, with L2,000--a step he
lived to deplore.

The settlement was early involved in great difficulties. The hoe, the
usual implement of husbandry, effected but a slow and discouraging
progress: supplies from Port Jackson were forwarded in small quantities,
and were soon altogether interrupted. In 1806 a disaster occurred, which
reduced the elder colony to severe privation. The tempting fertility of
of the land bordering on the Hawkesbury, the Nile of this hemisphere,
induced the petty farmers, whose homesteads dotted its margin, to
overlook its dangers. An inundation, remembered as the _great_ flood,
exceeded all former devastations: vast torrents, of which the origin was
unknown, descended from the mountains, and pouring down with prodigious
violence, suddenly filled and overflowed the channels of the river; and
rising to the height of sixty and eighty feet in a few hours, swept
away the stacks of corn, the live stock, and even the dwellings. A
vessel approaching the coast, saw fragments of the floating ruins many
miles distant from the shore. Thus, lately possessing a superabundant
store, the poor suffered extreme destitution, and the price of maize and
wheat rose to L5 and L6 per bushel.[58]

Unable to succour this colony, the government left it to its own
resources, and for several years the scarcity continued with various
intensity. The kangaroo hunters were the chief purveyors of food. The
officers allowed servants, sent them to the woods, and sold their spoil
to government. Considerable profits were made by the more successful:
the commissariat allowed 1_s._ 6_d._ per lb., and the foundation of some
fortunes were laid by persons whose servants were faithful and expert. A
marine, assisted by two convicts, delivered to the king's stores, 1000
lbs. of kangaroo per month, and continued in this occupation for several
years. A few coarse biscuits were distributed while they lasted, but the
substitute for bread was the dried and pounded flesh of kangaroo! The
government, unable to feed, could no longer task the prisoners: to
lessen the pressure, they were sometimes permitted to disperse in search
of subsistence, and thus laid the foundation of those lawless habits
which afterwards brought the colony to the verge of ruin.

The _Sydney_ had been chartered to India for wheat, but was lost, and
the colony disappointed of the expected relief. When this calamity
became known, a second effort was made: Colonel Paterson, while a