The second shipment of convicts to New South Wales, known as the second fleet involved three ships of convicts, The Surprize, The Neptune, and The Scarborough, which arrived at Sydney Cove in June 1790. Those on these ships suffered notoriously brutal conditions: high rates of mortality and disease, and excessive use of leg-irons.

Blame for the conditions was pointed at the private shipping firm used; the company,a former slaving contractor had been undertaken to transport, clothe and feed the convicts for a flat fee of £17 7s. 6d per head. Realizing the potential for profits in this arrangement, they maximized their cargo, and minimized their expenditures on food and medicine to a brutal degree.

References
   -Davison, Grame (ed.) et al, The Oxford Companion To Australian History, Oxford University Press, 1998
   -Bateson, Charles, The Convict Ships, 1787-1868, Sydney, 1974.