The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-13
BOTANY BAY.
True Story and Present Condition o
 Much- -Ma1ioued Settlement.


 Botany Bay, concerning the locality and character1stics of which such numerous misconceptions exist, is a shallow harDor, some five miles in length and six miles in width, lying about fourteen mties rom rom Sydney, with which it has recently been connected by tramway.. at the opening of which tine State premier, Sir John See, said the shores of the harbor formed the classic ground of Australia. It was al Le Perouse, on the northern shore, and at Kurnell, on the opposite side. that two Of the most notable events in the early his. tory of Australia took place. On April 8, ITO. Captain Cook entered the nay and cast anchor. The natives, who seem ed to have been a manly race. were dis posed to resent the intrusion of the great navigator into their quiet haven ana threatened to oppose his landing. being. unlike other savage people under similar circumstances. neither excited by the ap- pearance of the great ship nor terrified by the superior numbers of the strangers. Captain Cook examined the bay very several times, and his company were therefore the first Europeans to tread on the Pacific coast of the Australian Con- ttnent. Before leaving the bay he per formed the interesting ceremony of hoist shore and again near the North Head and took possession of the newly dis covered territory in the name and on be- half of the British Grown. During Cook g duty of burying a comrade named Forby Sutherland, who was in all probability the first British subject whose body was committed to Australian soil. The parish of Sutherland, which skirts the southern shores of the bay, rescues from oblivion the name of the sailor, and the two riv- ers-Cook and George-running into the bay, commemorate the captain of the Captain Cook was greatly taken with the possibilities of the shores of the bay as a place for settlement. and the botanists Of the expedition were extremely gratified at the large variety of new plants they obtained, and the satisfaction of all par ties was expressed by the name with which the bay was formally Invested. The favortte report which Captain Cook land directed attention to tho possibility of founding settlement in Australia. and when, some II years later, 1t was decided to establish a colony, it was to Botany The proximity of Botany to Port Jackson, now better known as Sidney Harbor. de- stroyed its chance of being the first place of settlement, for Captain Phillip, when longer doubt which was the more suit able site. It was while Captain Phillip s vessels were in the bay that an event happened which led to the name Of La Perouse being given to spot on the north, a < fitted out an expedition in the interest of science and geographical discovery. and had gfven the command of the two ships forming the expedition to Count de la Perouse. According to the law of ma tions vessels equipped in the interests of discovery are exempt from interference, even by the war ships of hostile Power. and though France and England had been recently In arms against one another, and were again on the verge of war. Captain Phillip received with every courtesy the members of the French expedition and its dstinguishd. commander. It is possi- ple the French might have had ulterior designs on Australia; they had recently lost Canada to Great Britain, and the dreams of Indian Empire, so long in dulged in by the Kings of France, was dissipated by the victories of Give and his successors, and perhaps If Captain Phillip had not already been ip possession the French might have claimed this DOT tion of the continent as their own. How ever this may be. the. territory was ac- tually in the possession of the British and La Perouse was fittingly entertained. and departed, unfortunately, to find an untimely end on the reefs of the New Hebrides. While in Botany bay the French lost a very distinguished member. Father Le Receveur, chaplain of the ex- petition, and man of distinguished scientific attainments. Father Le Re- ceveur was a member of the Franciscan Order, a com nunity which has branch settled at Waverley, a Sydney suburb. The French buried their chaplain at La Perouse and later on, when the Govern ment of King Charles x dispatched and expedition to search for the missing nav- igator, that expedition visited Sydney and made a pilgrimage to the place. and with the consent of the New South Wales Government erected the monument which commemorates the death of the chaplain and the visit of their distinguished coun- trymen to the shores of Botany Bay. The fate of La Perouse and his com panions long remained a mystery. Like the ill.fated Leichhardt, most contradic- tory stories were ip circulation as to his ultimate end and tales of his having vts- ited various lands and ports separated by Aong islands and ports were current among mariners. It was not until 1S26 that there was authentic Information. In that year Captain Peter Dillon. who was was visiting the island of Vanikoro. in the New Hebrides, brought away with him relics which, after 3S years Of uncer- tair1ty, forever set at rest any doubts that existed of the gallant explorer fate: A large portion of the shores remain in their prifneval condition, but 1t is anticipated that the opening of the tramway will fa- cilitate not only the progress of. settle ment but also the establishment of large manufacturing industries, especially as areas have been reserved, under the Workingmen's Blocks Act. to enable the poorer classes of the community to re- portions of Sydney to healthier atmos- phere, where their children may enjoy something of the freedom of open-air life under satisfactory conditions. and where the bread winners will not be so far dis tant from their occupations that they "'"' ~ John Piufnmer.