Our ships were at length preparing to depart, when on the evening of the 9th of June, a convict belonging to the Alexander, having been employed on deck, found means to cut away the boat, and make a temporary escape; but he was missed and soon retaken. It is not probable that he had formed any definite plan of escape; the means of absconding must have been accidentally offered, and suddenly embraced; and for making such an attempt, the vague hope of liberty, without any certain prospect, would naturally afford sufficient temptation. 10 June 1787 By the 10th of June the ships had completed their water, and early the next morning, the Governor gave the signal for weighing anchor, and the fleet pursued its course. Report of the marines and convicts under medical treatment, given in to Governor Phillip, June 4th, 1787. Charlotte, -- Marines 4 Convicts 16 Alexander, -- Marines 2 Convicts 26 Scarborough, -- Marine 1 Convicts 9 Friendship, -- Convicts 13 Lady Penrhyn, Convicts 11 Prince of Wales, Marines 2 Convicts 7 --- Total Marines 9 Convicts 72 Convicts dead since the first embarkation 21 Children of convicts 3 Of these only fifteen, and one child, had died since the departure from Spithead. Chapter IV. June 1787 to September 1787 Attempt to put in at Port Praya--Relinquished--Weather--Sail for Rio de Faneiro--Reasons for touching at a South American port--The Fleet passes the Line--Arrives at Rio de Faneiro--Account of that Place--Transactions there--Departure. Vegetables not having been so plentiful at Santa Cruz as to afford a sufficient supply, it was the intention of Governor Phillip to anchor for about twenty-four hours in the Bay of Port Praya. The islands on this side of the Atlantic, seem as if expressly placed to facilitate the navigation to and from the Cape of Good Hope: by offering to vessels, without any material variation from their course, admirable stations for supply and refreshment. About latitude 40, north, the Azores; in 33, the Madeiras; between 29 and 27, the Canaries; and between 18 and 16, the Islands of Cape Verd, successively offer themselves to the voyager, affording abundantly every species of accommodation his circumstances can require. On the Southern side of the Equator, a good harbour and abundance of turtles give some consequence even to the little barren island of Ascension; and St. Helena, by the industry of the English settlers, has become the seat of plenty and of elegance. Without the assistance derived, in going or returning, from some of these places, the interval of near forty degrees on each side of the line, in a sea exposed to violent heat, and subject to tedious calms, would be sufficient to discourage even the navigators of the eighteenth century. 18 June 1787