1787 7 Feb. Marines and convicts without medicines. 9 Feb. The transports and the SURGEON WHITE TO GOVERNOR PHILLIP. Sir, [London] 7 February, 1787. I beg leave to inform you that in case of illness prevailing among the marines intended for Botany Bay there has been no necessaries supplyed. As they are equally subject to the diseases and accidents to men embarked on board the King's ships, I am inclined to think and hope the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, on your representation, would order them to be supply'd in proportion, and in the usual manner of the Navy. I think it my duty to add that the convicts are in a similar position. I have, &c., JOHN WHITE. THE TRANSPORTS AND THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.* Ar a Court of Directors, held on Friday, the 9th February, 1787,— Order'd, that in case the ship Lady Penrhyn should be prevented arriving in China by the time prescribed in her charterEast India party, she be allowed to remain there till the next season, and then receive her loading for London, provided the Company shall not incur any addititional expense thereby. Company. 23 Feb. No directions. Marines' wives. Sick marines. AT a Court of Directors, held on Wednesday, the 4th April, 1787,-Order'd, that the owners of the ships chartered for China from Botany Bay be excused from the obligation of those ships being in China by the 15th January, 1788, free of expence to the Company. SECRETARY STEPHENS TO GOVERNOR PHILLIP. Sir, Admiralty Office, 23d February, 1787. My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty having taken into their consideration the several queries stated in your letter of the 27th of December last,† I am commanded to acquaint you, in answer to the 1 and 2. That as the Board of Treasury have given directions to the Navy Board for victualling the marines who are to embark on board the transports, my Lords cannot give any directions respecting the furnishing them with fresh provisions. 3. The wives of marines who are permitted to embark on board the Sirius must be victualled in like manner as the wives of land forces embarked on board transport ships, of which you will obtain information from the Victualling Board. 4. If it be absolutely necessary to send any marines sick on shore in foreign parts, they must be treated in the same manner * The paragraphs which follow are extracts from records in the East India Company's Office. The transports Charlotte, Scarborough, and Lady Penrhyn were under charter to the Company from Botany Bay to China, whence they were to carry cargoes of tea to London. † Ante, p. 40. as seamen; but the expence to be kept separate, and bills drawn on the Commissioners for Sick and Hurt for the amount. pro 5 and 6. You are at liberty to purchase wine for the use of the crews of the Sirius and Supply tender, and to cause the visions they may have expended on the passage to be replaced, particularly bread and beef, if the same can be purchased at a reasonable rate. 1787 23 Feb. Wine allowed. tions for 7 and 8. Their Lordships cannot give any directions respecting No direc the victualling of the convicts, nor for the treatment of them, in victualling. case it should be found necessary to land any of them. must not 9. Nor can their Lordships authorize you to interfere in the Governor purchasing any stores or provisions that may be wanted for any interfere. of the transports in the course of the voyage. 10. You are at liberty to exchange marines from the garrison Marines to the Sirius or Supply tender if you judge it for the good of the m exchanged. service so to do. 11, 12, and 13. As you will be instructed to follow such orders Phillip to as you receive through the channel of one of his Majesty's Prin- await orders. cipal Secretaries of State, on your arrival at Botany Bay, their Lordships decline answering these articles, not considering themselves at liberty to give directions for your conduct subsequent to your arrival at that place. 14. When Captain Hunter takes charge of the ship's books and accounts, his certificate thereof to the Navy Board will be their justification of paying you without passing any further I am, &c., account. Sir, PHILIP STEPHENS. SURGEON WHITE TO UNDER SECRETARY NEPEAN. Hungerford Coffee House, Strand, Feb'y 27th, 1787. 27 Feb. Finding that the Revd. Mr. Johnston is to be allowed the Application privaledge of taking with him to Botany Bay a servant, I hope it for servant. will not be deemed unreasonable or improper if I solicite a like indulgence, whose situation during the voyage will require some assistance, having no mate on board the ship I take my passage in --indeed the number of mates will by no means admit of it. The marine officers generally (and of course will) have servants out of the ranks, an advantage I can by no means lay claim to or expect. Being in a civil capacity, and without a servant, my situation must be truly uncomfortable, on which I am persuaded it is needless to say more, when addressing you, who must know and admit the inconveniences I shall be subject to, not only on the passage, but after landing without one. I have apply'd to Captain Phillip, Phillip's who has no objection, and admits the propriety, if not necessity, of the request, but can do nothing in the matter without yr. permission being first obtained The obligation I already owe you E sanction. 1787 28 Feb A more liberal ration. Fresh food for the would prevent my asking any further, were I not encouraged by others, and satisfied in my own mind, it cannot meet your disapprobation; with a hope of that being the case, I beg leave to assure you of my gratitude, esteem, and respect. My Lord, I am &c., GOVERNOR PHILLIP TO LORD SYDNEY. [London] February 28th, 1787. Having received the inclosed reports* respecting the marines and convicts now embarked on board the Alexander and Lady Penrhyn transports, I beg to submit it to your Lordship whether it may not be advisable to make some alteration in the provisions, by allowing the marines a proportion of flour in lieu of a certain proportion of salt meat, and some addition to the provisions served to the convicts; at present a convict has only, for forty-two days, sixteen pounds of bread, as will appear to your Lordship by the inclosed list. And I likewise beg leave to solicit your Lordship that orders strong, wine may be given for the supplying both marines and convicts with for the sick. fresh meat and vegetables while they remain at Spithead, and that a small quantity of wine may be allowed for the sick. The war ships should Phillip's foresight. I have, &c., A. PHILLIP. P.S.-I likewise beg leave to represent to your Lordship that the contractors having a power of substituting half-a-pound of rice in lieu of one pound of flour will be very severely felt by the convicts. PHILLIP'S VIEWS ON THE CONDUCT OF THE EXPEDITION AND By arriving at the settlement two or three months before the precede the transports many and very great advantages would be gained. transports. Huts would be ready to receive the convicts who are sick, and they would find vegetables, of which it may naturally be supposed they will stand in great need, as the scurvy must make a great ravage amongst people naturally indolent and not cleanly. Huts would be ready for the women; the stores would be properly lodg'd and defended from the convicts in such manner as to prevent their making any attempt on them. The cattle and stock would be likewise properly secured, and the ground marked out for the convicts; for lists of those intended to be sent being given to the commanding officers, mentioning their ages, crimes, trades, and characters, they might be so divided as to render few changes necessary, and the provisions would be The reports are not available. Phillip's handwriting, on small sheets of paper. ready for issuing without any waste. But if convicts' provisions, &c., must be landed a few days after the ship's arrival, and consequently mostly at the same time, great inconvenience will arise, and to keep the convicts more than a few days on board after they get into a port, considering the length of time which they must inevitably be confined, may be attended with consequences easier to conceive than to point out in a letter. Add to this, fevers of a malignant kind may make it necessary to have a second hospital. 1787 to be A ship's company is landed, huts rais'd, and the sick provided Convicts not for in a couple of days; but here the greater number are convicts, trusted. in whom no confidence can be placed, and against whom both person and provision is to be guarded. Everything necessary for the settlement should be received at the Cape on board with the commanding officer, and nothing left for the transports but a certain proportion of live stock. I may add, the short space of time left to choose a proper situation.* sickness on the voyage. The confineing the convicts on board the ships requires some Probable consideration. Sickness must be the consequence in so long a voyage (six months may be allow'd for the voyage-that is, from the time of leaveing England to the arrival in Botany Bay) and disagreeable consequences may be feared if they have the liberty of the deck. The sooner the crimes and behaviour of these people are known the better, as they may be divided, and the greatest villains particularly guarded against in one transport. The women in general I should suppose possess neither virtue Care of the nor honesty. But there may be some for thefts who still retain women. some degree of virtue, and these should be permitted to keep together, and strict orders to the master of the transport should be given that they are not abused and insulted by the ship's company, which is said to have been the case too often when they were sent to America. be neces done if fever breaks out? At the ports we put into for water, &c., there may be some What is to be sick that may have fever of such a nature that it may sary for the sake of the rest to remove them out of the ship. In such a case, how am I to act? on the The greatest care will be necessary to prevent any of the convicts from being sent that have any venereal complaints. During the passage, when light airs or calms permit it, I shall Inspection visit the transports to see that they are kept clean and receive voyage. the allowance ordered by Government; and at these times shall endeavour to make them sensible of their situation, and that their happiness or misery is in their own hands, that those who behave well will be rewarded by being allow'd to work occa* The MS. is continued, on foolscap, in another hand-evidently a copy of Phillip's paper. 1787 Defence against the natives. Make friends if possible. sionally on the small lotts of land set apart for them, and which they will be put in possession of at the expiration of the time for which they are transported. On landing in Botany Bay it will be necessary to throw up a slight work as a defence against the natives-who, tho' only seen in small numbers by Captn. Cook, may be very numerous on other parts of the coast-and against the convicts; for this my own little knowledge ás a field engineer will be sufficient, and will be the work of a few days only; but some small cannon for a redoubt will be necessary. Within the lines the stores and provisions will be secured; and I should hope that the situation I should be able to take may admit of having the small rivers between the garrison and the convicts so situated that I may be able to prevent their having any intercourse with the natives. I shall think it a great point gained if I can proceed in this with them, business without having any dispute with the natives, a few of which I shall endeavour to pursuade to settle near us, and who I mean to furnish with everything that can tend to civilize them, and to give them a high opinion of the new guests, for which purpose it will be necessary to prevent the transports' crews from having any intercourse with the natives, if possible. The convicts must have none, for if they have, the arms of the natives will be very formidable in their hands, the women abused, and the natives disgusted. Marriage should be encouraged. Intermarry. ing with natives. Rewards and punish ments. The keeping of the women apart merits great consideration, and I don't know but it may be best if the most abandoned are permitted to receive the visits of the convicts in the limits allotted them at certain hours, and under certain restrictions; something of this kind was the case in Mill Bank formerly. The rest of the women I should keep apart, and by permitting the men to be in their company when not at work, they will, I should suppose, marry, in which case they should be encouraged, if they are industrious, by one day in the week more than the unmarried on their own lotts of ground. The natives may, it is probable, permit their women to marry and live with the men after a certain time, in which case I should think it necessary to punish with severity the men who use the women ill, and I know of no punishment likely to answer the purpose of deterring others so well as exiling them to a distant spot, or to an island, where they would be obliged to work hard to gain their daily subsistance, and for which they would have the necessary tools, but no two to be together, if it could be avoided. Rewarding and punishing the convicts must be left to the Governor; he will be answerable for his conduct, and death, I should think, will never be necessary-in fact, I doubt if the fear of death ever prevented a man of no principle from committing a bad action. There are two crimes that would merit death |
