LATE DISCOVERIES. 563 



names of the discoverers, as Van Diemen's Land,* Carpentaria, Sec. 

 and though the general appellation of the whole was New Holland, 

 it is now applied by geographers to the north and west parts of the 

 country. The eastern part, called New South Wales, was taken pos- 

 session ol in his majesty's name by captain Cook, and now forms a 

 part of the British dominions, a colony having been formed there, 

 chiefly of the convicts sentenced to transportation. 



The accounts of the climate and soil of this extensive country, now 

 become an object of importance to Great Britain, are very various : 

 different parts have been explored at different times, and at different 

 seasons of the year. In general, however, the relations are by no 

 means favourable ; the sea-coast, the only place on which any inhabi- 

 tants have been discovered, appears to be sandy and barren ; and as 

 for the inland parts, which might reasonably be supposed more fer- 

 tile, they are now thought to be wholly uninhabited : but whether 

 this proceeds from the natural sterility of the soil, or the barbarism, 

 of the inhabitants, who know not how to cultivate it, is not yet disco- 

 vered. 



The celebrated navigator, captain Cook, spent upwards of four 

 months in surveying the eastern coast, the extent of which, as has 

 already been mentioned, is nearly 2000 miles. The bay in which he an- 

 chored, from the great quantity ol undescribed plants found on the shore, 

 was called Botany Bay, and is the place for which the convicts were 

 originally destined ; though now they are settled in another part of the 

 island, about fifteen miles to the northward, named, by captain Cook, 

 Port Jackson, the principal settlement being called Sydney Cove. 



This was not visited or explored by captain Cook; it was seen at 

 the distance of between two and three miles from the coast ; but, had 

 fortune conducted him into the harbour, he would have found it much 

 more worthy of his attention, as a seaman, than Botany Bay, where 

 he passed a week. From an entrance not more than two miles broad, 

 Port Jackson gradually extends into a noble and capacious basin, hav- 

 ing sounding sufficient for the largest vessels, and space to accom- 

 modate, in perfect security, any number that could be assembled. It 

 rtins, chiefly in a western direction, about thirteen miles into the coun- 

 try, and contains no less than a hundred small coves formed by nar- 

 row necks of land, whose projections afford shelter from the winds. 



Sydney Cove lies on the south side of the harbour, between five 

 and six miles from the entrance. The neck of land that forms this 

 cove is mostly covered with wood, yet is so rocky, that it is not easy 

 to comprehend how the trees could have found sufficient nourish- 

 ment to bring them to so considerable a magnitude. The soil in other 

 parts of the coast, immediately about Port Jackson, is of various qua- 

 lities. This neck of land, which divides the south end of the harbour 

 from the sea, is chiefly sand. Between Sidney Cove and Botany Bay 

 the first space is occupied by a wood, in some parts a mile and a half, 

 in others three miles broad. Beyond that is a kind of heath, poor, 

 sandy, and full of swamps ; but as far as the eye can teach to the west- 

 ward, the country is one continued wood. 



The climate at Sydney Cove is considered, on tire whole, as equal 

 to the finest in Europe. The rains are never of long duration, and 

 •.here are seldom any fogs. The soil, though in general light and 



" This has lately been dissevered to be an island 160 miles long and 80 broad, 

 separated from New Holland by a channel 30 leagues wide. 



