Well, what a day in Sydney we've had. Visited the menagerie on board the Buffalo - and pitied poor Mrs. King. Mr. King has suffered terribly since his voyage here, when he contracted a rheumy fever, and shipboard life no longer agrees with him. Having wom-bats to look after won't make it easier - I fear Anna Josepha will have many patients to look after on this voyage. Mrs. King assures me of her determination to return, and seemed to allude to certain feelings between her eldest daughter and our Hannibal, and of course her grant, that she informs me is to be called "Thanks". I shall miss Anna Josepha very much, for even when John and the Governor were at odds we retained our friendship. Isn't that sometimes the way for we women, not having a sword in our hands? What foolishness does being a gentleman sometimes involve - not that I'd say a word, of course. Knowing how close to death came Colonel Patterson, for instance. Womens' concerns are other than those - such as how to make the Church in Sydney even reasonably comfortable! Without pews, or hangings, or a tower or bell - we could have been Lutherans!
Our house in Pyrmont is fine, with lovely outdoor settings looking over the little bay near the Harbour - it is not conceivable that a Government fiat could cause it destroyed, yet that is what the Governor has promised. We will have war, I fear.
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