Watkin Tench's 1788 (5 page)

Being nearly ready to depart by the 1st of September, as many officers as possible went on that day to the palace to take leave of His Excellency, the viceroy of the Brazils, to whom we had been previously introduced, who on this and every other occasion was pleased to honour us with the most distinguished marks of regard and attention. Some part, indeed, of the numerous indulgences we experienced during our stay here must doubtless be attributed to the high respect in which the Portuguese held Governor Phillip, who was for many years a captain in their navy and commanded a ship of war on this station, in consequence of which many privileges were extended to us, very unusual to be granted to strangers. We were allowed the liberty of making short excursions into the country, and on these occasions, as well as when walking in the city, the mortifying custom of having an officer of the garrison attending us was dispensed with on our leaving our names and ranks, at the time of landing, with the adjutant of orders at the palace. It happened, however, sometimes, that the presence of a military man was necessary to prevent imposition in the shopkeepers, who frequently made a practice of asking more for their goods than the worth of them. In which case an officer, when applied to, always told us the usual price of the commodity with the greatest readiness, and adjusted the terms of the purchase.

On the morning of the 4th of September we left Rio de Janeiro, amply furnished with the good things which its happy soil and clime so abundantly produce. The future voyager may with security depend on this place for laying in many parts of his stock. Among these may be enumerated sugar, coffee, rum, port wine, rice, tapioca and tobacco, besides very beautiful wood for the purposes of household furniture. Poultry is not remarkably cheap, but may be procured in any quantity; as may hogs at a low rate. The markets are well supplied with butcher's meat, and vegetables of every sort are to be procured at a price next to nothing. The yams are particularly excellent. Oranges abound so much as to be sold for sixpence a hundred, and limes are to be had on terms equally moderate. Bananas, coconuts and guavas are common, but the few pineapples brought to market are not remarkable either for flavour or cheapness. Besides the inducements to lay out money already mentioned, the naturalist may add to his collection by an almost endless variety of beautiful birds and curious insects, which are to be bought at a reasonable price, well preserved and neatly assorted.

I shall close my account of this place by informing strangers who may come here that the Portuguese reckon their money in
rees
, an imaginary coin, twenty of which make a small copper piece called a
vintin
, and sixteen of these last a
petack
. Every piece is marked with the number of
rees
it is worth, so that a mistake can hardly happen. English silver coin has lost its reputation here, and dollars will be found preferable to any other money.

†
Captain James Cook, 1728–79.

††
‘With tricorn hat under arm.'

†††
Companies of civilian soldiers.

6

The passage from the Brazils to the Cape of Good Hope with an account of the transactions of the fleet there

O
UR
passage from Rio de Janeiro to the Cape of Good Hope was equally prosperous with that which had preceded it. We steered away to the south-east, and lost sight of the American coast the day after our departure. From this time until the 13th of October, when we made the Cape, nothing remarkable occurred except the loss of a convict in the ship I was on board, who unfortunately fell into the sea and perished in spite of our efforts to save him by cutting adrift a life buoy and hoisting out a boat. During the passage a slight dysentery prevailed in some of the ships, but was in no instance mortal. We were at first inclined to impute it to the water we took on board at the Brazils, but as the effect was very partial some other cause was more probably the occasion of it.

At seven o'clock in the evening of the 13th of October we cast anchor in Table Bay, and found many ships of different nations in the harbour.

Little can be added to the many accounts already published of the Cape of Good Hope, though if an opinion on the subject might be risked, the descriptions they contain are too flattering. When contrasted with Rio de Janeiro it certainly suffers in the comparison. Indeed, we arrived at a time equally unfavourable for judging of the produce of the soil and the temper of its cultivators, who had suffered considerably from a dearth that had happened the preceding season and created a general scarcity. Nor was the chagrin of these deprivations lessened by the news daily arriving of the convulsions that shook the republic, which could not fail to make an impression even on Batavian phlegm.
^†

As a considerable quantity of flour, and the principal part of the livestock, which was to store our intended settlement were meant to be procured here, Governor Phillip lost no time in waiting on Mynheer Van Graaffe, the Dutch governor, to request permission (according to the custom of the place) to purchase all that we stood in need of. How far the demand extended I know not, nor Mynheer Van Graaffe's reasons for complying with it in part only. To this gentleman's political sentiments I confess myself a stranger, though I should do his politeness and liberality at his own table an injustice were I not to take this public opportunity of acknowledging them. Nor can I resist the opportunity which presents itself to inform my readers, in honour of M. Van Graaffe's humanity, that he has made repeated efforts to recover the unfortunate remains of the crew of the Grosvenor Indiaman which was wrecked about five years ago on the coast of Caffraria.
^††
This information was given me by Colonel Gordon, commandant of the Dutch troops at the Cape, whose knowledge of the interior parts of this country surpasses that of any other man. And I am sorry to say that the colonel added, these unhappy people were irrecoverably lost to the world and their friends by being detained among the Caffres, the most savage set of brutes on earth.

His Excellency resides at the government house in the East India Company's garden. This last is of considerable extent and is planted chiefly with vegetables for the Dutch Indiamen which may happen to touch at the port. Some of the walks are extremely pleasant from the shade they afford, and the whole garden is very neatly kept. The regular lines intersecting each other at right angles in which it is laid out, will, nevertheless, afford but little gratification to an Englishman, who has been used to contemplate the natural style which distinguishes the pleasure grounds of his own country. At the head of the centre-walks stands a menagerie on which, as well as the garden, many pompous eulogiums have been passed, though in my own judgment, considering the local advantages possessed by the company, it is poorly furnished both with animals and birds. A tiger, a zebra, some fine ostriches, a cassowary, and the lovely crown-fowl are among the most remarkable.
^{††â€} 

The tableland, which stands at the back of the town, is a black, dreary-looking mountain, apparently flat at top and of more than eleven hundred yards in height.
^{†††â€} 
The gusts of wind which blow from it are violent to an excess and have a very unpleasant effect by raising the dust in such clouds as to render stirring out of doors next to impossible. Nor can any precaution prevent the inhabitants from being annoyed by it as much within doors as without.

At length the wished-for day, on which the next effort for reaching the place of our destination was to be made, appeared. The morning was calm, but the land wind getting up about noon, on the 12th of November we weighed anchor and soon left far behind every scene of civilisation and humanised manners to explore a remote and barbarous land and plant in it those happy arts which alone constitute the pre-eminence and dignity of other countries.

The live animals we took on board on the public account from the Cape for stocking our projected colony were two bulls, three cows, three horses, forty-four sheep and thirty-two hogs, besides goats and a very large quantity of poultry of every kind. A considerable addition to this was made by the private stocks of the officers, who were however under a necessity of circumscribing their original intentions on this head very much, from the excessive dearness of many of the articles. It will readily be believed that few of the military found it convenient to purchase sheep, when hay to feed them costs sixteen shillings a hundredweight.

The boarding houses on shore, to which strangers have recourse, are more reasonable than might be expected. For a dollar and a half per day we were well lodged and partook of a table tolerably supplied in the French style. Should a traveller's stock of tea run short, it is a thousand chances to one that he will be able to replenish it here at a cheaper rate than in England. He may procure plenty of arrack and white wine, also raisins and dried fruits of other sorts. If he dislikes to live at a boarding house, he will find the markets well stored and the price of butcher's meat and vegetables far from excessive.

Just before the signal for weighing was made, a ship under American colours entered the road, bound from Boston, from whence she had sailed one hundred and forty days on a trading voyage to the East Indies. In her route she had been lucky enough to pick up several of the inferior officers and crew of the Harcourt East-Indiaman, which ship had been wrecked on one of the Cape Verde islands. The master, who appeared to be a man of some information, on being told the destination of our fleet, gave it as his opinion that if a reception could be secured emigrations would take place to New South Wales, not only from the old continent, but the new one, where the spirit of adventure and thirst for novelty were excessive.

†
Batavian: Dutch.

††
Territory of the Bantu-speaking people of Southern Africa.

†††
The tiger was possibly a leopard. The cassowary must have come from New Guinea.

††††
Table Mountain.

7

The passage from the Cape of Good Hope to Botany Bay

W
E
had hardly cleared the land when a south-east wind set in and, except at short intervals, continued to blow until the 29th of the month, when we were in the latitude of 37° 40′ south and by the timekeeper in longitude 11° 30′ east, so that our distance from Botany Bay had increased nearly an hundred leagues since leaving the Cape. As no appearance of a change in our favour seemed likely to take place, Governor Phillip at this time signified his intention of shifting his pennant from the
Sirius
to the
Supply
, and proceeding on his voyage without waiting for the rest of the fleet, which was formed in two divisions. The first consisting of three transports, known to be the best sailors, was put under the command of a lieutenant of the navy, and the remaining three, with the victuallers, left in charge of Captain Hunter of His Majesty's ship
Sirius
. In the last division was the vessel in which the author of this narrative served. Various causes prevented the separation from taking place until the 25th, when several sawyers, carpenters, black-smiths and other mechanics were shifted from different ships into the
Supply
, in order to facilitate His Excellency's intention of forwarding the necessary buildings to be erected at Botany Bay by the time the rest of the fleet might be expected to arrive. Lieutenant-Governor Ross and the staff of the marine battalion also removed from the
Sirius
into the
Scarborough
transport, one of the ships of the first division, in order to afford every assistance which the public service might receive by their being early on the spot on which our future operations were to be conducted.

From this time a succession of fair winds and pleasant weather corresponded to our eager desires and on the 7th of January 1788 the long wished-for shore of Van Diemen gratified our sight.
^†
We made the land at two o'clock in the afternoon, the very hour we expected to see it from the lunar observations of Captain Hunter, whose accuracy as an astronomer and conduct as an officer had inspired us with equal gratitude and admiration.

After so long a confinement on a service so peculiarly disgusting and troublesome, it cannot be matter of surprise that we were overjoyed at the near prospect of a change of scene. By sunset we had passed between the rocks which Captain Furneaux named the Mewstone and Swilly. The former bears a very close resemblance to the little island near Plymouth whence it took its name. Its latitude is 43° 48′ south, longitude 146° 25′ east of Greenwich.

In running along shore we cast many an anxious eye towards the land on which so much of our future destiny depended. Our distance, joined to the haziness of the atmosphere, prevented us, however, from being able to discover much. With our best glasses we could see nothing but hills of a moderate height, clothed with trees, to which some little patches of white sandstone gave the appearance of being covered with snow. Many fires were observed on the hills in the evening.

As no person in the ship I was on board had been on this coast before, we consulted a little chart published by Steele of the Minories, London, and found it in general very correct. It would be more so were not the Mewstone laid down at too great a distance from the land and one object made of the Eddystone and Swilly, when in fact they are distinct. Between the two last is an entire bed of impassable rocks, many of them above water. The latitude of the Eddystone is 43° 53½′, longitude 147° 9′; that of Swilly 43° 54′ south, longitude 147° 3′ east of Greenwich.

In the night the westerly wind which had so long befriended us died away, and was succeeded by one from the north-east. When day appeared we had lost sight of the land and did not regain it until the 19th at only the distance of seventeen leagues from our desired port. The wind was now fair, the sky serene though a little hazy, and the temperature of the air delightfully pleasant. Joy sparkled in every countenance and congratulations issued from every mouth. Ithaca itself was scarcely more longed for by Ulysses than Botany Bay by the adventurers who had traversed so many thousand miles to take possession of it.