164 



THE DISCOVERY OF PORT DALRYMPLE. 



King to 

 Hobart. 



wharf, the battery fired a salute, and, to quote the 

 reporter of the Sydney Gazette, " the most animated 

 acclamations issued from the shore " as the new Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor set out to found another British 

 Colony— or rather to attempt to found it— for the same 

 fate which befell the first attempt to found the Derwent 

 Settlement attended that to the Tamar. It, was now the 

 depth of winter, and storms such as had driven back 

 Lieutenant Bowen on his attempt to reach the Derwent 

 just 12 months before met the ships at the entrance to 

 Bass Straits. The Integrity, on rounding Cape Howe, 

 14 Aug 1804 battled m vain against the strong westerly winds which 

 prevailed m the Straits, and had to put back to Port 

 Jackson, which she reached on 21st June,* her passen- 

 gers all ill in consequence of being battened down in the 

 hold. The Contest, after beating about for a month, had 

 to follow her consort's example. King was much disap- 

 pointed, and made offers to the masters of two East 

 India Company's ships then in harbour to take Paterson 

 and his people to their destination, offers which their 

 charter parties prevented them from accepting. There 

 was therefore no alternative but to delay the expedition 

 until the approach of spring, when H.M.S. Buffalo 

 would be available for the service required. 

 Paterson to During the interval between the return of the Integrity 



27 sfpt 1804 V-t i de P artllre of the -Buffalo a question of some 

 ■ difficulty arose respecting Paterson's relations to the 

 Lieut.-Governor at the Derwent. Colonel Collins claimed 

 that his appointment as Lieut-Governor extended to the 

 whole of Van Diemen's Land, that the northern settle- 

 ment was therefore within his jurisdiction, and Paterson 

 under his command. This ' claim Paterson wholly 

 repudiated. He contended that he had received an 

 appointment from the King as Lieut.-Governor of Port 

 Dalrymple at a time when Collins was supposed to be at 

 Port Phillip, that consequently his command was wholly 

 independent of Collins, and he absolutely refused to 

 tolerate any interference by the Lieut.-Governor at the 

 Derwent with him or his settlement. Governor King 

 admitted the cogency of Paterson's argument, and issued 

 23 Sept., 1804. a General Order dividing the island into two independent 

 governments, to be known respectively as the Counties 

 of Buckingham and Cornwall, the dividing line to be 

 the 42nd parallel of south latitude, each government to be 



* Paterson in his despatch to Lord Camden, 14th November 1805 

 says he arrived in Port Jackson 17th June 1804, but this is pro- 

 bably an error. 



