Admiral Phillip/Chapter 12
CHAPTER XII
Phillip's governorship is drawing to a close. How, after four years of his rule, is the little community progressing? Besides finding food for the people, has anything else been done? Are the felons yet showing signs of becoming industrious colonists?
Tench, in December 1791, went to the settlement at Rose Hill with the intention of answering for himself these very important questions. This is what he says:—
'Public buildings here have not greatly multiplied since my last survey. The storehouse and barrack have been long completed; also apartments for the chaplain of the regiment and for the Judge-Advocate, in which last criminal courts, when necessary, are held; but these are petty erections. In a colony which contains only a few hundred hovels, built of twigs and mud, we feel consequential enough already to talk of a treasury, an admiralty, a public library, and many other similar edifices, which are to form part of a magnificent square. The great road from near the landing-place to the Governor's house is finished, and a very noble one it is, being of great breadth, and a mile long, in a strait line. In many places it is carried over gullies of considerable depth, which have been filled up with trunks of trees, covered with earth. All the sawyers, carpenters and blacksmiths will be soon concentred under the direction of a very adequate person of the Governor's household. This plan is already so far advanced as to contain nine covered sawpits, which change of weather cannot disturb the operations of, an excellent work-shed for the carpenters, and a large new shop for the blacksmiths; it certainly promises to be of great public benefit. A new hospital has been talked of for the last two years, but is not yet begun.'
There were, however, temporary quarters for the sick—two long wooden sheds, with accommodation for 200 patients; at the time of Tench's visit the sick list contained 382 names; dysentery was very prevalent, and many cases terminated fatally. The appearance of the land about Rose Hill did not impress Tench very favourably.
'The corn,' he says, 'looks miserably. … At the bottom of the garden, which certainly in beauty of form and situation is unrivalled in New South Wales, are 8000 vines planted, all of which in another season are expected to bear grapes. Besides the vines are several small fruit trees, which were brought in the Gorgon from the Cape, and look lively; on one of them are half a dozen apples as big as nutmegs.
'… My next visit was. to the cattle, which consists of two stallions, six mares and two colts; besides sixteen cows, two cow-calfs, and one bull-calf, which were brought out by the Gorgon. Two bulls which were on board died on the passage; so that on the young gentleman just mentioned depends the stocking of the colony. The period of the inhabitants of New South Wales being supplied with animal food of their own raising is too remote for a prudent man to calculate. The cattle look in good condition, and I was surprized to hear that neither corn nor fodder is given to them. …
'Divine service is now performed here every Sunday, either by the chaplain of the settlement, or the chaplain of the regiment. I went to church to-day. Several hundred convicts were present, the majority of whom, I thought, looked the most miserable beings in the shape of humanity I ever beheld; they appeared to be worn down with fatigue.'
The farming operations at Rose Hill and around it were conducted by 500 convicts under the supervision of a man of experience. These men were housed in huts, to every one of which two men were appointed as watchmen, to prevent them from being robbed of the rations stored therein. Work began in the summer months at 5 o'clock in the morning, at 10 a.m. four hours' rest was given, at 2 p.m. work was continued till sunset. After finishing his inspection of the farms about Rose Hill, Tench crossed the country to Prospect Hill, and visited those belonging to thirteen convicts who had been given allotments of land by the Governor.
'The terms of which these allotments have been granted are: That the estates shall be fully ceded for ever to all who shall continue to cultivate for five years, or more. That they shall be free of all taxes for the first ten years; but after that period, to pay an annual quit-rent of one shilling. The penalty on non-performance of any of these articles is forfeiture of the estate, and all the labour which may have been bestowed upon it. These people are to receive provisions (the same quantity as the working convicts), clothes and medicinal assistance for eighteen months from the day on which they settled. To clear and cultivate the land, a hatchet, a tomahawk, two hoes, a spade and a shovel are given to each person, whether man or woman; and a certain number of cross-cut saws among the whole. To stock their farms, two sow pigs were promised to each settler; but they almost all say they have not yet received any, of which they complain loudly. They all received grain to sow and plant for the first year. They settled here in July and August last. Most of them were obliged to build their own houses; and wretched hovels three-fourths of them are. Should any of them fall sick, the rest are bound to assist the sick person two days in a month, provided the sickness lasts not longer than two months; four days' labour in each year from every person being all that he is entitled to. To give protection to this settlement, a corporal and two soldiers are encamped in the centre of the farms, as the natives once attacked the settlers, and burnt one of their houses. These guards are, however, inevitably at such a distance from some of the farms as to be unable to afford them any assistance in case of another attack.
'With all these people I conversed, and inspected their labours; some I found tranquil and determined to persevere, provided encouragement should be given; others were in a state of despondency, and predicted that they should starve unless the period of 18 months during which they are to be clothed and fed should be extended to three years. Their cultivation is yet in its infancy, and therefore opinions should not be hastily formed of what it may arrive at with moderate skill and industry. They have at present little in the ground besides maize, and that looks not very promising. Some small patches of wheat which I saw are miserable indeed. The greatest part of the land I think but indifferent, being light and stony. Of the 13 farms 10 are unprovided with water; and at some of them they are obliged to fetch this necessary article from the distance of a mile and a half. All the settlers complain sadly of being frequently robbed by the runaway convicts, who plunder them incessantly.'
Tench says that Ruse's farm was given to him by the Governor on these conditions: 'The place was to be called Experiment Farm; the said lot to be holden free of all taxes, quit-rents, etc., for ten years, provided that the occupier, his heirs or assigns shall reside within the same, and proceed to the improvement thereof; reserving, however, for the use of the Crown all timber now growing, or which hereafter shall grow, fit for naval purposes; at the expiration of ten years, an annual quit-rent of one shilling shall be paid by the occupier in acknowledgment. Ruse now lives in a comfortable brick house built for him by the Governor. He has eleven acres and a half in cultivation, and several more which have been cleared by convicts in their leisure hours, on condition of receiving the first year's crop. He means to cultivate little besides maize; wheat is so much less productive. Of the culture of vineyards and tobacco he is ignorant; and with great good sense he declared that he would not quit the path he knew for an uncertainty. His live stock consists of four breeding sows, and thirty fowls.'
'Of my Sydney journal, I find no part sufficiently interesting to be worth extraction. This place had long been considered only as a depot for stores; it exhibited nothing but a few old scattered huts and some sterile gardens; cultivation of the ground was abandoned, and all our strength transferred to Rose Hill. Sydney, nevertheless, continued to be the place of the Governor's residence, and consequently the headquarters of the colony. No public building of note, except a storehouse, had been erected since my last statement. The barracks, so long talked of, so long promised, for the accommodation and discipline of the troops were not even begun when I left the country; and instead of a new hospital, the old one was patched up, and with the assistance of one brought ready framed from England, served to contain the sick. The employment of the male convicts here, as at Rose Hill, was the public labour. Of the women, the majority were compelled to make shirts, trowsers and other necessary parts of dress, for the men, from materials delivered to them from the stores, into which they returned every Saturday night the produce of their labour, a stipulated weekly task being assigned to them. In a more early stage. Government sent out all articles of cloathing ready made; but by adopting the present judicious plan not only a public saving is effected, but employment of a suitable nature created for those who would otherwise consume leisure in idle pursuits only.'
The total number of persons of all descriptions in New South Wales and its dependency, Norfolk Island, on the 26th of November 1791, was, adds Tench, 4059. They were distributed as follows: at Sydney, 1259; at Rose Hill, 1628; at Norfolk Island, 1172.
By the ships of the Second and Third Fleets there arrived 'The New South Wales Corps,' a regiment of infantry raised in England to do duty in the settlement in place of the marines, whose commanding officer. Major Ross, it will be remembered, was left at Norfolk Island by the Sirius.
The Major shall, in the following letter to Grenville, dated 29th August 1790, himself tell us how he fared at the island:—
'I think I may venture to say that if Providence had not worked a miracle in our favour, there would have been but few of us found alive when those ships [the Justinian and the Surprize] arrived to our relief. And further, I think I may venture to assure you, and the rest of His Majesty's ministers, that, with respect to clearing and cultivating land on this island, I have established such a plan which, if pursued, will render it unnecessary ever to send any flour here. On the contrary, in one year from the first of next January, the island will be able to spare grain for exportation, provided there is not more than seven hundred people kept upon the island.
'On the 8th instant, a man arrived from Port Jackson for the purpose of dressing and managing the flax-plant; he has began to clear ground and prepare the plant for the purpose of dressing. I am likewise, by the Governor's directions, cutting down some of the pine-tree spars, in order to be put on board the Gorgon, in order to their being brought to Europe for the purpose of experiments. And as I understand that we are to be embarked for a passage to England on board the Gorgon, I shall wait until I have the honour of explaining many matters which very much concern the territory at large, and this island in particular, all which matters, together with the whole of my conduct since my appointment as Lieutenant - Governor, I trust will be honored with approval of His majesty's ministers. And until that happy and much-to-be-wished period arrives, I have to request that whatever (perhaps false) representations with respect to my conduct may have appear'd before the ministers, that you and them may do me the justice and the honour to suspend passing any judgment upon it until it is investigated.'
The Supply meanwhile returned from Batavia after an absence of six months, and was then sent to Norfolk Island to fetch back Hunter and the crew of the Sirius. A Dutch snow had been engaged by the Supply at Batavia to bring provisions for the colony, and on her arrival (at Sydney) she was fitted as a transport to convey the people of the Sirius to England. She was miserably small for the purpose—less than 300 tons—and occupied thirteen months on the voyage, calling at Batavia and the Cape on the way. Those who sailed in her were much annoyed with Phillip for employing this vessel for such a purpose, and they had reason to be, for the voyage home was one of terrible hardship, but the Governor at the time had no other ship available. Hunter, on his return, wrote to the Admiralty pointing out what shipmasters know well enough nowadays, viz., that the proper route home from Australia is not round the Cape of Good Hope, or northward viâ Batavia, but round Cape Horn. The passenger of to-day has to thank his stars for the Suez Canal, if he is unable to fully appreciate the wisdom of Hunter's opinion.
The people of the Sirius had been on Norfolk Island for eleven months when they were thus relieved. Mrs Macarthur, in a private letter home, thus describes how the little settlement fared during this time:—
'On the 21st of January the Supply was sent to Norfolk Island to bring hither the Sirius ship's company, and learn the state of affairs at that place. She returned on the 25th of February with the officers and men in health, and brought a good account of the health of every individual left behind. This circumstance removed some considerable anxiety from our minds, but it proved our fears had been but too well grounded, and when the Supply arrived they had not more than ten days' provisions in the store at full allowance, and from the 14th of last May till the 18th of July they were reduced to the scanty pittance of three pounds of flour and one pound and a half of beef per week.
'At this time a most merciful relief came to their assistance. It had been observed on a high hill in the island (which they have named Mount Pitt) that many sea-birds frequented it. An endeavour was made to take some of them, which was successful; and by attending more particularly to the time of their appearance, and their favourite haunts, they were discovered in the greatest abundance. It was the season in which they laid their eggs, and both birds and eggs were taken in such incredible quantities as occasioned the small allowance of meat they had issued before to be stopped; and, however wonderful it may appear to you, yet true it is, that those birds for many weeks were the chief subsistence of seven hundred men, and they were so easily taken that after sunset it was impossible to walk on the mount without treading on them, and sometimes towards evening they have been observed hovering in the air in such innumerable flocks as considerably to exclude the light from the admiring spectators; but now the melancholy truth of their visible decrease became more and more apparent. Their flights were directed to other quarters, and at length few remained; but before hope was quite extinguished, a ship appeared and brought them a long-expected supply.'
Lieutenant King, it will be remembered, had been sent home with despatches in April 1790. His voyage of eight months from Batavia to England, like Hunter's, was one of such danger and distress as can scarcely be realised nowadays. The little Dutch vessel in which he sailed had not been five days at sea before her captain and most of the crew were taken ill with fever. King took charge, and with the only four able-bodied men navigated the snow to the Mauritius. Here he embarked a fresh crew and continued his voyage, calling at the Cape of Good Hope, where he met Riou trying to patch up the wreck of the Guardian, He sailed again for England, arrived there in December, and had interviews with Lord Chatham and Lord Grenville.
Phillip's letters home had acquainted the Government with King's value, and a commission was already waiting for him as Lieutenant-Governor of the settlement at Norfolk Island. While at home he married, embarking with his wife on the Gorgon, and, reaching New South Wales in September 1791, he returned in a few weeks to his island command, where certain of his acts gave great offence to Grose, Phillip's successor. King in these disputes always shows to advantage, and his superiors in England approved of most of what Grose censured. The best proof of their confidence in King is that in 1800 he was appointed Governor of New South Wales.
Phillip's last long despatch, in which he gave details of the settlement's progress, was dated 2d October 1792, and was addressed to Dundas. Some extracts from this will prove that the food supply was still his chief anxiety:—
'With respect to those articles of which the colony stands so much in need, I beg leave to observe that all those wants that have been pointed out in my different letters from time to time still exist, or with very few exceptions; and for iron pots in particular, however trifling the article, we have been nearly as much distressed as for provisions; cross-cut saws, axes, and the various tools for husbandry are also much wanted. Many of those articles are now made here, but the demand for them is greater than can be supplied, as most of what have been received from England are worn out.'
The clothing recently sent out by the Britannia he complains of as being unsuited for men working in the woods; much of it, too, was so much injured by damp that it would not well stand a second washing. He proceeds as follows:—
'You will. Sir, naturally suppose that I anxiously look for the arrival of those ships by which we expect a further supply of provisions, and I am very sorry to be under the necessity of adverting to the observation I have so often made, that the colony, having been almost constantly on a reduced ration, is a great check on the public labour, as well as the cause of many very unpleasant circumstances. … When the Atlantic arrived from Bengal, this settlement had only thirteen days' flour and forty-five days' maize in store at the ration then issued, which was one pound and a half of flour and four pounds of maize per man for seven days. And when the Britannia arrived, we had only salt provisions for fifty-three days at the then ration, which was only two pounds of pork per man for seven days.
'The arrival of the above ships put it in my power to increase the ration, and which, though at present little inferior to the full ration, is, from the nature of some articles and the deficiency of others, very far from being satisfactory; nor can the present ration be continued many days longer if the Kitty does not arrive. … My letters by the Supply, Gorgon and Pitt will have shown that I look to England for the necessary supplies of which we still stand in great need, and which I doubt not are now on their passage; but the great length of time in which this colony has remained in its present state takes away hope from many, and the consequences must be obvious. It has. Sir, been my fate to point out wants from year to year; it has been a duty the severest I have ever experienced. Did those wants only respect myself or a few individuals I should be silent; but here are numbers who bear them badly; nor has the colony suffered more from wanting what we have not received than from the supplies we have received not arriving in time.'
In this letter, too, he says:—
'You have. Sir, observed in your letter that "the Admiralty had not determined on replacing the Sirius, but that that circumstance would not occasion any decrease of the pecuniary emoluments with which I understood my situation was to be attended." I beg leave to say that the opinion I gave as to the necessity of employing King's ships on this station—that is, as I explained in my letters, ships having the officers requisite for keeping a proper discipline on board, and deterring the convicts from making any attempt to escape by seizing on the ship—did not proceed from any view of pecuniary advantage to myself, and to which I never adverted. That object never drew my attention, and the advantages I derived from the Sirius—a captain's pay for a sixth rate—being by the royal instructions of the twenty-fifth day of April, 1787, directed to be continued, although there should not be any of His Majesty's ships employed on this station, rendered it totally unnecessary for me to wish for a King's ship under any other idea but the one pointed out in my letters. As that proposition does not appear to meet their Lordships' ideas, I have prepared for the safety of such ships as may be employed here, as far as depends on me, by sending to Norfolk Island those whom it might be presumed would be the ringleaders, should the seizing of any transport be ever determined on.'
At the conclusion of this letter he tells Dundas that the commander of the Pitt transport had sold four thousand pounds' worth of stores brought out as a private venture to the settlement. Much of this sum was for articles bought by the Commissary for the use of the convicts. This fact, said Phillip, would serve to indicate 'what might be brought by a ship loaded wholly on the account of Government.' He did not, he added, wish to reflect on the master of the Pitt, but felt obliged to point out this circumstance in order that a similar evil might not occur again.