patronised by Napoleon. His account of
D'Entrecasteaux is more favorable than that in the work of
Labillardiere.]

[Footnote 22: _Penny Cyclopaedia_: art. Bass.]

[Footnote 23: _Ross's Almanack_, 1835.]

SECTION II.

The settlement of New Holland was proposed by Colonel Purry, in 1723: he
contended that in 33 deg. south, a fertile region would be found, favorable
to European colonisation. He offered his theory to the British
government, then to the Dutch, and afterwards to the French; but with
little encouragement. His views were submitted to the Academy of
Sciences at Paris, who replied that "they could not judge of countries
they had not seen."[25] Thus the project slept, until the great English
navigator in 1770 gave certainty to what had been conjecture.

To Dalrymple, the hydrographer, the impulse of this enterprising era is
largely due. He fully believed that a vast southern continent must
exist, to balance the antipodes. So firm was his conviction, that he
defined its extent as "greater than the whole civilised part of Asia,
from Turkey to the extremity of China. Its trade would be sufficient to
maintain the power of Great Britain, employing all its manufactories and
ships." The position of this region of fancy was traversed by Cook, who
found nothing but ocean. The doctrine of terrestial counterpoise was
disturbed; he, however, alighted on a great reality.

The description of New South Wales by Cook and his companions, which
charmed the public, attracted the attention of the crown; and Botany
Bay, named on account of the variety and beauty of its vegetation--long
known through Europe as a region of gibbets, triangles, and chains; to
be celebrated hereafter as the mistress of nations--was selected for a
settlement. 565 men and 192 women, the pioneers of a larger division,
were embarked under the charge of a military force composed of
volunteers; comprehending, besides the staff, sixteen commissioned
officers.

The fleet consisted of H.M.S. _Sirius_, _Hyena_, and _Supply_; six
transports and three victuallers: they assembled at the Motherbank on
the 16th March, and sailed on the 13th May, 1787.[26] They touched at
Teneriffe, and then at the Cape. Separated into two divisions, they
reached their destination within forty-eight hours of each other. On the
day of their junction, dense clouds threw a gloom over the sea; but they
rejected the omen, and believed that they had seen "the foundation, and
n