CHAPTER XX.

Voyage to Sydney.—Cape Howe.-Diversity of Gifts.-Dangerous Situation.— Port Jackson.-Sydney.-Religious Instruction.-Aborigines.-Rock Oysters. -Brugmansia.-Visit to the Governor.-Projected Visit to Norfolk Island.— Meetings on Ship-board.--S. Marsden.-New Year's Day.-Shrubs." Brickfielder."-First Meetings on Shore.-Temperance Meeting.-Works of Creation.-Visit to the Governor, at Parramatta. - Card Playing.-Snake.— Elizabeth Bay. Fig-tree and Acrosticum grande.-Peaches.-Plants.-School Meeting.-Group of Aborigines.-Parasites.-Meeting in the Court-House.Luminous Appearances in the Sea.-New Zealand Hostages.-Imposition on Medical Men. Meeting on Board the Henry Porcher.

12th mo. 12th. THE weather was beautifully clear, and the moon was shining brightly, when we came on board the Henry Freeling, last night. The ketch was soon got under weigh, and it was proceeding smoothly down the Derwent when we retired to rest; but we had scarcely cleared Storm Bay, before our gentle breeze increased into a gale. At an early hour we were roused by the rolling of the vessel, on a heavy sea it frequently washed over the deck, the seams of which had opened under the influence of the dry atmosphere of Tasmania, so that some of us were soon compelled, from the dripping in, of the salt-water, to leave our berths, and take to the sofas.

17th. At sun-set, we were off Cape Howe, the southeast point of New South Wales: the cape and adjacent coast were faintly visible. The sea had been rough much of the time since we left Hobart Town. The roll of the vessel was so great after rounding Cape Pillar, as to make some of the oldest sailors on board, sick. Birds have been numerous, and we have seen a few whales.

18th. The weather was fine in the forenoon. In the course

of the day we passed Montagu Island, Mount Dromedary, and Point Dromedary. In perusing the Journal of the visit of my friends, John and Martha Yeardley, in Greece, &c. I was led to admire the goodness of the Lord, in preparing instruments for the particular fields of labour, into which he calls them. Thus, these dear friends have been prepared for service among the dense population of an old continent; our dear Daniel and Charles Wheeler for a course of voyaging among the islands of the Pacific; and G. W. Walker and myself, as a sort of pioneers, in the bush of Tasmania. Each party would, I suppose, have found the path of the other more trying than the one in which himself was sent; the diversified gifts of each have been adapted by the Lord of all, to the respective services in which he has required them to be exercised.

19th. The forenoon was beautifully fine. We dried our wet bedding in the sun, and got a leak in the deck stopped. Shoals of small fish were frequently passing, and numbers of larger ones, rising out of the water among them, probably, taking the small ones as their prey. A few Albatrosses and Mutton-birds were swimming on the smooth surface of the sea. In the afternoon, we had thunder, lightning, rain, and a brisk wind. The evening was wet and dark, and the current had carried us so close in shore, that when near Cape George, at the entrance to Jervis Bay, it was discovered, by some lights of the natives on the land, that a few minutes' continuance in the same course, would have run us upon the rocky coast. Alarm was excited among the seamen, and I do not doubt but our situation was a perilous one; yet on turning my mind to the Lord, as I continued writing, I felt a peaceful calm, and sufficient evidence to satisfy me, that no harm should befall us.Blessed for ever be the name of the Shepherd of Israel, who neither slumbereth nor sleepeth, but who, at times, permits us to see danger, under such circumstances, as that we may know that it is he who delivereth us. The vessel was got round in time to clear the inhospitable shore, and we proceeded in safety on our voyage.

20th. We passed Botany Bay this morning, and about

noon, entered Port Jackson. The coast of this part of New South Wales, is bold, and in many places, perpendicular. The cliffs, which are of sand-stone, are interrupted by small sandy bays. Port Jackson is a considerable estuary. The entrance, with the Henry Freeling, is represented in the annexed etching, from a sketch by my friend Charles Wheeler. A light-house marks the South Head, which is about a mile from the North Head. The estuary branches into numerous bays; some of which have sandy beaches, others are very rugged, as are also some of the low hills behind them. The hills, in many places, are covered with Gum-trees and different species of Banksia, and other trees and shrubs, such as are peculiar to this part of the world. Some of the more even places have been cleared, and have houses erected upon them. A few of these are of imposing appearance.-A pilot boarded us at the Heads, and brought us safely to anchor in Sydney Cove. Thus, through the mercy of him whose providential care is over us, we are at the end of another voyage, and advanced another step on our way.

After dinner, I went on shore with George W. Walker. We called on Joseph Orton, the superintendent of the Wesleyan Mission, in these parts, for whom we had despatches from Hobart Town, and after spending an hour pleasantly with him, returned on board the Henry Freeling. In point of building, Sydney strikes us as being more like a large English town, than Hobart Town. Many of the houses are in contact: the shops are quite English. In general appearance, the buildings are like those of towns within thirty miles of London. In the court-yards and the gardens of the more retired streets, Peach, Orange, and Loquat trees, Grape-vines, and many singular and beautiful shrubs are growing luxuriantly; here and there, towering Norfolk Island Pines also mark the difference from the climate of England. White Mulberry forms a common screen round the gardens, and a small tree, called here White Cedar, Melia Azederach, is often planted between the houses and the outer fence of the premises. In our walk, we saw no person that we knew. We are again strangers, in a strange land.