The Convict Colony-About to Starve-2

To the general relief, the "Atlantic' finally returned from Calcutta, with a cargo of rice and other food including pork, the latter found to be "for the most part putrid", and had to be thrown out.

Phillip though, had good reason to believe that the worse was over. HMS 'Gorgon' had returned from England with assurances from authorities, that regular shipments of food and other supplies would be regularly forthcoming.

The first sign of this promise was the arrival in July, of the storeship 'Britannia' with four months of flour and eight months of beef and pork "for every description of persons in the settlement at full allowance". It also carried a year's supply of clothing, and the news that two more ships were on the way. The full standard ration was thereby restored.

The effects of the preceding famine were not easily shaken off though. Many more died. It was a long time before many more were restored to full health. It appeared though, that the long years of hunger were over.

The health of the Governor was not much better. Running a colony in trouble, had been a huge strain on Phillip, and as early as March 1791 he had requested leave, so that he could get expert help in England, for the pain in his side, from which he had seldom been free for a couple of years.

In July 1792 the transport 'Royal Admiral' brought a letter from England that granted Phillip his request. On his last visit to Parramatta he gave each settler a breeding ewe as a farewell gift.

He sailed on December 11 on the 'Atlantic', and was saluted by Major Grose, to who control of the colony passed. The 'Atlantic' had hardly disappeared over the horizon when the settlers traded their ewes for rum.

When Phillip left the colony, its population was 4,222, of which 1,256 were at Sydney, 1,845 at Parramatta and 1,121 at Norfolk Island.

The colony was still short of many necessities and livestock. On the other hand, more than 1,700 acres of land were under cultivation or cleared of timber for cultivation. Many settlers were able to keep themselves, and some had surpluses of grain and vegetables to sell.

The last harvest before Phillip's departure had yielded 4,800 bushels, and within another year, Grose reported that the colony was virtually independent of outside supply. It had however, been a near run thing.

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