The Spanish ships sail
The _Chesterfield_ returns from Norfolk Island
A contract entered into for bringing cattle from India to this country
Provisions embarked on board the Bengal ship for Norfolk Island
The _Daedalus_ arrives
Cattle lost
Discoveries by Captain Vancouver
Two natives of New Zealand brought in
Bengal ship sails
Phenomenon in the sky
The hours of labour and ration altered
Lead stolen
Detachment at Parramatta relieved
Accident at that settlement
Lands cleared by officers
Mutiny on board the _Kitty_
The _Kitty_ sails for England
His Majesty's birthday
State of the provision store
The _Britannia_ arrives
Loss of cattle
General account of cattle purchased, lost in the passage, and landed in
New South Wales
Natives
April.] The Spanish officers having nearly completed the astronomical
observations which the commodore thought it necessary to make in this
port, that officer signified his intention of shortly putting to sea on
the further prosecution of the instructions and orders which he had
received from his court. Previous to their departure, however, the
lieutenant-governor, with the officers of the settlement and of the
corps, were entertained first on board the _Descuvierta_, and the next
day on board the _Atrevida_, the lieutenant-governor being each day
received with a salute of nine guns, with the Spanish flag hoisted on the
foretopmast-head, being the compliment that is paid in the Spanish
service to a lieutenant-general. The dinner was prepared and served up
after their own custom, and bore every appearance of having been
furnished from a plentiful market.* The healths of our respective
sovereigns, being united in one wish, were drank with every token of
approbation, under a discharge of cannon; and 'Prosperity to the British
colonies in New South Wales' concluded the ceremonials of each day.
[* A small cow from Monterrey was sacrificed on the occasion]
The commodore presented the lieutenant-governor with two drawings of this
settlement, and one of Parramatta, done in Indian ink, by F. Brambila;
together with a copy of the astronomical observations which had been made
at the observatory, and at Parramatta. From these it appeared that the
longitude of the observatory which they had erected at the Point, deduced
from forty-two sets of distances of the sun and moon, taken on the
morning of the 2nd of this month, was 151 degrees 18 minutes 8 seconds E
from Greenwich; and the latitude, 33 degrees 51 minutes 28 seconds S. The
latitude of the governor's house at Parramatta was 33 degrees 48 minutes
0 seconds S; and the distance west from the observatory about nineteen
miles.
The commodore left a packet with dispatches for the Spanish ambassador at
the court of London, to be forwarded by the first ship which should
depart hence direct for England; and on the 12th both ships sailed. Their
future route was never exactly spoken of by them; but, from what the
officers occasionally threw out, it appeared that they expected to be in
Europe in about fourteen months from their departure. They spoke of
visiting the Society and Friendly Islands, and of proceeding again to the
coast of South America.
As it had been the general wish to render the residence of these
strangers among us as pleasant as our situation would allow, we received
with great satisfaction the expressions of regret which they testified at
their departure, a regret that was at least equally felt on our part. Our
society was very small; we could not therefore but sensibly feel the
departure of these gentlemen, who united to much scientific knowledge
those qualities of the heart which render men amiable in society; and the
names of Malaspina, Bustamante, Tova, Espinosa, Concha, Cevallos,
Murphy*, Robredo, Quintano, Viana, Novales, Pineda**, Bauza, Heencke***,
Nee***, Ravenet****, and Brambila****, were not likely to be soon
forgotten by the officers of this settlement. During their stay here, the
greatest harmony subsisted between the seamen of the two ships and our
people, the latter in but few instances exercising their nimble-fingered
talents among them; such, however, as did choose to hazard a display, and
were detected, were severely punished.
[* This gentleman was of Irish extraction.]
[** Brother of D. A. Pineda.]
[*** The botanists.]
[**** The limner, and landscape-painter.]
A few days before these ships left us, the _Chesterfield_ returned (after
an absence of only thirty days) from Norfolk Island, where she landed
safely every thing she had on board for that settlement. Mr. Alt anchored
for some days in Cascade Bay, where Governor King had constructed a
wharf, and had hopes of making the landing more convenient that could
ever be practicable at Sydney Bay. This was truly a desideratum, as few
ships had gone to this island without having in the course of their stay
either been blown off, or been in some danger on the shore. It was
understood that scarcely any thing less than a miracle could have saved
the _Kitty_ from being wrecked on a rock just off the reef.
The master of the _Shah Hormuzear_ having laid before the
lieutenant-governor some proposals for bringing cattle to this country,
they were taken into consideration; and as the introducing cattle into
the colony was a most desirable object, and Bengal had been pointed out
as the settlement from which they were to be procured, after some days a
contract was entered into between Mr. Bampton on his own part, and the
lieutenant-governor on behalf of the crown, wherein it was covenanted,
that Mr. Bampton should freight at some port in India a ship with one
hundred head of large draught cattle; one hundred and fifty tons of the
best provision rice, and one hundred and fifty tons of dholl, both
articles to be equal in quality to samples then produced and approved of,
and one hundred tons of the best Irish cured beef or pork; or, in lieu of
the salt provisions, fifty tons of rice. For the cattle, it was
covenanted on the part of the crown that Mr. Bampton should receive at
the rate of thirty-five pounds sterling per head for all that he should
land in a merchantable condition in the colony; for the rice he was to be
paid twenty-six pounds sterling, and for the dholl eighteen pounds
sterling, for every merchantable ton which should be landed; and, lastly,
for the salt provisions he was to receive four-pence halfpenny per pound
for all that should be landed in proper condition. In this contract there
were several conditions and restrictions, and the master was bound in one
thousand five hundred pounds penalty to fulfil them.
The lieutenant-governor, wishing to send a supply to Norfolk Island
sufficient to place that settlement, as far as depended upon him, in a
comfortable state in point of provisions, engaged the _Shah Hormuzear_ to
carry two hundred and twenty tons of provisions thither for the sum of
£220; and the quantity now sent, added to what the _Kitty_ and
_Chesterfield_ had already conveyed, insured to Governor King provisions
for more than twelve months for all his people at the full ration.
Mr. Bampton engaging the _Chesterfield_ to carry some part of these
provisions, both ships began taking them in, and by the 19th had quitted
the cove, intending to sail the following morning; but the signal being
made for a sail at daylight, they waited to see the event.
At the close of the evening of the 10th the _Daedalus_ storeship anchored
in the cove, from the north-west coast of America. The _Daedalus_ left
England with a cargo of provisions and stores, consisting chiefly of
articles of traffic, for the use of the vessels under the command of
Captain Vancouver, whom she joined at Nootka Sound on the north-west
coast of America, and it was designed that she should, after delivering
her cargo, be dispatched to this colony with such stock as she might be
able to procure from the different islands whereat she might touch, and
be afterwards employed as the service might require, should Captain
Vancouver not make any application for her return; which was thought
probable, as well as that he might require some assistance from the
colony.
Captain Vancouver, after taking out as much of the cargo as could be
received on board the vessels under his command, dispatched her according
to his orders, although not so early as he could have wished, owing to
particular circumstances; and he was now obliged to send with her a
requisition for the remainder of the provisions and stores being returned
to him, together with a certain quantity of provisions from the colony;
the whole to be dispatched from hence so as to join him either at Nootka,
or some of the Sandwich islands, in the month of October next.
The agent Lieutenant Richard Hergist, who left England in this ship, was
unfortunately killed, together with a Mr. Gootch (an astronomer, on his
way to join Captain Vancouver) and one seaman, at Wahool one of the
Sandwich Islands, where they touched to procure refreshments. Captain
Vancouver had replaced this officer, by Lieutenant James Hanson, of the
_Chatham_ armed-tender, who now arrived in the ship.
On board of the _Daedalus_ were embarked at Monterrey, a Spanish
settlement at a short distance from Nootka, six bulls, twelve cows, six
rams, and eight ewes; and at Otaheite, Lieutenant Hanson took on board
upwards of one hundred hogs (most of them, unluckily, barrows) of all
which stock four sheep and about eighty hogs only survived the passage.
The loss of the cattle was attributed to their having been caught wild
from the woods, and put on board without ever having tasted dry food. The
major part of the hogs, apparently of a fine breed, arrived in very poor
condition.
Lieutenant Hanson, having touched at the northernmost island of New
Zealand, brought away with him two natives of that country, having
received directions to that effect for the purpose of instructing the
settlers at Norfolk Island in the manufacture of the flax plant. They
were both young men, and, as they arrived before the departure of the
_Shah Hormuzear_, the lieutenant-governor determined to send them at once
to Norfolk Island.
Captain Vancouver transmitted by Lieutenant Hanson a chart and drawings
of a spacious harbour, which he discovered on the southwest coast of this
country, and which he named King George the Third's Sound. Its situation
was without the line prescribed as the boundary of the British
possessions in this country, being in the latitude of 35 degrees 05
minutes 30 seconds South, and longitude 118 degrees 34 minutes 0 seconds
E. He also sent an account of the discovery of a dangerous cluster of
rocks, which he named the Snares, the largest of which was about a league
in circuit, and lay in latitude 48 degrees 03 minutes S and longitude 166
degrees 20 minutes East, bearing from the South-end of New Zealand S 40
degrees W true, twenty leagues distant; and from the southernmost part of
the Traps (rocks discovered by Captain Cook) S 67½ degrees W true, twenty
leagues distant. The largest of these rocks, which was the highest and
the northeasternmost, might be seen in clear weather about eight or nine
leagues: the whole cluster was composed of seven barren rocks, extending
in a direction about N 70 degrees E and S 70 degrees W true, occupying
the space of about three leagues.
The _Chatham_, being separated in a gale of wind from the _Discovery_,
fell in with an island, which was named 'Chatham Island,' and along the
north-side of which she sailed for twelve leagues. Its inhabitants much
resembled the natives of New Zealand, and it was situated in latitude 43
degrees 48 minutes S and longitude 183 degrees 02 minutes East.
We learned from Lieutenant Hanson, that the _Matilda_ whaler, which
sailed hence in the latter end of the year 1791, on her fishing voyage,
was wrecked on a reef in 22 degrees South latitude, and 138 degrees 30
minutes West longitude. The master and people reached Otaheite, from
whence some were taken by an American vessel, and some by Captain Bligh
of the Providence. Five sailors only remained on the island, with one
runaway convict from this place, when the _Daedalus_ touched there in her
route hither, and of that number one sailor only could be prevailed on to
quit it.
We had now the satisfaction of learning that Captain Bligh had sailed for
Jamaica in July last, with ten thousand breadfruit plants on board in
fine order; having so far accomplished the object of this his second
mission to that island.
The natives from New Zealand having been put on board the _Shah
Hormuzear_ at the last moment of her stay in port, Lieutenant Hanson
remaining with them until the ship was without the Heads, she sailed,
together with the _Chesterfield_, on the 24th.
Mr. Bampton purposed making his passage to India through the straits at
the south end of New Guinea, known by the name of Torres Straits. Captain
Hill, of the New South Wales corps, took his passage to England by the
way of India with Mr. Bampton.
But few convicts were allowed to quit the colony in these ships; four men
and one woman only, whose terms of transportation were expired, being
received on board.
Gray, who had absconded from the hospital in February last, made his
appearance about the latter end of this month at Toongabbie, where he was
detected in stealing Indian corn.
Richard Sutton was stabbed with a knife in the belly by one Abraham
Gordon, at the house of a female convict, on some quarrel respecting the
woman, and at a time when both were inflamed with liquor. In the struggle
Sutton was also dangerously cut in the arm; and when the surgeon came to
dress him, he found six inches of the omentum protruding at the wound in
his belly. Gordon was taken into custody.
Some people were taken up at Parramatta on suspicion of having murdered
one of the watchmen belonging to that settlement; the circumstances of
which affair one of them had been overheard relating to a fellow convict,
while both were under confinement for some other offence. A watchman
certainly had been missing for some time past; but after much inquiry and
investigation nothing appeared that could furnish matter for a criminal
prosecution against them.
A soldier, who had been sentenced by a court-martial to receive three
hundred lashes, on being led out to receive his punishment, attempted to
cut his throat, wounding himself under the ear with a knife. The
punishment was put off until the evening, when he declared that he was
the person who killed the watchman at Parramatta, which he effected by
shooting him; and that he would lead any one to the place where the body
lay. This, however, not preventing his receiving as much of his
punishment as he could bear, he afterwards declared that he knew nothing
of the murder, and had accused himself of perpetrating so horrid a crime
solely in the hope of deferring his punishment.
The natives, who now and then showed themselves about the distant
settlements, toward the latter end of the month wounded a convict who was
taking provisions from Parramatta to a settler at Prospect Hill. The
wound was not dangerous; but it occasioned the loss of the provisions
with which he was entrusted.
The rains of this month came too late to save the Indian corn of the
season, which now wore a most unpromising appearance. A grain had been
lately introduced into the settlement, and grown at Toongabbie, and other
places, which promised to answer very well for stock. It was the caffre
corn of Africa, and had every appearance of proving a useful grain.
An extraordinary appearance in the sky was observed by several people
between five and six o'clock in the evening of Friday the 12th of this
month. It was noticed in the north-west, and appeared as if a ray of
forked lightning had been stationary in that quarter of the sky for about
fifteen minutes, which was the time it was visible. It was not to be
discerned, however, after the sun had quitted the horizon.
May.] The days being considerably shortened, and the weather having
lately been bad, it became necessary to alter the hours of labour. On the
first of May, therefore, the lieutenant-governor directed that the
convicts employed in cultivation, those employed under the master
bricklayer, and those who worked at the brick carts and timber carriages,
should labour from seven in the morning until ten, rest from that time
until three in the afternoon, and continue at their work till sunset. The
carpenters, whose business mostly lay within doors, and who were
therefore not exposed to the weather, were directed to work one hour more
in the afternoon, beginning at one instead of two o'clock.
On the 4th the weekly ration was altered, the male convicts receiving
(instead of seven) four pounds of flour, to which were added four pounds
of wheat and four pounds of maize; the allowance of salt provisions
continued the same; but, the oil being expended, six ounces of sugar were
issued in lieu of that article. The wheat was that received from Bengal,
and the maize was issued the first week shelled, but unground; on the
second the people received it in the cob, getting six pounds in that
state in lieu of four shelled. This was unquestionably a good ration, and
when a sufficient number of mills were put up to grind the maize and the
wheat, the people themselves allowed it to be so.
With a ration that they admitted to be a good one, with about six hours
labour during five days of the week, and with the advantages of gardens
and good huts, the situation of the convicts might at this period be
deemed comfortable, and such as precluded all excuse for misconduct.
Garden robberies were, notwithstanding, often committed at Sydney; and at
the other settlements the maize which was still in the field suffered
considerable depredation.
A distinction was made in the ration served to the civil and military,
they receiving weekly six instead of eight pounds of flour, two pounds of
wheat, and four pounds of maize _per_ man.
About the middle of the month the weather was remarkably bad. In the
forenoon of the 15th a report was spread, in the midst of a most violent
squall of wind and rain, that a ship was coming in. The wind having blown
from the southward for some days before favoured the story, and, every
one who heard it believing it to be true, the town was soon in motion
notwithstanding the storm; for, although it was not so rare as it had
been to hear of a ship, yet there was always something cheering and
grateful, and perhaps ever will be, in entertaining the idea that our
society was perhaps about to be increased, and that we were on the point
of receiving intelligence from our connections, or information of what
was doing in that world from which we felt ourselves almost severed. On
this occasion, however, we were disappointed; for, on the return of a
boat which had been sent to the South Head, we were informed that the
signal had not been made, nor a ship seen to occasion it. But we had been
well trained in New South Wales to meet and endure disappointment!
On the night of this day, during the very heavy rain which fell, some
person or persons found means to take off, undiscovered by the sentinel
at the store on the east side, five hundred weight of sheet lead, which
had been landed from the _Daedalus_, and rolled to the storehouse door,
where, being an article not likely from its weight to become an easy
object of depredation, it was supposed to be perfectly safe. A very
diligent search was made, but without success; and it remained
undiscovered until the 27th, when a seaman belonging to the _Kitty_
transport, on the ebbing of a spring tide, perceived it lying on the
shore at low-water mark, opposite to the spot where the _Daedalus_ lay at
anchor. From this circumstance suspicion fell upon the people belonging
to that ship; but as any design they could have in stealing it was not
very obvious it was more probable that some of the convicts had dropped
it there for the purpose of secreting it till a future day, when it would
have been got up, and cast into shot for those who are allowed to kill
game.
About the end of the month the detachment of the New South Wales corps on
duty at Parramatta was relieved. The party that remained there was placed
under the command of Lieutenant Macarthur, the officer charged with the
direction of the civil duties of that settlement. The relief took place
by land, the party from Sydney marching up in about seven hours, and that
from Parramatta arriving at their quarters in Sydney in something more
than six. The computed distance by land is between seventeen and eighteen
miles.
On the 29th our colours were displayed at the fort, in grateful remembrance
of the restoration of monarchy in England.
Information was the same day received from Parramatta, that on the
evening of Saturday the 24th a settler of the name of Lisk, having been
drinking at the house of Charles Williams with Rose Burk (a woman with
whom he cohabited) until they were very much intoxicated, as he was
returning to his farm through the town of Parramatta, a dispute arose
between him and the woman, during which a gun that he had went off, and
the contents lodged in the woman's arm below the elbow, shattering the
bones in so dreadful a manner as to require immediate amputation; which
Mr. Arndell, being fortunately at home, directly performed. The unhappy
woman acquitted her companion of any intention to do her so shocking an
injury, and when the account reached Sydney she was in a favourable way.
In this accident Williams, it is true, had no further share than what he
might claim from their having intoxicated themselves at his house; but
that, however, established him more firmly in the opinion of those who
could judge of his conduct as a public nuisance.
The principal labour in hand at Sydney at this time was what the building
of the barracks occasioned; and at the other settlements the people were
chiefly employed in getting into the ground the grain for the ensuing
season, and in preparing for sowing the maize. This article of
subsistence having in the late season proved very unprofitable, the
average quantity being not more than six bushels per acre in the whole,
the lieutenant-governor determined to sow with wheat as much of the
public grounds as he could; and every settler who chose to apply was
permitted to draw as much wheat from the public granary as his ground
required, proper care being taken to insure its being applied solely to
that use. At Toongabbie no addition had been made to the public ground
since Governor Phillip's departure; but by a survey made at the latter
end of this month it appeared, that the officers to whom lands had been
granted, had cultivated and cleared two hundred and thirty-three acres,
and had cut down the timber from two hundred and nineteen more. All the
settlers of a different description had added something to their grounds;
and there were many who might be pronounced to be advancing fast toward
the comfortable situation of independent farmers.
The quantity of land granted since the governor's departure amounted to
one thousand five hundred and seventy-five acres, eight hundred and
thirty of which lay between the towns of Sydney and of Parramatta, the
lieutenant-governor wishing and purposing to form a chain of farms
between these settlements. The advantages to be derived from this
communication were, the opening of an extent of country in the
neighbourhood of both townships, and the benefit that would ultimately
accrue to the colony at large from the cultivation of a track of as good
land as any that had been hitherto opened; by some indeed it was deemed
superior to the land immediately about Parramatta or Toongabbie. In this
chain, on the Parramatta side, were placed those settlers who came out in
the _Bellona_; and although they had only taken possession of their farms
about the middle of February, they had got some ground ready for wheat,
and by their industry had approved themselves deserving of every
encouragement.
June.] The _Kitty_ transport, which, since her arrival from Norfolk
Island on the 21st of April last, had been fitting for her return to
England, at length hauled out of the cove on the 1st of this month, it
being intended that she should sail on the following morning. Her
departure, however, was delayed by the appearance of a mutiny among the
sailors at the very moment of being ordered to get the anchor up and
proceed to sea. The master, George Ramsay, had frequently complained of
some of the sailors belonging to the ship for various offences, and
several of them had been punished on shore; one in particular, Benjamin
Williams, for resisting Mr. Ramsay's authority as master of this ship,
had been punished with one hundred lashes. This man, and four or five of
the other sailors, having procured half a gallon of liquor from a man who
(his term of transportation having expired) was permitted to return to
England, were found by the master drinking, and with a light burning in
the forecastle, at the late and improper hour of twelve o'clock on the
night preceding their intended sailing. On being ordered to put out the
light, they refused, Williams declaring with an oath, that if the master
extinguished it, he would light it again. This, however, the master
effected; but on his afterwards going forward for the purpose of
discovering if they had procured another light, he was seized by Williams
and the other sailors, and thrown clear of the ship into the water.
Fortunately he could swim, a circumstance unknown to these miscreants,
and he reached the ship's side, whence, the mate coming to his
assistance, he was, though with some difficulty, being a very heavy man,
got into the ship. The master, notwithstanding the outrage which he had
thus experienced at their hands, would have contented himself with making
a deposition of the circumstance, and have put to sea the next morning;
but when he ordered the topsails to be hoisted, and the ship got under
way, Williams stood forward, and, for himself and the rest, declared with
much insolence, that the anchor should not be moved until the proper
number of hands belonging to the ship were on board*. The anchor,
however, was got up by the assistance of the passengers and some people
who had boats from the settlement alongside, and with the wind at west
she dropped gradually down the harbour. The lieutenant-governor, on being
informed by some officers who were present of the dangerous and alarming
temper which the seamen manifested on board, resolved, by taking a firm
and very active part, to crush the disorder at once, He accordingly went
on board in person, with some soldiers, and, ordering the ship to be
brought to an anchor, returned with Williams, and two others who were
pointed out by the master as his confederates, not only in refusing the
duty of the ship, but in throwing him overboard during the preceding
night. This resolute step was instantly followed up by their being taken
to the public parade, and there punished, Williams with one hundred and
fifty, and his companions with one hundred lashes each, by the drummers
of the New South Wales corps. At the place and in the moment of
punishment Williams's courage forsook him, and the spirit which he had
displayed on board the _Kitty_ was all evaporated**. He would have said
or done any thing to have averted the lash.
[* She was deficient three men and two boys. The latter had run away the
night before.]
[** He pretty well knew what a flogging was; for he was recognised by a
soldier of the New South Wales corps, who had seen him flogged from ship
to ship at Spithead for a similar offence.]
The appearance of a mutiny is at all times and in every situation to be
dreaded; but in this country nothing could be more alarming. The
lieutenant-governor saw the affair in that light; and with a celerity and
firmness adapted to the exigency of the case restored tranquillity and
safety to all those who were concerned in the fate of the _Kitty_. The
day following several depositions were taken by the judge-advocate, for
the purpose of being transmitted to the navy-board, and the three seamen
who had been taken out of the _Kitty_ being replaced by two convicts and
one seaman lately discharged from the _Daedalus_, she sailed at daylight
on the morning of the 4th instant, and by twelve o'clock at noon was not
to be seen from the South Head.
On board the _Kitty_ were embarked Mr. Dennis Considen, one of the
assistant-surgeons of the settlement, who had received permission to
return to England on account of his health, which had been formerly
impaired in the East Indies, Lieutenant Stephen Donovan, who had been
employed in superintending the landing of provisions and stores at
Norfolk Island, and was now returning to England, having been appointed a
lieutenant in the navy; Mr. Richard Clarke, who came out in the _Bellona_
as a medical superintendant; Mr. Alexander Purvis Cranston, late surgeon
of his Majesty's sloop _Discovery_, who was returning to England, being
from ill health no longer capable of attending to the duties of his
profession; Mr. Henry Phillips, late carpenter of the same vessel, who
was sent hither to be forwarded to England as a prisoner; two seamen and
one marine, invalids from the vessels under the command of Captain
Vancouver; five men and one woman*, who, their terms of transportation
being expired, were permitted to return to their friends; the seaman who
was left behind from the _Atrevida_; also five men, who were permitted to
enter on board the _Kitty_ for the purpose of navigating her. For the
officers and invalids who were on board, provisions for six months were
sent from the colony; but the others provided for themselves.
[* Dorothy Handland, who at the time of her departure was upwards of
eighty years of age, but who nevertheless had not a doubt of weathering
Cape Horn.]
The services of the _Kitty_ were to be summed up in very few words. Of
ten artificers with which she sailed from England, she lost eight; and of
the cargo of stores and provisions which she brought out, a part was
damaged. In seventeen months that she had been in the service of
government, she had made a long and circuitous voyage from England, and
had taken one freight of provisions, stores, and troops to Norfolk Island
from this place. For these services her owners were to receive the sum of
£3500; and, allowing her to be seven months on her passage to England,
the total amount of her hire will be found to be very little short of
£5000.
His Majesty's birthday passed with the usual marks of distinction.
The regiment fired three vollies on their own parade, and the convicts
were allowed the day to themselves. On this occasion also the
lieutenant-governor caused twelve of the largest hogs which had been
received by the _Daedalus_, to be killed and divided among the military,
superintendants, and sick at the hospital; sufficient being given to the
latter for two days.
Notwithstanding the purchases of provisions which had fortunately been
made from the _Philadelphia_ brigantine before governor Phillip's
departure, and since that time from the _Hope_ and from the _Shah
Hormuzear_, the lieutenant-governor found it necessary on the 12th of the
month to give notice, 'That unless supplies arrived before the 22nd he
should be under the disagreeable necessity of ordering the ration to be
reduced on that day.'
A view of the provisions remaining in store here and at Parramatta on the
24th of last month (the date of the return sent home by the commissary in
the _Kitty_) will evince the necessity of such an alteration.
On the 24th of May there were in store
Of Flour 137,944 lbs
Of Wheat 154,560 lbs
Of Paddy 49,248 lbs
making a total of three hundred and forty-one thousand seven hundred and
fifty-two pounds of grain; which, at the established ration of eight
pounds per man per week, would last six weeks and three days.
Beef 93,969 lbs
Pork 125,178 lbs
which, at the ration of seven pounds of beef, or four pounds of pork, per
man per week, would last, the beef five weeks, and the pork eleven weeks
and a half.
There was also in store, though not at present issued, the Indian corn
rendering it unnecessary, seventy-one thousand two hundred and eighty
pounds of grain and peas; which, at the allowance of three pints per man
per week, would last eight weeks and a half, and nineteen thousand eight
hundred pounds of sugar; which, at six ounces per man per week, would
last eighteen weeks and a half. This latter article had been issued since
the beginning of the last month, when it was served as an equivalent for
oil.
It must be remarked, that but for the purchases which had most
fortunately been made of provisions, the colony must at this moment have
been again groaning under the oppression of a very reduced ration.
From the Philadelphia were purchased Beef 109,817 lbs.
From the Hope were purchased Beef 38,600 lbs.
From the Shah Hormuzear were purchased Beef 107,988 lbs.
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Total of Beef 256,405 lbs.
From the Hope were purchased Pork 15,600 lbs.
-------
Whole quantity purchased 272,005 lbs.
of which, deducting the quantity remaining, we shall be found to have
then consumed fifty-two thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight pounds,
something more than equal to one-fifth part.
From the Hope were purchased Flour 8,800 lbs.
From the Shah Hormuzear were purchased Flour 36,539 lbs.
-------
Whole quantity purchased 45,339 lbs.
which deducted from the quantity remaining,
we should then only have had in store 92,605 lbs.
of the other articles of which the present ration was composed (the maize
excepted) we should not have had any in the colony; for the wheat and the
sugar were brought hither in the ship from Bengal.
As none of these incidental supplies could be known in England, it was
fair to conclude, that our situation must have been adverted to, and that
ships with provisions were now not very distant. Under this idea,
although on the 22nd no supplies had arrived, the lieutenant-governor did
not make any alteration in the ration, determining to wait one week
longer before he directed the necessary reduction. It was always a
painful duty to abridge the food of the labouring man, and had been too
often exercised here. The putting off, therefore, the evil day for
another week in the hope of any decrease being rendered unnecessary by
the arrival of supplies, met with general applause.
On the Monday following the signal was made for a sail, and about nine
o'clock at night the _Britannia_ was safe within the Heads, having to a
day completed eight months since she sailed hence. The length of time she
had been absent gave birth to some anxiety upon her account, and her
arrival was welcomed with proportionate satisfaction.
Mr. Raven touched at Dusky Bay in New Zealand, where he left his second
mate Mr. John Leith and some of his people, for the purpose of procuring
seals (the principal object of his voyage from England); and of the
timber which he found there he made a very favourable report, pronouncing
it to be light, tough, and in every respect fit for masts or yards. From
New Zealand the _Britannia_, after rounding Cape Horn in very favourable
weather, proceeded to the island of Santa Catherina, on the Brasil coast,
where the Portuguese have a settlement, and from whose governor Mr. Raven
received much civility during the eighteen days that he remained there.
Not being able to procure at this place any of the articles he was
instructed to purchase (one cow and one cow-calf excepted) he stood over
to the African continent, and arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on the
24th of March last. At this port he took on board thirty cows; three
mares; twelve goats; a quantity of flour, sugar, tobacco, and spirits;
and other articles, according to the orders of his employers. Mr. Raven
afforded another instance of the great difficulty attending the
transporting of cattle to this country; for, notwithstanding the extreme
care and attention which were paid to them, twenty-nine of the cows and
three goats unfortunately died. This he attributed solely, and no doubt
justly, to their not being properly prepared for such a voyage, and
previously fed for some weeks on dry food.
In her passage from the Cape of Good Hope to this port, the _Britannia_
met with much bad weather, running for fourteen days under her bare
poles. The prevailing winds were from SW to NW. She came round Van
Dieman's Land in a gale of wind without seeing it. To the southward of
New Zealand Mr. Raven fell in with the rocks seen by Captain Vancouver,
and named by him the Snares. In the latitude of them Mr. Raven differed
from Captain Vancouver only four miles; their longitude he made exactly
the same. Such similarity in the observations was rare and remarkable. He
passed some islands of ice at three and five leagues distance, in
latitudes 51 degrees and 52 degrees S and longitudes 232 degrees and 240
degrees East.
At the Cape Mr. Raven found the _Pitt_, Captain Manning, from Calcutta,
to whom he delivered his dispatches; and he received information from the
captains of the _Triton_ and _Warley_ East Indiamen of the agitated state
of Europe; of the naval and military preparations which were making in
our own country; and of the spirit of loyalty and affection for our
justly-revered sovereign which breathed throughout the nation,
accompanied with firm and general determinations to maintain inviolate
our happy constitution. These accounts, while they served to excite an
ardent wish for the speedy arrival of a ship from England, seemed to
throw the probability of one at a greater distance, particularly as
Mr. Raven could not learn with any certainty of a ship being preparing for
New South Wales.
Among other circumstances which he mentioned was one which deserved
notice. The _Royal Admiral_ East Indiaman, Captain Bond, was lying on the
19th of last December in the Tigris. She sailed hence on the 13th of
November, and, admitting that she had only arrived on the day on which
she was stated to a certainty to be at anchor in the river, she must have
performed the voyage in thirty-seven days from this port. This ship, it
may be remembered, made the passage from the Cape of Good Hope to this
place in five weeks and three days; a run that had never before been made
by any other ship coming to this country.
From the length of time which the _Britannia_ had been absent, our
observation was forcibly drawn to the distance whereat we were placed
from any quarter which could furnish us with supplies; and a calculation
of the length of time which had been taken by other ships to procure them
confirmed the necessity that existed of using every exertion that might
place the colony in a state of independence.
When the _Sirius_ went to the Cape of Good Hope in 1788, she was absent
seven months and six days.
The _Supply_, which was sent for provisions in 1789, returned herself in
six months and two days; but the supplies which had been purchased for
the colony were two months longer in reaching it.
The _Atlantic_ sailed hence for Calcutta on the 26th of October 1791,
touching at Norfolk Island, from which place she took her departure on
the 13th of November; and, calculating her passage from that time, she
will be found to have been seven months and one week in procuring the
supplies for which she was sent out.
The _Britannia_ too was eight months absent. From all this it was to be
inferred, that there should not only be always provisions in the stores
for twelve months beforehand; but that, to guard against accidents,
whenever the provisions in the colony were reduced to that quantity and
no more, then would be the time to dispatch a ship for supplies.
The difficulty of introducing cattle into the colony had been rendered
evident by the miscarriage of the different attempts made by this and
other ships. In this particular we had indeed been singularly
unfortunate; for we had not only lost the greatest part of what had been
purchased and embarked for the colony, as will appear by the following
statement; but we had at the beginning, as will be remembered, lost the
few that did survive the passage. Of these it never was known with any
certainty what had been the fate. Some of the natives who resided among
us did, in observing some that had been landed, declare that they had
seen them destroyed by their own people; and even offered to lead any one
to the place where some of their bones might be found; but, from the
distance of the supposed spot, and our more important concerns, this had
never been sought after. It was very probable that they had been so
destroyed; if not, and that they had met with no other accident, their
increase at this time must have been very considerable.
Account of Black Cattle purchased for, lost in the passage to,
and landed in New South Wales.
Purchased Lost in Landed
Passage
(B=Bull Cw=Cow Cf=Calf) B Cw Cf B Cw Cf B Cw Cf
Embarked in 1787 on board the Sirius and
one of the transports 1 7 1 - 2 - 1 5 1
Embarked in 1789 on board the Guardian 2 16 - 2 16 - - - -
Embarked in 1791 on board the Gorgon,
Admiral Barrington, and calved
on the passage 3 24 1 3 7 - - 17 1 Bull
Embarked on board the Atlantic
in 1792, at Calcutta 2 2 1 - 1 1 2 1 -
Embarked on board the Pitt - 2 - - 1 - - 1 -
Embarked on board the Royal Admiral - 1 - - - - - - 0
Embarked on board the Shah Hormuzear
in 1792, in India 1 24 2 1 23 - - 1 2
Embarked on board the Daedalus 6 12 - 6 12 - - - -
Embarked on board the Britannia - 31 1 - 29 - - 2 1
Total Purchased 15 bulls, 119 cows, 6 calves;
Total Lost in the passage 12 bulls, 91 cows, 1 calf;
Total Landed 3 bulls, 28 cows, 5 calves.
Of the three bulls which were landed two only were living at this period,
beside the bull calf produced on board the _Gorgon_. Of the twenty-eight
cows only twenty, and of the five calves only two were living; but the
cows which arrived in the _Gorgon_ had produced three cow and two bull
calves; and one small cow must be added to the number in the colony,
which had been presented by the Spanish commodore to the
lieutenant-governor.
Sheep, horses, and hogs were found, better than any other stock, to stand
the rough weather which was in general met with between the Cape of Good
Hope and this country.
The mortality which had happened among the stock on board the _Britannia_
set a high price on those which survived. For the cows Mr. Raven bought
at the Cape he gave twenty dollars each, and for each horse he gave
thirty dollars. For the cow with her calf, which he purchased at Santa
Catharina, he gave no more than sixteen Spanish dollars.
On Saturday the 29th, the lieutenant-governor determining to try the
present ration yet another week, the usual allowance was issued, and on
the next day the following general order appeared: 'It being unsafe to
continue at the present ration, the commissary has received instructions
to reduce the weekly allowance, either one pound of pork, or two pounds
of beef, making a proportionate deduction from the women and children.
This alteration to take place on Saturday the 6th of July.'
The natives had lately become troublesome, particularly in lurking
between the different settlements, and forcibly taking provisions and
clothing from the convicts who were passing from one to another. One or
two convicts having been wounded by them, some small armed parties were
sent out to drive them away, and to throw a few shot among them, but with
positive orders to be careful not to take a life.
Several of these people, however, continued to reside in the town, and
to mix with the inhabitants in the most unreserved manner. It was no
uncommon circumstance to see them coming into town with bundles of
fire-wood which they had been hired to procure, or bringing water from
the tanks; for which services they thought themselves well rewarded with
any worn-out jacket or trousers, or blankets, or a piece of bread. Of
this latter article they were all exceedingly fond, and their constant
prayer was for bread, importuning with as much earnestness and
perseverance as if begging for bread had been their profession from their
infancy; and their attachment to us must be considered as an indication
of their not receiving any ill treatment from us.