Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 1.djvu/590

 466 WARRANTS FOR TRANSPORTATION TO AMERICA. George R, 1788 Whereas a contract having been made with our trusty and well- beloved George Moore for conveying to North Ajnerica certain Transporta- felons whose names are hereafter mentioned, who, in consequence British ^^ crimes they have committed, have been sentenced to be trans- America, ported to some of our plantations in North America, which felons are now on board the Censor and Justicia hulks in your custody ; our will and pleasure is that you forthwith deliver over to the said George Moore the bodies of the said convicts, viz. : — . . . ♦ in order to their being effectually transported to North America pursuant to their respective sentences, and for so doing this shall be your warrant. Given at our Court at St. James's, the twelfth day of August, 1783, in the twenty-third year of our reign. To our trusty and well-beloved Duncan Campbell, Esq., Superin- tendent of the Convicts in the river Thames. By his Majesty's command. North.* CONTEMPORARY OPINIONS. One of the most important periodicals published in England towards The Annual the close of the last century was the Annual Register, founded in 1758 by Edmund Burke. It purported to give a summary of the history of each year, including the most notable events in the domestic annals of the country. The volume for 1787 contains no mention of the Expedition to Botany Bay, which sailed in May of that year; and the only reference to it in the volume for 1788 (p. 205) is the following : — By the last accounts received from the fleet for Botany Bay, they arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on the 13th of October last, and expected to sail again about the middle of November, and to proceed directly for their place of destination. They were very healthy, and the convicts very orderly. The number of deaths from England to the Cape amounted to twenty-one. Digitized by Google
 * The Coalition Ministry was in oflBce from April to December, 1783.