again to examine Port Jackson, with a view to a second settlement, that might possess a more genial soil. This he immediately executed, and made choice of a situation near a stream which enters the upper extremity of the harbour, at the distance of about sixteen miles from Sydney. It was a moderate elevation, the soil a rich clay, free from stones, covered with trees at considerable distances, and without underwood. To this spot he removed about eighty persons from Sydney, and gave it the name of Rose Hill. One advantage that presented itself with respect to this settlement, was its admitting of a communication with Sydney by water. For the purpose of such an intercourse, a hoy of ten tons was constructed, under the direction of Mr. Reid, the carpenter of the Supply, of the native timber; and this intercourse was ever afterwards regularly kept up between the two settlements.

The labours of the year ended with a truly English observance of Christmas Day. The Reverend Mr. Johnson pronounced an excellent moral discourse inculcating universal benevolence, and a large company forgot their cares in the enjoyment of a harmless festivity at the governor's table.

CHAPTER IX.

Hostility with the Natives.

THE cove now, for the first time, presented the appearance of total desertion, being without a single remaining ship, a circumstance that gave rise to reflections in no small degree dismal, when the state of the provisions and remoteness of the settlement were considered.

New matter of hostility with the natives unfortunately arose at this time. A plant, which had received the name of sweet tea, was found in considerable quantities about Sydney, at the first settlement of the colony; but the great demand for it, as it was not only palatable but esteemed medicinal, now made it necessary to seek it at a greater distance. A convict, belonging to the brickmaker's party, having gone in search of it, and not returning, was thought to have been killed by the natives. Sixteen others, his fellow-labourers, determined to revenge his supposed death, and, providing themselves with stakes, set out with the intention of attacking whatever natives they could find. The result of their expedition added one

to the many instances that have occurred, of the danger of despising an enemy. A battle took place with a party of savages, in which this self-created police were forced to retreat with the loss of one killed and six wounded. The whole affair being a violation of the governor's express orders, he next day sentenced those who had escaped, to receive one hundred and fifty lashes each, and to wear a fetter for a year, and the wounded to receive the same punishment as soon as they should recover. The same day, two armed parties were sent out, one towards Botany Bay, and the other in a different direction, that the natives might not think the colonists intimidated.

Soon after this, six soldiers were executed for the unpardonable crime of procuring false keys to the stores, and committing frequent robberies upon them, while on guard. The circumstance of one of them being unable, at the approach of the patrole, to withdraw a key that was embarrassed in the wards of the lock, led to the discovery, as the locks were on each round carefully examined.

The governor, thinking it probable that › foreign ships might often visit Port Jackson to wood and water, gave orders to have a

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particular bay surveyed, with a view to their separate accommodation. This was accordingly done, and a neighbouring cove, which has since obtained the name of Neutral Cove, having been found, from its depth of water and other circumstances, well adapted to the end proposed, it was inserted in the port orders that all foreign ships coming in should anchor there.

It appeared at this time, that a great mortality prevailed amongst the natives. Numbers of dead bodies were found along the shores and in the caves. The cause remained unknown till two old men, with a boy and a girl, were brought up to the town, and the disorder pronounced to be the small-pox. They were placed in a separate hut at the hospital. The men died, but the children recovered. The boy was placed with Mr. White the surgeon, and the girl with the Reverend Mr. Johnson. But a circumstance that produced universal regret, was the death of Arabanoo, who soon after died of the same disorder.

On the 6th of May, about five in the evening, after an absence of seven months and six days, and to the great satisfaction of every one, the Sirius anchored in the cove from the Cape of Good Hope. She appeared to have suffered

greatly from the weather she had met with. The figure at the head of the ship was torn from the cutwater, and she was found to be in other respects much damaged. Her course outwards had been by New Zealand and Cape Horn, and her return by Van Dieman's Land. In the former part of this voyage there had been much risk from numerous islands of ice, and in the latter she had encountered a storm off Tasman's Head, in which her situation, in the opinion of her able commander, was in the highest degree perilous, and her escape, as expressed in his journal, demonstratively attributable to the interposition of a particular providence.

The Sirius brought a supply of a hundred and twenty-seven thousand weight of flour, which was equal to the exigencies of the colony at the full ration for four months. The inevitable consequences that would have ensued from a failure of this supply, had such a misfortune taken place, will be seen hereafter.