Secretary to the Admiralty, and afterwards Judge-advocate of the Fleet. By passing the port without entering it, Cook missed the opportunity of seeing the natural advantages possessed by Sydney Harbour, and of identifying his name more intimately with its discovery. Sailing along the coast, Cook gave to the various conspicuous headlands and bays the names by which they are still distinguished. When off the north-eastern coast, at a place where shoals and rocks abound, the "Endeavour" suddenly struck on a coral reef, and was with difficulty kept from foundering. By an ingenious contrivance the leak was sufficiently stopped to enable the water to be kept under by the use of a single pump, till a suitable place was found on which to run the vessel ashore and effect the necessary repairs. To this place Cook gave the name Endeavour River, and here he first saw the kangaroo. Cook, writing in his journal concerning this circumstance, says: "With the first dawn they set out in search of game, and in a walk of many miles they saw four animals of the same kind, two of which Mr. Banks' greyhound chased, but they threw him out at a great distance by leaping over the long thick grass, which prevented his running. This animal was observed not to run upon four legs, but to bound or hop forward upon two. It is called by the natives kanguroo."" Cook concludes his account of this voyage along the seaboard of Australia as follows:-"As I was now about to quit the eastern coast of New Holland, which I had coasted from latitude 38° S. to this place (101° S.), and which I am confident no European had ever seen before, I once more hoisted English colours at Cape York; and although I had already taken possession of several particular parts, I now took possession of the whole of the eastern coast, in right of His Majesty King George the Third, by the name of New South Wales, with all the bays, harbours, rivers, and islands. situated upon it; we then fired three volleys of small arms, which were answered by the same number from the ship." This was on the 21st August. On his second voyage to the South Seas, in 1773, Cook was furnished with two vessels, viz., the "Resolution" and his old ship, the "Endeavour," which was now commanded by Captain Furneaux. Cook did not visit any part of Australia on this occasion, but Captain Furneaux, whose ship had separated from her consort, proceeded to Tasmania and explored the eastern coast of that country. B On his third voyage, in 1777, however, Cook anchored in Adventure Bay, on the south-eastern coast of Tasmania, and, remaining there several days, had excellent opportunities of making himself acquainted with the inhabitants and the natural productions of the country. Cook, in his first voyage, in 1770, had seen some grounds for suspecting that Van Diemen's Land might possibly be a separate island; but as Captain Furneaux, in his visit in 1773, did not confirm this opinion, the great navigator appears when making his last voyage to have arrived at the conclusion that it was part of the Australian continent; and this continued to be the opinion of geographers till 1798, when Mr. Bass discovered the straits which bear his name. The next recorded expedition to the shores of Australia is indeed a memorable one-the dispatch of a British Colony to Botany Bay in 1788; and although the account of this event belongs rather to the history of Early Colonization than to that of Early Australian Discovery, yet it is introduced here as forming an appropriate conclusion to this chapter. It was the privilege of Captain Phillip, when he found Botany Bay an unsuitable spot on which to plant his little Colony, to discover within a few hours' sail a haven which Captain Cook had passed without exploring-Port Jackson-the most beautiful, capacious, and convenient harbour in the whole world. Before describing the arrival of the expedition under Captain Phillip, a few explanatory remarks are necessary. Whilst America was subject to England, British offenders, political or otherwise, were transported to the Southern Colonies of that continent, or to the West Indies, where they were in the first instance employed chiefly in the production of tobacco. The consumption of tobacco was large, and the revenue derived therefrom considerable, Virginia and Maryland being the principal producers. The American Colonies having revolted against British rule in 1776, and after a long and severe struggle gained their independence, England sought a new field for colonization, and first tried the coast of Africa, but found it unsuitable and unhealthy. Her attention was then turned to Australia, the eligibility of which for the purpose had been spreading since Cook's famous voyage thither in 1768. Accordingly, a fleet of eleven sail, carrying more than 1,000 souls, was assembled at Portsmouth, in the month of March, 1787, to proceed to Australia. The expedition was under the command of Captain Phillip. It sailed on 13th May, 1787, arrived safely at Botany Bay, after a voyage of eight months, and the disembarkation took place on the 18th, 19th, and 20th of January, 1788. Captain Phillip soon perceived that Botany Bay was in many respects unsuitable for a settlement, and he therefore determined to seek another situation, and accordingly, on the 22nd of January, he set out upon an expedition to examine Port Jackson, and arriving there early in the afternoon was gratified "to find one of the finest harbours in the world, in which a thousand sail of the line might ride in perfect security. The different coves of the harbour were examined with all possible expedition, and the preference was given to one which had the finest spring of water, and in which ships can anchor so close to the shore that at a very small expense quays can be constructed at which the largest vessels can unload." This cove, into which flowed "a fine run of fresh water, stealing silently through a thick wood," Governor Phillip called Sydney Cove, in honour of Viscount Sydney, who was then at the head of the Colonial Office, and had taken great interest in the welfare of the expedition. On this spot it was determined to form the settlement, and on the 26th of January the fleet was brought round from Botany Bay. As soon as the vessels arrived some men were sent on shore to prepare the place for the formal landing, and on the same day, the 26th January, 1788, a small patch of ground having been cleared at the head of Sydney Cove, a flagstaff was erected, and the British flag hoisted thereon. Having thus taken formal possession of the Country, the Governor delivered a suitable speech eloquently prophetic of the future of Australia, and he and his officers, standing around the flagstaff, drank the health of King George III. A peculiar incident occurred the day before leaving Botany Bay. The new settlers were surprised to see two French war-ships in the offing. These proved to be the "Boussole" and "Astrolabe," on a voyage of exploration in the Southern Seas, under the command of M. de la Pérouse. The most amicable relations were established between the people of the two fleets who had thus strangely met at the Antipodes. CHAPTER II. GOVERNORS PHILLIP AND HUNTER.-1788-1800. First Historical Scene-Trouble with Aborigines-La Pérouse-Norfolk Island-Rumours of Gold Supplies from Home - Departure of Phillip-State of Colony - First Emigrant Ship-Attempts to cross the Mountains-Governor Hunter-Bass and Flinders-Newcastle-Governor Hunter's Departure-First Printing Press Statistics. THE history of New South Wales, till within a comparatively recent period, is the history of Australia; for by the King's Commission, which was read to the whole of the colonists, assembled at Dawes' Point, on 7th February, 1788, the Colony was declared to extend from the northern extremity of the coast called Cape York in latitude 10° 37', to the southern extremity of South Cape in the latitude of 43° 29', including all adjacent islands within those latitudes, and inland to the westward as far as the 135th degree of east longitude. This important document, and the Act of Parliament authorizing the establishment of Courts of Judicature, were read by the Judge-Advocate (Captain David Collins). Governor Phillip delivered on the occasion an eloquent and encouraging address, sanguinely depicting the future of the Colony. The subsequent career of the infant settlement was for some time monotonous and uneventful. The natives, deeming the colonists visitors, at first submitted peacefully to their encroachments; but on discovering the true state of affairs they became distrustful, shy, and treacherous. Their hostility increased as the scarcity of food became greater, owing to the disturbance of the wild animals on which they relied for sustenance. Governor Phillip's humane endeavours to conciliate them practically resulted in failure, owing, it was supposed, to the unfortunate circumstance of M. de la Pérouse, during his scientific explorations, having fired upon them. The ships of the French expedition under La Pérouse sailed from Botany Bay on 10 March, 1788. During their stay Father Le Receveur, who had come out in the "Astrolabe" as a naturalist, died. His death was occasioned by wounds which he received in an unfortunate encounter at the Navigators' Islands. A monument was erected to his memory, with the following inscription: Hic jacet LE RECEVEUR, E. F. F. Minimis Galliæ Sacerdos, Mundi, Duce DE LA PEROUSE, This monument having been soon after destroyed by the natives, Governor Phillip caused the inscription to be engraved on copper and affixed to a neighbouring tree. La Pérouse and his ships were never again seen. After forty years had elapsed during which an expedition had been undertaken to ascertain their fate-Captain Dillon, in command of the East India Company's ship "Research," ascertained that the Astrolabe" had been wrecked on a coral reef, and that most of the crew had perished. Those who survived, being cast on the Mallicolo Islands, had died years before Captain Dillon visited the island. A monument bearing the following inscription has been erected to the memory of M. de la Pérouse at Botany Bay, where it still stands : "A la mémoire de Monsieur de la Pérouse. Cette terre, qu'il visita en 1788, est la derniere d'où il a fait parvenir de soi nouvelles. Erigé au nom de la France par les soins de MM. Bougainville et Ducampier, commandant la frégate ‘La Thetis' et la corvette 'l'Espérance,' en relâche au Port Jackson en 1825. Le fondement posé en 1825; Elévé 1828." On 14th February, 1788, Lieutenant P. G. King was sent on an expedition to colonize Norfolk Island. The vessel, having landed a small party of deportés with their tools and provisions, returned to Sydney in the following month. In 1790, the numbers resident on the island having been augmented by the arrival there of various deportations, Major Ross was appointed Lieutenant-Governor. In August, 1788, a convict named James Daley declared that he had discovered gold, and produced a piece of stone apparently impregnated with gold. He at first refused, even under coercion, to say where he had found it; but the Governor, who had been absent, having returned, "made Daley walk before him, and threatened him with instant death if he attempted to run away or deceive him. Under these circumstances he confessed that he had filed down part of a yellow metal buckle, had mixed with it some particles of gold filed off a guinea, and had blended the whole with |