-Other
arrangements--Treatment of the natives--Dimensions of the boat used in
the second expedition.

APPENDIX.

No. I. Letter of Instructions
No. II. List of Stores supplied for the Expedition
No. III. Sheep-farming Returns
No. IV. List of Geological Specimens
No. V. Official Report to the Colonial Government, (Jan. 1829.)
No. VI. Ditto (April 1829.)

ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE FIRST VOLUME

(Not included in this etext)

Native Burial Place near Budda
Vice Admiral Arthur Phillip
Cataract of the Macquarie
A Selenite
Chrystallized Sulphate of Lime

PRELIMINARY CHAPTER

Purpose of this Chapter--Name of Australia--Impressions of its early
Visitors--Character of the Australian rivers--Author's first view of
Port Jackson--Extent of the Colony of New South Wales--its rapid
advances in prosperity--Erroneous impressions--Commercial importance of
Sydney--Growth of fine wool--Mr. M'Arthur's meritorious
exertions--Whale-fishery--Other exports--Geographical features--Causes
of the large proportion of bad soil--Connection between the geology and
vegetation--Geological features--Character of the soil connected with
the geological formation--County of Cumberland--Country westward of the
Blue Mountains--Disadvantages of the remote settlers--Character of the
Eastern coast--Rich tracts in the interior--Periodical droughts--The
seasons apparently affected by the interior
marshes--Temperature--Fruits--Emigrants: Causes of their success or
failure--Moral disadvantages--System of emigration recommended--Hints
to emigrants--Progress of inland discovery--Expeditions across the Blue
Mountains--Discoveries of Mr. Evans, Mr. Oxley, and others--Conjectures
respecting the interior.

PURPOSE OF THIS PRELIMINARY CHAPTER.

When I first determined on committing to the press a detailed account
of the two expeditions, which I conducted into the interior of the
Australian continent, pursuant to the orders of Lieutenant General
Darling, the late Governor of the Colony of New South Wales, it was
simply with a view of laying their results before the geographical
world, and of correcting the opinions that prevailed with regard to the
unexplored country to the westward of the Blue Mountains. I did not
feel myself equal either to the task or the responsibility of venturing
any remarks on the Colony of New South Wales itself. I had had little
time for inquiry, amidst