IV THE PLAN OF A COLONY IN BOTANY BAY 49

inconvenience which arose from the crowded state of the jails of the kingdom ' 1 ; nor did they express any other aim. But their actions belied their words. They were running a neck- to-neck race with La Pérouse, If they did not share Phillip's hopes, why did they make him governor of half Australia and a great part of the Pacific ? Why did they and their successors lean on Banks, and take his advice in everything they did down to Banks's death in 1820? Had they not read Harris, De Brosses, or Callander, or even N * * * ? If they had not, Banks had.

CHAPTER V

AUSTRALIA TN THE FIBST EPOCH

In his voyage to Australia, Captain Phillip made two Phillip important geographical discoveries. First, a little below the ff^°^ e ( f rn Cape of Good Hope, he hit on a steady west wind and route to current which took him almost without a tack to Tasmania, i, 0 !^ What this meant may be shown by the following table :~

Bay,

Miles.

Voyage.

Arrival.

Time.

1,200 6,200

Norfolk Island to Sydney Cape of Good Hope to Sydney

Aug., 1794 Oct., 1792

38 days 3 S days

People at home saw at a glance that it would be easy to go to Sydney, but hard to return ; and this was what they wanted. Moreover, this discovery opened up a new trade route between New England (U. S.) and China or North- West America. New Englanders had tried this trade route in 1786, but without success; they regularly used it after 1792. Theirs were the first non-convict ships to call at Sydney for purposes of trade. East Indiamen, which still enjoyed exclusive rights in those seas, came two months 1 King's Speech (17S7). VOL. VI E