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Article SOME ACCOUNT OF BOTANY BAY, Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Some Account Of Botany Bay,
SOME ACCOUNT OF BOTANY BAY ,
Extracted from a Letter writ ten by a Native of Derby , in tbe Nev > South Wales Corps .
Sydney ( Port Jackson ) , Dec . 13 , 1794 . THE settlement on the coast of New South Wales contains two principal towns ; Sydney the capital , and Paramatta ( formerly named Rose Hill ) , distant about 17 miles . Sydney is situated at the head of a beautiful cove , which leads into a very fine harbour ; Major Grose has made great improvements : Sydney contains 700 good comfortable hutsexclusive of numerous brick buildingsthe property
, , of Government . The soil is ail sand }' , but by industiy will produce sufficiently ; most of the gentlemen have farms about four miles from Sydney , which have grown a good crop of wheat ; and I am of opinion that wheat will be plentiful in a few years : there are many settlers in different parts . The only or principal thing wanting is cattle , which might be kept
in any number , grass being in plenty : we have many pigs and goats , hut they are chiefly in the hands of gentlemen : poultry and fish are tolerably cheap ; but it must be remembered , that this is the most flourishing period the colony ever experienced . Spirits being now plentiful , a number of persons retail the same , but the price , as well as qualhy , vary much ; the gentlemen always purchase the cargoes "; and this watery mixture is sold at 16 s . petgallon . A convict was not ( until veiy lately ) suffered , on any
account , to take spirits in payment for work ; but now the prisoners have plenty of liquor . Liquor , or more properly grog , purchases what money will not , viz . settlers farms , or crops unripe , also their stock . Kangaroos formerly were plentiful , but now they are retired up the country ; the colony produces the most beautiful birds , opossums , & c . & c . The trees never entirely shed their leaves ; the summer is intensely hotand the winters are ver ) ' cold at nights and
, in the mornings , though the climate is much milder since I have been here , owing to the country being cleared ; the seasons here are exactly opposite to the seasons in England , your winter being our summer . Paramatta is a town situated at the extreme cove of Port Jackson ; on your ascending the wharf appears a row of huts on each side , and
a spacious road to the distance of a mile ; at the upper end Governor Philips erected his country seat . The garden that surrounds it is beautiful , abounding in the season with grapes , melons , pumpkins , and every other fruit and vegetable . The florist may also amuse himself . In short , the country may well be called Botany Bay ; for the botanist , I believe , may here find the most beautiful shrubs and evergreens that produce very fragrant flowers . The governor ' s
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Some Account Of Botany Bay,
SOME ACCOUNT OF BOTANY BAY ,
Extracted from a Letter writ ten by a Native of Derby , in tbe Nev > South Wales Corps .
Sydney ( Port Jackson ) , Dec . 13 , 1794 . THE settlement on the coast of New South Wales contains two principal towns ; Sydney the capital , and Paramatta ( formerly named Rose Hill ) , distant about 17 miles . Sydney is situated at the head of a beautiful cove , which leads into a very fine harbour ; Major Grose has made great improvements : Sydney contains 700 good comfortable hutsexclusive of numerous brick buildingsthe property
, , of Government . The soil is ail sand }' , but by industiy will produce sufficiently ; most of the gentlemen have farms about four miles from Sydney , which have grown a good crop of wheat ; and I am of opinion that wheat will be plentiful in a few years : there are many settlers in different parts . The only or principal thing wanting is cattle , which might be kept
in any number , grass being in plenty : we have many pigs and goats , hut they are chiefly in the hands of gentlemen : poultry and fish are tolerably cheap ; but it must be remembered , that this is the most flourishing period the colony ever experienced . Spirits being now plentiful , a number of persons retail the same , but the price , as well as qualhy , vary much ; the gentlemen always purchase the cargoes "; and this watery mixture is sold at 16 s . petgallon . A convict was not ( until veiy lately ) suffered , on any
account , to take spirits in payment for work ; but now the prisoners have plenty of liquor . Liquor , or more properly grog , purchases what money will not , viz . settlers farms , or crops unripe , also their stock . Kangaroos formerly were plentiful , but now they are retired up the country ; the colony produces the most beautiful birds , opossums , & c . & c . The trees never entirely shed their leaves ; the summer is intensely hotand the winters are ver ) ' cold at nights and
, in the mornings , though the climate is much milder since I have been here , owing to the country being cleared ; the seasons here are exactly opposite to the seasons in England , your winter being our summer . Paramatta is a town situated at the extreme cove of Port Jackson ; on your ascending the wharf appears a row of huts on each side , and
a spacious road to the distance of a mile ; at the upper end Governor Philips erected his country seat . The garden that surrounds it is beautiful , abounding in the season with grapes , melons , pumpkins , and every other fruit and vegetable . The florist may also amuse himself . In short , the country may well be called Botany Bay ; for the botanist , I believe , may here find the most beautiful shrubs and evergreens that produce very fragrant flowers . The governor ' s