"Our dear Bess talks of seeing me in eighteen months.

Alas! poor Bess, the when is uncertain, very uncertain in everything except its long distances.

Turn our eyes where we will, we see nothing but glutted markets around us." The pork-procuring ventures continued till 1803.

In that year Bass arranged to sail beyond Tahiti to the Chilian coast, to buy other provisions for the use of the colony.

Whether he intended to force the hand of fortune by engaging in the contraband trade can only be inferred.
That there was certainly a large amount of illicit traffic with South America on the part of venturesome captains who made use of Port Jackson as a harbour of refuge, is clear from extant documents.
The position was this.