THE FLEET AT SEA. 69 room, and having requested all of us to be seated, placed himself 1787 by the Commodore in a position that fronted us. In return for Soptanber. our thanks, he said, " it gave him infinite pleasure and satisfaction to find that the place had afforded us the supplies we stood in need ol" To this he added that ** the attention of the inhabitants, which we were good enough to notice, was much short of his wishes." We then arose and took our leave ; but not before his Excellency had expressed a desire of hearing from the Commodore, with an account of his snoeess in the establishment of the new colony. A final letter was written to Nepean on the 3rd Sep- Departure tember — ^the day before the fleet sailed from Rio. Phillip '^ had every reason to be satisfied with the attentions paid to him and his ofiicers during their stay there^ which evidently formed a very pleasant break in the long voyage. Every- thing had gone well so far ; but his letters show the extreme anxiety with which he scrutinised every detail connected with the health of his people. I have been prevented sailing this morning from the accounts being not yet finally settled — that is, the vouchers not yet sent ofL I sail to-morrow, and at the Cape shall have more time, for here, as the only one that understands the language, I have been Knowledge obliged to be linguist and commissary. By the master of the ^^'[*'** Sirius you will have some private as well as public letters, and by a ship going to Lisbon you will receive this and copies of ray pub- lic letters sent by the master; who, as he met with his accident in doing his duty on board the ship, will, I hope, get some little pro- vision. I have told you in one of my letters how far the Yice-King (the same who was here when I past for India) has carried his polite- ness, and that tho' I desired much to be received here as the cap- public tain of the Sirius only, and for which I had particular reason, he ****"®'*^ refused my request, and gave it out in orders that I received the same honor as himself, that is, as Captain-General. This has prevented my having any house on shore, and that for obvious reasons. I have endeavored to explain to Mr. Rose why I have drawn FinMdai on the Treasury for £135. The little matters paid by me when °***®"- the ships were at Portsmouth, and the expenses here in procuring seeds and plants that are not publicly sold, could not be paid for Digitized by Google
