Sombre appearance of the Australian coast—Feelings of an emigrant on approaching it—Improvement of Sydney—Fruits produced in the colony—Extent of the town—Cultivation of flowers and culinary vegetables—House-rent—The streets—Parrots—Shops—Impolicy of continuing the colony as a penal settlement—The theatre—Aspect of the country in the vicinity of Sydney—The grass tree—Floral beauties—Larva of a curious insect—The colonial museum—Visit to Elizabeth Bay—Valuable botanical specimens in the garden of the Honourable Alexander Macleay—New Zealand flax—Articles manufactured from that vegetable—Leave Sydney—Residence of Mr. M’Arthur—Forest flowers—Acacias—Paramatta—Swallows. As we sailed by the Australian coast, its barren aspect neither cheered or invited the stranger’s eye; even where vegetation grew upon its shores, it displayed so sombre an appearance as to impart no animation to the scenery of the coast. To an emigrant, one who has left the land of his fathers, to rear his family and lay his bones in a distant soil, the first view of this, his adopted country, cannot excite in his bosom any emotions of pleasurable gratification; despondency succeeds the bright rays of hope, and he compares with heartfelt regret the arid land before him with the fertile country he has forsaken, because it afforded not sustenance for himself and family, and thus reluctantly caused him to sever the affectionate ties that united him to dear friends in his native land—the place of his birth—the soil and habitation of his forefathers for centuries. One does not behold the graceful waving of the cocoa palm, the broad and vivid green foliage of the plantain, nor the beautiful luxuriance of a tropical vegetation, which delight the vision of the wearied voyager on a first approach to a tropical region, where the soil teems with cultivation, or a profuse natural vegetation extending from the loftiest mountains even to the ocean’s brink. But on landing and viewing the interior of Australia, the wanderer, although seeing much to confirm his first impressions, will also view many parts of the country recalling to his memory features resembling the land he has left; and as industry gives him wealth and independence, and he finds his family easily maintained, he becomes reconciled to his choice, and remains comparatively if not entirely happy.