Mortality in April
Appearance and state of the convicts
Ration again reduced
Quantity of flour in store
Settlers
State of transactions with the natives
Indian corn stolen
Public works
Average prices of grain, etc at Sydney, and at Parramatta
Mortality decreases
King's birthday
The _Atlantic_ returns from Bengal
Account received of Bryant and his companions
Ration farther reduced
_Atlantic_ cleared
Sheep-pens at Parramatta attempted
Quality of provisions received from Calcutta
The _Brittania_ arrives from England
Ration increased
A convict emancipated
Public works
May.] The mortality in the last month had been extremely great.
Distressing as it was, however, to see the poor wretches daily dropping
into the grave, it was far more afflicting to observe the countenances
and emaciated persons of many that remained soon to follow their
miserable companions. Every step was taken that could be devised to save
them; a fishery was established at the South Head, exclusively for the
use of the sick, under the direction of one Barton, who had been formerly
a pilot, and who, in addition to this duty, was to board all ships coming
into the harbour and pilot them to the settlement. The different people
who were employed by individuals to kill game were given up for the use
of the hospital; and to stimulate them to exertion, two pounds of flour
in addition to the ration were ordered for every kangaroo that they
should bring, beside the head, one forequarter, and the pluck of the
animal.
The weakest of the convicts were excused from any kind of hard labour;
but it was not hard labour that destroyed them; it was an entire want of
strength in the constitution to receive nourishment, to throw off the
debility that pervaded their whole system, or to perform any sort of
labour whatever.
This dreadful mortality was chiefly confined to the convicts who had
arrived in the last year; of one hundred and twenty-two male convicts who
came out in the _Queen_ transport from Ireland, fifty only were living at
the beginning of this month. The different robberies which were committed
were also confined to this class of the convicts, and the wretches who
were concerned in the commission of them were in general too weak to
receive a punishment adequate to their crimes. Their universal plea was
hunger; but it was a plea that in the then situation of the colony could
not be so much attended to as it certainly would have been in a country
of greater plenty.
The quantity of Indian corn stolen and destroyed this season was not
ascertained, but was supposed to have been at least one sixth of what was
raised. The people employed in bringing it in daily reported that they
found immense piles of the husks and stalks concealed in the midst of
what was standing, having been there shelled and taken off at different
times. This was a very serious loss, and became an object of immediate
consideration in such a scarcity as the colony then experienced; most
anxiously it expected supplies from England, which did not arrive, though
the time had elapsed in which they should have appeared had their
departure taken place at the period mentioned by the secretary of state
(the autumn of last year). His excellency therefore thought it prudent
still farther to abridge the ration of flour which was then issued; and
on the 9th of the month directed the commissary to serve weekly, until
further orders, one pound and an half of flour with four pounds of maize
to each man; and one pound and an half of flour with three pounds of
maize to each woman, and to every child ten years of age; but made no
alteration in the ration of salt provisions.
This ration was to take place on Saturday the 12th; and as maize or
Indian corn was now necessarily become the principal part of each
person's subsistence, hand-mills and querns were set to work to grind it
coarse for every person both at Sydney and at Parramatta; and at this
latter place, wooden mortars, with a lever and a pestle, were also used
to break the corn, and these pounded it much finer than it could be
ground by the hand-mills; but it was effected with great labour.
On comparing this ration with that issued in the month of April 1790, it
will appear that the allowance then received from the public store was in
most respects better than that now ordered. We then received, in addition
to two pounds and a half of flour, two pounds of rice, which taken
together yielded more nutritive substance than the four pounds of maize
and one pound and a half of flour; for the maize when perfectly ground,
sifted, and divested of the unwholesome and unprofitable part, the husk,
would not give more than three pounds of good meal; and the rice was used
by the convicts in a much greater variety of modes than it was possible
to prepare the maize in.
As at this period the flour in store was reduced to a very inconsiderable
quantity, twenty-four days at the new ration (one pound and a half per
week), and the salt provisions at the present ration not affording a
supply for a longer time than three months, it became a melancholy,
although natural reflection, that had not such numbers died, both in the
passage and since the landing of those who survived the voyage, we should
not at this moment have had any thing to receive from the public stores;
thus strangely did we derive a benefit from the miseries of our fellow
creatures!
Several of the settlers who had farms at or near Parramatta,
notwithstanding the extreme drought of the season preceding the saving of
their corn, had such crops that they found themselves enabled to take off
from the public store, some one, and others two convicts, to assist in
preparing their grounds for the next season. The salt provisions with
which they supplied them they procured by bartering their corn for that
article, reserving a sufficiency for the support of themselves and
families, and for seed. Mr. Schaffer from a small patch of ground got in
about two hundred bushels of Indian corn; and with the assistance of four
convicts expected to have thirty acres in cultivation the next season.
But others of the settlers, inattentive to their own interests, and more
desirous of acquiring for the present what they deemed comforts, than
studious to provide for the future, not only neglected the cultivation of
their lands, but sold the breeding stock with which they had been
supplied by order of the governor. Two settlers of the former description
having clearly forfeited their grants, and it being understood that they
did not intend to proceed to cultivation any further than to save
appearances till they could get away, their grants were taken from them,
and other settlers placed on the grounds. But exclusive of the idle
people, of which there were but few, the settlers were found in general
to be doing very well, their farms promising to place them shortly in a
state of independence on the public stores in the articles of provisions
and grain; and it must not be omitted in this account, that they had to
combat with the bad effects of a short and reduced ration nearly the
whole of the time that they had been employed in cultivating ground on
their own account.
Many complaints having been made by the settlers, of depredations
committed on their Indian corn by some of the convicts, it was ordered,
that every convict residing at Parramatta, who should be fully convicted
before a magistrate of stealing Indian corn, should, in addition to such
corporal punishment as he might think it necessary to adjudge, be sent
from Parramatta to the New Grounds, there to be employed in cultivation.
Mr. Richard Atkins, who came out in the Pitt, and who had been sworn a
Justice of the peace, went up to Parramatta to reside there, the constant
presence of a magistrate being deemed by the governor indispensable at
that settlement.
It was soon perceived, that the punishment of being sent from Parramatta
was more dreaded by the convicts than any corporal correction, however
severe, that could have been inflicted on them. The being deprived of a
comfortable hut and garden, and quitting a place whence the communication
with Sydney was frequent, particularly when shipping were in the cove,
operated so powerfully with one offender, who was ordered out to the New
Grounds, that he chose rather to make an attempt to destroy himself than
be sent thither; and had very nearly effected his purpose, having made an
incision in his neck of such depth as to lay bare the carotid artery.
In addition to the depredations of our own people, the natives had for
some time been suspected of stealing the corn at the settlements beyond
Parramatta. On the 18th a party of the tribe inhabiting the woods, to the
number of fifteen or sixteen, was observed coming out of a hut at the
middle settlement, dressed in such clothing as they found there, and
taking with them a quantity of corn in nets. The person who saw them
imagined at first from their appearance that they were convicts; but
perceiving one of them preparing to throw a spear at him, he levelled his
piece, which was loaded with small shot, and fired at him. The native
instantly dropped his spear, and the whole party ran away, leaving behind
them the nets with the corn, some blankets, and one or two spears. It was
supposed that the native was wounded; for in a few days information was
received from Parramatta, that a convict who was employed in well-digging
at Prospect Hill, having come in from thence to receive some slops which
were issued, was on his return met midway and murdered, or rather
butchered by some of the natives. When the body was found, it was not
quite cold, and had at least thirty spear wounds in it. The head was cut
in several places, and most of the teeth were knocked out. They had taken
his clothing and provisions, and the provisions of another man which he
was carrying out to him. The natives with whom we had intercourse said,
that this murder was committed by some of the people who inhabited the
woods, and was done probably in revenge for the shot that was fired at
the natives who some time before were stripping the hut.
Toward the end of the month the corn was all got in and housed at
Parramatta. As the grounds were cleared of the stalks, the depredations
which had been committed became visible; and several of the convicts were
detected by the night-watch in bringing in large quantities of shelled
corn which had been stolen, buried or concealed in the woods, and shelled
as they could find opportunity. Seven bushels were recovered in one night
by the vigilance of the watch; and as different quantities were found
from time to time in the huts, the people who resided in them were all
ordered to the New Grounds.
The works during this month, both at Sydney and at Parramatta, went on
but slowly. At Sydney a tank that would contain about seven thousand nine
hundred and ninety-six gallons of water, with a well in the centre
fifteen feet deep, was finished, and the water let into it. Brick huts
were in hand for the convicts in room of the miserable hovels occupied by
many, which had been put up at their first landing, and in room of others
which, from having been erected on such ground as was then cleared, were
now found to interfere with the direction of the streets which the
governor was laying out. People were also employed in cutting paling for
fencing in their gardens. At Parramatta and the New Grounds, during the
greatest part of the month, the people were employed in getting in the
maize and sowing wheat. A foundation for an hospital was laid, a house
built for the master carpenter, and roofs prepared for the different huts
either building, or to be built in future.
The following were the prices of grain and other articles, as they were
sold during this month at Sydney, and at the market-place at Parramatta.
AT SYDNEY
Flour from 6d to 1s per lb.
Maize per bushel from 12s 6d to 15s.
Laying hens from 7s to 10s each.
Cocks for killing from 4s to 7s each.
Half grown chickens from 2s 6d to 3s 6d each.
Chickens six weeks old 1s each.
Eggs 3s per dozen, or 3d a-piece.
Fresh pork 1s per lb.
Potatoes 3d per lb.
Good white heart cabbages 1d each.
Greens per dozen 6d.
Turnips 6d per dozen.
Sows in pig from £4 10s to £6 6s.
Sows just taken the boar from £3 to £4 4s.
Growing pigs from £1 to £2 10s each.
Sucking pigs 10s each.
Moist sugar from 1s 6d to 2s 6d per lb.
Coffee 2s to 2s 6d per lb.
Salt pork per lb. from 8d to 9d.
Tobacco, Brazil, per lb. from 3s to 5s.
AT PARRAMATTA
Flour 1s per lb.
Maize per bushel from 11s to 13s.
Laying hens from 7s 6d to 10s each.
Cocks for killing from 4s 6d to 5s each.
Chickens two months old 3s each.
Eggs per dozen 3s.
Fresh pork per lb. from 1s 1d to 1s 3d.
Salt pork per lb. from 10d to 1s.
Potatoes per lb. from 3d to 4d.
A lot of cabbages, per hundred 10s.
Tea per lb. from 16s to £1 1s.
Coffee per lb. from 2s to 3s.
Moist sugar from 2s to 2s 6d per lb.
Tobacco grown in the country from 1s 6d to 2s per lb.
Virginia or Brazil from 4s to 6s.
Soap from 1s 6d to 2s 6d per lb.
Cheese from 1s 6d to 2s per lb.
June.] With infinite satisfaction it was observed at the beginning of the
month, that the mortality and sickness among the people had very much
decreased. This was attributed by the medical gentlemen to the quantities
of fresh meat which had been obtained at Parramatta by the people who
were employed to shoot for the hospital; a sufficiency having been
brought in at one time to supply the sick with fresh meat for a week; and
for the remainder of the month in the proportion of twice or three times
a week. Great quantities of vegetables had also been given to those who
were in health, as well as to the sick, both from the public ground at
the farther settlement (which had been sown, and produced some most
excellent turnips) and from the governor's garden.
4th.] The anniversary of his Majesty's birthday was observed with as much
distinction as was in our power. The governor always wished to celebrate
that day in the year in a manner that should render it welcome to all
descriptions of people in the different settlements. Heretofore on the
same occasion he had increased the ration of provisions; but the
situation of the public stores not admitting of such increase at the
present, the commissary was directed to issue on that day half a pint of
rum to each person of the civil and military department, and a quarter of
a pint of rum to each female in the settlement. At noon the New South
Wales corps fired three volleys, and the governor received the
compliments of the day; after which the officers of each department were
entertained by his Excellency at dinner at government-house. Bonfires
were made at night, and the day concluded joyfully, without any
interruption to the peace of the settlement.
The small allowance of spirits which was given for the day to the
convalescents, and to such sick in the hospital as the surgeon judged
proper, being found of infinite service to them, the governor directed
that the surgeon should receive a certain quantity, and at his discretion
issue it from time to time to such sick under his care as he thought
would derive benefit from it; the remainder was ordered to be reserved
for the use of the sloop when it might be necessary to send her to sea.
The spirits at this time in the colony were the surplus of what had been
sent out for his majesty's ship _Sirius_, and the _Supply_ armed tender.
As it had been customary too, on this day, to grant a pardon to such
offenders as might be in custody or under sentence of corporal
punishment, his Excellency was pleased a few days after to release such
convicts as were sentenced to work in irons for a limited time at
Parramatta and the New Grounds, and who were not very notorious
offenders. This lenity was the rather shown at this time, as the
convicts were in general giving proofs of a greater disposition to
honesty than had for some time been visible among them. The convicts at
the New Grounds being assembled for this purpose, the governor
acquainted them, 'that the state of the colony requiring a still farther
reduction in the ration, it would very shortly take place; but that he
hoped soon to have it in his power to augment it. The deficiencies in
the established ration, he informed them, should at a future period be
made up; but in the meantime he expected that every man would continue
to exert himself and get the corn into the ground to insure support for
the next year.' Indeed these exertions became every day more necessary.
On the 6th of this month there was only a sufficiency of flour in store
to serve till the 2nd of July, and salt provisions till the 6th of
August following, at the ration then issued; and neither the _Atlantic_
storeship from Calcutta, nor the expected supplies from England, had
arrived.
Notwithstanding the mortality and sickness which had prevailed among the
convicts who came out in the last ships, much labour had been performed
at the New Grounds by those who were capable of handling the hoe and the
spade. At this time the quantity of ground in wheat, and cleared and
broken up for maize, there and at Parramatta, was such as (if not visited
again by a dry season) would at least, computing the produce even at what
it was the last year, yield a sufficiency of grain for all our numbers
for a twelvemonth. But every one doubted the possibility of getting all
the corn into the ground within the proper time, unless the colony should
be very speedily relieved from its distresses, as the reduction in the
ration would inevitably be followed by a diminution of the daily labour.
On the 20th however, to the inexpressible joy of all ranks of people in
the settlements, the _Atlantic_ storeship anchored safely in the cove,
with a cargo of rice, soujee, and dholl, from Calcutta, having been much
longer performing her voyage than was expected, owing to some delays at
Calcutta, in settling and arranging the contract for the supply of
provisions which had been required. The merchants who, in the year 1790,
had made a tender to supply this colony with certain articles at a
stipulated price, were, from several concurring circumstances, unable to
furnish what was required by Lieutenant Bowen, agreeable to the prices
then stipulated; it was therefore determined by the members of the
council at Calcutta, to whom Lieutenant Bowen delivered his letters and
instructions (Earl Cornwallis, who had, several months previous to his
arrival, been desired by the secretary of state to direct any supplies
which might be required for this settlement, being absent with the army),
to invite offers for supplying the different articles which were required
by contract. Lieutenant Bowen arrived at Calcutta on the 4th of February,
and it was not till the 27th of the following month that the business was
finally arranged, and a contract entered into by the house of Lambert,
Ross, and Co. satisfactory to the council and to Lieutenant Bowen.
It appearing that the flour of Bengal, unless it was dressed for the
purpose, which would have taken a great deal of time, was not of a
quality to keep even for the voyage from Calcutta to this country a large
proportion of rice, of that sort which was said to be the fittest for
preservation, was purchased. A small quantity of flour too was put on
board, but merely for the purpose of experiment. It was called soujee by
the natives, but was much inferior in quality to the flour prepared in
Europe, and more difficult to make into bread.
The _Atlantic_ left Calcutta the 28th of March, and on her passage met
with much bad weather, and some heavy gales of wind. She brought two
bulls and a cow of the Bengal breed, together with twenty sheep and
twenty goats; but these were of so diminutive a species, that, unless the
breed could be considerably improved by that already in the country, very
little benefit was for a length of time to be expected from their
importation. Various seeds and plants also were received from the
company's botanical garden; and much commendation was due to Colonel
Kydd, the gentleman who superintended the selection and arrangement of
them for the voyage; as well as to Lieutenant Bowen, for his care, and
for the accommodation which he gave up, both to them and to the cattle,
in the cabin of the ship.
Information was received by the Calcutta papers of the loss of his
Majesty's ship _Pandora_, Captain Edwards, who had been among the
Friendly islands in search of Christian and his piratical crew, fourteen
of whom he had secured, and was returning with the purpose of surveying
Endeavour Straits pursuant to his instructions, when he unfortunately
struck upon a reef in latitude 23 degrees S eleven degrees only to the
northward of this port. By his boats he providentially reached Timor with
ninety-nine of his officers and people, being the whole of his ship's
company which were saved. At Timor, on his arrival, he found Bryant and
his companions, who made their escape from this place in the fishing
cutter in the night of the 28th of March 1791. These people had framed
and told a plausible tale of distress, of their having been cast away at
sea; and this for a time was believed; but they soon, by their language
to each other, and by practising the tricks of their former profession,
gave room for suspicion; and being taken up, their true characters and
the circumstances of their escape were divulged. The Dutch governor of
Timor delivered them to Captain Edwards, who took them on with him to
Batavia, whence he was to proceed to England. The circumstance of these
people having reached Timor confirmed what was suggested immediately
after their departure, that the master of the snow _Waaksamheyd_ had
furnished Bryant with instructions how to proceed, and with every thing
he stood in need of for his voyage; and it must be remembered, that
though this man, during his stay in this port, had constantly said that
every sort of refreshment was to be procured at Timor, yet when Captain
Hunter, while at sea, proposed to steer for that island, he declared that
nothing was to be got there, and so prevented that officer from going
thither. There cannot be a doubt that, expecting to find his friends at
Timor, he did not choose either to endanger them, or risk a discovery of
the part he had acted in aiding their escape.
Had it not been for the fortunate discovery and subsequent delivery of
these people to a captain of a British man of war, the evident
practicability of reaching Timor in an open boat might have operated with
others to make the attempt, and to carry off boats from the settlements;
which, during the absence of the king's ships belonging to the station,
was never difficult; and it was now hoped, that the certainty of every
boat which should reach that or any other Dutch settlement under similar
circumstances being suspected and received accordingly, would have its
due effect here.
The supply of provisions received by the Atlantic being confined to
grain, it became necessary to reduce the ration of salt meat. It was
therefore ordered on the 21st, that after the Friday following only two
pounds of pork should be issued in lieu of four. The allowance of one
pound and a half of flour and four pounds of maize was continued, but one
pound of rice and one quart of peas were added.
The general order given out on this occasion stated,
That the arrival of ships with further supplies of provisions might be
daily looked for; but as it was possible that some unforeseen accident
might have happened to the ships which were expected to have sailed from
England shortly after the departure of the _Pitt_, it became necessary to
reduce the ration of provisions then issued, in order that the quantity
in store might hold out till the arrival of those ships, which might be
supposed to have sailed for this country about the months of January or
February last; it having been the intention of government that ships
should sail from England for this colony twice in every year. And as all
deficiencies in the ration were to be made good hereafter, the following
extract from the instructions which fixed the ration for the colony was
inserted, viz
Ration for each marine and male convict for seven days successively: 7
pounds of bread, or in lieu thereof 7 pounds of flour; 7 pounds of beef,
or in lieu thereof 4 pounds of pork; 3 pints of peas; 6 ounces of butter;
1 pound of flour, or in lieu thereof half a pound of rice:
Being the same as are allowed his Majesty's troops serving in the
West-India Islands, excepting only the allowance of spirits.
And two thirds of the above ration were directed to be issued to each
woman in the settlement.
So far the general order.
As, however, a sufficient quantity of rice could not be landed in time to
issue on the Saturday, one pound of maize was issued in lieu of the same
quantity of rice.
At this ration the rice and flour or soujee were calculated to last five
months; and the peas or dholl for nearly a twelvemonth. But if the
_Atlantic_ had not arrived, the prospect in the colony would have been
truly dreary and distressing; as it was intended to have issued only one
pound and a half of flour, three pounds of maize, and two pounds of pork
per week, on Saturday the 23rd; a ration that would have derived very
little assistance from vegetables, as at that season of the year the
gardens had scarcely any thing in them. Gloomy and unpromising, however,
as was the situation of the settlements before her arrival, that event,
which happened the very day on which, two years before, the colony had
been relieved by the arrival of the _Justinian_ storeship, cast a gleam
of sunshine which penetrated everyone capable of reflection, and, by
effecting a sudden change in the ideas, operated so powerfully on the
mind, that we all felt alike, and found it impossible to sit for one
minute seriously down to any business or accustomed pursuit.
A black, the same who had secreted himself on board the _Supply_ when she
went to Batavia, having found means to conceal himself on board the
_Atlantic_ on her departure for Calcutta, and to remain concealed until
she had left Norfolk Island, was brought back again to the settlement,
notwithstanding he endeavoured to escape from the ship in the Ganges. As
it appeared that he had served the term for which he was sentenced to be
transported even before he got off on board the _Atlantic_, of which
Lieutenant Bowen had only his assertion, no punishment was inflicted upon
him, and he was left at liberty to get away in any ship that would
receive him on board.
The little live stock that was received by the _Atlantic_ was landed at
Parramatta directly after her arrival, and placed in an inclosure
separated from the others.
About two hundred and fifty gallons of Bengal rum having been received,
the governor directed, that in consequence of the ration being reduced,
that quantity, together with what was in store, and had been intended for
the use of the sloop at a future time, should be issued to the civil and
military, reserving a proportion for those at Norfolk Island.
The flag-staff which had been erected at the South Head under the
direction of Captain Hunter, in the month of January 1790, being found
too short to show the signal at any great distance, a new one was taken
down the harbour, and erected the day the _Atlantic_ arrived, within a
few feet of the other; its height above ground was sixty feet.
It was not found that the return of the _Atlantic_ had caused any
diminution in the price of grain or stock, either at Parramatta or at
Sydney. At this latter place a market had been established for the sale
of grain, fish, or poultry, similar to that at Parramatta; a clerk being
appointed to superintend it, and take account of the different articles
brought for sale, to prevent the barter of goods stolen by the convicts.
On the last day of the month, some natives residing at the south shore of
Botany Bay, whether from a hope of reward, or from actually having seen
some ships at a distance, informed the governor that a few days before
they had perceived four or five sail, one of which they described to be
larger than the others, standing off the land, with a westerly wind.
Little credit was however given to their report.
July.] As the merchants who supplied the provisions received by the
_Atlantic_ were only to be paid for such part of the cargo as was
actually landed, and found to be in a merchantable condition, it became
necessary to weigh and survey the whole of the cargo; for which purpose
two surveyors were appointed by the governor. This of course proved a
very tedious business, from the weakness of the gangs at Sydney. Seldom
more than four hundred bags, each bag containing one hundred and
sixty-four pounds, were at first landed in a day; latterly, this number
was by great exertions got up to somewhat more than five hundred in a
day. It was not, however, till the 21st of the month that she was
cleared.
Having discharged her cargo, she began the serious labour of ballasting,
and it being wished to expedite her preparations for Norfolk Island, her
ship's company were assisted with twelve convicts from the settlement,
and the occasional use of such boats as could be spared to convey the
ballast to the ship. The governor was anxious to learn the state of that
dependency, not having heard from it since the return of the _Queen_
transport early in the last December.
The maize being all got in, it was hoped that the convicts would not find
any new object for their depredations, and that order and tranquillity
would for a time at least be restored among them. But the houses of
individuals soon became their prey, and three or four daring burglaries
were committed this month: I say daring burglaries, as the houses which
were broken into were either within the view of a sentinel, or within the
round of a watchman. This, however, must not be otherwise understood than
as a proof of the perseverance and cunning of these people, who could
find means to elude any vigilance that was opposed to their designs. An
attempt to steal some of the sheep at Parramatta was also made by two
notorious offenders, who, from being deemed incorrigible, were not
included in the pardon which the governor granted to the wretches in
irons after his Majesty's birthday, but were ordered to be chained
together for some longer time. Being fortunately overheard by the person
who lived in the inclosure, and had the care of the stock, he snapped a
piece at them, and, finding it miss fire, gave an alarm to the watch, by
whose activity they were apprehended two miles from the place. They were
provided with every thing necessary for their design, such as a tomahawk,
an iron kettle, knives, spoons, platters, and a quantity of vegetables.
It was found, that with the assistance of the tomahawk they had divided
the chain that linked them together, and had secured round the leg the
iron that remained with each, so as not to be heard when they moved.
The different species of provisions which had been received from Calcutta
were not much esteemed by the people. The flour or soujee, from our not
knowing the proper mode of preparing it for bread, soon became sour,
particularly if not assisted with some other grain; the dholl, or peas,
were complained of as boiling hard, and not breaking, though kept on the
fire for a greater length of time than the impatience of those who were
to use it would in general admit of; and the rice, though termed the best
of the cargo, was found to be full of husks, and ill dressed. Some pork
also, of which eight casks had been sent as an experiment, was, on being
issued, found to be for the most part putrid, and, in the language of
surveyors of provisions, not fit for men to eat. These circumstances,
together with the extreme minuteness of the Bengal breed of cattle,
excited a general hope, that these settlements would not have to depend
upon that country for supplies. To the parent country every one anxiously
looked for a speedy and substantial assistance; and day after day used to
pass in a fruitless hope that the morrow would come accompanied with the
long wished-for arrival of ships.
The natives who lived among us assured us from time to time, that the
report formerly propagated of ships having been seen on the coast had a
foundation in reality; and as every one remembered that the _Justinian_,
after making the heads of Port Jackson, had been kept at sea for three
weeks, a fond hope was cherished that the sun had shone upon the whitened
sails of some approaching vessel, which had been discovered by the
penetrating eyes of our savage neighbours at Botany Bay. In this anxiety
and expectation we remained till the 26th, when the long-wished-for
signal was made, and in a few hours after the _Britannia_ storeship,
Mr. William Raven master, anchored in the cove, after a passage of
twenty-three weeks from Falmouth, having sailed from thence on the 15th
of last February, the day after the arrival of the _Pitt_ in this country.
The _Britannia_ was the first of three ships that were to be dispatched
hither, having on board twelve months clothing for the convicts, four
months flour, and eight months beef and pork for every description of
persons in the settlements, at full allowance, calculating their numbers
at four thousand six hundred and thirty-nine, which it was at home
supposed they might amount to after the arrival of the _Pitt_. It was
still a matter of uncertainty in England, even at the departure of the
_Britannia_, whether the merchants of Calcutta had supplied this country
with provisions; and under the idea that some circumstance might have
prevented them, this supply was ordered to be forwarded. The _Kitty_
transport, one of the three ships which were to contain these supplies,
had sailed from Deptford, at the time the _Britannia_ passed through the
Downs; her arrival therefore might be daily expected, and in her, or on
board of the other ship, it was imagined that fifteen families of
Quakers, who had made proposals to government to be received in this
country as settlers, were to take their passage.
It was with great pleasure heard in the colony, that some steps had been
taken toward prosecuting Donald Trail, the master of the _Neptune_
transport, for his treatment of the convicts with which he sailed from
England for this settlement in the year 1790. The sickness and mortality
which prevailed among them excited a suspicion that they had been
improperly treated; and information upon oath was soon procured of many
acts of neglect, ill usage, and cruelty toward them.
In the consequence of the arrival of the _Britannia_, the commissary was
on the following day directed to issue, _until further orders_, the
following weekly ration, viz to each man 4 pounds of maize, 3 pounds of
soujee, 7 pounds of beef, or in lieu thereof 4 lbs. of pork, 3 pints of
peas or dholl, and ½ a pound of rice.
Two thirds of the man's ration was directed to be issued to each woman
and to every child above ten years of age; one half of the man's ration
to each child above two, and under ten years of age; and one fourth of
the man's ration to each child under two years of age.
Thus happily was the colony once more put upon something like a full
ration of provisions; a change in our situation that gave universal
satisfaction, as at the hour of the arrival of the _Britannia_ there were
in the public store only twenty-four days salt provisions for the
settlement at the ration then issued. A delay of a month in her voyage
would have placed the colony in a state that must have excited the
commiseration of its greatest enemies; a vast body of hard-working people
depending for their support upon one pound and a half of soujee, or bad
Bengal flour, four pounds of maize, one pound of rice, and one quart of
peas for one man per week, without one ounce of meat! But with this new
ration all entertained new hopes, and trusted that their future labours
would be crowned with success, and that the necessity of sending out
supplies from the mother country until the colony could support itself
without assistance would have become so evident from the frequency of our
distresses and the reduction of the ration, that the journalist would no
longer have occasion to fill his page with comparisons between what we
might have been and what we were; to lament the non arrival of supplies;
nor to paint the miseries and wretchedness which ensued; but might adopt
a language to which he might truly be said to have been hitherto a
stranger, and paint the glowing prospects of a golden harvest, the
triumph of a well-filled store, and the increasing and consequent
prosperity of the settlements.
His excellency this month thought fit to exercise the power vested in him
by act of parliament, and by his Majesty's commission under the great
seal, of remitting either wholly, or in part, the term for which felons
might be transported, by granting an absolute remission of the term for
which Elizabeth Perry had been sentenced. This woman came out in the
_Neptune_ in 1790, and had married James Ruse a settler. The good conduct
of the wife, and the industry of the husband, who had for some time
supported himself, his wife, a child, and two convicts, independent of
the public store, were the reasons assigned in the instrument which
restored her to her rights and privileges as a free woman, for extending
to her the hand of forgiveness.
This power, so pleasing to the feelings of its possessor, had hitherto
been very sparingly exercised; and those persons who had felt its
influence were not found to have been undeserving. I speak only of such
convicts as had been deemed proper objects of this favour by the governor
himself; the convicts, however, who came out in the _Guardian_ were
emancipated by the King's command, and of these by far the greater part
conducted themselves with propriety.
Preparing roofs for new barracks, bringing in bricks to the spot
appointed for their construction, and discharging the _Atlantic_ and the
_Britannia_, were the principal works in hand at Sydney during the month.
At the settlements beyond Parramatta (which had lately obtained and were
in future to be distinguished by the name of Toongabbie) the convicts
were employed in preparing the ground for the reception of next year's
crop of maize. At and near Parramatta, the chief business was erecting
two houses on allotments of land which belonged to Mr. Arndell the
assistant surgeon, and to John Irving (one of those persons whose
exemplary conduct and meritorious behaviour both in this country and on
the passage to it had been rewarded with unconditional freedom by the
governor), each of whom had been put in possession, the former of sixty
and the latter of thirty acres of land on the creek leading to
Parramatta; erecting chimneys for the different settlers at the ponds,
preparing roofs for various buildings, sawing timber, cutting posts and
railing for inclosures, and hoeing and preparing ground for maize.