6th died of a
severe dysentery, Richard Hudson, the sergeant-major of the New South
Wales corps. At three in the morning of the 16th Mr. Joseph Gerald
breathed his last. A consumption which accompanied him from England, and
which all his wishes and efforts to shake off could not overcome, at
length brought him to that period when, perhaps, his strong enlightened
mind must have perceived how full of vanity and vexation of spirit were
the busiest concerns of this world; and into what a narrow limit was now
to be thrust that frame which but of late trod firmly in the walk of
life, elate and glowing with youthful hope, glorying in being a martyr to
the cause which he termed that of Freedom, and considering as an honour
that exile which brought him to an untimely grave.* He was followed in
three days after by another victim to mistaken opinions, Mr. William
Skirving. A dysentery was the apparent cause of his death, but his heart
was broken. In the hope of receiving remittances from England, which
might enable him to proceed with spirit and success in farming, of which
he appeared to have a thorough knowledge, he had purchased from different
persons, who had ground to sell, about one hundred acres of land adjacent
to the town of Sydney. He soon found that a farm near the sea-coast was
of no great value. His attention and his efforts to cultivate the ground
were of no avail. Remittances he received none; he contracted some little
debts, and found himself neglected by that party for whom he had
sacrificed the dearest connexions in life, a wife and family; and finally
yielded to the pressure of this accumulated weight. Among us, he was a
pious, honest, worthy character. In this settlement his political
principles never manifested themselves; but all his solicitude seemed to
be to evince himself the friend of human nature. _Requiescat in pace_!

[* He was buried in the garden of a little spot of ground which he had
purchased at Farm Cove. Mr. F. Palmer, we understood, had written his
epitaph at large.]

CHAPTER XXXI

Slops served
Orders
Licences granted
The _Supply_ returns from Norfolk Island
The _Susan_ from North America and the _Indispensable_ from England
A Criminal and Civil Court held
Sick
Thefts committed
The _Britannia_ arrives from Bengal
Mr. Raven's opinion as to the time of making a passage to India
A Civil Court
The _Cornwallis_ and _Experiment_ sail for India
Caution to masters of ships
A Wind-m