XXll 
MR. m'arthur’s exertions 
who foresaw the advantage to be derived from 
the growth of fine wool in New South Wales, 
and who commenced the culture of it in that 
colony, was Mr. John M'Arthur. So far back, I 
believe, as the year 1793, not long after the esta- 
blishment of the first settlement at Sydney, this 
gentleman commenced sheep-farming, and about 
two years afterwards he obtained a ram and two 
ewes from Captain Kent, of the royal navy, who 
had brought them, with some other stock for the 
supply of the settlement, from the Cape of Good 
Hope, to which place a flock of these sheep had 
been originally sent by the Dutch government. 
Sensible of the importance of the acquisition, 
Mr. M'Arthur began to cross his coarse-fleeced 
sheep with Merino blood ; and, proceeding upon 
a system, he effected a considerable improvement 
in the course of a few years. So prolific was this 
mixed breed, that in ten years, a flock which ori- 
ginally consisted of not more than seventy Bengal 
sheep, had increased in number to 4000 head, 
although the wethers had been killed as they 
became fit for slaughter. It appears, however, 
that as the sheep approached to greater purity 
of blood, their extreme fecundity diminished. 
