<P> The Fleet left Rio de Janeiro on 4 September to run before the westerlies to the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa, which it reached on 13 October . This was the last port of call, so the main task was to stock up on plants, seeds and livestock for their arrival in Australia . The livestock taken on board from the Cape of Good Hope destined for the new colony included two bulls, seven cows, one stallion, three mares, 44 sheep, 32 pigs, four goats and "a very large quantity of poultry of every kind". Women convicts on the Friendship were moved to other transports to make room for livestock purchased there . The convicts were provided with fresh beef and mutton, bread and vegetables, to build up their strength for the journey and maintain their health . The Dutch colony of Cape Town was the last outpost of European settlement which the fleet members would see for years, perhaps for the rest of their lives . "Before them stretched the awesome, lonely void of the Indian and Southern Oceans, and beyond that lay nothing they could imagine ." </P> <P> Assisted by the gales in the "Roaring Forties" latitudes below the 40th parallel, the heavily laden transports surged through the violent seas . In the last two months of the voyage, the Fleet faced challenging conditions, spending some days becalmed and on others covering significant distances; the Friendship travelled 166 miles one day, while a seaman was blown from the Prince of Wales at night and drowned . Water was rationed as supplies ran low, and the supply of other goods including wine ran out altogether on some vessels . Van Diemen's Land was sighted from the Friendship on 4 January 1788 . A freak storm struck as they began to head north around the island, damaging the sails and masts of some of the ships . </P> <P> On 25 November, Phillip had transferred to the Supply . With Alexander, Friendship and Scarborough, the fastest ships in the Fleet, which were carrying most of the male convicts, the Supply hastened ahead to prepare for the arrival of the rest . Phillip intended to select a suitable location, find good water, clear the ground, and perhaps even have some huts and other structures built before the others arrived . This was a planned move, discussed by the Home Office and the Admiralty prior to the Fleet's departure . However, this "flying squadron" reached Botany Bay only hours before the rest of the Fleet, so no preparatory work was possible . Supply reached Botany Bay on 18 January 1788; the three fastest transports in the advance group arrived on 19 January; slower ships, including Sirius, arrived on 20 January . </P> <P> This was one of the world's greatest sea voyages--eleven vessels carrying about 1,487 people and stores had travelled for 252 days for more than 15,000 miles (24,000 km) without losing a ship . Forty - eight people died on the journey, a death rate of just over three per cent . </P>

Where did the first fleet come ashore and settle