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flood, has water for large boats to go three miles up; and one mile higher the water is fresh, and the soil good. A very industrious man, whom I brought from England, is employed there at present and has under his direction one hundred convicts who are employed in clearing and cultivating the ground. A barn, granary, and other necessary buildings are erected; and twenty-seven acres of corn promise a good crop. The soil is good; and the country for 20 miles to the westward, as far as I have examined, lies well for cultivation: but then the labour of clearing the ground is very great; and I have seen none that can be cultivated without cutting down the timber, except some few particular spots, which, from their situation, lying at a distance from either of the harbours, can be of no advantage to us at present: and, I presume, the meadows, mentioned in Captain Cook’s voyage, were seen from the high grounds about Botany-Bay, and from whence they appear well to the eye, but, when examined, are found to be marishes, the drainings of which would be a waste of time, and not to be attempted by the first settlers. At Sydney-Cove all the officers are in good huts, and the men in barracks: and, although many unforeseen difficulties have been met with, I believe there is not an individual, from the governor to the private soldier, whose situation
