lers from Norfolk Island, colonised in 1788, was
the next most important event. On his return to Great Britain, Collins
visited that place, in company with Hunter, the late governor-in-chief.
On the whole, he represented Norfolk Island as by no means promising to
repay the annual cost, and it was resolved to abandon it.

In 1803, directions were issued by Lord Buckinghamshire (Lord Hobart).
The opposition of the settlers, and the fear of famine, for some time
occasioned delay. In 1805, only four free settlers had removed. The
order was renewed in 1808 by Mr. Windham, then secretary of state, and
Captain Bligh directed Captain Piper to compel the colonists to evacuate
the island, and even to shoot any one who might retreat to the woods to
avoid embarkation.[49] They were conveyed to this island chiefly in the
_Estramina_, _City of Edinburgh_, and _Sydney_: 254 arrived on 15th
October, 1808.[50]

Norfolk Island, so celebrated for its genial climate and unusual
fruitfulness, is of volcanic origin, and contains about 14,000 acres. It
lies on the 29th parallel,[51] north of New Zealand: it is nine hundred
and ninety miles from Port Jackson, thirteen hundred miles from the
Derwent, and until seen by Captain Cook, was probably never visited by
man. Norfolk Island has twenty-eight miles of sea shore: its greatest
elevation is Mount Pitt: it is a succession of hills and valleys. Its
lofty cliffs, which breast the ocean, are crowned by the elegant white
wood and the gigantic pine. The wild jasmine and convolvuli, which reach
from tree to tree, form bowers and walks of exquisite beauty. Twice in
the year the settler gathered his harvest: the lemon, the orange, and
the pine, shed their fragrance in profusion, and yielded the richest
fruit. Though liable to occasional storms and destructive insects, the
husbandman could scarcely be said to toil. Gentle showers frequently
refresh the undulating soil, and pour down rivulets to the ocean. Sea
breezes cool the atmosphere, and the diseases often incident to such
latitudes, are unknown; but no ships can anchor: it is a land unsuited
to commerce.

Thus it presented no incitement to exertion: it gave the indolent
abundance without labor; it afforded a leisure, in which man is prone to
degenerate and sink into the savage. Distillation from the cane produced
spirits, more than usually deleterious: unacquainted with the process by
which saccharine is crystalised, the settlers were unable to