APPENDIX D. A COPY OF GENERAL ORDER NO. 5, DATED 2ND OF 66 Ist. The Lieutenant-General calls the attention of Officers in command at the Penal Settlements and other detached stations to the consequences which must result to the service from any intimacy being permitted between the soldiers and the prisoners of the Crown; and they will be pleased to take the necessary steps for putting an immediate stop to it. "2nd. It is hoped that the soldiers themselves are alive to the distinction which exists, and which it is of importance should be preserved between them and the convicts. They must not indulge in any familiarity with them. Such intercourse would be inconsistent with the proper discharge of their duty, and highly injurious to the public service. "3rd. The soldiers are not, however, to suppose, that the illtreatment of a convict would be passed over with impunity. The Lieutenant-General assures them, that any such act would be promptly and severely punished. It would be as unbecoming the character of a British soldier, as an indiscriminate association with men under the sentence of the law, would be derogatory to it. 66 4th. The foregoing is to be considered a standing order, and to be read monthly to the corps and detachments, with the Articles of War. "5th. The Officers in command of Penal Settlements, and detached stations will consider it their special duty to see if strictly enforced. "The Governor has been pleased to establish the following regulations with respect to the Government vessels proceeding to and from the different settlements, viz. : "Ist. The Master Attendant is to notify to the Colonial Secretary and the Naval Officer the arrival of every Government vessel in the harbour of Sydney, sending a list of the articles on board to each of these officers, and the names and descriptions of the passengers to the Colonial Secretary. Government Coasting Service. 603 "2nd. The Colonial Secretary will make such communications as may be necessary to the officer at the head of the commissariat, and any other of the public departments which may be concerned, either with respect to landing the cargo or the prisoners, should there be any on board; and no prisoner, whether claiming his certificate of expired sentence or otherwise, is to be allowed to disembark until permission to this effect is duly conveyed by the Superintendent of Convicts. "3rd. The officer in charge of the commissariat is to be apprised of the arrival of such vessels, with the further view of supplying such of the detached settlements as may require stores. 66 4th. The officer in charge of the commissariat is to signify to the Colonial Secretary, whenever it may be necessary, to send supplies to any of the settlements, he being considered responsible that they are always regularly and duly furnished with provisions and all other necessaries. "5th. When a vessel is ready to proceed to sea, the Master Attendant will furnish the Colonial Secretary with a list of all the articles shipped on account of Government, and no others are to be embarked without special permission to that effect. The Colonial Secretary will transmit a copy of this list, with an account of the prisoners forwarded, or any other passengers on board, to the Commandant of the Settlement. "6th. On the arrival of a vessel at any of the settlements, the Commandant is immediately to send a confidential person on board to ascertain whether the passengers and supplies correspond with the list forwarded by the Colonial Secretary, and neither are to be landed without the express order of the Commandant. Should the master of the vessel have brought other passengers and goods, a special report is immediately to be made to the Colonial Secretary, in order that the master may be dismissed. "7th. The Commandants are to forward to the Colonial Secretary lists of the passengers and articles embarked in Government vessels bound to Sydney; and nothing is to be landed until the Governor's authority shall have been signified through that officer. "By His Excellency's command, "ALEXANDER McLEAY." "PROCLAMATION. "By His Excellency Lieutenant-General Ralph Darling, Commanding His Majesty's Forces, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the territory of New South Wales and its dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same, &c., &c., &c. "WHEREAS, by an Order of His Majesty in Council, bearing date at Carlton House, the eleventh day of November, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, and issued in pursuance of the Act of Parliament in such case made, it is ordered that the Governors, or other persons for the time being, administering the government of any of His Majesty's foreign possessions, colonies, or plantations, shall, from time to time, by proclamation to be by them respectively for that purpose issued, appoint the place or places within His Majesty's dominions to which any offenders, convicted in any such foreign possessions, colonies, or plantations, as aforesaid, and being under sentence of transportation, shall be sent or transported:-Now, therefore, I, the Governor aforesaid, in pursuance of the said order of His Majesty in Council, and in exercise of the power and authority in me vested, do issue this my proclamation, and do hereby appoint Port Macquarie, Moreton Bay, and Norfolk Island, to be the places, within the said colony of New South Wales and its dependencies, to which the several offenders convicted in New South Wales, and being under sentence or order of transportation, shall be sent or transported. "Given under my hand and seal, at Government House, Sydney, this fifteenth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-six. "RALPH DARLING. "By His Excellency's command, 66 Wednesday, January 2nd, 1828. On Sunday last, arrived from her voyage of discovery, the Hon. East India Company's ship 'Research,' Captain Dillon; Count Cheneau, Consul to China from France, is on board. "Wednesday, January 16th. 'La Perouse.' In another part of our paper will be found the details of the various relics that were procured from the natives of the Manicola Islands, belonging to the vessels under this unfortunate, but universally respected navigator." (Such lists and vouchers of their authenticity are given.) 6 "Friday, January 25th. The Research' though at so great a distance from the town, is daily thronged with visitors, who are laudably anxious to witness and examine those remains of the wreck of the two French ships, under the command of the unfortunate La Perouse. Captain Dillon has a cabin set apart as a depository of those valuable articles which, the moment they are seen, strike conviction into the mind of the most sceptical, and satisfy all those who are privileged to examine them, of their undoubted identity as forming a part of the wrecked ships. Of all the articles which engaged our attention, that of the decayed part of the stern, was most interesting. The mind is insensibly led to a retrospection of forty years, and the wood itself wears all the appearance of forty years old. The fleur-de-lis are very plain, and there can be no doubt, that the piece of timber formed a part of the ornamental work of the stern of one of the ships. We have a small piece of this decayed relic, which we took the liberty of seizing upon, for the purpose of placing it amongst numberless other curiosities, which we intend to hand over to the Colonial Museum, as soon as it is organised. Dillon and La Perouse. 605 From the French gentleman on board the 'Research,' we were casually informed that the utmost praise is due to Captain Dillon for the coolness, intrepidity and skill, which he displayed at the island of Manicolo, as it was with the greatest difficulty, and unabated attention, that the Research' was saved from being lost on some of the many reefs, which render the island dangerous to approach. The reefs were carefully examined, and correctly laid down by Captain Dillon, though the latitude and longitude of Manicolo continue a secret, but which, no doubt, at a future day, will be exploded. Amongst other toasts drank on board the 'Research,' was that of 'Captain Dillon, the discoverer of the fate of La Perouse.' To-morrow will be the fortieth year since Australia was founded as a British colony."-From the Sydney Gazette. "LA PEROUSE. "It is now forty years, the 20th of the present month, that the two frigates 'Boussole' and 'L'Astrolabe,' commanded by M. De la Perouse, anchored in Botany Bay-since which period no satisfactory tidings were ever obtained, until the ship 'St. Patrick,' Captain Dillon, fell in with the sword-guard of the lamented and celebrated navigator, which simple circumstance has led to the termination of a research, at the spirited instance of the Honourable East India Company, under an enterprising commander, that will render the name of Dillon famous, and elicit the grateful regards of the French nation towards the Honourable East India Company; whilst the most distinguishing and substantial rewards will, as a matter of course, be showered upon the present adventurous commander of the Company's cruiser Research.' "In looking over the first volume of an old work, entitled 'The Voyage of La Perouse round the World in the years of 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788,' we have encountered a very satisfactory document, which clearly demonstrates that Captain Peter Dillon, upon the faith of the French Government, will be rewarded according to the importance of the service.' A single individual has accomplished, under the auspices of the Honourable East India Company, that which the celebrated D'Entrecastreaux failed in accomplishing with two of the first vessels France could produce, 'La Recherche' and 'L'Esperance,' from Brest, and which were fitted up at enormous expense; independently of which, the deepest interest has invariably been excited in the mind of every Frenchman who has visited these seas for the last twenty or thirty years."-Sydney Gazette, January 4. "Now for the "DECREE OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF FEBRUARY 9TH, 1791. "The National Assembly, having heard the reports of the united Committees of agriculture, commerce, and the marine, decrees: "That the King be requested to issue orders to all ambassadors, residents, consuls, national agents employed at the courts of the several maritime powers, to use their influence with the respective sovereigns at whose Court they reside, in the name of humanity, and of the arts and sciences, to charge all navigators and agents whatever, who act under their instructions, in whatever place of the globe they may be, but, especially in the southern parts of the south sea, to make every enquiry in their power, respecting the two French frigates Boussole and 'L'Astrolabe,' commanded by M. De la Perouse, and also respecting their crews, in the view of obtaining such information as may ascertain their existence or their shipwreck, to the end that, in case M. De la Perouse and his fellow-navigators shall be found or heard of, no matter in what place, all possible assistance may be given them, and means procured for assisting them to return to their country, as well as to enabling them to recover and carry off whatever property they may possess; the National Assembly becoming bound to indemnify, and even reward, according to the importance of the service, the person or persons who shall lend assistance to these navigators, obtain information concerning them, or so much as to procure for France the restitution of such papers or other effects of whatever kind, which belonged, or might have belonged to their expedition. "Decrees, farther, that the King be requested to issue orders for the equipment of one or more ships, on board of which shall embark men of science, naturalists and draughtsmen, and to instruct the commanders employed in the expedition to fulfil the twofold mission of searching after M. De la Perouse, agreeably to the documents, rules, and orders which shall be given to them, and at the same time to pursue researches relative to science and commerce, taking every measure to render the expedition, independently of the enquiry after M. De la Perouse, or even in the event of recovering him, or of procuring intelligence concerning him, useful and advantageous to navigation, geography, to commerce, to the arts and sciences. "Compared with the original, by us, the President and Secretaries of the National Assembly, at Paris, this 24th day of February, 1791. DUPORT, President. "LIORE (Signed) } Secretaries." (For particulars concerning this interesting subject, see the "Narrative and Successful Result of a Voyage in the South Seas, performed by order of the Government of British India, to ascertain the actual fate of La Perouse's expedition," by the Chevalier Captain P. Dillon, Member of the Legion of Honour, of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and the Geographical Society of Paris, Commander of the Honourable E. I. Company's ship "Research"; in two volumes; London, 1829.) |