25/04/2004
History of New South Wales From the Records
VOLUME 1 - GOVERNOR PHILLIP 1783-1789G. B. Barton - 1889
PART I
Preparations for the Expedition
THE instructions sent from Whitehall to the Treasury and the Admiralty by Lord Sydney for the equipment of the ships required on the expedition appear to indicate all the deliberation which might be expected on such an occasion. As it turned out, however, there was but too much reason for the complaints made on the subject by Governor Phillip. There was evidence of so much neglect and in-attention to the most essential matters that, judging from his repeated remonstrances, it would appear as if the necessary preparations had been left to take care of themselves. For the negligence displayed in almost every instance, the contractors and subordinate officials charged with the management of details were no doubt mainly responsible; but seeing that the expedition was formed for the avowed purpose of founding a colony as well as transporting convicts, it is singular that so little precaution should have been taken to ensure its success. That it did meet with success must be largely attributed to the prudence, sagacity, and foresight displayed by Phillip, from the time he assumed command of it to the day when he left the colony.
Some idea of the difficulties he had to contend with from the first, and which might have been avoided by proper attention to the actual requirements of the expedition, may be gathered from the following facts:-
1. The convicts put on board the transports, numbering seven hundred and fifty-six in all, of whom five hundred and sixty-four were men and one hundred and ninety-two were women, were not by any means adapted to the work of colonising. Instead of being selected for their probable usefulness on landing in a new country, as labourers and skilled workmen, they were mostly unfit for any useful employment. Fifty-two of them were incapacitated for work of any kind by old age and incurable complaints, and consequently had to be kept on the sick list after their arrival, at a time when the infant colony was threatened with starvation.
2. The convicts were put on board without sufficient supplies of clothing, a neglect especially felt in the case of the women; and the hardship was aggravated by the want of such simple necessaries as needles and thread, so that when their clothes fell to pieces they could not be repaired.
3. The supply of anti-scorbutics on board the fleet was very insufficient. The outbreak of scurvy at sea was prevented by the supplies of fresh provisions obtained at Teneriffe, Rio, and the Cape; but when it broke out after the arrival at Port Jackson, the medical staff found themselves without the necessary means of treatment for the sick.
4. Although Governor Phillip was instructed to "proceed to the cultivation of the land" immediately after his arrival, under the idea that the convicts would be able to provide the means of subsistence, and for that purpose supplies of seed, grain, and farming implements had been put on board the ships, no men were sent out who had any knowledge of farming or of the management of stock.
5. The number of carpenters among the convicts was so small - there were only twelve, and several of them were sick on their arrival - that ships' carpenters had to be hired from the fleet. A similar difficulty presented itself in the case of other mechanics required in the construction of houses and public buildings (1).
6. There were no men on board the fleet who had any knowledge of useful sciences, such as botany, geology, mineralogy, and natural history; and consequently there was no means of ascertaining the various resources of the country, and applying the knowledge to wants of the settlement.
7. Nor were there any persons skilled in technical arts, such as flax-dressing, although the Governor was instructed to cultivate flax as a means of acquiring clothing for the convicts, as well as for maritime purposes.
8. No persons were sent out in charge of the convicts in the capacity of overseers or superintendents; and as the Governor was consequently under the necessity of selecting such officers from among the convicts, the difficulty of maintaining order among them was much greater than it would otherwise have been.
9. No instructions were conveyed to the officers of the marines for the purpose of ensuring their obedience to the Governor's orders; the consequence being that they were no sooner encamped than they refused to obey any orders outside their ordinary duty, insisting that they would not interfere with the convicts under any circumstances, except as a garrison force.
10. The Judge-Advocate appointed to preside over the Courts of civil and criminal jurisdiction was a captain of marines, without any legal training or experience; and although those Courts were instructed to administer justice "according to the laws of England," the presiding judge had no qualifications of the kind required for a purely judicial position. The Governor was thus left without any legal advice on which he could rely, and law was administered on strictly military principles.
These were some of the difficulties which Phillip had to encounter day by day, and which were, no doubt, doubly trying to him from the fact that they might have been so easily avoided by proper attention in the first instance. But serious as they were, they were greatly aggravated by the subsequent despatch of convict ships, one after another, at a time when the settlement was suffering from want of the actual necessaries of life; ships, too, sent out with so little regard for human life that pestilential fevers broke out among their wretched passengers, carrying off large numbers of them at sea, and leaving the rest in so disabled a state that on their arrival they had to be kept in hospital among a starving population.
From the time of his appointment to that of his departure on the 13th May, 1787, Phillip - judging from his correspondence - appears to have been energetically employed in supervising the arrangements made for the expedition, inquiring into various details connected with it, and otherwise preparing for his new sphere of action. How minutely he examined every point that presented itself to his mind at this time may be seen from a "memo." preserved in the Record Office, bearing no date, but evidently written soon after he had received his appointment. It contains a striking passage, in which, as on other occasions, he expressed his opinion of the great future which lay before the colony:-
By arriving at the settlement two or three months before the transports, many and very great advantages would be gained. Huts would be ready to receive the convicts who are sick, and they would find vegetables, of which it may naturally be supposed they will stand in great need, as the scurvey must make a great ravage amongst people naturally indolent and not cleanly.
Huts would be ready for the women; the stores would be properly lodged and defended from the convicts, in such manner as to prevent their making any attempt on them. The cattle and stock would be likewise properly secured, and the ground marked out for the convicts; for lists of those intended to be sent being given to the commanding officers, mentioning their age, crimes, trades, and character, they might be so divided as to render few changes necessary, and the provisions would be ready for issuing without any waste. But if convicts, provisions, &c., must be landed a few days after the ships' arrival, and consequently nearly at the same time, a great inconvenience will arise, and to keep the convicts more than a few days on board, after they get into a port, considering the length of time which they must inevitably be confined, may be attended with consequences easier to conceive than to point out in a letter. Add to this, fevers of a malignant kind may make it necessary to have a second hospital.
A ship's company is landed, huts raised, and the sick provided for in a couple of days; but here the greater number are convicts, in whom no confidence can be placed, and against whom both person and provisions are to be guarded. Everything necessary for the settlement would be received at the Cape on board by the commanding officer, and nothing left for the transports but a certain proportion of live stock.
The confining the convicts on board the ships requires some consideration. Sickness must be the consequence in so long a voyage (six months may be allowed for the voyage - that is, from the time of leaving England to the arrival in Botany Bay), and disagreeable consequences may be feared if they have the liberty of the deck. The sooner the crimes and behaviour of these people are known the better, as they may be divided, and the greatest villains particularly guarded against in one transport.
The women in general, I should suppose, possess neither virtue nor honesty. But there may be some for theft who still retain some degree of virtue, and these should be permitted to keep together, and strict orders to the master of the transport be given that they are not abused and insulted by the ship's company - which is said to have been the case too often when they were sent to America.
At the ports we put into for water, &c., there may be some sick that may have fever of such a nature that it may be necessary for the safety of the rest to remove them out of the ship. In such a case, how am I to act?
The greatest care will be necessary to prevent any of the convicts from being sent that have any venereal complaints. During the passage, when light airs or calms permit it, I shall visit the transports to see that they are kept clean, and receive the allowance ordered by the Government; and at these times shall endeavour to make them sensible of their situation, and that their happiness and misery is in their own hands; that those who behave well will be rewarded by being allowed to work occasionally on the small lots of land set apart for them, and which they will be put in possession of at the expiration of the time for which they are transported.
On landing in Botany Bay, it will be necessary to throw up a slight work as a defence against the natives - who, though only seen in small numbers by Captain Cook, may be every numerous on other parts of the coast - and against the convicts; for this, my own little knowledge as a field engineer will be sufficient, and will be the work of a few days only; but some small cannon for a redoubt will be necessary. Within the lines the stores and provisions will be secured, and I should hope that the situation I should be able to take may admit of having the small rivers between the garrison and the convicts so situated that I may be able to prevent their having any intercourse with the natives.
I shall think it a great point gained if I can proceed in this business without having any dispute with the natives, a few of which I shall endeavour to persuade to settle near us, and who I mean to furnish with everything that can tend to civilise them, and to give them a high opinion of their new guests; for which purpose it will be necessary to prevent the transports' crews from having any intercourse with the natives, if possible. The convicts must have none, for if they have, the arms of the natives will be very formidable in their hands, the women abused, and the natives disgusted.
The keeping of the women apart merits great consideration, and I don't know but it may be best if the most abandoned are permitted to receive the visits of the convicts in the limits allotted them at certain hours, and under certain restrictions. Something of this kind was the case on Mill Bank formerly. The rest of the women I should keep apart, and by permitting the men to be in their company when not at work they will, I should suppose, marry, in which case they should be encouraged, if they are industrious, by being allowed to work one day in the week more than the unmarried on their own lots of ground.
The natives may, it is probable, permit their women to marry and live with the men after a certain time, in which case I should think it necessary to punish with severity the man who used the woman ill; and I know of no punishment likely to answer the purpose of deterring others so well as exiling them to a distant spot, or to an island, where they would be obliged to work hard to gain their daily subsistence, and for which they would have the necessary tools; but no two to be together, if it could be avoided.
Rewarding and punishing the convicts must be left to the Governor; he will likely be answerable for his conduct, and death, I should think, will never be necessary. In fact, I doubt if the fear of death ever prevented a man of no principle from committing a bad action. There are two crimes that would merit death - murder and sodomy; for either of these crimes I should wish to confine the criminal till an opportunity offered of delivering him as a prisoner to the natives of New Zealand, and let them eat him. The dread of this will operate much stronger than the fear of death.
As the getting a large quantity of stock together will be my first great object, till that is obtained the garrison should, as in Gibraltar, not be allowed to kill any animal without first reporting his stock and receiving permission. This order would only be necessary for a certain time, and I mention it here only to show the necessity of a military government; and as I mean in every matter of this kind to set the example, I think that I can say this will never occasion any uneasiness. But, if it should, it will be absolutely necessary, otherwise we shall not do in ten years what I hope to do in four.
Women may be brought from the Friendly and other islands, a proper place prepared to receive them, and where they will be supported for a time, and lots of land assigned to such as marry with the soldiers of the garrison.
As I would not wish convicts to lay the foundations of an Empire, I think they should ever remain separated from the garrison and other settlers that may come from Europe, and not be allowed to mix with them, even after the seven of fourteen years for which they are transported may be expired.
The laws of this country will, of course, be introduced in New South Wales, and there is one that I would wish to take place from the moment his Majesty's forces take possession of the country - that there can be no slavery in a free land, and consequently no slaves.
The cloathing for the convicts will last a certain time, after which, what means should I have of furnishing them with materials for their making their own clothes?
It will be necessary to know how far I may permit the seamen and marines of the garrison to cultivate spots of land when the duty of the day is over; and how far I can give them hopes that the grounds they cultivate will be secured to them hereafter; likewise, how far I may permit any of the garrison to remain, when they are ordered home in consequence of relief.
By what I am informed, hatchets and beads are the articles for barter, with a few small grindstones for the Chiefs; and as when they use a light they hold it in their hands, small tin lamps on a very simple construction must be very acceptable.
Ships may arrive at Botany Bay in future. On account of the convicts, the orders of the port for no boats landing but in particular places, coming on shore and returning to the ships at stated hours, must be strictly enforced.
The saddles I mentioned will be absolutely necessary for two or three horsemen, who will examine the country to a certain distance, when it might be dangerous to attempt it with half the garrison; for I am not of the general opinion that there are very few inhabitants in this country, at least so few as have been represented; but this article I take upon myself, as likewise the knives, &c., that I mentioned.
Such fruit trees and cuttings that will bear removing should be added to the seeds carried from England, as likewise roots that will bear keeping that length of time out of the ground.
Two or three of the horses in question will be highly necessary, and there is no time to lose in giving the order, if intended.
A certain quantity of the articles of husbandry, stores, corn, seeds, and of the articles for traffick, should be put on board the Berwick (2), that in case of an accident we may not be in immediate want of those things, and the same on board the store-ship in which the Lieutenant-Governor goes.
In addition to this memo., Phillip addressed several letters to the Home Department in reference to various matters of detail requiring attention. On the 4th January, 1787, he addressed Nepean as follows:-
As it has been found necessary to add additional security to the hatchways, and to alter the handcuffs on board the Alexander, the same will be necessary to be done on board the different ships as they arrive at Portsmouth; consequently orders should be sent down to that port to inform your office, or the Navy Board, when such alterations are made, otherwise the convicts may be sent from town before the ships are ready to receive them.
I likewise beg leave to observe that the number of scythes (only six), of razors (only five dozen), and the quantity of buck and small shot (only two hundred lb.), now ordered, is very insufficient; and that twenty scythes, twelve dozen of razors (at 12s. a dozen), and five of small shot, chiefly buck, in addition to the above, is very necessary.
I have likewise to request that you will please to inform me in what manner those people are to be paid who superintend the convicts in their various occupations, for some people there must be named for that purpose, and no one will undertake this business without some reward, though it may be very small, being held out to them; as likewise those who must be employed in issuing the daily provisions. These people cannot well be taken from the garrison; I think they may from the ship.
The knowing what provisions, &c., are on board the different ships is very necessary, as I find there are some things put on board the transports by the agent that cannot possibly remain there. I therefore beg that I may have the account as soon as it can possibly be given.
Several of the staff have requested that I would once more apply to you for a twelve months' advance, as they find themselves much distressed in fitting for the voyage, and the uncertainty of which makes their agents unwilling to advance the sum they find absolutely necessary to fit out - and they feel it the more as the officers of marines have now received a year's advance; indeed I doubt if one or two of the assistant surgeons will be able to leave town without the advance.
Another letter to Nepean followed on the 11th of the same month:-
By letters from Lieutenant Shortland and the surgeon's assistant on board the Alexander, I find that one hundred and eighty-four men are put on board that ship, and fifty-six women on board the Lady Penrhyn; that there are amongst the men several unable to help themselves, and that no kind of surgeon's instruments have been put on board that ship or any of the transports. You will, sir, permit me to observe that it will be very difficult to prevent the most fatal sickness amongst men so closely confined; that on board that ship which is to receive two hundred and ten convicts there is not a space left for them to move in sufficiently large for forty men to be in motion at the same time - nor is it safe to permit any number of men to be on deck while the ship remains so near the land.
On this consideration, I hope that you will order the Alexander and Lady Penrhyn to join his Majesty's ship Sirius immediately, and proceed to Spithead, where more liberty may be allowed the convicts than can be done with safety in the river; and those that are waiting to compleat the number to be sent out in those ships may be sent round to Portsmouth with the other convicts, for the most fatal consequences may be expected if the full number is kept on board any length of time before we sail.
You will, I presume, see the necessity of ordering some surgeon's instruments to be sent on board the ships that carry the convicts; and I hope that no more will be embarked till the ships are ready to sail, and which they cannot be for a week after they get to Spithead.
On the 28th February he wrote to Sydney on similar topics. The particular matters he referred to may seem very small at this distance of time; but in his eyes they were evidently essential to the health of his people:
Having received the enclosed reports respecting the marines and convicts now embarked on board the Alexander and Lady Penrhyn, transports, I beg to submit it to your lordship whether it may be advisable to make some alteration in the provisions, by allowing the marines a proportion of flour, in lieu of certain proportion of salt meat, and some addition to the provisions served to the convicts. At present a convict has only, for forty-two days, 16 lb. of bread, as will appear to your lordship by the enclosed list.
And I likewise beg leave to solicit your lordship that orders may be given for the supplying both marines and convicts with fresh meat and vegetables while they remain at Spithead, and that a small quantity of wine may be allowed for the sick.
P.S. - I likewise beg leave to represent to your lordship that the contractors having a power of substituting ½ lb. of rice in lieu of 1 lb. of flour will be every severely felt by the convicts.
The specific powers with which he thought it advisable that he should be invested, in order to provide against any emergencies that might arise, formed the subject of a letter to the Under Secretary, dated March 1st. He begins by pointing out that, as he is placed under the control of the Home Office in all matters, it is necessary that his instructions should be as precise as possible.
From the letter I have received from the Admiralty, and of which I enclose a copy, you will see that respecting my 11th, 12th, and 13th queries, the Board declines giving any answer. As I am to be entirely under the direction of the Secretary of State immediately after I arrive on the coast of New South Wales, for what regards the Naval Department as well as respecting the settlement, I must request your particular attention to the following circumstances in drawing up my instructions:-
That I am directed to order wine to be purchased on the passage, at Teneriffe, or where it can be procured; for circumstances may prevent my taking on board the quantity intended at Teneriffe, or perhaps any part of it, and it may be got at the Cape or elsewhere.
That I may employ one of the transports as a hospital ship, if I find it necessary on the passage.
That I order the marines and convicts to be supplied with fresh meat and vegetables at such places as I may stop at on the passage, and to order the Commissary to draw bills on the Treasury for such supplies.
That I have the power of exchanging any part of the garrison with the marines embarked on board the ships, or of incorporating the marines now belonging to the ships with those of the garrison, if the service requires it.
That I am directed to appoint officers to fill such stations as may become vacant by death or otherwise.
That I am directed to discharge from the ships such officers and men as may not be necessary for the navigating of the ships, and which may be necessary in the garrison, such people being desirous of remaining in the settlement.
That I make the settlement in such port as I may find the most convenient and best to answer the intentions of Government.
That I send one of the ships to Charlotte Sound, in the Islands of New Zealand, for the flax-plant, and to the Friendly Islands for the bread-fruit; and as women will be there procured, that I put an officer on board such transport.
That the terms by which lands are to be granted are pointed out by the article which gives me the power of granting lands.
That I have a power of exciling to New Zealand or the neighbouring islands any convicts that may be condemned to death.
That I have the power of emancipation.
The power of suspending and sending home such officer who, from his situation, cannot be tried by a court-martial.
That in case of sending home the Sirius, I have orders from the Secretary of State to take the command of such ships or vessels as remain on the coast, by hoisting a distinguishing pendant on board such ship or tender, as I may judge necessary (such pendant not to give men any claim to the pay of a commanding officer), in order to retain the command by sea, to be more at liberty to visit the coast, and to retain the command of the ships or vessels that remain.
That I have a power to change the species of provisions served to the marines and convicts; for if salt meat is issued, without any proportion of flour - as has been hitherto done by the contractor to the marines embarked on board the Alexander - the scurvy must prove fatal to the greatest part. Of the marines already embarked two months, one in six are sent to the hospital since that ship's arrival at Spithead.
And, on a later occasion, he wrote another series of memoranda on similar points:-
It must be left to me to fix at Botany Bay, if I find it a proper place; if not, to go to a port a few leagues to the northward, where there appears to be a good harbour and several islands. As the natives are very expert in setting fire to the grass, the having an island to secure our stock would be a great advantage, and there is none in or off Botany Bay (3).
It certainly will not be advisable to send out any more convicts till my station is known; and the strength of the garrison must always be in proportion to the number of convicts, till the garrison is of a certain force.
Any man who takes the life of a native will be put on his trial the same as if he had killed one of the garrison. This appears to me not only just, but good policy.
These women from the islands cannot be sent for till provision is made to receive them, and they will certainly be free to choose husbands, or to live in private within certain bounds. Any insults offered to them will be punished with severity, and this their situation will require.
A power to exile to New Zealand any convict that may be condemned under certain circumstances appears to me very necessary, and may be attended with good consequences.
Instructions how to proceed in case of being opposed by any European ships when I arrive on the coast.
How and when are the contingent expenses to be drawn for, and on whom?
Mr. Rose informed me that I was to receive as Governor, £ .........
Allowed for a secretary, £ ........
Allowed for paper, £ ..........
What is the authority which fixes these appointments?
It will be seen from his last queries that up to this time Phillip had, apparently, been more mindful of the public interest than of his own. He did not even know what salary and allowances it was proposed to attach to his appointment. As to that matter, he was informed in a letter from Whitehall, dated 20th April, that -
It will be proposed to Parliament in a few days to fix your salary as Governor at £1,000 per annum nett, which, with the pay of the Sirius, is judged to be a proper allowance for the support of the stations you are appointed to fill. You will also be allowed a contingent charge of 5s. per deim for the pay of a secretary, and £20 per annum for stationery.
On another delicate matter, he was roughly told that -
With regard to the compensation you solicit by way of table money, I am to inform you that no allowance whatever of that sort can be granted to you.
In answer to his memo. with respect to the site of the intended settlement, he received very pointed instructions:-
There can be no objection to your establishing any part of the territory or islands upon the coast of New South Wales, in the neighbourhood of Botany Bay, which you may consider as more advantageously situated for the principal settlement; but at the same time you must understand that you are not allowed to delay the disembarkation of the establishment upon your arrival on the coast, upon the pretence of searching after a more eligible place than Botany Bay.
In another letter to Sydney, written on the 12th march, Phillip - evidently feeling the weight of responsibility that lay on his shoulders, and anxious to avoid the false position in which he might ultimately find himself placed through the negligence of others - sought to impree on his lordship the necessity for immediate action in order to avert disaster. From the manner in which the marines and convicts were crowded together on board the ships, coupled with the unsatisfactory arrangements for victualling them, he thought it "more than probable" that half the men might be lost on the voyage. But for his persistent representations on these matters, it is not at all unlikely that the First Fleet - instead of arriving, as it did, with healthy crews and passengers - would have experienced much the same fate as that which befell the second:-
As the Navy Board have informed me that no alteration can be made respecting the victualling of the marines during the passage, it is to prevent my character as an officer from being called in question, should the consequence I fear be realised, that I once more trouble your lordship on this subject.
The contracts for the garrison and convicts were made before I ever saw the Navy Board on this business, and though I never have had it in my power officially to interfere, in any respect, yet I have repeatedly pointed out the consequences that must be expected from the men being crowded on board such small ships, and from victualling the marines according to the contract, which allows no flour, as is customary in the Navy. This must be fatal to many, and the more so as no anti-scorbutics are allowed on board the transports for either marine or convict; in fact, my lord, the garrison and convicts are sent to the extremity of the globe as they would be sent to America, a six weeks' passage.
I see the critical situation I may be in after losing part of the garrison, that is at present very weak, when the service for which it is intended is considered; but I am prepared to meet difficulties, and I have only one fear. I fear, my lord, that it may be said hereafter the officer who took charge of the expedition should have known that it was more than probable he lost half the garrison and convicts, crowded and victualled in such a manner for so long a voyage. And the public, believing it rested with me, may impute to my ignorance or inattention what I have never been consulted in, and which never coincided with my ideas, to avoid which is the purport of this letter; and I flatter myself your lordship will hereafter point out the situation in which I have stood through the whole of this business, should it ever be necessary.
Knowing that it was his "duty to repeat complaints that may be redressed," Phillip sent a still more emphatic representation of the state of affairs to the Under Secretary, under date March 18th:-
A letter which I have received from the surgeon states the situation of the convicts to be such that I am under necessity of requesting you to lay their case before Lord Sydney, that directions may be given to the Commissioners of the Navy for the ordering lighters from Portsmouth Yard to the Alexander to receive the convicts while the ship is cleaned and smoked; and though I have so often solicited that essence of malt or some anti-scorbutic may be allowed, I cannot help once more repeating the necessity of it. And, putting the convicts out of the question, which humanity forbids, the sending of the marines that are on board the transports such a voyage as they are going in a worse state than ever troops were sent out of the kingdom, even to the nearest garrison - for, taking off the tonnage for the provisions and stores, they have not one ton and a half a man - cannot, I am certain, be the intention of his Majesty's Ministers; yet it is absolutely the case, and I have repeatedly stated this fact. Fresh meat for all the convicts, I was informed, had been ordered in consequence of the representation I made as soon as the ships got round to Portsmouth; but the sick only have fresh meat. Wine, at the discretion of the surgeon, is very necessary for the sick, as the convicts are not allowed anything more than water.
The necessity of making one of the transport ships an hospital ship is obvious, and, I think, cannot be deferred. The Friendship, as having the smallest number of convicts on board, I propose for that purpose.
The giving cloathes to those convicts who have been embarked at Plymouth is so very necessary that I have ordered it to be done, and presume the Navy Board will replace the cloathing; but as there are more convicts to be sent on board the different ships, unless orders are being given for their being washed and cloathed on their leaving the prison, or the hulks, all that we may do will be to no purpose.
These complaints, my dear sir, do not come unexpected, nor were they unavoidable. I foresaw them from the beginning, and repeatedly pointed them out when they might have been so easily prevented at a very small expense, and with little trouble to those who have had the conducting of this business. At present the evils complained of may be redressed, and the intentions of the Government by this expedition answered. But if now neglected it may be too late hereafter, and we may expect to see the seamen belonging to the transports run from the ships to avoid a jail distemper, and may be refused entrance into a foreign port.
The situation in which the magistrates sent the women on board the Ladt Penrhyn stamps them with infamy; though almost naked and so very filthy that nothing but cloathing them could have prevented them from perishing, and which could not be done in time to prevent a fever, which is still on board that ship, and where there are many with venereal complaints that must spread in spite of every precaution I may take hereafter, and will be fatal to thousands.
There is necessity for doing something for the young man who is on board the ship as surgeon, or I fear that we shall lose him, and then a hundred women will be left without any assistance, several of them with child. Let me repeat my desire that orders immediately may be given to increase the convict allowance of bread - 16 lb. of bread for forty-two days is very little; to supply all the convicts with fresh meat while they remain at Portsmouth, the sich with some small quantity of wine; lighters to be ordered to attend the Alexander while that ship is smoaked, &c.; to wash and cloathe the convicts that are still to be sent down before they are put on board the transports; and to have one of the transports ordered to serve as a hospital ship.
This is a long letter, but it is my duty to repeat complaints that may be redressed, and which I am certain you desire equally with myself.
Other little matters that had occurred to him subsequently were touched upon in a further letter to Nepean, dated April 11th. The request for "sour krout and portable soup (4) for the convicts that may be sick" shows his extreme desire to secure their health on the passage:-
When you find a quarter of an hour, be so good as to give me a line to the Navy Board, sufficiently explicit to prevent any further delays, with respect to the ordinary caps for the convicts, one hogshead of porter in bottles as a present to the commanding officer in the island from which we are to procure stock, and ducats to the value of £30 for the same purpose. The beer may be brought at Portsmouth, and I will find room for it on board the Sirius.
A line likewise is necessary to the Admiralty, that I may have an order to receive on board the Sirius the Commissary and the servant to the Judge-Advocate; likewise for victualling the forty marines' wives, and to desire that sour krout and portable soup may be ordered for the convicts that may be sick. There is some krout in store at the victualling office.
P.S. - By some mistake one hundred and nine women and children are put on board the Lady Penrhyn, though that ship was only intended to carry one hundred and two and with propriety should not have more than two-thirds of that number.
Phillip was thus under the necessity of imploring the Government from day to day to supply the actual necessaries which experience had shown to be indispensable for the preservation of health on long voyages. The indifference shown by his Majesty's Ministers evidently tried his temper, and he had at last become very uneasy, if not alarmed, at the prospect before him. Not only were the marines as well as the convicts likely to suffer from the want of ordinary supplies, but the women had been put on board in such a state - "almost naked and so very filthy" - that sickness and disease were tolerably certain to break out among them. The state of things on board his ships may be judged by comparing his accounts of it with Captain Cook's description of the equipment of the Resolution and Adventure in 1772. No expense was spared on that occasion. The ships
were fitted in the most complete manner, and supplied with every extra article that was suggested to be necessary. Lord Sandwich (5) paid an extraordinary attention to this equipment, by visiting the ships from time to time, to satisfy himself that the whole was completed to his wish, and to the satisfaction of those who were to embark in them. Nor were the Navy and Victualling Boards wanting in providing them with the evry best of stores and provisions, and whatever else was necessary for so long a voyage. We were supplied with wheat in lieu of so much oatmeal, and sugar in lieu of so much oil; we had, besides, many extra articles, such as malt, sour krout, salted cabbage, portable broth, saloup. mustard, marmalade of carrots, and inspissated juice of wort and beer (6).
Neither Lord Sydney nor Lord Howe thought it necessary to visit Phillip's ships in order to satisfy himself as to their equipment; nor was the Commodore indulged in any such luxuries as marmalade of carrots or inspissated juice of wort and beer. The foundation of a colony was evidently not a matter of much importance compared with a voyage of discovery in search of a new continent towards the South Pole.
Phillip's last letter from England was written on board the Sirius, then lying on the Motherbank, off the Isle of Wight, on the 11th May. Notwithstanding all his efforts to comply with the repeated orders to sail as soon as possible, he had not been able to satisfy himself about the supply of necessaries, and was obliged to sail without the "women's cloathes," which had been so neglected by the authorities. Much as those articles were needed, however, and anxious as he was to provide for the comfort of the women, he would not "wait a single hour" for the missing garments, but would be on his way to the new land "as soon as there is the least chance of getting down the Channel."
Since my letter of this morning, I have seen the bread which the contractor offered for the convicts, in the room of what was to be baked, and which could not have been ready before Monday - it is good, though coarse, and I have ordered it to be sent on board this evening.
The order Major Ross received from the Admiralty respecting the marines has the following words: "To be properly victualled by a Commissary." On this they grounded their letters of complaint; but this business is now settled - all are satisfied. I return you Lord Sydney's letter, and hope we shall not give you any further trouble. Had I sailed when first I came down, some of the ships must have gone short of water, which is not yet compleat, but will, I hope, this evening; and we must likewise have left all the necessaries for the sick behind (they not coming down before last night), as well as a great deal of provisions; in fact, it was not possible to sail before this day, and now, unfortunately, the wind is westerly and blows fresh. The reason the contractor assigns for not having the provisions on board sooner was, having only three ovens to bake the bread, and in doing which he has lost no time since he received the Navy Board's order. I shall not lose a moment after there is the least chance of getting down Channel; on that you may depend.
No spirits can be received at present on board any of the ships; but the greatest economy will be used in purchasing as much as the ship can stow when in the Brazil, where it is reasonable.
I have received the warrant for appointing Courts-martial, the Articles of War, and the order for the Commissary's purchasing three years' spirits. The two letters for the Vice-Kings and the Governor of the Cape are not yet received; but I must beg of you, my dear sir, to point out to the Navy Board that for women's cloathes I have no resource, and desire them to order that they may be sent down. The agent for the transports, who has corresponded with that Board on the subject, says he has expected them for some time. Be assured that I shall not wait a single hour for them after it is possible to sail. I had desired that the Sirius and Supply, armed tender, might not be paid the two month's advance till the day before I intended to sail, and that was done yesterday.
It is not in my power to send you my lists at present more correct than those you have received from Major Ross; but you shall have one by the return of the Hyæna, for I hope we shall not remain here long enough to make it out, as it will take some days to examine the different ships.
And having at last got his ships as well provided for the voyage as he could contrive to do, by repeated appeals to the authorities at Whitehall, he closed his correspondence with Nepean for the time, with a passage in which he allowed himself to become prophetic:-
Once more I take my leave of you, fully sensible of the trouble you have had in this business, for which at present I can only thank you; but at a future period, when this country feels the advantages that are to be drawn from our intended settlement, you will enjoy a satisfaction that will, I am sure, make you ample amends.
NOTES:
(1) The same mistake was made when H.M.S. Calcutta was sent out in 1803 to establish a colony at Port Phillip. "'The people wherewith you plant,' says Lord Bacon in his Essay on Plantations, 'ought to be gardeners, ploughmen, labourers, smiths, carpenters, joiners, fishermen, fowlers, with some few apothecaries, surgeons, cooks, and bakers.' How little such a selection is attended to in the transportation of convicts to New South Wales was sufficiently exemplified on board the Calcutta, where, out of three hundred and seven convicts, there were but eight carpenters and joiners, three smiths, one gardener, twenty labouring farmers, two fishermen, nine taylors, and four stonemasons. The remainder may be classed under the heads of gentlemen's servants, hair-dressers, hackney coachmen, chairmen, silf-weavers, calico-printers, watch-makers, lapidaries, merchants' clerks, and gentlemen." - Lieutenant Tuckey, Account of a Voyage to establish a Colony at Port Phillip, 1805, p. 231.
(2) Afterwards called the Sirius; post, p. 489.
(3) Phillip had evidently read Captain Cook's account of the attempt made by the natives on the Endeavour River to burn his tents by setting fire to the grass, on the 9th July, 1770, because he would not give them any turtle. But as Cook made no mention of "several islands" in Port Jackson, while he described Port Stephens as an inlet sheltered from all winds, with "three small islands" at the entrance, Phillip was probably thinking of that port. Hawkesworth, vol. iii, p. 508.
(4) Captain Cook, in a letter to Sir John Pringle, written for the purpose of explaining his success in preserving the health of his crew on board the Resolution, mentions "sour krout and portable broth" as excellent means for preventing scurvy.
(5) First Lord of the Admiralty in Lord North's Administration of 1770-1782.
(6) Cook's Voyage towards the South Pole; Introduction, p. xxx.
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