Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 2.djvu/59

 THE GUABDIAN. 43 little hope of saving their lives, for the vessel was almost ^'®^ nnmanageable, and sixteen feet of water in the hold was '' the conunon rxm" An interesting account of the appearance of the vessel ^JJJ*^^ and her crew when she put back into the Cape of Good Hope was published in the Dublin Chronicle of 31st July, 1790. She had nine feet of water in her hold when she anchored. The lower gun-deck is described as serving as a second bottom. Riou was clad in the '^ rags of the meanest saDor.'* The crew ^' looked like men from another world — long beards, dirt, and rags covered them." The captain declared that his principal care had been to keep up the spirits of his crew, and ^^ watch over their health."* The shattered condition of the Guardian and the fruitless Riou'8 efEorts that were made to repair her are described in the the commander's letters to the Admiralty.f Riou exerted him- self to the utmost, but he had to give up the attempt. He wrote on the 7th March that the cost of repairing and refitting the ship would probably exceed that of a new one, and intimated his intention of having her towed to Saldhana Bay, where she could be hove down. Finding, however, that he could not get the vessel under weigh with any prospect of safety, he ordered a survey to be made of the hull, employing for the purpose the officers under his command, and asking also assistance from the ^£f^^ Governor of the Cape.f The master, boatswain, and car- penter of the Guardian reported that it would be impossible to put the ship in repair ; and two captains of the Dutch East India Company's ships and three carpenters, who surveyed the vessel at the request of the Governor of the Cape, made a similar report. § Thereupon, Lieutenant Riou, h?^**^ to save the useless expense of keeping the vessel afloat in *^**"' t Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, pp. 311, 317, 836. X The Cape of Good Hope was at tms time in the hands of the Dutch. § lb., p. 336.
 * Historical Records, vol. ii, p. 764.