In 1770, Captain James Cook began the daunting task of
mapping the east coast of Australia. Up until that time,
that section of Australia was unknown to the European
world. In fact, during his travels, Captain Cook not
only began mapping the area, but he claimed eastern
Australia for King George III on August 22, 1779.
So with this beginning, the First Fleet was dispatched. It
comprised of 11 ships and over 1300 people. In January of
1788, Captain Arthur Phillip and his cargo of British
prisoners, landed at Port Jackson, site of the what is now
Sydney.
Until the U.S. War of Independence, England had sent their
prisoners to America. American in dependance halted that
and Britain decided to begin the practice of sending their
prisoners to Australia. So, the eleven ships under the
command of Captain Phillip had their hulls brimming with
English convicts.
Since the new settlers had little knowledge of the land or
climate and how to survive on it, they found themselves
grossly unprepared for life there. The knew nothing of the
plant or animal life. Also, they had to contend with the
hostile Aboriginal population.
As a result of an unknown and hostile environment, and due
to poor soil conditions in the area, food shortages were
severe. These early pioneers had to contend with near
starvation issues and everyone eagerly awaited the arrival
of the Second Fleet.
The Second Fleet did arrive in 1790. Although it provided
some badly needed food and supplies, the Second Fleet also
brought with it problems of its own. The First Fleet had
some 48 people who died on the voyage. This number rose
to 278 on the voyage of the Second Fleet.
In fact, since sickness and disease were so prevalent on the
Second Fleet, it became known as the "Death Fleet". The
horrible conditions onboard the ships were largely due to
the lack of safeguards which had been in place for
transporting prisoners to America were absent on the long
voyage to Australia.
Although the British government did have regulations for the
transport of convicts, these regulations were mostly ignored.
Prisoners were to be fed, given access to fresh air, cleaned
and fumigated daily, but due to either ignorance or
inefficiency on the part of the crew, the precautions were
neglected.
Upon the ships return to England, an Inquest into the
treatment of the prisoners was held to determine who was to
blame for the high rate of death on the voyage. Although
charges were brought against the ships' masters and
surgeons, only Donald Trial, master of the ship Neptune and
his chief mate were ever tried. All of the other culprits
disappeared before any arrest could be made.
In spite of these and other problems, however, the small
settlement which was to become Sydney did grow and prosper.
Australia Day is celebrated on January 26 to commemorate the
founding of what is now Australia.
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