partially
colonized. It will be sufficient to notice the names of the others,
which, together with those described above, amount to nineteen
in number. Besides Cumberland, Camden, Argyle, Bathurst, and
Northumberland, the counties of Cook, Westmoreland, Roxburgh,
Wellington, Phillip, Bligh, Brisbane, Hunter, Gloucester, Georgiana,
King's County, Murray, Durham, and St. Vincent's, may deserve to be
mentioned by name, but nothing especially worthy of notice suggests
itself respecting them. We may turn, therefore, from the rural
districts, and take a rapid view of the principal towns of New South
Wales. Among these the capital, Sydney, claims the first place, not less
as a matter of right than of courtesy. By a happy concurrence of events,
the very first settlement made upon the eastern coast of New Holland was
formed upon one of its most eligible spots; and accordingly that town,
which ranks first in point of time, is likely always to rank first in
population, in size, in commerce, and in wealth. The harbour alone would
offer advantages enough to secure considerable importance to a town
erected upon its shores, and before Sydney itself is more minutely
described, we may borrow the account of Port Jackson, which has been
given by one well acquainted with its scenery, and himself by birth an
Australian.[137] It is navigable for fifteen miles from its entrance,
that is, seven miles beyond Sydney; and in every part there is good
anchorage and complete shelter from all winds. Its entrance is three
quarters of a mile in width, and afterwards expands into a spacious
basin, fifteen miles long, and in some places three broad, with depth of
water sufficient for vessels of the largest size. The harbour is said to
have 100 coves, and there is room within it for all the shipping in the
world. The views from its shores are varied and beautiful. Looking
towards the sea, the eye catches at a single glance the numerous bays
and islets between the town and the headlands at the entrance of the
harbour, while the bold hills by which it is bounded end abruptly on the
coast. To the north a long chain of lofty rugged cliffs mark the bearing
of the shore in that direction, and turning southwards, the spectator
beholds, seven or eight miles distant, the spacious harbour of Botany
Bay, beyond which a high bluff range of hills extends along to the south
in the direction towards Illawarra. Westward one vast forest is to be
seen, varied only by occas