The Convict Colony-The Foundation
In the late afternoon, the rest of the fleet began to arrive. The next morning, convicts were sent ashore, and the start of a settlement was begun. The first few days were understandably a mess. Trees were cut down, the bush was cleared, tents were erected, and livestock and stores were brought ashore. Forges and cooking ovens were set up. Boats were sent to make a detailed survey of the harbour.
The Reverend Richard Johnson conducted the first Christian service on Australian soil on Sunday, February 3rd..." in the presence of the troops and the convicts, whose behaviour on the occasion was equally regular and attentive". It was not so regular however, when the female convicts were released three days later, when one diarist noted that " the scene of debauchery and riot that ensued during the night may be better conceived than expressed".
The first court was assembled on February 11 with three naval and three marine officers officiating. A convict was sentenced to 200 lashes for striking a marine with an adze, another to 50 lashes for stealing wood, and another who had stolen bread, was marooned for a week on a famous Sydney landmark called 'Pinchgut Island'. (Pinchgut was fortified with sandstone blocks complete with gun ports, and can be seen in detail on a routine ferry ride on the harbour).
Not all was going to plan though. Like so many European colonies on distant lands, there was little understanding of local conditions. Other than Joseph Banks descriptions of the flora around Botany Bay, there was no real knowledge of the environment at all. Cook had described the land as "green and undulating", giving Europeans the idea of fertility and verdant growth, which implies water and good soil fertility. Nothing could be further from the truth. Australia is the worlds driest continent, and its plants are adapted to some of the most infertile soils on earth.
Vegetable and grain crops planted by the new settlers withered in the heat, or were eaten by ants and mice. Settlers went down with scurvy and dysentery or were killed by the local aborigines. Cattle wandered off into the bush and simply disappeared. Without expert farmers, the settlement would not be self-supporting for years.
In September 1788, Commissary Miller prepared an inventory of stores, which showed that there was enough flour for 52 weeks, rice for 15 weeks, beef for 43 weeks, pork for 128
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