These men are true witnesses, and the extracts among the mildest statements made by any contemporary writer.  Yet, be it remembered, the colony was a penal settlement.  The prison chronicles of England at this period are not a whit less disgraceful reading; the stone walls of Newgate, in the heart of London, hid scenes no less disgraceful than the stockades of Botany Bay.

But, though the naval governors controlled New South Wales before free emigration had leavened its population, and in consequence are remembered but as gaolers, they were something better than this:  their pioneering work should not be forgotten.

During King’s administration sea exploration was carried on vigorously (the work of Flinders and Bass will form the subject of the next chapter); settlements were made at Van Diemen’s Land in place of Port Phillip, where an attempt to colonize was abandoned, to be successfully carried out later on; the important town of Newcastle was founded; the whale fisheries made a fair start; and several expeditions were conducted into the interior, always to be stopped by the Blue Mountains barrier.  Above all, MacArthur, in spite of every discouragement, made a success of his wool-growing, resigned his commission, and returned to the colony, the first of the great pastoralists.  King, to his credit, forgot his differences with MacArthur, and lent a willing hand to the colonist.  The first newspaper, the Sydney Gazette, was published just before King left the colony, and free settlers began to come out in numbers.

The French expedition under Baudin called at Port Jackson to refresh, and certain matters in connection with their visit are worth telling.  Two unfortunate incidents occurred:  one an accusation against the French officers of selling on shore certain liquor King had given them permission to purchase from a merchantman for the use of their ships’ companies; another incident was the manner of hoisting the English ensign on board one of the French ships, which was “dressed” for a holiday.  Baudin explained these matters easily enough.  The flag was wrongly hoisted by accident, and the accusation for selling liquor was unfounded, and certain officers of the New South Wales Corps who made the statements did not come out of the affair very creditably.

[Illustration:  SIR JOSEPH BANKS.  From a picture by Thomas Phillips, R.A., in the National Portrait Gallery. To face p. 158.]

But the most noteworthy incident is explained in this extract from a letter dated Sydney, May 9th, 1803, from King to Sir Joseph Banks:—­

“Whilst the French ships lay here I was on the most friendly footing with Mons’r Baudin and all his officers. Entre nous, he showed me and left with me his journals, in which were contained all his orders from the first idea of his voyage taking place, and also the whole of the drawings made on the voyage.  His object was, by his orders, the collection of objects