224 



THE POUNDING OF HOBABT. 



Knopwood, 

 17th Feb. 



4th Maa-ch, 

 1804. 



themselves by going ashore, where they were very much 

 pleased with the appearance of the country and the 

 abundance of game and wild fowl. The boat's crew 

 filled their boat with fiae oysters in half an hour on the 

 shores of the lagoon. They also fell in with a party 

 of 17 natives, who were very friendly. On the 15th 

 February a change of wind enabled them to make the 

 entrance ctf the river, where they were met by the boat 

 of the Lady Nelson, which had arrived before them, 

 and they ran up before the sea breeze, anchoring at half- 

 past six in Risdon Cove, off the settlement of which 

 Lieut. Moore was in charge, Lieut. Bowen being absent 

 at Port Jackson. 



At 10 the next morning, the Lieut.-Governor, with 

 Lieut. Lord and the Chaplain, landed under a salute of 

 11 guns from the Ocean — the first salute fired in the 

 Derwent — to inspect the Risdon settlement. They were 

 received with military honours by Lieut. Moore and the 

 16 privates of the New South Wales' Corps drawn up 

 under arms. After inspecting the settlement, the Lieut.- 

 Governor came to the conclusion that Risdon was not a 

 suitable site for a town, and returned on board the Ocean 

 very much disappointed. It was the report of the 

 advantages of Risdon that had led him to decide in 

 favour of the Derwent rather than the Tamar, and now 

 he had brought his people to a spot that promised as 

 little as the abandoned Port Phillip. However, the next 

 morning was bright with sunshine, and as he looked out 

 over the waters of the Derwent, with,^ picturesque 

 scenery of hill and valley and thickly wooded plains, 

 things looked less gloomy. To be prepared for the woi-st, 

 he directed the tents to be pitched at Risdon. Then the 

 boat Vt'as ordered out and put in charge of the trusted 

 William Collins, and the Governor, taking with him his 

 favourite companion, Mr. Knopwood, was pulled down 

 the river to a cove on the opposite shore some five miles 

 below Risdon, and which had probably attracted attention 

 on the way up. Here Collins landed, and, after a short 

 examination, made up his mind that it was the very place 

 for his settlement. We can imagine his admiration of 

 the fine cove, with deep water up to the shore, and his 

 profound satisfaction, after four months on the dry sand- 

 hills of Sorrento, at finding himself on a well-wooded 

 and fertile plain, lying at the foot of the great Table 

 Mountain, and watered by a copious stream of splendid 

 fresh water. In his first despatch to Lord Hobart, he 

 savs that the situation was all he could wish. There 



