ers Goulburn
plains, I was surprised to see its waters extremely low and not even
flowing. The poor appearance of the woods also struck me, judging by
comparison with the land in the south; and although the scantiness of
grass, also observable, might be attributed to the great number of sheep
and cattle fed there, I was not the less sensible of the more parched
aspect of the country generally.

GOULBURN PLAINS.

Goulburn Plains consist of open downs affording excellent pasturage for
sheep and extending twenty miles southward from the township, their
breadth being about ten.

A GARDEN.

I reached at twilight the house of a worthy friend, Captain Rossi, who
received me with great kindness and hospitality. The substantial
improvements which he had effected on his farm since my last visit to
that part of the colony evinced his skill and industry as a colonist;
while an extensive garden and many tasteful arrangements for domestic
comfort marked the residence of a gentleman. Under that hospitable roof I
exchanged the narrative of my wanderings for the accumulated news of
seven months which, with my friend's good cheer, rendered his invitation
to rest my horses for one day quite irresistible.

October 31.

A walk in the garden; a visit to the shearing shed; the news of colonial
affairs in general; fat pullets cooked a la gastronome and some good
wine; had each in its turn rare charms for me.

PUBLIC WORKS.

I had arrived in a country which I had myself surveyed; and the roads and
towns in progress were the first fruits of these labours. I had marked
out in 1830 the road now before me, which I then considered the most
important in New South Wales as leading to the more temperate south, and
I had now completed it as a line of communication between Sydney and the
southern coasts. This important public work on which I had bestowed the
greatest pains by surveying the whole country between the Wollondilly and
Shoalhaven rivers, had been nevertheless retarded nearly two years on the
representations of some of the settlers, so that the part most essential
to be opened continued still in a half finished state.*

(*Footnote. A petition had been got up in favour of another line said to
be more direct; and it is a remarkable fact that numerous signatures were
obtained even to such a petition, although it was found at last that the
line laid down after a careful survey was not only twelve chains shorter
than the other proposed