s deposited in the chest
which has to be forwarded, sealed, to the Government, and without access
to this the notes that I should desire to furnish to you cannot be
completed. Nevertheless, in order to contribute as far as possible to
your enlightenment on the subject, I take the liberty of furnishing you
with some particulars of the new establishment. In asking you to excuse,
on account of the circumstances, faults both of style and of
presentation, I venture to assure you, General, that you can rely upon my
jealous exactitude in fulfilling as far as was in my power the intention
of the Government of my country. I have neglected no means of procuring
all the information that as far as I could foresee would be of interest.
I was received in the house of the Governor with much consideration. He
and his secretary spoke our language well. The commandant of the troops
of New South Wales, Mr. Paterson, a member of the Royal Society of
London, a very distinguished savant, always treated me with particular
regard. I was received in his house, as one might say, as a son. I have
through him known all the officials of the colony. The surgeon, a
distinguished man, Mr. Thompson, honoured me with his friendship. Mr.
Grimes, the surveyor of the colony, Mr. Palmer the commissary-general of
the Government, Mr. Marsden, a clergyman of Parramatta, and a cultivator
as wealthy as he is discerning, were all capable of furnishing me with
valuable information. My functions on board permitted me to hazard the
asking of a large number of questions which would have been indiscreet on
the part of another, particularly on the part of soldiers. I have, in a
word, known at Port Jackson all the principal people of the colony, in
all vocations, and each of them has furnished, unsuspectingly,
information as valuable as it is new. Finally, I made with Mr. Paterson
very long excursions into the interior of the country. I saw most of the
best farms, and I assure you that I have gathered everywhere interesting
ideas upon things, which I have taken care to make exact as possible.

FIRST: PRESENT ESTABLISHMENTS OF THE ENGLISH.

Whilst in Europe they are spoken of as the colony of Botany Bay, as a
matter of fact there is no establishment there. Botany Bay is a humid,
marshy, rather sterile place, not healthy, and the anchorage for vessels
is neither good nor sure.

Port Jackson, thirteen leagues from Botany Bay, is unquestionably one of
the finest ports in