1791

I have in my former letters mentioned how very useful two small 14 March. schooners would be in this country.

Survey of
Norfolk
Island.

Hunter.

The marines.

Capt.

Lieutenant Bradley has surveyed Norfolk Island, and will deliver a copy of his survey to the Board. That officer left England as first lieutenant of the Sirius, and as the first lieutenants on the different stations have been promoted to the rank of master and commander, I hope their Lordships will be pleased to think his services in this country deserving that favour which has been shown to others. Captain Hunter will be able to give their Lordships any information they may desire respecting this and the adjacent harbours or Norfolk Island.

The state and condition of his Majesty's armed tender Supply, and returns of the detachment of marines doing duty in this colony, are enclosed.*

Those marines who had belonged to the Sirius are added to the strength of the detachment (the two excepted who had become settlers), by which means the number of non-commissioned officers and drummers which were fixed when the detachment left England is increased by one sergeant, one corporal, and one drummer; but which I was under the necessity of doing, as the commanding officer of the detachment thought they would not otherwise be amenable to a court-martial. I have, &c.,

A. PHILLIP.

GOVERNOR PHILLIP TO SECRETARY STEPHENS.

Sir, You will please to inform the Right Honorable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that the purser of his Majesty's late ship Sirius having since the loss of that ship been appointed Commissary to this colony,† I have directed Mr. Walker, who acted as captain's clerk on board the Sirius from the arrival of that ship in this country, to take charge of the provisions and cloathing put on board the Waaksamheyd, transport, for the use of the Sirius's late ship's company in their passage to England. I have, &c.,

Sydney, New South Wales, 14th March, 1791.

A. PHILLIP.
LIEUTENANT MENZIES TO SIR JOSEPH BANKS. (Banks Papers.)
Sir Joseph,
Discovery, Falmouth, March 14th, 1791.

I wrote to you a few days before we left Portsmouth, but said nothing relative to my mess, as I was then in hopes that Dispute with Capt. Vancouver's presence might bring the business to a more Vancouver. favourable settlement. On the contrary, I found he was as averse as any of the rest to submit it to the arbitration of any impartial judge acquainted with the rules of the Navy. In this situation

*Not recorded.

† Mr. John Palmer. He succee led Mr. Andrew Miller, the first Commissary.

1791

14 March.

Unfair

arrange

I resolved to mess in my own cabin, but finding that the few
utensils and other things necessary to be laid in for so long a
Voyage would lumber it up so much that the intention of giving
me such a good one might be entirely destroyed, I therefore
waited on Capt. Vancouver the day we left Spithead, and, situated
as I was, submitted the whole business to his own decision (tho' I
well knew it would fall heavy upon me unless the Treasury would
bear a part). In consequence of this I am admitted into the gun-
room mess on being considered as a member of it from its first
establishment, and paying an equal share towards it; that is, I paid
£20 to the former mess without receiving the least indulgence for ment.
it, and £70 to the present mess before I lived a day in it, which is
as equal from its first commencement and for the present supplies
laid in for the voyage. As this is an imposition which I never
expected I should be obliged to countenance, I must now trust my
cause entirely into your hands, and hope the Treasury will allow
me for that part of the expense incurred in the present mess
before I joined the Discovery, which will amount at least to about
£20, and may be included in the order for the payment of the
arrears of my salary at present in the Treasury, in the same
manner as the former was, without much additional trouble, to
Mr. Nepean. In so doing you will greatly oblige he who has
the honor to be with due respect, Yours, &c.,

ARCH'D MENZIES.

ANDREW WAUGH TO THE HOME OFFICE.

Edinburgh, 15th March, 1791.

15 March.

Plan for Supplying Botany Bay with Provisions from Bengal. I BEG leave to introduce the following proposals for supplying the British settlement at Botany Bay with provisions from Bengal Provisions from Bengal. by enumerating the different articles necessary for that purpose, and giving the average price of each distinct commodity at the Bengal market :

A sina rupee is equal to 2s. 3d. British; a bazar maund is Price of comequal to 80 lb., but shall estimate it at 3 cwt.

Good cargo rice is sold at Bengal at 1 to 13 rupees per maund.
Do. doll (a species of split peas) at 1 to 2 rupees pr maund.

Do. ghee (prepared buffalo's butter) at 10 rupees pr maund.
Do. wheat, at an average, the same price as rice.

Do. peas, at 4 rupees pr maund.

Do. sea biscuit, little inferior to British, 4

Do. sugar, at 4 to 10 rupees pr

md.

Do. arrack, or rum, at 1 rupee pr gallon.

rupees pr md.

Oil, vinegar, mustard, and wax candles equally reasonable. Good cattle, at 20 to 30 rupees pr head, stall fed, average £2 16s. 3d.

modities.

1791

15 March.

Wholesome food.

Good sheep, fatten'd, at 40 rupees pr score, or 4s. 6d. each.
Do. geese, do., at 3 rupees pr pair.

Do. ducks, do., at 12 rupees pr hundred, or 4d. each.
Do. fowls, do., at 14 rupees per do., or 4d. each.

That rice, doll, and ghee united, I am thoroughly convinced, make a wholesome and very substantial food, and I would propose the following proportion of each, vizt. :-1 b. of rice, b. doll, b. ghee, to make an ample allowance for each person per diem, and can be effected for less than fourpence, which must, of consequence, be a very great saving to Government.

With this wholesome food one hundred and twelve persons, 33d. per day. which does not exceed threepence three farthings a day each, and as fish are upon the coasts in great abundance, and can be obtained with little trouble, and at a very inconsiderable expence, I can make no hesitation in saying the inhabitants of Botany Bay would then be supplied with the necessary provisions.

It is requisite that I mention the usual mode of freighting ships from Bengal for a distant voyage such as Botany Bay, which is done either by the month, for six months certain, by the voyage Freight from completed, or by the packages on board, the freight of which are Bengal. charged agreeable to the size or value. A ship of six hundred tons burthen must be paid at the rate of forty thousand sina rupees, or four thousand five hundred pounds per month for the whole voyage, or six thousand rupees per month, if agreed for in that manner. So a bag of rice, gross weight one hundred and sixty-eight pounds, will pay of freight from Bengal to Botany Bay six rupees, i.e., thirteen shillings and sixpence English, and with its original cost amounts to one pound one shilling and sixpence per bag.

Opening

for trade.

I am of opinion no difficulty can arise in the navigation, and that it might have the good effect of opening, and in all probability establishing, an intercourse with the inhabitants of the coast of New Holland, as it may naturally be supposed ships in that trade would be unwilling to return without at least attempting

1791

some kind of traffic with the natives, if such thing was found practicable. And should any useful discovery be made in trade, 15 March and the navigation render'd more easy, Government would reap the advantage of having their freights there considerably lower, and consequently the colony receive their supplies upon more advantageous terms.

from the

Cultivation

It is likewise well known that the islands in the Pacific Ocean Supplies can afford them many supplies, and it appears beyond a doubt that Islands. the settlement will in the course of a very few years be possessed of every necessary of life in the greatest abundance. If the climate and soil are congenial, I would earnestly recommend the planting two hundred thousand cocoanut and palmira of tropical trees in the vicinity of the settlement, which would in the space of food-plants. twenty years afford them drink, oil, vinegar, ropes, sails, fishing lines and nets, mats, and rafters for houses; two hundred thousand plantain, banana, breadfruit, papa, mangoe, and tark trees, all of which in the lifetime of the present generation would produce infinite advantage to the inhabitants.

route.

I have further to observe, to excite Government to the above plan, that Bengal is not so distant as the Cape of Good Hope An easy from Botany Bay, and the ships have two tracks to pursue, either to the eastward or westward of New Holland, which will make it more easy the performance of the voyage in the different seasons in India. ANDREW WAUGH.

Sir,

LIEUTENANT BALL TO SECRETARY STEPHENS.

His Majesty's armed tender Supply,

Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, 15th March, 1791.

The multiplicity of business, and being in a bad state of health when at Batavia, prevented my communicating to my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty the state of his Majesty's armed tender under my command.

15 March,

I therefore beg you will please to inform their Lordships that herewith I have enclosed the state and condition (with the marine returns) of his Maj's said armed tender under my command for their Lordships' inspection, and with all due submission to their Lordships, I beg to say the Supply will be very much worn by State of the Supply. the time she can be got to England, shou'd it pleas their Lordships to order her to be relieved.

I likewise beg to acquaint you, for their Lordships' further information, that the repairs his Maj's armed tender will require in she cannot another year can't possibly be done in this country, there being re no shipwrights, as well the very badness of the timber, which is colony. not fit for decks and topsides.

in the

asks for

I am to request you will please to moove their Lordships to [allow Lieut. Ball me to] return to England for the benefit of my health (having leave. laboured under a violent illness for these several months past, and

1791

my life greatly dispaired of), shou'd it not please their Lordships to 15 March. relieve the Supply from this station; and as well to settle some private family affairs which can't be done without my presence.

The violent and shocking putrid fever which raiged on board the Supply at Batavia, and since we were there,* has graitly impaired The officers the constitutions of allmost all the officers and men of the Supply, and men also that I much fear they will not get re-established in this country. And pray you will, as well as for myself, pleas moove their Lordships to have them likewise relieved, as I have been petitioned by them all to beg that favour from their Lordships, but with propriety and good decorom. I am, &c.,

ask to be relieved.

17 March.

Sir,

H. L. BALL.

MAJOR GROSE TO SIR GEORGE YONGE.

Salopian Coffee House, 17 March [1791].

As many advantages will occur by a seperate inspection of the companies raised in augmentation to the New South Wales Corps, I have to hope that you will consent to this arrangement. You will perceive, sir, by it that officers will then be collected immediately to take charge of the recruits, who will, of course, Inspection. when under the care of commissioned officers, be more expeditiously trained and put into order for the duty required of them than when left only to the care of serjeants. In addition to this, it will take a great deal of trouble off my hands, and I shall consequently be able much easier to perform my engagements.

20 March.

An

situation.

I have, &c.,

FRANS. GROSE.

LIEUTENANT MENZIES TO SIR JOSEPH BANKS. (Banks Papers.)
Sir Joseph,
Discovery, Falmouth, March 20th, 1791.

I have this day received my instructions by a messenger, which is just arrived from the Admiralty, and while I report myself ready to undertake them as far as lay in my power, I cannot help lamenting the situation in which they place me in, unfortunate by not being empowered to ask for a boat at any time from the ship, or the least assistance whatever; by not being empowered to claim the least article of trade to carry my instructions into execution in uncivilised countries; and by being instructed, contrary to my expectation, to deliver up on my return whatever collection I may make of animals, minerals, and curiosities, without Insufficient having that liberal outfit which might enable me to procure and collect them to advantage for my employers and credit to myself. But the captain is, perhaps, instructed to aid and assist me in each of these particulars. How am I to know that? It would not, surely, be inconsistent with the service to let me have a copy of that part of his instructions which relates to myself, that I might In the dark. know what latitude I was to have, for at present I have not the * Lieutenant Fowell, Gunner Ross, and several of the seamen died. Collins, vol. I, p. 138.

outfit.

Will the Captain assist?