EXTENT OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 
XV 
had entered, towards the seat of government, 
A single glance was sufficient to tell me that 
the hills upon the southern shore of the port, 
the outlines of which were broken by houses 
and spires, must once have been covered with the 
same dense and gloomy wood which abounded 
everywhere else. The contrast was indeed very 
great — the improvement singularly striking. 
The labour and patience required, and the dif- 
ficulties which the first settlers encountered in 
effecting these improvements, must have been 
incalculable. But their success has been com- 
plete: it is the very triumph of human skill 
and industry over Nature herself. The corn- 
field and the orchard have supplanted the 
wild grass and the brush ; a flourishing town 
stands over the ruins of the forest ; the lowing of 
herds has succeeded the wild whoop of the sa- 
vage ; and the stillness of that once desert shore 
is now broken by the sound of the bugle and 
the busy hum of commerce. 
The Colony of New South Wales is situated 
upon the eastern coast of Australia; and the 
districts within which land has been granted 
to settlers, extends from the 36th parallel of 
latitude to the 32nd, that is say, from the 
