Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 2.djvu/346

 292 CHANGES EFFECTED BY GROSE. 1792-4 It ig hq^ probable that Grose would have admitted that oroee's he was doing wrong. Having deliberately adopted a policy, lie acted upon it with thoroughness. Knowing how difficult it was to obtain satisfactory results from conyict labour in the fields^ and being aware of a desire on the part of the officers to try their hands at farming, he ventured to give them an opportunity of showing what they could do. His despatches show that the steps he took in this matter were the result of a set purpose, and that as soon as he had made up his mind to turn the current into one direction he ceased to think of doing anything further to bring the land into ^uerJ** cultivation for public purposes. The officers, he informed Dundas, were "the only description of settlers on whom reliance can be placed," and he should therefore " encourage their pursuit '' as much as was in his power.*
 * Historical Becords, vol. ii, p. 15.