but on his arrival Governor Philip came to the conclusion that Botany Bay was not suitable for a settlement, and, coasting north, entered the opening between the north and south heads of Port Jackson, and discovered the magnificent harbour inside.
He selected as a landing-place a bay four miles from the opening of the harbour, where there was a good spring of fresh water, and excellent anchorage for many of the largest ships of that day. He therefore made this his landing-place, and called it Sydney Cove, after the then Secretary of State for the Colonies. On January 26th, 1788, the date now commemorated as the anniversary day of the Foundation of the Colony, the rest of Captain Philip's fleet sailed round from Botany Bay, and anchored in Sydney Cove, near what is now known as the Circular Quay, though at that time the cove ran a good deal farther inland. It was Governor Philip who planned the principal streets of the new township of Sydney with a width of 200 feet, which was instead unfortunately, reduced to sixty feet by his successors, producing a narrow, crowded effect, instead of the generous sense of space characteristic of cities in the new world.
The quay was a process of slow development. As late as 1803 Governor King issued a general
