52 THE SECOND FLEET. 1780 ThoLody Juliana. The Second Fleet, that is to say the ships which were sent Slttitiiti ^^^ from England in the year 1789, consisted of six vessels — pieetT*"* the Guardian, man-of-war, converted into a storeship, the Justinian, which brought supplies but no convicts, and the Lady Juliana, the Surprize, the Neptune, and the Scar- borough, which carried altogether nearly 1,300 prisoners. The Guardian, as we have seen, was injured by an iceberg, and beached at Table Bay; the other vessels arrived safely, but under circumstances as discreditable as they were dis- tressing. The Lady Juliana, which had sailed from England on the 29th July, 1789, entered the Heads on tiie afternoon of the 3rd of June, 1790, and on the 6th, after a delay of three days, caused by bad weather, she was towed up to Sydney Cove. As she brought the first direct news from England that had been received since the Sirius and her convoy left the Motherbank in May, 1787, more than three years before, her arrival excited the liveliest joy among the half -starved and almost despairing people. But the feeling cooled considerably when it was found that the Lady Juliana carried over two hundred female convicts, and had on board only a small quantity of provisions, a portion of which consisted of stores saved from the wreck of the Guardian. It was better than nothing, but it was not sufficient to justify any material alteration in the meagre ration which had been the rule for many months.* The disappointment
- CoUinB in bis acoount of New South Wales remarks that : — *' In the
distressed situation of the colony, it was not a little mortifying to find on board the first ship that arriyed, a cargo so unnecessary and unprofitable as two hundred and twenty-two females, instead of a cargo of provisions ; the supply of provisions on board her was so inconsiderable as to permit only an . addition oi one pound and a half of flour being made to the weekly ration." — Collins, Tol. i, p. 118. A shipload o< women.
