The description of New South Wales by Cook and his companions, which charmed the public, attracted the attention of the crown; and Botany Bay, named on account of the variety and beauty of its vegetation--long known through Europe as a region of gibbets, triangles, and chains; to be celebrated hereafter as the mistress of nations--was selected for a settlement. 565 men and 192 women, the pioneers of a larger division, were embarked under the charge of a military force composed of volunteers; comprehending, besides the staff, sixteen commissioned officers. The fleet consisted of H.M.S. _Sirius_, _Hyena_, and _Supply_; six transports and three victuallers: they assembled at the Motherbank on the 16th March, and sailed on the 13th May, 1787.[26] They touched at Teneriffe, and then at the Cape. Separated into two divisions, they reached their destination within forty-eight hours of each other. On the day of their junction, dense clouds threw a gloom over the sea; but they rejected the omen, and believed that they had seen "the foundation, and not the fall of an empire." Having found the bay unsuitable for location, they proceeded to examine the port called after Jackson, a seaman, who observed it from the mast, and immortalised his name. As they passed the capes, which form an entrance, they were in raptures with the scene:--the tall mouldering cliffs; the trees, which touched the water's edge; and the magnificent harbour, four miles in length, begirt with a luxuriant shore. It was on the 7th February, 1788, that the Governor was inaugurated: an area being cleared for the purpose, the military marched to the ground with music, and colors flying; 750 convicts, 212 marines and their officers, were assembled. The standard of England was unfurled, the commission of Phillip, the first governor, published, and the courts of justice proclaimed. The usual formalities being complete, Phillip turned to the prisoners, and declared his intentions. He had resolved to cherish and render happy such as might deserve his favour; but to allow the law its course with the impenitent and unreformed. In such language we discern the sentiments which prevailed: banishment, not punishment for past crimes, was implied in the cheering alternative. From that moment he possessed authority to manumit not less absolute than the sovereign, but immeasurably more power to avenge.