of to settlers, etc. and issued from the stores to those who
labour for the crown. The spinning has been done by the female
convicts, and the weaving, etc. by the male. The person who
superintended this department, for some time, was George
Mealmaker, a well-known political character in North Britain; but
he has been dead some years, and the manufactory, which adjoins
the goal at Parramatta, has been almost entirely destroyed by
fire; consequently, the progress which would have been made in
this manufacture has been greatly retarded. When I left the
colony, however, a very deserving, respectable, and persevering
settler, at Hawkesbury, was about to commence in that way on a
very extensive scale; for which laudable purpose he had sown
several acres with flax and hemp, and I am hopeful his exertions
will tend to benefit the colony, to which the establishment of a
manufactory of this description has been long an object ardently
to be desired; and it is to be hoped, that the effort of this new
speculator will be crowned with that success which it so
eminently deserves.

The leather made from the skins of cattle, kangaroo, seal,
etc. are extremely good, and are tanned by a bark which grows
in the settlement, much sooner than a similar operation is
performed in England. The sole leather, in my opinion, cannot be
surpassed in point of goodness; and every improvement which can
arise from competition may be naturally expected, since there are
several persons who follow this line of business both at Sydney
and Parramatta.

Several potteries have been established; but the most
celebrated manufacturer of this description, named Skinner,