King Edward's realm: Story of the making of the Empire

by C. S. Dawe

(4) FIRST SETTLEMENT IN AUSTRALIA.

1. In former times we used to get rid of our criminals by sending them across the seas to work, as forced labourers, on the farms of our colonists in America. But when the colonists rose in rebellion and fought for independence, they refused to take any longer our thieves and vagabonds. As the war went on our prisons became crowded with convicts, and by the time it came to an end (1783) every one saw that some other field for convict labour must be found.

2. An empty continent, whose whereabouts Captain Cook had made known, was waiting to receive any who came from our shores; but it was situated on the opposite side of the globe, twelve thousand miles away. At length, in spite of the distance, Australia was selected as a suitable place for our convicts. And in May, 1787, the first convoy set sail. It carried nearly 800 convicts, with a guard of 200 marines, and was placed under the command of Captain Phillip, who had been appointed governor of the new settlement.

3. The voyage lasted eight months, and in January, 1788, the fleet arrived at Port Jackson, which struck the new-comers as "the finest harbour in the world." All being landed, governor Phillip gathered his subjects around him and made them a little speech, in which he tried to inspire the convicts with new hope, and to make them feel that their future fortune was in their own keeping. He also reminded the marines that after three years' service, they would be at liberty to settle there as colonists with free gifts of land for cultivation. The ships fired three salutes, and the rest of the day was spent as a holiday.

4. This was the last cheery time for many years to come in the lives of the settlers. Hard times lay before them. The first settlement was made on the site of Sydney. The task which lay before the governor was a gigantic one; roads to make, trees to fell, houses to build, crops to plant; and the men and women to help him in the work, for the most part idle and dishonest. Indeed, many of them, as the governor said, "dread punishment less than they fear labour." To add to his troubles, for the first two years a great drought, aided by a fiery sun, baked the soil till it became hard and sterile. The settlers had brought with them seeds and cattle as well as stores of provisions; but the seeds failed to grow, and the cattle broke loose and were lost in the "bush."

5. Within a few months the danger of starvation came so near that the whole colony was put on short rations. To the credit of the governor, in this time of distress, he threw his own private stock into the common store, and shared alike with the rest. To lessen the chance of starving, the governor sent a large party by sea to Norfolk Island, where the soil was less sterile, and more food could be obtained by fishing and fowling. There also it became necessary to collect all private stores of food, and to throw them into one common stock, and deal out a certain quantity daily to each person.

6. Happily the firm government and wise measures adopted in each settlement kept the wolf from the door until fresh supplies came from England. Governor Phillip having shared the privations of his men, and borne the heavy strain of his responsible post for nearly five years, returned home in December, 1792. Few men have been placed in a more difficult position for such a length of time, and none have brought to the fulfilment of such a thankless task as his more courage, devotion, and humanity. "The consideration alone," he says, "of doing a good work for my country could make amends for being surrounded by the most infamous of mankind." The name of Arthur Phillip deserves an honoured place on the roll of the founders of the British Empire.

7. Another convict settlement was soon afterwards made in Tasmania, or Van Diemen's Land, as it was then called. And here the worst characters were sent. As early as 1804 a batch of criminals was sent there from England, and a settlement made where Hobart now stands. Through mismanagement the young colony was brought to the verge of starvation. Luckily there were large herds of kangaroo in the island. The governor, being unable to feed his prisoners, permitted them to hunt the kangaroo for their food. In fact, at one time, there was little to eat but kangaroo flesh, and little to wear but kangaroo skins. Many of the convicts became fond of this hunter's life, and preferred the wild freedom of the "bush" to the restraints of convict life under the eye of the governor.

8. Fortunately, before many years had passed, free emigrants came "to try their luck," some to Australia, others to Tasmania, being tempted by the offer of free gifts of land, and the services of well-behaved convicts to help in farm-labour. The free colonists of Tasmania soon found themselves in evil plight. Many of the convicts assigned to them fled into the "bush," where they lived in gangs, as "bushrangers," on violence and robbery. The evil grew to such an extent that, at last, every homestead became the scene of terror and dismay. Nor was "bushranging" the only evil from which Tasmania's early colonists suffered. The native blacks were naturally cruel and crafty, and they had been goaded on to take revenge on the white strangers by the barbarous way in which they had been treated by the runaway convicts.

9. From this desperate state the colony was delivered by Colonel Arthur on his appointment as governor. To him Tasmania owes the foundation of its prosperity. He spared no pains to ascertain his duty and was as rigid as rock in doing it. Under his leadership the settlers banded together against the bushrangers, and defended their homesteads as soldiers in regular warfare. They loopholed their buildings, posted men as sentinels, and held themselves in readiness to fight, both by day and night. The governor rewarded the capture of any bushranger with a grant of land, and before the end of two years the whole gang was taken and executed.