
Future destination of the transports
The _Atlantic_ and _Queen_ hired
_Atlantic_ sails for Bengal
_Salamander_ returns from Norfolk Island
Transactions
Public works
Suicide
September.] It became necessary to land the cargo brought out in the
_Salamander_, for the purpose of restowing it in a manner convenient for
getting it out at Norfolk Island while the ship was under sail. The great
inconvenience attending landing a cargo in such a situation had been
pointed out in letters which could not yet have been attended to. It was
at the same time suggested, that ships should be freighted purposely for
Norfolk Island, with casks and bales adapted to the size of the island
boats, which would in a great measure lessen the inconvenience above
mentioned.
On the 3rd, near two hundred male convicts, with a sergeant's party of
the New South Wales corps, some stores and provisions, having been put on
board the _Salamander_, she sailed for Norfolk Island the following
morning: and the _Mary Ann_ returned from that settlement on the 8th,
having been absent only four weeks and two days. The convicts, troops,
stores, and provisions, were all landed safely; but an unexpected surf
rising at the back of the reef, filling the only boat (a Greenland
whale-boat) which the master took with him, she was dashed upon the reef,
and stove; the people, who all belonged to the whaler, fortunately saved
themselves by swimming.
From Norfolk Island we learned, that the crops of wheat then in the
ground promised well, having been sown a month earlier than those of the
last season. Of the public ground ninety acres were in wheat, and one
hundred in Indian corn: of the ground cleared by the convicts, and
cultivated by themselves for their own maintenance, there were not less,
at the departure of the transport, than two hundred and fifty acres.
Bondel, a native boy, who went thither with Captain Hill, to whom he was
attached, in the month of March last, came back by this conveyance to his
friends and relations at Port Jackson. During his residence on the
island, which Mr. Monroe said he quitted reluctantly, he seemed to have
gained some smattering of our language, certain words of which he
occasionally blended with his own.
Some prisoners having been sent from Norfolk Island, the criminal court
was assembled on the 15th for the trial of one of them for a capital
offence committed there; but for want of sufficient evidence he was
acquitted. Great inconvenience was experienced from having to send
prisoners from that island with all the necessary witnesses. In the case
just mentioned the prosecutor was a settler, who being obliged to leave
his farm for the time, the business of which was necessarily suspended
until he could return, was ruined: and one of the witnesses was in nearly
the same situation. But as the courts in New South Wales would always be
the superior courts, it was not easy to discover a remedy for these
inconveniences.'
A seaman of one of the transports having been clearly proved to have
wantonly sunk a canoe belonging to a native, who had been paddling round
the ship, and at last ventured on board, he was ordered to be punished,
and to give the native a complete suit of wearing apparel, as a
satisfaction for the injury he had done him, as well as to induce him to
abandon any design of revenge which he might have formed. The corporal
punishment was however afterwards remitted, and the seaman ordered to
remain on board his ship while she should continue in this port.
Some of the soldiers who came out in the _William and Ann_ transport
having exhibited complaints against the master, whom they accused of
assaulting and severely beating them during the passage, the affair was
investigated before three magistrates, and a fine laid upon the master,
which he paid.
On Wednesday the 21st his Majesty's ship _Gorgon_ of forty-four guns,
commanded by Captain John Parker, anchored within the heads of the
harbour, reaching the settlement the following morning, and anchoring
where his Majesty's late ship _Sirius_ used to moor.
The _Gorgon_ sailed from England on the 15th of March last, touching on
her passage at the islands of Teneriffe and St. Iago, and at the Cape of
Good Hope, where she remained six weeks, taking in three bulls,
twenty-three cows, sixty-eight sheep, eleven hogs, two hundred fruit
trees, a quantity of garden seed, and other articles for the colony.
Unfortunately, the bulls and seven of the cows died; but a bull calf,
which had been produced on board, arrived in good condition.
Six months provisions for about nine hundred people, with stores for his
Majesty's armed tender the _Supply_, and for the marine detachment, were
sent out in the _Gorgon_; wherein also was embarked Mr. King, the late
commandant of Norfolk Island, now appointed by his Majesty
lieutenant-governor of that settlement, and a commander in the navy;
together with Mr. Charles Grimes, commissioned as a deputy
surveyor-general to be employed at Norfolk Island; the chaplain and
quarter-master of the New South Wales corps, and Mr David Burton, a
superintendant of convicts.
By this ship we received a public seal to be affixed to all instruments
drawn in his Majesty's name, and a commission under the great seal
empowering the governor for the time being to remit, either absolutely or
conditionally, the whole or any part of the term for which felons, or
other offenders, should have been or might hereafter be transported to
this country. Duplicates of each pardon were to be sent to England, for
the purpose of inserting the names of the persons so emancipated in the
first general pardon which should afterward issue under the great seal
of the kingdom.
To deserving characters, of which description there were many convicts in
the colony, a prospect of having the period of their banishment
shortened, and of being restored to the privilege which by misconduct
they had forfeited, had something in it very cheering, and was more
likely to preserve well intentioned men in honest and fair pursuits, than
the fear of punishment, which would seldom operate with good effect on a
mind that entertained no hope of reward for propriety of conduct. The
people with whom we had to deal were not in general actuated by that nice
sense of feeling which draws its truest satisfaction from self
approbation; they looked for something more substantial, something more
obvious to the external senses.
In determining the device for the seal of the colony, attention had been
paid to its local and peculiar circumstances. On the obverse were the
king's arms, with the royal titles in the margin; on the reverse, a
representation of convicts landing at Botany Bay, received by Industry,
who, surrounded by her attributes, a bale of merchandise, a beehive, a
pickaxe, and a shovel, is releasing them from their fetters, and pointing
to oxen ploughing and a town rising on the summit of a hill, with a fort
for its protection. The masts of a ship are seen in the bay. In the
margin are the words _Sigillum. Nov. Camb. Aust._; and for a motto _'Sic
fortis Etruria crevit.'_ The seal was of silver; its weight forty-six
ounces and the devices were very well executed.
The cattle were immediately landed, and turned into the inclosures which
had been prepared for them. One cow died in the boat going up.
The remaining transports of the fleet were now dropping in. On the 26th
the _Active_ from England, and the _Queen_ from Ireland, with convicts of
that country arrived and anchored in the cove. On board of the _Active_,
beside the sergeant's guard, were one hundred and fifty-four male
convicts. An officer's party was on board the _Queen_, with one hundred
and twenty-six male and twenty-three female convicts and three children.
These ships had been unhealthy, and had buried several convicts in their
passage. The sick which they brought in were landed immediately; and many
of those who remained, and were not so ill as to require medical
assistance, were brought on shore in an emaciated and feeble condition,
particularly the convicts from the _Active_. They in general complained
of not having received the allowance intended for them; but their
emaciated appearance was to be ascribed as much to confinement as to any
other cause. The convicts from the _Queen_, however, accusing the master
of having withheld their provisions, an inquiry took place before the
magistrates, and it appeared beyond a doubt, that great abuses had been
practised in the issuing of the provisions; but as to the quantity
withheld, it was not possible to ascertain it so clearly, as to admit of
directing the deficiency to be made good, or of punishing the parties
with that retributive justice for which the heinousness of their offence
so loudly called; the proceedings of the magistrates were therefore
submitted to the governor, who determined to transmit them to the
secretary of state.
Nothing could have excited more general indignation than the treatment
which these people appeared to have met with; for, what crime could be
more offensive to every sentiment of humanity, than the endeavour, by
curtailing a ration already not too ample, to derive a temporary
advantage from the miseries of our fellow-creatures!
By the arrival of these ships several articles of comfort were introduced
among us, there being scarcely a vessel that had not brought out
something for sale. It could not, however, be said that they were
procurable on easier terms than what had been sold here in the last year.
The Spanish dollar was the current coin of the colony, which some of
the masters taking at five shillings and others at four shillings and
six-pence, the governor, in consideration of the officers having been
obliged to receive the dollars at five shillings sterling when given for
bills drawn in the settlement, issued a proclamation fixing the currency
of the Spanish dollar at that sum.
The _Supply_ was now carefully surveyed, when it appeared, that her
defects were such as to render it by no means difficult to put her into a
state that would enable her to reach England; but that if she remained
six months longer in this country, she would become wholly unserviceable.
It was therefore determined to dispatch her immediately to England.
Timber had with infinite labour been procured for her main-mast, and her
other repairs were put in train for her sailing hence in the course of
the next month.
October.] The remainder of the transports expected did not arrive until
the middle of October. The _Albermarle_ was off the coast some days,
being prevented by a southerly current from getting in. She arrived on
Thursday the 13th, with two hundred and fifty male and six female
convicts, her proportion of stores and provisions, and one sergeant, one
corporal, one drummer, and twenty privates of the new corps.
The convicts of this ship had made an attempt, in conjunction with some
of the seamen, to seize her on the 9th of April, soon after she had
sailed from England; and they would in all probability have succeeded,
but for the activity and resolution shown by the master Mr. George Bowen,
who, hearing the alarm, had just time to arm himself with a loaded
blunderbuss, which he discharged at one of the mutineers, William Syney
(then in the act of aiming a blow with a cutlass at the man at the
wheel), and lodged its contents in his shoulder. His companions, seeing
what had befallen him, instantly ran down below; but the master, his
officers, and some of the seamen of the ship, following them, soon
secured the ringleaders, Owen Lyons and William Syney. A consultation was
held with the naval agent, Lieutenant Robert Parry Young, the ship's
company, and the military persons on board, the result of which was, the
immediate execution of those two at the fore-yard arm. They had at this
time parted company with the other transports, and no other means seemed
so likely to deter the convicts from any future attempt of the like
nature. It afterwards appearing that two of the seamen had supplied them
with instruments for sawing off their irons, these were left at the
island of Madeira, where the _Albermarle_ touched, to be sent prisoners
to England.
On the day following the _Britannia_ arrived, with one hundred and
twenty-nine male convicts, stores, and provisions on board; and on the
16th the _Admiral Barrington_, the last of the ten sail of transports,
anchored in the cove. This ship had been blown off the coast, and fears
were entertained of her safety, as she left the cape with a crippled
main-mast and other material defects. She had on board a captain and a
party of the New South Wales corps, with two hundred and sixty-four male
convicts, four free women, and one child. She had been unhealthy too,
having lost thirty-six convicts in the passage, and brought in
eighty-four persons sick, who were immediately landed. Her stores and
proportion of provisions were the same as on board of the other ships.
The whole number of convicts now received into the colony, including
thirty on board the _Gorgon_, were, male convicts one thousand six
hundred and ninety-five; female convicts one hundred and sixty-eight; and
children nine. There were also eight free women (wives of convicts) and
one child; making a total number of one thousand eight hundred and
eighty-one persons, exclusive of the military. Upwards of two hundred
convicts, male and female, did not reach the country.
Of the ten sail of transports lately arrived, five, after delivering
their cargoes, were to proceed on the southern whale fishery, viz the
_Mary Ann_, _Matilda_, _William and Ann_, _Salamander_, and _Britannia_.
Melville, the master of the _Britannia_, conceiving great hopes of
success on this coast from the numbers of spermaceti whales which he saw
between the south cape and this port, requested to be cleared directly on
his coming in, that he might give it a trial; and, the governor
consenting, his ship was ready by the 22nd (a week after her arrival),
and sailed on the 24th with the other whalers.
The _Queen_, _Atlantic_, _Active_, _Albemarle_, and _Admiral Barrington_,
after being discharged from government employ, were to proceed to Bombay,
by consent of the East India Company, and load home with cotton upon
private account under the inspection of the company's servants at that
settlement, provided the cotton should be afterwards sold at the
company's sales, subject to the usual expenses (their duty only
excepted), and provided the ships did not interfere with any other part
of the company's exclusive commerce*.
[* Notwithstanding this provision, which was expressed more at large in
the licence given by the company, and which extended to the prohibition
of every article except the stores and provisions put on board by
government, there was on board of these ships a very large quantity of
iron, steel, and copper, intended for sale at a foreign settlement in
India, with the produce of which they were to purchase the homeward-bound
investment of cotton.]
The quantity of provisions received by these ships being calculated for
the numbers on board of each for nine months only after their arrival,
and as, so large a body of convicts having been sent out, it was not
probable that we should soon receive another supply, the governor judged
it expedient to send one of the transports to Bengal, to procure
provisions for the colony; for which purpose he hired the _Atlantic_ at
fifteen shillings and sixpence per ton per month. In the way thither she
was to touch at Norfolk Island, where lieutenant-governor King, with some
settlers, was to be landed; and the _Queen_ transport was hired for the
purpose of bringing back lieutenant-governor Ross, and the marine
detachment serving there, relieved by a company of the New South Wales
corps.
On the 25th, the anniversary of his Majesty's accession to the throne, a
salute of twenty-one guns was fired by the _Gorgon_, and the public dinner
given on the occasion at the government-house was served to upwards of
fifty officers, a greater number than the colony had ever before seen
assembled together.
The following morning the _Atlantic_ sailed for Norfolk Island and
Calcutta. For the first of these places, she had on board
Lieutenant-Governor King and his family; Captain Paterson of the New
South Wales corps (lately arrived in the _Admiral Barrington_); Mr.
Balmain, the assistant-surgeon, sent to relieve Mr. Considen; the Rev.
Mr. Johnson, who voluntarily visited Norfolk Island for the purpose of
performing those duties of his office which had hitherto been omitted
through the want of a minister to perform them; twenty-nine settlers
discharged from the marines; several male and female convicts, and some
few settlers from that class of people.
At Calcutta, Lieutenant Bowen, who was continued in his employment of
naval agent, was to procure a cargo of flour and peas, in the proportion
of two tons of flour to one ton of peas; and was for that purpose
furnished with letters to the merchants who had made proposals to Lord
Cornwallis to supply the colony, the governor meaning for that reason to
give their house the preference.
The _Salamander_ had returned from Norfolk Island, where every person and
article she had on board were safely landed. By letters received thence,
we learned that it was supposed there had formerly been inhabitants upon
the island, several stone hatchets, or rather stones in the shapes of
adzes, and others in the shapes of chisels, having been found in turning
up some ground in the interior parts of the island. Lieutenant-Governor
King had formerly entertained the same supposition from discovering the
banana tree growing in regular rows.
It was not to be doubted but that the tranquillity and regularity of our
little town would in some degree be interrupted by the great influx of
disorderly seamen who were at times let loose from the transports. Much
less cause of complaint on this score, however, arose than was expected.
The port orders, which were calculated to preserve the peace of the
place, were from time to time enforced; and on one occasion ten seamen
belonging to the transports were punished for being found in the
settlement after nine o'clock at night.
At Parramatta, whither the greatest part of the convicts lately arrived
had been sent, petty offences were frequently committed, and the constant
presence of a magistrate became daily more requisite. The convicts at
that place were chiefly employed in opening some new ground at a short
distance from the settlement.
The foundation of a new storehouse was begun this month at Sydney, on the
spot where the redoubt had hitherto stood; which, since the construction
of the platform near the magazine on the east point of the cove, had been
pulled down, and the mould removed into the garden appropriated to
government-house. This, and clearing the transports, formed the principal
labour at Sydney.
On the last day of this month, James Downey was found hanging in his hut.
The cause of this rash action was said to have been the dread of being
taken up for a theft which, according to some intimation he had received,
was about to be alleged against him. He came out in the first fleet, had
served his term of transportation, had constantly worked as a labourer in
the bricklayers gang, and was in general considered as a harmless fellow.
From Parramatta two convicts were missing, and were said to be killed by
the natives.