The First Fleet Women Come ashore - 6th Feb 1788

The first fleet women come ashore 

On Wednesday 6th Feb 1788, The Women Were Brought Ashore From Their Transport Ships.....

"At 5 O'clock In The Morning, All Things Were Got In Order For Landing The Whole Of The Women, And 3 Of The Ships Longboats Came Alongsude Us To Receive Them; Prevoous To Their Quitting

The Ship, A Strict Search Was Made To Try If Any Of The Many Things Which They Had Stolen On Board Could Be Found, But Their Artiface Eluded The Most Strict Search, And At 6 O'clock, We Had The Long Wished Pleasure Of Seeing The Last Of Them Leave The Ship. they Were Dressed In General Very Clean, & Some Few Amongst Them Might Be Said To Be Well Dressed. The Men Convicts Got To Them Very Soon After They Landed, & It Is Beyond My Abilities To Give A Just Description If The Scene Of Debauchery

Some of the First Fleet journals and letters do not even mention this little ceremony, there were only a few officers and men involved. There appear to have been no convicts on shore for this ceremony, or if they were, they didn’t rate a mention. A number of the officers were also not present nor mentioned it in their journals. Those who were not on shore or who did not mention this incident include: Worgan, White, Tench, Collins, Blackburn, Bradley and Clarke.
This could indicate, to the participants, this was nothing more than a thanksgiving for their safe arrival. None of the reporters give the incident much importance, unlike the reading of Phillip's Commission on 7 February 1788. Some of the male able-bodied convicts were disembarked the next day, 27 January, and the remainder over the next few days. None of the female convicts were allowed off the ships until 6 February 1788, when the sick were also landed and admitted to the tent hospital.
Therefore, in reality, on 26 January 1788 the only event was the anchoring of the ships of the First Fleet in Sydney Cove, the running up of a flag and a toast to the King and success of the colony.
The official ceremony occurred on the 7 February 1788.
Phillip:
"The 7th of February, 1788, was the memorable day which
established a regular form of Government on the coast of New South
Wales. On a space previously cleared, the whole colony was
assembled; the military drawn up, and under arms; the convicts
stationed apart; and near the person of the Governor, those who
were to hold the principal offices under him. The Royal Commission
was then read by Mr. D. Collins, the Judge Advocate. By this
instrument Arthur Phillip was constituted and appointed Captain
General and Governor in Chief in and over the territory, called

Captain Arthur Phillip & The First Fleet Arriving At Botany Bay -January 1788

Captain Arthur Phillip & The First Fleet Arriving At Botany Bay - 18th January 1788 

Captain Arthur Phillip Was Aboard "The Sirius" Which Was The First Of The 12 Ships To Finally Arrive At The Shores Of New Holland.
No White Men Had Ventured Along The Eastern Coastline Since Captain James Cook Had Sailed And a Mapped The Coastline On An Exloration mission Aboard "The Endeavour" In 1770. 
Sir Joseph Banks Was Also Aboard "The Endeavour" With Captain Cook Recording All The New Flora And Fauna That They Came Across On Their Travels Of New Holland. 
Both Captain Cook And Joseph Banks Had Described The a Eastern Coastline  As Hospitable. 
When Captain Arthur Phillip Arrived On The Shores Of a Botany Bay 18 Years Later.... What He Found Was Something Completely  Different. The Soil Was Sandy And The a landscape Was Semi Arid. There Was No Source If Fresh Drinking Water Nearby. 
Phillip Was Disappointed With What He Found At Botany Bay. The a Water a Was a shallow, So Ships Couldn't Get Close To The   Shoreline, So Everything Would Have To Be Done By Long Boat......  To Begin With.... 

Captain Arthur Phillip.... With Disappointment... And Maybe Even With  A Little Despair.... After Sailing Halfway around The Known World With 12 Ships Fully Laden a With Convicts, Crew And Supplies To Set Up A New Colony.... And After 8 Months At Sea.... There Was No Returning To Portsmouth.... Or Anywhere Or Any Port In The Known British World.. 
Once All 12 Ships Had  Got The Westerly Winds To Push Them
Into Botany Bay, He Decided He Woukd Take A Small Expedition Crew With Him To Try And Locate A Better Spot To Set Up The New Penal Settlement. 
As He Sailed Up The Eastern Coast Approximately 4 Nautical Miles, He Came To The Heads Captain Cook Had Mapped ain 1770, And a which He Hsd Named Port Jackson, But Captain Cook Never Ventured In Between The Heads At The Time. 
Arthur Phillip And His Expedition Crew Sailed In Approximately Another 4 Nautical Miles When He Came To The Modern Day "Farm Cove" & "Sydney Cove" 
Here He Found A Fresh Source If Running Water, Which a Would a Then Go On To Be Named The Tank Stream, The Bay a Was a Almost Naturally Perfectly Circular, With Deep Harbour Waters, So Ships a Were Almost Aboe To Sail Right To a The Shoreline. 
David Collins Wrote In His Journal - 
"The Spot Chosen, Was At The Head Of The Cove, Near The Run Of Fresh Water, Which Stole Silently Through A Very Thick Wood; The Stillness Of Which Had Then, For The First Time Since Creation, Been Interrupted By The Rude Sound Of The Labourer's Axe... And The Downfall Of Its Ancient Inhabitants. A Stillness And Tranquility Which; From That Day Were To Surrender And Give Way To The Voice Of Labour... And The Confusion Of Camps And Towns..."