FROM SYDNEY COVE. 505 natelj discovered that there was not above eight months' flour in 1788 the colony ; the consequence was that a council was convened, and the Sirius ordered to the Cape of Good Hope for a supply of that Provisions. necessary commodity, and the rations lessened; it was likewise judged necessary by his excellency to order a detachment of marines and convicts to a place about 14 miles distant to cultivate the land, cuiti-atioii which is thought, by those who pretend to understand it, to be ^^'*" better soil and easier of cultivation than any nearer to us. How- ever plausible this may appear, still the detachment is not yet gone (a few convicts excepted), and the season so far advanced that it is impossible they can raise grain time enough to prevent the impending danger, in case any accident should happen to the Sirius. An elegant brick house is built for the Governor, and another An elegant of hewn stone for the Lieutenant-Governor. An hospital was ****™®' begun on our arrival here, and is not yet half finished, nor fit to receive an object ; two store-houses were bungled up, and are now in a tottering condition. Private convenience is the chief study, and I am sorry to add that neither order, mode, nor regularity has appeared in any department in this colony. About four months since every gentleman had a grant of 2 acres of land and a labourer to clear and cultivate them. I can assure you that my brother- officers and myself have been at a great deal of trouble and expense offioen' to effect this, and now, when we were likely to reap the fruit of troubles. our labour, the men are taken from us to be sent with the detach- ment above mentioned, and I myself am ordered on the same ser- vice. We have been here between nine or ten months, and we are not as yet all hutted. You will hardly believe me when I say that we ourselves have been obliged, for the want of assistance, to cut thatch and wattles for our own huts; and now that I have nearly completed mine I must quit it, and willingly obey orders. I have lived in a marquee since I arrived here, and am likely to continue it much longer. We have laboured incessantly since we arrived here to raise all sorts of vegetables, and even at this dis- vegetables tant period we can barely supply our tables, his excellency not ^®'^ K»roe. excited. This, together with the miserable state of the natives and scarcity of animals, are convincing proofs of the badness of the country. You will no doubt have a flattering public account, but you may rely upon what I have advised. Every gentleman Everyone here, two or three excepted, concurs with me in opinion, and sin- Jj^®* *** cerely wish that the expedition may be recalled. Port Jackson, Nov. 18, 1788. To this letter is added a note by Sir Joseph Banks, in which he said: — N.B. — ^It would not be prudent to rely wholly upon what this gentleman has advised, especially in that part of his letter that Digitized by Google
