she was thrown for a short time broad-side to the sea: had she
kept in that position, she would soon have gone to pieces; but
from her being very light forward, the iron ballast having dropt
out of her bottom, she was lifted fairly round, and was thrown
more than her own length nearer to the shore, and was, by this
change in her position, almost out of the reach of the break of
the sea; that is, the surf, which before generally broke upon
her, now broke outside, and its force was considerably spent,
before it reached her; so that when the weather was moderate and
the surf low, we got with more ease on board, and could remain
there with less danger.

One of the bow ports was enlarged for the purpose of getting
casks and other parcels out; the hauser and traveller were also
fitted and hove taught from the bow, and various stores were sent
on shore with more ease and certainty than before; but the knees
of the beams, being many of them broke, and the ends of the beams
being dislodged from the clamps, the orlop deck blown up, and the
lower deck beams loose, and many of them broken, it was dangerous
to attempt going into the hold; for by every stroke of the sea,
the decks were all in motion: however, every thing that could be
got at by the sailors on board was sent on shore.

A few days after the unfortunate loss of the Sirius, the
ship's company being all on shore, with very little provisions on
the island for so great a number of people, and the supply from
the wreck being yet in a very precarious situation, the
lieutenant-governor assembled all the officers in the settlement
together; and in order that the description of people now among
us in so considerable a number, (I mean the convicts, who I
believe to have been some of the worst characters ever sent from
Great-Britain) should fear the commission of any crime here, more
than they had ever done under the laws hitherto established in
this settlement, it was unanimously judged necessary for the
general safety and good of the whole, that martial law be now
established in this island until such time as we might be
relieved from the distressing prospect that was now before us, by
a supply of provisions, or until the governor in chief of his
Majesty's territory in this part of the world might think fit,
either to approve or disapprove of it.

The necessity of such a measure in the situation we were now
reduced to, I apprehend, will be apparent to every considerate
per