Part 3 (2/2)
14 February 1788.
On the 14th of February a party was sent out in the Supply, to settle on a small island to the north-west of New Zealand, in lat.i.tude 29 south, and longitude 168. 10'. east from London, which was discovered and much commended by Captain Cook, and by him named Norfolk Island, in honour of the n.o.ble family to which that t.i.tle belongs. To the office of superintendant and commandant of this island, and the settlement to be made upon it, Governor Phillip appointed Philip Gidley King, second lieutenant of his Majesty's s.h.i.+p Sirius, an officer much esteemed by him as of great merit in his profession; and highly spoken of in his letters as a man, whose perseverance in that or any other service might fully be depended on. As it was known that there were no inhabitants on Norfolk Island, there was sent with Lieut. King only a small detachment, consisting of one subaltern officer, and six marines, a very promising young man who was a mids.h.i.+pman, a surgeon,* two men who understood the cultivation and dressing of flax, with nine men and six women convicts.
That the nature of this settlement may be fully understood, a copy of the instructions delivered to Mr. King at his departure is subjoined to this chapter.
[* The surgeon's name is Jamison, whose intelligent letters to Lewis Wolfe, Esq; were kindly lent to the publisher, and have afforded much useful information.]
INSTRUCTIONS for PHILIP GIDLEY KING, Esq; Superintendant and Commandant of the Settlement of NORFOLK ISLAND.
With these instructions you will receive my Commission, appointing you to superintend and command the settlement to be formed in Norfolk Island, and to obey all such orders as you shall from time to time receive from me, his Majesty's Governor in Chief, and Captain General of the territory of New South Wales and its dependencies, or from the Lieutenant-Governor in my absence.
You are therefore to proceed in his Majesty's armed tender Supply, whose commander has my orders to receive you, with the men and women, stores and provisions necessary for forming the intended settlement; and on your landing on Norfolk Island you are to take upon you the execution of the trust reposed in you, causing my commission, appointing you superintendant over the said settlement, to be publicly read.
After having taken the necessary measures for securing yourself and people, and for the preservation of the stores and provisions, you are immediately to proceed to the cultivation of the Flax Plant, which you will find growing spontaneously on the island: as likewise to the cultivation of cotton, corn, and other plants, with the seeds of which you are furnished, and which you are to regard as public stock, and of the increase of which you are to send me an account, that I may know what quant.i.ty may be drawn from the island for public use, or what supplies it may be necessary to send hereafter. It is left to your discretion to use such part of the corn that is raised as may be found necessary; but this you are to do with the greatest oeconomy; and as the corn, flax, cotton, and other grains are the property of the Crown, and as such are to be accounted for, you are to keep an exact account of the increase, and you will in future receive directions for the disposal thereof.
You are to inform yourself of the nature of the soil, what proportion of land you find proper for the cultivation of corn, flax, and cotton, as likewise what quant.i.ty of cattle may be bred on the island, and the number of people you judge necessary for the above purpose. You will likewise observe what are the prevailing winds in the different seasons of the year, the best anchorage according to the season, the rise and fall of the tides, likewise when the dry and rainy seasons begin and end.
You will be furnished with a four oared boat, and you are not on any consideration to build, or to permit the building of any vessel or boat whatever that is decked; or of any boat or vessel that is not decked, whose length of keel exceeds twenty feet: and if by any accident any vessel or boat that exceeds twenty feet keel should be driven on the island, you are immediately to cause such boat or vessel to be scuttled, or otherwise rendered unserviceable, letting her remain in that situation until you receive further directions from me.
You will be furnished with six months provisions, within which time you will receive an additional supply, but as you will be able to procure fish and vegetables, you are to endeavour to make the provisions you receive serve as long as possible.
The convicts being the servants of the Crown, till the time for which they are sentenced is expired, their labour is to be for the public; and you are to take particular notice of their general good or bad behaviour, that they may hereafter be employed or rewarded according to their different merits.
You are to cause the Prayers of the Church of England to be read with all due solemnity every Sunday, and you are to inforce a due observance of religion and good order, transmitting to me, as often as opportunity offers, a full account of your particular situation and transactions.
You are not to permit any intercourse or trade with any s.h.i.+ps or vessels that may stop at the island, whether English or of any other nation, unless such s.h.i.+ps or vessels should be in distress, in which case you are to afford them such a.s.sistance as may be in your power.
Given under my hand, at Head Quarters in Port Jackson, New South Wales, this 12th day of February, 1788.
(Signed)
ARTHUR PHILLIP.
Chapter IX.
February 1788 to March 1788
A Criminal Court held--Broken Bay explored by Governor Phillip--Interviews with the Natives--Peculiarities remarked--Friendly behaviour and extraordinary courage of an old man.
Governor Phillip soon found with great regret, though doubtless without much surprise, that in the community committed to his care the strict enforcement of the sanctions of law was peculiarly necessary. There were in it many individuals whom neither lenity could touch, nor rigour terrify; who, with all sense of social duty, appeared to have lost all value for life itself, and with the same wantonness exposed themselves to the darts of the savages, and to the severe punishments which, however reluctantly, every society must inflict when milder methods have been tried without success. Towards the latter end of February a criminal court was convened, in which six of the convicts received sentence of death. One, who was the head of the gang, was executed the same day; of the rest, one was pardoned; the other four were reprieved, and afterwards exiled to a small island within the bay, where they were kept on bread and water. These men had frequently robbed the stores, and the other convicts. He who suffered, and two others, had been detected in stealing from the stores the very day that they had received a week's provision; at a time when their allowance, as settled by the Navy Board, was the same as that of the soldiers, spirituous liquors excepted. So inveterate were their habits of dishonesty, that even the apparent want of a motive could not repress them.
2 March 1788
On the 2d of March Governor Phillip went with a long boat and cutter to examine the broken land, mentioned by Captain Cook, about eight miles to the northward of Port Jackson, and by him named Broken Bay. This bay proved to be very extensive. The first night they slept in the boats, within a rocky point in the north-west part of the bay, as the natives, though friendly, appeared to be numerous; and the next day, after pa.s.sing a bar that had only water for small vessels, they entered a very extensive branch, from which the ebb tide came out so strong that the boats could not row against it in the stream; and here was deep water.
This opening appeared to end in several small branches, and in a large lagoon which could not then be examined, as there was not time to seek a channel for the boats among the banks of sand and mud. Most of the land in the upper part of this branch was low and full of swamps. Pelicans and various other birds were here seen in great numbers. Among the rest an uncommon kind, called then the Hooded Gull, and supposed to be a non descript; but it appears from a drawing sent to England, a plate from which is here inserted, to be of that species called by Mr. Latham the Caspian Tern, and is described by him as the second variety of that species.*
[* Latham's Synopsis of Birds, vol. vi. p. 351.]
Leaving this north-west branch they proceeded across the bay, and went into the south-west branch. This is also very extensive; and from it runs a second opening to the westward, affording shelter for almost any number of s.h.i.+ps. In this part, as far as could then be examined, there is water for vessels of the greatest burthen, the soundings being at the entrance seven fathoms, and in going up still more. Continual rains prevented them from taking a survey. The land here was found much higher than at Port Jackson, more rocky, and equally covered with timber. Large trees were seen growing even on the summits of the mountains, which appeared accessible only to birds. Immediately round the headland that forms the southern entrance into the bay, there is a third branch, which Governor Phillip thought the finest piece of water he had ever seen; and which therefore he thought worthy to be honoured with the name of Pitt Water.
This, as well as the south-west branch, is of sufficient extent to contain all the navy of Great Britain. But on a narrow bar which runs across the entrance it has only eighteen feet depth at low water. Within the bar there are from seven to fifteen fathoms. The land is not so high in this part as in the south-west branch, and there are some good situations where the land might be cultivated. Small springs of water were seen in most of the coves, and three cascades falling from heights, which the rains at that time rendered inaccessible.
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