LEAVE SYDNEY. 79 



the Australian coast, used rope manufactured 

 from this flax, and he commends it highly for 

 running rigging. I was also informed by a 

 mercantile gentleman, that from its unclean 

 state (as well as from bending the fibres in 

 packing, by which the edges decaying, the 

 length of staple is diminished one-half) it has 

 become quite unsaleable at home, and the op- 

 position to it by the Riga flax importers tends 

 still more to crush it, the badly cleaned state of 

 the flax giving them a strong ground for its 

 condemnation. 



On the 9th of September I left Sydney, with 

 the intention of calling on my friends in the 

 vicinity, and then proceeding into the interior 

 of the colony. I passed an agreeable day with 

 the amiable family of Major Lockyer, at his pretty 

 residence at the Field of Mars, near Kissing* 



* The following was mentioned to me as the origin of the 

 name given to this point. Governor Phillip, at an early 

 period of the colony, formed a pic-nic party to proceed up 

 the Paramatta river, and a person was sent on before to pre- 

 pare kangaroo steaks. They landed at this point, and 

 having regaled themselves, the gentlemen, following the 

 maxims of John Hmiter, laid down upon the grass, and 

 aided digestion by falling asleep ; the ladies finding them- 

 selves deserted began to propose winning gloves, and there- 

 fore kisses were taken, and on their awaking the forfeit was 

 demanded, and of course not refused. Before leaving the 



