)0 A V O Y A G E T O 
c H A P. colony can bear ample teftimony, from the uninterrupted 
^ — V — ' ftate of good health, which has been in general en- 
joyed. - _ 
When our fettlers landed, there was not a fingle acre 
clear of wood in the ifland, and the trees were fo bound 
together by that kind of creeping fiiriib called fupple 
jack, interwoven in all direcSlions, as to render it very 
difficult to penetrate far amono- them. The Gomman-» 
■ . dant, fmall as his numbers were at iirft, by indefatigable 
a6tivity foon caufed a fpace to be cleared fufficient for 
the requilite accommodations, and for the produdion 
of efculent vegetables of all kinds in the greateil abun- 
dance. When the iaft accounts arrived, three acres of 
barley v/ere in a very thriving ftate, and ground was 
prepared to receive rice and Indian corn. In the wheat 
there had been a difappointment, the grain that vv^as 
fown having been fo much injured by the weevil, as to 
be unfit for vegetation. But the people were all at that 
time in commodious houfes ; and, according to the de- 
clarations of Mr. King himfelf, in his letters to Governor 
Phillip, there v/as not a doubt that this colony would be 
in a iituaiion to fijpport itfelf entirely without affiftance,. 
in lefs than four years : and with very little in tlie inter- 
mediate time. Even two years would be more than, 
fufhcient for this purpofe, could a proper fupply of black 
cattle be fento ■ ^ 
, . ' ^ Fifh 
