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CHAPTER IV.

Removal to Sydney Cove.

On the governor's return, the successful result of his expedition was announced to the fleet, and every preparation made for an immediate removal. Next morning, amidst the bustle attendant upon such a moment, and when our adventurers thought themselves in a state of total seclusion from the rest of the world, a coincidence, very unexpected, occurred. Two strange ships, of considerable size and force, appeared in the offing. The astonishment was general.—“I had risen," says Mr. Tench*, "at the dawn of day; judge of my surprise on hearing from a serjeant, who ran down "almost breathless to the cabin where I was dressing, that a ship was seen off the har"bour's mouth. At first I only laughed; but

knowing the man who spoke to me to be of "great veracity, and hearing him repeat his "information, I flew upon deck, on which I

"had barely set my foot, when the cry of "another sail struck on my astonished ear. "Confounded by a thousand ideas which arose ❝ in my mind in an instant, I sprang upon the "barricado, and plainly descried two ships of " considerable size standing in for the mouth "of the bay. By this time the alarm had ❝ become general, and every one appeared lost ❝ in conjecture."

The conjectures formed upon the extraordinary appearance of these ships were various. Some imagined them to be Dutch ships of war come to dispossess the English settlers; some supposed them to be upon a voyage of discovery; some thought them storeships from England, with supplies. Before doubt could be dispelled, and the general curiosity gratified, the apparition completely vanished. The ships, whatever they might have been, were prevented by an adverse wind and strong current, from working into the harbour, and were at last carried entirely off the coast. The governor, from the first, participated but little in the general perplexity. He had scarcely a doubt that they were ships, which were known to have been sent by the king of France for purposes of discovery in the South Seas; and so confident was he in his conjecture, that

he thought it unnecessary to delay, for a moment, the intended measures of removal. He accordingly sailed for Port Jackson in the Supply, with a party of marines and a number of artificers, leaving directions with Captain Hunter to follow as soon as possible with the convoy. The Supply was scarcely out of sight, when the two strange ships re-appeared. They were now perceived to be under French colours, and a south-east breeze springing up, they soon after anchored in the bay. They proved to be the Boussole and Astrolabe French frigates, which had sailed from Brest in June 1785, on a voyage of discovery, and were commanded by Monsieur de La Perouse. Captain Hunter had but barely time, in passing them, to exchange civilities, as he was then working out of the bay. He anchored the same evening with the convoy in Port Jackson.

The principal disembarkation took place on the following day at Sydney Cove. A savage wilderness, which from the beginning of the world had never heard the stroke of an axe, now resounded with all the bustle of art and civilized life. The new inhabitants literally leaped from their boats into a forest. As fast as the ground could be cleared, tents were pitched and huts constructed. "Here,” to use

the words of Mr. Tench, "you might see

one party felling timber, a second setting up a blacksmith's forge, a third dragging along 66 a load of stores or provisions; here an "officer pitching his marquee, with a detach"ment of troops on one side, and a cook's fire "blazing up on the other. Through the "unwearied diligence, however," continues he, "of those at the head of the different depart"ments regularity was soon introduced, and "as far as the unsettled state of matters would allow, confusion gave place to system."

Fortunately the trees were not so uniformly close but that many openings presented themselves, which it would have been very tedious to have cleared, had the ground been entirely overgrown. The place could, with most aptitude, according to Captain Hunter's journal; be compared to the more woody parts of a gentleman's deer-park in England. A portable canvass house, the frame-work and other parts of which had been brought from England for the immediate accommodation of the governor, was now erected on the east side of the cove. The marines were stationed at the extremity next the stream. The convicts were chiefly placed on the western side. The women did not disembark for some days; when

every person belonging to the settlement being landed, the numbers were found to amount to one thousand and thirty. The cattle were landed at the east point of the cove, where they had the benefit of pasturage till they could be removed to some ground which was to be cleared for a farm, under the direction of a skilful person brought out by the governor. Another part, adjoining the governor's residence, was prepared with the utmost expedition for a garden. The various plants which had been brought from Rio Janeiro and the Cape of Good Hope, were found to be in good condition, and the fruits of almost every climate were committed to their new soil; nor was less attention paid to the still more useful catalogue of kitchen vegetables.-To give a complete detail of all the occupations and exertions which took place at this time, would be impossible. There existed, for every one, the strongest inducement to industry; for it evidently required great efforts to save all concerned from perishing in a desert.

It is remarkable, that that terrible disease, the sea-scurvy, which had not appeared during the voyage, now broke out, and continued for some time to affect the settlement. Fortunately, the place was not without wild celery and