We cannot leave the subject of this rich and beautiful district, abounding in inhabitants and rural wealth, without borrowing the words of the Bishop of Australia in describing its recent increase in those means of grace and hopes of glory, which are, after all, the only true riches. In 1833, when this neighbourhood was visited, "there was but one clergyman in the entire tract of country, extending from the mouth of the Hunter to its source, and the great and growing population on its banks would have appeared, (if we could have forgotten the ability of God to raise up children to himself, and to provide them with spiritual food even from the stones of the desert,) to be abandoned to inevitable destitution, both they and their children. But it has pleased the Almighty to cause the prospect to brighten, and now (in 1839) there will be seven clergymen dispensing the pure ordinances and inculcating the salutary principles of the Church."[136] [136] Bishop of Australia's Letter to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, dated September 12th, 1839. It would be at once wasting time and presuming upon the reader's patience to attempt to describe particularly the remaining counties of New South Wales, which are yet but imperfectly known and partially colonized. It will be sufficient to notice the names of the others, which, together with those described above, amount to nineteen in number. Besides Cumberland, Camden, Argyle, Bathurst, and Northumberland, the counties of Cook, Westmoreland, Roxburgh, Wellington, Phillip, Bligh, Brisbane, Hunter, Gloucester, Georgiana, King's County, Murray, Durham, and St. Vincent's, may deserve to be mentioned by name, but nothing especially worthy of notice suggests itself respecting them. We may turn, therefore, from the rural districts, and take a rapid view of the principal towns of New South Wales. Among these the capital, Sydney, claims the first place, not less as a matter of right than of courtesy. By a happy concurrence of events, the very first settlement made upon the eastern coast of New Holland was formed upon one of its most eligible spots; and accordingly that town, which ranks first in point of time, is likely always to rank first in population, in size, in commerce, and in wealth. The harbour alone would offer advantages enough to secure considerable importance to a town erected upon its shores, and before Sydney itself is more minutely described, we may borrow the account of Port Jackson, which has been given by one well acquainted with its scenery, and himself by birth an Australian.[137] It is navigable for fifteen miles from its entrance, that is, seven miles beyond Sydney; and in every part there is good anchorage and complete shelter from all winds. Its entrance is three quarters of a mile in width, and afterwards expands into a spacious basin, fifteen miles long, and in some places three broad, with depth of water sufficient for vessels of the largest size. The harbour is said to