NEW SOUTH WALES. 11 Here lie disappears from the page of history; but Sir 1793-8 George Young again becomes visible for a moment in the act of presenting a little petition to Sydney : — To the Right Honorable Lord Sydney, one, &c. The Petition of Sir George Young, Knight^ and John Call, Petition Esquire, in behalf of themselves and others, sheweth, — that your island, petitioners have it in contemplation to form a settlement on a small uninhabited island, first discovered by Captain Cook and by him named Norfolk Island, lying in the latitude 29° 2' south, and longitude IBS'" 16' east from Greenwich, in the Pacific Ocean; in order to promote the cultivation of the New Zealand flax-plant. Flax and and the growth of pine timber for masts, being persuaded that if ^^ they are fortunate enough to succeed in their undertaking, it will be attended with great national utility, by furnishing a future sup- ply of those valuable articles — cordage and masts — ^for his Majesty's Oordage and fihips-of-war in India, which have hitherto been obtained at an enormous expense owing to the difficulty of conveying them thither, and from their scarcity have often reduced the maritime force employed in the East Indies to great inconvenience and distress. Your petitioners therefore, considering the great expence and risque they must necessarily incur in prosecuting an enterprise in which, if they succeed, the nation cannot fail of being benefited. Free gnmt humbly solicit from his Majesty a grant to them and their heirs for ever of the said island, to be held of the Crown as of the Manor of East Greenwich. London, May 24th, 1788. The reticence which the Government had observed in connection with their plans for colonising New South Wales may be seen in the fact that even Sir George Young — who was in a position to obtain information from official sources official — was ignorant of their intentions as regards Norfolk Island. At the time that he presented his petition, Lieutenant King had been in occupation of it for over three months ; but Sir George had not even a suspicion that instructions had been given to Phillip to hoist the British flag there as soon as possible after his arrival. Digitized -by Google
