and armed, were immediately difpatched after them, under the command
of Lieutenant Shortland o f the Reliance.
One o f thefe boats returned in a few days, without having feen
any thing o f them ; but Lieutenant Shortland proceeded with the
other, a whale -boat, as far as Port Stephens, where he thought it
probable they might have taken Ihelter ; but on the 19th, having
Keen abfent thirteen days, he returned without difcovering the
fmalleft trace o f them or the boat. His purfuit, however, had
not been without its advantage ; fo r on his return he entered a river
which he named Hunter river, about ten leagues to the fouthward
o f Port Stephens, into which he carried three fathoms water, in the
fhoaleft part o f its entrance, finding deep water and good anchorage
within. The entrance o f this river was but narrow, and covered
by a high rocky Ifland, lying right off it, fo as to leave a good
paffage round the north end o f the ifland, between that and the
fhore. A reef connects the 'fouth part o f the ifland with the
fouth fhore o f the entrance o f the river. In this harbour was found
a very confiderable quantity o f coal o f a very good fort, and lying
io near the water fide as to be conveniently fhipped; which gave it,
in this particular, a manifeft advantage over that difcovered to the
fouthward. Some fpecimens o f this coal were brought up in the
boat.
About this time a fmall decked long boat arrived from Norfolk-
Ifland, and brought an account that the mafter o f the American
Snow Mercury had landed there the remainder o f the people who
had been left by Captain Bampton in Dufky Bay. When the Endeavour
was wrecked there about 20 months before *, the governor, not
having any veffel at Port Jackfon fit for fuch a purpofe, had ex-
preffed a wifh to the mafter o f the fnow, to this effedt, when he
was about leaving New South Wales. The mafter made no objection,
only ftipulating that he might be permitted to take from the
wreck
Vide VoL I , p. 460 and 466.
wreck fuch ftores as he might be in want o f ; but to this the governor
could not give his fandtion, leaving him only to make what
terms he could with any o f the people belonging to her whom he
might find alive. This fervice he performed under many difficulties,
and brought off all that now remained of thefe unfortunate
people, amounting to 35 in number, and landed them at Norfolk
Ifland,
B y this conveyance the governor was alfo informed, that the
Britannia had touched at the Ifland, and landed feveral convidts
who had fecreted themfelves on board her while fhe lay in this harbour.
Difappointed as thefe people generally were in their attempts
to efcape from the fettlement in this manner,, yet it had become fo
certain a fyftem, that all the vigilance which could be exerted both on
fhore and afloat was infufficient to prevent them. As the matters
were feldom refufed permiflion to fhip fuch as were free, it was
their bufinefs to receive no more on board than they could feed ;
and during the run between Sydney and Norfolk Ifland, the fuper-
numeraries were generally difcovered and brought up from below.
Indeed, confidering the defcription of people who formed the major
part o f thefe deferters, it was not fafe to have many o f them on
board, being a lawlefs, abandoned, daring fet o f wretches, to whom
the commiffion o f every crime was more familiar than the pra&ice
o f any one virtue.
On the 20th o f the month, the Deptford, a fmall brig, arrived
from Madras, with a cargo o f goods upon fpeculation for the Sydney
market. The fpirit o f trade which had for fome time obtained
in the colony afforded an opening for adventurers to bring their
goods to this fettlement. The voyage from India was fhort and
diredt; and, from the nature o f their inveftments, they were always
certain o f finding a ready fale, and an ample return upon the
original invoice. But this interccmrfe was found to be pregnant
with great evil to the colony ; for, preferring fpirits to any other
article that could be introduced from India, the owners never failed
V O L . 1 1 , H to