THE SETTLEMENT OF 1803 41 



that inspired a gentlewoman to forsake home and friends to follow 

 the lover of her youth to unknown worlds so that she might win 

 him back to self-respect and happiness. Such things have been 

 done, and as history is silent in this instance there is room at least 

 to hope that the first marriage within the limits of Victorian terri- 

 tory was sanctified by such exalted intentions. Although but one 

 birth and one marriage are recorded, death was busy enough in the 

 little settlement. The first to succumb was John Skillhorn, a free 

 settler, who died on board the Ocean, on the 10th of October, before 

 the official landing. The cook of the Calcutta and many of the 

 convicts were added to the mortuary roll, and altogether no less 

 than twenty-one left their bones to bleach in the sandy downs of 

 the Nepean peninsula during its brief tentative occupancy. 



On the 17th of November, the day after the departure of the 

 Ocean for Sydney, a special parade of the military was ordered, and 

 in the presence of Captain Woodriff, the officers of the Calcutta 

 and all the convicts " clean dressed," a formal proclamation was 

 made of the Governor's powers, his commission being read by the 

 chaplain, followed by three volleys of musketry and the usual 

 cheering. Advantage was taken of such an imposing gathering 

 to wind up the proceedings by flogging five convicts who had 

 attempted to abscond into the bush, in the expectation that the 

 sight of the unpleasant consequences might check a rapidly growing 

 practice. 



The next morning the Calcutta got under weigh and proceeded 

 up the Port in search of a suitable place to replenish her stock of 

 fresh water and secure a supply of timber for experimental ship- 

 ment to England. She anchored awhile off Arthur's Seat to send 

 assistance to a carpenter's party who, while engaged in cutting 

 timber, had been beset by the natives. With characteristic ex- 

 aggeration Mr. Knopwood states in his diary that " the number of 

 the blacks was about 400 ". On the morning of the 21st, Captain 

 Woodriff came to anchor off the mouth of the Kannanook Creek, 

 between Schnapper Point and Frankston, where he remained for 

 several days, taking on board in all fifty-three tons of water and a 

 considerable shipment of timber, finally getting back to his old 

 anchorage off the settlement on the 5th of December ready for sea. 



