920 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY OF SOUTHERN LANDS.

of feeing flocks as remarkable for their number as their beauty. Mr.. Palmer* pof-fefles 800 Iheep ; Mr. Marfden f a much larger flock: the major part of the othercolonifts have likewife their fpecial flocks. Wandering amid the woods withoutenemies of any defcription, ignorant of wintry frofts and our autumnal rains, protectedby friendly ftiades from the rays of the fummer fun, and feeding on the moll delicateand aromatic herbage, thefe flocks already exhibit lingular ftrength and beauty, andare likely to attain perfection never known before. What, indeed, may not be ex-pected from a climate w’hich has produced changes fo extraordinary and beneficial on theIheep of Afia and Africa . Every body knows that the flocks of Bengal and the Capeof Good Elope, inftead of wool, are covered with a fort of hair, very Ihort, harfti,and totally unferviceable to the manufacturer. In vain, as is faid, have experimentsbeen multiplied to ameliorate the fleece of thefe animals, or rather, to give them afleece; they have either altogether failed, or have been attended with fuch little ad-vantage, that the molt intelligent proprietors of the Cape, and of Bengal, in rearingfheep, appear to reckon nothing on the fleece. In New Holland, on the contrary,by eroding thefe breeds with thofe of England and Spain , in lefs than ten years theyhave fucceeded in transforming the hair of the Iheep of Africa and Afia into a wool,which indeed has not yet attained any great length, but which is noticed for itsfinenefs and its foft and filky nature. “ As a proof,” fays Mr. Mac Arthur, “ of theextraordinary and rapid improvement of my flocks, I have exhibited the fleece of acoarfe-woolled ewe, that has been valued at ninepence a pound, and the fleece ofher lamb begotten by a Spanifh ram, which is allowed to be worth three fhillingsa pound.”

It is not only in the quality of the wool that this amelioration is obferved ; it extendsto the weight of the fleece. “ When I left Port Jackfon in 1801,” fays further Cap-tain Mac Arthur, “ the heaviefl: fleece that had then been fhorn weighed only threepounds and a half ; but I have received reports of 1802, from which I learn that thefleeces of my Iheep have encreafed to five pounds each, and that the wool is finer and

this commendable and lucrative purfuit. To this England owes its wealth, and Florence its fplendour.The profeffion of Iheep-owner (beccajo) was in the time of Dante, and long previoufly, in fuch highefteem, that the moil eminent nobility of Italy , (as is obferved by the author of L’ami des Hommes,t. iii. p. 365,). thought the addition of this title to their diftindlions rather an honour than a disparage-ment. Unfortunately this opinion fo little prevailed in other countries, that Francis I. of France, tookconfiderable umbrage at Dante having termed one of bis anceftors beccajo ; what with juftice on one fideof the Alps was confidered meritorious as well as a denomination neceflarily implying territorial poffeflions,on the other being foolilhly regarded as degrading and offenfive. Tn.

* The whole of the conceffions to Mr. Palmer amounts to 1070 acres, great part of which lies on theriver Hawkefbury. Of this territory 320 acres are in wheat, 20 in maize, 15 in barley, 3 in peas andbeans, 2 in potatoes ; 392 acres confifts of pafture, on which the Iheep are maintained, and, befides them,17 horfes and mares, 27 beafts, and a great number of hogs and goats; the 318 acres remaining, latelycleared, will foon be fit for culture.

j- This gentleman, the pallor at Paramatta, is owner of 651 acres of land, 103 of which fubjedl tovarious culture ; independent of his flock, his farm fupports 26 horned cattle, 30 hogs, and 10 goats.This farm lies at fome diftance in the interiorof the country, on the left of the Paramatta river ; fromthe fummit of the hill on which it is filuale, a part of the river’s courfe is diftinguilhed : the buildings arcfpacious and well falhioned ; the garden and orchard already combines moil of the fruit-trees in Europe .Still in 1794 the whole of this fpot was covered with immenfe aud ufelefs forefts of eucalypti. The fiteof the farm is 7 or 8 miles from Paramatta, in the midft of forefts, yet was I carried hither by a charmingroad, in a very handfome one-horfe chaife. What labour mult not fuch a road have coft. Yet this road,the houfes on the way, with the meadows, fields, and crops, were the work of no more than eightyears!

fofter