THE PRESENT PICTURE OF NEW SOUTH WALES, 1811
ILLUSTRATED WITH
FOUR LARGE COLOURED VIEWS,
FROM DRAWINGS TAKEN ON THE SPOT,
OF
SYDNEY,
THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT:
WITH
A PLAN OF THE COLONY,
TKEN FROM ACTUAL SURVEY BY PUBLIC AUTHORITY.

BY
D. D. MANN
MANY YEARS RESIDENT IN SEVERAL OFFICIAL SITUATIONS.

London, 1811
SOLD BY JOHN BOOTH, DUKE-STREET, PORTLAND-PLACE

* * * * *

CONTENTS
--------

DEDICATION

CHAPTER I

Discovery of New South Wales.--Arrival of a Colony there
from England.--Obstructions calculated to retard the Progress of
the Settlement.--Departure of Governor Phillip.--Intervening
Governors, until the Arrival of John Hunter, Esq. and his
Assumption of the Government.--Printing Press set up.--Cattle
lost, and Discovery of their Progeny in a wild State.--Playhouse
opened.--Houses numbered.--Assessments for the building of a
Country Gaol.--Town Clock at Sidney.--Natives.--
Convicts.--Improvement of the Colony.--Seditious Dispositions of
the Convicts.--Departure of Governor Hunter.--His Character and
Government.--Comparison of Stock, etc.--Governor King assumes
the Command of the Settlement--Table of Specie Vessel laden with
Spirits sent away.--Earthquake.--Inundation at the
Hawkesbury.--First Criminal for Forgery executed.--Atlas struck
by Lightning.--Tempests.--Desertions of the Convicts.--Newspaper
established.--Murders.--Singular Execution.--Lieutenant--Governor
Collins forms a new Settlement.--Insurrection of the
Convicts.--The Introduction and Progress of Vaccination, and its
subsequent Loss.--Influx of the Sea at Norfolk Island.--Limits of
Counties defined.--Ship overset in a Tempest.

CHAPTER II

Abstract of General Orders.--Arrival of Governor
Bligh.--George Barrington.--Blue Mountains.--Journey
thither.--New Market at Sydney.--Vessels seized and carried away
by the Convicts.--Natives.--Cruelty of the Savages in Bateman's
Bay.--Arrival of Masters for the Orphan Schools.--New Storehouse
built.--Murders.

CHAPTER III

Agriculture, etc.
Price of Provisions and Ration
Trade and Manufactures
Population
Natives
Climate
Natural History
Religion
Morals
Amusements
Military Force
Building: with Reference to the particular Houses, etc. of the
Individuals

CHAPTER IV

Hints for the Improvement of the Colony

* * * * *

[LIST OF PLATES
Plan of the Settlements in New South Wales
View of Sydney from the East Side of the Cove
View of Sydney from the East Side of the Cove
View of Sydney from the West Side of the Cove
View of Sydney from the West Side of the Cove]

* * * * *

To
JOHN HUNTER, ESQ.
VICE-ADMIRAL OF THE BLUE
AND LATE
CAPTAIN-GENERAL AND GOVERNOR IN CHIEF IN AND OVER HIS
MAJESTY'S
COLONY OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND ITS DEPENDENCIES, etc. etc. etc.

SIR,

During the period of your government, the settlements of New
South Wales beheld the sunshine of their prosperity. The liberal
and enlightened measures adopted by you, consolidated the
happiness, and increased the security of the colony; and the
tears which were shed at your departure were the most grateful
tributes which could be paid to your exalted worth.

These considerations justify my selection of you as the Patron
of this sketch; but, if a stronger motive were necessary, I have
only to retrace the numerous and weighty instances in which you
have displayed the most marked attention to my personal
interests, and which will ever induce me to avow myself,

With every sentiment of respectful admiration,

SIR,

Your very obliged, and faithfully devoted servant,

D. D. MANN.

35, Queen-Street, Edgware-Road,

Oct. 13, 1810

* * * * *

NEW SOUTH WALES

Chapter I.

Discovery of New South Wales.--Arrival of a
Colony there from England.--Obstructions calculated to retard
the Progress of the Settlement.--Departure of Governor
Phillip.--Intervening Governors, until the Arrival of John
Hunter, Esq. and his Assumption of the Government.--Printing
Press set up.--Cattle lost, and Discovery of their Progeny in a
wild State.--Playhouse opened.--Houses numbered.--Assessments for
the building of a Country Gaol.--Town Clock at
Sidney.--Natives.--Convicts.--Improvement of the
Colony.--Seditious Dispositions of the Convicts.--Departure of
Governor Hunter.--His Character and Government.--Comparison of
Stock, etc.--Governor King assumes the Command of the
Settlement--Table of Specie Vessel laden with Spirits sent
away.--Earthquake.--Inundation at the Hawkesbury.--First
Criminal for Forgery executed.--Atlas struck by
Lightning.--Tempests.--Desertions of the Convicts.--Newspaper
established.--Murders.--Singular Execution.--Lieutenant--Governor
Collins forms a new Settlement.--Insurrection of the
Convicts.--The Introduction and Progress of Vaccination, and its
subsequent Loss.--Influx of the Sea at Norfolk Island.--Limits of
Counties defined.--Ship overset in a
Tempest.

The discovery of the eastern coast of New Holland was the
result of that laudable and beneficial spirit of enterprize and
investigation, which conferred on the name of Captain Cook so
just a claim to posthumous gratitude and immortal renown. Four
months of his first voyage round the world, this celebrated
circumnavigator dedicated to the exploration of this hitherto
unknown tract of the universe, stretching, from the north-east to
the south-west, to an extent of nearly two thousand miles, to
which he gave the name of _New South Wales_. After hovering
about the coast for some time, he at length came to an anchorage
in the only harbour which appeared to him commodious; and which,
in consequence of the innumerable varieties of herbage which were
found on shore, he called _Botany Bay_. In this spot he
remained some days, employing himself in making those
observations which suggested themselves to his capacious mind;
and, from his report of the situation of the country--of its
apparent extent, climate, and surface, the British Government was
induced to relinquish those intentions which had been previously
entertained, and to fix upon this spot, as the best adapted for
the establishment of a settlement, whither those unhappy
delinquents might be conveyed, whose offences against the laws
had rendered their further residence in their native land,
incompatible with the welfare of society.

According to this determination, Governor Phillip was sent to
this new continent, where he arrived on the 20th of January,
1788, with eight hundred convicts, and a portion of marines, and
laid the foundation of the new settlement, which continued
gradually to improve under his government, until the close of the
year 1792. Numberless obstructions existed, during this early
period, to check the growth of the colony; amongst the principal
of which may be remarked:--1st, the discordant materials of which
the settlement was to be constructed; 2dly, the disputes with the
natives; and 3dly, the occasional pressure of want, which, for a
long time, was unavoidable, on account of its remoteness from the
European quarter. The continual disorders amongst the convicts,
which no lenity could assuage, no severity effectually check,
were injurious to the well-doing of the colony, whose true
interests required a combination of reciprocal confidence and
mutual exertion; but on men inured to crime, and hardened in
guilt--on men almost divested of the common principles and
feelings of their species--on those whom a course of depravity
had rendered obnoxious to every other pursuit, it was not
possible to make impressions of a liberal and enlightened nature.
Their intentions uniformly tended to vice, and no good was to be
expected from them, except such as was the effect of compulsory
measures; so that the task which industry might have achieved
with comparative ease, proved, under existing circumstances, a
work of difficulty, requiring time and perseverance to bring it
to the desired perfection. It was not to the commission of
depredations upon each other that the restless and dishonest
dispositions of the convicts confined themselves, even the poor
and miserable natives of the country were made the dupes of a
system of knavery which they could not penetrate; and their
spears, their shields, their canoes, and their persons, were
equally exposed to the violence of the new settlers. It was easy
to foresee the consequences of such conduct: the natives at first
discovered symptoms of justifiable reserve, and subsequently
adopted steps of an hostile complexion, several unfortunate
convicts being found murdered in the woods. In vain did the
governor issue order after order, and proclamation after
proclamation; insults still continued to be offered to the
natives, and such acts of retaliation ensued as circumstances
would allow. Governor Phillip, himself, was wounded by a spear
which one of the savages threw at him, under the influence of a
momentary apprehension. Another evil to which the colony was
subjected, arose from the pressure of occasional scarcity, which
relaxed the sinews of industry, where it did exist, or
strengthened the pretexts of indolence: when men were reduced
from a plentiful allowance, to a weekly ration, which scarcely
sufficed to preserve existence; when the storehouses were almost
empty of provisions, and the boundless ocean presented no object
of relief to the aching and strained eyes of the sufferers; and
when the busy mind painted to itself the dangers, inseparable
from a voyage of such length, which might intervene to delay the
arrival of succours, until horror and wretchedness should have
been heightened to the utmost; no inclination to laborious
exertion existed, and no hand had the power to wield and employ
the implements of toil. The progress of the settlement towards
maturity was necessarily retarded; and the operations which
proceeded, at these periods of general debility, were compelled
to move with a slowness which afforded but a faint promise of
speedy perfection. Under this combination of disadvantages, it
affords proof of no common perseverance to find, that the
settlement had been scarcely established four years, before two
towns were formed, and the colony seemed rapidly advancing to the
appearance of maturity.

Governor Phillip sailed to England on the 11th of December,
1792, when Lieutenant-Governor Grose succeeded to the government;
and, during his period, the improvements in the settlement
assumed a more decisive and favourable aspect. The settlers were
now enabled to sell corn to the public stores, all of which the
commissary received directions to purchase at a given price:
passage-boats were licensed and established between the towns of
Sydney and Parramatta, and the number of settlers began to
increase in a rapid portion. On the 15th of December, 1794,
Lieutenant-Governor Grose left the colony for England, and
Captain Paterson, of the New South Wales corps, assumed the
government until the arrival of Governor Hunter, who came out in
the Reliance, on the 7th of September, 1795, and entered upon the
functions of his important office without delay.

One of the first acts of the new governor was the
establishment of a printing-press, the advantages of which soon
became obvious, in the more ready communication of all orders for
the regulation of the settlement.

The bulls and cows which had been originally brought over to
the new continent had, by the carelessness of their keeper, been
suffered to stray into the woods, and every subsequent search
after them had proved ineffectual until this period, when a fine
and numerous herd of wild cattle was discovered in the interior
of the country, which was evidently the progeny of the animals
which had been so long lost to the colony. The protection of this
wild herd and its increase became a matter of public interest,
since it would, hereafter, serve as a valuable resource, in case
of necessity; and measures were accordingly adopted to prevent
any encroachment on that liberty which it had preserved above
seven years.

In the commencement of the year 1796, a play-house was opened
at Sydney, under the sanction of the governor, who, while he
laboured to promote the public weal, was not less anxious to
extend to individuals the enjoyments and privileges which were
compatible with the good of the colony. Towards the close of the
same year, the houses in Sydney and Parramatta were numbered, and
divided into portions, each of which was placed under the
superintendance of a principal inhabitant. The county of
Cumberland was assessed, a few months afterwards, for the
erection of a country gaol; and the peaceable inhabitants of the
colony had the speedy satisfaction to perceive a building of such
utility put into hand; for such had been the recent increase of
crimes, and so greatly had the settlement been annoyed by the
desperate and atrocious conduct of the disorderly part of the
community, that it became an object of necessity to adopt some
stronger measures than those which had hitherto been put in
force, to secure the prosperity and tranquillity of a community
which was now so rapidly growing in extent and importance. A
town-clock was also erected in Sydney, a luxury which had been
hitherto unknown, and affords evidence of the gradual maturation
of the settlement; and, indeed, the whole of this enumeration is
calculated to impress the reader with an idea of the rapid
strides which the few last years had enabled the colonists to
make in the path of respectability. The natives had been, of late
years, perfectly reconciled to their new countrymen; and,
although their attachment to their accustomed habits and
situations induced them to abstain from taking up new residences,
and from mixing indiscriminately with the Europeans, they had
become comparatively social, and commenced an intercourse which
was calculated to rivet the prosperity of the colony. Those
insulting attacks and sanguinary recriminations which had
disgraced the earlier years of the establishment, no longer
existed, to disturb the tranquillity and excite the alarms of the
settlers; many of the convicts had reformed their lives, and,
instead of being examples of depravity, had turned to habits of
industry, and endeavoured to benefit that society on which they
had formerly preyed; while the apprehensions of famine had
entirely vanished before the improvements in the agriculture of
the country: the stock had increased wonderfully; the granaries
and storehouses were amply supplied; and the ground brought forth
more produce, as its nature became better understood, and the
most advantageous methods of tillage were discovered.

The peace of the colony was threatened, however, in the year
1800, by the seditious conduct of a number of Irish convicts who
had recently arrived in this country, and who had laboured, with
ceaseless exertions, to disseminate their pernicious and absurd
doctrines amongst the prisoners. They had assembled frequently
for the purpose of accelerating their diabolical views, and a
Roman Catholic priest, named Harold, who was discovered to be one
of the instigators and originators of the scheme of insurrection,
was taken into custody. Voluntary associations were embodied, and
every measure of prudent precaution was promptly adopted, to
prevent the expansion of principles which are totally subversive
of all order, and of the best interests of civilized society. It
may easily be supposed, that amongst such characters as composed
the colony, there must be numbers to whom these sentiments of
insubordination must be congenial, and who would eagerly grasp at
any projects, however absurd and impracticable, the proposed
object of which was their emancipation from the punishment which
their crimes had drawn upon them. Men who have obtained a
proficiency in crime, and are callous to the voice of conscience,
science, are seldom very choice as to the degree of the
criminality which they are inclined to commit; and it is highly
creditable to Governor Hunter's prudence and skilful management,
that the settlement was at this moment preserved from the horrors
and consequences of internal commotion.

In September, 1800, Governor Hunter quitted the colony, having
exercised the functions of government for the space of five
years; during which his attention to the interests of the
settlement was most unremitted; his humanity and condescension
rendered him inestimably dear to every bosom, which confessed the
influence of grateful feelings; and his cheerful vivacity and
private worth caused him to stand highly in the estimation of
those who were honoured by a participation in his hours of
recreative enjoyment. The necessary consequence of his abstracted
devotion to the service of the settlement, for a long period, was
the obtainment of a thorough knowledge of every subject connected
with its welfare; and in the application of that knowledge to the
practical improvement of the settlement, no man could have been
more happy, none more eminently successful. A more forcible
illustration of the truth of this remark will, however, be found
in the following statements of the situation of the colony before
and after Governor Hunter's residence there, in an official
capacity; and I am the more readily induced to give these
details, as the reader may thence be enabled to form a judgement,
by comparison, of the progressive prosperity of the colony,
subsequent to that period, until the commencement of the year
1809, the date and termination of the facts which I shall elicit
in the succeeding pages.

At the close of the year 1795, the public and private stock of
the colony consisted of 57 horses and mares, 101 cows and
cow-calves, 74 bulls and bull-calves, 52 oxen, 1531 sheep, 1427
goats, and 1869 hogs: exclusive of this statement, the poultry
was exceedingly numerous. The total of the land in cultivation
amounted to 5419 acres; the quantity of which sown was somewhat
below 3000 acres. At this period the storehouses were exhausted
so completely, that, on the arrival of Governor Hunter, there
were no salt provisions left in store, and the allowance of other
food was much reduced; the state of the colony seemed about to
assume a retrograde movement, and it was only the speedy arrival
of a storeship at this critical and distressing moment, which
saved it from destruction, in the eighth year of its
establishment.

But at the commencement of the nineteenth century, the state
of the settlement was abundantly more prosperous. The live stock
at this period, in the public and private possession, amounted to
the following numbers:--60 horses, 143 mares; 332 bulls and oxen,
712 cows; 2031 male sheep, 4093 females; 727 male goats, 1455
females; 4017 hogs--a prodigious multiplication of the means of
subsistence in about five years! The quantity of land sown with
wheat was 46653/4 acres, of Indian corn 2930, and of barley 82
acres. In New South Wales and Norfolk Island the numbers of the
colony had been swollen to the amount of six thousand, and the
general prosperity appeared rapidly increasing.

The moment of the governor's departure was a moment of
sorrowful agitation: loved and honoured by all, he was attended
by a numerous train of civil and military officers, as well as a
long concourse of the grateful inhabitants, who, at this
distressing instant, marked in the most unequivocal manner the
sense they entertained of his public worth and his private
benignity.

On the secession of Governor Hunter, the government of the
settlement devolved to Governor King, who had arrived from
England in the Speedy, a few months previous to this time. Soon
after his accession to this dignity, a quantity of copper coin
was received from England and put into circulation, upon which
occasion the following table of specie was issued:--A guinea, one
pound two shillings, a johannes, four pounds; a half ditto, two
pounds; a ducat, nine shillings and sixpence; a gold mohur, one
pound seventeen shillings and sixpence; a pagoda, eight
shillings; a Spanish dollar, five shillings; a rupee, two
shillings and sixpence; a Dutch guilder, two shillings; an
English shilling, one shilling and one penny: a copper coin of
one ounce, two pence; a ditto of half an ounce, one penny; and a
ditto of a quarter of an ounce, a halfpenny. No sum exceeding
five pounds, in the copper coin, was to be considered as a legal
tender; and the exportation or importation of copper coin above
that amount, was prohibited under a penalty of thrice its
value.

The criminal addiction to the use of spirituous liquors had
become so rooted, and was productive of such evil consequences,
as to require some vigorous exertion to check its still further
increase. In the month of December, 1800, two vessels laden with
these destructive cargoes arrived in the harbour; but the
governor, with a spirit and prudence creditable to his resolution
and judgment, refused them permission to land the poisons, and
forced them to quit the settlement before any evil consequences
could ensue from their arrival. The variety of afflicting
casualties consequent upon the immoderate use of these pernicious
fluids, and their introduction of dreadful and fatal disorders,
were considerations sufficient to justify the governor's conduct
in this instance, to every rational mind.

On the 17th of January, 1801, the settlement was menaced with
destruction by the shock of an earthquake, which was felt
severely through the whole colony, but, providentially, produced
no injury. A slight concussion had been felt in the month of
June, 1788; but never, until this moment, had the alarm been
repeated. The affrighted inhabitants rushed out of their houses,
in momentary expectation of destruction; nor did they dare to
return until the shock had passed by, and the apprehensions which
it had produced had entirely subsided.

In the earlier days of the settlement, the settlers on the
Hawkesbury (a river of great extent in the interior of the
country, the course of which is traced in the annexed chart) had
been much annoyed by the frequent overflowings of that capacious
river. In the month of March, 1801, the most severe visitation of
this nature had occurred, which had destroyed the promise of an
abundant harvest, spread desolation through the farms in that
district, destroyed numerous habitations, and caused the loss of
several of the unfortunate settlers and others. At the melancholy
period alluded to, the colony in this quarter was just reaching a
degree of ease and comfort, from the judicious plans put into
execution by that "father of the people" Governor
Hunter, and the assistance he gave them as an encouragement to
industrious exertion. Scarcely, however, had they begun to revive
after this calamity--scarcely had they repaired the ravages
occasioned by this tremendous inundation--scarcely had the
desolated lands once more confessed the power of cultivation,
before those ill-fated settlers were doomed to experience a
repetition of the destructive calamity; and on the 2d of March,
1801, the river again overflowed its banks, and rushed
impetuously to renew its former devastations. Flocks and herds
were swept away by its irresistible influence; the houses, which
had been re-built, were once more levelled to the earth; and a
settler was deprived of his existence, after witnessing the
catastrophe which had robbed him of the whole of his possessions.
The waters of the Hawkesbury, at those periods of inundation,
would rise seventy or eighty feet above their accustomed level;
and it is easy for the mind to picture to itself the
inexpressibly mournful consequences which must necessarily accrue
from such a circumstance. Neither was this overflowing an event
of rare occurrence, but was to be constantly expected after a
long continuance of the rainy seasons, when the torrents which
rushed from the mountainous ridges which overlooked the channel
of the river never failed to produce a rapid swelling of its
waters, and to cause an inundation of greater or less extent, and
injury more or less destructive to the inhabitants of its
vicinity.

Amongst the crimes which existed in the settlement, that of
forgery had recently made its appearance, and bills of a
counterfeit description had been offered in the markets; and, at
length, one of these forged draughts was traced to its source,
and the delinquent was immediately apprehended and brought to
trial for an offence so heinous in its nature, and so fraught
with mischief in its consequences. Sufficient proof being adduced
to place the prisoner's guilt beyond doubt, sentence of death was
passed upon him, and the execution took place on the 3d of July;
it being considered an act of necessary justice to make a severe
example of the offender, in this case, in order to check in its
infancy the growth of a practice, pregnant not only with general
evil, but with individual ruin. Of all the different species of
delinquency which had found their way into the colony, this might
be considered as second to none but murder: the house-breaker and
the midnight robber might be guarded against, and counteracted or
detected immediately, the mischief was at most limited, and might
be calculated; but the introduction of a system of forgery
threatened more widely-wasting injuries: it required more than
common vigilance, more than common perseverance, to discover a
fraud of this description; and it was scarcely possible to
ascertain the precise extent which it embraced, or to mark the
end of its destructive progress. It was therefore, under this
impression, considered expedient to make a severe example of the
first offender who had been brought to trial, in order, if
possible, to deter others from the pursuit of such an iniquitous
career. A solitary sacrifice might prove salutary to future
thousands.

The storms of thunder and lightning are sometimes particularly
terrific, but have seldom been productive of much damage. In some
few instances, indeed, individuals had been killed by the
electric fires, but these accidents have generally resulted from
the too common and dangerous mode of seeking shelter under trees,
which attracted and directed the lightning to its object, instead
of affording that security which was sought for. A very singular
circumstance happened at the close of the spring of 1802, when
the Atlas, a ship commanded by Mr. Thomas Musgrove, was stricken
by a flash on the 5th of November, and, although the bottom of
the ship was immediately perforated by the stroke, not a man on
board received any material injury: such a singular instance is
almost without its parallel. At other periods, the tempestuous
gales which have been experienced surpass the conception of those
who have never witnessed the boisterous and tumultuous agitation
of nature. Hailstones, exceeding six inches in circumference,
have frequently fallen with such violence as to destroy the
windows of those habitations which had neglected the adoption of
measures of security, to kill the poultry, and lay level with the
earth the shrubs and the corn. In fact, storms of this
description never fail to occasion the most extensive
devastation, and to commit injuries to the settlers, which the
labour of months is scarcely sufficient to overcome.

An absurd notion had uniformly existed amongst the convicts
that it was possible, by penetrating into the interior, to
discover a country, where they might exist without labour, and
enjoy sweets hitherto unknown. This ridiculous opinion had
induced numbers, since the establishment of the colony, to desert
their employment, and to trust themselves in forests which were
unknown to them, and where they generally wandered until the
means of supporting further fatigue had failed them, and they
perished from want--until they became the victims of the natives
who fell in with them--or surrendered themselves to the parties
who were sent in pursuit of them. Such was commonly the
termination of these chimerical expeditions; yet these
consequences were unable to expunge the impression alluded to
from the minds of these obstinate people, and, in February, 1803,
fifteen convicts once again ventured into the woods from Castle
Hill, in search of this undiscovered country. Many of these
bigotted fugitives were subsequently re-taken, after enduring
every fatigue and privation which human nature is capable of
sustaining; after bearing the complicated hardships of want,
weariness, and pain; their feet blistered and bare, their hopes
destroyed, their perseverance completely worn out, and their
restless dispositions perfectly corrected into submission.

The art of printing had been gradually improving from the
period of its establishment, by the judicious care of Governor
Hunter, and its advantages became daily more and more obvious. On
the 5th of March, "The Sydney Gazette" was instituted
by authority, for the more ready communication of events through
the various settlements of the colony The utility and interest of
such an establishment were speedily and universally acknowledged;
and its commencement was soon succeeded by the publication of an
almanack, and other works calculated to suit the general taste
and increase the general stock of amusement. The general orders
were also issued through the medium of the press, and a vigilant
eye was kept upon it, to prevent the appearance of any thing
which could tend to shake those principles of morality and
subordination, on the due preservation of which depended the
individual happiness, and the public security of the settlement;
and which could be in no danger of subversion, until the press
should become prostituted to base designs--a period much and
sincerely to be deprecated by every real friend to the
colony.

In the month of August, a most inhuman murder was committed on
the body of Joseph Luken, a constable, who, after going off his
watch at the government-house, was beset by some villains who
still remain undiscovered, and who buried the hilt of his own
cutlass very deeply in his head. I was the second person at the
spot, where the body of the unfortunate man was discovered; and,
in attempting to turn the corpse, my fore-finger penetrated
through a hole in the skull, into the brains of the deceased.
Every possible search was made to discover the vile perpetrators
of this diabolical act, but to no purpose, the measures of escape
had been too well planned to be thwarted. Even the governor
himself attended, and gave directions for the drums to beat to
arms; the military to stop all avenues leading from the town, and
different officers to search every house; but, although several
were apprehended, no conviction could be brought home. Soon
afterwards, another murder was committed on the body of a man
belonging to one of the colonial craft, named Boylan. It appeared
that he had been in a part of the town, called "The
Rocks," and had been struck with some heavy weapon on the
head, of which he immediately died. Upon this occasion, I sat as
foreman of the jury, which was summoned soon after daylight, and
continued to sit until nearly one o'clock the next morning, when
two men and a woman were committed for trial; and a third man, in
the progress of the investigation, was sent to gaol for
prevarication. When the prisoners were arraigned at the bar, they
all pleaded "Not guilty;" and, after an impartial
trial, were acquitted. The singularity and cruelty of this man's
murder appeared to be equal to that of Luken. A third murder was
committed, nearly at the same time, by a woman named Salmon, on
the body of her own child. It appeared that she wished to conceal
her pregnancy; and, after delivering herself, had thrown the
infant down the privy, where it was smothered. Suspicions of her
situation having, however, been entertained by some persons, an
investigation took place, and the body of the child was
discovered. The woman was too ill to be brought to trial, and her
subsequent dissolution rendered that event unnecessary: before
her death, however, she made confession of her crime; and her
body was afterwards carried to a grave under the gallows, by men
belonging to the jail gang, with the greatest ignominy; nor was
it without the greatest exertions of the police, that the corpse
was permitted to be carried along the streets, so great was the
abhorrence expressed by the inhabitants at the idea of such an
unnatural, detestable, and abominable offence.

In the month of September, Joseph Samuels, who had been
convicted of a burglary, was three times suspended: the rope
first broke, in a very singular manner, in the middle, and the
suffering criminal fell prostrate on the ground; on the second
attempt, the cord unrove at the fastening, and he again came to
the ground; a third trial was attended with no better success,
for at the moment when he was launched off, the cord again
snapped in twain. Thomas Smyth, esq. the provost-marshal, taking
compassion on his protracted sufferings, stayed the further
progress of the execution, and rode immediately to the governor,
to whom he feelingly represented these extraordinary
circumstances, and his excellency was pleased to extend his
majesty's mercy. Samuels was afterwards transported to another
settlement, in consequence of his continuance in his dishonest
career, and has subsequently lost his life on the coast, in
making an attempt to escape from the colony.

In the month of October, Lieutenant-Governor Collins arrived
to form and command a settlement at Port Phillip: he was
accompanied by detachments of marines and convicts; but the
situation being found particularly ineligible, after
communicating with the governor in chief, he removed to the river
Derwent, where he arrived on the 19th of February, 1804, and a
very extensive settlement was speedily formed there; as, in
addition to the numbers of persons he took with him, a great many
settlers and others went thither from Norfolk Island, since that
place had been ordered to be evacuated. In the following April, a
new settlement was formed at the Coal River, now called King's
Town, Newcastle District, the county of Northumberland, and a
short distance to the northward of Port Jackson. Previous to this
period, some form of government had been adopted at that place,
in order to enable vessels going there to procure cedar and coals
with greater facility; but, on account of the increasing trade,
the governor considered it expedient to found a regular
settlement, and thus to establish a commercial intercourse of
greater importance.

At the commencement of the year 1804, the tranquillity of the
colony experienced some interruption. I have mentioned in the
beginning of this chapter the circumstances of the importation of
Irish convicts in the year 1800, and of their attempts to
disseminate amongst their fellow-prisoners the seeds of
insubordination and riot. The vigilance and prudence of Governor
Hunter, at that time, checked the rapid progress of the flame of
sedition; but, although apparently extinguished, the fire was
only smothered for a time. Discontent had taken root, and its
eradication was a matter of more difficulty than could have been
foreseen. The most unprincipled of the convicts had cherished the
vile principles of their new companions, and only waited for the
maturity of their designs to commence the execution of schemes
which involved the happiness and security of the whole colony.
The operations of these disaffected persons had hitherto been
conducted with such secrecy, that no suspicion of their views was
entertained, until the 4th of March in this year, when a violent
insurrection broke out at Castle Hill, a settlement between
Parramatta and Hawkesbury, and the insurgents expressed their
determination to emancipate themselves from their confinement, or
to perish in the struggle for liberty. Information of the extent
and alarming appearance of this mutiny having reached the
governor, it was deemed necessary, on the following day, to
proclaim martial law; and a party of the troops, under the
command of Lieutenant-Colonel George Johnston, were directed to
pursue the rebels. After a long march, the military detachment
came up with the insurgents, near the Ponds, about half-way
between Parramatta and Hawkesbury, and a short parley ensued,
when the Colonel found it necessary to fire upon them; and, after
killing several of the misguided rebels, and making prisoners of
the principals who survived, the remainder made a rapid retreat.
Ten of the leaders of this insurrection, who had been observed as
particularly conspicuous and zealous in their endeavours to
seduce the rest, were tried on the 8th of March, and capitally
convicted. Three were executed on the same evening at Parramatta,
since it was justly concluded, that measures of prompt severity
would have a greater effect upon the minds of those who had
forsaken their allegiance. On the following day, two other rebels
were executed at Sydney, and three at Castle Hill: the two
remaining criminals were respited, as they were the least
corrupted, and had discovered symptoms of sincere remorse for the
part which they had taken in the late operations. On the 9th,
martial law was repealed; and from that moment no disturbance has
again broken in upon the peace of the settlement of a serious
nature, although it would be too much to suppose that the seeds
of insubordination and disorder were entirely eradicated by the
frustrated event of the first endeavour. Men of such desperate
characters as are to be found in this colony, are not to be
intimidated by punishment, nor discouraged by failure from the
pursuit of that career of depravity, which is become dear to them
from habit; nothing short of death can destroy, in those minds,
the affection for vice, and the determination to gratify their
ruling passion, in spite of obstacles, however alarming, or
opposition, however strenuous and vigilant. Mr. Dixon, a Roman
Catholic priest, who had been sent under an order of
transportation from Ireland, for his principles, accompanted
Colonel Johnston on this service, and proved to be of some
utility in bringing back the insurgents to a proper sense of
their duty. It cannot be too much to say, that the conduct of Mr.
Dixon, before and after this business, was strictly
exemplary.

In May, the blessings of vaccination were introduced into the
settlement, and all the young children were inoculated with
success; but unfortunately, by some means as yet unaccounted for,
the virtue has been lost, and the colony has been once more left
without a protection from that most dreadful of all disorders,
the small-pox; of the fatal consequences of which the natives
have more than once afforded the most dreadful evidence, their
loathsome carcases having been found, while this disorder was
prevalent amongst them, lying about the beach, and on the rocks.
In fact, such is the terror of this disorder amongst these
untutored sons of nature, that, on its appearance, they forsake
those who are infected with it, leaving them to die, without a
friend at hand, or assistance to smooth the aspect of death, and
fly into the thickest of the woods. Their superstition leads them
to consider it as an infernal visitation; and its effects are
such as to justify this idea, in some degree, for it seldom fails
to desolate and depopulate whole districts, and strews the
surface of the country with the unburied carcases of its wretched
and deserted victims.

In September, the limits of Northumberland, and of Cornwall
and Buckinghamshire, on Van Diemen's Land, where a settlement had
been made during the last year, were defined; and the lines of
demarkation were fixed as follow:--The line of demarkation
between Cumberland and Northumberland is the parallel of 33. 2.
south latitude; and the line of demarkation between
Buckinghamshire and Cornwall, on Van Diemen's Land, is the
parallel of 42. south latitude. On the 15th of the following
month, Lieutenant-Governor Paterson sailed to make and command a
settlement at Port Dalrymple; and, in the course of a short
period, the colony had the satisfaction to hear of the foundation
of two towns, Yorkton and Launceston, which are making their
progress to perfection with considerable rapidity.

During the violence of a tempest in this month, a ship of five
hundred tons, named the Lady Barlow, and belonging to Messrs.
Campbell and Co. whilst lying in the Cove at her moorings, was
completely overset by the irresistible fury of the gale; but,
with some difficulty, she was raised again. Considerable damage
also resulted from this tremendous storm in the interior of the
settlement, where trees were rooted up, and the forests were
almost depopulated of their most ancient tenants. Huts were blown
down and houses unroofed, and the loss to numbers of the
inhabitants was such as to afford a serious interruption to their
prosperity.

In the month of May, 1805, Norfolk Island experienced a
considerable influx of the sea, which, from the extraordinary
nature of the occurrence, is worthy of mention. The tide first
ebbed to a great distance; when, suddenly, an unusual swell was
seen coming in, which occasioned considerable alarm to the
colony, to whom such a circumstance was entirely novel: it rose
to a great height, and retired to its channel. A second time it
revisited the shore, and flowed to a more considerable height
than before: a second time it retreated; and once again returned,
with a fury surpassing its former efforts; paralyzing the
spectators with terror, who were unable to imagine where the
extraordinary swellings might pause. For the last time, however,
the ocean left the shores, without having caused any material
damage; and, in its regress, it opened the secrets of the deep,
and displayed to "mortal ken" rocks which had remained
until now undiscovered.

About this period, a mare, belonging to a settler named Roger
Twyfield, at Hawkesbury, produced a foal, without any fore-legs,
or the least appearance of any: it lived for some time, fed very
well, and, exclusive of its natural deficiency, was in every
respect a remakably well-made animal. Such a singular phoenomenon
in nature has no parallel in my recollection; and I believe it is
the only instance of an imperfect or deformed progeny in the
settlement. Previous to the death of this singular animal, an
appearance of a horn was discovered sprouting from its forehead;
assimilating it, in some degree, to the supposed unicorn.

Chapter II.

Abstract of General Orders.--Arrival of
Governor Bligh.--George Barrington.--Blue Mountains.--Journey
thither.--New Market at Sydney.--Vessels seized and carried away
by the Convicts.--Natives.--Cruelty of the Savages in Bateman's
Bay.--Arrival of Masters for the Orphan Schools.--New Storehouse
built.--Murders.

Of the General Orders which were issued for the government of
the settlement, I shall here give the following abridgment, as it
will shew to the reader the nature of the regulations which were
adopted in the colony:--

_Agreements_--not cognizable, unless written and
registered; being witnessed by one person, not a prisoner.

_Apprentices and Deserters_--forbid to be harboured or
inveigled, under the penalty of six months hard labour, exclusive
of penalties by law ordained, if free; and, if a prisoner, one
hundred lashes, with other penalties, at discretion of a bench of
magistrates.

_Arms and Ammunition_--prohibited to be landed without
permission, under the penalty of forfeiting bond and
charter-party.

_Assault_.--Every description of persons to obtain
redress by action or indictment; and persons beating prisoners
assigned them, to forfeit such future indulgence.

_Assignments_--not cognizable, unless drawn up at the
judge-advocate's office and registered.

_Bakers_--to make bread of one quality only; viz. 24lbs.
of bran to be taken from 100lbs. of wheat: to charge 4d.
in money, or 2  1/2  lbs. wheat, for a loaf weighing 2lbs. 1oz.
when new, and 2lbs. if one day old, under the penalty of
5L. and otherwise at discretion of a bench of
magistrates.--[Since the above regulations were made, a much
more regular system has been adopted to fix the price of bread.
On every Saturday morning, a bench of magistrates assemble to
hear the price of wheat, and affix that of bread for the ensuing
week, according to the rate wheat has been sold at.]

_Bakers_--not to pay more than one shilling per bushel
for grinding wheat into flour.

_Barrack Bedding and Furniture_--prohibited to be
purchased: penalty--indictment for receiving stolen goods.

_Boats_--belonging to individuals, to land only at the
Hospital-wharf, unless by permission; nor must any convey spirits
without a permit, under penalty of being seized.

_Boats_--employed in the Hawkesbury trade, not to depart
from thence, nor from Sydney, without three days notice of
departure. In case of attack, to cut away masts and run on shore;
and to be provided with an axe or tomahawk, under penalty of
exemplary punishment. Those boats in the Hawkesbury river to be
numbered, registered, and chained at night, and not to be rowed
about after dark, under penalty of confiscation. No boat to
convey any person on board a vessel after notice of departure,
without permission from the governor or officer in command, under
the penalty of the boat being forfeited to the informer, and five
pounds to the Orphan School. And all boats must be registered and
numbered, under the penalty of their being forfeited to the
Orphans.

_Boats_--forbid being in Cockle Bay or Farm Cove, either
ashore or afloat, after sunset, under the penalty of being
forfeited to the crown; and all boats to be moored within the
Hospital wharf, and hulk.

_Boats conveying Grain from Hawkesbury_.--No grain to be
put into an open boat, or one that is not trust-worthy, or no
complaint of damage therefrom cognizable; but if more grain be
received than is consistent with safety, the master to make good
all loss or damage, lose the freight, and pay five pounds for
Orphans; and the same sum to that institution, if grain should
appear to have been wetted, to increase its weight or
measure.

_British Seamen_--forbid shipping in foreign vessels,
during the war, under the penalty of fifty pounds.

_Butchers_.--None to vend carcase meat but such as are
licensed, under the penalty of five pounds, and one year's
imprisonment. Licenced butchers to enter into recognizances to
observe as follows:--Not to kill any breeding stock; nor to send
live stock, or carcase meat, on board vessels, without
permission; to deliver to the governor a weekly return of stock
killed, purchased, and sold; not to demand more than one shilling
and eight-pence per pound for beef, one shilling per pound for
mutton, and eight-pence halfpenny per pound for pork; and not to
sell meat by the joint, but by weight, under the penalty of
forfeiting their licences and recognizances; the latter to the
informer.

_Cedar_--growing at Hawkesbury, not to be cut down or
removed without permission, under the penalty of confiscation,
with that also of the boat or cart removing it, to public
use.

_Centinels_--to oblige every person (except an officer)
to advance, when challenged, and to confine every person who
presumes to answer "Officer," without authority; and
when stores, etc. are to be placed in the charge of a
centinel, application must be made to the serjeant of the guard,
from whom he is to receive instructions, otherwise the centinel
not to be accountable.

_Certificates_.--No person to be employed unless he
produces his certificate, if a freeman, or his ticket of leave,
if a prisoner, under the penalty that his employer pays five
pounds, and half-a-crown for each day the man has been employed;
and should he prove to be a prisoner, without permission, the sum
of twenty pounds, and half-a-crown a day to Orphans. Certificates
will not be granted to persons about to leave the colony, unless
their names be published one week previous to their leaving the
Cove.

_Coals_ (Newcastle) _and Timber_--the exclusive
property of the crown. Coals prohibited to be worked by
individuals, but to be procured by government at ten shillings
per ton, and cedar at three halfpence per superficial foot,
exclusive of other duties and fines; _viz._ Licence
2s. clearance 1s. harbour-dues at Sydney at
established rates, entrance in and clearance from the river
2s. entrance at Sydney 1s. King's dues for Orphans:
coals for home consumption, or for exportation, 2s.
6d. per ton; timber for home consumption 3L. per
1000 square feet, ditto for exportation 4L. per ditto;
metage per ton on coals 2s.; measure of timber per 1000
feet 2s. No vessel to go to Hunter's River without a
specific licence; and the masters to enter into recognizances,
themselves in 50L. and two sureties in 25L. each,
to abide by the following regulations; _viz_. To take a
regular clearance; to observe the orders of the officer in
command; not to interfere with people at public labour; not to be
riotous or troublesome; not to land until permission be obtained;
to use baskets which will contain one hundred weight of coals; to
make daily returns to the commandant of the quantity of coals and
timber taken in; to give two days notice of departure to the
officer in command, and receive his certificate and letters; not
to sail between dusk and daylight; to land at the place directed,
only; to employ no prisoner without permission, and to pay
3s. 6d. per day for the ration of each permitted to
be employed; to give no strong liquors to any prisoner; not to
land any spirits without permit; likewise to enter into further
recognizances, the master in 100L. and two sureties in
50L. each, to take no person on board without sufficient
authority.

_Colonial Vessels_--to be registered, and pay fees to
Orphans: for register, ten shillings; for permission to go to
Botany Bay or Hawkesbury, two shillings; for re-entry, two
shillings; and, to go beyond Broken or Botany Bay, five
shillings, and the same at re-entry. Colonial vessels clearing
for or from any dependent settlement, prohibited taking any
person on board, unless authorised, under the penalty of
forfeiting bond and recognizances; nor is any colonial vessel to
be allowed a clearance with more than eighty gallons of spirits
for twenty-six men, fifty gallons for eighteen men, thirty
gallons for twelve men, and eighteen gallons for six men, if
going on a sealing or whaling voyage. Persons having families not
to enter on board any colonial vessels, unless provision be made
by the owners for their families whilst absent; the owners to
find security also to return such persons when their engagement
expires. The owners must likewise maintain their men while on
shore, or the latter may relinquish their contract. The owners
must also provide sufficient provisions for the support of their
men, or be prosecuted at civil law. Colonial vessels not to
depart for oiling and sealing, until bonds be entered into by the
owners, binding themselves in five hundred pounds, and two
sureties in fifty pounds each (to be renewed annually, for the
conduct of masters in their employ), to perform as follows:--To
take no person without permission and regular notice of
departure; to obtain a clearance; not to navigate beyond the
limits, namely, 10.37. and 43.39. south, and 135. east, from
Greenwich; not to entice seamen, or entertain deserters; to
provide sufficient provisions for the support of their men; not
to break bulk, until entered and the fees paid; not to authorize
strange vessels taking away British subjects from the gangs; not
to purchase or receive more than twenty gallons of spirits from
any vessel they may meet, without the governor's permission.

_Constables_--forbid releasing persons taken in charge,
until discharged by a magistrate.

_Convicts_--not to employ others to do their work: to
which all overseers are strictly to attend, under such punishment
as a bench of magistrates may adjudge. Convicts not to strike or
be struck by free persons: penalty, two hundred lashes the
prisoner, and jail-gang twelve months; a free man to pay two
pounds for the first offence, and be bound over; and, for the
second offence, five pounds, and security doubled. Those
prisoners assigned to individuals to be of no expence to the
crown, nor can any convict's person be attached for debt. Those
prisoners taken off the stores to be employed on their master's
ground only, and in no case be permitted on their own hands, or
let to hire: penalty to Orphans; the master to pay ten pounds,
and half-a-crown for each day the servant has been absent from
public labour. Servants, who are prisoners, are not to be beaten
by their masters; who are to complain to a magistrate when
necessary, on pain of forfeiting such future accommodation. Those
prisoners off the stores who charge exorbitant prices for their
labour, or misbehave in any other respect, will be recalled, and
such other punishment inflicted according to the nature of the
offence. Masters of convicts to clothe and maintain them with a
ration equal to that issued by government; to provide for them a
sheltered lodging; the servant to work, in his own time, for his
master, in preference to any other person, and never absent
himself without leave; in case of misbehaviour, the master is to
prefer his complaint to a magistrate, who will order such
punishment as the case shall require. Persons secreting or
employing such servants during government hours, will be punished
for a breach of public orders on that head. Those convict
servants indented for, not to be suffered on their own hands;
penalty, the master to pay half-a-crown per day, and one shilling
for each day the servant shall be discharged before the time
indented for expires.

_Copper Coin_.--Importation or exportation, above five
pounds, prohibited; penalty, treble the value. Also five pounds,
and not above, to be considered a legal tender.

_Cur Dogs_.--Such as are dangerous to stock, or apt to
fly at horses, to be destroyed; and if damage be sustained, the
owner of the dog to forfeit treble.

_Debts_.--Wheat and live stock, at government prices, to
be considered a legal tender.

_Debts of deceased Persons_.--Priority of claims for:
1st, medical attendance; 2d, debts and duties to the king; 3d,
judgments; 4th, recognizances; 5th, rents; 6th, obligations,
bills final and protested; 7th, single bills; 8th, wages; 9th,
book debts, etc.

_Deeds, Bonds, etc._--to be executed by the judge
advocate, as notary public: individuals prohibited the exercise
of any part of such office, under the penalty of removal.

_Detainers_.--All applications respecting detainers
against persons leaving the colony, to be made at the secretary's
office in writing, and to be lodged within ten days after notice
of departure; otherwise not cognizable, unless the party about to
depart remains twenty days after the notice has elapsed.

_Extortion_--to be punished as circumstances may
require.

_Fees_.--High court of appeal before the governor: to
provost marshal 1L. 1s. to secretary or clerk 1l. 1s.
door-keeper 5s. Note. No appeal is allowed from the verdict of
the civil court to the governor, unless the appellant gives good
security to prosecute it, and to answer condemnation-money, with
costs and damages, in case the verdict of the civil court be
affirmed; nor from the governor's award to the King in council,
without giving good security in twice the sum sued for, to
prosecute the appeal in one year or as soon after as
circumstances will admit, to answer condemnation-money, and such
costs and damages as shall be awarded by his majesty in council,
in case the sentence on judgment of the governor be
approved.--Fees to provost marshal, in civil actions, executions,
etc.: 5l. per cent. on proceeds of auctions in execution; 5l.
per cent. levy money from 100l. downwards, 4l. per cent. ditto
from 100l. to 500l., 3l. per cent. from 500l. to 1000l.,
2  1/2   per cent. from 1000l. upwards; and for a man to keep
possession, 2s. 6d. per day for five days.--Fees on civil
actions: a writ, or warrant of execution, above 10l. and not
exceeding 20l., 10s., to the judge advocate's clerk 1s.; ditto
above 20l. and not exceeding 50l., with 1s. to clerk, 16s.; ditto
above 50l. and with 2s. to clerk, 1l. 2s. Capias, for any sum not
exceeding 30l., 13s.; ditto, above 30l. and not exceeding 50l.,
17s.; and all above 50l., 1l. 2s. Summonses, under 40s., 4d.;
above that sum, 6d. Witnesses, travelling from Hawkesbury to
Sydney, 10s.; ditto, from Sydney to Hawkesbury, 10s.; to Sydney
from Parramatta 5s., and back again the same sum; attending the
court each day 2s. 6d.--Fees to secretary's clerks, receiving no
salary: free pardons 5s. conditional ditto 2s. 6d.; and, on each
person leaving the colony by certificate, 2s. 6d.

_Female Stock_--prohibited to be sent from the territory,
or its dependencies, under the same penalty as for breach of
orders.--Female stock prohibited to be killed, under the penalty
of 20L. to informer, and two months hard labour for the
crown.

_Fires_--No person to fire stubble, until his neighbours
are warned and prepared; penalty, by action, remuneration of all
damages: also, no person to smoke pipes, or make fires, near a
stack, under the penalty of exemplary punishment.

_Fire-arms_--forbid to be discharged between sun-set and
sun-rise, under the penalty of a breach of general orders.

_Fines_.--Persons removed to different settlements for
misdemeanour, not to return until the expiration of sentence,
under penalty of corporal punishment.

_Foreigners_--not permitted to settle or reside in the
colony, without permission.

_Forgery_--subject to prosecution on a written, as well
as on a printed form of note of hand; and persons concealing such
offence, will be subject to the same penalty as persons
compounding felony.

_Fort Philip_.--Every person cautioned from purchasing,
repairing, or building huts, near the Esplanade, the limits of
which are to be explained by the assistant engineer.

_Fustic_--growing at Newcastle, and its vicinity, forbid
to be cut without permission from the governor.

_Goats_--not to be suffered to range without a herd,
under penalty of being forfeited to Orphans.

_Grants of Land_--forbidden to be transferred within the
term of five years, under the penalty of their being
cancelled.

_Grants and Leases_--of buildings erected at the public
expence, and grounds allotted for public purposes, to revert to
the crown, at the governor's discretion.

_Guard_ sent on board merchant vessels--instructions to:
to suffer no one to board but the pilot, naval officer, or
officer authorized by the governor; and no article to be sent on
shore, nor any person to go on board except the above, until the
flag of admission is hoisted: not to suffer spirits, wines, or
other strong drinks, to be sent from the ship, but by permit; to
admit no unauthorized person on board, without a pass, at any
time; and to suffer no shore-boats to board after sunset. If
insulted or interrupted in their duty, to report the same to
head-quarters.

_Hospital Servants_--forbid vending or prescribing
medicines; and all applications to be made to the medical
gentlemen for relief.

_Hogs_--forbid to be sent on board any vessel without
permit.

_Idlers_--loitering about the wharfs, to be sent to hard
labour; and if after sunset, to be imprisoned.

_Initials_--of the governor, commissary, and deputies, if
forged, to be considered as full signatures.

_Interest_--not more than eight per cent. to be exacted;
and any persons demanding more, are subject to the laws against
usury.

_King's Stores_--articles granted for the use of
families, comprising annual and extra supplies sent for barter,
not to be retailed, under the penalty of forfeiting all further
indulgences.

_Licenced Persons_--bound by recognizance to the due
assize of weight and measure; to permit no gaming, drunkenness,
indecency, or disorder; to pay due respect to existing
regulations; not to entertain persons from tap-too beating until
the following noon, or during divine service, under the penalty
of forfeiting licence and recognizances; the latter to informer,
and five pounds to Orphans. Nor is any licenced person to credit
more than twenty shillings, under forfeiture of debt; nor to sue
soldiers, seamen, servants, or prisoners, under the penalty of
nonsuit and treble charges. And any licenced person vending or
receiving liquors distilled in the colony (that practice being
strictly prohibited), they will forfeit their licence and
recognizances; and all such persons receiving permits for spirits
are to receive it themselves, and not to dispose of spirits on
any other person's account, under the before-mentioned penalty,
and all such spirits to become the property of the informer.

_Merchandize_.--Not more than twenty per cent. on the
importer's prices admitted on the retail; in doubtful cases, to
be estimated by courts, if sued for, by allowing from 80 to 100
per cent. on the prime cost of English or India goods, and 20 per
cent. on the retail. Notes of hand for debts so contracted not
cognizable as evidence, unless the account of articles be
produced with prices annexed. All merchandize to be landed at the
Hospital wharf, and no where else, under penalty of confiscation;
and those articles which are brought from the eastward of the
Cape of Good Hope, are to pay five per cent. _ad valorem_ on
the prices laid in at, exclusive of wharfage and wine and spirit
duties. All British manufactures exempt.

_Musters_.--Persons neglecting to attend musters, if
free, to be treated as vagrants; and, if prisoners, jail-gang
twelve months. Persons returning false accounts, to be dealt with
according to the decision of a bench of magistrates.

_Natives_--not to be treated with inhumanity or
injustice, under the penalty of prosecution and indictment; and
the natives of Otaheite, New Zealand, etc. are all to be
considered as under the protection of the crown; to be properly
treated and maintained by their employers, and not to be sent on
any voyage without the governor's permission.

_Parramatta._--Persons passing the barracks to give a
satisfactory account of themselves to the commanding officer at
that place, when required; and no person to carry a musket
without permission from the magistrate.

_Passage-boats._--Not to convey any person, unless a
settler, without a pass; penalty, confiscation. The boats to be
kept tight; carry four oars, one mast and sail; boatmen to treat
passengers civilly; to give notice half an hour before they
depart, by bell ringing; not to stop more than ten minutes by the
way, nor to go alongside a vessel, without acquainting the
wharfinger; and the proprietors to keep entry-books, under the
penalty of forfeiting the bond and recognizances entered into at
the time their license was granted. The following charges to be
made: Each passenger to pay 1s.; children 6d.; luggage 1s. per
cwt.; wheat or shelled maize 6d. per bushel; maize in cob 4d. per
bushel; each chair 6d.; sheep and goats 6d. each; pigs and
packages, according to their size; liquids 1d. per gallon; porter
3s. per hhd.; planks 2s. 6d. per 100 feet; fowls and ducks 1s.
per dozen; geese and turkies 1s. 2d. per dozen; parcels weighing
2lbs. 3d.; and private letters 2d. each. The hire of the whole
boat 1l. 1s.

_Passes_.--No person, unless a settler, to leave his
place of abode without a pass, which he is to produce to the
chief constable at the settlement expressed in it, and return it
to the officer who granted it, under the penalty of three months
hard labour, if free; and, if a prisoner, corporal punishment, at
discretion of one magistrate, not exceeding one hundred
lashes.

_Permits_--for removing half a gallon of spirits, etc.
to be granted by commissioned officers, superintendants, and
licensed retailers; and if any spirits be obtained by fraud and
collusion, by any licensed person, if free, he will suffer the
penalty of one year's hard labour for the crown, and forfeit his
license; and, if a prisoner, he will undergo such punishment as a
bench of magistrates may direct.

_Petitions_--signed by more than one person, to be
sanctioned by three magistrates, under the penalty of
prosecution.

_Prisoners_--not to be conveyed on board any vessel about
to depart: penalty for breach of this order, forfeiture of the
boat, and the person rowing it to be subject to two months
imprisonment. Nor is any prisoner to be seduced or diverted from
the public harvest, under the penalty of ten pounds, half of
which to be paid to the informer.

_Provisions_--including flour, bread, meat, wheat,
etc. not to be sent on board vessels, but by permit for that
purpose.

_Public Registers_--applications respecting them to be
made to the secretary only.

_Public Roads_--not to be encroached upon: persons
aggrieved thereby, to obtain redress by complaint to the nearest
magistrate.

_Rations_--allowed to prisoners, prohibited to be
purchased or exchanged, under the penalty of being indicted; and,
if bartered for spirits, all such found in the house will be
staved; if a licensed person, forfeiture of license also: And if
the ration is not applied for at the time of issue, it will not
afterwards be given.

_Sabbath_.--A strict observance of the sabbath, and
general attendance at divine service required; during the
performance of which all strollers are to be apprehended and
confined.

_School-house and Chapel at Hawkesbury, erected by
Gorvernment for the Benefit of Settlers in that
District_.--Those for whom the benefit is designed, invited to
become subscribers, for supporting the institution, and
maintaining the chaplain and preceptor, by the payment of
two-pence for each acre of land they possess. All regulations to
be determined by six subscribers, and two magistrates, one of
whom to be the principal chaplain.

_Seamen_.--Any person trusting or retaining any seaman,
shall lose his or her money, and be proceeded against; and
forfeit five pounds for each day and night (after the first
offence), should he be a deserter; but if ignorant of his being
such, penalty ten shillings a day, only. And any seaman deserting
a ship, and discovered after her departure, shall be subject to
thirty-one lashes, and hard labour for the crown.

_Sedition_.--Transgressors amenable to existing laws; in
addition to which the following regulations, for the effectual
suppression of such crime against his majesty's government, and
the public tranquillity, are strictly to be enforced; _viz_.
Persons using seditious words or actions to receive exemplary
punishment; and all persons knowing but concealing such offence,
to be treated as accomplices. Any house in which seditious
meetings are held, to be demolished.

_Slop Clothing_--the sale and purchase thereof
prohibited, under penalty of indictment for receiving stolen
goods.

_Spirits, and other strong Drinks_.--If landed without
permit, penalty, forfeiture to informer wherever found, and all
such discovered in the house; nor is any to be removed but by
permit, penalty from the original vender 5L. to Orphans.
Nor is any greater quantity of spirits to be removed than half a
gallon, but by a permit, signed by a magistrate; penalty,
forfeiture. And if spirits be landed by a master of a vessel
without license, he will forfeit his bond, and be ordered
immediately to depart the port. Persons licensed to retail
spirits and other strong drinks, to pay 3L. for each
license to the Orphans' fund, and 2s. to the clerk.
Spirits drawn for domestic purposes, forbid to be transferred;
penalty, forfeiture; and, if bartered for wheat, the wheat to be
forfeited to the crown, with the spirits and premises. Spirits
prohibited to be smuggled, landed without permit, or sold without
a license, under the penalty of confiscation. And should any
spirits be brought, without the governor's permission, from the
eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, the following additional
duties are to be paid; _viz_. If permitted to be landed, for
every 100 gallons, 5L.; not to be charged more than
6s. per gallon, including duty of 2s. per gallon;
5L. per cent. _ad valorem_, and 5s. wharfage
for each cask or case of 100 gallons. If not permitted to be
landed, no colonial vessel within the limits to receive such
spirits, under the penalty of confiscation, together with the
vessel; half to the informer. Nor are any spirits to be sold or
bartered for more than 20s. per gallon; penalty, the
excess of 20s. to be returned, and future indulgence
forfeited; and, if licensed, the license to be taken away.

_Stallions_--not to be suffered to run loose; penalty,
5L. to informer, and 10s. for each night they are
held in charge: If not claimed within a week, forfeited to
Orphans.

_Stock furnished by Government to Individuals_.--Oxen
hired to such approved settlers as procure ploughs or carts, to
be paid for in wheat each March quarter, in the proportion of ten
bushels a year for two years, when each head is to be purchased
for 70 bushels of wheat, or be returned to government; such
cattle not to be ill-treated, or applied to any other than
agricultural purposes, on pain of being reclaimed. In case of
disease or accidental death, the superintendant of stock to be
immediately informed thereof, or the settler responsible for the
loss. Cows one remove from the Bengal breed valued at 28L.
per head, occasionally to be bartered for as follows: To be paid
for in wheat into the store, on delivery of each cow, or, if
accepted, in two half-yearly payments; in failure of payment when
due, the stock to be reclaimed, and the payment already made
forfeited. The stock and produce to the third generation
unalienable, unless by the governor's permission; and no person
to purchase any such stock without the governor's sanction.
Stock, if impounded, a description to be sent to the nearest
magistrate, or constable of the district, immediately; to be
properly fed, and, if near a town, made public thrice a week for
one month by the common crier, under the penalty of 2L.
for each head, and all other costs; but owners of stock running
at large to pay all damage sustained. Any person who has received
stock from government, and obtained permission for the sale
thereof, must first tender the same to government at market
prices, under the penalty of forfeiture, with twice the value
from seller and buyer; the original stock to the crown, the other
penalties to informer.

_Stills_--prohibited to be used; penalty, if free,
privation of indulgence and removal; if prisoners, at discretion
of a bench of magistrates: Also all liquors and utensils found,
to be seized and destroyed.

_Stream running through the Tanks at Sydney_--no person
to throw filth into, nor to wash, clean fish, or erect pigsties
near; nor to take water up but at the tanks; under the penalty of
5L. to Orphans, if free, and the house razed; if a
prisoner, imprisonment, and hard labour for the crown for twelve
months.

_Strikes_.--No strikes are to be used for measuring
grain, but such as are stamped by superintending carpenters, who
are to charge one shilling each; and in case of any other strike
being used, the person offending to forfeit five pounds, and one
shilling for every bushel which has been measured.

_Sureties_.--Persons becoming sureties for individuals of
indifferent character, to forfeit the full amount of their
recognizance, if such decision is given before a bench of
magistrates.

_Swine_--found at large without ring and yoke, will be
forfeited to the Orphans.

_Taptoo-beating_.--Persons passing after, to answer
centinels when challenged, and to carry a lantern. None but known
householders to pass, except officers of vessels, who are to make
themselves known, under penalty of confinement.

_Timber_--to be taken, if wanted for government purposes,
wherever found growing on grounds located by the crown to
individuals. No private individual to damage or remove any
timber, but by permission from the owner of the land, or from the
governor, upon crown lands; penalty, prosecution. And all timber
exported, to be paid for to Orphans 3L. per 1000 feet
solid; returns of all embarked to be made to the wharfinger,
under the penalty of 5L. for each neglect. Exotic timbers
exempted from the general claim of government, and to be the
exclusive property of the owner; but, if disposed of, the crown
to have the preference.

_Vagrants, and idle and disorderly Persons_--to be sent
to public labour, for a time to be limited by the
magistrates.

_Vendue_--no person to sell goods by, unless licensed,
those exempt by act of parliament excepted, under the penalty of
50L. to the Orphans.

_Vendue Master_--to give a daily account of sales to the
treasurer of the Orphan fund, to which institution 1 1/2   per
cent. is to be paid from the proceeds of sales. He is also to
furnish a list of articles to the treasurer, previous to the
auction, under the penalty of forfeiture of recognizances he
enters into at the time he is appointed to that situation.

_Vessels_--to pay the following dues and fees on entry:
To Orphans, an English merchant ship with merchandize, in
government service, 15s.; ditto, not in government
service, 1L. 10s.; a whaler, with merchandize,
15s.; ditto, with no articles for sale, 10s.; a
foreign ship 2L. 10s. General permission to trade
10s.; each bond 3s. 6d.; to water on Orphan
lands 10s.; to wood on ditto, or on government grounds,
10s.; on clearance and bonds being returned 5s.;
for every permit to land or remove spirits 6d. To the Gaol
fund: For every gallon of spirits landed, or removed from the
vessel, 1s.; ditto for wine 6d. and beer 3d.
Wharfage for every cask or package 6d. No vessel to break
bulk until reported and entered at the naval officer's office;
and every ship to hoist her colours on public days; in case of
refusal, all intercourse to cease. Vessels taking spirits from
hence, not to be allowed communication with any dependent
settlement, unless the master produces a letter from the
governor, or officer in command (to relieve distress excepted);
and no spirits to be landed at the settlement he may touch at,
unless the governor's certificate of price, etc. be produced.
All commanders are also strictly forbid entering seamen from
other ships, under the penalty of 15L. for each man; half
to the king, and half to the informer. Masters of vessels, not
colonial, to give security previous to any communication,
themselves in 500L. and two sureties in 50L. each,
to take no person away without regular authority, nor to depart
without leave, under an additional penalty of 50L. The
usual bond, not to lade from hence to India, China, etc.
without certificate, to be also exacted. Masters shipping seamen,
to make application to the secretary in writing, stating whether
such men have been prisoners, and if so, the ship they came in,
and where tried; nor is any communication to be held with any
vessel after the clearance has been obtained, under the penalty
of forfeiture of boat so trespassing, and two months
imprisonment. The crews of all vessels to be put on ration,
agreeable to existing circumstances.--Vessels not to be built
within the limits of the territory, exceeding 14 feet keel,
without permission from the governor (unless in case of
shipwreck), under the penalty of confiscation.--Vessels under
foreign colours not to be cleared for any sealing voyage, or to
return hither, but to clear out for a port of discharge. And if
any master disregard the colonial regulations, all intercourse to
cease; to depart the port immediately, and not permitted to
return.

_Vouchers for Grain, etc. furnished the King's
Stores_--to be finally settled quarterly, otherwise not
cognizable; _viz_. 31st of March, 30th of June, 30th of
September, and 31st of December.

_Weights and Measures_--to be true, and stamped as such,
under the penalty of ten pounds to Orphans, for every weight or
measure which is defective.

The internal regulations, from which the preceding abridgment
was taken, are the leading features of the General Orders issued
by all those who have administered the government of the colony
up to the secession of Governor King, and are frequently altered,
or annulled, according to the variations in the local
circumstances of the country: since which period, however, a
number of other orders and proclamations have been issued, by
those who have subsequently held the command in the settlement;
but the notice of which, as well as of all political matters,
must unavoidably be deferred until some future period, from the
peculiar circumstances under which I am at present placed.

* * * * *
On the 12th of August, 1806, Governor King was succeeded in
his command at the settlement by Governor Bligh, who arrived from
England for that purpose; at which period the colony was in a
state of growing prosperity, notwithstanding the progress of
cultivation was considerably retarded by the frequent
overflowings of the Hawkesbury, which never failed to produce
such extensive injury to the settlers on its banks, as would have
been sufficient to discourage men of much more industry and
perseverance than many amongst them.

The death of Mr. George Barrington, who, for a long time, was
in the situation of chief constable at Parramatta, ought to have
been previously adverted to, as his decease took place some time
before this period. During his residence in the colony, he had
conducted himself with singular propriety of conduct; and, by his
industry, had saved some money; but, for a considerable time
previous to his death, he was in a state of insanity, and was
constantly attended by a trusty person. The general opinion of
those around him was, that he brought on this malady, so
destructive to the majesty of man, by his serious and sorrowful
reflexions on his former career of iniquity. His death, however,
was that of a good man, and a sincere christian. He expressed a
very considerable degree of displeasure, when he was in a state
of sanity, at his name being affixed to a narrative, which he
knew only by report, as being about to be published, and which
subsequently did appear, under a deceptious mask.

The Blue Mountains have never yet been passed, so that beyond
those tremendous barriers, the country yet remains unexplored and
unknown. Various attempts have, at different periods, been made
to exceed this boundary of the settlement; but none of them have
been attended with the wished-for effect. M. Barrallier, a French
gentleman, late an engsign in the New South Wales corps, has been
further across than any other individual; but he was compelled to
return unsatisfied, before he had obtained any knowledge of the
trans-mountaneous territory which he longed to behold. I myself
made an excursion to these mountains, in the year 1807,
accompanied by an European and three natives; but after mounting
the steep acclivities for four days, until I found my stock of
provisions sensibly diminishing, I thought it most prudent to
re-trace my way to the habitable part of the settlement, and to
leave the task of exploring them to some person more qualified,
mentally as well as physically, for the arduous undertaking. In
fine, from the specimen I had acquired during this journey, of
the difficulties which surround this task, I think that, after
travelling a few miles over them, their appearance (although so
amazingly grand) is sufficiently terrific to deter any man of
common perseverance from proceeding in his design.

In the progress of my undulating, I ascended about four or
five stupendous acclivities, whose perpendicular sides scarcely
permitted me to gain the ascent. No sooner had I attained to the
summit of one of these cliffs, flattering myself that I should
there find the termination of my toil, than my eye was appalled
with the sight of another, and so on to the end of my journey;
when, after mounting with the utmost difficulty a fifth of these
mountainous heights, I beheld myself, apparently, as remote from
my ultimate object, as at the first hour of my quitting the level
country beneath. Some of these ridges presented to the eye a
brilliant verdure of the most imposing nature, while others had
the appearance of unchanging sterility, relieved by the
interposition of pools of stagnant water and running streams;
there shrubs and trees enlivened the scene, and here barrenness
spread its dreary arms, and encircled the space as far as the eye
could reach. On my return, in sliding down the steep declivities,
I so completely lacerated my clothes, that they scarcely
contained sufficient power to cover me. I saw no other animals or
reptiles, during this excursion, than those which are common
throughout the country.

Were it not for the existence of such insurmountable
obstacles, is it to be supposed that persons who have resided
above twenty years within sight of this Alpine chain of hills,
would have so long suppressed a a curiosity, of the existence of
which every day gives some evidence, and have remained so totally
uninformed as to the nature of a country, from which the most
distant part of the settlement is far from being remote? Or is it
probable that the settlers, who reside at the very base of the
mountains, would so long have remained ignorant of the space on
the other side, if such impassable impediments did not
intervene.

In the commencement of the year 1808, a new market was
established on a part called the Old Parade, near to the Orphan
House, and every exertion was made to expedite the building of
the shops. The marketdays are Wednesdays and Saturdays, when a
considerable number of farmers, from the districts between Sydney
and Parramatta, as well as from other quarters, attend with the
produce of their lands: they also bring poultry, vegetables,
fruit, etc.; and to prevent, as much as possible, the too
frequent impositions practised, a clerk of the market has been
appointed, to weigh all things that may be required.

Of late years, a number of vessels have been seized and
carried away by the convicts, amongst whom there must ever be
numbers who will eagerly grasp at any project of emancipating
themselves which occurs to their minds. Lately, the Venus, a brig
belonging to Messrs. Robert Campbell and Co. laden with a
quantity of provisions and stores to supply the settlements to
the southward, and a very handsome brig, called the Harrington,
from Madras, were seized and taken off. The former, when she had
reached her place of destination, after coming to an anchor, and
landing the master with dispatches for the Lieutenant-Governor,
was seized by some convicts who had been placed on board, under
confinement, aided by part of the crew, and was carried beyond
the reach of re-capture. She has since been heard of, but without
a probability of her recovery. The latter was cut out of Farm
Cove, and was carried out to sea, before any information was
received on the subject. This transaction was planned in a very
secret manner, so that all the convicts boarded her about twelve
o'clock at night; and, although the vessel lay in sight of some
part of the town, and within the fire of two batteries, yet
nothing was discovered of the circumstance until the following
morning. Upon the representation being made to Colonel Johnston,
that officer ordered several boats to be manned immediately, and
a party of the New South Wales corps, with a number of
inhabitants who had volunteered their services, to use every
means to re-take the vessel, put out to sea; but, after rowing
and sailing for several hours, they were at length obliged to
return, without ever coming in sight of the Harrington. Other
means were subsequently tried for the recovery of the vessel, but
all to no effect; the convicts had managed their matters with
such secrecy, promptitude, and skill, as totally prevented every
endeavour to counteract their intention.

The natives and our countrymen are now somewhat sociable, and
there are not many outrages committed by either party. I believe
that some of the white men would frequently be more severe with
the Aborigines, when caught in the very act of committing
depredations, but the circumstance of several settlers being
capitally convicted of the murder of a native boy, in January,
1800, acts as a check on their violent dispositions, and prevents
the recurrence of such sanguinary proceedings. Some years
previous to this period, the Europeans at the Hawkesbury suffered
considerably from the marauding inclinations of the natives,
several of their huts being burned, and themselves severely
wounded; their corn-fields were also frequently despoiled, and
their future promise blasted. On these as well as subsequent
occasions, the settlers, in defence of their persons and
property, were compelled to have recourse to arms, the natural
and necessary consequence of which was the destruction of some of
the plundering tribes; but, in these instances, the circumstances
justified the deed, and the governor sent assistance to them,
rather than the contrary. In fact, so many atrocious deeds were
committed by one of their leaders at Hawkesbury, who had long
been a determined enemy to the Europeans, that Governor King
found it necessary to issue an order, offering a reward to any
person who should kill him and bring in his head. This was soon
accomplished by artifice, the man received the reward, and the
head was sent to England in spirits by the Speedy. Those
practices, however, had now, in a great measure, been done away
with, and it was seldom heard that any steps of violence were
pursued on either side. But when thus speaking of the general
good understanding which exists between the Europeans and
natives, I must be understood to confine my meaning to the
vicinity of the principal settlements; for about the remoter
coasts they are still savages, as may be gathered from the
following narrative of an occurrence in April, 1808:--The Fly,
colonial vessel, being driven into Bateman's Bay by bad weather,
had occasion to send three of her crew on shore to search for
water; and it was agreed, previous to their departure, that in
case of any appearance of danger, a musket should be fired from
the vessel, as a signal for the immediate return of those who had
landed. Shortly after the boat had reached the shore, a
considerable body of natives assembled round the boat, and a
musket was accordingly discharged. The men returned to the boat
with the utmost precipitation, and without any obstruction; but
they had no sooner put off from the shore, than a flight of
spears pursued them, and was succeeded by others, until the whole
of the three unfortunate men fell from their oars, and expired
beneath the attacks of their enemies. The savages immediately
seized and manned the boat; and, with a number of canoes,
prepared for an attack upon the vessel itself, which narrowly
escaped their unprovoked fury, by cutting the cable, with all
possible expedition, and standing out to sea. The names of the
unhappy men who were thus murdered, were Charles Freeman, Thomas
Bligh, and Robert Goodlet. This melancholy circumstance affords a
sufficient illustration of the dispositions of those natives
which are remote from the settlements; and as no such occurrences
have taken place amongst the neighbouring inhabitants of the
country, it is but a fair presumption to conclude, that an
association with Europeans has in some degree polished their
native rudeness, has softened the cruelty and natural violence of
their dispositions, and inculcated into their breasts some
principles of humanity. By observing the conduct of the new
settlers, the savages have learned to imitate their actions, and
to discard a portion of that barbarity of manners, which allied
them to the material creation.

Just before I quitted the colony, two persons arrived; one as
master of the female Orphan school, and the other to superintend
the boys; but as the school for the latter was not yet erected,
an advertisement was immediately given out by government, to
ascertain the numbers of the youth of that description, in order
that some correct idea might be formed of the extent of the
projected building. The female school was established and
occupied by the children, who were considered as proper objects
of the charity, in the early months of the year 1801, soon after
Governor King took the command of the settlement, and is a fine
institution; and the late committee have so acted, as to reflect
honour on the task which they have so feelingly undertaken. Nor
can the children of that institution ever be sufficiently
grateful to Mrs. Paterson, and Major Abbott, as well as to some
few others of the several committees, whose judicious measures
and well-adapted plans, have not only contributed to their
present comfort, but laid a foundation for their being brought up
in a life of virtue and industry, instead of becoming the objects
of prostitution and infamy. It is supported by different duties
levied on merchandize--by fines, fees, etc. (as may be seen by
a reference to my abridgment of the General Orders), and is of no
expense to the crown. The establishment of these benevolent
asylums for the offspring of misery, confers a high degree of
credit on their originators, as well as on the people amongst
whom they flourish, and afford a powerful argument to combat
those weak and obstinate prejudices which have been raised
against this colony, by persons of little information and less
liberality, who, reasoning on narrow principles, and with obscure
views of the subject, are incredulous of the good which exceeds
the horizon of their own bounded perspective, and are ever
amongst the foremost to exclaim, "Can any good come out of
Nazareth?"

About the same period, a complete range of storehouses was
completed on the banks of the Parramatta river, and another had
been commenced close by the wharf at Sydney. The necessity for
some new buildings of this description had been evident for some
time, as the chief part of the King's storehouses, which had been
previously erected, were unfortunately so remote from the
water-side, as to occasion much superfluous labour, as well as to
render the unloading of ships extremely burdensome and expensive.
These inconveniences have, however, been considerably lessened by
the new arrangements; and the pursuance of a similar system will
speedily render the port infinitely more commodious, and
effectually remove those grievances which were calculated to
restrict the influx, _and increase the estimated_ value of
merchandize.

Some short time also before I left the settlement, two murders
were committed, by men named Brown and Kenny; the former of whom
had killed several men at the southward, and was brought from
thence to Port Jackson for trial, where he was convicted,
executed, and subsequently hung in chains on Pinch-gut, a small
island in the centre of the harbour leading to Sydney Cove. The
latter was arraigned for the murder of a woman named Smith, who,
after he had perpetrated the deed, endeavoured to consume the
body of his victim, by thrusting it in the fire. He was executed,
and hung in chains at Parramatta.--Several other murders have
been committed; but as it is my intention to touch only on the
most particular occurrences, I have forborne to name more than
those I conceived to be the most atrocious.

* * * * *

Such is as accurate a sketch of the progress of the colony as
it comes within the compass of my limits or intention at present
to depict. I have omitted numerous occurrences of a trivial
nature, considering their detail altogether superfluous, as the
interesting narratives of Governor Hunter and Lieutenant-Governor
Collins, are sufficient to give the minute inquirers into the
rise of the colony a perfect acquaintance with the nature of the
general occurrences therein; a continuation of which details
would, in fact, be little more than their repetition. I believe I
have touched upon the most interesting points in the history of
this yet unmatured settlement, subsequent to the valuable
relations of these esteemed officers, except such as relate to
politics, and other topics, which may hereafter be subjects of
contemplation; and my principal object has been, to carry to the
mind of the reader an idea of the progressive maturation of the
colony, without fatiguing his eye with _minutioe_ which
might render the work tedious, and induce him to regret the hour
which he has devoted to its perusal. It now remains for me to
depict the state of the colony, at the close of the autumn of
1809 (March), when I sailed for England; and, in the execution of
this part of my task, I shall endeavour so to arrange my subject
as to preserve an interest, unbroken and unfailing, throughout
the whole. By a rigid adherence to facts, I shall enable the
reader, by a comparison of my various statements with the
previous details of the luminous narrators above mentioned, to
form just and indisputable estimates of the increase of the
settlement; of its growth in population and extent, as well as in
the means of supporting its increased members. This division of
my subject will also afford the political philosopher new
materials for calculation, on a subject so interesting, so
important to the civilized world, as the colonization and
cultivation of those remote parts of the universe, which may, at
some future period, be made the seats of new empires, by draining
off from the old world that superfluity of population which, like
an insupportable burden of fruit on a tree, unless removed, would
tend to depress and destroy the trunk which produced and
supported it.

Chapter III. Present State of the Colony.

Agriculture, etc.

The account of land in cultivation, as it appeared at the last
muster taken by me, according to direction which I received from
his Honour Lieutenant-Governor Foveaux, and making a part of the
several tracts granted by the crown to settlers, etc. as
described in the survey, stood as follows:--

Belonging to the Crown--100 acres in wheat.

Belonging to Officers--326 1/2   acres of wheat, 178 acres
of maize, 22  1/2   acres of barley, 13 acres of oats, 13/4
acres of pease and beans, 191/4 acres of potatoes, 65 acres of
orchard, and 6 acres of flax and hemp.

Belonging to Settlers--6460 1/2   acres of wheat, 32111/4
acres of maize, 512 acres of barley, 79 1/2   acres of oats,
983/4 acres of pease and beans, 2813/4 acres of potatoes, 13
acres of turnips, 4811/4 acres of garden and orchard, and
28 1/2   acres of flax, hemp, and hops.

Total.--6887 acres of wheat, 33891/4 acres of maize,
534 1/2   acres of barley, 92  1/2   acres of oats,
100 1/2   acres of pease and beans, 301 acres of potatoes, 13
acres of turnips, 5461/4 acres of orchard and garden, 34 1/2
acres of flax, hemp, and hops.

The following is the general course of cultivation adopted,
and justified by experience:--

_January_.--The ground intended for wheat and barley to
be sown in, ought to be now broken up; carrots should also be
sown, and potatoes planted in this month are most productive for
the winter consumption.

_February_.--A general crop of turnips for sheep, etc.
should be sown this month, the land having been previously
manured, cleared, ploughed, etc. This is also the proper month
for putting Cape barley in the ground, for green food for horses,
cattle, etc.

_March_.--Strawberries should be planted this month, and
onions for immediate use should be sown. All forest land should
be now sown with wheat; and turnips, for a general crop, in the
proportion of one pound of seed to an acre of land.

_April_.--From the middle of this month, until the end of
May, is the best season for sowing wheat in the districts of
Richmond Hill, Phillip, Nelson, and Evan, as it is not so subject
to the caterpillar, smut, rust, and blight. Oats may also be sown
now for a general crop. Asparagus haulm should also be cut and
carried off the ground, and the beds dunged.

_May_.--Pease and beans for a field crop should be sown
in this month; but, in gardens, at pleasure, as you may be
supplied with them, as well as most other vegetable productions,
sallads, etc. nearly at all times of the year.

_June_.--This is the best season for transplanting all
kinds of fruit-trees, except evergreens; layers may also be now
made, and cuttings planted from hardy trees. Spring barley should
be sown this month upon all rich land, three bushels to an
acre.

_July_.--Potatoes which were planted in January are now
fit for digging. Stocks to bud and plant upon should now be
transplanted; cabbage and carrots may be sown; and strawberries
should be cleaned, and have their spring dressing.

_August_.--Potatoes must now be planted for general
summer use; the ground prepared for clover at this season is
best. Cucumbers and melons of all kinds should now be sown, and
evergreens transplanted. Vines ought to be cut and trimmed early
in this month. Ground may this month also be ploughed for the
reception of maize, and turnip land prepared for grass.

_September_.--This is the best season for grafting
fruit-trees, and the ground should be entirely prepared for
planting with maize. Grass-seed or clover should be sown in the
beginning of this month, if the weather is favourable, and there
is a prospect of rains.

_October_.--All fruit-trees now in bearing should be
examined, and where the fruit is set too thick, it must be
reduced to a moderate quantity. The farmer should plant as much
of his maize this month as possible, and clean ground for
potatoes.

_November_.--In this month the harvest becomes general
throughout the colony, and no wheat ought to be stacked upon the
ground, as the moisture which arises from the earth ascends
through the stack, and tends much, in this warm climate, to
increase the weevils, which prove very destructive to the wheat.
Evergreens may now be propagated by layers, and cabbage, lettuce,
and turnips sown.

_December_.--The stubble-ground is frequently planted
with maize in this month, so that it produces a crop of wheat and
another of maize in the same year; but the policy of thus forcing
the ground is much questioned by many experienced agriculturists,
and is supposed to have led to the ruin of some of these
avaricious farmers. Cauliflower and brocoli seeds may now be
sown.

The prices paid for planting, clearing ground, etc. is as
follows, according to the regulations specified in the general
orders:--For felling forest timber, 10s. per acre; for
burning off ditto, 25s. per acre; for breaking up new
ground, 24s. per acre; for breaking up stubble or corn
land, 13s. 4d. per acre; for chipping in wheat,
6s. 8d. per acre; for reaping ditto, 8s. per
acre; for threshing ditto, 7d. per bushel; for planting
maize, 6s. 8d. per acre; for hilling ditto,
6s. 8d. per acre; and for pulling and husking
ditto, 5d. per bushel.--The hours of public labour are
from sunrise to eight o'clock, and (Sundays excepted) from nine
to three. On Saturdays, on account of the stores being open for
the issue of provisions, the hours are from sunrise to nine
o'clock.

Yearly wages for servants, with board, 10L.; weekly
ditto, with provisions, 6s.; daily wages, with board,
1s.; and daily wages, without board, 2s.
6d.

The following is an accurate account of Live Stock, taken at
the same time as the preceding statement of land in
cultivation:--

Belonging to the Crown--28 male horses, 19 female ditto; 21
bulls, 1791 cows; 1800 oxen; 395 male sheep, and 604 female
ditto.

Belonging to Officers--81 male horses, 146 female ditto; 38
bulls, 1111 cows; 696 oxen; 2638 male sheep, 5298 female ditto;
40 male goats, 73 female ditto; 486 male pigs, and 537 female
ditto.

Belonging to Settlers--258 male horses, 329 female ditto; 40
bulls, 1906 cows; 1172 oxen; 7449 male sheep, 15,327 female
ditto; 799 male goats, 1670 female ditto; 7693 male pigs, and
7435 female ditto.

Belonging to Persons not holding Land--44 male horses, 35
female ditto; 19 bulls, 307 cows; 103 oxen; 325 male sheep, 1222
female ditto; 97 male goats, 296 female ditto; 1641 male pigs,
and 1576 female ditto.

Total of Stock--411 male horses, 529 female ditto; 118 bulls,
5115 cows; 3771 oxen; 10807 male sheep, 22,451 female ditto; 936
male goats, 2039 female ditto; 9820 male pigs, and 9548 female
ditto.

The common lands to the various districts, which were located
in perpetuity in 1804, are now felt very serviceable, and were
just granted at a period that prevented any of the settlers from
being thoroughly enclosed, so that every grazier has now an
opportunity of feeding his stock thereon, without confining
himself to the quantity of land he chooses to cultivate on his
own farm.

From the above statements it will most certainly appear, that
the colony is in a very flourishing state, and, no doubt, will
soon become independent of the mother country, if those methods
are pursued which are best calculated to promote this end. No one
step has latterly been taken to facilitate this desirable object
more than the measures adopted by Colonel Johnstone and
Lieutenant-Governor Foveaux, who distributed the breeding cattle
amongst the industrious and deserving settlers; a step which has
produced benefits of a two-fold nature--laying the foundation for
the more rapid increase of stock, and affording a stimulus to
meritorious exertion. In the districts about Hawkesbury, the
grain yields abundantly; but at the other settlements it is less
productive: The reason of this distinction must be chiefly
obvious to the reader of the preceding sketch, in the liability
of the soil at the former settlement to frequent inundations,
which serve every purpose of manure, and uniformly keep the
ground in a mellow state. It has been erroneously stated, that
the average produce of the land in New South Wales is sixty
bushels of wheat per acre; but I can take upon myself to say,
that twenty-five bushels an acre will be found the full extent of
the average produce. When a comparison is made between the
present state of the country and its former condition, the
improvements will appear considerable in agriculture, and almost
incredible in every other respect. The season for the gathering
in of the wheat has been gradually accelerated, ever since the
commencement of the colony; and the harvest of the last year
previous to my departure from the settlement, commenced nearly a
month sooner than it did at the first: The fruit seemed also
later.

Prices of Provisions, and Ration.

The following was the current price of Articles of Food, in
the year 1809:--Wheat 12s. per bushel; maize 5s.
per bushel; barley 5s. per bushel; oats 4s.
6d. per bushel; potatoes 10s. per cwt.; turnips
4d. per bunch; carrots 6d. per bunch; cabbages
3d. each; lemons 6d. per dozen; peaches 2d.
per dozen; apples 2s. per dozen; pears 3s. per
dozen; strawberries 1s. per quart; quinces 2s. per
dozen; water melons 9d. each; musk and other melons
1s. each; apricots 1s. per dozen; mulberries
1s. per quart; Cape gooseberries 8d. per quart;
native currants 8d. per quart; oranges, raspberries,
grapes, plums, almonds, pomegranates, limes, shaddocks, citrons,
pine-apples, nectarines, and guavas, are to be procured; but
their prices are variable, some of them being more scarce than
others. Cucumbers 1d. each, mushrooms 8d. per
quart, French beans 4d. per quart, onions 20s. per
cwt. peas 1s. per quart, beans 9d. per quart,
asparagus 2s. per hundred, artichokes 6d. each,
spinage 1s. per dish, pumpkins 6d. each,
cauliflowers 6d. each, brocoli 6d. per dish, figs
3d. per dozen. Beet-root, lettuces, raddishes, sallad of
all kinds, horse-raddish, samphire, watercresses, celery, endive,
and herbs of every description, are extremely plentiful, and to
be purchased at reasonable rates.

Animal food is to be procured at the following prices:--Beef
1s. 3d. per lb.; mutton 1s. 3d. per
lb.; pork 1s. per lb.; lamb 1s. 3d. per lb.;
kangaroo 8d. per lb. (the flesh of this animal is somewhat
similar in taste to English beef, but rather inferior, owing to
the want of fat); goat mutton 1s. per lb.; turkeys
10s. each; geese 8s. each; ducks 4s. each;
Muscovy ducks 5s. each; fowls 2s. 6d. each;
wild ducks 2s. each; teal 1s. 3d. each;
rabbits 4s. each; roasting pigs 5s. each; pigeons
1s. 3d. each; kids 5s. each; eggs 1s.
6d. per dozen; butter 6s. per lb.; milk 1s.
per quart; cheese 2s. 6d. per lb.; oysters
1s. per quart; and lobsters 1s. each.

Fish is exceedingly numerous of every description, and is very
good as well as moderate in charge. A turtle was caught recently
in Broken Bay, with a hook, weighing seven hundred weight, which
was retailed to the inhabitants at 4d. per lb.

The following is to be considered as a full weekly Ration,
which is issued from the stores whenever there is a sufficiency
without a prospect of want, to those who are in the employ of
government:--Seven pounds of salt beef, or four pounds of salt
pork; eight pounds of flour or meal, or an addition of a quarter
of a pound of wheat to each pound, if it cannot be ground; pease
or other pulse, three pounds; six ounces of sugar in lieu of
butter. The same quantity is to be given by their employer to
those who are indented to settlers, etc.; but as frequent
alterations are necessarily made, according to the pressure of
circumstances, the deficiency is generally made up with
maize.

Trade and Manufactures.

A manufactory has been established for coarse woollen
blanketing or rugs, and coarse linen called drugget; a linen of a
very good quality has also been produced, which has been disposed
of to settlers, etc. and issued from the stores to those who
labour for the crown. The spinning has been done by the female
convicts, and the weaving, etc. by the male. The person who
superintended this department, for some time, was George
Mealmaker, a well-known political character in North Britain; but
he has been dead some years, and the manufactory, which adjoins
the goal at Parramatta, has been almost entirely destroyed by
fire; consequently, the progress which would have been made in
this manufacture has been greatly retarded. When I left the
colony, however, a very deserving, respectable, and persevering
settler, at Hawkesbury, was about to commence in that way on a
very extensive scale; for which laudable purpose he had sown
several acres with flax and hemp, and I am hopeful his exertions
will tend to benefit the colony, to which the establishment of a
manufactory of this description has been long an object ardently
to be desired; and it is to be hoped, that the effort of this new
speculator will be crowned with that success which it so
eminently deserves.

The leather made from the skins of cattle, kangaroo, seal,
etc. are extremely good, and are tanned by a bark which grows
in the settlement, much sooner than a similar operation is
performed in England. The sole leather, in my opinion, cannot be
surpassed in point of goodness; and every improvement which can
arise from competition may be naturally expected, since there are
several persons who follow this line of business both at Sydney
and Parramatta.

Several potteries have been established; but the most
celebrated manufacturer of this description, named Skinner,
lately died. His dishes, plates, basons, covers, cups and
saucers, teapots, and chimney ornaments, were in a very superior
style of workmanship; and other useful articles equally
handsome.

Tobacco-pipes, which, some years ago, at the cheapest periods
cost sixpence each, are now manufactured in the settlement, of a
very good quality, and are retailed for one penny each. The great
propensity to smoking which prevails throughout the colony,
causes an astonishing consumption of this article, and has well
repaid the original speculator.

Salt is made in great abundance from salt water; and large
salt-pans have been erected at Rose Bay, whence, and at
Newcastle, great quantities are made and sent to Sydney. A plan,
however, had been proposed to the governor, for making it by
evaporation, which it was supposed would be carried into effect;
it was in agitation, and was nearly brought to perfection when
this statement was made.

Some very palatable beer is brewed in the settlement, at four
extensive breweries; one at Sydney, one at Kissing Point, one at
Parramatta, and the other at Hawkesbury; and a number of persons
brew their own beer. Some improvements here may yet be looked
for, since at present the grain is malted very badly in the
colony, which I attribute more to the want of proper utensils
than any deficiency of ability. In a short time also they will be
enabled to grow a sufficiency of hops in the settlement for every
purpose, without being compelled, as at present, to have recourse
to the mother country for this necessary article.

Eight wind-mills have been erected for the purpose of grinding
corn; and a water-mill, which had been erected at Parramatta,
has, most unfortunately, been destroyed by a flood, which came on
some time previous to my leaving the colony.

There are four auctioneers, or vendue masters, in the
settlements; two at Sydney, one at Parramatta, and one at
Hawkesbury: They usually charge five per cent. on sales.

The shops are particularly respectable, and decorated with
much taste. Articles of female apparel and ornament are greedily
purchased; for the European women in the settlement spare no
expense in ornamenting their persons, and in dress, each seems to
vie with the other in extravagance. The costliness of the
exterior there, as well as in most other parts of the world, is
meant as the mark of superiority; but confers very little grace,
and much less virtue, on its wearer, when speaking of the dashing
belles who generally frequent the Rocks, who may often be seen of
an evening attired in the greatest splendour, and on the
following morning are hid from public view with extremely mean
attire.

Spirits are also bought up with astonishing rapidity; and,
when prohibited, will ever be obtained by some means or other,
and I have known it to sell as high as thirty shillings per
bottle; the general price by the retailer, however, is from ten
to sixteen shillings per bottle. Most of the people in the
colony, male and female, give way to excessive drinking. Wines
are not so eagerly sought after, and are therefore more
reasonable than might be expected; but if the rage for luxuries
continues to increase in the same proportion as it has done for
the last few years, it must soon obtain an enhanced price, and a
more rapid sale. The evils consequent upon the unrestrained use
of these articles, are such as to justify the most poignant
regrets that they should be held in such estimation by all
descriptions of persons, since they have proved from their first
introduction into the colony, and still continue to be, the
fertile sources of social disorder, of domestic misery, of
disorders, and of death. It is to no purpose that the higher
orders set examples of sobriety and temperance; it is of no avail
that the governor uses every prudent exertion to restrain the
immoderate traffic in these pernicious liquors; threats,
intreaties, and punishments, are equally useless; and while
spirits are to be procured, the inhabitants will possess them at
the price of every other comfort of life.

While on this subject, I shall just take occasion to advert to
a singular circumstance respecting the specie of the settlement.
The copper coin which was sent out by government, and was
originally issued at the close of the year 1800, has most
surprisingly decreased, as very little indeed is now used
currently. This occurrence is so strange in itself, that I am
totally at a loss to account for it, on any principles whatever.
Considering its rapid diminution, I cannot conjecture by what
means the circulation is still kept up; nor, on the other hand,
can I suppose that the coin is caught up for the purposes of
exportation, as it was issued in the colony, in the first
instance, at one hundred per cent. above its real value. The
scarcity of this specie, at all events, operates as an
obstruction to trade; and I think that some steps ought to be
taken to remove the cause of complaint, by filling up the
deficiency which has so unaccountably taken place.

Population.

There are nine thousand three hundred and fifty-six
inhabitants in the settlement, out of which number upwards of six
thousand support themselves, and the rest are victualled and
clothed at the expense of the crown. Most men of a trade or
profession pursue their calling; and labourers are either
employed by settlers to cultivate their lands, and in various
occupations, or work in different gangs, where they can be
serviceable.

When a transport arrives with prisoners, their irons are
immediately knocked off (if this has not been previously done),
unless some powerful reason exists to justify an exception from
this rule. The muster is taken by the commissary, who gives
receipts for every thing belonging to the crown; the list, with
remarks, is given to the governor, who orders them to what part
of the settlement he thinks proper, where the deficiency of hands
in agricultural or other employments renders such an acquisition
desirable.

The behaviour of the prisoners has recently been much less
exceptionable than in the earlier days of the settlement, and
they seem to have accommodated their dispositions, in a great
degree, to their new situations; those who are guilty of theft
have latterly been transported to some remote settlement, and
this system of punishment has been found more efficacious than
the infliction of castigation, or any other corporal punishment,
since they feel an unconquerable repugnance to the idea of a
separation from their old connections and companions, and a
removal to a solitary scene, where they cannot hope for any
opportunities of re-commencing those pursuits which are so truly
congenial to their dispositions.

Natives.

Speaking generally of the natives, they are a filthy,
disagreeable race of people; nor is it my opinion that any
measures which could be adopted would ever make them otherwise.
Their wars are as frequent as usual, and are attended with as
much cruelty both towards men and women. They are still ready at
all times to commit depredations upon the Indian corn, whenever
there is a probability of their attempts being attended with the
desired success; and this predatory disposition renders it
frequently necessary to send detachments of the military to
disperse them; but the utmost care is taken to prevent any fatal
circumstances from attending these acts of needful hostility, and
orders are uniformly issued never to fire upon the natives,
unless any particularly irritating act should render such a
measure expedient. They are amazingly expert at throwing the
spear, and will launch it with unerring aim to a distance of
thirty to sixty yards. I myself have seen a lad hurl his spear at
a hawk-eagle (a bird which, with wings expanded, measures from
seven to ten feet), flying in the air, with such velocity and
correctness as to pierce his object, and bring the feathered
victim to the earth. This circumstance will tend to shew how soon
the youth of these tribes are trained to the use of the spear,
and the dexterity to which they attain in this art before they
reach the age of manhood. Indeed, instances are by no means
uncommon, where an army of natives is seen following a youthful
leader of fifteen or sixteen years of age, and obeying his
directions implicitly, because his previous conduct had been
characterized by remarkable vigour of body, and intrepidity of
mind--virtues which qualify natives of every age and rank for the
highest honours and the most marked distinctions amongst these
untutored sons of nature. Their attachment to savage life is
unconquerable; nor can the strongest allurements tempt them to
exchange their wild residences in the recesses of the country,
for the comforts of European life. A singular instance of this
fact occurred in the case of Be-ne-long, who was brought to
England by Governor Phillip, and returned with Governor Hunter.
For some time after his return, it is true, he assumed the
manners, the dress, and the consequence of an European, and
treated his countrymen with a distance which evinced the sense he
entertained of his own increased importance; and this disposition
was encouraged by every method which suggested itself to the
minds of those of the colony with whom he associated; but,
notwithstanding so much pains had been taken for his improvement,
both when separated from his countrymen, and since his return to
New South Wales, he has subsequently taken to the woods again,
returned to his old habits, and now lives in the same manner as
those who have never mixed with the civilized world. Sometimes,
indeed, he holds intercourse with the colony; but every effort
uniformly fails to draw him once again into the circle of
polished society, since he prefers to taste of liberty amongst
his native scenes, to the unsatisfactory gratification which
arises from an association with strangers, however kind their
treatment of him, and however superior to his own enjoyments.

Yet there are many of the natives who feel no disinclination
to mix with the inhabitants occasionally--to take their share in
the labours and the reward of those who toil. Amongst these there
are five in particular, to whom our countrymen have given the
names of Bull Dog, Bidgy Bidgy, Bundell, Bloody Jack, and another
whose name I cannot call to recollection, but who had a farm of
four acres and upwards, planted with maize, at Hawkesbury, which
he held by permission of Governor King; and the other four made
themselves extremely useful on board colonial vessels employed in
the fishing and sealing trade, for which they are in the regular
receipt of wages. They strive, by every means in their power, to
make themselves appear like the sailors with whom they associate,
by copying their customs, and imitating their manners; such as
swearing, using a great quantity of tobacco, drinking grog, and
other similar habits. These natives are the only ones, I believe,
who are inclined to industrious behaviour, and they have most
certainly rendered more essential services to the colony than any
others of their countrymen, who, in general, content themselves
with assisting to draw nets for fish, for the purpose of coming
in for a share of the produce of others toil.

The general pursuits of the natives, their manners and
customs, have been so accurately described by preceding writers
on the subject, that I shall forbear from entering into more
minute particulars, which would swell my sketch far beyond its
intended limits, and could add nothing to the knowledge of which
the well-informed reader is already possessed. It will be
sufficient to remark, that such as the inhabitants of the
interior of New Holland were represented ten years since, they
still remain, as the antecedent remarks must sufficiently
illustrate: The jealousy of the new settlers, which originally
existed, has indeed entirely vanished; but the proximity of a
civilized colony has not tended in the least to polish the native
rudeness and barbarism, which mark the behaviour of the original
inhabitants of this remote spot of the universe.

Climate.

Although the climate is variable, yet it is very healthy, and
uncommonly fine for vegetation. Most of the disorders which exist
in the settlement are the fruits of intemperance and debauchery,
the necessary result of that fatal addiction to drunkenness,
which produces mental imbecility and bodily decay. Frost is known
but little; at least, ice is very seldom seen; and, I believe,
snow has never yet appeared since the establishment of the
colony: Yet on the highest ridges of the remoter mountains, to
which I have had occasion to allude as never yet having been
passed, snow is to be seen for a long time together; and this
circumstance is a proof of their elevation. The usual weather in
New South Wales is uncommonly bright and clear, and the common
weather there, in spring and autumn, is equal to the finest
summer day in England. This purity and warmth of atmosphere, it
may be naturally inferred, must be particularly favourable to the
growth of shrubs and plants, which flourish exceedingly, and
attain to a degree of perfection and beauty which is unknown to
the inhabitants of this country. The woods and fields present a
boundless variety of the choicest productions of nature, which
gratify the senses with their fragrance and magnificence; while
the branches of the trees display a brilliant assemblage of the
feathered race, whose plumage, "glittering in the sun,"
dazzles the eye of the beholder with its unmatched loveliness and
lustre, and presenting, on the whole, a scene too rich for the
pencil to pourtray--too glowing and animated for the feeble pen
of mortal to describe with half the energy and beauty which
belong to it, and without which description is unfaithful.

Natural History.

This subject has been so well treated, and the various species
of animals, etc. have been so accurately described, by those
who have treated on the history of this colony, that it would be
superfluous in me to re-tread the ground which has been already
so ably trodden. I shall therefore content myself with describing
the few natural productions of the country of New Holland, which
have been discovered subsequent to the latest publication on the
subject, and concerning which, consequently, no information of an
accurate and public nature has yet been transmitted to this
country. The exploration of the works of nature in this immense
tract of the universe, is however still incomplete; and I have no
doubt but the lapse of a few years will tend greatly to the
augmentation of the knowledge we now possess on this interesting
subject, and will prove the fertile source of new delight and
instruction to the mind which can derive enjoyment from that pure
source, the contemplation of nature in her varied and astonishing
works.

The Koolah, or Sloth, a singular animal of the Opossum
species, having a false belly, was found by the natives, and
brought into the town alive, on the 10th of August, 1803. This is
a very singular animal; for when it ascends a tree, at which it
is astonishingly expert, it will never quit it until it has
cleared it of its leaves. It is mostly found in the mountains and
deep ravines to the southward and northward of Broken Bay, and
the natives instantly discover its concealment by observing the
leaves of the Gum-tree eaten off, this being the tree which it
usually selects. It is astonishingly indolent, and is uniformly
found with a companion, locked in each other's arms, as it were.
Its claws are very strong, and are of material service in
assisting it to climb trees; its length from eighteen inches to
two feet; and two stuffed specimens are to be seen in Mr.
Bullock's Museum.

Latterly also, a species of the Hyena has been found at Port
Dalrymple, which is extremely ferocious in appearance, has a
remarkably large mouth, is striped all over, very strongly
limbed, and its claws strong, long, and sharp. This animal is
likewise of the Opossum kind, having, like the generality of
subjects found in New Holland, a false belly. Notwithstanding its
apparent ferocity, it has never yet ventured to attack any human
being, but has confined its ravages to sheep and poultry, amongst
which it has committed frequent and very serious depredations. No
one of these animals, I believe, has hitherto been brought over
to England, either alive or dead, since their native fierceness
renders them less easy of capture than the Koolah.

Flying Mice are likewise found, in considerable numbers, in
this country, of a very handsome appearance, and also of the
Opossum species. The tail of this interesting little animal
resembles a feather; its belly is white, and its back brown; and
it is covered with a down as soft as satin. It flies like an
Opossum. This subject is much regarded for its beauty.

The Porcupine Ant-eaters are found in most parts of the
country, and are esteemed very good eating; they burrow in the
earth, and have a tongue of remarkable length, which they put out
of their mouth, and the ants immediately crowd upon it, as if
lured by some particular attraction, and when it appears to be
pretty well covered, it is drawn in with rapidity, and the
insects are expeditiously swallowed.--Stuffed specimens of these
are also to be seen in the Museum of Mr. Bullock.

Black and white mottled Fern tree was found at the head of
Lane Cove, by Colonel Paterson, about five years since; but it
does not run to any considerable size. It is esteemed a very
handsome wood for the purposes of veneering.

The Spice tree has also been found to the southward: It is a
very strong aromatic, and possesses a more pungent quality than
pepper. This tree produces a berry, which, as well as the bark,
is of a very powerful spicy nature.

Fustic has been discovered at Newcastle--a wood which makes
the finest yellow dye; but it has been hitherto confined to New
South Wales. Indigo was also found in different parts of the
country; but, after a thorough trial of its properties by a
French gentleman of much patience and experience, as well as by
some other individuals of research, it was found impossible to
derive any benefit from it.

Native green currants grow wildly, and make an uncommonly fine
jelly. A wild cherry is also found in the settlement, growing
with the stone on the outside, of a red colour, but nearly unfit
to eat; as also a wild fig, equally nauseous, full of seed, but
eaten by the natives. Strawberries grow to fine perfection; but
no English currant, gooseberry, or cherry trees, are to be seen
in the country: Some were brought from England by Captain Kent,
of the royal navy, and were in a flourishing state, with some
gingers, from Rio de Janeiro, when a fire happened upon that
gentleman's farm, and consumed the whole, which has been a very
great loss to the colony. Pines, far exceeding in size those of
England, are now growing there, but they are scarce; melons, on
the contrary, are very large and plentiful. Botany Bay greens are
procured in abundance; they much resemble sage in appearance, and
are esteemed a very good dish by the Europeans, but despised by
the natives. The bark of a tree called Carajong, which grows like
a willow, is manufactured into ropes of considerable strength. A
single nectarine tree only has been known to bear fruit, which is
in the Government Garden. Some coffee trees were planted by a
Frenchman (Mons. Declambe), but he unfortunately died before he
could bring them to perfection.

The shrubs and plants of this country are all evergreens, and
numbers of them are to be seen, covered with beautiful blossoms,
at all seasons of the year. Jeraniums flourish in such abundance,
that, in various parts of the settlement, they are made into
hedges, and are so thick as to be almost impenetrable; they are
always in leaf and flower, and emit an odour of the most fragrant
nature, perfuming the surrounding atmosphere.

Cedar, and coals, of a very fine quality, are the produce of
the Newcastle district, and are procured with very little
trouble. Manna has also been found near Port Dalrymple,