NEW SOUTH WALES. 377 



to exert themselves in enforcing a proper ob- 

 servance of the sabbath, and they were parti- 

 cularly directed to urge the women to attend 

 divine service, for the females had at all times 

 thought it convenient not to imagiue them- 

 selves included in those addressed by the public 

 orders. 



The crops of wheat, which at this time were 

 ready for the reaper, wore a profitable and 

 very promising appearance; the ftalks of that 

 at the Hawkcsbury was bending with the \aB$Lt 

 of the corn. But in this, as in other coun- 

 tries, a crop could never with safety be reck- 

 oned, until gathered into the barn. On the 

 16th of November fell a heavy storm of thun- 

 der, lightning, and rain, with a shower of hail 

 that knocked the greater part of the fruit off 

 the trees, and cut up the gardens in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Sydney ; though at two miles 

 from that place, it was not felt. On the 18th 

 of November, a gale of wind and rain visited 

 the Hawkesbury two days after the storm 

 at Sydney, which beat down much of the 

 wheat, and greater part of the public store. 

 This tempestuous weather subsided for a day, 

 and then recommenced and continued until 

 the 25th, when it cleared up ; and, to encrease 

 the affliction, myriads of caterpillars were now 

 destroying the young maize. 



To obtain an absolute knowledge of what 

 was the produce of the year's harvest, proper 

 persons were appointed, by the Governor, to 

 visit every district, and to obtain from the 



3 c 



