第11章

Transactions of the Colony until the Close of the Year 1789.

The anniversary of his majesty's birth-day was celebrated,as heretofore,at the government-house,with loyal festivity.In the evening,the play of 'The Recruiting Officer'was performed by a party of convicts,and honoured by the presence of his excellency,and the officers of the garrison.That every opportunity of escape from the dreariness and dejection of our situation should be eagerly embraced,will not be wondered at.The exhilarating effect of a splendid theatre is well known:

And I am not ashamed to confess,that the proper distribution of three or four yards of stained paper,and a dozen farthing candles stuck around the mud walls of a convict-hut,failed not to diffuse general complacency on the countenances of sixty persons,of various deions,who were assembled to applaud the representation.Some of the actors acquitted themselves with great spirit,and received the praises of the audience:a prologue and an epilogue,written by one of the performers,were also spoken on the occasion;which,although not worth inserting here,contained some tolerable allusions to the situation of the parties,and the novelty of a stage-representation in New South Wales.

Broken Bay,which was supposed to be completely explored,became again an object of research.On the sixth instant,the governor,accompanied by a large party in two boats,proceeded thither.Here they again wandered over piles of mis-shapen desolation,contemplating scenes of wild solitude,whose unvarying appearance renders them incapable of affording either novelty or gratification.But when they had given over the hope of farther discovery,by pursuing the windings of an inlet,which,from its appearance,was supposed to be a short creek,they suddenly found themselves at the entrance of a fresh water river,up which they proceeded twenty miles,in a westerly direction;and would have farther prosecuted their research,had not a failure of provisions obliged them to return.This river they described to be of considerable breadth,and of great depth;but its banks had hitherto presented nothing better than a counterpart of the rocks and precipices which surround Broken Bay.

June,1789.A second expedition,to ascertain its course,was undertaken by his excellency,who now penetrated (measuring by the bed of the river)between 60and 70miles,when the farther progress of the boats was stopped by a fall.The water in every part was found to be fresh and good.

Of the adjoining country,the opinions of those who had inspected it (of which number I was not)were so various,that I shall decline to record them.Some saw a rich and beautiful country;and others were so unfortunate as to discover little else than large tracts of low land,covered with reeds,and rank with the inundations of the stream,by which they had been recently covered.All parties,however,agreed,that the rocky,impenetrable country,seen on the first excursion,had ended nearly about the place whence the boats had then turned back.Close to the fall stands a very beautiful hill,which our adventurers mounted,and enjoyed from it an extensive prospect.Potatoes,maize,and garden seeds of various kinds were put into the earth,by the governor's order,on different parts of Richmond-hill,which was announced to be its name.

The latitude of Richmond-hill,as observed by captain Hunter,was settled at 33degrees 36minutes south.

Here also the river received the name of Hawkesbury,in honour of the noble lord who bears that title.

Natives were found on the banks in several parts,many of whom were labouring under the smallpox.They did not attempt to commit hostilities against the boats;but on the contrary shewed every sign of welcome and friendship to the strangers.

At this period,I was unluckily invested with the command of the outpost at Rose Hill,which prevented me from being in the list of discoverers of the Hawkesbury.Stimulated,however,by a desire of acquiring a further knowledge of the country,on the 26th instant,accompanied by Mr.Arndell,assistant surgeon of the settlement,Mr.Lowes,surgeon's mate of the 'Sirius',two marines,and a convict,I left the redoubt at day-break,pointing our march to a hill,distant five miles,in a westerly or inland direction,which commands a view of the great chain of mountains,called Carmarthen hills,extending from north to south farther than the eye can reach.Here we paused,surveying "the wild abyss;

Pondering our voyage."Before us lay the trackless immeasurable desert,in awful silence.At length,after consultation,we determined to steer west and by north,by compass,the make of the land in that quarter indicating the existence of a river.We continued to march all day through a country untrodden before by an European foot.Save that a melancholy crow now and then flew croaking over head,or a kangaroo was seen to bound at a distance,the picture of solitude was complete and undisturbed.At four o'clock in the afternoon we halted near a small pond of water,where we took up our residence for the night,lighted a fire,and prepared to cook our supper:

That was,to broil over a couple of ramrods a few slices of salt pork,and a crow which we had shot.

At daylight we renewed our peregrination;and in an hour after we found ourselves on the banks of a river,nearly as broad as the Thames at Putney,and apparently of great depth,the current running very slowly in a northerly direction.Vast flocks of wild ducks were swimming in the stream;

But after being once fired at,they grew so shy that we could not get near them a second time.Nothing is more certain than that the sound of a gun had never before been heard within many miles of this spot.