280 
[East Coast. 
1803. 
July- 
A VOYAGE TO 
Being about to take leave of Port Jackson, it might be ex- 
pected that I should give some account of our colony there, and 
could this voyage have appeared in due time, a chapter would have 
been devoted to it ; but a much later account being now before the 
public, dispenses me from speaking of it in other than a few general 
terms. In 1803, it was progressively advancing towards a state of 
independence on the mother country for food and clothing ; both 
the wild and tame cattle had augmented in a proportion to make 
it probable that they would, before many years, be very abundant ; 
and manufactures of woollen, linen, cordage, and leather, wit 
breweries and a pottery, were commenced. The number of inhabi- 
tants was increasing rapidly ; and that energetic spirit of enterprize 
which characterises Britain’s children, seemed to be throwing out 
vigorous shoots in this new world. The seal fishery in Bass Strait 
was carried on with ardour,— many boats were employed m catching 
and preparing fish along the coast, -sloops and schooners were 
upon the stocks,— various detached settlements were in a course of 
establishment, and more in project. And all this, with the com- 
merce carried on from Sydney to Parramatta and the villages at the 
head of the port, and to those on the rivers falling into Broken 
and Botany Bays, made the fine harbour of Port Jackson a lively 
scene of business, highly interesting to the contemplator of the rise 
of nations. 
In Sydney and Parramatta, houses of stone or brick were 
taking place of wood and plaster ; a neat church was built in the 
latter, and one commenced in the former place ; wharfs were con- 
structing or repairing,— a stone bridge over the stream which runs 
through the town of Sydney was nearly finished,— and the whiskey, 
chariot, and heavy-laden waggon were seen moving on commo- 
dious roads to different parts of the colony. In the interior the 
forests were giving way before the axe, and their places becoming 
every year more extensively occupied by wheat, barley, oats, maize, 
and the vegetables and fruits of southern Europe ; but the follow- 
