PLANS FOR COLONISING 1786 Frigates are ill-adapted for such services. I conceive that ships of burthen to contain the various stores, provisions, implements, <&c., Fita^ not wanted for the first colonists meant to be established there, and composing the chief part of the company of the ship, should be provided for the purpose; though an armed vessel of suitable dimensions might be previously appointed to inspect and fix on the preferable station for forming the intended establishment The length of the navigation, subject to all the retardments of an India voyage, do not, I must confess, encourage me to hope for a return of the many advantages, in commerce or war, which Mr. Matra has in contemplation. Tbe sclieme being thus questioned by the Admiralty, no further action appears to have been taken with respect to it. It seems probable, however, that Matra, not satisfied with Lord Howe's unfavourable opinion of his project, de- termined to seek another channel for it, and for that purpose placed himself in communication with Sir George Young, who is described in a letter from Pepper Arden, the Attorney- General, to Lord Sydney, as '^ of the navy.* He appears to have thoroughly sympathised with Matra's ideas on the subject ; his experience in the navy leading him to appre- ciate the prospective importance of a colony in the South Sea to the commerce as well as the naval power of the mother country. Guided by this experience, he prepared a condensed edition of Matra's proposals, presenting them in a shape somewhat more consistent with official views on the No oonfl- denoe in the scheme. Farther negotia- tions. Sir Oeoijre Young. Naval experience.
- Post, p. 429. — Sir George Young was an officer of distinction. He served
at the taking of Louisburg in 1758, at Quebec in 1759, at the Havannah in 1762, and at Pondicherry in 1778. He was an admiral of the White squadron, and died in 1810, at the age of 78. Some confusion has existed between his name and that of a contemporary, Sir George Yonge (pronounced Younff), who was Secretary of Warm the Shelbume administration of 1782, and suo- sequently in Pitt's. Among the despatches from the English Government in 1792 may be seen a letter from Sir George Yonge addressed to Governor Phillip, dated from the War Office, 24 July, 1792. Sir George's name appears in the list of Ministers present at a meeting of the Privy Council, at which " the King's Most Excellent Majesty " presided, and which was held at the Court at St. James's, on the 16th December, 1786, "William Pitt, Esq.," being also present. It was then ordered that a second captain should be appointed to the ** man-of-war that shall proceed with the transport vessels appointed to convey the convicts to ^tan^r Bay," with power to command in the absence of the principal captain. Captain Hunter was appointed second captain, Phillip being the principal. Digitized by Google
