2. Discovery of the Kermadecs, 1788.

Since the last-recorded event in our narrative, the Colony of New South Wales had been established by Governor Philip on the shores of Port Jackson. Among the First Fleet which entered the magnificent harbour where Sydney now stands, was a transport called the Lady Penrhyn, under the command of Captain Sever. Her destination, after receiving her dis- page 77 charge from the public service, was China. On 5th May 1788, she sailed from Port Jackson, and, on the afternoon of the thirty-first, came in sight of several islands, the existence of which had been hitherto unknown. To the northernmost the name Macaulay Island was given, after G.M. the father of Lord Macaulay; to the southernmost, Curtis' Islands, after Timothy and William Curtis.

As scurvy had a very firm hold of the vessel's crew, Captain Sever ordered out a small boat, and landed on Macaulay Island to look for something for his men, but the island proved such a scene of desolation, and so barren of everything which scorbutic men required, that he returned empty handed to his ship, and continued his journey eastward.

Lieutenant Watts and the steward on board the Lady Penrhyn had both served on board the Resolution under Cook, and, when they arrived at Matavai Bay, were welcomed by an old chief who recalled their presence on Cook's vessel. There Watts learned that Omai, and the two New Zealanders who had been brought from Queen Charlotte Sound in 1777, were dead.