Thursday, March 13th

Continued rain all night and all today. The water is flowing down the hillsides in torrents, several mud houses have been swept away and the road is washed down and rendered insecure in many places; two or three boats dragged page 148their anchors and suffered damage, one driven ashore and stove in. We crouched, the earlier part of the day, in Wortley's house, though our own was dry enough, strange to say, hardly a drop having come in through a roof or side wall. In the morning the Australia, ship of 500 tons, came in; belongs to Hamburgh, with horses and sheep from Sydney. Henry went on board. Sat on the Bench with Mr Watts Russell, and tried the seamen who assaulted Major Hornbrook^*. They were sentenced to pay two pounds and thirty shillings each, or imprisonment for fourteen days. In the evening the fines were paid by Montagu and Edgar. In the afternoon about four o'clock, it having cleared up a little, we resolved on launching the Lass of Erin. Six of us carried her down and launched her from the beach opposite Crawford's. Andy, Robert, Hamilton & I were her crew, and we rowed out a short way, then set the sail and tacked across and across the harbour with the sail at first reefed. Though the wind blew hard and there was a little sea, she behaved gallantly, both with oar and sail. She is exceedingly light to row, and in sailing she is everything that can be desired. Andy was very proud of her—and with reason.