THE WESTERN' COAST. 
ed on the 9th of May I787. As the exertions of 
Dr Smeathman had been terminated by his dis- 
solution, and the cause of humanity had been de- 
prived of an active and intelligent friend, whose 
benevolence and generosity were only equalled by 
his capacity and perseverance, the formation of 
the settlement was committed to Captain Thomp- 
son of the Nautilus, by whom a district of land, 
about twenty miles square, for the establishment, 
was purchased from king Naimbanna, and the 
chiefs his vassals. The site of a town was imme- 
diately chosen, on a rising ground fronting the 
sea, a store-house was founded, and land distri- 
buted, by lot, to the colonists. But the imme- 
diate prospect of labour, instead of producing 
that harmonious exertion which their situation 
required, only excited turbulence and licentious- 
ness ; indolence and depravity so generally pre- 
vailed, that hardly a man could be induced to 
labour steadily in erecting the hut by which he 
was to be sheltered, or in unloading the provi- 
sions by which he was to be supported. Their 
constitutions had been originally weakened by 
disease, which, during their passage, had been 
aggravated by intemperance, debauchery, and 
confinement ; the rainy season commenced before 
they could be prevailed on to form huts for their 
shelter, and such a dreadful mortality ensued, 
that, at the departure of Captain Thompson, on 
