1808 4 Sept. Bligh and You will observe that Captain Bligh has declared his intention of proceeding to England in the Porpoise, and has issued his orders for the necessary arrangements for that purpose to Captain Kent, which orders he has hitherto thought proper to obey. But as the Navy. Captain Bligh is in a state of arrest, there appears to me to be great inconsistency in suffering him to exercise any authority whatever; yet I find myself unable to devise a safe method of preventing it, from the apprehension of improperly interfering with the regulations of the naval service. be relieved. From all these circumstances, it must be evident how anxious Foveaux I feel to be released from the embarrassments which press upon anxious to me, either by your arrival or by receiving the instructions of His Majesty's Ministers for my future guidance, most particularly with respect to the disposal of Captain Bligh, should be not really mean to carry into effect the intention he has expressed of going to England in the Porpoise. satisfied as It is incumbent on me to assure you that I have already per- He is fectly satisfied myself that Captain Bligh has been acting on a to Bligh's settled plan to destroy and ruin the better class of inhabitants, and culpability. that Major Johnston is in possession of incontrovertable proofs of his being guided in the most important concerns of the colony by the advice of Crossley, your knowledge of whom will enable you to judge in what a dreadful state the whole settlement must have been involved previous to the change which Major Johnson was called upon to effect. Should your health, or any other circumstance, prevent your taking a passage in the Estramina, I feel it my duty to impress upon you that the interests of this colony require that some settled plan should be immediately adopted for its government, and that a determination should be formed (whatever established Bligh must regulations it may interfere with) to hasten the departure of Captain Bligh, as, from the intriguing disposition of him and his partizans, the public mind will continue unsettled and perturbed as long as he is suffered to remain in the colony. be removed. of subordi I enclose you an extract of Lord Castlereagh's letter of the 31st Expenses of December last,* relative to the affairs of the settlements at Port nate settleDalrymple and the Derwent, by which you will learn the views of ments. Government respecting the latter, and their expectation that the most economical system shall be pursued by Lieut.-Governor Collins, and that he shall have the sanction of the officer in command here for every material arrangement he may find it necessary to make for carrying on the public service. Should you not take your passage in the Estramina, I have to request you will be pleased to order her to return here immediately, as it will be necessary to despatch her as soon as possible to Norfolk Island. I have, &c., J. FOVEAUX. * Ante, p. 401. VOL. VI-3 A 1808 5 Sept. losses. DR. TOWNSON TO VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH. My Lord, Sydney, 5th September, 1808. So extremely remote is this settlement from His Majesty's Government, that we are almost without the reach of its protection -at least, those few gentlemen whom his Ministers have deemed fit to send here as settlers may be ruined by vexatious delays before their orders from England can save them. My Lord, I have been nearly ruined by delays. It is now nearly two years and a half since I settled my affairs in England to come to this Townson's colony, and received Sir Geo. Shee's letter of assurance; and I have been fourteen months in this country, but I have not even yet obtained my grant of land, and only lately got some cattle; but, as long as I recollect the kind manner in which Mr. Windham received me, and his readyness to comply with my requests, and the confidence he placed in me by allowing me to purchase a labratory and books of science, and whilst I have a copy before me of your Lordship's liberal letter to Gov'r King (dated 13th July, 1805),* in favour of Mr. Gregory Blaxland, I can never attribute these ruinous delays to His Majesty's Ministers, or doubt of their wishes for my success. The blame lies here. Bligh refuses to grant him land. Townson's observations on Bligh. Macarthur and Johnston. I informed your Lordship,† by the first ship which sail'd after my arrival, that Gov'r Bligh refused to grant me the 2,000 acres promised me by Sir Geo. Shee's letter, and would allow me only + convicts, and suffer me to purchase only eight cows, &c., from the Government herds, then about 4,000 in number, though Govt King has allowed Mr. Gregory Blaxland, whose capital was nearly the same as mine, to purchase 78; and so many difficulties were thrown in the way that I never got anything during his government, neither land nor cattle, only one convict servant. It is not easy to account for Governor Bligh's conduct. If he dreaded the power of the military, ought he not to have encouraged the few respectable settlers, and cultivated their goodwill? His bad heart, his malicious disposition, can alone account for his apposite conduct. But, my Lord, it is easy to account for the conduct of those who succeeded to his power. Captain McArthur, Major Johnstone, and their friends, have long had nearly the whole of the stock, wealth, and influence of the colony in their hands, and every person of respectability, by his talents, education, or fortune, sent here by His Majest. Ministers, is considered as a rival, whom it is the common interest to oppose; and as settlers at first have to receive everything from Government. their land, stock, labourers, stores, &c., these may be refused or delay'd, given with a liberal or sparing hand, and under suc circumstances as not to be worth accepting. A new settler may meet with opposition at every step; and so great a discretionary *This letter is not available; but the terms on which Blaxland came out are given n vol. v, p. 678. † See Townson's letter of 10th October, 1807, ante, p. 299. 1808 5 Sept. Blaxland power is vested in the Governor that he cannot prosper without his consent. I will not take up your Lordship's time in reading a long letter. Mr. John Blaxland goes to England in the same ship, and has much to communicate to your Lordship on his own returning to affairs, which will equally apply to mine, and elucidate the politics of the men in power here (Lt.-Col. Foveaux is but lately arrived, and intends to do nothing till he hears from Colonel Patterson). England. ROBERT TOWNSON, LL.D., F.R.S.E. [Enclosure.] LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHNSTON'S REFUSAL TO GRANT CERTAIN THE following circumstances I think ought to be communicated to applies to grant. Not having obtained my land when Gov'r Bligh was put under arrest, I immediately after applyed to Major Johnstone, as L't-Gov'r for a tract of land near Emu Island. It was promised me, but Townson when I requested Mr. Grimes, the Surveyor, to get it measured off, Johnston he brought me a message from the Major saying that in his situation for land of only L't-Gov'r he should not feel comfortable if he gave it to me; but Mr. Grimes assured me it should not be given away to anybody else if he could prevent it. After Mr. Grimes was sent to England I was informed that the Major had sent the Deputy-Surveyor to measure it off for himself. I could not believe this till I heard it from Captain McArthur on the parade, and afterwards saw a letter from Capt'n McArthur, as Major Johnstone's secretary, to Mr. Blaxland, which says: "Major Johnstone has determined to grant it Johnston's to his eldest son." Now, my Lord, this son was not at this time in grant to his the colony; he is only a lad of about 17 years of age. For the truth of my applying for this land, and the refusal, I refer your Lordship to Mr. Grimes, who was sent Home with dispatches; for the truth of the Major's having kept this land for his son, I refer to the letter of Capt'n McArthur, which is one of the papers which Mr. Jno. Blaxland means to lay before your Lordship on his own affairs. I think and hope Major Johnstone's conduct will receive your Lordship's censure. LIEUTENANT-COLONEL FOVEAUX TO VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH. son. 6 Sept. Hawkesbury Sydney, Port Jackson, 6th September, 1808. In answer to your Lordship's dispatch of the 31st Floods in December, 1807,† addressed to Governor Bligh, I am concerned inevitable. to state that it is my fixed opinion that no precautions can be taken which will effectually secure the crops on the farms of the Hawkesbury from the consequences of the periodical floods which 1808 6 Sept. Settlers farms. The wild cattle. The Cow Spirits landed. Licensed publicans. Private stills. School. overflow its banks; and whilst our principal agricultural exertions are confin'd to that part, it is much to be fear'd that the distress's experienced by the colonists in the year 1806 will frequently recur. By referring to the chart of the country your Lordship may discover that the principle part of the settlers are established on small allotments of land, the whole of which are subject to be overflown, and that they consequently have no means of housing their grain in any situation of security. On inquiring into the state of the wild cattle, I have not been able to learn that any arrangements which have hitherto been made for taming them, or turning them, when slaughtered, to advantage, have been successful; and the genuine opinion entertained here is that they never can be productive of any essential benefit, but on the contrary afford a temptation to desperate and depraved convicts to establish themselves in the mountains without the reach of controul, when the wild herds will supply a neverfailing source of subsistence. On this account I am of opinion that it is desirable that the lands to the westward of the Nepean should be settled as soon as possible by people of character, whose establishment may tend to prevent a banditti from resorting to the mountains, and who, from their vicinity to the cattle, may perhaps devise some plan by which they may be made useful. The accompanying return of spirits which have been permitted to be landed in this settlement by Major Johnstone and myself is the best proof that I can submit to your Lordship of the attention which has been paid to enforce the established restrictions on their importation. The whole of the spirits which I have allowed to be landed have been distributed among the licensed publicans (who amount to 112, and pay a considerable annual tax for their licenses) at such prices as they could agree upon with the importers; and the quantity so distributed did not exceed ten gallons to each person. It is proper, however, your Lordship should be apprized that, in defiance of every precaution, there are numberless private stills in the country, and that very large quantities of spirits are unques tionably clandestinely imported, by which means a class of persons, many of whom ought never to have been raised beyond the condition of labourers, have amass'd large properties in the country : and truth impels me to declare that I know of no consequence which has arisen from the existing restrictions except that of making the gentleman and the man of character, who would blush at being detected in an illicit transaction, the tributaries of the daring and unprincipled smuggler and distiller. The Orphan I shall endeavour to maintain the Orphan School upon the plan introduced by Governor King, altho', from the want of a proper person to intrust with the direction of the children, unavoidable abuses and irregularities will arise. I found the church at the Hawkesbury completed, and that at Sydney so much so that public worship is now performed in it. 1808 6 Sept. Female It would be highly satisfactory could I give your Lordship any cause to hope that the morals of the female part of the convicts convicts. were likely to be reform'd; but I am concern'd to represent that the general loose and dissolute characters of the settlers and their servants-amongst whom the women are principally distributed— are more likely to confirm them in the practice of vice than to contribute to their amendment. I shall endeavour to prevail upon the most industrious cultivators Hemp. to sow what hemp seed they can procure The quantity, however, will be very inconsiderable, as the whole of the seed sent from England when Governor Bligh came out proved to be entirely spoil'd, and most of the small stock of good seed which Government possess'd was distributed by the Governor amongst people whose lands were not calculated for its growth, or who have paid no attention to its culture. Major Johnston's despatches by the Dart and Brothers will have Norfolk acquainted your Lordship that the evacuation of Norfolk Island Island. has been too far carried into execution to admit of any arrangement for its re-establishment untill His Majesty's pleasure be known. * Redfern. The distress'd state of the colony for medical aid, and the expression Surgeon of your Lordship's wish to provide such as could be obtain'd in this country, has induced me to appoint Mr. Wm. Redfern to act as an assistant surgeon. As his skill and ability in his profession are unquestionable, and his conduct has been such as to deserve particular approbation, I beg to solicit for his confirmation. I found all the gentlemen to whom grants of land had been recommended by your Lordship already in possession of them, except Mr. John Blaxland, who has express'd himself dissatisfied with the arrangements made on his behalf by Major Johnston; but, as he returns to England in the Rose, I conceive any explanation or interference on my part unnecessary. I have, &c., [Enclosure.] J. FOVEAUX. A RETURN of Spirituous Liquors imported by permission of Distribution Lieutenant-Governor Foveaux, from the 1st of August, 1808, to 6th of September following. of spirits. |