358 



1800. 



1801 



Botany stores were likely to fail, or were wantonly and wick- 

 " a edly destroyed, and supplies from the mother coun- 

 try were so precarious, that oftener than once the 

 whole colony was threatened with the miseries of 

 famine. 



The difficulties which an infant colony must expe- 

 rience can easily be conceived ; and the history of Bo- 

 tany Bay is so much the more interesting, because 

 its state can be traced from day to day, during its 

 whole existence, and affords a useful example of the 

 progress of a settlement labouring under innumerable 

 disadvantages. Some of the colonists at length de- 

 clared themselves able to subsist without the aid of 

 government stores, and many convicts, reclaimed 

 to a virtuous life, willingly lent their assistance to- 

 wards the general welfare. According as the num- 

 bers augmented, the territory was extended ; houses 

 were built far in the interior of the continent ; a spirit 

 for traffic commenced, which was encouraged by the 

 arrival of vessels belonging to all nations ; and manu- 

 factures were even established. Cattle imported from 

 Britain, or the southern climates, which had run wild 

 in the woods, proved wonderfully prolific ; and the 

 rapid increase of sheep had, after the lapse of a few 

 years, produced more wool than was sufficient to 

 clothe the whole inhabitants of Botany Bay. 



The pernicious use of spirits, which over all the 

 civilized parts of the globe may truly be denomi- 

 nated the bane of virtue, was equally prejudicial here; 

 and the governor in 1800 judiciously imposed a tax 

 upon them, "to defray the expence of a new stone 

 prison at Paramatta. A remarkably strong building 

 of wood, devoted to that purpose, had recently before 

 been maliciously set on lire, and the convicts were 

 with great difficulty rescued from the flames. In 

 September of the same year, the Irish criminals, trans- 

 ported for sedition at home, were not idle in the set- 

 tlement, which rendered the utmost precautions ne- 

 cessary for internal safety, and volunteer associations 

 were established. 



In 1801, the live stock of the colony had surpri- 

 singly augmented, there being nearly 7000 sheep, and 

 5000 hogs, besides horses, cattle, aud goats ; and 

 above 11,000 acres of land were under cultivation 

 with wheat and maize. The live stock and cultiva- 

 ted grounds have ever since gradually increased in 

 more than an equal proportion ; and at this day, the 

 colony is visited by vessels from all foreign ports, for 

 the purpose of procuring refreshments. At the same 

 time also shipbuilding had begun, and the plantations 

 on distant islands, forming so many branches of the 

 settlement, were in a flourishing condition. 



During this spirit of improvement, an extensive 

 garden was formed, wherein not only many useful 

 plants indigenous to the climate were cultivated, but 

 many brought from remote countries to be naturali- 

 zed, under the superintendance of skilful persons ap- 

 pointed by government. From thence, numerous 

 rare and curious vegetable productions have been 

 transmitted to the mother country.} 



The French expedition of discovery visited the co- 

 lony m the year 1802; and from the naturalists and 



icers who composed it, there has proceeded a more 

 interesting account than any, excepting one, in our 

 own language. Even then the settlement had made 



BOTANY BAY. 



such rapid progress, as to impress the Trench with 

 astonishment. Batteries were erected for its defence j 

 public buildings for the troops 'and government', 

 schools, prisons, and hospitals. Port Jackson had 

 become familiar to the American nation, and expedi- 

 tions for the purposes of traffic were carried on to 

 China, and^ the channel which separates Asia from 

 America. The utmost activity prevailed, and the ma- 

 nufactures of different kinds had increased to a very 

 considerable extent. Roads were made through the 

 center of immense forests for facilitating the carriage 

 by land, and docks on the shore for the use of repair- 

 ing the shipping. A great revolution had been 

 effected in the morals of the people; many of the 

 most notorious criminals now gained an honest liveli- 

 hood, and the most abandoned women made reputa- 

 ble wives, and tender mothers. The commission of 

 crimes had greatly diminished, and the strangers na- 

 turalising in the woods wandered about in safety, and 

 were hospitably entertained in the distant cottages. 

 To guard the children of those parents that still re- 

 mained dissolute from their contagious example, they 

 were removed to schools under the protection of go- 

 gernment, and educated in the principles of virtue and 

 industry. On the whole, the French exhibit a flat- 

 tering picture of the improvement and growing im- 

 portance of the colony ; and their accounts are more 

 worthy of credit, as proceeding from persons entirely 

 unbiassed. 



The harmony of the settlement was interrupted by 

 a violent, though perhaps prudent and necessary mea- 

 sure, in the deposition of governor Bligh in 1808, by 

 an officer of inferior rank. The immoderate use of 

 spirits at that time led to serious consequences, and 

 the officer who seized on the person of the governor, 

 judged it necessary both for his safety in securing him 

 from popular resentment, and for promoting the peace 

 of the settlement. Nevertheless on being brought 

 to a court martial of recent date, the act of insubor- 

 dination was considered paramount to the urgency of 

 the case, and such as could not admit of extenuation. 

 The flooding of the rivers which traverse the set- 

 tlement, occasioned extensive devastations during 

 1809, a calamity which had sometimes before been 

 experienced. The neighbouring crops were entirely 

 destroyed, and great numbers of sheep and cattle 

 washed away. The magnitude of the losses by this 

 event, induced the governor to issue a proclamation, 

 prohibiting live stock to be slaughtered for a limited 

 time. But in 1810 the colony was rapidly recover- 

 ing from the damage, and carrying on a spirited traf- 

 fic with distant countries, and the surrounding islands. 

 From the Fejee islands alone, 40,000 seal skins 

 had been obtained, which m England are worth 

 &. 60,000, and other branches of commerce were equal- 

 ly promising. 



The prosperity of Botany Bay is daily increasing : 

 the spirit for adventure is as strongly implanted in 

 the colonists as in the mother country : new manu- 

 factories are founded ; and the territory brought un- 

 der agriculture continually enlarging. Fortunes have 

 even been realized by convicts reclaimed to industry, 

 which would be deemed considerable in England. We 

 are aware, that the use of this colony to Britain has 

 been challenged, and that some have gone so far as 



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