An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales Volume II Part 24

Several gentlemen being now preparing to return to England, having obtained the governor's permission for that purpose; much live stock was sold, and a considerable addition was made to that belonging to the crown by the purchase of some of the large horned cattle.

The _Martha_, having been allowed to go to Hunter river for coals in the beginning of the month, on her return, having anch.o.r.ed in some very bad weather in the north part of the harbour, Little Manly Bay, was by the parting of her cable driven on a reef of rocks, where her bottom was beat out. With the a.s.sistance of the officers and crew of the _Buffalo_, she was got off, and, being floated with casks, was brought up to Sydney, where her damages were found not to be irreparable.

By the master's account it appeared, that he had not been in the river, but in a salt water inlet, about five leagues to the southward of the river, having a small island at its entrance. He was conducted by some natives to a spot at a small distance from the mouth, where he found abundance of coal.

Several certificates were granted during this month, to persons who had served their terms of transportation; and, in order to concentrate as much as possible the effective strength of the New South Wales corps (which appeared to be necessary from the turbulent disposition of the Irish prisoners), the presence of an officer was dispensed with at the Hawkesbury. Mr. Charles Grimes, the deputy surveyor, was appointed to reside there, and to take upon him the duties of a justice of the peace.

August.] Early in this month, the _Albion_ whaler ran into Broken Bay, to complete her wood and water. She had on board 600 barrels of oi1; but had not been able, through bad weather, to secure more than a fourth part of the whales which they had killed. They had seen an immense number of these fish.

A survey was at this time taking of the public stores and provisions, in order to their being delivered over to the deputy commissary, as Mr. Williamson, the acting commissary, was about to return in the _Buffalo_ to England.

Toward the latter end of the month, an attempt was made, at three o'clock in the afternoon, to land without a permit 1016 gallons of wine and spirits, which were seized at the wharf by the sentinel. If the person who made this attempt had been advised to so incautious and daring a proceeding, it could only have been with a view to try the integrity of the sentinels, or the vigilance of the police.

In defiance of the various orders which had been given to enforce a due attendance on Sunday at divine service, that day still continued to be marked by a neglect of its sacred duties. An order was again given out on the 25th, pointing out the duties of the superintendants, constables, and overseers, in this particular instance; and a.s.suring them that a further neglect on their part would be followed by their dismissal from their respective situations.

Information had some time before this been received of the death of Wilson, known among the natives by the name of Bun-bo-e. This young man, while a convict, and after he had served the period of his transportation, preferred the life of a vagabond to that of an industrious man. He had pa.s.sed the greater part of his time in the woods with the natives, and was suspected of instructing them in those points where they could injure the settlers with the greatest effect, and most safety to themselves. In obedience, however, to a proclamation from the governor, he surrendered himself, and promising amendment, as nothing but a love of idleness could be fixed upon him, was forgiven; and, being supplied with a musket and ammunition, he was allowed to accompany such parties as made excursions into the woods, and at other times to shoot kangaroos and birds. By him, the first bird of paradise ever seen in this country had been shot; and it was his custom to live upon the flesh of such birds as he killed, bringing in with him their skins.

With the wood natives he had sufficient influence to persuade them that he had once been a black man, and pointed out a very old woman as his mother, who was weak and credulous enough to acknowledge him as her son.

The natives who inhabit the woods are not by any means so acute as those who live upon the sea coast. This difference may perhaps be accounted for by their sequestered manner of living, society contributing much to the exercise of the mental faculties. Wilson presumed upon this mental inability; and, having imposed himself upon them as their countryman, and created a fear and respect of his superior powers, indulged himself in taking liberties with their young females. However deficient they might be in reasoning faculties, he found to his cost that they were susceptible of wrongs; for, having appropriated against her inclinations a female to his own exclusive accommodation, her friends took an opportunity, when he was not in a condition to defend himself, to drive a spear through his body, which ended his career for this time, and left them to expect his return at some future period in the shape of another white man.

By a reference to the first volume of this work, it will be seen, that the natives who inhabited Port Stephens, a harbour to the northward of the settlement, entertained a similar idea of four white men who had been thrown by chance among them; and Wilson, having heard the circ.u.mstance, endeavoured to avail himself of it in his intercourse with the wood natives.

The natives of the coast, whenever speaking of those of the interior, constantly expressed themselves with contempt and marks of disapprobation. Their language was unknown to each other, and there was not any doubt of their living in a state of mutual distrust and enmity.

Those natives, indeed, who frequented the town of Sydney, spoke to and of those who were not so fortunate, in a very superior tone, valuing themselves upon their friendship with the white people, and erecting in themselves an exclusive right to the enjoyment of all the benefits which were to result from that friendship. That they should prefer the shelter which they found in the houses of the inhabitants to the miserable protection from weather which their ill-constructed huts afforded, or even to that which they could meet with under a rock, will be allowed to have been natural enough, when we present the reader with a view of a man, his wife, and child, actually sketched on the spot, by a person who met with them thus endeavouring to obtain shelter under a projection of a rock, during a heavy storm of rain and wind.

September.] In the beginning of this month, rumours being circulated, that the prisoners lately sent from Ireland for the crime of sedition, and for being concerned in the late rebellion in that country, had formed a plan for possessing themselves of the colony, that their arms (pikes manufactured since their arrival) were in great forwardness, and their manner of attack nearly arranged; a committee of officers was appointed by the governor to examine all suspected persons, and ascertain whether any such murderous design existed.

In the course of their inquiries, the committee saw occasion to imprison Harold, the Roman Catholic priest, who from his language and behaviour was suspected of being concerned in the intended insurrection. He then confessed, that the reports of it were founded in truth, and engaged to discover where the weapons were concealed, of which it was said many hundreds had been fabricated. In his confession he implicated several of his countrymen, who, on being questioned, in their turn accused several others; and the committee adjudged them all to be deserving of punishment; but Harold was never able to fulfil his engagement of producing the weapons. These he first said were buried in the ground belonging to a settler, which he pointed out; but on minutely searching every part of it, nothing like a pike could be found. Failing in this, he then said they were sunk in the lower part of the harbour; but even here they could not be discovered. He tampered with an Irishman, to make a few that he could produce in support of his a.s.sertion; but the man had, unfortunately for him, been transported for having been a dealer in pikes, and declared that he would not involve himself a second time for them. He at last found a man to fabricate one out of an old hinge of a barn door, but this bore too evidently the marks of imposition to go down with every one; and his tale met with little or no credit. There was evidently a design to create an alarm; and this man Harold, from declaring that he alone, through his influence as their priest, was able to come at the facts, was supposed to be aiming solely at making himself of consequence in the colony. He had applied to the governor for permission to officiate as their priest; and if well affected to the government, of which there were but too many doubts, he might have been of much use to the colony in that capacity.

In consequence of these alarms, and as much as possible to do away their effects, by increasing the armed force of the colony, a certain number of the most respectable inhabitants were formed into two volunteer a.s.sociations of fifty men each, and styled the Sydney and Parramatta Loyal a.s.sociated Corps. Each was commanded by a Captain, with two Lieutenants, and a proportionate number of non-commissioned officers. The whole were supplied with arms and ammunition, of which they were instructed in the use by some sergeants of the New South Wales corps, and their alarm-post was fixed at the front of Government House.*

[* As these were formed upon the footing of the volunteer corps in England, it is to be wished that they may as fully ent.i.tle themselves to the praise and thanks of the community which they were raised to defend, as those honourable a.s.sociations have merited and gained from theirs.]

It having been reported, that coal had been found upon the banks of George's river, the governor visited the place, and on examination found many indications of the existence of coal, that useful fossil, of which, shortly after, a vein was discovered on the west-side of Garden Island cove.

On the 21st, the American ship _John Jay_ arrived, after a pa.s.sage of four months and four days, from Rhode Island, bound to China. She had on board a quant.i.ty of salt beef and pork, which was purchased by government, at the rate of seven-pence three farthings per pound, for the purpose of issuing to such people as were off the stores, or who had the labour of convicts a.s.signed to them, at the same price. This was a great accommodation.

The _Buffalo_ being now ready for sea, the governor, who had determined to return in that ship to England, having arranged various matters relative to the settlement, and the lieutenant governor of Norfolk island being on the spot, left the direction of the colony in his hands, and embarked on Sunday the 28th, having previously reviewed the New South Wales corps, of whom his excellency took leave in the following order:

"The governor, having this day reviewed that part of His Majesty's New South Wales corps doing duty at Sydney, cannot omit this opportunity of expressing the satisfaction he has received from their very handsome and military appearance, which does so much honour to Lieutenant Colonel Paterson, and the commissioned officers under his command. The expertness with which the various military motions were performed is highly to the credit of the whole body, and in which the non-commissioned officers have a very distinguished share. The governor cannot lose the present opportunity (as it may possibly be the last) of a.s.suring the troops generally, that the confidence which he has long reposed in their prompt.i.tude upon every occasion that might require their particular exertion, has ever inclined him to consider with contempt the threatnings said to have been held out by a number of discontented and misled people: well satisfied that the active a.s.sistance of the New South Wales corps, added to those precautions and exertions which have and he trusts will continue to distinguish the civil power, will ever be found a complete security for the peace and tranquillity of this settlement, and of His Majesty's government in this remote part of the British dominions."

The governor's embarkation was attended with every mark of respect, attachment, and regret. The road to the wharf, where the _Buffalo's_ boat was in waiting, was lined on each side with troops, and he was accompanied thither by the officers of the civil and military departments with a numerous concourse of the inhabitants; who manifested by their deportment the sense they entertained of the regard which he had ever paid to their interests, and the justice and humanity of his government.

The following was the state of the live stock, and ground in cultivation, at the time of the governor's departure: viz

LIVE STOCK Horses 60 Mares 143 Horned Cattle Bulls and Oxen 332 Cows 712 Hogs 4017 Sheep Male 2031 Female 4093 Goats Male 727 Female 1455

LAND IN CULTIVATION Acres of Wheat 4665 Acres for Maize 2930 Acres of Barley 82

And a considerable quant.i.ty of garden ground, in potatoes, etc and vines.

The poverty of the settlers and the high price of labour occasioned much land to be unemployed this year. Many of the inferior farmers were nearly ruined by the high price they were obliged to give for such necessaries as they required from those who had been long in the habit of monopolising every article brought to the settlement for sale; a habit of which it was found impossible to get the better, without the positive and immediate interference of the government at home.

Many representations had been made on this distressing subject; and they seemed in some degree to have been attended to, as in several of the last arrivals from England, certain articles, consisting of implements of husbandry, clothing, and stores, had been consigned to the governor, to be retailed for the use of the colonists: and it was understood that this system, so beneficial to the settlement, was to be pursued in all the ships which were in future to carry out convicts or stores to that country.

October.] The _Buffalo_ sailed for England on the 21st of October*, and as the governor had intended to touch and land at Norfolk Island, for the purpose of learning, from his own observation, something of the state of that settlement, some few of the Irish prisoners, who were suspected of laying plans of insurrection and ma.s.sacre, were taken in the _Buffalo_, and landed there. This settlement wore a most unpromising appearance. All the buildings were in a state of rapid decay, and but few symptoms of industry were visible. Of stock, only a few hogs and a small quant.i.ty of vegetables were to be procured. On Phillip Island, which had formerly fed a great number of hogs, not one was to be found alive, they having, for want of better food, destroyed each other. A few fields of wheat, which were ready for reaping, looked tolerably well; but on the whole Norfolk Island by no means promised to repay the expense which it annually cost the government.

[* The _Buffalo_ arrived at Spithead, with a convoy which she brought from St. Helena, on the 24th of May 1801, having made the pa.s.sage by Cape Horn in seven months.]

On board of the _Buffalo_ were two of the birds denominated by Dampier black-swans, and three of those which in New South Wales were styled emus. However much in shape the former resembled the European swan, yet, as they are of a different species, they are not properly ent.i.tled to the appellation of swan, that name being appropriate solely to the European species. These birds had with very great care been brought alive to England, and were given by Lieutenant William Kent, the proprietor, to Earl St. Vincent, who presented them as rarae aves and literally 'nigro simillimae cygno' to her Majesty, by whom they were sent to Frogmore. They were of different s.e.xes; but unfortunately one of them soon died in moulting; and the other having, after that operation, with his health, also recovered the perfect use of his wings, availed himself of the liberty they gave him (the precaution of cutting them not having been taken), and was shot by a n.o.bleman's game-keeper as it was flying across the Thames.

The other birds were given by the same gentleman to Sir Joseph Banks; and they are now enjoying their freedom in the Earl of Exeter's park at Burleigh. These birds have been p.r.o.nounced by Sir Joseph Banks, of whose judgment none can entertain a doubt, to come nearer to what is known of the American ostrich, than to either the emu of India, or the ostrich of Africa. (The subjoined engraving is from a drawing made in New South Wales, and shows the height to which they can erect themselves.)

CONCLUSION

The doc.u.ments upon which the foregoing pages have been formed going no farther than the departure of the _Buffalo_ for England, we must here quit the regular detail of the transactions of the colony.

We learn from those who have conversed on the concerns of the settlement with governor Hunter since his return, that he possesses the most minute acquaintance with all its regulations, whether commercial, agricultural, or legal. On those particular subjects, we understand he had from time to time afforded the most ample information to government; and, as he is now upon the spot, we hope that he may be able to show the advantages which this distant colony will derive from a more frequent intercourse with the mother-country. It must be gratifying to all who may be in any way acquainted with the settlement, and are not strangers to the misfortunes under which it has sometimes suffered, to find at this time in government a determination to show it a greater degree of attention in future, than, from unavoidable circ.u.mstances, it could formerly boast.

As notice has not been regularly taken of the public works in hand at the close of each month, as was observed in the preceding volume, a view of the whole that had been undertaken during Governor Hunter's administrations of the affairs of the settlement, is annexed.

A large brick building which had been erected by Governor Phillip at Parramatta, 100 feet in length, being much decayed, was completely repaired; two floors laid throughout; and an addition of 60 feet made to it, for the purpose of converting it into a granary for the reception of wheat; there not being any building for this use in the colony.

A strong wind-mill tower of stone, erected upon the hill above the town of Sydney. The mill completed and set at work.

An entire suite of apartments built of brick at Sydney, between the hospitals and the dwelling-house of the princ.i.p.al surgeon, for the use of the two a.s.sistant-surgeons; their former wretched huts having gone to decay.

A strong double logged gaol, 80 feet long, with separate cells for prisoners, was constructed at Sydney. This building was burnt.

A similar gaol was erected at Parramatta, 100 feet in length, and paled round with a strong high fence, as was that at Sydney. This was also destroyed by fire.

Two log granaries, each 100 feet long, one for wheat and another for maize, were erected at the Hawkesbury on a spot named the Green Hills, and enclosed with paling.

Thoroughly repaired, coated with lime (manufactured from burnt sh.e.l.ls), and white-washed both government houses, the military barracks, officers'

dwellings, storehouses, and granaries, and all the public buildings, to preserve them from the decay to which they were rapidly advancing.

The government huts at Parramatta, which had been built by Governor Phillip for the immediate reception of convicts on their arrival, having been long neglected and disused, and fallen to ruin, were completely repaired and made fit for the use for which they were designed. Many had fallen down.

A barn of 90 feet in length was built at Toongabbie, in which nine pair of threshers could work. The original barn at this place built by Governor Phillip had fallen down.

Constructed eight embrasures to the battery on point Maskelyne, and raised a redoubt with eight embrasures on the east point of the cove, and mounted them with cannon. Two guns were also mounted on the high part of Garden Island.

Made good the public roads, and repaired them at various times, and threw bridges over the gullies.