158 6ETTLEES 1791 "Experiment Cottage/' a name it still bears. The part of the land which Buse first tilled is now a large vegetable- 2Sd2! garden, cultivated by Chinese. The accompanying facsimile is from the original document,* which is still in existence. A conveyance to Dr. Harris is endorsed on the back of the original grant. A few years afterwards (1794) Buse obtained another grant of thirty acres of land, " situate on the east side of the river Hawkesbury, in the district of Mulgrave Place." The ^^^. land was named in the grant " Buse Farm.^t It had thus been demonstrated that an industrious man, with a little assistance, could maintain himself on the land after a year and a half, or less ; and eighteen months was R€fiuitofthe adopted as the time for which settlers should be supported experiment. , , ^ from the public store. The experiment had succeeded beyond expectation, but the advantages arising from it were not immediately apparent. The land was capable of supporting an army of industrious settlers, but the large Settiere. body of cultivators Phillip wished to see in possession was conspicuous by its absence. There was no immigration of free men, and neither the marines whose term of service was about to expire, nor the convicts who had served their sentences, showed much inclination to go upon the land as
- The original deed was kindly placed at the Editor's disposal by Mr. F.
Beames, J.P., of Parramatta. Buse died in 1837, and was buried in St. John's churchyard, Campbelltown. The quaint inscription on his tombstone will be found facinff p. 157, reproduced by photographic process. t As no detailed surrey of the country had been made, the boundaries of the early grants could not be accurately defined. The insertion in the grants of specific names was of use, therefore, as afibrding a means by which the land could be identified. Phillip Schaffer's grant, bearing the same date as that given to Euse, was for 140 acres, " to be known bv the name of The Vineyard, laying on the north side of the creek leading to Parramatta." Similarly, the tlurty acres of land granted by Grose to Charles Williams on the Hawkesbury in 1794 was " to be known by the name of Williams's Farm." Schaffer was one of the superintendents sent out by the G-uardian. In the official list he is thus described, '* Phillip Schaffer, formerly a lieutenant in one of the Hessian Ck>rp8 which served in America, has been accustomed to farming." According to Phillip, *' he was not calculated for the employment for which he came out, but as a settler will be a useful man." — Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 686. Collins says that Schaffer did not know enough of the English language to qualify him for the position of superintendent.
