But judge of my surprize on hearing from a serjeant, who ran down almost
breathless to the cabin where I was dressing, that a ship was seen off
the harbour's mouth. At first I only laughed, but knowing the man
who spoke to me to be of great veracity, and hearing him repeat his
information, I flew upon deck, on which I had barely set my foot, when
the cry of "another sail" struck on my astonished ear.

Confounded by a thousand ideas which arose in my mind in an instant, I
sprang upon the barricado and plainly descried two ships of considerable
size, standing in for the mouth of the Bay. By this time the alarm had
become general, and every one appeared lost in conjecture. Now they were
Dutchmen sent to dispossess us, and the moment after storeships from
England, with supplies for the settlement. The improbabilities which
attended both these conclusions, were sunk in the agitation of the
moment. It was by Governor Phillip, that this mystery was at length
unravelled, and the cause of the alarm pronounced to be two French
ships, which, it was now recollected, were on a voyage of discovery
in the southern hemisphere. Thus were our doubts cleared up, and our
apprehensions banished; it was, however, judged expedient to postpone
our removal to Port Jackson, until a complete confirmation of our
conjectures could be procured.

Had the sea breeze set in, the strange ships would have been at anchor
in the Bay by eight o'clock in the morning, but the wind blowing out,
they were driven by a strong lee current to the southward of the port.
On the following day they re-appeared in their former situation, and a
boat was sent to them, with a lieutenant of the navy in her, to offer
assistance, and point out the necessary marks for entering the harbour.
In the course of the day the officer returned, and brought intelligence
that the ships were the Boussole and Astrolabe, sent out by order of