Page:Extracts from the letters and journals of George Fletcher Moore.djvu/205

 Rh 200l. has been offered for my house, which I have refused; but have let it, in preference, at the rate of 15l. a year. I shall leave home for two or three days, as I am pressed by Captain Irwin to witness the ceremony of swearing him in, as Lieutenant Governor, and also to attend a meeting about the establishment of a bank on Saturday.

22nd.—Here I am again quietly at home, after my rambles, admiring a fine ewe lamb (a cross between the Merino and Leicester), and cutting away shrubs (but leaving the trees) to clear a space of ground between me and Mr. Tanner. This will allow free circulation of air, prevent the natives from lurking about me, and improve the growth and quality of the grass. Nor were other matters neglected: I transplanted cauliflowers, Swedish turnips, strawberries, almonds, and put down some peach-stones; after which I dined on an opposum (very like a rabbit, though not so tender) which I shot in a gum tree during my morning's work in the wood; and washed it down with some excellent home-brewed beer.

24th.—Finished opening an uninterrupted line, about a mile in length, across my winter grant; planted thyme, sowed coriander and red pepper seed, and planted almond trees six feet high (which I obtained from a gardener in Perth, at one shilling a piece), twelve sets of sugar-cane, strawberry plants, some Cape gooseberry and rose-tree cuttings, and a few slips of the Cape or