A few days previous to the sailing of the ships, information was received of a most inhuman murder having been perpetrated on the body of ---- Williams, a settler's wife, at the district of the Ponds. A female neighbour of their's was accused by an accomplice of having committed this diabolical act, for the purpose of enriching herself with the property which she knew this unfortunate woman had in the house. She was immediately apprehended, and search made for the property which had been taken away. Some of this was found, and there was little doubt but the avenging arm of Justice would soon fall upon the head of the murderer.
On the 29th his Majesty's ship Reliance, the Britannia hired transport, and the Francis schooner, sailed from Port Jackson. They were all to touch at Norfolk Island, whence the ships were to proceed to the Cape of Good Hope, and the schooner was to return to New South Wales. The Britannia's call at Norfolk Island was for the purpose of taking on board lieutenant-governor King, who, from a long state of ill health, had found himself compelled to apply to Governor Hunter for leave to return to England, to which the governor had consented.
On board of the Reliance were the commissary, the remainder of the military relief, and such part of the thousand bushels of wheat as the Supply did not receive. In the transport were Captain Paterson; Lieutenants Abbott and Clephan; one sergeant and seventeen privates (invalids) of the New South Wales corps, with their wives and children; the judge-advocate of the settlement, who was charged with dispatches from the governor; Mr. Leeds, an assistant-surgeon; Thomas Clark, late a superintendant of convicts; James Thorp, the master millwright; and several other persons, male and female, who had been allowed a passage to England by the governor.
The following were the prices of various articles, as they were sold at Sydney about the time the ships sailed, viz
Stock Groceries
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Cows £80 Hyson tea per lb £1 4s
Horses £90 Coffee, ditto, 2s
Sheep £7 10s Sugar (soft), ditto, 1s
Goats £4 Soap, ditto, 2s
Turkeys £1 1s Virginia leaf-tobacco, ditto, 5s
Geese £1 1s Brazil roll, ditto, 7s
Fowls, full grown, 5s Black pepper, ditto, 4s
Ducks 5s Ginger, ditto, 3s
Fresh pork per lb 1s 3d Pipes per gross £1 10s
Mutton 2s WINE AND SPIRITS
Goat per lb 1s 6d Red port per bottle 5s
Kangaroo 6d Madeira, per bottle, 4s
Barley, per bushel, 10s Cape wine, ditto, 3s
Peas, ditto, 7s Rum, ditto, 5s
Maize, ditto, 5s Gin, ditto, 6s
Ditto ground, ditto, 5s Porter, ditto, 2s
Cheese per lb 3s Beer made at Sydney 1s 6d
Butter, ditto, 3s INDIA GOODS
White-wine vinegar per gallon 6s Long cloth per yard from 3s to 6s
Fish 2½d Callicoes, ditto, from 1s 6d to 2s 6d
Eggs per dozen 2s Muslins, ditto, from 7s to 12s
Salted pork per lb 1s Nankeen per piece 10s
Salted beef, ditto, 8d Coarse printed callicoes, ditto, £1 5s
Potatoes per cwt 12s Silk handkerchiefs, ditto, 12s
Ditto per lb 3d ENGLISH GOODS
Flour, ditto, 7½d Black hats from 15s to £2
Wheat-meal, sifted, 4½d Shoes per pair from 9s to 13s
Ditto, unsifted, 3½d Cotton Stockings from 6s to 12s
Wheat per bushel 12s Writing paper per quire 6s
The beer mentioned in the preceding account as being made at Sydney was brewed from Indian corn, properly malted, and bittered with the leaves and stalks of the love-apple, (Lycopersicum, a species of Solarium) or, as it was more commonly called in the settlement, the Cape gooseberry. Mr. Boston found this succeeded so well, that he erected at some expense a building proper for the business, and was, when the ships sailed, engaged in brewing beer from the abovementioned materials, and in making soap.
At this time the following prices were demanded and paid for labour and work done at Sydney and the different settlements, viz. £. s. d.
A carpenter for a day's work 0 5 0
A labourer for a day's work 0 3 0
For clearing an acre of ground 3 0 0
For breaking up an acre of ground 1 0 0
For threshing a bushel of wheat 0 1 6
For reaping an acre of wheat 0 10 0
For felling an acre of timber 0 17 0
The price of ground was from 12s to £1 an acre
For making a pair of men's shoes 0 3 6
For making a pair of women's shoes 0 3 0
For making a coat 0 6 0
For making a gown 0 5 0
For washing, three-pence for each article was paid; and the person who washed found soap, etc. If a woman was hired, she had one shilling and six-pence for the day, and her meals.
It must here be remarked, that the mechanic and the labourer were generally contented to be paid the above prices in such articles as they or their families stood in need of, the values of which had not as yet been regulated by any other authority, or guided by any other rule, than the will of the purchaser.