August, 1806. I wrote to him that when he saw my signature to a precept for a Criminal Court, he was to obey my orders of that date; but I gave him no orders not to sit on a Criminal Court The subject is at his own discretion. Sir, [Enclosure No. 29.] I am, &c. W'M BLIGH. LIEUTENANT-COLONEL FOVEAUX TO GOVERNOR BLIGH. 1808 31 Aug. I send you a copy of Major Johnston's reply to the requi- Bligh's sition made by you in your letter of the 8th inst. for the restitu- papers to be tion of your papers, &c. For my own part, I wish to decline interfering until the arrival of Lt.-Gov'r Paterson, or until I receive a notification of his intention, unless, previous to either, it be your design to leave the colony, in which case I must adopt measures to obtain copies of such as may be necessary for carrying on the public business. I have, &c., kept till Paterson's arrival. As I considered most of the papers which were taken from Johnston's Government House necessary to the administration of the Govern- explanation. ment of the colony, I declined coming to any determination respecting their return until the arrival of Lt.-Gov'r Paterson or yourself, of which Captain Bligh was apprized on the 28th of May; but, as you have relieved me in the command, I am ready, as I signified to you on your arrival, to deliver all the papers whenever you should be pleased to receive them. Sir, I have, &c., GEO. JOHNSTON.* COMMISSARY PALMER TO Governor BligH. [Extracts.] Sydney, New South Wales, 31st August, 1808. of 26th I beg leave to state to your Excellency in what manner I The events have been treated by Major George Johnston, of the New South January. Wales Corps, and those acting under him. About 7 o'clock in the evening of the 26th Jan'y last, he (the major), with the corps under him, marched from the barracks to the Government House and put your Excellency in confinement; 'tis needless for me, I presume, to comment further on that head, your Excellency being in full possession of every transaction that took place there. office Immediately after this transaction they surrounded my office, Palmer's and not only seized upon the whole of my public and private books surrounded. and papers, but also ordered the keys of the stores to be given up, * See the continuation of this correspondence, post, pp. 748 to 749, and 791 to 795. VOL. VI-2 z 1808 and I was told by Adj't Minchin to consider myself under an arrest. They then put seals on the doors of the office, and placed a centinel at each door. A few days after Mr. Bayley, Mr. John Blaxland, placed under and Mr. Garnham Blaxcell broke the seals of the office, and ordered 31 Aug. Palmer arrest and his papers seized. Ledgers removed to Macarthur's house. Palmer prevented from making out his accounts. my desk to be opened, and took therefrom such papers as they I have to remark, not only the extreme hardship I laboured under for the want of my books, &c., but also the loss Government sustained by their detention, as it precluded me from making up my accounts or receiving any debts due from individuals to Government. I had been busily employed, prior to the seizure of my books, &c., in arranging and making, not only my accounts, required to be made up by the Auditor's Office, but also every account to the 31st December, 1807. I have to remark to your Excellency the reason of my accounts not being closed sooner was owing to the want of stationary, there being very little in the colony to be procured, and that at such an extravagant price that I purchased as little as I could possibly do with, being in dayly expectation of receiving a supply from England. Thus far I have thought proper to relate to you the manner of the first procedure of this self-created Government, and shall proceed to state to your Excellency for your information what has been A survey of transacting since relative to my department. A few days after the stores taken. my suspension a survey was ordered on the provisions, stores, &c., remaining in the stores, and a report was not made thereon for several months afterwards, nor have I as yet received a copy of such report. Immediately on their receiving the keys of the stores, and even before a survey took place, they began to issue articles from the store, and continued until the stores were nearly drained. One instance I beg leave to state: McArthur and Blaxcell received two p'rs of mill-stones (French burrs), and Henry Kable another p'r, as also the former thirty stand of new armis, no doubt Government for the express purpose of barter, as they were put on board, as I issued to am well informed, the Parramatta schooner, bound to the South Seas as a sealer. The stones were fixed in a mill of theirs. The colony has suffered greatly by the disposal of these stones, as they were intended to have been sent by you to the infant settlements property private individuals. 1808 31 Aug. soldiers. in order to grind their grain, and which they are much in want of. It is not only their receiving out of the stores the things abovementioned, but also they have received a large quantity of cordage, iron, canvas, sails, and slops to supply their vessels, &c., and besides various other things never intended to be disposed of, having been sent out for the express purpose of His Majesty's vessels, and for other Government purposes. The officers of the New South Wales Corps, McArthur, Blaxcell, Nichols, &c., were drawing dayly articles from the stores. Some of them, as I before stated, were valuable to Government, and had not a supply been recently received, the colony must have felt it severely, as the soldiers received trowsers, frocks, shirts, &c., which were sent out Clothing for for the clothing of the prisoners, and drained the stores of every necessary article. The prisoners could not, or did not, receive more than a part of what they otherwise might have had, and were entitled to; thus the prisoners were almost left naked. Again, McArthur, having the sole management of all affairs relative to the colony, taking upon himself the ordering every matter belonging to Government, has been disposing of several hundred head Government of cattle, chiefly to the military and their favorites, and some to cattle disposed of. settlers for grain, many of whom will never have it in their power to pay, being neither persons of property at present, nor of any likelyhood of ever being so. Besides, from the first of his selfappointed situation he has been delivering into the stores at Parramatta several hundred pounds of mutton weekly, some [of] which was of a very bad quality, and receiving out of the stores here fresh as well as salt meat in lieu of part thereof. Government The factory, which was a great benefit to the colony, he took The from Government, and got the same into his own and his emis- factory. saries hands in order to work up his wool. By this cunning and art he has not only turned his mutton into store, the greater part of which was very old and poor, which caused a great discontent among those who received their rations from the store at Parramatta; but such was his tyranny that upon any complaint being made he not only used severe threats of oppression but did actually send the persons to hard labour, or the Coal River, there to work in the mines. One instance of his tyrannical disposition amongst the many: Taking the advantage of my ledgers not being closed, John he ordered a debt list to be made out, and, because one of my clerks told him that he could not make out the same correct, nor could any person without my assistance, as he did not know what credit was to be given to many persons, nor having the settlement of the same, he reviled and loaded him with every vile epithet imaginable, and ordered him to be sent to the Coal River if he did not immediately set about making out such list, which he was obliged to do, and such list he now detains in his possession-for what purpose I know not. One other instance of the sinister Macarthur. 1808 31 Aug. Distribution of spirits. soldiers. views of McArthur I beg leave to state: A quantity of spirits was bonded in the stores, which was at two different times disposed of to the military officers, and a few of the civil, which they sold afterwards to individuals at the rate of £3 and £3 5s. p'r gallon; there being a quantity of wine and porter disposed of also to his favorite banditti, the casks wherein the same was contained were received by him and Blaxcell into the stores, and one gallon of spirits granted by his permit to the individual returning the same in. What became of those casks is a mystery, as few or none of them has been converted to Government purposes; but the greater part, if I am well informed, were filled with salt, flour, &c., and put on board their vessels for their private trade. One Bribing the other remark I beg leave to make is that, in order to keep the military quiet, and induce them to praise the change of government, they having seven pounds of fresh beef at Sydney, and at Parramatta seven pounds of fresh mutton, served to them weekly as a ration, besides an additional quantity of grain, whereas the prisoners only received two pounds of pork or three and half pounds of beef.* I only mention this to show you the villainous and tyrannical part they acted, for in times of scarcity it is well known, in every former Governor's time, that the soldiers and prisoners were on the same ration; but this was done, as they feared a revolt would take place, to secure their affections, and attach them more strongly to their rebellious party; but that is not the worst, if we look to the consequence of their killing 8 or 10 bullocks a week for these sixteen weeks or upwards, which has not only lessened Government herds greatly, but also deprived the industrious settler of receiving them for payment in order to till their ground, as I know it was your intention so to assist the settlers in their agricul tural pursuits, and thereby enable them to get forward with the tillage of their land, and lessen the price of grain. Killing off the cattle. Government cattle killed and sold. Numbers sold but not paid for. The decrease of Government stock in a little better than six months will stand thus :--Killed at the store, upwards of 280 fat bullocks; disposed of for wheat, 120 cows (the greater part of these were choice cows selected by McArthur to his favorites); at sale by public auction, 77 cows, Bengal breed--altogether 477 head, besides a great number given to favorite individuals, which are to be returned in kind, the number I have not been able to learn. I now beg leave to state to your Excellency a few of the names amongst the many that have received cows for payment :—Mr. Fitz, Deputy Commiss'y, 10-not settled for; Mr. Blaxcell (McArthur's partner), 14-not settled for; Lieut. Lawson, 16-2 only settled for; F, formerly a prisoner, now appointed constable at the *The only General Order dealing with the ration promulgated for some time after the arrest of Bligh was that of 8th February, 1808, ante, p. 515, from which it appears that Palmer's statements were exaggerated, although the military were certainly favoured. Hawkesbury, 7-2 only settled for; I N -, formerly a prisoner, 12-not settled for; Ratigan, dealer for the officers of the New South Wales Corps, 8-4 paid for; ST—, formerly a prisoner, 4-2 only settled for; besides many more from 3 to four each not settled for; therefore, as far as I am able to learn, out of the 120 cows disposed of, and of the 77 sold by public auction, there appears now to be accounted for to Government upwards of 100 head of cattle, and 'tis not likely that any of them, or at least the greater part of them, can be paid for before next harvest, and I am afraid many never will. * * * * 1808 31 Aug. appro I have further to remark to your Excellency the large quantities Fresh meat of fresh beef McArthur received from the stores, sometimes 60 lbs., priated by 80 lbs., and as far as 137 lbs. weekly, exclusive of a proportion of Macarthur. tripe, hearts, offal, &c., and I myself never received more than 7 lbs. He has endeavoured by every subtle means whatever to demand and receive ten times the quantity any other person had of every species, and by his vile, artful, tyrannick, and oppressive manner, no person was at liberty to notice it, as he took care to get such books where entries were made of the same into his own hands and by that means prevented even the Acting Commissary himself to check him. However, to a stranger it would be a convincing proof of some base underhand dealing about to be practised by him in the sequestration of the books or returns from the different stores, as well as from the storekeepers' returns, as it totally put it out of the power of any person except his chosen few to make any discovery of his vile intentions. The vile machinations of McArthur and the good he has rendered the colony, will be seen by your Excellency in the following statement: £ 8. d. 5,516 0 0 7,840 0 0 £13,356 0 0 ...£11,013 15 0 Value of stock and stores disposed of. One thing further I wish to advert to, your Excellency, and that Palmer's is respecting my suspension. I have never had any specific charge suspension. or reason assigned for the same except vague report; and what |