the other, a distance of upwards of eleven hundred leagues, fortunately without separation, or any accident having happened.

Here it was intended to lay in such articles of stores and provisions as had not been purchased in England; under the idea that, from their being a less time at sea, they would arrive in higher preservation than they would have done had they been put on board in the river.

Our voyagers found provisions less plentiful and less reasonable in price at Cape Town than they had been taught to expect. In the course of a month the live stock and other provisions were procured; and the ships, having on board not less than five hundred animals of different kinds, but chiefly poultry, put on an appearance which naturally enough excited the idea of Noah's ark.

As it was earnestly wished to introduce the fruits of the Cape into the new settlement, Captain Phillip was ably assisted in his endeavours to procure the rarest and the best of every species, both in plant and seed, by Mr Mason, the king's botanist, as well as by Colonel Gordon, at that time the commander in chief of the troops at the Cape*.

Every thing being arranged for its departure, the fleet proceeded with a fair wind towards New South Wales, the place of its final destination. It was natural for the thinking part of the colonists to indulge at this moment a melancholy re

The following plants and seeds were procured at the Cape, and at Rio de Janeiro:

At Rio de Janeiro-Coffee, both seed and plant; Cocoa, in the nut; Cotton, seed; Banana, plant; Oranges, various sorts, both seed and plant; Lemon, seed and plant; Guava, seed; Tamarind; Prickly Pear, plant with the cochineal on it; Eugenia, or pomme-rose, a plant bearing a fruit in shape like an apple, and having the flavour and odure of a rose; Ipecacuanha, three sorts; Jalap.

At the Cape of Good Hope-The Fig tree, Bamboo, Spanish reed, Sugar cane, Vines of various sorts, Quince, Apple, Pear, Strawberry, Oak, Myrtle.

flection which obtruded itself upon the mind. The land behind them was the abode of a civilized people; that before them was the residence of savages: when, if ever, they might again enjoy the commerce of the world, was very uncertain. The refreshments and pleasures of which they had so liberally partaken at the Cape, were to be exchanged for coarse fare and hard labour at New South Wales. All communication with families and friends now cut off, they were leaving the world behind them, to enter on a state unknown; and, as if it had been necessary to imprint this idea more strongly on their minds, at the close of the evening of the day on which they sailed, they spoke a ship from London. The metropolis of their native country, its pleasures, its wealth and its consequence, thus accidently presented to the mind, failed not to afford a most striking contrast with the object then principally in their view.

For several days after they had sailed, the wind was unfavourable, and blowing fresh with much sea, some time elapsed before they had reached to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope. This being at length accomplished, Captain Phillip, embarking in the Supply, proceeded forward, accompanied by the Scarborough, Alexander, and Friendship, transports. On board of these three ships was the greater part of the male convicts, whom Captain Phillips had sanguine hopes of employing to much advantage, before the Sirius, with that part of the fleet which was to remain under Captain Hunter's direction, should arrive upon the coast. He was also attended by Major Ross, the commandant of the marine detachment (and lieutenant-governor of the settlement), together with the adjutant and quarter-master, in order to co-operate with him in his intention of preparing, as far as time might allow, for the reception of the rest of the convoy. But when the Sirius anchored in Botany Bay, Captain Hunter was informed that the Supply had preceded him in his arrival only two days; and the three transports, under the agent, Lieutenant Shortland, had gained but one day of the Sirius and her convoy,

most of which began to grow foul long before their arrival, not one of them being coppered.

Thus was happily completed in eight months and one week (the whole fleet being safe at anchor on the 20th of January, 1788), a voyage which, before it was undertaken, the mind hardly dared venture to contemplate, and on which it was impossible to reflect without some apprehension as to its termination. In the course of that time they had sailed fifteen thousand and sixty-three miles; had touched at the American and African continents; and had at last rested within a few days sail of the Antipodes of their native country, without meeting any accident, in a fleet of eleven sail, nine of which were merchantmen that had never before sailed in that distant and imperfectly explored ocean; and when it was considered that there was on board a large body of convicts, many of whom were embarked in a very sickly state, they might be deemed peculiarly fortunate, that of the whole number of all descriptions of persons coming to form the new settlement, only thirty-two had died since their leaving England, among whom were to be included one or two deaths by accident; although previous to their departure, it had been conjectured, that before they should have been a month at sea, one of the transports would have been converted into an hospital ship. Fortunately, however, it happened otherwise. Their provisions were excellent, and they had all partaken liberally of refreshments at the Cape of Good Hope and Rio de Janeiro.

CHAP. III.

Inconvenience of Botany Bay-The Governor proceeds to Port Jackson, where it is determined to fix the Settlement-Removal from Botany Bay-Arrival of two French Ships, under M. de la Perouse ---The Sirius and Convoy arrive at Port Jackson-Preparations for Encampment Commission and Letters patent read-Government of the Colony.

THE governor had employed the short time which he had gained in examining the bay; but on their arrival he had not seen any spot to which some strong objection did not apply. If in one place he met with a promising soil, it was deficient in that grand essential, fresh water, and was besides too confined for their numbers. He therefore determined on examining the adjacent harbours of Port Jackson and Broken Bay; and for that purpose set off the day following the arrival of the Sirius and her convoy, in three open boats, accompanied by some of the officers of the settlement.

The coast, as he drew near Port Jackson, wore a most unpromising appearance, and the natives every where greeted the little fleet with shouts of defiance and prohibition, the words "Warra warra," Go away, go away, resounding whereever they appeared. The governor's utmost expectation, as he drew near the harbour, being to find what Captain Cook, as he passed it by, thought might be found, shelter for a boat; he was most agreeably surprised at discovering, on his entrance, a harbour capable of affording security for a large fleet.

In one of the coves of this noble and capacious harbour, he determined to fix the future seat of his government, it having been found to possess a sufficiency of water and soil. Having completed his research in three days, he returned to Botany Bay, and gave directions for an immediate removal thence; a circumstance which gave general satisfaction, as nothing had been discovered in that place which could excite a wish

to pass another day in it. This removal would have taken. place the morning following his return; but at day-light they were surprised by the appearance of two strange sail in the offing. Various were the conjectures of what nation these could be, and whence they had arrived. It was soon known, however, that they were two French ships, Le Boussole and L'Astrolabe, under the command of M. de la Perouse, then on a voyage of discovery.

That Botany Bay should have appeared to Captain Cook in a more advantageous light than to Governor Phillip, is not by any means extraordinary. Their objects were very different: the one required only shelter and refreshment for a small vessel, and during but a short time: the other had great numbers to provide for, and was necessitated to find a place wherein ships of very considerable burthen might approach the shore with ease, and lie at all times in perfect security. The appearance of the place is picturesque and pleasing, and the ample harvest it afforded, of botanical acquisitions, made it interesting to the philosophical gentlemen engaged in that expedition; but something more essential than beauty of appearance, and more necessary than philosophical riches, must be sought in a place where the permanent residence of multitudes is to be established.

As Captain Hunter, with whom the governor had left the charge of bringing the Sirius and transports round to Port Jackson, (whither he had preceded them in the Supply) was working out when M. de la Perouse entered Botany Bay, the two commanders had barely time to exchange civilities; and it must naturally have created some surprize in the French to find the English fleet abandoning the harbour at the very time when they were preparing to anchor in it; indeed, M. de la Perouse afterwards said, that "until he had looked round him in Botany Bay, he could not divine the cause of their quitting it; having expected, from the intelligence given him at Kamschatka, to have found a town built and a market established; but by what he had already seen of the country,