Slops served
Orders
Licences granted
The _Supply_ returns from Norfolk Island
The _Susan_ from North America and the _Indispensable_ from England
A Criminal and Civil Court held
Sick
Thefts committed
The _Britannia_ arrives from Bengal
Mr. Raven's opinion as to the time of making a passage to India
A Civil Court
The _Cornwallis_ and _Experiment_ sail for India
Caution to masters of ships
A Wind-mill begun
Thefts committed
State of the settlers
The Governor goes to Mount Hunter
Regulations
Public works
Deaths
April.] In the beginning of this month a very liberal allowance of slops
was served to the prisoners male and female. As it had been too much the
practice for these people to sell the clothing they received from
government as soon as it was issued to them, the governor on this
occasion gave it out in public orders, that whenever it should be proved
that any person had either sold or otherwise made away with any of the
articles then issued, the buyer and seller or receiver thereof would both
subject themselves to corporal or other punishment. Orders, however, had
never yet been known to have much weight with these people.
Thefts were still nightly committed. At the Hawkesbury the corn store was
broken into, and a quantity of wheat and other articles stolen; and two
people were apprehended for robbing the deputy-surveyor's fowl-house. All
these depredations were chiefly committed by those public nuisances the
people off the stores.
Toward preventing the indiscriminate sale of spirits which at this time
prevailed in all the settlements, the governor thought that granting
licences to a few persons of good character might have a good effect. Ten
persons were selected by the magistrates, and to them licences for twelve
months, under the hands of three magistrates, were granted. The
principals were bound in the usual penalties of twenty pounds each, and
obliged to find two sureties in ten pounds: and as from the very frequent
state of intoxication in which great numbers of the lower order of people
had for some time past been seen, there was much reason to suspect that a
greater quantity of spirituous liquors had been landed from the different
ships which had entered this port than permits had been obtained for, it
became highly necessary to put a stop, as early as possible, to a
practice which was pregnant with all kinds of mischief. The governor
judged it necessary, the more effectually to suppress the dangerous
practice of retailing spirits in this indiscriminate way, not only to
grant licences under the restrictions abovementioned, but to desire the
aid of all officers, civil and military, and in a more particular manner
of all magistrates, constables, etc. as they regarded the good of his
Majesty's service, the peace, tranquillity, and good order of the colony,
to use their utmost exertions for putting an end to a species of traffic,
from which the destruction of health and the ruin of all industry were to
be expected; and urged them to endeavour to discover who those people
were, that, self-licenced only, had presumed to open public houses for
this abominable purpose.
He also informed those who might, after knowing his intentions, be daring
enough to continue to act in opposition to them, that the house of every
offender should be pulled down as a public nuisance, and such other steps
be taken for his further punishment as might be deemed necessary.
In the evening of the 18th his Majesty's ship _Supply_ returned from
Norfolk Island, having been absent only three weeks and four days, the
quickest passage that had yet been made to and from that island. At night
word was sent up from the Look-out, that another vessel was off, and on
the following evening the snow _Susan_ arrived from Rhode Island, having
been at sea two hundred and thirty-one days, not touching any where on
her passage.
The Americans were observed to make these kind of voyages from motives of
frugality, sailing direct for this port; but they were at the same time
observed to bring in their people extremely healthy. On our enquiring
what methods they took so to secure the health of their seamen, they told
us that in general they found exercise the best preventive against the
scurvy, and considered idleness as the surest means of introducing it. In
addition to exercise, however, they made frequent use of acids in the
diet of their seamen, and of fumigations from tobacco in their
between-decks. Certain it was that none of our ships, which touched in
their way out at other ports, arrived so generally healthy.
A Mr. Trotter was the master of this vessel. He was an Irishman by
birth, but but had for some time been a citizen of the United States.
Strong currents and foul winds had been his enemies in the late voyage.
His cargo consisted of spirits, broad-cloth, and a variety of useful and
desirable articles, adapted to the necessities of this country.
On the last day of this month the _Indispensable_ transport arrived from
England, with one hundred and thirty-one female convicts, and a small
quantity of provisions on board for their consumption.
Mr. Wilkinson, who commanded this ship, we found, to our great regret,
had not touched at the Cape of Good Hope; he had stopped only at the port
of Rio de Janeiro. This was unfortunate, as it was intended that the
king's ships should sail early in the ensuing month of September for that
part of the world. That the war still raged in Europe we heard with
concern, feeling as every humane mind must do for the sufferings of its
fellow-creatures; but it was in the highest degree gratifying to us to
know that our situation was not wholly forgotten at home, proof enough of
which we experienced in the late frequent arrivals of ships from England.
At a criminal court which was held in this month four prisoners were
tried for forging, and uttering with a forged endorsement, the note which
had been passed at Mr. Hogan's store in February last, when James
McCarthy was convicted of the same, and received sentence of death; the
others who were tried with him were acquitted. This trial had been
delayed some time, McCarthy having found means to break out of the cells,
and remain for some weeks sheltered at the Hawkesbury, the refuge of all
the Sydney rogues when in danger of being apprehended.
Three prisoners were tried for stealing some articles out of the store at
the river, one of whom was found guilty, viz James Ashford, a young lad
who had been formerly drummed out of the New South Wales corps. He was
sentenced to seven years labour at Norfolk Island. One soldier was
accused by an old man, a settler at the river, of an unnatural crime, but
acquitted.
Two people off the store were found guilty of stealing some geese, the
property of Mr. Charles Grimes, the deputy-surveyor, and sentenced to
receive corporal punishment. Another of the same class was found guilty
of cutting and wounding a servant of the commissary, who had prevented
his committing a theft, and was sentenced to receive eight hundred
lashes; and one man, George Hyson, for an attempt to commit the
abominable crime of bestiality, was sentenced to stand three times in the
pillory, an hour each time.
How unpleasing were the reflections that arose from this catalogue of
criminals and their offences! No punishment however exemplary, no reward
however great, could operate on the minds of these unthinking people.
Equally indifferent to the pain which the former might occasion, and the
gratification that the other might afford, they blindly pursued the
dictates of their vicious inclinations, to whatever they prompted; and
when stopped by the arm of justice, which sometimes reached them, they
endured the consequences with an hardened obstinacy and indifference that
effectually checked the sensations of pity which are naturally excited by
the view of human sufferings.
A civil court also was assembled this month, by which some writs and some
probates of wills were granted.
At the Hawkesbury, where the settlers were consuming their subsistence in
drunkenness, a very excellent barrack was erecting for the use of the
commandant, on a spot which had been selected sufficiently high to
preclude any danger of the building being affected by a flood.
In this and the preceding month many people, adults as well as children,
were again afflicted with inflammations in the eyes. Having been visited
by this disorder in the month of April 1794, about which time we had the
same variable weather as was now experienced, we attributed its
appearance among us at this time to the same cause. The medical gentlemen
could not account for it on any other principle. One man, Sergeant-major
Jones of the New South Wales corps, died.
May.] Sixty of the women received by the _Indispensable_ were sent up to
Parramatta, there to be employed in such labour as was suited to their
sex and strength. The remainder were landed at this place.
On the 4th the governor notified in public orders his appointment of Mr.
D'Arcy Wentworth to the situation of assistant-surgeon to the settlement,
in the room of Mr. Samuel Leeds, the gentleman who came out with Governor
Hunter, he being permitted to return to England for the recovery of his
health.
Daily experience proved, that those people whose sentences of
transportation had expired were greater evils than the convicts
themselves. It was at this time impossible to spare the labour of a
single man from the public work. Of course, no man was allowed to remove
himself from that situation without permission. But, notwithstanding this
had been declared in public orders, many were known to withdraw
themselves from labour and the provision-store on the day of their
servitude ceasing. On their being apprehended, punished for a breach of
the order, and ordered again to labour, they seized the first opportunity
of running away, taking either to the woods to subsist by depredations,
or to the shelter which the Hawkesbury settlers afforded to every
vagabond that asked it.
By these people we were well convinced every theft was committed. Their
information was good; they never attempted a house that was not an object
of plunder; and wherever there was any property they were sure to pay a
visit. The late robberies at the clergyman's and at Captain Townson's
were among the most striking instances.
It was on these occasions generally conjectured, that the domestics of
the house must aid and assist in the theft; for the perpetrator of it
always seemed to know where to lay his hand on the article for which he
thus risked his neck; and we never found them make an attempt on the
house of a poor individual.
On Wednesday the 11th, to the great satisfaction of the settlement at
large, the _Britannia_ storeship arrived safe from Calcutta and Madras,
entering this port for the fifth time with a valuable cargo on board.
She was now freighted with salted provisions, and a small quantity of
rice on account of government, procured by order of the presidencies of
Calcutta and Madras. On private account, the different officers of the
civil and military departments received the various commissions which
they had been allowed to put into the ship; and one young mare, five
cows, and one cow-calf, of the Bengal breed, were brought for sale.
On board of this ship arrived two officers of the Bengal army, Lieutenant
Campbell and Mr. Phillips, a surgeon of the military establishment for
the purpose of raising two hundred recruits from among those people who
had served their respective terms of transportation. They were to be
regularly enlisted and attested, and were to receive bounty-money; and a
provisional engagement was made with Mr. Raven, to convey them to India,
if no other service should offer for his ship.
On the first view of this scheme it appeared very plausible, and we
imagined that the execution of it would be attended with much good to the
settlement, by ridding it of many of those wretches whom we had too much
reason to deem our greatest nuisances: but when we found that the
recruiting officer was instructed to be nice as to the characters of
those he should enlist, and to entertain none that were of known bad
morals, we perceived that the settlement would derive less benefit from
it than was at first expected. There was also some reason to suppose,
that several settlers would abandon their farms, and, leaving their
families a burden to the store, embrace the change which was offered them
by enlisting as East India soldiers. It was far better for us, if any
were capable of bearing arms and becoming soldiers, to arm them in
defence of their own lives and possessions, and, by embodying them from
time to time as a militia, save to the public the expense of a regiment
or corps raised for the mere purpose of protecting the public stores and
the civil establishment of the colony.
Recruiting, therefore, in this colony for the Bengal army, being a
measure that required some consideration, and which the governor thought
should first have obtained the sanction of administration, he determined
to wait the result of a communication on the subject with the secretary
of state, before he gave it his countenance. At the same time he meant to
recommend it in a certain degree, as it was evident that many good
recruits might be taken, without any injury to the interests of the
settlement, from that class of our people who, being no longer prisoners,
declined labouring for government, and, without any visible means of
subsisting, lived where and how they chose.
The _Britannia_, in her passage to Batavia, anchored in Gower's Harbour,
New Ireland (on the 16th of July), where she completed her wood and
water, and sailed on the 23rd. On the 2nd of September following she
arrived at Batavia; and it appearing to Mr. Raven (as before observed)
but too probable that he should be detained by the government if he
ventured to wait even for their determination respecting supplying the
provisions, he sailed on the 7th for Bengal, arriving in the Ganges on
the 12th of October. Not being able to procure at Calcutta the full
quantity of provisions that his ship could contain, he sailed for Madras
on the 1st of February, where he anchored on the 15th. There he completed
his cargo, and sailed, with five homeward-bound Indiamen, on the 27th
of the same month. His passage to this country was long and tedious,
owing to the prevalence of light and contrary winds; but we were all well
pleased to be in possession of the comforts he brought us from that part
of the world, and to congratulate him on his personal escape from the
sickly and now inimical port of Batavia, as well as from the cruisers of
the enemy, with which he had reason to suppose he might fall in on the
Indian coast.
On his return from this his second voyage to India, Mr. Raven gave it as
his opinion, that the passage to be pursued from New South Wales to
India depended wholly upon the season in which the ship might leave Port
Jackson. From the month of November to April, or rather from October to
the beginning of March, which ought to be the latest period that any ship
should attempt a northern passage, he recommended making Norfolk Island;
and thence, passing between the Loyalty islands* and New Caledonia, to
keep as nearly as circumstances would allow in the longitude of 165
degrees East; until the ship should reach the latitude of 8 degrees
South; and then shape a course to cross the equator in 160 degrees East;
after which the master should steer to the NW by N or NNW until in the
latitude of 5 degrees 20 minutes or 5 degrees 30 minutes North; in which
latitude Mr. Raven would run down his longitude, and pass the south end
of Mindanao, and between that island and Bascelan; and thence through the
straits of Banguey into the China Sea. In running this passage, it would
be necessary to pay attention to Mr. Dalrymple's charts of those islands,
etc. which Mr. Raven found very accurate.
[* The Loyalty Islands are situated between New Caledonia and the New
Hebrides, and extend from about 21 degrees 30 minutes to 20 degrees 50
minutes S and from the longitude of 168 degrees to 167 degrees E.
Mr. Raven supposed them to be a large group of islands, which, being
pressed for time, he could not stop to survey. All that he had
opportunity to determine was, the longitude and latitude of some of the
head-lands. Many fires were seen on them in the night; the whole appeared
to be full of wood, and in some places in high cultivation. These
islands, certainly a discovery belonging to Mr. Raven, may be thought
worthy of being explored at some future day, and become an object of
consequence to the settlement in New South Wales.]
If leaving Port Jackson any time between the beginning of March and the
1st of September, Mr. Raven would prefer passing through a strait in the
longitude of 156 degrees 10 minutes E or thereabout; and from the
latitude of 7 degrees 06 minutes E to 6 degrees 42 minutes S which
divides some part of the islands of the New Georgia of Captain Shortland;
thence through St. George's Channel to the northward of New Guinea,
through Dampier's Strait, down Pitt's Passage, to the southward of
Boutton, and through the Straits of Salayer, into the Banda or Amboyna
Sea. This passage the _Britannia_ performed in sixty-five days from Port
Jackson to Batavia; which, had it not been for calms she met with off the
coast of New Guinea, would in all probability have been performed in six
weeks, or thereabout.
Mr. Raven furnished these observations in the hope that they might
benefit the settlement, by proving useful to the commanders of any ships
which the governor might have occasion to send into those seas on the
service of the colony.
The governor, convinced that an example was necessary to check the
present practice of villainy, had ordered James McCarthy, the prisoner
under sentence of death for forgery, to be executed on Saturday the 14th
of this present month; but yielded to the request of Mr. Johnson (the
clergyman who attended the prisoner) to spare his life, it appearing
evidently on the trial, that, guilty though he certainly was, he had in
the present instance been rather the victim of the vice of others, than
of his own. He was accordingly pardoned, on condition of his serving for
seven years at hard labour at Norfolk Island.
About this time the _Marquis Cornwallis_ and _Experiment_ sailed for
India. Previous to their departure, Mr. Hogan, the commander of the
former, had requested an examination might be taken as to the
circumstances of his conduct toward the convicts and others on board his
ship during their passage from Ireland to this country. The examination
upon oath was made by the judge-advocate, assisted by two other
magistrates, to whom it appeared, that Mr. Hogan, but for the fortunate
and timely discovery of it, would with his ship have fallen a sacrifice
to as daring and alarming a conspiracy as, perhaps, ever had been entered
into by a set of desperate wretches on board of any ship; and that
nothing was left for him, to save himself from the danger of a similar
circumstance occurring during the voyage, but to inflict immediate
punishment, on the persons who were concerned in it.
A civil court was assembled nearly about the same time, to try an
assault, the action for which was brought by Mr. Matthew Austin (a
gentleman who came out in the _Marquis Cornwallis_, as a superintending
surgeon of the convicts in that ship, on the part of government) against
Mr. Michael Hogan the commander, Mr. John Hogan the surgeon, and Henry
Hacking the pilot. The circumstances of the assault being proved, the
court adjudged Mr. M. Hogan to pay damages to the amount of fifty pounds;
the others were acquitted.
On Mr. McClellan's arrival from Bengal, he reminded us, that some
property had been found concealed in the bed of one of our people, which
property had been shown to him at the time, under a supposition that it
might have been stolen from his ship. On his return to India, he found
that a small bale, containing the very articles which had been shown him
here, had been put on board him at Bengal, to be delivered as a present
to a gentleman at Batavia, the initials of whose name were marked on the
bale. On his stating these circumstances to the judge-advocate, that part
of the property which had been found, and placed in the custody of the
provost-marshal, was given up to Mr. McClellan. Rogers, who had been
either the principal or the receiver, perhaps foreseeing that the offence
might sooner or later be brought home to him, had taken himself off in
the _Endeavour_, and was one of those persons who had been unavoidably
left behind at Dusky Bay by Mr. Waine when he quitted that place in the
_Assistance_.
From the address with which this business must have been managed, masters
of ships might see the necessity that existed for their keeping a
vigilant eye over the people whom they admitted on their decks, and be
perfectly assured, that many visited them for the express purpose of
discovering what vigilance was observed by the master, his mates, and
people. Many instances of this kind had occurred, although it might have
been readily supposed, that a stranger would have been on his guard, and
never have lost the idea of the description of people by whom he was
likely to be visited. A large quantity of tobacco had been stolen out of
the _Bellona_ storeship shortly after she arrived here; half a cask of
gunpowder had been stolen out of the _Britannia_, at the very time that
the master was entertaming some of the gentlemen of the settlement in the
cabin; Mr. Page, the master of the American ship _Hope_, was robbed of
several articles, and the buckles out of his shoes, which stood in the
cabin wherein he lay asleep; and this theft of the bale from on board the
_Experiment_ was an additional instance of the management and ability
displayed by our people in conducting an affair of that kind.
From this recapitulation of some of the offences which had been committed
on board of ships while riding in this cove (to which many others might
have been added), let the masters of those which may hereafter be sent
out, and who may have perused this account, be cautious who they receive
on board during the day, let their pretext of business, or coming from an
officer, be what it may; never should they be suffered to mix with their
seamen, nor to see where the stores of the ship are placed; nor should a
boat be ever permitted to come alongside during the night, and in that
case the people should not be allowed to come into the ship. The masters
of ships were long since forbidden to receive any convict on board
without a pass signed by the judge-advocate, who, from his official
situation, was the best qualified to know the character of those who
might apply; but the decks of ships were often filled with convicts, who
went off with merely the sanction of the masters they lived with,
although known perhaps at the time to be as suspicious characters as any
in the settlement.
Among the Irish prisoners who arrived in the _Marquis Cornwallis_ was one
who professed to understand the business of a millwright, and who
undertook with very little assistance to construct a mill at this place.
He appeared rough and uncouth in his manners; but our want of a mill was
so great, that it was determined to try what his abilities were, and
place some hired artificers under his direction. A spot was chosen on the
summit of the ground which forms the western side of the cove, and,
saw-pits being dug for him, he began the work.
With a mill once erected competent to the grinding of all our wheat, a
reduction in the ration of flour would not be felt. So sensible of this
advantage had the governor been, that he brought out with him the most
material parts of a windmill, with a model, by which any millwright he
might find here would be enabled to set up the different parts; and Thorp
the millwright was employed in collecting and preparing the timber
necessary for putting up this mill at Parramatta.
The weather was very variable during the month. The cattle brought by
Mr. Raven, though in Smithfield they would not all together have been worth
fifty pounds, were sold by auction at enormous prices. The mares went at
one hundred pounds, one of the cows at eighty-four pounds, and the others
at prices something inferior.
June.] His Majesty's birthday was observed by the settlement with that
attention which, as English subjects, we were proud to pay to it. The
_Susan_ (with American colours flying), though provided with only six or
eight guns, contrived to fire at one o'clock with the king's ships, a
well-timed salute of twenty-one guns in honour of the day.
On this occasion the governor pardoned all culprits, except James
McCarthy, who was under orders for Norfolk Island. It might be looked
upon as a sort of encouragement to the commission of crimes, thus by a
periodical pardon to render punishment less certain. If men were led to
suppose, that on the King's birthday all culprits would be pardoned, they
would be emboldened to offend, at least for a month or two previous to
that time; but the governor did not mean to extend this act of mercy
beyond the present occasion, being the first birthday of his sovereign
that had occurred since his arrival.
Several daring thefts were committed early in this month. William Waring,
a prisoner who had been allowed to cultivate a farm of thirty acres on
the banks of the Hawkesbury, having occasion to move a cask of salted
provisions, which he had purchased from the master of a ship riding in
this cove, entrusted it to the care of two people his servants, to convey
it from his farm to that of a neighbouring settler. The temptation was
too great to be resisted, and the cask was stolen out of the boat, while
the servants landed for the night at some farm by the way. They pretended
to have no concern in it; but as that was too improbable to be believed,
they were ordered to make restitution by their labour.
About the same time the brick hut occupied by Thomas Clark, a
superintendant of convicts, was broken into; and, notwithstanding the
door of the room in which he slept with his wife was open, they plundered
the house of several articles to a great amount.
Some runaways from the jail gang at this place were suspected; and our
watch, being dispatched immediately on receipt of this information, were
very near falling in with the thieves; but these latter descried them in
time to make their escape. Information being afterwards received, that
two runaway vagabonds were concealed at a house near the brick-fields,
some of the watch repaired to the spot, and found two notorious
offenders, James McManus and George Collins. These two people had
repeatedly broken out of the jall-hut, and one of them, McManus, had some
time since been fired at and wounded in an attempt to commit a burglary.
On the present occasion, he had sufficient address to effect his escape
from the watch; the other was secured and brought in. The hut in which
they were found was pulled down the following morning, to deter others
(if possible) from harbouring thieves and vagabonds.
The settlers in the different districts, and particularly those at the
Hawkesbury, had long been supposed to be considerably in debt; and it was
suspected, that their crops for two or more seasons to come were pledged
to pay these debts. As this was an evil of great magnitude, the governor
set on foot such an inquiry as he thought would ascertain or contradict
the report. By this inquiry, it appeared, that the settlers at the
districts of Prospect Hill, the Ponds, the Field of Mars, the Eastern
Farms, and Mulgrave Place on the banks of the river Hawkesbury, stood
indebted in the sum of £5098. The inquiry was farther directed as well to
the appearance of the farms, and the general character of the settlers,
as to their debts. Many were reported to be industrious and thriving; but
a great number were stated to be idle, vicious, given to drinking,
gaming, and other such disorders as lead to poverty and ruin. One man, a
settler at the Eastern Farms, Edward Elliot, had received a ewe sheep
from the late Governor Phillip before his departure in the year 1792. He
had resisted many temptations to sell it, and at the time this inquiry
took place was found possessing a stock of twenty-two sheep, males and
females. He had been fortunate in not meeting with any loss, but had not
added to his stock by any purchase. This was a proof that industry did
not go without its reward in this country. Other instances were found to
corroborate this observation.
At the settlement of the Hawkesbury one man had been drowned, and another
killed by the natives.
The gentlemen who conducted the inquiry found most of the settlers there
oftener employed in carousing in the fronts of their houses, than in
labouring themselves, or superintending the labour of their servants in
their grounds. There was at this time a considerable quantity of spirits
in the colony from the _Susan_, the _Britannia_, and _Indispensable_, and
no doubt much of it had found its way to the settlers; but that they
could be so lost to their own true interests, could be only accounted for
by recollecting their former habits of life, in which the frequent use of
intoxicating liquors formed a part of their education.
With a view to check the drunkenness that prevailed in the different
districts, the governor had directed licences for retailing spirituous
liquors to be given to certain deserving characters in each; but it was
not found to answer the effect he expected. Instead of the settlers being
disposed to industry, they still indulged themselves in inebriety and
idleness, and robberies now appeared to be committed more frequently than
formerly. He therefore judged it necessary to direct, that none of those
persons who had obtained licences should presume to carry on a traffic
with settlers or others who might have grain to dispose of, by paying for
such grain in spirits. He assured them, that should any persons he
thereafter discovered to have carried on so destructive a trade, their
licences would immediately be recalled, and such steps taken for their
further punishment as they might be thought to deserve. He also desired
it might be understood, that trading with spirits to the extent which he
found practised was strictly forbidden to others, as well as to those who
had licensed public houses.
The practice of purchasing the crops of the settlers for spirits had too
long prevailed in the settlement; and the governor thought it absolutely
necessary, by all the means in his power, to put an end to it; for it was
not possible that a farmer who should be idle enough to throw away the
labour of twelve months, for the gratification of a few gallons of
poisonous spirits, could expect to thrive, or enjoy those comforts which
were only to be procured by sobriety and industry. From such characters
he determined to withdraw the assistance of government, since when left
to themselves they would have less time to waste in drunkenness and riot.
In the night of the 19th of this month some thieves broke into the house
of William Miller, (a young man who, on account of his good behaviour,
had been allowed to exercise the trade of a baker,) and stole articles to
the amount of fifty-six pounds, mostly property not belonging to himself.
Suspicion falling upon some people off the store, they were apprehended;
but in the morning the greater part of what had been stolen was found
placed in a garden where it could be easily discovered, and restored to
the owner.
On the day following, the governor, with a small party, undertook a
second excursion to the retreat of the cattle. A few days previous to the
governor's departure, Mr. Bass, the surgeon of the _Reliance_, and two
companions, set off in an attempt to round the mountains to the westward;
but having soon attained the summit of the highest, they saw at the
distance of forty or fifty miles another range of mountains, extending to
the northward and southward. Mr. Bass reported, that he passed over some
very fine land, and he brought in some specimens of a light wood which he
met with.
The governor was not long absent. He saw the cattle ranging as before,
although not exactly in the same spot, in the finest country yet
discovered in New South Wales, and ascended a hill which from every point
of view had appeared the highest in our neighbourhood. He fixed, by means
of an artificial horizon, its latitude to be 34 degrees 09 minutes S nine
miles to the southward of Botany Bay. The height of this hill, which
obtained the name of Mount Hunter, was supposed to be near a mile from
the base; and the view from the summit was commanding, and full of grand
objects, wood, water, plains, and mountains. Every where on that side of
the Nepean, the soil was found to be good, and the ground eligible for
cultivation. The sides of Mount Hunter, though very steep, were clothed
with timber to the summit, and the ground filled with the Orchis root.
The knowledge derived from this excursion was, that the cattle had not
been disturbed, and that they had increased; ninety-four were at this
time counted.
About the same time the people of a fishing-boat returned from a bay near
Port Stephens, into which they had been driven by bad weather, and
brought in with them several large pieces of coal, which they said they
found at some little distance from the beach, lying in considerable
quantity on the surface of the ground. These people having conducted
themselves improperly, while on shore, two of them were severely wounded
by the natives, one of whom died soon after he reached the hospital.
The _Francis_ schooner sailed on the 21st with dispatches for Norfolk
Island; the king's ships, the _Reliance_ and _Supply_, began the
necessary preparations for their intended voyage to the Cape of Good
Hope, and the first day of September was fixed for their departure.
Toward the latter end of the month two men from each officer were ordered
to join the public gangs, it being found wholly impracticable to erect
without more assistance any of the buildings which had now become
indispensably necessary. Storehouses were much wanted; the barracks were
yet unfinished; houses were to be built for the assistant-surgeons, those
which had been erected soon after our arrival being now no longer
tenable. A church too, of more substantial materials than lath and
plaster, was wanted here and at Parramatta; as well as court-houses, or
places where the courts of civil and criminal judicature might be held,
and where the magistrates might meet to do the public business.
At Sydney, the bricklayers' gang was employed during this month in
erecting a temporary court-house of lath and plaster; as it was uncertain
when one to be built of bricks could be begun; and great inconvenience
was felt by the judge-advocate and other magistrates in being obliged to
transact business at their own houses.
We had at last the satisfaction of seeing usefully employed some of the
cattle brought hither in the _Endeavour_. A careful person being found to
conduct them, the timber-carriage was now, instead of men, drawn by six
or eight stout oxen; and all the timber which was wanted for building, or
other purposes, was brought to the pits by them, both here and at
Parramatta. This was some saving of men, but eight people were still
employed with each carriage.
The carpenters continued erecting the temporary shed for provisions; the
town gang was employed delivering the storeships; and at Toongabbie some
women were employed in making hay, intended to be put on board the king's
ships for the cattle to be purchased at the Cape for the colony.
One man, Matthew Farrel, died in this month. He had been hurt in an
affray with some watchmen in the night of the 17th of March last.