594 Terra Incognita. [JUNE, 



left to run riot, as nature might direct, and in the proper season to produce 

 the most delicious fruit. The water-melon cannot be appreciated in this 

 country ; but in the climates that produce it nothing can be more grateful ; 

 I have eaten water-melons in Italy from the ice-tub, but not with the same 

 gusto as when I have plucked them fresh and cool from the vine, in the In- 

 dian corn fields in New South Wales. Just as I now walk into a pastry- 

 cook's, in June arid July, to eat ices, I there, in December and January, 

 adjourned to the garden, or to a field of Indian corn, (among which they 

 are frequently planted) when it waved above my head almost to the exclu- 

 sion of the sun's rays, and, sitting down on a dry stump, discussed a 

 water-melon larger than my head. Rock and musk melons also grow to 

 perfection there, but their firm pulp is not so grateful to the parched 

 palate, as the crisp and melting mass of the water-melon, that flows 

 down the throat in an edible stream. 



The cant among people here, is to disparage the climate of this coun- 

 try, and cry up that of France and Italy. In New South Wales, where 

 the climate parallels the finest in Europe, the poor expatriated souls cry 

 out for the less fervid sun, and moister atmosphere, of England ; love of 

 the country they may never see again, and filial affection for their father- 

 land, effectually stifle all attempts at comparison in that or anything else, 

 except to the advantage of " home." 



I have experienced enough of almost every variety of climate, to know 

 that every one has its proportioned advantages and disadvantages ; and 

 that if a parallel were drawn, an unprejudiced man would be at a loss 

 which to choose. Having mentioned the term home, as used in an em- 

 phatic sense, it may not be amiss to say, that hardly any other is ever 

 used throughout the colony for England, than that; such an one has 

 been home, or is going home. The children born in the country use the 

 same term ; indeed it is universal ; and, in its strongest sense, home always 

 means England. 



On our return to Cabramatta, we found that the gathering had taken 

 place, and that the deputy surveyor-general, who was of the party, had 

 appointed the next day for measuring. As the distances to be traversed 

 were not great, and the weather was very fine, I was thought man enough 

 to accompany the expedition ; but woeful for me was the mistake ! \ 

 vowed before the day was over, that I would not follow the surveyor 

 again, for the largest farm the governor could give. A dispute arose be- 

 tween my father and the gentleman whose farm was to come next to his, 

 about a hill, which should have it ; by running the chain straight from the 

 creek, and parallel to the high road (or what was intended to be the high 

 road) it came within my father's boundary, and by running a semi-cir- 

 cumferential line, it fell to the lot of his neighbour. The case was too 

 clear to remain long undecided ; however, the delajfc it occasioned was a 

 respite for me, (we had already measured one farm, three miles off), and 

 as they debated the point, I lay down on the grass, on the summit of the 

 subject of dispute, and admired the beauty of the scenery about me. 



It was a noble forest. Almost every variety of the finest timber the 

 country produces stood interspersed ; a good sprinkling of the wild apple- 

 tree marked the quality of the ground, and the shrubby cherry-tree, the 

 fruit of which grows at one end of, instead of around, the stone, added to 

 the picturesque effect. The level ground-that came between the hill and 

 the creek, was covered with the verdant oak, which grows there still, 

 though the forest above has fallen under the blows of the woodman's axe, 



