An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island

by John Hunter

It might be supposed that the natives, after being fired at, and one of them being wounded, would not have trusted themselves again at the settlement for some time: this, however, was not the case: they very well understood that nothing more was intended than to punish the person who wounded the white man, and that they would not have been fired on, had not a spear been thrown at the party, who, they well knew, were looking for Ballederry; and, on the 24th, more than twenty of them called at Governor Phillip's house, in their way from Botany-Bay to the lower part of the harbour, where most of them resided; and others went to those with whom they were acquainted, with the same freedom as if nothing had happened. On enquiry being made after the man who had been wounded, they said he was gone to his tribe. Several of these people remained at the settlement all night, and amongst them were two strangers, who seemed as much at their ease as those who were old acquaintances.

Bannelong's wife was now very near her time, which gave our colonists an opportunity of seeing the preparations the women of New South Wales make on these occasions: she had two nets hanging from her neck, one of which being new, Governor Phillip was desirous of obtaining, and it was given him, after she had taken a large piece of the bark of the tea-tree out of it, nicely folded up, and which was intended to lay her infant upon; this seems to be the only preparation, which is made by lying-in women in that country.

The bark of the tea-tree is thick in proportion to the size of the tree, and is composed of a great number of layers of very thin bark, in appearance not unlike the bark of the birch-tree; but it is so very soft, that nothing this country affords can be better calculated for the purpose for which it was intended: Bannelong, however, desired to have a blanket for the child, which was given him, and the next day, a net made in the English manner, which appeared more acceptable to his wife than the one she had parted with. He told Governor Phillip that his wife intended doing him the honour of being brought to bed in his house; but the governor at length persuaded him that she would be better accommodated at the hospital.

The women do not appear to suffer any great inconvenience, while in this state, and they all seem best pleased with having boys: Bannelong often said his was to be a son.

A disorder had frequently been seen amongst the natives, which had the same appearance as the itch, and yielded to the same remedies; it was now so common, that nearly the whole of them were infected with it, and several boys were cured at the hospital by rubbing in of brimstone. Bannelong was a perfect Lazarus, and though he was easily persuaded to go to the hospital and rub himself, yet it was not possible to make him stay there till he was cured.

On the 28th of August, the William and Ann transport anchored in the cove. This vessel brought out stores and provisions, with a serjeant and thirteen privates belonging to the New South Wales corps, and several of their wives and children; also one hundred and eighty male convicts: seven died on the passage, and thirty-six were sick when they landed.

The continuance of the dry weather gave our colonists reason to fear that their crops would suffer more this year than they did the last: it was now the season for putting the maize into the ground, which was so extremely dry that there was little probability of its vegetating, if sown, before some rain fell: the sun also began to have great power, and several ponds, adjoining to which Governor Phillip had placed several settlers, were losing their water very fast.

It has already been observed, that on some particular days, the winds were heated to such a degree as to be almost insupportable, which had always been imputed to the country round the settlement being fired by the natives. Early in the morning of the 31st of August, the wind was northerly, and heated as though it came from the mouth of an oven, though no fires could then be seen; however, as the day advanced, smoke appeared over the hills, and in the evening, a considerable tract of country was seen to be on fire; some natives were likewise burning the ground on the north side of the harbour, opposite the settlement: this firing of the country, which the natives constantly do when the weather is dry, renders any observation made by the thermometer very uncertain. But if the 31st of August was an unpleasant day, the evening made ample amends, for it began to rain, and continued raining until the next day at noon.

Although few of the convicts were sick when they were first landed from the transports, yet many of them were extremely weak from long confinement, and a few days carried numbers of them to the hospital. The surgeon's returns, on the first of September, were two hundred and eighty-five convicts under medical treatment: several soldiers and seamen were likewise in the hospital with a fever of a bad sort, which was supposed to be brought on board by the convicts.

On the 4th of September, the Salamander sailed for Norfolk-Island, with one hundred and sixty male convicts, some stores, and provisions: two non-commissioned officers, and eleven privates of the New South Wales corps went as a guard.