I took the first opportunity of examining the island around me, and found it almost impenetrable from the size of the trees, and the entangled state of their roots, which were in general two feet above the ground, and ran along it to a considerable distance.  On the spaces of ground unoccupied by these roots, there grew a kind of supple-jack, which in general was as thick as a man’s leg; these supple-jacks ran up the trees, and as they grew in every direction, they formed an impenetrable kind of net-work; bending some trees to the ground, and then taking root again, they twined round other trees in the same manner, until the whole became an impervious forest.

As I had only twelve men, (one of whom was seventy-two years old, and another a boy of fifteen,) exclusive of the mate and surgeon, my progress for some time must of course be very slow.  On the 8th we had strong gales of wind and cloudy weather:  at nine in the morning, we hoisted the colours in a west, as a signal that the Supply’s boat might land; and at eleven, we received the last of our baggage, provisions, and stores, and hauled the boat up.  In the afternoon, Lieutenant Ball came on shore to ask if I had any farther occasion for the Supply, and, as I had not any, he took leave and returned on board; and in the afternoon sailed for Port Jackson.  I sent by him a journal of my proceedings to Governor Phillip.

The 9th, being Sunday, every person in the settlement assembled in my tent, where I performed divine service; after which my commission from the Governor, to whom we were subordinate, was read, appointing me superintendant and commandant of this island:  I then assured every person, that my intention was to forward the King’s service to the utmost of my power; and (addressing myself to the convicts) I endeavoured to convince them, that those who were idle or dishonest should not escape that punishment, which is due to useless and destructive members of society:  I also informed them what ration of provisions would be allowed daily, and I held out every encouragement for them to behave with propriety and industry.

In the afternoon I saw some turtle lying on a sandy beach at the east end of the bay; two of which we turned and brought to the tents for general use; they were issued out in lieu of salt provisions.  Finding we had turtle on the island, I gave strict orders that no person whatever should go near the beach where they were seen, in order to prevent them from being frightened, which might occasion the loss of this valuable resource:  the two turtle we had caught weighed two hundred weight each.  From this time until the 15th, every person was employed in clearing away, and turning up the garden ground, which, when finished, was enclosed by a hedge, and sown with a small quantity of all the different kinds of seeds I was furnished with.  The size of the enclosure was eighty-seven feet square:  the soil very rich and deep.

This afternoon I turned three more turtles, which were brought to the settlement.  We generally saw three lying on the beach at low water, in clear weather, but when cloudy, they never land; this, together with there being no appearance of any pits where they lay their eggs, leads me to suppose that they do not breed on any part of the island; especially as this is the only place where there is a possibility for them to make their pits.