A Source Book of Australian History Part 9

Instructions for our trusty and well-beloved Arthur Phillip, Esq., our Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over our territory of New South Wales and its dependencies or to the Lieutenant Governor or Commander-in-Chief of the said territory for the time being. Given at our Court at St. James's the 25th day of April 1787 in the twenty-seventh year of our reign.

You are to fit yourself with all convenient speed, and to hold yourself in readiness to repair to your said command, and being arrived, to take upon you the execution of the trust we have reposed in you, as soon as conveniently may be, with all due solemnity to cause our said Commission under our Great Seal of Great Britain const.i.tuting you our Governor and Commander-in-Chief as aforesaid to be read and published.

And whereas we have ordered that about 600 male and 180 female convicts now under sentence or order of transportation whose names are contained in the list hereunto annexed should be removed out of the gaols and other places of confinement in this our kingdom, and be put on board of the several transport ships which have been taken up for their reception, it is our Royal will and pleasure that as soon as the said convicts, the several persons composing the civil establishments, and the stores, provisions, etc., provided for their use, shall be put on board the _Supply_, tender, and the transport ships named in the margin, and be in readiness to depart, that you do take them under your protection and proceed in the _Sirius_ with the said tender and transports to the Port on the coast of New South Wales, situated in the lat.i.tude of 33 41' called by the name of Botany Bay, agreeably to the instructions with which you will be furnished by the Commissioners of our Admiralty, in pursuance of our Royal commands already signified to them.

According to the best information which we have obtained, Botany Bay appears to be the most eligible situation upon the said coast for the first establishment, possessing a commodious harbour and other advantages which no part of the coast hitherto discovered affords. It is therefore our will and pleasure that you do immediately upon your landing, after taking measures for securing yourself and the people who accompany you as much as possible from any attacks or interruptions of the natives of that country, as well as for the preservation and safety of the public stores, proceed to the cultivation of the land, distributing the convicts for that purpose in such manner, and under such Inspectors and Overseers, and under such regulations as may appear to you to be necessary and best calculated for procuring supplies of grain and ground provisions.

The a.s.sortment of tools and utensils which have been provided for the use of the convicts and other persons who are to compose the intended settlement are to be distributed according to your discretion, and according to the employment a.s.signed to the several persons. In the distribution, however, you will use every proper degree of economy, and be careful that the Commissary so transmit an account of the issues from time to time to the Commissioners of our Treasury to enable them to judge of the propriety or expediency of granting further supplies. The clothing of the convicts and the provisions issued to them, and the several civil and military establishments, must be accounted for in the same manner.

The increase of the stock of animals must depend entirely upon the measures you may adopt on the outset for their preservation; and as the Settlement will be amply supplied with vegetable productions, and most likely with fish, fresh provisions, excepting for the sick and convalescents, may in a great degree be dispensed with. For these reasons it will become you to be extremely cautious in permitting any cattle, sheep, hogs, etc., intended for propagating the breed of such animals to be slaughtered until a competent stock maybe acquired, to admit of your supplying the settlement from it with animal food without having further recourse to the places from whence such stock may have originally been obtained.

It is our will and pleasure that the productions of all descriptions acquired by the labour of the convicts should be considered as a public stock, which we so far leave to your disposal that such parts thereof as may be requisite for the subsistence of the said convicts and their families, or the subsistence of the civil and military establishments of the settlement may be applied by you to that use. The remainder of such productions you will reserve as a provision for a further number of convicts, which you may expect will shortly follow you from hence, to be employed under your direction in the manner pointed out in these our instructions to you.

From the natural increase of corn and other vegetable food from a common industry, after the ground has once been cultivated, as well as of animals, it cannot be expedient that all the convicts which accompany you should be employed in attending only to the object of provisions.

And as it has been humbly represented to us that advantages may be derived from the flax-plant which is found in the islands not far distant from the intended settlement, not only as a means of acquiring clothing for the convicts and other persons who may become settlers, but from its superior excellence for a variety of maritime purposes, and as it may ultimately become an article of export, it is, therefore, our will and pleasure that you do particularly attend to its cultivation, and that you do send home by every opportunity which may offer, samples of this article, in order that a judgment may be formed whether it may not be necessary to instruct you further upon this subject.

And whereas we are desirous that some further information should be obtained of the several ports or harbours upon the coast, and the islands contiguous thereto, within the limits of your government, you are, whenever the _Sirius_ or the _Supply_ tender, can conveniently be spared, to send one, or both of them, upon that service.

Norfolk Island, situated in the lat.----, and long.----[blanks in ma.n.u.script] east from Greenwich about----, being represented as a spot which may hereafter become useful, you are, as soon as circ.u.mstances will admit of it, to send a small establishment thither to secure the same to us, and prevent it being occupied by the subjects of any other European power; and you will cause any remarks or observations which you may obtain in consequence of this instruction to be transmitted to our Princ.i.p.al Secretary of State for Plantation Affairs for our information.

You are to endeavour by every possible means to open an intercourse with the natives and to conciliate their affections, enjoining all our subjects to live in amity and kindness with them. And if any of our subjects shall wantonly destroy them, or give them any unnecessary interruption in the exercise of their several occupations, it is our will and pleasure that you do cause such offenders to be brought to punishment according to the degree of the offence. You will endeavour to procure an account of the numbers inhabiting the neighbourhood of the intended settlement, and report your opinion to one of our Secretaries of State in what manner our intercourse with these people may be turned to the advantage of this colony.

And it is further our royal will and pleasure that you do by all proper methods enforce a due observance of religion and good order among the inhabitants of the new settlement, and that you do take such steps for the due celebration of public worship as circ.u.mstances will permit.

And whereas many of our subjects employed upon military service at the said settlement and others who may resort thither upon their private occupations, may hereafter be desirous of proceeding to the cultivation and improvement of the land, and as we are disposed to afford them every reasonable encouragement in such an undertaking: It is our will and pleasure that you do, with all convenient speed, transmit a report of the actual state and quality of the soil at and near the said intended settlement, the probable and most effectual means of improving and cultivating the same, and of the mode, and upon what terms and conditions, according to the best of your judgment, the said lands should be granted, that proper instructions and authorities may be given to you for that purpose.

[Having fairly established the first settlement of white men on the continent of Australia, Governor Phillip wrote an account of his work to the Colonial Secretary.]

GOVERNOR PHILLIP TO LORD SYDNEY

Sydney Cove, New South Wales, _May 15th, 1788._

My Lord,

I had the honour of informing your Lordship, by Captain c.o.x, who was returning to Europe from Madras that I was ready to sail from the Cape of Good Hope, and which I did, with the ships under my command, the 12th of November. The 25th, being eighty leagues to the eastward of the Cape, I left the _Sirius_, and went on board the _Supply_ tender, in hopes, by leaving the convoy, to gain sufficient time to examine the country round Botany Bay and fix on the most eligible situation for the colony before the transports arrived.

The _Supply_, sailing very badly, had not permitted my gaining the advantage hoped for, but I began to examine the bay as soon as we anch.o.r.ed, and found that tho' extensive, it did not afford shelter to ships from the easterly winds; the greater part of the Bay being so shoal that ships of even a moderate draught of water are obliged to anchor with the entrance of the bay open, and are exposed to a heavy sea that rolls in when it blows hard from the eastward.

Several small runs of fresh water were found in different parts of the bay, but I did not see any situation to which there was not some very strong objection. The small creek that is in the northern part of the bay runs a considerable way into the country, but it had only water for a boat. The sides of this creek are frequently overflowed, and the lowlands a swamp. The western branch runs up for a considerable distance, but the officers I sent to examine it could not find any water, except in very small drains.

The best situation that offered was near Point Sutherland, where there was a small run of good water; but the ground near it, as well as a considerable part of the higher ground, was spongy, and the ships could not approach this part of the bay.

Several good situations offered for a small number of people, but none that appeared calculated for our numbers, and where the stores and provisions could be landed without a great loss of time. When I considered the bay's being so very open, and the probability of the swamps rendering the most eligible situation unhealthy, I judged it advisable to examine Port Jackson; but that no time might be lost if I did not succeed in finding a better harbour, and a proper situation for the settlement, the ground near Point Sutherland was in the meantime to be cleared and preparations made for landing under the direction of the Lieutenant-Governor.

As the time in which I might be absent, if I went in the _Supply_, must have been very uncertain, I went round with three boats, taking with me Captain Hunter, and several officers, that by examining different parts of the port at the same time less time might be lost.

We got into Port Jackson early in the afternoon, and had the satisfaction of finding the finest harbour in the world, in which a thousand sail of the line may ride in the most perfect security, and of which a rough survey, made by Captain Hunter and the officers of the _Sirius_ after the ships came round, may give your Lordship some idea.

The different coves were examined with all possible expedition. I fixed on the one that had the best spring of water, and in which the ships can anchor so close to the sh.o.r.e that at a very small expense quays may be made at which the largest ships may unload.

This cove, which I honoured with the name of Sydney, is about a quarter of a mile across at the entrance and half-a-mile in length.

We returned to Botany Bay the third day, where I received a very unfavourable account of the ground that was clearing.

The ships immediately prepared to go round, and the 25th--seven days after I arrived in the _Supply_--I sailed in her for Port Jackson, leaving Captain Hunter to follow with the transports, it then blowing too strong for them to work out of the bay. They joined me the next evening, and all the transports were moored in the cove.

Two sail had appeared off Botany Bay the 24th, under French colours, and anch.o.r.ed there before the _Sirius_ left it--the _Boussole_ and the _Astrolabe_. These ships were commanded by Monsieur La Perouse, who having expressed a desire of sending letters to Europe, I sent an officer over, it being only eight miles, to tell him in what time it was probable the ships might sail.

The clearing the ground for the people and for erecting storehouses was begun as soon as the ships got round, a labour of which it will be hardly possible to give your Lordship a just idea.

The necks of land that form the different coves, and near the water for some distance, are in general so rocky that it is surprising that such large trees should find sufficient nourishment, but the soil between the rocks is good, and the summits of the rocks, as well as the whole country round us, with few exceptions, are covered with trees, most of which are so large that the removing them off the ground after they are cut down is the greatest part of the labour; and the convicts, naturally indolent, having none to attend them but overseers drawn from amongst themselves, and who fear to exert any authority, makes this work go on very slowly.

As there are only twelve convicts who are carpenters, as many as could be procured from the ships have been hired to work on the hospital and storehouses. The people were healthy when landed, but the scurvy has for some time appeared amongst them, and now rages in a most extraordinary manner. Only sixteen carpenters could be hired from the ships, and several of the convict carpenters were sick. It was now the middle of February; the rains began to fall very heavy, and pointed the necessity of hutting the people; convicts were therefore appointed to a.s.sist the detachment in this work.

The great labour in clearing the ground will not permit more than eight acres to be sown this year with wheat and barley. At the same time the immense number of ants and field mice will render our crops very uncertain.

Part of the live stock brought from the Cape, small as it was, has been lost, and our resource in fish is also uncertain. Some days great quant.i.ties are caught, but never sufficient to save any part of the provisions; and at times fish are scarce.

Your Lordship will, I presume, see the necessity of a regular supply of provisions for four or five years, and of clothing, shoes and frocks in the greatest proportion. The necessary implements for husbandry and for clearing the ground brought out will, with difficulty, be made to serve the time that is necessary for sending out a fresh supply.

The labour of the convicts shall be as is directed, for the public stock, but it is necessary to permit a part of the convicts to work for the officers, who, in our present situation, would otherwise find it impossible to clear a sufficient quant.i.ty of ground to raise what is absolutely necessary to support the little stock they have; and I am to request that your Lordship will be pleased to direct me to what extent that indulgence may be granted the officers of the garrison.

The _Sirius_ shall be sent to the northward to barter for stock, and which shall be employed solely for the purposes of increasing the breed of such cattle as she may procure. The _Supply_ is in no ways calculated for this service, as in the least sea her decks are full of water.

The beginning of May the rainy season was once more supposed to be set in, but after a week we had fine weather.

The three transports for China sailed the 5th, 6th, and 8th of May; and the _Supply_ having been caulked sailed the 6th to Lord Howe Island, to endeavour to procure turtle, in hopes of checking the scurvy with which most of the people are affected, and near two hundred rendered incapable of doing any work. It is not possible to send the _Sirius_ to the northward, for she must then have her carpenters, and only three of those hired from the transports now remain; and tho' the detachment began to build barracks for the use of the men and huts for the officers the 14th of February, and near a hundred convicts were given to a.s.sist in this work, they are not yet finished, nor is the hospital or the storehouse that is to receive the provisions still remaining on board three transports, and on these works the carpenters of the _Sirius_ are employed. I have before pointed out the great labour in clearing the ground as one cause of our slow progress.

Your Lordship will, I hope, excuse the confused manner in which I have in this letter given an account of what has pa.s.sed since I left the Cape of Good Hope. It has been written at different times, and my situation at present does not permit me to begin so long a letter again, the canvas house I am under being neither wind nor waterproof.

I have, etc., A. PHILLIP.

EARLY DIFFICULTIES

+Source.+--Historical Records of Australia. Vol. I, pp. 45-51

The young colony was threatened by many dangers, but Governor Phillip with untiring energy and skill averted them, and with unusual foresight prophesied the future greatness of the country.

GOVERNOR PHILLIP TO UNDER-SECRETARY NEPEAN

Sydney Cove, _July 9th, 1788._

My Dear Sir,