themselves. One who declined joining them, said he had not played for so long, that he had forgotton how, and that his recollections of card-playing were painful. On behalf of Daniel Wheeler and myself, I stated the objections of the Society of Friends to the practice, on account of its dissipating effect upon the mind, and its tendency to draw into an immoral risking of property. This elicited the remark, that the present company only played for nominal stakes. The same objection, however, lies against playing for nominal stakes in gaming, as that which lies against what is called moderate drinking, in the use of intoxicating liquors. It gives a sanction to the practice, and opens the door for the greatest excesses. Where money is risked in gaming, to take it one from another on such a ground, seems to me, not only objectionable for the reasons already stated, but as a breach of that consideration one for another, which is an essential ingredient in true politeness. And I have remarked, that the inconsistency of the characteristics of card-playing, forces itself so quickly upon the minds of persons, on their coming decidedly under religious conviction, that they soon discontinue the practice.
14th. On returning from Parramatta, a large Black Snake crossed the road close before the carriage; it alarmed the horses, so as to make them start to one side, and become difficult to manage.
15th. We walked to Elizabeth Bay, and met the Colonial Secretary, at his beautiful garden, which is formed on a rocky slope, on the margin of Port Jackson, of which it commands a tine view.—Here are cultivated, specimens of many of the interesting trees and shrubs, of this Colony, along with others from various parts of the world, intermixed with some growing in their native localities. Among the last, is a fine old Rusty-leaved Fig-tree, Ficus ferruginea, which is an evergreen, and has laurel-like leaves. A noble specimen of Acrosticum grande, a fern of very remarkable structure, from Moreton Bay, is attached to a log of wood, and secured by a chain to a limb of this Fig-tree. The walks at this place are judiciously accommodated to the inequalities of the sinuous bay, and are continued round a
