[* The direction of the hurricane was across the island from the South-east; and as its fury had blown down more trees than were found lying on the ground when Mr. King landed on it, he conjectured that it was not an annual visitant of the island.  This conjecture seems now to be justified, as nothing of the kind has since occurred there.]

His people continued to be healthy, and the climate had not forfeited the good opinion he had formed of it.  He acquainted the governor, that for his internal defence he had formed all the free people on the island into a militia, and that a military guard was mounted every night as a picket.  There were at this time victualled on the island sixteen free people, fifty-one male convicts, twenty-three female convicts, and four children.

The arrival of the Supply with an account of these occurrences created a temporary variety in the conversation of the day; and a general satisfaction appeared when the little vessel that brought them dropped her anchor again in the cove.  Lieutenant Ball, having lost an anchor at Norfolk Island, did not think it prudent to attempt to fall in with the shoal seen by the Golden Grove storeship; his orders on that head being discretionary.

We now return to the transactions of the principal settlement.  The person who was noticed in the occurrences of the last month as being employed at Rose Hill under the commissary, had been also entrusted with the direction of the convicts who were employed in clearing and cultivating ground at that place; but, being advanced in years, he was found inadequate to the task of managing and controlling the people who were under his care, the most of whom were always inventing plausible excuses for absence from labour, or for their neglect of it while under his eye.  He was therefore removed, and succeeded by a person who came out from England as a servant to the governor.  This man joined to much agricultural knowledge a perfect idea of the labour to be required from, and that might he performed by the convicts; and his figure was calculated to make the idle and the worthless shrink if he came near them.  He had hitherto been employed at the spot of ground which was cleared soon after our arrival at the adjoining cove, since distinguished by the name of Farm Cove, and which, from the natural poverty of the soil, was not capable of making an adequate return for the labour which had been expended on it.  It was, however, still attended to, and the fences kept in repair; but there was not any intention of clearing more ground in that spot.

Toward the latter end of the month two of the birds distinguished in the colony by the name of Emus were brought in by some of the people employed to shoot for the officers.  The weight of each was seventy pounds.

CHAPTER VII