From the Fleet's Arrival at Botany Bay to the Evacuation of it;and taking Possession of Port Jackson.Interviews with the Natives;and an Account of the Country about Botany Bay.
We had scarcely bid each other welcome on our arrival,when an expedition up the Bay was undertaken by the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor,in order to explore the nature of the country,and fix on a spot to begin our operations upon.None,however,which could be deemed very eligible,being discovered,his Excellency proceeded in a boat to examine the opening,to which Mr.Cook had given the name of Port Jackson,on an idea that a shelter for shipping within it might be found.The boat returned on the evening of the 23rd,with such an account of the harbour and advantages attending the place,that it was determined the evacuation of Botany Bay should commence the next morning.
In consequence of this decision,the few seamen and marines who had been landed from the squadron,were instantly reimbarked,and every preparation made to bid adieu to a port which had so long been the subject of our conversation;which but three days before we had entered with so many sentiments of satisfaction;and in which,as we had believed,so many of our future hours were to be passed.The thoughts of removal banished sleep,so that I rose at the first dawn of the morning.But judge of my surprize on hearing from a serjeant,who ran down almost breathless to the cabin where I was dressing,that a ship was seen off the harbour's mouth.At first I only laughed,but knowing the man who spoke to me to be of great veracity,and hearing him repeat his information,I flew upon deck,on which I had barely set my foot,when the cry of "another sail"struck on my astonished ear.
Confounded by a thousand ideas which arose in my mind in an instant,I sprang upon the barricado and plainly descried two ships of considerable size,standing in for the mouth of the Bay.By this time the alarm had become general,and every one appeared lost in conjecture.Now they were Dutchmen sent to dispossess us,and the moment after storeships from England,with supplies for the settlement.The improbabilities which attended both these conclusions,were sunk in the agitation of the moment.
It was by Governor Phillip,that this mystery was at length unravelled,and the cause of the alarm pronounced to be two French ships,which,it was now recollected,were on a voyage of discovery in the southern hemisphere.Thus were our doubts cleared up,and our apprehensions banished;it was,however,judged expedient to postpone our removal to Port Jackson,until a complete confirmation of our conjectures could be procured.
Had the sea breeze set in,the strange ships would have been at anchor in the Bay by eight o'clock in the morning,but the wind blowing out,they were driven by a strong lee current to the southward of the port.
On the following day they re-appeared in their former situation,and a boat was sent to them,with a lieutenant of the navy in her,to offer assistance,and point out the necessary marks for entering the harbour.In the course of the day the officer returned,and brought intelligence that the ships were the Boussole and Astrolabe,sent out by order of the King of France,and under the command of Monsieur De Perrouse.The astonishment of the French at seeing us,had not equalled that we had experienced,for it appeared,that in the course of their voyage they had touched at Kamschatka,and by that means learnt that our expedition was in contemplation.
They dropped anchor the next morning,just as we had got under weigh to work out of the Bay,so that for the present nothing more than salutations could pass between us.
Before I quit Botany Bay,I shall relate the observations we were enabled to make during our short stay there;as well as those which our subsequent visits to it from Port Jackson enabled us to complete.
The Bay is very open,and greatly exposed to the fury of the S.E.winds,which,when they blow,cause a heavy and dangerous swell.It is of prodigious extent,the principal arm,which takes a S.W.direction,being not less,including its windings,than twenty four miles from the capes which form the entrance,according to the report of the French officers,who took uncommon pains to survey it.At the distance of a league from the harbour's mouth is a bar,on which at low water,not more than fifteen feet are to be found.Within this bar,for many miles up the S.W.
arm,is a haven,equal in every respect to any hitherto known,and in which any number of ships might anchor,secured from all winds.The country around far exceeds in richness of soil that about Cape Banks and Point Solander,though unfortunately they resemble each other in one respect,a scarcity of fresh water.
