Journal of Arthur Bowes Smyth, 1789-1789

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Journal of Arthur Bowes Smyth kept on the Lady Penrhyn (master: William Sever) on the voyage from Portsmouth to New South Wales and on the return voyage from Sydney to London, 20 March 1787 – 13 August 1789. (116 folios, 232pp)

The first part of the journal refers to Smyth's embarkation on the Lady Penhryn at Portsmouth, the crew, the arrival of Governor Phillip, the departure (13 May 1787), landing at Tenerife (2 June 1787), Smyth's appointment as convicts' surgeon, illnesses of crew members, storms, deaths of convicts, visits by officers from HMS Sirius, sightings of other ships, sightings of whales, porpoises, seals and albatrosses, landing at Rio de Janeiro (6 Aug. 1787), procurement of medicines and other provisions, impressions of the city, dining on the Alexander and HMS Sirius, a mutiny on the Alexander, arrival at the Cape of Good Hope (13 Oct. 1787), impressions of Cape Town, the separation of the fleet, provisions for convicts, thieving, punishments, Christmas Day celebrations, the first sighting of Australia (6 Jan. 1788), storms, and the arrival at Botany Bay (20 Jan. 1788).

The following entries contain impressions of Botany Bay and the local flora and fauna and refer to Smyth's wanderings around the bay, a meeting with indigneous peoples, the arrival of French ships, the transfer to Port Jackson, the selection of convicts for Norfolk Island, the disembarkation of the convicts from the Lady Penhryn (6 Feb. 1788), the proclamation ceremony (7 Feb. 1788), kangaroos, encounters with Aborigines, the trials of convicts, excursions into the bush, and deaths and illnesses of convicts.

The final part of the journal records the departure from Sydney (5 May 1788), a landing at Lord Howe Island, scurvy outbreaks, arrival at Tahiti (10 July 1788), trading with Tahitians, dances, meetings with the King, Queen and chiefs, the procurement of cloth and other articles, visits to Huahine and Penhryn Island, porpoises, tropical birds, descriptions of Saipan and Tinian islands (Mariana Islands), collecting shells and corals, arrival at Macao (18 Oct. 1788), meetings with British seamen and factors, including crew of the Scarborough and Charlotte, a visit to Canton, preservation of fish, the position of mandarins in Chinese society, departure from Whampoa (11 Jan. 1789), Sumatra, landing at St Helena (18 May 1789), news of Botany Bay and the other First Fleet ships, social life at St Helena, produce of the island, and the arrival at Portsmouth and London (12 Aug. 1789).

Scattered through the journal are a number of drawings: view of the peak at Tenerife (f. 7) Mayo Island (f. 8), the land about Rio de Janeiro (f. 19), the Cape of Good Hope (f. 27), a tree at Botany Bay 'which yields the yellow balsam of a wigwam' (f. 37), a kangaroo (f. 39), Grafton Island (f. 77), a dolphin and a fish (f. 106). There is also a newspaper cutting (Oct. 1815) with an article about St Helena and a sketch of the island (ff. 98, 116).

At the beginning of the volume there is an incomplete list of vessels in the First Fleet (f. 1), a list of officers stationed at Botany Bay (f. 2), a list of female convicts on board the Lady Penhryn with their ages, occupations, crimes and terms of transportation (ff. 2-5), and a list of children sent out with convict women (f. 6).

At the end of the volume is a list of the number of miles the Lady Penhryn had travelled from the time it left Portsmouth in 1787 until its return to the Isle of Wight in 1789 (f. 113), a list of the places touched on during the voyage (f. 113) and references to remarkable passages in the journal (ff. 114-15).

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