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STATE PAPER, BOTANY BAY
Extract of a Letter from Governor PHILIPS, to the Right Hon. Lord SYDNEY, dated Government-House, Sidney Cove, Feb. 12, 1790.
"The quantity of flour brought from the Cape of Good Hope, by the Sirius, was less than I expected; four months flour only for the settlement, and a year's provisions for the ship's company; it was necessary to give the ship a very considerable repair before she could be sent to sea again, which was not compleated before the middle of January, when I had reason to expect ships from England in the course of a few weeks; the sending to the islands, would have answered as far as procuring live-stock to breed from; but which was not immediately wanted; and what the Sirius could have brought for the consumption of such a number of people, would have been, at best, a very small relief. Lord Howe Island had been tried several times, and only a very few turtle procured.
"The goodness of the soil on Norfolk Island, and the industry of those employed there, rendered that island a resource, and the only one that offered when from the time which had passed since my letters might be supposed to have been received in England, there was a reason to suppose some accident had happened to the store ships sent out.
"I therefore ordered two companies of marines to be ready to embark with a number of convicts by the 5th of March, if no ship arrived before that time; and a proportion of what provisions and stores remained in this settlement being put on board the Sirius and Supply, sixty-five officers and men, with five women and children from the detachment and civil department, 116 male and 67 female convicts, with 27 children, embarked and sailed the 6th of March.
"The advantages I expected by sending away such a number of people was from the little garden ground they would leave, and which would assist those who remained; and the fish which might be caught in the winter would go the further; at the same time those sent to Norfolk Island would have resources in the great abundance of vegetables raised there, and in fish and birds, which this settlement could not afford them; and it was my intention to have sent more convicts to that Island, if there had not been this necessity.
"The provisions sent, with what was on the island, and the wheat and Indian corn raised there, more than would be necessary for feed, was calculated to last as long as the provisions in this place and at Norfolk Island, from the richness of the soil a man may support himself, with little assistance from the store, after the timber is cleared away.
"As I wished to send an Officer to England who could give such information as cannot be conveyed by letters, and the detachment was now divided, I replaced the Officer who was Superintendant at Norfolk Island, by Major Ross. The Officer I have recalled, having been these two years on the Island, is very capable of pointing out the advantages which may be expected from it; and I think it promises to answer very fully the end proposed by making the settlement. It will be a place of security for the convicts, where they will soon support themselves, and where they may be advantageously employed in cultivating the flax plant."
Lt King