We Hear Little Of His
Subsequent Career, Beyond That He Retired From The Royal Navy And Settled
Down At The Island Of Timor,* (* The Sydney Gazette (1814) Says That The
Ship Morning Star, Captain Smart, Brought The Above News Concerning
Captain Curtoys To Sydney.
Captain Curtoys' brig had left Surabaja for
Timor three months before Captain Smart's arrival at that port.) becoming
commander of a brig, which occasionally traded with Surabaja.
CHAPTER 9.
SYMONS SUCCEEDS CURTOYS AS COMMANDER OF THE LADY NELSON.
HIS VOYAGES TO PORT PHILLIP, TASMANIA, AND NEW ZEALAND.
George Curtoys was succeeded in the command of the Lady Nelson by Acting
Lieutenant James Symons, who, like himself, had come to New South Wales
as a midshipman in H.M.S. Glatton under Captain Colnett. Symons
afterwards served on board the Buffalo, and doubtless gained much
knowledge of the Australian coast while he was in that ship. She is well
known on account of her many pioneering voyages, and it is also recorded
that her figure-head was the effigy of a kangaroo, and for this reason,
on her first arrival in Sydney, she became an object of no little
interest to the natives. Symons' appointment was somewhat hurriedly made,
when, after Curtoys had been sent to sick quarters on shore, the ship
Ocean arrived from Port Phillip. Her commander, Captain Mertho, brought
important despatches to the Governor from Colonel Collins, who had been
instructed by the British Government to form a settlement at that spot.
The establishment had been conveyed from England in two ships, H.M.S.
Calcutta, Captain Woodriff, and the Ocean, Captain Mertho.* (* The ships
left England in April, 1803, and arrived at Port Phillip on the 7th and
8th of October.) Colonel Collins now reported that the site at Port
Phillip, which he had originally chosen, was unsuitable, and asked King's
permission to move the whole settlement to Tasmania.* (* Collins settled
at what is now Sorrento. It is curious that no proper examination of the
northern shores of Port Phillip was carried out by Colonel Collins. Had
he done so, he must have found the Yarra.) His cousin, Mr. William
Collins, who had accompanied him to Port Phillip, "in a private
capacity," first volunteered to bring this despatch round to Sydney, and
set forth in a six-oared boat. He was delayed by bad weather, and he and
his party of six convict sailors were overtaken and picked up by the
Ocean at Point Upright.
Governor King complied with Colonel Collins's request, and in replying to
his letter acquainted him with the circumstances that had induced him to
send Bowen with settlers to Hobart. At the same time he left Colonel
Collins to decide whether he would move his people to that place or to
Port Dalrymple on the northern shores of Tasmania. The Governor also gave
orders for the Lady Nelson, then on the point of sailing to Norfolk
Island, to be cleared of her cargo and to be made ready to sail with the
Ocean back to Port Phillip. Two other ships - the colonial schooner
Francis* (* This ship had been brought from England in frame in 1792, the
Edwin was locally built, the property of Mr. Palmer, and commanded by
Captain Stuart.) and the whaler Edwin - were also sent to render Colonel
Collins all the assistance in their power.
The Lady Nelson left Sydney on Monday, November 28th, 1803. Among those
who sailed with Lieutenant Symons was the well-known botanist, Mr. Robert
Brown, late of H.M.S. Investigator, who wished to examine the
neighbourhood of Port Phillip and also to visit Port Dalrymple in search
of new plants.* (* Robert Brown, formerly an ensign in the Fifeshire
Fencibles, was granted leave of absence to go with Captain Flinders in
the Investigator.) The brig was singularly unfortunate in her passage to
Port Phillip. So rough was the weather on arriving in Bass Strait, that
"after beating a fortnight against a south-westerly wind," she was
eventually obliged to bear up for the Kent Group.* (* Robert Brown's
Manuscript letters to Banks, describing the voyage, are preserved at the
British Museum.) Twice she left her anchorage there in order to try to
reach her destination, and twice she had to return to port again.
Meanwhile the Ocean, with Mr. William Collins and his sailors on board,
arrived at Port Phillip on December 12th, and the Francis, bringing
Governor King's despatches, on the following day.
On his way to Port Phillip, Mr. Rushworth, the Master of the Francis, in
passing Kent Group, had observed smoke rising from one of the islands,
and being apprehensive for the safety of the Lady Nelson, he informed
Colonel Collins of this fact. Accordingly, when Mr. William Collins
sailed in the Francis for Port Dalrymple on the 24th, and with a view to
reporting upon its suitability for a settlement, the Master was directed
to call at the Group and ascertain who was on shore there. This he did,
and he found the Lady Nelson still in the cove where she had sought
refuge. Mr. Brown, during his enforced stay there, had explored all the
islands of the group in search of botanical specimens, but he tells Banks
that his collections were enriched by only "twelve new plants and nothing
else." On her arrival the Francis was in a very leaky condition, so that
at the suggestion of Mr. Collins she was sent back to Sydney, and the
party appointed to survey Port Dalrymple was embarked in the Lady Nelson.
Two days later Lieutenant Symons sailed to Port Dalrymple, which he
entered on January 1st, 1804, and where he remained until the 18th. A
succession of gales made it quite impossible to put to sea after the
survey of the shores had been completed. While the brig lay at anchor,
Mr. Collins explored the River Tamar as far as One Tree Reach, and Mr.
Brown resumed his botanical researches; his letters show that he made
several excursions into the inland country in order to examine its flora,
which, however, he found disappointing.
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