On 28 February 1797, leaving about 30 survivors with the wreckage, a party of seventeen men set off on in the ship's longboat to reach help at Port Jackson, 400 nautical miles (740 km) away.

This was led by first mate Hugh Thompson, and included William Clark (the supercargo), three European seamen, and twelve Indian lascars (sailors).

In May 1797, the three survivors of the march, William Clark, sailor John Bennet and one lascar had made it to the cove at Wattamolla and, on 15 May 1797, with their strength nearly at an end they were able to signal a boat out fishing, which took them on to Sydney.

[1] The schooner Francis and the sloop Eliza were dispatched to Preservation Island to collect the people remaining there and salvage the ship's cargo.

While waiting for rescue, the survivors had lived on the local short-tailed shearwaters, also called Australian muttonbirds, and built rough shelter for themselves.

At the same time, George Bass was on his whaleboat voyage following the coast of the mainland, and he had thought to make for Sydney Cove to replenish his provisions but leaks in the boat prevented him setting that course.

The Governor of New South Wales, John Hunter wrote to Joseph Banks in August 1797 that it seemed certain the strait existed.

The Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery in Launceston has a display of items from the ship, including the world's oldest bottle of beer.

In 2016, new Saccharomyces and Brettanomyces strains of yeast genetically similar to those used in Trappist Ale were isolated from one of the 26 beer bottles recovered from the wreck 20 years earlier.

Descendants of the ship's captain, Guy Hamilton, were met by Mr Goodall at Wattamolla who presented them with the artefacts which in turn were handed to the Rookwood Cemetery Museum.