_Admiral Barrington_ and _Pitt_ left with Mr.
King eleven men and two female convicts, who had secreted themselves at
this port on board of those ships.

October.] The _Britannia_, which had quitted the cove on the last day of
September, preparatory to her departure on a fishing voyage (a licence
for which had been granted by the East India Company for the space of
three years), returned to the cove on the third of this month for the
purpose of fitting for the Cape of Good Hope, the officers of the New
South Wales corps having engaged the master to proceed thither and return
on their account with a freight of cattle, and such articles as would
tend to the comfort of themselves and the soldiers of the corps, and
which were not to be found in the public stores. Mr. Raven, the master,
let his ship for the sum of L2000; and eleven shares of L200 each were
subscribed to purchase the stock and other articles. The ship was well
calculated for bringing cattle, having a very good between-decks; and
artificers from the corps were immediately employed to fit her with
stalls proper for the reception and accommodation of cows, horses, etc. A
quantity of hay was put on board sufficient to lessen considerably the
expense of that article at the Cape; and she was ready for sea by the
middle of the month. Previous to her departure, on the 7th, the _Royal
Admiral_ East-Indiaman, commanded by Captain Essex Henry Bond, anchored in
the cove from England, whence she had sailed on the 30th of May last. Her
passage from the Cape of Good Hope was the most rapid that had ever been
made, being only five weeks and three days from port to port.

On board of the _Royal Admiral_ came stores and provisions for the
colony; one sergeant, one corporal, and nineteen privates, belonging to
the New South Wales corps; a person to be employed in the cultivation of
the country; another as a master miller; and a third as a master
carpenter; together with two hundred and eighty-nine male and forty-seven
female convicts. She brought in with her a fever, which had been much
abated by the extreme attention paid by Captain Bond and his officers to
cleanliness, the great preservative of health on board of ships, and to
providing those who were ill with comforts and necessaries beyond what
were allowed for their use during the passage. Of three hundred male
convicts which she received on board, ten only died, and one made his
escape from the hospital at False Bay; in r