248 BOTANY BAY. 



of the settlement by sending with it a church in 

 frame. 



Durin<r our stay at Sydney we paid a visit to 

 Botanv Bav, which from the circumstance of its 

 being the point first touched at by Captain Cook, 

 naturally possesses the greatest interest of any 

 place in the neighbourhood. Our way thither lay 

 over a sandy plain, into which the coast range of 

 low hills subsides. There is little or no verdure to 

 relieve the eye, which encounters aridity wherever it 

 turns ; and the sand being rendered loose by frequent 

 traflSc, the foot sinks at every step, so that the jour- 

 ney is disagreeable to both man and beast. These 

 inconveniences, however, were soon forgotten on our 

 arrival at our destination, amidst the feelings ex- 

 cited and the associations raised by the objects that 

 presented themselves. Within the entrance of the 

 bay, on the northern side, stands a monument* 



* On the eastern side is engraven — A la Memoire de Monsieur 

 de la Perouse. Cette terre qu'il visita en mdcclxxxviii. est la 

 derniere d'ou il a fait parvenir de ses nouvelles. 



y^/so— Erige au nom de la France par les soins de M. M. de 

 Bougainville et Du Campier, commandant la fregate La Thetis, et la 

 corvette L'Esperance, en relache au port Jackson, en mdcccxxv. 



On the western side — This place, visited by Monsieur de la 

 Perouse in the year mdcclxxxviii, is the last whence any 

 accounts of him have been received. 



yl /.s-o— Erected in the name of France by M. M. de Bougain- 

 ville and du Campier, commanding the frigate the Thetis and 

 the corvette the Hope, lying in Port Jackson, A.D. mdcccxxv. 



On the north — Le fondement pose en 1825 ; eleve en 1H28. 



On the south— VonuA&ixon laid in 1825, completed 1828. 



