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Updated: May 5, 2025
It appeared rather extraordinary that the natives should immediately know the man who wounded the game-keeper, and his tribe; they said, his name was Pemullaway, of the tribe of -Bejigal, and both Colebe and Bannelong promised to bring him to the settlement; but the former, after remaining at Sydney that night and part of the next day, went off, as was supposed, to Botany-Bay; and Governor Phillip going down the harbour, in consequence of a number of natives being seen armed at the look-out, found Colebe there, who returned to Sydney the next day, did not seem inclined to give himself any trouble about Pemullaway, but left the governor's house after dinner, to go, as he said, to his wife, who was at Botany-Bay.
As I have mentioned something of the country between Botany-Bay and Port Jackson, I must farther observe, that in the neighbourhood of Sydney Cove, which is that part of this harbour in which Governor Phillip has fixed his residence, there are many spots of tolerably good land, but they are in general of but small extent; exclusive of those particular spots, it is rather a poor steril soil, full of stones; but near, and at the head of the harbour, there is a very considerable extent of tolerable land, and which may be cultivated without waiting for its being cleared of wood; for the trees stand very wide of each other, and have no underwood: in short, the woods on the spot I am speaking of resemble a deer park, as much as if they had been intended for such a purpose; but the soil appears to me to be rather sandy and shallow, and will require much manure to improve it, which is here a very scarce article; however, there are people whose judgment may probably be better than mine, that think it good land; I confess that farming has never made any part of my studies.
When the governor first arrived, he had little time to look round him, as his instructions particularly pointed out, that he was not to delay the disembarking of the people, with a view of searching for a better situation than what Botany-Bay might afford. He was obliged to look farther, but did not think himself at liberty to continue his searches after he had been Sydney-Cove.
Madeira, Teneriffe, and Santa Catherina: he had run down the coasts of Chili and California, on the last of which he had lost boats, officers, and men, by the surf. From Kamschatka, he went to Macao; from thence to the Phillippines, the Sandwich Islands, Isles des Navigateurs, Friendly Islands, and Norfolk Island, from whence he came to Botany-Bay.
Towards the end of September, two boats with provisions, tents, etc. were got ready, and dispatched round, under the care of Mr. Keltie, the master of the Sirius, by whom, and Mr. Blackburn, the master of the Supply, I was assisted in my work at Botany-Bay.
I had reason to think, that the people who inhabited Port Jackson when we first entered it were gone farther to the northward, and that it is their constant custom, as the cold weather approaches, to seek a warmer climate, by following the sun; and in this practice they have another very powerful incitement, as well as the comfortable warmth of the sun, which is, that the fish incline to the northward, as the cold weather comes on: this conjecture seems, in some degree, to account for Captain Cook's having seen so few natives while he lay in Botany-bay, and that it appeared to him the seacoast was thinly inhabited; for I think it was in April, or May, that he was there.
The country about Rose Hill, which I have formerly mentioned as requiring not much labour in clearing, from its being covered only with lofty, open woods, without any underwood, and which I then observed ran to the westward about twenty miles, has since been travelled over by several gentlemen, who admit that that kind of country does extend near the distance above-mentioned to the westward, but in a north and south direction, it does not extend more than three or four miles, when you come again into barren, rocky land, wholly unfit for cultivation; in short, as I have walked over a good deal of ground since I have been here, and have frequently travelled from Botany-Bay to Broken-Bay along the sea coast, I can with much truth declare, that I have never met with a piece of ground any where sufficient for a small farm, which has not been so rocky as to be unfit for cultivation; the best of it appears to be a poor, miserable, sandy soil; and what must subject those who live on it to much inconvenience is, the very great scarcity of water.
On the fifth day after their arrival, two strange ships were seen standing into the bay, which proved to be the La Boussole and L'Astrolabe under the command of Monsieur De la Peyrouse, and which have been long wishfully looked for by all the good and wise of Europe. February 1788 to April 1788 Lieutenant King visits Monsieur De la Peyrouse at Botany-Bay. Polite reception there.
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.
During the time we were employed on this service, we had frequent meetings with different parties of the natives, whom we found at this time very numerous; a circumstance which I confess I was a little surprized to find, after what had been said of them in the voyage of the Endeavour; for I think it is observed in the account of that voyage, that at Botany-bay they had seen very few of the natives, and that they appeared a very stupid race of people, who were void of curiosity.
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