There are in this town and other parts of the colony, several good private seminaries for the board and education of the children of opulent parents.  The best is in the district of Castlereagh, which is about forty miles distant, and is kept by the clergyman of that district, the Rev. Henry Fulton, a gentleman peculiarly qualified both from his character and acquirements for conducting so responsible and important an undertaking.  The boys in this seminary receive a regular classical education, and the terms are as reasonable as those of similar establishments in this country.

The harbour of Port Jackson is perhaps exceeded by none in the world except the Derwent in point of size and safety; and in this latter particular, I rather think it has the advantage.  It is navigable for vessels of any burden for about seven miles above the town, i.e. about fifteen from the entrance.  It possesses the best anchorage the whole way, and is perfectly sheltered from every wind that can blow.  It is said, and I believe with truth, to have a hundred coves, and is capable of containing all the shipping in the world.  There can be no doubt, therefore, that in the course of a few years, the town of Sydney, from the excellence of its situation alone, must become a place of considerable importance.

The views from the heights of the town are bold, varied and beautiful.  The strange irregular appearance of the town itself, the numerous coves and islets both above and below it, the towering forests and projecting rocks, combined with the infinite diversity of hill and dale on each side of the harbour, form altogether a coup d’oeil, of which it may be safely asserted that few towns can boast a parallel.

The neighbouring scenery is still more diversified and romantic, particularly the different prospects which open upon you from the hills on the south head road, immediately contiguous to the town.  Looking towards the coast you behold at one glance the greater part of the numerous bays and islands which lie between the town and the heads, with the succession of barren, but bold and commanding hills, that bound the harbour, and are abruptly terminated by the water.  Further north, the eye ranges over the long chain of lofty rugged cliffs that stretch away in the direction of the coal river, and distinctly mark the bearing of the coast, until they are lost in the dimness of vision.  Wheeling round to the south you behold at the distance of seven or eight miles, that spacious though less eligible harbour, called “Botany Bay,” from the prodigious variety of new plants which Sir Joseph Banks found in its vicinity, when it was first discovered and surveyed by Captain Cook.  To the southward again of this magnificent sheet of water, where it will be recollected it was the original intention, though afterwards judiciously abandoned, to found the capital of this colony, you behold the high bluff range of hills that stretch away towards the five islands, and likewise indicate the trending of the coast in that direction.