BY JAMES B. WALKER. 121 



respect to any French ships wliich might arrivo ; he was 

 to inform them of His Majesty's right to the whole of Van 

 Diemen's Land, and was to repel any attempt to form 

 a settlement, — if possible, without recourse to hostile 

 measures. 



Another three months elapsed after Bowen had received 

 his Commission before King had vessels at his disposal 

 which he could spare for the service. It was not until the Kinu to ii..i.ari. 

 30th June, 1803, that at last the Porpoise and Ladii y^^^;^^'^^^^^^^'^ 

 Nelson sailed from Port Jackson with the Commandant 2' sorit.i«o4, 

 and people and stores for the Dervvent. Yet even then pijn,,^.^^, n., 90, 



the attempt was destined to be thwarted for a time. Botii 'J^'? {-;• -'J'^'*'"'- 

 , . ' , p . 11111 1 ^''"'> ''•> ''^*'' 



ships were much out or repair and sadly leaky, and on as to Porpoise. 



leaving Port Jackson they met with such strong l^^ad J^^Jj*^^"' 'J^* ^^®- 

 winds that they were compelled to give up all idea of j^.^j' 299 

 ])roceeding on their voyage, and put back to the harbour, 

 arriving on the 4th July. The Porpoise was now required 

 to take Flinders to England, and after undergoing rej)airs, 

 she sailed on 10th August, only to be lost a week after- 

 wards, in company with the Cato, on Wreck Weei, to the 

 north of Rockhampton (Lat. 22° 11' S.). King forth- 

 with ordered the Colonial vessel Francis to be fitted out to 

 accompany the Ladi/ Nelson on a second attempt, and 

 wrote to Lord Hobart that he hoped these ships would Kim,' to nobart, 

 complete the service, which he deemed the more essential [, 

 from the inclination the French had shown to keep up a 

 correspondence with Port Jackson. 



In those days the exigencies of the service compelled 

 Governors to take whatever offered to aid them in 

 accomplishing their j)lans. Many were the missions of 

 relief or mail despatch that were entrusted to whalers, 

 or even American sealers, and their remuneration was 

 sometimes odd enough. Thus, on one occasion Governor 

 King desired Governor Collins to pay for the despatches 

 sent to him by a seaUng sloop going to King's Island, by 

 giving the skipper 30 empty salt-meat casks — surely as 

 odd a ])Ostage as ever was paid. And it nmst be 

 admitted that at times tiio Yankees Heeced the Jiritishers 

 handsomely for the liuniane hel]) tiiey atibrdod — for a 

 consideration. 



Let us be thankful that it was not a Yankee sealing 

 schooner that carried the first Governor of Tasmania to 

 the seat of his Government, but a British whaler, which 

 turned up at the right moment — the Albion, 32() tons — 



Aii«. 1803. 

 91. 



