Water cask from the first settlement at Sullivan Cove, Sorrento, c. 1803, presented by the Sorrento branch of the Australian Natives Association, 1933, H12524

This water cask was used during the short-lived settlement led by Lieutenant-Governor David Collins at Sullivan Cove, near Sorrento. The casks were buried in the sand just above the high-water mark to provide the settlement with brackish, or partially filtered, seawater. The group arrived in October 1803 and, in part due to the the lack of fresh water and timber for construction, departed on 20 May for Van Diemen's Land, less a few escaped convicts – most notably William Buckley.