MISCELLANIES. 



519 



store, and the remainder is made 

 •use of to stock the farms of new 

 settlers. It appears from the evi- 

 dence, that the colony has for 

 6ome years, except when the crops 

 have failed, from inundations or 

 other accidental causes, been able 

 wholly to supply itself with corn ; 

 but that it is still necessary to con- 

 tinue, to a certain extent, the im- 

 portation of salted provisions. The 

 soil and climate are described to be 

 extremely fine, healthy, and produc- 

 tive ; diseases, with the exception 

 of such as arise from intemperance 

 or accident, are little known ; and 

 fresh fruits and vegetables are pro- 

 duced from the beginning to the 

 end of the year. The river Hawkes- 

 bury is however occasionally sub- 

 ject to violent and sudden floods, 

 which have in some instances to- 

 tally destroyed the produce of the 

 farms in its vicinity, upon which 

 4he colony principally depends for 

 its subsistence. Great difficulties 

 have, in consequence, at times oc- 

 curred ; and though precautions 

 are now taken to remove the crops 

 as soon as possible from the low 

 grounds in the neighbourhood of 

 the river, no perfect security is yet 

 obtained against the recurrence of 

 these disasters. The out-settle- 

 ments of Port Dalrymple and Ho- 

 bart's Town in Van Diemen's 

 Land, are represented as enjoying 

 a purer climate and more generally 

 productive soil than New South 

 Waies, and to be otlierwise pros- 

 perous and thriving. Yet your 

 committee must concur in the opi- 

 nion already expressed by his ma- 

 jesty's government, that more be- 

 nefit to the colony will be derived 

 from the cultivation and improve- 

 ment of the settlements that are 

 already formed, than from the ibr- 



mation of new and distant estab- 

 lishments, whatever may be the 

 encouragement that a fertile soil 

 or an advantageous situation may 

 appear to hold out. 



The currency of the colony con- 

 sists principally of government 

 paper and copper money, but from 

 its scarcity, many of the transac- 

 tions which in other countries 

 would be accomplished by money, 

 are here carried on by barter ; thus 

 the labourer is not paid in money 

 but in kind : he demands from his 

 employer such articles as he is 

 most in need of, and they are deli- 

 vered to him at the prices which 

 they bear in the market. At times 

 indeed wheat and cattle have in 

 the courts of justice been consi- 

 dered as legal tender in payment 

 of debts. To remedy these in- 

 conveniencies, a supply of silver 

 coin, to the amount of 10,(XX)/.' 

 has lately been sent to the colony; 

 but whilst the necessity of large 

 importations continues, with the 

 restraints upon exportation, it is 

 not likely that this coin will long 

 remain there in circulation. The 

 exportations from the colony have 

 hitherto principally consisted of oil, 

 seal-skins, coals, and wool ; the 

 fisheries appear to have been much 

 neglected; and the iron ore, of 

 which there is abundance, and of 

 very fine quality, has not yet been 

 worked. The trade in skins and 

 coals is the most thriving, but is 

 much straitened by tinj restric- 

 tions in favour of the East India 

 Company. The stock of sheep is 

 not yet sufficiently large to make 

 wool an article of large exporta- 

 tion. The culture of hemp has 

 been less attended to than might 

 have been expected ; a profitable 

 trade in sandal wood has at times 



