On the 18th of September 200 prisoners were received on board, on the 21st we took our departure, and on the 17th of January, 1829, we arrived at Sydney, after a very pleasant passage, during which the utmost harmony and quietness uninterruptedly prevailed.
On the 26th all the prisoners were landed in good health.
After having spent a few weeks in New South Wales, the greater part of which time I parsed in excursions over the southern and western settled districts of the Colony, I prepared to return to England. There were several vessels in the harbour about to depart for London direct, laden with colonial produce; but, preferring the "Governor Ready," a ship in which I had spent many happy days, I obtained permission from the Colonial Government to return home in her, although she was to pursue rather a circuitous route.
Previous to leaving England, it had been arranged that this ship, after the debarkation of the prisoners at Sydney, should proceed to the Isle of France, to receive a cargo of sugar; but just as we were on the eve of leaving Sydney Cove, Captain Young (who commanded the vessel) received intelligence of the failure of the sugar crops there, which rendered it doubtful whether a cargo would be in readiness; but, as the owners of the ship (anxious to establish a direct commercial intercourse between the two ports,) had sent another vessel in ballast from Bristol to the Isle of France, with an intelligent supercargo, who had instruc-
