The storms of thunder and lightning are sometimes particularly
terrific, but have seldom been productive of much damage. In some
few instances, indeed, individuals had been killed by the
electric fires, but these accidents have generally resulted from
the too common and dangerous mode of seeking shelter under trees,
which attracted and directed the lightning to its object, instead
of affording that security which was sought for. A very singular
circumstance happened at the close of the spring of 1802, when
the Atlas, a ship commanded by Mr. Thomas Musgrove, was stricken
by a flash on the 5th of November, and, although the bottom of
the ship was immediately perforated by the stroke, not a man on
board received any material injury: such a singular instance is
almost without its parallel. At other periods, the tempestuous
gales which have been experienced surpass the conception of those
who have never witnessed the boisterous and tumultuous agitation
of nature. Hailstones, exceeding six inches in circumference,
have frequently fallen with such violence as to destroy the
windows of those habitations which had neglected the adoption of
measures of security, to kill the poultry, and lay level with the
earth the shrubs and the corn. In fact, storms of this
description never fail to occasion the most extensive
devastation, and to commit injuries to the settlers, which the
labour of months is scarcely sufficient to overcome.

An absurd notion had uniformly existed amongst the convicts
that it was possible, by penetrating into the interior, to
discover a country, where they might exist without labour, and
enjoy sweets hitherto unknown. This ridiculous opinion had
induced numbers, since the establishment of the colony, to desert
their employment, and to trust themselves in forests which were