19^ PHILLIP C»pe. KiDff in London. Appointed Lieutenant Governor. 1790 Having cleansed liis ship and taken a frest crew onboard, he sailed for the Cape of Good Hope in September, and anchored in Table Bay after eighteen days at sea. There Riouatthe he found the unfortunate Lieutenant Riou, of H.M.S. Guar- dian — ^which had been wrecked by collision with an iceberg in December of the previous year — " waiting for orders from England." A two months* voyage from the Cape brought King to England on the 20th December — ^the passage from Port Jackson having taken over eight months. On his arrival in London, King lost no time in delivering his despatches to the Home Office and the Admiralty. The journal he had kept at Norfolk Island was also handed in at the same time ; and was subsequently, at the instance of Sir Joseph Banks, published in .Captain Hunter's volume. During his interview with Evan Nepean at the Home Office, King was surprised and pleased to learn from him, for the first time, that a commission appointing him Lieutenant- Governor of Norfolk Island had been signed by his Majesty and sent to his agent to be forwarded to him. He had not then received an official letter written on the 1st February, 1790, by Lord Grenville — ^who had succeeded Sydney at the Home Office — in the following terms : — I have laid before the King the representations made by Gover- nor Phillip of your services since you have been employed under his command, and I have the satisfaction to acquaint you that his Majesty has, as a reward of those services, been pleased to sign a commission appointing you Lieutenaat-Govemor of Norfolk Island, to which appointment it is intended to propose in the next estimate laid before the House of Commons an annual allowance of two hundred and fifty pounds. His position in the service and consequent prospects of promotion were thus assured, through the representations of his friend. The day after he left his despatches, he had an interview with the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Chatham, the Prime Minister's brother, who bad suc- ceeded Lord Howe ; and on the following day he saw Lord renville, who had probably some misgivings as to the state Atth« Admiralty and the Home Office. Digitized by Google
