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Historical Records of New Zealand

d Captain Bampton to Lieutenant-Governor Paterson

d Captain Bampton to Lieutenant-Governor Paterson.

Port Jackson, 1st June, 1795.

Sir,—

I have the pleasure of informing you the Endeavour is save arrived in Port Jackson with the cattle and grain on account of Government. I beg leave to acquaint you with the many unavoidable accidents which have prevented my fulfilling the contract earlier.

In the first instance, you will perceive by my journal, which I will produce if you think it necessary, by which you will see we were unavoidably detained getting through the unknown passage between New Holland and New Guinea to Batavia. On my arrival at Batavia I was informed of the French war, and that the Straits of Sunda and Banca were infested by a number of French privateers, which obliged me to remain near a month after the ship was ready for sea until I could get the Dutch frigate, the Amazon, to convey me through the straits, which was late in December, and it was the 1st of February before I arrived at Bombay. On my arrival, there was no ship fit for conveyin cattle to a great distance, nor did the ship I now have arrive until page 199 the middle of May. I then purchased her, but found she was not fit to proceed in those boisterous latitudes without docking (and the south-west monsoon far advanced), which took me until the month of October. It was impossible for me to get the cattle from Surat at this season, and it took me until January before I could get them all down, after which I had to land them and feed them two months on dry food, such as hay, grain, &c., for had we taken them on board directly from grass they must inevitably have died in the course of so long a voyage. This brought all February, and on the 17th of March I embarked the cattle, and on the 19th sailed with 132 head of cattle and new grain just arrived from Surat.

I am, &c.,

W. W. Bampton.

Captain Bampton left Sydney in the Shah Hormuzear on 21st April, 1793.