in November, 1788; it was originally called Rosehill, but the name was afterwards changed to the aboriginal one of Par-a-mat-ta. The first grain raised in the colony was grown at Paramatta, and here the earliest grants of land were made to convicts who had served their time at hard labor and were entitled to become colonists. It is now a prosperous town with from eight to ten thousand inhabitants, and has a considerable business in manufacturing. Along the banks of the river and in the neighborhood of Paramatta, there are many flower-gardens, from which Sydney is abundantly supplied with boutonnières, bouquets, and huge baskets of flowers at all seasons of the year.
"Our chief interest in Paramatta," said Fred, "was to see the orange-groves, which have made the place famous throughout Australia. We were accompanied by a gentleman who was well known both in Paramatta and in Sydney, and he took us at once to the orangery of the late Mr. Pye, who devoted the greater part of his life to the introduction and cultivation of this excellent fruit. They told us that more than ten thousand oranges had been gathered in one season from a single tree! We have never eaten finer oranges in any part of the world than at Paramatta, and the other fruits grown in the orchards of the place are said to be equally good in their season. The oranges are best in December, but they are gathered ripe during every month of the year. Of course they wanted us to inspect some of the factories, hospitals, and other public buildings, but our time was too limited, and were returned to Sydney by railway instead of taking the steamboat back again."
Other excursions were made in the suburbs of Sydney, and Doctor Bronson and his nephews received invitations to visit some of the interior towns of the colony. One of their excursions was to Botany Bay, which lies five miles from Sydney by land, the distance by sea being fully fifteen miles, A horse-railway connects the village with Sydney, and the ride is quite a pretty one. The chief object of interest is the monument which marks the spot where Captain Cook landed in 1770, and took possession of the place in the name of the British Crown.
The consideration of the up-country invitations was postponed until the return of the party from Queensland, whither they went as soon as the sights of Sydney were exhausted. How they went and what they saw will be told in the next chapter.
