, ^^.^ RICHARD. FIRST EARL HO^E FHOM TH}lj PHIGTNvVL OF r,AIN SBOltm'GH IN THE TUl^'|■r^ udtse. loxdox DEDICATED BY fSwm AUTHORITY TO ler Mmi Qimm ^p- Miip\\\ tl)t (turn. AUSTRALIA COMPRISING HEW lOIITH WAI,II; VICTORIA OR PORT PHILIP; SOUTH AUSTRALIA; AND WESTERN AUSTRALIA: THEIR WMm\, €n|iiigriijil)i], Cmiiiitiiiii, lUsmirrffi, Itfltistirn, GOLD DISCOVERIES, MINES OF COFFER, LEAD, ETC., ETC. ; GENERAL INFORMATION FOR EMIGRANTS, MERCHANTS, MANUFACTURERS, AND SHIPOWNERS; WITH THE LATEST OFFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF HER MAJESTIES GOVERNMENT. BY R. MONTGOMERY MARTIN, ESQ., LATE TREASURER TO THE GUEEN AT HONG KONG, AND MEMBER OF HER MAJESTl's LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL IN CHINA. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY JOHN TALLIS AND COMPANY, LONDON AND NEW YORK. '"IriiU I ox Jf^iratina. TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. Madam, — . . Among your Majesty's varied and valuable Possessions in every quarter of the globe, none promise to exercise greater influence on the condition of the Bi'itish Nation in the Eastern, as well as in the Western Hemisphere, than the interesting and important settlements formed from time to time on the coast-line of the Island-continent of Australia. The singular chain of circumstances which led to the gradual annexation of this extensive region, — its almost boundless pastoral and agricultural resources, and its rapid numerical, commercial, political, and religious progress, alone suffice to render the history of this distant land one of the leading features of the present century. But when, in the middle of the year 1851, it became known that the very surface of this favoured country was thickly strewn with gold, a tide of voluntary emigration took place — unparalleled in the annals of colonization— which has ab-eady produced strange and marvellous results. To record some of these, and to place before the British Public a picture of the present condition of their enterprising fellow-subjects in Australia, is the immediate object of the writer, — who, in so doing, hopes to illustrate, however feebly, the remarkable manner in which the Ruler of Nations has vouchsafed to bestow upon England a new and unlooked-for source of wealth and power, at a period of emergency, as — 4724 g G-' ~ UBSetB DEDICATION. if in Divine recognition of the national efforts which, in the establishment of a penal settlement at the Antipodes (notwithstanding many defects and errors in the details of the scheme), were then directed, almost for the first time, to the reformation, rather than to the punishment, of criminals. This sound, because truly Christian, principle has been of late years increasingly developed, and the cordial interest evinced by your Majesty, and His Royal Highness Prince Albert, in every project which, by conducing to improve the moral and material condition of the mass of the People, increase their comforts, and elevate their tastes and habits — tends to ward off the besetting temptations peculiar to their state — is in itself a sufficient assurance that your Majesty cannot but regard with peculiar solicitude the progress of a country once a Land of Exile, but now thronged to as a Land of Promise by thousands of free and loyal British subjects. With deep respect, I beg to subscribe myself, Your Majesty's dutiful Subject, R. M. MARTIN. Kensingtok, April, 1853. Iijanpis iif tljt IBnrk. I. — Discovery of Australia — Exploration by Dutch, Spanish, French, and English navigators, and by the Inland travellers, Wentworth, Evans, Oxley, Cun- ningham, Hume, Mitchell, Sturt, Eyre, Grey, Leichardt, Kennedy, Strze- lecki, King, Stokes, Russell, Jukes, Irby, Gregory, and others. II. — Physical Features — Area, Coast-line, Bays, Havens, Rivers, and Lakes, — Mountains, Promontories, and Headlands, — Inland discoveries. III. — Geological, Mineral, and Coal formations, Volcanic and Diluvian agency, — Soil, Climate, Seasons, — Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms. IV. — New South Wales, Victoria or Port Philip, South Australia, and Swan River or Western Australia — their separate Origin, Rise, Progress, former Convict system, past history and present state as British Colonies. V. — Territorial Divisions into Counties, Cities, Towns, and Villages, — Aspect of the Country, — Peculiarities of each District, and remarkable adaptation for the abodes of Anglo-Saxon and Celtic races, — the Aborigines, their cha- racter, appearan.ce, customs, &c, VI. — Population — its distribution, moral condition, state of Religion, Education and Crime, form of Government, Taxation, and Tariff,— Expenditure, — Banks, Monetary System, Joint-stock Associations, and Public Companies, —Imports and Exports, Shipping, Staple Products,— Agriculture, Pasture, number of Sheep, Horses, and Horned Cattle,— Manufactures, Copper- SYNOPSIS OF THE WORK. mines, and Fisheries, — Waste Land, and its price, — rates of Wages and cost of Provisions, — modes of Settlement, choice of Localities, and Practical Suggestions to Emigrants VII. — Recent discoveries of Gold, — extraordinary quantity procured, and mode of obtainment — its diffusion over a large area, — Mineralogical cliai'acter of the Country, — Probable diffusion of Silver and other valuable Metals, — Beneficial effect on the Colonies and on England, — Consequences of a Navigable Ship Canal through the Isthmus of Panama on the Commerce, Navigation, and Peace of the World; and ultimate influence of Australia on British India, on China, and generally through- out the Eastern Hemisphere. l^nkt Circumstances have done more for England than principles : in other words. Divine Providence has graciously over-ruled the errors of our national policy ; and as if to reward feeble, but well-intended efforts, has enabled us to reap an abundant harvest from seed sown, as it were, at a venture. Such at least would seem to be the only reasonable explanation of the present condition of the group of colonies now under consideration. Although portions of Australia were visited, and its coast-line partially explored, by the leading maritime nations of Europe, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, they formed no colony there; England especially manifested little interest on the subject; and even the cursory examination by Captain Cook, of the eastern shore, in 1770, constituted no part of the object for which this celebrated voyage to the South Seas was undertaken. And when, towards the close of the eighteenth century, the formation of a penal station at Botany Bay was decided upon, it was not in pursuance of any defined plan of coloni- zation ; doubts indeed were entertained whether the country was capable of supporting a large number of prisoners, and events seemed to justify such fears; for, at intervals, up to the beginning of the nineteenth century, the convicts were, on several occasions, reduced to the verge of starvation ; and it was even seriously contemplated to abandon New South Wales, and remove the whole establishment to a more fertile part of the globe. Long after the settlers raised sufficient food for their own support, the place was viewed merely as a great penitentiary ; and Governor Macquarrie used to say it was only fit for those who had been, or those who deserved to be, transported. Even when the capabilities of the settlement began to be better understood, and free emigrants were attracted thither, successive Secretaries of State objected to its further extension ; and individual enterprise, not national policy, prompted the gradual and distinct measures by which the whole of Australia has been eventually engrafted on the British Empire. Nor is it only in the mere annexation of this vast region that the operations of a superintending Providence have been clearly manifested : the same influence may be traced in almost every step that has been taken, from the day on which the Union Jack first waved on the shores of Sydney Cove to the present period. The want of animal food ; the distance of any land from whence it could be readily obtained; and the general ignorance of the convicts and their guards of agriculture, necessitated an early attention to pastoral pursuits, whereby the foundation was laid for the immense flocks and herds which have proved so safe a basis for the numerical increase and growing commerce of the settlement. When the colonists were straitened for new pasturage, the Blue Mountain or coast-line ridge, which seemed to form an almost impenetrable barrier, was scaled, and the Bathurst, WeUington, and adjoining Downs, rewarded the courage and perseverance of the explorers. viu PREFACE. There the fine-woollecl sheep which the apathetic Dutch rejected at the Cape of Good Hope, multiplied with extraordinary rapidity, on a nutritious and perennial herhage; and the foresight of an English gentleman (John M'Arthur), who narrowly escaped heing hanged for alleged treason, but whose patriotism and public spirit deserved a coronet, by careful attention to the introduction of improved Merino and Saxon breeds, laid the foundation of the modern " Golden Fleece/' By granting local pardons to well-conducted prisoners, to whom small farms, seed- corn, and stock were furnished; by issuing "tickets of leave" to others, who were thus enabled to work on their own account ; by inducing retired officers from the army and navy, and other respectable settlers^ to make Australia their home, on receiving consider- able tracts of fine land; the preparatory stage of a healthy colonial existence was quickly passed, and the varied resources derivable from a rich soil and genial clime became manifest. The primeval forest was felled, the virgin earth yielded abundant increase, the aborigines few, widely scattered, and in the lowest state of barbarism, offered no resistance to the spread of population ; villages arose in the wilderness, which good roads, constructed by convict labour, soon tended to convert into townships ; well-filled barns, extensive sheep-pens, and large stock-yards delighted the eye ; ships crowded the noble harbour of Sydney, and those who a few short years before saw gaunt famine staring them in the face, now beheld plenty rewarding all who, \\hatever their antecedents had been, had learned to regard industry and probity as the duties of Hfe. These extraordinary results, but especially the wonderful and almost unlocked for reformation which had taken place among a large part of the convicts, awakened con- siderable interest in the British public, and overcame the habitual indiflPerence with which events occurring at the other end of the earth, were, while ail communication was scanty and imperfect, not unnaturally regarded. At this period the difficulties of forming new settlements on the coast-line were materially diminished by the prosperity of New South Vv'^ales ; and almost, despite the wishes, certainly comparatively unaided by government, Port Philip (Victoria), South Australia, and other localities, were taken possession of by enterprising and intelligent adventurers, and thousands of men and women of unspotted character migrated from the United Kingdom, and sought in Australia the competence or distinction they could not reasonably expect to obtain in England. By this means the population was both increased and leavened ; and having passed the preliminary stage in which convict labour proves beneficial, became anxious for the discontinuance of its importation, which was at length conceded, and the transportation of criminals to New South Wales finally ceased in 1840. Since that time the prisoners previously introduced have gradually obtained their freedom by pardon or by servitude, and become absorbed among the rest of the inhabitants. The progress of the Australian colonies, however, at one period received a severe check, for while agriculture and commerce were there advancing with rapid strides, impracticable but plausible theories prevailed in the Imperial Legislature over the dictates of experience and sound principle; and, contrary to the wishes of the colonists at New South Wales and Victoria (Port Philip), and to the opinion of the Governor, Sir Richard Bourke, a high was substituted for a moderate price for crowji lands, and consequently the man whose sole property was his labour, could no longer ( IlKtST CIU'UCH, OXl-'ORD. jON j!tjiiJ4wyoi(x . PREFACE. reasonably expect, by diligence and tbrift, to become eventually the proprietor of the soil which he tilled. The stream of immigration was by this ill-judged policy in great measure diverted from the land, where its fertilizing influence was so beneficial; and excessive speculation being followed by an almost complete cessation of all land-sales, ended in a colonial " panic," and a general and deplorable depreciation of property. But out of a serious error good was educed ; there being no buyers at the ' sufficient price,^ which, though never defined, would yet appear to have invariably signified an extravagantly high relative rate, it was deemed expedient to lease cattle-runs of great extent, for short stated periods, at almost nominal rents. By this unavoidable compromise, the fallacies of the system which necessitated it were clearly proved ; for while the declared object of that system, — concentration, was intended to be accomplished by rendering land so dear that it could be purchased only in very limited portions, if at all, by small capitalists, who it was supposed would consequently be compelled to congregate together, its actual eflFect was the very reverse ; nor, indeed, is it easy to conceive any measure, better calculated, under the peculiar circumstances of the country, to promote dispersion, by inducing enterprising and energetic men to renounce in despair the acquisition and improvement of farms of their own, and betake themselves with their herds and flocks to the vast plains, whose abundant pasturage they well knew the local authorities could not but grant them permission to enjoy on easy terms, having no executive force adequate to their expulsion. The profits of sheep-farming at length became noised abroad in the United Kingdom, and soon attracted thence an educated class with some capital, who having invested it in the purchase of superior breeds of cattle and sheep, took possession, as "squatters," of the grassy wastes of the interior, where the foot of civilized man, or the hoof of domesticated animals, had never before trodden. On wide-spread downs, in each valley, beside every rivulet, and on all available spots, stock-stations were formed by men of gentle blood, many of whom had graduated at Oxford and Cambridge, and by hundreds of bold and hardy spirits, who preferred the rough bush-life of sunny Australia with its numerous discomforts, but present independence, and prospects of speedy affluence, to an inglorious existence and hard struggle to maintain at home the station in which they had been born and nurtured. Thus arose a new race of citizens, who must eventually exercise considerable influence in their adopted counti'y. Their employment did not, however, continue so profitable as it had at first been, or as it afterwards again became. An unlimited range of fresh herbage caused the depas- turing animals to multiply everywhere with extraordinary rapidity, while at the same time a commercial depression in Europe occasioned a large reduction in the value of wool. The price of sheep fell to one or two shillings per head, and horned cattle in proportion. The best fresh meat was from a halfpenny to a penny per pound, and so abundant as to be scarcely saleable at any price. This very excess suggested a partial remedy ; vats were constructed wherein entire carcases of fat animals were boiled down, and tallow of excellent quality, and in considerable quantities, was added to the staple exports of the colonies. But this resource alone was insufficient for the eficctual relief of the settlers, and could not prevent many mercantile failures, and much distress ; the high price of land still precluded the immigration of thousands of small capitalists, whose steps were meanwhile DIV. I. b PREFACE. powerfully attracted to the United States, where land was sold at the rate of 55. per acre, and where a comparatively poor man with a large family could soon become a comfortable farmer, and bestow upon his children the means of acquiring an honest and improving livelihood. Political discontent, which frequently accompanies financial em- barrassment, added to the present trials despondency as to the future prosperity of the Australian colonies ; many persons quitted their shores, and capitalists con- sidered that as a site for the profitable employment of accumulated wealth, their items of production were few, and their value overrated. The truth was, that of their numerous resources only the pastoral had yet been fau'ly developed; the Bui'ra-Burra, and other rich copper mines of South Australia, opened up a new source of profit ; but the vast agricultural capabilities of all the colonies were yet as a sealed book, from the want of labourers to till the fertile soil. At the same time the United Kingdom was burdened with a redundant population, occasioning enormous parochial assessments for the support of the able-bodied poor, and gi'ievously increasing the national taxation, that necessitated the onerous and harassing fiscal system, under which eight and-twenty million sterling were annually raised to pay the interest of a debt of eight hundred million sterling, contracted mainly during the late war with France, in a depre- ciated paper-money, and which it was decreed in 1819, should be paid in gold at the rate of ,£3 17s. lO^d. per oz., although it was then supposed there was not that amount of the precious metal on or beneath the surface of the globe. This arbitrary enactment benefited creditors, both public and private, at the expense of debtors. Thus loans, mortgages, or other pecuniary liabilities, contracted in paper notes, under every variety of depressing circumstances, were suddenly fixed like a millstone to the necks of the unfortunate borrowers, including of course the great bulk of the nation, whose burdens were doubled while their means were halved. These social evils were aggravated by a sudden and total alteration in the commercial policy of the empire, by the free admission of foreign commodities to compete with home productions, although the circulating medium which regulated the demand as well as controlled the supplying power of the domestic manufacturer, was fettered by the restrictive bullion law of 1819, silver being still merely a legal tender to the amount of 40*., bank notes issuable only in proportion to the quantity of the precious metal in the coffers of the several banks, to which another restrictive law of 1 844 virtually granted a monopoly of paper issues throughout the United Kingdom. The long continuance of such an incongruous combination was impossible, the more so as the United States, France, Germany, and other countries, declined to follow our example, and reduce their protective or high revenue tariffs; either the free trade measures, or the bullion laws of 1819, and the banking regulations of 1841, must have been repealed. Unless the declared standard of value (gold) could be obtained in hitherto unheard-of quantities, it was utterly impossible for Great Britain to compete with the comparatively untaxed nations of the world; unless her landed proprietory received a fair rental by means of moderate agricultural profits, the basis on which her financial system and political constitution were formed must be changed; high taxation and low wages could not long co-exist; a scarcity of money was incompatible with remunerative employment, and could not but largely increase the growing difiiculties attendant on the maintenance of public and private credit. PREFACE. xi The crisis was of unparalleled magnitude, and well calculated to alarm even the leaders of the Free Trade party in and out of Parliament, while it justified the forebodings of their opponents, who pronounced the change too rapid and sweeping for an old established commercial community, and considered that the advantage of untaxed imports, ought as a preliminary measure, to have been first extended exclusively to British Colonies; but despondency gave way to hope, the fears of those who predicted danger to the state were allayed, and a bright gleam of joy spread over the land on learning — first, the wonderful discovery of gold in California, and next that the slopes of the Blue Mountain range, and the ravines of the Australian Cordillera, surpassed, in auriferous deposits, the valley of the Sacramento, and the forks of the Sierra Nevada. It was seen, as if by magic, that the country for hundreds of miles was thickly strewn with gold, that the glittering ore was even scattered in masses, some of one hundred-weight, over the sheep downs, and that the very roads had been made, and the parish bridges built with stones in which the much-coveted metal was largely and visibly imbedded. Tens of thousands hastened to the land of promise ; gold to the value of several million sterling has been collected during the past year; relief to some extent has already been afforded to the trading classes in the mother-country, and Australia is now basking in the sunshine of prosperity. Can a revelation so astounding as this be deemed accidental ? or are there in moral, any more than in material existence, effects without definite causes? To minds accustomed to acknowledge and trace the workings of a special Providence, the progress of our Australian Colonies, from their very commencement up to this great epoch in the history of the whole civilized world, must ever furnish a most interesting field for thought and investigation ; nor will those who can duly appreciate the immense benefit which England is in various ways now receiving from Australia, venture to disregard or question the grave responsibility connected therewith. The gold discovery, viewed apart from its remarkable effect on the nation which it more immediately concerns, is in itself a marvellous thing ; and, probably, could the daring adventurers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, who ploughed unknown seas ; or the alchemists, who spent laborious and ascetic lives, in searching for nature's hidden treasures, or seeking by half-chemical, half-mystical, but all delusive schemes, to obtain abundant wealth for themselves or their patrons, be empowered to revisit their former abode, nothing would more excite their wonder than the fact, that the precious metal for which they had so yearned and striven, was now daily and hourly gathered in larger or smaller quantities, by men, women, and children ; the pursuit being, however, attended even to the present moment with a degree of uncertainty which often sets skill and industry at defiance, and still renders gold-seeking somewhat of a lottery; if indeed that word can be justly applied to any system in which gains, whether great or small, are procured by honest labour, and where no man is "lucky" at the expense of another. Besides its uncertainty, a yet more peculiar characteristic remains as marked as ever, and has tended, in the minds of the more tJioughtful and religious portion of the com- munity, to lessen the satisfaction with which the announcement of the recent discoveries has been received. Neither Christians nor moralists can forget that in all ages and in every country, the arch enemy of mankind has found the love of money the most potent element of seduction, and by its influence has induced millions to barter peace here and happiness hereafter, in its acquirement ; their eager cravings being first inflamed xu PREFACE. by fallacious expectations of the power, influence, or luxuries, obtainable through its means, and often ending in that most strange infatuation, a desire for the ore itself, not as a means but as an end. The multitudes of both black and white victims whose lives have been worked out in gloomy mines, to supply food for the insatiable avarice of a comparatively few mighty tyrants, have associated in the minds of many good men the idea of gold with that of blood and covetousness j but this connexion is now scarcely reasonable, since it has pleased the Almighty disposer of events to reveal its extensive distribution under circumstances which permit of its being reaped abundantly, only by free and willing labourers. The treasure thus wonderfully provided at the proper moment to meet the exigencies of the present age, is, like every other power, fraught with blessing in its use, and with a curse if abused. If well directed, this flow of gold may circulate as it were through the veins of the British empire, remedy the drain occasioned by costly wars, strengthen the enterprise of the people, and produce a sound financial con- dition j but it is unhappily possible that these new and unlooked-for resources may be crimi- nally la\ished in the very same way by which we had before become fettered and weakened. That the gold so much needed by Britain and her colonies, and the life and energy more needed still, should be squandered in attempting the expatriation or extermination of the Kafirs, or in aggressive Indian wars, when nothing but judicious government and a defensive instead of offensive system is really required for the maintenance of peace, is nothing less than a provoking of Providence, which perhaps would have long since brought down a fearful doom, but for the utter ignorance of the true state of the case which prevails among the mass of the people, the difficulties which surround their rulers, and the hearty efforts m.ade in the right path, whenever that path is clearly recognised. To return from this digression, — our imperfect knowledge respecting the extensive dis- tribution of gold, and its probable consequences, leaves wide room for conjecture. Whether the precious metal may not yet be discovered in large masses, either in mountain crevices, or deeply imbedded in the bowels of the earth ? — what result its obtainment in abundance similar to that of copper ore, would have upon the value of property? — whether the National Debt, contracted in depreciated paper, would then be paid off in depreciated gold ? — whether European nations may not eventually be obliged to adopt another monetary standard, or abandoning coin, resort to the system practised by the Chinese since the days of Confucius, of making lumps or bars of the precious metals, of varying size but stated fineness, the medium of exchange ; or as in Russia, giving to platina the place so long filled by the " yellow dust?'^ — all these are at present mere speculative inquiries, but no man dares venture to predict how long they may remain so. Any immediate superfluity appears, however, highly improbable ; for when we consider the intimate connexion between a restricted currency and a suffering population, and recollect the millions of European labourers half-fed, badly clothed, and worse lodged, and the immense tracts of land requiring tillage and drainage, the canals, railroads, and other public works, that want of funds, not labour, prevents from being undertaken; — there would seem little reason to fear that though the annual aggi'egate yield of gold from both Australia and California, estimated at twenty to thirty million, should even be increased, any material alterations would be thereby necessitated in the fiscal systems of European nations by the augmenting money value of private property, for the next ten years at least. The present is a critical period, — that ever must be so which confers on a nation or PREFACE. xiii an individual an object coveted with ardent but almost hopeless desire. The boon has been bestowed in so wonderful a manner, that it must of necessity be received in the first instance chiefly by the poorest class, though eventually its influence will become general. It is unquestionably a mighty power for good or for evil ; but it would seem to carry with it now, in its very difi'usion, a moral not to be mistaken or overlooked ; teaching that, whether trodden ignorantly under foot, or lying hidden and hoarded in the coff'ers of the miser, the purest gold is worthless as the veriest dross. Rightly employed, its useful- ness, though simply as an admirable and (if sufficient in quantity) almost unexceptionable representative of value is incalculable : for what printing is to letters, — the compass to navigation, — steam to locomotion, — electricity to the spread of intelligence, — an efficient circulating medium is to commerce and colonization. For five-and-twenty years I have feebly but unceasingly advocated the still unappre- ciated importance of our Colonies, and preached colonization as the safety-valve of the British Empire. I have lived long enough to see views and suggestions once deemed theoretical, carried into successful operation; and ideas, then termed wild fancies, de- veloped into sober realities. Formerly, indeed, the signs of the times were less clearly manifested than at present ; but their character was essentially the same. There was then, as now, an increasingly dense population in England and Ireland, comprising an aristo- cratic class, sometimes, though by no means invariably wealthy, but whose parks, pleasure- grounds, and preserves, frequently enclose an amount of fallow-land which can ill be spared from the agricultural requirements of the country ; a millionaire class, composed of persons who have attained their position by fortunate speculation ; a middle class, con- taining the comparatively few who have inherited a degree of affluence, or at least an easy competence, or earned such by the judicious and successful application of earlier years ; and the many, who, whether their positions be fixed in the counting-house of the merchant or banker, or behind the tradesman's counter, are struggling with difficulties known only to themselves; but besides these, remains a class far larger than all the foregoing put together — constituting the base of the social pyramid — comprising, in fact, the great mass of the people — living from hand to mouth, dependent on the scanty and precarious wages derived from daily toil, and without a prospect for old age, or in the event of sickness but eleemosynary aid in some form, probably that of the parish poor-house or a public hospital. That there are these institutions for the succour of the helpless is indeed the glory of England ; but that they should be so extensively needed is a heavy misfortune, occasioned, or at least aggravated by the superabundant population which, joined to a restricted currency, like an incubus, weighs down the energies of the nation, and has made human labour obtainable for the cost of the lowest elements of mere animal existence. Such a state of things is inevitably fraught with danger to the established order of society, even under the most just and liberal constitution, and the spread of knowledge among the lower classes rather increases than lessens the danger. Education in its true sense, that is, the inculcation of sound practical principles, is a priceless boon which can never produce any save beneficial results; but mere instruction in reading and writing, or in the higher branches of study, whether conferred upon the child of royalty or of the most abject poverty, is in itself simply a means which may be used either for a good or a bad end. Heavy indeed is the responsibility of those who cultivate the intellect, whether of young or old, without striving to direct the affections also. But even when this joint- XIV PREFACE. effort is conscientiously made^ it must; we know, and alas ! often does fail ; and certain it is tliat worldly teaching takes root readily in the soil where the good seed perishes. The probable eff'ect of a class numerically superior, becoming imbued with a sense of their actual condition,, cannot but be alarming, unless they were at the same time sedulously trained in those Christian precepts which, if followed out, must equally prevent external wars or internal revolutions. From this danger a way of escape is open, and hundreds of thousands, drawn by an unlooked-for attraction, instead of struggling for a hard-earned pittance in the ci'owded labour-market (whether physical or intellectual) of the United Kingdom, are acquiring an improving livelihood among their own countrymen, in a wider and more advantageous sphere of action, distant it is true from the spot on which they were born, but yearly brought nearer to England by rapid and frequent com- munication. Upwards of half a million of the British race are now located in Australia : they possess in abundance all the necessaries, most of the comforts, and many of the luxuries of life. The four colonies as yet only cover a limited portion of the great Island- Continent, but they are so richly gifted with all the requisites for the support of a large population, that it may, without exaggeration, be asserted that they could beneficially receive annually, for the next twenty years, at least one hundred thousand of the popula- tion of the British Isles. Abundant labour would, without doubt, have a most beneficial effect upon Australia, its millions of acres of rich arable land might then be tilled ; its vast and ever-verdant pastures covered with myriads of sheep and horned cattle, adequate to the supply of Europe, with whatever may be in demand of wool, hides, and animal food ; its apparently inexhaustible gold, copper, and other mines extensively worked, and the mystery of its still unknown interior fully revealed. With regard, however, to the parent state, a fear is expressed that injury may accrue from an increasing rate of emigration, and that, to use a popular phrase, " the steam is being let off too fast ;" the facts stated in the following tables afford, perhaps, the most satisfactory reply that can be ofifered to these natural apprehensions : — Emigration from the United Kingdom, since 1815. Year. No. Year. No. Year. No. Year. No. Year. No. Year No. Year. No. Year. No. 181-5 1816 1817 1818 1819 2,081 12,510 20,634 27,787 34,787 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 25,729 18,297 20,429 16,550 14,025 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 14,891 20,900 28,003 26,092 31,198 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 56,907 83,160 103,140 62,527 76,222 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 44,478 1840 75,417 1841 72,034 1842 90,743 118,592 128,341 57,212 70,686 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 93,501 129,851 258,270 248,099 299,498 1850 1851 1852 Total . 280,849 335.966 368,764 62,207 1844 3,463,292 Note. — During this period of thirty-eight years the total number of emigrants has been 3,463,292, exclusive of 2,986 who proceeded to Australia between the years 1821 and 1825, not recorded in the Custom House returns. The annual average for the entire period was 91,217. Of the whole emigrants 2,064,574 went to the United States, 1,036,717 to British North America, 319,365 to Australia, Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand, and 51,921 to various other places. Progressive increase of Population during the satne period. Divisions. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. England AVales Scotland Ireland 9,538,827 611,788 1,805,688 5,937,856 11,261,437 717,438 2,093,456 6,801,827 13,091,005 806,182 2,365,114 7,767,401 14,995,138 911,603 2,620,184 8,175,124 16,918,513 999,198 2,888,742 6,515,794 Total .... 17,894,159 20,784,158 24,029,702 26,782,149 27,322,247 PREFACE. XV la 1811 the population of the United Kingdom was (allowing for an imperfect census of Ireland) about 18,000,000; at present it may be stated, in round numbers, at about 27,500,000, showing a difference, in forty years, of 9,500,000 ; if to this be added the number who have emigrated during this period, say 3,500,000, we have an aggregate increase of 13,000,000, which, for the entire forty years, would give a rate of 325,000 per annum. The increase at present may be taken at 1| per cent, per annum, which would give a yearly augmentation of about 400,000 ; supposing therefore the whole of this number emigrated, there would still be a population too dense for these islands, unless there were a considerable expansion of the currency and a very large reduction of taxation. Density of Population to the Square 3Iile. Details. England. 50,387 Wales. Ireland. Scotland. Total. Area in squai-e miles 7,425 32,512 28,896 119,219 Population in June, 1851 . . . 16,918,513 999,198 6,515,794 2,888,742 27,322,247 Mouths to each square mile . . 336 134 200 100 229 Arable land in square miles . . 17,411 8,420 3,896 29,727 Mouths to arable surface . . . 971 773 741 919 This density of inhabitants, in proportion to the means of raising food, is unequalled by a similar population and territory in any other part of the globe. China, on an area of 1,297,999 square miles, has a population of 367,632,907, or 283 mouths to each square mile. Even on the delta and banks of its great rivers, where the whole soil is a rich alluvium, yielding at least two crops of food a-year, the density ranges only from 500 to 700 mouths to each square mile. But if the United Kingdom be compared with several other European countries, the density of our island territory will be more manifest : in round numbers, and according to the best approximative estimates oi present population, the number of mouths to each square mile are, in Belgium, 397 (where, of 12,569 square miles of area, 10,506 square miles is arable surface) ; Holland Proper, 245 (where the whole country is cultivated like a garden); Saxony, 295; Northern Italy, 200, Southern Italy, 180; France, 186 f Switzerland, 170; Bavaria, 158; Prussia, 156; Hungary Proper, 136; Hanover, 135; Portugal, 130; Spain, 88; Denmark, 70; Wal- lachia, Moldavia, and Servia, 69; Turkey Proper, 56; Greece, 55 ; Russia in Europe, 30; Sweden, 20; Norway, 13. Estimating the entire area of Europe at 3,500,000 square miles, and the present population at 350,000,000, there are 100 mouths to each square mile of surface. The area of Australia is about 2,700,000 square miles, on which there are about half a million Europeans, or European descended inhabitants. Supposing that only one-half the superficies be capable of sustaining human life, there is room on that great island for about one hundred million inhabitants, at the rate of 74 to each of the 1,350,000 square miles of available area. But notwithstanding the large emigration that has taken place from the United Kingdom, amounting, between January 1841, and December 1852, to 2,389,630; there is as yet little sensible diminution in the pauperism of England. By an official return laid before the House of Commons by the Poor Law Commissioners, 17th February, 1853 (No. 135), it appears that there were, in 608 Unions, in January last, 799,443 paupers receiving relief in England and Wales ; and estimating the proportionate number also receiving relief, not included in the above, but in separate parishes, under local and XVl PREFACE. "Gilbert" Acts, &c., at 88,701, the total number of paupers is 888,141; or according to the census of 1851, one in every 20 inhabitants. Of the total number relieved, no less than 126,220 were able-bodied paupers. In Ireland the number receiving relief on the 1st January, 1853, was, 141,822, or 1 in 46 of the population; the number relieved in Scotland is not immediately ascertainable; it may be estimated at 1 in 50 = 57,774: showing a grand total of 1,087,737 paupers supported by local taxation. The sums expeaded for this purpose, in England and Wales, from 1813 to 1853, amounted to £231,789,085. During the year 1852 the parochial rates exceeded £7,000,000. The levies raised for the relief of pauperism of all descriptions in Ireland are about £1,000,000 per annum. For Scotland there are no definite accounts ; the assessments may be taken at half a million ; giving a total of £8,500,000 ; if to this sum be added the moderate estimate of £2,500,000 raised by voluntary subscriptions for the relief of indigent and suffering humanity, we have an aggregate annual expenditure of £11,000,000 sterling occasioned by pauperism. In a distinct chapter on emigration the subject will be more fully discussed, but enough has perhaps been stated to show that no alarm need be felt at the present rate of departure from these sea-girt islands to other and more thinly peopled parts of the British empire. As water will find its level, so population will sooner or later burst through any barriers which impede its progress, much more those which restrict the means of obtaining food. It is the province of all true statesmen to endeavour to direct the stream of life into channels where, instead of threatening to overflow its natural banks and produce devastation and disorder, it will contribute to the general good, and strengthen the stability of a monarchy whose citizens enjoy an unequalled portion of substantial freedom, and a prosperity which, however comparatively great, is still but partially developed. In the present volume the reader will find all the details connected with the wonderful discovery of gold in Australia, collected from governmental and private sources up to the present period, especially as regards the geological and natural features of the country, the progressive increase and spread of the inhabitants, the augmented com- merce and revenue, — in a word, the "diggings," and their results. AUSTRAL-ASIA. BOOK L— AUSTRALIA, OR NEW HOLLAND. CHAPTER I. DISCOVERY, MARITIME SURVEYS, COAST LINE, INTERIOR EXPLORATION, WEN^DS, CLIMATE, AND GEOLOGY. The Britisli possessions iu Austral-Asia are Australia, or New Holland (which contains the several colonies of New South Wales, Port Phillip or Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia, or Swan River), Van Die- men's island, New Zealand, the Chatham, Auckland, and other lesser islands — the whole comprising a territorial area in the Southern hemisphere nearly as large as Europe. These extensive regions form an important and most interesting portion of our Colonial Empire, whether viewed in relation to their origin or progress, to their existing or pros- pective state. In a favourable position, situated midway between America and Africa, and at the ex- tremity of Asia, they are valuable in a poli- tical sense for the increasing capabilities they afford towards the maintenance of British power in the East — and in a commercial sense from their contiguity to the richest and most densely peopled portion of the globe : possessing in themselves (apart from these considerations) a fertile soil and a salubrious clime, they are well adapted for the dwelling of milHons of the Anglo-Saxon race, — and even in this early stage of their existence, with many of their resources yet unde- veloped, they are outlying farms, ah'cady instrumental in supplying England with augmenting quantities of grain, meat, wool, tallow, flax, timber, and other raw products, in exchange for her manufactures. The insulated continent of Australia, re- markable for its great extent, singular con- formation, and recent discovery, first claims attention. Less than a century ago the mere coast line of this "great south land" was an unsolved geographical problem, as its interior is at the present moment; La the DIV. I. eyes of the learned its very existence was a phenomenon, and some idea may be formed of the strange surmises entertained on the subject, from the wild hypothesis of Blu- menbach, that Australia must originally have been a comet or planetaiy body, which being drawn within the sphere of attraction, fell upon this globe. Even those skilful navigators, and scientific explorers, who have surveyed its coast-line, and, to a limited extent, penetrated the interior, appear unable to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion con- cerning the operating cause, or the probable epoch of the formation of this vast country — whether it has been in a comparatively modern age left dry by the receding waters of the ocean, or extruded from the bowels of the earth by subterranean fires. But the interest excited by this question throughout Em'ope, or by the singular ani- mal and vegetable products of a laud of con- trarieties, merges into insignificance com- pared with that created by the extraordinary progress of British colonization at a distance of 15,000 miles from the parent state. The earliest settlement is within the recollection of the present generation. Conceived in a benevolent spirit, it was commenced in 1787 by the despatch to Botany Bay of a fleet laden with the refuse of om* gaols and peni- tentiaries. For several years the convicts were repeatedly on the eve of perishing by famine, but stimulated by the hope of re- gaining their forfeited freedom, directed by the intelligence of their superintendents, and governed by a systematic and humane pohcy, these outcasts hewed down the forests, sub- dued the stubborn soil, and earned for themselves a home where "their sins were covered and their iniquity remembered no more." 18 SITUATION AND AREA OF AUSTRALIA, OR NEW HOLLAND. These pioneers in tlie ^\•ilderness prepared tlie way, and smoothed the difficulties for their fellow-countrymen whom no crime had expatriated, but who sought at the antipodes the means of obtaining an honourable liveli- hood under the protection of the flag of their country, in the full enjoyment of the lan- guage/laws, and customs of their fatherland. The result of their joint labours is now mani- fest in the prosperous colony of New South Wales — the proudest monument of British cirilization in the nineteenth century. This success encouraged the settlement at Hobart Town, Van Dieraen's Island, in 1801-2; at Swan River, Western Austra- lia, in 1829-30 ; at Adelaide, South Austra- lia, in 1835-6 ; at ISIelbourne, Port Phillip, in 1836; and at Auckland and Welling- ton, New Zealand, in 1840. The progress of these Austral- Asian set- tlements is without a parallel in history, and their condition demands minute and impar- tial investigation on behalf of the owners of property in those colonies, and of the yet more numerous class of intending emigrants to whom eveiy detail must be important, as a means of enabling them to decide on the locality best calculated to suit their peculiar cii-cumstances, habits, and inclinations. Having no theory to uphold — no piivate views to promote — no particular colony to serve, I shaU endeavour in this, as in other portions of my work, to lay before the' public the fullest amount of information contained in the official documents to which her Majesty's government has granted me access; and, gvdded by the knowledge personally ac- quired in Australia, collate from the varied, heterogeneous, and scattered materials fur- nished by the most trustworthy authorities, every useful or interesting fact which may contribute to the general good, and illustrate the power and resoui'ces of the British em- pire in this portion of the globe. Australia, or New Holland, the largest island in the world, lies between the parallels of 10° 45' and 38° 45' S., and the meridians of 112° 20' and 153° 30' E. of GreeuTvich. It is separated on the north from the islands of New Guinea and the Lousiade by Torres Strait, and from Timor and other islands in the Easstern Archipelago by the Arafui-a sea; on the south, from Van Diemen's Island, or Tasmania, by Bass' Strait : its eastern and southern shores are washed by the Pacific, its western and north-western by the Indian Ocean. The latitudinal dif- ference between Cape York and Wilson's Promontory, the northern and southern extremities, is twenty-eight degrees, equal to 1,680 geographical miles ; the greatest dis- tance from east to west is 2,227 geographical miles. The area is estimated at 2,690,810 square miles, and the coast line at nearly 8,000 nautical miles. The distances and bearings of the several points around the coast are stated to be as follows : — AVilson's Promontory to Cape Howe, N.E. Cape Howe to Breaksea Spit, N. a little E. Breaksea Spit to Cape York, N.W. . . . Cape York to Cape Van Diemen, W. . . Cape Van Diemen to North-West Cape, S.W, Noith-AVest Cape to Cape Leeuwin, S. Cape Leeuwin to Great Australian Bight, E a little N Great Australian Bight to "Wilson's Promon tory, S.E / Circumference in round numbers .... 7,'?60 The proportion which Australia bears to the other divisions of the globe has been thus calculated by the distinguished French na\'igator, Du Freycinet :— Miles. 250 950 1,150 900 1,300 900 1,200 1,100 Divisions. Asia . . America . Africa Eiu'ope . Australia French Leagues. 2,200,000 2,100.000 1,560,000 501,875 384,375 Proportion. 17 17 12 4 3 Viewing Van Diemen's Island as a por- tion or prolongation of Australia, we may consider it as forming one of the marked tri- podal capes or promontories which stretch from Asia, Afiica, and America, towards the Antarctic Circle. Discovery. — To what European or Asiatic nation the existence of Australia was first known, and when or by whom it was dis- covered, is a matter of great uncertainty, from the vague and often inconsistent state- ments by which the claims of various navi- gators are supported. Although we have no positive eridence, there appears much pro- bability that the Chinese were aware of the existence of " a great south, land." Abun- dant records remain to prove, that fiom a very early period to the thirteenth century, they were a thri^-ing and enterprising people, engaged in an extensive maritime trade. M. de Guignes says, " Nous trouvons dans les annales Cliinoises des VII. et VIII. siecles, une route par mer depuis la Chine jusqu'a rembouchure de I'Euphrate." The Arabian traveller, Ebn Wuahab, (a.d. 877,) points out tlie route pursued at that time, in the voyage from Bussora to Canton; and Edrisi, writing in 1156, states, that Muscat, on the coast of Arabia, was annually fre- quented by ships from China. They had also, together with the Hindoos, constant commercial intercourse with Java and the Eastern Ai'chipelago. It may, moreover, be worth noting in this place, that the nutri- tious trepang, or sea-slug, (beche de mer,) which has for ages been a favouiite luxui'y with the Chinese, is found in great abim- dance on the northern shores of New Hol- land, which are, even to the present time, annually frequented by a fleet of fishing prows, from being the chief soiu'ce from whence this singular edible is obtained. It may be urged, that this fact renders it the more unlikely that the Chinese were ac- quainted mth the island, since, as a fishing- station of any value, clear records concerning it would be extant ; but, on the other hand, we must not only remember the very slight knowledge we possess of the annals and charts of the Chinese, but also the serious injury, and indeed the almost .total desiruc- tion of their maritime traffic by the piratical depredations of the Portuguese, Spaniards, and Dutch, who, in many instances, buried in oblivion important geographical informa- tion from the most selfish motives. On the island of Timor, distant only 250 miles from the coast of Australia, there ai'c many Chi- nese, but how long they have been estab- lished there we have no means of ascer- taining. Among European nations, the earliest claim to the discovery of Terra Austral is made by the French, whose pretensions rest upon the assertion of de Brosses and the Abbe Prevost, that Paulrnier de GonneAolle, a French captain, who sailed from Honfleur in 1503, lost his reckoning, and was drifted into an unknown sea, from which he escaped by observing the flights of birds towards the south, and following them. Gonneville made the land, on which he lived for six months, refitting his vessel, and li^dng on friendly terms with the natives, whom he represents as having made some advances in civilization. These could not have been the Australian savages ; they may have been the people of New Zealand or of Madagascar. The dis- tinguished hydrographer, Flinders, one of the best authorities on the subject, con- siders this claim unfounded, and adds, that the proofs adduced in its support them- selves demonstrate, that it was not any part of Australia, but Madagascar that Gonne- ville discovered, and from whence he brought a native, called Prince Escomerie, to Nor- mandy. The discovery of a maritime route to the East Indies, via the Cape of Good Hope, by Vasco de Gama, under the flag oi Portugal, in 1498, and of a passage to Asia, through the straits which separate Cape Horn from Patagonia, by INIagellan, or Magalhaens, under the flag of Spain, 27th November, 1520, led to an extended ac- quaintance with the Eastern seas ; and as it is certain that, dming the earher half of the sixteenth century, the Spanish and Por- tuguese navigators pushed their researches into the South Pacific, it is probable that the claim made by them to the discovery of at least the northern coast of Australia, is not wholly unfounded, though, if made, it was unattended by any practical result. In 1526, Don Jorge de Menezes, who was appointed to the government of the Moluccas, sailed from Malacca, and spent some months in a port supposed to be in Papua or New Guinea, In the same year, Alvarez de Saavedra sailed from a port in Mexico in search of gold, and discovered Papua, and some of the adjacent islands. In 1543, Ruy Lopez de VHlabolos ranged the New Guinea and contiguous coasts. In 1567, Alonzo de Mendana sailed from Lima, and discovered the thirty -three islets, which he named Solomon^s Islands, " to the end that the Spaniards, supposing them to be those islands from which Solomon fetched gold to adorn the temple, might be the more desirous to go and inhabit them.'^ In his second voyage he could not find the islands : he died seeking them, and was succeeded by Quiros, who abandoned the search when only forty leagues distant from them. In the British Museum there is a manu- script book of charts, entitled an Hydro- graphie, compiled by John Rotzin 1542, and dedicated by him to Henry VIII. of Eng- land. In one of them is rudely delineated an ill-defined land, situated to the south of Java, and termed Jave le Grand, but the chart terminates abruptly, only a portion of the north and north-west coast of this terri- tory being laid down. There is also a large manuscript chart on the ]\I creator plan in the Museum, numbered in the catalogue 5,413, prepared for the dauphin of France, which Mr. Holmes, who has charge of the chart department, and has paid much atten- tion to the subject, supposes to have been constructed about the year 1536. In this chart the coast line of the African and Ame- rican continents; south of the equator, is traced with some degree of accm-acy. This document likewise contains part of a country inscribed Jave le Grand, on whose shores are depicted men and huts, and immediately adjacent to Cape Horn, to the southwai'd, is what appears to be part of a continent, on which is marked La Terre Australie ; this would lead us to suppose that the hydrogra- pher, whoever he may have been, was im- pressed with the belief, which then and long afterwards prevailed, of the existence of a great continent, running north and south from 2)6° to 64° S. lat., its northern coasts stretching along the South Pacific to an immense distance, and extending at least from the straits of Magellan to New Zealand. Leaving the i-egion of conjecture, we know for a certainty that on the 21st December, 1605, Fernandez de Quiros sailed with three ves- sels from Callao, in Peru, one of the objects of his expedition being to search for the Terra Austral, a continent supposed to oc- cupy a considerable portion of that part of the southern hemisphere lying westward of America. Quiros, after discovering several islands, came to a land which he named Australia del Espiritu Santo, supposing it to be a part of the great southern continent. Luis Yaes de Torres, separated from Quiros, coasted along the Louisiade Archipelago, sighted the hills and islands of Cape York in 11° S., and spent two months in sui'vey- ing the intricate na\'igation of the strait by which the Terra Austral is divided from New Guinea. We know, however, little of his pro- ceedings, or of those of Quii-os, as the ac- counts were transmitted direct to the king of Spain, who kept them from the public, and the existence of the dangerous channel, now called Torres Strait, was generally unknown, until rediscovered and passed by captain Cook in 1770. Fortunately for his reputa- tion in after ages, a copy of a letter of Torres to the king of Spain, dated Manilla, 7th July, 1607, was deposited in the archives of the Spanish settlement at Manilla, where it was found by Mr. Dalrymple (himself an hydrographer), after its captui'e by the Bri- tish troops in 1762. The Englishman, with ti'ue generosity, gave the name of the en- terprising Spaniard to the strait he had dis- covered. Torres describes the strait as being filled by " an archipelago of islands without number; the bank shoaler in the eleventh degree of latitude ; the people black, corpu- lent, naked, armed with lances, arrows, and clubs of stone." This description of the peo- ple refers to New Guinea rather than Austra- lia, from the mention made of arrows. Torres adds, "we caught in all this land twenty persons of different nations ;" from which rt would appear that Torres adopted the policy of Columbus, Cabot, and other early navi- gators, in seizing on the natives of new found countries, to testify to theii' respective governments the reality of their voyages. On the 11th of November, 1605 (the same year in which Quiros and Torres sailed from Peru) the Dutch yacht, named Duyfhen, was dispatched from J3antam, the chief seat of government in the Eastern .Ajrchipelago, to explore the island of New Guinea. The Duyfhen sailed along what was thought to be the west shore of that country, to 13° 45' S. lat., but which was in reality the north shore of Terra Austral, and then, being in want of provisions, proceeded to Banda, where she arrived in June, 1606, having un- consciously visited the " Great South Land," of which, in 1623, the yachts. Per a and Arnhem were sent in search from Amboyna. Jans Carstens, the commander of the expe- dition, with eight of his crew, were murdered on the coast of New Guinea; but the sur- vivors pursued their voyage, and discovered " the great island of Arnhem and the Spult, or Speilt." (What is meant by " the Spulf' it is now difficult to understand, but in the old charts a river is marked by that name, which is probably here intended to signify the land in its viciuity.) The Arnhem then returned to Amboyna; the Pera proceeded along the coast to Cape Keer Weer, {Turn- again, supposed by some to be the west coast of New Guinea, by others to be the east coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria,) where the Duyfhen had previously been, and ex- plored the coast as far as 17° S. lat. There is, however, much discrepancy in the ac- counts of this and other early voyages. In the years 1616, 1618, 1619, land 1622, the west coast was noted by several outward- bound vessels, among others by the En- draght ; and in a manuscript chart, by Eesel Gerrits, dated 1627, the first discovery of it is attributed to Dirk Hartog, commander of the Endraght, bound to India (a.d. 1616), who saw the coast in 26° 30' S. lat., and sailed northward to 23°, giring the name of Landt de Endraght to the land thus surveyed. An important part of this dis- covery was the roadstead, called by his DISCOVERIES OF THE AUSTRALIAN COAST, 1618-1644. 21 name, at the entrance of a sound lying a little S. of 25°, afterwards named Shark^s Bay, by D ampler. Upon one of the islands forming the roadstead, there was found, in 1697, and afterwards, in 1801, half buried in the sand, with the rotten remnant of a post attached to it, a tin platter, bearing an inscription, of which the following (as nearly as it could be deciphered) is a translation : — '•Anno 1616, 25th October, arrived here the ship Endraght, of Amsterdam, first merchant, GiUes Miebais, of Luik, Dirk Hartog, of Am- sterdam, captain. They sailed from hence for Bantam, the 27th do.. A" 1616.'' The names of the under merchant and chief mate are illegible. In July, 1618, the Mau- ritius, another outward bound Dutch ship touched at Willem's River, near the North- West Cape, and a year after captain Edel, commanding a Dutch vessel, touched on the coast, and gave his own name to the land from 29° to 26° 30' S. lat. The gi'cat reef lying oflFthis land, called Houtman's Ahrolhos, was discovered at the same time. The Leeuwin, also outward bound, fell in with the coast as far as 35°, and sailed along to the north, giving its name to the Cape, in 34° 19' S. lat., 115° 6' E. long.* In 1628, the Vianen, one of the seven ships which returned to Europe under the command of Carpenter, the Dutch governor- general, from whom the deep gulf on the north coast takes its name, reported having seen the shore, and the circumstance is thus stated in the Dutch records : " the coast was seen again accidentally, and coasted 200 miles without gaining any knowledge of this great country, only observing a foul and barren shore, green fields, and very wild, black, barbarous inhabitants.'' This part was subsequently called De Witt's Land, but by whom, does not appear. In Theve- not's collection of charts, &c., there is an account of the shipwreck of Francisco Pel- sart, in the Batavia, on the 4th June, 1629, on the Abrolhos. Pelsart proceeded along the north-west coast in a small decked boat, crossed thence to Batavia, and returned with succours for his men ; too late, however, for they had been murdered by the savages. The south coast was accidentally discov- ered in January, 1627, by the Dutch ship. Guide Zeepaard, outward bound from IIol- * The above statements are derived chiefly from the instructions given to Tasman when sent from Batavia on his second voyage of discovery, and signed by the governor-general Antonio Van L)iemen, and four members of the council of Batavia. land. It was called Nuyts' Land, from Pieter Nuyts, who is supposed to have com- manded the Zeepaard, and is said to have traced it for 1,000 miles from Cape Leeu- win, and laid down a number of positions with great accm'acy. The Dutch govern- ment being anxious to ascertain how far this great south land extended towards the ant- artic circle, despatched Captain Abel Jans Tasman from Batavia, with two vessels, on the 14th August, 1642. Tasman, after touching at the Mauritius, steered south and east, and on the 24th November made some high land in 40° S. lat., 163° 50' E. of Teneriffe, which he named in honour ot the governor- general, Antony Van Diemen's Land, and sailed along, not supposing it to be an island; he anchored in Storm Bay, then pursuing an east and south course, he discovered part of the west side of New Zea- land, (of whose insularity he was also unaware, and considering it to be a part of Terra Aus- tralis, he named it Staten Land), the !?riendly and Prince William Islands. In 1644, Tas- man was sent by the Dutch East India Company on a second voyage of discovery, and directed, after passing the land of Arn- hem, to " follow the coast further as it may run westward or southward, endeavouring by all means to proceed, that we may be sure whether this land is divided from the Great Known South Land or not." From this expression, it is evident that the Dutch had acquired a knowledge of some part of the Terra Austral, to Avhich they about this time gave the name of New Holland. Unfortu- nately no account of this voyage ha§ ever been published, except that contained in a garbled extract from Tasman's journal by Dirk Rembrantz, and translated in 1776, but his track is supposed to be indicated by the names given to difierent places, namely those of Van Diemen (as in a former instance), two of the council who signed his instruc- tions, and of Maria, the daughter of the governor-general, to whom he was attached. It is very probable that the Dutch East India Company did not consider that New Holland was in any Avay useful from its pro- ductions, and much feared the character of its inhabitants, Jans Carstens, who com- manded the Peru and Arnkem in 1623, says, " in this discovery we found everywhere shallow water and barren coasts, islands alto- gether thinly peopled by divers cruel, poor, and brutal natives, and of very little use to the Company." Witseu, in his "Notes," aUudes to Tasman's describing the people on different parts of the coast as " bad and wicked/' " shooting arrows," "throwing stones," " living very- poorly," "feeding upon roots;" "there are few vegetables, and the people use no houses." In 1663 Thevenot published his chart of the west coast of the " Great South Land." In 1688 Dampier, the most observant navigator of his age^ visited the west coast with the Buccaneers, and described it as low and sandy, with scarcely any vegetation on its shores. The Buccaneers careened and refitted in about 16° S. lat. In 1699 Dampier was expressly sent as pilot in H.M.S. Roebuck, on a voyage of dis- covery, and ^isited the west and north-west coasts. In Dampier's New Voyage round the World published in 1703, a chart of the world therein engraved only shews part of the north-west and south coast of New Hol- land, which is joined on the east to some land stretching towards the equator, and join- ing the islands of the Eastern Archipelago. The most southern part of New Holland marked, is in about 32° S. lat., and "Die- men's Land" is placed ten degrees further to the southward. Dampier's track in 1699 was from Suma- tra to the north-west coast of New Holland, whence he proceeded to Timor in September 1699 ; in the chart of his voyage, he lays do^vn the coast as far north as the gulf of Carpentaria, traces part of the coast of New Guinea, but leaves an unexplored tract be- tween that island and Australia, nearly in the position of Torres Straits ; in fact direct north from the land we now call Cape York. In recording his proceedings on the west coast, he states, " I spent about five weeks in ranging off and on the coast of New Holland, a length of about 300 leagues." He subsequently discovered New Britain. 1696. — William de Vlaming was sent in search of a Dutch ship, lost in 1684-5; he visited the west coast, found black swans near Rottenest Island, and named the place Swan River. He then sailed north as far as 21° 28'. In 1710, captain Woodes Rogers was sent to the South Seas, with two vessels ; Dam- pier was pilot; they sailed through what they termed New Guinea Straits. 1767. — Captain Carteret sailed through the strait which separates New Britain from New Ireland. 1721.— The Dutch East India Company fitted out a squadron for discovery, under captain Roggewein, who lost one of his ships on the east confines of Australia. Having landed in New Britain, he was at- tacked by the natives, and returned without accomplishing any satisfactory results. The justly celebrated captain Cook, in his exploring and scientific expedition with H.M.S. Resolution and Adventure, on the 6th of October, 1769, discovered the east side of New Zealand ; continued surveying the coast until the 31st of INIarch, 1770, when he proceeded to New Holland, and, to use his own words, " sui'veyed the east coast of that vast country which had not before been visited, and passed between its northern extremity and New Guinea;" thus demon- strating beyond a doubt the insularity ot New Holland. The fii'st port in Australia which captain Cook entered was Botany Bay, in April, 1770; thence he sailed to the northward, and passed Port Jackson, which, from its narrow entrance at the " heads," he sup- posed to be merely a boat harbour, and gave it the name of the sailor then on the look- out at the mast-head. At Cape Tribulation on the north-east coast of Australia, the ship of captain Cook struck on a coral reef; he refitted and repaii'ed her in the adjacent Endeavour Bay, and then proceeded to solve the doubt of New Holland being separated from New Guinea and the adjacent lands. Captain Marrion, a French officer, with two ships, sldi'ted the coast in 1772, in search of the supposed southern continent, and pro- ceeded to New Zealand, (which had been rediscovered by captain Cook,) where he was murdered by the natives in the Bay of Islands. In 1768 the French navigator, De Bougainville, visited the Australian coast. In 1791, the south coast was \T.sited by cap- tain George Vancouver, on his way to the north-west coast of America; he made the land on the 26th September, at Cape Chat- ham, in 35° 3' S. lat. and 116° 35' E. long.; then sailed east along the coast till the 28th, when he anchored in a sound, which he named after George III. Bad weather pre- vented his doing more than verifying a part of the coast laid down in Nuyt's chart of 1627. On the 9th March, 1773, captain Tobias Furncaux, second in command in the ex- pedition under captain Cook, in H.M.S. Adventure, made the south-west cape of Van Diemen's Island, and steered east, close to tlie rocLs called Maatsuykefs by Tasman, ENGLISH AND FRENCH SURVEYS OF AUSTRALIA— 1792. 23 afterwards anchoring in what he took to be Storm Bay, (which he called Adventiu-e Bay), so named by Tasman in 1642; not, however, the Storm Bay laid down in the present charts, but that now termed D'Entre- casteaux^s channel, which runs inland for ten leagues, and communicates with the true Storm Bay of Tasman. Captain Fur- neaux then sailed along the Van Diemen coast to the northward, to discover whether it was separated from New Holland, or was a peninsula forming part of the main land ; but he finally steered for New Zealand, giving it as his opinion that " there was no strait between Van Diemen^s Land and New Holland, but only a very deep bay." Cap- tain Cook, Avith H.M.S. Resolution and Dis- covery made the south-west Cape, 24th Jan. 1777, and after steering eastward, anchored, as Furneaux had done, in Adventure Bay on the 26th j but captain Cook proceeded on his voyage, still ignorant of the insularity of Tasmania. In 1792, Bruni D'Entrecasteaux, a French rear-admiral, with two ships of war, La Recherche and UEspei'ance, made the coast of Van Diemen's Land, to obtain supplies of wood and water ; and while intending to enter the Storm Bay of Tasman, entered the Adventure Bay of Furneaux, up which he sailed thirty miles, and found it to be sepa- rated by a small island from Storm Bay. The island he named Bruny, and the channel D' Entrecasteauw, and then sailed to the eastward without ascertaining that Van Die- men^s Land was insulated.* Captain Bligh, in 1788, in the Bounty, and in 1792 with the Providence and Assis- tant, and captain John Hayes, of the Bombay Marine, with the private ships Duke and Duchess from India, in 1794, visited different parts of the Australian coast, without adding much to our geographical knowledge. The survey of admiral D'Entrecasteaux extended from Cape Leeuwin to 132° E. long, in Australia, and comprised the southern extremity of Van Diemen's island, including the river Derwent and the channel which bears the name of the accurate surveyor. Captain Flinders states that " the charts of the last sm'vey, particularly those relating to the bays, ports, and arms of the sea of the south-east of Van Diemen's Land, and constructed in this expedition by M. Beau- • The mistake of D'Entrecasteaux -was then a very f>robable one, for notwithstanding our extended know- edge of the coast, a similar error was committed during th'' night by a vessel in which the author sailed some temps Beaupre, and his assistants, appear to combine scientific accuracy and minute- ness of detail, with an uncommon degree of neatness in the execution. They contain some of the finest specimens of marine sur- vepng perhaps ever made in a new country." The able, but unfortunate French navi- gator, La Perouse, visited the east coast of Australia with the French ships of war, La Boussole and UAstrolable; these vessels were last seen by any Europeans in January, 1788. When captain Phillip, R.N., and the fleet of conricts sent out to form the penal settlement in New South Wales, were remo- ving from Botany Bay to the more eligible adjacent station of Port Jackson, La Perouse was entering Botany Bay to refit. The Bri- tish and French commanders exchanged the civilities common to their gallant profession. La Perouse perished shortly after on the Vannicolo island : it is supposed that the vessels were lost on a coral reef. After a lapse of forty years, captain Peter Dillon, in 1826, discovered relics belonging to the French ships, and placed beyond a doubt the period and place of their loss. After the formation of the British penal settlement at Port Jackson (Sydney), in 1788, attention was directed to the eastern and southern shores of Australia; and Mr. Bass, sm-geon of H.M.S. Reliance, and lieu- tenant (afterwards captain) Flinders in a little boat called Tom Thumb, eight feet long, aided only by a boy, commenced a sui-vey of the coast. Mr. Bass was afterwards rein- forced with a whale boat, six men, and six weeks' provisions ; in this open boat, and in boisterous weather, he explored the south- east coast for 600 miles, entered what Fur- neaux considered a " deep bay," and in 1798, became satisfied that there was a strait sepa- rating Van Diemen's Land from New Hol- land. On his return to Sydney, governor Hunter was induced to verify the results of Mr. Bass's observations by sending lieu- tenant Flinders and Mr. Bass in the colonial schooner Norfolk, of twenty-five tons bur- then ; with this little vessel, they sailed through the strait now called Bass's Strait, and by circumnavigating Van Dieman's Land demonstrated for the first time its insularity, and completed the coast line of Australia. The result of these remarkable labours of Bass and Fhnders, was a survey of the coast years since. Navigators should be cautious in ap- proaching this part of the coast, as they are very liable to be deceived by the headlands. 24. BRITISH NAVAL SURVEYS— 1800— 1846. line from Sydney to Western Port, of the islands in Bass's Strait, of the bays and coves of the river Derwent, and of Tasman's Peninsula. Sir John Franklin, recently lieutenant-governor of Van Diemen's Island, whose presumed loss in the arctic regions the nation now mourns, began his noble career under Flinders. At his own cost. Sir John erected, in 1841, a lofty stone obelisk on Stamford hill, near Port Lincoln, South Australia, to commemorate the great services of "the illustrious navigator and his hon- oured commander.^^ Flinders himself re- corded a high eulogium on his "high-spirited and able colleague," siu'geon Bass, who well deserves " an honoui'able place in the list of those whose ardour stands most conspicuous for useful knowledge." In December, 1800, captain Grant, in H.M. brig Lady Nelson, passed tln-ough Bass's Straits, and explored the coast from Port Western to 140|^° of E. long. In 1802, lieutenant John Murray, who succeeded captain Grant in the com- mand of the Lady Nelson, discovered Port Phillip ten weeks previous to the arrival of captain Flinders in that bay. The survey of captain Baudin of the French navy in the Geographe, was contem- poraneous with that of Flinders; it com- prised the southern coast of Australia between 35° 40' and 37° 36' S. lat , and 138° 58' and 140° 10' E. long., a coast line of about 150 miles in length, devoid of rivers or inlets; also the north-west coast, from Cape Leeuwin to Rottenest Island, Swan River, and thence partially to Cape Londonderry on the north coast. In April, 1802, Baudin and Flinders met in the neighbourhood of Spencer's Gulf, and although their respective countries were engaged in fierce hostilities, the commanders met on board the Geographe, and com- municated freely to each other aU the infor- mation that was likely to be useful. The expedition of captain Flinders was thought to be secm'ed against the chances of war by a passport granting it protection, assist- ance, and free ingress and egress to and from the ports of the French repulilic ; but when Flinders, driven by stress of weather from the west coast of Australia, was obliged to seek shelter at the Isle of France, or Mauritius, then a French colony, he was most unjustly and cruelly detained a pri- soner for eight years, by the governor- general De Caen, and his charts seized, despite passports and remonstrances. The gradual progress of discovery on the Australian coast has now been chronologi- cally detailed to the commencement of the present century. The subsequent voyages and discoveries of those skilful and enter- prising British seamen, of Flinders (1801-2), King (1818—20), Wickham and Stokes (1837—43), of Blackwood (1842—46), of Stanley, Bremner, Chambers, Heywood, Hobson, and other naval officers, have fur- nished valuable nautical surveys of the coast line of this vast island, the whole of which now appertains to the British empire. The siu'veys of Flinders include the south, west, and nprth-west coasts of Aus- tralia to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and high credit is due to this intrepid and persevering surveyor; captain P. P. King's invaluable labours include 2,700 miles of coast, princi- pally on the north and east, and involved 40,000 miles of sailing. The interesting examinations of captains Wickham and Stokes commenced on the east coast, and included the Gulf of Carpentaria, Torres Straits, the north and north-west coast, Dampier's Archipelago, Iloutman's Abrolhos, the Swan River coast. Bass's Strait, and Adelaide, South Australia. Captain Black- wood's meritorious exertions Were chiefly devoted to Torres Straits, the dangerous reefs and islands in that route, and the north-east coast of Australia. Reserving for separate consideration the aspect of the several colonies in Australia — viz. : New South Wales on the east coast ; Port Phillip, or Victotna, on the south-east, adjacent to Van Diemen's Island; South Australia, on the south coast, westward of Port Philip ; and Western Australia, or Swan River, on the western and south-western shores, a few general remarks on the phy- sical features of Australia may be useful. Physical Features. — The outline of Aus- tralia is singular : the parallelism of the coast lines gives a geometrical form to the island; the greatest vridth, from east to west, is in the parallel of 25°; the greatest length, from north to south, is from Cape York to Wilson's Promontory. Nearly in the same meridian^ viewing Van Diemen's Island as a continuation of Australia, its projection on the south, in a direct line with the Carpentaria promontory on the north, is remarkable. The deepest inden- tations of the island are opposite each other on the north and south coasts. The east and west coasts have nearly the same general configuration ; and at Sandy Cape, on the east coast, and to the southward of HIS (•.I{.\Cl.-.,fnfi^)mil?''()l- liKDKOK /WPANT. i,aHr)oisr&;i9Kw Vcau< HAKBOURS, ISLANDS, AND RI\TERS OF AUSTRALIA. the same parallel, on the west coast, at North-West Cape, there are two peculiar projections of the land. The trend on the shore from north to west is somewhat like that from north to east; the indentations between Coburg peninsula and Cape Lon- donderry on the north-west, nearly corres- pond with the expansions on the south- east ; the trend of the coast from Kangaroo Island towards Fowler^s Bay on the south, is parallel with that of the opposite coast li ae of the Gulf of Carpentaria : finally, the great Australian Bight on the south somewhat corresponds with the protrusion of Arnhem/s land in Northern Australia. The peculiar external form of Australia may be, in some degree, owing to the diflferent degrees of force to which the land is sub- jected by the surrounding waters. On the south, where the coast is not protected by Van Diemen's Island, the tremendous efiiect of the unbroken roll of the ocean from the pole is manifested in the deep Bight. On the north-west the full swell of the Indian Ocean produces a corresponding slope of the coast; on the north-east the Pacific flows with majestic sweep from the American continent; and on the north, the fluctu- ating pressure caused by the monsoons is broken by the islands of the Eastern Archi- pelago. The coast-line of Australia is marked by deep gulfs, fine bays, and capacious havens. On the north is the large gulf of Carpen- taria, with York Haa'bour or Endeavour Strait at the north-east limit, and MelviUe Bay at the north-west entrance ; Van Die- men's Gulf, Cambridge Gulf, Admiralty Gulf, Brunswick Bay, Queen Charlotte's Channel, Melville Island, Raffles Bay, and Port Essington, afford many secure ports on the north and north-west shores. On the west there are Prince Regent's inlet, Doubtful Bay, King's Sound, Buccaneer's, and Dampier's Archipelagos, Exmouth Gulf, Shark's Bay, Freycinet Harbour, and Swan River. Port George the Fourth, Hanover Bay, and Camden Sound, lying close to each other, are noble havens, and have a fine tract of country in their rear. On the suitth, King George's Sound, Fowler's Bay, Spencer's (200 miles deep) and St. Vincent's Gulfs, Encounter Bay, Portland Bay, Port Phillip, and Western Port. On the east are Jervis Bay, Botany Bay, Port Jackson, or Sydney, Newcastle, Port Ste- phens, Port Macquarie, Moreton Bay, Hcr- vey Bay, Port Cui-tis, Keppel Bay, Port DIV. I. Bowen, Princess Charlotte Bay, and nu- merous secure roadsteads situated on the north-east, between the Barrier reefs and the coast. Australia, like the other continents, has an island of considerable magnitude attached to it, namely, that of Van Diemen, or Tas- mania, which lies at its southern extremity. The other principal islands are jMclville and Bathurst on the north. Kangaroo, near St. Vincent's Gulf, and Groote, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Great Sandy Island on the east, and exactly opposite it, on the west coast. Dirk Hartog's Island. There are several smaller islets and groups, viz. — Prince of Wales' Island, off Cape York, the Wellesley, Pellew, and others, in the Gulf of Carpentaria ; Wessel, and English Company Isles, near Melville Bay ; Buccaneer's Archi- pelago of islets, south-west of Cape London- derry, Dampier's Archipelago, Barrow, and other islands north-east of the north-west cape, off" De Witt's Land; Bernier and Dorre, off" Shark's Bay ; Rottenest, &c. ; at Swan River ; Recherche Archipelago, on the south coast, between King George's Sound and west of the great Australian Bight; Nuyts' Archipelago ; Investigators' and Flin- der's islands, west of Spencer's Gulf; King's, Furneaux, and others in Bass's Straits, be- tween Australia and Van Diemen's Island. The south-east coast is deficient in islands, and has few indentations like the north or south coasts. From Wilson's promontory to Moreton Bay there are no islands but those of Stradbroke and Moreton, and the Solitary Isles north of Port INIacquarie. Howe's and Ball's Pyramid Islands, east of Port Macquarie, are 400 miles from the shore, and do not partake of the features of Australia. They ai-e veiy remarkable, .and rise in basaltic columns from the sea. Pro- ceeding to the northward, along the east coast, we find Great Sandy Island, the Capri- corn group, (whei'e the coral islets com- mence), including Bunker Islands, Keppel Island, the Northumberland, Percj^, Hills- borough, Palm, Lowe, and other minor islands. The Capricorn group of islets, on the noi'th-east coast, have the tropic of Capricorn and the 152nd degree of E. long. passing through them. Coast Rivers. — In no other part of the globe could a similar extent of coast line be found wdth so few navigable rivers. The Murray, in South Australia ; the Hunter and Brisbane, in New South Wales ; the Atbert, disemboguing into the Gulf of Carpentaria ; 36 MOUNTAINS AND COAST RANGE OF AUSTRALIA. the Adelaide, into Van Dienien's Gulf; the Victoria, into Cambridge Gidf; the Prince Regent, Fitzroy, and Glenetg, on the north- west coast; and the Swan, in Western Austraha, are the only streams navigable for ships for even a few miles fi'om the ocean, -s-here their entrances are barred. So far as the country is known one moun- tain range bounds the coast from Bass's Straits to York Peninsula, and is continued in what Leichardt calls a "collar" round the Gulf of Carpentaria; on the western shore ranges run parallel with the coast, and slope off towards the west and north. Pro- bably the highest mountains will be found at the Australian Alps, in the south-east, and at Arnhem and Tasman land in the north-west. The dip of the high land on the east coast appears to be fi'om south to north, viz-, from Mount Kosciusko, 6,500 feet high in the Australian Alps, in 36° 20' S., to Mount Hinchinbrook, 3,500 feet, in 18° 22' S. ; Cape Direction, 1,250 feet, in 13° S.; and Pudding Pan Hill, only 384 feet in 11° 19' S. From FoMler Bay, in the Aus- tralian Bight, westward to King George's Sound, there are low cliffs of a calcareous marine formation, or sandy dunes, with occa- sional points of granite; the general elevation being from 300 to 500 feet, without a single watercourse for 800 miles ; and according to an intelligent wi-iter in the Sydney Herald, the north-west coast between the parallels of 16° and 21° is composed of low sandy beaches, with no appearance of high land behind them. With these two exceptions the whole of Australia is surrounded by a mountain belt, from 2,000 to 6,000 feet in height, at a distance of 50 to 100 miles from the coast, with collateral spiu's or but- tresses. Fi'om the outer and most pre- cipitous side of this girdle short rivers flow to the sea coast; from the inner and less precipitous face, which in several places declines in successive terraces, different rivers flow, it is supposed, towards some great central basin, or are swallowed up in the burning sands, or evaporated by the intense heat of a tropical atmosphere, increased by the distance of the central parts of Australia from the sea, or possibly these inland streams may be absorbed by immense marshes. But all these suppositions woidd seem to indicate that this vast island is of recent date com- pared with other portions of our globe, and that the interior is still little better than a slightly elevated ocean bed, with a moun- tain crust around it. Coast Line of Unsettled Parts of Aus- tralia. — The information obtainable on this head is fragmentaiy and imperfect, but I shall endeavour to frame a connected view, so far as is known, of the physical features, commencing with Cape Capricorn, on the east coast, in 23° 30' 30'' S. lat. The most remarkable features on the adjacent shore are — Round Hill, 2,000 feet; Mount Larcom, 1,800 feet ; and Peaked Hill, which stand out in bold relief against the pure blue of an Australian sky ; they are fronted with groups of coral islets connected with the Great Bar- rier Reef* Cape Capricorn itself has a hump resembling a haycock. Southward of Port Bowen there are two peaks with an elevation of about 2,000 feet, which form the northern end of a high rocky range. The country surrounding Port Bowen is picturesque, many ranges of hills, both peaked and roundbacked, rise near the coast, and have an elevation in the interior of 2,000 to 3,000 feet. In consequence of shoal bars there is not an easy entrance for large vessels much fur- ther than Entrance Island. The country, when visited in Februaiy, 1843, appeared dried up ; not a di'op of fresh water to be found anywhere.f But this may not always be the case. Dr. Leichardt, speaking of the country contiguous to the north-east coast in 1844, assigns reasons for supposing that part of Australia to have been exceedingly dry for a series of years. About West Hill and Broad Sound the coast of the main land is formed of a low sandy shore, with a flat country of five or six miles ^ade, backed by a bold range of lofty flat-topped hills, wath here and there a conical peak. West HiU rises directly from the sea to the height of a thousand feet. The seaward cliff of West Hill, and, in the opinion of Mr. Jukes, the mass of the hill itself, is composed of very fine grained trap or basalt, with small crystals of feldspar only \isible with a lens. The rock is split by I innumerable joints and veins, crossing at all angles into masses of different shapes. The Northumberland Islands have an ele- vation from 200 to 400 feet ; in one instance of 720 feet. The crests of the western isles are covered iivith pine trees. The Percy Islands are also elevated, wooded, and com- posed of a trap-like compound with an aspect of serpentine. * Stokes's Discoveries in H.M.S. B eagle, \mi—A^. * Jukes's Voyage of H.M.S. F/i/, 1842—46. ASPECT OF THE NORTH-EAST COAST OF AUSTRALIA. 27 At Cape Palmerston there is a small head- land of red quartzose rock, and adjacent there is a cove five or six miles deep by three wide. Near to the harbour are grassy slopes, open woodland, and hills with jungle and lofty trees. The coast between Broad Sound, in 22° 15' S. lat., and Whitsunday Passage, in 20"^ 20' S. lat., differs in some respects from any part of the coast seen by the officers of H.M.S. Fly. A solid range of imiform hills, at a distance of five to ten miles from the coast, bounds a fine undulating ti'act of conntry, well watered, covered with abun- dant close grass, timbsr of large size and various descriptions, and many small bays and inlets. Cape Hillsborough is a bold headland, 900 feet high, and very steep all round. Cumberland Island is a singular mass of rocks, and appears as if made up of angular fragments of compact feldspar cemented together. At Po7't Molle, at the north-west end of Whitsunday Passage, the shores rise in a steep slope, and in some of the places adja- cent to the strait, have an elevation of seve- ral hundred feet, covered by magnificent forests, the greater part of which are of the pine species. This timber tree, which resem- bles the Norfolk Island pine, is found along the east coast from Port Bowen to Cape Melville, but Whitsunday Passage seems to be the favouiite locality. Mount Dryander, on the promontory which terminates Cape Gloucester, is more than 4,500 feet high. There are hills around to the height of 700 to 1,000 feet. Cape Upstart, so called by captain Cook, consists of a huge mass of granite, about 2,000 feet high, rising abruptly from the water on all sides, and connected with the mainland by a mangrove swamp. It has a singularly rugged and barren aspect, and appears like a vast mass of ruins, — its crests are covered by huge boulders, or blocks of loose rock, with patches of scrubby vegeta- tion. The cape is insulated by a small creek winding round the southern foot of the high land, and connecting the bays on the east and west sides of Cape Upstart. Immense beds of mangrove stretch round the head of Upstart bay, and a wide flat runs for some miles beyond them into the country, o\ er which are seen some bold hills, in separate gi'oups, rising like islands out of the level land. Captain Blackwood, R.N., crossed a very pleasant grassy country, towards the hills iu the north-west. Mount Elliott, lying about forty-five miles west and by north from Cape Upstaii;, is a long level hill, peaked at its northern ex- tremity. Wickham River, north of Cape Upstart, is approached through heavy breakers, and the opening seen by H.M.S. Fly in 1844 was about three miles wide, and had a depth of three and a half fathoms, about 200 yards from the north shore, whei'e the land was an open forest conntry, with green grass and scattered trees. The south shore seemed a great mangrove swamp, with a spit of sand running out to sea among the breakers. At a distance of seven miles from the inside of the breakers, the reach of the river curved to the west, became shallower, leaving the steep cliff and forest land of the north or left bank, passing over flats of sand and pebbles; beyond this the boat could not proceed. From the top of the river cliffs, forest land was seen stretching into the interior, the trees close together, and the underwood thick. The land round Cape Bowling Green is scarcely above the level of the sea, and is probably the delta of a large river. Palm islands are lofty, wooded, and have a pic- turesque appearance, especially Magnetic Island, so named by Cook. The mountain range seen from Cape Bowling Green is at least thirty miles in the rear. Cape Cleveland is, like Cape Upstart, abrupt and broken, but more woody, having fine pines in many of its gullies. At this point the cordillera of Eastern Australia tower to a considerable elevation close to the coast. From Cape Grafton to Cape Tribu- lation precipitous hills, bordered by low land, form the coast line ; the latter-named cape consists of a lofty group with several peaks, the highest of which, in the shape of a fin- ger, is visible from the sea at a distance of twenty leagues. Gould Island Peak, in Rockingham Bay, is nearly 1,400 feet above the sea ; about five miles to the south-west of it is Mount Ilin- chinbrook, 2,500 feet high. It is a broken mass of hills, covered with ragged knolls, and sharp inaccessible pinnacles, furrowed by deep and precipitous ravines. On the mainland is an unbroken range of high land, none of less than 2,000 feet elevation, stretching along the shore to the southward , and after sweeping round Rockingham bay it rises and spreads to the northward into 28 NORTHERN POINT OF AUSTRALIA— CAPE YORK. still loftier and more broken mountainous elevations. The summit of this range, near Rockingham bay, is very level, but there are some projecting buttresses and ridges on its seaward slope, which is everywhere very steep, and apparently furrowed by many gullies and water-courses. Endeavour River, where captain Cook careened in 1770, after grinding the bottom of H.M.S. Resolution for twenty-three hom's on Endeavour reef, has for its external aspect bare and rocky hills of moderate height, with theii' seaward slopes almost destitute of vegetation. On the north shore is a line of sand dunes beneath the higher hills ; on the south shore is a hill of moderate elevation, tolerably clothed with small eucalypti, and sloping down to a gi'assy flat, fronted by a line of mangroves. Beyond these the land is low for some mUes, and then backed by tabular flat-topped hills a few hundred feet high, and of a difierent aspect to those usually seen on the coast. Cape Bedford is one of the most remark- able features on this coast, being a bluff detached piece of table land, surmounted by a singular low line of cliffs, which forcibly reminded captain Stokes of the lava-capped hills on the river Santa Cruz, in East Pata- gonia. Cape Flattery is a conspicuous headland, consisting of two peaks, with a slope between them. Lizard Island, in 14° 40' S. lat., has a bold aspect of nearly 1,200 feet elevation, composed entirely of granite, and nearly destitute of wood; on the westward is a grassy well watered plain, with some smaller ridges. The appearance of the coast now changes from moderately high conical- shaped hills to table-land ranges of 500 to 600 feet, trending about south-west and by west. Cape Melville, which stands out like a shoulder for more than forty miles beyond the coast Line, is composed of piles of reddish coloured stones, scattered about in the utmost confusion, and in every possible du'ection, over a high ridge. There are several dangerous islands and rocks off this headland. Princess Charlotte Bay is large and free from shoals; at the head of the bay is a remarkable level-topped hill, conspicuous from the low nature of the surrounding country. Claremont Islands are a low rocky group, surrounded by coral reefs. Cape Direction has a moderately increasing height, compared with the coast immediately to the southward. A round hill, in 13'"'' S., has an altitude of 1,250 feet. Restoration Island [visited by captain Bligh in the Bounty launch, in 1789,] in 12° 37' S., is a rocky lump, terminating in a granitic peak, 360 feet high. It was so named by Bligh, from his having seen it upon the anniversary of the recal of Charles II. to the throne of England. Fair Cape, and thence to the northward, presents a series of undulating hills from 500 to 700 feet in length. The monotonous aspect is broken by Pudding-pan hill, so named by Bligh from its resemblance to a sailor's pudding-pan. It has a height of 354 feet. Cape York, the most northern point of Australia, has a small rocky island not quite 300 feet high, steep, and nearly conical, separated from the main land by a narrow boat passage. Immediately south of Cape York Island the land rises into a somewhat sharply-peaked hiU, with an elevation of 420 feet. It is called Bremer Peak. To the eastward is a shallow bay, with a flat sandy beach, backed by a belt of jungle, then a small woodland, and behind rocky hiUs 300 feet in height, one ridge of which comes down to the beach. Excellent fresh water is everywhere procurable by digging, and this position seems well adapted for a British settlement, as it would, in fact, form a "corner shop" for all vessels passing to the eastward. Endeavour Strait, between Cape York and Cook's islet, is a safe harbour for shipping, except in one or two places near the shore. The west entrance is encumbered by large sand banks, through which, however, there is a safe passage, with never less than four fathoms water. The islands which stretch to the northward from Cape York, across Torres Straits to New Guinea, are all rocky, steep, many 500 feet high, and composed, like the rocks of the adjacent main land, of porphyry, sienite, and siliceous schist. Mr. Jukes considers them merely the submarine prolongation of the great mountain chain of the east coast of Australia, and which passes from New South Wales to the southward, through Bass' Straits to Van Diemeu's Land. The loftiest and most massive portion is between Cape Upstart and Cape MelvUle, whence it gradually decreases to Cape York, where the hills are 500 to 600 feet high. Possession Islands in the mouth of En- BOOBY ISLAND, OR THE "POST-OFFICE." 29 deavour Strait, and the larger islands to the northward, are all rocky and baiTen, with here and there small fertile and cultivable spots, and by no means deficient in beauty, being of varied and undulating surface, with lofty peaks and ridges, and sheltered valleys, biit they seem to be mostly destitute of water except in the rainy season ; their in- habitants are few and scattered, and appear to be peaceable and weU-disposed. Booby Island, much frequented by boobies, pigeons, and quails, called also the " Post Office,^' forms the western limit of all the dangerous part of Torres Straits in the ordi- nary track of vessels, and for half the year it is a constant place of resort for vessels pro- ceeding to India and China from Australia. It is a mere rock, about fifty feet high and a quarter of a mile in diameter, the summit consisting of bare porphyry, A shed has been erected, beneath which is a large chest containing a blank book with pens and ink, a bag of beef and some biscuit for any boat's crew escaping from a wreck. Letters are left here by ships, and notices are entered in the book announcing their safe anival. (A similar practice prevails at the Galipago Islands in the Pacific among the whalers.) All the ships which have re- corded their passage at the " Post Office'^ appear to have entered the Barrier Reef be- tween the parallels of 11° 30' and 12° 10', generally about 11° 50', reaching Sir Charles Hardy's Island the same day. They all note a strong northerly current outside the reef, in some instances of nearly three miles an hour. The time occupied in making the passage from Sydney by the outer route was from fourteen to twenty days, which was shorter than the route between the reefs and the main land, though attended with much greater risks. In traversing the "inner route," vessels are obliged to anchor every night, which is a severe labour for the small crew of a merchant ship. The Barrier Reefs are a peculiar and im- portant feature in the N. and N.E. coast of Australia ; the great coral reefs form a vast submarine buttress which skirt the shore, and in the instance of the " Great Barrier Reef" extend from Breaksea Spit in 24° 30' S. lat. and 153° 20' E. long., to Bristow Island on the coast of New Guinea, in 9° 15' S. lat. and 143° 20' E. long., a distance in a straight line of about 1,100 geographical, or 1,260 statute miles — the longest known coral reef in the world. This reef stretches along the Australian coast at a mean distance of thirty miles from the land; the outer edge being in some places not more than ten or fifteen, in others 100 miles distant. Outside the barrier there are numerous detached reefs, of greater or less magnitude, extending from Torres Strait to New Caledonia; but the distance of these isolated reefs from the Great Barrier, is from sixty to one hundred miles. There are therefore two passages for vessels saiUng from Sydney by the N.E. route to Singapore, China or India, via Torres straits — -first, the Inner passage, about thirty miles wide, between the main land and the Great Barrier; and second, the Ottter, sLxty to one hundred miles vride, between the Great Barrier and the detached reefs and coral islets, which are so numerous that Flinders gave to Torres Straits the appellation of the coral sea. Mr. Jukes, the naturalist, on boai'd H.M.S. Fly, captain Blackwood, recently engaged in laying down beacons, by which vessels pro- ceeding to the eastward through Torres Straits might be enabled safely to enter the principal openings in the Great Barrier in order to pass between Australia and New Guinea, has given in an interesting " Narra- tive of the surveying voyage of H.M.S. Fly," useful details respecting these reefs, on the authority of Mr. Evans, master of H.M.S. Fly. It appears that the Great Bamer reef is composed of difierent formations of coral, viz. : — the (1) linear, (2) detached, circular, or oval groups. The linear rise from great depths, have a breadth varying from a quar- ter of a mile to a mile ; are in length from three to fifteen miles; have on the outer side an unfathomed depth, and on the inner, soundings of from ten to twenty fathoms. The detached reefs are generally circular or oval, flat at the sui-face or near the level of low water, the edge gradually rounded ofl^, sloping down into deep water, sometimes to 200 fathoms, and at Wreck Bay to 285 fathoms without soundings. The centre consists generally of dead coral branches, among dazzling white sand ; the living corals are more to the edge of the reef. The line of reefs runs N. and N. by E., whilst the Australian coast trends to N.N.W. ; the distance from the land is gradually increased, and at Cape York in 11° 40' S. lat. the pas- sage is eighty to ninety miles wide; it is, however, supposed there are several inner reefs, and as the coral polypi are continually sending up new banks, this passage, even with its smooth water, must always be haz- ardous. On the authority of captain Flin- 30 THE GREAT BARRIER REEFS— CORAL BANKS. ders, it is stated that tlie Great Barrier reef towards the south, is ninety to one hundred miles from the shore, with which it has no cross communication. The breadth of the reef towards the south is forty or fifty miles ; it becomes naiTOwer towards the north. At Cape Tribulation, in about 16° S. lat., the Barrier Reef closes in with the shore. For about 350 miles from the southern opening oflP Breaksea Spit, there is no na\igable pas- sage through the barrier that can be safely trusted ; there are some crooked intricate openings. The interior passage between the reef and the land is remarkably clear from dangers, except in the vicinity of the nume- rous little islands with which it is dotted; the depth of water at a distance from these islands is very \iniform. When the wind is from the east, the sea breaks upon the outer margin of the reef with terrific violence, but the inner waters are perfectly tranquil. Wreck Reef, upon which captain Flinders was wi'ecked with H.M.S. Porpoise and Cato, in .803, is 300 miles to the north-west of Breaksea-spit, and it was then an incipient island, in length 150 fathoms, by fifty in breadth, with a general elevation of three or four feet above ordinary high water. A few diminutive salt-water plants resisted the saline spray; the eggs of sea-fowl were observed ; and probably now there are cocoa- nut or other trees, whose nuts or roots have been drifted there by the ocean. On a reef may be seen coral growing beneath the surface of the clear water, in the shape of wheat sheaves, mushrooms, stag's horns, cabbages, and a variety of other forms, with vivid tints of every shade betwixt greeu, purple, brown, and white; equalling, says Flinders, in beauty, and excelling in gran- deur the most favourite parterre of the cmious florist. The manner in which a coral reef is formed is very singular. The animalcules which produce the coral, commence with singular instinct to make their structure per- pendicular; when they cease to live, the whole mass becomes agglutinated, and the insterstices are gradually filled up by sand and broken pieces of coral washed up from the sea, until a mass of rock is formed. Another race of animalcules then proceed to build on this foundation. As each suc- cessive generation perishes, another takes its place, to increase the elevation of their habitation, and the coral waD, where the winds are pretty constant, first reaches the surface of the ocean to windtvard : so that the insect may have shelter to send off nume- rous colonies to leemard, protected from the wind and surf. Hence the greatest depth of water and the highest part of a reef is always to windward, and the wondrous structiire thus raised has, on the one side, a nearly perpendicular elevation of 200 to 300 fathoms. When the reef is raised above high-water mark, the coral insect ceases to exist. The different corals, in a dead state, are converted into a solid mass of a dull white colour; and some lumps, called " negro heads,'' higher than the sur- rounding mass, become blackened by the weather. Sponges, sea-eggs (echince), enor- mous cockles {chamagigas), and " cucum- bers," (a large slug called holothuria, by the French b^che de mer, by the Chinese trepang), and other substances soon fill the crevices of the reef : sand accumulates ; sea-birds make the bank a place of incubation; soil is formed; the seeds of shrubs and trees, which consti- tute the food of some birds, are deposited on the island, which soon becomes a mass of living verdure. The beacon erected by captain Blackwood, of H.M.S. Fly, on Raines islet, as a mark for the best passage through the outer line of reefs, is a circular stone tower, forty feet high, and thirty feet in diameter at the base, where the walls are five feet thick. Internally it is divided into three stories, accessible by ladders. The roof is a dome- shaped frame of wood, covered by painted canvas. The summit is raised seventy feet above low water-mark. There is a large tank adjacent; and a garden has been planted with cocoa-nuts, maize, pumpkins, &c. Torres Strait is one mass of islands, reefs, and shoals, with six to twelve fathoms water at the narrowest part, and nowhere deep water, so that with clear weather, and the sun vertical or in the rear, a vessel may be safely navigated. The beautiful light of the tropics is increased by the reflection of the nearly colourless bottom, covered with vaiious molluscse, some perfectly transparent, others of various hues. Fish of all sizes, shapes, and colours are seen; the voracious shark eagerly pursuing his prey, the turtle rolling along in his un\^eldy shell, and sea-snakes of large dimensions and of glowing lustre may be traced in their rapid gliding move- ments as clearly as if they were flying in the air. The Gulf of Carpentaria extends inland 600 miles, and has a breadth of 400 miles ; VAN DIEMEN^S, FLINDERS, AND ALBERT RIVERS. 31 its coast line measures about 900 miles, including the bays and windings. The shores are almost invariably low, and the water everywhere shallow towards the edge, with a bottom of blue mud or sand. The greatest depth of soundings in crossing the southern part of the gulf from coast to coast, is fifteen fathoms; fine, dark, sandy, mud bottom. The lee shores are covered with mangroves, behind which water is often seen. Trees (palms of considerable height) are fciind on some elevated places, but ban-en- ness is the general character of the surface. Flinders says that for the space of 600 miles, between Endeavour Strait and a range of hiUs on the main land, west of Wellesley Island, at the bottom of the gulf, no portion of the coast is higher than the mast-head of a ship ; some part of Wellesley Island is more elevated than that of the main, but the highest does not rise 150 feet. The general appearance of the head of the gulf is that of a low mangrove shore, ten to thirty feet high, over which the interior is not visible from the offing. Nearly 200 miles of the, south-eastern coast were minutely examined by the surveying officers of H.M.S. Beagle ; twenty-six inlets were discovered, of which two proved to be rivers, whilst three more were nearly as promising. Van Diemen's River, on the south-east coast of the gulf, is considered by Stokes to be an inlet rather than a river, but its waters appear to be less salt at low tide. The bar, three-quarters of a mile off the mouth of the inlet, has only two feet on it at low water, but the first reaches of the inlet or river have a depth of one and a half to three fathoms, and a width of 200 to 300 yards ; the stream then becomes much narrower, and so tortuous, that its windings of twenty- seven mdes only brought the explorers to eight miles, in a 60° S.E. direction, from the entrance ; then dividing, one branch trends south, and the other east, each being about fifteen yards ^ide and two feet deep; the water was quite salt, and the mangroves were growing on either side at the point where the examination was abandoned. At the mouth of the river the coast bears the same low, sandy, or mangrove-clad appear- ance noticeable in other portions of the eastern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria ; the highest elevation seen was six miles from the entrance, where the banks attained an eleva- tion of ten feet, the rise being marked by a growth of eucalypti of tolerable size; else- where the banks rose scarcely three feet above high-water level, and were generally fringed with mangroves, behind which, in many instances, extensive clear flats were obseiTed, reaching occasionally fi-om the sides of the inlet toward the upper parts, and when seen in June, they were the resort of large flights of the bronze-winged pigeon. Flinder's River, on the south shore of the Gulf, was discovered and explored by cap- tain Stokes, to the extent of thirty miles to 17° 51' S. lat., in a general S. by E. ^ E. direction from the entrance. It separated into two branches, one taking an easterly, and the other a southerly direction. After passing the sea-bank, the depth was one fathom; further inland, the river expands into a beautiful sheet of water, a quarter of a mile in width, but only three feet in depth, here and there diversified by low islets, clad with emerald verdure, with, on the other hand, green and grassy cliffs, sloping almost imperceptibly to the stream; anon the eastern bank becomes steep, overhanging and clothed with a mass of luxuiiant creepers, whilst the opposite side presents a low woody j patch, partly immersed by the glassy, lake- i like waters of the river. At the bifurcation | of the stream, a rocky formation of a red ferruginous character was observed. The country appeared to abomid in rose-coloured cockatoos, whistling ducks, and vampyres. The Albert River, discovered by the sur- veyors of H.M.S. Beagle, also disembogues in the southern part of the Gulf, in 17° 35' 10" S. lat., and 7° 35' 50'' E. of Port Essington. It has a bar with thirteen to seventeen feet of water, and is navigable for vessels of a draught suited to the bar for thii'teen miles, and within five of where the saltness of the stream ceases. The opening of the river for three mUes is almost straight, in a south by west direction, with a width of 200 yards, and a depth of two and-a-half to five fathoms ; the banks fringed with man- groves. Eight miles from the mouth are two islands, and two others four miles fur- ther up, where the breadth is nearly a mile, and the depth two fathoms. The river winds tortuously to the south and east, through a rising country, with occasional grassy plains, a soil of a light bro\^^^ colour, void of sand, of considerable depth, and thickly wooded. Further inland the country be- comes perceptibly higher, — the scenery ex- tremely picturesque, taU palm trees and bamboos, fifty feet high, rise from the thick foliage on the lower slope of the banks ; and at Hope Reach, a magnificent sheet of water 32 PORT ESSINGTON— NORTH AUSTRALIA. is bounded on either bank by extensive grassy plains, dotted with 'woodland isles' springing from a rich light- coloured mould. The river now becomes a shallow, rapid stream, and in 17° 58' 30'' S. lat., 129° 25' E. long., the country is most inviting ; the line of verdure pointing to the south over the " Plains of Promise." Bountiful Islands form the eastern part of the Wellesley group on the south-west coast of the Carpentaria Gulf. They were so named by Flinders on account of the plen- tiful supply of turtle found there. He men- tions having obtained from one turtle 1,940 eggs. Near the islands was noticed by Stokes, a '"' shrubby, thick, compact sort of sea-weed," also seen on the parts of the north-west coast frequented by the turtle, and which is probably their food. The islands are one mile and-a-half from each other ; the larger and more northerly is two miles and-a-half long by three-quarters wide, with cliffs on the south-east side of sand and ironstone formation, the latter predomina- ting. Sweers Island, south of the Bountiful Islands, bounded by low dark cliffs on the north-east, is very woody, and was found to be literally covered with locusts. Bentinck Island has an extent of ten miles either way, is slightly elevated, thickly wooded, and abounds in several sorts of winged game. Point Inscription (so called from a tree being found by Stokes, with a notice of Flinders' visit in the Investigator forty years previous cut thereon) is in 17° 6' 50'' and 7° 28' 30" E. of Port Essington. The west shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria is somewhat higher than the east shore, and from Limmen's Bight to the latitude of Groote Eyland, is lined by a range of low liills. Proceeding to the northward the coast becomes irregular and broken, con- sisting chiefly of primitive rocks, the upper part of the hills being composed of a reddish sandstone. The general range of the coast, from Limmen's Bight to Cape Arnhcm, is from south-west to north-east ; and three conspicuous islands at the north-west en- trance of the Gulf of Carpentaria have the same general direction. Low land extends westward to Casthreagh Bay and Goulburn's Island. The Liverpool River, on this part of the coast, is four miles wide at its mouth, with a tortuous and rather shallow stream, which has been traced inland to about forty miles from the coast, through a country whose general elevation does not exceed more than three feet above high-water mark ; the banks low, muddy, and thickly wooded. West of Goulburn Island the coast is more broken and iiTcgular, but the elevation is inconsiderable, Coburg Peninsula not being more than 150 feet above the sea, and the hills about 300 to 400 feet in the background between the Liverpool and Alligator rivers. Some of them are remarkable for their linear and nearly horizontal outline, the tops re- sembling that of a roof or a haycock, the transverse section being angular, and the horizontal top an edge. The Cobourg Pen- insula projects N.N.W. from the main land of Australia for a distance of fifty miles, the greatest breadth being fifteen miles, and the narrowest, five miles. Port Essington, in 11° 6' S. lat., and 132° 12' E. long., is seven miles wide be- tween Point Smith on the east side, and Vashon head on the west. The port extends about eighteen miles in a S.S.E. \ E. direc- tion, vrith a depth of twelve to five fathoms. 'At the southern end it forms three spacious and secure harbours, each of them extending inwards three miles, with a depth of two and five fathom soundings ; mud and sand. The shores of Port Essington consist of little bays and sandy beaches, alternating with bold cliffs and steep clay -banks ; inland, a continuous forest of trees, occasionally relieved by undulating or round hills, with an elevation of 100 to 200 feet above the sea. At Port Essington, the sides of the harbour are formed by several low rocky headlands, and cliffs of red or white sand- stone and ironstone, twenty to thirty feet high : between the cliffs are shallow coves, backed by mangrove swamps, and behind a low country, with a sombre wood of low eucalyptic trees. Victoria (a recently -formed British station) consists of a few wooden houses, on a flat piece of land forty or fifty feet above the level of the sea, on the west side of the harbour. The soil in and around the settlement is poor, and except in the swamps and lowest hollows, composed of the detritus of sand and ironstone, without any apparent mixture of vegetable soil. Large tracts were seen with scarcely a blade of grass, and little or no undergrowth, and the forest, or " bush," looked like a badly- kept gravel-walk, on which a few small trees were growing. When visited by H.M.S. Fly, in August, 1843, there was not grass enough, within a mile of the settlement^ to feed a single cow. The heat at Port ABANDONMENT OF PORT ESSINGTON IN 1850. 33 Essington is very great. In January, 1845, the thermometer stood often as high as 96° at eight a.m., and 100° and upwards at noon. For four years after the settle- ment was established, captain M'Arthur, and the marines stationed there found it healthy; but the rainy season, ^yhieh com- menced so early as October, 184-2, and lasted to April, 1843, is supposed to have caused great sickness, which has continued, "vvith more or less severity, ever since; and the detachment of fifty marines haA^e expe- rienced considerable diminution of numbers, and been several times relieved. It was found to be impossible to keep a force fit for active service: in January, 1850, there were only two or three marines fit for duty. The attempted formation of a settlement at Port E'osington has been unsuccessful. Mr. Jukes, who has visited many of the colonies, and whose unprejudiced mind entitle his remarks to considerable weight, visited Port Essing- tou foui' times, at different periods of the year, and thus strongly expresses his opinion, which he supports by various arguments : — " I believe it to be utterly worthless as a colony, or as an agricultural or commercial possession.''^ It is not adapted for a har- boui' of refuge, as it is 600 miles from the extreme limits of the sea, where wrecks are most likely to occiu'; namely, the coral sea and the eastern side of Torres Straits. Low land and shoals, to the cast of the harbour, render it difficult to find, and dangerous to approach ; and the settlement of Victoria, sixteen miles up the harboui", would, in addition to the deviation from the ordinarj^ route of the fair or trade wind, ensure any passing vessel a detention of at least two days to look in there. Added to this, the climate is decidedly unhealthy ; many valu- able lives have been lost, and the govern- ment have consequently resolved to mthdraw che men and officers stationed at Port Es- sington, which, in 1850 was done. Raffles Bay, in 11" 12' S. lat., 132° 26' E. long., thirteen miles cast of Port Essing- ton, is of a circular form, with a diameter of three miles, and shallow depth, varying from three to four fathoms. The coast about Port Raffles is exceedingly low, and has been compared to the coast of Orissa in Bengal, and also to that of Demerara ; there are few patches of good soil, and it would seem ill adapted for an agricultural or pastoral set- tlement. The British colony, established here in 1827, was abaudoned in 1829, on account of its unheal thiness, the hostility of DIV. I. the natives, and the disappointment occa- sioned by the Malays not coming on fishing expeditions as was expected. Melville Island, separated from the north coast of Australia by Clarence Strait, which is about fifteen miles wide, lies between the parallels of 11° 8' and 11° 56' S. lat., and the meridians of 130° 30' and 131° 34' E. long., five degrees west of the Gulf of Car- pentaria, and distant 330 miles from the island of Timor in the Eastern Archipelago. The extreme length from Cape Van Diemen to Cape Keith is seventy-five miles; the extreme breadth from Cape Radford on the north to Cape Gambier on the south is thirty- seven miles. The surface of the island is low and gently undulating, averaging from twenty to seventy feet above the sea, except on the south coast, where some peaks have an altitude of 250 feet. The north line of coast is low, and lined with mangroves : the east, west, and south sides more elevated, sometimes forming abrupt cliffs or clay banks. The interior consists of almost impenetrable mangrove swamps and close forests, the largest timber measuring sixty feet of stem, with a diameter of three feet. The soil, so far as ascertained, is poor. In 1821, a Bri- tish settlement was formed on the island in Apsley Strait, but it was abandoned in 1829. Bathurst Island, separated from INIelville Island by Apslc}^ Strait, is of a triangidar shape, each side measimng about forty miles. It is similar in appearance and production to its neighboui'ing island. The approach to Apsley Strait is intricate, beset with shoals, and notwithstanding an excellent survey made by major Campbell, of Her Majesty's 57th regiment, formerly commandant of Mehdlle Island, too dangerous for general navigation. Apsley Strait, and the creeks and rivers on the north coast of Austraha, abou.nd with alligators of fourteen to twenty feet in length, and sea and land snakes ten to twelve feet long. Adelaide River, seventy miles from Port Essington, faUs into Adanis Bay. Clarence Strait has a depth of four fathoms where it empties itself into the bay. Captains Wick- harn and Stokes, 11. N., traced the river in a southerly direction nearly eighty miles, and found it navigable for fifty miles for a vessel of 400 tons. The Avindings in some places are in the shai)e of tlic letter S. At that distance in 12° 57' S. lat., 131° 19' E. long., the stream became very narrow, and divided into two branches, one proceeding in a southerly and the other in an easterly direc- tion. For tlm-ty miles of the upper course of the Adelaide the water Tras fresh, and the banks, except at the point of separation, not more than five feet above the level of the A mangi'ove swamp occupied the nver. country for fifteen miles towards the mouth, but beyond there a fine praiiie was observed, 'ftith a soil of hght-colom-ed mould, dotted here and there with " islands of timber," and on the banks a thick jvmgle of bamboo, some of which attained the extraordinary height of sixty to eighty feet. Port Darwin, in 12° 27' 45'^ S. lat., r 19' 40'' E. of Port Essington, has an en- trance between white chffy projections, three iniles distant from each other ; although of considerable size, it has much shoal water, especially on the west side. The shore is low and sandy, sprinkled with brush-wood, and has singular-looking detached peaks in the backgj'ound. Point Pearce, Treachery Bay, Avhere cap- tain Stokes was speared and nearly killed by the natives, is in 14° 25' 50" N. lat., 2° 49' W, of Port Essington. It has Avooded cliffs of a reddish hue, from the quantity of iron in the rocks. The Victoria River, one of the largest streams in Australia communicating with the ocean, was discovered by captains Wick- ham and Stokes, in September, 1839; and explored, with great perseverance, by the latter-named officer. The mouth of the river is in 14° 20' S. lat., 129° 21' E. long., between Turtle and Pearce Points, in Queen's Channel, which is there twenty-six miles wide.* The river was traced to a distance of 140 miles from the sea; for the first thirty miles of the upAvard course its cha- racter undergoes little change ; the left side continues bold, Auth the exception of a fcAv extensive flats sometimes overflowed, and a remarkable rocky elevation aboiit twenty- five miles from the mouth, to which the name of the Fort Avas given, on account of its bastion-hke appearance (subseqiiently called Table Hill in the chart). The riglit shore continues Ioav, studded Avith man- groves, and subject to overfloAvs. At thirty- five miles from the embouche, the scenery entirely changes ; the river runs between a precipitous rocky range of compact sand- stone, rising to a height of 700 to 800 feet, and is here sometimes two miles Avide, haAdng in several places a depth of tAventy fathoms, and rushing with a velocity of six miles an • Discoveries in Australia; hy Captain Stokes, K.N. ; vol. 2, p. 113. hou3\ It continues a rapid stream through tliis defile for about thirty miles, and is subsequently found floAAing slowly across a rich allu\-iul plain fifteen miles in width. Beyond this plain the Victoria passes through another but less elevated gorge, Adz., 400 to 500 feet, aaIiosc elevation increases as the nA-er is ascended, and the Avidth, depth, and velocity of the stream decreases. In pro- portion as the high land or banks approached the channel on one shore, in the same degree it was found to recede from the opposite side; and supposing the AA'hole valley to haA^e been at one time filled Avith water, the breadth above Reach Hopeless and at INIount Regret must have been from three to five miles. When captain Stokes reluc- tantly quitted the ftu-tlier exploration for Avant of provisions, and from the illness of one of his men, with whom it was neces- sary to retiu'n to H.M.S. Beagle, he could perceiA'e, "far, far aAvay, the green and glistening valleys through which it wan- dered:" he felt assm-ed "of the constant presence of a large body of Avatcr," and couA-inced that the Victoria "aaiU aftord a certain pathway far into the centre of Aus- traha." The coast to the E.N.E. of the mouth of the Victoria consists of vast ranges strewn over with huge blocks of sandstone ; chasms, raAdnes, and thirsty stone valleys yaAvu on every side; and all aroimd is broken, rugged, and arid, as if the curse of sterility had fallen on the land, presenting a strong contrast with the country seen up the Victoria river. Cambriclge Gulf, a swampy arm of the sea, extends inland eighty miles in a south- erly direction. In its vicinity, the general flatness of the country to the northward and castAvard, as far as Cape Wessil, a dis- tance of 600 miles, ceases, and is succeeded by irregular ranges of detached sandstone hills, which rise abruptly fi'om extensive plains of Ioav and IcacI land. From Cape Londonderry to Cape Voltaire tlie country is of moderate elevation, Avith mountains in the back-ground. The coast has a direc- tion from north-east to south-west, AAnth numerous indentations, and the adjoining sea is studded v,ith sandstone islands. York Sound, a spacious bay, is bounded by pre- cipitous rocks from 100 to 200 feet in heighth. It receives tAvo rivers, so far as knoAvn, of small dimensions. One of the largest inlets on the north-west coast, termed. Prince BegenVs River, is about thirty miles to the south-west of York Sound. The course i'^ CIIARACTEIilSTICS OF THE NORTH-WEST COAST OF AUSTRALIA. 35 almost rectilinear for fifty itiiles in a south- east direction; its rapid passage over stone blocks has prevented its further exploration : but at that distance fi-oin the sea it is 250 yards wide, with abrupt banks of reddish sandstone, 200 to 400 feet high. St. George's Basin, in Prince Regent's River, is a noble sheet of water, ten or twelve miles across : on its south side deep inlets run up into a low marshy country leading to fertile dis- tricts ; on the north Ijank lofty mountains, crowned with castellated summits, rear theii- sterile heads over the broad waters. Cap- tain. Grey, in his very interesting Journals of two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and West Australia, says, that the most remarkable geographical feature in North- West Australia is a high range of mountains, iTimiing N.N.E. and S.S.W., (named by him Stephen's range,) from which several branches are thrown off: — 1st. One between Roe's River on the north, and Prince Re- gent's River on the south ; 2nd. Macdonald's range, that throws off streams to Prince Regent's River on the north, and to Glenelg Ptiver on the south ; 3rd. Whateley's range, which gives forth streams to Glenelg River on the north, and to the low country, behind Colliers Bay and Dampier's Land on the south. These branch ranges, as well as the primary one, are composed of ancient sand- stone, deposited in nearly horizontal strata, or of basaltic rocks, which arc only visible in certain places, and are fally developed in that part of Stephen's range which lies behind Collier Bay, and in the low ground near Glenelg River. The extent of Stc- plien's range captain Grey was not able to ascertain; but it contains within it the sources of Roe's River, Prince Regent's, and Glenelg livers, most probably the Fitzroy, those that run into Cambridge Gulf, and perhaps others tluit have their embouchures between Cambridge and Admiralty Gvdfs. Governor Grey does not consider this range very elevated; he estimated the highest parts of the table land of Macdonald's range at 1,400 feet above the sea, and the altitude of the farthest point reached of Stephen's range at 2,500 to 3,000 feet. The rivers on the north-west coast resemble those of the south-east part of Australia. They rise at no great distance from the sea; near their sources are mountain torrents ; and, in the low lands, streams, with slow currents, flow through extensive and fertile valleys or plains, subject to considerable inundations. The valleys of the north-west coast are of two descriptions — those which are almost ravines, enclosed on cither side by inacces- sible cHff's, or valleys of great width, bor- dered by fertile and often extensive plains, which occur where the basaltic rocks are developed. One valley in which governor Grey and his party encamped, had a main width of only 147 feet; and, half a mile from the sea, the rocky precipitous chfl's rose 138 feet. The sandstone formation is intersected, in all dii'cctions, by valleys of this kind, which are seldom more than two or three miles apart, while the top of the range between them is a table land, di^dded by lateral valleys, and gently rising towards the interior. Seawards they all terminate in salt-water creeks, ha\dng the same narrow, rocky, and precipitous character. The richest land is found upon the valleys of the second class, where the streams flow through wide plains, and have their margins thinly wooded. Fine vegetable mou.ld was seen by captain Grey, ten or twelve feet in thickness. The Gascoyne River is apparently one im- mense delta of alluvial soil covered with gently sloping grassy elevations, which can scarcely be called hills, and in the valleys between them are many fresh water lagoons, which i-est upon a clay soil. The coimtry is lightly timbered, and well adapted for agri- cultural or pastoral purposes, but especially for the gi-o^i;h of cotton and sugar. Fm'ther information relative to the north- west coast is very imperfect. The shore in the neighbourhood of Han- over Bay is formed of enormous granite Ijoidders, which render it hardly accessible except at high water. A red sandstone plat- form is abruptly intersected by singular look- ing valleys ; the precipitous cliff's at fii-st ap- proach each other, and then recede inland in a southerly direction. It was from one of these valleys that captain Grey met so many obstacles in his attempt to penetrate the in- terior. Hanover Bay is a fine harboiu', but not so easy of access from seaward as the contiguous haven of Port George the Fourth; but both afford safe anchorage, abundance of fresh water, plenty of fuel, and a fine beach for the seine. Fish, however, are scarce on the north-west coast. The numerous islands and reefs which skirt the shore, greatly di- minish the value of these fine harboiu's. Red Is/and, a good guide to the entrance to Hanover Bay or Port George the Fourth, is small, rocky, of no great elevation, with precipitous sides and a clump of trees in the centre. The coast off" Entrance Island (Port 36 :montgomery islands and king's sound. George the Foxu-tli; is arid and barren^ with a hue of lofty chffs occasionally broken by ^andy beaches, and a back-ground of rocky sandstone hills very thinly wooded. Gene- rally spealdng, the north-west coast is Avell watered, and although the country around Hanover Bay is very rocky, it has some rich and beautiful vallies. Doubtful Bay, in 16° 4' S. lat., has a table land, of sandstone formation, 900 feet above the waters of the bay. The prospect fi'om the summit is cheerless ; similar ranges of less height meet the eye in every direction branching towards the interior; those over- looking the eastern shore of the bay are from 600 to 700 feet high. Captain Stokes doubts that any land, as estimated by captain Grey, of two to three thousand feet high, exists -u-ithin thfrty miles of the height on which he stood. Captain King mentions hills of from three to foiu* hundred feet high, at a distance of fifteen miles. It is uncertain whether this bay receives the waters of any river. ]\Ir. Helpman, who explored the south shore of the bay, ascended a high hill, and " feasted his eyes on a most luxuriant well Avatered country," bearing E.S.E, about eight miles, lying at the eastern foot of a remarkable peak, visible from Port George the Fom-th, To the north-east are the Macdonald range of hills, which are esti- mated by captain Grey at 1,400 feet high ; !Mr. Helpman, however, says they are " ap- parently of no great elevation."' Part of this rich land stretches to -udthin five miles of the south-east part of Brecknock Harbour, Avhich is six miles deep, extends gradually from a width of one and three-quarter miles at the enti'ance, to five at the head, and has a depth of Avater varnng fr'om five to seven fathoms, Avith a soft muddy bottom. Eocks of tran- sition origin Avere met with in this neighbour- hood, leading to the inference that the soil is of better quality than that formed by the decomposition of sandstone of recent forma- tion. Captain Stokes found, on landing in the neighbourhood at mid-day, "the air quite perfumed Anth the fi-agrance of different gums." The Montgomei'y Islands (so called by cap- tain King, after the zealous and enterprising surgeon of his ship, Avho here recei\'ed a spear wound from the natiA'cs, M^hich nearly proA' ed fatal) consist of six small rocky islets, resting on an extensive coral flat ; the eastern and largest is seventy feet higli, in 15" 49' S. lat. They form good landmarks for the entrance to Collier's But/ (distant eighty miles fi-om Port George the Fom-th), Avhich is twenty miles Avide at the commencement, and narrows to six near the head of the bay, fifteen miles from Eagle Point in 16° 10' S. lat. The eastern shore has a south and a south by Avest direction, formed of shalloAV bights, flanked by hills of moderate elevation. The western shore runs in a north-west by Avest direction, has a straight rocky coast, over which a range of barren heights lise abruptly. King's Sound is a deep inlet on its eastern shore ; the face of the countrA^ is intersected by deep raAines, and covered AAith huge blocks of coarse sandstone. From the top of one of the highest hills, captain Stokes reckoned more than eighty islands in this portion of the adjacent archipelago. He crossed two deep bays in the sound — the first three and the second four and a half miles Avide — both affording good anchorage, but inaccessible from the barrier reefs and islets across their mouths. These bays and the ranges of adjoining hills trended E.S.E. At a distance of seventeen miles in a N.N.E direction from the ship in 16° 24' 30'' S. lat., captain Stokes found the same huge masses of rock, and from the summit of one of them obserA'cd yet more numerous islands on the coast, which is indented AAath bays two to fiA'e miles in AA^dth, containing long narroAv islands invariably trending in an E.S.E. di- rection. The bays generally siibsided in a S.S.W. direction. The scenery at Point Usborne, in King's Sound, is very Avnld ; on the north side of the Sound, distant twenty- one miles is Point Cunningham and Carlisle Head, which appear hke two high square- looking islands. The eastern shore of King's Sound, at forty miles from Port Usborne in a direct line, and seventy by the wind- ing coiu'se of the main laud, forms eight bays, varying in depth three to eight miles, and in Avidth two to five : their general trend is E.S.E. Many islets sku-t their sliores, and almost more than can be counted fill their moiiths. The Fitzroy River, which disembogues into King's Soimd, Avas traced by captains Wickham and Stokes for ninety miles; in their opinion, it oflers a means of access to the interior, by which future explorers may further improve our geographical knoAvledgc of this part of Australia. The country near the embouche of the river is one vast un- broken level, covered Anth strong, wiry gi-ass, and intersected by numerous water- courses. The general dh'ection of tlie Fitzroy is south ; THE FITZUOY RIVER AND BUCCANEER'S ARCHIPELAGO. 37 at a few miles from the coast the -width sud- denly contracts from three miles to one ; the banks low and covered with a coarse grass. Firrther south low gi'assy islets extend across the river, and leave only confined and shallow channels. Passing these islets at a distance of nearly thirty miles from the sea, the stream again viddens to 400 or 500 yards, with a depth of twelve feet at Ioav water. The country then begins to improve ; the eastern bank becomes thickly wooded, and subse- quently the western is seen clothed with ver- dure. The coui'se of the river now becomes very tortuous ; sometimes in a S.W. by W. direction, then to S.E., round to W.N.W. ; next three reaches trending S.S.W., S.W., and S., fi"om a mile to half a mile in length, the depth of the stream varying from one to foivrteen feet ; width from three to five hun- di'cd yards. In the deep reaches were the decaying -uTCcks of large trees, indicating great inmidations. The east bank has here an elevation of twenty feet, is covered -with long grass, and thickly wooded with a lux- miant growth of the white eucalyptus. From the total absence of every appearance of animal life, an ah' of solemn tranquillity is impressed upon the scene. Captain Stokes climbed the highest tree on the eastern bank, and the landscape presented to his view was an almost uninterrupted level; open wood- lands, Avith here and there grassy spots, were its prevailing features. Proceeding fiu'ther, the explorers entered a lake-lilce reach of the river, trending south for a mile and a quarter, the breadth about one hunch'cd yards, and the depth in many places of twelve feet (twice that usually found in some of the lower reaches), and no ciu'rent. A coarse red- grained sandstone, with fragments of quartz, were found on the west bank for nearly a quarter of a mile along the edge of the water ; over many parts of it was a coating of a dark and metallic appearance, about three inches thick, and the sui'face in places presented a glazed or smelted appearance. After passing this canal, the Fitzroy di-vddes into two branches, one having an E.S.E., and the other S.S.E. dii-ection ; both are with diflti- culty navngated by boats, and are deep reaches connected by shallows, and subject to inundations, dmnng wliich the water rises to a height of twenty feet. The country on the westward, as far as could be seen from a high tree, is open, with clumps of small trees, and green grassy patclics l)etween them. In other directions it is densely wooded, and on the eastward tiie trees are large. The ex- ploration was given up in 17° 41' S. lat., 121° 31' E. long., the river having been traced twenty-two miles in a general S.S.W, du'ccticn, and ninety miles from the coast line. At this point, the channel of the southerly branch was found to be wholly choked with islets and sunken trees ; the banks were twenty feet high, and coAcrcd Avith gi'ass ; partially broken or washed down, they disclosed to riew a ricli allurial soil, nearly two feet deep. The trees seen were chiefly two species of palm, three of the eucalypti, stunted Banksia, acacia, and a sin- gular tree with a rough bark like the elm, and a deep dark gi-een foliage. The Buccaneer's Archipelago consists of many islets, skirting the coast between Prince Regent's inlet and King's Somid. The land in the interior is rugged and lofty, and the shore much indented with several fine harbom's. The outline of the coast about Cape Leveque itself is low, waring, and rounded, and the cliflTs, as is generally the case on the north and north-west parts of Australia, of a reddish hue; but on the south of the high gromid at Cape Leveque, the stoney chffs are succeeded by a long tract which appears to consist of low sandy land, fronted by extensive shoals. Dumpier' s ArcJdpelago, and the adjacent coast, is still but partially sui'veyed : the shore is rugged and broken. Depuch Island, on the north-west coast, in 20° 37' S., 117^44' E., presents a singular contrast with the low, flat shores of the main land, from Avhich it is only a mile distant. It is of a circular form, eight miles in cir- cumference, and is composed of a vast pile of large blocks of greenstone, heaped up in iTigged and iiTCgular masses, to the height of 514 feet. It has much the a])pearance of basalt : here and there, near the summit, are a few stunted green trees ; but, generally speaking, the island is devoid of vegetation, and very diff'ereut from the other low islands of Forester's gi'oup, of which it is the chief. From Cape Preston, in 21^ S. lat., to Exmouth Gulf, the coast is low and sandy, and does not exhibit any prominences. The Avest coast of Exmoutli Gulf is formed by a promontory of level land, terminating in the North-west Cape: from thence to the south-west, as far as Cape Cuvier, the general height of the coast is 400 to 500 feet. No mountains are visi])le from tlie coast-range. Kok's Island, in tlic Geor/raphe Channel, is very remarkable ; nearly a table land, about a quarter of a mile in length, terminating in 38 PHOGRESS OF INLAND DISCOVERY— AUSTRALIA. low cliffs at each extremity^ and on tlie summit of this table land are several large rocksj which look like the remains of pillars. Bernicr island consists of sandy dimes, ar- ranged in right Unes, lying south-east and north-west — the dii'ection of the prevailing winds. There are no trees or grass. Dorre is similar to Bernier, only the siu'face is higher. Shark's Bay, and the continuous western and southern shores of AustraHa, will be described in the respective books of Western and Southern Austraha. I have now endeavom'ed to present a connected "view of the tropical coast-line, including the north-east, north, and north- west shores of the island continent; a few general observations on Geology and Climate will follow an outline of the — Progress of Ixland Discovery. — It would far exceed the limits of the present work to enter into a detail of the toilsome and perilous explorations of the brave adven- tru'ers, v,'ho, at the imminent hazard, and, in too many instances, at the sacrifice of their lives, have acquired the yet imperfect infor- mation we possess concerning the interior of this vast continent. It must therefore suffice to enumerate the most important of these expeditious; dwelling more especially on those which have led to practical results. From the very commencement of the settle- ment at Port Jackson, strenuous endeavom-s appear to have been made by the colonists to penetrate beyond the mountain-belt, already described as forming the leading featui-e in the physical aspect of Austraha. The efforts of ]\Iessrs. Bass, Caley, Barraliier, and others, were totally ineffectual, and the formidable barrier remained unpassed until the year 1813, when the country was \'isited by a fearful di-ought ; the land from the sea-coast to the base of the hiUs was burnt up ; the secondary water-com'ses entuely failed, and the cattle, hemmed in on all sides, died in great numbers for want of pasturage. The colonists were in despair, when three enter- prising individuals, Messrs. Blaxland, Went- worth, and Lawson, united in making one more attempt to find a pass over the Blue Mountain range. They ascended the moun- tains near the Grose River (a tributary of the Hawkesbury), and by keeping steadily in vicAv the fall of the waters into the AVarra- gumba, on the one side, and into the Grose, on the other, which no previoiis explorer had thought of doing, they maintained then' po- sition on a main range, and notwithstanding its intricate windings, eventually penetrated to a distance of twenty-five geographical miles, due west from the Nepean river to a terminating point in those mountains, whence the eyes of the enterprising adventurers were gladdened by the prospect of a grassy and well watered vale, extending apparently some miles to the westward. On their return, Mr. W. Evans, the assistant surveyor, was de- spatched by the same route, and the Do\vns of Bathm-st, the river Maequarie, and the Lachlan were shortly afterwards discovei'ed. In the following year a practicable hue oi road was constructed, by convict labour, ovei' precipitous ridges, some pai'ts of which rise 3,400 feet above the level of the sea. In the winter of 1817, an expedition headed by cap- tain Oxley, then surveyor-general, and inclu- ding Allan Cunningham, v^as sent to trace the Lachlan. Its long and tortuous course, dm-ing which it was not found to receive a single tributary, was followed through a flat inhospitable country, beyond the westernmost range of lulls, to an interior, a dead level, forming a chain of plains, which appeared alone bounded by the horizon, whose ample siu'face bore evident proofs of being, in sea- sons of continued rains, extensively inundated. Over these AustraHan steppes Captain Oxley made his way, notwithstanding the slimy nature of their surface, and the distressed state of his horses, for about 100 miles to the westward of the last hill-lilce undulation of that part of the interior, when his progress was arrested, in 144° 30' E. long., by impas- sable morasses, the river having divided itself into several small channels, and its waters having become perfectly stagnant and unfit for use. In 1818, Captain Oxley started to explore the Maequarie dowirwards from Wel- lington YaUey, but his persevering research was again attended with disappointment, the river being traced to a low marshy interior, where the coimtry became " perfectly level,^^ and the flooded river eluded furtlier piu'sint by spreading its waters far and wide. Into this expanse of shoal water captain Oxley descended in a boat, amidst reeds of such height, that having totally lost sight of land and trees, he was compelled to return to his party, Avhom he had left encamped on Mount Harris, a detached hill on the river's bank, elevated about 200 feet above the plain of the neighbouring flats. It being at that time perfectly impossible to penetrate the aj^parently unbounded morass, captain Oxley, unable to proceed in a westerly direction, determined to prosecute his discoveries east- EXPEDITION UNDER ALLAN CUNNINGHAM, 1828. 39 erly, in the parallel of 31° 15', in which latitude his examination of the river had terminated. In his progress easterly, Liver- pool plains, and a hiBy, pictvu-esque, and well watered cormtry, were discovered. The ex- pedition reached the coast at Port Macquarie, in 31° 30' S. lat., and proceeded thence along the shore to Port Jackson. In the com^se of his journeys in 1817-18, captain Oxley ad- vanced upwards of 500 miles beyond the Blue jNIountains, and experienced one of the peculiar dangers attendant on Austrahan ex- plorations, namely, the rapid rush of water from the mountains after heavy rains. In some instances the river column advances with terrific fury, sweeping every thing before it, and presenting the appalling prospect of a moving cataract, with an elevation of twenty to forty feet. Captain Oxley and his party were nearly overtaken by one of these inun- dations, but were providentially saved by being in the "\icinity of a hill. Had he been near the margm of a stream, or in one of the vast savannahs, nothing could have presen-ed the gallant officer and his companions from destruction. — {Vide Allan Cunningham's paper in the Geographical Society's Journal, 1832). About this time (1819) the Mnrrumbidgee was discovered, and minor excm-sions were immediately undertaken ; but the fine open coimtiy watered by that river, and novf called Brisbane Dov/ns, was not known until 1823. Towards the close of the following year, Messrs. Hume and Hovell, two enter- prismg colonists, resolved itpon attempting the exploration of the extensive and unknown tract of country situated between the colo- nized territory and Bass' Straits. They started from a stock station near Lake George, with the intention of pursuing a direct course to the south-west, expectmg to ai-rive at the coast near Western Point, but a range of mountains, connected with those of the Mnrrumbidgee, through which, with bvu'dened cattle, they found it impossible to penetrate, compelled them to follow an entirely west course, until, haAdng passed the meridian of 148°, they were enabled to resume their original dh'ection. In 36° S. lat.j the party discovered a fine stream, flowing mth considerable rapidity among the hills, which, from its depth and breadth, they had difficulty in fording. To this river they gave the name of Hume, but it was subsequently called the Murray, by captain Sturt, who explored its lower com-se. The travellers pursued their way over an undu- lating, grassy, and well-watered country, and crossed two other streams, which they named the Ovens and the Goulburn. At length, having advanced nearly 400 miles be- yond the remotest settlements, they emerged upon a sandy beach of the sea shore, con- sidered by Mr. Hume to be that of Western Port, but which was, in reality, the nortli- eastern side of Port Phillip — half a degree to the Avestward of the point at which they supposed themselves to have an-ivcd. In returning home, Messrs. Hume and Hovell travelled considerably to the westward of their outwtjrd-bound track, and on a much lower level, avoiding entirely the broken, hilly country which had previously proved so harassing to their cattle. In 1827, an expedition was despatched under Allan Cunningham, to explore the country between Hunter's River, 32° S. lat., and Moreton Bay, in 27° S. lat. Crossing the dividing range to the westward, he skirted the eastern side of Liverpool Plains, bisected (what were afterwards found to be) the tributaries of the Darling, and disco- vered the extensive and valuable tracts of pastoral coiuitry now known as DarUng Downs, Peel's, and Canning's Plains. In the following year, ]\Ir. Cunningham suc- ceeded in finding a practicable line of road through the mountain chain between More- ton Bay and Darhng Do^vns, which the extent of intractable and difficult country between those plains and the Hunter ren- dered of great importance. Meanwhile, the extreme di'ought which had now (1828) con- tinued upwards of three years, induced the local government to attempt again to ascer- tain the state of the interior. An exploiing party, including INIr. Hume, under the direc- tion of captain Stiu't, (the present colonial secretary of South Australia,) proceeded to IMount Harris, on the INIacquai'ie. Upon reaching the summit of that eminence, a prospect presented itself which formed a striking contrast to that beheld by captain Oxley, from the same spot, ten years before — the extensive morass into which the surveyor- general had descended in a boat, being now transformed into " a large and blasted plain," Inarched, by extreme heat, into deep and dangerous clefts. About twenty-eight miles below Mount Harris, the Macquarie was found to terminate, having no longer a con- tinuous bed, and the plains or steppes com- mence; each of them liaving a lagoon-like channel, surrounded by high reeds which, in the rainy seasons, catch, and for a while 40 DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA FELIX, 1836. detain tlie spreading waters, until a sliglit declivity, gi^iiig them a fresh impetus, they arrive at a second channel, and thence at a third, until a considerable extent of country is laid under water — a space, fifty miles in length, and thirty miles in breadth, being subject to be thus deluged. Captain Stiu-t found another river (unfortvmately for the explorers) of salt water, which he named the Darhng, and whose course he traced for a considerable distance. In this expedition friendly and frequent intercourse Avas main- tained Anth the natives, who were suffering fearfully from a cutaneous disease, caused by the badness of the water, and the inten- sity of the heat, which seemed alike oppres- sive to animal and vegetable life. In 1829, captain Sturt proceeded from Sydney to explore the ]MmTumbidgee, and having traced it doAvn its right bank to 34° 25' S. lat., 143° 57' E. long., he there launched a boat which he had conveyed over- land, and another, which, by extraordinary energy and perseverance, had been built on the spot; fi'oni thence, advancing aboiit twelve miles to the westward, he found the morasses into Avhich the Laehlan had been traced, drained through a " large ereek'^ into the Miiri'umbidgee ; still pursuing a westerly course, through a level and monotonous country, a week's difficult and dangerous navigation was richly rewarded by the dis- covery of the junction of tlie diminished waters of the MiuTumbidgee \dt\\. " a broad and noble river,'" which he named the LMiu'ray, and commenced exploring ; after following it in a westerly dii'ection for about a hundred miles, the expedition arrived at a third confluence formed in 34° S. lat., 141° E. long., by a river flo^dng from the north- east, Avhich notwithstanding t]ie freshness of its waters, captain Sturt considered could be " no other than the Darling." Still pursuing the course of the Murray, captain Start passed another of its tributaries, which he named the Lindesay, and describes as a con- siderable stream, flowing in from the south- cast. At length, after some intricate naAd- gation, the forest-clad ridges which mark the eastern shore of the Gulf of St, Vincent became visible ; the river in 139° 46' E. long, took a bend to the south, and Avas traced by the party to its entrance iu the broad expanse of Lake Alcxandrina or Victoria, Avhich they traversed until stopped by the sand banks that separate it from the sea at Encoiuiter Bay. In ]83], a ncAV impetus Avas given to intej'ual exploration by the plausible state- ments of a bush-ranger named George Clarke, sentenced to death for cattle-stealing, who, haA-ing for a considerable time taken refiige Avith the natives, had acquired a knowledge of their language. He declared that he had himself tAviee followed the cou^rse of a very large river, from the Liverpool Plains to the sea-coast ; and the acting governor, sir Pa- trick Lindesay, was induced to despatch an expedition under the surveyor-general of the colony, then major, now lieutenant-colonel Sii' T. L. IMitchell, to examine the country in a northerly direction. The result of the journey, although the conAact's report proved untrue, Avas in other respects satisfactory. Major Mitchell having discovered the Dar- ling to be a fresh-water river in 29° S. lat., where it receives the Nammoy, a fine stream Avatering an open pastoral country, but beyond this point, the mmxler of tAvo men by the aborigines, and the failure of provisions, prcA^ented the expedition from exploring. In 1835, major T. L. Mitchell pro- ceeded about 300 miles up the riA^er Darling, in a direct line. He found the country in general "imfit for any pm-pose,'' with the exception of " a strip of land near the river ;" to the westAvard it resembled a desert. On the return of the expedition, by the di*ied up channel of the Bogan, in whose ponds, hoAvever, Avater Avas occasionally found, Mr. Richard Cunningham, haAing diverged from his companions, feU into the hands of the natives, by Avliom he Avas barbarously mur- dered. In 1836, Sir Thomas Mitchell, with a Aaew of reaching the same point on the Darling which he had quitted the prcAdous year, followed (in order to avoid the hostile tribes he had then encountered,) the empty bed of the Laehlan to the jNIurrumbidgee, and thence to the INim'ray, Avhieh he traced to its junction Avitli the river rightly supposed hy captain Stiu't to be the Darling, which latter stream he examined sufficiently to iden- tify. He then turned to the south, and tracing the course of the JNIurray upwards, discovered between it and the sea a fine, open, uninhabited, and Avell-Avatered country, averaging in extent 400 miles from east to Avest, and 250 from north to south, which he named Australia Felix, and in Avhicli the flourishing colony of Port Phillip, or Vic- toria, is noAV estabhshed. In 1837-8, lieu- tenant Grey (now governor of New Zealand,) and lieutenant Lushington undertook the examination of the country about Piince Regent's inlet, hoping to discoA^er, in the vicinity of Dampier's Arcliipelago, some river by means of which they might be enabled to penetrate tlie interior. Their expedition has been ah-cady adverted to in the description of the coast Hne, beyond which insurmoimtable obstacles prevented their exploring for a greater distance than sixty miles. In 1840; useful surveys were made by ]Mr. Tyers between Port Phillip and the river Glenelg^ and by ]\Ir. Dixon at ]Moreton Bay; and^ in the same year, Gipp's Land was discovered by the able geologist and indefatigable explorer, count Strezelecki, to whom we are indebted for a physical description of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, a work which, to quote the Avords of the author, "compreheuds the fruits of five years of continual labour, during a torn- of 7,000 miles on foot." In June, 1840, ]\Ir. Eyre, who had pre- viously conducted several minor explorations, was intrusted by the colonists with the guidance of an expedition destined to attempt afresh to penetrate the interior, the plan of the intended journey being — first, to examine Lake Torrens, and then to proceed, as far as possible, in a northerly direction. Lake Torrens was found by Mr. Eyre to be com- pletely gii-ded by an outer ridge of sand, covered ^vith salsolaceous plants, and with sahne crasts, showing above the ground, at intervals, " the dry bed of the lake, coated completely over with a crust of salt, forming one unbroken sheet of pm-e white, and glit- tering brilliantly in the sun, but yielding to the foot, the bed of the lake below the sur- face being composed of a soft mud." The progress of the party in the intended direc- tion was aiTCsted, it being impossible either to cross the lake, from its boggy nature, or travel along its shores, fi'om "the total absence of all fresh water, gTass, or wood, whilst the very saline nature of the soil in the surrounding country, made even the rain-water salt, after lying an hour or two upon the ground." Erom the depot near Mount Arden, close under the hills Avhich form the continuation of Elindcrs' range, they therefore proceeded to their termination in 29° 20' S. lat., and reached a low and very level countrj^ consisting of large stony plains, destitute of water, grass, or timber, varied by many small, flat-topped elevations, from 50 to 300 feet in height, composed almost wholly of a chalk substance, coated over on the upper siirfacc by stones, or a sandy soil, and " presenting the appearance of having fonned a table land that had been DIV. I. washed to pieces by the riolent action of water, and of Avhich these fragments now remain." Forcing his way through this dreary region, in three different directions, Mr. E}Te ascertained that " the Avhole of the low country round the termination of Flinders' range Avas completely smTomidcd by Lake Torrens, Avhich, commencing not far from the head of Spencer's Gulf, takes a circuitous com-se of fully 400 miles, of an apparent breadth of from tAventy to thirty miles, fol- loAving the sweep of Flinders' range, and almost encirchng it in the form of a horse- shoe." The extensive but disheartening pros- pect from ]Moimt Serle first manifested to the enterprising party the impassable barrier by Avhicli they Avere hemmed in; but ]\Ir. Eatc, considering this CAidence insufficient, left his party, and proceeded, accompanied by a native boy, for about ninety miles farther, to a "W, haycock-like peak," rising "among broken fragments of table lands," similar to those previously seen near the lake to the north-west, which, naming Mount Hopeless, he ascended, and found his prcAious couA'iction entirely confirmed. He then returned to Port Lincoln for supplies, and, rejoining the party, (Avliom he sent forAvard to Streaky Bay,) set out to foUow the coast line in a Avesterly direction, hoping to arrive at a practicable country to the north. In this, hoAvever, he entirely failed, although he succeeded in penetrating, accom- panied b}^ a native boy and a man driAiug a dray laden AA^th proAisions, AA-ithiu twelve miles of the head of the Great Bight, through low, flat lands, or a succession of sandy ridges, densely covered AA^th a brush of eucalj'ptus, mimosa, salt-Avater, tea-tree, and other shrubs, Avitli, here and there, a few isolated patches of open, grassy plains among the scnib, but no siu'lace-Avater — not a water- com-se or pool of any description. This attempt cost the lives of the three best di'aught horses of the expedition, from fatigue and privation : but Mv. Eatc resolved to make another, taking Avitli him only one of the native boys. He thus describes the sterile region they encountered : — " Upon rounding the head of tlie bight, I met Avith a few friendly natives, -who shewed mo Avhere both Avater and grass A\ere to be procured, at the same time assuring me that inland there was neither fresh or salt Avater, hills, or timber, as lar as they had ever been ; that there was no more (either fresh Avater or grass) along the coast for ten of their days' journeys (probably 100 miU-s) or where the first break takes place in the long and continuouy line of cliffs Avhich E 42 ACCOUNT OF THE INTERIOR GIVEN BY THE NATR^ES, 1844. extend so far to the westward of the head of the I Great Bight. Upon reaching these cliffs, I felt much j disappointed, as I had long looked forward to some considerable and important change in the character ' of the country. There ■was, however, nothing verj' I remarkable in their appearance, nor did the features I of the countiT around undergo any material change. : The cliffs themselves struck me as merely exhibiting the precipitous banks of an almost level country, of j moderate elevation (300 or 400 feet), wliich thevio- j lent lash of the -whole of the Southern Ocean -was I always acting upon and undermining. Their rock i formation consists of various strata, the upper crust I or surface being an oolitic lime ; below tliis is an I indented concrete mixttu'e of sand, soil, small pebbles, : and shells :• beneath this appear immense masses of j a coarse greyish limestone, of Avhich by far the greater portion of the cliffs are composed ; and immediately j below these again is a narrow stripe of a whitish or I rather cream-colom-ed substance, lying in horizontal j strata, but which the impracticable nature of the : cliffs did not allow me to examine. After riding for ' forty-five miles along their summits, I was in no case able to descend ; their- brinks were perfectly steep and overhanging, and in many places enormous I masses appeared severed by deep cracks fi-om the j main land, and requiring but a touch to plunge them ! into the abyss below. As far as I have yet been I along these, I have met with no indication of any I portion of them being composed of chalk. Imme- j diately along their summits, and for a few hundred j yards back, very numerous pieces of pure flint are lying loosely scattered upon the surface of the lime- J stone. Back from the sea, as far as the eye could I reach, the country Avas level and generally open, wi.ih ; some low inickly bushes and salsolaceous plants i growing upon it ; here and there patches of the gum scrub shewed themselves, among which a few small : grassy openings were interspersed. The whole of I this tract was thickly covered by small land shells, I about the size of snail shells, and in some instances resembling them in shape. There were no sudden depressions or abrupt elevations anyAvhere; neither hills, ti-ees, or water were to be observed, nor Avas there the least indication of improvement or change in the general character of this desolate and forbid- ding region."' Mr. Eyre novr reuouuccd all Lope of pene- trating the interior, and breaking up his party, resolved to proceed with one man (who had acted as overseer) and the native boys overland to King George's Sound, Avhich, after extreme perils and fatigue, borne with a cheerful endurance beyond all praise, he succeeded in reaching, accompanied by one only of the boys, the others haAing deserted him, while the unfortunate overseer had peiishcd by the hands of tlie natives. Passing over the interesting excm-sions of Mr. Frome to Lake Torrens, Messrs. Russell riowTi the Condamine, and others, we anive at the remarkable expedition conducted by cap- tain Sturt, who left Adelaide in August, 1844, and started up the Darhng Avith a view of tracing the WiUiorara (Laidley's Ponds) upwards. Instead of a moiuitain stream, the Williorara proved to be a mere creek, con- veying the backwaters of the Darhng to Lakes Cawndilla and Minandichi, and his hopes of gaining entrance to the noith-west inteiior along its banks were completely frustrated. The conduct of the natives a*t this place was vei*y gratifying, and appears to have been chiefly OAving to the favoui'able impression made by Mv. Eyi-e during a pre- vious jom-ney up the Darling. "To those exertions," says captain Stm-t, " more than to om- own pnidence, must we asciibe the peaceful manner in which we have passed through the tribes." The aborigines warned captain Stm"t most emphatically against at- tempting to cross the formidable ranges bordering the interior ; telhng him that they were covered with sharp pointed stones and great rocks, by Avhich if they escaped being crushed, and gained the low coimtry, they there would all perish from the heat and the want of water ; moreover, they would find no wood to light a fire Avitli — no grass for the cattle. This appalhng picture which (alloAV- ing for theii- exaggerated mode of expression) experience proA^ed to be in many respects correct, did not deter the gallant band, and haA-ing succeeded in discovering a practicable pass, they descended into the steiile region, beyond avhich the most strenuous and con- tinuous efforts failed in enabling them to penetrate. Speaking of the dreary heights by which they were encircled, captain Stui't says, "they seemed to extend in a N.N.W. and S.S.E. direction, forming semicircles, like bays, and haA^ug all the appearance of a coast-line. Some prickly acacias in full blossom, a tree resembhng a banksia, and a ncAv polygonum, were foimd on the western slope." The expedition encamped in a shel- tered glen on the 27th January, 1845, in 29° 40' li" S. lat., 141° 30' E. long.,- and the tents were not again strack until the 14t]i of Jidy folloAA-ing. They were fortunate in having here discovered an important creek, whose plentifid supply of water alone enabled them to remain so long in the heart of the desert. The sufJerings endm-ed by the Avhole party were excessive, and in July, Mr. Poole (the second in command) sank imder them. The cxcui'sions made by captain Sturt in all dh-cctions, dming his protracted sojoixrn in this " weaiy land," are too numerous to be even briefly detailed, but tlie folloAving ex- j tracts from his despatches may aflbrd the j reader some idea of the dreary Anldcrness ! itself, and the perils and fatigue therein en- | countered : — f CAPTAIN STURT'S DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT STONY DESERT. 43 " We passed over a counti-y of alternate sand hill and flats, until I struck upon a creek, beyond which the country was more open, and more subject to floods ; v.'e crossed over extensive plains, subject to deep inundations, but soon again got on sandhills. From them ire descended to a stony plain of bound- less extent, on which the horses left no track, and where no object was visible on the horizon from which to take bearings. Crossing these, we de- scended to flats, like a ploughed field, on which water had subsided, stretching to the north-east and south- west, farther than the range of vision, and without a blade of A'egetation. From this v,-e again ascended sand ridges, of most formidable description, and found the country to the west so bad where we attempted to penetrate in that direction, and surface w^ater so scarce, that we were obliged to turn to the north at fifty miles, with only two small puddles to depend on. I struck a creek which I traced up sixty miles, when I got on a country of salt forma- tion, covered with samphii-e, and other salsolaceous productions, with numbers of dry beds of lagoons, all white as snow, with salt. Passing this, we once more found ourselves among sand ridges, perfectly insurmountable, so close that the base of one touched the base of another — the whole country sand. The sand hills were of a fiery red, and they ran for miles and miles, in parallel rows, with points like the vanishing points of an avenue. But there was neither grass nor water to be found, and after trying all points of the compass, I gave it up and returned to the depot, after an absence of seven weeks, and a ride of 924 mile?. "The men were all knocked up, and the horses perfectly leg-weary ; but I was dissatisfied with this journey, and there was but little time for hesitation. Therefore, after giving the animals six days' rest, I left the camp, taking with me two men and nine weeks' provisions, my objects being to try to enter the tropics, to ascertain if there were any water betweeji me and the north coast, or if the desert extends to the very tropics. I v.ent due north, and struck a most splendid creek at 123 miles from the depot. Here I had a thunder-storm that lasted half an hour, and left some surface water, dependent on which, I crossed it, and ran out 170 miles without finding a single channel for conveyance of water. I dug five wells, but had little hope of benefiting from them. I was at length brought up by a stony desert, that stretched before us in absolute bound- lessness. Where there were sand-hills in it before, the sand-hills were now covered with stone, similar to the plain itself. I was in the centre of a dark and adamantine sea, without any object by v/hich to steer my course. I was foriy-one miles advanced in this gloomy region, and fifty-two from water. My horses had already been one clay without water, and I could not hope to reach the other water under a day and a-half, including part of the night ; yet I hesitated to turnback It Avas an irresistible influence that drove nie back, certainly contrary to my own inclinations. I was well-nigh too late. I lost three horses, but that was of no consequence on such an occasion. I got back to tlie creek, (Cooper's Creek) after havmg reached latitude 2o' 45', and longitude 139' 13'. " From the creek on Avhich I Avas, I had seen high and broken ranges to the north-east, and I now determined on examining them and the creek. I therefore went up the latter 120 miles, but I found that it was leading me away from the ranges, and I ultimately got to its termination, or rather head, in some extensive plains. The creek was as large as tlie Darling, and was flanked by a box-tree forest, in grassy land, to a considerable distance from its banks. Here I fell in with a numerous population, passing three or four small tribes every day; but the news of our kind treatment of them had spread through the country, and they evinced no alarm, but did all they could to serve us. From this point I turned west- ward, and taking up a branch creek, went towards the ranges; but I got into a temble country, and found that the cflTects of refraction had deceived nie with regard to the ranges, and that they v.-ere nothing but masses of sand or rock, 300 to 500 feet liigh. I saw that I was getting near the scene of the greatest turmoil, where the water passed over this ch-eary waste, and left the shivered fragments of mountains behind it. Here, again, water and grass failed me, and I M-as forced to abandon this trying task, being unable to contend against the season and country. I had done all that I could do, and had run the risk of being altogether cut ofi"; indeed, so near was it, that I drained the last di-op of mud — for it was not water — out of a pool that four weeks before was 150 yards broad, and 200 to 300 long. I lost two horses, and regretted them very much. I reached the depot, at length, having ridden 843 miles in five M'eeks, less three days. " I had been exposed for twelve Aveeks to an exces- sive heat, had had insufficient food, had dnmk loath- some water, and at length my iron constitution, under disappointment, anxiety, and weakness, gave Avay The day I made the camp, I was eighteen hours on horseback; and when I dismounted, the spasmodic action of the muscles of my thighs was so violent as almost to throw me forward. I had, in truth, ridden all day in great pain. The next day, the scurvy, latent in me for eleven months, seized me. The muscles of my thighs contracted, and I was laid prostrate." The expedition on their return were joined l)y a rehef party at the junction of the Wil- liorara^ and reached Adelaide on the 19th of January, 1846. In a brief summary of the infoimation he had obtained, captain Sturt says : — " The principal features of the interior are the sandy ridges or dunes, by which it is traversed from south to north, and the Great Stony Desert. That the whole region traversed was once submerged, there cannot, I tliink, be a doubt. Its salsolaceous productions, its sea-level, its Avant of trees of any size or groMth, excepting on the banks of the creeks, sufljciently attest this ; but whether the sandy ridges were thrown up simultaneously, or were successively formed by the joint effect of winds and a gradually retiring sea, or of winds alone, it is i;npossible to say. When I first crossed the Stony Desert, it appeared to me to have been the bed of a former current; and I felt satisfied that that conclusion was just when I crossed it at another point more than a degree from the fii'st, and noticed the strong proof it exhibited of Avaters having at one time or other sAvept over it with irresistible fury. MHiether the Stony Desert con- tinues to any distance I cannot say, but my opinion is that it does, and that, as the loAvest part of the interior, it receives all the Avaters falling inwards from the coast. "VVTiether those Avaters are gradually lost by evaporation, or that they are carried to some still undiscovered sea, remains to be proved ; but as it is 44 DR. LEICHARDT'S JOURNEY TO PORT ESSINGTON, 1844-45. difficult for others to elucidate tliese things, I liave thought myself called upon to throw eA ery light I can on the probable character of the interior. All I can say is, that after having traversed a desert for 400 niiles and failed to reach its northern limit, and after having found that it continued unaltered for four degrees of longitude, I cannot hope that it speedily closes in, either to the east or -west." With regard to tlie sandy dimes, lie adds : — " "When we first observed them, their general direction was N.E. by N.. but they gradually came round to, and settled at, eighteen degrees to the W. of X., or nearly N.N.W., and preserved that bearing with undoviating regularity for more than 300 miles. Tliey occasionally ran for ninety miles without any break in them, and occurred in lines rising parallel to each other, at greater or less distances apart, and Were divided by long flats." During the weary months spent by captain Stm't and his brave party in this stony prison, an exploration of a very different character, and attended by very different re- sults, was made by Dr. Leiehardt, an intel- ligent and enterprising German, who, accom- panied by seven persons, quitted Jimba, the farthest station on the Darling Downs, on the 1st of October, 1841, and after a toilsome and perilous jom-ney of 1,800 miles^ distance, duiing which above 3,000 miles were tra- versed in fourteen months, arrived at Port Essington with his party, excepting only the unfortunate j\lr. Gilbert, who was killed by the natives when the expedition had nearly reached the north coast. The party followed the range of mountains which run nearly paraUel to the east coast, until they reached the Gulf of Carpentaria, thence followed the coast to the westward, quitted it where it tui'ns to the northward, and proceeded direct across the country. For the greater part of the journey they Hved on dried beef, and such game as the country afforded : their sufferings and endurance were very great. In a series of lectm'cs delivered by Dr. Leiehardt in Sydney, he stated that in de- scribing the country, according to its con- formation and sm-face, the nature of its soil j and vegetation, its supply of water, and its meteorological relations, the whole line of I route might be divided very naturally into eight sections, each bearing a peculiar cha- ' racter. By this division it may ])e Avell to abide in the follo^ring account of the country. The first section comprises the country between Darling Do^vns and Peak Range, with the Dawson and the Mackenzie, and is principally composed of sandstone, broken in several localities by basalt (whinstone) which fonns either peaJts, as Mount Aldis and Mount Nicholson, or the spine of large ranges, as Expedition Range. The sand- stone ranges are remarkable for thpir nume- rous and steep gullies, and for their scrubby vegetation. Dr. Leiehardt found the country, with a few exceptions, Avell watered, and almost daily thunder storms cooled the air dm'ing the months of October, November, December, and January. Not only the liigh level land west of Darling Downs, which sloped almost imperceptibly to the south- west, but the valleys of the rivers and the sides of the momitains are covered with extensive scrub, principally composed of a species of acacia, which has reeeiA^ed the name of bricklow (brigalow) from the squat- ters between the Severn and the Condamine. This shrub, or smaU tree, has a foHage of greyish-green colom', and grows so close, that it is impossible, or only ^nt]\ extreme diffi- culty, that a man on horseback can make his way through it. Along the hills which bound Palm-tree Creek and the Dawson at their junction, this scrub surrounds the Downs, which are frequently several miles in extent, and are rendered extremely pictiu-esque by small copses of bricklow, fusanas, and bau- hinia scattered over them, and often clustered round stately bottle-trees, the shady retreat of kangaroos and wallobis. These downs and plains are covered by various grasses and herbs; but the great pre^^alence of vervain induced Dr. Leiehardt to name them the Ver- vain Plains. Looking from an eminence at the north-west side of Expedition Range, Dr. Leiehardt describes the disheartening pros- pect of a vaUey nearly boundless to the eye, filled by an "almost uninterrupted sea of scrub,^' but the upper part of the Dawson — Palm-tree Creek, with its swampy lakes, its fine flats and noble palm-trees ; part of Rob- inson's Creek, the Creek of Ruined Castles, and the comitry south-east of Expedition Range, he speaks of as so many places of rest and enjojonent, where the drooping hopes of the party brightened, and their energies re^dved. The banks of the Mac- kenzie, so far as they were traversed during this expedition, partook of the scrubby cha- racter of the country, but Dr. Leiehardt saw reason to believe that the scrub ceased a little lower down, while its large supply of water led him to suppose it formed a con- siderable stream towai-ds the sea-coast. The natives, when questioned concerning the coiu'se of the river, pointed to the north-east, and it probably disembogues at Broad Sound, in lat. 21° 30'. The eountrv south-east of PEAK RANGE AND THE GULF OF CARPENTARIA. 45 Expedition Range, between Zamia Creek and Erythrina Creek, was found to be for a con- siderable distance to the eastward flat and openly timbered; affording good pasturage and tolerably w^ell pro^dded with water at the foot of the range. Its latitude was 2i° 50', but the course of its waters appeared to be directed either to Port Curtis or to Keppel Bay. Should a practicable communication with the sea-coast be discovered, there is little doubt of this district becoming valuable for pastoral pm^poses, and that even the good country of Castle Creek, Robinson's Creek, and Palm-tree Creek, will be accessible from this side. The second section, comprising Peak Range, the Isaacks, and the Upper Suttor, presents a very different character from that just described. A long range of noble peaks, composed of dolomite, extends far to the W.N.W., and offers to the west and south- west a wide view over basaltic plains and open downs, alternating with low and openly- wooded ridges. To the eastward of those peaks, basaltic ridges, with gently undulating outlines, narrow plains, and abrupt sand- stone ranges, form numerous valleys, along which creeks descend to the eastward, winding in their lower course through an immense level country, and joining the Isaacks, wdiich comes from the north-west, and forms the chief outlet of the Avaters to the sea. An open forest covers the whole district, with the exception of some narrow belts of scrub along the Isaacks, and on the sandstone ranges ; and the most luxuriant grass clothes not only the black soil of the basaltic plains, but the stiff flats and the sandy bergs along the creeks and river. The supply of water was found to be so little in proportion to the number or size of the channels, that on the magnificent downs of Peak Range, Dr. Lei- chardt and Mr. Calvert nearly perished for want of water. It was here, also, that they felt, for the last time, a hot wind from the west and south-west, coming from the yet unpenetrated interior. Water-holes existed, however, in the upper part of the eastern creeks, and swampy lagoons seemed to be- come numerous down the Isaacks, which is supposed to join the sea in Broad Sound, ?iear the Mackenzie. The Upper Suttor partakes of the character of the Isaacks, from the head of which it is far more accessible than from its own lower course. Numerous flocks of emus roam over the beautiful country at the head of the Isaacks and the Suttor, and the immense tract which spi-eads out round the foot of Coxen'a Peak. The third section, comprising the Lower Suttor, the Burdekin, and the country be- tween the Burdekin and the Lynd, is charac- terised by its supply of running water, its primitive rocks, its limestone, its numerous ranges, and fine, open, well-gi'assed forest. Dr. Leichardt says, that several (compara- tively) large tributaries, as the Cape, the Clarke, the Perry, di-ain, in all probability, extensive tracts of available countiy, while the elevation on the upper course of the Bm-- dekin, renders the chmate cooler than might be expected from the latitude. The basaltic table-land is exceedingly rich and beautiful. The open forest of narrow-leaved iron l^ark and box, on a sound and rather stony gi'ound, alternates -with plains of various ex- tent, abundantly grassed, and watered by numerous brooks and springs. Large #* and deep lagoons lie scattered over the valley, or parallel to the river, whose coui'se runs strongly over its sandy, pebbly, or rocky bed. But the approach to this interesting country is intercepted by a very mountainous region, and by deep creeks, over which more practi- cable roads will no doubt be found in the pro- gi'ess of colonisation. The basalt appears to have been broken by a still more recent eruption of lava, which expanding partly over it, has formed as wild and irregular fields of rock as ever covered the slopes of a volcano. From the ridges and mountains which rose above the table land, the waters descend not onl}^ to the valley of the Bm'dekin in a south- east direction, but also to the north-east and to the westward. The country along the creeks is open and flat, so long as they pass over the table land ; but when they descend their channels deepen, their banks become sun'ounded wdth steep ranges, and their beds are either formed by solid rock or covered with loose shingle and boulders, wdiich render it impossible to travel Avithin or along them. TJie fourth section embraces the Lynd, the Mitchell, and the east coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The fall towards the level country, which forms a broad belt round the Gidf, is much more rapid than the ascent from the east coast ; and the course of the Upper Lynd is much more mountoinous and Avild than that of the Upper Bm'dekin. The same succession of rocks, granite, talchiste, porphyry, and sandstone, are observable in descending to the Gulf, as at the east coast in ascending the table-land, but limestone was not met with ^by Dr. Leichardt) on the 46 PLAINS OF PKOMISE AND ARNHEM'S LAND. west side of York peninsula, tliougli it ap- peared extensively developed on the Burdekin. Basalt Las broken through the various rocks, but the level countiy is fonned of a clayey ironstone, intermixed vritli grains of quartz, ■R-hich extends all round the Gulf to Port Essington, and may be considered of neTrer formation. The Lynd was found to be joined by several running creeks, and well supphed -with water dmiug its whole course. The country was openly timbered and well grassed ; and at the lower part of the Lynd and parallel to the INlitchell, veiy large and deep ponds were discovered, around which the pasture was particularly rich. The rivers within the tropics are almost all remarkable for the immense width of their beds, which are filled with sand, with the exception of those spots on which the naked rock crops out, and are often over-grown with small trees, whose number and size depend upon the frequency and strength of those volumes of water which occasionally sweep down. Tliat of the L'^pper Lynd, for instance, was fouu d to be covered with trees, whilst the bed of the Mitchell was entu'ely free from them, and water-marks were ob- seiTed above the level of the bed — showing that a large body of water floAvs down to the sea in, perhaps, unusually rainy seasons. Large tracts of country on the east coast of the gulf arc covered with box (a species of eucalyptus), and with a small tea-tree with broad lanceolate leaves. The finest and most available land lies along the creeks and rivers; the soil is there much lighter, and the blood-wood, the leguminous iron-bark, and the pandanus, grow well on it, forming an open forest. All the rivers of Australia have lines of holes and hollows parallel to them, which are generally filled by high floods, and keep the water much longer than the rivers themselves. Lagoons of this de- scription are numerous along the Staaten, the Van Diemen, the Gilbert, and the Caron, and appear to be constantly resorted to by the natives. To the north of the Staaten, towards the sea- coast, there is a succession of plains, but the grass is generally stiff and M-iry. If we compare the course of the rivers on the east coast of the Gulf of Car- pentaria, it will be considered remarkable that the Lynd, which rises in the latitude of the head of tlie gulf from the table land of the York Peninsula, should go to the N.N.W. and belong to a system of waters which joins the sea in 15° S. lat., instead of taking a direct course to the west, aud disemboguing in or near the head of the gulf. A number of coast rivers, of probably very short coui'ses, the Nassau, the Staaten, the Y'an Diemen, Gilbert, and Caron, take their origin from the moderately elevated country which bounds the valley of the Lynd and Mitchell to the westward. The fifth section comprises tlie Plains of Promise, so called by captain Stokes, which extend from the Flinders to the Nicholson, and are drained by the tributaries of three large salt-water rivers or creeks, the most westerly of which is the Albert of Stokes, and the IMaet Suyker of the Dutch navi- gators. These plains Dr. Leichardt found covered \\ith various tender gTasses and herbs, interspersed with a few straggling trees. The narrow valleys of the creeks were filled with open scrub, formed by a small tree, whose fresh-cut wood has the odour of rasp- berry jam. The sixth section of Dr. Leichardt's journey between the Nicholson and the Roper, is remarkable for the number of lai'ge, salt- water riA'ers, the density of its tea-tree scrubs, and the extent of its stringy-bark forests. Here, again, are liills and ranges, while pebbles of granite and porphpy indi- cate that the great arc of liigh land which sweeps round the head of the Gulf of Car- pentaria approaches the sea-coast. The Van Alphen, the Abel Tasman, the Robinson, the ]Macarthui', and the Limnen Bight River, form broad channels of water, and occa- sionally afford magnificent prospects, espe- cially cheering to eyes wearied by the monotony of the dense scrub. The seventh section lies between the Roper and the high land of Arnhem^s peninsula. The Roper is a large fresh-Avater river, fed by a great number of running creeks and brooks, all closely fringed by belts of pan- danus. Almost the whole country along the river is open, well gi'assed, and availalile for depastui'ing purposes. At its upper coui'se fine plains, bound by sandstone ridges, and diversified by pandanus creeks, form an extremely pleasing landscape. The higli land is covered vath an open, stringy-bark forest on a sandy soil; but its level is fre- quently interrupted by steep rocky sandstone hills and ridges, at the foot of which tea-tree swamps, Avitli a peaty soil, form frequently the head of creeks. The fall of the high land of York peninsula is more sudden to the westward; the same is the case, in a still higher degree, in Arnhem's Land; for there is not only a very rapid faD in the A FLOOD ON THE MACQUARIE, 1846. 47 creeks, but tliere are precipices from 500 to 800 feet high, bordering the vfilley of the South Alligator Kiver, over which numerous cascades laish dovai to join their waters with those of that river. It is remarkable, that the only slope vrhich allowed the explorers to descend into the valley Avas formed of granite, whereas the whole of Arnhem's Land, and the ranges of the Roper, are composed of sandstone, which, near the divi- sions of the vy'aters of the Gulf of Cai"pen~ taria and the north-west coast, has been broken through by basalt. The eighth, and last sectmi comprises the two Alligator rivers, and the Cobui'g penin- sula. Its leading featiues are large swampy lagoons, extensive plains at the lower part of their course, densely- wooded ii'onstone ridges, and a great number of creeks in the Coburg peninsula, -with limited fiats of bglit alluvial soil, richly clothed -with herbs and grasses during and immediatel)'^ after the rainy season. These creeks generally enlarge into swamps, called " Mariars" by the natives, before they are lost in the mangrove thicket which covers their junction with the sea. Concerning the capabilities of the country whose leading features have been above described. Dr. Leichardt thus expresses him- self:— " To the question of how far this country is avail- able for colonization, I would reply — the .greatest part is fit for pastoral purposes, excepting only the scrubs of the east coast of Australia, the mountain gorges of the Upper Lynd, and the tea-tree scrubs of the Avest coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. But even here broad belts of fine country extend along both sides of the larger rivers, and will very probably be found quite as good as the country of tlie E,opcr. Hoi'ses and cattle will do well over the whole extent, particularly at Expedition Range, along the Isaacks, the Burdekin, the east coast of the gulf, and on the plains at its licad. The rapid increase of the buffaloes on the Coburg peninsula, and the excellent condition of the herd of cattle which they keep at Port Essing- ton, show that the north-west coast of Australia is no less favourable for the development of animal life. The elevation of Peak Range, and of the table land of the Burdekin, leads me to believe that these regions are fit for sheep. I am not sufficiently ac- quainted with the cultivation of tropical plants to give a decided opinion, but there is such a variety of soil, of aspect, and of elevation, that I feel convinced tropical plants will grow freely where sufficient mois- ture exists. The cotton, the indigo, the cocoa-nut, the banana, the arrow-root, the sweet potato, the bread-fruit tree, the jack-fruit, the soursop, tlie pine- apple, the mango, and mangostine grow well in Port Essington ; and captain Macarthur assured me that, according to the statement of the Malays, who had examined the swamps west of the settlement, they would do excellently for growing rice. The large plains of the Alligator rivers would suit equally well, and to an almost unlimited extent," A third very important exploration was undertaken during the absence of captain Sturt and Dr. Leichardt. The surveyor- general, Sir T. L. Mitchell (whose former journeys have been briefly noticed), started from Sydney with a well-equipped expedition, in December 1845, one chief object being " the discovery of a good practical line of road to the nearest part of the Indian Ocean to the westward of Torres Straits, towai'd the Gulf of Carpentaria.^'' The season was unpropitious by reason of great drought, and the intended route by the Bogan Avas found to be impracticable, from the scarcity of water in its channel. The intense heat killed all the Kangaroo dogs, most of the party Avere afHicted with ophthalmia, and the draught oxen were so much distressed that some of them dropped dead on the journey. A fortnight's halt Avas made at the ponds of Cannonba, between the Bogan and the j\lac- quarie, during which time some refreshing- rain fell, and from thence the expedition journeyed along the left bank of the ]Mac- quarie, and skirting the western limits of the marshes, proceeded to its junction Avith the Darling in 147° 33' E. long., 30° 6' 11" 3. lat. While tracing the attenuated chan- nel of the Macquarie among the reeds, Avhere Avater, though scarce, Avas still to be found in ponds. Sir Thomas was startled by the re- port that " a flood was coming doAvn from the Turon mountains, but that it travelled sloAvly and Avould not arrive until the follow- ing evening." At the time stated, a mur- mtu'ing sound, like that of a distant Avater- fall, was heard, mingled Avith occasional cracks, as of breaking timber; very gra- dually the noise increased, until at length the flood burst into sight, glittering in the moonlight, and filling the dark and dry bed of the river with Avater brought a distance of 400 miles. Sir Thomas, after a graphic description of this singidar spectacle, adds — " We thought then that there Avas an end of all our ti'oubles, but in a few days after, in the same channel, Ave were just as badly off for Avater; that Avater had gone to fill thousands of lagoons, and never reached the channel of that river to Avhicli it was a mere tributary.'' Crossing the Darling, the party succeeded in reaching the swamp in Avhich the Narran terminates ; tracing that stream upwards (or north Avards) to its junction Arith the Balonne, in 118°.25'E. long., theyfoimd it full of Avatcr and increasing in size and importance as it was ascended, Avith grass of the very best description on its hank s. Pani- 48 EXPEDITION UNDER SIR TPIOMAS MITCHELL, 1846, cum Iffivinode (I^arley grass), the seeds of ^vhicli, bruised bet^veen stones and baked into cakes, constitutes the chief food of the natives; and Anthistirium Aiistralis (Kan- garoo grass) grew on the plains in the open forests. The banks of tiie Balonnc minor seemed thickly peopled with friendly natives, who assisted the party in finding a way for the carts among the numerous lagoons, and guided them across the Culgoa. ' ' From thence," says sir Thomas — " I travelled to the upper Balonne, Mith the inten- tion of proceeding northAvard along its right bank. That great river is there at its maximum, and is only inferior to the Murray in breadth and depth. Lower down it separates into various channels — the first branch being the Culgoa, falling into the Darling, about thirty miles above Fort Bourke — the remainder, or minor Balonne, again spreads its waters into the Narran, the Bokhara, the Ballandoola, and the Biree ; the latter three, I believe, again unite, and fall into the ]^arling forty or fifty miles above Fort Bourke. Tracing the Balonne upwards, I found the country on its banks well covered with good grass, and we encountered only a small proportion of scrub. Some of the reaches were so broad, deep, and extensive, that I could not suppose this river contained only the waters of the Coudamine, and I therefore expected to meet Avith some tributary from the north-Avest. On arriving at a natural bridge of rock, in 148' 46' 45 E., 28' 2' S., I selected a position commanding access to the other bank, and formed there a depot, Avith a small party, examined the country to the north- west. 1 first made a reconnoissance north-Avest by compass, and found in that direction, at the end of thirty miles, a poor, sandy, unpromising country." Returning to the depot camp, Sir Thomas proceeded ixp the river, and followed the Cogoon, a small tributary from the north- west, through a beautiful country, until it led him among some hills, from whence he was enabled to form more extensive and accm-ate survevs. From IMount Abundance, a double-topped hill, in 14-8° 40' E. long., 26° 39' 30'^ S. lat., so named from the abun- dance of good pasturage around it, Sir Thomas looked on the finest country he had ever beheld in a primaeval state. A cham- pagne region, spotted -with Avood, stretching as far as the eye or even the telescope could reach, intersected by nver lines from tlie north. A noble mountain mass arose in the midst, sufficiently elongated in a south-west and north-east direction to deserve the name of a range in about 142° 2' E. long., 26° 23' 32" S. lat. To the mountains were giA-en the name of the Grafton Range, and to the sur- rounding country that of Fitzroy Downs. The sources of the Cogoon were' found to arise between the three isolated mountains of Abundance, Bindyeg(\ and Bindango, the latter being connected by a low neck of grassy doAvns, \rith small knolls of trap- rock, to one of the masses of coast range in Avhich the Balonne appeared to have its source. Northward from Bindango, other waters fall to the north-west, and in the remote distance one gap Avas percciA^d in a tabular sort of rocky countrA^, through AA-hich it Avas hoped the Avater coui'se Avould lead; but in folloAAing it doAvn, this promising little river (the "Amby" of the natives) turned to the soutliAvard of west. The gap, hoAvever, formed a convenient pass, and Avas moreover a A'ery remarkable opening, con- taining several conical hills, on Avhich many strange shrubs Avere groAA-ing; one of the hills Avas composed of basalt. The country through Avhich the opening led consisted in general of sandstone ; southward and back from the pass much good open forest land appeared around. In the country beyond, some smoke which arose in the woods excited the hopes of the surA^eyor- general, and following in the direction thus indicated, he came "upon a m^er fully as large as the Darling," called by the natives the "]\Iaranoa." To the westward and northward of the sandstone ranges, lay a well-diAcrsified country, AA'ith abundance of grass, some water, and finely-shaped hills, in groups, and also detached cones. But the riA'er leaAdng that loAver country, forced its way among rocky cliffs, where its course Avas traceable by the open ground along its banks, to be steadily south-west, receiving, of coiu'se, the river "Amby," which had turned also in the same direction. Sir Thomas traced the ]Maranoa upwards, and found that tAvo tributaries joined it from the west, but they arose in subordinate sandstone ridges, and contained little water, while the main channel was dry and full of sand, Avater being less easily found there than in the sandstone gullies by Avhich it was there enclosed. From Mount Oavcu (a cone in the range before mentioned,) the main chan- nel of the Maranoa is A'isiljle coming through this range from mountains beyond it. Of these mountains the most lofty part, being remarkable for its extreme flatness, was named Buckland's Table Land. The ac- count given by Sir Thomas in his despatches, of the discovery of valuable land made at this period of the expedition, is very interest- " Continuing my ride to the north-Avest," he says, " I again found a chain of volcanic summits connectud witii a mass of tabic land Avhich I named (finding DISCOVERY OF THE HIVER VICTORIA IN 1846. 49 none of the Aborigines there,) Hope's Table Land. Between it and the still higher range towards the coast lay a very broken sandstone country, M'hich was difficult to pass through with carts ; but when I had at length discovered, beyond Hope's Table Land, the head of another promismg river falling to the north- west, we soon found a way, through which my inde- fatigable party led the carts and bullock-team without the least damage. Mount P. P. King, a pointed vol- canic cone, in long. 147^ 37' 40' E., lat. 25' 9' 10' S., is near the head of that river, which we followed down until it turned, as all the others had done, to the south-west, and I was again obliged to halt, and take a long ride to the northward, where another chain of summits extended westward nearly under the 25th parallel of latitude. Beyond that range, whose sum- mits are all of traj] rock, I found deep sandstone gullie.5 ; and in following down one of these, I reached an ext9nsive grassy valley, which terminated on a reedy lake in a more open country. The lake was supplied by springs arising in a swamp at the gorge of the valley which supported a flowing stream of the purest .vater. This stream spread into the extensive lake, and, to my surprise, was absorbed by it, at least so as to escape through some subterraneous outlet, for the channel of the river in which the lake terminated was dry The country is adorned by hills of the most romantic form, presenting ontlines which surpass in pictures ^ue beauty the fairest creations of the painter. Several pjTamids mark the spot where the springs were first discovered. Lower dov,n appear, over the woods, isolated rocks, resembling ruined castles, tem- ples, and Gothic cathedrals. Others have apertures through them, and the trees being also very varied and graceful in form, and rich in colour, contribute so mucli to the beauty of the scenery that I have been induced to distinguish the river and lake by the name of a painter. Returning to the party, we soon brought the carts and di-ay down the sandstone cliffs to the banks of the Salvator, and pursued that river down- wards until I discovei'ed, which was soon obvious, that its course turned to the eastward of north, conse- quently that we were upon a river ftilling to the eastern coast. We lost two days in vainly endeavoui'ing to pass to the westward through dense brigalow scrub, but on a ride which I next took north-westward, I was more successful, for, after forcing my way through ten miles of scrub, I came to what seemed, to me the finest region on earth: piains and downs of rich black mould, on which grew in profusion the Pauicum Icecinode grass, and which was finely interspersed with lines of wood which grew in the hollows, and marked the courses of streams ; columns of smoke showed that the country was too good to be left uninhabited; and, in fact, on approaching the nearest river channel, I found it full of water. This river I named the Claude, in honour of the painter of quiet pastoral scenery, and to the downs and plains, so favourable to flocks and herds, I gave the name of the Mantuan Downs and Plains. I returned to the party on the Salvator, crossed that river with it in lat. 24'3r 47' S., and conducted it, cutting our way through ten miles of scrub, to the banks of the Claude. These two rivers join at a considerable distance lower down, and form the Nogoa — a river which, according to the natives, pursues a north-east course to the sea, and therefore, probably, has its estuary on the shores or in the vicinity of Broad Sound. AVe were obliged to make a bridge for the passage of our carts across the Claude, and then we crossed a plain, where grass grew almost as thickly as in Australia Felix ; then DIV. I. another stream, also full of water, was crossed, and we ascended undulating downs on Avhich fragments of fossil wood Avere abundant, in a very rich soil. Be- yond these (the ^Mantuan Doaatis) a range of broken summits appeared, which we found to be the upper part of a very difficult sandstone country, wherein the beds of the gullies were at a much lower level than the downs and plains." Westward of these tlie countiy was quite impervious, the party therefore descended by an open gently decHning valley to the head of a creek, falling north-west, but Balmy Creek (so called from the fragi'ant shrubs growing there) soon led them to the heart of the sandstone gullies, and they were glad to find a favourable outlet to the open country by a pass, in the gorge of which stood a rock so much resembhng a tower, that it was difficult to believe it the work of nature. The glen thus entered (Glen TuiTet) was very exten- sive, contained abundance of good grass, and was bounded on the east and west by very broken-topped ranges ; to the northward the \dew was over a more distant country. Ascending the most northerly summit of the range on the west, which he named ]Mount Mudge, the surveyor-general perceived that the course of the river Belyando, which they had followed for a considerable distance in the hope of its leading to the Gulf of Carpen- taria, turned at length from the north-west, to the north and north-east, and was, in fact, the river noted by Dr. Leichardt as joining the Suttor in 21° 6' S. lat. ; the party were, therefore, compelled to retrace their steps to their first camp on the Belyando, in 147° ] 7' E. long , 24° S. lat. From three remarkable points of the range just behind, Sii' Thomas resolved on renewing his search for a river running in the desired direction. These three volcanic cones, called Mounts Pluto, Hutton, and Playfau", form an obtuse angled triangle. Crossing a range of clay ironstone, covered with dense scrub, which extends northwards from Mount Playfair, he disco- vered the sources of the Warrego, a river flowing south-west, and on the western side followed down the head of another river, falling north-west, which he called the Nive, but which subsequently took a southerly and at length even an easterly direction. Re- tiu'uing disappointed, but not disheartened. Sir Thomas hastened to a gap he had noticed in a westernly ridge, connected with that to the northward, and ascending a naked rock to the west side of it, beheld in the midst of open plains a line of trees marking the line of a river in a north-west direction, as far as the eye could reach. For ten successive days F 50 THE VICTORIA TRACED BY MR. KENNEDY. tlie delighted explorer pursued, on horseback, the course of the riAcr, Avhich he named the Victoria, in honoiu' of ovu' gracious sovereign, and found it, in some places, forming broad and important reaches, in others spreading into foiu' or five branches, some of them several miles apart ; the whole countiy being better watered than " any other portion of Australia" he had pre^■iously beheld, by numerous tributaries arising in the downs. " The soil," says Sir Thomas, " consists of rich clay> and the hollows give birth to water-courses, in most of which Avater was abundant. I found, at length, that I might travel in any direction and find water at hand, without having to seek the river, except when I wished to ascertain its general course and observe its character. The grass consists of panicum and several new sorts, one of which springs green from the old stem. The plains were verdant ; indeed the luxuriant pasturage surpassed in quality, as it did in extent, anything of the kind I had ever seen. The myall tree and salt bush (Acacia i)endula, and sahalcs) are also there. New birds and new plants marked this out as an essentially different region from any I had previously explored. That the river is the most important of Australia, increasing as it does by suc- cessive tributaries, and not a mere product of distant ranges, admits of no dispute ; and the downs and plains of Central Australia, through which it flows, seem sufficient to supjily the tvhole tvorld with animal food. The natives are few and inoffensive." He adds — " I crossed the river at the lowest point I reached, in a great southern bend, in 144^ 34' E. long., 24' 14' S. lat., and from rising ground beyond the left bank, I could trace its downward course far to the northward. I saw no callitris (pine of the colonists) in all that country, but a range, showing sandstone cliffs, ap- peared to the southward, in about 145' E. long., 24' 30' S. lat. The country to the northward of the river is, upon the whole,' the best; yet, in riding ninety miles due east from where I crossed the south- ern bend, I found plenty of water and excellent grass ; a red gravel there approaches the river, throwing it off to the northward. Ranges extending N.X.W. were occasionally visible from the country to the northward." The diminution of supplies compelled the sm^eyor-general to retiu'n to the camp on the Maranoa river, -where the remainder of his party had been stationed for eighteen ■weeks, and from thence the expedition re- turned to Sydney, consuming the last of their provisions on the day of their arrival. The fertile and available country thus dis- covered is roughly estimated by Sir Thomas Mitchell at 160,000 square miles, the soil on the banks of the ^'ictoria being a rich black motdd, producing spontaneously all the best grasses known in New South' Wales, and five new kinds of excellent quality. The climate was salubrious, for it is one of the strange contrarieties partly accounted for by the gradual rising of the land, that in pro- ' ceeding towards the tropics the air becomes cooler. The coast range breaks off in the parallel of 25° at the lofty plateau of Buck- land's Table Land, and Sir Thomas iNIitchell considers easy access with this fine country might be found from the good harbour of Port Bowen, which has been skilfully sur- veyed by Captain Blackwood, 11. N. The distance between Port Bowen and the head of the Salvator is 220 miles. On the retiuTi of the expedition to Sydney, the local government despatched assistant- surveyor Kennedy to follow up the disco- veries of the surveyor- general, and follow the supposed course of the Victoria River to the Gulf of Carpentaria. After an arduous jotirney, Mr. Kennedy traced the Victoria flowing to the westward and then to the southward, for more than one hundred miles, until a total failui'e of Avaler and vegetation compelled him to abandon further research in 26° 15' 9" S. lat., 142° 20' E. long. His observations led him to believe the Victoria identical with " Cooper's Creek," traced by captain Stui't to 27° 56' S. lat., 142° E. long., and then coming from the north-east. In 25° 9' 30" S. lat., and about 143° 16' E. long., Mr. Kennedy found a considerable river joining the Victoria from the north-east, which he named Thompson's River. It is possible that Mr. Kennedy may have erred in taking a wrong branch or tributary of the Victoria for the main stream, and thus been led too far away to the westward and southward, imtil he reached the margin of Stui't's desert. Returning to the colony, he passed through a fine country between the parallels of 25° 55' and 28° 15', and the meridians of 145° 28' and 146° 44', watered by the Warrego River, Avhich he describes as containing "deep reaches of water, occurring at short distances, and increasing in proxi- mity as he advanced. This inexhaustible supply of water is bounded by open forests for the fii'«t forty miles, and ft'om thence by extensive plains thickly covered with the most luxuriant pasture, and broken here and there by clumps of acacia pendula. I have never seen in the colony any country which surpasses it, and but very little to equal it, either as being adapted for the depasturing of cattle, or any kind of stock." He fol- lowed the "Warrego to about 28° 25' S. lat., 140° 28' E. long. It there divided into two equal channels, which shortly reunite, but only to form the insignificant diy bed of a water-course; the country on either side being flat, and subject to inundation, void of grass, but thickly covered by a species of small grass and acacia. Mr. Kennedy here left the Warrego, being unable to procure "water in either channel of the river, even by sinking wells, " once more disgusted and disappointed," he emphatically states, " as all travellers will ever be who put thcLr trust in the interior rivers of Australia." Mr. Kennedy was subsequently despatched by the local government on another explo- ratory journey — but has never returned to the colony, and is supposed to have perished in an encounter with the natives. Another exploration was undertaken, of which an account will be given in the Supplement. On the return of Dr. Leichardt from Port Essington, the colonists of New South Wales raised by subscription about two thousand pounds in token of their grateful sense of his important discoveries ; partly with this fund, and partly by the aid of other contributions, the enterprising tra- veller fitted out another expedition, and, accompanied by eight persons, started from Moreton Bay in March, 1848, intending to attempt to reach Swan River by crossing the continent from east to west. The journey he supposed would occvipy two years, and probably necessitate the traversing of more than 5,000 miles. Should Dr. Leichardt succeed in his meritorious attempt, the mys- terious interior of Australia will at length be penetrated, and the question solved on which two leading authorities so widely diflFer — Mr. Eyi-e haAing steadfastly adhered to the belief that no inland sea exists ; and captain Sturt still giving it as his opinion that more than one will eventually be dis- covered. [See Supplement.] The foregoing brief account of a few of the most remarkable explorations in Aus- tralia, will, it is hoped, convey to the mind of the general reader, some idea of the vast and varied regions so newly trodden by the foot of civilised man. In each Australian colony, a spirit of enterprise and honourable emulation has been manifested and sustained by the colonists, which is abundantly attested by the large amount of territory, not only examined, but absolutely occupied, in the teeth of difficulties which appeared well-nigh insurmountable. I do not attempt to enume- rate the long list of Australian explorers whose strenuous exertions have been productive of permanent benefit to their countrymen, and reflected honour on the land of their birth, for in doing so I might possibly omit many well deserving most honourable mention, })ut I cannot close this section without paying a tribute of esteem to the gallant officers of the army and navy, who turning, as it were, " their swords into pruning hooks," have yet encountered dangers quite equalling those of the battle-field, and won unfading laurels. The melancholy fate of three individuals is too intimately connected with this subject to be passed over in silence; namely, that of captain Barker, who was speared by the natives while engaged in the cause of geo- graphical research on the south coast ; of Mr, Darke, who fell by the hands of the aborigines, in 1844; and lastly of a pro- mising youth, the son of Sir Thomas Mitchell, who perished for want of medical aid, while surveying in winter the Australian Alps. Tides. — The tidal wave strikes the whole coast of Australia, from Sydney to Torres Strait, nearly at the same time, viz., at eight o'clock at the full and change of moon. At Cape Palmerston, the rise is from twenty-four to thirty feet, while at Port Bow en to the south, and at Port Molle to the north, the rise is only sixteen feet. At Port Bowen the flood tide comes from the south, while at Broad Sound and to the north, it comes from the north. On the north-west coast of Australia, about Cambridge Gulf and Buccaneer's Archi- pelago, there is also a limited space where the rise and fall of tide is greater than on the adjacent coasts. At Rockingham Bay, En- deavour River, and about Palm Island, there is no tide at aU. At Hanover Bay, on the west coast, the highest tides occiu* on the fourth day of the full or change of the moon, when they attain a maximum height of twenty-five feet, while during the neaps, the difference between high and low water does not sometimes exceed twenty-four inches. Captain Stokes says that the tides in the head of the Gulf of Cai'pentaria appear to be a compound of many others, obliterating the common daily diff'erence, and producing only one tide in twenty-fom- hours. The direction of the flood stream commences at S.S.E., changing gi'adually to S.S.W. as it termi- nates ; that of the ebb changes from N.W. to N.N.E. The strength of each is from a quarter to one knot ; rise at springs, nine to twelve feet ; at neaps, three to eight feet. At the entrance of Van Diemen's Inlet, in the Gulf of Carpeu^aria, it is high water at the full and change of the moon at a quarter to seven, but in the upper part the tides arc three hours and a quarter later. The length of both flood and ebb is twelve hours, and ry'). PREVAILING WINDS AND MONSOONS IN AUSTRALIA. tlie direction of the flood being from tlie northward, folloTving the eastern shore of the gulf. There are cui'rents from Breaksea Spit to Torres Straits ; from thence it sets to the north-west, but after passing the strait it is affected by the monsoons. Winds. — In the tropics the real motion of the earth in an opposite direction to the ap- parent motion of the vertical sun westward, produces a westerly motion both in the tides of the sea and in the atmosphere ; hence the origin of the "trade winds," wliich extend beyond the tropics into both hemispheres, and shift northerly and southerly with the declination of the sun. Tliese winds tend more to the southward as the latitude in- creases, and extend farthest into each hemi- sphere during its summer. A great portion of the southern hemisphere being sea, the extra-tropical "oind is much more regular than in the northern, but in both the pre- vailing wind blows in an opposite direction to the trade ; hence on the south and west coasts of New Holland, the south-west wind is the most constant, and it produces an easterly current in the ocean which is felt along the south shore. "^ The arid and heated sm'face which appears to form the interior of Australia, attracts the wind from the north coast, and it blows to the south and east in hot and violent gusts, the thermometer reacliing frequently 120° Fahr. I have myself marked the thermometer at 110° Fahr. on Christmas eve in New South Wales. In the winter season, when the land begins to cool, west winds prevail on the south coast. There is no periodical recur- rence of dry and rainy seasons between Cape Howe and the tropic of Capricorn, where the variations incident to the torrid zone com- mence. The south-east trade wind is tole- rably regular for thi-ee-foiu'ths of the year, and the sea and land breezes steady. Fi'om Ton-es Strait to Cape Van Diem en, the mon- soons are felt in the open channel ; the south- east wind blows from ]\Iarch or April to November; weather generally fine during the remainder of the year, when the sun is nearly vertical. The north-west monsoon is accompanied by heat, thunder, lightning, and heaAy rains. The great size and peculiar configuration of the Gulf of Carpentaria has considerable influence ; the south-east mon- soon, Avhich is a sea wind, brings the rainy season; the north-west, which is a land wind, brings dry weather. The north-west coast lying between the • Picture of A ustralia. tropics and the east trade Avind, and trending to the southward, has not so much of a tropical character, and the east monsoon which begins in April, and blows in gusts, seldom lasts longer than the end of June. Tlie monsoon in summer (December and January), blows from the west, varying a point or two to the north or to the south. In February the west wind dies away; the weather becomes variable, with squalls and heaAy rain. CuiTcnts follow the wind on the west coast ; the general winds are from between the north-west and south, but generally toward the west, and near Cape Leeuwin chiefly fi'om the south-west — in summer, often fi'om the north-west during the night. The ocean current divides into two parts at Cape Leeuwin ; one sets east along the south coast, the other north along the west coast. On the south coast the wind is from the west durrug the greater part of the year, and easterly only during the latter end of summer in January, Februaiy, and March ; it is then felt most at projections of the coast, viz., near Wilson's Promontoiy and Kmg George's Sound. The land -wind on the north-west coast has the same dry and parching character as in New South Wales ; when Captain King roimded the North-west Cape in February, and got under the lee of the land, the air which had previously been of a pleasant temperature, became so hot as to produce a scorching sensation. Towards the middle of the north-west coast, he found the tempei'a- ture at noon in the shade 120° Fahr., and on land ten degrees higher. The north-west and north coasts partake of the unhealthi- ness of a tropical region, the atmosphere being infected by vegetable miasma. The inter- tropical parts of the east coast, possessing high and diversified land, not so subject to be flooded, and with regular monsoons, appears more salubrious. The general direc- tion of the winds on the west and south-west, south and south-east coasts being from the sea, the temperature in summer is delightful. On the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, and on the Australian Alps in Port Phillip, snow falls in winter, and it freezes there for several months, generally in Jtme, July, and August. Hail falls in large, ii-regulai' masses during the summer. Climate. — Excepting on the marshy shores of the north-west coasts of Australia, the cli' mate of the whole tcnitory is remarkably salubrious; this is proved by the good health GEOLOGY OF AUSTRALIA. DILUVIAN AND VOLCANIC AGENCY. 53 of the Europeans engaged in exploring expe- ditions even -vritliin the tropics, where they have been most laboriously employed for months, exposed to a burning sun by day, without any shelter by night but that of a tree or ledge of rock, and with veiy imper- fect and scanty nutriment. Yet among many hundreds thus occupied, there is in the long Hst of sufferings from various causes no record of any one dying fi'om fever or other palludial influences. ^Iien Dr. Leichardt proceeded on his perilous joiu-ney to the north-west, he found the land become more elevated and the climate cooler. He remarks, " The bracing natui'c of the south breeze at night had a very beneficial influence on our constitutions, and the regular interchange of land and sea breeze contributes every- where to render a climate healthy." Cap- tains Grey and Lushington on the north- west coast, after twelv^e weeks' toilsome ex- ploration, did not suffer from climate disease. Neither did captain Stokes and his gallant companions experience illness during their surveys of the Victoria, Albert, Adelaide, and other rivers in tropical Australia, although absent for weeks among mangi'ove shores, which I know from dear-bought ex- perience to have been so destructive to the health of those engaged in our boat river surveys in Africa, where not unfrequently the entire crew of a weli-tilled pinnace have perished from exposure to river exhalations during a single night. Geology. — Facts on this interesting and important section are necessarily scanty, and insufficient to afford the materials for a general description. Mr. Jukes says, that the mountain chain on the east coast has an axis of gi'anite, with occasional large masses of gi'eenstone, basalt, and other igneous rocks. It is flanked on both sides by thick beds of palseozoic formations, chiefly sandstone, but also containing limestone and coal. In the north portions of the chain. Dr. Leichardt found the same formations, and especially trap and granite, near the Burdekin River. At Port Phillip there are similar igneous rocks, and on the coast tertiary formations resting on the edges of upturned palaeozoic beds. In Western Aus- traha, the Darling range consists of granite below, covered by metamorphic rocks, and between it and the sea is a plain, composed of tertiary beds. In Northern Australia, there is a gi'cat sandstone plateau, rising to 1,800 feet above the sea, and probably of palaeozoic age; whilst on the immediate shore, and round the Gulf of Carpentaria, are beds supposed to belong to the tertiary period. Captain Stiu't found similar substrata in the central desert. It is probable these tertiary rocks are continuous throughout the centre of the island ; and during the tertiary period, all this portion of the country was submerged, whilst the high lands on the coast rose like gi'oups of islands from the shallow sea. Captain Sturt supposes Aus- tralia to have been formerly an archipelago of islands; and ]\Ir. Gould is of opinion, that at some remote period it must have been divided into at least two portions, since, with few exceptions, he found the species of bii'ds inhabiting the same lati- tudes of its east and west dirisions, differing from, but representing each other. This immense island appears of diluvian rather than volcanic origin, but different causes may have operated conjointly in its formation; after haring been left partially diy by the receding of the mighty deep from the north to the south pole, some powerful submarine action, (as in the case of Chih, and other parts of America,) may have raised the crust of our globe, in this spot, above the ocean level, either at one shock, or by a series of successive shocks. But one com- paratively recent active volcano is known, riz. — Mount Wingen (see New South Wales Book) ; but vast quantities of marine shells have been found, at various degi'ces of eleva- tion above the sea, in some places imbedded in sandstone. On the east coast of Australia, this sandstone strata lies in beds, one on the top of another, in the most regular manner, their original relative situation evidently having never undergone any change. INIr. Berry, who devoted considerable attention to the subject, while admitting that the beds are not invariably strictly horizontal, con- tends that this may arise from a gentle yielding of the substrata. Some of these beds, though perfectly horizontal and of regular thickness, consist of thin ^aminae, which incline at a considerable angle to the north-east. Tliis sandstone is principally siliceous; sometimes, indeed, it is argilla- ceous, and in this state it is generally found over coal, in which situation it is soft and very decomposable. Among tlie coal mea- sures, thin beds of what may be called cal- careous sandstone are occasionally met with. In fact, according to !Mr. Bcrrj', the moun- tain ranges on the cast coast of Australia, from Bass' Straits to 19° S. lat., consist, with few exceptions, of vast conglomerations 54 STALACTITE CAVERNS IN NEW SOUTH WALES. of sandstone; and he assei-ts, that there is no granite to be found in masses near the coast for an extent of 1,200 geographical miles. At the 19th parallel, a chain of lofty gi-anitic or primitive mountains appears, of various elevation, forming tlie baixier towards the ocean for about 300 geographical miles, i. e to the parallel of 14" S. lat. Here the sandstone again predominates, the land gradually dipping till it loses itself in the sea to the north, whence coral reefs extend as far as the eye can reach. Dr. Fitton, in his analysis of captain King's valuable smney, says, that between the parallels of 28° and 12° or 13°, on the east coast, granite is found; at Capes Cleveland and Grafton, Endeavour Iliver, Lizard Island, and at Clai'k's Island, on the north-west of the rocky mass which forms Cape Melville; while rocks of the trap fonnation have been noticed, in three detached points, among the islands off the shore; in the Percy Isles, about 21° 40' S. lat., Simday Island, north of Cape Grenville about 12°, and in Good's Island, on the north-west of Cape York, in 10° 34' S. lat. Along the north and west shores, the prevailing stratum is a reddish sandstone, agreeing so much in character with that of the west of England and AYales, that speci- mens from the two countries can scarcely be distinguished fi"om each other. An arena- ceous cement in the calcareous breccia of the west coast, is precisely the same with that found in Sicily; and the jasper, calce- dony, and green quartz approaching to helio- trope, found at the entrance of Piince Regent's River, resemble those of the TjtoI, both in their characters and formation. No limestone occurs among the specimens from the north and western shores; but it is remarkable, that recent calcareous breccia was found by commodore Baudin to exist tlu'oughout a span of no less than twenty-five degrees of latitude, and an equal extent of longitude, on the south-western and north- western coasts, and, according to INIr. Browne's specimens, on the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria also. This breccia would appear to be a very recent limestone full of marine shells, similar to that wliich exists on the shores of the INIediterranean and the West Indies. It would be an interesting geological fact, were it ascertained that a distinct hne can really be drawn between those concretions of mo- dem formation, which occur on the sea shore, and other calcareous fonnations very nearly resembling them, both in the fossils they contain, and in the character of the cementing substances, that are found in several countries, at considerable heights above the sea. An illustration of this re- mark, indicating likewise the strata of the transalpine countiy of New South Wales, occurs at the limestone caves at Wellingtou Valley, 170 miles west of Newcastle, and 2,000 feet above the sea. Sii' Thomas IMitchell, the siu'veyor-general of New Soiith Wales, who discovered the cave in Wel- lington VaUey, sent the follo-\ring interesting accoimt of it to the Geological Society, which that learned body has, with its usual liberaUty, permitted me to embody in these pages : — " The rock, through which the valley has been excavated, is limestone, much resembling in external characters that of the carboniferous series of Europe. This appears on both sides of the valley, above the alluvial deposits in the bottom, and extends on the east to the height of about 100 feet above the stream. On the west of the valley, hills of greater height run parallel to the limestone, consisting of a red sand- stone and conglomerate ; and a range of heights on the east of it is composed of trap rocks. The basis of a tract, still further eastward, which divides the waters of the interior from that which sends its streams to the sea, is granite. The rugged surface of the limestone tract, in several parts of which the bare rocks are exposed, appears to abound in cavities, the orifices of caves and fissures ; two of which, the more immediate subject of this communication, are about eighty feet above the stream of the Bell, on its eastei-n side ; the first being a cave about 300 feet in extent ; the second apparently a wide fissure in the limestone, partially filled up. The cave agrees in structure with many of those well known from the descriptions of Dr. Buckland and other writers : it descends, at first, with a moderate inclination ; and about 125 feet from the mouth, the floor is thickly covered with a fine dry reddish dust, in which a few fragments of bones, apparently of kangaroos, occur. The cavern, in diff'erent places, afi'ords beautiful stalac- tites and stalagmitic incrustrations. Irregular cavi- ties in the roof seem to lead towards the surface Ox the hill ; and at the remotest part, the floor is covered with a heap of dry white dust, so loose and light, that one of the exploring party sunk into it up to the waist. This dust, when chemically examined by Dr. Turner, was found to consist principally of carbonate of lime, with some phosphate of lime and animal matter. In fine, the cave appeared to terminate in a fissure nearly vertical, with water at its bottom, about thirty feet below the lowest part of the cavern, and nearly on a level with the waters of the river Bell. This fissure also extends u])wards towards the surface " About eighty feet to the west of the cave above described, is the mouth of another cavity of a different description, first examined by Mr. Kankin. At this place, the surface itself consists of a breccia, full of fragments of bones ; and a similar compound, con- fusedly mixed with large rude blocks of limestone, forms the sides of the cavity, which is a nearly ver- tical, wide, and irregular sort of well, accessible only by the aid of ladders and ropes. This brecH;ia con- VARIOUS ROCK FORMATIONS IN AUSTRALIA. 55 sists of an earthy red calcareous stone, having small fragments of the grey limestone of the valley dis- persed through it, and in some parts, possesses con- siderable hardness. Near the lower part of the fissure (the whole extent of Avhich was not explored,) were three layers of stalagmitic concretion, about two inches in thickness and three inches apart, the spaces being occupied with a red ochreous matter, with bones in abundance, imbedded both in stalagmite, and between the layers of it. " The bones found in the fissure just described, of which specimens have been sent to England, belong, with only two exceptions, to animals at present known to exist ia the adjacent country; and their dimen- sions also are very nearly the same with those of the existing quadrupeds. The species, from the report of Mr. Cliff", to whose examination the bones were submitted, appear to be as follow : — kangaroo, wom- bat, dasyurus, koala, phalangista — the most abundant being those of the kangaroo. Along with the re- mains just mentioned were found two bones, not agreeing with those of any of the animals at present known to exist in New South Wales. The first and larger is supposed to belong to the elephant : the second bone is also obscure and imperfect, but seems to be a part of one of the superior maxillary bones of an animal resembling the Dugong ; it contains a portion of a straight tusk, pointing directly forward." A pit was dug, by sir T. Mitchell's direc- tioiij in the sui'face of the ground, about twenty-five feet from the mouth of the fissure, at a place where no rocks projected; and the hill was there found to be composed of a hard and compact breccia, such as that before described, and likemse abounding in organic remains. Other caverns, containing a similar breccia, occm* in the hmestone on the north bank of the Macquarie, eight miles north-east of those at Wellington ; and about fifty miles to the south-east at Bm'ce, are several caves like the first described above, which commimicate with fissui'es partially occupied with breccia containing bones. At Molong, tliirty-six miles to the east of Wel- lington, a small quantity of concreted matter has been found, containing numerous bones, of which no specimens have been sent to Europe; but, from their size, they would appear to have belonged to species of ani- mals or birds larger than those which are at present known in the country. The specimens of rocks collected by cap- tain King and Mr. Browne at different parts of the Australian coast line have been locally classified as follows : — Granite. — Cape Cleveland; Cape Grafton; Endeavour River; Lizard Island; Round HiU, near Cape Grindall; Mount Caledon; Island, near Cape Arnhem; Melville Bay; Bald-Head, King George's Sound. Various Slaty Rocks. — Mica Slate, Malli- son's Island. Talc Slate, Eudeavoui- River. Slaty Clay Inglis^s Island, Crack Island, Percy Island. Horneblende Rock, Pobassoo's Island, Half-way Bay, Prince Regent's River. Granular Quartz, Endeavour River, Mon- tagu Sound, north-west coast. Epidote, Cape Clinton, Port Warrender, Careening Bay. Quarizose Conglomerates and Ancient Sandstones, Rod's Bay, Islands of the north and north-west coasts, Cambridge Gulf, York Sound, Prince Regent's River. Pipe Clay, Melville Bay, Goulbom'n Island, Leth- bridge Bay. Rocks of the Trap Formation. — Serpentine, Port Macquarie, Percy Isles. Sienite, Rod's Bay. Porphyry, Cape Cleveland. Porphy- ritic Conglomerate, Cape Clinton, Percy Isles, Good's Island. Compact Felspar, Percy Isle, Repulse Bay, Sunday Island. Green- stone, Vansittart Bay, Bat Island, Careening Bay, Main's Isle. Clinkstone, Morgan's Island, Pobassoo's Island. Amygdaloid, loith Chalcedony, Port Warrender, Half-way Bay, Bat Island, Main's Island. Wacke, Bat Island, Recent Calcareous Breccia, Sweer's Island, north coast; Dirk Hartog's and Rotte- nest Island, &c., west coast ; King George's Sound, south coast. Limestone, resembling, in the character of its organic remairis, Mountain Limestone of England, Interior of Australia, near the east coast. The Coal Formation, as yet discovered, applicable for domestic or steam purposes, is confined cliiefly to the east coast of Australia. Not the least remarkable circumstance connected with Australia is the contrast its geological features present, when compared with the apparently volcanic islands in the adjacent Coral and Arafura seas. The line of islands between Cape York and Mount Cornwallis are all granite, or old metamor- phic rocks, and those lying between that line and the volcanic islands of Erroob and Murray group, are all flat coral islands. On the north-west coast of Australia the predominant geological feature is red sand- stone, while at the island of Timor the little rocky headlands on the coast expose beds of coral and limestone, full of corals and shells apparently of recent formation. This limestone appears to constitute the whole surface of the island, spreading over all the adjacent high lands, at an elevation of 2,000 feet, giving them rather a smooth and level outline. The rocky islands in the central north and south bend of Torres Strait are, in some instances, inhabited, but only those within thirty or more miles from the coast have cocoa-nut trees on them. Diversity of sui^face and aspect produces, in Australia, diversity in appearance. Forest timber, brushwood, and grasses are not divided into zones, as in other countries, according to their elevation; the natui'e of the soil and the proximity of water seems to determine the class of productions, irrespec- tive of latitude or altitude. In many places, the whole face of the country has the ap- pearance of a landscape garden — a grove here, a lawn there — beyond a shrubbery, or clump of trees, and frequently a natm-al wall of a light-coloured stone, scarcely to be detected from good masonry, and appearing thi'ough the foliage like the enclosui'e of a parterre. The interior explorers found these apparent "pleasure grounds''' of various sizes, suited to the humble cottage or the princely mansion. Even in my own limited experience of these strange regions, I have felt it difficult to realize the fact, that so far fi'om having been adorned by the hand of civilized man, they were untrodden, save by the foot of the wandering savage. The geology and natui'al vegetation of AustraHa, like those of other countries, appear to be intimately connected. In the districts with which we are best acquainted, the rock which forms the basis of the country, may be known from the kind of tree or herbage that flouiishes on the soil above. For instance, the eucalyptus pulv., a dwai-fish tree, with glaucus-coloiu'ed leaves, gi'owing mostly in scrub, indicates the sand- stone formation; Avhile those open, grassy, and park-like tracts, affording good pasturage, and thinly interspersed with the eucalyptus mannifera, characterize the secondary ranges of gi'anite and porphyry : the limestone for- mation has on its superincumbent soil trees of lofty growth and vast size, while large umbrageous shrubs, the cupressus callitris and casuarma, occupy sandy ridges. From many facts adduced by the observant cap- tain Stui't, it may be infen-ed that the trees are gregarious, and that the strong line that occasionally separates -different species, and the sudden manner in which several species are lost at one point, to reappear at another more distant, may be ascribed to the geo- logical strata of the country. It is, however, impossible to determine accm-ately the extent to which the peciiliar geological structure of Austraha influences the character of its pro- ductions : but it is a singular fact, that the vegetation of the north, or tropical coasts, differs totally from that of the adjacent islands. Cocoa-nut trees are nowhere to be found in Australia, while at ]\IuiTay's island, within the great Barrier reef, which is about 700 feet high at its most elevated part, with steep broken ground, the whole of its lower portion, and even a considerable part of the hills, are covered with groves of cocoa-nut trees. Jlr. Jukes remarks, that at the islaiid of Timor, where the difference of latitude is not more than forty miles from Port Essing- ton, in North Austraha, and the actual dis- tance not 250 miles, the difference in the appearance of the vegetation is as great as one would expect between two countries hing under different zones. The gum trees (eucalypti) wliich Hne the shores of Australia, to 11° N. lat., are not found in New Guinea, or in the islands of the Eastern Ai'chipelagc. Taking Endeavour Strait, Cape York, and INIount Adolphus as a base, all the islands which stretch across the Strait to the north- ward of them, have one common character. They are all steep and rocky, many of them 400 to 500 feet high. The rocks of the main land of the adjacent islands are all porphyritic ; and ISIr. Jukes considers these islands as, in fact, merely the submarine prolongation of the great mountain chain of the eastern coast of Australia, and remarks, that in Tori'es Strait the line of demarcation is almost equally strong and precise between two groups of vegetation and two groups of the lower order of animals, as between two varieties of the human race. A sombre vegetation spreads all over Cape York and the immediately adjacent islands, of which wide forests of large but ragged-stemmed gum-trees, with almost leafless branches, are the chief characteristic. Here and there, says Mr. Jukes, speak- ing of the north coast, are gullies "with more umbrageous foliage, and some palms, but the mass of the woods are arid, hot, and dusty, the leaves not only small but dry and brittle, and the marks of frequent fires every- where apparent in calcined rocks, blackened stems and fallen trunks. The contrast with this northern coast of Australia and the islands on the northern side of Torres Straits, is certainly very great ; there, not a gum tree is to be seen ; the woods are close, lofty, and afford deep and refreshing shade, often matted into impenetrable thickets by creepers and undergrowth, but adorned with varied foliage, Avith the cocoa-nut, the plan- tain, and other trees and shrubs useful to man. On the New Guinea coast, the vege- tation is extraordinarily luxuriant, even for the tropics. There is also a difference in CHARACTER AND CLIMATE OF CENTRAL AUSTRALIA. 57 tlie shells and echinodermata, collected about Cape York and those obtained near Erroob or Darnley Island on the coast opposite to North Australia. In the mineral, the vege- table, and the animal kingdoms, and even in the human race (as will be shown in a subse- quent chapter), the territories on each side of the narrow strait of Torres, present totally diflFerent aspects, which can scarcely be as- signed to distinct geological formations ; but it must be admitted that the sandstone strata which constitutes such a large portion of northern and north-western Australia, must have considerable influence in giving the peculiar dryness perceptible in Australia, where, as has been truly observed, every thing absorbs heat freely, and radiates it into the surrounding atmosphere; the sea air, instead of being cooled and precipitated in refreshing moisture, has its temperatui'e raised, and becomes an absorbent of any moistiu'e on the sui'face, for the open and scattered woodlands, with their small, thinly disseminated leaves, instead of protecting the soil from the parching effects of a vertical sun, become conductors of heat, and are ever ready to catch fire from the slightest spark. Captain Sturt experienced, in No- vember, 1845, a severe gale of hot mnd, in the parallel of 27°, and about the meridian of 140°. The withering effects of this gale, which was from the north-east, were terrific. Everything, animate and inanimate, gave way before it; the bii'ds were mute, the leaves fell from the trees like a snow shower ; the horses stood mth their backs to the wind, and their noses to the ground, without the muscular strength to raise their heads. A thermometer graduated to 127°, after rising to 125° burst the bulb, by the ex- pansion of the mercuiy. The air during the summer, in this region, had a temper- ature from 110° to 123° Fah. ; the wind blowing hea^-ily from N.E. to E.S.E., fiUed the air with impalpable red dust ; the ground was so heated, that matches falling on it ignited, and rockets, on being lit, exploded at once Anthout rising from the ground. The atmosphere, on some occasions, was so rarified, that captain Sturt and his party '' felt a difficulty in breathing, and a buzzing sensation on the crown of the head, as if a hot iron had been there." On two occa- sions the thermometer was noticed to exceed the range of 130° Fah. in the shade, " the solar intensity, at the same time, being nearly 160°." At the depot of captain Stiu't, in lat. 29° 40', from December, 1844, to the end of April, 1845, the prevailing winds were from E.N.E. to E.S.E. ; after that month they were variable, but west winds predominated. The south wind was always cold, and invariably indicated by a rise of the barometer, which did not ascend above 30-260, or fall beloAV 29-540: rain usually commenced in the north-east quarter, and gradually went round to the north-west. The sky, generally speaking, was -without a speck, and the damzling brightness of the moon was most distressing ; it was impossible to shut out its light ; and its irritating effects were very remarkable. At the depot, the fleece of the sheep taken by the explorers into the interior ceased to grow, as did also the hau' and nails of captain Sturt and his party. These facts, and the scanty vege- tation, indicate the excessive diyness of this portion of central Australia, arising not only from the solar rays, but also by the terrestrial emission of heat from proximate volcanic fires. It is probable, also, that very little rain reaches the centre of Australia; on the north coast the rainy monsoons are gi'eatly mitigated by the mountainous islands of the Eastern archipelago ; on the north- east coast the lofty coast ridge of four to five thousand feet elevation intercepts the showers from the Southern Ocean; the Australian Alps, in the south-east, are the means ot diffusing a large quantity of moisture over the adjacent region, but the comparatively lower elevation of the coast range of Wes- tern Australia permits a greater diffusion of rain and dew towards the interior. The pra^umed absence of any large mountains in the centre of Australia, the great distance of that centre from the ocean, the sandy forma- tion of the country, and the saline qualities of the soil, all contribute to the belief that the interior of this insulated continent will not eventually be found available for the support of cirilised man. But making large allow- ances for the barren central region, and for the sandstone wastes in other places, there probabl 7 is not less than two million square miles capable of yielding in abundance the productions of the temperate and of the ton-id zones, and where hoi-ned cattle and sheep may be multiplied to an extent that would furnish all the inhabitants of Europe with animal food. [Further details, and the gold discoveries, given in the Supplement.] DIV. I. BOOK II.— NEW SOUTH WALES. CHAPTER I. ORIGIN OF TRANSPORTATION— EARLY SETTLEMENT AND HISTORY— CONVICT DISCI- PLINE, ANT) RELIGIOUS REFORMATION- GRANT AND SALE OF CROWN LANDS- EFFECTS OF HIGH PRICES OF LAND— LIST OF GOVERNORS. The original settlement and early history of New South Wales, occupies one of the most interesting pages in the annals of British colonization. The formation of a con\'ict settlement at the Antipodes, must have been a startling proposition, and the motives which actuated the government of the day in taking so bold a step, in a matter in which their conduct was natui'ally watched by the public with jealous scrutiny, can scarcely be rightly understood without some knowledge of the system of transportation previously pursued. The causes Avhich first necessitated the adoption of this punishment in England, in its primary form of simple banishment, may perhaps be traced to the immense increase of pauperism Avhich followed the confisca- tion of church property and the extinction of monastic institutions in. the reign of Henry VIII., and tlie absence of any efii- cient measures for the relief of the poor, or for the suppression of crime, which augmented so fearfully as to threaten the destruction of the very frame-work of society. An act of parliament in. this reign, asserts that there were then no less than 60,000 prisoners (or about one out of every fifteen of all the males arrived at manhood) confined in the different gaols of England, and Hume appears disposed to believe that 72,000 of King Henry^s subjects suffered death during the thirty-seven years of his sovereignty. In the reigns of his succes- sors, Edward VI., INIary, and EHzabeth, vanous expedients were resorted to by the legislature, to check the growing progress of poverty and crime, one of which was an enactment for the raising of poor rates, (.5 Eliz. c. 3), afterwards more fully carried out in a subsequent act (43 Eliz. c. 2.), and another very important measm'c was the first decree by which banishment from the kingdom was ordained as the punishment of rogues and vagabonds. In this act. passed in the 39th year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the place of exile is not named. In 1619, during the reign of James I., the practice of transporting convicts to America commenced, criminals being also in many instances allowed to transport them- selves. An act of parliament (18 Charles II. c. 3.), empowered the judges to exile for life ^' the moss troopers of Cumberland and Northumbei'land" to any of His Majesty's possessions in America. In 1717 an act of parliament was passed, (4 Geo. II. c. 11.), which recited the ineffi- ciency of the general punishments then in use, and stated that, " in many of His Ma- jesty's colonies and plantations in America, there was a great want of servants, who, by their labour and industry might be the means of improving and making the said colonies and plantations more useful to this nation." Under this act the prerogative of the crown to pardon was restricted by requiring as a condition, that before a con- tact who had once been assigned to a plan- ter could avail himself of it, he should make compensation to his master for the loss of his ser^dces. By virtue of this enactment, a shameful course of conduct was adopted in the dis- posal of the wretched prisoners, who were in fact sold into slavery at the average rate of twenty pounds per head ; the numbers transported being about 2,000 per annum. The sepai'ation of the United States from England, put an end to this system, and the prisons becoming crowded, various expe- dients were suggested and resorted to for the relief of the country; among others that of conveying convicts to the west coast of Africa, there, according to the cither igno- rant or wantonly cruel proposition of some persons, to be tm-ned loose among the un- happy negroes; the building of large peni- tentiaries was also strongly advocated; but both these plans were abandoned, the one on account of the unhealthiness of the climate, the other by reason of the expense attending it, and its inefficiency in reclaim- ing offenders, to whose condition, Howard, and other christian philanthropists had strongly directed the attention of the nation. At this critical juncture of affairs, the favourable description given by captain Cook of that part of New Holland which he had discovered and named New South Wales, determined the government to attempt the formation of a penal settlement at Botany B^y (so called by Sir Joseph Banks when there), as a means of attaining the following desirable ends: — 1st. To rid the mother country of the yearly increasing number of prisoners who were accumulating in the gaols ; 2nd. To afford a proper place for the safe custody and punishment of the crimi- nals, as well as for their progressive and ultimate reformation; and, 3rd. To form a free colony out of the materials which the reformed prisoners would supply, in addition to families of free emigrants who might settle in the country from time to time. In the twenty-fourth year of the reign of George III., an act of parliament was passed, which empowered his Majesty in Council to appoint to what place beyond the seas, either within or without his Majesty^s domin- ions, offenders should be transported; and by two orders in Council, dated 6th De- cember, 1786, the eastern coast of Australia, and the adjacent islands, were fixed upon as the places of banishment. The small fleet destined for the convey- ance of the exiles, consisting of the Sirius (a frigate), the Supply (an armed tender), three store ships, and six transports, assem- bled at the Isle of Wight, having on board 565 male, and 192 female convicts, with a guard, consisting of a major-commandant, three captains, twelve subalterns, twenty- four non-commissioned officers, and 168 privates, all of the royal marines, together with forty of the marines' wives and their children, and provisions and stores for two years. Captain Arthur Phillip, R.N., an expeinenced officer, was appointed governor of the projected colony, and commander of the expedition, wliich left the shores of England on the 13th of May, 1787, touched for supplies and stock at Teucriffe, liio dv. Janeiro, and the C'lipe of (lood Hope, and arrived, in safety, at Jiotany Bay, in January, 1788, after a voyage of upwards of eight months, of which, however, four weeks were spent at the Cape of Good Hope. On landing, governor Phillip was received by an armed body of the natives, but on seeing him approach, alone and witliout any weapon, they returned his confidence by laying down their own, and receiving him in a very friendly manner. On proceeding to examine the bay, he soon found, that thougli extensive, it was ill-adapted for the foun- dation of a large settlement, being open to the full sweep of the easterly winds, which rolled a tremendous sea on the beach, and the greater portion of the land, moreover, though delightful for botanizing, was found to be little better than a series of swamps and sterile sand, very badly supplied with water. Little suspecting the close vicinity of one of the finest harbours in the world, captain Phillip resolved to examine what captain Cook had termed Broken Bay, where the Hawkesbury disembogues; but, on his way thither, he stopped to investigate an inlet, marked in the chart as a boat harboui', to which (appearing of little importance) captain Cook had given the name of Port Jackson, from the seaman on the look-out, by whom it was descried. On passing the lofty headlands which form the entrance of this " boat harbour," the astonishment of the governor may be conceived, when he found himself in a haven in which the whole of the British navy might securely ride at anchor, navigable for vessels of any burthen fifteen miles from its mouth, in- dented with numerous coves, and sheltered from every wind. Thither the fleet was immediately removed ; and, on the 26th of January, 1788, the British flag was hoisted on the shores of Sydney cove, then thinly wooded, and abounding in kangaroos. The silence and solitude of the forest were soon broken by the resounding stroke of the woodman's axe ; the ground was cleared, tents pitched, the live stock (consisting ol one bull, four cows, one bull-calf, one stal- lion, three mares, and three colts) landed, stores deposited, and the little colony (num- bering 1,030 souls) established. Farms were laid out at Rose Hill (Parramatta) and other places ; every encouragement was given to raise the means of sustenance from the soil, aiul a few convicts were emancipated, and obtained grants of lands as settlers. The governor having also received orders to form a settkMnent at Norfolk Island, with a view to the cultivation of the flax plant, which captain (/ook had found growing there most GO FOUNDATION OF NEW SOUTH WALES COLONY— 1788— 1790. luxuriantly, the Supply sailed for that place in February, (1788) with lieutenant King as superintendent, accompanied by one sui'geon, one petty officer, two private soldiers, two persons supposed to have some knowledge of flax dressing, and nine male and six female convicts Avith tents, implements for husbandly, tools for dressing flax, and pro- visions for six months. The Supply on its return to Port Jackson, (haAong been absent five weeks and two days) reported the ex- treme difficulty found in landing on Norfolk Island, and the unfortunate loss of five lives thereby, but brought most favourable ac- counts of the richness of the soil and salu- brity of the climate. IMeanwhile gi'eat and increasing difficulties were experienced by the infant colony at Sydney Cove, the scurvy broke out among the con\dcts, and resisted every attempt made to check its progress by medicine, while the eril tendencies of theii' minds, repressed in some degree dming the voyage, and their rooted habits of idleness, became daily more manifest. Among the numerous disappointments which the governor, notwithstanding the most strenuous exertions was doomed to ex- perience, not the least was the fnistration of his hopes of maintaining a friendly inter- coiu-se with the natives. M. de la Perouse, (see p. 367) while he remained in Botany Bay, had some quaiTcl vritli the natives, in which he was iinfortunately obliged to use his fire arms, and this aftair, together with the ill behaviour of some of the c nvicts, who, in spite of all prohibitions had wan- dered among them, produced a shyness on the part of the aborigines which resulted in open enmity. The soil around Sydney Cove was found to be extremely sterile, so that the possibility of immediately raising sufficient grain for the settlement was out of the question, the cattle were lost through the neglect of the person in charge; while the conduct of the prisoners was too often very detrimental to the public weal, theft being general, and desertion into the woods not unfrequent. At one time forty persons were absent from the settlement on their road to China! These travellers consisted principally of Irish con\acts, who being pos- sessed with the idea that China was not far distant to the northward, were always making up parties for the purpose of de- camping thither. Most of the wanderers perished of hunger, or were speared, and probably eaten by the natives. An anecdote is told of one who, after traversing the woods near Sydney for several weeks, en- deavouiing to find the road to China, had not only lost liis way, but, as is often the case when the traveller is bewildered in a forest, lost also his senses. As good luck would have it, Pat, almost famishing, reached what he thought a Chinese tOAvn; instinct drew him towards one bark hut in particular, which he cautiously approached, and was most agreeably astonished to find his wife, whom he joyously hailed with, " Oh ! Judy dear, how did you find your way to China ?" The number of natives who then resorted to the shores of Port Jackson to fish or hunt was considerable, and hostilities soon coja- menced between them and the new comers, in the course of Avhich many cruelties on both sides were committed. The Sirius, which had been despatched to the Cape of Good Hope for flour, returned in INIay, 1789, and although the supply she brought was not very large, as the ordinary rations of four months would exhaust it, yet it seemed to gladden every heart, and re- move for a time the despondency which was rapidly gaining ground. On the 4th of June, 1789, the second anniversaiy of his Majesty's birthday com- memorated in this country, the governor endeavoured, as he had done on the previous occasion, to foster a loyal spirit by making it a day of rejoicing, and the conWcts were permitted to perform Farquhar's comedy, " the Recruiting Officer ;" the prologue spoken on the occasion contained a pertinent allusion to their own position in the words, " True patriots we, for be it understood, We left our country for our countrj''s goocL" In spite, however, of every eff'ort to dis- guise or meet them, difficulties increased at Sydney, and the accounts from Norfolk Island continuing favourable, it was thought adAisable to divide the colony. In Febru- ary, 1790, a large body of convicts (above 200) together mth two companies of marines, were ordered thither, on board the Sirius and the Supply. A serious evil, the in- jurious consequences of which were long felt in the colony, attended this measure. It being found that stock was improvidently killed, an order was given to prevent the fui'ther destruction of an article so essential in the present state of aftab-s, (the govern- ment rations having been thrice reduced since the beginning of November) untd some necessary regulations could be pub- lished ; but the officers and people who were about to embark were not included in this prohibition. The mention of future neces- sary regulations, gave rise to an opinion among the convicts that on the departure of the ships, all the live stock in the colony would be called in, or that the owners would be deprived of the benefits which might result from its possession, and, under the pretence of its belonging to those who were exempted by the late order, nearly all the stock in the settlement was destroyed in the course of a few nights. Another heavy disaster resulted from this unfortunate expedition, for the Sirius, which en its return was immediately to have pro- ceeded to China for supplies, was lost with all the provisions which had been sent with the convicts, upon a reef at Norfolk Island ; her officers, crew, and convicts were however all saved, having been dragged on shore, through the sm-f, on a grating. Owing to the increase of population without any cor- responding augmentation of provisions, the inhabitants of Norfolk Island were on the eve of perishing, but for the unexpected relief afforded by a flight of aquatic birds which alighted on the island, to lay their eggs. Owing to the length of their pinions, these birds take wing with difficulty ; and their numbers were so great, that for two months the settlers caught at least from 2,000 to 3,000 every night, and also procured an incal- culable quantity of eggs ; thus these " birds of Providence " saved the lives of the people. To return to the principal settlement. The long-looked for ships from England did not arrive, and the necessity for procuiing succour becoming daily more urgent, on the 17th of April, 1790, the Supply was sent to seek relief from Batavia. On the 20th of April the miserable ration issued from the public store to each man for seven days, was — flour, 2^ lbs. ; rice, 2 lbs. ; pork, 2 lbs. ; and of this sadly insufficient ration, the pork, from the length of time that it had been in store, had shrunk away to nearly nothing. The manly and unselfish conduct of the governor had been throughout remarkable, but it was especially manifested during this season of severe trial ; he gave up three hundred weight of flour which was his private property, declaring, that although it was not in his power to remove the want felt by the con- victs, they might at least know that it was equally experienced even at the government house; and to this resolution he rigidly adhered. Every exertion was made to pro- cure food by hunting and fishing ; but, from the former pursuit, little benefit resulted, only three small kangaroos being brought in at the end of a month by the persons em- ployed to shoot for the settlement ; and the food obtained from the latter was not often more than equal to suppljang the people employed in the boats mth one pound of fish per man, wliich was allowed them in addition to their ration. Even this scanty resource seemed Hkely to fail them in their greatest need; for on the first and second days of June, (their seasons, be it recol- lected, being exactly opposite to otirs,) the stormy weather prevented fishing, and threat- ened to continue throughout the thii'd day. The wretched people seemed destined to diink to the dregs the bitter cup of hope deferred. They had long, and, as the event proved, rightly conjectured, that the non-arrival of suppHes could not be owing to the wilful neglect of the home government, but must be consequent upon some unforeseen delay or fatal accident. Then* worst fears received a speedy confirmation. On the afternoon of the 3rd of June, the iong-looked-for signal was made for a ship at the South Head, which proved to be the Lady Juliana tran- sport from Plymouth, not bearing the much- desired cargo of provisions, but laden, in its place, with 220 female convicts, and bringing to the unfortunate colonists intelligence of the loss of the store ship sent by government for their assistance. The Guardian, a forty- four gun ship, commanded by lieutenant Riou, had sailed from England in September, 1789, richly freighted with two years^ pro- visions for the settlement, and an immense variety of all manner of stores. She had reached the Cape of Good Hope in safety, had there taken on board a quantity of stock for the settlement, and completed a garden, which had been prepared under the imme- diate inspection of Sir Joseph Banks, and contained 150 of the finest fruit trees. Leaving the Cape, the Guardian proceeded on her way ; but on the 23rd of December she struck upon an iceberg in 45° 54' S. lat,, 41° 30' E, long,, and thereby received so much injury, that heutenant Riou, to save her from instantly sinking, was compelled to throw overboard the greatest part of her valuable cargo. The stock was killed, the garden destroyed, and most of the passen- gers and crew left her, in five boats, four of which were never afterwards heard of; the fifth, with much difficulty, reached the Mau- ritius. Lieutenant Riou remained behind, resolved to sink with liis vessel ; but it was othei-wise ordained; and his life, preserved for a time, was eventually sacrificed for liis country at Copenliagen, and the Guardian, with the loss of masts and rudder, after having been tossed about for several days, at the mercy of every gale, was fallen in with by a French frigate, near tlie Cape of Good Hope, and towed into Table Bay, where such of her stores as yet remained were landed. In addition to the above disastrous tidings, the disappointed colonists were informed that 1,000 convicts might be shortly expected, and little benefit even of a temporary nature was consequent upon the arrival of the Juliana, the supply of provisions on board her being so inconsiderable as to justify only the addi- tion of one pound and a half of floiir being made to the weekly ration. A deep gloom, enhanced by the frustration of their hopes, when they were apparently on the eve of realization, overspread every comitenance; Ijut efl'ectual rehef was near at hand, on the 20th of the same month the Justinia arrived from England with a large cargo of provisions and stores. A few days after three trans- ports, laden with the convicts whose coming had been announced by the Juliana, reached Port Jackson ; 274 of these unhappy people had perished during the voyage, and disease was so rife among them that, according to lieutenant-colonel Collins, several of them died in the boats as they were being rowed to shore, or on the wharf as they were lifted out of the boats ; both the living and the dead exhibited more hori'id spectacles than had ever been mtnessed in that country. Apart from the distressing state of the crimi- nals themselves, the arrival of the transports was in other respects beneficial; for in addition to the provisions brought by them from England, were 400 tierces of beef, and 200 tierces of pork, saved from the Guardian, and put on board at the Cape of Good Hope, and all anxiety respecting the stores was subsequently set at rest by the adoption of a more regular system in the forwarding of supplies. The aspect of aflFairs began to brighten, the hues for a regular town were laid out, various public buildings com- menced, and the non-commissioned officers and privates of the marines were encour- aged ill Ijccoming settlers by grants of land. In September, 1791, H.M.S. Goryon nrviwA at Sy: A HIGH UPSET PRICE OF LAND. could be realized in New Soutli Wales ; but it was forgotten, that independent of delusion at home, and peculiar circumstances, that a system of special siu'veys was introduced in South Australia, whereby any person bind- ing himself to take 4,000 acres, might require a survey of 15,000, and out of this he might select his portion in lots of not less than eighty acres ; so that with such a pri^dlege, he selected all the good and left the bad land. He might also make his selection of a narrow strip Avith water frontage, thus rendering the back land unavailable for any one else. A gambling system was also introduced, by giving to the purchasers of a certain number of acres, gratuitously, or almost gratuitously, a lottery or raffle ticket for a town or building allotment, which, in some places, was veiy valuable. INIany per- sons, in England, who bought land in Soutli Australia during the period of the " land mania," have never, to this day, received one shilling in return for their outlay. The memorandum of Sir George Gipps is well nigh unintelligible ; he condemns the system adopted in South Australia, as a gambling speculation, depending on a throw of dice ; he considers, that " Australia is a pastoral country, and must remain such, for ages \" that " scarcely one hundredth part of the land sold by the government in Australia, is ever purchased for the purpose of being cultivated j" and that " the entei'priziug colonists who first drove sheep and cattle from New South Wales to South Australia, rescued that colony from ruin;" and yet, after an entire condemnation of the fallacies which were sedulously propagated respecting the " new principle," and the " sufficient pn'ce" at South Australia, Sir George Gipps appears to recommend to her Majesty^s ministers, in England, the raising of the price of land in New South Wales, as a raw material, above 5^. per acre. In this memorandum the governor of New South Wales thus correctly described the character of the squatters, and the extent to which squatting was then carried on : — " A very large proportion of the land which is to form the new district of Port Phillip, is already in the licensed occupation of the squatters of New South Wales, a class of persons whom it would be wrong to confound with those who bear the same name in America, and who are generally persons of mean repute and of small means, who have taken un- authorised possession of patches of land. Amongst the squatters of New South Wales are the wealthiest of the land, occupying, with the permission of government, thousands and tens of thousands of acres. Young men of good family and connexions in England, officers of the army and navy, graduates of Oxford and Cambridge, are also in no small num- ber amongst them. " At the end of 1839, the cattle depastured beyond the boundaries was returned as follows, though probably the real quantity was much greater : sheep, 1,334,593; horned cattle, 371,699; horses, 7,088. The number of acres in cultivation was also returned as 7,287." In 1841 (17th Jidy), the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners (T. F. Elliott, esq. and the honourable E. E. ViUiers,) addi'essed a valuable letter to James Ste- phen, esq., under-secretary for the colonies, in which they stated that they could not agree in the recommendation of the South Australian committee, that the upset price of land should be at once raised in South Australia and the other Australian colonies. The commissioners observe, that while they deem the price of land should be progi'es- sively increased, until the object of estab- lishing a due proportion between the supply and demand for labour, and betAveen the population and the extent of territory occu- pied by it, shall have been accomplished; yet, that the extent to which the price of land can be raised, has limits beyond which no authority will avail; and, that just as the smuggler places a limit beyond which the duties of customs cannot be increased, so the squatter would defeat an indefinite increase of the price of land ; for, as soon as the consideration demanded by govern- ment for gi'antiug a title became extrava- gant, persons would prefer the cotirse of taking land without a title, and bearing the risk. In the annexed paragraph, the commis- sioners clearly foretold the disadvantageous results attending an increase of price above the 125. then prevailing in New South Wales :— " It appears to us, that as to the possible effect of a low price in withdrawing persons from labouring for hire in the colony, there may be some misapprehen- sion as to the state of facts. In North America, where lots were of small size, and their value was to be realised by force of human labour only, it is not questioned tliat too great a facility of acquiring land withdrew large numbers from the class of labourers. But in the Australian colonies, where land requires to be in large quantities, for the principal use to which it is turned, and where also the pi-ofit to be derived from it depends not upon mere human toil, but upon the acquisition and rearing of stock, re- quiring a considerable further outlay of capita^, it may well be doubted whether the same effect is to be apprehended. We certainly do not remember to have seen it mentioned in any official accounts from these colonies, that land has been acquired by per- sons in the condition and with the means of labourers : and Sir George Gipps, in the memorandum which EMIGRATION COMMISSIONERS ON A HIGH PRICE OF LAND. 83 forms one of the papers now under consideration, mentions, that it is ' rarely advantageous in any part of Australia for a newly-arrived emigrant to become a proprietor of land, unless his capital is considerable.' This would seem to imply that the temptation held out by land to people of small means is not very con- siderable. The truth, perhaps, is, that various other causes, besides the price of land, must (govern the usual rate of ivayes. It is, we believe, generally under- stood, that where the capital which can be profitably used in employing labour is very large, in proportion to the number of labourers that can be obtained, wages will be high ; and this will continue equally true, whatever might be the existing land regulations. We fear, therefore, that if we were to undertake pro- gressively to increase the price of land until labour should be abundant, and employment as much divided as in old countries, xve might jJossibly extinguish the land sales before we should have reduced wages ; that we might seriously diminish the resources for nroducing the great staple of the Australian settlements, and perhaps have engendered an extensive system- of unauthorized squatting. We feel the force of this apprehension the more, when we advert to the opinion of the committee, that after once a minimum price has been declared, it ought not to admit of being lowered, except by an act of the British Par- liament." In 1842, the system of sale by auction was resumed throughout the colony, at a minimum upset price of 125. per acre for country lands, with liberty to select portions not bid for at the upset price. In a speech delivered in Council by Sir George Gipps, the governor of New South Wales, on 9th September, 1842, he used these remarkable expressions : — " I do not advocate the putting the squatter on a par with the purchaser of crown land; to do this, would be effectually to nullify all the regulations which have been introduced for the disposal or sale of land, since land began to be of any value in the colony. * -h- -k- So obviously does the squatting system act to prevent the sale of crown lands, that the late secretary of state, in a despatch which has been laid before the Council (dated 20th June, 1840), pointed out the propriety of raising the price of a licence to depasture stock beyond the boundaries, to five or six times its present limit." It must, however, be admitted, that when the government adopted the theory of raising the price of land beyond its real value, the colony would, to a great extent, have been ruined, but for the squatters, whose exertions have increased the quantity of stock, and greatly multiplied the exportable produce of the settlement. In 1843, the minimum price was raised to twenty shillings per acre, by an act of the Imperial Parliament, (5 and 6 Vict., cap. 36,) with liberty to select, at the upset price, country portions put up to auction and not bid for, or on which the deposit had been forfeited. The land was offered for sale, in quantities of not less than a section, or one square mile = 640 acres. In 1843, a select committee of the Legislative Council of New South Wales was appointed, to enquire into and report upon the upset price of land. In the same year, and in 1845, "immigra- tion reports" were laid before the Council. In the resolutions and petitions of the Council, founded on these several reports, urgent protests were made against the con- tinuance of a policy which had been pro- ductive of the disastrous results of anni- hilating the land fund, and simultaneously depriving the colony of capital and labour, by which a series of social revolutions, and an unparalleled depreciation in the value of property were, in a great measure, to be attributed. It was stated, in this year, that about 5,000,000 acres had then been alien- ated from the crown in New South Wales; of these, about 3,500,000 acres had been granted, and about 1,000,000 acres had been sold, at a price of about 5^. per acre. By an order of her Majesty in Council, dated London, 9th ^March, 1847, the lands of New South Wales were divided into three classes, according to their situation, to be denominated respectively — (1.) the settled; (2.) the intermediate ; and (3.) the unsettled districts. The first comprised the settled and proclaimed counties of 1st January, 1838, and the counties of Macquarie and Stanley; also lands within three miles dis- tance from any part of the sea coast, or two miles from certain parts of the rivers Glc- nelg, Clarence, and Richmond, or ten miles from the towns or townships of Portland, Alberton, Eden, Bathurst, Wellington, Mac- quarie, Ipswich, and a town at the head of the na^dgation of the Clarence river. The second comprehended the counties to be proclaimed on or before 31st December, 18i8; and the third, all the other lands in the territory of New South Wales. [In this enumeration, the references to Mel- bourne and the Port Phillip districts have been omitted, as this portion of Australia is to be formed into a distinct colony.] Under this order, the governor is em- powered to gi-ant leases or runs of land in the unsettled districts, for any term not exceeding fourteen years' duration, for pas- toral pm-poses, with permission for the lessee to cultivate so much of the land in the said run as may be necessary to provide grain, hay, vegetables or fruit, to the amount required for the use of the family and estab- lishment of the lessee, but not for sale or barter. The rent to be proportioned to the number of sheep or cattle which the run may be enabled to support; each run to be capable of carrying at- least 4,000 sheep, or an equivalent number of cattle, and not in any case to be let at a lower rent than £10 per annum, to which £2 10s. per annum shall be added for every additional ],000 sheep, or equivalent number of cattle, which the run may be capable of carrying. A commissioner of crown lauds to estimate the capabilities of the run. Dm-ing the continuance of the lease, no person but the lessee to be suffered to purchase any of the run ; but he to be allowed to buy the whole, or portions of not less than 160 acres, at a price of not less than 205. per acre. On the intennediate lands the governor may grant leases as above for not more than eight years ; but at the end of each succes- sive year of the lease, these runs may be offered for pubHc purchase, subject to sixty days^ notice to the lessee. In the settled districts the governor may issue grants or depasturing leases for one year, without interference as to time of disposal of said lands by sale or lease. In 1847 (11th September), a select com- mittee of the Legislative Council of New South Wales on immigi'ation, stated, that " the land fund — the source fi'om whence any amount of expenditure incuiTcd in im- migi'ation might have been defrayed, has been annihilated, in consequence of the determination to carry out the system of Mr. E. G. Wakefield ; and the remonstrances of the colony against this ruinous system Prices of Crotcn Lands and Quantities have been unheeded or misiinderstood.'* The committee state, that — " For a series of yeai's the growth of the colony •was uniform, progressive, and uninterrupted. From 1833 to 1840, the sum realized by the sale of the waste lands was upwards of £1,000,000, and by the expenditure of this amount 80,000 souls were intro- duced. Under this system, the population became more than doubled in a period of eight years. In 1839, it was the policy of the imperial government to raise the upset mmimum price of land from os. to 12s., and subsequently to £1 an acre. This act may be regarded as one chief cause of the disasters with which the colony has since been visited, and of its present depressed condition. From £300,000 a-year the land revenue fell to £8,000, and immigration ceased ; the sources from whence it had been de^ frayed, having been thus suddenly arrested." In 1847 (23rd July), a select committee, coiisisting of ten members of the Legislative Council of New South Wales, was appointed to inquire into and report upon what ought to be the minimum upset price or prices of land in the various counties and districts of New South Wales. On 27th September, 1847, the committee made a report, of which the following is an abstract. All the wit- nesses examined, whether favourable or un- faA'ourable to the maintenance of a high minimum price, agreed that 205. does not in any degree represent the exchangeable value of an acre of land in New South Wales; and that, therefore, the declaration of the Imperial Parliament, that land shall not be sold till it realises £1 per acre, is a declara- tion that land shall not be sold until it reahse more than it is worth ; or, in other words, that except in particular instances, land shall not be sold at all. In confir- mation of this statement, the following table is adduced : — Sold from 1837 to 1846, both inclusive. OS. per acre, Country. 12s. per acre, Country. 20«.per acre, Country. Upwards of 205. per acre. Special Surveys, in Acres. Total Acres Sold. Total Amount for Lands sold. Town. Country. 1837 368,483 212 368,695 £121,962 1838 315,059 , — — 228 30 — 315,318 128,865 1839 249,896 30,218 2,664 2,785 351 — 285,915 166,713 1840 68,873 111,720 2,058 5,525 1,291 — 189,468 324,072 1841 — 16,430 3,310 248 153 66,199 86,341 92,636 1842 — 4,898 1,340 170 471 15,023 21,903 18,312 1843 — 616 3,205 157 717 121 4,817 12,205 1844 — — 3,822 245 190 — 4,259 9.174 1845 127 4,440 1,754 945 — 7,267 18,025 1846 — 103 2,641 282 3,791 — 7,018 27,700 18471 1848 1849 [■ 1,S50 . . . No detailed returns. . . • Total . 1,002,440 163,985 23,683 11,611 7 942 81,343 1,291,006 £919,669 Aote. — floods aud Perches, and Shillings and Pence are excluded REPORT OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF N. S. WALES IN 1847. 85 From the foregoing table the committee adduced the facts — " That the sum realised by sales of land in 1846 is less by £3,000 than one-fourth of the sum realised from the same source in 1837. It will also be ob- served, that in the five years which have elapsed since the raising of the minimum price to £1 an acre, the whole sum realised by land sales is not quite £80,000, or two-thirds of the sum realised in the single average year 1837 ; and the whole number of acres sold about 45,000, or less than one- eighth of the number sold in 1837. The result is more strange, when it is ob- served, that in 1837 the population of the colony amounted to 85,000 persons, while, in 1846, the population amounted to upwards to 196,000. Thus by unwise legislation has the permanent settlement been retarded in proportion as the demand for it has increased ; and thus is the fallacy, that land can be made saleable at this price by the introduction of population, practically refuted. But it has been said by Sir George Gipps, that it is to the insolvency, which was unfortunately so general a few years ago, and not to the high minimum price, that the cessa- tion of land sales is to be attributed. If so, Ave may expect to find the same paralysing influence extended to all markets as well as the land market. The com- parison of 1837 with 1846 will completely show the fallacy of this suggestion. In 1837 the value of ex- ports from the colony was £760,000. In 1846 the value was £1,481,000, or nearly double. In 1837 the ships entered inwards were 400, of the burden of 80,000 tons. In 1846 the ships entered inwards were 767, of the burden of 141,000 tons. In 1837 the proceeds of sales by auction were £321,000; in 1846, £414,000. In 1837 the coin in the treasurv, military chest, and banks, was £427,000 ; in 1846, £827,000. Thus, while cur exports, our shipping, our circulating medium, and our population have doubled; while the proceeds of sales by auction have increased one- fourth, the proceeds of sales of land have decreased by more than three-fourths." The inference dedaced fi-om these facts by the committee is that while — " The producer of colonial exports is content to sell his commodity at the price which it will bring, the shipowner looks only for the current rate of freight ; the importation of capital is regulated by the rate of exchange ; but the government, the great proprietor of land, refuses to regulate its dealings by these principles, repudiates the doctrine of supply and demand, and insists upon holding this commodity, of which it has practically the monopoly, till it realise a price, of obtaining which no practical man can see the probability or even the possibility. Thus, while every other branch of industry is carried on with the greatest activity and success, the settlement of the countrj, to which they ought all to be considered as subsidiary, stands still, and the mind is astonished by the anomalous spectacle of a colony active, enter- prising, and energetic in all things, except the one alone for which it was founded — colonization. " It seems impossible to reconcile this system not only to any views of sound policy but to any policy at all. If the government regard these lands as a mere vehicle of revenue, as the means of raising the largest possible sum, narrow and unstatesman-like as such a view may be, this is not the way to carry it out. The figures above quoted show that the price is so exorbitant, that every other element of wealth in the country may double and leave it still a virtual prohibition. How often this multiplj-ing process is to be repeated before the pressure of population and the increase of wealth will render these lands saleable at £1 an acre it is impossible to say ; but to judge by the moor lands of England, and the bogs of Ire- land, the period is yet extremely remote. It must also be remembered, that even if the government should succeed in selling land at £1 an acre twenty years hence, for which now only 5s. could be obtained, the government, allowing for compound interest at the rate of interest which money now commands in the colony, is considerably a loser ; add to this, that by destroying the land fund, the government is not merely foregoing a revenue which would be cheerfully paid and easily collected, but it is destroying future revenue by arresting the influx of that labour from which land derives so much of its value. It is not rnerely refusing to sell a commodity, but it is depre- ciating that commodity for ever. The supply of land which may become saleable by the government is, for all practical purposes, infinite. What quantity will become saleable, depends upon the increase of population. Government, therefore, as a mere dealer in land, has a direct interest in selling so much of it as will keep the tide of population continually flowing towards its yet unsold possessions. " It is also the interest of government to attract capital. In this also it has signally overreached itself. The principle of a uniform fixed price contains in it this objection, that that price must be tolerably high, since upon it alone the government relies to protect its interests, but it has the countervailing advantages of certainty of amount and facility of operation. The principle of sale by auction has not these advantages, but it oflfers to the capitalist the attraction of referring not to any arbitrary standard, but to fair competition to fix the value. The government has rejected all that is attractive in each of these systems, and retained only what is repulsive. Enough of the fixed price is retained to make the purchaser sure that he will not get the land cheap ; enough of the principle of com- petition to make him uncertain whether he shall get it at all. " The facilities of steam and railway communica- tion are gradually drawing mankind together, and countries possessing wild lands for sale, are beginning to enter into competition with each other. It is becoming daily more impossible to regard this as an isolated question. In determining the price of land, the competition of other countries ought not to be left out of sight. At the Cape of Good Hope land can be obtained for one-tenth, in Canada for one- fourth, and, as it appears recently, in the United States, for one-fortieth of the sum demanded for a like quantity here. In utter defiance of the prin- ciples of political economy, it is expected that persons will give for our poor and inaccessible land four, five, ten, or forty times the price at which nearer and more accessible land may be obtained. It is assumed that one acre of land in Australia equals in value four in Canada, five in the United States, ten at the Cape of Good Hope, and forty in the territory recently ceded to the United States by the Chacktaw Indians. Your committee apprehend, that as regards the greater part of the lands of this colony, it is perfectly imma- terial whether the minimum price fixed be £1 or £20 an acre. The former price is shown, by reason and experience, to be utterly unattainable, and the latter is no more. " Your committee would wish to be understood as 86 TOO HIGH A PRICE HAS CHECKED EMIGRATION TO N. S. WALES. by no means undervaluing the great advantages derived by the colony from pastoral pursuits, but they are desirous of expressing their opinion that the home government, by prohibiting the sale of land, has given an undue stimulus to those pursuits, and undue discouragement to agriculture and settled indusTi-y. The prohibition of the purchase of land has aggravated that tendency to dispersion which it was designed to counteract. The true policy, in the opinion of your committee, is neither to stimulate nor check this tendency to dispersion, which is the natural precursor of that state of society in which the tendency to concentration arises. Unhappily, the government has not observed this rule. In its anxiety to concentrate the population, it has placed a price on land which rendered it impossible for those who occupied it to occupy as purchasers. The occupation has been conceded, the proprietorship has been with- held, and thus has the industry of the colony been forced into the channel most consistent with occu- pation without title, and the policy which ambitiously aimed at forcing the colonists prematurely to become villagers and agriculturists, has resulted in compelling them to become shepherds and herdsmen. Had the prohibitory price thus imposed been the result of a sincere though mistaken conviction, your committee, while deprecating its impolicy, could not have mur- mured at its injustice. But it is now notorious in the colony, and can be proved by unquestionable evidence, that it was not M'ith a view to the welfare of New South Wales, but of South Australia, that this obnoxious law was passed. Colonel Torrens and his brother commissioners, the founders of the South Australian colony, felt that it would be impossible to obtain £1 an acre for land there, while land of the same quality could be obtained at 5s. an acre here. They felt that whatever were the merits of their scheme, it would not bear the test of the free-trade principle of competition, and they sacrificed, without remorse or hesitation, the present and actual interests of the older colony, to the future, and, as it has turned out, visionary prospects of the younger. Thus it happens, that 200,000 persons are impoverished, that their interests may not stand in the way of the imaginary interests of 25,000 ; and while colony after colony has been emancipated from the £1 an acre system. New South Wales has been unable to obtain her deliverance, precisely because, to her, that deliver- ance would be most valuable. Van Diemen's Land is of too small extent — New Zealand is too distant — to impair, by their competition, the working of the £1 an acre system in South Australia. If the land of New South Wales were rich, the continuance of the price would be a matter of indifference ; if the land were small in quantity, the reduction of the price would be unimportant ; it is the great quantity and poor quality of the land — the very causes which render the high price ruinous to New South Wales — ■ that constitute its principal attractions in the eyes of the South Australian commissioners." From a return made to p;overnmciit, up to June 30th, 1836, it appears that the land comprised within the then nineteen counties of the colony, was tipwards of 25,000,000 acres, of which only about 5,000,000 acres had been alienated ; showing that there was, consequently, abundance still left within the settled districts for cultivation, if required. The best lands had been selected by those who received grants, the next best put up to sale by government at 5s. an acre ; after selections had been made for several years at this price, the third best were offei'ed at 12*. an acre; and, finally, the refuse or remainder of these grants and sales was put up for sale by auction at 20^. per acre. (Evidence before Legislative Council, 14th August, 1847.) After these forcible arguments, the Legis- lative Council committee proceed to show, with a warmth which is, perhaps, only too excusable, that it would have been happy for the colony, if the ruin of her land fund — the dispersion of her people — the stoppage of immigration — and the dissemination of a jtist spirit of discontent, had been the only results of this high minimum price. A party arose in the colony, a class termed " squatters," who, forbidden by the policy of the government to buy land, were forced to occupy it, and did so, under the authority of the government, on a lease of Id. per acre, until the lands thus occupied were purchased at £1 per acre. Hence, the squatters — men of intelligence, education, property, and good family in England, who had made New South Wales their home — began to feel that they had a vested interest in maintaining the prohibitory price, as a guarantee that their occupation would not be disturbed ; the result is, that " the land possessions of the British crown in New South Wales have been in a manner alien- ated.'' The settlers object to the land- orders which authorise leasing at Id. per acre, because they confiscate the lands of the colony ; the squatters approve of them, because they see no limit to the term of their occupation ; under them, temporary occupation is consequently equivalent to per- manent alienation — thus the system has led to grants of land on the most lavish and extravagant scale. By the process now in operation, it is alleged that all the de- sirable land within the nineteen counties, and beyond the settled districts, viz., about 1,800,000 aci'cs, have been, in reahty, bestowed on about 1,800 persons, at the rate of 100,000 acres per head, in a country where there is one inhabitant to every 100,000 acres, and has coupled with this premature appropriation, a regulation prohibiting agri- culture. Thus, it is asserted, dispersion is enforced ; co-operation, the division ot labour, religious and secular instruction, are all out of the question; landed property is accumulated in the hands of a few to the REGULATION FOR THE ACCUMULATION OF CROWN LAND. 87 exclusion of tlie many ; and the high mini- mum price of land (20*. per acre) has operated as a bar to the natural and secure investment in the soil of the sm-plus capital of the colony, hazardous speculation has been consequently encouraged, and capital forced into other and less legitimate channels. The opponents of the high minimum price of land do not deny the benefits arising from the sale of waste lands ; or that a sum of nearly £1,000,000 was raised by such sale in New South Wales, in ten years, whereby 50,000 immigi'ants have been introduced into the colony ; but they contend, that of the gi'oss proceeds of the land sales (£920,000), £835,000 were received during the first five years of the period, when the price of land was under 205. an acre, and but £85,000 diu'ing the second period of five years, when the minimum price was 20s. an acre ; thus, if the sum raised from land has been the means of introducing 50,000 immigrants, 46,000 have been in- troduced by land put up under 20^. an acre, and 4,000, only, by land put up at 205. an acre. In other words, had the price remained unaltered, the colonists might have raised £2,000,000, instead of £1,000,000, and introduced 100,000 immigrants instead of 50,000. It is in evidence, that no land has been purchased for grazing purposes at 205. an acre ; according to some witnesses, 105. per acre would be a fair price for arable, and 55. per acre for grazing land. Accord- ing to Mr. De Salis, 25. 6d., and a rent equivalent to four per cent, would be a pro- per valuation. Mr. Ogilvy thinks l5. an acre sufficient. There is much land on which a rabbit could not feed, and 35. an acre would be gladly received for 10,000 acres in the county of Macquarie. Many large tracts of a deep dark rich soil are covered with dense forests, which are not likely to be cleared for years to come. Mr. Justice Therry, in his evidence before the House of Lords {9th June, 1848), being asked to what he attributed the considerable falling ofi" in the land sales of New South Wales, of late years, answered — " Principally I should attribute it to the minimum price of land being £1 an acre, and to the great extent to which, in consequence of this price, the squatting system has extended, as well as to the great facility afforded for the occupation of land without purchase ; that naturally prevents the sale of land. If a person can occupy and use land without buying it, and buying too at a price beyond its value, it is plain he will not purchase it." The witness proceeded to say, that so far fi'om 205. upset price for land having a ten- dency to secure the concentration of the population, as was aUege-d would be the case, it had quite the contrary effect, and had promoted dispersion, by a system which operates as a prohibition upon the sale of land. This experienced judge fully corro- borated the statements of the Legislative Council Committee, and asserted, that " the squatters have an occupation which they consider as almost equivalent to the pro- prietorship of the soil : for all practical pur- poses, they have an ownership of the land almost as if they had purchased it." Four acres to one sheep, would entitle the squatter, having the smallest required number of sheep (4,000), to 16,000 acres of land; and it must be evident he could not aff"ord to pay 205. an acre, or £16,000, for mere pas- toral purposes. In 1848 (29th March), the governor issued regulations for the occupation of crown lands within the settled districts; viz. — First. That holders of purchased lands within those districts may depasture stock on vacant crown lands immediately contiguous to their respective properties, but that they shall only possess a commonage right, to be en- joyed alike by all the holders of adjacent purchased lands, and may not erect any hut or building, or clear, enclose, or cultivate any portion thereof. Second. That sections of not less than 640 acres will be let, with exclusive right, for one year, at a rent of not less than IO5. per section, for pastoral pur- poses only. Leases not assignable, or lands to be sublet. Wood, excepting cedar, may be cut for fencing stock-yards, for fire-bote, or domestic uses. Lands open to purchase under the ordinary regulations : lessee to receive a notice of one month. The secre- taiy of state for the colonies has authorized the local government of New South Wales to raise a loan of £100,000 for emigration purposes, on the security of the land reve- nues of the colony, but decHned to alter the upset price of 205. per acre for land. It is rightly deemed that any alteration in price ought to apply to all the southern colonies ; and her Majesty's government propose to leave the settlement of this question to the United Assembly of all the Australasian colonies. It wiD, however, be a very difficult matter, owing to the interests which have grown up under the present system. The quantity of land sold, and the pro- ceeds thence derived, in New South Wales and Port Phillip, and the amount derived 88 LAND SOLD AND MONIES RECEIVED IN N. S. WALES SINCE 1831. from squatting since 1831 :— licences, are thus shown Year. Number of Purchase Squatting Acres Sold. Money. Licences. £ £ 1831 2,597 — 1832 20,860 12,509 . — 1833 29,001 24,956 — 1834 91,399 41.484 — 1835 271,947 87,097 — 1836 389,546 123,049 3,680 1837 370,376 117,583 4,780 1838 316,160 115,825 6,280 1839 272,620 166,578 11,675 1840 189,787 317,251 13,300 1841 85,776 93,387 15,701 1842 10,673 19,444 16,255 1843 5,227 11,664 19,823 1844 4,260 9,016 32,031 1845 7,747 22,821 38,943 1846 7,683 30,183 42,749 1847 28,726 76,962 43,075 1848 21,480 41,919 46,903 1849) 1850) No returns. In 1848 the whole quantity of land sold in the New South Wales district was only 3,472 acres, and the sale proceeds £7,384; in the Port Phillip district, 18,007 acres, proceeds, £24,030. The revenue derived from squatting licences, in 1848, was — within the settled districts, New South Wales, £1,116; Port Phillip, £383 = £1,549; without the settled districts, New South Wales, £26,490; Port Phillip, £18,863 = £45,353. The subjoined table shows by whom, and the period, the government of the colony was respectively administered since its foun- dation on the 26th January, 1788 : — Captain Arthur Phillip, R N. . Captain Francis Gross (Lt.-Gov.) Captain Paterson, New Southi Wales Corps (Lieut.-Gov.) J Captain Hunter, R.N Captain P. G. King, R.N. . . Captain W. Bligh, R.N. . . . Major-gen. Lachlan Macquarie . Major-gen.SirT.Brisbane,K.C.B. Colonel Stuart, 3rd Reg., or\ Buffs (Lieut.-Gov.) . . / Lieutenant-gen. Ralph Darling Colonel Lindesay.C.B. (Lt.-Gov.) Major gen.Sir R. Bourke, K.C.B. Lieutenant-col. Kennett Snod- grass (Lieut.-Gov.) . . . Sir George Gipps . . . Sir M. C. O'ConneU. . . . Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy From Jan. 26, Dec. 11, 1788 1792 Dec. 15, 1794 Aiig. 7, Sept. 28, Aug. 13, Jan. 1, Dec. 1, 1795 1800 1806 1810 1821 Dec. 1,1825 Dec. 19, Oct. 22, Dec. 3, Dec 6, Feb. 24, July 11, Aug. 3, 1825 1831 1831 1837 1838 1846 1846 To Dec. 10, 1792 Dec. 14, 1794 Aug. 6, 1795 Sept. 27, 1800 Aug. 12, 1806 Jan. 26, 1808 Dec. 1, 1821 Nov. 30, 1825 Dec. 18, 1825 Oct. 21,1831 Dec. 2, 1831 Dec. 5, 1837 Feb. 23, 1838 July 10, 1846 Aug. 2,1846 Note. — Captain Bligh was suspended as Governor on the 26th January, 1808, and from that period to the 28th Decem- ber, 1809, the government was successively administered bv lieutenant-colonel G . Johnstone, lieutenant-colonel Foveaux, and colonel W. Paterson, all of the New South "Wales Corps, afterwards 102nd Regiment [Further details on the land saics given in tne Supplement.] CHAPTER XL TOPOGRAPHY, PHYSICAL ASPECT, MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, AND HARBOURS, COUNTIES GEOLOGY, SOIL, MINERALOGY, CLIMATE, AND DISEASES. New South Wales (so called l)y captain Cook, from its fancied resemblance to the South Wales of England,) occupies the eastern portion of the Austrahan continent ; its northern and western Hmits are not yet definitely assigned ; on the east it is bounded by the South Pacific Ocean, and on the south, by the province of Port PhilHp or Victoria. For the reason just mentioned, it is at present impossible to state its area. Physical Aspect, Mountains and Rivers. — The general featm^es of the surveyed dis- tricts are alternate hills and valleys, moun- tains and plains. The " momitain belt" of Australia, already referred to (p. 370), is known in diflercnt parts of the province under distinct denominations, viz., as the Blue Mountains, in the vicinity of Sydney ; Liverpool Range, in its northerly, and the Australian Alps, in its southerly extension. This lofty ridge, which runs nearly parallel to the coast, at a distance of thirty to fifty miles, separates the waters that flow towards the sea from those that have an inland course ; its mean altitude is estimated, by Count Strzelecki, at 3,500 feet above the sea. The same accurate observer states the average fall of the coast or easterly rivers at forty-eight feet in every mile ; the average slope produced by the transversal spui-s being ninety-six feet ; and the average fall of the westerly waters, at nine feet in every mile ; that of the country wdthin seventy- two miles from the crest of the dividing range being twenty feet. The intervening space between the mountains and the sea ia occupied by a gently undulating surface, intersected by water-courses ; in some places well wooded, in others covered A^ith dense scrub, and gradually rising to the westward in groups of isolated hills, or small and broken ranges, branching out from the ridge of high land, which, winding from north- east to south-west, forms a continuous and clearly defined line Adsible against the horizon as far as the eye can reach. In 30° S. lat. this chain divides the soiu'ces of the river Peel, running to the westward, from those of the Hastiags, flowing north-east, towards Port Macquarie; fai'ther to the south, one of its eastern spurs separates the river Man- ning from the river Hunter, after which, assuming a westerly direction, it divides in its windings the tributaries of the Hunter from those of the Peel. This portion of the chain, distinguished by the name of Liver- pool range, is crowned by several peaks of greenstone, whose bare and unshapen tops attain an elevation of 4,700 feet. From two of these, Mount Oxley and Mount M ^Arthur, the view is extensive and very pleasing; to the westward of them, at the point were it di\ides the river Goulbourn from the Talbrager, the chain turns sud- denly to the south-east, but resumes its south-westerly direction at a locality ren- dered remarkable by the peaks of Coricudgy and Pay an, and the sources of the Colo and Cudgegong. At CullenbuUen the chain is granitic, and throws off a remarkable ba- saltic spur to the eastward, whose numerous and intricate ramifications render the Blue Mountains so difficult to explore, and even to approach. Mounts Adine, Clarence, King George, and Tomah, crown the northern and loftier branch ; mounts Hay and King's table land, the southern. " Between these ranges," says Count Strzelecki, '' lie yawn- ing chasms, deep winding gorges and fright- ful precipices. Narrow, gloomy, and pro- found, these stupendous rents in the bosom of the earth are inclosed between gigantic walls of sandstone rock — sometimes receding from, and sometimes frightfully overhanging the dark bed of the ravine, and its black silent eddies, or its foaming torrents of water." " Everywhere," he adds, " the deep recess is full of danger, and the issue almost impracticable. At the foot of Mount Hay, the river Grose flows through a sand- stone ravine, the perpendicular depth of which is 1,500 feet." To return to the main range — at the part from whence this spur branches out, it is composed of sienite DIV. I. and granite; thence extending for a few miles to the south-west, it gives rise to Cox's river, and forms the Walerawang and Chvyd valleys ; it then takes a south-east direction, and is known by the name of the Honeysuckle range; the mean elevation of its crest is 4,050 feet ; twenty-five miles beyond, bending again to the south-west, it rises to 4,500 feet, its character alters, and the eye rests on naked sienitic peaks, instead of richly wooded greenstone sum- mits. A spur shoots off to the northward, which, in its windings, separates the river Macquarie from the Abercrombie, while the chain itself becomes lower, less precipitous, and more wooded. At Mount Fitton, about the source of the Wollondilly, and at the head of Lake George, this character again somewhat alters. At the last named locality, a westerly spur, composed alternately of ser- pentine and porphyries, divides the tribu- taries of the Murrumbidgee from those of the Lachlan, winding its way through a very broken country. Further on, beyond Lake Bathurst, another branch stretches to the north-east, but the chain continues its southerly coui'se for about sixty miles ; then changing again to south-west, it assumes a bolder aspect, its greenstone and sienitic crest at times resembUng Alpine table-land ; and others, rising in clearly defined and denti- form summits, capped here and there by snow, even in the midst of summer. The remarkable spurs which shoot out from both sides of the ridge at this point, are distin- guished by the same marked features ; that which, passing to the eastward, flanks the river Shoalhaven from its source to its mouth, renders the whole track over which it passes broken and intincate; and that, which running in an easterly du'ection, winds between the rivers Murrumbidgee, Coodra- bidgee, and the Doomut, is of very striking formation, its lofty ridges enclosing the channels of the rivers just mentioned, whose soiu'ces are marked by a cluster of broken peaks. We now arrive at that portion of the range denominated the Australian Alps, of which, however, only one remarkable eminence is included in the limits of New South Wales, that one named Mount Kosci- uszko by its explorer. Count Strzelecki, is described by him as one of those few eleva- tions, the ascent of which, far from disap- pointing, presents the traveller with all that can remmierate fatigue. Its altitude of 6,500 feet, raises it above the adjacent mountains, and the view from its summit 90 MOUNT WINGEN, OR " THE BURNING MOUNTAIN." embraces 7,000 square miles. Beneath the feet, looking from the very verge of the cone downwards almost perpendicularly, the eye plunges into a fearful gorge 3,000 feet deep, in the bed of which the sources of the Mui'- ray gather their contents, and roll their united waters to the west. No known volcanic mountain exists in New South Wales, \inless we reckon as such an eminence named Mount Wingen, situ- ated near the soui'ces of Hunter's River, where the process of combustion was, in 1818, discovered to be going on. Two visits were made to it in 1830 and 1831, by the Rev. C. P. N. Wilton (then chaplain at Newcastle), who pubhshed, in the Australian Almanac for 1832, the interesting account of which the following is an abstract : — " INIount Wingen is situated on the south- eastern side of the di^ading range which separates the lands of Hunter's River from Liverpool Plains, in 31° 54' S. lat., 150° 56' E. long. ; and the elevation of the portion of it under the process of combustion cannot be less than from 1,400 to 1,500 feet from the level of the sea. At the period of my first visit, in the beginning of last year, this comprehended parts of two dechvities of one and the same mountain, composed of com- pact sandstone rock. The progress of the fire had pre^dously been down the northern and highest elevation, and it was then ascending with great fury the opposite and southern eminence. From the circumstance of its being thus in a hollow between two ridges of the same mountain, a former visitor was probably induced to give the clefts in the mountain the appellation of a crater; but, the fact is, the rock, as the subter- raneous fire increases, is rent into several concave chasms of various widths, of which I had an opportunity of particularly examin- ing the widest. The rock, a solid mass of sandstone, was torn asunder about two feet in width, leaving its upper and southerly side exposed to view, the part so torn asunder ha\ing slipt down, as it were, and sunk into a hollow, thus forming the concave surface of the heated rock. On looking down this chasm to the depth of about fifteen feet, the sides of the rock were per- ceived to be of a wliite heat, like that of a lime-kiln, while sulphureous and steamy vapours arose from the aperture, amidst souuds which issued from a depth below, like blasts from the forge of Vulcan him- self. I stood on that portion of the rock which had been cleft from the part above. and on hurling stones down into the chasm, the noise they made in the fall seemed to die away in a vast abyss beneath my feet. The area of the mountain, over which the fire was raging, was about an acre and-a-half in extent. Tliere were throughout it several chasms varying in width, from which are constantly emitted sulphureous columns of smoke, accompanied by brilliant flame, the margins of these being beautified with efflorescent crystals of sulphur, varying in coloui* from the deepest red orange, occa- sioned by ferruginous mixtm-e, to the palest straw colour, where alum predominated. A black, tarry, and lustrous substance — a sort of bitumen — abounded on the edges of several of the clefts. Specimens of this were with difficulty obtained, from the in- tense heat under foot, and the suffocating quality of the vapours emitted from the chasms. No lava or trachyte of any des- cription was to be met with, nor was there any appearance of coal, although abounding in the vicinity. The mountain has evidently been on fire for a great length of time, several acres above the part now under com- bustion, on which trees are standing of a great age, having, as it were, been steamed, and many of the stones upon it bearing the appearance of vitrification. The fire is still raging, and will probably continue to do so with increasing fury. Materials from be- neath from time to time become ignited, whether by electricity, or other unknown cause, and the expansive power of the heat and steam, shiver and split into huge masses the solid rock of sandstone, and thus form continued chasms. The sulphureous and aluminous products of the mountain have been successfully applied in the cure of the scab in sheep." About four miles along the shore from Newcastle, towards Red-head, the chff Avas also observed, in 1828, to be on fire, evolving sulphureous vapours ; and a beautifully crys- tallized mineral, whicli appeared, on ex- amination, to be muriate of am.monia inter- mingled with sulphur, was collected from the margin of the crevices. This fire, how- ever, in 1830, became extinct ; — unlike that on Mount Wingen, of his second visit to which INlr. Wilton thus speaks : — " The fire, since the period of my former Ansit, had, I found, been by no means in- active, having extended over a surface exceeding two acres, and was now raging with increased fury up the eminence to the S. and S.S.W., and also on the hitherto PETRIFACTIONS IN THE CLIFFS NEAR NEWCASTLE. 91 extinct portion of the mountain — the nor- thern elevation. There were still most splen- did crystals of sulphur on the margins of the more extended cre\'iccs, Avhere the fire was burning with a white heat, and of am- monia on those of the less, from both of which suffocating fumes were incessantly evohing. The fire continued roaring be- neath, and stones thrown down into the chasms resounded to a great depth in an interior abyss. The scene of disruption, the rocks of solid sandstone cleft asunder, the innumerable fractui'es made on the sur- face, the faUing in of the strata, the half- consumed prostrate trunks of trees, and others only awaiting the slip of the rock beneath them to faU in their turn, the per- nicious vapours arising around, amidst the roaring of the internal fires, and the white and red heat of the burning cre\ices, pre- sent an appearance on which the beholder cannot fail to gaze with Avonder, and, at the same time, to lament his inability to account with any degree of certainty for the fii'st natural cause of the spectacle before him. " At a little distance from the burning portions of Wingen, I picked up several amorphous specimens of cornelian, white, pinkish and blue ; angular fragments of ribbon and fortification agates, and balls of agate, some of them filled Avith crystals, varying fi'om the size of a pea to that of a hen's egg, and others of a blueish-white and clouded colour, having spots of white dis- persed throughout them, which, if cut and polished, would present a very beautiful variety of this mineral. Mount Agate, also in the neighbourhood of Wingen, presented me with some fine specimens as well of agate (fortification and ribbon occui'ring in the same specimen,) as fragments of white and blueish cornelian ; and had not the grass upon the mountain been so long and thick as it proved to be, I should, doubtless, have collected much finer. " Several of the agates collected from Mount Wingen, upon examination, were found to have their surfaces crusted over with iron ; some of those from Mount Agate with native copper ; while others, from the same locality, presented a most beautiful auriferous appearance. On Mount Wingen we found, within but a few yards of that portion of it which is now under combustion, the cast of a bivalvular fossil shell in sand- stone, a species of terebratula ; other similar specimens have been met with on another part of the mountain. Only two specimens of organic remains, of the nature of petrified bone, have hitherto been discovered in the neighbom-hood of Mount Agate ; viz. the sacrum of some large animal, on the Holds- worthy downs, and the second cervical ver- tebra of another, about ten miles west from jNIerton ; but, in neither instance was the petrifaction imbedded in the subjacent strata, but merely lying on the surface of the soil; and, therefore, most probably, contemporary with the petrified wood, which is found scattered very abundantly over this tract of country. Near the chain of the Kingdon Ponds, forming one of the sources of the Hunter, and rising in the di\'iding range a few miles N. by W. from Mount Wingen, are stumps of trees standing upright in the ground, apparently petrified on the spot where they formerly grew. In some places the wood is strongly impregnated Avith iron. About three miles along the coast south of New- castle, in an upright position, at high-water mark, under the chff, and beneath a bed of coal, was also lately found the butt of a petrified tree, which, on being broken, pre- sented a fine b'ack appearance, as passing into the state of jet ; and on the top of the cliff at Newcastle on which the telegraph stands, imbedded at about a foot beneath the surface, lying in a horizontal position, and nearly at right angles to the strata of the cliff, the trunk of another, finely grained and white — both specimens being traversed by thin veins of chalcedony. The coal which is exposed to view on the face of the cliffs, is of the independent formation, and appears to run generally in three parallel horizontal beds; but in some places with a vai'ying dip. It alternates, in one part of the cliff, with slaty clay, sandstone, and shale, with impressions of leaves ; at another, A\dth mUl-stone grit and a hard chertzy rock Nodules of clay ironstone, and trunks and stems of arundinaceous plants in ironstone, are seen in abundance on the alternating strata of the cliff; and in one place a nar- row bed of ironstone, bearing impressions of leaves, is remarkable ; while thin laminai of the same mineral, the sui'face of which is traversed by square and variously-shaped sections, are seen on several parts of the shore, both in the face of the cliff parallel with the beds of coal, and extending into the sea, forming the strand at low water." The following table (derived from Count Strzelecki's valuable work), shows the alti- tudes, in English feet, above the level of the sea, of the most remarkable moimtains, 92 HEIGHTS OF MOUNTAINS, &c., NEW SOUTH WALES & P. PHILLIP. lakes, watercourses, plains, and stations in New South Wales and Port Phillip or Victoria, as determined by the barometer; those included in Port Phillip being given here with the idea of affording a more just view of the relative elevation of the most remarkable positions in each pro- \'ince : — Name of Heights Peel Plains, New England Mount Mitchell Mount Lindesay r Mount Sturt .... . . . . ... Eiver Condamiue, 28° 10' S. lat , 151° 40' E. long. . Eocky Creek Brushy Valley, 28° 20' S. lat., 151° 20' E. long. . . Apple Tree Flat DumaresqKiver, 28° 65' S. lat., 150° 40' E. long. . Glen River, 29° S lat., 151° 35' E. long .... Gwj'dir River, 29° 35' S. lat., 150" 25' E. long. . . Mount Hundawar, or Harkwick, 30" 15' S. lat., 150°") 25' E. long ; Barrow Vallev, 30" 40' S. lat., 150° 20' E. long. . . Wallambora Ford, 30° 40' S. lat., 150° 25' E, long. . Mount Bathurst, 31° 5' S. lat., 151° 50' E. long. Glen Apsley River, 31° 5' S. lat., 152° E. long. . . Bathurst Cataract, New England . Beckett's Cataract „ Mount Sea View „ " Macquarie Cataract, 31° 55' S. lat , 148° 10' E. long. Summit of Lapstone Hill, Cook County .... Springwood, depot, Cook County Station on the Mount Road, Blue Mountains . . . Caley's Repulse, Cook County, Blue Mountains . . Twenty-four Miles Hollow, Cook Co., Blue Mountains King's Table Land, Cook County, Blue Mountains . Stone Quarry, one mile beyond King's Table . . . Weather Board Hut Mount Hay .... Mount Tomah Foot of Mount Victoria, Flagan's House .... Mount George . .... Bridge over Butler's Rivulet, Vale of Clywd . . , Mount Vork, Vale of Clywd, Blue Mountains . . Foot of Mount York, Collet's Farm Mount Adine Ford at Cox's River, Vale of Clywd Fish River, on the road to Bathurst ... Military Station, Blue Mountains Badger Brush Ridge .... Police Station, Dividing Rang-e Bathurst .... Cox's River, before reaching Blaxland's .... Mount Blaxland [the highest summit] ... Jock's Bridge Hill beyond Jock's Bridge Bathurst Town Summer Hill, Frederick Valley Boree Plains Mount Canoblas, "Wellington County .... Macquarie River, at Wellington Captain Ryan's, Boree Station Molongorang (Mr. Passmore's) Heiegal (Mr. Maxwell's Station) . . .... Feet. 1,800 4,120 5,700 3,735 1,402 1,717 1,504 1,091 840 1,049 895 2,545 808 1,016 4,000 1,000 235 150 6,000 680 747 1,147 1,707 1,868 2,738 2,790 2,882 2,844 2,425 3,240 2,607 3,620 2,188 3,440 2,18C 3,736 2,052 3,220 3,010 3,290 2,910 2,266 3,256 2,921 3,496 2,310 3,010 1,560 4.610 1,439 1,992 2,062 1,616 Name of Heights. Guantewang, north-east of Wellington Vale Camden, estate of James M' Arthur, Esq. Mount Prudhoe, summit above the road Stone Quarry Creek, below the bridge ... Crisp's Inn, Myrtle Creek, Camden County . Bed of Myrtle Creek Bargo River, Ford Lapton's Inn Little Forest Hill Cutter's Inn, Camden County . . . . Mittagong Range [summit] Cordeaux Farm Cockatoo Hill .... Berrima Inn Bed of Wingecarrabee River . . Bed of Black Bob's Creek, under the bridge . . . The Kentish Arms Inn, three miles beyond Mid-"1 way Rivtdet / Bed of Midway Rivulet, Camden County .... Summit of Stony Hill Wombat Brush, terrace above Paddy's River . . . Ford of Paddy's River, Camden County .... Arthursleigh, estate of H. M' Arthur, Esq., Argyle Cc. Norwood, Argyle County Rosseville House .... Breadalbane Plains ... Summit of Hill, south of Wallagoray . . . Tarrago Ponds, Argyle County Gidleigh, estate of Captain P. P.King Sugar Loaf, or Squall Hill, near Gidleigh .... Big Creek, near the Gap through the Black Range Head of Big Creek and Stony Creek Summit of Prospect Hill Last Hill WollondiUy River, below Rosseville „ at the Junction of Paddy's River „ at the Ford of Arthursleigh . . „ at Detley Crossing Place . . . Yass River Rivulet Nackie Nackie Hill Mount Kosciuszko, Australian Alps ... . . Mount Dargal „ Mount Pinnabar „ ...... Cowrang Creek „ . . ... Dividing Range in the Omeo County Source of the Mitta-Mitta River Lake Omeo .... Second branch of Mitta-Mitta River .... The average height of the flats in Gipps' Land . • Range between Gipps' Land and Port Western . . Mount Wilson, Wilson's Promontory Dutzon, a sheep station of P.King, Esq., lat. 35° 27',) long. 147° 53' J Ellerslie, sheep station Feet. 1,410 248 1,0C6 482 783 643 771 1,206 1,923 1,967 2,454 2,222 2,356 2,096 2,058 2,051 2,028 2,003 2,400 2,128 1.856 1,977 2,116 2,057 2,278 2,606 2,264 2,358 3,288 2,979 3,136 3,275 3,176 1,971 1,840 1,830 1,752 1,311 2,242 6,500 5,490 4,100 1,.350 3,800 1,850 3,100 1,900 210 2,510 2,350 1,844 1,266 KivERs, Creeks, and Harbours. — The rivers of Australia, not even excepting the Murray, bear a very much smaller proportion to the size of that continent, and occupy a far less prominent geographical position than do those of any other country of similar extent, and they afford very limited commu- nication between the coast and the interior. Of them, therefore, and for somewhat similar reasons of the creeks, lakes, and lagoons of New South Wales, a brief notice may suffice, especially as many of them have been already alluded to in the section on inland explora- tion; but this notice it may be well to preface with the warning given by captain Sturt to those of his readers not conversant with the peculiarities of Australian watercourses. "A creek," he says, " is not always an arm of the sea. The same term is used to designate a watercourse, whether large or small, in which the winter torrents may or may not have left a chain of ponds. Such a water- course could hardly be called a river, since it only flows during heavy rains, after which it entirely depends on the character of the soil through which it runs, whether any water remains in it or not." " A lagoon is a shallow lake, it generaUy constitutes the BJYERS— THE HAWKESBURY AND THE HUNTER. 93 back water of some rher, and is speedily dried up." The number of constantly flowing streams in New South Wales is A'ery limited, but an all-wise Providence has in a most remarkable manner provided a remedy for this deficiency by the peculiar construction of the channels of the greater part of the rivers, which form a succession of deep reservoirs, being in fact a connected series of ponds or water-holes. This wonderful provision for the exigencies of animal existence is rendered the more striking by the character of the Australian aborigines, whose want of constructive ability manifested in so many respects, clearly indi- cates their incapacity of discovering a means by which the superabundance of one season might be made to supply the insufficiency of another. The first stream of importance explored by the early settlers at Sydney Cove, and which, until the discovery of the Mvirray, was the broadest fresh water stream knoAvn in Aus- tralia, was named by governor Phillip the Hawkesbury. Its course, when traced inland from Broken Bay, whei'e it disembogues, becomes extremely tortuous, the distance of Windsor (a town built upon it,) being not more than thii'ty-five miles from the sea in a airect line, but by the windings of the river, 140 miles; the rise of tide is about four feet, and the water fresh forty miles below Windsor, at which place it is of con- siderable size, and navigable for vessels of 100 tons for four miles above the town. A little higher up it is joined by a mountain stream called the Grose, which issues from a remarkable cleft in the Blue jNIountains, in the vicinity of the pretty town of Rich- jaond, about forty miles from Sydney. The Hawkesbury, while flowing along the base of these mountains, is fed by numerous tribu- tary torrents descending from narrow gorges, which after heavy rains cause it frequently to overflow its banks as it approaches the sea ; in one instance it rose, near the town of Windsor, ninety-three feet above its ordi- nary level.* Broken Bay extends inland to a considerable distance, and is divided into nianv creeks and inlets, forming excellent havens, two of which, according to Phillip, are capable of containing the whole British navy. The Hawkesbury, previous to its receiving the Grose, is called the Nepean, or rather it is a continuation of that river, which, rising in Camden country, forms the boundary for a while between that county • AVentworth's Statistical Account of N. S. Wales. and Cumberland, and subsequently between the counties of Cumberland and Cook. The scenery along the Nepean is magnificent; immediately beside it the Blue IMountains rise in frowning majesty, to a perpendicular height of nearly 3,000 feet, while along the fertile borders of the stream are fields of wheat, barley, maize, bran, peas, clover, &c., to the extent of several thousand acres. The point at which I first saw the Nepean river, was at the estate of ]\Ir. S.Teriy, the wealthy emancipist preriously mentioned. As far as the eye could reach, nothing could be seen but the yellow waring corn, save when the view was bounded by the gigantic buttresses of the mountain barrier. I never beheld a finer farm in Europe than Mr. Terry's; and while enjoying the cheerful scene, I could not but feel proud of belong- ing to a nation, who through her outcast and erring children had extracted from the stubborn soil of a distant land such admirable results. The jNIacdonald and the Colo are the chief tributaries of the Hawkesbury, and the Warragamba of the Nepean. The War- ragamba (a continuation of the Wollondilly) receives the Cox twenty miles to the south- Avard of Emu Plains. The Cox pursues its coui'se through a wild region, and in parts could be traced only by scrambling on foot, or by following out the several extremities of the mountain ranges which overhang its rocky channel. Hunter River disembogues in the sea at the harbour of Newcastle, Port Hunter, a safe haven, sufficiently capacious for vessels of 300 tons burthen; fifty-nine miles N. 22° E., from the entrance of Port Jackson. The Hunter, formerly called the Coal River, is formed by several streams flowing from the Blue jNIountains, and is narigable for fifty miles from Newcastle, by small craft of thirty to forty tons bui*then. Beyond this distance there are several shallows, which only admit the passage of boats over them. There are three branches to the Hunter, called the Upper, the Lower, and the ^liddle ; the two former are navigable for boats for about 120 miles, and the latter for upwards of 200 miles, but the branches are all liable to sudden and terrific inundations, OAring to the rapid descent of torrents fi'om the Blue Mountains. In consequence of the fertility of the soil along the Hunter, and the extent of water communication which exists, this district is one of the finest in the colony. A large number of respectable farms skirt the banks of the ri\er and the country 94. PORT STEPHENS— MANNING, HASTINGS, AND MACLEAY RIVERS. wears an aspect resembling the rich pastoral sceneiy of Devonshire. The valley of the Wollombi extends in a northerly direction towai'ds Hunter's River, for about thirty miles. It is bounded on either side by mountain ranges, covered with timber to theii' summits. Numerous valleys, or, as the settlers call them, arms, branch off on either side ; some stretching twenty or thirty miles among the mountains, all abounding in excellent pasture, and affording suste- nance to numerous flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle that depasture amidst this %vild and beautiful sceneiy. Port Stephens, situated about 100 miles fi'om Jackson, is a fine harbour ; the narrow entrance between rocky headlands, opens into an expanse about two miles in length ; then narrowing, forms a channel, which admits vessels of considerable burthen, to a second bay perfectly land-locked. The little river Karuah, which falls into it, affords a means of communication some distance into the interior ; it is said to be ua%dgable as far a^i Booral, which is twenty miles from Port Stephens. The Myall, a still smaller stream, which has its embouche in Port Stephens, opens into some extensive lakes, situate along the coast, separated only by a narrow strip of land from the ocean. Manning River forms the northern boun- dary of Gloucester county; it disembogues into the ocean by two mouths, called Far- q\ihar and Hamngton inlets, w^hich are divided by a singularly-shaped island, named Mitchell Island : neither of them aflFord more than a harbour for boats, for which, indeed, the narigation of the Manning is alone adapted. It flows from the eastern side of Liverpool range : its banks have good soil and fine scenery. Hastings River, after a course of about 100 miles, joins the sea at Port Macquarie, about 220 miles to the north-east of Port Jackson, in 31" 25' 45" S. lat., 152° 53' 54" E. long. Port Macquarie is a bar harbour, Avith at least nine feet low water spring tides. The bar (composed of soft sand) extends for 200 yards; beyond this, the M^ater immediately deepens to two and three fathoms ; within the port, the soundings are five and six fathoms, which depth continues for nearly ten miles, when shoals confiae the narigation to crafts drawing six or eight feet. That depth continues for eight miles, where the rapids commence. The source of the Hastings has been already mentioned (p. 433), on the authority of count Strzelccki; ac- cording to Mr. Hodgkinson, it rises (in ^\° 50' S. lat., 151° 50' E. long.), "at Mount Warragembi, one of the summits on the range which divides the basin of the Man- ning River from that of the M'Leay. This range branches out at Mount Warragembi, so as to form the basin of the Hastings River, which consequently does not lise in the great main chain of mountains dividing the eastern and western waters, as some authors have averred.^' Mr. Hodgkinsoai, in the interesting work from which the above observation is taken — Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay — notices an error with regard to the Hastings river, made by me in a pre\'ious Avork, for which I cannot, at this lapse of time, at all account. He makes due and kindly allowance for errors " almost unavoidable in writing a work of such magnitude as Mr. Montgomery Martin's History of all the British Colonies;" but he is, perhaps, scarcely aware of the difficulty which existed at the period at which it was written (1834-5), of obtaining accu- rate and sufficient data concerning many of our vast possessions, and especially Australia. The country bordering on the Hastings undulates pleasingly in hills and dales lightly clothed with good timber ; to the north-east the river opens into reaches of great width and beauty. The Maria river, which empties itself into the Hastings at John's Plains, is navigable, according to Dr. Lang, for " forty miles ft'om its mouth ; " but he must mean only for small craft. The Wilson river, another tributary of the Hastings, is navi- gable for about twenty miles; the alluvial soil on its banks is of excellent quahty, as CAdnced in the produce of a series of farms extending for twelve or fifteen miles in a continuous chain. A few miles to the south- east of Port Macquarie are some extensive lakes, which communicate with the ocean. The MacLeay River falls into the sea at Trial Bay, in 34° 40' S. lat. Trial Bay is a good roadstead, being completely protected from all winds but those between north and east, from which quarters the winds are seldom strong. The entrance to the river is obstructed by a bar having about eleven feet of water on it ; it is described by cap- tain King as being navigable for vessels of 300 tons to fifty-seven miles above its mouth; but Mr. Hodgkinson, when recently sur- veying it, found it only navigable for thirty- foui- miles, and so far only for vessels not ex- ceeding sixty or seventy tons burden. The Apsley joins the MacLeay from the south- NAMBUCCA, COOHALLI, BELLENGEN, AND CLARENCE RIVERS. 95 west; above this junction the scenery is described* as assuming a grand alpine cha- racter, both rivers hurrying along rapidly descending beds, through narrow glens of frowning precipices, 3,000 feet in height, whilst the surrounding mountains frequently attain an elevation of 6,000 feet above the level of the sea. Tremendous cataracts are of continual occurrence; at one of them the whole river has a perpendicular fall of 250 feet, and after raging in a furious torrent, half foam and vapour, along a steep inchned plane, it again dashes down another pei-pendicular fall of 100 feet; the total descent of its waters in this short dis- tance being probably little under 500 feet. After tracing the ^lacLeay upwards, through this rugged country, its bed rising rapidly to a very considerable elevation above the sea, we at length emerge on a gently rising table land. From this point to its sources, the MacLeay river changes its character, and assumes similar features to the New England streams, flowing west to join the Peel river, smaller trees sparingly scattered over pastui'age of quite different aspect to that bordering the lower MacLeay, being here observable. The Nambucca River, whose mouth is about eleven miles to the north of the MacLeay, has its entrance obstnicted by a rocky im- passable bar; it is formed by several moun- tain streams rising in bushy gullies, and its banks consist of mangroves, tea-tree swamps, dense forest and cedar brushes. " The nettle- tree/' (says Mr. Hodgkinson,) " attains a very large size at the MacLeay and Nam- bucca rivers, being often six feet in diameter, and of a corresponding height; its wood is very soft and spongy, and its leaves, which are of great size, resemble in shape those of the mulberry, and, at the same time, possess the bright green velvet appearance of the geranium leaf. The slightest touch of one of these leaves occasions a most acute sting- ing pain; but horses suffer infinitely worse than men, from contact with the leaves of the nettle-tree, as their skin rises in large blisters, and great temporary constitutional derangement seems to take place." The Coohalli, a small stream which filters through a sandbaiik to the sea, about six miles north of the embouchure of the Nam- bucca, is deserving of mention, from its being noted by Mr. Hodgkinson as the furthest point south, and, consequently, the * Hodgkinson's Australia from Porl Macquaric to Morrton Bay. nearest point to Sydney, at which he found the magnificent variety of pine generally known as the " Moreton Bay pine." " These trees," he says, " occur here all of a sudden, in considerable numbers, and of great size and altitude, although I have not detected one single individual pine in any of the bi-ushes of the Nambucca, MacLeay, Hast- ings, or Manning rivers, or, indeed, any- where south of this point." BelJengen River was discovered by a party of savryers, in 1841. It is a fresh-water stream, about the size of the Hastings ; but, notwithstanding the luxuriant vegetation on its banks, is rendered unavailable for grazing purposes by the precipitous heights which hem in and contract its bed. The sawyers, however, must have considered their dis- covery a veiy fortunate one, for Mr. Hodg- kinson, who explored it in 1842, speaks very highly of the quality of the timber growing on its banks, and those of its tributary, the Odalberree, the trunks of the cedar and rosewood trees being often six feet in dia- meter and ninety feet high, before they throw out a single branch. Clarence River disembogues in Shoal Bay, in 29° 30', where its entrance is obstnicted by a bar ha\ing about eleven feet of water on it. The Clarence is remarkable for its great breadth and large volume of water (compared with other rivers of Australia), and considering the shortness of its course. Its reaches are said to be longer and wider than those of any stream on the coast of Australia, and navigable for large steamers to a considerable distance up the river; the Clarence being narigable, for some craft, for nearly ninety miles. A few miles above its mouth is an island, containing an area of above 1,500 acres, and many smaller ones occur higher up the river. The country on its banks available for grazing purposes being of considerable extent and excellent quality, a great number of squatters have formed stations upon it. The Clarence rises in the diriding range, and receives several large tributaries, one of which, the Ora-Ora, rises in the lofty mountains which divide the basin of the Clarence from the Bel- lengen. Richmond River (still tracing the coast in a northerly direction,) falls into the sea near Lennox Head, in 28° 55' S. lat. The bar at its mouth has from eiglit to ten feet of water upon it, above which the river is narigable for small craft for about thii*ty miles. Its sources are not yet ascertained. 96 TWEED AND BRISBANE RIVERS, MORETON AND WIDE BAYS. but its main stream appears to rise in tlie dividing range, near Wilson's Peak and Coke's Head. There is much good available land on its banks, and some fine cedar. Tweed River, or, rather, creek, for it is but a large salt-water inlet, yet its exten- sive reaches are navigable for large boats to a distance of upwards of forty miles from its bar, which has been crossed by a schooner of sixty tons burden. Brisbane River. — Proceeding along the coast, we arrive at Moreton Bay, which is sheltered by two narrow islands of from fifteen to twenty miles in length, called JMoreton, and Stradbroke Island. The bay is said to be sixty miles in extent ; it receives several streams, the most important of which are the Logan, the Brisbane, and the Pumice- stone river. The Brisbane disembogues in 27° r S. lat., 153° 26' E. long. The bar at its mouth has eighteen feet of water on it. This river was discovered, in 1823, by cap- tain Oxley, who, in his official despatch, makes the following remarks concerning it:— ""WTien examining Moreton Bay, Ave had the satisfaction to find the tide sweeping up a con- siderable inlet, between the first mangrove island and the main land. The muddiness and taste of the water, together with the abundance of fresh-water molluscse, assured us we were entering a large river ; and a few hours ended our anxiety on this point by the water becoming perfectly fresh, while no diminu- tion had taken place in the size of the river after passing what I called Sea Reach. At sunset we had proceeded about twenty miles up the river. The scenery was peculiarly beautiful ; the country along the banks alternately hilly and level, but not flooded ; the soil of the finest description of brushwood land, on which grew timber of great magnitude, and of various species, some of which were quite unknown to us. Among others, a magnificent species of pine was in great abundance. The timber on the hills was also good ; and to the south-cast, a little distance from the river, were several large brushes or forests of the ciipressus Australis, of very large size. Up to this point the river was navigable for vessels not drawing more than sixteen feet water. The tide rose about five feet, being the same as at the entrance. We proceeded about thirty miles further, no diminu- tion having taken place either in the breadth or depth of the river, excepting in one place for the extent of thirty yards, where a ridge of detached rocks extended across the river, not having more than twelve feet upon them at high water. From this point to Termination Hill the river continued of nearly uniform size. The tide ascends dally fifty miles from the mouth of the Brisbane, flowing also up the Bremer, the depth of whose channel it aug- ments by eight or more feet. The country on either side is of very superior description, and equally well adapted for cultivation or grazing, the timber being abundant, and fit for all the purposes of domestic use or exportation. The pine trees, should they prove of good quality, are of a scantling suflRcient for the largest ships : some measured upwards of thirty inches in diameter, and from fifty to eighty feet without a branch." Subsequent examination has verified, to the fullest degree, this favourable account ', and the capabilities of the valuable and beau- tiful tract of country, traversed by the Bris- bane and its tributaries, even sui'pass his expectations in their capacity of supporting a numerous population, and of producing, in abundance, the tropical products of sugar, cotton, coffee, silk, tobacco, &c. In a sub- sequent part of his despatch, captain Oxley thus expresses himself concerning the source of the new-found stream : — " A consideration of all the circumstances connected with the appearance of the river, justifies me in entertaining a strong belief that the sources of this river will not be found in a moun- tainous countiy. INIost probably it issues fi'om some large collection of interior waters, the reservoir of those streams crossed by me during an expedition of discoveiy in 1818/^ (see p. 383), "and which had a northerly course. ^Tiatever may be its origin, it is by far the largest ft-esh-water river on the east coast of New South Wales." Captain Oxley' s surmise concerning the sources of the Brisbane, and the length of its course, have been disproved by more recent surveys, the Brisbane having been ascertained to take its rise in the dividing range, opposite to and in a straight line only sixty miles from Moreton Bay. The width of its basin, its tortuous course, and numerous tributaries, however, soon render it an important stream. It is joined on the south side by the Bremer river rising near Mount Frazer, on whose banks coal and limestone are foiind in large quantities. Wide Bay is a good port, having in its entrance a channel of not less than three fathoms deep : it communicates with Hervey Bay, thus completing the insulation of Great Sandy, or Erazer's Island, whose north- eastern extremity was named by captain Cook, Sandy Cape. Mr. R. S. Russell, who visited the bay in 1842, thus describes it : — " Frazer's Island, which forms Wide Bay, or, more properly speaking, 'Sound,' for it is twenty-five miles long, runs nearly parallel to the main, trending more easterly towards the northern extremity, thereby leaving a wide open entrance. At the southern ex- tremity the island is not more than three- quarters of a mile from the main. A spit ot sand comes out both from the island and from the main : but by not attempting to HERYEY AND BUSTARD BAYS, BOYNE RIVER AND PORT CURTIS. 97 run in lantil the round mountain, called Boppol, is well open between the two shores, the channel is clear and good ^Y\t\\ at least six fathoms water." Mr. Russell, in his account of this excursion, subsequently states that he found in the southerly part of the bay, to which his exploration was confined, innumerable shoals and islets; one large navigable river, called by the natives Mono- bocola, without a bar, but having at its mouth sand-bauks dry at low water, which leave only a narrow channel between them. The tide flows about thirty miles up, and the river is naAdgable for that distance for vessels di'awing eight feet; after losing the tide it soon becomes small, but can be ascended by boats for about twenty miles further. The banks are low, but generally well timbered with large trees, and ducks and black swans abound . To the country near the head of the boat navigation of this stream the natives resort in large numbers, to feed on the fruit of the Banya-Buuya tree, a species of pine, groAving, according to iSIr. Russell, as straight as an arrow to the height of from 100 to 300 feet. It bears a large cone full of nuts, which are excellent Avhen roasted, but taste, when raw, like the horse-chestnut."'^"" Hervey Bay is fift}' miles wide, at its mouth, and extends inland, in a southerly direction, for al)out the same distance. Bustard Bay, in 24° 4' S. lat. and 208° 18' E. long., was so named by captain Cook, in honour of a bird of the bustard species, about the size of a turkey, caught here, which he speaks of as the best bird he had eaten since he left England. Boyne River, or rather, the upper portion of that stream, was discovered by Mr. R. S. Russell, in his second exploring expedition of 184'2, but only partially explored. The * Amonf]; a native tribe on this river, Mr. Russell found a wliite man, a convict named Davis, mIio had absconded from the penal settlement fourteen jears before, and had never since been heard of. He had been transported when only eleven years of age, and had run away two years after ; he appeared at first to have almost entirely forgotten his own language, but Boon recovering his knowledge of it, he was persuaded to return to Moreton Bay. The natives shewed great sorrow at parting from him, and followed him a long way down the banks of the river with loud lamenta- tions. The statement made by Davis concerning the aborigines was to the following effect:— That they supposed all their own men who had died or l)een killed in battle to become white men, because, l)efore eating them (for they are cannibals) they draw the skin off. and wash the flesh before cutting it up. ■\Vhcn flayed in tliis way the flesh of a black man_ is perfectly white. They believe he becomes a white ghost in another country bevond the sea. Accord- DIV. I. bed of the river, near its som'cc, lies in a valley of the dividing range, apparently elevated about 1,500 feet above the level of the sea, receiving small tributaries from the higher country, both east and west. The bed here was sandy, with much of the tea- tree growing in and about it ; higli reeds grew also along the edges of the reaches Avhich, thirty or forty miles farther (tracing the river from its source), increase greatly in length, while many streams, both from the east and west, empty themselves into the main channel, the land becoming more moimtainous, and the valleys more fertile; a considerable tributary, called the Stuart, flows in from the eastward. The IJoyne, though after the confluence of the Stuart it contains a volume of water very unusual in Australian streams, cannot, it is feared, be used for internal communication, as it flows, in many parts, rapidly over rocky beds. The river was traced by its discoverers for about 300 miles, or to about 24° 15' S. lat. ; when they tm'ned back, it was flow- ing considerably to the eastward of north, and they were, apparently, not far from the sea. Port Curtis, into which a river called the Boyne, and considered by ISIr. Russell iden- tical with that above described, disembogues, is in 23° 51' 45" S. lat., and 151° 24' E. long, (ten degrees east of Sydney) ; it is reported to be an excellent harbour, which, through the passage of entrance recently discovered by captain Stanley, is of very easy access for shipping of any burthen. The coast line from this point has been described in a previous section; we there- fore return to Broken Bay, premising, how- ever, that the rivers of New South Wales, south of Sydney, are generally inferior to ingly, when they first heard of whites, they supposed theni to be the ghosts of their own dead come back ; and if any one traced a fancied resemblance in a white man to a deceased relation or friend, he took him under his protection, in the full persuasion that it was his son, brother, or whoever it might be, returned to him. In such a case a white man has nothing to fear from the tribe to which his patron belongs They will kill a fat Avhite man sometimes, to eat, if he is not owned by any of the tribe as some ghost of a returned relation, but they will not skin liim as they suppose him to have been already skinned when eaten as a black. In cutting a man up they open his back, and having extracted the bones from the legs and arms, thase are eaten by the men as being the tit bits. They then cut the head open and pick it ; the viscera and heart are given to their gins (wives), whom they use v.orse than dog;?. — See Journal o/ Royal Geo(/raphicul Society, vol. xv. [A description of the aborigines is given in the Supplement.] M 98 PARAMATTA, GEORGE, AND SHOALHAVEN RIVERS— J ER VIS BAY. those on the north, in both length of course and vohime of water ; and, therefore, few of them need any especial notice, their names and situations* being sufficiently delineated on the map. Paramatta River is httle more than an extension of Port Jackson, but very useful as affording the means of water commmii- cation between Sydney and Paramatta, being navigable for that distance (eighteen miles) by second-class steam-boats and small craft. Port Jackson has been already mentioned, and also Botany Bay; the north point of entrance to the latter is formed by Cape Banks, and the south by Cape Solander, in 34^ 0' 45'' S. lat., ISP' 15' 50" E. long. A plate fixed in the rock of this latter cape, records the first visit of captain Cook. George River disembogues in Botany Bay, after collecting chiefly all the waters to the eastward, between the Ilawkesbury and the sea. Small vessels ascend the river as far as Liverpool, which, following the mndings of the stream, is about twenty-foui' miles from Botany Bay, though, in a direct line, only half that distance; the water near Liver- pool is stated by Mr. Wentworth to be occa- sionally brackish, during the long summer di'oughts. Port Hacking, as far as I am aAvare, has not been specially surveyed ; we gather from Flinders' brief account, that it has three- and-a-half fathoms in the entrance ; that it divides into three branches, and carries from three to five fathoms water in the middle one, at the distance of two miles from the sea. Red Point, further to the southward, in 34° 29' S. lat., is a remarkable headland situated on the north-east side of the penin- sula which incloses Lake Illawarra on the north. It acquired its name from the dull red colour of its cliffs ; on it are four hillocks, which present the form of a double side- saddle; it may also be recognised by a strangely shaped hill, about eight miles from it, named Hat hill, by captain Cook. There are two rocky islands off the point, and at a short distance to the northward, another group, called Martin's Isles. Illawarra lake is a large salt-water lake communicating with the sea. Point Bass is the next marked feature on the coast, to the south of which Shoalhaven River falls into the sea, between the counties of Camden and St. Vincent. This stream is navigable for about twenty miles, for vessels of seventy or eighty tons burthen.* Its • "VVentw'orth's New South Wales. channel is a ravine, about 1,500 feet below the ordinary level of the country between it and the WoUondilly. A singular grandeur is imparted to the scenery of the Shoal- haven, by precipices, consisting, at one part, of limestone of a dark grey colour, and con- taining very imperfect fragments of shells — and at another, of granite. Among the peculiar features of these lofty river banks are many remarkable hollows, called " hoppers," by the country people, from the water sinking into them, as grain subsides in the hopper of a mill. The country on the upper part of the Shoal- haven river comprises much good laud ; the river flows there nearly on a level with the surface, and resembles an English stream ; the temperature, at the elevation of about 2,000 feet above the sea, being also so low, in summer, that potatoes and gooseberries, for both of which the climate of Sydney is too hot, grow there luxuriantly. f About two miles from the mouth of this river is a small port, called by the same name (Shoalhaven), which it well merits, the entrance being choked with sandj and the interior with banks of mud, leaving, however, a sufficient channel for boats. Jervis Bay extends about three leagues from north to south, and nearly two in breadth. Its east side is sheltered by a peninsula, the bight behind which (named Crookhaven) is separated from the bay by an isthmus of not more than 400 yards wide. The north point of the entrance to Hervey Bay, called Point Perpendicular, is (accord- ing to lieutenant Jeffreys) in 35° 6' 28" S. lat. ; the south point is formed by a small low island l}dng contiguous to Cape George, between which there is a passage, though a very bad one. The entrance is aljout a mile-and-a-half, or two miles wide, with a depth of fifteen to twenty fathoms, and, within, the soundings are regular, from four- teen to ten fathoms, decreasing to eight and seven fathoms near the shore on either side. There is sufficient room for ships of any size to work in or out ; but there are dan- gers difficult to guard against. A sunken rock lies about one and one-third mile within the north point of the entrance, and a mile distant from the shore ; and (judging from the plan of Mr. Wcatherall, published by the Hydrographical Office, Admiralty,) reefs seem to extend from almost all the points in the bay. The best and most cou- t Mitcht'U's Hxpedilioiis into Australia, CLYDE RIVER,, BARMOUTH HARBOUR, AND CAPE HOWE. 99 venient anchorage is from six to ten fathoms, under Bowen's Island. Cape George, in 35° 10' S. lat., lies to the southward of Jervis Bay; the next inlet is Sussex Haven, by which a lake with broken shores, called St. George's Basin, commu- nicates \\\i\\ the sea. Still proceeding south, the next land-marks are the Pigeon-house, a peaked hill so called by captain Cook, from its resembling a square dove-house -with a dome at the top, in 35° 20' 30" S. lat., and the perpendicular cliffs of Point Upright, in 30° 35' S. lat. Clyde River, which is described as a fine, clear, and capacious river, with nine feet water on the bar, and deepening within to six fathoms, empties itself into Bateman's Bay. Lieutenant Johnson carried a depth of seven to four fathoms upwards of twenty miles within the bay. The bay is about six miles wide, and contains several little islands, behind which small vessels fi'equenth^ take anchor. Moriiya River falls into the sea at Muruya or BrouU Bay, to the south-east of which is Cape Dromedary, a projecting headland, with a double mountain over it of consid- erable elevation, which, it is said, may be seen at the distance of twenty leagues. The Cape is in 36° 18' S. lat., and about six miles to the eastward of it lies Mon- tague Island, of nearly two miles in length from north to south, Avith a depth of twelve fathoms near its west side, where ships may anchor, but on a rocky bottom. There are some rocks near the south-west end of the island. All the coast between this promon- tory and Cape Howe may be safely ap- proached, to a reasonable distance, as soundings extend to the distance of three or four leagues. Barmouth Harbour is thus mentioned by captain Flinders : — " A strong wind, which burst from the south, obliged Mr. Bass (in a whale boat), to run for a gap in the land, which had just before been noticed. Here, on a little beach, at the mouth of an inlet, across which the sea was breaking, the boat was hauled up for the night. Next morning, the inlet being free from breakers, he entered the prettiest little model of a har- bour he had ever seen. Unfortmiately, it is but a model ; for although the shelter within be complete for small craft, yet the depth over the bar is too small even for boats, except at high water, when there is eight or nine feet."' The intermediate land between Barmouth Harbour and Twofold Bay, a distance of about seven leagues, is of mode- rate elevation, bending a little to the east- ward, Avith three islands contiguous to it. " Twofold Bay," says captain Flinders, "is not of itself worthy of any particular interest, but as nothing larger than boats can find shelter in any other part of this coast, from Corner Inlet, or from Fm'naux's Isles to Jervis Bay, it thereby becomes im- portant to whalers and other ships passing along this coast." The shores of the bay are of moderate elevation, and consist of steep heads, rocky points, and sandy beaches. Snug Cove is situated in the north-west angle of the bay in 37° 4' S. lat., 150° 3' E. long. " Wood, in abundance," says Flinders, " can be procured on every side of the bay; but there are only two places where fresh water was found, and that not very good. One of these was a swampy pond upon the low neck near Snug Cove, where casks might be filled Avithout much difficulty; the other is near the inferior anchorage on the south side of the bay." To the south- west of TAvofold Bay lies Green Cape, which is smooth and sloping, with a deep bight or bay to the southward ; the coast from thence to Cape HoAve is bold and mostly rocky. Cajje Howe, the south-east point of Aus- tralia, and the southern limit of the coast- hne of NcAv South Wales, is a low point of rocks and sand, with a small island close to it. It may be easily recognized by the trending of the coast, which is nearly west on one side and north on the other, and also by some round hills in the vicinity. The westerly or inland rivers of Ncav South Wales, occupied a considerable portion of the section on internal exploration. W^e have already seen that after the successfid enter- prize of Messrs. Blaxland, W^entworth, and LaAvson had found a pass over the Blue INIountains, scA'cral streams were discovered floAving in a Avesterly direction, of Avhich two of the most considerable, the Lachlan and Macquarie, were traced in their diff"erent courses, by captain Oxlcy, to their apparent termination in reedy and impassable mo- rasses (page 382,) in which, however, they are not finally lost, it having been subse- quently ascertained that the waters of the marshes in which the Lachlan is for a time lost, reunite in one channel and flow into the Murrumbidgee, while those of the Macquarie are drained in a similar manner into the Darling. Lachlan River has its origin in the mountains bordering Argyie county, one of its most easterly sources being Derin- 100 INLAND OR WESTERLY RIVERS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. giiUen ponds, ^\hich arise in the soutliern of the three open fiats of grassy land called Bredalbane Plains; thence it runs in a north- •westeilv direction, receiving in 33° 5' 20" S. lat., 147° 13' 10'' E. long., a tributary from the north-east, called Goobang Creek, which has its sources in the ra^dnes between Har- vey's and Croker's ranges."^ The Lachlan, after the junction of the Goobang, changes its direction from north-west to south-west, and a creek called by the natives " Cudjal- lagong" leaves the river and conveys its waters almost straight back from their course to supply Regent's Lake, which, when dis- covered by Oxley, in 1817, was described by him as a " noble lake ;" but when Adsited by Mitchell, in 1836, appeared for the most part a plain covered with luxuriant grass, with some water lodged on the most eastern part, but in no place more than a foot deep. In- numerable ducks had taken refuge there, and also a great nvimber of black swans and peli- cans, all standing high upon their legs, above the shallow Avater. Unlike the water of Lake George, which is brackish, that of Regent's Lake was perfectly sweet even in its shallow state. It abounds with large fi'esh-water mussel ; on its northern margin, and a good way within the line of the water, stood dead trees of a full-grown size, appa- rently killed by too much water, too plainly shewing, like the trees similarly situated in Lake George and Lake Bathurst, to what long periods the extremes of drought and moisture may extend in this singular country. That the lake is sometimes a splendid sheet of water was obvious enough in the line of beach along the shores. At two different places the banks are so low that in high floods the water must flow over from the lake, and probably thus supplies Campbell's Lake, and another to the northward of Regent's Lake, named "Goorongully." Fol- lowing the course of the Lachlan from Cud- jallagong creek, we arrive at the farthest spot to which Oxley traced it, (according to Mitchell in 33° 41' 10" S. lat., 115" 9' E. long. ;) but instead of terminating there, its banks at fifty miles below this spot are backed on both sides by rising ground until it turns finally southward towards the Mur- rumbidgee, which it joins in 34° 25' S. lat., and 144° 3' E. long. Sir Thomas Mitchell makes the following observations on the oc- * It is rather remarkable that captain Oxley, when exploring the Lachlan, should have omitted to survey thai portion of it where it is joined bv the Gooban<^; especially as, according to bir F. L.' Mitchell, it is casion of his exploring this river in 1836 ; — " I beheld in the Lachlan all the features of the Darling, but on a somewhat smaller scale. The same sort of large gum trees, steep, soft, muddy banks ; a margin and an outer bank. But its waters were gone, with the exception of a few small ponds, which still remained in the deepest parts of its bed. Such was now the state of that river down which my predecessor's boats had floated, I had, during the last winter, drawn my whale-boats 1,600 miles over land, Avithout finding a river where I could use them ; Avhereas Mr. Oxley had twice retired by nearly the same routes, and in the same season of the year, from supposed inland seas ! '^ The Lachlan, therefore, although occasionally in flood, cannot be depended upon as a na^dgable river. Murrunibidgee River rises in the western ridge of mountains situated to the south- ward of the parallel of 35°, and under the meridian of 149°, at a distance of about eighty miles from the sea, and after re- ceiving Yass river, the Coodrabidgee, the Titmut, or Doomot, and some other minor streams, which fall into it at an early stage of its progress, pursues a long and tortuous course for upwards of 300 statute miles, without deriving the slightest increase from the country it waters. As its course extends to the westward of the meridian 147°, the river falls on a low level; the hills of sand- stone rock, which give a picturesque appear- ance to the lands on its banks, higher up the stream, disappear, and flats of alluvial de- posit occupy their place. From the account of Sturt in 1829-30, and of Mitchell in 1836, we gather that the Mtirrumbidgee is, to a certain extent, for a very considerable distance, a navigable river. The former authority, speaking of it at the end of the year 1829, describes it, not far from the junction of the Ttimut, as " a stream whose current it would have been difficult to breast, and whose Avaters, foaming among rocks or circling in eddies, gave early promise of a reckless course. It must have been some- Avhat beloAV its ordinary Ica'cI, and averaged a breadth of about eighty feet." LoAver down it " expanded into a fretful rapid, but it Avas sufiiciently shallow to admit of taking the drays over, Avithout the trouble of un- loading them." Still lower, it increased in the floods of this stream which inundate the country below Mount Cunningham, and were the sole cause of the swampy appearance which captain Oxley ob- served to the Avestward THE DARLING RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES, N. S. WALES. 101 size, but preserved the characteristics of a mountain stream, having alternate rapids and deep pools, being in many places en- cumbered with fallen timber, and generally running over a shingly bed. " Below Ponte- badgery it expands. Further on, it had been swollen considerably by rains, and rolled along at the rate of three miles an hour, preseindng a medium width of 150 feet." Captain Sturt subsequently says — "During the night it fell considerably, but it still poured along a vast body of water, pos- sessing a strong current. It kept a very uniform breadth of from 150 to 170 feet, and a depth of from foui- to twenty feet. Its channel, though occasionally much en- cumbered with fallen timber, was large enough to contain tAvice the volume of water then in it." The em'rent was so strong, as to carry the " swimmers" out of their straight course. In January, 1830, captain Sturt embarked in his boats, about fifteen miles above the junction with the Lachlan. He proceeded from twenty-eight to thirty miles by the river's windings, but a little beyond this, one of the boats struck on a log, and Avent down in twelve feet water. Larger boats could have navigated the stream, Avhich was deep and strong. The channel, however, contracted lower down, and became filled with immense trees, swept there by floods. The whale-boat again struck on a log ; and, not long after, upon a line of sunken rocks of ironstone. In longitude 143°, a running stream, the first for 340 miles, joined the river, which, shortly after, had a breadth of 200 feet, Avith an average depth of from twelve to twenty feet ; but several rapids occurred, down which the boats were hurried with great velocity. The channel, after this, contracted, and became blocked up with large trees, which, with an increasing current, rendered the navigation perplexing and dangerous. The trees were so nume- rous, that the passage coidd hardly be effected. The voyagers were carried, at a fearful rate, amongst these trees by a tor- tuous current, till they v.crc hurried into a broad and noble river — this was the Murray. The breadth of the Murrumbidgee, at the junction of the two streams, is only fifty feet. Sir Thomas Mitchell describes the Mur- rumbidgee as "an important river," and speaks of its full stream, its water-worn and lightly timbered banks, and the firm and accessible natui'c of its gvillies, as quite the reverse of the interior rivers in general, especially the Darling ; and states that above its junction with the Murray, at Weyeba (in 34° 21' 34" S. lat., 143° 56'*'2r E. long.,) it Avas fifty yards wide, with banks eleven feet high; while the noble ]\Im-ray (whose description forms a portion of the topography of South Australia, its embouehe being in that province) below the junction was a mag- nificent stream 165 feet broad, with banks twenty-five feet high. The Sydney Herald, in an able article, entitled, " Are the interior waters of Australia navigable?" has the fol- lowing remarks concerning the two rivers we have ju.st examined: — "The Lachlan is clearly not navigable; the Murrumbidgee, nearly up to the mountains, is ; but there are considerable dangers from snags, and occa- sional rapids and shoals. But, perhaps, ves- sels purposely constructed of small draught, and carefully manned, might be employed, except in seasons of extreme drought. And if so, this river alone, off'ers full 400 miles of tortuous navigation, extending through at least 300 miles of direct distance." Much of tlie land traversed by the INIurrumbidgee is of excellent quality, and adapted for the support of civilized man; its spontaneous productions long formed the chief food of its native inhabitants, and notwithstanding the great floods to which this river is subject, and the serious injmy thereby inflicted on the commencing to-OTiships laid out on its banks, the locality is a favourite one, and is being rapidly occupied, especially by squatters. Darlhiy River, whose basin receives so large a portion of the western waters of New South Wales, is imfortunately not navdgable for commercial purposes. Its tributaries, the Karaula or Dumaresq, the Nammoy, and Gwydir or Kindur, are beautiful mountain streams which rise in the hilly country behind Moreton Bay, in 27° S. lat., 152° E. long. Above the junction of the Gwydir, which is in 29° 30' 27" S. lat., 148° 13' 20'' E. long., the Darling is a nobie piece of water, and is thus mentioned by Sir T. L. Mitchell, in February, 1832:— "I now overlooked, from a bank seventy feet high, a river as wide as the Thames at Putney, on which the goodly waters, perfectly free from fallen timber, danced in full liberty ; a sin- gular-looking diving bird, carrying only its head above water, gave a novel appearance to this copious reservoir, and there was a rich alluvial flat on the opposite bank." This breadth and magnitude did not how- ever continue ; a rocky dyke traversed the river, and occasioned a slight fall, after which the Darling lost the imposing appear- 102 THE MACQUARIE, BALONNE, AND CONDAMINE RIVERS. ance it had worn for a brief period, and though soon joined by the meandering Gwydir, did not resume it. The steep banks of this latter stream are lined by eucalypti (blue gum trees) of enormous size, in whose thick foliage Trhite cockatoos abomid ; many dead trees encumber the channel. The average breadth of the water (in 183.2) was forty-five yards ; the breadth from bank to bank, seventy-five yards; the perpendicular height of these banks above the water, twenty- seven feet. The Nammoy joins the Darling below the junction of the Gwydir. In its channel all the waters of the Peel, INIulnerindie, and Conadilly unite. " This stream," says Sir Thomas IMitchell, " having received the Co- nadilly from the left bank, had here an im- portant appearance ; the breadth of the water was 100 feet, its mean depth nearly eleven feet niae inches, and the height of the banks above the water, thiriy-seven feet." The course of the IMidnerindie, from the junction of the Peel to that of the Conadilly, is some- what to the southward of we-st. Below the junction of the Conadilly, the well-known native name is the Nammoy, which pm-sues a south-west com-se. The Castlereagh, known to the natives as the Barron, joins the Dar- ling about fifty miles beyond the junction of the Nammoy ; and below this, on the same side, the attenuated channel of the INIacqua- rie, which was found in 1846 (a season of extreme drouqht) to be continuous in muddy ponds througlrout the marshes, unites with that of the Darling (see p. 391). Macqnarie River is formed by the junction of the Fish and Campbell rivers, which issue from the Blue jNIountains, and unite at the point of division between the counties of Bathm'st, Westmoreland, and Roxburgh. The Macquarie takes a winding coui'se through the plains to the north-west; in some places it is deep, broad, and navigable for large boats ; in others rapid and ob- structed by falls. In about 33° 30' S. lat. it is still from twenty to sixty yards wide, and twenty feet deep, with a cm-rent of about a mile and-a-half an hour. The low land in which this river was lost by Oxley, has been already described (pp. 382 — 391). Ac- cording to oMitchell, the surplus waters of the jNlacquarie are conveyed to the Darling by Duck Creek, a channel altogether to the westward of these marshes. The River Bell or Molong is one of the tributaries of the Macquarie, near Wellington Valley, about 170 miles west of Nevcastlc ; another, named the Cudgugeeng, is distant about fifty miles from Bathurst. Below the junction of the Macquarie with the Darling, and on its opposite bank, the Cidg^a joins the latter river. The Culgoa is a branch of the Balonne (p. 392), and is chiefly characterized by the luxuriant grass on its banks, the mimosa near the bed of the cun-ent, and much sand. The Balonne, with which we are newly and imperfectly acquainted, is divided by the Culgoa into Upper and Lower. According to Sir Thomas Mitchell, the Upper Balonne, with majestic trees, and banks grassed to the water's edge, has some noble reaches, one of which, in 28° 13' 31" S. lat., contains a large body of permanent water. Several spacious lagoons are supplied by floods in the Balonne. One of these, named by ^Mitchell, Lake Parachute, is de- scribed by him as an "immense sheet of water, with islands in it; and ducks, peli- cans, &c. in abimdance." In 27° 56' 12" S. lat., little water was found in the bed of the river, but long islands of sand, and water- worn banks, with sloping grassy bergs behind; for the next few miles, in a north-westerly direction, the scenery was wild and grand ; masses of rock, lofty trees, shining sands, and patches of water, indiscriminately mingled, afl'orded eridence of the powerful ciu-rent that sometimes moved there and overwhelmed all. The Condamine is one of the principal heads of the Balonne. jNIitchell, in relating his expedition of 1846, says, " I did not ascertain satisfactorily the point of jimction of the Condamine with the Balonne, as what I saw in 148° 55' E. long., 27° 47' 57" S. lat., might have been only an ana-branch. The chief som'ce of the Condamine is a stream which rises in the diriding range, about ten miles south of Cunningham Gap ; after an irregular com'se, dm'ing which (we leaiTi from the Hon. W. Wrottesley) it is joined by several tributaries — the principal one from Herries' Range — it empties itself into a lagoon having no apparent outlet, and which lies in a dh-ect distance of about sixty miles from its head. He states that " as far as he knows the river, it is a chain of ponds and reaches, through wliich there is a per- ceptible current; the ponds are separated from each other by necks of land ranging from a few yards to miles in length, and beneath which the water forces its way. The reaches are generally deep, with high reeds fringing the edges of their banks. The waters of the Condamine are clear and pm'c to the taste ; but more to the south- vv^ard the Avestern rivers are often brackish. In 1841, the Messrs. Russell set out on an exploratory expedition, determined if pos- sible to trace the reappearance of the Con- damine, after losing itself in the lagoon, being persuaded that as the latter had no visible outlet for the Avaters it received, they must escape by some subterraneous channel, aud might somewhere be found to reappear upon the surface ; having therefore followed the lagoon, which is seven miles in length, to its furthest extremity, they shaped their course from thence in a direction, as nearly as they could judge, the same as the river had held before it fell into the lagoon. At the end of one day^s journey they came upon a small gnlly, which Avidened untill it broke into a deep, rocky river-bed, on both banks of which was a fine, open grazing country ; tliat on the west side being undulating though not hilly, that on the east, flat and rich. " This river,^' says Mr. Russell, " is a very fine one for this country, its direction is first north-west and then more northerly, of com'se not running except in floods, but having beautiful long reaches, with deep water, and fine large lagoons branching out of it. There is plenty of the best kind of timber ; iron-bark, blood- wood, pine, swamp- oak, and stringy-bark.^' ThcNarran, a branch of the Minor Balonne, (see pp. 391, 392,) terminates in a swamp. The banks of the NaiTan are distinguished by a belt of the yoJygonmn junceum, about 400 or 500 yards wide, growing between the immediate margin and the grassy plains. Here, as on the banlcs of the Darling, heaps-of the red-stalked coral-like plant are found. The seed there- from is black and small, resembling fine gunpowder when shaken out, but sweet and pleasant to the taste, possessing a nutty flavour; it is collected by the natives, and made into a paste. Sir T. L. Mitchell, speaking of this river, says — " The Narran seems a wonderful provision of nature for the supply and retention of water in a dry and parched country. The division of the main river into others ah'eady mentioned is no less so — irrigating thus from one principal channel, extensive regions of rich earth beyond the Darling, while the surplus, or overflow, instead of passing, as in common cases to the sea, is received in the deep channel of the Narran, and thereby conducted to that extensive reservoir where, on rock or stiff clay, and under ever-verdant polygonum, it furnishes an inexhaustibl'e supply for the support of animal life." This tendency to form ana-branclics {i.e. sucli as after separation unite) and a net- Avork of streams, so strikingly pointed out by Sir Thomas in the present instance, and in that of the Macquarie and the Balonne, is to a greater or less extent remarkable in the majority of the rivers of Ncav South Wales, whose courses it is consequently very diffi- cult to understand without constant refer- ence to the map, so closely connected are they Avith one another. Marmioa River joins the Upper Balonne ; but of this stream, as also of the Cogoon, Amby, Belyando, and others discovered by the indefatigable Sir Thomas Mitchell, in 1846, and of the Dawson, Mackenzie, Suttor, Burdekin, Lynd, and others, discovered about the same time by his distinguished contem- porary. Dr. Leichardt, mention has already been made in the section on internal explo- ration. We are so imperfectly acquainted Avith their courses, that it is not possible to give a clear description of them ; and for general oljservations or fi-agmentary de- tail but little space can now be spared. From Mitchell we learn that the bed and banks of the Maranoa are of uniform extent throughout ; aA^eraging in width about 100 feet ; in height of banks, from thirty to fifty feet. The coui-se Avas straight ; and it seemed as if a few dams might have sufficed to render it navigable, or at least to have retained a vast supply of Avater ; for although the bed was sandy, the bottom was rocky, and the banks consisted of stifl:' clay. These being covered with rich grass, and consisting of good soil, Avater alone Avas Avanting to make the Avhole valuable. The Belyando, according to the same authority, maintains a peculiar character throughout its course, Avith great uniformity, even after receiving tributaries apparently larger than itself. All these lapse into the same concatenated line of ponds ; at one place spreading amidst brigaloAV scrub, at another forming one Avell- defined deep channel. For the formation of ponds and the retention of Avater, in so dry a climate, we see here something be- tween the ordinary character of rivers, and artificial Avorks, Avhicli man must construct Avhen population spreads into these regions. The fallen timber of the brigaloAV decays very sloAvly, and is not liable to be burnt, like most other dead Avood in open forests, becatisc no grass grows among it. The accumulations of dead logs become clogged Avith river rack and the deposit of floods ; to which floods these heaps present obstruc- tions, forcing the waters into ncAV channels, and in their progress scooping out new ponds, and cora])leting the embankment of dead logs; Avhich thus form natural dams 104 THE BOGAN, AND THE DARLING NEAR FORT BOURKE. and reservoirs^ to hold, under the shade of the brigalow trees, more water for a longer time than any single river-channel could retain, however sluggish its course. Thus it was that, during a season of unusual di'ought, abuiuhmcc of water was found in this river's coiu'se, across nearly threc-and-a-half de- grees of latitude. From the above observa- tions, it is evident that the Belyando is a striking example of the general construction of Australian rivers, as noted at the com- mencement of this section. To return to the Darling — after receiving the Culgoa it is joined by the Bogun, on the opposite bank. The chief sources of the Bogan arise in Hervey's range, and also in that much less elevated country situated between the Ijaehlan and the Maequarie. The lower part of this river Avas called " Allan's Water," by Oxley ; and another portion received the name of " New Year's Creek," from ]\Ir. Hume. Since then it has been sur^ eyed by IMitchell, nearly from its som'ces to its junction with the Darling ; and is considered, by him, as belonging to the basin of the INIacquarie, although it never joins that river, but merely skirts the plains Avhich may be supposed to form its original bed. Throughout its whole course of 250 miles, the left bank of the Bogan is close to low hills, while the right adjoins the plains of the INIacquarie, until it finally takes q. remai'kable tm'D westward towards the Darling. A striking uniformity is manifested in this little river, no change being observable throughout its whole com-se in the character of its tianks, or the breadth of its bed, neither are the ponds near its som'ce less numerous, or of less magnitude, than those near its junction with the prin- cipal stream. There are few or no pebbles in its bed, and no reeds grow upon the banks, which are generally sloping and of naked earth, marked with lines of flood. Mr. Dixon estimates the velocity of the current at foui* miles per hour, where its course is most Avesterly, (the average rate of the larger rivers of Australia being, accord- ing to Mitchell, two miles an hour.) It has often second banks; and, like the Darling, a belt of dwarf eucalypti, box, or rough gum, encloses the more stately flooded gum- trees, Avith the shining white bark, which grow on the immediate bank of the river. It has extensive plains along the banks, the soil of which is not only much firmer, but also clothed Avith grass, and fringed with trees and bushes of a finer variety than those on the Darling. Yet, in the grasses there is not the Avondei-ful variety remarkable on the banks of that river. "Of twenty-six dif- ferent kinds," says Sir T. Mitchell, "ga- thered by mxC on the Darling, I found only four of the same sorts growing on the Bogan, and not more than four other varie- ties throughout the Avhole course. It ap- peared that where laud was best and most abundant, the grass consisted of one or two kinds only ; and, on the contrary, that where the sm'face was nearly bare, the greatest varieties of grasses appeared, as if all strug- gling for existence.' ' It was hoped that the Bogan would afford the means of access to the Darling at all times, by insuring the traveller on its banks against the chief im- pediments to travelling in Australia, namely — the want of water in periods of drought, and the results of its superabundance dui'ing seasons of rain ; for water, it was considered, would always be found in its channel, at least in ponds, Avhile no floods could reach the rising groiinds over the left bank of the river. This expectation of the constant supply of Avatcr retained in the Bogan has not been realized : for Sir Thomas Mit- chell, in December 1845, Avas compelled to abandon his intended route by this riA^er, from the scarcity of this first necessity of life. About twelve miles beloAV the junction of the Bogan Avith the Darling, in 145° 53' \2" E. long., 30° r 4" S. lat., a stockade or block-house Avas erected by Sir Thomas L. Mitchell, in 1835, on a spot Avliich he named Fort Bourke, and describes as " surpassing anything he had expected to find on the Darling." It consisted of the highest gi'ound rising gradually fi'om the loAver levels, by Avhich the river is approached from the Bogan, to an elevated and extensive plateau, overlooking a reach of the river, a mile and- a-half in length, the hill being situated near a sharp turn at the loAver end of the reach. At this turn a small Avater-course enters, which surrounds Fort Bourke on all sides, save that of the river ; it encloses about IGO acres, containing abmidance of grass. The plateau consists of rich loam; and, when first visited, was tliinly AA'ooded. Upon it Avere found various burying-places of the natives, Avho always choose the highest parts of that loAV country for the purpose of interment.* On the 1st June, 1835, the surA'eyor-general (Sir T. L. IMitchell), em- barked in his whale-boats on the Darling at Fort Bourke : and the folloAving extracts * MitchoU's Erpcdi.tio)is into Australia. INUTILITY OF THE DARLING AS A NAVIGABLE RIVER. 105 from liis journal sbo^v how little reasonable liope can he entertained of ever rendering the Darling nsefiil as a navigable river : — "We proceeded well enough some way down the river^ but at length a shallow reach first occasioned much delay, and afterwards rocks so dammed np the channel, that it was neces- sary to unload and draw the boats over them. Our progress was thus extremely sloAV, not-withstanding the activity and exer- tions of the men, v.iio were constantly in the water, although a bitter cold wind blew all day. By sunset "we had got over a bad place, where there was a considerable fall, when, on looking round the point, we found that the bed of the river was full of rocks to the extent of nearly a mile." (Sir Tho- mas explains elsewhere, that what he here terms rocks is but the ferruginous clay which fills the lowest part of the basin of this river.) " These unexpected impediments to our progress down the river determined me to retm'n to the depot with the boats, and afterv'-ards to explore its course on horse- back.^' On June 4th, he tells us, "a rocky dyke crossed the stream in a N.N.W. dii'cc- tiou. This must," he adds, " have been another of the many impediments to our boat navigation had wc proceeded by water, and from the general appearance of the river, I Avas satisfied that a passage with boats could not have been attempted in its present state, Avith any prospect of getting soon doMTi." On Jujie 10th he reached Sturt's furthest, bslow which the river formed a cataract of about two feet. On 1 7th June he found deep water; but, on the 19th, the river was so shallow that it seemed almost possible to step across it, and no deep reaches appeared in its bed. This was nearly 120 miles below Fort Bourke. On 24th June, there w'as a fall of about four feet. On 2Gtli June, he forded the Darling : 200 miles from Fort Boui'ke the river had the same character as about that locality — a slow current, and an equal volume of water. Below this, on a ride of twenty-three miles, the channel became very contracted, and containing many dead trees, had altogether a diminished appear- ance. On the 8th July, the country was such as to remind him of the deserts in Asia or Africa. On the 11th July, he says, " I had traced its coiu'se upwards of 300 miles, through a country which did not supply a single stream, all the torrents which might descend from the sharp and naked hills being absorbed by the thirsty earth. DIV. I. Over the w'holc of this extensive region there grew but little grass, and few trees available for any useful purpose, except varieties of acacia, a tree so peculiar to these desert interior regions, and which there seemed to be nomished only by the dews of night." And respecting this country, he adds, "We saw neither kangaroos nor emus, a sufficient proof of the barrenness of the adjacent country." The furthest point reached was near that now called Laidley's Ponds. Of this whole extent. Sir Thomas says elsewhere — " The average breadth of the river at the surface of the water, when low, is about fifty yards, but oftener less than this, and seldom more. I cannot think that the velocity of the floods in the river ever exceeds one mile per hour, but that it is, in general, much less. At this time the water actually floAAing, as seen at one or two shallow places, did not exceed, in quantity, that which woiild be necessary to turn a mill." The more recent accounts of captain Sturt accord only too entirely with the unfavour- able remarks above quoted. In October, 1844, in his desert expedition (p. 387), he made the Darling about fifteen miles above its junction with the 3,Iurray, and found it Avith scarcely any water in its bed. The river, says captain Sturt, must have been in the state in Avhich we found it for a great length of time, and I am led to infer, from the very grassy nature of its bed, that it seldom contains water to any depth, or length of time, since in such case the gi-ass would be killed. Its flats are backed by lagoons, but they had long been dry, and the trees gi'OAving round them were either dead or dying. During a single night the Darling ■was converted, from an almost dry channel, into a foaming and impetuous stream, sweep- ing everything away on its tiu'bid Avaters at the rate of three or foiu- miles an hour, and in four days it overfioAved its banks. On the return of the expedition homcAvards in the following year, some two months later in the season, there had been no recurrence of the flood of the prcAious year, but the Darling Avas at a still loAvcr ebb than before, and every lagoon and creek in its vicinity had long been exhausted and Avaterless. The Avatcr is described by JMitchell as being in all parts as transparent as that of the purest spring Avell, entirely losing all brackish taste bcloAV an extreme point of Dunlop's Range, Avherc a hill consisting of a very hard breccia closes on the river so as to separate the plains N 106 THE WILLIORARA— GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE DARLING. above it from those lower clo^v^^, The taste ' of the water was found to be worst where the liver is nearest to D'Urban's Group — above that, at the junction of the Bogan, and for seventeen miles from thence downwards, it was excellent. The Williorara, or LaidJeifs Ponds was supposed to be a mountain stream flowing in a south-westerly du'ection into the Darling, which it joins in about 142° 26' E. long. 32° 26' S. lat. By it captain Sturt hoped to penetrate the noilhern interior, but on ex- amination it proved to be merely a channel of communication between two lakes that were on either side of it, called iVIinandichi and Cawndilla, to which it conveyed the surplus water of the Darling during the floods. It was about fifty yards broad, with low muddy banks, and its course of about nine or ten miles was exceedingly tortuous, but almost due west. Cawndilla lake is merely a shallow basin of considerable extent, filled by the river floods, and retaining them for a short time only. Immense quantities of fish, hoAvever, pass into these temporaiy resen'oii's, and the floods are consequently looked for by the natives with anxious ex- pectation. Sir Thomas ^Mitchell y/hen con- cluding his account of the Darling, in 1835, makes the following remarks, which illustrate some of the characteristics of this singular river too clearly to be omitted here, although in perusing them the reader must bear in mind that the river was visited by the sm*- veyor-geueral dming a favourable season, and therefore bore a very different aspect to that under which it has been seen by subse- quent travellers : — " From the sparkling transparency of this water, its undiminshed current sustained without receiving any tributary throughout a course of 660 miles, and especially from its being salt in some places and fresh at others, it seems probable that the current, when in that reduced state, is chiefly supported by springs. It would appear that the saltness occurs Avhen the springs also fail, and may be attributed to the same causes, whatever they are, by which all known ■waters unconnected with springs or streams are said to become salt. The bed of the river is at an average depth of about sixty feet below the common surface of the country. To this depth the soil generally consists of clay, in which calcareous concretions and selenites occur abundantly ; at other parts the clay impregnated with iron forms a soft kind of rock in the bed, or banks of the river. There are no traces of water-coui'ses on these level plains, such as might be expected to fall from the hills behind. The hills, nevertheless, contain some hollows and gullies which must, in wet seasons, conduct water to the plains ; the distance of such heights from the river being seldom less than twelve miles, and it would appear that the intervening country is of such an absorbent nature, and so extensive, that any torrents from the higher country ai-e imbibed by the soft earth, for the hollow parts are seared with deep broad cracks, which in wet seasons must take up and retain much water, until it is either evaporatecl, or sinks to lower levels. The water may thus be absorbed and retained for a considerable time, and escape by slow drainage into the river, especially where the lower paits of such plains are shut in by hills approaching the channel. Thus, where the extremity of Dunlop's range shot forward into the wide level margin, we found that the water had lost all taste of salt, a circumstance most easily accounted for, by supposing that springs being more abundant there, from the near- vicinity of the hills, had diluted the water which we had found salt higher up. " The marks of high floods were apparent on the surface, to a distance frequently of as much as two miles from the ordinary channel. Within such a space the waters appear to overflow, and then to lodge in hollows (covered with 2>oli/go?}mn jiinceum), and which Avere then full of yawning cracks. Such parts of the surface would naturally become fii-st saturated in times of flood, and be the last to part with moisture in seasons of drought. I observed that there was less of that kind of low ground where the water was saltest, which was to the westward of D'Urban's group. " The basin of the Darling, which may be con- sidered to extend to the coast ranges on the east, appears to be very limited on the opposite or western side, a desert country from which it did not receive, as fai" as I could discover, a single tributary of any importance. A succession of low ridges seemed there to mark the extent of its basin, nor did I per- ceive in the country beyond, any ranges of a more decidedly fluviatile character. " Some of the hollows behind the immediate banks on both sides contained lagoons ; in some of these, reeds had at length taken the place of water; in others, the first coating of vegetation which the alluvium receives on exposure to the sun, consisted of fragrant herbs, and amongst them Me found the scented ti-efoil (trigonella suavissima), which proved an excellent anti-scorbutic vegetable Avhen boiled. The surface of the earth near the river is unlike any part of the earth's face that I have elsewhere seen. It is as clear of vegetation as a fallow-field, but with greater inequality of surface, and fuU of holes. The soil is just tenacious enough to open into cracks, for the surface becomes so soft and loose that the few weeds that may have sprung up previous to desiccation seldom remain where they grow, being blown out by the slightest 'wind. Over such ground it was fatiguing labour- to walk, the foot at each step sinking in to the ancle, and care being neces- sary to avoid holes always ready to receive the whole leg, or sometimes a man's whole body. The labour which this kind of gi'ound cost the poor bullocks, drawing heavy carts, reduced them to such a state of weakness, tliat six never returned from the Dar- ling." " Of the hills in general it may be observed, that those on the left bank are most elevated at the higher parts of the river, whereas those on the right bank rise into greatest height towards the lower parts of the liver, as far as explored by us. The plains extend on each side of the channel to a dis- tance of six or seven miles, and are in general cleai of timber. That deep and extensive bed of clay, so uniformly filling the basin of this river, has every appearance of mud deposited. Behind them the country is sparingly wooded, except by the stunted bush ('})i!/opontm montanum), which forms a thick scrub, especially on the side of the low hills. On the river bank, trees peculiar to it grow to so large a size, that its course may be easily distinguished at great distances, and thus these facilitated our survey in a very gi-eat degree. These gigantic ti-ees consist of that species of eucalyptus called blue gum in the colony. Its searching roots seem to luxuriate in the banks of streams, lakes, or ponds, where it is so con- stant to moisture, that the thirsty traveller soon learns to recognise its shining trunk and white gnarled arms, as the surest guides to water. The alluvial portion of the margin of the Darling is narrow, and in most places overgrown with the dwarf box, which is another species of eucalyptus. In this alluvial part there are hollow ])laces as already observed, covered with the polygonum jimceum, which is an unsightly leafless bush or bramble. Grass is only to be found on the banks of the river, for, strictly speaking, the margin only can be considered alluvial, for this being irrigated and enriched by the floods, is everywhere productive of grass, which grows there abundantly, even where none appears in the back country. " In the back-ground beyond the plains, some casuarina; and eucalypti are occasionally seen in the scrubs wliich grow on the red sand, and an acacia (having a white stem, the bark being much spotted) there grows to a considerable size, and produces much gum. Indeed, gum acacia abounds in these scrubs, and when the country is more accessible, may become an article of commerce. " The plants, though in general different from those nearer the colony, Avere few, but curious. Of grasses I gathered seeds of twenty-five difi'erent kinds, six of these growing only on the alluvial bank of the Darling. Among these were a ^wa, and the chloris trioicata, and sfqja setacea of Mr. Brown. The coun- try was, nevertheless, almost bare, and the roots, stems, and seeds, the products of a former season, were blown about on the soft face of the parched and naked earth, where the last spring seemed indeed to have produced, no vegetation, excepting a thin crop of an umbelliferous weed. " The natives of the Darling live chiefly on the fish of the river, and are expert swimmers and divers. They can swim and turn with great velocity under water, where they can both see and spear the largest fish, sometimes remaining under water for this pur- pose a considerable time. In very cold weather, however, they float on the surface in pieces of bark ; and thus also they can spear the fish, having a small fire beside them in their bark canoe. They also feed on birds, and especially on ducks, which they ensnare with nets, Avith which a tribe is always provided. These nets are very well made, much resembling our own, and of a similar material, the wild flax, Avhich grows near the river in tufts, and thus very con- venient to pull. These are easily gathered by the • When writing of the expedition conducted by this brave but unfortunate gentleman (p. 395), I mentioned that he was supposed to have perished in an encounter with the natives. He was sent to survey the country lying between Rockingham Bay and Cape York, l)ut the stock of provisions being well nigh exhausted, Mr. Kennedy divided his party, and proceeded towards Cape York, in the hope of procuring the supplies which had been forwarded from Sydney by water. Of the nine men left behind, seven perished of ague, produced by over- gins, who indeed manage the whole process of net- making. They give each tuft (after gathering it) a twist, also biting it a little, and in that state their flax is laid about on the roofs of their huts until drj'. Fishing-nets are made of various similar materials, being often very large, and attached to some I have seen half-inch cordage, which might have been mis- taken for the production of a rope-walk. But the largest of their nets are those set across the Darling for the purpose of catching the ducks as they ily along the river in considerable flocks. These nets are strong, with Avide meshes, and they are hung up on a lofty pole erected for the purpose on one side, usually opposite to some large tree on the other, being easily suspended upon these supports, as occa- sion requires ; such poles are permanently fixed, sup- ported by substantial props, and it Avas doubtless one of this description that captain Sturt sup- posed to have been erected to propitiate some deity. " The native knows avcII ' the alleys green' through Avhich at twilight the thirsty pigeons and parrots rush tOAvards the Avater, and there Avith a smaller net hung up, he sits doAvn and makes a fire ready to roast the birds Avhich may fall into his snare." The ana-branchy or ancient channel of the Darling, is described by Eyre, who dis- covered it, as running through the scrub half-way between Lake Victoria and the main stream, Avith a course of fully sixty miles, nearly parallel to the latter. This singular watercom'se forms, in times of flood, another connecting channel between the Darling and the Murray, leaving an im- mense desert island of low or scrubby lands between it and the Darling. At such times it has a strong current running up- wards, caused by the back-waters of the Murray. According to captain Sturt, it has a broad channel and long reaches, but is wholly wanting in pasture, or timber of any size. The plains of the interior formed the banks, and nothing but salsolacse grew on them. No Avater, he says, ever flows down the ana-branch into the north. Victoria River, the Warrego, and other streams discovered in 1846, by Sir Thomas Mitchell, and subsequently visited by his able assistant, Mr. Kennedy,^ have been already referred to (pp. 393, 394) ; nor is there, as far as I am aAvare, sufficient infor- mation possessed concerning these streams to furnish a more detailed description. fatigue and food both insufficient and uuAvholesome, for they were compelled to cat the flesh of the wretched horses dried in the sun ; and the last sur- vivors (one of Avhom Avas Mr. Carron, attached as botanist to the expedition), Avere too Aveak to bury their deceased comrades. The fate of those Avho accompanied Mr. Kennedy Avas equally melancholy ; one of them, named Costigan, accidentally shot him- self, and Mr. Kennedy leaving him in the care of tAVO others, pursued his way, in the hope of obtaining speedy succour accompanied only by his faithful Counties. — New South Wales, according to the ''Bkie Book" of 184-0, contains twenty- two counties, whose area, popuhition, num- ber of acres under cultivation, and produce, will be given in a subsequent chapter. To this numl)er several others have been, or are on the point of being, added. These divisions are so little dwelt upon, and indeed so rarely alluded to, by tlie ^vriters on the topography of New South Wales (Mitchell alone excepted) , tliat I have found it difficult, after a careful examination of the writings of Oxley, Lang, Braim, and others, of the excellent local journals, and of the colo- nial and geographical magazines published in England, assisted by the information ac- quired by personal observation, to furnish anything approaching a clear or detailed description of the counties. Dr. Lang, in his valuable work on New South Wales, re- marks, " that, except in government deeds or legal documents, the grand natural divi- sions of the country are the only ones known attendant, an aboriginal namedJackeyJackey, through a country swarming with hostile natives. These sa- vages, according to Jackey's statement, came stealthily behind, and hiding in the scrub, threw large jagged wooden spears at them, by which both they and the horses were wounded. Kennedy fell to rise no more, his last injunction to his weeping follower being, to endeavour to preserve his papers and to convey them to the governor. The poor boy, following the direc- tions of his unhapjiy master, succeeded in reach- ing Port Albany, and informing the captain of the schooner lying there with supplies, of the sad results of the expedition. Captain l)obson hastened to Shel- burne Bay, but arrived there, as before stated, in time to save two only of the ill-fated band. Jackey Jackey's account of the death of poor Kennedy is so simple and pathetic, that I cannot resist quoting it here : — " I asked him, ' Mr. Kennedy, are you going to leave me?' and he said, 'Yes my boy, I am going to leave you ;' he said, ' I am very bad, Jackey ; you take the books, Jackey, to the captain ; but not the big ones, the governor will give anything for them.' I then tied up the pajjcrs ; he then said, ' Jackey, give me paper, and I will write.' I gave him paper and pencil, and he tried to Avrite ; and he then fell back and died, and I caught him as he fell back and held him, and I then turned round myself and cried ; I was crying a good while, unti' I got well ; that was about an hour, and then I buried him ; I digged up the ground with a tomahawk, and covered him over with logs, then grass, and my shirt and trousers ; that night 1 loft him near dark. I would go through the scrub, and the blacks threv/ spears at me, a good many, and I went back again into the scrub ; then I went down the creek M'hich runs into Escape lliver, and I Avalked along the water in the creek very easy, with my head only above water, to avoid the blacks and get out of their way ; in this way I went half- a-miie ; then I got out of the creek and got clear of them, and walked on all night nearly, and slept in the bush without a fii-e I went on next morning, or recognised by the colonists, who accord- ingly speak only of the districts of the Hawkesbury, of Hunter's River, of Bathurst, of Illawarra, of Argyle, and of Port Mac- quarie. For the colonial readers, therefore; of the present day, wlio have not yet arrived at the feeling of countyship (if it may be so termed) manifested in the mother country, a separate delineation of the counties may not be necessary; but the want of it would, I think, be felt by readers in the United Kingdom , and it is to them more espe- cially that I v.'ould fain render famiUar the state of this and every other British colony, sure that (under ProAddence) much benefit would thereby result. The following is a brief account of the oldest established coun- ties. The first in point of settlement — Cumbei'land county, has a coast line, stretching southward, of about fifty-six miles, and an extreme breadth, frotn the sea to the base of the Blue Mountains, of forty-six miles. and felt very bad, and I spelled for two days ; I lived upon nothing but salt-water Next day I went on and camped one mile away from where 1 left, and ate one of the pandanos ; on next morning I went on two miles, and sat down there, and I wanted to spell a little there, and go on ; but when I tried to get up, 1 could not, but fell down again bery tired an 1 cramped, and I spelled here two days ; then I went on again one mile, and got nothing to eat but one nondo ; and I went on that day and camped, and on again next morning, about half a mile, and sat down where there was good water, and remained all day. On the following morning I went a good way, went round a great swamp and mangroves, and got a good way by sundown. The next morning I went and saw a very large track of black fellows. I went clear of the track and of swamp or sandy ground then I came to a very large river and a large lagoon plenty of alligators in the lagoon, about ten miles from Port Albany. I now got into the ridges by sundown, and went up a tree and saw Albany Island. Then next morning at four o'clock, I went on as hard as I could go, all the way down, over fine clear ground, fine iron bark timber and plenty of good grass; I went on round the point (this was towards Cape York, north of Albany Island) and went on and followed a creek down, and went on toj) of the hill and I saw Cape York ; I knew it was Cape York, because the sand did not go on farther; I sat down then a good while ; I said to myself, this is Port Albany, I believe inside, somewhere. Mr. Kennedy always told me that the shij) was inside, close up to the main land ; I went on a little way and saw the ship and boat. I met close up here two black gins and a good many piccaninies ; one said to me, ' powad, powad,' then I asked her for eggs — she gave me tiu'tles' eggs, and I gave her a burning-glass ; she pointed at the ship, which I had seen before ; I was very frightened of seeing tlie black men all along here, and when I was on the rock, cooeying, and murry murry (very, very) glad when the boat came to me." CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW SOUTH WALES— SYDNEY. 109 The Hawkesbury and Ncpean rivers form seven-eighths of the iiiUmd boundary of this county, which, not-nathstauding its inferiority in size and the general character of its soil, is the most important and the most densely populated of them all, Sydney, the capital of the colony, being situated in it, and also the towns of Paramatta, Liverpool, Windsor, Richmond, and Campbell-town. The maritime boundary is generally bold and deeply indented. For the distance of five or six miles from the sea, the country wears a bleak and barren aspect, consisting of ridges of stratified sandstone ; the soil poor, in some places swampy, and clothed with a few stunted eucalypti and dwarf un- derwood. Beyond this coast-girdle the aspect begins to improve ; an undulating country extends for ten miles ; and where the hand of ci%dl- ization has not been in active operation, a stately forest of eucalypti, varied with a species of casaurina, appears, diversified here and there Avitli farms and tenements, and intersected by broad and excellent turnpike roads ; but the soil in this belt is still poor on the surface, as it rests on a sandstone formation. At the distance of twenty to tsventy-five miles, the forest is lofty, but not dense ; there is little or no underwood, and the average number of trees to the acre does not exceed fifty; while a charming variety of hill and dale, clothed with luxuriant herbage, is covered with bleating flocks and lowing herds, among which may be seen, at intervals, the spacious mansion or snug- farm-house of ci^dlized man. Throughout the whole of the county, from the sea- coast to the base of the Blue Mountains, the land can scarcely be considered elevated, but is a continued series of undulations, until it approaches the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers, which are bordered by extensive plains of extraordinary fertility. Formerly, one immense tract of forest land, covered with very heavy timber, extended with little interruption from belov^^ Windsor to Appin, a distance of fifty miles; of which a large portion is now cleared and under cultiva- tion. The rocks in this tract are either * Account of New South Wales, by James Atkin- son, Esq. + The lighthouse is in 33' 51' 40" S. lat., VoV 16' 50" E. long. ; the tower is admirably built ; the height o the light (a revolving one) from the base being 76 feet, and above the sea 277 feet, — total 353. The inner S. head bears from the lighthouse N. by W. f AV. distant a mile and-a-quarter. The outer "N. head bears from it N. bv E. two miles. The inner S. and common or calcareous sandstone, ironstone, and in some few places whinstone : these form soils of various degrees of goodness, the whinstone generally the best. In some places small pebbles of ironstone, not larger than peas, may be found scattered over the surface. Tliis, wherever it occurs, is a sure sign of a poor hungry soil.'^" Prospect Hill, the most conspicuous emi- nence in Cumberland, is situated near the centre of that county. It is cultivated nearly to the summit, and the rich red soil on the trap rock is remarkably productive. The land, on approaching Port Jackson from the southward, appears low, compared with the coast of the Illawarra district : the cliff's near Port Jackson are about 200 feet in height ; and in general effect and outline, though darker colom'ed, not unlike the far- famed Dover cliffs of Albion. Suddenly an abrupt breach is seen in this sea-wall, against Avhich the vast volume of water in the Southern Pacific is rolled with incessant swell ; but the moment the tempest-tossed mariner has fairly passed through this singular cleft or fissm'c, the waters are as tranquil as a mill-pond. On the south head of the entrance of Port Jackson an excellent lighthousef was erected by governor Macquarie, which captain Stokes says he saw, in H.M.S. Beagle, at a distance of thirty miles, from a height of fifty feet, during the period of a clear atmosphere. The capital of New South Wales, named in honom- of Viscomit Sydney, his Majesty's secretary of state for the colonies in 1788, is situated in 35° 52' S. lat., 151° 17' E. long. For nearly a quarter of a century after its original establishment on the shores of Sydney Cove (Port Jackson), the now im- portant city was little more than an insig- nificant village of bark huts and wooden skillings, scattered here and there among fields and gardens. Soon after the arrival of governor Macquarie, a survey was made of the whole locality, and the future town marked out on a regular plan. Sydney is built partly on a small promon- tory, and partly in a narrow ravine or valley. outer N. heads lie N.E. ^ E. and S.W. j, of each other distant a mile and one-tenth. The liglit can be seen from S. by I''^. to N. by E., and from a ship's deck, on a clear night, eight to ten leagues, appearing like a luminous star. Bearings magnetic, distances nautical — variations 9 degrees E. N.B. — The N. end of the " Sow and Pigs" rocks, near which there is" a light, bears from tlie inner S. head S. W. bv W. half a mile. 110 THE CITY OF SYDNEY—GO^TERNMENT HOUSE AND STREETS. The formation on which it stands is a free- stone rock, which passes inland for about two miles, in undulating and nearly parallel ridges, in a direction almost due south of that portion of Port Jackson generally known as the Stream, or Middle Harbour, which, with Sydney Cove and Darling Harbour, encloses gi'cater part of the city on three sides. The ridges decline as they recede from the Middle Harbom', until they tenni- nate in an almost level plain, bounded on the south by a transverse range of elevated rock, known as the Svmy hills, which com- prise the southern subui'bs.* The views from the higher part of the capital are bold, varied, and many of them very picturesque; the magnificent harbour of Port Jackson, like a lake studded with islets, indented with coves of singular beaiity, whose tranquil recesses afford a secure haven to hundreds of vessels, is ever an attractive object; while inland, the diversity of hill and dale, of rock and woodland, of grassy slopes and brilliant parterres, interspersed with princely mansions, cottage ornees, and substantial homesteads, combine in forming many charming prospects. The position of Sydney admirably adapts it for the centre of a commercial empire. Its haven, which is about fifteen miles Ions', and, m some places, three miles broad, is completely land-locked. Along the water- side, except that portion occupied by the demesne contiguous to government house, there are wharfs, stores, ship-yards, mills, various manufactories, distilleries, steam engines, breweries, &c. ; behind these, in irregular succession, rise the numerous pub- lic and private buildings of the Australian metropolis. In several parts, ships come close alongside the wharfs, and their cargoes are hoisted direct from the hold into the warehouses. The streets are laid out gene- rally at right angles; thirty-four of them * By an act for regulating the police in the to-n-n and port of Sydney, and for removing and preventing nuisances and obstructions therein, which came into operation 30th September, 1833, the boundaries of the town of Sydney, port of Sydney, Sydney Cove, and Darling Harbour, were thus fixed : — Toivn of St/dnci/. — Bounded on the nortli by the •waters of Port Jackson, from a land-mark at the head of Blackwattle Bay to Ruslicutter's Bay; on the east by the stream entering llushcutter's Bay, to a bridge on the South Head Road, at the north-west corner of Sydney Common ; and by the western boundary of that common to a road extending west- ward to the back of Cleveland House ; on the south by that road and its western fence, prolonged to a land-mark on the road to Cook's liiver ; on the west by the western side of the road to Cook's River, and have each a carriage-way of not less than thii'ty-six feet, (several have from forty to sixty feet), and a foot-way of not less than twelve feet. Their length varies from one to three miles ; they are well paved or mac- adamized, regularly cleaned, watered, and lit with gas. George-street and Pitt-street have continuous ranges of handsome cut stone or brick edifices, with shops that would do no discredit to Regent or Oxford-street, London. Indeed, the modem structures generally, may, in several respects, fairly rie with those of an Eiu'opean capital ; and many of the older houses, though con- structed with little pretensions to taste, were yet (owing to the abundance of good brick earth, and excellent building stone, so easily obtainable,) strongly and usefully built ; and, with their neat gardens iu front, present a cheerful appearance. The recently-erected government-house, which stands in a conspicuous position, over- looking Sydney Cove, is a very handsome structure, built of white freestone, in the Elizabethean style of architectui-e. Its foundations are laid in the solid rock, out of which the basement and cellars are quarried ; and the whole tower, at the north end, seventy feet high, and twenty feet square, with a flag-staff, thii'ty feet high, forms a striking feature from the harbour, of which the house commands a fine view. The building is 170 feet long, and 40 1 high; the ball-room, 50 feet by 28 feet ; drawing- room, 40 by 28; ante-room, 15 by 28; dining-room, 45 by 26. All the rooms are 26 feet high, and finished in superb style; the staircases are of carved cedar, and the chimney-pieces of fine colonial marble. The cost to the colonists has, I beheve, been between £50,000 and £60,000. The contrast is very great between this princely mansion and the canvass house of the first governor of New South Wales, or with the that line prolonged to the land-mark at the head of the Blackwattle Bay. Port of Siidncy. — The channel extending westward from the heads of Port Jackson to Long Nose Point, including Sydney Cove, Darling Harbour, and ex- tending one mile up Middle Harbour, and the various other bays or inlets on each shore thereof. Sydney Cove. — The waters included within a line extending from Dawes' Point to the north-west bastion of Fort j\Iacquai-ie, and the shores to the southward of this line. Darliny Harbour. — The waters included within a line extending from Dawes' Point to the soutli-east point of the shore nearest to and opposite to Goat Island; the shores of tliis harbour on the side of the town, and those opposite t*" them. CHURCHES IN SYDNEY. PIETY OF GEORGE THE THIRD. Ill wretched wooden tenements in nse for several years. There are numerous temples dedicated to the worship of God ; among which are^ five large and commodious Episcopalian churches, besides a missionary Congregational churcli ; three Presbyterian chm'ches ; two Roman catholic — St. Mary's cathedral and St. Pa- trick's chui'ch, both spacious edifices, highly ornamented ; five or six Wesleyan chapels ; a Baptist chapel ; one Australian Methodist chapel; a Friends' meeting-house; and a Jewish synagogue. St. Andrew's Cathedral was constructed as the Episcopal chui'ch of Australia, on the creation of a diocese in communion with the churcli of England ; the foundation stone was laid in May, 1839, under the auspices of the first bishop of Australia. This hand- some edifice is 720 feet from east to west, including the tower, whose pinnacles have an elevation of 120 feet. The height of the body of the chui'ch is seventy feet. It will contain a congregation of about 2,000. The expense of its erection is estimated at ^£50,000, towards which the inhabitants contri1)uted largelv ; one family alone, that of Robert Campbell, M.C., subscribed £500. The Roman Catholic Cathedral is the largest and most expensive sacred edifice in the colony ; it was commenced in 1820, and it is not yet completely finished. Built of freestone, in the form of a cross, it is an excellent specimen of Gothic architectm'e, and being situated in a commanding posi- tion in Hyde-park, is now an ornament to the city. ;S/. Phillip's Church has a peculiar interest attached to it, as being the oldest place of worship in the colony. Commenced in July, 1793, it was several years before it was fitted for the celebration of divine service. George the Third regarded its erection with deep * The deep interest taken by the '• good old king " ia the establishment of the first Christian church erected at the antipodes, ^vhere there are now five Protestant dioceses, viz., Australia (Sydney), erected in 1836; New Zealand, 1841 ; Tasmania (Van Die- men's Land), 1812; Melbourne (Port Phillip), 1847 ; and Newcastle (New South "Wales), 1847 — was in unison with his well-known piety of character ; a piety in the exercise of which he continued to mani- fest the reasoning power, in other respects entirely dethroned. During the awful lunacy with which the mind of George the Third was afflicted, his spirit remained unclouded in its devotion, and during his wonted hours of prayer, his Majesty's supplications were daily uttered to the Almighty disposer of events • — that the Lord of Heaven and Earth Avould bestow especial care and favour on the nation, deprived by His will of the sujierintendence of their lawful sove- interest; and not content with expressing his satisfaction that such a building was in progress, his Majesty forwarded to the colony (from his private purse) a costly communion service of plate, which arrived safely in October, ] 803, and is still used in this church. The earnest solicitude evinced by the king expedited the building, which was consecrated on Christmas Day, 1810. It is a plain, useful structure, with a round tower which commands an extensive pros- pect.* St. Andrew's Kirk, a handsome Gothic church, was commenced in November, 1833, and finished in September, 1835. The walls arc elevated, and include a spacious area, there being a projecting entrance in front, leading to the gallery. Bet^veen the main windows there are square buttresses, and two circular turrets surmounted by pointed spu'es. The interior is admirably fitted up ; the groined arches of the ceiling rest upon six fluted colmnns with ornamented capitals; the cedar pannels and Gothic framing are par- ticularly handsome. The government gave the site for the building, but the cost of the kirk was chiefly defrayed by subscriptions from members of the established church of Scotland. St. James' Church occupies a commanding site at the north end of Hyde Park. The foundation was laid in October, 1819, by governor ISIacquarie, and it was completed about the end of 1822. It is in the Grecian style of architecture, with a lofty spire and belfry, and is constructed of bricks, strength- ened by large and handsome pilasters of free- stone. There is a superior organ at the end of the church, and tiie pulpit is of ex- cellent workmanship. The Scots' Kirk is a substantial plam. building, and the other temples of worship arc well constructed. As population in- reign, and that He woidd be to the people of these realms their temporal as well as spiritual King, directing ai'ight the counsels of those to whom the supreme power was delegated. The transmission of a communion service to St. Phillip's church at Sydney, is in perfect accordance ■\\ith the deep reverence oi his Majesty for that hoh and indispensible ordinance. It is not generally known that some time before the demise of George the Third, his ^lajesty expressed an earnest desire to receive the Sacrament. The clergy and the medical attendants on his Majesty did not think it advisable to grant the request, whereupon the king solemnly administered the bread and wine to himself, with a fervent prayer that if in this he committed the sin of presumption, he might be for- given — no other means being left for his obedience to the divine command, or the satisfaction of his deep yearning for the comfort of the Holy Sacrament. 112 COLLEGES. THEATRES, AND BUILDINGS IN SYDNEY. creases, new chui-ches and eha^pels are built, and Sydney is, on the avIioIc, better pro- -N-ided with the means of enjoying public i worship, than many districts of London — ■where, it wiU be remembered, there was re- cently one parisli with 20,000 inliabitants, and only one church. ! The Sijdneij College owes its existence ' chiefly to a private indi\ddual, Dr. Bland, who was originally a surgeon in the royal ■ nav}^, but was transported along with a | lieutenant of the ship in Avhich he served, | for being engaged in a fatal duel with ! another officer of the ship. Dr. Bland has ; long been known as the good Samaritan of I Australia ; possessed of great skill in his j I profession, of high general attainments, a [ gentleman by bii'th, education, and feeling, } he acquired the esteem of general and lady I Darling, and of all classes in the colony. Wealth was poured freely into his hands by the affluent, and its recipient as quickly pa?s?d it away to the poor; not satisfied merely with contributing both by his skill and pecu- niary charity, to alleviate the physical suf- fering of his fellow-creatures, Dr. Bland took the lead in the formation of a gram- mar-school in 1825; in 1828-9 the worthy doctor made a successful effort to enlarge and improve the institution ; in 1830 the grammar-school expanded into Sydney Col- lege, with a fund of j£10,000, subscribed in 200 shares of £50, each share entitling the holder in perpetuity to the nomination of one student at the college. The Old and New Testament are read without note or comment ; no religious book is used without the authority of the president, and a com- mittee of fifteen members, elected annually by the aggregate body of trustees. The building is commodious, and the course of education in classics, mathematics, and na- tural philosophy, good. The Australian College was instituted 31st December, 1831; it combines a series of schools for the education of youth in the elementary branches of education, and gra- dually extends to the higher coiu'se of in- struction. The buildings are in chaste style, large, and capable of containing more than 100 boarders; like the Sydney College, it is not confined to any particular religious denomination. A chapter in the Bible is read by each teacher every morning in the presence of all the pupils attending his class. There is a Normal institution for secular education alone, and many excellent semi- naries for both sexes. The sunday schools are well attended. [See Supplement.] Among the other public structures in Syd- ney, is the Theatre Royal, which cost j€1 0,000 in building; the colonists truly aver, that it " would be an ornament to the Great Baby- lon." The architectural description given of it, is as follows : — " In front of the theatre there are two splendid shops, between which there is a spacious entrance to the lower and upper boxes, enclosed by a pair of massive iron gates. The saloon leading to the two tiers of boxes, is divided for an entrance for each portion of the visitors. Tlie interior of the house is arranged into two circles of boxes, Avith several private and family boxes; an extensive pit, with raised seats, and a spacious gallery. To the lower circle of boxes is attached an elegant dress saloon, 40 feet by 20. The size of the t'licatre is 100 feet by 53; the stage, 52 feet by 47; the opening of the proscenium, 8 feet; distance from front to front cf the boxes, 27 feet; also, a commodious orchestra, with the necessary green and dressing-rooms; the height of the building is 50 feet. The whole is fitted up in the modern style, with a handsome gla'ss chan- delier in the centre of the roof, and the building is so arranged, that in case of fire, all jiarts of the house have communications for escape.'" The theatre Avas erected by ]Mr. Barnett Le\T. In the early daj^s of the colony, the " legitimate drama" Avas performed in the gaol of Sydney. The public Banks are all substantial, and, in some instances, orna- mented buildings; the Head Police Office, BcncA^olent Asylum, Prisoners' Barracks, Post OffxCe, deserA'e a record for their suit- ableness to the purposes for Avhich they were constructed. The Soldiers' Barracks are large and plain. Indeed, the number of good mechanics among the convicts, and the vigi- lant superintendence of engineer officers, have materially contributed to secm'c for Sydney a very superior order of public edifices. A handsome range of stone build- ings, with a noble colonnade forming a ve- ! randah and balcony, contains the Legislative \ and Executive Cotmcil Chambers, and two I spacious Hospitals. The Court House is I built on an eminence in that portion of the ! suburbs termed the Surry hills, and adjoin- i ing it is the New Gaol, an excellent building well arranged for the classification and sepa- ration of prisoners. The gaol covers a con- siderable area of ground, it is erected on a hill, built of freestone, and sun'ounded by a massive wall thirty feet high. The Custom House and the Public Library are designed upon an equally extensive and substantial scale. The Public Markets are held in a double range of narroAV l)uildings about 200 feet in length, floored with freestone, the roofs FORTS IN PORT JACKSON AND SYDNEY COVE. 113 being supported by stone piers. A fountain of water in the centre of the amphitheatre tends to preserA'e cleanliness; at seven in the morning the ringing of a great bell an- nounces the opening of the market, and throughout the day a -vdgilant pohce pre- serves order. The position of the market- place, in the centre of the city,* its commo- dious construction, and the peaceable man- ner in which business is carried on, enhance the effect produced on the eye of a stranger by the abimdance, excellence, and cheapness of its varied supphes, and combine to form a scene which, could it be viewed by our over-wx)rked and under-fed operatives, would preach more eff'ectively in the cause of emigration to a British colony, than other arguments, though eloquent and sincere, and teach a new lesson to many of our poli- tical economists. There are several small forts, but, as ex- plained under the head of military defences, there is no protection where most needful — at the Heads of Port Jackson. The de- fences of the harbour are shewn in an official statement. Fort Macquarie is situated at the extreme point of the eastern entrance to Sydney Cove, the access to Avhich it directly com- mands. It is a permanent work of masonry — a square of 30 feet face, ha\'ing a small circular bastion at each angle affording space for one traversing gun. Three faces of the square are open to the sea, one of which is pierced for three guns. Ten twenty-four pounders are mounted. The terreplein is tAventy-two feet above the level of the sea. In the centre of the land face is a two-storied tower, with a magazine in the basement calculated to hold 350 baiTcls of gunpow- der. The tower is intended to cover a small detachment of soldiers, with the necessary stores for the battery. The land communi- cation is by a permanent bridge over a dry rock. This work will take in reverse any work erected on Pinchgut Island, from which it is distant 1,062 yards. A non- commissioned officer and twelve men are at present quartered in the tower ; not more than six men in addition could be put under cover. Fort Phillip is situated on the highest ground within the northern portion of the city; it appears to have been the intention • No beast can be killed in Sydney without inspec- tion and certificate from an inspector appointed by the government, and for the inspection a fee of threepence is paid. All slaughter-houses are licensed. i DIV. I. to construct a pentagon at this point, the sides measuring 100 feet. The work was commenced in 1804, and partly carried up to the height of eighteen feet, sLx inches; nothing further was done, the plan of the work, it is presumed, being found defective. The situation is highly favom-able for a work of defence (a citadel), at an elevation of 157 feet above the sea; it commands a great part of the city of Sydney, the anchorage, and the access to Sydney Cove and Darhng Harbour. It also takes in reverse Dawes' Battery, at the distance of 715 yards; Fort jNIacquarie, at 1,062 yards ; and Pinchgut Island, at 2,124 yards. Six six-pounder guns are placed on one of the faces of the old work, for the purpose of a saluting battery. There is a permanent magazine at this point for 200 barrels of gunpowder; but no ac- commodation for troops. Dawes' Battery is situated on the point forming the western extremity of Sydney Cove, which it separates from Darling Har- bour. The work consists of an open barbette battery, capable of mounting six twenty-four pounders. It immediately commands Fort INIacquarie, at a distance of 728 yards, and also commands the approach to, and anchor- age in, the Cove. The platform of the bat- tery is at an elevation of seventy feet above the sea, to which the glacis extends. There is no accommodation for troops. Bradley's Head is a commanding point on the right approach to the city of Sydney by sea, distant about 4,596 yards. The bat- tery, when completed, will mount seven twenty-four pounders. The site is impor- tant, commanding, as it does, the ship-chan- nel, at 1,000 yards. Ships forcing this passage would immediately come under fire from a work at Pinchgut Island, dis- tant 2,834 yards. This work was suspended in 1842, by order of the inspector-general of fortifications. There is no accommoda- tion for troops. Pinchgut Island is situated nearly mid- channel, on the approach to the city of Sydney, 1,062 yards from Fort ]Macquarie. A work on this point was put in progress in 1841, but suspended soon after, by orders from England. The work woidd intersect the fire from Bradley's Head, on the ap- proach up the harbour, and would be sup- ported by Fort Macquarie and Dawes' Bat- tery. Vessels must pass within point-blank range of this spot. Goat Island Magazine, at the entrance ol Paramatta river, is the principal depot for o 114 HYDE PARK— SYDNEY— PUBLIC GARDENS. gunpowder; there is a bomb-proof maga- zine capable of containing 3,000 barrels of gunpowder. There is barrack accommoda- tion for a non-commissioned officer and a guard of twelve men, for the protection of the magazine. The number and calibre of the guns in these forts is — mounted, 24; dismounted, 13; unserviceable, 15. Of the mounted, 16 are twenty-four pounders, 1 twelve-pounder, 1 nine-pounder, and 6 sixteen -pounders. Of the dismounted, 2 are twenty-four poxmders, 4 are twelve-pounders, 2 are six-pounders. Building land in Sydney is let at a very high rate; in George-street (the Regent- street of New South Wales) it has been sold at £20,000 per acre, and some ground at the rate of =€50 per foot. Large sums hav^e been expended on shops, stores, and ware- rooms ; one auctioneer spent £5,000 in the enlargement of his premises. Hotels and inns are nu^merous ; some on a large scale, which, in luxui'ious appointments and high charges, may \ie with the first-rate hotels in the parent state. The Royal Hotel has, it is said, already cost €30,000, and Avill require a like sum for its completion. The ball- room and the coffee-room are of noble dimensions ; the private apartments spacious and superbly fiu-nished, and the dormitories " scarcely to be counted." The colonists are not sparing in efforts to improve and adorn the metropolis. There is a circular quay at Sydney Cove, on which there has been expended up to December, 1848, €27,709. The building for the colonial museum at Sydney has already cost in its con- struction about €6,000. On the new govern- ment-house, the residence of the represent- ative of the queen, no less than £50,000 of the taxes raised from the colonists have been ex- pended on the structui'c, althoiigh the origi- nal estimate was not more than €25,000. The new prison at Darlinghurst cost the colony up to December, 1848, fully €51,000. A general cemetery, termed the Necropolis, has been aided with .€5,000 of the colonial revenues. New barracks have been built for the use of her Majesty's troops, and £60,000 have been appropriated for the purpose. More than €1,000 have been employed in making a dry dock at Cockatoo Island. Hyde Park, a piece of land about two miles in circumference, has been judiciously reserved as a pleasure-ground for the citi- zens, and from its elevated and agreeable position will, when planted, surpass in beauty any of the parks attached to European capi- tals, except Hyde Park, London, Phoenix Park, Dublin, and the Prater of Vienna. The Sydney gardens justly rank among the chief attractions of the city, and are situated on a slight elevation which rises gradually from a picturesque and secluded cove on the eastern side of the capital, and are distant about five minutes' walk from the new gov- ernment-house. The site, plan, and arrange- ment of these gardens are aU good. A stone wall, twenty feet high, which runs east and west, diATides them into two portions. That on the south and land side is elevated, and devoted chiefly to botanical purposes : a magnificent pine of that most magnificent species, well named the auracaria excelsa, planted more than thirty years ago, first attracts the eye, while all around coral trees, with their rich scarlet flowers; bread-fruit trees from the Sandwich Islands; pome- granates ; acacias, covered with beautiful parasites; bananas, Banksia, many descrip- tions of palms, and an infinite variety of other tropical trees are to be seen fiom-ishing lux- uriantly in the same ground with the oak, ash, and other English trees and plants. The northern or sea-coast garden extends for nearly a mile along the shore, and is laid out- in winding walks, arbours, shrubberies, green slopes, and grassy terraces, elevated a few feet above the murmuring ripple of the glassy wave. In the centre of the garden is a pond surrounded by weeping willows of immense size, and in the centre stands a plain granite obelisk, dedicated to the memory of Allan Cunningham, the celebrated Australian botanist and traveller, whose in- defatigable exertions and correct taste con- tributed materially to the formation of these gardens.* The government demesne, close to the gardens, is a well shaded and pleasing drive; and during the week-days the per- formances of one of the bands belonging to the regiment stationed at Sydney, adds to the pleasure of the gardens, which however seldom present so animated a scene as on Sundays, when thronged by aU classes of the citizens. Sydney is supplied with water, partly by wells sunk fifteen to thirty feet below the surface, and partly by a tunnel or subter- raneous aqueduct, about two miles and-a- quarter long, which conveys water from the Lachlan swamp to the south-east end of the city. Eour-fifths of the tunnel, the whole of which averages five feet in width, and the * Sketch of New South Wales, by J. O. Balfour, Esq., 1845. MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF SYDNEY— CENSUS, 1846— '51. 115 same in height, is excavated in the solid rock, and the remainder is formed through sand, with chiselled masonry without cement. There are three oflcuts, one forty-five feet in length, another eighty feet, and a third 284 feet, all of the same depth and width as the main tunnel ; the entire mass of excavation throughout the work amounted to 255,930 cubic feet. Springs (met with in the progi'css of the work) furnish addi- tional supplies to the aqueduct. The tunnel was commenced in September, 1827, and the expenditure on it up to the 30th of June, 1837, was ■£22,9'71. It furnishes water for about 30,000 of the citizens. Sydney was incoi-porated in 1842, and the charter of incorporation entitles the citizens, holding tenancies of £2o per aun., to the control over all local affairs, excepting the police, the management of which still remains vested in the executive government. The corporation of the city, under the authority of an act of the colonial legisla- tui'e, 6 Vict., No. 3, section 67, le\'y a rate, by assessment, on the inhabitants of the city ; and under the 70th section of the Act of Incorporation, a police rate is raised by assessment. There are other som'ces of income for the corporation, viz. — a water rate for water laid on to houses ; lighting rate ; rent of three fountains in the city ; markets, fines, fees, and licences. The revenue raised, under several heads, was — Items of Revenue. 1845. 1846. 1847. 1848. City rate assessed Police fund £2,621 3,115 £2,086 2,225 1,086 5 14 1,199 £5,461 2,488 1,323 1,331 804 £6,037 Markets, dues, and rents . . Fees and fines Licences, &c. In aid of city fund .... Water rate and licence . . . Lighting rate 2,344 862 12 129 2,600 1,873 1,863 216 Total 10,191 6,618 11,409 12,591 * In compliance with the wishes of correspondents that this work should be a reference for mercantile men as to the commission, agency, and other charges in our several colonies, I give the following data relative to New South Wales ; but at the completion of the whole work there will be given with the last volume a statement of the rates of interest of money, commission and agency charges, rates of insurance, tariff of customs, &c., in the several dependencies of the British crown. General rates of agency, commission, and ware- house rent, agreed on at a meeting of the New South Wales chamber of commerce : — Commission per cent. — On all sales or purchases of ships and other vessels, houses or lands, where no advance on them has been made, 2j ; on all other sales, purcha.ses, or shipments, 5; on goods consigned, and afterwards with- drawn, or sent to public auction, if no advance on them has The mayor of Sydney has an annual salary of £800 ; and eleven other different officers of the corporation have salaries amounting, in the aggregate, to about £2,200. The repairing of the streets of the city costs about ^8,000 a-year; the water-pipes and repairs of fountains. £2,200 ; the lighting, £700. The police of the capital, and of the colony generally, are paid out of the general revenues : the cost for 1848, was — city poHce, on land, £7,464; M-ater ditto, £1,432; these charges are irrespective of the police in the interior, which cost, during the year 1848, within the settled districts, £21,229; mounted poHce, £9,177 ; native ditto, £227 ; showing a total annual charge for police in New South Wales of £39,529. The census of March, 1846, gave the census of the city — males, 20,810 ; females, 17,548 = 38,358. The suburbs, at the same period, stood thus — Balmain, males, 682; females, 655 : Camperdown, males, 125 ; females, 176: Canterbury, males, 128; fe- males, 64: Chippendale, males, 219; females, 197: the Glebe, males, 538; females, 522- Newtown, males, 631; females, 584: O'Con nelltOAvn, males, 25 ; females, 15 : Padding- ton, males, 422; females, 404: Redferu, males, 437 ; females, 428 : St. Leonard's, males, 223; females, 189: Surry hills, males, 121 ; females, 86. Total in the suburbs, males, 3,546 ; females, 3,286 = 6,832. Then, in March, 1851, the city and its environs contained 53,924 English, or English-descended inhabitants. It now [March, 1853] contains, probably, about 70,000 of the Anglo-Saxon race. [See Supp*.] Sydney has a Chamber of Commerce, which is composed of the merchants, ship- OAvners, and others interested in the trade of the colony.* An Australian Club was insti- tuted in the year 1838, and numbers about been made, 2\ ; on giving orders for the provision of goods, 2|; on guaranteeing sales, bills, bonds, or other engage- ments, 2^; on the management of estates for others, 6; on procuring freight or charter on passage money, and on freight collected, 5 ; on insurances effected, i ; on settling losses, partial or general, 1 ; on effecting remittances, or pur- chasing, selling, or negotiating bills of exchange, 1 ; on the recovery of money, 24 ; if by law or arbitration, 5; on col- lecting ho\ise rent, 5 ; on attending the delivery on contract goods, 2 ; on becoming security for contracts, 5 ; on ships' disbursements, 5 ; on obtaining money on respondentia, 2 ; on letters of credit granted, 2t ; on purchasing, selling, re- ceiving from any of the public offices, lodging in ditto, delivering up, or exchanging government ])aper, or other public securities, h ; on all items, on the debit or credit side of an account on which a commission of 5 per cent, has not been previouslj' charged in the same account, including government paper, 1 ; on entering and clearing ships at the custom house, each 1 guinea. Warehouse rent. — On all measurement goods. Is. per ton of 40 cubic feet per week ; on liquids, Is. Id. per tun of 253 116 MAIL COACHES— STEAM BOATS— OMNIBI OF SYDNEY. 300 members. The club-house, which has cost nearly £10,000, contains good accom- modation ; the entrance fee is £30 ; the annual subscription, £7 lOs. The society met w-ith at the Australian Club is, in point of good breeding and general intelligence, quite on a par with the generality of London clubs, and the rules by which it is governed equally stringent, not to say exclusive. There is, indeed, excellent society in Sydney for the most punctilious gentleman ; he may choose his acquaintance from the thirty-six members of the Legislative Council, the bishop, archdeacon, and other clergy; the three judges ; law officers of the crown ; the officers of the troops stationed in the colony; the members of the government; the magistracy; numerous members of the medical and legal professions; and landed propiietors, and mercantile men of aU grades. At the balls and assemblies in the capital, the beauty and elegance of the Australian belles is a theme of general admii'ation ; and many a born Englishwoman finds herself eclipsed by the fair face, fine form, and witching graces of the "currency lasses."* Sydney has its omnibi as well as London ; they ply constantly between Paddington, on the South Head road, and the Star hotel, George-street, and between other parts of the city; hackney-carriages and cabs are also numerous. There are several well-appointed four- horse coaches, such as could not now be found in England, plying between Sydney and Paramatta, Windsor, Richmond, Liver- pool, and other to\vTis in the interior. There is also a regular stage conveyance to Mel- bourne, Port Phillip. The several mail- coaches for the western and southern dis- tricts leave the post-office, Sydney, every afternoon (Sundays excepted), at five o'clock. The Age, Australian, and Water-witch four- horse coaches leave Sydney daily (Sundays excepted), for Windsor and Paramatta. Fast and commodious steam-boats ply dail)^, morning and evening, between Sydney and Paramatta; and there is constant steam communication with Hunter's lliver, Port Stephens, Port Macquarie, and also with gallons (old measure), per week; on sugar, rice, salt, and similar articles, 6d. per ton per week; on grain, 4d. per bushel for first month, and one half-penny per bushel, per week afterwards ; on iron, lead, &c , 4d. per ton per week. The followin<^ are the premiums charged by the Australian Marine Assurance Company for insuring Vessels and merchandize : — Per cent. — Sperm fishery, for twelve months, 8 to 10 ^ineas; ditto, for the voyage, 8 to 14 guineas; Hobart Town, to or from, 1 guinea; Launceston, ditto, \\; New Melbourne, Port Phillip, Boydtown, and other rising places south of Port Jackson. Some of the recorded statistics of Sydney indicate the state of the city. Thus, in 1844, there were "eighty-six licensed stage- coaches plying in Sydney; 186 licensed draymen ; and twenty-four licensed porters. The total number of licensed slaughter- houses for the year was fourteen : there are about 130 licensed watermen plying within the boundaries of Sydney. The total num- ber of dogs registered in Sydney is only 1,766 : there is reason to believe, that the number prowling about the streets, without any ostensible owner, is upwards of 3,000."' It is fortunate that hydrophobia is unknown in Australia. The Sydney post-office has been, for the last quarter of a century, under the manage- ment of an able and zealous postmaster- general, James Raymond, Esq., who has carried into effect numerous improvements. The metropolis holds communication with four districts in the colony — the western, southern, northern, and coast districts. The ivestern, in 1848, contained fourteen district post-offices, the most distant (Wellington) being 230 miles; and the second nearest (Paramatta) fifteen miles; the letter-charge to the latter is fourpence; to the former, tenpence. At Paramatta the delivery is twice daily ; at six other places, daily : and, at the others, twice or tlu'ice a-week. In the southern district there are thirty-five district post-offices ; the nearest (Liverpool) is twenty miles, and the most distant (Bel- fast) 817 miles; the despatches are five daily, and the remainder twice and thrice a-week. The northern district has twenty- four post-offices, to each of which there is a daily, bi, or tri-weekly despatch. The coast stations have their post-office deliveries and despatches regulated by the steam-packets plying between them and Sydney. The number of letters despatched from Sydney post-office, in 1843, was 822,733; and the number of newspapers was 905,709. Com- pared with 1837, the number of letters had increased two-and-a-lialf-fold; and the news- papers three-and-a-half-fold. The post-office Zealand and South Sea Islands, per month, 1 ; Manilla and China, to, 2j, from, 3; Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta, to or from, not including risk through Torres' Sraits, 3 ; Mauritius, ditto, ditto, 2 to 4; Cape of Good Hope, ditto, ditto, 2| ; United Kingdom, ditto, exclusive of war risk, 2^ to 3J ; Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, ditto, ditto, 2|. * For some years there were two denominations in the circulating medium, sterling and colonial cur- rency ; the European born obtained the name of sterling, and the colonial that of currency. WOODEN RAILROADS FOR NEW SOUTH WALES. 117 collections^ at present, amount to about £15,000 a-year. The distances, in English miles, of the dif- ferent post towns in the colony, in 1848, from Sydney, are thus stated : — Western District — Hyde, 8; Paramatta, 15; St. Mar}^ 29; Penrith, 33; Windsor, 34 ; Richmond, 39 ; Hartley, 78 ; Bathurst, 113; O'Connell, 125; Carwar, 144; IMudgee, 150; Molong, 163; Canowindra, 176; Wel- lington, 230. Southern District — Livei-pool, 20; Cam- den, 33; Appin, 43; Picton, 46; Wol- lougong, 64; Dupto, 72; Berrima, 81; Kiama, 88 ; Shoalhaven, 103 ; Marulan, 108; Bimgonia, 117; Huskisson, 121; Goulbum, 125; Gunning, 152; Bungendore, 161; UUadulla, 163; Braidwood, 164; Yass, 117; Queanbeyan, 182; Broulee, 209; Gun- dagai, 244; Ovens, 429; Seymoui-, 528; Kilmour, 549 ; Melbom-ne, 587 ; Ballan, 637 ; Geelong, 641 ; Grange, 773 ; Belfast, 817. Northern District — Patterson, 10; Car- rington, 16; Clarencetown, by water, 24; Gresford, by water, 25 ; Wollombi, by water, 27 ; Singleton, by water, 31 ; Dungog, by water, 45 ; JeiTy's Planes, by water, 46 ; !Muswellbrook, by water, 59 ; IMerton, by water, 66 ; Scone, by water, 75 ; INIurrurundi, by water, 99; Cassilis, by water, 125; Arma- dale, by water, 150; Tamworth, by water, 154. The distance of the other post towns by water to the north and south of Sydney, is not laid down. Since 1848 several other post towns have been added to the above list. There are no railroads as yet in New South Wales, but it is probable that ere long tram roads at least will be made. The iron and other hard woods of Australia would serve in the first instance instead of iron rails ; by this means roads might be made round the head of Botany Ba}^, through the valleys to the southward, through the rich Maneroo country, and towards Illa- warra. Another trunk line woidd lead to the north-western regions. Sooner or later New South Wales, Port PhilHp, South Aus- tralia, and subsequently Western Australia, will be connected by railroads, for the colo- nists have plenty of iron, coal, and wood, for their construction, and the want of na\i- gable rivers will necessitate the adoption of this mode of locomotion. INIr. Woore has set forth a project for a railway to connect Windsor, Penrith, Ellerslie, Vermont, the Oaks, Bong-Bong, and Goulburn with Syd- ney. The main Une from Sydney to Goul- burn, is 122 miles ; the Windsor branch ,13^ miles; Ellerslie branch, 10| miles; Penrith branch, 8^ miles = 154^ mdes. Whereas the distances from Sydney by the present lines of road are — to Paramatta, 14; Windsor, 39; Penrith, 33; Goulburn, 125; Bong Bong, 80; Camden, 39. Of these 154^ miles of railway, fifty-four miles run through government land, and 102^ miles tlirough private property. Twenty miles is already cleared of timber, and 134^ miles to be cleared. Supposing the line to be three chains wide, or 198 feet, and 154^ miles long, it would contain 3,708 acres, 2,460 of which would be through private property, and 1,248 acres through govern- ment property. In the course of the hne, with the exception of the Windsor branch, there are, besides the formation of the road, eight deep cuttings, and seven side cut- tings. The erections are, five termini, seven stations, two brick or stone viaducts, ten second-class wooden %iaducts, eight first- class bridges, twenty-three second-class bridges, eighty-three third-class bridges, seventy-four culverts, and about eight ac- commodation bridges. By means of wooden instead of iron rails, the wheels of the locomotives "bite" closer, and steeper gradients may be ascended. The estimated cost of this Hne, with wooden rails, is £419,403, or only ^82,714 per mile. Of this sum 275,000 sleepers, nine feet long, (rough square,) being for two lines on 154^ miles, each six feet from centre to centre, five shillings each, cost £68,000; making 154 miles of road cost £300 per mile = £46,200; eight cuttings, £16,000; seven- side ditto, £10,500; building bridges, cul- verts, stations, termini, draining, &c., about £120,000; laving sleepers and rails, £200 per mile, £30'',900 ; 3,270,000 feet of scant- ling, 8 X 4, at twelve shilHngs per 100 = £19,620 ; locomotives, can'iages, turn-tables, &c., £50,000. These details give some idea of the diff'erence of cost between a railway in the United Kingdom and one in Austra- lia. At Sydney excellent steam-engines are made ; the carriages and everything required would be prepared in the colony. Having, in the previous pages, carefully gathered together — even at the risk of offer- ing what some may consider dry detail — the materials from which my readers may, I trust, be enabled to form a correct idea of this fair and youthfid city, I may conclude with a few general remarks. ]\iy own feelings, on first landing, from the east coast of Africaj 118 AUTHORITIES ON THE STATE OF SYDNEY. were those of mingled delight and astonish- ment. I was not prepared to find, at the antipodes, a city so home-like, so thoroughly English in its character; nor could I have beheved it possible that a colony of such comparatively recent establishment, founded too under very peculiar circumstances, could have acquired a degree of order, comfort, cleanliness, and security, not inferior to that which distinguishes some of the best and oldest cities of the mother country. Lest, however, it should be supposed that a bias in favour of this colony, or of the British colonies generally, influences (even uncon- sciously) my pen, in writing of them, I prefer quoting, as far as practicable, the statements of other writers, and citing the impressions produced on the minds of other travellers, instead of merely ofiering my own opinions. Count Strzelecki, wi-iting in 1839, says : — " Since my arrival in Sydney, I cannot help asking myself — Am I really in the capital of that ' Botany Bay,^ which has been repre- sented as 'the community of felons^ — 'the most demoralized colony known^ ? &c. &c. Let the authors of these and other epithets contained in the works they wrote on New South Wales congratulate themselves ! My mystification was complete. The evening I effected my disembarkation in Sydney, I did it with all imaginary precautions, leaving my watch and purse behind me, and arming myself with a stick. I found, however, in the streets of Sydney, a decency and a quiet which I had never witnessed in any other of the ports of the United Kingdom. No di'unkenness, no sailors' quarrels, &c., &c. Since then, how many nights like the first did I not witness, in which the silence, the feeling of perfect security, and the delicious freshness of the air, mingled with nothing that could break the charm of a solitary walk!'^ Captain Stokes, ll.N., of H.M.S. Beagle, who visited Sydney in 1840-1, says he was much struck with the strange contrast its extensive and at the same time youthful appearance presented, compared with the decrepid and decaying aspect of the cities in South America, which he had recently quitted, and which were founded two cen- turies ago, by a nation at that time almost supreme in Europe, iipon the shores of a fertile continent. In Sydney he beheld with wonder what scarce half a century had sufficed to effect ; for, " where, almost within the memory of man, the savage ranged the desert wastes and trackless forests, a noble city has sprung, as though by magic, from the ground, which will ever serve both as a monument of English enterprise and as a beacon from whence the light of Christian civilization shall spread through the dark and gloomy recesses of ignorance and guilt.''— (Vol. i. pp. 244-5.) Mr. C. I. Baker, who recently \isited Australia, describes very naturally the im- pression made upon strangers from the United Kingdom ])y the Australian metro- polis. " Sydney is certainly an extraor- dinaiy place ; and if the colony continues to progress as it has done during the last twenty or thirty years, it will, ere another generation have passed away, be one of the first cities in the world. A new-comer rubs his eyes, and repeatedly questions whether his long voyage has not been a dream, and he himself still in the mother country : the streets, the houses, the shops and other buildings, the carriages, including stage coaches, flys, and cabs, are all constructed as in England ; the bustling busy popula- tion are all English or thoroughly Anglified ; so also are the various customs of life, the goods displayed in the shops, the furniture, the grates with their coal fires, the style of living and mode of cooking, the wine, beer, &c. ; — in short, from first to last, you have England, and England only." "^ In another place, Mr. Baker bears the following testimony to the character of the people. It is after adverting to there being one, or sometimes two of her Majesty's regi- ments stationed at Sydney, and a great many sailors from all parts of the world frequenting the port, he adds — " Yet it is one of the most orderly towns a traveller can visit. I witnessed neither the brawl nor drunkenness, nor the shameless prostitution which so often shock and offend in our own streets ; whilst the only beggars I met with were two blind men. Another proof of the prevalent order of the town is the general decorum observed on the sabbath. On the whole, great credit is due to the authorities for their excellent government of a popu- lation, amongst whom might be expected much disorder and unseemly immorality." — (pp. 132, 133.) No government could, however, preserve the order and decency so manifest in Syd- ney, unless seconded by a strong sense of propriety in the inhabitants themselves, who attach great importance to the obtain- ment and maintenance of a good character • Sydney and Melbourne. 1 vol. 1846. PARAMATTA, THE SECOND TOWN IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 119 and a fair farae;^ and Mr. Baker speaks of having been struck by " the superior breeding, education, and intelligence of many of the settlers not locating in fellowship in any particular neighbourhood, but amply scattered throughout the colony — men, more- over, of unblemished character, active in mind and body, and of agreeable and open manners." Paramatta, the second town in the county of Cumberland, was established, as we have already seen (p. 403), in the very early days of the colony. For a consider- able time it was merely an encampment, or succession of huts, and the older settlers con- tinued to speak of it as the camp, long after it had grown to be a \illage, and even a town. The name of Rose Hill, given by its first Eiu'opean inhabitants, has been happily superseded by the native designa- tion of the river on which it is situated. The river is, however, chiefly a continuation of Port Jackson, its waters being salt until just beyond Paramatta bridge, where a dam thrown across by governor Macquarie, checks the further advance of the tide. The com- missariat store, a large brick building, occu- pies a position at the extremity of the town, close to the beach, permiting boats to go alongside and haA'C then* cargoes hoisted up into its capacious granaries ; while beyond this is a water-mill — a dam being here car- ried across, to keep up the necessary supply to work it. The town extends over a considerable ex- tent of gi'ound, and is built along a small fresh-water stream, which falls into Par- amatta river. The streets are regularly laid * The diminution of crime of late years in Sydney, and throughout the whole territory of New South Wales, is very remarkable, and will be found detailed under the section on Crime, but it may be useful to give here a statement of the number of felonies in the cx)lony for ten years — showing their number in proportion to the population, and to each 10,000 inhabitants ; thus : — Years. One in each To each 10,000 Inhabitants. 1839 148 67 1840 196 51 1841 208 48 1842 276 36 1843 294 34 1844 327 31 184,5 362 27 1846 358 28 1847 449 22 1848 481 21 This shews an actual decrease of more than forty j)er cent., and a relative decrease of crime of more than sixty-eight per cent, in ten years. out — the principal of them, George Street, is about a mile in length ; the houses, which are generally detached from each other, and partly sm'rounded with gardens, are mostly built of brick or white freestone — the latter being very abundant, and, from its excellent quality, m.uch used for grindstones. The public buildings are substantial and well con- structed. The government-house is agree- ably situated on an eminence, in a somewhat extensive demesne, amid carefully tended gardens; Sir Thomas Brisbane, who made it his chief residence during his administra- tion, erected an observatory, which he placed under the superintendence of a skilful astro- nomer, named Dunlop. There is an ex- cellent institution for orphans, situate on the banks of the river. In the vicinity of Paramatta is a Con\ict Lunatic Asylum, which contained on 31st December, 1848, eighty-eight male, and ten female invahds; 104 male, and twenty -four female lunatics; to these are attached, as servants, ten male and one female con\dct. The town lies in a sheltered valley, and its climate, dming the winter months, is delightful ; but in the summer the heat is sometimes intense, the diflerence of temperatui'e between it and Sydney being generally as much as from six to ten degrees. Paramatta is a corporate town, having a municipal district council; the annual in- come is about ,€1,200, consisting chiefly of tolls. The cloth manufactured here has obtained a high character, not only in the colony, but also in the mother country ; and a soft woollen fabric called " Paramatta," has become equally celebrated, being (I am told) now deemed by the ladies as indispen- sable an article in their mom'ning attire, as bombazeen was, in that of their grand- mothers. Several other manufactoi'ies have been recently established in the neighbour- hood. A recent wi'iter says, that " a silk institution has been formed there, under able management, and mulberry planting on a large scale has been commenced ;"t ^iid iri the same work it is elsewhere stated, that extensive works for the smelting of copper ore are in operation at Lane Cove, on the Paramatta river. There are large salt works on the banks of the Paramatta river. Paramatta, being the high road to Windsoi and the northern districts, has numerous and commodious inns. It is much frequented by visitors from Sydney. The country in f New South Wales, by a resident of twelve years' experience. 1849. ]20 LIVERPOOL, RICHMOND, WILBERFORCE, &c. its immediate vicinity is very pleasing, extensive orangeries thrive luxuriantly, and in many places the land is well cultivated. The distance between Sydney and Para- matta is about eighteen miles by water, and fifteen by land. Steam-boats run morning and evening between the two towns, and carry a great number of passengers. The trip by water is a delightful one ; for, after leaving Sydney, a considerable portion of the interior of Port Jackson is traversed before entering the river, which forms some reaches, whose beauty must be acknow- ledged even by those who have but just before gazed upon the " harbour of an hun- dred coves.''^ By land it is much less agree- able, the soil being generally of inferior quality, and the scenery very monotonous, notwithstanding the various dwellings, from the mansion and its spacious pleasure- grounds, to the cottage -with its neat garden, and the only too numerous public-houses, which at intervals, on either side, indicate the vicinity of a thriving town. The old- established family of Blaxland have a fine estate on the road between Paramatta and Sydney; and the large mansion and ex- cellent farm of the late D'Arcy Wentworth is on the same line. Farms are also being formed along the Paramatta stream ; and a \illage is springing up on a pretty turn of the river called Kissing Point. From the portion of Paramatta situated beyond the river, a good road runs for some distance along the right bank of the stream, in a north-west direction, which leads to Windsor, the distance being about twenty miles. This town, formerly called the Green Hills, at present containing about 2,000 in- habitants, is situate near the confluence of the South Creek with the Hawkesbury, which at this point is 140 miles distant from the sea, and narigable for vessels of 100 tons burthen, four miles above Windsor. The tov/n is very pleasantly situated, being built on a hill elevated 100 feet above the level of the Hawkesbury, and commanding a beautiful view of the surrounding cotmtry; its population and buildings are similar to those of Paramatta. The inns, as is the case, indeed, throughout the colony, are large and excellent; stage-coaches ply every day to and from Sydney via Paramatta, and steam-boats thrice a week, the distance be- tween Broken Bay, where the Hawkesbmy disembogues into the sea, and the north head of Port Jackson, being about fourteen miles. The land in the vicinity of Windsor is extremely rich, and being in the posses- sion of numerous small farmers, is carefully tiUed, so that frequent farm-yards and ex- tensive fields of gi-ain, with herds of kine, add to the natural beauty of a very pictu- resque country. In some parts the broad and placid waters of the Hawkesbury are overhung by cliffs 600 feet in height, and the numerous vessels and boats on this noble stream form another attractive feature, and render it a favom-ite resort. The town of Wilberforce lies on the oppo- site side of the Hawkesbury, obliquely to the right ; and obliquely to the left is — Richmond, a rising inland town, distant from Sydney thirty-nine miles. Liverpool is situate on the banks of the George River, which disembogues in Botany Bay. INIany persons, long accustomed to the term of " Botany Bay,^^ believe that the colony is founded on the shores of this ex- tensive inlet of the ocean. I have already stated, that such was the original intention, but it was never carried into effect ; and the shores around Botany Bay are nearly as wild, as bleak, as barren, and almost as unin- habited, as when they were first visited by captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks. Botany Bay is about fourteen miles to the south- ward of the Heads, as the entrance of Port Jackson is called ; it is wide, open and un- sheltered for vessels. I risited it, not liking to leave the country without having seen this famous spot. The only advantage derived from my journey, was the oppor- tunity of contrasting the dreary desolation around its shores, with the busy hum of human industry at the contiguous harbour of Port Jackson, and of being reminded that about half a century ago, there was no dif- ference in the wild waste of nature at either place. The country is flat around, but cleared and cultivated, though the soil is poor; the public buildings are the same as in the towns previously described, with the addition of a Male Orphan School. The Church is a good structure, but insufficient for the wants of the town. The Hospital is a handsome building, well adapted for the benevolent purpose of contributing to the relief of the population for miles around. Three miles beyond Liverpool is Lansdowne bridge, which is built of stone (by conrict labour) ; the arch being of 110 feet span. There are stage-coaches daily between Liver- pool and Sydney. It now contains about 5,000 inhabitants, and is yearly increasing in size and opulence. COUNTY OF CAMDEN, NEW SOUTH WALES. 121 A new to-vm called Canterbury has been commenced, six miles from Sydney, -nbere extensive works have been constructed for refining sugar. '' Other towns and ^illages [see census in Supplement], viz. ; — Campbelltown, Appin, Venrith, Pitt -town, Petersham, Narellan, &c., are arising in different directions ; each with its chvirch, gaol, court-house, market, mill, and numerous spirit and gene- ral stores ; and as population increases, they will augment in number and in extent. The post-roads throughout the county of Cum- berland are numerous, regularly cut and levelled, well made, and kept in good mac- adamized order, by means of the tolls from turnpikes erected near the entrance of each town. The great thoroughfares have four railed fences at each side of the road, and mQe-stones throughout. There are many cross-roads, some still in the original hush state, and known only by notched trees and a cart-rut. Previous to quitting the county of Cum- berland, it may be mentioned, that the road through the northern part, towards Wise- man's Ferry, to the Blue Mountains, has been made by following one continuous ridge of sandstone; but the western route, by Par- amatta, is free from precipitous ravines, and the undulations sufficiently moderate, to admit the passage of a straight road; the soil also is good, consisting chiefly of decom- posed trap, and producing crops as abun- dantly now, as when it was first tilled, forty years ago. In the neighbourhood are the hospitable mansions of the Lawsons, Leth- bridges,* and other much respected settlers, who, in the early days of the colony, emi- grated to New South Wales, and have con- tributed materially to the improvement of the land of their adoption. Camden County is di\'ided from the county of Cumberland by a line bearing W. 20° W. from Bulli, on the sea-coast, to the head of the Cataract river, thence by that river and the Nepean to its junction with the WoDondilly, there called tlie War- ragamba ; on the west by the river Wollon- dilly to the junction of Uringalla creek, and by the Uringalla and Barber's c reek to the Shoalhaven river ; on the south by the Shoalhaven river, which separates it from the county of St. Vincent ; and on the east by the ocean. The extreme length of Cam- den county is about sixty-six miles, and the extreme breadth fifty-five miles. Its surface b, in general, a continued succession of hill DIV. I, and dale, the former sometimes rising into mountains, whose steep sides are clothed with varieties of lofty timber. There is some sceneiy in this county of a peculiarly wild and gloomy character. A remarkable range, consisting chiefly of trap rock, tra- verses the whole county, between the Wollon- dilly and the sea, in a south-east direction, extending from Bulli to a small boat har- bour named Kiama; the highest part is known as the Mittagong range. Although so much of this county is m.ountainous, and a large portion of its area consists of ferru- ginous sandstone, it yet contains an unusual proportion of excellent grazing land, and also much good wheat land, especially towards the side of the Shoalhaven river. The Razor-back range is another remarkable feature in this part of the country. It is isolated, extending aoout eight miles, in a general direction, between W.N.W. and E.S.E., being very level on some parts of the summit, and so very narrow in others, while the sides are also so steep, that the name it has obtained is descriptive enough. Around this trap range lies the fertile dis- trict of the Cow Pastures, which are said to comprise about 60,000 acres, the greatest part consisting of a light, sandy loam, resting on a substratum of clay. These pastures extend noi'thward from the river Bargo to the junction of the Warragamba and Ne- pean rivers ; they obtained their name from the large number of cattle found there, which had for their original stock three run- aways, belonging to the herd landed from H.M.S. Sirius, soon after the founding of the colony. Barragorang, in this county, is a long narrow valley, hemmed in between a continuous ridge and the Blue ISIoun- tains, with only one pass into it, and that a very precipitous one. It runs north and south along the banks of the Warragamba, and consists of a stripe of rich soil, matted with the finest native herbage, and most picturesquely variegated with rocky and pre- cipitous mountains, frowningly impending on either side, their rugged declirities occa- sionally adorned with Avaring shrubs and verdant heaths. But the most interesting portion of Camden county is the Ulawarra, a narrow stripe of arable land, situated be- tween the ocean and the eastern base of a lofty ridge of trap rock, running parallel to the coast, and connected with ^littagong range. The average br-cadth of this belt of land is from four to six miles, and its length about sixty. This singular region is termed p 122 SCENERY AT ILLAWARRA, OR FIVE ISLANDS. by the colonists the garden of New South Wales; Mitchell, Lang, Cunningham, Stokes^ and other writers, speak in the most en- thusiastic terms of its surpassing beauty. The charms peculiar to mountain scenery of the wildest and most romantic order, and those also which characterize more particularly the shores of a mighty ocean, are each enhanced by the rich luxu- riance of tropical vegetation, while birds of exquisite form and brilliant plumage take their flight through the clear, exhilarating "Austi^lian" air. The stately palms, the graceful tree-ferns, and the lofty cedars, entwined to their very summits by parasi- tical plants of various kinds, which, stretch- ing from tree to tree, form a sort of embowered roof, afford a perfect refuge from the sun's too fervid rays, and overshadoAV a rich and varied undergrowth of wild %'ines and matted creepers. No pestilential va- pom*, no deadly miasm lies in tvait to poison, with insidious influence, the unwary loiterer. In Eastern Africa (at Zanzibar), Madagascar, and Java, I have looked upon regions (in many respects resembling this) which seemed, at first sight, to realize the idea of Eden ; but painful experience soon teaches a Euro- pean, that to him these fair scenes are fraught with disease and death; and the contemplation of them inspired me with much the same feeling with which a man would regard the mask, whose painted beauty served as a temporary cover to loath- some deformity. It is difficult to account for the tropical character and extraordinarily luxuriant vege- tation of Illawarra. It may be in some degree attributable to the shelter afibrded by the adjacent mountains from .the cold winter wmds, the nourishment obtained from the streams which flow from those heights, and the moist breezes of the sea; but I am inclined to think with Dr. Lang, that the chief cause may be traced in the soil, which exhibits maay indications of a volcanic origin. In some parts of the dis- trict of Illawarra, or Five Islands, (as it is sometimes called, from some rocky islets "which lie near the coast,) there are grassy meadows, of fifty to a hundred acres in extent, quite destitute of timber, and sur- rounded with a border of the lofty fan-palm, or cabbage-tree. Dr. Lang states, that several extensive tracts are in the hands of non-resident proprietors, a circumstance (he adds) always to be regretted wherever it occui's in the colony; but its resident inhabitants consist chiefly of small settlers, who cultivate grain, potatoes, pumpkins, &c., for the Sydney market, their produce being conveyed to the capital by water, in small coasting vessels. The cedar-tree, both white and red, abounds in the mountains of this district and in the deep gulleys ; and the cutting and conveying to Sydney affords employment to a considerable population, somewhat similar, both in habit and cha- racter, to the lumberers of Canada, The cedar of New South Wales is used all over the colony for all sorts of cabinet and joinery work ; it is somewhat similar, in appearance, to Honduras mahogany, and the choicer specimens take a fine polish. Its price de- pends on the number of buildings going on in the colony at any particular time ; but it is generally sold at twopence to threepence per superficial foot of one inch in thickness. IllaAvarra is rendered very difficult of access by the numerous ravines in the range which forms its western boundary, to whose summit, on the interior side, sandstone extends. Half-way down Illawarra mountain (the height of which is estimated by Dr, Lang at from 1,500 to 2,000 feet high, and whose descent to the beautiful Illawarra country is the most precipitous and rugged bridle road, used in the colony for a road), is a sin- gular place of refuge, so capacious as to have received three horses and their riders, formed by a dead tree of immense size, the interior of which has been consumed by fire, although it is still about 100 feet in height.* About nine miles from the foot of the mountain is the thriving little village of Wollon- gong, situated on a small harbour on the coast. Berrima, the county town of Camden, is eighty miles from Sydney, and is situated in a hollow, on the Berrima river. It is 2,096 feet above the level of the sea, and the climate is sensibly different from that of the low country towards the coast. The gooseberry and cui-rant thrive and attain a good size and flavour on this table-land • while the potato and the apple acquire an European character; but the maize and the orange, which succeed well below, refuse to grow in this higher region. The children also, at Berrima, have fine ruddy faces, as at home; unlike the pale faces of Sydney and the lower country generally, (Laxig'sFhiUipsland, p. 238.) The country immediately round Berrima is of but indifferent quality, though at the • Lang's New South Wales, COUNTY OF ARGYLE, NEW SOUTH WALES. 123 distance of a few miles it becomes of a much better description ; one chief inducement in the choice of this locaUty hanng been its abundant supply of good water, materials for building, and the vicinity of a small agricultural population. The church, court- house, and gaol are handsome buildings ; and at the entrance of the township is a substantial bridge of stone-Avork. Camden, the estate of the Messrs. Mac- arthvir, is a remarkable place ; it extends for many miles along the bank of the Cow- pasture river (on the Camden side), and exhibits striking proofs of the enterpnsing spirit of its proprietors. The best kinds of grape, from the Rhine, ]Madeira, and other ^ine-growing countries, have been im- ported by these gentlemen, who have also brought out several German families, at their own cost, for the purpose of intro- ducing the best mode of cultivating the grape and preparing wine.* These laudable efforts appear likely to prove very successful ; and the Messrs. Macarthur will rank, as pro- moters of production and manufacture in their native land, second only to their wor- thy father. Their farming is pm-sued on an excellent system, and is very productive. Silos, or subteiTanean granaries, have been constinicted at Camden ; and jSIr. Atkinson mentions one (filled ^vith maize and millet) being opened there, after the expiration of six months, and a great part of the grain taken out, which proved to be in a state of perfect preservation, and the straw lining quite sound and dry, except a little near to the under sui'face of the brick arch.f Toivns not before mentioned. — Wilson, Picton, Kiama, and Murrionbah. Rivers. — Wingecarribee, a fine freshwater stream, rising in a swamp of that name, and flowing through Berrima, which empties itself into the WoUondilly; the Nattai, which flows into the Wollondilly at Barragorang ; the Kangaroo, Avon, Cataract, Bargo, and • The first cultivators of the vineyard of the Messrs. Macarthur were some piratical Greeks, sent out as convicts, who, at the expiration of their sen- tences, returned to their own country. t The construction of silos in those countries {i. e., Hungary, Poland, &c.) where they are in common use, is exceedingly simple. An elevated site is fixed upon (if possible, the pinnacle of a small mount), so that there can be no drainage of water into the gra- nary from higher ground in its vicinity. A pit is there sunk, resembling an inverted lime-kiln ; the depth and dimensions of this pit must depend upon the quantity it is required to contain, which may be 200 or 2,000 bushels. (See Aikinson'a Account of Agri- culture and Grazing in New South Wales, p. 70.) Minumurra. Creeks. — Myrtle, Werriberri, Wollondoola, Black Bob, Yarringal, Bro- ger's, Broughton's, Mullet, and Wattle. Eminences. — Jellorr, Bonnum Peak, Keera Bonnum, Keera, Bullio, Kembla, Nundialla, and Pianeng, several of which command extensive and magnificent prospects. Argyle County is bounded on the north by the river Guinecor, from its junction with the Wollondilly, to its source near the Burra Burra lagoon on the dividing range; on the west, by the diAiding range from Burra Burra, by Cullarin to Lake George, including the three Breadalbane Plains ; on the south by the northern margin of Lake George to Kenny's Station ; from Lake George to the Alianoyonyiga mountain, by a small gul- ley, descending to the lake ; from Alianoy- onyiga, by the ridge extending south-east, to the hill of WoUowolar; and from Wol- lowolar by the Boro creek, to the Shoal- haven river, to the junction of the riAnlet from Barber's creek; by the rivulet, fi'om Barber's creek to its source ; across a nar- row neck of land to the head of the Urin- galla creek ; by the Uringalla creek to its junction with the AYollondilly river; and by the Wollondilly to the junction of the Guinecor above-mentioned; the nearest point to the sea being distant about twenty-five miles. Argyle is about sixty miles in length, its average being from twenty-five to thirty miles. The sui-face is generally xmdulating, consisting of tolerably high and extensive ridges, ramifying in various directions, with swelling hills and irregitlar plains and vallies between them, watered by the Wollondilly and other branches of the Hawkesbury and Shoalhaven rivers, besides a number of small rivulets and ponds containing water all the year round. Argyle contains large tracts of open forest, where the basis of the soil is granite, and the country, though pleasing to the eye, from its park-like appearance, is poor, and seldom adapted for cultivation ; but the soil is light, dry, and extremely well-suited for sheep-grazing, the surface being covered with a thin but very nutritive herbage. In other parts, however, whinstone predomi- nates, and the land is of the best quality, being equally well fitted for either pastoral or agricultural purposes. Sir Thomas Mit- chell speaks of the anthistiria or oat-grass, which grows in these tracts, as the best of any Australian grass for cattle, and one of the surest indications of a good soil and dry situation. Argyle is rich in minerals; cop- 124 GOULBOURN, IN ARGYLE COUNTY, AND LAKE BATHURST. per of the best ore is found near Arthurs- leigli, and other places. A description of marble is found there, which is said to re- semble the famous Giallo Antico, of Italy. Near the WoUondilly, a few miks from Towrang, is a quarry of crystalline varie- gated marble, which has of late years been wrought to a considerable extent ibr chim- ney-pieces, tables, and other ornamental purposes. Goidbourn, or Midwarree, the county town of Argyle, distant 120 miles from Sydney, is situated in a fine tract of country, fifteen miles in length, with an average breadth of eight miles, called Goulbourn Plains, and is in the centre of an extensive pastoral and agricultural district. Dr. Lang deems it, beyond comparison, the finest town in the interior of New South Wales, and says that the buildings generally are of a much more Kubstantial character, as well as of a much finer appearance, than those of most inland colonial towns. It is a busy and thriving place, and annually increasing in prospe- rity; the proposed communication by a railway with Sydney, if cai'ried into effect, will add to the importance of the place. There is an extensive flour-mill, with a four- teen horse power steam-engine ; a brewery, also carrying a steam-engine ; and the inns are stated to be " quite splendid for the in- terior of a colony." The amount of busi- ness done in these establishments is indi- cated by the fact, that Mr. Bradley, their proprietor, pays £700 a year for carriage between Goulbourn and Sydney. The mem- bers of the church of England, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic persuasions have each a neat temple devoted to their respective forms of worship. The Goulbourn, or Mulwarree Plains are supposed to have been, at no very distant period of time, the bed of a lalce; the stones which are collected in particular spots, or which are dug up from excavations made to a great depth, consist of quartz, pebbles, rolled stones, and shingle, as if from the bed of a beach; the ridges at either side are like headlands. The Goulbourn Plains form part of a series of alluvial tracts which traverse the eastern part of the colony, and have an average elevation of about 2,000 feet above the level of the sea ; the Goulbourn and Brcadalbane Plains are in the south ; the Ba- thurst, iu the west; and the Darling Downs, which have a length of 120 miles, with a breadth of thirty to forty miles, are in the north. The Breadalbane Plains are separated from those of Goulboiirn by a ridge of forest land about eight miles across The plains are situated on the high dividing ground, or waters hid between the waters falling eastward and westward. They have, pro- bably, once been lagoons, of which there are several in the vicinity, viz. — Tarrago, Mut- mutbelly, and Wallagorang; the latter is supposed to be the residuum of a lake which probably once covered the Breadalbane plains. In several parts there are what the Ameri- cans aptly, but not elegantly, terra " salt- licks," on which the cattle depasture with great avidity, and with much benefit. There is a fine tract of pastoral country around these plains, at an elevation of 2,278 feet above the level of the sea. The pasturage has a rich velvet-like appearance. The three open fiats or plains are circumscribed by some low hills ; they extend for about twelve miles in the direction of the Sydney road, and have an average breadth of two miles. Lake Bathurst, in this county, about 130 miles south-west of Sydney, and sixty miles inland, from Jervis Bay, is from three to five miles in diameter, and varies in size ac- cording to the quantity of water it receives from the torrents on the north-west and south-west — of which it forms the reservoir. The waters are pure — the depth I have not been able to ascertain. Mr. Peter Cunning- ham speaks of an animal resembling a seal, having been seen in this lake, apparently three feet long, and every now and then appearing above water to " blow." The aborigines call it "Devil-devil," and con- sider it an evil spirit. Marulan, the second town in the county, is situated at the junction of the roads lead- ing to Goulbourn and Bungonia, which latter town stands on a creek of the same name. Rivers. — Wollondilly,Cookbundoon, Shoal- haven, and Guinecor. Creeks. — Windellama, Curran, Bangalore, Lerida, Crisps, Mul- warree Ponds, Woorondooronbidge, Kerro- wong, Myrtle, and Uringalla. Eminences. — Wayo, Mount Fitton, Towrang, Marulan, Mount Macalister, and Mount Hobbes. St. Vincent County extends along the sea- shore to the southward of Camden county, and includes the harbours of Shoalhaven, Jervis bay, and Bateman bay, already de- scribed, and is the general coast line of the colony. It is bounded on the north and west, by the Shoalhaven river ; and on the south, by Moodong creek, Deua river, and Moruya river. Its length is about eighty-four miles. AUCKLAND COUNTY AND BOYDTOWN. 125 and its breadth about forty miles. The greater, and especially the northern portion of this county, is very wild and mountain- ous ; and will probably afford a rich field for geological and mineraiogical research.* The southern portion affords the most soil avail- able for cultivation or pasture ; although, on Bateman bay, which is its limit on the south, much good soil cannot be expected, as Snapper Island, at the entrance, consists of grey compact quartz only, with white veins of crystalline quartz. On the upper part of the Shoalhaven river, there are many plains admirably adapted for agricul- tural purposes, the river there resembling an English stream, and flowing nearly on a level ^nth the surface. The county is well watered by several small streams, of which the most considerable, called the Clyde, runs nearly parallel to the sea for a considerable distance. Towns. — Braidwood is the chief; the others are Huskisson, Ulladulla, Broulee, Marlow, Namga, Tianjara, and Fara- ham. Rivers. — Shoalhaven, Macleay, Clyde, Deuca, Mongarloo, ]\Ioruya, and Crook- haven. Creeks. — Wandagandria, Jervis, Yer- rimong, Pigeon-house, Endrick, Jembaic .ra- bene, Congola, and Groobyar. Eminences. — Pigeon-house, Currockbilly, Budawang,\Vom- balloway, and Jillamatong. South and south-west of St. Vincent county there has been recently marked out the counties of Daropier, Beresford, Auck- land, Wcllesley, Wallace, Cowley, and Buc- cleuch ; but of the boundaries and charac- teristics of these counties we have as yet little precise information, excepting Auck- land, which is described by Mr. Wellsf as comprehending that portion of New South Wales, bounded by a line running from Cape HoAve along the boundary of the dis- trict of Port Phillip, to the point where the said boundary crosses the 149th degree of E. long. ; thence due north along the said 149th degree of E. long, to the lat. of 36° 40' S. ; thence due east to the sea, and thence south along the sea coast to Cape HoAve. It is about sixty miles in length, ai.d forty in breadth. It contains the secure • My own opinion is, that gold will eventually be found there. [For recent cold discoveries, see Suppt.] t Geoffrnpliical Dictionary or Gazetteer of the Aus- tralian Colonies. By W. H. AVells. Sydney, 1848. This useful work, which I have but just procured, appears an admirable compilation of facts, collected with great care, and which, judging from the difficulty I have experienced in obtaining correct local infor- mation, must have been greatly needed. haven of Twofold bay, on the south shore of which is situated the rising settlement of Boydtown. This thriving township owes its establishment chiefly to Mr. Benjamin Boyd, one of the most enterprising colonists in Australia, who, with his brother, Mark Boyd, of London, has very materially con- tributed to advance the interests of the colony, and to popixlarize New South Wales in England. There are two townships, named East Boyd and Eden, separated from each other by the river Kiah or Towamba. Point Brierly, about one mile from each township, is in 37° 6' 40" S., 149° 57' 42" east of Greenwich. Twofold bay is the chief port of outlet for the south-east dis tricts of New South Wales, and is the key to the extensive Maneroo country, now divided into the several counties above named. Lieutenant Woore, R.N., who made the survey for the Admiralty chart, says that South bay, or that on the shores of which East Boyd stands, has a decided superiority over any other anchorage in Two- fold bay, arising from the prevailing and strong Avinds blowing fiom the southAvard. It is more extensive than North bay, where Eden is, and possesses abundance of fresh water, Avhich gives it a further advantage. Boydtown, under the zealous exertions of its founder, already contains a neat Gothic church, the spire of which is visible twenty miles at sea, a handsome hotel, in the Elizabethean style, ranges of commodious brick stores, well-built houses, and neat verandah cottages; a jetty of several hun- dred feet in length, and a heaving-doAvn hulk. There is an excellent whaling station, also extensive boiling-down and salt-provision establishments, &c. A light-house, now erecting on the South head, at the entrance of the bay, consists of a tower seventy-six feet in height, Avith a diameter of tAventy* tAvo feet. It is being built of Avhite Sydney sandstone, in solid blocks of nearly half a ton each, and, independent of its light, will prove an excellent land-mark for the shipping which frequently take shelter in the bay, where they can procure, at East Boyd, abundance of provisions, fuel, and Avater, The produce exported already amounts, in value, to nearly ^6100,000 a-year. Mr. Ben jamin Boyd has, after considerable labour, and at his own cost, constructed a road of forty-five miles, to convey the produce to BoydtoAvn, from the famous squatting dis- trict known as the Maneroo plains, or Brisbane downs. The fine sheep-walks of 126 MURRAY AND KING COUNTIES, NEW SOUTH WALES. Maneroo, which occupy a square of about 100 miles in extent, and are from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above the level of the sea, on the right bank of the river Murrumbidgee, lie to the eastward of the meridian of 149°, and extend upwards of forty miles to the southward of the parallel of 36° 15', which appears to be the parallel of their northern skirts. They are bounded on the east by the coast-range of hills, which give an inte- rior or westerly direction to the streams by which these downs are permanently watered ; and on the west by the Australian Alps, known here as the Warragong chain. Toivns in Auckland county. — Boyd, Eden, Parabula. Rivers. — Towamba or Kiah, the Towaca, Merumbal, Bega, Bomballa, and Bemboka. Eminences. — The Wanderer's range, and Mount Imlay, so named, after Dr. Imlay, who first explored the adjacent country. This eminence is an excellent landmark, being about 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. These natural savannahs consist of a series of undulations of hill and dale, lightly timbered, with a rich soil, and well watered by the Deuna, Shoalhaven, Queanbeyan, Mui'ray, Murrumbidgee, and Mitta-Mitta rivers, are a very favoui'ite residence for squatters, and are capable of yielding support to many thousand inha- bitants. Murray County is bounded on the north- east by the Boro creek, from its junction with the Shoalhaven river to its source in the hill of WoUowalar ; by the range thence to the Aliano-yonyiga mountain, between Lake George and Lake Bathurst, and by a Avatercourse descending from that mountain to Lake Geoige, by the northern shore of Lake George to the hill on the dividing range, by the range in the west overlooking its northern extremity, and thence by Gan- daroo creek and Yass river to the Murrum- bidgee ; on the west, by the Murrumbidgee river to the junction of Miccaligo creek ; on the south, by that creek to the Twins or Tindery Pics, passing between them to the source of Tindery creek, and by that creek to Queanbeyan river, by that river to the creek entering it from the hill called Tu- manwong, and by a line from the source of Jerrabatgulla, in that mountain, to the junction of Currabeene creek with the Shoal- haven river, and on the east, by Shoalhaven river to the junction of Boro creek. The length of this county is about seventy- eight miles ; its breadth about forty-four miles. It contains several extensive tracts of remarkable fertility, instances of which have been quoted in the description of the general character of the soil of New South Wales ; and the oat-grass, before mentioned as growing spontaneously in Argyle, is also found here. A ridge of high land runs north and south through the eastern portion, in a somewhat parallel direction with the Shoalhaven river, which divides the county of Murray from that of St. Vincent. The most remarkable feature in this coimty is liake George, which is stated by Sir Thomas Mitchell to have been in 1828 a sheet of water seventeen miles in length, and seven in breadth, the water being slightly brackish, but very good for use. The lake was then surrounded by dead trees (eucalypti) of about two feet in diameter, which also ex- tended into it until wholly covered by water. It contained no fish; and an old native female said she remembered when the whole was a forest, a statement supported pro tanto by the dead trees in its bed. In 1836, Sir Thomas found the whole expanse co- vered with grass, and not unlike Breadal- bane Plains. The site of Lake George, as also that of Lake Bathurst, in the adjoin- ing county, is now under cultivation. The southern side of this ci-devant lake presents one continuous low ridge, separating its former bed from the head of the Yass river. According to Count Strzelecki, fragments of trees imperfectly fossilized have been discovered iti this vicinity. Toivns. — Queanbeyan, situated on the Queanbeyan river; Bungendore, Yass, and Larbert. Rivers. — Yass, Jingery, and Mo- longo. Creeks. — Morumbateman, Gundaroo, Jerrabombera, Jinglemony, Croonmier, Mod- bury, Torallo, Majura, and Batmaroo. Elevations. — Mount Ainslie, Bywong, Gou- rock Pic, the Twins, Cockatoo Hill, Balcombe Hill, and One Tree Hill. King County is bounded on the east by the dividing range forming the western boundary of the county of Argyle from the head of the Crookwell* river, in 34° 30'' S. lat., to the head of the Gundaroo creek, near Lake George ; on the south by Gundaroo creek and the river Yass to the junction of Derringullen creek near Bowning hill ; on the west by the range of Bowning hill to the head of Boorawa river, and by that river to its junction with the Lachlan; on the north-east by the rivers Lachlan and the Crookwell to its source, as before mentioned. Its length is seventy-six miles, its breadth forty-three miles. The Cullarin range runs from north to south, dividing this county from that of Argyle. The county town, at present represented by the thriving little village of Gunning, is situated in a fine flat of considerable extent, very suitable for growing wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, and fruit of the British varieties. It is sur- rounded by a fine tract of grazing country. Gunning is 152 miles from Sydney, and nearly midway between Goulbourn and Yass, being distant from each about twenty-eight miles. The latter town, though of no great extent, (containing about sixty houses,) com- prises a portion of two counties, being built on each side of the river Yass, which sepa- rates the county of King from that of Argyle. Yass plains or downs are also divided by this stream, whose bed (according to Dr. Lang) is 1,311 feet above the level of the sea. These tracts consist of fine grassy hills, thinly covered with wood, and fertile vales clear of timber. Mr. James says, " there appears no limit to the rich feed for sheep." The country is covered with flocks and herds. Proceeding from Gunning to- wards Yass plains there is a rapid descent from the higher level of the surrounding country. Dr. Lang estimates this descent at 800 to 1,000 feet. Near Yass, on the Sydney side of the river, is situated the well- built cottages and extensive gardens of Henry and Cornelius O'Brien, and of Hamilton Hume, J.P. Mr. H. O'Brien's grounds are very tastefully laid out. His numerous flocks and herds roam over an " hundi'ed grassy hills," the progeny of a few sheep and cattle with which he sat him- self down in the wilderness about twenty years ago. Civilization has now reached and surrounded him. Like the Antediluvian patriarch Jabel, Mr. O'Brien is considered " the father of such as dwell in tents," alias bark huts, and of such as have cattle and sheep beyond the boundaries of the colony, i.e. squatters. As stated under the head of commerce, Mr. O'Brien, finding the value of his stock wofully reduced by the panic in 1843, commenced the "boiling down" sys- tem, and converted his unsaleable live stock into the valuable export of tallow for the English markets. Rivers. — Yass, Narrawa, Lachlan, Boor- owa, Weeho, and Crookwell. Creeks. — Hovell's, Cullaba, Broman, Pudman, Derr- ingullen,Bango, Gundaroo, Jarrawa, Dimond, Lambton, and Cartwright. Eminences. — Mount Darling, Mundoonen, Chaton, Dixon, and Narrawa. Georgiana County is bounded on the east by the dividing range extending from the head of the Crookwell in 34° 30' S. lat., by Burra-Burra lake and Mount Werong, to the head of Campbell's river; on the north by Campbell's river to Pepper creek ; on the west by Pepper creek and the range extending from its head toward the source of Rocky Bridge creek, and by that creek and the Abercrombie to the river Lachlan; on the south by the Lachlan and the Crook- well to its source as aforesaid. The length of this county is about fifty miles, and its breadth forty. The surface is irregular and varied, and in general well adapted for grazing, but only occasional patches on the banks of rivers and streams afford much promise of successful agriculture. Towns. — Not any. The chief place is Bingham. Rivers. — The Abercrombie which rises in a mountain about three miles east of Mount Murrum, and after a course of about ninety miles, falls into the Lachlan ; the Campbell, Isabella, Crookwell, and Bolong. Creeks. — Bocky Bridge, Tuena, Kangaroo, Glengarry, Midgowrie, Julong, Kangaloolah, Phils, Copperhaunia, Muligonnia, Carrawa, and Peppers. Eminences. — Werong and Mount Lawson. Westmoreland County is bounded on the north-east by Cox's river from its junc- tion with the Wollondilly to the small creek entering the Cox from the west, one mile south of the new road to Bathurst ; on the north by that creek and one descending to Solitary creek, near its junction with Anto- nio's creek, and thence by the Fish river to Campbell's river ; on the west by Campbell's river to its source in the dividing range, and by the dividing range of Burra Burra lagoon; on the south by the river Guine- cor from Burra-Burra lagoon, to its junc- tion with the Wollondilly ; on the east by the Wollondilly to the junction of Cox's river above-mentioned. Length, sixty-four miles ; breadth, thirty-two miles. Westmoreland is the most mountainous of the counties of New South Wales, and although the elevations are not of great height, seldom exceeding three to four thou- sand feet, they are numerous and generally barren. One portion of the Blue Moun- tains, two miles to the north of Swashfield, is 4,000 feet above the sea. The head of the Fish river four miles E.S.E. from Mobrin, is 3,472 feet; Mobrin is 3,275 feet; a hill near Bunbingle's creek is 3,554 feet ; and one in Snake's valley is 3,576 feet 128 BATHURST COLONY AND TOWN— TABLE LAND. Mounts CoUong and Murrum are remark- able peaks. There are, however, some fertile spots and excellent grazing districts in Westmoreland. The Emu valley, ninety- nine miles from Sydney on the road to Bathurst, is an extensive morass. O'Con- nell town, near the Fish river, on the bor- ders of Westmoreland and Roxburgh, in O'Connell plains, 115 miles from Sydney, is the chief station in the colony. Rivers. — Cox, Campbell, WoUondilly, Fish, Kowmung, and Guinecor. Creeks. — Jouri- land, Tonatti, Lacy, Antonio's, Lowther, King, Wiseman, Native-dog, Fish river, and Stony. Bathurst County is bounded on the north-east by the Campbell river, from Pepper creek, and by the Macquarie river to the junction of Lewis's ponds; on the west, by Lewis's ponds creek to Blackman's swamp, and thence to the Canobolas moun- tains; thence by the Panuara range, and rivulet of the same name, to the Belubula sts-eam, and by that stream to its junction with the Lachlan river; on the south, by the Lachlan river to the Abercrombie and the junction of the Rockybridge creek, also by that creek and the range to the head of the Pepper creek, and by the creek to the river Campbell, as first mentioned. The county is in length sixty-five miles, in breadth forty miles. This transalpine country was considered inaccessible until 1813. It con- sists in general of broken table land, in some places forming extensive downs, without a tree, such as Bathurst plains, which include 50,000 acres, and are about nineteen miles in length, and of a breadth varying from four to eight miles, undulating, and with the Macquarie river meandering throughout their greater length, occasionally ornamented with fringes of swamp oak. These plains are 2,100 feet above the level of the sea; they are not unlike the Brighton do^vns, but with this remarkable peculiarity, that on the summits of some of the elevations, or knolls, are found dangerous quagmires, or bogs, resembling sometimes the dry bed of a pond, but at other times concealed by rich verdure. " Fairy rings" are frequent, and on most of them grow fungi of a large size. With the exception of small portions of land in particular localities, allotted to vete- ran soldiers and emancipists, the county is parcelled out into large farms of 2,000 acres each ; the proprietors being free emigrants of a very superior class. Bathurst county is one of the most flourishing districts in the colony ; its society excellent ; its re- sources, as a fine-wooUed sheep farming district, considerable ; and so salubrious is the climate that the first natural death did not occur until 1826, twelve years after its settlement. Bathurst town, on the banks of the Macquarie river, is in 33° 24' 80" S. lat., and 149° 29' 30" E. long., twenty-seven miles and a half north of Government-house, Sydney, and ninety-four and a half W., bearing W. 18° 20' N., eighty-three geogra- graphical or ninety-five and a half statute miles, and by the road distant 121 miles. The town is flourishing, and has its literary institution, &c. This county in particular presents remark- able instances of a singular phenomenon observable in various parts of Australia, namely, what would be viewed in a long civilized country as the most striking evi- dences of former cultivation, the land being laid out in ridges apparently marked by the plough, and Avith a regularity of intervals which would secure a prize from a Scottish agricultural society. These plough ridges occur always on gentle declivities, where there is a tenacious subsoil with loose super- strata, and are doubtless produced by the action of water ; as there are found, even on the tops of mountain ridges, extensive beds of water-sand and water-gravel, mixed Avith fragments of shells, presenting the iden- tical appearances observed on the banks of rivers, or upon sea-beaches ; but still the regularity of the distances in the plough ridges is unaccountable. [The gold discoveries made here since this was written are described in Supplement.] Mr. W. H. Wells, the able compiler of the Geographical Gazetteer of the Australian Colonies, describes a "magnificent" natural tunnel or archway, discovered by Mr. David- son not long since, forty-five miles west of Bathurst town, on the Grove creek, about four miles above the confluence of that stream with the Abercrombie, and seven miles from Mulgunia. The tunnel is, in length, about 300 paces ; the north entrance is seventy feet broad and fifty feet high ; towards the centre the breadth increases to ninety feet, and the elevation to 100 feet; at the southern extremity it is about 100 feet broad, and seventy to eighty feet high ; the whole direction not exactly straight. The roof is thickly covered with stalactites of diff'erent colours, some hanging down to a length of twenty feet. The sides of the tunnel, especially on the left hand, have the ^YELLINGTON AND ROXBUllGH COUNTIES, NEW SOUTH WALES. 129 appearance of galleries raised one over the other, supported by apparent carved work and ornamental pillars, the whole adorned by splendid stalagmites of various forms. Other caverns of great extent, but not yet fully explored, branch out of the main tunnel; one of them contains two massive stalagmites, resembling a pulpit and a tomb. The descent to the tmanel is through a very narrow defile, through which a creek flows direct through the main chamber of the cave. Towns. — Bathurst, before mentioned, and Carcoar, 14-i miles from Sydney, on the Belubulu river. Rivers. — INIacquarie, Camp- bell, Belubulu, Abcrcrombie, and Lachlan. Creeks. — E-ockybridge, Frederick's valley. Emu swamp. Peppers, Queen, and Princess Charlotte's vale; Foster ditto. Swallow, Coombul, Coombing, Lewis ponds, Cadian- gullong, Mui-amer, INEundoraman ponds, Milburn, Grubbenburn, jNIuringulla, Lime- stone Wangola, and Panuara. Plains. — Bathurst, Warwick, King's, Dunn's, and Pretty plains. Eminences. — Canobolas, and the Three Brothers. Wellington County, north-west of Ba- thurst, is bounded on the north-east by the river Cudgegong ; on the north-west by that river and the Macquarie, to the junction of the river Bell, near Wellington valley; on the west by the rivers Bell, ]Molong, and Bore- nore creek, to the Canobolas mountains ; on the east by this range, and thence to Black- man's swamp, and by Lewis ponds, the Macquarie, Turon river, Cunningham's creek, and Cudgegong creek, under Bocobel, to the Cudgegong river. It is, in length, seventy-two miles, and in breadth forty-two miles. This county is famed for a beautiful and fertile valley, (Wellington valley), situ- ated at the junction of the Bell and INIac- quarie rivers, distant 238 miles from Sydney, and 117 from Bathurst. The scenery is very charming, and the soil richly produc- tive. In this county, as stated at pages 398-9, Sir T. Mitchell discovered some re- markable caves in the side of a low hill, sixty-five feet above the adjacent alkmal flat of WelHngton valley. The entrance consists of two crevices, between large blocks of limestone, in one side of a hollow about twelve feet deep, and which has evi- dently been widened by water. One of the caves, at 180 feet from its mouth, has a height of sLxty feet, and a breadth of tAventy- five feet : the floor consists of reddish earth. A gigantic stalactite, at the lower end of tlie DIV. I. cavern, gives somewhat the appearance of a vast Hindoo idol. Some of the caves have not been fully explored. The osseous remains found in these caves are very re- markable ; some of the fossilized bones are supposed, by Professor Owen, to have be- longed to a very large species of the kan- garoo tribe, which is now extinct. !Mudgee, the chief town of the county, is pleasingly situated on the Cudgegong river. Another township, called Neurea, has been laid out. Rivers. — The Macquarie, (which runs through the county), the Cudgegong, Bell, ]\Iolong, and Turon. Creeks. — Cunning- ham, INIeroo, Pyramul, Nubrygin, jNPDonald, Piambong, Merrenda, and Warradugga. Eminences. — Two ridges of mountains run from east to west, of which the most promi- nent elevations are Corcalgong, Bocobel, Boiga, and Yammin. Roxburgh County, north of Bathurst and Westmoreland counties, is bounded on the north by the Cudgegong river from the ]Mount Durambang, by Canguddy creek, to the junction of Cudgegong creek, on the east of ]\Iount Bocobel ; on the west by that creek, by Cunningham's creek, and by the Turon river to the ]\Iacquarie river, which latter, along with the Fish river, to the junction of Solitary creek, forms the southern boundary ; on the east by Solitary creek to Honeysuckle hill, and thence by the dividing range' to the head of Cook's creek, and by the creek and the Cudgegong river and Umbiella creek, to Mount Durambang. Length, fifty miles; breadth, forty miles. The county is very hilly, but has rich pas- turage, some fertile spots, and is well watered. Chief town — Kelso, on the ]\L:c- quarie river, 11.2 miles from Sydney. Rivers. — Macquarie, Cudgegong, Fish, Turon, and Capertee. Creeks. — Warra- gunnie, Tabraboucha, Umbiella, Cook's, Coolamigel, Roundswamp, Antonios, SoU- tary, Jabez-Jabeck, Winbm-dale, Cunning- ham's, and jNIallamurra. Eminences. — Tavan Pic, which is visible from the Wol- lombi hills, in Northumberland, distant forty miles, and also from the Honeysuckle hill, on the Bathurst road, forty miles dis- tant : hence this elevation became a well- known ijoint in the trigonometrical survey by Sir Thomas I^Iitcheli; of the settled dis- tricts in New South Wales. The other eminences arc Mounts Rankin, Ovens, Clan- didla, or Marsden. Cook County, adjoining Cumberland, is bounded on the north-cast by the Colo Q 130 COOK COUNTY— MOUNT YORK— VICTORIA MOUNT. river, wliicli is also called the second or lower brancli of the Hawkesbury ; on the north by the rocky di^iding range, extending east and west, between tlie rivers Hunter and Hawkesbury, and forming the south boundary of the county of Hunter; on the west by the range dividing the waters to Honeysuckle hill ; and hence to where the Mount Blaxland road crosses Cox's river; on the south-west by Cox's river; on the east by the Warragamba, . Nepean, and Hawkesbuiy, to the junction of the lower branch, as above mentioned ; it is in length sixty miles, and in breadth forty-four miles. A great part of Cook county is occupied by the Blue Mountain range, across which the fine road from Sydney to Bathvu-st lies. Table land, from 2,000 to 3,000 feet high, abounding in picturesque scenery, occupies a considerable portion of the county. Emu plains, and several fertile valleys, compen- sate, in some measiu-e, for the large quantity of rocky soil in this county. At King's table land [2,727 feet above the sea) the view is magnificent ; for eighteen miles fi'om the commencement of the ascent of the Blue mountains at Emu plains, the slope is gradual; from thence to the twenty-sixth mile is a succession of steep and rugged hiUs, some almost so abrapt as to deny a passage across them to King's Table Land, on the south-west of which the momitain terminates in lofty precipices, at whose base is seen the beautiful Prince Regent's glen, about twentv-four miles in length. From Mount York "(3,292 feet high) the view is mag- nificent — mountains rising beyond moun- tains, clothed with impenetrable forests, with stupendous masses of rock, forming but- tresses, in the foreground. The Vale of Clywd, so called from its resemblance to a vale of the same name in North Wales, Britain, is 2,496 feet above the sea, and runs along the foot of jNIount York, 796 feet below the summit of the mountain, extend- ing six miles in a westerly direction. The soil is rich, and the scenery very beautiful. In the valley, near the inn called the Wea- ther-boarded Hut, on the road to Bathurst, there is a line of perpendicular cliffs, of immense height, Avhich has a small cataract termed the Falls. At the point where the rivulet leaps over the precipice, the cliffs recede considerably, forming, according to Lang, two bold headlands of fearful eleva- tion, and enclosing a basin of prodigious depth, in which the tops of lofty trees are seen several hundred feet below the preci- pice. When the rivulet is flooded, the scene is magnificent; in other seasons, the waters are separated into distinct atoms, and are precipitated to the bottom hke innu- merable particles of frozen snow. The great western road from Sydney to Bathm-st, over Mount Victoria, was originally very imper- fect and steep. According to the design of the sui'veyor-general, Mitchell, in 1827-8, recommended by a road commission in 1829, a new line over the Blue mountains was commenced in 1830, and three gangs of convicts, consisting of 250 prisoners, under colonial or secondary sentences, with ankle fetters of seven to ten pounds each, were located near the intended road, in a stockade prepared for the pui'pose, with huts around for a gu.ard of soldiers. The dense forest that covered the projected road was first cleared and burned, chasms were filled by immense masses of blasted rock; and walls of extraordinary thickness, and of a height of fifty to eighty feet, connected one precipice with another, and preserved a continuous or gradual scale of decli%dty ; a defile was cut through the solid rock, of twenty to thii'ty feet deep; and finally, in 1832, the Victoria Pass was opened to the public, in due form, by the governor. Sir R. Boui'ke. Towns. — Hartley, seventy-eight miles from Sydney, the chief town, is built on the west bank of the river Lett ; the other towns are Emu, Wilberforce, Bowenfels, Rydal, and Colo. Emu township, thirty-five miles ii'oni Sydney, is laid out on the rising ground of Emu plains, behind the government farm, on the banks of the Nepean. The seat of Edenylassie, (called by Sir Francis Forbes, the late chief justice of New South Wales, after the family seat in Aberdeenshire, North Britain, of the lamented Sir Charles Forbes, Bart.,) is about two miles up the river, on a fine reach, capable, says ]\Ir. Wells, of '^ floating a dozen men-of-war." Rivers. — Grose, Colo, Cox, Nepean, Hawkesbury, Lett, and Warragamba, Creeks. — Wheeny, Mcroo, Billong, CuiTcncj'^, Wolhnganby, Bowen, Wolgan, Farmer, and Cook. Emi- nences. — the Blue mountains, Floneysuckle hill, ^lounts Walker, Clarence, Victoria, Tomah, King George, and Hay. Northumberland County, which inter- venes between Hunter county and the sea, is one of the finest in the colony; it is bounded on the north by the river Hunter, and on the south by the Hawkesbury, to the sea-coast, Avhich fonns the eastern NEWCASTLE, MAITLAND, AND MORPETH TOWNS. 131 boundary; and on the west by Wollombi brook, the junction of Parson's creeks by that creek to its head in the range di\adiug the waters of the Hawkesbury from those of the Hunter, by Waning creek, to its junc- tion with the jNlacdonakl river, or lower brancli of the Hawkesbury, and by the said iower branch to its junction with that river. The length is sixty-one miles, breadtli fifty. There are some fine elevations, commanding- extensive prospects; but the general aspect is a series of undulations and elevated plains, intersected by numerous creeks, streams, and rivulets. The river Hunter aftbrds a means of water communication throughout its northern boundary, and along its alluvial banks, some of the most flourishing farms and estates in the colony are situate. Yar- ramalong is a beautiful vale, distant twenty miles from Brisbane water, and watered by the Jilliby-Jiliiby creek. Lake Macquarie, or Awaba, twelve miles south of Newcastle, is the largest lake in New South Wales, and famed for the beauty of the sui'rounding scenery. The entrance is at the head of "Reid's Mistake," distant 105 miles from Sydney. Newcastle (native name Mulu- binha), in 32^ 55' 50'^ S., about eighty miles from Port Jackson, is the maritime town of the county, and fast rising into eminence, not less by reason of its position at the com- mencement of the navigation of the Hunter, than from the locality of the coal mines, now actively worked by the AustraHan Agricultural company, ivlaitland, on the Hunter river, at its junction with Wallis creek, 127 miles from Sydney, and twenty-five miles from Newcastle, is the seat of the county execu- tive, and a neat and flourishing settlement. The town is divided into East and West Mait- land, built on each side of WalUs creek. There is a spacious coiu't-house, a large gaol, several chui'ch of England, Presby- terian, Wesleyan, and Roman cathohc tem- ples of worship. The Roman catholic chapel is a handsome structure. East jMaitland is better supplied with water than West Mait- land. Coal, of excellent quality, is worked on both sides of Wallis creek, and delivered to the consumer at six shillings per ton. Moiyeth, originally called the Green hills, is a rising town, pictui'csquely situated at the head of the navigable part of the Hunter river, twenty-nine miles by water from New- castle. It contained, in 1848, a church and parsonage, a Wesleyan chapel, a ladies' school, and two day schools; five inns, a steam floiu'-mill, soap and candle manufac- tory, some excellent shops, thirty-seven stone and brick buildings, and 117 wooden tenements. The extensive wharf and stores of the Hunter River Steam Navigation Com- pany are at ]\Iorpeth, and throughout the greater part of the year there is a daily steam-packet communication with Sydney, with which also there is a considerable trade in saibng vessels. About two acres on the bank of the Hunter river are used as a government wharf. Good coal is found in the vicinity. Morpeth, like Boyd, and other towns in New South Wales, is built on land belonging to private individuals, who natiu'ally seek to improve the value of their property by promoting the formation of towns in eligible places. The extraordinary progress of the colony of New South Wales is evidenced ki the manufacturing industry evinced in many of the towns. In Maitlaud, for instance, we are told, that — " Porter and ale of excellent quality are now brewed there. The In-av/ang pottery is so good, that the demand greatly exceeds what can be produced, from the paucity of good workmen. Tweed is im- proved so much, that it sells in Sydney to such an extent that the district market is often vciy inade- quately supplied, though two establishments are in active operation. The tobacco manufactured in Mait- land and the district is nearly all sold in Sydney, and the demand for it is gradually increasing. The grov.'lii of the vine is greatly extending, though but little wine has been yet brought into market ; manifest improvement is however visible in what is brought forward. Leather and soap are produced to a gi-eat extent, and of excellent quality. Iron, salt, and a variety of other articles, are rapidly improving." The Maitland Mercury, published bi- weekly, is an excellent provincial newspaper. Toivns. — Newcastle, Maitland, Siagleton, ?.Iorpeth, Wollombi, Hexham, East and West Gosford, and St. Albau's. Lakes. — Macquarie, Brisbane Water, Tuggerah Beach, and Wamberall. Hunter County, north of Cook coimty, and separated from the sea by Northumber- land countv'^, is bounded on the north by the river Hunter, and also by the Goulboiu'n to the junction of Widdin creek ; on the west, by Widdin creek to the Coricudgy moun- tain, by the range thence to the Durambang hill ; on the south, by the Colo river to the Hawkesbuiy river ; on the east, by the Hawkesbury to the north of the INIacdonald river, or lower branch ; and on the north- east, by the INIacdonald river to the junction of Wareng creek, and by AVareng and Par- son's creeks, and the Wollombi creek, to its junction with the Hunter river. Length, 132 HUNTER, PHILLIP, BLIGH, AND BRISBANE COUNTIES. from north to south, seventy-one miles ; breadth, cast to -u-est, forty-seven miles. The aspect is mountainous, and occasion- ally very wild. The chief town, called after the plains in which it is situated, Jerry^s, is on the Hunter river, 122 miles from Sydney. Rivers. — Hunter, Goulbourn, !Macdonald, "Wollombi, and Colo. Creeks. — Webb's, Parson's, WoUum, Putty, Widdin, James, King, Greig, and Doyle. Eminences. — Nullo, Coricudgy, jNIonundilla, and Wambo. Phillip County is bounded on the nortli by the river Goulbourn, from its source, near the head of AVialdi'ar creek, to the junction of Widdin creek ; on the north-west, by the Cudgegong river, from its soiu^ce, at Mount Durambang, to Wialdrar creek. Its length is fifty-three miles, and its breadth fortj'-one miles. Rytstone is the chief place. iJirers.— Goulbourn, and the Cudgegong. Creeks. — Widdin, Cooyal, Pipeclay, Lavrson, Moorlarben, Wilpingong, Bylong, Barrigan, and Wollar. Eminences. — Pomary, Runker's Peak, Cox's Crown, and INIount Penny ; but these are only hills of inconsiderable height. Bligh County, bounded on the north by the Liverpool range from Mount INIac Arthur to the head of Coolaburragundy river, by this and the Talbragar river to the junction of a small creek two miles east of Balara ; on the west by a connected ridge extending from the head of the creek aforesaid to a hill five miles north of the junction of the Bell with the Macquarie river, and thence by a line south to the Macquarie ; on the south-west by the Macquarie to the junction of the Cudgegong river, and on the south- east by the Cudgegong river; and Wial- drar creek, to the soiu'ce of the latter in the dividing range at the head of the Goulbourn river, thence by the Goulbonrn and Krui river to ]\Iount Mac Arthiu' or Liverpool range. Length, about eighty miles; breadth, forty miles. There are several rich plains, viz., Hari'ison's, Krui, Nandoura, and Welling- ton valley; the most prominent mountains are ]\Iooa, East Bluff, Pandora's Pass, and Gobalion. Ailsa, on the Krui river, is the county town; the others are Dalkeith and Montefiores. Rivers. — Macquarie, Goulbourn, Talbragar, Erskine, Krui, and Cudgegong. Creeks. — Coolaburragundy, Teeree, Fom- Mile, Cook- abulgo, Munmurra, Peters, Derrinderry, Stony, Krui, ISIoons, and Wildra. Brisbane County is bounded on the north-east by Hunter river, from its source in hit. 31° 46', to the Goulbourn river, and thence to the Krui river ; on the west by the Krui river to its som'ce at IMount Mac Arthur or Moan in the Liverpool range ; on the north-west by the Tinagroo and Temi mountains to the head of the Hunter river. Length, ninety miles ; breadth, forty miles. The aspect of the county consists of several ranges of table-land, with occasional plains and peaks; one, Mount Wingen, or the Burning INIountain, in 31° 54' S. lat, and 150° 56' E. long., described in the Geological section, has an elevation of 1,500 feet above the sea. Towns. — INIurrurundi, chief, on Page's river; Haydonton, Scone, jNIerriwa, Cassilis, Invermein, and St. Aubin's. Rivers. — Goulbourn, Hunter, Page, Isis, Krui, and Werrenul. Creeks. — Krui, Moon, Coul- son's. Bow, Gummum, Hall, Giant, Way- bong, Dartbrook, and Kingdon. Plains. — Bow, Krui, Gummum or Gammon Plains, 150 miles from Sydney. Eminences. — ?kIount Tinagroo, Tereil, Mm'ulla, Oxley's peak, and Tomarra. Durham County is bounded on the east by the Williams river to its source, and thence by the Mount Royal range to the head of one of the branches of the Hunter river in lat. 31° 46'; and by that river on the west and south to the junction of William's river above-mentioned. Length, sixty miles; breadth, fifty miles. Fertile and well watered. The fine district of Patrick's plains includes the middle portion of Durham county, the north-east portion of Hunter county, and the north-west por- tion of Northumberland county. Paterson, the county town, is situated on the river of the same name, distant 130 miles from Sydney, Other towns — Muswellbrook, Sea- ham, Clarencetown, Dungog, Hinton, Gi'es- ford, ]Merton, and Cambei'well. Rivers. — Hunter, Williams, Patterson, Allyn, and Bouchell. Creeks. — Stewai'ts- brook, Sandy, Muswell, Saltwater, Fay, Fall, Carrow, West, Glendon, ISIyall, and Lamb- valley. Eminences. — Mounts Royal, WoUen, M^Arthur, Diying, and Tangorin. Dungog, one of the towns or villages m Durham county, is noted for its position and prosperity. It is situated on the banks of AYilliam's river, a considerable way below the Chichester river, both of which streams are famed for their clearness and purity. The ■\illagc covers a succession of ridges which are said to " fall into one another like the fingers of clasped hands." These ridges are thinly wooded, and government has preserved DURHAM AND GLOUCESTER COUNTIES. 133 ample space for promeuade and circular pleasure-grounds near the beautiful reaches and bends of the river. There is a churchy two schools, two large inns, a steam flour- mill, court-house, horse-barrack, horse-break- ing and training stables, boiling-down estab- lishments, several good dwelling-houses and neat farms in the vicinity ; a cheerful peal of church bells, and a band of rustic mu- sicians. "From one end of the town," says jMr. Wells, "to the other, the voice of children and the hmn of industry fall upon the ear." The country around is wildly picturesque. Gloucester County, boimded on the west by the Hunter river, on the south-west by William's river to its source, and thence by the Mount Royal range bounding the county of Durham to the principal source of the Manning river ; oil the north by the INIan- ning river to Farquhar inlet, south-east by the sea-coast. Length, eighty miles; breadth, sixty-five miles. The northern parts of the county are mountainous, but there is much good land both for grazing and agricultural purposes. At the entrance of Port Hunter or Newcastle bay, there is a small but rather lofty island, called Nobby's Island, some- what resembling the Craig of Ailsa, or the Bass Rock on the coasts of Scotland, appa- rently composed of indurated clay support- ing a stratum of sandstone, over which there is a stratum of coal, the clay appearing to rest on a substratum of silicious substance. The indurated clay consists of thin lamina?, into which it may be easily separated with a knife, and which present innumerable im- pressions of vegetables. Dr. Lang says — " I have seen such impressions in specimens of the clay obtained at a height of fifty to a hundred feet above the level of the sea. It appears indeed to consist of nothing else but masses of vegetable matter, which, at some former period in the history of the earth, must have floated in a solution of clay. Nobby's island has evidently been originally joined to the mainland ; the intervening channel to the southward being still narrow, shallow, and rocky, and the successive strata of which it is composed corresponding with those of the main." The features of the coast about Port Ste- phens are difl'erent from those seen to the southward. A number of conical hills, four to six hundred feet high, are visible; two of them — Wacaba and Tom are, constitute the entrance points of Port Stephens — which is a large estuary, fifteen miles in length, and contracted near the centre to the breadth of a mile, and subsequently further lessened by a woody islet. Nearly two miles within the estuary, on the west shore of the harbour, is the town of Carrington, belonging to the Australian Agricultural Company ; and half- a-mile to the westward is Taklu, the charm- ing residence of the superintendent, situ- ated on the crest of a green grassy slope, over which are scattered numerous small bushy lemon-trees, the deep A'erdure of their foliage interspersed with golden fruit, con- trasting with the liglit-green carpet from which they sprang. "i^ The estate of the Australian Agricultural Company in New South Wales, comprises an area of upwards of a million of acres, and consists of three separate extensive tracts, situated about 100 miles north of Sydney, between the 32nd and 33rd parallels of south latitude, approached by the fine harboui' of Port Stephens, which forms its southern boundary. The southernmost of these tracts is designated the Port Stephens grant ; north-west of Port Stephens is the Liver- pool Plains grant; and the north-east of Liverpool plains is the PeeFs River grant. The Port Stephen's gi'ant is estimated to contain 461,640 acres, and to extend between twenty and thirty miles inland from the sea coast ; bounded on the north by the " ]\Ian- ning," a river of comparative magnitude, commencing a little above the head of the navigation, and extending inward or west- ward twenty miles ; on the west by a line south, separating the company's lands from those reserved by the crown for ecclesiastical and educational purposes; on the east by a parallel line separating the same from the crown lands ; and on the south by the Karuah river and Port Stephens, a harbour second only to that of Sydney or Port Jack- son on the eastern coast of New Holland. The general appearance of the land is hilly, Avith well-watered valleys, of good soil and pasture, and with abundance of the best de- scription of timber, for building, fencing, and rural purposes generally. The character of the soils necessarily varies with the formation, but they are all capable of growing grain, (maize and millet luxuriantly,) tobacco and cotton, the vine, olive, orange, and citron, and almost eveiy variety of fruits, even to the banana, which flourishes in sheltered situations, and within the inlluence of the sea air. The valleys, though narrow, aftbrd sufficient scope of rich alluAial soil on the • Stokes'.o Voyage in JLM.S. Beagle. 134 AUSTRALIAN AGEICULTURAL COMPANY— PORT STEPHENS. banks of tlie streams for all the purposes of agricultvu-e ; tlie receding and higher lands being well calculated for arboriculture and vineyards; whilst the loftier ranges are clothed "uath a short, sweet, and nour- ishing grasSj for the pasturage of sheep or cattle — and it is remarkable that the wool produced from the Company's sheep depas- tured on those hills near the coast, has invariably, fi'om its fineness of texture, reaHsed nearly sixpence per pound more than that produced from a similar breed of sheep fed in the interior, where the grass is more rank. A considerable portion of the lands in this county belonging to the Australian Agricultiu'al Company is of ex- cellent quahty, and has been rendered veiy valuable by the well-directed labour and capital bestowed upon it. Count Strzelecki thus expresses himself concerning the agri- cultm-al capabilities of this part of New South Wales and the progress of cultivation : — " That portion of the country ^vhich, from its sys- tem of working, and range of tillable land, deserves to be included within the agricultural district, is con- fined to the valley of the Karua, which is; limited in the extent of its cultivated, but not of its cultivable land, and of which the best tracts are in the posses- sion of the Australian Agricultural Company ; to the valley of the Hunter, composed of the coniiu£nt val- leys of the Goulbourn, Pages, Patterson, and Williams rivers, &c. ; the valley of the Parramatta. * * * In these localities, a good many farms are in a very forward state; many exhibit remarkable improve- ments, and some display only partial attempts, all of which are, however, in the right direction. The farms of the Australian Agricultural Company at Stroud and Booral, the most northern farms of the colony, may be regarded as tlie first in the rank of improve- ments. The farm buildings are of the best construc- tion; the tilled lands are almost entirely clear of timber and stumps, well fenced in, well ploughed and worked, and presenting, on the whole, gratifying proofs of well-bestowed capital and labour. '* The orchards and vineyards of the company at Tahlee (Port Stephens), which produce the choicest grapes, oranges, and lemons, are not less worthy of notice. It is this orchard which shews most forcibly the extensive range which the beautiful climate of New South Wales embraces in isothermal lines ; as there the English oak is seen flourishing by the side of the banana, Avliich is again surrounded by vines, lemon and orange trees of luxurious growth. To the southward of Port Stephens are a series of thriving farms, spreading along the Goulbourn, Pages, Hunter, Patterson, and Williams rivers, which comprise an agricultural district of 2,000 square miles in extent. The excellent harbour of Newcastle (in Northumber- land county), good water and tolerable roads, a coal mine, a soil well adapted for wheat, barley, turnips ; the vine and European fruits, and a situation the most favourable to the application of irrigation, ren- der this district one of the richest and most important in the colony." The httle river Kamah, flowing into the north-west corner of Port Stephens, is na^'igable for twelve miles, to a place called Booral, where all goods are landed for the Company's stations up the country. Mr. Ebsworth, the treasurer, resides there in a charming cottage almost covered with roses and honeysuckle, and commanding two pic- turesque reaches of the Karuah. To this gentleman, and to his cousin, IMr. Henry Ebsworth, many years the faithful secre- tary of the AustraUan Agricultural Com- pany, great credit is due for the careful superintendence evidenced in the j)ractical working of the judicious and equitable sys- tem adopted by this association. Near the town of Gloucester in this county, is an abrupt range of densely wooded hills, called the " Bucket:?," which rise to a height of about 1,200 feet above the plain, their sum- mits crowned by precipitous masses of naked rock of fantastic contour, not unlike the castled crags of the Rhme. The situation of Gloucester \illage is very picturesque ; it is a large cattle farm belonging to the Aus- tralian Agricultural Company. The "village of Stroud, not far distant, is a horse-station of the company : its English character is ex- emplified by the neat little gardens belonging to the mechanics in the service of the Aus- tralian AgTicviltural Company, and by the cottages covered with roses and honey- suckle. [Further details in Supp^] On the crest of a range of hills in this county, overlooking some wooded lands be- longing to the church of England, a singular natural phenomenon has been lately disco- vered : the front of the line of hills " strik- ingly resembles the ruins of a fortress : the masses of rent rock are dotted with vast balls, half fixed, and of the exact size of cannon balls : they are easily displaced, lea\dng a socket, as if they had originally been plunged there by artillery. The balls are very hea^y, of a spaa'kling granite, sur- rounded in the centre by a white flimsy circle, which it was found impossible to chip." ^ Specimens of these balls have been sent to the British Mitseum and to the Geo- logical Society of Loudon. Toivns. — Raymond Terrace (the chief); Carrington, on Port Stephen's harboui* ; and Stroud, on the Karuah river. Rivers. — Manning, Williams, Chichester, Gloucester, Barrington, and Karuah. Creeks. — Tilli- gerry. Serpent, Limeburners, Onall, Pipe- clay, and M'Arthur's. Eminences. — Mounts Tallowah and Kanghat. * Geograpliical Gazetteer, by W. H. Wells, Esq., p. 184. Sydney, 1848. MACQUAETE COUNTY AND PORT ]MACQUARIE. 13c Macquarie County is bounded on the south by Manning river^ from Farquhar^s inlet to its confluence with the Barnard river ; on the west by a line fi'om the said confluence to i\Iount Sea- view, and thence by a line to Kippara, a pass in the range dividing the waters of the jM'Leay river from the waters of the Wilson river ; on the north by that range to the source of the south branch of the IMaria river, and thence by that stream to the flrst section line in the parish of Kalateenee, west of the east boundary of that parish, thence by that section line to the JNI'Leay river; on the north-westj by the M'Leay river to its mouth, inclusive of the islands ; and on tlie east, by the sea coast, which is pictiu'csquely marked by Crescent head, Point Plomer, Tacking point, Indian and Crowdy heads. The general features of the county are hill and dale, with open forest or grass land, lightly covered with good timber, and free from invmdations. Captain King, speaking of this county and the adjacent districts, says, " there are here twelve million acres, in which it is difficult to find a bad tract, and they are in general watered with clear small streams." There are several elevated mountains in the county, viz. — the Three Brothers, Cairncross, Comboyne, Cocorae- rico or Mount Sea-view, Kippara, Colapo- tamba, and the Brokenbago range, which latter divides the basin of the Hastings from that of the Manning river, and is covered all over with a dense forest. On the highest summit of this range, a tall pinnacle of naked rock shoots up perpendicularly above the trees like a church steeple. In some parts of the cou.nty, for instance, to the north of the river IVIanning, there are extensive plains ; those called the " Jamaica plains," have an intensely green verdure, as con- trasted with the more yellow tinted green of the grassy forest hills. Some large flats are covered with high grass, and timbered by large blue gum and " tea trees," standing widely apart from each other. At the junction of the ^Manning with the Glouces- ter river, the scenery consists of ranges of hills either very Hghtly wooded and gj-assy, or else covered over with brush timber and entangled vegetation. Most of the park- like hills have rounded conical summits; one heaAdly wooded range on the south bank of the I'iver is crowned by huge masses of rock overgrown with creepers, which resemble the ivy-clothed battlements of some ancient fortress. Between the Wilson and the Hastings river, is a very thickly wooded undulating country, tolerably grassy, and intersected by moist tea-tree flats and sedgy hollows. The country at the junction of the Hastings with the ]\Iaria river, has a fine appearance, as the reaches of the Has- tings are of great length, and have an uni- form breadth of about a quarter of a mile. The handsome rilla of Dr. Carlisle is on the right bank, and on the left, a pretty cottage with a flourishing garden of vines and fruit trees. The Three Brothers rise majestically near Indian head, their lofty summits overtop all the woody heights by which they are encircled, and command an extensive inland, as well as a broad sea view. Port Macquarie (278 miles from Sydney, lat. 31° 25' 45" S.), the county town and the most important north of ISIaitland, is situated within the harbour on the south side of the Hastings river, and divided into East and West Macquarie, by Coolenbang creek. It is a harbour into which vessels drawing more than nine feet of water can- not safely enter ; but there is good ancho- rage outside, and the shore is not dangerous. The town is well built, on a gentle rise ; the houses generally of brick, surrounded l)y neat verandahs and trellice work ; the streets broad, straight, coated with dark red gravel, and levelled like garden walks. A tall square church tower is conspicuously prominent in the highest part of the to-wn. A group of magnificent trees encircles Port Macquarie, and extends along the banks of the river; to the west and north-west is a wide ex- tent of forest country, and among the moun- tain ranges may be traced the windings of the valley throiigh which the Wilson river flows. Mount Caoulapatamba is sufficiently near to render visible every tree on its grassy declivities, whilst the distant ranges at the INI'Leay river, and the huge frowning moun- tain at the back of Cogo, are half dissolved in blue ether. The beauty and fertility of the land in this vicinity has been noted by several writers, especially the luxuriant vegetation of the coast, when approach- ing Port Macquarie; dense thickets of cabbage palms and myrtle trees extend down the gently sloping declivities, even within reach of the ocean spray, and eveiy unwooded patch is covered with grass. The lofty forest, too, rises luxuriantly close to the sea, and the tints of the rocks, the foliage, the verdure, are all of a warm mel- low hue. 136 NUMEROUS AND FERTILE FARMS IN MACQUARIE COUNTY. The other towns are Hay, Ballengarra, and ]Maria-Ville. Kempsey village, at the termination of the north boundary of Mac- auarie county, twenty-eight miles fz'om the mouth of ]Ni'Leay river, has several good brick-built cottages, an inn, store, &c. A fine garden here, belonging to ]\Ir. Sullivan, has fruit trees of all descriptions in gi'eater luxuriance than is to be seen in any other part of the colony. The land in this neigh- bourhood yields good crops of wheat in dry seasons, and maize at the rate of 75 to 100 bushels per acre. One farm, belonging partly to Mr. Hodgkinson, which had been under the plough for six years, yielded two crops annually — maize, followed by either wheat, potatoes, sugar-loaf cabbages, or Swede turnips. The crops of cabbages and turnips cultivated for the pigs, were tw^ce as abundant as good crops in England. Potatoes were large, but had an earthy flavour. The principal agricultural farms in the county of jNIacquarie, are situated on the banks of the Wilson river — a tributary of the Hastings, and a never-failing stream flowing through a narrow valley ; — they now form a continuous chain for about fifteen miles, and a very good road connects the whole of them with the town of Ballengarra, where the "Wilson river becomes navigable for boats about twenty miles distant, by water, from the town of Port Macquarie. These farms are all composed of alluvial soil of excellent quality.* On the banks of the ^SI'Leay river, on the northern frontier of jNIacquarie county, the alluvial brushes which prevail on the lower part of the stream, are superseded where the stream ceases to feel the influence of the tide, by park-like forest ground, ver- dant rocky eminences, and luxuriant grassy flats of the greatest richness, lightly tim- bered Avith apple-trees (so called by the colo- nists, from the resemblance of the foliage to the English fruit-tree of that name ; the tree is the angophora lanccolata) , whose gnarled branches and light green foliage, render it the most picturesque forest ti'ee in Australia. Several small trilDutary streams join the upper course of the INI'Lcay; from the South Dongai creek, whose narrow valley consists of a border of alluvial flats covered with broad-bladed grass growing breast high, * Hodgkinson's Australia from Port 3Incquarte to Moreton Bay; to ^vhich work I am indebted for much i-pcent information concerning the topography of this portion of the country. and with a few large blue gum trees scat- tered so far apart as to offer no impediment to immediate tillage, which is carried on here by the squatters. Dongai ereek is hemmed in on both sides by fertile ranges weU clothed with grass, and lightly wooded ; the sceneiy is described as very pleasing ; the ranges rise in smooth round cones, and their sloping sides, covered with bright green verdui'e, contrast strongly with the dark glistening green of the brush vegetation, which occa- sionally invades some of the hills. The stream itself, says INIr. Hodgkinson, is of crystal brightness ; it rushes rapidly through the glen, over a bed of large pebbles, and frequently forms diminutive cascades ; " this, with the magnificent trees and beautiful flowering creepers, forming natural arches, with a glimpse of distant hills softened and blended with the deep azure of an Austra- lian sky, cannot fail of affording gratifica- tion to any one who can admire nature un- adorned by art." Rivers. — Hastings, Wilson, Maria, Man- ning, Brumo, EUenborough, and Forbes. Creeks. — Tymbank, Piper's, Limeburner's, Pappinburra, Limestone, Koolobungan, Kin- dee, and Cathie. Lakes. — ^lany, but of small extent ; principal — the Inncs, Queen's, Watson, and Taylor. The climate of this dirisiou of New South Wales is said to be more agreeable than that of Sydney; the mountains approach nearer to the coast, collect the vapours from the sea, and cause more frequent rains ; in summer, especially, the heat is mitigated by many heavy thunder showers. It is almost entirely exempt from the hot ■srinds, which arc frequent during the summer months, in. the more southern parts of the colony; more- over, the north-eastern part of New South Wales, between the great main range dividing the eastern and western waters and the ocean, has never experienced the long droughts which appear to occiu' septeunially in the central and western districts. The greatest drought experienced in the Port !Macquaiie neighbourhood, was in 1841-2, when the natural grasses were quite desiccated, and the whole country continually in flames, the only young grass for the cattle and the sheep being in the flats; but the water-courses were as full of water as ever ; and the wheat crops — which had failed near Sydney — yielded abundantly on the alluvial farms on the banks of Wilson's river — in some places averaging forty bushels of sixty-five pounds each, to the acre. FINE COUNTRY ON THE NAMBUCCA AND BELLENGEN RIVERS. 137 From iNIoretou Bay to the IManuing river, the southern boundary of the county of Macquarie, a distance of about 270 iniies along the coast, there are nine rivers, viz, — the Brisbane, Tweed, Richmond, Clarence, Bellengen, M'Leay, Hastings, Camden Haven creek, and the jNIanning. Dr. Lang, speak- ing of this region, which he terms Cooks- land, says, " I can fearlessly challenge any Eiu'opean geographer to point to any tract of country of equal extent, and vrithin the same parallels of latitude, in either hemi- sphere, on the coast of which there is a greater number, either of streams of water, or of rivers available for inland navigation." Several other counties have -recently been proclaimed (see map of New South Wales), to the northward and eastward of ]Macquarie county [which 1 hope to notice in Supple- meuL], some description of the rivers flowing through this tract of country, Adz. — the ISl'^Leay, Nambucca, Beilengen, Clarence, and Richmond rivers, will be found at p. 489, The country at the base of the main range dividing the basin of the M^Lea}^ river from that of the Nambucca, is generally grassy forest land, thickly timbered with gigantic black butt gum trees and other eucalypti, abundantly watered with numerous permanent chains of water-holes and gra- velly water-courses in brushy hollows. From tlie summit of an elevated range extending to the westward, through Dudley county, in an undulating outline of conical summits, a magnificent and extensive view is aflbrded ; to the westward, amidst a confused mass of mountains rising beyond mountains, covered Avith forest, the eye can trace the deep, narrow, brushy valleys of the streams form- ing the Nambucca, curling into the deep mountain recesses. In the north-Avest direc- tion, tier beyond tier rose in serrated ridges of steep, higli conical summits, the \ieyv bounded by the dim blue ovitline of a level crested range of considerable altitude. To the east the eye embraces the dense forests and swamps on the Nambucca river — the silvery stream of its tranquil reaches, and the bine surface of the Pacific, twenty-five miles distant. Towards the foot of these different ranges are grassy slopes — in some places, dwarf palms and ferns have usurped the place of grass — in others, magnificent cedar groves — and on the banks of creeks, enormous wild fig-trees. A range of mountains characterized by a chain of conical summits, Avith an average height of 2,500 feet above t'lic sea, di\ides the DIA'. I. Beilengen river from its tributary Odalberrce, This range is composed of soft micaceous talc, coated with a deep soil, and covered on the summit and steep slopes, Avitli luxuriant grass. For tAventy miles the summit of this razor-back ridge was found too difficidt for riding, the undulations being so steep and frequent. From the top was seen the nar- roAv glen of the Beilengen river/ immediately opposite to v.'hich, on the north side of the river, rises a gigantic range of about 5,000 feet high, Avith perpendicular buttresses of 3,000 feet elevation. The outline of this range is a level table land, broken near the coast into undulations, Avith steep conical su^mmits, A beautiful grassy forest imme- diately OA'erlooks the Beilengen river, where there is much alhmal land, Avith brush, cedar plains, and forest flats. The richness of the soil may be judged of by the great size of the cedar and roscAvood trees on its banks. The casuarina also grows to such an un- common height, and the foliage assumes such an unusual form, that it might be mistaken for a species of pine. On the small clear plains a coarse-bladed grass groAvs more than two feet high, and appears like small Avheat fields; the grassy flats are principally wooded by that species of eucii- lypti called forest mahogany. ]Mr. Hodg- kinson Avas unable to explore much of the countiy near tlve Beilengen river, as in a straight line of ten miles, he had to cross and recross the stream (little inferior in size to the Hastings river), no less than twelve times, on account of the steep, inaccessible forest banks, Avhich formed tangents to the convex lands on either side. He was un- able, for Avant of proAdsions, to explore the upper course of this "romantic riA'er," which possibly may be found more available for the settler than its explorer supposed. The Beilengen river is separated from the Clarence riAcr by a bold range of abrupt lofty mountains heavily wooded to the summits, and of a "beautiful colour;" the country between the two riAcrs consists of verdant plains, grassy forests, steep, brushy ranges, and some rocky water-courses. The Beilengen range of mountains comes near to the sea coast, where it is 1,500 feet high — at eight or nine miles inland, upAvards of 3,000 feet, and gradually increasing in alti- tude as it recedes from the ocean. This range appears to be the highest and least broken lateral oflshoot from the great main chain Avhich runs parallel to the Pacific, and it coincides Avith the NundcAvur lateral range 138 DUDLEY, RICHMOND AND STANLEY COUNTIES— GAP. of Sir T. jMitcliell, -wliich is given off on the interior or western side of the chain. Near the mouth of the Bcllengen river a low range of hills extends along the coast,, past the SoH- tary Islands ; the country between these hills and the sea appears to be grassy forest land. To the northward of Dudley coimty, through which the Nanibucca and Belleugen rivers flow, are the counties of Clarence and Raleigh, divided by the Clarence river. The country available for gi-azing on the banks of the Clarence is much more extensive thain that on the M'Leay river,, as the mountains do not attain any great elevation near . the coast, and the country is generally level, not only on the banks of the Clai-ence, but also near its tributaries. There are, consequently, numerous settlers and " squatters,^' with their flocks and herds, in this neighboui'- hood. AVool-drays can descend with com- parative ease from the rich district on the table land opposite the soui'ces of the Cla- rence river, to its navigable estuary. The brushes near the mouth of the river are interspersed with the beautiful variety of timber known as the " ^loreton Bay pine." Richmond County is watered by the Richmond river, which at its mouth has scenery resembling that at the embouehe of the !M'Leay river, namely, mangrove scrubs, tea tree, and swamp oak thickets, Avhich cover the low flats near the mouth of the river; higher up the stream the alluvial land is diversified by brush abounding in cedar and pine, clumps of bangolo palms, reedy swamps, small rich plains, and highly wooded forest flats of great richness. The rest of the county, so far as is known, con- sists of very thickly timbered forest land of the greatest fertility. Mr. Hodgkinson thinks there are few rivers in New South Wales where so much good available land exists unbroken by densely wooded ranges and ravine. Of the next northern county, the Rous, watered by the Tweed, we know little more than that the hills are thickly wooded. Stanley County comprehends that part of New South Wales, lying between the paral- lels of 27° and 28° S. lat., bounded on the east by the Pacific, and on the west by the coast range of mountains which forms the dividing shed of the waters which flow towards the ocean, fi'om those which flow into the interior towards the Darling river. Length, from north to south, sixty miles; breadth, sixty. The general aspect consists of mountains and plains ; the latter are very rich, and include Normanby, Laidley, Innes, and Letitia plains. In lat. 28° 2' 40" S., long. 152° 24' 20'" E. fifty-foui' miles south-west from Brisbane town, and sixty-four miles in a direct distance from Point Danger on the sea-coast, there is a remarkable gap in the great dividing mountain range, which was discovered by J.Ir. Cunningham in 1827, and subsequently explored in 1828, during an expedition which he made from the Limestone hills (now called Ipswich), on the Bremer river, for this very purpose. This important passage from the coast, through a formidable momi- tain barrier, commences near a valley, from Vv'hence there is an ascent through a low forest lidge at south, bending S.S.W. and S.W. through the first mile and-a-half. The acclinty is veiy gradual, and in another half mile the ridge takes a decided bend to the westward, its surface becomes wide, and presents an open patch of forest ground, timbered chiefly v."ith oak aud apple-trees. The ridge again narrows, but the decli\ity is progressively easy ; patches of brush clothe its sides, as also the gullies falling fi'om it, lea\ing the back-grouiid clear of wood, open, and gi'assy. At about two-and-a-half miles the ridge bends to the north of west, and immediately the summit of the pass appears, bounded on each side by stupendous heads, towering to the height of 2,000 feet, named ^lounts ]\Iitchell and Cordeaux. Here the ascent becomes steep for 400 yards, and a level surface is reached at the top of the pass or gap, clothed with a thick bru.sh of plants common to the Brisbane river. From this point the waters may be seen falling westerly to INIiUer's valley beneath. The country contiguous to the eastern enti'ance of this important means of intercourse between the lower coast line and the upper table land of Darling and Canning downs, and Peel plains, is very beautiful. Mr. Cun- ningham passed a tract between the gap and Ipswich, apparently part of the 50,000 acres comprising Normanby plains, of which he says — " Nothing can possibly exceed the richness and mellowness of its fine black soil ; and certainly there is not, in any ex- plored part of New South Wales, a more beautiful subject for the pencil of the artist than the landscape presented to the traveller from the centre of Bainbrigge's plains, to which no description of mine can possibly do justice." Bremer river, on which Ips- wich is built, at ten miles from its mouth has a tortuous course and a uniformity of breadtii of thirty to thirty-five yards. Be- yond Ipswich the river forms a fine natural basin of 100 yards wide ; ledges of rocks fill the bed of the river, and separate the tidal salt water from the descending fresh moun- tain stream. At a fcAV miles from the en- trance of the gap, the rich flats and allu^aal grounds are adorned with blooming vetch, called by botanists swainsonia, and with the lotus Australis, or "bird's-eye" trefoil, as also v.ith a geranium and a scnecio, frequently seen in Bathurst county. The grasses are chiefly those of the more southern districts of the colony. The "coral tree," with its splendid scarlet flov>-ers, here grows to a height of thirty-five feet, with a smooth trunk, but thorny l)ranches. Brisbane, the county towi], or the settle- ment, as it is still commonly called, is situated on an elevated ridge of considerable extent, on the north or left bank of Brisbane river, about twenty-five miles from its mouth. This town was founded as a penal settle- ment, and many substantial buildings were erected by con^ict labour, which, when the district was thrown open for free settlers in 1843, would, it was supposed, form the nucleus for a large population. These rea- sonable hopes were, however, frustrated by the pursuance of the same mistaken policy which, in so many other instances, has re- tarded the progress of the colony, a8lOO an acre being fixed as the minimum price of building allotments in the town of Brisbane. On the other side of the river, wliich is here nearly a quarter of a mile in breadth, build- ing allotments were sold at a somewhat lower minimum price, and hence arose another small to^vn, called South Brisbane, in contradistinction to the older settlement. A third town was established, by private speculation, at Kangaroo Point, a peninsula formed by a sharp bend of the river, situated exactly opposite to Brisbane town. This tract being regarded merely as country land, was disposable at the government land sales, at a minimum price of not less than a pound an acre, at little more than which it was pm-chased by Mr. (now Sir Evan) ]\Iac- kenzie, and subdivided into building allot- ments, for those who wished to have a fixed place of residence in the neighbom-hood ; but could not afi"ord, or did not choose to pay, jglOO an acre for a building allotment on the other side of the river.* The popu- lation, Avhich, united, might have formed one ♦ Cooksland — Dr. Larg. respectable and flourishing to^vn, is now scattered among three insignificant places, a consequence Avhich has been the direct result of the system whose chief end was professedly concentration. According to Dr. Lang, there is much land of very inferior quality near Brisbane town, on both sides of the river, but particularly on the south side ; the tract from Brisbane to Ipswich, or the Limestone hills, situated at the head of the navigation of the Bremer, a distance of twenty-five miles by land, and fifty by the two rivers, being absolutely sterile, with tlie exception of a small plain of a few thousand acres in extent, called Cowper's plains, about ten miles from Brisbane. In another place, however. Dr. Lang says, that for some dis- tance above Brisbane the river is consider- ably wider than at the settlement, and where the banks are high and rocky, as is often the case in the lower part of its course, there is generally a considerable extent of level alluvial land on the opposite side, consti- tuting what are called the brushes, in which the soil is of the richest description, and the vegetation much m.ore varied and vigorous than on the forest-] and, beyond the reach of floods. These flats are found along the whole course of the main river and its various tributaries, and in the higher parts of its course are both more frequent and more extensive than in the lower. Ipswich, or Limestone, is a rising town, well situated at the head of the navigation of the Bremer river, and on the direct route to the Darling downs, by Cunningham's gap. From Ips- wich the Bremer pm-sues a tortuous course, between steep banks, for about tAvelve miles, to the Brisbane river. A small steamer now phes between the towns of Ipswich and Brisbane. The Bremer is subject to floods, and has been known to rise fifty-three feet above its ordinary level ; but the Brisbane being considerably wider, the water, in times of inundation, escapes much more freely, and the floods on that river are, conse- quently, not nearly so high. Limestone plains, in the immediate vicinity of Ipswich, are a tract of land almost destitute of timber, of the richest and most fertile black mould. The distance to the foot of the mountains is only thirty-eight miles, and quite level throughout ; at eighteen miles from IpsAvich there are other plains, similar to those at Limestone, called Normanby plains, containing an area of from 40,000 to 50,000 acres. The whole country bounded by Moreton bay — a distance of about fifty miles from south to north — is well adapted for grazing and agricultural farming; the soil around the Glasshouses (peaked mountains, so called by Captain Cook, when he discovered and named the bay), is formed of decomposed lava, and very fertile. The indigenous timber is of great value — the auracaria Cunning- hami or Moreton bay pine, and the aura- caria Bidwellia or the Bunya-Bunya tree, have been already mentioned. The mulberry tree grows very luxuriantly. With regard to the adaptation of this locality to the cul- tivation of the vine, there appears much difference of opinion; but the periodical rains of January and February, coming as they do, just at the season when the fruit needs maturing by a hot sun, seems a great obstacle. The climate and soil appear well suited to the cultivation of the sugar-cane, cotton, arrow-root, tobacco, indigo, and other tropical products; and, according to Dr. Lang, is also admirably adapted for the production of every species of European gi'ain, as well as of those peculiar to warmer climates ; for as vegetation goes on without interruption all the year round, the farmer has only to select, for the growth of any description of grain, the peculiar season that will ensure the exact temperature required to bring it to maturity ; the barley harvest, being the hardiest grain, comes immediately after the colonial winter, the wheat harvest at the commencement of summer, and the maize harvest so late as to give that inter- tropical grain the full benefit of the heat of summer. This latter crop is a never-failing one at Moreton Bay, yielding, on alluvial land, at the rate of eighty bushels an acre. The English potato, and the Indian or sweet potato, are both cultivated success- fully*. The latter is very prolific, and is grown near Brisbane to the weight of eighteen, and even tAventy-three pounds each. Coal is found in the neighbourhood of the Brisbane; and the fisheries of the extensive bay and coast may be made very profitable. By recent accounts, it appears that the colonists at Brisbane have com- menced captiu'ing the Yungan, called also * The summer heat of Moreton Bay will, I think, prevent the extensive employment of European agri- cultural labour at this station ; but under a well de- vised system, and with due encouragement, a large and valuable class of Chinese immigrants might be Induced to settle at Moreton Bay, where they would soon become successful cultivators of sugar, cotton, mulberries for silk, tobacco, and other products suited to the soil and climate. The Chinese are now the dugong or sea-pig of Moreton bay, for the purpose of extracting the oil from the animal ; the oil procured iu this way is highly spoken of, being remarkably pvire and clear; about five gallons is obtained from each animal. The blacks are very expert in har- pooning these animals, and they are pas- sionately fond of the flesh, preferring it to any other kind of food. The chief Eminences in Stanley county are Mounts lii'isbane, Hallen, Forbes, Frazer, Edwards, Sampson, Cross, Melbourne, and Stephenson, Frenchplay peak, Tenthill, and D'Aguilar's range. Rivers. — Brisbane, Bre- mer, Stanley, Logan, Teviot, Lockyer, and Pumicestone. Creeks. — Coyar, Graham, Franklin, Yarril, and Downshire. Towns. — Brisbane (chief), on the Brisbane river; and Ipswich, on the Bremer river. Harbour. — The fine haven of Moreton bay ; the adja- cent islands of Moreton, Stradbroke, and Peel, belong to Stanley county. Of the three islands which run nearly parallel to the coast, and form the haven termed Moreton's bay, Stradbroke, the most southern island, is thirty miles in length, and five in breadth ; at its southern extre- mity is a sand-spit, parallel to the main land for twelve miles. North of Stradbroke is Moreton island, with a navigable channel between the two of a mile in width. More- ton island runs north for about twenty miles, with a breadth of three miles. The third or most northern is Bribie's island, termed Yareen by the natives ; it is seven- teen miles long, by two to three broad. There is a channel of eight miles wide, with five to six fathoms water, between Moreton and Bribie islands. These three islands are stated by Dr. Lang to be hopelessly sterile to seaward. Moreton bay, throughout its whole extent of sixty miles long by twenty miles wide, is *tudded with islands of various sizes, and at its southern extremity it gradually narrows to the appearance of a mere river. Cavendish County, situated to the north- west of Stanley county, is divided on the south from Churchill county by Lockyer's creek, which is suiTounded by extensive plains. Dr. Leichardt says : "I have seen purchasing land at Sincapore, and cultivating it with their usual skill ; thousands would emigrate from Amoy, if the local government of Australia gave them due encouragement. The table land above Moreton bay may probably be more adapted for European out- door labour, but I certainly doubt the eligibility of Stanley county as a residence for the distressed needle- women of London. [In the Supplement the loca- . tion of Chinese in Australia will be noticed.] COMMISSIONERS' DISTRICTS OR SQUATTING STATIONS. 141 some forty miles more of the district, and the more I see, the more I feel convinced that it is eminently fit for small settlers/' Ridges of smaU elevation in this county, contain small concretions of carbonate of lime, which are equally found on Darling downs and on Liverpool plains, indicating a fertile country. Besides this description of soil, there are many flats between the primitive mountain ranges and the ridges where a bed of clay hes generally one-and- a-half to three feet below the sirrface. The forest ground resembles, at present, one uninterrupted oat or rye-field in harvest. Antistheria Australis, which grows from three to four feet high, is the predominant grass, and is bm'ut off from time to time, the ashes form a good maniu'e by which the soil is enriched, the tuft enlarged, and a younger and more nutritious grass formed. Commissioners' Districts, or Squatting Stations. — In-espective of the foregoing counties of New South Wales, there is a large extent of the colony dirided into what are ofiicially termed commissioners' districts, or " squatting stations," where the owners of sheep, cattle, and horses are authorized, by licences from the colonial government, to depasture theii* flocks and herds over certain tracts. From time to time these squatting stations are being converted into counties, as population increases and land is in demand for purchase. In the year 1848, the squatting stations in the Sydney portion of New South AVales were — Districts. Bllgh . . . Clarence River Darling Downs Lachlan . . Liverpool Plains M'Leay River ^laneroo . . jNIurrumbidgee New England. Wellington Chief Places. Dubbo. Grafton. "Warwick. Gundegai. Tarn worth. Kempsey. Cressbrook. Deniliquin. Armidale. Molons:. To begin with the southern districts of the colony. The Maneroo has been de- scribed in Auckland county. The Murrumbidyee squatting district is situated between the left Ijank of the Mm-- rumbidgee river on the north, and the right bank of the ^Murray river on the south ; on the east it is conterminous with the Ma- neroo district. It is one of the largest and finest tracts in New South AVales; has extensive plains and swelling uplands, thinly wooded, which increase in elevation towards the ATistralian Alps. The most prominent eminences are — Mounts Trafalgar, Battery, Friday, Aikin, ]Mingeroo, Majonbury, Janil, Talbingo, Kengal, and the Snowy Moun- tains, where the Mtu-riunbidgee and Murray rivers have their soiu'ce. The district is well watered by two of the largest rivers in New SouthWales, and also by the Doomut or Tumutj Bm-nett's, and the Coodi-abidgee ; by the creeks Tingella, Yewen-Yewen, Nackie- Nackie, Aidelong, &c. Hamilton plains, on the south bank of the jNIuiTumbidgee and Camden forest, watered by TingeUa creek, are extensive and valuable tracts. Albuiy, advantageously placed on the ]\Iurray river, is the post town of the district. It is in the high road from Sydney to INIelbourne, through Goulbom'u, Yass, and Gundegai. This last-named town, 250 miles from Sydney, is situated on oiae of the flats of the jNImTumbidgee, which is here as broad as the river Clyde at Glasgow; but, like all Australian rivers, subject to expansion from floods. On one occasion, in October, 1844, the Murrumbidgee rose more than forty feet above its ordinary' level, and covered the parlour of the inn at Gundegai to the depth of foiu' feet. The MuiTumbidgee is here friaged with swamp oaks, which are not found on any river farther south. The banks and districts for many miles above Gundegai are occupied as gi'azing stations, and at intervals by small farmers. Lachlan squatting district is situated be- tween the right bank of the JNIiu'iaimbidgee river, and the left bank of the Lachlan river. This large dirision of the colony consists chiefly of a series of undulations, \dt\\ exten sive plateaux, such as the Emyalean (between Mount Brogden and Jones hills), and INIoUe plains, on the south bank of the Lachlan. There are several lakes ; the principal are — Qua^Aingame, near the confluence of the Lachlan and ^lurrumbidgee rivers; Camp- bell's, Goorungutty, and Cudjallogong, or Regent's lake. The chief eminences are — • Taylor's, Peel's, ]Macquarie's (or Coccaparra), Yerraraser, Goulbomn's ranges, ^Mounts Stewart, Gill, Watts, jNIyaroug, Berabidgal, Matta, or Mannar (hill), Maude, Garrow, !Mep'ick, Balloon, jMoriatta, Portesse, and Byng. The rivers are the Lachlan, Mur- nimbidgee, Yass, and Boorowa. Sir T. Mitchell, speaking of the country near Jugion creek, on the right bank of the ^MiuTiunbidgee, on the road which leads towards Sydney, says — " The scenery at 142 MURRUMBIDGEE AND LACHLAN SQUATTING DISTRICTS. various points of the river seen this day was very beautiful ; its chief features consisting of noble pieces of water, umbrageous woocis, flowering meadows, enlivened ])y those objects so essential to the harmony of landscape — cattle of every hue. Each meadow Avas already covered with the lowing herds, for which it seemed to be prepared." The traces of the industry of man are obvious in fences and substantial wooden houses, Avith their smoking chimneys, built in the most inviting parts of each cattle run. This region is thinly wooded with the gigantic Yarra eucalyptus, and it is one of the finest pastoral districts in the colony. Nothing definite is known of the Lower Darling Eiver district, but the country appears to deterio- rate the farther it is explored westward of the great coast range. On that portion of the Lower DarHng which is bounded by the Lachlan river, there is good pasturage and several stock stations. WeUinyton district. — Adjacent to the counties of Wellington and Bathurst, and between the Lachlan and the Macquarie rivers, is a very fertile tract. The plains Wellington, Cannil, Baird, and Gullerong afford sweet pasturage. The eminences are Harvey^s, Croker^s, and New Year ranges. Mounts Coulambals, Laidley, Bugamel, Mar- ga-Nangar, Amyot or Camerberdong, Mel- ville, Allan or Wolga, Picor Taiga, Hurds, Paccalang, Gundobillong, and Warranary. Rivers Laclilan, Macquarie, Byrnes, Kalin- galungaguy, Yamerunna, Belabula, Bell, MoUe, Mary, Elizabeth, Bogan or New Year creek, and several other creeks. Bliffh squatting district is bounded on one side by the Macquarie river, and on the north by the Liverpool range, as it extends to Warrabungle range. The pasturage is excellent, and it is well watered. The chief eminences iire~Mo\\.ni Harris and Warrabungle or Arbuthnot's range, which comprises Load- stone hill. Mount Harrison, and Vernon's Peak. Liverpool Plains squatting district (native name Corhorn Comleroy) is bounded on the south by the Liverpool or great dividing coast range, on the east by the western ex- tremity of the same great di^dding range; on the north and west the boundaries are indefinite. This is the finest pastoral dis- trict in New South Wales ; situated between two parallel mountain ranges, it is traversed at irregular intervals by narrow belts of forest which divide the plains into a series of natural parallelograms, and excellently watered by the numerous rivers and creeks which run eastward and westward, and are the source of nearly all the streams to the northward of Sydney. The chief eminencesare the Warrabungle, or the Arbuthnot range, which divide the Liverpool plains from Bligli district; the Great Liverpool range, the Green mountains, Vansittart hills, Pandora's Pass, East Bluff", Mooan, Mac Arthvir, Tereil, Murulla, Temi, Spear range, Breeci, Din- bundie, Forbes, Turiel, Shirley, Nundawar or Hardback's range. Mount RiddeU, Albuera, Drummond range, Frazer, Lindesay, Pui'ren Virden, Bullinbulla, and Gulligal. The principal river's are the Peel, Cockburn, Bireboola, Mooriloo, Boweu, Yorke, Turra- beile, Parry, Nammoy, Goonore, Gaora, Co- radilla, Mulnuerindie, Maules, Coagi, Buddie, Horton, Kareen, Bombelli, Gwydir, and Darling. The creeks are those of Car- ringoha, Purreonville, Weeves, Ogunbill, Moonbi, Calingorady, Moowar creeks; and the Lobster, Meadow, Welcome, Rocket, Bombelli, Limejuice, Pelican, and Roderigo ponds. The Australian Agricultural Company hold within the boundaries of this district 562,898 acres out of their grant of 1,000,000 acres, the remainder, consisting of 437,109 acres, are, as previously stated, in Glou- cester county. The Peel river portion of the Au.stralian Agricultural Company's lands, consisting of 313,298 acres, commences at the source of the Peel river, immediately under the great range, and is bounded on the east and north by that river, and on the west and south by marked lines to include the above area. These lands, from their elevation above the sea, and being beyond the genial effects of the sea breeze, arc subjected to greater extremes of both cold and heat than the Port Stephen's grant, and are occasionally lialjle to frosts, but the soils in the valleys are rich and fer- tile in the extreme, and although crops of maize and tobacco cannot be depended upon, wheat and potatoes may, it is considered, be grown to any extent. The hills are everywhere richly covered with a tall luxuriant grass, but comparatively bare of timber, not affording in this respect the same faciUties as the land at Port Ste- phens. The Peel river forms, for some miles, the northern and eastern boundary of this portion of the company's possession, and streams of minor imj)ortance run through other parts of them. [See Supplement.] The remaining grant of the Company, a M'LEAY AND NEW ENGLAND SQUATTING DISTBICTS. 143 parallelogram of 249,600 acres, is not more than fifteen miles from the ^yestern boundary of the Peel's river grant, and embraces the greater portion of the flats or levels which were originally a fresh-water lake, since filled in by the washings from the surround- ing hills, and consequently containing the richest allu^dal soils of very considerable depth; the pastu.rage on the plains is decidedly herbaceous, on which stock of every description thi'ive remarkably well : the hills are coated with the same character of grass as that on the hills of the Peel's River tract, differing only fi'om the grass on the eastern side of the Barrier range, inas- much as it is more rank in growth, and more fattening in quality. The numerous streams that intersect and are comprised mthin the boundary lines of this portion, on reaching the plains become absorbed in the soils, so tliat they are somewhat deficient in surface water, Avhicli is nevertheless always attain- able with ease and certainty at five-and- twenty feet below the surface ; and Artesian Y/ells might be here introduced with incal- culable advantage. On all the lands of the company large sums of money have been expended by the company in making roads and bridges, and in the erection of houses and buildings. The company has also large flocks of sheep — herds of cattle and horses, depas- turing on their several locations, the breeds of ivhich are of the purest and most valued kinds, sent originally from this country, France, and Germany, at very great expense, and selected with considerable care and judgment. [Eecent proceedings in Suppt] M'Leay squatting district is divided by the !Macquarie river on the south from Mac- quarie county; on the west it is bounded by New England district ; on the north by Clarence River district ; on the east by the I ocean. There is a large extent of available \ land along the banks of the M'Leay river, \ on whose banks, as before stated, Kempsey, the post-town, is situated. The soft slaty ranges, more than usually disintegrated and decomposed, are very general in the basin of the M'Leay river, and being converted into a rich loose soil, have a comparatively better grassy covering than the other for- mations; they are not, in general, thickly wooded, and, it is supposed, would be pre- eminently favoiirable for the growth of the vine, which seems to dehght in earth mixed with, or formed from decomposed black clay slate, as is observable on the mountains near the Rhine, and at Constantia, Cape of Good Hope. At Dongai creek, near the M'Leay river, there are several-" limestone caves full of stalactites, of singular confoinnation. Pro- ceeding from Dongai creek, up the banks of the JNI'Leay river, there are a great num- ber of squatting stations belonging mostly to retired officers. The country they occupy is abundantly watered, independently of the river, by numerous permanent chains of ponds and water-courses. The gi'ass is good, but the country, especially on the north bank, soon becomes elevated, the ranges rising one beyond the other, in end- less succession, covered with dense brushy forest, and intersected by ravines and water- gullies. There are scattered sheep stations on the Upper TvI'Lcay and Apsley river ; but the rugged mountainous country intervening between them and the Lower IM'Leay, pre- vents all communication between the settlers on either side. Mr. Ralfe, the government surveyor, has discovered a passage over the mountains (some of which are 6,000 feet above the sea) from the table-land of New England, and a road has now been con- structed to Port Macquarie, for wool-drays, so that the staple produce is conveyed in the weekly steamers to Sydney. The Solitaiy Islands are off the sea-coast. Rivers. — M'Leay, Nambucca, and Bel- lengen. New England squatting district, bounded on the east by a Hne from the confluence of the Barnard and INIanning rivers to the top of Mount Seaview, thence by a Hne to the top of Win'ikimbie mountain, and thence by a line north by compass from Wirri- kimbie, dividing the district from Macquarie county, and from the JNPLeay and Clarence River districts ; on the north, by a line due west, so as to intersect the top of Mount Gu-ard, near the head of the north branch of the Clarence river, and dividing this from the Darling Downs district ; on the west by the western extremity of the great dividing range, so as to include the table land ; and on the south by the jNIanning river, which forms the north boundary of Gloucester county. This elevated district is one of the best sheep pastures in Australia. ]\Ir. Pat- tison remarks, in his work on New South Wales, that nothing Avill astonish the tra- veller in the bush more than the rapidity \rith which villages and settlements spring into existence; a court-house, irtn, and store, are the first attempts in a bush township. In the centre of this squatting district is Arma- 144 CLARENCE RIVER DISTRICT— FINE COUNTRY. dale, which, in 184-2, had solely a police- station; in 1848-9, it had two places of worship, five inns, a steam-mill, stores, tradesmen of aU kinds, and was a thriving town, with a weekly post to Sydney. Eminences. — Ben Lomond, ]Mitchell, Gal- Hgal, Bullimbulla, Basaltic rock, Wirrikim- bie. Mount Seaview, Sugarloaf or Chandler's peak, and the Blue mountains. Rivers. — Barnard, Apsley, Hastings, M'Leay, Croker, Clarence, Severn, Burrell, Anderson, Dumaresque, Boyd, Mitchell, Man's, and various creeks and ponds. Clarence River squatting district is bounded on the south by the ranges which form the basin of the Clarence river, on the south side of that ri\'er ; on the west by the New England district ; on the north by the ranges forming the basin of the Brisbane, and the Logan on the south side of these rivers; and on the east by the sea-coast. I do not know tlie area of this district, Avbich is moimtainous. The principal emi- nences ai-e, INIounts Lindsay (5,700 feet). Warning (3,300 feet), Hughes, "Wohman, Coke, King William, Ballow, and Barney. It is watered by the Boyd, Clarence, Tweed, Richmond, Brunswick, Logan, Teviot, and Albert rivers ; and by Urara, ^Myrtle, Load- stone, Deep, Reynolds, and Yarril creeks. The follo-ning is an extract from a report of Mr. Commissioner Fry, commissioner of crown lands in the Clai'encc district, and a magistrate of the ten-itorv, drawn up in June, 1846 :— " The plains on the banks of the Clarence river are of various sizes, many of them extending along the river for miles, the soil being a deep dark alluvial deposit on a substi'atum of clay, covered at top by a layer of vegetable decomposition, the accumulation of ages, and so thinly timbered that isolated acres may be found unincumbered by a single tree. The astonishing vegetation with -which they are clothed is almost inconceivable, such indeed as I have never witnessed elsewhere save on the equally favoured regions of tiie Richmond, a river forty miles to the northward of the Clarence. It is impossible to imagine a country more worthy of having bestowed upon it the labour of the husbandman, or one more likely to remunerate him for his toil than the locali- ties to ^^hich I refer, as they are remarkable, not alone for the excellence of the land, but for being placed under a climate than which none can be more conducive to the process of vegetation. An almost complete realization of Fenelon's conception with reference to Calypso's isle is exhil)ited in the climate of the Clarence, as, without any degree of hyperbole, a perpetual sprinj; may be said to prevail during the entire year, for so mild are the seasons that vegeta- tion remains unchecked even in the midst of the so- called winter. Kain is abundant, so much so as to pive rise to the opinion that the district is unsuited for pastoral purposes, at least so far as sheep arfi concei-ned. Frost is very unfrcquent, and never intense, as may be inferred from its geographical position. The heat in summer is considerable, but an excess of two or thi-ee days is almost invariably succeeded by thunder showers which for a time ren- der cool and invigorating the air, occasionally causing an extraordinary rapid change of temperature, the thermometer having been frequently known to vary no less than forty degrees in the space of twelve hours. This sudden caprice of temperature is how- ever not in the least creative of unhealthiness ; on the contrary, I am satisfied there is no part of New South Wales, however justly it may be famed for the salubrity of its climate, Avhicli is more conducive to the health of the human body than the district of the Clarence river ; indeed most others must be confessed to yield to it in tliis respect, inasmuch as the never- fading mantle of green in which it is perpetually clothed, shields its inhabitants from the opthalmic diseases so prevalent in other parts of the colony. Were it necessary to adduce any corroboration of this truth, I need only refer to the unsuccessful effort of a medical practitioner to establish himself in the district, who, though eminent both for professional talent and amenity of manner, was obliged to abandon the undertaking, after a fruitless attempt protracted for upwards of two years, his failure solely arising from the almost entire absence of disease, as it cannot be imagined that a population amounting to nearly 1,100 souls, and possessed of 150,000 sheep and 30,000 cattle, would be unable sufficiently to remu- nerate him were his services required. On the whole, a four years' residence in the district has confirmed me in the opinion, that no country ever came from the hands of its Creator more eminently qualified to be the abode of a thriving and numerous population, than the one of which I have been speaking ; and in forming this estimate I have been uninfluenced either by prejudice or by interest, being no way concerned with it save in that arising from my official capacity." From the thirtieth degree of latitude, there are tidal rivers along the coast to the north- ward, every forty miles; all perennial streams. Canning Downs, to the westward of Churcli- hill and Buller counties, are several miles in length, and two to three miles in breadth ; on each side of the plains there are ranges of middling height — now a chain of cones, now flat-topped mountains, covered with brush, then long-backed hills sharply cut at their ends. The soil of the downs is black, and yet mild, with many white concretions of carbonate of lime ; the vegetation is quite diflerent from that of the forest ground on the other side of the coast range, and the grasses are more various, but they do not here exclusively occupy the ground; they grow, says Leicliardt, more sociably in small commmiities together, separated by suc- ciUent herbs, particulai'ly composites; the creeks are deeply cut, with steep banks covered with reeds. This celebrated explorer of the resoiu'ces of New South T\'ales, says : that the finest mountain country he has seen in the colonv, is the eastern side of DISCOVERY OF DARLINCx DOWNS BY A. CUNNINGHAM, IN 1S.27. 145 the "gap," through which the road passes from the Brisbane to the southern parts of Canning downs. Sunny ranges covered with fine grass and open forest, ascend pretty rapidly to the pass. The coast range forms an amphitheatre of dark, steep mountains ; a waterfall rushes over a precipice 300 feet high, iuto a rocky valley, which one might take for the crater of an extinct volcano, if the surrounding rocks warranted such a supposition. Bold isolated mountains ap- pear in the distance, in their vaiious tints of blue, during sunset " dimming through a purple mist." Both sides of the mountain have some brushes, particularly the western slope, in which many of the trees of the Bunya brushes reappear. This is the most western point in which that beautiful palm, the aracauria Cunninghamia, has been found; the Seaforthia palm is frequent and high. The rosewood acacia is abundant; it has a very agreable violet scent. The " bottle tree," which is found in various parts of tropical Australia, is seen here ; it swells slightly four to five feet high, then tapers rapidly to a small diameter, the whole height about forty feet ; foliage thin, crown scanty, leaves lanceolate, and of a greyish green. The Canning and Peel downs, which by some are considered as part of the Darling downs, extend northward to lat. 26° 50', six miles beyond Jimba creek. Their length is estimated thirty to forty miles ; they slope gradually from the great eastern range down to the Condaraine. Darling Downs are in length about 120 miles, from north to south, with an average breadth of fifty miles, bounded on the south by a line extending due west, so as to intersect the top of IVIount Gerard, which is near the head of the north branch of the Clarence river, and ma; king this from the New England district, on the east by the range dividing the east and west waters, separating this from the Clarence River district and from Stanley county ; on the north and west the boundaries are unde- fined. The plains of this extensive district are the Darling downs, Canning downs, Cecil, Peel, and Waterloo plains. The chief eminences are Mount Parker, M'Leay, and Herries' ranges, mounts Sturt, INIitchell, Logan, and Hay peak. It is well watered by the Condamine, Glen, Dumaresque, Boyne, Macintyre, Myall, and other streams. The Darling downs were discovered by the late Allan Cunningham, in 1827, during the course of an expedition suggested by DIV. I, then surveyor-general Oxley. Cunningham left the Upper Hunter's river on 30tli April, 1827, \nt\i six servants and eleven horses, and previous to his departure, expressed to me his conviction, that the discovery of a valuable country would be the reward of his laboxirs. He crossed the dividing range at an elevation of 3,080 feet above the sea, skirted the Liverpool plains at an elevation of 840 feet, through a forest country; and about forty miles to the northward of 31° 2' S. lat., 150° 30' E., found that the country had gradually risen to 1,900 feet. Aftei crossing the parallel of 30°, and passing a poor region, the adventurous explorer de- scended to " a beautiful and well- watered valley, affording abundance of pasturage." This valley terminated sixteen miles farther north, on a stream (the Gwydir) flowing north-west, in 29° 51' lat., 911 feet above the sea. Proceeding northward through a comparatively inferior tract, he came in lat. 29, long. 150° 40' on a river running Avesterly, eighty yards wide, and very deep, 840 feet above the sea, and 170 miles from the coast. Here the land was good. A country, then arid, on account of the existing di-ought, was next explored in a north-easterly direction for eighty miles, and eventually led to a clear, pastoral region, which has since proved so valuable. Deep ponds, nourished by the neighbouring streams immediately to the eastward, extend along its central lower flats, which being permanently watered furnish an almost inexhaustible range of cattle pastui'e at all seasons. From these central grounds rise downs of a rich, black, dry soil, and of a very ample surface ; they furnish abundance of grass, are conveniently watered, and, being above the reach of the floods which take place on the flats during seasons of rain, are well adapted for sheep stations. Some hills are connected laterally with the bold outline of the stupendous-looking coast-line range ; they are clothed from head to foot with dense underwood. The greater part of the downs is composed of hill and dale, woodland and plain, forming a most beau- tifully diversified landscape. There is communication with the sea-coast from this table land by Cunningham's gap, through Stanley county, to Moreton bay. The mean elevation of the Darling downs is 1,800 to 2,000 feet above the sea; but Mount Mitchell, the highest peak of the adjacent range, is 4,100 feet above the sea. From the Condamine river the country rises very gently — almost imperceptibly, till the 146 THE DARLING DOWNS AND N.E. PASTORAL REGIONS. road passes between two hills or ranges, where basaltic rock appears, and very exten- sive shallow valleys or plains, generally in- tersected by a creek overgrown with reeds and high grass. Here and there the grass tree is seen, either single or in groups and groves, one foot or more in diameter, and eight to ten feet high. The ranges which border the plains are covered with box-wood ; j with a gum-ti^ee, called the Moreton Bay ash; and with other trees; but all very scattered. The forest becomes denser on approaching the eastern slopes. Dr. Lei- chardt thinks there is no equal to the Dar- ling downs for sheep rearing, the mutton being fat and tender, and the wool excellent. One shepherd can here look after two to three thousand sheep ; whereas, in other districts, three or four shepherds would be requisite for the care of a similar number. They are traversed, at moderate distances from each other, by streams or creeks, rising in the lofty coast range, and running west- ward to the Condamine river. The usual extent of a sheep run or station is twenty miles in length, by six miles in breadth, or three miles on each side of one of these creeks; one station, therefore, contains 120 square miles = 76,800 acres. Dr. Lang aays, that on the east side of the range towards the coast, the sheep and cattle sta- tions are not unfrequently of this extent. Large plains stretch along the Condamine river, some fifty miles long by twenty-five miles broad — true savannahs, in the centre of which may be seen the sharp line of the horizon, as ou the ocean. North-west of the Condamine, on the Cogoon river, are the valuable Fitzroy downs, with " mount Abun- dance;" and still further north there is an immense extent of pastoral country, dis- covered by Mitchell, which he states to be of greater extent than the whole of the present squatting districts; and that after his exploring party crossed the Darling river, they never suffered from heat, and had no want of water. There is excellent pasturage in the tracts watered by the Cogoon, Ma- ranoa, Claude, Belyando, Warrego, Nogoa, and other rivers, which flow from the south side of the Plutonic cones — Pluto, Hutton, and Playfair ; but the country on the Vic- toria river is better watered than any other part of Australia seen by Sir Thomas Mitchell. The soil is of rich clay, and covered with luxuriant pasturage. To the north-east, after passing the great plains of the Condamine, Leichai'dt entered on a country which was alternately covered with fine open forest land, well grassed, and fit for cattle and horse breeding, and with long stretches of almost impassable brigalow scrub. Along the Dawson river or creek, in 26° S. lat., fine flats extend along its banks and open ridges, with sound ground some miles oS" the river. At Palm-tree creek, in 25° 34' S. lat., there are rich flats, fine ridges, and a plentiful supply of water. Following up this creek is a flat table land, where the waters are turned to the south- west. Proceeding towards Robinson's river or creek, the whole country is openly tim- bered, the ridges at the upper part of the creek, in part, covered Avith sUvered-leaf iron bark, and well adapted for sheep. Fine flats extend along its bank, when first met with, in 25° 28' S. lat. At Zamia creek, in 24° 54' S. lat., there is a plam country of very great extent, almost imbounded by any rise towards the north-east. The creek is ac- companied by small flats and thick scrub; but the flats extend more and more, and the scrub recedes as it approaches the large open country, which appears thinly timbered. The reader may follow, with his eye, these tracts of country, along the routes of Mitchell and Leichardt, in the accompanying map of New South Wales. A more de- tailed account of the new regions they ex- plored is given at pp. 388 to 393. The country north of Stanley county, not yet divided into counties, is marked by a very high range of sienite, broken through by basaltic rock, dividing Stanley county from the Wide Bay district. To the north- ward of the 27th parallel is the Bunya- Bunya country, so called from a gigantic tree of that name, with an umbrella-like head, which overtowers all the trees of the brush, and at certain seasons (about every three years) supplies the aborigines with a very palatable food, which they travel a distance of two or three hundred miles, periodically, to obtain. Some of these giants of vegetation, which rise to 150 feet, a:s straight as a gun barrel, have a circum- ference of twenty feet, at six feet elevation from the ground ; the cones, which are about one foot long, and three-quarters in diameter, somewhat like a pine-apple, contain forty to fifty scales, beneath which a kernel is found, which Leichardt says, is " delicious eating," and that it is difficult to cease eating them. These trees, which look like " pillars of the blue vault of heaven," extend over a brush about fifty miles in length, by ten in breadth. COUNTRY NORTH OF MOKETON BAY— N. S. WALES DIOCESES. 147 The " Glasshouses/' in this neighboiir- hood, so named by captain Cook, rise out of low ranges — some like needles, others like castles — the highest (Biroa or Birwah) is about 1,000 feet high, composed of rock entirely different from the surrounding mountains. Dr. Leichardt, who had seen similar mountain features in the neighbom'- hood of Clermont-Ferrand, in Auvergne, considers these isolated cones to consist of what geologists call rockdomite. The Biroa is extremely steep, and its sides almost naked rock ; but wherever a hollow or de- pression has allowed the accumulation of some soil and of nioistui'e, a rich vegetation appears, single but full high bushes of a broad-leaved boronia, a dendrobium with red blossoms, and other flowers. Leichardt thinks that the sea once heaved against these mountains, which are sui'rounded by sandstone ridges of a coarse grain. The grass-tree fXanthorracece) grows in thousands (except on Darling downs, or other places possessing a very rich, black, mild soil con- taining much carbonate of lime, and is generally a sign of a poor or thin soil); casuarina, the apple, and other trees, abound in the district. The Boyne river, which traverses the region east of Wide bay, was discovered by Mr. Henry Stuart Russell. He found, after leaving Jimba creek (see map of New South Wales), that the whole character of the country alters — instead of the wide- spreading plains upon the Darling downs, there is a fine undulating country thickly timbered, and covered with the most luxui'iant gi'ass; the ridges are chiefly gra- nite. The bed of the Boyne river is 1,500 feet above the sea. On the first day's jour- ney down the river, the explorers passed over some lovely country ; nothing could be more beautiful and luxuriant than the valleys ; the foliage of all the trees, amongst which is the conspicuous wide-spreading " apple tree," appeared fresher and brighter than any Mr. Russell had seen in any other part of Australia. Droughts, they found, were unknown ; the soil, dark and rich ; the grass, chiefly oaten, which is the most fat- tening ; the ridges high (always the sign of good sheep-ground,) and well wooded, chiefly with the broad-leaved iron bark. On the second day's journey down the Boyne, many streams joined it from the east and west ; the land became more mountainous, and the valleys richer and more fertile. The th rd day the travellers stopped at Barrendowan, " a beautiful spot," fifty miles in a direct north Hne from Jimba. On the fourth day they came upon a full flowing stream from the eastward, which they called the Stuart. The journey was continued during sixteen days, for 300 miles along the banks of the Boyne — though the distance from Jimba was not supposed to be more than 150 miles. ^Yhere Mr. Russell's journey terminated, the climate was too warm for the growth of wool ; but the country was well adapted for the cultivation of rice, sugar, and other tro- pical products. On the upper part of the river Mr. Russell says : " there is an ex- panse of the finest country for sheep and cattle, and also for the cultivation of Euro- pean productions." Irrespective of the arrangement of coun- ties and districts, the colony is divided into three dioceses, \iz„ Sydney, Newcastle, and Melbourne ; the latter includes the whole of the Victoria or Port Phillip district ; New- castle comprises the seven northern counties of New South Wales, viz., Northumberland, Gloucester, Hunter, Durham, Brisbane, Bligh, and PhiUip counties; the Sydney diocese comprises all the remainder of the territory not included in either of the two before-mentioned dioceses. The Episcopa- lian churches and chapels in New South Wales, scattered throughout the colony, are in number — of stone, 28; of brick, 30; of wood, 12. The Roman catholic chapels — of stone, 28 ; of brick, 10 ; of wood, 6. The Presbyterians are divided into the presbytery of Campbelltown (three chapels), of Mait- land (five chapels), of Melbourne (five chapels), of Sydney (five chapels and two temporary), and of Windsor (three chapels) . The Wes- leyan methodists have forty-two chapels in the difterent counties of New South Wales. [See Supplement for Missions.] I have endeavoui'cd to delineate the lead- ing featui-es of this noble colony, according to its several divisions ; but as may natui'ally be supposed, a region that extends for more than one thousand miles along the shores of the Pacific, viz., from Cape Howe to Her- vey's bay, and upwards of five hundred miles inland, i.e. from the ocean to the river Dar- ling, and whose colonization is, comparatively speaking, the work of yesterday, can yet be but partially known. If we view New South Wales as a region ten times the size of England, with a climate unsurpassed for salubrity, and peculiarly adapted for the Anglo-Saxon race, with a table-land of 148 AREA, POPULATION, CULTIVATION, AND STOCK OF EACH COUNTY nearly lialf-a-million square miles, supported for a thousandmiles by gigantic mountain but- tresses of four to six thousand feet high : this table land for the most part throughout the whole year covered with the most nutritious herbage, admirably adapted for the food of sheep and cattle, and intersected by a net- work of streams ; the mountains clothed with useful timber, the valleys, where cultivated, yielding fifty to one hundred-fold of grain, the coast line indented with secure havens, and the ocean, the lakes, and the rivers teeming with fish — some idea may be formed of the importance of this valuable section of the British empire. The limited extent of which we have as yet availed ourselves of the blessings thus vouchsafed to England, will be best mani- fested by shewing, in a tabular form, the area of each county and district, the small number of acres cultivated, the quantity of live stock, and the number of acres to each individual in each county and district. It will be observed from the annexed table, that in the counties there are from five hun- dred to Jive thousand acres to each inhabitant ; in the districts not yet formed into counties^ the range is from Jive thousand to ten thou- sand acres for each European resident. The total number of inhabitants on about 96,909,364 acres, is 154,515, which gives for the portion of New South Wales included in these details, 628 acres for each Anglo- Saxon. [See Appendix A in Supplement.] Counties and Districts in New South Wales, exclusive of Port Phillip. Counties : — Argyle . . Auckland Bathurst . . Bligh . . . Brisbane . . Camden . . Cook . . . Cumberland . Durham . . Georgiana . Gloucester . Hunter . . King . . . Macquarie . Murray . . Northumberland Phillip . . Roxburgh . St. Vincent . Stanley . . Wellington . Westmoreland Commissioners' Dists, Bligh . . . Clarence River Darling Downs Lachlan . . Liverpool Plains M'Leay River Maneroo . . Moreton Bay Murrumbidgee New England Wellington . Other Districti Gwydir . . Lower Darling Wide Bay . Burnett . . Maranoa . . Total English acres, in each about 1,248,600 1,536,000 1,190,400 1,070,120 1,150,160 1,140,320 1,065,600 914,800 1,354,^ 1,231,360 1,375,200 1,315,840 1,159,840 1,408,000 1,458,080 1,498,880 1,035,520 972,160 1,704,884 2,000,000 1,059,840 1,018,880 5,000,000 3,000,000 8,000,000 10,000,000 10,000,000 2,000,000 2,000,000 2,000,000 12,000,000 5,000,000 10,000,000 Wliite Popula- tion in 1846. 5,000 1,000 4,391 598 1,4C6 8,323 3,598 73,538 7,554 953 2,399 1,190 1,665 1,973 2,721 13.335 641 2,353 2,102' 1,599 970 1,575 788 1,225 658 2,198 2,110 466 1,916 268 2,592 2,231 1.199 No. of acres to each inhabi- tant, about 250 1,400 297 2,140 820 142 355 12 193 1,367 68 1,200 724 740 730 115 1,550 480 852 1,333 1.177 179 7,143 2,500 11,666 5,000 5,000 5,000 1,052 10,000 6,000 2,500 9.0901 Acres culti- vated, 1848. 4,927 4,656 403 732 12,071 7,508 34,311 18,437 2,086 4,031 2,555 1,598 1,200 3,632 15,816 722 2,570 3,689 42 693 1,787 305 331 180 2,046 440 1,969 58 2,950 1,400 194 Houses each, 1846. 683 100 670 65 183 1,273 101 222 247 316 351 2,802 39 349 367 257 70 72 45 209 233 52 185 14 243 114 92 Number of Live Stock in 1848. Horses. 3,652 3,614 1,015 1,795 5,490 2,112 13,294 7,014 2,928 1,180 1,416 1,319 872 4,340 5,827 1,033 2,420 2,329 446 681 2,040 1,313 1,405 1,200 4,386 3,946 884 5,446 1,127 4,586 3,582 1,683 Horned Cattle. 96,909,364 154,515 — 133,369 9,254 97,400 1,366,164 6,530,542 65,216 22,831 18,339 6,551 10,153 33,953 8,929 29,710 36,977 24,517 21,176 6,776 16,200 14,544 28,288 34,563 6,030 18,250 20,724 3,947 11,548 13,277 52,940 48,847 40,600 130,594 130,081 17,128 106,530 19,412 132,301 79,820 69,385 Sheep. 2,060 118,097 480 21,062 51 36 372 6,409 62 5,639 260,708 266,369 119,352 132,319 38,657 13,104 11,265 122,588 198,325 3,593 11,239 106,986 14,300 328,972 21,806 89,800 188,900 62,504 23,829 77,693 46,994 193,221 116,767 553,000 355,600 341,465 250 353,252 290,962 704,165 822,603 277,025 109,347 39,621 20,787 204,734 8,500 Swine 1,285 1,021 63 949 6,156 4,283 13,728 8.085 936 2,662 1,735 708 698 1,339 10,653 163 630 3,118 145 256 924 867 60 791 706 603 145 1,200 1,000 232 50 25 Note. — "Where a dash ( — ) is inserted there are no returns. By some it has been supposed that the labour market of New South AVales was overstocked, by the immigration of the last ten years; but the foregoing exposition of the state of each county indicates the re- verse. According to an able and interesting report from the emigration agent for New South "Wales (F. L. S. Merewether, Esq.), dated Sydney, 31st May, 1849, it appears that the total number of assisted and un- assisted immigrants into the Sydney and Port Philhp districts of New South Wales, during each of the ten years between the 1st of January, 1838, and 31st of December, 1 848, was only 75,252, about one third of the number who proceed in one year from the United Kingdom to the United States. Of the 75,252 immigrants into New South Wales during tliose ten years, 60,614 per- sons were assisted by the income derived from the sales of crown lands in the colony, to the amount of nearly one million sterhng (£975,433), or at the rate of upAvards ol i£l6 per head. The details of this remark- able fact are thus given in the official returns laid before parliament 31st January, 1850 : — Assisted Immigrants. 1 Unassisted Immigrants. Number landed. Total. Cost of Conveyance. Number Landed. Gross Total of Immi- grants. Year. Sydney District. Port Phillip District. Passage paid out of Colonial Funds. Gratui- ties to Various Officers. Total. Svdney District. Port PhilKp District. Total. Above 14. Under 14. Above 14. Under 14. Above 14. Under 14. Above 14. Under 14. 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 184-7 1848 3,601 5,675 4,066 9,297 3,818 1,790 351 3,127 2,501 2.177 1,153 2,891 1,253 936 146 1,249 479 1,298 6,153 1,304 909 1 2,533 85 123 1,762 448 4 504 976 6,102 8,416 6,637. 20,103: 6,823 11 4,139 498 7,885; £124,512 133,847 100,641 313,490 97,568 18 60,821 6,897 81,248 £6,756 10,541 6,217 17,477 5,612 2,986 562 6,232 £131,269 144,388 106,858 330,968 103,180 18 63,808 7,159 87,480 1,202 1,632 1,143 1,454 1,165 822 417 333 327 412 547 126 351 163 286 369 145 68 128 75 103 104 95 413 449 490 115 60 78 67 230 494 65 130 191 140 49 13 59 3 71 74 1,328 2,133 1,849 2,380 2,164 1,131 548 698 472 816 1,219 7,430 10,549 8,486 22,483 8,987 1,142 4,687 1,096 472 816 9,104 Total . 31,725 12,303 12,684 3,902 60,614 £919,047 £56,386 £975,433 9,454 1,918 j 2,481 785 14,638 75,2.32 Note. — It is remarkable, all circumstances considered, with how few mischances this migration across 15,000 miles of ocean has been carried on. One highly respectable shipping firm of London, Messrs. Marshall and Eddridge, have despatched to Australia in the eighteen "months ending December, 1849, forty-three ships of 23,605 tons, containing 7,181 statute adults, without, I believe, a misfortune happening to any ship. The voyages have averaged 107 days to bydney and the deaths have been only about \\ per cent , which shows a degree of care highly commendable in the agents. Ac- cording to the official returns, it appears that the number of assisted emigrants who embarked from the United Kingdom for New South "Wales, was 7,855, and that the number landed in the colony was 7,885, the increase by births having? exceeded by 30 the decrease caused by deaths. Thirt}--two vessels were employed in the service, and the average contract rate paid by the government for each statute adult, was about £12 lis. The passage money amounted altogether to £83,094, of which sum £1,846 was contributed by immigrants themselves, leaving £81,248 to be charged on the colonial immigration fund. Of the total 7,885 immigrants, 4,624 were from England, 1,483 from Scotland, and 1,778 from Ireland. The proportion of males was 3,925, and of females 3,960. The number of these who could neither read nor write was 1,811, of whom 851 were under the age of four years. "With regard to the religious persuasions, the totals were — Church of England, 3,801 ; Church of Scotland, 1,296; Wesleyans, 750; other Protestants, 711; Roman Catholics, 1,317 ; and Jews, 10. [The immigration caused by the gold discoveries is shewn in the Supplement] This important subject of emigi'ation, however, must be reserved for a distinct portion of this work. I shall therefore merely observe, that the cry still, in New South Wales, is for more labour; so far from the labour market being overstocked by the introduction of 75,000 persons in ten years, the demand in the several counties and squatting districts is extraordinary. In May, 1849, on the Liverpool plains, and in New England and other districts, instant employment was given, at the following rates of wages, with provisions and lodging: — To shepherds, j615 to £28; hut-keepers, £18 to £22 j farm labourers, £17 to £30; bul- lock drivers, £30; bricklaj-ers, masons, car- penters, and wheelwrights, £35 to £50; and overseers, £40 to £60 per annum; wo- men servants, £15 to £25 a year; and these rates with wheat at 45. to 5«. per bushel, and meat at 2d. per lb. The colonial government has established depots for immigrants at Pai-amatta, Ba- thurst, Goulbourn, jNIaitland, and jNIoreton Bay; to any of which places immigrants may be conveyed at the public expense im- mediately on their arrival. At all the depots the immigrants are provided A\'ith food and lodging until they receive such offers of employment as may be considered fair by the officers appointed to the superintendence of the depots. 1 cannot, therefore, better 150 PRODUCTS OF DIFFERENT DISTRICTS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. conclude this description of the several localities in New South Wales, than by giving the following table, sliowing the principal productions of each district, and the demand for labour in them. This state- ment is compiled from returns furnished by the benches of magistrates in the dif- erent parts of the colony, for the first quarter of the year 1849; and, although somewhat voluminous, it is too important to intending emigrants, and too illus- trative of the condition of the various divisions of the territory, to be omitted, or even curtailed : — Districts. Distances from Sydney in English miles. Principal Agricultural and other Productions of the District. Demand for Labourers, and description of Labourers required. Sydney . Western. Paramatta . . "Windsor Penrith Hartley Bathurst . Carcoar .... Frederick's Tallcy Molong . . Binalong .... Wellington . . . Dubbo .... Mudgee .... Southern. Liverpool . . Campbelltown . . Camden . . . 15 34 33 73 113 144 152 163 205 230 270 150 20 S3 39 The chief productions are vegetables and fruits. Hay, wheat, green barley, and maize, grapes, oranges, lemons, and vegetables. Wheat, maize, potatoes, and hay. Wheat,barley, oats, maize, po- tatoes, tobacco, hay ; grapes for making wine are grown to a considerable extent. "Wheat, potatoes, and oats . Wheat and barley (Now Gold in abundance.) "Wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, hay. Wheat, hay, corn, and pota- toes. There has been an abundant crop of wheat and hay, but the potato and the corn crops will be a fail- ure, in consequence of the drought. Wheat, corn, hay, wool, meat, and mineral productions. Wheat, oats, barley, maize, potatoes, hay. Wheat, maize, and hay . . There is little or no agri- culture. Wheat, maize, &c. Picton "Wheat, hay, and maize . . Hay, wheat, corn, and butter "Wheat, maize, hay, and dairy produce. The culture of the vine is also considerable, and increasing yearly. \ good many horses are bred, and some sheep. Wheat, maize, rye, oats, bar- ley, hay, butter, &c. The supply of mechanics and tradesmen is now kept up by the Colonial youths (sharp intelligent lads), who, after having completed their various periods of apprenticeship, enter the labour market, and are said to be clever and expert workmen. Farm labourers and female domestic servants are in request. There is a great demand for all sorts of country labour. All descriptions of country labour are in request, and a suihcient supply cannot be obtained. Female domestic servants and general labourers may readily obtain employment, at a fair rate of wages. Since the harvest commenced there has been a great scarcity of labour felt in this district, and farm labourers can readily obtain employment, at good wages, during the present season. There is no particular scarcity of labour in the dis trict, but shepherds and farm labourers are still in demand. There is still the same demand for servants of the fol- lowing descriptions, viz. : — Shepherds, hutkeepers, farm labourers, cooks, housemaids, and general house servants. Single men and women, or married couples without children, would obtain employment readily. Farm labourers, shepherds, hutkeepers, and domestic servants, particularly female servants, are in request. They are not to be hired at any wages. Shepherds and hutkeepers are in request. An additional supply of labourers of the following descriptions is still wanting; Shepherds, watchmen stockmen, miners, and house servants, male and female. Shepherds, watchmen for sheep, agricultural labourers, blacksmiths, and house servants are in demand. Shepherds, hutkeepers, house servants, and general farm servants are in request. The demand for labourers of the following descrip- tions is still urgent, — cai-penters, stonemasons, stock- men, hutkeepers, shepherds, sawyers, fencers, and farm labourers. She; herds, hutkeepers, and house servants are in demand. Female house servants are in great demand. They are not procurable in the district. Farm and domestic servants, male and female, are in urgent demand. This district is amply supplied with mechanics, but there is a scarcity of the other kinds of labour. Wages are decidedly on the rise. From the abun- dance of fertile land, and the proximity to the Syd- ney market, this district aflbrds an opening for the comfortable settlement of a dense population. Dur- ing the last five years the number of inhabitants has doubled itself. There are al.so ample means for pub- lic worship, religious instruction, and education. All descriptions of country labourers are in request, chiefly general farm servants, such as ploughmen, labourers, gardeners, milkmen, mowers, and thatcbers. DEMAND FOR LABOUR IN DIFFERENT DISTRICTS. 151 Districts. Western. WoUongong Berrima . . Kiama . . . Bungonia Marulan Goulboum Braidwood . Shoalhaven . Broulee Cooma Eden Queanbeyaii Yass . . . Tumut Gundagai Distances from Sydney in English miles. Wagga V/agga 64 81 88 117 108 125 164 103 209 251 258 182 179 225 244 308 Albury MotJameic 379 400 Principal Agricultural and other Productions of the District. WTieat, maize, oats, barley, potatoes, hay, and butter. Wheat, oats, barley, pota- toes, hay, and all descrip- tions of English grain. Wheat, maize, potatoes, oats, barley, butter, cheese, honey, beef, and pork. Wheat, barley, maize, oats, hay, potatoes, cheese, and butter. Wheat, barley, maize, oats, hay, potatoes, cheese, and butter. Wheat, maize, barley, oats, and potatoes. All kinds of grain . . . Wheatf maize, potatoes, and dairy produce. Wheat and potatoes, princi- pally with maize, barley, and oats. Wheat, barley, potatoes, and oaten hay. There is a good supply of the above this season, with the exception of the potatoes. Wool and tallow ; little or no grain of any description ; potatoes and hay are the only articles of farm produce raised. Wheat, barley, maize, pota- toes, and hay. Wheat, maize, oats, barley, hay, potatoes, fruits, and vegetables Wheat, oats, hay, maize, and potatoes. Wlieat, maize, potatoes, and Wheat, oaten hay, maize, in limited quantity ; potatoes to a limited extent ; wool and tailow. The soil, how- ever, is capable of pro- ducing, in luxuriance, every description of crop by the medium of ordinary indus- try. Fiuits of all kinds thrive well ; and the vine, ■which has been latterly in- troduced, promises to rank amongst our principal pro- ducts. Wheat, maize, barley, cats, grass, and oaten hay, pota- toes, &c. Sheep, cattle, and wool. No agricultural productions. Demand for Labourers, and description of Labourers required. Steady, sober, and honest agricultural labourers and milkmen are much wanted in this district ; also, female servants. Agricultural labour only is in re- quest. Farm labourers and domestic servants are in request Farm and house servants, and milkmen are in request Labourers of the following description are in request : — Cai-penters, wheelwrights, and blacksmiths ; shep- herds, farm labourers, and house servants, especially * females. Carpenters, wheelwrights, stonecutters, •watchmen, and cooks, shepherds, labourers, house servants, espe- cially females, are in request. Shepherds, farm and domestic servants, both male and female, are in request. All kinds of country labour are in request. Labourers are very scarce and wages high in conse- quence. Agricultural labourers and dairymen are most in request. Fann labourers and female servants of all work are in request. It is impossible to procure female ser- vants, in particular general house servants. There are no farm labourers to be got. In harvest, or any other hurried time, the small settlers are obliged to assist each other. Good house servants and shepherds are in demand, and would readily find employment in this district. I'he labour in request is chiefly that required for pastoral and agricultural purposes. Shepherds, stockmen, and hutkeepers, are in request. Domestic servants of all descriptions are much re- quired in this district. Labourers and servants of every description are in great request, and improvements are lying over for want of them. The operations of the settlers are completely paralysed for want of labour Children from eight years of age to sixteen are engaged at wages from £12 to £20 per annum. The labourers wanted are shepherds, hutkeepers, farm and house servants, laundresses, housemaids, and nursemaids. Labour of every description is much wanted. Wages are very little, if any, lower than last quarter. The principal demand is for stockmen, shepherds, hut- keepers, watchmen, acricidtural labourers, and domestics. A few mechanics would meet with con- stant employment. The employers of labour in this district are all com- plaining of the very high rate of wages, and improve- ments of every kind are neglected in consequence Were wages low and labour abundant, the settlers here could give employment to at least 500 fresh male labourers every year. There is now a demand in the district for carpenters, smiths, wheelwrights, sa\\-j-ers, brickmakers, shepherds, agricultural la- bourers, and domestic servants, male and female. Shepherds, watchmen, agricultural labourers, and female domestic servants are in request. There is an ample field for shepherds, hutkeepers, and others who will make themselves useful about sheep- stations. The most helpless will find employment if he has only the use ot his limbs and legs. The present demand is for shepherds, hutkeepers, and bush carpenters. 152 WAGES FOR LABOUR, AND DEMAND FOR IT IN N. S. WALES. Districts. Northern. Brisbane Water Distances from Sydney in English miles. 30 Macdonald River . Wollombi . . . Newcastle . . . Raymond Terrace Port Stephens Dungog Paterson Maitland Singleton Muswellbrook Merton . . Scone . Murrunindi Cassilis Wee Waa Tamworth Warialda . Port Macquarie M'Loay River 651 93/ 70 85 91 150 131 110 124 15G1 170/ 182 200 335 250 264 280 278 250 Principal Agricultural and other Productions of the District. Demand for Labourers, and description of Labourers required. Maize, potatoes, onions ; also, oranges, grapes, and other fruit. Wheat, maize, barley, and potatoes. Wheat, maize, potatoes, hay, grapes, &c. Maize, wheat, barley, oaten hay, and lucerne, potatoes, beef, pork, poultry, butter, cheese, salt, cloth, leather, fruit, and wine. Wheat, maize, barley, oats, potatoes. Wheat, maize, potatoes, hay, tobacco,cheese, butter, bacon, hams, hides. Wheat, maize, barley, millet, potatoes, tobacco, cheese, hay, fruit, and wine. Wheat, maize, barley, oats, potatoes, hay, tobacco, friiiis of all kinds. Wheat, maize, hay, tobacco, and grapes. Wheat, maize, and hay . | It is not, generally speaking, an agricultural district , there are several vineyards. Wheat, maize, potatoes, and wool. Wool and hay .... Wool and fat f<^ock . . Wheat and maize . . Wheat and maize, but in quantities so very small as to be of no importance. Wheat, hay, maize, and pota- toes. Maize, wheat, a few potatoes, and a small quantity of to- bacco. The demand for labour has been gradually increasing since the commencement of 1845, and many people would hire men if they could get them. The sum given to a labouring man does not, by any means, indicate the amount really paid by the employer for efficient service. There is abundant employment in the district for men who work by the job in the bush, chiefly on their own account, as sawyers and splitters, and who either sell their produce on the spot, or send it to Sydney ; consequently, some of the best workmen are at work on their own account, and most of those employed on farms are in some way inefficient, which increases their wages vir- tually from 10 to 20 per cent, or more, by reason of the labour performed by them being below the average quantity or quality. The want of labour and hioh wages still operate in limiting the culti- vation of land. We think that vineyards (for which the soil is, in many places, well adapted) would be extended if labour was not so high. There is a great demand for general agricultural labourers in this district. Male and female farm and domestic servants are in great demand. Agricultural labourers and female servants are in request. Shepherds, domestic servants, male and female. Farm labourers, bullock drivers, stockmen, wheel- wrights, splitters, and fencers are in request. Agricultural labourers and house sei"vants are in request. A slight reduction has taken place since the arrival of immigrants, but the demand for useful labourers of the following descriptions is still urgent ; — Males — labourers of all sorts, farm labourers, and sherherds. Females — house-servants of all work, cooks, and laundresses. Agricultural, pastoral, and domestic servants are in request. Domestic servants are much wanted ; shepherds and labourers are also in request. The difficulty in obtaining labour is very great, and the amount demanded, as wages, is ruinous to the proprietors. The immigration of the past year has not at all affected the price of labour in this dis- trict. Shepherds and farm servants are most in request. All kinds of country labour are in request. Sheiiherds and watchmen are principally in re- quest. Sliephcrds, hutkecpers, stockmen, and country me chanics are in request. The demand for labour in the district is on the increase, and likely to continue so. The descrip- tions required are shepherds, stockmen, hutkeepers, farm labourers, and blacksmiths. The recent immigration has not yet exercised any perceptible influence on the rate of wages in this district ; the demand for labour still exceeds the supply to such an extent, as to occasion great loss and inconvenience to employers. Shepherds, bul- lock-drivers, house servants, and labourers of every description are in request. Farm labourers, shepherds, and house servants are in request. Female servants are much wanted. There is demand for labour in the district, to which the supply is not equal, and a number of labourers of the undermentioned descriptions would find im mediate employment at remunerating rates — stockmen, farm labourers, and bullock-drivers ; and a few single females as general house ser- vants. GEOLOGY AND SOIL OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 153 Districts. NORTHERX. WftUingrove Armidale . Tenterfield Tabulam Grafton Canning Downs 'Varwick Drayton Brisbane . Ipswich , Distances from Sydney in English miles. 330 Principal Agriculttiral and other Productions of the District. "\^'heat, potatoes, and corn 334 "^Tieat, barley, oats, maize, 334 and potatoes Wheat, maize, and potatoes, for local consiimption ; also, wool and tallow for expor- tation. 380 280 Maize and potatoes . Wool, tallow, maize .... 390 Maize, potatoes, wool, tallow. 406 Wool and tallow . 409 Maize . . 450 The vegetable productions are chiefly maize, potatoes, and garden stuff, a very little oats for hav. 470 Wool and tallow . Demand for Labourers, and description of Labourers required. Although wages are about £3 to £4 less, it can only be effected by groat risk in the increase of numbers of the flocks, occasional employment of blacks, and thus standing out against the exorbitant wages asked, waiting any opportunity to replace those who will not take any reduction. The most urgent demand is for shepherds. Shepherds, watchmen, labourers, -and mechanics are in request. Shepherds are most wanted, but farm labourers and mechanics are also in request. Shepherds, hutkeepers, and stockmen are in request. Great scarcity of shepherds, stockmen, farm labourers, bullock-drivers, and house servants. Good house servants are not to be obtained. Many hundreds would find employment. Shepherds, watchmen, joiners, carpenters, smiths, agricultural labourers, and domestic servants of both sexes. Shepherds, watchmen, fencers, carpenters, black- smiths, wheelwrights, agricultural labourers, and domestic servants, of both sexes, are in request. Many hundi'eds would find employment. The demand for labourers, shepherds, and domestic servants is great, and large numbers would find immediate employment. Stockmen and shepherds are in request. Stockmen, shepherds, bullock-drivers, and hutkeepers are the descriptions of labourers in request. Geology and Soil. — It would be unreason- able to expect connected details concerning the geological formation of a country so newly discovered, and still so imperfectly known; but the valuable labours of Count Strzeleqki, Sir Thomas Mitchell, Messrs Berry, Jukes, and others, have furnished much interesting data, from which the followij:ig statements are derived : — TJie line of coast thi'oughout the territory of New South Wales, presents in general an aspect of bold pei-pendicular chffs of sandstone, lying in horizontal strata. These cliffs are occasionally interrupted by sandy beaches, behind which the country is low, or undulating, the high land retiring to a considerable distance. These spaces are supposed by Mr. Berry to have formed, at no verj' remote period, the entrances of bays and aims of the sea ; indeed in many parts they are still occupied by sandy beaches, ex- tensive salt water lagoons, being separated from the ocean only by a bank of sand, through which the impetuous waves even now occasionally force a passage ; as at Keid's Mistake, at Lake IMacquarie, near Newcastle, and at Lake Alexandrina, at En- counter bay. As a general remark, the country east of the Blue mountains, may be said to be of a sandstone formation, and that on the west granitic. DIV. 1. Count Strzelecki, assuming it would ap- pear, that Austraha, or at least some portion of it, was elevated by volcanic power, sup- poses that the incandescent gTanitic matter was the first to appear, after the breach of the sub-marine crust; that it was on the gi-anitic talus that quartz rock and sienite forced their way to the siu'face, and that upon the latter rocks serpentine, porphyry, and greenstone made their appearance. Thus about Bathui'st, on the Blue mountain range, quartz rock overlaps granite, and on the Honeysuckle range, poi'phyry overlaps sienite; on ]\Ioimt Kosciuszko (in the south-west), granite is seen forming a base 2,000 feet above the sea, upon Avhich sienite and quartz rock attain a farther elevation of 4,500 feet. There is a want of uniformity in the inclina- tion of the uplifted stratified crust; at ]\Iount Kosciuszko mica slate, and sihceous, and argillaceous slates, are vertical, and attain the heighth of 3,200 feet. At ]\Iane's range, between the rivers MuiTay and Mui'- rumbidgce, the upheaved strata are nearly horizontal. The stratified rocks occupy a small zone of New South Wales. The count further observes that New South Wales exhibits fcAv records of irruptive igneous rocks, and preserves all its crystal- line siliceous rocks, in addition to the sili- T cious sedimentary ones, which in the course of ages have accumulated upon its surface. He states that the stratified rocks from mica slate upwards, reach only to the variegated sandstone inclusively, which sandstone is in- cumbent on the coal deposits ; and that the thickness of these stratified rocks, does not exceed 2,200 feet, of which sandstone consti- tutes 1,400 feet. The area of the crystalline, compared with that of the sedimentary rocks, is estimated as tluree to one; but in Vau Diemen's Island as seven to one. This accurate observer states that in New South Wales, the area of granite, protogene, hyalomicte, quartz rock, sienite, siliceous breccia, quartzose porphyry, siliceous slate, sandstone, and conglomerate, all containing above sixty per cent, of silica, is to the area of eurite, felspathic porphyry, greenstone, and basalt rocks, containing less than sixty per cent., as four to one; but in Van Die- men's Land, on the contrary, the area of the first di^dsion is to that of the second as one to three. Of the crystalline rocks, granite, sienite, and quartz, predominate ; the greater part of the coast range of mountains, and the elevated terraces or steppes, westward of those mountains, are composed of granite, which is supposed to extend far into the in- terior of Australia, in masses of mammillary, tuberous, globular, or botryoidal forms. In the country to the north-east of Wellington Valley, these granitic masses present a striking resemblance to those graphically described by Baron Von Humboldt, in his account of the Altai regions. Sir Thomas Mitchell says that quartzose rock, exhibiting a tendency to break into irregular polygons, some of the faces being curved, is "most extensively distributed in the interior of New South Wales." The sandstone strata extend from the sea coast to the river Nepean, on the west. Throughout this extent of country, the sand- stone seems to spread like a level platform, and although the surface rises in hills and ridges, these seem to consist of a mass of clay, the surface of which has been worn into inequalities by the action of Avater. This cir- cumstance, to some extent, accoimts for the singular fact, that in New South Wales, the tops of the hills, which retain most of the original clay, are generally more fertile than the valleys, unless the latter contain alluvial deposits ; and it is probably owing to a similar cause, that the valleys are cold and bleak, while the tops of the hills are warm and verdant. This clay is generally at the surface red, and impregnated with iron; in some places, however, it is white and sapo- naceous, appearing under the form of pipe- clay, containing frequently calcareous stones resembling stalactites, evidently formed by aqueous deposition ; at ' the depth of a few feet, it generally assumes the appearance of schistus, impregnated with sulphate of alumina, and sulphate of iron. In the ra- vines are found coal-field schistus, with vegetable impressions ; and also argillaceous iron ore. Westward, or beyond the Nepean river, the sandstone strata are forced upwards, and extend from north to south, forming the lofty ridge of the Blue mountains ; towards the north these mountains are sterile and rugged ; towards the south, however, the sandstone is in many places covered or dis- placed by whinstone, which sometimes as- suines the form of common, at other times of porphyritic trap. In the latter form it is manifested through the well- watered and fertile county of Argyle. On advancing further to the south and west, granite and limestone, both foliated and granular, are abundant, pei"forated in all directions with extensive subterraneous caverns, exactly similar, both in character and stalactite decoration, to those found in I'Cgions of a similar formation in Europe and in America. But both are frequently met with in detached quantities in the northern and eastern parts of the colony; and a fine limestone formation occurs also to the north-westward of Sydney, at the head of William's river. In some parts of the terri- tory (as in Argyle) the limestone passes into a beautiful close-grained marble, as white as that of Carrara ; at Shoalhaven it is jet black, traversed by veins of white calcareous spar ; between Wellington Valley and Boree there are innumerable varieties of finely-variegated marbles, all affording materials to numerous skilful artizans. Granular limestone is ex- tensively developed on the Upper and Lower Hunter, between W^ellington and Mount Canoblas ; between Cullen-bullen and Wol- erowang ; on the Wollondilly, in Westmore- land, and on the Shoalhaven river. Thei'e arc varieties of different minerals found in various places ; Hunter's river flows for a considerable distance over rocks of jasper, beautiful agates, opal, and chalcedony ; innu- merable petrifactions are, moreover, found on its banks. Near the burning mountain of Wingen, amorphous specimens of cornelian, white. piukisli, aud blue, have been found ; also angular fragments of ribbon and fortification agates, and balls of agate, some of them filled with crystals, varying from the size of a pea to that of a hen's egg ; and others of a blueish-white and clouded colour, having spots of white dispersed throughout them. Several of the agates collected from Mount Wingen had their surfaces crested over with iron ; some of those found at ]Mount Agate were crested "wdth native copper, while others from the same locality presented a most beautiful auriferous appearance. As it is desirable to throw every possible light on the geology of this interesting coun- try, I give the following observations made by Mr. Allan Cunningham, concerning the strata seen to the north aud east. At the Wingen or burning mountain, the summit of the south-eastern side of the dividing range consists of greenstone slate, and the base of a quaii;zose conglomerate : the low hills, which form the eastern side of Liverpool plains, consist of a similar con- glomerate : while the hills to the north of the plains are composed of a very finely- gi'ained granite. Between the latitudes of 31° and 30°, the countiy gradually ascends from the level of the Liverpool plains, or 840 feet, to nearly 2,000 feet above the level of the sea, and presents a broken iiTcgu- lar surface, often traversed by low ridges of clay slate. To the north of 30° lat. the base of the ridges by which Stoddart's valley is bounded, consists of serpentine, their flanks and summit of hornstone, and the hills at the head of the valley, of clay slate. In the bed of Peel's river, which crosses the northern extremity of the valley, a thin horizontal bed of calcareous sandstone was noticed, between strata of indm-ated clay or shale. The country for fiftv miles to the north of Peel's river a moderately undulating surface, in some parts with fragments of trap ; and the hills which bomid the route on the westward, as far as the parallel of 29° 10', consist of a reddish coarse- grained sandstone, in nearly horizontal strata. Beyond this point, towards the north-east, and a little to the north of 29° S. lat., the banks of Mogo creek were found to be com- posed of a coarse friable sandstone. Pursu- ing the same direction, the country for forty miles presented a rugged surface, and the prevailing rocks were sandstone and clay slate ; but occasionally, the tops of the hills formed low terraces, composed of a quartzose conglomerate. In the bed of a creek in exhibits covered cellular 28° 26' S. lat., and in the meridian of Para- matta (151° E. long.), a hard slaty rock was noticed; and the comitry beyond it was found to be composed, where it could be ex- amined in the diy water-eo\irses, of flinty- slate. In 28° 13' S. lat., a fertile district commences, extending for eighteen miles, or to the foot of the dividing range, in the parallel of 28°. At the base of these moun- tains, were procured specimens of basalt con- taining ohvine : at the height of 1,877 feet above the level of the sea, the rock consisted of amygdaloid; and the extreme summit, 4,100 feet above INloreton bay, of a brick- red cellular trap, the cells having an elon- gated form and parallel position. In 29° S. lat., a deep gorge is composed of clayslate, and traversed by a rapid stream, in the bed of which were noticed large boulders of the grey granite. Dming the next forty miles, the only rocks noticed were reddish granite, and fragments of basalt. In 29° 26' S. lat., large masses of a fine quartzose conglomerate occm-red, and they were afterwards found to be veiy generally scattered over the adjacent country. The boundary hills of Wilmot Valley are stated to be a fine-grained gray granite ; aud those which form the head of it, in 30° 11' S. lat., of brownish poi-phyrj^, containing grains of quartz. The geology of the comitry farther north, is equally striking. The western shores of Moreton bay, fi'om the entrance of Pumice- stone river, to Red Cliff" point, are faced by a reef of considerable breadth, which at low water, is stated by Mr. Cunningham to ex- hibit a ledge of chalcedony. Pumice-stone has been found on different parts of the east coast of Australia. In tracing the Brisbane river, which falls into Moreton bay, the first rock observed was talc slate or chlorite ; and opposite the settlement, sixteen miles from the mouth of the river, is a quarry of pinkish claystone poi'phyry, used for building. In the ravines further up serpentine occurs, traversed by veins of asbestos and magnetic iron. Sixty miles from jNIoreton bay, ledges of horn stone crop out in the bauks ; and in the same part of the river, a considerable seam of coal appears in its channel. A poi'tion of the stem of a fossil plant, presenting " con- centric fibrous bands, and a longitudinal foliated structure at right angles to the bands," was found in the vicinity of the scam of coal. At " the Limestone station," on Brctner lliver, which falls into the Bris- 156 COUNT STRZELECKI ON NEW SOUTH WALES GEOLOGY. bane, were prociu'ed a series of specimens, which consisted of yello^^sh hornstone ; in- durated white marl, resembling some of the harder A^arieties of chalk, and containing im- mense masses of black flint; blueish-grey chalcedony passing into chert ; and a gritty yellowish limestone. A bed of coal has like- wise been noticed in the Bremer, and traced from it to the Brisbane. To the south of the limestone station is a remarkable hill, consisting of trap, called Mount Forbes ; and fifty miles to the south of the penal settle- ment on the Brisbane, is the Birman range, from which were obtained specimens of com- pact quartz rock ; and from Mount Lindsay, likewise south of the Brisbane, specimens of granite. The strata in the cliffs, containing the Newcastle coal basin, are stated to be, — coal (the lowest of the deposit) , three feet ; greenish sandstone, fifty ; coal, three ; green- ish sandstone with blue veins, twenty-five; coal, five ; clay rock (greyish), and shale (blueish), with various impressions, forty- three; coal, five; cherts, gritstones, with angular fragments of flint intermixed with thin veins of coal, fourteen; coal three; conglomerate (the uppermost of the deposit), twenty-three ; total 20 i feet. The osseous breccia found in the caves at Wellington Valley, have been adverted to in the general view of Australia, at pages 398-9. Their structure appears to indicate that New South Wales has passed through periods of terrestrial revolution precisely similar to those experienced in other parts of the world. The bones found in the caves attest the former existence of animals of whom we have no other record, and also of several similar in species to those now known, but of gigantic size. Immense beds of sea- shells are found at various elevations above the sea ; in some places on the tops of hills, in others imbedded in sandstone. Close to the banks of Hunter's river, layers of shells have been found of unexplored depth, and have long been used by the inhabitants in the manufactiu'e of lime. Some of the valleys, such as Dart Brook and Lake George, possess imperfectly fossilised fragments of trees. Elevated beaches in horizontal beds and at various heights are disposed at -wide intervals along the coast. At Lake King (Gipp's Land) they are seventy feet above the sea, composed of an indurated reddish clay and calcareous paste, containing ostrea and anomia, and difterent from tlie existing species, which latter are found on the elevated beaches between Cape Liptrass and Portland bay. Basalt and its varieties occur at Port Stephens, the Upper and Lower Hunter, and other places. The con- clusions at which count Strzelecki arrived, after a series of examinations of the coast line of mountains in Eastern Australia, are — that the cham was upheaved during four distinct epochs, to a height varying from 1,000 to 6,500 feet above the sea level ; that the upheaving force, arising from volcanic action, was exerted with diflerent degrees of intensity, as shown by the varying heights of the peaks, but that it was uniform in direc- tion, ranging from north-east to south-west ; that the lithological character of this chain, and of the spurs which belong to it, is chiefly due to the presence of crystalline rocks, and that the irruption of granite, sienite, hyalomicte, and protogene, took place at the beginning of the first epoch; that of quartz and porphyries during the two first epochs ; and that of basalt and its varieties during the last two ; the irruption of green- stone continuing during the whole four. From this lithological character, and from the geological phenomena found grouped along its course, this mountain range may be considered as the Australian eastern axis of perturbation. The Cnjstalline and Unstratified Rocks, mentioned by Strzelecki, as belonging to the first epoch, are gi-anite proper, porphyritic granite, glandular granite, protogene, sienite, hyalomicte, quartz rock, serpentine, and eurite; the stratified or sedimentary rocks, are mica slate or schist, silicious slate and argillite. The descriptions by which these several rocks may be known, are stated by the distinguished geologist to whom I am so largely indebted in this section. Granite Proper. — Composed of equal pro- portions of quartz, felspar, and mica ; struc- ture granular, dissemination of ingredients regular, colour reddish-grey. Glandular granite, oval-shaped masses of granular mica, tabular quartz, and tabular felspar, irregularly interspersed through a quartzose paste. Porphyritic granite, quartz, and mica, with large oblong and irregular crystals of felspar, confusedly imbedded in the masses. Protogene, a confused crystallization of talc, felspai', and quartz, marked by an unequal distribution of ingredients, and by the entire exclusion of mica. Colour greenish- white, sorhetimes inclining to red. Hyalo- micte, a homogeneous, milky, or smoky-look- ing quartz rock, with an admixture of white PRODUCTIVENESS OF AUSTRALIAN SOILS. 157 mica^ to the entire exclusion of felspar. Sieinte, a granular and massy structure, in- variably composed of a \itreous and trans- lucent quartz, and of hornblende, which is prismatic and of a dark blue green; at times intersected by veins of sulphuret of iron, by which the abeady beautiful appear- ance of the rock becomes yet more resplen- dent; the presence of sienite always indi- cates the proximity of granite. Quartz, in New South Wales, of a whitish or some- what milky colour, sometimes found trans- lucent and perfectly homogeneous. Eurite, composed entirely of felspar, laminated or grained ; colour, a pale yellowish-red, in- ferior in hardness to quartz, adheres to the tongue, and exhales an argillaceous odoui". Serpentine, coloiu* s'ometimes em^ald, some- times leek-green, but never uniform through- out; externally it often shines with a resin- ous lustre, at the edges it is translucent ; solid, semi-hard and brittle, fracture earthy, uneven, sometimes laminated, fragments irregular and splinteiy, feels unctuous ; it is traversed by short, curved, and narrow veins of a white silky amianthus, the fibres of which are perpendicular to the direction of the vein. Mica, or Slate Schist. — According to the varying proportions and the diflFerence of coloiu' of quai-tz and mica, which, combined, form mica slate, the shades are green, white, red, blue, brown, and yellow; structure laminated. Siliceous slate, usually grey, sometimes white, reddish, or yellowish, tra- versed by numerous veins of quartz, looks greasy, and is tough. Argillite, a gi'eyish- black, wdth a bright silky lustre ; substance opaque, with a smooth sm'face, structm'e foliated ; adheres to the tongue, and yields a strong argillaceous odour : fragments tabu- lar, thin, shining, and friable. Mount P. P. King, whose summit is 2,646 feet above the sea (seepage 393), is described by Mitchell as having at its base, and on its sides, in large masses, the very compact felspathic rock which characterises the valley of the Darling. This, he adds, has been considered a very fine-grained sandstone; but it is evidently an altered rock. Here, in contact with trap, it possessed the same tendency to break into irregular polygons, some of the faces of which were curved ; one mass ha\ang been so tossed up, that its lower side lay uppermost, inchned at an angle of about 60°. That this is a' hypogene rock, sometimes in contact with granite as weU as with trap, is evident at Oxlcy's Table Land, and other places. [Further geological explorations are given in Suppt] Soils. — In N. S. Wales, as in other coun- tries, the rock which forms the basis of the soil may be known from the trees or her- bage grooving thereon. Thus a dwarfish eucalypti, with glaucus-looking leaves, grow- ing mostly in scmb, indicates a sand- stone formation, while open grassy park-hke tracts thinly interspersed with lofty euca- lypti, characterise the secondary ranges of granite and porphyry. The limestone for- mation has on its superincumbent soil trees of lofty growth and large size. These marked features will account for the idea expressed by Captain Sturt, that the Aus- tralian trees seemed gregarious. In general the covering of sandstone is the common Australian clay, but over whinstone it is in- variably a light black mould. Of the productiveness of the Australian soils, there cannot be a doubt. Many farms have been annually cropped for twenty years without manui'ing; the eucalypti trees by shedding their bark, annually furnish an ample supply of alkalies to the soil, which has a degree of softness, coherence, and porosity, common to all virgin soils; a low specific gravity, and a proportion of organic to inorganic matter, amounting to a third, and in some instances to a half of the whole quantity. The numerous places where car- bonic acid gas escapes through the fissm'es of the earth in New South Wales, cause many of the rivers, particularly near their source, to be impregnated with this acid, and they are also charged with mineral salts. In frequent instances the waters oi the colony pass through calcareous rocks, and carry with them dissolved lime, they are therefore very valuable for irrigation, which may be most extensively and usefully practised in Australia. Any one who has risitcd jNIalta, and seen the rich crops pro- duced on an apparent barren sandstone for- mation, by irrigation, will recognise the great benefit which New South Wales would derive from pm'suing the same com'se. Mr. J. Pattison, a resident of twelve years* experience in New South Wales, and the author of a recent brochure on its resources and capabilities, says the country is capable of sustaining many millions of people by its agricultural products ; for " there is abun- dance of land of the richest description." Speaking of the qualities of the soil, he says : — " The produce, under a good sys- 15S QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVENESS OF SOILS IN N. S. WALES. tern of husbandry, is enormous, and would stagger the credibility of those who have not been eye-witnesses. The late Dr. Wilson, R.N., obtained, at his estate in the county of Murray, eiyhhj-five bushels of wheat per acre; and at Narren Gallen, near Yass, on the estate of Cavan, I have seen 700 bushels reaped from a field of fourteen acres, or equal to fifty bushels per acre." * Count Strzelecki, after a minute and care- ful analysis of the soils of New South Whales and Van Diemen's Land, extending over forty soils in quality, furnishes the following as the mean of his investigations : — Quality of Soils Physical character: — Absorption of solar raj's . . Emission of heat .... Capacity for moisture . . . Specific gravity Chemical character : — Soluble portions of 100 parts Proximate constituents in 100 parts : Vegetable and animal matter Water Silica Alumina Peroxide of iron Carbonate of lime . . . . Sulphate of lime Potash and soda Chlorides Magnesia Metallic sulphurets and oxides Loss Highest productive power. -f-13.4 —2.5 + 8.0 1.8 30.2;3 14.70 7.88 54.32 9.82 3.18 4.74 2.33 0.74 traces of 0.82 0.G3 0.84 Lowest productive power. + 14.21 —6.1 + 3.6 2.04 8.53 5.50 3.71 69.99 10.02 4.48 4.12 0.08 0.56 traces of 0.87 0.67 The inferences which the analyser draws from these facts are — 1. That both the fertile and the sterile soils absorb on an average nearly the same amount of solar heat; but the fertile soil emits, through terrestrial radiation, an amount of heat two-thirds less than that yielded by the sterile soil. 2. The fertile soil absorbs more than double the quantity of moisture absorbed by the sterile soil. 3. The solubihty of both soils in hydro- chloric acid is not equal; the fertile soil in 100 parts containing 80 parts of soluble, the sterile soil but eight. 4. The fertile soil possesses nearly three times as much of vegetable and animal mat- ter as the sterile soil. 5. The mineral constituents of each kind • New South Wales; its past, present, and future Condition ; with Notes upon its Resources and Copa- hiUties. London, published by Johnson and Hunter, 1849— p. 90. of soil considered apart from the vegetable matter, the hygrometric water, and the loss in the analysis, and expressed in their atomic weight, are in the — Hiijh 2)roducfii-e Soils. Mineral Constituents. Silica .... Alumina . . Peroxide of iron . Carbonate of lime Sulphate of lime Potash and Soda Magnesia . . . Metallic oxides . Parts. 70.93 - 12.84 4.15 6.25 3.04 : 0.95 1.00 0.87 Atomic weight. Proportion in Nos. 0.122 0.020 0.004 0.020 0.007 30 5 i 5 1 Loio productive Soils. Mineral Constituents. Silica .... Alumina . . . Peroxide of iron Carbonate of lime Sulphate of lime Potash and soda INIagncsia . . . Metallic oxides . Parts. 77.70 : 11.11: 4.94 4.57: 0.08 0.50 0.87 Atomic weiffht. 0.132 0.017 0.005 0.014 Proportion in Nos. 26 3 1 2 Thus it wiU be perceived that the fertile soils differ from the sterile, not only in the number of constituents, but in the propor- tion in which they are found to be combined. The productive quality of soils is influenced by the amount of absorption and emission of solar heat; when the proportion of absorp- tion to emission is 5.76 : 1, it is highly favour- able to agriculture ; whenever it is 2.35 : 1, it is highly injurious. The extent of capacity of absorbing moisture is of course an im- portant element in the successful prosecution of husbandry. The more or less soluble constituents determines the productive power of soils ; as respects Australia, those that have thirty per cent, of soluble matter are best adapted for the former; those which have only eight are the least. The amount ot vegetable matter in a soil appears to regulate the proportionate power of absorbing and of ertiitting heat, and of absorbing and of re- taining atmospheric moisture. The impor- tance of manuring, or, in other words, of feeding soils with the vegetable and other ingredients necessary for the food of plants, is therefore obvious; and some Australian cultivators now find their lands, after twenty years^ successive cropping, without food or rest, reduced to the exhausted condition of an overworked animal, deprived of its suste- nance and sleep. The average production of wheat in Aus- tralia, on good soils, is from twenty to thirty bushels per acre, weighing from sixty to sixty-five pounds the bushel ; in some dis- tricts forty and even fifty bushels have been obtained from an acre of land. Maize jdelds forty to seventy bushels riett, according to the quality of the soil, and the carefulness of the culture. The potato gives two crops in the year, and green peas are gathered in winter as well as in summer. jNIixeralogy. — New South Wales abounds with mineralogical treasures; gold, copper, and steel have been found — the first named in abundance — see Supplement. Coal ex- ists in several districts, bu.t especially in the country south of Huntei''s river, which is an extensive coal-field, and where, as previ- ously stated, the sea clifi's present a most interesting section of this stratum. The seams of coal are distinctly visible on the abrupt face of the cliffs, forming the south headland of the harboui- ot Newcastle, and may be traced for nine miles, when they abruptly terminate, suddenly bending down- wards, and sinking below the level of the sea. From this place a long sandy beach and low land extend to the entrance of Lake Macquarie (Reid's ]\Iistake), the south head of which rises into high cliff's, in which the coal strata again present themselves. Be- tween the coal beds are strata of sandstone, and beds of clay slate, with vegetable im- pressions — sometimes, but more rarely, in- durated claystone. Embedded in these strata, there is abundance of argillaceous iron ore ; this is occasionally cellular and in layers, but for the most part it appears in the form of petrifactions of trees and branches, irregularly dispersed. The coal is decidedly of vegetable origin, the fibre of the wood being often quite distinct, while the vegetable impressions in the clay slate, under and over the coal, are singularly beau- tiful ; some of these subterraneous plants ap- pear to have been in full flower, so that a skilful botanist might ascertain even their species; and Mr. Berry thought he could distinctly ascertain the leaf of the lamia spiralis. About three miles along the south coast of Newcastle, in an upright position at high-water mark, under the cHff' and be- neath a bed of coal, there was recently found the butt of a petrified tree, which, on being broken, presented a deep black appearance, as if passing into jet ; and on the top of the cliff" at Newcastle, embedded at about a foot beneath the sm-facc, lying in a horizontal position, and nearly at right angles to the strata of the cliff", the trunk of another tree was found, finely grained, both specimens being traversed by thin veins of chalcedony. In the alternating strata of the coal, which runs generally in three parallel horizontal beds, are found nodules of clay, ironstone, and trunks and stems of arundinaceous plants in ironstone ; in one place a narrow bed of ironstone, bearing impressions of leaves, is remarkable ; while thin laminae of the same mineral, the sm'face of which is traversed by square and variously shaped sections of the same, are seen on several parts of the shore, both in the face of the cUff" parallel with the beds of coal, and ex- tending into the sea, forming the strand at low water. Nor are these indications con- fined to the district of the sea-shore at New- castle ; thin beds of coal and iron may be seen along the banks of the Paramatta river, and in other places. Coal abounds in the vicinity of the burning ^Mount Wingen, and near the Kingdon chain of ponds, also at Moreton Bay. The Newcastle (New South Wales) coal, analysed by count Strzelecki, gave — (one description) — charcoal, 62.8; bitumen, 25.2; earthy matter, 25.2. One pound of coal yielded one foot 1.806 cubic inches of illumi- nating unpmified gas. The gaseous mixture contained in 100 volumes, was — sulphuretted hydi'ogen, 10; carbonic acid, 10; olefiant gas, 17; carburetted hydrogen, 11; other inflammable gas, 52. Every 100 parts in weight, yielded — coke, 71.2; coal tar and ammoniacal liquor, 15.6; ultimate elements, deducting the earthy matter, carbon, 70.5 ; hydi'ogen, 20.4; nitrogen, 9.1. This coal bm-ns easily, with a reddish flame, swells and agglutinates. It is of a black colom-, even fracture, foliated stmcture, soft, and brittle ; specific gravity, 1.31. The quality of this coal is about equal to the Enghsh Newcastle coal, it is now being extensively raised by the Australian Agricultural Company, who have a lease of the mines. A seam has been recently found ten feet thick ; and there are, probably, other large outcrops of coal in the adjacent districts. Copper ore of very rich quality, is found in gi'eat abundance ; in the districts of Wel- lington the beds of ore are supposed to extend for miles in eveiy direction, and according to the Huwkesburt/ Courier, "a high hill in the neighbourhood presents indi- cations of being a solid mass of metal." The 160 RECENT GOLD DISCOVERIES IN NEW SOUTH WALES. Molong Mining Company are raising large quantities of ore for shipment to England ; there is a rich vein of copper near Bathurst. Iron abounds in various parts of the colony, and most of the smaller streams are impregnated with iron. A few miles north by west of ISIount Wingen, are stumps of trees standing upright in the ground, apparently petrified, and strongly impreg- nated with iron. It has been before stated, that in the neighbourhood of Camden, a mine has been opened where steel, according to Mr. Pat- tison, "is dug from the earth with little boring and of endless extent." He adds, that he saw a very handsome knife, made from the metal which had been worked with- out any overground preparation, by a Sydney cutler, as a present for the governor, Sir Charles f itzroy ; the handle being of native tortoisesheU, with a plate of native gold. Gold undoubtedly exists in large quan- tities. Sir Thomas Mitchell, during his visit in 1847 to England, showed me beautiful specimens of gold embedded in white quartz, and stated that it was also obtainable in grains or pieces of considerable extent. He discovered the gold region while exploring the interior, and observed, that he was unwilling to notify the region, lest the colo- nists shoxild leave their flocks and herds to go in search of gold. Many years since, that distinguished geologist. Sir Roderick Mur- chison predicted that gold would be exten- sively found in Australia, by reason of its geological formation, and the latitudinal direction of its mountain range ; for it is a singular fact, that the gold districts yet dis- covered are in mountains, with a latitudinal rather than a meridianal direction ; to which it may be added, that the perturbing subter- ranean forces of the earth, as manifested in the Rocky mountains, the Andes, the Himalaya, or from Kamtskatka to Borneo, have a general axis fi-om N. to S. [See Supp*] Climate. — The seasons of New South Wales are the opposite of those of England, January being the middle of summer, and July of winter. The summer extends from the first of November to the first of March ; the spring and autumn are brief, but well defined ; the winter of a bracing coolness, with occasional frosts at Sydney, and snow in the interior. The spring months are September, October, and November; the fiummer, December, January, and February; autumn, March, April, and May; winter, June, July, and August. March, April, and August are generally considered the rainy months. The average temperature of spring is 65° 5', of summer 72°, of autumn 66°, and of winter 55°. The barometrical pressure is about 29.94319 inches, and the average of the thermometer 64° Ealir. In Sydney, the thermometer is rarely below 40°; in Para- matta, it is frequently down to 27° in winter; and in my garden at Paramatta I have on a winter morning eaten frozen milk beneath an orange tree, from which I gathered the ripe and ripening fruit. Indeed, there is every variety of climate; by proceeding to the Blue mountains a cold winter may be enjoyed, or at Moreton Bay a warm one. Of com'se, as the land rises above the level of the ocean, a diflFerence of temperature is felt; the vrinter at Bathurst, where the luxuiy of snow is in its season enjoyed, being much colder than on the sea shore. Of the peculiarly salubrious climate of Austraha I can gratefully bear record, hav- ing proceeded to Van Diemen's Island and New South Wales, from the east coast of Africa, while suffering from a severe fever, acquired while exploring the rivers and country adjacent to Mozambique; and in a few months the fever and its distressing con- sequences entirely disappeared. The air is remarkably elastic; old persons arriving in the Australian colonies from Europe, find much of the hilarity of youth restored to them. Not more than five or six sick per- sons will be found in a community of twelve or fifteen hundi'cd ; at some of the military stations seven years have elapsed without the loss of a man ; several colonists are stated to be upwards of 100 years of age ; I saw one woman who was said to be 125 years of age; and the singularly horny texture of her skin seemed to confirm the almost incredible statement, yet she went about her daily work at a road-side inn. In New South Wales, during summer, I frequently slept in the open air, without the slightest injurious consequences ; and during the expeditions of Mitchell, Sturt, Leichardt, Eyre, and other explorers, they lived for months without any other canopy than the clear blue Australian sky ; and notwithstanding scanty and innu- tritions or saline food, they enjoyed wonder- fully good health, such as they could not probably have maintained under similar cir- cumstances in any part of the v/orld. It is said to be OAving to the fineness of the climate that dogs do not go mad in Australia, that horses are seldom or never known to kick, that herds of wild cattle have a dcerree ot THERMOMETER, BAROMETER, AND HYGROMETER AT N. S. WALES. 161 tameness unknown on the Pampas of South America, and that the descendants of Euro- peans are remarkable for an equanimity of temper, which is probably partly attributable to the salubrity of the climate. The following table exhibits the range of the barometer and thermometer for each month in the year, the state of the hygrometer, and the prevaihng winds, and weather at Sydney : — Barometer, 62 feet abo-ve the sea. Hygrometer. Radiator. Thermometer. Winds. Weather. Months. Maximum. Minimum. Max. Min. Max Min Max. Med. Min. Days Fine. Days Rain. Stormy. Cloudy. Stormy and Cloudy Jan. . 30.300 29.430 68 9 101 63 91 75i 60 S.S.E. 15 4 12 _ Feb. . 30.300 29.680 75 35 94 48 90 74 58 E.S.E. 20 4 5 — — March 30.490 29.580 74 10 83 42 83 7U 60 E. 19 10 2 — — . April . 30.458 27.772 78 40 87 53 83 70 57 W. 21 6 — 3 — May . 30.442 29.602 79 26 66 35 73 6U 50 W. 23 3 — 5 — . June . 30.350 29.290 78 25 67 32 62 52 42 S.W. 20 1 — 9 — July . 30.315 29.840 76 27 59 26 60 54 48 s.w. 17 8 5 — 1 Aug. . 30.248 29.488 78 29 67 31 66 55 44 S.W. 14 9 7 — 1 Sept. . 30.380 29.520 79 18 83 34 67 49i 42 N.E. 20 — 8 — 2 Oct. . 30.200 29.300 80 20 86 42 82 69 i 57 N.E. 21 3 5 — 2 Nov. . 30.220 29.860 76 10 84 51 91 74 57 E.&W. 31 — — — — Dec. . 30.110 29.530 72 30 96 59 87 75 63 N.E. 20 — 10 — 1 Year. 30.490 29.290 80 9 101 26 91 — 28 — 241 48 54 17 7 According to a meteorological register kept for five years, at the south head of Port Jackson, a naked sandstone cliff, exposed to high calorific eff'ects from solar radiation, the extreme range of the barometer was 1.140 inch, and its mean range 1.0594 inch, or, in round numbers, about one inch to one- sixteenth. The same general law which influences the barometer in Europe, operates in AustraUa ; the mercury rises with the polar and falls with the equatorial wind; i.e., in Europe a northerly wind would cause an elevation of the barometer; in Australia a southerly wind produces the same effect, in both hemispheres an equatorial wind would cause a fall. The annual mean of the external shade of the barometer at the same place, was — For the year April . . October . Summer . Winter . Difference 1840. 63.186 67.23 68.16 1841. 1842. 1843. 1844 64.656 67.66 62.76 62.72 61.46 63.47 68.390 57.055 62.73 63.62 61.07 67.987 57.473 — 11.335 10.514 10.486 61.49 60.31 61.12 66.731 56.245 Note. — April corresponds to mid-autumn in England, October to mid-spring. Annual Me'an Temperature at Port Jackson. Years. Summer. Winter. Difference. 1842 1843 1844 68.390 67.987 66.731 57.055 57.473 56.245 11.355 10.514 10.486 Sydney (Port Jackson) may be compared with a port to the northward and another to the southward, thus — Thermometrical Range. Summer : — Maximum INIinimum . Fluctuation Mean . . Winter : — Maximum Minimum . Fluctuation Mean . . Annual Mean . . Annual Fluctuation Warmest Month . Coldest Month . . Port Port Macquarie, Jackson, Lat. 3r 25'. Lat. 33' 51'. 88.3 81.9 61.8 59.0 26.5 29.9 75.0 73.9 75.3 73.3 46.8 45.3 28.5 28.0 61.0 59.3 68.0 66.6 27.5 28.2 Nov. Nov. August July Port Phillip, Lat. 38= 18', 90 6 48.8 41.8 69.4 69.8 36.9 32.9 53.3 61.3 37.3 Nov. July DIV. I. The registers from which the above are taken were kept for the three years ending with 1842. It will be observed that the highest annual fluctuation of the three sta- tions is at Port Phillip, \dz., 37.3; but at Quebec it is, 59; at St. Petersburgh, 57; at New York, 55; Buda, 44; at Warsaw, 43.2; at Philadelpliia, 43.3; at Vienna, 43; Copenhagen and Zui'ich, 38.9; Milan, 38.4. In the southern hemisphere snow is per- petual at 6,000 feet above the sea, in Europe at 10,000 feet. This may be partly attri- buted to the gi'cat extent of ocean in the south, and the absence of any intervening u 162 GREAT QUANTITY OF RAIN IN AUSTRALIA. land between the south pole and Australia, whereby there is at least a diflfereuce of five degrees' of latitude in regard to temperature. Considerable allowance must also be made for the direction, intensity, and thermome- trical condition of different currents of air. Thus, in ascending INIount Kosciuszko, in the Australian Alps, Count Strzelecki found the stratum of air at 3,000 feet much colder than that at the elevation of 6,500 feet. So also at INIount Roa (Sandwich Islands) three different cui'rents were noted ; one at Byi'on's bay, light from the S.E., temperatiu'e 86°; one at an elevation of 4,000 feet, strong from the westward, temperature 55°; and one at 6,000 feet, brisk N.W., temperature 67°. A hail storm on Ben Lomond in Van Diemen^s Land was observed to originate in a stratum of air far below the point of con- gelation, and mo\'ing between an elevation of 800 and 5,000 feet, i.e., between Ben Lomond, in a temperature of 56°, and the Vale of Avoca, 4,200 feet lower down in 80°. This storm was succeeded by a polar wind. At the Cordilleras in Chili snow has been found melting at 15,000 feet elevation, while it was unaltered at 10,000 feet. So also rain sometimes falls in Australia when the temperatui'e near the earth is below the freezing point. My o^ti theory of these phenomena is that heat is produced by the electricity emanating from the sun, and the magnetism contained in the earth being brought into contact; the sun itself being not a body of fire, but an evolver of the electric flidd, which on being poui'ed perpen- dicularly on the earth, elicits ten'cstrial magnetism, and heat is the product. Hence, at a certain distance from the earth, even within the torrid zone, there is no calonc, but a region of perpetual snow, as intensely cold as at the arctic circle, where also the rays of the sun fall only obliquely, and not direct. It is probably this constant evolvement of heat from the surface of the earth, which causes the unceasing oscillations of the at- mospheric cuiTcnts, not only affected by the increasing or decreasing dechnation of the sun, but also by a different cause, i.e., an upper current of cold air, descending to one of warmer temperature nearer to the earth, it displaces, and is in its turn displaced when the oxygenized or electric matter "with which it was chai'ged has been expended in the support of animal and vegetable life. Rain. — The quantity Avhich falls in Aus- tralia is considerable; the following shows the total quantities registered as fallen, with the respective number of days, at South Head, Port Jackson, 240 feet above the mean tide level : — Year. 1840 (9 months) 1841 . . . . 1842 . . . . 1843 . . . . 1844 . . . . Total . . Number of Inches. 49.65 76.31 48.32 62.78 70.67 307.73 Number of Days. 108 142 137 168 157 712 out of, and comprehending a period of four years and nine months = 1,736 days. Two extraordinary falls of rain have occurred during this period, viz., one of 20.13 inches, on 29th April, 1841, during heavy squalls from E.N.E. — E.S.E.; the other, 20.41 inches, on 15th October, 1844, wind between S.E. and S.W. Strzelecki gives the annexed return for New South Wales and Van Diemen's Island, which includes 8,730 days of observation, brought to the term of averages for every season at each station : — Station. New South Wales : Port Macquarie . Port Jackson . . Port Phillip . . Van Diemen's Island Woolnorth . . Circular Head Port Arthur . . Sum- mer. "Winter Annual Quan- tity. 37.58 25.10 62.68 24.42 28.00 52.42 13.25 17.47 30.72 19.68 29.07 43.75 11.31 24.11 35.42 16.94 17.75 44.69 Average number of inches. 48.60 41.28 Rain sometimes pours down in continuous torrents in Australia; one fall, diu-ing twenty-four hours, at Port Jackson, amounted to twenty-five inches. Mitchell, Sturt, and other explorers found marks of extraordi- nary floods in the Nammoy and other rivers ; ten to fifteen feet above the ordinary level of a river is not an unusual height during a season of rain. The above record of rain annually falling, "will dissipate a prevailing idea that but little moisture exists in Aus- tralia; the average annual fall in London, is 22.19 inches, in New South Wales, 48 inches; in Van Diemen's Island, 41 inches per annum. It must, however, be admitted, that with a comparatively high temperature and thirsty soil, Australia requires a far larger amount of moisture than England, and that the effect is more beneficial "with a smaller quantity, in tho HOT AND COLD WINDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 163 latter-named country, than that derived from a larger quantity in the former region. At Port ]\Iacquarie, where the heat of sum- mer is intense, more rain falls dui-ing that season (thirty-seven inches), than in the whole year at Port Phillip (thirty inches), where the climate is less torrid, and the land less exposed to the parching effects of the hot winds. It may be, also, that there is a greater amount of absorption of solar rays, and radiation, or emission of heat, in New South Wales — in some parts of Aus- tralia — than in others ; for it is stated by Strzelecki, that on some soils all the early crops are invariably injured by the frost, while on other soils such injury never takes place. The prevailing directions of the winds at Sydney are thus indicated : — Wind's Direction. North .... North-north-east North-east . . East-north-east . East .... East-south-east . South-east . . South-south-east South by East . South .... South by West . South-south-west South-west . . West-south-west West bv South . West ! . . . West by North . West-north-west North-west . . North-north-Avest North by West . Morning. 4 12 4 1 9 8 1 29 3 8 109 42 4 118 2 6 4 1 Noon. 7 11 129 11 3 2 45 27 5 31 2 11 35 5 2 10 2 16 Eveninff. 23 11 109 5 8 5 70 13 4 15 4 8 45 3 1 3 19 5 2 During the summer months a regular sea breeze sets in daily, and refreshes the in- habitants along the coast. The direction, humidity, and siccidity of the winds in Australia, are, doubtless, influenced by the general laws which govern the atmospheric circulation ; but these laws are modified by various local circumstances, such as the extent and form of the island-continent, and the vastness of the surrounding ocean. Winds from the northerly and southerly quarters are the most numerous ; in winter, on an average of 100 winds, 60 proceed from the southerly quarter, making the propor- tion of the polar to the equatorial, as 3:1; in summer, of 100 winds, 42 are from the northerly quarter — polar to equatorial, I : 2. These proportions vary at Port Phillip and other stations owing, probably, to the posi- tion and configuration of the land. At Port Jackson the winter is marked by the preva- lence of polar winds, and the summer by that of equatorial ; at Port Phillip, the equa- torial prevail in winter, and the polar in summer ; and in Van Diemen's Island the equatorial winds prevail during both summer and winter. The hot winds of Australia have engaged the attention of geologists, as well as of meteorologists ; they are supposed to origi- nate in the central deserts. The intense heat of these winds raises the thermometer, in the shade, to 117°, or even 120°, Fahr. ; the grass becomes dry, like hay ; the fig is destroyed; the red and blue grape lose their colour and watery elements; green leaves lose their colour, turn yellow, and wither; and the promising harvest of the agricul- turalist is frequently ruined. Westward of the Blue mountain range, the temperature of a summer day is increased by this wind 40°; on the eastward of the range, from 25° to 30°. The effects of this wind on the animal frame, are stated, on the authority of captain Sturt. I have, however, myself, ridden for the greater part of the day, in New South Wales, during the prevalence of these siroccos, and felt less fatigue than from a slight exertion during the rainy season in Bengal. In the latter instance, the atmo- sphere was satiu'ated with moisture ; in the former, the air was totally deprived of all humidity. Count Strzelecki experienced the hot Avind with great violence sixty miles at sea, in the parallel of Sydney, and found the sails of the ship covered with an impal- pable sand, containing one-fourth of alumin- ous and three-fourths of silicious and metallic matter ; he also experienced it at the top of Ben Lomond, at an elevation of 5,000 feet, but did not feel it at 3,000 feet lower, to the vrindward. It does not appear that this current of heated air is confined to any par- ticular altitude, but rushes from a lower to a higher stratum of air, according to cir- cumstances. Not unfrequently, during the prevalence of this wind, the high clouds, ciri'us, and strata, at once disappear, while the lower remain unchanged ; I noticed, also, that at night the air was filled with what is termed " sheet lightning," which exhibited sometimes the beautiful coruscations of the aurora borealis. The mean direction of this wind in New South Wales is from the north-west, and its velocity sometimes exceeds a regular gale; occasionally it has a ricochet movement 164 COMPARISON OF AUSTRALIAN WITH EUROPEAN CLIMATES. thus — or appears produced by a rotation on a set of horizontal axes, thus— CilOfiCtODfiQ There are no noxious gases in these hot winds, and they do not exercise any delete- rious eflect on the health of man : they bear some affinity to the hot winds expe- rienced in the Mediten'anean, in Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Bombay, and Mexico; but whether these all belong to a common system of atmospheric circulation, or are caused in the several counti'ies by local circumstances, it is not easy to decide authoritatively ; and my own impression is, that the form, extent, and latitude of the regions where they pre- vail — the characteristics of the soil, and the quantity and nature of the vegetation, all exercise a powerful influence in the pro- duction of hot winds duiing summer. A good idea of the climate of Australia may be formed from the following com- parison : — Station Summer. Port Macquarie, classed with Port Jackson, ditto Port Phillip, ditto Florence, Naples Avignon, Constantinople, Philadelphia, U.S. Baden, jNIarseilles, and Bordeaux . . . . Winter. Funchal Cairo Palermo Annual Mean. Tunis Messina Naples Thermometrical Fluctuation. Dublin. Paris. Montpellier. The summer represents that of western Eiirope, between 41° and 55° N. lat ; the winter, that part of the Mediterranean be- tween the coasts of Spain, Italy, France, and Algiers, extending to Tunis and Cairo. It is probable that the extension of culti- vation, the pernicious custom adopted by Eiu'opeans, of bm'ning the surface of the land, to obtain a new crop of grasses, and the extensive forest conflagrations caused by the carelessness of the aborigines in scat- tering fire, or by the friction of dry trees, have contributed to increase the mean annual temperatui'c of Australia since its colo- nization. Rapid growth, and early development of the intellectual as well as physical structure, characterize human life in New South Wales, especially among females. At fifteen, a girl possesses all the charms, and many of the graces, of womanhood; but it must be admitted, that at the age of thirty, her bloom has passed away, although the rigour of existence is unimpaired. The springs of life seem to attain a rejuvenescence in those arriring fr'om Em'ope. Nmnerous instances occur of persons arriving in the colony at sixty, and upwards, who acquired new vigour, and attained a hundred years of age. Although we are stUl ignorant of the almost recondite laws which govern the increase or decrease of life, I cannot but consider that the progressive augmentation of female over male bii'ths, the lesser propor- tion of female to male deaths, and the annually decreasing mortality of both sexes, as positive and conrincing proofs of the adaptation of a climate for the dwelling- place of man. On this subject various data vrill be found in the chapter on popu- lation. Between 1836 and 1846, the pro- portion of females to males had more than doubled. In the year 1844, the net increase of female births over the year 1843, was 7.81 per cent. ; that of males, only 2.88 per cent. This indicates a positive increase. The comparative mortality is equally re- markable. In 1844, the deaths of males, in proportion to the whole male population, was one in 78 ; oi females, only one in 89.24, In proportion to the births of males, the deaths of males was one in 3.62; whilst those of females was only one in 5.2. In 1844, the deaths were in the ratio of 32 to 100 bii'ths: in 1844, 27 deaths to 100 births. The relative annual mortality in New South Wales, from 1828 to 1840, one in 55.15 : in 1841, one in 62.36 : in 1842, one in 58.85 : in 1843, one in 73.19 : in 1844, one in 81.98. The average mortality in England is about one in 53. According to the official returns, the mortality of the colony has undergone an actual and relative decrease since 1842. The proportions of the births to the deaths is very remarkable ; there is not one death to three births ; in England there are two deaths to tkree births. According to the registered returns, which are not very perfect, the numbers of births in New South Wales were in the following proportions to the numbers of deaths : — 1846 . . . 332) 1847 . . .331 >Births to 100 deaths. 1848 . . .3413 In England, the proportion of births to deaths is not more than half of this. HEALTH OP BRITISH TROOPS IN THE SEVERAL COLONIES. 165 The proportion of births and deaths throughout the year, to the whole population living at the end of it, was : — In 1846, 36 births, 11 deaths) 1847, 43 „ 13 „ [To 1,000 living. 1848,40 „ 12 „ ) In England, the births have averaged 32, and the deaths 22, to 1,000 hving. The rate of mortality in 1848 was 1 in 85. In England it is 1 in 47; in Canada, 1 in 49 ; in the United States, 1 in 37. Colonel Tulloch, who has registered many valuable observations, connected with the health and dui-ation of life at the dif- ferent stations of the British army, informs me that he considers the salubrity of Aus- traha quite on a par with that of the United Kingdom. For instance, the mortality of troops serving in the various garrisons of Great Britain and Ireland is about one-and- a-half per cent annually ; and the casualties of every denomination of a regiment of the line, from the period of its embarkation from England, and dui'ing the whole of its sei^vice in the widely scattered posts of Australia, Van Diemen's Island, and New Zealand, is no more than one-and-a-half per cent. It may on these grounds be said that the mor- tahty is less in Austraha than in England. I have been favoured by Colonel Tulloch with the following comparative statements of the mortality among the British troops serving in different parts of the empii'e. This table shews a great saving of life, dur- ing the last ten years. Other cii'cumstances as well as climate, have their influence on the duration of the life of soldiers, such as the locality of the barracks, the employment of the troops, and the congregating of men in large masses. Average Mortality per thousand of JfJiite Troops annually. Colonies. New South Wales Windward and Leeward Islands Jamaica Gibraltar Malta Ionian Islands Bermudas Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Canada Newfoundland St. Helena Cape of Good Hope .... Mauritius Ceylon For 20 yrs. ending in 1S36. 14 78A 121-nr 2lTTr 16i% 25iV 28,^ 14fo 16.-13 14 34 /u 13t^ 27A 69 T% For 10 yrs. ending in 1846. 11 68t'o 66 ro lOA 14^0 15A 29tV 13 12/o QiV loro 13 24 ro 4lA In the year 1849 the ratio of mortality among the white troops in our different colo- nies, was as follows : — In Australia, 8 ; British Guiana, 14.2 ; Trinidad, 33; Tobago, 98.6; Grenada, 12.3; St. Vincent's, 6 Barbadoes, 128.8; St. Lucia, 17.4; Dominica, 40.4; Antigua, 10.9 ; St. Kitt's, 19.4 ; Windward and Lee- ward combined, 68.4 ; Jamaica, 48.3 ; Gibraltar, 8.4 ; Maha, 30.1; Ionian Island-s, 23.1; Bermuda, 8.4; Newfoundland, 10.3; Nova Scotia and New Bruns- wick, 19.7 ; Canada, 15.6 ; St. Helena, 8.4 ; Cape of Good Hope, 13.3 ; the Mauritius, 14.6; Ceylon, 21.5; Madras, 22.4; Bengal, 61.3; Bombay, 26.6. Comparing the foregoing mortality with that of the troops in the United Kingdom, the superiority of the Australian climate will be manifest : — Average Mortality ^ler thousand of Troops employed. United Kingdom. For 7 years previous to 1836. For 10 yrs. ending in 1846. Household Cavalry .... Dragoon Guards and Di'agoons Foot Guards Regiments of the Line . . . 147^ 14-rV 2lA 18to llro 13t^ 20V^o 171% The maladies to which flesh is heir assume a milder type in Australia than in Europe ; and it cannot be said that there are any endemic complaints. The diseases most prevalent in the six principal gaols of the colony in 1848, were — those of the brain and nerves, 75 ; circulatory organs, 20 ; respii'atory organs, 154; alimentary canal, 282 ; hepatic, 9 ; eyes, 63 ; skin, 35 ; cellular texture, 28 ; fevers, 10; rheumatic, 84; dropsy, 1 ; scorbutic, 31 ; ulcers, 85 ; pregnancy and parturition, 6 ; wounds and accidents, 36 ; hernia, 1 ; teeth, 11; vermin, 25; other diseases, 119; chil- dren, 31. Total, 1,158. The deaths during the year were — males, 13; females, 1. Total, 14. I venture to say, that in none ot the hospitals attached to any of the gaols or poor-houses in England, would 1,158 cases of disease similar to the above be treated so successfully. No cases of Asiatic cholera have occurred in Australia. Difterent forms of mania have presented themselves within the last few years, and the malady is in- creasing in New South Wales. It would be very desirable if the excellent hospitals which exist at Sydney, Paramatta, and other to^vns, would pubhsh periodical statements of the number and description of the different diseases treated, and of the mortahty in each establishment. This would form a striking corroborative proof of the remarkable salubrity of the Australian clime. 166 CHAPTER III. POPULATION OF NEW SOUTH WALES— FREE AND BOND, PROGRESSIVE AUGMEX- TATION SINCE 1788, STATE OF RELIGION, EDUCATION, AND CRIME. Tnis territoiy, wlien first occupied by the British, on the 26th January, 1788, was thinly peopled by a dark-coloured race of aboriginal tribes, -whose appearance, cha- racter, manners, and customs will be de- scribed in a subsequent portion of this work. In the present chapter, therefore, attention will be dii'ected to the numbers and con- dition of the Anglo-Saxon Australians in New South Wales. The six transports which sailed from England, 13th :May, 1787, for the foun- dation of the colony of New South Wales, contained the embryo from which the pre- sent population of the province, aided by immigration, has been formed. The trans- port, Alexander, contained 210 men con- victs; the Scarborough, 210 ditto; the Friendship, 80 men, and 24 women, con- victs; the Charlotte, 100 men, and 24 women, convicts; t\ie Prince of Wales, 100; and the Lady Penrhyn, 102 women convicts. Total, 608 male, and 250 female convicts. Two convicts on board the Alexander re- ceived a pardon before saihng. The grand total which sailed was stated to be 828. A guard of marines was placed on board of each ship, and numbered, with officers, 212. There were twenty-eight women — wives of marines (who were to form the garrison of the new colony), carrying with them seven- teen children. Emigration from England was studiously discouraged for several years ; but owing to the number of con-sdcts sent out, and the fineness of the climate, the population rapidly increased. According to a parUamentary return of 1812, the state of the colony in 1810 was — (1). Civil depart- ment, victualled, men, 37 ; women, 1 ; chil- dren, 3 : (2) . jSIilitarv department, men, 1,416; women, 219; children, 414: (3). Free persons, rictualled, men, 307; women, 183; children, 198: (4). Prisoners, rictualled from the pubUc stores, men, 1,132; women, 151 ; children, 154 : — total number victualled from public stores, 4,277 : (5) . People not victualled from public stores, men, 1,906; women, 1,644; children, 1,938: settlers no^ rictualled from public stores, men, 715; women, 22. Total number of souls in the settlement, 10,452. The early censuses are said to be incom- plete. The increase has been as follows : — • Year. Poptilation. 1 Year. Population. 1788 1810 1821 1828 1,030 10,452 29,783 36,598 1833 1836 1841 1846 60,861 77,096 120,856 154,534 Adults. "\^oo V Children. Tnt-il Males. Females. 1821 21,693 8,090\ 29,783 1828 27,611 8,987 \ Not 36,598 1833 44,688 16,173/ separated. 60.861 1836 87,298 43,558; 130,856 1839 63,784 21,998 28,604 114,386 1840 70,021 25,476 33,966 129,463 1841 75.474 33,546 40,649 149,669 1842 76,528 35,762 47,599 159,889 1843 76,147 35,474 53,920 165,541 1844 74,912 36,170 62,295 173.377 1845 74,951 36,223 70,382 181,556 1846 82,847 42,287 71,570 196,704 1847 83.572 41,809 79,628 205,009 1848 86,302 44,562 89,610 220,474 The estimate to 31st December, 1848, is 220,474. The number of inhabitants, (including the Port Phillip district,) may now be quoted, in round numbers, at a quarter of a million. In a return laid before the Legislative Council of New South Wales by the able colonial secretary, Mr. Deas Thompson, on the 12th June, 1849, and by Mr. ^Mansfield's analysis of the census of 1841, the increase of the population, male and female, since 1821, is thus shewn: — The progressive augmentation of the female population will be perceived from the foregoing table ; this did not arise solely from female emigration, but from the large pro- portion of female to male births — a propor- tion which I observed in Austraha pervaded the whole range of domestic animals. It seems to be a law of population, that where there is room in a new country, and the command to " increase and multiply" is not perverted by polygamy, there is always a larger pro- portion of female than male births ; but in an old established country, fully peopled, a check is put to an injm'ious increase by a CONVICTS SENT TO NEW SOUTH WALES FEOM 1787 TO 1813. 167 greater proportion of male than female births. Under a system of slavery there is also a pre- ponderance of male over female births ; from which it naturally resiilts that a slave or bond population, if unrecruited by fresh supplies, would in process of time become extinct. What proportion of the population of New South Wales consisted of convicts and of their descendants it is not possible to state. The number of convicts annually sent from Great Britain to New South Wales, from 1787 to 1843, Avas— Years. 1787 1789 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1843 Total . Males. 184 994 2,121 314 1 35 1 206 313 395 503 203 543 494 1 272 189 202 200 200 400 400 500 800 693 1,186 1,040 1,912 1,421 1,726 946 856 491 1,004 602 844 1,401 1,732 2,278 1,751 1,605 1,992 2,310 2,336 2,146 2,029 1,734 1,716 1,096 575 199 47,092 Females. 100 245 286 54 59 131 67 53 90 94 130 136 lis 34 113 175 62 120 99 167 119 232 101 101 101 128 148 121 171 67 119 81 59 88 260 298 220 337 250 206 420 144 298 259 140 344 143 213 Total. 284 1,239 2,407 368 1 94 132 206 380 395 53 593 297 673 630 119 306 302 377 262 820 499 567 619 1,032 794 1,287 1,141 2,040 1,569 1,847 1,117 913 610 1,085 661 932 1,661 2,030 2,498 2,088 1,855 2,198 2,730 2,480 2,444 2,088 1,874 2,060 1,239 788 199 It appears that during a period of forty- eight years the number of couAicts sent to New South Wales was, of males 43,506, of females 6,791 : total 50,297. This is ex- clusive of con\dcts sent to Van Diemen's Island, to which separate transportation com- menced in 1817, and from that year to 1837 the number of convicts sent to that island was, males 24,785, females 2,974 : total 27,759; making a grand total deported to Australasia during the period, of males 68,291, females 9,765 = 78,056. Ti'ansportation to New South Wales, ex- cept the deportation of a few exiles from Penton^ille and other places, ceased in the year 1839, and the total number of convicts transported to that settlement may be stated in round numbers at, males 52,000, females 8,706 = 60,706. The convict population is thus stated since 1820 : — Years. 1820 1833 1836 1841 1846 Males. 1S.067 21,845 25,254 23,844 9,653 Females. 2,189 2,698 2,577 3,133 902 Total. 20,256 24,543 27,831 26,977 10,555 The proportion of fi-ee to bond population, of each sex and age, in the colony is thus shewn in 1828 and 1833 :— 1828 1833 Free Males. Above 12 Years 10621 17542 Under 12 Years 2835 5256 Total 134.56 22798 Ul-T 21845 Free Females Above 12 Years. 4538 8522 Under 12 Years. 2936 4931 Total 7474 13453 o 5 "3 .a 1513 2698 in In 1834 the number of " emancipists the colony was about 16,000, and the re- mainder of the free population was about 21,000. The country to which the several convicts belonged, is not stated for the entire period. From 1828 to 1836, those from Great Brir tain and Ireland were : — Great Britain Ireland . . Males. 17,876 8,079 Females. 2,194 1,941 Total. 20,070 10,020 7,491 54,383 During the eight years ending 1836, the number of persons free by servitude was, males 7,788, females 1,363 = 9,151. Abso- lutely pardoned, males 62, females 2 = 68. Conditionally pardoned, males 543, female« 22 = 565. The following abstracts of the population on the 2nd March, 1846, in each of the Counties and Commissioners' Districts com- prised within the Sydney or Middle District, shows the number of free and bond persons of each sex, distinguishing those born in th colony, or arrived free from other places, and also the number of bond persons holding tic- kets of leave, in government employment, and in private assignment respectively : — Males Free. Males Bond. Females Free Females Bond. Totals Counties in New South Wales. O OJ 'o 2 i o nt^ ^ S' . o 2 1 ^ti .1 {Census of 1851 given in 1 2 S is < P-i < Supplement, cfcl o O 852 fcD . eS . tJH 60 6 s °. «* jj w Appendix A.] 1758 1— 1 pq U ■3 OH-] l-H Ji 'a s Si d Argyle Bathurst 412 2 15 1650 200 16 6 3039 1872 4911 1555 899 306 15 24 1418 148 18 2 6 2799 1592 4391 "Rlip-h 186 488 139 278 92 153 1 1 2 16 160 430 17 37 1 2 — 1 420 936 178 470 598 Brisbane 1406 Camden 3347 1125 448 10 22 3081 251 25 — 14 4952 3371 8323 Cook ....... 1282 32348 570 5345 916 128 1180 409 137 1138 2 5 231 31 1316 30764 2869 142 1957 180 11 209 26 1 234 6 132 9 2122 40242 4470 1476 33296 3084 3598 73538 Durham 3112 7554 Georsfiana 325 239 60 — 13 285 31 — — — 637 316 953 Gloucester 1040 232 187 — . 33 864 37 4 — 2 1492 907 2399 Hunter 466 186 41 1 1 453 39 3 — — 695 495 1190 572 535 372 217 119 219 294 4 62 524 580 71 53 1 10 — 2 3 1067 1327 598 646 1665 Macquarie 1973 Murray Northumberland 992 513 289 1 8 814 89 14 — 1 1803 918 2721 5036 1720 597 338 59 5035 473 62 1 14 7750 5585 13335 Phillip Roxburgh St. Vincent 229 143 54 — 6 179 27 1 — 2 432 209 641 859 466 177 — 2 746 88 12 — 3 1504 849 2353 748 340 186 — 34 744 41 8 — 1 1308 794 2102 Wellington 315 288 100 — 8 225 27 7 — — 711 259 970 Westmoreland 597 322 72 1 3 519 54 6 — 1 995 580 1575 Stanley (Moreton Bay) . . . 716 190 128 81 7 455 20 1 — 1 1122 477 1599 Auckland (Twofold Bay) . . 480 217 54 — 2 304 28 2 — 1 753 335 1088 Total . . . 56986 15569 5411 2022 588 53415 4010 439 238 205 80576 58307 138883 Commissioners' Districts beyond the Blio-h 250 541 287 242 71 71 2 5 15 166 337 6 18 1 1 — — 615 869 173 356 788 1225 Darling Downs 245 236 64 4 3 100 4 — — 2 552 106 658 799 583 176 2 9 577 50 2 — — 1569 629 2198 Liverpool Plains 670 813 261 6 28 296 32 3 — 1 1778 332 2110 144 99 71 6 20 111 12 1 — 2 340 126 466 Menaroo 757 447 104 7 6 554 32 4 — 5 1321 595 1916 87 95 39 — • 3 42 2 — — • — 224 44 268 Murrumbidgee 1003 648 160 1 8 717 52 2 — 1 1820 772 2592 707 691 339 4 15 428 44 3 — — 1756 475 2231 Wellington 373 464 119 2 11 205 23 1 — 1 969 230 1199 Total . . . 5576 4605 1475 34 123 3533 275 18 — 12 11813 3838 15651 Total Population of the Middle"^ 62562 20174 688C 20ofi 711 5694fi 4285 457 9,^H ^17 92389 69,145 154534 District j 1 1 It will be perceived from the foregoing, that the free males born in the colony, or who have arrived free, are nearly equal in number to the same class of females — viz., 63,503 and 56,948 ; but that great disproportion of sex exists between the emancipist class — viz., 20,174 males to 4,285 females; also between the bond — viz., 9,653 males, and 913 females. The total males to females in the colony, in 1846, was 92,389 males to 63,145 females. This diflFerence is every year diminishing: and the laudable efforts of the Right. Hon. Sydney Herbert to afford to distressed sempstresses, and other impoverished women, a means oi emigrating to Australia, must eventually benefit the colony. Whatever doubts may PROGRESS OF POPULATION BY COUNTIES, 1833—46. 169 be cast on tliis benevolent project, I bave no fear tbat injury can accrue from the measui'c; for it is well known, generally speaking, that as men find in New South Wales " honesty is the best policy," so also women, removed from the snares of ^dce and temptations which beset them at every step in England, find in New South Wales, that " ^drtue is its o^Ti reward ;" and there are many instances of thorough reclamation of character in Austra- lia of persons who, if they had remained at home, would have trodden with fearful rapidity the downward road to ruin. The census of 1846, presents within the limits of location, the following comparison with those of 1841, 1836, and 1833:— Counties. 1846. 1841. 1836. 1833. Argvle 4911 3397 2417 2850 Bathurst . . 4391 2465 1729 3454 Bligh . , . 598 546 376 . . Brisbane . . 1406 1560 1378 229 Camden . 8323 6286 3161 2648 Cook .... 3598 2892 2052 1465 Cumberland 73538 58108 39797 35844 Durham . . 7554 6238 3208 3303 Georgiana . . 953 749 0/0 Gloucester . . 2399 1424 854 583 Hunter . . . 1190 999 808 King . . . 1665 598 544 Macquarie . . 1973 2409 1300 744 Murray . . . 2721 2111 1728 510 Northumberland 13325 9975 5016 4606 Phillip . . . 641 453 247 Roxburgh . . 3353 1520 1980 St. Vincent . . 2120 1762 592 1 445 Wellington 970 510 530 \yestmoreland 1575 619 579 1903 Stanley (Moreton ) Bay, &c.) . . i 1599 2187 3858 1218 Auckland (Twofold Bay) ... J 1088 Total . . • • 139891 106808 I 72,729 59,802 The census of 2nd March, 1846, of the Commissioners' Districts beyond the Limits of location, presents the following comparison with those of 1841, 1836, and 1833:— Districts. 1846. 1841. 1836. 1833. Bligh 788 Clarence River 1225 Darling Downs 658 Lachlan . . 2198 r/5 Livernool Plains 2110 '3 ^ cu M'Leay River . 466 o o Monaroo . . 1916 o o Moreton Bay . 268 ^ "-A o Mumimbidgee 2592 !5 New England . 2231 Wellington 1199 Total .... 15651 9980 2968 — The gross increase of population dming the five years ending March, 1846, was, males, 27,471 ; females, 31,282 = 58,753. Increase per cent, during the same period, males, 31.46; females, 71.84 = 44.89. Cen- tesimal proportion of the sexes: — in 1846, males, 60.53; females, 39.47 := 100; in 1841, males, 66.71; females, 33.29=100. The inequahty of the sexes is imdergoing a gradual correction. The proportion of females to 100 males was— 1836, 30; in 1841, 50; in 1842, 59 ; in 1843, 60 ; in 1844, 63. The number of free immigrants who ar- rived in New South Wales and Port Phillip since the formation of the colony is not ascertainable. Between 1828 and 1848, the numbers are imperfectly stated thus : — Years. 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 Mcu. 200 306 166 189 819 838 571 551 524 1,769 3,631 5,843 5,159 Women. 122 133 70 98 700 1,146 596 644 807 1,138 2,152 3,719 5,457 Children. Total 274 145 73 174 481 701 397 233 290 1,365 3,077 3,796 2,056 596 564 309 457 2,006 2,685 1,564 1,428 1,621 4,275 8,840 13,358 12,662 6,823 2,558 2,181 496 111 6.563 13,977 Between 1841 and 1847, viz., for seven years the immigrants who arrived in New South Wales, consisted of 9,210 EngHsh, 2,606 Scotch, and 20,896 Irish = 32,709. No emigrants were sent out to New South Wales, by her iSIajesty's Emigration Com- missioners from 1844 to 1846. The census of the proAdnce taken on 2nd ]March, 1846, affords satisfactory evidence of the progress and position of the colonists, and furnishes an excellent basis for the statistical supplement which it is my inten- tion to issue every seven years, in order that the value of the original work may be pre- served unimpaired. The following details, when examined with the accompanying map, will, doubtless, prove interesting in this country to those who have friends and rela- tives in the colony. DIV. I. 170 POPULATION BY SEX AND AGE IN NEW SOUTH WALES— 1846. Convicts free hy servitude, absolutely and conditionally pardoned, during 1847 and 1818. Abso utely pardoned. Conditionally pardoned. Free by serWtud-j. Males. Females. Total. Males. Fema Ics. Total. Males. 588 275 Females. Total. 1847 1848 2 6 1 2 7 1,020 2,226 33 66 1,053 2,292 215 " 77 803 352 Total. . « 1 9 3,246 99 3,345 863 292 1155 On the 2nd IMarcli, 1846, tlie total bond, or convict, population in the colony, was 10,565. During 1847 and 1848 there were freed 4,509, or more than 2,250 per annum. Allowing ?,000 for the number liberated during ten months of 1846, the total libera- tions to the end of 1848 would be about 6,500, which, at that period, would leave 4,000 still in bond — a number that would be nearly obliterated in the years 1849 and 1850 — when the whole population of the province would be free. Number of Persons of each Sex and Age, in the Counties in the Sydney or Middle District, and i)i the Commissioners^ Districts beyond the limits of Location, in 1846. Males. Females. Totals. Gene- Counties. Under 7 and 14 and 21 and 45 and Under 7 and 14 and 21 and 45 and Fe- males. ral 7 under under under up- 7 under under under up- Males. Tutal. Years. 14. 21. 45. wards. Years. 14. 21. 45. wards. Argyle 621 251 159 1587 421 620 220 153 755 124 3039 1872 4911 Bathurst . . 480 224 142 1624 329 516 211 128 655 82 2799 1592 4391 Bligh . . . 59 22 9 295 35 54 23 13 81 7 420 178 598 Brisbane 169 46 30 595 96 175 49 27 203 16 936 470 1406 Camden . . 1088 585 356 2181 742 1103 506 312 1200 250 4952 3371 8323 Cook . . . 413 272 168 868 401 454 271 147 468 136 2122 1476 3598 Cumberland 8617 4744 3135 18096 5650 8599 4717 3975 13430 2575 40242 33296 73538 Durham . . 1045 472 307 2157 489 1124 417 223 1148 172 4470 3084 7554 Georgiana . 98 59 31 358 91 111 43 25 118 19 637 316 953 Gloucester . 324 169 118 744 137 300 140 94 315 58 1492 907 2399 Hunter . . 143 84 64 267 137 163 94 45 156 37 695 495 1190 King . . . 206 95 67 547 152 206 76 53 233 30 1067 598 1665 Macquarie . 197 84 58 700 288 229 87 52 243 15 1327 646 1973 Murray . . 337 132 112 985 237 286 134 63 376 59 1803 918 2721 North umberlan 1 1719 881 509 3726 915 1761 862 517 2113 332 7750 5585 13335 Phillip . . 71 28 15 265 53 77 22 17 87 6 432 209 641 Roxburgh . 294 127 72 789 222 262 119 93 319 56 1504 849 2353 St. Vincent . 226 116 78 695 193 259 114 67 293 61 1308 794 2102 Wellington . 91 26 17 469 108 86 26 18 111 18 711 259 970 AVestmoreland 199 112 58 511 115 200 87 35 219 39 995 580 1575 Stanley, ^loreton Bay 167 70 36 755 94 151 53 27 230 16 1122 477 1599 Auckland, Twofold Bay 143 49 34 446 81 97 43 18 130 47 753 335 1088 Total .... 16707 8648 5575 38660 10986 16833 8314 6102 22883 4175 80576 58307 138885 Commissiontrs' Districts, beyond the Limits of Location. Bligh 58 23 14 458 64 63 25 6 71 8 615 173 788 Clarence River 118 47 34 598 72 114 40 29 167 6 869 356 1225 Darling Downs 32 8 19 436 57 38 6 13 44 5 552 106 658 Lachlan . . . 235 107 77 983 167 222 77 45 261 24 1569 629 2198 Liverpool Plains 117 55 77 1358 171 115 28 21 158 10 1778 332 2110 M'Leay River . 37 10 21 225 47 41 13 11 60 1 340 126 466 Menaroo . , . 222 82 93 765 159 202 78' 44 233 38 1321 595 1916 Moreton Bay . 11 2 6 191 14 17 1 1 25 — 224 44 268 Murrumbidgee 266 110 78 1175 181 250 90 69 335 28 1820 772 2592 New England . 163 86 70 1273 164 152 55 37 216 15 1756 475 2231 "Wellington . . 103 30 22 689 125 87 25 8 108 2 969 230 1199 Total .... 1370 560 511 8151 1221 1301 438 284 1G78 137 11813 3838 15651 Total Populati Middle Dis on tii( ="/} 18077 1 9208 6086 46811 9572 18134 8752 6386 2456 : 4312 92389 62145 154534 MAKRIED AND SINGLE IN NEW SOUTH WALES IN 1846. in Number of 3Iarried and Single Persons of each Sex in the Counties in the Sydtiej/ or Iliddle District, and in the Commissioners' Districts bei/ond the limits of Location iti 1846 ; — Counties. Argyle Bathurst Bligh Brisbane Camden Cook Cumberland .... Dui'ham Georgiana Gloucester Hunter King . _ Macquarie Murray ...... Northumberland . . Phillip Roxburgh St. Vincent Wellington AYestmoreland . . . . Stanley (Moreton Bay) . Auckland (Twofold Bay) Total Commissioners' Districts bej'ond the limits of Location. Bligh Clarence River Darling Downs Lachlan . Liverpool Plains M'Leay River Menaroo . . . , IMoreton Bay !Murrumbidgee New England "Wellington Males. Married. Single 23,719 823 2,216 648 2,151 86 3.34 218 718 1,424 3,528 555 1,567 3,090 27,152 1,260 3,210 124 513 370 1,122 179 516 267 800 314 1,013 409 1,394 2,330 5,420 96 336 359 1,145 348 960 134 577 249 746 251 871 185 568 Females. Married. Single 822 674 86 217 1,369 530 13,319 1,256 130 352 190 258 251 403 2,271 93 352 336 132 248 237 173 1,050 918 92 253 2,002 946 19,977 1,828 186 555 305 340 395 515 3,314 116 497 458 127 332 240 162 Totals. Wales. Female Total l,f54 56,e57 84 531 188 681 68 484 309 1,260 184 1,594 67 273 250 1,071 21 203 334 1,486 226 1,530 123 846 9,959 To^^l Population of Middle District 25 573 66,816 25,484 36,661 92,389 62,145 154,534 23,699 34,608 169 55 292 170 61 259 23 342 223 113 1.785 95 187 51 337 162 65 336 21 4.30 252 117 2,053 3,039 2,799 420 936 4,952 2,122 40,242 4,470 637 1,492 695 1,067 1,327 1,803 7,750 432 1,504 1.308 711 995 1,122 753 80,576 615 869 552 1,569 1,778 340 1,321 224 1,820 1,756 969 11,813 1,872 1,592 178 470 3,371 1,476 33,296 3,084 316 907 495 598 646 918 5,585 209 849 794 259 580 477 335 General Total 58,307 173 356 106 629 332 126 595 44 772 475 230 3,838 4,911 4,391 598 1,406 8,323 3,598 73,538 7,554 953 2,399 1,190 1,665 1,973 2,721 13,335 641 2,353 2,102 970 1,575 1,599 1,088 13S, 1,225 658 2,198 2,110 466 1916 268 2,592 2,231 1,199 15,651 Number of Married and Unmarried Persons in the Citi/ q /■ Si/dnei/ and its Suharbs. Males. Females. Totals. General Total. Name of City County in which situated. and Suburb. Married. Single. Married.' 7,208 Single. M;iles. Females. City of Sydney . . . Cumberland . . 7,072 13,738 10,340 20,810 17,548 38,358 ' Balmain* . . . Ditto 247 435 255 400 682 655 1,337 (>^ Camperdown* Ditto 50 75 52 64 125 116 241 o Canterbury* . Ditto 43 85 43 47 128 90 218 ai Chippendale* . . Ditto 85 134 88 109 219 197 416 •;3 Gleb ', the* . . Ditto 210 323 212 310 5:13 522 1,055 o \ Newtown* . Ditto 257 374 252 332 631 584 1,215 t» O'Connell Town*. Ditto 8 17 8 7 25 15 40 ■a Paddington* . . Ditto 172 250 179 225 422 404 826 .£! Redfern* . . . Ditto 177 2(;o 183 245 437 428 865 CC St. Leonard's*! . Ditto 74 149 74 115 223 189 412 I Surry Hills* . . Ditto 33 88 33 53 121 86 207 Tota 8,428 15,928 8,587 12,247 24,356 20,834 45,190 1 Note.— The mark (*) attached to the name ol' any suburb indicates that it is situated on private property. This mark (t> includes the inhabitants of the Government Township of St. Leonard's, as well as the residents on the adjoining suburbs. 172 POPULATION OF EACH TOWN OR VILLAGE IN 1846. jyumber of 3farried and Umnarried Persons in the several Towns and Villages in Keio South Wales. Males. 1 Females. | Totals. 1 Name of Town or Village. County in which situated. General Total. Married. Single. Married. Single. Males. Females. Ailsa .... Bligh .... 3 2 4 4 5 8 13 Albury .... Unnamed . . . 11 32 11 11 43 22 65 Appin .... Cumberland . . 20 47 19 39 67 58 125 Bathurst . . . Bathurst . . . 303 800 320 460 1,103 780 1,883 Berrima . • . Camden . . . 79 178 54 66 257 120 377 Boyd* .... Auckland . . . 27 65 23 10 92 33 125 Braidwood . . St. Vincent . . 40 79 40 47 119 87 206 Brisbane, North . Stanley . . . 109 296 101 108 405 209 614 Brisbane, South . Ditto . . . 70 139 67 70 209 137 346 Broulee. . . . St. Vincent . . 3 6 3 10 9 13 22 Bungendore . . Murray . . . 4 15 4 7 19 11 30 Bungonia . . . Argyle .... 20 33 19 26 53 45 98 Camden* . . . Camden . . . 40 100 40 62 140 102 242 Campbelltown . Cumberland . . 91 204 89 157 295 246 641 Carcoar .... Bathurst . . . 15 28 16 14 43 30 73 Clarence To-\vn . Durham . . . 14 36 14 29 50 43 93 Dalkeith* . . . Bligh .... 7 26 7 9 33 16 49 Dungog . . . Durham . . . 22 47 21 34 69 55 124 Eden .... Auckland . . . 10 30 10 13 40 23 63 Gosford . . . Northumberland 10 25 11 7 35 18 53 Goulburn . . . Argyle .... 218 468 220 265 686 485 1,171 Gundagai . . . Unnamed . . . 16 39 15 17 55 32 87 Gunning . . . King .... 20 40 20 15 60 35 95 Hartley. . . . Cook .... 11 20 11 20 31 31 62 Haydontou* . . Brisbane . . . 17 57 21 22 74 43 117 Ipswich .... Stanley . . . 20 44 19 20 64 39 103 Kelso* .... Roxburg . . . 85 173 85 121 258 206 464 Liverpool . . . Cumberland . . 115 247 90 149 362 239 501 Macquarie . . . Macquarie. . . 144 455 79 141 599 220 819 INIaitland, East . Northumberland 152 337 150 271 489 421 910 Maitland, West* . JJitto 433 917 442 617 1,350 1,059 2,409 MeiTiwa . . . Brisbane . . . 5 24 8 5 29 13 42 Montefiores* . . Bligh .... 25 47 28 29 72 57 129 Morpeth* . . . Northumberland 120 214 125 176 334 301 635 Mudgee . . . AVellington . . 22 68 22 19 90 41 131 Murrurundi . Brisbane . . . 11 24 9 8 35 17 52 Muswellbrook Durham . . . 42 81 40 45 123 85 208 Narellan . . . Cumberland . . 4 4 2 8 6 14 Newcastle . . . Northumberland 248 769 192 262 1,017 454 1,471 Nurea . . • . Unnamed . . . 9 14 10 11 23 21 44 Parramatta . . Cumberland . . 612 1,649 787 1,406 2,261 2,193 4,454 Paterson . . . Durham . . . 23 51 23 44 74 67 141 Penrith* . . . Cumberland . . 56 115 52 68 171 120 291 Petersham* . . Ditto . . 23 43 22 34 66 56 122 Picton .... Camden . . . 2-4 48 23 25 72 48 120 Pitt Town . . . Cumberland . . 33 74 37 83 109 120 229 Queanbeyan . . Murray . 40 88 35 45 128 80 208 Raymond Terrace Gloucester . . 45 100 44 74 145 118 263 Richmond . . . Cumberland . . 122 277 128 219 399 347 746 Scone .... Brisbane . . . 22 47 21 27 69 48 117 Singleton*. . . Northumberland 109 200 116 140 309 256 565 St. Alban's . . Ditto 4 4 4 9 8 13 21 St. Aubin's* . . Brisbane . . . 27 30 22 24 57 46 103 Stockton* . . . Gloucester . . 18 48 18 28 66 46 112 "Windsor . . . Cumberland . . 248 682 268 481 930 749 1,679 Wollombi . . . Northumberland 16 25 15 20 41 235 76 Wollongong . . Camden . . . 86 201 90 138 287 228 515 Yass Murray end King 46 124 50 54 170 104 274 Total Population in Country Towns 4,^71 10,036 4,216 6,319 14,207 10,535 24,742 Add City of Sydney and Suburbs . Total Urban Pop. in N. S. Wales . S.x\6 15,928 8,587 12,247 24,356 20,834 45,190 12,599 25,964 12,803 18,566 38,503 31,369 69,932 ^'bv'e.— This mark (*) attached to the name of any sul 1. urb, to'wn, or village, i ndicates th it it is situa tedonpriva te propertj 1 BIRTHS, DEATHS, AND MARRIAGES IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 173 Statement, shoivimj the Increase of the Population hy Births and Immigration respectively, in each year, from 1839 to 1848. Years. 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 Gross Increase. Births. 2,270 2,836 3,304 4,233 5,204 6,333 7,182 7,946 8,522 7,061 8,881 8,746 Imnaiffration. 7,700 11,913 15,651 13,226 19,938 11,649 5,493 8,809 5,968 6,673 6,563 13,977 Total. 9,970 14,749 18,955 17,459 25,142 17,982 12,675 16,755 14,490 13,734 15,444 22,723 Gross Decrease. Deaths. Departures. 1,799 2,104 2,481 2,382 2,894 2,717 2,293 2,122 2428 2,125 2,688 2,574 2,998 5,045 4,730 5,054 4,183 4,514 4,474 4,751 Net Increase. 8,171 12,645 16,474 15,077 19,250 10,220 5,652 9,581 8,179 6,339 8,282 7,235 Population. 77,096 85,267 97,912 114,386 129,463 149,669 159,889 165,541 173,377 181,556 196,704 204,986 205,009 Marriages, Births, and Deaths, in New South Wale^ since 1832. Years. Marri- ages. Births. Total. Deaths. Total. Males. Fem. Males. Fem. 1832 619 655 699 1,254 650 275 880 1833 698 769 791 1,560 850 345 1,150 1834 750 927 930 1,857 827 337 1,164 1835 744 931 872 1,830 990 463 1,453 1836 774 1,047 1,073 2,120 1,131 497 1,628 1837 916 1,159 1,111 2,270 1,217 582 1,799 1838 970 1,450 1,386 2,836 1,392 712 2,144 1839 1,157 1,678 1,626 3,304 1,609 872 2,481 1840 1,631 2,119 2,114 4,233 1,517 865 2,382 1841 1,924 2,631 2,573 5,204 1,750 1,144 2,894 1842 2,564 3,160 3,173 6,333 1,753 964 2,717 1843 1,831 3,689 3,493 7,182 1,446 847 2,293 1844 1,813 3,999 3,947 7,946 1,362 760 2,122 1845 1,837 4,338 4,184 8,522 1,245 883 2,128 1846 1,796 3,529 3,532 7,061 1,321 804 2,125 1847 1,852 4,536 4,345 8,881 1,646 1,042 2,688 1848 1,801 4,484 4,262 8 746 1,584 990 2,574 1849 1850 10,011 Total . 23,677 41,101 81,139 22,290 12,382 34,622 By the joint census of 184G, the population of N. S. Wales and of Port Phillip, was as follows : [Census of 1851 in Supplement.] Males. Females. Total. Within limits of Location — Middle District Port Phillip District . . . Beyond limits of Location — Middle District Port Phillip District . . . Crews of colonial vessels . . 80,576 13,234 11,813 6,950 2,196 58,307 10,234 3,838 2,461 138,883 23,468 15,651 9,411 2,196 Total . . . Population of 1841 . . 114,769 87,298 78,840 43,558 189,609 130,856 Increase . . 27,471 31,282 58,573 Centesimal increase during"! the same period . . ./ Average annual centesimal in-) crease for same period . ./ CenteMinal proportion of! 1846 the sexes ... . 1 1841 31.40 6.29 60.53 66.71 71.81 14.36 39.47 33.29 44.89 8.98 100 100 From the 1st January to 31st December, 1848, the two districts of New South Wales and Port Phillip presented the following results : — Increase by — Immigration Births . . Total increase Decrease by — Deaths Departures Total decrease Summary — Total increase . . . Total decrease . . . Net increase .... Population, Dec. 31, 1847 Dec. 31, 1848 Male. 8,452 4,484 12,936 1,584 3,534 5,118 12,936 5,118 7,818 123,890 131,708 Female, 5,525 4,262 9,787 990 1,217 2,207 9,787 2,207 7,580 81,119 88,699 Total. 13,977 8,746 22,723 2,574 4,751 7,325 22,723 7,325 15,398 205,009 220,407 According to the census of 1846, the classification of occupations showed — com- merce, trade, and manufactures, 9,264; agriculturists, 13,952 ; grazing shepherds, 13,565 ; stockmen, &c., 5,532 ; horticulture, 943; other labourers, 12,104; mechanics and artizans, 10,769; domestic servants, males, 4,181, females, 6,455; clerical pro- fession, 185; legal, &c., 271; medical, 343; other educated persons, 1,737 ; alms-people, pensioners, paupers, &c., 1,687; all other occupations, 7,816; residue of population, 98,602 = 187,413. The places where born were thus noted : — In the colony, males, 2 7,361; females, 27,492 : 174, DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS— 1836 & 1846. England, males, 33,756; females, 13,493: Wales, males, 364; females, 177: Ireland, males, 22,445 ; females, 15,976 : Scotland, males, 6,409 ; females, 3,970 : other British dominions, males, 1,153 ; females, 752 : foreign countries, males, 901 ; females, 285. The dwellings of the inhabitants were thus classified in 1846 : — Houses of stone or brick,9,955; wood,16,511; shingled, 17,012; slated, 500. Total, 26,563. Inhabited, 24,848. Of the latter, the county of Cumberland, containing Sydney, has 12,939 houses. Religion. — According to the census of 1836, there were — of Protestants, 77,096; of Roman Catholics, 21,898; Jews, 477. Judge Burton states, that in 1836, among the convicts, 18,500 were Protestants, 9,000 Roman Catholics, and 331 Jews. In 1846, the religious denominations of the inhabi- tants of New South Wales, alone, was : — Church of England, 79,801; Church of Scotland, 16,053; AVesleyans, 6,338; other Protestants, 3,681 ; Roman Catholics, 47, 187; Jews, 969; Mahomedans and Pagans, 135; other persons, 361. For the year ending 31st December, 1848, there were : — Religious Denominations. Births. Marriages. Deaths. Church of England . Church of Scotland . Wesleyan INIethodists Independents . . . Baptists Roman Catholics . . Jews 3,790 930 483 85 32 3,387 39 720 504 77 27 5 462 6 1,405 225 81 29 8 812 14 Totals .... 8,746 1,801 2,574 Persons o f each oft] e under-mentioned Jte/it/ious Denominai ions, on 2nd March, 1846. Church Church We.sleyan Other Mahome- Other Coimties. of of Method- Protes- Jews. dans and Persua- Total England. Scotland. 622 ists. tants. Pagans. sions. Ai-gyle 2,334 64 26 1,797 59 2 7 4,911 Bathurst . . 2,013 466 38i» 40 1,464 23 4 1 4,391 Blio'h . . . 297 792 48 170 8 7 7 245 426 1 2 1 598 Brisbane . . 1,406 Camden . . 4,250 1,007 321 62 2,629 24 19 11 8,323 Cook . . . 2,074 272 183 10 1,036 21,216 12 6 5 3,598 73,538 Cumberland . 38,344 6,458 3,696 2,857 688 32 247 Durham . . 3,867 1,417 313 76 1,862 10 2 7 7,554 Georgiana 448 136 5 3 361 — — — 953 Gloucester 1,396 387 99 14 500 1 2 — 2,399 Hunter . . 783 64 40 1 299 2 — 1 1,190 Kino- . . . 821 89 10 14 730 1 . 1,665 1,973 Macquarie 1,136 222 43 27 519 20 3 3 Murray . . 1,290 328 4 26 1,043 24 4 2 2,721 North umberland 6,849 1,301 817 152 4,117 53 8 38 13,335 Phillip . . . 356 88 2 191 1 3 641 Roxburgh . . 1,231 311 64 28 717 1 1 2,353 St. Vincent . 943 377 5 6 766 3 1 1 2.102 Wellington . 590 61 9 4 305 — — 1 970 AYestmoreland 619 144 136 3 672 1 — 1,575 Stanley, Moreton Bay 770 209 24 57 497 9 22 11 1,599 Aucland,TwofoldBaj 577 152 6 19 328 5 — 1 1,088 Total . . . 71,780 14,329 6,229 3,439 41,720 938 Ill 337 138,883 Commissioners' Dis- tricts beyond the Limit.v of Location. Bligh 368 165 6 1 243 1 2 2 788 Clarence River . . 760 119 15 15 300 2 12 2 1,225 Darling Downs . . 341 128 — 2 178 1 6 2 658 Lachlan .... 956 190 14 21 1,010 6 1 2,198 Liverpool Plains 1,175 188 10 106 625 2 — 4 2,110 M'l-eay River . . 303 26 2 1 127 1 6 466 Monaroo .... 899 194 10 15 784 13 1 1,916 MoretonBay. . . 111 58 2 2 95 — 268 Murrumbidgee . . 1,401 218 29 46 893 3 2 2,592 New England . . 1,147 326 17 30 703 — 3 5 2,231 Wellington . . . 569 112 4 3 509 2 — — 1,199 Total . . . 8.030 > 79,810 1,724 16,053 109 242 5,467 31 24 24 15,651 Total Pop. of New] South AValcs. J 6,338 3,681 47,187 969 135 361 154,534 ECCLESIASTICAL AND EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS, 175 The ecclesiastical establisliment for 1848 was : Church of England — Diocese of Syd- ney, forty-two rectors or miaisters, with salaries averaging .£'200 per annum, and, in almost every instaiice, a parsonage (or an allowance of ,£50 a-year), and also a glebe of forty acres. Diocese of Newcastle. — Sixteen rectors or ministers, with salaries and allowances as in the Sydney diocese. There are two minis- ters beyond the settled districts, with £200 a-year each. Church of Scotland. — Seventeen ministers, with salaries averaging £150 a-year each, and, in several instances, a house and glebe. Wesleyan. — Nine ministers, with each i6150 or £;200 a-year, and a house. No glebe. Independent. — Five ministers; salary, .£170 to £250 ; in one instance a house and glebe. Baptist. — One minister ; salary, £250. Church of Rome. — Twenty-five ministers of religion, with salaries averaging jS200 a-year, and, in some instances, a house, but no glebes. Jews. — One minister; salary, £100 per annum. There are now nine Episcopalian Lutheran churches in and near Sycbiey, two Presby- terian, one Free Church, one Wesleyan, one Baptist, one CongTcgational, one Friends (Quakers) , one Bethel Mariners, four Roman Catholic chapels, and one Jewish synagogue. There are ministers of the Established Church at Paramatta, Hunter's hill. Prospect, Liver- pool, Marsfield, Campbelltown, Narellan and Cabramatta, Camden, Mulgoa, Windsor, Richmond, Pitt Town and Wilberforce, Pen- rith, Castlereagh, Berrima, Hawkesbuiy, Goulbourn, Yass, Braidwood, Batluu'st, Illa- warra, Newcastle, Maitland, Port Macqua- rie, Wellington, Seaham, Marengo, New I England, and sixteen other places. i I Exjjense of Ecclesiastical Estahlishment in 1848. Denominations, Church of England Presbyterian . . Wesleyan . . . Roman Catholics . Grand Total . . Paid from ''uliinial 'J'reasury. Salaries. £ lo;20i 2,01 i 8*32 fi,G70 25,3.)2 Churches etc. £ 3,726 400 3,^88 7,.514 Paid from Miltary Chest for Convict Service. £ 2.5 "eo 740 Total. £ 19,585 3,039 862 10,124 33,010 Education is in progress, and much needed. According to the census of 18 KT, there were then, under twenty-one years of age, who could not read, males, 18,568; females, 18,035: read only, males, 5,480; females, 6,159: read and write, males, 9,323; fe- males, 9,078. Above twenty- one years of age, cannot read, males, 14,245 ; females, 7,160; read only, males, 7,150; females, 6,209; read and write, males, 37,623; fe- males, 15,504. Public or Free Schools in 1848. Denomination. Church of England— * Orphan Schools . . * Schools established "1 prior to 1837 . . ./ f Ditto accordino; to "1 regulation of 1S41 / f Presbyterian . . . . t Wesleyan Roman Catholic— * Orphan Institution . * Schools prior to 1847 f According to regu-") lation of Sept. 1841 / Totals . . Number of Schools. 2 32 35 43 16 1 11 21 Scholars. Male. Female. Total 96 1,566 1,462 1,471 196 61 541 917 110 1,259 1,230 1,134 527 73 550 792 161 6,310 5,675 11,965 206 2,825 2,672 2,605 723 131 1,091 1,709 Note. — The Schools marked thus (*) ai-e supported by Government, and those marked thus (f) by Government and Voluntaiy Contributions. There is a Sydney College with eighty students ; a grammar school with forty-two scholars, and a " King's school," Paramatta, with thirty-six scholars. Of private schools, there are in Sydney district 223, with 3,510 males and 3,208 female scholars = 6,718. The total sums paid fi'om the Colonial treasury in 1848, for education in New South Wales (including the Port Phillip district), was £13,540. The Press. — About twelve newspapers and periodicals. These publications are well conducted, and exhibit a liberal spirit and talent equal to the provincial press of any portion of the United Kingdom. The Syd- ney Herald, Chronicle, Colonist, and Gazette, are published three times a- week ; the Mo- nitor, six times a week; the Commercial Journal, twice, and the government Gazette, once a- week. There is an excellent sub- scription library and reading-room, at Syd- ney; an Australian museum and botanic garden, a Floral and Horticultural Society, and a Mechanics' School of Arts. There are agricultural societies in different parts of the colony; also reading-rooms and libra- ries ; and in no part of the British Empu'e is there a greater desire for the extension of education, and the acquiring of useful in- formation [Further details in Supplement. 176 CRIME IN NEW SOUTH WALES, AND EXECUTIONS, SINCE 1829. Crime. — In the section on transportation I have adverted to the fearful neglect of the home and local government, from 1788 to 1836, of the spuitual wants of the many thousand criminals deported during that period from the United Kingdom to Aus- traha. At New South Wales, at Van Die- men's Land, and at Norfolk Island, crime had reached its highest pitch about the years 1835-6. Extreme severity towards the prisoners, a neglect of the ordinances of reUgion, the flooding of the colony with criminals, without a due admixture of a free and untainted population, and the absence of any other mode of punishment in New South Wales for felons comicted there, except by deporting them to an earthly pan- demonium at Norfolk Island, had produced a dreadful amount of sin in New South Wales. The Rev. Mr. M'Encroe, who at- tended seventy-four executions in New South Wales in four years, stated, that the greater number of the criminals, on their way to the scaflFold, " thanked God that they were not going to Norfolk Island." Several of the prisoners there committed suicide, rather than live among the demons in human form by whom they were surrounded. All this, however, distressing as it is, and disgraceful, in the highest degree, to those who, dii-ectly or indii'cctly, sanctioned the continuance of such a barbarous system, appears to me no just argument against penal settlements, provided always they be judiciously regulated. To condemn " trans- portation'' as a secondary punishment, be- cause of the neglect of the positive and responsible duties of government towards a penal colony for forty years, is unrea- sonable; and if space be aiforded me, at the close of this work, a chapter will be devoted to the examination of this impor- tant subject — important on many accounts — fi'om the abolition of capital pmiishments for every offence, except mru'der; and by reason of the heavy expense attendant on the maintenance of a large prison population at home; the competition of their forced labour with that of the free and struggling citizens; the difficulty of accomplishing a prison reformation; and the almost utter impossibility of a man tainted with crime, and known to have been in a prison, being enabled to gain an honest livelihood in Eng- land. For the present, my duty consists in ascertaining the existing state of crime in New South Wales, and how far it has di- minished of late years. The folloA\ing state- ment extends over a period of twenty years ; at the commencement of the period, the population was about 36,000 ; at its termi- nation, about 200,000 :— Numher of Convictioti, ' in the Supreme Court and Courts of Q uarter Sessions, and the Xumher of Executions. IThe continuation of this table since 1848 tvi I be found in the Supplement.'] Year. Supreme Court. Quarter Sessions. Criminals Executed. Felonies. Misdemeanors Feloii:es. Misdemeanors Protestants. Roman Catholics. Total. Free. Bond. Free. Bond. 1829 244 29 — — 4 24 6 18 52 1830 269 6 — — 6 16 7 20 49 1831 205 29 — — 3 10 3 16 32 1832 225 2 — — 1 1 1 9 12 1833 219 11 — — 1 9 6 15 31 1834 272 11 — — — 22 — 20 42 1835 256 1 — — 2 15 4 18 39 1836 168 4 — — 2 14 3 / 26 1837 177 12 — — 1 4 2 12 1838 199 18 — — 2 6 1 10 19 1839 159 12 609 132 3 8 — 11 22 1840 99 9 565 161 1 6 — 1 8 1841 159 20 468 106 2 8 3 2 15 1842 135 41 536 85 3 2 2 3 10 1843 146 34 418 48 1 3 — 2 6 1844 199 22 331 48 1 7 — — 8 1845 198 15 303 51 — 1 2 — 3 1846 180 11 350 77 — — 1 — 1 1847 176 10 281 61 — — 3 1 4 1848 189 68 269 45 4 — 5 155 9 Total . 3 864 1 365 4,130 814 37 156 52 400 Note. — The Quarter Sessions returns from 1829 to 183S, both inclusive, not rendered, or inaccurate. — Of the criminals executed, there were in the years 1830, one pagan ; 1834, two faith uncertain ; 183o, one pagan ; 1841, two aborigines ; 1842, one Jew and two aborigines ; 1843, three aborigines ; 1847 three aborigines OFFENCES IN NEW SOUTH WALES— DIMINUTION OF CRIME. 177 Notwithstanding the five-fold increase of population, and the large mass of criminals poured into the colony from 1829 to 1840, the diminution of crime is very remarkable. In 1839, the convicted felonies amounted j to 768 ; ten years after, in 1848, they were only 458. In 1829, capital punishment was inflicted in fifty-two instances; twenty years after (1848) there were only nine. During the first ten years of the period under re^dew, the number of executions amounted to 276; during the ensuing ten years, they were no more than ninety-seven. There is a singular fact connected Avith this record of capital punishments, which I have carefully collated from the annual retui-ns in the " Blue Books" transmitted by the governor to her Majesty^ s secretaiy of state for the colonies, and that is, the number of protestants — compared with Roman catho- lics — who have perished by the law for their crimes, viz., 193 to 207 ; the proportion of the free to the bond, was 89 to 311. The oflenders convicted in the supreme coui*t of New South Wales dming 1848, were — Offences [Sydney, FEtOMES : — Murder Manslaughter . . . . . Shooting at, &c Robbery „ with violence . . Rape Abduction Burglary, &c Housebreaking .... Receiving stolen goods Stealing in a dwelling-house Larceny Forgery and Uttering , . Piracy Horsestealing Sheep-stealing . . , . Cattle-stealing .... Other Offences .... Total Felonies .... Misdemeanours : — Assaults Riot and Assault . . . Subornation of Perjury Bribery Conspiracy Fradulent Insolvency . . Obtaining Money under"^ False Pretences . • J Uttering Base Coin . . • Neglect escajje .... Total Misdemeanours . Total Capital Convictions DIV. T. Circuit. 41 1 23 10 1 Mel- bourne. 50 13 10 15 28 The executions for the undermentioned offences dui-ing the year 1848, were — Religion. Murder. Rape. Protestants, free .... Roman Catholics, free . . 2 1 2 Total .... o On comparing this return with the par- hamentary paper. No. 410, laid before the House of Commons 21st May, 1838, I find that the criminal convictions before the supreme coui't, dm-ing the year 1835, amounted to 685, of whom 19 were for mui'der; 17 for attempting ditto; 1 for manslaughter; 13 for rape; 2 arson; 15 for- gery ; 82 bushranging, highway robbery, &c. ; 67 cattle, horse, and sheep-steahng; 15 burglaiy; 3 perjury; 347 larceny, re- cei\'ing known stolen property, &c. ; and 87 for misdemeanovu's and assault. The total numbers committed for trial during the year 1835, (the last year given in the return), was 959 males, and 123 females, of whom 685 were couAdcted, 309 acquitted, 53 not prosecuted, and 35 admitted to bail ; 86 re- ceived sentence of death, 368 transportation, and 16.2 were sent to hard labour, &c. A comparison of this return with that of 1848, must certainly be a matter of satisfaction to the colonists of New South Wales. The coniictions at the courts of Quarter Sessions in Sydney, Paramatta, Goulboum, Bathurst, and Maitland, during the veai' 1848, were— Felonies. — Bm-glary, 4 ; housebreaking, 7 ; stealing in a dwelling-house, 8; highway robbery, 1 ; robbery, 10 ; ditto, ai-med, 1 ; steaHng from the person, 26; assault with intent to rob, 9; larceny, 156; receiving stolen property, 3 ; embezzlement, 1 ; ab- duction, 1 ; horse-stealing 7 ; cattle-stealing, 3 ; mahcious wounding cattle, 1 ; suffering to escape, 1. Total^ 269: \\z. — Sydney, 150; Paramatta, 44; Goulbourn, 10; Bathurst, 15 ; Maitland, 50. Misdemeanours. — Assaults ■nith various in- tents, 25 ; assault and false imprisonment, 1 ; attempting to commit felony, 3; obtainrag money or goods by false pretences, 5 ; utter- ing counterfeit coin, 3 ; ha^'ing ditto in pos- session, 1 ; attempting to dissuade a witness from giving evidence, 1 ; keeping a common gaming-house, 1 ; rescuing cattle, &c., 4 ; being an incorrigible rogue, 1. Total, 45 : viz. — Sydney, 28; Paramatta, 6; Goulboui'Uj 3 ; Bathurst, 1 ; Maitland, 7. y 178 STATE OF THE PRISONS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. The returns for the Gaols and House of Correction, New South Wales, for the year 1848, are as follows : [For the year 1851, see Supplement.] Total Admission? Felons. Misdemeanours. Gaols. of ^Vllites, in Total. 1848. Tried. Untried. Tried. Unt •ied. Males. Fem. Males. Fem. Males. Fem. Males. Fem. Males. Fem. Sydney 1,217 348 1,565 Ill 13 16 2 50 33 18 4 Paramatta .... 162 96 258 22 4 5 5 11 7 1 2 Goulbourn .... 34 5 39 10 — 4 — 8 — — — Bathurst 67 35 102 17 3 1 — 3 3 — — Newcastle — — — 3 — 10 2 17 2 — — Port Phillip .... — — — 39 1 4 1 45 11 — — Total .... 1,480 484 1,964 202 17 40 10 114 56 19 6 Note. — The return of felons is at Michaelmas, 1848. The admissions into Newcastle and Port Phillip gaols not stated. The prisons are under the jui-isdiction of the sheriff of the colony, and the superin- tendence of a stipendiary visiting magistrate and principal gaoler. Any of the magis- trates may visit the gaol. In the Sydney gaol there are 108 sleeping cells, and twenty-two soUtary cells, none of which are dark or below ground. The clas- sification directed by the gaol regulations has been observed. The chaplains of the church of England and of the church of Rome, appointed by the governor, perform divine service twice on Sundays, and once during the week. They also frequently visit and instruct the prisoners. Bibles, and other religious books are supplied. Dis- senting ministers are admitted on the same terms as the ministers of the church of Eng- land and of Rome. Attached to the prison are two hospitals — one for male, and the other for female prisoners, who are under the care of the surgeon of the prison. The female prisoners are attended exclusively by female oflEicers. The protestants and Roman catholics are continually kept apart. There is also a separation of hardened offenders from those imprisoned for the first time; also of the old from the young. The felon prisoners are kept at hard work, such as breaking or cutting stone. Whipping, or solitary confinement, is resorted to for breaches of gaol regulations : irons only in cases of urgent and absolute necessity. The other colonial gaols are similarly managed ; and they will all bear a comparison with those of the United Kingdom. To a great extent the colony is now puri- fied from crime ; and it appears by the docu- ments laid before parliament, Jan. 31, 1850, that the colonists have declared, in a petition to the Queen, that " it is their duty and deter- mination, by every legal and constitutional means, to oppose the revival of transportation." The civil causes tried in the supreme court of New South Wales, during 1848, were — Name. Sydney . . Circuit . . Port Phillip Total . . Juries of Four. Juries of Twelve. De- fended. 82 13 20 115 Unde- fended. 20 2 7 29 Com- mon. Special. 7 1 12 20 Total. Ill 16 41 168 There are just grounds for stating that New South Wales is more free from crime than could have possibly been expected by the most ardent philanthropist. It can be compared with several portions of the United Kingdom. It may not be irrelevant to quote in this place an unimpeachable testi- mony in behalf of a large portion of the present population of the colony, which re- flects great credit upon them, and fully con- firms the opinions which I expressed in my History of the Colonies, in 1834-5. Mr. T. H. Braim, formerly of St. John's College, Cambridge, and now head principal of Sydney College, N.S.W., inhis interesting History of Neiv South Wales to 1844, thus speaks of the Australian youth : — " Descended, as many of them have been, from parents whose names were stained by crimes against their country and their God ; bi'ought up under a fearfully imperfect mental training, a neglected moral cultivation, and either an entire omission, or at the best but an imperfect performance of the duties and ordinances of religion, they have yet risen superior to these disadvantages, have earned for themselves a good name, have reared families in honour and re- spectability, and are now themselves in the enjoy- ment of general esteem and confidence, and their children availing themselves of blessings placed within their reach, which their fathers knew not, are bearing upon them the buds of excellence." Of the emancipists, he says : — " They form no uninteresting part of the popula- tion ; feeling Jhat they had a bad character to lose and CHARACTER OF EMANCIPISTS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS. 179 a good one to gain, they liave in many instances set themselves about the work of reformation; some of them are reckoned among our most honourable trades- men and merchants, among the most liberal sup- porters, too, of the various benevolent institutions which adorn our land (Australia). Some of these institutions have been all but entirely founded, and are now mainly supported by their means. In many cases they have, by their industry and perseverance, acquired considerable wealth ; and in most instances the wealth thus obtained has been generously and honourably devoted to the public benefit, the real and substantial advancement of this land of their expatriation. Nor do we know a more pleasing trait in human character than that which is thus displayed ; once degraded, they have paid to a violated law the satisfaction it imperatively demanded ; but when the debt was paid another obligation was felt to remain behind. Society had lost that beneficial influence which each member is called upon to exercise, and to atone for this was now their honourable desire. In the fair and honest pursuit of commerce, by untiring industry, they acquired those means which enabled them to gratify their wish — a competence — more, a profession — rewarded their patient toil; and no' sooner was this poured into their lap, than they gave it back, spreading it through numerous channels, through each of which, as it flowed, it left blessings that even succeeding ages may enjoy. To say nothing of many public buildings, which are the chief architectural embellishments of our city, and which have been the result of their enterprise and zeal, we turn to some of those institutions of charity and benevolence which own them as their earliest sun- porters." — [Vol. ii., pp. 315-16.] A people of whom thus much can be truly- said, are they not qualified for the enjoy- ment of free institutions ? CHAPTER IV. EARLY AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL STATE OF NEW SOUTH WALES— STAPLE PRODUCTS, AGRICULTURE, LIVE STOCK, WOOL, TALLOW— PRICES AND WAGES— COMMERCE, IMPORTS AND EXPORTS— SHIPPING, &c. At the period of the formation of New South Wales, or during its early struggles, when the colonists were again and again on the eve of perishing of want, how strangely the prophecy would have sounded in men's ears, could it have been foretold, that in little more than half a century, the colony would not only produce a sufficient quantity of animal and vegetable food for the support of a quarter of a million Englishmen and their descendants; but that Aitstralia should have, in that short time, become the greatest wool-exporting country in the world; her salubrious climate, and the pasturage of her virgin soil, rendering the increase of sheep and cattle so rapid, as to induce their owners to slaughter them in great numbers, merely for the sake of the tallow thus obtained. The present condition of New South Wales is indeed surprising, and the statements which mark the different epochs of her pro- gress, well deserve attention in an historical point of view; and scarcely less, from the evidence they afford of the enei'gy and in- dustry of the Anglo- Saxon race — an energy to Avliich difficulty appears to lend fresh vigour, and an industry as unflagging in its appointed course as that of the earth round the sun. To me, who have had for years my mind saturated — if I may be allowed the expres- sion — with the one vast subject of the Bri- tish colonial empire, the task of collecting and compiling its astonishing records has been truly a labour of love. I have studied the history of each colony, and have found in each a peculiar interest — an individuality, as it were — that grows upon the mind which views them as parts of a whole ; different in their construction, but not incongruous ; on the contrary, well calculated, by their union, to strengthen each other. In this light, which I sincerely believe to be the true one, I would fain bring them before my readers; and although deeply sensible of the magnitude of the subject, and the diffi- culty of the attempt, yet that appears to me as the strongest possible reason for en- deavouring to afford a correct idea of the relative proportion of each possession, which can scarcely be conveyed, except by a gene- ral description of the whole. For instance, if in teaching a child tlac geography of England, we were to show him delineations — however accui*ate — of a few of the coun- ties, and barely mention the others, would he not form a very inaccurate (if, indeed, any clear notion at all) of the country, as a whole: and so it is with our colonial empire. This, however, is a digression ; to return 180 AGRICULTURAL STOCK OF NEW SOUTH WALES, 1780. to Nc-w South Wales. The public stock landed at Sydney Cove with the first British settlers, in January, 1788 (see p. 403), con- sisted of 1 bull, 4 cows, 1 bull calf, 1 stal- lion, 3 mares, and 3 colts ; there were also a few sheep. These were placed on a spot at the head of Sydney Cove, which was cleared for a farm, where the seeds, plants, and fruit-trees, brought from England, Rio de Janeiro, and the Cape of Good Hope, were carefully tended, under the anxious superintendance of the governor. In May, 1788, the governor directed every person in the settlement to make a report of the live stock in his possession, which the returns stated at 1 stallion, 3 mares, 3 colts, 2 bulls, 5 cows, 29 sheep, 19 goats, 49 hogs, 25 pigs, 5 rabbits, 18 turkeys, 29 geese, 35 ducks, 142 fowls, and 87 chickens. Scarcely a greater calamity could have befallen the colonists, than the destruction, at this period, by native dogs, of five ewes and a lamb. Added to this, several sheep died, in con- sequence of feeding on grass which the newly cut trees had shaded previously from the air and sun ; hence a general belief that it would not be possible to rear this descrip- tion of stock. In June, 1788, the settle- ment sustained a severe loss, by the neglect of a convict who had charge of the cattle — two bulls and four cows strayed into the w^oods near Sydney, and were not recovered — the only remaining coiv became so danger- i ously wild, that it was found necessary to \ shoot her. In 1790, the stock sent out by his Ma- jesty's government in the Guardian, con- sisting of 7 horses, 18 cows, 2 bulls, a num- ber of sheep, goats, and 2 deer, were killed when the ship struck on an iceberg near the Cape of Good Hope (s(!e page 405.) In this year the stock had been previously diminished in a wanton manner (sec page 405.) In session 1791 H.INI.S. Gorgon Qxv'weA., to the great joy of the colonists, with 1 bull calf, 16 cows (3 bulls and 7 cows died on the passage), 68 sheep, 11 hogs, 200 fruit trees, and a quantity of garden seeds. At the close of this year the public live stock in the colony amounted to 3 stallions, 1 mare, 2 colts, 16 cows, 2 calves, 1 ram, 50 ewes, 6 lambs, 1 boar, 14 sows, and 22 pigs. The ground in cultivation at the Rose Hill gov- ernment farm (Paramatta) consisted of 300 acres in maize, 44 in wheat, 6 in barley, 1 in oats, 2 in potatoes, 4 in vines, 86 in garden ground, and 17 in cultivation by the New South Wales corps. In addition to these, there were 150 acres cleared, to be sown with turnips; ninety acres were in cultivation by settlers ; twenty- eight by officers, civil and military, at and about Sydney and at Paramatta; 140 acres were enclosed, and the timber cleared for cattle ; making a total of 920 acres of land thinned, cleared, and cultivated. So dense, however, was the forest around Sydney and Paramatta, that any one straying a mile from the huts was almost invariably lost ; and in this way many convicts and soldiers perished. In June, 1792, the Atlantic storeship brought from Calcutta two bulls, a cow, twenty sheep, and twenty goats, of the Bengal breed. In the October of the same year, nearly five years after the estabhsh- ment of the colony, the whole of the gi'ound in cultivation, both on account of the crown and of individuals, was — in wheat, 208| acres; barley, 24j ; maize, 1,186| ; garden-ground, 121 J : total, l,640f acres. Ground cleared of timber, 162^ acres. The quantity of land which had passed to settlers, under the seal of the colony, amounted to 3,470 acres, ot which 470 were in cultivation, and the timber cleared from 100 more, ready for the sowing of grain. The stock belonging to the public, kept at Paramatta, consisted of 3 bulls, 2 bull calves, 5 stallions, 6 mares, 105 sheep, and 43 hogs. The governor gave to each married settler one ewe for the purpose of breeding, and to others he gave such female goats as could be spared. Land was granted, conformably to instructions from the secretary of state. Non-commissioned officers and privates of the marines, desirous of remaining in the colony, in the proportion of 150 acres to a married non-commissioned officer ; 130 acres to a single ditto; 100 acres to a married private ; and eighty acres to a single man ; and, on receiving their discharge, clothing, provisions for one year, seed, and agricul- tiu'al implements were given to each settler. Each male convict, emancipated or dis- charged, received, if single, thii'ty acres ; if married, thirty acres, and ten acres for each child. The pohey of the government was, to establish a chain of farms between Sydney and Paramatta, fifteen miles distant, so that the country might be opened; which was subsequently cai-ried out by extending lines of settlement to Windsor, on the Havvkes- bury river, to Richmond, on the Nepean River, and other places, where cultivable land was found. EARLY SCARCITY OF ANIMAL FOOD, 1788—1795. 181 In 1793, of the stock wliicli had been landed in the colony, there remained but three bulls, twenty-one cows, and seven calves. Dui'ing the early stages of the set- tlement, it was noticed as a singular fact among the live stock, that the proportion born of males to females was about three to one. This, however, did not continue ; the sexes soon became equalized, and then the nirmber of female preponderated over the male births. In January, 1794, one small cow and a Bengal steer, weight 372 pounds, (both pri- vate property,) were killed for the use of the troops, and sold to them at eighteen pence per pound. This was but the third time that the colonists had tasted fresh beef since their arrival in 1788, viz. — once soon after their landing, and a second time when the lieutenant-governor and officers of the settlement were feasted by the captain of a Spanish ship. In jNIarch, 1794, only one serving of salt meat remained in store, and that was to be the food of half a week. After that period, says Collins, "the pros- pect was truly discouraging ; for mere bread and water appeared to be the portion of by far the greater part of the inhabitants of these unfortunate settlements — of that part, too, whose bodily labour must be called forth to restore plenty, and attain such a state of independence on the parent country, as would render delay or accident, in the trans- port of supplies, a matter of much less moment to the colony than it had ever hitherto been considered." Even a shark, caught in the harbour, yielded food to several ; the oil prociu-ed from the liver sold at a shilling a quart; for but "very few houses in the colony were fortunate enough to enjoy the pleasant light of a candle." The seed- wheat was untouched, and might remain so for a fortnight; but all the ani- mals, public and private, were threatened with destruction, to supply food for 3,000 people. On 8th March, when the doors of the provision store were closed, and the con- victs had received the last allowance which remained, a ship stood in for Port Jackson, but a gale of wind split her topsail, and she was driven to sea, to the dismay of the almost famishing inhabitants : at night the wind increased ; and, during the ensuing day, nothing more was seen of the stranger. On the evening of the 9th, another sail (a brig) was in sight ; but a second night of sleepless anxiety was passed, and the morning of the 10th dawned tempestuously : about three o'clock, however, the wind changed, and the ship William, from Cork, with a cargo of beef and pork, and the Arthur, a small brig from Bengal, anchored that night in Port Jackson, and the 3,000 colonists were saved from a fearful death. The home government now became con- scious of the precarious supply of food ob- tainable for the conricts and settlers, and several vessels were despatched in succession to the colony, laden with all sorts of pro- risions; the live stock, public and private, was carefully preserved, and its numbers now Avere — mares, 11; stallions, 9; male asses, 4; female asses, 2; bulls, 15; cows, 25; ewes, 316; rams and wethers, 210; female goats, 352; male ditto, 170; hogs, several hundred. On the 1st of July, 1795, the colony was again reduced to straits ; the salt proAisions were all expended but a few casks reserved for the use of the troops, and on Satiu'day the 11th, there was no more animal food for the con^dcts ; a greyhound was killed and its flesh sold for that of Kangaroo ; but happily on the 26th of July, H.M.S. Provi- dence, captain Broughton, arrived with sup- plies from England, and was followed by H.M.S. Reliance and Supply. On the 1st of September, 1796, the live stock in posses- sion of government, and of the ci^-il and military officers of the settlement, consisted of mares and horses, 57 ; cows and calves, 101; bulls and bull-calves, 74; oxen, 54; sheep, 1531; goats, 1,427; hogs, 1869. The cattle which had strayed from the settlement in the year 1788, were known to be viild, and to have largely increased in a fine dis- trict now termed the Cow Pastures, to the Avestward of the Nepean river. The number of acres in cultivation were 5,419, and the number of persons in the colony was 3,959. It is unnecessary to folloAV up this narratiA'e of the pastoral and agricultural state of New South Wales; but it offers a striking con- trast when compared with the two folloAnng tables, sheAving the extent of cultivation in the colony, and its progress for the past twelve years; and the number of horses, horned cattle, sheep, and SAviue in each colony and district on the 1st January, 1849, when it appears there were, in cultivation Avith Avheat, 63,463 acres, yielding 638,072 bushels of grain; 26,103 acres in maize, yielding 722,704 bushels; of oats, fifty-eight bushels. Altogether, upAvards of 1,500,000 bushels, or nearly 200,000 quarters of grain is raised, furnishing a quarter annually foi each inhabitant. LAND IN CULTIVATION AND PRODUCE N. S. WALES, 1837 to 1848. There are no consecutive details concern- ing the grant, sale, and cultivation of land in tlie colony; some idea of the progi-ess may be conveyed by the following general statement : — Year. 1810 1820 1825 1828 1833 1848 Granted. Acres. 95,637 381,466 673,699 2,906,346 4,014,117 5,500,000 Cleared or Pastured. Acres. 81,937 349,195 127,878 231,578 Cultivated. Acres. 13,700 32,271 45,514 71,523 1636,69 There is less than one acre under crop to eacli mouth in the colony; but this yields sufficient vegetable food ; for the total value of grain, flour, rice, and potatoes imported for use in 1848, was only about .£35,000. The ^^commissioners' districts bevond the settled districts,^' to which reference is made in several tables, are those in which the squatters are located. The temtory not included in the several counties is divided into districts, over each of which an officer called a commissioner of crown lands is appointed. He has under him a body of mounted constables or police, and his duty consists in preserving the peace of the dis- trict; in preventing unauthorized persons occupying the crown lands; in ascertaining that the squatters do not interfere with each other's lands ; in enforcing compliance with the squatting regulations; and in making periodical returns to the government at Sydney. The terms on which the land is let to squatters are stated at pages 4.27 and 431. This respectable and enterprizing class of settlers now occupy many of the finest districts in Australia, and possess consider- able wealth. TJie Quantity of Land in Cultivation, showing Crops and Produce (exclusive of Gardens and Orchards^, in New South Wales, including the District of Port Phillip, from the year 1837 to 1848 inclusive. Crops. Year. 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 Wheat. Acres. 59,975 48,060 48,401 74,133 58,605 65,188 78,083 81,903 87,894 88,910 81,044 87,219 Maize Acres. 18,381 25.043 22,026 24.966 25,004 27,324 29.061 20,798 25,372 31,773 27,240 20,375 Barlej-. Acres. 2,551 2,922 3,490 5,144 5,423 5,320 5,727 7,236 10,455 9,215 7,178 8,789 Oats. Acres. 3,893 3,767 6,793 5,453 5,892 4,467 4,537 4,336 6,109 9,390 10,201 13,572 Rye. Acres. 493 429 483 609 495 486 514 359 330 177 310 167 MiUet. Acres. 80 39 46 115 47 99 42 43 36 82 83 14 Potatoes. Acres. 1,165 1,788 1,115 2,594 4,027 5,174 5,872 6,783 5,101 5,537 5,550 5,774 Tobacco. Acres. 533 925 424 381 380 224 655 871 483 228 67 201 Sown Grasses, Oats, and Barley for Hay. Acres. 5,054 9,939 12,534 12,721 15,257 18,592 21,162 21,766 27,551 37,221 33,111 27,558 Total Number of Acres in Crop. 92,125 92,912 95,312 126,116 115,130 126,874 145,653 144,095 163,331 182,533 164,784 163,669 Year 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1812 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 Produce. AMieat. Bushels. 692.620 409,140 805,140 1,116,814 832,776 854,432 1,000,225 1,312,652 1,211,099 1,421,750 1,027,802 1,528,874 Maize. Bushels. 632,155 556,268 525,507 777,947 503,803 590,134 719.358 575,913 499,122 870,400 725,704 262,340 Barley. Bushels. 51,447 32,103 66,033 105,389 90,172 88,767 95,658 132,612 175,407 193,835 87,636 145,219 Oats. Bushels. 17,119 13,416 27,788 66,020 62,704 84,321 92,268 70,620 88,193 216,783 221,731 116,643 Rye. Millet. Potatoes. Tobacco. Bushels. Bushels. Tons. C\vts. 6,753 695 2,102 2,034 4,878 353 3,496 4,952 7,008 283 2,601 2,509 8,863 3,338 11,050 4,300 6,507 1,072 11,141 2,642 4,451 1,201 12,561 2,014 5,145 410 16,392 6,098 4,475 511 22,748 6,382 4,101 775 19,906 3,985 2,250 1,929 18,329 2,087 1,200 798 14,240 725 2,386 158 14,954 3,059 Hay. Tons. 5,627 6,960 25,923 21,329 17,175 18,622 27,774 31,848 28.614 42,754 33,111 37,795 Note. — From 1837 to 1841 the Crops and Produce of Laud beyond the Boundaries of Location arc not included. 1 CULTIVATION AND SQUATTERS IN NEW SOUTH WALES, 1848 . 183 The following estimated quantity of land In 1839-40, the squatting stations con- in cultivation in New South Wales, exclusive tained 6,666 males and 631 female Eai"opeans, of gardens and orchards, on 31st December, who had among them 7,088 horses. 371,699 1839, will aflbrd a comparison with the re- horned cattle, and 1,331,593 sheep, and the turns for the year 18-18 : — stations were thus distributed : — Articles. Under Crop. Produce. District. Persons occupying Estimated Extent of Acres in Cultiva- Acres. Bushels. Tons. Stitions. Stations. tion. Wheat 48,401 805,140 . 22,026 525,507 66,033 Port Macquarie New England . 21 137 87,760 358,400 561 Barley 3,490 53 560 333 Oats 6,793 27,788 Liverpool Plains Bligh. . . . 111 1,157 5,696 740,480 3,655,440 344 ilye 483 7,008 . 53 201 Millet 46 283 Wellington . . Lachlan . . . 77 1 265 809,600 2,683,520 571 Potatoes .... 1,115 2,60U 95 4,193 2,334 Tobacco .... 424 — 125i Murrumbidgee. 134 3,137 2,007,680 l,720i Sown Grasses (Hay) 12,534 — 25,923 Maneroo . . . 150 1,585 1,014,880 1,978 Quantity of Land in Cultivation in Neio South Wales in 1848, in Acres. Counties. (Sydney District.) ■\Vlieat. Maize. Barley. Oats. Rye. Millet. Pota- toes. Tobacco Sown Grasses. Wheat, &c., for Hay. Total 1 number of Acres ia Crop. Arjryle 2,406 166 474 58 1 1 177 , 77 1,567 4,927 Bathurst . . 2,966 134 384 — — 132 — — 1,070 4,656 Bligh .... 215 49 4 8 — — — — . — 127 403 Brisbane . . 328 283 12 — 13 11 — 5 130 732 Camden . . 7,350 1,879 477 171 18 8 510 4 476 1,238 12,071 Cook . . . 3,620 2,732 246 158 3 — 169 3 — 577 7,508 Cumberland . 10,310 5,327 877 1,143 250 14 153 1 376 15,859 34,311 Durham . . 7,392 4,663 360 6 — 16 29 58 561 352 18,437 Georgiana . . 1,537 13 125 46 9 — 123 — — 239 2,086 Gloucester 2,517 1,311 73 — — 6 16 — 100 38 4,061 Hunte" . . . 1,079 1,429 5 13 — — 2 — 5 22 2,555 King . . . 1,028 119 182 12 — — 28 — — 229 1,598 Macquarie 261 906 19 7 — — 7 — — — 1,200 Murray . . 1,769 234 307 157 1 — 106 — — 1,058 3,632 Northumberland 9,344 5,207 299 64 1 — 15 72 130 684 15,816 Phillip . . . 425 103 19 — 4 — — 6 60 105 722 Roxburgh 1,600 60 250 — 10 — — 150 — 500 2,570 St. Vincent 1,894 731 85 15 — — 690 — 274 3,089 Stanley . . — 35 — — ■ — — — 7 — — 42 Wellington . 307 83 16 6 — 13 9 — 259 693 Westmoreland 1,111 150 81 36 11 4 194 — — 200 1,787 Total in Counties Commissioner's Dis- 57.453 25,564 4,295 1,900 308 77 2,595 1,000 1,739 24,528 118,525 tricts, beyond the Limits of Location. - Bligh 305 — . . — — — — 305 Clarence River 298 6 27 — — — 331 Darling Downs 30 120 4 6 10 — — 10 180 Gwyder . . ; — — — — — — — — — — Lachlan . . 1,297 34 25 25 2 — . 11 1 591 2,046 Liverpool Plains — ■ — — — — — — — — — — Lower Darling . . — — — — — — — — . — — — McLeay River . . 87 314 16 2 9 — — 12 440 Manaroo . 1,258 104 70 50 — 113 — — 374 1,969 Moreton Bay 22 36 — — — — — — — — 58 Murrumbidgee 2,000 300 200 __ — — 450 2,950 New England 830 230 120 90 — 5 40 — - - 85 1,500 Wellington . 83 3 2 — — — 7 — 6 93 194 Total in Commis-) sioners' Districts i 5,912 1,439 443 173 2 5 217 1 6 1,615 9,973 Note. — There are no returns for Gwydir, Liverpool Plains, or the Lower Darling. 1 184 AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES, IN 1848. IXute. — Later statistical returns will be found in the Supplement.] Counties. (Sydney District.) Wheat. Maize. Barley. Oats. Rye. Millet. Pota- toes. Tobacco Sown Grass Hay. Wheat, &c., for Hay. Area in Square Miles. bush 's. 20,297 49,488 3,120 4,038 11,077 34,509 57,430 75,654 23,493 34,268 7,350 9,682 3,437 23,196 83,199 5,040 25,000 30,241 4,738 16,510 bu-hels. 3,389 3,777 58 7,105 37,055 80,498 113,786 126,889 202 32,641 45,105 2,284 30,595 4,904 152,589 2,850 1,500 21,685 1.010 2.440 2,788 bushels. 5,441 6,490 16 80 7,864 2,405 4,682 3,202 1,707 1,497 100 2,078 650 3,935 4,624 60 4,000 944 80 8,146 bushels. 702 10 2,301 1,789 2,397 448 262 198 30 2,606 338 274 40 691 bushels. 6 171 60 68 179 102 50 300 167 bushels. 35 20 103 57 170 285 33 tons. 368 454 28 526 248 556 50 373 25 6 38 17 185 195 11 60 2,200 9 38 532 cwts. 80 23 9 606 3 tons. 66 15 754 386 878 105 3 773 50 14 tons. 682 1,590 104 113 698 402 4,256 127 225 12 14 215 626 729 44 1,000 270 177 178 1,951 1,860 1,683 2,344 2,188 1,652 1,445 2,187 1,924 2,930 2,056 1,781 2,000 2,248 2,342 1,618 1,519 2,667 1,656 1,592 Bathurst . . Blio-h . . . Brisbane . . Camden . . Cook . . . Cumberland . Durham . . Georgiana Gloucester Hunter . . Kins . . . Maequarie Murray . . North umberlanc Phillip . . . Roxburgh . . St. Vincent . Stanley . . Wellington . Westmoreland Total in Counties 594,767 673,780 50,731 12,136 1,103 703 6,219 720 3,044 11,472 39,586 Commissioners' ] tricts beyond the L of Location. Bligh ... Clarence River Darling Downs Gwydir . . Lachlan . . Liverpool Plains Lower Darling M'Leay River Manaroo . . Moreton Bay . Murrumbidgee New England Wellington . Dis- imi ts 7,265 400 400 14,838 1,575 12,550 440 24,000 20,750 1,097 10,139 4,800 517 10,245 3.220 6,500 7,500 5,750 60 998 352 360 3,000 2,850 30 310 400 1,500 17 75 138 12 7 13 169 420 7 5 4 8 463 26 2,561 562 90 51 c O Total in Commis-") sioners' Districts/ 83,305 48,924 7,790 2,210 17 75 766 5 4 3,761 Note. — There are no returns for Liverpool Plains, or the Lower Darling. The information contained in these re- turns is not supposed to be acciirate, and must be viewed merely as an approxima- tion to truth. It, however, conveys some idea of the relative extent of cultivation in each county and commissioners' district. The commissioners' districts are those occu- pied by squatters, to whom cultivation, except for their own supply, is prohibited. The area of all the above-named cotmtics is stated to be, in square miles, 39,586, equal to 25,374,400 acres, of Avhich it will be seen, that no more than 118,525 acres are under cultivation. The " Commissioners' Districts," or the squatting stations, are held for pastoral pur- poses ; the number of squatters, and the area held by each, in 1849, throughout the territory of New South Wales (including the Sydney and Port Phillip Districts), was — Persons holding licences — Sydney. 1,019; Port Phillip, 666 = 1,685. Number of licenses held— Syd- ney, 1,520 ; Port Phillip, 827 = 2,347. Acres of land occupied— Sydney, 43,896,232; Port Phillip, 29,464,240 = 73,360,472 ; or in square miles, Sydney, 68,000; Port Phillip, 46,000 = 114,600 square miles (the area of England is about 60,000 square miles). Average quantity of land held by each individual in Sydney, 67 square miles ; in Port Phillip, 69 ; in the whole colony, 68. Two squatters hold more than 800,000 acres each ; two ditto, 600,000 each ; one ditto, 450,000 ; two ditto, 400,000 ; four ditto, 350,000; three ditto, 300,000 ; fourteen ditto, 250,000 ; four- teen ditto, 200,000; thirty ditto, 150,000; seventy- three ditto, 100,000 ; and tAvo hundred and ninety- eight squatters hold more than 50,000 acres each. LIVE STOCK IN EACH COUNTY AND DISTRICT, 185 According to a return prep a red at the office 1 of the colonial secretary of New South Wales, | dated Sydney, 1st May, 1849 , the following is a statement of the number of horses, homed cattle, pigs, and sheep. in each county and district in New South Wales, on 1st | January, 1849 :— - Counties or Districts. Horses. Homed Cattle. Pigs. Sheep. Sydney District settled Argyle .... 3,652 22,831 1,285 260,708 Bathurst .... 3,614 18,339 1,021 266,369 Bligh 1,015 6,551 63 119,352 Brisbane .... 1,795 10,153 949 132,319 Camden .... 5,490 33,953 6,156 38,657 Cook 2,112 8,929 4,283 13,104 Cumberland . . 13,294 29,710 13,728 11,265 Durham .... 7,014 36,977 8,085 122,588 Georgiana . . . 2,928 24,517 936 198,325 Gloucester . . . 1,180 21,176 2,662 3,593 Hunter .... 1,416 6,776 1,735 11,239 King . . . . 1,319 16,200 708 106,986 Macquarie . . . 872 14,544 698 14,300 ]\luri-ay .... 4,340 28,288 1,339 328,972 Northumberland . 5,827 34,563 10,653 21,806 Phillip .... 1,033 6,030 163 89,800 Roxburgh . . . 2,420 18,250 630 188,900 St. Vincent . . . 2,329 20,724 3,118 62,504 Stanley .... 446 3,947 145 23,829 Wellington . . . 681 11,548 256 77,693 Westmoreland . . 2,040 13,277 924 46,994 Total 64,817 387,283 £9,537 2,139,243 Commissioners' Dis- trict, beyond the settled District. Bligh 1,313 52,940 193,221 Clarence River . . 1,405 48,847 867 116,767 Darling Downs . 1,200 40,600 60 553,000 Gwyder .... 2,060 118,097 50 109,347 Lachlan .... 4,386 130,594 791 355,600 Liverpool Plains . 3,946 130,081 341,465 Lower Darling 480 21,062 25 39,621 McLeay River . . 884 17,128 706 250 Maneroo .... 5,446 106,530 603 353,252 Moreton Bay . . 1,127 19,412 145 290,962 Murnimbidgee . . 4,586 132,301 1,200 704,165 New England . . 3,582 79,820 1,000 822,603 Wellington . . . 1,683 69,385 232 277,025 Wide Bay . . . 61 36 20,787 Burnett .... 372 6,409 204,734 Maranoa .... 62 5,639 8,500 Total 32,583 978,881 5,679 4,391,299 Total in SydneyDis. 97,400 1,366,164 65,216 6,530,542 Port Phillip District, within settled District Bourke .... 2,000 30,500 2,550 137,600 Grant .... 627 8,056 535 267,300 Normanby . . . 888 15,698 247 179,975 Belfast 65 208 59 81 Alberton .... 612 16,638 368 26,007 Total 4,192 71,100 3,759 610,963 Commissioners' Dis- tricts, beyond the settled District. Gipps' Land . . 1,070 37,985 500 193,961 Murray . . 3,483 84,942 521,997 Portland Bay . . 3,825 122,005 1,869,130 Western Port . . 3,233 54,158 1,100 1,196,698 Wimraera . . . 692 16,438 300 737,528 Total . . , 12,303 315,588 1,900 4,519,314 TotalP.PhiUipDis. 16,495 386,688 5,659 5,130,277 General Total . . 113,895 1,752,852 70,875 11,660,819 DIY. I. It will be observed in the foregoing table that the number of sheep in the squatting districts is twice the number that are in the settled districts or counties. So also with regard to horses and horned cattle. The Murrumbidgee and the Darling Downs dis- tricts appear to be the favomite sheep pastures. The progressive increase of live stock in New South Wales is thus shewn : — Years. Horses. Horned Cattle. Sheep. Swine. 1788 1810 1820 1825 1828 1848 7 1,114 4,014 6,142 12,479 113,895 7 11,276 68,149 134,519 262,868 1,752,852 29 34,550 119,777 337,622 536,391 11,660,819 No returns 70,875 Such a rapid augmentation in the number of domesticated animals is unexampled in the history of any country, and would have been yet more remarkable, but for the ex- tensive slaiightering of horned cattle and sheep to obtain tallow. What the amount may be at the next decimal period, it is impossible to say; the extensive regions to the northward recently found available for pasturage, will give an additional stimulus to the production of animal food and wool. Live stock is becoming a staple export of New South Wales ; horses are being largely purchased by the East India Company as remounts for their cavalry and horse artil- lery; and when steam na\'igation is estab- lished between India and Austraha, this ■\^ill probably prove a very lucrative traffic, as the horses of the southern colonies are well suited to withstand the trying chmate of India. The following shews the trade in live stock for the last few years : — Live Stock Imported. Year. Horses. Horned Cattle. Sheep. Sheep and Hogs. 1837 92 97 55,208 307 1838 185 74 9,822 192 1839 652 135 17,567 359 1840 1,008 244 19.958 252 184] 875 156 530 50 Hogs 1842 113 89 638 65 Ditto 1843 31 28 609 4 Ditto 1844 52 21 307 — 1845 693 48 811 2 1846 055 29 1,228 — 1847 591 22 2,285 — 1848 255 26 1,363 — ]^^ote. — The Sheep have principally been imported from Van Diemcn's Land to the District of Port Phillip. The Horses have cliicfly come from South America. Z 186 IMPORT AND EXPORT OF ANIMAL POOD, NEW SOUTH WALES. Lice Stock Exjwrted from N. S. Wales and P. Phillip. Year. Horses. Asses and Mules. Homed Cattle. Sheep. Hogs. Value. 1843 248 2 1,852 77,116 _ £. 41.915 1844 489 3 3,329 53,318 — 40,394 1845 1,159 — 3,972 33,651 6 53,438 1846 1,021 — 6,052 37,848 4 52,942 1847 466 — 8,034 71,440 — 57,355 1848 1,182 — 16,904 895,211 85,184 The colonists have now turned their at- tention to the curing of animal food, which ■wiU, doubtless, soon form a valuable item in their staple products. I used, while in China, some of the concentrated soup pre- pared in New South Wales, and found it excellent. Samples of the salted meats sent to England have been pronounced equal to the beef provided by the Cork contractors for the navy ; the climate is sufficiently cold to admit, during the season, of perfect curing, and it is to be hoped that her Ma- jesty's government -niU allow her Majesty's ships on the East India station to be pro- visioned from Australia. The following table shows the quantity and value of salt meat exported from, and the value of salt meat imported into, the colony in the under-mentioned years : — Year. Beef, Pork, and Mutton. 1843 j 1844 { 1845 ' 1846 1847 1848 Quantity. 2,867 casks 856^ tons 4,292 casks 294f tons 1,142 casks 425| tons 345 packages 4,400 lbs. of pre- served meats 721 casks 1,126 tons 12 packages of preserved meats 4,335 casks 866 tons 224 packages of preserved meats 2,308 casks 616 tons 90 casks of preserved meats Mutton and Bacon Hams. Tongues. Quantity. 224 lbs. 20 Quantity. „, , / 110 cwt. -) '^^^ I 150 in No. / 94 cwt. 11,422 in No. 39 cwt. 300 in No. 224 cwt. 145 cwt. 63 casks ■; 2,450 in No. )" 12 casks "1 300 in No. / Value as entered in Returns of Exports. 127 228 £13,924 18,730 12,163 15,664 24,278 19,477 Value as entered in Returns of Imposts. £19,286 3,355 5,200 7,197 3,917 3,229 The extensive herds of cattle will naturally cause a large increase in the hide and leather trade; the imports and exports of hides, and of manufactured and unmanufactured leather, is thus shown, fi'om 1843 to 1848 : — Year. Value Imported. Value Exported. 1843 £36,185 £10,305 1844 19,844 22,285 1845 14,124 40,866 1846 15,230 28,999 1847 21,283 39,001 1848 24,358 25,939 The consumption of meat in AustraHa is very gi'cat : it is eaten three times a day ; two hardworking bushmen will consume forty pounds in a week without difficulty; on farms beef is generally used, at pastoral stations, mutton ; or they are alternated ; one week four or five sheep are killed, next week a bullock. Both beef and mutton yield to the palate a richer flavour than the generality of meat in England. Poultry is reared in considerable quantities for the markets of Sydney ; and in the neighbour- hood of the principal towns, Mr. Alexander Harris says he has seen " a whole flock of turkeys almost keeping themselves on the wild gi'asshoppers and such vegetable matters as they could pick up." Geese, ducks, and barn-door fowl multiply with astonishing- rapidity. Sydney has a population of about 50,000 inhabitants, and the following is a statement of the live stock slaughtered in the city during 1848 — viz., horned cattle, 30,613; sheep, 95,824; and pigs, 8,457. Estimating the cattle at 830 lbs. each, the sheep at 70, and the pigs at 100, the quan- tity of meat would be 127,282,000 lbs., equal to six pounds three quarters per day for each mouth. There arc, however, large exporta of meat. IMPORT AND EXPORT OF GRAIN, NEW SOUTH WALES, 1838-48. 187 But it is not only in the article of animal food that New South Wales is now inde- pendent; the colony grows very nearly suffi- cient corn and vegetables for its annual wants. It -wdll be seen by the following, that the value of vegetable food imported, has been diminished from more than a quarter of a million sterling to less than fifty thousand pounds ; and, by the subse- quent table, that the colony is now exporting grain and flom*. What a contrast this pre- sents to the statements of famine and im- pending destruction which mark the early history of the colony : — Articles. 1838. 1839. 1840. 1841. 1842. 1843. 1S44. 1845. 1846. 1847. 1848. Impokts : — Wheat . . bushels Maize . . . „ Barley, Oats, and \ Peas . bushels / Flour and Bread lbs. Rice „ Potatoes . . tons Value of Imports . £ 79328 6040 58927 2478712 728346 1167 64313 171207 30862 64093 3579076 1414747 1189 285110 290843 19185 63363 7108663 0849896 1723 217063 239224 12773 41610 14929503 3603076 480 201632 163224 1120 37798 7247016 2260046 1401 113070 395374 583 61361 6941760 1678208 547 112387 265704 17 35194 f 4370240 ) (^& 250 casks [of Biscuit J 260288 1085 65442 109355 46399 3327632 450040 430 39855 237717 536 46454 5367936 1283968 2663 63764 224720 37469 5335680 1044288 1227 52740 143235 49163 313174-1 932582 1617 41489 Exports :— Wheat . bushels Maize . . . „ Barley, Oats, and \ Peas . . bushels J Flour and Bread lbs. Potatoes Value of Exports . £ - - - - - 273 4687 1870 3146192 47 13486 825 26184 1798 2028344 60 12232 1362 5334 292 2837632 50 13931 6252 1867 545 3491744 3 12258 8820 62262 4216 1786400 84 16944 485 27058 1300 650832 5 6639 Wool. — The origin, progress, and the pro- duction of this valuable commodity deserve especial notice, from the material share it has had in the growing prosperity of Aus- tralian commerce, and moreover for its bene- ficial influence on the manufactures of the mother country. There can scarcely be a doubt, that the extensive growth of wool in Australia, and the reduction of price in German and Spanish wools, have had a most important effect on the woollen manufactures of England, and enabled her to maintain a competition with foreign countries. The manufacture of wool is the oldest known branch of trade in England; it existed during the period when the Romans were encamped among the Britons ; and although the trade was greatly fostered by Edward III., there are notices on the statute Ijook 100 years prior to that period, relative to " broad cloths two yards Avithin the lists.'' For several centuries, it was a favourite policy of English monarchs and statesmen to encou- rage the wool trade ; and to such an extent was this feeling carried, that it was deemed politic even to suppress the manufacture in Ireland. At the end of the seventeenth century, the value of the wool shorn in England was estimated at £2,000,000. The number of sheep and lambs in the United Kingdom isnowestimated at about 40,000,000, and the annual production of wool at about 120,000,000 lbs. This, however, is a very vagTie estimate, which there are no agricul- tural statistics in Britain to verify or dis- prove. It was, however, admitted, in the evidence before the House of Lords, in 1828, that a great deterioration had taken place, during the previous thirty years, in the fineness of English wools; the efforts of agriculturists having been directed to the weight of the carcase and of the wool — tlie lean Herefordshire sheep yielding li lbs. of fine wool ; the fat Norfolk sheep yielding 3 lbs. of coarse wool. Hence it became necessary to import largely Spanish and Saxony wools, in order to maintain the character of our cloths. In 1829, the quantity of foreign wools imported into the United Kingdom was 21,118,976 lbs.; of which 14,110,006 lbs. came from Germany; 3,751,714 lbs. from Spain; and 1,838,642 lbs., or about one- ttvelfthjmrt fi-om all the Australian colonies. In 1834, Germany sent us 22,634,615 lbs. ; Spain, 2,343,915; Russia, 3,107,951; United States, 2,048,309; Italy, 2,550,819; TripoU and Barbary, 1,977,816 ; Turkey and Greece, 1,474,522; South America, 1,099,052; andour Austrahan colonies, 3,558,091 lbs. The total importations for the year were 45,647,870 ; Australia did not therefore then contribute one-tenth part of the foreign wool required. In 1818, the total quantity of wool imported into the United Kingdom was 69,343,477 lbs. ; of this Germany furnished 14,428,723; Spain only 106,638; Russia, 2,349,009; Italy, 736,137; Tui-key, 690,300; Denmark, 188 FOREIGN AND COLONIAL WOOL IMPORTED, 1818—1848. 1,381,356, South America, 7,384,931; Britisli India, 5,997,435; Cape of Good Hope, 3,497,250; and Australia, 30,034,567lbs., in the following? proportions : — New South Wales andPortPhiUip,23,091,4811bs.;VanDiemen's Island, 4,955,968; South Australia, 2,762,672; Western Australia, 129,295 ; and New Zea- land, 95,151 lbs.; our colonies in the Southern Pacific therefore contributed nearly one-half of the whole wool imported in the year 1848; while Germany, on which the main re- liance of our manufactures was placed, only sent about 300,000 lbs. more than it had done twenty years ago The proportions of colonial to foreign w^ool imported for tw enty years between 1826 and 1846, at intervals of five years, is thus shewn; the two figures represent so many milhon lbs. weight; by colonial w^ool is understood all wool from possessions of the British crown : — Annual Averages of Five Years. Foreiarn Wool. 1826—30 1831—35 1836—40 1841—45 1846 1848 25 34 44 36 34 40 Colonial Wool. 4 10 22 30 29 Total Importation. 27 38 54 58 64 69 In the preceding table, is added the year 1848, as a further comparison of the ratio oi colonial and foreign wool importations : 1850 would be still better in behalf of our colonies ; and let it be remembered that, in 1826, the proportion of colonial to foreign wool was only the 250th part of the annual imports. The following table, prepared by the sta- tistical department of the Board of Trade, in March, 1846, shews the importations of colonial wool compared with foreign wool, year by year, fi-om 1818 to 1844; it will be seen that while the quantity of foreign wool has not been doubled in quantity, that of colonial wool has risen from nothing to 22,600,000 lbs., or more than the foreign importations in any of the six years ending 1824. It may also be noted that the admis- sion of colonial w^ool, duty free, in 1825, had a powerful influence in stimulating produc- tion in the colonies; in one year (1826) the importation increased nearly fourfold; for seventeen years there was an annually increased production in our maritime posses- sions; and so much was this augmenting supply required, that for eight-and-twenty years the prices of English wools were main- tained. Importations of Foreign and Colonial Wool into the United Kingdom from 1818 to 1844, and prices of English Wools. Years. Duty. Foreign Wool. Colonial Wool. Total. Price of Southdown. Price of Kent Long. lbs. lbs. lbs per lb. per lb. 1818 •|f/. per lb. 24,720,139 — — 2s. Qd. 2s. Od. 1819 6(/. per lb. 16,094,999 — — 1 7 1 3 1820 9,653,366 122,239 9,775,605 1 5 1 4 1821 »» 16,416,806 205,761 16,622.567 1 3 1 1 1822 1) 18,859,265 198,815 19,058,080 1 3 11 1823 r 060.1824:— -J ■j \d. per lb. of Is. value |- tjrf. per lb. under Is. val. J 18,863,886 502,839 19,366,725 1 H 1 1824 22 147,540 416,945 22,564,485 1 2 1 1 1825 Colonial free 43,465.282 351,684 43,816,960 1 4 1 4 1826 >) 14,747,103 1,242,009 15,989,112 10 11 1827 28,552,742 562,599 29,115,341 9 lOi 1828 28,628,121 1,607,938 30,236,059 8 1 1829 >) 19,639.629 1,877,020 21,516,649 6 9 1830 30,303,173 2,002,141 32,305,314 10 lOi 1831 )) 29,110,073 2,541,956 31,652,029 1 1 lOi 1832 ji 25,681,298 2,461,191 28,142,489 1 1 Oi 1833 »( 34,461,527 3,614,886 38,076,413 1 5 lOi 1834 » 42,684,932 3,770,300 46,455,232 1 7 1 7i 1835 )! 37,472,032 4,702,500 42,174,532 1 6 1 6 1836 ,, 57,814,771 6,425,206 64,239,977 1 8 1 8i 1837 „ 38,945,575 9,434,133 48,379,708 1 3 1 3 1838 1, 42,430,102 10,164,253 52,594,355 1 4 1 5 1839 >» 44,504,811 12,875,112 57,379,923 1 4 1 H 1840 >> 36,498,168 12,938,116 49,436,284 1 3 1 2i 1841 ,, 39,672,153 16,498,821 56,170,974 1 11 1842 » 27,394,920 18,486,719 45,881,639 \n 10 1843 „ 26,633,913 21,151,148 47,785,061 lU 11 1844 from June 6th, free 42,473,228 22,606,296 65,079,524 1 2 1 2 1845 » 1 ., 76,828,152 1 4 1 3 ORIGIN OF THE AUSTRALIAN WOOL TRADE. 189 Until tlie Australian colonists began to send fine wools to England, the Germans and Spaniards had almost a monopoly of the supply, and their prices at one time ranged from 10s. to 12^. per lb. ; now they are not one-fifth of that sum. The prices of Australian fine wools are about Is. to 1*. 6d. per lb. The facts connected with the origin of Australian Avool-growing wiU be interesting to many. In 1793 the late John M'Arthur, then captain in the corps serving in New South Wales, assumed that the grasses and climate of Australia were adapted for the rearing of Merino sheep, and in 1797 he obtained from captain Kent, R.N., three rams and five ewes, of pure breed, which were sent to the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch gov- ernment, but not being valued by the settlers, captain Kent brought them to New South Whales. INIr. M'Arthur immediately began to cross his coarse-fleeced sheep with the Merino, and in ten years his flock, which consisted originally of seventy common Ben- gal sheep, was increased to 4,000, although the wethers were slaughtered as they became fit for food. In 1803 Mr. M^Ai-thui- returned to England, exhibited samples of his wool to a committee of manufacturers who happened to be then in London, which samples were much approved. On the 2Gth of July, 1803, he addressed a letter to Lord Hobart, stating at length the progress made in producing wool of a " softness superior to many of the wools of Spain, and certainly equal in every valuable property to the very best procured from thence.^' On the 4th May, 1804, captain ISP Arthur addressed a memorial on the subject to the committee of the Privy Council for trade; and on the 6th July, 1804, appeared before that committee, and stated his plans for rendering England independent of foreign countries for a supply of the best wools. The Privy Council encouraged the views of the enterprising colonist, who stated that he was ready to take the risk and expense on himself. All he required was an allotment of 10,000 acres of grazing land, and liberty to select thirty convicts as shepherds. The Privy Council finally, after hearing the evi- dence of governor Hunter, and other con- clusive testimony, recommended that a reasonable grant of pasture land should be made to captain M'Arthur, instead of to a company, as proposed, and that the gover- nor be instructed to feed the convicts on mutton, instead of salt provisions; for the lords of the committee were " led to imagine and entertain hopes that wool of a fine quality may be produced in this colony; and that as wool of such fine quality is much wanted and desired by the manufacturers of cloth in England, it being mostly drawn, at this time, from a country influenced, if not dependent, on France, their lordships enter- tain no doubt that it is well deserving the attention of his Majesty ^s government, to encourage the produce of fine wool in the colony of New South Wales." King George the Third, who, at that time, paid great attention to agricultural and pastoral pur- suits, entered into the patriotic views enter- tained by his Majesty ^s council, and captain ]M ^Arthur obtained, from the Merino flock of the king, several ewes and rams, with which he returned, in 1806, on board a vessel appropriately named the Argo, to the land so fortunate in being adopted by him for the scene of his meritorious labours. Such was the commencement of the rapidly-increasing flocks of fine-woolled sheep in Australasia, which now (1850), including all the southern colonies, number at least 12,000,000, which contribute annually about 25,000,000 lbs. to the manufactui-ers of the United Kingdom, and which, within the next five years, will most probably not fur- nish less than 50,000,000 lbs. yearly, whereby our laboming population will be enabled to exchange flimsy cotton garments for warm woollen clothing, better suited to our cli- mate. That this is not an exaggeration will be admitted, Vvhen we consider that New South Wales possessed, in 1843 — sheep, 5,000,000; 1848 (January), 10,054,000. An increase of cent, per cent, in four years — five million in four years. The annual augmentation has been about 1,250,000, notwithstanding the prodigious number slaughtered for their tallow, as will be presently shown. ]\Ir. Ar- thur Hodgson states the number killed, in 1847, at 181,000; and that 70,000 were exported to New Zealand and the islands of the Pacific. It is reasonable to infer, that the annual increase on eleven to twelve million sheep in the next five years, will be not less than 2,500,000 per annum, which will raise the number of sheep to nearly 25,000,000 in the year 1855 : these flocks, at only two pounds of wool per fleece, would yield 50,000,000 lbs. weight of wool. The followhig statement gives the quan- tity of wool annually shipped from New 190 WOOL PRODUCED IN NEW SOUTH WALES, SINCE 1807. South Wales, from 1807 to 1836, a period of fivc-and-twenty years : — Year. lbs. Year. lbs. Year. lbs. 1807 245 1821 175,433 1829 1,005,333 1808 562 1822 172,880 1830 899,750 1811 167 1823 198,240 1831 1,401,284 1815 32,971 1824 275,560 1832 1,515,156 1816 73,171 1825 411,600 1833 1,734,203 1817 13,616 1826 552.960 1834 2,246.933 1818 86,525 1827 407,116 1835 3,893,927 1819 74,284 1828 834,343 1836 3,693,241 1820 99,415 This shows an augmentation from 245 to 3,693,241 lbs. In the annexed table the return is continued, and the value is added, proving, in twelve years, a quintuphng in quan- tity, viz.— from 4,448,796 to 22,969,711 lbs., and a quadrupling in value : — Year. Quantity. Value. Year. Quantity. Value. lbs. lbs 1837 4,448,796 £332,166 1843 12,704,899 £685,647 1838 5,749,376 405,977 1844 13,542,173 645,344 1839 7,213.584 442,504 1845 17,364,734 1,009,242 1840 8,610,775 566,112 1846 16,479,520 1,019,985 1841 8,390,540 517,537 1847 22,379,722 1,272,118 1842 9,428,036 595,175 1848 22,969,711 1,240,144 Tallow promises to form nearly as valua- ble an article of export aa wool; it is a branch of traffic which originated in the recent commercial depression of the colo- nists in New South Wales. In 1840-1 there was considerable speculation in the purchase of land by the colonists ; and the money thus laid out -was transmitted to England, for the conveyance of emigrants to the colony. Had the land been bought in the United Kingdom by capitalists here, the colonists would have been benefited; but the reverse was the case. Between November, 1840, and November, 1841, the local government withdrew about £260,000 from the colonial banks; and, in 1841, up- wards of £300,000 Avas paid for immigra- tion. The colony could have borne this abstraction of capital, if it had been gradual ; but the suddenness of the withdrawal of so large a sum, necessarily brought on a mone- tary crisis, which the want of foresight on the part of the governor and authorities at Sydney, and tbeir incapability of supplying any remedy, rendered most distressing in its conseqtiences. In 1841-2 the colonial banks, partly in self-defence, in the midst of a full swing of pastoral activity and commercial enterprise, suddenly reduced the amount of discounts ; and, to use a familiar expression, bi'ought the whole of the colonists " on their Launches.'^ In 1841, the advances of the banks, chiefly on bills and promissory notes, was £2,582,203 ; in 1813 this sum was reduced to £1,583,137, and a large part of this consisted of " locks- up," — or bills renewed fi-om time to time. The importations from England had been excessive; quantities of articles, sufficient for two or three years' consumption, were imported at once, and must be paid for; the price of wool had been falling for several years in England ; added to this, the govern- ment raised the selling price of land, and, nearly simultaneously, transportation ceased — and with it, the annual supply of convict labour, and the large governmental expen- diture furnished by the British exchequer. It was not surprising, therefore, that cash, or a representative medium of exchange, became exceedingly scarce in New South Wales — and, as a necessary consequence, the price of every commodity fell far below its intrinsic value ; men were compelled to make any sacrifice, to try and meet their engagements — there was almost universal bankruptcy — and the power of the monied classes to ruin a nation or communit}^, when that community is dependent for the daily interchange of all its wants, on a very limited amount of gold or silver coin, became fear- fully apparent. Sheep, the staple of the colony, fell from ten shillings to sixpence or one shilling each; and, even at that price, were only received in barter, or in payment of debts ; everything else, but the few sove- reigns in the colony, fell in like proportion. So great was the distress, that most of the mercantile houses and persons reputed of great wealth, were declared insolvent : their numbers stood thus in — 1842. 1843. 1844. Total. Sydney . . Melbourne . 600 113 535 124 221 45 1,356 282 Total . . 713 659 266 1,638 According to an intelligcYit colonist, Mr. Westgarth, the collective debts of these 1,638 insolvent estates amounted to no less than three-and-a-half million sterling, and the assets were merely nominal ; for, as he truly observes, " many extensive merchants and large proprietors beheld the ample substance they were once possessed of, gradually dis- appear with the reduced value of their land, live stock, and other property." INIr. Braim mentions, that at the period of depression, he heard a rich man in Sydney state in a most lugubrious tone, that he had been obliged THE BOILING DOWN OF SHEEP AND CATTLE IN 1848. 191 to take, in payment of a debt, 10,000 sheep, at jNIoreton Bay, at Is. eacli. So little did he think of his bargain, that he put them in flocks of from ten to fifteen hundred, and removed the ewes, to prevent the increase, and consequent addition to his expenses of management. Many of the large flock owners determined to slaughter theii' fat sheep and horned cattle, and boil them down, so as to obtain the largest quantity of tallow from the carcase, which, as meat, was valueless. The example was set by a stock owner named O'Brien, who rightly conceived, that the mere fat of the animals would be more valuable in England, than the entire animals were in New South Wales. The mode of " boiling down" consists in throwing the entire carcase, except the hind legs, of the sheep or bullock, into a large boiler or vat, and by the process of steam- ing, the whole of the fatty parts are ex- tracted and received into casks, ready for shipment to England. The hind legs, which contain but little fat, are sold, and the price of good mutton is thus reduced to one penny, or even a halfpenny per pound. The extent to which the slaughtering system has been carried, is shown in the following statement of the quantity of taUow and lard produced in New South Wales in 1848 :— Number of Boiling-down Establishments, Cattle, Sheep, ^•c , slaughtered, and Talloic and Lard produced. Sydney, Sydney, Port Number of witliin the ■without Phillip settled Dis. settledDis. District. Establishments 41 14 7 Sheep . . . 141,573 24,128 120,691 Horned Cattle 27,682 5,415 5,545 Tallo%y, cwts. . 49,311 11,530 27,725 Hogs . . . 23 33 2 Lard, CAvts. . 875 990 200 Total. 62 286,392 38,642 88,567 58 2,065 The system has now been in operation for six vears ; in 1843, there was produced 5,680 cwts. of tallow, value £9,639 ; in 1848, 98,213, value £140,579. Year. Quantity. Value. Cwt. 1843 5,680 £9,639 1844 56,609 83,511 1845 71,995 102,746 1846 20,357 28,107 1847 69,690 108,186 1848 98,213 140,579 Mr. Gideon S. Lang, in a work on " Land and Labour in Australia," furnishes the following estimate of the wool and tallow which will be produced when one-thii-d of the area of the district of Port Philip is occu- ' pied, and the stock of the middle district of the colony has increased in the same propor- \ tion — sheep and cattle in the same ratio to each other as at present : — j Sheep Cattle Cast f5ve years old . . Consumption, export, & dead Melted Tallow (20 lb. per sheep, i 186 lbs. per hd. of cattle j Wool, 2| lbs. per sheep . . Sydney. 8,631,250 2,125,300 2,151,310 774,907 1,377,373 33,493 23,735,937 Port Phniip. 5,000,000 500,000 1,100,000 562,200 537,800 8,900 13,750,000 Value of the above produce in Britain — wool, 37,485,9371bs., at Is. 3f/. = £2,342,871; tallow, 42,393 tons, at £40 per ton== £1,695,720. Total— £4,038,591. At no distant day, Austraha will render us independent of Russia, for the supply of tallow, as it has already done of Germany or Spain, for the supply of wool. Wine and Brandy. — The number of acres planted with the vine, and the produce thereof, on the 31st of March, 1849, was as follows : — 1 Counties. Acres. Sydney District Argyle . Bathurst Bligh . Brisbane Camden Cook . Cumberland Dui'ham . Georgiana Gloucester Hunter King . _ . Macquarie INIurray Northumberland PhiUip . Roxburgh St. Vincent Stanley "Wellington Westmoreland Beyond settled Dis Total in 1848 „ in 1844 Port Phillip Dis. :— Bourke . . Grant . . . Normanby Total Gen. Total in 1848 / 4 3i 79 60 24 259 162 82 19i 6 22 6i 112' li 25 2i 0| 11 887 508 Ot 48 3 108 995 Wine. Gallons. 50 450 74 4,467 21,350 330 17,413 29,808 4,045 957 25 4,300 30 11,001 180 2,560 200 Brandy. 97,300 33,915 6,000 306 6,306 103,606 Gallons. 4 260 352 25 280 95 1,163 751 100 100 1,263 193 WINE AND OTHER VALUABLE PRODUCTIONS OF N. S. WALES. A.istirvUa tptIII become an extensive wine countiy ; the grape thrives in every locality, although in some soils better than in others ; and the wine made has not the earthy flavour peculiar to some of the Cape of Good Hope wines. The manufacture is yet in its infancy. The Australian wines bear a strong re- semblance to good Sauterne, Barsae, Hock, Claret, &c. Lieutenant-colonel M'^Ai'thiu* recently visited several of the wine districts in Germany and France, selected expe- rienced vine cultivators, and manufactui'ers of wine and brandy, whom he has sent out to the colony with their families ; and he will thus have the honour of confei-ring on the colony a benefit nearly equal to that which his respected father conferred by the introduction of fine-woolled sheep. Sir T. L. Mitchell, the smweyor-general of New South Wales, in 1847 visited Spain, and obtained useful information on the mode of preparing raisins, that he might be still more exten- sively useful to the land of his adoption. The olive and mulberry are peculiarly fitted to the soil and cKmate of New South Wales ; and olive oil and silk may, ere long, be added to its list of products. Indigo grows wild in several districts in New England, where the soil and seasons are well adapted for the growth of coffee, tea, cocoa, and sugar. Cotton and tobacco ought also to become very valuable articles of export. jNIoreton Bay, and the regions to the northward, to wliich Dr. Lang has di'awn public attention, will doubt- less, in time, possess great plantations of cot- ton, tobacco, rice, and other articles which we now receive from the United States. Aus- tralia can procm-e from India, from China, and from the islands of the Eastern Archi- pelago, any required quantity of fr'ce labour, skilled in the cultivation of these great staples of Eiu-opean consumption, at a price of foui'pence or sixpence per day; and I confidently look forward to the period when the intercourse between England and Aus- tralia wiU constitute one of the largest and most lucrative portions of the traffic of the British empire. The extension of pasturage is furnishing an increasing supply of dairy produce, which will not only render the colonists inde- pendent of foreign supplies, but also jielA a surplus for export. The decreasing im- ports and increasing exports of butter and cheese are thus stated, from 18-13 to 1848 :— Year. Impor ted. Exported. Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. lbs. lbs. 1843 248,170 £9.497 81,173 £3,488 1844 60,704 1,184 188,174 3,717 1845 22.216 579 172,368 4,313 1846 45,456 1,062 100,287 3,665 1847 10,164 413 253,880 5,977 1848 15,456 417 216,130 4,116 The cheese and butter made in New South Wales are excellent; "jMrs. Rankin's cheese," prepared at Bathurst, would sell weU in Eng- land; other ladies are now turning their attention to a matter peculiarly within their province, and the markets of India and China will take off their hands whatever they can prepare. Timber has not hitherto fonned a large article of export ; in the earlier condition of the colony, cedar and blue gum were its staple products ; but other and more valuable items have usiu'ped their place. The coun- try around IMoreton Bay must, however, contain abundance of good furniture wood, which is always in demand in England. The following shows the imports and ex- ports of timber for several years into New South Wales. In the book on Western Austraha the quality of the Australian woods will be stated : — Imports for the under-mentioned years. Year Deals. Other Timber. Sandal wood. Total Sawn, &c. "Wrought. Shingles. Laths. Paling Value. Quantity. Quantity. Quantity. Quantity. No. No. Tons. 1843 12,327 r 212,890 ft. I 509 loads 1 82 packages 3,000 115,000 172,000 107 £10,156 1844 2,951 I 101,228 ft. \ 108 loads }54 do. / 414,000 3 loads } - 500,000 90 4,195 1845 f 10,457 I 256 loads 604,524 ft. 541 loads 1 5 prs. sashes 2,118,685 254,500 128,630 415 10,541 1846 31,256 1,255,569 ft. - { 1,485,000 15i loads } 461,750 392,570 44 10,278 1847 1848 22,4i8 17,952 2,483,431 ft. 2,652,970 ft. — 2,633,600 4,199,000 1,424,800 1,320,900 675.742 767,915 351 50 14,951 16,347 VARIOUS MANUFACTUKIES IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 193 Expo} ■ts.f or the imchr-mentioned years Year. Quantity of Cedar. Quantity of Blue Gum, Pint other Timber. , and No. of Treenails and Spokes. Value. 1828 847,805 superficial feet . . 215,541 superficial fee t . . 65,837 £11,428 1829 940,486 . . ditto 008,647 . . ditto . . 181,817 16,293 1830 368,830 . ditto . 179,403 . . ditto . . . 23,959 5,218 1831 580,393 . ditto . 416,857 . . ditto . . 24,316 8,401 1832 418,930 . ditto . 233,653 . . ditto . . . 186,831 6,132 1833 1,086,437 . ditto . 147,170 . . ditto . . . 328,503 13,153 1834 899,492 . ditto . 30,065 . . ditto . . . 212,467 7,941 1835 907,921 . ditto . 145,628 . . ditto . . . 178,969 10,489 1836 1,409,467 . ditto 3,778 . , ditto , . . 35,094 14,385 1837 116,828 . ditto 18,828 . . ditto . . 62,989 14,463 1838 699,066 . ditto 9,000 . . ditto . . 73,450 6,382 1839 729,001 . ditto . ■{ 823 deals-) 15 logs / ■ ' ' . . 40,588 8,815 1840 1,250,786 . ditto 151,500 superficial fee >t . . 4,350 20,971 1841 513,139 . ditto 1,000 . . ditto . . 26,890 7,004 1842 522,882 . ditto . 27,404 . . ditto . . 55,644 5,800 1843 944,121 . ditto . A 10,020 . . ditto! 30 logs . . .J . . 155,294 9,813 1844 1 1,222,533 . 214 piece 24 logs ditto . s . . ; 99,500 superficial feet 33 logs .... } . . 105,428 8,825 1845 781,415 superficial feet •\ r 73,300 feet . .1 241 logs, &c. 1 • . . . 105,908 8,074 1846 956,515 . . ditto . 390,006 feet . . . . . . 113,972 7,851 1847 953,995 . . ditto . . 46,850 feet . . . . . . 165,648 7,333 / - . 22,150 feet . . . • • •} 1848 863,507 . . ditto . . .\ 20 pieces . . . . .) 76,201 5,675 i 7,600 shingles and palings 3 Note. — 1844, Also a large quantity of Timber, the measurement of which was not stated when entered at Custom House. The manufactories in. 1848 were Manufactories, &c. Sydney. Grinding and dressing grain :- Steam AYater Wind Horse Total Distilleries Rectifying and compoundinj Breweries Sugar refining .... Soap Tobacco and snufF . . . Woollen cloth .... Hat Rope Tanneries, &c Salt Starch Blacking Patent oatmeal and groats Salting establishments Meat preserving ditto . . Potteries Glass works Smelting ditto, copper Iron and brass founderies Patent slip for ships . . Steam vessels .... Fire engines DIV. II. 57 56 25 39 157 2 12 2 15 4 6 4 4 33 2 1 2 1 1 1 11 1 17 Port Phillip. 18 Total. 65 43 26 38 175 2 2 21 2 18 4 6 4 4 40 2 1 2 1 2 3 7 1 1 13 1 17 3 At the woollen manufactories there were made, in 1847, of cloth, 18,484 yards; of tweeds, 156,604 yards; and blankets, 424. The tweeds, an excellent fabric, command a ready sale, and are now becoming an article of export ; the manufacture will, doubtless, be extended. The materials for making soap abound; the thirteen soap manufac- tories made, in 1848, 24,180 cwt. The tobacco manufactured is about 1,000 cwt. annually, and as the cHmate is well suited for its culture, the preparation of the " weed" will, doubtless, be improved. One sugar- refining establishment, in 1848, turned out 26,000 cwt. of refined sugar. The pre- ceding list of manufactories shows how greatly the colonists desire to render themselves in- dependent of supplies which increase their imports, and for which they have not yet adequate exports. In the article of black- ing, alone, they say the value of imports has been reduced by £10,000 annually ; it will, however, be a soimdcr policy, to in- crease the number and quantity of their exports for the English market, by which they will be enabled to procure manufac- tured articles at a far cheaper rate than they could be prepared in the colony. The minerals will tdtimatcly be a source 2 a 194 MINERAL PRODUCTIONS— COAL, GOLD, &c, NEW SOUTH WALES. of wealth. The coal mines in the eolony, their produce in 1848, and the value of it, was : — 1 ' Mines. Coal. Value. Tons. Aust. Agric. Co. Newcastle 34,381 £11,737 Ditto at Lake Macquarie . 1,700 510 Ditto at Biirwood . . . 1,738 608 Ditto at Maitlantl . . . 7,023 1,265 Ditto at Morpeth . . . 205 35 Ditto at Moreton Bay . . Total 400 120 45,447 14,275 All but the first-named mine are in the early stages of their working ; some only commenced in 1848. There are five copper mines commencing work, viz. — at Bathurst, Yass, and Molong. The Fitzroy iron mine at Berrima has had its machinery put up and shaft sunk in 1848. The following remarks were written and stereotyped in 1850, before the recent extensive discoveries of gold — for which see Supplement.^ If gold, as is expect- ed, be found in large quantities, another valuable article of export AviU be provided ; for the precious metal will henceforth be- come a merchantable commodity, and rank among exchangeable products. Gold is a raw product, and answers the same purpose as wool, tallow, oil, timber, copper, ii'on, or any other article, in enabhng its finders to purchase such merchandize as they may require. If, therefore, gold exists in Aus- tralia, to an extent at least equal to that found in California, there can be no reason for preventing the colonists gathering it. Every pound of gold raised in the mines or valleys of the Australian Alps, will enable the colonist to purchase a pound's worth of English manufactures. The currency of the United Kingdom is very far below the amount required for a remunerating inter- change of labour and goods. In England, the wliole gold, silver, copper, and bank-note currency, in actual circulation, is not .£3 sterling per head ; in Scotland, it is nearly iE5 j in Ireland, it docs not amount to much more than ten shillings for each inhabitant : whereas a full currency ought, at the very least, be equal to £\0 sterling per head, otherwise the nation is exposed to the vicis- situdes arising from the alternate states of a deficiency or a plethora of money : panic succeeds prosperity in a vicious circle, ren- dering commerce a gambling game, and enterprise a hazardous speculation. The production of large quantities of gold in Australia would, therefore, be a great gain to the colonists, and a boon of incalculable value to the people of England. The important subject of emigration will be fully discussed in the last volume of this work, and a fair examination be made of the relative advantages and prospects of the several colonies for different classes of emi- grants ; it will consequently be only desira- ble to give here the annexed statement of the average prices of food, and the general wages of labour in New South Wales during the year 1848, by which intending emigrants of the poorer class can judge the cost of living, and the means available for its sup- port. It is calculated that New South Wales could with ease aff'ord remunerative employ- ment annually to 10,000 additional able- bodied immigrant labourers for the next ten years ; and there is no country better adapted for a man whose power of manual labour is his sole property, and who possesses the indispensable requisites of honesty, sobriety, and persevering industry : — Average Prices of Produce during 1848 at Sydney . — -Wheaten flour, 10s. to 125. per 100 lbs. ; wheat, 4.S. to 4s. 6f/. per bushel imperial ; wheaten bread, 2iJ. to -M. loaf of 2 lbs.; maize. Is. 5d. to Is. 10^^. per bushel ; barley, 2s. C)d. to 3s. Qd. ; oats or rye, 3s. 6J. to 4s. Qd. ; potatoes, 3s. to 6s. per cwt. ; hay, £4 to £6 per ton; straw, £2 5s. to £2 IOa'. ; horned cattled, £2 5s. to £2 10s. per head ; horses, £4 to £20 each ; sheep, 5s. to 75. 6f/. per head ; goats, 5s. to 15s. each; swine, 7s. Q>d. to £2; milk, 6f/. per quart; butter, fresh, 6J. to Is. per lb. ; salt, colonial, M. to \Qd. ; cheese, colonial, Ad. ; fresh beef, \\d. to 2d. ; mutton, 'Id. ; fresh pork, 4 J. to 5d. ; rice, 2\d. ; coffee, M. ; tea. Is. Ad. ; moist sugar, 2|cZ. ; salt. If/.; wine (Cape), 4s. per gallon ; brandy, 16s.; rum, imported, 10s. ; beer, colonial. Is. Ad. ; tobacco, imported, 3s. 2d. per lb. ; tobacco, colonial, 1 s. ^d. Wages of Labour. — Domestic, male, £18 to £40 per annum; female, £12 to £25; jjredial, £18 to £25 ; trades, £35 to £40. Weights and Measures, as in England. Fruits and Vegetables. — The fruits and culinary vegetables of Australia are nume- rous and of excellent quality. In a small garden at Paramatta I had the apple, pear, peach, nectarine, apricot, loquat, quince, cherry, plum, melon, pine-apple, figs, citron, orange, grape, mulbeiTy, walnut, gooseberry, strawberry, raspberry, and currant, all in full perfection. So abundant is the peach, that, in many places, I have seen the far- mers feeding their pigs with the windfalls of their teeming orchards. My lamented friend, the late Allen Cunningham, infornuid me, that diu'ing his explorations in the interior, he and his men were often refreshed FRUITS AND VEGETABLES OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 195 and nourished by finding peach-trees scat- tered about in the forest, where they had grown from stones planted by bush-rangers, or from ha^dng been dropped by birds. In gratefril recognition of the benefits thus received, as a weary and fainting traveller, Cunningham always carried about him a bag of peach stones, which he planted on eveiy occasion, in suitable places. The small settlers make a cider and a brandy from their peach fruit. Among other fruit-trees, besides those above-named, are the almond, Avhich flou- rishes remarkably well ; banana, in the more northern positions. The fig produces two crops in the year, without any further trouble than that of planting : the fruit is of the finest flavour, abundant in quantity, presses well, and will probably become a valuable article of export. Grapes, of every variety, are very plentiful, and are now being dried as raisins, as well as extensively manufactured into Avine, brandy, and vinegar. The Cliinese fniit, termed loquats, are as fine as any I ate in China. While on this subject, I venture to recommend to the colonists the introduction of the lichee, and other excellent fruit, which I obtained at Foochoofoo and at Shanghai. Our consuls at those stations could readily procure the young fruit-trees. Melons, water and sweet, grow almost wild in New South Wales. The farmers scatter a few seeds among their corn, and they thrive so luxu- riantly as to be scarcely an article of sale, except in the towns. They sometimes attain a size of twenty-four pounds weight. The lemon flourishes as standards or as hedge- rows. The orange arrives at a degree of perfection greater than I have witnessed in any other country excepting ISIalta. A richer sight can hardly be conceived than Mr. Suttor's orangerie near Paramatta. If I remember rightly, I walked through one grove of large orange trees, in full bearing, which was more than a quarter of a mile in length ; and I believe the respected pro- prietor found it a very profitable article of production. Mr. Mobbs also realized a handsome fortune from his orangerie. The mulberry thi'ives in every part of the colony ; and its growth may be augmented to an almost indefinable extent for the feeding of silkworms; but I Avould recommend the obtainment of a peculiar species of mulberiy which grows near Nankin, and in the regions bordering the great river Yangt-tse-kiang, which is found by the experienced Chinese to yield the finest silk. The neighbourhood of Port Stephens and Port INIacquarie ought to be among the most productive silk coun- tries in the world; and to render them so skilled, Chinese might be induced to settle in the country, bringing with them the mulberry and best silkworms. The olive aff'ords great promise : wherever the vine yields well, there the olive generally thrives. I noticed how this valuable commercial shrub flourished at Ithaca, Cephalouia, and along the coast of the Morea, where the soil and climate were very similar to those of New South Wales. The walnut, filbert, and chestnut are in perfection, especially the filbert, which are of a size and fiavour unsur- passed. All the culinary vegetables of Europe are of large size and excellent flavour. Potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, onions, peas, beans, cabbages, spinach, arti- choke, asparagus, celery, cucumbers, radishes, seakale, yams, rhubarb, &c., would be highly prized in Covent-garden market. The various beautiful flowers which adorn the gardens of England are extensively cultivated in New South Wales, where they attain a magnitude and beauty which add to their natural charms. The saying, that the fruits of Australia are without flavour, and the flowers devoid of odour, refers to those of the country, and not to the introductions from Europe. The annual exliibitions of the " AustraUan Floral and Horticultm'al Society,'^ at Sydney, faii'ly rival those of Chiswick or Regent^ s-park ; and the botanical gardens at Sydney, the governor's gardens at Paramatta, those of Mr. M'Artlmr, and other colonists, are equal, in extent and variety, to many of the best gardens in the United Kingdom. The Englishman carries his love of fruits and flowers to whatever country he makes his home ; and, in Australia, he has fuU scope for the gratification of his refined taste and habits. Maritime Commerce. — The trade of New South Wales was for many years in a very unsatisfactory state ; the imports were in value about five times that of the exports, and the balance of payments in exchange was defrayed by bills on her majesty's trea- sury in London to meet the convict cxpendi- tm'e in the colony. There were then few exportable articles, and it was feared that no staple products available for transmission to England could be created. By extraordi- naiy energy these difficulties have been surraoimted; there is now no convict ex- penditure from the home exchequer, and an 196 VALUE OF TRADE OF NE^Y SOUTH WALES, SINCE 1828 examination of the annexed complete retui'ns I last twenty years will shew, that they are of the value of imports and exports for the ' now balanced the one against the other. Imports into New South Wales and Port Phillip. \_See Supplement for continuation of table. ^ Year. From From British From South Sea From From United From other Total Great Britain. Colonies. Islands. Fisheries. States. Foreign States 1828 £399,892 £125,862 £44,246 £570,000 1829 423,463 135,486 — 42,055 — — 601,004 1830 268,935 60,356 — 91,189 — — 420,480 1831 241,989 68,804 — 179,359 — — 490,152 1832 409,344 47,895 — 147,381 — — 604,620 1833 434,220 61,662 — 218,090 — — 713,972 1834 669,663 124,570 — 197,757 — — 991,990 1835 707,183 144,824 £1,420 177,365 £13,902 £70,161 1,114,805 1836 794,422 220,254 1,972 135,730 22,739 62,289 1,237,406 1837 807,264 300,313 1,764 80,441 9,777 97,932 1,297,491 1838 1,102,127 309,918 5,548 71,506 8,066 82.112 1,579,277 1839 1,251,969 576,537 3,863 186,212 23,093 194,697 2,236,371 1840 2,200,305 431,146 1,348 104,895 24,164 252,331 3,014,189 1841 1,837,369 332,296 24,361 97,809 35,282 200,871 2,527,988 1842 854,774 298,201 10,020 64,999 20,117 206,948 1,455,059. 1843 1,034,942 227,029 22,387 42,579 12,041 211,566 1,550,544 1844 643,419 153,923 10,624 32,507 17,187 73,600 931,260 1845 777,112 237,759 40,048 43,503 7,416 128,016 1,233,854 1846 1,119,301 262,943 21,799 56,461 4,459 165,559 1,630,522 1847 1,347,241 388,724 6,919 41,557 1,550 196,032 1,982,023 1848 1,084,054 263,787 2,642 73,715 2,065 130,287 1,556,550 1849 Expo rtsfrom New South Wales and Port Phil!) >. [See Supplement.} Year. To To British To South Sea To To United To other Total Great Britain. Colonies. Islands. Fisheries. States. Foreign States. 1828 £SLf.08 £4,845 £6,708 £90,050 1829 146,283 12,692 __ 15,821 — — 161,716 1830 120,559 15,597 — — — — 141,461 1831 211,138 60,354 — 16,949 — 324,168 1832 252,106 63,934 — 19,545 — — 384,344 1833 269,508 67,344 — — — — 394,801 1834 400,738 128,211 — 28,729 — — 587,640 1835 496,345 83,108 £2,696 39,882 £18,594 £3,011 682,193 1836 513,976 136,596 9,628 30,180 13,697 2,625 748,624 1837 518,951 157,975 485 54,434 10,617 17,592 760,854 1838 583,154 160,640 7,137 33,988 11,324 6,525 802,768 1839 597,100 289,857 1,347 34,729 18,568 7,175 948,776 1840 792,494 520,210 6,621 27,864 27,885 24,618 1,399,692 1841 706,336 238,948 13,144 18,417 4,837 41,715 1,023,397 1842 685,705 298,023 3,005 22,862 17,101 40,715 1,067,411 1843 825,885 285,756 17,934 18,827 — 23,918 1,172,320 1844 854,903 236,352 14,106 11,623 11,131 1,128,115 1845 1,254,881 276,788 17,656 1,593 — 5,068 1,555,986 1846 1,130,179 328,922 13,441 590 — 8,407 1,481,539 1847 1,503,091 335,137 14,231 — — 17,587 1,870,046 1848 1,483,224 335,887 6,944 — — 4,313 1,830,368 1849 The lelative proportion of the shipping engaged in the trade of Sydney, New South Wales, and of ^Melbourne, Port Phillip, is thus shown by the tonnage entering inwards from Great Britain, the British colonies, and elsewhere, in 1848 : — From From British Colonies. From- South Sea Islands. F rom From From other Total. Great Britain. New Zealand. Elsewhere Fisheries. United States. States. Sydney . . Port Phillip No. 71 48 Tons. 34,309 23,29.1 No. 106 10 Tons. 23,877 ■ 956 No. 233 406 Tons. 45,173 42,349 No. 23 Tons. 2,695 No. 63 Tons. 17,473 No. 1 Tons 406 No. 30 5 Tons. 7,753 1,018 No. 527 469 Tons. 131,686 67,618 Total . 119 07,604 116 24,883 639 87,522 23 2,G9.j 63 17,473 1 40G 35 8,771 996 199,304 CUSTOM DUTIES, WHABFAGE RATES, S:c., LEVIED. 19" The number and tonnage of vessels which entered inwards in the colony of New South Wales (including the district of Port Phillip), from the year 1837 to 1848, inclusive, was — Year. Fi om From British Colonies. From From Fisheries. From United States. From other Forei^ States. Great Britain. New Zealand. El. e where. South Sea Islands. Total. No. Tons. Xo. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. 1837 56 21,816 36 5,480 233 33,751 581 48 13,004 5 1,220 17 4,262 400 80,114 1838 102 41,848 38 4,291 241 34,469 6 616 31 7,928 1 274 9 2,351 428 91,777 1839 137 58,123 51 8,368 290 45,928 7 836 36 9,321 4 1,177 38 11,721 563 135,474 1840 190 80,806 68 13,123 347 53,625 6 750 27 8,087 8 2,520 63 20,047 709 178,968 1841 251 106,332 48 7,601 322 43,922 3 358 23 6,163 13 4,754 54 14,648 714 183,778 1842 137 55,144 81 14,085 282 42,365 19 2,902 20 5,806 7 2,762 82 20,857 628 143,921 1843 87 35,914 43 6,229 325 43,934 25 4,194 30 7,967 5 1,116 43 11,510 558 110,864 1844 78 34,765 54 7,1S9 226 31,195 13 1,831 27 7,888 3 1,005 16 3,666 417 87 ,.539 1845 80 29,954 02 6,237 364 47,532 24 2,612 37 11,900 1 243 29 6,874 597 105,352 1846 84 36,761 6^ 10,865 475 57,485 27 3,005 79 24,375 1 370 36 8,606 767 141,467 1347 88 37,941 ■ 5 10,516 565 69,614 25 2,443 78 22,558 1 160 46 11,672 878 154,904 199,304 1848 119 57,604 116 24,833 639 87,522 23 2,695 63 17,473 1 406 35 8,771 996 Duties le\ded under the authority of Acts of Parliament — (1.) Upon all spmts made or distilled in the colony, 35. 6d. per gallon ; (2.) Upon all rum or whisky imported, 3s. 6d. per gallon; (3.) Upon all other spirits and liqueres whatsoever imported, 6s. per gallon ; (4.) Wine imported, fifteen per cent, addi- tional value ; (5.) Tea, sugar, flour, meal, wheat, rice, and other grain and pulse imported, os. per cent, additional value ; (6.) Tobacco unmanufactured, Is. Gd. per lb. ; (7.) Tobacco manufactured, 2^. 6d. per lb. ; (8.) All other goods, wares, and merchandize, not being the produce or manufacture of the United Kingdom, imported into the colony, ten per cent, additional value. Wine im- ported for the use of military and naval r.iffi- cers on full pay, free of duty. There are also wharfage rates le\'ied at public and private sufferance wharfs, and on all descriptions of goods imported : for instance, at public wharfs, on beer, per hhd. 6d.; on wine or spirits. Is. per leaguer; on sugar, Is. 4d. per hhd. ; on unenumerated goods, 2s. 4d. per ton. There is also a rate le\'ied of one halfpenny per ton per diem on vessels unloading or refitting, beyond a cer- tain number of days; for instance, thirty-five days are allowed free for a ship of 500 tons. Custom House Cliarges. Description. CustomHouse Charges. Light House Dues. For the entry inwards or clearance, outwards of ships or vessels (ves- sels under 50 tons registered in | Sydney excepted) ; for any steam v. vessels in the coasting ti-ade from one port to another of New South Wales -* For every other vessel so emptied ' above 50 and not exceed. 100 tons i For every other vessel so emptied | above 100 tons ) i'or every other ship or vessel . . Entry. \s.2,d. 2 6 7 6 15 Clear. \S.\)<1. 2 6 7 6 15 Per ton. Os 01 rf. 2 2 2 A Tonnage Duty is leried of ?>d. per ton on all vessels above fifty tons entering any port in the colony, unless the same shall have been paid at any other port of the colony within the previous four months. Coasting vessels pay only once a-year. Harbour Dues, varpng from 5s. on vessels under fifty tons, to 30s. on vessels of 500 tons and upwards, are IcA'ied on entry of harbour, or on shifting anchorage, not for the purpose of leaving port. Coasting vessels from one port of the colony to another exempted. The value of the trade in articles of British and British colonial produce and manufac- ture, is shewn in a return only complete for the last five years. It includes, as does the previous and subsequent statements, Port Phillip, which is given separate in Suppt. Imjjorts. Year. United Kingdom. British Dominions. Foreign States. Total. 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 £629,510 786,514 1,111,238 1,269,183 1,029,926 £154,572 156,491 88,638 95,118 114,900 £147,178 290.849 430,646 617,722 411,724 £931,260 1,233,854 1,630.522 1,982,023 1,556,.550 ^Exports. Year 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 New South United British Foreign "Wales. Kingdom. Dominions. States. £864,709 £119,197 £64,266 £79,943 1,269,062 100,901 110,160 75,863 1,201,433 120,424 80,499 79,183 1,649,031 136,385 15,865 68,765 1,621,509 127,368 22,220 59,271 It appears from the foregoing that imports from the United Kingdom of British produce and manufacture in 1818 Avere, in value, up- wards of £1,000,000 sterling, or more than c£." per head of the population. The im- p<, ts into the United States of British goods do ..lot amount to ten shillings per head. Total. £1,128.115 1,555,986 1,481,539 1,870,046 1,830,368 198 ARTICLES OF IMPORT INTO N. S. WALES, 1835—1840—1848. The increase of the imports of New South Wales between 1835 and 1840 was very re- markable ; a few items will shew the progress of the colony in five years : — Agricultural implements, in 1835, nil; in 1840, £4,565 ; apparel and slops, £58,658 and £144,890 ; bacon and hams, 44,373 and 675,785 lbs. ; beef and pork, 2,544 and 19,766 barrels ; beer and ale, 421,697 and 1,292,701 gallons; books, £4,699 and £12,791; butter, 74,090 and 338,775 lbs. ; cabinet and uphol- stery Avare, £4,026 and £16,186 ; coffee, 183,803 and 469,457 lbs. ; copper (sheet and old), 41,581 and 358,788 lbs. ; cordage, 3,642 and 10,103 cwts. ; corn and wheat, 101,283 and 224,021 bushels; other grain, 21,161 and 76,276 bushels ; wheat and flour, 3,672 and 21,882 bushels; cotton manufactures, £61,196 and £142,150 (in 1839, £230,775) ; earthenware, £6,820 and £20,179 ; fruit, of all sorts, £2,597 and £16,356; glass manufactures, £36,822 and £63,425; haber- dashery, £22,510 and 66,713 ; hardware and cutlery, £18,253 and £79,970; hats, £12,777 and £23,245; hops, 10,332 and 126,696 lbs. ; unwrought iron, 2,758,560 and 8,593,618 lbs.; wrought iron, £20,235 and 67,943 ; lead and shot, 315,590 and 1,104,609 lbs.; leather manufactures, £7,216 and £32,593 ; linen manufactures, £29,454 and £66,955 ; machinery, nil and £8,493 ; medicines, £708 and £17,230; cocoa-nut oil, nil and 14,606 gallons ; painters' colours, £7,223 and £15,545 ; pickles and sauces, £7,223 and£15,545; rice, 859,060 and 7,517,716 lbs. ; saddlery, £5,314 and £22,417; salt, 76,278 and 154,322 bushels; silk manu- factures, £21,927 and £44,590; soap, 399,754 and 2,656,780 lbs.; spirits of all sorts, 327,990 and 627,476 gallons; stationery, £11,755 and £36,744; raw sugar, 5,176,730 and 11,269,856 lbs. ; refined sugar. 411,391 and 1,039,078 lbs.; tea, 1,311,-357 and 1,189,100 lbs.; tobacco, £13,194 and £78,340; wine, of all sorts, 313,427 and 494,285 gallons ; woollen manufactures, £33,348 and £111,979. Aggregate value of imports, £976,091 and £2,548,775 ; aggregate value of exports, £675,226 and £1,289,036. Sheep's wool, 3,908,177 and 9;541,474 lbs.; tallow, 12,026 and 48,874 lbs.; number of sheep and swine, 2,154 and 24,153; num- ber of neat cattle, 225 and 3,365. Although the aggregate value of the im- ports exceeded that of the exports, yet there was a large increase not only of the staple products of the colony, but also of many imported articles, which passed through New South Wales as a depot in transitu to other surrounding countries. I do not know a similar rapid increase of commercial pros- perity in any other country, and but for the injurious imperial legislation and orders from England, this wonderful prosperity would most probably have remained unchecked, and England woiild have participated in the wel- fare of its distant dependency. The return of articles imported into the Sydney district alone (exclusive of Port Phillip) during the year 1817, gives the estimated value in the colony at £1,544,327, and for 1848 j81, 182,874, An enumeration of some of the principal articles imported from Great Britain dui'ing the year 1848 will give a good idea of the importance of a colonial trade to England; how it enters into various branches of manufactures, and how the consumption of goods made at home fosters and promotes a taste, which must increase, and which materially tends to create a preference for Engligh over foreign goods. Dm-ing the year 1848, 117 distinct articles were imported into Sydney from Great Britain ; I select fr^om the list before me a few of the leading articles, shewing the quantities imported. Excepting sugar, 9,988 tons, and tea 2,108,916 lbs. (value £71,353 and £26,142,) nearly every other article was from the United Kingdom. Quantity and Value of some of the Articles of British Produce imported into the Sydney District during the year 1848. — Alkali (soda), 3,325 cwt., £2,188; apparel and slops, 1,507 bales, £55,510; ammunition — gunpowder, 34,466 lbs., £1,295; shot, 964 cwt., £1,009 ; bags and sacks, 376 bales, £4,205 ; beer and ale, 475,433 gallons, £54,804 ; blacking, 331 casks, £892 ; blankets and counterpanes, 150 bales, £5,661 ; brushwai'e, 141 packages, £2,312 ; canvas, 466 bales, £7,867; carpeting, 118, £2,648; car- riages and carriage materials, 67 packages, £1,652; painters' colours, 4,001 kegs, £4,883 ; copper, 2,341 cwts., £10,058 ; cordage and rope, 3,835, £3,674 ; corks and bungs, 271 bales, £1,305; cottons, 1,696, £64,919; drugs and medicines, 1,369 cases, £9,594; earthenware and china, 1,090 crates, £10,284; salt fish, 833 barrels, £1,632; furniture, 928 packages, £3,258 ; glass and glassware, 3,685, £8,502 ; grindery, 86 casks, £1,566 ; haberdashery, 1,527 cases, £73,597 ; hardware and ironmongery, 7,800 packages, £65,029; hats, caps, and bonnets, 365 cases, £6,730 ; hops, 925 pockets, £3,703 ; horse hair, 56 casks, £1,248 ; hosiery and gloves, 262 cases, £11,829; musical instruments, 101 cases, £3,708; iron and steel, 2,451 tons, £22,533 jewellery, 32 cases, £2,529; lead, 165 tons, £3,022; unmanufactured leather, 32 cases, £1,230; boots and shoes, 624 trunks, £13,529 ; linens, 1,567 cases, £50,272 ; lucifer matches, 99 cases, £975 ; machinery, 99 jmck- ages, £1,484; malt, 3,511 casks, £2,245; millinery, 93 cases, £3,833 ; iron nails, 2,253 kegs, £3,188 ; copper nails, 652, £1,821 ; oil cloth, 20 cases, £257 ; oilman's stores, 9,644 packages, £28,927 ; perfumery, 100 cases, £1,291 ; tobacco pipes, 2,408 boxes, £2,454 ; pictures and paintings, 41 cases, £1,256; pitch, tar, and resin, 1,957 barrels, £878; plate and plated ware, 28 cases, £1,284; saddlery and harness, 197 cases, £6,368; salt, 3,715 tons, £9,403; ship chandlery, 68 packages, £666; shooks and staves, 13,404 bundles, £133; silks, 131 cases, £12,348; number of slates, 41,000, £170; spirits— brandy, 118,819 gallons, £28,316; rum, 223,706, £26,406; gin, 42,669, £8,954; whisky. 9,480, £2,425; liqueures, 1,212, £403; starch and blue, 499 cases, £1,176; stationery and books, 1,891 cases, &c., £33,156; tin and tinware, 1,296 boxes, £2,456 ; tobacco, cigars, and snuff, 572,406 lbs., £10,968; toys and turnery, 243 cases, £3,315; tur- pentine and varnish, 2,406 gallons, £371 ; twine and thread, 98 packages, £1,542; umbrellas and parasols, 22 cases, £1,203; vinegar, 21,946 gallons, £1,368; watches and clocks, 81 cases, £415; wine, 302,741 gallons, £37,918; Moollens, 1,508 bales, &c., £57,365; woolpacks and bagging, 471 bales, £8,350; zinc, 910 cwts., £228. [For present imports, see Supplement.] WHALE FISHERY ADJACENT TO NEW SOUTH WALES. 199 The principal exports for 1848, from Syd- ney alone, were — wool 12,445,048 lbs., value ^£683,628; woollen manufactures (Tweeds), 59 packages, value £1,468; tallow, 3,565 tons, £102,611; horses, 1,181, £14,137; horned cattle, 10,208, £16,457; sheep, 25,331, £8,737 (about 6s. lOd. per sheep) ; sperm oil, 1,186 tuns, £64,230; black whale oil, 196 tuns, £3,177; whalebone, 11 tons 2 cwt., £1,385 ; skins of neat cattle, 1,308 tons, £17,498; soap, 121 tons, £2,716; cedar, 863,307 feet, £5,133; leather, unmanufac- tured, 108 tons, £5,702; maize, 27,058 bushels, £3,063; butter and cheese, 81 tons 9 cwt., £2,836 ; tallow candles, 69,804 lbs., £1,117; coals and coke, 6,266 tons, £2,980; carts and waggons, 244, £2,010. Of the total exports nearly 1,000,000 sterling (£963,590) consist solely of the produce of the colony : out of £1,155,009, total exports, the amount sent to Great Britain was £901,869, to New Zealand £163,938, and to other Bri- tish possessions £78,210. There are other ports in the Sydney dis- trict which are now commencing a direct trade with England and other places. The exports from the port of Newcastle in 1847 were valued at £14,112, and included 2,450 tons of coals, value £884, or 7^. 2d. per ton; 3,484 sheep, 379 horned cattle, 58 horses, 2,000 lbs. of flour, 102 bushels of barley, 2,748 lbs. of maize, ten and a half tons of hay, and other articles were all sent to New Zealand. To England were sent from this new port in the same year — wool 169,611 lbs., value £9,435 ; tallow, 30,4281bs., value £600; The trade of Melbourne will be given when describing Port Phillip. The ports of Australia, Van Diemen's Island, and New Zealand, are favourably situated for carrying on the whale fishery in the southern hemisphere. Since 1845 whalers have been exempted from port charges in Sydney harbour, and the following is a return of the ships and vessels engaged in the fisheries that have visited Port Jack- son during the last five years ; distinguishing those that are colonial, British, or foreign, with the tonnage of each description, and the estimated value of the cargoes disposed of by the last-mentioned class for payment for repairs, refitting, and refreshment : — Colonial Vessels. British Vessels. Foreign Vessels. Descript on and Value of Cargo of by Foreign Ships. disposed Year Number. T )iin:ige. Number. Tonnage. Number. Tonnage. Sperm Oil. Tuns. Black Oil. Whalebone. Value. Tuns. Cwt. 1844 13 3.052 3 1,219 12 3,617 122 152 33 £4,993 1845 15 3.444 7 2,685 15 5,345 37 122 147 4,269 1846 16 3,894 9 2,287 55 18,147 203 30 129 6.981 1847 23 • 5,345 4 1,137 43 13,866 368 192 673 15,804 1848 26 613 1 267 37 11,203 158 8| 5 4,840 The whale and seal fisheries of New South Wales have of late years diminished ; the whale is very migratory, and seems to have endeavoured to elude his persevering pursuers by taking refuge in the Northern Pacific, where, for the last few years, the fish have been fomid in great numbers on the coasts of Japan and near Saghalien. The value of the New South Wales fisheries is thus shewn for eighteen years : Year. Sperm Whale. Black Whale. W^halebone. Seal Skins. Value. Tuns. Tuns. Tons. Cwt. Quantity. 1828 348 50 — — 7,647 in number — 1829 885 — 12,350 £94,101 1830 1,282 518 — — 5,460 „ 115,780 1831 1833 1,914 3,183 1,004 420 — — 4,972 2,465 169,278 18.36 1,700 1,178 — 386 126,085 1837 2,559 1,505 77 . — 107 183,122 1838 1,891 3,055 174 — 3 cases . . . 197,644 1839 1,578 1,229 134 14 7 „ ... 172,315 1840 1,854 4,297 250 — 474 in number 224,144 1841 1,545 1,018 84 13 41 127,470 1842 957 1,171 60 5 162 77,012 1843 1,115 190 22 8 155 ,. 72,989 1844 810 526 15 18 3 bales . . . 57,493 1845 1,352 571 21 13 2 casks, 10 Skins 90,804 1846 1,064 344 17 9 — 70,126 1847 1,214 331 8 n — 80,528 1848 1,186 196 11 2 4 cases . . . 68,969 . 200 SHIPPING OF NEW SOUTH WALES. SINCE 1828. The number of ships engaged in the whale fishery in 1848, in connection with New South Wales, was 64; viz., 37 foreign; 3 British ; 24 colonial : and the produce — sperm oil, 1,274 tuns, value £67,005 ; black oil, 389 tuns, £9,180; whalebone, 306 tons, £1,472. Total value — £77,652. At Port Phillip there were four boats engaged, which collected 15| tuns of oil, value £235 ; whalebone, 6 tons 6 cwt. The increase of the shipping entering the ports of New South Wales has been very great since 1828 : — Year. Number. Tons. 1828 137 32,559 1829 158 37,342 1830 157 31,225 1831 155 34,000 1832 189 36,020 1833 210 50,144 1834 245 58,532 18i;5 260 63,019 18;! 6 269 65,415 1837 400 80,114 1838 428 91,777 1839 560 135,474 1840 709 178,958 1841 714 183,778 1842 628 143,921 1843 558 110,864 1844 417 87,539 1845 597 105,352 1846 767 141,467 1847 878 154,904 1848 996 199,304 In twenty years the number of ships in- creased seven-fold, and the tonnage six-fold. Since 1848 the shipping and trade of the colony have been very largely augnw^nted. [The returns since 1848 will The number and tonnage of vessels built and registered in the colony have been : — Year. Vessels Built. Vessels Registered. Number. Tons. Number. Tons. 1834 9 376 19 1,852 1835 7 303 21 2,267 1836 9 301 39 4,560 1837 17 760 36 3,602 1838 20 803 41 6,329 1839 12 773 79 10,862 1840 18 1,207 98 12,426 1841 35 2,074 liu 11,250 1842 26 1,357 89 9,948 1843 47 1,433 92 7,022 1844 18 519 87 8,087 1845 18 1,042 98 9,376 1846 28 1,032 83 4,895 1847 36 2,284 104 9,428 1848 28 1,501 103 7,584 The numbers respectively built and regis- tered during 1848 in the Sydney and Port Phillip districts, were — District." Sbips Built. Registered. No. Tons. No. Tons. Men. Sydney . . . 26 1,281 87 6,618 336 Port Phillip „ 2 280 16 966 80 Total . 28 1,561 103 7,584 416 I have now recounted the rise and pro- gress up to the year 1848, of the trade and staple products of New South Wales; that trade is again in a healthy state, and from the large quantity of shipping to which it gives employment, in voyages occupying nearly a year, out and home, a skilful and hardy race of seamen are trained, well adapted for service on any emergencv necessary for the national defences, be found in the Supplement.] CHAPTER V. GOVERNMENT OF NEW SOUTH WALES— PROGRESSIVE GRANT OF FREE INSTITUTIONS —EXAMINATION OF PROPOSED NEW CONSTITUTION— AND LAWS JN FORCE IN THE COLONY. The government of New South Wales was founded by an order in council, dated 6th December, 1786. By that order, and by the king's warrant, dated 3rd April, 1787, for issuing letters patent, to appoint a vice- admiral, and a judge of the vice- admiralty court for the new settlement, its limits were declared to extend "from the Northern Capn, or extremity of the coast called Cape York, in the latitude of 10°37'S., to the South Cape; the southern extremity of the coast, in the latitude of 43° 39' S., and inland to the westward, as far as 135° E. long., including all the islands adjacent in the Pacific Ocean within the latitudes aforesaid.'' Norfolk Island was included within the limits of the boundary marked out by the order in council. It Avas not then known that Van Diemen's FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN NEW SOUTH WALES, 1787—1823. 201 Land was an island ; and it continued sub- ject to New South Wales until an ordei' in council, dated 14tli June, 1825, declared Van Diemen's Land independent of New South Wales, by which Bass' Straits became the southern limit of the colony. By the commission issued to captain Phillip, the first gOA'crnor appointed by the crown in 1787, full power was given him to pardon all malefactors sentenced to death by the court of criminal jurisdiction, which consisted of a judge- advocate, (captain Col- lins), and sia^ officers of the sea and land service, acting under a precept issued by the governor. No offender could suffer death unless five members of the court agreed in the award. The governor was fully em- powered to make laws for the good govern- ment of the colony. The act 27 Geo. III., c. 2, only authorized his Majesty to establish a court of criminal jurisdiction ; but, by an order in council, a civil court was formed, consisting of the judge-advocate, and two inhabitants appointed by the governor, who were to hear and determine, in a summaiy way, all pleas of lands, houses, debts, con- tracts, and all personal pleas whatsoever.* This civil court could examine witnesses on oath, issue executions under the hand of the 'udge-advocate, and grant probates of wills md administration of the personal estates of mtestates dying within the colony. An appeal lay from this court to the governor, and from him to the Privy Council if the thing in demand exceeded the value of .£500. For several years, the administration of government and of justice was despotic and imperfect. Shortly after the foundation of the settlement, several convicts stated that the period of their sentence to transportation had been completed, but it was found im- possible to ascertain if their statements were true, as the important documents concerning the crimes and sentences of the prisoners had never been sent from England. So Uttle were even the formalities of jurispru- dence preserved, that the judge, after hearing the evidence against a criminal, used to retire with the military jury to deliberate upon the verdict in an adjoining room. It was only on the suggestion of INIr. Bigge, when commissioner of inquiry, that judge- advocate Wylde charged the members of the coxu't in the presence of the prisoner. The first governors paid little attention to the law coiu% whose chief, in return, was tot veiy particular in registering the various • See Clarke on Colonial Law. London : 1S34. DTV. II. orders and proclamations issued, from timo to time, by the governors, or very strenuous in requiring them to be obeyed. Governor Bligh not unfrequently took the adminis- tration of the criminal law into his own hands, and punished whom he chose. Governor Macquarie, of whom INIr. Went- worth thus speaks — " never was there a more humane and upright man" — also caused " three freemen, two convicts, and two Avomen" to be seized for trespassing on a particular spot : he ordered, without any hearing, both fi-eemen and con^dcts to be flogged with twenty-five to thirty lashes each, and the women to be imprisoned for forty-eight hours. These and other proceed- ings led to an investigation of the state of the colony under the authority of a royal commission, and the exertions of Mr. Went- worth, a lawyer of much popularity at Sydney, and author of an interesting work on N.S. Wales and Van Diemen's Land in 1819, prepared the way for a change in the ad- ministration of the government and of justice. On the 13th of October, 1823, his ^Majesty, under the authoi'ity of an act of paiiiament (4 Geo. IV. c. 96), issued letters patent constituting a supreme court with cogni- zance of all pleas, civil, criminal, or mixed, and jurisdiction in all cases whatsoever in New South Wales and its dependencies, after the manner of his ^Majesty's courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exche- quer at Westminster. In 1823-4, the first step in the progress of free institutions was made (under the provisions of the act 4 Geo. IV., c. 96), by appointing a council to aid the governor; this council was formed of the officer in command of the troops, the archdeacon, the colonial secretary, the treasurer, and attor- ney-general. In 1823, an act of Parliament (the 9 Geo. IV., c. 83, s. 20) declared it to be inexpe- dient to call a Legislative Assembly for the colony, and in lieu of one, provided that it should be lawful for his Majesty under the sign manual to constitute and appoint a council of such persons resident in the colony not exceeding fifteen, nor icss than ten, as his ^Majesty might be pleased to nomi- nate and appoint. Under the authority of this act of the Imperial Legislature, tlie governor, a\ ith the conciu-rence of at least two-thirds of the members, might make laws for the colony, if not repugnant to the act 9 Geo. IV. c. 83, or to the charter, or letters patent, or orders 2 B 202 CONSTITUTION ADOPTED FOR NEW SOUTH WALES IN 1842. in council, or to the laws of England. The governor to have the initiative in the intro- duction of all laws to be submitted to dis- cussion in the council, provided he gave eight clear days' notice in the public journals, or by public advertisement (should there be no jonrnals), of the general objects of the act proposed to be brought under considera- tion, unless in case of emergency, when such notice might be dispensed with. Any member of the council might request the governor to introduce a bill for the con- sideration of the council. If the governor declined, he was bound to lay his reasons in writing, together with a copy of the bill, before the council, and any member, disap- proving of such refusal, might enter upon the minutes the grounds of his disapproba- tion. If a majority of the members dissented from any bill, and entered the grounds of their dissent on the minutes of council, the bill could not become law. Every bill passed by the council was to be transmitted within seven days to the supreme court, to be enrolled, and after fourteen days from the date of such enrolment, it came into opera- tion. If the judges represented that such bill was repugnant to statutes or other public deeds before cited, it was again brought under the consideration of the council, and if again passed, proceeded into operation, until the pleasure of his Majesty were known, to whom were to be transmitted the opinions of the judges, &c. The votes and proceedings of the Legislative Council were to be officially published in the newspapers. The governor and council had the power of imposing taxes for local purposes. By 3 Geo. IV., c. 96, continued by 9 Geo. IV., c. 83, s. 26, the governor was authorized to impose, on importation into the colony, duties not exceeding 10^. a gallon on British or West India spirits, and 15^. on all other spirits : not exceeding 4s. per lb. on tobacco, nor 15*. per cent, upon goods, wares, &c., not being the growth, produce, or manufac- ture of the United Kingdom ; and, by 9 Geo. IV., c. 83, s. 26, the governor was also empowered to levy a duty upon colonial spirits, not exceeding that levied on imported spirits. In 1842, (30th July), under the act 5 & 6 Victoria, c. 76, a Legislative Council of thirty-six members Avas created, of whom onc-thii'd was nominated by the crown, and two-thirds elected by the colonists, on whom an elective franchise was conferred, namely, an estate of freehold in possession in lands or tenements, situate within the district for which such franchise is to be exercised, of the clear value of £200 sterling at the least, above all charges and incumbrances in any way affecting the same, or a householder within such district, occupying a dwelHng- house of the clear annual value of .£20 ster- ling money at the least. No person was thus qualified to vote unless he had arrived at the full age of twenty-one years, a natural born or naturahzed subject of the queen ; and if he had been attainted or convicted of treason, felony, or infamous offence, within her Majesty's dominions, unless he had received a free pardon, or one conditional on not leaving the colony, or had undergone the sentence or punishment to which he had been adjudged for such offence. Voters to be qualified must have been in possession of estate, or occupancy of house, at least six calendar months before the date of writ for election, and have paid up all rates and taxes payable by him as owner, in respect of such estate or house, which shall have become payable during three calendar months next before election or registration. The qualification of elective members of council was fixed at a legal and equitable seisui'e of an estate of freehold, for his own use and benefit, in lands and tenements in New South Wales, of the vearly value of £100 sterling, or of the value of £2,000 sterling, above all charges and incumbrances affecting the same. Under this act, the legislature then in operation was authorized to make all necessary provisions for dividing the colony into convenient electoral districts ; for issuing, executing, and returning the necessary writs for such elections ; for deter- mining the validity of disputed returns, and other such matters : but it was provided, that the district of Port Phillip should be formed by a straight line drawn from Cape Howe to the nearest source of the river Murray, and thence along the course of that river to the eastern boundary of the pro- vince of South Australia. This district ol Port Phillip was to retui'n at least five mem- bers ; the town of Melbourne, in Port Phillip, one ; and Sydney, New South Wales, two members. The Legislative Council, when constituted, had power given them to in- crease the immber of the members of their body, and to alter the districts and electoral divisions, provided the proportion of one-third members of the council, to be nominated by her Majesty, be preserved. Not more than half the number of non-elective mem- bers of the Legislative Council, appointed by 1 the crown, were to hold any office of emolu- I ment under the croAvn in New South Wales. The non-elective members to hold their seats for five years from the date of appointment, or until the council, be dissolved. Non- : attendance for two successive sessions, bank- j ruptcy, insolvency, being a public defaulter, con%iction of treason or felony, becoming a subject or citizen of any foreign power or powers, or being non compos mentis (of un- I sound mind), would be causes for declaring a i seat in the Legislative Council vacant. The i governor and Legislative Council were, by 1 this act, authorized to make laws for the I peace, welfare, and good government of the colony, provided such enactments were not repugnant to the laws of England, and did not interfere in any manner with the sale or other appropriation of the lands belonging to the cro^Ti in the said colony, or with the revenues thence arising. The governor might propose laws to the council ; or amend the bills passed by the council, when presented to him for her Majesty's assent; and the council might, in hke manner, return any bill in which the governor shall have made any amendments, with a message, signifying those of the amendments to which they agreed, and those to which they disagreed ; and thereupon the bill was to be taken and presented for her Majesty's assent, with the amendments so agreed to. Ine governor might, in her Majesty's name, give an assent to bills passed by the council, or he might withhold it, reserving such bill for the signification of her Majesty's pleasure thereon; and all bills affecting the salaries of the governor, superintendent of Port Phillip, or the judges, or bills altering or affecting the duties of customs upon any goods, wares, or merchandise, or altering the constitution of the Legislative Council, shall, in any case, be so reserved, except temporary bills, which may be assented to by the governor, by reason of some pubhc and pressing emergency. All bills assented to by the governor, to be transmitted to one of her Majesty's secretaries of state; and the queen may, by her Majesty's order in council, within any time during two years after the receipt of the said bill, declare her disallowance of it. The taxes, duties, rates, and imposts levied in the colony, were de- clared to be appropriated to the public ser- vice within the colony, by ordinances to be enacted by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council, nro- vided the governor should have first recom- mended to the council to make provision fo'* such public ser\dce, towards which such money is appropriated, and subject to the fixed annual payment of the suras mentioned in the following schedule : — Governor £5,000 Superintendent at Port Pliillip .... 1,500 Chief Justice 2,000 Three Puisne Judges 4,500 Salaries of the Attorney and Solicitor-Gene- "1 ral, Crown Solicitors, and contingent and I p^ „^^ miscellaneous expenses of administration f ' of justice throughout the colony . . .J Colonial Secretary and his department . . 7,000 Colonial Treasurer and his department . . 5,000 Auditor-General and his department . . 3,000 Salary of Clerk, and miscellaneous expenses! j^^^. of Executive Council J Pensions 3,000 Public Worship 30,000 These sums might be varied, or altered, and any sa\dng accruing thereby, might be appropriated to such purposes connected with the administration of the government of the colony as to his Majesty might seem fit. By clause XLI. of this act, provision was made for the local goverment of different parts of the colony, by empowering the gov- ernor to issue letters patent under the great seal of the colony of New South Wales, to incorporate the inhabitants of every county within the colony, or of such parts of coun- ties or other divisions as to him shall seem fit, to form districts for the purposes of this act ; to constitute in each district of not less than 7,000 souls, an elective council of not more than nine members ; if the district have 7,000 to 10,000 souls not more than twelve councillors, and so on in proportion to the number of souls, the maximum being twenty-one councillors to 20,000 souls. The district councillors to be persons qualified to be elected as members of the Legislative Council; and the district electors to be per- sons quahfied to vote in the election of mem- bers of the Legislative Council in the dis- trict in which the election is made. If dis- trict councillors were not elected by the people, the governor might appoint them. No district councillor to continue in office more than three years, unless re-elected ; or to hold any lucrative office vuider such dis- trict council, or to enter into any contract, or have pecuniary dealings with such district council, under certain penalties. The district council to be presided over by a warden, appointed and removable by her Majesty or by the governor ; a competent district sur- veyor to be appointed, and to be removable by 204; DISTRICT COUNCILS— DIVISIONS OF EACH IN 1844. council, subject to approval of governor; the said sm-veyor to superintend the con- sti-uction of roads, pubhc works, &c. The district councils to raise, assess, levy, and appropriate money in their respective dis- tricts for making roads, streets, bridges, consti'ucting or repairing pubhc buildings, establishing and supporting schools, de- fraying the expenses of, or connected with, the administration of justice and police within the district ; and to direct and control other matters which may be specially sub- jected to the control of the said district councils, by any law of the governor and Legislative Council of the colony. No fine or penalty to be imposed by the district councils exceeding £\0 sterling. No tax to be le\ied on property belonging to the crown; and copies of all bye-laws to be laid before the governor for his assent, and might be disallowed by him within two calendar months after the receipt of said copies. By clause 47 of this act, 5 & 6 Victoria, it was enacted that one-half of the expense of the pohce establishment of the colony (exclusive of the con\dct establishment) should be defrayed out of the general revenue arising from taxes, duties, rates, and imposts levied within the colony, and the other half to be defrayed by assessment iipon the several districts of the colony, in such proportion as should be, from time to time, fixed by the governor and Legislative Council. The amount so fixed to be paid by the treasurers of the several district councils according to the warrants of the governor, to whomsoever he may appoint ; and if the treasurers had not sufficient money in hand, the district council must levy a fau' and equal rate upon all property within the district ; and if this be not done, a power of distress and sale might be issued by the governor on the goods of the district treasurer, members of the said district council, or inhabitants of the district. The foregoing are the leading points in the act 5 & 6 Vict., c. 76. Under it the Legislative Council was established, and now holds its annual sittings ; and Sydney and INIelbourne were created corpo- rations by charter : they have each a mayor and court of aldermen, who have exercised beneficially the duties entrusted to them, and contributed to the welfare of the inhab- itants of each city. Soon after the act 5 & 6 Vict, came into operation, the then governor, Sir G. Gipps, proceeded to issue charters for the estabhshment of twenty- nine disti'ict councils, choosing for the boun- daries the police dirisions rather than those of the counties ; over each district council a warden was appointed, and district coun- cillors were selected from the most influ- ential and respectable persons resident in each district. The following is a return, issued from the siu'veyor-generars office, dated July 31, 1844, showing the number of acres contained in each district, for which a district council is provided, and the extent of the land ahenated by the crown, in each respectively : — District. Alitvi- ated. New South Wales : — ^lacquarie .... Raymond Terrace and"! Dungog . . . / Paterson Maitland Patrick's Plains . . Merton and Muswell-'> brook . . . . ' Scone and Murrurundi Cassilis Mudgee and "Wellington WolombiandM'Donald Newcastle .... Brisbane "Water . . Sydney Paramatta .... AVindsor Penrith Liverpool . . . . Appin and Campbell- "i town J Camden, Narellan, andl Picton . . . . / Hartley Bathurst and Carcor . Yass Goulbourn .... Berrima Illawarra Bi-aidwood and Broulee Queanbeyan .... Port Phillip : — ■ Bourke Grant Acres. 116,672 331,159 168,283 145,318 251,784 149,818 237,885 283,051 244,787 97,173 35,868 57,054 58,102 87,169 92,059 129,191 64,008 51,361 129,386 80,647 715,236 146,387 590,714 90,169 137,917 262,060 403,201 156,640 59,854 Unalien- ated. Acres. 2,395,321 1,620,728 104,960 108,682 151,500 542,080 841,600 1,198,000 2,035,135 958,827 76,160 300,800 82,631 63,936 429,630 247,898 39,900 82,603 340,000 1,279,882 2,719,858 965,099 955,920 360,676 432.640 1,399,133 806,402 5,027,360 5,412,146 Total. Acres. 2,512,000 1,951,887 273,243 254,000 403,284 691,898 1,079,485 1,4S 1,051 2,279,922 1,056.000 112,028 357,854 140,733 151,105 521,689 377,089 103,908 133,964 469,386 1,360,529 3,435,094 1,111,486 1,546,634 450,845 570,557 1,661,193 1,209,603 5,184,000 5,472,000 In October, 1843, the Legislative Council passed a resolution, that it was highly inex- pedient, even if possible, to cast any portion of the police expenditure on the country districts, and that this expenditm-e ought to be defrayed, as hitherto, out of the general revenue. The same course was adopted the ensuing year ; and the governor found him- self unable to carry out the intentions of the act 5 & 6 Vict., by the miwillingness of the colonists to become members of the district councils. Mr. Deas Thompson, the ELECTIVE FRANCHISE IN NEW SOUTH WALES IN 1844. 205 experienced secretary to the government of New South Wales, in a useful analysis of the proceedings relative to the district councils, dated 27th March, 1847, says — " It may not be altogether irrelevant now to inquire how far the establishment of municipal institutions in the country districts has been favourably received by the inhabitants. If we may judge by the result of the elections in the different districts, the possession of this privilege is looked upon, at least in a great many of them, with much indifference — an indif- ference which appears to have annually increased since their first establishment. The following sum- mary, showing the number of members elected, and nominated by the governor in default of election, to fill the annual vacancies of one-third, under the charter, will sufficiently illustrate the truth of this conclusion : viz. — 1844 . . elected, 67 : nominated, = 67. 1845 . . elected, 51 : nominated, 14 = 65. 1846 . . elected, 38 : nominated, 32 = 70. " Thus, during the three years in question, there were 156 persons elected, and forty-six nominated by the governor. It is also undoubted, that of those elected, a considerable proportion did not consist of the persons most eligible for so important a trust, a great disinclination being understood to prevail amongst many highly respectable persons to accept the office. It appears that (with the solitary exception of the sum of £170, raised by the district council of Grant) in none of the districts was any revenue what- ever raised by assessment. In several, debts have been incurred in payment of the salaries of the officers appointed by the council ; but the refusal of the I,egislative Council to grant the additional facilities necessary to enable these bodies to levy the assess- ments when made, and the strong opinions expressed in debate of the risk which would attend their en- forcement, seem to have entii'ely paralyzed the endea- vours of the several district councils to exercise their legitimate powers." Paramatta was almost the only exception to the total inactivity which characterized the district councils. The Legislative Council would lend no assistance to the executive government in giving effect to this part of the constitution of the colony; and, rea- soning from a connected series of facts on the subject, ISIr. Thompson thus recapitu- lates the conclusions at which he arrived : — " 1st. That district councils have, from the causes mentioned, entirely failed to answer the object con- templated in their establishment. " 2nd. That there is at present only one in active operation, and this one is sustained only by contri- butions from the government, and not by assessment raised under the powers granted to it under the act. " 3rd. That these institutions, in their present form, are not adapted to the state of society in this colony. " 4th. That so far as the Legislative Council or the public at large is concerned, they are not regarded in any favourable light. " Such are the general conclusions at which I am forced to arrive, from a full consideration of all the circumstances I have detailed. I am by no means prepared to say, however, that, with considerable modification, they may not be adapted to the peculiar circumstances of the colony; but this can only be done by leaving all legislation on the subject to the local legislature. No doubt, as has been experienced in other colonies, there may be an indisposition on the part of the Supreme Legislature to grant to any other bodies concurrent powers of taxation ; but for mere local purposes it is scarcely to be apprehended that this Avould be refused, especially when it would have the effect of relieving the general treasury from heavy burdens, which it can ill afford to bear. In the Port Phillip division of the colony district councils were established in the counties or districts of Bourke and Grant. Mr. Latrobe, the superintendent of Port Phillip, stated, in September, 1846, that they had then been in existence four years ; but it was not in his power " to point out a single instance or particular, in either case, in which the object of these establishments had been attained. There has not (he says) been one road made or repaired under their charter; not one school established; not one public building erected; and not one farthing raised or appHed to the support of a district police, or to the administration of justice." This summ.ary of the principal facts con- nected with the district councils, will enable the reader to understand better the neces- sity of a new constitution for New South Wales, and the basis on which it was subse- quently proposed to found it. Previous to proceeding chronologically with the legis- lative history of the colony, it should be remarked, that the Legislative Council of twc-thirds elective, and one-third nominated members, as provided by the act 5 & 6 Vict., had worked well, and passed several useful colonial laws. The distribution of the elec- tive franchise v/as (according to Mr. Braim), in 1844, when the population was 130,856, as follows : — District. Sydney .... Cumberland, County Camden .... Northumberland . Durham .... Melbourne . . . Eleven other Districts Total . . . . Number of Electors. 2,823 1,344 386 369 345 691 5,858 2.619 8,477 Number of Members returned. 8 16 24 A committee of the Legislative Council in New South Wales recommended that lease- holders of and at a rental of £20 per an- 206 SEPARATION OF PORT PHILLIP FROM NEW SOUTH WALES. uum, or squatters possessed of 200 cattle or 1,000 sheep, should have a vote. During the last foui- years, the attention of her Majesty's government has been specially dii'ccted to a consideration of the govern- mental state of the Australian colonies, and to the granting of representative assemblies to these settlements. On the 31st July, 1847, Earl Grey, her Majesty's secretary of state for the colonies, addressed an able despatch to Sir Charles Fitzroy, governor of New South Wales, in which his lordship stated, that her Majesty's government adopting, in general, the rea- sonings of Sir G. Gipps (the late governor of New South Wales), and of the majority of the executive council, had submitted to the queen their opinion, that Parliament should be recommended to impart to her Majesty the authority necessary for carrying into eflect the separation of the Port Phillip district from the rest of the colony of New South Wales. Earl Grey, in expressing his own conclusion for the separation of Port Phillip from New South Wales, remarks, that it rested mainly on the principle, that all affairs of merely local concern should be left to the regulation of the local authorities ; and proceeds to state, that if local self- government is necessary for the good of the whole colony, it is not less necessary for the good of the several districts of which it is composed ; and his lordship adds — " For this reason it was that Parliament provided for the erection, throughout New South Wales, of municipal corporations, which should, in various respects, balance and keep in check the powers of the Legislative Council. By this method it was sup- posed that the more remote districts would be able to exercise their fair share of power, and to enjoy their proper influence in the general polity of the whole province. But the result has disappointed this expec- tation. The municipalities have only a nominal existence. The Legislative Council has absorbed all the other powers of the colonial state. The prin- ciple of self-government in the districts the most remote from Sydney is therefore acted upon almost as imperfectly as if the conduct of local aifairs had remained unaer the same management and insti- tutions as those which the existing system super- seded." The secretary of state then announces the intention of her Majesty's government to propose to Parliament some changes in the existing constitution of New South Wales, consequent on the separation of the Port Phillip district. In indicating the general principles on which it was proposed to legis- late. Earl Grey stated, that in revising the constitution of New South Wales, her Majesty's government was still favourable to the creation of local authorities, such as the district councils, especially with a view to their "being made to bear to the House of Assembly the relation of con- stituents and representatives." The des- patch however, on this point, is vague and inconclusive. Earl Grey, indeed, expressed his desire to be relieved of the responsibility of proposing such a change, by obtaining " the most complete local intelligence, sup- ported by the most eminent local autho- rities." In one paragraph in this despatch, his lordship expresses a decided feeling in favour of the establishment of two distinct houses of legislation : — " You are aware that, in the older British colonies, the legislature, as in New South "Wales, is generally composed partly of nominees of the crown, and partly of the representatives of the people ; but there is this important difference between the two systems — that in the one case the legislature is divided into two separate houses and chambers ; in the other, the representatives of the people and the nominees of the crown form a single body, under the title of the Legislative Council. It does not appear to me that the practical working of this last system would by any means justify the conclusion, that it is an im- provement upon that which it was formerly the prac- tice to adopt ; on the contrary, / see many reasons for belief, that the more ancient system, by which every tiew law teas submitted to the sejxirate consideration of two distinct houses, and required their joint consent for its enactment, teas the best calculated to insure judicious and j)rudent legislation." Finally, the secretary of state concludes with the following sentiment, worthy of his lordship's high station : — "I need scarcely add, that it will be a source of the highest gratification to me, if, under the authority of Pai'liament, the colonial governments of Australia can be settled on a basis on which the colonists may, under the blessing of Divine Providence, themselves erect insti- tutions worthy of the empire to which they belong, and of the people from whom they are descended." On the receipt of this despatch, of July 31, 1847, in New South Wales, the governor. Sir Charles Fitzroy, caused it to be printed for general circulation; a storm of oppo- sition was immediately created aga nst the proposition of perpetuating the district councils, and of delegating to them the right of electing representatives to legislate for the colony. The colonists considered that it would be utterly impossible ever to bring those coun- cils into effective operation ; that the power and authority with which they were invested would centre in the governor ; that they would be virtually deprived of the existing OBJECTIONS TO CONSTITUTION PROPOSED IN 1847. 207 elective franchise ; that tliere were to be two legislative houses — one appointed by the crown, and dependent only on the go- vernment — the other subservient only to the district councils, by whom its members would be elected — so that neither house would be independent ; and that the making their colony the subject of a theoretical ex- periment in legislation was a measure of which they could never admit the policy or justice. But there was nothing in the des- patch of Earl Grey, expi'essed or implied, to justify the \iolent language used at some of the public meetings in the colony ; and from no previous colonial minister had the colonists met with a larger concession to liberal principles; the fault — if I may use the term — lay in the indefinite wording of the despatch, and the absence of any deter- mined line of policy on the part of her Majesty's government. Among the documents emanating from the colonists, on this occasion, was a peti- tion from the magistrates, landholders, and residents in the district of Picton, county Camden (New South Wales), to the gover- nor, Sir Charles Eitzroy, and forwarded by his excellency to Earl Grey, March 27, 1848 (received August 7, 1848), which sets forth the objections to the then proposed al- teration in the constitution of New South Wales : — " Your petitioners have learned, with much regret and dissatisfaction, that it is the intention of her Majesty's government to alter the present constitution of the colony, and substitute in its stead a form of representation totally at variance with all their ideas of liberty, and utterly repugnant to every British colonist. " Your petitioners would respectfully point to their own district, in order to show that it will be impos- sible to carry out such a scheme as is detailed in the despatch of Earl Grey to your excellency. The district contains an area of nearly 600 square miles, and the population only numbers 1,200, according to the last census ; while there is but one village in the whole district, containing about 120 persons, and distant only fifty miles from Sydney. By the last electoral list there appears to be sixty-eight voters, but the number would be considerably increased if the franchise was extended to leaseholders. " Your petitioners would also beg to remark, that not only would it be impossible to establish district councils in any shape, but at present there is even a difficulty in finding properly-qualified persons to act as local magistrates ; and your petitioners believe that there are other districts similarly situated in the colony. " Your petitioners would particularly call the atten- tion of your excellency to that part of the despatch where it is admitted that ' the intention of Parlia- ment to create local authorities (district councils) lias hitherto been defeated;' but the fact of such a dan- gerous and iniquitous power being given to any government officer, as detailed in clause 49 of the present Constitutional Act, (5 & 6 Vict., c. 76), is quite sufficient of itself to account for that part of the act not having been carried out.* And your petitioners are convinced, that all future attempts of this nature will, in like manner, be defeated." The inhabitants of Windsor (New South Wales), in a petition to the Queen, in 1848, in common with all the other addresses to the sovereign, express the following senti- ments : — " We, the undersigned inhabitants of the district of Windsor, in the colony of New South Wales, beg, in approaching your Majesty, to express our ardent and devoted loyalty to your Majesty's person and government, and our fervent desire that it may be permitted to you, by Divine Providence, long to sway the British scepti'e with much prosperity and glory." After deprecating the changes proposed in the constitution of New South Wales, as intimated in the despatch of her Majesty's secretary of state, under date July 31, 1847, and addressed to the governor of the colony, the petitioners thus proceed : — " As natural born subjects of your Majesty, we consider ourselves entitled to equal rights and privi- leges with our fellow-subjects in the United King- dom ; and we earnestly deprecate the changes alluded to, as laj'ing the a.xe to the very root of those rights and privileges, by depriving us of the most valuable of them — the being present, by immediate represen- tation, in the Assembly where are enacted the laws by which we are governed. We are most desirous to enjoy a constitution as nearly as may be alike to that of the United Kingdom ; and Ave accordingly think it due to the colonists, that no measure of magnitude should be passed at home, afl'ecting the colony, without their previous assent." After a protracted debate on the subject in the Legislative Coimcil of New South Wales, in April, 1848, the Council recorded no opinion ; but their views were adverse to the proposed changes. One of the motions, and the mode in which it was disposed, as also a classification of the voters, explains in some degree the state of parties in the colo- nial Legislative Council. Question proposed. — That this committee do agree to the following resolution : — " That this Council is dlsjwsecl to vieto favourably the proposition of separ- utimj the deliberations of the nominees of the crown from those of the representatives of the peopled — (Mr. Cowper.) Question put. — That the word " not" be inserted before disposed, and the words " but that the cession of the territorial revenue, or of the Schedules A, B, and C, to the api)ropriation of this Council, would be • The clause refers to the power of distress and sale given to the governor over the goods of the dis- trict treasurer, district councillors, or district electors, in the evcr.t of the district not paying the amount leviable by the governor for the police-rate in the district. iOS N. S. WALES GOVERNOR IN FAVOUR OF TWO CHAMBERS. fln amendment in the present constitution," after the word people. — (Mr. Wentworth.) Committee divided : Ayes, 10. • Mr. Murray. Mr. Wentworth • Captain O'Connell. • Mr. Bowman. • Mr. Lord. • Dr. Eland. t The Collector of Customs • Mr. Danger. • Captain Dumaresq. Mr. Robinson (Teller.) Elected, 9 ; official, 1 ; total, 10. Original question put. AyeSy 11. t Attorney-general. t Colonial Secretary, t Colonial Treasurer. • Mr. Lowe. \ Mr. Berry. • Mr. Macarthur. X Mr. Darvall. X Mr. Allen. • Mr. Foster. t Major-gen.Commanding • Mr. Cowper (Teller.) Elected, 4 ; official, 4 ; nominees, 3; total, 11. Noes, 11. + Major-gen.Commanding t Colonial Secretary. X Mr. Allen. * Mr. Foster. t Attorney-general. * Mr. Lowe. X Mr. Berry. * Mr. Macarthur. X Mr. Darvall. * Mr. Cowper. t Col. Treasurer (Teller) Elected, 4 ; official, 4 ; nominees, 3; total, 11. Committee divided. Koes, 10. * Captain O'Connell. * Mr. Bowman. * Mr. "Wentworth. * Mr. Dangar. * J.Ir. Lord. * Dr. Bland. * Mr. Murray. * Captain Dumaresq. \ Collector of Customs. * Mr. Robinson (Teller.) Elected 9 ; official, 1 ; total, 10. Note. — Those marked thus * are elected ; thus f , official ; and thus J, nominees. The governor, in a despatch to her Ma- jesty's secretary of state (dated 11th August, 1848, received, 19th January, 1849), con- veying the details of the debate in the Legis- lative Council, thus expresses his own opin- ions in favour of two legislative chambers: — " Your lordship will not fail also to observe that the main point of difference which led to the result was the question of the establishment of a Legisla- tive Council distinct from a Representative Assembly, and a perusal of the debates which took place on this question will make your lordship acquainted with the fact, that the opposition that was raised to the con- stitution of these two legislative bodies was not grounded upon any principle of government, but sim- ply and avowedly upon the assertion that a Legislative Council interposed between the executive government and the Representative Assembly would render the fonner more independent of the latter, and therefore not so liable to be controlled by the fear of coming into direct collision with it. Having thus endeavoured to put your lordship in possession of the proceedings of the Council as briefly as was consistent with a clear explanation of them, it only remains for me to addnuj oicn opuiion, wJiich j's, I believe, confirmed by that of the 7nost experienced and unprejudiced persons who have watched the work- \ ing of the present constitution of this colony, that the assimilatioyi of the constitution of this colony to that of the older British colonies, tohere distinct legislative bodies exist, wotdd be generally considered to be ex- tremely advantageous to its interests, but that the in- troduction of the double scheme of election, by mak- ing the district councils the constituents of the House of Assembly, v.ould be most unpalatable to the whole community, and would excite throughout the colony a resistance which would in all probability render it inoperative, while it would not fail to create an ill- feeling towards her ]Mi.jesty's government, which would not easily be allayed." The language used by Sir William Deni- son, the governor of Van Diemen's Island, in a letter to her Majesty's secretary of state, dated loth August, 1848, and received in London, 10th March, 1849, is very con- clusive on the point expressed by the gover- nor of New South Wales, and deserves record ; but his expression as to the charac- ter of the people, in making wealth their sole consideration, is far too general and unqualified a censiu'e on the colonists of New South Wales ; yet, were it not so, they would have some excuse, in the absence of honorary distinctions — of prizes for emula- tion — and other gratifications, apart from or contrary to those of self-indulgence. Sir William Denison, although writing under the idea that an act providing for a Representative Assembly in Van Diemen's Island, might already have been passed by the Imperial Parliament, nevertheless deemed it his duty not to vrithhold any information which might enable the secretary of state " to form a judgment as to the nature of the institution best adapted to secure the per- manent welfare of these colonies." His excellency thus proceeds : — " Without, therefore, wishing or presuming to give an opinion on the general question of the best form of legislative body, I may say that, under the peculiar circumstances of these colonies, I should most stren- uously recommend the adoption of a second or upper chamber. " When we consider the elements of which society here is composed, — when we see the low estimate that is placed upon everything which can distinguish a man from his fellows, with the sole exception of wealth— when we see that even wealth does not lead to distinction, or open the road to any other ambition than that of excelling in habits of self-indulgence — it can hardly be subject of surprise that so few are found who rise above the general level, or that those few owe more to the possession of a certain oratorical facility than to their powers of mind or the justness of the opinions which they advocate. " The broad plain of equality, as in America, re- ceives the whole of the community; and though there are many who would gladly avail themselves of any opportunity of raising themselves above the general level, yet here, as in America, any attempt to do so would be frustrated by the jealousy of the re- mainder of the community. " Yourlordbhip can hardly form an idea of the cha- racter of the population of these colonies. " It is usual to assume that colonies are off-shoots from the parent stocK, containing in themselves the germs of all the elements of which society in the mother country is composed. VAN DIEMEN^S LAND GOVERNOR IN FAVOR OF TWO CHAMBERS. 209 " This can only be said of any colony with many reservations, but it cannot be said of these colonies with any appearance of justice or truth. " There is an essentially democratic spirit which actuates the large mass of the commimitt/ ; and it is with the view to check the develojmient of this spirit, of preventing its coming into operation, that I tvould sug- gest the formation of an upper chamber. " The members of this, call it senate or what you may, will be raised in some measure above the gene- ral level of society — they will be rendered indepen- dent of popular blame or approbation — but, being also free from the suspicion of acting under the con- trol of the governnient, they will conciliate popular feeling between the executive and the legislature. " I do not presume to enter into any detail of the mode in which such an assembly should be consti- tuted, further than to express an opinion that the government should have as little as possible to do in the nomination or selection of the members. " There must, of course, be some ex-officio repre- sentatives of the government in the house. The bishops of the church of England and Rome might sit as representatives of the ecclesiastical bodies ; but as the object with which I advocate the establishment of a second chamber, is more that of operating morally upon the body of the community, than of facilitating generally the operations of the executive government, I should be loth to recommend the adop- tion of a plan which might in any way neutralize the beneficial action of such a body upon the mass of the people. " I also think that, in order to render the members perfectly independent of either the government or the people, they should be appointed or elected for life. " Trusting that your lordship will not be of opinion that, in offering these suggestions, I have in any way exceeded the limits imposed upon me by my position in this colony." On the 31st of July, 1848, her Majesty's secretary of state, in a despatch to Sir Charles Fitzroy, the governor of New South Wales (which was written before the receipt of the preceding letters from the governors of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, or of the petitions or the resolutions of the Legislative Council of New South Wales) , says : — " I collect from the documents now before me, that the objections most strongly felt throughout the colony to the views propounded in my despatch, relate to the project of making the district councils sei've as constituent bodies to the legislature ; and, though in a less degree, to the division of the legislature into an assembly and a council, according to the ordinary pattern of the governments of those colonies which derive their free institutions from Great Britain." It does not appear to me, from the docu- ments laid before Parliament, that the colo- nists did object generally to two houses of legislature, according to the old established form of colonial government (except in one instance of comparatively trifling moment) ; their objection lay to two houses — one nominated by the crown or governor, and Div. ir. the other by district councils — because the latter would also be under the influence of the governor. I cannot but imagine that Earl Grey, in his sincere wish "not to impose upon the inhabitants of the colony a form of govern- ment not, in their judgment, suited to their wants," did not think it necessary to advise the carrying of his proposal into execution ; and considered that the interests of the colonists would be better served, by leaving in their own hands the power of establish- ing two houses of legislature, whenever they shall have reason to do so. His lordship stated, in his despatch of 31st July, 1847, that he concurred in opinion with the governor of New South Wales, that the division ot the legislature into council and assembly, founded, as it is, on long practical expe- rience, would be a decided improvement upon the present form of the legislature in New South Wales ; and, if the general feel- ing of the colony had responded to it, his lordship would have had no hesitation in advising her Majesty's government to lay before Parliament the measures necessary to accomplish the change. It being too late in the session of 1848, to introduce a bill for the separation of Port Phillip from New South Wales, and for the granting of Legis- lative Councils to the other Australian colo- nies, and for the general regulation of the aflPairs of the whole of the colonies, the secretary of state appears to have laid the subject before a committee of the lords' com- mittee of the Privy Council, appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to trade and plantations, such committe con- sisting of several cabinet ministers and privy councillors, accustomed to the discussion of colonial matters. On the 1st May, 1849, a court was held at Buckingham Palace before the queen, when a report of the lords' committee of the Privy Council for trade and plantations, was read, relative to a bill to be introduced into the Imperial Parliament for the " better govern- ment of the Australian colonies." The following is an abstract of the leading points in the report : — In the ancient pos- sessions of the British crown, which at pre- sent form so large a part of the United States of America, and in all the other British colonics, whether acquired by the occupation of vacant territories or by cessions from foreign powers, there prevailed until the commencement of the nineteenth century the almost invariable usage of establishing a 2c 210 PRIVY COUNCIL FAVOURABLE TO TWO CHAMBERS. local legislature, consistiug of three estates — that is, of a governor appointed by the sovereign, of a council nominated by the sovereign, and of an assembly checked by the people. During the nineteenth century, the crown acquired sixteen colonies, in no one of which has the whole colonial polity of a governor, council, and assembly been intro- duced ; it has however been the practice of parliament to recognize the ancient principle, and to record the purpose of resuming the former constitutional practice so soon as the causes should have ceased to operate, which in each particular case had forbidden the immediate observance of it. The pledge has been redeemed in New South Wales, except so far as relates to the combination wliich has taken place there, of the council and assembly into one legislative house or cham- ber; and it has been also redeemed with regard to New Zealand, although pecuhar circumstances have required a temporary postponement of the operation in that colony of the act passed by Parliament for estabhsh- ing in it a representative legislatui'e. With regard to South Australia, and to Van Diemen's Island, (and also to Western Australia when the settlers shall be able and willing to sustain from their local revenues the expense of their own civil government, which is now proWded annually by a grant of the Imperial Parliament,) the committee are of opinion that the time has arrived when parliament may properly be recom- mended to institute in each of these colonies " a legislatm'e in which the representatives of the people at large should enjoy and i exercise their constitutional authority ;" and that on the separation of Port Phillip (which the committee suggest shoidd be named Victoria, after her Majesty) a legislature should also be created in which the repre- sentatives of the people should exercise their constitutional authority and influence. As to the nature of the legislatures to be established in the several Australian colo- nies, the committee say — " If we were approaching the present question under circumstances which left to us the unfettered exercise of our own judgment, we should advise that Parliament should be moved to recur to the ancient I _ • It is a grave question, and demands serious con- sideration, whether the crown ought to give up its rights to the disposal of the waste lands in the colonies. Those lands, I think, ought to be viewed as the patrimony of the people of England, and to be rendered available for the maintenance of her labour- ing poor, who, unable to obtain remunerative emplov- ment at home, are desii-ous of seeking, in another L constitutional usage, by establishing in each a governor, a council, and an assembly. For we think it desir- able that the political institutions of the British colo- nies should thus be brouyht into the nearest possible analogy to the constitution of the United Kingdom. We also think it wise to adhere as closely as possible to our ancient maxims of government on this subject, and to the precedents in which those maxims have been embodied. I'lie experience of centuries has as- certained the value and the practical efficiency of that system of colonial polity to which those 7naxims and precedents afford their sanction. In the absence of some very clear and urgent reason for breaking up the ancient uniformity of design in the government of the colonial dependencies of the crown, it would seem unwise to depart from that uniformity. And further, the whole body of constitutional law which deter- mines the rights and the duties of the dififerent branches of the ancient colonial governments having, with the lapse of time, been gradually ascertained and firmly established, we must regret any innovation which tends to deprive the Australian colonies of the great advantage of possessing such a code so well de- lined and so maturely considered. " But great as is the weight that we attach to these considerations, the circumstances under which we actually approach the question are such as to constrain us, however reluctantly, to adopt the opinion that the proposed Act of Parliament should provide for the establishment in each of the four Australian colonies of a single house of legislature only ; one-third of the members of v,-hich should be nominated by your Maiestv, and the remaining two-thirds elected by the colonists. The grounds on which the committee arrived at this conclusion were, that a single chamber already legislated for New South Wales and Port Phillip; that it did not appear ad\'isable to alter it, and that the other Australian colonies ought not to have a difterent legislative system. They however recommended that the sev- eral provincial legislatures should ha.e the power of '• amending then* own constitutions by resolving either of these single houses into two houses of legislature, subject to the ap- proval of the crown; that the governor- general of Australia should have power to convene a General Assembly of not less than twenty nor more than thirty delegates, to be elected by two or more of the provincial legislatures, and that this General Assembly should have full power over the disposing and proceeds of the croAvn lands in Australia ; the imposition of custom duties, and other general subjects."* The whole colonial reve- nues to be surrendered to the colonists, and less densely-peopled portion of the empire, the subsistence and the means of elevation which is denied them by the over-crowded state of population in the United Kingdom. It is one thing to lay so high an upset price on land, as in New South AVales, as to stop its sale either in the colony or in England ; it is quite another thing to give up all control, on the part of the crown, over those lands which have REDISTRIBUTION OF THE FUNDS FOR RELIGION. 211 except a ci\il list to be settled upon the crown, of an amount sufficient to defray the expenses of those services which it woukl be inexpedient to haA-e to be provided for by annual votes of the respective legislatui'es ; and a rcAdsion of the annual appropriation of the sum of ^30,000 now A^oted from the revenues of New South Wales and Port Phillip, for the support of public worship among the different churches of England, Scotland and Rome, and the Wesleyan Society ; the distribution of which is deemed to be too strongly in favour of the Church oi England, to be made on the basis of the following calculations; and the sum to be increased to £33,560 per annum : — Voted by Legislative Council, for In the present undivided colony of New South Wales. Religious Purposes. Church of England. Church of Rome. Church of Scotland. Wesleyans. Total. Distribution of £30,000 according] to Census of 1841 (existing ar-[ rangement) j Distribution of £30,000 according], to Census of 1846 J Sums -which, according to the Cen- sus of 1846, will correspond with the sum now enjoyed by the > Church of England, according to the Census of 1841 £. s. d. 17,581 2 4 15,715 17,581 £. s. d. 8,510 14 6 9,333 10,441 £. s. d. 3,136 9 11 3,634 4,066 £. s. d. 771 13 3 1,316 1,472 £ 29,998 29,998 33,560 According to the census of 1846, the dis- tribution would be — New South Wales — Chm-ch of England, £14,812; Victoria — £2,769 : ditto, ditto — Cluirch of Rome, £8,757 and £1,684: ditto, ditto— Church of Scotland, £2,979 and £1,087: ditto, ditto— Wesleyans, £1,176 and £296. The following is the census of the various religious denominations in 1 841 and 1 846,upon which the above calculations are founded : — Years. Population, 1841 Population, 1846 Church of England. I Sydney District. 67,537 79,810 P. Phillip District. 6,190 14,923 Church of Rome. Sydney District. 33,249 47,187 P. Phillip District. 2,441 9,075 Chuich of Scotland. Sydney District. 11,009 16,053 P. Phillip District. 2,144 5,856 Wesleyans. Sydney District. 2,586 6,338 P. Phillip District. 650 1,597 The report having been approved by the queen in Council, the secretary of state proceeded to act on it, and on the 11th of February, 1850, a bill for the better govern- ment of her Majesty's Australian colonies, proposed by her Majesty's ministers, was brought into parliament ; and the 19th of February following, this bill was read a second time. The following is an abstract of its leading provi-sions : — 1. The district of Port PhiUip to be sepa- rated from the Sydney or Middle district, commonly called New South Wales; and, after separation, to be named Victoria, and to constitute a separate colony ; and its boundaries on the north and north-east to be a straight line drawn from Cape Howe to the nearest som-ce of the river Murray, been acquired, in past years, by the valour, skill, and patriotic spirit of Englishmen. If tlie crown, it.s ministers, and the legislature of the United Kingdom declare they are unable to frame a system of repre- sentative colonial government, and to deal effectively and thence, by the course of that river, to the eastern boundary of the colony of South Australia. 2. That New South Wales and Port Phillip shall each possess a Legislative Council ; the number of members in the said councils to be liable to variation, and to be determined by the respective governors in council ; and one-third of the whole number of each coun- cil to be appointed by the crown or its representative, the governor of the colony, and the remaining two-thirds to be elected by the inhabitants of the colonies, accord- ing to the electoral districts and franchises which may be established by the governors in council. 3. Legislative councils to be established in South Australia and in Van Diemen's with the proceeds of the sale of crown lands for the promotion of emigration, then there is no alternative but to permit the colonists to construct their own con- stitution, and to handover to them the vast and valu- able domains of the crown in their respective territories. 212 PROPOSED CONSTITUTION FOR NEW SOUTH WALES, &c., 1850. Island; not exceeding in number twenty-four each; of wliom one-third shall be appointed by the crown. The electoral districts, the franchise, the representive qualification, and the laws for the regulation of the said coun- cils, to be determined by the colonial councils or legislatures, when created. 4. A similar legislative council may be established in Western Austraha, as soon as its colonists defray such part of the expenses of the civil establishments as is now defrayed by parliamentary grant. 5. The governors and Legislative Councils of New South Wales, Port Phillip, South Australia, VanDiemen's Island, and Western Australia have hereby authority to make laws for the peace, welfare, and good go- vernment of the said colonies respectively; and, subject to the pro\dsions of the follow- ing civil lists, may appropriate to the public ser\dce the whole of her Majesty's revenue within such colonies, arising from taxes, du- ties, rates, and imposts levied on her Majes- ty's subjects in said colonies : provided that such law be not repugnant to the law of England, or interfere in any manner with the sale or other appropriation of the lands belonging to the crown within any of the said colonies, or with the revenues tliAice arising. The governor must first authorise the specific appropriation of any sum of money, before it can be passed by the Legis- lative Council ; and the money cannot be lawfully issuable except in pursuance of warrants under the hand of the governor of the said colony, directed to the public treasurer thereof. The schedules, or civil lists, referred to in the foreaoinsr are — New South Wales. Governor Chief Justice Two Puisne Judges Salaries of the Attorney and Solicitor-Gene-] ral, Crown Solicitor, and contingent and I miscellaneous expenses of the administra- ( tion of justice throughout the colony . J Colonial Secretary, and his department . . Colonial Treasurer, and his department . . Auditor-General, and his department . . . Salary of Clerk, and miscellaneous expenses"! of Executive Council ....... J Pensions Public AVorship Victoria. Governor Judge Salaries of the Attorney-General and Crown] Solicitor, and contingent and miscellane- 1 ous expenses of the administration of jus- f tice throughout the colony J £5,000 2,000 3,000 19,000 6,500 4,000 3,000 500 2,500 28,000 2,000 1,500 5,000 Colonial Secretary, and his department • . £2,000 Colonial Treasurer, and his department . . 1,500 Auditor-General, and his department . . . 1,100 Salary of Clerk of Executive Council, audi ^^n miscellaneous expenses J Pensions 500 Public Worship 6,000 Van Diemen's Land. Governor 2,000 Chief Justice 1,500 Puisne Judge 1,200 Salaries of Attorney and Solicitor-Gene-] ral. Crown Solicitor, and contingent and I . „ o^n miscellaneous expenses of the administra- f ' tion of justice throughout the colony . J Colonial Secretary, and his department . . 2,800 Colonial Treasurer, and his department . . 1,800 Auditor-General, and his department . . . 1,600 Salary of Clerk of Executive Council, andi -/xq miscellaneous expenses / Pensions 2,000 Public Worship 15,000 South Australia. Governor 2,000 Judge 1,000 Salaries of the Advocate-General and Crown] Solicitor, and contingent and miscellane- 1 - ^^^ ous expenses of the administration of jus- 1 ' tice throughout the colony J Colonial Secretary, and his department. , . 2,000 Colonial Treasurer, and his department. . . 1,500 Auditor-General, and his department . . . 1,000 Salary of Clerk of Executive Council, andl ,„p. miscellaneous expenses J Pensions — The schedule, or civil list, for Western Aus- tralia to be not less in amount than the sum which may have been last authorized by Par- liament to defray the charge of the civil establishment, in the year previous to the assembling of a Legislative Council. 6. The governors and Legislative Councils of the several colonies may alter all or any of the sums mentioned in the foregoing schedules, and the appropriation of such sums to the services and purposes therein stated ; but such alteration cannot take efi'ect without the signification of her ISIajesty's pleasure thereon, and any saving which may accrue from such alteration shall be applied to such purposes connected with the admin- istration of the colony, as to her Majesty shall seem fit. 7. The district councils and the district police rate to be established by Act 5 & 6 Vict., c. 76, s. 41, in New South Wales, are avoided, and any letters patent issued under that Act, are revoked; but the governor may, upon petition made to him, grant char- ters under the great seal of the colony, and the same may take place in the other colo- nies in Australia. 8. The authority of the crown to disallow certain laws and ordinances is preserved. PROPOSED GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. 213 9. The governor and Legislative Councils may impose and levy import custom duties, subject to the provisions of this act, and pro- vided that no new duty be imposed upon the importation of any article at a higher rate than that levied upon the produce or manufacture of another country ; i.e., the colonies must have no discriminating duties. 10. The colonial legislatures to have full power to make further provisions for the ad- ministration of justice ; to define the con- stitution of their courts of law and equity; and to regulate the jury law; a supreme court to be created in the new province of Victoria. 10. The existing boundaries of New South AVales and of Victoria may be altered by an order of the Queen in council ; six months' notice to be given to either colony which shall not have petitioned for such alteration; and her Majesty may, on the petition of the inhabitants of the territories lying north of the thirtieth degree of latitude, erect the said territories into a separate colony. 11. The Legislative Councils of two or more of the above-named colonies may, by addresses to the governor- general of Aus- tralia, require the convocation of a general assembly, to consist of the governor-general and a house of delegates, to be elected by each Legislative Council, in the proportion of two for each colony, and one additional member for every 15,000 inhabitants in each colony; and this general assembly may make and vary its own constitution, subject to the confirmation of her Majesty in council. This general assembly to sit for three years, and then to be dissolved or prorogued by the governor-general. According to the most recent censuses, the general assembly would be thus formed : Colony. Population. Delegates. New South Wales . . . Victoria South Australia .... Van Diemen's Island West Australia (about) . . 155,000 33,000 31,000 46,000 12 4 4 5 3 Total — 2S 12. The general assembly of delegates may alter the acts 6 Vict., c. 36, and 9 and 10 Vict., c. 104, /or regulating the sale of waste lands belonging to the crown in the Australian colonies, and may make laws for selling, de- mising, granting licences for occupation of, or otherwise disposing of the waste lands of the crown in the colonics represented in such general assembly; and may impose, levy, and alter, or repeal duties of customs on the im- portation of goods into or from all the colo- nies represented in the general assembly, subjecting to appropriation to the public service of such colonics respectively by the separate legislatures thereof, such portions of the aggregate revenue as to such general assemblies may seem meet. The general assembly of delegates may also create and define the powers of a general supreme court of original jurisdiction or of appeal from the several courts of the respective colonies ; post-ofiice regulations ; weights and mea- sures ; roads, canals, or railways traversing two or more of such colonies ; the erection and maintenance of lighthouses and beacons ; the imposition of shipping dues at any port or harbour within the said colonies ; for the enactment of laws affecting the colonies represented on subjects wliich the respective Legislative Councils shall desire legislation; for the appropriation of such sums as may be necessary to the purposes designed by such legislation, and for the raising of such sums by an equal per centage on the revenues of all such colonies. But no duties to be levied upon articles imported for the supply of 'her Majesty's land or sea forces ; and no duties, charges, prohibitions, exemptions, or privileges to be enacted contrary to or at variance with any treaty concluded by her Majesty with any foreign power. 13. The power of general assembly, if disputed, to be determined by her Majesty in council. 14. The governors and Legislative Councils, with the assent of her Majesty in council, may alter the Constitution of the Legislative Councils of then* respective colonies ; instead of a Legislative Council, as before pro\aded, with one-third nominees of the crown, and two-thirds elected, they may establish a council, and a house of representatives, or other separate legislative houses, and vest in them the powers and functions of the Legis- lative Councils for which they may be sub- stituted. But any bill passed for such purpose must be reserved for the significa- tion of her ]\Iajcsty's pleasure thereon, and be laid before both houses of parliament for at least thirty days before her Majesty's pleasure be signified. 15. The crowu may nominate any of the governors of the Australian colonies governor- general of Australia. There can scarcely be a doubt, that both the report of the committee of the Privy 214 OPINIONS ON COLONIAL POLICY IN 1837 AND 1850. Council, and the bill foiiuded thereon, and introduced into parliament on the 11th Feb- ruary, 1850, have been dictated by the most hberal principles, and that her INIajesty's government, in framing them, have sincerely desired to secm*e to the Australian subjects of the crown the fullest amount of political liberty. 13ut granting the highest meed of praise to the ministers who propose to secure to Enghshmen, in every British do- minion, the inestimable blessing of free institutions; and to extend impartially to those who occupy even the most di-stant outposts of the empire, the privileges which their ancestors have gradually obtained, after centuries of sacrifice and sti'uggle — it may be still faii'ly debated, whether the proposed new constitution for the Austrahan colonists, or the proposed plan of enabling them to make or amend their own form of govern- ment, is the coirrse most likely to conduce to their ultimate well-being; and fai'ther, whether such com-se be compatible with their position as subjects of the British crown. The question happily inrites discussion, and that of a nature most hkely to elicit truth, andprompt to judicious andefl&cient measm-es, instead of forming the grounds of a mere party or parliamentary contest. There can be no difference of opinion as to the necessity of granting, as soon as may be, local self- government to the Anglo-Saxon race in Australia, to the fui'thest extent compatible with their relation to the sovereign of this realm. For the weU-being of the Australians themselves, it is evidently very important, that whatever form of government be now granted, it should, at least for some years to come, be definitely settled by the Imperial Legislatui'e, and not left to be a standing bone of contention among conflicting inter- ests, by which the industrial proceedings of the colonists would be disturbed, — their feelings, if not indeed engaged in violent internecine democratic strife, at least kept in a state of feverish excitement, their attention being perpetually directed to the framing of constitutions which may not be agreed on for years to come, instead of their whole energies being engaged in the farther deve- lopment and improvement of the resources of the fine country which already bears such indisputable proofs of their persevering and well-directed industry. So far as the opinion of the colonists of New South Wales can be gathered from their petitions and recorded opinions, they object to the abrogation of their present electoral franchise, by the transfer of theii votes to electoral colleges or district councils, by which the elective power would be lodged iu the hands of small irresponsible bodies, A\Tio practically would, in many instances, be nominated by the governor ; and, even if that were not the case, would be probably directed by other influences than those of their constituents. But I cannot find through- out the official documents any conclusive expression against the estabhshment of two houses of legislature, such as now exist in Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Jamaica, and other possessions of the crown; and which, even in Canada, have worked well for the past ten years. My own opinions on this t point have long been recorded ; while ad- vocating the fullest grant of political liberty j to our colonies consistent with their relation [ to the parent and governing state, I have | always contended, that the link of political connection should not depend merely on a governor representing the crown. In my work on the Colo?iial Policy of the British Empire, published in 1837, the opinions I then and still entertain, are expressed as follows : — Centuries of experience have demonstrated the beneficial practical working of the British constitu- tion in its three constituent, independent, and yet har- monizing branches of king, lords, and commons ; and as far as it is possible, and at suitable periods, I would wish to see the colonies enjoying similar con- stitutions ; the governor representing the crown, the legislative council the lords, and the house of assembly the commons. It must be gratifying to all friends of rational freedom to reflect, that England has ever been foremost in bestowing on her distant settlements the advantages of her own political institutes, thus evincing a true sense of justice ; whereas, as Mon- tesquieu rightly observes, a republic governs its con- quered provinces with more absolute and intolerable sway than a monarchy, and its remote possessions suffer all the evils without enjoying any of the ad- vantages of monarchical government. "With certain limitations elsewhere explained, the colonies enjoy all the advantages of the British constitution, so far as is compatible with their situation as distant pro- vinces of an empire. The limitation of exception is, that the Legislative Council is nominated by the crown for life, or during the official tenure of those civil servants who are ex officio entitled to a seat in the Legislative Council. A question has, however, been recently raised by a party in Lower Canada,* as to the advantage of making the Legislative Coun- cil an elective body, instead of being, as at present, nominated by the king through the secretary of state. However desirous I feel for the extension of just principles, I cannot — looking to the slow progress * This chapter was written in October, 1836, and consequently, before the debates on Lower Canada, relative to an elective Legislative Council, came on in the British parliament. NECESSITY OF AN HEREDITARY AND AN ELECTIVE CHAMBER. 215 of rational freedom, and remembering that moral and mental independence of character are essentially necessary to the due exercise of the elective franchise — I cannot desire, either in the mother country or in her colonies, two elective chambers. It may be said that the upper house (Legislative Council,) would be chosen by a higher class of elec- tors than those who return members to the lower house, and that, therefore, the popular voice would be more calmly exercised, and property would have its due weight in the making of laws for the coun- try;* but it is impossible to deny that even the higher classes in England (and how much more so in the colonies) are, to a certain extent, liable to great ex- citement, that their will is not always under the control of their reason, and that in times of political effervescence they would be almost as subject to the influence of their stormy passions as their poorer, though equally honest brethren. Those who have not mixed in colonial society can have but a faint idea of the extent to which party feeling on political subjects arrives ; the animosities thus produced are of the bitterest nature — poisoning the very core of society, and destroying even the peace of families. Now, looking at domestic tranquillity, security of person, lightness of taxation, and freedom from oppressive laws, as the great and desirable advan- tages of political institutes, it would be insanity or criminality to throw a fu'ebrand into the small com- munity of a colony, with a pretence of gaining some Utopian object. Independently, however, of social considerations, we have no instance on record of any state long main- taining its political freedom either under a single chamber of representatives, or under two elective chambers, the one folding no control or check over the other, and both at the mercy of fluctuating popu- lar favouritism, jealousy, and caprice. Since the aboli- tion of the hereditary chamber of peers in France, but few traces of liberty have remained to the people, and the restoration of an hereditary peerage is now seriously entreated. The very antagonistic forces which an hereditary and an elective chamber ex- ercise, are essential to the preservation of the powers of both. Gibbon, in reference to the Iloman repub- lic, correctly observes — " as both the consuls and the tribunes in their public and private interests were averse to each other, their mutual conflicts con- tributed for the most part to strengthen rather than to destroy the balance of the constitution ; but when the consular and tribunitian powers were united — when they were vested for life in a single person — when the general of the army was at the same time the minister of the senate, and the representative of the Iloman people, it was impossible to resist the exercise, nor was it easy to define the limits, of his imperial prerogative."! The United States may be cited, perhaps, as an example in favour of the adoption of two elective chambers ; but it should be remembered, that a few centuries of such government must be experienced, ere we pronounce authoritatively on a subject which * !Mr. Labouchere, a gentleman whom I much respect, stated, in the Canada debate in the House of Commons on the 8th March, 1837, that the old American colonies of England had elective legislative councils ; but it Mill be found that it was the char- tered and not the crown colonies which had such assemblies. Adam Smith says, that in three of the frovernments of the New England colonies, the legis- lative councils were chosen by the representatives of inspires with weU-founded alarm, the most honest and able statesmen, who clearly see with Gibbon, that in elective monarchies the vacancy of the throne is a moment big witli danger and mischief. We must wait and witness the effects of civiHzation, of a dense population, of adverse interests ; we must watch the conduct of men who, like Marius and Casar, com- menced by declaring themselves the protectors of the people, and ended by subverting the liberties of their country. Moreover, we should remember that the United States are a republic, and I do not think England is disposed to change her hereditary, con- stitutional monarch for an annual or quinquennial president. Let us hear, however, the language of the most enlightened men of the United States on this im- portant subject. Judge Story, himself a republican, in his commentaries on the constitution of the United States of America, in treating of the senate thus ex- presses his views on this topic : " Another and most important advantage arising from this ingredient is, the great difference which it creates in the elements of the two branches of the legislature ; which consti- tutes a great desideratum in every practical division of legislative power. In fact, this division (as has been already intimated.) is of little or no intrinsic value, unless it is so organised, that each can operate as a real check upon undue and rash legislation. If each branch is substantially framed upon the same plan, the advantages of the division are shadowy and imaginative : the visions and speculations of the brain, and not the waking thoughts of statesmen or patriots. It may be safely asserted, that for all the purposes of liberty, and security of stable laws, and of solid insti- tutions, of personal rights, and of the protection of property, a single branch is quite as good as two, if their composition is the same, and their spirit and impulses the same. Each will act as the other does; and each will be led by some common influence of ambition, or intrigue, or passion, to the same disre- gard of public interests and the same indifference to and prostration of private rights. It will only be a duplication of the evils of oppression and rashness, with a duplication of obstruction to effective redress. In this view the organization of the senate becomes of inestimable value.' Again he says, ' The improba- bility of sinister combination will always be in pro- portion to the dissimilarity of the genius of the two bodies; and therefore every circumstance consistent with harmony in all proper measures, which points out a distinct organization of the component mate- rials of each, is desirable." Another eminent writer on the constitution of the United States, the late chancellor Kent, in treat- ing of the necessity of the powers of government being placed in separate hands, says : ' The division of the legislature into two separate and independent branches is founded on such ol)vious princij)les of good policy, and is so strongly recommended by the unequivocal language of experience, that it has ob- tained the general approbation of the people of this country. One great object of this separation of the the people ; in Coiuiecticut and lUiode Island, the governor was elected by the colonists ; and in some the revenue officers who collected the taxes were assessed by the people. Pennsylvania, which was a proprietary government, was a scene of never-ending contentions, and the colonists even petitioned the king to take its affairs under the management of the crown. t Decline atid Fall vol i. p. 105. 216 DANGERS OF A SINGLE LEGISLATIVE CHAMBER. legislatures into two houses acting separately, and 1 with co-ordinate powers, is to destroy the evil effects of sudden and strong excitement and of precipitate measures, springing from passion, caprice, prejudice, personal inriuence, and party intrigue, and which have been found by sad experience, to exercise a potent and dangerous sway in tjingle assemblies. A nasty decision is not so likely to arrive at the solem- nities of a law when it is to be arrested in its course and made to undergo the deliberation, and probably the jealous and critical revision, of another and a rival body of men, sitting in a different place, and under better advantages, to avoid the prepossessions and correct the errors of the other branch. The legislatures of Pennsylvania and Georgia consisted originally of a single house.* The instability and passion which marked their proceedings were very visible at the time, and the subject of much public animadversion : and in the subsequent reform of their constitutions, the people were so sensible of this de- fect, and of the inconvenience they had suffered from it, that in both states a senate was introduced. No portion of the political history of mankind is more full of instructive lessons on this subject, or contains more striking proofs of the faction, instability, and misery of states under the dominion of a single, un- checked assembly, than those of the Italian republics of the middle ages, and which arose in great numbers, and with dazzling but transient splendour, in the interval between the fall of the western and eastern empire of the Romans. They were all alike ill-con- stituted, with a single unbalanced assembly. They were all alike miserable, and all ended in similar dis- grace. Many speculative writers and theoretical poli- ticians about the time of the commencement of the French revolution, were struck with the simplicity of a legislature with a single assembly, and concluded that more than one house was useless and expensive. This led the elder president Adams to write and pub- lish his great work, entitled A Defence of the Con- stitution of Government of the United States, in which he vindicates with much learning and ability, the value and necessity of the division of the legislature into two branches, and of the distribution of the dif- ferent powers of the government into distinct depart- ments. He reviewed the history and examined the construction of all mixed and free governments, which had ever existed, from the earliest records of time, in order to deduce with more certainty and force this great practical truth, that single assemblies without check or balance, or a government with all authority collected into one centre, according to the notion of M.Turgot, were visionary, violent, intriguing, corrupt, and tyrannical dominations of majorities over minori- ties, and uniformly and rapidly terminating their career in a profligate despotism." Mr. Jefferson, late President of the United States, in his remarks on the constitution of his native state, Virginia, says, " All the powers of government, legis- lative, executive, and judiciary, result to the legisla- tive body. The concentrating these in the same hands is precisely the definition of a despotic govern- ment. It will be no alleviation, that these powers will be exercised by a plurality of hands, and not by a single one. One hundred and seventy-three des- pots would surely be as oppressive as one. Let those •who doubt it, turn their eyes on the republic of Venice. An elective despotism is not the government * Franklin's favourite but mistaken idea was a sin- gle legislature and a plural executive. we fought for; but one which should not only be founded on free principles, but in which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among several bodies of magistracy, as that no one could transcend their legal limits without being effec- tually checked and restrained by the others." With reference, however, to the highly important consideration of having no check on the irregular exercise of popular power, the link that binds the colony to the mother country, so far as government can do so, would be materially, if not entirely injured by the substitution of an elective legislative council for one appointed by the crown through the function- aries of the state. A governor, without any control over the two houses of legislature in a colony, would be reduced to a political cypher, and the adoption of the elective principle in a governor would soon take the place of his nomination by the king ; in fact, the indepen dence of, and separation from the mother country, would virtually occur, whether officially announced or otherwise, the colony thereby deriving all the ad- vantages of the connection, while the parent state Avould lose everything which made the possession valuable to the empire. It is not necessary to discuss here the relative advantages of the monarchical or elective principle in government; as before stated, the former has been tested by centuries in England, and found conducive to the greatest portion of happiness that a nation has yet possessed ; so long, thei'efore, as a colony be united with Great Britain, it cannot be the desire or the interest of any practical statesman to alienate or weaken the just prerogatives and rightful power of the crown. It seems to be totally forgotten by those who go the length of demanding an elective legislative coun- cil, that there is a wide difference between an impe- rial and a provincial government ; that the former must of necessity have a control over the latter, so long as they maintain towards each other their rela- tive positions of protecting and protected states. When the latter has ceased to be a colony, it is, of course, free to choose its own government, but so long as it remains in that state it has no right to ask, much less to demand, from the mother country democratic institutions which she herself does not possess, and the granting of which, if she did, would be fatal to all permanence of political or social connection. The power held by the crown of appointing for life the members of the legislative council is, if pro- perly regulated under the management of the pro- posed colonial board, of great benefit to the colony ; it stimulates the wealthy and intelligent colonists to distinguish themselves, in order that they may attain the highest rank in their respective countries, and be deemed worthy tlie approbation of their sovereign. There is thus an honourable emulation kept up, which is of the most essential advantage in every community ; for, as it is finely expressed by Sir Wil- liam Blackstone (and the remark is as applicable to a colony as to the parent state), " The distinction of rank and honour is necessary in every well-governed state, in order to reward such as are eminent for their services to the public, in a manner most desir- able to individuals, and yet without burden to the community; exciting thereby an ambitious yet laud- able ardour, and generous emulation in others. And emulation, or virtuous ambition, is a s])ring of action Avhich, however dangerous or invidious in a mere republic, or under a despotic sway, will certainly he LAWS AND COURTS OF NEW SOUTH WALES IN 1850. 317 ttended with good effects under a free monarchy ; where, without destropng its existence, its excesses may be continually restrained by that superior power from which all honour is derived. Such a spirit, when nationally diffused, gives life and vigour to the community ; it sets all the wheels of government in motion, which, under a wise regulator, may be directed to any beneficial purpose ; and thereby every indi- vidual may be made subservient to the public good, while he principally means to promote his own par- ticulEir views. ^ " A body of nobdity is also more peculiarly neces- sary in our mixed and compounded constitution, in order to support the rights of both the crown and the people, by forming a barrier to withstand the encroachments of both. It creates and preserves that gradual scale of dignity, which proceeds from the peasant to the prince ; rising like a pyramid from a broad foundation, and diminishing to a point as it rises. It is this ascending and contracting proportion that adds stability to any government ; for when the departure is sudden from one extreme to the other, we may pronounce that state to be precarious. " The nobility, therefore, are the pUlars which are reared from among the people, more immediately to support the thi'one ; and if that falls, they must be also buried under its ruins. Accordingly, when in the last century the Commons had determined to ex- tirpate monarchy, they also voted the House of Lords to be useless and dangerous. 'And since titles of nobility are thus expedient in the state, it is also expedient that their owners should form an inde- pendent and separate branch of the legislature. If they were confounded with the mass of the people, and, like them, had only a vote in electing represen- tatives, their privileges would soon be borne down and overwhelmed by the popular torrent, which would effectually level all distinctions. It is, there- fore, highly necessary that the body of nobles should have a distinct assembly, distinct deliberations, and distinct powers from the commons."* The bill for the government of the Aus- tralian colonies is now (15th March, 1850) before the Imperial Parliament, where it will doubtless receive a fair and full dis- cussion. I have confeiTcd with no member of the legislature thereon; received no pri- vate information; and formed mj judgment solely from the facts published by parha- ment ; and belie\ing that it is the anxious desire of the queen, of her Majesty's minis- ters, and of all parties in both the Houses of Lords and Commons, to act ^vith a just and liberal spirit towards the Australian colonies, I can only venttore to express an earnest hope, that a measure conducive to the hap- piness of the colonists, and calculated to maintain their connection with England, may be the result of the deliberations of the Imperial Legislatm-e. [See Supplement.] Laws and Courts. — The statute laws of England are in force in the colony, aided by I cts of Parliament and local enactments by * The state of France, in 1850, under a single chamber, is a practical illustration of the dangers attendant on one Legislative Assembly. DIV. II. the governor and Legislative Council. An Insolvent Debtors' Act is in operation, the benefit of which may be obtained by an insolvent a second or third time, if he pay fifteen shillings in the pound. Any public officer taking advantage of the provisions of the Insolvent Act, is, by an order of the secretary of state, dismissed the service. The execution of the laws devolves upon a supi'eme court, presided over by a chief and two puisne judges, whose powers are as extensive as those of the courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, at Westminster. The supreme court is a court of oyer and terminer, and gaol delivery ; it is also a coLU't of equity, with all the power, within its jurisdiction, of the lord high chancellor of England ; and it is a court of admiralty for criminal offences, within cer- tain limits ; it is empowered to grant letters of administration, and it is an insolvent debtors' court. From the supreme court an appeal Hes in all actions, when the sum or matter at issue exceeds the value of £500, to the governor or acting governor, who is directed to hold a court of appeals, from which a final appeal lies to the Queen in council. The supreme court is provided with an attorney and solicitor-general. There are 36 barristers, and 144 solicitors practising in the court. The sheriff exer- cises, by his deputies, the duties of his office over the whole territory. Circuit courts are held in different parts of the colony; they are courts of record, and stand in the same relation to the supreme court as courts oi oyer and terminer, and of assize and nisi prills, in England, do to the king's superior courts of record at Westminster. Courts of general and quarter sessions have the same powers as those of England, and while the colony was a penal settlement, they might also take cognizance, in a summary way, of all crimes not puuishable by death, com- mitted by convicts whose sentences had not expired, or had not been remitted. A rice-admiralty court, presided over by the chief justice of the supreme court, takes cognizance of civil cases only, such as .sea- men's wages, &c. There is an ecclesiastical com-t for clerical matters; but this cotu't has no jurisdiction in testamentary affairs, the charter of justice having empowered the supreme court to grant letters of adminis- tration, and direct the distribution of tes- tators' effects. Courts of requests have been established under authority 9 Geo. IV., c. 83, for summarily determining claims not ex- 2 D 218 INEFFECTIVE MILITARY DEFENCES OF SYDNEY. ceeding .£10 sterling, except the matter in question relates to the title of any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, or to the taking or demanding of any duty payable to her Majesty, or to any fee of office, annual rents, or other such matter, where rights in future would be bound, or to a general right or duty, and to award costs.* The decision of the court is final and summary, as in Eng- land. One commissioner, appointed by the crown, presides in all the courts of requests throughout the colony. Imprisonment for debt was abolished by the Insolvent Act passed in 1844, on the grounds: — 1st. That the imprisonment of the debtor gave a vindictive creditor the power of depriving other creditors of their right to benefit by the labour of their debtor; 2nd. That it drove the debtor, however much he might wish to devote his energies to the payment of his obligations, to seek refuge in the insolvent court. By the assent of a majority of the creditors, a debtor under this act may make a voluntary assignment of his property to the trustees appointed by the creditors, provided such assignment be published three times in one of the Sydney newspapers. In the earlier stages of the colony, crimi- nal juries were formed of naval and military officers, and civil causes were determined by a judge and two sworn assessors. Now juries, selected as in England, sit in all civil and criminal cases. In 1844 a new jury law was passed by the colonial Legislative Coun- cil, by which in civil cases there need only be four jurymen; if, after deliberating four hours, they cannot arrive at a unanimous judgment, the opinion of three-fourths may be taken as conclusive; and if, after delib- erating twelve hours, the jury of four can- not agree, a new trial must take place. Mr. Baker, a lawyer of the Inner Temple, who visited New South Wales, says that the " Sydney bar is highly respectable in cha- racter, and is, certainly, the most numerous, and perhaps, taken as a whole, the best English bar out of England ; several of its members earn from £1,000 to £3,000 a-year, or more." Mr. Baker fancied himself " transported to England," on entering the Supreme Court at Sydney, and seeing three judges on the bench, the registrar and other officers at their feet, the attorney-general and solicitor-general in their silk gowns, the crowd of " learned" gentlemen behind them; • These powers are so laid down by Mr. H. W. Parker, in Mr. Clark's Summary of Col'unial Law. all, from the judges downwards, duly wigged and robed, and the attorne3^s, hardly dis- cernible from amidst the heaps of red and blue bags, and piles of red-tape bundles, in which they delight to bury themselves. Coroners are stationed in diff'erent districts, and great attention is rightly paid to this ancient and very important branch of juris- prudence, ^ere are benches of unpaid magistrates at Sydney and in all the principal towns in the colony, aided by civil constables and a mounted police. There are several stipendiary magistrates. Military Defence. — New South Wales and the other Australian colonies are per- fectly defenceless against a foreign enemy; a hostile fleet might enter Sydney Cove, plunder the merchant shipping in the har- bour, and lay the capital under contribution, mthout any effectual resistance being offered, for the few British troops that are in the colony are scattered at different outposts, and there is no militia in existence ; and yet at a comparatively small cost, the harbour of Port Jackson, which would hold the entire fleet of England, might be rendered per- fectly impregnable, and be made one of the strongest positions in the world. The entrance of Port Jackson is formed by two lofty headlands, distant about one mile and- a-half from each other, and appear like gigantic lock-gates within which the noble haven expands for fifteen miles into numerous coves, where vessels lie as sheltered as if they were in the London Docks. On the north and south heads of Port Jackson, batteries mounted with sixty-eight pounders would effectually command the entrance, across which, in time of war, a chain-boom might be drawn, supported by buoys. Di- rectly in front of the entrance is the elevated George's Head, on which a battery of heavy guns might also be advantageously placed ; so that with these three batteries, no hostile ship, even with a leading wind, could enter without being destroyed or disabled. There are several other islets in the harbour where well-constructed fortresses, and a citadel, with a few guns well manned, would tend to the effectual protection of Sydney Cove, and of the city,- the few batteries now on either side of the Cove are merely fit for firing salutes. With the sea entrance well de- fended, it is not likely that any successful attempt could be made for the capture of the city of Sydney, by landing a force on the north-east shores of Botany Bay, as the Australians would be enabled to defend tlieir country on a line of fifteen miles of broken country, capable of being made very harassing to an enemy. It would be ad- visable that the colonists should immediately set about the defence of Port Jackson ; ap- propriate annually a moderate sum towards the construction of batteries at the heads ; obtain from England heavy-metalled guns, and boom chains of sufficient length. A small battalion of colonial artillery should be organised; and, for this purpose, the queen would probably permit some of the most efficient gunners in the royal artillery to be drafted into the Australian corps. It is also indispensable to the security of the Australian colonies, that a militia law be passed, providing for the embodiment and training of every man between eighteen and forty-five years of age, capable of bearing arms, as is the case in our North American- provinces, and other colonies. Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfound- land, and even Prince Edward Island, have each an effective militia ; and, in the event of hostilities with the United States, or any other country, they could bring immediately into the field, fully armed and equipped, at least a quarter of a million of trained sol- diery. New South Wales, and the other Australian colonies, under their new consti- tution, will possess full control over their own revenue and expenditure; and they cannot 3xpect the people of England to pay, out of the exchequer of this heavily-taxed country, jor their fortifications and military defence. In time of war, England would, without doubt, send her fleets and troops to every part of this wide-spread empire ; but her Dest defence must be the patriotism and jravery of tlie colonists themselves. During the American war of 1811-12, the French and English Canadian militia successfully resisted the American troops of the line; and but for the gallant conduct of that loyal body of British subjects, the regular regiments of our soldiery would have been inadequate to the defence of Canada. Thus must it be with the Australian colonists. The Imperial Parliament is granting them perfectly free institutions ; and one of its necessary conditions must be, the providing adequately for their own defence against ag- gression. The number of her Majesty's troops in the several settlements in Australia, in Van Diemen's Island, and in New Zealand, is stated to be about 2,500; but, of these, nearly a moiety are stationed at New Zea- land, in consequence of the recent hosti- lities between the British and the aborigines; and a large number are employed at Van Diemen's Island, in guarding the convicts sent from England; it is unfair, therefore, to speak of New South Wales being a heavy charge to the crown for military protection ; the colonists are quite able to provide their own internal police, and do not require Bri- tish soldiers for that purpose. As regards Victoria or Port Phillip — Melbourne, the capital, and the harbour of Geelong, have not a single gun for their protection; Southern and Western Australia, and Van Diemen's Island, are also without defensive batteries or militia ; and no time should be lost by the colonists in placing their territories in a state capable, at least, of some protection ; for it is impossible to say, in the present anomalous state of Europe, how long England, or any other country, may enjoy the blessings of peace. For myself, I hate war ; it engenders every bad passion in human nature ; and is, consequently, repugnant to the first principles of Christianity, while, in a mere economical sense, it dissipates wealth, destroys industry, and converts men into mere machines for the slaughter of each other; but my own limited experience in the naval and military service of the crown, has taught me to esti- mate the value of an effective national defence, as being, under Providence, the best security for peace. The nation that would preserve its independence, in the present im- perfect state of practical Christianity, must maintain a standing army and a fleet afloat ; and this necessity Avill continue until the day arrive, when " nation shall no longer rise up against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Then, indeed, may we "turn our swords into pruning-hooks;" but, until then, Ave must keep them in readiness, though the less they are used the better. The number of troops of the line in New South Wales and Port Phillip, in December, 1848, was — field-officers, 6; officers, 42; non-commissioned officers and privates, 908 = 1,046. The troops are widely scat- tered, viz. — at Sydney, and in the forts in the Harbour, 706; Fort INIacquarie, 12; Goat Island, 13; Cockatoo Island, 58; Paramatta (15 miles from Sydney), 29; Blackheath (66 miles), 48; Newcastle (75 miles), 28; Moreton Bay (450 miles), 34; Port Phillip (600 miles), 58; attached to mounted police, 20. The mounted police consists of 6 officers; 18 scijeants; 13 cor- porals ; troopers, 74 mounted ; 19 dis mounted =: 130. [See Supplement.] 220 CHAPTER VI. REVEXUE A^TD EXPENDITURE OF NEW SOUTH WALES, MONETARY STATE, &c. For several years, the expenditure required for the maintenauce of New South Wales, as a penal settlement, was borne chiefly by the British exchequer. The committee of the House of Commons, which sat in 1837-38, on transportatioD, referring to the cost of New South Wales and of Van Die- men^s Island, as penal settlements, adduce the following statement : — " It has been impossible for your committee to ob- tain an accurate statement of the total amount of British funds expended on the two penal colonies since their foundation, as the accounts have hitherto been kept principally with a view to their examination and audit, and not framed so as to afford the statistical information requii-ed. The sum really expended on account of the penal colonies, exceeds the subjoined estimate, which, however, may be considered suffici- ently to approximate to the ti-ue amount, to give, the house an idea of what has been the cost of the pun- ishment of ti"ansportation : — Cost of the transport of convicts . . . £2,729,790 Disbursements for general, convict, andi . qq, ^gi colonial services J ' ' Military expenditure 1,632,302 Ordnance 29,846 Total from 1786 to 31st March, 1837, 8,483,519 Deduct premium on Bills, Coins, &c., 507,195 £7,976,324 " The number of con%'icts transported to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land up to the end of the year 1836, were 96,558 ; their conveyance to those colonies has, therefore, cost about £28 per head on the average ; and the various expenses consequent upon their residence and punishment there has been at least £54 a head, in all more than £82 a head, how much more it is impossible for your committee to ascertain. " The expense entailed upon this country by the penal colonies, has been, on the average since their commencement, £156,398 a year; but at present the annual expenditure is more than treble that amount, and is rapidly increasing every year. That expendi- ture can now be ascertained with considerable accu- racy, as the commissariat accounts have been kept in an improved form since 1832. It should be remarked that the estimates for the penal colonies are not voted in one sum, but are scattered through various portions of the general estimates ; for instance, the transport of convicts is defrayed out of the navy estimates ; the pay of troops, out of the army estimates ; the mainienance, &c., out of the miscellaneous estimates ; the various dry stores required, out of the ordnance estimates, and innumerable sundries are paid out of the army extraordinaries. " The following was the expenditure of this coun- try on account of New South Wales and Van Die- men's Land in the years 1836-37 : — New SorxH Wales :— Ordinaries of the army • £46,801 Commissariat 3,450 Ordnance 12,014 Navy 4,641 Extraordinaries of the army 55,625 Special disbursements for convicts . . . 127.949 Vax Diemen's Land : — Ordinaries of the army 16,354 Commissariat 2,059 Ordnance 11,625 Navy 515 Extraordinaries of the army 20,867 Special disbursements for conncts . . . 113,083 Transport of convicts 73,030 Total expenditure . . . £488,013 " In 1836 the number of convicts in the two colo- nies amounted to above 60,000, and in that year the cost to this country was little more than £6 : 16s. a head ; in the same year about 5,475 persons were transported at the expense of about £13 : 6s. a head. In these estimates of the expense of the system of transportation, neither the cost of the convict estab- lishment at Bermuda, nor of the hulks at home, are included." It is evident, from the foregoing state- ment, that without reference to the moral part of the question of transportation, it is the cheapest mode of disposing of our crimi- nals. Including all the heavy charges from 1787 to the close of the war in 1815, it appears that about 100,000 contacts have cost less than £8,000,000, or £S0 each. Taking the average period of sentence at ten 3'ears for each prisoner, this shews a charge of about £S a year for each convict, and during the year 1836, it was only £6 : 16s. Under the most economical management, a convict costs, in the Milbank Penitentiary, England, all things included, £25 a year ; foiu' times what he would cost the state, if a proper system of penal colonization were car- ried into eflect ; and the details in this volume prove the great amount of moral reformation which has taken place in New South Wales. The retention, in the United Kingdom, of 5,000 convicts a-year, would soon prove a hea\y charge on the home exchequer; and when the period of their imprisonment is ftilfilled, what is to become of them ? The most humane and Christian policy is the fotindation of settlements like that of New South Wales. Revenue. — It is unnecessary to enter into details of the earlv collections of revenue REVENUE OF NEW SOUTH WALES FROM 1824 TO 1848. 221 in the colony. The limited number of free inhabitants, the few exportable products they possessed for several years, and the disinclination of the home government to press heavily on the colonists, prevented any endeavour to le^^ a large income for even their local government. The following state- ment of the revenue of the colony of New South Wales, from 1824 to 1848, is given in detail in a Parliamentary paper of 27th August, 1839, and subsequently from various returns. (It includes Port Phillip) — Year. General Revenue. From Land. Total. 1824 £49,191 £279 £49,471 1825 65,733 5,948 71,681 1826 69,478 2,742 72,220 1827 75,495 2,814 79,309 1828 91,306 5,437 96,743 1829 99,475 3,309 102,784 1830 102,743 1,985 104,729 1831 117,447 3,617 121,065 1832 122,163 13,683 135,847 1833 138,469 26,272 164,741 1834 161,960 43,482 205,442 1835 184,268 89,380 2V3,648 1836 198,129 132,396 330,526 1837 226,900 127,866 354,766 1838 220,780 125,729 346,509 1839 252,996 172,273 425,269 1840 332,332 354,060 686,392 1841 370,273 117,120 487,393 1842 371,937 63,149 435,086 1843 " 322,388 47,742 370,130 1844 274,185 44,524 318,709 1845 288,788 69,557 357,345 1846 270,550 76,271 346,821 1847 275,543 122,843 398,386 1848 295,566 105,281 400,847 The general revenue included duties on spirits imported or distilled in the colony ; on tobacco imported; five per cent., ad valorem, on goods imported; fees, fines, licences, and other miscellaneous items. The total sum collected during the fourteen years ending 1837, on these branches of taxation, was £1,702,762. Of this, the spirits im- ported yielded £1,051,624; spirits distilled in colony, £15,364. Tobacco, £133,778; malt and spirit retail licences, £90,770 ; five per cent, custom duties, £79,535 ; fees of pubHc officers, £74,296 ; proceeds of sales of different things, £48,652 ; tolls, ferries, and markets, £40,042 ; post-office coUections (from 1828), £29,988 ; wharfage dues, £27,581 ; auction duties, £25,410. The other items were under £20,000. The total income derived from land, during the same period, was £460,217 ; of this, £428,936 were the proceeds of land sold, and £13,150 quit-rents. The amount of land sold in the first year of the period, was £279; in the last year, £120,427. This statement shows a heavy taxation. The details of fixed revenue of New South Wales (not including Port Phillip) for the year 1847-48, are thus shown :— Items. 1847. Duties : — On spirits imported . . . Ditto, distilled in colony . . Tobacco, imported .... Ad val. on goods imported . Tonnage on shipping in sup-) port of water police . i A^^larfage Dues : — Entrance and clearance ofi vessels i Light house Harbour Post office collections . . . Auction duty Licences : — Auctioneers' Retail spirits, &:c Night and day billiard tables Distillers' and rectifiers ' . . Hawkers' and pedlars' . . Rent of tolls and ferries . . . Assessment on live stock be-i yond Settled Districts* . / Fees in public offices .... Fines of courts of justice, &c. . Licidental Ditto Territorial or Crown : — Sale of crown lands, and townl allotments, S:c. . . . / Quit Rents Redemption of ditto . . Licences for depasturing stock , within Settled Districts . j" Ditto beyond ditto .... To cut timber on crown lands Rent of quarries .... Rent of government build-} ings and premises . . J Collections for church and-i school estates . . . . f Other territorial sources . . Special receipts and surcharges. Total revenue and receipts 264,820 267,449 £58,715 14,091 38,915 26,956 627 1,339 696 709 681 14,103 4,834 433 20,615 2,110 75 241 5,331 1,127 9,631 1,510 4,921 751 8,129 824 13,914 2,836 23,821 218 5 91 4,682 249 1,640 1848. £63,851 9,231 36,089 18,985 695 1,165 807 890 742 14,458 3,249 587 22,999 2,440 75 264 3,972 14,095 9,730 2.505 2,681 4,176 7,036 4,277 147 1,166 26,490 344 10 140 4,116 35 2 The territorial revenue for 1848, in the colony, including New South Wales and Port Phillip, was £103,284; and the total revenue and receipts for the same year, of the territorial and general taxation and assessments, &c., was £401,850. * The assessment on stock depastured on crown lands, beyond the settled districts of New South Wales : annually was — every horse, 3^. ; head of horned cattle, \hd.; each sheep, ^d. Pending the issue of licenses, under her Majesty's order in council of 9th March, 1847, £10 for 4,000 sheep and forty head of cattle, and a proportionate increase for larger numbers. (Sec next page for other sources of revenue.) 222 DETAILS OF EXPENDITURE IN NEW SOUTH WALES, 1847-8. The expenditm-e in detail of New South Wales alone, exclusive of Port Phillip, was — Items. 1847. 1848. Civil : — Governor arid establishment . £5,561 £5,645 Executive Council .... 488 582 Legislative Council .... 3,327 2,657 Col. Secretary's department . 6,098 6,534 Registrar-General's „ 970 1,007 Col. Treasurer's „ 3,633 •3,814 Auditor-General's ,. 2,802 2,999 Customs' ,. 11,066 10,747 Chief Ins. of Distilleries.. 1,525 1,605 Post Office 12,194 14,707 Post Master's „ 3,212 4,369 Col. Architect's „ 1,309 1,269 Col. Storekeeper's „ 859 1,120 Botanic Garden „ 528 891 Government Printer's „ 1,546 2,002 Total 55,123 35,593 Judicial : — Supreme Court department . 8,729 8,995 Crown Law Officers' „ 3,520 3,243 Insolvent Estates „ 444 506 Courts of Or. Sessions „ 2,193 2,223 „ of Requests ,. 2,096 2,270 Sheriffs' 2,788 2,829 Coroners' „ 1,706 1,997 Total 21,480 22,067 Police* :— Sydney City police .... 7,769 7,464 „ Water „ ... 1,182 1,432 Within settled Districts . . 21,387 21,229 Beyond the settled Districts . 5,067 8,365 Mounted police 10.942 9,177 Border , 1,376 — Native „ — 227 Total 47,725 47,897 Gaols : — Sydney £3,180 £3,466 Country districts 4,336 4,246 Total 7,516 7,713 Medical : — Health Officer and Med. Board 328 325 Lunatic Asylum 3,044 3,794 Total 3,370 4,119 Clergy and Churches : — Ch. of England established . 14,401 14,114 Ditto building churches, &c. . 3,411 3,015 Presbyterian established . . 2,101 2,127 Ditto building churches . . 182 400 Wesleyan established . . . 800 662 Roman Catholic established . 5,536 5,780 Ditto building chapels . . . 1,812 3,088 Total 2S,244 29,188 ♦ There are 32 police districts in New South Wales. The police are in number 361. The average expense for this protection, to each inhabitant, is under 4s. per head. Items. Schools : — Protestant Male Orphan . „ Female Orphan Church of England Public Presbyterian „ Wesleyan „ f Institution for Des-- R. Cath.j titute Children \ (Public Schools . . Denominational School Board National ,, ,, . l^otal Miscellaneous. Pensions paid in the colony Public Institutions :— Support and medical treat- 1 ment of free paupers . j In aid of Sydney Dispensary. Hospital, Paramatta . . . „ Windsor . . „ Goulbourn , . . „ Bathurst . . . „ Maitland . . . Mechanics' School of Arts . Colonial Museum .... Vaccination Public buildings and works . . Witnesses Supreme Court . . „ Quarter Sessions . . Travelling expenses, judges, &c. Advances to Col. Agent General „ towards new Mil. Barracks . „ on account Gov. New Zealand „ South Australia .... „ Van Diemen's Island . . . „ Madras Revenue and receipts returned . All other disbursements . . . Total 1847. 1,471 1,268 4.032 1,921 549 1,168 1,846 12,258 1848. 1,489 1,603 3,991 1,736 570 1,264 1,784 137 4 12,582 576 Arrears of previous years Gross total, Sydney district 244,541 252,638 593 548 903 627 763 — 37 141 174 208 198 139 69 188 234 200 200 300 300 75 100 31,781 33,755 1,806 2,210 903 1,213 850 802 16,085 17,886 8,250 — 153 2,304 — 299 — 50 — 36 3,282 3,723 2,352 2,347 68,473 68,196 349 917 Licences. — Annual : auctioneers, for all the colony, £15; for a police district, only £2 ; publicans, general, £30 ; wine and beer only, £10; bilHard table, £10; to keep open after nine o'clock at night, £10 ; packet licence, for wines, &c., £2; confec- tioners, for ginger and spruce beer, £1 , distilling, £50 ; rectifying and compounding, £25 ; hawkers and pedlars, £1 ; stage car- riage, 55. ; carters, 2s. 6c?. ; porters and boatmen, 55. each. To cut timber on vacant crown lands, annually, £2, except cedar, which is £4. The tolls and ferries in the colony are numerous, and the rates levied about the same as in England. The rate of customs duties is stated under Commerce. There is an extensive list of fees, which are exacted in MILITARY AND CONVICT EXPENDITURE, N. S. WALES. 223 the different public offices in the colony, civil and ecclesiastical, and carried to the credit of the public revenue. Auction duty. — Ten shillings on every hun- dred pounds sterling of the purchase-money. Postage of letters. — Weighing less than half-an-ounce, not exceeding fifteen miles, 4c?. ; twenty, 5c?. ; thirty, Qd. ; fifty, Id. ; eighty, 8c?. ; one hundred and twenty, 9c?. ; one hundred and seventy, 10c?. ; two hun- dred and thirty, lie?.; three hundred, 1^. ; for every hundred miles above three hun- dred, \d. By sea, from one part to another of the colony, 4c?. ; colonial newspapers, within the colony, for seven days, trans- mitted once as a single letter. Ship letters, for receipt or despatch, in addition to inland postage, 3c?., 6rf., 9c?., or 1^., quadruple. Total— in 1847. 1848. Expenses Kevenue and receipts . . £558,891 534,594 £583,088 551,246 The commissariat department in N.S.W Paid for Military service in 1848 .... £45,326 „ Ordnance ditto .... 10,783 Total militarv service £70,716 Convict service 14,651 Not connected with the colony : — Army, pensions, &c £8,608 Commissariat, pay and pension .... 625 Navy 10,224 Van Diemen's Island 32,506 New Zealand 83,776 North Australia 2,490 East India Company, advances to . . . 142 Excise 9 Irish government, police, pensions ... Ill Total, not connected with the colony, £138,491 The expenses on account of 4,015 con- victs in New South Wales, defrayed from the military chest, Avas £14,651. In September, 1849, the governor of New South Wales had remitted to the lords of her Majesty's treasury £180,000, to pay the passage of emigrants from the United King- dom during the year 1847-8. Of this sum, £100,000 was authorized to be raised in the colony, by the issue of debentures, secured on the territorial revenue of the colony. The debentures were issued in sums of £100 each, bearing interest at the rate of 2>\d. per diem, or £4 185. \^\d. per cent, per annum. They would be received as cash in payment for crown lands, but otherwise be redeemable at par within three years, at the option of the government, or within five years, at the option of the holder of a debenture. The sums paid from the colonial treasury of New South Wales on account of immi- gration and quarantine, from 1832 to 1847, have been very large : — Immigrants brought into") the colony . . . . j Passages of clergymen,") missionaries, and others/ Superintendence, mainte--) nance, lodging, &c.,after ' arrival in colony . . J Quarantine Total .... 1832—47. £974,970 11,760 35,746 23,068 1,045,544 1848. £105,026 4,145 793 109,965 Total. £1,079,996 11,760 39,892 23,861 1,155,510 This statement does not include the sum of £25,684, paid as interest on land and immigration debentures, issued to the extent of £149,700, of which the whole has been paid off. [Latest returns in Supplement.] Banking. — Monetary system. — Previous to 1817, the circulating medium of the colony consisted principally of the private notes of merchants, traders, shopkeepers, and publicans, the amount being sometimes so low as sixpence. To remedy the e\il3 attendant on such a state of things, the bank of New South Wales was, in 1817, incorporated by a charter under the seal of the colony, with a capital stock of £20,000 sterling, raised in shares of £100 each. The amount of shares subscribed was £12,600, and notes were issued by the bank for 25. Qd., OS., \0s., £1, and £5. In the first year of its incorporation, the bills dis- counted by the bank amounted to only £12,193; in 1818 they rose to £81,672; in 1819 to £107,256; demonstrating the necessity that had existed for such an estab- lishment, and the advantage and convenience that was found to result from it. Interest was not uncommon at the rate of ten per cent, per annum. The dividends declared in 1818 were at the rate of twelve per cent. ; for 1819, twenty-one per cent. ; for 1820 and 1821, twelve per cent. ; and for 1822, fifteen per cent. The charter was granted for seven years, which was of course re- newed. Each shareholder v,as responsible for the whole of the proceedings of the bank, thus giving greater stability to the institution, and securing a more careful management of its transactions. The bank seldom advances money upon real securities of any description, nor does it grant cash credits, or allow any interest upon current accounts, or permanent lodgments of cash. The capital of the bank of New Soucb Wales was originally about £150,000, di- vided into 1,500 shares of £100 each, and the aiaouut of capital paid up about £35,000. The affaii's of the institution are managed by a president and eleven directors, elected by the shareholders. Every £50 paid up gives a vote. In examining the proceedings of the bank in 1836, I noticed a remarkable fact, namely — that the estabUshmeut has never sustained any actual losses through the non-payment of the paper which it has discounted. Whether it has since sustained any losses, I am unable to say. Up to the year 1824, the bank discounted at the rate of eight per cent., after which the rate of discount was increased to ten per cent. The colonial government pays and receives in specie only; and in consequence of its receipts, from the customs, duties, sales, and leases of land, and other sources of revenue, having con- siderably exceeded the amount of its dis- bursements, it has frequently withdrawn from circulation nearly all the specie in the colony. In consequence of this, and the remittances occasionally made of specie to Canton and other places, with which a trade is carried on by the colonists, the bank of New South Wales, though far more than solvent, has more than once been under the necessity of suspending the payment of specie on demand. It is a fact, highly cre- ditable to the bank and to the colonists in general, that when, owing to the severe drought during the panic which occurred in 1826, and which continued for three years with little intermission, there were bills to the amount of £18,000 over-due to the bank, while the whole capital did not, at that time, exceed £22,000. The confidence of the public was so great, that, by prudent management, not a sixpence of the over-due bills was lost, and the bank continued to pay a dividend all the time of from fifteen to twenty per cent. The reliance of the colonists on the stability and integrity of the establishment was so entire, that instead of any run being occasioned on the bank, the inhabitants, on the contrary, with one accord, poured into its coffers all the specie they could collect, and, by refraining from de- manding it as much as possible, soon enabled the directors to resume cash payments. The bank issues notes from £1 to £20 and up- wards. The capital at present paid up is about £125,000. In 1836, a second bank was established at Sydney, termed the Bank of Australia, with a capital of £220,000. The Bank of New South Wales was established, and largely supported by the emancipists ; and the Bank of Australia by those colonists who arrived free in the country, and who acquired the title of exclusionists. For some years this new institution was highly prosperous, and it seemed to be a powerful rival to the other establishment. The yearly dividend varied from twelve to fifteen and twenty per cent. ; but, in the disastrous period of 1842-3, the Bank of Australia became deeply involved, and largely indebted to the metropolitan Bank of Australasia : it has, consequently, become necessary, together with the Sydney Bank, to wind up aftan-s. In May, 1835, a London company was incorporated by royal charter, and called the Bank of Australasia, with a large capital, for the pui'pose of establishing banks of issue and deposit in New South Wales, Van Diemen^s Land, and other settlements in Australasia. One-half of the company^s then capital (£200,000) was required to be paid up before the commencement of busi- ness, and the entire capital within two years. The stock was divided into 5,000 shares of £40 each (500 of which were reserved for allotment in the colonies), to be paid up as follows: — £10 per share at the time of subscribing ; £7 at three months from that date ; £6 at six months ; £3 at nine months; £4 at twelve months ; £5 at fifteen months ; and £5 at eighteen months. The manage- ment of the company's aflPairs is vested in the London board of directors, appointed by the proprietors ; and the banks in the colo- nies are conducted by local directors, and other persons duly qualified, appointed by the London directors. The paid up capital of this bank is now £900,000. Its manager in New South Wales unfortunately allowed the Bank of Australia to become largely indebted to its Sydney branch, and, for some time, no dividend has been declared. The verdict of the courts of law in England has established the validity of its claims on the Bank of Australia. The prosperity of the colony is reviving; and it is probable the shareholders will soon be in the period- ical receipt of a fair dividend. This estab- lishment has branches in New South Wales, Port PhiUip, South AustraHa, and Van Die- men's Island. The Union Bank of Australia was estab- lished in London in 1837, with a capital of £1,000,000. The institution was at once so favourably viewed, that the whole of its shares were taken as soon as issued, without UNION BANK OF AUSTRALIA.— N. S. WALES SAVINGS' BANKS. 2.25 having beeu offered for sale by advertise- ment ; and althougli the Liability of each proprietor was not limited by a royal charter. Business was commenced by a junction with the Tamar Bank at Launceston^ Van Die- men's Land ; a branch was next opened at Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land ; then at Sydney, New South Wales; next at Mel- bom*ne, Port Phillip ; and subsequently at New Zealand, and in other parts of Aus- iralasia. The number of branches is now ten; they are managed, as are those of the Bank of Australasia, by an excellent board of directors in London, with boards of local directors in the colonies. This institution has been admirably con- ducted from its commencement; the divi- dends paid annually have ranged from six per cent, to ten, the average of the whole period has been eight per cent. The bank has now a paid up capital of ^6820,000, and a subscribed capital of £1,000,000. Through this excellent institution, as also through the Bank of Australasia, money may be safely and economically transmitted from England to any part of Australia, and vice versa. The Commercial Bank at Sydney, New South Wales, is a modern establishment. It has a capital of £73,000 paid up. By prudence it withstood the recent commercial crisis, and pays a dividend of ten per cent, per annum. An Australian Trust Company, has been estabhshed in London by royal charter, with a capital of c€l,000,000; I believe it operates principally by making advances on land, stock, &c. ; its proceedings do not therefore appear among the banking retm-ns ; neither does the Scottish Australian Investment Com- pany, Avhose funds are employed in advances in Australia. For the last few years the ope- rations of such institutions must have been very difficult, but when the colonial depres- sion passes away, the field for investment is large, lucrative, and, judiciously conducted, perfectly safe. [See Supplement.] Savings' Banks are established in different parts of the colony. The deposits in them in Febi'uary, 1849, were, at Sydney, by 3,606 depositors, £142,104; Windsor, 88 depositors, £2,496; Paramatta, 115 depo- sitors, £2,287; Maitland, 89 depositors, £2,500; Bathurst, 78 depositors, £3,077; Penrith, four depositors, £120. The total deposits, including other sums, was £1 72,638 The coin in the colony, in proportion tc the population, was per head in 1836, £5 9*., in 1837, £5; in 1838, £5 6*.; in 1839, £4 105.; in 1840, '41, '42, £3. This ex- plains the commercial crisis of 1841-2. The following is a general abstract of the sworn retiu-ns, rendered pursuant to the act of Council, 4tli Victoria, No. 13, of the ave- rage assets and liabilities, and of the capita! and profits of the undermentioned banks of the colony of New South Wales, for the quarter ending 31st ]\Iarch, 1849 : — Liabilities, Assets, Capital, &c. Liabilities : — Notes in circulation . . Bills in circulation . Balances due to other banks Deposits Total liabilities .... Assets : — Coin Landed property . . . . Notes and bills of other bank-; Balances due from other bank; Notes and bills discounted, and all other debts due to the banks Total Assets Capital and Profits : — Capital paid up Rate per annum of last di- vidend Amount of dividend . . . Amount of reserved profits after paying dividend . New South Wales. £34,519 225,767 260,286 157,564 12,570 5,599 225,793 401,528 125,283 8 per cent. 5,011 17,150 Commercial. Australasia. £31,226 152,735 183,961 90,958 3.600 47 12,772 152,566 259,945 72,955 10 per cent. 3,237 993 £79,560 13,117 354,781 447,459 146,774 1 5,820 1,376 779,240 943,212 900,000 Nil. 53,451 Union of Australia. £90,369 7,803 212 412,070 510,455 245,610 27,018 3,022 467,159 742,810 820,000 6 per cent. 25,317 77,930 Total. £235,675 20,921 212 1,145,354 1,402,163 040,908 59.009 1,424 21,393 1,624,760 2,347,497 1,918,238 33,566 149,526 Note. — Out of reserved profits of holders ; and a bonus of os. per share DIV. II. the N. S. Wales Bank, a bonus of 5 per cent, was, at the same time, paid to Sh.ire. , oqiial to 2 per cent, was also paid by the Union Bank of Australia. 2 E 226 COIN IN NEW SOUTH WALES FROM 1837 TO ]848. The quantity of coin in the colony for twelve years is thus shewn ; it is to be ob- served that the local government deposits its treasure among the several banks, which will account for the small sum in the colonial treasmy. Coin in the Colonial Treasury, the Military Chest, a?id the several Banks, on 81st December in each year from 1837 to 1848, inclusive. Year. Colonial Treasury. Military Chest. Banks. Total. 1837 £245,250 £182.182 £427.432 1838 163,000 — 357,127 520,127 1839 124.100 — 391,969 516,069 1840 38:900 £49,151 309.529 397,581 1841 25,000 10,000 427,624 462,624 1842 — 32,409 442,980 475,389 1843 _ 3,000 420,972 423,972 1844 — 11,000 548,923 559,923 1845 20,000 54,315 780,850 855,166 1846 25,000 121.173 681,132 827,306 1847 30,600 30,056 573,529 634.186 1848 20,600 15,082 598,121 633,803 Of the whole coin, probably not j£50,000 is in active cii'culation, which, added to about £150^000 bank notes in active circulation, will not give of paper and gold one pound per head annually for the circulating medium of the colony ; whereas it ought at the least be five times that amount to facilitate the transfer of property, which takes place yearly to the amount of several millions. The sales by auction alone were in 1 850 more than one million sterling annually, and this de- scription of business has largely increased, as shewn in the following table : — Auction Duty paid into the Colonial Treasury of New South Wales {including the District of Port Phillip) from the year 1834 to 1848, inclusive. Year. Amount of Dutj-. Amount of Sales. 1834 £2,327 £155.156 1835 3,135 209,053 1836 4,697 313,171 1837 4,820 321,346 1838 6,137 409,166 1839 7,700 513,388 1840 18,701 1,246,742 1841 14,455 963,696 1842 10,291 686,088 1843 6,818 454,565 1844 4,662 310,831 1845 6,068 404,542 1846 6,217 414,490 1847 7,061 470,781 1848 4,551 787,800 Note.— Yrora 1st Januarj-, 18iS, the duty was reduced from 30s. to 10s. per cent., by Act of Council, 11th Victoria, Js'o 16, but was made chargeable on all sales effected by licensed auctioneers by private bargain as well as by auction. The amount of British coin in New South Wales on the 31st of December, 1848, was — • In colonial treasury, £20,600; military chest, £15,082. Banks — New South AVales, £176,430; commercial, £79,724; Austral- Asia, £137,887; Union, £.204,078; in thehands of private individuals, supposed £20,000. Total, £653,803, Paper currency in circu- lation : Banks — New South Wales, £31,716; commercial, £25,601; Australasia, £74,292; Union, £74,194. Total, £.205,803. This may be considered a sound state, when there is only £205,803 paper note cii-culation against £654,803 in coin. Such an amount of circulation is, however, far too small for the healthy business of the colony. At the period of the commercial difficul- ties, in 1842-3, the local legislature passed a law " to give a preferable lien on wool, from season to season, and to make mort- gages of sheep, cattle, and horses vahd without delivery to the mortgagee." This law, as regards live stock, was based on the principle that had been adopted for more than a centmy in the West Indies, where slaves were made real estate, and were literally walking freeholds, subject to all the incidents of freehold property. Al- though, in this respect, opposed to the spi- rit of the British laws, the colonial Legis- lative Council, after two years^ trial of the act, finding it beneficial to the colonists, re- commended its continuance ; and as live stock could not carry on its backs the mu- niments or title deeds belonging to rea;l property, an efiicient registry of all trans- actions respecting them was adopted. The annexed shows the amount of mortgages since 1843. (This return does not include the Port Phillip district). In a state- ment of the registrar-general, dated Sydney, 30th January, 1847, it is remarked that, in the return of the number of sheep and amount of money advanced under the Lien Act, it would appear as if an additional sum was advanced each subsequent year upon that mentioned to have been advanced the year previous. It must, however, be borne in mind that as the Lien Act only autho- rises an advance to be made on the ensuing clip of wool, the liens are renewable every year, and that consequently the same sheep and money may be included in one year as that mentioned for the previous year. The same remark may also apply to the mort- gages of sheep, cattle, and horses, as the mortgages are generally made redeemable a twelvemonth from the date thereof. MORTGAGES ON LIVE STOCK, AND ON A^'OOL, 1837 TO 1848. 227 In the return of the amount secured by mortgages of real estate, however, the repay- ment of the amount is upon an average required to be made every three or four years, consequently in the return under this head the same money may have been relent and rcsecured thrice within ten years. Number and amount of preferable Liens on Wool, and of Mortqa(/es on Live Stock, registered at Sydney. Liens and Mortgages. 1843. 1844. 1845. 1846. 1847. 1848. Preferable liens on wool : — Number of liens Number of sheep Amount of liens .... Mortgages on live stock : — Number of mortgages . . . Number of sheep Number of cattle Number of horses Amount lent 54 318,739 £30,664 96 397,995 44,430 903 £178,567 139 837,997 57,733 226 694,381 81,679 2,158 241,727 125 657,989 55,865 152 464,713 49,131 1,568 132,355 149 813.951 71,351 146 491,518 42,870 1,070 150,733 199 1,095,402 107,447 168 623,257 45,578 1,110 137,856 240 1,378.180 108,892 205 1,118,762 84,411 2,056 219,756 There are no usury laws in New South Wales. The Legislative Council recently proposed to reduce the legal rate of interest to not more than eight per cent. ; but her Majesty's government rejected the proposi- tion. It is not possible to state acciu-ately, therefore, at what rates money is lent on wool and live stock, nor on mortgages of land; but the range is about eight to ten, or even twelve, per cent. Return of the tmmber and amount of Mortgages on Land in the colony of New South Wales, registered at Sydney, from the year 1837 to 1846, inclusive. Year. 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 I 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 Lent on Town Lands. Lent on Country Lands. No. of Mortgages. 145 139 159 155 241 238 246 192 135 146 156 196 Amount. £108,860 59,702 112,835 112,158 266,944 282,659 275,386 94,400 111,659 64,856 81,516 110,501 No. of Mortgages. 130 207 213 281 417 333 285 252 152 148 149 103 Amount. £102,817 174,388 189,447 355,224 643,111 384,566 333,487 144,352 107,585 86,726 82,605 70,572 Lent on Town and Country Lands. No. of Mortgages. 11 10 11 23 51 54 51 50 31 14 15 Amount. £19,336 14,801 46,534 47,358 188,685 157,186 446,707 61,065 53,577 18,792 16,432 21,572 Total. No. of Mortgages. Amount. 286 356 383 459 709 625 582 494 318 308 320 307 £231,014 248,891 348,818 514,741 1,098,741 824,412 1.055,580 299.818 272,822 170,374 180,554 202,646 The colonists are not, certainly, largely in debt, either to capitalists or to the bank ; and there appears fair grounds for assuming that their mercantile affairs are now in a sound and prosperous state. Public Companies. — There are several institutions in New South AYales connected with the commercial affairs of the colony. The Australian Agricultural Company was formed in London, by royal charter, in 1824. The design of the projectors was — 1st. — The breeding of horses, on an extensive scale, for sale in New South Wales and in India. 2nd. — The breeding of cattle and other live stock, the raising of corn, tobacco, &c., for the supply of residents in the colony, and the manufacture of salt. 3rd. — The introduction, at a future period, of wine, olive oil, hemp, flax, silk, opium, &c., as articles of export, and the raising of coal at Newcastle, N.S.W. about 250,000 acres. „ 310,000 „ „ 440,000 „ To enable the company to carry their ob- jects into effect, a grant of 1,000,000 acres of land was made to them in fee simple by his Majesty's government. This grant has been selected in three locations, y\z. — At Liverpool Plains Peel's River . . . Port Stephens . . Of this territory, the company have the power of leasing or selling 500,000 acres, after the expiration of five years, provided the sum of .€100,000 shall have been ex- pended on the land, in the formation of r"^ads, the erection of buildings, clearing, cuMvating, fencing, draining, or other im- provements ; and also of alienating any portion of the remaining 500,000 acres, by licence from his Majesty's secretary of state. 228 STATE OF AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL COMPANY. On the 31st of ]Marc]i, 1834, the total number of sheep belonging to the company- were — French Merino, 4,940; Saxon ^Merino, 2,866; Anglo-lMerino, 1,552; improved colo- nial, 27,254 : — total of sheep, 36,615. Of horses, thorough-bred and Cleveland, and the produce of those breeds, 197; colonial ditto, 129 ; "Welsh and Timor ponies, and their pro- duce, 58: total, 384. Of cattle, Dui-ham, 23; improved colonial, 330; Scotch, 51; improved colonial, 867; colonial, 1,305; working oxen, 227 : total, 2,803. The following is a return of the stock of horses, horned cattle, and sheep of the Aus- tralian Agricultural Company, at periods of five years from the establishment of the com- pany to present date: — Periods. Horses. Homed Cattle. Sheep. Formation of company 1830 ". 1835 1840 1845 1850 13 245 422 569 972 not 208 2,227 2,924 5,187 7,189 yet 958 21,365 55,695 79,961 124,205 knoven. Note. — Inteiinediately from the formation of the company to the year 1830, a considerable number of cattle and sheep were introduced by purchase and importation ; in the year 1830 importation ceased ; and from 1835 to 1845, large sales, slaughter for maintenance of establishment, and boiling down proceeded to a large extent; there were also some items of casualties — age, accident, and disease. In the year 1825, a negotiation was con- cluded with his Majesty's government, by which the mines of coal in New South Wales which had been pre\'iously worked by the local government, were transferred to the company, with a grant of 2,000 acres of the coal field. These mines are situated at New- castle, about sixty miles to the north of Sydney, at the south entrance of a secure harbour, called Port Hunter. The coal is being largely worked (see mines.) The arrangements with her Majesty's govern- ment are now satisfactoidly concluded, and it is to be hoped that the shareholders who have invested their capital in this useful association to the amoimt of .£300,000 will now begin to reap some reward for their well- directed exertions and sacrifices. The Australian Agricultural Company is now offering for sale or lease all that portion of its valuable estate near Port Stephens, containing about half a million of acres, which are bounded by the river Manning, intersected by other streams, and provided with roads and bridges, which have been constructed by the company at a cost of many thousand pounds. There are churches and schools, and a resident clergyman, school- master, and surgeon are paid by the com- pany for the benefit of their servants. The farms, which have been long in culti- vation, with other erections, are ottered for sale at twenty years' purchase on the esti- mated annual value. The uncultivated land will be sold in lots of fifty acres and upwards, at £\ per acre ; each £50 paid in England entithng the pur- chaser to a choice, and a free passage ; and each lot will include a right of pasttu'age for stock on adjoining land until reqtiired for sale. [For changes sec Supplement.] Among other institutions in the colony there is a Savings' Bank at Sydney; an Australasian Colonial and General Life As- surance and Annniiy Company, whose head establishment is in London ; a Sydney Fire Insurance Company; a branch of the Imperial Fire Insurance Company of London; an Australian Gas Light Company, with a capi- tal of .£45,000 ; a Hunter River Steam Navi- gation Company; a Sugar Company, and other pubhc associations, which are well managed, and conducted with a degree of j probity unsurpassed in any other community in the British empire. The following brief chronological record illustrates the rise and growth of this remark- able section of the British empire : — 1789, one year after the establishment of the colony, Jirst harvest reaped (at Para- matta) : 1790, first settler (a convict) took possession of the land allotted him; 1791, first brick building finished ; \7Q^, first pur- chase of colonial grain (1,200 bushels) by government; 1 794, /rs/ church built ; 1800, ^r5^ copper coin circulated; 1803, /rs^ news- paper printed ; 1804, Fort William built ; 1805, first vessel built; 1810, fiy^st census, free school, toll-gates, pohee, naming of the streets, establishment of Sydney market, races, and race ball; 1811, first "pound;" 1813, /;'5^ fair; 1815, first steam-engine; 1817, supreme court established, and first bank ; 1818, benevolent society formed ; 1819, orphan institution founded ; 1820, first spirits distilled, and first colonial tobacco sold; 1821, first Wesleyan and Roman Ca- tholic chapels built ; 1822, freedom of the press granted, and first agricultural and reading societies formed; 1824, charter of justice granted. Legislative Council appointed by the crown, and first court of quarter sessions held; lS2o, first criminal jiu'v im- PROGRESS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 229 pannelled, first archdeacon ordained, first coroner appointed, and first constitutional county meeting held; 1827, y?/*s^ daily news- paper established ; 1829, first circuit court opened; 1830, first civil jury impannelled, and first college founded; \^2)\, first colo- nial ste^m-boat launched; \^'i2, first savings^ bank instituted; 1833, mechanics' school of arts formed, and a monthly magazine es- tablished; 1834, land sold in Sydney at £20,000 per acre; \^?,o,fiirst Protestant bi- shop of Australia; 1840, Legislative Council (twenty-four elective members, and twelve crown nominees), sheep sold at Is.Gd. each, and thousands "boiled down" for the sake of their tallow; 1842, Sydney incorporated (population about 40,000) ; money provided for emigration from 1832 to 1849, by the sale of land, one million and a quarter sterling; 1850, sheep in the colony nearly 12,000,000, horned cattle nearly 2,000,000, horses, 150,000, pigs 100,000, population estimated at 250,000, no convicts in the colony, and grant of a representative As- sembly ; 1851, (May,) discovery of gold in abundance — for results see Suppleiiiciic. Future Prospects. — The rapid strides by which New South Wales has acquired its present position, are so extraordinary, as to raise fears for its duration. These fears would be only too well grounded, if the future prospects of this extensive country, and of its increasing population, depended solely on pastoral pursuits. Had New South Wales no agricultural capabilities, no min- eral wealth, no fisheries, then indeed might we look forward v/ith melancholy foreboding to the time when her vast pastures would be overthronged, as the epoch which sooner or later must arrive, and mark the period of decadence. But the pastoral age is the pri- mary step in the history of a people pos- sessed of the varied elements necessary to constitute a mighty and permanent empire. The reason is sufficiently evident ; the pas- toral resources of a newly-discovered region are naturally the most readily available to the settler, who from thence obtains not only present sustenance, but the means of developing the less prominent, but more in- trinsically valuable capabilities of the soil. That the colonists themselves are not dis- posed to consider tlieir fine country as a vast " sheep w^alk," or to restrict their energies to the multiplication of flocks and herds, is evi- dent from the facts adduced in the pre\-ious pages, and from the tone of their public jour- nals. The editor of the Sydney Morning He- rald, in a " leading article," dated 20th Oc- tober, 1849, on the " Destinies cf the colony," states, that according to the ratios of in- crease which have heretofore prevailed, the number of sheep in New South Wales will, in the year 1857, amount to thirty -two raiUion, and the number of other live stock to five and-a-quarter million. For the de- pasturing of these animals, it is estimated an area of 231,000 square miles woidd be requii'ed. It is calculated, that in 1857, the sheep and other stock in New South Wales and Port Phillip, independent of those in Southern and Western Australia, will exceed one hundred and forty-five million, and re- quire 875,000 square miles of pasturage, or about one-third the area of the whole island. This is assuming that about four acres are necessary to feed each head of live stock. Making ample allowance for the dis- turbing causes by which such calculations are aftected, the urgent necessity for the production of other staple exports may be considered as sufficiently proved, although, of Australian avooI alone (it may be right to add), England could receive for her domestic use and foreign exports, at least one hundred million pounds. The first steps in the progress from the nomadic to the agricultural state, have been taken; New South Wales now not only grows sufficient grain for the consumption of her own people, but has become an ex- porting country; five years ago, its vine- yards covered only 500 acres, now they extend over 1,000 ; and the wine made from them has increased, within the same period, from 30,000 to 100,000 gallons. The colo- nial mills have increased in nine years from seventy-seven to 172. and the domestic manufactures, in the same peiiod, from fifty to 133. The vine, the olive, and the mul- berry — cotton, sugar, and tobacco — hemp, timber, and tallow, may all be produced to an almost incalculable extent in Australia, and are all in constant and increasing de- mand in Europe. Humanly speaking, there- fore, the welfare of this colony rests on a sound basis, and, with the blessing of Divine Providence, its futui'e greatness may seem as marvellous to our descci^dauis, as the position it has already attained appears to those whose lengthened span of life has enabled them to watch its progress from the infant, starving, struggling penal settlement at Sydney Cove, to the flourishing colony of New South Wales. [See Supplement. J 230 BOOK III.— VICTORIA, OR PORT PHILLIP. CHAPTER I. POSITION— BOUXDARIES— HISTORY— TOPOGRAPHY— GEOLOGY— AND CLIMATE. This di\'ision of tlie island-continent of Australia, comprises the extreme southern portion, between the parallels of 37° and 39° S. lat., and the meridians of 141° and 150° E. long. The area is estimated at 97,000 square miles, i. e. about 10,000 square miles larger than England, Wales, and Scotland.* The chief harbour was called Port Pliilhp, after the first governor of New South Wales, when discovered by heutenaut INIurray, in 1802. Sir T. :\litchell, who explored the country in 1836, gave it the name of Aus- traha Felix, from the beauty of the scenery ; and it is in futui*e to be termed Victoria, in honour of our gracious sovereign. In the act recently passed by parlia- ment, for separating the district called Port Phillip from the Sydney or Middle District of New South Wales, erecting Port PhiUip into a separate province, under the name of:' Victoria, and granting to the Australian colonies constitutional forms of government, this district is stated to be " bounded on the north and north-east by a straight line drawn fi'om Cape Howe to the nearest source of the river INIurray, and thence by the course of that river to the eastern boun- dary of the colony of South Australia." On the south it is separated from the island of Van Diemen, or Tasmania, by Bass' Strait. History. — Captain Cook (of whom fuller mention will be made in the histoiy of New Zealand,) visited the south coast of Austraha, near Cape Howe, 19th April, 1770, and pro- ceeded to the northward. After the British settlement was formed at Sydney Cove (Port Jackson) in 1788, attention was di- rected to a survey of the adjacent southern shores; and, in 1798, Mr. Bass, surgeon of H.M.S. Reliance, with a whale-boat and six men, sailed along the south-east coast, dou- bled the projecting cape termed Wilson's Promontory, entered the strait now called after him, and anchored in a harbour which • England, 50,400; Wales, 7,500; Scotland, 30,300 ; total. 88,200 square miles. he termed Port Western, fi'om its situation with reference to Sydney. His scanty supply of provisions compelled him to re- tiu-n to Port Jackson. The talents and intrepidity of this successful explorer, in- duced tlie governor of New South Wales to direct him, together with lieutenant Matthew Flinders, to prosecute the survey in a schooner, built at Norfolk Island, of twenty- five tons burthen. In this small vessel, named the Norfolk, these gallant ofiicers sailed, in October and November, 1798, through Bass' Strait ; and, as noted at p. 368, demonstrated the insularity of Tas- mania. In March, 1802, lieutenant Murray, in command of H.M. brig Nelson, a vessel of sixty tons burthen, in which heutenant Grant had sailed from England to Aus- tralia, entered a large harbom' a little to the westward of Port Western ; and a few weeks after, captain Flinders, in H.M.S. Inves- tigator, visited the same noble haven, which received the name before-mentioned from captain Hunter, R.N., then governor of New South Wales, in honour of his esteemed predecessor. Fhnders described the coast as " a grassy country, capable of supporting much cattle, though better adapted for sheep." While captain Fhnders was exploring the coast adjacent to Port Phillip, he fell in with captain Baudin, a French naval sur- veyor, who had given the name of Terre Napoleon to a considerable portion of the south coast prevdously visited by Fhnders. His INIajesty's government, probably with a \\e\\ to prevent a French colony being there formed, and at the instigation of Fhnders, determined, in 1803, to found another penal settlement at Port Phillip ; and colonel Col- lins, of the royal marines, Avas sent from England with a fleet of convicts and a military guard. He reached his destination, and landed at Point Nepean, in 1804-. ]Mr. Grimes, then surveyor-general of New South Wales, w as despatched from Sydney to make a sui'vey of the port ; but he was evidently EARLY HISTORY OF VICTORIA, OR PORT PHILLIP. 231 unfit for the duty assigned him ; for he failed in discovering the river Yarra Yarra, and obtained water only by sinking wells in the sand. Lieutenant-governor Collins, despairing of success, and finding that many of the con- victs were endeavouring to escape by talcing to the woods, re-embarked the prisoners and their guard, and proceeded to the Derwent river, in Van Diemen^s island, where he landed, and in conjunction with lieutenant- colonel Patterson, who had been sent from Sydney, founded the settlement now known as Hobart Town. For twenty years from this period this portion of Australia w^as neglected. In 1824? Messrs. Hovell and Hume made an overland journey from Appin in Cumberland county. New South Wales, to the southward and westward, crossed the Murrumbidgee river, and after a severe and perilous journey, reached the sea coast, at a bay called Geelong by the natives, on the 16th of December, 1824. Geelong Bay forms the western portion of the haVen of Port Phillip. In consequence of the repre- sentations of these gentlemen, the governor of New South Wales, in 1826, sent captain Weatherall, R.N., with a party of soldiers under captain Wright, to take possession of Western Port, and form there a station which might attract settlers. A small fort was erected at the east extremity of Phillip island, which lies across the mouth of the port, and the projected settlement was made upon the mainland of the opposite shore. Captain Weatherall reported that coal was to be found in the vicinity of the station, both on Phillip Island and at Cape Patterson; but although the description of the place was favourable, no settlers resorted thither, and in about two years the military and naval force was recalled, and the station aban- doned. To the colonists of Van Diemen's Land is due the credit of having commenced the permanent settlement of Port Phillip. The colony which had been founded at the Derwent river, on the southern shores of Van Diem en's Island, in 1804, gradually extended to the river Tamar, at Launceston, on the northern shores of the island ; and whaling establishments were formed in Bass's Strait, whence excursions were frequently made to the adjacent shores of Australia. The whalers, more intent on fishing than grazing, paid little attention to the Port Philhp shores, but rumours of a favourable character began to feel straitened for sheep pastures. At Two-fold Bay, a little to the northward of Cape Howe, an extensive cattle station was established by the Messrs. Imlay, from Sydney; and in 1834 a whaling station was fixed at Portland Bay by the Messrs. Henty, from Launceston. In April, 1835, six Laun- ceston settlers, Messrs. S. and W. Jackson, John Pascoe Fawkner,*" Marr, Evans, and Lancy, formed themselves into an association to proceed with their families and stock to the opposite shores of Port Phillip. It was necessary to send for a suitable vessel to Sydney; in the mean time their intention was made known, the proposition was favour- ably viewed, and became the absorbing topic of the day. Mr. John Batman, descended from European parents, and born at Para- matta, but then a settler in Van Diemen's Land, New South Wales, resolved to take the lead in this novel enterprize : — on the 12th of May, 1835, he embarked, with seven semi- civilized natives of New South Wales, in a small vessel at Launceston, Van Diemen's Land, and directed his course to Port Phillip, distant from the mouth of the Tamar 190 miles. Arriving at Port Phillip (called Iranmor by the natives). Batman landed, and on the day after his arrival met with a party of the aborigines on the banks of the Weir- abee (the river Ex of the colonists) ,t to whom he explained that he intended for the future to reside among them, with his wife and seven daughters, and that he wished to pur- chase some of their land for depasturing his stock ; and he presented them with blankets, tomahawks, knives, scissors, looking-glasses, and necklaces. The aborigines appeared disposed to entertain his proposition; he remained a month at Port Philhp, and seems to have conducted himself with consid- erable tact as well as good feeling,— -he induced the natives to cede to him, his heirs, and successors, a tract of country " extending across from Geelong harbour about due south for ten miles, more or less, to the head of Port Phillip, taking in the whole neck or tract of land, and containing about 100,000 acres." For this he agreed to render in return " a yearly rent or tribute of fifty pair of blankets, fifty knives, fifty tomahawks, fifty pairs of scissors, fifty looking-glasses, * Credit is due to this gentleman for establishing the first newspaper in Port Phillij) ; it \yas issued in manuscript, but subsequently printed in a foolscap form, and is uovf (1850) a flourishing daily paper. t See In format ion on Australia Felix in 1840, by respecting a fine, grassy country reached the George Arden, Esq., then the able editor of the Port flock-owners of Van Diemen's Land, wno I Phillij) Gazette. 232 LIEUT.-GOVERNOR ARTHUR RESPECTING PORT PHILLIP. twenty suits of slops or clothing, and two tons of flour." The deed of assignment was signed by Jaga-Jaga, Cooloolack, Bungarie, and others, eight of the natives, with a mark x . By another deed Batman pur- chased "all that tract of country situated and being at Port Philhp, running from the branch of the river at the top of the port, about seven miles fi*om the mouth of the river forty miles north-east, and from thence westerly forty miles across Iramnoo Downs or Plains, and from thence S.S.W. across Mount Vilnmarnatar to Geelong harbour, at the head of the same, and containing about 500,000 acres, more or less." For this Bat- man agreed to pay to the eight aborigines as annual rent or tribute, "100 pair of blankets, 100 knives, 100 tomahawks, fifty suits of clothing, fifty looking-glasses, fifty pairs of scissors, and five tons of flour." These deeds were signed and exchanged " on the banks of Batman's Creek, 6th of June, 1835." Batman promised also to protect the natives, to employ them in the same manner as the New South Wales aborigines, to clothe and feed them. He certainly seems to have gained the good-will of the Port Phillip savages. The total value of his proposed tribute was about £200 per annum. After leaving three Europeans and five New South Wales natives to erect a house, and prepare some ground. Batman re-embarked for Laun- ceston on the 14th of June, and reached the Tamar river in thirty-six hours. On arriving in Van Diemen's Land he proceeded to Ho- bart Town, where an association, consisting at first of sixteen indi%iduals, was quickly formed for the colonization of Port PhiUip. Money was subscribed, and Batman ap- pointed agent for the company. Previous to departing from Hobart Town for Port Phillip, on his second journey. Batman addressed to colonel George Arthur (then lieutenant-governor of Van Diemen's Land) a letter, dated 25th June, 1835, in which he laid fully before the colonial gov- ernment the course that he had adopted. He stated that, for the previous six years, he had been most actively employed in endeavouring to civilise the aborigines of Van Diemen's Land ; that, under his gui- dance, the humane objects of the local government towards the aborigines had been carried into effect; that, in 1827, himself and ^Ir. Gellibrand had addressed a joint letter to the government of New South Wales, soliciting permission to occupy land at Port thither to the value of £5,000, to be placed there under his personal superintendence; and that this application was not granted by the government at Sydney, because the land in question was beyond the limits of that territory, and the occupations of Wes- tern Port had been altogether abandoned. Batman, in his letter to governor Arthur, stated, that he confidently trusted the British government would duly appreciate the treaty he had entered into with the aborigines — would not, in anj^ manner, molest the ar- rangements he had made, and that he should receive the support and encouragement, not only of the local government, but also that of his Majesty's ministers, in carrying the objects into effect. Finally, he described the country in the following terms : — " I traversed the country, in opposite directions, about fifty miles, and having had much experience in lands and grazing in New South "Wales and in this colony, I have no hesitation in asserting, T;hat the general character of the country is decidedly superior to any which I have ever seen. It is interspersed with "fine rivers and creeks, and the downs were ex- tended, on every side, as far as the eye could reach, thickly covered with grass of the finest description, and containing an almost indescribable extent of fine land, fit for any purposes." Governor Ai'thur, in a letter, dated Gov- ernment-house, Van Diemen's Land, 4th July, 1835, transmitted copies of Batman's letter and deeds of transfer with the natives to the secretary of state for the colonies, soliciting that he might be " made ac- quainted, at an early period, with the Aiews which his Majesty's government enter- tained upon this very important subject." The governor added, that Mr. Batman was an enterprising settler, that he had acted with prudence as well as humanity in his intercourse with the aborigines, but that it was doubtful whether a migratory savage tribe, consisting of thirty or forty indivi- duals, roving over an almost unlimited extent of country, could acquire such a property in the soil as to be able to confer upon the purchaser the right of possession which would be recognised in otu- courts of law. The governor further hinted to his INIajesty's secretary of state, that the land had been taken possession of, for the crown, by colonel Collins, previous to the settlement of Van Diemen's Land, and stibsequently by cap- tain Wright, in 1826. He also stated, that the formation of a colony at Port Phillip would be highly advantageotis to Van Die- men's Land ; that a liberal grant of land would be a well-bestowed gift on Mr. Bat Phillip or Western Port, and to export stock i man, but tliat he had informed the explorer IN 1835 GOVERNMENT OPPOSE COLONIZATION OF P. PHILLIP. 233 that, with regard to the confirmation of his treaty with the natives, he could not hold out the slightest prospect of its being fa- vourably considered. Lord Glenelg, then his Majesty's secre- tary of state for the colonies, replied to governor Arthur's communication of 4th July, 1835, in a despatch, dated Downing Street, 23rd January, 1836. His lordship therein stated, that he wotdd not then enter into the question of the right possessed by the chiefs who were the contracting parties to the territory of which they agreed to dispose, or of the justice and fairness of the arrangement, but would simply advert to the practical question at issue, namely, the expediency of confirming the grant to an association. All schemes for making settlements by private individuals or com- panies in the unlocated districts of Aus- tralia, had of late years been discouraged by his Majesty's government, as leading to fresh establishments, involving the mother country in an indefinite expense, and ex- posing both the natives and the new settlers to many dangers and calamities. His lord- ship added — " And there is so much of prudence and of justice, and, I think I may add, of humanity, in this policy, that I do not feel disposed to depart from it in the present instance. The conduct of Mr. Bat- man towards the natives has been such as to make me regret that I find it my duty not to advise his Majesty to sanction the pro- ceedings of that gentleman and his asso- ciates." Lord Glenelg concluded by saying, that the proposition of forming a settlement in the vicinity of Port Phillip, and of placing it under the jurisdiction of the supreme court of Van Diemen's Land, seemed open to some very serious objections ; but it should receive every consideration. Mean- while Batman, who appears to have antici- pated a more favourable reply, proceeded to a minuter survey of the vast estates he con- sidered himself to have pirrchased, and selected for his own residence the central position of Indented Head, situated about fifteen miles from the entrance to Port Pliilhp, and commanding a beautiful and extensive prospect. While these events were occurring, the six Launceston settlers, headed by Messrs. Jackson and Eawkner, had procured their vessel from Sydney, which they denominated the Enterprise. In this they embarked with their families and live stock, but a gale of wind di^dve DIV. II. them back into the Tamar ; they again set sail, and reached Western Port, but not considering the land inviting, the Enterprise proceeded to Port Phillip, which it reached on the 30th August, 1835. Batman viewed, with a jealous eye, these intruders on his broad domains, and warned them against encroaching on his territories. Threats of legal proceedings induced the Messrs. Jack- son to move beyond the limits to which he laid claim, and they settled on a fine tract of pastoral land, situated upon the Salt Water river, (called the Arndell by Hume), about twenty miles above its junction with the waters of the Yarra Yarra river. Fawk- ner, however, disregarding the minatory proclamations of Batman, took up a position of great beauty and promise on the north bank of the Yarra Yarra, about eight miles by the course of the river, from its junc- tion with the upper termination of the bay.* The locality thus chosen must have been peculiarly attractive to a pastoral eye : the banks of the river sloped gently to a rising ground, covered with luxuriant grasses ; and from the summit of the eminence on the northern bank, the waters of the bay of Port Phillip, distant two miles, were visible to the southward, over the tops of the trees of an intermediate flat. The country, in a northern direction, was of an undulating character, covered with grass and moderately wooded, and the Yarra Yarra rolled its deep and dark waters from the eastward, between banks that were occasionally lofty and pic- turesque, while the grassy downs were covered with the light-bounding kangaroo and the majestic emu, who enjoyed the fertile region until then undisturbed, save by a few wandering savages. The Yarra Yarra, at the part where Fawk- ner fixed his camp, expanded its waters into a basin, well adapted for the reception of shipping. At the upper extremity of this natural dock, a ledge of rocks partially crossed the river, which occasioned a fall in the body of the water, and served to pro- tect the freshness of the upper portion of the stream from the influx of the brackish or salt stream caused by the flood tide. The river pursued a circuitous course to the west- ward. A salt-water lake, or swamp, skirted its northern bank; and beyond appeared the beautiful valley of the Salt-water river, which united with the Yarra Yarra about four miles above its junction with the bay. In this favourable situation Fawkner com- * ^^'ostgal•th's Australia Felix. 2 F 231 PORT PHILLIP SUBJECT TO THE GOVERNMENT OF N. S.WALES. menced ploughing the ground, and planting his corn and seeds, which in the ensuing harvest yielded him an ample reward. To add to his resources, Fawkner opened a " public-house. '^ Batman, finding how for- midable a rival he had to compete with, removed from the inconvenient locality he had prenously chosen, at Indented Head, to a spot nearer the camp of Fawkner ; and on a beautiful green he opened a general store, to supply the wants of the colonists, who now began rapidly to crowd to this land of promise. That the position of Fawkner was well selected, is evident from its being sub- sequently chosen by his Majesty's govern- ment for the site of the capital of the rising settlement ; and the rude log dwellings of Fawkner and Batman are now overshadowed by the handsome buildings of the prosperous city of Melbourne. To return to the chronological history of the settlement. The intelligence of the fine country round Port Phillip; the knowledge that numerous flocks and herds, belonging to Messrs. Henty and other settlers near Port Dalrymple, Van Diemen's Land, had been conveyed to the opposite coast at Cape Portland, in 1831, where they throve well, and increased with great rapidity; a failure in the supply of pastui'age in the available districts of Van Diemen's Land; and the desire of some to remove from a settlement where bush-ranging convicts made life and property insecure, — these and other causes led to a Port Phillip fever ; and many has- tened with their flocks and families to the fertile shores from Avhich glowing accounts were daily received at Launceston. The governor of New South Wales, Sir Richard Bourke, deeming the Port Phillip country within the territories subject to his jm'isdiction, issued, with the ad\dce of his executive council, a proclamation, dated Sydney, 26th August, 1835, declaring that the lands in question were the property of the British crown; that all treaties, con- tracts, or bargains with the aboriginal natives for the purchase of said lands, were "void against the lights of the crown;" and that all persons found in the possession of such lands, without the licence or authority of his ]\Iajesty's government, would be consid- ered and dealt Avith as trespassers. A copy of this proclamation "was transmitted, by Sir R. Bourke, to his Majesty's secretary of state for tlie colonies, on the 10th October, 1835. In this able despatch, the governor nointed out the fallacy of endeavouring to restrain the population of New South Wales from dispersion; that the very natui'e of their main pursuit — sheep-farming and de- pasturing cattle, compelled the colonists to send, yearly, large flocks beyond the existing boundaries of location, to preserve them in health throughoiit the year, otherwise the settlers must restrain the increase, or endea- vovir to raise artificial food for their stock. Whilst nature all aroiuid presented an unli- mited supply of the most wholesome nutri- ment, either course would seem a perverse rejection of the bounty of Providence, and the latter would certainly require more labour than could be obtained in New South Wales, or than immigration could profitably supply. Sir R. Bourke frankly acknow- ledged that, independent of these powerful considerations, he was unable to comply with the desire of her Majesty's govern- ment at home, '' to prevent dispersion." No adequate measures could be resorted to for the general and permanent removal of intru- ders from waste lands, without incm^ing probably a greater expense than would be sufficient to extend a large share of the control and protection of government over the country which it was found desirable to occupy. It was on these principles that Sii R. Bourke had, in his despatch of 4th July, 1834, to liis INIajesty's secretary of state, recommended the propriety of extending in a southern direction, to Twofold Bay, the limits within which, land might be ac- quired from the crown ; but the Earl of Aber- deen, then his Majesty's secretary of state for the colonies, in a despatch, dated 25th December, 1834, did not agree with Sii' R. Bourke : his lordship said — " His Majestj^'s government are not prepared to authorise a measiu'c, the consequences of which would be to spread over a still further extent of territory a population which it was the object of the land regulations to concen- trate." This intimation, evidently based on the theory which, in practical working, has been a chief cause of the distress, and fluctuation in the value of property in Aus- traha, compelled Sir R. Bourke to check, as far as possible, the herd and sheep-owners turning '' squatters," and naturally seeking for their expanding flocks fresh pastures. His excellency, therefore, could afford no encouragement to a Mr. James Atkinson, Avho proposed to form a settlement at Two fold Bay, by means of immigrants from the north of Ireland. But, on visiting Twofold Bay, Sir R. Bourke found the gTcater part IMPEDIMENTS TO CLOSE CONCENTRATION IN N. S. WALES. 235 of tlie vast tract of fertile land lying between the country of St. Vincent and Twofold Bay, depastiu-ed by flocks and herds, attended by shepherds and stockmen, the pastures already contributing largely to the wealth of the colony of New South Wales, and exceeding, in importance, many of the districts where land was then (1834-5) dis- posable by sale or on lease. Many consid- erations rendered the governor un^villing to oppose the settlement of Twofold Bay in 183-i, and now, in October, 1835, induced him to intimate to his Majesty's secretary of state, that " it would be more desirable to impose reasonable conditions on Mr. Bat- man and his associates, than to insist on their abandoning their undertaking.^' His excellency therefore proposed, in this des- patch of 10th October, 1835, that a town- ship be marked, both at Twofold Bay and in some eligible spot on the coast to which Mr. Batman's party had proceeded. The town allotments, and a portion of the ad- joining territory, might then be declared open to location, according to the existing regulations; and purchasers of land would probably soon be found. Finally, his excel- lency remarked, that dispersion would go on notwithstanding discouragement, and would be accompanied by much evil that might be prevented by the guidance and control of authority opportunely introduced; and his Majesty's government ought not to delay taking some measure in assertion of the rights of the crown over these lands. The conclusive reasoning of Sir R. Bourke seems to have produced an excellent effect on Lord Glenelg, then his Majesty's secre- tary of state for the colonies, who had also been addressed, on the 26th January, 1836, by Mr. George Mercer, of Edinburgh, as shareholder in and agent for the " Geelong and Dutigalla Association," who urged a crown grant of the territories pm-chased by Batman and Swanston, at Port Phillip, being conceded to them. Lord Glenelg, in a de- spatch to Sir R. Bourke, dated Downing- street, 13th April, 1836, admitted that there were physical impediments in Australia to the close concentration of the inhabitants (contemplated by the land regulations of 1831), with which it would be futile to con- tend by human laws, and that the principle of counteracting dispersion, when reduced to practice, must unavoidably be narrowed within the limits which the physical pecu- liarities of a colony dictate and require. New South Wales, he added, was marked by nature for a pastoral country; the age of manufacturing industry was of course re- mote ; and the quality of the soil inevitably separated the shepherds and herdsmen, and all their associates in labour, very widely from the general seat of government, and from each other. It was therefore wholly vain to expect that any positive lavvs, espe- cially those of a very young and thinly peopled country, would be energetic enough to repress the spirit of adventure and spe- culation in which the unauthorised settle- ment at Port Phillip had originated. Lord Glenelg therefore expressed his general con- cm-rence in the views entertained by Sir R. Bom-ke, and sanctioned his acting on them in the manner proposed. In concluding his despatch. Lord Glenelg, with his wonted candour, thus expressed the enlarged \-iews, a consideration of which had influenced him in arriving at his present decision : — " The motives which are urging mankind, espe- cially in these clays of general peace and increasing population, to break through the restraints which would forbid their settling themselves and their families in such situations, are too strong to be encountered with effect by ordinary means. To en- gage in such a struggle would be wholly irrational. All that remains for the government in such circum- stances, is to assume the guidance and direction of enterprises, which, though it cannot prevent or re- tard, it may yet conduct to happy results. It may indeed admit of serious doubt, whether the settlers at Port Phillip and Twofold Bay have not, in reality, given birth to undertakings which deliberate reflec- tion M'ould have recommended rather than discou- raged. Each of those places will probably, at a time more or less distant, form the nucleus of a new | and flourishing settlement, interchanging with the districts at present occupied in the vicinity of Sydney many articles of internal commerce, and contributing to expedite the general occupation, by the people of this kingdom or their descendants, of those vast terri- tories in which our national wealth and industry have already, in the last half century, converted an unpro- ductive waste into two great and flourishing pro- vinces. In producing and multiplying such results as these, it has, I believe, always occurred, and is perhaps inevitable, that the sanguine ardour of pri- vate speculation should quicken and anticipate the more cautious movements of the government." While the local and home governments were engaged in considering the fittest course to be pursued, a stream of colonists was pouring into Port Phillip, and several co- partneries or associations were formed. The Port Phillip Association merged into the Derwent Company ; a Clyde Company, pro- moted chiefly by captain Wood, occupied the fine pastures around the site of the present town of Geelong; about the middle of 1836, one year after the first location, 35,000 sheep had arrived from \'an Diemen's 236 MR. BATMAN'S CLAIMS DISALLOWED BY GOVERNMENT. Land and pastoral stations spread over the plains around the Salt Water river^ the Weirribee, the Barwon, and the Leigh. The settlers being at a remote distance from each other, and occasionally in the \dcinity of native tribes, had large beUs at their stations for sounding an alarm when in want of aid."^ In June, 1836, Mr. Stewart, a magistrate, arrived at Port Phillip, as the representative of her Majesty's government : he had been despatched thither by Sir R. Bourke, from Sydney, with instructions to ascertain the capabilities of the place, and to proclaim the invalidity of all pui'chases of land fi'om the aborigines vdthout the previously obtained sanction of government. He found that 177 persons from Van Diemen's Land had already settled in the neighbourhood of the bay, and had brought with them live stock andother property to the amount of £110,000. At this period Messrs. Batman and Fawkner had come to a mutual understanding on their respective claims, and appointed a much- esteemed fellow -colonist (M. J. Simpson) as an umpire in all disputes. The claims for the land purchased from the aborigines by Mr. Batman and of the Van Diemen's Land Association, with whom he co-operated, were submitted to the late Mr. Burge, Q.C, who had specially studied the subject of colonial law. The questions proposed, were: — (1.) Whether the grants obtained by the association were valid? (2.) Whether the right of the soil is, or is not, vested in the crown? (3.) Whether the crown could legally oust the Association from their possessions? Mr. Bui'ge gave his opinion at considerable length : the sub- stance of it was, that the grants obtained by the Association Avere not valid, and that as between Great Britain and its own sub- jects, as well as the subjects of foreign states, the right to the soil was vested in the crown, by virtue of prior discovery. Mr. Pemberton and Sir William Follett said they entirely concurred in the con- clusions of Mr. Burge, as expressed in his * Some settlers when landing sheep at Port Phillip, perceived a man of great size, differing from the aboriginal natives, but scarcely distinguishable as a European, seated under a tree, watching the shepherds with a listless gaze. When accosted, he seemed to be roused from his lethargy, and was observed to repeat slowly the words uttered, as if memory was seeking to bring back some long-for- gotten ideas. He gradually acquired the power of expressing himself in English, when it was ascer- tained that he had originally been a private soldier, named Buckley, and had been transported for striking his suoerior officer ; was in the fleet sent out to Port " extremely able and elaborate opinion.^' This terminated the existence of the Van Diemen's Land Association, and of other companies formed for the colonization and appropriation of the lands of Australia Felix. The members of these companies were, how- ever, allowed, in consideration of their pay- ments to the aborigines, a remission to the extent of £7,000, of the purchase-money of whatever lands they might choose to pur- chase in Australia Felix from the crown. Mr. Gellibrand, a legal practitioner of repute, and attorney-general for Van Die- men's Land, was one of the principal sup- porters of Mr. Batman; he proceeded to Port Phillip, in 1837, to protect the rights of the Van Diemen's Land Association, but in an excursion of exploration from Geelong towards the sources of the Barwon river, this unfortunate gentleman, with a Mr. Hesse, perished. He is said to have been mui'dered near the mission settlement of Buntingdale, by the aborigines; in 1839 Mr. Hawdon was shewn an European skull of highly intellectual formation, which was supposed to have been that of Mr. Gelli- brand. On the back of the skull were the marks of two blows apparently inflicted by a tomahawk. The value of the newly occupied territory had hitherto been known to few besides the settlers themselves, and even they were acquainted -ndth little beyond the immediate neighboui'hood of that portion of which they had taken possession ; but after the journey from Argyle coimty, in New South Wales, accomplished by Messrs. Hovell and Hume, in 1824-5, favourable reports of the coun- try became more widely circulated ; to the exertions, however, of Sir Thomas Mitchell, is due the credit of establishing the route and laying open this region to settlers. In 1836 the surveyor-general having (during a jour- ney related in a previous chapter; traced the junction of the Lachlan with the Murrum- bidgee, and of the Murrumbidgee with the Murray, returned homewards along the left Phillip with Colonel Collins in 1803, and, thirty- three years previous, had effected his escape when Collins landed his prisoners. Buckley had lived among the natives, and had " entirely dismissed the outward characteristic of a civilized being;" he Avas extremely reserved and rncommunicative in his manners. Mr. Batman took care of the unfortunate man, governor Arthur granted him a pardon, and he was appointed a constable at the new city of Melbourne ; but, on expressing a reluctance to re- main in the scene of his savage life, he was trans ferred to Hobart Town. Mr. Logan took an active interest in protecting the reclaimed man. RAPID SETTLEMENT OF MELBOURNE AND ADJACENT COUNTRY. 237 or southern bank of the latter river to the confluence of the Goulburn, Hovel, or Bayunga. Sir Thomas then quitted the Murray, and in lat. 36° S., long. 14^° E., struck off" in a southwest direction, when he entered a country which he desci'ibes his expedition as having traversed in two directions with heavy carts, meeting no other obstruction than the softness of the soil, and in retui*ning over flowery plains and green hills fanned by the breezes of early spring. " I named this region Australia Felix, the better to distinguish it from the parched deserts of the interior country, where we had wandered so unprofitably and so long." The ofiicial reports of Sir Thomas Mitchell, contirming, as they did, the glowing ac- counts of the immigrants fi'om Tasmania, increased the desire for locations at Port Phillip; large herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep were driven from the old settled districts of New South Wales, into the new region; and in April, 1837, on the arrival of Sir R. Bom'ke, the governor of New South Wales, to inspect the place, it was found to contain 150 horses, 2,500 horned cattle, 140,000 sheep, and 450 colonists. The town (now city) of Melbourne was laid out in the form of a parallelogram, one mile ill length, by three quarters of a mile in breadth, along the banks of the Yarra Yarra river. The first land sale took place in June, 1837; as the government required gold in payment for the land, and there were but few possessed of the precious metal, the lots were then sold at from £30 to <£100 per half acre. The value of these town sections rapidly increased ; at a sale by auction, in 1839, three half-acre sections realised the enormous sum of ^€10,250 — and the purchaser made money by his bargain, as he cut up the sections into several small lots, to meet the great demand for building applotments. Speculation was carried to a great height. Up to the end of 1841, government sold, chiefly by public auction, 205,748 acres of land, and realised for it no less than £394,353. In 1837, the sales of town allotments in Port Phillip district, amounted to £7,245; in 1838, to £8,746; in 1839, to £8,988; in 1810, to £79,168; in 1841, to £4,028; total, £108,177. Of these sums, £4,576 were for town lots in Geelong, £11,026 for ditto in Portland, £7,638 for ditto in Williamstown, and the remainder for jNIelbourne. The country and suburban lands in the Port Phillip dis- trict, previous to the introduction of the vuiiform price system, from 12th September, 1838, to 15tli October, 1840, amounted to £231,526, viz.— in 1838, £25,286; in 1839, £60,964; in 1840, to October, £145,272. In 1839 sheep sold at £3 to £3 10s. each, cattle at £12 to £15, and ordinary saddle horses for upwards of £100 each. Flour rose to £80 and even £100 per ton of 2,000 lbs. weight, the common four lb. loaf was sold for 3s, 6d. Ten shillings a day was no unusual remuneration for the ordinary descriptions of labour, and cottages of four rooms, with very moderate preten- sions to appearance or accommodation, were let at an annual rent of £150 to £200. Vessels hastened to " AustraUa Felix " from every quarter of the globe, and at the port of Melbourne, less than three years after the foundation of the colony, 130 vessels were seen at anchor in one day. It was about this period, I believe, that Sir G. Gipps, then governor of New South Wales, informed her Majesty's government that the road to Melbourne might be tracked for miles by champagne bottles ; and there is a story of two bullock-di'ivers who, at a country " public house,'^ on their way to Melbourne, called for a dozen of champagne, emptied the bottles into a bucket, and then deliberately commenced drinking the froth- ing wine from tin panikins. Such a state of things could not last ; in 1841 the reaction commenced, increased in 1842, and in 1843, sheep which but four years pi'cvious had been bought at £3, were sold for Is. 6d. Cattle fell fi'om £12 to 125. each, and other things in proportion. The insolvenccies were all but universal. At Melbourne there were in 1842, 113 ; in 1843, 124; in 1844, 45. Total, 282. The colony sustained during this commercial crisis great destruction of property; it is now recovering. Port Phillip, or Victoria, at present contains a population of nearly 50,000, and its live stock in 1849 consisted of 17,000 horses; 400,000 horned cattle; 5,200,000 sheep; and about 6,000 swine.* In 1839, her ^lajcsty's government created the Port Phillip district a dependency of New South Wales, and appointed Charles Joseph La Trobe, Esq., superintendent, or lieutenant-governor of the same, under the directions of the governor of New South Wales. The authority of the superintendent was generally exercised more in sui'veillance til an command, for he stood in the same * Progress since "jold discoveries, in Supplement. 238 SEPARATION OF PORT PHILLIP FROM THE SYDNEY DISTRICT relation to the governor of Sydney as the latter stands -with respect to the secretary of state for the colonics. The superAision of the departments of the treasury, survey, cus- toms, post office, sheriff, and clerk of the crown, Avere ordered to be exercised through the chief functionaries at Sydney ; but the judicial, marine, police, and protectorate of aborigines, were independent of the authori- ties at Sydney. Separate statistics were ordered to be kept, as far as possible, of the Port Phillip district, and in the previous book on New South Wales, the returns of the two di\dsions of the province Avill be found combined or separate. The Port Phillip district was authorised to send six repre- sentatives to the Legislative Council at Sydney. As the population and wealth of Melbom'ne and the surrounding country inci'eased, the colonists objected to the dis- trict continuing longer associated with New South Wales; they sought the control of their own local afiairs, petitioned the home authorities for a separation from the Sydney district, sent home an active and intelligent gentleman (Mr. Cunningham) to represent their views to her Majesty's government, and finally refused to send representatives to the Legislative Council at Sydney, alleging that they could not find independent and properly qualified persons to travel a distance of 600 miles, and reside at Sydney for six months in the year, in order to give atten- tion to the affairs of the Port Phillip district. Desirous of marking the impossibility of continuing the existing state of things, the electors at Melbourne elected Earl Grey, her Majesty^s secretary for the colonies, as their representative for the New South Wales Legislative Council. This does not appear to have been done from any feeling dei'ogatory to the noble lord, but simply to show their inability to obtain any fitting representative on the spot. The secretary of state (see page 550) complied with the urgent request of the colonists of Port Phillip, and an order in council, as preiiously stated (page 554), decided on the erection of the Port Phillip district into a separate colony, to be called after our gracious sovereign Victoria, and to be ruled by a governor, aided by a Legislative Council, partly nominated by the crown, and partly elected by the colonists, the proportion being one-third nominees to two- thirds elected representatives. Such are the provisions of the act passed by parliament. [This chapter was written in 1850 — for subsequent history, statistics, and gold discoveries, see Supplement.] CHAPTER II. BOUNDARIES— AREA— PHYSICAL ASPECT— MOUNTAINS— RIVERS— LAKES — HARBOURS —COUNTIES— TOWNS— GEOLOGY— MINERALOGY— SOIL AND CLIMATE. The north-east limits of Victoria are defined by a line bearing north-west from Cape Howe to one of the branches of the Murray river, which divides the province from Auck- land county and Maneroo Plains, in New South Wales; the northern boundary is formed by the Murray river to the frontier of South Australia, in the meridian of 141° E. ; the western by a line bearing south to the Pacific Ocean, along the South Aus- tralian frontier; and the southern by Bass's strait, which separates Van Diemen's island or Tasmania from Australia. The length of the province from east to west is about 500 miles, the breadth from north to south about 250 miles, the coast line about 600 milee, and the area about 80,000 square miles = 51,200,000 acres, it is therefore about equal in size to Great Britain. Physical Aspect. — The province through- out its whole extent presents great diversity of feature, from the lofty alpine region on the east, to the low grassy plains in which it terminates on the west; while its coast line, indented in some parts by picturesque bays and capacious havens, is in others monotonous in the extreme, a long tract extending between Cape Howe and Lake King, called by the colonists the " Ninety Mile Beach," being almost unbroken by inlet or cove. But the peculiar character- istic of Victoria is the large proportion of fertile, accessible, and comparatively level ground comprised within its limits, not- PHYSICAL ASPECT OF VICTORIA PROVINCE. 239 withstandiug the mountain chains and ridges of various extent and considerable elevation by which it is traversed. The whole territory is, generally speaking, well watered. The Murray, which rises in the Australian Alps, receives in its course various other rivers which flow over extensive plains in directions nearly parallel to its own, and thus irrigate and fertilize a great extent of rich land. Hills of moderate elevation occupy the central country, being thinly or partially wooded and covered with the richest pas- turage. The lower country, both on the northern and southern skirts of these hills, is chiefly open ; and on the south undulates slightly towards the coast. The grassy plains which extend northward from these thinly wooded hills to the banks of the Murray, are chequered by the channels of many streams falling from them, and by the more permanent and extensive waters of deep lagoons, which are numerous on the face of these plains, " as if," says Sir Thomas Mitchell, " intended by a bounteous provi- dence to correct the deficiencies of a climate otherwise too dry for an industrious and increasing people, by preserving in these abundant reservoirs the surplus waters of the large river; and indeed a finer country for cattle stations than this can scarcely be imagined." In the western portion small rivers radiate from the Grampians, an elevated and isolated mass, presenting no impediment to a free communication through the fine country around its base. Hence the enormous labour necessary in order to obtain access to some parts, and for crossing continuous ranges to reach others, by passes like those so essential to the prosperity of New South Wales, may be in great measure dispensed with in Victoria. Towards the sea-coast on the south, and adjacent to the open downs between the Grampians and Port Phillip, there is a low tract of very rich black soil, apparently the best imaginable for the culti- vation of grain in such a climate."^ Mountains. — The principal chain of mountains in Victoria, designated by Mit- chell the Australian Alps, but known also as the great Warragong chain, or Snowy mountains, are a continuation of the di- viding range (see p. 433) whose progress as far as Mount Kosciusko has already been delineated. Commencing from that point, and contimiing the description on the au- * Mitchell's Expeditions into Australia thority of Count Strzelecki, we find the chain resuming a south-west direction, and still maintaining a l)old though less elevated outline. Its intricate branchings on either side, with their peaked summits, render the country rugged and sterile, excepting the neighbourhood of Lake Omeo, and a part of the Mitta Mitta valley, lying between the spur crowned by Mount Yabbara, and that surmounted by Mount Ajuk, a tract resem- bling a vast basin, without trees, and scan- tily supplied with Avater, but covered, even during a parching summer, A^ith luxurious pasture. The whole region westward of the chain, towards Western Port, is rent by narrow gullies, rendered well-nigh inaccessi- ble, either by the steepness of the ridges by which they are flanked or the thickly inter- woven underwood. EastAvard of the chain, in the direction of Corner Inlet, the country presents very different features. In 37° S. lat., or about the sources of the river Thom- son, the spurs ai'c less ramified, and of considerable height and length, shaping the intermediate ground into beautiful slopes and valleys, which ultimately resolve into an open and well-watered plain, clothed with nutritious grasses, adorned with fine timber, and off'ering charming sites for farms or country residences. The spur which bounds the southern limit of that area, and another, which, on the western side of the chain, studs the territory of Australia Felix, and the neighbouring district of Western Port, with some remarkable eminences, again change the face of the country, and consti- tute a broken inhospitable region, frequently unsupplied with water, and almost always ill furnished Avith either quadrupeds oi birds. In the vicinity of Coroner Inlet (Gipp's Land), the chain of mountains dips under a loAV and marshy ground, above Avhich its crest appears rising only at intervals. Ten miles beyond, it is seen again, erect, jutting out boldly into the sea, and exposing its crranitic flanks for a length of thirtv miles to the lash of the infuriated surf. At Wilson's Promontory, the sea inter- feres Avitli the visible continuity of the range, but does not terminate its course, Avhich in clear Aveather may be traced from the head- land by the chain of islands in Bass's Straits. These islands, Avhcther high and crowned with peaks, or low and crested only by the Avhitc sparkling foam of the sea, appear, in their Avinding and lengthened array, like the glittering snoAV-capped domes of the 240 AUSTKALIAN ALPS, GRAMPIANS, AND PYRENEES. Andes, when seen above the dense clouds which encompass their lower region,* The Austrahan Alps cover an area of about 7,000 square miles. The Grampians form the leading features of the country westward of Port Phillip — they are a lofty and extensive mass com- prising three ranges, and covering a surface which extends latitudinally fifty-four miles, and longitudinally twenty miles. The ex- treme eastern and highest summit is Mount William, in height 4,500 feet above the sea. The most northern point is Mount Zero, in 36° 52' 3'' S. lat. The most southern, Mou.nt Sturgeon, in 37° 38' S. lat., rises 1,070 feet above the level of the plain, from which it springs like a perpendicular rock from the midst of the ocean. The most northern and elevated range extends from Mount William to Mount Zero, and is steepest on the northern side. From this hill the two other ranges branch off to the south, the western being named by Mitchell the Victoria range, and the eastern the Serra, from its serrated outline. On the slopes of the northern range are some forests of fine timber, but, in general, the higher summits are bare and rocky. Mount Abrupt, the south-eastern extremity of the Gram- pians, is 1,700 feet in perpendicular height ; it contains a crater of 446 feet in bi"eadth, the average depth being eighty feet. Mitchell describes the prospect he beheld from the summit as a truly sublime scene, the whole of the mountains quite clear of clouds, the grand outline of the more distant masses blending with the sky, and forming a blue and purple background for the numerous peaks of the range on which he stood, and which consisted of sharp cones and perpen- dicular cliffs foreshortened, so as to form one feature only of the extensive landscape, but composing a crescent nearly thirty miles in extent ; this range being but a branch from the more lofty masses of Mount Wil- liam, which crowned the whole. The view includes a vast extent of open plains fringed with forests, and embellished with lakes. "Certainly," says Sir Thomas, with an enthusiasm very natural under the circum- stances, " a laud more favourable for colo- nization could not be fovmd. Flocks might be turned out upon its hills, or the plough at once set agoing in the plains. No pri- meval forests require to be first rooted out here, although there was enough of wood for all purposes of utility, and adorning the • Strzeleeki's Netv South Wales. country just as much as eye could wisli,"t Mount Arapiles lies to the north-west of Mount Zero. This mass, the western ex- tremity of which has somewhat the appear- ance of a ruined fortress, consists of a sand- stone passing into quartz. It occupies an area of about two square miles, and may be easily recognised, both by its isolated po- sition, and by its small companion, the Mitre rock, situated midway between it and the lake to the northward, named Mitre lake. The highest summit of Mount Arapiles is 726 feet above Mitre lake. Thirty or forty miles to the eastward of the Grampians is a granitic range called the Pyrenees, thinly wooded with very lofty timber, and grassy to their summits; they terminate, to the southward, in Mount Cole. About fifty miles to the eastward of the Pyrenees is a range called the Bunnhiyong, or Brisbane range, running north and south, and traversing nearly a degree of latitude. The Mount Macedon range commences about thirty-five miles north-north-west of Melbourne. Mount Macedon, properly so called, is one of the principal mountains in the province, clothed with trees (chiefly black butt and blue gum eucalypti), measuring from six to eight feet in diameter to its very summit, about 3,000 feet high, which is spacious, easily accessible, even on horse- back, and covered, towards the south, with the tree-fern, musk, and other plants found at the Illawarra, New South Wales. Mounts Campbell and Byng are two conspicuous eminences to the northward, which, with Mount Macedon, form the figure of a tri- angle — the latter being the apex, the former marking the extreme points of the base line to the north-east and north-west. Mount Hope (considerably to the north of Mount Byng) belongs to a group of low granitic hills, of which it forms the western extremity. It is composed of immense blocks of granite, and obtained its name from Sir Thomas Mitchell, who after several months spent in traversing the dead levels of the interior, hoped from its summit to obtain an extensive view of the region between him and the coast. How much the prospect exceeded his highest expectations, may be readily conceived, for the fair and fertile region he then beheld, was that which he afterwards designated Australia Felix. Pyramid hill, about six miles from Mount Hope, rises about I 300 feet above the plain, in the form of a tri- I •{■ Expeditions into Australia. THE HUME OR MURRAY, AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. 241 angular pyi-amid^ and being quite isolated, closely resembles the monuments of Egypt. Its apex is formed by a single block of granite. To the northward of Portland bay (in the county of Normanby) a range of in- considerable extent and elevation, called the Rifle Range, is chiefly characterised by its lofty timber and numerous swamps. Along the coast, to the eastward of Cape Otway, is a range called the Marrack hills, of which comparatively little is known, from the im- penetrable character of its luxuriant vegeta- tion. Station peak, the highest point of the Villemanata range, is a well known land- mark in the harbours of Port Phillip and Geelong. The mountain is accessible on every side, and is remarkable for its pictur- esque beauty.* Besides the chains above mentioned, there are Strzelecki range in Bass county. Western Port district, the Mamaloid hills, and other groups and de- tached mountains alluded to in the geological section. The prevailing line of the mountain ranges, when \ieAved at a distance, is a deep grey ; on a nearer approach every variety of hue is agreeably blended. Rivers. — The streams which irrigate Vic- toria are generally deeper and more con- stant in their course, than those of the older colony, unless, indeed, we except the more recently discovered streams in the northern districts of New South Wales. The noble river which forms three parts of the eastern and northern boundaries of the pro\dnce, is known as the Hume in the early part of its coui'se, after receiving the waters of the Ovens' and the Goulburn, the Campaspe, the Loddon, and various smaller tributaries, it pursues a north-easterly course to its junction with the INIurrumbidgee, from which point to its sea mouth. Lake Alex- andrina, in South Australia, it is called the Murray.f The earlier portion of its course is that with which we are at present con- cerned, and to avoid the repetition of the two names — Murray or Ilume — it may be well to speak of it, during this portion of its course, by the latter appellation only. The basins of the Hume lie in the deepest recesses of the Australian Alps, and its im- mediate tributaries ha\ang also their sources among the Snowy mountains, it is supplied • liecent information concerning Australia Felix, by G. Arden, Esq. t Several writers on Australia speak of this river by the name of the iSIurray only, and some confusion is" certainly apt to arise in the minds of readers not intimately acquainted with the subject, from its bear- ing different names in different places, yet this does DIV. II. from them with never-faiHng streams, and enabled to support a continuous volume, whose strength is manifested by its having forced a channel through a portion of the desert interior, instead of spreading over extensive plains, or being lost among mo- rasses, like several other northern streams. I have, I believe, elsewhere quoted the remark of Sir Thomas Mitchell, that " each Australian river seems to have some peculiar character, sustained with remarkable uni- formity throughout the whole course.^^ That of the Hume appears to consist chiefly in the vast extent of allmdal margin, the lofty trees, and still lakes, which form its leading features throughout the varied sceneiy of the extensive regions Avhich it fertilizes and adorns. It has been crossed, at different seasons and places, by Hovell, Hume, Sturt, Mitchell, Hawdon, and Strzelecki, and to the latter explorer we owe the knowledge of its sources. It is worthy of notice, that the Hume receives no tributaries from the westward or the northward. The first junc- tion of any importance, is formed by the Mitta Mitta River, itself the recipient of Tallargetta and Livingstone creeks; some forty miles further, a small stream named the Keiva joins the main channel. About the same distance beyond, is a low granite hill named ]\Iount Ochtertyre. Near this point Sir Thomas ]\Iitchell describes the river as being bordered by so many lagoons, that he succeeded in obtaining a A-iew of it only with gi-eat difficulty, and after nearly an hour's ride. He found it, at length, running at the rate of two miles and-a-half an horn-, and just beginning to overflow, while the opposite bank consisted of a reedy and impassable swamp. Still, tracing the course of the Hume from its sources, we find it receiring the Ovens, another of the streams discovered dm'ing the memorable jom'iiey of Messrs. Hovell and Hume. The Ovens takes its rise in the mountainous district to the west of Lake Oraeo ; after its junction with the River King, it becomes an important stream, finely breaking up the dead levels of the surrounding plains. The next junction with the Hume is formed by a river of consider- able magnitude, wliich has been unfortunate not seem a sufficient reason for setting aside the designation given to it by its earliest discoverer. To those Avho agree witli iJr. Lang that the Murray is formed ly the junction of tlie Hume and tlie \Iur- rumbidgee, the distinction is a just and even a neces- sary one. 2 o 24.2 GOULBURN OR BAYUNGA, CAMPASPE, AND LODDON RIVERS. in receinng a variety of names. In the maps it appears generally marked as the Goulburn, but there being another stream of that name in New South Wales, it is styled by some the Hovell, Avhile others pre- fer its native, and certainly more eupho- nious appellation of Baymiga. The river, however, by whatever name it may be de- signated, is a very fine stream. Rising among the mountains to the north-east of Western Port, after receiAing Broken River and several smaller creeks, it joins the Hume in 143° E. long., 35° 19' S. lat. About 100 miles below this point, the high road be- tween Sydney and Melbourne intersects the river, which during that distance has a medium breadth of from sixty to seventy yards, flowing through a fertile and populous district. The Bayiinga is subject to high floods, which supply extensive lagoons much frequented by aquatic birds. Sir Thomas Mitchell, in recounting his expedition of 1836, describes it as having a breadth of sixty yards, with a firm bed and banks; its mean depth (near the Deegay ponds) being somewhat more than two fathoms, and its velocity about one mile and 240 yards an hour. The length of its course is, according to Lang, about 200 miles, but it is else- where stated at above 400 miles. The land, up to its sources, is occupied by squatters, but near its mouth it is less settled, the soil being considered of inferior quality. The Campaspe falls into the Hume about four miles above the junction of the Goul- burn or Baj'^iinga. It rises near Mount Macedon, and is joined at an early period of its coiu'se by the Barnard or Coliban,^ a stream remarkable for the bold character of its scenery, and the abrupt and steep ravines through which it flows, the left bank con- sisting of undulating hills and lofty rocks of granite, the right strangely contrasting with it, by the perfectly level summits of the adjacent hills, which give to the whole the appearance of having been, at one time, in a fluid state. Some of these table hills are separated by dry grassy vales of excel- lent soil. Further back, the rugged crests of a wooded range of a diflercnt formation, render the level character of this ancient lava or vesicular trap more obvious. The rocky channel of the Barnard forms in one part a very striking cataract, the waters having a perceptible descent of above sixty feet, but * Accordinj^ to Mr. Ham's map of Australia Felix (1849), the Barnard or Coliban joins a channel by which the Loddon and Campaspe anastamose they fall in reality more than double that height; in the lower part, however, the stream escapes unseen among large blocks of gra- nite. The picturesque eff'ect of the water- fall of Cobaw is attributable less to the body of water falling, or the loud noise, than to the bold character and harmonious grouping of the rocks over and amongst which it falls. The prevailing shades are light red and purple-grey, the rocks being finely in- terlaced with a small-leaved creeper of the brightest green ; a dark-coloured moss re- lieves the vivid hues; while a brilliant iris, shining steadily amid the spray, blends into perfect harmony the lighter colour of the rocks, and the whiteness of the torrent rushing over theni.f Loddon River, called the Yarrayne by Mitchell, from the noble line of Yarra trees growing on the very brink of the stream, next joins the Hume, and waters in its com'se a large extent of fine country, be- tween that river and the western side of the Mount Bunninyong range, where it has its origin. This stream has all the charac- teristics of a mountain torrent, being at some times (as when discovered, in 1836) of considerable importance, with an equal depth of about nine feet, and a current of nearly a mile and-a-half an hour, while at others it is little better than a rivulet. The next important junction with the Hume is formed by the Murrumbidgee, and has al- ready been described in the account of the latter river (p. 444) ; and of the former, little more need here be said. Throughout that portion of its course which avc have just traced, the Hume, or Murray, maintains the character of a deep and rapid stream, exceeding at some points 400 yards in breadth, and offering a valuable means of internal communication. According to Mitchell, it carries to the sea a body of fresh water sufficient to irrigate the whole country ; which is in general so level, even to a great distance from the river banks, that the abundant waters might probably be turned into canals, for the purpose of supplying natural deficiencies of water at particidar places, or of affording the means of transport across the wide plains. The numerous and extensive grassy flats which border the river are attended, however, with one great disadvantage — the banks being frequently so steep and yielding as to render the water inaccessible to cattle, who appear to shrink instinctively from the muddy margin. f See Mitchell's J^xj)editions into Australia. YARRA YARRA RIVER A>sD ITS TRIBUTARIES. 21-3 The Yarra Yarra, thougli in itself secon- dary in importance to several other rivers of Victoria^ all of which are, however, very inferior to the noble stream whose course through this province we have just exa- mined, nevertheless claims attention, since on its banks stands the fair city of Mel- bourne. The Yan'a Yarra rises in a gully between the Snowy mountains and one of the Goulburn mountains, about 100 miles east-north-east, as the crow flics, from Port PhiUip, in 37° 46' S. lat., 146° 17' 30'' E. long. The origmating spring is so small that it could run through a four-inch pipe ; it is, however, soon fed by branch streams, some of considerable magnitude, from the adjacent gullies. There are several water- falls at the head of the stream, one rising some hundred feet above the bed of the river. The country is of trap-rock forma- tion ; freestone and slate are to be found. In various places the scenery (as described by Mr. Hoddle, who explored it in 1844) is extremely picturesque. Towards the source of the Yarra Yarra, the surface was boggy, and the scrub so close that the explorers could only cut their way through it at the rate of half a mile a day. Farther down, the soil was good, but very hearily timbered, many of the Avhite gum-trees measuring fifty feet in circumference, and 150 feet in height ; the tree-ferns were more than twenty feet high ; and the sassafi'as and myrtle grew luxu- riantly. The " greenest of trees" occasionally vai-ied the scene; box, stringy bark, some- times iron bark, black and silver wattle, and honeysuckle, studded portions of the country. One very pretty shrub abounded ; it had smooth leaves, and produced, in bunches, a seed resembling black pepper in appear- ance and taste. Tavo other trees were also noticed, the fruit of which might be mis- taken for the coffee-berry and plum. No aborigines were met with in the course of the expedition, which occupied nearly fovir months. This river disembogues in Ilob- son's bay, the northern extremity of Port Phillip; it is narigable up to jMelbourne for steam-boats and other vessels of light draught, by a tortuous course of seven miles. The bar at its mouth has nine feet water at high tide. At the distance of four miles from Melboujne in a direct line, although perhaps three times that distance by the windings of the river, the Yarra Yarra receives, as a tributary from the northward, the Merri creek ; at four or five miles far- ther^ it receives the Darebin creek; and at six beyond the latter stream, the River Plenty. These are all mountain torrents, rising in Mount j\Iacedon range. There is much good land on their banks, although in general pretty heavily wooded and thickly covered with rocks, which are all evidently of volcanic origin, and have been carried down by the torrents from the extinct vol- canoes of that part of the territory. The soil is a rich black mould, well adapted for the growth of the vine and other de- scriptions of European fruit-trees. There are many small farms, in this part of the country, in a highly creditable state of cul- tivation ; and the situation of some of the villas, both on the main river and on its tributary streams or creeks, is romantic and beautiful in the highest degree.* A very interesting account of the lower course of this river is given in an ofiicial document written by his Honour C. J. La- trobe, the Superintendent of Port PhilHp. The source of the river had not then been ascertained, although the Superintendent rightly surmised that it would be found " among the offsets of the Snowy Alps to the eastward." Up to the furthest point to which it had then been surveyed it presents pretty much the imiform character of a con- stantly flowing stream, from a chain-and-a- half to two chains in breadth, and eight or ten feet in depth, sunk in ordinary seasons beneath abrupt and wooded banks. As it approaches the vicinity of ]Melboui'ne and its estuary, it is traversed by dykes of trap or ironstone, the most elevated and striking of which occui's at the head of the basin at INIelboui-ne. At this point, in ordinary times of the tide, the fresh water mingles with that of the bay, which, following the lower bends of the river, is nine miles dis- tant. In dry seasons, before the dam was built, the high tide would frequently pass this natm-al barrier, and flow strongly up the channel, its influence being felt for hours to the distance of perhaps a mile above the town. Below the point where the river Plenty enters the Yarra Yarra, the high banks of the latter are found to border occasional flats, or low undulating tracts of various extent, composed of very rich alluvial soil ; in the other por- tions of its com'se from the above point, the river will be seen to be confined witiiin its deep bed at the foot of steep sandstone hiUs, or somewhat elevated flats of honeycomb land, sprinkled with trap liouldcrs. The valley • Lang's Philli2)'s Land. 241 THE SALT-WATER, BAHWON, MOORABOOL, AND GLENELG. of the Yarra Yarra, properly so called, may be said to terminate at Melboxirne. At this point the bluif land retires on either hand and gives place to a wide tract of countrj^, composed partly of low marsh, but very sHghtly raised above the level of the high tides, and partly of low undulating sandy rises, through which the Yarra Yarra and Salt- Water river take their course to their junc- tion with the ocean. From the whole of this level the sea has doubtless retired, leaving the original coast line exceedingly well de- fined in the steep scarped banks which bound the low land for many miles. The Y'^arra Yarra is subject to occasional heavy floods, which have occurred at every season of the year, in the height of summer and the depth of winter, as well as in the spring. That of 1844 was a very serious one. The river had been swollen by the usual equinoctial rains above its ordinary height, for some days previous to the night of the 2nd October, but it then rose for a few hours with a rapidity so unexpected, and with such short warning, that even after the flood had gained the opening below the hills, and consequently found room for its exten- sion, the water rose so high, and poured down towards the bay with great rapidity, and in such a volume, that it was with diffi- culty that the people inhabiting the river banks a mile below the basin could be with- drawn from danger. Up the river, above and below Heidelberg (a village about seven miles from Melbourne), where there are many rich alluvial flats, the stream appears to have overflowed its high banks and covered the low cultivated ground on every side to the depth of ten, fifteen, or even twenty feet. In parts Avhere it was shut in by the hills on either side, it flowed on with great velocity with a mean height of thirty feet and upwards above the ordinary level; and reaching islie more open comitry in the vicinity of and below the town rose in the bed of the river to seven or eight feet above the usual level, and in the course of a few hours covered the whole of the lower ground to the foot of the bluff's in every direction to a mean depth of two or three feet. A simultaneous rise in the tides, caused mainly by the strong southerly gales, converted the whole of the lower country, from Melbourne to the Salt- Water River, into a wide lake. The Marriburnong, or Salt-Water River, has its sources in the mountains south of Mount Macedon ; it is fed by Beep creek and others, and joins the Yarra Yarra four miles above its embouchc in Hobson's Bay. Barwon river, on whose northern bank the town of Geelong is built, rises in the high barren ranges near Cape Otway ; waters, in its circuitous course of upwards of 100 miles, a splendid tract of country, and emp- ties itself into the ocean by Lake Conewarre, a few miles to the westward of the entrance of Port Phillip. The mouth of the Barwon is only navigable for boats entering in very fine weather. The Barwon, near the foot of some low hills called by the natives Barabool, falls some height over a rocky shelf, forming a pretty waterfall, and at a little distance may be found meandering silently between grassy flats. A few miles to the south-east of Barabool hills the river communicates with a large lagoon ; " after which," says Captain Stokes, " I was informed there was only a depth of three feet, and a width of one-eighth of a mile. The Barwon is there- fore not available for water carriage to the town of Geelong, even if its entrance were better protected." Moorahool River rises in the Boninyong or Brisbane range, and joins the Barwon at Geelong. There is much good land on the Moorabool, both towards its source and to- wards its mouth. The declivities of the valley of this river, as also the singular sloping tree- less sides of the Barabool hiUs, are described as appearing to have just emerged from the sea, which had, as it were, scooped out their hollows and smoothed their sides."* Native creek also joins the Barwon from the northward, with which another more im- portant junction is soon after made on the same bank by the River Leigh. This stream rises to the north of Mount Boninyong, and divides the county of Grant from the Port- land Bay district. Glenelg River issues from a gorge on the western slope of the northern Grampians, and pursues a due westerly course for about fifty miles, to within twenty-five miles of the western limit of the province. It then takes a southerly bend, entering the territory of South Australia a few miles from the ocean, ])ut, quickly recrossing the boundary line, disembogues a mile or two to the eastward of it in the deepest part of Discovery bay, 38° 2' 58'^ S. lat., 141° 2' 9'' E. long. Mr. Tyers states that the mouth of the Glenelg cannot be made available as a harbour; for independently of the heavy breakers on the bar, tlie accumulation of sand is sometimes • Discoveries in Australia, by Captain Stokes, R.N. DISCOVERY, PORTLAND, AND LADY OR MERRI BAYS. 215 so great between the eastern and western shores of the entrance as completely to sepa- rate the river from the sea ; and moreover the basin, through which it flows imme- diately before its entrance into the ocean, has a depth of not more than two or three feet water. Beyond the basin the river ap- pears to be of considerable depth, but the banks are chiefly limestone cliff's, for the most part about 100 or 200 feet high, and steep; the water is brackish for several miles, and the land indifferent, being a mere sand, covered with thick scrub, vines, and forest.^ Higher up on the Glenelg, the country is of a very diff'ei'ent description. Sir Thomas Mitchell, who came upon this river at an earlier portion of its course, speaks in the highest terms of the " beauty and substantial value" of the adjacent coun- try. " It seems," he says, " that the land was everywhere alike good, alike beautiful; all parts were verdant, whether on the finely varied hills, or in the equally romantic vales, which seemed to open in endless succession on both banks of the river." In 37° 30' S. lat. the Glenelg receives the Wando, a tribu- tary from the eastward ; farther south, in about 37° 40' S. lat., it is joined by the IVannon. This latter stream rises on the eastern slope of the Grampians, then wind- ing round the southern extremity of the mountain range, strikes off" towards the fine country on the westward, and after receiving several tributaries from the southern and western Grampians, is joined by the Grange Burn, forty miles to the westward and at length, about twenty miles farther west, falls into the Glenelg some forty miles inland from the mouth of the latter river. Between the junction of the Wannon and the sea, two small streams, named the Crawford and the Stokes, flow into the Glenelg from the eastward. Leaving the Glenelg, we may in noticing the chief streams of Victoria (not already mentioned), which have their embouche in the ocean, trace also the leading features of the coast-line proceeding in an easterly direc- tion to Cape Howe. Discovery Bay is a long open indentation of the coast, and affords no shelter to ship- ping beyond that of a mere roadstead. Cape Bridgewater, its eastern extremity, is a hummocky cliffy-faced point of land, separated from the main by a low neck. • Report of an Expedition to ascertain the position of the lilst degree of east lomjitudc, 8fC. By C. J. Tyers, surveyor. Colonial Government paper. Syd- ney : 1841. Eour miles to the north of this point are some caves from forty to fifty feet high, and of the same depth; the ceilings were encrusted with stalactites, and the entrances overlooked some pretty fresh-water lakes, three miles in extent, separated from the sea by a narrow chain of sand hills. Cape Nelson, the southernmost point of the promontory, which shelters Portland bay on the eastward, is in 38° 24' 15" S. lat., and 141° 34' 15'' E. long. Portland Bay extends twenty-six miles from east to west, and ten fi-om north to south. The most northern portion of its shore is comparatively low, but the western portion consists of bold cliffs rising to the height of 1 80 feet. There is excellent hold- ing ground (mud with a coating of sand) in from four to seven fathoms, towards the western shore, where the anchorage is com- pletely sheltered from the south-westerly winds, but exposed however to those from the south-east, which prevail diu-ing the summer months. Two small rocky islets, called Lawrence Isles, he off" the point form- ing the south side of the bay, and a much larger one named Lady Julia Percy's Isle (known among the whalers as Julian Island) lies off* its eastern shore. The rivers which fall into Portland bay are — the Surry, which disembogues in 38° 15' 43'^ S. lat., and about 141° 56" E. long. ; the Fitzroy, a more important stream, with much good land on its banks ; and the Shaiv and Eujnerella, which unite imme- diately above their junction with the ocean. The channels of both these streams are merged, for a time, in extensive swamps. Moyn River next falls into the sea at Port Fairy, a small and not very secure harbour (38° 22' S. lat., 142° 16' E. long.), chiefly valued as a whaling station. The entrance is open, and affords but insufficient shelter for the anchorage ; during the winter, how- ever, which is the calving season of the whales, the prevailing winds come off the land. The town of Belfast is built on the shore of this bay, at the mouth of the INIoj^n. Lady or Merri Bay, about twenty miles east of Port Fairy, is mentioned by Dr. Lang as a small but superior harbour, but other writers appear to consider it merely an open roadstead. It receives the Merri and Hop- kins rivers ; the former of these is a small and unimportant stream; the latter rises near Mount Cole, in a range sometimes called by the same name as the river, on the south-western face of the Australian Pyrenees, thence it pursues a soutlierly 246 IMMENSE HARBOUR OF PORT PHILLIP. coui-se of at least ninety miles, and falls into the sea at the town of Warnanibool. Both banks of the Hopkins* are occupied by squatters the whole way down, the coun- try being of excellent quality. The land, towards the upper part of its coui'se, is best adapted for pastoral, and that on the lower portion, for agricultural piu'suits. The Hopkins receives several tributaries. About ten miles from the coast, Taylor's River, or the Caranbalac, falls into it over a precipice of forty feet. The coast line between Lady or Merri bay and Moonlight head is little known, and its weather-beaten shores are deemed danger- ous and impracticable. On the latter point the erection of a light-house is in contem- plation, as also on Cape Otway, the southern extremity of the curved coast-line extend- ing between the mouths of the Hopkins and the Barwon, which are 100 miles apart, or 150, following the coast-line. Mr. Smythe, who surs^eyed the shore for a distance of about seventy miles, namely, from fifteen miles west of Cape Otway, and fifty-five miles east of that cape, describes it as bold, — skirted by perpendicular cliflFs of 500 to 1000 feet elevation above the sea, and ha-vdng numerous bays, which afford excel- lent anchorage, and are well protected from all but due easterly winds. King's Island, thirty-four miles from Cape Otway, forms the southern side of the western entrance to Bass Strait. The Harbinger reef runs about fom' or five miles oflP the northern extremity of the island; and the channel between that reef and Cape Otway is twenty-nine miles wide, with soundings of fine white saud. It is, therefore, a per- fectly safe ship-channel ; I beat through it in a large vessel during the night. There are soundings along the whole south coast of Austraha, at a considerable distance fi'om * The desire of offering a tribute of esteem to an old brother officer, appears in this instance to have completely triumphed over the love of appropriate names and sweet sounds, usually manifested by Sir Thomas ^litchell in the numerous instances in Avhicli the task has devolved upon him of finding designa- tions for hill and valley, mountain and stream. Judging from his general rule, we may fairly infer that could he have ascertained the native name, he would have gladly retained it, and saved this fine stream from a patronymic which, but for the associa- tions connected with it, would most assuredly sound in the ears of Sir Thomas himself common-place and distasteful in the extreme. t Port Phillip is now visited by vessels from India, China, and other places, where instructions for the guidance of mariners may not be readily obtainable. the land, and the current sets to the south- ward. Port Phillip was discovered by Lieutenant Murray, R.N., when commanding the Lady Nelson, New South Wales colonial brig, in January, 1803, and was shortly after A-isited and surveyed by Captain Flinders, in his Majestj^s ship Investigator. The entrance is scarcely two miles in width, but within, the port expands into a capacious haven. The heads are forty miles from the inner- most anchorage, off" Melboui-ne, situated at the north side of the bay, which has a breadth varying from twenty to sixty miles, and includes an area of not less than 875 square miles of water, capable of hold- ing in perfect safety the largest fleet of ships that ever went to sea. The entrance is narrowed by rocks lying off" Point Nepean (in 38° 18' S. lat., 144° 30' 30" E. long.), and by shoals on the opposite headland. It is, however, deep enough to admit vessels of any size at low water, and may be safely entered at flood tide, which rises six feet. Masters unacquainted with the harbour, should not attempt to enter at night or at ebb tide. There are nume- rous sand-banks about the middle of the harboui% which break the force of the sea when the wind is from the south, and afford a smooth anchorage near ]\Ielbourne; the eastern passage to which, along the bay, is the deepest and safest. On the western side of Port Phillip, a branch or arm ex- tends into the land in a west-south-Avest direction for about fifteen miles, and has an entrance of about six miles wide ; it is called Geelong harbour. A small basin at its up- per end communicates with the larger one hj ^ narrow na\igable channel. Geelong harbour runs nearly east and west, and there is secui'e anchorage at its fiu'thest extremity, t One vessel from Hong-Kong was recently lost at the rather difficult entrance of this immense harbour. Commanders of ships having on board this work on the British Colonies would expect to find sailing directions for entering new havens, I therefore sub- join an abstract of the Directions for Entering Port Phillip, as laid down by Captain W. Hobson, R.N., of H.M.S. Pattlesnalce, who made a running survey of the port. Captain Hobson says that — *' In approaching Port Phillip from the westward, the entrance cannot be distinguished until Point Nepean bears N.N.E.; then you open Shortland Bluff, and obtain a view of the Estuary. _ But the position of the entrance is easily determined by its situation with respect to Mount Flinders to the west- ward, and Arthur's Scat to the eastward- Mount Flinders is a small flat topped hill at the extremity of The principal features, on entering the bay of Port Phillip, are Arthur's Seat, Sta- tion Peak [Youanff], and a bluff in the north-east, called Dandonong. Youang is one of a small cluster of lofty peaks, rising abruptly out of a low plain on the west side of the bay. Arthur's Seat forms the north extremity of a towering range, decHning gradually, on the east shore, to the coast at Cape Shanck. Of the rivers which fall into Port Phillip, the Yarra Yarra and the Salt Water river, the Barwon and the Moorabool, have been the low land ; it makes like an island, and bears AV. h N. from Point Nepean. Arthur's Seat is the highest land on the coast westward of "Western Port ; from the southward its north-west extremity appears precipitous ; it slopes to the south-east, and its sum- mit bears E. j S. from Point Nepean, which is situated on the eastern side of the entrance, at the extremity of a peninsula, which slopes gradually from the base of Arthur's Seat; at one-sixth of a mile N.W. by W. from the Point is a low rocky islet, connected with the shore by a reef, which dries at low water ; even in calm weather the sea breaks on it with considei-able violence. Point Lonsdale, on the western side, is a low point jutting out from a dark rocky cliff, from which a reef runs two cables' length to the eastward, and forms the southern extremity of a bay that ter- minates at Shortland Bluff to the northward. To enter Port Phillip a fair wind or a flood tide is indis- pensable ; with a fair Mind keep in mid channel be- tween Point Nepean and Point Lonsdale, and steer in for Shortland Bluff' until Point Nepean bears S.E. by S., then shape a course as hereafter directed for the channel through which you mean to pass ; with a beating wind do not approach Point Lonsdale nearer than a quarter of a mile, and be careful to avoid a sunken rock which lies N.W. by W., two cables' length from the rocky islet off Point Nepean. The soundings across the entrance are very irregular, varying in one cast from seven to twenty-four fathoms, and again suddenly shoaling to five or six. On the edge of the reef of Point Lonsdale is a depth of five fathoms close to the rocks, and the same depth on the southern edge of the reef that extends from Point Nepean to the rocky islet. The tide in the entrance runs with considerable force in the height of the springs. From its impetuosity, and the irregularity of the bottom, a rippling is created which in rough "weather would render it very unsafe for an undecked vessel to pass through, and presents to a stranger so much the appearance of breakers, that it requires good nerve to venture on. If the wind should be light, care must be taken to get into the fair way before you come too near the reefs, as the flood tide sets across them towards the entrance of the port, with great strength. As the entrance is only con- tracted by projecting points, Mith a favourable tide or a fair wind, you are soon within them, and then if you are desirous to anchor, a good berth may be found any where between Observatory Point and Point King, within half a mile of the shore, in seven fathoms, clay bottom. " "When hound through the Western Channel, take care to avoid a little shoal called the Pope's Eye, on which there is only twelve feet. The following marks will place you exactly on it. Swan Point N. T E. described, and the Werribee and Little river alone remain to be noticed. Werribee River is a small fresh-water stream, having its origin in the high range between ]\Iounts Boninyong and Macedon, and its embouche midway between I\Iel- bourne and Geelong. In seasons of drought (such as the summers of 1845 and 1846), it is little more than a succession of deep pools, with scarcely a perceptible current; but in winter it becomes a large and rapid river, and has been known to rise twelve feet in a single hour. At an early portion of (mag.) :^Iount Eliza, summit on with north end of the flat island. If bound through the Western Chan- nel, pass to the westward of Pope's Eve, by keeping Swan Point to the northward of N. I E., until Short- land Bluff bears W. i S., and steer for the entrance of the channel which lies between a shoal that com- mences two cables' length to the northward of Swan Point and the west bank, to clear the bank off Swan Point, keep Point Lonsdale just open with Shortland Bluff, until Swan Point bears N. ^ W., the course then is N.N.E., and midchannel will be preserved by keeping Point Nepean a finger's breadth open with Swan Point ; the soundings are from four fathoms at the centre, to a quarter less three at the sides, from which the banks shoal suddenly to five or six feet, and in some places dry at low water, when Station Peak is seen over the north red clift', bearing N. 72" W., you are clear to the northward of the banks, and will be in seven fathoms water. In approaching from the northward, bring Point Nepean open with Swan Point before the north red bank bears N. 72' W., and follow the leading marks. This channel has now a buoy marking the entrance on the edge of Pope's Eye, two more on the edge of the shoals on either hand, and a fourth on the Swan Spit. In beating through, you must be guided by the eye on the eastern side when the shoals show themselves very distinctly, and take care not to shut the marks. In standing to the westward, at all times, it is advisable to keep a person aloft, whence the shoals may gene- rally be distinguished. The tide runs from two to three knots per hour, and follows the direction of the channel. To pass through the south channel when fairly within the port, keep along the south shore, at a mile distance, in nine or ten fathoms water, until abreast of Point King, from which situation an E. by S. course, with very slight deviations, will carry you through. It is impossible to find any leading mark for a channel so long, and in some places so narrow, that is not more liable to perplex a stranger than to guide him. The only certain measures of navigating it, until regularly buoyed, is by the eye from aloft, and when the weather is too hazy to show the banks it is not safe to go through. The soundings in the south channel are very irregular, from sixteen fathoms to five, and close to the edge of the banks, from that to three, two, and one fathom. Although the deepest water is to be found in this channel, it is not to be preferred by vessels drawing less than sixteen feet water ; the absence of any leading mark, and its great length, being a great objection. The harbour-master in a late government notice, has declared this passage to be impracticable, from the shifting of the sands. The south sand that commences near Point King, forms the south side of the channel, its eastern end 2-i8 RIVERS AND COAST LINE OF VICTORIA PROVINCE. its course, about two miles from Ballaa, the Werribce forms a wide deep basin, bounded on all sides by basaltic columns ; and above this basin tlie stream flows over a basaltic pavement of somewhat the same character as the fajnous Giants' Causeway, in Ireland ; but the blocks are less regularly formed."^ Little River rises to the north or north- west of a low range called the Anaki hills, and falls into Port Phillip a few miles to the southward of the Werribce. Near its som'ces there is some good land, but towards its mouth are extensive plains of ferruginous sandstone. Port Phillip is divided from Western Port by a low promontory, of which the soutli- westei'n extremity is Cape Shanck, a narrow projection of calcareous formation, imme- diately off Avhich lies a rock named, from its striking resemblance, Pulpit rock. Western Port, discovered by Mr. Bass, in 1798, and so named by him from its being the limit of his explorations to the west- ward, from Sydney, is a fine harbour, situ- ated in a wide and deep inlet (38° 15' S.lat., bears S. W. h S., (mag.), from the white cliff, and to the eastward of that, deep water extends close to the shore. " The northern side of the channel is formed by the middle ground, the western end of which bears N. 5 E. (mag.) from Point King, and extends seven miles eastward when Station Peak is on with Indented Head bearing N.AV. by W. (mag.), and White Cliff S.W. by W. I W., you are clear of the middle ground, and may steer to the northward. Symond's Channel may be made available in N. or N.W. winds, when unable to fetch through the western channel, but is not recommended for any but small vessels until it is buoyed. The Pinnace Channel is only suitable for small vessels, the deepest water will be found close along the edge of the great sand. To pass clear of the shoals to the northward, keep Station Peak on with the extreme of Indented Head, and do not shoal the water under nine fathoms. From the edge of the bank over the area of Port Phillip, to w ithin a mile of the shore, there is deep water every where, with the exception of the Prince George Bank off Indented Head, and in running and beating tovv-ards Hobson's Bay, at the northern extremity of the port, there is nothing to ap])rehend. Steer in for Point Gcllibrand and pass it at two cables' length distance, taking care in so doing not to shoal the water under five fathoms, and to anchor when you bring Point Gellibrand to bear S.S.W. in four-and-a-half fathom water ; small vessels may bring it to bear south in two fathoms. A light-house is now erected on this point, which will at night direct strangers to the anchorage, inde])endent of the lights of the town and numerous shipjjing. If you are bound into Geelong harbour from sea, be careful to give a berth of at least two miles from Indented Head to avoid the Prince George Bank, which extends from it in a N.E. direction. In rounding the shoal on the east and north sides do not shoal the water under seven fatlioms until Point Kichard bears W. by S., you may then haul up for Point Henry. 145° 30' E. long.), containing two great bays, the inner one being a circular basin of about eighteen miles across, with an island, called French Island, of about twelve miles in length and six in breadth, in its centre, which thus divides it into an eastern and a western arm. Another island, called Phillip or Grant Island, of about fifteen miles in length, stretches across the outer bay, almost from point to point, and effectu- ally shelters the harbour, leaving a wide and well-protected ship channel on its western side, whilst on the eastern the passage is nar- row, and fit only for boats and small vessels. This harbour t presents one very curious feattu^e, namely, a sort of canal or gut in the mud flats that front the eastern side of Grant Island. Its depth varies from six to seven fathoms ; the width is half-a-mile. The chief, if not the only danger to be guarded against in Port Western, appears to be a sandbank, lying in the centre of the channel, four miles within the entrance. Phillip Island consists of an unvaried strata of vitrified sandstone and clay. The " Do not approach the northern shore nearer than one mile, and in passing Point Wilson keep Point Henry to the westward of W. by S. (mag.) ; one mile east, or E. by S. from Point Henry, there is tolerable good anchorage. On the bar at the head of Geelong harbour you cannot ensure more than seven feet at high water ; at a cable's length within the bar there are five fathoms, and the depth may be carried close up to the shore ; the rise and fall of the tide does not exceed four feet in any part of the port, and more commonly it does not rise beyond two feet six inches on the springs : both the time of high water and the extent to which it rises are greatly influenced by the wind ; the force of the tide through the chan- nels leading to the north from the mouth may be estimated at from two to three miles per hour; in the south channel it runs with less force, and in the wide expanse northward of the banks it is scarcely perceptible. When it acquires its greatest strength it is not safe for any open boat to venture out, but it is easy to conceive the rapidity with which it must run to raise the level of 875 square miles of water four feet by means of so small an em- bouchure." * Phillip's Land ; by Dr. Lang. f In proceeding from Port Western to Port Phillip very extraordinary soundings Avere ascertained by Captain Stokes, in H.M.S. lieacjle. About one-third of the way across from Grant Island to Cape Schanck, seven miles from the latter, the depth was ascertained to be seventy fatlioms, on a gravelly bottom. The same unusual depth was likewise found by a single cast of the lead, three miles south of Cape Wollami, with the same kind of gravelly bottom, or a very fine kind of shingle. In the latter instance, there were on either side thirty-nine and thirty-three fathoms fine sand and shells. This depth is the greatest within the strait. — (See Voycu/c of ILM.S. Beayle, by Captain Stokes.) COAST LINE AND RIVERS NEAR WILSON PROMONTORY. 249 western half of its southern side is formed by a line of cliffs^ from one to three hun- dred feet in height. A remarkable pyra- midal rock marks the point where they terminate, after whieh a long range of low hiUs, covered with scrubs stretches to Cape WoUami, a helmet-shaped headland, rising abruptly from the sea to the height of 480 feet. This cape, situated at the south- eastern extremity of Phillip island, is a very conspicuous object, the rest of the island, with little exception, being covered with low hills, thickly clothed with the tea-tree, scrub, and vinous plants. On the northern side of the island are several small lagoons or waterholes, situated a little distance in- land, which contain pure water. The an- chorage from the signal-post to EUzabeth cove affords complete shelter from south and south-west gales. The soil of French island is of a superior description to that of Phillip island ; and on its shore is found freestone resembling the celebrated Portland stone, which rises in large perpendictdar masses. The water near those cliffs is of sufficient depth for vessels of any size to anchor alongside. The upper land has for its principal trees, stringy bark, gum, and '' she oak." The lowlands are impassably covered with mangrove and tea-tree. The mainland shores of both the inner and outer bays are very rugged, and are broken in many places by the channels of small streams ; of which, however, only one, Bass River, has received a name ; and in the useful and carefully compiled map of Aus- tralia Felix, published in 1849, by Mr. Ham, there is not even this exception. Leaving Western Port, we follow the coast line in a south-easterly direction, to Cape Patterson, a low point covered with scattered sand hillocks, which marks the commence- ment of a deep bight, in the centre of which a tongue of land, somewhat similar in shape and direction to that constituting the south- ern boundary of Port Phillip, forms a bay, or rather lagoon, called Anderson's Inlet, of about fifteen mdes in diameter, into which- the Tarwon River flows from the north. The * A rock called Crocodile rock, in 39^ 21' 30' S. lat., and 4' 41' 45" west of Sydney, lies in a line midway between the western extremities of Rodondo and Curtis islands, nearly nine miles from each. It is a smooth round-topped granite boulder, just pro- truding above the surface, and in fine weather the sea runs over it without breaking. The depth being forty-three fathoms close to it, if the waters of tlie strait were drawn off, the shape of it would be that of a column nearly 260 feet high. — Stokes' Disco- veries in Australia. DIV. II. wild forest country, through which this stream takes its course, is hemmed in on the north, east, and west by the Strzelecki range and its branches, — the native name is Tangel, and there are said to be large open plains to the north-east, abounding with game. Ca2ie Liptrap, in 38° 55' S. lat., 145° 57' E. long., marks the southern extremity of the curve in which Anderson's inlet is situ- ated, and the commencement of another equally striking. Cape Liptrap is twenty- four miles distant from Wilson Promontory, and the shore receding between these two points, forms a bay nine miles deep. We now arrive at the majestic headland which forms the southern extremity of Aus- tralia. Wilson Promontory consists of a lofty mass of hard granite, twenty miles long by six to fourteen wide, its lofty sum- mits rising to a height of 3,000 feet, are at most seasons of the year enveloped in a cloud of grey mist. Sometimes, however, the bold outline of the mountains is re- lieved against a clear sky, and their highest peaks catch the first rays of the morning sun as it rises from the southern ocean. The promontory is connected with the main land by a low sandy isthmus, which is described as bearing the appearance of ha\dug only recently been left dry. Several clusters of small islands, namely, the Glennie, Cleft, Rodondo,* and others, lie immediately off the west and south shore of the promon- tory ; those known as the Hogan group, are situated to the south-east, the largest of them (in 39° 13' 14'' S. lat.) is about a mile- and-a-half in extent. Captain Stokes, who landed upon it in 1842, when surveying Bass Strait, found a number of dogs left by sealers, that had become quite wild, and some fur seals in a cave on the south-east point. On the north-east is a boat cove sheltered by two small islets, and provided Avith fresh water. Cape Wellington, the eastern projection of Wilson Promontory, forms the north point of a wide and spacious bay, called by Cap- tain Stokes, Waterloo Bay,f from II. M.S. i^ea^'/e having anchored there on the anni- t The following extract, quoted by Dr. Lang, from the Port Phillip Patriot (the date of which the doctor does not state), evidently refers to the inlet described above, on the authority of Captain Stokes, as Waterloo bay. " Lady's bay is a small securely- sheltered cove, with a depth, in many places, of from seven to eight fathoms water, on the eastern side of "Wilson ])romontory, about four or five miles from its extremity. It was named by Captain Wishart, who discovered it, after his vessel, the Lady of the Lake. Lady's bay is so free from dangers that the 2 H 250 CORNER INLET AND ALBERTON (GIPPS' LAND.) versary of that -victory. There is no good anchorage between it and the south end of the promontory, from which it is four miles distant. The depth in the centre of Water- loo bay is twelve fathoms, muddy bottom. At its head lies the low valley three miles in length, which stretches across the pro- montory and forms a very conspicuous break in the high land. On the northern side of it, the lofty and wooded crest of IN'Iount Wilson rises abruptly. On the southern is a ridge strewn over with immense boulders of granite. A ri^Tilet winding amid the valley below, falls into the sea at the north end of a sand beach, forming the head of Waterloo bay. Refuge Cove, to the north of Waterloo bay, is so named fit'om being the only place a vessel can find shelter in from the east- ward, on this side of the promontory. This small cove, which is only a cable wide at its entrance, may be recognised by Kersop Peak, which rises over the south part, and from its lying between Cape Wellington and Horn Point, and also from its being the first sandy beach that opens north of the former. The scenery of Refuge Cove is said to resemble that of Tierra del Fuego; and Captain Stokes states, that the smooth quiet sand beaches, the dense forests reach- ing to the water's edge, the mist-capped hills, and the gusts that swept down the valleys and roared through the rigging, forcibly re- called to his recollection that land of storms. On the north side of Refuge Cove is the Sealers' Cove of the old charts, a small deep bay, open to the east. The trees on the south-west side are large, measuring eight feet in diameter, aflbrding shade and mois- ture to tree-ferns, and an undergrowth of various kinds, and supporting on their branches a profusion of creepers which, inter- lacing, form a canopy resembling lattice- work. Comer Inlet, an extensive basin, situated in the deep angle between Wilson promontory and the main land, has a bar extending off it six miles from the entrance, on which there is water for vessels di'awdng from six- teen to eighteen feet. Captain Stokes speaks of it as a " great useless sheet of Avater, only mariner, in entering, might touch tlie rocks -with his vessel's broadsicle, and still float in six fathoms water. The sliores are rocky, exceedingly steep, and covereil with dense impenetrable scrub; the rocks are principally of granite. Good water is to be ob- tained in this locality. The bay, too, has the usual character of unfrequented harbours on this coast, abounding with fish." na^dgable a mile or two Mithin the entrance, and that chiefly on the northern side, the rest being occupied by mud flats.'' A veiy diflercut opinion was however expressed con- cerning this inlet by its discoverer. Captain Lev>-is, the harbour-master of Port Phillip, who states that he " never entered a finer harbour," and adds that on entering it, keep- ing the promontory close on board, there wei3 not less than three fathoms between the reefs : no bottom was found at twenty fathoms, nor for a considerable distance up the harbour. A group of islets named from their utility Direction Isles, lie a few miles outside the bar. Close to the promontory, and about seven miles from the entrance of Corner inlet, is a small islet called Rabbit Island, from the numbers of these animals found there, the progeny of a pair turned loose by a sealer about ten years ago. Over the north shore of Corner inlet is a woody range, the summit of which, INIount Fatigue, is 2,110 feet high. A small stream called Franklin River falls into Corner inlet from the north, and thence to Port Albert the coast is intersected by numerous creeks. Port Albert is situated about fifteen miles to the eastward of Corner inlet, in 38° 44' S. lat., and 146° 41' E. long. It is a valuable harboiu", available for vessels of 200 tons The entrance is said to be rather intricate and circuitous, but not dangerous to those at all acquainted with the channel. " It has this special advantage," says Dr. Lang, " that when it would be unsafe — as I suspect it would in a violent south-easterly gale — to attempt the channel, there is shelter for vessels close at hand, between Rabbit island and the mainland of Wilson promontory." Albert River and Tarra River fall into this port. Both these streams originate in thickly timbered ranges, about twenty miles inland. On the banks of the latter river the rising town of Alberton, the embryo capital of Gipps' Land, is built. Several islands, of various forms and sizes, lie off Port Albert. Vessels bound to Alberton usually pass through Shallow Inlet ; but the water being so shallow as to break across the entrance, if there is any swell, it is considered more prudent to enter by Corner inlet, and take the second opening on the right within the entrance. Tracing the coast line from Alberton, first in a south-east and then in a north-east direction, we find it presenting few remark- able features. Occasionally it is broken by COAST LAKES OF GIPPS' LAND. 251 streams descending from the sontli-eastern ilanks of the Snowy mountains, of which Merriman's Creek is one of the largest ; but there is Httle to deserve especial notice until we arrive at a series of lakes or lagoons, connected with each other, and running parallel to the ocean, with Avhich they com- municate by a narrow and unfortunately, not na\'igable channel. The largest and most westerly of these, Lake Wellington, con- tains ftesh water, and is about twenty miles long, by about ten broad. It is joined to Lake King by a central and narrow lake, assuming towards Lake Wellington the cha- racter of a liver. Lake Reeve, situated be- tween the central lake and the sea, has a length of about eighty miles, opening into Lake King at its eastern extremity. The depth of water in mid-channel is twenty feet, and in some places this depth is main- tained right across from land to land; but in others there are shallows and banks on either side. Into these lakes various rivers, all of which take their rise in the south- eastern face of the Snowy mountains, or rather on the eastern side of the dividing range, disembogue, — Latrobe River and the Dunlop or Avon falling into Lake Welling- ton, Providence Ponds into the central lake, and the M' Arthur or Mitchell, the Riley, and the Tambo into Lake King. According to Dr. Lang, the Latrobe is navigable for thirty miles from its embouche, the JNI'Ar- thur for twenty, and the Tambo for ten; but they have each a bar, carrying seven feet water, at their mouths. The Latrobe is much the largest of the three, and forms the general receptacle of the streams that rise on the eastern side of the dividing range for nearly a hundred miles, as well as of those that rise on the northern side of the coast range. Its principal tributaries, among which are the M'Alister and the Barney, originate in lofty mountains, of which the highest peaks are covered with perpetual snow ; and therefore, they are not mere torrents, but perennial streams.'^ After leaving Lake King, the coast-line becomes exceedingly monotonous, and con- tinues so during the long tract extending towards Cape How^e, called the Ninety-mile beach, which has, I believe, not yet been surveyed. To the eastward of Lake King is Lake Tyers, an interior lagoon, twenty miles fi'om which the coast is broken hy the im- petuous torrent carried to the ocean by * Phillip's Land, by Dr. Lang. the Margalong or Snoivy River. This stream rises in the Austrahan Alps, traverses the western portion of ^lonaroo plains, then pursuing a southerly course, dashes along its rocky channel from precipice to preci- pice, forming in its rapid descent many splendid waterfalls. Jenoa River falls into the ocean at an inlet, a few miles west of Cape Howe. Gabo Island, on which it is proposed to erect a lighthouse, is situated about a quar- - ter of a mile from the sandy spit of Cape Howe. This isle is a mile and-a-half long, by three-quarters of a mile in breadth ; it has a basis of solid rock, with some grassy land, and springs of fresh water. The high- est part is 158 feet above the level of the sea. On the north-west of the island is a bay named Santa Barbara, where vessels not exceeding 100 tons may find shelter from south-east and south-west gales. Tenders have been issued by government for the .construction of a light, as recommended by Mr. Tyers, which wotdd be very advantage- ous to the coasting trade, and to all vessels navigating the south-east coast of Australia. We have now traced all the rivers of any importance Avhich fall into the ocean, as we had previously done those which through different channels unite theu' waters with the Murray or Hume ; a few streams, how- ever, still remain unnoticed which flow in- land, and poui' thek waters into interior lagoons, or (like some of the streams in the older pro\ince) spread themselves over ex- tensive marshes. Of these the most remarkable is Wimmera River, which originates near Mount Cole, in the PjTcnees, thence pursuing a shallow and tortuous course for about 200 miles, through a region of sand and heath, succeeded by jungle and mallee {eucalyptus dumosa) scrub, intermingled occasionally with open plains and tolerable pastui'age, it disembogues in Lake Hindmarsh. (See Lake Hindmarsh, p. 596.) The leading characteristic of the Wim- mera is its loug and beautiful reaches, which extend towards the north and west, and are so numerous that Mitchell, after fording the main channel in 36° 46' 30" S. lat., 142° 39' 25'^ E. long., crossed no less than five, within the distance of a mile-and-a-half. Avoca River, like the Wimmera, rises near jNIount Cole, divides the Western Port from the Wimmera district, and disembogues in Lake Bacl Bael. (Sec Lake Bael Bael, p. 596.) 25.2 INTERIOR LAKES OF VICTORIA PROVINCE. A small stream named Avon River flows between the Wimmera and Avoca, and falls into Lake Banynong. Woady Yaloah River flows in a different direction to those just men- tioned. It takes its rise near Lake Barram- beet, thence running a southerly course, it receives numerous tributaries, and falls into Lake Corangymite. Lakes. — The numerous inland lakes of this province are among the most remark- able of its physical features. The waters of many of them are quite salt, much more so indeed than the waters of the ocean; and in summer, when the extensive evaporation that always takes place at that season leaves a large extent of the surface usually covered with water, and sometimes the whole bed of the lake quite dry, the salt is found in large crystals to the depth of three or four inches, and sometimes even of six, within the usual water-mark. It is of excellent quality, and is used for all domestic purposes by the squatters in this part of the territory, re- quiring only to be pounded when used for the table. (See Geology of Victoria.) Lake Corangymite, (so called from the native word, corang or coraing, signifying bitter,) the largest, is situated in the Port- and Bay district, between the counties of Hampden, GrenviUe, Heytesbury, and Pol- warth. It lies about fifty miles due WTst of the town of Geelong. When first disco- vered, it was supposed, from its vast size, to be an arm of the sea, but was proved by Dr. Thomson to be a lake, apparently exceeding ninety miles in circumference. Its waters are perfectly salt, and towards the southward become very shallow. To the north the lake deepens to a degree which has not been ascertained. Lake Corangymite consists properly of two lakes, the smaller of which (called Gnarpurt) is situated at the north-western extremity of the larger — is of a circular shape, and does not appear to exceed eight or nine miles in circum- ference. The large lake is of a very irregular and serpentine form ; and although the banks are generally rather bare of wood, it forms an attractive object in many fine views. This vast basin is supplied by numerous fresh-water streams, most of which, how- ever, are in summer merely chains of ponds, their channels being, occasionally, quite dry. The Woady Yaloah enters the lake at its north-eastern extremity ; the Perring Yaloah at its southern. These streams have been knoAvn to rise, in a single night, with such rapidity, as to sweep away bullocks, drays and even men, encamped incautiously on their banks.* There are many small lakes in the vicinity of Lake Corangymite, most oi them containing salt water. Lake Colac, however, is among the exceptions, being a beautiful sheet of fresh water, measuring from seven to eight miles in length, by from two to three in breadth. Lake Poorumbeet is another fresh- water lake, in form nearly circular, and measuring about four miles in circumference. The banks are precipitous, except at two or three points, where they sink to the level of the adjacent country. The lake is much frequented by water-fowl. The water, which is of excellent quality, and of unknown depth, is supplied by springs underground. It has an outlet to the south- ward, where the water that escapes forms first a marsh, and afterwards a small creek or stream. Lakes Colac and Poorumbeet lie near the southern extremity of lake Coran- gymite, the former to the eastward, the latter to the westward. Lakes Barrambeet and Boloke, or Bolac, are small fresh-water lakes, situated in the Portland Bay district. Lake Bolac is some three miles in length, by about the same breadth. At one point the water is salt, but elsewhere quite fresh. It is chiefly supplied by Fiery Creek, a small stream from the Pyrenees. Modewarre Lake (fourteen miles to the south-west of Geelong) is of a circular form, very shallow, and about six miles in circum- ference. The banks are formed into regular terraces all round, as if the water had once stood at a much higher level than it usually does now. In the continued di'ought of 1845 and 1846, the basin was quite diy, which it had not been previously during the recollection of the settlers. Its character and origin appear to be similar to the nume- rous circular lakes discovered by Mitchell, about 150 miles to the westward, named by him Greenhill Lake, Mitre Lake, &c. Lake Hindmarsh, in the Wimmera district, is a fresh-water lake, estimated at about thirty miles in circumference. It is entirely supplied by the Wimmera river, which enters it fi'om the south, and has an outlet on the north, whence it pursues its course through a barren and uninhabited region, to a second lake, from which it emerges as from Lake Hindmarsh, and is finally lost in a third. Lake Bael Bael, situated between the Wim- mera district and the Western Port district, • Lang's Phillip's Land. COUNTIES AND DISTRICTS OF VICTORIA PROVINCE. 253 receives one branch of the Avoca river, the second pursues a northerly course, till again dividing, one channel terminates in a smaller lake ; the other proceeds in a north-easterly direction, until it is also lost in an extensive lagoon. Lake Banynong (in the Wimmera district) receives the Avon river. Lake Boga — one of the numerous lakes bordering the upper course of the Loddon, near its junction with the Murray or Hume ; is about twelve miles round, fresh, and pro- bably of considerable depth. A low neck of firm ground separates it from a smaller lake, (about three miles in circumference) which is suiTounded with reeds and bulrushes, and covered with black swans, ducks, and other water fowl. Lake Omeo, situated in the Australian Alps, between the Mitta Mitta and Living- stone rivers, is an extensive basin, marked in Mr. Ham's recent map (1849) by the em- phatic monosyllable, " dry." Count Strze- lecki, in 1840, describes it as possessing only the shape of a lake, with scanty water, and rich pasturage. It bears a striking analogy to Lake Bathurst and Lake George, being, like them, destitute of spi-ings and feeders, above the level of the adjacent rivers, and assimilating, in shape, rather to a drained reservoir, than to the natural basin of a lake. Divisions. — The larger and more south- erly portion of Victoria has been lately marked out into counties. The three first estabhshed were, the counties of Bourke * The boundaries stated by Mr. Wells, in his Aus- tralian Gazetteer (1848), of the three fii'st established counties, and of the five squatting districts above mentioned, are : — Bourke County (Melbourne) sixty-five miles long, sixty broad, area about 2,500,000 acres, bounded on the south-west and west by the Werribbee, from its mouth to its source in the great dividing range ; on the north by the great dividing range, from the source of the Werribbee to that of the Plenty river ; on the east by Plenty river, from its source to its con- fluence with the Yarra Yarra river, thence upward by that river to the confluence of the Deep creek, thence by Deep creek upward to the point where the main stream commences to run in a north-west direction ; thence by a line southei'ly from the aforesaid bend to the Dandenong creek ; thence downward to the shore of the Port Phillip bay, and on the south by the shores of Port Phillip bay to the mouth oFthe Werribbee aforesaid. " Grant County (Geolong), fifty-eight miles long, north to south ; forty-two miles broad, east to west ; area 1,000,000 acres; bounded on the east by the western boundary of Bourke County ; on the north by the dividing range, extending from Mount Black- wood to Mount Buninyong ; on the west by AVilliam- f on's creek, to its confluence with the Yarrowee river, (containing the city of Melbourne), Grant (the town of Geelong), and Normanby (the town of Portland) ; to these have been added those of FoUet, Duudas, Villiers, Ripon, Hampden, Heytesbury, Talbot, Grenville, Polworth, Dalhousie, Roduey, Anglesey, Evelyn, Mornington, Douro, Haddington, Bruce, Abinger, Combcrmere, and Howe. The designations of Port Phillip or Aus- tralia Felix ai'e frequently apphed to the whole province, although the region on which the latter term was originally be- stowed extends only between the Glenelg and Campaspe rivers. The north-eastern portion of Victoria is usually termed Murray district; the north-western, Wimmera dis- rict ; the south-eastern, Gipps' Land; the south-western, Portland Bay district ; and the central, Western Port district ; but the exact Hmits of these temporary divisions are very vaguely defined, and can be but of little interest to the general reader."^ The capital of a newly colonized region is ne- cessarily the first object of interest ; we therefore proceed at once to examine the condition of ]\Ielboui'ne. Melbourne, the adjacent country, and the Western Port District generally. — The better to understand the actual position of this embryo capital of an embryo province, and to appreciate the incontrovertible eridence which it affords of the enterprising spiiit of our Anglo- Austrahan bretliren, we must look back upon its condition twelve years ago. thence to its confluence with the Barwon river ; and by that river to its source, and by a line south to the sea coast and the waters of Port Phillip bay. " Normanhy County (Portland), fifty miles long, north to south ; eighty miles broad, east to west ; area about 2,000,000 acres ; bounded on the west by the Glenelg river, from its mouth to where the Wannon river joins it ; on the north, by the Wannon river and Grange-Burn, thence by a line easterly to Lake Lin- lithgow, following Cameron's creek to its source, and by a line south-east to the head of Muston's creek ; on the east by Muston's creek to its junction with the Hopkin's river, following the course of that river until it reaches the sea ; and on the south by the sea- shore to the mouth of the Glenelg, including the Lawrence, Lady Julia, Percy's Island, and the small islands at Port Fairy. " IFesterji Port District is bounded on the south by the sea coast from Anderson's inlet to the south- east limit of the county of Bourke, further by the east and north boundaries of the said county to the Werribbee river, and a north-west line to Mount Cole, thence by a line to the Avoca river, by the Avoca river to Lake Baol-Bael, and thence by a line, due north, to the Murray river ; on the north and north-east by the Murray to the Goulburn, following the latter river to its source, and on the east by a line 254 REMARKABLE PROGRESS OF THE CITY OF MELBOURNE. In January, 1838, it consisted of a nucleus of huts embowered in the forest foliage, and had much the appearance of an In- dian village. Two wooden houses served the purpose of inns, for the settlers who li-equented the place. A small square wooden building, with an old ship's bell suspended from a tree, was used as a chm'ch or chapel by the various religious denominations ; two or three so-called shops formed emporiums for the sale of every description of useful articles; the flesh of the kangaroo and va- rieties of wild fowl were abundantly used, for fresh mutton was still scarce, and beef seldom seen; and a manuscript newspaper, established by Fawkuer, one of the enter- prising men to whom England is indebted for the formation of this settlement, was the organ of public opinion in the new colony. Fortunately, on the spot selected for the city, excellent brick earth was discovered at the river side, and the neighbourhood yielded much fine and rough stone, adapted for the builder. The progress of Melbourne during the ensuing six months was extraordinary. ]\Ir. Arden, one of its early residents, states, in the useful manual to which we have pre- viously referred, that " so rapid had been its running due south to Anderson's inlet. The area within the above limits is estimated at 10,000,000 acres. " Portland Bay District is bounded on the west by part of the South Australian frontier ; on the north by the range dividing the waters falling into the Murray, from the waters falling into the Glenelg and other rivers to the east of Portland bay, extending from the head of the Glenelg to Mount Cole ; on the east by part of the Western Port district, and the county of Grant ; and on the south by the sea coast, exclusive of the coiinty of Normanby. Area about 10,000,000 acres. [This large extent of country is now being divided into several counties — see accom- 2)anying map.] " The Wimrnera District is bounded on the east by a line from Mount Cole to the source of the Avoca river, thence by the Avoca river to Lake Baelbael, thence by a line due north to the Mun-ay river; on the north by the Murray to the South Australian frontier; on the west by the South Australian frontier to the range dividing the waters that fall into the Murray from those falling into the Glenelg, and other rivers to the eastward of Portland bay ; and on the south by that range to Mount Cole. The area ia esti- mated at 15,000,000 acres. " The Murray District is bounded on the south and west by the Goulburn river, to its junction with the Murray river ; on the north and north-east by the Murray river, and its tributaries ; and on the south- east by the dividing range, termed the Australia-\ Alps. It contains about 8,000,000 acres." Mr. Wells does not give any assignable boundaries to Gipp's Land. * The following statement shews the i)rogress of progress, as to render it impossible for the memory to keep pace with the movement." Brick buildings, some even of two or three stories liigh, were numerous ; the inns were transformed into handsome and convenient hotels ; the lines of streets had been cleared, marked, and were, in some parts, under a process of partial macadamization ; many shops, warehouses, agencies, had been estab- lished; population had quadrupled ; branches of two Sydney banks were in active ope- ration; and, in October, the Port Phillip Gazette was issued from the printing-office of Melbourne. The rapid growth of the capital* received, in the years 1841-2, a severe but tempo- rary check. Its progress since, though less speedy, lacking the strong excitement, not to say the infatuation, which characterized its earlier formation, has been steady; and the Melbourne of 1850 would do no dis- credit to a province of far older estabhsh- ment and more developed resources. The chief defect in the plan of the city is the con- centration of the buildings, the plan originally laid down having been on too small a scale. This is easily accounted for, as Melbourne was not originally intended for the capital of the province, the locality selected by Sir Melbourne from wild desert in 1836-7, to October, 1840. The figures and calculations are from June, 1837, to October, 1840 :— June, 1837 — Population, 250; number of buildings, 36; value of buildings, £1,800; value of land, £3,517. June, 1838— Population, 1,800; number of build- ings, 300; value of buildings, £60,000; value of land, £17,406. June, 1839 — Population, 3,000 ; number of build- ings, 560; value of buildings, £112,000; value of land, £169,542. October, 1840 — Population, 5,538 ; number of buildings, 923 ; value of buildings, £230,750 ; value of land, £372,600. To the value of buildings £230,750 Add value of land 372,600 Add the stock in trade of 36 mer-i gg^ qqq cantile houses, averaging £10,000 j ' Of 175 miscellaneous dealers, aver. £250 43,750 3,000 tons colonial shipping, averaging | ^^ ^^^ £20 per ton J ' Deposits and capital of three banks,'* .^^^ qq^ averaging £100,000 ..,../ ' Paid up capital of five companies at-j ,q qqq £10,000 ; And the total value of property will be £1,392,000 iNote. — The value of property has been greatly m- crcascd by tne recent gold discoveries : see Suppt.] During the year 1840, the number of vessels Mhich arrived at Melbourne was 313, nearly averaging one a-day (excepting the Sabbath), and the tonnage en- tering the port amounted to 54.928 tons. DESCRIPTION OP MELBOURNE— VICTORIA PROVINCE. 255 Richard Bourke being Point Gellibrand, the peuinsiila forming the southern shore of Hobson's bay, (at the north-east end of the bay of Port PhilUp,) on Avhich WilHarastown now stands. The want of fresh water at WilHarastown appears to have been the chief obstacle to this design ; while, on the other hand, the abundant supply afforded by the Yarra Yarra river to Melbourne and its vicinity, was naturally a striking advantage in the eyes of many intending settlers, who probably could not conveniently spare the time or means necessary to ensure a suffi- ciency of that indispensable article of sub- sistence. Williamstown is the anchorage station for sliips, as only small craft pass up the Yarra Yarra to the capital.* The public buildings of Melbourne, though necessarily not very numerous, are of a respectable, and even superior class. The court-house and gaol at Melbourne have been erected, at a cost to the colonists of £30,000. The gaol, a gloomy-looking pile, constructed of dark ferruginous sandstone, is fa\^ourably situated for health and exercise, and commands one of the finest marine views in the neighbourhood of the city. The building containing the government offices, placed on a commanding eminence in the western quarter of the town, near the court-house, is composed of dark blue whin- stone and a light-greyish granite, which are judiciously blended. The custom-house, the next public building of importance, is stated to be a " chaste stnicture.^' The " Union" and the " Austral- Asian" banks have hand- some houses. The episcopalian, presby- terian, Roman catholic, Wesleyan, inde- pendent, and congregational temples of worship, are all substantial edifices. There is a mechanics' institute, erected of stone, at a cost of .€4,000, and various other public and private structures. There is a general market, a cattle market, and hay and corn markets, all imder the superintendence of properly- qualified inspectors ; and hotels of various grades. A bridge is now being con- structed over the Yarra Yarra, composed of a single arch, 150 feet span, and thirty feet in width, which, it is estimated, will cost * Captain Stokes relates an anecdote when describ- ing^ the bay of Port Phillip, which well illustrates the difficulty of detecting the mouths of Australian rivers. " In the" north-west corner of Hobson's bay is the mouth of the Yan-a Yarra river ; but although only one mile and-a-half from the general anchorage, it is very difficult to be made out. Soon after wc (i. e. H.M.S. lk'(u/le) anchored in Hobson's bay, a small schooner passed, going to Melbourne. Several of the .€10,000. A botanical garden has been established in one of the beautiful bends of the river, and a good race-course has been laid out in the vicinity of the city. The streets are planned at right angles, the larger ones being a hundred feet in width, the smaller about thirty. The principal street is, strangely enough, named Collins, after the brave officer who, when directed, in 1803, to form a settlement at Port Phillip, declared it to be " all barren," and aban- doned it as a hopeless undertaking. Eliza- beth-street is situated in a hollow, between two considerable acclivities to the eastward and westward, called the Eastern and Wes- tern hills, the course of the river being nearly due west. Melbourne is divided into four wards, and is under the municipal government of a corporation, consisting of a mayor, foiu* aldermen, and twelve town councillors, whose exertions, though commenced at a period of general depression and commercial difficulty (November, 1842), speedily effected an im- provement in the condition of the rising metropolis. The streets and by-Avays of Melbourne (previous to the existence of the corporation) are described as having been frequently rendered impassable, from the operation of the weather, and the ceaseless traffic of ponderous bullock-drays. Thick gum tree stumps, and deep ruts, forming vast reservoirs of mud, were vaiiegated by the intersecting gullies of temporary water- courses ; and many an anxious wife and mother scanned the deep abyss of the urban excavations, in search of a drunken husband or a wayward child. A visitor, writing in 1842, declares himself to have been startled, soon after his arrival in the colony, by a paragraph in the newspaper, headed, "Another child drowned in the streets of Melbourne." In the following year, however, the stumps were removed by order of the town council, and the occasion of frequent accidents thus removed. t On the south bank of the Yarra Yarra, within a distance of three miles from Melbourne, there are many pretty cottages, surrounded by fertile and productive gar- dens, extending over a gently undulating officers were at the time standing on the poop, and each selected a spot at which the schooner was to enter the river ; and although, as I have before stated, we were only a mile and a half from it, none of us was right. A single tall bushy-topped tree, about a mile inland, rose over the schooner as she left the waters of Hobson's bay." f Audralia i^c;//a-, by Westgarth ; Sydney ami Mel- bourne, by Baker. y256 VILLAGES AND COUNTRY NEAR MELBOURNE. iccli\ity to the water's edge. The beauty of the scenery is enhanced by hiUs, and bold vvoodland in the background. To the left of the city, and almost forming a part of it, is a small green hill (Batman's) of a conical shape, washed at its base by the YaiTa Yarra river, from which the ascent is rather precipitous. On the opposite side there is a gentle slope towards an open plain, with clumps of trees spread here and there in wild and irregular beauty. Further on is a long swamp, nearly always covered with water, which gives it the appearance of a fine lake; beyond it the Willoughby plains commence, studded with trees like an English park. The level of these plains is interrupted by a succession of green mounds, then by undulating flats, less timbered. The view is bounded by a lofty range of moun- tains, which begin near Geelong and continue many miles into the interior of the country. On the east of Melbourne, the view is bounded by the Western Port range of mountains, which stretches from the sea- coast inland until it reaches the Plenty range. The country between Melbourne and Western Port is a vast forest, broken at regular intervals by a succession of hills and valleys, which present many picturesque views. The township of CoUingwood, formerly NewtowTi, almost joins Melbourne ; it has three hotels, one brewery, and numerous stores. Further inland, upon the banks of the Yarra Yarra, is the township of Clifton. For many miles the banks of this " wildly beautiful stream" are lined Avith villas and parks, and fringed vnih. the graceful Yarra and mimosa trees. In a westerly direction from Melbourne, in the direction of Mount Macedon, an open grassy plain extends for more than thirty miles, traversed by numerous creeks, and thickly covered with homesteads. The soil is light and dry, producing excellent pasture for sheep. Further west are the deep and romantic gullies of the Werribbee and adja- cent creeks. The north portion of the Western Port district contains much valuable land, especially the extensive plains which extend between the Loddon and the Cam- paspe rivers, and also between the Campaspe and Goulburn or Bayiinga, immediately be- low their junction with the Hume, to the south of which open forest country, clothed witli good grass, but with occasional belts of scrub, extends along the eastern bank of the Loddon river. Mr. James, speaking generally of the country behind the coast of Port Phillip and Portland Bay, describes it as among "the finest countries not only in Australia but perhaps in the world. Nobody can visit the banks of the Yarra Yarra, the heads of the river Plenty, the country about Mount Macedon, and the river Campaspe, without being charmed with its magnificence and brilliancy." Mr. Richard Howitt — who was unfortunate in hi^ attempt to settle in Victoria, partly (it would appear even from his interesting ac- count of his proceedings) from his own inex- perience, and want of perseverance, but chiefly from the disastrous period during which that attempt was made — in describing an excm'sion in search of his stray bullocks, which led him to within twelve miles of Mount Macedon, bears the following testi- mony to the goodliness of the land : — " A more picturesque and beautiful region was never looked upon. I saw a great deal of very delightful country; it had a delicately-smooth lawnlike surface, without scrub or stones. Around me spread a spacious plain, the ' she oaks,' a rich silky brown, scattered thinly' and in clumps; further ofi*, bounding the plain, knolls, slopes, and glens, all of the smoothest outline, crowned or sprinkled with the same trees ; and beyond, mountains and mountain ranges on which rested deliciously the blue of the summer heavens. Some of these mountains were wooded to the sum- mits, others revealed through openings im- measurable plains, where sheep were whitely dotting the landscape, the golden shadows seen at intervals betwixt the long shadows of the ' she oaks.' A more splendid and ex- tensive country there is not in the world for sheep and cattle than Australia Felix. How fat and sleek are its immense herds ! I speak not here of the immediate neighbour- hood of the town, but of the country gene- rally." * Williamstown (the sea-port town of Mel- boui-ne) whose early pretensions have been so eff'ectually overshadowed by its powerful neighbour, is at present a mere coast vil- lage, with about 126 houses and 322 in- habitants. It nevertheless possesses great natural advantages. Situated at the head of the harbour of Port Phillip, with fine anchor- age, a beach admii'ably adapted for the con- struction of piers and wharfs, and a con- siderable extent of level land washed on * Ilowitt's Impressions of Australia Felix, pp. 108 — 115. GEELONG AND ITS VICINITY— VICTORIA PROVINCE. 257 three sides by tlie sea, it is only reasonable to suppose that AVilliamstown will eventually become an important place, as its disadvan- tage (the want of water) is remediable. Tlie only fault in its haven (Ilobson's bay) ap- pears to be that Point Gel li brand scarcely projects sufficiently to shelter large ships from south winds. St. Kilda and Brighton, are two pleasant ^dllages, situated on the eastern shore of the bay of Port Phillip, the former about two or three, the latter about six miles from INIel- bourne, in both of which are a considerable number of rui-al villas and cottages ornee, the residences, either constant or occasional, of respectable persons in business in the city. St. Kilda is the first point on the bay to the eastward, where the land is sufficiently elevated to be above the reach of all land- floods, and the terrace to seaward, in front of the line of houses along the bay, both there and at Brighton, at all seasons, in so fine a climate, forms a delightful promenade. The route and distances by which the " royal mail" travels from Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, to Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, are — Melbourne to Kiu- lochewe, 18 miles ; Kilmore, 32 ; Goulburn river, 25 ; Honeysuckle creek, 56 ; Ovens river, 53; Albury, 50; Tarcotta creek, 85; Gundagai, 35 ; Yass, 66 ; Goulburn, 60 ; Berrima, 40 ; Campbeltown, 47 ; Sydney, 33; total, 590 miles. Some of these esti- mates, hoAvever, must be under the mark, for the whole distance is about 600 miles. The " royal mail" leaves Sydney and Mel- bourne thrice in each week. From Melboui'ne to Portland, 253 miles, there is also a " royal mail" conveyance once a week. Several steam boats ply daily be- tween Melbourne and and Geelong. Geelong and its vicinity. — Geelong, the capital of the county of Grant (distant forty- five miles from Melbourne) stands partly on the picturesque cliflTs of the fine harbour whose anchorage it overlooks, and partly on the river Barwon. Geelong harbour is situ- ated at the head of the deep inlet formed by the western arm of Port Phillip. Its southern point is a level expanse of land, named Point Henry, from which a long spit extends, eaving only a shoal channel between it and the northern shore. Thus, though the har- bour has apparently a broad open month, it ie impossible for a large ship to enter it, so that the vessels which are annually charged with the large quantities of wool now ex- horted from Geelong, are obliged to lie to DIV, II. the eastward of Point Henrj% about seven miles distant from the port. The bar, which has but nine feet water at high tide, is said to be composed of an ancient deposit of shells and other matter of inferior tenacity, and its removal is considered practicable. Geelong has several commodious places of worship ; some good warehouses have been erected in the town, and the neighbourhood is adorned with cottages and gardens. The principal inn (Mack's hotel) is built on a veiy large and expensive scale. Like most other Australian towns, Geelong has its race ground. Several steam-boats ply on alter- nate days between Geelong and Melbourne, a passage of abovit six hours' duration. Gee- long and Corio each support a weekly news- paper. [See Supplemental Division j The same policy, noticed in a pre-sdous instance, as having proved so unconcentrative, is exemplified yet more forcibly in the case of Geelong. The high price fixed upon the town allotments being found to hinder its formation. Sir George Gipps separated the township into two parts, calling the portion nearest the harbour North Geelong, and the other South Geelong, the minimum price of allotments in the former being £300 an acre, in the latter, £150. Subin'ban allot- ments, however, being procurable at the rate of £5 an acre, in one locality, and of £2 in another, opposition towns were formed immediately beyond the boundaries of the government towns. There is thus the rival toAvn of Ashby, a mile from North Geelong; Irishtown, the rival of South Geelong, from which it is also a mile distant ; and Neiv- town, a third opposition town, between the other two. The last census (1851) states the population of the government towns at 8,291, and that of the three opposition to-rnis omitted. Corio, (pronounced Coraio, with the accent on the second syllable), is the native name for the beach at Geelong : the residents in the place usually call the town of North Geelong, Corio. About a mile and-a-quarter from Corio, the Barwon river passes Geelong, in its tortuous course, to the ocean; and as there is a natural terrace on each side of the nver, parallel to its banks, several suburban allotments have been purchased in the vicinity, and delightful villas constructed on either bank. The country round Geelong and the neighbour- ing villages is admired alike for the beauty of its scenery and the richness of its soil, which Avill probably eventually render it a valuable agricultural district. A vineyard, 2 I 258 PORTLAND AND THE PORTLAND BAY DISTRICT. established near Geelong, among the Barra- bool hills, by three families of Vignerons, from the canton of Neufchatel in Switzer- land, produced, in 1846, at the rate of 1,000 gallons of wine per acre. The peninsula included between the Barwon river and the western arm of Port Phillip, which is pro- bably about twenty-five miles in length, from Indented Head to Geelong, contains about 160,000 acres, of which the gi-eater part consists of land of the first quality, whether for pasture or cultivation. It seems to be a continuation of the same tract of level country that stretches along for upwards of 200 miles to the westward of Geelong, between the coast range, or Marrack hills, and the ranges of the interior. To the westward of Geelong, gi-assy hills, occasionally varied with clumps of trees, extend towards lake Colac. An immense forest, between Geelong and Melbourne, was at first reported to be composed of cedar. On subsequent investigation, it ap- peared that the trees were not cedar, but a hard, solid, close-grained, dark-brown coloured wood, with straight trunks of twenty-five feet, and an average circum- ference of nine feet. The country from Geelong to the Glenelg river may, in general terms, be described as a parallellogram, of 200 miles in length, by twenty-five miles in average breadth, the whole of which consists of land of the first quality for cultivation. It is nearly a dead level ; and, for a railway, would present few engineering difficulties, and require no tun- nelling or embankments. There is abun- dance of indigenous hard timber throughout; and a wooden railway might be laid down, at a cost of £1,000 per mile, whereby up- wards of three million acres of the richest land would be rendered immediately avail- able for the settlement of a numerous agri- cultural population. Portland Bay District and Portland Town. — This district consists of a series of undulations, intersected by numerous rivers and creeks. Portland, the chief town of Nor- manby county, and indeed of the Portland Bay district, is built on slightly rising ground, on the western side of the fine bay, whose name it bears. It is well placed, presenting a fine bold terrace towards the sea, backed by a sufficient extent of level gi-ound for a large town. The first town allotments in Portland were sold on the 15th October, 1840, and the land mania having then reached its height, the forty allotments then disposed of realised £11,026. Dr. Lang, waiting in 1847, says, that nearly £30,000 have since been invested in buildings. The population of Portland in 1846 Avas 510. Its trade is already con- siderable, and it has two respectable weekly journals. ^Mr. Angas, speaking from per- sonal observation, says that the country in this vicinity bears marks of having been raised by volcanic action from beneath the ocean; the same white coral limestone which occurs at Mount Gambler, also appears here. The aspect of the land resembles that in the neighbourhood of Cape Northumberland, and it would seem that a similar belt of country extends in this direction. A thickly wooded district is in the immediate vicinity of the bay, consisting of stunted eucalypti, black-wood, mimosa-wattle, the cherry (exo- carpus), and a little underwood. The soil is rich, the country verdant, even in mid- winter, and the climate cooler than that of Adelaide. The establishments of Messrs. Henty (the first settlers at Portland Bay) are extensive, and the town has grown \ip around them. The soil around Portland Bay is described to be of the richest alluvial kind; the vegetable productions remarkable for their size and quality — the barley " yield- ing for four years a continued crop^' — the timber peculiar for both beauty and utility, and the climate unrivalled. Several whaling vessels annually take up their stations in the bay, the property of parties residing in the neighboui'ing colonies. The anchorage is good; the water in the harbour some- times smooth enough to admit of landing from boats; it is, however, often trouble- some, and indeed dangerous, to debark on the open beach ; and several shipwrecks and loss of life have occurred. A wooden railroad and jetty have been constructed from the stringy bark wood in the neighbouring forest, for the conveyance of goods to and from the vessels in the bay. Belfast is a thriving sea-port town, also situated in the county of Normanby, on Port Fairy. It is 779 miles from Svdnev. Popu- lation in 1846 was 269. In 1851 was 3,846. One of the finest tracts in the district is situated between the Grampians and the boundary of South Australia. The rich black soil, several feet deep on a subsoil of clay, is lightly wooded, covered with the finest pasturage, and abundantly watered by the Grange Burn, Wannon, Glenelg, and their tributaries. The country near the coast, between the mouth of the Glenelg wim;mmera and ]\iuiiray districts— cape otway. 259 and Point Fairy, is generally poor, but there is some better soil on the banks of the river Crawford, and the land on the Fitzroy river is adapted for either grazing or cultivation. In the immediate \dcinity of Mount Eckerley (Normanby county), there is a tract called "the five-mile patch," reported to be of extraordinary fertility. Mount Rouse (Vil- liers county) is of trap formation, the soil around it, and between it and Mount Shad- well is good, but sw'amps are numerous. An open forest of stunted Banksise extends six miles to the northward of Mount Rouse. Fine downs for two or three miles in width, divide this from an open forest (chiefly of eucalypti) extending some distance east and west of Mount Sturgeon, the soil being pretty good.* The country around Cape Otway is almost unknown, owing to its being densely tim- bered with forest trees of gigantic size, covered .with rank and nearly tropical vegetation, con- sisting of an undergrowth of vines and other creepers, which flourish with extraordinary luxuriance, and form a trellis-work from tree to tree, through which a passage can with difficulty be eftected by a tomahawk; the whole intersected with ravines and ranges which render exploration very diffi- cult. This tract extends over about two million of acres, and is said by the few who have penetrated it to some extent to be plentifully "watered by running streams. The timber is of the most valuable descrip- tion, and includes a cedar not found in other parts of the province. The country, although now considered wild and impracticable will, it is supposed, from its peculiar resources, be eventually found available for small settlers of the non-stockholding yeomanry. An open country, with vast plains, extends from Lake Colac and the river Leigh, to the north and west of Lake Corangymite and Mount Elephant. To the southward of Colac Lake there is a romantically beautiful district, with a thickly grassed soil, inter- spersed with the tracts termed " stony rises." Near Lake Corangymite the land is equally fine, especially to the westward. In the neighbourliood of Lake Killambeet there are plains of great extent, belted with tall trees, copses, and open forest. North-west of Lake Porumbcct, on the road from Mel- bourne to Portland, " the country," says Dr. Lang, " for the next seven or eight miles, continues pretty much the same as before, rich plains, slightly undulating, with • Tyer's liepurt. a thick carpeting of grass, but with a some- what greater frequency and variety of natui-al wood." The Mount Leura district is re- markably well watered, rain is frequent, springs abundant, as well as creeks or small streams, and water holes, or natural pools. A whimsical proof of the contrast afibrded by a large portion of the Portland Bay district and the adjacent regions, to the impenetrable nature of other parts of the provice, was afforded in the early days of the colony by Messrs. Hawdon and Mundy, who left the neighbom-hood of Mount Macedon, in a tandem, on the 11th of July, 1839, and drove through the uninhabited country to Adelaide, a distance of 540 miles in twenty- seven days. They described this extensive region as being for the greater part like an English park. Wimmera Squatting District. — Sandy wastes, alternating Avith extensive tracts, covered with the impenetrable scrub {euca- lyptus dumosa) called Mallee by the abori- gines, render the northern and Avestern portions of this district hopelessly barren; but on the east of the Wimmera river a good sheep country extends in a parallel direction Avith the river, composed of light forest and plains. The lakes of this district are numer- ous, the chief of them, namely, Hindmarsh, Boga, Bael-Bael, and others, have been already mentioned. Murraij District. — Count Strzelecki, on his journey to Gipps' Land, \-isited this district, and crossed Mane's range, a spur of the Australian Alps, which divides the tributary creeks that flow from either side to the INIun-ay and the INIurrimbidgee. To the eastAvard of the meridian of 148° the moun- tains present the eflects of some extraordinary perturbations, and form many culminating and characteristic eminences; to the west- ward they are grouped in confusion, and the country is broken, rocky, and often impassa- ble. But both the ranges and valleys furnish abundant natural and artificial crops, as is CA-ident from the healthy state of the sheep and cattle, and from the retiu-ns of grain Avhich the squatters obtain from the culture of the soil. Between the jNIane and Ajuk ranges north of the parallel of 37°, ca'cit feature bears the stamp of grandeur ; the broken country to the westAvard in Avhich the Tangella creek takes its rise, to the eastAvard, the dividing range, here called the Australian Alps, Avith its stupendous peaks and domes, and in front the beautiful valley I which the Murray so bountifully Avaters, 230 GIPPS^ LAND DISTRICT AND ALBERTON— VICTORIA PROVINCE. unite to form attractions of no ordinary magnitude. Count Strzelecki followed the ■windin"-s of a valley in this district for about seventy miles, and found it intersected by gullies and torrents, and by numberless steep ridges. The soil in all the valleys is composed of disintegrated argillaceous and calcareous rocks, richly mixed with sediments of de- composed vegetable matter. For pasture and agriculture, the valley of the IMurray, ■with those adjacent, and the country round Lake Omeo, offer the most suitable spots. Strzelecki says, the INIurray, with its tribu- taries, the Mitta-Mitta, and others, supply both the valleys and Omeo with plentiful streams; everywhere nature seems to have most liberally enriched this district for the benefit of man. Mercer's Vale is a grassy plain of ten or twelve miles in extent, almost completely destitute of timber, and surrounded in great measure by hills of moderate elevation, and distant mountain ranges. Gipps' Land District and Alberton. — This important section of the Victoria Province may be said to extend from Cape Howe to Cape Paterson, near Western Port, on a sea- coast line of about three hundred miles. The inland boundaiy is marked by the Strzelecki range and Australian Alps, stretch- ing from Western Port to Mount Kosciusko; thence to Cape Howe along the boundary line which separates Victoria Province fi'om New South Wales. The portion examined by Count Strzelecki, in 1840, from the Thompson river to the southward has a sea- coast of about 250 miles in extent, and comprises an area estimated at 5,600 square miles, of which about 3,600 consist of forests, plains, and valleys, which in richness of soil, pasturage, inland navigation, and situation, cannot, it is said, be surpassed. Two thousand square miles of the coast range are clothed with the blue gum and black butt trees of excellent quality, and contain many large and deep valleys, well adapted for cattle. The country is abundantly Avatered by numerous rivers, and by a navigable lake and lagoons which bisect the coast for 100 miles. According to the Parliamentary Papers, No. 120 (9th March, 1841), containing the copy of a despatch by Sir G. Gipps, which shows the progressive discovery and occupa- tion of New South Wales during the period of his administration, "Gipps' Land'' l3egins at 17 miles S.S.E. from Lake Omeo, and is bounded on the N.E. by the meridian of 148°. In this report, Strzelecki says, that few of the parts explored presented him with more gratifying prospects than this division: a beautiful stream, the first of the eastern waters, winding through a fine valley, soon assumed the features of a river (the Thomp- son), and appeared to be a guide into a country hitherto unoccupied by the white man. A hilly country closes the valley, narrows the river banks, and brings the explorer across the mountain ridges to an elevation from whence there is a view of the sea on the distant horizon; to the south- east an undulating country, with mountain ridges to the north-east. Approaching or receding from the river according to the windings of its bordering hills, the descent into a noble forest tract is effected. The valley of the Thompson river is se- parated from that of the M'Arthur, which is wide and covered with luxuriant pasture, and slopes gradually in open forest ground to Lake King and the sea-coast. From the ]\PArthur river, a south-west course leads through forest and pasture country, crossed by several rivers, and intersected by hills clothed with timber; the coast range of mountains approaches nearer to the ocean, and narrows the expanse of forest into a vast valley. The magnificent prairies termed Barney's Plains, from thirty to fifty miles in extent, and bordered by copious streams, are surrounded by the most attractive scenery. The dividing range is continued in a south- east direction to Wilson's promontory, and presents some fine panoramic views. Viewed from Mount Gisborne, Gipps' Land is de- scribed by its explorer, as resembling a semi-lunar amphitheatre, walled from north- east to south-west by lofty and picturesque mountain scenery, and open towards the south-east, where it faces with its sloping area the uninterrupted horizon of the sea. Most of the ranges between Gipps' Land and Western Port ai'e of easy ascent and descent, none are rocky or of a precipitate character ; and there are several facilities for opening this region, which may be termed the Switzerland of Austraha, to the enter- prize of the settlers. These ranges are nevertheless so densely covered with scrub, interwoven with grasses, and encumbered with gigantic trees, fallen and scattered in confusion, that Strzelecki, when passing from Gipps' Land to Western Port, was forced, in the route adopted, at its very commencement, to abandon his pack-hrrse^ GEOLOGY OP VICTORIA PROVINCE. 2G1 and coUectious ; and not until after twenty- six days of incessant labour did lie and his half'famished party succeed in extricating themselves from a situation in which they were in imminent danger of perishing. Such were the difficulties encountered on that occasion, that, with the utmost exertion, stimulated by the sense of peril, a progress of from two to three miles a day, was all that could be accomplished. The honour of discovering this district is disputed ^dth Count Strzelecki by Mr. M'jNIil- lan, overseer for the Messrs. M'Alister, of New South Wales, who in January 1810, made an expedition into an unexplored country, which, from its resemblance to his native land, he named Caledonia Australis, and in the following month wrote to his em- ploj-ers a somewhat detailed description con- cerning it. The result of Count Strzelecki's expedition was made known in July, but without attempting to decide the question of priority of discovery, the merit of ac- quainting the public with the existence of these fine pastures certainly rests with the Count. There are three distinct descriptions of land in the Gipps Land district. The first consists of poor sandy soil and dense scrub ; the second, of open forest, forming good pasture land; and the third, of the best quality for cultivation Of the first descrip- tion, is the land along the sea coast, and also the higher mountains, Avhich are, for the most part, covered with dense scrub, growing on masses of disintegrated granite or sand. The back country, generally, towards the base of the mountains that hem in the district, may be included in the second description : while the thii'd comprises the alluvial soil, within two or three miles of the rivers, and a belt of five to twenty miles in breadth, generally along the lakes, from the Tambo river to Alberton. Dr. Lang thinks there are no less than 500 square miles = 320,000 acres, of these rich flats, unen- cumbered with timber, and ready for tlie plough; close to navigable water; so gently undulating, that hardly any change in the level is observable ; with abundance of white, blue, and blackish limestone, from the vici- nage of the snow-covered Australian Alps, and the southern coast of the Pacific, blessed with abundance of rain, and enjoying a cool but genial climate. The lakes are quite fresh in winter, and the rivers always so : but in February and March, the water of the lakes becomes rather brackish. It is, however, fit for stock ; and pure water may, at any time, be obtained by sinking wells. Gipps Land furnishes considerable quan- tities of fat cattle, which are sent for sale to Van Dicmen's Island; and an enterprising settler, Mr. M'Leod, has the contract for the supply of fresh meat for the government at Hobart Town (Van Diemen's Land.) Alberton, the port of Gipps Land, in 38° 44/ S., 146° 41' E., is situated on the left bank of Albert river, and within two miles of the Tarra river, which is to the eastward. It occupies a very important posi- tion, and is rising into eminence. Alberton is distant from the Latrobe river twenty-five miles ; at this point, the road into the inte- rior crosses the Latrobe, and a tram or wooden rail from Alberton, will open the inland communication. Steam-vessels are probably, by this time, plying between the Albert and INlelbourne, a distance of 220 miles by the coast line. Geology. — The principal geological fea- ture in this di\dsion of Australia is the vol- canic region, which extends over an area of 300 miles from east to west, and 100 to 150 miles from north to south. There are no vol- canoes at the present time, but there are numerous craters, Avhich by some are sup- posed to have poured forth their lava and fire while Southern Australia was still sub- merged beneath the Pacific Ocean. Of the number and size of these volcanic cones we have as yet no precise intelligence. JNIount Leura, which is situated between lakes Timboon and Porumbeet, to the eastward of Lake Corangymite, is upwards of 600 feet in height, has about a fifth part of the rim of the ancient crater remaining; within the crater a conical hill has been formed, its summit nearly on a level with the exterior rim, and covered witli trees and bi'ushwood. The ascent towards the top of the mount is very steep. The sides are plentifully covered with scoriae and fragments of rocks that have undergone the action of fire ; but Dr. Lang, M'ho examined the crater, did not observe any of the light pumice-stone, or cellular lava, which are found in such large masses in the volcanic region of the Mount Macedon district. 1 J locks of igneous rocks arc seen for miles around Mount Leura, protruding from a deep chocolate-coloured soil, consist- ing chiefly of decomposed volcanic matter. From the summit of Mount Leura twelve volcanic cones are visible, and as many lakes, several of which were formerly the craters of other extinct volcanoes. Of these Mount 263 VOLCANIC REGION— MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF THE ROCKS. Eccles, near Portland bay, is the most per- fect J it has a small lake of fresh water at the bottom of the crater, much frequented by wild fowl ; the lava which it formerly poured forth can be traced for ten miles. Mount Eccles is fifty miles due west from Mount Shadwell ; Mount Rouse (elevation 526 feet) thirty miles distant to the northward of west; and Mount Napier, a well-defined crater, is forty-five miles, nearly to the northward of west. Mount Napier is sur- rounded by sharp angular fragments of trap. These three mountains are all within a few miles of the 142nd degree of east longitude. It is therefore a region of great interest to geological inquirers, and a proper survey would add materially to the facts which are being registered m different countries in illustration of the changes this earth has undergone. Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and other colonies (of older establishment, it must however be remembered,) have each provided out of their local revenues the funds necessary for geo- logical surveys of their respective provinces ; and it is to be hoped that this important duty will not be long delayed in Austral- Asia, not only for the sake of science, but as a means of exploring the mineral treasures, and of becoming better acquainted with the qualities of the soil, in order to its more successful cultivation. Tracts termed stony rises exist in several districts ; they are usually ranged around, or in the vicinity of, a volcano, and consist of innumerable hil- locks or ridges of rocky fragments, varying in height from ten to fifty feet, crowded together in a confused manner, as if ejected from the neighbouring volcanoes. ]\Ir. Westgarth is of opinion that they have been caused by some subterranean force at no great depth from the surface, which has raised up and broken into fragments the rocky covering previously spread by igneous action over a great extent of this part of Australia. Some of these rises are not stony, but smooth and covered Avith grass, and beneath the soil is a stratum of earthy limestone. The rock of the stony rises, which is of basaltic character, usually vesicular in structure, with a large admix- ture of iron, is probably beneath the earthy limestone strata. The rocks enclosing the singular valleys, containing the stagnant salt lakes near Mount Nicholson, are com- posed of basalt, and in an adjacent running stream it lies in blocks, forming small cliffs. The genial character of the rocks in the province is vesicular t-rap, or cellular lava. The sides of many of the hills, particularly those of Mounts Elephant and Nanime, are covered with a vast quantity of heavy scoriae, resembling the refu.^e of smelted iron. [See recent discoveries in Supp'.] Throughout the country traversed by Mr. Tyers, except where the formation was lime- stone or granitic, the magnetic pi^operties of the rocks were so great, as to render the needle almost useless as a surveying instru- ment. In some cases, the deviation of the pole from the magnetic north was upwards of ten degrees. In his route from Mel- bourne, Mr. Tyers proceeded by Geelong, westward, to Mount Shadwell; thence to Mount Rouse; then north to Lake Lin- lithgow ; then westerly to Yo-ho ponds ; thence south to Mount Eckersley and Port- land bay; and from thence along the coast to the Glenelg river. His return route was nearly on the same line, until he reached Mount Sturgeon, whence he travelled to Melbourne by Lake Bolac, at a distance of twenty to thirty miles north of his outward- bound route. The Pyrenees terminate to the southward in Mount Cole, a lofty mass of granite, as do also the Australian Alps, Wilson's Pro- montory being of hard granite, about twenty miles long, by six to fourteen miles broad. There are immense surface masses of this formation at the distance of five and ten miles from Melbourne; said to equal that obtained near Aberdeen. The stone in some places bids defiance to the best tem- pered tools ; but the manner in which the Chinese split the hardest granite into co- lumns twenty or thirty feet long might be tried. They drill holes at short distances along the splitting line, and then insert dry spongy withs, or a reedy substance, which, on tlie application of moisture and heat divides the largest blocks into the thickness required. Granite is found protruding in some places in the valley of the Glenelg river. It varies considerably in the size of its component parts, Avhich sometimes, especially in quartz and felspar, exceed one foot square ; and in this Sir T. Mitchell found distinctly im- bedded friable masses, apparently of sand- stone, but which on fuither examination were ascertained to consist of a very fine- grained grey granite, approaching in its character to mica slate. The bluft' hill called Mount Cole consists of hud. to 4d., butter \0d. to I5. 2d., cheese 7d. to 8c?. per lb.; ale (colonial), 5c?. per quart ; bottled ale and porter (English), IO5. to 125. per dozen; flour (fine) £10, seconds £9, per ton ; wiieat, 35. to 55. per bushel ; potatoes, 35. to As. per cwt. ; milk, 4c?. per quart. In the year 1840, flour was sold for £90 per ton ; bread, 25. 6c/. the quartern loaf; * Port Phillip in 1849, p. 108. London: 1850 Parker, "West Strand. STATE OF EDUCATION IN VICTORIA PROVINCE. 271 butter, 3s. per lb. ; cabbages, 6d. each ; po- tatoes, Is. per lb. Dr. Clutterback says that at this period he employed labourers, iu the erection of a house, at a cost of 15s. per day each ; but then he adds, " port and cham- pagne were among the ordinary luxuiies of the artisan.^' Education. — According to the decision, of the governor of New South Wales re- specting education, it was ordered, on the 24th of September, 1841, that in towns or places of which the population amounts to 2,000 or upwards, local government aid be given for education, to any school, at a rate not exceeding one penny each day for the actual attendance of every child in the school, whose parents or friends are in such a station of life as to render it necessary to extend to them the assistance of govern- ment. Where the population does not amount to 2,000, the aid aflbrded may be as high as one penny farthing per diem, or one pennj'' halfpenny, if there be no other receiving aid from government within five miles. The government aid cannot exceed the sura raised for the support of the school from private sources, nor be in excess of £2o per quarter, unless the number of chil- dren attending the school, or the poverty of their parents, be such as to make a spe- cial exception in favour of it necessary. School inspectors, appointed by govern- ment, visit the different schools in their respective districts at uncertain times, but never less than twice in every month, muster the children, and compare the numbers present with the numbers entered on the registers of daily attendance kept by the masters or mistresses of the schools. The inspectors report to govei'nment any irre- gularity or misconduct which may fall irn- der their notice. Police magistrates act as inspectors of schools. Quarterly Hsts are required by the government from each school, containing the names of all children who attend the school, their ages, and also the names, places of abode, trade or calling of their parents or nearest friends. A diocesan grammar school has been re- cently established at Melbourne, through the instrumentality of the bishop. The annual fee is £10 10s. ; entrance fee, £2 2s., and £1 Is. for every additional boy of the same family. The school is open to all persons Avithout distinction, and the object is to give a sound scriptural and general education. There are also two private schools for girls, and two for boys at ^Iell)om'ne. There are about forty schools, with 5,000 pupils, in different parts of the province. In 1846, the state of education, according to the census of that year, was as fol- lows : — State of Education. Males. Females. Total. Under 21 years. Cannot read . 4,005 3,863 7,868 Read onlv .... 1,052 1,138 2,190 Read and write . 1,643 1,506 3.149 Above 21 tears. Cannot read . . . 1,797 988 2,(85 Read only .... 1,484 1,274 2,758 Read and write . . 10,203 3,926 14,129 Religiox. — The contrast between the ear- lier and present state of society, is very -sasi- ble ; a higher moral tone is gradually spread- ing in the community, and this improvement, in the estimation of many, dates from the arrival (in January, 1848) of the bishop, " one in whom are united the highest learn- ing, humility, and piety .^^ Heretofore the people at the distant stations in the interior, had existed in almost a heathenish state; the good bishop has ridden many hundred miles to exhort, and instruct, to celebrate the holy rites of baptism and confirmation, and to administer the blessed sacrament. His lordship was accompanied from England by three clergymen, has ordained four more since his arrival, and as fast as practicable, is locating ministers of the Gospel at eligible , stations in the countiy. Prior to the arrival \ of the bishop (Dr. PeiTy, formerly district; preacher of St. Paul's, Cambridge) only one clergyman had been appointed by govern- ; ment to superintend the Church of England in this large district. From 1840 to 1848, this zealous man (the Rev. Adam Compton Thompson) had to perform the whole of the duties, and has been known in one day to perform the burial serAice over six persons, the marriage ceremony for three couple, to baptize four children, and to visit the sick in ^Melbourne and its suburbs. It cannot be denied that grievous neglect has been evinced in this matter, for primary functionaries in a colony founded by a Christian people, before the appointment of judges, magistrates, police, and custom-house officers, ought to be the ministers of the Gospel. The efforts recently made by the British government for the protection and instruc- tion of the aborigines of Australia, is highly creditable. During the secretaryship ol Lord Glenelg, the appeals of the London Aborigines Protection Society were received 272 PROTECTION OF ABORIGINES— GOVERNMENT AND INSTITUTIONS. with attention, and protectors were appointed to watch over, instruct, and if possible con- vert to Christianity the dark-coloured migra- tory races among whom we have established oui'selves. The Port Phillip territory is divided into districts, in each of Avhich is placed an assistant protector, and a medical officer, or assistant, with a homestead, and reserve of land, for the exclusive use of the aborigines. Agricultural operations are now carried on by the natives. Those who are able are ex- pected to give an equivalent for what they receive ; the sick, aged, and young children are rationed. A missionary is appointed to each establishment, an overseer to superin- tend agricultui'al operations, and a constable, to keep order. The salary and allowances of the protector-in-cliief are ,£600 per annum. The salary of the assistant-protector is £250 per annum, and ten shillings and sixpence a day allowance. They are to travel among ] and sojourn with the native tribes, and by every means in their power endeavour to in- duce them to adopt a settled mode of exist- ence. They are required to furnish statisti- cal and other information connected with the native tribes of their respective districts ; the boundaries and aboriginal names of districts occupied by each tribe, the differences of language, customs, and habits, the names of mountains, lakes, rivers, and other localities; a census distinguishing the number of each family, name, age, sex, tribe, and chief of tribes, whether warrior, councillor, or elder, &c. The Port Phillip province is divided for the above-named purposes, into four dis- tricts, viz., the Goulburn River, Mount Ma- cedon, Portland Bay, and Western Port, or Melbourne district. At the homestead on the Goulburn river, 110 miles from Mel- bourne, the aborigines had, in 1842, cut down, grubbed up, and burned 450 acres; print it, and it appeared under the title oi the Port Phillip Patriot. In the early part , of 1837, the Fort Phillip Gazette was issued, edited by INIr. Axden ; and soon after a third appeared, styled the Poj't Phillip Herald. Each of these journals was issued bi-weekly, by which arrangement the colonists had even ; then the opportunity of having a newspaper on their breakfast tables eveiy morning. Four newspapers are now issued at Mel- , bourne daily (Sundays excepted), namely, the Morning Netvs, Daily Neios, Patriot, and Argus. At Geelong the Advertiser is issued daily, and the Victojna Colonist I believe weekly. These papers are as large as the Globe or Standard. The copy of the Argus before me (Vol. ii. No. 106, July 11, 1849) contains fifteen columns of advertisements. The " editorials" of those papers, their "ori- ginal correspondence," poetry, and selected articles, typography, and paper, place thera on a par with the journals of the United Kingdom, except the leading metropolitan newspapers. The price of these daily Port Phillip papers is fifteen shillings per quar- ter, or sixpence for a single copy ; for advertisements, six Hues and under, three shillings, for every additional line three pence. The Portland district has three ably conducted newspapers, two printed and pub- lished at Portland and one at Port Fairy. A Port Phillip Magazine, and other peri- odicals, still further attest the rapid exten- sion of the "fourth estate," whose progress is indeed unequalled in any other portion of the British Empire. Government. — Under the prorisions of the bill now before Parliament, Victoria will have a government appointed by the crown, and a Legislative Assembly similar, in con- stitution, to that of New South Wales, and the other Australian colonies. It is uncer- cleaned and broken up for cultivation, about | tain whether any alterations will be made in twenty acres ; and obtained good crops of wheat, oats, and barley, and about two tons of potatoes. They have built good houses for the assistant protector, medical officer, and overseer, and constructed huts for them- selves. The women manufacture baskets, mats, string, &c. The Newspaper Press of the pro^dnce is coeval with the formation of the settlement, I for a newspaper seems nearly as essential to I an Englishman as the air he breathes. The first newspaper, in 1836, appeared in manuscript ; the enterprising projector, how- ever, quickly obtained from Van Diemen^s 1 Land the requisite materials whexewith to this bill in the House of Lords ; and there fore it is unnecessary to note any other details than those already given. (See p. 550.) It is understood, that her Majesty's minis- ters do not now propose to vest the con- trol of the waste or crown lands in the Australian legislatm-es, which conforms to the opinion I ventured to express in the published division of this work on New South Wales. [For alterations see Supp.'] TJie Laws, are the same as in England; and administered, as in New South Wales, by a judge and supreme coxu't. Institutions. — Several charitable, reli- gious, literary, and benevolent societies, such STAPLE PUODUCTS OF VICTORIA PROVINCE. 273 as have been described in the previous colo- nies. Among other associations, may be mentioned a ^Mechanics' Institution at Mel- bourne, and another at Geelong; an Aux- iliary Bible Society ; a Theological Educa- tion Society; Temperance Society; Harmonic Society ; Union Benefit Society ; Indepen- dent Order of Odd- Fellows; a Commercial Exchange ; an Auction Company ; Fire and Marine Insurance Company ; Port Phillip Steam Navigation Company; piiblic hos- pital, &c. The Port Phillip Bank was wreciced in the general disasters of 1843-3. The pro- prietary of the Port Phillip Bank, in 1840-1, elected me a London director, and I recom- mended a course of procedure which met the approval of their intelligent agent in Lon- don, Mr. Gardiner, but it was not followed in the colony. There are branches of the Union Bank of Australia, and of the Ba7ik oj Austral-Asia, whicli are known to be con- ducting a profitable business. CHAPTER IV PRODUCTS— AVOOL, LIVE STOCK, TALLOW, PRESERVED MEAT, WINE, FLAX, TIMBER FISH, &c.— COMMERCE— IMPORTS— EXPORTS— REVENUE— EXPENDITURE- LANDS— EMIGRATION AND SQUATTING INTERESTS. Products. — The first in value, and present importance, as in New South Wales, is wool. The quantity imported into the United King- dom, from Port Phillip and Portland Bay, since 1846, previous to which period many of the Port Phillip and Portland Bay wools were shipped for England, via Van Diemen's Island, was in 1846, 20,956; 1847, 27,876; 1848, 37,351; 1849, 45,348 bales. The bales average about 280 lbs. each. The exports of wool from Victoria province to the United Kingdom, in 1849, amounted to 12,697,440 lbs. The total imports of wool into the United Kingdom for the same year, were 298,444 bales, of which Port Phillip and Portland Bay contributed nearly one-sixth part. Sydney sent 50,584 ; Van Diemen's Island, 17,926; South Australia, 10,400; Western Australia and New Zea- land, 1,474 bales. The total exports of wool from the Austral-Asian settlements during the past year, consisted of 125,732, or nearly one-half the entire importations into the United Kingdom ; while, in 1812, only three bales were imported from Aixs- tralia. The progress of the wool trade is so remarkable — the augmented importation has such an important influence on one of the largest branches of English manufacture — on the domestic comfort of the people — on the extension of our foreign commerce, and on the increased employment of shipping, that I am induced to give the following statement of the quantities of wool imported from our various colonies, and from different mv. II. foreign countries, for the past half century, and for which I am indebted to the respected wool brokers, Messrs. C. Jacomb and Son, of Basinghall-street, London. It will be observed, that the imports from Spain and Germany, our former great sources of supply, have materially decreased of late years, while the production of our colonies has largely and steadily increased. The augmented supply has reduced the price of all wools ; Port Stephens fleeces, that a few years since fetched 5^. to 6s. a pound, do not now bring more than 2s. In the London price currents the Australian wools are distinguished by the words — Sydney, Port Phillip, Van Diemen's Land, Adelaide, Swan River, and New Zealand, to represent the different colonies. The usual classifica- tion of the qualities of the wool, and the range of price will be seen in the following extract from the London sales for ]\Iay, 1850, of wools from Port Phillip, which, although improving, are still inferior to the Sydney wools, but superior to those from Van Diemen's Land, or from Adelaide : — Extra flocks, in first-rate condition, 1*. Sd. to Is. 1 1 \d. per lb. ; good flocks, in fair condition, \s. 6d. to \s. Sd.; average do.. Is. 3|c?. to Is. 6d. ; ordinary and ill-conditioned flocks. Is. 2d. to Is. ?thd.; scoured clothing. Is. 6d. to 25.; scoured lambs'. Is. 7d. to Is. lO^d.; handwashed and ordinary skin, Is. \d. to Is. 4hd.; lambs' good, Is. 6d. to 2s. 2c?. ; lambs' inferior to average, Is. 2d. to Is. 6d.; locks, broken, &c.,10f/. to lii^d.; in grease, 8d. to \s 2l 274 AVOOL IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM, 1796—1852. Importation of Wool in Bales into the United K inf/dom durinij the following years. Years. 5y(liiey. Van Diemen's Land. Port Phillip. . South Australia. W. Aus- ralia & N. Zealand. Cape. East India. German. Spanish. Portugal. 1796 — — — — 41 16,699 412 1797 . . — . — • — 1 — 394 24,330 69 1798 — — — — — — 622 10,219 541 1799 — — — — — — 2,342 14,752 6,366 1800 658 — — — — — 1,170 30,318 9,622 1801 1,302 _ — — 85 — 598 26,989 5,015 1802 353 — — — 146 — 1,217 28,237 2,751 1803 18 — — — 78 — 680 21,778 1,280 1804 164 — — — 7 — 62 34,962 230 1805 1,203 — — — — — — 67 34,298 1,113 1806 564 — — — . — — — 1,953 27,228 1,666 1807 74 — — — • — . 1 — 548 51,458 1,645 1808 128 — . — 10 — 225 9,808 170 1809 14 — — — 3 — 1,753 21,418 5,385 1810 83 15 — 2,221 2,976 16,772 1811 9 11 — 102 12,951 9,946 1812 3 — — — — 10 — — 10,735 25,970 3813 — . — — — — — 1814 70 40 . 9 — 9,807 33,622 13,953 1815 151 92 — 11 — 8,964 24,649 6,351 1816 47 . . 10 — 8,047 14.795 2,876 1817 — 20 — 13,761 31,418 4,699 1818 255 170 — 22 — 24,092 43,803 6,582 1819 170 150 — 27 — 12,827 27,664 9,046 1820 213 180 — 29 — 14,609 17,681 475 1821 421 281 __ — 58 — 24,615 34,845 592 1822 347 207 — 77 — 31,786 29,972 626 1823 1,001 908 — — 32 — 35,892 21,595 5,668 1824 972 519 — — 43 — 44,035 25,104 2,459 1825 914 380 33 — 82,284 41,032 4,769 1826 2,905 1,525 — 175 — 30,219 8,097 2,665 1827 696 567 54 — 60,630 19,495 2,258 1828 3,087 3,209 — 51 — 62,901 19,043 1,644 1829 3,746 3,608 50 — 40,314 18,777 266 1830 3,998 5,792 4,005 5,804 — — — 263 — 74,496 60,782 8,218 2,319 1831 22, 675 1832 6,313 4,170 — 360 — 55,185 13,684 1833 8,908 6,040 — — __ 511 — 72,776 20,714 1834 10,327 12,737 5,952 7,025 — — — 647 824 1,397 62,553 69,632 19,339 1835 ■^ 8,582 1 2,772^ 1836 14,055 19.564 8,728 10,754 — — — 1,716 1,812 3,493 5,663 90,450 53,359 20, 451 1837 '11,011 2,1 5r 1838 21,950 22,944 10,250 14,638 — — — 1,996 3,247 6,117 5,674 79,320 68,682 8,577 11,730 2,694 1839 1,524 4,753 1840 25,820 11,721 3,484 3,477 7,611 63,278 5,273 1,569 1841 30,280 13,937 8,798 4,191 10,563 62,483 5,287 2,716 1842 26,668 13,922 12,307 6,521 11,876 47,510 3,118 1,887 1843 37,255 14,948 14,957 7,734 6,594 53,495 2,715 1,680 1844 38,077 15,126 17,705 8,659 6,741 70,305 5,682 6,341 1845 37,825 39,112 16,839 13,656 22,815 13,765 11,626 10,065 11,279 61,777 52,922 5,188 4,809 3,267 1846 "20,956 5,994 1,686 3.274 1847 41,927 16,503 27,876 7,133 853 13,566 8,123 41,396 1,956 3,005 1848 46,612 16,095 37,351 9,827 1,056 13,409 16,923 48,478 403 2,922 1849 50,584 17,926 45.348 10.400 1.474 20,345 11,041 45,839 516 4,420 1850 51,463 17,468 55,378 11,822 2,548 19,879 9,704 30,491 2,105 7,361 1851 48,564 17,278 63,427 12,268 2,783 19,668 12,501 26,514 5,272 12,827 1852 50,062 18,026 61,885 12,552 3,242* 21,011 21,697-f 36,114 903 7,746 Average "1 weight. J About 280 lbs. 3Cwt. 1 to 2 Cvvt. Note. — There are no returns for the year 1813, owing to the London Custom House records being destroyed by fire. — From 1833 to 1838, inclusive, separate Returns were not kept of Wool importations from the ports of P. Philip, S. Australia, W. Australia, and New Zealand ; and from 1839 to 1845, inclusive, many of the Vv'ools of these colonies were shipped via Van DiL-men's Land. — ♦ I'rom Swan Kiver, 1,025, New Zealand, 2,217=-3,2i:.i.— f Including 5SS from CLiua. WOOL IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM, 179G— 1852. 97 T^ Importation of IVooi in Bales into the United Kin gdom durinij the followinrj years. Years. Russian. Italian. Turkey, Syria, Peruvian, Sheeps', Buenos AjTes and United Danish. Sundries. Goats'. Total Bales. Egypt, &c. and Alpaca Cordova. 1796 21 7 8 17 7 32 _ 17,244 1797 19 41 42 — — — 5 380 — 25,281 1798 — — — — — — — 130 11,512 1799 — 30 28 1 — — — 320 23,839 1800 25 84 76 — — — 14 473 — 42,440 1801 — 198 187 73 — — — 221 — 34,668 1802 1 186 174 210 — — — 1,326 — 34,601 1803 241 940 880 126 — — 112 700 — 26,833 1804 482 627 605 24 — — 205 230 37,598 1805 728 126 101 132 — — 257 121 — 38,146 1806 207 60 58 110 — — 57 64 — 31,967 1807 1,048 54 52 307 — — 305 334 — 55,832 1808 27 130 124 407 — — 6 22 — 11,056 1809 287 515 508 1,069 — — 85 811 — 31,828 1810 868 683 676 601 — — 207 142 — 25,244 1811 29 351 345 447 — — 4 11 — 24,206 1812 259 6 4 261 — — 92 12 — 37,352 1813 — — — — — — — — — — 1814 1,031 426 421 112 — — 307 3,801 — 63,599 1815 876 296 292 274 — — 250 3,950 — 46,156 1816 699 262 257 1,308 — _ 220 1,476 — 29,997 1817 582 179 178 956 — — 125 5,636 — 57,554 1818 1,666 1,015 1,051 2,358 — . — 510 10,850 — 92,374 1819 1,580 1,494 1,507 174 — — ■ 484 3,800 — 58,923 1820 150 334 380 25 — — 20 1,459 — 35,555 1821 185 8 17 52 — — 42 1,836 — 62,952 1822 554 5 10 32 — — 170 4,356 — • 68,142 1823 400 2 4 11 — — 208 2,142 — 67,863 1824 631 377 395 852 — — 220 2,236 — 77,843 1825 5,362 1,430 1,452 1,054 " — — 897 5,055 — l'H,6G2 1826 1,650 534 547 5,068 — — 320 1,189 — 54>894 1827 2,607 846 872 556 — — 372 2,543 — 91,496 1828 2,706 425 434 929 — — 715 1,214 — 96,358 1829 1,664 8 17 70 — — 321 818 — 69,659 1830 1,680 14 29 64 — — 323 3,672 — 98,818 1831 348 — — 318 — — — 1,389 — 97,371 1832 997 2,445 — — — 639 — 83,793 1833 4,114 1,112 — 1,913 — — 1,241 3,351 — 120,680 1834 6,910 4,761 14,983 8,498 — — 1,547 760 — 136,277 1835 9,134 2,816 6,660 10,064 — — 1,175 2,295 — 145,113 1836 15,072 3,754 14,714 16,053 — — 4,488 14,762 — 208,336 1837 15,116 3,314 8,421 30,030 — — ■ 1,059 591 — 162,847 1838 8,826 4,434 4,249 30,378 — — 1,388 1.593 — 181,772 1839 17,847 5,197 8,039 37.854 — — 1,232 2,108 — 205,469 1840 11,776 4,055 5,492 40,000 — — 2,199 320 — 186,079 1841 10,825 3,949 2,095 55,190 — — 2,714 354 5,621 219,003 1842 14,199 573 1,439 19.956 — — 1,475 358 5,967 167,776 1843 10,181 546 1,854 36,129 — — 33 383 3,667 192,771 1844 16,984 5,310 9,564 24,565 — — 424 3,684 5,165 234,332 1845 21,008 7,145 8,249 41,878 6,135 4,699 1,637 2,843 6,142 271,277 1846 11,451 4,247 12,520 56,574 1,076 2,440 1,408 1,550 5,231 261,811 1847 7,055 3,194 7,983 56,652 4,578 1,544 942 1,510 7,023 252,819 1848 7,402 1,502 6,272 56.438 6,463 139 678 1,067 5,468 278,505 1849 16,681 1,998 5,278 43,143 5,785 975 1,366 2,071 13,258 298.444 1850 9,758 1,536 11,896 39,731 3,841 35 771 2.235 13,139 i 291,161 1851 15,259 1,180 16,636 46,820 2,218 — 911 2,959 10.796 317881 1852 13,687 1,754 16,812 38,453 4,761 4i to 8 Cwt. 65 704 0,317 11,104 325,895 Average 1 -weight. J 3 Cwt. Var ous. 84 lbs. Various. Uto _ 2 Cwt. ^i^ote. — Until the year 1845, the Wool imported into Great Britain from Buenos Ayrcs, Cordova, &c., was entered in the Custom House returns as South American, with the return of Peruvian; and the Goats' wool imported to the year 1840, inclusive, was entered as from Turkey, Syria, Egypt, &c. The Peruvian sheep and Alpaca wool is in hallots of 84 lbs each. It will be seen that the total number of bales imported in each year, from every country, from 1796 to 1852 inclusive, is given in the last column of this page. 276 IMPORTANCE OF THE COLONIAL WOOL TRADE. Had we been dependent on foreign coun- tries for the raw material of this staple branch of Biitish industry^ our foreign and domestic trade would have been crippled, not only by insufficient supplies, but by high prices. Estimating the imports for the vear 1853 at about 350,000 bales, (or 100,000,000 lbs.), fully two-thirds of this quantity will be supplied from our trans- marine territories in Australia, at the Cape of Good Hope, and in British India. I con- fidently look forward to a large progressive increase of this valuable branch of trade; for if we calculate the population of the United Kingdom at thirty million, it is not an unreasonable allowance to allot six lbs. ■weight of woollen garments annually to each individual, if they could be cheaply obtained. This would require a supply of 180,000,000 lbs. of wool yearly, for domestic use alone. Mr. M'Culloch estimates the entire produce of British and Irish wool at 500,000 packs, of 240 lbs. each = 120,000,000 lbs.: the home and colonial wools would therefore be only equal to the wants for domestic con- sumption, and leave nothing for the export of woollen manufactures to our colonics and to foreign countries, a trade which is now carried on to the extent of nearly £7,000,000 sterling annually, and is still capable of great increase, as light woollen fabrics are as conducive to health in warm climates, as stout fleecy garments in cold regions. I adverted, in the history of New South Wales, to the great national importance of the wool trade ; but there are some other facts connected with this ancient branch of traffic and manufacture, which deserve a record in this work, in connection with the valuable staple product of our Austral-Asian settlements. For this collection of data, I am indebted to Mr. Heniy Burgess, one of the best-informed practical men in England. The rise and progress of the growth and manufacture of wool is associated with the advancement of society in Europe, and even in some parts of Asia, but especially in this kingdom ; and the welfare of the Australian settlements has been so materially forwarded by it, that tlic following summary of its his- tory, though almost too lengthy for these I)ages, may not be considered AvhoUy inap- propriate : — • " It is recorded of Pheniius, the step-father of Homer, that he tauglit letters and music to the youth of Smyrna, and received wool in exchange for his instruction. The plain of Damascus supi)lied large quantities of wool for the manufactures of Tyre in the palmy days of Phoenician enterpri e, and when purple and fine linen ranked amonj^ the choicest articles of commerce. Colchis in Tlirace, Laodicea in Phrygia, also produced wools of su[)erior quality, and a portion of the latter was naturally of a tine jet hlack. Ireland, at one time, had numerous flocks of a similar breed. But Miletus, the Lord Western of his time, is stated to have produced in Caria, w'ool preferred to all others. Pliny speaks of wool being brought from a great city north of the Ganges, pro- bably in Thibet, or Nepaul, by way of Bactria, also to supply the manufactures of Western Asia ; it was from these sources of supply, the material was ob- tained for the manufacture of those costly fabrics, which, when dyed with Tyrian purple, conferred such celebrity on the commerce of Phoenicia. After the decline of the Tyrian manufacture, it appears to have ])lanted itself in Italy; Padua and Modena having, in their turn, become celebrated for their woollen fabrics, " Spain, antecedent to, or about the commence- ment of, the Christian era, had also attained celebrity for its woollen manufactures, and at that time ex- ported largely. Soon after Cfesar's time Britain jiroduced wool in great abundance, and in Anno Domini 314, great fairs for avooI were held several times in the year at York, London, and Colchester. It was about the middle of the tenth century when the woollen manufacture established itself on an extensive scale in Flanders, and from that time to the commencement of the twelfth century, the bulk of the Avool produced in Britain appears to have been exported to the former country, and to such an extent, that it became proverbial that all the nations in the world Avere clothed with English wool made into cloth by the Flemings. An extensive inundation of the Low Countries about the end of the eleventh century, having caused a number of Flemings to seek refuge in England, there they met with a favourable reception, and gave the first characteristic impetus to the woollen manufacture therein; so that by 1189 it had become extended over the greater part of England. At this date jruilds of weavers had been established in Lon- don, Huntingdon, Lincoln, Nottingham, Winchester, Oxford, and York, all paying fines to the king for their corporate privileges, and licences were also granted to dealers in several large towns. In the thirty-first of Henry II. (1185) the weavers of Lon- don obtained a confirmation of their charter, in which it was directed, that if any weaver mixed Spanish wool with English, in making cloth, the chief magis- trate should burn it. In 1216 it is stated that the breed of sheep had greatly increased, and that, although the exportation of wool was still very con- siderable, the manufacture of cloth had also progres- sively increased, and that large quantiti' s of cloth in the grey unfinished or undressed state, were also exported ; and in which state a good deal of cloth was also worn in England ; it apj^earing that up to this time very little progress had been made in the art of dyeing, although we find the duties on woad amounting to £593 12s. Id. in a single year. In 1261 the barons enacted "that the wool of England should be manufactured at home, instead of being sold to foreigners, and that all persons should wear woollen cloth made within the kingdom, and avoid every superfluous extravagance of dress." How far this restrictive and sumptuary enactment was car- ried into effect, does not distinctly ajjjjcar, but we find that in 1266, new regulations were enacted in respect to levving of duties on wool exported. In IIISE AND PROGRESS OF THE WOOL TRADE IN ENGLAND. 277 1298 the king, by letter, directed that all wool and wool-fells of the counties of Bedford, Buckingham, Derby, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Warwick, Leicester, Rutland, and Norfolk, should be shipped at Lynn ; Newcastle, Hull, Ipswich, Southampton, Bristol, and London, being also oiher ports for the exportation of the same. It was in 1327 the king granted a patent in favour of the manufacturers of worsted stuffs in Norfolk; and in 1331, great inducements were held out to Flemish manufacturers to im- migi-ate into England. In 1337 an act was passed, making it felony to carry any wool out of the kingdom, and at the same time, all persons, except the king and his family, were interdicted from wear- ing any cloth of foreign manufacture, on pain of arbitrary punishment ; this enactment, however, ap- fears to have been preparatory to the king (Edward II.) constituting himself the Mehemet Ali of that day, for we find him, immediately after, contracting for 20,000 sacks of wool, and for some years sub- sequent, the great wool-stapler of England, entering into and concluding negotiations with Flanders and other foreign parts, for the supply of wool, and for the year 1354, we find the following very circum- stantial account of the exports and imports, viz. : — Exports. Quantity. Value. Customs. 31,651i sacks of wool, at £6 . 3,036 cwt. (120 lbs.) of do. £2 65 wool-fells, 21s. M. . . hides 4,774i pieces of cloth . . . 8,061 1 „ of worsted stuffs Total Exports . . . £180,909 6,072 1 89 9,549 6,718 £212,338 [£81,624 7 } 216 £81,847 Imports. Quantity. Value. Customs. 1,831 pieces of fine cloth . . 391 \ cwt. of wax l,829i tuns of wine .... Linens, mercery, grocery . . . £10.986 795 3,659 22,944 £98 20 183 286 Total Imports . . . £38,384 £587 " By 1357 the king appears to have become tired of trading, for in this year, English as well as foreign merchants, were permitted to export wool and wool- fells, to any country in amity with the king. About this time the woollen manufactures of Ireland had acquired great celebrity. The Catalonians, at this period, appear to have enjoyed the highest repute in Pjurope for their fine woollen fabrics, but were, at the same time, buyers of the stuffs called seri/es, manufactured by the Irish, for re-sale in Florence, where it is stated the luxury of dre died on the voyage) 3 Paid by the immigrants, or out of British funds Paid out of the colonial emigration fund . . . Gratuities to surgeons, officers, constables, &c. . Total charged on the colonial fund for convey- "1 ance and superintendence J 45,806 12 8 1,338 16 44,467 16 3,486 10 47,954 15 37,287 17 2 507 5 1 36,780 12 1 2,745 11 39,526 3 1 83,094 9 10 1,846 1 9 81,248 8 1 6,232 10 87,480 18 1 Note. — The average contract price for the conveyance of each adult passenger was £12 lis. Ages of the Assisted Immigrants who arrived dur 'ng the year 1848. Age. Where from. Total. Where landed. Years. Eng and. Scotland. Ireland. Elsewhere. Sydney. Port Phillip. Males. Fem. Males. Fern. Males. Fem. Males. Fem. Males. Fem. Males. Fem. Under 1 95 92 33 40 29 25 4 8 326 89 94 72 71 1 to 4 176 169 53 42 41 14 15 15 525 162 137 123 103 4 to 7 132 127 47 31 23 24 13 17 414 133 103 82 96 7 to 14 329 266 85 62 90 53 19 12 960 287 244 236 193 14 to 21 432 362 131 117 90 620 8 7 1,767 381 593 280 513 21 to 45 1,260 980 440 377 324 398 4 19 3,802 1,110 1,004 2,028 1,774 45 to 50 40 23 11 14 1 2 — — 91 23 16 29 23 Total . 2,464 2,019 800 683 598 1,180 63 78 7,885 2,185 2,191 1,740 1,769 286 EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL STATE OF THE EMIGRANTS. Number of Assisted Immigrants who arrived during the year 1848, loho can read and write. WTiere from. "WTiere landed. Age. Total. England | Scotland. Ireland. Elsewhere. Sydney. Port Phillip Under 4 years : — Cannot read . . . 521 166 107 42 836 471 365 Read only . . . 11 2 2 — 15 11 4 Read and write — — — — . — __ From 4 to 7 years : Cannot read . . . 148 39 39 18 244 138 106 Read only . . . 101 34 7 10 152 91 61 Read and write 10 5 1 2 18 7 11 From 7 to 14 years : Cannot read . . . 56 11 43 4 114 63 51 Read only . . . 291 62 80 17 450 243 207 Read and write 248 74 64 10 396 225 171 From 14 to 21 years : Cannot read . . . 45 8 222 2 277 109 168 Read only . . . 201 35 176 6 518 322 196 Read and write 548 205 212 7 972 543 429 From 21 and upwards : Cannot read . . . 154 31 152 3 340 219 121 Read only . . . 508 125 188 1 822 468 354 Read and write 1,641 686 385 19 2,731 1,466 1,265 1 Trades or Callings of the Adult Males and the Unmarried Adult Females who have arrived in the Colony as Assisted Emigrants, during the year 1848. "WTiere from. Where landed. Trade or Calling. Total. England. Scotland. Ireland. Elsewhere. Sydney. Port Phillip Agricultural Labourers 1,146 206 332 8 1,782 969 813 Gardeners .... 46 15 4 — 65 38 27 Farm Bailiffs . . 6 — 5 — 11 11 Shepherds . . . 43 114 14 — 171 77 94 Herdsmen . . . — 1 2 — 3 2 1 Domestic Servants . 507 260 804 12 1,583 864 719 Carpenters . . 112 41 10 — 163 81 82 Masons 15 6 2 — . 23 15 8 Quarrymen 5 1 1 — 7 4 3 Bricklayers 20 3 1 — 24 13 11 Brickmakers 19 6 — — 25 20 5 Sawyers . 13 8 — — 21 16 5 Plasterers . 1 — — — 1 1 Butchers . 19 1 2 — 22 13 9 Bakers . . 7 13 — — 20 12 8 Grocers 2 — — — 2 2 Millers 2 1 — — 3 2 1 Brewers . 1 2 . 3 2 Confectioners 1 1 Maltsters . 1 1 Poulterers . — — 1 — . 1 Tailors . . 6 4 1 11 4 Shoemakers 6 2 1 9 5 4 Dressmakers 35 10 10 55 42 13 Bonnetmakers . 4 4 4 Strawplaiters 2 — 2 2 Tailoresses . . 1 1 2 2 Embroideresses 1 1 1 Needlewomen . 10 1 11 11 Smiths .... 104 34 8 2 148 90 58 Wheelwrights . 18 7 6 1 32 19 13 Cabinet Makers . 8 6 1 15 8 7 Porters . . . 1 1 1 Printers . . . 3 3 2 1 Shipwrights . . 1 1 2 2 Flax Spinners . — 1 1 — 2 2 Tota 1 . • 2,119 841 1,207 23 4,230 2,329 1,902 RAPID EQUALIZATION OF THE SEXES IN AUSTRALIA. 287 Religious Persuasions of the Immigrants who arrived during the year 1848. Religious Denominatioiis . Ch. of England Ch. of Scotland Wesleyan Method. Other Protestants Roman Catholics Jews Totals . . Where from. England. Males. 1,764 21 384 266 23 6 2,464 Fem. 1,428 21 323 224 19 4 2,019 Scotland. Males 40 604 14 115 27 800 Fem. 32 513 n 103 26 683 Ireland. Males 119 44 1 4 430 598 Fem. 304 89 2 1 784 800 Elsewhere. Males. 56 63 Fem. 58 4 8 8 78 Total. Males 1,979 669 406 385 480 6 3,925 Fem. 1,822 627 344 326 837 4 3,960 Where landed. Sydney Dist. Port Phillip Males. 1,103 335 221 197 324 5 2,185 Fem. 1,035 329 172 171 481 3 2,191 Males. 876 334 185 188 156 1 1,740 Fem 787 298 172 155 356 1 1,769 To administer the consolations of religion, there are at Victoria ministers of different persuasions as follows : — churcli of England, one bishop and nine chaplains ; church of Scotland, five chaplains ; church of Rome, one bishop, and seven chaplains; Indepen- dents, Baptists, and Jews, one each. The salaries of the chaplains vary from <£100 to .£300 per annum. Earl Grey has judiciously directed that aid be given for the transmission of female orphans of all religious denominations from the United Kingdom to Australia, and or- dered that every practicable precaution be adopted for the safe conveyance of these friendless children, and for their protec- tion on arriving in the colony. At Melbourne, a building has been erected for their reception, and a similar committee to that formed at Sydney has been ap- pointed there, consisting of the following members : — The Right Rev. the lord bishop of Melbourne ; the Right Rev. Dr. Goold, Roman catholic bishop ; Edward Curr, Esq., justice of the peace ; the Very Rev. P. B. Geoghegan, Roman catholic vicar-general ; the Rev. Irving Hetherington, minister of the Scots chui-ch at Melbourne; Wilham Lonsdale, Esq., sub-treasurer ; John Patter- son, Esq., acting agent for immigration ; Robert Williams Pohlman, Esq., barrister- at-law, and commissioner of the Insolvent Coui-t ; James Hunter Ross, Esq., solicitor ; Andrew Russell, Esq. ; James Simpson, Esq., commissioner of crown lands ; the Rev. A. C. Thompson, incmnbent of St. James', Mel- bom-ne. The plan has answered well, and many parentless children, who had no prospect before them, in Great Britain or Ireland, but penury, and perhaps a career of \ice, have been placed in a position to become respected and opulent members of society in Australia. The relative proportion of the population of the United Kingdom is — England, 59.6 per cent. ; Scotland, 9.8 per cent. ; Ireland, 30.6 per cent. The number of emigrants sent out to New South Wales since the resumption of emigration, in 1847, has been — Enghsh, 14,088; Scotch, 3,638 ; Irish, 6,911 ; total, 24,637 ; being in the proportions of — English, 57.2 per cent. ; Scotch, 14.8 per cent. ; Irish, 20.0 per cent. Of the Irish, 2,488 were orphan girls, who were taken as being a class well suited to the peculiar wants of the colony, and as being, for many reasons, the most eligible class of Irish emigrants that it was possible to select : they have, in general, given satis- faction in the colony. It is due to the Irish to state that they make excellent settlers in a young colony; the Celtic desire for the acquisition of land, and of thereby realizing an independence, forms an inducement to in- dustry and frugality, which is attended with beneficial results ; and many Irish who have landed Avithout a shilling in Australia are now the owners of a considerable amount of property. Those who are alarmed at the present deficiency of female population in Austral- Asia will have their fears removed, at least as regards the future proportion of the sexes, by the following statement, given on the authority of her Majesty's emigration com- missioners. According to the 1846-7 returns, the male and female population of each of the Australian colonies was as follows : — Colony. Males. Females. Excess of Males. Date of Return. New South Wales : Sydney District . 92,389 62,145 30,244 Census of Port Phillip do. 20,IS4 12,69.5 7,489 ( 18-16. Van Diemcn'sLand 47,813 22,313 25,500 Uec.31,1847 South Au.stralia 21,027 17,139 4,388 1 J3lue Book Western Australia 2,818 1,804 1,014 ( 1848 New Zealand . 4,996 3,835 1,161 ' The number of unmarried male and fe male emigrants sent to Sydney, Port Phdlip 288 KATES OF WAGES AND PROVISIONS IN VICTORIA. and South Australia, since 1st of January, 1848, has been, to — Sydney, males 2,182, females 3,618; Port Phillip, males 2,160, females 3,094 ; South Australia, males 1,692, females 2,191. It will be seen from these returns that, both in New South Wales and Van Diem en's Land, there now exists a considerable excess of males over females. A similar dispro- portion exists in Western Australia, and, to a less extent, in South Australia and New Zealand. But it is not likely that the three last colonies will absorb any con- siderable number of female emigrants at present. The outlet for this class of emi- grants must be sought principally in New South Wales or Van Diemen's Land. In regard, however, to New South Wales, it is to be observed that the disproportion be- tween the sexes is continually and rapidly decreasing. In 1836, the number of males and females in the colony was — males 55,539, females 21,557; being in the proportion of five to two. In 1841, the numbers were — males 87,298, females 43,558 ; being in the proportion of four to two. In 1846, the numbers were — males 112,573, females 74,840; being in the proportion of three tc two. And a further analysis of the last census (that for 1846) will show more clearly both the cause of the existing disproportion and the rate at which it may be expected to right itself. Thus, in the population under twenty-one years of age, the number of males and females is very nearly equal ; between twenty-one and forty-five, the pro- portion of males to females is not quite two to one ; and, among those upwards of forty- five, not quite three to one. The actual num- bers are — under twenty-one, males 40,071, females 39,779 ; twenty-one to forty-five, males 59,009, females 30,315 ; forty-five and upAvards, males 13,493, females 4,746 ; total, males 112,573, females 74,840. It is evident, therefore, that in the com'se of a reiy few years, as the old convict population* dies off (and, excepting in 1849, no addi- tions have been made to it by transportation for several years past), the disproportion of the sexes will disappear, even without any special measures for that object. The average retail price of proA'isions and * In Victoria, as well as in New South Wales, the leaven of a convict population, whose religious and moral instruction was neglected, have, in a comparative degree, caused a considerable amount of crime. The convictions in Melbourne, in 1848, were — murder, 1 ; manslaughter, 2 ; shooting, wounding, &c,, 6 ; rob- clothing in the district of Port Phillip, quarter ending 31st March, 1849, was as follows : — Wheat, 4s. per bushel; bread, first quality, 2d.; second quality, l|c?. ; flour, first quality, 2|t/. ; second quality, IfJ.; rice, 3|(7. ; oatmeal, 5d.; tea, 25. Id.; sugar, 3^d.; coS"ee, lid.-, sago, 9d. ; fresh meat, 2d. ; salt meat, 2d. ; fresh butter. Is. 3c?. ; salt butter, Is. ; English cheese. Is. 3d. ; colonial cheese, 7|/, is bounded f on the east, by Gulf St. Vincent ; on the south, by the county of Hind marsh, as far east as Mount Barker ; thence by a line continuing along the main range to the di\ision of the waters between the Gawler and the Rhine, and following the creek IMoorooroo (Jacob's creek), to its junction with the Gawler, that river then forming the northern boundary to the sea-shore, not including, however, the portion of the Gawler special survey laid out on its left bank. The City of Adelaide is situated about midway between the northern and southern extremities of Adelaide county, in 34° 57' S. lat., 138° 38' E. long. Although now an episcopal see, as well as a corporate city, possessed of the rights and responsibilities attaching to ecclesiastical and corporate power, it is not yet fifteen years old, for the first intending settlers reached the shores of Gulf St. Vincent the 27th July, 1836, not knowing where they were to locate themselves, for the territory on which they landed had never before been trodden by the white man; but was the abode of the kangaroo and emu, and roamed over by tribes of wandering savages in quest of food. The measui'es which were taken for selecting the site of the capital of the colony, have been previously stated; but the mis- understanding between Colonel Light and the governor, respecting the position chosen by the former, and ths incompetency of several of the assistant-surveyors sent out, caused considerable delay in preparing the lauds for selection; much disappointment was experienced by the settlers who had paid in money in England, and expected to be put in immediate possession of the land on their arrival. Until this was done, some tion which the watercourses take to the north-east or north ; secondly, because an apparent connection is traceable in the course of the lake from the heights in Flinders' range, nearly all the way round it; thirdly, because the loose sands and low sandy ridges, crowned with scrub, mentioned by Ca])tain Frome, are very similar to those met with near Lake Torrens on the west side, be/ore arriving at its basin. t The boundaries of this and of the other coun- ties of South Australia, are chiefly cited from the proclamation of the local govc-rnment, by which they were fixed ; they are, perhajjs, somewhat too minutely stated for the general reader, liut tlie accurate topo- graphical information thus incidentally conveyed, will, I think, make amends for that defect. J of the new comers remained at Nepean bay, in Kangaroo island; but the greater part pitched their tents on a plain, subsequently called Glenelg, close to the beach^ at Hold- fast bay, there to await the completion of the sm-vev. When the site of the capital was fixed,' most of the emigrants removed thither ; but, as the applotments were not vet laid out, and the question of priority of choice was to be settled by a lottery, the adventurers were nnder the necessity of forming another temporary encampment, and the banks of the Torrens river were soon lined with huts erected from the mate- rials most readily procurable; some being constructed of mud and interlaced branches, to the governor, signed by eight gentlemen, requesting that a public meeting might be called on the subject. This was accordingly done on the 10th Februaiy, Avhen a motion was carried by 218 land-order votes to 137, in favour of the position on the Torrens chosen by Colonel Light, and it was declared that he had " most ably and judicioush' dis- charged the responsible duty assigned him by the South Australian Commissioners/' In March, 1837, the survey of the town lands was completed; the selections were made by those Avho brought land orders from England, and the remainder were sold to the highest biddei', the prices varying from £3 to £20 per acre ; the average price termed "wattle and daub;" others of turf, i was £5 per acre. Within the ensuing three of brushwood, or of reeds, and for a roof, thatch, or a piece of canvass, was used. A few had tents, or wooden houses, made in England; fire-places were, fortunately, not essential, but several huts had an opening at one end, enclosed on three sides with stone slabs, and a pork-barrel deprived of its ends, for a chimney; outside the huts a blazing fire was kept, with a huge pot swung over it, gipsey fashion. These primitive structures afford a good idea of the aptness with Avhich Englishmen and Englishwomen accommodate themselves to the exigencies of a novel and trying position, and of the speed with which they establish something- even of comfort around them, under the most unpromising cu'cumstances. Five months elapsed between the arrival of the first emigrants and that of Governor Hind- marsh; meanwhile, they would have been totally without law or government, had not a strong sense of mingled justice and ex- pediency ui'ged them to establish an autho- rity and to obey its dictates. Indeed, the years, some of the parties who had purchased at these prices, sold their lots at £200 to j82,000 per acre. The site chosen for the new city, named after the excellent Queen Adelaide, was on a sloping ground, with grassy flats and umbrageous trees, on the north and south banks of the Torrens river, about six miles from Port Adelaide, on the east side of Gulf St. Vincent, and about six miles from Mount Lofty, the beautiful hilly range before described. The portion of the city on the south side of the river com- prises 700 acres, and is nearly level ; that on the north side contains 34-3 acres, and is elevated, so as to afford a fine view of the surrounding country, embracing to the eastward the darkly wooded valley of the river, and the peaks and elevations of the Mount Lofty range, with the lighter Avooded country at its base; to the westward com- manding the whole extent of the Adelaide plains. The acti\dty of the colonists, when they became certain of the site of their city, was soon visible. In June, early settlers appear to have manifested a \ 1837, it was noticed in the South Australian great deal of sound common sense in their Gazette, that the good citizens were fast proceedings; to use a colonial expression, emerging from the semi-savage state of life each one soon began "to shake down" into which was at first inevitable; " a cottage his proper position, and orderly eommuni- planted and fenced round with a sub- ties were established, first at Nepean bay, stantial English iron fence, a roof adorned j and afterwards, at Holdfast bay, even before , with a cupola, surmounted with a weather- | the arrival of the governor. In January, (27) 1837, Mr. Edward Ste- phens, then dwelling at Glenelg Plains, addressed a circular " to the piu'chasei-s of the first sections of land in South Aus- tralia," urging their assembling to examine the proposed site of the chief toArn on the Torrens, and to remove all doubt or question as to the superiority of the place. On 2nd February, 1837, an address was presented vane, and a door, too, graced with a hand- some knocker," belonging to Mr Osmond Gilles, the colonial treasurer, triumphantly proved the progress of civilization. During December, 1837, Mr. Morphett remarked that the small park land vi'ds being cleared of temporary erections, and that dwell- ings were being constructed of a superior order, all in the cottage style. They were built some feet from the front lines of the streets^ in order that they might serve for out-houses and offices^ when more substan- tial edifices Avere erected. A Government House was constructed by the seamen of H.M.S. Bujfalo, and consisted of mud put between laths, supported by wooden up- rights, and covered with thatch. The sailors omitted, in " rigging the house," to place a fire-place or chimney. INIr. J. F. Bennett, who reached Adelaide in ]\Iarch, 1839, says, that it still retained somewhat the appearance of a collection of booths, such as may be seen at a country fair. Brick and stone were then, however, beginning to take the place of straw and mud, and shingles and slates had partly supplanted canvass and reeds. The old hut gave way to the neat cottage or handsome two-story house. The first tenement erected in Adelaide, even when a few stakes or " pegs" were all that distinguished it from the surrounding forest, vv'as a printing-office, from whence issued a newspaper, Avhich contained the official acts and orders of the government, and the latest intelligence re- specting the geography and capabilities of the new land. A wooden church, sent from England in frame, with sittings for 350 persons, was erected near Holdfast bay, at an early date; and on 26t]i January, 1838, the foundation stone of Trimty Church was laid, at Adelaide, by the governor, in the presence of a numerous assemblage of sub- scribers to its erection. On a leaden plate, was inscribed the names of the trustees and of the incumbent, v.itli the following sen- tence from Nchemiah ii. 20: — "The Lord of heaven he will prosper us ; therefore ive his servants will arise and build." An ex- tensive store, built of limestone, at a cost of i^.2,000, was erected by Messrs. Fisher, in the centre of the town ; and in a re- markably short space of time Adelaide had assumed many of the characteristics of an established town. There were, says INlr. Morphett, " neatly and in some cases ele- gantly spread dinner tables, well-cooked dishes, champagne, hock, claret, and mara- schino, the presence of some Avell-bred and well-dressed women, and the soothing strains of a piano." The illusion of sitting at the hospitable board of some luxurious London citizen was only dispelled by the visitor, on quitting the hall-door, tumbling against a cow, pig, or some such indication of colo- nial prosperity. Adelaide received a severe check, in 1841-2-3, at the period of general de- pression before mentioned ; but it has since recovered, and made considerable progress; and it now ranks highly among the colo- nial towns in her ]Majesty's dominions, and eventually promises to become a noble city. The extensive scale on which it is laid out, and the ample jjrovision thus made for the accommodation of a much larger population than it possesses at present, or is likely to possess even for many years, gives it rather a straggling appearance; but the fault, if it is one, is on the right side; and the plentiful circidation of fresh air thus se- cured must be very conducive to the health of the inhabitants. Captain Sturt, writing, in 1840, of the southern portion of the city (which, it will be remembered, is divided by the Torrens into two portions, distinguished as North and South Adelaide), says it is twice the size of the northern, is more extensively built upon, is the established commercial division of the city, and contains the Go- vernment House and all the public build- ings and offices. The sliops and stoi'es now built are of a substantial and ornamental character. The Government House stands in a well-kept enclosure of nearly ten acres, and has the appearance of an Enghsh country mansion. It is capable of enlarge- ment. The public offices, built in a paral- lellogram, with an open space in the centre, are creditable to the colony ; and the gaol, on which £36,000 have been improperly ex- pended, is a large and substantial sti'ucture. There are several Christian temples. Tri- nity Church, built of stone, stands on the north terrace, and forms a prominent ob- ject; St. John's, built of brick, is on the east terrace, from whence there is a com- manding view of the INIount Lofty range. Christ Church is in North Adelaide. The Roman Catholic church, with its excellent public schools, stands in a fine situation on the AA'Cst terrace ; and there is a lioman Catholic cathedral, I believe, now building. There are several other churches and cha- pels, appropriated for the Avorship of the different Christian denominations. The Bank of South Australia is a prominent feature on the north terrace ; and there arc several other good buildings in various parts of the city. A theatre, capable of holding 1,200 persons, which Avas built a few years ago, and proved an unprofitable speculation, is noAV rented by government at £200 a year, and used for the supreme com't, resident magistrates, sheriffs' offices, &c. The streets have respectively a width of 66, 99^ and 132 feet, intersect each other at right angles, and are sufficiently elevated above the bed of the Torrens to facilitate a perfect system of drainage, which is very much required; for, with the exception of Hindley and Run die streets, the thorough- fares are unpaved, and large masses of rubbish are allowed to accumulate. Unless attention be paid to the drainage of Ade- laide, a damp summer, followed by great heat, may cause a severe pestilential dis- ease; for it is by the neglect of such pre- cautions that, in climates Hke South Aus- traha, plague finds not only a temporary but a permanent abiding place. Hindley-street, about a mile in length, has many excellent warehouses and shops, with elegantly designed fronts and plate- glass windows. It is the principal place for business, and presents an animated ap- pearance. A large cemetery, sufficient for the re- quirements of Adelaide for many years to come, is situated outside the city line, on its western boundary. Adelaide is abundantly supplied with wa- ter from the Torrens, and by means of wells sunk sixty to eighty feet. There are nume- rous springs in the hills, five miles distant, and at sufficient elevation to enable every house to be supplied by pipes. Four bridges over the Torrens connect the two di^dsions of the city, which is sur- rounded by a public demesne, termed the "Park lands," for the breadth of half-a-mile. The advantage of these reserves cannot be doubted, although at present they increase the stragghng appearance of the city, and must do so until Adelaide attains the im- portance anticipated for it by Colonel Light, to whose respected memory a monument, consisting of a pentagonal Gothic cross, forty-five feet in height, has been erected in the centre of Light-square, at Ade- laide. On both sides of the river between North and South Adelaide there are reserved allotments, to the extent of 200 acres, for the formation of pleasure-grounds and public gardens. Beneath the umbrageous canopies which enhance the beauty of the city park, the annual horticultural and agricultural show of South Australia is held ; and the occa- sion is a festive holiday for the city of Adelaide and the surrounding country. On this occasion, not only many varieties of delicious fruits, beautiful flowers, and choice vegetables are exhibited, but also articles of export and of domestic economy, raised and prepared by the industry and skill of the colonists, together with models for agricul- tural implements, samples of corn, wax, honey, leather, starch, and other useful commodities. Beyond the Park lands, which together with the city contain 400 acres, the " pre- liminary" or country sections, of 134 acres each, commence. Many of these have been laid out in smaller sections, and are being rapidly built on and improved. Tlie race-course of Adelaide is a peculiarly good one ; and during the three days in the begining of January annually devoted to this favourite amusement, the settlers from far and near throng to the city, racing being in this, as indeed in all the Australian colonies, a very popular pastime — as are also the other English sports of hunting, cricket, &c. Level plains extend between the city and the Port of Adelaide, in 34° 51' S. lat., 138° 34' E. long., which is situated on the eastern bank of a large creek running nearly parallel with the coast for about twelve miles, and assuming, with its numerous branches, the appearance of a river. There are two entrances from seawarci ■ — the northern is shallow; the southern contains deep water, which is continued for ten miles. It is a very fair harbour, although origi- nally it had only twelve feet at low water on the outer bar. By means of a dredging machine, the sand has been removed so as to allow vessels of 300 to 400 tons to pass into the haven ; and from the nature of the submarine formation, the bar may be re- moved to a still greater extent, if nece!?sary, and any improvement thus effected will be permanent. During the rainy season the Torrens pours some of its waters into the head of Adelaide creek. There is a light ship oft' the bar, at the entrance of the Port Adelaide creek, and a steam-tug now enables vessels to reach the shipping station without the vexatious delays to Avhich they were formerly subjected. That portion of the population connected with the shipping or the harbour, reside on the spot, and give to Port Adelaide the appearance of a small town ; but the only substantial buildings are the wharfs, one belonging to the govern- ment, the other to the South Australian Company, and the custom-house. There is a good majeadamized road between the port and city of Adelaide (distant about seven miles), constructed at an expense of .£12,000 by the South Australian Company, and subsequently transferred to the local government, in exchange for 12,000 acres of land. But a rail or tram-road is still much needed — not only from the port to the city, but also to Gawler town — for the conveyance of ore and wool to the place of embarkation ; this useful measure will, it is expected, be soon accomplished. Another excellent road, the foundation of which is of stone brought from Kangaroo island, has been constructed across a man- grove swamp, between the port and Albert Town, a straggling village about a mile dis- tant ; the cost of this road, from the expen- sive period at which it was commenced, is stated at £14,000, which is improbable.* Besides that connecting it with the port, four other roads branch off from Adelaide, of which one leads north through Gawler town — another, called the Great Eastern Road, to Mount Barker and the Murray; the third, running southwards, crosses the range to Encounter bay ; and the fourth, to Glenelg and Holdfast bay. There are several pretty villages in the vicinity of Adelaide; indeed, within five years of its establishment, upwards of " thirty vil- lages were started" within three miles of the city ; in 1841, there were but seven remaining, \dz., Hindmarsh, containing 200 houses ; Bowden, 50 ; Prospect, 25 ; The- barton, 100; Kensington, 40; Walkerville, 50; Islington, 45. Hindmarsh, Bowden, and Prospect, were principally inhabited by persons engaged in the carriage of goods from Port Adelaide to the city, and by brickmakers and labourers. Thebarton and Walkerville contain many substantial houses. Kensington and Richmond are quiet and secluded villages embosomed in trees, with neat residences, and beautiful gardens. Islington, on the high-road to Gawler, is a favourite place for dairymen, on account of the good cattle runs imme- diately behind the village, which contains several good inns. About three miles from Adelaide, on the right bank of the Torrens, is the village of Klemzig, the oldest of the German settle- ments ; the houses having been built by the refugees on the plan of those of their native country, contrast pleasingly with the general style. 'The scenery in the valley of the Torrens is descril)ed as picturesque, its ♦ Angas' Savage Life, p. 207. grassy flats being shaded by beautiful and umbrageous trees, and the land in the vicinity of the sources and tributaries of the Torrens is very valuable. The river itself, although in summer frequently but a chain of deep broad pools, with long intervening dry spaces, in the winter pours down an impetuous stream, furnished by the moun- tain torrents, whose channels lie in the deep glens or ravines that occur between the spurs of the Mount Lofty range. The scenery around the heads of these little sti'cams is described by Mr. Angas as wild and romantic, especially that of Glen Stuart, a rocky pass between the hills; during its course through which the Moriatta rivulet dashes over steep chasms of rock, with pre- cipices rising like walls on either side, form- ing three distinct waterfalls. In one of these the water has a descent of some seventy feet, falling into a deep pool, from which it again emerges on its downward mission to the plains. The borders of this stream are in many places choked with the fresh-water tea-tree ; the native lilac, and a dwarf species of mimosa are frequent along its banks. The variety of Xanthorese or grass-tree, styled Black Boy by the settlers, overruns the rocky sides of the hills, usually abounding in the most stony and inaccessible places. The marine townships of Glenelg and Brighton have a good beach, and are fre- quented as bathing-places by the inhabitants of Adelaide : a charming ride of four or five miles, along an excellent road, brings the citizen to the bay, which is a favourite even- ing's excursion after the heat of the day is over. The little river Sturt falls into the gulf at Glenelg, after spreading over the flats behind the sandhills at that place. On its banks, as also on those of the Onkaparinga, a more important stream about fifteen miles to the southward, there are excellent farms. The township of Noarlimga is weU situated about two miles from the head of the Onkapa- ringa, which is navigable so far for small craft. A large steam flour-mill, and a bridge of 100 feet span, have been erected; several lodes of copper ore exist in this vicinity. Beyond Noarlunga is the township of IVil- lunga; the country between is generally good, portions of it arc sandy and scrubby, but Morphett's Vale is a rich and extensive piece of land, from which Sturt mentions having seen several large stacks of hay cut, before it was settled, and while yet iu a 3.26 COUNTIES KOllTH OF ADELAIDE— GAWLER TOWN. state of nature. AVilluuga lies close under the foot of the hills, which here trending to the south-south-west, meet the coast line extremity of the Southern Aldingha plains. Close to this point is the conical hill named Mount Terrible. The Mount Lofty range which forms the eastern boundary of the extensive plains on which Adelaide stands is about three miles distant; the intermediate space traversed by the Great Eastern or ]Mount Barker road, is laid out in carefully cultivated farms. On the first rise is the Glen Osmond lead mine, from thence the road winds up a romantic valley to the sum- mit of the range, which is covered with a dense forest of stringy bark, and adorned with a great variety of papilionaceous plants ; and several beautiful kinds of orchidaceoe. On the eastern confines of Adelaide county is the village of Hahndorf, with its industrious Prussians, situated among the Mount Barker hills, and the village of Nairne, immediately to the north of which is Mount Torrens. To the north and east of the city of Ade- laide are extensive tracts of fertile land, intersected by the valleys of the North and South Para rivers, beyond which lie the rich districts of Lynedoch valley, of which how- ever but a small portion is comprised within the county whose leading features we have now noted. The names and limits of the four counties north and north-east of Adelaide, are as follows : — Gaivler County, bounded on the south by Adelaide county as far as the extreme east of the Gawler special survey (all of which it includes); thence by a line following round this survey to the main north road, and running along this road to the crossing of the Wakefield river, bounded on the north by this river, and on the west by the coast. Liffht County, bounded on the west by the Gawler county, and on the south by Adelaide county, as far as the dividing ridge between the Gawler and the Rhine ; thence by a line following the main range to the north, past Mount Rufus, to above the sources of the Light, in the parallel of about 33° 50'; turning round the ridge on the west bank of the Gilbert, in a line nearly direct upon Mount Horrocks, until it meets { the eastern sources of the Wakefield, and : running along this river to the crossing of the northern road. Stanley County, bounded on the south by the counties of Gawler and Light, on the cast by the nuun range as far as the parallel of 33° 20', and then by the down course of the Broughton river, till about due north of the mouth of the Wakefield, a line connecting these points forming the western boundary. Eyre County, bounded o)i the south by Sturt county ; on the east by the Murray, (including the sections laid out on each bank), as far as the Great Bend: from thence by a direct line to the north-east angle of Light county, Avhich forms the western boundary. Of the territory comprised in these four counties, the central and southerly portion is the most settled. The chief place — Gaivler Town, situated in the angle formed by the junction of the little Para and Gawler rivers, though yet in its infancy, promises to become of considerable importance; it contains a church, three or four good inns, a steam flour mill, several stores, and other buildings. The copper ores from the Burra- Burra mines pass through this town for shipment at Port Adelaide, which is about twenty-three miles distant. Gawler river rises in the southern part of the Barossa ranges, and after receiving the Little Para, flows to the westward of the shores of St. Vincent's gulf. It has extensive and well- wooded flats of deep alluvial soil along its banks, flanked by the plains of Adelaide, the line of trees running across them, only with a broader belt of wood, indicate the course of the river in a similar manner to that of Adelaide creek. " Except these fea- tures," says Captain Sturt, " and two or three box forests, at no great distance from Albert town, the plains are almost destitute of timbei', and being very level, give an idea of extent they do not really possess, being succeeded by pine-forests and low scrub to the north from Gawler town." Beyond Gawler town, both to the north and east, a decided change becomes percep- tible in the character of the comitry ; the monotonous plains give place to an undu- lating and highly wooded district, containing many fertile valleys. The road between Gawler town and the river Murray, at about eight miles from the former, passes through Lynedoch Valleij, an extensive and fertile tract, where there are two copper mines and a pretty hamlet. There is very little sur- face water; but a copious supply, of excel- lent quality, has been found attainable by digging five or six feet down in the centre of the valley. Lynedoch valley is bounded on the east by the Barossa range, as the beautiful comitiy is termed, situated between ANGASTON— KAPUNDA— THE BURRA-BURRA MINE. 327 tlie river Light and the hills, called the Heranian range ; those termed the Hawdon range and the Belvedere range, comprising an area of about 225 English square miles. This district is rich in metals, deposited close to the surface, and occasionally crop- ping out. It is watered partly by the Gawler and partly by the little river Rhine. One of its most picturesque and valuable tracts is Angas Park, the property of Mr. G. F. Angas, which is about seven miles long and four broad, "ndth a deep siliceous soil, black- ened by the abundance of vegetable matter. Salem Valley is a lovely spot : the flat of the valley, through which the Gawler flows, is from one to five miles broad, with undu- lating hills rising on either side. The thriving %illage of Bethany, inhabited by several hundred Germans, is situated at the foot of the Barossa range, as are also those of Lobethal and Langmeil ; but the chief place in the district is Angaston, at German Pass, which is picturesquely situated at the head of a ra-vine, looking towards the Gree- nock hills, and possesses a considerable num- ber of comfortable habitations, a good hotel, schools, and stores. Outside the town is an excellent place of worship, with a cemetery, enclosed by stone walls. About twelve miles to the north-west of Angaston, close to the river Light, is the rich copper mine of Kapunda, the property of Captaiii Bagot and Mr. Dutton, from nhich the valuable muriate of copper, or acatamite, previously found only in South America, is procured. The cottages of the miners are built of stone, obtained from a hill of clay slate on the property, which, being more or less tinged with copper, gives them a peculiar appearance. A chapel, serving also as a school-house, has been erected, and the little hamlet wears a cheerful aspect. Before long, a to-wnship will pro- bably be formed here. The river Light de- serves remark, not only for the mineral wealth in its vicinity, but also for the thou- sands of acres of fertile soil ready for the plough, diversified by undulating hills, with here and there patches of open soil. The fertility of the numerous branch valleys Avhich strike off from the main channel of the Light, on each side, is testified by Mr. Dutton from personal acquaintance, he having resided, for some time, at Anlaby, under jSIount Waterloo. On the Light river, and from thence northwards, the cultivation of the soil is not carried on, excepting by those settlers who grow corn for their own consumption ; here, also, "the bush'' may be said to commence, as all the country to the north, taking in the Wakefield, Hill, Broughton, and Hutt rivers, Crystal brook, &c., as far north as Blount Arden, is occupied by sheep and cattle farmers. In these districts there is no lack of the best soil, and in most of them, land ah'cady surveyed is open for selection to the newly arrived emigrant.* A remark- able feature in the extensive downs through portions of which the Wakefield flows, is the absence of trees; they are, neverthe- less, well grassed, and covered with a pro- fusion of orchideous plants. The Broughton river, which, as we have before seen, forms the northern boundary' of Stanley county, and, consequently, of the territor}^ of Avhich we have been speaking, was crossed by Eyi-e in 33° 28' S. lat. At that point its bed is of considerable width, and its channel occupied by long, wide, and very deep water holes, connected with one another by a strongly running stream, which seldom or never fads, even in the driest season. The soil upon its banks, however, is described as not valuable, being generally stony and barren, bearing a sort of prickly grass (spinifex) . Wild-fowl abound in its pools. In the eastern portion of Stanley county is the famous Bun-a-Bmra mine, situated on the Burra creek, about eighty-five miles in a direct line from Adelaide. The ores lie in the same dii'ection as the ranges in which they are placed. Captain Sturt makes the folloA^ing mention of this immense mine : — " The deposits of iron are greater than those of copper, and it is impossible to describe the appearance of the huge clean masses of which they arc composed. They look, indeed, like immense blocks that had only just passed from the forge. The deposits at the Bm-ra-Burra amoimted, I believe, to some thousand tons, and led to the impres- sion, that where so gi-eat a quantity of sur- face ore existed, but little would be found beneath. In working this, gigantic mine, however, it has proved otherwise. I was informed by one of the shareholders, that it took three hom-s and three-quarters to go through tlie shafts and galleries of the mine. Some of the latter are cut through soHd blocks of ore, which glitter like gold Avhere the hammer or chisel has struck the rock, as you pass Tvith a candle among them." Statistical information respecting • South Australia and its Mines, by Francis Dutton. 1848. 328 EYRE, STURT, HINDMARSH, AND RUSSELL COUNTIES. else- this extraordinary mine is given where. The greater part of Eyi-e county is occu- pied by " the dark and gloomy sea of scrub" pre\aously adverted to as the^NIui'ray Belt, here about twenty miles wide; the hilly country immediately to the westward of it, is of an inferior description, portions only being occupied as sheep stations. A dray-road has been formed through the scrub, communicating with the government station of Moorundi, distant twenty-six miles from the Great Bend of the Murray, and ninety from Adelaide. It was estab- lished by Governor Grey, in 1841, in con- sequence of the coUisions, too frequently attended with loss of life and great destruc- tion of property, which were constantly occui'ring between the settlers coming over- land with stock from New South Wales, and the natives. So deep a spirit of revenge had thereby become kindled in the breasts of the latter, that although suffering severely from every contest, tliey would not allow any party with stock to pass along the line of the river, without attempting to stop then- progress. The appointment of j\Ir. E\Te as resident magistrate and protector of the aborigines, w^as most judicious, from his proved humanity, and the influence he had acquired over the natives. By his exertions, aided by the occasional distri- bution of a limited supply of blankets and flour among the aborigines, their good- will has been obtained, and the banks of the Murray, no longer the scene of conflict and slaughter, are now occupied by stock sta- tions ; while in calm weather, the natives, in their canoes of bark, are constantly upon its waters, busily employed in striking fish. Mr. EjTc, now lieutenant-governor of New Zealand, has been succeeded at Moo- rundi by Mr. Scott, whose influence appears to equal that of his predecessor. To the south of the county of Eyre lie the counties of Sturt, Hindmarsh, and Russell. Sturt County, bounded on the south and east by the Russell county, as high as its termination in about 3i°'50' S. lat., and thence by the Murray (including the thirty- nine sections), to the parallel of about 34° 32' due east of the dividing ridge be- tween the Gawler and the Rhine, a line between which points forms its northern limits ; on the west by the counties of Ade- laide and Hindmarsh. Hindmarsh Counhj, bounded by the coast- line from the termination of the main ranirc in St. Vincent's gulf below Mount Terrible, round Cape Jervis, to the sea outlet of the jNIun-ay ; thence by the south-east shore oi Mundo Island, in Lake Victoria, to Point Sturt, on the northern shore of the lake; thence by a direct line across the lake to the mouth of the Bremer; thence by that river up to the crossing-place of the eastern road, above Langhorne's station; thence, taking a line about N. 20" AV., till it strikes the main range at ISIount Barker, con- tinuing along the eastern range (enclosing the jNIount Barker sui'vey), to Mount INlag- nificent; thence by a course about north- west, to the top of the AVillunga range, where it is crossed by the southern road, and following the ridge to the sea below Mount Terrible. Russell County, bounded by the coast-line from the sea outlet of the ]Murray, to a spot opposite w^here the Salt creek empties itself into the Coorong; by this creek, to the rocky ridge at its source, and thence by taking a line due north, till it cuts the INIurray, in about 34° 50' S. lat., bounded on the north and west by the INIurray, as far as Pomunda ; thence by a straight line across Lake Victoria to Point Sturt. Of the territory included in these three southern counties, the finest and most cul- tivated portion is comprised in the district which, taking its name from its distinguish- ing feature, is called Mount Barker. This mountain, with its saddle-backed summit, is a very conspicuous object, risible for many leagues in the interior, beyond the Murray; it forms a landmark for overland parties from New South Wales, by which they steer for the settled districts of South Australia. The district may be said to ex- tend from the riUage of Nairne (before mentioned) to Strathalbyn, on the river Angas, the latter place being fifteen miles from the shores of Lake Victoria. It abounds in beautiful valleys which, though of limited extent, are level and clear; their soil is a rich alluvial deposit, and the plough may be driven from one end to the other, without meeting a single obstacle to stop its progress. The trees are grouped as if by the hand of art. All British grains and fruits are climatized here — and apples, strawberries, and other fi'uits, which do not thrive Avell upon the plains, grow luxuriantly at Mount Barker, while upon the sunny low lands, all the fruits of the Mediter- ranean are produced in abundance. Besides much fine agricultural land, there is also a considerable portion of good pasturage ; but there are, nevertheless, many stony ranges entirely useless, even to stock.* Mount Barker, the county-town of the district, contains a court-house, where a bench of magistrates sit once a week; a police-station, a post-office, a school-house, steam flour-mill, an inn, and some respec- table private dwelling-places. The German village QiHahndorf, before named as situated on the confines of Adelaide county, belongs to this district, as does also the township of Macclesfield, situated on the river An gas. This stream has its source in some clear bubbling springs near the township, that gush up from the earth, shaded by mimosa trees, supplying a constantly running brook of the purest water. Macclesfield is, at present, a pretty little village; the white cottages and tents of its settlers, inter- mingled with corn-fields and gardens, and groups of cattle reposing under the shade of the gum-trees, bespeaking the nucleus of the future town.f Its native name is Kangooarinilla, signifjdng " the place for kangaroos and water." To the east of the Mount Barker district a flat country, with a poor and sandy soil, extends to the Murray belt, beyond Avhich, on the direct road to Mount Gam bier and Rivoli bay, and fifteen miles below Moo- rundi, is the site of the township of WeDing- ton, as yet only a station for the mounted police. A ferry has been established here across the MiuTay, which enters Lake Alex- andrina, about half-a-dozen miles from this point. " The country immediately to the east- ward of the Murray affords, in some places, a scanty supply of grass for sheep; but, generally speaking, it is similar in its soil and rock formation, and consequently, in its productions, to the scrubby country to the westward."! ' Many parts of the shores of Lake Vic- toria are composed of rich land, but in others they are very bleak and desolate. The ground on the eastern side of the lake is a sand flat, gradually improving to the southward ; where the shore begins to trend to the westward, it becomes very good. The rising ground behind, though sandy, affords excellent back-runs for cattle, and the hills are well timbered. Along the eastern and southern shores of Lake Albert, * Captain Sturt's Account of South Australia. t Angas' Savage Life in Australia. X Captain Kturt. l;iv. II. the same character of countrv continues, but ' the soil appears to be still better, and the flats become more extensive. Mr. Fromc states, in his report, that he considei's that there are, at least, 50,000 acres of good agricultm-al soil on the borders of the latter lake. The District of Encounter Bay lies between the abrupt cape called Rosetta head and the sea-mouth of the !Murray. It consists of several beautiful valleys, covered with luxuriant grass, and backed by the ranges of hills Avhich, opposite Encounter bay, occupy nearly the centre of the promontory, forming a division between the eastern and western waters, which is marked by a con- siderable breadth of stringy bark forest. The settlers here are numerous, and the whale-fishery is carried on with considerable success. Currency Creek and Finniss River empty themselves into the Goolwa, as the lagoon is called connected with Lake Victoria, to the eastward; the valley of the former stream is prettily wooded and grassy, but contains no very gi'eat extent of good land. To the north and south it is bounded by barren scrub. Near the head of the creek is a great sandy basin, which forms a striking contrast to the fertile valleys in its Adcinity, and is, in itself, a remarkable physical feature. At an elevation of between 600 and 700 feet, this basin is surrounded by rugged stony hills, excepting to the south and the south-east, in which directions it falls into the valley of the Hindmarsh and Currency creek, respectively. Mount Magnificent, Mount Compass, and Mount Jagged, rise in isolated groups in diflferent parts of this basin, the soil of which is pui-e sand; the surface undulating, and in many parts covered with stunted banksias. The Finniss rises behind Mount Magnifi- cent, and is joined by a smaller branch from JNIount Compass, as it flows from the eastward. To the north-cast of Hindmarsh river, lies the narrow but beautiful ^'alley of the Myponga, between which and Mount Ter- rible, the country is poor and scrubby. Aldinga Plains (to the north of the My- ponga,) are sufficiently extensive to feed numerous sheep ; but are at present unused, from their deficiency of sui'face water. The Httle river Yankalilla empties itself into Gulf St. Vincent, passing between hills of white sand, overgrown ^yith an almost end- less variety of dark evergreen shrubs and 2 s 3S0 FLINDERS COUNTY AND PORT LINCOLN DISTRICT. salsolaceous plants ; like the valley of the ISIvpoiis^a, that of the Yankalilla ranks among the most fair and fertile tracts in the colony; the country between them is exceedingly romantic, becoming more broken and mountainous towards Rapid bay, a short distance from whence is the valuable lead mine of Yattagolingay. Before leading this portion of Sov+h Australia, it may be noticed, that from Cape Jer\-is, its south-east extremity, a practi- cable route for wheeled vehicles has been repeatedly traced to a good and available country twenty miles beyond Mount Re- markable, in the north, equal in lineal dis- tance to the space of country between the eastern boundary of Cornwall and the eastern boundary of Middlesex, and contain- ing, it is believed, as large a proportion of available land in a given breadth, as was comprised in that dinsion of England while yet in a state of nature. Partially located and unsettled Districts. — The extremity of the Eyria peninsula, situ- ated between Spencer's gulf and the Great Australian bight, comprises, Flinders County, which is bounded on the south by the coast between Capes Wiles and Cape Catastrophe ; on the east, by the coast from Cape Catastrophe to the northern ex- tremity of Louth bay, including all the islands on the coast between these parallels, as well as William's ard the Gambier island ; the northern and western limits are still undetermined. The settlement at Port Lincoln is the only one, not merely in Flinders county, but in the whole province westward of Spencer's gulf. The character of the neigh- bouring country, and the future prospects of the township, have been differently \'iewed by several explorers ; some contending that the territory around is worthless, others that there are large fertile tracts. Unless, however, a district be thinly wooded, and txplorable by navigable rivers, it is almost impossible to form an accurate opinion. According to Lieutenant-colonel Gawler, whose geographical and geological observa- tions are extremely valuable, the sm-face of the Ej^ria peninsula, which is nearly an equilateral triangle of 200 miles on each side, is divided into three great portions : — (1) the mountainous table-land tract; (2) the low undidating country ; and (3) the hill coun- try. The first has been noted at p. 660. The many sliort and narrow mountain ridges, which rise from 300 to 700 feet above tlie plateau, in much confusion, but with tlio prevailing direction towards Spencer's gulf, are generally grassy and sprinkled with small casuarina trees ; the water- courses be- tween these ridges are occasionally lined with casuarina, and with pines twenty -five to thirty feet in height; the great outer slopes of the table-land are also frequently grassy; but the small plains between the bases of the ridges and the water-com'ses are almost always covered with brush, scrub, or heath, generally the latter. The herbage is of the description known as kangaroo grass, but more commonly of the same slender sort as is seen on the plains between Adelaide and the sea. The soil which bears the grass is a red ferru- ginous sandy loam, much of it appearing rich of its kind, and available for agricul- tui'al or horticultural purposes. The loio undulating country forming the tongue of the peninsula consists of gentle elevations, not more than 300 feet above the sea, and is said to be a poor region. A scarcely varying and nearly flat belt of brush, scrub, and heath, seven to fifteen miles wide, extends along the sea-coast to the base of the mountain table-laud, whose di'ainage passes through this tract. Several salt lagoons, frequently dry and cloth. ed with fine groves of the " salt-water tea tree," are found in this district. The Hill Country, elevated 600 to 1,000 feet in height, commences in about 34° 10' S. lat., and has its common courses to north- east and south-Avest, with strong deviations to north-west and south-east. In the nor- therly subdi\dsion of these ridges, i.e., from the " Sheep hills," in 34° 11' to "Northside hill," a direct distance of forty miles, the country is extensively covered with good grass ; towards Cape Catastrophe, a similar country, though in a more limited propor- tion, extends. The Hill comitry contains many fine valleys, one named the Tod is sixteen miles in length, and has numerous lateral branches. Another, six or eight miles to the west of Boston bay, is a succes- sion of broad swamps, some of which are now available for agriculture, as the soil in these valleys is of excellent quality. In the hill ranges there is a considerable quantity of permanent surface-water, the grassy hills and valleys are sprinkled with fine casuarinas, and the scenery is very beautiful. Captain Ilawson ascended the Hill country from the Happy Valley in a northerly direc- tion for fifteen miles to the confluence of the COUNTRY FIIOM STREAKY BAY TO MOUNT ARDEN. 331 Tod and Severn rivers^ about five miles west- north-west of Mount GaAvler (twenty-one miles distant from Boston bay.) During tlie Avhole of this journey^ he passed over a ver}' fine sheep country, the hills being covered to then' summits with grass. The explorer reached Cowan's Vale and lake, (part of Steven^s river,) about twenty miles north-north-west of the Happy valley. " Nothing," he says, " can be imagined more beautiful than the country about this vale (which is about five miles long by one broad) ; the grass in the flats being abun- dant, and growing to a great height." Smith's Valley, eight miles distant in the same direction, is equally rich, and contains many thousand acres of excellent land fit for agi'icultui'al purposes. The hills in every direction are adapted for pasturage, and abundantly supplied with water the whole year round. During this journey of fifty miles the travellers were never two hours without water, and did not meet with five miles of unavailable land. When at the greatest distance from the Happy valley the country, as far as the eye could reach, appeared to be of a similar character. The opinion of Mr. Robert Tod, of the country to the north and west of Port Lin- coln, is equally favourable; he says the majority of the hills, even during the dry season, afford good sheep pasture, while the valleys appear to be adapted for agricul- tui'al purposes. Major O'Halloran and a party of police made two excursions, one of eighty-five miles to the north-east, and the other of fifty-five miles to the north-west of Port Lincoln. He reported the country to be well watered, covered with luxru'iant herbage, abounding in game, and with numerous na- tives. Angas, writing in 1846, says that about thirty miles to the north and west of Port Lincoln, there is a rich and beautiful country, as yet but little known, having several fine lakes of Avater, and luxuriant pasture land, scattered with park-like trees ; beyond these lakes rise two distinct ranges of lofty and abrupt hills. Waungerri is the native name for the largest lake, Avhich abounds in black swans and other water- fowl; kangaroos, emus, and a variety of smaller game are still numerous in the sur- rounding country, which is unoccupied by settlers. These opinions of disinterested eye-wit- nesses fully redeem Flinders county and the Port Lincoln neighbourhood from the imputation of barrenness; tliere are now from 70,000 to 100,000 sheep in this dis- trict, and a practicable line of route having been discovered from Adelaide along the western shore of Spencer's gulf, the value of landed property will most probably increase ; the more so, if, as reported, good copper ore be also found in this part of the colony, which has already commenced shipping wool and tallow direct from Boston bay to England. Mr. Eyre crossed the country in a direc- tion nearly due east from Streaky bay toAvards Mount Arden, September 18, 1839. The first part consisted of alternations of brush, of open grassy plains, and high scrubby and sand ridges, interspersed with hard limestone flats, to the base of the Gawler range (see page 660), whence the route was through a perfect desert, very scrubby and stony, Avith much prickly grass growing upon the sand ridges. The liiUs seen were without either timber or shrubs, and very barren, with theii' front slopes ex- ceedingly steep, and covered by small loose stones ; several salt lakes Avere seen in A'arious directions, but no indications of fresh-water or springs. Ridge behind ridge appeared to rise to the north -Avest, increasing in eleva- tion. Further east the view from a hill shoAved to the north one vast sea of level scrub, and in the midst of it a lake. The journey to the head of Spencer's gulf was performed Avith much difficulty ; Eyre says, " there were no water-courses, and no tim- ber — aU is barren, rocky, and naked in the extreme." It appears to me probable that the Gawler range extends continuously to the north-Avest, and that a good country may be found on the northern sides of the range at a distance of fifty to 100 miles inland from the Great Bight, improving as it approaches the districts of Western Australia. Yorke Peninsula has only been partially examined ; so far as is known, the shore is generally Ioav, Avith several sandy beaches, on Avhich may be seen ironstone, granite, Avhinstone, and quartz. The land, as seen near Point Pearce, rises gi-adually from the coast towards the centre of the peninsula, and consists of open plain, Avith occasional belts of forest. This description of country appears to exist as far as the eye can see, north or south. The soil is light, of a loamy nature, and well covered Avith fine grasses. Fresh water has been discovered in several places. The scrub and pine brush 332 GREY AND ROBE COUNTIES— THE COORONG AND LAKE ALBERT. are in belts, but not dense * The water shed appears to be westerly. It is prema- ture to decide as to the pastoral or agri- cultvu'al capabilities of the peninsula, or as to its mineral resources. The geographical position is good; with navigable gulfs and harbours on either side, and possessing a temperate climate, it will doubtless attract attention as the population and wealth of the proAince increase. The country to the eastward of the head of Spencer's gulf, and north of Stanley county, has not been well explored : the district about Mount Remarkable is said to be exceedingly pictui'esque and good, and possessed of considerable mineral advan- tages. A special survey of 20,000 acres has been taken by a company, for the express pm'pose of working any lodes that might be found. After passing the Mount Remark- able range, the aspect of the land deterio- rates, and continues falling off towards the dreary region which extends round the head of the gulf, and towards Lake Torrens. With regard to the country eastward of the high land, extending north from Mount Bryan, as far as Mount Hopeless, a distance of 300 miles, as far as the meridian of 141°, and probably beyond it, the result of several investigations shows, that there is no land available for either agricultural or pastoral pui-poses; and in the unbiassed opinion of Captain Frome, of the Royal Engineers, though there may be occasional spots of good land at the base of the main range, on the sources of the numerous creeks flowing from thence towards the inland desert, these must be too limited in extent to be of any present value. ^ Two recently-formed, but important coun- ties, yet remain to be noticed, situated in the south-eastern portion of the colony, viz. : — Robe County, bounded on the north by the parallel of 36° 54' S. lat., extending from the sea- coast to where it intersects the 141st meridian; on the east by the said meridian; on the south by the northern boundary of Grey county; ajid on the south-west and west by the sea-coast. Grey County, bounded on the east by the meridian of 141° from the sea-coast, to where it is intersected by the parallel of 37° 20' south; on the north by the said parallel, from its intersection with the 141st meridian, to the sea-coast; on the south- west and south by tne sea-coast. In Robe • Report of Mr. Hughes. county a township has been laid out on Guichen bay, and one in Grey county, on Rivoli bay. Governor Grey, accompanied by Mr. Deputy-surveyor Burr, explored the territoiy now comprised in these counties in 1844. Erom the statement of these gen- tlemen we learn, that an almost uninter- rupted tract of good country stretches between the rivers Murray and Glenelg, which, in some places, thins off to a narrow belt; in others, widens out to a very con- siderable extent ; and towards the boun- daries of Victoria pro\dnce forms one of the most extensive and continuous tracts of good country which is known to exist within the limits of South Australia. The general features of this line of country may be briefly stated. From the neck of the penin- sula which separates the Coorong from Lake Albert, to the Salt creek, or Bonney's creek, there is a belt of grassy casuarina hills, with numerous plains of good soil, in which water may be obtained -s^dthin a few feet of the surface. This belt is bordered on the north- east by desert country, on the south-west by the Coorong. From Bonney's creek to the crossing of the Coorong, a distance of about thirty-five miles, the road passes gene- rally amongst a succession of salt swamps and low scrubby hills. About two miles north of this road, and following a direction nearly parallel to it, is the low range, named Wambat range, behind which there is an extensive fresh-water swamp, several miles across, which appears to be subject to annual inundations. The soil on this swamp is similar to that on the flats of the jSIurray ; in it are many grassy hills, which have the appearance of islands. Beyond the swamp, to the north and north-cast, there are a succession of ranges which do not, from a distance, look very promising. From the crossing of the Coorong to Cape Bernouilli the country improves; from Cape Bernouilli to Guichen Bay, and for some distance aroimd Mount Benson, and to Lake Haw- don, there is a useful tract of country. There are several ridges of high land, sepa- rated by low level ground, a great portion of which is subject to inundation; but the soil is excellent; and some of these plains have been sufficiently raised by volcanic action, to render them dry and availaljle for pasturage or agriculture. Around Rivoli bay there is much good land and picturesque scenery; from thence to Mounts Schanck and Gambler (see p. 061), the country is, for the most part, of the richest description, GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 333 the soil of a dark brown loam. The trees o-iow luxuriantly ; the blackwood attains an extraordinary size; beside which, there are several trees quite different from those of Adelaide. The Tatiara covmtry, once so celebrated for the ferocity and cannibalism of its inhabitants, is now occupied by settlers, who have of late crossed the Murray, in considerable numbers, to form stations there. Between the land bordering the left bank of the Murray, and that contiguous to the sea-coast, there remains a considerable extent still to be explored, before any decided opinion can be formed as to its character. The following are the sailing distances, in nautical miles, from Adelaide : — England, 11,500; Cape of Good Hope, 6,000 ; Ceylon, 4,500; Mam-itius, 4,400; Timor, 2,700; Java, 2,650; Melbourne (Port Phillip), 450; Sydney (New South Wales), 1,134; Free- mantle (Western Australia), 1,400 miles. Geology. — There has e^idently been, in this portion of Australia, a subterranean movement of great power, which, finding no vent in the northern district, in the vici- nity of Mount Arden, pursued a southerly course, where it met less resistance, and by successive upheavings tore up the superin- cumbent strata, and raised to a considerable elevation a belt or zone of rocks, flanked by similar and parallel ridges. The dip of the strata composing the mountain range of South Austraha, from 32° to 36° S. lat., so far as has been observed, is generally to the southward ; the exception to this declination is probably attributable to the existence of rocks of igneous origin, such as granite, sienite, greenstone, &c. The rocks, of which the main range is composed, belong to the oldest of the primary strata; they are, so far as known, totally devoid of any evidence of the existence of animal or vegetable life during their formation ; but the rocks on the plains teem with fossil remains, many of which belong to species identical with, or nearly allied to, the species now existing in the adjacent seas. The primary or sedi- mentary rocks of the mountain range have manifestly been forced out of an horizontal position by subterranean action; but the strata composing the plains which rest upon the sedimentary rocks are perfectly hori- zontal, and have, therefore, evidently not been subjected to the influence of the upheaving power. Near Mount Arden, the indications of volcanic agency are more manifest than at the portions of this range farther south; and in the same latitude as Mount Ai'den, to the eastward. Captain Frome, of the royal engineers, noticed basaltic rocks, thermal springs, and what appeared to be the crater of an extinct volcano. It appears to me that the axis of pcrtui'bation was to the south-east, and that the pent-up gases found, or rather forced, an exit in numerous small volcanoes, of which the craters are still to be seen in the province of Victoria, on the line of country extending from Lake Hindmarsh to the basin of Port Phillip. The manner in which the Adelaide range was raised from the bed of the ocean, is explained by the following diagrams, prepared by Mr. Burr, who has given much attention to this inter- esting subject : — N rig. 1. s. " This section exhibits a regular succession of strata of the same mineralogical character, and lying in the same order. The arrangement might be con- ceived to arise from a uniform and powerful sub- terranean action on strata, -which had formerly been horizontal, and jilaced above one another in the fol- lowing order : — N Fig. 2. S. f Where a, 6, r, d, and e, i-epresent strata of sedi- mentary rocks, which were originally deposited on the unstratified rocks,,/". For it is evident, that in order to produce the effect exhibited in Figure 1, we have only to propel a force, having a tendency to rise upwards, from the north to the south, when the horizontal strata in figure 2 would be thrown into a position similar to that exhibited in figui'c 1, which represents, in a general manner, the arrangement of the strata composing the principal range of South Australia. In this figure, a represents a quartzose sandstone traversed by veins of quartz, frequently accompanied with ironstone ; h, a coarse dark-coloured slate, with veins of quartz, and occasionally of lami- nated specular iron ; c, limestone beds, frequently very impure, and passing into slate and slaty sand- stone. In this there are frequently veins of cal- careous and other spars, with quartz, and ores oi the metals, iron, copper, lead, &c., t^'c. ; (/, mica .slate chlorite slate, hornblende slate, passing upwards into sandy slates, and thence frequently into sandstone. This strata is also metalliferous, and contains veins 334 VAST FOSSIL BED OF SHELLS AND CORAL IN S. AUSTRALIA. of hornstone, in -nhich are calcedony, opal, agate, cornelian, and jasper of varieties, especially near its junction -with the strata immediately above it; e, "•neiss, which is metalliferous, and frequently con- tains garnets ; /, granite, and other igneous rocks." The thickness of the strata varies much in different places^ but the exact extent has not vet been ascertained. The arrangement above given is subject to variations arising from local causes. In all probability the east and west faces of the Adelaide range were covered by the oceans long after the force which raised the mountains had ceased to operate in that direction. Mr. Burr is of opinion that the successive deposits accumu- lated at the foot of the range were, at no distant geological period, raised^ from being the bed of the ocean, to the position of dry land, by an intense and deeply-seated upheaving force, which, by degrees, and in an uniform manner, raised the fossiliferous strata to their present level; and that this force was exerted in a direction from west to east, as explained in the following dia- gram : — W. Range. E. In support of this opinion, of a positive, or at least comparative period of repose, it is noticed that the embouchm-es of the ravines, close under the range, have aU the appear- ance of having once formed a sea beach. Mr. Burr adds, that " the fossiliferous strata are composed of a succession of horizontal layers of limestone, of greater or less pmity, but generally containing a large proportion of sand^ especially the lower beds which have been exposed to \dew, some of Avhich are indurated sandstone, good for building, containing, when compared with the upper beds, but few fossil remains. These rocks are nearly white, or of a cream colour. The fossiliferous strata, which are considered to belong to the tertiary period, are generally covered Avith a deposit of soil and limestone, that does not contain any visible organic remains. This may have arisen from a gradual shallowing ' of the water by the rising of the land; for the tides and cm-rent in shallow water, would be more destructive to the remains of animals, than if they were deposited in mud in water of a greater depth. The smface soil, consequently, is such as might be supposed to arise by the drying of an impalpable mud, formed of attrited shells and other matter, which had been subjected to the action of the tides in shoal water. The strata composing the tertiary formation contain beds of the sul- phate of lime (gypsum), the nitrate ofpotassa, and bitumen." The gypsum found is rather a sandstone, containing a sulphate of lime, formed by shells and other calcareous matter, which, from its affinity for the sulphmic acid con- tained in sea- water, and disengaged perhaps by extreme heat, or other agency, united to the lime, and left the silica nearly pure. Mr. Burr accounts for the nitrate of potassa, which is found in an efflorescent state on the surface of the rocks, by supposing that the potassa contained in the rocks united with the nitrogen of the atmosphere in hot and diy weather ; and the bitumen from the decomposition of water by animal and vege- table matter. The vast fossil bed which extends from about the meridian of 139°, with an imper- fectly-known width, towards the western boundary of the province, and from the sea-mouth of the Murray to 32° 40' S. lat., indicates that a large extent of South Aus- tralia was, not long since, submerged. The strata are horizontal, surface level or slightly undulated, and the greatest elevation about 400 feet above the level of the sea. The upper stratum consists of beds of common oysters and oyster-shells, unbroken, three to four feet in thickness. Below this stra- tum there are deeper beds, of mixed coral, echini, pectoris, spiralis, and other small marine shells, generally much broken, and deposited in sand, limestone, and selenite, alternating with beds of sand without shells. At the base of these, or beneath them, are vestiges of fish, teeth, and nautili, four or five inches in diameter. Beds of excellent compact limestone occur sometimes in the fossil formation. Daring the process of sinking wells at Adelaide, beds of oyster-shells, very perfect, were found forty feet below the surface ; that is, seventy to ninety feet above the present ocean level. Mr. Menge is of opinion that the terrace which occupies an undulated plain between the Barossa and Rawdon ranges, in some places about ten miles in breadth, has been caused by a pseudo-volcanic agency ; that is, by hot springs : but, he adds — " The hornstone ■within the Barossa range has nothing similar to it in Europe, where it is usually a URALIAN MOUNTAINS AND SOUTH AUSTRALIA ALIKE. 33: combination of quartz and felspar ; whilst the South Australian hornstone combines quartz, magnesia, and lime, Mhich produce a variety of siliceous minerals of -which I have never seen anything alike. The rock itself turns not merely round its own character in different shapes and colours, but it includes, at the same place, jasper, cornelian, chalcedony, opal, woodstone, and siliceous tuffa, altogether more or less varied by accidental ingredients of iron, mag- nesia, and lime. Common jasper and opal jasper form strata and veins in hornstone, and occupy sometimes the -whole place of the rock. Chalcedony and opal occur in veins, Avhich are very numerous, and both are botryoidal where pores and caves occur in the veins, without the least disposition to crystal- lization. Crystallized substances, besides sulphuret of iron, seem to be combinations of magnesia and lime ; as bidderspar, rheticite, grammatite, &c. Silver-white foliated talc spreads through the whole rock, but seldom through chalcedony, and very fre- quently through opal and siliceous tufia. The last is sometimes perfectly like that from the Geysers, in Iceland. There are two different series of sili- ceous tuffa : the first is quartz, and begins with porous hoi'nstone or chalcedony, and ends in a spongy mass, like pumice ; the other is in connexion with opal, takes the shape of siliceous ghur or hydrojjhan, and ends in a kind of freestone. Opal occurs in great abundance, partly as milk opal, partly as Avax opal, fire opal, common opal, semi opal, and precious opal. The fibres of asbestos, which run frequently through the opal, give it a chatoyant lustre, and the enslosed talc looks exactly like silver in the mass. Veins of opal run iir almost every direction through the hornstone, as well as through siliceous tuffa, without regular stratification ; and if they be once opened, we shall have precious stones in great abund- ance. Red and blue striped opal-agate appears sometimes on the surface with dendritic manganese, which seems to form a vein in the interior; but it is red and yellow opal jasper which occupies often the places of hornstone, or forms regular strata in it. " The veins of chalcedony run partly through a compact hornstone, partly through jjorous horn- stone, and partly through woodstone or fibrous hornstone, and sometimes through wood asbestos or rock wood. It forms a kind of oynx with woodstone and with opal in aones, and is gene- rally blue, bluish-white, or yellow, and forms a transition, through a red colour, into cornelian. The milk-white chalcedony, with enclosed fibres of asbes- tos, forms the cat's-eye, which is of frequent occur- rence in Amianth-place, as well as in Flaxman- valley." This peculiar formation is frequently in- terrupted by strata and beds of magnetic iron ore and white marble^ or magnesian limestone ; and it seems to be cut off by a formation of porphyry in the Hernanion range. Primitive limestone (white marble) is found in great abmidance in the moun- tains east of Gulf St. Vincent. Mr. Menge met with fifteen hills of it within the Barossa range, along the formations of hornstone, magnetic iron ore, and talc, or of magnesian rocks. Some has been found as fine-grained R3 that of the celebrated Carara in Italy. On Comfloiner hill, the table marble is easily separated into flags of any size. In Flax- man valley, the primitive limestone abounds with magnetic iron ore. The western slope of the Barossa rauge, along the Angas Park, from Light Pass to Salem valley, is en- tirely Avhite marble. Even the springs which irrigate German Pass are impregnated with carbonate of lime. Within the Belvedere range there are several strata of transition hmestone. The limestone on the plains is full of shells in a petrified state, and Avas formed from the ocean; that on the tops of hills seems to have had its origin from the primitive limestone usually deposited on elevations, along Avith a breccia of quartz pebbles connected by bog iron ore, as the superstratum on the primitive slates. The tertiary limestone seems to be spread over a large part of the southern and eastern coasts of Australia ; not merely through its plains, and around its shores, but also on its elevations. These different formations of lime indicate abundance of minerals. Mr. Menge, who has geologically exa- mined the Uraliau mountains, and seen there lumps of malachite, or carbonate of copper, weighing more than a ton each (found between primitive limestone and clay slate), and lumps of gold 20 to 25 lbs. weight each (found between primitive lime- stone and mica slate), is of opinion that the corresponding strata in Australia will yield equally valuable products. [See Supp*-] The lower slopes of all the mountain ranges are chiefly composed of slate ; in the Mount Lofty range, generally transition, very mu^ch resembling the greyivacke of North Wales. Proceeding to the east or southward, it becomes harder, and of a red colour ; and still farther to the south, it appears asjlinty, mica, or hornblende slate. The sm-face of earth on the slate is always grassy. The summit of Mount Lofty is capped with highly fer- ruginous sandstone ; and the Mount Barker range exhibits a conglomerate of ironstone and angular pieces of quartz. The ferru- ginous sandstone and ironstone conglome- rate is marked by stringy bark forest or brush. Throughout the Adelaide range, says Mr. Dutton, granite shews itself in different places, principally in the beds of rivers, or at the bottom of deep gullies ; sometimes also forming some of the high peaks, as in the Barossa range. Other heights arc capped with the old red standstone; and a recent oolitic limestone covers the clay slate of 336 MINERALOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. many of the lower hills. The rock forma- tions of this main range are, generally speak- ing, the same throughout. The stratified primitive rocks on each side of both the gulfs St. Vincent and Spencer begin from Cape Jer\ds, and extend to the northward for about 200 miles : they are generally, according to Mr. Menge, accompanied by a formation of gneiss on one side, and an- other of clay slate on the other side. The gneiss is frequently interlined with exten- sive banks or strata of granite, which often run out into pui'c quartz ; and the clay slate occurs in all its modifications in colour and mixture. On the Mount Remat'kable range, the pre- vailing rock is a very hard white sandstone ; and on the west coast, a coarse red sand- stone prevails. Governor Grey, who exa- mined this district, was of opinion that the range of mountains as far as Mount Arden abounds in minerals. The prevaiUng rock in the neighbourhood of FrankUn harbour is gneiss, and the ad- joining hills are probably fall of minerals. On the western side of the head of Spencer's gulf, the hills are of red sandstone, in strata nearly horizontal. In other countries this formation is associated mth coal, which will most likely be found in this neighbourhood. At Lipson cove, on the west coast of Spencer's gulf, the rocks observed by Colonel Robe, when governor of the colony, in December, 1846, consisted of gneiss and hornblende schist, nearly vertical, and having a due course north and south. At Port Lincoln, the Gambler islands, Althorpe island, and apparently the south-west extre- mity of Yorke's peninsula, the governor found stratified limestone of recent forma- tion, horizontal, and similar to that of Ade- laide, resting immediately on granite, without the interposition of the transition or other secondary rocks. The country to the south and east of Lakes Victoria and Albert, as far as Cape Bernouilli, consists of domes of sand, which are supposed to rest on a granitic reef or barrier, as granitic rocks are visible above the sea at Capes Morad and Bernouilli, and at other points on the coast. It is, therefore, presumed to be continuous, al- though the connexion is not at present visible. Further south, the sand hills cease; no granite, igneous, or hard rock appears; the coast-line is wider and less elevated, and there are numerous low swampy plains, sub- ject to periodical inundations, and strewed with cakes of calcareous tufa, some as large, ! and closely resembling a ship biscuit. ! The hills around the plains are of lime- 1 stone, as are also the rocks of the surround- | ing country. In the vicinity of Mounts Gambler and Schanck, for about twenty miles, the geological features change, from tertiary limestone and calcareous sandstone, to coral limestone, with numerous beds of chert, a siliceous rock containing the remains of marine animals and coral. Throughout this coral limestone and level tract there are deep holes, or wells, containing fresh water, one of which, of an oval form, measured eighty yards in diameter ; the depth to the surface of the water, twenty-eight feet and- a-half; and the depth of the water, 103^ feet ; the colour of an intense indigo-blue. These wells are all in the immediate vicinity or within twelve miles of the volcanic moun- tains; and in the same neighbourhood are caverns containing the bones and teeth of animals of a larger size than any at present li^dng in Australia. Some are supposed to belong to gigantic kangaroos, others to the canine race. The descriptions of Mounts Gambler and Schanck have been given in the topography. At the base of Mount Schanck, to the south- west, there is a large accumulation of cel- lular basalt, which is bare, and presents a steep wall towards the plain. At Mount Gambler there is black and red lava, gene- rally cellular ; coral limestone is exhibited in the cliffs of the lake in the middle crater, and upon this there is a stratum of basalt ; whilst on the upper parts of the mountain, or on the rims of the craters, there is vol- canic tuff, containing fragments of lava. Mineralogy. — The preceding details of the geological strata will serve to introduce a sketch of mineralogical combination dis- covered in South Australia. Mr. Menge, who was the first person to direct attention to the mineral riches of the province, says that a rock in Australia is not confined to a compound of earthy substances, as is gene- rally the case in Europe, but that it is often identified with metals, minerals, precious or ornamental stone, or with some earthy sub- stance fit for lithurgical use. He thus clas- sifies them in South Australia according to their order as receptacles of mineral wealth : 1. Ch'anite — composed of quartz, felspar, and mica. Rocks depending upon yranite — porphyry, sicnite, serpentine, and green- stone. Minerals depending upon quartz — METALLIC COMBINATIONS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 337 amethyst;, chalcedony, chiysopras, and opal ; ditto on felspar — Perikliu, scapolithe, g;awle- rite, and topaz. Ditto ou inica — talc, chlorite, plumbago, and ironrose. Minerals inhabit- ing the rock of granite — tourmaline (black and green), garnet, beiyl or emerald, corun- dum, zircon. Minerals in combination with granite rock — visually (1) cobalt, with its associated metals, viz., bismuth, arsenic, sil- ver, and antimony; (2) uranium; (3) tin, with its associated shelium or wolfram, molybdena, and zinc; (4) lead — with its associated silver and arsenic ; (5) copper — associated with lead and copper. Gneiss ranks second in order, and as it diifers only from granite by its stratification (and in South Australia by the proportion of its constituent parts), similar metals and minerals are to be found as in granite, but the laminated structure leaves more room for them in gneiss. "VlTiere quartz predomi- nates in gneiss, the rock attains considerable altitude. Where felspar is most abundant, a disintegration or decomposition takes place, and the metals, including the protox- ides and peroxides of iron, are protruded on the surface; Avhere 7nica is in excess, magnesia is produced, and by chemical com- bination indurated talc, usually called soap- stone, appears. The Australian soapstone differs from the kind usually found in Europe ; it resists the disintegrating powers of the atmosphere, becomes hard in the fire, and takes a polish similar to cast silver, which it retains, not being subject to tarnish. Mica Slate ranks thu-d in South Australia, and is very extensively distributed ; it con- sists of quartz and mica, and wherever the quartz is not compact, but granular, the rock is easily dissolved, and becomes sand. The ores in this rock are chiefly iron- mica, specular iron, and bro^^^l ii'on ores. Primitive Limestone, foiu-th in order, but first in importance because of its metallic riches, when combined with clay slate, con- tains copper, lead, and zinc ; iron is found in nests, veins, stocks, and caves. When blended with quartz, it forms an excellent millstone. Hornstone (a compact quartz), fifth, often accompanies primitive limestone, or clay slate, when it is found to contain consider- able quantities of copper ores. In this formation are found many ornamental stones or quartzose substances; such as chalcedony, cornelian, jasper, opal, and hydrophane; also the amphibolic substances — asbestos and grammatite. DlV. TT. Clay Slate, tbe sixth and most extensive formation in South Australia, abounds in metals, particularly in iron, lead, silver, cop- per, manganese, gold, and zinc. The ores are mostly indicated by its stratified quartz. The colour of this formation is usually grey, but varying to white and to blue' slate. Where the quai-tz predominates, it changes into siliceous slate or touchstone ; where the clay is in excess, alum slate appears. To the above general view of the rocks containing the metallic riches of South Aus- tralia, it may be usefid to add a definition of some technical terms which it woidd have been scarcely possible to have avoided em- ploying. When speaking of minerals, miners distin- guish the ores or lodes according to their situation in the metalliferous ranges; thus (1) strata, or stratified ores running parallel with the rock; (2) veins crossing rocks at different angles; (3) stocks filhng vertical caves in the rocks ; (4) reins and nests scat- tered in masses ; (5) labyrinths in zigzag or curved lines; (6) chains in links and scat- tered, and (7) vaults, heaped up in horizontal caves within the rocks. Copper ores in this last-named position are usually found lying loose, or in distinct heaps, whilst the rock is dissolved around. The mineral and geological specimens which have been discovered up to the year 1846, are thus classified; I give the list, as prepared by jNIr. Burr, in evidence of the internal resources of the province : — IeoX. — Sidph urets. Rapid Bay ; — general in the Iron pyi-ites, crystallised in ranges, in limestone, quartz, cubes and unciystallised. hornstone, slates, and asso- ciated with other metalli- ferous minerals. Montacute Copper Mine, and the metallii'erous districts in its neighbourhood. Ra- pid Bay, Encounter Bay, &c. Oxides. Mount Gawler R.-inge, Ba- Specular iron ore, massive, Iron pyrites, crystallised in pentagonal dodecahedrons. rossa Range, Mount Lofty Range, very general. Near the Montacute Copper Mine. Rapid Bay, Mount Barker, near the Montacute, and various other places. Very general. and lamellar, and granu- lated. Brown haematite, radiated and fibrous. Brown hoematite, compact. Bog iron ore, and other earthy oxides of iron. Magnetic iron ore, crystal- lised and massive, varieties Sienite. Very general, from Cape Jer vis to Black Rock Hill. Light River. Carhonate. Rapid Bay, Barossa Range. Carbonate of iron. Mount Lofty Range, and various other jilace* Phosphate. Near Mount Rufus, and near Phosphate of iron, earthy. Strathalbyn. 2 T 338 MINERALS AND ROCKS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. Maxg.\nese — Oxides. Rapid Bay, Myponga, the Horseshoe, Onkaparinga. Rapid Bay, Light River, &c., &c. Rapid Bay, Barossa Range, Mount Bryant, &c., «S:c. Black oxide of manganese, fibrous, diverging. Black oxide of manganese, massive. Siliceous oxide of manganese. Eakthy Minerals — Siliceous. Near Encounter Bay. In veins, generally amongst the metalliferous strata. Near the Montacute Copper Mine, Flaxman's Valley. Very general among the metalliferous strata ; the cleanest specimens are from the neighbourhood of Mount Barker, the Barossa and Belvidere Ranges. Belvidere Range. Near the Montacute Copper Mine. On the Reach, at RivoU Bay, at Mount Gambier. Barossa Range, Flaxman's Valley, twenty-five miles north-east of Adelaide. Flaxman's Valley. Flaxman's Valley. Belvidere Range. Barossa and Belvidere Ranges. Flagman's Valley. Flaxman's Valley, and near Mount Barker. Barossa Range. Near the Kapunda Copper Mine. Flaxman's Valley. Belvidere Range. Barossa Range. Belvidere Range, in the neighbourhood of Mount Barker. About twenty miles north- east of Mount Barker. Belvidere Range. Mount Gambier. Mount Gambier. Belvidere Range, near Mount Barker, Flaxman's Valley, Encounter Bay, Strath- albyn, &c., &c. Flaxman's Valley, Barossa Range. Lynedoch Valley, Flaxman's VaUey. Flaxman's Valley. Flaxman's Valley. Near Strathalbyn. Belvidere Range, Quartz in dodecahedrons, -with isosceles triangular faces. Quartz in hexagonal prisms with summits. Quartz in minute hexagonal prisms with summits. Quartz vein. Quartz vein, smoky. Quartz crystallised, rose- coloured. Flint in nodules, black (not the chalk flint). Homstone. Woodstone. Opal, brown, blue, milk white, wood, green, mag- nesian, brimstone-coloured, and other varieties, some with asbestos. Jasper opal. Jasper, varieties. Chalcedony, blue. Chalcedony, botryoidal. Chalcedony, red, with opal. Chalcedony, with jasper. Agate, red and blue striped, and moss. Prehnite, or zeolite, mammil- lated. Prehnite, crystallised. Garnet, red. Garnet, black (grenat noir) . Cinnamon stone. Augite. CoccoHte. Hornblende. Grammatite, or tremolite, in limestone and in dolomite. Actynolite, green and brown, lamellar. Actynolite, green and brown, capillary. Actynolite, white. ActjTiolite, brown. Amianthus, or asbestos, flexi- ble and common, occasion- ally traversing and woven through other minerals, as opal, homstone spars, &c., &c. Asbestos, with chalcedony, and siliceous tuifa. Rock wood. River Gawler. Flaxman's Valley. South Adelaide. Near Mount Barker. North Adelaide, 125 feet be- low the surface. Gawler Plains. Sources of the Angas. Crystal Brook. North Adelaide, eighty feet below the surface. Belvidere Range. Near Mount Lofty. Mount Lofty Range. Clay, yellow, red, and white Clay, white, indurated. Clay, variegated, unctuous. Clay, variegated, red, vrhite, and blue. Pipe clay, red, white, and pink. Pipe clay, white. Pipe-clay, white and pink. Clay, yellow and green. Clay, blue, with iron pyrites. Alum fclate and alum stone. Clay, green, indurated. Alum slate. Near Mount Barker. Flaxman's Valley, and east of Mount Barker. Aluminous. Barossa Range. Fibrolite. Belvidere Range. Sappare, or kyanite, flowery, foliated, white and green. Alkaline, Eautht Minerals — Schorl, or Tourma- line, (§-c. Valley of the Nixon, near Schorl, acicular. Encounter Bay. Barossa Range. Encounter Bay. Seven miles north-west Mount Barker. Barossa Range. Near Rapid Bay, twenty-flve miles north-east of Ade- laide, and various places. Valley of the Nixon. Barossa Range. Barossa Range. Schorl, in nine-sided prisms with summits. Schorl, in prisms, with yellow mica, of Schorl, black and green, in granite. Schorl, black and green, in granite. Schorl, varieties. RubeUite. Beryl. Epidote. Talc. Belvidere Range. River Hutt, and twenty-five miles north-east of Ade- laide. Lynedoch Valley. Earthy talc. Silver-white foliated talc. Twenty-five miles north-east of Adelaide. Barossa Range. Mount Lofty Range. Belvidere Range. Indurated white, red, and yellow talc. Indurated red talc. Green, foliated, indurated talc. Glanular talc, nacrite. Nacrite. Mica. River Gawler, twenty-five miles north-east of Ade- laide, Valley of the Nixon, Barossa Range. Barossa Range, Valley of the Nixon. Barossa Range Yankalilla. Mica, white, flowery Mica, black. Iron mica. "White foliated mica, in large leaves Fehpar. Felspar, foliated, glassy, ami flesh-coloured. Felspar, flesh-coloured. Felspar, granular. AciDiFEROus, Earthy Minerals. Barossa Range. East of Mount Barker. East of Mount Barker. Clifis of the River Murray, and at Brighton, near Ade- laide. Clifis of the River Murray. Occasionally in small quan- tities, with ores of copper at the Kapunda Mine. Rapid Bay, Barossa Range, Belvidere Range. Barossa Range, Belvidere Range, Rapid Bay, near Mount Barker. North-east of Adelaide, Ra- pid Bay. Rapid Bay, Barossa Range. Rapid Bay, near Mount Bar- ker, and ten miles north- east of Adelaide. Sulphate of lime (gypsum), foliated. Sulphate of lime, in the form of shells. Fluate of lime, in cubes, with the edges and angles re- placed. Dolomite Bitter spar. Pearl spar. Carara marble. Marble, white, fiiit Ten miles north-east of Ade- laide. Mount Barker, Rafiid Bay. Mount Barker, Rapid Bay. Flinders' Kange, Barossa Range, Mount Lofty Range, very general in creeks from the ranges where there is limestone. Depot Creek, near Mount Arden. Rapid Bay, Crystal Brook. On plains at Lake Hawdon and Rivoli Bay. On plains near Lake Haw- don. On walls of wells near Mount Gambler. Near Rapid Bay, &c., &c. Barossa Range, Mount Bar- ker. River Gawler. Marble, white and pink, fine. Marble, white and grey. Marble, grey. Calcareous tuffa, cellular. Calcareous tuffa, coralloidal. Calcareous tuffa, compact. Calcareous tuffa, in cakes. Calcareous tuffa, in spherical balls. Calcareous tuffa. Calcareous stalactites. SUiceous tuffa. "Wavellite, stellated. AciDiFEROiTS, Alkaline Minerals. Crystal Brook. In lakes near Lake Victoria. Clifis of the River Murray. Glauber salts, or sulphate of soda, efflorescent. Chloride of soda. Nitrate of potassa, efflores- cent. AciDiFEROUS, Alkaline, Earthy Minerals. Mount Lofty Range, Barossa Carbonate of magnesia. Range. Gorge of the River ToiTens, Alum, mammillated and ranges near Mount Bar- efflorescent. ker, &c. Combustible or Inflammable Minerals. Sulphiir, native, enclosed in vein quartz with iron pyi'ites. Grapliite, or plumbago. Bitumen. Near the Montacute copper mine. Belvidere Range, and about twenty-three miles north- east of Adelaide. Cliffs of the River Murray. Geological Specimens — Granite, Granitic Rocks, and Igneous Mocks, Valley of the Nixon, near Granite, coarse red. Encounter Bay, Cap Mo- rard de Galles. Granite rock near the head of the Coorong. Cape Jaffa Reef, Yankalllla, near Mount Barker ; in the Murray Scrub, at various places, protruding through the tertiary strata. Cape Jervis, Yankalilla ; gra- nite rock, near the head of the Coorong, near Mount Barker, Cap Morard de Galles, Rapid Bay. Cap Morard de Galles, in no- dules, embedded in coarse red granite. River Torrens, about twenty- five miles north-east of Adelaide. River Torrens, about twenty- five miles north-east of Adelaide, Barossa Range. River Torrens, about twenty- five miles north-east of Adelaide. About three miles north of Granite, white (binary). Cape Jervis. Onkaparinga River, north- Granite, binary, with black Granite, fine red. Granite, fine grey Granite, graphic (binary). Granite, coarse white, with schorl. Granite, fine white, with schorl west of Mount Barker, Barossa Range. North of Mount Barker. Haxman's Valley, near En- counter Bay, east of Mount Barker. and green schorl. Granite, fine and binary, white. Sienite. Near- Mount Arden. Barossa Range. Porphyry, red. Porphyry, green. Gneiss, 3Iica Slate, Hornblende Slate, 8^c., 8^c. Lynedoch Valley, east of Gneiss. Mount Barker about si.\ miles. Valley of the Nixon, near Encounter Bay, near Strathalbyn, River Tor- rens, about twelve miles north-east of Adelaide, Barossa Range, River Gawler, near Moorooro, North and South Rhines, and other localities, prin- cipally in those portions of the range which drain eastward towards the Mur- ray River. To the east and south-east of Mount Barker. Near Mount Arden. River Bremer, near Mount Barker, Barossa Range, Yankalilla, Sources of the Angas, generally distri- buted, especially in those parts of the range which drain to the eastward to- wards the Murray River. Valley of the Nixon, twelve miles north-east of Ade- laide, vicinity of Mount Barker. Barossa Range, Rapid Bay, Hornblende slate, about six miles south-east of Mount Barker. Argillaceous, Stratified Rocks. Near Encounter Bay, near Grauwacke slate. Mount Lofty, near Mount Arden, ten miles east of Mount Brown, Flinders Range, Mount Lofty Range, Brownhill Creek. Willunga, near the Monta- cute Copper Mine, Rapid Bay, west of Mount Bar- ker five miles, Cape Jervis, Kapunda Copper Mine, Horse-shoe, Onkaparinga, and country between that and Willunga, generally on the western slopes of the range. Flinders' Range, Mount Flinty slate Lofty Range, &c. Sandstones and Siliceous Rocks Gneiss, passing into sand- stone. Mica slate, red and sandy. Mica slate. Chlorite slate. Clay slates, various, som^ good roofing slates. At the base of Flinders' Range, to the westward, near Crystal Rock. Between Rocky River and Crystal Brook. About twelve miles north- east of Adelaide. About four miles south-east of Mount Lofty. Barossa Range, near the North Rhine. Occur very generally in the ranges ; they are frequently granular and ferruginous. There are quartzose sand- stones, which are hard and good for buildings ; some of the sandstones pass, by almost imperceptible gra- dations, into slate. Quartz rock. Sandstone, fine white, gra- nular. Sandstone, white, compact. Sandstone, red, micaceous. Sandstone, slaty grey Sandstones, various. Calcareous Rocks. Barossa Range, Rapid Bay. Near Mount Barker to White marble, similar Curara. White marble, and veined white and prey. 340 OHES OF THE PRINCIPAL MINES IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. About twelve miles north- east of Adelaide. River Hurt, Barossa Kange, near Mount Baiker, Rapid Bay. Rapid Bay. Rapid Bay, near MoLnt Bar- ker. Near Mount Arden. Near Jlount Gambier. Near Mount Gambier and Mount Schanck. Plains near Cape Jaffa. Salt Creek. Over the whole of the coun- try described as tertiary and recent. Dunes of sand on the Coo- ronff. White marble, and veined white and piuk. "White crystalline limestone, cu;use-grained. T\1iite and grey slaty lime- stone. Grey limestone, compact. Variegated compact lime- stone. Compact limestone Coral limestone. Compact limestone, with fos- sil remains of univalve shells. Arenaceous limestone, with fossil remains of shells, partly bivalve. Fossil limestone. Calcareous flags. sandstone, in The chief ores of some of the principal mines in South Australia^ are stated to be as follows : — Kajjunda Copper 3Iir-e. — The best varieties of sul- phurels, as vitreous copper or copper glance, purple copper ore, grey copper ore, the black sulphure'c of copper, and the blue and green carbonate of copper, which are generally mixed with earthy matter. These have formed the principal ores Avhich have been exported ; but there has also been a consider- able quantity of the muriate of copper, and native copper, crystallised in octahedrons. Burra-Burra Copper Mine. — The protoxide of copper, or ruby copper ore, and carbonate of copper. The protoxide of copper is generally in veins, of greater or less thickness, traversing the oxide of iron ; some of the mixed specimens from tlie Burra-Burra mine are exceedingly beautiful. A rich ferruginous, red oxide of copper has also been procured in con- siderable quantities. The sulphurets of copper are scai'ce. Montacute Copper 3I'tne. — Copper pyrites, generally variegated. Carbonate of copper is also met with, and some of the finest specimens of this ore have been from the ^Montacute mine. Rapid Baj/.- — Ores of copper similar to those of the Montacute mine. Motoit Barker Copper 3Iine. — Ores a red oxide, containing a small portion of iron and silica, and the blue and green carbonate of copper, generally earthy. Cop2)er Mine about twenty miles north-east of Mount Barker. — A good kind of the sulphuret of copper, variegated. Wakejiehl Copper Mine. — The carbonate of copper, with iron ore, and sul])hate of barytes. Glen Osmond Lead Mines. — The sulphurets, or galena, crystallised in cubes, and granular ; and the corneous lead ore, a murio-carbonate of lead. Rapid Bay. — Galena in cubes, and blue lead ore pulverulent. Yorke Peninsula, between Gulfs St. Yin- cent and Spencer, is said to contain abun- dance of minerals; and in the district o FrankUn harbour, 150 miles north of Port Lincoln, varieties of the blue and green car- bonate of copper have been recently dis- covered. The length and breadth of some of the lodes of copper in South Australia, surpass anything of the kind, even in South America ; at the celebrated Burra-Burra mines, in particular (see map), the metal "crops out" of the surface in such quantities, that hun- dreds of tons may be removed without sink- ing a shaft ; it resembles quarrying in metal, rather than mining. In one place, where a 1 shaft has been sunk, it seems like work- ing in a bed of solid copper. Lead, in the same manner, especially at the JVlieal-Watkbis mine, has been found " cropping" through the svu'face ; the ore of this mine sent to England, yielded seventy- five per cent, of lead, and about 30a'. of silver to the ton of ore, which may be raised at the mine at less than 20^. per ton. Several other minerals have been found, as well as copper and lead. Native gold, containing a small portion of silver, exists about half a mile north of the jNIontacute copper mine, ten miles north-east of Ade- laide. It is also said to be obtainable in several other places. I have seen some fine grains of gold interspersed with black sand, said to have been found in the bed of the Torrens river. Emther details will be given, when examining the staple products of the province, and m the Su])plement. The Soil, of course, varies throughout a wide extent of country ; that on which the city of Adelaide is built is remarkable for containing in abundance the elements ne- cessary for vegetable production. In North Adelaide every kind of English and tropical fruit may be found growing in perfection; the banana and the gooseberry side by side. The produce of the fruit-trees is no less abtmdaut in quantity than rich in flavour : yet the appearance of the soil Avould scarcely indicate such a favoitrable return to the industry of man. A portion of the surface soil, and of the subsoil, taken from the garden (which had not been manured) of Mr. George Stephenson, in North Adelaide, was brought to England bv IMr. Dutton, and submitted to analysis hj Dr. Ure ('23rd of February, 1846), when the following results were produced: — Surface soil — Sulphate of lime, or gypsum, 75 ; phos- phate of lime, 2; moisture, 2; combustible vegetable matter, 2 ; oxide and pho.sphate of iron, 6 ; fixed alkaline salts, containing some of tlie valuable potash salt (these are mu- riates of soda and potash), 4.5; sibca and a httle alumina, 8.5 ; a trace of magnesia ; := 100. Subsoil — Sulphate of lime, 53.33; PRODUCTIVE SOIL OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 311 phosphate of lime, 2 ; oxide and phosphate of iron, 5.50; moisfcufe expelled at red heat, 15 ; fixed alkaline salts, 3.50; silica, with a little alumina, 20.67; a trace of magnesia; = 100. This distinguished chemist says, " I have devoted much time and pains to the analysis of the soils ; they are the most singular I have ever examined, or even heard of : they must be very fertile, as they con- tain all the elements necessary for the nou- rishment of plants." Dr. Ure examined samples of wheat and barley from Adelaide, and determined their value by the specific gravity of the corn, which he compared with English prize wheat, thus : — wheat from South Australia, specific gravitv, 1.400; English prize wheat, 1.340; barley of Adelaide, 1.285. The nu- tritive quality of the soil of South Australia, as evinced in the growth of grain, is greater than that of England. The extent of limestone formation in the colony would indicate an abundance of ara- ble land ; while the slate formation furnishes a great variety of pastoral districts. It is probable that, in future years, the amount of cultivable soil will be largely increased in Australia, by reason of diminished terres- trial heat, owing to the more rapid dis- integration of calcareous rocks, cooling in the surface of the earth, a clearing of the indigenous forests, less immediate absorp- tion of the periodical rains, and a greater retention of surface-water, indispensable in an Australian climate for pastoral and agri- cultural pursuits. Climate. — South Australia, from its lati- tudinal position, absence of snow-clad moun- tains, and, as regards Adelaide, from its inland situation, has a higher temperature than Melbourne, and may be said to range more nearly with Sydney, New South Wales, with Perth in Western Australia, and with Palestine in Asia Minor. It is very salu- brious; and, as the soil becomes more cvd- tivated, will probably possess a more equable thermometrical range. The southerly winds, which prevail for the greater part of. the year, ai-rive cool and refreshing from the Pacific, and have an exhilarating influence. During winter (June, July, and August) hoar- frosts occur at Adelaide. The atmosphere of South Australia is an excellent reme- dial agent for alleviating the diseases of Europe or of Asia. The genei-al temperature of Adelaide is somewhat higher than that of Perth, the capital of Swan River, as shown by the following abstract of observations of the thermometer of Fahrenheit, in the year 1844:— Adelaide. Pel th. Difference. Max. Min. Max. Min. Max. Min. January . . 101 66 97 52 4 14 February . . 103 i 64 100 67 3i 17 March . . . 95 64 89 48 6 16 April . . . 86 53 87 35 1 18 May . . . 76 50 72 37 4 13 June . . . 68 48 65 30 3 18 July . . . 60 i 48 61 31 Oi 17 August . 68 48 58 31 10 17 September . 70i 49 68 36 4i 13 October . . 96 i 50 78 40 18i 10 November . 93i 53 92 40 u 13 December . 103i 53 96 41 7i 12 The mean quantity of rain falling, throughovit the year, in the following places, is — in Adelaide, 20 inches ; Hobart Town, 19 ; London, 21 ; Manchester, 36 ; Liver- pool, 34 ; Launceston, 40 ; Kendal, 53 ; Dumfries, 36; Glasgow, 21; Arracan, in July and August, 103; Tropics generally, 115; Bombay, 106; West of England, 57. Annual variation in London, 75 per cent. ; Adelaide, 38. The annexed meteorological register is for Adelaide : — Rain. Winds. Highest Temperature. Lowest Temperature. Temperat at Noon. Days. Inches. Hot. Warm. Cool. November, 1839 . . 73^ 82' 75^ 58' 60' 53' 68' 14 3.330 10 23 December .... 94 106 95 62 65 52 82 5 .345 1 14 21 January, 1840 . . 92 103 87 65 74 66 87 3 .335 2 5 26 February .... 80 94 79 70 68 64 82 5 2.010 3 3 20 March 71 100 88 66 17 64 71 / .445 2 13 27 April 74 91 77 53 62 57 75 10 1.119 17 25 May 60 81 63 50 61 55 69 8 1.597 25 13 June 54 69 55 48 58 51 60 11 3.247 9 24 11 July 50 96 55 48 58 51 62 8 1.900 25 10 August 63 78 67 52 54 48 62 16 3.040 24 11 September 70 83 67 49 54 52 65 10 4.540 22 11 October .... 76 84 83 60 56 62 79 6 1.900 1 21 16 342 TEMPERATURE, RAIN, WINDS—SALUBRITY OF S. AUSTRALIA. The following- is an abstract of tlie rain- gauge kept in Adelaide for the seven years ending December 31, 18 i6 : — Average Maxi- Mini- English Days. mum. mum. Average. Winter : — May . . 11 3.58 0.25 1.85 June . . 11 3.70 1.72 1.83 July . . 14 3.66 0.86 2.52 August. 16 4.77 1.66 1.45 September 11 4.64 0.44 2.19 October . 10 2.74 0.94 2.07 Summer :— November 8 3.31 0.02 2.40 December. 5 3.82 0.35 2.43 January . 4 0.45 0.21 1.48 February . 4 2.01 0.35 0.75 March . . 1.00 0.44 1.44 April . . 10 3.58 0.38 1.79 The following abstract of a table, carefully compiled from the meteorological journal in the land-office, for the years 1844, 1845, and 1846, by permission of the government au- thorities, and extended back to 1839 by pri- vate observations, will exhibit the manner in which the warm and cold winds are distri- buted on this coast dui'ing the summer and winter months : — Months. Summer : — • NoYember . Dectcnber . January February . March . , April . Winter : — May. . , June July . . August. , September October Hot. Warm. 9 1 8 2 4 3 3 1 6 2 11 2 20 — 20 — 22 — 23 — 20 1 13 Cool. 21 22 26 23 24 14 9 10 9 8 10 17 The salubrity of the province is shewn in the retui'ns of births and deaths. Return of Births which have taken place. Year. 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 Registered. Unregistered. 416 544 641 650 671 708 937 994 Total. 30 446 30 574 60 701 60 710 60 731 100 808 200 1,137 200 1,194 AVi'..'.— The unregistered return is below the ofiicial estimate. Return q f Births and Deaths to Inhabitants. Year Inhabitants to Inh ibitants to One Death. One Birth. 1840 39.8 32.7 1841 66.5 26.5 1842 76.5 23.0 1843 111.3 24.5 1844 139.8 26.0 1845 100.3 27.6 1846 80.0 24.6 1847 63.9 25.9 1848 1849 — 1850 — — Comjiarison of Births and Deaths to Inhabitants in other Countries. Countries. England Russia . . France . . Netherlands Italy. . . Inhabitants to One Death. 46.4 33.0 33.0 27.5 24.4 Inhabitants to One Birth. 35.2 25.5 27.0 21.0 30.6 We have no return of the maladies treated in the Government Hospital at Adelaide, or of their proportionate mortality ; the follow- ing shews the number of patients treated in the Government Hospital during the years 1844, 1845, 1846, and 1847:— Y'ear. Admitted on payment of Fees. Admitted without Fees. Dis- charged. Died. 1844 4 34 30 8 1845 15 50 53 12 1846 13 64 61 16 1847 30 109 120 15 The subjoined table is an abstract of the register of interments at Adelaide, from 18i4 to 1847 :— 1844. 184 5. 1846. 1847 c a Month. Adult. u. Adult. ^ Adult. Adult M. F. o M. F. o M. F. M. F. January 2 2 8 2 16 1 J. 1 13 4 Feb. . 4 2 6 3 3 21 7 2 40 11 7 March . 1 1 7 2 26 3 2 28 6 April 1 2 9 3 4 12 6 6 19 8 5 May . 1 2 11 3 1 9 9 2 26 11 3 June 2 3 6 y 1 7 9 3 14 4 6 July . 1 2 3 6 3 G 1 4 10 9 6 August . 4 3 6 2 3 8 9 1 7 V I Sept . . 2 3 2 4 4 3 2 13 15 2 Occober 4 3 6 4 4 8 8 3 15 6 V Nov. 4 1 8 7 1 7 4 4 26 11 2 Dec. . 3 2 11 11 6 16 7 4 36 9 9 Total . 27 2.5 84 .51 22 140 07 U 247 99 59 1 Nota. — The population in these years was — 1844, 18,999 184.5, 22,390 ; 1846, 28,000 ; 1847, 31 000. The two la.st years are an approximation. CHAPTER TIL POPULATION, CLASSIFIED AND BY DISTRICTS-RELIGION— EDUCATION— NEWSPAPER PRESS— CRIME— LAWS— GOVERNMENT— NEW CONSTITUTION- LIST OF LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORS. The colouizing character of the British race was never more strikingly manifest than in the province we are now examining. Fifteen years ago there was not an Englishman in South Austraha; now (July, 1850) there are about 50,000 happy, prosperous, and loyal subjects of Queen Victoria in the settled portions of the colony ; of whom about 5,000 are Germans, and the remaindei' immigrants from England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and their descendants. On the 9th of November, 1836, the first vessel arrived, with emigrants from England, at Glenelg, between five and six miles dis- tant from the site of the present city of Adelaide. The subsequent augmentation of the population of the colony is thus showm : — Year. Males. Females Total. Aborigines, estimated. 1837 200 1838 — — 5,000 1,600 1839 — — 9,000 1,600 1840 — — 10,000 1,600 1841 — — 14,600 1,600 1843 — — 16,516 1,600 1844 9,526 7,670 17,366 1,600 1845 12,388 9,371 21,759 1,600 1846 14,711 11,182 25,893 1,600 1847 17,531 13,622 31,153 3,680 1848 21,527 17,139 38,666 3,730 1849 — — — — According to the government census of 1844, the ages and sex of the popvdation in the colony was — Age. Males. Females. Total. Under 2 years . . . 890 834 1,724 2 to 7 „ 1,459 1,434 2,893 7 to 14 „ 1,322 124 1,446 14 to 21 „ 922 866 1,788 21 to 45 „ 4,432 2,996 7,428 45 to 60 ,, 457 281 738 60 and upwards 44 18 62 Of married — males, 3,026 ; females, 3,032. The classification by occupations showed — professional persons, landed proprietors, mer- chants, and bankers, 990 ; shopkeepers or retailers, 319 ; mechanics and artificers, 986 ; shepherds, &c., 763 ; stockmen in care of cattle, 298 ; gardeners and farm servants, 1,838 ; domestic servants, 742 ; others, not included in the foregoing, 11,260. Classed by religion — Church of England, 9,418; Church of Scotland, 1,691 ; Wesleyans, 1,666 ; other Protestant dissenters, 3,309; Roman catholics, 1,055 ; Jews, 25 ; Mahomedans and Pagans, 32. The number of houses was — of stone or brick, 1,346; wood, 1,142; other materials, 903 =3,391. Population of Adelaide and the neighbourhood in 1844 and 1846. Port Adelaide North Adelaide .... South Adelaide .... South-west of Adelaide South-east of Adelaide . . EastandNorth- east of Adelaide Total in 1844 . . „ in 1846 . . Males 717 840 2,299 880 535 362 5,633 6,826 Females. 623 800 2,138 813 478 314 5,166 6,214 Total. 1,340 1,640 4,437 1,693 1,013 676 10,799 13,040 Abstract of the Cens us in April, 1846 Districts. Area in sq. miles. Males. Females. Total. ^lilner Spe. Surve f 600* 706 493 1,194 N.ofGawlerTowr I 2,300* 348 110 458 Wakefield andHut t 8,500* 631 131 762 Moorundie . . 100* 58 8 66 Wellington . . 200* 93 12 105 Mount Crawford 400* 320 210 530 Little Para River 210 462 369 831 Port Adelaide . 48 816 713 1,529 North Adelaide 27 929 914 1,^43 South Adelaide 4 2,902 2,668 5,570 S.W. of Adelaide 45 965 892 1,857 S.E. of Adelaide 31 688 584 1.272 E.andN.E.ofAde 45 526 443 969 Sturtand Onkapa- ringa Rivers . 68 212 176 388 0'HalloranHill,&c 50 392 320 712 S. of Onkaparinga 67 334 248 582 Sources of ditto 210* 780 672 1,452 Meadows Special Survey . . Finniss and Angas Special Survey ; 162* 301 243 544 \ 247* 308 167 475 ) Encounter Bay, &c 240 158 107 265 Port Lincoln . • 85 47 132 Kangaroo Island 1,500* — — 70 N. of Rivoli Bay 2,700* 230 21 251 S. of Rivoli Bay 8,400* 248 15 263 Yankallilla, &c. 110 91 47 138 Cape Jervis 200 92 40 132 Total 26,464 12,670 9,650 22,390 Note. — Marked thu.s (*) are uncertain. Census of 1851 given in Siqjplevient. 344 POPULATION; BIRTHS AND DEATHS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. Number of each Age. — 3Iales. — Under two years of a"e, 1,019 ; two and under seven, 2,143 ; seven and under 'fourteen, 1,606; fourteen and under twenty- one, 1,088; twenty-one and under forty-live, 6,111; forty-five and under sixty, 629 ; sixty and upwards, 74. Females. — Under two years of age, 9o3 ; two and under seven, 2,101 ; seven and under fourteen, 1,460 ; fourteen and under twenty-one, 981 ; twenty- one and under forty-five, 3,696 ; forty-five and under sixty, 410; sixty and upwards, 49. Married or Single. — Hales. — Married, 3,847 ; single, 8,823. Females. — Married, 3,81 1 ; single, 5,839. Religion. — Church of England, 11,945; church of Scotland, 1,958; Lutheran church, 1,524; Wes- leyan inethodists, 2,246 ; other protestant dissenters, 2,888; Roman catholics, 1,649; Jews, 58; Mahome- dans or Pagans, 52. OccL'PATlON. — Land proprietors, merchants, bank- ers, and stockholders, 1,152 ; clerks and overseers to the above, 162 ; professional persons, 109 ; clerks and assistants to the above, 35 ; manufacturers, brewers, millers, 82 ; clerks and assistants to the above, 46 ; shopkeepers and other retail dealers, 338 ; clerks and assistants to the above, 160; brickmakers, 77; bricklayers, 83; smiths, 152; carpenters and joiners, 362 ; masons, 92 ; shoemakers, 225 ; cabinetmakers, 24; plasterers, 38; harness-makers, 19; tailors, 62; tanners, 19; miners, 269; sawyers and splitters, 240; she{)herds and others in charge of sheepj 1,120; stockmen and others in charge of cattle, 215 ; carriers and their assistants, 134 ; gardeners, farm-servants, and persons employed in agriculture, 1,492; mari- ners and fishermen, 85 ; domestic servants, 818 ; labourers not included in the above definitions, 726 ; all other persons not included in the above, 13,993. Houses. — Stone or brick, 1,715; wood, 1,272; other materials or tents, 1,189 =4,176. Oil the 1st of January, 1848, the popu- lation of the colony was about 38,666 souls ; on the 1st of January, 1849, it was 45,907; it is now estimated at not less than 50,000. The following is an analysis of the in- crease since the commencement of 1845 : — Description of Increase. Immigrants whose passage was defrayed from the land fund Excess of immigrants arriving at their own cost, over emigrants from the > Province j Excess of births over deaths registered Total 1845. 172 2,118 470 2,760 1846. 1,469 2,088 577 4,134 1847. 3,257 1,504 499 5,260 184S. 6,622 891 7,513 The following is a comparative return of the number of births, marriages, and deaths : Births. Sex. 1844. 1840. 1846. 1847. 1848. Males Females 354 317 380 328 483 454 544 450 — Totals 671 708 937 994 1,239 3Ian-i(if/es Solemnized. 1844. 1845. 77 1846. 1847. 1848. Church of England . . . 57 139 218 Church of Scotland . . . 21 29 21 20 — Roman Catliolic Chapel . . 10 10 17 45 — German Lutheran Church . 6 2 17 22 — Congregational Chapel . . 11 9 13 23 — Methodi>t Chapel .... 2 11 10 7 — Primitive Methodist Chapel — — 2 2 — By Dep. llegistrar, Adelaide 1 — — — — „ „ Port Lincoln — 3 — — „ Missionaries .... — — — 9 Of the Jewit.h Religion . . — — — 1 — Totals 108 141 219 347 320 Deaths. Age. 1844. 1845. 1846. 1847. 1848. 7 Years and under .... 81 147 244 317 _ From 7 to 14 years .... 4 8 15 20 „ 14 to 21 „ . . . . 4 6 6 16 „ 21 to 30 „ .... 17 19 19 39 „ 30 to 40 , 20 28 31 53 „ 40 to 50 , 6 22 26 32 „ 50 to 60 , 5 3 12 12 „ 60 to 70 „ .... 2 3 5 4 „ 70 to 83 „ . . 1 2 2 2 — Total . . 140 238 360 495 510 The proportion of male to female deaths is thus shewn : — Sex 1844. 1845. 1846. 1847. 1848. Males Females 75 63 143 95 208 152 301 194 — Total 138 238 360 495 — The preceding returns merely show the number of births, mai'riages, and deaths ac- tually registered in the province ; there is, at present, no satisfactory means of estimating the number of those unregistered. Religion. — It is gratifying to observe that from the very foundation of South Aus- tralia as a colony, a right appreciation has been evinced of the value of the ordinances of our holy religion ; the first emigrants were accompanied by a minister of the gospel, and a church (in frame) for the celebration of reli- gious Avorship, was fovwai'ded from England. The late Rev. C. B. Howard, colonial chaplain, arrived in the colony, with Governor Hind- marsh, in December, 1836. His ministra- tions were gladly accepted, his person much respected, and to this worthy disciple of the cross we owe the foundation of the church of Christ in South Australia, which is now the seat of an episcopate of the chiu-ch of England and of the church of Rome. The church of England bishopric was endowed ill 1847 by one of the munificent grants RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS AND CHURCHES. 315 prompted by the practical piety of Miss Bui'- dett Coutts^ a lady whose name cannot be mentioned without adding the passing tribute of respect dae to her from every British sub- ject really interested in the abiding Avelfare of his country. The relative numbers and position of the different denominations is thus shown : — Return of the Number and Description of Places of Worship in South Australia, winch sjjecijies the locality, amount of accommodation, and average congregation of each. Denomination. Ade- Port Villages "Willunga Encounter Gawler Koo- Mount Totals laide. Adelaide. Adelaide. District. Bay. Town. ringa. Barker. in 1847 Church of England : Places of worship 2 1 2 — — 1 3 9 Adapted to contain . 1,050 200 310 — — 260 330 2,150 Average congregation 750 120 160 — — 80 — 200 1,310 Church of Scotland : Places of worship 2 — — — — — — — 2 Adapted to contain . 750 — — — • — — — — 750 Average congregation 200 — — — — — — — 200 Dissenting Chapels : Places of worship 9 1 16 3 1 4 1 4 39 Adapted to contain . 1,950 100 1,640 350 100 1,060 240 440 5,850 Average congregation 1,230 80 660 145 30 790 240 220 3,395 Society of Friends : Places of -worship 1 — — — — — — — 1 Adapted to contain . 100 — — — — — — 100 Average congregation 12 — — — — — — — 12 Roman Catholics : Places of worship 1 — — 1 — . — — — 2 Adapted to contain . 700 — — 150 — — — — 850 Average congregation 530 — — 50 — — — ■ — 580 Since the foregoing return was made^ several other temples dedicated to the wor- ship of the one true and living God have been erected, and others are in progress; the structures are neat, and the pews, &c. formed of cedar-wood. Due provision has therefore been made by every class of Chris- tians, among whom entire harmony prevails, much to the benefit of practical Christianity, and its essential attributes of charity, peace, and good- will to all. Public worship is celebrated twice on Siinday, the religious festivals of the year are kept as in England, and nearly every church and chapel has a Sunday-school attached. The state of the religious denominations in 1848, irrespective of the church of Eng- land, is thus shev\'n : — The Presbyterians are divided into the Scotch Church and the Scotch Secession (voluntary) Church. The Independents have five chapels and ministers, and five Sunday schools, consist- ing of about 600 children. The iVesleyan Methodists have twelve chapels, also schools and branch societies in many places throughout the province. The out-stations are visited from time to time by ordained ministers, who are assisted in their arduous labours by thirty local preachers, and by the employment of tliis lay agency facili- DIV. TI. ties are afforded for supplying the wants of a scattered community. The Primitive Methodists have five chapels, about 220 scholars in their Sunday schools, and several excellent local preachers, super- intended by an exemplaiy itinerant minister. The Baptists and " Immersed Believers," two chapels ; the Christian Brethren, two chapels ; the Union denomination, five chapels; the New Church or Swedenborgians, one chapel, and the Jews a Synagogue. The Roman Catholics have five chapels, and then* church is confided to the super- intendence of a suffragan bishop under the metropolitan hierarchy of Sydney, New South Wales. Considerable sums have been sub- scribed towards the erection of a cathedral at Adelaide ; and at a public meeting called by their bishop the Roman catholics unani- mously resolved to forego any further par- ticipation in the support or assistance pro- vided by an act of the colonial legislature, deeming it inexpedient and incompatible with Christian liberty to comply with the stipulations appended to the grant. The indefatigable bishop and ministers of the Roman catholic church are very zealous in their efforts for education, and in the main- tenance of their faith. The German immigrants Avho abandoued their native land chiefly on account of the 2 u 346 AID FOR RELIGIOUS PURPOSES— STATE OF EDUCATION. religious persecutions to wliieh they were subjected, and who belong, for the greater part, to the evangelical Lutheran church, have places of worship and pastors for their settlements of Klemzig, Hahndorf, Langmeil, Lobenthal, and Bethany. Each place of ■worship has a school attached, and the mem- bers of the chui'ch are required to send their children regularly to the same, from the sixth to the fourteenth year of their age. There are three or four German pastors in the colony; indeed each body of emigrants is accompanied bv a minister from theii' "fatherland." In June, 1849, the ser\ices of the chm'ch of England were celebrated in twenty places ; of the chui'ch of Scotland in four : of the Roman catholic in three ; of the society of Friends in one ; and by the other denominations of Christians (of whom the "VTesleyans are the most numerous) , in forty- eight chapels; making, in the whole, seventy- six places of worship in this still infant colony. The government have granted 284 acres of land for the sites of churches, chapels, cemeteries, glebes, and schools, on fourteen applications from the church of England, two from the church of Scotland, two from the Wesleyans, and foiu' from the Roman catholics. Since the foundation of the colony, the local government has contri- buted £2,1.57 towards the erection of church of England edifices, and private individuals, j61 6,689. The amount of the several sums subscribed by other denominations is not Jcnown. [Present state of religion in Supp* ] An ordinance (No. 10, of 1847), was passed by the local government, to pi'omote the building of churches and chapels for Christian worship, and to proride for the maintenance of ministers of the Christian religion. This ordinance came into opera- tion 1st April, 1848, and was to continue to 1st April, 1850. Up to June, 1849, the church of England had received, under the prorisions of this ordinance, in aid of erec- tions, £''1,.325 ; in aid of clergy stipends, £464 : church of Scotland, £300 and £68 : Wesleyan church, £94 and £153: making in all, for ecclesiastical buildings and sti- pends, £2,406. The aid is issued to the extent of £50, in cases where the popu- lation being equal to fifty persons, a sum not less than £50 has been raised by private contributions for a church, chapel, or minis- ter's dwelling; and the issue may be in- creased to any sum not exceeding £150, provided an equal or greater amount of pri- vate contribution shall have been paid up and deposited, or secured to the satisfaction of the governor and execiitive council. The aid to the stipend of the minister is fixed at rates ha^-ing reference to the number of sittings (one-fourth part being free of any charge), rented and paid for in any church or chapel; the stipend, however, in no case exceeding £200 per annum. The South Australian Church Society, in connexion with the chvu'ch of England, has an income of about £500 a-year arising from donations and subscriptions; and its objects are the assisting in erecting churches, and maintain- ing religious worship and Christian education in the , metropolis and in the rural districts of the colony. The Australian Mining Com^ pany of London have built a chapel and school-house at their mines ; and, generally speaking, there is a deep feeling of piety manifest among all classes throughout the prorince. EnrcATiox. — Whore the responsibilities of the Christian religion are felt by the legislature, the duty of imparting sound instruction will not be neglected ; neither is it so in South Australia. An ordinance of the local government (No. 2, of 1847), for the furtherance of education, grants to schoolmasters an allowance, in aid of thcii- emoluments, of £20 per annum for the first twenty scholars, and £1 per annum for every additional scholar, beyond twenty, at school; the total not to exceed £40 to each school in one year. ^Tien this ordinance came into operation on the 31st ]\Iarch, 1849, thirty-three schoolmasters, already in the field, became immediate claimants for a sum of about £1,000 per annum. Among other scholastic institutions now in existence, there is now at Adelaide a well-conducted gram mar-school, with 300 pupils, chiefly of the labouring classes, for whom a commodious school-house has been erected by the liberal subscriptions of a few benevolent persons. On 2ith :\Iay, 1849, the bishop of Adelaide laid the foundation stone of a church of England collegiate school at St. Peter's, Adelaide, for which the local government granted 111 acres of land, and towards which INIr. William Allen, of Buckland-park, Adelaide, a large proprietor in the Burra- Bm'ra INIining Company, ga^e the munificent donation of £2,700. It is intended that this collegiate school shall eventually merge into a college, and accordingly, excellent statutes and regulations have been laid down for its government. The holy scriptures art THE NEWSPAPER PRESS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. to he tauglit in the original tongue^ and the principles of the Christian religion carefully inculcated. To this most necessary know- ledge is to be added instruction in any lan- guage, art, branch of science, or literature, which shall, from time to time, be deemed by the visitor and governors of the school important to constitute a sound and Hberal education. The property and management of the collegiate school is vested in a council of fifteen governors, of whom not less than three, nor more than five, shall be clergy- men of the church of England. Every lay governor, on accepting office, must sign a declaration that he is a member of the church of England, and that he considers the thirty -nine articles of the Book of Com- mon Prayer to be agreeable to the revealed Word of God. The bishop of Adelaide, for the time being, shall be the visitor, and have poAver, at any time, to enter the school, examine and instruct the scholars, inspect the accounts and general management of the institution, correct abuses, and prevent the adoption of any bye-laws that might con- travene the fundamental principles of the school, or frustrate the intentions of the original founders. The decision of the visi- tor, on any disagreements among the gover- nors, shall be final. The head master must have graduated in arts or civil law in one of the universities of the United Kingdom, and his appointment rests with the governors. Education is extending very generally throughout the province. In 1849, there were eighty-one day-schools, attended by 2,900 children, and forty-five Sunday-schools, attended by 2,500 children, in South Aus- tralia. There is also at Adelaide a school for the instruction of the children of the aborigines, where, in 1849, there were forty male and eighteen female scholars, who cost the local government £10 9^. 7Ul. each, per annum, for education, food, and clothing. The following is a comparative return of Sunday and other schools in the province of South Australia, and of the average number of scholars attending them : — Schools and Scliolars. 1844. 1845. 1846. 1847. 1848. Scholars, European male „ „ females . „ Native male . . „ „ female . . 870 856 85 67 1,397 1,272 74 58 1,402 1,210 76 62 1,987 1,910 100 56 2,933 2,469 40 18 Total Scholars . . . Number of Schools . . . 1,878 45 2,801 81 2,750 08 4,053 86 5,460 127 Mr. INIuudy, late the secretary of Soutli Australia, who most ably fulfilled the duties of his office, and carefully collected various statistical returns, says of this document— " The information contained in this return has been obtained from private sources, not from authentic official records, and its accu- racy cannot, therefore, be confidently relied upon." The Press of Sovith Australia dates its origin pre^aous even to the foundation of the colony. On the eve of the departure of the governor and emigrants from England, the first number of the South Australian Gazette was printed and published in London, on the 18th June, 1836. The second number of the South Australian Gazette was issued at Adelaide on the 3rd of June, 1837. Other newspapers soon started into existence, and there were subsequently issued a Govern- ment Gazette, Southern Australian, Adelaide Observer, Adelaide Times, a mining journal, &c. A well conducted South Australian Magazine was issued monthly, and the two South Australian Almanacks, which have been published annually for several years, are a credit to the colony, for the valuable mass of facts which they contain, and the moderate tone in which their able digests are written. The extension and progressive increase of literature, and of newspapers, is in some degree exemplified by the following return showing the total number of letters and newspapers passing through the General Post Office, distinguishing ship fi'om inland, during the years 1844, 1845, 1846, and 1847 :— Number of Post-offices Letters : — Ship Inland Newspapers : — Ship Inland Total Letters .... „ Newspapers . . Income Expenditure .... 1844. 1845. 1846. 1847 20,9-1 1 9,384 50,389 10,626 36,325 61,015 £752 £751 13 31,2 11,0.32 59,411 12,981 42,329 72,392 £946 £706 3)233 1L136 73 012 22,137 53,369 95,149 £1,106 £915 4 ,312 31,638 .S6,2."3 37,679 79,9."0 123,912 £1,504 £1,2(9 About one-third of the newspapers under the head of " inland" were received by sea, and are consequently entered twice. It is stated by Sir H. E. F. Young, the present governor of South Australia, in an interesting despatch to Earl Grey on the state of the province, dated June 8th, 1849, that mails are despatched from the city to Hind- marsh village and to the port six times a-day, the postage being 2d., and the extreme dis- tance eight miles and-a-quarter ; the postage to all other places within the colony, thirty- one in number is 4 From licences and rents Balance in hand 27,000 1,875 26,558 there is also a branch of the Austral-Asian, and, recently, one of the Union Bank of Australia, has been placed at Adelaide. The South Australian Bank appears to be a Avell- conducted chartered company; it has a subscribed capital of £200,000, in shares of £25 each; upwards of £180,000 have been paid up. By the charter, there is a power of augmenting the capital to £500,000. The corporation is managed by a com-t of directors in London, and there is a local board of three directors at Adelaide, aided by a manager. The net profits of the bank at Adelaide and in London, for the year 1849-50, was £15,153; the dividend paid to the proprietors for the year, was six per cent, free of income-tax. The bank averages for South Australia are thus stated since 1843 : — Liabilities. Year. £55,433 Greatly to the credit of the colonists, they have contributed liberally to the pro- motion of public works and improvements ; under this head, the sums voted were, in 1846, £3,616; in 1847, £14,847; and in 1848, £28,789 ; and the estimated sum for the 3^ear ending 31st ]\Iarch, 1850, is up- wards of £30,000. The cost of the Supreme Court-house is £6,000 ; the government- house, hospital, jail, police office, Resident Magistrates' court, and slaughter-house, Avould be creditable to any city in England. The expenditure from the British treasury for troops, or what is termed " military pro- tection," was, in 1843, nil.; 1844, £4,000; in 1845, £3,700; in 1846, £3,750; in 1847, £4,000. The total cost for pay of troops and commissariat expenses for five years ending 31st March, 1847, was £15,890. There is a militia consisting of two troops of cavalry and one company of infantry, but it has not been called out since 1810, and there is no expense attend- ing the force. Banking Establishments. — South Aus- tralia has its own public bank, which is coeval with the foundation of the colony; 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 Notes in circula- tion. £9,939 11,027 14,912 23,224 32.008 40,937 Bills in circula- tion. Deposits. £3,314 £51,897 1,890 55,348 3,714 5,008 4,793 5,826 66.513 91,848 102,636 118,563 Balance due to other banks £793 787 340 1,451 1,739 241 Total. £65,944 69.054 85,480 121,532 141,178 165,568 Asset a. Year. 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 Coin. £27,881 32,492 30,314 69,238 101.808 88,620 , , Balances Landed ^^^ ^^^^ pro- perty. £8,139 7,867 7,590 7,226 7,382 10,440 other banks. £2,944 3,055 3,495 2,707 9,280 7,194 Xotes and bills dis- counted and all debts due to the banks £186.067 181,121 174,971 196,480 309.0!) 367,765 Total. £225,032 224,537 216,376 275,652 409,646 474,021 The Coins in cu'culation are the gold, silver, and copper coins of Great Britain, which bear the same current value as in the United Kingdom. On 31st December, 1848, the coin in t]\e colony was estimated at £125,247; viz. in the Bank of South Australia, £57,573 ; Bank of Austral- Asia, 25,674; in treasury chest, £32,000; in circulation, £10,000. The weekly average amount of bank-notes in circulation is £ 18,371. The course of exchange on London from COMMERCE— IMPORTS AND EXPORTS— SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 357 1st January to 23rd October, 1818, was two per cent, premium; from 23rd October to 31st December, 1848, four per cent. On the colonies, 1st January to 23rd June, two per cent, premium ; from 23rd June to 31st December, one per cent., by the Bank of Austral- Asia ; and by the Bank of South AiistraUa, for same periods, three to two per cent, premium.^ Weights and Measures as in England. Tliere is a well-managed Savings' Bank at Adelaide, which possesses the confidence of the public. Commerce. — The rapid establishment of settled and profitable commercial intercourse between South Australia and England, afi'ords a good proof of the value which the mer- chants, manufactui'ers, and shipping interest derive from the foundation of colonies where Englishmen can produce those articles which are in demand in the United Kingdom, and receive in exchange British manufac- tures. South Australia, that but a few years ago was a wilderness, has now a mari- time trade in value little short of a million sterling, t The following shows the imports and ex- ports since 1839, shortly after the forma- tion of the settlement^ the years ending Januarv : — Imports from Exports to Year. Great Britain. British Colonies. Foreign Countries. Total. Imports consumed Great Britain. British Colonies. Foreign Countries. Total. Imports re- in colony. exported. 1839 £123,308 £200,325 £23,016 £346,649 £9.524 £6,515 £16,039 _ 1840 151,020 124,874 27,420 303,320 — 15,699 16,380 — 32,079 1841 161,480 123,192 3,676 288,348! — 53,798 50,263 £589 104,650 . . 1842 93.382 69,403 6,627 169,412 — 39,628 35,375 245 75,248 — 1843 58,479 47,024 3,595 109,093 — 53,987 26,138 730 80.855 1844 63,610 54,366 854 118,830 £105,993 64,787 28,451 2,020 95,258 £12,921 1845 103,797 75.848 5,174 184,819 168,160 97,600 41,075 9,783 148,459 16,658 1846 174,689 141,661 13,748 330,099 303,321 218,095 92,340 2,402 312,838 25,778 18471 1848 i 235,374 166,475 8,975 410,285 335,692 166,080 170,360 13,907 350,348 75,133 1849 177,428 196,236 10,662 384,326 346,130 334,977 167,215 1,875 504,068 38,208 Note. — The foregoing returns cannot be carried back beyond the year 1839, as the colonial records from which they have been compiled do not embrace any earlier year. The shipping outwards, from the years ending January, 1848 and 1849, according to the Blue Books, was : — Year. 1848 1849 Great Britain. liber. 30 16 Tons. 10,940 5,572 British Colonies. Xumber. 152 125 Tons. 28,275 22,156 Foreign States. Number. 15 10 Tons. 5,101 3,152 Total. Number. 197 151 Tons. 44,316 30,880 Men. 2,575 1,795 According to a return in the South Aus- tralian Almanack for 1849, the number of vessels entering inwards for five years, was, from — Great British Foreign Total. Britain. Colonies. States. 1844 6 60 2 70 1845 12 97 5 114 1846 20 111 11 142 1847 28 115 / 150 1848 35 170 10 215 Note. — The vessels registered according to law in the eolony were, in 1848, 17 — tonnage 1,548. * It may not be irrelevant to mention for the bene- fit of tho.«e seeking information on colonial subjects — that it may be obtained with trustworthy accuracy at Saunders' Colonial Library, Charing Cross, where all the colonial newspapers are filed, the proprietor of that establishment understands his business. The value of imports for the year ending 5th April, 1849, was £471,526; of the exports, .£485,922. Tonnage, in, for the year ending 5th April, 1849, 59,011 tons; tonnage, out, 53,327 tons. Value of staple produce exported during the year ending 5th April, 1849, £446,643 10*.' Staple Products. — I have shewn, in a previous page, the quantity of avooI exported from South Australia (p. 618.) The quan- tity shipped from South Australia, for the folloA^ing years was, in 1845, 1,078,559 lbs. ; 1846, 1,473,186; 1847, 1,804,918; 1848, t In order to render this work permatiently valuable, and a record of the j)ast, as well as an exposition of the present state of our colonies, full and accurate details will, so far as known, be given to the latest date in the Supplements and Appen- dices. ^58 WOOL AND METALS EXPORTED FROM SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 2,329,134; 1849, (estimated) 2,500,000. The value of the wool exported is about £120,000, and of tallow, about £5,000. Tallow, which first appeared on the list of staple produce dm^ing the year ending 5th July, 1849, amounted to 2,168 cwt. Wheat, flour, barley, maize, and oats, are now becoming staple exports of the province; in 1843, the quantity of wlieat and wheaten flour exported, was equivalent to 38,482 bushels; in 1847, to 169,490; and in 1848, wheat and flour were shipped to the value of £40,000. The wheat is of excellent quahty ; some may be seen at the South Australian Conqmny's offices in London, with a larger ear and a longer stalk than any to be found in the United Kingdom. Eight lumdi'ed quarters of South Australian wheat were recently received in Mark-lane, weigh- ing 63 to 65 lbs. per bushel, and sold for 535. per quarter, when the price of English grown corn was much lower. Leather, whaleboue, oil, beef, live animals, gum, bones, dried fruits, and other articles, are now recorded in the export list, and to this list, doubtless, various items will pro- bably be added. The value of the exports from South Australia for the following years was, 1845, £103,981; 181G, £190,669; 1847, £275,171 ; 1848, £354,907. According to an official return printed by order of the house of commons, 5th July, 1850 (No. 511), the total imports of South Australia for ten years ending 1848, were valued at £2,643,847; the exports for the same period at £1,719,856: the shipping inwards was, in tons, 236,624. The quanti- ties and values of the two staple products of the colony, wool and minerals, exported, are stated to have been thus: — Wool Exported. Minerals Exported. Year. Quantity in Value. Quantity Value. lbs. in tons. 18.39 8,740 1840 — 8,740 — — 1841 641,825 36,226 . — £390 1842 661,191 29,749 — — 1843 1,159,574 45,568 20 128 1844 819,897 42,770 442 6,437 1845 1,331,888 72,236 1,158 19,019 1846 2,042,195 106,510 6,609 142,231 1847 1,114,802 56,131 9,301 174,«:17 1848 2,170,793 98,582 17,006 320,624 Total 9,942,225 505,252 34,536 662,456 Note. — For the years l.s:W-40 the wool exported is not stated ; nor docs there appear to have been any exports of minerals during the same period. In 1812 a small quantity of lead and copper was exported, but no mention is made of its being the produce of the colony The largest article of export consists of metallic ores, of which the discovery is recorded in the chapter on the history of the province, p. 648. The discovery of a silver- lead mine, termed the Wheal-Gawler, was owing to the wheels of a heavily-laden dray passing over a "bunch" of the mineral cropping, through the surface ; — the bril- liancy of the fragments revealed the trea- sure possessed by the colonists. The first export was some lead ore, in 1841, to the value of £390. The exports have subse- quently increased in the following ratio : — Ores in tons. Value. Year. Cop- per. Lead. Eme- i-y- Copper. Lead. Emc- Total. 184.3 1 18 £23 £104 £127 1844 277 203 — 4,009 2,427 — 6,436 1845 664 273 — 10,351 3,133 — 13,484 1846 2,691 189 — 58,395 1,919 — 60,314 1847 6,921 60 — 142,060 580 — 142,640 1848 10,6.32 271 68 199,134 3,954 £700 203,788 1849 16,323 682 — 310,172 10,462 — 320,624 There are about thirty-five mines in South Australia, of which about one-half are in active working; they are all copper, except two, copper and lead ; five, lead and silver- lead ; and one, copper and gold. These mines are all within 100 miles of Adelaide, except two mines, which are close to avail- able harbours. A special survey of 20,000 acres has been purchased in the neighbour- hood of Mount Remarkable, with a view to mining operations; and mining explorations have commenced near Port Lincoln. To what extent the mineral resources of the colony may yet be developed, it is impossible to predict. Thus, in the short space of seven years, and in a colony whose duration only doubles that period, the exportable produce in metals has been augmented from £127 to £320,624 ; from one ton of copper ore to sixteen thou- sand tons. Of the copper ore raised in the year 1848, there was exported to Great Britain, in value, £206,605 ; and of the lead ore, in the same year, to Great Britain, £3,215. Lidia and China afford large and profitable markets for any quantity of copper or lead above what England may require. Iron ore and mineral iron exist in pon- derous masses in various parts of the pro- vince : gold, in a black metallic-looking sand, has been found in the bed of the Torrens river; it is also said to exist, in considerable abundance, in other places, and one or two gold mining companies have been formed at Adelaide for the collection MINING ASSOCIATIONS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 359 of the precious metal. To afford some idea of the progress of mining operations in the colony, I subjoin a list of the mines in the colony at the close of the year 1848 : — Name. Montacute Mining Company . . . South Australian Mining Association Princess Royal Mining Company Paringa , ,, Wakefield Glen Osmond Union „ „ Au.stralian „ „ Adelaide ,, „ North Kapunda „ „ Mount Remarkable „ ,, Victoria Gold Mine . . . Prince Albert „ „ Port Lincoln „ ,, Barossa „ ,, Royal „ „ Enterprize „ „ Provincial Mining Association Kapunda Mine Wheal-Granger Mine .... Wheal-Gawler „ .... Belvidere „ .... Kanmantoo „ .... Greenock Creek ,. .... Adelaide Ore Smelting Company Assoinga „ „ Patent Copper „ „ Date of 1 Formation. 1 Mar. 1845 1 16 April 1845 16 Oct. 1845 13 Nov. 1845 1845 20 Nov. 1845 1845 16 May 13 June 1846 1846 3 Nov. 1846 1846 1848 3 ]\Iay, 1848 1848 1848 1848 Aug. 1848 2 Dec. 1847 24 May, 1848 Where established. Adelaide London & Tungkillo Adelaide ... Port Lincoln London Adelaide Near Albert Town Tothill's Gap . . Kooringa, &c. Capital. £5,000, 12,320, 20,000, 20,000. 5,000. 30,000, 400,000, 10,000, 22,000, 25,000. 20,000, 5,000, 3,000, 30,000. 50,000, 3,000, 6,000, in 1,000 shares, increasable to £20,000. in 400 shares of £20 each. in£10sh. inc. to £50,000. paid up £80,000. in 2,000 shares, all paid up. in 10,000 shares, in 1,000 shares, in 600 shares. in 5,000 shares in 1,000 shares in 1,000 shares. 10,000, in 400 shares. l^'ote. — There are no particular.s jniblished where the dash is inserted. All these companies, except the Australian Mining Company and the Barossa Range Association, have been established in the colony. The Australian Company has already received about 1,500 tons of copper, which average about thirty-five per cent, of pure copper. They have pushed forward the workings at their mines at Tungkillo with much energy, driven an adit to the extent of 180 fathoms, and laid down a tram-road of 150 fathoms. Steam power, pit work, and other machinery for three shafts, suffi- cient to take the mine down 100 fathoms below the adit, together with a general supply of mining implements and stores, have been recently sent out to the colony by the board of directors in London ; and under the management of able officers, and with practical Cornish miners, the efforts of this spirited company Avill, it is to be hoped, reap an ample reward. After the discovery of the Kapunda copper mine in 1813-4, by Captain Bagot's son and Mr. Button, the attention of the colo- nists was strongly directed to the subject, and at the end of 1844, and beginning of 1845, reports were rife in Adelaide, that a "monster mine" of untold wealth had been found by a shepherd : the precise locality was for some time kept secret ; and after great exertions to raise jg20,000 in Adelaide, owing to the depressed state of the province, two associations collected the required sum, and purchased 20,000 acres, by special survey, in the vicinity of the Eazorback mountain and BiUTa creek, lat. 33° 40' S., long. 13° 98' .E., eighty-five miles north by east from Adelaide. The two asso- ciations having lineally divided the property, apportioned it by lot, the northern half fell to those who formed the Adelaide Mining Company, and has been called Wheal-Grey ; the southern half became the property of an association called the Princess Royal Mining Company. The progress of that portion of the Burra- Burra mine termed the South Australian Mining Company, for three years ending 30th September, is thus shoAvn : — Particulars. 1846. 1847. 1848. Total. Ore raised .... Carted to P. Adelaide Sold there .... Shipped to Gt. Britain Tons. 6,359 2,726 10 2,453 Tons. 10,794 6.963 1,067 5,370, Tons. 16,231 11,731 3,203 7,588 Tons. 33,386 21,421 4,481 15,413 The dividends paid from the produce of this mine are very extraordinary. First di\adend, 24th June, 1817, fifty per cent.; amount, £G,160: 5eco»(/ dividend, 8th July, 360 MANUFACTORIES AND WORKS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 1847, fifty per cent. ; amount, €5,160 : third dividend, 18tli August, 1847, one hun- dred per cent. ; amount, £12,320 : fourth dividend, 1st December, 1847, tivo hundred per cent. ; amount, £24,640 : fifth dividend, 1st INIarch, 1848, two hundred per cent. ; amount, £24,640 ; sixth dividend, 1st June, 1848, two hundred per cent.; amount, £24,640 : seventh dividend, 1st September, 1848, tivo hundred per cent.; amount, £24,640. Total sum, dividends, in fifteen months, amounting to one thousand per cent. = £123,200, of which £119,850 have been a,ctually paid. This prosperity con- tinues. In the half-yearly report (19th April, 1848) of the Bui-ra-Burra mine, it was stated that there were 567 operatives en- gaged in raising and dressing the ore, and in other pursuits connected with their estab- lishment : that in future, so long as the then satisfactory prospects continued, the directors proposed " paying dividends of two hundred per cent, on the capital stock, on the first day of every third month." The funds necessary to purchase the land in which the mine is situated were procured by issuing 2,464 shares, of five pounds each, the gi'eater number of Avhich are held by the colonists, and are now saleable at about one hundred and twenty pounds ! The following retui-n, compiled from the Swansea ticketing papers, exhibits the pro- duce shipped from the South Australian mines, during the vears 1846-7 : — Mines. Burra-Burra . Kapunda . . iVIontacute Kanmantoo . Paringa . Princess Royal Total . 1846. Tons. Value. 1,176 831 265 78 19 2,369 £20,684 16,726 4,370 1,259 394 43,433 1847. Tons. Value. 4,351 1,480 b-i 228 100 60 6,274 £94,263 27,769 1,029 3,236 1,608 1,221 129,126 The average price, per ton, obtained for the ores thus sold, was, in 1846, £18 7s. 2d. ; in 1847, £20 Is.; but the heavy depre- ciation which subsequently took place in the copper market, very materially diminished the amounts reahsed for South Australian ore. The average cost of raising the ore, mcluding every item previous to shipment, was about £6 sterling per ton ; freight and charges to Swansea, £5 155. per ton : leav- ing, at £20 per ton, more than £8 per ton clear profit. The formation of a tram-road from the Burra-Burra mine to the city of Adelaide, and of a railroad from the city to the port, as now proposed, will greatly reduce the cost of transit from the mine to the shipping, which is considerable. For instance, from September, 1845, to March, 1847, the cartage alone was £21,466. The distance of South Australia from England has induced the colonists to direct their attention to smelting the ore at the mines, a company has been recently formed at Adelaide, and the Yatala smelting works are now in progress, at a convenient position between the city and port of Adelaide. Another set of smelting works have been constructed near the BuiTa-Burra mines, contiguous to an extensive forest, by Messrs. Walters and Williams, in connection with INIessrs. Schneider and Co., of London, at a cost of £70,000. The INIessrs. Thomas, a well-known and respected family from Corn- wall, possessed of much experience in mining, have erected a copper smelting furnace near the South Australian Company's mine at Kanmantoo; other smelting establishments are in progress, including small furnaces for smelting lead; and, in a few years, no more of the poorer ores will be shipped from South Australia, by which a considerable increase of profit must accrue to the colony and to the mining proprietors. The following is a comparative return of manufactories and works in the province of South Australia, from the years 1844 to 1848 : [For continuatic n see Supplement.] Description of "Work. 1844. 1845. 1846. 1847. 1848. Barilla manufactory . 1 1 1 1 I Boat-buildev .... . 1 I 1 Boiling - clown estabO lishments . . . ./ — — — 2 2 Breweries 9 IS 13 15 14 Candle-maker . . . — — — 1 1 Cloth and woollen ma- 1 iiufactory . . . ./ 1 1 Coach manufactories . 3 4 4 4 Flour mills — Steam 3 11 1.5 15 1 i! Wind . . 7 8 8 25 "Water . 2 3 1 Cattle . . 4 9 2 Foundries — brass & iron 3 4 2 9 2 Machine manufactories 4 5 5 4 4 Maltsters — 10 2 2 2 Organ-builder . . . _ — 1 1 1 Pottery 1 1 — — — Salt manufactoiy . . 1 1 1 1 — Ship-builders .... . — — 1 2 2 Smelting works . . . — — — — 2 Snuff and tobacco ma-"> nufactories . . . / 1 3 1 1 1 Soap and caudle manu-"l factories / 4 4 4 3 o Soap-inakcrs .... — — — 2 2 Tanneries / 8 6 / / "Water- >vorks . . ^ 1 1 1 1 AGRICULTURE AND CROPS IN EAjCH DISTRICT, S. AUSTRALIA. 361 The return for the year 1848 is given from the Blue Book at the Colonial-office ; but, excepting the works for smelting cop- per, there does not appear to have been any increase in the manufactiu'ing establish- ments for the last few years. The mechanics in the colony are said to be skilful workmen, and the machinery made is of first-rate character. Seven vessels of a small size have been built at Adelaide, and they are creditable specimens of naval architecture. Agriculture. — The neglect of this staple source of prosperity, during the early days of the colony, has been previously stated. Ample amends have since been made for this inattention; and the progressive in- crease of cultivation is shown in the an- nexed statement of the acres in cultivation from the year 1840 to 1848 : — Year. Number of Proprietors. Wheat. Barley. Oats. Maize. Potatoes. Garden. Vineyard. Total. 1840 1,059 388 424 192 440 2,503 1841 — 4,154 897 501 714 456 — _ 6,722 1842 873 14,000 2,700 700 850 690 850 — 19.790 1843 1,300 23,000 3,300 790 290 470 840 — 28.690 1844 1,357 18,980 4,264 1,045 241 397 761 — 26,918 1845 1,209 18,838 4,312 1,485 86 459 63 — — 1846 1,714 26,134 3,489 1,963 106 590 896 Ill — 1847 1.837 25,920 5,840 2,946 161 381 993 198 36,440 1848 1,846 29,737 8,479 3,977 4,602 591 1,300 219 48,911 The estimated average per acre is — for wheat, 21 bushels ; barley and oats, 25 ; po- tatoes, 4. The number of acres enclosed was, in the year 1847, 94,684 ; and in 1848, 125,643. The state of each district is shown by the following account of the number of acres in crop in 1848, which shows that, on an ave- rage, each landed proprietor has about twenty- seven acres of land under cultivation : — Districts in 1848. Adelaide . . . Encounter Bay . Gawler Town Mount Barker Mount Remarkable Port Lincoln . . Willunga . . . Total Number of Landed Pro- Wheat. Barley. Oats. Maize. Potatoes. Garden. Vineyard. prietors. 978 12,744 4,949 2,517 4,579 211 819 171 39 577 81 11 10 12 15 2 232 5,153 1,727 233 6 43 178 22 388 6,834 960 767 4 289 187 18 20 95 20 171 16 32 2 18 45 17 28 — 3 12 2 171 4,289 725 250 2 22 56 3 1,846 29,737 8,479 3,977 4,602 595 1,300 219 Total Acres. 25,990 708 7,361 9,058 338 107 5,247 48,911 Up to the 1st of January, 1849, the num- ber of acres surveyed in South Aiistralia was 465,943 ; add proportions for roads, 22,641 ; for the city of Adelaide and park, 3,400 ; total, 491,984. The number of acres selected was 159,188, In the surveyed lands, 198,997 acres were special; and of these, but 52,400 were selected. The agricultural and horticultural pro- ducts are similar to those of the Australian colonies previously described. The vine thrives well, and the product of wine and brandy is increasing. South Australia was, on its foundation, m 1836-7, supplied with live stock from New South Wales and from Van Diemen's island. Large parties of " overlanders" ar- rived at Adelaide by travelling along the banks of the Darling, Murrumbidgee, and MuiTay rivers. The number of stock as- DIV. II. sessed for the years 1839, 1844, 1845, 1846, and 1847, was — Year. Horses. Horned Cattle. Sheep. 1839 1844 1845 1846 1847 800 902 1,044 1.826 1,705 7,600 22,711 26,146 56,986 56,375 108,700 355,689 480,669 681,374 784,811 JS'ote. — The horses and horned cattle are above the age of six months, and the return of sheep includes weaned lambs. The Blue Book for 1848 only contains returns for the Adelaide district, viz. — horses, 686 ; horned cattle, 55,083 ; sheep, 838,394. It is stated that there are now in the whole province — horses, 5,000; horned cattle, 70,000; sheep, 1,000,000 ; goats and pigs, 20,000. The increase of sliccp is com- puted at twenty per cent, per annum. In 1843-4, Mr. Ridley, anintelUgent South 2 Y 36.2 PRICES OF PROA^SIONS, AND WAGES IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. Australian colonist, invented a machine ■which reaped and threshed the corn at the same time. The machine is driven forward by two horses; at the fore end are six prongs, three on each side, Avhich embrace the entire width of the wheel-track, and serve to collect the ears into the narrower range of teeth, which extend into a cylinder, in the form of a comb ; between these teeth the neck of the straw passes, and the head or wheat-ear is guided into the lower cylin- der, where it is caught by the "beaters,^' which make 600 revolutions per minute. The grain is beaten out of the ear, and thrown up a curve, whence it falls into the receiving-box, at the bottom of the cart, and the chaff flies off by a sort of chimney, at the upper and back end of the cart. This invention would only answer in a climate where the corn was so dry that it would separate from the chaff' at the first blow of the beater. With two horses and two men, a farmer may thus reap and thresh a field at the rate of one acre per hoiu". Prices in 1848. — Wheat, 4^. 6c?. per bushel; barley, 4s. 6d.; oats, 4s.; maize, Ss. ; potatoes, per ton, £3 10s. to £5; grapes, per lb., 2d. to 9d. ; peaches, per dozen, 4d. to 8c?. ; melons, per cwt., 5s. to 6s. ; apples, per lb., 5d. to 9d. ; nectarines, per dozen, 6c/. to 9c?.; wheaten flour, per barrel of 196 lbs., 22*. to 29s. ; wheat, per imperial bushel, 3s. 9c/. to 5s.; wheaten bread, per lb., \\d. to l|c/. Horned cattle — cows, ^2 to £h ; steers, £\ 15s. to £3 ; working bullocks, £3 to £5. Horses, £15 to £20. Sheep — ewes, 4s. to 6s. ; wethers (60 lbs.), 7s. Goats, 3s. to 5s. ; swine, 6c/. per lb. ; milk, per pint, 2c?. ; butter, fresh. Is. 2c?. to Is. ?)d. per lb. ; salt. Is. to Is. 3c?. ; cheese, 9c?. ; beef and mutton, 2ic?. ; pork, 6d. ; rice, 3c?. ; coffee, 10c/. ; tea, 2s. ; sugar, 3c/. to 3|c?. ; salt, \d. ; wine, per dozen, 25s. ; brandy, per gallon, 21s. ; beer, colonial, per hogshead, £4 2s. 6d. ; fo- reign, £7 to £8; tobacco, per lb., 3s. 6c?. Wages for Labour in 1848. — Domestic, male, £25 to £32 per annum ; female, £14 to £22. Predial, £31 to £39 per annum. Trades. — Bakers, 4s. to 5s. per diem ; black- smiths and wheelwrights, 6s. 6c?. ; bricklayers, masons, and plasterers, 7s. 6c/. ; brickmakers, per ] ,000 bricks, 35s. ; butchers, 3s.6c/. to4s.2c?. per diem ; bullock drivers, cabinet and car- riage makers, coopers and carpenters, 7s. 6c?. ; saddlers, 6s.; shoemakers, 7s. 6c?.; sawyers, per 1,000 feet, 9s. 6c?. ; shepherds, with board and lodging, average £31 4s. per annum ; porters, per hour, 7c/. to 8c/. ; farmers, 5s. per diem. The colony is greatly indebted for its foundation (see p. 638), and for the interest which has been felt in England for its welfare, to an association termed the South Australian Company, which in June, 1850, held its fourteenth annual meeting, and de- clared a dividend of four per cent, per annum, free from income-tax. The objects of this company were, the purchase and improve- ment of lands, and their lease and sale, when so improved. It has also introduced improved breeds of stock into the colony, and worked some mining property. Meritorious eflbrts have been made for the construction of wharfs and warehouses at Port Adelaide, where ten ships may now load or unload, as if they were in the London Docks. The company seem now to be directing their more special atten- tion to leasing land, of which they possess about 60,000 acres ; offering it on the follow- ing favourable terms to settlers : — . " Engagements for leases for a term of twenty- one years, at very moderate rates, with a right of purchasing the freehold. " The sections, as marked off by the government surveyors, contain either 80 or 134 acrf.s ; so that the farms will consist of 67, 80, 134 acres, or any larger quantity, as may be agreed on. " The company's manager will point out five por- tions of freehold land, each equal to the quantity to be leased, and from them the tenant may select one. The yearly rent Avill be 4s. per acre, during the first period of seven years — 5s. per acre, during the second period of seven years, and 6s. per acre, during the third period of seven years. " In order to provide for the due cultivation of the farm, every applicant should possess a small amount of ready money, to be deposited (on signing the agreement) Avith the company, in London ; and for which (without any deduction) an order will be given on their manager in the colony. The lease will stipulate, that the amount shall be expended solely in improving the land; and the lowest sum recommended to be thus deposited as forming capi- tal, for a farm of 67 or 80 acres, is £150; and for a farm of 134 or 160 acres, £300. It is advisable, however, that every tenant should have, either from his own resources, or his friends' assistance, nearly as much capital besides, as he must incur expenses for outfit, reaching the ship, purchasing implements, freight of extra baggage and stores, &c., &c. ; and ought to have a small amount available for use, on his landing in South Australia. To accommodate settlers possessed of limited means, the company Avill not object to two partners being associated in a lease, provided their respectability and other qualifications be ascertained; and should the tenant need assist- ance to erect farm-buildings, or to fence his land, the company will aid him with an advance propor- tionate to the capital expended by him on thefarra, for which advance the rate of interest current in the colony Avill be charged. " This advance, or loan, Avill be made after the approved expenditure upon the farm of the capital deposited by the tenant, and may be repaid by in- stalments ; after repayment, the tenant will gene- PRESENT POSITION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 363 rally have a right, at any time during the lease, to purchase his farm, with all fixed improvements, The price of purchase will be specified in the lease, and will vary according to the period at which the right is claimed." A clause is inserted in ttie lease, " giving the farmer, in the event of his being dis- satisfied with all the portions of land ofiered him by the colonial manager, the option, within a specified limited time, of cancelling the engagement, on payment of the trifling expenses incurred." The following is a summary of the revenue for the last year : — Rental of the town property £2,197 Ditto of port buildings, and receipts from wharf 5,650 Ditto of country lands 6,648 Profit on sales of land — town, port, and country 3,107 Net proceeds of wool 5,662 Sales of sheep to the butchers, including value ) ^ ocjq of those killed for rations ) ' Total .... £25,105 The total cuiTcnt expenditure in tlie colony, exclusive of that connected ^^dth the mining operations, was as follows : — Salaries and wages in Adelaide . . . £958 Miscellaneous charges there .... 429 £1,388 On account of the sheep 5,229 Ditto of the town and port propertv and coun- > , ^-r, try lands ..'... \ ^'"'^ The total amount of salaries and] '' ' charges in London during this last >£1, 691 year, including the income-tax, is ) Interest on debentures, &c 921 2,612 £10,310 As population increases, and the pros- perity of the colony is augmented, there will of course be a proportionate improvement in the value of the property of the South Australian Company. The rental received by this company, for town, port, and country lots, during the past six years, has been — 1844, £5,984; 1845, £5,988; 1846, £7,084; 1847, £8,542; 1848, £11,034; 1849, £14,496. Present Position of South Australia. — The details given in the pre^aous pages testify that this fine pro^dnce, after passing through the ordeal of inordinate land specu- lations in 1836, '7, '8, '9, and of mining speculations in 1845, ^6, '7, has now attained a sound position ; and that its prosperity, at length established on a solid basis, may be reasonably expected to steadily increase. The extraordinary height to which the land mania had arrived, may be seen from the following data. The injui-ious and enerva- ting effects need no comment ; it needed all the inborn energy of the colonists to bear up against them ; yet they did so right manfully, and, by the blessing of God, with success. Early in the year 1838, Mr. R. Fisher sold an acre in Gouger-street (No. 387) for £410 ; the original cost in March, 1837, was £8 10s. In 1839, :\Ir. T. Y. Cotter, sold half- an-acre (No. 144 in Grenfell-street) for £755. The cost of the acre lot, in the previous year, was about £10. Mr. D. Macfarlane pui'chased one acre from Sir James Malcolm, in Rundle-street, nearly opposite Messrs. Russell and Freeman's warehouses, and having upon it buildings over-estimated at £500, for the sum of £2,000. Mr. Thomas, the government printer, sold one of his 137 acre sections, on the Torrens, about three miles from Adelaide, for £1,300 cash ; the section cost him £80, in 1836. Mr. Flaxman sold, to the German community of Klemzig, 2,000 acres, of a special survey on the Para river, for £20,000. Suburbaia sections, at Hindmarsh and WalkerviUe, which sold in July, 1838, for £10 an acre, brought, in 1839,' from £45 to £100 per acre. Even at Port Lincoln, allotments, that cost the previous year £20, sold for £120; and £300 were refused for half an acre water frontage. The bubble of high prices for land burst, and the people betook themselves to the steady pursuits of industry. They culti- vated the soil, obtained ample returns for their labour, but found no market for their siu'plus produce. In 1844—5, copper and lead ores were discovered, and a mania arose for mining operations, by which many have suffered considerably, and were obliged to sell their lands. The following is a retiu-n of the amount of mortgages on land regis- tered during the years 1844, '5, '6, and '7 : — Lent on 1844. Town lands .... Country lands . . . Town & country lands Total . . . £1,155 13,860 5,022 20,038 1845. £5,434 6,997 30 12,462 1846. £5.089 30,651 1,500 37,240 1847. £6,203 27,308 529 34,041 The liability by bills of sale, judgments, and warrants of attorney, registered during the years 1844, '5, '6, and '7, was — Seciu'ities. Judgments . Jjills of sale . . . Warrants of attorney Total. . . 1844. £532 16,395 5,206 22,133 1845. £994 12,983 9,783 23,761 1846. £10,478 49,659 10,741 70,879 1847. £20,412 22,229 939 43,581 364 GENERAL CONDITION OF THE COLONY SINCE 1840. The number and nature of writs which passed through tlie sheriff's oflEice during the years 1844, 'o, '6, and '7, were — Nature of "Writs. Capias ad satisfacien- 1 duin . . . . ' Capias Fieri facias .... Habere facias posses- ( sionem ... 3 To levy fines . . . Habeas corpus . . Attachment for con-l tempt . . . . / Total . . . 1844. 11 10 99 46 1845. 20 6 30 57 1846. 14 11 24 54 1847. 10 13 28 3 9 56 The following is a return of the number of fiats in insolvency issued in the province of South Australia during the years 1844, % '6, and '7 :— On Petition of 1844. 1845. 1846. 1347. Creditors .... Imprisoned debtors . Debtors at large . . 2 8 1 13 12 6 10 2 12 7 Total . . . 10 23 16 21 All accounts now represent a more steady industrial progress in mining, as well as in agriculture; and I doubt not that every succeeding year in which the facts may be registered, in continuation of the' accom- panying comparative tabular view of the state of the province, will exhibit yet more remarkable evidences of the ^^ elfare of this promising section of the British empire. General Condition of South Australia at the close of each year since 1840. In. the Years 1840. 1841. 1842. 1843. 1844. 1845. 1846. 1847. 1848. 1849 ■} Inhabitants in the Province Do. in Municipality of Adelaide .... Do. Rural Districts . Public houses in Adelaide, Port Adelaide, and Al bert Town . . Do. in the Country . . • Convictions for crimes and \ misdemeanours ) Flour Mills . Manufactories . . . • Acres in Cultivation . • Value of Exports of Colo-l nial Produce in £ . J Amount of Government"' Expenditure in £ . J Do. Revenue in £ 14,610 8,489 6,121 70 37 47 4 2,503 15,650 169,966 30,199 6,722 31,826 104,471 26,720 19,790 29,079 54,444 22,074 17,366 6,107 11,259 34 33 31 16 31 28,690 66,160 29,842 24,142 18,999 37 33 21 21 35 26,918| 82,268 29,453 27,878 22,390 7,413 14,977 45 40 22 24 59 26,218^ 131,800 32,099 36,182 25,893 58 60 40 26 44 33,2921 287,059 37,207 48,017 31,153 66 66 31 25 51 36,440^ 275,115 58,979 67,027 40,778 50,000 53 25 48^917 465,878 80,129 82,847 374,156 82,638 94,200 Note. — In 1849 the immigrants to the colony were : — from Great Britain, 12,501 ; British Colonies, 2,038 ; Foreign Countries, 1,627 — total, 16,166. Departures from the colony to Great Britain, 131; British Colonies, 2,393; Foreign Countries, 170— total, 2,694. It may here be observed, that in some Shij)ping at Adelaide in 1849. returns, the proceeds of the land sales are included as revenue, in others they are ex- cluded. In the statement at p. 695, the land revenue is excluded. A document laid before Parliament on the 5th July, 1850 (No. 511), gives the undermentioned finan- cial statement of the expenditiu-e for nine years. [For continuation see Supplement.] Countries. Inwards. Outwards. No. Tons. No. Tons. Great Britain . . . British Colonies . . Foreign States . . Total . . 95 165 17 46,507 28,173 5,988 25 209 38 9,747 51,738 13,812 277 80,623 272 75,297 Year. Ordinary Revc nue (fixed and incidental.) Bills drawn on her Majesty's Treasury. Bills on the Colonization Commissioners Proceeds of . other Bills. From Land Sales. Loans and Transfers from Land Fund. Total. 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1817 1848 £31,879 28,550 25,034 24,779 27,879 35,574 48,018 67,028 82,912 £27,154 36,607 6,252 2,475 £129,273 23,853 £4,990 3,000 1 £2,602 17,830 411 £ 1 9,955 5,692 200 3,587 5,609 £17 9 7 3 3 5 4 6 8 8,097 ),851 9,471 1,642 i,941 1,183 8,018 7,028 2,912 BOOK Y.— WESTERN AUSTRALIA. CHAPTER I. POSITION, AREA— AND EARLY HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT. This division of Australia, generally known as the "Swan River" colony, comprises all that portion of the island- continent situated to the westward of the 129th degree of E. long., and extends between the parallels of 13° 44f and 35° S. ; is bounded on the south by the Pacific, on the west-north-west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Arafura Sea, and on the east by the meridian line above- named. The length from north to south is computed at 1,280 miles, and the bi'eadth from east to west at 800 miles ; the area is about 1,000,000 square miles, or more than eight times the size of the United Kingdom of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, History. — The "Swan River Settlement" has been a bye- word and a reproach, fre- quently cited by the advocates of the so- called Wakefield system to illustrate the evils of a different plan of colonization, while defending themselves from the blame so unsparingly bestowed upon them during the period of distress and depression under which South Australia laboured. In the previous book I have expressed my conviction, founded upon the facts therein stated, that the latter colony could not, either in its prosperity or its adversity, be fairly used as a general argument on one side or the other; it re- mains to be seen whether the Swan River settlement in its turn presents any tenable ground for the sweeping assertions in sup- port of which it is adduced, mainly on the score of its having been " a complete failure!' Even were this the case, it would not necessarily follow that the original plan was the sole cause of so unfortunate a result; for the grievous errors and inconsistencies by which the practical working of the most carefully-framed human system may be per- verted, and the very existence of a colony endangered, is painfully evident in the early history of too many British colonies, though counterbalanced by the energy, the industry, and the sound principles of government apparently inherent in the minds of the set- tlers themselves. In the present instance a succinct account of the history of the Swan River settlement %vi]l furnish data on which to found an opinion of how far the stigma attached to it as a total failure is really merited, and the causes to which that failure, or, on the other hand, the slow advances which it is admitted, even by its best friends, to have made, can be fairly attributed. The term 8wan River was given to this portion of Western Austraha by Vlaming, a Dutch navigator, who discovered it in 1697, and found in the neighbourhood many black swans. In 1801, the French corvette Naturaliste visited this coast, and M.M. Bailly and Heirisson, on 17th June, entered the river Swan in a cutter, obseiwed large flocks of black swans, pelicans, and parro- quets, and were surprised, after three days^ explorations, with the forests and geological formation of the country. Public attention was first directed in England to Western Australia by Captain (now Sir James) Stirling, R.N., who, when in command of H.M.S. Success, made a report, dated the 18th of April, 1827, point- ing out the advantages of our occupying this portion of that vast island, and thus prevent the execution of a project then entertained by the French government for the formation of a Gallic Australian settlement. Early in the year 1829, Captain Free- mantle, R.N., of H.M.S Challenger, hoisted the British flag near the entrance of Swan River, and took formal possession of the territory on behalf of the British crown, in the name of his Majesty George the Fourth. A portion of the country now included in the limits of Western Australia, situated on the south coast, and termed King George's Sound, was occupied in 1825-G, by a de- tachment of troops and persons sent from Sydney under the command of Major Lockyer. This detachment was withdrawn in the year 1830-1. It was generally understood that his Majesty's government would not undertake S66 SYSTEM ON WHICH WESTERN AUSTRALIA WAS FOUNDED. at the public cost the formation of a settle- ment on the western coast, a proposition was therefore made on the pai-t of Thomas Peel, Esq., Sir Francis Vincent, E. W. Schenley, Esq., and others, to further the views of government in founding a colony at little or no expense to the mother coun- try. These gentlemen offered to provide shipping for the conveyance of 10,000 I British subjects within four years from the , United Kingdom to the Swan River, fur- j I nished with pro's'isions and every other ' necessary, and to maintain three small ves- ! sels running to and from Sydney, as occa- [ sion might require. They estimated the I cost of convejdng this number of emigrants at £300,000, or £30 per head, and required in return an equivalent gi-ant of land at the rate of Is. 6d. an acre, making 4,000,000 acres, out of which they would engage to t proAide every male eraigi'ant with no less than 200 acres of land, rent-free. This project fell to the ground owing, I believe, to the inability of the proposers to satisfy the government as to the adequacy of their ! means of carrying it into eflFect, and another j plan for the execution of the same object was issued in December, 1828, from the Colonial-office, of which department Sir George ^lurray was then the chief. According to this project no expense was to be incm-red by the government, either in conveying emigrants, or supplying them with pro\'isions on their arrival ; but intend- ing settlers reaching Swan River before the close of the year 1830, were to receive in the oi'der of their arrival allotments of land, rent free, at the rate of forty acres for every sum of £3, which they could prove them- selves to the satisfaction of the Lieutenant- governor, prepared to invest in the improve- ment of the land. Those who should incur the expense of taking out labouring persons were to be entitled to an allotment of land, at the rate of 200 acres, considered equiva- lent to i^lo for the passage of every such person, Avithout reference to any other grants of which they might become possessed. In the class of " labouring persons" were in- cluded women, and children above ten years old. With respect to the children of labour- ing people under that age, it was proposed to allow forty acres for every child above three years old; eighty acres for every child above six years old; and 120 for every child above nine, and under ten years old. The title to the land was not to be granted in fee simple, imtil the settler had proved, to the satisfaction of the Lieutenant-governor, that the sum required (\iz. \s. 6d. per acre), had been actually expended in some invest- ment, or in the cultivation of the land, or in solid improvements, such as buildings, roads, or other works of that kind. Any land, thus allotted, of which a fair proportion, at least one-fourth, should not haA'e been brought into cultivation, or other- wise improved, to the satisfaction of the local government, within three years from the date of licence of occupation, was to be liable to one further payment of 6d. per acre for all the land not so cultivated or improved, into the public chest of the settle- ment ; and, at the expiration of seven years more, so much of the whole grant as should remain in an uncultivated or unimproved state was to revert absolutely to the crown. Eveiy grant was likewise to involve the con- dition, that, at any time within ten years from the date thereof, the government might resume, without compensation, any land not then actually cultivated, or improved, as before-mentioned, which might be required for roads, canals, or quays, or for the site of public buildings. Under the head of investment of capital, his Majesty's government agi'ced to include stock of eveiy description, labourers, provi- sions, all implements of husbandry, and other articles applicable to the purposes of productive industry, or necessary for the establishment of the settler on the land ; the amount of any half-pay or pension receivable from his Majesty's government was also to be considered as so much capital. After the year 1830, land was to be disposed of to those settlers who might resort to the colony on such conditions as his ]\Iajesty's govern- ment might then determine. Mr. Thomas Peel, aided, to the extent ol £20,000, by the late Mr. Solomon Levy (then of the firm of Cooper and hevj, of Sydney and London), undertook the re- sponsibility of making the first efforts for the foundation of the colony. Mr. Peel was to receive 250,000 acre?, on condition of taking out 400 emigrants, with liberty to extend the grant to 1,000,000 acres, previous to the year 1840, by receiving 40 acres foi eveiy child above thi'ce years, 80 for every child above six, up to ten years 120, and exceeding that age and upwards 200 acres for each person conveyed to the colony. Colonel Latour also availed himself of the governmental terms, took out settlers, stock, NUMEROUS ARRIVALS AT SWAN RIVER IN 1829-30. 367 &c., and became entitled to a tract of land of considerable extent. At the first glance it may appear that this extensive tract was granted on very easy terms, but it will not be thought so when the circumstances of the case are duly con- sidered. The estimated cost of the convey- ance of an adult from the United Kingdom to the west coast of Australia was then about ,£30; no supplies were procurable on the spot, and the distance from Sydney (1,134 miles), together with the difficulty of doubling the south-west coast from the eastward for six months in the year, rendered the estab- lishment of a colony at the Swan River twenty years ago an extremely expensive and arduous undertaking, and a very dif- ferent matter to the creation of settlements at Port Phillip and Adelaide eight years later. To these latter places it must be remembered that sheep, cattle, and horses were driven overland at a comparatively small cost from the southern pastoral dis- tricts of New South Wales by the same route, and by a short sea voyage from Van Diemen^s land ; surplus labour was also ob- tained from the older colonies, whereas stock brought into Western Australia was neces- sarily imported by sea, and it was estimated that each sheep, including freight, insu.rance, and allowing for losses, cost the colonists £20. By the exertions of INIr. Peel, of Colonel Latour, and other gentlemen, his Majesty's government was enabled to announce that a settlement would be formed on the west coast of Australia ; Captain Stii'ling, R.N., was appointed civil superintendent, with authority to select a grant of land for him- self to the extent of 100,000 acres; and early in the year 1829, a number of emi- grants left England to form the new colony. The government of that day were cer- tainly to blame for the want of forethought which marked this stage of the proceed- ings ; no survey of the land had been made, nor any inquiries as to its resources; no system was organized, no public or cor- porate body in England was responsible for the due management of the expedi- tion, and the consequences of these omis- sions were most distressing. Not even a secure anchorage had been ascertained. * On the 1st June, 1829, the Parmelia transport arrived at Swan River, with Captain Stirling as chief, and several of the government officers for the new colony. On the 8th June, II. M.S. Sulphur arrived, with a detachment of H.M. 63rd regiment, under the command of Captain Irwin. On the 17th, tlie first public proclamation was issued, and the appointments The settlers were landed on the beach, in mid-winter, in the neighbourhood of a bare limestone rock, the country around devoid of agricultural or pastoral capabilities, but filled with hostile savages. The settlers began to arrive in the middle of the year 1829,* and by the end of the same year, twenty-five ships had reached the new settle- ment ; the number of residents Avcre stated to be, 850 ; of non-residents, 440 ; number of cattle, 204; of horses, 57; of sheep, 1,096; of hogs, 106; and the value of pro- perty gi\ing claims to land, was quoted, during these few months, at £41,550 ; the value of cargo left by ships, up to the end of December, was £50,428. In 1830, the number of immigrants increased ; in Janu- ary, 6 vessels arrived ; February, 5 ; March, 4 ; April, 1 ; May, 6 ; July, 2 ; August, September, and October, each, 1 ; Novem- ber, 2 ; and December, 1 = 30. The num- ber of settlers brought by these ships was, 1,185 ; and the cargo left at the new town of Freemantle by them, was valued at £144,177. In 1831, the arrivals were less frequent, and the vessels numbered only 17; and after the first quarter, 1832, the immigration of persons and property ceased, except so far as related to the friends and funds of persons prcAdously estabUshed in the colony. Dming this period, the amount of property introduced into the colony by the immigrants, on which applications for land were based, amounted to £120,000, and consisted of live stock, implements of husbandry, provisions, wearing apparel, fur- niture, and other goods. Officers of the army and navy, and the officers on the cvnl establishment of the colony, were authorized by Sir George Mur- ray to receive assignments of land on the terms of importation of property which were open to the public. To some naval and military officers who engaged to return to the settlement at an early period with the property necessary to qualify them to re- ceive allotments, permission to select land was granted, and the territory so selected was reserved for a considerable period. Thus, many of the settlers who arrived in 1829 and 1830, on expressing a desire to possess themselves of lands in favourable localities, of the official authorities notified. In August the Calista, St. Leonard, and Marquess of Anglesea arrived, with colonists, stock, and merchandize. In October nine vessels reached the Swan River, with settlers and stock ; in November, two shi])s ; and in December the Gihnore, with Mr. Peel and 170 pas- sengers. S6S GRANTS OF LAND TO CIVIL, NAVAL, AND IMILITARY OFFICERS. conformable to the amount of property then in their possession, were informed, " that ten thousand acres is reserved for Captain A. ; that six thousand acres to Lieutenant B.; that five thousand acres to Mr. C. ;" and so on, over the best situated applot- ments. Between June, 1829, and the close of 1831, the quantity of land assigned to or reserved for, civil, naval, and military officers, was as follows: — Civil, 19 persons, 162,062 acres; naval, 16 persons, 33,680 acres; mili- tary, 11 persons, 30,862 acres. There were also reservations for 15 private individuals, of 60,880 acres.* Thus nineteen of the ci^dl servants of the crown, selected and reserved for themselves, naturally out of the best lands, applotments which averaged to each about 8,530 acres. f In this list the governor (Sir James Stirling) stands marked for 100,000 acres, which he received by special award from Sir George Murray, then her Majesty's secretary for the colony. This immense grant was selected in diflferent places, snd is stated to have been shifted from time to time, according to the prospective value of new positions. J The colonial secretary received 5,066 acres; harbour-master, 7,592; colonial sur- geons, 5,000 each ; colonial naturalist, 5,000; storekeeper, 5,000 ; surveyor-general, 5,600 ; collector of revenue, 5,000 ; colonial chap- lain, 5,020; civil engineer, 4,400; drafts- man, 2,560; clerk in survey office, 1,280; and a Captain Butler, whose name appears among the civil officers, 2,560 acres. It is presumed that aU these civil officers brought * See Parliamentary Paper, No. 685, of 6th August, 1838, for details. t It is said that the colonial authorities of 1829 gave the official servants of the crown who went out to found the Swan River colony, profuse grants of valueless lands, as compensation for the small salaries awarded to them. X It is, however, due to Sir James Stirling, who possesses a high character in his profession, to state that great credit is due to him for the manner in which he surmounted the errors committed in the early proceedings of the colony. After the first dis- asters, he infused a new spirit into the desponding settlers, and it is mainly owing to his perseverance and unconquerable determination to succeed, that the place was not utterly abandoned. § Mr. Peel was ruined by his exertions to pro- mote the establishment of the colony, at its com- mencement, and on 31st March, 1847, he was still in debt to her Majesty's government, £3,828, in- curred by introducing a valuable body of men into the settlement. In 1847, the acting governor, with aview to the liquidation of part of this debt to thrf^crown, agreed to accept the surrender of a block of land of 1,372 acres, at 20s. per acre property into the colony, in conformity vnth the official regulations. Among the naval grantees were the names of Captains Dance, of H.M.S. Sulphur, and Freemantle, of H.M.S. Challenger, each 5,000 acres; and Sandilands, of H.M.S. Comet, 2,560 acres. Lieutenants, mates, masters, and surgeons of those vessels had grants appropriated to them, varying from 1,280 to 3,840 acres. None of these gen- tlemen could, of course, leave their ships, and most of the grants were reassigned, or remained unoccupied and unassigned. Among the military grantees were cap- tains Irwin and Mackie, of the 63rd regi- ment, 10,000 acres ; Deputy Assistant-com- missary-genei-al Lewis, 5,012 acres; Lieute- nant Dale, 63rd regiment, 448 acres. Among the private individuals, for whom 60,880 acres were reserved, was the name of Mr. Gellibrand, for whom 10,000 acres were re- served, on the promise of his importing into the colony a sufficient amount of property to entitle him to the selection. The other reservations varied from 3,000 to 9,000 acres. Moreover, in the years 1829, '30, and '31, there were reserved for townships nearly 100,000 acres (98,590). For the to^-n site of York alone, 38,400 acres were reserved ; for Plantagenet, 17,000; for Clarence, 7,680 ; for Perth, 3,840. London, with upwards of 2,000,000 inhabitants, does not cover, pro- bably, more than ten square miles = 6,400 acres. With these antecedents, it would have been difficult for men§ unconnected with government, and unaided by public support, = £1,372, which was contiguous to the town site of Rockingham ; the said block containing the deepest water-frontage in Mangle's bay, on M'hich the town is situated. Major (now colonel) Irwin, who has laboured zealously for the benefit of Wes- tern Australia, gives Mr. Peel credit for introducing men of good conduct, who were well acquainted with farming pursuits and handicrafts, and for bring- ing into the colony, towards the fulfilment of his contract, a population of 300 souls, with a property of £50,000. Another instance of great hardship is recorded in the correspondence of the colonial office. Captain Bannister, formerly high-sheriff of Van Diemen's Island' — an officer of great energy and considerable talent — accomplished, in 1831, after enduring much danger and privation, an exploratory over-land jour- ney, in seven weeks, from Perth to King George's Sound ; yet this gentleman declares himself to have been driven from the colony by the unjust treat- ment he experienced regarding the land allotments. A Mr. William Wise introduced property into the settlement to the amount of £1,984 (irrespective of ready money, which gave no claim for land,) and accordingly, under the regulations of December, DISASTROUS EARLY SETTLEMENT AT SWAN RIVER. 369 to have formed a colony, even in the love- Hcst and most feilile land on earth; and it is surprising that the attempt was not abandoned in the outset. The frightful struggles, which the settlers of 1829-30 had to undergo, are described in a "monster address," signed by nearly every non-oflficial settler (including the magistracy, &c.), and presented to the governor of Western Aus- tralia, by a deputation of the leading gen- try, in the presence of the members of the Executive and Legislative Councils. This addi'css was transmitted by the governor to Earl Grey, and may be found at length in the Parhamentary Emigration Papers for 1849-50. The grievances therein complained of, de- serve mention, not only as forming a chief cause of the slow progress made by the colony during ensuing years, but also as affording a valuable example of what should and should not be done on similar occa- sions. The errors in this case appear to have arisen chiefly from sheer carelessness, and the most unaccountable want of fore- thought on the part, it would appear, of all concerned. Had the proposal been to co- lonize one of the Channel Islands, instead of to form a settlement in the southern hemisphere, matters could hardly have been taken more easily. 1828, was officially informed by the colonial secre- tary, that he " had entitled himself to a grant of land to the extent of 26,453 acres." Mr. Wise re- ceived his " location order," which cost him, in actual outlay, £1,001 5s. 9 J. ; there was no surveyed land of which he could make sure, and after the waste of the substantial j^roperty he had introduced into the colony, Mr. Wise, for the sake of his family sold his " location order" to Captain Bannister, and proceeded to Van Diemen's Island. But from that day to this, Captain Bannister has never been put in possession of the land to which he had thus become entitled, and most probably will never receive an acre or a shilling for his property. — (See correspondence with the Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1836-7.) * The following extracts from the address before alluded to, paint in glowing language a vivid, but, it is to be hoped, somewhat exaggerated picture of the suffering which attended the foundation of the Swan River settlement : — " The entire material of a settlement, the official staff", settlers, property, and live stock, were hurried out to an unknown wilderness before one acre was surveyed, before one building had been erected, before even a guess had been formed as to the proper scene of their labours, before the slightest knowledge had been obtained of the soil, climate, products, or inhabitants. Nay, further, it was absolutely made a condition of the grants of land, that the emigrant should not only arrive, but bring his family, depen- dents, and property, into the colony while in this state. " The gliastly spectacle of the town-site of Clarence DIV. IT. The manner in which the terms for the grant of land were framed rendered its acquisition dependent on arrival in a stated time, and induced the emigrants to bring out in excess servants, live stock, machinery, &c., of which each took more than he re- quired. The season selected for their arrival, in a country known to contain hostile na- tives, was the month of June (there mid- winter) . Not a shed had been provided for their reception; not an acre had been sur- veyed; and, as before stated, even a safe anchorage had not been ascertained. Seve- ral ships were dashed to pieces on the beach, which was crowded with masses of human beings — families with infant chil- dren, ladies, civil officers, sailors, soldiers, and farmers; while blood and cart horses, milch cows, prize bulls, sheep, goats, poultry, pigs, pianofortes, ploughs, mills, barouches, casks, furniture, bedding, tools, and seed- corn lay heaped together, drenched with torrents of rain. The confusion was complete; the leaders of the enterprise were equally at a loss with the settlers to know what to do or advisy. Some demanded to be led to their lands ; others gave way to despair : servants at- tacked the spirit-casks ; masters followed their example. * The farmers were told they must wait, wait till lands were dis- — its sole edifices crowded, hurried, and neglected tombs — its only inhabitants corpses, the victims of disease, starvation, and despair — the sea-beach strewed with wrecks — the hills and borders of the rivers studded with deserted and half-finished build- ings — bear witness to these consequences, and speak of brave men, delicate females, and helpless children, perishing by hundreds on a desert coast from want of food, of shelter, and even of Mater, and sur- rounded by armed hordes of angry savages. It were wholly impossible, sir, to estimate the vast amount of property of every sort buried for safety in the sands of the shore, and never again recovered, or the multitude of most valuable and high-bred stock of all descriptions, M'hose skeletons whitened the beach or filled the morasses they had been forced to enter in the desperate search for even fresh water. Can we wonder, then, that thousands rushed from such a scene with the relics of their capital, to people other colonies ; or even that numbers sat down in the frenzy of despair beside the spirit-cask, never to rise from it alive ? Can we wonder that the name of Sw'an River should, throughout the civilised world, become identified with failure and ruin, and that the survivors of such carnage should be left alone by their fellow-men to carry on an enterprise so dreadfully begun ? Or may we not rather indulge in a justifiable pride in the resources of a country and the energies of a ])eople who, from such a commencement, have, under Providence, elaborated even the civilization which your excel- lency may already see around you ? But these ter- rible scenes, brought on by the unjustifiable attempt 2z 370 CAUSES OF THE SUFFERINGS OF THE COLONISTS. covered, and then ivait imtil they were surveyed. In fine, a quarter of a million sterling of property was destroyed ; the means of the immigrants dissipated ; their live stock perished ; many died ; and num- bers, as soon as practicable, fled from this scene of ruin, carrying with them the wreck of their fortunes. I have been assured by a colonist of high character, and holding an official position, that fifteen years elapsed before the suiweys were sufficiently advanced to enable a settler within five miles of the capital to put up a boundary fence. Mr. James Walcott, one of the first set- tlers, says — " I was, in common with many others, a severe sufferer, from the fact of the government being unable to redeem its pledge to the colonists arri\dng in 1829 and 1830 at the Swan River settlement. It was not till several months after my arrival that I was offered a very small grant on the Swan, by the local government, and then only in consequence of its being va- cated by another party. In the mean time most of the stock imported had died at Freemantle, where there was no keep for them — in fact, of actual want. I may say, with safety, that one-half of the property I imported was sunk before I could get a location which offered auy prospect of success." Subsequently, Avhen the few, after gallantly penetrating the forest, and discovering good farm lands, had raised the drooping spirits of the rest, and a chance arose that a fresh body arriWng, with new capital and stock, might do well, the land terms were changed to the same as the old-estabhshed colony of Sydney, where no hazards were to be run. Almost at the same time companies arose to push forward other colonies, each one natu- rally vaunting the advantages of its own, and disregarding, if not disparaging the merits of the rest ; and the neglected little settlement of Swan River was soon forgotten, and left to establish the foundation of an infant nation to hurry a colony into existence before steps had been taken for its security, are far from being the termination, or even the most injurious, of the eri-ors which have plunged us into our present difficulties. At the very time when the unhaj)py immigrants ■were crowding on the beach, wasting and losing all their means, the conditions of their immigration told them ihat they had but a limited time to select and improve their grants. And more monstrous still, tliis time was actually expired before these grants were surveyed. " A ."^''"OJ'i but yet very ruinous error, consisted in limiting the investments of capital, which pro- duced a vast accumulation of the same articles, and unaided by aught but the resources of its country and climate, and its own patient but over-taxed energies. The effect of the non- arrival of fresh immigrants in a colony so peculiarly constituted may be readily con- jectured. The hired labom-er rapidly acquired the means of working on his own account, and became desirous in his turn of obtaining assistance, and the ruin of those Avho de- pended upon hired labour Mas the conse- quence. And here lies the secret of the so-called failure of Swan River. In one, and in only one, respect has it really failed, and that is in attracting emi^jration; in almost every other it has succeeded. Its trade has increased, crime among the Euro- peans is almost unknown, and its i^resent — who are in general its original settlers — have in proportion to theii' numbers, effected a creditable extent of tillage, and evinced a very praiseworthy spirit. Every one at all practically acquainted with the subject of emigration, is av»are of the immense influence exercised by the powerful London companies in favour of the colonies in which they are respectively interested. Is it, then, strange that a settlement, iU supported by government, and luirepresented (excepting for a brief period by the Western Australian Com- pany) in the mother country, should have proved incapable of attracting the stream of emigration which it was the object of so much combined exertion to dii'ect elsewhere? Besides, the miseries endured at the foundation of the colony, naturally gave rise to a strong prejudice in its dis- favour. To return to the proposition stated at the commencement of this chapter, this present instance would appear to be one of the many in which the error lies not in the system itself, but in the absence of the need- ful preparation, as well as careful super- vision necessary to its successful Avorking. Any colony, equally neglected at home, and total want of others, and of money. The majority of the imported articles could not be of use for some years, and each settler Avas induced to bring more than he required, in hopes of sale. The want of storehouses caused the destruction of all these. As if sufficient means had not been used to destroy our capital, the system of location duties was added ; by Avhich the settler was compelled to prove that he had wasted Is. M. per acre in permanent im- provements. The result Avas, the erection of multi- tudes of cottages, fences, &c., in remote, and at the time, wholly uninhabitable places, which were, of course, allowed to become the prey of the element<5, as soon as the expensive farce had been performed." LAND REGULATIONS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA. J71 founded with as reckless improvidence with regard to surveys and shelter, and prelimi- nary preparations, must, like Swan River, have been crippled, if not crushed, whether established on the " sufficient price" or any other system. Even the large grants of ]ar,d refeiTcd to in a previous page, would not in themselves have proved injui'ious but for the imprudence of the authorities in not requiring sufficient security for the fulfilment of the annexed conditions; even as it is they appear to have exercised in some re- spects a farourable efi'ect by giving a motive for continued exertion much needed under the circumstances. It is pleasing to know, as will be shewn in Supplementary observations on the colony, that the stationary state is passed, the deve- lopment of the resources of the territory has commenced, and the tide of immigration is now setting in towards Vv'"estern Australia. With respect to the announcement relative to the disposal of crown lands in Western Australia, from the Colonial-office, Decem- ber, 18.28, 13th .January, and 3rd February, 1829, granting land on certain conditions (see page 710) new regulations were issued from the Colonial-office, Downing-street, 20th July, 1830, by which 100 acres, valued at £15, were allowed for eveiy laboui-er, including women and children above twelve years of age ; 60 acres for eveiy child between twelve and six years of age, and 30 acres for every child under six years of age. Lands allotted, if unimproved, to the extent of 3s. per acre, in tAvo years, to be liable to quit-rent of Is. per acre ; if still unimproved in two more years, to revert to the crown, or be subjected to a higher quit-rent. The pro- portion of " capital," i.e. of stock, imple- ments of husbandry, &c., which qualified settlers to receive land, was raised from Is. 6d. to 3s. per acre. Subsequently the land sales^ regulations adopted for the older Australian colonies were declared to be in force in Western Australia, where land is now only purchaseable from the crown at the minimum upset auction price of 205. per acre. This high price has proved eff'ective for the prevention of the sale of crown lands, for according to the CA-idence of INIr. Lefroy (an intelligent Swan River settler), before the House of Lords, 24th :March,' 1848— " There were in 1 844 certainly quite a mil- lion of acres in the colony which could have been purchased for 3^. an acre." Much of this was probably poor laud ; and her ~Ma- jesty's government, in a spirit of equity, gave the original grantees, who had taken up injudicious and sometimes unavoidable allotments, an opportunity of exchanging t/u-ee acres of bad land for one acre of good land. These " remission tickets" were stated in 1848 not to exceed £4,000 in value. The land alienated from the crown in Western Australia averages 3.j0 acres for each man, woman, and child in the colony. Before concluding this necessarily brief sketch of the origin of the colony, it is due to the settlement to notice the rise and fall of a company, whose failure has been un- justly ascribed to the character of the countiy. The Western AiistmRan Association had its origin in the meeting of an institution held in London, 23rd August, 1835, to watch over the interests of the colony. After several meetings and annual reports, a regularly organized joint-stock company was formed in 1841, under the auspices of Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield (one of the directors of the corporation), wliose object was to piu-chase a large quantity of land in the colony from the original grantees, Sir James Stirling and Colonel Latour [to whom 113,000 acres were assigned, 29th Sept., 1829], at a cheap rate, with a riew of selling it at the rate of £101 for 100 rui-al ' acres and four town sections of a quarter of an acre each; the choice of the allotments and town sections to be determined by lot. A toAvnship or city, termed Australind, was to be laid out at Leschenault bay, " to extend over a thousand acres, exclusive of a reserve for public objects, such as quays, streets, squares, markets, chui'ches, and pub- lic gardens." About this period Captain (now Sir George) Grey returned to Eng- land, bringing accounts of the fine country he had discovered in the neighbom-hood of Champion bay (see topography), and stating also the existence of a good harbour adja- cent. Nearly at the same time, it was announced that the extensive grants to Colonel Latour were forfeited to and re- serA'cd by her Majesty's government. This news, united with the representations of Captain Grey, induced the Western Aus- tralian Company to change their plan, and attempt the settlement of the northern disr trict. The change, however, exciting con- siderable alarm, and the directors having offered to refund the capital of all who dcsu'ed it, a large part of the subscriptions were withdrawn, and confidence in the enter- prise paralyzed. Colonel Latouj-'s claims 372 GOVERNORS OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA SINCE 1829. rcntuallr proved to be valid, but the evil arrangements and ground-plans sketched in caused by their supposed forfeiture was irrecoverable. The chief commissioner of the company, :Mr. Clifton, left England in 1841, with the first detachment of emigrants. On reaching Port Leschenault, on his way to the new district, he received such communications from the governor, and such information respecting the supposed Port Grey, and the country in its ■\dcinity, as induced him to found the colony under his charge on the spot originally contemplated, in Leschenault inlet, instead of at Port Grey."^ On the arrival of H.M.S. Beagle, Captain Stokes, accompanied by Mr. Clifton, pro- ceeded to examine the territory concerning which statements so contradictory had been made ; they sought in vain for the harbour, and described the country as unfit for the settler, being deficient in the three most necessary articles, Avater, timber for build- ing, and food for stock. t Subsequent ex- aminations have proved that Captain Grey's statements were, nevertheless, correct, inas- much as there is a harbour now called Port Grey, and a fertile and extensive tract of country in its vicinity (see topography). But to return, Mr. Clifton, considering him- self fully justified in the step he had taken, proceeded, with the counsel and concur- rence of the local government, to establish the settlement on the shores of Leschenault inlet; setting aside the somewhat Utopian London, for others more in unison Avith the physical features of the country. The first emigrants, however, had been obliged to follow the prcAdous arrangements, which were found so harassing and unsatisfactory, as to induce several to abandon their allot- ments and leave the company's lands, and settle elsewhere. Nevertheless, the energy and perseverance of Mr. Clifton appeared in a fair way of ultimately triumphing over all local ob- stacles; the substantial advantages of the site he had chosen were becoming evident, and promised solid, though not brilliant, success, when the Western Australian Com- pany suspended operations, dismissed its of- ficers, and practically abandoned the enter- prise, since which period it has retained little more than a nominal existence. The names of the governors and acting governors who have administered the aftairs of Western Australia since its foundation, have been : — Captain Sir J. Stirling, R.N. (governor) 1st June 1829 Captain Irwin, H M. 63rd reg. (acting) Sept. 1832 Captain Daniel, H.M. 21st reg. „ Sept. 1833 Captain Sir J. Stirling returned fromi .,,„. 1004 England j" °' ^ "^^ John Hutt, Esq. (governor) .... 2nd Jan. 1839 Lieut.-Col. Clarke, K.B. (governor) . Feb. 1846 Died 6th Feb. 1847 Major Irwin (acting) 7th Feb. 1847 Captain Fitzgerald, R.N. (governor) . Sept. 1849 \_Note. — See Supplement and Appendix for continuation of History and Statistics to present period.] CHAPTER II. PHYSICAL ASPECT— COAST LINE— ISLANDS-HARBOURS-RIVERS AND LAKES- GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY OF THE COUNTIES-GEOLOGY— MEN^ERALOGY- SOIL— CLIMATE— WINDS AND TIDES. Western Australia is not marked, like the provinces of New South Wales, and of Victoiia, by lofty mountain ranges, nor, like that of South Australia, by deep gulfs or bays ; or distinguished by any great river, such as the INIm-ray. Sheltered from the tremendous roll of the Southern Pacific, and laved by the more placid waters of the In- * See Mr. Clifton's Letter to Captain Stokes, pub- lished in the latter gentleman's Discoveries in Aus- tralia, vol. ii., p. 382. f Ibid. dian Ocean, the west coast, between Sharks' and Geographe bays, presents a compara- tively regular and unvaz'ied outline; com- prising, nevertheless, many estuaries or in- lets, some of considerable size and depth, but barred with sandbanks at their entrance, so as to prevent their being safe harbours for large ships. The coast-line north of Geographe bay is bounded, for a distance of thirty to forty miles from the land, by a bank of coralline TOPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. or calcareous formation^ such as is found on the coast of Sicily. The bank of sound- ings extends farthest off the north-west coast, as eighty-five miles north of Depuch island (De Witt's Land) a bottom of fine white sand was found at seventy-five fathoms. Between 19'' 50' and 20° 10' S. lat., about forty miles from the islands fronting the coast, there are soundings of 200 fathoms. Off the south point of Sharks' bay, in 26° 42' S. lat., soundings of grey sand were obtained in 137 fathoms, at thirty-seven miles distance from the land. In 32° S. lat., twent}^ miles off Rottnest or Gar- den island, the soundings are seventy fathoms. j The distinguishing feature of the colony is a somewhat elevated and occasionally steep and rocky range, termed the Darling Hills, which runs nearly parallel with the 1 Avest coast, at a distance of about twenty miles from it, and extends from about 35° j S. lat., near Point D'Entrecasteaux, along : the meridian of 116"^, for above 400 miles,' with an average breadth of forty miles, and a height varying from 1,000 to 1,500 feet. There are collateral spurs, which, on ! approaching the 32nd degree of latitude, appear to form extensive parallel chains, and are probably connected with more ele- vated mountains in the unexplored northern and north-eastern parts of Australia. Captain Grey says that he discovered two mountain ranges; one, named Victoria range (see general map), at the northern extremity of the Darling range, and about thirty miles to the eastward of it, lofty and altogether diflering in character from the Darling, which at this point, where its direc- tion is nearly north and south, is called Moresby's flat-topped range ; and another, apparently thrown off in a westerly direc- tion from the Darling range, about forty miles in length, from north to south, of a bare, sterile, and barren nature, and termi- nating seaward in Mounts Peron and Les- neur. This ridge is called, after one of the most intelligent gentlemen in the Colonial Department, London, Gairdner's range. (See map of Western Australia.) Another ridge, north and east of the preceding, is termed HerschelV s range ; and one farther south is called Smit/is range. The Darling range presents the appear- ance of a mighty forest of magnificent timber, broken only occasionally by a few in\dting valleys. The Darhng hills separate the province into two distinct districts; the one, termed the plain of Quartania, situated between the Darling hills and the sea coast, stretching from south to north for about 300 miles, with a breadth of fifteen to twenty miles. This plain is well wooded towards the coast, is in some places low, of a coralline struc- ture, and full of estuaries, lakes, rivers, and streamlets. In other places the limestone formation rises into eminences and hills, parallel to the coast-line, and nearly iso- lated from the surrounding country. To the northward, towards Champion bay, the country becomes more undidating, and presents some singular ridges. The district to the eastward of the Dar- ! ling range, " the country over the hdls," may be said to commence at King George's Sound, on the south coast, and run north for 500 mdes, over a varied territory, which in some parts has been compared to the county of Herefordshire, in England; in others, to the county Wicklow, in Ireland ; and in the more northern parts, in the Toodyay district, to Switzerland. The ex- tent of arable land in this division of the colony is very considerable ; so lightly tim- bered as scarcely to offer any obstruc- tion to the plough ; and consists of a loamy soil, well watered, not subject to be mate- rially affected either by heat or wet. The settled portion commences about the lati- tude of Perth, and extends north from 80 to 100 miles. Some settlers have, however, located themselves 100 miles farther, in a northerly direction. Owing to the limited number of its set- tlers, and the serious difficulties with which they have had to contend. Western Australia has been less extensively explored than the sister colonies described in the previous pages, and the knowledge acquired of its physical features is, consequently, yet more fragmentary and imperfect; the difficulty, moreover, of framing a correct though brief general view of the topography of this ex- tensive and really valuable province, is mate- rially increased by the contradictory state- ments made by different explorers, for, as in the case of the Geraldine district, the same region has been pronounced by one party, of exceeding fertility and beauty ; by another, sterile, and absolutely unfit for cidtivation. After careful examination of every available source of information, I have succeeded in forming, as it were, a skeleton outline of the coast line and the country at the back, as far as it has been examined; 374 SHARKS' BAY, GASCOIGNE RIYER, AND ADJACENT COUNTRY. but the details cannot be filled in, while so mnch even of this portion remains im- perfectly known. The north-west coast line of Australia has been traced as far as Sharks' bay, in the general description of the island (see p. 382) ; and the inland features, so far as they were seen by Captain Grey, in 1838, have been also noted (p. 379). Sharks' Bay (see map of the whole island), in 26° S. lat., is large, of easy access, and affords several safe anchorages. It was dis- covered by Dampier, on 6tli August, 1699, and so named by him, on account of the large number of sharks seen there. A con- siderable^ portion of the land adjacent to this extensive inlet is yet unexplored; we continued unacquainted, even with the coast line, and it still seems to me probable (as I stated in my History of the Colonies, in 1834-5), that the outlet of a large river vrill ultimately be found in this neighbourhood. Gascoigne River, nearly opposite Bernier island (see p. 382), and forming the south- western extremity of Sharks' bay, was par- tially examined by Captain Grey, in 1839 : but with few men and a couple of whale- boats, it was impossible for him to deter- mine the character of the country, the ex- tent of the river, or the depth of an adjacent inlet. The manner in which he was pre- served through the perils of shipwreck, famine, and thirst, while driven about this wild coast, was truly wonderful. Nothing, as the gallant explorer himself says, could have saved him and his party, but the ever active and present care of Divine Provi- dence. It appears from Captain Grey's examination, that the country to the north- crard and southward of the Gascoigne is low, covered with mangrove flats, and abounding in sand-banks, presenting, in fact, all the features of the embouchure of a great river. Near the sea-coast is a sandy, scrubby ridge, termed LyeWs range, apparently thirty miles in length. The plains beyond were examined for fifteen miles in a north-east direction, and found to consist of salt, mud, and moist sand, devoid of fresh water, and seemingly illimitable, the eye being too much affected by the mii-age, to perceive their actual limits. The Dutch commodore, Vlaming, visited this part of the Australian coast in 1667, found a river, and went up it with three boats, four or five leagues, amongst rocks and shoals; saw much water inland, as if the country were dro'svned, but no men nor anything fit for food, and, as was the case with our English explorer, wherever they dug for water, the ground was salt. It is supposed this river may have been the Gas- coigne. Ylaming came to another river near the preceding, ascended it for about a league, found it terminated in a round basin, and was entirely salt. The country was destitute of grass and trees. The point of entrance into the river was composed of a very red sand. In the bed of the Gascoigne a fine white sand was found. The northern mouth of the Gascoigne, where entered by Captain Grey, had twelve feet on its bar at low ebb tide ; the bar once passed, there are three to three-and-a-half fathoms, in a land-locked creek, which is separated from the sea by a shifting bed of sand and man- grove swamps, termed Babbage Island, which forms the northern and southern mouth of the Gascoigne river. The southern mouth of the Gascoigne (lat 24° 57') is completely free from shoals, and has seven feet of water on the bar at low tide ; there is also a channel in it con- taining never less than this depth of water for about four miles, after which it is only navigable for small boats during the dry season. Large trees (termed snags, by the Americans) are firmly planted in the bed of the river, which renders the navigation difiicult, especially at high water. In one part of Captain Grey's Journal (vol. i. p. 384), he speaks, as before, of the " nor- thern mouth of the Gascoigne having a very good passage with twelve feet of water at low ebb tide;" in another part (vol. ii. p. 120), he says, " the northern mouth is nar- rower and more shoal than the southern.'' The truth, however, is, as admitted by the frank and intelligent author, his examina- tion was 'Slurried and imperfect," and the opinion above given must be received with caution. The vast masses of drift-wood, the large trees carried across the bay to Dorre island, the gentle slope of the country into the interior, and the immense bed of the portion of the stream seen, indicate the existence of a large river which drains pro- bably a fine region. Plains of a rich reddish loam border the Gascoigne on each side, occasionally broken by low, gently roinided hills, composed of the same description of soil; fresh-water lagoons were found in dif- ferent places, the country, even in the dry season, was covered with grass, and no ter- mination was seen of the good land, except near the sea. GANTHEAUME BAY— THE MURCHISON RIVER AND COUNTRY. 375 Immediately to the south of the southern mouth of the Gascoigne, a line of shoals commences at two to four miles from the coast, and runs with scarcely any intermis- sion round the bay, so as to render the approach to this coast almost impracticable. A loAv spit about twelve miles south of the Gascoigne river, is termed Point Green- ough, and between this point and the river there is a deep bay, the shores of which are low and thickly studded with mangroves, through which many salt-water creeks run up into the country. Below Point Green- hough, the shore trends south-and-by-east, preserving its low character, but thickly wooded with mangroves for eight miles, when a remarkable change takes place, the mangroves suddenly cease, and the low range of hills which extend southward along the coast and parallel to the shore, increases a little in height. Within about the dis- tance of a mile, the mangroves recommence, the coast trends south-east for about five miles, then runs south-east-by-east, forming a bay about foui- miles deep, the bottom of which appears to be lined with mangroves. After passing this bay, the coast runs south- east-and-by-south, the mangroves appear to be less numerous, and the low wooded hills approach nearer to the sea, the low shore is fringed with trees down to the water's edge, forming little green knolls of foHage. Far- ther south, to the Hamelin Bay and Freycinet Harbour, in the bottom of Sharks^ bay, we know nothing certain. Peron's Peninsula, about 200 feet high, is a barren, sandy table-land, sloping away to tbe southward. Dirk Hartoy's Island, when seen by Cap- tain Grey, looked exactly hke a Scottish heath. There is good shelter for shipping, and adjacent there is a guano island, and a very rich mother-o' -pearl bank. Steep Point, the western extremity of this portion of Australia, consists of lofty inac- cessible limestone clifis, hollowed into deep caverns by the action of the waves. The coast then trends to the south-east^, is very uninviting, and consists of a high range of barren limestone hills, ascending gradually from steep clifl's, which form the coast-line. The outline of these hills is monotonous; they have a barren appearance, and are rent in places by deep rocky gulUes, which run down to the sea. Red Point, the western entrance of Gan- theaume bay, is a bold circular headland, foiu' miles in extent. To the northward of this promontory the country has a white sandy ajipearance ; the coast-line consists ol low ridges of sand-hills; but inland there are said to be tracts of good pastoral and arable soil, in blocks of six to ten thousand acres — much of a rich alluvial character. Gantheaume Bay, where the monotony is broken by the appearance of detached hills, although protected at the south end by a reef, has as heavy a surf breaking on it as on any other part of the shore. An inlet here is described by Captain Grey as ''one of the most romantic and pic- turesque estuaries he had yet scen;"^ its shores abounded with springs, and were bordered by native paths, whilst the trick- ling springs, flowering shrubs, drooping foliage of several large sorts of casuarina, the number of wild swans on its placid bosom, and the natives fishing in the distance, im- parted to the whole scene a quiet and charm to which he had long been a stranger. The mouth of the inlet is protected from the ocean surf by a line of breakers and reefs. There are rich flats on each side of the estuary, which communicates with a deep valley, through which flows a stream called the Murchison, after the distinguished geo- logist of that name. During an expeditionin 1849 from Pe]-th,the explorers found on turning to the south-west along the bed of that stream, that the right bank of the IMurchison river had wide grassy flats, the stream forming large pools, some of them more than a mile in length ; but with the exception of the flats on each side of the bank, the country is said to be poor and scrubby, destitute of trees, and the hills high and rocky, consisting of red sandstone, those to the west capped with limestone. It is in this neighbourhood that the enormous de- posit of galena ore has been found in 1848-9. In some places the Mm-chison runs through almost perpendicular sand- stone clifi"s, 200 feet in height, broken at intervals by enormous fissures. It is not yet known Avhether the embouche of the estuary into which the river disembogues, is navi- gable from seaward ; the estuary is about one-and-a-half miles long, by half-a-mile wide ; the tide flows five miles up the stream, when it is obstructed by rapids, above which the river, so far as it has been traced, is a succession of long reaches of water, 100 yards wide, and extensive flats covered with reeds. The river continues from east-north- east, through a more level countr}', running in a deep channel 80 to 100 yards wide, 376 TERRITOUY BEHI:ND GANTHEAUME BAY AND HUTT RIVER. bordered by tliickets of acacia and cypress. Mr. Bui'ges^ who Adsited tlie Murcbisoa in 1848, says, " We rode up the river about seventy miles from our camp, and when we turned back the river bed was nearly as large as when we made it, but the water was quite salt." He thinks it would make a very good cattle-station, as there is plenty of summer food along the river, and plenty of winter provender on an extensive lime- stone range of hills which lie to the north- ward. There are also a number of large springs along its banks ; game abounds. The Murchison is supposed to take its rise in the interior salt marshes. The Murchison valley is backed by some lofty and fantastic-looking hills, giving promise of a fertile region. A total geological change seemed to take place in this neighbourhood; a rock, heretofore unobserved in the south-west portion of Australia, occupied the principal place ; with this rock limestone was associated, the springs had a strong sulphureous smell, and the lofty broken character of the distant mountains, give a grand appearance to the scenery. The country behind Gantheaume bay, pro- ceeding in a south-by-east direction, consists at fii'st of ravines and scrubs, next of elevated sandy downs ; thickly clothed with banksia trees; then of open sandy downs; subsequently a rich limestone region occm's, with gently sloping hills and valleys, affording even in April fair feed for sheep and cattle, with springs of water at intervals of every few hundred yards, generally situated at the edge of large clumps of trees. This description of country appears to be continuous in a south-easterly direction; on a southerly com'se a gravelly treeless table-land was found, in places covered with beds of clay, on which rested ponds of water, occasionally intersected by thick scrub. According to Captain Grey, a fine fertile country, abounding in grassy valleys, rich plains, picturesque limestone ranges, running streams, and estuaries, stretches between the Murchison and Hutt rivers. It was more thickly peopled than any district previously seen ; the native paths were broad and well beaten; the wells, ten to twelve feet deep, were executed in a superior manner, and the dwellings also were of superior construc- tion. This observant traveller says, (vol. 2, p. 14), " It seemed certain that we stood in the richest province of South West Aus- tralia, and one Avhich so differs from the other portions of it in its geological cha- racters, in the elevations of its mountains. which lie close to the sea coast, in the fer- tility of its soil, and the density of its native population, that we appeared to be moving upon another continent." This region is situated between the parallels of 27° 30' and 29° 30' : its principal river, the Hutt, disem- bogues into a large estuary. A few miles above the estuary the river separates into two branches, both of which were found running in April, 1839. The other prin- cipal streams which drain this district are the Buller and the Murchison. The entrance of the latter was not found available in December, 1849, for a cargo boat. The valley of the Buller is divided into two equal portions by a granite ridge ; the land on the left bank of the eastern branch has been found to be of " a very good grassy description, consisting of a range of granite hills, about ten miles north and south, two miles wide." Water, in pools, and abun- dance of grass, exists on the eastern branch ; further east, high and sandy level plains commence, in an abrupt line of sandstone slopes and hills. The valley is estimated to contain 10,000 acres of good grassy land, and 20,000 of inferior feeding country ; the good land much broken into patches by that which is of inferior quality. Timber is scarce. The Chapman River runs in a sandy channel, with small shallow pools ; the land on the bank of the stream is indifferent and sandy for about a mile, Avhen it rises into sandstone and granite hills, covered with excellent grass. The land upon its northern branch is not generally good, although some fine patches are to be seen. Mr. Burges thinks there are 30,000 acres of good feeding and well-watered land on the north branch of the Chapman, and 30,000 acres on the south branch, but not so well watered. In January, 1810, ISlv. G. E. Moore, in the colonial schooner Champion, endea- voured, but in vain, to find a navigable entrance at the point laid down by Captain Grey as the estuary of the Hutt river. The interior, where any of it could be seen, looked grassy ; but the view taken was very limited and hui'ried. In December, 1849, Lieutenant Helpman, in the colonial schooner Champion, examined a boat harbour which he had previously discovered at the south end of the Hutt estuary, and found in the channel, between the reefs, twenty-two feet water; the breadth, from the reef at the entrance to the dry sand beach, which is COUNTRY NEAR, THE HUTT, BOWES, AND BULLER RIVERS. 377 very low and shehino;, is about 200 yards ; and in the middle, for about a quarter of a mile, tbere is eleven to nine feet water. The entire reef is about three-quarters of a mile long, extending in a north-west direc- tion, about one foot above water, thus keeping the boat harbour clear, which will be found exceedingly useful for coasters drawing seven or eight feet water, or for even much larger vessels in fine weather. Plenty of fresh water is found around by digging one foot deep ; fish abound, and may be easily caught from the beach. The ore of the newly-discovered rich mineral district, teraied the Geraldme, may be shipped from this harbour, to which a good road may be made at an expense of £100. The Bowes streamlet, near the Hutt, con- tains about 100,000 acres of good sheep country : the bed of the stream being filled with broad-leaved reeds, indicates a supply of water in the dry season. The country around exhibits a metalliferous formation. In October, the small brooks were all running strong, and the grass was then green. The hills are of gneiss, with granite and trap rock ; the latter clothed with excel- lent grass, of various kinds. The country south of the Hutt river was examined during an expedition, in 1847, by Lieutenant Irby and two enterprising gen- tlemen, ^Messrs. Gregory, of the TVestern Australia surveying department, who, on 20th December, crossed the Chapman river two or three times, and found the country, at first, scrubby, but afterwards saw several fine patches to the eastward. On a course varying north and east the country was grassy; the soil of decomposed granite; patches of scnibby country occurred, then a good grassy district of about ten miles; clumps of York gum, sandal wood, jam and black Avattle, were observed on the hills. Deep grassy valleys extended in a southern direction, and the country appeared to con- tinue good, and well watered. In the north and -west, the grassy region extended for at least ten or twelve miles, presenting to view about fifty or sixty thousand acres of sheep pasture, of a fine description. At the stream called the Butler, near Champion bay, the country, for a distance of five-and-twenty miles, is bounded by a lofty chain of flat-topped mountains, with so regular an outline as to appear rather the work of nature than of art. Between this rano-e and a ridge nearer to the coast is a large and fertile valley, partially drained, DIV. II. toward the sea, by another valley — in both rise gently swelling hills and picturesque peaks, wooded in the most romantic manner. The next position of importance on the coast, and indeed the best anchorage, (excepting among the Abrolhos), between Sharks' bay and Gage roads, (at the en- trance of Swan R,ivcr), is termed — Champion Bay, situated in 28° 47' S. lat., and 1° 9' 20'^ W. of Swan River. The road- stead is sheltered from the south-west by Point Moore; but a heavy surf occasionally rolls on the beach, extending from the bottom of the bay to the northward, so as to prevent boats landing, unless a jetty, of ninety feet in extent, were run out into twelve feet water. A road has been formed from the Geraldine mines to the bay, where a government station, with a few "soldiers, has been established, for the protection of those engaged in mining operations. PubUc attention is now directed to this neighbour- hood ; and some details respecting the sur- rounding country, so far as is known, are necessary. The most remarkable inland features are the Menai hills, a group at the north end of Moresby's flat-topped range, Mount Fairfax, and the Wizard Peak, or Hill, which is an almost solitary pyramidal hill, of 715 feet elevation, distant eleven miles from Cham- pion bay. It is composed of large blocks ot ironstone, which have such a powerful effbct on the needle, as to change its dii'ection, in difierent places, ten degrees. A few small casuarinas and wattles are thinly scattered on its summit, and some stunted xanthoreas on the south-west side. Stokes says, that part of the range lying immediately north was absolutely a mass of bai'c ironstone. Mount Fairfax, 582 feet above the sea, is the southern and most elevated part of Moresby's flat-topped range. It rests on a reddish, sandy, sloping plain, occasionally scattered with fragments of quartz and iron- stone, which apparently characterize the formation of jMount Fairfax, and the neigh- bouring heights. The outline of Moresby' s flat-topped range, in 28° 50' S., presents a remarkable simi- larity to Sea range, near the Victoria river, on the north-west coast, lat. 15^ 20' S., and to Cape Bedford, on the north-east coast, lat. 15° 10' S. The drawings of these ranges given by Captain Stokes (vol. ii., p. 142), present a striking resemblance to each other, in their contour as well as elevation. The view from the summit of Wizard peak is 3a 378 COUNTRY AROUND CHAMPION BAY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. very commanding: to the north-north-west and north-east lie extensive valleys, con- cerning whose capabilities very different opinions haA-e |)een expressed. To Captain Stokes (who viewed them through his tele- scope), they all appeared of a similarly arid nature. For a few miles to the eastward, and a great many to the northward, the formation of the country is considered by this authority to be of the same flat, broken, and irregular character, including no greater elevations than the Wizard peak, while to seaward, the appearance of the country was that of an undulating plain, with patches of stunted woodland, widely scattered. Air. Bynoe, an intelligent naturalist, who ac- corapaiiied Captain Stokes, conceived a like impression of the comparatively sterile nature of the country : he says, it was only the sm-face soil which held vegetable matter ; that near the Wizard peak, the holes dug by the natives to obtain the warran, or native yam, disclosed pure sand; and that near Moresby's range, the soil became freely mixed with ironstones and pebbles — the vegetation more stunted, consisting princi- pally of prickly bush, mingled with coarse browTi grass, on which few kangaroos or emus were seen. On the other hand, the Honourable George Fletcher Aloore, who was my fellow- student at Trinity college, in days of yore, and who there distinguished himself by high attainments, and whose quiet, observant character was not likely to give expression to a hastily-conceived or exaggerated opinion, thus speaks of the country near Champion bay : — " Judging by the eye, at that dis- tance, the entire space, as far as we had an opportunity of seeing, after going a little way back from the coast, on the slope to the hills, upon the hills, among the hills, beyond the hills, and, in short, everywhere as far as the eye could discern, appeared a grassy country, thinly sprinkled with some low trees or shrubs, perhaps acacias. If this be the case, and there be water sufficient, of which there is no reason to doubt, this may certainly turn out to be the finest district for sheep pasture that this colony can possess." Since the foregoing v/as Avritten, I have received from several quarters details of explorations and examinations of the country to the nortliward aud eastward of Champion bay, which fully substantiate these riews, as well as those expressed by Captain Grey. Mr. Gregory, also, who ascended the Wizard Peak, in 1848, giv<5s an idea of the country totally diflerent from that expressed by Captain Stokes ; he says, in his journal : — " After an hour's ride over rich grassy liills, reached the foot of Wizard's peak ; here we left our horses and ascended the hill ; arrived at the summit, to our great surprise, instead of the scrubby and sterile coun- try described by Captain Stokes, of the Beagle, beau- tifully grassy hills stretching from north-north-east met our view to the extent of about 20,000 acres; had it not been for certain bearings to Mount Fairfax and other hills, that we were on Wizard peak, I should have suspected its identity. Leaving Wizard peak and steering north along the western foot of the gi-assy range ; the country to the east consists of grassy hills of limestone, rich in fossils of wood and shells, with an occasional granite hill producing coarse grass or short scrub." The G^reenongh River, which flows into Champion bay, was examined, in 1848, by the Alessrs. Gregory and Burges, and found, near the sea, bounded by white and red sandstone cliifs 200 feet in height, and gene- rally covered with dense thickets of acacia groAving on an otherwise barren and stony soil. One channel was found diy, with no appearance of water having passed over its sandy bed during the previous winter; as the river was traced upwards, in a southerly direction (see map), it was found to im- prove, and was joined by a small gully from the west coming through a grassy valley. The explorers, on altering their course to 210 degrees, found the country improve, the river running, with many large pools of water, some more than half-a-mile long, and 80 to 100 yards wide; the water from sand- stone springs slightly brackish. It is esti- mated that there are 50,000 acres on the Greenough well grassed and watered. The embouche of the Greenough river is a smaU estuary separated from the sea by a low bank of sand, thii'ty-five feet wide and five feet high, over which the sea, during gales, appears to enter. The banks of the Greenough are, in some places, seventy feet high, composed of limestone. Mr. Roe, the surveyor- general of Western Australia, found, in June, 1847, to the north-east of Champion bay, a tract of about 150 miles of good arable land, one- third of which he considered excellent for every purpose, either agricultural or pas- toral. He states, however, that he did not find quite so much good country as Captain Grey's book would have led him to suppose. Proceeding southward, we arrive at Port Grey, which is five miles to the south- ward of Point Moore. The shore between is rocky, with outlying reefs. There is an extensive reef running from Point Moore, and one to the north from Point Grey, and a centre one, leaving a clear opening on each side. The port is exposed to southerly winds, but there is " a very snug little harbour formed by the reef, extending from the land in the depth of the bay.'"' There are two and-a-half fathoms smooth water close to the reef, and the point of this natural jetty shuts in with Point Grey, bearing south-by-east, " so that no wind coidd hurt." There is fresh water close to the harbour, which seems to be adapted for small coasters. Before proceeding fui'ther with the coast line, it is advisable to examine Houtman^s Abrolhos, distant thirty-five miles from the mainland, in 32° 42' 50"* S. lat., and \° 57' 50" W. of Swan River. They form three separate groups of coralline islands and reefs, which extend in a north-north- west direction forty-eight miles, diminishing in breadth towards the north. They are termed the Northern, Easter, and Pelsart group, and are separated by channels four to ten miles wide. Easter group (the central) contains a large and secure haven, termed Good Friday har- bour, having fifteen to seventeen fathoms, fine muddy, sandy bottom, between the coral patches, which demand the utmost attention from the navigator in entering the harbour. Rat Island, the centre of the group, has an elevation of about thirteen feet, and has low overhanging cream-coloured limestone cliflfs. The soil is mixed with guano, and filled with buiTows of the sooty petrel or mutton bird. The island is infested Avith rats, and there are numbers of a pretty lizard, whose tail is covered with spines. The Abrolhos form the upper surface of the great coral-bank, which extends from the mainland, and shelves off at the outer edge of the south part of the group, almost pre- cipitously to no bottom, where soundings are not found with 250 fathoms line. The average depth surrounding the islands is twenty to thirty fathoms. With the excep- tion of the Bermudas, these coral islands, so far as we know, are the farthest distant coral formation from the equator. The reef on which Rat island rests extends off 400 yards on the inner side, and has twelve fathoms just off it on a grey sandy mud. The greater portion is composed of a variety * This is the position of the observation spot of Captain Stokes on Rut Island of corals, intermixed and forming a consoli- dated mass with " brain-stones" scattered over it. The reef is nearly dry at low water ; but a portion does not rise so high, and pro- jects so as to form a narrow shelf, from the edge of which a wall descends almost per- pendicular to the depth of fifty-four feet. The coral on the upper twenty feet is formed in the shape of huge fans, spreading out from stout stems, overlapping each other in clusters, and having angular cavities between. The lower portion of the wall is of the com- mon branch kind. The IVallabi Islands form part of the Abrolhos group, and have a good haven, termed Recruit harbour, Avith eleven to twelve fathoms, perfectly sheltered on all sides. East Wallabi island has an elevation at the north-east extremity of fifty feet, and measures upwards of a mile each way. West Wallabi island is two miles and-a-half long, by one mile broad; in the centre is a low flat, with hills rising all round except on the south side. Flaghill, the highest, is formed of sand and comminated shells, while the flat which stretches to the south-west from its foot, is of limestone formation, on which there is a cavern fifteen feet deep, with a sloping entrance and a stalactite roof. Some sand hills, thirty feet high, and covered -with a dense scrub, are filled with the bui-rows of the mutton bird. The north end of the island is a level stony flat, with patches of brushwood, among which Captain Stokes found such an abundance of the marsupial animal, termed the Wallabi, that in four hours, seventy-six, weighing about seven pounds each, were killed with three guns. It is strange how these animals reached the islets from the main. The snapper fish were numerous off" the island, and so voracious that they allowed themselves to be taken with a small piece of paper for a bait. Gun Island, in 28° 53' 10" S. lat., 1° 53' 35" west of Swan river, forms the north-west extreme of the Pelsart group, and is the largest of the islets (a quarter-of-a-mile mile long). The group is encircled by a reef; on which doubtless the Dutch ship Zeewyk was wrecked in 1727. The island was so named by Captain Stokes, in conse- quence of finding on it, 24th April, 1840, a brass foui'-pounder of singular construction, which is now deposited in the United Ser- vice Museum, Scotland-yard, liondon. The gilding on the ornamental brass-work is in a remarkable state of preservation. Two Dutch doits were found, Ijeariug date 1707 380 COUNTKY BETWEEN THE IRWIN AND MOOKE KIVEKS. of singular and 1720 ; also a number of pipes and glass bottles; the latter of a stout Dutch build, some capable of holding five or six gallons ; they were placed in rows, half buried in the sand, as if for the piu'pose of collecting water, and were covered with a white sub- stance, which had eaten away the glaze. Resuming now an examination of the coast to the south of Champion bay, it ap- pears, for at least thirty miles, as seen from the deck of H.M.S. Beagle, to consist of high sand hills, partly covered with vegetation ; immediately in the rear is a range rather higher and of a less barren appearance ; be- hind these again, at a distance of eight or nine miles, there arises a series table-topped broken ridges. The Irwin River falls into the sea midway between Champion bay and the Arrowsmith : it rises in the interior to the eastAvard, and has in some places a bed eighty yards wide, with limestone and clay banks, thirty feet high ; but in the dry season water is only to be found in pools. The valley of the Irwin is said to extend thirty miles north-north- west and south-south-east, and is about eight miles wide. On an east-north-east course from Champion bay, there are exten- sive flats of good light soil, well grassed, and some two miles Avide; a beautiful country, full of warren-holes, and lightly timbered ; several good pools, " one 200 yards by 25, and no bottom to be foimd by diving." A fine wide grassy flat, with small trees, con- tinues to 29° y S. lat. Advancing thence in a north-east course, the country much improves; banks of clay and red sandstone occur; but on approaching the Coal Vallerj in 29° 57' 42" S. lat. (200 miles north of Perth) there are no flats but steep banks to the river bed, with plenty of good water by digging a few inches, and abundance of grass. The river bed twenty-five yards wide, running through sandstones and shales. The coal seam seen here was about six feet thick, and ran entirely across the bed of the river, and under the bank on both sides. The Irwin divides into two branches, where the sandstone ceases, and the granite formation commences ; the largest stream flows from the eastward. Mr. Macgill, an officer of her Majesty's 96th (who was afterwards unfortunately lost), made, in company with others, in 1847, a journey from Lefroy's station, on the Moore or Garban river, to Port Grey; he found the country (probably he kept near the coast), for the greater part of the way, wretched and unproductive ; the party were two days without water ; but the Irwin valley he describes as a " terrestial para- dise," in breadth from one to six miles, and extending, at all events, from twenty-five miles inland down to the coast. The Arrowsmith River, or rather brook, has its embouche in the sea, to the north of Gairdner's range, and its rise to the north-east, in the Herschel range. The pasture-lands on the Irwin join those on the Arrowsmith ; the country is said to be better adapted for cattle than for sheep, as parts of it are rather low ; for agriculture it would be useful, as the soil is rich, and there is scarcely a tree to each hundred acres. There are about 10,000 acres of fine rich pasture land along the banks of the Arrowsmith, reaching within two miles of the sea, which would make a superior sum- mer run for a large herd of cattle. Ten thousand sheep could be kept between the Eastern Irwin and the ArroAvsmith, but the occupiers would probably have to dig for water. "Whether the river and country is identical Avith that named by Captain Grey, is uncertain. The country between the Arrowsmith and Moore river, crossing the streamlets of Hill and Smithy behind the ranges, consist of extensive plains, which, at least, during the rainy season, are Avell grassed. The Hill stream flows from the south end of Gairdner's range. The Garban is formed by the junction of the Moore and Norcott rivers,, about fifty miles north of Perth. From the Garban to Perth, there is a chain of fresh- water lakes, at intervals of five or six miles apart. The coast line presents no feature of note; harbours for cargo boats probably exist at Island Point, Jicrien Bay, Lancelin Island, and behind the reefs at and near Bre- ton Bay. The appearance of the shore is barren and forbidding, but the Avind seldom blows direct on the land ; vessels can there- fore run north or south, according to cii'- cumstances. Approaching the Swan-river estuaiy, Ave reach Rottnest (rats' nest) Island, distant twelve miles from the port of Fremantle; it is ten miles long by seven wide, heavily timbered, principally by the cypress, and bounded for nearly its entire circumference by limestone rocks, so as to present few landing-places for boats. This island is the prison where the aborigines of Western Australia were transported, for oficnces com- SWAN RIVER— PERTH AND MELVILLE WATERS. 381 mitted in the colony. From a gently rising ground near the superintendent's house, the view is enclosed on every side by a chain of hills which slope gradually down into the plain, occupied by a succession of lakes, the largest two miles in circum- ference, and one yielding pure salt in abun- dance. The aborigines, about twenty in number, under the direction of their super- intendent, Mr. Vincent, and with the aid of foirr soldiers, have built an excellent dwelling-house, store (70 feet long), cells for prisoners, workshop, stable, &c. — all of stone; made a road, ploughed, fenced, and cultivated a considerable quantity of land, and done much useful work. This establish- ment is now broken up, and the island leased to Mr. Thompson. The convict ab- origines are employed on the roads. The salt lake is a short distance from the house of the superintendent; it is about three- fourths of a mile in circumference, and is nearly covered with beautiful crystals of dazzling white salt, of which many tons are collected in a month. The water of this lake might, in American language, be termed a " concentrated essence of subli- mated salt;" it is so intensely acrid, as to blister the tongue when tasted. Mr. De- puty Assistant-commissary Webb, who ex- plored the island, was pleased with the scenery; the soil is of a light sandy loam; in some places there is a rich dark brown mould prized for gardens. The Sioan River, which originally gave its name to this colony, takes its rise about 80 miles from the coast, flows north for 100 miles under the name of the Avon, then join- ing the Toodyay turns west, passes through the hills for fifty miles, and disembogues into the Perth water, an estuary about two miles long by one broad, which communi- cates with the beautiful lake termed Mel- ville water, seven miles long by four broad. The Swan flows all the year round, and sometimes renders the waters fresh in Gage roads dui'ing winter ; together with the Perth water, it is navigable for boats or flat-bottomed craft, as far as the tide flows, viz., about forty miles. The Canning, which flows from the south- east to Melville Avater, has a boat navigation for fifteen miles. The Helena falls into the Swan below Guildford. The Swan river is subject, like other Australian rivers, to occasional, sudden, and tremendous floods, which inundate the corn lands in the vicinity. The early settlers, un- aware of this fact, selected a low-lying site for their town; but the first winter, for- tunately, gave them a warning to choose a more elevated and safer position. Melville water, close to which the capi- tal of Western Australia is situated, opens into Freshwater bay, and the latter into Rocky bay, from Avhich the estuary con- tinues in smaller reaches until it opens into the sea at Gage roads, where the town of Fremantle is situated. The portion of the bar from Fremantle to Rocky bay, is full of shallows, on which there are only nine to ten feet water ; but the estuaries of Rocky and Freshwater bays, and of Melville, have sufficient depth of water for the largest ships, and would form a fine harbour, if accessible from the sea. In my Colonial Library, vol. iii. p. 328, published in 1836, I urged the cutting of a canal, so as to admit large vessels. The bar at Fre- mantle, which extends three-fourths of a mile, not long since was blown up, so as to admit craft of eight feet draught to reach Perth ; and it is now proposed to cut a ship canal from Rocky bay to the sea, through an isthmus of soft calcareous sandstone 480 yards in breadth, with an average height of fifteen feet. If this be done, and the mouth kept free from sand. Western Australia will possess a most complete land-locked har- bour. The cliSs of the coast near Swan river appear covei^ed with thousands of roots, twisted together in a reticulated manner. The same formation is observable at Bald Head, King George's Sound. Their resem- blance to the stumps of a dead shrubbery is so exact, that, before touching them, i\ is difficult to say which is the wood and which the calcareous matter. Mr. Darwin supposes that this singular appearance has been caused by the wind heaping up cal- careous sand, together with branches, roots of trees, and land shells ; the whole being subsequently consolidated ; and when the fibrous portion decayed, lime, washed into the cylindrical cavities by the action of rain- water, preserved the form of the wood. The decaying influence of the weather is now washing away the sandstone and softer por- tions of the rock, leaving the vegetative forms in their primitive state. Gage Roads, at the entrance of Swan river, are formed by Garden, Rottnest, Peel's, and Carnac islands ; and the anchorage is pro- tected from the vast body of water which rolls in from the north-west by a bank, which ex- 383 HARBOURS AND ROADSTEADS— FREMANTLE AND LESCHENAULT. tends out to the north-east^ between Rott- nest island and the main. The anchorage is in seven or eight fathoms, on sandy mud, about a mile from the gaol at Fremantle,* bearing east by north. A quarter of a mile nearer the shore, the bottom shoals rapidly to four and three fathoms, on rocky ground slightly coated with sand. A ship rightly found — especially with Honiball's patent moveable fluke anchors — would not di'ag up so steep a bank; and Captain Stokes thinks that the cause of some ships being driven on shore has been owing to not selecting a proper berth, and getting too near the land, on a rocky ground; so that, when a breeze sprung up, there was no time to let go another anchor with effect. Oiven's Anchorage, the usual resort from the 1st of May to the 1st of September, is perfectly secure, and readily accessible from Gage roads. Cockburn Sound, in 33° 10' S. lat., formed between Garden island and the main land, seven miles from Eremantle, is a safe and extensive anchorage. It would contain 1,000 ships, out of mortar range either fi'om the sea or land side, and in the hands of an enemy would be exceedingly injurious to our maritime interests, especially in the Indian Ocean. H.M.S. Beagle rode out two gales, of forty-eight hours' duration, here, on the 31st of March and the 11th of June. The gales commenced at north by west, and, after lasting foity-eight hours, gradually blew themselves out at west-south- west. At the anchorage there was not more sea than a boat might have endured. Rockingham Harbour is said to be a good haven, requiring only a small breakwater, for shelter against the north-by- west winds, which are of rare occurrence. The deep water runs within a few yards of the shore, and a jetty would enable large ships to discharge their cargoes. Warnborough Sound, three miles from north to south, and two miles and-a-half from east to west, is formed by a chain of reefs ; the entrance-bar has five or six fathoms water on it. Safety Bay, an inlet of Warnborough Sound, is about thirty miles south of Ere- mantle. The mouth of the inlet has a tendency to fill up with sand, which a small expense in piling would prevent. If this were done, a light-house erected, and the entrance buoyed, an Indiaman, it is * The longitude of Scott's jetty at the Swan River la considered to be 115' 47' E. of Greenwich. said, might discharge her cargo by means of a plank to the shore. Peel Harbour, forty-five miles south of Eremantle, has a narrow entrance. The estuary is in length about fifteen miles, by two to foui" miles in breadth, and eight feet deep. Inside there appears to be sufficient depth of water and space to hold many vessels. The Murray River, which is navigable for sixteen miles by boats, disembogues at the centre of Peel inlet ; and the Serpentine, CuiTie, and Dandalup streams flow into the broader part of the estuary. The Dandalup joins the Murray. The Harvey flows into the head of the inlet. Leschenault or Koombana Bay, in Welling- ton county, eighty miles south of Swan river, ninety-eight miles from Perth by land, and 180 miles from King George's Sound, has the mouth of its inlet situated in lat. 33° 19' 10'" S., long. 115° 40' 15" E. The bay affords shelter for large ships in four and-a-half to five fathoms, excepting from north by east to west, and by north or west-north-west wdnds, or for smaller vessels lying farther in, round to north- west; but as the bottom is clear of rocks, and there is good holding-ground, vessels have been uninjured during the heaviest gales. Mount William, bearing N. 40° 6' E., from near the entrance of the bay, distant thirty- three miles, and with an elevation of 1,725 feet, is the best land- mark. Mount Leonard, another elevation of the Darling range, bears S. 81° 44' E. ; distant thirteen miles ; elevation, 1,270 feet.f The Lesche- nault inlet, or estuary, at the south-west of Koombana bay, is separated from the ocean by a narrow limestone ridge, co- vered with timber and vegetation, and has a well-protected entrance. The estuary is about fourteen miles long, by upwards of a mile broad; in some parts, three to six fathoms deep ; affording in all places water communication, as it is full to the shore edge. There is a sand-bar, easily remove- able, dividing the estuary from the bay ; boats drawing three to four feet water can pass it at all times. Rise of tide inconsid- erable. The Preston and Collie Rivers have their embouche on the east side of the inlet ; and the Brunswick falls into the Collie, a little above its embouchure. These rivers are running streams all the year round, skirted t Stokes' Voijaffe in H.3LS. Beagle. Vol.ii., p. 396. Roe's Chart gives the heightof il/cww^ William 3,600 ft. AUSTRALIND— BUNBURRY— GEOGRAPHE BAY— THE LEEUWIN. 383 by rich pastures, and remarkable for the beauty of the scenery around. At Leschenault, tlie Darling range ap- proaches within fourteen miles of the sea; its sharply-pencilled outline broken only by Mount Leonard and the gorge through which the Harvey river flows. Australind is situated on the easternmost border of the Leschenault estuary. It is, beyond all comparison, the best planned town in the colony; and Mr. M. Waller Clifton deserves great credit for the ability and taste which he has manifested. A sub- stantial biidge has been constructed over the Brunswick river, in the township : it is 160 feet long, by 10 feet wide; the span of the four chief arches is 27 feet ; it is sup- ported on five piers, of which three are in 12 to 16 feet water. Bunhurry, at the southernmost part of the bay, is beautifully situated on a small high peninsula, lined on the soiith by basaltic pillars. The town is on an height; all the streets cross each other at I'ight angles; and the neighbouring country is very pretty. The harbour is secure for small craft; but large vessels lie in the roadstead, to take in long timber. On the sea shore, near Bunburry, there is a forma- tion of pure basaltic rocks, resembling, in miniature, the celebrated Giant^s Causeway in Ireland, The columns, as seen in the chasms caused by the action of the sea, are, in some places, six feet high, and beautifully shaped. The district between Bunburry and Geographe bay (Henty's Plains) is one of the richest in the pronnce. Geographe Boy forms a complete curve. Vasse inlet, in the south-east portion of the bay, affords shelter for small craft. There is good anchorage, protected from north- west and south-west winds, on the north- east side of Cape Naturaliste, (which is in 33° 31' 45'' S., 0^ 47' 30" W. of Swan river), the westernmost point of the bay. The township in Geographe bay is named Busseltou, situated on the Vasse river, 130 miles south of Perth. The most conspicuous feature is a neat stone-built church, recently erected, of which a drawing was given in the Illustrated London News of 21st Feb- ruary, 1846. The nave is 40 by 20 feet; the chancel, 14 by 12 feet; the walls 16 to the line of roof; the roof is constructed of native mahogany, with principals, pur- lines, &c. Thus at a place, of which the name and position are almost unknown in the mother coimtry, Englishmen have erected this stately fane, almost in the heart of a wilderness. The Vasse River is said to " flow through a district rich in herbage, resembling clover, and enamelled with daisies, buttercups, mari- golds, and other beautiful field flowers."* The north extreme of Cape Naturaliste is formed of majestic chtfs of limestone, 200 feet high, and perforated with two ranges of caverns. The outer, or great cavern, is about 50 feet wide, 45 high, and 100 feet deep. Some of the stalactites measure 15 feet. The sides and roof present an extraordinary assemblage of colours, owing to the variety of liverwort and fungi with which they are covered. Prom Cape Naturaliste to Cape Hamelin the coast lies nearly due south, marked only by the Margaret river, which has its mouth almost midway between the two capes. The most striking sea-coast fea- ture is a belt of snow-white sand, of some hundred yards in 'n'idth. Cape Leeuioin, or Landt Van de Leemvin, the headland so called by its discoverer, in 1622, is situated at the south-west extremity of Australia, lat. 34° 21' S., long. 115° 6' E.: it is tolerably elevated, of a smooth but sterile aspect, visible about thirty miles in fine weather, and defended, between south- west and south-east, by rocky islets or de- tached breakers, to the extent of five or six miles. It appears like an island, lying close to the main, with lower land on its north side. Soundings do not extend far off shore. Flinders found eighty-five fathoms, at nine to ten leagues south by west, and forty to sixty fathoms, at six Leagues to the south of the Cape. South-west gales, with a heavy sea, are experienced off this cape. H.M.S. Zehra was compelled to throw her guns overboard. I was myself, on one occasion, in a constant gale for nearly three weeks, running from north to south, without being able to make any westing to double the Leeuwin. There appears to be a northerly current setting round the Cape from the westward; but an easterly current generally sets along the southern shores, towards Bass' straits. A settlement was formed to the south-east of the Leeuwin, at a small har- bour towards Augusta. It was abandoned, on account of the alleged insecurity of the haven. The anchorage is spacious, sheltered from the usual winter winds from the north and north-west, but open to those which blow from south and south-east. * Western Australia, by T. J. Buckton, Esq. • p. 39. London: 1840. 384 CHAIRMAN AND BLACKWOOD RIVEKS— KING GEORGE'S SOUND. The Chapman river, after its junction with the Blackwood river, flows into Augusta bay or inlet, under the designation of M'Leod creek. It is navigable for boats in a north- erly, and then in a Avesterly direction, for twenty-five miles. The Blackwood river has been traced fifty miles previous to its junction with the Chap- man; its banks are stated to be, in many places, covered with a dense forest of enor- mous trees, and some of the finest land seen by Sir J. Stirling was observed in its vici- nity. The country was partially examined, a few years ago, by Mr. J. C. Russell. At first, the timber was of minor growth, and as thick as usual : after advancing four miles, the country improved ; the " face of nature became more and more pleasing; the soil a rich red loam." On a southerly course the country deteriorated ; but, on bearing west, the explorer " came upon a brook, sur- rounded with magnificent gum trees, the scenery very beautiful, with banks sloping down to the water." Much of the country seen was "exceedingly fertile, but greatly encumbered with timber of stupendous size." There were some grassy plains, and the region is well watered. Proceeding eastward from Cape Leeuwin the coast trends to the north-east, and forms an open roadstead termed Flinders' Bay, which curves south forty-three, east thirty- seven miles, along a low, sandy, uninviting shore to Point D'Entrecasteauw, a remark- able cape in 34° 52' S. lat., 116° 1' E. long, visible thirty miles from the deck of a ship. The next prominent point, Cape Chatham, is a steep rocky island, lying a mile from a clifiy projection on the main, lat. 35° 2i' S., long. 116° 29' E. Point Nuyts, seven miles east by south *rom Cape Chatham, is a cliffy head, pro- jecting three miles beyond the line of coast. It is known that Nornalup and the Deep River District possess a very fine country; timber of the most stupendous size, and of the best quality, is found in this neighbour- hood. A seven ton vessel was built of one piece of thirty feet, cut oflF the butt of a tree of 150 feet high before branching. This region is not suflficiently known to enable me to give any description of it; it appears, however, very probable, from what I saw of the coast-line, that a good country, with certainly a fine climate, will be found iu the interior ; the shore abounds in inlets capable of being made valuable. Irwin Inlet, WilHam's Bay, and Torbay, possibly possess good havens. Mariet Lake, near RatclifFe bay, is a large sheet of water. The whole of this coast and country ought to be care- fully surveyed and explored. King George's Sound, the best harbour in Western Australia, is formed on the south side by Bald Head, and defended at its entrance by Breaksea, Michaelmas, and other islands, which protect the sound from easterly winds. There are two havens called Princess Royal and Oyster harbours, the former adapted for large ships, the latter for vessels not drawing more than eleven feet of water, which may be secured within 100 yards of the shore. For a ship only wanting water and fuel there is a sandy bay in the south-west corner of the sound, where two or three streams of excellent water run into the sea over the land. Bald Head, which forms the south-west portion of the sound, is a barren rock of moderate elevation, about two miles and-a- half in length ; it is connected with the main by a low piece of land, in the centre of which stands a small peak; this gives the head from the offing to the southward the appear- ance of an island. The conspicuous head- land, called Peaked Hill, with a peculiar profile outline, is about five miles to the south-west of Bald Head, whose south end is in 34° 55' S. lat., 118° 29' E. long. From the anchorage of Princess Royal harbour, situated at the back or west part of King George's sound, Mount Clarence bears north-north-east, and the south end of Michaelmas Island just open off Point Pos- session. Stokes says that the entrance to this great basin is by a narrow channel in the north-east corner ; the chief impediment being a long spit extending oft^ the inner west entrance; it was worked through by H.M.S. Beagle both ways ; inside there is water suf- ficient for a line-of-battle ship, but only for a limited space, a short distance within the entrance towards the north-west corner of the harbour, where a straggling village points out the township of Albany. Mount Clarence and Melville rear their bare and granitic heads on either side, and huge fantastically- shaped boulders are strewn over their slopes. The Kalgan, or French River, which dis- embogues into Oyster harbour, flows north from the Stirling range, is of considerable length, and fed by many tributaries. Ex- cursions were made up the stream in 1831 by Dr. Collie and Lieutenant Dale, who for the first twenty miles of their route found dense forests of " mahogany," white gum KING GEORGE'S SOUND— DOUBTFUL ISLAND BAY. 385 trees, casuarinas, banksias, wattles, (always indicating in Western Australia a good soilj) and other shrubs ; ascending the stream the country became more open, and numerous ponds of brackish water were fonnd. Abovit thirty-five miles north-west from King George's Sound, there is a fine coun- try, resembling in its pnrk-hke features the neighbourhood of jNIelbonrne, Port Phillip. There is an abundance of kangaroos, which indicates the pastoral character of the neigh- bourhood. The Hay river, at two miles above Ungerup, is a small tortuous ri\TJet, with rich grassy banks, overhung by fine shady trees. The valley is narrow, sloping gently upon either side, and its soil is a fertile mould. Lady Spencer (whose husband was, for some time, Government Resident at King George's Sound), has some fine farms in this region. The crops of grain produced here are equal in quantity and quality to those of the most favoured districts in A"an Dicmen's island. The district of King George's Sound is not subject to droughts, the harbour is almost unrivalled, and the adjacent seas, bays, and inlets abound with whales and excellent fish of various kinds. Albany, which is still a mere village, is distant from Perth by land 300 miles, and by sea 450 miles; from Adelaide, South Australia, 1,400 miles; from INIelbourne, Victoria, 1,800 miles ; from Van Dicmen's island, 1,850 ; and from Sydney, New South Wales, 2,700 miles. The coast trends to the north-east from King George's Sound, and presents several bays and inlets ; the principal, Doubtful Island Bay, is formed on the south side by Point Hood and the Doubtful islands ; it is about six leagues across to the north shore, and about ten miles deep, affording shelter in its south-west part fi-om all winds that do not blow hard between north-north-east and east. The north and west shores have not been closely examined ; the coal seam, which extends in a southerly direction from the Irwin river. Champion bay, is supposed to be continued to this bay, as coal is found cropping out near the water's edge. From Doubtful Island Bay the coast be- comes low and sandy ; trending in an easterly direction to the maritime portion of the province of South Australia. Mr. Eyre, during his adventurous and disastrous jour- ney from the head of tlie Great Australian Bight to King George's Sound, found the country improve as he proceeded through DIV. IIT. the territories of Western Australia; tracts of better soil, and water-courses appearing to have an outlet to the ocean, rendered the country one of great interest, but the re- duced and worn-out condition of himself and his horses, prevented his examining satis- factorily the character of the region he was traversing; he was therefore unable to deter- mine whether the rivers (which appeared to have but a short course) had or had not their embouchure open to the sea. Counties. — Having completed so far as is practicable an examination of the coast-line of Western Australia, its havens, inlets, and rivers, I proceed to shew the leading features of the counties into which it is divided, whose names, position, and relative area are indicated on the map. From the smallness of the population, Western Australia has been, as I have before stated, far less extensively surveyed and ex- plored than the sister colonies ; it is, there- fore, not possible to give a detailed description of the counties which it comprises, the larger portion of which are still unsettled. Perth County, which contains Perth, the capital of the province, and Fremantle, the principal sea-port, may be considered as exemplifying the general character of the sea- coast, counties of Melbourne, Twiss, Murray, and Wellington. The Darling range rises abruptly from the plain of Quar- tania, about twenty miles inland, and con- sists of rugged round-topped hills of rock and gravel, with valleys of a rather better quality, occasionally affording favourable spots for culture. The whole is extensively covered by an eucalyptus forest of good timber, adapted either for the construction of ships and other buildings, or for domestic purposes. The Swan and other streams by which Perth county is irrigated, have been before mentioned, beside which there are numerous fresh-water lakes and swamps, the soil on whose banks is of great richness. Several of these having been drained and cultivated, produce luxuriant crops of fruits and vegetables, maize, &c. Generally speaking, however, the aspect of this county is discouraging to the farmer. On arriving the prospect from the sea naturally gives rise to the exclamation — " Sand ! sand ! is there nothing but sand?" Little evidence of active life or prosperous industiy greets the anxious eye of the immi- grant, save in the towns of Fremantle and Perth, and the craft on the river. For twelve miles inland he does not see a farm. 3 B 386 PERTH, THE CAPITAL OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Lookiug back from the top of Greenmount (the first hill of tlie range on the road to York) the eye wanders over an apparently unbroken forest plain, the great height of the trees effectually conceahng all signs of farms or houses. The first view of Perth is tiowever singularly pleasing. Situated about eleven miles fi'om the sea-coast, on the brink of the pretty sheet of water (formed by the Swan river) which bears its name ; with the wooded shores opposite; the forest plain stretches away to the east; and the "range" rises in the distance; while the air, although so clear as to render the very stems on the trees distinctly perceptible, has yet all the charm of the soft haze, the many tinted lights and shades of a semi-tropical climate. Gazing on this tranquil panorama from the top of Mount Eliza, the English immi- grant views with surprise in the gardens lying between the cliff and the estuary, the banana, peach, nectarine, apple, and pear, the lemon, orange, guava, loquat, and pomegranate, the almond, fig, and mulberry, while the melon and its fellows creep among their stems; but yet more pleasing is the effect of the endless interlacing of trellised vines beneath which the people are pursu- ing their avocations, and the successive ter- races of Adnes and olives, rising almost to his feet ; yet the question, ^Miere are the farms ? still remains unanswered. A resident of several years' standing as- sures me that men frequently visit the colony, who ha^nng seen nothing beyond this, leave it with a very false impression, forgetting how unfair it is to judge by one limited tract, of the whole of so extensive a territory as Western Australia. In this county the farms are almost wholly confined to the banks of the rivers and lakes. The position of Perth is well chosen, not only on account of its beautj^, but for the more sohd advantages which it possesses. The sandy soil, united to an unHmited sup- ply of good water, procui'ed at an average depth of fifteen feet, a perfect drainage in each dii'cction, exposure to the healthful sea-breeze sweeping up the succession of picturesque estuaries, with a frontage and rear of garden-gi'ounds, offer great promise of salubrity, Avhile an abundance of brick- clay, lime, fire-wood, and timber of good quality have afforded the materials for a substantial style of building. Nor have these facilities been unavailed of by the • From interesting sketches entitled Our Western Australian Home, by George J. Webb, Eso., settlers. Up to the year 1838, we leara from the journal of the Agricultural and Horticultm'al Society of Western Australia that the value of the improvements in Perth were estimated at ,£50,000^ since which time the increase has been considerable. The building allotments have likewise ma- terially augmented in value ; fifteen years ago they were often bought and sold ftjr a bottle of grog, now many are worth from £500 to £1,000; it must, however, be re- membered that then high and tough gun? trees covered the site of the city, and froff the thickness of the " bush" it was dan gerous to move about even for a short distance; — noiv there is a regular town, excellent houses of brick and stone, with large verandahs and neat gardens around; a store which cost £3,000 — temnles of wor- ship for different denominations of Chris- tians, a Government-house, Court-house, Western Australian bank, barracks, gaol, club-house, hospital, magazine, public offices, hotels, inns, mills, fields, gardens, good roads, farms and homesteads in various di- rections. The military barracks at Perth occupy a prett)^ situation, about 400 yards from the river Swan (here nearly a mile wide), and at the head of the government square, which slopes gently towards the water. From the barracks there is an uninteiTupted view of Melville water for a distance of six miles, and the beauty of the scenery is much enhanced by the many strips of land which run out from the shore, on either side. On the left bank of the river, separating Perth from ]Mehdlle water, is a long tongue of land, with a windmill, and on the opposite shore of the narrow passage, Blount Eliza raises its rugged and precipitous sides, which are studded here and there with white- walled cottages, peeping out from the foliage of the casuarina and banksia.* Fremantle, the sea-port of Perth, distant about fourteen miles by water, and eleven by land, lies immediately behind the little promontory of "Arthur's Head." It is built entirely of white limestone, and the dazzling glare of the walls and houses is, in summer time, rather trying to visitors. It contains a very pretty church, a Wesleyan meeting-house, government store-houses, two good hotels, and some commodious dwellings. Dming the winter season, bay whaling is actively carried on; and one of D.A C.G., published, in an admirable miscellany termed the Swan River News. FREMANTLE AND GUILDFORD— MURRAY COUNTY, W. AUSTRALIA. 387 the most spirited undertakings in the colony- is the tunnel, made through Arthur's Head, from the principal street in Fremantle to the whaling jetty. The inland face of the cliff, at the mouth of this tunnel, is cut and finished like a fortification, and being sur- mounted by the stone gaol and court-house, has a striking effect. The whaling com- pany's storehouses, &c., are partly cut out of the rock, and their ranges of furnaces and try'pots, together with the long sharp boats, suspended over the sea, ready for instant action, with oars, harpoons, baskets of coiled line, lances, and muffled rollocks, convey an idea of energy and activity fvdly sustained by the character of the Fremantle resident whaling parties. The jetty is built of the "Jarrah^' timber of the countrj^, which defies even the sea- worm. Its piles and beams, sunk above fifteen years ago, are as sound as the day they were put down. Another town, or rather scattered hamlet, in Perth county, named Guildford, is advan- tageously situated at the confluence of the Swan and Helena rivers, about seven miles north-east from Perth, and four miles from the foot of the Darling range. It stands upon the high part of the alluvial flat fringing the river, which extends from half a mile to one mile from it on either side. This flat is so rich, that Captain Stokes states it produced, in 1843, after thirteen years of successive cropping, without manuring, a more abun- dant harvest than it had done at first. This officer notices, also, that in the y^ear 1833 (a period when the settlers were in want of food), a flight of strange birds, resembhng the rail, but larger, appeared in vast num- bers near Guildford, when the corn was green: they were so tame, as to be easily taken by the hand ; they disappeared in the same mysterious manner as they had arrived, and have not since been seen. There are no stock-farms, properly so called, in this dis- trict, and the tillage farms are generally small. Monger's Lake is situated in a flat, barren tract, about three miles from Perth, and when filled, during the wet season (June), occupies an extent of five miles. There is another lake contiguous. Summer gardens have been formed by the settlers on the borders of these lakes, which yield plentifid crops of melons, carrots, potatoes, and other vegetables. The scenery around, when the beds of the lakes are dry, is very dreary; but in June, the margin of the water is exquisitely carpeted with flowers. The remarkable stalagmitic caves of Mai- din, lie about thirty-five miles in a north- north-west direction from Perth, the route being along a chain of beautiful lakes situ- ated from four to six miles behind the sea coast, whose fertile banks afford luxuriant feed for live stock. These caves have been partially explored by Mr. Roe and Mr. Webb, and are somewhat similar* to the caves near Bathurst, and in Wellington val- ley. New South Wales (see pp. 398-9 and 472). Six of the Maidin caves examined by Mr. Roe, presented a magnificent ap- pearance ; a narrow passage of a few yards expanded suddenly into open extensive chambers, which were traversed to the dis- tance of 180 feet, and found to have an average width of forty-five feet, and a roof of twelve to fifteen feet, thickly studded with beautiful stalactites, some descending to the floor and forming pillars of ten to twelve feet in circumference, for the support of the roof. The floor was covered with layers of smooth, white, and semi-transpa- rent stalagmite. Another chamber, eighty feet long by thirty feet wide, had stalactites of all shapes and sizes suspended from the roof. The cavernous entrances are in some picturesque rocky glens near Mambibby lake, the abode of e\il spirits, Murray county differs from Perth chiefly in baring hardly any lakes, except large swamps on the Serpentine river, fewer rich flats, and more clay upland. It has a few town sites, but no town; the chm'ch and Ijarracks at Pingarro are very prettily situ- ated, and will form a nucleus for a thriving village. The main streams are the Murray, Dandalup, Serpentine, and Harvey. The chief stock of this district are horned cattle and pigs, and its principal produce wheat of fine quality. The farms are generally so well fenced, as to admit of the practice which prevails there, of tm-ning pigs loose in the forest till wanted, and whole herds of these animals wander about at will. This county, like Perth, includes a portion of the great forest of the Darling range, and is, like it, covered with wood, even on the plain, which is however more hilly and un- dulating; but the valleys along the range are finer, and abound in permanent rills, and even waterfalls of much beauty, which wiU eventually prove useful for mills. Wellington County bears the same general character, but is sufficiently south to render the difference of climate perceptible. In The aborigines consider these recesses 388 WELLINGTON, SUSSEX, KENT, YORK, AND OTHER COUNTIES, W. A. some parts the grass remains green and the rivers run all the year. It may be con- sidered the finest district outside the range, and oflers many inducements to the emi- grant. It contains several town sites, but only the seaport of Banbitrry (see coast- line) is inhabited. The Harvey, Brunswick, Collie, Preston, and Capel, are fine streams, ■with mnch rich land on their banks. All kinds of stock thrive well. It is probable that this district will be- come the first scene of operations of the Western Australian Timber Company, now in process of establishment, as the naval timber comes down nearer to the port here than anywhere else on the west coast, and some fine cargoes have already been shipped from Bunburry. Sussex County exliibits, as its leading and distinctive features, — extensive low flats of brown loam, sw ampy country, open downs, and dense forests; the whole fitted rather for English than Mediterranean produce, and for horned cattle and horses rather than sheep. The chief settlement is on the Vasse inlet, ill Geogi'aphe bay. This bay affords sufficiently secm-e anchorage, and whalers resort here constantly for fresh meat, water, potatoes, and other vegetables, butter, cheese, &c., all which are produced abundantly and of the finest possible quality. The cheese of this district is celebrated. It consists of two kinds, one resembling Stilton, the other Cheddar. The potatoes are the finest in the colony ; and its butter finds ready mar- ket even in Perth. There is no other town in this county, except that at Augusta; but there is much fine country. Proceeding along the south coast, we come to the Lanark and Stirling Counties. — These do not possess any settlements ; though they \ have, no doubt, especially the latter, alnni- ' dant sites for farms, and are intersected by I numerous rivers and estuaries, some of which might easily be converted into harbours. 1 The timber is the largest in the colony ; I and its stupendous size may be imagined I from the fact, that a seven-ton vessel Avas ' entirely Ijuilt out of the material furnished 1 by a single junk, of thirty feet length, cut I otf one end of a tree. It often runs 150 feet I in height, before it divides into branches, j The timber is of excellent quality for build- I ing puiiioses, especially for ships. Stirling county has fine timber and good land. Vlantaijenet County contains King George's Sound harbour, and the town of Albany. The soil is generally of inferior description, although there are several fine farms. The town of Albany is handsomely situated, on a high ground, overlooking Princess Royal harbour, with two bold and picturesque granite hills, INIounts INIelville and Clarence, on its right and left. The climate of Albany is by many preferred, as being cooler than Perth; but is liable to high winds, and comparatively less fitted for INIediterranean produce, &c. The scenery in the neigh- bourhood is in many places beautiful. Among the detached mountain masses in this part of Australia are the Toolbrunup hills, of which the most eastern height, Koykyunarup, attains an elevation of 3,500 feet. It is ninety miles north of King George's Sound, and seventy miles from Lesehenault, and there is a valuable agri- cultural and grazing country around. Kent County is the last settled portion of Western Australia to the south-east ; and it only claims that title by "\irtue of a few stations near Cape Riehe. It is not much known, but contains some fine country, and Avill derive future importance from the fact, that the great Western Australian coal form- ation crops out in seams Avithin a short dis- tance of the harbour of Doubtful Island Bay, Avhere there is also a fine district of country. Hay, Goderich, Peel, JVicklow, Minto, and Graritham Counties, as Ave proceed nortli- Avard, are uninhabited by Europeans ; they contain all varieties of soils ; and are gene- rally hilly, intersected by streams and rivers, and Avell timbered ; they include the eastern portion of the Darling range, and bear a considerable similarity to York County, the first settled district '^ over the hills.'^ This, with the adjoining county of Victoria, long formed the chief stock dis- tricts, but the settlers have lately pene- trated above 200 miles northward. These two countries are still, however, of chief importance, both for agriculture and pas- turage. In appearance they are very unlike the plain of Quartania or Darling range, presenting a continually undulating sur- face, sometimes almost mountainous, always Avooded, but seldom so as to obstruct the plough. The best farms are generally on the rivers Avon and Toodyay ; but this is not on account of the soil, Avhich is as good in the back lands, and often on the tops of the hills; but on account of the surface Avater. The soils are chiefly red and broAvn loams ; sand is rare. The country abounds Avith building stone ; but lime has not been found, unless EXTENT OF LAND GRANTED aMD UNG RANTED— GEOLOGY. 389 in a few places. The farmhouses are gene- rally built of stone and clay, or rammed earth, and are often very well constructed ; they have all verandahs, and are not unlike the Indian " bungalows.'" Victoria County much exceeds York in quality of soil, in beauty of scenery, and, indeed, in all respects. The Toodyay valley contains noble farms, both for stock and tillage. From these districts northward, the settle- ments are more of the squatting character, with the exception of the rich Gingin agri- cultural district, on the borders of Perth and Twiss counties, and the Moore river farms in Melbourne county. On the latter is a settlement of Spanish Benedictine monks, with a bishop, who carry on farm- ing, pastoral, and vineyard operations, for the purpose, as they state, of civilising the aborigines. The eastern counties of Howick, Beau- fort, Lansdowne, Durham, Carnarvon, Grey, &c., are little traversed or known, and are not likely to be settled so long as good lands remain open for that purpose nearer the coast. It appears that up to the year 1847, the lands granted and purchased in fee-simple in Western Australia amounted to 1,319,973 acres, and the lands sold, to 8,925 acres = 1,328,899 acres. The estimated number of acres that remained ungranted in 1818, was 19,201,274. There is, therefore, abun- dant space for the extension of a Avhite population; and even after making all due allowance for exaggerated estimates, the available land discovered in the neighbour- hood of Champion bay Avould support a very large number of inhabitants. Geology. — Along the coast-line of Wes- tern Australia there is a continuous bed of limestone, covered in many places by sand dunes. The table-land of the Darling range consists of sienitic granite ; to the north, near the Murchison and Ii'win rivers, is an elevated tract of new red sandstone. Throughout the greater part of Western Australia there is an absence or scantiness of the secondary or transition rocks ; all the tertiary appear to be of the neAvest kind, and to lie in juxta-position with the pri- mary.^ On the east side of the Darling range, close to the base, arc several groups of isolated conical hills, about a mile apart, bearing on their summits strong marks of Ignition, and extending from the William * Mr. Bynoc, surgeon to II.M.S. Beaf/le. river to the Toodyay district. Further east, the country passes into sandy plains, inter- sected by water-courses, somewhat similar to those on the western side of the range. On the mountains, as well as on the plains, pebbles are to be met with in patches, con- taining magnetic iron. Mr. J. W. Gregory is of opinion, first, that the Darling range possesses no true anticlinal axis, but is a sudden break and descent from the table-land of the interior to the plain of Quartania, Avhich will account for the non-appearance of the silm-ian sys- tem, and the very narrow belt of chlorite and clay-slates; secondly, that the Darling range attained nearly its present elevation (that is compared with the other strata, but not with regard to the actual sea level) before the period of the coal formation; thirdly, that the range formed the sea-coast during the deposition of coal, and its accom- panying shales, appears probable from the beds of marine shells interstratified with them ; that after this period the whole country was immersed, while the new red sandstone was deposited, as this formation extends over all the known portion of Wes- tern Australia, after which the whole of the present land was upheaved, and without great violence, as this sandstone is remark- able for the horizontal position of its upper strata, and it has not since been submerged, with the exception of the present line of coast where a narrow belt of limestone hills containing shells of existing species, and the water-worn boulders on the Avestern coast ol Sussex, indicate a more recent change of elevation than that which upheaved the new red sandstone above the influence of the sea. Mr. Gregory thinks it is also remark- able that the absence of intermediate strata between the older slates and the carbonifer- ous system, and also between the new red sandstone and the tertiary rocks, has been observed on the eastern coast of Australia, and in similar parallels of latitude. Mineralogy. — The geological character- istics, and the position, of the mountain ranges, indicate a rich mineral country, and recently copper, silver, lead, and coal, have been found, of an excellent quality, in the ncAvly explored region in the -sdcinity of Champion h^y. Iron also abounds. The mines explored on the Canning river are curious; they all begin with lead, cop- per, zinc, and iron, mixed, but as the shaft is sunk, the zinc predominates; in one (the flfty acre) section, there is a regular lode of 390 MINERALOGY, SOIL, AND CLIMATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. zinc yielding (66 lbs. 11 oz.)* sixty-six per cent, on assay. The Matrix is a quartz lode about two feet wide, and full of bits of ore, sixty-six per cent, of zinc. The country is soft granite, and is expected to pass into slate, The galena or sulphuret of lead ore discovered recently near the Murchison river, when analyzed (22nd May, 1849) by Sir H. T. De la Beche, at the Museum of Practical Geology, in London, at the request of Earl Grey, was found to contain sixty- five per cent, of lead, and pronounced to be " therefore a good ore, and if found in abundance, very valuable to the colony .^^ The coal bed discovered by the Messrs. Gregory on the Irwin river, 210 miles north of Fremantle, and forty miles from the sea, is in two seams in the following order of stratification ; — red sandstone, black shale, white clay, coal five feet tliickj red sand- stone, black shale, white clay, coal six feet thick ; the strata then deepened, and the next coal seam was hidden. The first 100 feet of depth consisted of coarse red sand' stone. The coal burns well, blazes brightly, and consumes to a white ash. It is sup- posed that the coal bed continues in a south-east direction to the southern coast of Australia, near Doubtful Island baj?^, ' where coal has been found cropping out close to the coast. Soil. — Very various ] there are many extensive wastes, but there are also nume- rous rich alluvial flats, and the limestone and coralline sandy strata on the Quartania plains, when trenched, yields good crops, especially of Mediterranean produce. The vine, olive, and tobacco thrive luxuriantly ; the silk- worm might also be extensively reared, as the mulberry is well suited to the soil and climate. The geological formation of Western Aus- tralia renders it as easy to get Avater there by sinking Artesian wells at a depth of fifty feet, as it would be in Europe at five hundred feet. Dr. Van Sommer calcu- lates that by a fortnight's boring two men with an engine could obtain a supply of water sufficient for the irrigation of 500 acres. Climate, dry and warm, near Perth ; and of acknowledged salubrity. Along the south coast the temperature is much lower, and there is more rain. Western Australia is not subject to the droughts which prevail • The best English zinc ores, those of Allowheod, in Northuniberland, contain no more than 58 lbs. l.j oz. in the 100 lbs. on the east coast; it is open also to the influence of the monsoons, and the annual fall of rain is greater than in some parts of England. The hot winds blow from six to twelve days in the season. The mean of the thermometer at 9 a.m. is 60° to 62°; at 3 P.M. 68° to 70°. Winter—^ a.m. 52°; 3 P.M. 59°. Summer— ^3 a.m. 69^°; 3 P.M. 80°. The summer commences about the middle of November and continues to the middle or end of April. December, January, February, and March are the hottest months in the year; but in the warmest weather labourers may work all day in the open air, with no more inconvenience than on a summer's day in England. The adaptation of the climate for an European population is shown by the state of the ages and number of the inhabitants. In October, 18-18, the census returns showed, that out of 4,622 inhabitants, there were, under three years of age, males, 267 ; females, 244 : from three to fourteen years, males, 606 ; females, 605 : from fourteen to sixty years, males, 1,820; females, 913: beyond sixty years of age, males, 30; fe- males, 17. The abstract of the census of 1848, which I have received, does not show the propor- tion of births to deaths, nor of males to females born : but in two preceding years, the relative proportions were— Year. Births. Deaths. Difference 1842-3{^f™^^"' • • IMales . . . ift4S 4fFemales . . 85 83 107 86 9 32 16 37 77 51 91 49 Preponderance of female over male births, in two years, was 23. The net increase of female births over deaths was 167, and of males, 100. This confinus an observation made in a previous part of this work — that in a salubrious climate, fertile soil, with sufficiency of foo-l i-H i-H (M CO lO -*i t-H O O l^ CO lO CO .— I CTs I - O -M 'O CO CO C; >0 .— I i-H CO CI CO u; c> o CO cc c: 00 t^ t^ 00 CO l^ * t^ C 0-1 >* -I CC -f •>! CO 00 CO ^ O) t^ l^ o o CC CO -• c; 'I* CO o r^co ■* CO CO o^ 30 ac lo c-i r-rtC(vfc CI i-o CO o oi o CO >o o ci 3; ^H ,— I o •-'^C0_l>^0_ r-T^'o'r-rio' CC t^ —( ^ t^ o o CO CO CO CO O OQ O C O CD CO CO rM lO I-H I--. (M O ^ CM CO O —1 . i-< >— I C-1 C O «D i^ >r^ C-. c^ CO lO CO t^O C5 CI CO lO M IM II 11 rH I-H -rf C-) 1-i r-H C) CI CI -f oT-h" C5 CO «5 CO CO *0 CI O O CO C>_C)^CO_ co_co_ lo'o'o" i-Tco" CI g^ -h tCtC C2 CO 'fs -T** r— i-l C) —I ^^ o CC o i>- ■^__co ^ to'corC CO I-H ,-( r-H CO CO OX iO o — o c,-^,cc_ o'l-t to" ■* r-H C CC C ^+1 ^_,cc__ lo co" CO o r-H O O p i-H-ro" >^ M ■*7; ;h ^1 p -^ rX, '-' o PH pi a .5 rS C3 ci ^ r. O r2 "3 g :3 Oi^^iPii pa H '^ e jj s : p; d 2:; IS fS i> O i3 O i/2 si j; g .3 a ^ t- tJ S a s j= t: .S '-*< ^ IWcZmO 5J <« =~ 1; +' trj X • - £ -2 -J ° o c 2 w s § ;?fe 3 c :J 594 CONDITION OF THE ABOiilQINES IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Aborigines, — The state of the aboriginal inhabitants in Western Austraba is far supe- rior to that attained by them in any other Austraban colony. This most honourable peculiarity, however, though doubtless attri- butable, in the first instance, to the per- sonal character and conduct of the early settlers, of whom an unusual proportion belonged to the better classes of society, and to the judicious policy pursued by the local government, appears to have been, nevertheless, in no small degree brought about by the very fact in other respects so injurious to the colony, namely, the sudden cessation of immigration, which not only left the same individuals to carry "out the original system with regard to the savage, but rendered caution and forbearance, as well as firmness, obviously indispensable. The settlers are reaping their well-merited fruits, in the perfect tranquillity they enjoy, and the very considerable assistance they receive from the coloured population. So completely have the natives learned to appreciate their rights as British subjects, that they now appeal to the tribunal of the law in their ditt'erences with the " white fellows," and occasionally even in those with each other. The numbers receiving regular and casual employment in 1848, Avas^ County or District. Males. Females. Total. Perthshire . . 130 32 162 Yorkshire . . do 10 75 Wellington . 65 11 76 Plantagenet . . . 53 7 60 Toodyay district . . 52 53 105 Sussex 47 8 55 Murray 6 2 8 Total .... 418 123 541 Of these, many are employed about the farms as herdsmen and messengers, and occasionally in reaping and harvest work, some, more regularly as servants; but in general, they refuse all hard or steady work, and no wages will induce them to forcijo any amusement, or to settle permanently in one place. They are essentially creatures of impulse, absolutely devoid of any desire ♦ In a recent letter from Western Australia, dated March, 1850, is the folloM'ing statement: — " We run the mail to York, to Eunl)urry, and to Vasse once a week, with natives only. The York native is mounted, and costs us some £36 a year. The Perth and Fremantle and the Guildford mails are run daily, with the utmost 2mtwtualitr/, a?id coid but the natives' rations, as they are prisoners on their parole, and there IS a spare man in case of the sickness of any of these to better their condition, and inclined to look with contemptuous superiority upon the laborious habits of their new associates. " White fellow," say they, " fool, too much ! work, work, always work ! Black fellow play, plenty play ! " They appear, neverthe- less, to be attached to the " white fellows," and are a merry, harmless, idle, good- natured race; sometimes very useful, often most provoking ; on the whole, honest, but afflicted with a constitutional preference of mutton to kangaroo, which is the fertile source of compulsory labour on the roads.* Schools have been established for the chil- dren, and an institution is maintained by the Wesleyan body, assisted by government, at which indefatigable and judicious eftbrts are made to infuse into their minds the principles of religion and social improve- ment. Their quickness of apprehension as shown in the facility with which they learn reading, writing, arithmetic, &c., is said to greatly surpass that of the ivhite child, and the mere experience of the schools would warrant the highest expectations of their future acquirements; with puberty the in- herent idleness, and the restless longings after the wild and wandering life of the bush, are developed — and the clean, bright, intelligent child, able, not merely to read, but to understand what he reads, merges into the filthy, lazy savage, gorging himself to stupidity, and basking under a gum- tree. In some instances, however, the per- severing care of the teachers has succeeded in inducing a few to remain on the establish- ment, to marry, and cultivate land for their own support. The classified occupations of the white population in 1848 was, in — Agriculture. — Occupiers, employing la- boiu'crs, 124 ; ditto, not employing labourers, 176; agricultural labourers and gardeners, 47G. Grazing. — Employed in the care of sheep, 121 ; of cattle, 24. Trade. — Shopkeepers, and other retail dealers, and their assistants, 04 ; bricklayers and masons, 32; smiths, 22; carpenters, joiners, plumbers, and glaziers, 98 ; tailors and shoemakers, 39; sawyers and splitters, 49; other non-agricultural classes, capital- men : these are all brought from Rottnt-st. The men who go from Fremantle to Mundurah, Eunburry, anc; Vasse, are also prisoners. We have no less than lour native prisoner boys generally serving on board the Chamjiirm. You would be surprised to see one of them steering the vessel, going aloft to reef a top- sail or furl a royal. The governor has one now lor a body servant, and a number of our teamp are brought into town by them." POPULATION, CULTIVATION, AND STOCK IN EACH DISTRICT. S95 ists, bankers, professional, and other edu- cated men, their clerks and assistants, 44 ; civil ollicers, their clerks and assistants, G9 ; labourers, employed in labour not agricul- tural, including mariners, boatmen, fisher- men, toll-collectors, road-makers, carters. &c., 241 ; domestic servants (male), 55 ; militaiy men, 103; all other males, above fourteen, not included in the above, 106. Residue (women, children, and others), 2,690. The state of each of the settled districts is thus shown on the 10th October, 1848 : — Population, Land, Live Stock, &c. Population : — European, males ,, females Total Aborigines, males . ,, females Total Acres under Cultivation : Wheat Barley Oats Maize ...... Potatoes Vineyard Oliye-yard . . . . Kitchen garden . . Green crops . . . . Live Stock: — Horses Homed cattle . . . Sheep Swine Goats Perth County. 1,415 1,098 2,.513 302 221 5.53 1,064 U3 113 44 29 48 90 8 146 990 394 2,873 8,888 786 1,050 York County. 425 199 624 134 771 172 9 15 1 1 11 21 494 610 1,483 62,409 543 25 Welling- tonCounty 217 141 358 300 406 99 20 7 2 24 69 124 1,729 3,415 167 198 Plantage- uetCounty, 186 114 300 300 150 450 92 35 4 5 5 13 12 44 251 505 9j582 85 Toodyay | Sussex District. I County. 258 107 365 300 484 lOG 7 5 10 355 460 1,682 49,180 367 31 142 82 224 100 50 150 126 103 2.0 2 33 1 15 184 184 1,472 6,020 134 43 Murray County. 98 61 149 39 34 73 371 11 3 1 3 1 15 184 1,175 1,629 205 84 Total. 2,818 1,804 4,622 1,960 3,316 672 133 100 38 120 112 10 243 2,320 2,095 10,919 141,123 2,287 1,431 Note. — Tlic total of the return of European population includes the troops stationed in the colony, their wives and children, numbering altogether 162. It also includes 77 males and 12 females = 89, on board colonial vessels and on emi- gration parties. Of the aborigines 418 males and 123 females are regularly or casually employed by the Europeans. Government. — The colony is at present ruled by a governor, aided by an executive council, consisting of the colonial secretaiy, advocate-general, surveyor-general, and col- lector of revenue. There is also a Legis- lative Council, composed of the above, in conjunction with the civil and criminal judge, and with three non-official members appointed by the crown ; but it is probable that a more popular form will soon be adopted, under the provisions of a bill for the "better government of her Majesty's Australian colonies," which has undergone full discussion in both houses of the luipe- riaL Legislature, while this volume has been passing through the press, and received its final decision in the House of Commons on the 1st August, 1850. The provisions of this bill, as first introduced to parliament, in j\Tarch last, are stated at pp. 555 — 560 : since then, the bill has undergone several modifications in the House of Lords. The proposed power to create a Federal Assemljly of the Australian colonies, which, I feared, would prove a source of contention (see p. 558), has been withdrawn, as also the power to dispose of the crown lands by the said Assembly (see note, p. 554) : the qualifi- cation of voters is fixed at the possession of a freehold estate, of the clear annual value of £100 ; a .€10 household franchise ; or the possession of a leasehold estate or licence to depastui'e lands from the govern- ment, of the value of ^610 sterling per annum. Under the amended bill, the colo- nial Legislative Councils have power to alter the qualifications of electors, and to divide the Legislative Council into two chambers; but they have not the poAver to declare there shall be a single legislative chamber, or that the nominees of the crown, whether official or non-official, shall be altogether excluded from that chamber. A Legis- lative Council may be established in Western Australia, as in the other Australian colo- nies, if petitioned for by not less than one- thu'd in number of the householders within the colony, provided the province undertakes to defray the expenses of the civil establish- ment, which have been heretofore borne by the Imperial Parliament, such sums to be permanently granted to the crown out of the colonial revenues, and to form a civil list. J96 RELIGION, EDUCATION, CRIME, TAXATION, REVENUE. Military Defence. — About 100 men, iucludiug three officers, stationed in different places. There are barracks at Perth capable of holding sixty men ; also small barracks at Albany, Kogonup, Bunbmiy, York, Pin- garra, and Rottnest Island. Religion. — The religious denominations in the colony, October, ISI-S, "svere — church of England, 3,063 ; Wesleyan methodists, 276; independents, 187; other protestant dissenters, 188; protestants, 311: church of Rome, 337; Mahomedans and Pagans, 90; religion not specified, 169. The chiu'ch of England colonists in Western Australia have built ten churches — and several temporary places of worship — have subscribed 8,000 acres of land towards a bishopric fund, and have contributed liberally towards the main- tenance of their clergy and the establish- ment of schools. The church at Perth, capable of holding 1,000 persons, has cost £3,500, and that at Fremantle, £1,500. There are seven clergymen of the established church, under the supervision of an arch- deacon ; and three of the church of Rome, under a Roman catholic bishop. There are also several exemplary dissenting ministers. Education. — The governmental schools arc under a board of education ; the instruc- tion is entirely secular. In the Ptoman catholic schools the Irish national system is adopted. Schools. No. INIale Pupils. Female Pupils. Total. Governmental : — Perth 2 55 28 83 „ infant . . . 1 27 33 60 Fremantle . . . 2 26 10 36 jNIurrav .... 1 9 5 14 Guildford .... 1 18 6 24 York 1 28 — 28 Albany .... 1 14 19 33 In connection -with R.\ Catholic Church . / 3 Gl 105 166 Total . . . 12 238 206 444 The Press. — Two well conducted news- papers are published at Perth, and an excel- lent Western Australian almanac, replete with useful topographical and statistical information, has been published in the colony for the years 1842 and 18-19. Crime. — Number of felonies in 1848 — whites, 11 ; blacks, 47. Of misdemeanours — whites, 11 ; blacks, 4. Taxation. — The duties levied in Western Australia, in 1848 (Blue Book), were :— On spirits imported, the produce and inn,uu- facture of any part of the British empire, 6.s. per imperial gaUon; ditto foreign produce and manufacture, 85. per gallon ; wines, pro- duce and manufacture of British empire, Qd. per gallon ; ditto, foreign, \s. 6d. per gallon ; cigars and snuffs, 2^. (jd. per lb. ; tobacco of all other kinds, is. peril).; live stock im- ported from any part of the British empire, Gs. per cent., other places, 12^. per cent. ; | goods, ware, and merchandise, the growth, j produce, or manufacture of any part of the ! British empire, not otherwise charged with a | specific duty, 6 per cent. ; ditto of any foreign state, 12 per cent. Internal duties — Auction duty, 2^ per cent.; on registering transfer of landed property, 1 per cent. ; spirit licences, £10 to j€25 per annum; auctioneer and attorney licences ; dog tax ; licences to cut timber, on 640 acres, £20 per annum, or 10s. a month for each pair of sawyers ; licences to occupy crown lands for pasturage, from £10 per annum for 4,000 acres, to £20 per annum for 20,000 acres. Licences for boats and for boatmen, ware- house rents, &c. The revenue raised in Western Australia for three years was — Details of Revenue. 1848. 1847. Duties on spirits ,, -wine . „ tobacco . . . „ goods imported, adi. valorem . . „ goods sold by auc tion . . . „ transfers of land Licences to sell spirits „ to sell by auction „ to keep dogs Warehouse, rent of . . Spirits in bond .... Fees of public officers . • Post-office department Total Sale of crown lands . . Licences to occupy ditto . „ to cut timber Perth jetty dues . . . Repayment of crown debts Rottnest establishment Judicial fines and forfeitures Miscellaneous .... On account of parliamentary] grant ...... .J On account of juvenile immi-^ grants from Parkhurst . .j Grand total .... £3,494 507 910 2,143 92 22 547 31 80 111 107 298 8,345 463 576 226 24 Gil 158 39 41 £3,689 403 658 1,533 84 44 482 32 41 48 164 296 1846. ifili 2,147 7,695 277 18,464 251 920 20 99 69 101 1 £3,475 288 790 1,393 117 35 498 15 51 33 148 332 7,175 124 258 63 283 39 54 165 1,4611 986 6,893 7,250 16,028| 15,4U EXPENDITURE, COMMERCE, PRODUCTS OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 397 The civil expenditiire in 1848 was- Departments. Audit office .... Colonial secretary's office Colonial treasurer's office Commandant . . Customs I'cvenue Council . . . Ecclesiastical office Governor's office Harbour-master . Medical department Natives and native school Police force . . Post-office . . Public works . . Registrar-general Registrar of deeds Roads and bridges Rottnest establishment Schools Surveying department Judicial department . Miscellaneous . . . Juvenile immigrant department Colonial vessel , Total expenses From Parlia- mentary Grant. £681 177 292 1,118 266 744 1,620 1,558 133 276 827 7,692 Colo- nial Fund. Total. £293 127 63 891 150 3761 100 512 270 221 690 596 845 20 62 468 393 212 961 694 2,250 10,194 £293 808 63 177 891 150 668 1,218 512 536 965 690 596 845 20 62 468 393 212 2,581 2,252 2,383 276 827 17,886 Total expenditure of the troops in Western Australia, during 1848, for pay, allowances, pensions, supplies, exclusive of the salt meat and candles sent from England, and trans- port, j€1 0,501 j repaii's to military buildings, lodging money, &c., £1,044 = £11,545; add Parliamentary grant for civil expenses, from military chest, £7,128 = 18,673. Commerce is increasing, and the exports fast rising to a level with the imports. The details of trade in 1848 were — ountrics. Imports from Exports to Shipping Inwards. United Kingdom . . British. Colonies . . . Foreign £19,218 24,922 624 £12,96.5 15,612 1,020 Tons. 1,416 4,888 9,190 Total . . . £44,764 £29,597 15,494 Staple Products. — Wool, timber, oil, fish; to which will, probably, soon be added cop- per, lead, and other metals. A Geraldine Mining Company has been established at Perth ; capital £6,400, in 1,280 £5 shares. A silver-lead mine, in the Toodyay district, yields five ounces of silver to the ton of ore, roughly assayed. Mother-o' -pearl shells, which are worth from o€20 to £70 a ton, cover a district of Sharks' bav having six to twelve feet water ; and pearls as large as peas have been recently collected there. An island covered with guano, equal to that of Peru, has been recently discovered in the same neighboui'- hood; where the raspberry (an acacia, so called from the odour of the timber), sandal, and red ebony woods have been found grow- ing within 200 yards of the beach. The sandal wood of Western Australia is a lu- crative article of export ; some sent by the Vixen to Singapore, for the China market, sold for £21 per ton, leaving a net profit of £17 per ton. Her Majesty's dockyards are now contracting for the excellent ship timber of Western Australia, some of which {\h.e jarrah) endures any time in water, and is not eaten by that destructive worm the teredo navalis ; ships built with it require no coppering ; a plank may be cut of any size; and there is enough of timber and knees, of the best kind, to supply the British navy for centuries. A forest of the jarrah, or mahogany, at a distance of eighteen miles from Perth, and twenty from the sea, extends over a tract of at least 300 miles from north to south, with a known width of thirty miles from east to west. The trees are very fine ; and it has been computed that this forest alone contains sufficient of this invaluable timber to build 200,000 line-of-battle ships, reckon- ing the largest amount of timl)er ever re- quu'ed for a ship as the average : 20,000 navies equal to all those of Em'ope might therefore, be constructed from this single forest. The jarrah, and indeed all the heavy tim- ber of the colony, is included in the genus eucalyptus ; but the species are very nume- rous : of these, that called the tuart ranks next to the jarrah in value, and is indeed, in some respects, superior to it, but is not nearly so abundant. The white gum much resembles the tuart, and partakes in its remarkable quality of scarcely slirinking in the process of cfrying ; but -it is looked upon with an evil eye by the settlers, as indicating the predominance of sand or of ironstone and clay in the soil. The red gum, one of the least common of its tribe, though of no great value as timber, being subject to gum-veins, is easily worked, and much used in the. colony for spokes of wheels, &c. : it is nearly equal to lance- wood. The morrel, chiefly found in the Toodyay district, is highly esteemed for its toughness £>nd strength. 898 COLONIZATION ASSURANCE COMPANY FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA. The great blue gum is found in perfection in the neighbourhood of Nornalup and the Deep river, between Augusta and King George^s Sound, where it attains the ex- traordinary height of from 100 to 150 feet, and measm-es fifty feet in circumference. There are, besides, the black butt, salmon gum, and many others. The ornamental woods of the colony are numerous, and many of them very beautiful in grain and figure. The sandal wood has been before mentioned. The raspberry, or jam loood, which somewhat resembles rose- wood in grain and colour, grows generally in the country within the range. The ca- suarina, or she oak, found mostly in the sandy districts near the coast, Avhen w^ell worked up, is a very pretty Avood. Besides these, there are several other kinds of ornamental woods, as the banksia, and various species of dryandr'ui, one of which is called satin-wood by the colonial cabinetmakers. Fisheries. — At present, only one vessel and about eighteen boats are employed. The Americans and French carry on exten- sive whaling pursuits in the veiy harbours of Western Australia, Avhose fisheries are among the finest in the southern hemi- sphere. The entire coast swarms with snapper, whiting, mullet, bream, kingfish, mackerel, &c., of the highest quality. The snapper weighs from 10 lbs. to 40 lbs. ; and dried, sells for £16 per ton, at the Mauritius. Banking and Monetary Affairs. — An excellent institution termed the Western Australian Bank, was established in June, 1841, with a subscribed capital of £20,000, in 2,000 £10 shares. The capital paid up is £5,544, by about 100 proprietors. The diridend paid for the last five years has averaged twelve and-a-half per cent, per annum. The paper circulation in July, 1849, was £2,652 ; the bills under dis- count, £10,360 ; and the deposits not bear- ing interest, £13,718. Coin of all descrip- tions in the colony, about £11,000. Exchange. — Bills on her Majesty's Trea- sury, and on agents of Western Australian Bank, London, at par in 1848. Private bills on London, at thirty days' sight, five per cent, discoimt. Prices of Produce in Western Australia in 1848 : — Wheat, per bushel, os. ; barley, 4s. ; oats, 4s. ; horses, £20 ; horned cattle, £6 ; sheep, mixed flock, 4s. ; goats, milch, os. ; swine, 10s. each ; flour, per ton of 2,000 lbs., £1G; whcaten bread, per lb. 2f//. ; milk, id. per. quart; butter, Is. Gd.; cheese, Is. 2d ; beef od.; mutton, 3|rf. ; pork, 8d.; rice, 2d.; coflTee, Gd.; tea, 2s. ; sugar, 3s. ; salt. Id. per lb. ; wine, 4s. Gd. ; brandy, ISs. | beer, 2s. per gal.; tobacco, 2s. Gd. per lb. War/csfor lahonr. — Domestics, £15 to 20 ; predial- shepherds, £o6 ; farm servants, £24 per annum ; trades, 6s. per diem. It remains for me now only to notice two important featm-es connected -with the colony. I have already adverted to the advantages possessed by colonies which have public companies in England connected with their welfare. Western Australia, except- ing in the short-lived instance of the Aus- tralind Association, has not hitherto had this collateral benefit. Earl Grey, however, with a view to the remedying of this defect, has sanctioned the formation, by act of par- liament, of a Colonization Assurance Com- pany, in London, whose operations for the promotion of colonization have commenced in Western Australia. The corporation, under the provisions of the act of the impe- rial legislature (13 Vie. c. 24), has rightly ordained that the responsibility of its share- holders be limited to the amount for which they have severally subscribed. The capital authorised to be raised in the first instance, is £100,000 in £10 shares, with power of increase, subject to the consent of the Lords of her Majesty's Treasury. The corporation is authorised to purchase and to hold lands to any extent in the colonies and depen- dencies of the British Empire : any emi- grants conveyed or caused to be conveyed to Western Australia by the company, shall entitle them to receive land scrip to the value of £20 for each emigrant, male or female, above foiu'teen years of age, or for every two emigrants under that age. The land-scrip is to be taken in payment of crown lands in Western Australia, at the rate of 2Qs. per acre; corporation may re- quire the governor to put up crown lands, under certain provisoes. Accounts of cor- poration are to be annually reauditcd by the registrar of joint-stock companies, and the annual report to be sent to the Board of Trade. The operations of the company are not to extend beyond Western Australia, except the consent (a necessary and wise precaution Avhere such extensive powers and pri\dleges have been conferred) of her ]\Ia- jesty's Secretary of State for the Colonics, shall have been previously obtained. Taken altogether, the act is liberal, and may be beneficially worked for the interests of the shareholders of the company, and of the colonists. It is understood that the cor- TRANSPORTATION OF CONVICTS TO WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 393 poration intend to pui'chase eligible sites in Western Australia, for the formation of settlements, and tbey propose to enable emigrants to lease lands from the corpo- ration on the principles of Life Assurance ; such lands, on the payment of a rent for a given period, or on the termination of the life of the leaseholder, to be the property of his heirs; thus the emigrant may be enabled to pay for his land, not out of capital, but out of profits to be realized from his own labours, aided by the fostering ex- ertions of the corporation. Thus — A., aged 30, for an annual premium of £7 4s. Id., is put into immediate possession of 100 acres of good land, and whenever he dies — even if within the first year — the land be- comes the property of his representatives, without further payment. There are also calculations for limited periods of assurance. The company propose to devote a portion of its funds to assist in providing for all its settlements, churches and clergy of the church of England ; and it will aflbrd liberal assistance to other classes of Christians, according to the circumstances of each case. I believe this useful association has been projected and carried into operation by R. W. Nash, Esq., late member of the Legislative Council in Western Australia, by whose unceasing exertions the colony has been materially benefitted. Transportation. — Her majesty's govern- ment, in accordance "ndth the strongly ex- pressed desire of the colonists of Western Australia, have resolved to send out a mode- rate number of convicts tp the colony, who will, at first, be entirely under the control of the government, and be employed in im- proving the harbours, opening roads, cutting valuable timber, or in such other public works as the government, in conjunction with a competent officer sent from England for the purpose, may consider most likely to develop the resources of Western Austraha, and to remove some of the obstacles to the progress of the colony, by employing a com- petent force of labour upon undertakings to which private means have proved inadequate. The convicts to be selected for this useful purpose, will be those who from their con- duct at their present places of detention, and from their having to undergo but a short period of imprisonment prior to be- coming qualified for a greater degree of freedom, appear likely to behave in an indus- trious and orderly manner. When they are set free from the public works on account of good conduct, their services will become available to the settlers ; but if they should misbehave, and be therefore returned upon the hands of government, they will again be placed on public works at the expense, as in the first instance, of the British Treasury. There is no intention of assigning convicts to settlers, or of introducing in any form the system of assignment. There will be no interference whatever Avith the free character of the colony ; and should parliament, as it is hoped, continue to grant an annual sum for promoting free emigration to those colo- nies which receive convicts, her Majesty's government intend to send emigrants of good character, and of both sexes, equal in number to the convicts transported to Wes- tern Australia. By intelligence from Perth, Western Aus- tralia, dated April, 1850, it appears that the active population of the colony are in favour of these pro]30sitions, but they rightly deem that their efforts for the promotion of moral and spiritual instruction must be redoubled and watched over with increased Aagilance. The statements given at page 409 to 419 of this volume shew that tran- sportation, under proper management, is the most Christian coui'se which can be adopted for the reformation of the sinner, and for the preservation of the community to which he belongs, from the effects of a renewal of his crimes. The absence of all spu'itual instruction, the indiscriminate as- signment-system, the terrific punishments adopted without the slightest effort to cor- rect the evil tendencies of the criminals, and the pouring into a colony thousands of con- victs without due admixture of free men and women, caused the necessity for ces- sation of transportation to New South Wales. But in Western Australia her Majesty's government are adopting a sound system, by which the United Kingdom may be relieved annually from the pressure of an enormous prison population, the expenses on the British Treasury materially lessened, and a fine colony, blessed Avith a genial clime and fertile soil, but with only 5,000 inhabitants to 1,000,000 square miles of territory, may be rendered attractive to free settlers of all classes, and have its prospects increased of becoming the seat of a large and flourishing free population.'^ [See Supplement.] Summary. — The limited number of pages to which each division of this work is neces- * Sec Letter from Earl Grey to R. W. Nash, Esq., of 20th December, 1849. 400 STATE OF THE COLONIES ON THE ISLAND OF AUSTRALIA. sarUy restricted, not only compels an abbre- viation of diiFerent sections, but altogether precludes the discussion of several topics more or less connected with the four colonies whose descriptionoccupiesthe present volume. The chief aim of this work being one of plain and practical utility, I have devoted the fullest assignable space to the details best calculated to illustrate the progress, actual jjosition, and resources of these pro- vinces, alluding only incidentally to the ^ora and fauna of this singular country, with which the splendid volumes of Gould and Angas, and the interesting delineations of Mitchell, Sturt, and other explorers, have ab'eady, to a considerable extent, famDiarised the public mind. But there remains another subject from which I tui'n with more reluctance, although the above-named authors have dwelt upon it at some length; and Eyre and Grey also have published the results of their investi- gation. I allude to the condition and cha- racter of the aborigines, whose preservation from extinction, and, if possible, conversion, deserves the most strenuous efforts on the part of a Christian nation, and is indeed the only compensation that can be made for the e\ils which the very presence of the white man, and the ci\'ilization, which has become a second natm'e to him, unavoidably brings to the savage. Viewing it in this aspect the subject is one of deep and painful interest; to me it also appears very important in an ethnological point of view; and when in Australia I exhumed the body of a female aborigine who was buried in the solitude of the forest with the customs peculiar to her race; and I obtained, after execution, the body of a native chief, brought to the scaf- fold for the murder of an English shepherd, at Bathui'st, New South Wales ; I measured their skeletons, bone by bone, and minutely investigated their physical configuration. Having, however, arrived at my last page, I am reluctantly compelled to close the volume vnth a hope that when the historical, geo- graphical, and statistical delineation of the colonies is completed, I may, with the aid of that liberal support with which the public has thus far sustained my labours, be en- abled to present in a single volume a full and illustrated description of the aborigiaal or native subjects of the British crown in various parts of the world, viz., the natives of British North America, of British South America, of Australia, of New Zealand, of India, of Africa, and of the islands in the Pacific and eastern hemisphere. In conclusion, I cannot, I beheve, offer a better summary of the facts contained in the preceding pages, than is comprised in the fol- lowing tabular view of the colonies planted by England in Australia, as they stood in 1850. The proi/rcss and state of the Colonies on the island-continent of Australia since 1850, given in Supplement. Particulars. Date of formation, A.D Area in square miles, about White population, about Number of acres to each inhabitant . . . Acres of land in cultivation Live Stock : — Horses Horned cattle Sheep Swine Maritime Commerce: — Value of imports in £ Value of exports in £ Shipping tonnage inwards Local revenue in £ Civil cost to Great Britain in £ Military cost to Great Britain in £ . . . . Taxation per head, in shillings Consumption of imports per head, in shillings Staple Exports : — AVool, in lbs Tallow or Oil, in cwts Metals, in £ Chief town Population of capital New South South Western Total. Wales. Australia. A\istralia. 1787 1836 1836 1829 500,000 92,000 300,000 1,000,000 2,000,000 200,000 50,000 50,000 5,000 305,000 1,600 1,117 3,840 128,000 — 130,000 40,000 50,000 8,000 228,000 100,000 17,000 6,000 3,000 126,000 1,400,000 400,000 100,000 12,000 1,912,000 7,000,000 5,200,000 1,200,000 150,000 13,550,000 70,000 6,000 1,500 2,500 80,500 1,300,000 500,000 400,000 45,000 2,245,000 1,500,000 600,000 500,000 35,000 2,635,000 140,000 70,000 40,000 5,000 255,000 300,000 100,000 120,000 10,000 530,000 _— — — . 7,500 7,500 70,000 — 16,000 11,000 97,000 30 40 48 40 — 130 2'oQ 160 180 — 16,000,000 14,000,000 3,000,000 400,000 33,400.000 60,000 28,000 3,000 — 91,000 25,000 350,000 — 375,000 Svdnev Melbourne Adelaide Terth — 50,000 15,000 15,000 1,500 — Note. — In the £70,000 stated as military cost of New South Wales, Victoria province is included. In the return oi mwuls exported as from New South Wales. Victoria is also included Hound numbers are used SUPPLEMENTAL DIVISION. CHAPTER I. GOLD DISCOVERIES IN AUSTRALIA— THEIR PROGRESS AND PRODUCE. In the preceding pages, the establishment and condition of the four separate colonies on the island-continent of Australia, have been fully shown up to the year 1849-50; since then the discovery of a new product has given an enhanced value, such as scarcely a century could have communicated, to two at least of these settlements, — created an ex- tended commerce, emigration and enter- prise, which have exercised a marked in- fiuence on the people of the United King- dom, and attracted a degree of interest which is without precedent in colonial annals. The existence of metallifFerous wealth in Australia had for many years been sur- mised, not only from the finding of small portions of various metals, but also from scientific deductions, based on the geolo- gical structure and meridional direction of the mountain-ranges which traverse the east coast, from north to south, after the manner of the Andes, in South America, the Oural or Ural chain in Russia, and the Sierra Nevada in California. In the History of the British Colonies,^ published in 1834-5, I stated, generally, the existence in the Australian settlements of "gold, silver, blue and green copper ore, iron, lead, zinc, manganese, and coal" in various places ; and also beautiful agates, opal, chalcedony, jasper, cornelian — white, pinkish, and blue — close-grained marble, fine porphyry, asbestos, white saponaceous pipe-clay, various sulpliates of alumina, &c. Little attention was, however, then paid to these products, and all I could accomplish at that time, was to induce an examina- tion of the nature, extent, and general value of our colonies. The subject was again dwelt on in the Colonial Library, issued in * Issued in five volumes, 8vo. with Maps, &c. f One large vol. prepared from official documents furnished to me by government. X See pp. 504 and 608 of first issue ; pp. 160 and 264 of present issue. DIV. III. 3 D ten volumes, in 1837-8, and in the Statistics of the British Colonies, published in 1839. f In the previous pages of this work, writ- ten and printed in 1849-50, an endeavour was again made to attract attention to the vast wealth which I felt convinced would be found in Australia; under the head of Mineralogy , New South Wales, it was remarked, "gold most probably exists in large quantities ;"J and under the same head, in the description of Port Phillip, it was stated " the volcanic character of the country, and the geological structure of the Victoria province, indicates the presence of rich minerals, but as yet little attention has been paid to the subject; — the precious metals ivill probably be found extensively distributed." [Thus in first issue in 1850.] One of the most distinguished geologists and scientific observers of the present age — Sir Roderick Murchison — who had inves- tigated, under the authority of the Emperor of Russia, the auriferous portion of the Uralian Mountains, felt convinced, some years since, that this productive range bore a similitude to that of the Australian Cor- dillera. He arrived at this conclusion as the direct result of inductive reasoning, founded on a geological examination of the rocks, col- lected by Count Strzelecki, in Eastern Aus- tralia. A comparative view of these rocks and those of the Ural chain, was given in his address to the Royal Geographical Society, in 1844, and printed in its transactions. Not content with a mere philosophic an- nunciation. Sir Roderick, in 181G, addressed the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, urging the superabundant Cornish miners to emigrate to New South Wales, and there obtain gold from ancient alluvia, in the same manner as they extracted tin from the gravel of tlieir native county ; he alluded to some specimens of gold having been found, and distinctly argued that mucli more would be discovered. [It is observ- able that this statement was made before 402 SIR R. J. MURCHISON'S EARLY DISCOA^RY OF GOLD. the discovery of gold in California.'] In ' consequence of these confident predictions I [the earliest which appeared in print re- ! specting the Australian gold-fields] a Mr. j W. T. Smith, of New South Wales, com- ! menced a search, and found good speci- I mens of gold ore in a matrix of quartz, on i the western slopes of the Blue Mountains, ' of which he sent a sample to Sir R. Mur- chison, who also received similar informa- tion from Mr. Phillips, of Adelaide. There- upon, Sir R. jNIurchison (November 5th, 1848), addressed a letter to Earl Grey, her Majesty's secretary of state for the colo- nies, stating his previous ^aews as followed ' by the foregoing facts, suggesting a mine- ral survey of the region, and a declaration that the gold-field was open to the colo- nists on the payment of certain dues. A , letter of thanks Avas transmitted for — " the interesting communication with regard to the discovery of precious metals in Aus- ! tralia," and a geological surveyor Avas sub- sequently sent from England to the colony. On various occasions, during the two fol- lowing years, at meetings of the British Association for the Advanceme7it of Science, of the Royal Institution, and in the article entitled, " Siberia and California,'' in the Quarterly Revieiv, 1850, Sir Roderick endea- voured in vain, to rouse national attention to the known existence of gold in Aus- tralia, adverting strongly to the desirable- ness of opening out gold works in the colo- nies of that continent.* Among the colonial investigators, the first who deserves to be mentioned is Sir Thomas L. ^Mitchell, the distinguished sur- veyor-general of New South Wales, to whom the colony is so largely indebted for his valuable explorations of the interior of Aus- tralia, and who has also made the scientific world of Europe his debtor. In the course of his first expedition, he adverted to the peculiar character of the country [see Journal of Exjj editions, vol. ii. p. 18]. Sub- sequently, in 1846, when he discovered and • Her Majesty's secretary of state for the Colonies, the Duke of Newcastle, has directed the original letter of Sir Roderick Murchison, which is in the archives of Downing-street, to be printed in the Pari. Papers on the Gold Discoveries in Australia, where it will be found in the documents laid before the legislature on the 18th of August, 1853, p. 44. The Duke of Newcastle also sent himself, on July 22nd. 1853, copies of the correspondence to the governor-general of New South Wales— Sir C. A. Fitzroy — in reference, as his Grace observed, to the " credit of (Sir Roderick), having, at an early period, pointed out the indications of gold in Australia." named Australia Felix (now Victoria), he spoke with fuller confidence of the field there opened for the geologist and the miner, but I am not aware that he any- where stated in print his belief in the ex- istence of the precious metals. During his last investigation of tropical Australia, the surveyor-general obtained fine gold embedded in quartz, but was advised not to make known the locality, lest the shepherds and others should quit their em- ployment and proceed in search of the ore. The Reverend W. B. Clarke, a colonial chaplain and scientific geologist, also, in the year 1847, published his views in the Sydney Herald as to Australia becom.ing an aurife- rous country. He says, that his opinions were founded, like those of Sir R. iMurchison, on the similarity between the structure of the NewSouth Wales and theUrahan mountains, and from their meridional direction ; this was subsequently confirmed by the analo- gous conformation and position of the Cali- fornian ranges. Some time since, Mr. Clarke brought gold from the basin of the Macquarie (river), and exhibited it to the members of the government and of the legislature, in the council-chamber itself, and to numbers of persons in the community : the matter then excited scarcely more than an in- credulous smile. Mr. Icely, an old and re- spected colonist and member of council, who possesses extensive property in the Bathurst district, exhibited in Sydney specimens of quartz gold, but his representations on the subject were also unheeded. Shepherds and stock-keepers, who from time to time brought gold into Sydney, were supposed to have procured it from bush-rangers, who had melted down the produce of their robberies. One old shepherd, named McGregor, was in the habit of obtaining the precious metal from the neighbourhood of Wellington, for many years. Other proofs were not wanting in support of scientific reasoning. f In 1849, Mr. W. T. t Count Strzelecki, as shown at p. 153, carefully noted the geology of the Australian Alps and Blue Mountain ranges ; but, although the word goUl does not occur in his valuable work published in 1845, it appears that governor sir- George Gipps, on the 2nd September, 1840, enclosed to Her Majesty's secretary of state a report from the Count, men- tioning " an auriferous sulphuret of ii-on — partly decomposed, yielding a very small quantity of gold, although not enough to repay extraction"— -which he found in the vale of Ciwdd. I presume that the subject was subsequently forgotten by count Strzelecki. FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT OF GOLD IN N. S. WALES— MAY, 1851. 403 Smith (the same gentleman referred to by Sir R. Murchison in 1848) produced to the colonial secretary a lump of gold, embedded in quartz, which he said he had picked up at a certain place, which he offered to make known to the government, upon being pre- viously rewarded for the intelligence, by the payment of a large sum of money. The governor replied he could enter into no blind bargain on such a subject, but that if Mr. Smith thought proper to trust to the liberality of the government, he might rely upon being rewarded in proportion to the value of the alleged discovery, when its truth had been ascertained. To this Mr. Smith refused to accede, and there the matter rested; as the government, apart from the fear that the gold had been brought into the country, was unwilling to have the public mind agitated on the sub- ject, lest persons should be drawn off from their customary employments. In 1847-8, on the discovery of gold in California, 3,348 colonists quitted New South Wales, and sought, on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada, the precious metal, which existed in still greater abundance and purity in their own Blue Mountains. As might be expected, several diggers returned to Australia, and among the number was a Mr. Edward Hargreaves, who remembered that the geological features of the country in the vicinity of Bathurst resembled what he had seen in California. Thereupon he made diligent search for two months — and then, on the 3rd of April, 1851, announced to the governor-in-chief (Sir Charles A. Fitzroy) that he had succeeded beyond his expecta- tions, and had made very satisfactory disco- veries of the existence of abundance of gold in several localities on the crown lands; he proposed, therefore, to point out the auriferous districts to the government, if an award of £500 was made to him in the first instance, and subsequently such further compensation as the generosity of the government, and the benefit likely to accrue to the country would justify. The governor gave the same answer that he had previously done to Mr. Smith, of Berrima, whereupon, on the 30th of April, Mr. Hargreaves, probably fearing that the matter could not longer be kept secret, as he had been employing people at Summer * Pari. Papers, 3rd February, 1802, p. 1. t As many as 2,000 persons might be seen on the road to Bathurst : the fares by the ordinary vehicles were largely increased ; the rates for conveying goods Hill Creek (in the district of Bathurst) in digging for gold, declared he was quite satis- fied to leave the remuneration for his dis- covery to the liberal consideration of the government, and named Lewis Ponds and Summer Hill Creeks; the INIacquarie and another river in the counties of Bathurst and Wellington. The discoverer was then placed in communication with Mr. Stuch- bury, the geological and mineralogical sur- veyor to the local government, who was directed to make a strict examination and report thereon at his earliest convenience. On the 19th of May, Mr. Stuchbury, after a very cursory examination, reported that gold was being obtained in considerable quanti- ties at Summer Hill Creek, about 400 diggers being engaged in the search, many of whom were without food, and no stores at hand. On the 22nd of May, 1851, Governor Sir C. Fitzroy wrote to her majesty's secretary of state that grain gold had been found to the westward of Bathurst ; but there were doubts as to " the veracity of the reports, which lead to a strong suspicion that the accounts of the nature and value of the dis- covery have been exaggerated by the parties reporting it for purposes of their own, and that the gold sent for inspection is really Californian gold."'^ The governor in fact considered the reports to be mainly fictions, but not so the colonists, among whom the news circulated like wild-fire, causnig great excitement, and engrossing and unhinging the minds of all classes of the community. By the end of ]\Iay, all ofiicial hesitation was removed as to the reality of this great dis- covery ; the governor writing, on the 29th, to the secretary of state, says — There is "no doubt that gold has been found in abundance, and that the gold-field will be found to ex- tend over a large tract of country. Your lordship will readily conceive the excitement which prevails throughout this community ; thousands of people of every class are pro- ceeding to the locality ; tradesmen and mechanics deserting certain and lucrative employment for the chance of sticcess in digging for gold, so that the population of Sydney has visibly diminished. "f In the beginning of June, about 1,000 people were engaged in the search for gold at Summer Hill Creek, and obtaining large quantities in lumps varying from one ounce to three and from Sydney to Bathurst advanced from £2 10s. to £30. There vas a perfect scramble by speculators in buying up every article of merchandize, especially flour, beer, and spirits, and all articles of outfit. 404 GOVERNMENT MEASURES REGARDING GOLD— MAY & JUNE, 1851. four pounds weight, the latter chiefly ob- tainable from fissures in the clay-slate rock which forms the bed of the creek. When assayed, the proportions were — gold, 91-150 ; silver, 8-333; base metal, 0-507=1 00— fine- ness, 22 carats; the actual value of the gold and silver being £3 18.?. 4c?. per oz., of which the gold was £3 17^. 10c?. The miners were quiet and peaceable, but almost to a man armed. Notwithstanding these facts, many settlers, especially the grazing class, discouraged, as they had*^ done for years, the search for gold : even when it was found in considerable quan- tities, a Mr. C. C. Forbes, writing from Bathurst, and admitting that he himself picked up in one week to the value of £6 8s. ; and saw one man dig out £36 ■worth — termed the further prosecution " a wild-goose chase,^^ — declared that the win- ter would " kill many," and that " when the present diggings are exhausted, hundreds of miserable wretches will be sent back to Sydney starving."* The earliest measure of the government ■was to obtain the opinion of its law-officers, who declared that by custom and by legal decisions, all mines of gold or silver found within the realm, whether on the lands of the Crown, or those belonging to private individuals, belonged to the sovereign; thereupon some advised the governor to proclaim martial law, and peremptorily pro- hibit all gold digging, in order that the industrial pursuits of the country might not be interrupted. Sir Charles Fitzroy wisely foresaw that with the means at the disposal of the authorities, it would have been as futile to attempt to stop the influx of the tide as to check the rush of the people to the gold-fields, without, as he humanely observed, ''the risk of much bloodshed, which could not be justified on any just or sound principle of government." Accord- ingly a proclamation was issued (22nd May) warning the public that all persons taking any gold or golden ore from any ground, or digging or searching for the same, without being duly authorized by her majesty's colonial government, would be prosecuted both criminally and civilly, but that licenses would speedily be issued, on payment of a reasonable fee, authorising the search for, and collection of, gold. These were issued on the 3rd of June, on the payment of a fee of 30^. per month. The gold-producing country was divided into districts, each placed under the management of a commis- sioner or his assistant. The parties to whom licenses were granted had allotments marked out for them on the banks of the river or stream where they proposed to dig and work ; usually two persons, paying 30^. each monthly, received 9 feet frontage; three, 15; four, 18; five, 21 ; six, 24; where there was no frontage to a stream, 20 feet square were allotted to each party of three persons. This distribution of space was made by the commissioner or assistant~commissioner,who issued the monthly licenses, performed the duties of a police-magistrate, held from time to time courts of petty session, removed all persons of known bad character, or whose proceedings were calculated to disturb good order, or persons selling spirits without a license ; he was also answerable for the peace of the district entrusted to his care, for the maintenance of which a chief constable and a few mounted police were appointed. Before proceeding with an account of the successive steps of this extraordinary dis- covery, it will be necessary to ofl'er some explanation to the general reader, in order that expressions occurring in the subsequent pages may be clearly understood, — especially with reference to some geological data, in addition to those set forth at pp. 53 to 55 ; 153 to 157; 261 to 264; 333 to 340; and 389 to 390. We know from the inspired Mosaic re- cord, that at some very remote period, this globe was in an aeriform or gaseous state, " without form and void ;" from this con- • Letter in the Si/dncy Emjnrc Newspaper, 2nd June, 1851. dition it probably passed into that of a molten igneous mass, compounded of me- tals, semi-metals, and the other materials of which the earth is composed. On the creation of a firmament or atmosphere, the division of the waters, their gathering to- gether into one place, and the consequent appearance of a slimy ooze, or more solid substance called land — the crust gi'adually cooled, the fluid metals and other pon- derous materials sunk towards the centre; the surface became ultimately fit for the growth of vegetables — was then subse- quently adapted for the sustainment of animal life, and thus finally fitted-up and furnished for the habitation of man. But previous to this crowning work of the Almighty, it appears that the earth | was, at different times, and in various parts, I buried beneath the surface of the ocean, I and raised again by submarine volcanic ( heavings ; this is evidenced by the depo- sits of fossil fish and marine-shells, found at great elevations; as in the Pvrcnees, at 8,000; in the Alps, at 10,000; in the Andes, at 15,000; and in the Himalaya mountains, at 16,000 feet above the level of the sea. During these successive changes, sedimentary rocks were formed by aqueous depositions, in which are found entombed fossilized remains of vegetables and animals — many of which have no living types ; some of the latter containing the remnants of other extinct animals which they had swallowed for food. Subsequent to the deposition of the sedi- mentary rocks, frequent protrusions took place of substances, which the pent-up fires in the centre of the globe forced upwards, in a state of fluidity, but which became hard by the action of the atmosphere. That this igneous condition of the interior of the globe is no theoiy, is evidenced hy the fact that at a certain depth from the surface, the influence of solar heat ceases, and the temperature is equal for all latitudes; be- yond this, the heat increases in a steady ratio to the extent of one degree Fahrenheit for every forty-five feet. Assuming this ratio to continue at a depth of about 150 miles (the diameter of the earth is about 8,000 miles), the heat would be sufficient to fuse any of the known rocks and all the metals. Rocks are arranged under two principal heads — (1), stratified, sedimentary or aque- ous; (2), unstratified, igneous or plutonic ; the former being the result of the deposits of suc- cessive ages ; the latter caused, as before ob- served, by volcanic action. The first com- prise the sandy, slate and clayey rocks, and the varieties of limestone, chalk and marl; they are classified as primary, secondary, and tertiary, acccording to their relative age, Avhich is known by the imbedded fossils — the elder never lying above its junior. The primary (besides certain crystalline rocks) includes the fossiliferous deposits, such as the Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian ; the secondary, consists of the Trias, Lias, Oolitic or Jura, and Cretaceous; and the tertiary, comprises all the more modern formations above the Chalk. The second or i