UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THE 
 
 PICTURE OF AUSTRALIA, 
 
 Sfc. Sfc.
 
 THE 
 
 PICTURE 
 
 AUSTRALIA: 
 
 EXHIBITING 
 
 NEW HOLLAND, VAN DIEMEN'S LAND, AND ALL 
 
 THE SETTLEMENTS, FROM THE FIRST AT 
 
 SYDNEY TO THE LAST AT THE 
 
 SWAN RIVER. 
 
 LONDON: 
 WHITTAKER, TREACHER, AND CO. 
 
 AVE-MARIA-LANE. 
 
 1829.
 
 LON'DOX : 
 
 SHACKELf, AND BAVLIS, JOHNSON's-COURT. FLEET-STREET.
 
 
 TO 
 
 THE EIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 GENERAL SIR GEORGE MURRAY, 
 
 ONE OF HIS majesty's PEINCIPAL SECEETARIES OF 
 STATE, 
 
 SfC. SfC. Sj-C, 
 THE 
 
 PICTURE OF AUSTRALIA 
 
 IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 LIB SETS
 
 N O T I CE. 
 
 The great Southern Continent, with the adjacent 
 island of Van Diemen's Land and the smaller islets, 
 has been the subject of much description, some of 
 which is of a conflicting and contradictory nature. 
 On the one hand, those countries have been held out 
 as a " Canaan of plenty," where the settler has 
 nothing to do but set down and wax wealthy by the 
 mere operation of nature ; and, on the other, they 
 have been depicted as the abodes of crime, and the 
 sport of the seasons. The new settlement at the 
 Swan River has given them more than their wonted 
 degree of interest ; but, at the same time, it has 
 tended to concentrate the public attention, perhaps 
 too much, to that particular spot. 
 
 Keeping these circumstances in view, it has been 
 my object to set Australia before the reader in its 
 true aspect and condition, as far as there are data 
 for determining these ; and leave him to draw his 
 own conclusions. In order to accomplish this, I 
 have collated the published authorities with some 
 care ; and I have been fortunate enough to receive, 
 from those upon whose ability and veracity I can
 
 Vlll NOTICE. 
 
 implicitly depend, a considerable number of new- 
 facts, as well as the means of correcting a few 
 mistakes in former writers. In short, I have 
 endeavoured to make the book a " Picture of Au- 
 stralia," — a mere outline, it is true, but still, I hope, 
 faithful to the original in the principal features. 
 
 In treating of a great continent, of which the 
 coasts only are known, and some of these but very 
 imperfectly, it has not been possible to connect the 
 several parts without occasionally offering an opinion. 
 I trust, however, it will be found, that I have done 
 that, generally, with so close an allusion to the esta- 
 blished phenomena, as will induce the candid reader 
 to see and to confess that, whatever faults there may 
 be in the execution of my little book, the intention 
 has been upright. 
 
 Respecting the Colonies and Colonists, I have not 
 ventured to write much, as I found that the picture 
 of these is in sunshine or shadow, according as the 
 delineator has or has not been fortunate himself; 
 and thus, as I could not implicity believe the reports 
 myself, I did not feel that I should be justified in 
 laying them before that public, from which I have 
 already received much more attention than I had 
 any title to expect. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 September, 1829.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Page 
 General Descrtption — Situation ; its Advantages — Compa- 
 rison with other Countries — Geographical Positions in New 
 Holland — Shores, Bays, and Mouths of Rivers — Rivers and 
 
 Blountains Positions, Bays, &c., in Van Diemen's Land — 
 
 Rivers and Mountains 1 — 5C 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Seas, Islands, Reefs, &c.— General Character of the Seas — 
 Islands — Reefs — The Great Barrier R^ef — Reefs in Torres' 
 Strait — Formation of Reefs by the Coral Insect — Winds and 
 Currents, and their Causes — Tides 57 — 88 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Climate, Soil, and Appearance of the Country — 
 Dry and rainy Season — Bleteoiology, with some tables — Tem- 
 perature Floods in the Rivers, with their Causes — Appearance 
 
 of the different Districts, and kinds of S'orface — Appearance of 
 Van Diemen's Land 89 — 115 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Native Minerals and Plants — Coal — Iron — Sandstone — 
 Limestone — Other Rocks— Pumice — General Estimate of Plants 
 — Peculiarities — Trees — Some new ones — Descriptions of 
 twenty Specimens of Timber from New South Wales — Esculent 
 Vegetables and Fruits— Vegetable Substances — Vegetable Cu- 
 riosities 116 — 166 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Animals. — Peculiarities of Australian Zoology — Exceptions — 
 the Native Dog — the Rat— Hints on the Economy of Pouched 
 Animals— Kangaroos — Kangaroo Rat — Koala — Wombat — . 
 Opossixms, Squirrels, and Badgers (of the Colonists) — Dasyuri
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 —the Hy^Ena, the Devil, tlie native Cat (of the colonists) — 
 
 Bats Ornithorhynchi, jmradoxtis, eracinius — Birds — the 
 
 Emu Menura Superba — Black Swan — Other Birds — Rep- 
 tiles — Lizards Singular Lizard — Snakes — Green Frog — In- 
 sects IMusquitoes — Flies — Wliite Ants — Caterpillars — Sea 
 
 Animals— Mliales — Turtle — Seals — River Fish—Azure Crab 
 —Leaping Fhh— Note , 157—201 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 Native Popui-ation. — General Remarks — Difficulty of form- 
 ing an Estimate of their Character — Influence of Early Navi- 
 gators, of INIalays, and of stray Convicts — Their Appearance at 
 different places — Personal Appearance — Habitations — Clothing 
 
 and Utensils Canoes and Navigation — Fishing — Hunting — 
 
 Weapons the Spear — the Tlirowing-stick — the boomerang — 
 
 Government and Wars — Social Habits — Courtship, and 
 Treatment of Females— Matriculation — Funerals ...... 202 — 269 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Progress of Discovery Notice of the different Voyagers 
 
 from Dirk Hartog to Captain King 270 — 306 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Sketch of the Colonies and Settlements. — New 
 South Wales — Topography, of the Districts — The Coast Coun- 
 tries — The Inland Countries — INIoreton Bay-.-Fort Dundas— 
 "West Port — King George's Sound — The Swan River — Topo- 
 graphy of Van Diemen's Land 307 — 339 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Towns, Buildings, &c 340—351 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Colonial Population 352 — 358 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 Institctions — Cultivated Produce .359 — 366
 
 THE 
 
 PICTURE 
 
 OF 
 
 AUSTRALIA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 General Description. 
 
 The extensive lands in the Great Southern Ocean, 
 for the knowledge of which the civilized world is 
 chiefly indebted to British enterprise; on several por- 
 tions of which British colonies have been established 
 with unprecedented success ; and on other portions of 
 which similar colonies may be expected from time to 
 time to be formed, and to be equally successful ; have 
 many claims on the attention of every one to whom 
 knowledge and the extension of civilization are de- 
 sirable ; and particularly to those who may be dis-
 
 2 THE PICTURE 
 
 posed to seek a home and prosperity in those distant 
 lands. But, desirable as this information is, it has 
 to be gleaned from so many sources, and collated 
 with so much care, that the labour of the acquisition 
 is very great : not because the information is not 
 authentic, for there is no coimtry of which our know- 
 ledge, so far as it extends, is so well substantiated ; 
 but on account of the voluminous form in which it 
 exists. A summary which shall embrace all the 
 points — which shall describe the natural state of 
 those countries, the resources which they afford, and 
 the advantages which they offer in respect both of 
 their productiveness and their position — which shall 
 confirm those general views by a statement of what 
 has been effected by the existing colonists — and which 
 shall point out the most likely means by which the 
 adventurer may ensure success — is, therefore, a de- 
 sideratum. This it is the object of the following 
 pages to supply ; and if it be a failure, the fault 
 must be in the execution, for the published authorities 
 have been carefully consulted and compared, and 
 many additional facts, some of which are of very re- 
 cent date, have been obtained from unpublished jour- 
 nals, and conversations with persons who have visited 
 tlie colony, and were well qualified forjudging of it, 
 ])otli in an economical and a philosophical point of 
 view. 
 
 The enticements which Australia holds out to the 
 intended settler are, a boundless extent of soil, un- 
 appropriated by any other people for purposes of
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. d 
 
 cultivation, that soil situated in latitudes having such 
 a range as to be adapted to the growth of every use- 
 ful vegetable, and the rearing of every useful ani- 
 mal ; and, great part at least, enjoying a climate much 
 better adapted to the constitution and health of Eu- 
 ropeans than any other country to which English- 
 men resort for the purpose of settling. When indeed 
 one compares those extensive colonies and depend- 
 encies into which Britons have carried their own 
 activity, and the means and the example of civiliza- 
 tion to others, one can hardly avoid fixing upon Aus- 
 tralia as the only one in which the settler can find a 
 permanent home for himself and his descendants. 
 Hindustan, the shores of South America, the islands 
 of the Colombian Archipelago, and (as experiment 
 has proved) the territories of Southern Africa, are not 
 adapted for the permanent residence of Englishmen ; 
 and the fact is, that of those who do resort to these 
 places, the principal object is, to earn as speedily as 
 they can, an independence, with which they may 
 return to the mother country. Now, such views strike 
 at the root of improvement to the country visited ; 
 and hence, in the places alluded to, Britons may, in 
 as far as the progress of civilization is concerned, be 
 said to be sojourners, not inhabitants. Thus the 
 only British territory which can be put in com- 
 petition with Australia, is the British portion of 
 North America ; and it requires but little compari- 
 son to discover on which side the advantage lies. 
 It requires no extended argument to prove, that 
 B 2
 
 4 THE PICTURE 
 
 in order properly to bring out the capabilities of a 
 country, the people must consider it as their own, 
 and thus the colonization of Australia, if completely 
 effected, would add to the industrious, enjoying and 
 rational world, more than could be added by any 
 other means or measure, to which reference can at 
 present be made. And the discovery of those vast 
 regions, when the interior has been as carefully ex- 
 plored as the coasts, will give to the conquest of know- 
 ledge as mvich as the Macedonian conqueror fancied 
 he had given to the conquest of the sword, and the 
 feeling will be far different, — they may rejoice that 
 the field of improvement is so extensive, and the 
 means so ample. 
 
 But the advantages and the interest of Australia 
 are not confined to the Australian settler : to the stu- 
 dent and the lover of nature, it is a new woi'ld in al- 
 most all its particulars — in the modification of its 
 seasons ; in the character of its surface ; in the 
 courses of its rivers ; in the appearance of its plants ; 
 in the nature of its animals ; and in the character 
 and habits of its original inhabitants. So striking, 
 indeed, is the contrast that it forms, in all 
 these respects, and in many subordinate ones, that 
 the full investigation of it will add to the book of 
 human knowledge a volume as singular as it is new. 
 When, too, its geographical position is considered, it 
 forms as it were a connecting link between three of 
 the quarters of the world, as marked out by the elder 
 geographers : its communication with Asia, with
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. O 
 
 Africa, and with America, being more easy than that 
 of the average of any of those divisions of the world 
 with the other two. Over every other quarter of the 
 world it has this farther advantage, that it can be cir- 
 cumnavigated with ease, and, comparatively speak- 
 ing, at all seasons. This is not the case with any of 
 the four quarters. Both the old continents are un- 
 approachable on their northern shores ; and from the 
 Mediterranean, which forms the boundary of Eu- 
 rope, Asia, and Africa, a vessel must circumnavigate 
 the entire quarter to reach the nearest opposite sea. 
 The passage by the South of America is one of great 
 hardship and danger ; and even where that continent 
 is the narrowest, it is a voyage of many thousand 
 miles before the opposite shore can be reached. But 
 Australia may be sailed round with the same facility 
 as Great Britain ; and, considering the extent, the 
 dangers are not greater. The passage to Asia is di- 
 rect and short ; that to Africa and the West of Ame- 
 rica is equally direct ; and even to Europe the pas- 
 sage may be made in less time than from the East of 
 Asia or the West of America. If therefoi'e the re- 
 sources of Australia were properly called fortli by a 
 numerous and industrious population, the commer- 
 cial advantages that it might derive from other lands, 
 and bestow upon them in return^ might be greater 
 than can at present be even imagined. 
 
 That general notion of so extensive a country, 
 which is essential to the forming of a proper estimate
 
 b THE PICTURE 
 
 of its value, can be best obtained by arranging the 
 facts into several sections. 
 
 I. Geographical Position and Extent. 
 
 Australia, in the most comprehensive meaning of 
 the term, is the general name of very numerous por- 
 tions of land, all insulated from the rest of the world, 
 and varying in size, from a continent equal to full 
 three-fourths of Europe, to small islets and banks 
 which barely lift their heads above the surrounding 
 ocean, are swept over by the spray of every storm, 
 hardly contain one living vegetable, and most likely 
 have been raised from an unfathomable depth, by 
 small insects, within a period comparatively brief. 
 The whole of those islands lie contiguous to one ano- 
 ther, to the South-east of Asia. They may be, in 
 fact, regarded as a continuation of that great cluster 
 of islands, which, beginning at the west point of Su- 
 matra, off the coast of Malaya, in about 5° north 
 latitude, and 95° east longitude from London, 
 stretches eastward almost to ISO*^ northward, as far 
 as 18" north, and southward to nearly 50° south. The 
 portion of them lying northward of 10° south and 
 eastward as far as 130" were known long before the 
 large islands, and very long before the Eng- 
 li.sh were established on these ; so that a notice 
 relating chiefly to British Australia, may be restrict- 
 ed to the large island of New Holland, the compa- 
 ratively smaller one of Van Diemen's Land, and the
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 7 
 
 little isles and islets with which the shores of these 
 are surrounded. 
 
 At one time, indeed, a British colony was esta- 
 blished much farther to the east, upon Norfolk 
 Island, a small spot, situated in about latitude 30° 
 south, and longitude about 170° east, being about 
 four hundred miles north of New Zealand, and a 
 thousand miles east of the coast of New Holland. 
 That island has a surface of about eleven thousand 
 acres, and the level parts, where the soil is not liable 
 to be washed away by the heavy rains, are very fer- 
 tile. The island also abounds in Norfolk pines, 
 (Auracaria eoccelsa), a tree resembling the spruce, 
 and growing to a great height ; but the island is 
 surrounded by reefs, contains no natural harbour, 
 and on that account the settlement has been aban- 
 doned. 
 
 New Holland lies to the south-east of Asia, 
 nearly between the meridians of Macao in China, and 
 the Kurile Isles on the north-east of Japan. The 
 nearest continental land is INIalaya, the south-east 
 point of Asia, and its distance in a straight line is 
 about one thousand seven hundred miles. The 
 nearest land immediately to the north of it is part of 
 New Guinea, from which it is distant rather more 
 than one hundred miles ; and the next in that quarter 
 is the Island of Timor, the largest and southernmost 
 of the Spice Islands, distant about three hundred miles. 
 On the east, the nearest land of any consequence, 
 toward the north part, is New Caledonia, about nine
 
 8 THE PICTURE 
 
 hundred miles distant, and toward the south part 
 is New Zealand, about one thousand four hundred 
 miles off. On the south, the only land of conse- 
 quence, or probably that exists, is the Island of Van 
 Diemen's Land, distant about one hundred miles ; 
 the main land of Africa on the west, is about one 
 tliousand eight hundred miles off where nearest ; and 
 the average length of a ship's course from England is 
 about sixteen thousand miles. 
 
 New Holland lies between the latitudes of 10° and 
 39" south, so that its extreme dimension from north 
 to south, is about two thousand miles. This greatest 
 extent in latitude is toward the east part, the north- 
 most point being Cape York, on Torres' Strait, op- 
 posite New Guinea, and the southmost, Wilson's 
 Promontory on Bass's Strait, opposite Van Diemen's 
 Land. The extent in longitude is about two 
 thousand five hundred miles ; the eastmost point 
 being Indian Head, near Breaksea Spit, and the 
 westmost, Cape Escarpee on the south of Shark's 
 Bay. Both those points are nearly on the same 
 parallel of latitude, about the 25th degree. Thus, 
 the largest dimension of New Holland is from 
 east to west ; and the differences of the extreme 
 points, both in latitude and in longitude, give very 
 nearly the true measures. 
 
 The surface of the country does not, however, 
 amount nearly to that of a rectangle, having those 
 dimensions. The island is something of a kidney 
 shape, having the convexity towards the south in-
 
 or AUSTRALIA. 9 
 
 dining a little to the west. The western extremity 
 of the south side is about three hundred miles farther 
 to the north than the eastern ; and the great Bight 
 about the middle of the south side, about longitude 
 137" e^st, lies two hundred and fifty miles farther to 
 the north, so that the middle is five hundred and 
 fifty miles shortened towards the south. The east 
 coast is also irregular. The southern extremity of 
 it lying about two hundred miles to the west of the 
 middle, and the north point nearly seven hundred 
 miles to the west of the same. The north coast is 
 still more irregular : immediately to the westward of 
 Cape York, there is a large bay three hundred miles 
 wide, and extending more than four hundred miles 
 southward of that part of the coast, so that the north- 
 east part consists of a triangular peninsula, about 
 four hundred and fifty miles long to the bottom of 
 the bay, (the great Gulf of Carpentaria,) and more 
 than three hundred miles broad at the head of that 
 o-ulf. At rather more than four hundred miles to the 
 westward of the Gulf of Carpentaria, the general 
 line of the coast trends to the south-west, and meets 
 the west coast at North-west Cape, about seven hun- 
 dred miles south of the parallel of Cape York. The 
 west coast also has a curvature, the northern part of 
 it being convex toward the west, and the southern 
 concave toward the same quarter. 
 
 The following remarkable points and distances 
 will serve to determine the figure, and fix the position 
 of the outlines of New Holland, so as to render in- 
 B 3
 
 10 THE PICTURE 
 
 telligible the description of the smaller bays, har- 
 bours, and rivers, the kind of soil and productions, 
 and the locality of the settlements. From Wilson's 
 Promontory, north-eastward to Cape Howe, a dis- 
 tance of about two hundred and fifty miles, may be 
 considered the south-east coast. From Cape Howe 
 northward, and inclining to east to Breaksea Spit, 
 a distance of about nine hundred and fifty miles. 
 From Breaksea Spit north-west, inclining to north 
 to Cape York, about one thousand one hundred and 
 fifty miles. From Cape York westward to Cape Van 
 Diemen, on Melville Island, about nine hundred 
 miles west, inclining in the general line a little to the 
 south, and having the great Gulf of Carpentaria 
 stretching southward in the eastern part. From 
 Cape Van Diemen, southwestward to North-west 
 Cape, about one thousand three hundred miles. From 
 North-west Cape southward, and on the average a 
 little to the east to Cape Van Leeuwin, about nine 
 hundred miles. From Cape Van Leeuwin eastward, 
 and a little north to the bottoni of the great Bight, 
 about one thousand two hundred miles. From the 
 bottom of the Great Bight, south-eastward to Wil- 
 son's Promontory, (which completes the boundary,) 
 about one thousand one hundred miles. Collecting 
 these, we have : — 
 
 MILES. 
 
 A. — Wilson's Promontory to Cape Howe, N. E 250 
 
 B. — Cape Howe to Breaksea Spit, N. a little E 950 
 
 C Breaksea Spit to Cape York, N. W 1150 
 
 D — Cape York to Cape Van Diemen, W 900
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 11 
 
 MILES. 
 
 E Cape Van Diemen to North West Cape, S. W. . . 1300 
 
 F. From N. W. Cape to Cape Van Leeuwin, S 900 
 
 G Cape Van Leeuwin to Bight, E. a little N 1200 
 
 H From Bight to Wilson's Promontory, S. E 1100 
 
 Circumference in round numbers, about 7750 
 
 This tabular arrangement will enable reference to 
 be made to any particular place, occurrence, or phe- 
 nomenon, as on coast A, coast B, and so on, by 
 which means much uninstructive . repetition will be 
 avoided. 
 
 Different portions of the coasts of New Holland 
 have also been named after the navigators by whom 
 they were first discovered, the ships which they 
 commanded, or individuals whom those navigators 
 wished to honour. The parts originally first seen 
 by British navigators, extending from about tlie 
 middle of the south coast, eastward and northward 
 to Cape York, have been called by the general name 
 New South Wales ; and where the coast had been 
 previously seen and named by any otht^r nation, the 
 English have not disturbed the name. Taking tlie 
 coast westward from the termination of the British 
 discoveries, the land, as far as to near Cape Leeuwin, 
 was seen by Pieter Nuyts, a Dutchman, in 1672, and 
 is often called Nuyts' Land, after him. Nuyts' 
 Land corresponds in general with coast G in the 
 above enumeration. From a little to the south-east 
 of Cape Leeuwin to near the Swan River, the coast 
 gets the name of Leeuwin's Land, having been first
 
 12 TIIF. PICTURE 
 
 sGtMi l)v the commander of a Dutch vessel named the 
 Lioness, in 1622. The coast from near the Swan 
 River to Cape Escarpee, was named after Edel, a 
 naviirator who saw the coast in the year 1619 ; and 
 the land from Cape Escarpee to North-west Cape, 
 was called Endraght's Land, after the vessel in 
 which Captain Dirk Hartog touched at it in 1616. 
 These three form coast F, in the above table. The 
 whole line of the north-west coast, from North-west 
 Cape to Cape Van Diemen, coast E, got the name of 
 De Witt's Land, from a Dutch navigator, in 1627, 
 1628 ; and the same fleet saw the Gulf of Carpen- 
 taria, and named it after a General Carpenter, whom 
 they had on board. The west part of coast D, Avas 
 seen by Zeachen, a Dutchman, in 1618, and by him 
 named Van Diemen's Land ; but as that name has 
 been continued to the island on the south, the north 
 coast has got the name of Arnhem's Land. Of New 
 South Wales, the greater part of the east coast, 
 from near Cape Howe to Cape York, was disco- 
 vered by Captain Cook, in 177^- The coast west- 
 ward, to beyond Wilson's Promontory, was discovered 
 by Mr. Bass, in 1798. Still westward, to about 
 longitude 140° 30', Avas discovered by Captain Grant, 
 in 1800. Westward still, to about longitude 138°, 
 was discovered by Captain Baudin, in 1802 ; and 
 the intermediate portion, westward, to the termina- 
 tion of Nuyts' discovery, was discovered by Captain 
 Flinders, in 1802. In these, though the details were 
 not then, or, in some places, are not yet filled up.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 13 
 
 the general outline was determined, and the re- 
 searches of the moderns have in general verified the 
 positions laid down by the early Dutch navigators. 
 
 Van Diemex's Land. — This island, as has been 
 said, lies to the southward of the eastern part of New 
 Holland, separated from it by Bass's Strait, which 
 where narrowest, is about one hundred miles wide. 
 Van Diemen's Land is a sort of four-sided figure ; 
 but the sides are of very unequal length, and ex- 
 ceedingly crooked in their outlines. The extreme 
 north point is about latitude 40° 40'^, and the extreme 
 south about 43° 40', which makes the greatest length 
 in that direction about two hundred miles. The 
 extreme Avest point is in about 144° 30', and the ex- 
 treme east in about 148° 30', which makes the 
 greatest breadth about one hundred and sixty miles. 
 The four most remarkable points that determine the 
 figure of Van Diemen's Land, are Cape Portland, 
 on Bass's Strait, on the north-east ; Cape Grim, on 
 the north-west ; South-west Cape, on the south- 
 west ; and Cape Pillar, on the south-east. Cape 
 Portland and Cape Grim are nearly upon the same 
 parallel, and their distance is about one hundred and 
 fifty miles. South-west Cape lies about eighty miles to 
 the eastward of Cape Grim, and the distance between 
 them is nearly two hundred and eighty miles. Cape 
 Pillar lies about twenty miles north of South-west 
 Cape, and their distance is about one hundred 
 miles. Cape Pillar lies nearly south of Cape Port- 
 land, and distant about one hundred and fifty miles.
 
 14 THE PICTURE 
 
 As from this account of them it is evident that 
 the coasts of Van Diemen's Land lie nearly in the 
 directions of east and west, north and south, it will 
 be sufficient to refer to them, as such, without any 
 particular names. The north coast has a general 
 curvature southward, and is very much broken by 
 projecting headlands and bays. The west coast is 
 straightcr in its general direction ; but it also con- 
 tains bays and headlands. The south coast is re- 
 markably irregular towards the eastern part ; and so 
 is the east coast towards the south. The general 
 character of the country is great irregularity of 
 surface ; and where that is the case, except when 
 the mountains run in straight ridges parallel to the 
 shores, it is an almost universal law in the formation 
 of countries, that the lines of the shores are very 
 crooked. 
 
 II. Shores, Bays, axd Mouths of Rivers. 
 
 With the exception of the Island of Van Die- 
 men's Land, which in consequence of its small size, 
 is easily traversed, and a small portion behind the 
 principal colonial settlement of Sydney, on coast 
 B, the shores of Australia are the only parts that 
 are known ; and therefore some account of their 
 appearance is necessary to the formation of that 
 very imperfect judgment of the general value of 
 the country, which is all that the data of which we 
 are in possession will afford ; nor is there any say- 
 ing from the experience that has hitherto been ac-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 15 
 
 quired whether the coasts afford a safe means of 
 judging of the country that lies inland, though 
 there can be no question that they will be decisive 
 of the utility of the country as resjjects its com- 
 mercial value, and that is the principal light in 
 which it must in the meantime be viewed. Indeed, 
 as affects the immediate colonization, even as effects 
 it or can affect it for many centuries, the general 
 character of New Holland, does not need to be 
 taken into the account, as enough that is abun- 
 dantly fertile and sufficiently accessible has already 
 been discovered, to meet any increase of population 
 that can be calculated upon. Still, it Avere well 
 that any points, upon all the coasts that are advan- 
 tageously situated for colonies should be taken pos- 
 session of, not only that the civilized inhabitants 
 may all be one people, speaking one language, but 
 that, in the event of a war, England may have no 
 enemy in those seas, to harass her colonies, and 
 destroy her commerce. 
 
 Any general account would not however be use- 
 ful, or even intelligible without a previous know- 
 ledge of the details, which we sliall accordingly 
 collect and condense, beginning from Wilson's Pro- 
 montory, and following the same rules as formerly 
 in tracing the directions of the shores. 
 
 The whole of shore A, from Wilson's Promon- 
 tory to Cape Howe, is a straight sandy beach ; the 
 ground behind it low, sandy and barren, with oc- 
 casional stunted bushes, and without any fresh
 
 16 THE PICTURE 
 
 water. Hills of considerable elevation are seen at 
 the distance of sixty to eighty miles inland, but 
 neither their character, nor that of the intermediate 
 country is known. From Cape Howe northward, 
 shore B for some distance retains its sterile charac- 
 ter. It presents small hills of indurated clay, and 
 beaches of sand. Two-fold Bay, about thirty miles 
 north of Cape Howe, is the only inlet, and it is 
 shallow, and ends in swamps. Behind the bay 
 there is a good deal of wood, and some land that 
 might be cultivated, but it is not of good quality. 
 The whole coast from Two-fold Bay northward, 
 to Shoal Haven River, consists of an alternation of 
 swamps, sandy beaches, and elevated points, the 
 latter being composed of soft clay, slate, and in- 
 durated clay, or, when higher, of soft sandstone. 
 There are some openings in the coast, but they are, 
 in consequence of the bars across their entrances, 
 accessible only by boats, and by those only in calm 
 weather. The surface is stony and irregular, and 
 though the soil in the ravines has the appearance of 
 fertility, it is flooded to a great depth during the 
 inundations. The country inland is mountainous ; 
 and there is nothing to invite settlers to this part 
 of the shore. 
 
 Into Shoal Haven there falls a river of conside- 
 rable magnitude, but the entrance is shallow and 
 difficult, and the country for a considerable distance 
 along the banks is very swampy. 
 
 The whole sea coast to the south of Shoal Haven
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 17 
 
 may be regarded as unfit for any useful purpose. 
 The elevated points are rocky and sterile ; and the 
 lower surfaces are marshes, inundated during the 
 rains, and many of them lagoons, at all times co- 
 vered with salt water ; and the beaches by which 
 they are separated from the sea, appear to be bars 
 which have progressively been raised by the joint 
 action of the land floods and the tide. It is by no 
 means improbable that this part of New South 
 Wales is in a state of progressive improvement; 
 and that the process by which the inlet of the sea 
 has been changed into a detached lagoon, the lagoon 
 into a marsh, and the marsh into an alluvial land 
 occasionally flooded, may go on till the land be so 
 elevated, as to project the water into the sea, by 
 one channel of a continuous inclined plane, and so 
 become fit for cultivation. But this, though a very 
 probable, and indeed a very obvious process, is one 
 with which man cannot interfere ; and therefore all 
 that he can do is to avail himself of those portions 
 of the country which Nature has already made fit 
 for his labour, and stand still and admire the pro- 
 gress of her handywork, in such situations as this. 
 It is in this winning of new land from the ocean, 
 that a knowledge of New Holland adds so much 
 to the physical philosophy of the globe ; and in the 
 district from Cape Howe to Shoal Haven, we have 
 an instance of one of those modes of operation, 
 that — by the joint agency of the land floods and the 
 eddy which sets northward from the projecting
 
 18 THE PICTURE 
 
 points by the interruption of the southward cur- 
 rent at these — thus deposits, in the entrance to 
 tlie inlet, the debris which the land-flood brought 
 down. Very often vegetation comes in aid of the 
 forming land. The different species of trees known 
 by the common name of mangrove, which grow 
 and propagate themselves in the shallow margins of 
 the sea, gradually creep outward into that element, 
 and thus form banks which are proof against the 
 waves ; but they add not to the valuable land, for 
 behind the thicket of mangroves there is generally 
 found a salt-marsh or a swamp ; or if the flat land 
 which they inclose, be in a climate sufficiently Avarm, 
 and having a dry season sufficiently prolonged for 
 evaporating the water behind the mangroves, the soil 
 is totally arid and without vegetation, and generally, 
 as we shall afterwards find when we examine the in- 
 tertropical shores of Australia, covered with an in- 
 crustation of salt, which makes it seem to an Euro- 
 pean, as if the snow of Australia were proof against 
 the burning influence of a tropical sun. 
 
 To the northward of Shoal Haven, the coast as- 
 sumes a different character. It there rises up into 
 lofty cliffs, composed chiefly of horizontal strata of 
 sandstone, resting upon claystone, and exhibiting, in 
 some places, beds of coal in the face of the beach. 
 This lofty shore extends northward nearly to Botany 
 Bay ; the highland interior of it gets the name of 
 Illawarra ; and it is pretty thickly covered with wood, 
 chiefly a species of celestrina, the cedar of the colo- 
 nists.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 19 
 
 The same bold shore of sandstone cliffs extends 
 considerably to the northward ; in the course of it 
 some of the best harbours, such as Botany Bay, Port 
 Jackson, Broken Bay, and Port Hunter, are contained. 
 The cliffs which form the outer heads at Port Jack- 
 son are very bold and precipitous ; and the land 
 within is so nearly of the same elevation, that it is not 
 at all surprising that Captain Cook should have 
 passed that excellent and extensive natural harbour, 
 without the least suspicion of its existence. The 
 number of coves or branches into which Port Jackson 
 ramifies is very numerous ; and as the country around 
 is diversified in its surface, and, though not naturally 
 very rich, yet susceptible of cultivation, and accessible 
 by water to an immense extent, it is difficult to ima- 
 gine a more advantageous situation than that of 
 Sydney, both for foreign trade and domestic inter- 
 course. 
 
 From Port Jackson to Broken Bay, the same 
 bold shore of perpendicular cliffs of sandstone, dis- 
 persed in horizontal strata, still continues, though 
 there it is occasionally broken by low beaches of sand, 
 behind which there are salt marshes or lagoons. 
 Broken Bay is even more ramified than Port Jackson, 
 and the largest river in the south-eastern part of the 
 colony falls into it, but it is not adapted for ves- 
 sels, except those of small burden, though boats and 
 lighters can proceed a considerable way into the in- 
 terior, where the soil is much more fertile than to- 
 wards the sea.
 
 20 THE PICTURE 
 
 A little northward of Broken Bay there is a low 
 sandy beach, and a lagoon and swamps, which sepa- 
 rate the fertile land to a considerable distance from 
 the sea ; but within about eight miles of Newcastle, 
 the high sandstone cliffs appear again, and, as is the 
 case to the southward of Botany Bay, contains seams 
 of coal. Two seams appear for the greater part of 
 the distance toward the north ; but southward, they 
 gradually approach each other, and, at the southern 
 termination of the cliff's, the strata are not interrupted, 
 but bend or dip down under the sea. These strata of 
 coal are those worked for the supply of the colony. 
 We have no precise information as to their quality, 
 but the q\iantity is abundant. 
 
 A little to the north-east of Port Hunter, tliere is 
 a considerable opening. Port Stephens, but the land 
 around it is sandy and barren, and the rivulets of 
 fresh water that fall into it come from swamps at no 
 great distance. From Port Stephens, northward to 
 Port Macquarrie, in about latitude 31° 20', the shore 
 is of a different character from any that has yet been 
 mentioned. The hills recede to some distance from 
 the shore, which is very broken and irregular, with a 
 number of shallow bays and lagoons, with small rivers 
 of fresh water. 
 
 The land round Port Macquarrie is good, and there 
 is abundance of timber ; the river also (the Hastings) 
 is of considerable size ; but the water over the bar is 
 shallow, so that it cannot admit vessels of more than 
 100 tons burden.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 21 
 
 From Port Macquarrie to Moreton Bay, the en- 
 trance of which is in about latitude 27° 30', the shore 
 is irregular, and the surface much broken by hills, 
 one of which, Mount Warning, in about latitude 28"^ 
 20', rises to a considerable height. Some of the land, 
 liowever, as seen from the sea, has a well- wooded and 
 pleasant appearance. The hills are craggy and pre- 
 cipitous, but the low grounds have every appearance 
 of fertility. Among other timber, the Norfolk pine 
 (Auracaria excelsa) is found growing to a great 
 height, which might be expected, as this part of the 
 coast has the same latitude as Norfolk Island, and 
 also the same hilly surface. 
 
 Moreton Bay is a very considerable expanse of 
 water, defended from the sea by a long island, and 
 a projecting headland on each side. There are eigh- 
 teen feet water over the bar, and may be more in some 
 places ; and though there be many banks in the bay, 
 there are numerous channels between them. The ex- 
 tent of the bay from north to south is more than sixty 
 miles ; and into the middle of the western side of it 
 falls the Brisbane, the largest river that has yet been 
 discovered running eastward in New Holland. The 
 land on the shores of the bay, and in many places of the 
 banks of the river, so far as they have been explored, 
 is fertile ; so that, as this bay approaches much nearer 
 to a tropical climate, it has been supposed that many 
 productions which cannot be brought to maturity in 
 the vicinity of Sydney might be matured here. The 
 rocks in the interior, for a considerable part of the
 
 22 THE PICTURE 
 
 distance here, are understood to be granite. Moreton 
 Bay is the last inlet of consequence that has been ex- 
 plored on shore B, or to the southward of Breaksea 
 
 Spit. 
 
 Breaksea Spit is a reef of broken coral and sand, ex- 
 tendino- about twenty miles north of a long and barren 
 point, on the east side of which is Indian Head, the 
 easternmost cape of New Holland. Within this point 
 and the Spit there is Hervey's Bay, a considerable 
 opening. This bay affords an anchorage ; but the 
 land at the head of it is low, though hills appear in 
 the distance. The part on the east is barren, and there 
 do not appear to be any considerable rivers. 
 
 The shore continues of the same character as on 
 the west side of Hervey's Bay till Port Curtis, a 
 little north of latitude 24% be reached. Port Curtis 
 is protected from the sea by Fairy Island, which is 
 of considerable size, but barren, and with little or no 
 fresh water. In general, indeed, the shores of the 
 bay are not of the most promising nature ; the trees 
 are stunted, and the hills stony and barren. There 
 is one mountain stream, the Boyne, upon the banks 
 of which, a little into the interior, there are a few 
 patches of fertile land, but they ai'e not of any 
 considerable extent. Northward of Port Curtis, 
 and almost immediately under the tropic of Capri- 
 corn, there is another opening, Keppel's Bay, the 
 head of wliich is connected by a channel with that 
 of Port Curtis, but that channel is so shallow as to 
 be dr}' at low water. The shores of both these open-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 23 
 
 ings are in general so thickly beset with mangroves 
 that no landing can be effected, and the ground, 
 though it produces some trees and grass, is appa- 
 rently so stony as not to be fit for agricultural 
 purposes. 
 
 About 1° north of the tropic there are some deep 
 bays ; Port BoVen opening to the east, and Shoal- 
 water Bay and Broad Sound opening to the north. 
 These bays are of considerable dimensions, and the 
 headlands by which they are divided from each 
 other, are very rugged, and of uneven surface ; but 
 the shores of the bays are low and fringed by man- 
 groves, and the water is very shallow. 
 
 From these bays northward to Cape Melville, in 
 latitude about 14°, the land is high, and many 
 remarkable promontories run out into the sea. In 
 general the mountains are rocky and precipitous, 
 though in some places there is a good deal of timber. 
 From Melville Cape nearly the whole way to Cape 
 York, the coast is without interest and without 
 utility : it is generally low and sandy, broken only 
 by occasional sand hills, and clothed with very little 
 vegetation. Indeed, so far as discovery has yet 
 been prosecuted, there is not much on the whole long 
 line of shore C, from Breaksea Spit to the northern 
 extremity of the country, calculated to attract 
 the attention of the settler. Captain King, Avho 
 examined the northern portion of this shore with 
 more minuteness than any other navigator, gives 
 it as his opinion that there is little to be sought for
 
 24 THE PICTURE 
 
 in the last seven hundred miles. " For the greater 
 part of this space," says he, " the sea beach was 
 seen by me ; but nothing like a river, or spring of 
 any consequence, was observed. Whenever I did 
 land, my visit was confined to the neighbourhood of 
 the sea coast, and there the soil appeared to be shal- 
 low, and the timber small and stunted ; but in some 
 parts, particularly about the parallel of 17° of south 
 latitude, the country was well wooded, and bore a 
 verdant and pleasant appearance. To the northward 
 of Endeavour River, in 15" 27^ S., all appearance 
 of fertility ceases, and the remainder of the coast to 
 the North Cape, which is about three hundred 
 miles, is low, sandy, and barren ; at this spot also 
 the granite rocks ceased to appear." 
 
 The great Gulf of Carpentaria to the south-west of 
 North Cape, has a very great extent of sea coast, not 
 less than nine hundred miles, including the bays and 
 windings. The shores are in general low, and the 
 water almost every where shallow to the edge over blue 
 mud or sand ; the lee shores are covered with man- 
 groves, behind which water is often seen. In some 
 elevated places there are trees, often palms of con- 
 siderable elevation, but barrenness is the general 
 character of the surface. There is around the whole 
 shore no appearance of any thing like a large river, 
 or permanent rivulet ; and tlie ])robability is that 
 the country is in a great measure flooded with water 
 in the rainy season, and burnt up with heat during 
 the dry. Some of the bays, more particularly those
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 25 
 
 on the west side, of which there are a great many, 
 afford good anchorage ; but there does not appear 
 to be any inducement for vessels to visit the gulf. 
 From the western termination of the Gulf of Car- 
 pentaria, which is at Cape Wessel, the north 
 point of a group of islands, to Cape Van Diemen, 
 which is also on an island, the whole line of the 
 coast is low and sandy, and of coiu'se the country is 
 in the dry season burnt up, and generally without 
 fresh water. There are, however, some projecting 
 headlands. In the intermediate space between the 
 two capes. Captain King found a river, which 
 flowed through low land of a very sterile character, 
 the banks of it being on both sides thickly beset 
 with mangroves ; and though the river was examined 
 to the distance of forty miles from its confluence 
 with the sea, there was no improvement in the 
 land. Along this part of the coast, where the head- 
 lands could be ascended, there Avere ranges of 
 wooded hills observable in the interior ; but the 
 nature of the country by which these are separated 
 is not known. Some parts of the islands that lie on 
 the west part of this shore, are a little better, though 
 in these too there is a want of water, and a general 
 indication of sterility. On the south side of the 
 bay that lies behind these islands, there are some 
 small rivers ; but the tract through which they flow 
 is flat and unproductive, and exhibits little vege- 
 tation, except a few clumps of palm trees, some of 
 which are of considerable height, and stunted 
 
 c
 
 26 THE PICTURE 
 
 bushes, with abundance of mangroves along the 
 shores of the sea and the margins of the rivers. 
 The grass upon most, if not all, of these shores, is 
 a species of spinifex, not adapted for the food of 
 cattle, and of so hard and pointed a description, as 
 to render travelling over the rocks, in the fissures of 
 which it is found, both a tedious and a disagreeable 
 employment. 
 
 The north-east coast, from Cape Van Diemen 
 to North-west Cape, is not mvich more promising. 
 The eastern shore of the large open bay which lies 
 immediately to the west of Cape Van Diemen, is 
 low, the shore covered by thick mangroves, and the 
 land behind parched, and in general covered only 
 with salt and saline plants in the dry season, and 
 probably in the rainy season it is wholly inundated. 
 At the bottom of that bay, there is an inlet which 
 penetrates a considerable way into the interior, and 
 in the vicinity of which, there are some considerable 
 elevations ; but the whole is, in the dry season, arid 
 and burnt up, and does not appear to be at present, 
 or ever, susceptible of being rendered fit for the 
 habitation and support of civilized man. 
 
 From this place, (about longitude 128° E.) to 
 longitude 125°, the shore is rocky and precipitous, 
 the rocky eminences being mostly of compact 
 sandstone, and covered with a scanty and dry vege- 
 tation. These eminences are probably also scat- 
 tered over the interior, and interspersed with low 
 lands, which are flooded during the rainy season,
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 27 
 
 and burnt up and salt during the dry. In the dry 
 season, the heat on this coast is excessive, as there 
 is no water to cool the air by its evaporation. There 
 are many bays and channels^ in which the tide rises 
 high, and the currents^run with great rapidity ; and 
 though rivers, or rather rills of fresh water have 
 been met with in some of the inlets, it is by no means 
 unlikely that there may be seasons, and perhaps 
 times during every season, when all of them are dry. 
 The remainder of this shore, as far as North-west 
 Cape, so far as has been hitherto discovered, (for 
 there are about 400 miles where the land has been 
 seen only at intervals,) is low and sandy, thinly 
 covered with stunted trees, and the water is in general 
 shallow, and dangerous from the innumerable banks 
 and reefs. Along this coast, where rocks do appear, 
 they are generally, if not always, of sandstone, dis- 
 posed in horizontal beds, the same as in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Port Jackson. There are also some 
 high cliffs and banks of indurated clay, and in many 
 places the water, where it is evaporated, leaves a 
 crust of tough blue clay upon the surface. 
 
 In general, the west coast is not of a better cha- 
 racter. Indeed, though it diifcrs in elevation at dif- 
 ferent places, there does not appear to be a single 
 point of it worthy of being settled till the vicinity 
 of Cape Leeuwin be arrived at. Shark's Bay is the 
 only inlet that has been found in this dreary and 
 uninhabitable coast ; and though the islands between 
 it and the sea, may afford shelter for ships, and 
 c 2
 
 28 THE PICTURE 
 
 fish can be had in abundance in the bay, there is 
 nothing else to tempt any one to visit it. 
 
 So far as has been discovered, the best part of 
 it, indeed the only part that seems at all adapted 
 for cultivation, is the distinct on the banks of the 
 Swan, or Black Swan River. Part of the rock at this 
 place is limestone, which reposes upon toadstone, 
 and is in many places covered by the same kind of 
 sandstone which is found on so many other parts of 
 the coast. 
 
 The south coast also is far from promising ; and 
 the remark that most generally applies to it is, that 
 where there is fresh w^ater, there does not appear 
 to be much land capable of being cultivated ; and 
 where there appears to be land fit for cultivation, 
 there is a want of fresh water. 
 
 This shore from Cape Leeuwin, a considerable 
 way eastward, presents one alternation of sandy 
 beaches, sand hills, and cliffs, with very scanty 
 vegetation, and in some places the summits of high 
 mountains appear in the interior. In the portion 
 to which this character applies, there is only one 
 bay of any consequence, King George's Sound, in 
 about latitude 35°, longitude 118'*, which is about 
 the most southerly land to the west of the Bight, 
 and therefore well situated for vessels that have 
 to pass Bass's Straits, as the sound supplies both 
 wood and water. But the inner harbours, which 
 are of course the safest, also the most con- 
 venient for wooding and watering, do not admit.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 2^ 
 
 with safety, vessels drawing more than thirteen or 
 fourteen feet of water. From King George's 
 Sound, eastward, the discoverers, by whom it has 
 been very carefully examined, have found out little 
 more than that it contains nothing worth seeking. For 
 nearly the last five hundred miles westward of the 
 Bight, this shore presents a very singular appear- 
 ance. It consists of unbroken cliffs of strata, nearly 
 horizontal, and for a considerable extent presenting 
 a perpendicular front six hundred feet in height. 
 This singular cliff consists of two distinct portions, 
 the upper one of a brownish colour, and the other 
 white ; the former being conjectured by Captain 
 Flinders, to be calcareous, and the latter gritstone. 
 From more recent arrangement of the strata ob- 
 served at the Swan River, as well as from the 
 position of the sandstone, as the uppermost rock 
 in other parts, indeed, in all other parts of New 
 Holland where it has been found, — it is by no means 
 improbable that the order may be just the reverse 
 of that stated by Captain Flinders. But whatever 
 it may be, this singular formation for such an ex- 
 tent of coast in so large a country as New Holland, 
 and where the principal elevation, where it has been 
 traced, appears to lie in the direction of north 
 and south, would lead to the supposition that there 
 is something very peculiar in the interior of the 
 country. From coasting along the shore, nothing, 
 however, can be known, as those high and level cliffs 
 conceal every thing but their own level line.
 
 30 THE PICTURE 
 
 At the bottom of the great Bight, the character 
 of the shore changes. At the first trending of the 
 coast towards the south-east, there are sandy hills 
 with little vegetation, that rise the one over the 
 other as they recede into the interior ; from thence 
 to Wilson's Promontory, the line of the coast be- 
 comes more irregular, and the appearance of the 
 land more diversified. Some places are well wooded, 
 but in general, barrenness is the prevailing character, 
 and every where there is a similar, or at least a great 
 scarcity of fresh water. From longitude 136° to 
 about longitude 138°, on this coast, there are two 
 lai'ge and deep bays : Spencer's Gulf toward the 
 west, and the Gulf of St. Vincent toward the east. 
 These gulfs extend a great way into the interior, 
 the head of Spencer's Gulf being more than one 
 hundred miles to the north of the parallel of Port 
 Jackson ; but like most of the other gulfs that 
 have been explored on the north-west and south of 
 New Holland, they lead to nothing. Deep as they 
 are, they receive no rivers, and hardly even any 
 rills. 
 
 From those gulfs to the entrance of Bass's Strait, 
 the sandy and barren character of the shore con- 
 tinues ; and though the hummocks be sometimes of 
 considerable elevation, they appear to be composed 
 principally of sand. 
 
 On the northern shore of Bass's Strait, the land 
 improves. At Cape Otway, the commencement of 
 h e straits from the west, a high and well wooded
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 31 
 
 land commences, and is found for a considerable 
 extent ; and where it does recede from the shore, and 
 Port Phillip, and Western Port, the soil between it 
 and the sea is of better quality. Still, though there 
 be some good soil, there is a deficiency of fresh 
 water. 
 
 From this summary of the reports of those who 
 have examined the shores of New Holland, it ap- 
 pears that, with the exception of the middle part of 
 the east coast, there is little in them from which 
 even a guess at the nature and appearance of the 
 interior can be drawn. From its comparatively 
 small breadth, we may indeed conclude that the 
 whole of the peninsula to the eastward of the Gulf 
 of Carpentaria is an arid waste, more especially the 
 narrow part of it towards Cape York. As for the 
 rest of those shores, upon which no river equal in 
 size to either of those that rise nearly opposite to 
 each other in Van Diemen's Land is found, they seem 
 to be barriers ; but of what they are the barriers, 
 they are so dissimilar to any other shores with which 
 we are acquainted for enabling us to know or guess, 
 even by that least satisfactory of all means, analogy. 
 
 III. Rivers and Mountains. 
 
 If our knowledge of the shores of New Holland 
 be not of the most satisfactory nature, yet it is per- 
 fect information, compared with what we know of 
 the interior. In all the other continents, with, per«
 
 32 THE PICTURE 
 
 haps, the exception of that part of Southern Africa, 
 which lies to the northward of the territory of the 
 Cape, there are some great features, indicated at the 
 shores, by means of which we can form a hypothesis 
 of the whole of the country, which wants only the 
 filling up of the details from actual observation. 
 The termination of a vast ridge of mountains, ena- 
 bles us to say, that here the water divides, and the 
 courses of the streams are to opposite seas ; large 
 rivers enable us to be certain, before we have em- 
 barked on the absolute survey, that here are valleys 
 of ample dimensions ; or the smallness of the streams 
 makes us sure that here the central elevation is at no 
 sreat distance from the sea. But in New Holland, 
 except in so far as actual observation has gone, and 
 compared with the whole magnitude of the country, 
 that is yet but a mere speck, we can speculate no- 
 thing. For full seven-eightlis of the circumference, 
 there is not one indication, save the continuity of the 
 shore, that would lead us to conclude, that what we 
 saw were any thing else than a portion of an island 
 of less dimensions than many of those by which this 
 regular continent is surrounded. Wilson's Promon- 
 tory, which is of considerable elevation, and accord- 
 ing to Messrs. Bass and Flinders, of hard granite, 
 miffht at first be considered as the termination of 
 a central ridare of mountains. But such is not the 
 case : it is detached from the high land in the inte- 
 rior, not only by a low, flat sand, but nearly by a 
 salt water lagoon ; so that it can be regarded as
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 33 
 
 nothing more than an insulated rock, which may at 
 some time, and probably not at a time very remote, 
 have stood detached in the sea. Cape Howe also 
 stands among sandy shores ; and though in the comi- 
 try to the south of Sydney, some of the high points 
 on the coast be connected with the interior, yet none 
 of them has the appearance of the beginning of a 
 continuous ridge. The same is the case with the 
 mountains that lie further north upon the east coast. 
 It is the same with Cape York : that is not high 
 itself, and the country to the south of it contains 
 only hummocks of sand. The two points of the 
 north coast, west of the Gulf of Carpentaria, are 
 upon islands ; and throughout the whole of that and 
 the north-west coast, the hills that appear are evi- 
 dently detached masses, and in many places they 
 are, during the rainy season, insulated by the inunda- 
 tions. On the west coast, there are no better indi- 
 cations. North-west Cape is the termination of a 
 sandy promontory, and the elevations between that 
 and the Swan River appear to be merely hummocks 
 running along tlie coast. Swan River itself, or Cape 
 Leeuwin, give no more indication of an extent of 
 either hill or valley. The south coast is still more 
 puzzling. Where mountains appear, they seem to 
 be insulated, and have not the least appearance of 
 rising in elevation toward the centre of the country, 
 as is usual in the other continents ; then the five 
 hundred miles of elevated coast in the very centre of 
 the south, with the strata perfectly horizontal, is so 
 c 3
 
 34 THE riCTURE 
 
 contrary to what is observed in other countries, that 
 it darkens rather than explains. There are some in- 
 stances in which the summits of the rocks and reefs 
 that run out into the sea, determine the direction 
 of the mountains, and thus afford a key to the in- 
 ternal geography of the country. But the reefs in 
 the vicinity of New Holland are not of any such 
 use. The reefs there have nothing to do with geo- 
 logy, — they are not the effects of those mighty 
 causes, affecting the mass of the globe, which have 
 girdled Europe with the Alps, Africa with the 
 Atlas, Asia with the Himmaleh, and America with 
 the Andes. They spring from no such convulsion of 
 nature as those which have spotted the Atlantic with 
 many of its isles, and stretched the chain of the 
 Sunda islands from Sumatra to Timor. They are 
 the work of means equally wonderful, but much 
 more humble, — they are built quietly under the sea 
 by countless myriads of little insects. As will be 
 more particularly explained afterwards, the coral 
 insects build their little habitations, one generation 
 above the ruins of another, till, from the depth of 
 hundreds of fathoms, they reach the surface. Then 
 another ridge follows ; the sea fills up the chasms 
 with broken coral, sand, and other marine remains, 
 after which the reef is manured and planted by the 
 birds, and in time becomes an island. 
 
 Thus the theory of the geography of New Hol- 
 land cannot proceed one step beyond the details that 
 have been proved by experience ; and though
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 35 
 
 observation, where it has been made, is just as 
 good with respect to the local parts in New Hol- 
 land, as to any other place, it bars all inference. 
 Where theory would lead the geographer to look 
 for a river, there is a thirsty sand ; and where he 
 would, from the analogy of other countries, expect a 
 mountain, there is a marsh. 
 
 Of the whole 7>7^^ miles, which, by a rude calcula- 
 tion, form the shores of New Holland, the rivers 
 that have been discovered, or that, to all appear- 
 ance, are discoverable, running towards the sea, are « 
 confined to a very small portion, not exceeding five 
 hundred miles ; that is, from Shoal Haven in the 
 south, to Moreton Bay in the north ; and the sources 
 of those rivers, where they have been traced, are so 
 circuitous and crookfed, that they are of little use 
 in communicating an idea, either of the general 
 character, or the general shape of the countries. 
 These rivers are : 
 
 1. Shoal Water River, which has its source about 
 thirty miles from tlie coast, and sixty southward of 
 its mouth, and after a course of about one hundred 
 miles, falls into Shoal Haven. The upper part 
 of the course of that river appears to be a valley 
 with a ridge of mountains on the east, and a still 
 higher ridge on the west. This last stretches north - 
 ward to elevated plains, from the summit of 
 which the country may be traced northwards 
 through the colony. The rivers that fall into Botany 
 Bay and Port Jackson are of very trifling dimen-
 
 36 
 
 THE PICTURE 
 
 sions, and instead of rising in the central ridge of 
 the colony, have two lower summits between their 
 sources and that. 
 
 2. The Hawksbury, which falls into Broken Bay, 
 is the second river in order. It rises near Lake 
 George, runs for some time parallel to Shoal Haven 
 River, and its course is very circuitous and crooked ; 
 jjrobably its length is about two hundred miles. 
 It gets several names : at its source it is the Wa- 
 landilly, then the Warragumba, next the Nepean, 
 and lastly the Hawksbury. Westward of this river, 
 while its general course is northward, the Blue 
 Mountains are abrupt on their eastern side, and the 
 direction of the ridge is nearly north and south. 
 Northward of the Hawksbury, the Caermarthen 
 INIountains stretch from the central chain eastward 
 to the coast, and divide the districts watered by the 
 Hawksbury from those watered by — 
 
 3. Hunter's River. There are three principal 
 branches of this river ; Paterson's from the west, and 
 William'^s and Hunter's from the north. Their 
 courses have not been so traced that they can be 
 connected with the branches in the interior, that 
 ajjpear to flow towards them ; but it is by no means 
 improbable that these three rivers will be found to 
 divide the waters of a country about one hundred 
 and twenty miles long from east to west, and one 
 hundred broad from north to south, great part of 
 which is cleared of wood, immediately fit for grazing, 
 and very susceptible of tillage. Between the rivers
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 37 
 
 that probably flow eastward to Paterson's River, and 
 those that flow westward to the Macquarrie, there 
 does not appear to be a definite ridge of mountains, 
 but merely a summit level where the v/aters divide ; 
 and thus, in this part of the country, there is in all 
 probability a valuable tract extending from the sea 
 to between two hundred and three hundred miles. 
 
 4. The Hasting's River, v/hich falls into Port 
 Macquarrie, is probably not so large as the former, 
 taking all the three branches. It flows through a 
 very mountainous country. Sea View Hill, at the 
 distance of about fifty miles from the sea, where 
 nearest, is about six thousand feet high, and is the 
 most elevated peak hitherto measured in the country. 
 Between this river and the former, there are several 
 others of inferior dimensions. On the northward of 
 the ridge, in the south side of which the several 
 branches that are supposed to discharge themselves 
 into the Paterson have their sources, many rivers 
 have been discovered flowing in the opposite direc- 
 tion, some of which, even during the short portion 
 of their probable courses that they have been traced, 
 are of considerable magnitude. Of these, the ones 
 farthest into the interior, and which may be sup- 
 posed to be within the summit level, probably are 
 lost in a continuation of the reedy marsh, beyond 
 which the Macquarrie could not be traced ; and 
 those that are on the east side of ihe summit, may 
 discharge themselves into lagoons behind the sandy 
 beaches on the coast that have not been completely
 
 38 THE PICTURE 
 
 explored ; but, as has been said, hypothesis is of no 
 use in the geography of New Holland. 
 
 5. The last, and, so far as it has been discovered, 
 the largest river on the east coast is the Brisbane, 
 which falls into Moreton Bay. In the opinion of 
 Mr. Oxley, by whom this river was discovered, it 
 issues from a lake, which receives a number of 
 the streams in the interior : and from the soundings 
 that he made in it, the depth is considerable for 
 more than fifty miles inland. There is one ar- 
 gument in favour of the Brisbane's issuing from a 
 lake, which the discoverer does not state, but which 
 is very much in favour of his assertion, and that is, 
 the small height of the marks of the inundations 
 compared with those in the rivers farther to the 
 south. In the Brisbane they were not above one- 
 tenth of what is stated for some of the other rivers. 
 The presence of a lake, or the flowing of all the 
 branches of the river over a very flat country, is es- 
 sential for the producing of this difference, and 
 either of these circumstances, combined with the 
 observed fertility of the soil, the abundance of timber, 
 and the lower latitude and consequent better adap- 
 tation of the climate to the production of plants ap- 
 proaching those of a tropical character, render this 
 one of the most interesting parts of the colony. 
 
 Of the rivers on the west side of the Blue Moun- 
 tains, only two are known to their apparent termi- 
 nation — the Macquarrie and the Lachlan, and they 
 botli terminate in marshes. T^e marsh in which
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 39 
 
 the Lachlan is lost is about three hundred miles to 
 the west of the Blue Mountains, so that the slope of 
 tlie country towards that side, is much less than 
 towards the sea. 
 
 If it be true that the mountains behind the long, 
 low beach between Wilson's Promontory and Cape 
 Howe are granitic, and that the same kind of rock 
 is found under the greenstone, or porphyry, or 
 argillaceous schistus, or whatever may be the super- 
 incumbent formation, all the way to Endeavour 
 River, about latitude IS'', where Captain King says 
 that the granite ceases to be found, then it must be 
 admitted that there are data for bringing the east 
 part of New Holland, — say, the portion to the east- 
 ward of a line, drawn from somewhere near Wilson's 
 Promontory to near the head of the Gvdf of Car- 
 pentaria, — to as much resemblance to other countries 
 as that a reasonable guess at least may be made at 
 its general Structure. The summit level sometimes 
 formed by a ridge of mountains in the direction of 
 north and south, and sometimes by the division of 
 the western plain or valley from the eastern, between 
 two transverse ridges of mountains (and the indi- 
 vidual masses of granitic mountains, are very apt to 
 run transverse the general direction of the chain), 
 will lie from north to south at a distance from the 
 sea varying from twenty to one hundred miles, and 
 having a length of about one thousand six hundred 
 miles. It will be observed in favour, one might 
 almost say in proof, of this, that the whole of the
 
 40 THE PICTURE- 
 
 coast that corresponds to this is a watered coast. 
 Many parts of it are no doubt dry and barren, 
 pai'tly from the accumulation of sea sand, or the 
 driving back of the debris, sent down by the tor- 
 rents, washed from its more tenacious particles, and 
 partly from the porous nature of the verditure, and 
 the accumulation of stones that have in many places 
 been dashed from the cliffs by the floods and storms : 
 still it is a watered country, not only along the 
 shore, but along the west slope, from the summit 
 as far as has been examined. 
 
 Of the remaining, and by far the larger portion of 
 the island, nothing cei'tain can be inferred from the 
 appearance of the shores. So far as can be guessed 
 at from the mere outline, the whole range from 
 Endeavour River, round the north and west to Swan 
 River, is useless and unprofitable ; and the same 
 observation applies to great part of the coast, 
 round the south to Botany Bay. Still this is only 
 conjecture; and as high land in the interior has been 
 seen in coasting along the south, and as alternations 
 of Avooded eminences have been seen also in the 
 north, the unpromising country may be only a 
 narrow barrier draAvn round better land within, and, 
 till the country has been fairly traversed, no certain 
 conclusion respecting it can be arrived at. This is 
 a discovery which the English ought not to allow 
 any other nation the credit of making. Begun at 
 whatever point it might be, it v/ould be an arduous 
 undertaking; but though, from tlie nature of the
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 41 
 
 surface on the west and north, as well as from the 
 disposition of the inhabitants, it covild not well be 
 undertaken by one individual, or by a small party, 
 yet surely it is not impossible. 
 
 Van Diemen's Land. 
 
 The geographical features of Van Diemen's Land 
 are much more easily traced than those of New 
 Holland, because they are fewer and better defined, 
 and because the interior of the country has been 
 more traversed. 
 
 Shores, Bays, &c. — The shores of Van Diemen's 
 Land are much more bold in their general character 
 than those of New Holland ; and at some points 
 they afford scenery as grand as can be found in 
 almost any part of the world. The north-east shore, 
 near Cape Portland, and for a considerable distance 
 to the west, consists of a sandy beach occasionally 
 broken by rocky head-lands. But this beach con- 
 tinues only for a short distance from the water. Be- 
 hind it there are gently rising hills, clothed with 
 verdure, and having not a crown of thick forest or 
 brushwood, but scattered trees of large growth. 
 Over those green and fertile slopes, the mountains of 
 the interior rear their summits high and bleak, and 
 add to the grandeur of the scene, as well as give 
 proof that those lower grounds upon which verdure 
 appears, must be watered, and therefore susceptible 
 of cultivation. Tliis, it must be borne in mind, is
 
 42 ■ THE PICTURE 
 
 the sunny aspect of the island, because Van Diemen's 
 Land is in the southern hemisphere, and without the 
 tropic. As the entrance of the river Tamar is ap- 
 proached, the country becomes fertile down to the 
 water*'s edge, and forms a pleasant contrast to the 
 dry and sandy shores of New Holland. The estuary 
 of the Tamar is navigable much farther into the in- 
 terior than any of the rivers in New Holland. It 
 winds considerably, and there are some banks in it, 
 but the tide rises fifteen feet at Launceston, which is 
 forty-three miles from the sea. The land on the 
 banks of this river is in many places very good, and 
 in general it is well wooded. When the river was 
 first discovered, the number of black swans with 
 which it was covered, was almost incredible ; but 
 since it became a regular resort for shipping, of 
 course the number of those birds has diminished. 
 To the westward of the Tamar (Port Dalrymple) 
 the country continues, for a considerable way, to be 
 gently sloping, and clothed with wood, and it is re- 
 freshed by as many little rivers flowing from the 
 central hills as most countries of the same extent. 
 At some places there are sands from the coast a little 
 way inland, but never to such an extent as to give 
 the country the character of sterility. The outline 
 of this part of the shore is in some places very irre- 
 gular ; and one of the most conspicuous irregularities 
 is Circular Head, a remarkable lump of elevated 
 ground, which stretches almost twelve miles out into 
 the sea, as if from the middle of a bay, is joined to
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 43 
 
 the land by a narrow isthmus, and has a small creek 
 upon each side. To the westward of Circular Head 
 the shore is low and sandy, and the more elevated 
 country within is covered with heath. Heath is in- 
 deed the prevailing vegetation on a considerable part 
 of the north-west of Van Diemen's Land. Between 
 those heaths, the surface clothed with which is hilly, 
 and the sandy shores, there is often tall and nearly 
 impenetrable brushwood. 
 
 There are several islands on this part of the coast ; 
 and the numbers of birds seen at times is almost 
 incredible. " There was," says Captain Flinders, 
 " a stream (of sooty petrels) of from fifty to eighty 
 yards in depth, and of three hundred yards or more 
 in breadth ; the birds were not scattered, but flying 
 as compactly as a free movement of their wings 
 seemed to allow ; and during a full hour and a half 
 this stream of petrels continued to pass without 
 interruption, at a rate little inferior to the swiftness 
 of the pigeon. * * * Taking the stream to have 
 been fifty yards deep, and three hundred in breadth, 
 and that it moved at the rate of thirty miles an hour, 
 and allowing nine cubic yards of space to each bird, 
 the number would amount to 151,500,000. The 
 burrows required to lodge this quantity of birds 
 would be 75,750,000 ; and allowing a square yard 
 to each burrow, they would cover something more 
 than 18i geographic square miles of ground."* This 
 
 * Flinders, Introduction, p. I70.
 
 44 THE PICTURE 
 
 fact is curious in itself ; and it is farther of import- 
 ance as tending to show that the sea-birds which have 
 been mentioned as the principal architects of the 
 supermarine portion of the new lands in the Australian 
 seas, are so far from being inadequate to "such a 
 purpose, that they can effect it in much shorter time 
 than those who are not aware of their numbers would 
 be apt to believe. 
 
 Cape Grim, the north-east point of Van Diemen's 
 Land, is high and bold, and of a very dark colour. 
 The bold cliffs continue for seven or eight miles, 
 and then are succeeded by a sandy shore, interspersed 
 with small hills of the same material, but in the 
 interior, running into elevated heathy grounds. 
 
 About seventy miles rather southward of Cape 
 Grim, there is a narrow inlet which has not yet been 
 explored, but which is considered to be the estuary 
 of a considerable river, which rises to the south-east, 
 and has a winding course of about eighty miles. 
 Along this shore there is an alternation of sandy 
 shores, and grassy lands, though those of the latter 
 character are said to predominate. 
 
 About the middle of the west shore is situated Mac- 
 quarrie Harbour, by far the most extensive opening 
 on this side of the island. The entrance is open to- 
 wards the north-west, and is rather narrow ; but the 
 channel Avithin is of considerable dimensions, and 
 though the soil is not adapted for culture, timber is 
 abundant, and is said to grow very rapidly. 
 
 From Macquarrie Harbour, southward, the shore
 
 or AUSTRALIA. 45 
 
 assumes a different character. As far as Point Hibbs, 
 it is of niodei'ate elevation, and barren ; thence to 
 Port Davey some places are better ; but the whole 
 of it is rocky, and without those flat beaches which 
 are of so frequent recurrence in Australia. Port 
 Davey, which consists of a northern and an eastern 
 branch, the latter of which is called Bathurst Har- 
 bour, is the last opening on the western shore ; which, 
 thence to South-west Cape, is bold and precipitous, 
 and presents, in many places, detached pyramidal 
 rocks of considerable elevation. About Port Davey 
 too, the rocks are of a very wild character, and ap- 
 pear to have been piled up in detached masses ; and , 
 which adds to their irregular appearance, the fissures 
 are filled with stunted trees and bushes. 
 
 South-west Cape, which extends out as a bold but 
 narrow promontory, has a jagged appearance on the 
 summit, and is easily known. Collecting the points 
 that have been mentioned, it will be seen that the west 
 coast is of a bolder character than the nortli, and that 
 this boldness increases southward. It is the same 
 with the east coast ; and the south coast, taking its 
 general outline, is the most elevated of any. The 
 same is the character of New Holland, with the ex- 
 ception of, probably, a part of the east ; and when 
 that is taken in conjunction with the fact that the 
 polar storms beat against the south of both islands, 
 and that the eddies of the general current of tide have 
 a tendency to deposit the sand and mud which they 
 can-y along on the north shores, another conclusion is
 
 46 THE PICTURE 
 
 obtained towards explaining the appearance, and, in 
 so far, tlie formation of those shores of both islands. 
 
 The south coast of Van Diemen's Land, is marked 
 by four prominent head-lands : South-west Cape, 
 already mentioned, South Cape,Tasman''s Head, and 
 Cape Pillar, and they pretty nearly divide the 
 whole into three equal parts. The shore from 
 South-west Cape to South Cape is irregular, but it 
 is in many places high, and there is not any thing 
 that can be called a good natural harbour. Between 
 South Cape and Tasman's Head there is one opening 
 into the interior, and between Tasman"'s Head and 
 Cape Pillar, another of much more ample dimen- 
 sions. 
 
 The rocks at Sovith Cape are remarkably bold, 
 and when the swell of the sea rolls against them from 
 the whole expanse of tlie Antarctic Ocean, they have 
 a very formidable appearance. 
 
 About sixteen miles to the eastward of South 
 Cape, lies D''Entrecasteaux"'s Channel, between the 
 mainland and Bruni Island. This channel is by far 
 the safest entrance into the Derwent, as the long, 
 and in general, higli island protects it from the sea. 
 There are many caves in this channel, both on the 
 mainland side and the inland side. Of those on the 
 mainland, the most important is Huon River, 
 which readies a considerable way into the interior, 
 and has given name to the Hum Pine {Dacrydium). 
 The channel passes between the north end of Bruni 
 Island, and a peninsula from the main, and thence,
 
 or AUSTRALIA. 
 
 47 
 
 under the name of the Derwent, reaches a consider- 
 able way above Hobart Town ; but towards the com- 
 mencement of fresh water, the channel is very mvich 
 narrowed and shallowed by mud. Storm Bay lies 
 on the east side of Bruni Island, is on the average 
 about eighteen miles wide, communicates with the 
 Derwent on its north-western extremity, and runs 
 into a large inner bay at its north-eastern." The 
 latter is of considerable extent, and Norfolk Bay, 
 the south-eastern part of it, would afford safe an- 
 chorage for any fleet ; but the entrance contains rocks, 
 and is thus rather hazardous. Another branch ex- 
 tends far to the north, and gets the name of Coal 
 River, from traces of that mineral being found in the 
 adjoining country. 
 
 On the east side of Bruni Island there are many 
 majestic columnar cliffs, which have obtained for the 
 east point of the island the name of Fluted Cape. 
 Adventure Bay, to the north of Fluted Cape, is 
 spacious, but it does not afford shelter or o-ood 
 Avatering ; so that, though it was the resort of the 
 early navigators, it has, since the discovery of 
 D'Entrecasteaux's Channel, been abandoned. 
 
 Cape Raoul, on the east of Storm Bay, is basal- 
 tic, and so is Cape Pillar, the extreme sout)i-east 
 point of the island. Cape Pillar is a very strikino- 
 object ; its general form is that of a bee-hive, but 
 one side of it is broken into cliffs of basaltic columns, 
 some of which reach almost to the summit ; they 
 are straight and well defined, and their appearance
 
 48 THE PICTURE 
 
 is, upon the whole, grand and imposing. As is the 
 case with the basaltic promontories in Europe, the 
 base of Cape Pillar is surrounded by detached lines 
 of short basaltic columns, as if it were surrounded 
 by a pallisade. Those parts which are not colum- 
 nar, appear to be in little terraces, probably with 
 openings in the basaltic columns between, and they 
 are covered, lightly, with small shrubs and other 
 vegetation. The cape is, however, every where so 
 steep that it has never been ascended, and the sea 
 beats against it Avith such fury that it cannot be 
 approached closely without danger. The land be- 
 hind Cape Pillar, is not very productive, and 
 opposite the head of Norfolk Bay, it is nearly 
 detached by Pirate's Bay, which penetrates from 
 the east coast to some distance. North of Pirate's 
 Bay, the land continues to be very barren, after 
 which there is a long bight in the coast, defended 
 from the sea by some islands. The north part of 
 this biglit, extends northward behind a narrow 
 peninsula of very liigh land, and gets the name of 
 Oyster Bay. The land on tlie western shore of 
 Oyster Bay, and to the south, abounds in pines 
 well adapted for the lighter spars of vessels. 
 
 The coast from the peninsula at Oyster Bay, is 
 of various elevation, but in general of a barren 
 character ; and when Cape Portland is approached, 
 it subsides into the low sandy character of that part 
 of the island.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 49 
 
 Rivers and Mouktaiks. 
 
 From the notice that has been given of the shores, 
 it might ahnost be inferred, that the island of Van 
 Diemen's Land consists of two ridges, with a com- 
 paratively low country in the middle ; and there is 
 no doubt, though discovery has not connected all the 
 points, that one ridge stretches in the direction of 
 Cape Grim, and South Cape, traversing the country 
 for an extent of about two hundred and thirty miles. 
 This ridge divides the streams that run westward 
 from those that fall into the Derwent and the 
 Tamar ; and the several ramifications of it, define 
 the valleys of Gordon River at Macquarrie Harbour, 
 Arthur River, farther to the north, and the other 
 streams. This ridge has not been accurately sur- 
 veyed ; but snow lies upon one of the peaks 
 for some months of the year. The chain or ridge 
 on the east side of the island, does not seem to 
 be either so long or so regular. The mountains 
 appear to extend in breadth in the north-eastern 
 part, and be more narrow and interrupted toward 
 the south ; but the data are not sufficient for speak- 
 ing with certainty. 
 
 Of the individual mountains in Yan Diemen's 
 Land, among the most elevated is Table Mountain, 
 since termed Mount Wellington, which is situated to 
 the west of Hobart Town, and on the south-west side 
 of which the small river Huon has its source. This
 
 50 THE PICTURE 
 
 mountain is about the height of Ben Nevis, in 
 Scotland, that is, rather more than four thousand 
 feet above the level of the sea ; and some account 
 of the relative annual temperature of the two 
 countries, may be estimated from the fact, that 
 while snow is perpetual on Ben Nevis, even at a 
 considerable distance below the summit, it lies on 
 INIount Wellington only for about tliree-fourths of 
 the year. The western movmtains which extend 
 northward from South Cape, were once, on account 
 of their white appearance, supposed to be higher 
 than Mount Wellington ; but a more careful exa- 
 mination has discovered, that the whiteness is that 
 of the rocks, and that the highest peak in the chain 
 does not exceed three thousand feet in elevation. 
 
 Near the west coast there are some conspicuous 
 mountains, of which some are summits of the west- 
 ern chain, and others appear to be the abrupt ter- 
 minations of lateral ridges that extend toward the 
 coast. Of these, Mount De Witt, on the north side 
 of Port Davey, Conical INIount, to the east of 
 Macquarrie''s Harbour, Hemskirk and Zeachan to the 
 northward of that harbour; and Mount Norfolk, 
 on the south bank of the River Arthur, are the 
 most conspicuous. In the chain to the eastward of 
 tlie Derwent, which is in general represented as being 
 rocky and precipitous, the most remarkable peaks 
 are, Tasman's Peak, near the sources of the South 
 Esk River, and Ben Lomond, near the sources of the 
 North Esk, both to the north-eastward of Launceston.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 61 
 
 The two principal rivers, the Tamar in the north, 
 and the Derwent in the south, overlay each other ; 
 the remotest source of the Derwent being within 
 fifty miles of the north coast, and that of the Mac- 
 quarrie, the most remote branch of the Tamar, being 
 not more tlian forty miles from the tide- way in the 
 Derwent and Coal Rivers. The country midway 
 between the mouths of the two rivers, is not what 
 can, strictly speaking, be called mountainous, though 
 it is considerably elevated. One of the most re- 
 markable of its charactei-istics is, that between 
 the sources of the Macquarrie, which runs to the 
 Tamar, and those of the Jordan, that runs to the 
 Derwent, there is a salt plain ; in that plain there 
 are three pools, or hollows, which are filled with 
 water during the rainy season, bvit which are dried 
 up by evaporation when the rains are over ; and 
 so strongly is the water in these hollows, and con- 
 sequently the soil over which it flows and through 
 which it percolates, impregnated with salt, that a 
 considerable quantity is collected every season for 
 domestic purposes. 
 
 Tlie branches of the Derwent indicate an extensive 
 valley or series of smaller valleys connected with 
 that river. The breadth from the most easterly 
 sources of the Jordan to the western mountains, is 
 not less than eighty miles in a straight line ; and the 
 length from the remotest source to Hobart Town, is 
 about one hundred and fifty ; so that that river drains 
 an extent of twelve thousand square miles of country, 
 D 2
 
 ■:>Z THE PICTURE 
 
 and though there be occasional mountains, and un- 
 productive places, the general character of that ex- 
 tensive district is fertility. At Hobart Town the 
 valley of the Derwent may be said to terminate ; for 
 tliough the entrance be full forty miles further, 
 before the open sea is reached, the heights connected 
 with jNIount Wellington close up the valley on the 
 "west, and the Coal River comes near to the Der- 
 went on the east. 
 
 The fresh water which sets the name of the Dcr- 
 went is not the principal branch, but one that comes 
 from the western mountains ; the one which is, as 
 it were, the main stem of the river, is the Ouse, 
 which rises about forty miles from the north coast 
 and the same distance from the west. The Dee, the 
 Derwent, and the Broad River^ are the principal 
 branches on the west side. Any extent of branch 
 from that side in the lower part of the river is pre- 
 vented by the near approach to the principal stream 
 of the mountainous range that connects Mount Wel- 
 lington with the great western chain. 
 
 About tlie parallel of 42° south, where on the 
 average the waters of the Derwent and the Tamar 
 are divided, there are numbers of lakes. The largest 
 of these is Lake Arthur, estimated at about fifteen 
 miles long and five broad. That lake is the source 
 of the Shannon, the first branch that falls into the 
 Case on the east side. This lake is inclosed on all 
 sides, except the south, by bluff and rocky moun- 
 tains, and it, as well as the smaller lakes in the vici-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 53 
 
 nity, is literally covered with black swans and other 
 aquatic birds. The plains between the lakes are 
 also remarkably well stocked with kangaroos and 
 emus ; so that this division of the great rivers is 
 the sporting country of ^"an Diemen's Land. The 
 Clyde and the Jordan are the other principal branches 
 of the Derwent on the east side. They both origi- 
 nate in lakes and marshes, and the plains through 
 which they pass, more especially those on the Jordan, 
 are very fertile and beautiful, in many places clear 
 of timber, and immediately available as grazings. 
 
 The Macquarrie, which has its sources near those 
 of the Clyde and the Jordan, is the largest branch 
 of the Tamar. The grounds through which it 
 passes are in general rich, as are also those on the 
 banks of the South Esk, which rises in the eastern 
 mountains, near Tasman's Peak, and flows towards 
 the north-west. The North Esk is the other princi- 
 pal branch of the Tamar : it joins the South Esk at 
 Launceston, and is a romantic little river ; but its 
 course is too precipitous for its being available for 
 the purposes of navigation. 
 
 From these hints some knowledge of the general 
 appearance of Van Diemen''s Land may be collected. 
 The eastern and western shores are compara- 
 tively barren, though in some places, as at Mac- 
 quarrie's Harbour on the west, and Oyster Bay 
 on the east, they afford abundance of timber. 
 The southern shore is in many places bold.
 
 54 THE PICTURE 
 
 and, towards the sea, that part of the island is 
 also comparatively barren. Toward the eastern 
 part, however, the entrances to the Derwent open 
 up the fine plains and romantic valleys that are 
 Avatered by the different branches of that river. 
 The north coast, to the eastward of the Tamar, has 
 not yet been explored ; but it is probable that the 
 wooded hills, between the sandy shore and the 
 eastern mountains, might be cultivated to advantage. 
 The same may be said of a considerable part of the 
 same coast, to the west of the Tamar, and also of a 
 portion of the west coast, more especially to the north 
 of Arthur River. The great central valley is, how- 
 ever, the valuable part of Van Diemen''s Land ; and. 
 from the comparatively short distance between the 
 navigations of the Derwent and the Tamar, the gene- 
 ral fertility of the soil, and the facility with which, 
 shovdd the wants of the population require it, an 
 inland navigation could be carried across the island, 
 this must be considered not only as the most attrac- 
 tive part of Van Diemen's Land ; but, in so far as 
 mere geographical situation is concerned, one of the 
 most eligible situations for a new nation on the face 
 of the globe. Mere geographical position, surface, 
 and even fertility, are not, however, all the elements 
 whicK it is necessary to take into the account, in 
 order to estimate the value of a country. There are 
 the seas, with regard to commerce, the climate, the 
 seasons, the meteorology, — the native productions.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 55 
 
 mineral, vegetable, and animal, and the general adap- 
 tation of the country for the subsistence, the health, 
 and the comfort of man. These will form the subject 
 of the following chapters.
 
 56 THE PICTURE 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Seas, Islands, Reefs, &c. 
 
 It is not only in the nature of the surface and 
 the productions which that surface affords, that 
 Australia differs from most other countries, and 
 more especially from Europe : the very seas are as 
 it were new, and their products are as singular as 
 those of the land. Against the southern shores tlie 
 ocean rolls unbroken from the Pole ; on the south- 
 east, it is hardly broken from the shores of America, 
 distant by more than a full fourth of the circum- 
 ference of the globe ; the west side is exposed to the 
 whole swell of the Indian Ocean ; and the north has 
 that eddying tide, which arises from the alternating 
 monsoons of tropical countries. Thus, upon all the 
 shores of Australia that are open to the sea, there is 
 at times a very heavy swell and surf, and on some of 
 them, that is almost continual. This surf, wliich 
 rolls toward tiie land, is one of the causes of that 
 accumulation of sand in tlie bays, and bars at the
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 57 
 
 entrances of the rivers, which are found so general in 
 the country. 
 
 This is, indeed, the proper region of the world 
 in which to behold and to admire the wonders of the 
 deep, not merely in those sublime alternations of 
 calm and tempest, which belong to the ocean, simply 
 as water, and as left at rest, or worked into motion 
 by the action of the winds ; for the sea on the Aus- 
 tralian shores, more especially on those within the 
 tropics, absolutely teems with life, and wide as it is, 
 it seems absolutely incumbered with its own living 
 productions. Numerous descriptions of wholesome 
 fish are found upon all the shores, and form the 
 ])rincipal food of the native inhabitants. Toward 
 the south, whales and seals, the latter both of the 
 hairy species, and of that which affords the soft fur, 
 are very abundant, so much so as to tempt adven- 
 turers from England. Nearer the Equator, turtle, 
 botli of the green and the hawksbill species, are 
 plentiful ; so that, upon the niost desert coasts and 
 islands, where the land does not offer one article of 
 food — hardly so much as a solitary kangaroo or 
 bird, or even a shrub to serve for fuel — the sea is 
 exuberant in its riches. 
 
 The anchorage on the west coast in Shark''s Bav, 
 within Dirk Hartog's Island, is in as im promising 
 a land as can well be imagined ; and yet the account 
 of it given by Captain King is sufficient to tempt the 
 mariner who passes that way to pay it a visit. 
 
 " As an anchorage during the summer months," 
 D 3
 
 58 THE PICTUKE 
 
 says Captain King, " Dirk Hartog's Road has every 
 thing to recommend it, excepting the total absence 
 of fresh water, -which, according to the French, was 
 not found in any part of Shark's Bay. The anchorage 
 is secure, and the bottom clear of rocks. There is 
 also abvmdance of fish and turtle, and of the latter 
 a ship might easily embark forty or fifty every day ; 
 for they are very sluggish, and make no eiFort to 
 escape, perhaps from knowing the impossibility of 
 scrambling over the rocky barrier that fronts the 
 shore, which is dry at half ebb." 
 
 One of the most remarkable characteristics of the 
 seas around Australia, is the numerous islands with 
 which they are studded, and the small elevation 
 of most of these, above the levek of the sea. On 
 the shores of Van Diemen's Land, these islands are 
 sometimes of a different character, being pyramids 
 of rock, and sometimes presenting a columnar or 
 basaltic appearance. On the south coast too, some 
 of them partake of the high and cliffy nature of 
 that coast, and also of its barrenness and want of 
 water ; but toward the north-east, the north and the 
 north-west, they are in general low, and seem at 
 no very remote period to have been coral reefs, or 
 even fathomless seas. A simple list of all those 
 islands would occupy a large space, and an account 
 of them would fill many volumes. Large and small, 
 they are many thousands, and, according to the tes- 
 timony of the most careful observers, their number 
 is continually on the increase.
 
 OP AUSTUALIA. S^ 
 
 In glancing over a correct chart of the Australian 
 seas, there are several places where this formation 
 of islands is more than ordinarily conspicuous. 
 Bass's Strait is full of them ; and soundings are 
 met with at no very great depth in all the channels. 
 These islands indicate the continuation of a sub- 
 marine ridge from the termination of the eastern 
 mountains of "S'an Diemen"'s Land, at Cape Port- 
 land, to the high land of Wilson''s Promontory in 
 New Holland ; and probably tliis is the only place 
 at which New Holland can be traced as having a 
 geological connexion with any other land, unless, 
 indeed, we consider that there is a similar connexion 
 between Cape Grim on the south entrance to Bass's 
 Strait, and Cape Otway on the north of the west. 
 Such a connexion, though not quite so continuous 
 as the former, may be traced by Hunter''s Isles osi 
 the Van Diemen coast, and King's Island, in the middle 
 of the Channel. Hunter's Isles are in general barren ; 
 but on King's Island, Avhich is of a larger size than 
 any of the others, there is fresh water, and a very great 
 variety of plants. The basis of both those groups of 
 islands — the islands connecting Wilson's Promontory 
 with the north-east of Van Diemen's Land, and those 
 connecting Cape Otway with the north-west — is gra- 
 nite ; as is the rock at Wilson's Promontory ; and 
 probably also the mountains that rise within the 
 sandy interruption which occurs at the back of that 
 great mass of stone. Granite is said to be also 
 the prevailing rock at Cape Otway ; and thus (if any
 
 60 THE i'lCTURE 
 
 guess could be hazarded on the subject), one would, 
 from the structure of Van Diemen's Land, and of 
 those two chains of islands, and the portions of tlie 
 coast of New Holland toward which they are directed, 
 be disposed to infer that there may be a similar for- 
 mation in New Holland, at least for a considerable 
 way northward. We have seen that there are two 
 ridges of mountains, extending from south to north, 
 in Van Diemen^s Land ; we have traced tlieir sum- 
 mits through Furneaux's, Kent's, and some smaller 
 isles, to Wilson's Promontory, and through Hunter's 
 Isles and King's Island to CapeOtway ; and we have 
 farther seen, that, from Wi]son''s Promontory, an 
 eastern range of mountains extends far north into New 
 Holland ; hence, there is every reason to conclude 
 that a western ridge extends northward from some- 
 where near Cape Otway. These circumstances liave 
 been noticed, because they are the only ones which, 
 from our examination of the neighbouring islands, 
 enable us even to guess at what may be the structure 
 of the imknown parts of this singular country. In any 
 other point of view, those islands are comparatively of 
 little value ; they are, generally speaking, barren; the 
 shores of them are rather dangerous, and they are, ac- 
 cordingly, not much resorted to, except for the seal 
 fishing. They abound in sea birds, and some of them, 
 also, in small kangaroos and wondjats ; l)ut these are 
 not of sufficient importance to give tliem any value in 
 a mercantile point of view. 
 
 On the west coast there are few Lslands ; the only
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 61 
 
 ones worth noticing being Rottennest, off the Swan 
 River, Dirk Hartog's, and Barren Island, off Shark's 
 Bay, and Houtman's Albrohos, wliich is an extensive 
 reef of rocks, rather tlian an island, lying about mid- 
 way between these. 
 
 On the southern part of the east coast, from Wil- 
 son's Promontory to Breaksea Spit, there are also 
 very few islands. Howe's Island and Ball's Pyra- 
 mid lie eastward of Port Macquarrie : and they, more 
 especially Howe's Island, are remarkable objects, 
 rising in basaltic columns from the sea ; but they 
 are four hundred miles from the shore of New Hol- 
 land, and do not appear to have connexion with any 
 other land. The other islands upon this coast gene- 
 rally lie close in with the shore, so much so, that 
 many which have since been found to be islands, 
 were, by Captain Cook, upon the first discovery of 
 New South Wales, described as capes and head- 
 lands. These coast islands are generally connected 
 with the main land by bars and banks, over which 
 the water is very shallow ; and it is by no means im- 
 probable that formerly many more of the irregular 
 jx)rtions of this sliore were insulated; as during the 
 rainy season there is a constant accumulation of allu- 
 vial matter, which the sea drives back again toward 
 the shore, and which of course settles wherever there 
 is an eddy, as the water has a slower progress, in 
 consequence of being shallow. The whole of the 
 line of coast now mentioned, may be considered as
 
 62 
 
 THE PICTURE 
 
 one that can Avith safety beappi'oached, except when 
 the wind blows strong towards the land. 
 
 Generally speaking, the Avest coast is equally safe, 
 unless tliat, from the general direction of the winds 
 in the Indian Ocean to the south of the tropic, it is 
 for the greater part of the year a lee shore ; but on 
 the south part of it the wind does not blow directly 
 in shore, but toward the north-east. On that shore, 
 the rocks of Cape Leeuwin, a long reef which ex- 
 tends off Cape Naturaliste to abovit one hundred 
 miles further to the north, the shoals off the island 
 of Rottennest, opposite Swan River, Houtman's 
 Albrohos, at some distance off the shore, in latitude 
 about 29^, are the chief dangers. 
 
 After passing Breaksea Spit, northwards, the cha- 
 racter of the sea on each coast undergoes a very con- 
 siderable cliange ; and there is an external ocean for 
 general navigation, and an inner one for coasting 
 trade : the former subject to the heavy swell of a great 
 ocean, and the latter comparatively calm and safe, 
 except from the reefs and shoals with which it 
 abounds. This division of the sea is formed by 
 the Great Barrier Reef, probably the most extensive 
 coral formation any where to be met with. This 
 vast accumulation begins at Breaksea Spit, the ter- 
 mination of which is coral, and with occasional in- 
 terruptions, some of larger and some of smaller di- 
 mensions, extends, it may be said, the whole way to 
 New Guinea.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 63 
 
 Toward the southern part of the Barrier, its dis- 
 tance from the shore, with which it has no cross com- 
 munication, varies from ninety to one hundred miles ; 
 but northward it approaches nearer to the land. 
 Toward the south, it occupies a breadth of from 
 forty-five to fifty miles, but it becomes narrower 
 toward the north. At Cape Tribulation, in about 
 16° latitude, the Barrier Reef closes in with the shore. 
 For about 350 miles from the south opening, off 
 Breaksea Spit, there is no passage through the 
 barrier that can be at all trusted as safe. There are 
 some openings, but they are very crooked, and a 
 vessel cannot attempt them without the utmost danger; 
 andduringthe night, especially in calm weather, when 
 the surf does not give warning of the detached reefs, 
 the passage is almost certain destruction. The 
 interior one, between the reef and the land, is, 
 however, remarkably clear, except in the vicinity of 
 the numerous little islands with which it is spotted. 
 The depth, too, at a distance from those islands, is 
 very uniform, though it becomes less as the distance of 
 the reef from the shore narrows. There are soundings 
 everywhere; about sixty fathoms in the widest part, 
 but shallowing to abovit half that depth, before the reef 
 closes in with the land. The water in this inclosed 
 portion is remarkably smooth, and thus can be navi- 
 gated by small vessels with the greatest safety ; and 
 considering that some part of the land which is 
 washed by this tranquil sea, has more appearance of 
 fertility and susceptibility of being cultivated, than
 
 64 TIIK I'ICTUUE 
 
 any other intertropical part of Australia that has yet 
 been explored, tliis description of sea must, in the 
 event of colonization, be of very considerable ad- 
 vantage to coasting trade. The communication 
 with the ocean is not so easy ; and thus under 
 no circumstances could a colony be established on 
 this part of the island, as a place of call for vessels 
 from foreign parts. From the number of ships that 
 have been wrecked on those reefs, it is desirable that 
 there should be, somewhere in this inland sea, a sta- 
 tion to which vessels could resort, either for shelter 
 or to refit. But such a station could be accessible 
 only by Breaksea Spit, and there, as has been said, 
 only during the day. 
 
 When the wind is from the east, the transition 
 from the sea within the reef, to the ocean without, is 
 very striking ; the windward, or outer margin of 
 the reef, rises almost perpendicularly from an unfa- 
 thomable depth, and thus the surf that breaks 
 upon it is dreadful. Many parts of the rock rise 
 above high water, have been filled up with sand, and 
 beffin to show some ve"etation ; but in the wind- 
 ward parts, the surf beats over those islets, so as to 
 envelop them in salt foam during every storm. 
 
 Formidable as tlie Barrier Reef is on account of 
 its extent, the intricacy of the channels between the 
 different parts, the rapidity of the currents in those 
 channels, and the re-action of the surf upon those 
 to seaward, it is not the most formidable danger 
 with which those who navigate the sea to the east-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 
 
 6i 
 
 ward of the tropical part of New Holland, have to 
 contend. From Breaksea Spit towards New Cale- 
 donia, there are frequent reefs, which appear to have 
 no connexion with the Great Barrier, or with the 
 shore of any land ; nor is there less fathomable water, 
 or any other indication by which a ship that has lost 
 her reckoning can find them. New ones are also 
 often seen ; so that the whole of this portion of the 
 Pacific requires to be navigated with the greatest 
 caution. Nor will it be till it has been crossed in 
 every latitude and every longitude, that the chart 
 can warn the mariner of all the dangers by which he 
 is beset. Nor even then would it be altogether safe ; 
 for such is supposed to be the rapidity with which 
 those little insects build up their gigantic palaces in 
 the deep, that a place on which there has been 
 twenty or thirty fathoms, may, before a few years 
 have elapsed, not have so many inches. 
 
 By day, however, there ir, comparatively little 
 danger, as the reefs always give signs of their exist- 
 ence. The vast volume of water which is then in 
 motion, when it suddenly shallows from the ocean 
 depth, to a depth even much greater than is re- 
 quired for the largest ship, indicates by the rip- 
 pling of the surface, the interruption which the 
 submerged reef opposes to its mass. When the reef 
 rises so near to the surface as to be peculiarly dan- 
 gerous, its place is more conspicuously marked ; 
 and without the Barrier — where the long swell of 
 the ocean or the current flows smoothly — there
 
 06 THE PICTURE 
 
 is nothing- to fear. Wreck Reef, upon which Cap- 
 tain Flinders had the misfortune to be wrecked, 
 in August, 1803, is about three hundred miles to 
 the north-west of Breaksca Spit. A portion of that 
 reef is dry, and afforded a resting place to the crews 
 of the Porpoise and the Cato, vmtil the adventurous 
 Flinders went in a boat to Sydney to bring them 
 deliverance. The following is the account which 
 Captain Flinders gives of this incipient island : — 
 " The length of the bank is about one hundred and 
 fifty fathoms, by fifty in breadth, and the general 
 elevation three or four feet above the level of ordi- 
 nary high water ; it consists of sand and pieces of 
 coral, thrown up by the waves and eddy tides upon 
 a patch of reef five or six miles in circviit ; and being 
 nearly in the middle of the patch, the sea does no 
 more, even in a gale, than send a light spray over 
 the bank, sufficient, however, to prevent the growth 
 of any other than a few diminutive salt plants." On 
 this bank the eggs of sea fowl were observed ; and 
 there cannot be the least doubt that, after the causes 
 by which it has been formed have operated for some 
 time, the bank will become an island, and palms and 
 other stately vegetables succeed to the saline plants 
 noticed by Captain Flinders. 
 
 As that adventurous and intelligent navigator pur- 
 posely sought the dangers of the Great Barrier Reef, 
 in order that he might point them out to future 
 navigators, he had better opportunities of observing 
 their nature, and was enabled to draw more certain
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 07 
 
 conclusions respecting their formation than any otlier 
 individual. On that account his general remarks 
 are of much value ; and they are the more so in con- 
 sequence of his having been accompanied by Brown, 
 and other gentlemen eminently skilled in Natural His- 
 tory. The place where the observation was made was 
 on the east coast, about latitude 20°, and at the dis- 
 tance of about sixty miles from the land. 
 
 " I went upon the reef," says Captain Flinders, 
 " with a party of the gentlemen, and the water 
 being very clear round the edges, a new creation 
 as it was to us, but imitative of the old, was 
 presented to our view. We had wheat sheaves, 
 mushrooms, stags' horns, cabbage leaves, and a 
 variety of other forms, glittering under water with 
 vivid tints of every shade betwixt green, purple, 
 brown, and white, equalling in beauty and excelling 
 in grandeur the most favourite jj«r/err<? of the 
 curious florist. These were different species of 
 coral or fungus, growing, as it were, out of the 
 solid rock, and each had its peculiar form and shade 
 of colouring ; but, while contemplating the rich- 
 ness of the scene, we could not long forget with 
 what destruction it was pregnant. 
 
 " Different corals, in a dead state, converted into 
 a solid mass, of a dull white colour, composed the 
 whole stone of the reef. The negro-heads (black 
 points which had been previously seen when the 
 other parts of the reef were covered by the flood- 
 tide), Avere lumps that stood higher than the
 
 6*8 THE PICTURE 
 
 rest ; and being generally dry, were blackened by 
 the weather ; but, even in these, the forms of the 
 different corals, and some shells, were distinguish- 
 able. The edges of the reef, but particularly the 
 outside (that towards the ocean) where the sea 
 broke, were the highest parts. Within these were 
 pools and holes containing sponges, and sea eggs, 
 and cucumbers, and many enormous cockles (chama 
 yigas) were scattered upon different parts of the 
 reef. At low water this cockle seems mostly to lie 
 half open, but frequently closes with much noise, 
 and the water within the shells then spouts up in a 
 stream three or four feet high. It was from this 
 noise and spouting of the water that we discovered 
 them ; for, in otlier respects, they were hardly to 
 be distinguished from the coral rock."" 
 
 The " sea eggs" here mentioned by Captain Flin- 
 ders, were species of echinus, a univalve shell-fish 
 of a globular form, and beset with tenaculcB in the 
 form of spines ; and the " cucumbers" were a species 
 of large slug {holotlinria') called by the French 
 Itc'clie de mer, and by the Chinese trepang. The 
 latter people esteem it much as an article of food, 
 boiling it down into soup, which, though not very 
 palatable to Europeans, is regarded by the Chinese 
 as having very strengthening qualities. Large 
 quantities of it are fished for on the nortli coast 
 of New Holland, chiefly by the Malays, and for 
 the Chinese market, tlie particulars of which will 
 be mentioned hereafter.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 69 
 
 Anchorage near these coral reefs is attended 
 with many perils; as the vessel is not only apt 
 to swing upon points which have not been disco- 
 vered, more especially if the anchor is let go at 
 high water, but the sharp ridges of the coral 
 bottoms, chafe and cut the cables ; and the anchor 
 is apt to drag, either by the weak mass of a thin 
 ridge on which it catches, or the parting of the 
 fluke upon a strong one. 
 
 Though the sea generally, within the reefs, has 
 comparatively smooth water, yet when the wind is 
 strong at south-east, the channel, near Cape Tribu- 
 lation, where the reefs approach the shore, is far 
 from safe, and requires the greatest caution, which 
 indeed is necessary during the whole of the rude pas- 
 sage from Cape Tribulation to the extremity of New 
 Holland. One of the most valuable species of the 
 spermaceti whale — the hump-backed whale— (^Cac/i- 
 alot Trumpo of La Cepede,) is described as being 
 very plentiful in the sea within the barrier. This 
 is the whale that produces the greatest quantity of 
 the crystallized fat, known in commerce by the name 
 of Spermaceti, and the oil which it yields is also 
 purer than that of the common Greenland whale. But 
 it is a much more fierce and active animal, and trie 
 pursuit of it among the reefs cannot be conducted to 
 success, without considerable hazai'd. The cachalots, 
 or spermaceti whales, have a much greater range of 
 food than the common whale ; they have teeth, of 
 which that animal is destitute ; and thus they feed
 
 yC^ THE PICTURE 
 
 not only upon medusce and other mollnsca^ but 
 upon fishes of considerable magnitude, and even 
 upon the shark. Large as they are, the " living- 
 water," for it is literally alive, in the sea alluded 
 to, finds them ample subsistence. 
 
 Torre's Strait is one mass of islands, shoals, and 
 reefs, among which the navigation is at all times 
 difficult, and with a contrary wind impracticable. 
 The water is no where deep. Toward the narrowest 
 }5art of the strait, it is seldom more than twelve or 
 fourteen fathoms, and often not above half as 
 much. The bottom is every where seen, and in 
 clear weather and with a vertical sun, the traversing 
 of those channels is a novel scene, even to those 
 who are familiar with the sea. The heat and light 
 are excessive, and are, the latter especially, increased 
 by the reflection of the light-coloured bottom ; then 
 the water is crowded with molhiscn, some of which 
 are perfectly transparent, and others tinted of va- 
 rious colours. There are also fish of all sizes, 
 shapes, and colovirs, with sea snakes of large di- 
 mensions and glowing lustre, whose motions are 
 as easily traced as if they were seen in the air. 
 Here the shark may be seen, darting along with 
 open mouth, and the otlier fishes swimming off in all 
 directions ; and there the turtle raising its unwieldy 
 weight of shell, or making for the shores of the 
 islands, to escape its enemies, or to deposit its eggs 
 in the holes of the sand. Shell-fish are also very 
 abundant ; and the chama attains a size far exceed-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 
 
 71 
 
 ing those mentioned by Captain Flinders, The sea- 
 weeds, corals, corallines, and sponges, may also be 
 easily traced ; and, indeed, were it not for the intole- 
 rable heat which must be encountered, the mid-day 
 view of the deep in those seas, discloses the wonders 
 of that element, in a far more astonishing and satis- 
 factory manner than if it were dried up, and the tra- 
 veller admitted to walk over the bottom. 
 
 In passing Half-way Island to the east of the 
 straits. Captain Flinders had a better opportunity of 
 observing the progress of the coral reefs than when 
 he landed on the Barrier upon the east coast. " This 
 island,'^ says he, " is scarcely more than a mile in 
 circumference, but appears to be increasing both in 
 elevation and extent. At no very distant period of 
 time, it was one of those banks produced by the 
 washing up of sand and broken coral, of which most 
 reefs afford instances, and those in Torre's Strait a 
 great many. These banks are in different stages of 
 progress ; some, like this, are become islands, but 
 not yet habitable ; some are above high water mark, 
 but destitute of vegetation ; whilst others are over- 
 flowed with every returning tide." 
 
 " It seems to me," continues Captain Flinders, 
 " that when the animalcules Avhich form the corals 
 at the bottom of the ocean, cease to live, their struc- 
 tures adhere to each other, by virtue either of the 
 gUitinous remains within, or of some property in salt 
 water ; and the interstices being gradually filled up 
 with sand and broken pieces of coral washed by the
 
 72 THE PICTURE 
 
 sea^ which also adhere, a mass of rock is at length 
 formed. Future races of these animalcvdes erect 
 their habitations upon the rising bank, and die in 
 their turn, to increase, bvit principally to elevate this 
 monument of their wonderful labours. The care 
 taken to work perpendicularly in the early stages, 
 would mark a surprising instinct in these diminutive 
 creatures. Their wall of coral, for the most part in 
 situations wliere the winds are constant, being arrived 
 at the surface, affords a shelter, to the leeward of 
 which their infant colonies may be safely sent forth ; 
 and to this their instinctive foresight it seems to be 
 owing, that the windward of a reef exposed to the 
 open sea is generally, if not always, the highest part, 
 and rises almost perpendicular, sometimes from the 
 depth of tM'o hundred, and perhaps many more, fa- 
 thoms. To be constantly covered with water seems 
 necessary to the existence of the animalcules, for 
 they do not work, except upon holes in the reef, 
 beyond low-water mark ; but the coral sand, and 
 other broken fragments thrown up by the sea, adhere 
 to the rock, and form a solid mass with it, as high 
 as the common tides reach. That elevation sur- 
 passed, tlie future remnants, being rarely covered, 
 lose tlicir adhesive property ; and remaining in a 
 loose state, form what is usually called a key upon 
 the top of the reef. The new bank is not long in 
 being visited by sea-birds ; salt plants take root 
 upon it, and a soil begins to be formed ; a cocoa-nut, 
 or the ch'upe of a Pandanus is thrown on shore; land-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 7^ 
 
 birds visit it, and deposit the seeds of shrubs and 
 trees ; every high tide, and still more, every gale, 
 adds something to the bank ; the form of an island 
 is gradually assumed ; and last of all comes man 
 to take possession." 
 
 This beautiful description is given by a man who 
 knew more of coral reefs than, perhaps, any other 
 man that ever sailed : he had no particular fancy 
 in philosophy to support, and he had abundant 
 leisure, during his long, cruel, and even absurd de- 
 tention at Mauritius, to reflect maturely on what he 
 had observed. His opinion is therefore a safe one, 
 in enabling at least a probable notion being obtained 
 of the way in which those portions of the main land 
 of Australia, and those islands on its shores, which 
 do not follow the usual laws of geology, have been 
 formed. 
 
 That all the islands in Torre's Strait are of 
 insect construction cannot be the case, because 
 many of them contain higher land than could be 
 produced by such means. The insect does not work 
 higher than the water, and the tide cannot elevate 
 sand and broken coral higher than the rise of the 
 surf. When the accumulated matter is loose sand, 
 there is indeed no limit to the height to which it 
 may be raised by eddying winds. In this way the 
 sand hummocks that are seen on the west coast of 
 Australia, and which give their own sterile character 
 to the coast, may, nay must, have been formed, 
 and are therefore to be regarded as a sea produc- 
 
 E
 
 74 THE PICTURE 
 
 tion, confined to the coast, and affording no evidence 
 of the character of the interior ; and the recent dis- 
 covery of fertile land at Swan River, is a confirma- 
 tion of this opinion. 
 
 Looking back at the portions of the reefs on the 
 east coast from Breaksea Spit, Avhere they commence, 
 to near Cape Tribulation, where they approach the 
 shore, and from thence northward to Murray's Isles, 
 about one hundred and twenty miles to the eastward 
 of Cape York, it is hardly possible to avoid seeing 
 a large portion of surface in the progress of being 
 added to that part of New Holland. When the 
 line of these reefs closes in, whether the vacant spaces 
 shall remain as lagoons of salt water, or be filled 
 up by the debris of the interior, carried down by 
 the floods, it is very obvious that without some vol- 
 canic action that shall consolidate the accumulated 
 strata, and raise them into hills, there will be the 
 same flat country as is met with on the eastern side 
 of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and great part of the 
 north-west coast. On such a land as this w'ould 
 form, there could be no rivers under any climate ; and 
 under a tropical climate, where the year is divided 
 into a rainy season and a season of drought, the same 
 alternation of parching and flooding that are found 
 in the flat intertropical parts of Australia, would of 
 necessity take place. 
 
 Thus, though the shores in many parts of Austra- 
 lia, form no clue to the nature of the interior, the 
 operations which are now going on in the adjoining
 
 or AUSTRALIA. ^S 
 
 seas, afford a very satisfactory explanation of the 
 shores. 
 
 The sea in Torre's Strait, and again between Cape 
 Van Diemen, and the Island of Timor, exhibits the 
 same rapid formation of coral reefs ; the Gulf of 
 Carpentaria forms, on the east and south sides, rather 
 an exception, at least in as far as the formation of 
 new land is concerned. It is low and muddy, and 
 from what is known of it, it appears that the coral 
 insect works only in clear water, and against a cur- 
 rent ; the Barrier Reef is opposed to the roll of the 
 whole Pacific ; and the greatest coral reef in the 
 Atlantic, the Bahama Islands, is opposed to the 
 powerful current which issues from the Gulf of 
 Mexico, between Florida and the Island of Cuba. 
 
 On the north and north-west coasts the low coral 
 islands are mixed with others of a more bold and 
 rocky character, much in the same way that the low 
 shores, covered with mangroves, alternate with the 
 t»cky shores of sandstone, schistus, or limestone 
 over granite. The larger islands in the west part 
 of the Gulf of Carpentaria, have this character, and 
 probably it extends to a considerable part of the 
 peninsular land lying between the west side of the 
 Gulf of Carpentaria, and the Bight to the southward 
 of Cape Van Diemen ; this corresponds in longitude 
 with the extensive granite cliff described by Captain 
 Flinders on the south coast, and points to the con- 
 clusion that there may be a western ridge of primi- 
 tive mountains, stretching across the covmtry from 
 e2
 
 76 THE PICTURE 
 
 south to nortli, considerably to the westward of the 
 marsh, in which the waters of the Lachlan River 
 were found to be diffused, if not dissipated. 
 
 Those clusters of islands, nvnnerous as they are, 
 are of value cliiefly as they are to be avoided as 
 dangers, or sought for as shelter by the mariner, 
 or as they may form the nuclei of new lands. Few 
 of them are well adapted for settlements ; though, 
 when the colony is further extended, and traffic 
 along the coast becomes more abundant, it w^ovild 
 be convenient to have stations at various points. 
 Port Dundas, on Melville Island, appears to be well 
 chosen as a resting-place for vessels that pass 
 Torre''s Strait, or otherwise navigate the sea to the 
 south-eastward of Timor ; and probably there might 
 be a settlement made on the east coast, considerably 
 within the tropic, which has become the more desir- 
 able, because the passage within the northern reefs has 
 been found much safer for the strait than tliat with- 
 out : the reefs in the open sea being less known, and 
 in all probability less permament in their form, and 
 the currents and swell mucli more violent. 
 
 In order to complete this glance at the Avistralian 
 seas, it only remains to point out the times and direc- 
 tions of the prevailing winds, and the set of the 
 more remarkable currents ; and in doing this, it will 
 be best to follow the oider in which the shores have 
 already been noticed ; l)ut to shorten this as much as 
 possible, making the causes of the phenomena at the 
 same time, in so far appear, it will be necessary
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 77 
 
 again to revert to the position which Australia holds 
 on the globe, and the general laws of atmospheric 
 phenomena in that situation. About one-third of the 
 length of New Holland in latitude, lies within the 
 southern tropic, and is of course affected by the tro- 
 pical currents, both of the atmosphere and the ocean : 
 the northern portion of that lies not very far from 
 the south-east of Asia, where the tropical winds are 
 by local causes changed into alternating monsoons, 
 and it must of course be in so far affected by these ; 
 and the remaining part, without the tropic, must be 
 affected by the winds and currents of the temperate 
 zones. In addition to these circumstances, arising 
 from geographical situation, there are others : the 
 dryness of the surface at certain times of the 
 year, and (the probability of) the low lands being 
 at certain seasons covered with water. 
 
 In the tropical regions the apparent motion of the 
 vertical sun westward, occasioned by the real motion 
 of the earth in the opposite direction, produces a 
 westerly motion both in the tides of the sea and the 
 winds in the atmosphere. The latter is the trade 
 wind, which extends beyond the tropics into both 
 hemispheres, and shifts northerly and southerly with 
 the declination of the sun, extending farthest into 
 each hemisphere during its summer. These winds 
 tend more to the southward as the latitude increases, 
 and without the tropic, they give place to other 
 winds. 
 
 In the southern hemisphere, where a great portion
 
 78 THE PICTURE 
 
 of the circumference of the globe is sea, the extra- 
 tropical wind is much more regular than in the 
 northern hemisphere, though in both, the prevailing 
 wind blows in the opposite direction to the trade. 
 Tlie constancy of the sovith-west wind on the south 
 and Avest of New Holland, produces an eastward 
 current in the ocean, which is felt all along the south 
 shore. 
 
 A difference of temperature between two places 
 is the cause why the wind blows from the one to the 
 other. It blows uniformly to the warmer place, 
 because the air is rarefied there, and ascends : and 
 in latitudes not more distant from the equator than 
 New Holland, it may be considered that heat is 
 generally, if not invariably, the cause of the regular 
 winds. Now, when the surface of New Holland 
 becomes dry, the vegetation withered, and the heat 
 of the naked and sandy soil as high as 120° of Fah- 
 renheit, which it generally has on the north coast, 
 and probably for a considerable way into the in- 
 terior, daring the dry season, one can easily perceive 
 that the rarefaction of the air over it, and the con- 
 sequent tendency of the wind to blow toward it, must 
 be very great. There is one circumstance, how- 
 ever, which tends to lessen the current of the wind 
 from the north even to this very warm land. The 
 sea there is shallow, the M-ater often smooth, and 
 the rays of the sun are reflected from the glassy 
 surface and the light-coloured bottom, as from mir- 
 rors ; so that, though the water of the sea does not
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 7^ 
 
 become so warm, the air over it is nearly as much 
 heated as that over the land ; and thus, instead of 
 running towards the land, it obeys the general at- 
 mospheric current over the sea, or, in great heat, and 
 with a clear sun, it stagnates into a dead calm. 
 This must be understood only, however, as applying 
 to the open or mid channel, between New Holland 
 on the south, and Timor and the islands eastward of 
 Timor, on the north ; for immediately on the shores 
 of all countries, and especially tropical ones, that 
 get very dry during the warm season, there are sea and 
 iand breezes, the former blowing towards the land, 
 when that becomes heated by the daily action of the 
 sun, and the latter setting towards the sea, when, 
 from the absence of the sun, the land becomes com- 
 paratively cool. When it is stated that the wind 
 blows from the cold surface towards the warm, it 
 must not be considered that this, in all cases, relates 
 to the absolute temperature, for it only relates to a 
 change in one of the surfaces, without a corresponding 
 chano-e in the other. Were that not the case, there 
 never would be any land breeze while the surface of the 
 land continued dry, as that dry surface is not cooled 
 down to the temperature of the sea. But when tlie 
 relative heat of one place becomes less in proportion 
 than that of another, the equilibrium between the at- 
 mosphere in the two places is destroyed ; and tlie 
 wind continues to blow from that which has been 
 relatively cooled, until the equilibrium be restored, 
 or until a new cause begins to operate. These
 
 80 THE PICTURE 
 
 general remarks will serve to explain the cause of 
 the prevailing winds upon the Australian coasts^ 
 without particular explanations in the notice of each ; 
 they will also, when we come to notice the climate 
 and seasons on the laiid, show the general reasons 
 of their character and succession. 
 
 On the south-east coast, from Cape Howe to 
 Breaksea Spit, the prevailing wind during the sum- 
 mer half year, Avhich is from the end of September 
 to the beginning of April, is from the south-east. 
 It is not uniform, however, along the whole line of 
 the coast, because to the sovithward it is more out 
 of the influence of tropical action, and from Port 
 Jackson southward, the land is narrow, and the 
 weather on the one coast is apt to be affected by 
 that on the other. Accordingly there are often 
 gales from the south and west, and also from the 
 north-east and north, which are accompanied by 
 thunder and lightning and heavy rains. Sometimes 
 too, a dry and burning wind sets in from the north- 
 west, which parches the vegetation, and makes the 
 heat almost insupportable, the thermometer during 
 these winds often rising above 100°. These hot 
 winds are generally followed by violent gusts from 
 the southern cjuarter, which are as cold, and in less 
 than half an hour the thermometer will sink from 
 the temperature of an Indian summer, to that of 
 an European spring. When the south-east wind is 
 steady and moderate, the weather is fine, and the 
 coast is refreshed by a regular succession of sea and
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 81 
 
 land breezes, which are at the same time very fa- 
 vourable for navigation, both northward and south- 
 Avard. In the winter season, when the land begins 
 to cool, the westerly winds, from the general cur- 
 rent on the south coast, are most prevalent ; but as 
 the south-east winds of summer are apt to be inter- 
 rupted by hot dry winds from the north-west, the 
 west-Avinds of the winter are apt to be interrupted 
 by gales from the eastern quarter, which are 
 accompanied by heavy rains. Thus there are no 
 certain dry and rainy seasons on the coast, from 
 Cape Howe to Breaksea Spit ; though the nearer 
 that the latter point is approached, the approxima- 
 tion to tropical seasons becomes the more striking. 
 
 As might be expected from the position of the 
 great reefs, and New Guinea, and the other islands 
 to the north, the current of the water upon this 
 coast is southward. The great roll of the Pacific, 
 within the tropic, gets a motion westward by the 
 joint action of the tides, and the south-east trade 
 wind ; and, being checked in its progress by the 
 reefs and islands, it turns southward in the direction 
 of the open sea, to the south of "^^an Diemen"'s Land, 
 Avhere it meets witli the easterly wind and currents 
 that prevail in the open sea, Avithout the tropics, 
 and so returns toAvard Cape Horn on the coast of 
 America. This current, Avhich, clear of the head- 
 lands and islands, floAvs soutliAvard at the rate of 
 about two miles an hour, facilitates the passage of 
 vessels south, Avhen the Avind is in that quarter ; 
 
 E 3
 
 THE PICTURE 
 
 while tlie eddies sett! no; northward, between the 
 
 o 
 
 points, are of equal advantage to coasters in pro- 
 ceeding northward, when the sea and land breezes 
 close in shore are suspended. The action of this 
 current, is one of the reasons why the surf beats so 
 strongly to seaward of the reefs ; and though it 
 renders these more dangerous to a vessel not having; 
 wind or sea room, it gives warning of the danger 
 when it is farther off. 
 
 At Breaksea Spit, the winds and current change ; 
 the former to a more tropical, and the latter to a 
 milder character. There the south-east trade wind 
 is pretty regular for three quarters of the year ; and 
 as it is softened by passing over the comparatively 
 still water within the reefs, the sea and land breezes 
 are very regular. In the winter, that is, during 
 June, July, and August, there are often gales on this 
 coast from the north-east, which are accompanied by 
 heavy rains ; and even when the south-east blows 
 fresh, there are often thick fogs. The current on 
 this part of the coast is towards Torre"'s Strait, or in 
 the opposite direction to that from Breaksea Spit 
 southward, but it is very gentle, and tends little 
 either to help or to hinder navigation, which within 
 the reefs, and with a proper knowledge of the 
 islands and shoals, which are very numerous, may 
 be easily made northward, by the trade wind, or 
 the sea and land breezes, unless during the season 
 when gales set in from the north-east. 
 
 Torre's Strait is a difficult navigation, though
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 83 
 
 Captain King found it much more safe as well as 
 expeditious, when approached from within the reefs 
 than when from without. The greatest danger of the 
 reefs appears to be in those to seaward, where the 
 current is strong, and new ones, or, at least, such as 
 have not been previously seen, are frequently met with. 
 
 On the north coast, from Torre''s Strait to Cape 
 ^"an Diemen, the monsoons are felt in the open 
 channel. The south-east blows from March or 
 April to November, and the weather is generally 
 fine. During the remainder of the year, the north- 
 west monsoon blows, and brings thunder, lightning, 
 and very heavy rains ; and as that is the season when 
 t]ie sun is nearly vertical, and the heat the greatest, 
 it will readily be supposed that the coast, more espe- 
 cially those parts of it where there is much of the 
 surface flooded, must be very unhealthy. It is true 
 that there are sea and land breezes on the shore ; 
 but these are strong only during the south-east or 
 dry monsoon, as the moistness of the surface, which 
 is the cause of the unhealthiness, also brings it 
 nearer to the same consistency with the surface of 
 the sea, and of course lessens the tendency of the 
 atmosphere to shift from the one to the other. 
 
 On this coast, the current to the eastward of 
 Torre's Strait sets north-west, being that part of the 
 great current of the ocean which is not turned 
 southward by the exterior reefs ; but as the outlet 
 for it in the strait is confined by the great number 
 of islands and reefs, it does not set so strongly as
 
 84 THE PICTURE 
 
 the current toward the south. On approaching the 
 strait, it is a little more rapid ; but on reaching the 
 sea to the westward of the strait, the current from 
 the east subsides, and the motion of the water ap- 
 pears to depend on that of the wind, — changing with 
 the monsoons. 
 
 Torre's Strait is advantageous only as a passage 
 from the east coast of New Holland, where it 
 shortens tlie distance both to India and China. 
 Eastward, it would hardly be practicable, when 
 both the wind and the current are from the east ; 
 and the strength of the north-west monsoon in De- 
 cember, January, and February, is the season for rain 
 and squally weather ; so that during these months, 
 the passage both ways may be considered as impeded. 
 A westward passage may then, however, be made 
 through Bass"'s Strait on the south, whicli answers 
 best for an eastward one at the seasons when Torre"'s 
 Strait can be passed Avestward, and an eastward 
 passage can be made round Van Diemen's Land at 
 all times of the year. 
 
 Aprils May, and June, appear to be the most 
 agreeable months for visiting the north coast of New 
 Holland. The east monsoon is then in its vigour ; 
 and yet the dry weather has not continued so long as 
 to burn up the vegetation. The night is calm and 
 serene ; tlie land wind comes from the southward at 
 day-break, and freshens for a part of the morning, but 
 dies away at noon, and is then succeeded by tlie sea 
 wind, which begins at east, but shifts to the north-
 
 or AUSTRALIA. 85 
 
 east, and dies away at night. At this time, the east 
 wind is regular and steady at a distance from the 
 land. As the monsoon advances, and the land 
 becomes parched, the heat increases, the sea and land 
 breezes fall off, and the weather becomes calm and 
 exceedingly sultry ; and this dry heat is in the 
 summer months followed with the rainy and un- 
 healthy weather that has already been mentioned. 
 
 The west part of the Gulf of Carpentaria, is, gene- 
 rally speaking, an exception. That gidf is of suffi- 
 cient width to affect the weather upon its shores ; 
 and accordingly, the eastern monsoon, which is a sea 
 wind, brings the rainy season upon that shore, while 
 the western, which is a land wind, brings the dry 
 weather. In this the general law is followed ; for 
 in India, the rainy season occurs on the Malabar 
 coast with the south-Avest monsoon from the Indian 
 Ocean, and on the coast of Coromandel with the 
 north-east monsoon from the Bay of Bengal. 
 
 Though the north-west coast be wholly within the 
 tropic, the winds there have not so much of the 
 tropical character. A great portion of land lies 
 between it and the east trade wind, and it trends 
 southward out of the direction of the eastern mon- 
 soon. Accordingly, the eastern monsoon, which 
 begins in April, seldom lasts longer than the end of 
 June ; and while it does last, it comes in gusts 
 rather than a steady wind ; and there are sea and 
 land breezes and calms, during the former of 
 which a passage may be made either eastward or
 
 86 
 
 THE PICTURE 
 
 westward. The winds upon this long line of coast 
 are not every where the same: they have most of 
 the regular tropical character on the north-east, and 
 it becomes less and less decided as North-west Cape 
 is approached. The monsoon in summer (December 
 and January) blows from the west, varying at some- 
 times a point or two to the north, and at others a 
 point or two to the soutli. About the Cape this 
 seems to be pretty constant, but it is often interrupted 
 by land winds along the coast. Toward the end of 
 February the west winds die away, and the Aveather 
 gets variable, with squalls and heavy rains, and is 
 very unwholesome. The current upon this coast 
 usually takes the general direction of the wind. 
 
 On the west coast, except occasional land winds, 
 the general winds are from between the north-west 
 and south, but generally toward the west ; and 
 near Cape Leeuwin they are chiefly from the 
 south-west, though in summer they are often from 
 the north-west during the nio-ht, while a ""round 
 swell rolls in from the south-west at most seasons of 
 the year. 
 
 This general motion of the winds and swell of the 
 sea, causes the current also to come from the south- 
 west ; and it divides into two parts at the Cape, one 
 setting eastward along the south coast, and another 
 northward along the west. The first of these cur- 
 rents continues all the way to the western entrance 
 of Bass's Strait ; but thougli the mass of water that 
 sets eastward to the strait be considerable, it does not
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 87 
 
 continue to run rapidly there, as it is met and 
 neutralized by the southward current on the eastern 
 shore ; and accordingly, in the strait, the surface 
 current is regulated by the winds. 
 
 On this south coast, the wind is westerly during 
 the greater part of the year ; and easterly only 
 during the latter end of summer, in January, Fe- 
 bruary, and March. Those east winds are felt most 
 perceptibly near the extremities of the coast, in 
 Bass's Strait and toward King George's Sound ; and 
 during their continuance a passage westward may be 
 made through that strait without difficulty. 
 
 From these notices of the seasons and directions 
 of the prevailing winds, and the set of the different 
 currents, it is easy to infer which are the proper 
 times for coming to or departing from the shores of 
 New Holland, in whichever direction the other 
 termination of the voyage may lie. 
 
 Around Van Piemen's Land, the winds are gene- 
 rally from the west and south ; and the ports of that 
 island, more especially the Derwent, are accessible 
 at all seasons. The gales are often strong, and the 
 sea rolls in mountains against the southern capes ; 
 but when once D'Entrecasteaux's Channel is entered, 
 all is safe. Yery violent gusts indeed often take 
 place in the neighbourhood of Mount Wellington, 
 but they are seldom of long duration. 
 
 From the fact that the prevailing winds, on the 
 whole line of coast from near Northwest Cape to the 
 bottom of the Great Bight in the soutli, are almost
 
 88 THE PICTURE 
 
 at all seasons from the sea, one would be led to 
 concliiele that there is in the internal part of New 
 Holland, some permanent cause of heat and rare- 
 faction of the air ; and it is difficult to perceive 
 what that can be, other than a parched surface, upon 
 which little or no rain falls, and where, in conse- 
 quence, cold is not produced by evaporation ; but 
 this, though a plausible one, is only a conjecture, and 
 may not be verified by observation. 
 
 In the tides upon the Australian shores there is 
 nothing very remarkable. Those on the east coasts 
 arc low, and the flood follows the direction of the 
 current which runs parallel to the shore. South of 
 Breaksea Spit, the average rise of the spring tides 
 is not much more than six feet ; and towards the 
 north it is probably not so much. There are points, 
 however, Avhere currents meet that have higher tides, 
 and there are some where there is high water only 
 once in twentv-four hours.
 
 OF AUSTKALIA. 89 
 
 CHAPTER Hi, 
 
 Climate, Soil, and Appearance of the 
 Country. 
 
 As some of these points have been already parti- 
 ally noticed, and as others can be with more propri- 
 ety detailed when Ave come to describe the topogra- 
 phy of the colonies, the general observations may be 
 very brief. Indeed, in a covmtry having such a 
 range of latitude as New Holland, and having, un- 
 der the same latitude, the rainy seasons at opposite 
 times of the year, it is not very easy to give a gene- 
 ral accovint of the climate ; and throughout so great 
 a part of its extent our knowledge of the soil and 
 appearance of the country is so confined to the mere 
 line of the coast, that there are not materials for a 
 general description, even though the particulars were 
 more easily generalized than they appear to be.
 
 90 THE PICTURE 
 
 The climate on the north coast, and as far into 
 the interior as the low lands, which are subject to be 
 flooded, may extend, must be vuihealthy, the more 
 so that the rains occur during the most powerful 
 action of the sun. This character, in all probability, 
 belongs to it throughout the whole extent from North- 
 west Cape to Cape York, including the shores of the 
 Gulf of Carpentaria. In passing round the north 
 point of Dirk Hartog''s Island, in Shark's Bay, Cap- 
 tain King found the heat oppressive, and the wind 
 from the land of the same dry and parching charac- 
 ter as that which sometimes blows at Sydney. When 
 the same navigator had rounded the North-west 
 Cape, and got under the lee of the land, " the air, 
 before of a pleasant and moderate temperature, be- 
 came so heated as to produce a scorching sensation.*" 
 This was in February, corresponding to August in 
 the northern hemisphere ; and the temperature which 
 the captain had left was that produced by the con- 
 stant winds from the sea upon the west coast. To- 
 ward the middle of the north-west coast, the same 
 navigator found the temperature (also during Feb- 
 ruary) to be 120° in the shade at noon, while on the 
 land it was 10° higher. This is greater than the 
 common maximum temperature of the warm sea- 
 son, either in the West or the East Indies. In Feb- 
 ruary also, Captain Flinders found the average tem- 
 perature on board ship, in the west part of the Gvdf 
 of Carpentaria, 85° ; and it was hotter on shore. One 
 of his crew having exposed himself for a short time
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 91 
 
 to the sun without his hat, was struck with a coup 
 desoleil, and died the same evening. It is probable 
 that the part of this coast that lies toward Melville 
 Island, and possibly that island itself, may have the 
 most healthy climate of any on this side of the coun- 
 try, because they are most in the line of the mon- 
 soons ; but the observations hitherto made are too 
 few for warranting any other conclusions than these, 
 — that the climate is sultry and unwholesome, and 
 not more inviting than the soil. 
 
 That portion of the intertropical part of the east 
 coast, which appears to be the most promising in 
 point of fertility, is, probably, also most salubrious. 
 The rainy season there occurs with the other mon- 
 soon, and the land is high and diversified, and, ex- 
 cept in the lagoons, not so subject to be flooded. 
 With regard to this coast we are, however, in the 
 same condition as to the former, — there is a want of 
 meteorological observations ; and though the differ- 
 ence of the rainy monsoon, and the greater elevation 
 of the surface, be presumptions in favour of a better 
 climate, they are not evidence. 
 
 The general course of the winds on the west and 
 south-west being from the sea, it is natural to sup- 
 pose that the temperature upon that coast should be 
 more moderate. The only part of it at which the 
 temperature is of much consequence, is at the Swan 
 River, because that is the only part at which a set- 
 tlement can apparently be formed. From the gene- 
 ral direction of the Avinds, the climate there should
 
 92 THE PICTURE 
 
 be moderate, though probably more uniformly rainy 
 than any otlier in the island. Captain Baudin, who 
 was there in the winter, found the weather stormyj 
 and the temperature from 63° to 70°, while at anchor 
 in the road. Captain Stirling was theie with the 
 Success frigate in autumn (April), and found the ex- 
 tremes 84° and 59°, and the mean, of course, about 
 72°. The summer winds in that part of the country 
 are chiefly from the north-east, Avhich must produce 
 rain, as the air charged with moisture in the tropical 
 regions, is carried into a colder latitude, by which 
 its power of retaining humidity is diminished ; and 
 the fact of such rain having fallen, or of the soil 
 being of a kind better adapted for the retaining of 
 moisture than most parts on the other coasts, was 
 proved by the abundance of fresh water which, in 
 autumn, Captain Stirling found in the soil. All the 
 circumstances of that part of the coast, point to the 
 conclusion that, if the quantity of fertile land answer 
 the liopes that are formed of it, it will, in time, and 
 that by no means a long time, be one of the most 
 valuable, if not the most valuable settlement in 
 Australia. 
 
 King George's Sound lies so near to Swan River, 
 that there must be a considerable resemblance in their 
 climates, though the latter may partake in so far 
 of tliat of the coast further to the east. The cli- 
 mate of the vast range of coast from King George's 
 Sound to near Botany Bay, is not much known ; 
 and it is not an inquiry of nuich importance, as,
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 93 
 
 SO far as is known, there seem few stations upon it 
 very eligible for settlements. 
 
 Though, as has been mentioned, there often be 
 great and rapid changes in the temperature of the 
 part of the east coast v/ithoiit the tropic ; and 
 though there be a considerable range between both 
 the summer and the winter, and the coast lands and 
 the mountains ; the climate must be regarded, on the 
 whole, as healthy, not only in places that are 
 naturally clear of timber, and in those tliat have 
 been cleared and cultivated, but in the woods, where 
 the absence of underwood admits of a free circula- 
 tion of air between the trees. 
 
 From a register of the weather kept at Sydney, 
 during the years 1821 and 1822, it appears that the 
 greatest temperature on the 7th of Febuary, was, 
 77° at six in the morning, 89" at noon, and 84" at 
 eight at night ; and the lowest, on the 14th of July, 
 48°, 50'^ and 51°, at the same hours respectively. 
 Another register, kept at Paramatta, gives the 
 lowest temperature, (in June) 26", and the highest, 
 (in January) 106'\ which gives a seasonal range of 
 80°. On the Blue Mountains, it freezes at night 
 for several months, and there are falls of snow, which 
 are unknown on the coast, though hail be not un- 
 common. As is the case in other countries, hail falls 
 toward the summer months, in large and irregular 
 masses. The rapid and great changes of tempera- 
 ture that take place when the wind changes from
 
 94. 
 
 THE PTCTUUE 
 
 north-west to south-east, are the causes of this form- 
 ation of hail. 
 
 The following abstract of the state of the weather, 
 taken daily for eleven months, at six in the moming, 
 at noon, and at eight in the evening, will give some 
 idea of the climate at Sydney, with regard to dryness 
 and moisture. 
 
 State of Atmosphere at Sydney. 
 
 Months, 
 
 Clear. 
 
 
 
 Cloudy 
 r Foggy. 
 
 
 Rain. 
 
 
 6 a.m. 
 
 12. ra. 
 
 i pm. 
 
 6 a.m. 
 
 12 m. 
 
 8 p.m. 
 
 5 a.m. 
 
 12 m. 
 
 8 p.m. 
 
 June 
 
 13 
 
 8 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 16 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 July 
 
 12 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 17 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 August 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 16 
 
 19 
 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 September . . . 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 11 
 
 22 
 
 18 
 
 12 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 October 
 
 15 
 
 11 
 
 16 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 November . . . 
 
 14 
 
 IC 
 
 19 
 
 13 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 December . . . 
 
 11 
 
 23 
 
 12 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 January .... 
 
 3 
 
 27 
 
 7 
 
 27 
 
 2 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 February .... 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 6 
 
 16 
 
 2 
 
 14 
 
 11 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 March 
 
 1 
 
 24 
 
 3 
 
 25 
 
 2 
 
 23 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 April 
 
 — 
 
 14 
 
 2 
 
 22 
 
 6 
 
 24 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 Total in ) 
 334 days. \ 
 
 79 
 
 168 
 
 124 
 
 206 
 
 109 
 
 142 
 
 49 
 
 57 
 
 68
 
 of australia. 95 
 
 Statement for each Month. 
 
 Months. 
 
 Morning?. 
 
 Noons. 
 
 Evening. 
 
 
 (^lear 
 
 Cloudy ... 
 Rain 
 
 13 
 14 
 3 
 
 30 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy. . . . 
 Rain 
 
 8 
 16 
 6 
 
 30 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy 
 
 Rain 
 
 18 
 7 
 7 
 
 30 
 
 
 July 
 
 f'lear 
 
 Cloudy . . . 
 RainJ 
 
 12 
 14 
 3 
 
 31 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy ... 
 Rain 
 
 10 
 
 17 
 
 . 4 
 
 31 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy .... 
 Rain 
 
 16 
 
 8 
 7 
 
 31 
 
 
 August 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy ... 
 Rain 
 
 8 
 19 
 4 
 
 31 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy ... 
 Rain 
 
 . 8 
 
 . 17 
 . 6 
 
 31 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy.... 
 Rain 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 9 
 
 31 
 
 St'pteaiber 
 
 Clear 
 
 C'louJy . .. 
 Rain .... 
 
 1 
 . 22 
 . 7 
 
 30 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy 
 
 Rain 
 
 . 7 
 18 
 5 
 
 30 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy . . . 
 Rain 
 
 11 
 12 
 7 
 
 30 
 
 October 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy ... 
 Rain 
 
 . 15 
 
 16 
 
 . 1 
 
 31 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy ... 
 Rain; 
 
 . 11 
 
 16 
 
 . 4 
 
 31 
 
 Clear 
 
 Ciondy . .. 
 Rain 
 
 1,- 
 11 
 4 
 
 31 
 
 Noveuiber .... 
 
 Clear 
 
 Clo.rly ... 
 Rain 
 
 . 14 
 . 13 
 . 3 
 
 30 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudv ... 
 Rain 
 
 . 16 
 . 8 
 . 6 
 
 30 
 
 Clear 
 
 Clonfly ... 
 Rain 
 
 1» 
 6 
 6 
 
 30 
 
 December .... 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy ... 
 Rain 
 
 . 11 
 . 19 
 . 1 
 
 31 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy ... 
 Rain 
 
 . 25 
 
 . .'} 
 . 1 
 
 31 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy ... 
 Rain 
 
 12 
 13 
 6 
 
 31 
 
 January 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy . . . 
 Rain 
 
 . 3 
 
 . 2/- 
 . 1 
 
 31 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy ... 
 Rain 
 
 . 27 
 . 2 
 
 . 2 
 
 31 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy ... 
 Rain . ... 
 
 7 
 . 19 
 . 5 
 
 31 
 
 February 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy ... 
 Rain .... 
 
 . 1 
 . 16 
 . 11 
 
 28 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy .. 
 Rain .... 
 
 . 18 
 . 2 
 
 . 8 
 
 28 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy ... 
 Rain 
 
 . 6 
 . 14 
 
 . 8 
 
 28 
 
 March 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy . . 
 Rain .... 
 
 . 1 
 
 . 25 
 . 5 
 
 31 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy .. 
 Rain .... 
 
 . 24 
 . 2 
 . 6 
 
 31 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy ... 
 Rain 
 
 . 3 
 . 23 
 . 5 
 
 31 
 
 April 
 
 Clear. ... 
 
 
 
 . 14 
 . 6 
 . 10 
 
 30 
 
 Clear 
 
 Cloudy... 
 Rain 
 
 . 2 
 . 24 
 . 4 
 
 30 
 
 Cloudy .. 
 Rain .... 
 
 . 22 
 . 8 
 
 30 
 
 Cloudy .. 
 Rain
 
 96 THE PICTURE 
 
 The statements in those tables will afford a sort 
 of approximation to the weather at Sydney ; but 
 as they are only for one year, and as the seasons are 
 variable, they cannot be taken as an average. Ac- 
 cording to them, the seasons are most generally 
 clear in the warm months, December and January ; 
 and as the season advances, the mornings become 
 foggv, until in April, which corresponds to October 
 in Europe, there is not one clear morning. The 
 evidence as to the quantity of rain is not com- 
 plete ; but far as it goes, January, Febuary, and 
 March, appear to be the most rainy months, as 
 we have seen statements for them of falls of about 
 six, seven, and eight inches respectively. Novem- 
 ber seems also rainy as combined with December, 
 and September, as compared with October. In 
 April, though the fog and cloudy weather be very 
 frequent, more especially in the mornings and even- 
 ings, it does not ajipear that there is much rain. 
 
 From an account of the quantity of rain at Para- 
 matta, about 100 feet above the level of the sea, it 
 appears to be nearly the same with that at Kinfauns, 
 on the banks of the Tay in Pertlishire, at twenty feet 
 above the level, that is, about twenty-six inches ; and 
 as Paramatta and Kinfauns arc somewhat similar in 
 their situations, being on estuaries at nearly the same 
 distance from the sea, and not very far from moun- 
 tains, we may conclude that the quantity of rain 
 that falls in the neighbourhood of Sydney, does not 
 differ much from, though it appears rather to exceed.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 97 
 
 that which falls in Britain. But the quantity that 
 falls upon low and warm places near the sea, is much 
 less than that which falls, not only upon high and 
 cold mountains, but upon elevated grounds near the 
 sea coast. The warmer that the low land is, the 
 greater is the difference, because the warm air 
 in part dissolves and holds in suspension, the rain 
 that falls through it ; and thus, of a rain-cloud that 
 is blown from the mountain to the low land, the air 
 over that land may absorb a part, and return it to 
 fall in rain upon the mountain. At Kinfauns there 
 are two rain guages, very near each other in horizontal 
 distance, but differing in elevation 580 feet ; and in 
 an average of five years, the elevated one showed that 
 forty-one inches of rain had fallen annually, while 
 the lower one showed only twenty-five, being nearly 
 three-fifths more for the higher. What the actual 
 quantity that falls upon the high lands in New South 
 Wales, which are at no very great distance from the 
 sea, may be, must be determined by observation ; but 
 judging from that which falls at Paramatta, and from 
 the elevation at which an increase takes place in 
 other countries that are similarly situated, eighty or 
 even one hundred inches in the year, is probably not 
 too high an estimate. In moisture, therefore, which 
 is one of the grand elements of fertility, New South 
 Wales is, according to this estimate, far from defi- 
 cient ; and it is most abundantly supplied during the 
 time when it is favourable to vegetation. 
 
 The next element of fertility is temperature ; and
 
 98 THE PICTURE 
 
 the following- are the mean temperatures of the months, 
 at the same elevation as that stated for the rain : 
 
 May 60 
 
 June 53 
 
 July 51 
 
 August , . . , 50 
 
 Degrees. Degrees. Degrees. 
 
 September .... G2 
 
 October fJJi 
 
 November .... 72 
 
 December .... 74 
 
 January "JS 
 
 February .... G8 
 
 JMarch GO 
 
 April 59 
 
 June and July are the only months in which the 
 temperature is below freezing. This information does 
 not indeed extend over a sufficient period, and there 
 may be monthly and even occasional variations, just 
 as there are in other countries that have variable cli- 
 mates ; but still it may be assumed as a general fact, 
 that lands in the latitude of Sydney will remain 
 verdant during the whole year ; and that the average 
 temperature of the several months, is equal to that 
 which is accounted a good agricultural season in this 
 country. The late Professor Playfair, who seldom ad- 
 vanced on any steps but facts, assumed 40^ as the 
 lowest temperature at which grain will germinate, and 
 56° as the average of a good vegetating season. But 
 the average annual temperature of the low lands in 
 the parallel of Sydney is 63°, or leaving out the two 
 months in which there is frost during the night, it is 
 65°, an annual temperature of 3° on the whole, and 5° 
 on the ten months, higher than that at Rome, and cor- 
 responding with that of Spain, Italy, Greece, and 
 Asia Minor, countries which are considered as the 
 Paradise of the old continent. Thus, in the second 
 element of fertility. New South Wales is equal to 
 the most esteemed parts of the old world. Whatever
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 99 
 
 will come to maturity in the countries that have been 
 mentioned, must come to maturity in Sydney, if there 
 be soil and skilful cultivation. The great portion of 
 the year during which the average temperature is 
 above that at which grain ripens, gives to the farmer 
 in New South Wales a much more extensive range 
 of useful season than can be obtained in places that 
 have a higher latitude; while the greater general 
 temperature must admit such a range in elevation, 
 that probably the higliest plains may become the 
 most valuable corn countries, while those that lie lower 
 will produce the rich fruits of the South of Europe, 
 and of China and Japan. 
 
 The soil of the country under consideration is in 
 some means an inference from what has been already 
 stated. If a country has an annual average tem- 
 perature of 63°, and is supplied with abvmdance of 
 moisture, the soil must be fertile, unless there be an 
 apparent preventing cause, — imless it be so precipi- 
 tous, as that the rain shall wash away the vegetation 
 as soon as it begins to form ; so sandy as that the 
 moisture shall be instantly absorbed ; or so impreg- 
 nated with saline substances, as to prevent the 
 growth of any but saline plants. In judging of the 
 soil of New South Wales, we must therefore look at 
 the substratum, because all above the surface is 
 favovirable to vegetation. 
 
 The information is not complete ; but so far as it 
 goes, it certainly does not warrant the assertion that 
 the subsoil is as favourable as the heat and moisture, 
 F 2
 
 100 THE PICTURE 
 
 though in it there are considerable varieties, even 
 within the range of the inhabited part of the colony. 
 The coast land is chiefly upon sandstone, often of a 
 very loose texture, and with perpendicular fissvires, 
 by which the moisture is absorbed. It is also often 
 covered with masses of the same stone, which the 
 weather decomposes, and scatters over the surface. 
 Such a soil is naturally dry and sterile ; and in the 
 Avarmer parts of New Holland, where several dry 
 months occur in succession, this description of soil 
 is little better than a desert. In New South Wales 
 it is destitute of running water ; but it is covered 
 with plants, and upon digging into it, water is 
 found, which has been arrested in its progress by 
 the retentive strata below. From the sandstone to 
 the mountains, in part of which that stone again 
 appears, the surface rests upon clay slate, often of 
 a very soft consistency, but generally impeneti-able 
 by water. The surface of this part of the country 
 is a good deal diversified, and it is covered with 
 vegetation ; but it contains no springs : the sloping 
 lands are washed by the rains, and where the surface 
 subsides into a level, it is apt to be marshy. This 
 is rather an untoward soil for the agriculturist, — as 
 it cannot easily be either drained or irrigated ; and 
 the grass which it naturally produces is hard, wirey, 
 and unfit for pasture. Such a soil would be greatly 
 improved by the application of lime ; but that is 
 not easily attainable in the district. There are some 
 of the strata that contain a portion of lime, but it is
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 101 
 
 SO mixed with sand and clay, that it is of little or 
 no use. Thus the only naturally good soil in the 
 vicinity of Sydney is that which is alluvial, formed 
 by the vegetable remains brought down by the rains 
 and floods ; and the unfavourable nature of the other 
 soil assists in the production of alluvion. Whether 
 washed from a single slope into the hollow at its 
 base, or deposited by a river, on the levels along its 
 channel, the alluvial soil of New South Wales is 
 deep and rich. The very circumstances that collect 
 it there, tend however at times to make it unsafe ; as 
 the rains, which fall heavily, being unable to pene* 
 trate the earth and lodge in it, are, by the sloping 
 surface, precipitated into the rivers, and occasion 
 floods which, while they are uncertain in the month 
 or even the year of their occurrence, rise to heights 
 unparalleled in any other country, — except perhaps 
 in some of the torrents in Southern Africa, which, 
 when the colony was attempted to be established 
 there, swept not only crops and cattle, but houses 
 and land into the sea. The floods in New South 
 Wales are not quite so violent : they spare the land 
 and add to its fertility ; but rising sometimes to the 
 height of nearly one hundred feet, they are fatal to 
 whatever of crop or habitation may be within their 
 r^nge. The colonists, since they penetrated beyond 
 the Blue Mountains and learned at least something 
 of the meteorology of the country within, have 
 found out the season, if not the year, of those floods ; 
 and thus they have been enabled to guard against
 
 102 THE PICTURE 
 
 them : first, by erecting their habitations higher than 
 the flood reaches ; and secondly, by removing the 
 produce from tlie low land before the season at 
 which the flood may be expected. 
 
 A\"hen the country was first settled on the banks of 
 the Hawkesbury, the people placed their houses upon 
 the rich low flat ; but, in March 1799, a flood came 
 suddenly upon them, and, rising to tlie height of fifty 
 feet, swept away their property, and rendered their 
 escape with their lives a matter of difficulty. The 
 summer that year had been so dry, to seaward of the 
 Blue Mountains, that the grass was parched up, the 
 woods on fire, and the colony in an alarm of famine, 
 from quite another element than that by the fury of 
 which they were overtaken. These inundations gene- 
 rally happen in the month of March, and they have 
 been known to rise ninety feet, to which height one 
 reached in 1806, and was so destructive, that the price 
 of bread rose to two shillings and sixpence per pound. 
 
 Various causes seem to conspire to the formation of 
 those floods : the steepness of the mountains ; the 
 crooked courses of the rivers ; the form of their chan- 
 nels; which consist of a series of wide pools, connected 
 by deep and narrow passes, between projecting points 
 of rock ; the impermeable nature of the soil, rendered 
 more so by drought, and the violence of the rains. 
 Those rains fall chiefly upon the mountains ; and 
 sometimes, if not always, they fall at the end of a 
 long tract of dry weatlier upon the coast, and, indeed, 
 before the weather there has broken. They come with
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 103 
 
 westerly winds, and the air upon which they are 
 wafted receives its humidity, either from the sea to- 
 ward Port Lincoln and the Great Bight, or from the 
 central lake or marsh — if there be any such — that re- 
 ceives the waters of the Lachlan, the Macqviarrie, and 
 the other streams, that flow westward from the moun- 
 tains. That the principal winds on the mountains are 
 from the Avest, is proved by the inclination given to the 
 trees ; and that those winds are violent at some sea- 
 sons of the year, is proved by the fact that the trees, 
 even of the most close and firm timber, are rent and 
 shaken internally, as is the case with those in the 
 stormy regions of the Cape of Good Hope. That 
 those heavy rains which produce the floods, fall upon 
 the mountains only, and not generally upon the coun- 
 try to the westward of them, is proved by the fact 
 that Mr. Oxley met with floods both in the Lachlan 
 and the Macquarrie, of which the state of the country 
 and the river, farther down, gave no sign. 
 
 We have, therefore, a satisfactory solution of the 
 cause of the floods ; and it also throws some light 
 upon the unexplored country to the westward. The 
 air, which is charged with those torrents of rain, must 
 receive the water by the common process of evapora- 
 tion from some moist surface, because that is the only 
 way in which air can be saturated with humidity. 
 Thus, between the place where it receives, and that 
 where it parts with its humidity, there can be no land 
 so cold, and therefore so elevated, as the Blue Moun- 
 tains ; because, if there were, it is a general law in
 
 104 THE PICTURE 
 
 meteorology that the air would discharge its moisture 
 upon that. Therefore, to accoimt for what has ac- 
 tually been observed — the clouds from the west break- 
 ing upon those mountains, the existence of another 
 and an equally elevated ridge, between them and the 
 sea, or some inland sea, lake, or morass, situated at a 
 small elevation, and consequently warm, is impossible; 
 while a low and marshy country, such as that which 
 was seen near the termination of the Lachlan, is pre- 
 cisely that which would be most favourable to the 
 production of the appearances that have been observed. 
 Now, a period of uncommon drought in the coun- 
 try toward the coast, is the best calculated of any to 
 bring on those rains upon the mountains that occasion 
 the floods in the eastern rivers. The rarefaction of 
 the air, occasioned by the arid surface of the country 
 toward the coast, must produce in the more cold and 
 dense air over the mountains, a constant current 
 eastward ; and that, by being heated over the sur- 
 face of the coast country, must have its evaporative 
 power increased, and thus aggravate the drought. 
 The air to the westward of the mountains will move 
 eastward, to supply the place of that which moves to- 
 ward the dry country on the coast ; and, rising there 
 into a higher, and consequently a colder region, it 
 must be cooled below the point of its retention of hu- 
 midity, and the inevitable consequence is rain. This, 
 too, although upon the sea coast there were a wind 
 from the east, bringing over the coast land air satu- 
 rated with moisture from the sea, the wind from
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 105 
 
 the sea, even though charged with all the humidity 
 that it could bear at the temperature of the sea, would 
 become absolutely a drying wind, over a country 
 parched by a continued heat of more than 100'' ; and 
 therefore could deposit no rain until it came to land 
 having a much lower temperature. It might pro- 
 duce clouds, because the heating influence of the 
 surface of the earth extends only to a limited height 
 in the atmosphere ; but when those clouds descended 
 so near to the surface as to be within the sphere of its 
 action, they would be again dissolved, as is the case 
 even in much colder countries, during long drought 
 and heat, — where we find that clouds are again and 
 again formed and pass away, before any rain makes 
 its appearance. 
 
 According to the accounts, those floods rise to the 
 greatest height in the rivers about the parallel of 
 Sydney, and become less towards the north, thougli 
 the rivers there, more especially the Brisbane, 
 be larger than the Hawkesbury. This would lead 
 to the conclusion, that the water which forms those 
 floods, is raised by evaporation from the sea on the 
 south-west, and not from any internal lake or marsh 
 of' considerable magnitude. And though the dis- 
 coverers have concluded that the low lands on tlie 
 northern shores are flooded during the rainy season, 
 there is no absolute evidence of the height to whicli 
 the flood rises there, or even of the fact of there being 
 a general flood at all ; nor if there Avere, is any cen- 
 tral portion of water necessary for its formation. 
 F 3
 
 106 THE PICTURE 
 
 The rains on that coast come with the monsoon 
 from the north-west, and the ground is then, to a 
 considerable extent, parched, dry, and nearly des- 
 titute of water. Of course it is not in a state for 
 absorbing moisture, neither is it such as to cause 
 air from the sea to part with its humidity. There- 
 fore, in the intertropical parts of New Holland, 
 the rains must fall first vipon a surface at some 
 distance into the interior ; nor is it till the low land 
 on the coast has been to some extent cooled by the 
 inundation from this, that rain there can be general. 
 To lessen the chance of inundations or floods in the 
 river courses toward the coast, the operation de- 
 manded is to cool the surface of the coast land 
 during the summer ; and the most obvious way of 
 doing that, in the colony at least, is by cultivation, 
 and having the ground covered with vegetables. 
 This, it must be admitted, would be but a slow 
 cure, but it is the only one ; and the personal in- 
 ducements to the putting of it in practice, are much 
 greater than the mere mitigation of the floods. 
 
 To the south-west of Sydney, near the mountains, 
 the soil improves. The character of the rock alters 
 there, and there is greenstone upon the east side, 
 and limestone, at some distance from the mountains, 
 upon the west. Both of those rocks are more reten- 
 tive of moisture than the sandstone on the coast, 
 more permeable by it than the clay slate of the in- 
 termediate country, and their debris forms a better 
 vegetable soil than either ; so that those parts of the
 
 or AUSTRALIA. 107 
 
 country form by far the best grazings : and when an 
 extensive population in their neighbourhood shovdd 
 occasion a demand, there is no question that they 
 would become also the most valuable lands for the 
 plough. 
 
 The natural appearance of Australia in every 
 place where there is soil and moisture, gives evi 
 . dence how well the climate is adapted to forward 
 the growth of vegetables. The name of Botany 
 Bay, conferred upon the comparatively barreii coast 
 where Cook and Banks first landed, is a permanent 
 proof of the rich field of vegetable novelties which 
 the latter met with there. The fact is, that where- 
 ever there is a particle of soil, in the midst of a desart 
 of sand and salt, in the crevice of a rock, on the 
 -surface of a reef just emerged from the sea, or on 
 the trvmk of a fallen tree, there grows a plant of 
 some kind or other. It is often a useless, and some- 
 times an ungainly one, but still it grows, and grows 
 rapidly ; and though the dry season often parches, 
 and the natives add to the desolation by burning the 
 country during the drought, the rainy season clothes 
 it with a new creation. In those situations where 
 the soil appears to be nothing but an accumulation 
 of stones, wood is found, often in abundance, of 
 large dimensions, and growing rapidly. The soil 
 at Sydney, it has been mentioned, is far from being 
 of the best quality ; and yet when the colony first 
 landed, they found it wooded down to the water's 
 edge, and the foundation of the nascent capital was 
 prepared by the hatchet.
 
 108 THE PICTURE 
 
 In that part of the island, however, the forests are 
 not of that tangled character which is met with in 
 many new countries. There is brushwood only 
 where lofty trees will not grow ; and where the 
 latter are, as the trunks are comparatively tall and 
 slender, with no lateral branches, except near the 
 top, and not very many there, the forests are open, 
 and may be passed through in all directions. The 
 trees are wholly evergreens, which gives a sort of 
 monotonous air to the seasons. They have, how- 
 ever, in most of the species of eucalyptus (by far the 
 most prevailing tree) the singular property of having 
 a deciduous bark, which is either hanging from the 
 stem in shreds, or gone ; and the tree, till the verdure 
 at top be observed, has all the gloomy character of 
 those blasted trunks which are sometimes found in 
 the forests of other countries. Forests of this kind 
 have but little beauty ; but they admit a free 
 circulation of the air, and they are easily cleared. 
 Steep banks, and bold rocks are another characteristic 
 in the scenery of New South Wales. Of these, the 
 banks of the Wingeecarabee river, a branch of the 
 Nepean, to the south-west of Sydney, afford among 
 the most magnificent specimens. These rocky banks 
 are of vast elevation, composed of light coloured 
 stone, piled perpendicularly in huge masses, which 
 with their perpendicular and horizontal fissures, 
 resemble the arcliitecture of giants. Between them 
 and tfae riyer there is often a low, green bank,
 
 or AUSTRALIA. 109 
 
 strewed here and there with huge fragments of the 
 cliff, and thick with eucalypti^ which, with their 
 straight white stems, and their continuous green 
 leaves above, appear as a colonnade to this singular 
 erection. The top is covered with another green 
 bank, upon which a fresh line of the same trees, 
 but of smaller growth, present the form of a ballus- 
 trade, while here and there, one of more ample 
 dimensions, or sometimes a casurina, with its diffe- 
 rent form, has the appearance of a statue. In many 
 places there is one precipice rising over another, 
 with a green bank and clustering trees between ; and 
 as those precipices are at intervals worked into deep 
 and dark caverns, the whole has a most unusual, 
 and certainly a sublime effect. At a few points, 
 too, the distant mountains come in in the back 
 ground, and present a landscape, different in charac- 
 ter, but certainly not inferior in grandeur, to those 
 of the most celebrated of picturesque lands. 
 
 Excepting the flooded banks of the rivers, and 
 some of the table lands among the mountains, there 
 is little of New South Wales that can be considered 
 as flat, until the lower parts of the Macquarrie and 
 the Lachlan be reached on the west side of the 
 mountains. Nor is there only that gradual rise of 
 the country which is almost as monotonous as a 
 dead level. There are slopes and acclivities in 
 every direction ; and, unless where they stand boldly 
 out in bare rocks, the mountains are clothed with 
 vegetation to their very summits ; and the grass in
 
 110 THE PICTURE 
 
 the higher valleys is often of much better appear- 
 ance and quality than upon the low grounds, where 
 it is covered by marshes or by the shade of the 
 forests. 
 
 ' Along with this diversity in the form of the 
 surface, there is a diversity in its appearance. 
 Forest timber, brushwood, and grass, are not formed 
 into zones according to their elevation, as in countries 
 of more uniform surface and severe climate. It is 
 the soil chiefly that determines the native vegetation 
 of Australia ; and as that is continually varying 
 with the form and the exposure of the surface, the 
 native pastures come much nearer to landscape 
 gardening than any thing that is met with in almost 
 any other country. There is a grove here, a lawn 
 there, a shrubbery in another place, and in another 
 still, a natural wall of the light coloured stone 
 appears at the openings of the foliage, as if it were 
 part of the enclosure of a garden. Sometimes these 
 are all upon so small a scale, that they would suit 
 a labourer''s cottage ; at others, they would answer 
 for a villa ; and sometimes there is a vast extent, 
 with a few clumps and scattered trees, as a domain 
 ample enough for the most splendid palace. On the 
 elevated country to the north-east of Bathurst, and 
 that for a very considerable extent, a stranger would 
 find some difficulty in persuading himself that he 
 were in a country, not only which the hand of man 
 had not touched to improve it, but where there was 
 not one fixed, and hardly even a wandering inha-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. Ill 
 
 bitant. As connected with another country at the 
 Antipodes, and to a people who, by supplying their 
 wants from every portion of the globe, cannot think 
 of comfort, and hardly of existence, without commer- 
 cial intercourse, these delightful regions lie under the 
 disadvantage of being approached Avith difficulty ; 
 but to those who would be content with the produce 
 of a fertile soil, and the enjoyment of a genial cli- 
 mate, in their own locality few places are more invitinc 
 than this. 
 
 Such is the general aspect of the unimproved 
 country upon the eastern coast of New Holland — 
 the only one that has, to any extent, been examined. 
 Wherever there is elevated ground, permanence of 
 fresh water, and such a position of the surface as 
 prevents the vegetable mould from being washed 
 away, fields fit, or easily made fit, for grazing, have 
 been formed ; and though both westward and north- 
 westward of Port Jackson, the country has been found 
 subsiding into reedy and useless marshes, there is 
 no evidence to shew that those marshes are conti ■ 
 nuous, even from the Lachlan to the Macquarrie, as 
 the ridge that lies between the courses of those rivers 
 may reach westward, and be joined to other ridges. 
 
 To the settlement of individual portions that are 
 fertile, there appears to be no obstacle : the grand 
 desideratum is inland communication ; and really, 
 though there be no certainty, there is very strong 
 presumptive evidence that that will never be sup- 
 plied, but that the communication between the eligible
 
 112 THE PICTURE 
 
 parts of the coasts must continue to be made by 
 sea. In as far, however, as the subsistence and 
 comfort of the individual settlers are concerned, that 
 want of general internal intercourse is not a matter 
 of much consequence. The only thing that it pre- 
 vents is the formation of one great nation who can 
 co-operate for one single purpose at all points of the 
 vast island ; and as, in the mean time, local improve- 
 ment is of far more conseqvience than this internal 
 intercourse and co-operation, the inhabitants of the 
 various places will be, for centuries to come, much 
 better employed in improving their own fields, than 
 in attempting to form inland routes from Bathurst 
 to Moreton Bay, or from Sydney to the Swan River. 
 
 The climate of Van Diemen's Land differs from 
 that which must be taken as the average of New 
 Holland, by having none of the tropical character. 
 If the summer heat in New South Wales be taken 
 at about 90", that of Van Diemen's Land cannot be 
 rated much above 'JO". As compared with the sea 
 coast of New South Wales, the Avinter in Van 
 Diemen's Land is probably colder in proportion. 
 The surface of the country is more diversified : it 
 lies nearer to tlie storms of the antarctic ocean, and 
 the weather is in consequence more variable — ap- 
 proaches more nearly to the character of that of 
 England. But there are none of those burning winds 
 from the north-west, to which the inhabitants about 
 Sydney are exposed, and which, followed, as they 
 frequently are, by winds equally cold from the op-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 113 
 
 posite quarter, render the climate there uncom- 
 fortable, if not unhealthy. Another thing : though 
 the temperature be lower than in New South Wales, 
 and consequently not adapted for the same kind of 
 produce, it suits better with the common grain of 
 England ; and as, upon an island of so compara- 
 tively small dimensions, and with a very varied 
 surface, the wind from almost every point of the 
 compass must be, to some extent, charged with 
 rain, there is a comparative exemption from those 
 failures of the harvest through drought that are 
 but too often felt in New South Wales. The rains 
 in Van Diemen's Land either do not fall with the 
 same violence as in the other colony, or the different 
 nature of the soil and surface does not project 
 them so rapidly into the sea : thus, though some of 
 the low lands are under water during the winter 
 months, the alarming inundations which swell the 
 rivers in New South Wales are unknown. Van 
 Diemen's Land is also much better watered, though, 
 in consequence of the bars, rapids, and other inter- 
 ruptions, the rivers are not very available for inland 
 navigation. 
 
 The surface of Van Diemen's Land bears some 
 resemblance to that of New South Wales, only the 
 scenery is bolder and the grass is not so completely 
 dried up in the summer months. The rocks, which 
 are in many places of green-stone or of basalt, have 
 a more picturesque character than the flat sand-stone 
 strata of near Sydney. The woods, consisting
 
 114 THE PICTURE 
 
 chiefly of eucalyptns, present tlie same range of 
 white triuiks, without underwood, supporting a 
 canopy of dark foliage. The plains, however, are 
 often much more open, and the wooded hills and 
 slopes have still more the character of landscape 
 gardening. Hills that are covered with verdure 
 interspersed with wood, often terminate in abrupt 
 precipices ; and while the banks of a river are for a 
 considerable extent verdant, sloping down to the 
 water's edge, an immense pile of rocks, running back- 
 ward to the hills, and covered with trees, will occasion- 
 ally diversify the scene. The neighbourhood of the 
 central lakes that lie between the sources of the Der- 
 went and the Tamar, are not so barren as those in the 
 vicinity of the lakes to the south-west of Sydney ; and 
 though in many places towards the coast the soil be 
 light and sandy, and vegetation in consequence poor, 
 yet, as the moimtains are approached, the inter- 
 mediate country is always beautiful and often fertile. 
 The native grasses, like those of the larger island, 
 are not the best adapted for the pasture of cattle 
 or sheep ; but both the soil and climate are said 
 to be well adapted for the European grasses, and 
 even the native ones improve very much when kept 
 short by grazing. As is the case with many soils 
 in a state of nature, that of Van Diemen's Land 
 becomes hard and indurated in the dry season, and 
 soft and miry during the rains. This is of course 
 most the case where the soil contains the most clay, 
 and can be cured only by that pulverization of the soil
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 115 
 
 which is effected by the labour of the agriculturist. 
 In this respect, however, the soil of Van Diemen's 
 Land is not so bad as the clayey parts of New 
 South Wales.
 
 116 THE PICTURE 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Native Minerals and Plants. 
 
 From the preceding chapters, some general idea 
 may be gleaned, of the form, extent, general ap- 
 pearance, climate, and seasons, of the Australian 
 lands ; and thus the reader is in possession of mate- 
 rials for the solution of one branch of the grand prac- 
 tical question, to which all geographical investigation 
 should tend : — " How far those lands are adapted, 
 or desirable, as the habitation of civilized human 
 beings ?" and though, upon this branch, the general 
 evidence does not warrant the admission of New 
 Holland, as one whole, into the class of the valuable 
 continents, yet, individual portions, some of them of 
 very considerable extent, are very advantageous in 
 themselves, abstractedly, and become more so, when 
 the position of the British colonies and dependencies 
 in India, and in Southern Africa, are taken into the 
 account. 
 
 The next branch of the general question is, " what
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 117 
 
 does the country produce ? What natural sub- 
 stances, in the earth, on the surface, or in the sur- 
 rounding seas, can be made available for the use and 
 comfort of man, either immediately upon the spot, or 
 in commerce with other nations ?" The solution of 
 this, is of equal value with the former ; because it 
 tends to determine whether the country is to be chiefly 
 looked upon as an agricultural, or as a manufactur- 
 ing counti-y. It is of peculiar interest to those who 
 may be disposed to emigrate, because by it they can 
 decide whether they be the proper persons or not ; 
 and, upon the proper determination of that, their 
 success or their failure, mainly depends. 
 
 On this part of the subject, the limits of the 
 present work do not admit of anything like a detail 
 of the numerous and novel productions of Australia ; 
 and the nature and object of it preclude any thing 
 like a systematic, or scientific arrangement of even 
 the facts stated. The grand object of practical in- 
 quiry, is not Avhat the learned may be pleased to call 
 any object ; but the use to which plain men can 
 apply it, as conducing to domestic comfort, or com- 
 mercial profit. 
 
 The Mineralogy of Australia is very imperfectly 
 known, not only in a scientific point of view, but as 
 respects simple utility. 
 
 Coal, one of the most useful of all minerals, has 
 been found, both on the east side of the Blue INIoun- 
 tains, and on the west ; and from the presence, at 
 Swan River, of strata which are the usual concomi-
 
 118 THE PICTURE 
 
 tants of coal formations, there is every reason to 
 conclude that coal will be found there also, and, 
 probably, in every part of the country which it 
 would be advisable to colonize. The coal formation 
 on the east coast, has been traced from Botany Bay, 
 more than one hundred miles to the north ; and it 
 stretches nearly the same distance into the interior, 
 the position where it has been most examined being 
 on the branches of Hunter''s River. There are inter- 
 ruptionsj sometimes by the dipping down of the coal 
 strata, and, at others, by the occurrence of rocky 
 mountains; but, in general, it lies much more level 
 than coal generally does. 
 
 ; Where this coal-field has been opened, at New- 
 castle, it is easily worked, and, from their appear- 
 ance, the other parts might be worked with equal 
 ease. At the coast, the coal lies at a considerable 
 height above the sea: the seam is more than three 
 feet in thickness, and the depth, from the surface, is 
 trifling for a coal-pit, being only about eighteen 
 fathoms ; while some pits, at Newcastle, in England, 
 are as much as one hundred and fifty fathoms. Thus, 
 the expence of sinking, drawing up the coal, and 
 drainage — by far the heaviest in coal working, are 
 reduced to a mere trifle, in comparison ; and, as the 
 mines are near the sea, the cheapness with which 
 this coal could be procured, would fully compensate 
 for the inferiority of its quality. It is not nearly so 
 compact, or so full of bituminous matter as the coal 
 of England, and thus it is not so durable ; but it is
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 119 
 
 said to burn well. The strata with which the coal 
 is immediately in contact, is shale and clay slate of 
 different degrees of consistency ; and from the efflo- 
 rescence upon the clay soil in New South Wales, as 
 well as the taste of the water in pits, in very dry sea- 
 sons, it appears that these strata are pretty strongly 
 impregnated with sulphate of alumina (alum), and 
 sulphate of iron (green vitriol) ; the shale and clay 
 containing nodules, and sometimes veins, of iron ore, 
 as is very generally the case with those accompany- 
 ing coal. This coal can be furnished, at Sydney, at 
 20s. per ton, three-fourths of which is expended in 
 the carriage of it sixty miles by sea. It is not gene- 
 rally used, however, as wood is still very abundant, 
 and comes cheaper. As a supply for the inhabitants 
 of the coast, or for vessels (and there appear to be 
 many arguments in favour of steam navigation here, 
 as a means of local intercourse) this field may be re- 
 garded as furnishing a supply of fuel, cheaply pro- 
 cured, of tolerable quality, and quite inexhaustible 
 in quantity. 
 
 The extent of coal for the supply of the inland 
 country, to the westward of the Blue Mountains, has 
 not been so well ascertained ; but it is described as 
 • being like charcoal in weight and consistency, and 
 burning with a brilliant and steady flame. Should 
 the quantity of this inland coal bear any proportion 
 to its reputed quality, it will be of great value, when 
 that country shall, at some distant period, become 
 thickly inhabited.
 
 120 . THE PICTURE 
 
 The only metal of which there are any unequivo- 
 cal proofs, as existing in any quantity, is iron ; and 
 that seems to be plentifully diffused. On the shores 
 of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and other parts of the 
 north coast, iron is found, frequently in the state 
 called bog ore, and of considerable richness. Near 
 Port Macquarrie, iron stone is so abundant as to 
 form the principal material of some of the hills ; it 
 is also plentiful at Swan River, and many other 
 places : and it is occasionally so magnetic, that it is 
 supposed to affect the variation in the compasses of 
 vessels that approach near the shore. Statements of 
 this kind are, however, to be admitted with the 
 greatest caution. 
 
 Of the quantity of iron thvis scattered over New 
 Holland, no use has hitherto been made ; and so long 
 as English iron, sorted in sizes and adapted to the 
 purposes of the colony, can be purchased in quan- 
 tities at Sydney, at three halfpence a pound, it is 
 not very probable that iron works will be established 
 in the colony. Still, it is satisfactory to know that, 
 in case they should be needed, coal and iron, the 
 two most valuable productions of the mine, are to be 
 found in abundance. 
 
 Of the other metals, little has been discovered. 
 Copper and lead are mentioned as having been 
 traced, both in New South Wales and at Swan 
 River, and the lead at the latter place is said to con- 
 tain silver in some of the specimens, and arsenic in 
 others. The mountains have not, however, been ex-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 121 
 
 plorecl ; and thus, though no metal, save iron, has 
 been discovered in useful quantity, we are not war- 
 ranted in saying that there is none to be found. One 
 disadvantage under which Europeans labour with 
 regard to the mineralogy of Australia, is the condi- 
 tion in which they find the natives. These can commu- 
 nicate little information, save respecting the animals 
 on which they feed, the tribes with which they fight, 
 or the leading features of the scanty district over 
 which they saunter ; and, instead of smelting an 
 ore, or knowing where one is to be found, they 
 have not so much as planted a vegetable. No cause 
 has yet been shewn why the mountainous strata of 
 Australia should not be metalliferous ; but, witli the 
 exception that has been stated, metals have not been 
 found, nor does it appear that they have been sought 
 for : the surface is still too little known, for its beino" 
 reasonably expected that inquiry should have ran- 
 sacked the bowels of the earth. 
 
 Neither does a comparison with adjacent countries 
 lielp to throw any light on the subject. There is 
 gold in the mountains of Timor, and also copper ; 
 but, though the upper rock on the coasts of that 
 island be calcareous, like those in many parts of New 
 Holland, the composition of the mountains is not 
 known. They rise to a much greater elevation than 
 any that have yet been discovered in Australia ; and 
 from that circumstance, it may, perhaps, be inferred 
 that the rocks there are different. But, in the pre- 
 sent state of our knowledge, the only conclusion that 
 
 a
 
 122 THE PICTURE 
 
 can be easily arrived at with regard to the metals in 
 New Holland, is, that there is nothing known of 
 them that can in any way tempt a settler. 
 
 Even with regard to the earths and rocks, inform- 
 ation is both imperfect, and vague so far as it goes. 
 Over the clay-stone formation, earth fit for the manu- 
 facture of bricks may be expected ; and pipe clay, or 
 potter's clay, of very good quality, is abundant ; 
 but there is no mention made of those earths that are 
 fitted for the making of porcelain. 
 
 On the sand-stone tracks near the coast, lime, in 
 any form, is not to be expected ; and though there 
 be traces of it in the clay-slate, it does not appear to 
 be worth working, unless it shall be sought for at a 
 considerable depth. The sand-stone itself is of varia- 
 ])le quality. That which is coarse grained, and, gene- 
 rally speaking, that which is exposed on the surface, 
 is of so loose a texture that a heavy shower of rain 
 reduces it to sand. That which is of a fine texture, 
 and so deep below the surface as to be always wet, is 
 more durable, and answers well for building, being, 
 like many of the finer free-stones in Britain, soft and 
 easily worked when fresh from the quarry, and 
 hardening by exposure to the weather. 
 
 Some of the clayey strata can be raised thin 
 enough for slates ; but they are not equal to the 
 slates of Wales or Cumberland. This clay slate is 
 represented as becoming more free from silicious 
 matter, and more impregnated with sulphuric acid, 
 as the high grounds to the south-west of Sydney,
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 123 
 
 that divide the sources of the Hawkesbury from 
 those of the smaller rivers that run to the south-east 
 coast, are approached. There its impregnation is 
 said to be such that alum is often found in native 
 crystals, and might be artificially obtained in large 
 quantities, should the manufactures of the colony 
 render a large supply necessary. 
 
 Of limestone, near Sydney, there is none ; and none 
 has yet been discovered so near as would pay for 
 the long land carriage. There is, however, a sub- 
 stitute, which answers for architectural purposes, in 
 the vast heaps of shells that are found on the shores 
 of some of the inlets. These shells are found in 
 great quantities : and it need hardly be added, that 
 when they are burnt they make a very pure lime. 
 On approaching the mountains southward, mountain 
 limestone makes its appearance. It is found in 
 beds of great thickness, of a greyish colour, and in 
 some instances so compact, that it may pass for an 
 inferior species of marble. The limestone strata 
 occur again, on the west side of the mountains, at 
 Bathurst, and they are found also in the elevated 
 plains near the sources of Hunter's river. In both 
 of these places the lime occurs in the conmion form 
 of limestone, or carbonate, and also in that of 
 plaster-stone, or sulphate ; but both are at too great 
 a distance from the coast for being of any great value, 
 except in the neighbourhoods where they are found. 
 Calcarious rocks have been seen on so many parts of 
 the coast, that it is by no means improbable that 
 G 2
 
 124 THE PICTURE 
 
 there is a great deal of limestone in the central parts 
 of the country. 
 
 Of the stones usually called gems, none of the 
 more valuable kinds have been fovmd in Australia. 
 In the quartz formations, there are rock crystals of 
 various colours, and garnets and agates are also 
 met with. The whole information is, however, so 
 imperfect, that it is impossible to guess what may or 
 may not still be discovered. 
 
 Thougli the rocks in some parts of New Holland 
 be of those descriptions that are usually called vol- 
 canic, there are no signs either of a volcano or of 
 any thing that has the appearance of ever having 
 been one. On some parts of the eastern shore, more 
 especially in INIoreton Bay, considerable quantities 
 of pumice-stone have been found; and from the sin- 
 gular appearance of two peaks in that quarter, like 
 the cones of glass-houses, (from which the bay was at 
 first called Glass-house Bay,) it was supposed that 
 the formation of this part of the rock was volcanic. 
 When, however, those peaks were visited, there was 
 no indication of a volcanic origin about them. Peaks 
 somewhat analogous in their form, were subsequently 
 found upon the north-west coast, where the dull 
 strata of sandstone, lying perfectly horizontal, 
 showed that no subterraneous action of volcano, or 
 anything else, has disturbed the country. There has 
 not yet been discovered any source on New Hol- 
 land whence this pumice-stone could have come ; but 
 as pumice is a light substance, and as the current of
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 125 
 
 which the eddy sets northward along this shore, 
 comes from a great distance, the pumice-stone may 
 have been wafted by it from some of the volcanic 
 isles of the Pacific, and deposited where it was 
 found. 
 
 Native Vegetation. 
 
 But if the mineralogy of Australia differ from 
 that of the other continents in its formation, chiefly 
 in the remarkable flatness of the beds of sandstone, 
 the parallel ends here : in its plants, animals, and in- 
 digenous population, it is mostly novel in character 
 as well as new in discovery. 
 
 Between all the continents there are considerable 
 shades of difference in those respects ; but Australia 
 differs from them all : and from those Avhich are 
 nearest, as much, if not more, than from those that 
 are most remote. It will simplify the matter if we 
 notice the three great families into which the 
 vegetable tribes are divided, according to the natu- 
 ral system of Jussieu. There are bicotyledones, 
 having two lobes in the seed; monocotyledones, 
 having one lobe, and acotijledones, or those in which 
 lobes are not found. This division is not per- 
 fectly accurate, as some seeds have more than two 
 lobes, and others, which Jussieu has classed as hav- 
 ing one, have really none ; but it is convenient, as 
 being simple, and, generally speaking, natural. 
 The first and second of these classes are called
 
 126 THE PICTURE 
 
 phcBfiogamoiis plants, because their mode of pro- 
 ducing seeds from flowers is seen ; the acotyledones 
 are called cryptogamous, because their mode of 
 producing seeds from flowers is not seen. The phae- 
 nogamous plants prodvice all the beauty of the 
 flower-garden, the strength of the forest, and the 
 wealth of the field and the orchard ; and they are, 
 therefore, by far the most interesting and valuable. 
 The cryptogamia, include the mosses, the fiuigi, the 
 ferns, sea-weed, and several others, all of them com- 
 paratively of minor importance. 
 
 According to Brown, the cryptogamous plants 
 form the smallest portion of the whole, at mode- 
 rate heights in the regions of the equator, and 
 they increase in proportion as the climate becomes 
 cold and moist. At the equator they are not, in 
 average situations, as one to four ; when the latitude 
 of 45° is passed, the two become nearly equal ; and 
 in the cold regions the cryptogamous become the 
 more numerous. The cryptogamous plants, many 
 of which continue growing at the one exti*emity while 
 they are decaying at the other, favour the accumu- 
 lation of mould, though not of the most valuable 
 description for phajnogamous plants, except particular 
 genera ; and, by being bad conductors of heat, they 
 also favour the retention of humidity. In New Holland 
 this family of plants is in very inferior proportion ; 
 upon the islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Brown 
 Gollected twohundred species of phaenogamous plants, 
 but he did not meet with a single moss: and he
 
 OP AUSTRALIA. 127 
 
 concludes that in the tropical parts of that country, 
 instead of forming about one-fifth of the whole, they 
 do not form one-twelfth. In this distribution of 
 its plants, though we do not see the original cause 
 of the comparatively dry state of New Holland, Ave 
 see a reason for its continuance. 
 
 Of phgenogamous plants, the monocotyledones 
 contain many valuable as well as beautiful genera, — 
 as, the grasses, including the grain-bearing ones ; 
 the palms ; the plantain ; the pine-apple ; and many 
 others. Of these, however, there are few, if any, 
 the stems of which fall under the denomination of 
 what is popularly called timber. The fibres have 
 often great strength, and the stems are of long dura- 
 tion ; but there is generally a want of uniformity in 
 the texture, and of adhesion in the lateral fibres. In 
 the tropical parts of the Northern Hemisphere, the 
 bicotyledonous plants are to the monocotyledonous 
 as five to one, but they decrease as the latitude 
 increases, till, about the latitude of St. Petersburg, the 
 two are nearly eqvial. Throughout the whole of 
 New Holland, on the other hand, their relative pro- 
 portions are nearly the same, being four of the former 
 to one of the latter. This in so far accounts for the 
 comparatively small variety of trees in tropical Aus- 
 tralia, and of grasses in the higher latitudes. These, 
 however, are only approximations, and the vegetable 
 character of the country cannot be confidently stated 
 until the interior has been explored. 
 
 One remarkable feature in the surface vegetation
 
 128 THE PICTURE 
 
 of Australia is the absence of even an approximation 
 to the o-rain-bcaring grasses, either of the warm or 
 the temperate climates. There is no plant there hav- 
 ing the least resemblance to the rice and Indian corn 
 of warm countries, or to wheat, or the other grains 
 of the old world. Tliere are leguminous, or podded 
 plants, but they have no similarity to the cvdti- 
 vated ones of the other parts of the world, and the 
 seeds of few or none of them are fit for being eaten. 
 The same also may be said with regard to fruits, 
 there not being, native, in the extent of Australia a 
 single species upon which man could subsist ; and 
 there are remarkably few tliat can be eaten at all. 
 The farinaceous seeds of the screw-pine, (pandamis 
 spiralis Br.) and of several cone-bearing trees, are 
 occasionally bruised and eaten by the natives ; but 
 the best of them are certainly inferior to the seeds of 
 the stone pine, which are used for the same purpose 
 on some parts of the Mediterranean, or those of the 
 gigantic new pines, recently discovered by Mr. 
 Douglas in the western part of North America. 
 
 In general terms, it may be said that the grassy 
 surface of New Holland, when dry and warm, is 
 composed of a vegetation so hard and wiry as to be 
 of little value ; and that where it is wet and swampy, 
 the grasses have very much the character of reeds. 
 Even those surfaces which are elevated^ of thin soil, 
 and covered ])y small shrubby plants, have a very 
 different appearance from those in any other part of 
 the world.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 129 
 
 In most other regions there are heaths ; and in 
 southern Africa, whicli lies nearest to Australia, 
 and in the same latitude with it, heaths are very 
 numerous, and many of them are remarkable for their 
 beauty. In New Holland, again, the place of the 
 heaths is supplied by the epaoidece, consisting of 
 epacris, and a number of similar plants, all of them 
 of a very hard and dry texture, though the flowers 
 of some, as, for instance, the epacris grcniclijlora, are 
 of great beauty. Indeed beauty combined with sin- 
 gularity of structure, are the prevailing characters 
 of some of the shrubs, and of very many of the 
 herbacious flowers of New Holland. 
 
 The principal points of view in which the vege- 
 tation of a country present themselves, are three : 
 first, as timber for building, furniture, and other 
 domestic purposes ; secondly, as affording food for 
 man and for domestic animals ; and thirdly, as 
 furnishing extracts and other substances that may be 
 useful in the arts. It will, therefore, be proper to 
 consider some of the principal vegetables of Aus- 
 tralia with reference to each of these three objects. 
 This will not of course give any thing like an esti- 
 mate of the capabilities of the country when culti- 
 vated ; but it will shew what the first colonists met 
 with, as well as what settlers on new land may 
 reasonably expect, and thus point out to them the 
 additions that they will have to make, before their 
 localities can be brouo-ht to their estimate of comfort. 
 
 Timber Trees. — The singular appearance of 
 g3
 
 130 THE PICTURE 
 
 the Australian forests, arising from the contrast of 
 the white stems, without lateral branches for a great 
 part of the height, and clear from all brush and 
 tmderwood, with the dull and unchanging brownish 
 green of the leaves, has already been noticed. 
 
 This character is general, both in Van Diemen's 
 Land and New South Wales, with the exception of 
 some particular parts of the shores of the latter. The 
 trees of which those forests are composed, have little 
 resemblance, either in their structure or the quality 
 of their timber, to those of any other country ; and 
 those which botanically belong to the same families 
 have not the same nature. 
 
 Eucalyptus is one of the trees of most frequent 
 occurrence, there being considerably upwards of one 
 hundred species of it already known, varying in size, 
 from a lofty forest tree, one hundred and fifty feet 
 high, and about thirteen feet in diameter at the base, 
 to small and insignificant shrubs. It would occupy 
 too much space to enumerate the half of these : and 
 therefore those only are noticed which are best known 
 in the colony. 
 
 Eucalyptus robusta is by much the largest of the 
 species, growing to the height of more than one hun- 
 dred feet, and being of the largest size on the 
 coldest latitudes in the country. Few of the Aus- 
 tralian trees are so apt to be full of shakes internally 
 as this most stately looking of them all, and pro- 
 bably it owes that casualty to its stiffness. It is also 
 very prone to rot. The tree is far from handsome,
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 131 
 
 on account of the nakedness of the trunk, and the 
 want of leaves upon the branches till near the top. 
 The leaves of the eucalyptus, which are shaped 
 nearly like those of the myrtle, are large and thick, 
 and by a twist in the foot stalks, they stand vertically, 
 and not horizontally like those of the Kviropean trees, 
 by which means both sides are of the same colour. 
 This tree has sometimes got the name of mahogany, 
 though it has no relation to the mahogany tree of 
 America in its habits, the colour, or the qualities of 
 its timber. 
 
 The blue gum-tfee {eucalyptus pipereta) grows 
 also to a large size, and is a far more valuable and 
 serviceable tree. This is indeed one of the best of the 
 eucalypti for general purposes, and the colonists 
 employ it for beams, both in houses and in ship 
 building. It is sometimes called the peppermint 
 tree ; and is said to yield an oil which is of some use 
 as a medicine. 
 
 The black butted gum tree, an unnamed euca- 
 lyptus, resembles the former in the quality, though 
 not in the colour of its timber, which is of a dull 
 straw colour, while the former is of a reddish brown. 
 The timber of this eucalyptus is made vise of by the 
 colonist for boarding ; and, judging from its appear- 
 ance, it seems by no means ill adapted for the 
 purpose. 
 
 To another eucalyptus, which is very close, hard, 
 and weighty, though like most of the genus, liable 
 to splinter, the colonists give the name of box. It
 
 132. THE PICTURE 
 
 is used for agricultural purposes where strength and 
 roughness are required. The stringy bark grows 
 erect ; and therefore it answers well for splitting, 
 to make fences ; and it is also used for masts, though 
 from its being considerably heavier than beech, it 
 does not seem the best adapted for the purpose. It 
 gets the name of stringy bark from the tattered con- 
 dition in which the bark is generally found. 
 
 The etica/t/pti in some of the species are found in 
 every region of Australia, and form one of the cha- 
 racters of the forests of that country. Like many of 
 the other trees of that part of the world they decay 
 at the heart, while the outside remains green ; and 
 this often takes place to such an extent, that they are 
 fit for being laid down as water pipes without boring. 
 
 The points upon the coasts of New Holland where 
 timber has been most carefully examined are at the 
 Illawarra, or Five Island District, to the south of 
 Sydney ; at ISIoreton Bay, on the east coast ; and 
 near Careening Bay on the north-west. 
 
 The red cedar tree {cedrela Australis) is the most 
 esteemed timber tree in the Illawarra district, and 
 there are also forests of it on the banks of Hunter"'s 
 River, The cutting of cedar is a regular trade in 
 the Illawarra, and will probably continue so till the 
 forest be exhausted. Those who deal in the timber, 
 that is, bring it to Parramatta or Sydney for sale, 
 must have a government permit, otherwise their loads 
 would be seized. The forest is so close and en- 
 tangled with climbing plants, (very diiferent from
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 133 
 
 the forests of the eucalyptus,) that the trade will not 
 bear the expense of a cart road. Accordingly, the 
 carriers bear the planks on their backs ; and the 
 cutters and sawyers have to cut their way before they 
 can reach the trees. The planks are cut in lengths 
 of eight feet, and an inch or two inches in thickness. 
 More than two-thirds of the expense of the price at 
 which this cedar sells at Sydney and Parramatta, 
 consists in the expense of carriage : the distance 
 out of the forest by manual labour being consider- 
 able, and the cartage nearly sixty miles, over a 
 wretched road. The forests contain a great variety 
 of other trees, many of them of large size, some of 
 which have not yet been named even by botanists. 
 On the low shores of this district, a cabbage palm 
 ( Seaforthea elegans) grows to a large size. Palms 
 are of little value as timber ; but the leaves of this 
 one are plaited into hats, and form excellent thatch, 
 while the spathas are of such dimensions that they are 
 used for milk pails and cream pans in the dairy. 
 
 The researches of Messrs. Oxley and Cunningham 
 in-the northern parts of New South Wales, have 
 made some important additions to the timber of the 
 colony. The Moreton Bay pine (Araucaria Cun- 
 ninghami) grows abundantly on the banks of the 
 Brisbane, and is a stately tree, occurring some- 
 times one hundred and fifty feet high, and often 
 four feet in diameter. It was once considered 
 as a variety of Norfolk Island pine ; but from 
 its forming a thick and flat top, instead of being
 
 134 THE PICTURE 
 
 pyramidal, like the other, Mr. Cunningham is dis- 
 posed to consider it as distinct. This pine is com- 
 mon for nine hundred miles along the east coast, from 
 lat. 29" 30' northwards. 
 
 FUndersia Australis, which had been previously 
 found by Mr. Brown, in less favourable situations, 
 was met with by Mr. Cunningham rising to an eleva- 
 tion of upwards of one hundred feet. In its general 
 character this tree has some resemblance to the cedar 
 of the colonists, though the wood is of a different 
 colour. The capsules containing the seeds are re- 
 markable for their rough surface. Callitris arenosa 
 grows to be a large tree, and both it and callitris 
 pyramidalis get the name of cypress. 
 
 In the winter of 1828, two important additions 
 were made to the forest trees of Moreton Bay, the 
 one as a timber tree, and the other as a fruit tree, 
 or rather, strictly speaking, as a pea tree, whicli is 
 a still greater novelty in the colony. The timber 
 tree, Oxleya xanthoocylon, which is closely allied to 
 Flindersia, and differs from it chiefly in the arrange- 
 ments of the seeds, is a tree of large size, reaching 
 to one hundred feet, with a diameter of about four 
 feet at the base, in the dense forests with which the 
 banks of the Brisbane River are clothed. The timber, 
 which when recently cut is of a yellow colour, is 
 much esteemed at the settlement, both in ship and 
 in house carpentry. The fruit tree is also a new 
 genus {castanospermum Australis), so called from 
 the resemblance of its seeds to the kernels of the
 
 OF AtlStUALIA. 135 
 
 chesnut ; it is described as being an highly ornamental 
 tree, and forming a delightful shade. It rises to 
 about forty feet in height ; the qualities of the timber 
 have not been specifically mentioned. The vege- 
 table novelties, even in the single department of tim- 
 ber trees, are however so numerous in this part of 
 Australia, that a mere specimen must suffice. 
 
 The timber, on that part of the north-west coast 
 which has been alluded to, is of less consequence, on 
 account of its remoteness from any settlement, ex- 
 cept the station on Melville Island, from which also it 
 is at a considerable distance : the names, and a single 
 quality of some of the leading species which Mr. 
 Cunningham found there, must therefore suffice. 
 Among them were mountain ebony, ( Bauhinia 
 macrophylla), the internal part of which is black 
 and very hard. Like the true ebony, it is but a small 
 tree, being from ten to twenty feet high, and from 
 five to eight inches in diameter. The Australian 
 jujube (zizyphtis Australis ? ) is a close grained 
 white wood, sometimes attaining the height of thirty 
 feet. The tropical native cherry ( Exocarpus lati- 
 folia), also produces white and hard Avood, and, 
 which is not -very usual in Australian trees, the 
 bark is of a bright green colour. This is compa- 
 ratively a small tree, as is indeed the case with all 
 the useful timber trees found on that coast : even the 
 eucalyptus does not grow large, and it is quite useless 
 for mechanical purposes. 
 
 Exocarpus cupressiformis, to which the colonists
 
 136 THE PICTURE 
 
 give the name of the cherry tree, is another, which is 
 so abundantly and widely diffused, that it forms a 
 characteristic feature in the scenery. It does not 
 grow to nearly so large a size as the eucalyptus ; but 
 the appearance of the tree, which, from its name 
 resembles that of the cyprus, is more agreeable to a 
 European. Though called the cherry tree, it has no 
 connexion Avith the bearing of cherries, the fleshy 
 receptacle which contains the seeds having more 
 resemblance to the berry of the yew. This genus is 
 common in all latitudes of Australia ; and, like the 
 eucalyptus, it is rare in every other part of the world, 
 and probably not to be met with, except in some of 
 the other islands of the Pacific. 
 
 XanthorrhcEci^ called the yellow gum, or yellow 
 resin tree, and also the grass tree, is another of the 
 singular vegetables of Australia. It has a short 
 rough stem, full of gummy or resinous juice, on the 
 top of which there is a thick tuft, or crown, of long 
 gi'assy leaves, dependant at the points, like a plume 
 of feathers. From the middle of these, there rises a 
 tall scape, or flowering stem, which, with tlie in- 
 florescence at the top, has very much the appearance 
 of a spear ; and some tribes of the natives make use 
 of the stem for that purpose. (Jn this account 
 the larger species gets the name of xanthorrhcea 
 hast'de. 
 
 To the casuarina, though it has no resemblance 
 whatever to any species of oak, the colonists give the 
 name of the oak tree. The casiiarince. though some
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 137 
 
 of them rise to a great height, are slender trees, with- 
 out leaves properly so called, and in some species 
 they are marked with joints like a reed, which, how- 
 ever, have no reference to the insertion of the small 
 branches, as is the case with the reeds. There are 
 three principal species to which the colonists have 
 given names, and the timber of which is indiscrimi- 
 nately called oak or beef- wood. These three species 
 are, the she oak ( casimrina stricfa ) remarkable for 
 its upright growth ; the forest oak (casuarina toru- 
 losa) of which the bark has some resemblance to 
 that of the cork oak ; and the swamp oak (casuarina 
 paludosa) which, as the name implies, grows in 
 marshy and swampy places. The timber of all the 
 species is very hard and heavy. It is of a mottled 
 appearance, is mvich used in the colony for furniture ; 
 and in this country, it is occasionally used in orna- 
 mental cabinet work, under the name of beef- wood, 
 or Botany Bay wood. Tlie sound trees are of small 
 diameter, however, as the casuarina is more prone to 
 rot at the heart than even the eucalyptus. Though 
 the casuarina has little or no resemblance to any 
 Kuropean tree, its habits and fructification resemble 
 those of the pine more than the oak. 
 
 The white cedar is nearly allied to the common 
 bead-tree of India (melia azedarach), a tree which 
 grows not only in India, but in the Levant. The timber 
 is light coloured, but compact and tough. The tree 
 divides into a number of long and straight branches, 
 and gets the name of melia from its fitness for mak-
 
 138 THE PICTURE 
 
 ing spears. It is called the bead-tree, because the 
 nuts, which are round and very hard, are often bored 
 and strung as beads by the Roman Catholics. When 
 recent, the nuts are enclosed in a pulp, amounting in 
 all to the size of a cherry , and understood to be poison- 
 ous. In favourable situations, this white cedar grows 
 to be a pretty large tree ; and, indeed, the red cedar is 
 often of considerable dimensions — upwards of forty 
 feet in height, with a diameter of nearly three feet 
 at the base. These trees are not so much disposed to 
 internal rot as some of the others. 
 
 The Australian rose- wood (trich'ilia glandulosa) 
 yields hard timber ; it is found in the same kind 
 of soil with the trees called cedars; but it is very 
 much disposed to rot ; and though it has a scent some- 
 what resembling a rose, it has none of the beauty, as 
 timber, of the rose- wood imported from Brazil, which 
 is so much used for cabinet work in England, — though 
 some persons, and> among the rest, French authors 
 of some consideration, have confounded the two, and 
 given the scent and the colour indiscriminately to 
 both. 
 
 Very many species of acacia are found in Australia; 
 they are very generally diffused, and form a feature 
 of the forests. Locally, they are known by the name 
 of wattles, from the slender twigs being used for 
 that purpose. The acacia melanoxyloii^ is called 
 the black wattle; and the acacia decurrens, the 
 green wattle. The acacias, in all their varieties, 
 are elegant trees ; and they are among the few in
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 139 
 
 the Australian forests, which an European would 
 be disposed to consider as ornamental. Of the acacia, 
 there are more than one hundred species scattered 
 over Australia, and of these a considerable number 
 belong to the leafless kind. The papilionaceous, or 
 pea-shaped flowers, are, in many of the species, very 
 beautiful. The acacias are very widely spread over 
 Australia, being found from the tropical shores to 
 the southmost parts of Van Diemen's Land, and in 
 the interior as well as on the coast. Theleafless varie- 
 ties are very rare, if at all found, in any other part of 
 the world. 
 
 A pine, different from the Moreton Bay pine, 
 is found chiefly in Van Diemen's Land, and hav- 
 ing been first observed upon the banks of the 
 Huon River, it has got the name of the Huon 
 Pine. This pine. Brown considers a dacrydium ; and 
 though a large tree, it has this peculiarity, that the 
 flowers are so minute as not to be discovered with- 
 out the assistance of a magnifying glass. The 
 following is the description, given by Captain King, 
 of its habits in that part of the Huon River where 
 it is most abundant : — 
 
 '< Having landed at the bottom of the cove, where 
 the Sophia had obtained her cargo, we found the 
 Huon pine trees, interspersed with many others of 
 different species, growing with great profusion within 
 three yards of the edge of the water, upon a soil of 
 decomposed vegetable matter, which, in many parts, 
 was so soft that we often sank ancle deep, and occa-
 
 140 THE PICTURE 
 
 sionally up to the knees in it ; this swampy nature 
 of the soil is to be attributed to the crowded state of 
 the trees ; for they grow so close to each other, as to 
 prevent the rays of the sun from penetrating to the 
 soil. 
 
 " The ground is also strewed with fallen trees, the 
 stems of which are covered with a thick coat of 
 moss, in which seedlings of all the varieties of trees 
 and ]:)lants that grow here, were springing up, on the 
 prostrate stem of, perhaps, their parent tree ; and it 
 was not rare to see large Huon pines, of three feet 
 in diameter, rooted in this manner, on the trunk of 
 a sound tree of even larger dimensions, that had, 
 perhaps, been lying on the ground for centuries; 
 while others were observed, in appearance sound, 
 and in shape perfect, and also covered Avith moss ; 
 which, upon being trod upon, fell in and crumbled 
 away.'" 
 
 A different description of pine, of inferior size, 
 but adapted for nearly the same purposes as the 
 Huon pine, is found at no great distance. This is 
 the Adventure Bay pine, which grows on the east 
 side of Bruni Island, on the Storm Bay entrance to 
 the Derwent. The largest dimensions of this pine 
 that have been observed, are, a height of about fifty 
 feet, and a diameter of sixteen inches at the base ; 
 while the Huon pine has been met with more than 
 sixty feet in altitude, and with a base diameter of 
 five feet. Labillardiere has figured and described 
 this tree as a j)odocarpus ; while Brown, on the
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 141 
 
 other hand, considers it as a dacrydium. To the 
 latter it certainly has a strong resemblance, both 
 in the minuteness of its flowers, and its general 
 habits. One remarkable property of it is the ex- 
 tremely ragged appearance of the leaves, hardly two 
 being of the same shape. As has been mentioned of 
 some other of the Australian trees, the leaves of the 
 Adventure Bay pine grow vertically instead of ho- 
 rizontally. 
 
 The tea-tree of the colonists belongs to the beau- 
 tiful genus melaleuca, of which there are many 
 species in Australia, though only two have been 
 found in other parts of the world. What is com- 
 monly called the tea-tree, is the toad -flax leaved 
 melaleuca. It has no analogy whatever to the tea- 
 tree of China, though an infusion of the leaves be 
 often used as a substitute, as might probably be the 
 case Avith many other trees, if the use of them were 
 fashionable. This tree thrives most abundantly in 
 marshes, and is, properly, a large shrub rather than 
 a tree. The shoots grow to a great length, are very 
 straight, and both tough and elastic. The natives 
 use them for spears, and they might be applied to 
 many purposes in the arts. 
 
 The mangroves on the Australian shores often rise 
 to a great height ; they are met with on the banks of 
 the small river Liverpool, on the north shore, of a 
 tapering shape, like poplars, of sixty feet in height, and 
 three in diameter at the base. When dry, however, 
 the timber of most mangroves is light and spongy,
 
 142 THE PICTURE 
 
 fit only for burning, and not very well adapted for 
 that. 
 
 In one respect, several of the timbers of Aus- 
 tralia, and, among others, the stringy-bark eucalyp- 
 tus, have a considerable resemblance to the larch 
 of Europe : which would lead one to infer, that 
 the resin, or gum, which they contain, has some 
 analogv to the turpentine of that tree. They 
 burn with great difficulty, so that a live coal, 
 if laid above a board of this timber, will smoul- 
 der and die before it hardly singes the surface. 
 This property renders those timbers very advan- 
 tageous for boarding the walls, and shingling the 
 roofs of houses, from the little danger that there is 
 of such houses being burnt. One would almost be 
 tempted to believe that this were a provision of 
 nature for the protection of the trees against those 
 casualties to which they are sometimes exposed, as 
 well from spontaneous fires on the grass, as from the 
 setting of it on fire by the natives. 
 
 Specimens of Australian Timber. 
 
 Being favoured with an examination of a number 
 of species of Australian timber, in specimens of suffi- 
 cient size for forming a tolerable judgment of their 
 qualities, and having been kindly permitted to ascer- 
 tain what we believe to be a tolerable approximation 
 to their specific gravities, we cannot close this notice 
 more usefully than by brirfly stating the results.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 143 
 
 The specimens came from Mr. Cunningham by the 
 Lady Blackwood, Captain Dibbs, that left Sydney 
 in February 1829, and were received by the botani- 
 cal gentlemen in the employment of his Majesty, to 
 whom we are indebted for being able to communi- 
 cate this as well as other new and valuable informa- 
 tion respecting Avistralia. As these timbers are the 
 most easily accessible ones in the settled part of the 
 colony, a knowledge of them must be of some ad- 
 vantage to the settler, as well as to those who may, 
 from the names bestowed upon some of the native 
 productions, be disposed to compare them as sub- 
 jects of commerce with the productions of other 
 countries. 
 
 From the Colony. 
 
 1. Blue gnm (eucalyptus jnperita). This is a very 
 handsome timber, of straight and uniform grain, 
 close and compact, of a bright brownish red, not 
 unlike mahogany, but not curled or veined. It 
 does not appear to warp, shake, or splinter, and cuts 
 clean. It is mostly used in the colony in ship and 
 house carpentery, though it seems by no means 
 badly adapted for furniture, and almost for every 
 domestic purpose. The specific gravity of the spe- 
 cimen (that of water, temperature 52", being 1000,) 
 is 930, consequently a cubic foot of it weighs about 
 581bs. avoirdupois. 
 
 2. Black-butted gum-tree (eucalyptus ),
 
 lU 
 
 THE PICTURE 
 
 also a straight-grained timber, having the smell and 
 something the colour of German oak, though the grain 
 is different. It seems a tough and firm timber, and 
 well adapted for the purpose to which it is chiefly 
 applied — that of flooring. This specimen is not 
 quite so heavy as the former, its specific gravity 
 being 883. 
 
 3. The Box of the colonists (eucalyptus ). 
 
 This is a very compact and heavy timber ; but it is 
 rough and splinter}'^, and evidently difficult to work. 
 It is used for agricultural purposes, such as plough 
 beams and cart wheels. It is of a dull, unpleasant 
 colour, and heavier than water, its specific gravity 
 being 1050. 
 
 4. Stringy-bark (eucalyptus ). This has 
 
 a considerable resemblance to No. 2, only it is rather 
 harder, rougher, and apparently more disposed to 
 splinter. It is also less compact and uniform in the 
 grain. It is split for fences, and also used for masts, 
 though it seems a heavy timber for the latter, its 
 specific gravity being 918. 
 
 5. Apple-tree (augop/iora laceolata). This is 
 tough and hard timber, having some resemblance to 
 No. 4, but rather closer in the grain, and a little 
 splintery. It is used for plough boards ; its specific 
 gravity is 834. 
 
 6. Turpentine tree {tristania albicans). This 
 specimen is of a reddish colour, with white sap-wood. 
 The texture of the central part is uniform, and it 
 seems free from shake or splinter ; but in the note
 
 OF AUSTKALIA. 145 
 
 accompanying it, it is described as " not used." 
 Specific gravity, 838. 
 
 7. Mahogany of the colonists, {eucalyptus .) 
 
 Tliis, though it be not veined in the specimen, nearly 
 resembles the plainer Honduras mahogany. It is of 
 uniform texture and colour, compact, and cuts clean. 
 The grain wants that irregular veining which charac- 
 terises mahogany ; still it seems a very good timber. 
 It is used for fences, and also for chairs and other 
 articles of furniture. Specific gravity, 916. 
 
 8. Forest oak, or beef- wood (casuarina torulosa). 
 The timber of this tree consists of a sort of network of 
 fibres, containing a darker substance in the openings, 
 which is not fibrous, and which, in the sap-wood or 
 recent wood, appears to be of very slight tenacity. 
 When cut at right angles to the heart, its appearance 
 is rather handsomely mottled, and its colour is of a 
 tolerably bright yellowish red. It is obtained only 
 of a small diameter. It is a weighty timber, its 
 specific gravity being 1030. 
 
 9- Large-leaved light wood {Welnmannia arbuH- 
 folia). This is a soft and spongy timber, having in 
 its texture some resemblance to poplar ; but, from 
 the specimen, it appears very apt to warp and shrink, 
 though it be free from splinters. It is used for 
 window sashes. Its specific gravity is about 544. 
 
 10. Iron bark (eucalyptus resinifera). This spe- 
 cimen has the colour, and a good deal of the grain, 
 of chestnut. It is exceedingly hard and tough, but 
 much splintered. It is stated as being used for fenc- 
 
 H
 
 146 THE ricTURE 
 
 ing, and also for tree-nails, and other purposes re- 
 quiring a good deal of strength in a small body of 
 timber. It is a heavy timber, its specific gravity 
 being 1128. 
 
 11. Narrow-leaved light wood {ceratopetalum 
 gummiferum). This specimen is very light and 
 spongy, and has been taken from a tall, slender tree. 
 Like No. 9, it has some resemblance to poplar ; but 
 it is a little darker in colour. It is used for window 
 sashes. Specific gravity, 727- 
 
 12. Honeysuckle (Bnnksea mfegrifolia ) is a sin- 
 gular timber. It has the texture of beef- wood, only it 
 is not nearly so firm and so compact ; and the colour 
 is much darker, the red matter contained in the 
 fibrous tissue being sometimes nearly black, and . 
 bearing a much greater proportion to the whole mass 
 than in beef-wood. In the sapwood the fibres are 
 very loose, and the intermediate matter appears to 
 be easily separated. It is said to be used for knees 
 in boat building ; but its recommendation must lie 
 more in its form than in its quality. The specific 
 gravity of this specimen is only 755. 
 
 13. Pear-tree (xylmnelum pyriforme) has a good 
 deal of resemblance to the last specimen, both in tex- 
 ture and colour ; but the fibres, though more widely 
 apart, are in themselves more compact, and the 
 intermediate matter of a firmer consistency. The 
 specimen contains a good deal of sapwood, which is 
 of loose texture, and very white. This timber is used 
 for gun stocks ; but it must be much inferior to the 
 walnut-tree of England. Specific gravity, 785.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 147 
 
 14. Red Gum (eucalyptus rohusta). Very hard, 
 and apparently tough in the individual fibres; but 
 of a bad colour ; rough, splintery, full of decayed 
 portions here and there. Mr. Cunningham says it 
 is '"of no use, not even to burn." The latter de- 
 scription must however apply only to the green wood ; 
 for upon trying a small portion of the dry, it was 
 found to kindle readily, burn with clear lambent 
 flame, without smoke, and, indeed, both in brilliance 
 and durability of flame it appeared superior to most 
 of the timbers of this country : so that, though it 
 may not be useful for any other purpose, properly 
 dried it would certainly make excellent firewood. 
 Specific gravity, 907- 
 
 15. Blood-tree (eucalyptus, allied to 14). This 
 is a coarse-grained timber, of a dull reddish colour, 
 with a considerable wave or curl in the grain, but 
 destitute of beauty, and apparently also of strength. 
 It is chiefly used as firewood. Specific gravity, 728. 
 
 16. ^ediCedLax(cedrelaAustralis — C.toona, Rox.) 
 is a very fine timber. It is of uniform colour, though, 
 in other respects, and even in the leaves, fruit, and 
 general habits of the tree, very similar to mahogany. 
 It works easily, and takes a fine polish. Like ma- 
 hogany, it loses its colour when exposed to the air ; 
 but, excepting mahogany, we have no timber so 
 handsome for inside work. It is a light timber, but 
 tough, and by no means splintery. Specific gravity, 
 
 H 2
 
 148 the picture 
 
 From Moreton Bay. 
 
 From this place there were three specimens, of which 
 only two {Flijidersia and Oxleya) were named, and 
 reference to the individuals was not given ; so that 
 the naming of them would be an injustice to Mr. 
 Cunningham, — though it is probable that No. 1. is 
 Oxleya^ and Nos. 2. and 3. Flmdersia. 
 
 1. A compact and heavy timber, of a pale straw- 
 colour, and in grain not very unlike teak. The 
 specimen has been cut from a tree of large dimen- 
 sions. Specific gravity, 833. 
 
 2. Taken fi'om a much smaller tree ; great part 
 toward the outside sapwood ; white, and apparently 
 beginning to decay ; the heart beautifully striped 
 and clouded, of a colour intermediate between rose- 
 wood and king- wood; hard, and susceptible of a fine 
 polish. If abundant in quantity and durable, this 
 might be a valuable timber for ornamental work. 
 Specific gravity, 769. 
 
 3. Very like No. 2 in texture and consistency, only 
 not quite so hard, and containing a greater quantity 
 of sap. Heart, clouded, and of a yellow of consider- 
 able brightness. Perhaps this may be No. 2, in an 
 earlier stage of its growth. Specific gravity, about 
 857. 
 
 4. Moreton Bay pine {araucaria Cunninghami) 
 is a light-coloured timber, fine in the grain, very 
 close and handsome, and by no means weighty. In 
 appearance it is far superior to any kind of deal ;
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 149 
 
 and as it is sonorous, it would answer well for musi- 
 cal instruments. For planking, and for masts and 
 spars, as well as for all purposes of house carpentry, 
 this seems an excellent timber. Specific gravity, 535. 
 
 Esculent Vegetables. — The native produc- 
 tions of Australia which are deserving of that name, 
 are remarkably few, as compared with those of any 
 other country of the same extent, and enjoying the 
 same advantages of climate. Culinary vegetables 
 there are none, with the exception of a species of 
 wild spinach, which is found on the sandy shores, 
 and which, though eagerly sought for there, would 
 not be much esteemed in any other country. Of the 
 fruits, to which the colonists have given English 
 names, there are none which possess any of the good 
 qualities of their European namesakes ; and until 
 the discovery of the castanospermtim Azistrale by 
 Mr. Cmmingham, there was hardly any thing in the 
 catalogue, that a European could eat, unless reduced 
 to the greatest necessity. 
 
 Castanospermum is, as has been said, a handsome 
 tree ; its leaves bear some resemblance to those of 
 the elder, and its flowers are papilionaceous, or in 
 the shape of those of the pea. The fruit is not a 
 nut, but a very large and rather handsome pod, 
 not very unlike the pod of a Avindsor bean, in its 
 form, but of a brown colour and hard surface. 
 Within it is lined with a silky down ; of a white 
 colour, and contains a variable number of seeds 
 or beans, which are, when full grown, much larger
 
 150 THE PICTURE 
 
 than chestnuts. These beans are roundish, but flat- 
 tened on one side, and covered with a loose mem- 
 brane, which is not unlike the skin of a chestnut, but 
 much more easily separated. Tlie odour, especially 
 when they are undergoing the process of roasting, 
 is agreeable, intermediate between that of good oaten 
 cake and a potato newly dug and roasted. The 
 flavour, though not so sweet, is nearly as grateful as 
 that of the Spanish chestnut. As the tree produces 
 abundantly, if it be found in sufficient quantity it 
 may be an object of commerce, or may be worthy 
 of cultivation, more especially if the wood correspond 
 in value with the seeds. It seems to bear being carried 
 to a distance ; for a specimen, which probably had 
 not altogether been ripe, though kept for twelve 
 months, and carried sixteen thousand miles, tasted 
 as fresh, and had indeed the same fresh appearance, 
 as if it had been newly gathered. 
 
 The apple-tree of the colonists (angophora lanceo- 
 latd) is of no value whatever as a fruit tree. There 
 are other two genera, which both get and deserve the 
 name of apples in other countries, but the New Holland 
 species are so very inferior, that they do not admit of a 
 comparison. The apple on the ti'opical coast belongs 
 to the same genus as the Malay apple {Eiigenia) ; but 
 it is so exceedingly sour that it cannot be eaten. 
 The Coal River apple {achras Australis) belongs 
 to the same genus with the manimee of tropical 
 America, but it also is very inferior. The pear 
 iooylomelum pyriforme) is something in the shape of
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 151 
 
 a pear, but instead of being esculent, it is of a more 
 rigid structure than most timber, and can hardly be 
 cut with a knife. 
 
 The Moreton Bay lime (limonia (?) Atistralis) 
 was found by Mr. Cunningham in the woods upon 
 the Brisbane. It is of a most beautiful green, with 
 lanciolate leaves, a little serrated, and a stiff and 
 sharp green spine at the insertion of each. The tree 
 has not been met with in flower ; but the small 
 green fruit have the formation and odour, and 
 the pulp the flavour of the lime. Both this and the 
 former are beautiful trees, remarkable for the gloss 
 and brightness of the leaves and twigs. 
 
 It was mentioned that the epacridecB came in place 
 of the heaths. Epacris answers to enica, and 
 lissanthe to vaccmium. The Australian cranberry 
 {lissanthe sopida) is a beautiful fruited shrub. It 
 grows upon the slopes of the Blue Mountains to the 
 heio-ht of from three to nine feet, has handsome yellow 
 flowers, in bunches of from one to five or six, which, 
 the second year, are followed by beautiful crimson 
 berries, upon which, however, there is not a great 
 deal of pulp. The taste resembles that of the 
 Siberian crab. It seems highly probable that the 
 epocridece generally produces edible berries. 
 
 The cherry is the capsule of the exocarpus citpres- 
 siformis ; but it is not edible. 
 
 The plum is the berry of Cargillia arhorea, 
 rather an elegant tapering tree, which is found on 
 the banks of the Brisbane River, attaining a height
 
 152 THE PICTURE 
 
 of at least eighty feet. The berries are unfit for 
 human food, but they are very abundant, and 
 attract large flocks of pigeons from the inter-tro- 
 pical parts of the country, during the winter season, 
 when they are ripe. 
 
 The currant shrub (leptomeria acerba) produces 
 berries which have pvilp, and the flavour is not dis- 
 agreeable ; but they are so exceedingly tart, that they 
 cannot be used, either in preserves, or for sharpening 
 liquors, without an admixture of the milder fruit 
 of some other country. The colonists usually pre- 
 pare them along with rasps, and this preparation, 
 which is very sharply acid, is much relished at Sydney 
 during the dry and burning months. 
 
 No spice or pepper plants, properly speaking, 
 have been hitherto found in Australia. There are 
 many species of cajjparis, and one which was found 
 on the north coast had a singular appearance in the 
 stem, which, though not exceeding thirty feet in 
 height, had a diameter of nearly nine feet ; it was full 
 of sap, and swelled and tubercled as if diseased ; 
 but it does not appear that any of these produces 
 anything bearing the least resemblance to the caper 
 bush. On the tropical shores, a species of wild 
 nutmeg (myristica insipida) is not uncommon, but 
 it is perfectly useless. There is some reason to 
 believe that the cocoa-nut grows on some of the 
 tropical parts of the east coast ; but the tree has not 
 yet been met with. 
 
 Among the vegetables eaten by the natives, is the
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 153 
 
 esculent fern, (pteris esculenta), which is pretty gene- 
 rally distributed, more especially on the east coast. 
 Some of these ferns bear, in their leaves at least, a very 
 close resemblance to the most common fern of Eng- 
 land. They are described as in general rising about 
 the height of four feet ; and the roots contain a con- 
 siderable portion of farinaceous matter, with which, 
 however, woody fibres are mixed, and the whole is 
 neither very nutritive nor very palatable. In many 
 places, however, these roots form the only vegetable 
 food, and at certain seasons the only food, of the 
 natives. In some places too, the farinaceous seeds of 
 certain species of stermileo, and of some of the 
 grasses, are bruised and eaten. 
 
 The Buckra yam (caladium macrorhizum) is an 
 esculent root of some value ; and, even to Europeans, 
 both that, and the tuft of the cabbage palm, (Sea- 
 forthia) might form a tolerable substitute for better 
 vegetables. 
 
 Substances. — The substances obtained from 
 Australian vegetables have not hitherto been much 
 used in the arts. The principal ones are gums. 
 The gum of the eucalyptus is represented as being 
 of an astringent nature, and bearing a considerable 
 resemblance to the gum kino of the shops. The gum 
 of the acacia has, on the other hand, a very consi- 
 derable resemblance to gum arable ; it is found in 
 great quantity upon almost all the species^ and 
 might probably be converted into an article of com- 
 merce. The time for collecting it is when the dry 
 H 3
 
 154 THE PICTURE 
 
 season is considerably advanced, as it then exudes 
 from the cracks and fissures of the bark, in tears, 
 which are transparent, but which, being soluble in 
 water, are washed away when the rains set in. It is 
 understood that the resinous gums of some of the 
 Australian trees may be used as a substitute for pitch 
 in protecting the planking of ships ; and by whatever 
 process it is consolidated, the gummy cement of the 
 XanthorrhcBa, by which the natives unite the dif- 
 ferent portions of their spears and other weapons, 
 and fix bits of stone or shell to their hammers and 
 knives, or barbs to their more formidable spears, 
 acquires nearly the hardness of horn. It is by no 
 means improbable that an oil, possessing the qualities 
 of the Cajiput oil of the south-east of Asia, may be 
 obtained from some of the numerous species of 
 melaleuca which are so abundant in Australia. The 
 tree which furnishes that oil is a rnelalenca, and, 
 indeed, the one from Avhich the genus is named. 
 Caya puti, in the Malay language, signifies white 
 tree, which is partly the meaning of the generic name. 
 The bark of the species called the tea-tree is of some 
 use in domestic economy : it is thick and spongy, 
 and serves as a substitute for tinder. The bark of 
 many of the trees is useful. The natives make 
 shields and canoes, and coverings for their habita- 
 tions, such as they are, of it ; and, as many of the 
 trees cast their bark, an annual supply is obtained, 
 without any necessary destruction of the forests. 
 The bark of the cunijong {hibiscus heterophyllus)
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 155 
 
 is tough and fibrous, and answers very well for the 
 manufacture of ropes. The bark of the black wattle 
 is employed in the tanning of leather, and has been 
 reported as containing more tannin than the oak- 
 bark of Europe. It has been exported, both in sub- 
 stance, and in tiie form of an extract which was sup- 
 posed to embody all the strength of the bark ; but 
 that does not appear to have been the case, as the 
 exportation of the prepared extract has fallen oft* 
 greatly, if it has not ceased altogether. 
 
 A ground rattan (calamus caryotoides), which, 
 on many parts of the east coast, climbs to the top of 
 the tallest trees, is used by the natives for sewing 
 thin canoes, and for making baskets. 
 
 One specie of eucalyptus, which is met with in 
 the cold and elevated parts of the colony on both 
 sides of the Blue Mountains, furnishes a considerable 
 quantity of manna, and has on that account got the 
 specific name of eucalyptus mannifera. The manna 
 obtained from this tree is described as having the 
 same medicinal properties as that of the manna-ash 
 of Italy, from which manna has hitherto been ob- 
 tained : and if the produce be as represented, in 
 quantity and in quality, there cannot be the least 
 doubt that this substance v/ould be well worthy of 
 attention. Many of the trees and shrubs are so covered 
 with a terebinthenous efflorescence, that they stick to 
 the hands. It must be remarked that, though this 
 catalogue of useful substances obtained from A us- 
 tralian vegetables be but limited, it cannot be sup-
 
 156 THE PICTURE 
 
 posed to include any more than a small portion of 
 those which future and more careful investigation 
 may find in a country so extensive, notwithstanding 
 the uniformity that there is in the vegetable produc- 
 tions of its several latitudes. 
 
 The vegetable curiosities of Australia are so nu- 
 merous, that the mere names of one or two must 
 suffice. 
 
 The nettle tree (urtica gigas) is a tree of consi- 
 derable growth, with bright brown bark and large 
 leaves. Every part of it, even the powder upon the 
 trunk, is so acrid, that it well merits the name it has 
 obtained. 
 
 The gigantic lily {doryanthes eatceld) well merits 
 its name ; for though it has all the habits of a lily, 
 it is eighteen or twenty feet high. 
 
 The tree grass {kingia Australis) which has been 
 met with only about King George's Sound, has very 
 much the appearance of xanthorrhaea, only the woody 
 stem is longer, and the flower-stalk is covered with 
 a succession of sheaths. 
 
 The pitcher plant (cephalotus follicularis) is also 
 a very singular one. The pitchers are not at the 
 ends of the leaves, as in the common pitcher plant, 
 but upon separate stalks.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 15'J 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Animals. 
 
 Uniform as is the vegetation of Australia, through- 
 out its whole range of two thousand miles in lati- 
 tude, as compared with most other regions of the 
 globe, and different as it is from every other region 
 in the leading characteristics of that, it is still more 
 uniform and more singular in its animated inhabi- 
 tants, — more especially its quadrupeds, and its human 
 beings. With only two exceptions, the four-footed 
 beasts of Australia appear as if they all belonged to 
 one family, and were distinguished from each other 
 only by a larger and a smaller growth ; and there 
 are certain peculiarities which render them almost 
 entirely a new race, having but few analogies to 
 those of the parts of the world previously known. 
 
 The native dog is the only large quadruped that.
 
 158 THE PICTURE 
 
 in structure and habits, resembles the quadrupeds of 
 the other parts of the world ; Avhich would lead one 
 to conclude, that though found by Europeans when 
 they first visited the country, both in a wild state, 
 and so far domesticated as to follow the natives, this 
 dog may be an importation. This is rendered the 
 more probable from the similarity that may be 
 traced between the Australian dog^ and some dogs 
 that are found in China and the islands inhabited 
 by the Malays. The habits of those people have 
 remained long unchanged : and thus some proa may 
 have touched at, or been driven upon, the shores of 
 New Holland, sufficiently long before that country 
 was known to Europeans, for allowing the dogs, 
 which are a prolific race, to diffuse themselves over 
 the larger island ; and the probability of this is 
 farther increased by the fact, that this dog has not 
 been seen upon Van Diemen"'s Land, though the 
 native quadrupeds, strictly speaking, have been 
 found nearly the same as in New Holland. This 
 dog bears some resemblance to the larger kinds of 
 shepherd's dog, only the neck is thicker, the whole 
 body of the animal apparently stronger, and the 
 form and expression of the head more resembling 
 those of a cross between the dog and wolf. The 
 Australian dog does not bark, but utters a disagree- 
 able growl : and when he bites, whether in attacking 
 his Jjrey or in fighting, he does not seize hold and 
 keep it, but snaps, like the sheep-dog, the poodle, 
 and some other varieties. liis bite is very sharp.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 159 
 
 and the colonists have found him very destructive 
 to their flocks, as he runs biting a great number of 
 sheep, and his bite is very difficult to heal. This 
 dog is not very difficult to tame ; but it is not easy 
 to cure him of his natural snappish disposition, 
 which, even when not provoked to it by hunger, he 
 is very apt to exercise upon sheep and other animals. 
 As is the case with the wolves in the northern parts 
 of America, these dogs in their wild state appear to 
 have a great dislike of domestic dogs, and when 
 two or more of them together can set upon one, they 
 kill him without mercy. These dogs are of a red- 
 dish colour, with shaggy hair, a bushy tail, and very 
 erect ears. They have a peculiar odour, to which 
 European dogs are far from partial, and which ren- 
 ders them disagreeable when domesticated. The 
 number of their young is about the same as in the 
 European dog, and a cross between the two makes a 
 very serviceable dog in the hunting of emus and 
 kangaroos, to which also the pure breed may be 
 trained if taken young. The dogs which have been 
 seen following the natives, pretty generally, upon 
 the north coast of New Holland, seem to be uni- 
 formly of this class, and their attachment to their 
 savage masters appears not to be less than that of the 
 dogs which are attached to man in a state of civiliza- 
 tion. This is another reason for believing that 
 the Australian dog is not a wild animal, like the fox, 
 the wolf, or the jackal, but a domestic dog, that has 
 been imported in some such way as that alluded to.
 
 160 THE PICTURE 
 
 Besides the dog, the only quadruped of New Hol- 
 land which has been clearly ascertained to produce 
 and rear its young in the same manner as the Euro- 
 pean quadrupeds, is the rat, which differs from the 
 brown rat of Europe in nothing excepting being a 
 little larger. Perhaps this animal is also an impor- 
 tation, it being well known that the brown rats have 
 been accidentally imported from Norway into dif- 
 ferent parts of Britain, where they did not pre- 
 viously exist, and in which they have multiplied so 
 rapidly, as to exterminate the native black rats in 
 the course of a few years. 
 
 With these exceptions, though the quadrupeds 
 of Australia differ, like those of other regions of the 
 world, in their modes of life and description of food ; 
 though some of them have their teeth so constructed 
 as to feed only on grass, though others have teeth 
 adapted for the gnawing of bark, and though others 
 again have canine teeth, and live upon animal food, 
 they differ in one striking particular from all the 
 quadrupeds of the other parts of the world, — with the 
 exception of one or two genera which are not very 
 extensively diffused, being confined to America and 
 the south-east of Asia. The peculiarity in the 
 Australian quadrupeds, which may be taken as their 
 distinguishing characteristic, is the attachment of a 
 sack or pouch of the cuticle to the abdomen of the 
 female, which, partially in all instances, and entirely 
 in most, covers the teats, and opens anteriorly. Into 
 this pouch the young are received, in a small,
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 161 
 
 formless, and embryo state, and they remain fixed 
 to the teats till they be perfectly formed, and have 
 acquired a size proportional to the size of the parent 
 animal ; at which time they are detached, and the 
 teat, which had previously been extended, slender, 
 and probably reaching the stomach of the young 
 animal, becomes shortened, so that the young can 
 then suck milky nutriment, like the other mammalia. 
 The production of these animals, which is one of 
 the most singular and interesting inquiries, and 
 which brings the mystery of animal production 
 nearer to revelation than any other process by which 
 the same purpose is effected, is not yet fully under- 
 stood : and therefore it is one upon which the great- 
 est caution is necessary — the more so that there is 
 fiction blended with every thing that has been written 
 on the subject, excepting the statement of facts that 
 have been actually noticed by the most careful and 
 the most scientific observers. It is somewhat sin- 
 gular, that a point of so much interest as the time 
 when, and the manner in which, the young of those 
 animals are placed in the external pouch (if they be 
 placed there, and not formed in it ah origine), should 
 have not been determined, considering the length of 
 time that Britain has been in possession of New 
 Holland, and the abundance of the animals under 
 consideration that exists there. But it does not ap- 
 pear that the advancement of science, though in this 
 instance it points pretty evidently to practical use, 
 forms an object with those who have the management.
 
 162 THE PICTUEE 
 
 There is thus no encouragement for scientific men in 
 the colony : and those who are at home have not a 
 sufficient number of specimens for enabling them to 
 trace the operation continuously from its commence- 
 ment. Dissections, and most minute ones, have 
 been made, and careful observations taken, by and 
 in concert with Sir Everard Home ; but the result 
 has only shortened the time, without removing the 
 difficulty. In the internal structure of the female, 
 these animals bear so close a resemblance to the 
 mammalia, that it is not to be wondered at, though 
 the earlier naturalists supposed that the young were 
 bora in the same manner as other mammalia, and 
 tliat the pouch was nothing more than a convenient 
 receptacle in which the mother might carry her 
 young ones till they had acquired strength to run. 
 This point, however, has been disproved, and they 
 have been found in the pouch of very minute size, 
 and resembling little lumps or tubercles hanging 
 upon the teats, rather than young animals. 
 
 From this peculiarity in their formation the whole 
 class have received the name of marsupiata, or 
 pouched animals, without reference to the structure 
 of the teeth, or the habits of the genus or species ; 
 and this name is unexceptionable, though not de- 
 scriptive of the qualities of the animal, any more 
 than horned animals would be of the various genera 
 that have these appendages. 
 
 Of the marsupiata of New Holland, some form, 
 as it were, the flocks and herds of the country ; some
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 163 
 
 in the place (not of oxen, for they cannot be used 
 for draught, but) of sheep, or rather, perhaps, of 
 deer and antelopes, for they have not yet been do- 
 mesticated, and they do not appear to be very easily 
 tameable. Others again, though they have more 
 the form of bears and badgers, and are slow and 
 unwieldy in their motions, are something analagous 
 to hares and rabbits — their teeth are adapted for 
 gnawing, and some of them burrow in the earth. 
 A third class, from their habits, and the formation 
 of their canine teeth, may be regarded as the carni- 
 vori, or wild beasts, which prey upon animals ; but of 
 these latter there is none yet discovered of a size and 
 strength to be any way formidable to man. Besides 
 these three general divisions, which, though having 
 no pretensions to an accurate classification, may yet 
 be of some service for popular purposes, there are 
 a few animals whose structure may adapt them for 
 feeding on insects and other small animals. As is 
 the case with the animals of other countries, the 
 flocks of Australia are edible ; the siualler animals 
 that live on vegetable food may be applied to the 
 same purpose ; the ones that are adapted for feeding 
 on small animals are not relished by Europeans, 
 though sometimes eaten by the natives ; and the car- 
 nivorous animals, of which the number in any of the 
 species does not appear to be very great, are not at 
 all relished. 
 
 Kangauoos, of which there are many varieties, 
 constitute the grazing animals. Their characters,
 
 164 
 
 THE PICTURE 
 
 and, excepting size and colour, their appearance, is 
 in all the species and varieties nearly the same. 
 The head is small, the mouth destitute of canine 
 teeth, the eyes large, and the ears erect and pointed. 
 The fore-part and fore-legs of the animal are small, 
 the latter being divided into five toes, armed with 
 strong claws. Those extremities are not used in 
 running, though the animal makes use of them when 
 feeding, and also as weapons of defence, for which 
 they are by no means unavailing, either in striking 
 blows, or in holding and hugging their adversaries, 
 after the manner of a bear. Toward the hind 
 quarters the whole of the race get comparatively 
 thick and strong, and the hind legs are long, power- 
 ful, and remarkably elastic. The hind feet are 
 singularly formed ; they terminate in three toes, 
 the central one remarkably long, and powerful in 
 its articulation, and armed with a claw, which, in 
 the larger species, is no simple weapon. The outside 
 toe has also a claw of some size, but is not half the 
 length of the middle one. The inside toe is of 
 trifling dimensions, and terminates in two small claws, 
 close together. The bottom of the foot is covered 
 with an elastic substance, more abundant, and yield- 
 ing more readily to pressure than that found on the 
 foot of almost any other animal. It is hardly to be 
 distinguished from a piece of thick caoutchouc, or 
 India rubber. This padding of elastic matter en- 
 ables the kangaroo not only to stand firm upon a 
 hard and smooth surface, but to alight, after an
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 165 
 
 immense bound, without any injury to its feet, or 
 concussion to its body. The fore feet are padded 
 in the same manner, though not so abundantly, and 
 when it springs against an ascending surface, they 
 assist in breaking its fall. The claw on the middle 
 toes of the hind foot is the principal fighting weapon 
 of the kangaroo, especially when the enemy comes 
 to close quarters, — the enemy being grasped between 
 the fore legs, and ripped open by a single stroke of 
 this powerful weapon, moved, as it is, by the great 
 muscular strength of the large leg. Some idea of 
 the power of a kangaroo's hind leg may be formed 
 from the fact, that the elasticity of the two legs are 
 sufficient, without any fulcrum, to throw an animal, 
 weighing between two and three hundred weight, a 
 distance of sixty, or, it is said, sometimes even ninety 
 feet, at a single bound, and that the instant the feet 
 touch the ground, the animal is elevated to another 
 leap. 
 
 Those who have the best opportunities appear to 
 be much more fond of shooting kangaroos than 
 noticing any thing of their habits ; and therefore 
 it is not ascertained whether they attack or not, 
 unless when themselves are in danger. It is clear, 
 however, that their weapons, and mode of using 
 them, are alike dangerous ; and, if our information 
 be correct, some that were at one time in Richmond 
 Park evinced so vicious a disposition, that it was 
 necessary to remove them. 
 
 The tail is large and very muscular, and the
 
 16*6 THE PICTURE 
 
 animal uses it as a counterpoise in hopping, and 
 occasionally as a prop when it is standing erect, 
 so that, in this position, it has a good deal the 
 appearance of a three-footed animal with two hands, 
 — it often using the fore paws as hands, in plucking 
 grass and conveying it to its mouth, or holding a 
 bunch in one hand — even shifting it from one to the 
 other, till it be gradually eaten. The tail of the 
 kangaroo is also a tolerably efficient weapon ; as 
 in hopping about, the tail is swung in all direc- 
 tions, and the stroke of it is sufficient to stun a 
 moderately sized dog, or even to kill him out- 
 right. 
 
 It is probable that the kangaroo, at least in the 
 large species, has no enemy but the Australian dog ; 
 and thei-efore its instinctive means of warding off 
 the attacks of dogs are numerous, and, apart from its 
 modes of feeding, constitute the principal parts of 
 its character. These are found by the colonial hun- 
 ters, to be, in a powerful animal, perfectly adequate 
 to the repelling of a single dog, if he do not come 
 upon tlie kangaroo by surprise. When chased, 
 there is the stroke of the tail ; and in addition to 
 that, the jerking out of the hind leg, which, if it 
 takes effect, is both a severe blow, and a still severer 
 laceration, — as the powerful articulation of the cen- 
 tral toe gives to that a very rapid motion, by means 
 of which it tears while the foot is striking. Then, 
 if the animal turns and stands at bay, the fore feet 
 strike while the enemy is not at close quarters ; and
 
 OF AUSTRALIA, 167 
 
 if he once be grasped, there is the hug and the 
 finishing stroke of the hinder foot. Even in water 
 the kangaroo is formidable, and it seems to know 
 that ; for, sorely pressed, it takes to the water, if 
 there be water near, and instead of merely attempting 
 to escape by swimming, as is the case with the stag 
 (though he too sometimes stands at bay in water), 
 it is almost uniformly in order to keep them at bay, 
 which it does by striking at the dogs, or by seizing 
 them and thrusting them under water. Thus, even 
 from the little that is known of the habits of those 
 singular animals, we have in the larger ones a means 
 of defence as singular as their form is, compared 
 with that of Eviropean animals. Of these they cer- 
 tainly approximate nearer to the stag than those of 
 any other ; though the form of the animal makes 
 the means of putting the instinct in execution quite 
 different. 
 
 Kangaroo hunting is one of the Australian sports ; 
 and, in open places, where the surface is not intersected 
 with deep gullies, is successful : the dogs must, how- 
 ever, be trained to the sport, and if the kangaroo 
 be large, there must be several of them. If the 
 country be intersected and contain rocks or brushes 
 of underwood, the chase has little chance of success, 
 as the kangaroo bounds over those obstacles, while 
 the dogs are obliged to make a circuit. 
 
 Several species even of large kangaroos have been 
 enumerated by naturalists, and are also named by 
 the colonists. But, as the naturalists may have seen
 
 168 THE PICTURE 
 
 the animals of the same species in different stages of 
 their growth, or with accidental differences of colour 
 or size, the distinctions made cannot be regarded as 
 conveying perfect information. The species mention- 
 ed by the colonists are : the forest kangaroo, which is 
 of an ashen grey colour, with a slight tinge of brown, 
 and darker on the under part of the body. It gets 
 the name of forest kangaroo, from being chiefly 
 found on those dry places, partially covered with 
 trees, to which the name of forest is given — the 
 tangled woody surface in the latitude of Sydney 
 being generally composed of small and stunted trees, 
 and being called bush, or brush, and not forest. 
 Another, which is styled the mountain kangaroo, is 
 black, with shaggy hair, and found upon the hills. 
 There is a third, the red kangaroo, so called from 
 its colour, which is chiefly found on the plains, or 
 more open forests. Its fur is smooth and soft. In 
 the interior a kangaroo has been met with, with fur 
 so long and soft, as to get the name of the woolly 
 kangaroo. These are all animals of considerable 
 size, being found of the weight of between two and 
 three hundred pounds ; and they are all sought after 
 for food ; while their skins, in some places of the 
 country, more especially in the south-western parts 
 of New Holland, and in Van Diemen's Land, are 
 used by the native inhabitants for cloaks, while the 
 colonists dress and prepare them as leather. When 
 used for food, the fore part of the kangaroo is but 
 little regarded ; the great mass of the muscles being
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 169 
 
 about the loins and the hind quarters. They are 
 remarkably destitute of fat, except, at certain seasons, 
 a portion near the insertion of the tail. The tail 
 makes excellent soup ; and the flesh of the animal 
 is generally chopped into small pieces, and stewed 
 with the addition of a quantity of pork, — the dish 
 so prepared being locally termed " a steamer," and 
 being by no means despicable food. 
 
 Among the rocky and broken places, and on the 
 more sterile islands, there are several species of much 
 smaller kangaroos, which are seldom found exceeding 
 sixty pounds in weight, and often falling far short of 
 that. The delicacy of their flesh as food, is said to 
 increase as the size of the species or the variety di- 
 minishes ; but on this, as well as most other points 
 respecting the natural history of the country, in- 
 formation is vague. 
 
 The kangaroos produce only one' young at a time, 
 which, after it has been for some time detached from 
 the nipple in the pouch of the mother, occasionally 
 leaves that receptacle to browse the same herbage on 
 which she feeds. In cases of alarm, however, it 
 retreats to the maternal pouch ; and there are 
 instances mentioned, in which a female, thus loaded, 
 on being closely pursued, has disburthened herself 
 of her young one ; but these instances of want of 
 maternal affection are very rare — and probably not 
 very well authenticated. 
 
 The Kangaroo rat (potortis ) though it closely re- 
 sembles the kangaroo in its general appearance, and 
 
 I
 
 170 THE PICTUllE 
 
 in its habits and the manner of its feeding, yet differs 
 from it in having canine teeth in the upper jaw. It is 
 about the size of a small rabbit, and lodges in hol- 
 low trees ; but though by having the canine teeth in 
 the upper jaw, it makes one more approach toward 
 carnivorous animals than the kangaroo, it does not 
 appear to live upon animal food of any description. 
 Its habits, however, are not much known. 
 
 Of the animals whose teeth more particularly 
 adapt them for gnawing bark, the most remarkable 
 is the Koala, to which the colonists give the name 
 of the sloth. It is an animal about the size of 
 an ordinary dog, covered with beautiful long fur, 
 of a light mouse grey colour. Its nose is naked 
 and black, eyes small, and of a mild expression ; 
 the fore-feet are divided into five toes, two of 
 which act against the other three, and thereby 
 adapt it avcII for climbing trees, which it is very 
 prone to do, eating not merely the leaves but the 
 bark, of the eucalyptus and other species on which 
 it is found. In the formation of its mouth, it very 
 much resembles a rabbit, having a blank between the 
 cutting teeth and the grinders, and being destitute 
 of canine teeth. It appears to live exclusively upon 
 vegetables, and can subsist upon them either in a 
 green or dried state. The koala is a most gentle 
 animal, easily tamed, and very willing to remain 
 where it is fed ; but it is slow in its motions, and of 
 very little use. 
 
 The Wombat (pliascolomys ) has a considerable re^
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. I7I 
 
 semblance to the koala, only instead of climbing trees 
 like that animal, it burrows in the earth. Like that 
 animal it is without canine teeth, and lives upon 
 vegetables, either green or withered. It has much 
 similarity to the other, only it is of a brownish cin- 
 namon colour, mixed with white, and the fur not 
 quite so long. It is about the same size, and is 
 equally gentle in its disposition, allowing itself to 
 be taken and carried without resistance. It burrows 
 very rapidly, so that it is not very frequently met 
 with. The colonists call it the bear, from a slight 
 resemblance in its form to that of a small brown 
 bear ; but it is in no way allied to the bear, either in 
 its anatomical structure, or in its habits. A wombat, 
 which Sir Everard Home had for some time in this 
 country, was fed upon hay during the winter season. 
 
 These are the chief animals which, from their 
 structure, may be presumed to live entirely upon 
 vegetables. 
 
 There is another class to which the colonists give 
 the names of opossums, squirrels, flying-opossums, 
 flying-foxes, and badgers, though they have no 
 apparent relation to any of these animals. Of the 
 animals of this description, some are furnished with 
 canine teeth only in the upper jaw, while others 
 have one on each side of the vindcr jaw in addition. 
 As is the case with most of the other animals of 
 Australia, their habits are but little known ; but 
 they are supposed to feed upon insects and small 
 lizards, as well as upon vegetable matter ; though the 
 I 2
 
 1^2 THE PICTURE 
 
 fact has not been ascertained. Tlie opossums of the 
 colonists have been arranged by naturalists under 
 the genera of phalanghta, (from the toes of the 
 hind feet being united by a membrane into one 
 phalanx or mass) ; and petmirista, from having a 
 membrane extended from the fore to the hind legs, 
 by means of which they can sustain themselves for a 
 considerable distance in the air, so as to leap from 
 tree to tree when the branches are not too far asunder. 
 Those which are without the membranous wings, are 
 generally styled opossums. They have prehensile 
 tails, by which they can lay hold of the trees, and 
 swine: from branch to branch. There are some 
 animals found in the Asiatic isles which naturalists 
 liave classed in the same genus with the opossums 
 of Australia ; but they differ from the Australian 
 species in having the tails naked, whereas those 
 of Australia have them covered with hair. These 
 animals are about the size of a polecat, and like 
 that, they have, at least in some of the species, an 
 odour which is not very agreeable. They have 
 sometimes been styled bears and foxes, to which they 
 have no more title than they have to that of opos- 
 sums, as being kindred to the pouched opossums of 
 America. The species, or perhaps the genus, fur- 
 nished with the membranous wing between the ex- 
 tremities, which answers as a parachute in preventing 
 their fall, differ from the others chiefly in having 
 the tail not prehensile, though it be hairy like the 
 others, and in some species long and bushy, which
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 173 
 
 has led the colonists to call some of them flying- 
 squirrels, and others flying-foxes. Of these, some 
 are covered with a beautiful fur, which is used as a 
 substitute for beaver in the manufacture of hats ; 
 and the furs of the flying-squirrel as well as of the 
 koala, and some other Australian animals, form a 
 branch of exportation to China, which by due culti- 
 vation might be greatly extended. These animals 
 are sometimes eaten ; but they have a rank flavour, 
 though that is said to be in part removed by soaking 
 them a considerable time in water. 
 
 The Parameles, to which the colonists sometimes 
 give the name of badgers, make a nearer approach to 
 carnivorous animals than those which have been now 
 mentioned. They have long canine teeth in each 
 jaw ; the head, very long, the fore feet well adapted 
 for burrowing, and the tails not prehensile. One, 
 which is greyish, brown above, and white on the 
 belly, is called the long-nosed pouched badger, and 
 another, (though probably the same species, only of a 
 different habit) is called the fat-pouched badger ; 
 these burrow in the ground, and are occasionally 
 eaten. Many of the animals of New Holland lodge 
 themselves in hollow trees, for which the decay of 
 the central part of the trees, or the destruction of 
 them by the white ants, gives great facility ; and as 
 they generally feed during the night, moonlight 
 nights are the times chosen for hunting them. 
 They are commonly driven by dogs to a retreat in 
 some tree, and taken there. The time at which the 
 kangaroos feed is principally in the morning, when
 
 174; THE PICTURE 
 
 the dew is upon the grass ; and when the great heat 
 of the day sets in, they retreat to the thicket or 
 bush, where, on account of the brown colour of the 
 foliage, they are not easily discovered. 
 
 The Australian animals that may strictly speaking 
 be considered as wild beasts, that is, as subsisting 
 on animal food, form a genus which is peculiar to 
 Australia, and to which, in consequence of their rough 
 appearance, the name of dasyiiris has been given. 
 They have vulgarly been called bears, wolves, 
 hyaenas, tigers, and even devils, according to the 
 fancy of those by whom they have been seen. There 
 is much the same confusion in the printed uocounts 
 of this genus as in those of the other genera of New 
 Holland ; and it is impossible to say whether different 
 writers may or may not allude to the same animal 
 when they use different names, or to different animals 
 when they use the same one. 
 
 Of dasrjnn there seem to be two species, about 
 the size of pretty large dogs, which are savage in 
 their dispositions, voracious in their appetites, and 
 disposed to prey upon smaller animals, as well as to 
 gorge themselves upon jjutrid remains of seals and 
 fish, as well as land animals. Those two species are 
 generally represented as being confined to Van 
 Diemen's Land as the native dog is to New Hol- 
 land, though some of the accounts mention that one 
 of them has been found in the country westward of 
 the Blue Mountains, where it has ridiculously 
 enough got the name of the cat : and one recent 
 writer has armed it with retractile claws, in order to
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. I7S 
 
 make it quite a mouser. No tolerable descriptiau 
 of a specimen found in this locality has been pub- 
 lished : and therefore the probability is, that it may 
 have been one of the smaller dasyuri, vhich the 
 colonists sometimes style polecats, or weasels ; and 
 as for the retractile claws of the cat, it may be 
 presumed to have just as much title to them as 
 another of the genus, to which it is represented as 
 belonging, has to the appellation of the devil. 
 
 The dog-faced da^yuris ( cynocephalus ) is an 
 animal about the size of a wolf, strongly made, with 
 sharp and crooked claws on the feet, the fur not 
 very long, except on the cheeks and under the ears, 
 and the tail compressed and pointed. The tail is 
 long and tapering; the ears resemble those of 
 the bear much more than those of the dog ; the 
 upper lip is whiskered with a few scattered, but 
 very strong bristles, and the whole expression of the 
 animal is disagreeable. The ground colour is a dull 
 brownish yellow, with darker stripes across the back, 
 like tlie marking of tlie zebra; and hence this animal 
 has got the name of zeberine. Among the colonists, 
 it is generally called the hya?na, or the hyasna-opos- 
 sum, though it has not the slightest resemblance to 
 the one or the other of these animals ; and some 
 naturalists have referred it to a separate genus^ 
 under the name of thylacinus cynocephalus. It is 
 found on the sea shore, Avhere it preys vipon the re- 
 mains of animals, and probably also swims after 
 fish. It is also found in the inland parts of \sLXi
 
 17B THE PICTURE 
 
 Diemen''s Land, and often commits depredations 
 upon the lambs at the sheep farms, and sometimes 
 too upon the poultry yards, though it is a solitary 
 animal, and does not approach the thickly settled 
 parts of the country. 
 
 The female is understood to produce five or six 
 in a litter ; and the teats are said to be partly within 
 the abdominal pouch, and partly exposed ; so that 
 of all the marsupiata, this, and, indeed, the genus 
 with which we have classed it, makes the nearest ap- 
 proach to the mammalia of other countries. 
 
 The bear opossian, or devil (dasyuris ursimis)^ is 
 about the same size with the former, or probably a 
 little larger. The head has some resemblance to 
 that of an otter ; but it is scaly, ugly, and out of 
 proportion to the body. The teeth are irregular, but 
 very formidable. The body is covered with shaggy 
 hair, of a dark colour, approaching to a dirty black. 
 The tail and legs, are short ; and the latter armed 
 with strong crooked claws. It lives among rocky 
 mountains, and has the same propensities, and does 
 the same mischief, as the former species, only it is 
 more clumsy in its shape, and less active in its 
 motions. 
 
 There are various smaller species of dasyuris, 
 some of them spotted, and others of a grey or ashen 
 colour. The former are vmiformly spotted with 
 white, and vary in the ground colour, so that they 
 are, probably, all of the same species. They are, 
 generally, about the size of cats ; have the habits of
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 177 
 
 polecats, in plundering hen-roosts ; and get the 
 name of cats, polecats, or weasels, according to the 
 fancy of the colonists. It is more than probable, 
 that the species found to the west of the Blue Moun- 
 tains belongs to one of these genera, and not to either 
 of the larger ones, of which, out of Van Diemen''s 
 Land, there is no authenticated account. 
 
 The large species of bat, to which Linnaeus gives 
 the name of vampyrus, is found in many parts of 
 New Holland. Large flights of those animals 
 were met with by Captain King and his people, in 
 the tropical parts of that country ; and they are also 
 met with in the latitude of Port Jackson, where they 
 are sometimes denominated flying-foxes. They are 
 not described as differing from the vampire of other 
 countries ; though, unlike most bats, they can fly 
 right against the sun, without inconvenience. 
 
 Singular as some of the animals already men- 
 tioned are, in their formation, and different as they 
 are, in their economy and habits, from the animals 
 of other countries, there remain two to be mentioned 
 which are yet more singular than any or than all of 
 the others. These are the ornithorhynchi, which 
 appear to blend several of the characters of the 
 quadruped and the bird, and, in one of the species, 
 even of the fish. Two species of this remarkable 
 genus have been discovered, the paradoxus, and the 
 ericinius. 
 
 The 07-nithorhynchiis paradoxus, is a four-footed 
 animal, terminating at the head in a bill, not unlike 
 I 3
 
 178 THE riCTURE 
 
 that of a duck ; and at the other end in a tail not 
 very unlike that of the seal. 
 
 The length of the whole animal, in full grown 
 specimens, is abovit twenty inches, of which the bill 
 takes up two and a half, and the tail more than 
 four inclies. The body is compressed, and rather 
 thinner towards the shoulders than any other part. 
 It has four short legs, Avliich spread out, not unlike 
 those of the tortoise ; and the whole animal has a 
 very singular appearance. The upper mandible of 
 the bill, which is flat on the top, and regularly be- 
 velled off at the edges, is perforated near its extre- 
 mity by two small nostrils ; and a strong and dark- 
 coloured membrane, with which the horny part of 
 the bill is covered, is returned back, in a kind of 
 ruff, at the root of the bill. At the point, which is 
 blunt, and not much unlike that of a duck, the inner 
 surfaces of both mandibles are nearly smooth ; but, 
 towards the root, they are furnished with horny pro- 
 tuberances, that have some resemblance to teeth ; and 
 there are two similar teeth upon the tongue, near its 
 root. 
 
 The eyes are very small, near to each other, and 
 also to the ruff which marks the insertion of the 
 bill ; and the ears are merely two moderately sized 
 slits, just behind the eyes. The head of the animal 
 is small in proportion to its body, and, except that 
 the eyes are smaller, and nearer each other, it might, 
 when the rest of the body is concealed, be easily mis- 
 taken for the head of a duck. The feet are divided
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 179 
 
 into five toes, Avhich terminate in strong claws, hol- 
 low on their under surfaces, as if adapted for burrow- 
 ing. The feet are webbed with a strong membrane, 
 of the same colour and texture as that which forms 
 the ruff; and this membrane, more especially on the 
 fore feet, is so constructed that the animal can at 
 pleasure extend it considerably beyond the claws, 
 and thus convert the feet into swimming-paws of a 
 very efficient description. The upper part of the 
 body is dark brown, which gradually lightens to a 
 silver grey towards the belly, and the colour of the 
 female is lighter than that of the male. The body 
 is covered with hair, which is of two sorts — a very 
 soft and short fur underneath, mixed with longer 
 hairs more thinly scattered, and flattened so as to 
 have the appearance of a small feather, for the 
 greater part of their length towards the points. 
 These flat hairs are shining, and give a curious 
 streaky appearance to the animal. 
 
 The paradoarus is found in the fresh water lakes, 
 or upon their borders ; and when in the water it 
 seldom comes to the surface, except for the purpose 
 of respiration. It blows in a manner not unlike 
 the turtle, to which, indeed, taken altogether, it lias 
 more resemblance than to most other animals, thoueli 
 between them the difference is abundantly great. 
 Upon land, it contracts the membranous webs of 
 its feet, and spreads them when it swims. When on 
 land, its pace is much the same with that of a land 
 tortoise. Its velocity in the water has not been pai>
 
 180 
 
 THE PICTURE 
 
 ticularly maxked. Of its food and its habits but 
 little is known. It is, indeed, seldom met with ; and 
 when specimens are wanted, they are chiefly pro- 
 cured from the natives. 
 
 The ornithorhynchus eracinius, has a good deal of 
 resemblance to the former species, in its general 
 form ; but, in their localities, and in most external 
 particulars, they are quite different. 
 
 The bill is much more slender than that of the 
 former species ; the head is more thick and round, 
 and, when the animal is seen alive, a tongue, of con- 
 siderable length, and curved, is protruded, in the 
 same manner as in those animals that feed upon small 
 insects. The feet of this species are not webbed, but 
 armed with strong and powerful claws, remarkably 
 well adapted for burrowing in the earth, in which 
 it can bury itself in a very short time, and to which 
 it can in an instant cling so firmly as not to be lifted 
 without a considerable effort. The lifting of it is 
 not, indeed, a very pleasant process ; for, over the 
 more slender hair, there are scattered, instead of the 
 feather-like bristles of the other, very formidable 
 spines or quills, bearing some resemblance to those of 
 the porcupine, and very strong, stiff, and sharply 
 pointed, so that it is difficult to lift even a stuffed 
 specimen, when laid on the belly, without being pretty 
 severely wounded. Like the quills of the porcupine, 
 those of this animal are variegated, which gives it, 
 when the bill is not taken into consideration, some 
 resemblance to a porcupine, only the spines are not so
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 181 
 
 long in proportion to the size of the animal. Not the 
 quills merely, but the hairs of this animal are tubular. 
 The tail of this species, which is as much armed with 
 spines as any part of the body, is short, and turned 
 upward, till the spines stand about perpendicular. 
 The specimens that we have seen were thicker, in 
 proportion, than those of the paradoxus, but not so 
 long. Neither they nor the accounts are, however, 
 perfectly conclusive, as nothing is known of their age 
 or relative condition. It is said that in the former 
 species the males are without fat between the skin 
 and the muscles, while the females have a consider- 
 able covering of that substance. 
 
 These appear to be the only species of these 
 most singular animals that have been discovered. 
 Another has, indeed, been figured, under the name of 
 " ornithorhynchus rufus,'''' or the " red platypus,"" 
 but the figure itself is conclusive evidence of its 
 liaving been copied from a badly conditioned or 
 badly stuffed specimen of the paradoxus. 
 
 On the inside of the hind legs of the ornithorhyn- 
 chus paradoxus, and we believe also of the other 
 species, there are two strong spurs, which are move- 
 able by an articulation, and directed inwards with 
 a slight curvature upwards. It is said that these 
 spurs, in the live animal, inject a poison into any 
 animal they may happen to wound ; but that wants 
 confirmation. 
 
 It is also said, that there are on the hind legs of 
 the females natural sockets, which fit these claws ; 
 but that also wants confirmation. Indeed, though
 
 182 THE PICTURE 
 
 several specimens have been carefully examined, no- 
 thing is known of the habits of either of the species, 
 farther than their locality and their locomotion ; so 
 that any conclusion that can be arrived at with re- 
 gard to the particular class of other animals, to which 
 they are most nearly related, rests upon inferences 
 drawn from their anatomical structure ; and , though 
 some specimens have been very carefully dissected, 
 the number has been too few for the establishment 
 of even the fact, as to whether they ought to be 
 classed with the mammalia, or with animals pro- 
 duced from eggs. 
 
 In the specimens hitherto dissected in this coun- 
 try, no indication has been found of teats, or any 
 apparatus for suckling, on the female, though a Ger- 
 man naturalist says he discovered them in a speci- 
 men which he obtained from the French naturalists. 
 Accordingly, much solicitude has been evinced by 
 some of the most eminent physiologists in this coun- 
 try, to obtain specimens of the female, preserved in 
 spirits ; l)ut liitherto only one has been sent home, 
 and that too yoimg for affording any satisfactory so- 
 lution of the problem. According to some accounts, 
 the ornitltorliynehi lay eggs, and they allege having 
 found them deposited in holes near the fresh-water 
 lakes, in tlie same manner as the turtle deposit their 
 eggs near the sea. Tiie structure of the ovaries 
 certainly resembles that of the oviparous animals 
 more than that of the mammalia ; but quadruped, 
 reptile, and bird, are so curiously blended together in
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 183 
 
 this singular genus, that it is extremely difficult, or 
 rather altogether impossible, to determine which 
 character shall predominate, in any particular that 
 has not been subjected to actual examination. 
 
 By no means the least curious part of these ani- 
 mals, more especially the paradoxus, is the mem- 
 brane with which the bill is covered, and especially 
 the margin of that membrane. 
 
 The eyes of the animal are so minute, and placed 
 so far upwards in the head, tliat tiiey can be of little 
 use to it in the discovery of its food; indeed, they 
 can be of none when it burrows in the mud under 
 water. To compensate for this, the bill is, by 
 means of this membrane, made an organ of feeling, 
 in the same manner as the membranous wings and 
 ears of the bat, the nose of the mole, the whiskers of 
 animals that prey in the dark, the feelers of insects, 
 and the bills of -the duck tribe. This is effected by 
 means of a nervous tissue, thickly diffused through 
 the membrane, and more especially at its extremities : 
 and, from the abundance of those nerves, there is no 
 doubt that the sense of touch in this singular bill 
 is as acute as that in the most delicate finger. 
 
 The Birds of Australia differ less, in their gene- 
 ral character, from those of other countries, than the 
 quadrupeds. This, more especially in birds able to 
 remain long upon the wing, may be supposed, be- 
 cause these can easily transport themselves. Parrots, 
 and parroquets, are very nvunerous, so much so as to 
 be a perfect nuisance in the orchards of the colonists.
 
 184 THE PICTUilE 
 
 from which they can hardly be driven by any means. 
 INIany varieties of them are remarkable for the 
 beauty of their plumage. Pigeons are also numer- 
 ous, and of many varieties, and some of the bronze- 
 coloured ones are very handsome birds. As, how- 
 ever, they have no remarkable qualities, different 
 from those of the birds of other countries, a descrip- 
 tion of them would not convey information strictly 
 and exclusively Australian. There are, however, 
 two birds peculiar to Australia, which will require a 
 short notice, the more so that one of them Avas, for 
 many ages, used as an ironical name for any thing 
 that it was accounted in vain to hope. These birds 
 are, the emu, which has some resemblance to the 
 ostrich, and the black swan, Avhich differs from the 
 common swan chiefly in colour. 
 
 Of the emu {rhea Australis) it is not necessary to 
 give a minute description, as it may be found in 
 most collections of foreign birds. 
 
 AV^hen full grown, it is of large size, and some, 
 standing erect, are near seven feet high. The body 
 of the emu is clumsy, the neck long, and the bill 
 jxjinted, but without any tongue. The feathers have 
 something the appearance of hair, and the wings are 
 little flaps, by means of which the animal rows itself 
 in the air, as it strides along the earth upon its 
 gigantic legs. Even in this country, the emu is a 
 lively animal — it frisks and dances, in which opera- 
 tion it is not very unlike a woolly cushion on the 
 top of two poles. The eggs of the emu are large,
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 185 
 
 nearly the size and shape of those of the ostrich, but 
 of a sea-green colour. They are edible, and during 
 the season the natives search carefully for them. 
 Each female lays five or six. The emu, like all the 
 rest of the ostrich tribe, is a stupid bird, and, like 
 them, it runs with amazing swiftness, so much so 
 that it can hardly be run down, unless by the swiftest 
 dogs, and by them only on open pastures. The only 
 means of defence possessed by the emu is kicking 
 with its legs, and the blow of these is said to be so 
 powerful as to stun a dog, or even fracture a man's 
 leg. Dogs must be trained to hunt the emu, as they 
 do not naturally run at it, and as they must be 
 taught to follow it not immediately in the rear, in 
 which position it would defeat them by kicking, 
 but alongside, so as to turn and seize it in the body. 
 As the emu is without wings, the large muscles 
 that give motion to these in flying birds, and make 
 the breast the most fleshy part, are wanting ; and 
 thus, the only portions used for food are the legs, 
 or rather the thighs. The muscles of these resemble 
 beef, more than the mviscles of birds. In a full 
 grown animal, they are large and heavy ; but in 
 these the taste is rather harsh : the young birds are 
 more tender and delicate. When in the best condi- 
 tion, there is an immense quantity of fat upon the 
 rump of the emu, and, in this respect, as well as in 
 the comparative inutility to man of all but the hind 
 quarters, it resembles the kangaroo. The emu, as 
 well as the kangaroo, retires before the progress of
 
 186 THE PICTURE 
 
 colonization, and, therefore, it is probable that a 
 general cultivation of the country would lead to the 
 extinction of both. Emus are not solitary birds, but 
 found in flocks, though these flocks are never very 
 numerous. 
 
 The emu feeds indiscriminately upon grass, flowers, 
 berries, and seeds. It bears the climate of England ; 
 but can be regarded as little else than a curiosity. 
 
 The black swan (cygniis atrntiis) is most abun- 
 dant in \an Diemen's Land, and the southern parts 
 of New Holland, where, more especially in the 
 former place, it is found in very large flocks. The 
 black swan Avas first found at Swan, or Black Swan 
 River, where the new British colony is in the pro- 
 gress of establishment. Vlaming, a Dutch naviga- 
 tor, who, in 16975 sailed forty or fifty miles up the 
 river in his boat, was the discoverer, but the exist- 
 ence of the swan was, for a considerable number of 
 years, treated as a fable, and the discovery of the 
 country was neglected, until it was again seen by the 
 French squadi'on in the beginning of the present 
 century ; and they do not appear to have been so 
 adventurous as Vlaming, for no report was made of 
 the capability of the country for supporting a 
 colony, until its recent examination by Captain Stir- 
 ling. Thus the claim which the French are ru- 
 moured to have set up of priority to the English on 
 that coast, is without foundation; the real claimants, 
 both in priority of date and extent of survey, being 
 the Dutch.
 
 OP AUSTRALIA. 187 
 
 The black swan is so similar to the white one, both 
 in its appearance (colour excepted) and its habits, 
 that no particular account of it is required. When 
 Captain Flinders first explored the coast of Van 
 Diemen's Land, he found black swans in immense 
 flocks, in the estuaries both of the Tamar and Der- 
 went ; and perhaps his description of their manners, 
 so far as it goes, is the most accurate of any that 
 has been given : — 
 
 " Out of the flocks of black swans," says Captain 
 Flinders, " from one-fifth to one-tenth of them were 
 unable to fly ; and since the same thing is found 
 to happen in the months of January and May, 
 as well as in October, it is probably so at all seasons 
 of the year. These birds are endowed with a con- 
 siderable portion of sagacity : they cannot dive, but 
 have a method of immersing so deep in the water, 
 as to render their bodies nearly invisible, and thus 
 frequently to avoid detection. In chase, their plan 
 was to gain the wind upon our little boat, and they 
 generally succeeded, when the breeze was strong, 
 and sometimes escaped from our shot also." 
 
 Those swans are exceedingly numerous upon the 
 lakes of Van Diemen's Land, between the sources of 
 the northern and southern rivers, and they are accom- 
 panied by an immense number of ducks and other 
 aquatic birds : in the settled districts they are not 
 quite so nvnnerous, though they are not much afraid 
 at the presence of man. 
 
 The black swan lives and breeds in England with- 
 out »ny difficulty, and the male is of a bold character,
 
 188 THE PICTURE 
 
 and very much disposed to shew fight. Among 
 other places, they are found at the Duke of Devon- 
 shire's villa, at Chiswick, where the male not only 
 claims a sort of lordship of the canal, but, especi- 
 ally when there are young, stands sentinel on the 
 banks, and marches in the direction of an enemy 
 whenever one appears. His march is slow, and 
 somewhat awkward, but he raises his feathers some- 
 what in the manner of a tiu'key-cock, and comes 
 hissing on with no unsoldierlike appearance. Besides 
 those already mentioned, there are very many birds 
 in Australia, which are interesting for their beauty, 
 or for their value as food. Of the beautiful birds, 
 the menura superha is, perhaps, the most interesting. 
 It has some resemblance to the bird of paradise in 
 its tail, though in the rest of the body, it is more like 
 the pheasant. The general colour of the body is a 
 dusky grey, but the throat and points of the wings 
 are of a bronze colour. The legs, toes, and claws, 
 which are all large, in proportion to the size of the 
 bird, are dark, with a bluish shade of colour. The 
 body is about the size of a common hen, but the form 
 is much more elegant. The most remarkable charac- 
 teristic about it, is the formation of the tail, which, in 
 the male, is very peculiar, as well as very spreading. 
 The two principal feathers have a double curvature, 
 which gives them something the shape of a lyre ; they 
 are strong, and nearly double the length of the bird. 
 Toward the inside they are of a brilliant pearl colour, 
 and on the outsides they have scollopings, which ex- 
 tend nearly three-fourths of the breadth, of a bril-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 189 
 
 liant brownish red, with a lighter portion in the 
 middle of each scollop ; and those parts of the points 
 that curve downwards are nearly of the same colour 
 with the body. Two of these feathers rise perpendi- 
 cularly to nearly half the height of the tail, and they 
 then bend in graceful curves so as to cross behind 
 each of the feathers formerly mentioned, and bend 
 downwards, tapering to a point on the outsides. The 
 remaining feathers are remarkable for their thin ap- 
 pearance, as well as for the length of the quills, and 
 the slenderness and distance of the feathery fibres ; 
 they make the rest of the tail look as if it were 
 caught in a net, or surrounded by cobwebs. As is 
 the case in most species of ornamented birds, this 
 formation of the tail is peculiar to the male ; the tail 
 of the female being composed of twelve feathers, 
 nearly the same shape. These birds frequent the 
 retired parts of the interior, more especially those 
 to which access is difficult. They run witli great 
 rapidity, but tlie size and unwieldiness of the tail 
 impede them in flying. They are birds of song, or 
 rather a species of mocking birds ; for they get to the 
 tops of eminences in the early part of the day, 
 scrape the ground for a little while, like dunghill 
 fowls, and then, standing erect, and with the tail 
 spread, they imitate in succession the notes of all 
 the other birds. Their retreat at other times is in 
 the valleys or lower grounds, among the brushes. 
 They are not very frequently met with. Connected 
 with this bird is a nest of great bulk, seven feet in 
 diameter. It has been thought to give hopes that
 
 190 THE PICTURE 
 
 the " roc" of the Arabian Tales would be forth- 
 coming, as well as the black swan ; but the only 
 tenant hitherto found is a small hawk, apparently an 
 interloper. 
 
 Reptiles are very abundant in Australia. In 
 the tropical rivers crocodiles are found, and lizards 
 are plentiful in all parts of the country. The 
 iguanas grow to the length of four feet ; they live 
 upon birds and small animals ; and they are eaten 
 by the natives. A very singular species of lizard 
 {chlarmjclosaiirns Kingii) was found by Mr. Cun- 
 nino-ham at Port Nelson, on the north coast. Mr. 
 Cunningham's description of it is the fittest to quote, 
 because it is the shortest, and he saw it alive : " I 
 secured," says Mr. Cunningham, " a lizard of extra- 
 ordinary appearance, which had perched itself upon 
 the stem of a small decayed tree. It had a curious 
 crenated membrane, like a ruff or tippet, round its 
 neck, covering its shoulders : and when expanded, 
 which it was enabled to do by means of transverse 
 slender cartilages, spreads five inches, in form of an 
 open umbrella. I regret that my eagerness to secure 
 so interesting an animal did not allow sufiicient time 
 to allow the lizard to shew, by its alarm or irritability, 
 how far it depended upon, or what use it made of, 
 this extraordinary membrane when its life was 
 threatened. Its head was rather large, and the eyes, 
 whilst living, rather prominent ; its tongue, although 
 biped, was short and thick, and appeared to be 
 tubular." 
 
 Snakes are abundant in many places of Australia.
 
 or AUSTRALIA. 191 
 
 Of those in New Holland, several species, more 
 especially the brown and the black, are venomous, 
 though not perhaps so much so as those of some 
 other countries. Those in Van Diemen''s Land, if 
 venomous at all, are certainly less so than those of 
 New Holland, which might be inferred from the 
 climate being colder. One of the Van Diemen''s 
 Land snakes has so much the appearance of charred 
 wood that it can scarcely be distinguished from the 
 burnt sticks that are left by the natives where they 
 have had their fires, or where they have burnt the 
 country, as is their practice when the grass is dry 
 and withered. 
 
 The Frog most generally met with in Australia, 
 especially in the colony of New South Wales, is 
 much more elegant in its appearance than the frogs 
 generally met with. Its general colour is a bright 
 pale green, very elegantly striped and clouded with 
 yellow, that has a silvery lustre. 
 
 Insects are exceedingly numerous, so much so, 
 as to occasion a great deal of annoyance. Sand flies 
 and mosquetoes swarm upon the low and sultry 
 shores, so that in such situations it is impossible to 
 sleep. Flies, resembling the common blue-bottle, 
 attack provisions, and even clothes, for the purpose 
 of depositing their eggs, whicli in the warm season 
 become animated in a short time. The flies are some- 
 times so thick that the people are unable to drive 
 them away from their faces. Ants are very abun- 
 dant, and the white ones especially are very destruc-
 
 192 THE PICTURE 
 
 tive to timber, both when it is grooving in the tree, 
 and when it is converted into posts. With the excep- 
 tion of some pines, they attack most of the native 
 timber ; and it is no uncommon thing to find beams 
 of eucalv})tus consumed to powder, while the pine 
 boarding is untouched. They often eat the standing 
 trees to within a small ring round the circumference, 
 and in posts they sometimes leave little but the paint 
 with which they are covered. The white ant, in all 
 probability, owes its colour to its incapacity of en- 
 during the light. So contrary to their nature is the 
 influence of the sun, that when they have exhausted 
 one tree, they build an archway of earth all the way 
 to the next, to protect them during their migration. 
 How the engineer contrives to discover the new tree, 
 and mark out the line of this work for them, 
 has not been observed. There are many species 
 of ants in New Holland, some of them of so large 
 a size that their bites are as painful as the stings 
 of hornets. Others again erect for themselves 
 nests, or hills, of a conical shape, and so large 
 tliat the earlier navigators, who did not land and 
 examine them, describe them as the huts of the 
 natives. Those castle-building ants are most plenti- 
 ful upon the intertropical coasts. Caterpillars are 
 sometimes very destructive, especially if the winter 
 has been more than usually mild. They cover every 
 thing, and move on in a massy line, something in the 
 same manner as locusts. The progress of these 
 destructive insects is very singular : before them
 
 or AUSTRALIA. 193 
 
 may be seen a green and fertile field, while behind 
 them all is a red desert, except any harsh and bitter 
 plant which they do not relish. In short, the de- 
 struction that they occasion is complete ; and when 
 they do visit a farm, the hopes of the husbandman 
 are entirely blasted. Small rivulets are little inter- 
 ruption to their progress : they drop on the water, and 
 float obliquely to the opposite side, where they be- 
 gin their ravages anew. 
 
 Many other insects might be mentioned; but these 
 are the principal ones that are an annoyance to the 
 colonists. 
 
 Sea Animals abound. The common black 
 whale frequents the southern parts, and various 
 species of the spermaceti whale, and af the dolphin 
 and grampus, are found on most of the shores. 
 Turtle have been mentioned as plentiful on the tro- 
 pical shores, — both the green turtle, which is most 
 esteemed for food, and the hawksbill, wliich pro- 
 duces the finest shell. The shell of the last mio-ht 
 be obtained in great quantity, as an article of com- 
 merce, both with Europe and with China ; and if 
 the colony at Fort Dundas, or Melville Island, 
 should ever extend to any thing beyond a mere 
 station, the articles of traffic which they might find 
 it most eligible and profitable to exchange with 
 foreign nations, might be tortoise-shell and trepang, 
 for both of which they Avould find a ready market 
 in China, or even at IMacassar. 
 
 On the shores of Van Diemen's Land, the southern 
 
 K
 
 194 THE PICTURE 
 
 coast of New Holland, and on the islands along the 
 latter, more especially those towards Bass''s Straits, 
 seals, both of the hairy description and of those 
 whose skins are valuable as furs, are abundant ; 
 and though the number at any one place be soon 
 exhausted, yet the places ai'e so many, that a seal 
 fishery to a considerable extent might, with proper 
 management, be constantly carried on. 
 
 The sea fish are very numerous ; and the rivers 
 are, in general, well supplied. The fish in the 
 inland rivers, Macquarrie and Lachlan, are very 
 numerous, and of a very large size. The following is 
 Mr. Oxley's account of some which were caught in 
 the Lachlan : — 
 
 " One man in less than an hour cavight eighteen 
 large fish, one of which was a curiosity, from its 
 immense size, and the beauty of its colours. In 
 shape and general form, it most resembled a cod ; 
 but was speckled over with brown, blue, and yellow 
 spots, like a leopard''s skin ; its gills and belly a 
 clear white, the tail and fins a dark brown. It 
 weighed, entire, seventy pounds ; and without the 
 entrails, sixty-six pounds. It is somewhat singular, 
 that in none of these fish is any thing found in the 
 stomach, except occasionally a shrimp or two. The 
 dimensions of this fish were as follow : — 
 
 Feet. Inches. 
 " Length from the nose to the tail 3 5 
 
 Circumference round the shoulders 2 6 
 
 Fin to fin over the back - - 1 5
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 195 
 
 Feet. Inches. 
 
 Circumference near the anus - 1 9 
 
 Breadth of the tail - - - 1 1 1 
 
 Circumference of the mouth opened 1 6 
 
 Depth of the swallow - - - 1 0" 
 
 Mr. Oxley mentions, that the other fish which 
 were caught in the Lachlan were of the same species 
 with this, and all of a weight exceeding fifteen 
 pounds. Some species of flat-fish grow to an im- 
 mense size on the Australian shores. At Percy 
 Island, Captain King's people caught, with a seine, 
 some sting-rays, one of which measured twelve feet 
 across, and its liver nearly filled a small pork barrel ; 
 and Captain Cook caught in Botany Bay, some 
 of the same species of fish, each of which weighed 
 three hundred and thirty-six pounds. Perhaps one 
 reason for the immense size of those fish close in 
 shore, may be the dislike the natives have to them. 
 Though the food of these people upon the coasts be, 
 generally speaking, fish, in the spearing of which 
 they are very dexterous, and of which they must 
 destroy great numbers, they will rather fast than 
 eat any description of ray, even though they have 
 no objection to eat putrid seals. 
 
 Some of the fish on the Australian shores are 
 remarkable for their beauty. Of these, one of the 
 most conspicuous is a species of crab. It has a 
 small body, and long thin legs, and is therefore of 
 little use as food ; but the shell with which it is 
 covered is as brilliant as can well be imagined. The 
 K 2
 
 196 THE PICTURE 
 
 nnder part is of a pure white, having a gloss and 
 polish surpassing the finest enamel ; and the brilliant 
 white extends also over great part of the legs on 
 their under sides, though it passes into patches of 
 an intensely brilliant azure towards the extremities. 
 The upper part of the body is clouded with various 
 shades of bronze colour, some of the tints almost 
 black, and others of a very brilliant golden orange, 
 while the different patches are so exquisitely blended, 
 as to give the whole an appearance of semi-transpa- 
 rency. The greater part of the colour on the upper 
 surface of the legs is of the azure already mentioned ; 
 and, both in the richness of the colour and in the 
 exquisite polish of the surface, it is hardly possible 
 to imagine a more brilliant object than this little 
 shell-fish. 
 
 Some of the smaller fish on the Australian shores 
 are singular in their appearance and habits. One 
 is a small fish, about the size of the little finger, 
 with a double set of pectoral fins : short ones, which 
 answer for swimming, and longer ones, which are 
 jointed, and which, when the sea leaves it dry, it 
 makes use of as feet, and, by means of their elasti- 
 city, leaps a considerable way, both upwards and 
 laterally. The other is a mud-fish, found on the 
 north-west coast, which is about nine inches in 
 length, and buries itself under the mud with more 
 rapidity than any other fish that is knov.^n. 
 
 The shores, and even the fresh-water rivers, con- 
 tain numbers of esculent shell fish, Avhich, with fern
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 197 
 
 root, form, when they are in season, the principal 
 food of the natives. 
 
 Such are a few points on the natural history of 
 Australia, excepting that of the native inhabitants : 
 they are mere points, because any thing else would 
 have been inconsistent with the size of this volume, 
 and the numerous and varied subjects that properly 
 come within its range. Few and unscientific as they 
 are, however, they will serve to show that the na- 
 tural history of those vast islands, and the surround- 
 ing seas, is fraught with much, both of curiosity and 
 utility. 
 
 Note. — In treating of the natural history of Au- 
 stralia, liowever trivial the notice may be, it is 
 impossible to avoid a certain feeling of national 
 regret, bordering even upon a stronger sensation. 
 England claims Australia as peculiarly hers for the 
 purpose of colonization ; and it is mortifying to 
 think, that for any one species of information re- 
 specting it, an Englishman should need to borrow 
 of foreigners, — and borrow of them, too, not only 
 when Englishmen abroad were in possession of more 
 accurate and valuable information than any foreigner, 
 but when that was actually brought to the country, 
 in hands of the original inquirers, who were then in 
 the prime and vigour of life. Perhaps there never 
 was an expedition of discovery — certainly there never 
 was so small an expedition — so judiciously furnished 
 with scientific men, as that which sailed under Cap-
 
 198 THE nCTURE 
 
 tain, Flinders in July, 1801. Mr. Robert Brown was 
 at once one of the most enthusiastic and the most 
 profound students of nature, not in botany merely, 
 but in natural history generally ; and as a scientific 
 dissector and painter, Mr. Ferdinand Bauer was 
 quite unrivalled, even by his brother Francis, who 
 is still resident in this country, and whose dissec- 
 tions for Sir Everard Home, and drawings for 
 Lambert's magnificent work on pines, place him 
 at the head of living artists in natural history, both 
 in science and in manual execution. 
 
 The loss upon the Wreck Reef of the vessel in which 
 Captain Flinders was returning, and his detention in 
 the Mauritius, were unfortunate, both for the pro- 
 gress of maritime discovery, and for the personal 
 advantage of that enterprising officer ; but there is 
 often a good arising out of that which at the time 
 seems unmixed evil ; and, had it been properly turned 
 to account, that would have been the case in the in- 
 stance alluded to. During the voyage, Messrs. Brown 
 and Bauer had made extensive collections, both in 
 botany and in natural history. But during their 
 eighteen months residence at Port Jackson, they 
 were enabled so to augment their stock, as to bring 
 with them complete notes for the accurate delineation 
 and description of more than seven thousand species, 
 the publication of which, in a style of corresponding 
 elegance, would have been at once the most magni- 
 ficent in natural history that ever arose out of a single 
 expedition, and a work not merely worthy of, but
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. .199 
 
 highly honourable to the character of Britain, as the 
 nation foremost in enterprise. 
 
 Of the value of this work, if completed, scientific 
 men can easily form an estimate, when they recollect 
 the impression made over the scientific world by the 
 appearance of the fragment of Brown's " Prodromus^'' 
 ■^vhich is now before the public ; and it will be heard 
 with bitterness that that fragment is all that the 
 world is likely to receive. This splendid mass of 
 materials, after they had been procured at the public 
 expense, and at an imminent risk of health and life to 
 the procurers, were safely deposited in London ; and 
 (will it be believed .^) they are now scattered to the 
 winds, or consuming by the moth. 
 
 In the first instance, the Admiralty, under whose 
 charge we believe the matter was, selected, out of the 
 seven thousand, ten subjects, of which outline en- 
 gravings were published in the Atlas to Captain 
 Flinders's account of his voyage. It is true that they 
 employed Mr. Bauer for three years, in making- 
 drawings of a number of those subjects, and we be- 
 lieve it is also true that these drawings have some- 
 times been shown, as pretty things to look at, in a 
 lady's drawing room ; but that any one man of 
 science, official or non-official, ever got or gets access 
 to them, does not appear. 
 
 Nor is this is the worst of the matter. The originals 
 are gone. Mr. Bauer having projected a splendid 
 work himself, and produced three numbers of it, in a 
 style superior to any other we have met with, found
 
 200 THE PICTURE 
 
 the liberality of this country, which was purchasing, 
 by the thousand, the inferior rubbish of persons who 
 had never seen the subjects v/hich they drew and 
 described, patronized his Avork to the full extent of 
 twenty copies, retired to his native country of Austria; 
 and, having met with no better success there in his 
 publications, sat down to console himself with the 
 truth and brilliance of his own pencil. Disappoint- 
 ment and intense application wasted him away ; and 
 as an artist dying in Austria, his collections could 
 not be sold out of the country ; hut were valued by 
 Government officers, and purchased for the Imperial 
 Museum at Vienna : so that the best materials for 
 forming a natural history of a British colony, though 
 originally procured at British expense, and brought 
 safely to the country, are now in the hands of a 
 potentate who owns hardly a single ship. The loss 
 of those notes must in all probability prevent the 
 completion of Brown's Prodromus, to which allusion 
 has been made ; and thus a work, which now might 
 have been in progress towards completion, has yet to 
 be begun, notwithstanding the zeal that has been 
 displayed by subsequent observers. That which has 
 been lost was the foundation, and without that, there 
 can be no structure. Its true, there is a little 
 remnant, besides the drawings at the Admiralty : 
 M. Francis Bauer, at Kew, has one portfolio of 
 plants, and another of animals, painted in his brother"'s 
 very best style, accompanied by the necessary cha- 
 racteristic dissections, and bearing the microscope
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 
 
 301; 
 
 almost as well as the originals themselves ; and it is 
 very much to be wished, that some public institution 
 should possess themselves of these most exquisite 
 representations, lest they also should find their Avay 
 out of the country. 
 
 K 3
 
 202 THE PICTURE 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 NATIVE INHABITANTS. 
 
 In a philosophical point of view, the most inter- 
 esting inquiry respecting any country, is the nature 
 and habits of the human beings by whom it is found 
 occupied ; and the interest of this inquiry increases 
 in proportion as those people are different from the 
 inquirers. Now, singular as Australia is in many 
 of its characteristics, tliere are few in which it is 
 more singular than in its native population. All 
 over the coasts, and in the interior, so far as that has 
 been explored, we find a race of human beings differ- 
 ing very little in the form of their bodies, their 
 modes of living and of making war, their implements 
 and their habitations ; and yet, though in these re- 
 spects they might be all taken for brothers, their 
 language is so diversified, that, within a comparatively 
 short distance, the one is just as unintelligible to the
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 203 
 
 other, as both are to a European who visits them 
 for the first time. 
 
 When, therefore, an attempt is made to trace their 
 origin, and establish their analogy to the inhabitants 
 of any other part of the world, a difficulty arises at 
 the outset, which confounds the investigation, and 
 defies the drawing of any thing like a satisfactory 
 conclusion. Sameness of origin is naturally enough 
 inferred from sameness of language ; and as in every 
 department of animal history, except that of man, 
 similarity of structure and habits are all the evidence 
 upon which identity of genus or species can be esta- 
 blished, it is not easy to resist drawing the same 
 conclusion from the same premises with regard to 
 the human race. 
 
 Now when we apply this double evidence to the 
 native Australians, we find the one branch of it directly 
 opposed to the other. In language, they are many 
 races ; in form, appearance, and habits, they are 
 only one ; and, throughout the wide extent of the 
 country, resemble each other much more nearly than 
 the inhabitants of two countries, who speak the same 
 language, and have daily intercourse with each other. 
 Is the language, or the likeness, the better proof ? 
 Who shall answer the question ? That language does 
 change, when part of a nation is removed to a new 
 locality, is certain. The English of the United States 
 is not the same as that of England ; though at the 
 time when those states were first colonised, there was 
 no difference between them.
 
 204 THE PICTURE 
 
 Eacli language has since received new words and 
 new idioms, and additions are making to these every 
 day. But in the case of the people of England, and 
 their relatives in America, we can see sufficient rea- 
 son for this increasing difference of language, — a 
 difference which, ere now, would have been much 
 greater if the American population had not been in 
 the habit of importing and reading English books, 
 as soon after their appearance as possible. The prin- 
 cipal souixes whence the differences in dialects of the 
 language spring are these : first, the different objects 
 in the two countries ; secondly, intercourse with dif- 
 ferent nations ; and, thirdly, differences of occupa- 
 tions and habit. Each of these causes will operate 
 powerfully in proportion to the activity of the people, 
 and the multiplicity of their pursuits ; and in Eng- 
 land and the United States, these may be considered 
 as greater, perhaps, than in any other countries, 
 and certainly greater than in any two places of 
 Australia. 
 
 Almost the only differences between one part of 
 those extensive regions and another, are those of 
 climate, and the vegetables that depend upon climate, 
 and those of the fisherman and hunter. 
 
 AV^ith the differences of climate, the native Aus- 
 tralians have but little concern, as they are tempered 
 to it, and equally unclothed in the cold regions of 
 the south and the warm ones of the north ; nor have 
 they so much interest in vegetables as that these 
 should occasion any diversity in their speech. The
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 205 
 
 diiFerence in the animals, at least those with which 
 the natives are concerned, are also very few. 
 
 The same kangaroo is hunted in the tropical re- 
 gions and on the mountains of Van Diemen's Land, 
 and the weapon with which it is destroyed is the 
 same spear, or boomerang. Thus we have a difference 
 of language in similar people, without any apparent 
 cause from which it can have arisen ; and this consi- 
 deration is decisive of the question as to whether the 
 people have had a common origin, either in Australia, 
 or from any other part of the world: — it decides that 
 the question is insoluble, and that any speculation re- 
 garding it, however ingenious, is, without much more 
 evidence than is now in existence, a mere waste of 
 time. 
 
 Thus, setting aside all the speculations as to whence 
 the Australians came from, the object of this chapter 
 will be narrowed to an attempt at showing what 
 they are. Even that is no easy matter, more espe- 
 cially as relates to the most valuable part of the 
 estimate, the character of the people, and their sus- 
 ceptibility of advancing in civilization. This diffi- 
 culty arises in a great measure from the inhabitants 
 having been seen at diiferent points of the coasts, at 
 distant periods of time, by navigators of nations 
 having different habits, and having themselves dif- 
 ferent views in their intercourse with the people. 
 For it is easy to be seen, that a navigator inheriting 
 all the prejudices of the early part of the seventeenth 
 century, would not give the same representation of
 
 206 THE PICTURE 
 
 the same people as a navigator of the nineteenth. 
 Besides, the early navigators went in quest of 
 wealth only, while in latter times they have gone 
 in quest of information, and with a disposition 
 to make presents, rather than to plunder — to give 
 a hatchet, rather than to snatch away a spear — to 
 cloth or feed a native, rather than carry him off, 
 by force, and sell him into slavery. But, again, those 
 differences in the dispositions and conduct of the 
 observers, would tend to produce a future difference 
 in the observed. The man who had been plundered, 
 or had seen his brother or countryman carried off 
 captive, by strangers whom he had never offended, 
 would teach his children vengeance for the wrong, 
 and hatred for whatever strangers might arrive. 
 
 Therefore, that the inhabitants, more especially of 
 the northward coasts of Australia, who have had the 
 greatest chance of being visited by the Dutch and 
 Portuguese, or by the Malays, should arm them- 
 selves with their spears and show fight, the moment 
 that a stranger approaches the land, is no decisive 
 argument for inherent ferocity in them, — though it be 
 pretty strong presumptive evidence of treatment with 
 which they have previously met. 
 
 In examining carefully the reports of those ob- 
 servers, on whom, from their corroboration of each 
 other witliout an}^ possibility of collusion, the greatest 
 confidence may be placed, the general conclusion is, 
 that tlie inhabitants of Australia are naturally of an 
 unoffending and pacific disposition. In every place 
 where there has been reason to conclude that the
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 207 
 
 visit of Europeans was a first one, and the conduct 
 of the visitor was kind, or even equitable, tliere is no 
 evidence of primary aggression on tlie part of the 
 natives ; and wliere they have become hostile, with- 
 out any act to merit it on the part of the commander, 
 it is not easy to say what offence may have been 
 given by some of the crew, or even what may be 
 the difference between what is considered an offence 
 by the one nation and by the other. One who re- 
 flects upon the wide differences in the causes of 
 offence in the people of the same country, arising 
 from differences of rank and habit, and without any 
 reference to the individual tempers of the parties, 
 will perceive that the utmost caution is necessary, 
 before men who have had the advantages of educa- 
 tion and laws, can venture to decide upon the cha- 
 racters of those who have not. 
 
 A glance at the islands farther to the north will 
 tend further to prove that the savage disposition of 
 the New Hollanders, wherever it has been evinced 
 without provocation on the part of their visitors, has 
 been the result of former ill usage, either to the 
 existing generation themselves, or handed down to 
 them by their progenitors. Throughout the whole 
 islands to the northward of New Holland, as far as 
 the Philippines, there are still found in the moun- 
 tains a negro race, who, in the form of their bodies, 
 their complexion, and their hair, bear so con- 
 siderable a resemblance to the Australians, as that 
 they are regarded as forming one great family of the
 
 208 THE PICTURE 
 
 human race. Those negroes have been, in ahnost 
 every instance, dispossessed of the shores and the 
 better parts of the islands, by the Malays, who are 
 more intellectual and active, though certainly not a 
 more gentle people. Wherever their invaders have 
 shut them up in the fastnesses of the mountains, these 
 negroes have become a ferocious and a malignant 
 people ; and have done so obviously on account of 
 the cruel manner in which they were driven from 
 their former heritages. There are evidences of this 
 in the history of all nations : the hordes of the 
 north did not overrun the Roman territory until the 
 arms of Rome had been, in the then spirit of con- 
 quest, somewhat wantonly borne against them ; and 
 even so lately as a century ago, the highlanders of 
 Scotland did not scruple to plunder the lowlanders — 
 not as a matter of theft, but as a matter of right, 
 or, at any rate, of vengeance, upon the plea that these 
 lowlanders had in former ages deprived them of their 
 inheritance. 
 
 In like manner, the nearer the region of the 
 ISIalays is approached, the more do the Australians 
 seem disposed to attack, and, generally speaking, the 
 better are they provided with weapons. From what 
 is known of the natives of New Guinea, they seem 
 to be of the same family with those of New Holland 
 and Van Diemen's Land ; and they are so disposed 
 to be hostile, that no foreign race, probably not even 
 the Malays, have settled in their country. 
 
 The inhabitants of Murray's and the other islands
 
 or AUSTRALIA. 209 
 
 east of Bass's Straits, tliough represented to be of a 
 lighter complexion, and a little more advanced in 
 the arts than those of New Holland, are described 
 as belonging to the same race ; and though inter- 
 course with strangers has given them some notions of 
 commerce, it has given them much stronger ones of 
 pugnacity. When Captain Bligh and Lieutenant 
 Portlock steered through those islands in 1792, on 
 their return from Otaheite, with bread-fruit trees, for 
 the West Indies, they found the natives exceedingly 
 hostile. Steering between Dungeness and Warrior 
 Islands, not far from the coast of New Guinea, the 
 natives so boldly attacked the brig commanded by 
 Portlock, that he was obliged to make a signal for 
 assistance, and the canoes were proceeding also to 
 attack Captain Bligh's vessel. Instead of being 
 intimidated by musketry, they cheered, and paddled 
 more briskly forward ; and retired only when a round 
 shot had raked the foremost one, and demolished its 
 stern. The men in it took to the water, and dived 
 very dexterously to avoid the musket balls. The 
 attack made by these islanders was truly formidable ; 
 they wounded three men in Captain Portlock"'s vessel, 
 one of them mortally ; and with such force were their 
 arrows discharged, that they penetrated very deeply 
 into the decks and planking of the vessel. When 
 Bampton and Alt were in those seas in ^^93, their 
 reception by the natives was eqvially hostile, and more 
 disastrous. In nearly the same latitude and longi- 
 tude, an armed boat's crew were carried off and
 
 210 THE PICTURE 
 
 murdered ; and the conduct of the people was 
 treacherous in the extreme. But with all this 
 treachery, they were much more advanced in the 
 arts than the inhabitants of New Holland. Their 
 canoes were from fifty to seventy feet in length, 
 tolerably well made, and ingeniously carved and 
 painted with curious figures on the elevated parts at 
 both ends. Their arms were bows, of great length 
 and elasticity, from which they discharged arrows 
 with much force ; weighty clubs about four feet long ; 
 and spears and lances made of very hard wood, of a 
 black colour, sharply pointed, and some jagged 
 and barbed for a foot in length. Their habitations 
 were also constructed in a style much superior to 
 those of the Australians. They were arranged in 
 villages, each consisting of ten or twelve huts, and 
 enclosed by bamboo fences nearly twelve feet high — 
 the huts formed round a central pole, and covered 
 with grass and leaves of the cocoa tree ; some huts 
 had an area of thirty feet by fifteen, and the 
 floors six feet above the ground ; the sides neatly 
 constructed of bamboo. These huts bore evidence of 
 the savage disposition of the people : two or three 
 human sculls, and several strings of hands, five or 
 six in a string, being very generally found in them. 
 They appeared to cultivate yams, plantains, and sugar 
 canes, the fields of which were separated by neat 
 bamboo fences, and near the villages there were 
 groves of cocoa-nut trees. Thus, from the accommo- 
 dations of these people and their conduct, it does
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 211 
 
 not appear that the intercourse of strangers, how 
 much soever it may tend to their advancement in the 
 arts, has any beneficial effect upon the morals of the 
 race of negroes, to which the natives of Australia are 
 allied, if they do not belong. 
 
 Captain Flinders found the inhabitants of Mur- 
 ray"'s Islands of the same character with those that 
 have been mentioned, though he escaped coming to 
 any open rupture with the inhabitants. 
 
 Toward the bottom of the Gulf of Carpentaria, 
 Captain Flinders found the natives much less for- 
 midable or disposed to be quarrelsome ; and they were 
 without bows and arrows, like those of the islands 
 near the straits. They had spears and throwing 
 sticks, like the natives about Port Jackson ; though, 
 from their having performed certain rites that are 
 practised by the Jews and Mahomedans, it is not 
 unlikely that they may have been visited by the 
 Malays. Farther north in the gulf, and on the 
 north shore, — it may be in consequence of more fre- 
 quent Malay visitation, — the people are more inclined 
 to be hostile ; and indeed their propensity to hostility 
 seems to be very much in proportion to the frequency 
 with which they have been visited. On those parts 
 of the north-west coast, where there was the least 
 reason to suppose that any stranger had previously 
 been, Captain King found the natives most mild and 
 honest in their dispositions. They were equally 
 peaceable at King George''s Sound ; and the first 
 visitors of Van Diemen's Land met with no annoy-
 
 212 THE PICTURE 
 
 ance, at least with no hostility, on the part of the 
 natives. Nor does it appear that after the colony at 
 Hobart's Town had been founded, any hostile dispo- 
 sition was shewn on the part of the natives, until 
 injury had been done to them by the settlers. It is 
 doubtful whether, in New South "Wales the natives 
 have ever been the original aggressors in those dis- 
 turbances that have taken place. The character of 
 the colonial population, and more especially of that 
 part of it with wliich the natives come most in con- 
 tact, renders the facts by no means a key to the dis- 
 position of the natives. The people, who, from the 
 beginning, have been the most in the woods, and have, 
 in consequence, come most in contact with the natives, 
 liave generally been those whose disregard of justice, 
 in a land where there were laws to take cognizance 
 of them, w^as the cause of their being there. 
 Persons who had transgressed, where there was a law 
 and power to enforce it, were not very likely to 
 behave better where no law existed ; and, therefore, 
 the reputed cruelties that have been attributed to 
 the natives, both in New South Wales and Van 
 Diemen''s Land, are most likely to have been nothing 
 but vengeance taken for wrong previously done, 
 which, in their view of the matter, is all that is or 
 can be meant by justice and equity. Thus, on can- 
 didly looking at the evidence, there appears to be 
 nothing: charfjeable against the native inhabitants of 
 Australia, which takes them out of the ordinary class 
 of human beings, and forces upon them a character
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 213 
 
 of greater cruelty and revengefulness than would 
 belong to Europeans, if they were equally destitute 
 of knowledge, education, and the restraints of law 
 and government. 
 
 The present time, when the black inhabitants have 
 been so long and so frequently maltreated by run- 
 away convicts, is not the proper period for judging 
 of the natural disposition of these people. The 
 natural associates which savage men are likely to 
 select from among civilized, are the least cultivated, 
 — those who are likest to themselves ; and as the colo- 
 nial labourers have been, from the beginning, men 
 who were there just because they had been vicious, 
 it is natural that they should teach vice to the 
 natives — the more so that, in the way of ordinary 
 intercourse, the vices of their more civilized visitors 
 are the first lessons that savages usually learn. 
 
 The first establishment of the colony is the pro- 
 per time at which to find the natural character of 
 the Australian blacks ; and it is fortunate that the 
 facts are recorded by Colonel Collins, v>-hose un- 
 pretending narrative is much more to be rebed on 
 than the later accounts, by more gaudy but less 
 candid describers. Now, according to Collins, the 
 natives of New South Wales were not the original 
 aggressors in those skirmishes which took place 
 between them and the settlers. It is true, that 
 when the governor surveyed Port Jackson and its 
 river, the first time that a foreign keel had divided 
 its waters, the natives warned him and his party to
 
 214 THE PICTURE 
 
 be off. But that is not to be wondered at. What 
 would take place if men, in strange attire, should 
 make a descent upon any of the coasts of England 
 with a fleet as formidable, in comparison, as Gover- 
 nor Phillips"' three boats must have appeared to the 
 native Australians ? 
 
 When the colony made a landing, the natives were 
 not forward to annoy them ; and it is extremely 
 probable that they had met with abuse long before 
 they at all appeared. Nine convicts strayed from 
 Port Jackson towards Botany Bay almost imme- 
 diately after the landing, and, from the character 
 and habits of these people, it is reasonable to con- 
 clude that they would conduct themselves towards 
 the natives with any thing but that caution and 
 forbearance which are absolutely necessary to the 
 establishment of an amicable understanding between 
 people who are ignorant of each other's manners 
 and language. Still, notwithstanding the frequent 
 escapes and misconduct of the convicts, only two 
 of the natives visited the camp ; and the following 
 is Colonel Collins''s account of them : — 
 
 " These men strolled into the camp one evening, 
 and remained in it about half an hour. They ap- 
 peared to admire whatever they saw, and, after 
 receiving each a hatchet (of the use of which the 
 eldest instantly and curiously showed his knowledge, 
 by turning up his foot, and sharpening a piece of 
 wood on the sole with the hatchet), took their leave, 
 apparently well pleased with their reception. The
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 215 
 
 fishing-boats, also, frequently reported their having 
 been visited by many of these people when hauling 
 the seine, at which labour they often assisted with 
 cheerfulness, and, in return, were generally rewarded 
 with part of the fish taken. 
 
 " Every precaution was used to guard against a 
 breach of this friendly and desirable intercourse, by 
 strictly prohibiting every person from depriving 
 them of their spears, fiz-gigs, gum, or other articles, 
 which it was soon perceived they were accustomed 
 to leave under the rocks, or loose and scattered about 
 the beaches." 
 
 It were well for the world, if a little of this 
 savage honesty coidd be imported to even the most 
 civilized society ; and they who are accustomed to 
 moralize on such matters, will regret that a people 
 so perfectly unsuspicious, should have, at their very 
 first intercourse with civilized men, and in spite of 
 the injunctions of Governor Phillips, " fallen among 
 thieves." Colonel Collins proceeds : — 
 
 " There was great reason to believe, that these 
 precautions were first rendered fruitless by the ill 
 conduct of a boat's crew belonging to one of the 
 transports, who had attempted to land in one of the 
 caves at the lower part of the harbour, but were 
 prevented, and driven off with stones by the natives. 
 A party of them, consisting of sixteen or eighteen 
 persons, landed some time after on the island, where 
 the people of the Sirius were preparing a garden, 
 and, with much artifice, watching their opportunity,
 
 216 THE PICTURE 
 
 carried off a shovel, a spade, and a pick-axe. On 
 their being fired at, and hit on the legs by one of 
 the people Avith small shot, the pick-axe was dropped, 
 but they carried off the other tools. 
 
 " To such circumstances as these," continues this 
 impartial observer, " must be attributed the termi- 
 nation of that good imderstanding which had hitherto 
 subsisted, and which Governor Phillips laboured to 
 improve whenever he had an opportunity. But it 
 min-ht have been foreseen, that this would unavoid- 
 ably happen : the convicts were every where strag- 
 gling about, collecting animals and gum to sell to 
 the people of the transports, who at the same time 
 were procuring spears, shields, swords, fishing lines, 
 and other articles, from the natives, to carry to 
 Europe. The loss of these must have been attended 
 with many inconveniences to the owners, as it was 
 soon evident that they were the only means whereby 
 they obtained, or could procure, their daily sub- 
 sistence ; and although some of these people had 
 been punished for purchasing articles of the convicts, 
 the practice was carried on secretly, and attended 
 with all the bad effects that were to be expected 
 from it." 
 
 The inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land, who are 
 now considered as being more determined and per- 
 severino- in their hostility to the settlers than those 
 of any part of New Holland, showed at first a 
 different disposition. They watched, but at the 
 same time they avoided their early visitors. In
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 217 
 
 December 1798, Flinders having landed on the 
 banks of the Derwent, and shot some black swans, 
 he thus describes the reception he met with from 
 a native : — 
 
 " We landed, and went up to them, taking with 
 us a black swan. Two women ran off, but a man, 
 who had two or three spears in his hand, staid to 
 receive us, and accepted the swan with rapture. 
 He seemed entirely ignorant of muskets, nor did 
 any thing excite his attention or desire, except the 
 swan and the red kerchiefs about our necks ; he 
 knew, however, that we came from the sloop, and 
 where it was lying."" 
 
 The first, and probably the only occasion on wliich 
 there was a primary attack on the part of the natives, 
 where they had not been previously visited by some 
 adventurer, was during the survey of Moreton Bay 
 in 1799. Flinders, accompanied by Bongaree, a 
 native, who subsequently sailed in different voyages 
 of discovery, went on shore, and met with a party 
 of fishermen, with whom they carried on some bar- 
 ter. In the course of this the natives seemed eager 
 to be possessed of a hat of plaited leaves, worn by 
 Flinders. Not being able to accomplish their wish 
 by fair means, they tried to snatch the hat, one with 
 a hooked stick in front, and another with a long arm 
 in the rear. Finding these means fail also, and Flin- 
 ders and his attendant having retired to their boat, the 
 natives first threw their fire-sticks, and then a spear, 
 which passed over the very centre of the boat, but 
 
 L
 
 218 . THE PICTURE 
 
 without doing any harm. The discharge of a mus- 
 ket or two wounded some of the natives, and terrified 
 the rest : but on subsequent intercourse with them 
 they were friendly ; and probably the skirmish may 
 have taken place in consequence of the violation of 
 some of their notions of barter, not understood by 
 their visitors : for it is to be borne in mind, that the 
 fishing net, which the native offered in return for the 
 hat, formed a much greater and more valuable portion 
 of his wealth, than the hat did of that of Mr. 
 Flinders ; and the natural standard by which men 
 estimate value is the amount of what they themselves 
 possess. 
 
 At Rockingham Bay, in about latitude 18° 30', 
 on the east coast, visitors have not only found the 
 natives very amicable, but more ingenious, and 
 farther advanced in the arts than at almost any other 
 part of the coast. Lieutenant Jeffreys, in 1815, 
 was probably their first visitant; and they readily 
 went on board his vessel, and conducted themselves in 
 an orderly manner. When Captain King visited them 
 four years afterwards, they were equally courteous. 
 They came on board with little persuasion ; contrary 
 to the general practice, they ate biscuit ; were very 
 curious in examinhig every thing they saw ; gladly 
 exchanged their baskets and turtle pegs for lines 
 and fishing hooks ; and, upon retiring, they pointed 
 to their huts and invited the navigators to return 
 the visit. They were even pleased with some articles 
 of old clothing, such as the feet of a pair of old
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 219 
 
 stockings put upon one, and the legs of the same 
 upon the arms of another ; though as soon as they 
 reached the shore they divested themselves of their 
 finery, — the taking off of a shirt, which had been put 
 upon one of them, being a labour of no small diffi- 
 culty. Their huts were much better constructed 
 than those of most of the natives ; their canoes, 
 though small, were also neatly put together; they 
 had neat baskets, and were provided with shells of 
 the bottle- gourd {curciirbita lagenaria) for carrying 
 water. Instead, too, of devouring their food almost 
 raw, or barely scorched over an open fire, as is the 
 most general custom in the country, they had ovens 
 for the preparation of their food. These ovens con- 
 sist of a hole dug in the ground and lined with 
 stones. Upon these a fire is kindled ; when heated, 
 that is removed, the food placed on the warm stones, 
 stones laid over it, and a fresh fire kindled, and al- 
 lowed to bum till the cooking be accomplished. It 
 is worthy of remark, that the place occupied by these 
 comparatively intelligent natives, seems to be natu- 
 rally one of the best in the country. Captain King's 
 people picked up the shell of a green cocoa-nut, a 
 fruit which has not hitherto been found growing in 
 Australia, and, as Cape Sandwich, near which it was 
 found, is within the barrier reef, where the current 
 sets from the south, that nut is not likely to have 
 been wafted from any of the islands to the north- 
 east, but was in all probability the production of 
 the neighbourhood. That the natives of Blue 
 L 2
 
 220 THE PICTURE 
 
 IMud and Caledon Bays had been visited by the 
 Malays previous to the time when Captain Flinders 
 surveyed that shore, there can be little doubt— the 
 more so that those at the latter place imitated the 
 action of shooting, calling " poo" at the same time, 
 before a shot had been fired by the English. Even 
 then, Captain Flinders suspected that in the affray 
 during; which ]Mr. Whitewood was wounded with 
 spears, some of his own people had been the agres- 
 sors. Captain King, it is true, met with unprovoked 
 attacks at more than one place on the north coast ; 
 but the places at which he met with them were in the 
 line, not onlv of the INIalay fishery, but in that of 
 those earlv navicrators who were in the habit of kid- 
 napping those " cruel black savages," as they termed 
 them, and making slaves of them themselves, or 
 selling them to others for the same purpose. 
 
 When ^Ir. Oxley first explored Moreton Bay, 
 in 1824, he found the natives not only without any 
 hostile disposition, but disposed to be friendly ; and 
 there was evidence that instead of attacking white 
 men in a defenceless state, they treated them as 
 tenderly as if they had been of their own colour 
 and tribe. Four persons had, in March that year, 
 sailed from Sydney in an open boat, in order to bring 
 cedar from Illawarra; but when near that place, they 
 were caught in a severe gale, and driven out to sea. 
 They drifted for six days, southwards as they 
 thought ; and so, when the weather moderated, they 
 steered north-west, as near as they could judge with-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA, 
 
 221! 
 
 oiit a compass, in hopes of regaining the land at 
 lUawarra. Their sufferings from fatigue, the in- 
 clemency of the weather, and the want of water, were 
 so great, that one of them died in a state of delirium 
 when they were in sight of land, and after they had 
 been twenty-one days at the mercy of the elements. 
 After making the shore, which they believed they 
 did considerably to the south of Sydney, they were 
 afraid to land on account of the natives ; but their 
 boat being at length dashed to pieces, they had no 
 alternative but to swim on shore, almost destitute of 
 clothing, and with a very scanty supply of provi- 
 sions. They at last met with the natives, who 
 wished them to stay at their huts, making signs that 
 they would catch fish for their subsistence. This 
 being refused, the hospitable savages accompanied 
 them about a mile in the direction in which they 
 wished to take, were quite pleased with their re^ 
 maining in the huts all night, and paid them every 
 attention. As these men would not stop at any of 
 the huts, the natives, after accompanying them 
 several stages, took their leave ; but before doing 
 so they gave them the best information they could 
 respecting their intended route, and where they 
 would find a canoe by which to cross a stream which 
 lay in their way. Other natives supplietl them with 
 provisions ; and, indeed, when these wanderers had 
 possessed themselves of some of the natives' property, 
 instead of being punished for it, they were fed, and 
 their destitute condition appeared to excite a good
 
 THE PICTURE 
 
 deal of sympathy. During the remainder of their 
 stay they were treated with uniform kindness ; the 
 natives insisted on painting them in their own 
 fashion, and would gladly have perforated the sep- 
 tums of their noses for receiving the ornamental 
 stick, as well as seamed their bodies with those 
 fashionable scars, of which the native dandies of 
 Australia are as vain as those of Europe are of their 
 braid and lace. No sooner had the cutter, with Mr. 
 Oxley and his party, anchored in the bay, than the 
 natives announced the welcome tidings to their 
 guests, and led them to the beach with shouts ; and, 
 says Mr. Uniacke, in the account of the expedition, 
 " While approaching the beach, the natives showed 
 many signs of joy, dancing and embracing the white 
 men, who were nearly as wild as they. The men 
 were perfectly naked, and covered all over with the 
 Avhite and red paint which the natives make use of." 
 The following extract from the Journal of Thomas 
 Pamphlet, one of these unfortunate men, as published 
 in a volume of interesting tracts connected with Aus- 
 tralia, edited by Mr. Barron Field, concentrates- a 
 number of their habits into a short compass, and has 
 the air of truth : — 
 
 " We were now certain that we had been 
 thrown on an island, and our thoughts were there- 
 fore directed towards the means of reaching the main 
 land. At the back of the sand hill, we found a small 
 well of fresh water, which had been dug by the 
 natives ; near this, we made a fire, and passed the
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 223 
 
 night. "We observed fires on the opposite shore, and 
 early the next morning we kindled a large one down 
 on the beach, which being seen by the natives, one 
 of them passed over in a large canoe. As he ap- 
 proached, however, we retired behind the hill ; and 
 when he had hauled up his canoe, he made directly 
 for the fire. We then made our appearance, but no 
 sooner did he observe our colour, than he ran back 
 to his boat, and jumping in, pushed rapidly off, 
 shouting and roaring with all his might. In the 
 meantime, another canoe was launched from the 
 opposite side, with two men, who met the first 
 about half across the channel, and they then both 
 paddled towards the place where we were sitting. 
 When they had landed, we were unwilling to ap- 
 proach them, lest they should again be frightened, 
 and therefore remained sitting quietly by our fire. 
 The three men then approached cautiously towards 
 us, and having examined us at a distance, returned 
 to their boats, and made signals with some pieces of 
 bark to those on the opposite shore, when two more 
 canoes pushed off, with five or six men in each ; and, 
 as soon as these had landed, the whole party, to the 
 number of fourteen, approached us. They were 
 perfectly naked, and had neither spears, nor any 
 other kind of weapon with them. They still ap- 
 peared shy of coming near us, but at last one man 
 came close to the fire, and on our making signs, two 
 or three more followed his example, and in a short 
 time the whole party had formed a circle round us*
 
 r2S4 THE PICTURE 
 
 Parsons happened to have a pair of scissors, which had 
 belonged to Thompson, and their beards being very 
 long, he commenced cutting them, which appeared 
 to delight them greatly. They remained an hour 
 with us ; and on rising to go away, we got our bags 
 on our backs, and prepared to accompany them. 
 This, however, they did not seem inclined to permit, 
 but ran down quickly to their boats. We then en- 
 deavoured to secure one of their canoes, but they 
 were too quick for us, and jumping in, pushed them 
 rapidly away. We now began to despair of being 
 able to quit the island, and returned very unhappy 
 to some deserted huts, which we had seen about 
 three miles before we arrived at the point. Here 
 -we passed the night, and next morning returned to 
 the point, in hopes of being still able to persuade the 
 natives to take us across the channel. On approach- 
 ing it, our joy M^as excessive at seeing the large 
 canoe that had appeared first on the preceding day, 
 lying on the beach without any person near it. On 
 looking round, however, we saw two natives, who 
 were apparently proceeding towards the place where 
 our boat had been lost, for we now found we had 
 walked nearly round the island. They did not ap- 
 pear to notice us, but kept on their way, upon which 
 we proceeded with all speed to secure the canoe. 
 On examination, we feared that it would not carry 
 us all three with our bags, &c. ; so, having consulted 
 awhile, I agreed to remain behind, and let Parsons 
 ^nd Fjnnegan cross over, when it was stipulated that
 
 OF AtJSTUALIA. 
 
 225 
 
 one of them should return and fetch me. They ac- 
 cordingly pushed off, and I retreated to the top of 
 the hill, from whence I was able to see them the 
 whole way across. On the canoe"'s approaching the 
 shore, I could perceive a great number of natives 
 walkino- out in the water to meet them, which made 
 me very apprehensive that they were about to destroy 
 them ; and, when they had landed, the whole crowd 
 got round them, and moved in towards the bush, 
 which at last hid them from my sight. I remained 
 looking out till evening, expecting to see the canoe 
 every minute, but in vain. I therefore returned to 
 the little well, where we had passed the first night, 
 and having kindled a fire, spent a very wretched 
 night, being greatly alarmed lest my companions 
 should have met with some misfortune. In the 
 morning, I returned to the beach and made a large 
 fire, in hopes that on seeing it, the canoe would re- 
 turn for me. However, I was again disappointed, 
 nor was I able to perceive a single native on the 
 shore the whole day. I now began to lament my 
 hard fate, in being left alone in this desolate place, 
 where, after the little flour I had was expended, I 
 must expect to perish either by hunger or the hosti- 
 lity of the natives ; and I returned to the well, fully 
 convinced that I should never again see either of my 
 unfortunate companions. The next morning, in 
 walking along the shore, near the point, I saw a 
 large cask, which had drifted ashore from some 
 vessel. Conceiving it might contain some provisions
 
 226 THE PICTURE 
 
 or spirits, I set to work to get some of the hoops off; 
 but when I had succeeded, I found, to my disap- 
 pointment, that it contained only six other casks, one 
 inside the other. They appeared qviite fresh, and 
 had not been long in the water : they seemed to be 
 intended to hold oil. While thus employed, I gave 
 many an anxious look to the opposite shore. I was 
 proceeding up the hill again, when I saw the canoe 
 put off with two persons in it, whom, on its nearer 
 approach, I ascertained to be Finnegan, and one of 
 the natives. On reaching the beach, the native took 
 his nets on his shoulder, and marched off in the same 
 direction as the two who had before left the canoe ; 
 but before he went, he made signs for me to go back 
 with Finnegan. Finnegan now told me that nothing 
 could exceed the kindness with which they had been 
 treated by the natives, who had lodged them in a 
 large hut by themselves, and given them as much 
 fish as they could eat, but that they could not before 
 persuade the natives to let the canoe come over for 
 me ; and it was only by accident he was now enabled 
 to come with the native I had seen, who was going 
 to visit his friends on the island. The tide was now 
 running out of the channel with great rapidity, and 
 I wished Finnegan either to pull along shore for 
 some distance, or to wait till the tide slacked ; but 
 he obstinately persisted in pulling straight across 
 without delay. I was obliged to comply, and we 
 pushed off; but no sooner had >ve left the shore 
 than, in spite of all our efforts, tlie current took us
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 227 
 
 out to sea. We still continued paddling for about 
 an hour and a half, by which time we had drifted 
 out close to the breakers, which v/ere very heavy all 
 round us ; and, as we had no hope of the canoe's 
 living if she once got among them, we redoubled our 
 efforts, but to no purpose ; we were soon in the 
 midst of them ; but, contrary to our expectations, 
 the little canoe rode it out much better than a larger 
 boat would have done. We soon got clear of them, 
 and were now in the open sea beyond them. The 
 tide still continued very strong, and we did not relax 
 our efforts to gain the opposite shore, where we saw 
 the natives, and Parsons in the midst of them, 
 running along and watching our progress. At lastj 
 after about five hours hard paddling, the tide 
 turned, and we reached the shore in safety, eight 
 miles from the place where we had originally intended 
 to land. We found Parsons, and a number of natives 
 w^aiting on the beach, and were received by them 
 with many demonstrations of joy. They lifted the 
 canoe into the bush, and presented us with several 
 roasted fishj and then conducted us to their huts. 
 They placed us in a very large well-built hut, by 
 ourselves, and supplied us with fish, water, &c., very 
 liberally. Here we remained for a week or ten days, 
 during which time we were most hospitably treated 
 by the natives. They would not, however, suffer us 
 to approach the huts in which their women were, for 
 the first five or six days ; and at night, five or six of 
 the younger men would sleep in front of our hut.
 
 228 THE PICTURE 
 
 But they afterwards became less vigilant, and we 
 used to pass through their huts among the women 
 as we pleased.*" 
 
 It has been considered that this collection of the 
 facts will better enable the reader to form a proper 
 estimate of the original disposition of the native 
 Australians, than any dogmatical statement that could 
 have been made without the evidence ; and for the 
 more certain determining of this point, it has been 
 deemed expedient to separate the accounts of the 
 conduct of those people in situations where they had 
 had no chance of being contaminated by profligate 
 Kuropeans, from the accounts that are given of them 
 after having visited the settlements, or met with 
 stray convicts' or bush rangers in the forests. Hav- 
 ing made these statements, it will be proper to follow 
 them up by some slight notice of the appearance, 
 and more remarkable practices and habits, of those 
 people. 
 
 Personal Appearance. — The native Austra- 
 lians have certainly but slender claims to what we 
 are accustomed to term personal beauty. The head 
 is large, out of proportion to the size of the body, 
 and the disproportion is farther increased by the 
 quantity of frizzled liair with which it is co- 
 vered, and the volume of which is often increased 
 by an addition of grease and ochre. Their heads are 
 flattened on the crown ; their noses flat, and the 
 nostrils widely distended ; they have hollow eyes, 
 to which a deeper enforcement is given by great
 
 OF AUSTRALIA: 229 
 
 bushy and projecting eyebrows, which also add to 
 the wildness of their expression. Their mouths are 
 uncommonly large ; and, owing both to the pro- 
 minence of the jaws and the thickness of the lips, 
 there is an apparent elongation in that part, which, 
 taken in conjunction with the flatness of the nose 
 between the eyes, gives them a slight cast of the 
 ourang-outang. Their bodies are, in those that 
 are well fed and indolent, sometimes unshapely with 
 fat ; but from the quality of their food, and the 
 difficulty they have in procuring a sufficient supply 
 of it, that is but seldom the case. Their limbs are 
 in every part disproportionably thin, although, from 
 the exertion they are often obliged to make, they 
 are well knit and muscular, and capable of undergo- 
 ing a great deal of fatigue. When born, they are 
 not altogether black, but of a dark reddish brown ; 
 and it is probable that, were they clothed, better 
 fed, and not so much exposed to the action of the 
 sun and atmosphere, or so bedaubed with grease, 
 charcoal, and soot, they might be a dark brown, ra- 
 ther than a black people. In the form of their bodies, 
 or the general expression of their countenances, there 
 are hardly any differences throughout the whole ex- 
 tent of the country, farther than might be expected 
 from a greater or a smaller supply of food, and dif- 
 ferent exertion or exposure. In the appearance of 
 their hair there are more differences : those in Van 
 Diemen's Land having it so much more frixzled than 
 those about Sydney, as, upon superficial observation.
 
 230 THK PICTUJIE 
 
 to make them seem a different race. In other re- 
 spects, however, they are so analogous as to establish 
 the fact of their being the same. In their weapons, 
 their general habits, dispositions, and modes of life, 
 there are no very remarkable differences. In the 
 proportions of their bodies, the inhabitants of the 
 coast and those of the interior have been described 
 as a little different, even when inliabiting the same 
 latitude, — those in the inland having the legs and 
 arms longer. This may arise from the difference of 
 their general modes of life. The coast inhabitants 
 live much upon fish ; while those of the interior 
 support themselves by hunting the kangaroos, emus, 
 or by climbing trees in quest of the animals that 
 either live on these, or take to them for shelter. In 
 these latter occupations, a more constant and severe 
 exertion of tlie limbs becomes necessary, and this 
 may account for their elongation. The appearance 
 of the men is rendered more than naturally ferocious 
 by the thickness of their black beards : they are very 
 pleased to get rid of these ; but as they have no 
 means of shaving, except a burning stick, or a piece 
 f)f shell ground to a sharp edge, the depilation of 
 their chins is no easy or agreeable n\atter. They are 
 farther deformed by the perforation of the cartilage 
 between the nostrils, and by the piece of bone or reed 
 whicli they stick into the opening as an ornament. 
 The seaming of their bodies, by cutting Avith a shell, 
 at successive times, until a welt the size of the little 
 finger is produced, tends farther to deform them.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 231 
 
 It is a singular fact in the liistory of rude nations 
 in all parts of the world, that the carving or paint- 
 ing of the skin, and often a combination of the two, 
 is regarded both as an ornament and honour. Civi- 
 lized people have a difficulty in reconciling the 
 hideousness and pain of the carvings with any feel- 
 ing that they imagine to be consistent with a being 
 even in the lowest stage of reasoning. But, as the 
 endurance of pain and privation are the virtues 
 which the savage is most frequently called upon to 
 exercise, they are the ones vipon which he sets the 
 highest estimation ; and, therefore, many of those 
 markings and mutilations upon the body, Avhich we 
 are disposed to regard as wanton deformities, may, 
 to the wearers, be honourable badges of their endur- 
 ance — the chief test of nobility among them. 
 
 The females have, when yoiing, a more pleasing- 
 expression than the males, and they are more grace- 
 fully and delicately formed ; but the hardships they 
 are made to vmdergo, the inferior nature of their 
 food, and the treatment which they receive, destroy 
 tliose superiorities as they advance in life. In 
 general, however, when the females have been un- 
 corrupted by visitors, they possess a degree of 
 modesty that covild hardly be looked for. 
 
 The smearing and blackening which the native 
 Australians practise upon their skins, though it 
 makes them disagreeable to look at, is by no means 
 without its use. The mosquitoes, and other insects, 
 which swarm around them, more especially around
 
 232 THE PICTURE- 
 
 those who, being fishers, live near the water, are so 
 annoying, that unless this coating were put on as an 
 armour against their bites and stings, these would be 
 altogether unsupportable. Observers have noticed, 
 that among the native Australians few deformed per- 
 sons are seen ; but that is common among rude na- 
 tions, and the reason is evident : with such treatment 
 as they experience in their infant and earlier years, 
 only those whose frames are robust can be brought 
 up. For their proneness to the use of oil, more 
 especially upon their heads, there may be another 
 reason : it may help them to endure that burning sun 
 to which Europeans cannot venture to expose them- 
 selves, uncovered, without the most imminent danger. 
 But the oil is not the only ornament of the head : 
 they divide their frizzled hair into parcels, mat them 
 together with gum, till they hang like so many dark- 
 coloured candles, and often finish the ornamenting 
 by fastening, with the same substance, hvunan teeth, 
 teeth of kangaroos, bones of fish, the feathers of 
 birds, the tails of dogs, or, when other ornaments are 
 wanting, slips of wood. Every thing, in short, goes 
 with them as an ornament for the head ; and accounts 
 are given of some well meaning ladies of Port Jack- 
 son, who, having generously bestowed upon some of 
 the blacks certain portions of male attire, made to 
 be worn on quite another quarter, were equally 
 astonished and shocked when their sable proteges 
 Koon after presented themselves to give thanks, just 
 as nude rearward as before, but with tatters of the
 
 or AUSTRALIA. 233 
 
 femoralia tastefully gummed around their ears, as a 
 substitute for wigs. 
 
 Habitations. — It is natural to suppose that a 
 people Avho not only do not desire the luxury of 
 clothing, even at times and in situations where it 
 freezes and snows, should not be very particular 
 about their habitations. Throughout Australia any 
 thing that deserves the name of a hut or dwelling 
 is exceedingly rude. In the warmer latitudes, or 
 the summer season, the shadow of a tree often 
 suffices ; and, in traversing the forests, a stranger 
 pften finds the trees charred towards the root, by the 
 natives having chosen them for their temporary 
 dwellings, and kindled their fires under them. 
 Where no tree grows save the mangroves upon 
 the swampy shore, where a resting place cannot 
 be easily found, or a fire made to burn, the tem- 
 porary dwelling is often a bush, stuck into the 
 sand, as the rudest natural means of protecting 
 themselves from the elements. Other habitations 
 are formed of a large slip of bark, with both ends 
 stuck into the ground ; and these are seldom larger 
 than to accommodate one individual. In some 
 places the huts are a little better, and might even 
 be regarded as the rudiments of fixed villages, 
 though none of them appear to be permanent places of 
 abode, or, in our sense of the word, the property of 
 the individual, — unless it be in some of the settled 
 tribes, where there is a hut of larger dimensions for the
 
 234 THE PICTURE" 
 
 chief, or oldest man of the tribe still able to undergo 
 the necessary degree of fatigue. The caves with 
 which some parts of the country abound, supply the 
 natives with houses ready made, in which they find 
 better protection from the weather than in their huts 
 of leaves and bark ; but whether their dwelling be 
 natural or artificial, they seem not to care for it 
 beyond the accommodation of the moment ; the hut 
 is seldom repaired, and it may be added that, gene- 
 rally speaking, it is never cleaned. The remains of 
 their food render their resting places far from savory 
 to a European ; and the same cause which prompts 
 them to shield their bodies with filth during the day, 
 induces them to kindle the fire partially withinside 
 the hut, and envelope themselves in smoke during the 
 night, — the desire of defence against the mosquitoes. 
 In the vicinity of Sydney, the dwellings of the 
 natives Avere peculiarly rude; and though the ex- 
 ample of better habitations has been set them by the 
 colonists, they do not appear to have improved. In 
 some places the huts are larger, and formed of the 
 long and tough twigs of the melaleuca, formed as 
 bows, in the same way that the gipsies construct the 
 ribs of their tents ; like these too, they are of very 
 trifling elevation, and the fire is kindled at the door. 
 Their huts are covered with the bark of the same tree 
 that forms the ribs, and unless that they are not car- 
 ried from place to place, which the want of beasts of 
 burden prevents, on the one hand, and the abundance
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 235 
 
 of twigs and bark renders unnecessary on the other-, 
 they bear a great resemblance to the gipsy habita- 
 tions. The best description of huts are formed 
 round a pole in the centre ; but these too are low. 
 The huts which some navigators have described as 
 being in the shape of beehives and of considerable 
 height, are the work, not of men, but of ants. At 
 some parts of the coast, one-walled dwellings, like 
 those which used to be inhabited by the wild clans 
 of Sutherlandshire, have been met with ; the wall 
 being either a natural rock or a rude pile of stones, 
 and the rest of the hut a few sticks leaned against 
 that, and covered with bark, grass, or leaves. It is^ 
 however, worthy of remark, that in virtue of a general 
 law of human nature, where their accommodation is 
 the best, their manners are the mildest, and they 
 may be visited with the greatest safety. 
 
 Clothing and Utensils. — Of clothing, properly 
 so called, the greater part of the native Australians 
 may be considered as having none. Cloaks of 
 kang-aroo skin are worn on the shoulders in Van 
 Diemen's Land, and in the country to the westward 
 of the Blue Mountains ; but, from the mode in 
 which they are worn, it is difficult to say whether 
 use or ornament be the chief intention of them ; and 
 when belts of plaited grass, or bark, or hair, or any 
 other substance, are worn round the loins of the men, 
 they may be considered rather as receptacles for 
 holding some part of their weapons than answering
 
 236 THE PICTURE 
 
 any other purpose. Their utensils are few : a bag 
 knitted of grass or of leaves, or a basket plaited of 
 twigs to carry their gum, their fern root, their hooks 
 and lines ; a gourd shell, in the places where that is 
 found, to hold water ; and pieces of stone or shell, 
 gummed to a handle, for an axe, a knife, or a 
 hammer, are all the household furniture that they 
 possess. 
 
 Canoes and Navigation. — In these the natives 
 of Australia are equally rude as in their other means 
 of accommodation ; and there are nearly the same 
 differences in the different districts. Where the hut is 
 best, the canoe is best ; and where there is no hut, 
 there is also no canoe. In Van Diemen's Land, 
 where the summer habitation is in the brush, and the 
 winter one in the cave, there are no means of 
 crossing a river, except throwing a tree into the 
 stream, or swimming, or fording. Upon the tro- 
 pical coasts, where the soft and spongy mangrove 
 grows to a large size, it offers a simple substitute 
 for a boat, being sometimes used in a single piece, 
 and bestrid in the water as a charger, and at other 
 times formed into a little raft, on which the navi- 
 gators can sit. 
 
 Captain King had an opportunity of seeing and 
 describing this log-sailing at Endreby Island, to 
 the north-east of North-west Cape. "As we ad- 
 vanced," says Captain King, " three natives were 
 seen in the water, apparently wading ; but as we ap- 
 proached, it was discovered that each native was
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 237 
 
 seated on a log of wood, which he propelled 
 through the water by paddling with his hands. 
 
 '^ On the boat's coming up with the nearest Indian, 
 he left his log, and, diving under the boat's bottom, 
 swam astern. This he did whenever the boat ap- 
 proached him, and it was four or five minutes before 
 he was caught, which was at last effected by seizing 
 him by the hair, in the act of diving."" The cap- 
 tain then describes that rudest of all means of navi- 
 gating. " It appears that the only vehicle by which 
 these savages transport their families and chattels 
 across the water is a log of wood ; that which we 
 had brought alongside with our captive friend was 
 made of the stem of a mangrove tree ; but as it 
 was not long enough for the purpose, two or three 
 short logs were neatly and even curiously joined 
 together end to end, and so formed one piece, that 
 was sufficient to carry and buoyant enough to support 
 the weight of two people. The end is rudely orna- 
 mented, and is attached to the extremity by the same 
 contrivance as the joints of the main stem, only the 
 two are not brought close together. The joint is 
 continued by driving three pegs into the end of the 
 log, and, by bending them, they are made to enter 
 opposite holes in the part that is to be joined on ; 
 and as the pegs cross and bend against each other, 
 they form a sort of elastic connexion, which strongly 
 retains the two together. When it is used, they sit 
 astride;, and move it along by paddling with their
 
 238 THE PICTURE 
 
 hands, keeping tlieir feet upon the end of the log, 
 by wliifh they probably guide their course." 
 
 Another mode of log-sailing has been described, 
 in which the hands of the sailor are left at liberty 
 to use the fizgig or turtle-peg in fishing. " The 
 native sits so far backward upon the log, as that 
 the fire which he places on a little sand on the fore- 
 end is kept dry ; he sits astride, grasping the log 
 between his knees and paddling with his feet, or oc- 
 casionally with one of his hands, while the other 
 holds the weapon for fishing.''' 
 
 The next stage of navigation, the raft, was found 
 by Captain King, further to the eastward on the 
 north-west coast, at Hanover Bay, about longitude 
 25°. They were composed of five pieces of man- 
 grove, thick at one end and slender at another, 
 lashed to four more tough and slender sticks, one 
 across each end, and one down each side. These 
 were of sufficient buoyancy to carry two natives, 
 together with their spears and baskets. These rafts, 
 or catamarans, are paddled along by means of a 
 stick, and appear to answer the double purpose of 
 transport and fishing. 
 
 On the east coast, the canoes are made of bark ; 
 the pieces, where more than one are used, being 
 sewed together, and rendered water tight, both at the 
 seams and where they are tied at tlie ends, by the 
 application of gum. At Rockingham Bay, already 
 mentioned, the canoes are very small, not exceeding
 
 OV AUSTRALIA. 239 
 
 four feet in length, and they are paddled by two 
 pieces of bark, the rower sitting in the centre of the 
 canoe, farther to the northward on that coast, the 
 canoes are of much larger dimensions. They are 
 capable of carrying several persons, but they are 
 narrow in proportion to their length, and prevented 
 from upsetting by outriggers. 
 
 Fishing. — As fish form the principal food of the 
 coast natives, with the exception perhaps of those of 
 Van Diemen''s Land, where the interior abounds 
 more in game, the means of catching fish occupy a 
 good deal of time and ingenuity. Shell-fish are 
 either gathered upon the beach when the tide is ebb, 
 or they are dived for by the females, upon whom, as 
 in all rude states of society, the meanest part of the 
 labour devolves, though in some places the fishing 
 is wholly or chiefly carried on by the men, and the 
 women occupied in digging fern-root. The fishing 
 implements are hooks and lines, nets, fizgigs, turtle- 
 pegs, and sometimes weirs, in which the fish are kept 
 as the tide ebbs. The hooks are of pearl-oyster- 
 shell, ground upon a stone to the required shape, and 
 the lines are fibres of bark, the best being Currijong 
 — the bark of the hibiscus heterophyllus. The nets 
 are constructed of the same materials ; and in some 
 places, the meshes are knotted exactly in the same 
 manner, and with the same neatness, as those used by 
 European fishermen. The fizgig is a sort of spear, 
 often fifteen feet long, made of melaleuca, the most use., 
 ful tree to the coast natives. In some places it has four
 
 240 THE PICTURE 
 
 barbs, in others fewer ; these barbs being separate 
 pieces of hard wood, lashed on with bark, and 
 smoothed over with gum. With this instrument, 
 which would be a most inefficient one in the hands of 
 Kuropeans, these people strike and secure the fish, at 
 a considerable depth, with great certainty. The 
 turtle-peg is an ingenious contrivance, both in its 
 form and the mode of using it. The peg is a piece 
 of hard wood, about a foot long, sharp pointed, and 
 with a barb firmly and neatly lashed to it, about 
 three inches from the point ; near the other end 
 there is a knob, and beyond that a tenon, which fits 
 into a hole in the end of a long and straight handle. 
 A strong rope is passed round the peg by an eye, 
 between the barb and the knob, and the other end is, 
 in some places, made fast to the handle, and in 
 others to a separate stick. The turtle is struck with 
 the peg in the same manner as fish are strvick with 
 the fizgig ; but as it is far too weighty for being 
 drawn up by the staff, it swims away with the peg 
 retained in its body by the barb, while the float 
 which it has to drag after it, keeps it near the surface, 
 retards its motion, and soon exhausts its strength. 
 It appears also, that the advantage of " fishing in 
 troubled waters," is known in Australia as well as in 
 Europe. In the neighbourhood of Moreton Bay, 
 where the men do not appear to be so exclusively 
 devoted to the use of the spear as on the coast farther 
 south, they wait on the shore, till the fish appear 
 close by the strand ; then a boy creeps forward,
 
 OF AUSTKALIA. 241 
 
 throws in a handful of dust, and the men close in 
 with their nets, one in each hand, and are success- 
 ful. 
 
 HuNTiKG.— The natives of the interior, who are 
 obliged to support themselves chiefly by hunting, 
 have, of course, different methods of obtaining their 
 living from those upon the coast. It is true that in 
 the large rivers there are fish, and in some of them, 
 shell-fish are abundant. Where these can be ob- 
 tained, they are not neglected ; but, as they are not 
 to be bad at all places, or in season at all times, land 
 animals are sought after. In their choice, the natives 
 are not very delicate, and have no objection to make 
 out their meal upon reptiles and insects, the mere 
 names of which, as food, would be revolting to an 
 European. 
 
 It is probable that, in some places, the Australian 
 dog is trained to hunt the kangaroo, for the natives 
 have him in a state of domestication, and prize him 
 so highly, that females have sometimes been known 
 to give to a favourite puppy that food with v.'hich 
 nature provides them for the nourishment of their 
 own offspring. Generally, however, they attack the 
 larger animals with their missile weapons, and climb 
 the trees in quest of the smaller ones. When in the 
 open plains, the large kangaroo defies them; but, if 
 near trees, they steal from one to another, cun- 
 ningly avoiding the notice of their prey, until they 
 be sufficiently near for transfixing it with a spear, 
 
 M
 
 242 THE PICTtJRE 
 
 after which they rush in and finish it with the 
 Avaddie or club, the first blow being given across the 
 loins, to prevent danger from the hind parts, which 
 are formidable even in the death-struggle of the 
 animal. In climbing trees for the smaller animals 
 that take refuge in them, they are very adroit, cut- 
 ting notch after notch with their stone-hatchet, as 
 they ascend, deep enough for giving a hold to the 
 great toe, which is of much use to them in climbing. 
 They probe the hollow with a stick, and cutting a 
 lateral hole, if they cannot reach the animal from 
 the top, drag him out by the tail, and finish him by a 
 blow against the tree. Sometimes, too, they catch 
 animals in snares, but these are of rude construc- 
 tion. 
 
 Weapons. — Their weapons are numerous, and 
 they are so dextrous in the use of them, as to be very 
 formidable. The spear is the principal one, and the 
 use of it is common in all parts of the country. The 
 material of which it is most commonly made is the 
 melaleuca, a twig about the thickness of the little 
 finger, carefully straightened, scraped sharp at the 
 point, and baked and hardened by fire until it ac- 
 quire nearly the consistency of metal. Some of the 
 spears, however, have only the point of hard wood, 
 fastened with gum to a lighter handle, which breaks 
 off when the spear takes effect. In some instances 
 these spears are notched at the point, in others they 
 are barbed with slips of hard wood, or bits of bone
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 243 
 
 or shell, fastened on with gum ; and when this is the 
 case, the wounds which they inflict are difficult to 
 heal, and the points by no means easy to extract. 
 The spear-heads at Hanover Bay, where Captain 
 King found the men sailing on the rafts, were very 
 formidable. Some of the natives there having made 
 a wanton attack upon the captain's party, and 
 severely wounded Mr. Montgomery, the surgeon, he 
 found himself warranted in making reprisals ; and 
 having driven off" the natives, he, according to the 
 usual practice of war with a treacherous enemy, bore 
 off* their rafts, baskets, and arms, as the spolia opima. 
 " What chiefly attracted our attention," says Cap- 
 tain King, " was a small bundle of bark, tied up 
 with more than usual care ; and upon opening it we 
 found it contained several spear-heads, most ingeni- 
 ously and curiously made of stone ; they were about 
 six inches in length, and were terminated by a very 
 sharp point ; both sides were serrated in a most sur- 
 prising way ; the serratures were evidently made by 
 a sharp stroke with some instrument, but it was 
 effected without leaving the least mark of the blow ; 
 the stone was covered with red pigment, and appeared 
 to be a flinty slate. These spear-heads were ready for 
 fixing, and the careful manner in which they were 
 preserved, plainly shewed their value ; for each was 
 separated by slips of bark, and the sharp edges pro- 
 tected by a covering of fur." Captain King adds, 
 " Their hatchets were also made of the same stone, 
 M 2
 
 244 THE PICTURE 
 
 the edges of which were so sharp, that a few blows 
 served to chop off the branch of a tree." These 
 formidable heads were fastened to the handles, in the 
 finished spears which were taken, by a ligature of 
 bark, and a mass of very hard gum. But though 
 the spear be thus formidable, it does not appear that 
 the natives of any part of Australia, add to its 
 deadly power by poisoning, as is the case in some 
 other countries. Indeed it does not appear that 
 there is in Australia any substance adapted for that 
 purpose. Sometimes, but not often, the spear is 
 used for thrusting at close quarters, in which case 
 it is thicker ; but generally it is thrown, and there 
 are few places where this is not done by means of a 
 womerahy or throiving-stick, which gives it addi- 
 tional impetus in the same way that a sling gives it 
 to a stone. The throwing-stick is about three feet 
 long ; and thus, with the same effort, it gives the 
 spear more th.an twice the velocity that it would 
 have if thrown only by the hand, at the full swing 
 of the arm, and so sends it more than double the 
 distance, and also makes it take effect witli more 
 than double the force. That end of the stick which 
 propels the spear has a little hook, turned forward, 
 which fits into a hole in the end of the spear ; and 
 the other end is grasped by three fingers of the hand, 
 the middle finger being passed lightly over the spear, 
 to keep it in its place, and assist in giving it the 
 intended direction. As, from the way in which it is
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 245 
 
 used, the stick imparts the velocity gradually to the 
 spear, that weapon is darted off with the full 
 maximum of the force. The spear can be thrown 
 about two hundred feet with a certainty not only of 
 taking effect, but of being very destructive, and it 
 is so slender, that the party against whom it is 
 directed, if not accustomed to it, has great difficulty 
 in avoiding it. When thrown by a powerful arm — 
 and the natives practise it so habitually from their 
 infancy, that they are all powerful as well as skilful 
 marksmen — it will pass right through the body of a 
 man, at a very considerable distance. It is very 
 soon put in order too ; and as, like all other human 
 beings in a state of nature, the Australians are cun- 
 ning and treacherous where they dread hostility, 
 they often come forward, as if unarmed, till they are 
 within that distance at which they can do execution ; 
 and then, taking their spears from between their 
 toes — the manner in which they conceal them — they 
 discharge them before defence or escape be possible. 
 Even when they are concealing themselves in the 
 brush, at which they are very dexterous, they gene- 
 rally do it in such a manner as that the}^ can easily 
 put themselves in a position to throw a spear, should 
 necessity urge or passion incline them to do such an 
 act. 
 
 Throughout Australia, the th rowing-stick and 
 spear are the substitutes for the bow and arrow of 
 other nations ; and though it probably takes more
 
 THE PICTURE 
 
 time to put the spear into the stick than to set the 
 arrow upon the string, the weapon is much less in- 
 ferior tlian one who has not seen it used would be 
 apt to suppose. 
 
 These people have indeed another missile weapon, 
 and one which is equally curious in the structure 
 and the use : that weapon is the boomerang, which is 
 a piece of very hard and heavy timber, rendered 
 more so by exposure to the fire. Its length is about 
 twenty inches, and its greatest breadth about three. 
 Its form is something like that of a lunette, or rather 
 of two arms slightly curved, forming a large angle 
 at the centre. It is formed of a single piece, how- 
 ever ; both sides are made sharp ; and they stand a 
 better edge, in consequence of their direction being 
 obliquely across the grain of the timber. The 
 boomerang is thrown in a direction slanting upwards, 
 and both its form and the peculiar jerk with which 
 it is thrown, give it a whirling and whizzing motion 
 as it passes through the air ; and when thrown high, 
 it cants over, and hits with the force of its fall in 
 returning. To throw this missile with certainty, 
 requires a great deal of practice ; but those against 
 whom it is directed, are just as apt to run into its 
 way as out of it, as none but the thrower knows 
 where it is likely to fall. It is used in the chase, as 
 well as for hostile purposes. 
 
 The manual weapons of these people are ivad- 
 dies, or clubs, which they wield with great strength.
 
 OF AFSTRALIA. 24*7 
 
 and, when their passions are up, use without 
 mercy. 
 
 The defensive weapons used against these formid- 
 able ones, are shields, which are of two kinds — strong 
 and impenetrable ones of solid timber, worked to the 
 proper shape, and fitted with a handle, and more 
 light and slender ones of bark. There are others, 
 that appear to be their chief, if not their only musical 
 instruments, and which are beaten upon with sticks 
 during their dances, and some of their more grave 
 ceremonies. 
 
 The throwing of the spear seems to be, like the 
 throwing of the lasso, among the peasantry of the 
 Pampas, almost the whole study and business of 
 life. The boys practise it from the moment that 
 they are able to throw a reed, and they continue it 
 through life, as a trade and amusement, and as a 
 means of honourable distinction. 
 
 Government Wars. — The natives of Australia 
 cannot be said to have any thing approaching to 
 what the civilized world are accustomed to call 
 government. The tribe, or rather family, that inha- 
 bits one particular district, do indeed acknowledge 
 some sort of authority in the oldest man ; but they 
 give him the same name, at least in the neighbour- 
 hood of Port Jackson, that they bestow on a father ; 
 and substantially he has the power of administering 
 no law, the distribution of no revenue, and the 
 direction of no force, by which to put his commands
 
 248 THE PICTURE 
 
 in execution. Northward of Port Stephens, where 
 there are niore traces of a rude kind of civilization 
 than in any otlier part of the country, there is said 
 to be more deference paid to the chief; but in no 
 place can he be said to command the tribe. Every 
 man is his own master, goes where he pleases, does 
 what he likes, avenges his own quarrel, and when he 
 is no longer able to maintain himself, dies in liis own 
 company. 
 
 Still there are some rudiments of society, traces of 
 the attachment of child and parent, and of friend 
 and friend, though it is doubtful whether these be 
 either strong or permanent. From some circum- 
 stances that have occvirred, it should seem, however, 
 that these apparent defects arise more from the want 
 of circumstances to call forth the kindly feelings, 
 than from any radical want of those feelings them- 
 selves. Before man can greatly respect his fellow 
 men, or sacrifice even his most momentary impulses 
 for their sakes, he must, from a reciprocity of kind 
 actions on their part, feel that they are essential to 
 his happiness. It has been already mentioned that 
 the colonists found the natives about Port Jackson 
 an honest people ; and though in their revenges they 
 are implacable, cruel, and treacherous, stealing upon 
 and murdering those who have injured or offended 
 them, in the night, they are strict observers of the 
 point of honour, even when they bring their disputes 
 to issue by single combat. These seem to be in-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 249 
 
 tended more for the purpose of strengthening the 
 savage virtue of endurance, than for the gratification 
 of revenge ; for Avhether they take place between 
 two individuals upon what may be supposed a private 
 quarrel, or between one nation and another, they are 
 confined to regular combats upon a chosen arena, 
 and the great body are only spectators, unless some 
 violation of the rules of combat produce a general 
 encounter. That many of the tribes seem, as tribes, 
 hostile to each other, is true ; but there are no in- 
 stances of what could properly be called a national 
 war, to any thing like the extent to which such con- 
 flicts have taken place among the tribes in North 
 America. Still the casualties that occvir at those 
 combats, and yet more, the murders which are 
 prompted by private jealousy and revenge, help, in 
 conjunction with the difficulties of finding food, and 
 exposure to the inclemency of the weather, to keep 
 the population in that scanty state, in which it is 
 found over the greater part of the country. The 
 grand cause of the thin population, and probably 
 also of much of the animosity, is want of food. 
 
 It may not be amiss to mention one or two in- 
 stances of the way in which these people settle affairs 
 of honour. The following case was witnessed by Pam- 
 phlet, already mentioned, as having been the manner 
 in which a Moreton Bay native — called the Doctor, 
 because he bored noses and scarified skins — adjusted 
 difi"erences with one of another tribe, who;, during 
 a hunting party, had wounded him with a spear : — ■ 
 M 3
 
 250 THE PICTURE 
 
 " The spot appointed for the combat was a small 
 ring about twenty-four feet in diameter, about three 
 feet deep, and surrounded by a palisade of sticks. 
 The crowd assembled to see the fight, amounted to 
 about five hundred, men, women, and children ; and 
 the combatants, followed by those who were friendly 
 to them, respectively approached the ring in single 
 file, and drew up in a regular manner on opposite 
 sides of the circle. The whole assembly were well 
 armed, many of them having five or six spears each. 
 The two combatants then entered the ring, and hav- 
 ing laid down their spears in opposite rows, point to 
 point, began walking backwards and forwards, talk- 
 ing loudly to each other, and using violent gestures, 
 as if to inflame their passions to a due height. The 
 women had been previously driven away, and the 
 most profound silence reigned in the rest of the 
 assembly. After about ten minutes spent in this 
 way, they commenced picking up their spears with 
 their feet, keeping their eyes fixed on each other, so 
 as to prevent either taking advantage of the other's 
 stooping. In this manner they proceeded till they 
 had each three spears, which they stuck into the 
 ground ready for immediate use. At this moment, 
 when they commenced thus picking up their spears, 
 a tremendous shout burst from the spectators, who 
 immediately relapsed into their former silence. All 
 now being ready, one or two of the friends of each 
 party spoke across the ring for a few minutes ; and, 
 as soon as they had ceased, the Doctor threw his
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 251 
 
 spear with all his force at the other, who, however, 
 succeeded in warding it off with a kind of wooden 
 shield, called an elemong, into which, however, it 
 penetrated three or four inches. The other then 
 threw in his turn, but his spear was also warded 
 off in the same manner. The third spear which 
 the Doctor threw, penetrated quite through the 
 shoulder of his adversary, who instantly fell, when 
 one or two of his friends jumping into the ring, 
 pulled out the spear, and returned it to its owner ; 
 and the tournament concluded with loud huzzas from 
 all parties. They all then retired to huts which had 
 been erected for the occasion, and the next day they 
 again met in the ring, in order to give the friends of 
 the wounded man an opportunity to avenge his quar- 
 rel. But it appeared that no one wished to do so, as 
 each had now wounded the other, and a reconciliation 
 took place between the two tribes, which was an- 
 nounced by shouting, dancing, &c. and a party of 
 boys were selected from each party and sent into the 
 ring to wrestle ; after which, both tribes joined in a 
 hunting expedition, which lasted a week." 
 
 This account of a more general rencontre, in 
 which both sexes took part, is given by Colonel 
 Collins : — 
 
 " Notwithstanding that they are the mere slaves 
 of men, however, it has generally been found, in 
 tracing the causes of their quarrels, that the women 
 were at the head of them, though in some cases re-
 
 252 THE PICTURE 
 
 motely. They mingled in all the contests of the 
 men ; and one of these, that was in the beginning at- 
 tended with some ceremony, w as opened by a woman. 
 As they had chosen a clear s^wt near the tow n for 
 the scene of action, they w^ere numerously attended 
 from that place. The contending parties consisted 
 mostly of those natives well known at Sydney, and 
 some from the south shore of Botany Bay. The visi- 
 tants repaired to the spot an hour before sun-set, and 
 found them seated opposite eacli other, on a level 
 piece of ground between two hills. As a prelude to 
 the business, one of the Sydney natives, after having 
 waited some time, stood up, and each man stooping 
 down took water in the hollow^ of his hand, (the 
 place before tliem being wet) which he drank. An 
 elderly woman with a cloak on her shoulders (made 
 of opossum skins, very neatly sewn together), and 
 provided with a club, then advanced from the oppo- 
 site side, and uttering much abusive language at the 
 time, ran up to Cole-be, Avho was on the right, and 
 gave him a severe blow on the head, which, with 
 seeming contempt, he held out to her for the pur- 
 pose. She went through the same ceremony with 
 the rest, who made no resistance, until she came up 
 to Yeranibe, a very fme boy, who stood on the left. 
 He, not admiring the blows that his companions 
 received, which were followed by blood, struggled 
 with her ; and, had he not been very active, she 
 would have stabbed him with his own spear, which
 
 or AUSTRALIA. 
 
 253 
 
 she wrested from liim. The men now advanced, and 
 gave the lookers on many opportunities of witnessing 
 the strength and dexterity with which they threw 
 their spears, and the quickness of sight Avhich was 
 requisite to guard against them. The contest lasted 
 until dark, when throwing the spear could no longer 
 be accounted fair, and they beat each other with 
 clubs, until they left off by mutual consent. In this 
 part of the contest many severe wounds were given, 
 and much blood Avas drawn from the heads of each 
 party ; but notliing material happened while they 
 had light enough to guard against the spear." 
 
 Social Habits. — As, though they be without 
 government, the Australians are formed into families, 
 or nations, society must be considered as existing 
 among them, though where they have not had inter- 
 course with the settlers, it appears to be quite sta- 
 tionary ; and where they have had that intercourse, 
 it is very doubtful whether they may not be losing 
 in old honesty and independence, what they are gain- 
 ing in new knowledge and additional gratifications. 
 It is with reluctance that they can be prevailed upon 
 to wear clothing and live in houses ; and though they 
 work occasionally for the settlers, nay, though the 
 children attend schools, show an aptitude for, and 
 make much progress in, the rudiments of education, 
 yet taking the natives as a whole people, perhaps the 
 most accurate description that can be given of the 
 change that has been effected on them by their inter- 
 course with the colonists, is to say that they have been
 
 254 THE PICTURE 
 
 made drunkards and beggars. The certainty of 
 relief out of the poor rate has not elevated the cha- 
 racter of the English peasant ; and the knowledge 
 that, in the event of his death, his family will find 
 shelter in the workhouse, instead of increasing his 
 fondness for them, has rather sent him to the alehouse. 
 The disparity between the condition of the colonists 
 and the natives, has been too great for producing 
 any beneficial change in the latter. That change 
 must be slow, more especially between a people igno- 
 rant of the use of iron, and another people familiar 
 with all the useful arts, and many, by far the ma- 
 jority of them, adepts in the dishonest ones. To 
 hope that they would leap at once to the valuable 
 class of those arts, would be even more extravagant 
 than the fisherman, who, when his child had been a 
 whole week at the Christ Cross Row, never doubted 
 that it could solve all the mysteries of the almanack. 
 The dishonest arts are not so tedious in the acqui- 
 sition ; they need no text book, or system built up 
 by the labour of ages. These are the result of ex- 
 ample, and daily experience shows how soon they 
 can be acquired. If man is to have a good social 
 character, he must feel that he is independent, — that 
 what he uses is acquired, and not bestowed ; and he 
 must have some object to engage his affections. In 
 the first of these respects, the Australian native who 
 begs of the settlers, is a degraded man compared to 
 what he was when his sole dependence was on his 
 spear and his fiz-gig ; and in respect of affection, he
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 255 
 
 stands very much where he did. When Bongaree 
 accompanied the discovery ships, in the capacity of 
 interpreter, he was manly and independent ; and his 
 conduct procured for him the title of " the generous 
 good natured Indian." Bongaree, it is said, is now 
 a beggar in the streets of Sydney, asking alms of 
 every new comer. In the early history of the co- 
 lony, when Bennillong visited London, lived in the 
 European style, and was caressed, he did not teach 
 his people the manners of Europe when he returned. 
 He reverted to his former manners, and the savasre 
 disposition came out more forcibly than ever : he not 
 only transfixed a soldier with a spear in the open 
 street and without cause, but boldly avowed that he 
 went armed for the purpose of treating the governor 
 in the same manner. Bennillong was once friendly, 
 and the protector of the whites ; and he had been 
 treated with indulgence in the colony, and had seen 
 good society in London. 
 
 The evil which lies at the root of all the social vice 
 of the Australian natives — other than those which 
 arise from their hardships and their ignorance — 
 is their treatment of the women. The estimation in 
 which that sex is held, may very justly be taken as 
 the measure of civilization ; because there is not, in 
 ancient or modern history, an instance in which it 
 fails, and because it is the foundation of all family 
 and social attachment. Accordingly, in every civi- 
 lized society, nuptials are seasons of joy, because a 
 new family and new reciprocities of tenderness, are
 
 256 THE PICTURE 
 
 about to be added ; and wanton violation of the sex 
 is a crime equally punishable with murder, and even 
 more revolting. 
 
 Among the native Australians, this foundation of 
 the kindly affections is wholly wanting, and their^ 
 courtship and maiTiages are among the most fero- 
 cious traits of the savage character. The stay of 
 visitors at most parts of the coast has been too short, 
 and their intercourse with the natives too little, for 
 enabling them to determine whether the same practice 
 be general over the whole country ; but in the 
 neighbourhood of Port Jackson, every marriage is 
 attended with more violence than the rape of the 
 Sabine women by the ancient Romans. On this 
 subject it will be proper to quote the words of Colonel 
 Collins, as he had the opportunity of obtaining his 
 information as an eye witness, and before the presence 
 of the colonists could have any influence, good or 
 bad, upon the character or conduct of the natives. 
 
 " These unfortunate victims of lust and cruelty," 
 says Collins, " (it will admit of no better term) are, 
 it is believed, always selected from the women of a 
 different tribe from that of the males, (for they 
 ought not to be dignified by the title of men,) and 
 with whom they are at enmity. Secrecy is necessarily 
 observed, and the poor wretch is stolen upon in the 
 absence of her protectors. Being first stupified with 
 blows, inflicted with clubs or wooden swords on the 
 head, back, and shoulders, every one of which is 
 followed by a stream of blood, she is then dragged
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 257 
 
 througii the woods by one arm, with a perseverance 
 and violence that it might be supposed would dis- 
 place it from its socket. The lover, or rather the 
 ravisher, is regardless of the stones or broken pieces 
 of trees which may lie in his route, being anxious 
 only to convey his prize in safety, to his own party, 
 where a scene ensues too shocking to relate. This 
 outrage is not resented by the relations of the female, 
 who only retaliate by a similar outrage when they find 
 an opportunity. This is so constantly the practice 
 among them, that even the children make it a 
 play-game or exercise." 
 
 Unions founded upon such violence cannot be sup- 
 posed to have much of affection or fidelity in them, 
 though it is said that the women very seldom quit 
 their captors — most likely because they would not 
 meet with better treatment any where else. Often 
 the men have two wives, though one only has 
 children ; but whether those of the other are mur- 
 dered is not known ; at any rate, the murder of chil- 
 dren in a helpless state is by no means unfrequent. 
 It is not in the nature of things that when females 
 are so treated, female honour should be very binding, 
 and it has probably not been rendered more so by the 
 settlement of the colony ; but if children of a mixed 
 blood make their appearance among the natives, the 
 husbands of their mothers are very apt to destroy 
 them. 
 
 Generally speaking, the females suffer less in the 
 labour of parturition than those who are better
 
 258 THE PICTURE 
 
 treated ; as, a few hours after delivery, they have 
 been found picking up sticks to mend their fire. 
 The infant is at first carried upon a piece of soft 
 bark, and when it has acquired a little strength, it is 
 placed on the neck of the mother, with a leg upon 
 each shoulder, and grasping her hair to prevent it 
 from falling. Ornaments are gummed to the hair of 
 the child as soon as that makes its appearance ; and 
 at the age of five or six weeks it gets a name, though 
 no particular ceremony is mentioned as taking place 
 upon the occasion. The education of the boys con- 
 sists in learning to throw and to avoid the spear ; and 
 as they are constantly in practice, they acquire great 
 expertness by the time that the custom of their race 
 allows them to throw it in reality ; for as spear 
 throwing is the badge and the province of manhood, 
 unmatriculated boys are not allowed to practice it in 
 earnest. The play of the boys consists of mock 
 stealing of the girls of their own tribe, as prepara- 
 tions to the real capture of those of another tribe 
 afterwards ; for the stealing of females is also the 
 sole privilege of the men, and cannot be performed 
 by those who have not undergone the ceremony of 
 matriculation. About the age of puberty, or some- 
 times a little earlier, the septum^ or cartilage between 
 the nostrils, is perforated for the purpose of admit- 
 ting that ornament to which the sailors give the name 
 of a " sprit-sail yard." It is of bone or reed, or 
 sometimes grass or flowers, but they do not wear it 
 always, though it is accounted highly ornamental.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 259 
 
 From what has been said, it need hardly be 
 mentioned that the women are through life the slaves 
 or servants of the men. All the drudgery devolves 
 upon them ; and they and their children do not 
 share in the fish or game till the men have satisfied 
 themselves. 
 
 Matriculation. — The ceremony, of which that 
 seems to be the most appropriate English name, is 
 a very singular one ; and though to a European it 
 seems not a little ridiculous, there is probably more 
 meaning in it than some matriculations in more 
 civilized countries. As the loss of a front tooth, 
 which is the permanent mark of this formal transition 
 from the boy to the man, is not found all over the 
 island, there is no knowing whether the ceremony 
 in the other parts of it be general ; but the following 
 account of it, taken partly from Collins and partly 
 from another authority, is correct as applies to the 
 Port Jackson natives. 
 
 It should be remarked that small as the tribes 
 in New Holland generally are, they are named after 
 their countries in the same manner as in Europe ; 
 the termination "gal" added to the name of the 
 country, being the common name of the people. 
 Cammerray being the native name of the land to 
 the north of Port Jackson, and Gwea that of the 
 south toward Botany Bay, the inhabitants are called 
 Cammerray-gal, and Gwea-gal. It was at first sup- 
 posed that the south was a tribute paid to the former 
 of these by the latter ; but as both tribes want it,
 
 260 THE PICTURE 
 
 that cannot be the case. In the instances of matri- 
 culation mentioned at Port Jackson, the operators 
 came from Cammerray ; but the reason why it 
 shoukl be clone by strangers, will afterwards appear 
 without any reference to tribute, or the superiority of 
 one tribe to another. 
 
 A short time before the arrival of the operators, 
 the boys assemble, which it appears they must do 
 voluntarily — otherwise they are stigmatized as 
 cowards, and with them a number of their friends, as 
 spectators, all painted in their best style. Thvis 
 assembled, they dance and amuse themselves during 
 the nights. 
 
 The party of a different tribe, among whom are 
 the operators, who are styled Carradhys, and act 
 the part of a sort of priests upon this as well as upon 
 other occasions, come fully ornamented and armed. 
 The first part of the ceremony consists in preparing 
 the proper arena for the future operations, which is 
 an oval of about twenty -seven feet by eighteen, 
 cleared from grass and roots, and called the yool- 
 ahng. This is made ready some days before the 
 ceremony, so that it may be dry and dusty. 
 
 At one end of this space the candidates and their 
 friends place themselves, and the party, among 
 whom are the operators, stand armed at the other. 
 7^he boys are not given up, but snatched away one 
 l)y one, and placed, with shouting, in the centre of 
 the armed party, as if they were captives. When 
 all taken, the boys arc made to sit cross-legged
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 261 
 
 with their heads down and their hands clenched, and 
 they neither look up nor eat during the ceremony. 
 The only other performance of the first day is the 
 pretended delivery of two principal Carradhys, each 
 of a bone, which is used for scarifying the gums. 
 In this they throw themselves upon the ground, and 
 make strange contortions, as if they were in great 
 agony ; but the bones of which they pretend to be 
 delivered, are dexterously taken from a concealment 
 in their girdles. Preparations being thus made, the 
 ceremony begins on tlie following morning. 
 
 1. The boys sitting in the attitude previously 
 described, the other party first enter the yoolahng, 
 (or cleared space) and run shouting thrice round it. 
 Then the operators, sticking their waddies into tlieir 
 girdles, to imitate the tails of dogs, run round the 
 arena on all fours, driving the dust and sand upon the 
 boys as they pass ; and the boys remain immovable, 
 and maintain their gravity during the whole of the 
 ludicrous exhibition. 
 
 2. The boys still remaining in their position, one of 
 the Carradhys enters the arena puffing under the load 
 of an image of a kangaroo, rudely made of grass ; 
 another follows carrying a bundle of sticks ; and the 
 rest of the party shout and beat time upon their 
 shields with their waddies. 
 
 3. The boys still retaining their position, are left 
 to themselves for a short time, and the Carradhys, 
 having; in the meantime stuck long tails of ffrass in
 
 262 THE PICTURE 
 
 their girdles, enter the arena, hopping in the atti- 
 tude of kangaroos. 
 
 4. As these kangaroos, who, like the dogs, perform 
 their march in rank entire, pass the boys, each of 
 them catches up one, bears him upon his shoulders 
 in triumph, and marches off to a little distance, 
 where the boys are set down, and some of the Car- 
 radhys retire to make some mysterious preparations, 
 which strangers are not permitted to witness. 
 
 5. The boys are led or rather driven to a scene 
 which is thus arranged : a heap of bodies is laid on 
 the ground ; they are close together, on their faces, 
 with the heads all one way, and they lie motionless, 
 as if they were dead. At each end there is a man 
 seated on the stump of a tree, with another man sit- 
 ting astride his neck, all the four having their faces 
 turned in the same direction as the feet of the bodies 
 upon the ground. The boys are brought toward 
 that end, and as they approach, the two men on the 
 nearest stump, wave their arms, writhe their bodies, 
 stare, and loll out their tongues in the most hideous 
 way that they can. These two then retire through 
 an opening made for them by the men that have 
 charge of the boys, and the boys are made to pass 
 over the bodies that are upon the ground. These 
 writhe and groan as if in great agony, making at the 
 same time a dismally mournful noise ; and when the 
 boys have passed over the bodies, they are received 
 with fresh groans by the two men on the other 
 
 1
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 263 
 
 Stump, and then the whole party move on a little. 
 During the fourth and fifth, and indeed all the re- 
 maining ceremonies, the operators are armed with 
 spears, whereas they have only the waddie when 
 they play the dog, and not even that when they play 
 the kangaroo. 
 
 6. At some little distance from the scene of the 
 fifth ceremony the whole halt ; the boys are seated in 
 a semicircle ; the others form a semicircle opposite 
 them, with the exception of the leader, who occupies 
 the centre, and faces the other men, who are armed 
 with spears and shields. The leader has a shield 
 and waddie, with which he beats time, while the 
 others poise and wield the spears, and at every third 
 motion strike them against the middle of the shield. 
 These are the preliminary tests, which if the boy 
 stands, without any signs of alarm or uneasiness, he 
 is admitted to the finishing rite. 
 
 7. The extraction of the tooth. For this purpose 
 the boys are one by one taken astride the neck of a 
 man ; then the mysterious bone is produced, and 
 the gum scarified. After this a throwing-stick is 
 cut to the length of nine or ten inches, and in divid- 
 ing it, three attempts are made before every blow. 
 The boy's head is held steady by an assistant ; the 
 end of the stick is placed against the tooth ; and the 
 operator, who has a stone in his other hand, after 
 three feints, strikes the tooth out of its socket, or if 
 it require more than one blow, three attempts are 
 made before each. While this operation is perform-
 
 264 THE PICTURE 
 
 iug, the assistants roar in the ears of the boys the 
 most loud and liideous sounds that they can utter. 
 The boy, Avhen the tooth lias been removed, is de- 
 livered to his friends, who close the gum, and deck 
 him for the remaining part of the ceremony ; but 
 the blood that may flow during the operation, either 
 upon the head of the man, or the breast of the boy, 
 is not wiped off. 
 
 8. When the operation is performed, the boys are 
 ornamented by their friends, by tying a girdle round 
 the waist, placing a wooden sword in it, passing a 
 bandage round the head, and sticking it with slips 
 of xanthorrhea, arranged something in the form of 
 a mural crown. They are then all set down on the 
 trunk of a tree, with the left hand placed on the 
 lacerated gum, and a waddie in the right. In this 
 manner they sit, till, at a signal, they start up as 
 men, and drive every thing before them. 
 
 It will at once be perceived that those curious 
 ceremonies are typical of the whole employment of 
 these men. The dog and the kangaroo, are given 
 to them as their property ; the one to assist in hunt- 
 ing, and the other to be hunted. The produce of 
 the chace is brought in, together with the wood to 
 dress it. The taking of tliem up to carry them to 
 the grimacing figures, and the prostrate heap, is 
 emblematical of their not fearino; the threats of their 
 enemies, and their ability to find them out in their 
 hiding places. The poising of the spear, and the 
 touch of the shield, are to inform them that their
 
 I 
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 265 
 
 aim, and their warding ofF of a blow or a missile 
 were to be equally sure ; and the crown is an emblem 
 of their having triumphantly passed the ordeal. 
 The noise, the threats, the attitudes which they 
 are obliged to preserve, and the performance of the 
 ceremony by strangers, are all so many traits, where- 
 by to make sure that they have that fortitude and 
 self-possession which are so essential in men exposed 
 to so many dangers and hardships, both by their 
 own dispositions, and by the circumstances in which 
 they are placed. The two grand privileges which 
 the passing of this ordeal confers, are the throwing of 
 the spear in the chase, in war, or in combat ; and 
 the capture of wives, in the manner before mentioned. 
 Diseases. — The nature of their food, and their 
 want of cleanliness, dispose these people to cutaneous 
 diseases of a very inveterate character ; their wounds 
 and bruises sometimes also fester from the want of 
 proper treatment — a broiled fish or dried herbs being 
 their common medicines, and the burying of a limb 
 for some time in the earth their substitute for a 
 poultice. That the oldest man of the tribe should be 
 honoured, seems to be a protection against that neglect 
 to which they are too frequently liable when they 
 begin to decay. Of their average period of living, 
 or their mode of estimating time, so as to ascertain 
 their own ages, there are no very precise accounts. 
 The Carradhys are physicians, as well as performers 
 of ceremonies ; their practice consists in using strange 
 gestures, as if they were enchanters ; and Avhen the
 
 266 THE PICTURE 
 
 patient dies, his relations are very apt to beat the 
 doctor. The relatives also apply their mouths to those 
 parts of the patient's body that they suppose are the 
 most affected, or wave over him green boughs that 
 have been dipped in water ; and they occasionally 
 sing over him in a mournful tone. When life is 
 extinct, the women and children howl something in 
 the manner of the Irish ; and if the death has been 
 occasioned by violence done by any one, or supposed 
 to be so, the relations are never appeased until they 
 have murdered one of the family to which the real 
 or supposed murderer belongs. In this way children, 
 for they take the first that they can meet, are often 
 stolen upon and butchered, not only for injuries 
 of which they are quite ignorant, but for those of 
 which no human being is guilty. 
 
 Funerals. — Children, and persons under the mid- 
 dle period of life, are buried in the eartli ; and war- 
 riors, and such as are of advanced years, are burnt. 
 There is a good deal of ceremony upon these oc- 
 casions, weapons being placed beside the corpse, and 
 the women and children howling over it. The chief 
 moui'ner carries his throwing stick and spears, but 
 the assistants are unarmed, and take up the children, 
 holding them toward the corpse as it is carried along. 
 Spears are thrown by the chief mourner, and mischief 
 is sometimes done. If any of the relations have tlie 
 same name as the deceased, they take another, as 
 the living are not called by the names of the dead. 
 When a parent leaves children considerably advanced,
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 267 
 
 SO as to be useful, or nearly so, somebody adopts 
 them ; but children at the breast are cast alive into 
 the graves of their mothers. 
 
 Intellectual Character. — Of that, there are 
 but few data upon which to form a judgment. That 
 they have the grand distinction between man and all 
 other animals — the feeling of good or evil, in a pro- 
 spective or retrospective sense, and without any re- 
 ference to their immediate animal gratification — is 
 certain ; because they have the abstract words in 
 their language, and because their actions are often 
 regulated by that feeling. They have also some 
 notions of a good and an evil being, which is the 
 germ of natural religion, and may be considered as a 
 sort of personification of the feelings. They appear 
 also to have some glimmering notion of a future 
 state ; for they speak about their friends after death 
 ascending to the tops of the trees, and feeding on 
 little fishes. This has some relation to the paradise 
 of Mahomet, these same fishes being the greatest 
 luxury in their eyes. In treating of these matters, 
 the greatest caution is, however, necessary ; as those 
 from whom the information has been obtained, have 
 understood their language very imperfectly ; and be- 
 cause the natives acquire English more readily, and 
 they therefore mingle with their own belief accounts 
 that they have heard from the colonists. Indeed, to 
 learn the real character of the Australians, as a 
 people, from those that frequent the neighbourhood of 
 Sydney, is just as impossible as to learn the African 
 N 2
 
 2G8 THE PICTURE 
 
 character from the negroes in the "West Indies. Con- 
 sidering the materials that they have, their weapons 
 display no small ingenuity^ and that is farther shown 
 by the masterly style in which they use them. 
 Their songs are at times not vmmelodious, though 
 the musical instruments be only a shield and a stick : 
 the dances are not destitute of grace, or, at all events, 
 of agility. In the carving of some of their weapons 
 they show some taste ; and there are some paintings 
 of theirs upon rocks, in which the subjects meant to 
 be represented can be determined. Much information, 
 however, is wanted respecting them, as unmingled 
 with whites, before any thing like a philosophical 
 estimate of them can be taken ; and that informa- 
 tion, unless at new settlements, where stray convicts 
 shall not be their first white acquaintance, it is not 
 now easy to obtain. 
 
 In this and the former chapters an attempt has 
 been made to delineate what Australia really is in 
 itself, without reference to what has been introduced 
 or done by the colonists. It may be that that de- 
 lineation will not prove so satisfactory as it has been 
 laborious. The materials have had to be gleaned 
 from many sources, some of them contradictory of 
 each other, and others unintelligible, because the 
 parties have tried to make others understand what 
 they themselves did not. There is enough, however, 
 to warrant this general conclusion, — that the better 
 parts of Australia hold out a fair prospect of reward 
 to industry ; but to that only do they hold it out. 
 
 I
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 269 
 
 The remaining pages shall be devoted to a short 
 account of what has been done in the way of dis- 
 covery and colonization : the last of which is neces- 
 sary, along with the facts already stated, to complete 
 the picture of the country ; and as the other is scat- 
 tered through many volumes, some of them un- 
 published, an outline, in a single chapter, may be 
 useful.
 
 270 THE PICTURE 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PROaRESS OF DISCOVERY. 
 
 The existence of New Holland and Van Diemen's 
 Land was not known, with any thing like certainty, 
 till long after the discovery of America, of the pas- 
 sage around the Cape of Good Hope, and of the 
 islands in the Indian seas, as far as Timor, Ceram, 
 and some parts of the coast of New Guinea. There 
 are some disputes, or at least obscurities, as to the 
 time of the original discovery, and the nation that 
 made it. The French writers on Australian voyages, 
 the President De Brosses and the Abbe Prevot, 
 claim the merit for a countryman of their own. 
 Captain Paulovier Gonneville, who sailed from 
 Honfleur in the month of June, 1503 — was caught 
 in a furious tempest off the Cape — lost his reckoning, 
 and drifted in an unknown sea, from which he es- 
 caped by observing that the flight of the birds was
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 271 
 
 toward the south ; and, following them, Gonneville 
 lived six months on the land, to which he gave the 
 name of Southern India ; and, during the time, he 
 occupied himself in refitting his vessel, and at the 
 same time carried on a friendly intercourse with the 
 natives, whom he mentions as having made some 
 advances in civilization. Now, all the more recent 
 voyagers who have visited the north coasts of New 
 Holland, and had a sight of the natives, (we can 
 hardly call it intercourse.) represent them as being 
 without the very first elements of civilization, and 
 so treacherous and cruel in their dispositions, that 
 no friendly terms can bekept with them. These consi- 
 derations, and the additional one that, from the French 
 captain''s account, the people on whose island he 
 lived were very like the inhabitants of Madagascar, 
 render it almost certain that that was the island on 
 which he spent the six months. His storm must 
 have been a south-easter, from the period at which 
 he left Honfleur ; and such a wind, though it would 
 drive him, naturally enough, through the channel 
 of Mozambique, if he had made longitude enough, 
 could not possibly drive him to the north coast of 
 New Holland. 
 
 It is probable that, in the early part of the 
 sixteenth century, the Dutch or the Portuguese, in 
 their way to or from the Spice Islands, may have 
 discovered a part of the coast ; and in an old French 
 chart, dedicated to the king of England, with an 
 English copy, (date, 1542), in the British Museum,
 
 272 THE PICTURE 
 
 a portion of coast, to the south of the Spice Islands, 
 is laid down, and named Great Java ; but whether 
 it be New Holland or New Guinea, is not known. 
 The position of some of the coasts certainly gives 
 it a resemblance to the north-east of New Holland, 
 which covdd hardly be the result of accident. 
 
 In 1605, the Duyfhen Dutch yacht sailed from 
 Bantam, in Java, for the purpose of exploring New 
 Guinea ; and from the account given both of the 
 country and the people, (who killed part of the 
 crew,) it is evident that the mainland of New Hol- 
 land, to the south-west of Cape York, was seen 
 early in 1606. There is some probability that the 
 north-east coast was also seen by Torres, second 
 in command to the Spanish navigator Quiros, in 
 the same year. 
 
 From their description of the people, it is cer- 
 tain that they were among the islands in the strait 
 which has properly been named after Torres. The 
 islands mentioned lie between 5° and 11° south, 
 which correspond. " There is," says Torres, " all 
 over it (the bank in the strait,) an archipelago of 
 islands without number, by which we passed, and 
 at the 11th degree the bank became shoaler. Here 
 were large islands, and these appeared more to the 
 southward : they are inhabited by black people, 
 very corpulent and naked ; their arms were lances, 
 arrows, and clubs of stone, ill fashioned. We caught 
 in all this land twenty persons of different nations." 
 
 The manners of these people correspond with those
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 273 
 
 of the islanders in Torres' Strait ; and from the lati- 
 tude, the islands to the south must have been the 
 sand-hills behind Cape York. The kidnapping by 
 such navigators as Torres, may in so far account for 
 the hostility of these natives. 
 
 But the first certain discovery was of the west 
 coast by the Dutch in 1616. The French expedi- 
 tion of discovery, sent out in 1801, found upon 
 Dirk Hartog''s Island, off Shark's Bay, in latitude 
 about 25° S., a pewter plate, which settled the point. 
 It bore two inscriptions, by different persons, and at 
 different times. The first ran — " 1616, on the 25th 
 of October, the ship Endraght, of Amsterdam, 
 arrived here ; first merchant, Gilles Miebais Van 
 Luck ; Captain Dirk Hartog, of Amsterdam. She 
 sailed on the 27th of the same month. Bantum, 
 supercargo ; Janstins, chief pilot ; Pieter Ecoores 
 Van Bue Year, 1616." The second in- 
 scription was to this effect:—" 1697? oi^ the 4th 
 of February, the ship Geelvink, of Amsterdam, 
 arrived here ; Wilhelem de Vlaming, captain-com- 
 mandant ; John Bremen, of Copenhagen, assistant ; 
 Michael Bloem A^an Estight, of Bremen, assistant ; 
 the Dogger Nyptangh, Captain Gerril Colaart, of 
 Amsterdam ; Theodore Hicrmanns, of the same 
 place, assistant ; first pilot, Gerrit Gerritzen, of 
 Bremen; the Galley, Net Weseltje, Cornelius de 
 Vlaming, of Vielandt, commander ; Coert Ger- 
 ritzen, of Bremen, pilot. Our fleet sails hence, 
 leaving the southern territories, for Batavia." 
 X 3
 
 274 THK PICTURE 
 
 The first inscription on the plate renders it certain 
 that Hartog had touched on the coast early in the 
 seventeenth century ; and the allusion to the southern 
 territories, in the second inscription, Avould lead to 
 the conclusion, that, before that time, the Dutch 
 had seen and claimed the coast, though, in conse- 
 quence of the violence with which the sea, during 
 the north-west wind, beats upon the shore, and the 
 unpromising nature of the soil, they had made no 
 landing. 
 
 There is, indeed, evidence, that the land was often 
 seen by the Dutch during the seventeenth century. 
 In 1616, another yacht made a voyage, " with little 
 success ;" but, in 1623, Jan Carstens, with the 
 yachts Pera and Arnheim, discovered the coast of 
 Arnheim's Land. Carstens says : " In this discovery 
 were found, every where, shallow water and barren 
 coasts ; islands altogether thinly peopled by divers 
 cruel, poor, and brutal natives, and of very little 
 use to the company""— the Dutch East India Com- 
 pany, by whom Carstens was sent from Amboina. 
 Edel's Land, toward the south part of the west 
 coast, from about latitude 27° to latitude 32°, was 
 seen and named by Edel, a Dutchman, in 1619. 
 Leeuwin's Land, extending to Cape Leeuwin, the 
 extreme south point of the west coast, Avas discovered 
 by the Dutch in 1622 ; and in 1627, Pieter de 
 Nuytz laid down a number of the positions on 
 the west and .south, with great accuracy. Soon 
 after, the north-west coast, from North-west Cape
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 275 
 
 toward Arnlieim''s Land, was discovered by De 
 Witt, and named after him ; and thus, though the 
 sinuosities were not examined, a succession of points 
 had been discovered, along the whole of the west and 
 north-west coasts, and the greater part of the north. 
 
 In 1629, the coast was the scene of a disastrous 
 shipwreck. Francis Pelsart had his vessel wrecked 
 upon Houtman'^s Abrolhos, a dangerous reef on the 
 west coast, in latitude about 28°, and some distance 
 off the land. Taking to their boat, Pelsart and his 
 crew coasted nortliAvard, to about the latitude of 
 North-west Cape, where the boat was decked ; and 
 he. leaving a part of his crew upon New Holland, 
 sailed for Batavia, but, upon his retuiui, he found 
 that the greater number of those he had left had 
 been murdered by the natives. 
 
 In August 1642, Abel Jansen Tasman sailed 
 from Batavia, with two vessels of discovery ; and on 
 the 24th of the following November he saw ^"an 
 Diemen's Land, which was long after considered as a 
 part of New Holland ; though more recent discoveries 
 have proved it to be about one hundred miles distant 
 from that country. 
 
 Captain Flinders, who made the first modern sur- 
 vey of the great Gulf of Carpentaria, in 1813, 
 found the positions of that bay so accurately laid 
 down in the old Dutch charts, that he is of opinion 
 that it must also have been surveyed by Tasman. 
 No journal of Tasman's voyage has been found ; 
 but it is probable that his discoveries were more ex-
 
 276 THE PICTURE 
 
 tensive than is generally supposed. In the notes of 
 Witsen, the people at different parts of the coast 
 are described as " bad and wicked," " shooting ar- 
 rows,"" " throwing stones," having " prows made of 
 the bark of trees," " making fires and smoke all 
 along the coast," " living very poorly," and " feed- 
 ing upon roots." This, with the exception of the 
 arrows and spears, might be easily mistaken for the 
 present inhabitants. The want of a journal of 
 Tasman's voyage is a loss, as he seems to have been 
 an accurate observer. Witsen's remarks, " there are 
 few vegetables — the people use no houses," might 
 have spared the attributing of the ant-hills to man, 
 as well as the " babbling o" green fields." 
 
 Two years after Tasman's discovery, the island 
 o-ot the name of New Holland ; and various visits 
 were made to it, though little was known of its 
 appearance, or of the manners of its inhabitants. 
 The coasts which lay most in the line of the 
 traders to Batavia, which were those most in the 
 habit of coming within sight of New Holland, were 
 both uninviting and dangerous. There was a want 
 of fresh water ; the land was sandy and barren ; and 
 the coast dangerous, as well from reefs of rocks as 
 from the unsheltered shore, and the violent surf. 
 
 Though the Dutch were certainly the first that dis- 
 covered New Holland, yet the first accurate or in- 
 teresting account of the inhabitants, was given by 
 the justly celebrated Captain Dampier. Dampier, 
 who was one of the most careful observers, and one
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 277 
 
 of the most faithful delineators that ever went on a 
 voyage of discovery, gave it as his opinion that New 
 Holland was a large country, and not joined to any 
 other of the quarters of the world. He visited the 
 north-west coast, where he remained two months, in 
 1688. The picture which he draws of the coast in 
 that part of the island is far from inviting. He 
 describes the shore as low, flat, and sandy, without 
 any streams or means of obtaining fresh water, ex- 
 cept by digging. There were no fruits ; no birds 
 of larger size than a blackbird ; not a trace of a 
 quadruped, except one ; and very few fish in the sea. 
 The natives were " the most miserable creatures in 
 the universe, almost stark naked, without houses or 
 covering. They had no religion or government." 
 They did not improve upon a second view, for Cap- 
 tain Dam pier thus describes an individual whom he 
 had seen, upon his second visit to Australia in 1699, 
 and who had ornamented himself in the fashion of 
 the country, probably expressly for the occasion. 
 " This, his painting," says Dampier, " added 
 much to his natural deformity, for they all of them 
 are of the most unpleasant look and the worst 
 features of any that I ever saw, and I have seen a 
 great variety of savages." It seems, however, that 
 if these people do not get more comely in appearance, 
 or more advanced in the arts, as those places where the 
 country is more fertile is approached, they are much 
 less ferocious in their dispositions ; and if they be an
 
 278 THE PICTURE 
 
 unseemly and an indolent, they are at the same time 
 a harmless people. 
 
 A country and a people thus described— and, in as 
 far as those northern and north-western coasts (the 
 only places that had been seen) were concerned, the 
 descriptions do not appear to have been very much 
 exao-g-erated — had but few charms for adventurers, 
 who, if they had any object in supplement to the 
 love of gain, had only (and that was confined to 
 the Spaniards and Portuguese) the desire of propa- 
 o-atins: tlie Catholic faith. But a barren shore, 
 without water, and without a single vegetable or 
 mineral that could be turned to purposes of profit, 
 had no mercantile charms ; and hordes of '< hideous 
 naked savages," houseless, and without any property, 
 and who would not have hesitated one moment in 
 spearing the Pope himself, were not the most pro- 
 mising among whom to seek converts, or to hope for 
 the support of a mission. 
 
 These unfavourable reports regarding New Hol- 
 land turned the attention of navigators, for some 
 time, to the islands farther to the north and east. 
 Various discoveries were the result ; but as the 
 people were a little advanced in civilization, and as 
 they were in general warlike, and j)robably had not 
 what their visitors would have thought an equivalent 
 for the labour of conquest, they were allowed to 
 remain undisturbed. There were, no doubt, a few 
 exceptions ; but up to this period the treatment
 
 OF AUSTBALIA. 279 
 
 which the visited met with at the hands of their 
 visitors, were calculated rather to provoke than to 
 soften down those violent and momentary impulses of 
 passion to which uncultivated human beings are 
 subject. They hesitated not to perform the most 
 cruel, wanton, and even absurd acts of aggression. 
 " The savages," instead of meeting Avith that kind- 
 ness and pity for which their condition would have 
 called, were subjected to the most inhuman treat- 
 ment, had their little property taken from them, 
 without return, and they were not unfrequently 
 made slaves by force. 
 
 A better state of things was soon, however, to be 
 introduced ; and England and France had the high 
 honour of taking the lead and setting the example. 
 The earliest objects of the English were no doubt 
 the capture of the Spanish treasure, which the 
 Galeots were in the habit of carrying from South 
 America, across the Pacific, to Manilla, in the Philip- 
 pines ; but though they committed a few excesses, 
 their conduct at the islands at which they touched 
 was not so reprehensible as that of their precursors. 
 When voyages of discovery, under the patronage of 
 the French and English governments, and without 
 any view to the individual gain of the parties, or 
 the harassing of the natives, though not without 
 reference to the ultimate establishment of such settle- 
 ments as might lead to an extension and improvement 
 of commerce in those seas, began to be made, informa- 
 tion assumed a different shape.
 
 280 THE PICTURE 
 
 The first of those voyagers who made any thing 
 like a disclosure of the extent and value of the 
 eastern coast of New Holland, was the illustrious 
 Cook. In the course of the return from his first 
 voyage, which was rendered more interesting by the 
 presence of Dr. Solander and Sir Joseph Banks, the 
 land of New Holland was made on the 19th of 
 April, 1770. The whole line of the east coast, nearly 
 two thousand miles, from Cape Horn in the south, to 
 Cape York in the north, was examined ; though, in 
 consequence of the manner in which the rocky heads 
 and sandy downs on the coast overlap each other, 
 many of the inlets and natural harbours, which sub- 
 sequent discovery has revealed, were not suspected 
 to exist. The coast was called New South Wales, 
 and Captain Cook took possession of it in the name 
 of his sovereign, mentioning Botany Bay as the best, 
 or at least the most convenient harbour. This 
 arduous undertaking occupied the whole of the time 
 till August, the winter of the year in the southern 
 hemisphere ; and it was attended with great difficulty 
 and danger, more especially on the northern half of 
 the coast, where the trade wind is apt to be in- 
 terrupted l)y gales from the north-east, and where 
 tlie coral reefs often rise, perpendicularly, from a 
 depth where there are no soundings to Avithin a few 
 feet of the surface. On one of those reefs Captain 
 Cook's ship (the Endeavour) was placed in the most 
 imminent danger, though, fortunately, as the event 
 turned out, those on board were not aware of the
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 281 
 
 extent of it at the time. The ship, when making 
 considerable way, struck at once on a reef, with a 
 violent shock and crash, but instantly got into depth 
 again without making much water. When, however, 
 they put into a port, they found, to their astonish- 
 ment, that one of the hard and sharp points of the 
 coral reef had pierced the bottom of the vessel quite 
 through, and that nothing but the firmness Avith which 
 it was jammed into the aperture had saved them 
 from the loss of the vessel, and probably of their 
 own lives — certainly of the valuable collections which 
 the scientific gentlemen had made in the south sea. 
 
 The coast of Van Diemen's Land, southward, had 
 been partly examined by Tasman on the first 
 discovery ; by the unfortunate Marion (who was 
 treacherously murdered afterwards by the natives of 
 New Zealand,) in 177^ '■> ^^^o by Captain Furneaux, 
 of the Adventure, in 177^ i ^^^^ the latter having 
 given it as his opinion that there existed no opening 
 between New Holland and Van Diemen's Land, 
 Captain Cook did not, upon his visit to that country 
 in 17775 ^^^ the discovery of Bass's Strait to the 
 other trophies of his nautical skill. 
 
 But, though Australia had been thus often visited, 
 and the coasts to the west, north-west, north, and 
 east, laid down with considerable accuracy, the little 
 knowledge that existed was confined to the mere 
 shores, which had not been found any where to wear 
 a very promising appearance. On this account, the 
 countries, extensive as they were, had not been looked
 
 282 THE PICTURE 
 
 upon, with a view either to commercial advantage, 
 or to colonization. Toward the close of 1786, how- 
 ever, the Commissioners of the British Navy adver- 
 tised for vessels to convey from seven to eight hun- 
 dred convicts, of both sexes, to a settlement to be 
 formed by them, under the requisite officers and 
 guard, on the coast of New South Wales ; and the 
 first intention was that it should be on the coast of 
 Botany Bay. Captain Arthur Phillips was ap- 
 pointed to the command of the squadron, and also to 
 the office of governor, as soon as they should land 
 at the place of their destination. He hoisted his flag 
 in the Sirius, with Commander Hunter as second, 
 and Lieutenant Ball as third in command. Captain 
 Phillips had six transports and three store-ships in 
 company, and a detachment of about two hundred 
 soldiers, officers and men, were distributed among 
 the ships. The number of convicts taken out, was 
 seven hundred and fifty-seven, of which, one hun- 
 dred and ninety-two were women. This fleet sailed 
 from England on the 13th of May, 1787, and after 
 touching at Teneriffe, steered for Rio Janeiro, where 
 they provided themselves with plants, or seeds of 
 coffee, cocoa, cotton, banana, orange, lemon, guava, 
 tamarind, prickly pear, rose apple, ipecacuanha, and 
 jalap. Leaving Rio, they steered for the Cape of 
 Good Hope, where they augmented their stock of 
 vegetables for culture, by the fig-tree, the sugar-cane, 
 the bamboo, the Spanish reed, various species of the 
 vine, the apple, the pear, the quince, the strawberry,
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 283 
 
 the oak, and the myrtle. They also took on board, 
 at the Cape, a limited number of horses, cattle, 
 sheep, jroats, and hogs, to have at least a chance of 
 extending and continuing the breed of those animals 
 in the new colony. On the 20th January, 1788, they 
 anchored in safety in Botany Bay. They had been 
 out eight months, including stoppages, and during 
 that time they had passed over a distance of about 
 sixteen thousand miles, equal to nearly two-thirds 
 of the circumference of the globe. The progress 
 of the colony will be traced in another chapter, 
 so that the notice here may be confined to the dis- 
 coveries which were made in the geography of the 
 coasts. 
 
 On landing at Botany Bay, they found the coun- 
 try barren, and the supply of fresh water deficient, 
 so that they resolved to seek for a more eligible 
 abode. Accordingly, a party set out in three boats, 
 and discovered the large and commodious harbour 
 of Port Jackson, Avhich, with its coves and shores, 
 seemed so promising, that Governor Phillips resolved 
 to make it the seat of his infant colony. Returning 
 to Botany Bay, and being in the act of taking up 
 the anchor, in order to sail round to Port Jack- 
 son, they found two strange sail in the offing, which 
 proved to be the two ships under the command 
 of the ill-fated Peyrouse, who was subsequently lost 
 in the Australian seas. 
 
 The first expedition of discovery was made to- 
 ward the north, about three months after the land-
 
 284 THE PICTURE 
 
 ing of the colony. The result of that was the dis- 
 covery of Broken Bay, the estuary of the River 
 Hawkesbury, which they found to have many lateral 
 coves or creeks, like Port Jackson, and to exceed that 
 harbour in magnitude ; but the country around it 
 was barren, and they were not then aware of the 
 existence of the large river of which Broken Bay 
 receives the waters. On the 6th of July, the gover- 
 nor made another excursion to Broken Bay, upon 
 which occasion he discovered the Hawkesbury River ; 
 and returning again on the 14th of the same month, 
 he explored the river for a considerable distance. 
 The soil along the banks of this river seemed of ex- 
 cellent quality, and to one eminence, on account of 
 its beauty, the name of Richmond Hill was given. 
 
 As the results of the minor excursions on the 
 coast, and into the interior, will have to be described 
 in another place, they need not be noticed here. 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1798, a more impor- 
 tant discovery was made. Mr. Bass, surgeon of the 
 Reliance, obtained permission from the governor to 
 explore, in an open whale-boat, the coast to the south 
 of Botany Bay, in the course of which Twofold Bay 
 was explored. His report of the coast was not the most 
 favourable, the soil being in general barren, and there 
 being a deficiency of natural harbours. Bass, however, 
 brought with him, not the actual discovery of the 
 strait that now bears his name, but a firm convic- 
 tion of the existence of such a strait. As he pro- 
 ceeded to tlie southward, near the latitude of Cape
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 285 
 
 Howe, he met with a heavy swell from the westward, 
 such as could not come from an inland sea, but must, 
 in his opinion, have had its origin in the south part 
 of the Indian ocean, — the general course of the winds, 
 and consequently of the swell, upon which is from the 
 south-east. As the southern coast of Van Diemen's 
 Land is rugged and stormy, and as it adds to the 
 length of the voyage between Sydney and the Cape, 
 the existence of a passage further to the north was 
 an object of much interest. 
 
 Accordingly, in November, 1798, Mr. Bass ac- 
 companied Lieutenant Flinders, in the Norfolk, a 
 small decked boat, to examine the passage, if any 
 such existed. After examining Twofold Bay, and the 
 sandy coast in its vicinity, the Norfolk passed Cape 
 Howe, and came to the group called Furneaux''s 
 islands, in about 40° south latitude. They anchored 
 under Preservation Island, the most south-westerly 
 of the group ; and found it a mass of granite, 
 strewed with large blocks of stone, the intermediate 
 spaces being covered with sand, interspersed with 
 some vegetable mould, and occasionally clothed 
 with shrubs. Over the granite, in some parts of the 
 island, there was a considerable quantity of chalk, or 
 lime-stone. 
 
 Altogether, the island was a singular one ; and 
 one of the most remarkable appearances in it was 
 that of petrified stumps of trees. Amid a patch 
 of naked sand, upon one of the highest points of 
 the island, at not less than one hundred feet above
 
 286 THE PICTURE 
 
 the level of the sea, within the limits of a few hun- 
 dred yards square, were lying scattered about, a 
 number of short broken branches of old dead trees, 
 from one to three inches in diameter, and seemingly 
 of a similar kind to the large brush-wood. Among 
 these broken branches were seen, sticking up, several 
 white stony stumps, of sizes ranging between the 
 above diameters, and in height from a foot to 
 a foot and a half. Their peculiar form, together 
 with a number of prongs, of their own quality, pro- 
 jecting in different directions from round their base, 
 and entering the ground in the manner of roots, 
 presented themselves to the mind of the observer, 
 with a striking resemblance to the roots of small 
 trees. They were extremely brittle, many of them 
 when taken into the hand, breaking by their own 
 weight. 
 
 On being broken transversely, it was immediately 
 seen that the internal part was divided into interior 
 or central, and exterior or conical. The exterior 
 part, which in different specimens occupied various 
 proportions of the whole, resembled a fine white 
 and soft gritstone ; but acids being applied, showed 
 that it contained a considerable portion of calcareous 
 matter. The internal or central part was always 
 circular, but was seldom found of the same diameter, 
 or of the same com])osition, in any two stumps. In 
 some, the calcareous and sandy matter had taken 
 such entire possession, that many fragments of the 
 wood were obliterated ; but yet a faint central ring
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 287 
 
 remained. In others Avas a centre of chalk, beauti- 
 fully Avhite, that crumbled between the fingers to 
 the finest powder ; some consisted of chalk and brown 
 earth, in various quantities, and some others had 
 retained a fair portion of their woody fibres, the 
 spaces between which were fitted with chalky earth.* 
 
 More early visitors of those very singular petri- 
 factions, had found them in a different state, with 
 the stems of dead wood still standing on them, of 
 the same diameter as the stony part, and upon the 
 top of one there was a living leaf. The petrifaction 
 had taken place only near the surface of the ground ; 
 for, upon removing the sand to the depth of three 
 or four inches, Mr. Bass found the roots brown 
 and crumbling, and of the ordinary consistency of 
 rotten wood. Every root, however, so far as he 
 examined, that came near to the svu-face, was petrified 
 there, even though that might not, in the case of 
 roots taking a central bend upwards, be the case, 
 either with the part nearer the tree, or that farther 
 from it. 
 
 They landed on Barren Island, another of the group, 
 situated to the north-east of Preservation Island, and 
 of much larger dimensions. This island they found 
 deserving of the name that had been given to it, and 
 yet, though the vegetation was both scanty and bad, 
 the island, as did also the other island, though equally 
 barren, swarmed with the small black kangaroos ; 
 
 * Collins.
 
 288 THE PICTURE 
 
 and tlie adventurers found upon it the Wombat, 
 which is equally remarkable for its form and for the 
 gentleness of its manners, until it feel actual pain. 
 Mr. Bass caught one, which he carried upwards of a 
 mile, first on the one arm, and then on the other, yet 
 it made no struggle or attempt to escape. When, 
 however, he tied its legs, that he might prevent its 
 escape while he picked up some other specimen, it 
 hissed, kicked, and bit, and was not appeased till it 
 had exhausted itself with its efforts. 
 
 Leaving Furneaux's islands, the Norfolk stood to 
 the south-west, and on the 4th of November dis- 
 covered Cape Portland, the north-east point of Van 
 Diemen''s Land, with Waterhouse island, bearing 
 west-south-west. Coasting still to the south-west, they 
 came to Port Dalrymple, which they entered, and 
 were carried rapidly up by the tide. The shores were 
 beautiful, and there was a great deal both of wood 
 and of pasture grass. They observed a number of 
 kangaroos, and on the river there were countless 
 flocks of black swans. 
 
 Leaving Port Dalrymple, they passed the north- 
 west cape of Van Diemen's Land, and proceeded 
 south the west coast to South-west Cape, which they 
 doubled, and soon after entered the estuary of the 
 Derwent on the south side of the island. They pro- 
 ceeded a considerable way up in the boat, landed, 
 had some friendly intercourse with a native, returned 
 to the vessel, and, coasting down the east side, re- 
 turned to Port Jackson on the 12th of January, 1799-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 289 
 
 having satisfactorily proved the existence and prac- 
 ticability of the strait ; and they described the island 
 which they had circumnavigated, as better adapted 
 for common agricultural purposes, than the land 
 about Sydney. This was the first native, or rather 
 colonial discovery of any importance; and it Mas 
 highly prized in the colony, — the timber of the Nor- 
 folk being made into snufF boxes and other trinkets, 
 upon which a considerable value is set. 
 
 Mr. Flinders made some farther discoveries on the 
 coasts to the north of Sydney, before he entered 
 upon his more important survey, under the instruc- 
 tions of the government at home. 
 
 In 1792, Bruni D'Entrecasteaux sailed with two 
 vessels, in search of La Perouse, and had on board 
 surveyors and naturalists of eminence. They ex- 
 plored with considerable care the south-west coast, 
 near Cape Leeuwen, and especially the south coast 
 of Van Diemen's Land. At the same time Labillardier 
 made collections of plants, from which Novce Hol- 
 latidice Plantarum Specimen was published. But 
 as it applied only to the south-west coast, and to 
 Van Diemen''s Land, it has been completely eclipsed 
 by the more extended labours of the eminent botanist 
 Brown, who accompanied Captain Flinders in his 
 voyage of discovery, and by Brown's able successor 
 Cunningham, who is still in the country, and conti- 
 nues to be indefatigable in his researches. 
 
 In 1800, another French expedition was fitted out, 
 under the command of Commodore Baudin. It 
 o
 
 290 THE PICTUEE 
 
 consisted of two armed vessels, Le Geographe, iand 
 Le Naturaliste ; the object seems to have been not 
 only to examine the whole of the coast, but also 
 to change the nomenclature of the places. They 
 passed through Bass's Strait, after examining the 
 south coast of Van Diemen's Land, and, running along 
 the south coast of New Holland, they made Cape 
 Leeuwen, and doubling that, explored the bay into 
 which the Swan River enters, and coasted northward 
 by Edel's and Endrachf s Lands. Among the small 
 islands to the east of North-west Cape, they met with 
 a difficult navigation; and as disease had begun 
 seriously to affect them, they sailed for Timor to 
 refit. From Timor they sailed direct for Van 
 Diemen's Land, in order to explore more carefully 
 D'Entrecastcaux Channel, Bruni Isle, and the coast 
 of the principal island. This channel they had dis- 
 covered on their previovis visit ; and to the discovery 
 they attached much importance, as it affords a 
 passage into the Derwent, and up to liobart Towti, 
 comparatively free from the violent storms that occur 
 in the wider entrance on tlie east side of Bruni 
 Island. In this voyage, the nautical part and the 
 care of the crews, do not appear to have been very 
 skilfully conducted ; for, after some months on shore 
 at Timor, short time as they had been at sea, the 
 scurvy again made its appearance ; and so, after 
 examining the bays leading to the Derwent, and 
 particularly the singular basaltic formation at Ad- 
 venture Bay, on the east coast of Bruni Island, they
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 291 
 
 sailed for Port Jackson. Indeed this expedition, 
 though very promising at the outset, added but little 
 to the Creography of Australia. — Owing to some cause 
 or other. Commodore Baudin appears to have kept 
 at too great a distance from the coast. 
 
 An expedition of great promise, though disastrous 
 in the final result, sailed from England on the 18th 
 of July 1801. This consisted of the Investigator, a 
 vessel of 400 tons, under the command of Flinders, 
 who had from his infancy shown the most ardent 
 desire for that kind of service, and who was already 
 well acquainted with those seas. He had on board 
 Messrs. Robert Brown, naturalist ; Mr. Ferdinand 
 Bauer, painter of natural history ; Mr. W. Westall, 
 landscape painter ; and Mr, John Crosby, astronomer : 
 all active and eminent in their professions ; together 
 with a gardener, miner, and the requisite number of 
 officers, seamen, and marines. Thus they were pre- 
 pared to take advantage of every novelty Avith which 
 they could meet. The time of equipment and sail- 
 ing was during the short peace of Amiens, and 
 Flinders was furnished with a passport from Bona- 
 parte, then First Consul, so that he should not be 
 molested by any French vessel or squadron with 
 wliich he might meet in the distant regions that he 
 was instructed to explore. The astronomer, not being 
 able to bear the voyage, was left at the Cape of Good 
 Hope, so that both the navigation of the vessel and 
 the astronomical observations devolved upon Captain 
 Flinders. They made the land off Cape Leeuwen on 
 o 2
 
 292 THE PICTURE 
 
 the 6th of December, and though that cruise was not 
 included in their instructions, the whole line of the 
 south coast was examined, and much important 
 information, in the natural history of the country, the 
 hydrography of the coast, and of the numerous 
 islands with wliich it is spotted, was the result. The 
 same attention was paid to Bass's Strait, — which had 
 been examined before by the same navigator, in con- 
 cert with Mr. Bass. 
 
 On this service they were occupied till the 9th of 
 May, 1802, on which day the investigator anchored 
 in Sydney Cove. One of the French discovery ships, 
 Le Naturaliste, Captain Hamelin, was in the cove, 
 when Flinders landed ; and, soon after, Le Gcogi'aphe, 
 Commodore Baudin, appeared. The condition to 
 which the crews were reduced by scurvy was truly 
 wretched ; and tlie kind treatment that they met 
 witli from the English colonists formed a remark- 
 able contrast with the treatment that Flinders subse- 
 quently met with from the French (the authorities, 
 however, and not the people) at Mauritius. 
 
 Having completed his complement of seamen, and 
 taken the brig Lady Nelson, Lieutenant Murray, 
 in company. Flinders sailed from Port Jackson on 
 the 22d of July ; and made a running course along 
 tlie coast, as far as Breaksea Spit. They made a 
 landing in Hervey's Bay, immediately behind the 
 spit, and had some intercourse with the natives, 
 whom they found to be better fed than the natives 
 of Port Jackson, — to subsist by fishing with scoop
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 293 
 
 nets, and ignorant of the use of the throwing stick, 
 and also of the Port Jackson language, as spoken 
 by Bongaree, whom they had carried with them as 
 interpreter. Proceeding northward along the coast, 
 they explored the different bays as far as Broad 
 Sound, about latitude 22°, and then stood off the 
 land to examine the islands and reefs. On the whole 
 of this line of coast they found the natives well fed, 
 and disposed to be friendly. They observed a good 
 deal of timber in many places ; but of the ground 
 much was very stony, and many of the low lands, 
 though grassy, bore evidence of having been flooded. 
 
 They continued their important survey of the 
 Barrier Reefs, northward to Murray's Islands, to the 
 eastward of Torres'* Strait, which they reached toward 
 the end of October. As the Lady Nelson proved a 
 bad sailer, and an injury rather than an assistance, she 
 was returned from the reefs, and the Investigator 
 proceeded toward Torres' Strait alone. 
 
 Clearing the difficult navigation of the strait. 
 Flinders proceeded to survey the whole shores of the 
 Gulf of Carpentaria, on the greater part of which 
 nothing of interest was met with, — only the natives, 
 in their habits, though not in their language, bore a 
 much closer resemblance to those of Port Jackson, 
 than they who had been met with on the east coast, 
 between Breaksea Spit, and Broad Sound. 
 
 Upon examining his vessel in the Gvdf of Carpen- 
 taria, Flinders had the mortification to find that 
 great part of the timbers were rotten ; and that
 
 ,294 THE PICTURE 
 
 therefore he could not complete, as he had anxiously 
 hoped, the svu'vey of the north and north-Avest coasts, 
 Avithout the certainty of destruction, both to himself 
 and all on board. Hence he was obliged to content 
 himself witii completing the survey of the gulf, and 
 the islands at the western part of its entrance ; and 
 then sail for Timor, in order to obtain such repairs 
 as were to be found there. These being accomplished, 
 they returned by the west coast, and examining 
 some parts of the south, which had not been minutely 
 surveyed on the passage from England, they arrived 
 at Port Jackson on the 10th of June, 1803. They 
 had suffered a good deal from fatigue, and also 
 from dysentery, which attacked them as they were 
 beating against a foul wind to the westward of Port 
 Jackson. 
 
 The Investigator proving unfit for service, and 
 there not being in the colony another vessel fit for 
 the purpose. Flinders resolved to take a passage 
 for England in the armed vessel, Porpoise, in order 
 to solicit from the Admiralty a ship more calculated 
 for braving the hardships of so dangerous and adven- 
 turous a navigation. 
 
 On the 10th of August he sailed in company with 
 the Cato of London, and the East India Company's 
 extra ship Bridgewater, and met with nothing re- 
 markable during the first week ; but, exactly on 
 that day week on which they left the harbour, as 
 they were standing northward with a look-out on the 
 forecastle, the top-sails double reefed, and every other
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 295 
 
 precaution, about half past nine at night, breakers were 
 seen a-head. The Porpoise immediately attempted 
 to tack ; but sail had been so much shortened, that 
 she did not come up to the wind, but, drifting among 
 the breakers, struck and heeled upon a coral reef with 
 a tremendous crash. A gun was attempted to be fired 
 as a signal to the other ships ; but the vessel had 
 heeled so much that that was impossible ; and the 
 foremast was overboard, the bottom stove, and the 
 hold full of water. While the crew of the Por- 
 poise were in this alarming situation, the other two 
 vessels came close by, the Cato driving north-east, 
 and the Bridgewater to the south ; and so near were 
 they to each other, that the crew on the wreck, 
 forgetting their OAvn fate, were held breathless, in 
 cxoectation of hearing the fatal crash of the colli- 
 sion. They parted, however ; but the Cato went 
 on the reef at almost two cables'" length from the 
 Porpoise, while the Bridgewater disappeared. Soon 
 afterwards she Avas observed in safety ; and Flin- 
 ders, getting one of the boats manned, attempted to 
 reach her ; but she was standing away from them, 
 and approach was not possible — so that he returned, 
 and lay in the lee of the breakers, near the Porpoise, 
 that he might save her people if she went to pieces 
 during the night. The ship held together ; Flin- 
 ders got on board at day-break by the fallen masts ; 
 when light came, he found that a part of the 
 reef was dry ; and they succeeded in getting the 
 crews of both vessels upon it, together with a quan-
 
 296 THE PICTURE 
 
 tity of stores and provisions, — the latter, however, 
 only from the Porpoise, so that Flinders, as the 
 senior naval officer, took the chief command of both. 
 The Bridgewater gave them no assistance, upon 
 which Captain Flinders very naturally makes these 
 observations : — " A top-sail yard was set up, and 
 secured as a flag-staff, on the highest part of the 
 bank, and a large blue ensign hoisted to it, with the 
 imion downward, as a signal to the Bridgewater. 
 We expected, if no accident had happened, that she 
 would come to relieve us from our critical situation 
 so soon as the wind should be perfectly moderate ; 
 but I judged it most prudent to act as if we had 
 no such resource, and this was justified by the event. 
 — Captain Palmer had even then abandoned us to 
 our fate, and was at the moment steering away for 
 Batavia, without having made any effort to give us 
 assistance. He saw the wrecks, as also the sand- 
 bank, on the morning after our disaster, and must 
 have knov/n that the reef was not at all connected, 
 since it is spoken of by him as lying in patches ; 
 but he did not seek to ascertain whether any of the 
 openings were passable for the Bridgewater, and 
 might enable him to take those on board who had 
 escaped drowning. He bore away round all ; and 
 whilst the two hopeless vessels were still visible from 
 the mast-head, passed the leeward extremity of the 
 reef, and hove to for the night. The apprehension 
 of danger to himself must tlien have ceased ; but he 
 neither attempted to work up in the smooth water,
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 297 
 
 nor sent any of his boats to see whether some un- 
 fortunate individuals were not clinging to the wrecks, 
 whom he might snatch from the sharks, or save from 
 a more lingering death ; it was safer, in his estima- 
 tion, to continue on his voyage, and publish that we 
 were all lost, as he did not fail to do, on his arrival 
 in India." 
 
 When all were landed on the bank, they found 
 that they had three months provisions ; and so they 
 set about making an encampment, and also pre- 
 paring the cutter for sailing for Port Jackson. On 
 the 26th of August, Flinders sailed for that port 
 in his little bark, which he reached in safety on tJie 
 8th of September, after a passage of about eight 
 hundred miles in an open boat. There he obtained 
 the ship Rollo, bound for China, and two colonial 
 schooners, getting permission to sail himself in one 
 of them — a little thing of twenty-nine tons — for 
 England. After an absence of six weeks. Flinders 
 anchored his little vessel under the bank ; and the 
 return of their gallant deliverer was hailed by the 
 people there by cheers, and the discharge of guns 
 which they had landed from the wreck. " The 
 pleasure of rejoining my companions," says the 
 gallant officer, " so ampl}"^ provided with the means 
 of relieving their distress, made this one of the hap- 
 piest moments of my life." 
 
 A remarkable instance of the coolness of a British 
 seaman occurred upon this occasion : the sailors had 
 been on the watch ; and, discovering the vessels, one 
 o 3
 
 298 THE PICTURE 
 
 of them ran to Lieutenant Flinders, the brother of 
 the commander, who had charge in his absence, and 
 was busy calculating some lunar distances, calling 
 " Sir, Sir ! a ship and two schooners in sight !" 
 " I dare say it is my brother come back ; let me 
 know when they come to the anchorage," said the 
 lieutenant, and resumed his calculations. 
 
 After completing the survey of the bank, sowing 
 some useful vegetables upon it, taking the people 
 from it, and dividing them into parties — to proceed 
 to China in the Rolla, back to Port Jackson in one 
 of the schooners, and with himself in the other — 
 Flinders sailed for Torres' Strait, made some new 
 observations there, and also at Wessel's Islands, 
 sailed for Coepang, in Timor, and thence to the 
 JNIauritius, Avhere, under various absurd and fri- 
 volous pretences, he was kept prisoner from the 17th 
 of December, 1803, till the 10th of June, 1810. The 
 pretended cause was, that Flinders had come as a 
 spy ; but he was ignorant of the war, had a pass- 
 port, and had witnessed and borne a part in the 
 attentions paid to the squadron under Baudin when 
 at Sydney. The real cause seems to have been a 
 wish to keep back the charts and journals of Flin- 
 ders (which were known to be much superior), till 
 those of the French expedition had been published. 
 
 The shipwreck of Captain Flinders's vessel, and 
 his detention at the Isle of France, left the north- 
 west coast of New Holland still imperfect as to the 
 details. It Avas desirable that this deficiency should
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 299 
 
 be supplied. Accordingly, early in the year I8I7, 
 orders were issued to Captain Philip P. King, to 
 examine the unexplored coast from Cape Arnheim, 
 on the west of the Gulf of Carpentaria, westward to 
 North-west Cape ; to be attentive to climate, seasons, 
 soil, and natviral history, as well as the geographical 
 positions ; and particularly to examine the Archipe- 
 lago at Rosemary Island, — as, on the part of some, 
 there was still a sort of opinion that there would be 
 found behind those islands either a salt water open- 
 ing or the mouth of a large river ; and, at that time, 
 there were not wanting those who asserted that the 
 Macquarrie River, which two years before had been 
 traced one hundred and fifteen miles to the westward 
 of the Blue Mountains, found its outlet somewhere 
 in the same quarter. 
 
 With a crew of eighteen persons, including Mr. 
 Cunningham the botanist, and Bongaree the native, 
 who had sailed with Flinders, in the capacity of 
 interpreter. Lieutenant King sailed in a cutter of 
 eighty-four tons, armed with a carronade, and twelve 
 muskets not in the most serviceable condition. The 
 westerly monsoon being against them in Torres' 
 Strait, they made for Bass''s, which, after some 
 difficulty, they passed, and came to an anchor in 
 Oyster Plarbour, King George's Sound, on the 21st 
 of January. Wood and water are easily procured 
 in this harbour, and when once entered, it is safe 
 and commodious ; but the water on the bar is so
 
 300 THE ricxruE 
 
 shallow, that it is inaccessible to any but small 
 vessels. 
 
 As the health of Lieutenant King's little crew 
 \vas now such as to prevent him from exploring any 
 part of the coast between Cape Leeuwen and North- 
 west Cape, he stood outside the reefs, until he 
 made tlie land southward of that cape on the 11th 
 of February. The Cape is of some elevation, but 
 the land to the south declines, and the whole is dry 
 and sterile. It was here that King's labours were 
 to commence, as the coast north-eastward had been 
 seen only at detached points by the French squadron, 
 and might therefore contain extensive inland seas 
 or the estuaries of rivers. After doubling the Cape, 
 and passing between the coast and the reefs, the 
 course was southward ; and as the land now inter- 
 posed its naked and sultry ridge between them and 
 tlie wind from the Indian Ocean, the heat was ex- 
 cessive, and the air loaded with insects. The sea 
 also teemed with fish, among which the turtle was 
 remarkable for its value, and the dolphin for its 
 activity and beauty. In Exmouth Gulf, to the 
 south-east of the cape, the navigation was dangerous, 
 — there were many shoals, and the bottom was rocky, 
 and ill adapted for anchorage. They exan)ined the 
 bay, till there was no reason to conclude that it could 
 either open to a large extent of salt water, or receive 
 a large body of fresh. Skirting the other side of 
 the bay, north-east to Dampier's Archipelago, a dis-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 301 
 
 tance of about two hundred miles, they found it in 
 general flat and sandy, with a few patches of wood, — 
 the water in some places so shallow that even their 
 little vessel covild not approach the shore, and the 
 bottom at others foul with rocks. Thus the inutility 
 of this much of the coast, for every purpose of navi- 
 gation, was a point completely settled. 
 
 When they had examined the coast to the longi- 
 tude of about 117° 30' east, the monsoon from the 
 west began to fail, a hand gale from the south-east 
 drove them from the coast, and they passed by 
 Rowley's Shoals, about 250° north-east of the place 
 where they had lost sight of the main land. Stand- 
 ing to the north-east, they passed the latitude of 
 Cape Van Diemen, and then steered south-east, in 
 the hope of being able to recommence their survey 
 at Cape Arnheim, the first headland on the west of 
 the Gulf of Carpentaria ; but the wind was against 
 them, and they made the land about two hundred 
 miles farther to the west, and nearly midway between 
 that point and Cape Van Diemen. The shore, as 
 they coasted along, seemed more fertile than that 
 toward North-west Cape ; but the season was to- 
 ward the close of the rains, when vegetation is at 
 its greatest perfection. The soil was not rich, but 
 it was covered with grass, and the presence of palms, 
 chiefly the fan-palm and areca, the latter of very 
 considerable dimensions, gave a tropical character 
 to the landscape. 
 
 Proceeding westward, they came to a peninsula of
 
 302 THE PICTURE 
 
 a very irregular shape, to the west of which lay 
 two islands, to which they gave the names of Mel- 
 ville and Bathurst. Cape Van Diemen is on the 
 former of those islands, and not upon the mainland. 
 Hoping that the channel between those islands would 
 prove to be the entrance of a large river, they ex- 
 plored it, and found it to lead to Van Diemen''s Bay, 
 an inland sea of some dimensions, wliich had been 
 previously seen by the Dutch, but not examined. 
 They examined it, and found some small rivers, 
 which abounded in alligators. The country around 
 was a level plain, interspersed with some wooded 
 hills, and a few palm-trees. The soil and vegeta- 
 tion of the islands appeared to be much better than 
 those on the mainland ; but every where the natives 
 appeared to be hostile and treacherous, which may 
 be, in part, owing to the resort of the Malays to 
 those seas, which they do every summer to fish for 
 trepang. At those islands the survey closed for the 
 season ; and the INIermaid, after standing across to 
 Coepang, in Timor, to refit, returned by the south 
 to Port Jackson. Thus about five hundred miles 
 of the north-west and north coasts had been ex- 
 amined ; and though not so minutely as the com- 
 mander could have wished, in consequence of the 
 loss of their anchors almost at the very commence- 
 ment, yet it had been ascertained, beyond doubt, that 
 there could be no internal opening of consequence, 
 cither in Van Diemen's Gulf, or behind Dampier's 
 Archipelago, farther to the south-west. The only
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 303 
 
 parts of those coasts that remained to be examined 
 were about two hundred miles from the Gulf of 
 Carpentaria westward, and about a thousand miles 
 from Bathurst Island to Depuch Island, where 
 the gale had first driven Lieutenant King from the 
 coast. 
 
 Having in the interval taken a trip to Van 
 Diemen's Land, for the purpose of correcting the 
 surveys of the entrance to Hobart Town, Lieutenant 
 King again sailed for the west coast on the 8th of 
 May, 1819, and was accompanied by Lieutenant 
 Oxley, in another vessel, as far as Port IMacquarrie, 
 in order that a survey of it might be made by the 
 two in company. This service being completed. 
 Lieutenant King proceeded toward the north, though 
 without any particular instructions to examine the 
 coast, till he came to Arnheim's Land, as the in- 
 termediate part had been examined by Cook and 
 Flinders. Still, by making his passage inside the 
 reefs, which are very numerous off that coast, he 
 not only found that the passage that way is more 
 short and safe, but that there are many good places 
 for obtaining wood and water, and safe anchorage, 
 for any time that that may be necessary. From 
 Cape York, Lieutenant King stood across the Gulf 
 of Carpentaria for Cape Wessel, the northmost point 
 of the group of islands that stretch to the northward 
 of Cape Arnheim, from whence he traced the line of 
 the coast to the commencement of his former sur- 
 vey, but without meeting with any thing of peculiar
 
 304 THE PICTURE 
 
 interest. Passing on to the termination of his for- 
 mer labours at Van Diemen's Bay, he examined the 
 strait on the south side of Melville and Bathurst 
 Islands — he examined the coast to the south-east, and 
 about longitude 128^ east, found a bay which pene- 
 trated a considerable way to the south, indeed till 
 it had become an inconsiderable creek, and con- 
 tinued to be salt water, and therefore could not be 
 the estuary of a river of any considerable size. 
 From this inlet the coast, which, with various 
 sinuosities, and many islands and shoals, makes 
 a curvature to the north, was examined west- 
 ward to within the 126th degree of east longitude, 
 without any appearance of an opening. At that 
 point, the westerly monsoon, as well as the damage 
 that the vessel had sustained, and the loss of anchors, 
 rendered a return to Sydney necessary. On this 
 voyage a farther survey of more than five hundred 
 miles of the coast had been obtained. 
 
 In the summer (the Australian winter) of 1820, 
 Lieutenant King again sailed ; but met v/ith more 
 disasters than ever on the east coast. Little progress 
 Avas made that year, on account of the difficulty of 
 the navigation and the crazy state of the vessel ; and 
 thus it was necessary to return a third time to 
 Sydney. 
 
 A vessel of a larger burden and more numerous 
 crew was provided, and a fourth departure from 
 Sydney took place in the end of May, ]821. A 
 little to the south of Cape York, the anchors were
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 305 
 
 again lost ; but the vessel proceeded, and reached 
 the point where the former survey had closed. The 
 navigation this year was very difficult : and among 
 the numerous islands of Buccaneers' Archipelago, 
 from long. 124" to 122" east, there were violent cur- 
 rents of tide, from which the commander Avas led to 
 conclude that there may be there a number of islands 
 to the south, though, as all the openings that he ex- 
 amined are shallow, there cannot be any very large 
 inland sea. 
 
 Finding that the survey could no longer be con- 
 tinued with safety. Lieutenant King sailed for the 
 Mauritius, whence he returned to King George's 
 Sound ; and in the beginning of January sailed for the 
 west coast, which he run along, generally in sight of 
 land, as far as North-west Cape. From North-west 
 Cape he sailed for the scene of the last of his former 
 labours ; and after running the greatest dangers 
 from shoals, islets, and violent currents of tide, found 
 it impossible to settle the point whetlier there be or 
 be not an inland entrance to the eastward of Cape 
 L'Eveque. He, however, did enough to shew that if 
 there be such an entrance, it would be far from safe 
 for the purposes of navigation. Thus by the labours 
 of navigators, up to the time of Captain King, who 
 was promoted to the rank of commander while on his 
 fourth voyage, the details of the whole coast of 
 Australia have been pretty well made out, with the 
 exception of about five hundred miles of the north, 
 from the termination of Captain King's survey east-
 
 306 
 
 THE PICTURE 
 
 ward from North-west Cape, to that of the same 
 westward from the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is under- 
 stood that Captain King may soon be appointed to 
 complete this examination ; and when it is accom- 
 plished, the grand features of New Holland, as dis- 
 coverable by navigation, may be held as being 
 known; and the details must be left to the slow 
 progress of local research. The knowledge of the 
 whole coast, with the exception above mentioned, 
 now rests upon the evidence of British navigators, 
 as the examination of the Swan River by Captain 
 Stirling in 1827, has taken it out of the list of 
 places seen and described only by Baudin and his 
 co-navigators ; and the reports of the French com- 
 modore and the British captain are so different, 
 that, in consequence of their discrepancy, suspicion 
 would have been cast upon any information which 
 rested on the French authority, without other verifi- 
 cation.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 307 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SKETCH or THE COLONIES AXD SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 I. New South Wales. 
 
 Though that name is by no means appropriate, 
 inasmuch as the east coast of New Holland, to 
 which, generally, it is applied, has nothing peculiarly 
 like Wales, either in the country itself, or in the 
 European part of the population ; yet it has been so 
 generally used, that a change, even for one much 
 more descriptive, would be attended with incon- 
 venience. 
 
 New South Wales comprises not only the country 
 in the neighbourhood of Port Jackson, which may 
 be regarded as the parent colony, but also those 
 farther to the north, as well as the grazing settle- 
 ments to the westward of the Blue Movmtains. The 
 governor, who resides in this district, is also Gover-
 
 308 THE PICTURE 
 
 nor General of all the settlements in Australia, the 
 distant ones being under local deputies. 
 
 New South Wales is divided into the following 
 provinces : Cumberland, Camden, Argyle, West- 
 moreland, Northumberland, Roxburgh, London- 
 derry, Durham, Ayr, and Cambridge. 
 
 Cumberland, extends about fifty miles along the 
 coast, from the confluence of the Hawkesbury with 
 the sea, to the coal cliffs southward of Botany Bay, 
 and the commencement of the forest of Illawarra. 
 Its inland boundary follows the course of the Hawkes- 
 bury and Nepean, to the sources of that branch 
 which has been called the Cow Pasture River, Thus 
 its greatest breadth from the Heads at the entrance 
 of Port Jackson to Emu Ford on the Nepean, may 
 be about forty miles. Though, with the exception 
 of the banks of the Hawkesbury, and of that part of 
 the Cow Pasture Plains that lies seaward of the 
 Nepean, Cumberland is not the most fertile part of 
 the colony, yet it was the first settled, and is still 
 the best cultivated and most populous. Containing 
 the capital, it is the place where the most wealtliy of 
 the settlers reside, and the centre both of commerce 
 and intelligence. Many of the seats in it are hand- 
 some, and some elegant ; and, unless when there is 
 a want of rain or a visitation of caterpillars, by either 
 of which the vegetation is destroyed, it wears an ap- 
 pearance of considerable luxuriance and beauty. 
 Toward the sea coast, and, generally, at a distance 
 from the banks of the rivers, the greatest disadvan-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 309 
 
 tage under which Cumberland labours is a want of 
 water. On the sandstone formation toward the sea, 
 this is of course to be expected ; and though when 
 tanks are formed in the argillaceous strata, the water 
 be more easily retained, it is apt to become, more 
 especially in the dry season, impregnated with the 
 aluminous salt which is so abundant in the soil. 
 
 A belt, of about six miles in breadth, along the 
 whole sea coast of Cumberland, is remarkable for 
 its sterility and want of timber. It is wholly unfit 
 for cultivation, but clothed with flowering shrubs of 
 the greatest beauty. Behind this there is a thick 
 forest of eucalyptus and casuarina, without under- 
 wood, and with little grass. Then there are about 
 five miles of an open forest, of much better soil, in 
 which the trees are, upon the average, ten yards 
 apart ; and from this forest to the banks of the rivers, 
 there are plains of great fertility, but the lowest 
 and richest are subject to the floods already men- 
 tioned. Though the surface of Cumberland be very 
 much diversified, no part of it is high, and in the 
 interior the soil is rich, upon the hills as well as the 
 plains. The depth of mould on the latter is im- 
 mense, and a single acre has, in one season, produced 
 fifty bushels of wheat and one hundred of Indian 
 corn. A soil of such depth is admirably calculated 
 for fruit trees, and accordingly the orchards of the 
 settlers are most luxuriant and productive, only, as 
 the fruit ripens, the birds, especially parrots, are an 
 intolerable nuisance.
 
 310' THE PICTURE 
 
 Camden lies to the south of Cumberland, be- 
 tween the Cow Pasture and Wingee-carribbee 
 Rivers ; it includes the Illawarra district on the coast, 
 and extends indefinitely toward the south. The ap- 
 pearance of this country is different from that of 
 Cumberland : the coast, instead of a flowery heath, 
 is a dense forest ; and the Merrigong Range, a consi- 
 derable ridge of mountains, intersects the interior 
 from north to south. Toward the rivers, on both 
 sides of the range, but more especially on the east 
 side, the plains afford very rich grazings. These are 
 called the Cow Pastures, because in the early stage 
 of the colony, the cattle escaped from the neighbour- 
 hood of Sydney, and were not found till after the 
 lapse of seven years, when they were met with on 
 those plains, greatly increased in numbers. Subse- 
 quently, their numbers have been very much thinned 
 by the thievish and inconsiderate habits of the set- 
 tlers, but for whom the plains of Australia might 
 soon have been as well stocked with wild cattle as 
 those of South America. Great part of the plains in 
 Camden have latterly been settled, and have been 
 found to answer well. Until the settlers shall adopt 
 the same plan of retaining water in tanks that is fol- 
 lowed in the south of India, they must suffer from 
 occasional droughts ; but were that done, there is no 
 question that the labours of the husbandman M'ould 
 be regularly rewarded over a large portion of this 
 province. 
 
 The Illawarra district in this country has already
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 311 
 
 been mentioned as a close and valuable forest ; and it 
 may now be added, that it is quite a topographical 
 curiosity. It looks as if it had no connexion either 
 with the latitude in which it is situated, or the 
 regions that are adjacent, but as though it had been 
 transported from the other end of the cou:»try. Its 
 character is quite tropical, and various species of 
 palms grow in it to a considerable height. The soil 
 which nourishes all this vegetation must be rich ; and 
 the covmtry is either naturally, or might be, by 
 means of tanks, completely irrigated. There are in 
 the neighbourhood plenty of shells, which might 
 be burnt into lime ; but the district is not of very 
 easy access, either by sea or by land. 
 
 Argyle lies to the south-west of Camden, and 
 consists of plains upon the banks of the AVolandelly 
 and some other branches of the Nepean, and the 
 country southward indefinitely toward the mountains. 
 The southern part of this country is mountainous, 
 and the climate, consequently, much colder than 
 that of Sydney. Snow and hail are not unfrequent 
 in the winter months. The wild cattle, which have 
 been, to a considerable extent, expelled from the Cow 
 Pastures, have taken up their residence in some parts 
 of Argyle. Goulburn and Braedalbane Plains, on 
 the Wolandelly, are by no means bad grazing, a 
 purpose for which all this part of the colony is much 
 better fitted than for the plough. Near the sources 
 of the Wolandelly, though not communicating with 
 that or any other river, there are two lakes, Bathurst
 
 312 THE PlCTtEE 
 
 and George, the latter covering a considerable extent 
 of surface ; but they are shallow, appear to be of 
 recent formation, and the land in the neighbourhood 
 is bad. Between those lakes and Shoal-haven River 
 there is a considerable ridge, — the Goruck Mountains, 
 which are understood to terminate southward in an 
 extensive flat, destitute of timber, — to which the name 
 of Brisbane Downs has been given. These downs, 
 which are said to be about forty miles across, are 
 represented as terminating toward the south in a ridge 
 of mountains, so high as to be in winter completely 
 covered with snow. On the west side of the 
 downs, the rivers South Fish and Morumbidgee 
 have their courses toward the west ; so that the 
 do\vns, and the marshy country about the lakes, form 
 the summit level ; and in all probability those rivers 
 may be branches of one parallel to the Lachlan, on 
 the south, and separated from it by a ridge similar to 
 that which divides the Lachlan from the Macquarrie. 
 This cold and elevated part of the country abounds 
 in Australian game — kangaroos, emus, and wild 
 ducks ; but it does not hold out many temptations for 
 settlers, as the soil is poor, and the communication 
 with the coast difficult. 
 
 Westmoreland occupies the eastern slope of the 
 Blue Mountains, from Argyle northward to the pa- 
 rallel at which the Hawkesbury falls into Broken 
 Bay. The surface of this portion of the colony is 
 very irregular, as besides the general chain of the 
 Blue Mountains, lying north and south, there are
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 313 
 
 branches that stretch eastward, ahnost to the bank 
 of the Nepean. One of these ridges, the King's 
 Table Land, between Cox''s River on the south, and 
 Grose River on the north, affords a fine prospect of 
 the country along the Hawkesbury and part of the 
 Nepean, and also along the Grose, on some parts of 
 which both the soil and the scenery are very 
 inviting. 
 
 NoiiTHUMBERLAND occupics the sca coast from 
 Broken Bay northward to Hunter's River; and 
 extends indefinitely into the interior, which has not 
 been completely explored. The sea coast of this 
 country is far from promising ; but many parts of 
 the interior are understood to be fertile. The sum- 
 mit level in Northumberland is chiefly elevated 
 plains, and not mountains ; and the plains have the 
 advantage of those in the south of Argyle, both in 
 climate and in soil. 
 
 Durham extends along the coast from Hunter's 
 River to IManning River, which falls into Farqidiar's 
 Inlet in latitude 32°. The se^ coast is remarkably 
 irregular ; and the land, though hilly, is watered by 
 a num.ber of small streams. Toward the banks of 
 Hunter's and Paterson's Rivers, there are large 
 extents of fertile ground, and the high land in the 
 interior is open, or has only partial brushes of timber. 
 
 Ayr is the name given to the country on Port 
 Macquarrie and the banks of Hastings' River. 
 The surface of this part of the colony is very much 
 diversified. There are many rivers, and also hills, 
 
 v
 
 314 THE PICTURE 
 
 one of which, Sea View Hill, so called because the 
 sea, though about fifty miles distant, is seen from 
 the summit, has an elevation of nearly six thousand 
 feet. The scenery in the interior is also, in many 
 places, wildly grand ; but there are here and there 
 extensive portions of rich soil, of which a number 
 are so elevated as to be completely free from inun- 
 dations. The forests in the richer places have the 
 tangled, if not altogether the tropical character of 
 the Illawarra. Mr. Oxley, who first explored this 
 part of New South Wales, paints the general 
 landscape, and particularly the valley of Apsley 
 River, in the north-west of this country, in the most 
 glowing colours. The following is an extract from 
 the journal of his tour eastward from Liverpool 
 plains, after he had traced the Macquarrie River to 
 the marsh in Avhich it terminates : — 
 
 " We proceeded up the Sydney River (a stream 
 running northward on the east of the mountains that 
 divide the eastern and western waters) to the south- 
 east about three miles, before we could find a con- 
 venient place to cross, as the stream ran with great 
 rapidity over a rocky bottom. The country on 
 either (each) side, sloped to the river with gradual 
 declension, and was an open forest country. On 
 crossing the river, we passed through some noble 
 forests of stringy bark, growing generally on the 
 sides and ridges of stony, barren hills. These forests 
 extended about two miles from the east of the river, 
 , after which the country became perfectly open, and
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 315 
 
 of a level, or rather alternately rising surface. To 
 the north and north-east, the river was beautiful, 
 the same description of country extending as far as 
 the eye could reach, with no elevated points or ridges 
 to obstruct it. The determination of all the hills 
 and slopes is northerly, and the rivers which we have 
 crossed have taken the same direction. We pro- 
 ceeded nine miles farther through the finest open 
 country, or rather park, imaginable. The general 
 quality of the soil is excellent, though of a stronger 
 and more tenacious description than farther westerly. 
 We halted in a fine spacious valley, where art, so 
 far as it is an auxiliary of beauty, would have been 
 detrimental to the fresher and simple garb of nature. 
 This valley was watered by a fine brook, and at a 
 distance of a mile we saw several fires, at which 
 appeared many natives. Upon discovering us, how- 
 ever, they immediately departed. I think that the 
 most fastidious sportsman would have derived ample 
 amusement during our day*'s journey. He might 
 without moving, have seen the finest coursing, from 
 the commencement of the chase to the death of the 
 game ; and when tired of killing kangaroos, he 
 might have hunted emus with equal success. We 
 numbered swans and ducks among our acquisitions, 
 which in truth were caught without much exertion 
 on our part, or deviating in the least from our course. 
 Granite and a hard whinstone (rather unusual neigh- 
 bours) were the most predominant among the stones ; 
 small pieces of quartz and loose rotten slates co- 
 p 2
 
 316 THE PICTURE 
 
 vered the tracks, on which grew some of the finest 
 stringv-bark trees that I ever saw. Indeed the other 
 timber, which consisted chiefly of the common blue- 
 gum, was far larger than usually seen on forest 
 lands." But the whole country was not of this cha- 
 racter ; for when they had proceeded for some dis- 
 tance eastward among the mountains, they came to 
 what would have effectually stopped the career of 
 the most adventurous liunter. " This tremendous 
 ravine,"" says Mr. Oxley, " runs nearly north and 
 south ; its breadth at the bottom does not, appa- 
 rently, exceed one hundred or two hundred feet ; 
 whilst the separation of the outer edges is from two 
 to three miles. I am certain, that in perpendicular 
 depth it exceeds three thousand feet. The slopes 
 from the edges were so steep, and covered with loose 
 stones, that any attempt to descend them, even on 
 foot, was impracticable. From either (each) side 
 of this abyss, smaller ravines of similar character 
 diverged, the distance between which seldom ex- 
 ceeded half a mile. Down them trickled small rills 
 of water from the range on which Ave Avere. We 
 could not, however, discover the way in which the 
 water in the main valley ran, as the bottom was con- 
 cealed by a thicket of vines and creeping plants." 
 Indeed, though there had been no thicket, it would 
 not have been an easy matter to ascertain the direc- 
 tion of the current, at a horizontal distance of a 
 mile and a half, and an elevation of " more than 
 three thousand feet." " How dreadful " (exclaims
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 317 
 
 the traveller) " must the convulsion have been that 
 formed these glens !" Now the fact is, that there 
 has not been any convulsion about the matter. The 
 ravine, as Mr. Oxley afterwards found, was nothing 
 but the bed of the river Apsley ; and whether the 
 depth was three thousand or three hundred feet, the 
 whole had been the working of the stream, in vdiich, 
 of course,- the floods would very powerfully assist; 
 and if the cliannel be of the magnitude stated, it 
 proves that the strata must be of a very soft descrip- 
 tion ; and further down the river, the spoils of this 
 hill must form a depositation of vast size, enough to 
 destroy thovisands of acres. 
 
 The divisions which have been enumerated, compre- 
 hend the whole connected coast of New South Wales, 
 from Bateman Bay in the south to Port INIacquarrie 
 in the north, a distance of about three hundred miles, 
 and stretching from the sea to the mountains or the 
 summit level, where the water divides, and other 
 rivers have been discovered running toward the 
 interior. The whole of this district appears to have 
 a threefold character. The shores, though they al- 
 ternate of swamp, and heath, and barren rocks, may 
 in general be considered as unprofitable for the settler, 
 except where they are eligible for the foundation of 
 towns, or productive in forest trees or coal. The 
 intermediate parts are, where neither exposed to 
 inundations or to drought, not ill adapted for agri- 
 cultural purposes ; while the uplands are, to a great 
 extent, fit for grazing, without any preparation but
 
 318 THE PICTURE 
 
 that of procuring a supply of water for the stock. 
 The remaining parts to the westward of the summit, 
 to which, so far as they have been discovered, the 
 names of Londonderry, Roxburgh, and Cambridge 
 are given, appear also to consist of three kinds of 
 country, though not exactly the same as those on 
 the coast. Toward the Blue Mountains and the 
 summit level, the lands are evidently best adapted 
 for grazing ; the central track, where the limestone 
 is found, must be fit for tillage, while the dreary and 
 desolate country toward the termination of the rivers 
 in the marshes, does not appear to be fit for any use- 
 ful purpose. 
 
 Londonderry is the portion of country to the 
 Avest of Westmoreland, where there are a few small 
 rivers that have not been traced to their terminations ; 
 though, from the country farther down having been 
 crossed to a considerable distance southward by Mr. 
 Oxley, and found flat, barren, destitute of water at 
 one season, and with the appearance of being flooded 
 at another, there seems sufficient evidence for con- 
 cluding that they all terminate as unprofitably for 
 any purpose of intercourse as those that have been 
 examined. The eastern portion of Londonderry, and 
 also the part of it between the Lachlan and the 
 Macquarrie, is of a better character ; and there is 
 no question that it might, in time, remunerate 
 those who would be contented to cultivate it, and 
 live upon it. Cattle they might send to the coast 
 country, though the road be both long and difficult ;
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 319 
 
 but grain would not be worth the carriage, and even 
 wool would have its value much diminished to the 
 grower. 
 
 Roxburgh lies to the north-east of London- 
 derry, and to the west of Northumberland and 
 Durham. The north and north-east of it are bounded 
 by hills, the former rugged, and not easily passable. 
 The western part of it slopes toward the Macquarrie, 
 and the north-eastern seems, from the formation, to be 
 the upper valley of the rivers that fall into Port 
 Hunter. There appears to be a considerable extent 
 of good pasturage in this district -, but it is swampy 
 toward the summit level. This part of New South 
 Wales is, however, more promising, in its general 
 features, than most others : there are rivers flowing 
 from it in all directions, and, in every direction, they 
 have been traced to a considerable distance. 
 
 Cambridge, which lies to the westward of Ayr, 
 has the same character, nearly, as Roxburgh, only it 
 is a little better in itself, and a little more inaccessi- 
 ble. This district is enclosed, on the east, south, and 
 west, by ridges of mountains, in which there are 
 but few passes, at least few have been hitherto dis- 
 covered. There are also ridges running northward 
 from the centre. The courses of all the rivers, of 
 which a considerable number have been seen, are 
 toward the north ; and from the appearance of the 
 country on the north-west toward the Macquarrie, it 
 is most likely that the streams to the westward of 
 the central mountains have short courses, and termi-
 
 320 THE PICTURE 
 
 nate in marshy grounds. In Camden Valley, between 
 the two ridges of the central mountains, York"'s 
 River, which is larger than any of those farther toward 
 the west, is described as flowing through a country 
 that is better, and had not any appearance of be- 
 coming marshy so far as it had been seen. In the 
 eastern part, between the central mountains, and those 
 that form the boundary, the country is described as 
 being still better. PeeFs River there, which flows 
 across the whole breadth of Liverpool Plains, is 
 much larger than any other in the district ; and the 
 country, which is about sixty miles in breadth, from 
 the one ridge of mountains to the other, is reported 
 as stretching indefinitely to the north, still of the 
 same favourable character. 
 
 Indeed tlie more that the whole range of these 
 inland countries is examined, the more evidence do 
 they furnish for the establishment of these facts, — that 
 they are good grazing lands in their present condi- 
 tion ; and that, were there any inducement, a consi- 
 derable part of them might be brought under tillage. 
 That, however, will not, in all probability, be the 
 case for many years, at least as an object of com- 
 mercej unless some of the settlers in the more im- 
 mediate neighbourhood of Bathurst, or any other 
 station that may be formed, shall cultivate grain for 
 the use of the military gviard, the few artificers, and 
 small tradesmen, that are needed at such places, or 
 of those settlers in the neighbourhood who devote their 
 attention exclusively to grazing.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 321 
 
 MoRETON Bay. — The banks of the Brisbane are 
 represented as being about the richest land on the 
 east side of New Holland. The climate, too, has 
 much more of a tropical character than that about 
 Sydney, and neither the flood in the river nor the 
 drought is so destructive. The natives are also 
 milder in their dispositions. All circumstances seem 
 indeed to be in favour of this part of the country ; 
 and it is by no means improbable that, when the 
 survey shall have been made more complete, it will 
 be found, that the country opened by the Brisbane 
 will prove to be larger, as well as better, than that 
 upon any other river of New Holland. The settle- 
 ment that has been formed is reported as increasing 
 rapidly ; but, vmfortunately both for its physical and 
 its moral improvement, its first settlers have been 
 convicts. It is probable that there are portions of 
 good soil on the east coast, farther to the north than 
 Moreton Bay ; but the coast is uninviting, and there 
 appears to be a want of water in the dry season, and 
 the water courses, which are then dry, are, during 
 the rains, filled with foaming torrents, which destroy 
 the soil. Indeed, a great part of the country, even 
 where covered with wood, is so irregular, and so made 
 up of loose stones, that it has the appearance of 
 debris, swept together by an overwhelming flood. 
 
 Fort Dundas, on Melville Island, is to be con- 
 sidered more in the light of a place of call, to which 
 vessels navigating those seas may repair in case of 
 accident, than as a settlement, with a view to culti- 
 p 3
 
 322 THE PICTURE 
 
 vation or trade. This little establishment was made 
 by Captain Bremer, in the ship Tamar, toward the 
 close of 1824. The men at first suffered severely 
 from the burning heat of the climate, and the her- 
 bage proved fatal to their sheep. Malays frequently 
 visit the coast for the trepang fishery, and the natives 
 are, in consequence, familiar both with fire arms 
 and with skirmishing. They also evince a thievish 
 disposition, and hostilities have been the consequence. 
 Even here, however, this disposition appears to be 
 acquired, rather than natural. It is not to be sup- 
 posed that their Malay visitors treat them with very 
 much kindness ; and yet a Malay, whom they had 
 taken when a boy, appeared to be an object of general 
 regard; and though they had spears, and threw 
 them at tlie settlers, the spears were mostly rude, 
 and their method of using them far less formidable 
 than that of the natives about Port Jackson — so much 
 so, indeed, as to show that the use of the spear is 
 not the business of their lives, as it is of the others. 
 The settlement at first consisted of one hundred and 
 twenty-six individuals, of whom forty-five were con- 
 victs, and the rest chiefly soldiers and marines. 
 There were only three or four women in the whole. 
 The accounts from this distant spot are not very 
 recent or precise — neither are they of much general 
 interest, as Melville Island has but few attractions 
 for intending settlers. 
 
 King George's Sound. — Though the country 
 about this sound be of very diversified character.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 323 
 
 and considerable portions be covered with loose dry 
 sand, there seems to be no want of water, and vege- 
 tation is very vigorous. Some notion of the power 
 of vegetation, and also of that of the rains, may be 
 formed from the following observations of Captain 
 King. The first visit alluded to was in 1818, and 
 the second in 1821. " On examining," says the 
 Captain, " the place of our former encampment, it 
 was found so much altered from the rapid growth of 
 vegetation, that we could scarcely recognize its 
 situation. There was not the least trace of our 
 garden, for the space which it formerly occupied 
 was covered by three or four feet of additional soil, 
 formed of sand and decayed vegetable matter, and 
 clothed with a thicket of fine plants, in full flower, 
 that would have been prized in any other place than 
 where they Avere. The initials of some of our people 
 were still very perfect upon the stem of a large 
 Banksia grandis, which, being covered with its 
 superb flowers, bore a magnificent and striking ap- 
 pearance."" 
 
 It is plain that there are here the elements of a 
 productive country, — the accumulation of three or 
 four feet of alluvial matter in the same number of 
 years, and the clothing of it with rich and beautiful 
 vegetation. We desiderate, however, a journal of 
 the weather for a Avhole year, because this rapid ac- 
 cumulation upon the low land, near the beach, 
 renders it not unlikely that the violence of the rains 
 may sweep the whole of the mould from the high
 
 324! THE PICTURE 
 
 grounds ; and, should that be the case, the rains on 
 the south-Avest coast may prove as great an annoy- 
 ance to the agriculturist as the drought on the east. 
 But the information is too limited and vague for 
 admitting of a final conclusion, whether the coun- 
 try be or be not an eligible place for a settlement. 
 
 Swan Riveu. — From the general terms of con- 
 demnation Avhich were bestowed upon the whole Avest 
 coast of NeAv Holland by the expedition under 
 Baudin, and from its being taken for granted that 
 the French commodore and his associates had looked 
 at the coast Avith English eyes — that is, to see what 
 it is mercantilely worth as a place to be settled for a 
 convict station, or taken as a speculation, Avith a view 
 of making a profit of those Avho might be inclined to 
 go there with their property — it would appear that 
 this part of Australia has lain under a Aveight that 
 it did not deserve. On the other hand, it is possible 
 that the subsequent reports of it may have gone quite 
 as far the other Avay. The reports of Captain 
 Stirling and Mr. Fraser, Avho first examined the 
 country at the Swan River, are certainly favourable; 
 and one Avould be disposed to conclude that the time 
 at Avhich they w^ere made (March, ansAvering to the 
 September of the northern hemisphere) Avas no bad 
 time for getting at the average of the year. It 
 Avould have been as pleasant, at least as satisfactory, 
 to have had a report of the weather during the op- 
 posite part of the year, or what may be considered 
 as the groAving season ; but, as has been already
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 325 
 
 mentioned, both winds upon that part of the coast 
 bring rain, so that there is less danger of parching. 
 The following is the summing up of Mr. Eraser's 
 estimate : — 
 
 " In giving my opinion of the land seen on the 
 banks of the Swan River, I hesitate not in pronounc- 
 ing it superior to any that I ever saw in New South 
 Wales, east of the Blue Mountains, not only in its 
 local character, but in the many existing advan- 
 tages which it holds out to settlers. These advan- 
 tages I consider to be, 
 
 *' First, the evident superiority of the soil. 
 
 " Secondly, the facility with which a settler can 
 bnng his farm into a state of immediate culture, 
 in consequence of the open state of the country, 
 which allows not a greater average than two trees to 
 an acre. 
 
 " Thirdly, the general abundance of springs, pro- 
 ducing water of the best quality ; and the consequent 
 permanent humidity of the soil : two advantages not 
 existing on the eastern coast. And, 
 
 " Fourthly, the advantages of water carriage to 
 his door, and the non-existence of impediments to 
 land carriage." 
 
 These, it must be admitted, are most promising 
 qualities, though the absence of timber is not very 
 reconcilable with superiority of the soil, — as, in all 
 uncultivated countries, the want of timber indicates 
 some defect either in the climate or the soil. Th^ 
 scanty soil upon the hills, the salt marshes on
 
 326 
 
 THE PICTURE 
 
 the plain toward the sea ; the great accumulation of 
 alluvion on the banks of the river, and the marks of 
 flooding, though there is any thing but highland, (the 
 hills thirty-three miles inland being only about fifteen 
 hundred feet high, and an extensive flat behind, 
 carrving the water bevond these hills the other wav) — 
 all these circumstances require either to be contra- 
 dicted in practice, or explained away in theory, be- 
 fore the region of the Swan River shall acquire a 
 permanent title to the name of " Southern or Aus- 
 tralian Hesperia,'''' which some describers have, in 
 the greenness of their admiration, bestowed upon it. 
 
 In situation, the country on both sides of Cape 
 Leeuwin bears some analogy to Southern Africa, and 
 therefore it may be expected tliat there should be 
 some similarity in the weather. There is, however, 
 this difference, that both the seasonal winds bring 
 rain ; while in SoutheiTi Africa there is burning: 
 drought during part of the year. This will in so far 
 lessen the effect of the rains upon the soil, even 
 though they should fall with as much violence as 
 in Southern Africa ; and, as the river is ascended, 
 the plains bear no marks either of being washed 
 or flooded. But still there is enough of evidence to 
 prove that the description that the French gave of 
 the violence of the winter storms, is not altoo-ether 
 an exaggeration, though that violence was in no dan- 
 ger of losing at their hands. 
 
 It is further a favourable circumstance, that set- 
 tlers from England are now much better acquainted
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 327 
 
 with the nature of those heavy rains which occur in 
 the southern hemisphere than they were when New 
 South Wales was first colonized ; and experience, 
 both at the Hawkesbury and in Southern Africa, 
 may teach the settlers near Cape Leeuwin to keep 
 their habitations, and also their produce, at a proper 
 distance from the streams. With that prevention, 
 if the heavy rains shall be found to fall only after 
 the produce has been ripened and secured, there can 
 be little doubt that the land will be productive, and, 
 by all accoiuits, there is plenty of it. " We found,"" 
 says Captain Stirling, " the country rich and ro- 
 mantic, gained the summit of the first range of 
 mountains, and had a bird's-eye view of an immense 
 plain, which extended as far as the eye could reach 
 to the northward, southward, and eastward. After 
 ten days' absence we returned to the ship ; we en- 
 countered no difficulty that was not easily sur- 
 mountable ; we were provided with abundance of 
 fresh provisions by our gvms, and met with no ob- 
 struction from the natives." 
 
 In one important respect, the colony at the Swan 
 River has the advantage over every other British 
 colony. 
 
 In all the others, the labourers — who, composing 
 the great majority of the population, must impress 
 their own character, to a considerable extent, upon 
 the whole of it — are a degraded or vitiated caste : or, 
 rather, they are both, as the one of these can hardly 
 be separated from the other. Indeed it would not 
 be easy to determine whether the negroes of the
 
 328 THE PICTURE 
 
 West Indies, or the convicts of Australia, have the 
 most unwholesome influence upon the state of society. 
 The comparison is ignorance with vice ; and that 
 ignorance may be taught, is fully as tenable a posi- 
 tion as that vice may be reclaimed. It is, therefore, 
 much in favour of the colony at the Swan River, 
 that it is to be free from both. 
 
 The regulations which government have made 
 upon the subject, are indeed very judicious, and do 
 not involve that very doubtful doctrine, the relief 
 of the country at home by the migration of the set- 
 tlers. That doctrine is more than doubtful — it is 
 ex facie absurd. It is useless to send those who are 
 physically burdensome out of the comitry, because 
 they must either be fed at the expense of the coun- 
 try or starve ; nor is it much wiser to transport at 
 the public expense those who are politically burden- 
 some — those who can and would support themselves, 
 but may not ; because the country at home must lose 
 all that has been expended in rearing them, without 
 gaining any thing in return. Much as many other 
 things are prized, full grown human beings, disposed 
 and qualified to perform work, are the most valuable 
 possessions of any country ; and the exporting of 
 them, in order to relieve it, is nearly a parallel case 
 with throwing the sailors overboard in order to 
 relieve a vessel that is overladen and caught in a 
 storm. The lumber and the guns, and, in cases of 
 great extremity, even a passenger or two, should go 
 before these. The relief afforded by emigration to
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 329 
 
 Southern Africa and Canada, has had a salutary 
 effect upon the conduct of government, in making 
 them entrust the settlement at the Swan River to 
 those who are in a capacity for emigrating,— that is, 
 to those who have resources of their own upon which 
 they can depend in the new country. 
 
 Government pays no expense, either in taking the 
 people out, or in fetching them home again if they 
 should feel disappointed or dissatisfied ; neither does 
 it furnish any provisions. Land is furnished to 
 those only who are in a condition to turn it to ac- 
 count, government giving the land, and only demand- 
 ing from those who get it the investment of the 
 capital necessary for working it, and the actual cul- 
 tivation, to a certain extent, within a stipulated time. 
 
 The capital required is after the rate of three 
 pounds for every forty acres of land, or eighteen- 
 pence per acre. The articles in which this capital 
 is required to be invested, consist of every thing that 
 can be useful to the settler in establishing himself, 
 and bringing his land into a state of productiveness, 
 including, of course, live stock, and agricultural and 
 other useful implements ; and half-pay, and other 
 government pensions, are considered as capital in the 
 same manner. When the possession of the requisite 
 capital is proved, to the satisfaction of the local 
 governor of the colony, a license of occupation 
 for the corresponding qviantity of land is given. The 
 land is free to the settler, without quit-rent or other 
 burden, from the time of obtaining the license ; but
 
 330 THE PICTURE 
 
 the title to the fee simple of it is not given until he 
 shall, by cultivation, shew that he is worthy of it. 
 That proof is to consist of improvements, such as 
 roads, buildings, or other permanent woi:ks executed 
 upon the land, to the extent of one shilling and six- 
 pence for each acre. Three years are allowed for that 
 purpose, and if, at the end of them, one fourth of 
 the grant has not been cultivated to the value of one 
 and sixpence an acre, the settler must pay a rent of 
 sixpence an acre into the public chest or treasury of 
 the colony. Another trial is, however, given before 
 the settler finally forfeits his original title. This 
 trial lasts for seven years longer, and if at the end 
 of them the land remain uncultivated or unimproved, 
 it reverts to the crown, and may be disposed of. In 
 one respect, this part of the regulations is not very 
 specific : it is by no means improbable that a consi- 
 derable part of the land will be found to answer 
 better for pasture than tillage, and it is also probable 
 that the victualling of ships, whether South Sea 
 whalers, or vessels bound to or from China, may be 
 among the first mercantile employments of the 
 colony : so that it would have been desirable to state 
 explicitly, in the government regulations, whether the 
 general term " improvement" be meant to include 
 the value of sheep or cattle that may be placed upon 
 the lands. 
 
 Labourers, unless they be at the same time small 
 capitalists, have the means of paying their passage 
 out, and have a surplus over to invest, cannot of
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 331 
 
 themselves proceed to the colony. But they may 
 be taken out by the more wealthy emigrants, who 
 are allowed at the rate of fifteen pounds - that is, 
 two hundred acres of land, for every labouring per- 
 son (including under that denomination women, and 
 children above the age of ten years) that they may 
 carry to the colony ; and those Avho thus carry ovit 
 labourers are to be made liable for their mainte- 
 nance, in case that should be necessary. Here again, 
 though the principle be unobjectionable, there is a 
 want of explanation. No mention is made of the 
 sum which the capitalist is expected to advance in 
 addition to that which he may acquire from taking- 
 out labourers ; nor is it mentioned that these count 
 for any thing in the improvement of the land by 
 which the title to the fee-simple is to be acquired. 
 Thus one is left to presume, that if a labourer, with 
 his wife and three children, could find the means 
 of landing in the colony, they would be entitled to 
 a grant of one thousand acres of land ; and yet they 
 are not in possession of that on account of which 
 alone the license of occupation is to be granted. 
 Therefore, to guard against misapprehension, it 
 should have been stated, whether a labourer is 
 rated at the value of fifteen pounds in capital, or 
 merely as an addition that the wealthy settler may 
 take out besides the property which entitles him 
 to his grant ; and if the latter be the case, then 
 the number of acres acquired by capital, with the 
 corresponding number of labourers, ought to have
 
 332 THE PICTL'RE 
 
 been stated. What may be the nature of the pro- 
 vision which those who carry out labourers shall 
 have to make for them, in the event of necessity, is a 
 matter for future regulation ; and the placing of the 
 onus upon the particular party carrying them out, 
 and not upon the inhabitants of the colony gene- 
 rally, may be attended with some little difficulty. 
 The original bringer may be a bankrupt, or die, 
 before the labourer becomes a pauper; or the labourer 
 may have gone into other employment, and become 
 a pauper there. Provision for the destitute poor is, 
 under any circumstances, one of the most difficult 
 branches of legislation ; and shoidd the colony at 
 the Swan River prove as successful in the issue, as 
 it is promising at the outset, there can be little doubt 
 that the burden of such persons as become destitute 
 will be thrown upon the w^hole population of the 
 settlement. That is the only simple and certain 
 way, and it is also the fairest. Those who look 
 superficially at the case, are apt to consider their 
 contribvition to the poor as a great hardship ; but 
 the evil, where it does exist, is in the practice, and 
 not in the principle. If it could be shown, that 
 want of success in the world vmiformly arises from 
 want of desert on the part of those who are neces- 
 sitous, then the supporting of them would be a 
 real hardship to the rest of society, and they should 
 be made to eat their alms in bitterness ; and as a 
 portion, at least, of the want of success is the fault 
 of the parties, the state of a pauper should always
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 333 
 
 be made one which would be resorted to only as a 
 last shift. But success is so much a lottery, that it 
 is no criterion of merit ; and, therefore, the sum 
 that the successful man contributes for the honajide 
 relief of the unsuccessful, Avhether statutary or not, 
 ought always to be, in so far, considered as a votive 
 offering of gratitude for his own better fortune. 
 It is not necessarv, however, to refine upon the 
 question as applicable to any settlement existing in 
 Australia ; though, in the case of a new state, form- 
 ing at a time when people flatter themselves that 
 they are more than usually informed upon the sub- 
 ject, it would be well to prove that assumption by a 
 chef cToeuvre of legislation. 
 
 The regulations, of which the substance has been 
 given, are to continue during the year ] 830 ; after 
 which there will be new ones, arising out of the cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 KixG George's Souxd has been already men- 
 tioned. A kind of settlement Avas made there in 
 1826; but no very particular or flattering state- 
 ment of the result of the speculation has been 
 announced. 
 
 It has been already mentioned, that a settlement 
 was once made at Port Phillip, a little to the west- 
 ward of Wilson's Promontory in Bass's Strait, and 
 that the absence of water in the dry season caused 
 it to be abandoned. A journey was made from 
 Twofold Bay, on the east coast, across the country 
 to this part of the shore, in 1826, and the country
 
 334 THE riCTURE 
 
 spoken of in no ordinary terms. At Western 
 Port (a little south of Port Phillip) they found a 
 mighty river, plains of unbounded extent and inex- 
 haustible fertility, with lignum-vitcE, and Scotch had- 
 docks, (not smoked ones, but waiting to be so !) with 
 endless delights. A convict settlement was the re- 
 sult ; and the plains were found, by the party which 
 landed in the dry season, parched, and the river 
 nearly dry. It is believed, however, that they re- 
 mained ; though they certainly found nothing to 
 render the character, which more scientific and cau- 
 tious observers had formerly given to the coast, less 
 applicable than it was previously. 
 
 Van Diemen^s Land. 
 
 Though the surface of Van Diemen's Land be 
 much more varied than that of New Holland, the 
 climate is more uniform, and approaches much more 
 nearly to that of the British islands ; so that Van 
 Diemen's Land is the place where an English agri- 
 culturist will find himself most at home ; and (as 
 has been shown) as the soil and climate are the chief 
 materials which Australia offers for human industry 
 to work upon, those who cannot cultivate land are 
 not qualified for being settlers. Besides the greater 
 similarity that there is between the climate of 
 Britain and Van Diemen's Land, there is the 
 advantage of carrying produce more easily to 
 the market. The distance from sea to sea, across
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 335 
 
 the best part of the island, is not so long as that 
 from Sydney to the plains westward of the Blue 
 Mountains ; the road is not half so difficult ; and 
 the country is fit for settling along the whole line. 
 There may not indeed be, in any part of Van 
 Diemen's Land, the same continuous extent of rich 
 surface that is found on the west of the New South 
 Wales' jBountains ; but Van Diemen's Land has the 
 advantage of being one country — a country in which 
 the inhabitants of all the districts may, at short 
 notice, communicate ; and, therefore, if the colonies 
 shall one day become, which every one must wish, 
 independent states, that on Van Diemen's Land 
 must, from its power of intercourse, be the best able 
 to protect itself ; and from the facility with which its 
 shores can be approached, as well as the greater cer- 
 tainty of its harvests, it will be the first in a com- 
 mercial point of view. 
 
 The topographical divisions of Van Diemen''s Land 
 are still more vague than those in New South Wales ; 
 and as there are yet no local jurisdictions, other 
 than those of the Justices in the different districts, a 
 list of the names given to particular places would 
 have little or no public interest. The general fea- 
 tures of the country have been traced in a former 
 chapter ; and the details of the unploughed part 
 are only those limited in extent. The woods are, 
 near the coast, of larger growth than is common in 
 New South Wales, though Moreton Bay and the 
 Illawarra forest are exceptions. The trees are also
 
 336 THE PICTURE 
 
 greener, owing to the more frequent occurrence of 
 rain. Few, if any, of the trees or shrubs that are 
 found in the latitude of Sydney, even those which 
 are highest upon the mountains, will bear the open 
 air of England in winter. Some of those of Van 
 Diemen's Land are much more hardy ; and it is by 
 no means improbable that many of those shrubs 
 (some of which are of great beauty) will be common 
 in the ornamental plantations of Europe; and that 
 the Acacia decurrens, (which has been found to 
 stand the winter), as well as several other trees, may 
 increase both the beauty and the value of English 
 forests. It is worthy of remark that both in Van 
 Diemen s Land and in New South Wales, the 
 acacia, in some of the many species, is the tree 
 most disposed to grow upon those lands from which 
 other trees have been removed; and that too with- 
 out any labour of planting, even upon lands that 
 have been under the plough until they were ex- 
 hausted for agricultural purposes. 
 
 The following account of the mode of settling is from 
 Mr. Widdowson's unpretending but sensible little 
 work on Van Diemen's Land : — " That the colonies 
 are to be divided into hundreds and parishes ; when 
 completed, a valuation of the parishes will be made, 
 and an average price set upon the land in each ; all 
 the land not hitherto granted will then be put up to 
 sale, at the price thus fixed. Any individual wishing 
 to purchase land previously to the division of the 
 country, must apply to the Governor through the
 
 or AUSTRALIA. 337 
 
 Survey Office, through which department all cor- 
 respondence respecting land must pass. Purchase 
 money to be paid by quarterly instalments, or ten 
 per cent, allowed for cash payments. On com- 
 pleting the purchase, the whole grants, in fee-simple, 
 are given at a pepper-corn rent. The largest quan- 
 tity said to be allowed on sale to any one individual, 
 is nine thousand six hundred acres, or five lots of 
 three square miles each ; and if more be required, 
 application must be made to the Secretary of State, 
 explaining the party ""s object and means. A pur- 
 chaser may claim the return of his purchase money, 
 any time within ten years, but without interest ; and 
 if he prove that he has employed convicts to ten 
 times the amount of the money, every convict is 
 estimated at an annual amovmt of 16/. The larg-est 
 grant I have heard of, made without purchase, was 
 two thousand five hundred and sixty acres, and the 
 smallest three hundred and twenty ; but in all cases 
 grants are refused unless the party can show that he 
 possesses property, and intends to expend it in culti- 
 vation to half the estimated value of the land. A 
 quit-rent of five per cent, per annum, upon the esti- 
 mated valvie is fixed upon every grant ; but this may 
 be redeemed within the first twenty-five years, by 
 paying twenty times the annual amount. In re- 
 demption of this quit-rent, the same regulations as 
 to the employment of convicts are allowed as in the 
 purchase of lands. No quit-rent is chargeable upon 
 grants without purchase, till the expiration of seven
 
 338 THE PICTURE 
 
 years ; but at the end of that period each grantee 
 must prove, to the satisfaction of the Surveyor 
 General, that he has expended in the improvement 
 and cultivation of the land, a sum equal to half its 
 estimated value ; on failure of which the land again 
 reverts to the crown ; nor can any additional grant be 
 made, until the applicant can prove that this stipulated 
 sum has been laid out on his original grant. Should, 
 however, a person receive an additional grant, his 
 quit-rent is payable immediately." The sum ex- 
 pended on the land must be in the permanent im- 
 provement of that, and not in animals ; neither must 
 he assign any part of his grant to any convict that 
 may be allotted to him as a servant. 
 
 The obvious intention of these regulations is to 
 insure the pennanent settlement and improvement 
 of the country ; and, partly, no doubt, owing to them, 
 partly to the settlement of the colony being more 
 recent than in New South Wales, and partly to the 
 superiority of the climate for agricultural purposes, 
 the improvement has been much more rapid ; and 
 though there be yet no town upon Van Diemen's 
 Land, that can be in any way compared to Sydney, 
 in point of activity, or bustle of business, many of 
 the inland places are superior, and the whole country 
 has much more of a British air, than the other 
 colony. One circumstance that has contributed to 
 this is the greater number of British labourers that 
 have emigrated, or been taken out by more wealthy 
 settlers ; and another consists in the less intercourse
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 339 
 
 that the colonists, more especially in the towns, have 
 with the natives. About Sydney, the intercourse 
 has been sufficient to impart a number of words to 
 the colonial language ; while in Van Diemen's Land, 
 the presence of a native in Hobart Town is a rare 
 occurrence. 
 
 Q. 2
 
 340 THE PICTURE 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Towns, Buildings, &c. 
 
 In a new country, towns of much magnitude are 
 not to be expected ; though, as the bulk of the 
 labourers in Australia have hitherto been persons 
 who required to l)e kept in surveillance, and as, 
 from the disparity in nvmibers of the two sexes, those 
 labourers could not have settled, and become family 
 men, had they been so inclined and permitted, the 
 formation of towns became a matter of necessity. 
 At Port Macquarrie, the Brisbane River, and indeed 
 almost every place that can be mentioned, the original 
 settlement has been a sort of military station or 
 barrack, instead of little farmers setting themselves 
 down upon their allotments, and constructing their 
 habitations, and cultivating their lands, according to 
 their own fancies. After the first settlement at
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 341 
 
 Sydney, at least after the first skirmish with the 
 natives, the congregating of the settlers at an out- 
 post to one point became necessary, in order that 
 they might be able to repel any attack of the natives. 
 Thus the original settlement of New South Wales 
 may be said to have been a settlement of towns, 
 which were entirely at first, and are still partially 
 supported, on government stores ; and the cultivation 
 of the country has been all along a secondary object, 
 except with a few spirited individuals. 
 
 Sydney, the capital, is built upon both sides of a 
 creek or cove, which forms a southern branch of Port 
 Jackson, and is about eight miles inland of the sea. 
 The soil upon which the town is built is not rich, 
 but it has that diversity of surface which conduces 
 to promote cleanliness and health. As a seaport, no 
 place could be better situated. The anchorage is 
 abundant, and safe ; and with the advantage of the 
 lighthouse on the lofty summit of the South Head, 
 it is easily entered. The first houses in Sydney were 
 rude in their formation, and placed without regu- 
 larity. They were not very durable, however, and 
 thus a better plan has been introduced. The streets 
 are mostly straight, of a proper width, and moderately 
 clean. The principal street (George Street) extends 
 from the sea, along the bottom of the hollow between 
 the two ridges that form the cove. It is rather more 
 than a mile long, and the other streets either intersect 
 it at right angles and extend up the hills, or they run 
 parallel to it. Thus there are the means of a com-
 
 342 THE PICTURE 
 
 plete drainage. The only water, however, which the 
 inhabitants have, except what they can procure by 
 digging deep wells, or cutting tanks for collecting the 
 rain, is in the same place as the principal thorough- 
 fare. It is a very small rivulet, or rather rill, 
 issuing from a marsh at a short distance ; and thus 
 during the dry season, it is impregnated with alum 
 before it reaches the town, and with many other mat- 
 ters after it does. A large river flowing through a 
 to^vn is one of the greatest advantages that it can 
 possess : a little rill, unless where the water can be 
 useful in the arts, is almost uniformly a nuisance — 
 people will call upon it to do more than it can 
 perform. 
 
 That portion of Sydney which stands upon the 
 ridge to the eastward, at the head of the cove, con- 
 tains most of the public buildings and residences of 
 the more respectable inhabitants. The portion to 
 the west is called " The Rocks," from being on a 
 bare and steep foundation ; and it is chiefly inhabited 
 by those whose condition excludes them from what is 
 accounted patrician society. The government-house 
 is by no means an inelegant structure, and the 
 grounds are well laid out. 
 
 Sydney is divided into the two parishes of St. 
 James and St. Philip, and there are also chapels for 
 various classes of dissenters. Shops, inns, and houses 
 of entertainment are numerous, and the almost in- 
 discriminate sale of spirits without license, can with 
 the greatest difficulty be prevented.
 
 OF AUSTKALIA. 343 
 
 The following extracts from Mr. P. Cunningham''s 
 " Two Years in New South Wales,"" are lively, and, 
 in the main, not inaccurate : — 
 
 " You land at the government wharf on the right, 
 where carts and porters are generally on the look out 
 for jobs ; and on passing about fifty yards along the 
 avenue, you enter George Street, which stretches on 
 both hands, and up which, toward the left, you now 
 turn, to reach the heart of the town. Near the 
 harbour, where the ground is very valuable, the 
 houses are usually contiguous ; but, generally speak- 
 ing, the better sort of houses in Sydney are built in 
 the detached cottage style, of white free stone, or of 
 brick, plastered and whitened, one or two stories 
 high, with verandahs in front, and inclosed by a neat 
 wooden paling, lined occasionally with trim-pruned 
 geranium hedges ; they have besides, usually, a com- 
 modious garden backwards, decked out with flowers, 
 and teeming with culinary delicacies. Into the en- 
 closure immediately around the hovise, the dogs are 
 commonly turned at night, to ward off rogues ; and 
 uncompromising, vigilant watchmen they certainly 
 are, paying little of that respect to genteel exterior 
 which their better-bred brethren in England are so 
 apt to demonstrate. The streets are wide and un- 
 paved ; but their durable composition, and the gene- 
 ral drvness of our climate, render paving unnecessary ; 
 Avhile an elegant set of lamps, placed diagonally at 
 fifty yards distance, by reason of the whiteness of 
 our houses and the clearness of our sky, effect
 
 344 THE PICTURE 
 
 an illumination equalling some of the best lighted 
 London streets. Although all you see are English 
 faces, and you hear no other language but English 
 spoken, yet you soon become aware that you are in 
 a country very different from England, by the num- 
 ber of parrots, and other birds of strange note and 
 plumage, which you observe hanging at so many 
 doors, and of which you will soon see cages-full ex- 
 posed for sale as you proceed. The government 
 gangs of convicts, also, marching backwards and 
 forwards from their work, in single military file, and 
 the solitary ones here and there, with their white 
 woollen Parramatta frocks and trowsers, or grey or 
 yellow jackets, and duck overalls, (the different 
 styles of dress indicating the oldness or newness of 
 their arrival) all daubed over with broad arrows, 
 P. Bs., C.Bs., and various numerals, in black, white, 
 and red; with perhaps the gaol-gang straddling 
 sulkily by in their jingling leg-chains, tell a tale too 
 plain to be misunderstood. At the corners of streets, 
 and before many of the doors, fruit-stalls are to be 
 seen, teeming, in their proper seasons, with oranges, 
 lemons, limes, figs, grapes, peaches, nectarines, apri- 
 cots, plums, apples, pears, &c., all at very mode- 
 rate prices." Vol. I. pp. 43, 45. 
 
 The nature of great part of the population render- 
 ing such an institution highly necessary, a pretty 
 vigilant police has been established in Sydney, by 
 which the number of depredations in the town is 
 much less than one would be led to suppose ; but in
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 345 
 
 the other parts of the colony, the scattered state of 
 the population renders so perfect a system impossible. 
 Mischief there is farther increased by the escape of 
 convicts to the wood or " bush," though that is not so 
 frequent in proportion to the number as it once was, 
 partly because a better system has been introduced, 
 partly because the natives are employed as a sort of 
 police at the out-posts, and partly because former 
 bush-rangers have been roughly handled by these 
 people. 
 
 Though Sydney stands upon a considerable portion 
 of ground, the population, owing to the detached 
 mode of building the houses, does not probably ex- 
 ceed six or seven thousand. It however fluctuates 
 a good deal, so that the actual number cannot be 
 ascertained with precision. Some of the country 
 houses along the shores of Port Jackson, more espe- 
 cially those near the road leading to Parramatta, are 
 built, and the grounds laid out with considerable 
 taste. 
 
 Parramatta is the next town to Sydney; and 
 though it be not very advantageously situated for 
 commerce, it is on the line of one of the roads into 
 the interior, which, with the beauty of its situation, 
 must always render it a place of some resort. The 
 land in the immediate vicinity is not indeed very 
 good ; but there are fertile tracts within two or three 
 miles, and the site of the town has the advantage 
 of fresh water, both from a rivulet and from some 
 
 Q 3
 
 346 THE PICTURE 
 
 springs. The ground to a considerable extent having 
 been cleared of the forests of eucalyptus, patches of 
 young acacias have sprung up in their place, and 
 add much to the beauty of the scenery. Parramatta 
 is nearly as long as Sydney, but the houses are 
 built in a still more scattered manner, so that it 
 does not contain above two thousand people, if it 
 reach that number. The ground around it is ele- 
 vated, but the town lies in a sort of hollow, which 
 makes it appear to advantage when seen from tlie 
 Sydney road ; but in the dry months, when vege- 
 tation is burnt up, the high grounds reflect the light 
 and render the heat excessive. The distance from 
 Sydney by the direct road is about fifteen miles, and 
 the distance between them by sea is at least three 
 miles longer. There is no regular sailing between 
 them, except in boats, not carrying more than fifteen 
 tons, that being the greatest burden that the harbour 
 of Parramatta will admit. In consequence, the town 
 does not increase so rapidly in population as might 
 be expected, as the peo])le of the neighbourhood, 
 instead of disposing of their produce to dealers in 
 Parramatta, convey it immediately to Sydney. The 
 governor has a house at Parramatta, and there are 
 some of the public institutions there. There are 
 regular daily coaches to Sydney. Houses of stone 
 or brick are much less frequent at Parramatta than at 
 Sydney, the greater number being weather-boarded 
 on the outside, and plastered within, 
 
 Windsor, at the confluence of the South Creek
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 347 
 
 with the Hawkesbury River, is about thirty-five miles 
 from Sydney, and it is better situated for trade, as 
 the river admits vessels of one hundred tons to pro- 
 ceed four miles higher than the town. Above that, 
 there are shallows which interrupt even barge navi- 
 gation. Although the navigation to Windsor be 
 open to vessels of the burden stated, it is very cir- 
 cuitous, — the river navigation to the sea at Broken 
 Bay being nearly four times as long as the distance 
 to the heads at Sydney. The situation of Windsor 
 is pleasant. The mountains rise immediately to the 
 west of it ; the ground upon which it stands is rich, 
 and yet above the highest floods of the Hawkesbury, 
 and the low lands on the banks of the river, that are 
 occasionally flooded, are, when not visited by that 
 casualty, very fertile. Some of the land about AVintl- 
 sor is well cultivated ; the roads are in tolerable con- 
 dition, and the gardens are productive, but infested 
 by birds The population of Windsor is probably 
 about nine hundred. 
 
 There are several thriving villages in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Windsor. Wilberforce lies on the 
 opposite bank of the river, about five miles farther 
 down ; and Richmond on the same bank as Windsor, 
 about five miles farther up. Neither of them, how- 
 ever, contains many inhabitants, as the people in this 
 part of the colony live mostly upon their lands near 
 the banks of the river, where they can ship tlieir 
 produce, and obtain their weightier necessaries di- 
 rectly in return. The good land is nearly all
 
 348 THE PICTURE 
 
 settled, so that the price, when it changes o^vners, 
 is considerable. 
 
 Liverpool lies about twenty miles south-west of 
 Sydney, vipon George''s River, about twelve miles in 
 a direct line, and twenty-four by the course of the 
 river from Botany Bay. It is a small place, con- 
 taining only two hundred or three hundred inhabi- 
 tants ; and there is little in the immediate vicinity 
 to tempt an increase ; but, lying upon the road to 
 the more fertile districts in the south, it is of some 
 importance as a station ; and from the number of 
 passengers that are going and returning between 
 those places, it is kept in a state of considerable acti- 
 vity. Many of the other places that are mentioned as 
 towns and townships, contain so few inhabitants, as 
 hardly to merit the name of hamlets. 
 
 IVewcastle has been already mentioned as situ- 
 ated on the south side of the entrance to Port 
 Hunter, and also as being the place whence coals 
 arc, or may be, obtained for the supply of Sydney. 
 Originally it was a penal settlement, of trifling size, 
 and the people employed chiefly in mining the coal 
 or cutting timber. The subsequent discovery of a 
 considerable quantity of good land on the banks of 
 the river, to which Newcastle is the port, has caused 
 more interest, and the settlement begins to have a 
 commercial appearance, nor is there any question that 
 it will increase. The barge and boat navig-ation of 
 the river is of some extent, and there is a regular 
 passage to the interior, but it is tedious.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 349 
 
 The towns which have been founded at Port 
 Macquarrie, at Moreton Bay, and at Bathurst on 
 the west of the Blue Mountains, are yet compara- 
 tively in their infancy ; though those on the coast 
 will, in time, from the superiority of the land, espe- 
 cially at Moreton Bay, and the nearer approach of 
 that place to a tropical climate than the old colony, 
 make them the seats of considerable population at 
 some future period, — and the want of any communi- 
 cation with the coast must render Bathurst a sort of 
 capital to the interior. 
 
 HoBAKT Town. — Of the capital of Van Diemen's 
 Land, Mr. Widdowson gives this general descrip- 
 tion : — "The town contains about one thousand 
 houses, and the population may be computed at six 
 or seven thousand ; judging from the new buildings 
 now (1826) erecting, the number of children, and 
 the immense shoals of emigrants and convicts lately 
 arrived, I should say, that both houses and popula- 
 tion bid fair to double their numbers in a few years. 
 The houses, generally speaking, are of wood, with a 
 small garden before them, but which is usually kept 
 in a manner so slovenly as to be any thing but an 
 ornament to the premises. Almost all the new 
 buildings are either of brick or stone ; the former 
 appear of a good quality ; the freestone is very 
 beautiful, but excessively dear. Many of the houses 
 are built of rough hewn stone, and then cemented 
 with stucco." 
 
 The harbour of Hobart Town is very commo-
 
 350 THE PICTURE 
 
 dious ; and though the site upon which the town 
 is built was originally swampy, and, in consequence, 
 dirtv, it is in a state of rapid improveinent. The 
 municipal regulations were, at one time, very lax, and 
 the town was, in consequence, both dirty and dis- 
 sipated ; but a more vigilant police has been esta- 
 blished, and matters are, in consequence, very much 
 improved. The general character of the town po- 
 pulation does not, however, stand very high : they 
 live chiefly by supplying settlers, and accommodat- 
 ing them till they have found land to their tastes, 
 and they have the name of demanding very ample 
 payment for what they give. There are some small 
 townships on the Hobart Town side of the island, 
 but as yet they are small, and for a long time the 
 superiority of its harbour must make Hobart Tov/n 
 the principal place of resort. 
 
 Launceston, the principal town on the Corn- 
 wall or north side of the island, is by no means 
 so populous as Hobart Town. The situation upon 
 which it is built is fertile, but low, and contiguous 
 to a marsh ; so that the atmosphere is loaded with 
 fog, and the streets deep with mire in rainy weather. 
 But the country in the vicinity is good, and a con- 
 siderable (juantity of grain is exported ; and the 
 town must improve. Indeed the improvement has 
 besun : for the low wooden houses, in which the 
 population were originally lodged, are giving place 
 to edifices of more ample size and more lasting mate- 
 rials. Its distance from the sea must prevent Laun-
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 351 
 
 ceston from ever being such a place of resort as 
 Hobart Town, although, as the tide rises fifteen 
 feet, there must be water for considerable vessels ; 
 some of three hundred and fifty tons have taken in 
 a heavy cargo, and dropped down the river in perfect 
 safety. The land on the banks of the river is, 
 however, rather of an unpromising character, so 
 that the long navigation of forty miles of an estu- 
 ary, serves only for connecting the interior Avith 
 the sea. 
 
 In consequence of the distance up the river to 
 Launceston, George Town was established on the 
 estuary nearer the sea. Hitherto there has been 
 little to attract settlers to the new town, the chief 
 trade of the river having been with Sydney, in ves- 
 sels not exceeding two hundred tons burden ; and 
 as such can pass up and down the estuary with 
 facility and safety, a lighterage of produce to 
 George Town would be a loss rather than a gain. 
 The situation and environs of the town are re- 
 markably sterile, so that the place has no attrac- 
 tion, for any other purpose than as a military or a 
 carrying station. Military stations are not much 
 wanted in Australia ; and from what has been said, 
 it appears that this one is not, in the mean time, 
 required for the other purpose.
 
 352 THE PICTURE 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Colonial Population. 
 
 Of a population so formed as that in New South 
 Wales and Van Diemen's Land has been, it is by 
 no means easy to give a correct estimate. The total 
 number may be estimated, in New South Wales, 
 at from forty to fifty thousand, about eqvial to that 
 of a third-rate European city. Of this population, 
 about one half consists of convicts in a state of 
 servitude, of whom a considerable number work in 
 chains ; and among them all, the women bear but a 
 small proportion to the men. About a fifth more 
 may consist of emancipated convicts, and of the 
 remaining twelve thousand, nearly one half may 
 be reckoned as born in the country — so that the 
 voluntary emigrants from England, including office
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 353 
 
 bearers and military, do not exceed six, or, at the 
 most, seven thousand. The natives, too, perambu- 
 late the streets, and visit the settlements, armed 
 with their spears and waddies, so that the present 
 population, as well as the elements from which, and 
 the example by which, future generations are to be 
 formed, are of the most motley description. Legis- 
 lation is the effect, and not the cause, of national 
 character ; and, therefore, there are no means of 
 making the character of this people English, or 
 even of giving it a permanent principle of union. 
 The small portion that is without any taint must 
 look down, not only upon the much larger portion 
 that is in servitude or in chains, subject to martial 
 law, and debarred from even the private rights of 
 citizenship, but also upon those who, though now 
 free from the actual punishment of their offences, 
 are neighbours only because they have once been 
 criminals. This is an evil which time only can 
 heal, and in which the curative process can begin 
 only when fresh bands of criminals cease to be im- 
 ported. Nor is it confined only to the actual 
 criminals, but will descend as a legacy to their 
 children ; it being difficult to separate from these 
 a certain portion of the odium of their fathers' con- 
 duct, and not very easy to get rid of the belief that 
 they deserve it, even though that belief has no 
 foundation in fact. Those who look only at the 
 individual fact, may complain that there is hardship
 
 354 THE PICTURE 
 
 in this, and that is the view that the law should 
 take of it, — as the instant that it either acquits or 
 condemns on any other grovmd than the facts of the 
 case before it, it becomes liable to error, and may 
 be the dupe of groundless calumny, or of false 
 praise, resting upon no better foundation. With 
 society, however, the case is different, and that which 
 would be cruelty in the law becomes prudence there. 
 The stigma Avhich guilt leaves acts as a preventive 
 of crime, and the benefit of character is one of the 
 stong holds by which character is preserved. But 
 there is no need for arguing the principle of that 
 want of cordiality which exists among the mixed 
 population of New South Wales ; it is what any one 
 acquainted with human nature wouk. cpect ; and 
 it is what is found to exist. 
 
 So far as respects those who are actually criminals, 
 the case does not admit of a direct remedy ; because 
 if men in different states or aspects of society are to 
 meet upon terms of equality, they must meet half 
 way ; and the necessity of this is the same whether 
 the ground of distinction lie in the rank or wealth, 
 in intellectual acquirements or in moral character. 
 Nay, it is not even a half-way meeting, for the party 
 that has to descend must move over the greater part 
 of the distance, — more especially if it be a movement 
 of the whole of the one class toward the whole of the 
 other, and the disparity in numbers such as has been 
 stated as existing in Australia.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 355 
 
 But between the free emigrants and those who are 
 born in the colony, that unity which is so essential to 
 the prosperity of a community, especially of one that 
 has its land to reclaim from a state of nature, and all 
 the machinery of its domestic economy to put in 
 motion, there are animosities arising from other 
 causes. One of these is the application of generic 
 names. Those who are born in the colony are called 
 Currency, and those of English or European birth, 
 and who have not found their way there in svich a 
 manner as to entitle them to the cant name of Legi- 
 timates, are called Sterling. It happened, too, that 
 when some idle officer, who had more pretensions to 
 humour than title to understanding, imposed those 
 names, the currency of the covmtry was depreciated 
 below the value of sterling money. The names, 
 Curre7icy and Sterling thus became at once badges 
 of inferiority and superiority, and tended to set the 
 two classes of the people against each other. The 
 history of all ages and countries is full of accounts of 
 the mischief that has arisen from names. The fact 
 is, that in all cases where party animosity extends to 
 a great number of persons, it is the name, and 
 the name only, that influences the majority. Of 
 abstract justice, both sides have often a pretty 
 equal share — haply no share at all ; and few of the 
 number that rally at the name have any indivi- 
 dual grievance which would be made lighter by 
 the triumph of the party ; but they are not upon
 
 356 THE PICTURE 
 
 that account the less intolerant or persisting in their 
 animosity. 
 
 Now the separation of the Currency from the 
 Sterling, which has been occasioned by application 
 and the use of these names, has disjoined those whose 
 interest it ought to have been to unite, as they are 
 each in possession of information that would be use- 
 ful to the other. The emigrant from England 
 brings with him, or receives in his correspondence, 
 the information of Europe, which cannot fail in 
 being useful to those who are born in a society so 
 small and so scattered as that of Australia ; while the 
 native of the colony lias, on the other hand, an ex- 
 perimental knowledge of it, which must prove just 
 as useful to the emigrant. 
 
 Of the character of the colony-bom population 
 there are but few data for judging. Probably it is 
 not very easily obtained in the colony ; and certainly 
 nothing has been published bearing the stamp of that 
 philosophical observation and impartiality which are 
 absolutely necessary. If we can believe the reports 
 that have been made, they are more moral and regu- 
 lar in their habits than the population from the 
 mother country ; but whether that applies to the 
 latter generally, or to that portion only which has 
 been emancipated from the convict state, is not men- 
 tioned. In their physical character there appears to 
 be a slight deterioration ; they grow up more rapidly 
 than in England, and begin to decay sooner : and
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 357 
 
 though they have not become dark, they are sallow- 
 in their complexions. These are changes that might 
 be expected : the unsettled climate of England, 
 which is so often the ground of complaint, is really 
 that which renders the constitutions of Englishmen 
 so robust and so pliant to all countries and climates, 
 though it diminishes that rapidity of growth, by 
 which people, less knit and durable, spring up. In 
 England the change of weather comes before the child 
 has had time to be so habituated to the former State 
 as that the change shall reqviire a great effort of 
 nature ; while, when the year is halved, or even 
 quartered, between the dry and the rainy, the transi- 
 tion from the one to the other gives a shock to the 
 constitution. 
 
 The colonial population of Van Diemen's Land 
 amounts probably to about half the number in New 
 South Wales : and as they are diffused over a much 
 smaller extent, the country has more the appearance 
 of being peopled. There are not the same animosi- 
 ties between the different classes as in Sydney, 
 though Hobart Town has also been the seat of no 
 small portion of squabbling. Van Diemen's Land 
 has been much more infested by escaped convicts, 
 among whom there have been some of the most re- 
 volting traits of villainy that are any where to be met 
 Avith. In the remote settlements the blacks are also 
 more destructive and implacable than near Sydney — 
 no doubt because they have got more provocation,
 
 358 THE PICTURE 
 
 especially from the bush-rangers, who, till they were 
 literally hunted down, prowled in bands, were armed, 
 and sometimes, according to the accounts, fed upon the 
 bodies of their victims. These enormities, however, 
 have been much checked, and the population of both 
 colonies is in a state of improvement.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 359 
 
 I 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 INSTITUTIONS CULTIVATED PRODUCE. 
 
 New South "Wales and Van Diemen's Land are 
 undei- the controul of governors, — he of the former 
 being Governor General, but the latter having the 
 power of acting independently in his absence. Each 
 of the governors is assisted by a Legislative Council of 
 seven persons, chiefly, it is believed, composed of the 
 principal stipendiaries of the Government, and sworn 
 to secrecy. The governors are appointed by the 
 crown, and the councils, in the first instance, by the 
 same ; but the blanks are filled up by the governor : 
 so that the whole power, legislative, financial, and 
 executive, is in him, controuled by the British acts 
 of parliament. There are separate courts of law and 
 equity for New South Wales and Hobart Town ; 
 but in the other parts, any case involving above ten 
 pounds must be carried to these.
 
 360 THE PICTURE 
 
 The decrees of the government are promulgated 
 in those colonial newspapers which are accounted 
 official ; and, as might be expected, they are warmly 
 commented on by the opposition papers, which are 
 the only vehicle of popular opinion. 
 
 For the education of the poor there are a good 
 many schools, the teachers of which are paid out of 
 the public funds. In these the first rudiments of 
 education only are taught : and as they are chiefly 
 upon the mechanical, or, as it is somewhat unfortu- 
 nately termed, the " national" system, their in- 
 fluence upon the minds, and, consequently, upon the 
 morals, cannot be very great. Keepers of boarding 
 schools for both sexes find employment among the 
 more wealthy settlers ; and these advertise an abun- 
 dant list of subjects, but no estimate has been taken 
 of their own capacity. If the native waiting can be 
 depended on as a criterion, the intellectual state of 
 Australia does not rank very high, either in extent or 
 in acciu-acy of information, — though perhaps as high 
 as, under all the circumstances, could be looked for. 
 An institution has been formed at which some of the 
 native children are educated, and these are reported 
 as making equal progress with the whites. But it has 
 been mentioned, that the natives are remarkable for 
 their powers of imitation, and also that the teaching is 
 mechanical, and therefore their adroitness in con- 
 ning by rote is no proof whatever of intellectual 
 axjquirement. It is said, too, that the natives who 
 have been thus educated prefer the free range of the
 
 OF AUSTKALIA. 3fjl 
 
 bush to the labour of colonial life, even with all its 
 superior accommodations. 
 
 Australia has not yet been formed into a diocese, 
 but is under the Bishop of Calcutta, who has thus 
 a range of territorial jurisdiction not much inferior 
 to the Pope himself. The establishment consists of 
 twelve clergymen, under the superintendance of an 
 Archdeacon, who has projected, if not already carried 
 into execution, a superior kind of public seminary at 
 Sydney, at which such of the native youth as may 
 be so disposed, can be prepared for the English col- 
 leges. 
 
 The cvdtivated produce includes all the more use- 
 ful descriptions of animals and vegetables. Great 
 attention is paid to the breeds, and high prices are 
 often paid for choice stock from the mother covmtry. 
 Except where the land is very elevated, it is, at first, 
 better adapted for cattle than for sheep ; though, 
 after a time, the latter have been found to answer so 
 well, that Merino wool, of the finest quality, is pro- 
 duced in both islands, and may soon be in such 
 quantity as to form a valuable export for the colonists, 
 and an equally valuable import for the mother coun- 
 try. That the natives of New South Wales should 
 send their wool to a distance of sixteen thousand 
 miles, and receive back cloth, into the manufacture 
 of which it enters, from the same distance, may seem 
 a little absurd ; but it is not so in reality, as the ex- 
 pense of preparing the requisite machinery would 
 exceed the freight both ways, as well as including 
 
 R
 
 362 
 
 THE PICTURE 
 
 the M'ages and profits of all the parties intermediate 
 between the grower and the consumer. There is a 
 division of labour among countries, as well as indi- 
 viduals ; and we believe the facts have already shewn, 
 that the Australian colonists may be more naturally 
 and more profitably employed in extending their 
 agriculture, than in any mechanical art, in which 
 complicated machinery, and great practical dexterity 
 and experience, ai'e required. If they had attended 
 a little more to the native resources of their covmtry, 
 and the best means of turning these to account by 
 simple operations, and had been less solicitous about 
 manufacturing, there is no question that they would 
 have been a little wiser, as well as a little wealthier, 
 than they are at present. Their breweries and dis- 
 tilleries, as well as their manufactories of leather, 
 carriages, and all other matters for rural purposes, 
 are both necessary and praiseworthy ; but, even 
 though other circumstances were not against it, the 
 great bulk of their labourers are not of a character 
 to be trusted with products valuable in a small bulk, 
 or immediately available as merchandize, or even 
 with valuable tools. 
 
 Of grain crops, wheat and Indian corn are the 
 staple about Sydney ; and the latter gets more and 
 more the staple northwards ; while wheat is more 
 a])undant in Van Diemen's Land. The wheat which 
 is grown upon the flooded lands in New South Wales, 
 is inferior to that on the lands not flooded ; and spelt 
 wheat, which, in the colony, is confounded with, or
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 363 
 
 rather mistaken for, Siberian barley, is pretty exten- 
 sively cultivated under the general name of skinless 
 barley. Neither barley, properly so called, nor oats, 
 is very profitable in New South Wales, though both 
 thrive very well in the southern colony. The seed 
 time in New South Wales is in June, for barley and 
 oats, though they may be sown a month later ; and 
 wheat answers best when sown a month, or even two 
 months, earlier. Indian corn is most profitably 
 planted in October, though it may succeed any 
 time from the beginning of that month to the 
 middle of December : its produce, on the richest 
 flooded lands, is about ninety bushels an acre ; 
 barley and oats about half as much ; and wheat 
 about a third. On lands not flooded the crops 
 are much smaller, and they are precarious in conse- 
 quence of the droughts ; but, with the exception of 
 Indian corn, the grain, when the crops do not fail, is 
 of superior quality, so much so that, measure for 
 measure, the wheat is about fifteen per cent, heavier. 
 In Van Diemen's Land, the seed-time is a month oi- 
 six weeks later than in New South Wales, though 
 wheat may be sown in November, and reaped in 
 March. Indeed, upon favourable situations in that 
 colony, the farmer has a great range both for seed-time 
 and for harvest. The barley of Van Diemen''s Land 
 is not, however, the barley of England ; but a grain 
 which contains more gluten, and is, on that account, 
 not so well adapted for malting. 
 
 Potatoes are not good in New South Wales ; but
 
 364 thp: ricTURE 
 
 they are abundant, and of better quality, in the other 
 colony, where they form an article of export to 
 Sydney. The different species of pulse are not, we 
 believe, much cultivated, and beans will not pod, 
 even in Van Diemen''s Land. Turnips swell to an 
 immense size there, but are rather spongy. That 
 too is the best place for cultivating the green feed 
 used for stock in Europe. 
 
 The agriculture of both colonies is rather slovenly, 
 inasmuch as, with indifferent tillage and no dress- 
 ing, they grow the same crop on the same land 
 for a dozen of years running. Therefore, seven 
 years at least of more skilful cultivation must pass 
 over before the agricultural value of the rich lands 
 between the Derwent and the Tamar can be accurately 
 decided — if, indeed, its continuing to yield any sort 
 of crop of wheat, for the number of years and with 
 the treatment above mentioned, be not at once deci- 
 sive in its favour. As the evidence stands with re- 
 gard to the settled parts of New Holland and Van 
 Diemen's Land, the conclusion, though but an im- 
 perfect one, seems to be that the former is, except 
 for Indian corn, less fit for agriculture than the latter, 
 though it be well adapted for grazing, in all situa- 
 tions where there are water and food during the dry 
 season. Van Diemen's Land, equally well adapted 
 for grazing, and less exposed to the risk of being 
 burned up, might, with proper cultivation, be made 
 liighly productive as a corn country, and supply not 
 only the sister colony, but countries at a much
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 365 
 
 greater distance. Some parts of the shores of Ncav 
 liolland are adapted to the growth of vegetables 
 which would hardly come to maturity in Van 
 Diemen''s Land. Sugar canes, as well as the coffee 
 and cotton plants, might grow in the more tropical 
 parts ; on which there is no doubt that the cocoa- 
 nut, and that most productive of all vegetables, the 
 banana, would also come to perfection. Rice, too, 
 would succeed in the flooded grounds, and tobacco 
 might be cultivated in many parts of the country. 
 Nor is there any reason to suppose that the tea-tree 
 of China might not put forth its leaves, — though it be 
 doubtful whether that be a species of culture that 
 would repay the labour any where but in China. In 
 these tropical productions, however, the colonists 
 would have to compete with countries in which their 
 growth is already well understood, and therefore a 
 considerable time must have to elapse, before they 
 could come into the general market ; and, probably, 
 a considerable time would have to elapse, before they 
 could undersell in their own country those nations 
 by whom they are at present supplied. 
 
 Cauliflower and brocoli, as well as many other 
 garden vegetables, come to perfection in New South 
 Wales, and they have a great variety of fruits. Of 
 those known in Europe, they have the grape, tlie 
 olive, the nectai'ine, the peach, and all the more com- 
 mon sorts ; while the guava, the loquat, and several 
 other tropical fruits, come to perfection. Gourds, 
 cucumbers, and melons grow freely in the open air ;
 
 366 THE PICTURE 
 
 and the pine-apple, which requires the assistance of 
 a tan-pit in England, ripens under a common hand- 
 glass. The climate is too hot for perfecting apples, 
 currants, or gooseberries, though trees are abundant. 
 Peaches are as plentiful as in the United States, 
 and are vised, as there, in the manufacture of a kind 
 of cyder, and the fattening of pigs. Van Diemen's 
 Land, from its more cold and moist climate, is better 
 adapted for the common European fruits ; though 
 there the vine comes to sufficient perfection for the 
 making of wine, which may at some time become an 
 important product of the colony. Thus, though the 
 esculent vegetables and fruits which are indigenous 
 in these colonies be few and unimportant, the list of 
 those that have been introduced is both extensive 
 and valuable.
 
 OF AUSTRALIA, 367 
 
 SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE. 
 
 The following extract of a letter from Mr. Allan 
 Cunningham, dated " Sydney, April 28th, 1829," 
 and received on the 6th of September, throws 
 important light upon the geography of the central 
 parts of New Holland. That gentleman's con- 
 jecture that a great salt river rolls from the 
 parched flat to that portion of the north-west coast 
 where Captain King found so violent a current, has 
 no small degree of plausibility ; and the whole of the 
 new facts render the more careful examination of the 
 country, and the ascent or descent of the river (if 
 such shall be found to exist) all the way to the sea, 
 far more desirable than ever. 
 
 " Captain Sturt and his party of discovery," says 
 Mr. Cunningham, " penetrated two degrees of longi- 
 tude to the westward of the point where Mr. Oxley, 
 1818, turned back in the swamps of the Macquarrie. 
 He found the same country parched with drought, 
 which in 1818 was a perfect sea, as far as could be 
 discovered. 
 
 " The Macquarrie had ceased to be a river, and 
 there Avas no trace of its bed on those vast levels 
 over which its waters are so extensively distributed
 
 368 THE PICTURE 
 
 in floods. Passing on to longitude 145°, E., in the 
 parallel of 30^, Captain Sturt was surprised to fall in 
 with a river, about lialf-a-mile wide, and flowing 
 towards the south-west, its waters being as salt as 
 strong brine. Finding a hole of freshish water, at 
 some short distance from the bank, he encamped his 
 people at it; and then, with a companion, rode down 
 the river about four miles. Finding no water to 
 drink, and that the river had become much salter, 
 they returned to the party, and got back to Mount 
 Harris, a hill on the Macquarrie. Thence they pro- 
 ceeded, till they came to the Castlereagh of Oxley, 
 which they traced to its confluence with the salt 
 river, about fifty miles from the point at which 
 Mr. Oxley had first seen it. A low depressed 
 country, destitute of food for his horses and bullocks, 
 and without fresh water, obliged him to make a 
 hasty retreat, eastward to higher ground ; and having 
 lost all his dogs, by heat and extreme exhaustion, he 
 hurried on for Bathurst ; and reached Sydney two 
 days after, — having been out since the month of 
 November. 
 
 " The result of his expedition is simply this : — 
 That below Mount Harris the country is totally 
 uninhabitable, and that for two reasons — first, in dry 
 seasons, like the present, there is no water on which 
 civilized man could subsist for six months, without 
 engendering l)owel-complaints, cutaneous diseases, 
 and other maladies. Secondly, in a season of pro- 
 tracted rain, such as I have witnessed in our colony,
 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 369 
 
 and which Mr. Oxley met with on the Macquarrie, 
 in 1818, the whole is extensively inundated. 
 
 " The ' Salt River' (discovered last January) is 
 rather a large stream, formed of the Castlereagh, 
 Macquarrie (when it exists), Mr. Oxley's Field, which 
 drains Tjiverpool Plains, his Peel, and my Gwydir 
 and Dumaresque, each two hundred yards wide, 
 discovered in 1827- These unite, and constitute 
 what is now proposed to be denominated the Darling ! 
 It is from half-a-mile to three-quarters in width, and 
 bounded by steep red banks. The circumstance of 
 its being salt is explained in this way : constituted 
 of the several streams above enumerated, it flows 
 down a declivity of covmtry to about five hundred 
 feet above the level of the sea. There (in longitude 
 one hundred and forty -five degrees east) it passes 
 through an inhospitable region, the soil of which is 
 saturated with mineral salt, — brine springs having 
 very frequently been seen boiling up a foot above 
 the surface. In consequence — notwithstanding its 
 considerable breadth — its waters are, at this dry 
 season, so perfectly charged with salt, as to render 
 them totally useless to drink. What becomes of 
 this river, Avhich is really the general drain of the 
 country, remains doubtful. I have had a long con- 
 versation with Captain Sturt, the result of which 
 has been, to induce me to give it as my opinion 
 that, although it tended south-west toward the south 
 coast, it eventually takes a decided bend to the 
 north-west ; and then (to carry on my theory of our
 
 370 THE PICTURE OF AUSTRALIA. 
 
 interior) flows across the continent to the north-west 
 side, where (in latitude 17') it is poured into the 
 ocean." 
 
 This information, though it does not overturn any 
 thing confidently stated in the preceding pages, will 
 yet render it necessary that some portions should be 
 read with a little modification, or, more strictly 
 speaking, extension. The journey of the Darling 
 River to the north-west coast, if such be its termi- 
 nation, is a long one ; but even the flood discovered 
 on the south, in the rainy season, will not admit of 
 the termination of so large a river that way ; and 
 there is at least an additional shade of probabiHty 
 given to the hypothesis of a north-western discharge 
 of some mass of salt water. On the coast partially 
 seen. Captain King met with violent currents, which, 
 without any previous knowledge of a salt river, led 
 him to conclude there must be an inland discharge ; 
 and as the source and the apparent exit of a salt 
 i-iver are discovered, it is very natural to unite 
 them, until experience shall show cause to the 
 contrary. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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