Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 1.djvu/423

SUPPLIES FROM ENGLAND. 309 Evidently relying on his good £riend Evan Nepean for 1788 assistance in his diflScnlties, Phillip lost no opportunity for » J"iy- keeping him acquainted with the state of affairs in the settlement. His despatches to the Secretary of State were usually accompanied by letters to the Under Secretary, in which the contents of the former were repeated in still Letters to plainer and more emphatic language. The point which he was most anxious to impress on the Ministerial mind at this time was, the necessity for keeping up a regular supply of provisions. Although the First Fleet had sailed with supplies calcu- lated to last for two years,* it had become manifest to Phillip, before he had been six months in the country, that he would have to depend on regular supplies from England Rearui&r for at least four or five years to come. According to the original estimate, the provisions put on board the ships were not expected to last more than two years, and there- fore another store-ship ought to have been at anchor in the harbour in May, 1789. Unfortunately, Lord Sydney was sanguine enough to suppose that the cultivation of the sanguine ex- land, added to the natural products of the country, would enable Phillip to procure the necessaries of life for his people with very little difficulty. Any practical farmer might have pointed out the danger of relying on such expectations; but it so happened that the difficulties of farming in a new country were never taken into calcula- tion by the Government, until they forced themselves on their attention through the medium of Phillip's bitter ex- perience. Tou will see by my letters to Lord Sydney that this colony Dependent must for some years depend on supplies from England. **° ""^ ^ The Sirius will be sent to the northward for live stock as soon Live stock as we can spare her carpenters ; and from what Monsieur la P^- islands, ouse said to Captain Hunter, one of the Isles des Navigateurs is the most likely to furnish us with what we want ; but though these ♦ Poat, p. 436. Digitized byCjOOQlC