176 NEW SOUTH WALES. 



that New South Wales is very different, in its general features, from 

 other parts of the globe. This is chiefly owing to two causes : the 

 aridity of its climate, and the prevalence of sandstone rock. This 

 rock may be readily examined at the heads of Port Jackson, and on 

 the shores of the many coves that surround this beautiful harbour. 

 Its colour is pale yellow or drab, and it lies in beds, nearly horizontal 

 and of various thickness, whose upper surface, except where broken 

 by ravines and water-courses, forms a table-land : the average eleva- 

 tion in the neighbourhood of Sydney is from three hundred and fifty 

 to four hundred feet. At this level it extends in gentle undulations 

 to a great distance inland. 



This arid soil yields but a scanty growth of vegetable products, 

 which, consisting of burnt pasture, and thinly scattered trees and 

 shrubbery, give to the whole region a look of desolation. The grass 

 does not every where conceal the bare rock, and the thin soil supports 

 only a few gum trees (Eucalypti), and bushes. Throughout the 

 wide plain there is little to relieve the eye, except here and there a 

 small cultivated spot. 



As I did not consider it necessary that any of the naturalists 

 should accompany the squadron on its southern cruise, they were left 

 at Sydney, with orders to visit such parts of the country as might 

 appear to offer the best opportunities for making collections in their 

 respective departments.* This enabled me to obtain much informa- 

 tion in relation to the interior of this interesting country, its produc- 

 tions, and its original inhabitants. The narratives of several of these 

 journeys will be given hereafter, but so much of what they learned as 

 is general, together with such additional information as was gained 

 from other sources, will form an appropriate introduction to the 

 account of their tours. 



The interior of the country, for a distance of sixty or eighty miles to 

 the north and south of Sydney, presents the same characters which 

 have just been described, except that deep gorges are from time to time 

 met with, and that some parts of it are of a more undulating character. 



account of her having originally planned it, three miles and three hundred and seventy- 

 seven yards in length, was finally completed on the 13th day of June, 1816." 



Governor Macquarie has literally put his mark on the town of Sydney, where hardly 

 a single street, square, or public building can be passed, without seeing his name cut in 

 stone. 



* For orders, propositions of officers, and letters respecting their employment, see 

 Appendix XI. 



