et appeared since the establishment of the
colony: Yet on the highest ridges of the remoter mountains, to
which I have had occasion to allude as never yet having been
passed, snow is to be seen for a long time together; and this
circumstance is a proof of their elevation. The usual weather in
New South Wales is uncommonly bright and clear, and the common
weather there, in spring and autumn, is equal to the finest
summer day in England. This purity and warmth of atmosphere, it
may be naturally inferred, must be particularly favourable to the
growth of shrubs and plants, which flourish exceedingly, and
attain to a degree of perfection and beauty which is unknown to
the inhabitants of this country. The woods and fields present a
boundless variety of the choicest productions of nature, which
gratify the senses with their fragrance and magnificence; while
the branches of the trees display a brilliant assemblage of the
feathered race, whose plumage, "glittering in the sun,"
dazzles the eye of the beholder with its unmatched loveliness and
lustre, and presenting, on the whole, a scene too rich for the
pencil to pourtray--too glowing and animated for the feeble pen
of mortal to describe with half the energy and beauty which
belong to it, and without which description is unfaithful.

Natural History.

This subject has been so well treated, and the various species
of animals, etc. have been so accurately described, by those
who have treated on the history of this colony, that it would be
superfluous in me to re-tread the ground which has been already
so ably trodden. I shall therefore content myself with describing
the few natural productions of the country of New Holland, which
have been discovered subsequent to the latest publication on the
subject, and concerning which, consequently, no information of an
accurate and public nature has yet been transmitted to this
country. The exploration of the works of nature in this immense
tract of the universe, is however still incomplete; and I have no
doubt but the lapse of a few years will tend greatly to the
augmentation of the knowledge we now possess on this interesting
subject, and will prove the fertile source of new delight and
instruction to the mind which can derive enjoyment from that pure
source, the contemplation of nature in her varied and astonishing
works.

The Koolah, or Sloth, a singular animal of the Opossum
species, having a false belly, was found by the natives,