498 MORETON BAY. 



matta and Sydney is very hilly, I would recommend 

 that part of the journey should be performed in a 

 steamer; and that the railroad should commence 

 on the right bank, about seven miles from the town. 

 An extension of this line would lead into the north- 

 western interior. Towards the south, and in the 

 direction of the Manero district, the line ought to 

 pass round the head of Botany Bay, and by follow- 

 ing some of the valleys trending southwards, might 

 reach nearly to Illawarra, the garden of New South 

 Wales. In this manner, the rich Manero corn 

 country, and the coal fields of Illawarra, might be 

 brought into connection with Sydney, and a pro- 

 digious development imparted to the whole colony. 

 I regretted being obliged to leave this part of 

 Australia without visiting Moreton Bay, as a sur- 

 vey of the mouth of the Brisbane River would have 

 enabled the settlers of that district, now rapidly 

 increasing, to have sent their produce direct from 

 thence to England ; whereas, until a chart of it is pub- 

 lished, masters of large ships do not like to go there. 

 The residents are in consequence obliged to submit 

 to the expense of first shipping their merchandise 

 to Sydney. The Moreton Bay district is perhaps 

 one of the most fertile on the continent, combining 

 the advantages of great partial elevation and of 

 proximity to the equator, so that, within a compara- 

 tively short distance, the productions of both the 

 tropical and the temperate zones may be found. 

 Corn grows on the high plains ; bananas, raisins, 



