^he speculative and enterprising John Macartliiir, iiidi]^- iiant at in terfereuce with a traffic which Grose, Patersun, and Hunter had openly sanctioned, offered {30th Sept.) the whole of his stock to the government — 50 cattle, 10 horses, and 600 sheep — for £4000, the land and improveuients to he included in the price. He intended to return to England • King recommended the purchase to the Secretary of State. I The Duke of Portlarul (IMtli June 1801) saw no advantage ia the purchase of the liurses» but approved of huying the sheep and cattle. The farm would he as advantageous to the settlement in private iiands. Grose, in encouraging military officers to devote themselves largely to farming pursuits, and providing them with convict lahour, deviated from Phillip*s practice and from instructions from England, The Duke of Portland animadverted strongly upon the proof now afforded of the extent of Grose's disobedience*
- I liighly disapiu'ov-e of the couifiiaudiiig officer of the corps to whioh
i Captain Maearthur belongs allowing m or luiy other officer lo coiitiiiiio in aiich coutriLiUctory situations ami characters, . , » Tlie evil, ami a great one it ia, consists in indivirliiali* who are not settlerii ifim whose charact^ira ami situabiona necessarily incapacitate tkcui from Uecoming so) bein^ enal>letl at the public cost to ilo that which should have been dono for the public itself in the first instance." AVhen these strictures reached the colony Miiciirthiu* had left it, and Mas lahouring to foinul an industry which was to hecoine important hoth to the colony and to England, (He left to his amiahle wife the diflicalt task of superin- tending Iiis property,) King's proceedings in arresting the spirit traffic livere highly commended. '* Any master of a vessel who disregards the orders should not he allowed to remain in your port an hour, nor should he be ever suffered to return to it,*' Traders in the East Indies had pampered the vicious craving of the community, and hefore King left England in 171)iJ a despatch to India had deprecated the exportation of apii'its thence to New South Wales. In March 1801 King wrote that the embargo in India had done much good, but that from America, the Brazils, and the Cape of Good Hope large quantities of bad spirits w'ere poured into the colony. Transport ships chartered to the colony continually brought sprnts- Not a convict ship arrived with less than 8000 gallons. He implored that the Transport BQ^xd ;q.
