London Chronicle's First Fleet & Botany Bay Account

First Fleet & Botany Bay: the London Chronicle. The first printed accounts of the Expedition to and the Settlement at Sydney Cove, in issues of the London Chronicle newspaper issued in early 1789, March 26-28, 1789: A very lengthy article covering nearly four complete columns in the paper. On 23 March 1789 the convict transport Prince of Wales sailed into Plymouth after an absence of almost two years. This article, published the next day, was the earliest full account of the settlement and was derived from reported conversations with the crew of the Prince of Wales. The article provides much detail of the earliest days of the settlement, the decision to form a supplementary colony on Norfolk Island, the Aboriginal inhabitants, the animals (including the 'Kanguroo', birds, fish, soil and climate. The men and women go without the least apparel or fence against the weather. The men are upright, but not garcefully made: the women stoop very much, and in their gait are particularly awkward...