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Vansittart, George, Esq. M. P. Vansittart, Nicholas, Esq. Vernor, Mr. bookseller, 18 copies

Weymouth, Lord Warren, Sir John Borlase, Bart. Wolfe, Arthur, Esq. Attorney-General, Ireland Walsh, John, Esq. Wentworth, Lord Willis, H. N. Esq. Wright, Mr. Woodford, Col. John Wray, Sir Cecil, Bart. Willis, Rev. Thomas Wolfe, Lewis, Esq. Watts, Lieutenant John, R. N. Watts, Mr. D. P. Wilton, George, Esq. Wale, G. Esq. Watts, Mr. Thomas Warren, Sir George, M. P. Walter, Mr. bookseller, 12 copies Webber, Mr. John Walker, James, Esq. Watson, Serjeant Welch, Mr. Joseph White and Son, booksellers, 12 copies Ware and Son, booksellers, White-haven Woodmason, Mr. Williamson, Captain Wright, Mr. Thomas Walcot, John, Esq. Wood, Mr. bookseller, Shrewsbury Wilson, Mr. Wetton, Mr. bookseller, Chertsey Wenman, Mr. bookseller, 3 copies Wigglesworth, John, Esq. Wedgewood, Josiah, Esq. Wheeler, Mr. G. Wanstead Wilkie, Mr. bookseller, 6 copies Whieldon, Mr. bookseller, 12 copies Williams, Mr. bookseller, 6 copies Walker, Mr. bookseller, 3 copies Wynne, Mr. bookseller, 6 copies

Yorke, Hon. Philip, M. P. Yorke, Charles, Esq. Young, Sir Wm. Bart. M. P. Yorke, the Hon. Mrs. Sydney-Farm Young, William, Esq. Yonge, Right Hon. Sir George, Bart. M. P. Younge, Major William, Little Darnford Place.

LIST OF THE PLATES.

Public utility of voyages--Peculiar circumstances of this--New Holland properly a continent--Reasons for fixing our settlement there--Transportation to America, its origin, advantages, and cessation--Experiments made--The present plan adopted--Disadvantages of other expedients.

From voyages undertaken expressly for the purpose of discovery, the public naturally looks for information of various kinds: and it is a fact which we cannot but contemplate with pleasure, that by the excellent publications subsequent to such enterprises, very considerable additions have been made, during the present reign, to our general knowledge of the globe, of the various tribes by which it is peopled, and of the animals and vegetables to which it gives support.

An expedition occasioned by motives of legislative policy, carried on by public authority, and concluded by a fixed establishment in a country very remote, not only excites an unusual interest concerning the fate of those sent out, but promises to lead us to some points of knowledge which, by the former mode, however judiciously employed, could not have been attained. A transient visit to the coast of a great continent cannot, in the nature of things, produce a complete information respecting its inhabitants, productions, soil, or climate: all which when contemplated by resident observers, in every possible circumstance of variation, though they should be viewed with less philosophical acuteness, must yet gradually become more fully known: Errors, sometimes inseparable from hasty observation, will then be corrected by infallible experience; and many objects will present themselves to view, which before had escaped notice, or had happened to be so situated that they could not be observed.

To New South Wales England has the claim which a tacit consent has generally made decisive among the European States, that of prior discovery. The whole of that Eastern coast, except the very Southern point, having been untouched by any navigator, till it was explored by Captain Cook. This consideration, added to the more favourable accounts given of this side of the continent than of the other, was sufficient to decide the choice of the British government, in appointing a place for the banishment of a certain class of criminals.

The cause of the determination to send out in this manner the convicts under sentence of transportation, was, as is well known, the necessary cessation of their removal to America; and the inconveniences experienced in the other modes of destination adopted after that period.

To expatiate upon the principles of penal law is foreign to the purpose of this work, but thus much is evident to the plainest apprehension, that the objects most to be desired in it are the restriction of the number of capital inflictions, as far as is consistent with the security of society; and the employment of every method that can be devised for rendering the guilty persons serviceable to the public, and just to themselves; for correcting their moral depravity, inducing habits of industry, and arming them in future against the temptations by which they have been once ensnared.

For effectuating these beneficial purposes, well regulated penitentiary houses seem, in speculation, to afford the fairest opportunity; and a plan of this kind, formed by the united efforts of Judge Blackstone, Mr. Eden, and Mr. Howard, was adopted by Parliament in the year 1779. Difficulties however occurred which prevented the execution of this design: a circumstance which will be something the less regretted when it shall be considered, that it is perhaps the fate of this theory, in common with many others of a very pleasing nature, to be more attractive in contemplation than efficacious in real practice. A perfect design, carried on by imperfect agents, is liable to lose the chief part of its excellence; and the best digested plan of confinement must in execution be committed, chiefly, to men not much enlightened, very little armed against corruption, and constantly exposed to the danger of it. The vigilance which in the infancy of such institutions effectually watches over the conduct of these public servants, will always in a little time be relaxed; and it will readily be conceived that a large penitentiary house, very corruptly governed, would be, of all associations, one of the most pernicious to those confined, and most dangerous to the peace of society.

In some countries, malefactors not capitally convicted, are sentenced to the gallies or the mines; punishments often more cruel than death, and here, on many accounts, impracticable. In other places they are employed in public works, under the care of overseers. This method has been partially tried in England on the Thames, but has been found by no means to produce the benefits expected from it. There is, therefore, little temptation to pursue it to a further extent. The employment of criminals in works carried on under the public eye, is perhaps too repugnant to the feelings of Englishmen ever to be tolerated. Reason, indeed, acquiesces in the melancholy necessity of punishing, but chains and badges of servitude are unpleasing objects, and compassion will always revolt at the sight of actual infliction. Convicts so employed would either by an ill placed charity be rewarded, or the people, undergoing a change of character far from desirable, would in time grow callous to those impressions which naturally impel them to give relief.

It remains therefore, that we adhere as much as possible to the practice approved by long experience, of employing the services of such criminals in remote and rising settlements. For this purpose the establishment on the eastern coast of New Holland has been projected, and carried on with every precaution to render it as beneficial as possible. That some difficulties will arise in the commencement of such an undertaking must be expected; but it is required by no moral obligation that convicts should be conveyed to a place of perfect convenience and security; and though the voluntary emigrants and honourable servants of the state, must in some measure, be involved for a time in the same disadvantages, yet to have resisted difficulties is often finally an advantage rather than an evil; and there are probably few persons so circumstanced who will repine at moderate hardships, when they reflect that by undergoing them they are rendering an essential and an honourable service to their country.

March 1787 to June 1787

Preparation of the fleet ordered to Botany Bay.--Particulars of its arrangement.--Departure and passage to the Canary Isles.

The squadron destined to carry into execution the above design, began to assemble at its appointed rendezvous, the Mother Bank, within the Isle of Wight, about the 16th of March, 1787. This small fleet consisted of the following ships: His Majesty's frigate Sirius, Captain John Hunter, and his Majesty's armed tender Supply, commanded by Lieutenant H. L. Ball. Three store-ships, the Golden Grove, Fishburn, and Borrowdale, for carrying provisions and stores for two years; including instruments of husbandry, clothing for the troops and convicts, and other necessaries; and lastly, six transports, the Scarborough, and Lady Penrhyn, from Portsmouth; the Friendship, and Charlotte, from Plymouth; the Prince of Wales, and the Alexander, from Woolwich. These were to carry the convicts, with a detachment of Marines in each, proportioned to the nature of the service; the largest where resistance was most to be expected, namely, in those ships which carried the greatest number of male convicts. Altogether they formed a little squadron of eleven sail.

They only who know the nature of such equipments, and consider the particular necessity in the present instance for a variety of articles not usually provided, can judge properly of the time required for furnishing out this fleet. Such persons will doubtless be the least surprised at being told that nearly two months had elapsed before the ships were enabled to quit this station, and proceed upon their voyage: and that even then some few articles were either unprepared, or, through misapprehension, neglected. The former circumstance took place respecting some part of the cloathing for the female convicts, which, being unfinished, was obliged to be left behind; the latter, with respect to the ammunition of the marines, which was furnished only for immediate service, instead of being, as the Commodore apprehended, completed at their first embarkation: an omission which, in the course of the voyage, was easily supplied.

This necessary interval was very usefully employed, in making the convicts fully sensible of the nature of their situation; in pointing out to them the advantages they would derive from good conduct, and the certainty of severe and immediate punishment in case of turbulence or mutiny. Useful regulations were at the same time established for the effectual governing of these people; and such measures were taken as could not fail to render abortive any plan they might be desperate enough to form for resisting authority, seizing any of the transports, or effecting, at any favourable period, an escape. We have, however, the testimony of those who commanded, that their behaviour, while the ships remained in port, was regular, humble, and in all respects suitable to their situation: such as could excite neither suspicion nor alarm, nor require the exertion of any kind of severity.

When the fleet was at length prepared for sailing, the complement of convicts and marines on board the transports was thus arranged. The Friendship carried a Captain and forty-four marines, subalterns and privates, with seventy-seven male and twenty female convicts. The Charlotte, a Captain and forty-three men, with eighty-eight male and twenty female convicts. In the Alexander, were two Lieutenants and thirty-five marines, with two hundred and thirteen convicts, all male. In the Scarborough, a Captain and thirty-three marines, with male convicts only, two hundred and eight in number. The Prince of Wales transport had two Lieutenants and thirty marines, with an hundred convicts, all female. And the Lady Penrhyn, a Captain, two Lieutenants, and only three privates, with one hundred and two female convicts. Ten marines, of different denominations, were also sent as supernumeraries on board the Sirius. The whole complement of marines, including officers, amounted to two hundred and twelve; besides which, twenty-eight women, wives of marines, carrying with them seventeen children, were permitted to accompany their husbands. The number of convicts was seven hundred and seventy-eight, of whom five hundred and fifty-eight were men. Two, however, on board the Alexander, received a full pardon before the departure of the fleet, and consequently remained in England.

Governor Phillip, on his arrival at the station, hoisted his flag on board the Sirius, as Commodore of the squadron: and the embarkation being completed, and the time requiring his departure, at day break on the 13th of May, he gave the signal to weigh anchor. To the distance of about an hundred leagues clear of the channel, his Majesty's frigate Hyena, of twenty-four guns, was ordered to attend the fleet, in order to bring intelligence of its passage through that most difficult part of the voyage; with any dispatches which it might be requisite for the Governor to send home.

On the 20th of May, the ships being then in latitude 47? 57', and longitude 12? 14' west of London, the Hyena returned. She brought, however, no exact account of the state of the transports; for the sea at that time ran so high, that the Governor found it difficult even to sit to write, and quite impracticable to send on board the several ships for exact reports of their situation, and of the behaviour of the convicts. All, however, had not been perfectly tranquil; the convicts in the Scarborough, confiding probably in their numbers, had formed a plan for gaining possession of that ship, which the officers had happily detected and frustrated. This information was received from them just before the Hyena sailed, and the Governor had ordered two of the ringleaders on board the Sirius for punishment. These men, after receiving a proper chastisement, were separated from their party by being removed into another ship, the Prince of Wales. No other attempt of this kind was made during the voyage.

We may now consider the adventurers in this small fleet as finally detached, for the present, from their native country; looking forward, doubtless with very various emotions, to that unknown region, which, for a time at least, they were destined to inhabit. If we would indulge a speculative curiosity, concerning the tendency of such an enterprize, there are few topics which would afford an ampler scope for conjecture. The sanguine might form expectations of extraordinary consequences, and be justified, in some degree, by the reflection, that from smaller, and not more respectable beginnings, powerful empires have frequently arisen. The phlegmatic and apprehensive might magnify to themselves the difficulties of the undertaking, and prognosticate, from various causes, the total failure of it. Both, perhaps, would be wrong. The opinion nearest to the right was probably formed by the Governor himself, and such others among the leaders of the expedition, as from native courage, felt themselves superior to all difficulties likely to occur; and by native good sense were secured from the seduction of romantic reveries. To all it must appear a striking proof of the flourishing state of navigation in the present age, and a singular illustration of its vast progress since the early nautical efforts of mankind; that whereas the ancients coasted with timidity along the shores of the Mediterranean, and thought it a great effort to run across the narrow sea which separates Crete from Egypt, Great Britain, without hesitation, sends out a fleet to plant a settlement near the antipodes.

The high sea which had impeded the intercourse between the ships, as they were out of the reach of rocks and shoals, was not, in other respects, an unfavourable circumstance. On the whole, therefore, the weather was reckoned fine, and the passage very prosperous from Spithead to Santa Cruz, in the Isle of Teneriffe, where the fleet anchored on the 3d of June.

June 1787

Reasons for touching at the Canary Isles--Precautions for preserving Health--Their admirable Success--Some Account of the Canaries--Fables respecting them--Attempt of a Convict to escape--Departure.

The chief object proposed by Governor Phillip in touching at Teneriffe, was the obtaining a fresh supply of water and vegetables. It was adviseable also at this period to give the people such advantages and refreshments, for the sake of health, as this place would readily supply, but which can only be obtained on shore. In this, and every port, the crews, soldiers, and convicts, were indulged with fresh meat, fruit, vegetables, and every thing which could conduce to preserve them from the complaints formerly inevitable in long voyages. The allowance was, to the marines, a pound of bread, a pound of beef, and a pint of wine per man, daily: the convicts had three quarters of a pound of beef, and of bread, but no wine. The fruits obtained here were only figs and mulberries, but these were plentiful and excellent. How successfully precautions of every kind, tending to this great end, were employed throughout the voyage, the reports of the number of sick and dead will sufficiently evince.

Captain Cook had very fully shown, how favourable such expeditions might be made to the health of those engaged in them; and Governor Phillip was happy enough to confirm the opinion, that the success of his great predecessor, in this essential point, was not in any degree the effect of chance, but arose from that care and attention of which he has humanely given us the detail; and which, in similar circumstances, may generally be expected to produce the same result. If the number of convicts who died between the time of embarkation and the arrival of the fleet at this place, should seem inconsistent with this assertion, it must be considered that the deaths were confined entirely to that class of people, many of whom were advanced in years, or labouring under diseases contracted in prison or elsewhere, while they were yet on shore.

A week was passed at this place, during which time the weather was very moderate, the thermometer not exceeding 70? of Fahrenheit's scale. The barometer stood at about 30 inches.

The Governor of the Canaries, at this time, was the Marquis de Brancifort, by birth a Sicilian. He was resident as usual at Santa Cruz, and paid to Governor Phillip, and the other officers, a polite attention and respect equally honourable to all parties. The port of Santa Cruz, though not remarkably fine, is yet the best in the Canaries, and the usual place at which vessels touch for refreshment; the residence of the Governor General is therefore fixed always in Teneriffe, for the sake of a more frequent intercourse with Europe: in preference to the great Canary Isle, which contains the Metropolitan church, and the palace of the Bishop. The Marquis de Brancifort has lately established some useful manufactures in Teneriffe.

To enter into much detail concerning the Canary Islands, which lie exactly in the course of every ship that sails from Europe to the Cape, and consequently have been described in almost every book of voyages, must be superfluous. A few general notices concerning them may, perhaps, not be unacceptable. They are in number about fourteen, of which the principal, and only considerable are, Canary, Teneriffe, Fortaventure, Palma, Ferro, Gomera, Lancerotta. Their distance from the coast of Africa is from about forty to eighty leagues. The circumference of Teneriffe is not above one hundred and twenty miles, but that of Canary, or as it is usually called, the Great Canary, is one hundred and fifty. They have been possessed and colonized by Spain from the beginning of the 15th century.

The capital of Teneriffe is Laguna, or more properly San Christoval de la Laguna, St. Christopher of the Lake, so called from its situation near a lake. Both this and Santa Cruz are built of stone, but the appearance of the latter is more pleasing than that of Laguna. They are distant from each other about four miles. The capital of the Great Canary, and properly of the whole government, is the City of Palms: But that place has been for some time the centre of ecclesiastical government only. The custom of reckoning the first meridian as passing through these isles was begun by Ptolemy; and perhaps it is still to be wished that the French regulations on that subject were generally adopted.

Our ships were at length preparing to depart, when on the evening of the 9th of June, a convict belonging to the Alexander, having been employed on deck, found means to cut away the boat, and make a temporary escape; but he was missed and soon retaken. It is not probable that he had formed any definite plan of escape; the means of absconding must have been accidentally offered, and suddenly embraced; and for making such an attempt, the vague hope of liberty, without any certain prospect, would naturally afford sufficient temptation.

Report of the marines and convicts under medical treatment, given in to Governor Phillip, June 4th, 1787.

Convicts dead since the first embarkation 21 Children of convicts 3

Of these only fifteen, and one child, had died since the departure from Spithead.

June 1787 to September 1787

Attempt to put in at Port Praya--Relinquished--Weather--Sail for Rio de Faneiro--Reasons for touching at a South American port--The Fleet passes the Line--Arrives at Rio de Faneiro--Account of that Place--Transactions there--Departure.

Vegetables not having been so plentiful at Santa Cruz as to afford a sufficient supply, it was the intention of Governor Phillip to anchor for about twenty-four hours in the Bay of Port Praya. The islands on this side of the Atlantic, seem as if expressly placed to facilitate the navigation to and from the Cape of Good Hope: by offering to vessels, without any material variation from their course, admirable stations for supply and refreshment. About latitude 40, north, the Azores; in 33, the Madeiras; between 29 and 27, the Canaries; and between 18 and 16, the Islands of Cape Verd, successively offer themselves to the voyager, affording abundantly every species of accommodation his circumstances can require. On the Southern side of the Equator, a good harbour and abundance of turtles give some consequence even to the little barren island of Ascension; and St. Helena, by the industry of the English settlers, has become the seat of plenty and of elegance. Without the assistance derived, in going or returning, from some of these places, the interval of near forty degrees on each side of the line, in a sea exposed to violent heat, and subject to tedious calms, would be sufficient to discourage even the navigators of the eighteenth century.

On the 18th of June, the fleet came in sight of the Cape Verd Islands, and was directed by signal to steer for St. Jago. But the want of favourable wind, and the opposition of a strong current making it probable that all the ships would not be able to get into the Bay, the Governor thought it best to change his plan. The signal for anchoring was hauled down, and the ships were directed to continue their first course; a circumstance of much disappointment to many individuals on board, who, as is natural in long voyages, were eager on every occasion to enjoy the refreshments of the shore. As an additional incitement to such wishes, the weather had now become hot; the thermometer stood at 82?, which, though not an immoderate heat for a tropical climate, is sufficient to produce considerable annoyance. But, unmoved by any consideration except that of expedience, Governor Phillip persisted in conducting his ships to their next intended station, the harbour of Rio de Janeiro.

It may appear perhaps, on a slight consideration, rather extraordinary, that vessels bound to the Cape of Good Hope should find it expedient to touch at a harbour of South America. To run across the Atlantic, and take as a part of their course, that coast, the very existence of which was unknown to the first navigators of these seas, seems a very circuitous method of performing the voyage. A little examination will remove this apparent difficulty. The calms so frequent on the African side, are of themselves a sufficient cause to induce a navigator to keep a very westerly course; and even the islands at which it is so often convenient to touch will carry him within a few degrees of the South American coast.--The returning tracks of Captain Cooks's three voyages all run within a very small space of the 45th degree of west longitude, which is even ten degrees further to the west than the extremity of Cape St. Roque: and that course appears to have been taken voluntarily, without any extraordinary inducement. But in the latitudes to which Governor Phillip's squadron had now arrived, the old and new continent approach so near to each other, that in avoiding the one it becomes necessary to run within a very moderate distance of the opposite land.

On July 5, 1787, being then in long. 26? 10' west from Greenwich, the Botany Bay fleet passed from the Northern into the Southern Hemisphere. About three weeks more of very favourable and pleasant weather conveyed them to Rio de Janeiro.

On the 5th of August they anchored off the harbour, and on the evening of the 6th were at their station within it. The land of Cape Frio had been discovered some days before, but a deficiency of wind from that time a little slackened their course.

Rio de Janeiro, or January River, so called because discovered by Dias de Solis on the feast of St. Januarius, 1525, is not in fact a river, though its name denotes that it was then supposed to be so: it is an arm of the sea, into which a considerable number of small rivers descends.

The city of Rio de Janeiro, called by some writers St. Sebastian, from the name of its tutelar patron, is situated on the west side of this bay, within less than a degree of the tropic of Capricorn, and about 43? west of Greenwich. It is at present the capital of all Brasil, and has been for some time the residence of the Viceroy. These distinctions it obtained in preference to St. Salvador, which was formerly the capital, by means of the diamond mines discovered in its vicinity, in the year 1730. The place increasing rapidly by the wealth thus brought to it, was fortified and put under the care of a governor in 1738. The port is one of the finest in the world, very narrow at the entrance, and within capacious enough to contain more ships than ever were assembled at one station. It has soundings from twenty to one hundred and twenty fathoms. A hill shaped like a sugar loaf, situated on the west side, marks the proper bearing for entering the harbour: the situation of which is fully pointed out at the distance of two leagues and a half by some small islands, one of which, called Rodonda, is very high, and in form not unlike a haycock. The mouth of the harbour is defended by forts, particularly two, called Santa Cruz and Lozia; and the usual anchorage within it is before the city, north of a small island named Dos Cobras.

There are in this port established fees, which are paid by all merchant ships, Portuguese as well as strangers: 3l. 12s. each on entering the bay, the same on going out, and 5s. 6d. a day while they remain at anchor. The entrance fee was demanded for the transports in this expedition, but when Governor Phillip had alledged that they were loaded with King's stores, the payment was no more insisted upon. Nevertheless, the Captain of the Port gave his attendance, with his boat's crew, to assist the ships in coming in, there being at that time only a light air, hardly sufficient to carry them up the bay.

In the narrative of Captain Cook's Voyage in 1768, we find, on his arrival at this place, great appearance of suspicion on the part of the Viceroy, harsh prohibitions of landing, even to the gentlemen employed in philosophical researches, and some proceedings rather of a violent nature. The reception given by the present Viceroy to Governor Phillip and his officers was very different: it was polite and flattering to a great degree, and free from every tincture of jealous caution.

Don Lewis de Varconcellos, the reigning Viceroy, belongs to one of the noblest families in Portugal; is brother to the Marquis of Castello Methor, and to the Count of Pombeiro. Governor Phillip, who served for some years as a Captain in the Portuguese navy, and is deservedly much honoured by that nation, was not personally unknown to the Viceroy, though known in a way which, in a less liberal mind, might have produced very different dispositions. There had been some difference between them, on a public account, in this port, when Governor Phillip commanded the Europe: each party had acted merely for the honour of the nation to which he belonged, and the Viceroy, with the true spirit of a man of honour, far from resenting a conduct so similar to his own, seemed now to make it his object to obliterate every recollection of offence. As soon as he was fully informed of the nature of Governor Phillip's commission, he gave it out in orders to the garrison that the same honours should be paid to that officer as to himself. This distinction the Governor modestly wished to decline, but was not permitted. His officers were all introduced to the Viceroy, and were, as well as himself, received with every possible mark of attention to them, and regard for their country. They were allowed to visit all parts of the city, and even to make excursions as far as five miles into the country, entirely unattended: an indulgence very unusual to strangers, and considering what we read of the jealousy of the Portuguese Government respecting its diamond mines, the more extraordinary.

The circumstances, which in this place most astonish a stranger, and particularly a Protestant, are, the great abundance of images dispersed throughout the city, and the devotion paid to them. They are placed at the corner of almost every street, and are never passed without a respectful salutation; but at night they are constantly surrounded by their respective votaries, who offer up their prayers aloud, and make the air resound in all quarters with the notes of their hymns. The strictness of manners in the inhabitants is not said to be at all equivalent to the warmth of this devotion; but in all countries and climates it is found much easier to perform external acts of reputed piety, than to acquire the internal habits so much more essential. It must be owned, however, that our people did not find the ladies so indulgent as some voyagers have represented them.

It was near a month before Governor Phillip could furnish his ships with every thing which it was necessary they should now procure. At length, on the 4th of September he weighed anchor, and as he passed the fort, received from the Viceroy the last compliment it was in his power to pay, being saluted with twenty-one guns. The salute was returned by an equal number from the Sirius; and thus ended an intercourse honourable to both nations, and particularly to the principal officer employed in the service of each.

September 1787 to January 1788

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