miserable condition; and his excellency declared that he had
scarcely seen a negro town in the West Indies with half such a
wretched appearance. The grain here and there displayed a
promising appearance, and swine were in some considerable
numbers; but the coast was dangerous, Governor Hunter being
himself once wrecked upon it in the Sirius, and nearly lost with
all his ship's crew; and this circumstance is calculated to deter
vessels from touching at the island in quest of wood and water,
which are both plentiful, but which may be procured in equal
abundance in any of the other islands of the Pacific ocean where
there are fewer rocks and breakers to contend with, and where the
acquiescence of the natives might easily be purchased. In
addition to the above obstacles and inauspicious appearances,
vessels at this place have no anchorage, but are obliged always
to keep under sail; and I have known them to be blown off the
island for several weeks together, with very little provision on
board, whilst a part of the crew have been on shore; and by those
means not only a considerable loss has accrued to the merchants
or owners, but the lives of a number of fellow-creatures have
been exposed to the most imminent danger.

To the existence of these, with other subsequent causes, it
may be attributed that the colony of New South Wales has not made
a more rapid progress towards independence, but has so long hung,
as it were, upon the breast, and derived its sole nourishment
from the food, of the mother country. To raise the settlement
from this state of dependence; to expunge from its early page
that stain which must be affixed to it by remoter ages; to
stimulate its growth, and impel it along the path which leads to
greatness, must be the object, the desire, and the hope, of every