298

SYDNEY.

[8th m

which is still a most formidable barrier to moral and religiou improvement.

15th. Lancelot E. Threlkeld, the Government Missionary to the Aborigines, on Lake Macquarie, breakfasted with us he has come to Sydney, to interpret for one of the Blacks who is charged with the murder of a white man. Threlkeld has written a grammar of the language of the Aborigines, which has been printed by the Government.

the

17th. We took tea with two pious persons, from India. Before parting from them, the 50th chapter of Isaiah was read, and we spent a little time, in silently waiting upon Lord, greatly to our comfort. It is indeed a privilege, to take sweet counsel with those whose hearts are turned to the Lord, in these regions, that may be called, spiritually desolate, notwithstanding, such persons may not see many things belonging to the Gospel, in the same point of view with ourselves. Many invalids from India, come to these Colonies, on account of their health, which they frequently recruit, in the drier atmosphere and cooler winters of

Australia and V. D. Land.

18th. The Committee of the Temperance Society was well attended. The important moral reformation, in abstinence from spirituous liquors, is gaining ground in the public mind. Some additional restrictions have lately been placed on the sale of spirits, by the Government; forbidding the payment of wages in them, beyond a third part, and interIdicting the sale of them to prisoners, &c. But while any portion of wages is allowed to be paid in them, and houses are very numerously licensed for their sale, and the example of free persons encourages their use, prisoners will continue to obtain them. Sydney is still an awfully drunken place. Auxiliary Bible Society, was held in a large room, at the 25th. The anniversary meeting of the New South Wales Pulteney Hotel, granted gratuitously by the landlord, who is a Jew! The Colonial Secretary was in the chair. The meeting was not very numerously attended, but was addressed by several persons, who ably set forth the privilege and importance of promoting the circulation of the Holy Scrip

tures.

29th. The weather has become much warmer. There was some lightning this evening. Peach-trees are in blossom, and Vines and Weeping Willows are beginning to vegetate. Oranges are in perfection, and Loquats are beginning to ripen. The last are the produce of a large, bushy, evergreen, Japanese tree. They grow in clusters, at the extremity of the branches, and are yellow; they are about the size of a large acorn, and contain one or two large seeds. Some of the varieties combine an agreeable acidity and sweetness, others are austere, and only fit for baking. Deciduous trees, from the northern hemisphere, rest in the mild winters of this part of the world, with remarkable regularity. Though the weather is as warm throughout the winter, as in the finest part of an English spring, these trees do not begin to vegetate prematurely, as they often do in their native country, after a time of severe cold.

Though all the native trees and shrubs of V. D. Land are evergreens, and the climate is cooler than that of N. S. Wales, there are a very few trees, natives of the latter country, that are deciduous. The chief of these are, Meha Azedarach, the White Cedar, which produces clusters of flowers, at the extremities of its branches, having the colour and smell of Lilac, just as its foliage begins to appear; Sterculia acerifolia, a tree resembling the Sycamore, but producing large quantities of flame-coloured blossoms, before its leaves unfold in spring; and Cedrela Toona? the Australian Cedar, a large tree, somewhat like an Ash, which casts its leaves in winter, at least in the cooler parts of N. S. Wales.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Journey to Wellington Valley.-Preliminary Arrangements.-Visit to Parramatta. -Factory.-Orphan School.-Lunatic Asylum.-Kissing Point.-Bush Fire.-Drought.-Schools, &c.-Meetings.-Civilization of the Natives.Forest.-South Creek.-Dislike of the Blacks to go far from Home.-Penrith.-Blue Mountains.-Ironed-gangs.-Huts and Caravans of Prisoners.Weather-board Hut.-Views.-Cold.-Black Heath.-Mountain Road.-Bullocks.-Eagles. Mount Victoria Pass.-Vale of Clywd.— Hellvellyn.— River Oak.-Junction Stockade.-Honeysuckle Hill.-Drunken Landlord.Bathurst.-Drunkenness.-Famine.-The Rocks.-Newton.-Sheep.-Wild Limestone.Newry.-Wel

Dogs.-Exhaustion.-Molong River.-Birds.

come. Stock-keeper and Blacks.-Sheep-feeding.-Cottages.—Arrival at Wellington Valley.

9th mo. 1st. HAVING made application for leave to visit the prisoners, in the Jails, Penitentiaries, Ironed-gangs, &c. in the Colony, we received a document to-day, signed by the Colonial Secretary, on behalf of the Governor, granting us this permission. An introduction to the Missionaries at Wellington Valley, was also given to us, by Richard Hill, a pious, and laborious Colonial Chaplain, and the Secretary to "the Church Missionary Society." We likewise made other preparations for a journey to Wellington Valley, believing that the right time was come, for us to proceed in that direction.

2nd. We went to Parramatta, by a steamer, and took up our quarters at a respectable inn. This town is the second in size in N. S. Wales. In the census taken in 1833, it contained 2,637 inhabitants. Its population, at this time, will probably be about 4,000.

3rd.

We breakfasted with Samuel Marsden and his fa

mily, at the parsonage. After breakfast, he drove us to the Female Factory, and the Female Orphan School. The

former is a large stone building, enclosed within a wall, sixteen feet high, divided into a number of wards, and having distinct yards, for assignable prisoners, and for those under sentence. There are sixteen solitary cells, in all of which prisoners were suffering punishment, chiefly for drunkenness and insolence. The number of females sentenced to confinement in this Factory, exclusive of those assignable, is about 250; who, it is to be regretted, are nearly destitute of employment. Formerly, women of this character were employed in spinning, and in weaving coarse, woollen cloth, but this occupation has been abandoned. The rooms where it was carried on, are empty, and like those of other parts of the building, have the glass of the windows much broken. This is said to have been done by some of the women, in unruly fits, which they occasionally take, one exciting another. This is not to be wondered at, among so large a number of the worst portion of the females of Great Britain and Ireland, confined, but unemployed. The assignable women were occupied with needlework, and the place they were in was clean. The Female Orphan School is a good brick building, kept neat and clean: it contains 150 children; who are generally healthy, and much like others of the same age.

On returning from the Orphan School, we called upon the Governor, and at his request, accompanied him to inspect the site of a projected Lunatic Asylum, at Tarban Creek. The situation is a little elevated, on the north shore of Port Jackson, or the Parramatta River, which, at this point, spreads, so as to have the appearance of a fine lake. The view is delightful, extending eastward to beyond Sydney, which is seven miles off; it also takes in Parramatta, to the westward, distant ten miles; and is bounded, in that direction, by the Blue Mountains, to the foot of which, is about thirty miles. There is good fresh water upon the spot, which, at present, is occupied by Gumtrees and scrub. Betwixt this place and Parramatta, there is a little settlement, called Kissing Point, with a neat Episcopal chapel. Not far from it, a fire in the bush had extended to a wooden bridge, and burnt it down. In

several places along the road, fires had not only "consumed the thickets of the forest," and despoiled the trees, but had burnt considerable lengths of post and rail fencing. In some parts of the ride, tracts of clear ground were visible, bounded and interspersed with wood, giving the country the appearance of a large park; but every thing looks brown and withering, from the drought, which has now continued about nine months. The rains that have reached Sydney, have not extended many miles from the coast. There are some small Orange-grounds, about Kissing Point, and many of the settlers' gardens are furnished with Orange-trees, but they are losing their leaves for want of moisture.

4th. We called upon two thoughtful families, and then went again to the Female Factory; where we had interviews, first, with the third-class prisoners, and next with those of the first and second classes, jointly. Much Christian counsel was imparted to them, and supplication was put up, on their behalf, to Him who regards with compassion, the poor outcasts of our race, and who enabled us to point out the blessed effects of attention to the teaching of his good Spirit, leading to repentance, to faith in Christ, and to a holy, self-denying life, and who gave us some sense of his good presence, in the engagement.

The Episcopal congregation, at Parramatta, is attended by from 500 to 600 persons, on a First-day morning, inclusive of the military and prisoners. These have no choice in regard to being present. The Wesleyan congregation, on First-day evenings, amounts to about 150 persons; and there is also a small Presbyterian congregation. There are two schools in Parramatta, to each of which the Government contributes £100 per annum, furnishing also the school-houses. There is likewise an infant school, similarly supported, the parents of the children contributing something, by payments for the pupils. In addition to these, there are likewise some private schools in the town.

5th. We had an interview with an ironed-gang, of from two to three hundred prisoners, in their barracks, at six o'clock in the morning. They were very quiet and attentive;