XIV 
flKST VIEW OF PORT JACKSON. 
or lakes ; or reach it so weakened as to be 
unable to preserve clear or navigable mouths, 
or to remove the sand banks that the tides 
throw up before them. On the other hand, 
the productions of this singular region seem 
to be peculiar to it, and unlike those of any 
other part of the world ; nor have any indigenous 
fruits of any value as yet been found either in 
its forests or on its plains. 
He who has never looked on any other than 
the well-cultured fields of England, can have 
little idea of a country that Nature has 
covered with an interminable forest. Still less 
can he estimate the feelings with which the 
adventurer approaches a shore that has never 
(or perhaps only lately) been trodden by civi- 
lized man. 
It was with feelings peculiar to the occasion, 
that I gazed for the first time on the bold cliffs 
at the entrance of Port Jackson, as our vessel 
neared them, and speculated on the probable 
character of the landscape they hid ; and I am 
free to confess, that I did not anticipate any 
thing equal to the scene which presented itself 
both to my sight and my judgment, as we 
sailed up the noble and extensive basin we 
