1836. 



PORT JACKSON — SYDNEY. 



621 



was running from the southward, the temperature of the ocean, 

 a foot below, as well as at, the surface,^ was only 67°. I ought 

 to have remarked elsewhere, if I have not already done so, that 

 the thermometer may be used at sea to detect and trace cur- 

 rents ; but little, if any, confidence can be placed in its indi- 

 cations as a guide to the approach of land. Icebergs may 

 indeed affect it, but they will affect the temperature of the air 

 probably sooner than that of the ocean. 



Near midnight, on the 11th, we saw the red, revolving light 

 of Sydney Light-house, and next day entered Port Jackson, 

 and anchored in Sydney Cove. Much as I had heard of the 

 progress and importance of this place, my astonishment 

 was indeed great, when 1 saw a well-built city covering the 

 country near the port. Not many days previously I had 

 been reading the account of Governor Phillip's voyage to 

 Botany Bay in 1787-8, and little did I think that, in forty- 

 eight years from tlie first discovery of Port Jackson, a city, 

 upon a large scale, could have arisen out of a wilderness so 

 near our antipodes. In the account just mentioned it is stated 

 that " from a piece of clay imported from Sydney Cove, Mr. 

 Wedgwood caused a medallion to be modelled, representing 

 Hope, encouraging Art and Labour, under the influence of 

 Peace, to pursue the means of giving security and happiness 

 to the infant settlement. The following lines, in allusion to 

 this medallion, were written by Dr. Darwin." 



" Where Sydney Cove her lucid bosom swells, 

 Courts her young navies and the storm repels, 

 Hif^h on a rock, amid the troubled air, 

 Hope stood sublime, and vvav'd her golden hair ; 

 Calm'd with her rosy smile the tossing deep. 

 And with sweet accents charm'd the winds to sleep ; 

 To each wild plain, she stretch'd her snowy hand, 

 High-waving wood, and sea-encircled strand. 

 * Hear me,' she cried, * ye rising realms ! record 

 Time's opening scenes, and Truth's unerring word. — 

 There shall broad streets their stately walls extend, 

 The circus widen, and the crescent bend ; 



* For no difference could be detected, under ordinary circumstances. 



