Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 2.djvu/79

 THE SECOND f UQBT. 6S It mw no €887 xBfttter to find acoooantodttfcica for fire I'^BQ hmicbed mk people. Tkere was xme hoepital bvilding, Imt Hospital it only lud room lor aeventy or eiglit j pec^e ; f orkmately^ datkn. IioweTer, a portable liospital had been brougkt oat from EngTawd in the Jnatiniaii, and this was erected after a delay of more tban a f ortanight. It was said to ba¥e been put together in Eogland in a few.boacs,'^ but it was not ready for oGcnpstion until the 7tb Jnly. Wben erected^ it was ''filled in a few minntes/^ Sydney Cove must at that time have presented a painful spectacle. Pbillip^s brief allusion to the " scene of misery '' in Hie hospitals and sick-tents is a scene, of misery. aU that we hare officially in the way of descripti<m. The omifiskm, however, is well supplied by Mr. Johnson, and there are also the published accounts of CoUins and Tench^ whoj like the chaplain, were eye-witnesses. From the accounts given by these officers, we learn that, when landed^ " great numbers were not able to walk, nor to move hand or foot.'' The spectacle must have been truly affecting ; some of the strongest were to be seen carrying or leading their helpless comrades; others '' creeped upon their hands and knees.'' l^e difficulty of hofUBiDg so large a number of sick and helplesB people can be easily imagined : it was inscreased by the scarcity of bedding. About one hundred tents^ each ^J^^^ capaUe of accommodating four convicts^ were erected ; a quantity of grass was collected for them to lie upon^ and one blanket was supplied to each tent. It must be remem- bered that this was in July, the middle of our winter. It was BO uncommon octmrrence to find in the mcnming that the strongest of the four convicts had appropriated the blanket, and left his unfortunate bedfellows to shift as best they could.t An eye-witnessj; tells us : — " The morning a struggle generally opened with the attendants of the sick passing existence. ^ Oolfins, ToL. i, f. 125. t Hi^iorioBl Beoordsy toL i, pftrt 2, pp. 866-989. i CkiOha, ToL i,^p. 125.