FREE SEriLERS. 341 occupaidona — ^public works and tlie cultivation of the soil. 1788 At the same time he did not neglect any opportunity for «sept ascertaining the riches of the earth. The attention paid to the subject is shown in Tench's statement with refer- ence to the exploring expeditions to Broken Bay and else- where, " On all these excursions we brought away, in Agricultural small bags, as many specimens of the soil of the country we had passed through as could be conveniently carried; in order that, by analysis, its qualities might be ascertained/'* No signs of gold were found on those occasions. Your lordship will, I hope, judge it expedient to send out Settien and setUers to whom a certain number of convicts may be given. They, mj lord, will be interested in cultivating the lands, and when a few carpenters and bricklayers are sent out who will act as over- seen, and have some little interest in the labour of the convicts who are under their care, a great deal of labour will be done by those who are employed in the public work& I have in a former letter mentioned that a couple of decked Decked vessels of thirty or forty tons burthen, if sent out in frames, and two or three good shipwrights, would be of great service, f The natives, though very friendly whenever they are met by two or three people who are armed, still continue to attack any of Spearing the couTicts when they meet them in the woods, and two or three have been lately wounded by them. I have been with a small party to examine the land between the harbour and Broken Bay. We went as far as Pittwater, and saw several of the natives, but none came near us. There are several hundred acres of land free oood landai from timber, and very proper for cultivation when a small settle- ment can be made on the coast On our return to the boats, near the mouth of the harbour, we found about sixty of the natives, men, women, and children, with whom we stayed some hours. They wore friendly, but, as I have ever found them, since they
- ComplBte Aoeoant, p. 63.
i One of PhiUip's first reqaests after his appointment was for a "large CQtter built boat, to be framed in England and put together on his arrival tn New Soatii Wales. In a letter to the Admiralty, £kted 27th October, 1786, he specified the dimensions of the boat he wanted as follows : — " Thirty-two feet keel, breadth in proportion, about eight feet ten inches, to row sixteen oars, double banked sliiung Gunter mastB of a good depth, and with high wash-boards." Such a boat would have proved useful, but it was nojt provided. Digitized by Google
