The _William_ sails
Cultivation
Excursion in search of a river
A storeship arrives
Captain Bampton
Full ration
The _Britannia_, _Speedy_, and _Halcyon_ arrive
The _Indispensable_ and _Halcyon_ sail
The _Fanny_ arrives from Bombay
Information
Two convicts executed
The _Hope_ sails
May.] Early in this month the _William_ sailed on her fishing voyage to
the coast of Peru. Mr. Folger, her master, purposed trying what success
might be met with on this coast for a few weeks, it being the wish of his
owners in consequence of the reports brought home by some of the whaling
ships which were here in 1792. If he should be at all fortunate, he
intended to return to this port with the account; it being the anxious
wish of every officer in the colony to hear of any thing that was likely
to make a return to the mother country for the immense sums which must
annually have been expended on this settlement.
Some dispatches and returns being sent by this ship, it appeared, that
here and at Norfolk Island were existing, at the latter end of last
month, four thousand four hundred and fourteen persons of all
descriptions, men, women, and children. Estimating the daily expense of
these at two shillings a head, (a fair calculation, when every article of
provisions, clothing, stores, freight of ships, allowance for civil and
military establishments, damaged cargoes, etc., etc. was considered,) it
will be found to amount annually to the sum of one hundred and sixty-one
thousand one hundred and eleven pounds; an expense that called loudly for
every exertion toward easing the mother country of such a burden, by
doing away our dependence on her for many of the above articles, or by
affording a return that would be equal to some part of this expence.
Separated as we were from Europe, constantly liable to accidents
interrupting our supplies, which it might not always be possible to guard
against or foresee, how cheering, how grateful was it to every thinking
mind among us, to observe the rapid strides we were making toward that
desirable independence! The progress made in the cultivation of the
country insured the consequent increase of live stock; and it must be
remembered, that the colony had been supplied with no other grain than
that raised within itself since the 16th day of last December.
The permission given to officers to hold lands had operated powerfully in
favour of the colony. They were liberal in their employment of people to
cultivate those lands; and such had been their exertions, that it
appeared by a survey taken in the last month by Mr. Alt, that nine
hundred and eighty-two acres had been cleared by them since that
permission had been received. Mr. Alt reported, that there had been
cleared, since Governor Phillip's departure in December 1792, two
thousand nine hundred and sixty-two acres and one quarter; which, added
to seventeen hundred and three acres and a half that were cleared at that
time, made a total of four thousand six hundred and sixty-five acres and
three quarters of cleared ground in this territory. It must be farther
remarked in favour of the gentlemen holding ground, that in the short
period of fifteen months*, the officers, civil and military, had cleared
more than half the whole quantity of ground that had been cleared by
government and the settlers, from the establishment of the colony to the
date of the governor's departure. The works of government, however
vigilantly attended to, always proceeded slowly, and never with that
spirit and energy that are created by interest.
[* The officers did not begin to open ground until February 1793.]
The people who were to labour for the public had in general been but
scantily fed, and this operated against any great exertions. The settlers
were not fed any better; and though they had an interest in working with
spirit, yet they always looked to be supplied from the public stores
beyond the time allowed them; and were consequently careless, indolent,
and poor: while the officer, from the hour he received his grant, applied
himself with activity to derive a benefit from it; and it was not too
much to say, that the independence of the colony was more likely to be
attained through their exertions, than by any other means. To encourage
them, therefore, was absolutely necessary to accelerate and promote the
prosperity of the colony.
One woman and six men, whose terms of transportation had expired, were
permitted to quit the colony in the _William_.
Some natives, who had observed the increasing number of the settlers on
the banks of the Hawkesbury, and had learned that we were solicitous to
discover other fresh-water rivers, for the purpose of forming
settlements, assured us, that at no very great distance from Botany Bay,
there was a river of fresh water which ran into the sea. As very little
of the coast to the southward was known, it was determined to send a
small party in that direction, with provisions for a few days, it not
being improbable that, in exploring the country, a river might be found
which had hitherto escaped the observation of ships running along the
coast.
Two people of sufficient judgment and discretion for the purpose being
found among the military, they set off from the south shore of Botany Bay
on the 14th, well armed, and furnished with provisions for a week. They
were accompanied by a young man, a native, as a guide, who professed a
knowledge of the country, and named the place where the fresh water would
be found to run. Great expectations were formed of this excursion, from
the confidence with which the native repeatedly asserted the existence of
a freshwater river; on the 20th, however, the party returned, with an
account, that the native had soon walked beyond his own knowledge of the
country, and trusted to them to bring him safe back; that having
penetrated about twenty miles to the southward of Botany Bay, they came
to a large inlet of the sea, which formed a small harbour; the head of
this they rounded, without discovering any river of fresh water near it.
The country they described as high and rocky in the neighbourhood of the
harbour, which, on afterwards looking into the chart, was supposed to be
somewhere about Red Point. The native returned with the soldiers as
cheerfully and as well pleased as if he had led them to the banks of the
first river in the world.
An excursion of another nature was at this time framing among some
discontented Irish convicts, and was on the point of being carried into
execution when discovered. Among those who came out in the last ships
from Ireland was a convict who had been an attorney in that kingdom, and
who was weak enough to form the hazardous scheme with several others of
seizing a long-boat, in which they were to endeavour to reach Batavia. A
quantity of provisions, water-casks, sails, and other necessary articles,
were provided, and were found, at the time of making the discovery, in
the house of the principal. These people had much greater reason to
rejoice at, than to regret, the discovery of their plot; for the wind, on
the day succeeding the night in which they were to have gone off, blew a
heavy gale; and, as there were no professed seamen in the party, it was
more than probable that the boat would have been lost. The greatest evil
that attended these desertions was the loss of the boats which were taken
off, for the colony could not sustain much injury by the absence of a few
wretches who were too idle to labour, and who must be constantly whispering
their own discontents among the other convicts.
On the 24th of this month we had the satisfaction of seeing the
_Indispensable_, a storeship, anchor in the cove from England, with a
cargo consisting principally of provisions for the colony. We understood
that she was the first of six or seven ships which were all to bring out
stores and provisions, and which, if no accident happened in the passage,
might be expected to arrive in the course of two months. The supply of
clothing and provisions intended to be conveyed by them, together with
what had been received by the _William_, was calculated for the
consumption of a twelvemonth. The quantity which now arrived in the
_Indispensable_ formed a supply of flour for twelve weeks, beef for four
ditto, pork for four ditto, and of peas for fourteen ditto. She sailed
from Spithead the 26th of last December, touched at Teneriffe and at the
Cape of Good Hope, from which place she sailed on the 30th of March last,
and made the South Cape of this country the 17th of this month. Between
the Cape of Good Hope and this port, the master stated that he found the
weather in general very rough, and the prevailing winds to have blown
from WNW to SW.
At the Cape of Good Hope Mr. Wilkinson met with the _Chesterfield_, which
sailed hence in April 1793 with the _Shah Hormuzear_; and one of her
people, who had been formerly a convict in this country, wishing to
return to it, we now collected from him some information respecting
Mr. Bampton's voyage. He told us, that the two ships were six months in
their passage hence to Timor, owing to the difficulty which they met with
in the navigation of the straits between New Holland and New Guinea. On one
of the islands in these straits they lost a boat, which had been sent on
shore to trade with the natives. In this boat went, never to return
(according to this person's account), Captain Hill; Mr. Carter, a friend
of Mr. Bampton's;--Shaw, the first mate of the _Chesterfield_;--Ascott, who
had been a convict here, and who had distinguished himself at the time
the _Sirius_ was lost; and two or three black people belonging to the
_Shah Hormuzear_. It was conjectured that they were, immediately after
landing, murdered by the natives, as the people of a boat that was sent
some hours after to look for them found only the clothes which they had
on when they left the ship, and a lantern and tinder-box which they had
taken with them; the clothes were torn into rags. At a fire they found
three hands; but they were so black and disfigured by being burnt, that
the people could not ascertain whether they had belonged to black or
white men. If the account of this man might be credited, the end of these
unfortunate gentlemen and their companions must have been truly horrid
and deplorable; it was however certain that the ships sailed from the
island without them, and their fate was left in uncertainty, though every
possible effort to discover them was made by Mr. Bampton.
At Timor Mr. Bampton took in a very valuable freight of sandal wood, with
which he proceeded to Batavia; and when the _Chesterfield_ parted
company, he hoped soon to return to this country.
In consequence of the supplies received by the _Indispensable_, the full
ration of flour was directed to be issued, and the commissary was ordered
not to receive for the present any more Indian corn that might be brought
to the public stores for sale. The following weekly ration was
established until further orders, and commenced on the 27th:
Flour eight pounds; beef seven pounds or pork four pounds; Indian corn
three pints, in lieu of peas.
The whole quantity of Indian corn purchased by the commissary on account
of Government from settlers and others amounted to six thousand one
hundred and sixty-three bushels and a quarter, which, taken at five
shillings per bushel, came to the sum of £1540 16s 3d.
Toward the latter end of this month, Wilkinson, the millwright, was
drowned in a pond in the neighbourhood of the Hawkesbury River. He had
been there on a Sunday with some of the settlers to shoot ducks, and
getting entangled with the weeds in the pond was drowned, though a good
swimmer; thus untimely perishing before he could reap any reward from his
industry and abilities.
Several people still continued to complain of sore eyes, but the disorder
was disappearing fast.
June.] The signal for a sail was made in the morning of the first of
June, and was conjectured to be for one of the ships expected to arrive
from England; but in a few hours word was brought that the _Britannia_ was
safe within the harbour. This arrival gave general satisfaction, as many
doubts about her return had been created by some accounts which the
master of the _Indispensable_ had heard at the Cape of Good Hope, of the
Bay of Bengal being full of French privateers.
On Mr. Raven's arrival at the settlement, we learned that he had been
forced to go to Batavia instead of Bengal, having been attacked in the
Straits of Malacca by a fleet of piratical Proas, which engaged him for
six hours, and from whom he might have found some difficulty to escape,
had he not fortunately killed the captain of the one which was nearest to
the _Britannia_ when in the act of making preparations for boarding him.
At Batavia he was informed that his passage to Bengal was very
precarious, from the number of French privateers which infested the bay,
as well as the west coast of Sumatra, several vessels having arrived at
Batavia which had been chased by them. Mr. Raven, therefore, determined
to load the _Britannia_ at Batavia, and, after some necessary
arrangements with the governor-general and council, purchased the
following cargo at the annexed prices for the settlements in New South
Wales, viz
Rix dollars Stivers
250 Casks of beef--111,264¼ lbs. at 9 stivers* 20,862 2
250 Casks of pork--83,865½ lbs. at ditto 15,724 37
500 Pecols** of sugar, at 7 rix dollars
27 stivers per Pecol 3,781 12
35 Coyangs*** of rice, at 55 rix dollars per Coyang 1,925 0
[* Forty-eight stivers the rix dollar.]
[** Pecol, one hundred and thirty-three pounds English.]
[*** Coyang, three thousand three hundred and seventy-five pounds Dutch.]
To these must be added for extra boat hire. Hire of twenty
black people for twenty days, and commission
on the purchase at 2½ per cent. 1493 0
----------
Rix dollars 42,786 3
The bills drawn on the treasury for this cargo bearing
a premium of 16 per cent, there was deducted from
the whole 6,040 0
Which reduced the total amount to rix dollars 37,746 3
£ s d
Or in sterling money of Great Britain 7,549 4 3
To which the hire* of the ship being added, 2,210 7 7
------------
The whole of the expense amounted to £9,759 11 10
[* She was chartered at fourteen shillings and sixpence per ton per
month, and to be paid for two hundred and ninety-six tons, her registered
measurement.]
Captain Nepean, who left this place as a passenger in the _Britannia_,
and took with him some dispatches for government, and the private letters
of the officers, left Batavia on the 17th of February last in the _Prince
William Henry_, a fast sailing schooner, bound direct for England.
The _Britannia_ arrived at Batavia on the 11th of February, and sailed
for this country on the 10th of April following. While she lay at
Batavia, the season was extremely unhealthy, and some of her people fell
victims to the well-known insalubrity of the climate.
At Batavia Mr. Raven learned that the _Shah Hormuzear_ sailed from thence
for Bombay three months before he arrived there; and the report we had
heard of the disaster which befel the boat and people from that ship, in
the passage through the Straits between this country and New Guinea, was
confirmed at Batavia. As, however, Mr. Bampton had not since been heard
of, it was more than probable he had fallen a prize to some of the
privateers which were to be met with in those seas.
His Majesty's birthday did not pass without that distinction which we
all, as Englishmen devoted to our sovereign, had infinite pleasure in
showing it.
On the 8th the _Speedy_, a storeship commanded by Mr. Melville, who was
here in 1791 in the _Britannia_ whaler, anchored in the cove from
England, with a cargo of stores and provisions for the colony, and
clothing for the New South Wales corps. Mr. Melville sailed a few hours
before the _Indispensable_, and touched at Rio de Janeiro, whence he had
a long passage of several weeks. He made the south cape of this country
the 2nd instant; and arrived here in a leaky and weak condition.
Good fortune befriended us in the passage of this ship; for she ran
safely through every part where there could be danger, without a gun on
board to defend her from an enemy if she should have met with any.
On the 14th, a few hours after the signal was made at the South Head,
arrived in the harbour the _Halcyon_, a ship from Rhode Island, commanded
by Mr. Benjamin Page, who was here in the ship _Hope_ at the close of the
year 1792, and who had ventured here again with a cargo of provisions and
spirits* on speculation.
[* Eight hundred barrels of beef and pork, American cured. About five
thousand gallons of spirits; a small quantity of tobacco, tea, nankeens,
etc.]
Mr. Page made his passage from Rhode Island in one hundred and fifteen
days, and without touching at any port. His run from the south cape of
New Holland was only five days. The ship he built himself at Providence,
after his return from China in the _Hope_. That ship was only two months
in her voyage from hence to Canton, and Mr. Page did not see any land
until he made the Island of Tinian. This place he now represented as well
calculated to furnish a freight of cattle for this colony.
Of the convicts that Mr. Page was permitted to ship at this port in his
last voyage, William Murphy behaved so extremely ill, having more than
once endeavoured to excite the crew to mutiny, that at St Helena he
delivered him to the captain of his Majesty's ship _Powerful_, whom he
found there. This proved in the event a circumstance of great good
fortune to Murphy, for, being directly rated on that ship's books (his
abilities as a sail-maker entitling him to that situation), and a French
East Indiamen being captured by the _Powerful_ a very few hours after, he
became entitled to a seaman's share of the produce of her cargo, which
was a very valuable one.
Bateman he carried on with him to Rhode Island, where he married, but had
more than once exhibited symptoms of returning to habits which he had not
forgotten, and which would soon bring him to disgrace in his new
situation. Shepherd he had put on board a ship bound to Ostend, and spoke
well of his conduct.
Captain Page at first thought he had come to a bad market with his
provisions; for the day was arrived when we found ourselves enabled to
say that we were not in want of any casual supplies; but by the end of
the month he declared he had not made a bad voyage; his spirits and
provisions were nearly all purchased by individuals; and what he at first
thought an unprofitable circumstance to him (the sight of four ships at
anchor in the cove) proved favourable, for the most of his provisions
were disposed of among the shipping. The whole of the spirits were
purchased by the officers of the settlement and of the garrison at the
rate of six shillings per gallon; and afforded, together with what had
been received from Batavia by the _Britannia_, a large and comfortable
supply of that article for a considerable time.
It might be safely pronounced, that the colony never wore so favourable
an appearance as at this period: our public stores filled with wholesome
provisions; five ships on the seas with additional supplies; and wheat
enough in the ground to promise the realizing of many a golden dream; a
rapidly increasing stock; a country gradually opening, and improving
every where upon us as it opened; with a spirit universally prevalent of
cultivating it.
The ships which had lately arrived from England were fraught with the
dismal and ill-founded accounts, which through some evil design continued
to be insidiously propagated, of the wretched unprofitable soil of New
South Wales. It was hoped, however, that when the present appearance and
state of the colony should reach England, every attempt to mislead the
public would cease; and such encouragement be held out as would induce
individuals to settle in the country.
In the _Halcyon_ arrived an American gentleman (Mr. W. Megee) in the
character of supercargo. This person, on seeing the Toongabbie hills
covered with a most promising crop of wheat, declared that be had never
seen better in America, even at Rhode island, the garden of America; and
on being shown some Indian corn of last year's growth, gave it as his
opinion, that we wanted nothing but large herds of grazing cattle, to be
a thriving, prosperous, and great colony, possessing within itself all
the essential articles of life.
We ourselves had long been impressed with an idea of the advantage that
grazing cattle would give to the country; every possible care was taken
of the little that was in it, and all means used to promote its increase.
One step toward this was the keeping up the price; an article by which
the proprietor was always certain of making a great profit, was as
certain to be taken the greatest care of, every individual possessing
stock found it his interest to preserve it in the highest order, that it
might be deemed equal to the general high value which stock bore.
By an account which was taken at the end of this month of the live stock
in the colony, the following numbers appeared to be in the possession of
government and of individuals, viz.
HORSES
Mares Stallions
Government stock 6 6
Private stock 5 3
Total 11 9
ASSES
Male Female
Government stock - -
Private stock 2 1
Total 2 1
OXEN
Bulls Cows
Government stock 14 18
Private stock 1 7
Total 15 25
SHEEP
Ewes Rams and Wethers
Government stock 59 49
Private stock 257 161
Total 316 210
GOATS
Male Female
Government stock 3 10
Private stock 167 342
Total 170 352
TOTAL
Government stock 165
Private stock 946
Total 1111
In this account the hogs (from their being so disposed as not easily to
be ascertained) were not included; but they were supposed to amount to
several hundreds.
As a reserve in time of great distress, when alone it could be made use
of, this stock was, when compared with our numbers, no very great
dependance; but it was every thing as a stock to breed from, and well
deserving of attention to cherish it and promote its increase.
On the last day of the month the _Francis_ schooner sailed for Norfolk
Island, whither she was sent merely to apprise Mr. King that the
_Daedalus_ would be dispatched to him immediately after the return of the
schooner, with such stores and provisions as he should require.
During this month the house of the Rev. Mr. Johnson was broken into at
night, and robbed of sugar, coffee, arrack, Russia sheeting, and other
articles to a large amount. There was little doubt but that some of his
own people had either committed the burglary, or had given information to
others how and when it might be committed, as the part of the house
broken into was that which Mr. Johnson had applied to a store-room.
Several people were taken up, and some of the articles found concealed in
the woods; but those who stole them had address enough to avoid discovery.
Very shortly after this a most daring burglary was committed in a house
in the old marine quarters occupied by Mr. Kent, who arrived here in the
_Boddingtons_ from Ireland in August last, as agent of convicts on the
part of Government. He had secured the door with a padlock, and after
sun-set had gone up to one of the officers' barracks, where he was
spending the evening, when, before nine o'clock, word was brought him
that his house had been broken into. On going down, he found that the
staple, which was a very strong one, had been forced out, and a large
chest that would require four men to convey it out of the door had been
taken off. It contained a great quantity of wearing apparel, money,
bills, and letters; but, though the theft could not have been long
committed, all the search that twenty or thirty people made for some
hours that night was ineffectual, no trace being seen of it, and nothing
found but a large caulking-iron, with which it was supposed the staple
was wrenched off. The chest was found the next morning behind a barrack
(which had lately been fitted up as a place of divine worship for the
accommodation of the chaplain of the New South Wales corps), and some of
the wearing apparel was brought in from the woods; but Mr. Kent's loss
was very little diminished by this recovery.
In addition to these burglaries a highway robbery was committed on the
supercargo of the _American_, who was attacked in the dusk of the evening,
close by one of the barracks, by two men, who, in the moment of striking
him, seized hold of his watch, and with a violent jerk wrenched off the
seals, the watch falling on the ground. The place was, however, too
public to risk staying to look for it; and the owner was fortunate enough
to find it himself, but the seals, which were of gold, were carried off.
All these offences against peace and good order were to be attributed to
the horrid vice of gaming, which was still pursued in this place, and
which, from the management and address of those who practised it, could
not be prevented. The persons of the peace-officers were well known to
them; and, that they might never be detected in the fact, one of the
party, commonly the greatest loser, was always stationed on the look-out
to alarm in time.
During this month the millwright Buffin completed the mill which he was
constructing in the room of Wilkinson's; and, on its being worked, it was
found to answer still better than the first which he made. The body of
Wilkinson, after being dragged for several days in vain, was found at
last floating on the surface of the pond where he lost his life, and
being brought into Parramatta was there decently interred.
Of the few who died in this month was one, a male convict, of the name of
Peter Gillies, who came out to this country in the _Neptune_ transport in
the year 1791. His death took place on the morning of the arrival of the
_Speedy_ from England, by which ship a letter was received addressed to
him, admonishing him of the uncertainty of life, recommending him early
to begin to think of the end of it, and acquainting him of the death of
his wife, a child, and two other near relations. He had ceased to breathe
before this unwelcome intelligence reached the hospital.
July.] The signal for a sail was made at the South Head between seven and
eight o'clock in the morning of the 5th of July; and soon after the
_Hope_, an American ship from Rhode Island, anchored in the cove, having
on board a cargo of salted provisions and spirits on speculation. This
ship was here before with Captain Page, the commander of the _Halcyon_,
and now came in the same employ, the house of Brown and Francis at
Providence. Brown was the uncle of Page, between whom there being some
misunderstanding, Page built and freighted the _Halcyon_ after the
departure of the _Hope_, whose master being ordered to touch at the
Falkland's Islands, Page determined to precede him, in his arrival at
this country, and have the first of the market, in which he succeeded.
This proved a great disappointment to the master of the _Hope_, who
indeed sold his spirits at three shillings and sixpence per gallon; but
his salted provisions no one would purchase.
The _Hope_ was seven days in her passage from the South Cape to this
port; and the master said, that off Cape St. George he met with a current
which carried him during the space of three days a degree to the
southward each day.
On the 8th the _Indispensable_ and _Halcyon_ sailed on their respective
voyages, the former for Bengal, and the latter for Canton. The
_Indispensable_ was a large stout ship, provided with a letter of marque,
well manned and armed; and had been captured from the French at the
beginning of the present war. The master was permitted to receive on
board several persons from the colony, on his representing that he was
short of hands to navigate his ship; and two convicts found means to make
their escape from the settlement. A third was discovered concealed on
board for the same purpose, and being brought on shore, it appeared that
the coxswain of the lieutenant-governor's boat had assisted him in his
attempt; for which he was punished and turned out of the boat, such a
breach of trust deserving and requiring to be particularly noticed.
By the _Halcyon_ were sent some dispatches to be forwarded by the way of
China to his Majesty's secretary of state for the home department. The
day following the departure of these two ships, the _Fancy_ snow arrived
from Bombay, having on board a small quantity of rice and dholl*,
intended as part of the contract entered into by Captain Bampton, who, we
now learned, had arrived safe at Bombay, after a long passage from this
place of between six and seven months. This vessel was commanded by
Mr. Thomas Edgar Dell, formerly chief mate of Mr. Bampton's ship the
_Shah Hormuzear_, from whom the following information was received.
[* Thirty-eight tons of rice, and thirty-eight tons of dholl. Captain
Bampton also sent twenty-four bags of seed-wheat.]
The ships _Shah Hormuzear_ and _Chesterfield_ sailed, as before related,
from Norfolk Island on the 27th of May 1793. On the 2nd of the following
month a reef was seen in latitude 19 degrees 28 minutes S and longitude
158 degrees 32 minutes 15 seconds East. On the 1st of July, being then in
latitude 9 degrees 39 minutes 30 seconds S and longitude 142 degrees 59
minutes 15 seconds East of Greenwich, they fell in with an island which
obtained the name of Tate's Island, and at which they had the misfortune
to stave a boat as before mentioned. The circumstances of the murder of
Captain Hill, Mr. Carter, Shaw the first mate of the _Chesterfield_, and
the boat's crew, were related by Mr. Dell. It appeared from his account,
that they had landed to search for fresh water, and purposed remaining
one night on the island to barter with the natives, and procure emu
feathers from them. The day after they were put on shore the weather
changed, coming on to blow hard; the ship was driven to leeward of the
bay in which they landed; and it was not until the third day that it was
possible to send a boat after them. Mr. Dell himself was employed on this
occasion, and returned with the melancholy account of his being unable to
discover their lost companions. An armed force was then sent on shore,
but succeeded only in burning the huts and inclosures of the natives. At
a fire they found some incontestable proofs that their friends could not
be living; of three human hands which they took up, one, by some
particular marks, was positively thought by Mr. Dell to have belonged to
Mr. Carter; their great coats were also found with the buttons cut off, a
tinderbox, a lantern, a tomahawk, and other articles from the boat, were
also found; but though they rowed entirely round the island, looking into
every cove or creek, the boat could not be seen. Mr. Dell was, if
possible, to procure two prisoners; but he could not succeed. In the
intercourse, however, which he had with them, they gave him to understand
by signs, that they had killed all who were in the boat, except two: at
least, so Mr. Dell thought; but if it was so, nothing could be hoped from
the exception, nor could any other conclusion be formed, than that they
were reserved perhaps for more deliberate torture and a more horrid end.
This island was described as abounding with the red sweet potato, sugar
cane, plantains, bamboo, cocoa trees, and mangroves. The natives appeared
stout, and were in height from five feet eight to six feet two inches;
their colour dark, and their language harsh and disagreeable. The weapons
which were seen were spears, lances made of a hard black wood, and clubs
about four feet in length. They lived in huts resembling a hay-cock, with
a pole driven through the middle, formed of long grass and the leaves of
the cocoa tree. These huts might contain six or eight persons each, and
were inclosed with a fence of bamboo. In a corner of some of the huts
which they entered, they perceived a wooden image, intended to resemble a
man; in others the figure of a bird, very rudely carved, daubed with red,
and curiously decorated with the feathers of the emu. Over these images
were suspended from the roof several strings of human hands, each string
having five or six hands on it. In some they found small piles of human
skulls; and in one, in which there was a much larger pile of skulls than
in any other that they had visited, they observed some gum burning before
a wooden image.
This island was supposed to be about eight miles in length, five in
breadth, and fifteen in circumference; a coral reef seemed to guard it
from all approach, except on the north-west part which formed a bay,
where the ship anchored in thirteen fathoms water. Fresh water was seen
only in one place.
Mr. Bampton did not arrive at Timor until the 11th of September, having
been detained in the straits by a most difficult and dangerous
navigation. By this passage he had an opportunity of discovering that the
straits which were named after Torres, and supposed to have been passed
first by him in the year 1606, and afterwards by Green in 1722, could
never have existed; for Mr. Bampton now observed, that New Guinea
extended ninety miles to the southward of this supposed track.
Of the two convicts taken from hence by the _Shah Hormuzear_, John Ascot
was killed by the natives with Captain Hill, and Catharine Pryor, Ascot's
wife, died two days before the ship got to Batavia, of a spotted fever, the
effect of frequent inebriety while at Timor. Ascot was the young man
whose activity prevented the _Sirius_, with the stores and provisions on
board, from being burnt the night after she was wrecked off Norfolk
Island, and thereby saved that settlement from feeling absolute want at
that time.
Captain Dell was full three months in his passage from Bombay; during the
latter part of which time the people on board suffered great distress from
a shortness of water and fuel. Out of seventy-five persons, mostly
Lascars, with whom he sailed, nine died, and a fever existed among those
who remained on his arrival.
The people who had broken into Mr. Kent's house were so daring as to send
to that gentleman a letter in miserable verse, containing some invectives
against one Bevan, a prisoner in confinement for a burglary, and a woman
who they supposed had given information of the people that broke into the
clergyman's storeroom, which affair they took upon themselves. The letter
was accompanied by a pocket-book belonging to Mr. Kent, and some of his
papers; but none of the bills which were in it when it was stolen were
returned.
The insolence of this proceeding, and the frequency of those nocturnal
visits, surprised and put all persons on their guard; but that the enemy
was within our own doors there was no doubt. An honest servant was in this
country an invaluable treasure; we were compelled to take them as chance
should direct from among the common herd; and if any one was found who
had some remains of principle in him, he was sure to be soon corrupted by
the vice which every where surrounded him.
It became necessary at length for the criminal justice of the settlement
to interfere, and three convicts were tried for burglaries. John Bevan,
though tried on two charges, was acquitted from a want of evidence, and
others, John Flemming and Archibald McDonald, were convicted. The latter
of these two had broken into a soldier's hut the night before the court
sat, and at a time when it was publicly known in the settlement that it
was to sit for the trial of such offenders as might be brought before it.
The state of the colony called loudly for their punishment, and they were
both executed the third day after their conviction. It was afterwards said,
that McDonald was one of the party who broke into the clergyman's house.
Soon after these executions, Caesar*, still incorrigible, took up again
his former practice of subsisting in the woods by plundering the farms
and huts at the outskirts of the towns. He was soon taken; but on his
being punished, and that with some severity, he declared with exultation
and contempt, that 'all that would not make him better.'
[* See Chapter VII, from "Toward the end of the month, some convicts
having reported . . ." _et seq_.]
The _Hope_ sailed this month for Canton, the master being suffered to
take with him one man, John Pardo Watts, who had served his time of
transportation.
The _Britannia_ was also hired in this month by some of the officers of
the civil and military departments, to procure them cattle and other
articles at the Cape of Good Hope.
During this month a building, consisting of four cells for prisoners, was
added to the guard-house on the east side of the cove. This had long been
greatly wanted; and, the whole being now inclosed with a strong high
paling, some advantage was expected to be derived from confinement adopted
only as a punishment.