The Sydney police office daily produces a strange compound of characters; ludicrous scenes and incidents furnish abundance of _aliment_ for the newspapers, who decorate many of the cases brought before the magistrate in so facetious a manner as to amuse their readers and sell the papers. The number of newspapers published in Sydney is very great, considering the small town, and many of them are well and ably conducted. The “Sydney Herald” is published twice a week; the “Sydney Gazette” three times; the “Sydney Monitor” twice; and there are other smaller papers _published weekly_. At Paramatta I saw two tame specimens of the lesser _Otis_, or Bustard, the “Curlew” of the colony, which is abundant in this country; they were familiar with the man who was in the habit of feeding them, but averse to approach strangers. It is principally during the stillness of night that the peculiar melancholy cry and whistle of these birds are heard, seeming like the harbinger of death. While sitting one night by the bed-side of a young man, expiring from a decline, I heard the note of the bird, unbroken by any other sound; it came over my senses like a knell summoning the departing spirit to its last long home.[125] Among the attractions which Sydney presents to the visitor is the Botanic Garden, with its neat and tastefully arranged walks; it is, however, to be regretted, that this establishment, as a “botanic garden,” is not encouraged, it being, in fact, merely a government vegetable and fruit garden. Such an establishment would be most valuable as a nursery for the introduction of trees, shrubs, or plants, estimable either for timber, fruits, flowers, or dyes, and thus add to the resources of the colony; by its means how many valuable productions might be introduced: at present exotics are almost entirely confined to the gardens of a few intelligent settlers. Still there are several trees and plants introduced from New Zealand, the north-west, and other parts of Australia, Cape, &c. A fine healthy specimen of the “_Adenanthos sericea_” has been successfully introduced, (which is correctly figured in Labillardiere’s Plant. Nov. Holl. Tab. 38,) which shows that shrubs, &c. from King George’s Sound (to which place this one is indigenous,) can be grown in perfection at Port Jackson. In a pond the pretty white flowers and dark leaves of _Damasonium ovatifolium_ were floating, and may be often seen swimming on the surface of the more tardy streams in the colony. The New Zealand flax plant does not appear to thrive well, nor has it yet flowered; the best plants I have seen were at the “Vineyard,” the residence of H. M’Arthur, Esq., who has planted it in a moister soil. The Karaka tree, (_Corynocarpus lævigata_,) of New Zealand, was in thriving condition, having reached the elevation of from six to nearly fourteen feet, and borne fruit.