one but a _man_ could have controlled its affairs; he is appointed to the
supreme command in New South Wales, and before he has been many months in
office becomes a laughing-stock.

It is due to the first governor's successors to remember that they had no
force behind them. Phillip's marines were soldiers; the New South Wales
Corps were dealers in rum, officers and men were duly licensed to sell it,
and every ship that came into the harbour brought it. "In 1802, when I
arrived, it was lamentable to behold the drunkenness. It was no uncommon
occurrence for men to sit round a bucket of spirits and drink it with
quart pots until they were unable to stir from the spot." Thus wrote a
surgeon. "It was very provoking to see officers draw goods from the public
store to traffic in them for their private gain, which goods were sent out
for settlers, who were compelled to deal with the huckster officers,
giving them from 50 to 500 per cent, profit and paying them in grain."
Thus wrote Holt, the Irish rebel general.

These men are true witnesses, and the extracts among the mildest
statements made by any contemporary writer. Yet, be it remembered, the
colony was a penal settlement. The prison chronicles of England at this
period are not a whit less disgraceful reading; the stone walls of
Newgate, in the heart of London, hid scenes no less disgraceful than the
stockades of Botany Bay.

But, though the naval governors controlled New South Wales before free
emigration had leavened its population, and in consequence are remembered
but as gaolers, they were something better than this: their pioneering
work should not be forgotten.

During King's administration sea exploration was carried on vigorously