1 79 5-1 OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 3 1 1 



grafs; the trees were thinly fcattered, and free from underwood, ex- 

 cept in particular fpots ; feveral beautiful flats prefented large ponds, 

 covered with ducks and the black fwan, the margins of which were 

 fringed with fhrubs of the mod delightful tints, and the ground rofe 

 from thefe levels into hills of eafy afcent. 



The queftion how thefe cattle came hither appeared eafy of folu- 

 tion. The few that were loft in 1788, two, bulls and five cows, travelled 

 without interruption in a weftern direction until they came to the 

 banks of the Nepean. Arrived there, and rinding the eroding as eafy 

 as when the Governor had forded it, they came at once into a well- 

 watered country, and amply ftored with grafs. From this place they 

 ? had no inducement to move. They were in pofTeffion of a country 

 equal to their fupport, and in which they remained undifturbed. The 

 fettlers had not till then travelled quite fo far weftward ; and but few 

 natives were to be found thereabouts ; they were likely, therefore, 

 to remain for years unmolefted, and fecurely to propagate their 

 fpecies. 



It was a moft pleafant cir cum fiance, to have in the woods of New 

 Holland a thriving herd of wild cattle. Many propofals were made 

 to bring them into the (ettlement ; but in the day of want, if thefe 

 fhould be facrificed, in what better condition would the colony be for 

 having pofTeffed a herd of cattle in the woods I a herd which, if fuf- 

 fered to remain undifturbed for fome years, would, like the cattle of 

 South America, always prove a market fufficient for the inhabitants of 

 that country ; and, perhaps, not only for their own confumption, but 

 for exportation. The Governor faw it in this light, and determined to 

 guard, as much as was in his power, againft any attempts to deftroy 

 them. 



On his return he found fome very fine ground at the back of Pro- 

 fpedl Hill. The weather during this excurfion was fo intenfely hot, 

 that on one of the days, as the party paffed through a part of the 

 country which was on fire, a terrier dog died by the way. 



Nothing 



