Lieutenant Governor Ross, And The Staff
Of The Marine Battalion, Also Removed From The Sirius Into The
Scarborough Transport, One
Of the ships of the first division, in order
to afford every assistance which the public service might receive,
by
Their being early on the spot on which our future operations
were to be conducted.
From this time a succession of fair winds and pleasant weather corresponded
to our eager desires, and on the 7th of January, 1788, the long wished for
shore of Van Diemen gratified our sight. We made the land at two o'clock
in the afternoon, the very hour we expected to see it from the
lunar observations of Captain Hunter, whose accuracy, as an astronomer,
and conduct as an officer, had inspired us with equal gratitude and admiration.
After so long a confinement, on a service so peculiarly disgusting
and troublesome, it cannot be matter of surprise that we were overjoyed
at the near prospect of a change of scene. By sunset we had passed between
the rocks, which Captain Furneaux named the Mewstone and Swilly.
The former bears a very close resemblance to the little island near Plymouth,
whence it took its name: its latitude is 43 deg 48 min south, longitude
146 deg 25 min east of Greenwich.
In running along shore, we cast many an anxious eye towards the land,
on which so much of our future destiny depended. Our distance, joined to
the haziness of the atmosphere, prevented us, however, from being able
to discover much.
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