■ wheat, which had been propofed toward the completion o f the
public gaol, it became neceflary to adopt fome other expedient;
and, as an article of luxury was confidered a fitter fubjeft than any
other for taxation, an order was publifhed, direfting, that on a
permit being applied for to land fpirits, wine, beer, o r other ftrong
drink, from (hips having -thofe articles for fale, the perfon defiring
it was to make his firft application to the gentlemen o f the committee
appointed to carry on the above building ; to whom fecurity was
to be .given for the payment of one (hilling per gallon on the pur-
chafe o f fpirits, fixpence per gallon on the'purchafe o f wine, and
threepence per gallon on the purchafe o f porter or ftrong beer •
thefe fums, i f the permits were granted, which depended on the
charafter of the perfon applying, were to be paid into the hands
o f the committee, and appropriated to the above purpofe.
It having been for fome time obferved, indeed more particularly
fince the late arrivals from Ireland, that a number o f idle and fufpi-
cious pcrfons were frequently (trolling about the town o f Sydney at
improper hours of . the night, and feveral boats having been taken
away, and much property ftolen out o f houfes; in order to put a
(top to fuch practices, the centinels on duty were directed not to
•fuffer any perfon, the civil and military officers o f the fettlement
excepted, to pafs their pofts after ten o’clock at night, without
they could give the countersign ; in which cafe the centinel was to
detain them until -the relief came round ; when, i f the corpora'!
(hould not be fatisfied with the account which they might give,, they
were to be taken to the guard-houfe, and there detained, until re-
leafed by- proper authority. The patrole df conftables were alfo
directed to be very drift in their rounds, and apprehend fuch improper
or fufpicious perfons as they might meet in the town during
the night. °
Shortly after the publication o f this order, feveral o f the Irifh
prifoners having affembled at a private houfe, and making more
noife than was-proper during the night, were taken -up,- and lodged
in the gaol until the morning; when they were liberated with
aflurances o f being puniftied if brought there a fecond time.
Among other public and neceffiary works which were in hand at
this time, muft be noticed the conftruftion of a new powder magazine.
The former building had been placed at too great a diftance
from the principal battery, in a dangerous and infecure fituation. The
foundation o f the new one was now dug in a more eligible fpot, and
where it could be much better fecured ; which had been rendered
neceflary from the turbulent difpofition o f the people lately arrived
from Ireland.
March.] His Majefty’s-(hip the Reliance being completely
worn out, and no longer capable o f rendering any fervice to the
fettlement, it became neceflary to give her fuch repairs as would
•enable her to reach England. In order, therefore, to.'eafe the crown
o f fuch ufelefs expence, (he was fitted for fea, and failed on the 3d
o f this month on her homeward-bound voyage*.
Captain Waterhoufe, in ah excurfion which he made to the
north arm of Broken Bay, wounded and fecured a bird, of a fpecies
never feen before in New South Wales, at lfeaft by any o f the co-
lonifts. It was a large eagle, which gave a proof of his ftrength, by
driving his talons through a man’s foot, while lying in the bottom
o f the boat, with his legs tied together. It flood about three feet
in height, and during the ten days that it lived was remarkable for
* The Reliance touched at the Cape o f Good Hope and the Ifland of St. Helena, whence
fhe brought fome Indiamen fafe home under her convoy. She arrived at Plymouth on the 26th
-of Auguft, 1800. Nothing remarkable occurred during the voyage, except the difcovery o f an
ifland, which, from its Approach to the Antipodes o f London, Captain Waterhou'e named
Penantipode-Ifland. He determined its latitude by one double altitude, and chronometer,
to be 49° 49' 3 0 " S . and its longitude, 179 0. 2 0 ' E . It was feen in the middle o f the
night; and as the neareft of the double altitudes by which its latitude was determined was nearly
,.an hour paft noon, hence, and from the change .of place in the interval o f four hours, the latitude
ought not to be depended on nearer than from 5 ' to 10 '. The error o f the chronometer
being uncertain at the time, no correftion was applied to the longitude, which may very probably
be within half a degree, or much nearer. When this ifland was.faen, it was blowing a
gale of-wind. There were feais on it, and it did not appear quite fo large as Norfolk-Ifland.