Fustic has been discovered at Newcastle—­a wood which makes the finest yellow dye; but it has been hitherto confined to New South Wales.  Indigo was also found in different parts of the country; but, after a thorough trial of its properties by a French gentleman of much patience and experience, as well as by some other individuals of research, it was found impossible to derive any benefit from it.

Native green currants grow wildly, and make an uncommonly fine jelly.  A wild cherry is also found in the settlement, growing with the stone on the outside, of a red colour, but nearly unfit to eat; as also a wild fig, equally nauseous, full of seed, but eaten by the natives.  Strawberries grow to fine perfection; but no English currant, gooseberry, or cherry trees, are to be seen in the country:  Some were brought from England by Captain Kent, of the royal navy, and were in a flourishing state, with some gingers, from Rio de Janeiro, when a fire happened upon that gentleman’s farm, and consumed the whole, which has been a very great loss to the colony.  Pines, far exceeding in size those of England, are now growing there, but they are scarce; melons, on the contrary, are very large and plentiful.  Botany Bay greens are procured in abundance; they much resemble sage in appearance, and are esteemed a very good dish by the Europeans, but despised by the natives.  The bark of a tree called Carajong, which grows like a willow, is manufactured into ropes of considerable strength.  A single nectarine tree only has been known to bear fruit, which is in the Government Garden.  Some coffee trees were planted by a Frenchman (Mons. Declambe), but he unfortunately died before he could bring them to perfection.

The shrubs and plants of this country are all evergreens, and numbers of them are to be seen, covered with beautiful blossoms, at all seasons of the year.  Jeraniums flourish in such abundance, that, in various parts of the settlement, they are made into hedges, and are so thick as to be almost impenetrable; they are always in leaf and flower, and emit an odour of the most fragrant nature, perfuming the surrounding atmosphere.

Cedar, and coals, of a very fine quality, are the produce of the Newcastle district, and are procured with very little trouble.  Manna has also been found near Port Dalrymple, made by the locusts on the trees, from which it drops in very considerable quantities.  But the most prizable subjects which have been discovered here are, the valuable stones; of which the white, yellow, and large brilliant Topazes, are considered of far greater worth than those which are produced in any part of the Brazils; since I was informed, when at Rio Janeiro, in the month of August, 1809, by a number of gentlemen of the best information, amongst whom were the Marquis de Pomball and the Judge Consalvadore, that none which had been found on that coast, could bear a comparison with those of New Holland.