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 EMIGRATION FIELDS. 
 
 NORTH AMERICA, THE CAPE, AUSTRALIA, 
 
 ANb 
 
 NEW ZEALAND, 
 
 DESCRIBING THESE COUNTRIES, AND GIVING A 
 
 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF THE ADVANTAGES THEY 
 
 PRESENT TO BRITISH SETTLERS. 
 
 BY 
 
 — -giyr-ytf 
 
 PATRICK MATTHEW, 
 
 AUTHOR OF " NAVAL TIMBER AND ARBORICULTURE. 
 
 ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK, EDINBURGH ; 
 
 LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN AND LONGMANS, 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 1839. 
 
 4-|| 
 
Tin 
 
 which 
 
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 how v( 
 
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 which 
 
 regret i 
 
 written 
 
 while I 
 
 tions, i1 
 
TO THH PUBLIC. 
 
 This work {it first consisted only of the part 
 which relates to New Zealand. When I stated to 
 my Publisher that I had a work in the press upon 
 the Colonization of New Zealand, he objected to the 
 limitation of the subject, and advised me to treat 
 also of the neighbouring country, Australia. This 
 led me to reflect, whether I had not such a know- 
 ledge of the subject of our colonies generally, as 
 might be of use t*- my countrymen who were in- 
 clined to emigrate, and whether I could not shew 
 how very important an element emigration might 
 be rendered in our national economy. After deli- 
 berating, I resolved to extend the work to coloniza- 
 tion generally, and, in the following sheets, I have 
 at least given an honest sketch of those fields 
 which are open to British Emigration. What I 
 regret is, that the first portion having been hurriedly 
 written, while the second portion was in types, and 
 while I was a good deal engaged with other occupa- 
 tions, it is not so full in description and reflection as 
 
 
▼1 
 
 TO THE I'UBLR'. 
 
 it would have bcon uudor other (rircimistanccH ; but 
 thin may bo countorbalanct'd in its bcin^, in conso- 
 quonce, moro condenHcd and generalized in its views. 
 It may be objected to this work, that too much 
 attention h.'is been liestowed on tlie political rela- 
 tions and prospects of our Emigration Fields. A 
 little consideration will however convince the ob- 
 jector, th.at this is not the case. The progress of 
 colonies depends almost entirely upon their political 
 relations ; besides, whilst I wished to afford the most 
 correct and comprehensive account for the informa- 
 tion of Emigrants, I wished also to render the work 
 such as the Statesman and Economist might peruse. 
 The proposed Pacific steam-communication via 
 the Isthmus of Darien, will soon bring New Zealand, 
 and the fine countries on the west coast of North 
 America, within little more than a month's voyage. 
 In regard to New Zealand in particular, there is, 
 I would almost say, a wilful blindness to its import- 
 ance as a commercial and maritime station, and in- 
 valuable raw-material field of supply. The saga- 
 cious Franklin was aware of its importance, and 
 drew up a plan for its colonization. Gibraltar, 
 Malta, the Bermudas, the Mauritius, Quebec, are 
 comparatively valueless. But because these are 
 hallowed by recollections of their importance in 
 past times, we continue to regard them as invalu- 
 able, and disregard what, in reference to the future 
 trade of Britain, and of the world, and as a com- 
 
TO THE PUBLIC. 
 
 VII 
 
 maiuling naval station, will be found in value tanta- 
 mount to all these put together. 
 
 Much has been said, and with much truth, of tho 
 excessive toil and insufticiont remuneration of tho 
 working-men in Britain. It is easy to expatiate and 
 bo eloquent ujjon a subject so palpably distressing ; 
 but has any plan been suggested for the quiet and 
 just extirpation of the evil equally effectual with that 
 proposed in the ensuing pages i 
 
 The condition of man, more especially in Britain, 
 is upon the eve of a great change. Facility of pro- 
 duction has become so great, that one-third tho 
 labour, nay, even less than a third, that was required 
 half a century ago, can now supply him with tho 
 necessaries and comforts of life. The facility of 
 communication, — of traffic with, and emigration to, 
 the most distant parts of the world, is now equally 
 advanced ; the whole of the unpeopled regions of tho 
 earth may now be said to be British ground, and 
 the gate is opened to an exceedingly improved field 
 for human labour and vast increase of British race. 
 The working-men of Britain are determined that they 
 will no longer be restrained from reaping the fruits 
 of these advantages^ by monopolies and regulations, 
 which cause these discoveries and improvements to 
 administer only to the luxury of a particular class. 
 The working-men see, that the means of moral im- 
 provement and rational human enjoyment, are now 
 within their reach. The capabilities of man for hap- 
 
 frti 
 
 r? 
 
 p 
 
Vlll 
 
 TO THE PUBLIC. 
 
 piiiess, and for moral advancement, has hitherto been 
 suffered to run waste. The elements of a new con- 
 dition of things are all procured, and there is only 
 awanting a proper arrangement and social organiza- 
 tion, to afford a sufficiency of all that renders life 
 delightful and innocent to the whole human family, — 
 a condition of things which causes the heart to swell 
 and beat within us. 
 
 PATRICK MATTHEW. 
 
 Gouni)iE-HiLL, 
 
 26i./i November 183J5. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I ii 
 
 Chap. I. Utility of Emigration and Colonies, . Page 1 
 
 II. Circumstances which modify Temperature, . 13 
 
 Classification of Emigrants, ... 19 
 
 III. North America, 2fi 
 
 Description and Advantages as Emigration Fields. 
 
 1. The Maritime Provinces of the St Lawrence, 26 
 
 2. The Country of the Lakes, Upper Canada, 31 
 
 3. The New England States, and Highlands of 
 
 the regions between these States and the 
 
 Gulf of Florida, .... 39 
 
 4. The Atlantic Sea-board Flats, east of the Al- 
 
 learhany Range, .... 49 
 
 5. The Mississippi Basin, ... 66 
 
 IV. Mexico, 62 
 
 The removal of a million of Irish to the Texas, 
 
 the best poor-law for Ireland, . . 67 
 
 V. The Western Territory of North America, 70 
 
 To Colonize these fine regions recommended 72 
 
 VI. The Cape, 76 
 
 VII. Australia, ....... 84 
 
 Indications of great and dangerous Aridity of 
 
 Climate, 86 
 
 That the Aridity and Sterility will increase, 88 
 
 Means of Prevention suggested, . . 89 
 The extra-tropical portion of Australia best 
 
 fitted for a Sheep Walk, ... 90 
 
 '111 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 m 
 
 Destructive hot Blasts in New South Wales 
 
 and great uncertainty of Crops, . . 92 
 
 West Australia, or Swan River Settlement, 102 
 South Australia, . . . .• . 104 
 
 Australia Felix, 108 
 
 Tasmania, or Van Diemen's Land, . 109 
 
 VIII. Description of New Zealand, — its capabilities for 
 becoming the Naval Emporium of the Southern 
 Hemisphere, and of the Pacific, under British 
 Colonization, 114 
 
 IX. Especial reasons for Colonizing New Zealand. 
 
 1. Importance of New Zealand, politically and 
 
 commercially to Britain, . . • 120 
 
 2. Importance of New Zealand as a resource for 
 
 provisioning Australia in time of extreme 
 droughts, and generally as the granary of 
 New South Wales, ... 122 
 
 3. Importance of New Zealand as the head- 
 
 quarters of the South Sea Whale-Fishery, 124 
 
 4. Philanthropic reason why New Zealand 
 
 should be colonized in preference to every 
 other country, 126 
 
 5. The occupation of New Zealand — The duty 
 
 of Great Britain in humanity to the native 
 Tribes, and for the protection of British 
 settlers, 129 
 
 X. Prefatory observations to a plan for colonizing 
 
 Now Zealand, with proposals of a Peace Corps, 137 
 
 XI. Plan of a protective and combinable labour nu- 
 
 cleus for the colony, 150 
 
 XII. Necessary Supplies — Location of the Colonizing 
 Expedition — Purchase and sale of lands to Co- 
 lonists — Titles, Registration, &c. . . 156 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xi 
 
 XIII. Treatment of the Natives — Address to the Natives 
 
 on reaching New Zealand, and pressing occupa- 
 tions on landing, 162 
 
 XIV. Bill for Colonizing New Zealand, account of 
 
 opposition of the Ministry, . . . 169 
 
 Defects of the Bill, 175 
 
 XV. The Economy of Colonization. — A considerati'. ^ of 
 
 the effects of a " sufficient," or high Govern- 
 ment price of fresh land, upon the prosperity of 
 New Settlements, and the physical, moral, and 
 social condition of Colonists, with some account 
 of the practice of South Australia, . . 181 
 
 XVI. Remarks on Colonial Legislation, . . 203 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Note A. Misery of the "Working Classes, and remedy, 213 
 
 B. Radical Charity, 216 
 
 C. To the British Fair, 219 
 
 D. Land-property Right, 222 
 
 E. Hottentot adaptation to the climate of the Cape, 224 
 
 F. Tobacco Smoking, 225 
 
 G. The British Navy, 227 
 
 H. Monetary System. — That the Progress of Modem 
 
 Civilization has been in a great measure owing 
 to the depreciation of the Value of Money, con- 
 sequent to working the American Mines, 229 
 
 1:. f 
 
 :% n 
 
 Prospectus of a Joint Stock Company for Colonizing 
 New Zealand, 235 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 The first seven Chapters of this Volume having been hurriedly 
 written, and the writer at a distance from the place of Printing, a 
 number of errors and faults of composition have been overlooked. 
 The writer hopes that the amount of condensed useful information 
 will counterbalance them. The following are a few of the most pro- 
 minent errors. 
 
 Page 21, line 4, from bottom, /o>- as ;ead is 
 
 23, 16, for causes read cases 
 
 2a, 9, for has read have 
 
 34, 7i for and read with 
 
 74, 7, for can read being able to 
 
 76, 4, for the read tliis 
 
 91 , 17, for One read Our 
 
 109, 19, before the insert and 
 
 1G6, 23, for thoup;h read through 
 178, 5 from foot, /or by the read talten by 
 
 170. bottom line, for principle read principal 
 
 187, 6 from bottom, for is read are 
 
 190, lowest line, for principle read principal 
 
 1!>9, 3, insert commn after labour 
 
EMIGRATION FIELDS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 UTILITY OF EMIGRATION AND COLONIES. 
 
 M ' 
 
 Britain, at the present moment, exhibits man in 
 a position altogether new, from the extensive appli- 
 cation of steam power and improved machinery in aid 
 of human labour. By means of these facilities to pro- 
 duction, together with combined labour, the work of 
 man has been rendered doubly efficient in raising 
 food, and many times more efficient in fabricating 
 clothing, and other human requisites. An immense 
 available power and surplus labour supply has thus 
 been developed, limited in the field of food produc- 
 tion by our confined territory, restricted in the field 
 of manufacturing production by our home food-mo- 
 nopoly. A great change in the relative proportion 
 of labour and capital requisite for production has 
 also taken place, and human labour, in part super- 
 seded by steam power and machinery, has undergone 
 a comparative depreciation of value. The usual bar 
 lance of demand and supply of laboui' being thus 
 
 A 
 
 ■ in- 
 
a UTILITY OF EMIGRATION AND COLONIES. 
 
 deranged, has caused occasional gluts, and it may 
 require a time, and much further misery may ensue, 
 risking political convulsion, before the social economy 
 adjust itself, unassisted, to the new order of things. 
 One of the most prominent consequences of this 
 new order, is the great comparative increase of num- 
 ber of the non-producing classes (the holders of ac- 
 cumulated wealth — the idle recipients of income) 
 and the unprecedented extent of their comforts and 
 luxuries, while the condition of the working-class, 
 instead of improving, has deteriorated — (see Appen- 
 dix A). Had the free-trade system been adopted 
 contemporaneously with this available increase of 
 power of production, the condition of the working- 
 class would, no doubt, have improved in nearly an 
 equal degree, as an almost unlimited demand for oui* 
 manufactures, in exchange for the food and raw pro- 
 duce of the Continent, would have taken place. But 
 as this system, however much to be desired, is a want- 
 ing, and the mischievous effects of our restrictive 
 system already in part irremediable, humanity calls 
 upon us to endeavour to devise some other means 
 of effecting an improvement in the condition of the 
 working-class, but of such a nature, as not to impede 
 tlie attainment of free trade. 
 
 Prevented by our trade-restrictive system from ob- 
 taining a market in foreign nations for the immense 
 surplus fabrics which this vast increase of power is 
 capable of producing, there is only one other avail- 
 able resource, — to transplant our surplus working-popu- 
 lation to new lands. This would not only bring about 
 a salutary balance in our home economy, but at the 
 same time, by raising up new and most valuable cus- 
 
 will 
 
 Sill 
 
 pr 
 11 
 
UTILITY OF EMIGRATION AND COLONIES. 
 
 s 
 
 tomers, would afford wide and extending fields of 
 consumption, commensurate with the future increase 
 of our powers of production. In the present condi- 
 tion of Britain, it is even probable that a system of 
 colonization, judiciously planned and svfficienthj fol- 
 lowed out, would eventually be equally promotive of 
 the comfort and happiness of the working-population 
 of Britain, as if free trade were to give full scope to 
 the employment of the whole working-population at 
 home, and at the same time be more influential in 
 improving the race of man generally. Change of 
 place within certain limits of latitude, seems to have 
 a tendency to improve the species equally in animals 
 as in plants, and agricultural and trading occupations 
 are far more congenial to health and increase, than 
 manufacturing occupations. It cannot therefore be 
 doubted that the increase of the British race (evi- 
 dently a superior race), and their extension over the 
 world, and even the vigour of the race itself, will be 
 more promoted by this colonizing system, than by 
 the utmost freedom of trade without the colonizing 
 system, and the turning of our entire energies to 
 manufacturing industry. 
 
 This attempt to draw attention to colonization 
 proceeds from no wish to check the present national 
 effort to obtain free trade ! Colonial intercourse is 
 in effect a circumscribed kind of free trade, under 
 peculiarly favourable circumstances ; and the amazinp 
 increase^ and vast extent and advantage, of our colonial 
 trade^ is the most direct 'proof of the advantage^ not only 
 to Britain, hut to mankind^ which would result from free 
 trade over all. Every enactment to prevent the ex- 
 change of the produce of labour between man and 
 
 11. f- ; 
 
 I 
 
 i\-. i 
 
; 
 
 i-' 
 
 M 
 
 4 UTILITY OF EMIGRATION AND COLONIES. 
 
 man, and nation and nation, if the article is not in- 
 jurious to health and morals, is truly diabolic. All 
 who have aided in these enactments ought to bo held 
 up to the detestation of mankind as repressers of in- 
 dustry, as promoters of misery, as ministers of evil, 
 -selfishly bent upon rendering abortive the good which 
 a benevolent Providence has designed for man, in 
 forming one portion of the earth more fitted for the 
 seat of manufacturing industry and trade, and other 
 portions for the peculiar production of various kinds 
 of food and raw material, thus calculated, by giving 
 rise to a reciprocity of advantageous intercourse, 
 to promote an enlightening and friendly connection, 
 and to diffuse science, morality, the arts of life, all 
 that conduces to improvement and happiness, over 
 the nations. 
 
 In the event of our own Legislature adopting the 
 fVoe-trade system, the introduction of the colonizing, 
 by rendering Great Britain more independent of 
 foreign nations, will be a means of inducing these 
 nations also to agree to a reciprocity of free- trade'; 
 wliereas, were we soliciting the free exchange of 
 commodities, and apparently dependent upon these 
 nations for a market, there would be no end to the 
 liaggling of their selfish and ignorant governments. 
 In this view, therefore, colonization is a step to the 
 attainment of general free trade throughout the 
 world ; at any rate, the increase of our trade and 
 manufactures, sequent to an extensive emigration, 
 by diffusing intelligence and wealth, must sooner 
 bring about the free- trade system. 
 
 The mind is almost overwhelmed in contemplating 
 the prospects of improvement in the general condi- 
 
 W 
 
UTILITY OP EMIGRATION AND COLONIES. 
 
 D 
 
 tion of humanity, now opening through the medium 
 of British colonization, and the consequent diffusion 
 of the elevating and meliorating influences of British 
 liberty, knowledge, and civilization. One great free 
 naval people, aided by all the discoveries of modern 
 science, and united under the attractions of a com- 
 mon literature, and the reciprocal advantage of th( 
 exchange of staple products, increasing rapidly in 
 numbers, and ramifying extensively over numerous 
 maritime regions, will soon overshadow continental 
 despotisms, and render them innocuous. 
 
 From the unlimited supply of new land, colonies 
 are especially fitted for a connection with Britain. 
 Being in the opposite extremes of condition, they 
 are in the highest degree mutually beneficial, the 
 former affording the raw material in exchange for 
 the more laboured products of industry of the latter, 
 while at the same time the colonists are by habit 
 great consumers of British manufactures. What is 
 required is, that the extension of colonization should 
 go hand in hand with the extension of manufactures, 
 thus generating new markets in proportion to the 
 increase of fabrics. 
 
 But, at the present moment, it is as a salutary 
 drain to our overstocked labour-market, that colo- 
 nization is so vitally necessary. To bring things to 
 a healthy state, a vast exportation of working-popu- 
 lation must in the first place be effected, and to keej) 
 them so, a constant great stream of emigration must 
 be afterwards kept up. And in proportion as this 
 efflux is properly regulated, will, at the same time, 
 the condition of the people at home and abroad be 
 prosperous, and the population progressive. 
 
 U: 
 
 fi 
 
 
 
 Wt ■ 
 
6 
 
 UTILITY OF EMIGRATION AND COLONIES. 
 
 m 
 
 That colonization Is nioroly sowing the seeds of fu- 
 ture prosperity, is proved by the clearest and most di- 
 rect evidence. The perfection and extent of our manu- 
 factures — the source of our national wealth and of 
 the value of our landed property, are manifestly 
 owing to the demand and supply of the United 
 States, and the other colonies which we have plant- 
 ed ; our trade to these far exceeding that to all the 
 world besides. Emigration to fruitful new lands, 
 where our superabundant capital and population 
 would be employed to the greatest advantage and 
 most rapidly enlarged, b?/ u'hich our paupers would 
 he transformed into rich customers (our greatest evil 
 turned to our greatest good), is in i)olicy and huma- 
 nity alike our interest and our duty, as being the 
 clear and direct road to prosperity. Under a pro- 
 perly regulated colonization, the most sanguine can 
 scarcely form a conjecture of the extent to which our 
 manufacturing and commercial greatness might be 
 carried, and the comfort and happiness to which all 
 classes might attain. 
 
 Under a properly regulated colonization, to obey 
 the common instincts of nature, " to increase and 
 multiply," instead of being, as it too frequently has 
 been in Britain, a curse, will become, as in the United 
 States, a blessing. Things have been so far misdirect- 
 ed hitherto^ that the greatly increased facilities of pro- 
 duction of what is necessary to the comfort and pleasur- 
 able existence of man^ which^ tinder proper direction^ 
 ought to have benefited all classes^ has only administer- 
 ed to the luxury of a comparatively small number^ the 
 property class. So sensible are the working men in 
 England of this, that they have considered facility of 
 
UTILITY OP EMIGRATION AND COLONIES. 
 
 production their enemy, and have had recourse to 
 the most pernicious and atrocious practices, — ma- 
 chinery-breaking, and burning of agricultural pro- 
 duce, to prevent it. The old system of English poor- 
 law (perhaps the worst that could have been invent- 
 ed) and the new amendment, are equally ineffectual 
 to accomplish the end desired, — the prevention of 
 human misery, — the removal of those suffering.s aris- 
 ing from inadequate employment or inadequate re- 
 muneration, evils for which there can be no effectual 
 remedy save an increased or improved field of labour ; 
 and this, as formerly stated, is obtainable in Britain 
 only by free trade or by extensive emigration, but 
 most effectually by both. The prudential check, from 
 which so much has been expected, is but an irksome 
 and unnatural palliative, scarcely preferable to the 
 natural destructive check itself. * Nothing can be 
 moi'3 pernicious than poor-law contributions, and 
 charitable givings, and bequests of all descriptions, at 
 least as these matters have been conducted. It ijs 
 merely a nursing of misery^ — keeping up a vast num- 
 ber of unemployed people, ready at all times, should 
 labour come a little more into demand, to compete 
 with those in employment, and keep down wages to 
 the lowest pitch that the animal machine can be 
 kept working upon. 
 
 Charity is not less injurious as interfering with the 
 great law of nature, by which pain and death are the 
 
 • While two-thirds of the world are lying almost waste, and 
 the other third very imperfectly cultivated, it is yet rather pre- 
 mature to speak of preventive or destructive checks, — war, nun- 
 neries, infanticide, single blessedness. The latter, recommended 
 as preferable to colonization by political economists, may be 
 left to their own especial practice. 
 
 i 
 
8 
 
 UTILITY OF EMIGRATION AND COLONIES. 
 
 i 
 
 established penalty of ignorance, idleness, and impro- 
 vidence ; enjoyment and life the reward of knowledge, 
 industry, and forethought. Alma or relief to the 
 poor is clearly an interference with, or a subversion 
 of, this natural law, and though it does not prevent 
 the suffering sequent to the former, it destroys the 
 advantages se(pient to thr latter, and only promotes 
 general misery. It is to the purposes of colonization 
 that the English poor-rates and other charitable be- 
 (juests, now worse than uselessly consumed in nursing 
 up the improvident poor and keeping down the indus- 
 trious, should be converted. (See Appendix B.) 
 
 A sufficient emigration of the labour-classes would 
 increase the labour-demand, and raise wages so 
 high, that every one able and willing to work would 
 obtain a competency for the support of a family, and 
 even of a parent in infirm old age, in case of 
 necessity ; thus cutting up pauperism by the roots, 
 and leaving the bastiles, the poverty-prisons in 
 the south of England, untenanted. In the United 
 States of America nearly all the marriageable people 
 enter the marriage state and find a family advan- 
 tageous to the increase of their wealth and comfort. 
 This arises from the favourable field for industry, 
 and the social advantages they enjoy. Nothing hin- 
 ders Great Britain from enjoying these, and even 
 greater advantages, but her own stupid and guilty 
 neglect. In many respects she is equally favour- 
 ably circumstanced as America, in some much more 
 favourably. Her climate is better, her capital be- 
 yond comparison greater, her machinery and aids of 
 human labour and advantages of combined labour 
 vastly superior, her new unpeopled territory more ex- 
 
UTILITY OF EMIGRATION AND COLONIPIS. 
 
 9 
 
 tonsivo and moro favourably Hituatinl for trade, and 
 0(|ually vfiaWy reached, — it ih not more difficult for a 
 native of ]3ritain to emigrate beyond seas to her co- 
 lonies, than for an inhabitant of the Atlantic States 
 to go to the banks of tho Missouri and T^'xas terri- 
 tory. Why, then, should ti/^' condition of the work- 
 ing population of Britain not be as favourable 
 as that of America ? Simply because the field of 
 labour, from our narrow home territory, dense popu- 
 lation, and restrictive trade system, is more limited 
 in proportion to the labour supply, and that we fail 
 to profit by our opportunities of extending it. A suf- 
 ficient emigration would render it equally, if not more 
 favourable. Let the truly charitable — those who have 
 the welfare of their suffering countrymen really at 
 heart, reflect that ignorance is criminal, where know- 
 ledge is within their reach. Let them hasten to 
 devote their exertions and wealth to purposes of uti- 
 lity, and not waste them in increasing the very evils 
 they wish to remedy. Let them promote colonization. 
 With an overflowing capital, and a population, 
 notwithstanding our emigration, increasing at pre- 
 sent nearly 400,000 annually, and as things are regu- 
 lated beyond the means of full subsistence and la- 
 bour-demand, Britain is placed under circumstances 
 more favourable than ever occurred at any former 
 period for carrying the principle of colonization into 
 effect to its fullest, most salutary extent. The im- 
 portance of emigration, as before stated, is proved by 
 the immense and most advantageous trade we now 
 carry on with the countries we have colonized ; an al- 
 most unlimited extent of unoccupied territory is at 
 our command ; a very extensive emigration is neces- 
 
 ■ 'I 
 
 \ 
 
 h 
 
10 
 
 UTILITY OP EMIGRATION AND COLONIES. 
 
 
 
 sary to render a poor-law practicable in Ireland, and 
 to assist the working of the new poor-law in Eng- 
 land (a sufficient emigration would soon render both 
 unnecessary) ; the beautiful, I would almost say de- 
 signed, adaptation of the sale of colonial new lands, 
 partly producing funds to carry out working emigrants 
 is now discovered ; the economy of transporting great 
 numbers to distant countries in health and safety is 
 nearly perfected : — all these conspire in an almost 
 miraculous manner to place the destinies of man 
 at the disposal of Britain, and to render the pre- 
 sent era the most eventful in the history of the world, 
 — the era of colonization. 
 
 Even although 450,000 (the present total yearly 
 increase, including the present emigration, nearly 
 100,000) were exported annually, the future increase, 
 from the improved condition of the great body of the 
 people, would extend perhaps to double this number, 
 say 1,000,000 annually, and that of our capital in a 
 corresponding ratio ; while at the same time the de- 
 mand for manufactured produce, caused by the wants 
 of the exported portion of our people, would greatly 
 improve the home labour-demand, even with this great 
 increase of hands. Thus our numbers would go on 
 increasing faster at home than at present, while at 
 the same time the country would increase in power, 
 in a ratio still more rapid from the greater prosperity 
 of all. 
 
 It is only within a few years that the immense im- 
 portance of colonization has come to be appreciated ; 
 recently the most unfavourable prejudices existed re- 
 specting it, and the most erroneous and absurd doc- 
 trines were promulgated, to feed the popular odium, 
 
UTILITY OF EMIGRATION AND COLONIES. 
 
 11 
 
 by political economists ; who, in their wisdom, could 
 never solve the difficulty how Britain continued the 
 richest nation of the world, while her resources were 
 being wasted upon numberless useless colonies. Let 
 us contemplate the difference of results which the re- 
 sources of Britain would have accomplished \u> d they 
 been so wasted, — had they been devoted to purposes 
 of creation as they were to purposes of destruction 
 during the American and French revolutionary 
 wars. We did not then hesitate to lavish hundreds 
 of millions in engaging in deadly feud the European 
 and American nations. It seems hitherto to have 
 been the principle of Government to hold any expense 
 incurred for purposes other than rapine or destruction 
 as a misapplication of the national resources. A 
 change is at hand. The reign of Queen Victoria pro- 
 mises to be glorious for a victory over barbarism 
 and human misery — Colonization is the means. 
 
 A tax of ten per cent, in Britain and Ireland 
 upon land rental would be most profitably employed 
 in carrying out labouring emigrants, and in locating 
 them comfortably. This would be a humane and 
 rational amendment of the English poor law, and 
 the best poor-law for Ireland that could be intro- 
 duced. This fund, together with the proceeds of 
 the sales of colonial lands, under judicious and eco- 
 nomical management, would in the course of a few 
 years have a most beneficial effect upon trade, and 
 greatly ameliorate the condition of the working po- 
 pulation : continued for half a century it would 
 change the face of things over a great portion of 
 the habitable world ; and the extent of its effects, 
 persisted in for several centuries, would be beyond 
 
 ' i 
 i k 
 
 I 
 
 ii 
 
 fL' 
 
 B 
 
12 
 
 UTILITY OP EMIGRATION AND COLONIES. 
 
 iJi! 
 
 ,1 
 
 even what we now can contemplate. The vast en- 
 crease of the value of land-property in Britain, 
 which scarcely suffered a nominal reduction, by the 
 doubling of the value of money by PeePs bill, is 
 caused by the food monopoly. Were the corn-laws 
 entirely abolished, rental would not exceed one- 
 half what it now is, excepting for property in the 
 vicinity of towns. And granting what the self-in- 
 terested assert — that a tax upon foreign grain is ne- 
 cessary to prevent Britain from being at the mercy 
 of foreign nations for food, — that it is better to be 
 kept constantly at the starvation point, than to have 
 foreign supplies, although our fabrics are lying with- 
 out purchasers, our working men idle, and the grain 
 in the Prussian warehouses consuming by weevils, — 
 that it is more likely an equable supply will be de- 
 rived from the home- country alone, than from the 
 home-country, with all the world to assist, a super- 
 fluity of crop in one country balancing the deficiency 
 of crop in another ; — even granting all this, and the 
 necessity of the food-monopoly, our landholders are 
 clearly indebted to the community in a drawback tax 
 equal to the increase of their rents by the foreign 
 grain-tax, especially as they, like the other property 
 holders, are much less taxed in proportion to income 
 than the working population. The adoption of this 
 tax of ten per cent, on land-rental cannot therefore 
 meet with any reasonable opposition from them. 
 Even in the event of the attainment of free trade, 
 it would be but a very small return of what they are 
 indebted to the community for the increased rents 
 they have unjustly been receiving in past years. 
 
] I 
 
 ( 13 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 in IS ne- 
 
 CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MODIFY TEMPERATURE, AND 
 CLASSIFICATION OF EMIGRANTS. 
 
 Having demonstrated the extreme importance of 
 Colonies to the progressive prosperity of the Em- 
 pire, and the necessity of extensive emigration to 
 the well-being of the labouring population ; that the 
 wages of labour, the returns from capital, the mer- 
 cantile marine, in short, all the elements of national 
 happiness and greatness, would be greatly increased, 
 I shall now take an excursive glance at the different 
 most inviting fields, where colonization is practica- 
 ble, endeavouring to point out the advantages or 
 disadvantages which these present to intending emi- 
 grants. 
 
 Before entering on this, however, I shall make a 
 few remarks on climate, temperature, and the cir- 
 cumstances by which they are modified. A correct 
 knowledge of these is necessary to a comprehensive 
 acquaintance with the economy of colonization, and 
 to assist the intending emigrant in making choice of 
 a future home, and it will save future digression. A 
 few remarks will also be necessary on the classifica- 
 tion of emigrants. 
 
 kr:i 
 
 f 
 
 
14 
 
 TEMPERATURE. 
 
 "I 
 
 m 
 
 Circumstances which modify Temperature. 
 
 1st, Altitude. — Every one knows that the tempera- 
 ture diminishes as we ascend above the level of the 
 sea. At the Equator, the line of perpetual snow is 
 nearly three miles above the sea-level, and in Britain 
 nearly one mile. The decrease of temperature may 
 be taken roughly at about 300 feet of altitude for 
 one degree (Fahrenheit) of temperature, or one de- 
 gree of latitude. This decrease, however, is very un- 
 equal at different places. High table-lands are 
 much warmer than high mountain peaks, rising from 
 a low level : this is caused by the sun's rays heating 
 only opaque bodies, — the surface of the earth, and 
 not the transparent air. Exemplifying this, we 
 find the line of perpetual snow on the north side of 
 the Himmaleh mountains (contrary to what we might 
 expect from the exposure) is much higher than on 
 the south side : this is owing to the very high level 
 of the surface of the country to the north of these 
 mountains, and the comparatively low level of the 
 south. 
 
 The temperate zones, to pole-wardof 30 °of latitude, 
 where malaria does not abound, are favourable to 
 the European or Caucasian race. Within the tropics, 
 and to the distance of 30° from the Equator, it is 
 necessary to ascend from two to eight thousand feet 
 to obtain a temperature fitted to that race. At 
 a high altitude, in low latitudes, we have a nearly 
 constant equality of mild temperature, — a perpetual 
 spring, which might be considered exceedingly fa- 
 vourable to animal and vegetable life. But another 
 circumstance powerfully affecting the economy of 
 
ALTITUDE. 
 
 To 
 
 animal and vegetable life, comes into action, at least 
 when we exceed six or eight thousand feet. The 
 air, at these high altitudes, from the absence of 
 pressure, is much rarer than at the level of the sea, — 
 so rare, as to be much less fitted to excite and sus- 
 tain the energy of the vital functions; the lungs 
 seem too unsubstantially inflated to supply a suffi- 
 ciently aerated or assimilated blood ; the working 
 of the pulsatory mechanism of the heart is also de- 
 fective, — any kind of muscular exertion, especially 
 the climbing of an eminence, causing the heart to 
 palpitate to a painful degree. There is, however, 
 an adaptive power in nature, which gradually ac- 
 commodates the living mechanism to a change of cir- 
 cumstances, and the lungs of those who have so- 
 journed at these altitudes for a number of years be- 
 come, in some degree, accommodated to their un- 
 substantial fare ; and this adaptation is increased, 
 when the individual has been born in the locality, 
 and still more, when his progenitors have been so. 
 Neither animals nor plants, however, attain the 
 same vigour, size, and weight that they do at lower 
 levels. The human system is also liable to diseases 
 not known, or very rare, at lower levels ; and, upon 
 the whole, excepting in the case of a few species, 
 which seem formed peculiarly for high elevation, the 
 condition of life is inferior, and life itself of shorter 
 duration. 
 
 Between the 30th and 40th parallel of latitude, 
 mountains andtable land, of from two to four thousand 
 feet in altitude, are sufficiently favourable to animal 
 and vegetable life, and especially to the White Euro- 
 pean race of men, who, on hills, at these altitudes, 
 
 M 
 
 ;ti 
 
 r- 
 
16 
 
 TEMPERATURE. 
 
 1^ 
 
 mh 
 
 11 
 
 ti' 
 
 from the moist and bracing atmosphere, and general 
 absence of putrescent malaria, attain a ruddy and 
 bright complexion, and do not yield to those at the 
 sea-level, in strength, hardihood, or longevity. As 
 we advance from the 40th parallel to the polar 
 circles, the altitudes favourable to life gradually 
 diminish till about the 60th parallel, when only the 
 lands immediately above the sea-level are habitable. 
 
 2d, Prevalence of land or water in the vicinity, 
 or in the same quarter of the world ; land causing 
 extremes of temperature ; water, especially deep 
 water, equalizing it, excepting when frozen. 
 
 3d, Trade winds^ or prevailing aerial currents. — 
 These blow on the north temperate zone, from west 
 and south-west ; and on the south temperate zone, 
 from the west and north-west. Within the Tropics, 
 and in summer, for about 10 degrees of latitude be- 
 yond them, the trade-winds blow, on the north of 
 the Line from the east and north-east ; and on the 
 south of the Line from the east and south-east. 
 These winds generally blow from eight to ten months 
 of the year. Winds, or the motion of the air, by 
 mixing different strata, tend generally to equalize 
 temperature, especially that of day and night ; by 
 giving out heat to the surface of the earth, as they 
 brush along, they prevent it from cooling very low in 
 the night from radiation, and thus producing hoar- 
 frost, and by taking in heat during the day, prevent 
 it from becoming much heated by the sun's rays. 
 
 4th, Winds that come over an extent of sea, if 
 that sea is not frozen, invariably equalize the tem- 
 perature of the country to which they blow. 
 
 c5th. Winds that come ovor an extent of land m 
 
WINDS. 
 
 17 
 
 winter, when the surface of the country is covorod 
 with snow, cooled to a very low temperature, are ex- 
 ceedingly keen, and frequently destructive of animal 
 life. They are also destructive of the vegetables 
 which are above ground in winter, when not pro- 
 tected by snow, such as wheat, rye, rape, turnips. 
 Britain, from its insular position, is but little affect- 
 ed by these winds ; but the North of Europe, and 
 Asia and North America, north of 35° of latitude, 
 suffer extremely. 
 
 6th, Winds that blow over an extent of land in 
 summer, when the surface of the land is dry and 
 heated, raise temperature. These winds, when 
 coming from an extent of sandy desert, or parched 
 country, are frequently warmer than the natural 
 temperature of the human body, rising to 100° and 
 upward of Fahrenheit. They become then extremely 
 distressing to the human feelings ; every species of 
 vegetation shrivels up and disappears under their 
 blasting influence, while all descriptions of timber 
 frame-work and machinery crack and twist, and go 
 to pieces. The sii'occo of the Levant, and the 
 north-wester of New South Wales, are instances of 
 this. The blasting mortal effect of the simoom of 
 the desert, the most pernicious of all, seems owing 
 to some electric agency. 
 
 7th, In the north temperate zone, an extent of 
 water to the northward of any country, and in the 
 south temperate zone to the southward, has a power- 
 ful influence in softening the rigour of winter. One 
 of the chief causes of cold in the temperate zones 
 in winter, is the continuance of winds from the 
 frigid zones, below the freezing point. When 
 
 B 
 
 M 
 
 ! I 
 
 f 
 
 : 
 
 
 ^ 
 
18 
 
 TEMPERATURE. 
 
 
 -a 
 
 9 
 
 water not frozen exists towards the pole, wind or 
 moving air from that direction, by its contact and 
 friction with the waves, as it sweeps along, receives 
 heat from the water, and is generally raised in tem- 
 perature above the freezing point ; and countries thus 
 situated, as to the sea, are freed from one great cause 
 of a very low depression of temperature, being only 
 subject to be cooled by throwing off heat by radiation, 
 by the electric meteoric agency in generating cold, or 
 by evaporation. Countries thus situated with sea 
 towards the pole, are also less subject to rains, and 
 consequently have less evaporation, than if they had 
 sea in any other direction. It is generally winds 
 from the sea which cause rain to fall ; but air 
 coming over sea, from the direction of the pole, 
 upon reaching the land, gains a warmer locality, 
 unless in case of high mountains overbalancing the 
 effect of diminished latitude ; and although this air 
 were fully charged with moisture, at what is termed 
 the dew-point, instead of depositing this moisture, 
 it acquires by increase of temperature greater 
 power of suspension. On the contrary, when sea 
 lies in any other . direction, especially towards the 
 equator, the warm air, whose power of suspending 
 moisture is great, and which, by moving along the 
 watery surface, has been fully charged with moisture 
 (at the dew-point), when it reaches land cooler than 
 itself, necessarily deposits a part of its moisture. 
 This is greatly increased when the locality is of high 
 elevation, — when it partakes both of the coolness of 
 higher altitude and higher latitude. Exemplifying 
 this, we find the country southward of the Canadian 
 Lakes has a winter nearly a month shorter than the 
 
 ■i 
 
 .A 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF EMIGRANTS. 
 
 19 
 
 same parallel of latitude in America, a little to the 
 east or west, where land extends to the northward. 
 Morayshire, and East Lothian, in Scotland, are 
 both placed under circumstances nearly similar, and 
 are considerably earlier in vernal vegetation, and in 
 harvesting their crops, than any other part of Scot- 
 land, or North of England ; the harvest in Moray- 
 shire being generally as early as in England in the 
 parallel of Liverpool. In both places (Morayshire 
 and East Lothian), a dry sandy soil, and compara- 
 tively dry climate, from no high land being in the 
 immediate vicinity, assist in increasing the tempera- 
 ture. The great quantity of rain which falls on the 
 west mountain-shores of Great Britain, Ireland, and 
 Norway, where a warm sea-wind from the south- 
 west, partaking of the heat of the Gulf-stream, and 
 surcharged with moisture, reaches a cooler locality, 
 is also an instance in point. 
 
 8th, Deep-sea has comparatively higher tempera- 
 ture and clear weather ; shallow-sea, lower tempera- 
 ture and foggy weather. The fogs, and chilly atmo- 
 sphere of the lower part of the German Sea, and of 
 the Banks of Newfoundland, exemplify the latter. 
 
 II 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 i. 
 
 
 Classification of Emigrants, 
 
 Emigrants are divisible into two classes, 1st, 
 Those who intend to return, after having amassed a 
 sufficiency of wealth. 2d, Permanent settlers. 
 
 The first class, for the most part, emigrate to 
 tropical countries, uncongenial to British constitu- 
 tions, and unfitted for their permanent residence, — 
 
 I! 
 
 i 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 %■[ 
 
 11 
 
20 
 
 CLASSIFICATION OF EMIGRANTS. 
 
 •! 
 
 
 theconquered provinces of the East, and the colo- 
 nies of the West Indies, where they are chiefly em- 
 ployed in civil or military situations, in the provin- 
 cial or colonial government, and as superintendants 
 of native industry. This class consists, for the 
 most part, of the younger sons of our aristocracy, 
 and the youth of the middle ranks, accustomed or de- 
 sirous to occupy a certain grade in society, for which 
 they lack the means. In most cases the individuals 
 of this class have rich or influential connections, with 
 whom they are unable to associate, though very emu- 
 lous of doing so ; and they voluntarily go, or are sent 
 by their parents, into temporary banishment, risking 
 exposure to the most pestilential tropical climates, 
 in the hope that they may accumulate wealth, and 
 return to their proud connections in a condition to 
 command their friendship and attentions. 
 
 Nothing is more remarkable, than the heartless- 
 ness with which British, especially Scotch parents, 
 devote their children to the very probable loss of 
 life, or if surviving, to the almost "rtain loss of 
 health, in order that these may not lose caste, and 
 lower the family rank by comparative poverty, or 
 disgrace it by application to some of the branches 
 of useful industry. This disposition to banish, or 
 drive away their oifspring, seems in some cases in- 
 stinctive and akin to what we observe in certain 
 classes of the brutes, occurring frequently where the 
 wealth of the parent is so great, as to be far more 
 than amply sufficient to provide for the supply of 
 their children during life, with all the most desira- 
 ble comforts. In this way our tropical provinces 
 and colonies may be regarded as standing in a simi- 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF EMIGRANTS. 
 
 21 
 
 lar relation to our Protestant community, and per- 
 forming the same general economical functions, as 
 monasteries and nunneries do in Catholic countries, 
 in affording a very decent sort of apparatus for de- 
 stroying the younger branches of our aristocracy, 
 and thus obviating the necessity of diverting any 
 portion of tho family fortune away from the eldest 
 
 son. 
 
 It is not my intention to enter into any considera- 
 tion of the comparative unhoalthiness of tho fields 
 for emigrants of this class, — Madras, Bengal, Bom- 
 bay, the Mauritius, Jamaica, Demerara, Sierra- 
 Leone ; any of these is sufficiently well fitted for the 
 purpose of destruction. I may merely mention, that 
 the yellow and livid fever demon of the American 
 and African tropics, disposes of his prey with shark- 
 like celerity ; while the liver-gnawing, demon- vulture 
 of the East continues to feed upon the vitals of his 
 victims, with protracted epicurism, as if the lingering 
 Promethean anguish gave relish to the repast. I 
 only allude to this species of emigration, to point 
 out to parents and unthinking youth how infinitely 
 more desirable and wise ifc were to emigrate perma- 
 nently to temperate healthy climates. The fatality 
 of tropical climates, notwithstanding of every-day 
 proof, is not sufficiently estimated, especially as re- 
 gards the fair-haired race of German or Scandina- 
 vian origin, a race the worst suited of all to tropical 
 regions. The comparative mortality of our different 
 foreign military stations, as given in the United Service 
 Journal for (I think) the last quarter of year 1835 ; 
 and the loss by climate, in some of the tropical sta- 
 tions, is stated to exceed the loss in stations in the 
 
 
 
 5i 
 
 Si 
 
 
 
22 
 
 CLASSIFICATION OK EMIGRANTS. 
 
 ! 1 
 
 temperate zone, in the ratio of twelve to one, not 
 taking into account the numerous instances where 
 the sufferers come homo in broken health, to die in 
 Britain. The writer himself has lost eleven cousins, 
 besides other relatives, fine stout young men, all cut 
 off prematurely in tropical climates, and not one of 
 his relatives who have gone to these climates now 
 survives. This mortality, under tropical exposure, 
 is not from any peculiarity of family constitution. 
 One of these relatives, the owner of a trading ves- 
 sel, took out a complement of sixteen men to a tro- 
 pical island, of which fourteen died while he was 
 procuring a cargo, though he himself survived at 
 that time. 
 
 In cases where the white race have migrated to 
 tropical climates, and settled permanently, it is 
 found, that though they may survive so long as to 
 leave offspring, that unless one of the parents is of 
 the native circumstance-suited race, the offspring is 
 of a degenerate character, so feeble in mind and 
 body, as to be incapable of sustaining " the shocks 
 which flesh is heir to," or of keeping their ground 
 against the native race. This is exemplified in the 
 continent of tropical America, and in the West In- 
 dies. It is even said, that in Egypt, the Mameluke 
 corps of Grecian, Georgian, or Circassian birth, 
 never left grandchildren, — that although they left 
 offspring, that this offspring never reproduced. The 
 children of white parents, in these hot regions, are 
 of extreme nervous delicacy ; any sudden noise, 
 such as a clap of thunder,* frequently causing con- 
 
 * The presence, or flow of electric fluid, seems to have an 
 eff^ect upon the nervous system, even although in so minute di- 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF EM ICJ RANTS. 
 
 23 
 
 vulsions and instant death. It is vc^y common to 
 find white mothers, who have had their families in 
 the East or West Indies, with only one or two sur- 
 viving children, out of six or eight births. Even at 
 the Capo settlements, although considerably extra- 
 tropical, so very T>recarious is the life of infants of 
 the white race, in the hotter si^asona of the year, 
 that mothers never count upon children as b(»ing 
 their own, till they are at least a month old. 
 
 Taking into view these facts, which shew the ex-* 
 treme unsuitableness of tropical countries, as emi- 
 gration-fields, to the white race of man, whether the 
 individual is to remain for a limited period, or per- 
 manently ; taking also into account, that the tem- 
 porary emigrant is generally without family ties, 
 
 vision as not to be; otherwise penoptible ; and the causes of in- 
 fant death in tropical countries attributed to tlic thunder-clap, 
 may be caused directly by electric activ)n, deranging the ner- 
 vous organization, or stopping the galvanic circulation of life. 
 During earthquakes there appears to be considerable evolution 
 of electric fluid, wlii( h has been thought to affect the nervous 
 system in a manner somewhat analogous. About thirty years 
 ago, when a rather severe earthquake shock was felt in the 
 North of Scotland, a number of persons, chiefly children, were 
 struck parjilytic or lame, during the shock. The writer found 
 two instances at Grantown, in Inverness-shire, of lameness at- 
 tributed to this earthquake. In one of these, where the person 
 had become a schoolmaster, both feet were affected ; he was an 
 infant, so young at the time of the earthquake, when he sus- 
 tained the injury, that it was impossible it could have been 
 caused by terror, nor did the parts, at the time, show any dis- 
 coloration or bruised appearances. The medical practitioner 
 at the place stated, that lie had traced lameness in eleven or 
 twelve individuals to some unknown influence, or effect of this 
 earthquake, — that the lameness in these was immediately con- 
 secutive to the earthquake, but that no appearances of electric 
 fluid had been noticed. 
 
 M- 
 
 i,5 
 
24 
 
 CLASSIFICATION OP EMIGRANTS. 
 
 that he has the strongest possible motive for pro- 
 curing wealth rapidly, that he has considerable 
 power over a dependent, recently conquered, or 
 slave population, which he is apt to consider an in- 
 ferior race ; and should he be inclined, from ac- 
 quisitiveness, to overstep all moral bounds, that he 
 may do so with almost certain impunity, his conduct, 
 whatever that may be, not easily admitting of being 
 brought to light ; that he is placed under circum- 
 stances the most adverse to good principle, and un- 
 less of great natural benevolence, must become 
 callous to human sympathy, and tyrannically selfish ; 
 — ^taking into consideration how life and morals are 
 thus perilled, and that even should the individual 
 survive, that health is irremediably lost, — what 
 epithet would be too harsh to describe the guilt of 
 the parent, who, aware of all this, will sacrifice his 
 offspring to pride and mammon. 
 
 Having endeavoured to point out how tropical 
 emigration appears to a plain observer, and leaving 
 the eulogistic description of tropical-emigration 
 fields to the knights of the preventive and destruc- 
 tive check, I shall now proceed with a sketch of 
 temperate zone emigration-fields. 
 
 , v.. -i 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 235 
 
 PROSPECTUS OF A JOINT-STOCK COMPANY FOR 
 COLONIZING NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 Having in the previous sheets recommended in 
 the strongest manner the colonization of New Zea- 
 land by the British Government, should the Govern- 
 ment not proceed immediately to do so, I would sug- 
 gest the formation of a New Zealand Joint- Stock 
 Company, of 20,000 shares of L.oO each, affording a 
 colonizing fund of a million sterling — on something 
 like the following scheme : — 
 
 Joint-Stock Regulations. 
 
 1st, That overy shareholder go out in person, taking one, or 
 two, or more, shares, — if taking two shares, to carry out a 
 woman above twelve years of age. 
 
 2d, That shareholders, taking several shares, carry out an able- 
 bodied young man above fourteen years of age, and woman 
 above twelve, for every two shares more, and if ^aking an 
 odd share to take out a yoimg man in lieu. 
 
 3d, That an economical but wholesome plan of removal be 
 adopted ; each shareholder contributing in proportion to the 
 number and age of his family and settlers under him, — in- 
 dependent of the colonizing fund. 
 
 ith, That all shareholders and settlers fit to carry arms be 
 embodied in a militia, armed at their own cost — each share- 
 holder beinof accountable in this for the men he takes out. 
 
 5th, That the capital of L.l, 000,000, be laid out under a com- 
 mittee of management in purchasing land, and surveying 
 and allotting it, in procuring a supply of grain and provi- 
 sions from India and Europe, during the first two or three 
 years, and in improving the condition of the natives by 
 education and medical treatment. It is expected that the 
 British Government will grant a sum in aid of this latter 
 purpose. 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 ! I 
 
 1. I 
 
 ':\\ 
 
 ; -J 
 
 j.ii , 
 
236 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Gth, That a low land-tax be established to defray the ex- 
 penses of government, roads, &c. 
 
 7th, That all exports and imports, in British or Colonial-Bri- 
 tish vessels, be free of any impost. 
 
 8th, That the purchased land be allotted to the shareholders 
 in proportion to their shares, under such regulations as the 
 committee of management may direct. 
 
 i)th, That all previous settlers be obliged to join this company, 
 under just and expedient conditions. 
 
 Government Regulations. 
 
 The Colony to be subject to the British Crown, 
 undor the following social organization and chartered 
 
 rights ; — 
 
 1st, That a colonial Parliament be chosen ; at first by every 
 100 shareholders electing a representative, and afterwards 
 by such a number of electors as afibrd 100 representatives. 
 
 2d, That at first every shareholder only have a vote, — that 
 after a specified number of years, say ten, every freeholder 
 have a vote, — and that after a further specified number of 
 years, every man have a vote. 
 
 Sd, That the colonial parliament enact laws, levy taxes, and 
 appoint a committee of government subject to the approval 
 of the British Crown. 
 
 4th, That the government committee appoint inferior ofiicials. 
 
 5th, Excepting at the commencement, that all representatives 
 and government officials be natives of the country, or resi- 
 dent for a specified number of years. 
 
 In the above scheme it will be seen that the ge- 
 neral interests of the community, of the mother 
 country, and of the Colony, have been alone studied, 
 and not class interests — not the means of providing 
 for the sons of a dominant aristocracy — not the 
 means of bribery, procuring places to the supporters 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 237 
 
 ■ i 
 
 of a government or ministry who cannot lean for 
 support upon the utility of their measures. The 
 only strong ties between Colonies and the mother 
 country are mutual interest and mutual protection, 
 and the more the social institutions of a colony are 
 calculated to render it prosperous and contented 
 with its connection with the mother country, the more 
 will the connection be mutually beneficial, and the 
 integrity and power of the Empire be strengthened. 
 The sooner the colonies of Great Britain are placed 
 upon this self-governing system, the better. 
 
 The writer would, in all probability, take a number 
 of shares under the above scheme. Any one wish- 
 ing to join in it may communicate with him by letter, 
 post-paid. Branch societies might be formed in dif- 
 ferent parts of the country for effecting the object. 
 
 n 
 
 T -1 i ■>. 
 
 T . r-! 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 " PWNTKD BY NEILL & CO., OLD FISHMARKET, EDINBURGH. 
 
 ■t: ! 
 
 ,11 
 
 .■■'I 
 
 "•! 
 
sideral 
 the Nc 
 a grea 
 thinly 
 and ca 
 may be 
 habita 
 followii 
 to end( 
 to emij 
 divisioi 
 
 1st, 
 lh'uns\ 
 conntri 
 the St 
 
 2d, 
 
 3d, 
 Highla 
 Florid 
 
 4th, 
 bed, 6 
 from t 
 
 5th, 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III, 
 
 NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 This grand division of the earth extends from con- 
 siderably within the Arctic Circle, to the middle of 
 the North Torrid Zone, and consequently possesses 
 a great diversity of climate. Being as yet very 
 thinly peopled in proportion to its natural resources 
 and capabilities of supporting population, the whole 
 may be said to constitute an emigration-field. The 
 habitable part of North America is divisible into the 
 following sections. (As this work is a mere sketch, 
 to endeavour to draw the attention of the country 
 to emigration, a particular account of each artificial 
 division or State is not attempted.) 
 
 1st, Lower Canada, including Nova Scotia, New 
 Brunswick, St John's, and Newfoundland. These 
 countries may be named the Maritime Provinces of 
 the St Lawrence. 
 
 2d, Upper Canada, or Country of the Lakes. 
 
 3d, The New England States, including the 
 Highlands of the Alleghany chain, as far as the 
 Floridas. 
 
 4th, The low flat Atlantic Belt, once the ocean- 
 bed, eastward of the Alleghany range, extending 
 from the Chesapeake south to the Gulf of Florida. 
 
 5th, The vast inland Basin of the Mississippi. 
 
 c 
 
26 
 
 PROVINX'ES OF THE ST LAWRENCE. 
 
 Gth, Tho Mexican territory. 
 7th, Tho Western territory and Rocky Moun- 
 tains. 
 
 I. 
 
 The Maritime Provinces of the St Lawrence. 
 
 These extensive maritime regions being situatetl 
 on the cast side of a great continent, in the tempe- 
 rate zone, with the most prevalent winds blowing 
 from the west and north, over land, have what 
 has been termed an extreme climate, the tempera- 
 ture varying from 40 degrees below zero, to 00° 
 and 100° above. Although in the same latitude 
 with the most temperate parts of Europe, the win- 
 ter is long, and the cold intense, v th nmch snow (a 
 consequence of the great intermixture of sea and 
 land) ; and when the wind blows strong from tho 
 north and west, over thousands of leagues of an in- 
 tensely cold snow surface, exposure to the breath of 
 Boreas is insupportable. The spring and autumn, 
 especially in the more eastern parts, are also bois- 
 terous and variable, with snow, sleet, and rain. The 
 short summer is, however, warm and genial, more 
 particularly in the island St John and the south- 
 west portion of these provinces, and is sufficient to 
 ripen oats, barley, potatoes, excellent apples and 
 pears, with a little spring-sown wheat, (autumn- 
 sown wheat generally rotting or dying under the 
 snow, from the very long period, sometimes six 
 months, which the snow remains on the ground.) In 
 the eastern and northern portion, Nova Scotia 
 
PROVINCES OF THE ST LAWRENCE. 
 
 27 
 
 and Newfoundland, the climate is exceedingly un- 
 genial and rough, and but for the vicinity of the 
 fisheries (the most productive in the world) would 
 be considered uninhabitable. The prodigious quan- 
 tity of floating ice which drifts down from Davis's 
 and Hudson's Straits, and, which grounds upon the 
 banks and shallows on the eastern shores, neutra- 
 lizes the sun's heat during the first half of summer, 
 and, combined with the shallow seas, produces very 
 frequent fogs, sleet, and drizzly rain, which sometimes 
 chills the season so much, as to ruin the prospects 
 of the grain-farmer. These regions are as yet only 
 very thinly peopled, chiefly along the river courses, 
 upon the alluvial lands, and in the vicinity of the 
 frequented harbours. The clearances have generally 
 the most uncouth appearance, around which the 
 bare unsightly stems of the broken forest stand 
 mangled and torn, and scathed by fire, giving a 
 character of destructive rudeness to the doings of 
 man. Nearly the whole of these wide provinces are 
 covered by forest ; the most valuable timber of 
 which is yellow, white, or.d red pine, black birch, 
 elm, oak, and maple. Almost the sole export is 
 timber, under different forms, and potash (the solu- 
 ble portion of timber-ashes), to Britain and the 
 West Indies, which admits of a return of clothing, 
 hardware, iron utensils, rum, tea, and coflee. Ship- 
 building, and the cutting and preparing of timber 
 for export, and the manufacture of barrel-staves, 
 hoops, and potash, are, with the fisheries, agricul- 
 ture, and a little mining, the sole employments. 
 
 The province of Lower Canada, or New France, 
 chiefly occupied by a population of French descent, 
 
 1 )■ 
 
28 
 
 PROVINCES OF THE ST LAWRENX'E. 
 
 and speaking the French language, enjoys a better 
 cHmato than the more eastern provinces. It is al- 
 so comparatively an old settled country, having con- 
 siderable marks of the presence of man, — villages, 
 and churches, and orchards, and numerous clear- 
 ances, interspersed with forest. The seignorial or 
 feudal nature of the holding of property in this 
 ])rovince, and the influence of the Roman Catholic 
 l)ric8thood, has stamped the population with a cha- 
 racter different from that of the American IJritish. 
 Society is here more linked together, customs more 
 permanent, improvement slow, and the habitans be- 
 ing more affected by local impressions, and deriving 
 more of their enjoyments from social intercourse, to 
 which they are considerably disposed from habit of 
 race and from a deficiency of individual mental re- 
 source, have not, excepting when ingrafted upon an 
 1 ndian stock, the disposition to part from theirfriends, 
 and scatter, so characteristic of those of the British 
 They are, however, but very indolent husband- 
 
 race. 
 
 men, and are, notwithstanding of all their indisposi- 
 tion to change, not unfrequently beaten from their 
 old clearances, and compelled to cut out new ones, 
 by their inveterate enemy, the weeds, especially the 
 (Canadian thistle, which appears to be possessed of 
 considerably more constitutional energy than the 
 hahitans. The latter, however, of their own contri- 
 vance, or more probably directed by their politic 
 priesthood, turn their starved stock, for a few sum- 
 mers, upon the victorious intruders, and thus, by 
 means of these more active auxiliaries, make out 
 eventually to recover the lost territory and to re- 
 sume cultivation. With few wants, and not very 
 
PROVINCPiS OF THE ST LAWRENCE. 
 
 2J» 
 
 numerous families, the hahitans circumscribe their 
 industrial and mental exertions to as limited a field 
 as possible, and make out to lead comparatively 
 <iuiet and happy lives. 
 
 While the greater portion of the population of 
 Lower Canada is of French descent, speaking that 
 language, those in New Brunswick, and Nova Sco- 
 tia, are mostly British. This division of races and 
 language, is a barrier to the formation of any con- 
 siderable independent national power in these pro- 
 vinces, and renders their ultimate union with the 
 United States much more probable. In speculating 
 on the future prospects of these regions, we cannot 
 see much chance of their ever becoming highly 
 peopled and civilized. The climate, which no 
 drainage or clearing can ever render congenial to 
 man, or favourable to production of grain, or the 
 rearing of flocks and herds, will remain an insupera- 
 ble barrier. The opening of a communication be- 
 tween the Lakes of Upper Canada, and the Hudson 
 and Mississippi rivers, by means of canals and rail- 
 ways, will also divert the commerce of the interior 
 from the Lower St Lawrence, the navigation of 
 which must always labour under the great disad- 
 vantage of being hermetically sealed by ice for six 
 months of the year. The timber-trade will, however, 
 continue, while the forests exist. It may, indeed, 
 in the first place, experience a considerable diminu- 
 tion, when the anticipated removal of duties takes 
 place ; but as the Baltic supply, already much ex- 
 hausted, will under the then greatly increased de- 
 mand rapidly fall off, recourse must again be had to 
 the iuf<Qri9r and more distant supply of these pro- 
 
 m 
 
 ■\ 
 
 \\\ 
 
30 
 
 PROVINCES OF THE ST LAWRENCE, 
 
 vinces. The decrease of timber in the United 
 States, already beginning to bo felt, will also soon 
 compel them to resort to the Lower St Lawrence 
 provinces, and the demand of the West Indies, and 
 of South America, will continue. Yet, in the 
 course of time, the timber supply furnished by these 
 regions, will come to be reduced to the annual 
 growth ; and it is on the fisheries chiefly, that the 
 trade and industry must ultimately depend. 
 
 The cutting and squaring of the timber in the 
 interior forests during the autumn and winter, the 
 dragging it to the water-courses, and the floating it 
 down the rivers on the dissolving of the snow, is an 
 extremely rough and exposed mode of life. Men with- 
 out female society, away from their homes, roaming 
 from place to place, and engaged in employments, 
 where the severity of the labour, privations, and 
 exposure to cold and wet are almost irresistible 
 inducements to the use of spirituous liquors, be- 
 come necessarily coarse in manners, and of reck- 
 less licentious character. These unfortunate circum- 
 stances, in conjunction with the resort of great num- 
 bers of foreign sailors in the timber-trade, have a 
 powerful effect in lowering the standard of morals 
 generally throughout these settlements, and are a 
 considerable ban ier to steady industry, improvement, 
 and population. And the monopoly of the timber- 
 trade of Great Britain, which these provinces possess 
 (timber imported from thence paying only 10s. per 
 load, while Baltic timber pays about five times as 
 much), although the cause of nearly one-half of their 
 commerce, may indirectly, by the corruption of man- 
 ners which it occasions, retard the population, 
 
THE LAKES, UPPER CANADA. 
 
 31 
 
 wealth, and general prosperity, more than it pro 
 motes it directly by the unnatural increase of com- 
 merce. 
 
 Emigrants of robust constitutions, and rude ha- 
 bits, may find the maritime provinces of the St 
 Lawrence a desirable land. They have the recom- 
 mendation of being nearer to JJritain, and more easi- 
 ly reached than any other emigration field, and at 
 less expense, as the timber-vessels frequently go out 
 in ballast, and transport on the cheapest terms. 
 They have the further advantage of not being so 
 subject to fever, and ague, and dyspepsia, as Up- 
 per Canada, and the greater portion of the United 
 States. Rheumatism and consumption, however, 
 prevail, and the severity of the winter renders the 
 rearing of children a, task of some difficulty. 
 
 II. 
 
 The Country of the Lakes^ Upper Canada. 
 
 This great interior country, extending south-west 
 from Lower Canada, along the north side of the 
 great American lakes, is chiefly a flat or slightly 
 undulated contir»uous forest, only diversified by the 
 lake and the river, and the small rude clearance 
 of the settler. Nothing can exceed the sensation of 
 loneliness {lone as the Americans term it) which is 
 experienced in these interminable forests, where, for 
 hundreds of miles, no object is recognisable beyond 
 the tops of the trees. To a Scotsman, the view of 
 hills is awanting ; to the Englishman, the cleanly 
 smiling villages, and the neat enclosures, with the 
 
n2 
 
 THE LAKES, UPPER CANADA. 
 
 boautilul hIkm'P and cattle Tlie ocean is also awant- 
 ing, 80 intorosting to tho Jiriton, as giving him sonio 
 assurance of his locality, and carrying with it the 
 idea of home — that ho is not lost in flat dull illimit- 
 able space. 
 
 This dreariness, combined with some climatic in- 
 fluence, has a marked effect upon the spirits and 
 character of the settler, who is as silent and sombre 
 as the gloomy woods among which he U lost, — nothing 
 seeming to be alive, and in a state of active noisy 
 enjoyment in these interminable swampy forests, but 
 the myriads of frogs* 
 
 The country of the Lakes has a shorter whiter, 
 and a climate nuich superior to that of the maritime 
 provinces ; yet the heat of summer and the cold of 
 winter are intense, and the great and sudden tran- 
 sition enfeebles the constitution of those who have 
 sojourned for a number of years in the country ; 
 so much so, that in winter they require thicker 
 clothing than people who have recently come from 
 Britain : Exposure to the intense summer heat for 
 three seasons, however, has generally the eff*ect of 
 rendering strangers equally susceptible to the win- 
 ter cold as those born in the country. The malig- 
 nant effects of marsh miasms are more or less felt 
 over the whole country, and in the immediate vicinity 
 of the lakes, especially when the water recedes a 
 little in the after part of summer, and the weather 
 is hot, the lake-fever or bilious remittent is very 
 prevalent and fatal. Intermittents are also preva- 
 lent over the whole country, to such a degree as to 
 render human life miserable. The banks of all the 
 rivers which run into the lakes are peculiarly liable, 
 the Americans declaring that these rivers, towards 
 
THE LAKES, UPFKR CANADA. 
 
 33 
 
 the end of «uinmor, are green with the wjue seeds ; 
 while the universal palenens of tlio eountenanco indi- 
 cates the prevalence of bilious aH<H*tions, and the 
 derangement of the digestive functions. In the ma- 
 ritime provinces a florid complexion is not uncom- 
 mon, partly from the superior tone of the digestive 
 organs, partly from the moister atmosi)here. 
 
 The great disadvantage of the country of the 
 Lakes, is that it wants some staple article of export. 
 Its timber is too distant from market to be worth 
 transporting. The climate is not very favourable to 
 tine woolled sheep or sheep of any kind ; besides, they 
 would require a great extent of clearance, not a pile 
 of grass growing in the dense hard-wood forest, where 
 only pigs can pick up a little food, consisting of rep- 
 tiles, nuts, and tree-seeds. Cattle recjuire too much 
 hoarded winter forage, and are far from markets, 
 the nearest of which are Montreal, Albr.ny, and New 
 York. Grain is also too distant from market to be 
 profitably raised for export i and, m fact, it, as well 
 as cattle, is imported to very considerable extent. 
 There is thus almost no means of export to balance 
 necessary imports of clothing, hardware, &c., and 
 the portion they receive has hitherto been purchased 
 by the hard cash which emigrants have carried out, 
 by the pensions of half-pay officers (a number of 
 whom have settled in the country), and by the money 
 expended by the Government derived from Britain. 
 Being entirely destitute of exports, the imports of 
 even the few supplies which people of such inade- 
 quate means find necessary, speedily exhausts the 
 little hoarded money which settlers carry out with 
 them, and except when they can exchange a few 
 
34 
 
 THE LAKES, UPPER CANADA. 
 
 cattle or some seed-grain with a new comer for his 
 hard dollars, they are under the necessity to content 
 themselves with the rude fabrics which their own 
 hands can manufacture, and with the simple food 
 which their clearance can supply. 
 
 The late disturbances have tended much to aggra- 
 vate the misery ; emigration and the foreign supply of 
 dollars has ceased, property has been destroyed, the 
 price of foreign supplies has been increased, the secu- 
 rity of property has been lessened, industry has been 
 checked, and even though these dis '^bances have 
 been put down for the present, an anticipation of 
 future mischief continues to prevail. The conse- 
 quences of this are becoming apparent on the most 
 exposed frontier. Towns which had recently a po- 
 pulation of 1500 are now (it is said) reduced to 300, 
 and people are emigrating in great numbers to the 
 valley of the Mississippi, and some returning to 
 Britain. Another disastrous event, of considerable 
 importance, has more recently attracted public at- 
 tention. A great part of the shores of these lakes 
 are only a few feet above the level of the waters : a 
 periodic rise and fall of all these lakes above Niagara 
 of a foot or two every few years had been previously 
 noticed, perhaps caused by the common succession 
 of several wet and several dry years ; but during this 
 summer (1838) a rise to the amount of 4 feet has 
 taken place, overflowing a considerable portion of 
 the adjacent very low shores, and inundating the 
 houses and fields of the settlers. This rise of the 
 lakes at the present time is attributed to the dam- 
 ming up, by drift-wood, of the channel of a large 
 river which used to discharge its waters into Hud- 
 
THE LAKES, UPPER CANADA. 
 
 35 
 
 son's Bay, and the waters now flowing southward 
 into Lake Superior. 
 
 Such is the extreme flatness of this vast interior 
 lake country, chiefly a Hmestone platform of about 500 
 feet of elevation above the sea, and extending several 
 hundred thousand square leagues, that the rise of a 
 few feet at Niagara would double the extent of the 
 lakes, and give several outlets, one discharging into 
 the Grulf of Mexico, another into the St Lawrence, 
 and another into Hudson''s Bay. 
 
 Perhaps there is no inhabited country where the 
 settler, or even the settled, have greater natural 
 difficulties to contend with than in Upper Canada, 
 and the Maritime Provinces of the St Lawrence. 
 These countries have an arctic winter of six or seven 
 months, and a tropical summer of four months, with 
 a short autumn and no spring. From the depth of 
 snow no agricultural work can be begun till nearly 
 the end of May, and as there is no mild season of 
 spring, but the intense heat of summer immediately 
 supervening on the dissolving of the snow, and as 
 there is little autumn-sown wheat, nearly the whole 
 of the ploughing, sowing, and planting, has to be 
 performed under a temperature equal to that of the 
 West Indies (the mercury frequently rising to 90° 
 in the shade), while the constitution receives a most 
 injurious shock from the sudden change from the in- 
 tense cold of winter — the more that the severe toil 
 is reserved to the very hot season. Within the five 
 or six months of summer and autumn the whole agri- 
 cultural labour must be performed — ploughing, sow- 
 ing, hay-making, harvesting, and the securing of all 
 winter provender for man and beast. These irre- 
 
 'i' 
 
 1 'i 
 
 I ? 
 
36 
 
 THE LAKES, UPPER CANADA. 
 
 mediable evils are the more felt, as in a new country 
 the support of man is chiefly derived from domestic 
 animals. Besides turnips and other roots, from the 
 severity of the frost, are not used, and six months 
 hay must be laid up during the hottest season, for all 
 the stock, causing extreme toil to the farmer, as 
 little or no assistance can be obtained, from the 
 thinness of the population, — the class of artisans and 
 manufacturers who generally assist at the harvest in 
 other countries being awanting in this. The climate 
 is equally unfavourable, in respect to the greater 
 quantity of clothing, of fuel, and of housing for cattle 
 as well as for man, which is required. 
 
 In the Canadas, it is said, there is scarcely a cattle 
 beast deserving the name, the produce of the coun- 
 try, to be found ; any of even moderate quality to be 
 seen in it being importations from the United States. 
 This may be easily accredited when we reflect, that 
 their winter of six or seven months is merely a length- 
 ened contest between life and death for the poor 
 animal, and that should it survive when winter has 
 left, the creature is reduced to a mere skeleton, re- 
 quiring all the summer and autumn to repair the 
 extreme emaciation. The great alternations of cli- 
 mate in the Canadas, with the necessary severe toil 
 under a temperature unsuited to those of British ra/je, 
 even where the prevailing fever and ague do not ruia 
 the health, has the effect to induce premature old 
 age. The author had a friend in Canada, a military 
 man, but bred in his youth to agriculture, who, at 
 the end of the war, had the choice of a considerable 
 grant of land should he incline to remain in the 
 country. He, however, left it, and he gave as his rea- 
 
THE LAKES, UPPER CANADA. 
 
 37 
 
 son that he did not see a settler in the province old- 
 er than himself (about forty), and that he therefore 
 considered it high time to depart. 
 
 These regions have the credit of being the most 
 slovenly cultivated of any part of the world, and are, 
 in every respect, very far behind the neighbouring 
 provinces of the United States. The cause of this 
 is the indolence of the people of French extraction, 
 a consequence of their subjection to a Roman Ca- 
 thu'."'? priesthood and perhaps their seignorial hold- 
 ings, and that the new settlers (principally British) 
 are a very mixed assortment of adventurers, many 
 of them, from unsuitable habits and a deficiency of 
 necessary knowledge and means, extremely ill calcu- 
 lated for subduing the wilderness. These consist ot 
 old military men, coloured people from the United 
 States, {iyi' ' f"om the degradation which tyrannic 
 custom acL . j to their colour in that country, and 
 of Scots, Irish, and English, of all grades and cha- 
 racters ; while the colonists in the neighbouring ter- 
 ritory of the States are settlers bred from their in- 
 fancy, the sons of settlers, endowed with the col- 
 lected sk'll of ages, habitually, almost instinctively 
 adapted to this mode of life. From the very imper- 
 fect cultivation throughout British America, and in 
 many places from an injudicious selection of soil, the 
 crops that are reaped scarcely remunerate for seed 
 and labour, and after a few seasons'' cropping, the 
 weeds spring up so thickly (although di the com- 
 mencement the ground was perfectly clean) as to 
 take complete occupation of the soil, and the farmer 
 finds it easier to displace the great weeds of the un- 
 touched forest than the small weeds of the clearance. 
 
 II 
 
38 
 
 THE LAKES, UPPER CANADA. 
 
 The soil of Upper Canada is in many places of 
 fair quality, and generally superior to that of the 
 eastern provinces. The timber consists mostly of 
 large-leafed deciduous trees, while that of the eastern 
 provinces is chiefly pine. This distribution is part- 
 ly owing to soil as well as climate, and has led to 
 the belief that pines prefer inferior soil. This, 
 however, is not the case. Hard-wood trees have only 
 greater poioers of occupancy in warmer climates and 
 richer soils, and pines in the colder and inferior, es- 
 pecially in the more siliceous. 
 
 The prospects of Upper Canada are at present 
 sufficiently gloomy, with little chance of brightening 
 while it remains in British nands. It is spread out 
 extensively along the frontier of a richer and more 
 densely peopled country with a more popular govern- 
 ment, and it is open at every point to inroads across 
 the boundary river, and lakes, on which the United 
 States' navy will, in case of new hostilities, as during 
 last war, maintain a supremacy. In case of war the 
 whole combined force of that great and rapidly in- 
 creasing empire, by means of the new facilities of 
 communication by railroads and canals 'cia the Hud- 
 son and Mississippi lines, can be thrown upon any 
 point of Upper Canada, without waste or exhaustion 
 by long marches, and the necessary supplies easily 
 kept up ; while the counter force and supplies must 
 be brought from another quarter of the world, across 
 a line of sea open only six months of the year, and 
 over a line of country incapable of affording supplies 
 of almost any description, and this country, through 
 which every thing must pass, in a highly disaffected 
 state — ready, should a good opportunity offer, to 
 
NEW ENGLAND STATES. 
 
 39 
 
 join the enemy. While this state of things lasts, 
 from the insecurity of property there is little chance 
 of progressive prosperity. Canada, so situated, does 
 not afford a very tempting emigration field. 
 
 III. 
 
 i ! 
 
 The New England States^ and Highlands of the regions 
 between these States and the Gulf of Florida. 
 
 This division of the United States is the only por- 
 tion of North America east of the Rocky Mountains 
 which can be accounted wholesome, and at the same 
 time comparatively temperate and pleasant, and well 
 suited to the British race. It may be subdivided 
 into two portions, the north and the south. The 
 first, the New England States, and the New York 
 and Pennsylvanian Highlands. The second, the 
 Highlands of the Southern States — the Alleghany and 
 Cumberland Ranges, including the connected spurs 
 and elevations. 
 
 The North Portion, The New England States and 
 Highlands of New York and Pennsyhania^ has been 
 colonized by the British race for a period of nearly 
 200 years, and is comparatively an old settled coun- 
 try, throwing off a vast emigration yearly south- 
 westward to the fertile Mississippi basin. The popu- 
 lation of this northern portion of the Union, keeping 
 away from that of the aguish districts around Lake 
 Champlain and of the westward towards Lake On- 
 tario, are nearly as robust and healthy looking as 
 
 I '- 
 
40 
 
 NEW ENGLAND STATES. 
 
 the home British ; only the exposed skin is a little 
 more tanned from the higher range of the sun and 
 the brighter skies, and the person not quite so full. 
 From the keen bracing air of winter in this quarter 
 of the Union, and the summer not being so oppres- 
 sively hot as farther south, it is the best suited of 
 any part of North America for the seat of manu- 
 facturing industry. The people of European descent 
 here are at the same time more energetic, — more will- 
 ing to labour, and able to perform more work than 
 in any other portion of the United States. Although 
 not one-tenth peopled, yet is it not so favourable an 
 emigration field for Britain as the highlands of the 
 south ; at least for those who, from a superior educa- 
 tion and a little capital, look forward to some em- 
 ployment more productive or less irksome than com- 
 mon labour. The New England ers (Yankees proper) 
 are too acute and active a race, and too well informed, 
 for any stranger to carry off the more valuable prizes 
 in their own country: But, as afield for the agricultural 
 labourer, or common artizan, it offers fair prospects, 
 affording sufficient employment at good wages. The 
 great emigration which takes place from the New Eng- 
 land States while their own lands and field of industry 
 are far from being fully occupied, is caused by the 
 strong emulation of the cute native Yankee to elevate 
 himself above the common labour class ; and this 
 desertion of the labour field leaves it open and favour- 
 able to emigrants of this class. 
 
 The Atlantic States for several years back have 
 presented the anomaly of a country importing grain 
 to a large amount, with a superior and comparatively 
 
NEW ENGLAND STATES. 
 
 41 
 
 unoccupied field for grain production. This has 
 arisen from the following combination of circum- 
 stances : — 
 
 1^^, The great recent increase of population in the 
 Atlantic sea-bord cities. New York, Philadelphia, 
 Boston, Baltimore — which, by commerce, sea-fishing, 
 and the carrying trade, derive a revenue from every 
 quarter of the world, and require a large and in- 
 creasing supply of grain provision. 
 
 2d, The influx of a great amount of foreign capital 
 attracted by the high interest, and lent out or in- 
 vested on railways, canals, &;c. affording employment 
 to a numerous population not engaged in agriculture, 
 and requiring a grain supply. 
 
 3^, A considerable portion of the labour of thf^ 
 country which used to be employed in raising grain, 
 being turned to the formation of railways, canals, 
 and other purposes, — mere implements for future 
 production, leaving agriculture, for a time, in some 
 measure neglected, 
 
 4th, The exhaustion of a considerable portion of 
 the lands in the Atlantic States, employed in raising 
 grain, by hard cropping and the want of a e^^fficient 
 application of manure, and this portion being left to 
 recruit under grass, — the farmers selling off* and mi- 
 grating across the Alleghany to the Mississippi basin. 
 
 5th, An unusual proportion of the population be- 
 ing diverted from agriculture by having received an 
 education superior to what labouring agriculturists 
 usually possess. They considering themselves, or 
 their parents considering them, more fitted for the 
 learned professions, or mercantile affairs, than agii- 
 
 D 
 
 ■: I 
 
42 
 
 HIGHLANDS OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 »..' 
 
 'z: 
 
 li'^>^■ 
 
 iA 
 
 culture, in a country where the land-owner must 
 himself be the land-worker. 
 
 These causes tending to diminish the supply of 
 grain for a time, Jhd to increase the demand, com- 
 bined with two defective crops, have operated to 
 raise prices so high during the last three years as to 
 produce a considerable importation from the Baltic, 
 Lower Germany and Britain (bonded grain). In a 
 few years, however, the facilities of commercial in- 
 tercourse with the interior parts of the union, where 
 an almost unlimited extent of very rich land is now 
 being opened up by roads, railways, and canals, will 
 place the United States in a condition to be an ex- 
 porting, instead of an importing, country of grain, 
 and which the present high prices will accelerate. It 
 is, nevertheless, not very probable that any great sur- 
 plus amount of grain will be raised in a country where 
 the population are freemen, and land so cheap as to 
 be within the reach of every industrious individual, 
 as in the non-slave American States. A servant, or 
 tenant population, is necessary to mv.iih surplus grain 
 production. The raising of grain is attended with 
 too much hard labour to be a favourite occupation 
 with independent citizens working their own grounds, 
 and it will be found that the industry of the United 
 States nation will be turned to branches of industry 
 of less arduous bodily exertion in order to procure 
 exportable produce. 
 
 The South Portion, The Highlands of the Soutliern 
 States and Kentucky, extending from the Potomac 
 to Alabama, about 600 miles in length, and 200 in 
 breadth, although beautiful and fertile, and the cli- 
 
HIGHLANDS OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 4S 
 
 mate delightful, is not so well adapted for the seat of 
 manufacturing industry, or, indeed, for labour of any 
 kind, by the white race of men, as the northern divi- 
 sion ; partly from the delicious climate and greater 
 heat producing a disposition to enjoyment rather than 
 to active labour ; and partly because of the hoteful 
 slave system, throwing a shade of degradation and 
 meanness over the occupation of the working man, 
 and disposing to idleness, ostentation, and profligacy. 
 Leaving out, however, all adventitious circum- 
 stances, — taking no account of the moral blight of 
 slavery, this division is naturally highly favourable 
 for rural life, affording many a sweet valley, which 
 might well lay claim to the name " Val-Paraiso." It 
 is especially suited for orchards and vineyards, and 
 plantations of the finer and more valuable fruits of 
 the south of Europe, upon the steep slopes and rising 
 grounds, where almost all kinds of trees grow with 
 more luxuriancy, and ripen better fruit than on flatSc 
 It is also much more propitious for a pastoral life 
 than the northern division, as the winter is of short 
 duration, and the flocks and herds can find a pastur- 
 age supply almost at all seasons. These romantic 
 internal regions, remote from water communication, 
 and in many places of difficult access by land, have 
 hitherto been comparatively neglected, partly from 
 the distance from markets and the want of roads, 
 partly from the soil not being quite so rich as the low 
 country, and partly from the greater difficulty of 
 clearing and cultivating the ground where the impedi- 
 ments of declivity and ruggedness of surface are 
 superadded to that of forest. Railways and roads 
 are, however, being formed, which will open up these 
 
 ii 
 I 
 
44 
 
 HIGHLANDS OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 fine highland regions to tho settlor ; and, in the course 
 of less than half a century,every valley of the Alleghany 
 and Cumberland Ranges will smile with rural villages, 
 and water-mills, and gardens, and orchards, and 
 corn fields; and the hilly ridges, cleared of the greater 
 portion of their forest incumbrance, will feed innu- 
 merable flocks and herds. 
 
 The population of the United States, greedy of 
 wealth, and impatient of steady labour, are much 
 too indifferent in respect to climate and healthful 
 locality. They rush to the Texas and Mississippi 
 alluvions, where less labour will suffice, where wealth 
 is more easily compassed, and where sugar and cotton 
 — articles of lighter carriage in proportion to value, 
 and more marketable than grain or beef — can be 
 raised, but where health and length of days are 
 very precarious ; while, by a little more persevering 
 industry, they might secure a much greater amount 
 of human enjoyment in the mountain valleys they 
 leave behind. 
 
 Although much nationality exists among the 
 United States people, yet is there perhaps some 
 want of local attachment, or of kindred and friendly 
 ties, and even a deficiency of enthusiasm for the 
 natural beauties of their fine country. By having 
 been dissevered from their local attachments in the 
 mother country, the race seems to have lost the dis- 
 position to be fixtures — to become enamoured of 
 surrounding objects, and fascinated by the delightful 
 remembrances and associations of youth and home. 
 Their disposition to rove seems, at least, the leading 
 passion, and has the effect of driving them westward 
 from the Atlantic States, and even from the beauti- 
 
HIGHLANDS OF VIRCilMA. 
 
 46 
 
 ful country of Kentucky, leaving a sufficiency of space 
 behind to accommodate the whole J3ritis)i emigration 
 to the United States. The American emigrants are, 
 from habit of race and acclimate<l constitution, nmch 
 better suited for pioneers in the western wilderness, 
 than the British emigrants, especially as being less 
 liable to fever and ague. While, on the other hand, 
 the emigrants from Britain, from being accustomed 
 to the division of labour, and the habits of a denser 
 society, are far better suited for the districts which 
 have been for some time partially settled. 
 
 Seeing the extreme liability of the British emi- 
 grant to fever and ague in the whole of the flat coun- 
 try of the United States and Upper Canada, and 
 the misery that must ensue when the head of an 
 emigrant family is incapacitated, by lingering dis- 
 eases, for labour, I would impress upon British emi- 
 grants to North America the wisdom of choosing one 
 or other of these two more salubrious divisions : — 
 perhaps the working emigrant without capital or 
 much education, to the North division, and the ca- 
 pitalist and more educated to the South — especi- 
 ally to the hills of Virginia and Kentucky. 
 
 It is true the slave blight is spread over these de- 
 lightful regions, but the ingress of British emigrants 
 would have its effects to bring about a change soon- 
 er than otherwise might take place. The natural 
 resources of the country are great, the evil is only 
 adventitious, and must soon give way before the force 
 of moral opinion and civilization. This change is 
 the more likely to take place in Kentucky and the 
 highlands of Virginia, as the climate is suitable to 
 white race labour. x . 
 
 ii I 
 
 I i 
 
46 
 
 HIGHLANDS OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 In judging of tho fitness of a locality for emi- 
 gration, the appearance of those born in the country, 
 eKpecially those of Hritish race, ought to be particu- 
 larly attended to ; and the Hritish liighland Virgi- 
 nians and Kentuckians are as athletic, tall, and 
 handsome a people as are to be found. The fact 
 that in Kentucky and Tennessee the raising of black 
 people for exportation to the sugar-producing swamps 
 of Louisiana is a highly profitable business, and 
 carried on to considerable extent, although no very 
 favourable index of the standard of morals of the 
 white population, is rather a favourable one of the 
 salubrity. Some may think that the circumstance 
 of salubrity of climate has met with more attention 
 in these pages than it merits, but if they think so, 
 it is from ignorance or inattention to facts. In a 
 vast majority of cases, at least when slave labour is 
 not employed, everything depends upon the personal 
 activity and the power of muscular exertion of the emi- 
 grant and his family ; and health and strength come 
 to be of the last importance to happiness and even 
 to existence. In the greater part of the United 
 States, and even of North America, the defect lies 
 more in the climate than in the productive powers 
 of the soil. The United States citizens are suffi- 
 ciently sensible upon this point, and nothing can be 
 said more likely to give offence than any reflection 
 upon, or expressed doubt of the character of the 
 district they belong to in regard to salubrity. Al- 
 though it can be proven that every dwelling during 
 the latter part of every summer is an hospital of 
 fever and ague patients, and even that one-half of the 
 population died the previous season, yet any allusion 
 
HIGHLANDS OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 47 
 
 to tho fact is quite enough to afford occasion for a 
 little rifle practice. Tho rapid increase of the [»opu- 
 lation of the United States is not owing to any sa- 
 lubrity of climate, but to the favourable field for hu- 
 man labour inducing early marriage ; scarcely a wo- 
 man of twenty-one years of age remaining a spinster 
 unless she is awful (very ugly). In certain localities 
 of America, the prevalence of insects, mus(iuitoe8, 
 and sand-flies, come to be an imi)ortant considera- 
 tion as well as climate ; in some cases, otherwise de- 
 sirable settlements have been abandoned after the 
 necessary buildings have been erected and dea^'ances 
 made, from the insufferable annoyance oi thcdo di- 
 minutive pests. 
 
 It is proper, however, to mention that neither of 
 these divisions are free from endemic disease. Con- 
 sumption is prevalent in the New England Str^'>p, 
 causing a premature loss of about one-fifth of th • 
 population ; and in the south division, although the 
 inhabitants are upon the whole healthy, yet fever 
 has its periodic visitations, generally once in eight 
 or ten years, and will sometimes carry off one-haii of 
 the population of a village or district. It must also 
 be kept in view, that the base of the mountain ranges 
 next to the low country, and the low adjacent val- 
 leys and ravines, especially when of sr'^th exposure 
 and heavy wooded and sheltered by the i igh grounds 
 from the purifying ventilation, are even more un- 
 wholesome, than the low country * c>&elf. 
 
 Were the dense forests reuiovad from the Alle- 
 ghany highlands and valleys, the climate would doubt- 
 less be greatly improved, as the surface of the earth 
 
48 
 
 HIGHLANDS OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 would be swept over by the frequent mountain breeze? 
 and no quantity of malaria suffered to accumulate. 
 Some bad effects might still continue to be felt for a 
 few years, from the vast quantity of tree roots decay- 
 ing under ground, and emitting putrid effluvia. The 
 soil, also, so long shaded by the rank vegetable co- 
 vering from the direct action of the sun'*s rays, 
 would, upon being stirred and exposed to it, send 
 forth for a time pernicious exhalations. Thus the 
 production of malaria will, in the first place, be in- 
 creased by ploughing and digging, though the source 
 will sooner be exhausted. 
 
 In situations, however, of a peculiar nature — rich 
 deep vegetable mould or water alluvion, such as are 
 met with in the low country east of the Alleghany 
 and in Louisiana, — in the hot weather, the drier the 
 soil becomes the production of malaria is the more 
 abundant ; fluids of the most pestilent quality rising 
 out of the cracks which the drought occasions in the 
 ground. This dry malaria is most abundant and of 
 the most deleterious nature when there is no plenti- 
 ful cover of vegetables upon the ground (as after the 
 crop is reaped or gathered) to consume it as it rises ; 
 which vegetables do as food when they are present. 
 In some parts of the low country of the Carolinas 
 and Virginia, eastward of the mountain division we 
 are treating of, where the soil is of this description, 
 it is almost certain death for a white man to remain 
 during the latter part of summer in the cultivated 
 grounds ; his only chance of surviving, should he not 
 migrate to the New England States, or the more ad- 
 jacent highland district (which nearly the whole 
 white population do during the sickly season), is to 
 
ATLANTIC SEA-BORD FLATS. 
 
 49 
 
 (liter the lovv-coiintry forest where the trees have tall 
 clear stems with room for a ventilating breeze under- 
 neath, and reside in a hut till the winter commence. 
 It is even said that should a few trees around the hut 
 be cut and a small garden formed, malaria will be 
 generated, and the occupier seized by a dangerous 
 ])ilious remittent. 
 
 JV. 
 
 The Atlantic Sea-hord Flats^ Emt of the Allerfhanp 
 
 Range. 
 
 This low division of the United States extends in 
 length from the Chesapeak to the Gulf of Florida, 
 about 700 miles, and in breadth, from the sea to the; 
 mountain division last treated of, nearly 100 miles. 
 With the exception of a few partial slight elevations, 
 such as that at Savannah, it is almost a dead level 
 along the sea-coast, and appears to have been the 
 bottom of the Atlantic at some former period, when 
 that sea has washed the Alleghany base. The soil 
 consists chiefly of sand, such as the ocean would 
 leave, in some places arid and unfit for cultivation, 
 in others covered to considerable depth by the mud 
 alluvion of rivers, which flow eastward across it from 
 the Alleghany range, and by the debris of a rich 
 vegetation, forming a deep vegetable mould. 
 
 Very little of this productive but unwholesome 
 region is suited for the British emigrant ; at least it 
 is impossible for that race to subsist by their own 
 labour in these fever-flats. The >vhite population 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 ATLANTIC SEA-BORD FLATS. 
 
 consists chiefly of what are termed planters ; proprie- 
 tors farming their own grounds by the labour of the 
 black slaves. The exportable produce of this divi- 
 sion is both great and valuable : it consists chiefly of 
 tobacco, cotton, and rice, far exceeding that of all the 
 other divisions of the United States put together ; 
 and it was in a great measure the wealth derived from 
 this produce, obtained by slave-labour, which put the 
 British colonies in a condition to achieve their inde- 
 pendence, and to become the great and powerful na- 
 tion they now are. It is also true, though not a very 
 pleasant truth, that many of the leading spirits in the 
 war of independence, and also in the later patriotic 
 conflicts and struggles for liberty, have been slave- 
 holders, indebted to slave-labour for their means and 
 leisure and proud inflexible character. That which 
 has contributed so much to the creation of the national 
 power will, however, in all probability, lead eventually 
 to its destruction. The tree which has rushed up so 
 fast, and flourished so richly, has sprung from too 
 rank and corrupt a soil, and the cause of its early 
 vigour and luxuriance will also, it is to be feared. 
 prove the cause of its sudden decay. 
 
 The black slave population here is so great, and is 
 increasing so rapidly, from superior adaptation of the 
 race to the climate, in comparison to the whites, that 
 the power of the latter over the former would be of 
 very short duration, were it not for the coercive in- 
 fluence of the whi^^s in the other provinces of th(^ 
 Union."' From the fact that the white race cannot 
 
 ■* It is ono of the ovils of confedoratod and dopcndcnt Go- 
 vernments, that tliey sometimes kee[) up an extent of tyranny 
 and misery which could never exist but by powerful extraneous 
 
ATLANTIC SEA-BORD FLATS. 
 
 51 
 
 maintain themselves by their own labour, in this low, 
 hot, and unhealthy country,* while, should the blacks 
 obtain thejr freedom, very little labour will be per- 
 fonned by them in raising colonial produce as hired 
 servants, as they will preferably purcli.^.se small por- 
 tions of land, on which they can raijj^' all the neces- 
 saries of life for themselvos with little trouble, we 
 may expect that their manumission will not take place 
 till the last necessity compels it. It is, therefore, 
 highly probable that the manumission may be delayed 
 till insurrection breaks out, from which the most disas- 
 trous consequences tc the Union may be apprehended. 
 
 influence. "Wc have had illustrations of this in our West 
 Indian colonies, where a system of slavery, — (>xtrenie tyranny 
 and misery, — has been supported by means of a strong British 
 military force ; a system wliich the population of Britain never 
 M'ould have endured themselves, nor would the colonial inha- 
 bitants have endured it, but for the coercive British power. 
 We find another illustration of the mischievous effects of ex- 
 traneous power in Ireland, where a condition of things the most 
 galling to the great body of the population, and the most un- 
 favourable to imi)rovement and civilization, has been ke])t up — 
 a state of things so adverse to hunuin enjoyment, that nothing 
 approaching to it would have been tolerated an hour, or coidd 
 ever have come to exist, but for the coercive influence of a neigh- 
 bouring more powerful nation. 
 
 '* Agricultural labour, the most healthy occupation in healthy 
 countries, is perhaps the most unhealthy of all occupations in 
 these unwholesome regions. Brought to high p(.'rspiration from 
 his exertions under a very hot sun, and in this state, or in the 
 still more susceptible state, after the ensuing chill, exposed to 
 the exhalations from the soil, the field labourer of tlie white 
 race is almost certain to fall a victim. If the white race can 
 with difficulty maintain existence as masters or superintend- 
 ents, subsisting by the labour of others, it is not to be exjjected 
 that they could nuiintaiu existence if obliged to labour fur their 
 own subsistence. 
 
52 
 
 ATLANTIC SEA-BORD FLATS. 
 
 In the mean time, however, the consciousness of 
 this enemy witliin his walls, has a powerful influence 
 to repress the warlike propensities of Brother Jona- 
 than. He is well aware what the consequences 
 might be were a liberating army, with a few hun- 
 dred thousand stand of spare arms, to form a rally- 
 ing point in this division of the Union. Now that 
 the British West Indian black population are invest- 
 <h1 with all the rights of British freemen, the forma- 
 tion of a native West Indian army might be a 
 consideration well worthy the attention of our Go- 
 vernment. A black force, consisting of several thou- 
 Hand picked men, should be embodied, have their moral 
 sense and intellect properly educated, be trained to 
 military tactics, and thus prepared, in case of emer- 
 gency, to act as disciplinarians and leaders of the peo- 
 ple of their colour in the United States. This measure 
 is the more expedient as having a double philanthropic 
 tendency. It would have a considerable influence in 
 maintaining our present friendly relations with our 
 American white brothers (with whom, in order that 
 libei-ty and human improvement may continue to 
 progress, it is exceedingly desirable that friendly 
 relations should exist), and might also have the effect 
 of bringing speedily about a judicious act of Con- 
 gress manumitting several millions of our American 
 black brethren. It is pretty certain that ere long 
 the whole of this eastern low region will be possessed 
 l)y a free black population, and the sooner this takes 
 place the better. The black population existing in 
 the neighbouring mountain region to the west, after 
 being manumitted, should also be encouraged to re- 
 move to this division. The affairs of the United States'* 
 
ATLANTIC SEA-nORI) FLATS. 
 
 ^•"» 
 .)•> 
 
 Union will never be in a wholesome condition, till 
 several black Representatives from these low regions 
 are seated in the House of Representatives at Wasli- 
 ington. This is a more plausible scheme, — would 
 form a better Liberia, than the African Liberia. 
 
 It, nevertheless, but ill becomes the home Jh'itish 
 to say much about the L^nited States' slavery, or, in- 
 deed, about any slavery. The causes which operate 
 to promote or prevent direct slavery have never, tliat 
 I am aware of, been clearly pointed out. Slavrs 
 (direct) arc found only where land is cheap. When 
 the land, from its redundancy in proportion to popu- 
 lation, as in America, is of little or no value, the whole 
 property consists of labour, or the produce of labour, 
 and the covetous man not being able to satisfy his 
 lust for riches by the produce of his own labour, has 
 no other way of gratifying it but by obtaining posses- 
 sion of the persons of his fellow-men, and compelling 
 them to labour the otherwise unprofitable ground for 
 his emolument ; and this he finds profitable, because 
 the produce of labour, even of slive-labour, in this fa- 
 vourable Held for production, is more than sufficient 
 to support his slaves as reproductive labouring stock, 
 or to purchase new ones should they wear out. 
 On the reverse, slaves (direct) are not found when 
 the land has been all occupied, and has reached any 
 considerable value or rental. Wherever this has 
 taken place, and population has become dense, hired 
 or piece labour becomes more profitable than slave- 
 labour, and drives it from the field. The reason of 
 this is obvious : man in a state of comparative liberty 
 of action, has more of mental energy to stimulate 
 and carry on his corporeal exertions, and to direct 
 
 1'^ 
 \i i 
 
o4 
 
 ATLAFVIC SEA-BORD FLATS. 
 
 ™' 
 
 them to more profitable effect, than when under di- 
 rect slavery, while at the same time he can be main- 
 tained at less cost as a reproductive animal when 
 in semblance free. Besides, when the land has been 
 all taken up, and has co ne into the hands of a small 
 number of the community, these, from being the pos- 
 sessors of property, generally obtain the governing 
 power, and form a land aristocracy class. They pro- 
 ceed to legislate and levy taxation in the most par- 
 tial and unjust manner, to forward their own selfish 
 interests, they secure the land property to themselves 
 and their posterity, and, by taking advantage of the 
 poverty and necessity for food of the labouring popu- 
 lation, make out to obtain a more complete command 
 over their labour, and more power to render them 
 subservient to their pleasure and luxury, than if the 
 working population were slaves direct. 
 
 In this way, by means of a food-monopoly, for the 
 emolument of the heir or eldest male of the family, 
 and excessive taxation upon the necessaries of the 
 working people for the support of the younger 
 branches, our governing land aristocracy have done 
 every thing in their power to bring the working po- 
 pulation to a complete state of indirect slavery, the 
 only slavery which, from the nature of things in 
 Britain, is profitable or practicable, and they have 
 succeeded, — the destitution and hollow cheek of wife 
 and children being a more powerful incentive to severe 
 toil than the whip of the hippopotanms hide. A 
 sufficient emigration would help to reform this. 
 
THE MISSISSIPPI DASIN. 
 
 OO 
 
 V. 
 
 The Mississippi Basin. 
 
 Thia vast extent of very fertile territory, in which 
 rivers navigable for 3000 miles upward from the 
 ocean hold their com-se, extends from the Lakes of 
 Canada on the north, to the Gulf of Mexico on the 
 south, and from the highlands of the Alleghany and 
 Cumberland ranges on the east, to the Rocky Moun- 
 tains far to the westward. 
 
 The greatest labour of Hercules, the noblest deeds 
 recorded of man in ancient or modern history, sink 
 to nought when compared to the doings of Brother 
 Jonathan. It was but as yesterday when he first 
 stood on the highest summit of the Alleghany range, 
 and, gazing down upon the illimitable western wilder- 
 ness, boldly resolved to people the whole extent ; and 
 already cities, and towns, and villages, and innumer- 
 able clearances, are scattered over nearly a million 
 of square miles. True to his purpose, Jonathan is 
 progressing in a ratio of increase never before equalled, 
 and, in the course of a century at the present incre- 
 ment, this great and most fertile field for the exten- 
 sion of the human race w'il contain a progeny exceed- 
 ing the whole of the population of Europe. 
 
 This region, upon a closer inspection, presents 
 traces of a former population of considerable amount, 
 and, as some facts would seem to indicate, of con- 
 siderable civilization. It is not easy to account for 
 the extinction or displacement of a numerous popu- 
 lation of a country so fertile, and comparatively so 
 
 ii 
 
56 
 
 THE MISSISSIPPI BASIN. 
 
 temperate. The ancient records of the Mexican 
 Empire, as well as the old world history of man- 
 kind, however, speak of the migrations of whole 
 communities, for which no sufficient reason is given, 
 or can well be traced, and the population may have 
 moved to the Mexican territory, only a few stragglers 
 remaining, to degenerate into roaming savages. It 
 is also not impossible that some destructive pesti- 
 lence, such as has lately swept off entire tribes of the 
 red race in the neighbourhood of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains, may have passed over this immense valley, 
 leaving only a few scattered individuals, scarcely .able 
 to contend for existence with the other numerous 
 types of animal and vegetable life struggling for oc- 
 cupancy in this teeming field. 
 
 This great river-land rises almost imperceptibly 
 from the level of the Mexican (lulf at New Orleans, 
 to the neighbourhood of the Canadian Lakes, where 
 it attains an elevation of nearly GOO feet above the sea. 
 It is comparatively a level country, with only gentle 
 undulations, and, in some places to the westward, 
 with rounded gravel hillocks, relieving the unifor- 
 mity. A great portion of it, like Upper Canada, 
 consists of limestone strata, covered with a pretty 
 thick layer of diluvium, constituting a fertile and 
 manageable soil. The eastern half was fifty years 
 ago a continued forest of magnificent hard-wood 
 trees ; but in which numerous clearances have now 
 been effected by the industry of the settler, and the 
 demand for timber-fuel to the numerous steamers. 
 To the west, beyond the confluence of the Mississip- 
 pi and the Missouri, a considerable portion of the 
 country consists of prairies, extensive fields covered 
 
THE MISSISSIPPI BASIN. 
 
 57 
 
 )rs. 
 
 •ed 
 
 with tall rough grasses, and skirted by portions of 
 forest. The absence of trees in these extensive 
 meads has been variously accounted for, some attri- 
 buting it to conflagrations (the most probable cause), 
 some to th(5 dryness of the climate. It is also not 
 impossible that the graminea;, though a compara- 
 tively smaller order of plants, may have greater 
 power of occupancy than the trees in this locality, — 
 the rank grass smothering the annual shoot rising 
 from the forest-tree seed. These beautiful prairies, 
 frequently wider than the eye can reach across, 
 afford most excellent stations for the settlers who 
 migrate thus far westward. They locate themselves 
 in a circular ring around the margin of these 
 flowery grassy plains, where the forest-belt affords 
 plenty of timber for houses, enclosures, and fuel; 
 they cultivate the nearer portion of the prairie, 
 where not a stone is to be found, and nothing inter- 
 feres with the ploughshare but the strong roots of 
 the grassy sward ; and they drive their herds to 
 pasture a little farther into the interior of what ap- 
 pears like a verdant sea. The pastoral life is far 
 more desirable here than in British America ; the 
 winter being only about one-half as long as in the 
 maritime provinces of the St Lawrence, or even in 
 Upper Canada, while the Herculean labour of re- 
 moving the dense forest which covers nearly the 
 whole of America to the eastward, is not required. 
 Immense herds of wild cattle once fed upon these 
 pastures, but they, like the red Indian, have retired 
 westward, before the fire-armed European, and are 
 only now to be found towards the base, and amidst 
 the fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains. This fine 
 
58 
 
 THE MISSISSIPPI BASIN. 
 
 prairial country, were mca.surcs taken to dostroy the 
 wild (logs or wolves, might bo rendered very produc- 
 tive of wool, the export of which, down to New Or- 
 leans, would be easily accomplished. 
 
 The great distinguishing features of the Mississippi 
 Basin, are the vast abundance of tine level land, 
 capjible of supporting a very dense population, and 
 the immense system of rivers ramifying through it, 
 a number of the tributaries of the Mississippi flow- 
 ing a distance of 1000 miles before they join the 
 grand stream, and being conveniently navigable for 
 nearly their whole course by steam vessels. 
 
 The case of connnunication, however, and of 
 transit by the system of rivers, has the effect to 
 scatter the settlers in all directions, so much so, as 
 to present a great impediment to the advantageous 
 division of labour, and use of combined labour, and 
 thus to retard the progress of improvement, although 
 this condition of man, no doubt, has a very favour- 
 able effect to increase his acuteness and general 
 capacity. Had the system of river-communication 
 been awanting, it is probable, that the new settle- 
 ments in this comparatively level fertile territory, 
 would now be conducted by carrying forward rail- 
 ways, and settling within a practicable distance of 
 the lines, in a more systematic, and, perhaps, on the 
 whole, more advantageous manner for the speedy 
 production of wealth, than by the rivers. As it is, 
 the. rivers are the highways, — the lines of traffic, — 
 the landmarks, — the connecting medium with the 
 world of civilization, — the system of nerves by which 
 the electric currents of opinion and social sympathy, 
 are transmitted from the more vital parts to the 
 
 extrj 
 
 stanj 
 
 is a 
 
 Amcj 
 
 helpi 
 
 and 
 
THK MIftSTSSlPPI BASIN. 
 
 59 
 
 oxtremities. In North America, a strong and con- 
 stant tido of emigration is setting westwarc!. There 
 is a fascination in the wilderness. The bold young 
 American of the North- Kastern States, chooses a 
 helpmate, collects some clothing, takes up his rifle 
 and hatchet, and, trusting entirely to liis own prowess, 
 marches off in the direction of the setting sun. He 
 crosses the JJlue Alountains, conniiits himself and 
 mate to the rivers, and penetrates more than a 
 thousand miles into the heart of the western wilder- 
 ness. There is something highly exciting and grate- 
 ful to youthful daring and independence, in travel- 
 ling onward in search of a future home, and having 
 found some sweet encouraging spot in the bosom of 
 the wilderness, in rearing every thing by one's own 
 handiwork. 
 
 The superior means of communication in this re- 
 gion, and the absence of natural and artificial bar- 
 riers, as it is being occupied, with the exception of 
 the slave popidation southward, by one race speaking 
 one language, dispose it for becoming the seat of 
 one very great empire, perhaps exceeding the Chinese 
 in population ; while, from the superior energy of the 
 race, and higher civilization, it will be incomparably 
 superior to the Chinese in national influence, and in 
 power over the future destinies of man. 
 
 All this low flat country is defective in salubrity, 
 the whole of the Mississippi Basin being tainted with 
 miasm atmosphere. Fever and ague, and in the 
 fall, dangerous remittents, are more or less com- 
 mon over all the region, increasing in malignity as 
 we get lower down in the system of the rivers, till 
 at New Orleans, " the wet grave," we reach the ne 
 
 -i I 
 
00 
 
 THE MISSISSIPPI BASIN. 
 
 plus ultra of insalubrity. This is exceedingly un- 
 Ibrtunate, a« New Orleans is fitted by position for 
 being the enij)oriuni of North America. It is said, 
 that si\ hundred Irish labourers migrate down the 
 Ohio and Mis8issip[)i every season, attracted down- 
 ward by the wages rising, and the rum falling in 
 price as they descend, till they reach New Orleans, 
 where the arrivals of last season are almost to a 
 man cut off every fall by the yellow fever. The 
 Jknks of the beautiful Ohio, by the French called, 
 par ea'cellmct\ *' La lielle Riviere,"''' are perhaps the 
 most salubrious of all this region, especially higher 
 up eastward, towards Pittsburgh. It is not easy to 
 determine what effect the aearly entire removal of 
 the forest might have upon the climate. It would, 
 in all probability, render it drier,* and in some de- 
 gree more salubrious ; but as the groat cause of the 
 insalubrity is the annual flooding of the alluvial 
 grounds, along the river-sides, and as the rivers 
 and river inundations are on so vast a scale, and the 
 river-beds gradually changing, hither and thither, 
 through the alluvial grounds, liable to be flooded, so 
 that the labour of man cannot, by forming embank- 
 ments, have much effect in circumscribing the over- 
 
 * In Prussia, from the increase of population, and great im- 
 provements of the country of late years, much of the country 
 has been strii)pecl of its forest cover ; the consequence is, that 
 the fall of rain has been considerably diminished, and the eva- 
 poration increased ; and the rivers, which used to continue 
 streams of considerable depth all the year round, are now near- 
 ly dried up during the summer months. This has interfered to 
 a considerable extent with the internal navigation, and in dis- 
 tricts of dry sandy soil is regarded with considerable appre- 
 hension. The Elbe has, it is said, fallen several feet. 
 
THE MISSISSIPPI BASIN. 
 
 61 
 
 bat im- 
 )untry 
 that 
 le eva- 
 itinue 
 near- 
 red to 
 In dis- 
 ippre- 
 
 flowings of the rivers, a conipleto roniovnl of tlw 
 inahiria cannot be expected. 
 
 This country affords a field, at least suflfi* icntly 
 extensive, for British emigrants ; but from tin- fover, 
 an<l ague character of the t<'rritory, particMilarly to 
 the south and west, — the whole of the regions of the 
 Mississippi Proper, of the Wabash, Missouri, and 
 Arki.nsas, the British emigrant, more especially the 
 agriculturist, ought to prefer the Alleghany high- 
 lands. In simie of the towns on the Ohio, artisans, 
 who are not so much exposed to the exhalations 
 from the soil as agriculturists, may find a favourable 
 Held. 
 
 •11^ 
 
( ^>^ ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 y»Exico. 
 
 Tho Mcxioiin empire, extending from 15° to 41^ 
 north latitude, has the greater portion of its terri- 
 tory within tlie temperate zone. It consists chiefly 
 of a central highland country, or tahle-land (which 
 may be considered a prolong;\tion of the Andes). 
 A great portion of this table-land is elevated from 
 five to ten thousand feet above the sea level, inter- 
 sected in scmie places with river-ravines of great 
 depth, and having a number of mountain ranges 
 and peaks rising from it to considerably greater ele- 
 vation, some of them covered with perpetual snow, and 
 the highest exceeding 17,<)^H) feet of altitude. This 
 high table- land, declining very gradually from the 
 Vale of Mexico, latitude ii)\ to Santa-Fe, latitude 
 37', is skirted on the east by a rich flat sea-bord, 
 like the Atlantic sea-bord of the Southern United 
 States, ai)parently the sea bed at some foi-mer 
 pei iod ; while, on tlie western side, the highlands 
 begin to rise innnediately from the Paciflc. The 
 whole sea-coast, east and west, especially the por 
 tion within the tropics, is unhealthy, and this con- 
 tinues, till, by travelling inward, you leave the c<mii- 
 mon tropical vegetation, and, gaining an elevation of 
 about .'JOOO feet, reach the region of Oak. Along 
 
 n 
 
MEXICO. 
 
 Cu] 
 
 ndes). 
 from 
 inter- 
 great 
 aiiges 
 r ele- 
 V, and 
 This 
 n tilt! 
 itudc 
 l)ord, 
 nited 
 •rnicr 
 ands 
 The 
 por 
 eon- 
 
 )1J of 
 
 long 
 
 the Mexican Gulf, and from Vera-Cruz to the 
 Texas, the cholera morbus is the most fatal distem- 
 per, while on the Western, or Pacific side, the yel- 
 low fever is nearly equally destructive ; and it is only 
 in the winter and spring, when these destroyers 
 seem to hibernate, that Europeans ought to attempt 
 to make their exit from, or entrance into, the com- 
 paratively healthy interior. The Eastern sea-bord 
 is very defectiv<3 in regard to harbours, the rivers 
 iiaving dangerous bars, and the sea being shallow 
 for some distance from land, as it generally is on all 
 low coasts. This deficiency of good harbours is the 
 more to be regretted, as, from the insalubrity of the 
 climate, it will be very difficult to remedy the defect 
 by the formation of artificial harbours. The most 
 of the low country is, however, fertile, and suited 
 for raising sugar, ;ind other tropical produce, so as 
 to attract agricultural settlers, or rath<'r colonists ; 
 and the advantages of a situation which, notwith- 
 standing the deficiency of good harbours, connnands 
 the trade of the whole of Mexico, through which 
 the vast wealth derived from the very rich mines of 
 the interior nuist pass outward, and all the Euro- 
 pean manufactures in return pass inward^ is also a 
 strong inducement to connnercial si^ttlers. 
 
 Leaving out the insalubrity of the climate of the 
 sea-bord, Mexico presents a cond)ination of advan- 
 tages uni(pie in character. The position, a long 
 neck of land joining two great continents, and 
 dividing th(} two great oceans, thus holding in the 
 right hand th(^ connnerce of the East of Asia, and 
 in the left, the connnerce of lMU'o))e*; the possession 
 of incomparably the richest and most v>>>rkablo 
 
64 
 
 MEXICO. 
 
 mines of the precious metals (especially silver) that 
 are known in the world ; and the being capable of 
 raising, within itself, all kinds of tropical produce 
 in i)he low hot regions, and all the valuable grain, 
 and vine and orchard produce of temperate climates 
 in the delightful more elevated country, where, in 
 some places, they enjoy a perpetual spi-ing, combine 
 to render* it an extremely tempting Emigration Field. 
 It is only, however, at moderate elevations that 
 the cereal plants and fruits appear in great luxuri- 
 ance and perfection. At very high elevations, though 
 the temperature be sufficient, the rarity of the at- 
 mosphere comes to affect their growth, they are 
 comparatively weak and stunted, and, as w<3ll as the 
 aninuds, seem to languish from the insufficient den- 
 sity of the element in which the functions of life arc 
 carried on. 
 
 Mexico, notwithstanding its great natural advan- 
 tages, is not at present very prosperous. The popu- 
 lation are of a mixed description, the descendants of 
 Spaniards, and Indians and Negroes, with all the 
 intermediates ; and since the establishment of inde- 
 pendence, things have not settled down properly. 
 There is a deficiency of knowledge and political 
 judgment, and combinable power. The population 
 are not sufficiently enlightened for self-government, 
 and would re(piire a superior class to act as leaders, — 
 something resembling our feudal system. The priest- 
 hood serve in some degree to supply the defect, and 
 to bind society together ; but they are so bent upon 
 their own mischievous dogmas and institutions, — 
 up(m keeping up their idle saint-day observances, 
 their charity bequeathments and monastic religious 
 
 ofth 
 supel 
 in f(l 
 and 
 
MEXICO. 
 
 OT) 
 
 
 I 
 
 • stablishnients, that they greatly repress the industry 
 ot'the country, iiuhieiiig tlie people to lost- their time in 
 
 (I 
 
 mder th( 
 
 superstitious munnneries, 
 in feeding profligate me idicants. Public opinion, 
 and the rules of society, being thus founded upon 
 false or mistaken princi])les, arc also very deficient 
 as a moral regulating power. The government is, in 
 consecpience, defective in organization and strength, 
 and not very stable, and property and life compara- 
 tively insecure. The northern parts enjoy a tempe- 
 rate climate, but they are almost a wilderness, sub- 
 ject to the inroads of the wild r<>ving Indians, and 
 in some places under Indian sovereignty. In tin: 
 western parts, towards the (kdf of California, affairs 
 are very unsettled ; this is the more to be regrcttetl, 
 as these regions, i)articularly the province of Senora, 
 an? extremely rich in silver, and the climate, espe- 
 cially to the northward, favourable to Europeans. 
 
 The portion of Mexico, which at present most 
 (joncerns the British emigrant, and indeed the 
 British nation, is the province immediately adjacent 
 to Louisiana, and extending south-west, towards the 
 Rio IJravo, named the Texas. A part of this pro- 
 vince has recently been overwhelmed by an inunda- 
 tion of the United States' people (merely a private 
 affair, however, and not a government invasion, foi- 
 which the authorities of that country can in any 
 way be considered accountable), and all the i)oW( r 
 which the Mexican enn)ire has been able to exert, 
 has been baffled, in attempting to drive back th( in- 
 vading legions of settlers. 
 
 Raising colonial produce (better designated tropi- 
 cal produce), from the great demand in the Euro- 
 
m 
 
 MEXICO. 
 
 <) 
 
 pean and North American markets, has hithert 
 been a far more profitable occupation than raisin]^; 
 the agricultural produce of temperate countries. 
 And the cause of this friendly visit, or love- intrusion 
 of Brother Jonathan, is the adaptation of the Texas 
 territory for raising tropical produce, with the supe- 
 riority of the climate to that of Louisiana, the lower 
 portion of which is the only pait of the United 
 States well suited for raising of this kind of produce, 
 but which, from New Orleans upward, for at least 
 five hundred miles, is a pestiferous (well named) 
 " Dismal swamp."" 
 
 Another cause of the spirited progress of Jona- 
 than is, that by the Mexican law no slavery can 
 exist within the empire, while in the Texas territory 
 it is by slave-labour only that tro[)ical produce is to 
 be raised in any considerable (piantity, and wealtli 
 amassed. The United States' people, with a con- 
 siderable connnand of slaves, have, therefore, a 
 stronger motive for possessing this soil, productive 
 under slave-labour, and for expelling the Mexican 
 government ; and even the old Mexican proprietors, 
 where tlie ground has been appropriated, fin(lin<r 
 they can make most of their property under 
 Jonathan liberty, — preferring the liberty to hav»' 
 slaves, to the slaves having liberty, make no stnmu- 
 ous effort in support of their own government. 
 
 Seeing that the contest in the Texas resolves it- 
 self into the question of slavery and no slavery, and 
 considering the vast importance, politically, of the 
 possession of that province, which is calculated to 
 command tlie Eastern trade of Mexico, and, in all 
 probability, to determine the possession of Mexico 
 
MEXICO. 
 
 (i7 
 
 litherto 
 raising 
 uiitries. 
 itrusioii 
 u lexas 
 10 supe- 
 10 lower 
 United 
 reduce, 
 it least 
 named) 
 
 f* Jona- 
 Ty can 
 irritory 
 30 is to 
 wealtli 
 a con- 
 ore, a 
 luctivc 
 exicau 
 ietors, 
 indin<r 
 under 
 Iiav.' 
 trenu- 
 
 08 it- 
 , an<I 
 )f thr 
 ed to 
 in all 
 exico 
 
 
 itself, it is surely a high object of JJritish policy to 
 prevent a slave-driving banditti from plundering 
 our natural ally of Mexico, of her most valuable 
 jjrovince. 
 
 It is even a duty incumbent on the British Cr<>- 
 vernment towards our West Indian ])lanters, now 
 that these aro no longer slave-drivers themselves, to 
 see that a slave-state does not s[>ring up in the vici- 
 nity, which, by the unfair advantage of compulsory 
 labour, would ruin the success of our free labour 
 system. Should some steps not be innnediatoly 
 taken, the probability is, that a considerable portion 
 of the twenty millions given by the nation to re- 
 deem our slaves, will go to the Texas, and tin* neigh- 
 bouring low country southward to Vera Cruz, to 
 foniul new slave-States, and perpetuate slaveiT, and. 
 at the same time, to an innnense extent to strengthen 
 a rivar.s ])ower. 
 
 Ireland is now teeming with a very numerous, 
 and, as thini are regulated, a greatly over-abundant 
 population, so situated, that a deticient crop is fol- 
 lowed with a pestilent typhus, which carries oft vast 
 numbers, a consequence of the extreme reduction of 
 bodily vigour, caused by starvation. And from the 
 rai)id increase of poj)ulation now going on, and the 
 comparative abundant cro[)S of late years, the effects 
 of a scanty crop are the more to be dreaded. The 
 Texas province, especially in the interior valleys, a 
 few days* journey up the beautiful rivers, where a 
 country, as healthy as Upper Canada, abounding 
 in ]>asture, and superior in productiveness, in beauty, 
 and in every way more advantageous for a settler, 
 is lying almost desolate, would be a most de- 
 
08 
 
 MEXICO. 
 
 
 sirablo cmigration-fiold for our poor and destitute 
 fellow-subj(3cts. The emigration of a million of Irish 
 j)opulation, accompanied and directed hy their priest- 
 hood, who, from the circumstances under which they 
 have been placed, are generally an indefatig.ably 
 humane body of men, and in some respects necessary 
 to the direction and government of their trusting 
 flocks, would be a very great relief to the Irish re- 
 maining at homo ; Jind the emigrants, under proper 
 direction, would, after a few years of exertion, find 
 themselves comparatively in an earthly j>aradise.* 
 There is no doid^t that the government of Mexico 
 would be ready to give every possible encourage- 
 ment to an auxiliary JJritish importation of subjects. 
 From the Irish being generally of the Roman Catho- 
 lic persuasion, the same as the Mexicans, the amal- 
 gamation would take place readily, and the Mexican 
 government, sujiported by British influence and con- 
 nection, would obtain strength and stal)ility to en- 
 force obedience to the laws in her own territories, 
 and to command a respectful and just forbearance 
 on the ])art of foreign powers. Considered in rela- 
 tion to British interests, the stability of affairs, and 
 consequent prospeiity of Mexico, would be of the 
 greatest advantage to British industry, as Mexico, 
 on account of her vast internal riches, is one of tlu 
 very besj^ customers forJh'itish numufactures; and our 
 protective connection would necessarily place the 
 trade on the most i'avourable footing. A sufficiently 
 strong govermnent n\ ould also be of incalculable ad- 
 
 * The iviuoval of a great number of the Irish poiuihition is 
 ahsohitely necessary. If sonietliing extensive in this way In? 
 not lone, a convulsion may be expected. 
 
 '^ ^,- 
 
MEXICO. 
 
 69 
 
 vantage to the British capitalists, who liave invested 
 so much money in the Mexican mines. Hesides, an 
 alliance offensive and defensive witli Mexico, would 
 have the certain effect to render the Hritisli in- 
 fluence permanent in the West Indies. 
 
 The whole affair resolves itself into this, arc the 
 United States to be allowed to seize ui)on Mexico, 
 and to deprive Britain of her West Indian empire i 
 This is even more likely to take j)lace, than the 
 dreaded con(|uest of the East Indies by Russia. The 
 United States and Russia are clearly aiming at 
 these two objects ; and it for us to prevent them, by 
 taking p/ecautionary measuren in time. 
 
( 70 ) 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 TIIK WKSTKUN THKUITOUV OF NORTH AMEUK'A. 
 
 This territory oxtcnds in length from tlic 4l8t de- 
 gree of Nortli Lat. north-westwiird to the i)()hir circle, 
 bounded by the Rocky and Stony Mountains on tlie 
 east, and the Pacific on the west. The southern 
 
 par 
 
 ts from N. Lat. 41" to 5.'}° a thousand miles in 
 
 length and several hundreds in breadth, is in niany 
 respects a very favourable field for Hritisli emigra- 
 tion, possessing numerous excellent harbours, ex- 
 tensive sounds and firths and rivers well suited for 
 the seat of a maritime i)eoplc, and for carrying on 
 trade with eastern Asia, and the numerous island 
 groups of the Pacific. The })rincipal river in the 
 southern portion, the Columbia, has been frecpiently 
 traced by ] British .and United States' travellers and 
 hunters, and is found to How through a rugged coun- 
 try of great fertility, abounding in the most gigantic 
 trees that have ever been seen in any part of the 
 world, some of them exceeding 100 yards in height ; 
 Piiiidi Douqlasil (a species of spruce, one of which 
 is described by Ross Cox, growing south of the Co- 
 lumbia, 57 foet in circumference and 210 feet of stem 
 clear of branches) being the forest Queen, the great- 
 est of all the land vegetable creation. 
 
THK WKSTKRN TKKIUTORY. 
 
 71 
 
 From the accouiitH we ar« in possession of, this 
 portion of" America is monntainous and rngged in 
 the interior, spnrs of the Rocky Mountains exten<l- 
 ing westward to the coast. Tlie climate apju'ars to 
 be cohh'r than tliat of Knrope of the same latitmh'. 
 The position on the west si(h» of a great continent in 
 the temperate zone, with extensive sea toward the 
 prevalent winds, is favourable to mild tennx.'rature. 
 and very similar to that of western I"]uroi)e ; but the 
 i*acific to the westward of these shores may not be 
 modified in temperature by having any considerable 
 curn-nt from the south-west similar to the gulf stream 
 in the Atlantic, and the breath of Zephyrus may 
 not, in c(mse(pience, be rendered <[Uiie so mild and 
 balmy as with us. The north-west slanting of tin* 
 shore with land to the north is also a defect of posi- 
 tion in regard to mihbiess, an<l nmst render the win- 
 ter more severe than in western Europe, which has 
 sea towards the pole, besides the land is not so 
 nmch cut and intermingled with internal seas as in 
 Europe, which also must exert a modifying effect. 
 Much, however, will depend upon whether the south- 
 west winds or the north-east winds are more preva- 
 lent hero or in l^jurope. 
 
 The numerous firths and sounds and insular posi- 
 tions along the sea-bord are very favourable to the 
 occupation of fishing, the coast being thronged by 
 prodigious shoals of fish, particularly the salmon, 
 which come up so plentifully into the rivers at cer- 
 tain seasons to spawn, that vast numbers may b<; 
 killed by clubs, and supply a great i)roportion of the 
 food of the natives, and even serve them for clothing, 
 the Nootka Sound belles having chemises and other 
 
72 
 
 TIIK WESTERN TERRITOUV. 
 
 ' 
 
 attiro of salmon Hkins, when they cannot reach ho 
 high as have them of the .skiiiH of the sea-otter. 
 
 A proof of the natural resources of this Hue tem- 
 perate country is, tliat the natives are rather more 
 numerous here than they liave been found in any 
 other <iuarter of North America, with the exception 
 of Mexico, although they are not advanced beyond 
 the coiulition of lumters and fishers. They have 
 been found to tak( a resolute })art in defence of what 
 they consider their jjroperty-right t<^ the country, 
 and fatal results have several times attended the vi- 
 sits of vessels, owing to their jealousy and treachery. 
 Their numbers, coud)ined with this disposition, forms 
 a considerable barrier to the colonization of the 
 country by lOuropeans. 
 
 These lands from California to Analaska, from 
 their extreme remoteness, hav(.' been ncjirly forgot- 
 ten of late years, excepting by a few Kussian and 
 United States*' vessels, which resort to these shores 
 for the valuable furs of the sea-otter, obtained fi om 
 the native's by barter. Several lodgments have, 
 however, been effected by tlic Russians from Kamts- 
 chatka in the more northerly parts, which arc held 
 as Fur stations and as nuclei of future extension of 
 territory. Settlements have also been attempted 
 by the Uritich ami by the United States' p(>ople to 
 the southward, but withcmt success, from the inade- 
 quacy of the means employed. The country is, how- 
 over, so extremely desirable to Britain as an emigra- 
 tion-field that a lodgment should bo effected, cither 
 by a strong colonizing armament doubling Cape 
 Horn, or by advancing up the llio Bravo from the 
 Texas to Santa Fe, in subsidiary alliance with the 
 
TIIK WKSTERX TKURITOUY. 
 
 7t\ 
 
 HO 
 
 Mexican povcrnmont atid I'olonizin": wost ward jilon^ 
 the liio Colorado and tlie Colunibi.i : — Ixst in l>otli 
 ways. 
 
 Tho liritisli intorcstH in ^Icxico an<l tho ^('.Mt of 
 America will, however, in all probability, be ne^deet- 
 ed. Oin* national energy, at least in relation to na- 
 tional external objects, has snnk pfreatly of late years ; 
 tho attention of* the two classes in Ihitain — tin: land- 
 lord class, or governing aristocrac^y, and tlw working 
 class, having been engrossed by a home strnggle, the 
 former striving to extend or niaintain monopoly and 
 taxation to afford means of gratification to its grow- 
 ing luxnry, and Ihc other class devising means to 
 free itself from an extent of bnrdensome taxation 
 and monopoly beyond what has over before existed 
 in any country. ( )ther causes have also had sonn? 
 influence to increase our neglect of the external 
 means of advancing the national prosperity. Tin* 
 enthusiasm of a first discovery of distant lands has 
 passed away, and the foolish doctrines of ignorant 
 political economists respecting colonies have been 
 listened to. Luxury in the one class, and the great 
 division of labour and long hours of labour in the 
 other, are also limiting and impairing the en<'rgy of 
 the human powers, and inducing a condition ap- 
 proaching to the tame degradation of tlie East In- 
 dian by C'ast, or of the Chinese by long confiiMued 
 steady despotism. We are, in fact, becoming little 
 men, and the greater part of our aristocracy — sunk 
 in luxury, fit only to intrigu(3 for pensions, and to 
 attend to the etiquette of manners and court dresses, 
 engrossed with the litth: arts to appear great, are 
 incapable of regulating the affairs of the world 
 
 o 
 

 r 
 
 N^ 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 ■^ 1^ 12.2 
 
 US 
 
 1^ 
 
 ■ 4.0 
 
 I 
 
 2.0 
 
 1.8 
 
 
 1.25 |U |i.6 
 
 
 -» 6" 
 
 ► 
 
 % 
 
 0> 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^'-? 
 
 
 '/ 
 
 /A 
 
 Hiotographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 

 
74 
 
 THE WESTERN' TERRITORY. 
 
 (which our position calls upon us to do). The spirit 
 which actuated the Spaniard, and Portuguese, and 
 Dutch, and British, a century or two ago, has passed 
 from Europe, and we are only fitted to " chronicle 
 small beer" at a time when, by means of the Steam- 
 engine and other modern Discoveries, a few hands 
 can provide food and clothing for a great num- 
 ber, disposable for any purpose of National Utility, 
 we have acquired the power to carry through plan.s 
 which our Fathers could only dream of, and, if neces- 
 sary, to turn the World upside down ; — Discoverio?, 
 the advantage of which our aristocracy would, how- 
 ever, engross entirely to themselves to feed their grow- 
 ing luxury, regarding all manufacturing establish- 
 ments as so many Bee-hives, the busy members of 
 which have been providentially destined to gather 
 honey from the uttermost ends of the Earth for them 
 to devour. 
 
 of 
 
 •^, 
 
( 75 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE CAPE. 
 
 The country of the Cape of Good Hope, the Capo 
 of Storms, constituting the apex of the Pyramid of 
 Africa, is situated between 29° and S4^° south lati- 
 tude, extending, according to its present not very 
 accurately defined frontier outline, about COO miles 
 in length, from east to west, and 400 in breadth, 
 from north to south. 
 
 The Cape territory is, upon the whole, barren, and 
 rugged, and mountainous, and very deficient in the 
 means of comnmnication, as well by water as by land. 
 The western coast from Cape Town to the mouth of 
 Orange river, and considerably farther north beyond 
 the frontier (with the exception of an indifferent 
 haven a few leagues north of Cape Town) is not only 
 completely destitute of harbours, but also from the 
 extreme barrenness of the country, and almost total 
 want of fresh water, in no condition to benefit by 
 harbours had they even existed. A portion of the 
 south-eastern coast is however of a different charac- 
 ter, having several fine rivers flowing into the Indian 
 Ocean, along the valleys of which a considerable ex- 
 tent of beautiful and fertile country is to be found 
 well adapted for European settlements, especially 
 
 4\ 
 
76 
 
 THE CAPE. 
 
 4 
 
 towards the north-east frontier, whore the country 
 <;onerally ia well wooded and watered, and favourable 
 for agriculture and grazing. With the exception of 
 the north-east district, a great portion of the country 
 like the western coast, consists of barren mountains 
 and arid plains, one of which, the Great Karoo De- 
 sert, a high parched table-land, totally destitute of 
 water, se{)arating the Cape Town district from the 
 finer country to the north-east, extends about 100 
 leagues in length from east to west, and 80 in breadth. 
 This district, a pretty good sample of South African 
 wastes, undergoes a magical transition — alternately 
 a desert and an Eden — at one season of the year 
 after the winter rains, it is an innnense blooming 
 wilderness, covered with innumerable flowering plants, 
 chiefly of the liliaceous and bulbous-rooted kinds, with 
 thousands of springbokes and quaggas, and other 
 herbivorous quadrupeds roaming over it ; at another 
 season after the summer drought, it is a leafless, 
 lifeless desert, as far as the eye can reach, of hard 
 parched clay or sand. 
 
 The African quarter of the world, a large conti- 
 nent chiefly intertropical, with little of the surface 
 of sufficient altitude to counterbalance the effects of 
 tropical latitude, and the northern portion situated 
 to leeward of an extensive torrid continent, is neces- 
 sarily a very hot country. With the exception of 
 the low Guinea regions, and the parts immediately 
 under the line, which are subject to excessive rains 
 (apparently from electric influences), this continent is 
 of a very arid character, the high temperature greatly 
 promoting evaporation. Many parts, as well to the 
 south as to the north of the tropics, are destitute of 
 
 
 vc^ 
 
 seal 
 
 sul 
 
 or 
 
 dn 
 
 riv^ 
 
 t 
 I 
 
THE CAPE. 
 
 i i 
 
 vegetable cover to the soil, especially during the dry 
 season, and present a surface of dry sand or clay, 
 subject to be blown about by the winds. This sand 
 or dust-drift lodges in the water channels (frequently 
 dry at this season), and when the heavy rains set the 
 rivers and streamlets a-flowing, or give them greater 
 impetuosity, the materials which had lodged in their 
 beds are carried down to the sea, and beaten baclf 
 by the action of the waves, fill up or blockade all 
 the gulfs and firths and river mouths along the coast, 
 even forming sand-hills of considerable elevation, 
 where deep gulfs and creeks suited for harbours had 
 once existed. From this cause, Africa, excepting on 
 the Guinea coast, is very deficient of harbours, as 
 well on the Mediterranean as on the Atlantic and 
 Indian sea-shores ; a defect which it would be difficult 
 to repair by human exertion, and which could only 
 be remedied by the excavation of low rocky head- 
 lands (these form convenient harbours), as the mouth 
 of an erected harbour, in any other locality, would be 
 drifted up by the movmg sea sand. The aridity of 
 the air of the Cape, and the sand dust, is also found 
 to be very injurious to the eyes, many cases of blind- 
 ness occurring ; to guard against this sand-dust, a 
 gauze veil is frequently worn. 
 
 The climate of the Cape — hot but comparatively 
 temperate, considering the latitude — is, upon the 
 whole, favourable to Europeans, or at least to their 
 increase. From the poverty of the soil,* or rather 
 
 * Fertility, or rather production, is not altogether dependent 
 upon richness of soil. In a warm climate, the growth of vege- 
 tables or the crop is more under the control of an opportune 
 shower than of the quality of the soil, or the husbandman's 
 
 II 
 
78 
 
 THE CAPE. 
 
 'P 
 
 from the absence of vegettable matter in the soil and 
 the aridity, the country is pretty free of malaria ; 
 nor are the population so liable to dyspepsia as those 
 of the United States and Upp<>r Canada. The cli- 
 mate is also advantageous to people liable to pulmo- 
 nary disease, none of the native race, as is said, 
 having ever been known to cough. As a balance, 
 inflannnatory attacks and diseases, — measles, small 
 pox, and other cutaneous affections, are very infec- 
 tious and dangerous, partly from atmospheric influ- 
 ences, and partly on account of the population sub- 
 sisting chiefly upon animal food, combined with the 
 high temperature. The descendants of the Dutch 
 colonists (Africaners) are a fine luxuriant race, the 
 men tall and largo bodied, the females pretty and 
 round, and both sexes of a very different build from 
 the lathy Yankee. The aridity of the air in the dry 
 season is, however, an enemy to the rosy hue and the 
 dewy freshness of the cheek and lip of the Dutch 
 beauty, to which a moist cool air is necessary ; and un- 
 der exposure at the Cape, a very few seasons is suffi- 
 cient " to transfix the flourish set on youth, and delve 
 the parallels in beauty ""s brow." The heat of the cli- 
 mate, and perhaps the abundance of animal food, has 
 also the effect to bring life to what we consider a pre- 
 mature close, and it is said few burial-grounds afford 
 memorials of Africaners exceeding fifty years of age. 
 
 exertions, and the application of manure. The crop in these 
 countries being thus precarious has an injurious effect upon agri- 
 culture, as the exertions of the husbandman can only deserve 
 success. Perhaps Britain is the country where the exertions of 
 the husbandman go nearest to command success, and this in 
 part accounts for the superiority of his practice. 
 
THE C APE. 
 
 7\) 
 
 soil and 
 i«'xlc'iria ; 
 i« those 
 The cli- 
 piilnio- 
 is 8caid, 
 •alance, 
 
 small 
 ^ iiifee- 
 
 influ- 
 >n sub- 
 th the 
 Dutch 
 0, the 
 '^y and 
 I from 
 le dry 
 id the 
 3utch 
 id un- 
 suffi. 
 delve 
 e cli- 
 i, has 
 pre- 
 fford 
 age. 
 
 these 
 agri- 
 lerve 
 Qsof 
 s in 
 
 To the naturalist. South Africa affords a very in- 
 teresting field, a Held where the larger forms of life 
 are more varied than in any other region, and where 
 the adai)tation of the organic constitution to cir- 
 cumstances is also very conspicuously marked. The 
 ruminant and the thick-skinned mammalia are espe- 
 cially numerous, as well in genera and species as in 
 multitude of individuals, and the carnivorous kinds 
 which prey upon them nearly equally so. These 
 afford to the hunting amateur a variety of game to 
 suit every peculiarity of appetite for destruction, — 
 the elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, giraffe, lion, 
 leopard, hyaena, quagga, numerous quadrumanna, 
 and vast assortments of deer and antelopes, present- 
 ing an unequalled choice quite sufficient to content 
 the most fastidious taste and the greatest love of 
 variety. These, and all other living things which 
 have sufficient locomotive powers, migrate to other 
 regions on the occurrence of drought ; — the reptilia 
 and insect tribes creeping into holes become torpid, 
 and chrysalides, or outstand the period of arid death 
 in the egg state, defended by an impervious shell ; 
 and vegetable life, with a few exceptions of stem 
 and leaves of peculiar powers of resisting drought, 
 retires into the earth, where, in the state of fleshy 
 bulbs, with numerous concentric defensive scale- 
 layers, it is able to withstand the parching des- 
 truction. 
 
 It is nearly 200 years since the Dutch formed a 
 settlement at the Cape, and only last war that it fell 
 into the hands of the British. In order to give the 
 colony something of a British character. Government, 
 several years back, gave considerable encouragement 
 
 ,^f 
 
 u 
 
80 
 
 THE CAPE. 
 
 k 
 
 
 and assistance to settlers proceeding from this coun- 
 try, and a British colony was located at Algoa Bay, 
 the eastern limits of the Cape territory. This colony, 
 considering the capital and numbers engaged in it, 
 has been far from prosperous. The grain crops 
 during the three first years, from blights and igno- 
 rance of the climate, were a complete failure, and a 
 number of the houses and gardens situated within 
 the reach of torrents, which here swell to the size of 
 rivers by the excessive rains which sometimes occur, 
 were swept away or destroyed. Notwithstanding of 
 this, and that considerable numbers of the settlers 
 deserted the place, some retiring to Cape Town, some 
 proceeding to other districts of the colony, and some 
 returning home to Britain ; yet the energy and per- 
 severance of the more resolute, at length mastered 
 the first difliculties : they had obtained numerous 
 flocks and herds, and a sufficiency of food, had rami- 
 fied their grazing and agricultural establishments to 
 considerable distance along the interior valleys, and 
 had erected a town (Graham's Town;, when the 
 whole settlement was nearly swept away about four 
 years ago by an irruption of the Caffre tribes. 
 
 It is not easy to determine the proximate causes 
 which led to this unfortunate war. The leading or pri- 
 mary cause was the occupation, by a numerous body 
 of settlers, of a country already nearly peopled up to 
 the means of subsistence. The natives of Southern 
 Africa are a shepherd or rather neatherd population, 
 to which, indeed, the climate and country is more 
 fitted than for an agricultural, by reason of the great 
 droughts to which it is subject. These droughts 
 frequently render a removal, to another locality ne- 
 
 wi 
 ur( 
 
THE CAPE. 
 
 81 
 
 us coun- 
 
 oa Bay, 
 colony, 
 
 kl in it, 
 
 » crops 
 
 d igno- 
 and a 
 within 
 size of 
 occur, 
 
 ling of 
 
 ettlers 
 some 
 some 
 
 d per- 
 
 ?tered 
 
 lerous 
 
 rami- 
 
 its to 
 
 , and 
 
 I the 
 four 
 
 mses 
 pri- 
 )ody 
 p to 
 lern 
 ion, 
 ore 
 eat 
 hts 
 ne- 
 
 cessary when the pastures fail, to prevent the cattle 
 from perishing, which is but following the practice 
 of the wild animals. The British colony had occu- 
 pied a country which had remained for some time a 
 sort of neutral ground, from whence the native Caffre 
 population had been obliged to retire by the com- 
 mando-plundering expeditions of the Dutch, but to 
 which they (the Caffres) resorted in cases of the fail- 
 ure of the pasturages to which they had retired. 
 Further encroachments had been made by the Bri- 
 tish settlers, in numerous instances, uj)on grounds 
 along the frontier in common use by the natives. 
 Numerous misunderstandings and quarrels had arisen 
 between the two races brought into contact, but ig- 
 norant of each other's language, and no doubt, grie- 
 vous offences had, in many instances, been committed 
 by the better armed upon the more defenceless. It is 
 also said that tribes still further to the north-east, in 
 consequence of the droughts or other causes, had moved 
 south-west, pushing those more immediately adjacent 
 to the Cape Colony forward in the same direction, (per- 
 haps the recoil of the wave of population north-east- 
 ward which the ingress of the British colony had oc- 
 casioned). A combination of circumstances had 
 thus led to a grand attack by the neighbouii;!!' 
 Caffre tribes upon the Algoa British Colony, which, 
 in the first place, drove every thing before it, and 
 compelled the settlers to retire upon Grrahamstown, 
 and to entrench themselves in the city ; and it was 
 not till after nineteen months of exterminating war- 
 fare carried on by nearly the whole disposable force 
 of the Cape, that the irruption was driven back and 
 
 ; r 
 
 .1 ' 
 
82 
 
 THE CAPE. 
 
 something like a settlement of affairs brought about 
 at a cost to Groat Britain of nearly L.2.>0,()00. 
 
 Hy the last accounts things are yet in a precarious 
 state. New encroachments have been made and in- 
 juries committed by the African ])utch, and consi- 
 derable destruction of life and pro[)erty has taken 
 place by native retaliation. It will bo very difficult 
 to bring about a steady and peaceful order of things, 
 at least by the rude means at present employed. 
 Nothing would so much tend to effect this as to 
 have civilization establishments with all the more 
 influential tribes, and these tribes to be received as 
 allies under British protection, and treated in the 
 kindest and most generous manner. To do this sys- 
 tematically, it would be necessary to form a peace 
 or educational South African corps (in which mis- 
 sionaries might take a considerable part) similar to 
 what will afterwards be described as necessary t,o 
 the civilization of New Zealand. This would be at- 
 tended with considerable cost to Britain, but it 
 would be cheaper to employ moral force in part than 
 to employ only compulsory force, and surely if the 
 accomplishment of a purpose by wrong and injury is 
 more costly than by kind offices, we ought to prefer 
 the latter. 
 
 Till something of this nature has been effected, 
 the Cape Colony, especially the English settlements 
 to the eastward, though rather favourably situated 
 in regard to temperature and healthiness of climate, 
 and of considerable fertility, will not afford a desir- 
 able emigration field ; and even were protection to 
 person and property complete, the deficiency of good 
 harbours and difficulty of communication, and occa- 
 
THE CAPE. 
 
 8S 
 
 ht about 
 
 m. 
 
 ocarioua 
 and in- 
 J consi- 
 LS taken 
 (lifficult 
 things, 
 ployed. 
 3 as to 
 ) more 
 ivod as 
 in the 
 lis sys- 
 peace 
 h inis- 
 lar to 
 
 3e at- 
 ut it 
 than 
 P the 
 iry is 
 refer 
 
 sted, 
 ents 
 ited 
 ate, 
 sir- 
 to 
 )od 
 ca- 
 
 sional disastrous droughts a..d locust visitations, are 
 insuperable drawbacks to the rapid progresHion of 
 the colony. The deficiency of good harbours is the 
 more to be regretted, as the position is very favour- 
 able for connnerce. 
 
 In countries where extreme droughts are occurring 
 in particular districts, the population are generally 
 nomadic, as herds and flocks can be removed to 
 other localities where subsistence is to be found ; 
 whereas an agricultural population would be de- 
 stroyed unless they could procure foreign supplies, or 
 retained in magazines sufficient store of grain for one 
 or even more years, and had artesian wells, or large 
 deep tanks capable of affording a sufficiency of water. 
 Whenever a shepherd population are accustomed to 
 migrate, individual land property-right is not in use, 
 the land right being vested in the connnunity. 
 
 The Caffre is not, however, endowed with the meek 
 enduring nature and passive courage of the Hindoo, 
 who expires of famine by hundreds of thousands 
 without disturbance. When the Caffre puts on 
 the girdle of famine (a tight bandage round the 
 middle to prevent the gnawing of hunger), the bonds 
 of government are loosened, and all alliances and 
 compacts with other tribes, and respect to their pro- 
 perty or life, are at an end. It is not, therefore, to 
 be expected that any means, within the compass of 
 the British Government, or of any government, can 
 bring things to a very secure state in Southern Afri- 
 ca, at least for many years to come. 
 
il 
 
 ( »4 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AUSTRALIA AND TASMANIA. 
 
 The great island or continent of Australia, which 
 extends from 10^° to 31)^" South Lat., and from 
 113° to 153^0 East Long., is nearly of the size of 
 Europe, being about 2000 miles each way, and con- 
 taining between two and three millions of square 
 miles of surface. 
 
 We know almost nothing of the tropical half of 
 this great south land. A colony was indeed at- 
 tempted at or near Melville Island on the north coast 
 about fifteen years ago, by our Government, but 
 from the inadequacy of means and unhealthiness of 
 the station made choice of, it was abandoned after 
 the party engaged in it had suffered great privations 
 and loss. It is said that large rivers exist in this 
 quarter, abounding with alligators, and the woody 
 nature of the country also shews that the climate is 
 not quite so arid as the extra-tropical part. The 
 general character of the half in the temperate zone 
 is aridity, poverty of soil, healthiness of climate, — 
 low rocky mountains covered with trees and brush, 
 parched plains destitute of water, and an undulating 
 country, partly covered with patches of wood, partly 
 
 cXlfl 
 
 Tinl 
 gov] 
 its 
 bar! 
 
AUSTRALIA. 
 
 8.5 
 
 t, which 
 ><1 from 
 size of 
 nd con- 
 square 
 
 half of 
 secI at- 
 1 coast 
 t, but 
 less of 
 
 after 
 ations 
 n this 
 k^oody 
 ate is 
 The 
 
 zone 
 
 e,— . 
 
 'ush, 
 
 ting 
 
 Ttly 
 
 l)jire and pro(hicing generally a tliin tufted coarne 
 j^raHS, twelve aeres of wliicli will n«)t HU|)j)ly aH nmch 
 nourishuicnt to stock as ouv acre of KiijL?lish nasture. 
 Considering the ^""''at extent of coast, this half of 
 Austr/dia is c()ni])aratively destitute of harbours, 
 especially to the westward of Kan<raroo Island 
 on the south coast, and on the west coast, few rivers 
 existinpr, and th(>so which exist having bar inojiths. 
 This drticiency has caused the capital and seat of 
 governuKnit to be placed at Sy<lney, on fcccount of 
 its liarbour, although the adjacent country is very 
 barren and river connnunication awanting. 
 
 The climate, in conse(iuence of sea towards the 
 pole, is mild in winter, and from the aridity and 
 lowness of a gi'etit part of the country, very hot in 
 summ(!r. However, from the absence of clouds and 
 serenity of the air the nights are cold, especially a 
 little before sunrise and immediatelv after sunset, 
 although the day has been very hot. The tempera- 
 ture is also, from some unknown influence, extremely 
 variable throughout the day (at least in the South 
 Wales portion), the thermometer frecjuently rising 
 or falling 30° in the course of an hour. 
 
 The most remarkable feature of the climate of 
 Australia, at least of the portion in the temperate 
 zone, is the general aridity and the lasting droughts 
 which occur, as is stated at intervals of eight or ten 
 years. At these times for a period of two years in 
 succession, scarcely any rain has been known to 
 fall ; the crops, in consequence, being a complete 
 failure and much of the stock perished ; while at 
 other times the fall of rain is so great that the 
 nvers are flooded from fifty to seventy feet perpen- 
 
 t+ 
 
 1i| 
 
 1. 1 
 
 
AUSTRALIA. 
 
 ^|. 
 
 dicular above their usual level, constituting a water 
 power too unmanageable and ru(ie for being employed 
 in driving machinery and rendering the low grounds 
 adjacent to the rivers, which, in other countries, are 
 the most tortile and best peopled, unfit for tillage or 
 for building upon. These periodical great floodings 
 will render the formation of large tanks or lakes for 
 the purpose of irrigation and water supply during 
 the droughts very dangerous to the country further 
 down the valley, as it would be difficult to construct 
 the dam or mole of a tank so stable as not to be 
 liable to be broken down by the great floods, and 
 should this occur, the accumulated mass of waters 
 set loose in conjunction with the flooding would tear 
 up everything in the valley downward to the ocean. 
 
 a 
 
 US(| 
 
 In taking a general survey of extra- tropical Aus- 
 tralia, we observe a state of things indicative of 
 gi'eat aridity, and a natural provision for withstand- 
 ing drought fully more complete than in any oth<>r 
 parched locality. 
 
 1st, A deficiency of timber in many places, and 
 large old trees standing apart, without the young 
 rising to supply the failure of the old, — rather in- 
 dicating that the drought is on the increase. 
 
 2d, The nature of the tree -foliage, — the small, 
 hard, smooth, simple (not divided), dark coloured 
 erect leaf, so different from the beautiful large fresh 
 green leaves of the deciduous forests of Upper 
 Canada, and the Mississippi Basin. 
 
 3d, The slough, or covering of dead bark, which 
 serves to protect the living bark of the trees from 
 the drought. This is gradually forming, and coats 
 
AUSTRALIA. 
 
 87 
 
 g a water 
 employed 
 V grounds 
 tries, are 
 tillage or 
 floodings 
 lakes for 
 \y during 
 y further 
 3onstruct 
 lot to bo 
 •ods, and 
 f waters 
 )uld tear 
 ) ocean. 
 
 3al i\u8- 
 ative of 
 hstand- 
 I}' other 
 
 es, and 
 young 
 
 ^er in- 
 small, 
 
 loured 
 
 3 fresh 
 
 Upper 
 
 which 
 
 from 
 
 coats 
 
 arc thrown off as the stem enlarges, which appear 
 hanging from the stem in the most unsightly fashion, 
 like tattered garments. 
 
 4th, The gummy consistence of the tree-sap, and 
 the flinty hardness of the timber, matured by the 
 great drought, and the absence of a winter check to 
 a solidity and induration which renders it almost 
 useless to man for the purposes of construction. 
 
 5th, The herbage, especially the grasses, very 
 scant, and thin and dry, standing apart in tufts. 
 
 6th, The native mammalia, generally of the mar- 
 supial order, — having a bag, a provision, as it would 
 seem, for the purpose of removing their young when 
 they are obliged to migrate on the occurrence of 
 droughts ; while the renmants of past life found in 
 caves and diluvial earth, prove the former existence 
 of mammalia, not marsupial. 
 
 These indices of aridity and sterility are not 
 balanced by any apparent counter advantages, or 
 capacity for improvement, excepting the peculiar 
 adaptation tor sheep-walk. Were the country too 
 moist, or even insalubrious, drainage and cutting 
 down the forests might remedy the former of these 
 defects altogether, and to a considerable degree the 
 latter. Did it have numerous good harbours, con- 
 venient river communication, or supply of water- 
 power suited for machinery, with a cool climate, 
 commerce and manufactures might make some 
 amends for deficiency of fertility. Were the sea as 
 abundant in edible fish around Australia, as in the 
 sea on the cast and west coast of North America, 
 and around Britain and New Zealand, the fertility 
 
 it; 
 
 il 
 
 ;• i^ 
 
 1/ 
 
88 
 
 AUSTRALIA. 
 
 li si 
 
 of the waters might help to repair the sterility of 
 the land, But all this is awanting in Australia. 
 
 It is even found out, by experience, that fertility 
 is not increased in Australia, as it is in T^ritain, by 
 the ground being depastured, but on the contrary, 
 greatly diminished. The country which has been 
 longest under pasturage, in the vicinity of Sydney, and 
 which for some time after the commencement of the 
 colony, afforded comparatively fair pasturage, is now 
 reduced to great sterility. An uncropt cover of 
 grass, thin as it is here, appears useful to shelter the 
 vegetable matter in the soil from being exhausted 
 or evaporated by the arid heat, and even necessary to 
 protect the roots from being burned out by the strong 
 influence of the sun. And the manure of cattle, in- 
 stead of being covered by the luxuriant herbage, be- 
 fore it i» desiccated, and enriching the soil, as in 
 England, under the powerful sun, and arid air, in 
 New South Wales is quickly reduced to dust, and 
 dissipated. 
 
 These facts do not promise favourably of the 
 future condition of Australia. Something might be 
 done by attention to keep up or increase the forest 
 cover, which has a great influence in attracting or 
 retaining moisture ; but the increase of sheep and 
 cattle are exceedingly opposed to the springing uj) 
 of w^oods, and the frequent burning of the withered 
 grass is a complete prevention. It is not improba- 
 ble that some kind of trees may be found more at- 
 tractive of dews and rain than others. In vhe East 
 Indies, it is common, when they plant a certain pro- 
 ductive kind of tree, to plant along side of it an- 
 
AUSTRALIA. 
 
 89 
 
 other kind, of little or no value of itself, which they 
 say has the power to attract moisture sufficient to 
 support the more valuable kind, which ^^ ould other- 
 wise perish. These they call wet nurses ; and it is 
 worth experimenting to ascertain, whether the wet 
 nurse really acts in some peculiar way to attract 
 moisture, or if it merely affords the dampness of 
 shade. If, in the former way, this kind or class of 
 trees might be most advantageously employed in 
 modifying the climate of Australia. In some parts 
 of the dry country of France they have rows of 
 fruit-trees, about one hundred yards apart, in the 
 corn-fields, which affords considerable shelter to the 
 crop from the drought. This plan might be tried in 
 Australia, as well with the grass-fields as with those 
 under tillage; and the effect of different kinds of 
 trees might be tried in different districts, especially 
 the East Indian wet nurse, if it suit the climate. 
 The condition of Easter Island, which, from the de- 
 struction of the forest-cover, or some other causes, 
 is now almost entirely destitute of fresh water, and, 
 where a once numerous population are sinking, 
 should not be lost sight of by the Australians. 
 
 The New South Wales colony, although vibrating 
 between adversity and prosperity, as moist or dry 
 periodis occur, and more than once since the com- 
 mencement, in ab&olute jeopardy of existence, has of 
 late years increased very greatly in extension and 
 wealth. The cause of this increase is partly the 
 great expenditure of the government establishment 
 and forces (a fund supplied by the mother country), 
 and the cheap compulsory labour of the convicts. 
 But the grand source of the prosperity, is the ex- 
 
 H 
 
00 
 
 AUSTRALIA. 
 
 ^^! 
 
 cellent adaptation of the country for supporting 
 great flocks of fine woolled sheep. A certain extent 
 of aridity of climate, producing an herbage not too 
 luxuriant and succulent, is favourable for this class 
 of animals ; and the aridity, by preventing the oc- 
 cupancy of a considerable portion of the country by 
 close forest, and thus obstructing the growth of the 
 herbage, obviates the necessity of cutting down the 
 trees, and forming clearances (as in Canada), which 
 requires much hard labour, and which the popula- 
 tion of a new settlement are quite inadequate to ef- 
 fect so quickly, as the rapid increase of flocks would 
 demand ; while, at the same time, from the absence 
 of any severity of winter, no hard labour is needed 
 to provide hay, and other forage supply. 
 
 As things now stand, it is said, the small capita- 
 list, who, like the philosophers of Arden, has a taste 
 for a country life, has nothing more to do to acquire 
 a fortune, but to embark for Australia, and when he 
 arrives, to purchase a few hundreds or thousands of 
 fine woolled sheep, with several horses or bullocks, 
 for carrying his baggage, to engage one or more as- 
 sistant shepherds, and to start with his whole re- 
 tinue for the wilderness, — the more distant parts 
 of the colony which are not yet appropriated. The 
 pasture of land of the wilderness costs nothing; 
 when one valley fails of herbage, he can resort to 
 another; the sheep are even more healthy from 
 change of pasture ; and at the clipping season, he 
 can wear his flocks to the quarter of the unappro- 
 priated country, nearest to a harbour or place, where 
 his wool can be disposed of, and where a new sup- 
 ply of luxuries, — flour, salt, tea, sugar, can be pro- 
 
 
AUSTRALIA AND TASMANIA. 
 
 n 
 
 cured ; with these he can solace for another year, and 
 kill his own mutton. 
 
 In this patriarchal way our colonist can, it is said, 
 nearly double his flock every season, and at the end of 
 eight or ten years will have at least a hundred times 
 the number of sheep he commenced with; while the clip- 
 sale of every season will have more than sufficed for 
 pay of assistant shepherds and all other contingent 
 expenses. This is all likely to take place, provided he 
 find sufficient assistant shepherds, and has had the 
 luck not to be transfixed by a native spear, or has 
 not fallen in some skirmish with some other bush- 
 ranger like himself, and provided no terrible drought 
 occur to reduce his flocks or destroy them alto- 
 gether. There is no doubt that numbers have suc- 
 ceeded in amassing fortunes in this way, while num- 
 bers have been unsuccessful. One flock-master, how- 
 ever, generally collects a little money from the sale 
 of a portion of his stock, as it becomes unmanage- 
 ably large, to some other adventurer, and purchases 
 some favourite spot in the wilderness, on which his 
 fancy had fed, as it is brought into the market, at 
 which he establislies his head-quarters, and from 
 whence he sends out portions of his stock under ex- 
 perienced shepherds to graze at large on the unlo- 
 cated country. 
 
 Should recurrences of devastating drought not take 
 place things would go on very prosperously, and the 
 whole fine wool supply for ]^riti'^h manufacture would 
 soon be furnished by An, Iraliu, enriching that coun- 
 try as much as if it po.sRcssod the mil us of Peru and 
 Mexico. It is, huwcvcr, greaiiy to lie feared that 
 visitations of drought even more destractive than 
 
 ) . 
 
 
 
 
 ■ "I 
 
92 
 
 AUSTRALIA. 
 
 wliat have been witnessed will occur, driving the 
 sliepherds of the plains to the mountains for subsist- 
 ence, and in a few months destroying the accumu- 
 lated property of an age as well as great numbers of 
 the population. To guard against such contingent 
 danger the Government at New South Wales should 
 have large magazines filled with grain thoroughly 
 dried, and shut up close from insect depredation, 
 which, it is said, here consume in a very short period 
 what is kept in open granary. (Dry grain in a large 
 mass will remain sweet almost any length of time if 
 kept free of damp by a sheet-lead or zinc floor-cover, 
 and close plaster lath around and over it, or still bet- 
 ter metallic sheet.) 
 
 This is the more necessary as the grain produce 
 of New South Wales is in some seasons extremely 
 abundant, and in others a complete failure — the lat- 
 ter sometimes in consequence of drought, sometimes 
 from blight, which is especially frequent in localities 
 near the sea, and supposed to arise from the great 
 transitions of temperature or from the sea air, as 
 well as from the sirocco blast. A considerable por- 
 tion of the grain consumed at Sydney is imported 
 from Tasmania, where the climate is more regular, 
 and some portion from Britain. The Hunter river 
 district, about 100 miles north of Sydney, which 
 contains a considerable extent of fertile land, is be- 
 ginning to afford a quantity, but the supply from 
 this district will never be steady from its liability 
 to blight. 
 
 The heat in New South Wales is sometimes ex- 
 treme, which the following quotation from the Edin- 
 burgh New Philosophical Journal will describe : — 
 
 8U 
 bl 
 
AUSTRALIA. 
 
 93 
 
 " Mr Martin observes that it is only during the 
 summer months that the hot winds occasionally 
 blow, and raise the mercury to 120o F., when ex- 
 posed to the wind. When these siroccos are about 
 to occur, the sky assumes a lurid appearance, the 
 sun is hid from the view, the wind suddenly shifts to 
 the north-west, and blows with tremendous violence, 
 and can only be compared to a fiery blast issuing 
 from an immense furnace ; the dust is whirled with 
 rapidity, and distant thunder is heard. At night 
 the flashes of stream lightning present a continually 
 illuminated horizon ; vast forests become a universal 
 blaze of fire, and the flames, borne along with the 
 blast, readily find fresh fuel, carrying terror before, 
 and leaving ruin and desolation behind. Not only 
 does the field of corn, ready for the sickle, become 
 a charred stubble, but houses and domestic animals 
 
 are reduced to a heap of ashes Fortunately 
 
 these winds seldom last long, rarely more than two 
 days at a time Collins speaks of these si- 
 roccos as killing birds, beasts, and men." 
 
 This picture of the eflx3cts of extreme heat, which 
 occurring at a ( ritical period of the crop, must en- 
 tirely blast the promise of a season, independent of 
 the lasting periodical extreme droughts, is enough 
 to render precaution, especially in the case of a 
 greatly increased population, highly necessary. Per- 
 haps no country has a more steady climate than the 
 British Isles, or is more regular in production, a 
 consequence of the insular position and mountain 
 ranges preventing great drouglits, or any extreme 
 being so general — west winds commonly bringing 
 rain on the west, and east winds on the east side of 
 
 '■I r.; 
 
 
 lit 
 
 1| 
 
 'i i' 
 
 J i: 
 
 sr 
 
 t 
 
94 
 
 AUSTRALIA. 
 
 tho country. This disposition of things at home has 
 an effect to render the British not sufficiently alive 
 to the danger to be apprehended from droughts in 
 other regions, and which seem to be most prevalent 
 in localities situated from 15° to 3;5° of Lat. It is, 
 therefore, probable that sufficient precautionary 
 means will not be taken in Australia and the South 
 of Africa till some terrible visitation of famine and 
 consequential disease be our fatal instructor, such as 
 sometimes occurs in the East Indies, but which only 
 affecting a people far out of view, and with whom 
 we have little sympathy, our Indian Government 
 is allowed to treat with neglect. The following 
 (abridged) quotation of the account of a famine in 
 (ruzerat in 1811, by Captain James Hivett Carnac, 
 Political Resident at the Court of Guicawar, may 
 serve to give some idea of a calamity of this nature. 
 The superstitious Hindoos attributed the famine to 
 the wrath of an offended Deity because of the sins 
 of that portion of India, as some of our established 
 clergy in Britain did the yellow fever, which was so 
 prevalent at New York about the same time, not, how- 
 ever, because of the immorality of the Americans, but 
 because they had emancipated themselves from British 
 tyranny. The famine at least was a consequence of 
 sin, not of commission but of omission, not of the 
 direct sin of the sufferers, but of their remiss govern- 
 ment, which, in a country liable to these visitations, 
 makes no provision against them. 
 
 " It has often been remarked that the appearance 
 of locusts is a prognostic of other evils. In 1811, 
 the annual fall of rain failed at Marwar, and when 
 every vestige of vegetation had disappeared the lo- 
 
AUSTRALIA. 
 
 95 
 
 custs made their way into the north-west district of 
 (xuzerat, and from thenco scoured Kattiwar. The 
 failure of grain in Marwar, and the ruin by the lo- 
 custs of the products of the land, drove the inhabit- 
 ants into the bosom of Guzerat, where the same 
 causes had begun to operate, thus augmenting the 
 demand on its resources in a twofold degree, and 
 the pressing wants of the people soon reducing the 
 half-famished new comers to the greatest privations. 
 The mortality which ensued among those who had 
 sought refuge after the sufferings of famine in their 
 own district, covered with disease, regardless of every 
 consideration but that promoted by the calls of hun- 
 ger, almost surpasses my own belief, though an un- 
 happy witness of such horrid events. 
 
 " In the vicinity of every large town, you perceived 
 suburbs surrounded by these creatures. Their resi- 
 dence was usually taken up on the main road under 
 the cover of trees ; men, women, and children pro- 
 miscuously scattered, some furnished with a scanty 
 covering, others almost reduced to a state of nudity, 
 while, at the same moment, the spectator witnessed, 
 within the range of his own observation, the famish- 
 ed looks of a fellow-creature, aggravated by the pain 
 of sickness ; the desponding cries of the multitude, 
 mingled with the thouglitless playfulness of children, 
 and the unavailing struggles of the infant to draw 
 sustenance from the exhausted breasts of its parent. 
 To consummate this scone of human misery, a life- 
 less corpse was at intervals brouglit to notice by the 
 bewailings of a near relative ; its immediate neigh- 
 bourhood display iiig the hnpationcc .nul wildness ex- 
 cited in the fortunate few who had obtained a pit- 
 
 ,5 
 
 i^ 
 
 
 I ii 
 5 t' 
 
 \i 
 
06 
 
 AUSTRALIA. 
 
 tanco of grain, and was devouring it with dosperat«^ 
 satisfaction. The hourly recurrence of miseries had 
 familiarized the minds of these poor people, as well 
 as of people in general, to every extremity which na- 
 ture could inflict. In a short time, these emanations 
 of individual feeling among themselves, which dis- 
 tinguished the first commencement of their sufferings, 
 gradually abated, and the utmost indifference univer- 
 sally predominated. 
 
 " During the progress of these miseries, I have seen 
 a few Marwarees sitting in a cluster, denying a little 
 water to sustain her drooping spirits, to a woman 
 stretched beside them,* with a dead infant reposing on 
 her breast. In a few hours this woman had also expired, 
 and her dead body, as well as that of the child remain- 
 ing close by them, situated as before described without 
 a single attempt to removethem, until the Government 
 peons had performed that oflico. I have seen a child, 
 not quite dead, torn away by a pack of dogs from its 
 mother, who was unable to speak or move, but lay 
 with anxious eyes directed to the object of its fond 
 affection. I have witnessed those animals watching 
 the famished creatures, who were verging on the 
 point of dissolution, to feast on their bodies ; and 
 this spectacle was repeated every successive day in 
 the environs of the town. The number of the Mar- 
 warees who died in a single day at Baroda could 
 scarcely be counted, and the return of the burials in 
 twenty-four hours often exceeded 500 bodies. It 
 would be doing an act of injustice, however, to the 
 natives of opulence in Guzerat, to pass over their 
 exertions to alleviate the surrounding distress. The 
 charity of the Hindoos is proverbial ; it constitutes 
 
AUSTRALIA. 
 
 VJ 
 
 one of the primary tcnots of their inonility (religion), 
 and is generally unaffectedly dispensed. On the oc- 
 currence of the distress and famine, large subscrip- 
 tions were made, aided by a liberal sum from the native 
 Government, and the objects of the institution were 
 obtained by proper regulations devised for the pur- 
 pose. I caimot say what munbers were relieved, but 
 the monthly expense of feeding the poor in this town, 
 amounted to some thousands of rupees. It was a 
 cruel sight to witness the struggles, when the door^ 
 were opened to ai)portion their victuals, and it was 
 no unusual thing for a luunber to fall a sacrifice to 
 their precipitate voracity. Many also whose wants 
 had been supplied, continued to devour until the 
 means intended for their relief proved in the end 
 their destruction in a few hours. Children were often 
 crushed to death under the feet of their parents. 
 The establishment of which I have been speaking 
 was imitated in most of the principal towns of Gu- 
 zerat, and added a few months of life to a class of 
 beings reserved for greater miseries ; indeed, subse- 
 quent events would seem to ghew that these people 
 were marked for total annihilation. "' * ^ The 
 mortality at Ahmedabad is computed at 100,000 
 persons, a number nearly equal to one-half of its po- 
 pulation. The demand for wood to burn the Hindoo 
 portion of the sufferers, called for the destruction (f 
 the houses — even this was barely sufficient for the 
 performance of the rites required by the Hindoo 
 faith, and the half-consumed bodies on the banks of 
 the Pabiermuttee evince, at this hour, to what straits 
 the Hindoos were reduced in fulfilling the last duties 
 to their kindred." — (Edin. New Phil. Journal.) 
 
 I 
 
 ii-i' 
 
 
AUSTRALIA. 
 
 mm. 
 
 This statemont by tho British Resident, is enough 
 to make us pause to consider of the danger to which 
 Australia is liable, with a climate even more preca- 
 rious than that of Guzorat, and so far distant from 
 extraneous supplies. His account also exemplifies 
 well the effects of direct charity. The Hindoos are a 
 very charitable people, which their religion as well as 
 the Mahommedan greatly inculcates, but their charity 
 being merely an animal instinct or religious impres- 
 sion, not under the guidance of reason, is not provi- 
 dent. They merely feed the hungry indiscriminately, 
 which only leads to idleness, immorality, misery. 
 Charity in Guzerat not being providently directed to 
 improve tho condition of society, and the means of" 
 individuals to retain a hoarded private supply, nor to 
 lay up a national store, notwithstanding of thc^r 
 " lar(je subscriptions ^ aided by a liberal sum from the 
 native Government^ and the objects of the institution ob- 
 tained by proper regulations,'''' only served to double 
 tho extent of the calamity, and to lengthen the mi- 
 sery, — the gratuitous relief to the strangers only keep- 
 ing these poor wretches two or three months longer 
 alive, in the most horrible condition that the fancy 
 of man can picturtv and scarcely one in a hundred 
 surviving in the en', while, by exhausting their own 
 supplies, the donors involved themselves and the 
 inhabitants of the district in the calamity, nearly 
 one-half of these also perishing. 
 
 The climate of New South Wales, and indeed of 
 all the southern half of Australia, notwithstanding 
 the great heat, is salubrious and suitable for Euro- 
 peans, and especially in the more elevated country, 
 and to the west of the Blue Mountains at Bathurst. 
 
AUSTRALIA. 
 
 I onougli 
 
 bo which 
 
 preca- 
 
 nt from 
 
 amplifies 
 
 ►OM are a 
 
 s well a8 
 
 rcharity 
 
 inipreB- 
 
 >t provi- 
 
 linately, 
 
 misery. 
 
 Bcted to 
 
 leans of 
 
 7. nor to 
 
 r)f th(!ir 
 
 '^rom the 
 
 ition ob- 
 
 doublf 
 
 he mi- 
 
 ykeep- 
 
 longer 
 
 e fancy 
 
 lundred 
 
 Dir own 
 
 nd the 
 
 nearly 
 
 ieed of 
 anding 
 Euro- 
 Duntry, 
 thurst. 
 
 Those born in the country, — the Australian British, 
 — are generally of a good tall size, to which the plenty 
 of animal food will no doubt conduce. Hut notwith- 
 
 dinir of 
 
 th 
 
 of 
 
 I 
 
 Klmg ot tne salubrity, tho mnrmities ol age an( 
 wrinkes approach sooner thnn in Rritiin, the teeth 
 also, according to Cunningham, d«'cay at /i very early 
 period, which would augur «ome deficiency in tho di- 
 gestive functions. As in all r>ow countriog, ^'ven 
 though a little warmer than the parent country, 
 light-coloured hair is more frequent than in the pa- 
 rent country, the complexion is also inclining to a 
 brick-red cast, without the rose-bloom cheek. 
 
 It is said that the births in the imported races, as 
 well in man as the lower animals, are considerably 
 more productive of females than of males, whieii 
 some of the native writers, without attempting to 
 point out the proximate cause, say is providential. Tho 
 population has not increased (naturally), but has consi- 
 derably diminished since the foundation of the colony, 
 — the deaths greatly exceeding the births, — thi^ in- 
 crease of numbers being entirely owing to immigra- 
 tion. This, however, is not the fault of the climate ; 
 marriages are sufficiently prolific. The great predo- 
 minance of males in the colony, and the condition of 
 at least the one-half of these (military .»r convicts 
 without wives), accounts sufficiently for the defect. 
 Perhaps no colony in the world has been so absurdly 
 conducted as New South Wales. It is not long since 
 the proportion of males to females was as ten to one, 
 while there was still a greater disparity between the 
 grown up of both sexes ! ! The economy of the British 
 army has not been very humane. — Married men with 
 their families sent off to the seat of war, or to un- 
 
 i , I 
 
 f 1 
 
 ■i i 
 
100 
 
 AUSTRALIA. 
 
 fM^ 
 
 lioiilthy regions, whore two-thirds of the mothore and 
 children must sink under the diniate, hardships, and 
 juiv.itious, wliile a colony like New South Wales, 
 where population is so desirable, has been garrisoned 
 by no greater proportion of married soldiers than 
 other places. A New South Wales corps should 
 have been formed of soldiers with families, of good 
 mural character, selected from the whole service, and 
 limited to the settlement. 
 
 The Aborigines of these regions are a race of sa- 
 vages, perhaps the farthest removed from civilized 
 man of any in existence. Those inhabiting Tasma- 
 nia, who are even a degree inferior to those of Aus- 
 tralia, having been found extremely mischievous 
 and irreclaimable, were recently rooted out and re- 
 moved to a small island in Bass' Straits, under su- 
 perintendence, where they are fast dying of ennui. 
 Those in Australia are also fast disappearing in the 
 neighbourhood of the British settlements, and from 
 the inferiority of the race physically as well as from 
 a total incapacity for civilization, there is no neces- 
 sity for any particular exertion to keep it up, farther 
 than providing that those we come in contact with, 
 if they aio not very mischievous, be treated with hu- 
 manity, and every means taken to induce them to 
 attach themselves to our farming establishments. It 
 would be in the highest degree absurd to get up a 
 nursery of so indifferent a race of savages, or to keep 
 back the extension of the superior civilized races of 
 man over so wide a region as Australia, lest a few 
 stra^2glers, exhibiting the most humbling picture of 
 the degividntion of humanity, should disappear. Per- 
 hai)s the aridity of Australia and the absence of 
 
 ^1 
 
AUSTRALIA. 
 
 101 
 
 edible plants and fruits, and scarcity of fish on the 
 coast, with the want of tame animals, accounts suf- 
 ficiently for the inferior nature of the indigenes. 1 1, 
 however, is probable that their manner of fighting 
 may have exerted considerable influence. When 
 two tribes (juarrel, they go out, at least in the Mew 
 South Wales district, and give fair battie. Alter- 
 nately, an individual on each side steps forward, 
 stands with the head bent a little down, and is struck 
 upon the crown of the head thus exposed, by an indi- 
 vidual of the other party with a club, and this is con- 
 tinued regularly till one party is put hors de combat. 
 This has the certain effect to destroy all those who 
 have skulls inclining to thin, and carried on for many 
 ages, as it in all probability has been (the customs 
 of savages being very permanent), it nuist have ex- 
 erted a selecting influence — the thin-skulleci falling 
 prematurely, and the thick-skulled remaining for 
 breeders, to render them a thick-skulled race, which 
 they literally are, their skull being nearly double the 
 thickness of the European skull, and able to bear the 
 blow of a club which would split the skull of any 
 other man. Granting that the thick-skulled are 
 really more stupid than the thin, which, only the thick- 
 skulled, we think, will doubt, this must act to lower 
 the mental capacity of the race. Besides, even the 
 concussions may exert an injurious effect uj)on the 
 intellect, which may become constitutional. Perhaps, 
 it may be argued, that the similar chivalric practice 
 of tilting at each other's heads at tournaments may 
 have exerted a similar influence in this country. 
 
 Now South Wales being a penal settlement with 
 nearly one-half of the grown-up population consist- 
 
,.'^; 
 
 102 
 
 AUSTRALIA. 
 
 ing of convicts, moral feeling and ^he tone of society 
 must in some measure be affected. In the business 
 of common life there, it is said, every man proceeds 
 as if no other principle but selfishness of the most 
 gross character regulated the actions of his neigh- 
 bours. But it would have been folly to expect that 
 the morals of the inmates of a prison-house, contain- 
 ing such an immense number of criminals, could 
 have been better than they really are. We have 
 for some time been expecting that the exportation 
 of criminals would cease, but even were it to cease, 
 it would be many years till society in New South 
 Wales recover from the taint. This is the greatest 
 barrier in the way of New South Wales and Tasmania 
 being desirable emigration-fields. 
 
 Two colonies have more recently been established 
 in Australia, the Western Australian or Swan River, 
 and the South Australian : the first on the south- 
 western angle at Swan River, and the other in the 
 hollow bight of the south coast opposite to and 
 partly sheltered by Kangaroo Island, where several 
 gulfs penetrate deep into the interior, and communi- 
 cate with the great western river which flows from 
 the back of the Blue Mountains in New South 
 Wales. Both these colonies now give fair promise 
 of success, and if they are not checked by some de- 
 structive visitation of drought, or gross mismanage- 
 ment, there is no doubt of their progressive prospe- 
 rity. 
 
 Swan River Colony, including the dependency to 
 the south, enjoys a fine salubrious climate without 
 any severe winter, but the quality of the soil near 
 the coast is extremely poor and arid, while at the 
 
AUSTRALIA. 
 
 103 
 
 same time the deficiency of harbours (several fine 
 vessels have in consequence been lost) is a great 
 check upon the advancement of the colony. From 
 the position of Swan River, upon the west side of a 
 continent, with the prevailing winds from the sea, 
 one would expect that the climate would be moister 
 than that of New South Wales. There does not, 
 however, appear to be any material difierence, ex- 
 cepting in not being so liable to such extremes of 
 droughts and floodings as the eastern country. The 
 absence of any high mountains, and having sea to- 
 wards the pole, conduce to render the climate dry 
 and temperate. 
 
 The first attempt to colonize at Swan River was 
 extremely unprosperous from a variety of circum- 
 stances. The want of a harbour and the poverty of 
 the soil, especially in the coast district where the 
 colony commenced operations, were great impedi- 
 ments, but the cause of the comparative failure was 
 the defective social oreranization. One great leader, 
 land-owner, and capitalist, with numerous working 
 people under a nominal contract of engagement to 
 labour to him, but over whom he had no manner of 
 control to keep them to their engagements, was a 
 truly absurd scheme for a new country. Combined 
 labour by servants is totally impracticable to any 
 extent where land is of little or no value, and can 
 only be obtained by absolute power or slavery (this 
 subject will come to be treated of when we speak of 
 New Zealand). As it was, the working people de- 
 serted their leader soon after landing, his stock was 
 stolen or died, and his stores and implements rotted 
 on the beach. After this had taken place, the work- 
 
 I !' 
 
 \ } 
 
 
 I; 
 
104 
 
 AUSTRALIA. 
 
 i -1^ 1 1 
 
 iiig men, who had, in the interim, attempted squat- 
 ting, but had been unsuccessful from a want of 
 means, ignorance, and the poverty of the soil, re- 
 turned to their leader and demanded employment 
 and supplies, but which he no longer was in a con- 
 dition to give, and it was with considerable difficulty 
 that he escaped being hanged by these desperate 
 work-people, in revenge for the failure which their 
 own default had occasioned, but which being a ne- 
 cessary consequence of the circumstances, he was 
 also faulty in not having foreseen. 
 
 Since the Peel escapade, the settlement, though 
 for several years considered in a perishing condition, 
 has of late begun to shew symptoms of decided im- 
 provement. The stock is increasing, the better land 
 of the interior is being resorted to for tillage, the 
 peculiarities of the climate are beginning to be un- 
 derstood, and knowledge and property accumulating, 
 a state of society suited to circumstances is building 
 up. The nature of the government, however (a 
 Crown colony), and the population of the place, ha- 
 ving no political power nor weight in council, will 
 have an influence to deaden the energies of the set- 
 tlement and prevent rapid improvement. 
 
 The colony of South x\ustralia is not directly un- 
 der the Crown, but is conducted by a commission 
 appointed by Parliament. It is an attempt to colo- 
 nize on the self-supporting principle, that is, without 
 being any charge upon the revenue of the mother 
 country. The sales of the land to emigrants of 
 capital, at L.l per acre, being appropriated to carry 
 out labouring emigrants, and the revenue derived 
 
 fr( 
 pt 
 
AUSTRALIA. 
 
 105 
 
 I squat- 
 ^ant of 
 soil, re- 
 oyment 
 I a con- 
 ifficulty 
 isperate 
 h their 
 ig a ne- 
 he was 
 
 though 
 idition, 
 led im- 
 :er land 
 ge, the 
 be uii- 
 ilating, 
 uilding 
 ver (a 
 ce, ha- 
 il, will 
 he set- 
 
 ly iin- 
 iiission 
 colo- 
 ithout 
 nother 
 Jits of 
 > carry 
 erived 
 
 from the import duties, to pay the governing ex- 
 penses. 
 
 Should this scheme be found practicable, — that is, 
 should it be found possible to conduct colonization 
 without any charge upon the revenue of the mother 
 country, the originator of the plan (I believe Mr 
 AVakefield) deserves more highly of his country than 
 any man now in existence. Much, no doubt, will de- 
 pend upon the activity and judgment of the Com- 
 missioners, and upon their choice of colonial officers, 
 and as far as the thing has proceeded, it seems to be 
 conducted more after the fashion of the United 
 States'* economics, than the British, and the progress 
 has been so rapid, although the first vessel only left 
 England in 1836, that a population, by the last ac- 
 count, of upwards of five thousand persons were al- 
 ready at work, laying the foundation of what, in all 
 probability, will be the future emporium of Austra- 
 lia, — the city of Adelaide. The only plague-spot 
 upon all this fine display of popular vigour, is that 
 they have commenced by borrowing funds to carry 
 on operations at ten per cent, per annum interest, 
 a debt due by the colony, and which, it may be ap- 
 prehended, will accumulate at compound interest 
 faster than the wealth of the colony, and swallow up 
 all. 
 
 The features of the country, — the disposition of 
 the mountains and rivers in Australia, are the coun- 
 terpart of those of the United States; the Blue 
 Mountains, about one hundred miles westward from 
 the coast at Sydney, corresponding to the Alleghany, 
 or United States' Blue Mountains, and the Lachlan 
 and Macquarie or Murray, to the Ohio and Missis- 
 
106 
 
 AUSTRALIA. 
 
 t r. 
 
 
 sippi ; South Australia, answering to the lower part 
 of the basin of the Mississippi, and the city of Ade- 
 laide to New Orleans, with this difference, that Ade- 
 laide appears to be a salubrious place, while New 
 Orleans is the wet grave. There is this difference, 
 however, in the rivers, that the Murray, about one 
 thousand miles long, is navigable only by barges, 
 and is almost dried up in the summer; while the 
 Grand Mississippi is navigable by steamers of three 
 hundred tons, at all seasons, for nearly three times 
 that distance. 
 
 Excepting in the vicinity of the Gulf of St Vin- 
 cent (where the South Australian colonists have 
 commenced operations), and along the Murray, al- 
 most nothing is known of the portions of Australia? 
 which goes to form the territory of South Australia. 
 The district around the Gulf is comparatively a 
 good sheep pasture country. There are several 
 ranges of hills, the highest of which (Mount Lofty) 
 is estimated to be 2400 feet above the sea, wooded 
 on the top ; but on the whole, the districts which 
 have been explored, are low, at least not nearly so 
 mountainous as New South Wales ; and the ab- 
 sence of high mountains to act as attracters and 
 condensers of rain, and as a source of never-failing 
 streams, is a want which will balance the superior 
 position of South Australia, in regard to exposure. 
 The coast of South Australia stretches south-east, 
 with sea to the south-west, from whence the pre- 
 vailing winds blow (it is said for nine months in 
 the year). This will afford a moist and cooler 
 air immediately on the coast, rendering it a rath'^" 
 favourable field for British emigration, being suited 
 
 b 
 
 O] 
 01 
 
 ti 
 tl 
 n( 
 o 
 
 
AUSTRALIA. 
 
 107 
 
 rer part 
 of Ade- 
 at Ade- 
 le New 
 ference, 
 out one 
 barges, 
 lile the 
 f three 
 3 times 
 
 St Vin- 
 
 ks have 
 
 ray, al- 
 
 istraliaj 
 
 istralia. 
 
 ively a 
 
 several 
 
 Lofty) 
 
 vooded 
 
 which 
 
 irly so 
 
 he ab- 
 
 rs and 
 
 failing 
 
 iperior 
 
 )osure. 
 
 i-east, 
 
 e pre- 
 
 ths in 
 
 cooler 
 
 rathe- 
 
 suited 
 
 for a wool raising country, and perhaps even for 
 the raising of grain and cotton, and other valua- 
 ble products ; but from the absence of high land 
 or mountains in the interior, from being surrounded 
 on three sides by a great extent of hot arid con- 
 tinent, and from the sea being towards the pole, 
 there is every reason to believe, that, excepting 
 near the coast, there will be very little deposition 
 of rain, as though the winds from the sea be charged 
 with moisture almost to the dew point, yet by reach- 
 ing a warmer locality in the interior, they will ac- 
 quire greater power of suspending the moisture, 
 and give out none. A priori^ we should there- 
 fore expect the interior to be extremely arid, and 
 only fitting for an emigration-field for the Bedouin 
 Arab, with his camel support. Even the districts 
 near the sea coast exhibit features of great aridity 
 of climate ; — the forest cover not general, but only 
 straggled over the country in the cooler localities, 
 and where the soil is deepest, and most capable of 
 withstanding drought ; — the character of the tree- 
 leaves, and th-^ thin tufted nature of the grasses ; — 
 the streamlets and rivers from the hills losing them- 
 selves when they come to the low country in marshes 
 and stagnant pools, and only reaching the sea in 
 winter. All these are signs which cannot be mis- 
 taken. It is also a remarkable circumstance, that 
 in these low flats, where marshes and stagnant pools 
 abound, evaporating the whole product of rivers and 
 streams under great heat, that there is no notice of 
 remittent and intermittent fever. This anomaly can 
 only be attributed to the dryness of the atmosphere, 
 to the poverty of the soil not giving out putrescent 
 
108 
 
 Al STRAMA. 
 
 
 : % I 
 
 effluvia, and to the (n.ii)orating water containing 
 very little of vegetable and animal products. 
 
 The south-east angle of Australia, lying soutli- 
 east of South Australia, and bounded by Hass 
 Straits on the south, which divides it from Tas- 
 mania, has been lately explored, and from the salu- 
 brity of the air, and fineness of the country, excel- 
 ling every other part of Australia, has been named 
 Australia Felix. This region, though not yet ap- 
 propriated, is already being occupied by flocks, at- 
 tracted by the fine pasture. The Tasmanians are 
 exporting their flocks to it, across the Straits, and 
 the New South Wales stock-owners are bearing 
 down upon it with their flocks from the north. The 
 Commissioners of South Australia seeing its value, 
 have been endeavouring to get it placed under their 
 South Australian government ; but it being within 
 the boundary of what is claaiied to belong to the 
 New South Wales government, the Commissioners 
 have been unsuccessful. An individual from Tas- 
 mania has also been claiming a portion of it, from 
 some alleged compact with a few straggling na- 
 tives, but his pretences have not been listened to. 
 Crown colonies, such as New South Wales, cannot 
 work well when very extensive, and as well from the 
 distance of Port Phillip or Western Port (the pro- 
 bable station of the future capital of Australia Felix) 
 from Sydney, as from the convict nature of the New 
 South Wales colony, it would be highly desirable 
 that Australia Felix were formed into a colony by 
 itself; perhaps under a plan similar to that of 
 South Australia, but with this difference, that Go- 
 vernment, at least, guarantee to the lender for any 
 
 i. !;„; ill 
 
TASMANIA. 
 
 lOJ) 
 
 ntainin;; 
 
 ; south- 
 )y JiasH 
 m Tas- 
 he salu- 
 f^ excel- 
 i named 
 yet ap- 
 cks, at- 
 Lins are 
 its, and 
 bearing 
 1. The 
 s value, 
 er their 
 within 
 to the 
 isioners 
 n Tas- 
 ;, from 
 ng na- 
 led to. 
 cannot 
 Dm the 
 le pro- 
 Felix) 
 e New 
 ^irable 
 my by 
 lat of 
 It Go- 
 )r any 
 
 loans that may be required under a certain sum, 
 by which means funds could be obtained at loss 
 than one-half the interest paid for the South Austra- 
 lian loans ; but guarding against what would be 
 more than a counter-balancing evil, — Government 
 influence paralyzing the energetic po[)ular direction. 
 
 Tasmjania. 
 
 Tasmania, or Van Diemen's Land, is an island 
 nearly the size of Ireland, about 120 miles south of 
 Australia Felix, extending from 42° to 45° south la- 
 titude. It enjoys a very fine temperate climate, 
 nearly similar to that of New Zealand, and totally 
 different from the Australian. From its insularity 
 and mountainous character, it has a sufficiency of 
 rain to fit it for a grain-producing country, and it 
 not only supplies its own consumpt of wheat, of a very 
 fine quality, but exports considerable quantities to 
 Sydney, and even some to Rio Janiero. The rugged 
 and broken shores of Tasmania afford a number of 
 good harbours ; the coast is generally bold and moun- 
 tainous and bleak, especially on the south and west 
 sides, where some ridges rise to the height of 5000 
 feet. There is a depression along the middle of the 
 island, commencing with the fine harbour firth and 
 valley of the Derwent on the south-east coast, and 
 running at first north-west, and then north, along 
 the valley of the Derwent, which flows south-east, 
 and then along the valley of the Tamar which flows 
 north, till it meets the sea at the mouth of that river 
 at Bass Straits. This depression, consisting of rich 
 
110 
 
 TASMANIA. 
 
 level land, were the sea to have any considerable rise, 
 would form a Htrait of upwards of 100 miles in length, 
 dividing the island into two mountainous portions. 
 Tt is chii.'fly in this protected low country, constitut- 
 ing the double basin of the Derwent and the Tamar, 
 that the cultivation of wheat and potatoes is carried 
 on ; the mountain districts on both sides, of inferior 
 quality, being more suited for grazing. 
 
 The greater part of Tasmania is very thickly tim- 
 bered with large tall trees (evergreens), some of 
 them of extraordinary size. Oiie is stated to have 
 measured, when cut down, in length upwards of 150 
 feet of stem, clear of branches, and so thick that a 
 common stage-coach could have been easily driven 
 along the stem for this distance. The heavy natiT'e 
 of the forest, which covers nearly the whole face of 
 the country, independent of the common agricultural 
 work, causes the burliness of the Tasmanian husband- 
 man to be attended with much hard labour, and the 
 tenor of his life is as opposed as well may be to that 
 of the lounging shepherd of Australia Felix, who has 
 nought to do but " tend his flocks on green decli- 
 vities," and which must give rise to a very different 
 condition of society in the neighbouring countries. 
 The labour of the husbandman in Tasmania is, how- 
 ever, well compensated by the abundance and the 
 greater security of the return. Tt is said that every 
 fruit, and vegetable, and flower that thrives well in 
 England, thrives better in Tasmania, while several, 
 such as the grape, not productive in England, are 
 very productive here. The clover and sown grasses, 
 which are fully of as much consequence as fruits and 
 flowers of any kind, are also grown in great per- 
 
TASMANIA. 
 
 i&l 
 
 fection, and aro vt^ry much superior to the native 
 herbage in productiveness and nutritive power. 
 
 The summer heat in Tasmania, generally ranging 
 about 70° during the day, is very seldom beyond 
 what an inhabitant of the British Tslos can support 
 while at work without inconvenioncy. For a day or 
 two, indeed, in a summer, when the wind blows 
 strongly from the north-west, the Sirocco of A ustralia 
 is felt, and the thermometer rises to 100°, or even a 
 few degrees higher, causing considerable injury by 
 blighting the grain crops, but the injury is neither 
 of so frequent occurrence, nor near to the extent as 
 in Australia. Although the summer''s heat during 
 the day is not generally beyond what is felt in the 
 south of England, and the winter cold during the 
 night never so great as to freeze the earth or water 
 beyond what the sun during the following day is suf- 
 ficient to thaw, yet there is considerably more differ- 
 ence between the temperature of the night and day 
 than in Britain, which causes the evenings to feel 
 very chilly, producing colds and rheumatisms in those 
 who unguardedly expose themselves. But this is not 
 peculiar to Tasmania, being merely a consequence of 
 dry and transparent atmosphere : — where the air is 
 moist and near the dew point, as is usual in Britain, 
 the latent heat of the aqueous gas which condenses 
 into dew, tempers the cold of radiation. The ra- 
 tionale of the rapid transition to great cold in the 
 evening, and the great degree of cold at the dawn of 
 day, remains however unexplained. 
 
 Some drawback to Tasmania as an emigration-field, 
 in addition to its being a penal colony, is, that the 
 greater portion of the good land, at least in the fine 
 
 I ! 
 
 I !; 
 
 t I 
 
112 
 
 TASMANIA. 
 
 ttsi ; 
 
 central basin, ih already appropriated, and the new 
 comorfl can only purchase at a comparative high rate, 
 or have their location in the inferior part of th«' 
 country. But the advantage resulting from a more 
 condensed, nmtually-assisting population, may over- 
 balance the greater cost of the land. 
 
 In all the British emigration-fields we have treated 
 of, North America, the Capo, Australia, Tasmania, 
 there is some drawback in the number of poisonous 
 reptilia and insects. Children are not entirely safe 
 playing in the brakes ; no person can sit down upon 
 a grassy seat, or recline on a flowery bed, without 
 some dread of the deadly snake or the scorpion. 
 Serious accidents are occurring at all these places from 
 these pests ; and owing to th(?ir great prolific powers, 
 their extirpation cannot be effected, at least while 
 the country remains uncleared. In Australia, a dog 
 who is a snake-hunter (which some of them are) has 
 a short life. The pigs are found to be the best ex- 
 tirpators, their thick skin either protects them, or 
 the exterior layer of oily fat neutralizes the poison, 
 and they grub out from their lurking places, and de- 
 vour the most venomous serpents with great alacrity. 
 The great number of serpents are very destructive 
 to the small singing birds, not only catching them 
 on the perch, but devouring their nestlings, as well 
 upon the trees as on the gi'ound ; and as a provision 
 for their protection, the birds who are not large 
 enough to give battle, form pendulous nests attached 
 to the tips of the branches where no snake can reach. 
 It is, therefore, not probable that the sky-lark and 
 linnet, and other beautiful songsters of Britain, can 
 be successfully introduced into these serpent- abound- 
 
 ilH iiil 
 
TASMANIA. 
 
 Ii:{ 
 
 tho new 
 igh rato, 
 t of th.' 
 1 a more 
 ay over- 
 
 3 treated 
 xsmania, 
 oisonouy 
 roly safe 
 •wn upon 
 without 
 scorpion. 
 i,ces from 
 ; powers, 
 ist while 
 ia, a dog 
 are) has 
 best ex- 
 theni, or 
 ) poison, 
 , and de- 
 alacrity, 
 structive 
 ing them 
 I, as well 
 provision 
 ot large 
 attached 
 m reach, 
 lark and 
 tain, can 
 abound- 
 
 ing countrios, as it is not likely they would adopt 
 this provision for tho security of thfiir nestlings, — a 
 loss, as tho melody of tho sky and grove of Britain 
 is awunting there. It is a curious fact that serpentH 
 are not found in Now Zealand, and the melody of 
 the grove at brr ik of day is described to be altoge- 
 ther enchanting. Can it bo that th(! birds of length- 
 ened steady song are not so conunon in the seri)ent- 
 abounding countries, because their note and nujlody 
 attract these destroyers, while those which only give 
 out sudden discordant sounds, as they leap from bough 
 to bough, are comparatively safe i 
 

 .^ *■ 
 
 ( 114 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 NEW ZEALAND — ITS CAPABILITIES FOR BECOMING 
 THE NAVAL EMPORIUM OF THE SOUTHERN HEMI- 
 SPHERE AND OF THE PACIFIC UNDER BRITISH 
 COLONIZATION. 
 
 Estimating the advantages of position, extent, 
 climate, fertility, adaptation for trade — all the causes 
 which have tended to render Britain the emporium 
 of the world, we can observe only one other spot on 
 the earth equally, if not more favoured by nature, 
 and that is New Zealand. Serrated with harbours, 
 securely insulated, having a climate temperated by 
 surrounding ocean, of such extent and fertility as 
 to support a population sufficiently numerous to 
 defend its shores against any possible invading 
 force, it, like Great Britain, also possesses a large 
 neighbouring continent (Australia), from which it 
 will draw resources, and to which it bears the rela- 
 tion of a rich homestead, with a vast extent of out- 
 field pasturfAge. In these advantages, it equals 
 Britain, while it is superior to Britain in having the 
 weather-gage of an immense commercial field, — the 
 innumerable rich islands of the Pacific, — the gold 
 and silver producing countries of Western America 
 (by far the richest in the precious metals of any of 
 
lECOMING 
 
 IN HEMl- 
 
 BR1TI8H 
 
 1PJI.A.TE rm. 
 
 >j 
 
 NEW 
 
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 aloniiut I ■ jm^ -»*«f™i ■::•. 
 
 ■ "H hUuts \Grvup 
 
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 PA 
 
 u a t u r 
 
 O 
 
 Ai-thitrs 1. 
 
 V .v-; 
 
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 u 
 
 Biminl. 
 
 Svditev'l ■ 
 
 J).ofYorkaI. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 lo 
 
.PLATE iUE. 
 
 P A P I' / ^ ■■"- 
 
 
 '^^ Cult of 1 -t 
 
 t mi~--^ "~:=^ — _-,-— 
 
 p^jyi iM t a val St 0-U2 
 
 is NF.W 
 MaUicaUoiy> ^. 
 
 ':.'H£BRUIES 
 
 Jwprirel. Krromaiyalf, 
 
 North Of. 
 
 j , Bhuuysi:. Buhofsl. E q, U a t or 
 
 Vrunwionds IT' 
 
 O 
 
 .atAnaadu Jiamafyl. : 
 
 £1 tirand Ginil 
 
 • TafWfUf T. 
 
 .tlaheriaiutidil. 
 De P^stery Group 
 
 RottonaK or OrtnyUlu 
 
 Ormip 
 
 VtifYarktl^ 
 D.of (Jarmrr I. 
 
 Solibvyl, 
 
 1^. WallLisI. Navi(;nl..i« I? 
 
 Horn 1 1 th'ithn'a 
 
 V K IE N' IJ I. Y 
 
 ,/ ■ j ^ JIM -.iWoilf 
 
 O < : ■ 
 
 Vatlaroaat .\:\m,l,lln»nJ' 
 
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 Taotoa, 
 
 TTiHijnwivl liv STiiiiP^y Hall. 
 
I « ^>^t 
 
 '*.*fd^' 
 
NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 115 
 
 the world), — the vast accumulations of man in China 
 and Japan, — all these lie within a few weeks'* sail. 
 
 The south temperate zone, from the excess of 
 ocean, has a much more equable temperature through- 
 out the year than the north. New Zealand, consi- 
 dering its territorial extent, participates in this 
 oceanic equality in an extraordinary degree, by rea- 
 son of its insularity and oblong narrow figure, stretch- 
 ing across the course of the prevalent winds from 
 lat. 34° to 48° south, — the most enviable of latitudes. 
 On this account, it enjoys a finer, more temperate 
 climate than any other region of the world ;* and, 
 in consequence, the trees, from the principle of 
 adaptation, are only biennially deciduous, and pre- 
 sent, as well as the herbage, a never-failing verdure. 
 The great mountain chain, or back-bone ridge of New 
 Zealand, which extends through nearly fourteen de- 
 grees of latitude, attracting and condensing the high- 
 towering clouds and vapour of the Southern Ocean, 
 affords a constant source of showers and irrigation 
 and freshness to the lower country ; and this regular 
 
 * There is also another reason why a place in the south tem- 
 perate zone is of more equable temperature t'lan a place of the 
 same medium temperature in the north temperate zone. The 
 south hemisphere is colder than the north by about 7° of lati- 
 tude, lat. 43° south being nearly of the same medium tempera- 
 ture as lat. 50° north. Now, as we approach the equator, sum- 
 mer and winter approximate in temperature ; lat. 43" has less 
 difference between the longest and shortest day than lat. 60% 
 and consequently there is less difference between the tempera- 
 ture of summer and winter in lat. 43° south, than in lat. 50° north, 
 the medium temperature being the same. The diflFerence be- 
 tween the time the sun is above the horizon in summer and 
 winter in lat. 43° is only about 6 hours, while in lat. 60° the 
 difiference is more than 8 hours. 
 
110 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 M 
 
 
 :il^ 
 
 supply of moisture, under the most balmy atmosphere, 
 and the generative influence of a sun brilliant as that 
 (^f Italy, produces an exuberance of vegetation sur- 
 passing that of any other temperate country, — the 
 richness and magnificence of the forest scenery being 
 only e(]ualled by that of the islands of the eastern tro- 
 pical Archipelago ;* and the mountains themselves, 
 the sublime southern Alps, more elevated than the 
 highest of the Alps of Switzerland, upheaved, from the 
 depths of the great south sea, in some places to more 
 than three miles of altitude, and, from their volca- 
 nic character, of the boldest, most abrupt outline, 
 are perhaps unequalled in all the world. The cha- 
 racter of surrounding objects nmst exert a powerful 
 influence upon the genius of a people. These stu- 
 pendous mountains, with innumerablo rills pouring 
 down their verdant slopes, — their gr* at valleys, oc- 
 cupied by the most beautiful rivers, — their feet 
 washed by the ceaseless south -sea swell, — their flanks 
 clothed with the grandest of primeval forests, — their 
 bosoms veiled in cloud, — and their rocky and icy 
 scalps piercing the clear azure heaven, — must go to 
 stamp, as far as earthly things can have impression, 
 a poetical character upon the genius of the Austral 
 British. The small portion of New Zealand already 
 under cultivation, yields, in luxuriant abundance and 
 perfection, all the valuable fruits and grain of Eu- 
 rope ; and, unlike Canada (where the husbandman 
 
 * " It is a most beautiful country. I have visited tlie Brazils, 
 the wholo of Van Diemen's Land, and New South Wales, and 
 been on tlie Continent, but I never saw a country in the world 
 that equalled it (New Zealand). In scenery, climate, and pro- 
 ductiveness, it is a perfect paradise." — (See T. B. Monteiiore, 
 Parliamentary Evidence, 1838.) 
 
ITS CAPAIilLlTIES. 
 
 117 
 
 haa to endure life-consuming toil in the very hot 
 enervating summer, to lay up provender for the sub- 
 sistence of all his bestial during the long and rigo- 
 rous winter), stock of all descriptions fatten in this 
 favoured region, at all seasons, upon the spontaneous 
 produce cf the wilderness.* The climate is also the 
 most favourable to the development of the human 
 species,t producing a race of natives of surpassing 
 strength and energy. From the mountainous inte- 
 rior, the country is, in a wonderful degree, permeated 
 by never-failing streams and rivers of the purest 
 water, affording innumerable falls, suited to machi- 
 nery, adjacent to the finest harbours. The forests 
 abound in timber of gigantic size, peculiarly adapted 
 for naval purposes and for house-building, and, from 
 its mild workable (juality, much more economically 
 convertible and serviceable than the timber of any 
 other country in the southern hemisphere ; most of 
 which, from extreme hardness, is almost unmanage- 
 
 • The missionaries have been sojourning in New Zealand for 
 the last twenty-three years. T\ey, with their families, amount 
 to upwards of ninety individuals, and, with the exception of in- 
 fants, only one death (it is said) has occurred amongst them. In 
 this country, according to the Rev. W. Yate, " invalids become 
 well, the healthy robust, and the robust fat. It has a perpetual 
 .spring, the whole atmosphere seems impregnated with perfumes, 
 and every breath inhaled stimulates the system, and strengthens 
 man for the labour which may lie before him- I am persuaded 
 (says he), that all graminivorous animals, wild or domestic, 
 would thrive well in this temperate clime, if allowed to range 
 at large in the forests, on the hills, in the valleys, or on the 
 plains." — (See Appendix, Note C.) 
 
 t " Marriages among the English have been prolific, in a very 
 extraordinary degree, of a most healthy progeny." — (See ofticial 
 ilocument by T. Busby, Esq. British Resident.) 
 
M 18 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 M 
 able.* MillionH of acres, it is said, are covered 
 with the famed New Zealand flax (the great value of 
 which is now coming to be appreciated) ; and around 
 the shores are the most valuable fisheries, from the 
 mackerel to the whale ; in the pursuit of which 
 latter, many of our vessels resort, though at the 
 other extremity of the earth. Combining all these 
 natural internal advantages with the most favoured 
 position for trade, New Zealand must ultimately 
 reign the Maritime Queen of the South-eastern 
 hemisphere. 
 
 Estimating these surpassing natural advantages 
 in their peculiar adaptation to the energetic mari- 
 time British race, it is somewhat remarkable that no 
 regular attempt has been made by Britain to colo- 
 nize New Zealand. This must have arisen from the 
 numbers and barbarous character of the native po- 
 pulation ; a population so small, however, reduced as 
 it now is, as to be quite out of all proportion to the 
 extent of territory, and which exists only around 
 some of the sheltered bays of the coast, and in a few 
 of the rich valleys of the interior. According to Mr 
 Yate, and the other missionaries who have had the 
 best means of estimating their numbers, the whole 
 amount may be about 110,000. Another writer 
 states : " The inhabitants, in fact, have not, in any 
 
 * " There is a great variety of timber in the country fit for 
 all purposes, as for shipbuilding, domestic, and other purposes. 
 The forests of New Zealand aflford perhaps the finest spars for 
 masts and yards in the world, and which are extremely valuable. 
 In India, the wood being there very heavy, they cannot get any 
 description of wood to make good spars, and those taken from 
 New Zealand find there a ready sale." — (See J. L. Nicholas 
 Esq., Par. Evidence.) 
 
ITS CAPABILITIES. 
 
 119 
 
 sense of the word, taken possession of the country 
 which they call their own. It is still the undivided 
 domain of nature, and they are merely a handful of 
 stragglers who wander about the outskirts." Thus, 
 densely populated Britain, with the means of effec- 
 tual relief, is allowed to remain writhing under the 
 preventive and destructive checks, while a region, 
 the finest in the world, — a region which, beyond all 
 others, can lay claim to the name of Paradise, is 
 lying an untenanted wilderness.* 
 
 * Mr Flatt, an agriculturist from the East of England, of 
 considerable professional and general knowledge, and who has 
 lately returned from New Zealand, where he had been remain- 
 ing several years, informs the Author, that in crossing the North 
 Island, he travelled along a tract of fine alluvial soil in the 
 lower valley of theWaikato rivers, equal in extent, but richer, 
 than the alluvial level between Cambridge and Hull, — the ker- 
 nel of England. Mr Flatt also corroborates the statements of 
 others respecting the salubrity, mildness, and beauty of the 
 climate, — that it is a land of sunny-showers, and tliat in the 
 case of heavy rains, the clouds clear off immediately when the 
 rain ceases, and a most brilliant sun shines out. 
 
( l'2() ) 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ESPECIAL REASONS FOR COLONIZING NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 Independent of the natural peculiar adaptation of 
 New Zealand for a British colony, there are several 
 very cogent reasons to induce Britain to occupy this 
 country without a moment's delay. 
 
 ,'■ it. 
 
 .1111 
 
 ^■:| 
 
 ■if M 
 i ■;(* 
 if '»•■ 
 
 I. 
 
 Importance of New Zealand^ politically/ and commer- 
 
 cialbj^ to Britain. 
 
 In the present posture of affairs, when Russia and 
 the United States are gradually extending their ter- 
 ritory, increasing their means, nnd preparing for, or 
 at least looking forward to, a contest with Britain 
 for the naval supremacy, it is for \w to look around 
 over earth and ocean, and to pre-occupy, if possible, 
 every favourable position. 
 
 In glancing at the map of the eastern hemisphere, 
 where, from the extending territorial possessions of 
 Russia, and the great and rapidly increasing trade of 
 the United States, as well as of Britain, a consider- 
 able part of the contest may be expected to be car- 
 ried on, any one must remark the commanding posi- 
 tion of New Zealand, — with innumerable harbours, 
 with vast naval resources, standing forth like an ex- 
 tended rampart in advance of, and covering our wide 
 Australian possessions, and having the whole of the 
 Pacific under its lee. In marking these advantages. 
 
REASONS FOR COLONIZING NEW ZEvVLAND. 121 
 
 5EALAND. 
 
 ptation of 
 re several 
 jcupy this 
 
 commer- 
 
 ussia and 
 their ter- 
 ng for, or 
 h Britain 
 ►k around 
 ' possible, 
 
 [nisphere, 
 essions of 
 f trade of 
 consider- 
 ;o be car- 
 ling posi- 
 harbours, 
 ke an ex- 
 our wide 
 )le of the 
 vantages, 
 
 I 
 
 &. 
 
 ^ 
 
 one is disposed to injjuire, — Has Britain not stirred 
 to secure this most ini[)ortant position, in refen'uce to 
 curbing the United States* and Russia in the East, — 
 this most invahiablc ac(|uisition in reference to aug- 
 menting our trade and resources i Has she not con- 
 ciliated the natives, who are a warlike maritime race, 
 capabh' of forming excellent seamen aiul shipwrights, 
 and as such would be most valuable auxiliaries ?t 
 
 * It is c'xcocdinjfly to be rej^n'ttcd that opposing' inteivssts and 
 feelings should divide tlie two liritish empires— that one of Bri- 
 tish race should have to speak of eurhin;,' the power of the 
 United States. The causes which tend to disunii^n, it is to l)e 
 hoped, will soon be ren)oved. The United States will abolish 
 slavery, and Britain will throw oft' aristoeraticul donnnation. 
 The two nations will then unite in friendly league, "like sister- 
 streams, which some rude interposing rock has split." 
 
 t " We find the New Zealandt'rs in our service behave much 
 better than the British seamen ; we have invariably foujul them 
 well-behaved good seamen. I am sorry I cannot say the same 
 of the British in all cases." — (See T. B. Moutefiore, Escp, Par. 
 Evidence.) 
 
 " Theve is no nation more intelligent on land or any other 
 subject. As a proof of this, there is at the present moment 
 sailing out of Sydney a Mr Bailey (New Zealander), chief offi- 
 cer of the Earl Stanhope whale-ship, and, if he had not been a 
 foreigner, he would long since have had command of tlie ves- 
 sel. There are, at the present monvent, sailing on the Paci- 
 fic Ocean, ships with cargoes worth from L.20,000 and upwards 
 steered by New Zealanders day and night. Where they had an 
 opportunity of being instructed, they had shewn great ability. 
 Their farms had astonished every stranger. Every one is sur- 
 prised at seeing the beauty of their land, the weeding of it, and 
 the regularity of every thing." — (See C. Enderby,Esq. Par.Evid.) 
 
 " As farm-servants they are admirable ; and if the place is co- 
 lonized, no people will become better farm-servants than the 
 New Zealanders." — " Are they clever ?" — " Yes ; with just the 
 head-piece of Europeans, and just the tact of doing any thing; 
 the most imitating people in the world."— (Mr J. S. P.^lack, Par. 
 j%vidence.) 
 
\2'2 
 
 NKW ZKALAM). 
 
 Hfts hIio not crcctrd {'oHh at tlu^ May of TsIjumIm uiul 
 in Cook's Straits, under uliose ^iiuh our nunwroufi 
 Soutli Sea wlialcr.s and our Australian traders (they 
 pass New Zealand homeward) could take* shelter 
 in cane of hostilities i She has done; nothin;,^ of all 
 this. She has only thouii:ht of a plan to afford 
 her ta pretence for preventini^ others (on the do<^-in- 
 the-nianger principle) from colonizini!: this valuable 
 country. She has sent out one* solitary Resident, 
 and made some sort of an acknowledgment of a Now 
 Zealand Hag.* 
 
 F 
 
 oil 
 
 nil 
 
 St] 
 
 wl 
 
 II. 
 
 liHpotiance of New Zealand as a remurc for proti- 
 sion'nin Aa^irnVia in time (f CAfreme droufihts^ and 
 ()eneralhj as the granani of New South Ha/es.f 
 
 Another reason for the friendly occupation of New 
 Zealand in provident policy, scarcely second to the 
 
 • A i)roclamation, it is truo, wiis some tin\e past issued by our 
 Govoriior of New Soutii Wales, layiu*,' elaiiii to the New Zea- 
 land {^roup ; but this proelanuitiou has not been eoiiliiMoed by 
 any act of occupancy. It is said that France has renionstvated 
 ajjfainst the occajjancy by Britain of the southern island, — on 
 what just i)lea it would bo a little difiieuU to jjoint out. France 
 has the oecu]»ancy of North Africa on her hands ; and the inva- 
 sion of Spain by the Duke D'Ano'oulenie, to account for which 
 as caused the loss of at least a million of hunian beinirs to Spain, 
 and considerable expense of blood and treasure io Britain. 
 
 t It would be judicious to have a provision supply for New 
 South Wales at no great distance. The fact that all the indi- 
 j^enous mammalia in New Holland, with the exception of man, 
 are of the order ^Marsupialia, and that man hi'.i self (here a mi- 
 Horable starved wandertr), hough not marsupial, has also a fa- 
 cility of removing his young progeny, is rather startling. We 
 
 I 
 
KRAHONS FOR ITS COLONIZATION. 
 
 12:^ 
 
 lirHt, Jiaw, I boliovo, never been taken into view. 
 From t\u) unsteady climate and extreme droughts of 
 our colonies in New Holland, they, as they bc^come 
 more poj)ulouH, will bo periodically subjected to de- 
 structive famine, unless some neighbouring country, 
 whose climate does not pertake of the same vicissi- 
 tudes, can afford them supplies. Excepting New Zea- 
 land, the distance to other countries from whence suf- 
 ficient supplies could bo obtained is so great, that ex- 
 treme horrors of famine might bo experienced before 
 j intelligence of their wants could go out, and supplies 
 
 back could reach them. The drought three years 
 ago raised wheat from 4()s. to 100s. per quarter at 
 Sydney, and small quantities of potatoes and Indian 
 corn were imported from New Zealand, where a 
 number of British, attracted by the fineness of the 
 climate and country, have attempted settlements. 
 Such, however, is the insecurity of property in tho 
 absence of all law, that several of iho settlers, after 
 
 never see a provision of nature without a r/iflficiont reason. The 
 marsupials seem lower in the so lie of animais limn ihe other 
 mammalia, and calculated to endure greater extremes of climate, 
 and they appear to have existed ut an era when the conditioix of 
 this planet was yet too unstable throughout to suit the highei 
 mammalia. We are warranted in attributing thv> present ab- 
 sence of the higher mammalia in New Holland (organic remains 
 prove they have once existed) to tho periodic extreme droughts, 
 to which this country has become liable, having caused their de- 
 struction, or should their removal have been otherwise caused, 
 preventing their new distribution ; and it seems highly probable 
 that the pouch for receiving the young of the indigenous mam- 
 malia is a "ecessary circumstantial adaptation, that they may 
 remove their young when they migrate in time of the extreme 
 droughts in search of water and subsistence. The character of 
 the vegetation (different from that of other regions), with leaves 
 so peculiarly fitted for absorbing moisture from the atmosphere, 
 and withstanding drought, also merits attention. 
 
124 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 i 
 I 
 
 being stripped and abused, have been obliged to 
 abandon the attempt, and the industry of the coun- 
 try, British as well as native, has been turned chiefly 
 to the supply of timber, which does not encourage 
 depredation so much as agriculture. At any rate, 
 no quantity of food of any moment in provisioning 
 New South Wales can be supplied unless security be 
 afforded that man shall reap what he sows, which 
 nothing but the occupation by a British force can 
 accomplish. From the adaptation of New South 
 Wales for producing wool, and the sup- ior adapta- 
 tion of New Zealand for producing grain, and other 
 vegetable food, much of the vegetable food supply of 
 New South Wales would at all times be derived from 
 New Zealand, as it would be most profitable for New 
 South Wales to raise wool, and import grain and 
 other vegetable food. Emigrants would flock for New 
 Zealand in thousands were a secure footing once 
 established, and a judicious plan of land sales adopt- 
 ed; and the sooner this is done the better; the 
 longer it is delayed the greater is the probability 
 that Russia or the United States may remonstrate. 
 At present the former is driving civilized life, and the 
 latter savage life, before it, and neither could have 
 reason to complain of us. 
 
 III. 
 
 Importance of New Zealand as the Head-quarters of 
 , the South Sea Whale-fishery; that its occupation 
 f\ would procure to Britain a monopoly^ to a certain 
 "it extent y of this branch of industry. 
 
 There is yet another pressing motive for the im- 
 mediate occupation of New Zealand. No other 
 
REASONS FOR ITS COLONIZATION. 
 
 125 
 
 liged to 
 he coun- 
 i chiefly 
 icourage 
 -ny rate, 
 isioning 
 mrity be 
 s, which 
 >rce can 
 i South 
 adapta- 
 id other 
 apply of 
 ^ed from 
 for New 
 ain and 
 for New 
 ig once 
 3 adopt- 
 er; the 
 bability 
 nstrate. 
 and the 
 Id have 
 
 rters of 
 
 upation 
 
 certain 
 
 the im- 
 ► other 
 
 branch of maritime industry has increased so much 
 of late years as the Southern Whale-fishery. This 
 has arisen partly from the recent development of 
 the business itself, and partly from the failure of the 
 Northern Whale-fishery. From the general resort 
 of the southern whalers to the shores of the New 
 Zealand group, in whose firths and bays much of the 
 fishery is carried on, there can be no doubt it is 
 fitted beyond any other place for the seat of this 
 trade. There are at present 15,000 seamen and 
 150,000 tons of shipping engaged in it. An econo- 
 mic alteration in the conducting of the fishery is now 
 in progress. Instead of vessels proceeding on a 
 tedious three years'* voyage from the United States 
 or Britain, the fishery is now, to a considerable ex- 
 tent, being carried on by boats or small vessels con- 
 stantly employed in the business (bay fishing), and 
 the prepared oil conveyed to Europe and other mar- 
 kets in common merchantmen. Nearly three-fourths 
 of the fishing is now in the hands of the United 
 States, and a little less than one-fourth British. But 
 were the occupation of the whole of the New Zealand 
 group to take place, there is no doubt, from the su- 
 perior cheapness and conveniency with which the 
 fishery could be carried on by the New Zealand 
 British, that the greater part of it would soon be in 
 British hands. It would afford a rich field for the 
 enterprise of the colonists and native New Zealand- 
 ers, to whose character and maritime habits this em- 
 ployment is peculiarly suited; and it is incomparably 
 the best training for maritime war. Th« policy of 
 immediately occupying New Zealand in reference to 
 this most important object is manifest. 
 
120 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 )'::■■: 
 it* 
 
 v& 
 
 IV. 
 
 Philanthropic reason whi/ New Zealand should be co- 
 lonized in preference to every other country. 
 
 In a philanthropic point of view, New Zealand is 
 a most eligible field for colonization. It is perhaps 
 the sole instance, at least the most striking instance, 
 of a thin or scattered population which would not ne- 
 cessarily suffer, but might greatly benefit by the im- 
 migration of Europeans into their country. The 
 aborigines of the greater part of America and of New 
 Holland are, or, when in existence, were, hunters^ sub- 
 sisting upon ^Qferw naturw. From long-continued 
 use, constituting instinctive habit of race, they had 
 themselves become, or were, in a manner,y^r66^ naturce^ 
 altogether incapable of, or extremely inapt to, agri- 
 cultural labour and fixed residence, at least without 
 a very gradual change of habit extending to several 
 generations. As these hunters, in their pristine 
 state, have their numbers balanced to the hunter 
 means of subsistence which the whole country pro- 
 duces, the entrance of the civilized races, occupying 
 a portion of their territory, not only abridges their 
 hunting-grounds, but also by the employment of fire- 
 arms speedily diminishes the game in the adjacent 
 territory. Thence, if the hunter-aborigines do not 
 fall by the musket of the stranger, they are forced 
 by famine to invade the hunting-grounds of the 
 neighbouring tribes, and war ensues. Thus the abo- 
 riginal race is gradually extirpated by slaughter and 
 famine, assisted by the new diseases and intoxicating 
 
REASONS FOR ITS COLONIZATION. 
 
 127 
 
 t 
 
 poisons of the stranger. (See Appendix, Note D.) 
 Much the same takes phice with nomadic nations, — 
 tribes subsisting principally by flocks and herds, — 
 such as the Hottentot and Catfre of South Africa, 
 who are also alrea<ly, or at least were, balanced in 
 numbers to the means of their jxidoral subsistence. 
 These, when encroached upon by and forced to re- 
 treat before the fire-armed European, have not space 
 left for the support of their herds. They are driven 
 by necessity to trespass in search of pasture upon their 
 neighbour's territory, and exterminating war is the 
 result. (See Appendix, iSote E.) On the other hand, 
 the New Zealand(?rs, in a country, although so rich 
 in vegetation, almost destitute of game, and with- 
 out herds of any kind, have been accustomed to raise 
 their food with the exce])tion of fish, by agricultural 
 labour (ei^^'.er by digging for roots, or di^-ging to pro- 
 duce root and, instead of being peopled up to the 
 means oi ^'^sistence obtainable by agriculture, do 
 not reach the one-hundredth [)art, their numbers ha- 
 ving been kept down apparently by their ferocity and 
 by anarchy. Th«.' entrance of Europeans in a friend- 
 ly manner (such as is here proposed) affording them 
 protection to person and j)roj)erty, domestic ani- 
 mals, better implements of husbandry, more valuable 
 fruit-bearing trees and edible plants, al the advan- 
 tages and comforts of civilization, which tend so 
 much to the increase of population, and which they, 
 
 • " They arc very industrious cultivtitors for suviigos. I 
 should say they are an industrious ^x-'oph'. Tlieir idantations 
 of the couiinou potato and the sweet potato are cultivated with 
 great care ; indeed, there is not a weed to bo seen in them. I 
 have seen between twenty and thirty acres in one i)lace enclo- 
 sed and cultivated ; their piincipal food, however, is the fern 
 root." — (!See J. L. Nicholas, Escj., Par. Kvidence.) 
 
128 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 il 
 
 : f 
 
 from their character and previous habits, appear ca- 
 pable of receiving and benefiting by, must, instead 
 of operating to their injury or destruction, prove to 
 them the greatest blessing. 
 
 In the case of the scant-peopling hunter, the im- 
 perative necessity of an overflowing population, such 
 as that of Britain, is a justifiable reason for breaking 
 up his preserves. In the case of the pastoral people 
 of South Africa, it is unjustifiable to invade their ter- 
 ritory and disturb their quiet feeding herds, at least 
 while any part of the world available for British emi- 
 gration remains under the hunter occupancy. But 
 in such an anomalous case as New Zealand, where a 
 very scant agricultural population occupy a few strag- 
 gling districts of an extensive country, with the ex- 
 ception of these petty districts, to them entirely use- 
 less, and which, from defects in the social order and 
 other circumstances, they are not only totally unfit- 
 ted for populating, but are even fast decreasing in 
 numbers ; and where a steady general government 
 introduced by the emigrants would, in all probabili- 
 ty, remedy the consuming evils under which the race 
 is disappearing, — it is here, if we are at all to be 
 guided by reason, humanity, justice, — it is surely 
 here where we ought to locate our overflowing popu- 
 lation. In the case of a region only inhabited by a 
 few scattered barbarous tribes, totally incapable of 
 instituting any responsible government, and where in 
 consequence the country and adjacent sea are infested 
 with lawless bands of robbers and pirates, any nation 
 which possesses the power has a right to interfere, 
 establish a government, and colonize, — surely much 
 more so in the case of New Zealand by Britain than 
 in the case of Florida bv the United States, 
 
 I J '»■! 
 
REASONS FOR ITS COLONIZATION. 
 
 129 
 
 )pear ca- 
 , instead 
 prove to 
 
 the im- 
 lon, such 
 breaking 
 al people 
 their ter- 
 , at least 
 tish emi- 
 ?y. But 
 where a 
 'w strag- 
 
 I the ex- 
 rely use- 
 rder and 
 lly unfit- 
 'asing in 
 ernment 
 robabili- 
 the race 
 
 II to be 
 s surely 
 ig popu- 
 :ed by a 
 mble of 
 ^'here in 
 infested 
 f nation 
 iterfere, 
 y much 
 in than 
 
 V. 
 
 The occupation of New Zealand the duty of Great Bri- 
 tain^ in humanity to the Native Tribes^ and for the 
 protection of British Settlers. 
 
 Independent of the foregoing reasons for establish- 
 ing a British Government in New Zealand, there are 
 other sufficient motives. Independently even of the 
 pacification and civilization of the native tribes, the 
 protection of British subjects, who, to the amount (it 
 is said) of 2000, are already located in the country, is 
 a sufficient reason for the interference of Britain. 
 These settlers arc living without law, exposed to all 
 the evils of anarchy ; the natives are incapable of in- 
 stituting or conducting a government, and the set- 
 tlers and their countrymen, who only are capable of do- 
 ing so, have the right of necessity to do so. From the 
 state of barbarism, and the diffi^'iHy of communica- 
 tion in so rugged and extensive a country, it is impos- 
 sible that any general or presiding native government 
 could exist.* The population are divided into nume- 
 rous tribes, who. do not intermarry, and who are in- 
 volved in perpetual hostilities, kept up by the savage 
 
 * " Your petitioners would observe, that it has been consider- 
 ed that the confederate tribes of New Zealand were competent to 
 enact laws for the propergovernment of this laud, whereby pro- 
 tection would be afforded in all cases of necessity ; but experi- 
 ence evidently shews that, in the infant state of the country, 
 this cannot be accomplished or expected. It is acknowledged by 
 the chiefs themselves to be impracticable." — (See petition of the 
 British Settlers in New Zealand to his late Majesty.) 
 
130 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 s % 
 
 ij. 
 
 i 
 
 % 
 
 principle of honour — revenrie. Although grouped in 
 tribi'H jind acting gregariously under particular lead- 
 ers against their eu( inies, and f're(piently holding so- 
 lemn feasts and deliberative meetings, and although 
 certain laws, or rather customs and forms, meet with 
 superstitious observance, yet there is little internal 
 government or protective law among the members 
 of each ])articular tribe. There is no sufficient con- 
 trolling authority, elective or hereditary," and little 
 habitual or moral resti'aint beyond the result of com- 
 mon sympathy with more innnediate connections, to 
 prevent the strong from preying upon tlie weak : ]<]ach 
 chief, that is every one who is not a slave, does what 
 he pleases, or rather what he is able to do ; while 
 the crafty avail themselves of a horrible superstition, 
 worked by subtle priests to sacrifice obnoxious indi- 
 viduals., and effect their ends. The condition of the 
 slaves, chieHy those captured in war, is deplorable in 
 the extreme ; the niide part not being allowed to mar- 
 ry, and both nudes and females liable, upon the least 
 passion or caprice, to be killed and dcvoured.t The 
 
 * " In tnitli, tlie New Zealand cliief has iieitlier rank nor au- 
 thority, hut that every person above the condition ofa shive, and, 
 indeed, the most of them, may despise and resist with imi)uni- 
 ty."— (See Oihciid Documents, by V. I3ushy,Es(i., Resident). The 
 want of f^overinuent, — tlie incapacity of nuxnkind, in a state of 
 barbarism, to establish a i»i-i'sidin;^ general governniiBnt, has 
 greatly conduced to the establishment of slavery, 
 
 + It is no uncommon tiling for these (the slaves) to be butch- 
 ered and eaten to gratify the diabolical passions of their ungod- 
 ly masters, or to ajipease the anger of some departed relative ; 
 who, they fear, will come and di'stroy them if his anger be not 
 appeased. They that have eaten human flesh are considered as 
 deities while they are alive, and liy the nameof Atua (God) they 
 are often addressed ; and even the body itself, when the spirit 
 
 ■ 
 
REASONS FOR ITS COLONIZATION. 
 
 131 
 
 general possession of war canoes, and the facility, by 
 means of them, of making predatory attacks upon 
 distant tribes, in the manner of the former sea-rover 
 of Scandinavia, has also contributed to reduce +liem 
 to the wildest state of ferocious barbarism. 
 
 Although the value of New Zealand has been known 
 since its first formal occupation and survey by Cap- 
 tain Cook, and colonies established in the neighbour- 
 ing islands in situations incomparably inferior, yet a 
 backwardness has existed on the part of our Govern- 
 ment to colonize this group, perhaps from the diffi- 
 culties in the way, — the ferocity, and comparatively 
 denser population of the aborigines. A fear has also 
 been expressed, that these tribes, under colonization, 
 might dwindle and become extinct, as has sometimes 
 occurred. It, however, appears that the New Zea- 
 land tribes are fast decreasing in numbers under 
 the'present intercourse with Europeans ; that many 
 places, a few years ago comparatively populous, are 
 now absolutely desolate, and that all the evils inci- 
 dent upon European connection, are already in ope- 
 ration, without being counterbalanced by the great 
 advantages which a more intimate connection with 
 Britain, a strong general government, and ihe firm 
 administration of just and benignant laws, would af- 
 ford. ,,. 
 
 . is fled, is called Atua ; so that, according to their view, they are 
 themselves deified, body and soul, dead and alive. When any 
 are afliicted among them, they say that the Atua has got within 
 and is eating him ; and in this way, according to their view, all 
 their afiiictions and deaths are brought about. When they die 
 they tell us that their left eye becomes a star ; the bright ones 
 are those of great men, the dim ones that of slaves." — See D. 
 Coates, Esq., and Rev. J. Beecham, Par. Evidence.) 
 
Ki2 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 m 
 
 The decrease of population now going on, arises 
 from a variety of causes ; — the introduction of new 
 diseases ; more destructive arms, and the disturbance 
 (^ the balance of power amongst the tribes, from the 
 acquisition of muskets by those more immediately in 
 contact with the strangers, the desire to prove the 
 new admired weapons giving a stimulus to their na- 
 tive warlike propensities. A stronger motive also 
 exists for making kidnapping inroads to obtain slaves 
 to carry on the manufacture of flax and the cutting 
 of spars to barter for spirits, blankets, muskets, am- 
 munition, tobacco. Besides, almost every original 
 moral or conventional idea, every useful social prin- 
 ciple of government or restraint that may have exist- 
 ed, is being unhinged by their intercourse with the 
 numerous dissolute sailors, and the convicts from New 
 South Wales at large amongst them ;* and even by 
 the benevolent efforts of the Christian missions ; the 
 general use of tobacco, encouraged by the missiona- 
 ries (See appendix F) as a sedative, and the spiri- 
 tuous liquors, introduced by a number of abandoned 
 settlers (often emancipists or convicts), combining to 
 brutalize all who come within their action. In fine, 
 the seeds of destruction have been sown, the poison 
 
 * " Numberless robberies have been committed on shipboard 
 and on shore, by a lawless band of Europeans, who have not 
 scrupled to use fire-arms to support them in their depredations. 
 
 " Your petitioners express with concern their conviction that 
 unless your Majesty's fostering care be extended towards them, 
 they can only anticipate that both your Majesty's subjects, and 
 also the aborigines, will be liable, in an increased degree, to 
 murders, robberies, and every kind of evil." — (See petition to 
 His late Majesty from British Settlers in New Zealand, includ- 
 ing the Missionaries.) 
 
 % 
 
 I 
 
REASONS FOR ITS f'OLONlZATlOX. 
 
 in;3 
 
 on, arises 
 on of new 
 isturbanoe 
 s, from the 
 ediately in 
 
 prove the 
 > their na- 
 lotive also 
 itain slaves 
 he cutting 
 Lskets, am- 
 fy original 
 social prin- 
 have exist- 
 e with the 
 3 from New 
 id even by 
 isions; the 
 
 missionar 
 I the spiri- 
 ^bandoned 
 nbining to 
 In fine, 
 the poison 
 
 )n shipboard 
 lo have not 
 epredationsu 
 iviction that 
 wards them, 
 ■ubjects, and 
 d degree, to 
 petition to 
 and, includ- 
 
 I has been generally disseminated by ns, and no anti- 
 dote, that in the estimation of any practical man can 
 have a chance of success, has been applied.* 
 
 Something has been done in one or two narrow 
 districts. Much is expected to be done by the la- 
 bours of the Christian missions ; but, however valu- 
 able they may be as an accessory, there is little pro- 
 bability, taking into consideration the contaminating 
 influence of the numerous dissolute refugees and 
 
 ^ foreign shipping, that Protestant missionaries can 
 1 efiect any general reformation without assistance, — 
 can of themselves ever succeed in combining, under 
 one steady government, these independent hordes of 
 savages, separated by natural obstacles and heredi- 
 tary feuds ;t at least Europe and America afford no 
 examples of such results. Besides, the social condi- 
 tion of the New Zealanders is actually retrograding, 
 — more injury resulting from the contamination of 
 the turbulent and dissolute crews of whaling vessels 
 and roaming sailors, convicts and emancipists, than 
 counterbalances the benefit derived from the Chris- 
 tian missions. The plain fact is, that unregulated 
 
 * " Unless the country should be taken under the efficient 
 protection of Great Britain, or some other foreign power should 
 interfere, the natives will go on destroying each otlier, and the 
 British will continue to suffer the accumulated evils of a per- 
 manent anarchy." — Even the very children who are reared 
 under the care of the missionaries, are swept off in a ratio which 
 promises, at no very distant period, to leave the country deso- 
 late of asin^'le inhabitant." (See official document, by T. Busby, 
 Esq., resident.) 
 
 t Were the missionaries loft entirely to tliemselvcs, without 
 other European settlers, or visits of shipping, it is probiiI)lo they 
 might succeed in making converts of the natives, in mitigating 
 their ferocity, and in establisliing some so)t of order. 
 

 lit !|! 
 
 1.34 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 colonization is going on in the worst manner, and 
 chiefly by the worst characters ; whereas, by the pro- 
 per intervention of British authority, colonization 
 would be carried on in the best manner, and by peo- 
 ple of the best character ; — that government, as a 
 prevention of crime, is entirely awanting, — anarchy 
 universal, — distrust, envy, and rancorous malignity, 
 in place of good neighbourhood ; that stripping, kid- 
 napping, murdering parties, roam every where ; that 
 the evils — the worst evils incident upon European 
 intercourse, are in full operation : and that it is im- 
 possible to effect any good but by bringing the sepa- 
 rate tribes and marauding chiefs, and dissolute 
 settlers, under one subjection to a presiding British 
 government. It is in having paved the way to the 
 peaceful accomplishment of this, that the labour of 
 those truly brave men, the New Zealand missionaries, 
 is valuable. They have proved to the New Zealand- 
 ers, by their example, that the British, of a certain 
 class, may be trusted ; that they may confide them- 
 selves to their protection, secure that no dishonest 
 advantage will be taken of their confidence ; and the 
 best informed amongst the natives must see, that to 
 do so is their true interest. That Britain ought to 
 gi'ant them this protection, admits of no doubt : our 
 intercourse has t rought those evils upon them. That 
 it is our especial interest to do so, is equally evident. 
 A firm and friendly union between the British and 
 New Zealanders would soon raise these islands, sup- 
 ported by the immense though inferior territory of 
 Australia, to a pitch of prosperity, which would ren- 
 der them supreme in the Pacific ; and the amalgama- 
 tion of the two races (British and New Zealand), the 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 ! 
 
RKASONS FOR IT8 COLONIZATION. 
 
 I.T) 
 
 0110 tlio foninost in civilized life, and tlic otlior in 
 s{iva<j(! life, or natural stamina,* like (•ii<,n-al"tin^ tlio 
 finest vai'iotii'H of* fruits upon tho |nii'OMt cial), may 
 1)0 oxj)oct(Hl to produce a people .superior in physical 
 and moral energy to all others. t 
 
 No jj!;reater proof cojdd he afforded of the extreme 
 adaptation of iSew Zealand for a liritish colony, than 
 the fact, that ahout *J0()() iiritish have already hx.'ated 
 themselves in this fine eountrv, notwithstandin*' all 
 the dangers which surround them. When such a 
 number of JJritish subjects aro thus exposed to in- 
 sult, outrage, murder, and the natives, even in a 
 greater degree, suffering under these accumulated 
 evils, — evils which a [)residing JJritish gov<'rimient is 
 the only means of remedying or alleviating, — it is 
 surely morally imperative upon the Ihitish (jiovern- 
 
 • " I cannot repress a feelinj^' of deep rc^^ri't tliat so fine and 
 intcUifffnt a race of human ln'in<is should, in the present state 
 of ^'eneral civilization, l)e found in Itarharisni ; for there is not 
 on earth a peoph' in(»re susccptihh' of liigh intcMcctual attain- 
 ments, or nioro capable of hi'conunjj; a useful and iiulustrions 
 race \inder a wise jfovernnient. At present, notwithslandinfj 
 their fornnil declaration of indejx'ncU'nce, they have not, in fact, 
 any fjfoverninent whatever." — " That tiieir wars, which are fast 
 depopulating- this heautiful <'ounti'y, nuiy sooner or later Ite ex- 
 tended to our countrvnien, is a circur;; tance which it would ho 
 rashness to doubt." — " It becoinos, tlierefore, a s<demn duty, 
 both in Justice to the better class of our fellow-sultjects and to 
 the natives themselves, to apply a remedy to the ^frowiny evil." 
 (See Official Document, Letter of Captain AV. Ilobson, 1{.X.)— 
 '" TIh^ New Zealanders are a noble race of men ; they linvo a 
 body much stronger than tiiat of En;,dishmi'n in ji^eneral, and a 
 mind in no way inferior, did they only enjoy equal privileges." 
 (D. Coates, Es(p Par. evidence.) 
 
 t T!ie amalnaniiited race is sprinj'ing' up in Sydney, where 
 a number of JJritisu masters of vessels, who trade in tluise scan. 
 
 ceep 
 
 New Zealand wives. 
 
•SI 
 41 
 
 13(5 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 mont to afford protection, more especially when the 
 doing so would, at the same time, bo a means of put- 
 ting an end to those most horribh' practices, — oi' 
 effacing those dark stains from humanity, the exist- 
 once of which, not many years ago, oidy tlie credulous 
 could believe possible. It is an indubitable fact, that 
 such a combination of malign circumstances, consist- 
 ing of convict disposition to crime, sailor dissolute- 
 ness, savage barbarity, never before were conjoined 
 in any country in any age, all crying out to Britain 
 for protective law. 
 
( 137 ) 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PRKFATORY OBSKRVATION.S TO A IM.AN FOU COLONI- 
 ZI\(J NEW ZKALANI), WITH PUOrOSAF.S OF A PEACK- 
 C0RP8. 
 
 Having domonst rated that the immediate col'>ni- 
 zatioii of New Zealand is alike our best policy t.nd 
 our moral duty, the means of accomplisliHRnt fall 
 next to be considered. 
 
 Colonization is comparatively a sinij)le matte'*, 
 when few aborigines are in the way, or when thoy 
 are to be swept down without compunction, as the 
 incumbering trees of the forest, or reduced to slavery, 
 and made subservient to the progress of the settle- 
 ment. But in carrying successfully into execution thn 
 colonization of such a country as New Zealand, un- 
 der regulation of the strictest justice and humanity, 
 a methodical system of proceeding nmst be previously 
 arranged, — a strong moral and physic?^ force will 
 require to be employed, — and a consideiully greater 
 cost will necessarily be at first incurred, than would 
 be under other circumstances. An *;i portant (pies- 
 tion arises. Whether the colonizrvtion should be con- 
 ducted by Government directly (a Crown colony) ? — 
 Or whether it should be conducted by the settlers 
 themselves, acting under the direction of a board or 
 
 M 
 
138 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 corporation, resident in London, similar to the South 
 Australian plan I — Whether the funds necessary for 
 the expedition and the future government are to be 
 voted by the Jhitish Legislature, or obtained by loan 
 raised on the security of the proceeds of the customs 
 and land sales of the colony ? 
 
 Were the colonization of New Zealand as simple 
 an affair as that of South Australia ; were no obstruc- 
 tion in the way to prev(Mit the regular process of 
 taking possession of the land, and disposing of it in 
 allotments at a fixed price ; had the emigrants, upon 
 arrival, only to set al)out their agricultural opera- 
 tions in (juiet security ; were no considerable moral, 
 military, and naval force necessary to protect them 
 from a most barbarous and turbulent native popula- 
 tion ; were New Zealand not so very important a 
 position in reference to the conunand of the J^iciHc, 
 to the South Sea Fishery, and v;ven to the naval su- 
 premacy of Britain ; were its sup])ly not so necessary 
 as a preventive of famine in New South Wal(;s, and 
 in affording cordage and spars to our shipping ; did 
 New Zealand only stand to us in the relation of an 
 available field, like South Australia, for planting our 
 redundant population upon ; — then, perhaps, it might 
 be as well to leave the colonization to be conducted 
 on the South Australian plan. lUit, estimating the 
 vast importance it bears, politically, commercially, 
 and providently ; keeping in view the difficulty oi' the 
 undertaking, where civilized men must bo brought to 
 act in harmony with savages; taking also into account 
 that several strong forts would require to be erected as 
 />om^ifc^'a/>/>?t/to the settlers, and as a protection against 
 foreign attack in case of war ; and moreover, consider- 
 
 I 
 
 ii 
 
PLAN FOR ITS COLONIZATION. 
 
 139 
 
 ho South 
 ssary for 
 ire to bo 
 I hy loan 
 ) customs 
 
 as simple 
 > obstruc- 
 rocoss of 
 ^ of it in 
 nts, upon 
 al opora- 
 )lo moral, 
 ret them 
 e popula- 
 )ortant a 
 I'acific, 
 naval su- 
 nocossary 
 al(;s, and 
 )ing ; (lid 
 ion of an 
 nting our 
 , it might 
 onductcd 
 ating the 
 nor<Mallv, 
 ilty (jf the 
 rought to 
 o account 
 L'roctcd as 
 m against 
 consider- 
 
 li 
 
 ing the magnitude of the scale on which things would 
 require to b(^ conducted, so as to render success not 
 only not contingent, but so great as give an inunediate 
 political weight to the colony, I thiidv there can bo 
 ojily one opinion respecting the mode of o}>eration — 
 that the colonization should be conducted by the 
 Uovernment, and that the cost of the navnl and mili- 
 tary force, of the defensive erections, and of the edu- 
 cational and protective establishments for the na- 
 tives, should be l)orne by (ireat Jiritain. 'J'he plan 
 of colonizing which was proposed for New Zealand 
 by the New Zealand Association, was similar to that 
 which has been followed in South iVustralia — to com- 
 mence l)y a loan raised on the security of the pro- 
 ceeds of the customs and land sales. As all the 
 funds d<3rivable from the latter arc only the ditter- 
 once of first-cost from the natives, and subse<pient 
 sale to the settlers, no loan on these securities could 
 be adiTfditaxH'onsli/ obtained, sufficient in amount to 
 carry on the grand work, unless (lovermnent gua- 
 rantee to the lender. This plan, embracing the bor- 
 rowing of funds at 10 per cent, interest, would nev(T 
 have been thought of for New Zealand pninariltf. It 
 W{i<s adopted by the New Zealand Association on the 
 principle of imitation, from that of South Austifilia. 
 without a sufficient consideration of the difference of 
 circumstances. Had tlu^ colonization been conducted 
 on the South Australian plan, th(.> probability is, 
 that, from a deficiency of moral and i)hysical force, 
 it would have been attended with difiiculties and dis- 
 asters of such a nature as eventually to occasion far 
 more exp(mse to (Jovernment than if it had taken the 
 management from the commencement. 
 
140 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 i ' 
 
 V,- 
 
 .{;?: 
 
 It must be borne in mind, that the aborigines of 
 New Zealand are a warlike and formidable race ; 
 that they have been known to assemble to the 
 amount of 4000 warriors on land, and by sea 100 
 war-eanocs, of from sixty to ninety m(3n each ; that 
 they employ the most insidious cunning in lulling the 
 watchfulness of those whom they wish to surprise ; 
 that their attack is like the spring of the tiger. In 
 taking military possession of any part of tlieir coun- 
 try, even after purchase, it would be judicious to 
 employ such a force, and such a demonstration of 
 means and preparation, as render opposition hope- 
 less ; while, at the same time, the utmost fairness, 
 friendliness, and attention to their comforts, and to 
 the improvement of their condition, moral and phy- 
 sical, must be shewn, and even respect to their pre- 
 judices. It must not be forgotten, that the abori- 
 gines in Chili, south of Baldivia (the Araucanians), 
 and of Patagonia (a race, though not quite so bar- 
 barous, yet bearing a striking resemblance in cha- 
 racter and personal energy to the New Zealander), 
 have always successfully resisted any forcible occu- 
 pation of their territory by the Spaniards. Their 
 country also very much resembles New Zealand, be- 
 ing one of the most desirable in climate, purity of at- 
 mosphere, productiveness, and especially in adaptation 
 to the British race (General Miller mentions a woman 
 of British extraction having twenty-seven'^children all 
 living). The succss of the enterprise, the effecting 
 a friendly amalgamation with the New Zealanders, 
 is of so much the more importance, as the same friendly 
 connection is also extremely desirable with those 
 sturdy Americans, whose country is only second to 
 
 I 
 
PLAN FOR ITS COLONIZATION. 
 
 141 
 
 New Zealand itself, in political and commercial im- 
 portance ; and were the amalgamation ^'ith the New 
 Zealanders successfu', the same connection with the 
 Araucanians would soon follow. 
 
 The volume published under the sanction of the 
 NewZealand Association, describing tliat country,and 
 their plan of colonization, makes light orany danger to 
 be apprehended fiom the opposition of the natives, and 
 adduces their conduct to the missions, and their to- 
 lerance of British settlers, as removing all serious 
 anxiety on the subject. Those missionaries and 
 settlers, it state :, " continue to reside there in almost 
 every favourable locality in both Islands, not only in 
 safety, but the latter in unmerited impunity, whilst 
 insulting the natives by all manner of outrage, atro- 
 city, and oppression." Although this statement is 
 not a very correct picture of affairs, it is, however, 
 evident, that the British now in New Zealand live 
 under the protection of the native chiefs ; that these 
 chiefs find them necessary for obtaining the desired 
 supplies of European commodities, and sale for their 
 flax, food, timber, and that the " outrages and atro- 
 cities" perpetrated by the settlers upon the inferior 
 grades of natives, are only tolerated by the savage 
 chiefs partly on this account, pnrtly because of their 
 own inhumanity and selfish disregard of others, and 
 partly on account of a dread of severe retribution by 
 British cruisers. Tn the event of a British colony 
 being established in New Zealand, it is obvious that 
 they, instead of submitting to the native authority 
 and protection, must attempt to bring the natives 
 under the British control. This would grate most 
 harshly with their savage pride. And although at 
 
142 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 t -^ 
 
 s i 
 
 present the settlers, from their Hmitcd numbers, are 
 regarded by the natives without jealousy, a very dif- 
 ferent feeling might arise from the arrival of a great 
 armament, and the military occu})ation of a portion 
 of their country, even after it had been purchased ; 
 and this feeling would not likely al)atc as their na- 
 tive authorities, customs, and prejudices, were inter- 
 fered with, and began to give way under the British 
 influence. It would be to despise all experience of 
 the conduct of other barbarous tribes in like circum- 
 stances, it would bo to hold the New Zealanders as 
 differing from humanity, that they, unlike Shak- 
 speare's Jew, had not the same " senses, affections, 
 passions," not to expect that a jealousy and bad feel- 
 ing would arise, and that disturbances could only be 
 prevented by a strong demonstration of power.* In 
 this view, I think the volume alluded to, by repre- 
 senting tlie enterprise as too facile, by undervaluing 
 the danger, and not sufficiently recommending pre- 
 cautionary means, may have an injurious tendency ; 
 in other respects (with some few exceptions), it has 
 considerable merit, and is highly creditable to the 
 talents and industry of the writers. t 
 
 
 • Admiration of, and disposition to snl)mit to power, is a clia- 
 ractoristic of man, wIumi the moral facnltios are nearly dormant. 
 The New Zealanders are not an exception to the rule ; a de- 
 monstration of i)ower is the more politic. 
 
 t In the a])])endix of this volume, a reverend author in doscrib- 
 infr ihoirofiil probable effects of civilization upon the native chief?» 
 — the curtailment of their nu>ans of suj^port by the abolition of 
 slaverv,— states, " it would be a sad thin«r to see the New Zealand 
 chief transfornu'd into the mechanic, the labourer, the petty store- 
 keeper, oreven the harpooner; and yet, what elseeould wo expect, 
 
PLAN FOR ITS COLONIZATION. 
 
 14.S 
 
 jrs, are 
 ery dif- 
 a great 
 portion 
 ihased ; 
 leir na- 
 e inter- 
 British 
 ence of 
 circum- 
 iders as 
 s Shak- 
 fections, 
 >ad feel- 
 only be 
 er.* In 
 y repre- 
 rvaluing 
 ing pre- 
 ndency ; 
 ), it has 
 to the 
 
 The history of colonization presents a far more 
 melancholy account of its effects upon the aborigines 
 in modern than in ancient times. The primary cause 
 of this is evidently the greater disparity in modern 
 times between the aborigines and the colonists, they 
 being generally quite distinct races, the one at the 
 bottom of the scale of civilization, and the other at 
 the top ; and thence, so distinct in character, or ra- 
 ther nature, that a sympathy and friendly union does 
 not spring up upon contact. In reviewing the particu- 
 lar cases where civilized man has come in contact with 
 what are termed savages, we find, even when justice 
 and kindness have been manifested towards them, as in 
 the instance of the Quakers of Pennsylvania, that 
 effects equally disastrous have followed ; and it is only 
 in cases when there is a higher motive than the indi- 
 vidual worldly advantage of the civilized man — wlicn 
 religious enthusiasm is the guiding power, or at least 
 the exerted power, that there is any difference oi" re- 
 sults. In examining more minutely into the cause 
 of the failures, we find a sufficient one in the wild 
 roving instinct of the savage, who sinks into apathy 
 
 , is a clia- 
 
 (lonnant. 
 
 lie ; a de- 
 
 in (Icscrib- 
 ive cliiefe» 
 bolition of 
 w Zealand 
 
 lottvstort'- 
 
 wo CXp'Tt, 
 
 unless we suppose him the proud and sulky recipient of poor-law 
 liounty." — (Seei)age4()5). Perhapsit is not very dithcult todoter- 
 uiine what class of readers the above remark has been intended to 
 please ; and yet even that class will scarcely thank the reverend 
 author for the implied parallel, or synipathi/e with him in fan- 
 cyiiifi; the canni])al -petty-despot, accustomed to shoot his pretty 
 female slaves and to make a repast of their bodies, as bcintf s<»(f- 
 ly degraded should he engage in these nu)st commendable 
 branches of industry, or to regard the being a " r<ni>hnd of poor- 
 law boiinty," as more di'sj>icable than being th<> rrri/>ii;nt of the 
 gains of his female slaves by their conncctinn with Hritish and 
 American vessels. 
 
144 
 
 Nr,W ZEALAND. 
 
 li 
 
 f ;• 
 
 when lie is not in lonomotion ; although, no doubt, 
 the character of that portion of the colonist race who 
 come in contact with the aborigines has also a con- 
 siderable effect ; they being chiefly reckless wander- 
 ers, — refugees from justi ;e and disgrace, who have 
 carried with them only the vices of civilized man, spi- 
 rituous liquors, and fire-arms ; or small parties of mi- 
 litary with their canteen-luibits, — all these being ge- 
 nerally without domestic ties ; and even the common 
 agricultural pioneer settlers being of the rudest and 
 most selfish description. The failure of the attempts 
 of the just and rational and philanthropic Quakers 
 to civilize their red brethren, j)eculiarly merits atten- 
 tion. It proves that some impetus more powerful 
 than they have brought into action, is needed to 
 overcome the apathy of the savage, whose eyes (as is 
 stated of the New Zealander) open like tea cups when 
 fighting is spoken of, but which close when you speak 
 of benevolence, and the comforts arising from peace, 
 steady habits, and industry, lleligious enthusiasm 
 of a less philosophic character than Quakerism, is 
 the only stimulus sufficient to give him energy to re- 
 nounce the habits of his race, and to preserve him from 
 falling into an apathetic state under his change of life, 
 — perhaps, nlso, the only stimulus that can give the 
 instructor sufficient ardour and perseverance. Chris- 
 tianity as taught by our different Protestant missions, 
 or by the Roman Catholic" missions, is the means 
 
 • The Roman Catholic form of Clristianity being directed 
 more towards the senses, is bettor fitted than the Protestant to 
 have impression upon the savage mind, and the Church govern- 
 ment is also much more authoritative — more influential, — ])ut 
 too much so, — so much so, as to be dangerous to after lilierty. 
 
 i 
 
PLAN FOR ITS COLONIZATION. 
 
 145 
 
 doubt, 
 bce who 
 > a con- 
 vandcr- 
 10 have 
 an, spi- 
 )S of mi- 
 eiiig ge- 
 Bommon 
 lest and 
 ittenipts 
 Quakers 
 ts atten- 
 powerful 
 seded to 
 ^^es (as is 
 ips when 
 ou speak 
 m peace, 
 thusiasm 
 erism, is 
 gy to re- 
 
 lim from 
 of life. 
 
 give the 
 Ohris- 
 
 missions, 
 
 e means 
 
 g directed 
 otostant to 
 ch govern- 
 ntial,— l»ut 
 r liberty. 
 
 2!C 
 
 which ought to be employed, at the same time sup- 
 plying the sufficient stinmlus,emancipatingthem from 
 their most pernicious superstitions, aH'ording them a 
 code of the highest morality, enforcL'd by religion, and 
 producing a sympathy and powerful bond of union 
 between them and the colonists. When they become 
 Christians, the gate is then opened to improvement. 
 The success of the missionaries in the ]*acific Islands 
 (although it must be allowed that their ministry has 
 been exerted upon an agricultural, or rather a horti- 
 cultural, population) ought to bo kept in view, more 
 particularly in reference to the plan to be adopted 
 towards New Zealand, the population of which are of 
 the same character. 
 
 It is therefore of the highest importance to embody 
 a strong moral force for the object in view. There is 
 no alternative, — either the New Zealanders must be 
 civilized, or they will be destroyed. Although a mili- 
 tary force cannot be safely dispensed with, yet, to a cer- 
 tain extent, will a moral force be more efficient in af- 
 fording protection to the colonists, independently of 
 the very valuable purpose it would serve in humaniz- 
 ing and improving the condition of the natives ; in 
 reality, preserving them from destruction. The cost 
 of a soldier (officers included) upon foreign service, 
 may be estimated at about L.50 per annum. The 
 service of many valuable men, highly educated, of 
 good abilities and moral worth, could be proeuied at 
 only the cost of three soldiers each, and their influ- 
 ence, as a peace force, would, to a certain extent of 
 number, be more effective each than ten soldiers. It 
 would, therefore, be judicious that a force of this de- 
 
 N 
 
146- 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 ■ ,1 
 
 Hcription wore eniployod. A number of excellent men, 
 who liavc been educated for the Church and the me- 
 dical profeswion, — at present unemployed, and their 
 abilities lost to the country, — would thus be made 
 available to a purpose of high utility, as well as of ge- 
 nerous humanity. 
 
 In(lei)endent of the portion of this peace corps to 
 be attached to the native tribes, it might be judici- 
 ous for one of its body to bo placed with each de- 
 tachment of niilitary, to have a surveillance over its 
 proceedings, and to act as a peace-maker in case of 
 disturbance : the military not to be allowed to act of- 
 fensively unless tlie peace-maker had failed, and mili- 
 tary in small bodies, without a proper responsible of- 
 ficer, never to be allowed to go upon any separate 
 service. Hy means oj'this peace corps, a great, well- 
 combined, effort should be made to christianize and 
 civilize the Avhole native population of the group ; 
 forming normal schools, and even college^, for the in- 
 struction of native teachers, as well clergymen as 
 schoolmasters, and especially instructing the rising 
 generation in the English language. No doubt the 
 expense of this would be considerable. But it is with 
 this as with war, by emi)loying an inferior force de- 
 feat might ensue, and the incurred expense be a dead 
 loss ; by employing a sufficient force victory would be 
 ensured. It ought not to be forgotten that the late 
 war in Oafraria cost the nation about L.250,000 in 
 nineteen months, and the loss sustained by British 
 settlers was, perhaps, as much more ; besides many 
 lives, independent of the loss of our opponents, and 
 the stain of guilt. All this might have been prevent- 
 
PLAN FOR ITS COLONIZATION. 
 
 147 
 
 [lent men, 
 
 I the me- 
 
 Liid their 
 
 be made 
 
 i as of ge- 
 
 corps to 
 be judici- 
 each de- 
 le over its 
 in ease of 
 to act of- 
 , and mili- 
 )nsible of- 
 y separate 
 reat, well- 
 anize and 
 le group ; 
 for the in- 
 gynien as 
 the rising 
 loubt thi^ 
 , it is with 
 force de- 
 be a dead 
 would be 
 ,t the late 
 50,000 in 
 yy iiritish 
 des many 
 ents, and 
 1 prevent- 
 
 ed by a properly organized peace force. It is probable 
 that an economic arrangem(;nt could be made with the 
 different missionary societies to send out a sufficient 
 number of properly educated religious teachers. All 
 that is to bo studied is to guard against the forma- 
 tion of any dominant xoligious body or power, — the 
 most dangerous of all to liberty, and too often mad (5 
 an engine of State-despotism, but to which the mild 
 liberal spirit and principles of the New Testament 
 are directly opposed. This could best be provided 
 against, by giving encouragement to, or employing 
 properly educated teachers of all persuasions, and 
 the assemblage of creeds and opinions would form an 
 useful school for christian forbearance and liberality. 
 They are ..ot Christians who object to this. 
 
 In proceeding to colonize a. country alr(>ady con- 
 taining a considerable population of the most warlike 
 character, and provided with fire-arms, it becomes 
 matter of ^lice consideration how best to regulate the 
 colonizing materiel and system of operation, so as to 
 accomplish the end in view in the most effectual and 
 cheapest manner, and with least risk of loss or suffer- 
 ing either to the emigrants or indiqenw. Along with 
 a sufficient and well-api)ointed moral force, I would 
 propose the following organization of a defensive and 
 combined-labour nucleus for the colony, as not only af- 
 fording confidence to intending emigrants, but being 
 in many respects suited to existing circumstances. 
 
 Independently of the extremely important advan- 
 tage of a supply of combined labour, a particular 
 reason for the adoption of a military and labour co- 
 lony corps IS THE NECESSITY OF A STRONG MILITARY 
 
 forcf:, and THE demoralizing and depopulating 
 
148 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 fl j 
 
 n 
 
 '- m 
 
 EFFECT OF ANY SUCH FORCE WHEN IT IS HELD DIS- 
 TINCT FROM SOCIETY, not possessed of the means of 
 marrying and rearing families, — not bound by do- 
 mestic ties. It is well known that in our regular 
 army the rei)roductiveness is next to nothing, and 
 also that it renders a vast number of females unpro- 
 ductive. It icould also he unprojitahle and absurd {tJcat 
 it has been generally practised does not lessen the absur- 
 dity) to keep men in this situation in a country u'here 
 a British population is the great desideratum. Even 
 the few soldiers of the line necessary for models 
 and garrison-duty in New Zealand, and the seamen 
 of the war-vessels, should have it guaranteed them 
 that should they marry they would not be removed 
 permanently from the colony.* Not attending to this 
 principle has incalculably retarded the growth^ and de- 
 based the morals of our colonies^ and has never, I be- 
 lieve, been sufficiently estimated. By far the great- 
 est injury to the New Zealanders, arising from their 
 intercourse with Europeans and Americans, is caused 
 by the resort of the South Sea whalers, and the con- 
 nection of the seamen with the native women. No- 
 
 • When the Dromedary (Government ship) was out at New 
 Zealand about eijj^hteen years ago, loading spars for the British 
 navy, she was detained ten months proeuring a cargo, and the 
 sailors and marines during this stay had nearly an equal num- 
 ber of New Zealand girls constantly with them in the vessel and 
 individually associated as wives. Upon sailing, these women, 
 nearly the whole of them enceinte^ were, by order, driven out of 
 the vessel perforce. — (See Capt, Cruise's account.) The same 
 is occurring every day with our whalers ; and, nevertheless, 
 scarcely a child of the mixed race is to be seen. Perhaps the 
 l)ower of disci[)line over British soldiers and sailors was never 
 more strongly exemplified than in their obeying orders in the 
 above case of the Dromedary. 
 
 m;! 
 
PLAN FOR ITS COLONIZATION. 
 
 141> 
 
 :ld dis- 
 leans of 
 by do- 
 regular 
 ,ng, and 
 9 unpro- 
 %rd {tlmt 
 \e ahsur- 
 ry where 
 . Even 
 ' models 
 ' seamen 
 ed them 
 removed 
 tig to tim 
 , and de- 
 rer, I be- 
 \G great - 
 om their 
 is caused 
 the con- 
 en. No- 
 
 Ht at New 
 tlie British 
 o, and the 
 qiial num- 
 
 vessel and 
 so women, 
 ivon out of 
 
 'I'he same 
 
 vertheless, 
 '(>rhaps the 
 
 was never 
 lers in the 
 
 thing can put a stop to these demoralizing an<l de- 
 populating practices but the change before stated 
 taking place in the mode of carrying on the fishery, 
 a change which the occupation of New Zealand would 
 soon bring about. Those carrying on the fishery 
 would then have wives and families located in New 
 Zealand. 
 
150 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PLAN OF A PROTECT I Nfi AND COMniNAI3LE-LA140l R 
 NUCLEUS FOR THE COLONY. 
 
 m 
 
 I 
 
 1. That from 000 to 1000 men (best Scots or 
 Knglish or northern Irinh), activo hibourers, liouso- 
 cart-plough-mill-ship-wri/lhts, saw- milUTH, i)h)ugh- 
 men, masons, smithw, gardeners, coast-fishers, tailors, 
 schoohnasters, — be enHsted to serve five years (after 
 arrival) in a New Zealand local infantry, — a clear 
 and specific bargain being entered into betwixt the 
 (lovernment and the enlisting men in regard to the 
 nature of the service, conditions, treatment. 
 
 2. That a number of Serjeants, or those capable 
 of being Serjeants, men of good character, be drafted 
 into it from the lino to act as disciplinarians ; meri- 
 torious soldiers having families, to have a preference. 
 
 3. That this corps be officered by practical men of 
 good education, — if possible, by emigrating capital- 
 ists and engineers, — a proportion of half-pay officers, 
 agriculturists, and master builders would be useful. 
 
 4. That a committee of selection bo formed pre- 
 vious to the enlistment, to accept of picked men 
 only, of industrious habits and good character, hand- 
 some fellows of fine muscular and cerebral develop- 
 ment. The more discriminating nicety shewn by the 
 selection committee, the greater the difficulty of ad- 
 mission, the more numerous would be the applicants. 
 
PLAN FOR IT8 COLONIZATION. 
 
 Ul 
 
 5. That two-thinls at l<*ast of this rorps funiiMh 
 tlu'iiisclvcM with young women to acconipimy them in 
 the rxpcdition. The men to rccM'ivc partieuhir in- 
 junctions to chooHo mates who would not oventiMilly 
 bring disgrace on the colony. The women to rcvjcive 
 rations till their gardens beeome j)roductive. 
 
 a. 'J'hat th(? eorpfl, ai'ter reaching New Zealand, 
 be a few w<K'ks yearly in military training, so as to 
 keep up a proper discipline, and at other times be 
 employed as labourers and artisans in tin* necessary 
 public; erections and improveujcnts, thi-ir work being 
 within daily access of their dwellings. 
 
 7. That every man receive an acre or more of 
 good garden ground, with a suitable house erected 
 by the corps upon it, as soon as possible after arri- 
 val ; and that four weeks annually be allowed him 
 for working the same in proper season, — of course 
 his pay deducted for this time. 
 
 8. That no part of the corps, on any account what- 
 ever, be removed from New Zealand without their 
 own consent. 
 
 9. That clever artisans, fishers, &c. receive ono- 
 third more pay than the common labourers for the 
 time they are at work, and that a sufficient stimulus 
 for exertion be kept up by granting rewards of addi- 
 tional ground to the most active and deserving. 
 
 10. That as the best means of j)reserving peace is 
 to be prepared for war, the corps be embodied seve- 
 ral months previous to embarking, and brought to 
 that efficiency of discipline, as, in case of necessity, 
 to be able for actual service on landing. 
 
 11. That a corps of about 300 soldiers of the re- 
 gular army, — foot, artillery, riflemen, a small rocket 
 
152 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 corps, and a few cavalry, — to servo as patterns to the 
 
 H 
 
 local corpH, jind to garrison the forts, 
 
 ems 
 icconipany 
 
 the 
 
 expedition. 
 
 12. That three vessels, a frigate, a small sloop of 
 war, and a small gun-boat steamer, also accompany 
 the expedition : these to be constantl}' employed in vi- 
 siting the ditterent settlement stations, and in making 
 a com[)k'te nautical survey of the coast and harbours 
 of the group, for the construction of charts. A na- 
 val force thus em])loyed would be by far the most 
 overawing. The New Zealanders are a maritime 
 p^'ople, having many war and fishing canoes, and the 
 whole of these, from the one end of the group to the 
 other, would thus be at our mercy. Independent of 
 any relation to the New Zealand colony, there would 
 be no loss in a naval force of considerably more 
 strength being stationed here, — !t could he profifahly 
 employed in the whale-Jishet'i/ ; nothing would tend so 
 much to nuUio fine seamen ;* and, in the event of 
 war with America oi* ivussia, it would be ready to 
 act on (ine of our most exposed positions in protect- 
 ing our Australian colonies and our South Sea fishery. 
 
 l.*3. That the garrison soldiers and seamen of the 
 war- vessels be encouraged to have wives and fami- 
 lies in the colony, and, in the event of their marry- 
 ing, not to be removeable from the group of islands 
 for tmy long period of time. 
 
 * IIuntin{f tho tij^iT or tho olcpliant is c-liiU-play to lumtlnf>- 
 tho {fiHiat s|>('nM wluile. Our youiijier aristot-racy, — nautical 
 Niinrods,- would take to tho sjxirt can amort'. Tlic ^luisi' of 
 those black SiMMUonstrrs wt)uKl ln' exc'lloiit traiiiiu"; tor tho 
 chaso ol" an onciny, and a little pri/.c-uioney would be going. — 
 (Sv'e Appendix, (i.) 
 
PLAN FOR ITS COLONIZATION. 
 
 lo3 
 
 14. That no convicts bo udinitted into New Zeu- 
 land, except perliaps for the purpose of erecting one 
 or more forts on the coast in connnandinfj situations, 
 under whose guns our sliipping niight lie in security, 
 h'roin tlie paramount importance of the position of 
 New Zealand as conunanding the whole l*aciHc trade, 
 and as Cook's Strait is the natural thoroughfare for 
 homeward-hound Australian traders, several strong 
 harhour-forts would be necessary. That convicts so 
 employed be kept secluded from the colonists, and re- 
 moved from the islands when the works are tiiiished. 
 
 15. That emancipists be excluded, as otherwise, 
 from the i)roximity to New South Wales, they would 
 Hock to New Zealand in such numbers us to become 
 a nudignant moral pest. 
 
 10. That ardent spirits, as being e(|ually a moral 
 and mortal pest to savage life, be (dso excluded. 
 Tim history of the Jh'itish aiul Anglo-American con- 
 nection with the imcivilized races of mankind exem- 
 plify in every instance the absolute necessity of this 
 r(fgulation. The French, Spaniards, and Portuguese, 
 have amalgamated better with uncivilized races than 
 the Hritish, and their contact, leaving out cases of 
 actual slaughter and com[)ulsory unwholesome labour 
 in mines, has not been attended with the same fatal 
 effects. This has arisen chieHy from their more tem- 
 jjerate habits, and not traifickingso nmch in s]>irituouH 
 li(|uors as the Ihitish. 'J'he law respecting (dl modi- 
 fications of alcohol should be, that it be d(?stroycd 
 when foimd, and the possessors banished the islands. 
 Treaties should, if possible, be entered into with the 
 native tribes to this effect, — the object being explain- 
 ed. The temporanco c;lause will, besides, afford an 
 
154 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 \V' 
 
 il' 
 
 excellent test of proper settlers. With the cLause 
 the success of the colony, and the civilization and 
 prosperity of the aborigines, is higldy probable ; with- 
 out this clause the colony, by force of arms, by the 
 exertion of Hritish power, may be successful, but the 
 destruction of the aborigines is almost inevitable. 
 The New Zealand group, by reason of its p'»sition, 
 extent, resources, and more temperate climat<\ befit- 
 ting it for higher civilization and denser population, 
 is naturally calculated to give the impress of its mo- 
 rals and institutions to the numerous Pacific groups 
 peopled by the Mahiyan race, as well as to Australia. 
 Tlierefore is the prosperity and civilization of the 
 native New Zealand Malay i)opulation, and their 
 friendly amalgamation with the British, the higher 
 an object, and every thing necessary or conducive 
 thereto, as temperance, high princij)le, humanity, 
 more onerous in duty and policy. Surely the intend- 
 ing settler must bo altogetlun' devoid of ])hilanthr()py 
 and of i)roper liritish feeling, who gives one thought 
 to the subject, — to the greatness of the purpose to 
 be served, — and who can for a moment deliberate re- 
 specting the eligibility of excluding spirituous licpiors. 
 
 17. That all settlers able to bear arms be organi- 
 zed in militia corps, and properly disciplined. 
 
 As the New Zealand infantry will have no charges 
 of cavalry to withstand, and as the natives bear a 
 great respect to double-barrel guns, acknowledging 
 no other authority than the number of nuiskets, it 
 might perhaps be worth considering whether it would 
 not be proper to arm one-half of the infantry with 
 double-barrel guns and short hanger, and the other 
 with long-ranging rifle, pistol, and hanger. It has 
 
PLAN FOR ITS COLONIZATION. 
 
 155 
 
 he claust' 
 ition and 
 jIo ; with- 
 is, by the 
 1, but the 
 iievitable. 
 position, 
 at<', belit- 
 )Inilation, 
 i)f' its mo- 
 ic groups 
 \.U8tralia. 
 )n of the 
 md their 
 le higher 
 jonchicive 
 uinanity, 
 e intend- 
 unthropy 
 ) thought 
 iirpose to 
 )erate re- 
 us li(piors. 
 e organ i- 
 d. 
 
 > charges 
 8 boar a 
 wledging 
 iskets, it 
 • it would 
 itrv with 
 he other 
 It haw 
 
 been found advantageous to arm some of our Cape 
 corps in this manner. These arms would be more 
 efficient in bush-fighting than thos«' in eonnnon use, 
 and the hanger would bo indispens[ible for cutting 
 the way through the lianries and tall fern. 
 
( 150 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 NKCESSARY SUPPLIES — LOCATION OV TIIK COLONIZINCJ 
 EXPEDITION — I'VUCIIASE AND SALE OF LANDS TO 
 COLONISTS — TITLES, REGISTRATION, &('. 
 
 iS applies. — Every thing necessary for the colony — 
 clothing, iron, hardware, tools, ini})lenients — for two 
 years to come, would recjuire to be carried out with 
 the expedition, or follow in a few months after, when 
 warehouses shall bo got ready to receive them. As 
 a considerable quantity of ])ork, potatoes, Indian 
 corn, &c., are to be had in New Zealand, and the 
 country b(.'ing only one or two weeks'* sail from New 
 South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, it will not be 
 necessary to carry out the whole supply of provisions. 
 The animal food and breeding stock will be obtained 
 on the spot or from New South Wales, and the supply 
 of vegetables can soon be raised in abundance. But 
 with respect to the grain, rice and flour, it icillbe/of 
 several 1/ears muck more economical to import the icliole 
 from the Baltic and India^ whence these articles can 
 be had, including freight, at a much lower rate than 
 the average price at Van Diemen's Land or New 
 South Wales, and at much less cost than the value of 
 the labour necessary to raise them on the spot. This 
 arrangement would leave the whole labour of the co- 
 
NECESSARY SUPPLIES. 
 
 157 
 
 iLONlZIN(J 
 .ANDS TO 
 
 colony — 
 — for two 
 I out with 
 fter, when 
 icni. As 
 s, Indian 
 , jind the 
 roni New 
 vill not be 
 irovisions. 
 
 obtained 
 he supply 
 nee. But 
 u- ill he for 
 
 the whole 
 tides can 
 rate than 
 or New 
 value of 
 
 )ot. This 
 
 f the CO- 
 
 
 lony disposable for purposes of improvement, — erect- 
 ing proper buildings, fences, bridges, road-making, 
 — rearing stock, nurseries, fruit-bearing trees, and 
 the thousand-and-one indispensables. In importing 
 grain from the Baltic or Black Sea, it would be ne- 
 cessary to have it put on boanl in the best condition, 
 either kiln-dried, or dried from exposure to a sum- 
 mer's drought, and to have a metallic lining (zinc or 
 h'ad sheets) to the vessels with sufficient dunnage; 
 best to have a vessel with bilge pumps. It would 
 also bo of advantage to have a (pumtity of Hour, 
 made from very dry wheat, and of liigh-dried oat- 
 meal, taken (mt m large boxes lined with tin-paper. 
 Flour and meal thus prepared and j)reserved, will 
 remain sweet for a number of years. Nothing would 
 tend so much to the prosperity of the colony, and 
 the forwarding of imj)rovenu'nts, as a chea}) foreign 
 supply of grain for several years, sold to emigrants 
 at prime cost and charges. Of course, a consider- 
 able (piantity nould require to be kept in store to 
 
 •ruard aifainst sea-accident. 
 
 Location of the Coloniziuff E.vpedition. — In or«ier 
 the more effectuallv to extend our influence over the 
 whole country, and accomplish its speedy pacification 
 and improv(>ment, it would be necessary to occupy 
 at least thre(» dilFerent points in force. Separating 
 the armament in three divisions, one division might 
 locate at the Hay of Islands, having a wing extend- 
 ing westward to the Hokianga ; another could locate 
 at Port-Kaipara, occupying the isthnuis, and extend- 
 ing south to the mouth of and along the Waikato 
 rivers, fhis location could have a communication 
 
158 
 
 NEW ZKAf.AND. 
 
 by a lino of posts kopt up with the other at the Bay 
 of Islands and Hokianga, being only about seventy 
 miles distant from both places. The third division 
 would recpiire to locate in Cook'^s Straits, either at 
 Port-Nicolnon, or in Queen Charlotte Sound and 
 Cloudy Hay ; best on both sides of the straits. In- 
 dependent of these grand divisions, smaller nuclei of 
 civilization would require to be organized and esta- 
 blished with each tribe or combined cluster of tribes 
 who could be induced to receive them, to consist of 
 a resident or native i)rotector (emi)owered to make 
 purchases of territory in name of the Hritish Go- 
 vernment, and to take cognizance of British strag- 
 glers), and of teachers of morality, science, and the 
 more useful arts. From ten to twenty individuals, 
 according to the importance of the tribe, might suf- 
 fice for each establishment ; say one native protector, 
 one clergyman, one surgeon, one surveyor, several 
 schoolmast(M's, one gardener or farmer, several police, 
 Wright, smitli, shipbuilder, ropemaker, sawer, &c. A 
 comnnuiication, by regular visits of the naval force, 
 would re<iuire to bo kept up with these establish- 
 ments, by means of which any warlike preparation, 
 or general intended rising on the part of the natives, 
 could be made known at headquarters. An officer 
 of the highest responsibility (perhaps the governor 
 himself) to visit all these establishments annually, 
 with great discretionary power. 
 
 Purchase and Sale of Lands to Colonists, Titles, 
 Her/ ist rat ion. — The purchase of all lands from the 
 native tribes will require to bo made by the British 
 Government through her accredited agents, and 
 
SALE OF LANDS TO COLONISTS. 
 
 15.0 
 
 at the Bay 
 ut seventy 
 •d division 
 , either at 
 ■jound and 
 raits. In- 
 )r nuclei of 
 
 and esta- 
 
 er of tribes 
 
 consist of 
 
 d to make 
 
 h-itish Go- 
 
 itish strag- 
 
 ce, and the 
 
 individuals, 
 
 might suf- 
 
 ? protector. 
 
 or, several 
 
 oral police, 
 
 iver, &c. A 
 
 laval force, 
 
 establish- 
 reparation, 
 he natives, 
 An officer 
 governor 
 
 annually, 
 
 Istit, Titles, 
 from the 
 ho British 
 ^ents, and 
 
 afterwards resold to the settlers at such a prieo ])er 
 acre as bring the highest return, without clu'cking 
 the influx of the most useful class of emigrants, 
 working small capitalists, or too nnich impeding the 
 sales; the difP'rence of price to be expended in car- 
 rying out labouring emigrants, and in paying them 
 for work in constructing roads and other pubUc im- 
 provements after their arrival. Whatever purchases 
 may have been made by British settlers previous 
 to the arrival of the colony, should be revised ;^' and 
 in all cases where no cultivation or enclosing of the 
 ground has taken place, the (Government ought to 
 make itself owner of the [lurchase, by paying the 
 claimant the first cost, with interest from the time 
 of purchase ; at tlie same time giving him a choice 
 of a portion of it — say to the amount of 2000 acres 
 — at the (iovernment sale i)rice. In those cases 
 where cultivation or proper enclosure has taken 
 l)lace, all the improved land, with a corn 'spending 
 outfield pasturage (not too extensive), to renuiin in 
 the hands of the chiinumt, upon payment of the dif- 
 ference between the Government purcliase-price and 
 sale-price of such lands. Should the holder not con- 
 sent to this, that he receive prime cost and value of 
 improvements, and vacate the lands. The justice of 
 this arrangement is based upon two principles : l.s^. 
 That the natives have not sufficient right to dispose 
 of the wil(l(.*rness ; f/tcft the pro^ertif riqht of all new 
 lands lies in the colonizing (/oternment, by whose protec- 
 tion it onhj acijidves value. 'Id, That the extra price 
 
 • SoiiU'tliin;,' of an exptulii'ijcy foinproiiiisc is lu'rcssarv ht-re, 
 us many y»;Y'^'/*'/t(/ claiins will he inutlc, uiul tliiit it will ha im- 
 possible to dibtingiiish between the more uud the less valid. 
 
100 
 
 NEW ZKALAND. 
 
 which (lOV'Tnmcnt charges beyond what it may pay 
 for the good will of the natives, is in effect no ])rice, 
 but merely a very necessary (compulsory) subscrip- 
 tion or contribution to carry out labourers in i)ro- 
 portion to the (extent of the j)ro})erty. It would be 
 extremely unjust that the purchasers, or rather set- 
 tlers, previous to the arrival of the colony, should be 
 allowed to benefit themselves by the labourers whom 
 other men"'s money had carried out ; that they should 
 reap where they did not sow ; or that th y should 
 not pay some efjuivalent for the increased value 
 which the protection of the British colonial govern- 
 ment would give to their estates. 
 
 As the <tf/riciiltitral improeeincnt^ and etfii the gene- 
 ral prospcritii of (t conntnj^ is malnlii depernhnt upon 
 the nature of the tenures of land properti/^ it is neces- 
 sary to have this very important affair put under the 
 most advantageous regulation from the beginning, 
 and that all British titles be clear, short, and after 
 one form, and a simple and correct registration 
 adopted. It would sate an immemitii of future trouble 
 and litiffat'wn^ and damape to societ//, to allow of no 
 charters, nor papers of am/ kind^ connected with the 
 tenures of land propertif, eo'ceptlng the reijist ration 
 book of the district ; in wliich a page coidd be opened 
 exclusively for crch property, describing its bounda- 
 ries, size, and owner , and, in the case of a transfer, 
 the parties to attend personally, in j)resence of the 
 register- keeper, and both simply sign their names, 
 the one as purchaser, and the other seller, attested 
 by two witnesses and the register-keeper ; or, in case 
 the principals cannot be present, that they sign a 
 stamped printed form issued by the register-keeper, 
 
SALE OF LANDS TO COLONISTS. 
 
 lOl 
 
 t may pJiy 
 t no ])rico, 
 I aubscrip- 
 rs in pro- 
 would Ix' 
 'iithor 8('t- 
 , hIiouUI !)(' 
 vera whom 
 lu'y 8houl(l 
 i) V should 
 180(1 vahie 
 u\ govern- 
 
 n the fjene- 
 
 ident tipon 
 
 t is neces- 
 
 undor the 
 
 c'ginning, 
 
 and after 
 
 gistration 
 
 fire t rouble 
 
 (loir of no 
 
 I u'ith the 
 
 iij'kst ration 
 
 3e opened 
 
 s bounda- 
 
 i trannfer, 
 
 ee of the 
 
 ir names, 
 
 , attested 
 
 or, in ease 
 
 ley sign a 
 
 L' 
 
 r-k 
 
 eeper, 
 
 attested hy witnesses, empowering him to make the 
 transfer in the register-book, in presence of a certain 
 number of attesting witnesses. In case of division 
 of the estate, a new page wouhl re(^uire to be ojiened 
 for eacli section. There never can be secure tenures 
 of land in any country while the title is dependent 
 upon stray pieces of parchment, so liable to be mis- 
 laid or destroyed. All our old mouldy pjirchments 
 — mere instruments for lawyer-pillage — should be 
 made a bonfire of. Wo shall never have good titles, 
 \'\^ pommoH^ living witnesses, and the register-book, 
 be the only title. Of course, the register-book must 
 be kept in a fire-proof apartment. 
 
 I) 
 
( 1(5-^ ) 
 
 CHAPTHR XIII. 
 
 TRKATMENT OF Till NATIVKS — ADDRESS TO TlIK NA- 
 TIVKH ON KEAC'IIINC; NEW ZEALAND, AND l'KKS81N(i 
 OCCUPATION ON LANDING. 
 
 i^ :^ 
 
 Limits ought to be put to tho extent to wlueli 
 purchases from the natives are to be carried, secu- 
 ring to them for a certain period of years rather a 
 superfluity of land, than depriving them, although 
 by purchase, of what is necessary for growing suffi- 
 cient food and other supplies. At the same time, 
 every encouragement should bo held forth to induce 
 them to settle individually upon particular portions 
 of ground, intermixed with tho British colonists. For 
 this purpose, assistance should be given them in 
 making enclosures, and erecting dwellings ; presents 
 should bo made them of plants of fruit-l)earing trees, 
 and oven cattle; and they should be carefully in- 
 structed an 1 exhorted to cultivate their land after 
 our example. 
 
 It ought,, at the same time, to be a leading object 
 of policy, gradually to break up their savage confe- 
 derations and clan-system, by withdraAving the people 
 from the control of the chiefs, and by generous, kind, 
 and beneficial treatment, to bring them to look up to 
 tho Colonial Government, and that of Britain, with 
 
TRFATMFNT OF THE NATIVKS. 
 
 Km 
 
 THK NA- 
 
 l'KKSSlN(i 
 
 to wliieli 
 led, sccu- 
 rath<jr a 
 although 
 
 mv tiiiK', 
 to inchice 
 
 portioiiR 
 sts. For 
 
 tlii'in in 
 
 prosentH 
 ing trees, 
 
 f'ullv in- 
 ind a ft or 
 
 iig object 
 ^e confe- 
 lic people 
 •us, kind, 
 ook up to 
 ain, with 
 
 prid*' and grateful attachment ; in nliort, to regard 
 tlieins(lv<'8 as the suhjeets, not of a cannihal-petty- 
 (leMpot, hut of the (Jueen of Ih'itain — fre»> sulgeetsoi* 
 the greatest enijnre of the world. As the colony 
 progresses, the slaves ought to be mainnnitted in 
 some way or other, and the most perfect civil equa- 
 lity secured to all, as so(m as the l^ritish Colonial 
 (Government has ac(piired sufficient authority and ex- 
 tension to supersech,' th(,' wretched native anarchies 
 of clan-tyr.'inny and superstition. ANove all things, 
 every efibrt nmst b(^ mad»^ to educates the children in 
 Ih'itish literature, and to train them up in the habits 
 of civilized life: after (.'hristianitv, Uritish literature 
 is the grand lever to elevate the eharacter of the 
 rising generation, give them a Jhitish feeling, and 
 ada])t them for a complete amalgamation with the 
 Hritish race. Estimated in reference to New Zea- 
 land becoming a British colony, tlie missionaries 
 have i)erhaps misdirected their labour in renderin 
 the New Zealand language a written one, as it will 
 only tend to per[)etuate a distinctive trait, and bo a 
 barrier to their access to the grand source of know- 
 ledge and refinement. 
 
 In our conduct towards the natives, it ought to be 
 kept in view, that men cannot be driven to improve- 
 ment without sustaining more injury than advantage, 
 at least in the ultimate effects, that nothing can im- 
 pair the native energy so nmch as being crammed 
 with that which they do not wish, or may loathe. 
 They nuist be led to desire information and improve- 
 ment, and bo enabled by example and advice to ef- 
 fect it themselves. The advantage lies more in the 
 energy-creating imj)etus of curiosity an<l discovery, 
 
 
^, 
 
 .#. 
 
 
 s>.^.\ 
 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 
 ^''A^< 
 
 
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 Zi 
 
 1.0 
 
 1.1 
 
 12.8 
 
 ■10 
 
 1 2.5 
 
 1^ m 
 
 12.2 
 
 ^ as, 12.0 
 
 I 
 
 SlUh 
 
 i^ 
 
 
 |l.25 1 1.4 
 
 lllll<> 
 
 
 < 6" — 
 
 
 ► 
 
 '/W ^M 
 
 
 TW 
 
 Vf 
 
 Hiotographic 
 
 Sciences 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716)872-4503 
 
 # 
 
 \ 
 
 V 
 
 N> 
 
 
o 
 
1(U 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 than in the received knowledge. Means ought to bo 
 adopted, by enlarging their views, and cultivating 
 their moral sentiments, to give their strong love of 
 approbation or vanity a proper direction. Their high 
 pride of character, accustomed to run riot in revenge 
 and destruction, would thus be taught to seek its 
 gratification in the generous emulation to excel in 
 the pursuits of industry and social advancement. As 
 a feeling of self-abasement is the most injurious, and 
 of self-a[)probation the most advantageous, in ten- 
 dency, they ought to be treated with high considera- 
 tion, as reasoning beings, possessed of moral senti- 
 ment and natural sympathy, and they will be led to 
 act reasonably, and justly, and humanely. Places 
 of trust and honour should be open to their exertion, 
 and every possible use made of their assistance. 
 
 How far the keeping of any of the still existing 
 native social regulations should be encouraged, being 
 a mere expediency question, cannot be resolved till 
 the extent of the colonizing force is seen, and the 
 animus of the natives after the occupation be ascer- 
 tained. Were their customs only neutral in relation 
 to morality and improvement, they might be encour- 
 aged for a time, but as they are generally interwoven 
 with debasing superstition, and hurtful and inhuman 
 practices, the sooner they are swept away perhaps 
 the better.* It might be attempted to get them to 
 
 ■ Lieutenant-Colonel Colebroke states, resijccting colonists 
 and aborigines occupying portions of the same territory, that 
 each should follow their own system of government alongside of 
 each other, and bo encouraged gradually to assimilate, in con- 
 formity to local necessities. " I have not the smallest doubt," 
 says he, " that Aaron's rod would swallow up all other rods ; 
 that the native communities would assimilate in all essential 
 
TREATMENT OF THE NATIVES. 
 
 165 
 
 )ught to be 
 cultivating 
 )ng love of 
 Their high 
 in revenge 
 to seek its 
 to excel in 
 ment. As 
 urious, and 
 us, in ten- 
 i considera- 
 loral senti- 
 11 be led to 
 ly. Places 
 ir exertion, 
 stance, 
 [ill existing 
 ged, being 
 esolved till 
 and the 
 n be ascer- 
 in relation 
 be encour- 
 interwoven 
 id inhuman 
 ay perhaps 
 et them to 
 
 ing colonists 
 erritory, that 
 , alongside of 
 ilate, in con- 
 llest doubt," 
 other rods ; 
 all essential 
 
 adopt a regular government, with trial by jury, in 
 imitation of the British ; the Colonial Government 
 to confirm a chief or magistrates of their own elect- 
 ing, and to strengthen his or their authority in main- 
 taining order, as well over the strolling whites as 
 over the native population. In all cases of crime or 
 injury committed againt the natives by the colonists, 
 summary punishment ought to be inflicted (in part 
 always by fine, paid to the injured party in com- 
 pensation), as the consequences of such offences 
 might be of a very fatal nature ; and in the case of 
 injury to the colonists by the natives, their own sen- 
 timents respecting right and wrong should be taken 
 into account, and the punishment only directed as a 
 preventive of further injury and crime, and not in 
 the spirit of retaliation and revenge ; perhaps, in the 
 latter case, and in all cases of dispute between indi- 
 viduals of the different races, the jury or judges ought 
 to consist of equal numbers of both races. 
 
 The establishment of several hospitals, where the 
 natives could have medical treatment and main- 
 tenance during sickness and disease, would be of in- 
 calculable advantage, and equally requisite as a 
 means of gaining their attachment, as from being a 
 humane duty. The missionaries would be as merito- 
 riously occupied, and acting quite as much in accord- 
 ance with the example they ought to follow, in heal- 
 ing the bodily diseases of the natives, as in preaching 
 
 particulars to the European communities ; and that both would 
 become blended, without any compromise or violation of the 
 rights of either." See minutes of Parliamentary Evidence. I 
 fear that the social order is at too low an ebb in New Zealand 
 for trial of this. 
 
166 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 il§ 
 
 religious doctrine. Every missionary, before leaving 
 Britain, should pass several months in an hospital* 
 attending to the treatment of diseases and wounds. 
 A number of regularly bred medical practitioners 
 would, however, be indispensable. 
 
 Address to the Natives on reaching New Zealand^ 
 and pressing occupations on disembarking. — In order 
 fully to develope the resources of Now Zealand, and 
 place her as speedily as possible in a position mate- 
 rially to increase our maritime preponderance in 
 the Pacific, and cover our operations there in case 
 of war ; the good will and co-operation of the native 
 tribes must be secured, at whatever cost. Every 
 possible means must be taken to conciliate them by 
 useful presents, and to enlighten them in regard to 
 the advantages which an efficient general govern- 
 ment, a union with Britain, and the comforts of ci- 
 vilization would afford. On the expeditions reaching 
 their points of destination, the neighbouring tribes 
 must be instructed, through proper interpretc "s, that 
 the Queen of Great Britain has been sore aggrieved 
 to hear of their intestine wars, continual broils, and 
 horrid massacres : that, as though her people and 
 ships, the means of destruction, fire-arms, anarchy, 
 and disease, depopulating their fine country, has been 
 introduced amongst them, she has considered it a 
 duty to remedy these evils, and has sent us to teach 
 them to live together in amity, instead of fighting 
 with frenzied cruelty, and tearing out each other's 
 hearts like wild beasts : that we come as friends to 
 live amongst them, to cultivate the unoccupied land, 
 and to unite with them as one people, under the same 
 
 : 
 
 
ADDRESS TO THE NATIVES. 
 
 167 
 
 pe leaving 
 
 hospital> 
 
 I wounds, 
 
 ctitioners 
 
 Zealand^ 
 -In order 
 land, and 
 ion mate- 
 erance in 
 e in case 
 the native 
 fc. Every 
 ) them by 
 regard to 
 1 govern- 
 3rt3 of ci- 
 3 reaching 
 ing tribes 
 3tc "s, that 
 aggrieved 
 >roils, and 
 3ople and 
 
 anarchv, 
 , has been 
 ered it a 
 3 to teach 
 f fighting 
 ch other's 
 
 riends to 
 pied land, 
 • the same 
 
 just laws : that every thing they possess shall be held 
 sacred to them : that we will purchase the kind wo 
 occupy : that a powerful but rude nation may take 
 advantage of their disunion to come and enslave 
 them, if we do not protect them ; and that, though 
 we possess irresistible power, we are incapable of ex- 
 erting it but under the guidance of justice and hu- 
 manity : that all war and aggressive inroads by one 
 tribe upon the territory of another must cease : that 
 all disputes must be settled by just arbitration, and 
 not by fighting : that we will defend them from the 
 aggressive inroads of all enemies, provided they do 
 not themselves aggress : that we come to cure their 
 diseases, to lead them in the path of prosperity, so 
 that they may increase in numbers and wealth, and 
 become a great nation : that we will teach them the 
 arts of peace, to build cities, to construct large ships, 
 to capture whales, to cultivate the earth with ploughs 
 and horses, so that their fine country may be covered 
 with corn fields, fruit-bearing trees, and flocks and 
 herds, and all their harbours filled with great ships : 
 that should they refuse to receive us, we will go to 
 some other tribes who have sense to know how ad- 
 vantageous our alliance would be, and that the tribes 
 we unite with will soon obtain supremacy over the 
 others. 
 
 Having disembarked, and got the colony and stores 
 under cover, the more pressing occupations of the 
 settlement will immediately commence ; some advan- 
 tageous position must be fortified to make our footing 
 tenable ; comfortable dwellings have to be erected ; 
 ground must be prepared for raising the necessary 
 provisions, and for laying out nurseries of all the va- 
 
168 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 M 
 
 pi.: 
 
 If' 
 
 liiablo fruit-bearing trees of Europe. Stock must 
 also be procured. As many as possible of the natives 
 should then be admitted as apprentices, with pay, and 
 under the most lenient treatment, into the various 
 works of utility to be carried on, and the capabilities 
 of the country for producing exportable commodities 
 as quickly as possible brought out. Saw-mills will 
 be set a-going, dock-yards formed, manufactories of 
 New Zealand flax, and whale-lishing establishments 
 begun. The friendly natives would also require to 
 be received into the colonial army, and the influen- 
 tial chiefs appointed as officers, and regularly paid. 
 Nothing would tend so nmch to procure their favour 
 as this. With the powerful assistance of the natives, 
 men-of-war might soon be economically built and sent 
 
 to India, or home to Britain, loaded with flax and 
 spars. 
 
 III! 
 
( 169 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 BILL FOR COLONIZING NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 The foregoing plan for colonizing' New Zealand, 
 with the exception of several amen< iients, was laid 
 before a member of the present Government by the 
 writer several years ago. A copy of " A bill for the 
 Provisional Government of British settlements in 
 the islands of New Zealand, prepared and brought 
 in by the Hon. Francis Baring and Sir George Sin- 
 clair, of June 1. 1838," has just come to hand (14th 
 June 1838), and a few remarks upon it may be per- 
 tinent. 
 
 In taking a general view of the plan proposed in 
 the bill, the prominent defects are the inadequacy of 
 the ways and means, and the pernicious system of 
 obtaining them. In the peculiar situation of New 
 Zealand, a strong military and naval force is indis- 
 pensable to overawe the natives, the stranger mari- 
 ners, and the convict banditti ; several forts of consi- 
 derable strength are requisite ; a considerable judi- 
 cial establishment is necessary to determine of the 
 claims of emigrants already located, and the disputes 
 and infractions of the law so frequent amongst a ne- 
 cessarily very incongruous population ; the religious 
 and educational establishments will be comparatively 
 p 
 
170 
 
 NEW ZEAF.AND DILL. 
 
 more expensive than in an old community ; the sur- 
 vey department will also be costly (that of New South 
 Wales is L. 12,000, and that of Van Diemen's Land 
 L.6000, per annum) ; and all this is proposed to be 
 effected, in the first place, by borrowed moneys, at a 
 rate of interest so high (most probably from seven 
 to ten per cent. — the bill prudently limits it to ten), 
 that should it even be found practicable to effect 
 loans to the requisite extent during the first ten or 
 twelve years (before which time no great amount of 
 export can reasonably be expected to make a return 
 so as to enable the settlers to pay taxes, the surplus 
 proceeds of the land sales being restricted to carry- 
 ing out labour emigrants, &c.), these loans accumu- 
 lating, must entail so great a debt upon the colony 
 as to blight its nascent prosperity in the bud, and 
 ti e whole affair will turn out little better than the 
 famous South Sea bubble scheme of 1720. 
 
 What will also be found a very great defect, is 
 the want of adequate funds to afford sufficiently 
 strong civilizing educational and medical establish- 
 ments to be resident with the various native tribes. 
 Such establishments, in their tendency to bring the 
 whole native population and country quietly and 
 speedily under the British sovereignty, are in many 
 respects exceedingly important, and might save much 
 blood and treasure, and remove a fertile field of dis- 
 pute with foreign powers. 
 
 An infant colony stands in the same relation to 
 the parent country as an infant child to the mother. 
 The support of the parent is for a time necessary, 
 and, as in nature's provision (suckling at the breast), 
 should be afforded in the most cherishing manner, 
 
NEW ZEALAND BILL. 
 
 171 
 
 y ; the sur- 
 Ncw South 
 nen's Land 
 posed to be 
 oneys, at a 
 from seven 
 3 it to ten), 
 )le to effect 
 first ten or 
 I amount of 
 ke a return 
 the surplus 
 d to carry- 
 ns accumu- 
 tho colony 
 3 bud, and 
 f than the 
 ). 
 
 ,t defect, is 
 sufficiently 
 
 establish- 
 tive tribes. 
 ) bring the 
 uietly and 
 re in many 
 
 save much 
 ield of dis- 
 
 relation to 
 he mother, 
 necessary, 
 he breast), 
 g manner. 
 
 I 
 
 till the child shall have attained vigour to forage for 
 itself. This bill speaks of pursuing a different course, 
 and instead of bestowing nutriment and protection 
 as a parent endowed with natural affection would do, 
 brings the mother country forward as a hard step- 
 dame, or as a pander to the stock-jobber lending 
 out moneys to her child, at such high usance as must 
 enhance the debt in the space of about fourteen 
 years to four times the amount of the sum borrowed, 
 in twenty-eight years to sixteen times, and in fifty- 
 six years to sixty-four times that amount.* 
 
 That our crown colonies have been conducted in- 
 judiciously and extravagantly — that we have done 
 very good things in a very foolish and wasteful 
 manner, few will deny ; but is this a reason why we 
 should throw our infant offspring into the hands of 
 the stock-jobber, to suck out the very heart' s-blood 
 and marrow of its life ? This would indeed be a re- 
 form from mitigated good to unmitigated evil. From 
 the very great importance of New Zealand to Great 
 Britain, as already pointed out, it is as much her 
 interest to give a little primary nursing, as it is the 
 interest of the husbandman to harrow, weed, and 
 
 * The terr y on which the South Australian colony borrowed 
 their first loan increases the debt in this progression. Were 
 Great Britain to give guarantee, the money could be borrowed 
 at less than half this amount of interest, and to the requisite 
 extent. Under this guarantee the debt of the colony incurred 
 at the commencement and running on for twenty-eight years, 
 instead of amounting to sixteen times the sum borrowed, would 
 not even reach four times that sum. Say L.300,000 were bor- 
 rowed : in twenty-eight years it would be enhanced to nearly 
 L.5,000,000, whereas with the guarantee it would reach only 
 L.1,000,000. 
 
172 
 
 NEW ZEALAND BILL. 
 
 1"^ 
 
 
 ili 
 
 t> 
 
 protect the seed ho commits to the earth and lor 
 which he will reap a remuneration, ten, twenty, and 
 a hundred fold. That we find wo have hitherto 
 sown and cultivated our very productive colonial 
 fields in a thriftless and foolish manner, should only 
 be a reason for reforming our husbandry-practice, 
 for doing the thing economically and wisely ; not for 
 running into the mad scheme of getting the stock- 
 jobber to lend his assistance in the cultivation, and 
 who in the end would swallow up everything — seed 
 and all. 
 
 The clause which provides that all slaves belong- 
 ing to the natives shall be free as soon as the natives 
 place themselves under the British Government, is 
 too absolute and uncompromising. This would, in all 
 probability, be the means of preventing the native 
 free population, to any considerable amount, from 
 voluntarily placing themselves and territory under 
 the sovereignty of Great Britain, and thus eventually 
 be a hindrance to the emancipation of the slaves ; 
 whereas were the country once brought under the 
 British authority, it might soon be practicable to 
 effect their liberation. To bring the whole country 
 peaceably under the authority of the British Go- 
 vernment as speedily as possible, is the great object, 
 and every thing which may have a tendency to pre- 
 vent or defer this should be struck out of the bill. 
 A proviso could be made for purchasing the slaves 
 and for rendering them British apprentices, under 
 certain strict limitations, after the British authority 
 was fully established. 
 
 Another deficiency of considerable importance is, 
 that there is no stipulation respecting the introduc- 
 tion of a legislative assembly. 
 
PROCLAMATION. 
 
 173 
 
 Tth and lor 
 iwcnty, and 
 vo hitherto 
 vo colonial 
 should only 
 ry-practice, 
 )ly ; not for 
 f the stock- 
 vation, and 
 hing — seed 
 
 ves belong- 
 the natives 
 ernment, is 
 vould, in all 
 
 the native 
 Lount, from 
 tory under 
 
 eventually 
 the slaves ; 
 
 under the 
 cticable to 
 le country 
 British Go- 
 eat object, 
 ncy to pro- 
 of the bill. 
 ; the slaves 
 ices, under 
 1 authority 
 
 ortance is, 
 3 introduc- 
 
 B 
 
 With these exceptions, the provisions of the bill 
 are generally judicious, and the getting uj) not amiss, 
 passing a little superfluous law-foppery verbage and 
 some anti([uated formalities, which could be spared, 
 There is, however, a material defect, which nmst be 
 remedied. There is yet no absolute claims put forth 
 on the part of Great Britain to the sovereignty of 
 these islands.* The bill, however, regulates that no 
 person whatever shall be allowed to purchase any 
 territory of those islands from the natives excepting 
 those authorized by the British Commissioners. 
 Without a proclamation of an absolute claim to the 
 sovereignty, by the Crown of Great Britain, what 
 right have Parliament to assume these powers ? To 
 prevent others from purchasing is an indirect as- 
 sumption of the sovereignty. How much better it 
 would be to do the thing in a bold straightforward 
 manner. The following proclamation might suffice : 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 Be it known to all men, — Whereas the group of 
 islands, sometime called New Zealand, situated in 
 the South Pacific, were first formally taken posses- 
 sion of in the name of the British Crown by Captain 
 Cook before any other European or other civilized 
 man had set foot thereon : — whereas the inhabitants 
 of these islands are in a state of murderous anarchy 
 and cannibalism, shocking to humanity, and totally 
 incapable of establishing social order among them- 
 
 * The claim by the Governor of New South Wales, never 
 sanctioned or ratified by the British Crown, is not enough in a 
 case of this magnitude and importance. 
 
174 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 solves, of reducing the numoroufl banditti or pirates 
 who shelter in these parts, and of instituting any ge- 
 neral responsible government ; and besides, as they 
 are so fast decreasing in lunnbers, in consequence of 
 this anarchy, and the diseases and otlu • evils inci- 
 dent ujiDn their present unregulated connection with 
 the Europetm race as to threaten ero long their 
 utter extermination : — and whereas a nation such as 
 Great Britain, which, from a superior social organi- 
 zation and the advancement of the arts of life, has 
 attained a very dense population, beyond the means 
 of competent subsistence within its own confined 
 territory, has a natural right to extend itself over 
 the waste or comparatively desolate regions of the 
 earth : and moreover, whereas a very considerable 
 number of British subjects have already located 
 themselves in these islands, subject to every lawless 
 outrage, and that Great Britain has the power more 
 than any other nation to colonize these islands en- 
 tirely, to establish a strong general government, to 
 check the evils under which the natives are fast dis- 
 appearing, and to bring these islands from being the 
 haunts of roaming cannibals and banditti, to a state 
 of high prosperity, where millions of civilized men 
 would procure a plentiful subsistence and lead peace- 
 ful happy lives — these good and sufficient reasons 
 moving us. We, the Queen of Great Britain, 
 Victoria, from this date, do 
 
 take absolute sovereign possession of these regions 
 and group of islands, including the bays and border- 
 ing sea within three leagues of land, under the name 
 of the country VICTORIA, as part and portion of 
 our British Empire. 
 
 it 
 
i or pi rat OS 
 iing any ge- 
 loH, as they 
 
 HCMJUellCO of 
 
 • evils inci- 
 
 lection with 
 
 long their 
 
 ion such as 
 
 iial organ i- 
 
 of life, has 
 
 the means 
 
 n confined 
 
 itself over 
 
 ions of the 
 
 onsiderable 
 
 dy located 
 
 cry lawless 
 
 ^ower more 
 
 islands en- 
 
 rnnient, to 
 
 re fast dis- 
 
 1 being the 
 
 to a state 
 ilized men 
 ead peace- 
 nt reasons 
 
 Britain, 
 do 
 3se regions 
 nd border- 
 ' the name 
 portion of 
 
 NEW ZKALANI) BILL, 
 
 175 
 
 This bill for the colonization of New Zoalund, 
 brought into the Connnons"' House on the Ist Junt;, 
 was thrown out on the second reading on the 21st, 
 by a majority of GO, — 32 voting for, and 02 against; 
 the Ministry giving it their decided opposition. 
 
 The opposition of the Ministry occasioned con- 
 siderable disappointment and irritation to the com- 
 mittee and others connected with the association, as 
 they had expected the Ministry would rather have 
 supported the bill. This seems to have arisen part- 
 ly from a misapprehension respecting the means of 
 obtaining the necessary funds, the Ministry sup- 
 posing, when the committee stated that funds wore 
 in readiness, that the parties themselves were to 
 supply the necessary funds, and not to proceed by 
 loans, as in the case of South Australia. This mis- 
 understanding led to recrimination, and, on the 
 second reading, Sir G. Grey and Lord Howick spoke 
 against the bill. Sir G. Grey stated, " The Colo- 
 nial Minister mentioned, when the bill was first sub- 
 mitted to him, that he objected to dcvplve the 
 power proposed to be conferred by this bill upon 
 persons who were wholly irresponsible, who had no 
 substantial interest in the proceeding, and who 
 might at any time absolve themselves, by their act, 
 from the obligations proposed by the bill. From 
 the first, there had been distinct notice given, that 
 Government would not consent to allow persons, by 
 parliamentary sanction, to exercise sovereign power, 
 and to borrow capital. They would not allow irre- 
 sponsible persons to go into the market, and to bor- 
 row money under a parliamentary sanction." And 
 Lord Howick, in answer to Mr. G. H. Ward, further 
 
170 
 
 NEW ZEALAND BILL. 
 
 I 
 
 explained, as follows : — " That the first view of the 
 case presented no positive grounds of objection to 
 the general principle of the project, but at the same 
 time, it was distinctly impressed upon the deputa- 
 tion, that any measure to which the Government 
 would give its su])port, must pay particular attention 
 to these two important points ; firsts That the sub- 
 jects of the Jiritish Crown should not be inveigled 
 into any scheme by which their lives and property 
 might be wantonly risk(?d ; and, secondly^ That secu- 
 rity should be afforded that full justice should be 
 done to the original inhabitants of the soil. These 
 two points were urged upon the projectors, as abso- 
 lute essentials, before any scheme on the subject 
 could be entertained by the Government. There 
 was one point for which he particularly contended, 
 namely, that the Government should have a decided 
 and effectual control over the conduct of the Com- 
 missioners. Now, he would ask, whether any such 
 control was provided by the present bill ? On the 
 contrary, the Commissioners oncb appointed, their 
 acts would be wholly beyond control, and themselves 
 irremovable \y any thing short of another act of 
 Parliament. He certainly understood, that the 
 parties were prepared at once to produce all the re- 
 quired funds ; and if he had thought, for a moment, 
 that it was to be raised, by way of loan, ho for on^ 
 should have certainly declared that the project was 
 one altogether inadmissible. If the parties to the 
 project had themselves the money to advance, the case 
 would have been very different, from a speculation 
 supported by a borrowed capital, at 10 per cent in- 
 terest."" * * * "It had been said, that Parliament 
 
NEW ZEALAND DILL. 
 
 177 
 
 had already sanctioned the principle of this bill in 
 South Australia, and that it had succeeded there. 
 He doubted, whether they had arrived at such a 
 stage in the history of the South Australian scheme, 
 as to warrant them in fixing a criterion of its suc- 
 cess. He did not believe that the interest of the 
 loan was paid from funds fairly derived from the 
 colony. He questioned rather that in a great 
 measure chey were paid out of new loans. But 
 there existed a great difference between the case of 
 South Australia, and that of New Zealand ; and the 
 difficulties, with which the project, in regard to the 
 latter, would be involved, were infinitely greater than 
 those of the former. There was, in his opinion, 
 neither sufficient protection to the property and 
 lives of the British subjects who are sent out, nor to 
 the aboriginal inhabitants of the soil, afforded by 
 the present bill." 
 
 The objections stated by the Ministry, to com- 
 mencing with a loan, is a valid one. It is a pity 
 that our liritish Ministry have not always had the 
 same repugnance to loans, and for which the coun- 
 try is now paying even more than 10 per cent, (the 
 due correction being made for the changed value of 
 money). The principle of government loans is alto- 
 gether pernicious, and the sooner the world is rid of 
 the system the better, although a loan could never 
 have been taken for a more laudable purpose.* 
 
 * Govcrnmont loans liave seldom been resorted to, bnt in 
 the case of war. They enable botli jjurties, after exi)ending 
 their own available means on the quarrel, to exjjend also the 
 hoarded industry of all around, thus wastinp^ accumulated pro- 
 perty, — depriving the world of the means of present comfort 
 
178 
 
 NEW ZEALAND BILL. 
 
 The difficulties and intricacies which would at- 
 tend the home-directory scheme of the association, 
 applied to such an object as the colonization of New 
 Zealand, are so great, as render it inadmissible. 
 That scheme, as already stated, would never have 
 been thought of, as applicable to New Zealand, pri- 
 marily. It was borrowed from that of South Aus- 
 tralia, — a very simple affair, when compared with 
 the colonization of New Zealand. The association 
 cannot be blamed, but in so far as having taken up 
 (their means considered) an impracticable, at least 
 unfeasible project. The error lay in the mag- 
 nitude and difficulty of the enterprise, — the provi- 
 sions of the bill were necessarily defective, and inad- 
 missible, and Government finding, upon more ma- 
 ture consideration, that difficulties only increased, 
 were perhaps warranted in taking the decided part 
 against it, which they took. The duty of colonizing 
 New Zealand now devolves upon them. 
 
 A home-directory, or provisional commission, en- 
 tirely distinct from the government of the empire, 
 
 and of future improvement, and rendering the posterity of the 
 parties slaves to the usurious money-lender, or rather, as things 
 are regulated, rendering the industrious classes slaves to the 
 non-industrious. The Bonapartean system of levying contribu- 
 tions was much less objectionable. It did not approach like the 
 stealthy consumption, with fever excitement, and the flattering 
 glow upon the cheek, nor interfere with the industry of pos- 
 terity. The funding system is in effect a new species of sla- 
 very, cunningly devised, and dexterously brought into opera- 
 tion, under the mask of liberty. Loans, by the joint-stock com- 
 panies, are of a very diflFerent character, as the borrowers are 
 themselves accountable, and they cannot, as in the case of Go- 
 vernment functionaries, throw the burden of interest payments 
 upon others, while they make theii* own uses of the principle. 
 
NEW ZEALAND BILL. 
 
 170 
 
 would at- 
 ;8sociation, 
 Ion of New 
 admissible, 
 aever have 
 iland, pri- 
 )outh Aus- 
 )ared with 
 association 
 r taken up 
 le, at least 
 the mag- 
 -the provi- 
 , and inad- 
 more ma- 
 increased, 
 cided part 
 ' colonizing 
 
 lission, en- 
 [le empire, 
 
 terity of the 
 ler, as things 
 slaves to the 
 ng contribu- 
 oach like the 
 he flattering 
 ustry of pos- 
 ecies of sla- 
 into opera- 
 t-stock com- 
 )rrowers are 
 ; case of Go- 
 ;st payments 
 ! principle. 
 
 unpaid, irresponsible, with great power, and exten- 
 sive patronage, could only find excuse in the vast ex- 
 tent of business of our Colonial Government, from 
 necessity producing occasional neglect or delay, or 
 causing highly important powers and duties to de- 
 volve upon inferior officers of this department, who 
 may not be known to have the knowledge, abilities, 
 or character which commissioners such as those pro- 
 posed for the New Zealand colony would have. Yet 
 the responsibiHty of the superiors is an useful check, 
 and commissioners could be nominated by Govern- 
 ment, for whom it would be responsible. To al- 
 low any set of irresponsible men to have the manage- 
 ment of a funded debt, or to raise loans, would be 
 improper. They would have it in their power to 
 purchase or sell, or get their friends to do so, and 
 regulate the financial enactments in relation to this, 
 and not to the interests of the colony. The power 
 to determine the extent of taxation, — to decide be- 
 twixt the interest of the fundholder a«id the colo- 
 nists, would be a dangerous and invidious power, 
 and the possessors, in all probability would achieve 
 the ill-will of both. To put so important a colony, 
 and so commanding a naval station, in a proper state 
 of defence during peace (a precaution highly neces- 
 sary) would also be attended with much complica- 
 tion and perplexity of accounts. The chance is, 
 that debates and contentions would have arisen be- 
 twixt the Government and the New Zealand com- 
 missioners respecting the manner of doing this, and 
 the proportion of tlie expense to be borne by the 
 empire, and by the colony, which would have pre- 
 vented the doing of the thing altogether, or caused 
 
180 
 
 NEW ZEALAND BILL. 
 
 .1 
 
 i5 
 
 '*-i 
 
 it to be done in a very inefficient manner. And, in 
 the event of war, a provisional government, distinct 
 from the government of the empire, would be out of 
 the question. 
 
 The indubitable fact is, that New Zealand, the Key 
 of the Pacific, is of paramount importance, politically 
 and commercially, to Britain, — more so than any other 
 colony or dependency in the world ; that the colonization 
 will be attended with considerable difficulties ; that 
 delay only increases these difficulties ; that the thing 
 must be done ; that to do it properly will require a 
 martial and moral force, greater than any provisional 
 commissioners would supply ; — and that it belongs 
 to Government alone to execute the great work. 
 
( 181 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 A Consideration of the Effects of a ^'' sufficient " or 
 high Government price of fresh Land^ upon the 
 Prosperity of new Settlements^ and the Physical, 
 Morale and Social Condition of Colonists^ with an 
 Account of the Practice in South Australia. 
 
 Previous to concluding this volume, it may not be 
 improper to bestow a little attention upon an opinion 
 which has of late been prevalent, regarding the be- 
 neficial influence of a considerable price on new co- 
 lonial lands, more especially as its correctness seems 
 to be assumed by those connected with the New Zea- 
 land association, and the South Australian colony, 
 and admitted by at least a portion of the Ministry, 
 and thus may seriously afibct our colonial system. 
 
 The supposed merits of this new idea, " the suffi- 
 cient price," will be understood by the following ex- 
 planations by Lord Glenelg. " It is possible by fix- 
 ing the price of fresh land so high as to place it 
 above the reach of the poorest class, to keep the 
 labour market in its most prosperous state from the 
 beginning. This precaution, by insuring a supply of 
 labourers, at the same time that it increases the 
 
182 
 
 THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 Jv 
 
 i|i 
 
 M. 
 
 value of land, makes it more profitable to cultivate 
 old land well than to purchase new. The natural 
 tendency of the population to spread over the sur- 
 face of the country, each man settling where he may, 
 or roving from place to place in pursuit of virgin 
 soil, is thus impeded. The territory expanding only 
 with the pressure of population, is commensurate 
 with the actual wants of the entire community. 
 Society being thus kept together, is more open to 
 civilizing influences, more directly under the control 
 of Government, more full of the activity which is in- 
 spired by common wants, and the strength which is 
 derived from the division of labour, and altogether 
 is in a sounder state, morally, politically, and econo- 
 mically, than if left to pursue its natural course." 
 
 This supply of the labour market, kept up by " a 
 sufficient price" upon new land, obliging people 
 without the requisite capital to work as helps or 
 servants, and thus affording combinable labour, is, 
 according to Mr Wakefield (the originator of the 
 sufficient-price idea), to banish slavery altogether, 
 by making slave-labour a loss (plenty of superior 
 hired labour being made attainable), and to render 
 the community with or without a continued immi- 
 gration, " more prosperous than any that has hitherto 
 existed in any part of the world." Of such import- 
 ance is this land-restriction, servant-producing scheme 
 held, that the direction of the proceeds of the land 
 sales to the carrying out of emigrants, is regarded 
 as a minor consideration. The " sufficient price " 
 would (they assert) be attended with highly bene- 
 ficial effects, " although the proceeds were to be 
 thrown into the sea." 
 
THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 183 
 
 cultivate 
 e natural 
 • the sur- 
 e he may, 
 
 of virgin 
 iding only 
 nensurate 
 unmunity. 
 e open to 
 he control 
 hich is in- 
 li which is 
 altogether 
 md econo- 
 
 50urse. 
 
 1? 
 
 a 
 
 up by 
 ng people 
 helps or 
 labour, is, 
 or of the 
 altogether, 
 superior 
 to render 
 ed immi- 
 s hitherto 
 ih import- 
 ig scheme 
 the land 
 regarded 
 t price 
 hly bene- 
 ire to be 
 
 Mr Wakefield's idea is ingenious and striking, 
 and this restrictive principle, in some cases, and to 
 a certain extent of price, may work well ; at least 
 may be advantageous in increasing production. In 
 as far as the proceeds of the sale of new lands are 
 expended in carrying out labourers, and in forming 
 roads and other improvements of communication, 
 provided the price be not so high as exclude small 
 working capitalists, the plan is good. The necessity 
 of a supply of combinable labour in new colonies is 
 evident, especially at the commencement, as nmny 
 public works must be carried on ; but as things ad- 
 vance, that this supply will be required to the amount 
 generally estimated in this country, or that it is judi- 
 cious or even practicable to obtain this supply, in the 
 way proposed by the sufficient price, is not so evident. 
 The " sufficient price " is a term of rather difficult 
 apprehension ; but taking it, as stated by Mr Wake- 
 field, in the character of so high a price as renders 
 slave labour a loss, we have something to lay hold 
 of; and to this view of the " sufficient price," or even 
 to such a price as may act as a barrier to the spread 
 of the population over the country, and produce that 
 condition of agricultural society, master and servants, 
 such a price as they seem to contemplate, I extend 
 my observations. 
 
 Before entering upon the consideration of the 
 " sufficient price " scheme, it may, however, be as 
 well to notice a prevalent opinion connected with it, 
 which has been rather more indebted to poetical 
 figure than to reason for its popularity. 
 
 Sir "Henry Steuart's discovery of moving about 
 grown trees, " by which a desert can be instantly 
 

 
 184 
 
 THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 transformed into an Eden,"* has been again and 
 again introduced by the propagandists of this scheme, 
 as illustrating the manner a portion of society, em- 
 bracing all classes and conditions as they stand in 
 this densely peopled country, could be transported, 
 or rather transplanted, to a new land without injury 
 or derangement. But our poetical reasoners have 
 failed in applying the simile to its full extent ; grown 
 trees can only be transported successfully at an ex- 
 pense so great as" to render them, not objects of uti- 
 lity, but merely the idle-pet freaks of those who 
 possess ampler means than mind to apply these 
 means to useful purposes. In like manner could the 
 removal of a section of society be effected only at a 
 cost immeasurably disproportioned to the colonial 
 value of the section. Besides, they have entirely 
 omitted Sir Henry''s prerequisites — circumstantial 
 adaptation. A section of close forest, with all its 
 longitude of fragile spray-adornment, removed from 
 its warm protected site to the bare exposed side of 
 a mountain, would be torn up by the roots, or re- 
 duced to splintered havoc, by the first storm, or be 
 withered by the scorching drought from the thinness 
 of the skin, and from the inadequate supply of mois- 
 ture from the roots — the roots being disproportioned 
 in this locality to the great extension of top. I leave 
 the fanciful to pursue the parallel. 
 
 Although it is neither desirable nor economical to 
 remove sections of society as they stand in this old, 
 densely peopled country, many of the members of 
 which are totally destitute of the necessary stamina 
 and independent tone of mind, and although work- 
 
 * See Quarterly Review, article by Sir "Walter Scott. 
 
THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 185 
 
 ing small capitalists, are, by their habits and pre- 
 vious occupations, the best suited for new settlers ; 
 yet is the emigration of the aristocratic class, at 
 least the high-spirited portion of them, desirable. 
 Many of these are the descendants of men who have 
 gradually emerged from the mass of the community 
 by some superiority ;* and such as have not a suffi- 
 cient revenue, precluded at home, by the conventional 
 rules of society, from engaging in industrial em- 
 ployments, have not the means of supporting a family. 
 They see the degradation to which the industrial 
 classes are subjected in this country. They are too 
 proud to drudge in another man''8 field and be his 
 election serf. State places and pensions, from pre- 
 sent prospects, are not likely to be a very abundant 
 crop for the future. The army and navy (active ser- 
 mce) are not reproductive employments, at least as 
 things have been regulated hitherto ; and should 
 they go to India, the stamina of the race sustains 
 certain injury. Thus it is that a fine body of our 
 fellow subjects, partly from pride and the influence 
 of factitious wants and prejudices (true Malthusian 
 checks), partly from honourable independent feeling, 
 are totally lost to the empire, as well as industrial 
 agents as reproducers. Emigration to a temperate 
 healthy country like New Zealand is their only judi- 
 cious resource, and a sprinkling of this class, should 
 they leave their besetting sins behind, might be use- 
 ful in diffusing the elegancies of social intercourse. 
 
 * World-going * superiority ;' not unfrequently a consequence 
 of superior selfishness as well as of superior energy and fore- 
 thought. Superiority in intellectual and moral perception in 
 tidelicacy of sentiment, in benevolence and humanity, is a dis 
 net affair, and often a bar to worldly advancement. 
 
I8G 
 
 THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 
 ..* 
 
 
 Mi 
 
 SK 
 
 It would bo rofroshing — it would elevate our opi- 
 nion of the British aristocracy, to see a considerable 
 number of this class have the moral courage to 
 choose Spartan exertion to Persian indulgence ; 
 burst their fetters asunder, and start forward to 
 act a manly part as emigrants to New Zealand. I 
 cannot conceive any feeling more delightful than the 
 heart-bound of joy of the bird when it breaks from the 
 mortal fascinations of the serpent, — than what one 
 of this class must experience when he breaks clear 
 of those destructive, conventional, ideal agencies, by 
 which he has been spell-bound, and embarks to be- 
 come an independent settler in a new country. He 
 ascends to the patriarchal rank ; the toils and the 
 privations of what are called comforts are felt only 
 to be despised. He commences a life of utility. The 
 improved country around him is doubly his own — 
 he has purchased it from nature by his labour. He 
 enjoys the proud feeling that he subsists by his own 
 honourable exertion. He looks forward to a gradual 
 but certain improvement of condition, and that his 
 family after him, without being indebted to patron 
 or pension-list, will have a competency of their own, 
 and be engaged in the most healthy, agreeable, and 
 independent occupations. But to revert to the con- 
 sideration of the " sufficient price" scheme. 
 
 In laying the foundations of an empire, in plan- 
 ning the frame-work of a new society, we should al- 
 low no old world rubbish to enter into the composi- 
 tion of the modern structure.* Things must not be 
 
 • It is to be hoped that the accumulated rubbish of centuries, 
 constituting our English law, especially that relating to land- 
 tenures, will not be sent out. This is even very desirable in an 
 
 r I^ 
 
THE KCONOMV OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 187 
 
 made subsoniont to the luxurious existonco of a par- 
 ticular class, a state alike pernicious to themselves 
 and injurious to others. Even the production of the 
 greatest wealth must bo considered second to the 
 production of onan — his well-being, morally and phy- 
 sically, and his progression to a superior nature. 
 
 Hitherto legislation, the work of individuals or 
 bodies of a particular class, has been selfishly and 
 ignorantly conducted in reference to the advantage 
 of that class who do not form the tithe of humanity. 
 By the proposed regulations for colonization, the 
 same system, the rendering the many subservient to 
 the luxurious existence of the few, maybe aimed at, — 
 rather indirectly — half unconsciously under cover 
 of procuring the necessary combinable labour by the 
 " sufficient price." Of the utility of this plan wo 
 must therefore judge the more guardedly, as we are 
 disposed to be biassed by its seeming conveniency to 
 the leading class, by the advantage it would afford 
 us of a means of procuring an earthly paradise with- 
 out personal exertion, — at the cost of the labour of 
 others ; forgetting that we, or at least our descend- 
 ants, in a very few generations, thus situated, would 
 sink victims to the very luxury we so much covet. 
 In the mild delicious climate of North New Zealand, 
 luxury is much more to be dreaded than in the cold 
 bracing climate of the North of Europe, and is still 
 more dangerous, as what is termed the useful arts 
 and civilization become more advanced. 
 
 The causes of the rise and decline of empires, and 
 
 economic point of view. A vessel as large as the Great West- 
 ern would not suffice to carry one-half of the rubbish itself, and 
 the tonnage of its pestilent tail it is impossible to estimate. 
 
188 
 
 THE ECONOMY OP COLONIZATION. 
 
 
 
 the sapping advances of luxury, have not mot with 
 tho attention which the importance of the subject 
 demands. It is chiefly upon the non-o{)erativo classes 
 that luxury has exerted an influence to paralyze na- 
 tional energy. The manual-labour classes are not 
 materially affc'cted, but in so far as being rendered 
 proportionally more of a city and in-door working 
 population, and having their varied powers curtailed 
 by high division of labour ; and under the American 
 system of the same individual being property-holder 
 and labourer, and well educated, no decline is to be 
 expected, but a steady progressive rise. As the de- 
 cline of national energy has been chiefly owing to 
 the effeminacy of the non-operative classes, and not 
 a little to the enervating disjunction of mental and 
 physical labour, every thing tending to regulate this 
 in a new colony becomes of the highest importance.* 
 A great mistake is prevalent regarding the utility 
 of combined labour in raising rural produce in 
 temperate climates from seeing the practice of this 
 country (a consequence of high-rented land, cheap 
 labour, and abundant capital), and from observing 
 the necessity of combined labour in our manufac- 
 tories, and also in the raising of some tropical pro- 
 ducts, in both of which the assistance of expensive ma- 
 chinery is needed, and where very extensive establish- 
 
 * ITow tliis can best be guarded against in any country hy 
 legislative enactments, is indeed the great problem. Certainly 
 not by fixing down the human mind in superstition-chains, and 
 should it at all be exercised, breaking it to move in a circum- 
 scribed circle, like a horse in the manege-lounge. The cultiva- 
 tion of the human species in reference to a capacity of modifi- 
 cation and progression to a superior nature is the leading ques- 
 tion in modern philosophy. — See Appendix, Note H. 
 
THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 180 
 
 ments, aro tho most oconoinical. Tlio oxamplo of 
 Now Soutli NValos, whoro tho Hystoin of master ami 
 servants, or rather master and shivoH, has, from tho 
 nature of tho establishment (a penal colony), been 
 necessarily adopted, seems also to have led to the 
 opinion, that the industry of tho other settlements 
 of Australia and New Zealand, though non-penal, 
 could 1)0 regulated most economically and advan- 
 tageously under the same division of labour, master 
 and servants. It ought, however, to bo kept in 
 mind, that, in the non-slavo portion of America (the 
 only case in point), this division is at least not in 
 usual practice, and that these States are progressing 
 faster in population and wealth than any others have 
 done within the records of history. 
 
 Tho productiveness of combined agricultural la- 
 bour in Britain being very much greater than of tho 
 uncombincd in France and Ireland, is not a case in 
 point, as it bears relation only to old densely j)eo- 
 pled countries, and to a state of extreme division of 
 land. The very minute division in France and Ire- 
 land, renders it impossible to work the ground cheap- 
 ly in proportion to the produce, very few of the divi- 
 sions being of the extent to give constant employ- 
 ment to a family^ assisted by sufficient bestial and 
 implements. The extent of farm cannot support a 
 plough-team, and in consequence, much of the labour 
 is to be performed by the spade, — a very unproduc- 
 tive disposal of labour. Besides, great part of their 
 time must necessarily be idle or broken on very mi- 
 nute tasks. In new countries there is always suffi- 
 cient scope for the full labour of a family, and a 
 plough-team is generally within their compass. 
 
190 
 
 THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 ,:\ 
 
 II |i 
 
 In new settlements, the same person being owner 
 of property, master and workman, he derives a dou- 
 ble, or rather a triple income, — the profits of capi- 
 tal, the profits of superintendence, and the profits of 
 labour ; and, in consequence, is not constrained to the 
 same severity of bodily labour as the European ope- 
 rative, who, for the most part, is only in the receipt 
 of the profits of labour ; he enjoys the means of a 
 fuller subsistence than the European, his children are 
 more numerous and healthier, while, at the same time, 
 a better balance of the human powers, mental and 
 corporeal, is kept up, and the man is a nobler being. 
 The practical shrewdness of the American Yankee 
 is the natural consequence of this. As soldier, sailor, 
 statesman, economist, he bears the palm away. 
 This effect is not limited to the individual. Capa- 
 city is transmissive, as the general rule, by descent, 
 it goes on increasing from generation to generation, 
 and becomes characteristic of race. The extent to 
 which it may progress it is impossible to estimate. 
 
 In new countries, it is not altogether from an in- 
 ordinate desire to be their own masters, or to be 
 land-owners, that combined, hired labour is not ge- 
 nerally in use, and that the cultivation of land is 
 chiefly conducted by working families. It is partly 
 because the hired labour, necessarily of an inferior 
 character, and not much under the control of the 
 master, from a variety of causes, is not so produc- 
 tively employed in raising grain or stock, as when 
 the master, or rather owner, works to himself. In 
 the case of agricultural labour, the same physical 
 impulse or force, being better directed by the stronger 
 mental force of the principle, will do more execution, 
 
 \m 
 
THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 101 
 
 ng owner 
 es a clou- 
 
 of capi- 
 profits of 
 ed to the 
 pean ope- 
 e receipt 
 >ans of a 
 Idren are 
 ime time, 
 Bntal and 
 ler being. 
 I Yankee 
 er, sailor, 
 Im away. 
 1. Capa- 
 ' descent, 
 sneration, 
 extent to 
 stimate. 
 om an in- 
 
 or to be 
 IS not ge- 
 
 ■ land is 
 
 is partly 
 inferior 
 
 d1 of the 
 produc- 
 as when 
 
 iself. In 
 physical 
 stronger 
 
 xecution, 
 
 and, in the case of stock, the eye and hand of the 
 owner will be still more efficient when competing 
 with hired attention. It is because the produce of 
 hired labour in new countries will not pay the cost 
 of the labour, that it is not commonly employed. It 
 i"^'. Iriven from the field by people working on their 
 own account. Inasmuch as free hired labour is 
 niore effective than slave labour, so much, and even 
 more so, is labour to self more effective than hired 
 labour.* In the case of raising sugar, and other 
 products where much machinery is required, and 
 where, to be profitable, things must be conducted on 
 a large scale ; of course, combined labour must be 
 had, and will be forthcoming either by co-operativo 
 or by hired labour, without especial laws to monopo- 
 lize land to one class, and thus compel people, who 
 have not a sufficient amount of capital, to serve this 
 class at a minimum remuneration of labour. 
 
 Further, it is perfectly clear that paying a " suf- 
 ficient price "''* for new land, or any price beyond a 
 merely nominal one, as formally legalizing the pos- 
 sessive right, is of itself a positive evil ; not only ex- 
 hausting the means of the settler, but also acting as 
 a barrier to prevent working small capitalists from 
 embarking in the undertaking who are by far the 
 most useful class of emigrants for temperate climates, 
 where the work is to be done by British labour, — 
 combining hardihood, forethought, industry, economy, 
 
 * Wherever piece-hired la])our can be introduced, with pro- 
 per regard to quality of work, it ought to be adopted. It is 
 nearly one-third more efficient than tiniohired hibour : — it is 
 besides one step removed from servitude, and has not the same 
 lowering effect upon the character of the race. 
 
192 
 
 THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 'YJ 
 
 WfP' 
 
 and professional skill. It would also be a great 
 means of preventing the better sort of labourers — 
 such as could make out to subsist with some degree 
 of comfort at home, from volunteering to be carried 
 out, and those who did volunteer would be chiefly 
 the idle, the unsteady, and the bad workman, who 
 could not, or would not, procure a livelihood here. 
 
 Any considerable price, — such a price as they ap- 
 pear to contemplate, — such a price as renders slave 
 labour a loss — would merely be an obstruction to 
 working the vast and productive mine, virgin land, 
 and, in practice, will be found totally incompatible 
 with the successful and rapid progress of coloniza- 
 tion. * 
 
 In all cases where the produce is obtained without 
 much land cultivation, as wool, timber, New Zealand 
 flax, &;c., a considerable price upon new land will 
 act more especially as a great check upon the pro- 
 gress of a colony, and the increase of its wealth. Had 
 the New South Wales stock-owners been obliged to 
 purchase at the " sufficient price " all the country 
 they pasture with their flocks, the export of wool 
 would not now equal the one-half what it is. It will 
 generally be found that people on the spot, when left 
 to themselves in actual practice, accommodate mat- 
 ters to circumstances better than though obliged to 
 follow strictly the directions of home economists. 
 The wide-scattered five-mile distant farms of the 
 
 * In regard to the colony of South Australia, it surely would 
 be absurd to expect capitalists to resort thither to purchase a 
 comparatively unproductive soil at one, two, or more pounds per 
 acre, when they could obtain land in New South Wales and 
 the United States at one-fourth the price. 
 
THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 19e3 
 
 Dutch Boors at the Cape were, and still are, perhaps 
 the best adapted to the condition of that arid and 
 poor country, and the highW successful New South 
 Wales flock-owners have had an almost unlimited 
 grazing country to roam over without cost. It is 
 also worthy of remark that the South Australian 
 colony is in effect adopting (though marring it not 
 a little by an attempt to adhere to the " sufficient 
 price "") the plan of the Cape, which has been so 
 much abused, — leaving extensive pasturages to be held 
 at almost a nominal rent, between the small sold lots. 
 Lord Glenelg, in adducing reasons why population 
 should be condensed by a " sufficient price," forgets 
 that other countries are totally different from Bri- 
 tain, or even any part of Europe, in climate and 
 adaptation for production. 
 
 It would, perhaps, be judicious that South Africa 
 and New Holland never were peopled much beyond 
 a nomadic population, — at least, that the greater part 
 of their support should continue to be derived from 
 their herds, as droughts occur periodically, which 
 continue for several years, entirely destroying the 
 grain crop and grass in the more arid part of the 
 country, and rendering it necessary to remove the 
 herds to the hills and cooler regions. A dense po- 
 pulation, supported by agriculture, under these visi- 
 tations, would be annihilated, while a pastoral, by 
 submitting to sacrifice a portion of their herds for 
 subsistence, is able to preserve as much of a remain- 
 der through these disastrous times, as will soon 
 increase to a sufficiency when a course of good sea- 
 sons again come round. 
 
 PeeFs Swan River affair is not a case in point 
 
 R 
 
104 
 
 THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 
 
 against a low price. His attempted colony failed, 
 we may say, before it was begun — before any circum- 
 stance-suited regulations had time to dovelope. The 
 Swan River affair, not properly estimated, is as much 
 calculated to mislead as to guide aright. The failure 
 arose from an attempt at combined labour on a great 
 scale, without the power of enforcing obedience. 
 Had PeeFs expedition, instead of a few great masters 
 and many servants, consisted principally of working 
 small capitalists, trusting to their own and their 
 family\s industry, the issue would have been very 
 different. The failures and inferior success of the 
 earlier American colonists did not arise from the 
 want of combinable labour, and dispersion, but from 
 various other circumstances of which the character 
 of the emigrants themselves was not the least : — 
 most of them idle, profligate wanderers, they partook 
 more of the nature of buccaneers than of steady in- 
 dustrious settlers. 
 
 In new settlements, where the population is com- 
 paratively scanty and scattered, it is very difficult to 
 carry regulations into effect, which are contrary to 
 the real or supposed interests of a considerable por- 
 tion of the community. Were the price of unoccu- 
 pied land so high, as to prevent labourers from be- 
 coming landholders, should they so incline, it would 
 cause so great discontent, as prove very injurious 
 to the progress of the colony, if it did not ruin it 
 altogether; and it would be impossible to prevent 
 sgimttimj to a very great extent, as it is often more 
 pi'ofitable to keep constantly on the move, not only 
 with flocks, but even in agriculture, — bringing in 
 virgin-land, and cropping it till the first flush of 
 
THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 105 
 
 lony failed, 
 my circum- 
 )lopo. Tho 
 , is as much 
 The failure 
 r on a great 
 obedience, 
 jat masters 
 of working 
 and their 
 been very 
 icess of the 
 3 from the 
 n, but from 
 e character 
 le least : — 
 hey partook 
 f steady in- 
 
 ion is com- 
 
 difficult to 
 
 contrary to 
 
 erable por- 
 
 of unoccu- 
 
 s from be- 
 
 le, it would 
 
 y injurious 
 
 not ruin it 
 
 to prevent 
 
 often more 
 
 e, not only 
 
 wringing in 
 
 st flush of 
 
 productiveness is exhausted, and nuinbcrloss weeds 
 generated, and then again having recourse to a new 
 portion. The natives of New Zealand follow this 
 course. And, in the case of the colonization of New 
 Zealand, were the price of land to be high, it would 
 be next to impossible to prevent emigrants, who did 
 not possess sufficient capital to purchase from the 
 Crown, from straying among the natives, and pro- 
 curing land from them direct. It would thus act as 
 a principle of dispersion, — as a complete barrier to 
 the regular progress of the colony, the establish- 
 ment of order throughout the country, and the judi- 
 cious treatment of the native population ; and if 
 persisted in, would, in all probability, ruin the un- 
 dertaking. 
 
 New Zealand, from the nature of its geographical 
 features, — an insular and mountainous region, with 
 some peculiarly desirable localities for commerce 
 and agriculture, does not present the same entice- 
 ment to wide dispersion (should a high government 
 price of land not induce squatting) as the extended 
 plains and wide undulating country of North Ame- 
 rica and New Holland, while, at the same time, a 
 considerable supply of combinable labour will be 
 found in the native population. Both of these tend 
 to render the " sufficient," or high price, less neces- 
 sary in New Zealand, than it may possibly be in 
 some other places. What is required, is some means 
 to prevent too large districts from being engrossed 
 by individuals on speculation, and held unproductive, 
 injuring the neighbouring districts, and retarding 
 the general progress of improvement. This would 
 
lOi] 
 
 THE ECONOMY OP COLONIZATION. 
 
 ■r1 
 
 HI 
 
 ri,"- , 
 
 be most effectually provided against by a low an- 
 nual land-tax per acre. 
 
 A " sufficient" high price, — sufficient to produce 
 combinablo labour to the extent contemplated, must 
 act by lowering the condition of the labour-popu- 
 lation to a state nearly parallel to what exists in old 
 highly peopled countries. Like every" other restric- 
 tion, it will act as a preventive of labour and capital 
 being laid out to the best advantage, — restricting 
 the use of that great and only advantage possessed 
 by new countries, a plentiful supply of rich virgin 
 soil for raising raw produce. To adopt the " suffi- 
 cient price" plan to the extent proposed, is merely 
 to forego the very advantage which renders a new 
 country so desirable to industrious men. 
 
 Mr Wakefield adduces the value of a slave in the 
 United States being so high (about L.lOO), as proof 
 that the Government price of 5s. 7d. per acre is too 
 low, and states, that under a " sufficient price " of 
 land, the value of a slave would be nothing, as 
 plenty of hired labour would be had. What would 
 this be, but, by restriction, to bring the condition of 
 the operative free population, as low as that of a 
 slave 1 The price of a slave is thus high, because 
 the condition of a freeman is so prosperous,- -the 
 purchase of a slave, at this high price, and his sup- 
 port, balancing what a free operative can procure 
 for support alone, in performing only the amount of 
 work done by a slave. The " sufficient price" 
 would also have a tendency to engender habits of in- 
 dolence in the landholder, encourage an overbearing 
 deportme: i towards i;he operatives, and render ma- 
 
THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 197 
 
 nual labour disreputable. Besides, should this com- 
 binable labour principle be carried so far by restric- 
 tions on the obtaining of land, as to render slaves 
 without value, a colony in a temperate climate would 
 be useless to Britain, — it would manufacture to it- 
 self. 
 
 No doubt, in a densely peopled country, where, 
 from a superabundance of labour in the nuirket, the 
 workmen are much under the control of the masters, 
 more agricultural work will be performed, and more 
 spare saleable produce be obtained, when one com- 
 paratively intelligent master directs a number of 
 mere workmen, than in the case of family-conducted 
 farms. The economy of this labour arrangement is 
 manifest in the grain-producing parts of Scotland 
 and England, where farm-work is more advanta- 
 geously conducted in regard to productiveness, and 
 to distribution and expenditure of labour, than, per- 
 haps, in any other part of the world. But even, were 
 this labour arrangement equally economical in new 
 countries, which it is not, would this state of things 
 be desirable — that nine-tenths of the agricultural po- 
 pulation should be retained as mere labour-drudges ; 
 their rational and moral-perceptive powers extremely 
 limited, without any spark of intellectuality, which 
 a cultivated mind can have fellow feeling with, while 
 the master himself is only cultivated in agricultural 
 knowledge and worldly selfishness, with few other 
 aspirations than merely to take the most labour out 
 of his servants, and most grain from off his rented 
 fields, both being mere slaves to a landlord class. 
 
 It surely is not this state of society that we can 
 
198 
 
 THE ECONOMY OP COLONIZATION. 
 
 Wsn 
 
 desiro to sec implanted in New Zealand — that the 
 many should be slaves to labour, and the few slaves 
 to luxury ? It is not how most labour can be ac- 
 complished by fewest workmen (however degraded 
 drudges these may be rendered), that we wish to as- 
 certain, and direct our legislative measures to effect ; 
 but how an independent, high-spirited, high-prin- 
 cipled, intellectual, rational community can best be 
 produced — a community having their muscular ener- 
 gies developed by moderate labour, their mental 
 energies developed by education, social intercourse, 
 and self-direction. But the truth is, what they con- 
 template can never be effected by legislative enact- 
 ments, at least such a state of things in respect to 
 combinablo labour as exists in the mother country, 
 cannot be brought about in new colonies by any 
 thing short of actual slavery. What Lord Glenelg 
 states to be possible, is morally impossible — " The 
 natural tendency of the population to spread," in an 
 extensive unpeopled country, which he says may be 
 prevented, cannot be prevented, and to persist in at- 
 tempting it by a high (sufficient) price scheme, will 
 merely interfere with the healthy colonization, and 
 damage the enterprize. 
 
 Although the utility and even practicability of the 
 " sufficient price," to the extent of its proposed ap- 
 plication, be neither deducible by theoretic argu- 
 ment nor supported by experiment or facts, and the 
 working of the scheme impossible, should the price 
 far exceed the government price of land of equal 
 quality in the United States and the other colonies, 
 yet a fixed price, not too high — say from 5s. to 10s. 
 
THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 190 
 
 per acre, will, no doubt, bo found advantageous in se- 
 veral ways ; to a certain extent, perhaps, in obtaining 
 a certain amount of conibinable labour as a preven- 
 tion of improper grants and partialities in the allot- 
 ments by the Government, as a check upon largo 
 tracts of land being taken and retained in a state of 
 unproductiveness (this last could best be prevented 
 by alow land-tax) ; but it is more particularly as a 
 means of producing funds for carrying out labouring 
 emigrants that a price upon new land is so desirable. 
 It affords a beautiful provision for this ; and the 
 amount of price ought to be regulated chiefly in re- 
 gard to producing an adequate fund — sufficiently low^ 
 as if possible to command the desired amount of sales^ 
 and encourage the emigration of the most useful class of 
 colotiists, working small capitalists, The prosperity 
 of the colony will very much depend upon a con- 
 siderable portion of the emigrants being of this 
 class. 
 
 It would not, however, be judicious to expend the 
 whole of the proceeds of the sale of new lands in 
 carrying out emigrant-labourers ; a part should be 
 allotted to supporting the emigrants after their arri- 
 val in the new country, and should be employed in 
 paying their labour in road-making and other work» 
 of general improvement. It is, therefore, not to be 
 expected that enough will be obtained from the sale 
 of colonial lands to carry out the whole of the super- 
 abundant population of the mother country, but it 
 is to be hoped that the home legislature will see the 
 utility of appropriating a portion, or the whole of 
 the poor-rates to make up the deficit to this rational 
 
200 
 
 THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 
 plan of relieving and preventing poverty. Many of 
 those so carried out will he disposed to labour for 
 hire or to carry on their particular trades, should 
 that hire or trade-gain exceed what they could ob- 
 tain by cultivating themselves. This is the natural 
 and legitimate principle of procuring combined la- 
 bour. All others partake of the quality of slavery, 
 and if carri(3d to any extent, will not be submitted 
 to by free enlightened Britons. 
 
 The Directors of the South Australian colony 
 have adopted a plan, which, while it actually carries 
 into practice a very low price of land, still nominally 
 adheres to the sufficient price, or rather high re- 
 strictive price. The first settlers on a territory of 
 about l,0(/0,000 acres, have purchased only a small 
 frontage oi central lot, each about 134 acres in ex- 
 tent, at 12s. per acre, and for each lot of this size 
 they have received two square miles (1280 acres) oi* 
 adjacent pasturage, at an annual rent of 10s. per 
 square mile (less than one farthing per acre), and af- 
 i jf settlers were to pay one pound or two pounds 
 (the parliamentary act does not permit a less price 
 per acre) for each frontage lot of eighty acres, and 
 for each lot to receive two square miles of pastu 
 rage at 40s. per square mile (three farthings per 
 acre) of annual rent. A power to sell these rented 
 pasturages at or above the fixed minimum price (one 
 pound per acre) is retained, and to withdraw them 
 from the lessees should a purchaser be found ; but, 
 it is evident that, except in the case of any of these 
 pasturages becoming the site of a town, there is little 
 chance of their meeting a purchaser, at least in an 
 
 m 
 
 i f 
 
^. 
 
 THE T.CONbMY OF COLONIZA .ON. 
 
 201 
 
 Muny of 
 labour for 
 dc's, sliould 
 y could ob- 
 tho natural 
 )uibinod la- 
 of slavery, 
 ) submitted 
 
 Han colony 
 ally carries 
 1 nominally 
 ;r high re- 
 territory of 
 •nly a small 
 xcres in ex- 
 of this size 
 50 acres) of 
 )f 10s. per 
 Te), and af- 
 :vvo pounds 
 I less price 
 acres, and 
 3 of pastu 
 things per 
 lese rented 
 I price (one 
 draw them 
 bund ; but» 
 ny of these 
 lere is little 
 least iu an 
 
 unimprov d state, -hih^ lots are to 1 ^lit i lutle 
 
 further on of Hi) )r 13-^ U5ros, a^ the ffune price, 
 with the advantage of t>» » squa^ . milcH of pastu- 
 rage attached, at a men ominju riit. This juggle 
 of keeping up a high noihiiuil price has been adopted 
 from sheer necessity ; the mininuun selling [)rice, in 
 submission to an untried theory, having been Hxed 
 too high (one pound per acre) by act of Parliament, 
 and it being impossible to obtain purchasers at so 
 high a rate. 
 
 This expediency stratagem must, however, be at- 
 tended with the most injurious consecjuences to the 
 colony. Pasture is equally susce[)tiblo of improve- 
 ment and (lettTioration, as tillage-land. In Austra- 
 lia, keeping the grass too bare by overstocking, gra- 
 dually ruins the soil (the drought and ardent sun 
 totally dissipating the vegetable pabulum from the 
 exposed earth), and the lessee, no doubt, will treat 
 his pasturage, so as to encourage no purchaser.* 
 T/ms a premiuin exists against the improvement of 
 about \^tlts of the country. As pasturage is the chief 
 purpose for which land will be employed in South 
 Australia, this deserves the serious attention of the 
 Directors and of the Legislature. The necessity of 
 departing from the present system, and of disposing 
 of the land, at least all the good improvable land, 
 
 • By the regulations, the tenant is deban-ed from tilhige, and 
 from cutting the timber- in that part of New Holland, mostly 
 stunted or useless brusliAvood (^crub), which interferes with the 
 growth of the pasture, and harbours flies, that greatly harass 
 the herds and flocks. How far it may be necessary to keep up 
 forest cover, to induce moisture, seems not to have been thought 
 of. 
 
202 
 
 THE ECONOMY OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 straight forward and outright, at such a price as 
 command sales, is clearly manifest. 
 
 In the allotting, caro ought to bo taken to have 
 the divisions as much as possible of one value per 
 acre; and if this is impracticable, the allotments 
 ought to be distinguished by first, second, and third 
 quality, with a suitable difference of price. 
 
 |t|'r 
 
 11 
 
k price as 
 
 ( 2<)3 ) 
 
 n to have 
 value per 
 
 allotments 
 and third 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 COLONIAL LEGISLATION. 
 
 In this country, hitherto, the laws have been sub- 
 pervient to the interests of the lawyer, (Joverninent 
 to the interests of the Government officials (servants 
 of the public !) fully as much as for the ])rotection 
 of person and property, even where the peo}>le may 
 be thought to have some controul over the Legisla- 
 ture. In our colonies, the chance is still greater, 
 that the interests of civil and military officials, the 
 delegated authorities of the mother country, will 
 prevail over the interests of the colonists. Colonial 
 is, besides, the most difficult of all legislation. They 
 who legislate primarily in the mother country, inde- 
 pendent of not being sufficiently responsible, are de- 
 ficient of information regarding those for whom they 
 legislate, wanting in sympathy, and not under the 
 influence of a common interest, at least directly. 
 The affiiir is also rendered much more complex, from 
 the regulations being directed towards bodies not 
 only under very different circumstances, but in- 
 dividually under progressive change. What renders 
 colonial legislation more difficult still is, that, unless 
 the enactments are very clear and simple in practice, 
 they are sure to be imperfectly followed, from the 
 distance of the mother country, and the defects of 
 
204 
 
 COLONIAL LEGISLATION. 
 
 her agonts. There is also a want of precedent for 
 our legislators to walk by, and to guide them in 
 judging of practical results, colonial legislation being 
 as yet only in the infancy of improvement. 
 
 In laying down legislative rules for colonies, it 
 must be kept in view, that nothing is so paralyzing 
 and injurious as despotism. It is impossible that 
 the proportions of the child can develope into 
 grandeur and beauty, when every member of its 
 body is so cramped and confined by bandages, that 
 it cannot move. It is better to allow as nmch of 
 self-direction as is compatible with absolute safety, 
 and even, that it should get a little teaching from 
 rubs and falls, rather than its rising energies should 
 be checked or destroyed by over maternal direction. 
 
 It would thereforebe desirable, that a colonial legis- 
 lative assembly should be formed at the commence- 
 ment — perhaps with gradually increasing powers, 
 and that, as in Prussia, they should act as a council 
 to the governor, only reconmiending wJiat they con- 
 sidered necessary measures. Tbe governor, when 
 he did not carry these measures into effect, to remit 
 them, with his reasons of dissent, to the home legis- 
 lature, or Government. It would also be necessary 
 to organize an elective judicial establishment, to de- 
 termine of civil disputes, and petty criminal offences. 
 Perhaps it might do well for every ten householders 
 (the country being divided into districts) triennially 
 to elect a preses, or justice of the peace, and that 
 all disputes, petty crimes, &c., should be decided 
 upon, in the district, by a local court, consisting of 
 a certain number of these justices, with power of 
 appeal under certain limitations, to the supreme 
 
COLONIAL LECIISLATION. 
 
 205 
 
 cedent for 
 } them in 
 ition being 
 
 « 
 
 jolonies, it 
 paralyzing 
 ■isible that 
 elope into 
 ber of its 
 
 iigiii 
 
 that 
 
 s nnich of 
 nte safety, 
 hing from 
 ^ies should 
 I direction, 
 onial legis- 
 ommence- 
 
 g powers, 
 
 s a council 
 
 they con- 
 
 inor, when 
 
 :, to remit 
 
 lome legis- 
 
 necessary 
 
 )nt, to de- 
 
 d offences. 
 
 iseholdcrs 
 
 Iriennially 
 
 and that 
 
 decided 
 
 isisting of 
 
 [power of 
 
 supremo 
 
 court. Educational matters, roads, bridges, &c., 
 could be under the same management ; and the le- 
 gislative member could be chosen also by a cer- 
 tain number of these, nmch after the fashion of 
 the Norwegian double elective system. This plan 
 would have simplicity to reconnnend it, and might 
 be so worked, as save a great deal of litigation, and 
 labour, to the supreme court, which, although, per- 
 haps, not desiderated by that court, is not the less a 
 desideratum to the colonists. It might be a great 
 improvement upon this, to have a liecouciUator (a 
 person well instructed in ecpiity law, with good per- 
 suasive powers, paid by Government) appointed to 
 each district. And all disputants to come before the 
 Reconciliator, and endeavour, with his assistance, to 
 settle the subject in dispute, before it could be 
 brought into the local court. 
 
 The cost and efficiency of governments are very 
 improperly estimated. The expense of the govern- 
 ment is often small in proportion to the expense incur- 
 red to protect person and propwty, or to the loss sus- 
 tained from injuries and depredations, which a good 
 government would prevent, and almost nothing com- 
 pared to the loss which defective laws and injudi- 
 cious taxation occasions, by obstructing improve- 
 ments. The cost of law, and lawyers, should al- 
 ways be estimated as government expenses, and add- 
 ed to the sum-total. Estimated in this way, some of 
 the cheap governments of the United States would 
 rank among the most expensive. It is, therefore, 
 of great importance that the judicial courts be put 
 under the simplest, cheapest, and most efficient 
 plan. 
 
206 
 
 COLONIAL LEGISLATION. 
 
 Free (not despotic) judicial government is practi- 
 cable in two ways, either by much written precedent, 
 and an expensive legal (judge) establishment, with 
 numerous attorneys, as in Britain, and the United 
 States, or by a local elective judicial system (elected 
 arbitrators). The latter is well fitted to a thin po- 
 pulation, and, assisted by a clear short comprehen- 
 sive code, could be worked to dispense justice, al- 
 most without cost. This system would re(j[uire a 
 free press, and seems hitherto to have been very im- 
 perfectly tried. It has met with favour neither 
 from governors nor lawyers, aifording neither patron- 
 age nor plunder, nor food for official nor corporate 
 pride. Disputes might be as justly, and far more 
 economically, settled by this elective arbitrator 
 scheme, assisted by the Ileconciliator, on the spot, 
 without lawyer assistance, than in the usual way. 
 Injustice might sometimes occur, from the want of 
 lawyers, but not to the tenth part of the amount 
 which occurs with them. For what is all law ex- 
 pense in disputed property, but injustice I To make 
 this plan work well, dispute and litigation wouLl re- 
 quire to be legislated against directly, by fines upon 
 those who were frequently engaged in them, espe- 
 cially being losers, and a register kept of the cases 
 of each individual. The effect of simplicity, and the 
 arbitration scheme, combined with the'^ exclusion of 
 bad subjects, has been lately exemplified in Russia. 
 A number of small working capitalists, solicited, and 
 received the grant of a desolate hilly portion of 
 country, from the Emperor. They divided this into 
 portions of about sixty acres of tillage-land, with a 
 suitable portion of hill-pasture, to each family ; al- 
 
COLONIAL LEGISLATION. 
 
 207 
 
 b is i)racti- 
 precedent, 
 ment, with 
 the United 
 3111 (elected 
 a thin po- 
 coniprehen- 
 justice, al- 
 l reciuire a 
 en very im- 
 Dur neither 
 ;her patron- 
 r corporate 
 id far more 
 s arbitrator 
 on the spot, 
 usual way. 
 the want of 
 he amount 
 all law ex- 
 ? To make 
 n woul.i re- 
 ,' fines upon 
 hem, espe- 
 •f the cases 
 |ity, and the 
 xclusion of 
 in Russia, 
 (licited, and 
 portion of 
 d this into 
 ,nd, with a 
 family ; al- 
 
 lowing no one to enter the community, unless ho 
 possessed a certain capital, and totally excluding 
 lawyers and priests. The consequences, as reported 
 by a recent traveller, have been highly advan- 
 tageous, — the success beyond all precedent. No 
 quarrels, high morality, industry, economy, — the 
 country cultivated like a garden, — plenty to all. 
 
 There is a pressing necessity for a change of sys- 
 tem in our colonial policy. The connection between 
 the superior country and its dependencies must be 
 rendered of such a nature as to incline the latter to 
 cling to the former for self-advantage. The internal 
 colonial laws, as well as the laws regulating the con- 
 nection, ought to be liberalized, and put on a definite 
 secure footing. The internal government of every 
 colony should be, as much as possible, worked by the 
 inhabitants of the place, and the few necessary to be 
 deputed by the superior country, men of practical 
 knowledge and cultivated minds. Hitherto theofficiale 
 of our colonies have, many of them, not been of the 
 best description, — the working portion generally un- 
 derbred clerks, and the show portion, younger sons 
 of the aristocracy, often deficient in energy, and in 
 necessary practical information and business habits. * 
 
 The practice, partly originating in our long wars, 
 of employing soldiers and sailors as governors of co- 
 lonies, is also of very questionable policy. It tends to 
 give a military character, — a character of idleness and 
 parade, — to the society of the place, which is not pro- 
 motive of industry and the advancement of commerce 
 
 * In some countries of the continent, government is made a 
 particular profession, and men educated expressly for the 
 \)urposc. 
 
208 
 
 COLONIAL LEGISLATION. 
 
 
 and agriculture.* It has also an influence, notwith- 
 standing the urbanity of military manners, to alienate 
 the attachment of the colonists from the mother 
 country. Military, bred to the implicit-obedience 
 principle, unless they are men of superior minds, 
 have not always that respect to the opinions and li- 
 berties of the colonists which other men, accustomed 
 to act as free independent subjects, would have, and 
 when disputes arise, either between the aborigines 
 and colonists, or with the neighbouring tribes, mili- 
 tary governors are rather more disposed to resort to 
 their own particular mode of adjusting matters than 
 what is conformable to civil justice or profitable ; 
 forgetful of the fable of the wind and the sun, that 
 kindness warmly and wisely exerted will do more to 
 melt down angry passions, and remove opposition, 
 than brute force would — that moral is superior to 
 physical power, " as three to one." — (Napoleon.) 
 
 There is something highly impolitic and altogether 
 barbarous in the exhibition of compulsory force, — of 
 a governor appearing surrounded by officials, the 
 chiefs of armed bands. This is calculated to give an 
 impression to the people of the dependent country, 
 that they live under abject subjection, more espe- 
 cially, when they are of a different origin, and have 
 been attached by conquest. There is something in 
 the temper of men^ when their minds have become 
 elevated one st^p above the slavish admiration of 
 
 
 * It is, perhaps, worthy of remark that manufacturing industry 
 has several times been attempted in Edinburgh and Leith 
 wi^nout success. The character of the population receives a 
 bias from the many law practitioners and resident gentry which 
 unfits them for industrial pursuits. 
 
 U^ 
 
COLONIAL LEGISLATION. 
 
 201) 
 
 ;e, notwith- 
 to alienate 
 :he mother 
 b-obedience 
 rior minds, 
 ons and 11- 
 accustomed 
 i have, and 
 aborigines 
 bribes, raili- 
 to resort to 
 atters than 
 profitable ; 
 e sun, that 
 do more to 
 opposition, 
 superior to 
 ipoleon.) 
 altogether 
 f force, — of 
 fificials, the 
 d to give an 
 it country, 
 more espe- 
 , and have 
 mething in 
 ive become 
 airation of 
 
 ring industry 
 h and Leith 
 n receives a 
 jentry which 
 
 mere power, which bristles in opposition, at the dis- 
 play of rude force, — which refuses to obey the com- 
 mand of any one with arms in his hands. There is, 
 no doubt, also, among civilians, a feeling of jealousy 
 towards military men, arising from a combination of 
 causes, which prevents a generous and liberal line of 
 policy, on the part of the latter, from having th* 
 same beneficial effect it would have emanating from 
 civil authority. Military should be kept in the best 
 state of preparation ; they should not be concealed ; 
 they ought to be respected as the conservators of the 
 peace, as the national defence ; but they ought not 
 to appear purposely exhibited to overawe the com- 
 munity. The strength of the government should re- 
 pose on utility and justice, and not be upheld by 
 foreign bayonets. With civil governors, in case of 
 any misunderstanding between the government and 
 the colonists, and the military require to be calkd 
 out, they will not so likely be held party to the dis- 
 pute, and thence will have far more influence in 
 putting down the disturbance. They will be consi- 
 dered only the necessary upholders of the law, as 
 peace-keepers, and be yielded to as such. Military, 
 employed in colonies, should consist, at least in part, 
 of the natives of the place : this is important to the 
 attachment of the colony. 
 
 Military despotism, upheld by a foreign soldiery, 
 is the most degrading and injurious of all. When 
 only the military force of the country itself is acting 
 to keep up mal-government, things cannot go very 
 far wrong, as a crisis would soon ensue, and the 
 dread of this is generally an effectual check on the 
 authorities. But when a crushing tyranny, in an in- 
 
 s 
 
210 
 
 COLONIAL LEGTSLATION. 
 
 ferior country, is upheld and carried on by the over- 
 powering military force of a vastly superior country, 
 there is scarcely any check or limit to the evil. 
 
 The Government of Prussia is a case in point, ex- 
 emplifying the powerful and salutary effect of this 
 check. This government, generally considered a 
 military despotism, is perhaps the best and freest in 
 Europe. The military are not military in the com- 
 mon sense of the word (a caste with separate inte- 
 rests and feelings), but a disciplined national guard, 
 comprehending every male from nineteen to a few 
 years upwards. The Prussian Parliaments only 
 advise what they consider proper to be done, and 
 although the government be nominally absolute, 
 yet, being aware that the whole of the male popu- 
 lation arc bred to arms, and that all the youth of 
 the country have arms in their hands, it generally 
 makes out to pursue the very course most benefi- 
 cial to the community, and improvement of all 
 kinds is making most rapid strides. . It is, in fact, 
 a government despotic to do good, powerless to do 
 evil. On the contrary, in Canada, where n)ilitary 
 men have been well tried, without standing in i inch 
 fear of a crisis, however near, we have had a vast 
 national expenditure and improvement standing still, 
 — nothing progressive but discontent. The most 
 unbiassed travellers represent the two sides of the St 
 Lawrence as very different — the United States' side 
 all activity, industry, frugality — neat farm-buildings, 
 decent cattle, fair corn-fields. On the Canadian 
 side, idleness, dissipation, neglect, farm buildings 
 frequently ruinous, starved cattle, corn-fields where 
 thistles are the predominating crop. This, no doubt, 
 
COLONIAL LEGISLATION. 
 
 211 
 
 )y the over- 
 or country, 
 e evil, 
 n point, ex- 
 Fcct of this 
 insidored a 
 nd freest in 
 in the com- 
 3arate inte- 
 onal guard, 
 )n to a few 
 ments only 
 ) done, and 
 ly absolute, 
 male popu- 
 he youth of 
 it generally 
 nost benefi- 
 nent of all 
 is, in fact, 
 erless to do 
 sre n»ilitary 
 ing in i mch 
 had a vast 
 anding still, 
 The most 
 es of the St 
 States' side 
 n-buildings, 
 Canadian 
 n buildings 
 fields where 
 s, no doubt, 
 
 is attributable to a combination of causes, but the 
 military character of the colony has had its effects. 
 
 The only advantage possessed by military men, is 
 that they are schooled in organization of a certain 
 kind, and in the care of others, and that they gene- 
 rally have the benefit of travel. As it is, men of the 
 highest ability and character arise amongst them, 
 but as a class, they are not well fitted for governors 
 of any place but military stations. It may be asked, 
 " where are better to be found ; — surely not petty- 
 fogging lawyers I " ]3ut the diff*iision of knowledge 
 will generate suitable men in all classes, and when 
 military men of superior qualifications appear, if 
 they are nominated to a government, they should re- 
 nounce the employment of arms. 
 
 Nothing is so much called for as a proper colonial 
 code, or system of codes, comprehensively applying 
 to our wide and extending colonial Empire, but suffi- 
 ciently condensed for practical use. The formation 
 of this code might be given out by Parliament as a 
 prize effort, with a high reward for that which it 
 shall approve. This is surely as necessary as the 
 premium offered for approaching the North Pole, 
 or for a plan of a n^ < meeting-house for Parliament. 
 Were a good system of colonial government adopted, 
 islands and inferior states would find it their interest 
 to unite with us, and the whole of the multitudinous 
 island-groups scattered over the vast Pacific, in 
 number as the constellations of the heavens, might 
 become incorporated as part of the British empire. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Note A. 
 
 Misery of the Working Classes, 
 
 Foreign demand being almost destroyed by their 
 diabolical monopoly duties, it is obvious that a sud- 
 den great increase of production-power by improved 
 machinery, &c. though constituting an improved la- 
 bour-field, must, in the first place, occasion a labour- 
 glut and low wages, but it nevertheless might have 
 been expected that the demands of the community 
 for increased comforts and luxuries, as they became 
 thus attainable by less expense of labour, would go 
 on extending, so as nearly to keep pace with the in- 
 crease of production, and prevent any permanent 
 falling oflP of labour-demand, especially as there is 
 no lack of capital (hoarded provision-supply for the 
 workmen during the time they are occupied in rais- 
 ing the raw material, or fabricating it to suit the 
 wants of the community), and that there is also an 
 immense revenue derived from British lands and 
 foreign investments of capital. 
 
214 
 
 APPENDIX. — NOTE A. 
 
 This deficiency of labour-demand is, in some de- 
 gree, owing to vast numbers of Mritish being induced 
 by the corn-bill, and high taxed articles of consumpt 
 in Britain, to reside on the continent ; and from ca- 
 pital getting into largo masses, and the holders not 
 expending their revenue in this country, but accumu- 
 lating it, and lending it out in foreign investment, 
 where a more productive field enables higher inte- 
 rest to bo given (an accumulation partly owing to 
 the spirit of modern society being opposed to feudal 
 display and numerous menial retainers). The ef- 
 fects of these causes are, however, less important 
 than the direct effects of machinery, as the great field 
 of consumption lies in the working population them- 
 selves. Superior machinery has, in the first place, 
 lessened the demand for their labour ; wages have 
 fallen, and they must of necessity be but sparing 
 consumers. This again reacts still farther to lessen 
 the demand, and the consumption of the owners or 
 fabricators of the machinery does not nearly com- 
 pensate. It would also seem that the paralysis 
 arises partly from the derangement of the labour- 
 system by the improved machinery ; vast numbers 
 having been trained to employments which are now 
 altogether or nearly superseded, while there is per- 
 haps a deficiency of workmen properly trained to the 
 new practice. The manufacturing or prf>ducing sys- 
 tem is thus out of sorts, and, coupled with the nar- 
 rowed field of industry caused by our restrictive sys- 
 tem, produces a labour-glut, low wages, working- 
 class misery — a sufficient emigration would be an 
 effectual remedy. 
 
 But our advocates of restriction and home mono- 
 
n some de- 
 ing induced 
 )f consumpt 
 lid from ca- 
 holdors not 
 )ut accumu- 
 invcstment, 
 liighor inte- 
 ly owing to 
 2(\ to feudal 
 I. The ef- 
 I important 
 e great field 
 ation them- 
 first place, 
 wages have 
 mi sparing 
 er to lessen 
 
 owners or 
 learly com- 
 e paralysis 
 he labour- 
 it numbers 
 are now 
 lere is per- 
 ined to the 
 ducing sys- 
 th the nar- 
 rictive sys- 
 
 working- 
 uld be an 
 
 )rae mono- 
 
 APPENDIX. — NOTE A. 
 
 215 
 
 polies exclaim — Why export workmen when so 
 much improvement can still be made in IJritain ? 
 Why import food and raw produce while we have 
 full capacities of growing enough at homo I Were 
 Great Britain properly cultivated it would produce 
 double what it now produces. The answer is, It is 
 not what Britain is capaljle of producing, but what 
 it in reality will be made to produce, which concerns 
 us. Further improvement, and even the keeping up 
 of the improvement already effected, di'pend upon 
 the returns of the capital employed. If from the 
 less exhausted field for production abr<x'id, we can 
 obtain ten per cent, per annum for capital, while 
 from the more exhausted, restriction-limited field at 
 home, we can obtain only four per cent., capital will 
 continue to be exported and British improvement 
 will languish, or things will retrograde. This is the 
 actual state of matters, and unless means are taken 
 to bring about a more salutary state, the improve- 
 ments they look forward to, and which Britain is 
 indeed susceptible of, will never be attained. By a 
 properly conducted colonization, in the first place, 
 diminishing the labour-supply, and acting as a stimu- 
 lus to our labour-market, and afterwards affording a 
 continually increasing stimulus by means of the new- 
 created, fast-extending colonial field of demand for 
 British manufactures, and all this working in nmtual 
 reaction to excite industry, we may in reality go on 
 improving till Britain produce ten times over what 
 she now produces. 
 
216 
 
 APPENDIX. — NOTE B. 
 
 1)^ 
 
 Note B. 
 
 Itadical Charltij. 
 
 Common charity (alms-giving) is much of an aris- 
 tocratical thing, and has been the means of rivetting 
 the chains of indirect slavery. Surrounding poverty is 
 necessary to the existence of, at least accompanies, the 
 very rich man — if it is not necessary to his enjoy- 
 ment. There is a luxury in giving, — in being in a 
 condition to give gratuitous relief to thcf poor. The 
 emotion is of a mixed character, arising partly from 
 doing what he is so much taught to believe is a good , 
 deed, partly from gratified human sympathy, and 
 partly from gratified pride and disjday of generosity, 
 so flatterinr^ to self-love. At any rate we find the 
 rich man much more disposed to afford 'nomentary 
 relief to the poor by alms-giving than to afford per- 
 manent relief by searching into the causes of misery, 
 and adopting a system of prevention. The truly 
 charitable, on the contrary, will always endeavour 
 to afford relief to the necessitous in the least onerou«t 
 way, — in the way least calculated to injure or de- 
 stroy self-roliance, impair industry, or lower the 
 honest pride of independence. He, in all prac- 
 ticable cases, will give relief by giving employment, 
 and will endeavour to give such employment as make 
 a return to himself, so as to enable him to lay out 
 an equal or larger sum on the morrow in conti- 
 nuing the employment (alms-giving, which squanders 
 on the idle that which should be won by the indus- 
 trious, and which maketh no return, precludes the 
 doing of this) — or he will lend a little friendly as- 
 
 
APPENDIX. — NOTK. IV 
 
 217 
 
 of an ai'is- 
 )f' rivetting 
 ^ poverty is 
 panic'H, the 
 his oiijoy- 
 buiiig in a 
 )oor. The 
 ►artly from 
 3 is a good 
 )athy, and 
 generosity, 
 ^ve find the 
 nonientary 
 aiford per- 
 of misery, 
 The truly 
 endeavour 
 st oneroiu! 
 are or de- 
 lower the 
 all jjrac- 
 ployment, 
 t as make 
 to lay out 
 in conti- 
 squanders 
 he indus- 
 ludes the 
 iendly as- 
 
 sistance to the industrious, as a commencing stock 
 that thoy may still more advantagoously procure 
 employment to themselves. The ]>rovidently chari- 
 tabJ(! will endeavour to reform the laws which re- 
 j)ress the industry of the country, and which prevent 
 the diffusion of useful information, and thus enable 
 his fellow men to employ themselves in such a man- 
 ner as render them in(le])eudent of all charity. 
 
 The rich man. however, lik(\s to do good in a lord- 
 ly manner ; he ])refers doing it dii'ectly to indirectly, 
 that the recipient may feel the obligation ; he lov(5S 
 also to gratify his lust of power by regulating the re- 
 ligious concerns of his j)oorer fellow sabj(^cts ; he is 
 nmch more disposed to build cluu'ches tlian to build 
 schools ; he would rather retain his fellow-men in 
 ignorance, superstition, and misery, affording full 
 occasion for his lordly charity, than put them in % 
 condition to acquire knowledge, true reli/iion, nnd a 
 (5onifortable subsistence to themselves. 
 
 Providence, the reverse of this, works by whoh^- 
 soine general laws — does not give in charity — does 
 not give for the asking, but for the doing — does not 
 interpose by miracles to obstruct the working of 
 these general laws, which would confound w isdom 
 with folly, industry with idleness, and render all 
 knovvledge of, and obedience to these laws, of no 
 avail. The rich man's charity is an unnatural offence, 
 a human interposition counteracting the laws of 
 providence ; yet is it necessary that the victims of 
 our pernicious laws, opinions, and customs be in 
 some way cared for, till a salutary system has begun 
 to work. The working-man hates charity :, he would 
 prefer starvation to receiving the landlord's alms, or 
 
 T 
 
218 
 
 APPENDIX. — NOTE B. 
 
 I: M' 
 
 any alms. All he wants is a fair field and no favour 
 — that the landlord should not rob him of the one- 
 half of his earnings, or throw him entirely out of 
 employment by diabolically selfish legislation. Our 
 Ih'itish landlord doles out his petty alms, congratu- 
 lating himself on his goodness, — like a bee-feeder 
 supplying a little coarse sugar and water, or sweet 
 worts, to a hive which he has deprived of the honey, — 
 their natural support. 
 
 It has been considered necessary that some degree 
 of misery or want of comfort should be the lot of 
 ])overty and pauperism, as a stimulus to industry 
 and motive for frugality. It is well when only the 
 dread of want and the desire to obtain the comforts 
 of life are the stimuli or motives, but it too frequently 
 is the actual want of the necessaries of life that is 
 In England, under the present inferior and 
 
 so. 
 
 narrowed field for industry and the poor law, actual 
 want or the alternative of a poverty-prison is the 
 stimulus, and surely the dread of removal from this 
 country, if any stimulus must be present, is the one 
 which the philanthropist would approve of, as with 
 the advantage of a stimulus, it carries in all likeli- 
 hood the effectual relief and comfort and independ- 
 ence of the individuals who are removed, and at the 
 same time improves the labour-field of those who re- 
 main behind, while every other direct mode of re- 
 lieving poverty only serves to nurse up the evil and to 
 injure the labour-field. 
 
 It is deserving of trial, however, whether emigra- 
 tion, kindly and judiciously managed, could not be 
 made to prevent altogether the occurrence of the 
 more severe stimuli of pinching want and misery, or 
 
APPENDIX. — NOTE C. 
 
 219 
 
 id no favour 
 of the one- 
 birely out of 
 ation. Our 
 is, congratu- 
 i bee-feeder 
 er, or sweet 
 he honey, — 
 
 some degree 
 e the lot of 
 to industry 
 len only the 
 ;he comforts 
 »o frequently 
 life that is 
 nferior and 
 law, actual 
 risen is the 
 al from this 
 
 is the one 
 ) of, as with 
 in all likeli- 
 
 independ- 
 and at the 
 lose who re- 
 node of re- 
 eml and to 
 
 her emigra- 
 )uld not be 
 ence of the 
 1 misery, or 
 
 even the harsh alternative of compulsory removal. 
 Instead of removing those who applied for relief, as 
 being unable to support themselves, it would be afar 
 better plan to remove only those who were desirous 
 of emigrating, and, if possible, by the advantages 
 held out to removers, to instigate such a number to 
 go as bring the labour field into so prosperous a 
 condition, as that no one willing to work would re- 
 quire charitable support, and thus render all assist- 
 ance unnecessary, excepting in the case of unlooked 
 for accidents, and mental and bodily defects, which 
 could perhaps be left to friendly aid. 
 
 Note C. 
 
 To the British Fair. 
 
 " The Rose of England bloomed on Gertrude's cheek." 
 
 The withering effects of the arid climate of Aus- 
 tralia, is manifest in the haggard walking skeletons 
 of the aborigines, while the balmy mildness and moist 
 air of New Zealand exerts a directly opposite effect, 
 evinced in the fine stately forms, smooth polished 
 skin, and rounded beauty of the Malayan population, 
 although they are evidently a little out of climate — 
 so far removed from the Tropics ; much more must 
 this delicious climate have a propitious effect upon 
 the Caucasian British race, who are naturally suited 
 to the climate. The rose tinge of the cheek is a 
 direct consequence of moist air of a fresh stimu- 
 lating coolness. We find in Van Diemen's Land, 
 which approaches the New Zealand climate, that 
 the rose of health is ooEvion, although it seldom is 
 
220 
 
 APPENDIX. — NOTE C. 
 
 SO on the main of Australia, where the air is too 
 ilry and parching for this species of flower. The 
 Jiritish Fair may rely that England's Rose will not 
 fail to blossom in New Zealand in all its native 
 richness, giving the unmatched tinge of flower- 
 beauty, and freshness. The danger is, that it may 
 even throw that of the mother country into shadi^ ; 
 although its sister, the vegetable rose, has never 
 been seen indigenous in the southern hemisphere, 
 while it surrounds the globe in the northern with a 
 flowery chaplet. 
 
 There is but a very small portion of the world 
 wliere the rose-bloom is constantly domiciled on the 
 cheek of beauty. In Asia and Africa it scarcely ap- 
 pears but in gleams of transient suffusion. In Ame- 
 rica it is almost equally rare, except in the New 
 England States, the hills of Virginia, and the mari- 
 time provinces of New Brunswick, T i \[\, and Nova 
 Scotia, — in the latter country the . ine blending 
 to shades of purple and blue, and not unfrequently a 
 little out of place ; while, in the interior plains of 
 Canada and the United States, the palor is universal. 
 In Europe it blossoms in the cooler, aquatic, and hilly 
 regions, wherever the air is fre^h and moist, — in 
 Britain, especially the western side, — in Ireland, 
 Holland, Prussia, Denmark, Norway. 
 
 Were the direful effects of a sunnuer spent in tlie 
 dry parts of the south of Europe generally known, 
 we should have less of female emigration to these 
 countries. The lily and rose-leaf cheek ond cherry 
 lip of the British fair, whose purity and dewy fresh- 
 ness is nourished by the moist coolness of theii* na- 
 tive air, when exposed to the Levanter or Sirocco of 
 
APPENDIX. — NOTE C. 
 
 2'2\ 
 
 air 18 too 
 vcr. The 
 will not 
 its native 
 )f flowor- 
 at it may 
 ito shado ; 
 has never 
 )mi sphere. 
 3rn with a 
 
 the world 
 led on the 
 arcely ap- 
 
 In Ame- 
 
 thc New 
 the mari- 
 aiul Nova 
 
 blending 
 quently a 
 
 plains of 
 univcrsaL 
 
 and hilly 
 loist, — in 
 
 Ireland, 
 
 nt in the 
 y known, 
 
 to these 
 d cherry 
 wy fresh- 
 their na- 
 
 iroceo oi* 
 
 Italy and Spain, or even to the dry hot air of the 
 more arid parts of France, soon shrivel to muniniy 
 and wrinkled parchment. The seclusion of beanty 
 in Mahomedan countries, and the Mantilla of Spain, 
 is less from jealousy of man than of the arid Eurus. 
 
 Female beauty, which under hot dry atmosphere, 
 withers like the rock-rose " ere the noon," in tropi- 
 cal countries often before the a<?e of twenty, and in 
 the warm parched portion of the temperate zones, 
 before thirty, may be expected in New Zealand, pro- 
 vided warm fire apartments (very little needed in 
 that climate) are not much in use, to last till nearly 
 double that age. 
 
 Much depends upon regular and natural habits of 
 life, — exposure to the stimulus of the sun's light, and 
 especially to the fresh moist air of the morning. It is 
 customary for girls to go out agathering May-dew, 
 to form a rose-cosmetic, — and the roses certainly ap- 
 pear. Airy sitting and sleeping apartments are 
 essential, and especially to guard against exposure 
 to di'y fire heat, and, above all, against the modern 
 abominations of heated air and gas-burners. In 
 some parts of the north of Europe, where the cli- 
 mate is severe in winter, the rooms are heated by 
 stoves, which, in order to prevent dust, open only to 
 the lobby or passages, and consequently afford no ven- 
 tilation to the rooms, but give out a close suffocating 
 heat. The women are confined to these rooms (dl 
 the year, excepting during the short warm summer, 
 and being thus always exposed to vitiated air and 
 high temperature, are nearly of as short duration as 
 within the tropics ; while the men, more healthy 
 and lasting from greater exposure out of doors and 
 
222 
 
 APPENDIX — NOTE D. 
 
 cooler atmosphere, say they require two sets of 
 wives. In the mild climate of New Zealand, where 
 the houses are scarcely needed but to guard off 
 showers, the beau-sex passing most of their time 
 in open air, and the remainder in well ventilated 
 apartments, will not have this contingency much to 
 fear. In other respects^ from its soft moist climate, 
 New Zealand like Sicily may be expected to be 
 especially propitious to women. — The prospects now 
 before them must cause the bright blood to mantle 
 deeper on the cheek of the British Fair. 
 
 Note D. 
 
 Land-Property Right. 
 
 Cultivation- labour laid out upon land constitutes 
 the best property right. Pasturing of flocks comes 
 next in place. The property right in uncultivated 
 land by aborigines, who subsist only by preying upon 
 the ferce naturw^ is defective ; and this is more espe- 
 cially so, when the aborigines are sunk so low in 
 barbarism, as to be incapable of instituting a regu- 
 lar government to protect property. Any person, 
 though produced in another region, being equally a 
 child of nature, if he has no other way of procuring 
 a sufficient maintenance to support him, as his 
 father has lived, — a reproductive vitality, has surely 
 a right to go into the wilderness, where no one has 
 placed his mark of possession, and cultivate a por- 
 tion of it for his and his family's subsistence. But 
 because of the feeling in the savage, of a right of 
 
APPENDIX. — NOTE D. 
 
 223 
 
 vo sets of 
 and, where 
 
 guard off 
 their time 
 
 ventilated 
 3y much to 
 st climate, 
 cted to be 
 spects now 
 
 to mantle 
 
 3onstitutes 
 )cks comes 
 icultivated 
 iying upon 
 nore espe- 
 so low in 
 g a regu- 
 ly person, 
 equally a 
 procuring 
 n, as his 
 has surely 
 o one has 
 Lte a por- 
 nce. But 
 - right of 
 
 possession to the region he roams over, the sustain- 
 ing of which might lead to a sacrifice of life, it is 
 fitting that this claim be submitted to, so far as, if 
 the savage can be induced to sell a portion of his 
 territory, to purchase it ; but if he will not sell, or 
 if the desiring occupant has no means of obtaining 
 funds to purchase with, then he has the right to take 
 possession as he may. 
 
 The same holds of masses of people. A nation 
 which, by the establishment of social order, and the 
 advanced arts of life, increases in population beyond 
 the means of a full subsistence, within its o\vn terri- 
 tory, has a right to extend itself over the unculti- 
 vated regions of the earth ; and, should this not be 
 otherwise accomplishable, to displace the miserable 
 hordes of wandering savages, who can neither bring 
 out the powers of productiveiiess of the country 
 they roam over, nor submit to the social order 
 amongst civilized men. 
 
 It is sickening to listen to the affectations of 
 pseudo-philanthropists, who make such a lament 
 over the loss of a tribe of starved savages, such as 
 once existed in Newfoundland, while they are silent 
 respecting the hundreds of thousands of fine men 
 and women (a far superior race) in London, and 
 other places of Britain, who are equally lost to re- 
 productive existence, and becoming extinct from the 
 abridged means of procuring a family subsistence, 
 caused by the increasing density of population in the 
 narrow territory of Britain. The nation or tribe is 
 made up of individuals, — totally distinct beings ; 
 and I should like to have explained, the moral dif- 
 ference between the extirpation, — extinction without 
 
224 
 
 APPENDIX. — NOTE E. 
 
 reproduction, of a number of individuals, although 
 not constituting the entire nation or tribe, and the 
 extirpation of an equal number of individuals consti- 
 tuting the entire nation or tribe, — both taking place 
 in a gradual manner. 
 
 Note E. 
 
 Nati'ce Race adaptation. 
 
 '■'■■■ 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 Colonization in South Africa is merely a change 
 of races. The Aborigines, before the entrance 
 of the Europeans, seemed nearly balanced to the 
 means of pastoral subsistence, — perhaps the only 
 one safely applicable to the climate, from the ex- 
 treme droughts sometimes causing a failure of 
 the grain-crop for several successive years ; and al- 
 though the country has been settled for two centu- 
 ries by Europeans, the probability is, that the popu- 
 lation, including both races, has considerably dimi- 
 nished, notwithstanding a constant immigration. 
 Besides the advantage is at least questionable, of 
 substituting a race, though high in civilization, very 
 defective in circumstantial adaptation, for one, in a 
 wonderful degree, (almost as much as the bulbous 
 character of the plants), circumstance-suited : — so 
 much so, that one would infer the race and the cli- 
 mate had grown up together. 
 
 Whilst laws existed, retaining the natives within 
 the colony in bondage, and promoting commando- 
 expeditions against the free aborigines, for the pur- 
 pose of slaughtering the grown-up, and carrying off 
 
APPENDIX. — NOTE F. 
 
 225 
 
 Is, ulthougli 
 be, and the 
 iduals consti- 
 taking place 
 
 >ly a change 
 le entrance 
 iced to the 
 ps the only 
 ora the ex- 
 failure of 
 Ts ; and al- 
 two centu- 
 t the popu- 
 ;rably dimi- 
 nmigration. 
 iionable, of 
 zation, very 
 9r one, in a 
 he bulbous 
 mited : — so 
 ^nd the cli- 
 
 )ives within 
 
 3ominando- 
 
 ov the pur- 
 
 arrying off 
 
 the children for slaves, the aborigines were fast be- 
 ing extirpated. Now that laws of a very different 
 character are enacted, and a just and humane sys- 
 tem encouraged by our present Colonial Secretary, 
 it may be expected, should this system be continued, 
 that the circumstance-suited race will again increase, 
 and by superior producing and subsisting powers, 
 the result of superior climate-adaptation, gradually 
 undermine their invaders, and become the predomi- 
 nating population. In cases where two races exist 
 in a country, under any thing approaching to equal 
 law, it is not the most moral or most civilized which 
 increases the fastest, or which will ultimately pre- 
 vail. This is being exemplified in Ireland, and in 
 Great Britain, where the Milesian race is fast gain- 
 ing ground, and also in Hungary, where the Scla- 
 vonic race is gradually overwhelming the Magyar, 
 by superior powers of encrease. In both cases the 
 conquered are reconquering, although lower in the 
 scale of civilization. 
 
 Note F. 
 
 Tobacco Smoking. 
 
 Sucking tobacco smoke has become so general, 
 and is indulged in to such excess, as must have a 
 powerful effect upon the destinies of the species. In 
 the north and east of Europe, it has increased to 
 such a degree, as to act as a considerable population 
 check ; and I would desire to introduce it to the 
 notice of our Malthusian philosophers. 
 
 The disposition, or desire to suck, is no doubt in- 
 
226 
 
 APPENDIX. — NOTE K. 
 
 stinctivo — a baby reminiscence, — and increased in 
 the north of Europe, by the practice of suckling 
 their male cliildrcn too long. It is pity, that this 
 disposition or instinct to suck, were not made sub- 
 servient to some good, and that so much combus- 
 tion did not extend to the diffusion of heat and 
 light, as well as smoke, — that it could not be made 
 to warm their cold bosoms to freedom, or enable 
 them to illuminate the " dark side of nature,"' in- 
 stead of veiling it further by transcendental cloud. 
 Our Eastern neighbours are no doubt indebted to 
 the demon of the " accursed weed," set loose by 
 the combustion, for their dreamy philosophy, and 
 their philosophic submission to despotic government. 
 At the present time the weed-demon is the engross- 
 ing god of their idolatry. Every dwelling is con- 
 verted into a temple, filled with burnt-incense, and 
 every man (the ladies, it seems, have not souls worth 
 a devil's notice) are daily and hourly worshippers. 
 
 Although tobacco smoking has not so immediately 
 obvious an effect upon the system, as drinking in- 
 toxicating liquors, yet from its influence being in 
 more general and constant operation, it has com- 
 prehensively, as regards the species, a more power- 
 ful impression to disorder the brain mechanism, and 
 derange the flow of the galvanic nervous currents, 
 on which depends the character of our intellectual 
 essence, and organic frame. It is impossible to 
 raise the veil from futurity; but notwithstanding 
 the discovery of printing, instead of a progression to 
 a superior nature, a condition of imbecility and de- 
 gradation is yet in store for man, — nay even a sink- 
 ing in the scale of being, unless means are taken to 
 
APPENDIX. — NOTE G. 
 
 227 
 
 subvert the worship of the weed-demon. It is rather 
 surprising, that our New Zealand Missionaries have 
 allowed themselves to be hood-winked by the subtile 
 fiend, and made subservient in spreading his abomina- 
 ble rites. 
 
 In New South Wales, in the case of convict- 
 slavery (the most pitiful condition of all), where 
 civilized man is subjected to the thrall of his fel- 
 low man, and where the feeling of degradation is em- 
 bittered by the sting of guilt, tobacco-smoking may 
 be necessary. It is even said, that great numbers of 
 the convicts would commit suicide, or take to the 
 bush, if they did not receive tobacco to drown con- 
 science and thought. It also tends to enable our 
 over-worked operatives to support their miserable 
 condition ; but in this last case it acts as a power- 
 ful check upon this class taking effectual means to 
 procure the abolition of the grinding monopoly, and 
 excessive taxation, which cause the misery. To- 
 bacco-smokmg is a means of soothing misery, and 
 repressing energy, by inducing a dreamy stupefac- 
 tion. 
 
 Note G. 
 
 The British Navy. 
 
 It is in vain, at least for any purpose of utility, 
 that we keep up an immense establishment of naval 
 officers at an enormous cost, while a sufficient num- 
 ber of our war-vessels are not in active employment 
 to give an experience of naval business to those pen- 
 sioned, land-bred sea-commanders. Common sailors. 
 
228 
 
 APPENDIX. — NOTK (J. 
 
 I I 
 
 bred in the merchant service, with a very short 
 training in discipline and artillery practice, can be 
 made efficient war seamen. But unless merchant- 
 men commanders are to bo employed as officers in the 
 war-navy upon the emergency of war, some other 
 breeding than what is now followed is necessary to 
 obtain proper experienced sea-officers. Mere ex- 
 perimental and pleasure voyages of our few men-of- 
 war in commission will not give the experience and 
 hardihood necessary to form good officers, and which 
 actual industrious naval business is best fitted to give; 
 besides, the small number of vessels in commission 
 is out of all proportion to the immense number of 
 officers in commission. 
 
 We ought to imitate the economy of nature. In 
 her operations we frequently find a binary adapta- 
 tion of means to ends ; a useful purpose effected by 
 means admirably fitted to the immediate desired 
 end, while the same means are also instrumental in 
 effecting another end, though more remote, no less 
 desirable than the more immediate. It would be 
 well to have a considerable number of men-of-war 
 and frigates, with only a part of their guns aboard, 
 and a sailing complement of picked seamen and 
 young volunteers constantly employed in carrying 
 out emigrants ; these could have the full complement 
 of young officers gaining experimental instruction, 
 besides a considerable number of cadet volunteers 
 employed in assisting the sailors in working the ves- 
 sel, from which our naval-officer corps might be in 
 part recruited. This would prove an excellent 
 school, under proper management, for nautical know- 
 ledge — more particularly the very useful knowledge 
 
APPFA'DIX. — XOTE IT. 
 
 220 
 
 t'ory short 
 ce, can be 
 uiorchant- 
 Bcrs in the 
 ome other 
 jcessary to 
 Mere ex- 
 )w men-of- 
 rienco and 
 and which 
 ;ed togive; 
 ommission 
 number of 
 
 ature. In 
 
 ry adapta- 
 
 ^ffected by 
 
 desired 
 
 imental in 
 
 ;e, no less 
 
 would be 
 
 lon-of-war 
 
 s aboard, 
 
 tinien and 
 
 carrying 
 
 mplement 
 
 struction, 
 
 volunteers 
 
 the ves- 
 
 ht be in 
 
 excellent 
 
 al know- 
 
 Inowledge 
 
 of the best moans of promoting and maintaining the 
 health of a numeroun crew in long voyages, and we 
 would bo in a much better state of preparation for 
 any emergency. 
 
 Note H. 
 
 Monr-fan/ ^listern. — That the Proffress of Morleru Clri- 
 lization has been in a great measure wing to the 
 Depreciation of the Value of Money^ consequent to 
 v'orkina the American Mines. 
 
 t- 
 
 The rise and dccHno of national energy is in a high 
 degree influenced by the decrease or increase of the 
 value of the medium of exchange, and especially by 
 the regulation of the paper monetary system.* Tt 
 is to these causes, especially the decrease of the 
 value of money, that we chiefly owe the rapid pro- 
 gress of civilization, and of the arts of life, and the 
 
 * Tt is excoedingfly to be regi'otted that tlie alistractncss of 
 the su])ject, eoinlnnod with a little misapprehoiision, should 
 blind the nation to the extreme importance of the monetary 
 system, the most pernicious effect of a rise of value of money 
 md the injustice of the law enforcing payment or interest of 
 lebts in the present currency, which were incurred in a cur- 
 j on<"y '^nly on(;-half the value of what it now is. There are 
 four ])ropositions which I would desire my readers to fix in theii- 
 minds. 
 
 1st, That gold (our present measure of value), like othei 
 conmiodities, is regidated in price by the demand and the 
 supply . 
 
 2d, That a ])aper currency rises or falls in valus' like gold, in 
 proportion as the issues are diminished or increased, or ii 
 proportion to the scarcity or abundance. 
 
 3d. 
 
230 
 
 APPENDIX. — NOTE II. 
 
 increased general prosperity in Europe since the dis- 
 covery of America.* From the American mines 
 being very much more productive (fertile) than those 
 of the old world, and the quantity of gold and silver 
 brought into circulation as money, greatly exceeding 
 even the increased demand caused by the increase 
 of trade, the value of these metals necessarily fell 
 from year to year, and till latt(*rly, have been dimi- 
 nishing in value nearly one-half every thirty years. 
 
 The decrease of the value of money, as well as the 
 plentifulness, operates to stimulate all kinds of in- 
 dustry. The manufacturer receives more money 
 (nominally) than what he expected for his produce ; 
 the trader also receives more for the goods he has 
 had on hand than what he has given for them, and 
 this gain, though in both cases rather delusory, sti- 
 mulates both to extend their business. Besides the 
 agents of industry have the greater part of their 
 capital borrowed from monied people (chiefly idlers 
 living upon the industry of others), and as the value 
 
 3d, That when a gold currency and paper currency are both 
 in use, and the issues of paper liable to be paid in gold, that as 
 the paper currency cannot be far extended without throwing 
 the gold curr(!nc'y out of circulation altogether, the issuers of 
 paper are under the necessity of limiting their issues. 
 
 4th, That the less a medium of exchange costs the better, as 
 less capital is thus abstracted from useful purposes. A paper 
 currency thus saves to the nation the yearly interest of the 
 amount of the issues. 
 
 * Civilization and national prosperity are also very much in- 
 fluenced by the absence or presence of a sufficient circulating 
 medium. Before the discovery of America, the circulating me- 
 dium in Europe was insufficient for carrying on traffic, and the 
 clumsy system of barter much in use. 
 
APPENDIX. — NOTE II. 
 
 2.31 
 
 nco the dis- 
 ican mines 
 than those 
 I and silver 
 y exceeding 
 he increase 
 ossarily fell 
 been dimi- 
 rty years, 
 well as the 
 inds of in- 
 lore money 
 is produce ; 
 ods he has 
 ' them, and 
 elusory, sti- 
 Besides the 
 rt of their 
 licfly idlers 
 IS the value 
 
 ency are both 
 gold, that as 
 out throwing 
 the issuers of 
 ues. 
 
 the better, as 
 }es. A paper 
 terest of the 
 
 it 
 
 ery much in- 
 circulating 
 culating mc- 
 affic, and the 
 
 of money diminiHhes, this lent capital is gradually 
 being transferred, to the extent of the diminution 
 of value, from the lender to the borrower : — this is 
 obvious as tlie medium, whether the pound Stetiing 
 or guinea, by which the debt is measured, has in the 
 interim decreased in value. The consequence of 
 this transference is, that the industrious portion is 
 not taaeiU in the yearly interest of the transferred 
 capital, to keep up idlers, and being in receipt of 
 both the profits of capital and the proHts of industry, 
 they are thus in a condition to extend their indus- 
 try. — employing more workmen, and necessarily 
 raio Jig wages it is, in reality, a creation of capital 
 to bo eniDloy d in the most advantageous numner to 
 purposes of n-prodnctio . Thus, by the capital being 
 gradually transfer ng to the industrious, from what 
 may be termed diQ drones of society (unfairly it 
 must bo ix\\'\' jd), the ind ..virions are put in a condition 
 to be moi'e industrious, and rbr drones are com- 
 pelled to become industrious. Tiie skilful, and ac- 
 tive, and enterprising portion of the community, 
 thus acqui^'ing greater power of carrying on improve- 
 ment, national prosperity, and a vast increase of na- 
 tional energy is the result. 
 
 Towards the end of last century, another circum- 
 stance came into operation, — a paper currency with 
 ti,'^ general use of bills. This rendered a less quan- 
 tity of gold and silver necessary as a circulating me- 
 dium, and thus, by diminishing the demand in Europe, 
 the supply from the mines going on increasing, 
 lowered the value still further, and during the latter 
 part of the last war, when the principal portion of 
 
2:32 
 
 APPENDIX. — NOTE H. 
 
 the national debt was contracted, gold and silver 
 were at the lowest value ever known. 
 
 About this time, the value of that rather vague 
 idea the pound Sterlimj (/) was further lowered by 
 the bank-restriction act, — the banks by act of Par- 
 liament being absolved from their liability to pay 
 their issues in gold. This condition of things con- 
 tinued for upwards of twenty years, and the value of 
 the pound Sterlinp^ although dependent upon the 
 amount of notes issued by the banks, came latterly 
 to range about 3 pounds for 2 guineas, — the guineas 
 themselves, as wo have stated, being very much re- 
 duced in value. This great reduction of the value 
 of the currency all the while, by still further dimi- 
 nishing the real value of borrowed capital, and thus 
 lessening the burthen of the idle portion of the com- 
 munity upon the industrious portion, operated power- 
 fully to benefit industry and trade, and to stimu- 
 late national energy. 
 
 Since the time of the last general peace in Europe, 
 things have, however, taken a very different turn. 
 The production of gold and silver by the American 
 mines almost ceased, owing to the anarchy and de- 
 struction attending the struggle for independence, 
 and oven at this day, the production is far short of 
 what it was when a considerable portion of the po- 
 pulation were compelled to labour in the mines un- 
 der the Spanish yoke. The demand for the precious 
 metals, in the mean time, having rather increased in 
 Europe from the i>rogress of improvement attending 
 the general peace, while the source of the supply was 
 nearly dried up, has caused a considerable rise of the 
 
 r. ttti. ••«(-< 
 
 ... » 
 
APPENDIX. — NOTE II. 
 
 23;^ 
 
 value of gold and silver, independent of the demand 
 resulting from the re-adoption of a metallic currenc v 
 in England. 
 
 Had the bank cash- payment-restriction act been 
 continued in Britain, and the paper issues been kept 
 up, the industry of Britain would not have been af- 
 fected by this increase of the value of gold, the only 
 alteration would have been a greater disproportion 
 of value between the pound Sterlincf and the guinea. 
 But our Legislature at this most unsuitable time, most 
 unjustifiably enacted that the banks should pay their 
 issues in gold, at the gold price of the pound Sterllncf 
 previous to its depreciation, — that is a pound and 
 one twentieth for the guinea, — also preventing th<^ 
 circulation of notes less than five pounds in England. 
 
 These very unjust and injudicious and most unop- 
 portune monetary regulations, have had very in- 
 jurious effects upon the industry of the country, 
 causing intolerable privations and misery, and im- 
 pairing the national energy in a high degree. The 
 money lent to the nation during the wars amounting 
 to from four to five hundred millions, the greater part 
 of it borrowed while the value of the currency was at 
 the very lowest, is by this unjust enactment and the 
 increase of the value of gold, at least doubled, while, 
 at the same time, having been bon'owed upon the 
 usurious* plan of giving an acknowledgment or bill 
 
 * I believe money lent out at usury is forfeit by law. The 
 laws against what is termed usury are highly imjust, but is it 
 fitting that a nation should do what it punishes in private in- 
 dividuals ? It claims the right of dealing in usury, perhaps on 
 the same principle that it claims the right to kill, which it also 
 punishes in private individuals. It is said that a portion of the 
 debt was borrowed as low as L.40 to receive the L.100 pledge, 
 
 U 
 
' ' . I- • » 'J Jfl ' ■ > 
 
 a-.i ,,»i fj.i-^^.R.i VL xa <r;w.,,.». 
 
 I !'♦ q<i 
 
 234 
 
 M« . t/ 
 
 APPENDIX. ' 
 
 for L.lOO for every L.50 or L.60 lent, they have con- 
 trived to increase these 400,000,000 or 500,000,000 
 to 800,000,000, and this 800,000,000 being now in a 
 currency double the value of the currency at the 
 time of borrowing, the nation has, in consequence, 
 to pay interest for nearly four times the amount of 
 the real value borrowed. 
 
 The great increase of the value of money caused 
 by Parliamentary enactment, and the decrease of the 
 supply of gold from the American mines, has doubled 
 all our liabilities, and rendered the industrious portion 
 of the community little better than slaves to tho idle 
 portion, the fund-holders, money-lenders, and pension- 
 aries,— -reducing vast numbers of the master manu- 
 facturers and traders (almost all indeed who have 
 had borrowed capital) to ruin, and greatly dimi- 
 nishing the price of labour. ' ' ' 
 
 It is to Sir Robert Peel that the nation is indebt- 
 ed for the bill changing the value of money, and 
 thus robbing his industrious countrymen bt/ law. This 
 individual, in league with other money-lenders, pen- 
 sioners, and receivers of rent, has thus succeeded in 
 doubling the national debt, in greatly impairing the 
 national energies, and in cheating the industrious 
 portion of the community of at least ONE thousand 
 MILLIONS STERLING. Sir Robert Peel will take rank 
 in British history as the (greatest enemy to tJie prosperity 
 iofhis country that the British Isles have produced. 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 c. 
 
 .A 
 

 i< 1 
 
 y have' ^6n- 
 iOO,000,000 
 ig now in a 
 ?ncy at the 
 )nsequence, 
 amount of 
 
 ney caused 
 rease of the 
 las doubled 
 ous portion 
 I to the idle 
 id pension- 
 ster raanu- 
 who have 
 atly dimi- 
 
 L is indebt- 
 lonoy, and 
 'law. This 
 iders, pen- 
 cceeded in 
 )airing the 
 ndustrious 
 
 THOUSAND 
 
 I take rank 
 ' 'prosperity 
 educed. 
 
 , f