But another, combining beauty of growth with fragrant flowers, must not be omitted: it is the “white cedar” of the colony, and is indigenous to this country, as well as most parts of India: it is the _Melia azedarach_ of botanists. The tree is deciduous, and was now covered by pendulous clusters of lilac-coloured blossoms, adding to the beauty and fragrance of the gardens, its lilac blossoms being elegantly contrasted by the dark green glossy foliage: the fragrance of the flowers so closely resembles those produced by the tree known in England as the “lilac,” that the same appellation is given to it in this colony. In the evenings, and night more especially, this tree may be known to exist in the vicinity by the powerful fragrance it emits for some distance.[73] The sweetbriar and quince is often used about the farms as hedges for gardens, &c., and the appearance they give is extremely neat; the fragrance of the former is very agreeable. The Cape and English mulberry trees thrive well in the colony; the former is said to bear fruit two or three times annually, the latter only once. In my way to Sydney, I availed myself of the kindness of Dr. Hill, the colonial surgeon, to visit the government hospital at Liverpool; it is the finest in the colony, but in my opinion of too large and expensive construction for the purpose required. The wards were spacious, well ventilated, and in excellent order, such indeed as might be creditable to any of our metropolitan hospitals. The patients receive every attention and comfort that their situation may require.[74] There are sometimes one hundred and fifty in the hospital, but the wards are capable of containing more. When it is considered that patients come to this hospital from a distance of two hundred miles, (that is, from the Murrumbidgee country, and even beyond,) including a large extent of district, a large building may have been thought requisite; but the more convenient and less expensive method would have been, to have built two hospitals of moderate size, one at Goulburn Plains, and the other at Liverpool; for it was a sad mistake to compel an invalid to travel a distance of two hundred miles for medical assistance; and affords a facility for many to feign sickness, that they might have a journey down the country to see their friends, causing much inconvenience to the settler, who has no other means of ascertaining the man’s complaint, but by taking him to this distant hospital.