A most attractive copy of Tench's important and informative account of the settlement at Sydney Cove, his second book, continuing the story begun with his "Narrative of the expedition to Botany Bay" (1789) and covering the crucial first four years of the English colony. Tench left New South Wales with the other marines on 18 December 1791 aboard HMS Gorgon which had accompanied the Third Fleet and his book was published in November or December 1793, more than a year after his return.

A most attractive copy of Tench's important and informative account of the settlement at Sydney Cove, his second book, continuing the story begun with his "Narrative of the expedition to Botany Bay" (1789) and covering the crucial first four years of the English colony. Tench left New South Wales with the other marines on 18 December 1791 aboard HMS Gorgon which had accompanied the Third Fleet and his book was published in November or December 1793, more than a year after his return.

Tench's publication paints a comprehensive view of daily life in the settlement through years of hardship and severe shortages. An understanding and intelligent observer of human nature, he gives vivid insights into the often strained relationships between convict labourers and the marines set to guard them. His account is praised as the most insightful and detailed description of the social fabric of the penal colony, in contrast to other more formal and official narratives.

Tench also describes his significant explorations of the landscape of the Sydney basin and forays into the Blue Mountains, while providing sympathetic descriptions of their contact with the Eora Aboriginal people. The book includes a folding map providing an excellent survey of known lands, it details Botany Bay and Broken Bay along the coast and inland to the Nepean river, with numerous engraved notes on the landscape with a view to future farming and grazing ventures.