name of AUSTRALIA. 
XI 
as they are, may be of some interest to the pub- 
lic. I am strengthened in this hope by the con- 
sideration that some kind friends have enabled 
me to add much valuable matter to that which I 
had myself collected. It is not my intention, 
however, to enter at any length on the commer- 
cial or agricultural interests of New South Wales. 
It may be necessary for me to touch lightly on 
those important subjects, but it is my wish to 
connect this preliminary chapter, as much as 
possible with the subjects treated of in the body 
of the work, and chiefly to notice the physical 
structure, the soil, climate, and productions of 
the colony, in order to convey to the reader 
general information on these points, before I 
lead him into the remote interior. 
It may be worthy of remark, that the name 
“ Australia,” has of late years been affixed to 
that extensive tract of land which Great Britain 
possesses in the Southern Seas, and which, hav- 
ing been a discovery of the early Dutch naviga- 
tors, was previously termed “ New Holland.” 
The change of name was, I believe, introduced by 
the celebrated French geographer, Malte Brun, 
who, in his division of the globe, gave the appel- 
a 2 
