Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

James Hingston Tuckey papers, 1804
A 2001

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J.K. Tuckey (James Kingston) 1776-1816

Commander in the navy and explorer, youngest son of Thomas Tuckey of Greenhill, near Mallow. Co. Cork

Went to the West Indies, and in 1793, by the influence of his kinsman, Captain Francis John Hartwell, afterwards Commissioner of the navy, placed on board the Suffolk, going out to the East Indies with the broad pennant of Commodore Peter Rainier [q.v.] and on her was present at the reduction of the Trincomalee in August 1795, and of Amboyna, where he was wounded in the left arm by a fragment of a shell. In 1802, he was appointed first lieutenant of the Calcutta, going out to New South Wales to establish a colony at Port Philip.
Tucker remained on the Calcutta the whole time and made a complete survey of the harbour of Port Philip and a careful examination of the adjacent coast and country. On his return to England in the autumn of 1804 he published The Account of a Voyage to establish a colony at Port Philip in Bass’s Strait ….. in the years 1802-3-4 (1805 [indecipherable]). The dedication to Sir Francis Hartwell is dated ‘Portsmouth 29.Oct.1804.’ Tuckey was afterwards captured by the Rockfort Squadron and detained a prisoner in France till the peace of 1814. Became commander on 27 Aug 1814.

After the peace of 1815, Tuckey was chosen by the Government in command of an expedition to endeavour to solve the problem of the Congo. He was accompanied by the Dorothy storeship which remained in the lower river, while the Congo pushed up as far as the cataracts. Tuckey then underwent a journey by land to see what was above the cataracts, his health giving way he returned and shortly after died on board the Dorothy 4th Oct. of exhaustion. He married Margaret Stuart while at Verdun.

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Contents
1. Biographical Sketch n.d.
2. Letter to Lord Melville, Oct 18, 1804.
3. Sketch of the present state of the Colony of New South Wales [1804]
4. The most eligible routes from Port Jackson
        to various places at different seasons. [1804]

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My Lord
Conceiving it the duty of every Officer to apply the knowledge he may acquire, to the general good of the Country, as well as to the particular benefit of his own profession, I beg leave to offer to your Lordships consideration A Sketch of the present state of the Colony of New South Wales, and presume to hope that the intention will claim your Lordship’s pardon, though the execution should
fail

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fail to merit your approbation.

The remarks on the most eligible seasons and routes, for navigation from New South Wales, are the result of Seven years experience in the Eastern Seas, and will I trust be found correct. I beg leave further to add that MSS. is entirely at you Lordship’s disposal.

Should it enter into your Lordship’s arrangements, to equip a vessel for the Colony, permit me to assure you that I should feel highly honored and gratified

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at being thought worthy to execute any service she may be employed on.

My Lord
Your Lordship’s
I have the honor to remain,
My Lord
Your Lordship’s
Most Obedient humble servant
James Tuckey
Calcutta, Portsmouth
October 18th 1804

F. T. Sabin 27/5/37

The Right Honble Lord Melville

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Tuckey (J.K) Commander R.N. A SKetch of the present state of the Colony of New South Wales, MS of 45 pp. folio; Observations on the most eligible routes from Port Jackson to various places at different seasons.

A.L.s enclosing same to Lord Melville, 1804

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 (A copy of this sketch was submitted to Lord Melville, some time ago)

A sketch of the present state of the Colony of New South Wales. Commercial and Civic by J.K. Tuckey 1st Lieut of HMS Calcutta

Chapter 1.
Observations on the internal plans and regulations of the Colony respecting Agriculture and Commerces.

A colony formed at first like that of New South Wales from the dregs of the peoples of the mother country, can, on the immediate establishment, be governed only by the severity of coercive regulations; it then resembles a military government where a great degree of discretionary power is necessarily invested in the chiefs in order to preserve obedience and discipline: but as the colony rises in prosperity it assumes a very different appearance; there coercive

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regulations require to be modified or entirely abrogated, and that discretionary power to be exchanged for the certainty of well defined authority. As the Colony improves more people become independent and not having forgotten the effects of such independence in the mother country, they wear the shackles of restraint in the colony with restless indignation. Such is the present state of New South Wales, and the regulations which on its first establishment were both
Salutary and necessary, are now become the most severe grievances.

The agricultural plans of the colonial Government, in the magnitude of their evil effects seem to claim the first place in the catalogue of there grievances. This partiality to public cultivation, proceeds from the idea of saving money, by avoiding the purchase of grain from private cultivators
and

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and it is even carried so far as to rent the very lands previously granted to and cleared by individuals. The effects of this shortsighted policy upon cultivation has been such that in the year [indecipherable] the mother country was under the necessity of supplying The Colony with a Cargo of flour, which at that period could not including all expenses have cost less than eighteen pence a pound; besides, previous to its arrival the government granaries were again full, for the prospect of scarcity made it necessary to hold out liberal encouragement to the farmers, by offering a decent price for the produce, the effect of which was a superabundance in the succeeding crops, and the english flour still lies in the government storehouses.
It requires but little experience to convince us that the minor branches of government concerns will never be conducted with the same regularity and constant attention that every

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every individual pays to his own particular business: Government work is usually a forced task work, and the persons employed in it whether as superintendants or labourers, are but little interested in its success. Government accordingly has never been able to make the surplus of one year answer the deficiency of the next, and though it employs from 300 to 400 men in constant cultivation, it is still obliged to open its granaries for the reception of grain from private persons.

The Clause in every grant of lands reserving to the government the optional right to all the timber, growing, or which may hereafter grow, on the granted lands, is, (at least the latter part of it) equally vexatious and impolitic. In many instances after clearing the lands, it has been found altogether unfit for cultivation, and in others the proprietor has required better land; in

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in either case, he abandons the first, for it is not probable he will replant it with timber for the benefit of the public. It is true the proprietor may fell and convert to his own use any timber not previously marked for government purposes, but the mere option in government is a very severe grievance, for it not only creates a vexatious uncertainty of property, but also subjects the landlords to be continually annoyed by the insolence of the petty officers of government. This clause is constructed to extend to all the kinds of timber already known in the colony, but by an etc. it also includes whatever new kinds may eventually be discovered, in the remote parts of the country, and even trees preserved solely for ornament are not excluded from its influence. These agricultural operations and restraints to prevent land from rising in value in the proportion that

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that it would naturally do under more favorable circumstances; five years purchase is at present the common price of cleared ground which has been once cropped.

The restraints or prohibitions which every species of commerce labours under in the colony, are equally pernicious to its rising prosperity, and appear more invidious and arbitrary as proceeding from the sole authority of the governor, besides the restraints upon commerce are direct and positive, the obstacles to cultivation indirect and consequential.

The importation of wine and spirits is only permitted in such quantities as the governor may from time to time think adequate to the immediate wants of the colony, and this is in general so trifling, that long before a fresh supply can arrive the colony is totally destitute of these necessary articles. The small quantity thus allowed to be imported is

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is distributed by government order among the officers, and those licensed to retail it, while the rest of the colonists (unless it is a few particular favourites are precluded from any participation, except through the medium of retail. The price to be paid for the spirits is fixed by government, usually at ten shillings a gallon, (including a duty of one shilling to the Orphan funds) it is after permitted to pay away this liquor or to retail it by those licensed at twenty shillings a gallon, which price may be sued for in the civil court. But though the nominal value of a gallon of spirits in direct payment is only twenty shillings, it is invariably given in exchange at twice or thrice that value, for it is easy to evade the limitations, the question in the purchase of any commodity, not being how much money, but how much spirits will take? Thus a sheep nominally worth three pounds may generally be purchased for

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a gallon and a half of spirits. The intention of the restraint upon the importation of spirits, was certainly a good, though a very mistaken one, it was to check the almost universal intemperance of the common people, when liquor by its cheapness was more within their reach, and also to restrain the shameful traffic carried on with spirits by the officers of the New South Wales Corps, which in the former period of the government but particularly during Col. Grose’s administration, prevailed without a single exception, and by which every individual in that corps, amassed considerable property in the colony.*
In

*The officers of the New South Wales corps, entirely laying aside the military character, could at this period be considered in no other light than petty shopkeepers, seizing with avidity every advantage that might be made either of the wants or the vicious inclinations of the people; every kind of merchandise imported into the colony by a shameful combination fell into their hands and was retailed by their women or servants with the most inconceivable extortion; a soldier has been known to sell a grant of thirty acres of land for half a gallon of spirits. The want of circulating specie still continues to support this system, and the soldiers still receive their pay from their officers in goods, or in the language of the colony in property

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In neither respect have these regulations been efficacious; and even had they proved so, the effects of so violent a remedy, would be more detrimental than any which could proceed from the disease. It cannot be conceived that any great difficulty would have occurred in preventing the officers from trading in spirits directly or indirectly, if their commanding officer, was himself superior to the practice, and if their commissions were at stake; and with respect to the intemperance of the common people, it will I trust be sufficient to quote the sentiments of a celebrated writer upon political economy: “Though individuals may sometimes ruin their futures, by an excessive consumption of spirituous liquors, there seems to be no risk that a nation should do so” and “were the duties upon foreign wines to be taken away all at once, it might occasion (in Great Britain) a pretty general and

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and temporary drunkenness among the middling and inferior ranks of people which would probably be followed by a permanent and almost universal sobriety.” Encreasing the difficulty of procuring spirits, has only increased the desire for them, and those who would probably have preserved their sobriety amidst plenty, have become intemporate from scarcity.

In the year 1802 Government adopted a plan of supplying the colony with all the domestic commodities of English manufacture, and for this purpose assorted investments have been sent out; but the promised advantages to the colonists from this system have already been found fallacious. Government it is said only charges an advance of 50 per cent upon the prime cost

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cost of the investments, merely to cover the expences of freight, interest etc but is scarcely possible that government can purchase any commodity by its agents, of the same degree of goodness, so cheap as a private merchant, the price it pays will inevitably be a retail price, or else the quality of the goods will be a contract quality; hence though the private merchant (from the superior quality of his goods, and the necessity he is under of being repaid with a profit, all his expences) is obliged to sell his goods ten or twenty percent dearer than government, he still finds more customers among the industrious part of the colony, who will always rather deal with him, than suffer the inconvenience, attending the stated period at which the government stores are only open, or he will be subject to all the trouble arising from written applications, signed and countersigned, from the petulance and insolence of clerks and storekeepers etc. But even supposing

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supposing every part of the transactions on the side of the government agents and contractors to be perfectly fair, and that it cansupply goods of equal quality twenty percent cheaper, than the private trader, still the consequences of such an operation, must be, and indeed have already proved highly injurious to the industry of the colony. When the farmer knows that he can procure the articles that he wants from the government stores at a long credit, he naturally becomes idle and careless. Government conveys an idea of remoteness and generality that leads him to consider a debt to it in a very different light from one to an individual. Government he knows cannot distress him for payments without defeating its own ends, and this he is aware it will not be inclined to do, he therefore puts off payment from time to time and under the pretence of bad crops continues

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continues to solicit assistance from government, until his debt is so greatly increased that all the exertions of his industry (supposing them to take place) are insufficient to clear it, and he becomes an insolvent debtor. It is very different with a debt incurred to a private trader, the latter looks only to his own immediate interest and the general improvement of the colony is to him of no other consequence than as he thereby expects to to find a better market for his goods. he must be punctually paid, even at the ruin of his debtor, and the latter knowing this will endeavour by his industry to be ready for the demand. This system of government supplies ( which seems to have been adopted from that of the East India Company to the Island of St Helena*/ cannot

*The situation of the Island of St Helena and the Colony of New South Wales, are totally different. The few inhabitants of the former are all immediate servants of the Company and the supplying them with European goods is almost a matter of necessity for the island lies entirely out of the track of outward bound ships and no private merchant would find a sufficient demand to make a direct trade thither his peculiar pursuit.

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possibly long exist against a fair competition of private Merchants.

The absolute prohibition which exists against building vessels of more than a very insignificant burthen and the difficulties thrown in the way of building even the smallest, is another severe check to the commercial speculations of the Colonists. To build a boat 10 feet long the governor’s permission must be obtained and for any [indecipherable] vessel security must be given that she shall not be employed improperly. The first of these regulations was only necessary in the very infancy of the Colony, and the latter though still essentially necessary, ought to be extended to larger vessels, and when complied with, the permission to build should become a matter of right, and not be subject to the caprice of the persons in office.
The

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The evil effects necessarily resulting from a confined system of commerce in an infant colony will appear obvious upon the slightest reflection. Where there is neither gold nor silver in circulation the wages of labour must be paid entirely in goods of a consumerable nature but the dearer the employer purchases such goods, the less labour he can afford to employ. In such a state also the cultivation has nothing to give in exchange for the goods he wants except the rude produce of his land, but the merchant who has these goods to sell, does not probably want this rude produce, or if he does receive it in exchange, it must be at the lowest possible rate at which the farmer can afford to sell it, and this the merchant effects, not by reducing the nominal price of grain, which he still receives at the government rate, but by increasing the real price of his own goods; by this means having a large quantity

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quantity of grain which he procures in reality at a very reduced price, he is enabled to bear down all competition of the poor farmer and to tender this grain to government at a lower nominal rate than what it cost himself. This in reality is the case at present in the colony, and consequently the farmers are generally in a state of indigence.

But even under all these obstructions, the colony is improving; and as this improvement is the effect of natural causes, which are paramount to all others, and which happily all the short sighted view of man cannot control, it must continue to improve.
 The first of these great causes is the rapid increase of population, which will always take place in a new colony, where the climate is good and where there is almost an unlimited extent of unoccupied land; and the principle inherent in the

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the breast of every human being to improve his own condition is the second; the former necessarily increases agriculture and the latter gives existence to Manufacturers and Commerce.

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Chap.2
Observations respecting the local situation of New South Wales, for trade, to China and India and to the Malay Islands.

Suggestions on the internal resources of the Colony for commerce, and for ship building.

The discoveries of [indecipherable] Bass and Flinders on the coast of New South Wales have greatly increased the facility of communication between the colony and every part of the world. The discovery made by the former of a strait separating New Holland from Van Dieman’s Land, perfectly free from danger, and certainly passable? for at least 9 months of the year, will probably supercede the stormy navigation to Europe by Cape Horn, and should the Cape of Good Hope

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be annexed to Great Britain, the advantages of this discovery will be greatly advanced.

The practicability of passing through Gosses’? strait ( having regard to the proper seasons) which has been clearly proved by the experience of Capt. Flinders, must shorten the communication with India, at least a month, probably six weeks, and afford an immediate intercourse with the Moluccas and other Islands west of New Guinea.

The passage to China is through a sea where storms are almost unknown and is not confined to any particular season.

The extensive trade in Oil and other items which under proper regulations and encouragement, might be carried on with Great Britain would be equally beneficial to both countries. The Islands in Bass’s Strait abound in seals, whose skins and oil, are both valuable and in sea elephants, whose oil is of a very superior quality, and in the seas which wash the eastern coast of New Holland and the

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shores of New Zealand whales are found in great abundance. This particular trade offers to speculation superior advantages, when both branches of it are carried on conjointly; for as the collecting skins and oil from the islands requires only vessels of small burthen (40 to 60 tons) the larger ones intended to convey the cargo to Europe may at the same time be employed whaling in the adjacent seas; but should whaling not enter into the speculations of the merchant the large vessels might be advantageously employed in a coasting voyage among the Malay Islands (Molucca Is.) or might convey a cargo to and from China.

The necessary regulations for this trade ought to embrace two primary objects, first its perpetuation, and secondly, securing the advantages arising from it solely to our Nation. To effect the first of these purposes, it would be necessary to restrict the general resources which

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which is at present allowed to all the islands, and confine it for
certain periods to particular groups; by this means the animals when exhausted by slaughter, or driven from one group by frequent disturbance would be found on the others, thus left for a time undisturbed. It would also be necessary to prohibit killing the females or the male animals before they had arrived at maturity by which practice, if continued, the species must in a very short time be entirely [indecipherable] from the islands. ./ To secure the advantages of this branch of the trade solely to our own nation, all foreigners must necessarily be prohibited from engaging in it, and in this there appears nothing more unreasonable than in the strict monopoly of the Dutch in the Spice Islands, or of the Spaniards and Portuguese in the American colonies. To enforce these regulations a small naval force would be necessary, which, while it preserved good order among the British subjects

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subjects employed in the trade, would protect them from the violence of foreign interlopers, disgraceful incidents of which have already taken place.

To the Cape of Good Hope it might be found advantageous to export Coal and a particular kind of timber; ‘tis true this cargo would be of no particular value in proportion to its bulk and distant conveyance, but it must be remembered that the scarcity of wood in the vicinity of the Cape, makes fuel an article of considerable consequence and the returns in wine and spirits would amply compensate any loss on the exported cargo

[indecipherable] trade from the Colony to China, to India and the numerous islands, between the eastern side of the Malay peninsula, and the western coast of New Guinea, offers a very extensive field for commercial speculation. This trade in all its branches is at present prohibited by the East India company charter, a

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a prohibition which cannot be of the smallest utility to that company, while its consequences are highly injurious to the colony. The colonists are now under the necessity of depending upon India for their teas, sugar, clothes, spirits, and even for the manufactures of Europe, but it must appear evident from the following causes, that these articles cannot come to the colonial market in India ships under an advance of 10 pcent upon Indias goods and 150 pcent upon those of Europe. First the legal interest in India is 12 pcent but the whole trade of the country being a trade of speculation from 30 to 40 pcent is no uncommon premium for money lent upon bottomry?. Secondly the building and equipping ships in India is infinitely dearer, than either Great Britain or America, where the first ships employed in the colonial trade would be purchased, and Thirdly, the expence

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expense of sailing ships out of India bears no proportion to what it could be done for the Colony. But no trade can be long carried on, of which the returns do not afford a certain proportion of profit, 100 or 150 pcent upon the prime cost of a cargo from India, in India ships, will not give more than that proportion upon the same cargo imported in colonial vessels, it would not exceed 60 pcen.

The colony at the present time it is true has scarce any returns to make for the cargoes she might import from India or China but we know of no state that ever rose to commercial opulence but by the fostering power of public encouragement or the sure slow yet certain road of persevering industry, either let the former be granted liberally or let government cease all interference (beyond general superintendence and protection) and leave to everyone perfect liberty to pursue his own interest, where it does not clash with the

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the general good and trade like a bow that is ben beyond it natural curve will spring back to its natural extent. China from its vicinity to the colony, would afford a market for seal skins, nearly equal to that of Europe and Cotton might certainly be raised in every part of the colony with which the China market could be supplied at those times when the eastern monsoon in the Indian and China Seas prevent India ships from making a passage thither. This cotton if manufactured into cloths in the colony, would supply the trade to the Malay Islands from whence returns would be Gold dust for the India markets in Pearl Shells, Tin, spices rattans etc for the China market and in sugar and spirits from Batavia for the Home market.

The East India Trade which at present serves only to drain the colony of the little specie it from time to time possesses would were all impediments removed be mutually

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Mutually beneficial to both parties; for several years past the Teak timber of Malabar has been growing scarce upon the sea coast and the ship builders of India have had recourse to Pegu (?) where a great number of ships have been built within a few years but the unhealthiness of the climate, the troublesome disposition of the government of the country and of the inhabitants, united to the expense of building and equipping these vessels, which has been found by experience very great, would induce the Merchants to transfer their shipbuilding and equipping to any place although much more remote, where these disadantages would be avoided. Open then the forests of New Holland to the ship builders of India and by granting permission to construct vessels in the harbours of the Colony a spur will at once be given to industry and [indecipherable] and the colony will soon be seen to rise from its present torpidity to a state of life and activity. The

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The merchants of India by sending the necessary mechanics to the colony would greatly increase the demand for the rude produce of the land and by extending the market give a new and continually increasing impulse to agriculture and Manufactures. Besides by employing a great number of Convicts government would not only be eased of a vast burthen, the necessity of victualing and clothing them but might raise a considerable revenue from the wages of their labour as was heretofore the case with respect to Convicts transported to America.

The introduction of ship building would also be productive of other advantages to the Colony as well as the mother country. The numerous trifling occupations for a ship yard would afford employment to children of all ages who are now left to wander in the streets in idleness or vice, the value of labour encreasing with the demands would necessarily encrease population for parents then

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then finding children a benefit instead of a burthen, would be more careful of them in their infancy. Besides this species of occupation would be creating an infant nursery of seamen.

The local advantage and latent resources of New Holland for ship building though so little known or enquired into in this Country are scarcely suspected in any part of the world and the latter only wait the exertions of industry to call them into life. The whole range of the eastern coast is furnished with spacious and convenient harbours and with several navigable rivers; the country is one continual forest of the timber of which (whatever may be the partial opinion formed of it in this country) is certainly adapted to the construction of vessels of the largest size.* The mountains which approach within a short distance of the Coast are known to be rich in Iron ore and as the country abounds in Coals there could be little difficulty in working it. The

*
See addenda no.4 Page 224 of the Calcutta Voyage. The frame of a brig laid down by Gov. Hunter, though exposed to the weather still remains undecayed and a vessel of 200 tons is now building by a merchant from India.

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The soil and climate of the colony has been found highly favorable to the cultivation of European flax, the bark(?) of the Carajan (known in the Colony by the name of the Hemp tree) can be manufactured into cordage equal to the Coiar of India, and New Zealand would supply its pine spars & probably turpentine, in short without indulging in visionary speculations, I myself cannot doubt (and it is also the opinion of the best informed men in the colony) that in less than twenty years vessels might be built and equipped from the sole produce of the colony and its dependencies.

The resources which New South Wales might desire from manufacturers, the rude materials of which are or may be produced within herself, are not inconsiderable. The wool though little case has yet been employed upon the breed of sheep, is of very good quality and perhaps by attention (particularly in the Southern settlements
might be improved to

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to an equality with that great staple commodity of England.

The climate particularly to the Northwards, is well adapted to the raising cotton, which requires little attention and a very trifling expence.

Tobacco having been introduced by accident is found to grow luxuriantly without cultivation, and equal in quality to that of North America, in the event of a rupture with the latter country, New South Wales might supply Great Britain with this valuable commodity.

Among man other useful measures which might be adopted in the colony is that of encouraging the Chinese to settle there. I have no doubt but that several thousands of this industrious nation might be induced to establish themselves at Port Jackson as they have done in the Malay Islands; should such an event be brought about it must be remembered that

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that their customs both religious and domestic are engraphed into the very essence of their being, and that although they quietly submit to the general laws of the government they live under, they must be gratified by the free use of their own internal regulations, and must also be efficiently protected from every species of insult and injury

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Chapter 3

Observations on the present state of the Colony with respect to its constitution, Courts of Judicature & state of Defences.

The establishment of the colony being at first a mere experiment, and the persons who composed it (the officers of government excepted) being the vilest of the community, who had forfeited the possession of liberty by violating the laws which secured it, a better form of government under such circumstances could not perhaps have been devised. To produce order out of insubordination, to enforce habits of honest industry where profligate [indecipherable] had long reigned paramount, and to reduce a wilderness to a state of improvement and cultivation by means

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means of such instruments, required something more than the slow measures of a merely civil administration; but as the colony has been extended and improved, both by the arrival of free settlers, by the emancipation of the most meritorious convicts, and by the conclusion of numerous terms of transportation, it is now placed upon a very different footing, and would appear to require a more liberal form of government. In its present state the office of governor is certainly too great and arduous to be properly executed by a single person; where the interests of every two individuals clash it is impossible for the most impartial conduct to acquire popularity, but in this state of things to be impartial is perhaps morally impossible; the understanding of one man is not capable of having(?) the remote springs of individual actions, or of selecting the truth from the boundless contrariety of interested opinions. The

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The method of conducting the business of the civil and criminal courts in the colony must excite the most painful emotions in the bosom of every person who has been blest by living under the mild and protecting influence of British laws in the mother country. In neither has the defendant that fair and equal chance, which is the distinguishing prerogative of a free subject in a free state, and boldly I affirm that trials both for life and for property have been conducted in these courts not only contrary to the usual forms of law and evidence, but even contrary to every principle of common sense.

It is not only necessary that laws should be intrinsically right, but also that their right application should be intimately understood by those who are to apply them, and this cannot be reasonably expected from any but a person educated to their study and conversant in precedent. An able law officer is now absolutely necessary in the Colony and perhaps

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perhaps it is also true that the trial by Jury should supersede that by Officers in the present manner, at least there appears no reason why it should not take place in causes respecting free persons. In the formation of the civil courts in particular these alterations would be peculiarly salutary, for both parties considering themselves to be satisfied by the decision of a court which they believe competent to decide,
according to law and equity there would be fewer appeals, and the certainty of not being able to blind the judge by incompetent proofs, or to corrupt the jury by bribes would decrease the number of trifling litigations which at present constitute the chief business of this court, and which as a great emolument arises to the Officers of Court from thence, we may naturally suppose they are not [indecipherable] to restraint*. The pleadings in this court are confined to Copley and Robinson two transported attorneys of notorious memory.

*The judge advocate by fees of court is said to clear a thousand a year and the prevost martial 500 £

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The agricultural plans of the colonial government seem so entirely to have occupied its thoughts, that not the smallest step has yet been taken to put the chief settlement in a state of defence against the probable revolt of the disaffected convicts, or the hostile attacks of a foreign enemy* the Officers and soldiers of the New South Wales corps instead of

*Since the above was first written the former of these events has actually taken place, and had it not been for the fortunate presence of His Majesty’s Ship Calcutta, it is more than probable that the insurgents might have succeeded. That this remote colony has not escaped the thoughts of our Enemy is clearly demonstrated by two French frigates the Geographe and Naturaliste remaining at Port Jackson two or three months, during which the Officers minutely surveyed the harbour and also made scientific excursions into the interior by which they acquired a more extensive knowledge of the nature of the country, than the colonists themselves possess.

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of being concentrated in Barracks, are permitted to reside in seperate and sometimes distant habitations, from whence upon an alarm a considerable delay must occur in assembling them. The fortifications for the defence of the finest harbour in the world, and for the protection of the property of several thousand persons consist of 10 guns on an exposed point which a sloop of war ought to silence in ten minutes. The town of Sydney is so situated that by a chain of log block houses (perhaps 4 or 6) placed behind it, the approach by land might be defended by twenty men against twenty times their number, and upon a commanding hill above the town, a Citadel capable of holding all the inhabitants might be constructed at a very trifling expence as the materials are on the spot.

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considered the fruitful source of every other species of Moral depravity. It will [indecipherable] be believed that on the survival of a ship with female convicts permission is given to the free men to go on board and choose a female, whom he removes without any further ceremony; and as government are thus eased of the burdened of victualling and clothing her it seldom enquires any further on the subject. The female who is not thus disposed of fall to the lot of the government, but unused to labour they shortly find a more congenial employment upon the town, and lost to every moral sense become the most detestable nuisances.
Religion it may be supposed cannot flourish amidst this “general profligacy” immunerable orders are ignored to enforce attendance upon divine service, but as no punishment attends non compliance , they are considered as mere words of course, and the constables find an arduous employment in driving the convicts to the place where the services of the church is performed*.

*The church of Sydney having been burnt down some years years since the shell of it still remains unrepaired and in consequence Devine service is now performed in an unfurnished room of the Orphan School. At Parramatta by the almost [indecipherable] efforts of the clergyman the shell of a new church has been erected, but it being found that the joiners could be employed with more immediate advantage upon the house of man, the house of God is left unfinished. The Calcutta carried out two lots of communion plates for the Majesty Chapels at Sydney and Port Phillip, but unhappily her Majestys Chapels at Sydney had neither doors, nor windowsn, nor communicants, and the plate was therefore lodged in Her Majestys Stores.

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great numbers of wild Irish, who were transported to the Colony during the late rebellion, are almost to a man of the [indecipherable] persuasion among them are several priests who keep alive the Religious bigotry of their countrymen, and having obtained the permission of the government perform the ritual of their religion with all the pomp in their power. It may be presumption

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presumption in an individual to [indecipherable] upon public measures, but he must be entirely devoid of reflection who cannot foresee in this toleration the source of future danger to the colony. Bigottie and rebellious priests were certainly unfit subject for a colony where a great part of the inhabitants entertained the sane principles, and over whose minds these priests possessed an unlimited influence. The insurgents were almost exclusively of this persuasion.
The domestic state of the colony as far as it regards the comfort of civilized life, is equal or perhaps superior to that of some classes in the mother country. The mildness of the climate, leaves scarce any care for habitation or clothing. Meat is as cheap as in England, and Butchers meat though a good deal dearer, is from the high wages of labour more within the reach. Every house has a garden which supplies its owner with vegetables and some Indian corn, by which he is enabled to raise poultry and hogs, and did not the rage for spirituous liquors, act

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as a continual check to industry, while its high price, occasions an almost universal beggary, the poorest settler of New South Wales might enjoy ( in one year after his arrival) all the conveniences of life.
The first clap in the colony is almost entirely confined to Officers civil and Military; for but one respectable merchant has yet settled there, and not a single farmer of this description is to be found in the Colony. Having all the necessaries of life within themselves or purchasing them with spirits or goods at a trifling expense their tables are always plentifully supplied. But the continual jealousies between the Civil and Military, and indeed almost between every two individuals, totally destroys all social intercourse, and mutual annoyance is now the order of the day. The governor supposing himself surrounded by enemies, watching every opportunity to injure him and to prey upon the public,[indecipherable] to execute the Office of a petty custom house Officer, and degrades himself

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by suspicion without foundation and by violence without cause; while the Military complain of shore proceedings as arbitrary and tyrannical, which their own ill conduct at first rendered necessary.

Observations respecting the Establishments on Norfolk Island

The first settlement of Norfolk Island was a measure of imperious necessity arising from the wants of the colony in its early infancy. The barren soil in the immediate vicinity of Port Jackson, was found incapable of producing subsistence for the whole of the first colonists, and a part of them were therefore sent to Norfolk Island, where the soil was found more fit for agriculture. But as the cultivation of the rich lands on the banks of the Hawkesbury and other places extended, the assistance from Norfolk

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Island became less necessary and at present all dependence upon it for grain has entirely ceased. It is true it still supplies the colony with an occasional proportion of Salted Pork, but as this species of animal food must increase with the extension of agriculture, in a very short time this source of dependence, already very trifling, must cease also.
The native flax which at first seemed to promise great advantage, has been found by repeated trials, not worth manufacturing, and the pine trees, which were expected to supply the Navy of Great Britain with the most valuable[indecipherable] ,are totally unfit for any naval purpose. The approach to the island is highly dangerous, having no anchorage, nor any shelter whatever, and even the [indecipherable] by boats, in through reefs and over surfs, by which many lives have already been lost.
Where the original motives for colonizing the islands having ceased or been found visionary, the most partial judgment cannot

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point out any probable advantage that can arise from the future possession of it, but like an idle [indecipherable] prodigal child it hangs a dead weight upon the industry girls parent.
The idea of manufacturing sugar on the island, at present occupying the thoughts of government, but this appears to be a lost effort to support the expiring consequences of a favorite object; for though the sugar can doubtless be carried on the island, it can also be cultivated with equal success on the Northern part of the colony where the soil and climate are entirely tropical, and with which the communication would be free from inconveniences. The removal of the establishment from Norfolk island to the continent, would be extending and benefiting the colony by mutual intercourse without any additional expences.

P.L. It would be easy to take a much more comprehensive view to the State of the Colony, with respect to its political importance its [indecipherable] to defraying its own expences, and the means of its general improvement, but this would lead beyond the limits of a sketch to which I have confined myself.

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The most eligible routes from Port Jackson to various places at different seasons

General Sketch of the wind in the Indian and Eastern Seas.

From the latitude of 4° in the seas between Africa, Arabia,India and Japan a NE monsoon blows constantly from October to April, varying between ENE & NE bit. In the same track a SW monsoon blows the remainder of the year.

From the latitude of 4°N to the line and from 3° to 9°S between the coasts of Africa and New Guinea, from November to March a SW monsoon blows which near the Islands of Sunda and Timor extends to 12° or 13° and varies between the NW and West. During the remainder of the year in this track a SE monsoon prevails.

From the latitude of 9°S to 26° S The SE trade blows regularly throughout the year.

To the eastward of new Guinea, from the latitude of 4° N to the tropic of Cancer the NE trade is steady and in the same ocean from 4° to the southern tropic the SE trade prevails with

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with equal regularity.

(From these general principles there are many variations, arising from local causes such as the position of lands the(?) of which it is not necessary to enter into detail, and of which experience alone can give a correct idea.)

1
From Port Jackson to India by Torres’ Straits

A ship sailing from Port Jackson any time between the latter end of March and the latter end of July will find the SE trade in 25°S or 26°S which at this season unites with the SE monsoon to the Westward of New Guinea, and sometimes extends even to the north of the line with fine settled weather. After clearing Torres’ Straits, keep to the southward of Timor land and Java keeping in the track of the SE trade in between the parallels of 11° and 12°. If bound to Madras or Bengal, crop the line on the meridian of 90° and in 4°N the SW Monsoon will be found blowing strong in the Indian Sea. If bound to Bombay [indecipherable] down your [indecipherable] on the above parallels (11° and 12°) ‘till in Longitude 65° on which meridian crop

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crop the line, and with the SW monsoon run direct for Bombay. At this season a passage may be made by this track to Batavia in 35 days, to Madras in 50, in 55 to Bangal, & in 65 to Bombay.

Should a ship bound to any port in the Bay of Bengal, be detained at Port Jackson ‘till late in the SE monsoon, ie, the latter end of the month of August after passing Torres’ Straits she must keep to the North of Timor passing between the Molucca islands, where the SW Monsoon does not set in until the middle of November, through the Straits of [indecipherable] , to the southward of Borneo and Malacca into the Bay of Bengal where the NE Monsoon will be found prevailing.

(NB. To crop the Bay of Bengal to the Coromandel Coast at this season, ships should not leave Prince of Wales Island before the latter end of December, to avoid the bad weather which prevails in November & the beginning of December on the Western side of the Bay.)

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If bound to the Malabar coast and sailing from Port Jackson as above she must pursue the same track in order to avoid the NW winds which set in on the south coast of Java, in September. After leaving the Straits of Malacca pass to the southward of the [indecipherable] and crop over to the south point of Ceylon, from thence to Cape Camorin, and coast it close in shore with the land and the sea breezes to Bombay. At this season a passage may be made to Batavia in 40 days, in 60 to Madras, 70 to Bengal and [indecipherable] to Bombay.

2
To India by a Northern Track
Between the months of November and March Torres’ Strait not being practicable owing to the NW Monsoon, a Northern passage must be made to any part of india, unless it is thought proper to try a passage by Bass’s Strait. In the former case, after getting the SE trade run to the Northward on the meridian of 160° to 165° as far as the latitude of 5° N by

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by this track you will pass to the westward of New Caledonia, & between New Georgia and Queen Charlottes Islands) in latitude 4° or 5° N you will meet the SE trade: between these parallels run down your westly passing the south end of Mindanao, through the Straits of Banguey into the China Sea, and from thence through the Straits of Singapore and Malacca into the Bay of Bengal.

3
To China
Sailing from Port Jackson between April and June the easterly winds which blow with much violence on the coast of New South Wales during parts of these months, will probably oblige you to run to the southward as far as 36 or 37 to gain an offing after getting the SE trade, you may either keep to the eastward of the New Hebrides or pass to the westward of New Caledonia. (the former appears to be the least dangerous but the latter would probably be the shortest passage.) Pass to the eastward of the Pescadores, and upon the parallels of 10° or 12° N run

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run down your [indecipherable]; make the NE point of Luconia, off which you will probably find the monsoon, in this case pass to the southward of the Bashee islands if possible, and thence to Macao. The only difference in the track to china after the month of October, when the Ne monsoon is set in the China Sea, is instead of making the NE point of Luconia, to make the south point of Formosa, and pass to the northward of the Vela [indecipherable]. In the latter season a passage may be made in 5 or 6 weeks, in the formerly it will commonly take ten weeks.

4

To the Cape of Good Hope by Bass Strait
Though westerly winds are the prevailing ones in Bass Strait, and in its parrel East and West, yet they are by no means so invariable as to render a western passage very difficult particularly in the winter when the easterly winds are frequent on the coast. In the summer months the winds are as variable as

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as in our own seas, and by taking advantage of these variations, a shiip may always get to the westward so as to clear the coast of New Holland and into the S.E. trade. The Naturaliste, made a passage from King Island to the Mauritius in 45 days, and an American ship ran from the same island to Batavia in 41 days.

5

To Europe by Cape Horn
If it is intended to make the passage to Europe by Cape Horn, I would with a fair wind, pass to the Northward of New Zealand, but should the wind hang to the Eastward, it is not worth while losing time by trying against it,after making the South Cape, take a departure from the [indecipherable] and run in the parrell of 47°s where the winds are found strongest from the NNW to NW after doubling Cape Horn, keep as far as possible to the Eastward, in order to be able to give Falking Islands a good birth should the wind come to

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to the Northward which is often the case on approaching the coast of America.

P.S. The above observations are the result of eight years experience in the Eastern seas, and as such are submitted with perfect confidence of their correctness.

J.H.Tuckey