emptying itself into Broken Bay, and extending to the westward. He was compelled to return without tracing it to its source, not having a sufficient quantity of provisions with him; but immediately made the necessary preparations for going back to finish his examination of it; and set off on that design with an increased party, and provisions for twentyone days, on Monday the 29th.

On the 14th of July the Governor returned from his second visit to the river, which he named the Hawkesbury, in honour of the noble lord of that name. He traced the river a considerable distance to the westward, and was impeded in his farther progress by a shallow which he met with a short distance above the hill formerly seen, and then named by him Richmond Hill, to the foot of which the course of the Hawkesbury conducted him and his party. They were deterred from remaining any time in the narrow part of the river, as they perceived evident traces of the freshes having risen to the height of from twenty to forty feet above the level of the water. They represented the windings of the river as beautiful and picturesque, and toward Richmond Hill the face of the country appeared more level and open than in any other part. The vast inundations, which had left such tokens behind them of the height to which they swell the river, seemed rather unfavourable to the purpose of settling near the banks, which otherwise would have been convenient and desirable, the advantages attending the occupation of an allotment of land on the margin of a fresh-water river being superior to those of any other situation. The soil on the banks of the river was judged to be light; what it was farther inland could not be determined with any certainty, as the travellers did not penetrate to any distance, except at Richmond Hill, where the soil appeared to be less mixed with sand than that on the branches.

The Sirius having returned from the Cape of Good Hope, after an absence of seven months and six days, brought one hundred and twenty-seven thousand weight of flour for the settlement, and a twelvemonth's provisions for her ship's company; but this supply was not very flattering, as the short space of four months, at a full ration, would exhaust it. It was, however, very welcome, and her return seemed to have gladdened every heart. Eager were their inquiries after intelligence from that country from which they had now been two years divided, and to whose transactions they had during that time been entire strangers.

From Norfolk Island Lieutenant King wrote, that he had cleared seventeen acres of ground upon the public account, all of which were either sown or ready for sowing; that caterpillars had done much damage to some wheat which had just come up; and that he was erecting a store-house capable of containing a large quantity of stores and provisions, besides having made a visible road from Sydney Bay to Cascade Bay. The pine trees, of the utility of which such sanguine hopes had been entertained, were found to be unfit for large masts and yards, being shakey or rotten at thirty or forty feet from the butt; the wood was so brittle that it would not make a good oar, and so porous that the water soaked through the planks of a boat which had been built of it. Mr King also lamented their ignorance of the proper mode of preparing the flax plant, which rendered it useless to them. He spoke well of the general behaviour of the subjects of his little government since the detection of their late scheme to overturn it.

From the frequent commission of offences in this settlement and at Rose Hill, a favourable report could not be given of the conduct of the convicts; it appeared absolutely necessary to devise some plan which might put a stop to their nightly enormities; and the first attempt toward a police was commenced by establishing a night-watch.

On the 4th of September the people belonging to the Supply had a very large haul of fish; their seine was so full, that had they hauled it on shore it must have burst; the ropes of it were therefore made fast on shore, and the seine was suffered to lie until it was left dry by the tide. The fish were brought up to the settlement and distributed among the military and convicts. A night or two after this, a fishingboat caught about one hundred dozen of small fish; but this was precarious, and, happening after the provision, were served, no other advantage could be derived from the circumstance, than that of every man's having a fish meal.

On the 12th, the butter, which had been served at six ounces per week to each man in the settlement, being expended, the like quantity of sugar was directed to be issued in its stead. This was the first of the provisions brought from England which had wholly failed; and, fortunately, the failure was in an article which could be the best spared. It never had been very good, and was not, strictly speaking, a necessary of life.

The month of November opened with a serious, but prudent and necessary alteration in the provisions. The ration which had hitherto been issued was, on the first of the month, reduced to two-thirds of every species; spirits excepted, which continued as usual. This measure was calculated to guard against accidents; and the necessity of it was obvious to every one, from the great uncertainty as to the time when a supply might arrive from England, and from the losses which had been and still were occasioned by rats. Two years' provisions were landed with them in the colony: they had been within two months of that time disembarked, and the public store had been aided only by a small surplus of the provisions which remained of what had been furnished by the contractor for the passage, and the supply of four months flour which had been received by the Sirius from the Cape of Good Hope. All this did not produce such an abundance as would justify any longer continuance of the full ration; and, although it was reasonable to suppose, as they had not hitherto received any supplies, that ships would arrive before their present stock was exhausted; yet, if the period of the distress should ever arrive, the consciousness that they had early foreseen and strove to guard against it would certainly soften the bitterness of their reflections; and, guarding thus against the worst, that worst providentially might never happen. The Governor, whose humanity was at all times conspicuous, directed that no alteration should be made in the ration to be issued to the women. They were already upon two-thirds of the man's allowance; and many of them either had children who could very well have eaten their own and part of the mother's ration, or they had children at the breast; and although they did not labour, yet their appetites were never so delicate as to have found the full ration too much, had it been issued to them. The ships' companies of the Sirius and Supply suffered the same reduction.

On the 7th, Captain Hunter brought the Sirius from an adjoining cove completely repaired, and in every respect fit for sea. Previous to her quitting the careening cove, Mr Hill, one of the master's mates, having had some business at Sydney, was landed on his return early in the morning on the north shore, opposite Sydney Cove, from which the walk to the ship was short; but he was never afterwards heard of. Parties were sent day after day in quest of him. Guns were fired from the Sirius every four hours, night and day, but without effect. He had met with some fatal accident, which deprived a wife of the pleasurable prospect of ever seeing him return to her and to his friends. He had once before missed his way; and it was reported, when his loss was confirmed, that he declared on the fatal morning, when stepping out of the boat, that he expected to lose himself again for a day or two. His conjecture was more than confirmed; he lost himself for ever, and thus added one to the number of those unfortunate persons who had perished in the woods of this country.

On the 11th, the Supply sailed for Norfolk Island, having on board fourteen male and female convicts for that colony. She was to stop at Lord Howe Island, to endeavour to procure turtle for this settlement; a supply of which, in its present situation, would have been welcomed, not as a luxury, but as a necessary of life.

CHAP. VIII.

Two Natives taken-Supply returns from Norfolk Island, and sails again-Prospect from Fishing-A large Detachment sent to Norfolk Island-Scarcity of Provisions-Sirius lost-Rations further reduced -Supply sent to Batavia for relief-Transactions in the ColonyThe Lady Juliana transport arrives from England-The Guardian lost-The Justinian arrives-Full Ration ordered.

THE Governor, after the death of the native who was carried off by the small-pox, never had lost sight of a determination to procure another with the first favourable opportunity. A boat had several times gone down the harbour for that purpose; but without succeeding, until the 25th of this month, when the first lieutenant of the Sirius, accompanied by the master, fortunately secured two natives, both men, and took them up to the settlement. Being well known to the children, through their means every assurance was given them of their perfect safety. They were taken up to the Governor's, the place intended for their future residence, where such restraint was laid upon their persons as was judged requisite for their security.

The assurances of safety which were given them, and the steps which were taken to keep them in a state of security, were not perfectly satisfactory to the elder of the two; and he secretly determined to take the first opportunity that offered of giving his attendants no farther trouble upon his account. The negligence of his keeper very soon gave him the opportunity that he desired; and he made his escape, taking with him into the woods the fetter which had been rivetted to his leg, and which every one who knew the circumstance imagined he would never be able to remove. His companion would have joined him in his flight, but fear detained him a