Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 2.djvu/57

 THE aUABDIAK. 41 annoancing his arriral^ and stating that on the 25th Decern- ^^^ ber, " all hope of her safety being banished^ I consented to as many of the officers and people to take to the boats as thought proper. But it pleased Almighty God to assist my endeayours with the remaining part of the crew to arrive with his Majesty's ship in this bay yesterday." He was News of anxious that this note should reach the Admiralty before the ^ ^ loss of his ship could be reported^ but he was disappointed. The news of the condition in which the Guardian was when the boats put off from her had been carried to England, where it created a profound impression. No wonder that the report was received with dismay. The Guardian had been fitted out at great expense, and she lo« carried, besides nearly two years' provisions for the colony, ^°*^"*^ Sir Joseph Banks's '^ plant-cabin," upon which much care had been bestowed.* It also happened that one of the midshipmen who remained with Eiou in the water-logged ship was the Hon. Thomas Pitt, the only son of Lord Camelford, a near relative of Lord Chatham, First Lord of the Admiralty .f • " The Goardi&n, ahip-of-war, had puhlic Btor«8 to the amoant of £70,000 on board, besides the priyftte property. Her deck was a complete garden." — Publiis Advertiser, 28th April, 17i)0. Cbllins says that the G-uardiau had on board, "with what waa in the Lady Juliana, two years* provisions, viz.: — 295,344 pounds of flour, 149,856 pounds of beef, and 803,632 poands of pork for the settlement ; a supply of clothing for the marii^es serying on shore, and for those belongiog to the Sirius and Supply, together with a larg<» quantity of sails and cordage for those ships and for the uses of the colony ; sixteen chests of medicines ; fifteen casks of wine ; a quantity of blankets and bedding for the hospital ; and a large supply of unmade clothing for the convicts ; with an ample assortment of tools and implements of agriculture."— Collins, Tol. i, p. 115. t It is related in contemporary history that this young gentleman had shown a taste for the naval profession which had excited the highest disapproval on the part of his family. He was sent out with the Guardian in the hope that he might be cured of his passion for the sea. So at least asserts the Public Advertiser, which published, on the HOth April, 1790, a long account of the accident to the Guardian and her safe arrival at the Cape : — " Mr. Pitt had adopted the naval profession in positive opposition to the wishes of his noble parent, Lord Camelford. The voyage was ordered, by an injunction, to make the young gentleman suffer all the hardships of a seaman, to deter and disgust him from the pursuit." His impleasant experiences on board the Guardian do not appear to have had the desired eflTect^ for he afterwards joined Captain Tanoouverin his expedition with the Discovery and Chatham. In April, 1794,