NEW HOLLAND. 
•work as Toon as poffible. Tlie want of carpenters, how¬ 
ever prevented this from being done fo-expeditioully as 
could have been wifhed. Only fixteen of thefe could be 
hired from all the fnips; and no more than twelve of the 
conviAs were of this trade, of whom feveral were lick; fo 
that the party were far too few for the work they had to 
perform. An hundred conviAs were added as labourers ; 
but with every effort it was found impoifible to complete 
either the barracks or the huts for the officers fo foon as 
could be vvifhed. On the 14-th of February a fmall party 
was fent out to fettle on Norfolk Ifland, who have iince 
eltabliihed a colony there which promifes to be of confi- 
derable utility. It was foon found, however, abfolutely ne- 
cefiary to make examples of fome of the conviAs at Port 
Jackfon. Towards the end of February it was thought 
proper to convene a criminal court, in which fix of the 
convifts received fentence of death. One, who was the 
head of the gang, was executed the fame day: one was 
pardoned ; the other four were reprieved, and afterwards 
exiled to a fmall ifiand within the bay, where they were 
kept on bread and water. They had frequently robbed 
both the ftores and other conviAs. The fellow who w r as 
executed, and two others, had been detefted in Healing 
the very day on which they received a week’s provifion ; 
and at the lame time that their allowance was the fame as 
that of the foldiers, fpirituous liquors only excepted. 
In the beginning of March the governor went out with 
a fmall party to examine Broken Bay, lying about eight 
miles to the northward of Port Jackfon. This was found 
very extenfive, with many openings. One of the latter 
ended in feveral fmall branches, and a large lagoon, which 
they could not at that time examine. Molt of the land 
about the upper part of this branch was low and full of 
fwamps, with great numbers of pelicans, and other aquatic 
birds. From this north-weft branch they proceeded acrofs 
the bay to the fouth-weft branch, which is alfo very exten¬ 
five, with a fecond opening to the weftward, capable of 
affording fhelter to almoft any number of fhips, with 
depth of water for veflels of almoft any burden. The land 
was found much higher here than at Port Jackfon, more 
rocky, and equally covered with timber. Large trees were 
feen growing even on the lummits of the mountains, which 
appeared totally inacceflible to the human l’pecies. Round 
the headland which forms the fouthern entrance into the 
bay is a third branch, which Gov. Phillip thought the 
fineft piece of water he had ever feen ; which for that 
reafon he honoured with the name of Pitt-water. This 
branch, as well as the former, is fufiicient to contain all 
the navy of Great Britain ; but the latter has a bar at the 
entrance of only eighteen feet at low’ w’ater. Within are 
from feven to fifteen fathoms. The land here is more le¬ 
vel than on the fouth-weft branch, and fome fituations 
are proper for cultivation. The governor determined to 
have returned by land, in order to explore the country 
betwixt Port Jackfon and Broken Bay ; but the continual 
rains prevented him. 
On the 15th of April, the governor, attended by feve¬ 
ral officers and a fmall party of marines, let out on an 
expedition into the interior parts of the country. Their 
ftrft landing was at the head of a fmall cove, named Shell- 
cove, near the entrance of the harbour on the north fide. 
Proceeding in this direAion, they arrived with great la¬ 
bour at a large lake, furrounded on all fides with bog and 
marflry ground to a confiderable extent, and in which 
they frequently plunged up to the waift. Here they ob- 
ferved that birdlo rare in other parts of the world, viz. a 
Hack Juan. On being fired at, it rofe, and flievved that its 
wings were edged with white, the bill being tinged red. 
They fpent three days in a very laborious manner in 
palling the marlhes and fwamps which lie in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of the harbour: and here they had an oppor¬ 
tunity of obferving, that all the fmall ltreams which 
defcend into Port Jackfon proceed from fwamps, occafioned 
by the ftagnation of the water in the low grounds as it 
riles from the fprings. On leaving thefe low grounds, 
they found them fucceeded by a rocky and barren conn 
try; the hills covered with various flow’ering Ihrubs, 
though frequently inacceflible by reafon of various natural 
obftacles. At about fifteen miles diftance from the lea, 
the governor had a fine view of the internal parts of the 
country, which were mountainous. To the molt north¬ 
erly chain of thefe he gave the name of Carmarthen, and 
to the molt foutherly that of Lanfdown Hills; and to one 
which lay between thefe he gave the name of Richmond 
Hill. It was conjeAured that a large river mult rife front 
thefe mountains ; but there was now a neceflity for return¬ 
ing. On the 22(1, however, another expedition was un¬ 
dertaken! Gov. Phillip with his party landed near the 
head of the harbour. Here they found a good country ; 
but in alhorttime arrived at a dole thicket through which 
they found it impoifible to make their way, fo that they 
were obliged to return. Next day, by keeping clofe to 
the banks of a fmall creek, they made a Hiift to pafs that 
obftacle, and continued their courfe for three days to the 
weftward. The country was now extremely fine, either 
entirely level or riling in fmall hills; the toil excellent, 
but ltony in a few places. The trees grew at the diftance 
of from twenty to forty feet from each other, in general 
totally deftitute of underwood, which was confined to the 
barren and ftony fpots. On the 5th day they law for the 
firft time in this fecond expedition Carmarthen and Lanf¬ 
down hills; but the country all round was fo beautiful, 
that Gov. Phillip gave it the name of Belle Vue. They 
were ftill apparently thirty miles from the mountains 
which they had intended to reach ; but, not having been 
able to carry more than fix days’ provifions along with 
them, they found it neceflary to return ; and, even with 
this fmall ftock, the officers as well as men were obliged 
to carry heavy loads. During all this time they had not 
proceeded farther in a direA line than thirty miles, fo 
great were the obltruAions they had met with from deep 
ravines, See. Their return, however, was effefled with 
much greater eafe, having cleared a track, and marked 
trees all the way as they went along to direA them in 
their journey back. The country explored at this time 
appeared fo fine, that Gov. Phillip determined to form a 
fettlement there as loon as a fuflicient number could be 
fpared from thofe works which were immediately neceflary. 
On his return he had the mortification to find, that five 
ewes and a lamb had been killed very near the camp, and 
in the middle of the day. This mifchief was fuppofed to 
have been done by fome dogs belonging to the natives. 
All this time the feurvy had continued to rage with 
great violence, 1b that by the beginning of May near two 
hundred people were incapable of work. For this reafon, 
and on account of the great difficulty of clearing the 
ground, no more than eight or ten acres of wheat and 
barley had been fown, belides what private individuals 
had fown for themfelves ; and it was even feared that this 
fmall crop would fuffer from the depredations of ants and 
field-mice. To procure as much relief as poffible therefore 
in the prefent exigence, the Supply was fent in the be¬ 
ginning of May to Lord Howe Ifland in hopes of procu¬ 
ring fome turtle and other provifions ; but unfortunately 
the veffel returned without any turtle, having met with 
fqually weather, and being obliged to cut away her bell 
bower anchor. The natives now began to fliow an hoftile 
difpofition, which they had not hitherto done. One of 
the conviAs, who had wandered away from the reft in quell 
of vegetables, returned with a very dangerous wound in 
the back ; giving information alfo, that another who had 
gone out for the lame purpofe had been carried off in his 
fight by the natives, after being wounded in the head. 
A Ihirt and hat were afterwards found in fome of the huts 
of the natives, but no intelligence of the man could be 
gained. This was followed by other misfortunes of the 
fame nature. On the 30th of the month, two men who 
had been employed in cutting rallies for thatch at fome 
diftance from the camp were found dead. One of them 
had four fpears in his body, one of which had pierced 
3 quite 
