Page:Admiral Phillip.djvu/172

 plunder of the seamen, and set the ship on fire in two places. A light on board the ship being observed from the shore, several shot were fired at it, but the wretches would neither put it out or come on shore; when a young man of the name of Ascott, a convict, with great intrepidity went off through the surf, extinguished the fire and forced them out of the ship.'

For his good service it is satisfactory to know that Ascott was not forgotten by Phillip, who wrote to England and procured his pardon.

The disaster to the Sirius again served to show Phillip's resourcefulness. He assembled his civil and military officers without delay, and the desperate situation of the colony was thoroughly considered. It was decided to reduce still further a ration that was already too low for proper human subsistence. To fish for a living, instead of being a mere expression, became a literal fact, for all private boats were to be surrendered for the general benefit.

The services of the three convicts to whom the duty had been assigned of shooting kangaroos for individuals were now employed for the benefit of the community, but although considered good marksmen, they only succeeded in killing three kangaroos in as many weeks. A fishery, under the control of one of the midshipmen of the wrecked Sirius, was established at Botany Bay, but it did not answer, and was soon abandoned. At the present day Botany Bay is one of