# Life and Adventures of William Buckley/Appendix 2

THE CONTRAST!
STATISTICS OF THE PROVINCE OF VICTORIA,
1851.
Reader, cast your mental vision back to page 111 of this narrative; there you will see the first white canvass homes of the hardy Pioneers, who arrived sixteen years ago, to clear the way for another strong arm of British power—a future nation of the descendants, or offshoots of the old stock. Do them the justice to think, for a few moments, on their courage, their perseverance, their anxieties,—and honour them as they deserve.
Look again, at that solitary little vessel riding quietly like a swan on the bosom of that magnificent basin; she brings them the only means of communication with other shores.
Look at the people now, and the forests of masts. Survey the splendid harbours and the magnificent cities ​of Melbourne and Geelong now. Is not the change, and in so brief a space of time, wonderful?
Read the details of the progress onward, in the following Statistics, taken from the "Illustrated Australian Magazine," which we give in order that the astonishing resources of the Province of Victoria (over which Buckley trod for thirty-two years, the only white man,) may be known, whenever, and wherever, this History of his Life and Adventures are favoured with a perusal.—
The Census, which came off this year as usual on the second of March, has not in its results disappointed even sanguine expectations. In round numbers Victoria contains 80,000, colonists, New South Wales 192,000, South Australia 68,000, and Van Diemen's Land the same number. The respective capitals of these colonies are rising by rapid but sure gradations into cities of even European magnitude. Sydney contains 44,000 inhabitants, Melbourne 23,000, Hobart Town 20,000, and Adelaide 15,000. Geelong, the second town of Victoria, is the largest of any of the second towns of the Sister Colonies, and contains upwards of 8,000 souls, and claims the additional pre-eminence among these towns of Municipal Institutions.
The condition of the Public Revenues correspond with the general prosperity and extension of the colony. There is a satisfactory increase in the various departments of the "General Revenue," as distinguished from the fluctuating items of the "Crown Revenue." The total receipts under both heads have been for 1850 £261,821, against £206,799 for the previous year. For New South Wales, exclusive of Port Phillip, the amounts have been £317,291 for 1850, and £290,847 for 1849.
The Commercial results for the past year are still more striking than the Financial. The export of Tallow from Victoria had risen to the unprecedented quantity of 4,490 tons, of the value of £133,000. The export of Wool has now advanced to the immense quantity of upwards of 18,000,000 of pounds weight, being four millions of pounds more than the quantity of this staple produce exported from the older and larger colony of ​New South Wales for the same period. The export of produce, for 1850, amounted in value to £1,022,064, against £737,067 for the previous year.
The extraordinary discoveries of gold made about the middle of May last to the westward of Bathurst, are still the absorbing subject of public attention. The comparative abundance of the metal is now undoubtedly ascertained, as far as regards the present scene of operation. The actual extent of so lucrative a field is still to be explored; but it appears to be probable that it extends into Victoria in the direction of Gipps' Land to the East, and the Pyrenees to the West. The precious metal has also been recently found, or at least confidently asserted to exist, in other parts of Victoria.
Much inconvenience must for a time result from this discovery. Many branches of business must be affected, many labourers will leave and are leaving their hired service. The wages of those who remain must rise considerably, and many contracts must be unexpectedly disarranged from these altered relations. Provisions, beer, spirits, and other articles, have taken a sudden and considerable rise.
On the other hand this extraordinary discovery will attract towards Australia the attention of the world. An immense tide of emigration may be expected to roll towards her shores, and a few years may now accomplish what even her sanguine colonists had removed to the distance of an age or a century.
The operations at the Australian "Diggins" appear as yet to have been conducted without that confusion or lawless violence, which has too frequently characterised similar scenes in California. It is fortunate in this respect that the discovery has taken place in the midst of a society already formed, and a well-established government.
Victoria Benevolent Asylum.—At a meeting of Committee held at Melbourne, on the 13th June instant, it appeared that the edifice of the Asylum was now complete. The total cost had been £3,272 19s. 6d. Some exterior additions were recommended, which would add between one or two hundred pounds to this amount.
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS.
SHIPS INWARDS. :
| From. | No. | Tons. | Men. |
| Great Britain | 117 | 62,142 | |
| New Zealand | 4 | 352 | |
| V. D. Land, &c | 420 | 40,644 | |
| Foreign States | 14 | 4,892 | |
| Total for 1850 | 555 | 108,030 | 6198 |
| Ditto1849 | 484 | 97,003 | 5886 |
| Increase, 1850 | 71 | 11,027 | 312 |
IMPORTS. :
| Year. | Articles the Produce or Manufacture of | Articles the Produce or Manufacture of | Articles the Produce or Manufacture of | Total. |
| Year. | The U. Kingdom. | Other British Dominions. | Foreign States. | Total. |
| 1850 | 517,035 | 102,138 | 125,752 | 744,925 |
| 1849 | 307,078 | 61,214 | 111,539 | 479,831 |
EXPORTS. :
| Year. | Articles the Produce or Manufacture of | Articles the Produce or Manufacture of | Articles the Produce or Manufacture of | Articles the Produce or Manufacture of | Total. |
| Year. | New South Wales | The United Kingdom. | Other Br. Doms. | Foreign States. | Total. |
| 1850 | 1022,064 | 12,945 | 195 | 6,592 | 1041,796 |
| 1849 | 737,067 | 13,072 | 721 | 4,466 | 755,326 |
IMPORTS.—Table exhibiting the quantity and value of the principal Articles of Import into Port Phillip for the year 1850. All Imports of less than £1000 value are excluded. :
| DESCRIPTION. | DESCRIPTION. | QUANTITY. | VALUE. |
| Agricultural Implements | Packages | 414 | 1,086 |
| Alkali (Soda) | „ | 697 | 2,987 |
| Apparel and Slops | „ | 1,964 | 42,086 |
| Bags and Sacks | „ | 883 | 15,485 |
| Beer and Ale | Gallons | 381,150 | 38,115 |
| Blacking | Packages | 425 | 1,379 |
| Blankets and Counterpanes | „ | 145 | 3,252 |
| Bricks, Bath and Fire | Number | 114,438 | 1,487 |
| Brushware | Packages | 225 | 1,172 |
| Candles | No. | 35,000 | 1,611 |
| Canvass | Bales | 112 | 2,723 |
| Carpeting | „ | 40 | 1,596 |
| Carriages and Car. materials | Packages | 91 | 1,713 |
| Coals | Tons | 1,138 | 1,284 |
| Coffee and Chocolate | „ | 46 | 1,850 |
| Colours, Painters' | Packages | 1,424 | 2,322 |
| Cordage and Rope | „ | 1,810 | 4,522 |
| Corks and Bungs | „ | 388 | 1,060 |
| Cottons | „ | 1,596 | 50,924 |
| Cutlery | „ | 48 | 1,550 |
| Drugs and Medicines | „ | 1,567 | 10,307 |
| Earthenware and China | Crates | 991 | 9,572 |
| Fish, Salted | Packages | 2,002 | 1,810 |
| Flour and Bread | Cwts. | 14,360 | 5,156 |
| Fruits, Dried | Tons | 279 | 6,155 |
| „Green | Bushels | 7,603 | 1,362 |
| Furniture | Packages | 765 | 7,534 |
| Glass and Glassware | „ | 1,903 | 7,162 |
| Grain, Wheat | Bushels | 30,492 | 3,873 |
| „Oats | „ | 24,261 | 2,579 |
| „Rice | lbs. | 277,760 | 1,436 |
| Haberdashery | Packages | 2,044 | 63,350 |
| Hardware and Ironmongery | „ | 11,506 | 43,908 |
| Hats, Caps and Bonnets | „ | 353 | 7,028 |
| Hosiery and Gloves | „ | 153 | 4,494 |
| Instruments, Musical | „ | 98 | 3,865 |
| Iron and Steel | Tons | 2,310 | 23,653 |
| Lead | „ | 190 | 3,547 |
| Leather, Boots and Shoes | Packages | 804 | 14,600 |
| Linens | „ | 453 | 12,848 |
| Machinery | „ | 480 | 1,429 ​ |
| Millinery | Packages | 48 | 1,105 |
| Nails, Iron | „ | 6,473 | 11,736 |
| Oatmeal and Pearl Barley | lbs. | 142,560 | 1,188 |
| Oilmen's Stoves | Packages | 9,298 | 16,162 |
| Oil, Black | Tons | 48 | 2,069 |
| Oil, Linseed | Gallons | 3,557 | 1,067 |
| Perfumery | Packages | 92 | 1,007 |
| Pipes, Tobacco | „ | 1,004 | 1,187 |
| Pitch, Tar and Rosin | Casks | 1,692 | 1,675 |
| Plate and Plated Ware | Cases | 13 | 1,020 |
| Potatoes and Yams | Tons | 867 | 2,179 |
| Provisions, Salted | „ | 19 | 1,108 |
| Saddlery and Harness | Packages | 412 | 11,924 |
| Salt | Tons | 1,875 | 4,808 |
| Shoocks and Staves | Bundles | 3,780 | 1,583 |
| Silks | Packages | 43 | 2,591 |
| Slates | Number | 375,000 | 2,373 |
| Spirits, Brandy | Gallons | 56,147 | 16,844 |
| „Rum | „ | 160,552 | 20,069 |
| „Gin | „ | 56,100 | 8,465 |
| „Whiskey | „ | 23,478 | 5,280 |
| Starch and Blue | Boxes | 653 | 1,033 |
| Stationery and Books | „ | 1,339 | 20,412 |
| Sugar, Refined | Tons | 124 | 3,264 |
| „Raw | „ | 2,977 | 38,571 |
| Tea | lbs. | 722,824 | 17,268 |
| Tin and Tinware | Packages | 1,183 | 2,353 |
| Tobacco, Cigars and Snuff | lbs. | 288,100 | 21,608 |
| Timber, Deals and Battens | Feet | 56,185 | 8,660 |
| „Sawn, &c. | „ | 5,268,693 | 12,549 |
| „Palings | Number | 2,996,284 | 9,253 |
| „Laths | „ | 3,893,200 | 1,343 |
| „Shingles | „ | 6,586,023 | 2,794 |
| „All other | Feet | 241,349 | 1,290 |
| Vinegar | Gallons | 15,220 | 1,142 |
| Wine | „ | 78,720 | 13,795 |
| Woodenware | Packages | 1,724 | 1,058 |
| Woollens | „ | 458 | 17,394 |
| Woolpacks and Bagging | „ | 1,130 | 19,188 |
| Unenumerated | | | 22,696 |
| Total Imports for 1850 | | | 744,925 |
| Ditto„„ 1849 | | | 479,831 |
| Increase for 1850 | | | 265,094 |
ABSTRACT OF IMPORTS. :
| WHERE FROM. | | 1850. | 1849. |
| United Kingdom | | 599,784 | 356,791 |
| New Zealand | | 853 | 102 |
| Other British Colonies | | 97,563 | 102,873 |
| United States of America | | 89 | 1,555 |
| Other Foreign States | | 46,636 | 18,510 |
| Total | | 744,925 | 479,831 |
| EXPORTS. ||||
| Table exhibiting the quantity and value of the principal Articles of Export from the District of Port Phillip for the year 1850. ||||
| DESCRIPTION. | | QUANTITY. | VALUE. |
| Butter and Cheese | lbs. | 52,067 | 1,252 |
| Candles, Tallow | „ | 36,240 | 604 |
| Flour and Bread | Tons | 128½ | 1,576 |
| Grain, Wheat | Bushels | 695 | 175 |
| „ Oats | Bushels | 4,271 | 893 |
| Hoofs, Horns and Bones | Tons | 146 | 427 |
| Lard | lbs. | 2912 | 32 |
| Leather, Unmanufactured | Bales | 249 | 3,115 |
| Live Stock, Horses | No. | 1 | 5 |
| „ Horned Cattle | „ | 5,287 | 12,893 |
| „ sheep | „ | 57,422 | 16,091 |
| Potatoes | Tons | 25 | 106 |
| Provisions (Salt) Beef | „ | 495½ | 15,074 |
| „ Pork | „ | 18½ | 354 |
| „ Tongues | „ | 7½ | 440 |
| „ Bacon, &c. | „ | 4⅛ | 229 |
| Skins, Neat Cattle | No. | 19,951 | 4,106 |
| „ Calf | „ | 150 | 15 |
| „ Sheep | „ | 20,000 | 1,012 |
| „ Kangaroo & Opossum | „ | 700 | 58 |
| Soap | Tons | 130¼ | 3,124 |
| Specimens of Natural History | Packages | 12 | 89 |
| Tallow | Tons | 4,489½ | 132,863 |
| Wool | lbs. | 18,091,207 | 826,190 |
| Unenumerated Goods | | | 21,073 |
| Total | | | 1,041,796 |
ABSTRACT OF EXPORTS. :
| WHERE SENT. | Colonial Produce. | Imports re-exported. | Total. | Total. |
| | | | 1850. | 1849. |
| United Kingdom | 951,891 | 647 | 952,538 | 673,707 |
| British Colonies | 69,456 | 18,803 | 88,259 | 78,697 |
| U. States of America | 237 | 227 | 264 | 2776 |
| Other Foreign States | 480 | 55 | 535 | |
| Total | 1,022,064 | 19,732 | 1,041,796 | 755,326 |
We have no very late official returns to form opinions upon, but the following may be considered sufficiently correct up to the close of the year 1851:—
| Acres in cultivation | 51,536 |
| Sheep | 6,647,557 |
| Horned Cattle | 483,202 |
| Horses | 2,916 |
| Pigs | 11,544 |
The above returns are sufficient to shew the truly glorious results of civilization;—what can be done by the Anglo-Saxon race;—by English, Irish, Scotch and Welsh men when, with a right good-will, they set about colonizing a country blessed with a genial climate, and rich in its natural resources. The Port Phillippians have understood, that
"The wise and active conquer difficulties By daring to attempt them; whilst sloth and folly, Shiver and shrink, at sight of toil, and hazard, And make the impossibilities they fear."
They have hitherto acted, as did the early settlers in Massachusett's Bay, who represented to the Virginia Company in 1617, that they "were well weaned from the delicate milk of their mother country, and inured to the difficulties of a strange land. That they were ​knit together in a strict and sacred bond, by virtue of which, they held themselves bound to take care of the good of each other, and of the whole. That it was not with them as with other men, whom small things could discourage, or small discontents cause to wish themselves home again."
But again, Victoria is commencing a new era, of her moral, social, and political existence. The unexplored land, over which Buckley, the hero of this Narrative wandered, is now an acknowledged Province, a distinct portion of the mighty British Empire. No longer a child in the hand of its elder sister, she has been declared able to walk independently of aid,—to think,—to act,—to decide on what is most consistent with her own interests and happiness. Arrived at years of maturity, her fortune, her resources, at length are her's, and it will be her fault only, should she not secure, and apply them, as best becomes her power, and her station.
But we must not wander farther into the field of her present and future prosperity, in a Narrative of this description,—neither is it necessary, for
"The land has peace, freedom, liberty of conscience, and what would ye more?