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Page 2
The discovery of the eastern coast of New Holland was the
result of that laudable and beneficial spirit of enterprize and
investigation, which conferred on the name of Captain Cook so
just a claim to posthumous gratitude and immortal renown. Four
months of his first voyage round the world, this celebrated
circumnavigator dedicated to the exploration of this hitherto
unknown tract of the universe, stretching, from the north-east to
the south-west, to an extent of nearly two thousand miles, to
which he gave the name of _New South Wales_. After hovering
about the coast for some time, he at length came to an anchorage
in the only harbour which appeared to him commodious; and which,
in consequence of the innumerable varieties of herbage which were
found on shore, he called _Botany Bay_. In this spot he
remained some days, employing himself in making those
observations which suggested themselves to his capacious mind;
and, from his report of the situation of the country--of its
apparent extent, climate, and surface, the British Government was
induced to relinquish those intentions which had been previously
entertained, and to fix upon this spot, as the best adapted for
the establishment of a settlement, whither those unhappy
delinquents might be conveyed, whose offences against the laws
had rendered their further residence in their native land,
incompatible with the welfare of society.
According to this determination, Governor Phillip was sent to
this new continent, where he arrived on the 20th of January,
1788, with eight hundred convicts, and a portion of marines, and
laid the foundation of the new settlement, which continued
gradually to improve under his government, until the close of the
year 1792. Numberless obstructions existed, during this early
period, to check the growth of the colony; amongst the principal
of which may be remarked:--1st, the discordant materials of which
the settlement was to be constructed; 2dly, the disputes with the
natives; and 3dly, the occasional pressure of want, which, for a
long time, was unavoidable, on account of its remoteness from the
European quarter. The continual disorders amongst the convicts,
which no lenity could assuage, no severity effectually check,
were injurious to the well-doing of the colony, whose true
interests required a combination of reciprocal confidence and
mutual exertion; but on men inured to crime, and hardened in
guilt--on men almost divested of the common principles and
feelings of their species--on those whom a course of depravity
had rendered obnoxious to every other pursuit, it was not
possible to make impressions of a liberal and enlightened nature.
Their intentions uniformly tended to vice, and no good was to be
expected from them, except such as was the effect of compulsory
measures; so that the task which industry might have achieved
with comparative ease, proved, under existing circumstances, a
work of difficulty, requiring time and perseverance to bring it
to the desired perfection. It was not to the commission of
depredations upon each other that the restless and dishonest
dispositions of the convicts confined themselves, even the poor
and miserable natives of the country were made the dupes of a
system of knavery which they could not penetrate; and their
spears, their shields, their canoes, and their persons, were
equally exposed to the violence of the new settlers. It was easy
to foresee the consequences of such conduct: the natives at first
discovered symptoms of justifiable reserve, and subsequently
adopted steps of an hostile complexion, several unfortunate
convicts being found murdered in the woods. In vain did the
governor issue order after order, and proclamation after
proclamation; insults still continued to be offered to the
natives, and such acts of retaliation ensued as circumstances
would allow. Governor Phillip, himself, was wounded by a spear
which one of the savages threw at him, under the influence of a
momentary apprehension. Another evil to which the colony was
subjected, arose from the pressure of occasional scarcity, which
relaxed the sinews of industry, where it did exist, or
strengthened the pretexts of indolence: when men were reduced
from a plentiful allowance, to a weekly ration, which scarcely
sufficed to preserve existence; when the storehouses were almost
empty of provisions, and the boundless ocean presented no object
of relief to the aching and strained eyes of the sufferers; and
when the busy mind painted to itself the dangers, inseparable
from a voyage of such length, which might intervene to delay the
arrival of succours, until horror and wretchedness should have
been heightened to the utmost; no inclination to laborious
exertion existed, and no hand had the power to wield and employ
the implements of toil. The progress of the settlement towards
maturity was necessarily retarded; and the operations which
proceeded, at these periods of general debility, were compelled
to move with a slowness which afforded but a faint promise of
speedy perfection. Under this combination of disadvantages, it
affords proof of no common perseverance to find, that the
settlement had been scarcely established four years, before two
towns were formed, and the colony seemed rapidly advancing to the
appearance of maturity.
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