The Logbooks of the Lady Nelson | Page 4

the Lady Nelson, after charting the bare coast-line of Victoria, returned again and again to explore its inlets and to penetrate its rivers, her boats discovering the spacious harbour at the head of which Melbourne now stands.
The Lady Nelson also went northward as well as southward, and though many of her logbooks are missing, some survive, and one describes how, in company with the Investigator under Captain Flinders, she examined the Queensland shore as far as the Cumberland Islands. Later she accompanied the Mermaid, under Captain King, to Port Macquarie when he followed Flinders' track through Torres Strait, and during her long period of service she visited different parts of the coast, including Moreton Bay, Port Essington, and Melville Island. Precisely how many voyages she made as a pioneer will probably never be known. The ship, at least, played many parts: now acting as King's messenger and carrying despatches from the Governor to Norfolk Island; now fetching grain grown at the Hawkesbury, or coals from Newcastle for the use of the increasing population at Sydney; and at another time carrying troops and settlers to the far distant north. She made other memorable voyages; for example, when she conveyed bricks burnt in Sydney brick kilns to Tasmania and to New Zealand, in order to build homes for the first white settlers in those lands. She helped also to establish Lieutenant Bowen's colony at Risdon. On that occasion we read that the little ship lent the colony a bell and half a barrel of gunpowder. The logbooks do not record to what use the bell was put, but whether it served as a timekeeper or to call the people to worship, it was doubtless highly valued by the early Tasmanian colonists.
At the time of her sailing to Australia the Lady Nelson was a new ship of 60 tons. She was built at Deptford in 1799, and differed from other exploring vessels in having a centre-board keel. This was the invention of Captain John Schanck, R.N., who believed that ships so constructed "would sail faster, steer easier, tack and wear quicker and in less room." He had submitted his design to the Admiralty in 1783, and so well was it thought of that two similar boats had been built for the Navy, one with a centre-board and one without, in order that a trial might be made. The result was so successful that, besides the Cynthia sloop and Trial revenue cutter, other vessels were constructed on the new plan, among them the Lady Nelson. She was chosen for exploration because her three sliding centre-boards enabled her draught to be lessened in shallow waters, for when her sliding keels were up she drew no more than six feet.
In 1799 the news reached London that the French were fitting out an expedition to survey unknown portions of Australia; the Admiralty were quickly stirred to renewed activity, and decided to send the Lady Nelson to Sydney. At first it was believed that Captain Flinders would be placed in charge of her, but he was eventually given a more important command, and Lieutenant James Grant was appointed to the Lady Nelson. She was hauled out of Deadman's Dock into the river on January 13th, 1800, with her full complement of men and stores on board. She carried provisions for 15 men for a period of nine months, and enough water for three months. Her armament consisted of only two brass carriage-guns.
On January 16th she sailed to Gravesend. So small did she look as she made her way down the Thames that the sailors on board the ships in the river ridiculed her appearance and ironically christened her "His Majesty's Tinderbox." Grant says that many expressed a doubt that she would ever make her port of destination.
A heavy gale was blowing when she reached the Downs, but from the first she proved herself a good sea-boat, and it was found that lowering the keels greatly steadied her. Grant now had a good opportunity for testing her capabilities. A large convoy ready to sail for the West Indies lay at anchor here, and on the evening of the 23rd, as the fury of the wind increased, many signals of distress were seen flying in the offing. Finding the Lady Nelson drag very much, her commander let go another anchor, with the result that she rode out through the gale with ease, although next morning six vessels were ashore dismasted, while two others had lost both their masts and bowsprits. He then decided to take shelter in Ramsgate, where he remained until the 7th, when he sailed to Spithead and thence to Portsmouth. Here four more guns were placed on board and some oak planking, which caused the brig to lie deeper in the water, so that Grant writes "there