Author(s): Libby Gleeson

Young Adult

'The soldiers are coming,' he said. 'They are checking every house. There is free grog for all.' '...The air was full with the smell of bonfires. Their glare illuminated the night sky and showed to us the streets filled with drunken soldiers and scared citizenry, us amongst them.' David Bellamy fears the strange new land of New South Wales, its inhabitants and its wild creatures. He fears his relatives who have taken him in, and the Governor himself - the swearing, cursing Governor Bligh. Then on the anniversary of British settlement in Sydney, 26th January, 1808, David and his new friends, Kitty and Ralph, witness the military march on Government House from the streets of Sydney Town.