This work, first published in 1789, is an edited compilation of official papers, journals and illustrations relevant to the voyage of the First Fleet to Australia and the founding of Port Jackson on Sydney Cove, and of the penal colony of Norfolk Island. Arthur Phillip (1738–1814), a sailor of wide experience in both the Royal Navy and the Portuguese fleet, accepted the post of commander of the fleet and governor of the new colony in 1786, and the eleven ships arrived in Botany Bay in January 1788. This account begins with a note on Phillip's career, and discusses earlier British colonisation, before describing the preparations for, and progress of, the voyage. The fascinating documentation continues with materials on the founding of the colony, problems with the convict workmen, encounters with native Australians, and with the local wildlife, all illustrations of the birth of one of the world's great cities.