support themselves;
for, immediately after his arrival in New South Wales, he had sent
Lieutenant King to take possession of that island, of whose beauty and
fertility Captain Cook had spoken very highly. Twenty-seven convicts and
soldiers had gone along with King, and had cleared away the timber from
the rich brown soil. They had little trouble in raising ample crops, and
were now in the midst of plenty, which their less fortunate companions
came to share. But the _Sirius_, in which they had been carried over,
was wrecked on a coral reef near the island before she could return, and
with her was lost a considerable quantity of provisions.

#5. The Second Fleet.#--The prospects of the colony at Sydney had grown
very black, when a store-ship suddenly appeared off the Heads. Great was
the rejoicing at first; but when a storm arose and drove the vessel
northward among the reefs of Broken Bay, their exultation was changed to
a painful suspense. For some hours her fate was doubtful; but, to the
intense relief of the expectant people on shore, she managed to make
the port and land her supplies. Shortly after, two other store-ships
arrived, and the community was never again so badly in want of
provisions. Matters were growing cheerful, when a fresh gloom was caused
by the arrival of a fleet filled to overflowing with sick and dying
convicts. Seventeen hundred had been embarked, but of these two hundred
had died on the way, and their bodies had been thrown overboard. Several
hundreds were in the last stages of emaciation and exhaustion; scarcely
one of the whole fifteen hundred who landed was fit for a day's work.
This brought fresh misery and trouble, and the deaths were of appalling
frequency.

#6. Escape of Prisoners.#--Many of the convicts sought to escape from
their sufferings by running away; some seized the boats in the harbour
and tried to sail for the Dutch colony in Java; others hid themselves
in the woods, and either perished or else returned, after weeks of
starvation, to give themselves up to the authorities. In 1791 a band of
between forty and fifty set out to walk to China, and penetrated a few
miles into the bush, where their bleached and whitened skeletons some
years after told their fate.

#7. Departure of Governor Phillip.#--Amid these cares and trials the
health of Governor Phillip fairly broke down, and, in 1792, forced him
to resign. He was a man of energy and decision; prompt and skilful, yet
huma