WALES, New South. Under this title are included the various British settlements which have been established in the island of New Holland. A description of that island will be found under the article Australasia, together with a short account of its first settlement by the British, and of the early progress of the colony. We now propose to add such further information, and recent statistical details, as will exhibit a view of its progressive increase and its present condition; and to conclude with a short account of the other settlements which have arisen on its western and southern shores, on Swan River, King George’s Sound, and more recently at Port Philip.

It was after the separation of the United States from this country that it was first proposed to establish a colony for the reception of convicts from Great Britain on the eastern shore of New South Wales; and in the year 1787 preparations were completed for carrying the design into effect. In 1787 a fleet consisting of eleven sail of ships, including a frigate[7:21:712] and an armed tender, and having on board 565 male and 192 female convicts, with 200 troops, and several of their wives and children, set sail from Portsmouth in May; and after a voyage of eight months, in the course of which they touched at Teneriffe, Rio Janeiro, and the Cape of Good Hope, where they spent a month, they arrived at their destination on the 18th, 19th, and 20th of January 1788. Captain Arthur Philip of the royal navy was appointed the first governor of the colony. Botany Bay, where it was proposed to fix the settlement, was found ill adapted for that purpose, being exposed to the fury of the east winds, which roll a tremendous sea on the beach. In seeking for a more eligible situation, Captain Philip entered the inlet to which Cook had given the name of Port Jackson, which he found one of the most capacious and safe harbours in the world, navigable for vessels of any burden fifteen miles from its entrance, indented with numerous coves, sheltered from every wind, and possessing the finest anchorage. Within this harbour, on the shores of Sydney Cove, thinly wooded, and the haunt of the kangaroo, but now marked out as the capital of the future empire, the British ensign was hoisted on the 26th of January 1788. They immediately proceeded to clear the ground, to land the live stock and the stores, and to establish the colony, amounting to 1030 souls. In its early progress the settlers encountered numerous obstacles, which it required extraordinary courage, and perseverance, and untiring industry to overcome. These arose from various causes, from the extremely sterile soil around Sydney Cove, from which no industry could extract a sufficient supply of grain for the wants of the people; from the profligate habits of the convicts, which occasioned continual disorders among themselves; from their outrages on the natives, and the retaliation which these produced. It was some years before an adequate supply of provisions for the maintenance of the colony could be derived from the ungrateful soil. The settlers consequently depended on foreign supplies, which did not arrive, and they experienced the severest privations. The loss of the store-ship the Guardian, under the command of Captain Riou, when proceeding to their relief with a large supply of provisions and stores, was a severe blow to the prosperity of the colony; and the general distress was greatly aggravated by the unseasonable arrival of a convict ship with 222 female convicts on board, thus increasing the number of consumers without any addition to the stock of provisions. The consequence was a severe scarcity, during which the weekly rations were, in April 1790, two and a half pounds of flour, two pounds of rice, and two pounds of pork; the governor sharing equally with others in the common calamity. Even this allowance, barely sufficient for the wants of nature, could not have been afforded if the governor had not sent off upwards of 200 convicts and troops to Norfolk Island, which is about twenty-one miles in circumference, with a fertile soil. Here the settlers, with even smaller allowance than at Sydney, would probably have perished, but for an unlooked-for supply from a flight of aquatic birds alighting on the island to lay their eggs. Owing to the length of their pinions, they take wing with difficulty; and they were so numerous that from 2000 to 3000 were taken every night, besides an incalculable quantity of eggs, which was a seasonable supply, and saved the lives of this detachment from the main body. Every effort was made to obtain supplies from China, India, and the Cape of Good Hope. There were not at one period four months’ provisions in the store on the most reduced scale, and several persons had already perished. Shortly after, three other vessels arrived with convicts, a large number of whom perished of the scurvy during the voyage. For about three years the settlers were in danger of starvation, and it was not till June 1790 that relief was afforded, by the arrival of three transports from the Cape; and in the following year a ship of war arrived at Sydney, conveying ten vessels, with 1695 male and 68 female convicts, after losing 198 on the passage. The arrival of this fleet changed the aspect of affairs, and gave the necessary stimulus to the industry of this rising community. Amid the difficulties with which the colony had to struggle, its improvement was not altogether neglected. Cultivation was begun, farms were established at Rose Hill (Paramatta), at other places two towns were commenced, and a few convicts were emancipated, and obtained grants of land as settlers.

Governor Philip embarked for England in December 1792, when Lieutenant-governor Grose succeeded to the government. He was succeeded, on the 15th December 1794, by Captain Paterson; and on the 7th September 1795 Governor Hunter arrived, and immediately entered on his important office. From the year 1792 the improvement of the colony was decisive and rapid. It was in 1789 that the first harvest was reaped at Paramatta; and in 1793 the settlers were enabled to sell corn to the public stores, which was purchased at a given price. Trade began to make its appearance; passage-boats were established between the towns of Sydney and Paramatta, and the settlers visibly increased. The bulls and cows that had been originally-brought to the new settlement had, by the carelessness of the keeper, been suffered to stray into the woods, and every subsequent search had proved ineffectual, when a fine and numerous herd of wild cattle was at length discovered in the interior of the country, evidently the progeny of the animals which had been so long lost to the settlers. At the close of the year 1795, the public and private stock of the colony consisted of 57 horses, 227 head of cattle, 1531 sheep, 1427 goats, 1869 hogs, besides a numerous breed of poultry. The total quantity of land in cultivation amounted to 5419 acres. At this period the storehouses were so completely exhausted that, on the arrival of Governor Hunter, there were no salt provisions in store; and the settlement was, as before, reduced to rations. The colony was in danger of falling back; and it was only the speedy arrival of a store-snip at this critical and distressing moment that saved it from destruction in the eighth year of its establishment.^[1. Mann’s Present Picture of New South Wales, p. 6. ] At the commencement of the year 1800, the inhabitants had increased to 6000. The stock consisted of 203 horses and mares, 1044 cattle, 1024 sheep, 2182 goats, and 4017 hogs. The quantity of land sown with wheat was 4665 acres, with Indian corn 2930 acres, and with barley 82 acres.

Governor Hunter quitted the colony in the year 1800, and was succeeded by Captain King, who had effected the settlement on Norfolk Island. His administration lasted six years, and was distinguished by what is termed the “Irish rebellion,” which broke out about the year 1804. Several hundred convicts attached to the government establishment at Castlehill, about twenty miles from Sydney, struck work and demanded their liberty; having armed themselves with pikes, they prepared for resistance. They were however overthrown after a brief contest by the troops at Vinegar Hill, a few miles from Paramatta, on the Hawkesbury road; a few were shot by the troops; the leaders were apprehended; three of them were led to instant death; two others were executed the following day at Sydney, three others at Castlehill, and the remainder returned quietly to their labour. There is no other instance of any insurrection in the colony by the convict population.

A printing-press bad been established in the colony about the year 1795, by Governor Hunter, and in March 1803 the Sydney Gazette was published by authority. In 1800 [7:21:713]a copper coin was issued by the government. The colony was at this time governed by general orders issued by the government. Captain King does not seem to have been adequate to the magnitude of the trust committed to him. He quitted the colony in August 1806, and was succeeded by Captain Bligh, who was even less qualified than his predecessor. He had given ominous proofs of his incapacity when he acted as commander of the Bounty, where by his tyrannical conduct he provoked the men to a mutiny; and his selection for the delicate task of rearing up this infant colony, by providing for its various interests, fostering the industrious, repressing the unruly, and discouraging and reclaiming the profligate, evinced a marked indifference to its welfare, which merits decided condemnation. His administration produced exactly the consequences which might have been expected. So unwarrantable was his tyranny, and especially his persecution of one influential person, noted alike for his public spirit and for his private virtues, that the colonists, with all the honest indignation of freemen, declared against his authority; and being aided by the officers and men of the New South Wales corps, they deposed him, and marching up to the government-house, they dragged him from his concealment behind a bed, and carefully protecting his person and property, sent him on board a sloop of war, in which he set sail for Europe, after he had been governor for eighteen months. He was succeeded by General Macquarrie, on the 1st January 1810; the government having in the mean time, from 1808 to December 1809, been successively administered by Lieutenant-colonels Johnstone, Foveaux, and Colonel W. Patterson. During the government of General Macquarrie, which lasted for twelve years, the settlement made great progress in wealth and improvement. The population was increased by the influx of numerous convicts, and some new settlers; though it was not till a later period that the full tide of emigration began to set in towards New Holland. By aid from the British treasury, many public buildings were erected, roads were constructed, and the colonists, compelled by a season of drought in 1813, and animated by the spirit of discovery, made their way over the barrier of the Blue Mountains, hitherto deemed impassable. It was in search of new pasturage, and by following the course of the Grose river, that a pass was at last found, and a road commenced in the following year, over this mountain range, whose summits were considered by the aborigines to be inaccessible, and who often declared that there was no pass into the interior.^[2. See History of Australasia, by R. Montgomery Martin, F. S. S. ] One great principle of Governor Macquarrie’s administration was to encourage and bring forward the convict population. It was his maxim to consider the European life of every convict as past and forgotten; their arrival on the shores of Australasia as a new era in their existence, in which the errors of the past might be entirely redeemed. It was a most enlightened and benevolent policy; and if he erred in carrying it into effect with too little discretion, as was alleged, it was the error of a generous mind. Under his rule the convicts were patronised; some were chosen to be magistrates; he conferred on others colonial situations of trust, along with liberal grants of land. But his further endeavours to introduce into respectable society those who had been branded as felons, were opposed by the invincible antipathies of the European settlers, who, though they agreed in countenancing and rewarding good conduct in the convict population, could not be persuaded that any after-purity of life could thoroughly efface their original disgrace. To force them into the society of men of honour and character, was therefore a vain and useless attempt. Such an intermixture of classes could only be effected by the debasement of European manners, and by lowering the moral tone of society in the colony. Those who have been transported for felony can hardly ever aspire to the distinction that belongs only to moral worth. They may and ought to be treated kindly and indulgently; but a certain degree of disgrace attaches to their crimes, from which they cannot be freed; and it could hardly be expected that the new settlers would lay aside all at once their European prejudices in New Holland, and associate on familiar terms with men whose society they would have abhorred in Britain.

Sir Thomas Brisbane, a man of science and talent, succeeded General Macquarrie in 1821. His successor, General Darling, also possessed ability, but he was too jealous of the comments of the press, and involved himself in disputes and difficulties, some arising from his own indiscretion, others from the intemperate violence of his opponents. The present governor, General Bourke, has endeavoured to steer a middle course between these extremes, and has encountered opposition from both parties.

The British settlements in New South Wales were at first along Port Jackson and the Hawkesbury river. They have since extended backward into the country, and across the Blue Mountains, long deemed the barrier of the colony. They are divided into the following nineteen counties, namely, Cumberland, Camden, St Vincent, Northumberland, Gloucester, on the sea-coast; Durham, Hunter, Cook, Westmoreland, Argyle, Murray, farther into the interior; and still farther westward, Brisbane, Bligh, Philip, Wellington, Roxburgh, Bathurst, Georgiana, King. These nineteen comprise all the counties that have already been settled. They extend along the coast about 250 miles, and into the interior 180 miles. These nineteen counties, with the exception of Cumberland, Argyle, and Bathurst, have been but very imperfectly explored.

On the sea-coast, along which the great Southern Ocean rolls its tremendous surge, the country is bold and rugged, and for five or six miles from the coast it wears in some parts a bleak and barren aspect; the soil is poor and swampy, and clothed with stinted trees. In other parts, however, the country on the coast, as at Illawarra in Camden, a maritime county to the north of Cumberland, has a different aspect; being, as described by Martin, romantic and beautiful, adorned with tall ferns, umbrageous cedars, graceful palm trees, with numerous creeping vines, throwing around in wild luxuriance their flowery tassels, here and there interspersed with flights of red-crested black cockatoos and purple couries, which present to the spectator the appearance of some tropical region, with the opposite property of a temperate climate. Beyond the girdle of the coast the country begins everywhere to improve, extending in gentle undulations for ten miles, clothed with stately forests, which, where cultivation has made progress, are diversified with farms and tenements, and intersected by broad and excellent turnpike roads. The forest is extremely thick, but there is little or no underwood. A poor kind of grass, which is too effectually sheltered from the rays of the sun to be possessed of any nutritive qualities, shoots up at intervals. This description of country, with few exceptions, forms another girdle of about ten miles in breadth, so that, generally speaking, the colony, for about sixteen miles into the interior, possesses a soil by no means fertile, but requiring both skill and industry to render it productive. At the distance however of twenty or twenty-five miles from the coast, the country begins greatly to improve.

To the northward, in about 28° south latitude, and seventy-seven miles from the settlement on Brisbane river, the country stretches out into vast plains, with rising downs, at an elevation of about 1800 feet above the level of the sea. They consist of a rich black and dry soil, timbered, and covered with the most luxuriant herbage, interspersed here and there with valleys, open woodlands, and forests. The [7:21:714]height of the ground tempers the climate, which is genial and salubrious. Between the parallels of 34° and 27°, there is a vast area of depressed country, the course of the rivers being to north-north-west and north-west; which agrees with the opinion and the report of the natives, that there is a great lake in the interior, discharging its waters on the north-west coast. To the west and south-west of Sydney, the plains extend for 130 miles, destitute of trees, and not having a greater elevation of surface than 250 feet above the level of the sea. To the southward of the colony there are also vast plains, discovered in 1823, and called the Brisbane Downs. These fine pasture-lands extend upwards of forty miles south of the parallel of 36° 15', which is their southern limit. They are enclosed on the east by the coast-range of hills, and on the west, towards the interior, by the lofty chain of the Australian Alps, known by the name of the Warragong chain, whose peaks are covered with snow all the year round. The table-land thus enclosed by mountains cannot be less than 2000 feet above the level of the sea; and possessing abundant pasturage, and a temperate climate, it affords an unlimited scope to the breed of fine-woolled sheep.^[3. History of Australasia, by Montgomery Martin, chap. iii. ]

To the westward of that portion of the country that has been settled or explored, various ranges of mountains are visible, down whose western declivities the streams descend, and afterwards taking a southerly course, fall into the ocean on the southern shore. The first discoveries of travellers in this direction were extremely imperfect. The Lachlan and the Macquarrie, both rising on the western side of the Blue Mountains, were, the first in 1817, and the latter in 1818, traced by Mr Oxley, the surveyor-general of the colony, to what he considered a swamp, spreading far and wide over a flat, where there was no outlet for the collected waters, and the whole country beyond he concluded to be an uninhabitable marsh. But in 1824, a journey westward was undertaken by Messrs Howell and Hume, which terminated in the discovery of several large rivers, the tributaries of another larger river, the Morrumbidgee, flowing in a direction nearly west. In 1830, Captain Sturt embarked on this river, which had been named after himself by Hume, and which he named the Murray, and descending the swelling stream, found that it joined the Murray river, which has its estuary by the shallow lake of Alexandrina in Encounter Bay, on the southern coast. In 1831 Major Mitchell, on the report of a bush-ranger, of a river which he had followed in a north-western direction from Liverpool Plains to the sea-coast, being sent by the governor on an expedition westward from that point, discovered a fresh-water river, the Karaula or Darling, in latitude 29°, flowing first westward and afterwards in a southern direction, and joining, along with the Morrumbidgee, the Murray river in Encounter Bay. As the structure of the country is gradually brought to light by these discoveries, we observe the broken fragments of its geography gradually pieced together, and at last united into one great whole. Mr Oxley traced the course of the Lachlan and Macquarrie westward a certain length. Other streams that take their rise north of the colony, namely, the Peel and the Namoy rivers, which flow down the western declivity of the coast-range, with a westerly or southerly course, were also traced a certain distance, and were then lost. The descent of the Morrumbidgee, and finally of the Murray, by Captain Sturt, was a valuable discovery, as it threw light on the interior structure of the country, and afforded data for geographical inferences of great importance; and, finally, the journey of Major Mitchell, in which he discovered the great stream of the Darling running almost southward, converted inference into fact, and would seem to point out the river Murray in Encounter Bay as the centre to which, from the nature of the ground, all the waters flow that rise in the great basin formed by the coast-range or the Blue Mountains on the east, and farther north by the Australian Alps, or Warragong range, and interior mountains not yet discovered, on the west; and that the Peel, the Namoy, the Macquarrie, the Lachlan, the Darling, with the Oxley, the Hume, the Goulburn, &c . which descend westward from the Warragong chain, whatever might be the direction of their upper streams, must finally terminate in the common embouchure at Encounter Bay.

This hypothesis, however, though it seems plausible, is not quite certain, and it is open in some points to objections. From the direction of the river Darling, which was discovered by Captain Sturt in 1829, and traced for forty miles through a level country to the south-west as far as 30° 16' south latitude, 144° 50' cast longitude, it would seem to have no other outlet but in the Murray in Encounter Bay; and the fact of a large river falling into the Murray from the south, exactly the course the Darling would take in its progress to the sea, appears a further confirmation of this conjecture. Between the point however to which the Darling has been traced by Captain Sturt in its upper course, and that portion of the river which has been explored by the same traveller, there are 400 miles of unknown country. But the greatest objection is, that the Darling was found by Captain Sturt to be perfectly salt, especially as it was farther traced; while the river that he found to fall into the Murray was quite sweet to the taste. This fact seems sufficient to disprove the identity of the two rivers, though it seems certain that the Darling river must find its way to the southern shore; on which, however, though it has been carefully explored, no large river has been found, except where the Murray joins the sea at Encounter Bay.

The valley which is watered by these streams, is of great extent. Its declivities, according to the course of the streams, is to the south; and it is diversified throughout by ridges of mountains, diverging westward, some of them of great height. All this extensive country southward from the river Murray to the coast, Major Mitchell denominated, from its agreeable aspect and its fertility, Australia Felix. It is well watered; and the Snowy Mountains not only temper the climate, but they afford a supply of moisture throughout the summer to the large rivers to which they give birth; while the great Southern Ocean on three sides throws up clouds of moisture, which descend in abundant rains. Extensive downs occur, which are covered with the best kind of grass, or are gracefully wooded. From Mount Macedon Major Mitchell says he reconnoitred Port Philip at the distance of sixty miles. “In this region,” he adds, “the party crossed ranges of granite, others of trap-rock, the woods forming open forests, which only partially covered the country. This, even in its present state, seems nearly all available for the purposes of agriculture and grazing; and being almost without any aboriginal inhabitants, it is consequently in the best state for the reception of British emigrants.”^[4. See Account of Major Mitchell’s Expedition into the Interior of Australia. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, vol. vii, 1837. ]

The Blue Mountains, which run along the shore of New Holland at the distance of from thirty to ninety miles, and rise to a perpendicular elevation of from 3000 to 4000 feet, and farther south the Warragong range, or Australian Alps, which are covered with perpetual snow, and extend without interruption to Wilson’s Promontory, the southern extremity of New Holland, form each, in the country which [7:21:715]they occupy, the dividing ridge between the rivers which flow eastward to the ocean, and those which, with a westerly, and afterwards a southerly course, and a larger and broader stream, terminate in the Southern Ocean, chiefly in the Murray river, at Encounter Bay. To the first class belongs the Hawkesbury, which is a continuation of the Nepean river, after the junction of the latter with a considerable stream called the Grose, and issues from a remarkable cleft in the Blue Mountains, in the vicinity of the town of Richmond, about forty miles from Sydney. It is apt to overflow its banks, from the sudden swelling of the mountain torrents by which it is fed; and in one instance rose, near the town of Windsor, ninety-seven feet above its ordinary level. It falls into Broken Bay, fourteen miles to the north of Port Jackson, where it forms an excellent harbour. Hunter’s river, about seventy miles to the north of Port Jackson, falls into the sea at the harbour of Newcastle. It is sufficiently safe and capacious for vessels of 300 tons burden, and navigable for small craft of thirty or forty tons burden for fifty miles above Newcastle. Manning river, still farther to the north, enters the sea by several mouths, in about latitude 31° 25' south. Hastings river enters the sea at the large harbour of Port Macquarrie, 220 miles north-east of Port Jackson; it rises in south latitude 33½°, and 150° east longitude. Brisbane river falls into Moreton Bay, in latitude 27° 1' south, longitude 153° 26' east. It was discovered in 1823. Its source is in the mountain ranges to the north, and its course is through a large extent of fine country. Among the rivers that take their rise on the western ridge of the Blue Mountains is the Darling, which has its rise between the parallels of 27° and 33½°, and of which the course has been traced for about forty miles through a level country, and is supposed, as already stated, to be the same river which unites its waters with the Murray and Morrumbidgee, on the southern coast, though this is not certain. The Macquarrie river has likewise its origin in the torrents which descend the western ridges of the mountains. It has a winding course to the north-west, in some places deep, broad, and navigable for large boats, in others rapid, and obstructed by falls. It was seen by Mr Oxley to expand over the adjacent country, which had the appearance of a sea, but which was found in 1829, by Captain Sturt, after three years drought, to be converted into a vast expanse of arid soil. Its termination has not been distinctly traced, but it is supposed to be a tributary of the Darling. There are numerous streams which rise in the northern mountains, and which all terminate, as is most probable, in the main trunk, whether of the Darling or any other river which conveys the waters of this valley to their termination in Encounter Bay. The Lachlan river has its origin on the borders of Argyle county, between 34° and 35° of south latitude. Like the Macquarrie, it loses itself in a marsh, from which it emerges to join the Morrumbidgee in 34½° south latitude. The Morrumbidgee river has its origin in the Warragong range, 200 miles south-west of Sydney, in latitude 35° south, and about eighty miles from the eastern coast. It pursues a westerly course, and joins the Murray in latitude 34° 15' south, and longitude 141° east, after pursuing a tortuous course of 800 or 1000 miles. The Murray is the central channel through which are conveyed to the ocean all the various streams which descend the western declivity of the great chain of mountains that runs along the coast. It has not been traced to its source, but it receives, as already stated, another river, supposed to be the Darling, and a second considerable stream which enters its left bank from the south-east. Mr Cunningham is of opinion that it is formed by the Hume and the Ovens streams, which take their rise in the Warragong Mountains, and flow west..

New Holland being situated in the southern hemisphere, its seasons are exactly the reverse of those in Britain. July is the middle of winter, and January of summer. The festivities of Christmas and of the new year are celebrated here, not, as in the old country, with doors and windows shut, and a cheerful fire to dispel the winter cold, but amid the oppression and heat of summer, with doors and windows thrown open to invite the refreshing breeze. We no longer hear in this Australian climate of the “gentle south wind,” nor of “rude Boreas, blustering railer.” The north is here the region of heat, as the south is of cold. Every thing is changed. Nature no longer wears a European dress, and poetry must conform and reverse its images. The summer extends from the 1st of December to the 1st of March. The mean heat during the three months of December, January, and February, is about 80° at noon. This great heat is tempered along the sea-coast by a regular sea-breeze, that sets in regularly about nine o’clock in the morning, and blows with considerable force till about six or seven o’clock in the evening, when it is succeeded by a land-breeze from the mountains, which varies from west-southwest to west. In very hot days the breeze often veers round to the north, and blows a gale. The hot winds to which the country is exposed, especially in the interior, three or four times every summer, blow from the north-west, like a current of air issuing from a heated furnace, raising the thermometer to 100° in the shade, and to 125° when exposed to their influence. They imbibe their heat from the tropical regions of the north, which they traverse, and which, like certain portions of Africa, are probably arid deserts. They are generally succeeded by a cold southerly squall, and by a thunder-storm and rain, which cools the air. The spring months are September, October, and November. In the beginning of September the nights are cold, but the days clear and pleasant. The thermometer varies from 60° to 70° towards the end of the month; and light showers occasionally prevail, with thunder and lightning. The days become gradually warmer, and in October the hot and blighting winds from the north begin to be apprehended. The three autumn months are March, April, and May. The first is rainy, and more fertile in floods than any other in the year. Towards the end of April the weather becomes perfectly clear and serene. The thermometer varies from 72° at noon to 60°, and in the mornings is as low as 52°. During May the thermometer varies from 50° at sunrise to 60° at noon, with a perfectly cloudless sky. During the three winter months of June, July, and August, the mornings and evenings are cold; hoar frosts are frequent, and become more severe in advancing into the interior. At Sydney the thermometer is rarely below 40°; at Paramatta it is frequently as low as 27° in the course of the winter. As the land rises from the ocean, the temperature declines. The winter at Bathurst, where snow falls in its season, is much colder than on the sea-shore. On the loftiest hills heavy falls of snow take place during the winter, and it remains for many days on their summits; and some high ranges penetrate the level of perpetual snow. In the valleys however the snow' does not lie. The greatest defect in the climate is the prevalence of periodical droughts, during which the vegetation is parched for want of moisture, a general failure of the crops follows, and numbers of the cattle perish. Although in general a large quantity of rain falls throughout the year, yet the colony has hitherto been subject to severe drought every twelve years. A drought took place in 1826, which continued to 1829; and more recently, in 1839, another severe drought took place, which occasioned general distress in the colony. The climate is however on the whole highly salubrious and agreeable. Out of a community of 1200 persons, it has been known that only five or six have been sick at a time; and at some of the military stations,' seven years have elapsed without the loss of a man.
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Wheat, maize, barley, oats, and rye are all grown in the colony of New Holland; but the two former are most cultivated. The heat at Sydney appears to be too great for the common species of barley and oats, though they are produced of a tolerable quality on the poorer soils. What is called the Siberian wheat arrives at very great perfection, and is greatly superior to the common species of barley; but being only used in the breweries, the demand is limited. The Indian corn, or maize, is of more general use, being much better adapted for the food of horses, oxen, pigs, and poultry. The produce is also much more abundant than that of barley and oats; and it has this additional recommendation to the settler, that it may be planted two months later than any other grain. The best months for sowing wheat are April, May, and June, though it may be sown from February to July, and even so late as August if that month happens to be moist. Oats and barley may be best sown in June, though they may be sown in the middle of August with a fair prospect of a crop. Indian corn may be planted from the end of September to the middle of December; but the best month is October. The wheat harvest generally commences partially about the middle of November, and is generally over by Christmas. The maize is not ripe till the end of March, and the gathering is not complete till the end of May. The culinary vegetables in Australia are numerous, and they thrive admirably in the climate. Potatoes, cabbages, carrots, parsnips, turnips, pease, beans, cauliflowers, lettuces, cucumbers, and in fact every species of vegetable known in this country, are produced in the colony. Many of them attain to greater perfection than in Europe, as the cauliflower and the brocoli, and the different varieties of the pea; and a few also degenerate, as the bean, for which the climate appears too hot, and the potato, which is not nearly of so good a quality as in this country. The colony is justly famed for the goodness and variety of its fruits. Peaches, apricos, nectarines, oranges, grapes, pears, plums, figs, pomegranates, raspberries, strawberries, and melons of all sorts, attain the highest degree of maturity in the open air; and even the pine-apple may be produced in a common hot-house. The climate at Sydney is not however so congenial to the fruits of the northern climate, as the apple, the pear, the currant, the gooseberry, and the cherry, which, though they are produced, do not equal in flavour those produced in this country. To the westward of the Blue Mountains, where the climate is colder, they attain to the same perfection as in Europe. Grapes of the finest quality are produced in New Holland; and some not wholly unsuccessful attempts have been made to manufacture wine, which might in time become a valuable export, and staple of commerce. Oranges, lemons, citrons, guavas, and other fruits, are so abundant that during part of the year swine are fed on peaches and apricos.

The animal kingdom in New Holland is extremely curious and interesting. There are no large animals, such as elephants, lions, tigers, &c.; and there are few varieties. But the animals of New Holland are peculiar to the country, and are not found in any other quarter of the globe. The most remarkable animal found here is the kangaroo, of which there are very many varieties, from the kangaroo-rat to the forester, which stands from four to five feet high. The kangaroo, from its peculiar structure, the fore legs being so much shorter than those behind, does not run; but it advances by springs or bounds, the length of which is sometimes prodigious, exceeding twenty paces; at which rate they will proceed for some time, and outstrip the fleetest greyhounds. The abdominal pouch which this animal possesses, and into which, as in a burrow or nest, the mother shelters her helpless young, letting them out by day to graze on the tender herbage, or carefully conveying them across rivers and through forests when pursued by enemies, until they are able to provide for their own sustenance and safety, is extremely curious. The kangaroo is very timid, and it is only when it is hard pressed that it turns upon the hunters, when it will set its back against a tree, and boldly awaiting the dogs, will rip them up with its hard claws, or will give them such a hug with its fore-arms as to cause the blood to gush from the hounds’ nostrils; and sometimes taking to the water, it will drown every dog that comes near it. These animals are fast disappearing Before the progress of civilization; and it is a saying of the aborigines, “where white men sit down, kangaroo go away.”^[5. History of Australasia, by Montgomery Martin, chap. v. ] The opossum tribe are very numerous, and resemble those found in America. They take up their residence in the hollows of decayed trees, from which they are chased by the natives. The hyena opossum, or tiger, is very destructive among flocks. He sometimes measures six feet from the snout to the tail. He has a mouth like the wolf, with large jaws opening almost to the ears. The female carries its young in a pouch, like most of the other quadrupeds in the country. The native dog, which, next to the kangaroo and the opossum, is the animal most frequently met with, resembles the Indian jackal. It is about two and a half feet long, two feet high, with a head like a fox, and erect ears, and is of a reddish-brown colour. It preys on the sheep and poultry, making great havock among them; and is hunted without mercy by the settlers, who are fast extirpating the breed. The wombat is a kind of badger, weighing forty pounds; is good eating, and is in consequence quickly disappearing, as is also a species of sloth. The porcupine ant-eater is a small animal. A specimen mentioned by Mr Martin measured from the snout thirteen inches, the quills two inches long. It preys upon ant-eggs. There are varieties of the flying squirrel, fox, and mouse. The platypus is a singular animal, which it is difficult to know whether to class as a beast or as a bird. It has four legs like a quadruped, and a bill like a duck, and according to general belief lays eggs and suckles its young. It is about fourteen inches in length, and resembles an otter, though inferior in size; is covered with a very thick, soft, and beaver-like fur. It has a small flat head, and short legs terminating in a broad web. It has five claws; and in the male there is a perforated spur, through which is discharged a poisonous secretion. Of the domestic animals, there are those that are common in Britain, from which they have been imported. The breed of horses has been greatly improved, and is now excellent, insomuch that they are exported to India for the purpose of supplying the East India Company’s cavalry and artillery. The horned cattle are in many instances of a gigantic size; and in this congenial climate and abundant pasture the sheep have an improved fleece, and are of a delicious flavour. Swine are abundant; goats are not numerous; and asses and mules are seldom reared, though a fine breed of the former has been introduced from South America. The camel would be a valuable addition to the domestic animals, as by his patience of thirst and fatigue he would be admirably fitted for long journeys in the interior of the country.

The ornithology of New South Wales is rich and various. The birds are numerous, and many of them of the most beautiful plumage. The emu, or cassowary, is one of the most remarkable of the feathered race, both for its great size, being six feet in height, and for its singular properties. Its covering is more like hair than feathers; it cannot fly, and being thus confined to the earth, has little of the character of birds. It is wonderfully fleet, outstripping the swiftest dog, and kicking with such violence as to break a man’s leg. It is easily tamed, and becomes quite [7:21:717]domestic. It is, like all the other wild creatures, fast disappearing before the progress of cultivation. The “gigantic crane,” or “native companion,” is a stately bird, about six feet high, of a pale ash colour, with a reddish tinge on the head. It is gregarious and carnivorous, and haunts the borders of rivers and lakes, where also the black swan is found. The bustard, or native turkey, is a large bird, weighing from fifteen to eighteen pounds, and is good eating. Eagles and hawks are to be found in all their varieties. Some are white and very large; the eagle-hawk measures nine feet from wing to wing, and is feathered to the toes. There are about thirty varieties of the pigeon; and the parrot species is in boundless variety, and of the most brilliant plumage. The cockatoos are easily domesticated, and taught to imitate sounds. Some of them are of a milk-white; others black, richly variegated on the tail with red, and adorned with superb crests. The lories, green, red, crimson, and purple, are in great variety; and there are numerous birds not yet described by naturalists. The spotted grosbeak is of a light slate colour above, bill and tail deep crimson, throat black, and the sides are marked with snow-spots on the dark ground. The rifle-bird is nearly the size of a jay, its bill long and sickle-shaped, and colour a rich dark green, like velvet. The ring oriole is of a golden yellow and the deepest black, the feathers on the head resembling the softest velvet. The doves, in variety and beauty of plumage, surpass those in any other part of the world. The spur-winged plover is noted for a large spur upon the shoulder of each wing, with which it fights fiercely. There are two kinds of pheasants, and three of magpies. The common crow and the swallow are everywhere to be found; also the Australian sparrow, with varied plumage, in which a scarlet tinge is intermixed; the butcher-bird, or laughing jackass, which destroys snakes and other reptiles, so called from the resemblance of its note to a coarse and boisterous laugh; the coach-whip, a small bird, whose note resembles the crack of a short whip. Snipes, quails, king-fishers, and coots are abundant; also honey-suckers, woodpeckers, toucans, fly-catchers, warblers, cuckoos, and various species of small birds. Here are likewise to be found the pelican, penguin, goose, duck, teal, widgeon, frigate-bird, noddy, peterel, gull, and other sea-birds.^[6. See History of Australasia, by Montgomery Martin, chap. iv. ]

Insects are numerous, and of every variety. Locusts are common in some parts of the colony. The butterflies are neither abundant nor beautiful. Of bees there are three kinds, all without stings. The flies are a great nuisance in summer, particularly one species, which taints and putrefies every thing it touches. The mosquitoes are disappearing with the progress of civilization. The spiders are very large; and caterpillars, at intervals of several years, swarm in incredible numbers, blighting in a few hours the finest fields of wheat. Measures have been taken to stop the ravages of this mischievous creature. Whence they come in such myriads, and almost in a single night, is unknown.

Reptiles are not at all in such numbers as they are in general in marshy countries. There are several varieties of the snake, some of them poisonous, namely, the deaf adder, which resembles the puff adder of America. It is thick, short, swelling out in the middle, with a flat head, and a cleft tail which opens and shuts like a forceps; its back is beautifully variegated with rows of red and white specks; and when irritated it seizes a stick as tenaciously as a cur dog. The diamond snake, which grows to the length of twelve or fifteen feet, is not poisonous. There is a small hazel-coloured snake, with two little flaps at its sides like fins; it darts along with great rapidity, and is termed the winged snake. Mr Martin saw a serpent at Paramatta, resembling the boa constrictor, fourteen feet long; its coat of a bright hue, but changing as the animal became irritated. Several water-snakes have been found, and at a considerable distance from the land. Scorpions, centipedes, tarantulas, and frogs are found. Lizards are numerous, but without the varied hues of those in the east. The guana is also found, of a dirty brown colour, and about four feet in length.

Fish are plentiful along the coasts; but they are not so plentiful in the rivers, especially in those in the eastern declivity of the Blue Mountains, owing to the rapidity of the currents. The fish called the cod-fish, though not the same as that known in Europe, is taken in the fresh-water rivers west of the Blue Mountains, in great quantities, of a large size, some weighing seventy pounds, and thirty pounds being very common. They are of a fine flavour; as are also the eels, which are caught of the weight of twelve or even twenty pounds. Perch, covered with scales and prickly fins, abound in the rivers on the eastern coast. In flavour and juiciness they resemble a sole. There are many varieties of other fish, with which the markets are well supplied; and of late sharks have been caught in Sydney Cove. Shell-fish are abundant. Fresh-water mussels have been found at Bathurst six inches long and three and a half broad, and shrimps are in great numbers. Oysters are found in great abundance around the Australian shores; every rock is covered with them; and though generally small, they are of a delicate flavour.

The country of New South Wales having been hitherto but imperfectly explored, its geology cannot be fully known. The line of coast, where the nature of the country has been chiefly ascertained, presents in its general aspect bold perpendicular cliffs of sandstone lying in horizontal strata, and interrupted occasionally by sandy beaches, behind which the country is low and flat. From the sea-coast to the river Nepean on the west, the sandstone seems to spread like a level platform; and although the country rises into hills and ridges, these seem to consist of a mass of clay, worn into inequalities on the surface by the action of the water, which accounts for the singular fact that the tops of the hills, which contain most of the original clay, are generally more fertile than the valleys, unless they contain alluvial deposits. Westward, or beyond Nepean river, the sandstone strata are forced upwards, and extend from north to south, forming the lofty ridge of the Blue Mountains. Towards the south the sandstone gives place in many parts to whinstone. On advancing farther to the south and west, granite and limestone are abundant, perforated in all directions with extensive subterraneous caverns, exactly resembling, in stalactitic decoration, those found in Europe and America. To the north-westward of Sydney occurs a fine limestone formation, which passes in some parts into a beautiful close-grained marble, affording materials to several skilful artisans in Sydney. In several other places other varieties of minerals are to be found. Hunter’s river flows for a considerable distance over rocks of jasper, and beautiful agates, opal, and chalcedony; while innumerable petrifactions are found on its banks. Cornelian and agate have been found near the burning mountain of Wingen; some of the specimens crested with copper, and others presenting a beautiful auriferous appearance. For a more particular account of the mineralogy of New South Wales, the reader is referred to the work of Mr Montgomery Martin, which abounds in the most important information. We may add, however, respecting the coal formation, that this valuable mineral is found in several districts, especially in the country to the south of Hunter’s river, about sixty miles north of Port Jackson, which is an extensive [7:21:718]coal-field. In this district is situated the town of Newcastle, so called from the produce in its neighbourhood. This district was originally the place of transportation for the most incorrigible class of offenders from Port Jackson, who are worked in chains from sunrise to sunset, in burning lime and in procuring coals and timber. In consequence of the fertility of the soil and the extent of water-communication, Hunter’s river being navigable for 200 miles with boats, numerous emigrants reside in good farms along the shores of the river, and the country resembles the richest pastoral scenery in Devonshire.

An account of the aborigines of New South Wales will be found under the article Australasia. That they will in the end gradually disappear, is no longer doubtful. In new settlements of the Europeans, they generally perish in the conflicts which take place between them and the intruders; but in New South Wales this enmity has subsided, and the most humane attempts have been made to reclaim them from their savage state. These efforts, however laudable, have been vain. Where the experiment has been tried under the most favourable circumstances, and they have been provided with every comfort, they have invariably relapsed into their primitive barbarity; so that in this respect New Holland will afford no exception to the general experience, that as the civilized inhabitants increase, the savage race invariably disappears. The British colony, when it was first established in Sydney, consisted of 1030 individuals, 700 of whom were convicts; and notwithstanding the discouragement of emigration by some of the authorities, the population, owing to the fineness of the climate and the number of convicts sent out, rapidly increased. A census has been taken at four different times, and the following is the result:
[table]

The following is a more particular account and classification of the inhabitants in the colony of New South Wales, according to a census taken on the 2d September 1836.
[table]

The total number of white inhabitants now in the colony is estimated at upwards of 100,000, of whom 25,000 are convicts, the residue of upwards of 90,000 who have been transported to the settlement since 1788. The population is divided into three classes: 1. the free settlers who have arrived in the colony, and their descendants; 2. those who have served their legal term, or who are free by pardon, the reward of good behaviour, and their descendants; and, 3. the convicts who are still in bondage. The convicts, when they arrive in New Holland, are conveyed, the male and the female prisoners, to different stations or barracks, which are surrounded by a high wall, and guarded by soldiers and several constables. The convicts are assigned as agricultural, manufacturing, or domestic labourers, to farmers and townspeople, who, in return for their services, are bound to provide them with food and clothing. Upwards of three fifths of all the prisoners in the colony are provided for in this manner. After serving a certain time with an unblemished character, the convict is entitled to a “ticket of leave,” which makes him free within the district over which it extends; and if he does not forfeit this ticket by any crime for a certain number of years, he is then entitled to a conditional pardon, which makes him free within the precincts of the colony. And this system is found by experience to be attended with the most beneficial results. “On every side,” says Montgomery Martin, in his account of this colony, “the traveller witnesses proofs of an industrious and prosperous community; he beholds ships, [7:21:719] warehouses, steam-engines, farms, &c., the owners of which were transported from their natal soil, and who, after having paid the penalty demanded by the laws, have commenced a new life, setting an example of honesty, morality, and enterprise to those from whose abject condition they have emerged, and who are thus strongly urged to imitate their example.” The second class consists of those who have been once prisoners, and are now free. They are termed emancipists, and by their industry are possessed of great wealth in land, houses, ships, and merchandise; and many of them are remarkable for probity, benevolence, and their enterprising spirit. The next and highest class consists of emigrants from Europe, either farmers, shop-keepers, merchants, or government officers and functionaries. Some individuals of this class refuse to associate in private with those who have been once convicted, though they be now free; and hence has arisen in the colony the distinction of the two opposite and hostile classes of exclusionists on the one hand, and emancipists on the other.

When the colony of New South Wales was first established, the whole powers of the government necessarily centred in the governor alone. In 1824, a council was appointed to aid and to control him in the exercise of his authority. Several alterations have since taken place, and the supreme authority is now vested, 1. in the governor; 2. in an executive council, which consists of the colonial secretary and treasurer, the bishop, and lieutenant-governor, which office has been recently abolished; and, 3. in a legislative council, consisting of the members of the executive council, with the addition of the chief justice, the attorney-general, the chief officer of the customs, the auditor-general, and seven individuals in the colony who are appointed by the crown for life. The legislative power is vested in the governor and in this legislative council, two thirds of which must concur before any law can be passed. The governor has the initiative of all laws, though any member of the council may request the governor to introduce a bill for the consideration of the council. If the governor decline, he must lay his reasons in writing, together with a copy of the bill, before the council; and any member disapproving of such refusal, may enter on the minutes the grounds of his disapprobation. Every bill passed by the council must be transmitted to the supreme court to be enrolled, when, if the judges represent that it is repugnant to the act 9 Geo. IV., or to the charter, or letters patent, or orders in council, or to the laws of England, it is again brought under the consideration of the council, and if again passed, proceeds into operation until the pleasure of her majesty be known. For the sole administration of the laws there is a supreme court, over which preside a chief and two puisne judges. The supreme court is a court of oyer and terminer, and gaol delivery; it is also a court of equity, and a court of admiralty for the trial of criminal offences within certain limits; it is empowered to grant letters of administration, and it is an insolvent debtors court. From the supreme court lies an appeal for all actions for less than L.500, to the governor or acting governor, who is directed to hold a court of appeals, from whose decision lies a final appeal to the king in council. There are courts of general and quarter sessions, which have the same powers as those in England. Courts of requests have been established for summarily determining claims not exceeding L.10; and their decision is final. Juries now sit in civil and criminal cases. A very vigilant police has been established throughout New South Wales. There are benches of stipendiary as well as unpaid magistrates in Sydney and other principal towns, aided by head-constables and a civil and military police-force at each station.

The country of New South Wales, recently a pathless forest, is now intersected in all directions by excellent roads, some of them carried with equal labour and skill over lofty mountains, and bringing into close intercourse the remotest parts of the country by a daily increasing traffic. The royal mail proceeds from Sydney to all the different towns in the interior, and letters are delivered with punctuality and despatch. Stage-coaches with four horses also start from the same place daily, and from other places; so that there is every facility of internal intercourse by land; while numerous steam-vessels leave Sydney and ply along the coast to the different seaports.

There is here, as in the mother country, a variety of religious sects, a statement of whose respective numbers will be found in the population table already given. But different modes of faith here mingle in perfect harmony in all the duties of civil life. No religious distinctions are recognised; all classes, of whatever creed, enjoy equal rights, and are equally eligible to offices of honour or emolument; and the government provides equally for the maintenance of all sects. One seventh of the land was formerly appropriated to the support of the episcopal church: it is still applicable to the genera) purposes of religion and education, but without any distinction of sects, all of which participate equally in the government fund. Thus we find the principle of religions toleration more fully maintained in New South Wales than in the mother country, where there still exists a dominant religion fostered by the state. The episcopalian church was until very lately within the diocese of Calcutta. It is now subject to a bishop who resides in the country. There are, besides, fifteen chaplains of this church, who take charge of different districts in the country. There are four ministers of the established church of Scotland, and of the Roman Catholic clergy a vicar-general and six chaplains. The Wesleyan Missionary Society has four principal stations and upwards of sixty chapels, besides preaching stations, and five ordained missionaries, with several agents under them. There are also five Sunday schools, with 300 boys and 250 girls.

Great efforts have been made in Australia to promote education among all classes, and numerous excellent seminaries have been established. In the Australian College, instituted in 1831, are taught the ancient languages, English literature, and the sciences. This seminary consists of elementary schools, with a provision for the higher branches of education. Private establishments for education are numerous. Sydney College was instituted in 1830. It is under the control of a president and committee of management, consisting of emigrants and emancipists; those two classes joining amicably together in the promotion of knowledge. There are two excellent establishments, the male and female orphan schools, each containing 125 destitute children, who are reared from their infancy. There are several infant schools, thirty-three primary or parochial schools, in different parts of the colony; and two king’s schools at Sydney and Paramatta, with classical teachers. There are a Mechanics School of Arts, an Australian Subscription Library, and various other societies connected with literature and science. The press, as usual, lends its aid to the diffusion of knowledge. It is not restrained by any law, nor by taxes of any description. The newspapers are numerous; some of them published every day, and others three times a week. In the town of Sydney there are six, and a New South Wales Magazine is published every month. The materials of these publications are chiefly supplied by local topics, though due attention is also given to the politics of Europe.

The following is an abstract of the revenue of New South Wales, from 1826 to 1837.
[7:21:720]
[table]

The revenue of the customs chiefly arises from a duty on the importation of spirits, of tobacco, and of manufactures; of L.25 a year on licenses to distil spirituous liquors; on auctioneers, L.2 per annum; on butchers, carters, and carts; on boatmen and boats; on porters; on dogs.

The following table contains the total expenditure in the colony for nine successive years, beginning with 1828. Expenditure in 1828, L.40,912; 1829, L.55,544; 1830, L.55,980; 1831, L.87,046; 1832, L. 110,524; 1833, L.123,817; 1834, L. 136,651; 1835, L.171,020; 1836, L.234,210. The revenue for 1837 amounted to L.460,217.

The trade of the colony has rapidly increased within the last few years, with the surplus produce of the country. The staple products of New South Wales are wool, whale-oil, cattle, and provisions. The first has become one of the most valuable articles of export, and now furnishes nearly one tenth of the foreign wool imported into this country. The origin and progress of this important branch of industry is remarkable. In 1810, only 167 lbs. of wool were imported into Britain from New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land; in 1815, 73,171 lbs.; in 1825, 323,995 lbs.; in 1830, 1,967,309 lbs.; and in 1836,3,564,532 lbs.^[8. See Tables of the Revenue, Population, Commerce, &c. of the United Kingdom and its Dependencies, presented to both Houses of Parliament, p. 81. ] The colony was indebted for the introduction of this article of wool to the enterprising spirit of Mr J. M‘Arthur, who being convinced, so long ago as in 1793, that the climate and grasses of New South Wales would suit the Merino sheep, obtained a ram and two ewes from the Cape of Good Hope, which rapidly increased. Having afterwards explained his plans for the improvement of New South Wales to the privy council, he procured from the Merino flock of George III., two ewes and three rams, with which he returned to New South Wales, where these flocks are now increased to upwards of a million, of which the wool is highly prized in the London market, and has been sold as high as 10s. 4d. per lb. After wool, whale-oil is the chief staple of the colony. This article is also a recent product, which has been annually increasing. The number of ships employed in this trade in the year 1829, was 27; the value of the produce, L.94,101. In 1836, the number of ships amounted to 40; the value of the produce to L. 126,085. The black whale is found in abundance along the coast of New South Wales. But the sperm fishing is the most valuable; and in prosecution of this adventurous trade, forty vessels sailed out of Sydney in 1834. The value of the spermaceti and train oil exported in 1836 was L.141,532; namely, spermaceti, L.108,794; train oil, L.32,738.^[9. Ibid. ] The New Zealand flax (phormium tenax) is another article of export, which is yearly increasing in amount. In its appearance it is similar to English flax, and is chiefly dressed by the native women of New Zealand, who scrape off the outer part of the leaf with mussel-shells; the inner fibres or filaments, resembling dressed flax, arc then exported to Sydney, where it brings from L.15 to L.25 per ton. Timber, particularly cedar-plank, blue gum, and other timber, has been for some time exported. The value amounted in 1836 to L.14,385. Coals, which abound, and are worked in various parts, will prove a valuable staple of the colony; and grain was exported in 1836 to the value of L.9306. The total value of the imports in 1836, according to accounts laid before parliament, was L.991,943; of the exports, L.599,893.

The shipping has increased along with the commerce, as will appear from the following account.
[table]
[7:21:721]

The following is an account of the arrivals and departures in 1836.
[table]

Prior to 1817, the currency consisted principally of the private notes of merchants, traders, shopkeepers, publicans, and the amount was sometimes as low as sixpence. In this year the Bank of New South Wales was established, with a capital of L.20,000, whose notes superseded this objectionable currency. In 1825 the Bank of Australia was begun, with a capital between L.300,000 and L.400,000, of which L.45,000 is paid up. The Bank of Australasia was established in 1834, with a capital of L.200,000. There is also the Commercial Bank. All these banks have carried on a prosperous business, having paid a dividend from twelve to twenty per cent. The following is the amount of their respective circulation in 1836.
[table]

The whole amount of British coin in the colony is estimated to amount to L.445,000.^[10. See Tables of the Revenue, &c. of the United Kingdom and its Dependencies, p. 85. ]

From the preceding account of this prosperous and interesting colony, it will be seen that it has taken root in the country, and that it will progressively and rapidly increase, until the whole island be overspread with a civilized population. At the same time, those who have explored the interior of New South Wales do not bring back a good report of the land. The general testimony is, that the good land is chiefly confined to the banks of rivers; and, with the exception of these, it bears a small proportion to the poor and barren tracts. Many parts are but indifferently watered, and in general water is not abundant; and during the long droughts to which the country is liable, great distress must frequently ensue from this cause. To contend with these disadvantages, which will be the lot of succeeding generations, will require the full exercise of European skill and industry; and still the country, from its nature, will never support a dense population.

As in all new colonies, there is a scarcity both of labour and capital, and consequently a high rate of wages and profits; which, however inconvenient in some respects, must operate nevertheless as a powerful stimulus to internal improvement. The hire of mechanics is from six to eight shillings per day, and of common labour in proportion. The colony thus presents a decided contrast to the mother country, where the market is overstocked, where the great difficulty is to find employment for labour, and where, from the low rate of wages, the labourer can scarcely maintain himself and his family. The want of labour in New South Wales could be speedily supplied from the overcrowded community of this country, to the great benefit of both; but the expense of the voyage entirely prevents the emigration of the poorer class. In this case, there cannot be a wiser policy than to assist them with the necessary funds, and to this purpose rigidly to apply the sums that are received by government for the sale of lands in the colony. This system has been so far adopted; but the colonists complain that the emigration fund, as it is termed, which amounts to between L.100,000 and L.200,000 annually,^[11. It amounted in 1337 to L.120,427. See Account ordered by the House of Commons, 27th August 1839. ] is diverted from this paramount object, to others less important. So essential is an adequate supply of labour to the improvement of the colony, that the whole sum received for the sale of lands, they insist, should be laid out in facilitating emigration. The time however is fast approaching when the internal administration of this country must be committed to a legislative assembly of its own inhabitants. They are the best judges of their own affairs, and have the deepest interest in the public welfare; and it is only by a free constitution that abuses can be corrected, and that the colony can possess any security for the upright and careful management of its concerns.

Of late years, British colonies have been established on the western coast of New South Wales, at Swan river, and on the southern shore, on the Gulf of St Vincent, at Port Adelaide; and farther west, a new settlement has been begun at Port Philip, opposite to Van Diemen’s Land. It was in 1829 that a number of settlers left England for Swan river, and located themselves on the banks of the Swan and Canning; and by the end of the year, the new residents amounted to 850, and the non-residents to 440. The settlers received grants of land in proportion to the capital which they had to invest; and Mr Peel received 500,000 acres on condition of conveying a certain number of emigrants to the colony. Many difficulties and hardships were at first experienced. The land near the coast was found poor and sandy; but in the interior, fine pastoral and agricultural tracts have been discovered. Thus Western Australia seems to be of the same character as the eastern coast. A border of inferior land, diversified with rich tracts near the principal rivers, is bounded on the east by a range of primitive mountains, rising between 3000 and 4000 feet above the level of the sea, and occasionally showing the bare granite. Beyond these appears a level country, superior to the coast district, without however being anywhere highly productive, but covered with excellent pasture, where stock, and especially sheep, thrive well. The colony which has been established on this western coast, having overcome the first difficulties, now begins to prosper and to increase. Several townships have been established, namely, Freemantle, Perth, and Guildford, on the Swan river, and Augusta at the mouth of the Blackwood. There are several hotels, with excellent accommodations, and the state of society is well spoken of. Sir James Stirling was the founder, and is the governor. The coast abounds in excellent harbours, several of which are much frequented by sealing vessels. The temperature is warm and dry, and the climate salubrious. The governor has an executive and a legislative council to assist and to advise him, and there arc about thirty magistrates in the colony. Several thousand sheep and fine cattle are depastured in different parts. Roads have been formed, and public buildings erected; and a newspaper, first published in manuscript, now issues every week from the press, which is in full operation on the banks of the Swan river. Wool of a superior quality, plaster of Paris, and timber, have been exported to England.

The coast of South Australia, deeply indented with various inlets and commodious harbours, presents several advantageous situations for a settlement; and accordingly a charter was granted in 1834, to a colony to be established between east longitude 132° and 141°, and 26° of south [7:21:722]latitude from the Southern Ocean. An adventurous band of emigrants accordingly proceeded to take possession of the country along the shore of St Vincent’s Gulf, where they founded a settlement and town, which they called Port Adelaide. They encountered the usual difficulties of new settlers, but the colony now prospers and increases. The inhabitants in 1839 amounted to between 8000 and 9000. In 1837, the land sales, at the rate of twenty shillings peracre, produced L.3300, in 1838 L.37,800, and in 1839 it was estimated that they would amount to between L.50,000 and L.60,000. Between February 1837 and September 1838, twenty-eight vessels arrived, with between 500 and 600 emigrants. The greatest care was taken to obtain a moral and industrious population. Schools are already established, every effort has been made to conciliate the natives, several of their tribes being settled within the colony, and located in fixed habitations, where there is a school, with an interpreter, who is endeavouring to train them to civilized habits.^[12. See Third Annual Report of the Colonization Commissioners for South Australia, ordered to be printed by the House of Commons 13th April 1839. ] On the 30th June 1840, the population of South Australia amounted to 14,000. In Adelaide there were eight churches and meeting-houses, houses built of brick or stone 816, of wood 1588. The wages for carpenters were from 12s. to 15s. per day, masons and bricklayers 12s. to 14s., labourers 6s. to 7s.; men servants L.25 to L.60 per annum, women servants L.12 to L.25. Of the live stock there were, sheep 180,000, bringing prices from 25s. to 40s.; cattle 15,000, L. 12 to L.20; horses 1500, L.30 to L. 150; pigs 3600, L.2 to L.6; goats 400, L.3 to L.6. Of the land selected, there were 1042 acres in the town of Adelaide, 1053 in the port of Adelaide; of rural lands there were 357,880 acres; total number of acres surveyed, 359,975; special surveys of 4000 acres each, 36. The number of ships which arrived in the colony was 104, tonnage 19,399; number of ships from Europe 18, now in the harbour 12, tonnage 3059.

A settlement has more recently been formed at Port Philip, on the southern shore of New Holland, between 144° and 146° east longitude, to which settlers are resorting in great numbers; and the original locations have already greatly advanced in value. The comparative vicinity of this settlement to Sydney, with which there is a land communication, and to Van Diemen’s Land, must give it a preference to Swan River settlement, with which the communication is by a long sea-voyage. Nor can the settlement at Port Adelaide communicate so conveniently with the parent colony. The sea-coast is also indented with deep and extensive inlets, which would afford accommodation, equally capacious and safe, for any number or size of shipping. These natural harbours are on so grand a scale, that the most magnificent works of art appear insignificant in the comparison. (f.)