Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 2.djvu/276

 ^W figures do not include land wUoli had been cleared of iimlier ready for cnltivation, conskting in 1791 of lS8i acres, and in 1792 of 162i acres.* It may be said that agricnltnre^ as an industrial pnrsnit, was now fairly lanncbed. All difficnlties had not been surmounted^ but the chief obstacle— the want of food — ^had been temporarily removed, and there was reason to suppose that minor impediments, such as the want of tools and appliances, would soon be orercome. There was one great Jj««2^j^ drawback — the scarcity of live stock. What the Govern- ment possessed was not enough, as Phillip had pointed out, for one good f arm,t and there was no immediate prospect of obtaining fresh importations. Phillip had been obliged to place people on the land without giving them the stock they had been promised, and he frequently referred with regret to this circumstance in his despatches. On his departure he gave some sheep to the settlers, for breeding purposes ; J but some of them were undeserving of the kindness shown Improvident to them. Instead of preserving the stock and allowing it to increase, they bartered it for liquor or slaughtered it for food. Although Phillip's despatches show that a large proportion of the convict population was employed in erecting public JJoJjyj, buildings, § they contain little information as to the work done in this direction during the year. It may be seen from CoUins's account, however, that* a good deal was accom- plished. In April, 1792, the foundations of "two material pLrramatta. builduigs '' Were laid at Parramatta — a town-hall and a t Ante, p. 167. J •• Of the »heep, the Qovemor gave tor each of the married settlers from th6 convicts, and to each settler from the mariuesi and from the Sirius, one ewe for the purpose of breeding; and to others he gave snch female goats as could be spared. This stock had been procured at much expense; and his BxoellencT hoped that the people among whom he left it would see the adTantage it might prove to tnem, and cherish it accordingly." — Collins, voL i, p. 251. § According to his despatch of the 4th October, 1792, there were onlj four hundred and fifty men available for agriculture, including^ thoM to be given to officers and settlers. — Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 654.
 * Appendix C.