when he wrote so indignantly to Mr. Wilberforce about ^'^^ "the villany, oppressions and shameful peculation of the masters of two of the transports/'* That the enormities committed on these vessels were not overlooked is shown by a passage in Dundas's despatch, to Phillip, written on the 10th January, 1792:— " The distresses to which the convicts sent out in the three ships An inquiry were exposed during their voyage to New South Wales is a subject into which the strictest enquiry will be made, in order to the bringing to punishment the persons who have been the cause of that shocking calamity." On the same date, Mr. John King, who was acting as Under Secretary at the Honie Office in the absence of Mr. Nepean, wrote : — "Several affidavits have been taken since the return of the Neptune respecting the inhuman treatment said to have been offered to these people, with a view to the prosecution of the persons who were the cause of it, and in consequence of which the Flying master, it is reported, has absconded." In his despatch of the 15th May, 1792, Dundas told Phillip that he had " thoroughly investigated" and " taken the necessary steps to bring forward the conduct of the parties concerned in the treatment of the convicts on board the Neptune, Surprize, and Scarborough.'^ Although, as stated on a previous page, nothing came of these proceed- ings, it is apparent, at any rate, that the British Government ^^^^ was aware of the outrage that had been conunitted, and authorities. recognised its responsibility in the matter. The responsibility was not a light one. It is true that the Government had appointed a naval officer. Lieutenant Shapcote, to take
- Hiitorical Beoords, rol. i, port 2, p. 367. While the masters of the
traniportfl neglected the convicts committed to their charge, they looked after their own interests sharply enough. " Although," wrote Tench. •* the convicts had landed from these ships [Neptune, Surprize, and Scarborough] with every mark of meagre misery, yet it was soon seen that a want of room, in which more conreniences might hare been stowed for their use, had not caused it. Several of the masters of the transports immediately opened stores, and ex- posed large quantities of goods to sale, which, though at most extortionate prices, were eagerly bought up." — Tench, Complete Account, p. 51. VOL. II. — K
