severely that I was under the necessity of sending him back to England.
We had now every prospect of encountering a third voyage without the
assistance of a surgeon. Hitherto we had been fortunate in not having
materially suffered from the want of so valuable an officer; but it was
scarcely probable we could expect to continue upon such a service much
longer without severe sickness. As any assistance therefore was
preferable to none, I accepted the proffered services of a young man who
was strongly recommended by his Excellency the Governor, and he was on
the point of joining me, when a surgeon of the navy, Mr. James Hunter,
who had just arrived in charge of a convict ship, volunteered his
services which were gladly accepted, and he was immediately attached to
the Mermaid's establishment.

The accession of a surgeon to our small party relieved me of a greater
weight of anxiety than I can describe; and when it is considered that Mr.
Hunter left an employment of a much more lucrative nature to join an
arduous service in a vessel whose only cabin was scarcely large enough to
contain our mess-table, and which afforded neither comfort nor
convenience of any description, I may be allowed here to acknowledge my
thanks for the sacrifice he made.

After all our defects were repaired, and we were otherwise quite ready
for sea, we were detained nearly a month before our crew was completed.

June 14.

And it was not until the 14th of June that we left Port Jackson.

For a day or two previous to our departure the weather had been very
unsettled; and when we sailed, there was every appearance of an