Exclusive of this general approbation of the good conduct of the free people, I must particularise Mr. Cresswell, the officer of marines; Mr. Stephen Dunavan, midshipman; and Mr. Thomas Jamieson, surgeon's mate, of the Sirius, I feel the greatest satisfaction in saying that a constant, uniform propriety of conduct, and a readiness in forwarding the service, were ever zealously shown by these gentlemen. At noon on the 24th, the Supply made sail, and we arrived at Port Jackson on the 4th of April. When I left Port Jackson in February, 1788, the ground about Sydney-Cove was covered with a thick forest, but on my arrival at this time, I found it cleared to a considerable distance, and some good buildings were erected. The governor, the lieutenant-governor, the judge-advocate, and the greatest part of the civil and military officers were comfortably lodged. The governor's house is built of stone, and has a very good appearance, being seventy feet in front. The lieutenant-governor's house is built of brick, as are also those belonging to the judge and the commissary: the rest of the houses are built with logs and plaistered; and all the roofs are either covered with shingles or thatched. The hospital is a good temporary building: the soldiers were in barracks, and the officers had comfortable huts, with gardens adjoining to them; but unfortunately, these gardens afford but little, as there is not more than two feet of soil over a bed of rocks, and this soil is little better than black sand; and to this inconvenience must be added, the depredations of rats and thieves. At the distance of an hour's walk from Sydney-Cove, the soil is better in some places, and these are occupied by the officers and others, as their farms: there are also brick-kilns and a pottery, both which articles they make very well, but a great inconvenience arises in their not being able to glaze the earthenware. From the little I saw of the soil about Sydney-Cove, I think it is very bad, most of the ground being covered with rocks, or large stones, which are used for building, and when cut, greatly resemble the Portland stone; they are easily worked, and harden very much after being wrought. A little below Sydney-Cove, there is another, called Farm-Cove, at the head of which there are about fifteen acres of ground in cultivation, but the soil is very indifferent. Governor Phillip, it seems, had made several excursions, in order to inform himself more fully about the nature of the soil, and to find out a place more proper for cultivation, than the land about the lower part of the harbour; and, at length, had fixed on a situation at the head of it, about eleven miles from Sydney-Cove. The soil here was found to be much better than at Sydney-Cove, and a number of convicts were sent there in 1789, with a captain's guard, in order to prevent any disputes with the natives, and to preserve regularity amongst the convicts.