Page:Historical records of Port Phillip.djvu/122

 110 EARLY RECORDS OF PORT PHILLIP. about 7 years old, and did not appear to flee from them. p.m. — At 3 Capt. Merthew and Mr. Collins went on shore to get oysters. Tuesday, 14. "W.N.W. a.m. — Fresh breezes and hazy wr. Unable to sail, the wind against us. 4 p.m. Capt. Merthew went on shore a short time. Wed. 15. Calm, N.W. a.m. — First part light variable winds, in dining to a calm ; at 4 sprung up a breeze from the N.W. ; weighd and made all sail. At 10 calm, light airs ; -i-past light airs from the S.E. The centre of Betseys Island S.W.b.S. At noon tkd ship to the east- ward. P.M. — ^-past 1 tkd. ship ; at 3 round Betseys Island, and bore up for the enterance of the harbour. At -^-past 3 saw a boat a-head, which came alongside with Mr. Simonds, commander of H.M. Brig Lady Nelson, and went with us up the Eiver Derwent. At -|^-past 6 anchord in Eisdon Cove,^ in 4 fthms. Latter part light breezes and hazy. Eemarks, Eisdon Cove, Van Diemens Land, Feb. 1804. Thursday, 16. a.m. — The morn very fine. At 10 the Lieut. Gov- vernor, self, and Lieut. Lord, of the Eoyal Marines, went on shore to see the settlemen form'd by Lieut. Bowen, of the Eoyal Navy. As we left the ship. Cap. Mertho, of the Ocean Transport, saluted Lieut. Coll. Coll., the new Governor, with 11 guns. When landed we were received by Lieut. More, the commandant of the New South Wales Corps, Mr. Mongarrett, the surgeon, and Mr. Wilson, the storekeeper ; the camp consisted of 16 privates, 1 sarjant, 1 drum and fife. After examining the camp, gardens, water, &c., it was the general opinion to be not calculated for a town. At 2 the Lieut. Gov. returnd on board. I dind with Mr. Mongarret at his house, on the N.-East side of the river. The watering place is by no means good. Capt. Bowen returnd to Port Jackson with an intention of going to England. Friday, 17. a.m. — At 10 the Lieut. Governor, Mr. Collins, and self went to examine a plain'^ on the S.W. side of the river ; the plain ex- tensive, and a continuel run of water, which is very excellent ; it comes ' Risdon Cove, improperly called "Eestdown," was named by Lieut. Bowen after the 2nd officer of the Lady Nelson, which vessel carried Bowen and his party from Sydney to form the settlement in June 1803. — Ed. ■^ It is difficult to determine in what sense Mr. linopwood uses the word plain here and elsewhere, all the surface about Hobart Town being undulatory, and, at the time he writes of, much wooded. The following is the description of the place as it was in 1804, written by the chief officer of the Lady Nelson _Jorgen Jorgensen'] (and published in Ilobart Town, 1835), who assisted to establish both Ilisdon and Hobart Town : — "During our absence," that is at Port Phillip, to remove the second draft of Collins' people to the Derwent — " the station at Risdon was found ineligible, and the present scite of Hobart Town was ultimately determined on. We landed at Sullivan's Cove, and liaving pitched our tents, spades, hoes, saws, and axes were jiut into the hands of prisoners, and we com- nieuced clearing away as fast as we could. As I walk up and down the streets of this now crowded and large town, I cannot always divest myself of the remembrance of what it was at that time — 32 years ago. The spot where the Bank of Van Diemen's Land, the Hope and Anchor, and the late Mrs. Kearney's habitation now are was then an impervious grove of the thickest brushwood, surmounted Avith some of the largest gum trees that this island can "produce, and all along the rivulet, as far up as where the Old or Upper mill now is, was impassable from the denseness of the shrubs and underwood, and the huge collection of prostrate trees and dead timber which had been washed down by the stream, and were strewed all around. These had in parts blocked up the channel, and many places which are now dry and built upon, or cultivated in fruitful gardens, were covered with rushes and water." Jorgenson says the Lady Nelson was a small brig, of