The Sun.
London, England, 1809-09-14 00:00:00

I'VEW SOUTII.IIIALES.

DESCRIPTION OF SIDNEY TOWN, THE CAPITAL t
THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN NEW SOUTH WALES.
It was on the 27th pl June, in the evening, says
M. Peron, t,hat our vessel arrived in sight of Port
Jackson, and a few days afterwards, the other two
ships got sate into the harbour, after having, through
obstinacy of Captain Hamelio, the commander of
the expedition, been for a considerable time in the
greatest danger. - •
Our arrival at Port Jackson, did not excite so
much surprise amongst the colonists, as might have
been expelled; hut for ourselves, we were com-
pletely astonished at the flourishing state in which
we found this singular, and distant establishment :
• the beauty of the port, at Inst.attracted our whole
attention. •
From the entrance, says Commodore Philip,
( whose description is not ink the least exaggerated),
of not more than two miles across, Port Jackson
gradually opens, till it forms a spacious harbour, with
sufficient depth of water tor, the-largest ships, and
room enough to contain, in perfed safety, all that
could on any occasion, be colleded. Even a thou:"
sand ships of the line might manoeuvre here with
ease. .
The bay takes a western diredion, extends to,the
distance of thirteen miles inland, and has at least a
hundred little creeks, formed by very narrow tongues
of laud, and aff)rd excellent shelter against winds,
from any point of the compass. • •
Towards the middle of this magnificent port, and
'on its southern bank, in one of the principal-creeks,.
rises Sydney Town, 'the capital of the county of
Cumberland, and of all the English colonies in this
part of the world : seated at the base of two hills,
that are contiguous to each other, and having the ad-,
vantage of a rivulet, whidh runs.completely through
it,. this infant town affords a view, at once
agreeable and .pitturesque.. To the right, and at
the. north • point of Sydney Cove, you perceive
the signal batter, which is built. upon, a rock,
difficult of access,: ,tieces. of. cannon, pro-
} Ceded by a turf entrenchment, cross their fire
with that of another battery, which I shall present-
ly mentiotr; and thus defend, in the most etfeaea
I manner, the approach to the harbour and the town.
Farther on appear the large buildings.that form the
hospital, and which are capable of containing two, or
three hundred sick. Amongst these buildings there
is one particularly worthy of notice, as all the parts
of it were prepared in Europe, and brought out in
Commodore Philip's squadron; so that in a few days
after its arrival, there was an hospital ready, to re-
ceive such of the crews as were sick. On the same
side of the town, at the sea shore, you observe a
very fine magazine, to which the largest ships can
come up, and discharge their cargoes. In the same
diredtion are several private docks, in which, are
built 'brigs and cutters, of different sizes, for the
purpose of wading either inland, or beyond the co-
lony. These vessels which are from 50 to 300 tons
burthen, are built entirely with the native wood;
even their masts are obtained from the forests of the

colony.
- The discovery of the Strait, which separates New
Holland from Vari Diemen's land, was made in a
simple whale-sloop, commanded by. Mr. Bass, the
surgeon of the Reliance. This•vessel may be said to
have been consecrated to that great discovery, and
hazardous navigation ; for it is preserved in the har-
bour with a sort of religious veneration : some snuff-
boxes have been made out.of its keel, of which the •
possessors are both proud and jealous; and the Go-
vernor himself thought he could not make a more
acceptable present to our Chief, than a piece of the
wood of i his sloop, erichased in a large silver tooth-pick
box ; round which were engraved the principal par-
ticulars of the discovery of Wiss's-Straits.
It is at the spot called Hospital Creek, that the
ship; of individuals unload their cargoes. Behind the
hospital, in the same line, is the prison, which has
several dungeons, capable of holding from an hunch ed
and fifty to two hundred prisoners; it is surrounded
by a high and strong wall, and has a numerous guard
on duty, both by clay and. night. A short distance
from the prison is the storehouse, for the reception.
of wines, spiritous liquors, salt provisions, 4c. In
the front of it is the armoury, where the garrison is
drawn up every morning ;- accompanied by a nume-
rods and well-composed band, belonging to the New
South Wales regiment. The whole western part of
this spot is occupied by the house of the Lieutenant, -
Governor-General ; behind which is a vast garden,
which is worth - the attention both of the philo-
sopher and the naturalist, on account of the
the gieat number of useful vegetables which are
cultivated in it : and which have been procured from
every part of the world, by its present respthable
possessor, Mr. Paterson, a distinguished traveller,.
and Member of the Royal Society of London. Be
tween the house and the magazine, just mentioned,
is the public school: here are. educated in the
prin-ciples of religion, morality, and virtue, those
young females who are the hope of the rising co-
lony ; but whose parents are either too degenrate,
or too poor, to give them proper instruction.
Lt
the public school, however, under respeaable ma-
trons, they are taught, from their earliest years,. all.
the duties of a good mother of a family. Such is
one great advantage of the excellent colonial system,-
established in these distant regions.
Behind the house of the Lieutenant-Governor-
l§eneral, in a large magazine, are deposited .all the
(tried pulse and corn belonging td the State. It is a
sort of public granary, intended for the support of
the troops, and the people who receive their sub-
sistence from the government.' The barracks occu-
py a considerable square, and have in front several
field pieces ;Abe edifices, for the accommodation of
the officers, form the lateral parts, or ends of
_the
building; and the powder magazine is in the mid-
dle. Near this, in a small private house, the prin-
. cipal civil and military officers assemble. It is a sort
of COnee-house, maintained by s!lbscription, is
which there are several amusements, but particular-
ly billiards; at which any person may play free a
eXpence. Behind the armoury is a large square
• . tower, which serves for an observatory to those Eng-
lish officers who study astronomy.; at the base of
this 'tower, the foundation of a church has beer' laid,
of which the building just, mentioned is intended to
form the steeple; but a strudure,of this kind, rt.
quiriog considerable time, labour, and expence, the

At the east point of the creek is a second battery,
the tire of which crosses that of the signal station.--
The one of which I am now speaking,' was dis-
mantled at the-time of our arrival at Port Jackson ;
but it has beet] put in order since our departure. On
the shore, as' you approach the town, is a small
salt-pit, where the Americans, who were allowed to
settle for, the purpose at Port Jackson in 1795, pre-
!pared most ot- the salt used the colony. Farther on,
and to.Svards the bottom of the harbour, is the part . •
called Government Creek, because it is reserved for
the,ageots and vessels of the State. Between this
creek and the salt-:pit, is the place for &eking and
careening the ships. The natural .quays are so per-
peudkular, and well-formed, that without any kind
of labour-or expence, on the part of the -English, the
largest ships . might be laid along them in perfea
security. Near the Governinent Creek, are three.
public magazines, one of which contains All the
articles necessary for the various purposes of- do-
mestic life, such as earthenware, household furni-
ture, culinary utensils, instruments of agriculture,
&e. The number of these .articles that is here
amassed, is truly astonishing, and the mode in which
they are delivered out, is wise and salutary.
In this distant country, the merchandizes of Eu-
rope bear so high. a price, that it would have been
next -to impossible for the population to procure such
as are indispensable to the common wants of life :
the English Government has therefore anticipated
these wants, • by- filling large store-houses with.every
articles that can •be required, all of which are deliver-
ed to the colonists,• at fixed prices, that are extreme-
ly moderate ; sometimes even below what they cost
in
.Europe. But in °riles to. preveOt avaricious spe-
culations, or waste,. no one is admitted into theSe-
depots without a written order from the Governor,
in whibh are specified the articles that the bearer is in
need of. In another house are preserved the dirre-
rent uniforins and cloathing for the troops and . con-
vias, as well as, vast quantities of sail-cloth and cord- •
age for the•government shipa. The last of the three,
buildings just mentioned is a kiud.of public manu-
faaory ; in which are employed* female convicts.---
Behind these magazines is the Governor's house,
which is built in the Italian style, 'surrounded by
a colonnade, as simple as it is elegant, and,in front
of which is a fine country that descends to the sea-
shore : already in this garden. may be seen, the Nor-
folk Island pine, the superb Columbia, growing by
the side of the barnboo of Asia ; farther on is the
Portugal orange, and Canary fig, ripening beneath
the shade of the French apple-tree ; the cherry-,
peach, pear, awl apricot, are interspersed amongst
the 133nskia, Metrosideros, Correa, Melaleuca, Ca-
suarina,sEaOlyptos, and a great number of usher
indigenous trees.
Beyond the Government Garden, on the other
side of a neighbouring hill, is the wind-null, , the
bake-house, and the State ovens, that arc used for
Snaking ship biscuit ; these are capable of furnishing
from fifteen to eighteen hnndred pounds per-day.
Not far from a contiguous creek, at .a spot ss hick
•the natives call, Wallatnoula, is the charmingshabita-
tion of Mr. Palmer, the Commissary-General ; a
rivulet of fresh water runs before it, and empties it-
self into the creek, which here forms a safe and con-
venient basin. Here Mr. Palmer has built several
small vessels, which he employ in whale fishing,
and catching phocm, or sea-elephants, either at New
Zealand, or in Bass's • Straits. The neighbouring
Holt-fields furnish a considerable quantity of bricks
and tiles, for the public and private buildings of the
Colony.

[To be continued.]

The following extraordinary story is from an
Irish Paper :—" J. L.- a young man of London-
derry, paid. his addresses to a Miss S. a Clergyman's
daughter, who had a child by him ten months since,
and kept it in an obscure part of the city. He pro!
mired frequently to marry her, but deferted it on
pretence that his circumstances would shortly im-
prove. Some persons, however, wrote a letter to
his tattier, informing him of the business, which his
fattier spoke to hint of. After this he, treated her
with great cruelty, and accused her of having wrote
the letter, which she denied ; he then paid his • ad-
dresse's to a Miss P. and was to be married to her.
To amuse this new lady, he proposed a party of
pleasure, the morning previous to which, the de-
serted young Woman put a quantity of corrosive
sublimate into each of the bowls of milk provided
before breakfast. The young man's brother and
sister sipped, but did not finish all their milk; he
then came in and drank up his, and what they left.
also. -.His brother and sister shortly after began to
vomit, and continued unwell all that day. He re-
turned about twelve, extremely unwell, and went
to bed ; his brother and sister revived by Sunday
but on Monday he was taken worse, and. died on
Thursday. Miss S. (who lived next door)
,as soon
as she ascertained his fate, dratik an infusion of arse-
nic. His friends sent for a bailiff to take her into
wastody, who found her on her bed in much
,agony ;
she proceeded with him to the gaol, where she ex-
pired, on her advancing into the hail. She lett a
letter for him, which.she wrote sotne days before
she took the arsenic, denying having written 'the
letter to his father, and_ stating that he had made
ao attempt to destroy the child by an infusion of
opium ; also that she herself went with an Mien-
Lion to poison the child, but could, not find .con-
rage: