Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 2.djvu/254

212 STATE OF THE 1798 Difloidarly Grose arrivefl by the Pitt. Provisions and stores. Salt meat only. The new arrivals appear to liave been so dissatisfied with their lot, and so impatient of restraint, that, weak and suffering as they were, they broke out into riot and disorder^ It was necessary to put a stop to these demonstrations, which threatened the peace of the settlement, and according* to Collins a proclamation was issued forbidding convicts to assemble in numbers, and directing that any man who left his hut during a disturbance should be deemed to be aiding and abetting the rioters, and should be punished accord- ingly.* This rigorous measure had the desired effect, for riotous conduct on the part of the convicts appears to have immediately ceased. While affairs were in this state the Pitt arrived from England (14th February, 1792), having on board Major Grose, Lieutenant-Governor of the colony, and Commandant of the New South Wales Corps. The Pitt also brought a company of this force under the command of the Adjutant, Lieutenant Rowley, and a number of convicts.t A ship from England was always a welcome sight at Sydney Cove. In the case of the Pitt the feeling of satisfaction was enhanced by the general belief that she had on board a substantial quantity of stores for the relief of the settle- ment; but like many other transports, she was a disap- pointment. She brought neither flour nor rice, and only enough beef and pork to supply the colony, at the reduced ration, for forty days.f The omission, which was a serious one, was explained by Dundas in a despatch forwarded by the Pitt :— "The supply was confined to these articles [salted beef and pork] on the idea that with the grain produced in the settlement^ the flour already sent from Home, the quantity purchased at • Collins, vol. i, p. 199. t The arrivals by this vessel were partly compensated for, by the departure in January of sixty-two convicts and settlers to Norfolk Island. X " She [the Pitt] brought out three hundred and nineteen male and forty- nine female convicts, five cnildren, and reven free women : with salt provisions calculated to serve that number of people ten months, but which would otilj f umish the colony with provisions for forty days." — Collins, vol. i, p. 201-