In order to know in what time a man might be able to cultivate a sufficient quantity of ground to support himself, the governor, in November, 1789, ordered a hut to be built in a good situation, an acre of ground to be cleared, and once turned up:  it was then put into the possession of a very industrious convict, who was told, if he behaved well, he should have thirty acres.  This man had said, that the time for which he had been sentenced was expired, and he wished to settle:  he has been industrious, has received some little assistance, and in June, 1790, informed the governor, that if one acre more were cleared for him, he would be able to support himself after next January:  this was much doubted, but it was thought he would do tolerably well, after being supported for eighteen months.  Others may prove more intelligent, though they cannot well be more industrious.

The river Hawkesbury will, no doubt, offer some desirable situations, and the great advantages of a navigable river are obvious; but before a settlement can be made there, proper people to conduct it must be found, and they must be better acquainted with the country.

The Lady Juliana being the only vessel, which was at that time in the country, Governor Phillip was obliged to send her to Norfolk-Island with a part of the provisions; and had not that ship been chartered for China, he proposed sending the Sirius’s officers and men to England in her; but this intention was laid aside, as the master of her informed him, that it would be attended with a loss of more than six thousand pounds to the owners, and consequently might occasion an expence to government, which would exceed what attended their remaining a few months longer in the country:  besides, he was not willing to break through the charter-party, as other ships were coming out.  As the Lady Juliana was to touch at Norfolk-Island with provisions, and one of the superintendants professed himself to understand the cultivation and dressing of the flax-plant, the governor sent thither most of the women who came out in that ship, and he intended to send an equal number of male convicts, when other ships should arrive.

Of the superintendants sent out in the Guardian, for the purpose of instructing the convicts in agriculture, five only arrived in the Lady Juliana, and of the five superintendants who arrived, one only was a farmer; two said that they were used to the farming business when seventeen and nineteen years of age, but they were then unable, from the knowledge they formerly obtained, to instruct the convicts, or direct a farm.  The two gardeners were said to be lost, having left the Guardian in a small boat after the unfortunate accident, which deprived the colony of her invaluable cargo.

The Neptune, Surprize, and Scarborough transports arrived at Port Jackson the latter end of June, 1790, with about six hundred casks of beef and pork, which were sent round from the Guardian, and nineteen convicts, who had been transported in that ship.