Government had put on board the _Kitty_ a naval agent, Lieutenant Daniel
Woodriff, for the purpose of seeing that no unnecessary delays were made
in the voyage, and that the convicts on board were not oppressed by the
master or his people. This officer, on his arrival, stated to the
governor his opinion that the master had not made the best of his way,
and that he had remained longer in the port of Rio de Janeiro than there
could possibly be occasion for. He likewise stated several disagreements
which had occurred between him and the master, and in which the latter
seemed to think very lightly of the authority of a naval agent on board
his ship. There was also on board this ship, on the part of the crown, a
medical gentleman who was appointed for the express purpose of attending
to such convicts as might be ill during the voyage; so extremely
solicitous were the members of Administration to guard against the evils
which had befallen the convicts in former passages to this country.
At Parramatta a brick hospital, consisting of two wards, was finished
this month; and the sick were immediately removed into it. The spot
chosen for this building was at some distance from the principal street
of the town, and convenient to the water; and, to prevent any improper
communication with the other convicts, a space was to be inclosed and
paled in round the hospital, in which the sick would have every necessary
benefit from air and exercise.
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