The governor, on his return from this excursion, had the mortification of seeing a stack, containing about eight hundred bushels of wheat, burnt to the ground. This happened at Toongabbie, near which place the country was every where in flames, and where, unfortunately, much wheat belonging to government was stacked. The fire broke out about eight o'clock in the evening; the wind was high, the night extremely dark, and the flames had mounted to the very tops of the lofty woods which surrounded a field called the ninety acres, in which were several stacks of wheat. The appearance was alarming, and the noise occasioned by the high wind, and the crackling of the flames among the trees, contributed to render the scene truly awful. It became necessary to make every effort to save this field and its contents. The gaol-gang, who worked in irons, were called out, and told, that if the wheat was saved by their exertion, their chains should be knocked off. By providing every man with a large bush, to beat off the fire as it approached the grain over the stubble, keeping up this attention during the night, and the wind becoming moderate towards morning, the fire was fortunately kept off, and the promise to the gaol-gang was not forfeited.* [* In the month of December 1792, two days after the wheat had been reaped and got off the ground at Toongabbie, the whole of the stubble was burnt, the country being then, as at this time, every where on fire. See Vol I. Ch. XIX, viz: 'At Parramatta and Toongabbie also the heat was extreme; the country there too was every where in flames. Mr. Arndell was a great sufferer by it. The fire had spread to his farm; but by the efforts of his own people and the neighbouring settlers it was got under, and its progress supposed to be effectually checked, when an unlucky spark from a tree, which had been on fire to the topmost branch, flying upon the thatch of the hut where his people lived, it blazed out; the hut with all the out-buildings, and thirty bushels of wheat just got into a stack, were in a few minutes destroyed. The erecting of the hut and out-houses had cost £15 a short time before.'] Although at this season of the year there were days when, from the extreme heat of the atmosphere, the leaves of many culinary plants growing in the gardens have been reduced to a powder, yet there was some ground for supposing that this accident did not arise from either the heat of the weather, or the fire in the woods. The grain that was burnt was the property of government, and the destruction of eight hundred bushels of wheat made room for that quantity to be received into the stores from the settlers who had wheat to sell to the commissary; there were, moreover, at this time, some ill-designing people in the country, who were known not to have much regard for the concerns of the public. An enquiry was set on foot to discover, if possible, the perpetrators of this mischief, but nothing could be made of it.