THB THIBD FLEET. 173. Salamander, Albemarle, Mary Ann, Admiral Barrington, ^'^^ and Active. At the same time the Gorgon man-of-war, H.M.a which had been used as a reception-ship for convicts in 1787,* was got ready for the purpose of conveying stores and a few convicts to New South Wales. £ing, who had been appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island, had a passage in this vessel, and the action he took on the voyage in purchasing live stock at the Cape was not with- out importance to the colony. All the transports arrived in safety, but in the case of one of them, the Albemarle, not without an adventure. Mutiny On the 9th April, in latitude 44° 30' north, longitude 15* Aibemarie. 20' west, a number of the convicts made an attempt to seize the vessel, but it was frustrated by the vigorous action of the master, George Bowen, who seized his blunderbuss and shot the leader in the shoulder. The man fled, and the other mutineers following his example, Bowen was left in possession of the deck. He at once mustered all hands, and sent a search party below for the mutineers, who were easily secured. A sort of informal Court-martial was held p^p*_ on the spot, in which the naval agent. Lieutenant Robert Parry Young, took part, the result of which was that two of the men who had instigated the mutiny, one of them being the man wounded by Bowen, were immediately summary hanged at the fore-yard-arm.f ^^^ The island lying off the south head of the bay was named Bowen Island in honour of its discoverer. In NoTember, 1791 — three months after Bowen discoTered it — Captain Weatherhead, of the transport Matilda, while ooastine southward in search of seals, put into the bay to stop a leak. He remained there some days, and upon his return to Sydney furnished Phillip with the accompanying chart of the bay, copied from the original, which is still in existence. See Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, pp. 648, 553, 556, 558 ; Collins, Tol. i, p. 174; Tench, Complete Account, p. 136 ; Hunter, p. 541.
- As tbe Grorgon ** was to bring out stores and provisions, her lower-deck
ffuns were left iu England, and her complement was reduced to 100 men." The thirty male convicts she brought out ** assbted in working the ship/' aa those on board the Guardian had done. — Hunter, Historical Journal, p. 552. t A report of the occurrence, unsigned, is given in the Historical Keoords, vol. i, part 2, p. 487, as apparently from Lieutenant Toung, the naval agent in charge; but from information received since that volume went to press, it appears that the report came from Mr. George Bowen, the master.
