upon drawing near to the entrance of the former the
coast looked as unpromising as elsewhere, and the natives on shore
continued shouting, "Warra, warra,"--Go away, go away. Captain Cooke,
passing by the heads of Port Jackson, thought there might be found
shelter within for a boat but Captain Phillip was agreeably surprised at
finding there one of the finest harbours in the world; and since the
goodness of the soil and the supply of water appeared to be sufficient,
it was resolved to fix the new settlement in one of the coves of this
large and beautiful inlet. The spot chosen was near a run of fresh
water, which stole silently through a very thick wood, the stillness of
which was then for the first time interrupted by the rude sound of the
labourer's axe; and fifty years afterwards so great a change had taken
place here, that the lowest price of crown land was then 1,000_l._ an
acre, and in eligible situations sometimes a great deal more.[83]

[82] It happened that the two French ships of discovery under the
unfortunate La Perouse came into the harbour of Botany Bay just as
the English were finally quitting it. The French stayed there nearly
two months, and after they left that harbour they were never again seen
by any Europeans, both vessels having been lost.

[83] See Lang's New South Wales, vol. i. p. 23.

The royal commission appointing the governor was read, together with the
letters patent establishing courts of justice; and the behaviour of the
convicts soon rendered it needful to act upon these, for, within a month
of their landing, three of them were tried, found guilty, and severely
punished. The ground was begun to be gradually cleared, a sort of farm
was prepared to receive the live stock, and a garden for the plants and
seeds; and, in obedience to the orders of the government at home, the
_Supply_, commanded by Lieutenant King, was sent to Norfolk Island, some
few days' sail to the northeast of Port Jackson, for the purpose of
forming a colony there in which the flax of New Zealand might be
cultivated. With respect to the first progress of the colony at Sydney,
it was very slow, in consequence both of the idleness and ignorance
of the great majority of the colonists, to say nothing of their
wickedness. In spite of all the efforts of the governor to prevent it,
misunderstanding soon began to arise between the convicts and the
natives, and it seemed impossible in an infant colony to put a
suffi