Barre evening enterprise. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-1898, 1898-04-27

TILE 1e,Je STORY OF THE No'oh''
GUS SOUTH SEA SITE

No Convict Was i.'er r.
Settlement ever Made There '4''
Va. Mayer Had Anything t" DO ''''
r,c,and,s Penal System.
Tho first convict feet sailed away
from England in May, l'o', c".'e' ~, ~
Eio .Juneiro and arrived lit '1o'aA' .''
oa,Iy in January, 1858. IN Tue n0.
wore 20 gun frigate, al aThie'' 'e'-' r..
,brop storeships and SIX Transports 4"l
the largest feet that ever S"'ieu W .a
Sonth sea, though the largest VeSsG'
,1,n,snrod only $50 tons and tie Snail
est only 210 tons. 4,;s
'I ON tbe six small transports for this
long. tropical voyage were larMep oon'
victs numbering 5Gl men and l92 Wom'
on There were also carried 1853 marines
and 10 officers a few surgeons ana me-
chanics, the wives of 40 OF the h,arl'leS
and 10 children, the offsl rlOg OF con.
yicts. Approximately LOCO persons
therefore went to found the colony i'll
fine newest world less than ITO years
old. Captain Philip of the A1ltlsh navy
was placed in command cf the eXpcel'
ton and given commission as goVefi"f
and captain general OF ne" Ho"'n
Wales.
1t is easy for the visitor CT today 70
understand the blank disnlay hat fhl!lp
must have felt when the fleet salleo
into Botany Bay and be saw Tor 'no
first time the place which had he' II
recommended to him as tie spot Tor sSs'
Element. 1t had been selected by the &a-
vice of Captain Cook, whose pot&hisFs
had been SO delighted with the Froiu'
sion of new plants they found there that
thew had given it the expressive name
Philip found on first examination thas
a more unel1itable site Tor u new settle
ment horq.y could have been chosen
The laj was shallow, there was 10
good anchorage there was no good wa
ter, and the adjacent land was net Ter
tile. except for botanical specimens.
Leaving the feet anchored in tile ray
Philip started up the coast i'll LIS teli'lr
to hunt for better home. Nine mites
to the northward he found himself Tao
ing those great gates LOW known as
Sydney head, which Cock had seen
from distance, and satisfied with
Botany Bay, had marked on his chart
as a possible harbor for small boats,
Philip rounded the south head ard '"s
amazed to see opening before him the
bays of Port .lackson-ssnyder harbor
now-tamed the world over as the finest
harbor in the seven seas and disputed
for that distinction by few Three days
of exploration left no possible doubt
that this was tue place to be selected,
and Philip returned at once to Botany
The fleet was standing out CT the bay,
| when two French frigates appeared III
the of1ing. They boro an exploring party
under Comte de la Perousc, without
| hostile intentions, which was an im'
mense relief to the colCniats. Botany
| Bay was left to the E'renchnen. They
refreshed and reftted there, staying un'
| til March, and buryiny on shore one OF
their company, the naturalist CT the ex
petition, who died of wounds received
in an encounter with the natives Of al
island they had touched. A few months
later the French expedition was ship
wrecked, and every one of the crew was
murdered b. the natives of Nanikoro
one of the Santa Cruz islands. In 1926
monument was erected by the French
government to the memory Of the COM
mander of the expedition at Botany
Bay.
This is all of the story Of Botany BAY,
Il namo long infamous because of its as
sociation with convict transportation.
No convict ever was landed there, nc
settlement ever was made there, and it
never had anything more to do with the
"system" than | have related 1t is a
circular bay, with an entrance so wide
as to leave it almost an open roadstead.
The shores are fiat, low, sandy and IN
interesting.
When | went there not long ago, the
tide was out and the beach was foul
with all sorts of drifts, One peninsula,
which juts between the bay and the
ocean, has been reserved for noxous
trades, and they will elbow the obelisl
erected to the memory of Captain Cook
SO that in the future the bay will be no
more savory than its name has BEEN
unjustly, i'll the past. The French mon
ument is at the other side of the en-
trance to the bay.
1t was the goth of January, 1883,
when the fleet of Governor Arthur
Philip entered what is now Sydney har-
Dor. The settlement Of the continent of
Australia was begun. Chicago Record