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Boats were sent round to the Hawkesbury, for various articles wanted at
Sydney. From that part of the settlement, the timber most useful for boat
and other buildings was occasionally received; shingles also of a good
sort were brought round; and frequently the boats returned loaded with
grain. It has been shown, in the account of this colony already
published, that the farms upon the fertile banks of that river were
superior, in point of soil, to any near the principal settlement; and
that, had they been in the hands of good and industrious characters, they
would have produced abundant crops, and enriched their owners. But every
day's experience evinced, that the people thus fortunately situated were,
unluckily, some of the most profligate wretches in the colony; and their
distance from the immediate seat of government added much to the
inconvenience. Such of these farms as were situated on the low grounds
were often overflowed after very heavy falls of rain; but this
circumstance was in no way injurious to the farmer, unless it happened
when the grain was ripening.


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