Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 2.djvu/180

 155 FBOGBESS OF THE SETTLEMENT 1790 Colony over' crowded. Norfolk Island Buppliei. The ration at Norfolk Island. belonged to the convict class ; the remaining 599 constituted the free population, consisting chiefly of the civil and mili- tary ; of this number 57 were children. Before the arrival of the Lady Juliana^ the convict population at Sydney and Rose Hill was rather less than 400 ; by the time the last of the transports came in, the number had been increased to upwards of 1,200. This influx of convicts, a large number of whom required medical treatment, while scarcely any were fit to labour, was a serious embarrassment, and Phillip lost no time in reliev- ing the settlement, so far as was practicable, by sending ofE a batch to Norfolk Island. The Surprize, which arrived on the 26th June, was got ready as quickly as possible, and sailed on the 1st August with 194 convicts, of whom 157 were women, and as large a quantity of provisions as she could stow. The female convicts were evidently taken chiefly from the 225 brought out by the Lady Juliana, for previously to her arrival there were only 70 female convicts in the settlement. The Justinian was loaded with stores and sent to the same destination ; she sailed on the 28th July, and both vessels arrived on the same day. Norfolk Island was in as great straits for food as Port Jackson, and the relief was received with gladness. The day before the ships arrived, the ration, which had continued to diminish since the wreck of the Sirius in March, was reduced to a very low point — it was described in one of the proclamations as " the most reduced allowance that it is possible for people to subsist on" — and even at that rate there were only provisions for twelve weeks in store.* The pint of oaravanceB per week for each person, in addition t-o what birds or fish iniglit be procured. ** CaraTance«," " calliyances," or " carayanserae" — ^the word is spelt in three ways in the despatches — ^is another name for the chick- pea. According to Mr. Charles Moore, Dinnstor of the Sydney Botanic Gardens, " The chick-pea, Oieer (tneHnum, is the ' cece* of the Italians, the 'gart)anos' of the Spaniards, anl the 'gntm' of India. This plant is extensively cultivated in India. It has from time to time been cultivated va this colony, but has not proved a profitable crop, and I do not think it is now grown here."
 * The ration consisted of two pounds of floor, one pint of rice, and haM a