VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY OF SOUTHERN LANDS. 927
Whether owing to the congeniality of the nature of the light and fandy foil, or tothe climate, the peach, of all European trees, is that which has belt fucceeded in NewSouth Wales . There are orchards entirely compofed of this fruit-tree, and it yieldsfuch large crops as to admit of many being dried for preferves : many make from thejuice of them a very pleafant wine; fome diftil brandy from them ; and in certain in-ftances they are fo numerous as to be given as food to pigs.
On reaching Paramatta, Mr. Paterfon and inyfelf took up our abode in the govern-ment-houfe, which I have elfewhere defcribed ; and the next day proceeded with thekind M. Cayley on our courfes of natural hiftory. With what intereft for feveral daysdid we traverfe thefe fcenes fo rich in productions unknown to Europe ! With whatardour vie in our explorations ! And with what kindnefs did my refpedtable fellow-labourers add to the collections I made thofe articles which efcaped my notice !
On thefe little excurfions, fo truly full of charms, I frequently made an obfervationfufficiently important to attract particular attention. In the deep vallies which weoftentimes paffed, ran rills of water, fo {lender, and of fuch narrow breadth, that thewideft of them might be ftepped over with great eft eafe ; Rill, at the height of fifteenor even twenty feet above their ordinary level, on the ground itfelf, and on the trees,were evident marks of the recent ravage of the torrent. My companions confirmed thetruth of this remark from their individual obfervations, and furnilhed me with valuabledocuments on this fubjeft, which, combined with thofe I had previoufly obtained, orafterwards fucceeded in obtaining, allow of my prefenting with greater intereft the An-gular hiftory of the inundations of the rivers of this part of New Holland.
We have already feen that the whole of thefe rivers, however wide their mouth, arenothing but gulfs filled with fea-water, which terminate univerfally in {lender rivulets,almoft utterly dried up at one feafon of the year, and fubjed at times to a prodigiousincreafe in the volume of the waters they bring down. We are now about to revert tothe inundations of thefe rivers ; but, in order that the reader may be enabled to com-prehend more fully that which their origin and effects prefent of furprizing, it is ne-cefi'arv we Ihould give a more detailed defcription of the Hawkelbury river, a river whichhas exhibited a feries of the moft wonderful phenomena of this kind, and thofe the beftfuited to throw light on the great extent of the mountains we have already defcribed.
Eight or ten miles north of Poft Jackfon is the Angular opening to which Captain Cook ,who had but a curfory view of it, gave the name of Broken Bay, on account of the rentand broken appearance of the contiguous country. This bay at its entrance feparatesinto many branches, three of which are larger and more remarkable than the reft.The moft capacious of thefe is that of the north, but, at the fame time, this is the moftufelefs, feeing at low tide its mouth has no more than twelve feet water : that on thefouth, which Commodore Phillips efteemed the moft beautiful piece of water he hadever beheld, and which he denominated Pitt-Water, is very extenfive, and might eafily,according to that illuftrious navigator, contain the entire navy of Great Britain ; it ishowever, unfortunately, obftrudted by a ledge of rocks, on which at low tide there isbut three fathoms water, a circumftance that prevents its receiving large fhips. Thethird branch of Broken Bay, the direction of which is fouth-weft, is more narrow thanPitt-Water, but its depth being every where from five to thirteen fathoms, it is capableof receiving veffels of the largeft fize.
Beyond thefe three principal branches, Broken Bay ftill forms a number of narrowand deep creeks, after which the bay itfelf narrows where the river Hawkefbury ter-minates : that river the origin of which we are about to trace..
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