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“ On their arrival, the natives appeared tolerably numerous; from whence they had reason to conclude, the country was more populous than Captain Cook thought it, as they were assembled on the beach, to the South shore, to the number of not less than forty persons, shouting, and making many uncouth signs and gestures. As the boat, in which were the Governor, some officers and attendants, rowed up the harbour, close to the land, for some distance, the Indians kept pace with her on the beach. ”

“ It is well sheltered from all winds, which induced him to anchor there. He sent an officer to sound the entrance, who reported, on his return that in a cove, a little within the harbour, some of the natives came down to the beach and invited him to land, by signs and words, of which he knew not the meaning. All of them were armed with long pikes, and a wooden weapon, shaped somewhat like a scymetar, which was two feet and a half long. The Indians, who had not followed the boat, seeing the ship approach, used many threatening gestures, and brandished their weapons. ”

“ I speak of Richmond-Hill as being the head of the river it there growing very shallow, and dividing into two branches. The high rocky country which forms Broken Bay, is lost as you proceed up the Hawkesbury, had the banks of the river are there covered with timber: the soil is rich light mould; and judging from the little we saw of the country, I should suppose it good land to a very considerable extent. The other branches of fresh water are shoals, but probably run many miles further into the country than we could trace them in our boats. ”

“ At Sydney Cove all the Officers are in good huts, and the men in barracks: and although many unforeseen difficulties have been met with, I believe there is not an individual, from the Governor to the private soldier, whose situation is not more eligible at this time, than he had reason to expect it could be in the course of the three years station; and it is the same with the Convicts; and those who have been any ways industrious have vegetables in plenty. ”

“ Here I beg leave to observe to your Lordship, that if settlers are sent out, and the Convicts divided amongst them thi Settlement will very shortly maintain itself but without which, this country cannot be cultivated to any advantage. At present I have only one person (who has about one hundred Convicts under his direction) who is employed in cultivating the ground for the public benefit, and he has returned the quantity of corn above-mentioned into the public store. ”

“ Present State of the Colony.
WHEN the plan of the Settlement was first projected, it was apprehended that the stores sent from England, together with the produce of the country, would be sufficient for the Support of the people, till they should receive a further supply; but the eatable vegetable productions being so scarce, the animal productions not abounding in that degree as was imagined, and the fisheries proving unsuccessful, they were, in consequence, reduced to an allowance of two ounces of meat a day ”

“ This was a singular instance, as the women appear less cheerful than the men, and appear to be under great awe and subjection. They certainly are not treated with much tenderness, as they are often seen in the canoes, fishing, with young children at the breast. ”

“ In order to get a right knowledge of the country round the Settlement, frequent excursions have been made since the ships sailed in November 1788; soon after which, I went to Botany Bay, and the five days spent in this harbour, confirmed me in the opinion I had first formed of it, that it afforded no eligible situation for fixing the Settlement, and was a bad harbour, not affording good security for ships against the Easterly winds, which frequently blow very hard in the winter ”

“ On the 2d of March, 1788, Governor Philip went with a long boat to examine a bay about eight miles to the North of Port Jackson, called Broken Bay; the first night they slept in the boats, as the natives, tho' friendly, seemed to be very numerous. Next day they examined the land and found it much higher than at Port-Jackson. Great trees were seen growing to the summits of the mountains, which appeared accessible only to birds. In this excursion, some interviews with the natives took place. Several women came down to the beach with the men ”

“ The Officer's have not raised sufficient to support the little live-stock they have. Some ground I have had for cultivation, will return about forty bushels of wheat in store; so that the produce of the labour of the Convicts employed in cultivation has been very short of what might have been expected, and which I, take the liberty of pointing out to your Lordship in this place; to shew as fully as possible, the state of this Colony, and the necessity of the Convicts being employed by those who an interest in their labour. ”

“ They do not seem to possess the first in any remarkable degree; and as for the last, they have, to appearance, less than the half-animated inhabitants of Terra del Fuego, who have not invention sufficient to make clothing for defending them from the rigour of their climate, though furnished with materials. It must be owned, however, that they are masters of some contrivance, in their manner of cutting their arms and bodies in lines of different lengths and directions, which are raised considerably above the skin ”

“ At the head of this harbour there is a creek, which at half flood, has water for larger boats to go three miles up; and one mile higher the water is fresh, and the soil good. A very industrious man whom I brought from England, is employed there at present. and has under his direction one hundred Convicts, who are employed in clearing and cultivating the ground. A barn granary, and other necessary buildings are erected; and twenty-seven acres of corn promise a good crop. The soil is good ”

“ The little live stock, which at so much expense and with so many difficulties had been brought on shore, prudence forbade the use of; and fish, which, for a short time, had been tolerably plenty, were now scarce, and had it not been for a stray Kanguroo, which now and then came in the way, the people would, in general. have been strangers to the taste of fresh food. ”

“ The principal streets are two hundred feet wide, the ground proposed for them to the Southward, is nearly level, and an excellent situation for building on. And when grants of land are made, every house is to have an allotment of sixty feet in front, and one hundred and fifty in depth. ”

“ The numbers employed in cultivation will be increased as the necessary buildings are finished, but which will be a work of time, for there are numbers in this Settlement who do nothing towards their own support, except those employed for the public. ”

“ This Settlement was found so eligible, that, on October, 1789, another party was sent thither: so that the new Colony, at the time the first advices were received consisted of 44 men, and 16 women, who being supplied with eighteen months provisions, will probably be able to cultivate the soil in such a manner, as to enable them to form a granary; which will put those who are settled on New Holland entirely out of danger from their barbarous neighbours.
In November the Supply sailed for Norfolk island with some Convicts, and returned in six weeks. All the people in that island were well ”

“ Their eyes are of a middling size, with the whites less clear than in us; and tho' not remarkably quick or piercing, they are such as give a frank and chearful cast to the whole countenance. Their teeth are broad, but not equal, nor well (illegible text) ; and either from nature, or from dirt, not so white as is usual among people of a black colour. ”

“ Governor Philip had now determined to return by land to Port-Jackson; and as he went; keeping near the sea-coast, he discovered a great number of natives assembled at the mouth of a Cove; the party was within ten yards of them before they were perceived, and the Governor had hardly time to make his people knit before numbers appeared in arms. The man who seemed to take the lead, made signs for the English to retire ”

“ Since the deaths mentioned in a former part of this letter, one woman has suffered for a robbery; five children have died, and twenty-eight children have been born; making in all seventy-seven deaths, and eighty-seven births.
With respect to the advantages the mother-country may derive from the establishment of the Colony, it is remarked by an observer on the spot, of evident discernment and penetration. that if intended only as a receptacle for Convicts, this place stands unequalled, from the situation. ”

“ Their colour is a dull black, like that of the Negroes. It would seem also, that they sometimes heighten their black colour, by smutting their bodies, as a mark is left behind on any clean substance, such as white paper, when they handled it.-Their hair is perfectly wooly ”