culty find its object, and the soldier in
possession of a habitation of his own might, in a course of time, think
of himself more as an independent citizen, than as a subordinate soldier.

On the 23rd the first part of the cargo of the _Sugar Cane_ was
delivered, and in a very few days all that she had on board on account of
government was received into the store, together with some surplus
provisions of the contractor's. The convicts which she brought out were,
very soon after her arrival, sent to the settlements up the harbour. At
these places the labouring people were employed, some in getting the
Indian corn for the ensuing season into such ground as was ready, and
others in preparing the remainder. At the close of the month, through the
favourable rains which had fallen, the wheat in general wore the most
flattering appearance, giving every promise of a plenteous harvest. At
Toongabbie the wheat appeared to bid defiance to any accident but fire,
against which some precautions had however been judiciously and timely
taken. From this place, and from the settlers, a quantity of corn
sufficient to supply all our numbers for a twelvemonth was expected to be
received into the public granaries, if those who looked so far forward,
and took into their calculation much corn not yet in ear, were not too
sanguine in their expectations.

CHAPTER XXIII

The _Boddingtons_ and _Sugar Cane_ sail
A mill erected
Thefts committed
Convicts emancipated
Two persons killed by lightning
The _Fairy_ arrives
Farms sold
Public works
The _Francis_ returns from New Zealand
The _Fairy_ sails
Ration altered
Transactions
Harvest begun
Criminal Court held
A convict executed
Provisions
Mill at Parramatta
Christmas Day
Natives
Convicts
Boats
Grants of land
Settlers
Public works
Expenses how to be calculated
Deaths in 1793
Prices of grain, stock, and labour

October.] The _Boddingtons_ and _Sugar Cane_ being both bound for the
same port in India (Bengal) the masters agreed to proceed together; and
on the 13th, the _Sugar Cane_ having set up her rigging, and hurried
through such refitting as was indispensably necessary, both ships left
the harbour with a fair wind, purposing to follow in the _Atlantic's_
track. The master of the _Boddingtons_ was furnished by us with a copy of
a chart made on board the _Pitt_ Indiaman, and brought hither by the
_Britannia_, of a passage or channel found by that ship in the land named