ive discoveries were made in New South Wales; and in all these,
or similar, arts of peace the governor delighted to bear an active and
leading part. Availing himself of the means at his disposal, and of the
abundance of convict-labour, he made, it is said, no less than 276 miles
of good roads during his administration; and, when the nature of the
country along which many of these were carried is taken into account,
this exploit alone reflects no small credit upon Governor Macquarie. In
the year 1813 the colony was enabled, by the courage and perseverance
of three gentlemen, to burst those bonds by which it had hitherto been
hemmed in within the limits of a narrow strip of land running along the
sea-coast. In that year a passage across the Blue Mountains, hitherto
thought insuperable, was at length made good; and the hungry sheep and
cattle which had been suffering from the prevailing drought in the
settlement, were speedily driven over the hills to enjoy the less
withered pastures and green plains of the western country. No sooner was
this district thus opened than the governor commenced making a road over
the mountains, and in this he succeeded after no very long delay, so
that a good communication was formed between Sydney and Bathurst Plains,
a distance of more than 100 miles, about 50 of which cross an extent of
country the most rugged, mountainous, and barren, that can be imagined.

In public buildings Governor Macquarie showed no less activity than in
road-making, although his efforts in the former line have not met with
unmingled and universal approbation. Certainly, the means by which,
what was then called, "the Rum Hospital" was built were, if they are
correctly reported by Dr. Lang, disgraceful and mischievous in the
highest degree.[125] However, the improvements that were made in the
rising towns, especially in the capital, of the colony, may well demand
our admiration, even though, as usual in estimating the deeds of fallen
man, we must allow that much evil might have been avoided, and that a
large proportion of moral mischief was mingled with the improvements.

[125] See Lang's New South Wales, vol. i. pp. 168, 169.

The great and distinguishing feature, after all, of Colonel Macquarie's
government appears to have been the studious, and not always judicious,
patronage extended by him to the emancipated convicts, whom he generally
considered in preference to the free settlers. In consequence of this,
the