The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay / With an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson and Norfolk Island (1789)

by Arthur Phillip

Chapter X.

March 1788

Departure of the French Ships--Death of M. Le Receveur--Return of the Supply from Norfolk Island--Description of that Place--Howe Island discovered.

10 March 1788

On the 10th of March, the French ships sailed from Botany Bay. M. De la Peyrouse during his stay there had set up two long boats, the frames of which he had brought with him from Europe. There had not been much intercourse between the French and English in this interval: both being too busily employed to waste their time in parties of pleasure. Captain Clonard had waited on Governor Phillip with the letters which were to be forwarded to the French ambassador; and a few of the English officers had gone over by land about the same time to pay a visit in Botany Bay; both parties were of course received with politeness and hospitality. Some few of the convicts contrived to abscond, and endeavoured to get admitted into the French ships, but were, with great propriety, rejected. Those vessels returned towards the north, where they were to make another voyage.

Chart of Norfolk Island

During the stay of M. De la Peyrouse in Botany Bay, Father Le Receveur, who had come out in the Astrolabe as a naturalist, died. His death was occasioned by wounds which he received in the unfortunate rencounter at the Navigator's Islands. A slight monument was erected to his memory, with the following inscription.

Hic jacet LE RECEVEUR,
E. F. F. Minimis Galliae Sacerdos,
Physicus in circumnavigatione
Mundi,
Duce DE LA PEYROUSE,
Ob. 17 Feb. 1788.

The monument being soon after destroyed by the natives, Governor Phillip caused the inscription to be engraved on copper, and affixed to a neighbouring tree. M. De la Peyrouse had paid a similar tribute of respect to the memory of Captain Clerke, at the harbour of St. Peter and Paul in Kamtschatka.

19 March 1788

On the 19th of this month, Lieutenant Ball arrived in the Supply from Norfolk Island. He had made that island on the 29th of February, but was five days off the coast before a place could be found at which it was possible to land the stores and provisions. So completely do the rocks surround the island, that it was not easy to find a place even to land a man. At length, however, they succeeded, having discovered at the south-west end, a small opening in a reef that runs across a bay. Here the people, provisions and stores were all put on shore in perfect safety. The Commandant wrote in high spirits at the promising appearance of his new territory; and subsequent accounts have proved, that the opinion he then formed was not erroneous. He described Norfolk Island as one entire wood, or rather as a garden overrun with the noblest pines, in straightness, size, and magnitude, far superior to any he had ever seen. Nothing can exceed the fertility of its soil. Wherever it has been since examined, a rich black mould has been found to the depth of five or six feet: and the grain and garden seeds which have been sown, such only excepted as were damaged in the carriage, or by the weevil, have vegetated with the utmost luxuriance. To prevent repetitions, it may perhaps be best to unite in this place the accounts which have been received of this island, though many of them will easily be perceived to be greatly posterior to this first return of the Supply.

Norfolk Island is about seven leagues in circumference, and if not originally formed, like many other small islands, by the eruption of volcanic matter from the bed of the sea, must doubtless have contained a volcano. This conclusion is formed from the vast quantity of pumice stone which is scattered in all parts of it, and mixed with the soil. The crater, or at least some traces of its former existence, will probably be found at the summit of a small mountain, which rises near the middle of the island. To this mountain the Commandant has given the name of Mount Pitt. The island is exceedingly well watered. At, or near Mount Pitt, rises a strong and copious stream, which flowing through a very fine valley, divides itself into several branches, each of which retains sufficient force to be used in turning mills: and in various parts of the island excellent springs have been discovered.

The climate is pure, salubrious, and delightful, preserved from oppressive heats by constant breezes from the sea, and of so mild a temperature throughout the winter, that vegetation continues there without interruption, one crop succeeding another. Refreshing showers from time to time maintain perpetual verdure; not indeed of grass, for none has yet been seen upon the island, but of the trees, shrubs, and other vegetables which in all parts grow abundantly. On the leaves of these, and of some kinds in particular, the sheep, hogs, and goats, not only live, but thrive and fatten very much. To the salubrity of the air every individual in this little colony can bear ample testimony, from the uninterrupted state of good health which has been in general enjoyed.

When our settlers landed, there was not a single acre clear of wood in the island, and the trees were so bound together by that kind of creeping shrub called supple jack, interwoven in all directions, as to render it very difficult to penetrate far among them. The Commandant, small as his numbers were at first, by indefatigable activity soon caused a space to be cleared sufficient for the requisite accommodations, and for the production of esculent vegetables of all kinds in the greatest abundance. When the last accounts arrived, three acres of barley were in a very thriving state, and ground was prepared to receive rice and Indian corn. In the wheat there had been a disappointment, the grain that was sown having been so much injured by the weevil, as to be unfit for vegetation. But the people were all at that time in commodious houses; and, according to the declarations of Mr. King himself, in his letters to Governor Phillip, there was not a doubt that this colony would be in a situation to support itself entirely without assistance, in less than four years: and with very little in the intermediate time. Even two years would be more than sufficient for this purpose, could a proper supply of black cattle be sent.

Fish are caught in great plenty, and in the proper season very fine turtle. The woods are inhabited by innumerable tribes of birds, many of them very gay in plumage. The most useful are pigeons, which are very numerous, and a bird not unlike the Guinea fowl, except in colour, (being chiefly white,) both of which were at first so tame as to suffer themselves to be taken by hand. Of plants that afford vegetables for the table, the chief are cabbage palm, the wild plantain, the fern tree, a kind of wild spinage, and a tree which produces a diminutive fruit, bearing some resemblance to a currant. This, it is hoped, by transplanting and care, will be much improved in size and flavour.

But the productions which give the greatest importance to Norfolk Island are the pines and the flax plant, the former rising to a size and perfection unknown in other places, and promising the most valuable supply of masts and spars for our navy in the East Indies; the latter not less estimable for the purposes of making sail-cloth, cordage, and even the finest manufactures; growing in great plenty, and with such luxuriance as to attain the height of eight feet.* The pines measure frequently one hundred and sixty, or even one hundred and eighty feet in height, and are sometimes nine or ten feet in diameter at the bottom of the trunk. They rise to about eighty feet without a branch; the wood is said to be of the best quality, almost as light as that of the best Norway masts; and the turpentine obtained from it is remarkable for purity and whiteness. The fern tree is found also of a great height for its species, measuring from seventy to eighty feet, and affords excellent food for the sheep and other small cattle. A plant producing pepper, and supposed to be the true oriental pepper, has been discovered lately in the island, growing in great plenty; and specimens have been sent to England, in order to ascertain this important point.

[* The flax plant is thus described in Captain Cook's first voyage, vol. iii. p. 39. as found at New Zealand. "There is, however, a plant that serves the inhabitants instead of hemp and flax, which excels all that are put to the same purposes in other countries. Of this plant there are two sorts; the leaves of both resemble those of flags, but the flowers are smaller and their clusters more numerous; in one kind they are yellow, and in the other a deep red. Of the leaves of these plants, with very little preparation, they make all their common apparel; and of these they also make their strings, lines, and cordage for every purpose, which are so much stronger than any thing we can make with hemp, that they will not bear a comparison. From the same plant, by another preparation, they draw long slender fibres which shine like silk, and are as white as snow: of these, which are also surprizingly strong, the finer clothes are made; and of the leaves, without any other preparation than splitting them into proper breadths and trying the strips together, they make their fishing nets; some of which, as I have before remarked, are of an enormous size." It is added, that it is found in every kind of soil. It is perennial, and has a bulbous root. Some of the roots have lately been sent to England.]

The chief disadvantage experienced by those who are sent to Norfolk Island, is the want of a good landing place. The bay which has been used for this purpose is inclosed by a reef of coral rock, through which there is a passage only for a boat; and during the tide of flood, when the wind is westerly, the landing is rather dangerous. In one of the debarkations a midshipman, who was ordered to lie within the reef, that he might attend the boats coming to shore, imprudently suffered his own boat to drive into the surf, and was lost, with four men. He had been once before overset in consequence of a similar inattention, and then had lost one man. On the coast of the island are several small bays, and there are still hopes that a better landing place may be discovered; but the necessity of employing all the men in sheltering themselves and the stores from the weather, or in clearing ground for various purposes, has hitherto prevented Mr. King from sending out any persons to complete the examination. Should this enquiry prove unsuccessful, it is proposed to attempt the blowing up of one or two small rocks, by which the reef is rendered dangerous. If this expedient also should fail, the evil must be borne with patience. In summer the landing will generally be sufficiently secure; and seamen, who have seen the bay of Riga, in the Baltic, declare, that it will at all times be safer for a ship to load with masts and spars at Norfolk Island, than in that place, where so many ships are freighted yearly.

Rats are the only quadrupeds which have been found in this island; and from these, as well as from the ants, it was feared the crops might suffer; but no great inconvenience has yet been experienced from them; and proper exertions seldom fail in a short time to reduce the number of such enemies, enough to make their depredations very inconsiderable. On the whole, Norfolk Island certainly deserves to be considered as an acquisition of some importance, and is likely to answer even the most sanguine expectations. Some canoes have been found on the rocks, which were supposed to have been driven from New Zealand; but the appearance of a fresh cocoa nut and a small piece of manufactured wood, which seemed to have been only a small time in the water, has lately suggested an idea that probably some inhabited island may lie at no great distance. There has not been as yet any opportunity to determine whether this opinion be well founded or not.

A small island, but entirely uninhabited, was discovered by Lieutenant Ball in his passage to Norfolk Island. In his return he examined it, and found that the shore abounded with turtle, but there was no good anchorage. He named it Lord Howe Island. It is in 31° 36' south latitude, and 159° east longitude. Part of this island being very high may be seen at the distance of sixteen leagues, and a rock to the south-east of it, may be discerned even at eighteen leagues. In latitude 29° 25' south, longitude 159° 59' east, a very dangerous reef has since been seen. The ship from which it was observed was then four leagues to the southward, and it could not at that time be ascertained how far it extends to the northward.

To expedite the cultivation of Norfolk Island a fresh detachment was sent thither in October, consisting of an officer and eight marines, with thirty convicts, consisting of ten women and twenty men: Thus, there existed on this islet, when the last accounts were transmitted, forty-four men and sixteen women, who, having eighteen months provisions, lived comfortably on this sequestered spot, under the prudent management of a youthful ruler, of whose busy life the reader may wish to know all the particulars, which at present can be authentically told.

Philip Gidley King, who had the honour to conduct the original settlers to Norfolk Island, was born at Launceston in Cornwall, on the 23d of April, 1758. He is the son of Philip King, of that town, draper, who married the daughter of John Gidley, of Exeter, attorney at law. Much as he owes to his parents, he is indebted for his scholastic learning to Mr. Bailey at Yarmouth. He derives, probably, some advantages from making an early choice of his profession. At the age of twelve, he went to the East Indies on board the Swallow frigate, Captain Shirley, by whom he was rated a midshipman. From this station he returned to England, at the end of five years, with much knowledge of his business, and some acquaintance with the world. In 1775, he entered upon real service; and has continued in active employment from that period to this great epoch of his life. He went to Virginia with Captain Bellew, in the Liverpool, during the year 1775; with whom he continued till the shipwreck of that frigate in Delaware Bay. And having entered on board the Princess Royal, in October 1778, he was made a Lieutenant by Admiral Byron, in the Renown, on the 26th of November following. He returned to England in the subsequent year; and served in the Channel on board the Kite cutter, and Ariadne frigate, till the beginning of 1783. With Captain Phillip he went to the East Indies, as Lieutenant of the Europe, in January 1783; from whence he returned on the restoration of complete peace, in May 1784. In this service it was, that Phillip and King became acquainted with the merit of each other. And when the expedition to New South Wales was projected, King was appointed Lieutenant of the Sirius, on the 25th of October, 1786, at the same time that Phillip was nominated Commander of the voyage.

Lieutenant King