Australian_Geographic_-_February_2016_

5.

Tobacco
Excavation of the stern revealed remains of a cask with about 3kg of processed tobacco rounded into plugs for transportation. Tobacco was keenly sought but difficult to obtain in the colony. 6.

Sheepskins

A lack of livestock at the colony meant leather was limited. At least six sheepskin hides were recovered from the bow area. 7.

Indigo

During excavation of the stern, divers raised samples of a bluish substance later identified as indigo dye, used to colour textiles.8.

Textiles

Before the Industrial Revolution, textiles were one of India’s most valuable exports. None were recovered, but Captain Hamilton mentions them in the cargo log. 9.

Tea

Tea was introduced to Europe from China in the early 17th century. Hamilton’s account says 43 chests of Chinese tea were taken on the first salvage voyage, but 20 were lost. Five more were later taken to Port Jackson.10.

Musical organ

(not shown)

A small pianoforte arrived at Port Jackson aboard the First Fleet’s HMS

Sirius

. Just as precious to

wealthy settlers would have been a musical organ Hamilton says was salvaged from the

Sydney Cove

.

11.

Horsedrawn buggy and mare

Seven horses came with the First Fleet, but by 1791 only four

survived. The arrival at Port Jackson of a mare and buggy, from the

Sydney Cove

, would have been

an important event. 12.

Livestock

Transporting livestock by sea was difficult. Between 1788 and 1793, 104 of 140 cattle sent to the colony died en route. The

Sydney

Cove

excavation revealed animal

bones from cattle, pigs, sheep and birds. 13.

Rice

When

Sydney Cove

sank, the

longboat was launched with a store of rice, firearms and ammunition. Daily rations for the crew left behind were limited to one cup of rice per man. They also ate muttonbirds, wallabies, wombats and Cape Barren geese.

14.

Candles and soap

Bacterial, chemical and physical deterioration destroyed most perishable goods such as soap and candles. Hamilton documented that 12 boxes of soap and candles and two of waxed candles were salvaged. With little livestock (for tallow) at Port Jackson, such commodities would have been luxuries for the well-to-do.15.

Anchors

Three anchors were commonly carried on small merchant vessels. The largest of the ship’s anchors – ‘the sheet’ – was kept for emergencies and as a spare if the working anchor was lost. The sheet was normally stowed alongside the foremast rigging channels. The other two main anchors were positioned closer to the bow.

16.

Cannon

While

Sydney Cove

’s v o y a g e

followed a route with little threat of armed action, some deck guns and small arms were maintained. Four iron cannons and two timber and metal gun-carriage wheels were recovered. 17.

Tools

(not shown)

Timber sailing vessels needed constant maintenance. Various tool parts recovered include a bone net-needle, chisel, carpen-ter’s scribes and wooden handles.18.

Ship maintenance

(not shown)

Finds of

Sydney Cove

maintenance

equipment include twine coils, a whetstone and buffalo hide remnants, perhaps for joining timber with crude hinges and protecting the rope shrouds of the rigging from chafing on the timber.19.

Personal items

Archaeologists found a range of personal items connected to the

shipwrecked crew, including hairbrushes, a pewter spoon, brass fishhook, coconut-shell water dipper, clay pipes, hourglasses and measuring weights. Some personal items were recovered from the stranded crew’s campsite on Preservation Island.20.

Rudder

When

Sydney Cove

ran aground

the rudder was ‘unshipped’ andfell to the seabed. The rudder and associated metal fittings were recovered in 1977 and are now displayed at Launceston’s Queen Victoria Museum – the largest item salvaged from the wreck.21.

Sheathing

Sydney Cove

’s timber hull was

protected from marine borers by a coating of an Indian resin known as chunam. Over this was layered thin sacrificial planking. And over this was placed a layer of imported woollen felt, which acted as a backing to sheets of copper-alloy sheathing attached with metal tacks. 22.

Pumps

Sydney Cove

had two large pumps

to remove water from the bilge. These were made from 6.5m-long hollowed tree trunks. One still remains at the wreck site.23.

Firearms

(not shown)

Firearms in the form of muskets and pistols were carried on board. A number of timber cartridge holders were recovered from the wreck, together with musket balls. Some of those found at the crew’s campsite had been modified to make sinkers for fishing.

An offi

cers’ mess (above) on board a ship of war, painted by Augustus Earle

in about 1820, gives a sense of what conditions were like for sailors aboard the

Sydney Cove

, a ship of similar dimensions. Rudder (above, right) of the

Sydney Cove

on display at the Queen Victoria Museum in Launceston.