AN ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH COLONY IN NEW SOUTH WALES:
FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT IN 1788, TO AUGUST 1801:
WITH
REMARKS ON THE DISPOSITIONS, CUSTOMS, MANNERS, etc. OF THE NATIVE INHABITANTS OF THAT COUNTRY.
TO WHICH ARE ADDED,
SOME PARTICULARS OF NEW ZEALAND;
COMPILED, BY PERMISSION,
FROM THE MSS. OF LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR KING.
AND AN ACCOUNT OF THE VOYAGE PERFORMED BY CAPTAIN FLINDERSAND MR. BASS; BY WHICH THE EXISTENCE OF A STRAIT SEPARATINGVAN DIEMAN'S LAND FROM THE CONTINENT OF NEW HOLLAND WAS ASCERTAINED.
ASBSTRACTED FROM THE JOURNAL OF MR. BASS.
By LIEUTENANT-COLONEL COLLINS, OF THE ROYAL MARINES,
LATE JUDGE ADVOCATE AND SECRETARY OF THE COLONY.
ILLUSTRATED BY ENGRAVINGS.
VOLUME II.
Many might be saved who now suffer an ignominious and an early death;and many might be so much purified in the furnace of punishment andadversity, as to become the ornaments of that society of which they hadformerly been the bane. The vices of mankind must frequently require theseverity of justice; but a wise State will direct that severity to thegreatest moral and political good. ANON.
LONDON:PRINTED BY A. STRAHAN, PRINTERS-STREET,
FOR T. CADELL JUN. AND W. DAVIES, IN THE STRAND.
1802.
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE ROBERT LORD HOBART
His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the War Department,
One of the Commissioners for the Affairs of India, etc.
MY LORD,
Feeling myself highly flattered by your permission to inscribe the following pages to your Lordship, I now humbly presume to offer them to your perusal.
The colonists of New South Wales will feel with me, who must ever take an interest in the welfare of the settlement, a high degree of satisfaction at finding the conduct of their affairs placed under the direction of a nobleman who has dignified the amiable virtues of private life by the acquisition of those more splendid talents which characterise a consummate statesman; thus at once rendering himself the object of veneration and of gratitude to his country.
Your Lordship's services in the several high and important situations which you have filled, are too generally known, and too well remembered, to make me apprehensive lest my humble tribute of applause should be mistaken for other than the genuine feelings of one proud of this opportunity to unite his voice with that of a grateful nation.
The settlement whose annalist I have been has had much to struggle with. Its distance from the protecting wing of the parent government, and the unprecedented war which that government, has so long had to conduct, have very much repressed its energies, and detracted from its natural vigour. But, although the distance must ever remain an obstacle, yet now, that your Lordship can uninterruptedly afford a portion of your valuable time and great abilities to the consideration of its interests, it will, I trust, be found to correct its bad habits, and to maintain, with a degree of respectability, its place among the colonial dominions of our much beloved and most gracious Sovereign.
That your Lordship may long be permitted to dispense blessings to New South Wales and other distant countries, and to assist, instruct, and adorn your own, is the ardent and anxious wish of him who has the honour to be, with every sentiment of respect,
MY LORD,
Your Lordship's
Most obedient, very humble,
and devoted servant,
DAVID COLLINS