At least 100 of the
convicts who had arrived on the Pitt on 14
February 1792, died in the first 12 months. The numbers may have been much
higher than this as many names remain unaccounted for in the records. Dr Edward
Laing’s observation of the inadequate diet that
lacked fruit or vegetables, but consisted of dried salt meat several years old,
and hard corn that could not be properly ground because of the lack of hand
mills, was probably the chief cause of death. The reasons for scurvy, which was the lack of adequate vitamin C in
the diet, was well known by 1792 but as Laing reported
there was little that could be done to prevent the disease, without the means
of improving the diet. At the end of February a shop was opened at a hut on
shore to sell various articles that had been brought out on the Pitt, under the supervision of Captain
Manning. It reputedly returned £4000.
Unhappy Exiles - Chapter 8 The First Year in the Colony
