Sydney is to an Englishman there what standing upon the deck of the old Victory at Portsmouth must be to an Englishman at home. But there was no glory to be won in the service which the marines were called upon to perform in the colonisation of Australia.
Their work was mere routine garrison duty, the 'sentry go' of barrack life, certainly with less food and more discomforts than usual; but these were hardships suffered equally by everyone, from Phillip to the youngest ship's boy.
If, through no fault of their own, the part of the marines was an insignificant one, their commandant might well have played his own in such a way as to make the piece run smoothly. But instead of this, from Major Ross, we hear more of hardships suffered, of offended dignity, and of a dozen other trivial grievances than from all the other members of the expedition put together.
The men of the marine detachment volunteered on the conditions that the non-commissioned officers and men should be given their discharge, if they desired it, on their return to England, after they had been relieved, at the expiration of three years; or could be discharged abroad upon the relief, and be permitted to settle in the country if they preferred it. And they were to be victualled by a commissary, and to be given such tools, implements and utensils as they needed whilst employed for the protection of the new settlement.
