I now ordered the surgeon to examine all the convicts who had lately arrived, in order to discover if any of them were infected with diseases, or troubled with complaints of any kind; but on examination, he found them all healthy.

The Supply having ineffectually swept for her anchor till the morning of the 10th, she made sail for Port Jackson at ten o’clock in the forenoon.  The ground in the road off Sydney-Bay is very foul in general, although there may be some clear spots.  The Golden-Grove parted her cable in the road, but regained her anchor, which the Supply was not lucky enough to accomplish; and she had the additional misfortune of nearly ruining two new cables in sweeping for it.  It is somewhat remarkable, that the beach in Sydney-Bay has at times five feet of sand on the stones, and at other times it is all cleared away:  this has happened when the wind has been at south-east, and when the beach was filled with sand, the wind has been at south-west:  this probably may be the case in the road.

I gave the convicts who were newly arrived until the 18th, to build habitations for themselves; the others were employed at task-work.  The numbers now on the island were as follows, viz.

Officers, marines, and free men, 16
Male convicts, 50
Female convicts, 23
Children, 5
Total 94

In order to prevent the water from overflowing the cultivated grounds in the upper part of Arthur’s Vale, I set eight labourers to work on the 19th, in cutting a water-way of sixty rods long, by six feet deep.

I have hitherto forborn mentioning the numerous thefts that had almost daily been committed; and, notwithstanding the utmost vigilance, we had not been able to detect any person.  Gardens had been constantly plundered; the harness cask, containing the provisions that were daily issued out, had been robbed; and one night an attempt was made to get into the upper part of my house, where the slops were deposited.  Great rewards had been offered to tempt one or other to discover their accomplices, but without effect:  however, at eleven o’clock in the night of the 23d, Thomas Watson, a convict, was detected in another convict’s house, stealing a bag of flour.

From the number of daring thefts which had been committed, without my being able to fix on the thief, it became necessary to inflict a very severe punishment on this offender; and as I had no authority to give him any very severe corporal chastisement; after examining witnesses upon oath, and fully proving the theft, I ordered him into confinement, with an intention of sending him to Port Jackson to take his trial.  In order to prevent these depredations as much as possible in future, I gave orders for the convicts to be mustered in their huts three times every night, and the hour of muster to be constantly changed:  this had a good effect, but did not entirely prevent robberies from being committed.