on with ardour--many
boats were employed in catching and preparing fish along the
coast--sloops and schooners were upon the stocks--various detached
settlements were in a course of establishment, and more in project. And
all this, with the commerce carried on from Sydney to Parramatta and the
villages at the head of the port, and to those on the rivers falling into
Broken and Botany Bays, made the fine harbour of Port Jackson a lively
scene of business, highly interesting to the contemplator of the rise of
nations.

In Sydney and Parramatta, houses of stone or brick were taking place of
wood and plaster; a neat church was built in the latter, and one
commenced in the former place; wharfs were constructing or repairing--a
stone bridge over the stream which runs through the town of Sydney was
nearly finished--and the whiskey, chariot, and heavy-laden waggon were
seen moving on commodious roads to different parts of the colony. In the
interior the forests were giving way before the axe, and their places
becoming every year more extensively occupied by wheat, barley, oats,
maize, and the vegetables and fruits of southern Europe; but the
following extract from the official returns in 1803, the fifteenth year
after the establishment of the colony, will show its progress in a more
ostensible manner.

Lands employed by government,
or granted to individuals 125,476 acres.
Quantity cleared of wood, 16,624
Ditto, sown with wheat, 7,118 Last ann. increase 2,165
Ditto, sown with barley, maize, etc. 5,279
Average produce of wheat lands
throughout the colony, 18 bushels/acre.

No. of horned cattle domesticated, 2,447 Last increase 594
No. of Sheep, 11,232 2,614
No. of Hogs, 7,890 3,872
No. of Horses, 352 65

The number of wild horned cattle was supposed to exceed that of
the tame, and to increase faster.
Europeans of every description,
resident in New South Wales, 7,134
Of which were victualled by government, 3,026
Number of inhabitants at Norfolk Island, 1,200

Amongst the obstacles which opposed themselves to the more rapid
advancement of the colony, the principal were, the vicious propensities
of a large portion of the convicts, a want of more frequent communication
with England, and the prohibition to trading with India