Voyage To Australia
Riou was tasked with delivering the stores consisting of seeds, plants, farm machinery and livestock, with a total value of some £70,000, and convicts to the British settlement at Botany Bay. Also aboard the Guardian was a young midshipman named Thomas Pitt, the son of politician Thomas Pitt, and nephew of Prime Minister William Pitt.
With over 300 people aboard his ship, Riou left Spithead on 8 September, and had an uneventful voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, where he arrived on 24 November and loaded more livestock and plants. After competing his re-provisioning Riou sailed from the Cape in mid-December, and picking up the Westerlies began the second leg of his voyage to New South Wales. On Christmas Eve, twelve days and 1,300 statute miles (2100 km) after his departure from the Cape, a large iceberg was spotted at 44°S 41°E / 44°S 41°E / -44; 41Coordinates: 44°S 41°E / 44°S 41°E / -44; 41, and Riou decided to use the ice to replenish his stocks of fresh water, that were quickly being depleted by the need to supply the plants and animals he was transporting.
Read more about this topic: HMS Guardian (1784)
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