{"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.14288\/1.0222612":{"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/terms#identifierAIP":[{"value":"376ea2b4-18f3-4775-9d63-0a084206e0d9","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/dataProvider":[{"value":"CONTENTdm","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isReferencedBy":[{"value":"http:\/\/resolve.library.ubc.ca\/cgi-bin\/catsearch?bid=1586004","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isPartOf":[{"value":"British Columbia Historical Books Collection","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/contributor":[{"value":"Ward, James","type":"literal","lang":"en"},{"value":"Bayswater, J. W.","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued":[{"value":"2015-08-17","type":"literal","lang":"en"},{"value":"1849","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/description":[{"value":"\"A book of letters by an anonymous correspondent in which five pages describe a Vancouver Island visit. In Soliday (pt. 4, item 126) the copy described is called an 'Author's autographed copy,' and is attributed to 'Baywater, J. W.'\" -- Lowther, B. J., & Laing, M. (1968). A bibliography of British Columbia: Laying the foundations, 1849-1899. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 2.
\"Dedication signed : J. W., Bayswater. Attributed to James Ward by Sir John Ferguson and B.C. Archives; attributed to J.W. Bayswater by Howes and Soliday. Bayswater is probably the London suburb. Pp. [182]-188 describes a visit to Vancouver Island while on a whaling voyage on the ship lane, ca. 1848.\"-- Strathern, G. M. , & Edwards, M. H. (1970). Navigations, traffiques & discoveries, 1774-1848: A guide to publications relating to the area now British Columbia. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 236.","type":"literal","lang":"en"},{"value":"","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/aggregatedCHO":[{"value":"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/collections\/bcbooks\/items\/1.0222612\/source.json","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/extent":[{"value":"404 pages ; 21 cm","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/elements\/1.1\/format":[{"value":"application\/pdf","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2009\/08\/skos-reference\/skos.html#note":[{"value":" \nPERILS,\nPASTIMES, AND PLEASURES\nOF AN\n\nEMIGRANT IN AUSTRALIA, VANCOUVER'S\nISLAND AND CALIFORNIA.\nLONDON:\nTHOMAS CAUTLEY NEWBY, PUBLISHER,\n72, MORTIMER St., CAVENDISH Sq,\n1849. To\nJAMES WYLD, Esq., M.P.\nDear Sib,\nI shall not dedicate the \" Perils,\nPastimes, and Pleasures of an Emigrant in Australasia\" to you through the medium of a dry\ndissertation upon Emigration, but shall endeavour\nto pen it in as free and easy a manner as though we\nwere quietly discussing that knotty question; or,\nrather, as though I were simply engaged in recording\nthe many pithy and practical suggestions which,\nunpremeditatedly, emanate from your well-stored\nmind, whenever that subject is under consideration.\nYou will agree with me that there are two great\nfacts connected with our present Social Condition,\nB which may well perplex the Statesman and afflict\nthe philanthropist. The first is, that our population\nhas long been increasing at the rate of a thousand\nsouls a day; and the second, that pauperism has\nbeen increasing at a still faster rate than population.\nThis may be truly termed an organic disease in our\nSocial Condition, and the ultimate tendency of it,\nunless it be carried off by some wise remedial treatment, must be obvious to every one* Now the\nnature of that remedial treatment of the disease\ncan only be suggested to us by a careful consideration of the cause of it; and the increase of population, per se, cannot be the cause df it, for the laws\nof God and nature are abhorrent to such a conclusion.\nNor can the concurrent increase of pauperism be\nproperly termed the cause of the disease, being, in\nfact, the effect of it; and what we really have to\nconsider then is, what is it that is continually aggravating this baneful effect ? And, first, what is\nPauperism\u2014I mean able-bodied Pauperism ? Is it\nnot an insufficiency of productive and remunerative\nemployment; and, if so, how is it that this insufficiency of our resources for employing the in- DEDICATION. 6\ndustrial classes becomes greater pari passu with the\nnumerical growth ofi those classes 1\nTo solve this important question, we must consider what the nature and extent of our resources\nfor employing the industrial classes are; and these\nmay be nearly wholly comprised under the general\nterms of agriculture and manufactures\u2014including\nin the latter all handicrafts of every description.\nNow, of the latter, it is true that the demand for\nmanufacturing labour would increase with the increase of population, if there was a similar increase in\nthe demand for agricultural labour. But the demand\nfor agricultural labour in this country has a limit\nwhich it reached long ago, and, therefore, every\nincrease of the agricultural population, instead of\ncreating an increased demand for manufacturing\nproducts, (as every increase of the manufacturing\npopulation creates an increased demand for agricultural produce), flies, by necessity, to manufacturing\nlabour itself, and thus inordinately swells the supply\nof it, instead of augmenting the demand for it.\nThe cause, therefore, of the disease is the limit\nwhich nature has placed to the demand for agri- 1\nINDICATION,\ncultural labour in this country, while she has. at the\nsame time ordained that it shall continually increase\nand multiply. Of the ever accruing excess, the\nmore inert portion remain and augment the\nmass of pauperism in the rural districts, while the\nmore aetive portion are constantly migrating into\nthe manufacturing districts, and importing the same\nevil of a superabundance of labour into them. It is\nthus that the limited extent of the soil has an\nincreasing tendency to crowd all the markets of\nlabour to repletion\u2014to render employment precarious because there is not sufficient employment\nfor all\u2014to reduce wages to the minimum of subsistence, because all are competing for employment\nunder the pressure of an apprehension of that\npauperism which must be the fate of some. Such\na state of things of course could not have arisen\nuntil tlie whole extent of soil capable of profitable\ncultivation had been fully interrogated to supply\nadditional employment for the growing increments of\nthe population. Neither could it have arisen at all, had\nthe Crown possessed accessible and unoccupied territories into whieh the surplus labour of the country DEDICATION.\nmight have been conducted by easy and inexpensive\nchannels of transit. But, unfortunately, although\nemigration would obviously have been the natural\npreventive of the pauperism, which has sprung\nfrom the impossibility of our limited area supplying\nad infinitum sufficient employment for a population which is illimitable ; and, although the Crown\npossesses unoccupied territories, of almost boundless extent and fertility, for colonisation, our\nsurplus labour has been hitherto cut off from\nthem by oceans which have rendered them inaccessible for immigration, except on too small a\nscale to produce any sensible effect on the labour\nmarket, which it is so essential to relieve from\nredundant competition for employment at home.\nThe question, therefore, is\u2014-How is Emigration\nto be carried out so as to produce this desirable result ? Before I attempt to answer this question it\nmay be as well to take a retrospective glance at the\nsubject of Emigration\u2014to trace its rise and progress\nin public, opinion\u2014to mark the different phases\nthrough which it has passed, from its first nebulous\ncondition in the cloudy regions of error, to its pre- DEDICATION.\nsent semi-transparent state, as it approximates to\nthe luminous point of demonstration,\nThe gradual encroachment of population upon\nterritory, with its accompanying evils, of labourers\nwanting work, and capitalists seeking investment for\ntheir capital, is no new phenomenon in the liistory\nof the world. Sooner or later in every country of\nnot unlimited extent this phenomenon must have\nbeen experienced; and the only difference between\nthe past and the present is, we conceive, that in\nformer times the means of relief were at hand, and\nthe evil was no sooner felt than remedied. If\nthe parent hive became too full, there were trees\nenough in the land ; the surplus population had\nbut to swarm, and make for themselves another,\nand the faster the mother city grew, the sooner\nher boughs touched the earth, and became offshoots to renew and cherish, instead of branches\nto weaken and exhaust her. At length, however,\nby the continual pressure of population upon subsistence, the earth has been partly peopled; and\nsome of the peopled parts have grown so\nfull, that no vacant places are left in the neighbour- DEDICATION,\n7\nhood, into which the superabundance may be drawn\noff, as it used to be. If the Emerald Isle were, at\nthis moment, uninhabited, instead of being full to\nrepletion, those who are now uneasy with the elbowing and competition in England, would straightway\ncross over the channel and commence a new career\nfor themselves; and when the increase of numbers\nshould re-appear in all their irritating activity\u2014and\nno second Ireland should be at hand, to absorb the\ndiscontented and unemployed, the people must either\nmake up their minds to the slow destruction, which\ndecimating disease and deadly fever would bring\nabout, or bridge the Atlantic and seek an existence\nin the unbroken solitudes of the far-west. This has\nbeen partly accomplished in our time, and the great\nquestion is, how to bring the occupied and unoccupied portions of the earth nearer to each other, so as\njto stream off the pent-up people from their densely\nisolated spots to a wider space, and an ampler region\nfor their industrial energies, and give them elbow-\nroom for the full development of their faculties.\nBut we are somewhat anticipating. When the population in this country began to increase too rapidly F*\nDEDICATION.\nfor the means of employing it\u2014when it became\ndifficult to adjust the proportion between the claimants for wages, and the fund out of which wages\nwere paid\u2014the public mind was strongly directed\nto this phenomenon, and after the usual amount of\nacrimonious dispute, and more than the usual\namount of hypothetical dogmatism, from the novelty\nand magnitude of the question, and the immense\ninterests that were at stake\u2014no less than the peace\nand prosperity of the whole community\u2014it was at\nlength agreed that Emigration would prove the\npanacea for the great evils which stared every one\nin the face, and the recognition of that fact was a\nconsiderable point gained. Enquiry was immediately\nset on foot to devise a scheme on an adequate scale\nto the emergency; and two Committees of the\nHouse of Commons (1826-7) elaborately investigated the question, and reported that the British\nsettlements supplied room enough for the surplus\npopulation, and that by the assistance of Government\na sufficient number could be enabled to settle on the\nColonial Wastes, so as to relieve the immediate\npressure, and restore, in some measure, the equi- DEDICATION.\n9\nlibrium between demand and supply. This was a\nbeginning which augured well for the labouring\ncommunity : but the expense was soon found to be\ntoo great to follow the scheme up with spirit, so as\nto produce the desired effect upon the labour-\nmarket i it therefore languished for want of adequate funds during^ the three or four succeeding\nyears. In addition to this, another depressing cause\nmanifested itself in the rumours of the ills and accidents to which the first batch of poor settlers were\nexposed on the Colonial Wastes : and the consequent\ndiscouragement of the destitute classes from taking\nadvantage of the means of emigrating under such\ngloSmy prospects. But, if the scheme had been\ncarried out in extenso\u2014if \"ample scope and verge\nenough \" had been given to emigration as then propounded\u2014it would not have reached the seat of the\ndisease; the remedy, with all its expenses and\n3$ difficulties, wa3 only a remedy for the day. It aimed\nonly to relieve an extra pressure, not to provide\nwhat was really wanted, a natural and continual\nsource of relief for a pressure which must be continually recurring. It was simply a temporary\nB 5 w\n~\nDEDICATION.\nmeasure\u2014a mere expedient\u2014to stave off the evil to\na future time, when it must again appear in a more\naggravating form, and with a more hideous aspect;\nand again to experience the same results, for the\nhand-to-mouth policy of our political rulers, which\ntoo frequently prevails, whenever questions of great\ngeneral bearings came under their treatment, could\ntend to no other point.\nAt this crisis the |Wakefield Theory\" burst\nupon the world as a new discovery in economical\nscience; but, unlike most new theories, was treated\nwith marvellous respect, and almost immediately\nput into practice\u2014and that, too, under the most\nauspicious circumstances. Its projector had everything in his favour\u2014new territorities, ample capital,\nindulgent followers, a free and open course for his\nexperiment\u2014to say nothing of the vigorous and\npersevering support which he received from a small\nband of followers; yet, with all these special appliances it turned out a complete failure.\nThe \" theory' may be comprised in the following\nsentence\u2014\" That our colonization ought to carry\nout society entire, and to plant it in the wilderness\n\u25a0 DEDICATION.\n11\nin such a way that the new community should exhibit\nall the attributes of civilization belonging to the old,\nwithout the evils which arise from the excess of\npopulation.\"\n\" If mankind were a chess-board,\" exclaimed the\nlate Sidney Smith, \" then might the Grote-ballot\nscheme work well in our political system;\" we say\nalso, that if man were a machine, and you could dispose of him according to his fitness and capacity in\nthe social edifice, then might Mr. Wakefield's theory\nof colonization work well. But experience teaches\nus that man, both individually and collectively, is by\nnature selfish, wayward, and ambitious\u2014that necessity, or what he deems his own interest, keeps him\nin a certain subordination to his fellow-men ; or, in\nother terms, the \" hewers of wood and drawers of\nwater \" are not such by choice but by compulsion'\nand that they would instantly cease to perform those\nnecessary occupations, had they any chance of bettering their condition in the social gradation* It is\ncompetition, arising from the pressure of population,\nthat keeps them in their humble sphere, and precludes them from rising higher; and not their own DEDICATION.\nsense and conviction that they are specially fitted for\nsuch useful occupations.\nBut Mr. Wakefield's theory assumes the converse\nof all this. He says\u2014\" The life of a servant, in a\ncountry where servants are plentiful and well paid, is\nmore eligible than the life of a master, where servants\nare not to be had ; and, therefore, by voluntarily\ndoing here (Australia) what they would have been\nforced to do in a country where land was scarce,\nthey would have promoted not only the general\ninterests of all, but the individual comforts of each.\"\nNo doubt of it; but, unfortunately for this hypothesis, men only act \"voluntarily\" in pursuit of\ntheir own interest, or what they conceive their own\ninterest; they are \" forced\" to act as they do in\ntheir different spheres, not from a sense of duty\nor a peculiar fitness for the performance of it, but\nfrom necessity which has placed them there, and\nfrom competition which will keep them there.\nEvery man wishes to better his condition, and would\ngladly abandon his present pursuit for another, if he\nsaw any advantage in so doing ; and, although society at large might be injured by such a change, DEDICATION\n13\nhe would care little for that, and would follow the\nbent of his own inclinations. So with settlers in a\nnew colony, upon the plan of Mr. Wakefield ; they\nwould not remain together, and combine their individual interests, so as to make the territory yield the\ngreatest amount of produce, and the share of each\nbecome larger; but they would rush abroad in all\ndirections to obtain land, of which for want of combination, they could make no use when they had got\nit. To remedy this defect in his theory, Mr. Wakefield proposed to compel his community to remain,\neach in his respective sphere, not directly by force\nbut indirectly, by placing land beyond their reach.\nHe reasons thus\u2014there is a certain ratio between\nthe supply of labour in the market, and the surface\nof land under cultivation, by which the greatest\nquantity of produce will be raised. If you miss\nthis ratio, you fall into the evils of an underpeopled\ncountry on the one hand, in which land is\nmerely scratched; or, on the other, of an\noverpeopled country, in which competition reduces wages to a minimum, and the land will not\nproduce sufficient to feed the people. To keep up DEDICATION.\nalways the proper ratio, you must keep the ratio\nconstant between hireable labour and the price of unsold land j and this must be done, by first fixing the\njust price, and then applying the whole proceeds to\nthe introduction of immigrants. But how this just\nprice\u2014this \"dueproportion between land and population\" this \" golden mean\" between Dispersion and\nDensity, is to be determined, we are left entirely in\nthe dark. The ground-work of Mr. Wakefield's\ntheory is pure assumption, and the superstructure,\nconsequently, fallacious ; it is based on the same hypothesis as that of M. Louis Blanc, and the French\nCommunists, that men-will act in their social capacity from a sense of duty, and not from interest,\nand that principle has been worked out in France to\na most lamentable conclusion. Instead of leaving\nsociety to develop itself quietly, according to the\nnatural order of things, acquiring gradation, and\nrank, suo motu, he would arbitrarily impose these\nconditions upon it, not working as it were ah intra\nand bringing up the social body to the point where\ndistinctions naturally manifest themselves, and the\nartificial machinery is a necessary result, but working -DEDICATION\n15\nas it were, ah extra, by insisting upon his mechanism\nbeing established before the body itself has grown\ninto sufficient strength and proportions to bear it.\nWe have dwelt the more upon this pet scheme of\ncolonization, from the fact of its having been lauded\nhy almost all parties on its first enunciation; and, also,\nfrom the singular failure which it has experienced in\nour colonies, the consequences of which are yet felt\nto a very great and aggravating extent. Several of our\nleading statesmen were strangely smitten with its\n0 0 1\/\nbeauty; did all they could to sanction its practical\ndevelopment ; extolled it to the skies in limini, as\na masterpiece of political sciences : have, many of\nthem, lived to see its utter break-down, and, yet,\nhave not the moral courage to confess their judgment at fault, as they still cling to some of its provisions in their administrative instruction to our\ncolonial dependencies\u2014the high price of land, for\ninstance, and its attaching conditions, which is a\n' 0 *\nbane to a healthy system of Colonization.\nHaving disposed of Mr. Wakefield's theory of\nColonization, which still adheres to our Colonial m\nr\nDEDICATION,\nadministration,* and harasses the great mass of the\nsettlers by its monopolizing tendencies, I shall briefly\nnotice the aid which Government h?s accorded to\nEmigration, during the last few years. I shall purposely pass over the influx of Emigrants to South\nAustralia and New Zealand, under the stimulating\nimpulse of the % Wakefield Theory,\" and the New\nZealand Company, as it may be termed an artificial\nstate of things \\ for men rushed blindly to the promised El Dorado at the antipodes with their \" little\nall,\" in the hope of augmenting it, but many of them\nwere deceived, and clearly illustrate the folly, if not\nthe crime, of too eagerly embracing the plans of\nplausible schemers and political Utopists. You will\nagree with me, sir, that the sudden influx of Capitalists and labourers in 1834\u20147\u201440 to Australia,\nought not to be classed in the category of steady,\nhealthful, and progressive Colonization, but, on the\nf I perceive by the advertisements that the \" Churchy Emigration Society\" propose to establish a colony in New Zealand upon the '* Wakefield\" principle\u2014\" with order, rank\nand gradation,\" the harness, before the horse is reared towear\nit\u2014profound Economists. DEDICATION.\n17\ncontrary, that it should be considered as a \" heavy\nblow and great discouragement\" to it, as it was\nmainly instrumental in presenting a sound and\nhealthy plan of Emigration.\nGovernment has granted for the purposes of Emigration\u2014its Superintendence ! ! It is true that a\nsum of ten thousand pounds was applied last year to\nconvey certain convicts to New South Wales, and\nVan Dieman's Land; but this, I apprehend, will not\nbe deemed an encouragement to the poor labourer\nto emigrate. The expense of conveying the 17,000\nwho emigrated within the last twelve months was\npaid out of the Colonial funds, and the Emigrants'\npockets\u2014.\u00a3200,000, was the share of the former,\n.\u00a350,000 of the latter The question, therefore, naturally recurs\u2014How is Emigration to be carried out\nso as to produce the desired result ? Our Colonies stand\nin as great need of the redundant labour of the parent\nCountry, as the Parent Country does of being relieved from it; but to the legislature of neither can\nwe look for adequate funds to support anything like\na comprehensive scheme of Emigration. If such a\nscheme, therefore, is ever to be effectuated, it must\nI\nf.'.j\n>.'-- -. m\nDEDICATION.\nbe from the resources of the working classes themselves.\nBut how ? There are few amongst them, who would\nbe able to meet, individually, the expense of passage\nand outfit, and few, therefore, would ever be able to\nemigrate except by a system of Mutual Aid and Co-\noperation.\nThe plan, therefore, to which I respectfully call\nyour attention is as follows :\u2014\n1st. One hundred thousand persons are invited to\nform the first class of this society, and to provide\nfor their emigration in succession, as follows :\u2014\n2nd. Each Member to subscribe Is. per week, or\n4s. per month.\n3rd. As the aggregate monthly subscriptions\nwould amount to \u00a320,000., this sum, supposing the\ncost of Emigration (including outfit, &c.,) to be\n.\u00a312 10s. per head, would provide for the Emigration monthly of 1,600 members.\n4th. The whole body, therefore, (except those\npreviously provided for) would have to draw lots for\n1,600 preference passage tickets, \nI'll 1I\nlit\nINTRODUCTION.\nfore unreflecting, farm-labourers of England.\nTo say that a class of men who have been\naccustomed to the free and easy carriage of\ntheir limbs, and to the continual exercise of\ntheir faculties, cannot learn how to use an axe,\na spade, or a bullock- driver s whip, is absurd.\nAll that they would want is the will; and, if\nthey have the will, they are a hundred to one\nbefore the joint-stiffened and muddle-headed\nclown from the threshing-floor or the plough's\ntail.\nThat the prosperity of Australia will be progressive there can be very little doubt. Even\nthe crisis through which its various settlements\nhave passed, are sure indications of their ultimately arriving at a point from which there\nwill be no sensible retrogression. In short,\nthose commercial crises have been only the\nnatural struggles of a rising commercial spirit,\nwhich will overcome all obstacles. Her wool\ntrade has already taken its place amongst the\ntaple trades of nations; the tevival of INTRODUCTION.\n33\nSouthern Fisheries will create another vast\nbranch of traffic with Europe; and, above all,\nthe rapid development^ her mineral resources *\nwill shortly effect a radical change in another\nbranch which is of the highest importance to\nall countries, and will therefore bring her into\nintercourse, when our Navigation Laws are\nrepealed, with the world at large.\nCommercial pursuits, however, will not be\nappropriate immediately for the moderate capi-\n\u00a5\n* The rich mineral resources of Australia is one\nof the most striking phenomenon of modern discoveries. Within the short space of three years the\nproprietors of the mines have exported copper to\nEngland which has realized twenty per cent., on an\naverage, more than the best European coppers, not\neven excluding those of Chili and Peru; the ore of\nthe Burra Burra mine yielding as much as 40 per cent,\nof pure copper, while the average yield of Chilian\ncopper is 17 to 18 per cent., and those of South Wales\nabout 8 per cent. The average price of South Wales\nor English ores at Swansea, for the last three years,\nhas been 51.10s. per ton ; whilethose of foreign origin\nhave realized 121., and during the same period\nc 5 m\ntr*\nINTRODUCTION.\ntalist. The development of her marine and\nmineral resources can only be prudently\nattempted, or effectually worked out, by the\nenterprize, management, and capital, of associated bodies. An individual who only equipped\none ship for the Whaling Grounds, or sunk his\ncapital in a solitary mine, might be ruined by\nthe failure of that isolated adventure; but a\npublic company, which sent out fleets to the\nFisheries, or worked simultaneously a dozen\ndifferent mines, would be compensated for the\nthe Australian ore has commanded, in some instances,\nas much as 33\u00a3. per ton\u2014the lowest price never\nfalling below 13Z., and the bulk realizing from 18 to\n191. per ton. Other mines in Australia have yielded\ncorresponding riches in copper ores ; and when the\nlead and iron ores shall have been but partially\nrealized, the mining interest of the South Australian\nSettlement must become one of the finest and richest\nof the New World. For an interesting detail of the\nmineral resources of South Australia, and other\nvaluable information relative to that settlement, see\nMr. Wilkinson's work\u2014\" South Australia, its advantages and Resources.\" INTRODUCTION.\n36\nloss arising from some by the gain accruing\nfrom the rest, and thus, by a sort of self-insurance, secure to themselves an average rate\nof profit. And, as to joining these public com-\npanies, emigration is not necessary for that,\nbecause it can be done just as easily at home.\nWith these introductory remarks, I shall leave\nthe letters of our friend to speak for\nthemselves; and, if read with attention,\nand in a proper spirit, they cannot fail to\nimpart a great deal of useful information, not\nonly to the Emigrant, but to the Merchant, the\nManufacturer, and even to the Statesman.\nfours, etc.,\nJ. W. r> * \/?\nCHAPTER I.\nCOW PASTURES, THIKTY-FIVE MILES FROM\nSYDNEY.\nSince my arrival on this side of the globe, my\ndear W\u2014, I have witnessed some strange\nsights and adventures, which I shall describe\nto you, as well as I can, knowing your love for\nthat sort of thing, and the lively interest which\nyou will take in perusing the description, from\nthe simple fact of your old chum being the\nsight-seer and adventurer.\nHi \u25a0OF*\nCOW-PASTURES.\nYou may believe me when I state that I\nnever witnessed any sight or scene out of the\nordinary way, that I did not instantly think of\nyou, and of the pleasure you must have experienced, had you been present, so much does sympathy increase the power of enjoyment; and\nwhen the freshness of the scene had worn away,\nand you were still in my mind, I naturally\nreverted to the incidents which marked our\nlong acquaintance\u2014to our almost daily meetings at that anatomical temple, St. George's,\nwhere the High Priest of nerves and muscles,\nold cut-em-up, who never said a kind thing\nand never, willingly, did a good one, was continually dinning into our ears, the necessity of\nacquiring a thorough knowledge of anatomy and\nof the human frame, and while he was practically demonstrating before our eyes the truth\nof his instructions, or, in other words, was\ncutting away at his subject, how frequently\nhave we wished to I cut away* to our favourite\npastimes and pleasures* Ah! my dear fellow, COW-PASTURES.\n39\nI think I know better now, experience has\ntaught me a wrinkle or so ! There is nothing\nlike roughing it in this world, if you wish to\nclear the brain of many of its foolish notions;\nespecially in its youthful state, when there is\nsomething peculiarly green about it, and it is\ntoo apt to riot in the freshness, and freedom\nof its nature. It is all very well to talk as\nyou and I did, ' when the bloom was on the\npeach,' of the monotonous routine of our existence; of our ardent desire to see more of\nthe world, as we then phrased it, of our determination to emancipate ourselves, or, in\nfamiliar terms, to 'cut it,' the very first opportunity that might present itself. Well\u2014that\nopportunity presented itself to me, which T\neagerly embraced, and, as you know, I would\nscarcely give myself time even to make the\nnecessary preparations for a long journey, so\nhot and hasty was I to be off, going, I knew\nnot whither, and to see, I scarce knew what,\nor whom. Believe me, my dear W*\u2014, that\n1\npi\nin COW PASTURES.\ntime works wondrous changes in our feelings\nand sentiments; and were I to tell you that I\nhave experienced more pleasure in wandering\nalone amidst the wild \" Bush,\" and in the deep\nsolitudes of New South Wales, or commingling\nwith the motly denizens of her stations and her\ntowns, than I have done while sauntering down\nthat great artery of civilization\u2014Regent\nStreet\u2014arm-in-arm with yourself, I should\ngrossly deceive myself if I did not deceive you, and I will not attempt to\ndo either. It is very easy for your sickly sentimentalist, who never lacked the creature,\ncomforts of this life, to declaim against the\nthronged city\u2014to conjure up imaginary wrongs\n\u2014and the hypocritical feelings of its denizens;\nto chatter about hollow hearts, pride, ambition\nfinery, and festivity; and then, by way of contrast, to paint the Arcadian simplicity of your\nAustralian Emigrant, so honest, so truthful,\nand so guileless, as we have heard our friends,\nR- and B\u2014do, and then quote the beautiful antithesis of Byron, touching his \" pleasure COW PASTURES.\n41\nin the pathless woods,\" and his 1 rapture on\nthe lonely shore;\" butlet them experience afew\nof the hardships which every Emigrant is compelled to undergo, when he arrives in this quarter\nof the globe, and the luxury of \"apathies? wood,\"\nand the rapture in viewing u a lonely shore,\"\nwill become merely conventional terms, the\ntrue meaning of which must greatly depend\nupon the physical condition of the individual,\nwhich must be of a good, healthy, nature\nbefore the mind can experience such enjoyments. Try it, my friend, as I have done,\nhalf-a-score times, and you will soon discover\nthe delusion. A head-ache or too, a severe\ncold with fever and excitement, and a scarcity of\nthe common comforts of life, these ills will soon\ndispel your poetic notions of M society where\nnone intrudes,\" and all the Byronic sentiments\nof your brain. In this land of Convicts and\nKangaroos you cannot live upon fine scenery,\nbut you must work hard, endure much, ac-\nIpH! :,'\n\\w\ncv\nCOW PASTURES.\ncumulate slowly, if at all, and then, perchance,\nyou may end your days with a comfortable\ncompetency\u2014which you cannot fail to do in\nEngland, with your peculiar education, if you\nonly exercise ordinary industry and prudence.\nHaving eased my mind of these few reflections\nupon the difference between imagination and\nreality, as regards the feelings of certain\nwould-be emigrants, I shall now proceed to\njot down my scenes and adventures in this\nquarter of the world, as freshly and freely as\nthey occurred to me; and shall consider myself especially happy, if they have the effect of\nconveying a truthful impression to your mind,\nof * the actual state of things, so contrary in\nmany respects to that, which is generally entertained of them in the mother country.\nThe Cow Pastures are about thirty-five\nmiles from Sydney, where the Australian\nNomade really begins his life. The pasture-\nlife, especially sheep-tending, is dull, lazy, and\nexcessively monotonous. Day after day passess COW PASTURES.\n43\naway without the slightest call for exertion,\nexcept at branding time, which comes but once\na year, when the bustle and boozing create\na temporary change; but it is soon over, and\nthen returns the usual quietude and repose.\nEverything connected with this occupation\ndisposes to dreaminess and dozing\u2014the heat,\nthe drowsiness of the atmosphere, and the\nstillness of the cattle\u2014-and you sink, as it were\ninsensibly, into that condition. I soon became\nlike others, very idle\u2014smoked a great deal\u2014\nstuffed birds by way of killing time, and\naffording me a stimulus to carry my gun-\ntook long steaming walks, as they term them\u2014\nfrom the shear fatigue of indolence, which frequently created the only excitement which is\nincidental to a Bush life. I passed three\nmonths in this lazy manner, and became\nheartily weary of it. Our living, I must observe, was wretchedly bad, as everything was\nso very scarce and dear. Sometimes we had\ngreat difficulty in procuring even bread; and\nJr\nilslll\nlilltlr\n11!\nis\u00bb\niiiil mm\n44\nCOW PASTURES.\nm\n9?\nm\\\\\nmm\nas to meat and milk, although in the Cow\nPastures, the first was lean and tough, and the\nlatter not to be obtained at almost any price.\nBut this scarcity arose, I ought to relate, from\na terrible drought which lasted three successive\nyears, and rendered everything in the shape of\nfood almost inaccessible. The cattle died off\nby thousands, and those remaining behind\nwere weak, attenuated by hunger, and comparatively unproductive. A timely importation of wheat and rice, chiefly' from the\nIndian Archipelago, proved a great relief to\nall classes and conditions of society, and even\nto animal life, so universal was the depression\nat that time.\nMy professional pursuits frequently called\nme to the Pastures, althougth my head\nquarters, or bleeding establishment, was at a\nsmall house near Yass, on the road to Goul-\nbourn, where my partner C , who attended to the kill-or-cure department at home,\nwhile I toured it in the country, almost always COW PASTURES.\n45\nresided. During the awful scarcity to which\nI have alluded, we could neither obtain money\nnor meat of our clients in the town, therefore\ndetermined to take a turn together in the\ncountry\u2014to pay our patients a friendly visit\n\u2014where we hoped to find I relief in one shape\nor another, C put the horse in the gig,\nand off we ' started on our tour, and we\ngenerally managed to enquire the price of\nducks, fowls, hams, &c, or whatever we saw\nabout in the eating line; especially if there\nwas an old bill standing, or a new one accumulating. We never objected to take it\nout in kind during the drought, as there was\nscarcely any kind of eatables \"to be obtained\nfor either love or money. One day we had a\ngoose, two dried tongues, a loaf of bread, a\ncouple of live ducks, a small bag of flour, a\npiece of mutton, and a lump of butter; all of\nwhich were sets-off against our precious\nmedicine and advice. It would have done your\nheart good to have seen C hand out the\nMl iwll1\nCOW PASTURES.\narticles, one after another, and to have heard his\nquaint observations upon the relative value of the\ncmutton' and 'goose,' as compared with our\ncostly(draughts' and% lotions.' It would also have\nbeen capital fun to have seen you in a similar\npredicament, with your precise notions, and\nsystematic habits\u2014breakfast exactly at nine ;\ndinner\u2014at five,, to a minute; or Lord have\nmercy on the servants! Stick at home, my\nboy, and don't venture out of the regular\nroutine of life; it would play the deuce with\nyour clock-work habits, and prim, and precise\nlocomotion. You no more could stand * roughing ' in this quarter of the globe, unless your\nold feelings were completely bruised and battered out of you, than a fine-fed Italian greyhound could take a tramping tour with the\ngipsies\u2014a jump from the luxuriant drawing-\nroom to a dirty ditch. You have often admired the Horse-Guards and their fine black\nhorses. Just imagine one of the latter\u2014fat,\nsleek, and saucy\u2014suddenly transferred to a COW PASTURES.\n47\ncabman; and, in lieu of regular habits, capital\nfeeding, and out-and-out grooming, shoved here\nand there, on every road, and at all hours,\nsubject to the caprice of his drunken driver\u2014\nyou know the rest, broken knees, broken wind,\nbroken heart\u2014he dies, and the dogs close the\naccount of the poor animal\u2014then you have a\nnot very inapt resemblance to many men who\ncome out here, who are totally unfitted for it.\nDon't feel offended at my blunt and homely\nway of writing to you; it is, at all events,\nsincere. Picture to your mind what I have\nbeen compelled to endure, and many others\nbesides me, who had no notion of the real state\nof things here\u2014no bread, no butter\u2014worse\nthan the charity children in England; no meat,\nno money\u2014worse than the common prigs of\nLondon, for they can at I a pinch' procure\nboth\u2014to say nothing of a multitude of other\ninconveniences which came 4 thick and fast'\nupon me, and which, with every respectful\nfeeling be it spoken, I question much if you\nI\nIP\n111\nIS\np\nII\n1\nI\nilil\nmm\n5\nII\nHI\nill\nill\nlift $FG:\n48\nCOW PASTURES.\ncould endure, without wincing most grievously\nBut, nHmporte.\nWe considered ourselves exceedingly fortunate by the tour which we made amongst our\nfriends, as it secured us against the terrible\nscarcity which everywhere prevailed. We\nwere determined to enjoy ourselves, therefore\ncooked the goose, and tapped some bottled\nstout, which cost us fifteen shillings at Sydney,\nnot reckoning the carriage to Yass, which is\nalways very high throughout the Colony; and\non that day we made a good dinner\u2014a great\ntreat\u2014and looked forward to a few more while\nour prog and porter lasted. I ought to mention\nthat I purchased some excellent claret for\nfifteen pence per bottle, which turned out a\nmost agreeable beverage, especially in the hot\nseason.\nMy three month's partnership, if I may so\nterm it, had expired\u2014for I was only on trial\u2014\nthe influenza, which was raging most murderously, had disappeared, and from the time I COW PASTURES.\n49\narrived at Yass till I left, every one seemed\nless and less to require medical a3d, and from\nbooking two and three pounds per day, it gradually fell down to that sum in the course erf as\nmany weeks, or a month. After winding up\nour accounts, I found myself just Jive pounds\nbetter than when I started; not so bad after\nall, thought I, considering the times and circumstances. 'C , my boy, it will not\ndo\u2014I must try another station,' said I. tPfae\nremote\u2014the very remote bush, with all its privations\u2014salt beef, damper, nothing but water*\ntea with the coarsest brown sugar, no mil&, a\nmere shed to dwell in, bush-ranger-rascals on\nthe one hand, and black savages on the other,\nready to instantly pounce upon your valuables,\nand carriage, at such a price that even a few\nbooks would be a source of trouble and expense\n\u2014all these things 1 did not fancy, for if money\nwere to be made, it would be at the sacrifice of\nall social feelings and pleasure, and the rust\nwhich solitude invariably generates, would most\nD\nfa\n111\nfee \u00a7\nilly\ni vm\n50\nCOW-PASTURES.\ny\n\u2122\nlikely corrode and canker the little valuable\nstuff I may have in my mind, to say nothing of\nthe repulsive manners which one too readily\nacquires by association.\nMI will see what this place Wollongong is,\"\nI observed to C \"It is becoming a\nfashionable watering place to Sydney.\"\nWe had several horses, which cost nothing\nfor keep if you turn them out in the Bush;\nbut, if you require them for use, tliey become\nexpensive. We were obliged to have one\nready at all hours, and with maize at ten and\ntwelve shillings per bushel, and hay at eighteen\npounds a ton, it was no joke. An innkeeper would charge ten shillings for the keep\nof a horse, for one night only\u2014so dear was\neverything at that time.\n\"No riding for me,\" said I: \"I wiH stump\nit, it is not more than forty miles.\"\nC put to the horse, and over we drove\nto the village pastor, from whom we solicited\na letter of introduction to the clergyman of COW-PASTURES.\n51\ni\nWollongong; and permit me to remark that\nthe former is a most excellent and worthy\nman, universally beloved, and an honour to\nold England. When I first joined C , he\nwas suffering severely from strumous abscesses,\nso that he could not attend to his business in a\nproper manner; and it was so arranged that I\nshould take the night journies, and the long\ndistances, which enabled him to recruit his\nstrength, and recover his ordinary state of\nhealth. But, as business fell off, we generally\nwent together for mere company's sake, and I\nalways drove, as he was rather timid, and many\na shake have I given him by shaving too close\nto a fallen log in the Bush, driving over a\nbranch, pitching one wheel into a deep excavation, or rattling, with increased speed, through\nthe trees, where there was not the slightest\ntrace of a road. We had many merry days\ntogether; for he was a good-tempered and\nlively dog, although an invalid. We occupied\npart of a house\u2014a whole one was too expen-\nd 2 COW PASTURES.\nsive there\u2014situate on the road to Yass, Goul-\nbourn, and Port Philip, and the owner was a\nfreed-man. His wife had also been a convict,\nand they formerly kept a public-house; bu?t\nthey lost their lieense through bad conduct of\nsome kind or otter. They were almost always\ndrunk; and isur servant, who had been transported for forgery, and was a ticket-of-leave\nman, was just as bad. The scenes of riot and\ndrunkenness were too much for us, so that we\nmoved a little further off to the house of a\nwhite native, whose father, it was said, was an\nIrishman of the genuine '98 breed, who \"left\nhis country, for his county's good.\" This man,\nalso, was drunk the first thing in the morning,\nand would continue in that state for four or\nfive weeks together.\nI have seen vice in almost every form, and\nunder almost every condition in the old world,\nbut never did it appear to me in so repulsive\nand disgusting a shape as it exists among the\nrower orders at Sydney', and, indeed, in almost COW PASTURES.\n53\nevery place that I have visited in New South\nWales. The Sydneyitps seem to have concentrated all the worst feelings of human nature\u2014\nbeastly drunkenness, sensuality of the grossest\nand coarsest kind, expressions of the most\nhorrid and sickening nature; in short, everything that debases the human species is there\nindulged in to the utmost extent, and, being so\ncommon, produces among the better sort of\nresidents no feeling of surprise, and excites no\ncomment. The higher class of settlers, as if\naffected by inhaling so tainted an atmosphere,\nare selfish, grasping, suspicious, cunning, full\nof trickery, deceipt, and falsehood, in almost\nall their dealings; and the day is wholly engrossed in endeavours to overreach your neighbour, while the spare time is filled up by indulging in scandal, and drinking to excess,\nwhich leads to every other debauchery. When\nonce the foot is placed on this hated spot, all\nthe little courtesies of life disappear, and all\nI;\n11 if!\n11 IP'!-\nllw\nBH\u00bbL\u201e,\n54\nCOW PASTURES.\nrefinement of thought, and every generous\nand elevated sentiment, is instantly extinguished. Poor fallen human nature seems to\nhave sunk to its lowest possible depth in this\nplace.\n.fell\n\u25a0mil\nj'sllrs:!' CHAPTER II.\nSYDNEV.\nThe first day of my journey to WuiJongong,\nin the beautiful district of Illawarra, was\nthrough a partially cultivated country. After\nleaving Campbell Town to the right, I passed\nover a hilly district which was studded with\nwind-mills, cottages, and neatly. trimmed\ngardens, besides a pretty considerable extent\nof enclosed lands; then dropped into a broad\nroad made by the convicts in some former I'\nGovernor-General'8 administration, for public\nconvenience, which soon brought me to Appin,\na queer, long, and straggling village, at which\nI stopped for the night. There was but one\npublic-house in the place, kept by a freed\nconvict; it was a low and dirty crib, and you\nmay imagine that it was no luxury to sleep\nin it.\nThe next day I tramped along the broad\nroad, which soon terminated, when I plunged\ninto the bush, where I had to rough it, all\nalone, for more than twenty miles\u2014one small\npath, through which the mail goes, being my\nonly guide. The weather was remarkably\nfine. The sun shone out brightly, but not\noppressively ; the birds glanced cheerfully from\nbough to bough, their plumage gleaming like\nthe coruscations of a rainbow; the scene was\nwild, my mind at ease, my legs strong; in my\nhand a good thick stick, very little in my\npocket, and \" the world all before me where\nto choose.\" SYDNEY.\n57\nWhile I was pushing along through the\nbrushwood I observed a flook of white parrots,\nwhich indicated thai water was near, and in\na few minutes afterwards the beautiful Nepean\nburst upon my sight, meandering at a distance\nover the undulating ground like a silvery eel\nin motion. The bed of the river was deeply\nworked in the rocks, at the point where I\ncrossed it, and its water was gurgling over\nthe shingly bottom at a rapid rate, making its\nway to a broad valley which stretched itself\nout at the foot of the bills over which I was\npassing. I bathed myself in the river, whose\ncool water refreshed my feet, and quenched\nmy thirst, and I never in my life felt so grateful and contented in my mind, especially as I\nviewed the pendant woods, the bold precipices,\nand the picturesque falls, which this stream\nhad formed in its onward course through the\nmountains. I sat myself down to take a view\ncf -the country, and greatly admired the scene\nthat presented iiself, so different in almost \u2014\nras^nc9\n58\nSYDNEY.\n!\u00ab'!\nI\nII ' ill*\npNlP\nall the phenomena which meet the eye in an\nEuropean landscape. Trees are but trees, you\nwill say, but trees, vegetation, flowers, birds,\ninsects, animals\u2014in short, everything that goes\nto make up a landscape\u2014assume such a\npeculiar aspect, and are so strikingly different\nin this country, to anything that I have observed in our northern latitudes. The peculiarity of Australian vegetation, as contrasted\nwith European, is its harshness. The leaves\nof almost all the trees and shrubs are tough\nand rigid, and frequently terminate in a sharp\nand prickly point, which is anything but\nagreeable when you have to push your way\nthrough a tangled mass of them, a by no\nmeans uncommon occurrence. The gum tree,\nwhich abounds here, is very like our laurels;\nthe casuarina resembles the fir genus; the\ncabbage tree approximates to the yew in\nshape; and the dryandra may be likened to\nthe holly. The foliage, with few exceptions,\nis exceedingly thin, and the leaves present SYDNEY.\n59\ntheir edge, and not their \"surface, to the light;\nso that we have little of that cool and umbrageous luxury in the forests of Australia,\nwhich you have in your European woods. To\nthe traveller this is a matter of prime importance, especially when the hot sun is pouring down his rays upon your head, and the\nparched earth is responding in the same element to your feet. The bulrush, the sow-\nthistle, and the furze, appear indigenous in\nNew Holland. The beauty and luxuriance\nof the flowers are beyond description, and\nseem to afford considerable sustenance to many\nof the feathered and insect tribes. The silence\nthat prevails in these forests is singularly felt\nby an European at first, until the ear and the\neye became accustomed to it. It will frequently happen that, in a deep, woody country,\nno sound or movement of life can be heard or\nseen; the very leaves on the trees seem fast\nasleep, the insects are perfectly tuneless in the\nair; no hum, no buzz, no chirrup, to break\nm\\\nm\nt\nW\ni\nIf\nill\nPil\nHP\n11\nIII liif'\nm\n60\nSYDNEY.\nthe fairy-bound and spell-like monotony which\ncompletely reigns around you. Such was the\neffect on my senses when I gazed upon the\nscene around me from the banks of the\nNepean, and so it continued, until I came to\nthe open country, when the comical-looking\nkangaroo, and its bounding movements\u2014\nthe queer scream of the* cockatoos\u2014the agile\nsquirrels\u2014and the various other living things\nwhich there abound, began to show life and\nanimation, in all their respective peculiarities.\nOn I trudged for another ten miles or so,\nwhen I heard the sound of the human voice,\nwhich came like refreshing music on my ear;\nand, as I was anxious to ascertain its whereabout, I listened and listened, and actually\nthought it had been a dream, until, at length\nit burst out into a loud and boisterous laugh,\nwhich soon broke the spell, and convinced me\nof its reality. On a sudden turn in the path\nI came upon some men, who were seated in a\nshed, which they had been erecting in the SYDNEY.\nmidst of the forest, as a sort of resting-place\nfor way-faring wanderers like myself; and, as\nthis was the only spot likely to contain a\nhuman being on my route, I turned in among\nthem, lighted my pipe, sat down, and began\nto chat away; so delighted was I to meet with\nanything in the shape of a human being.\nHere I found some damper\u2014a kind of heavy,\nclose, bread\u2014and some good brandy, which I\ngreatly enjoyed, and while I was stowing these\nthings away, up came a constable and a runaway convict, on their way to Wollongong.\nThe constable observed that he saw me start\nfrom Appin, and guessed that I was not c< all\nright,\" from the rapid pace at which I was\ngoing; and then he further questioned me as\nto my being \"free,\" my destination, place of\ndeparture\u2014all of which I purposely evaded,\nwhich excited his curiosity still more. I was\namused at the idea of being taken for a runaway felon. What next? thought I. The\nconstable could make nothing of me, which \u25a0sill\niii!\n62\nSYDNEY.\nsomewhat annoyed him; but when I offered\nto accompany him to Wollongong, he was\ngreatly appeased, and we soon became comparatively friendly and sociable. I found him\na somewhat intelligent fellow, and able to\ngive me a great deal of information about the\ncountry and the people, which I much required ; and he amused me with many of his\nadventures\u2014his tales of queer characters\u2014his\nsingular experience among the criminals\u2014all\nof which he had picked up in the different\nstations which he had filled in the colony.\nFirst, he was in a regiment of the line stationed at Sydney; next in the horse-police of\nthis district, and finally a constable, which\nbrought him in contact with many strange incidents and individuals. His stories of a bushranger's life would make you laugh; his tales\nof the Felonry of this colony would make you\nshudder or weep, according to the sympathies\nof your nature. He invited me to share his\nf& pot of tea,\" which I did with a great deal of SYDNEY.\n63\npleasure; but I could scarcely keep my eyes\noff his prisoner, so unmistakably was his character written on his face.\nI have seen many criminals in my time, but\nnever in my life did I see a countenance like\nthat of the poor runaway whom the constable\nhad in tow. Poor devil, he was dead beat;\nand he had that hardened, haggard, and despairing look which none but a thorough\ncriminal can put on. Every line of his queer\nand sinister features betokened excessive grief;\nand it made me quite ill, at first, to look at\nhim. That man's face, said I to myself, is a\nmultum in parvo of crime\u2014a map of Newgate in\nminiature; so you would have said, had you\nseen ii*\/j\nWhen we had finished our \"tea,\" the^pri-\nsoner was hand-cuffed, and off we started on\nthe road to Wollongong. The prisoner walked\nfirst, while I and the constable followed close\nbehind; the latter having decked his sides\nwith a couple of loaded pistols, in the event of\n&\nmm\nSO!\nII,\nmr\nIP =\n64\nSYDNEY.\nw\nlilli\nIIP\nin in l \u25a0* ill. \u2022 \u25a0\u25a0''\nIs'1\nii\nill\nill\nthe former attempting to bolt. In this respectable society I reached Illawarra, after passing\nover a rough and irregular road, with five miles\nof steep descent before we neared Wollongong;\nbut, on a sudden turn in the road, before the\ndescent commenced, I caught sight of the sea,\nspread out like a sheet of blue silk, and the\neffect was so electric upon me, that I thought\nfor a moment, that I should have cried, albeit\nnot much given to that sort of thing either.\nThe truth is, that the first sight of the sea,\nwhen you have been some time in the interior*\nalways reminds you of home and its affections\n\u2014it forms the connecting link, as it were,\nwith that sacred and hallowed spot. We all\nsat down for a few minutes\u2014the runaway at\nsome distance from us\u2014when I began to talk\nto the constable about his home, and recollections of old England; but I fancied that he\nwas shy, so I changed the subject.\nI wonder,\" said I, \"whether that poor\nman ever thinks of his home.\" SYDNEY.\n65\n\u00ab\nit\n' \"Oh, I dare say he does\u2014it comes o'er 'em\nall sometimes; but they won't have it, if they\ncan anyways help it\u2014they stifle it as quick as\npossible\/' replied the constable.\nDo you know him ?\" I enquired.\nNo; but he is oute for life;' he is on the\ngang-work down at Wollongong. I never had\nhim at this game before,\" he replied.\n\"I suppose,\" said I, \"that they are soon\n' used up' at that work ?\"\n| Not so soon as you would imagine ; a\ngreat deal depends upon their condition when\nthey arrive here. Some of them are as hard\nas iron, and could they (meaning the authorities) keep the c spirit' from them, they would\nlast a precious long time; but they will have\nit, somehow or other, and then all the devil\ncomes out of them, and a regular hell-on-earth\nit is, too, I can assure you.\"\n| No doubt,\" said I; \"no doubt; but there\nis a great difference, I suppose, among\nthem ?\"\nJtfKfl\n11\nTl\nmm\n1\nI!\nII illilffl\nm\nw\nSYDNEY.\n8 Oh, I believe you,\" he replied; \" I have\nknown some men among them\u2014gentlemen-\nsort of men, you know\u2014who have been unfortunate, and got 5 lagged' on the other side,\nwho have soon dropped off; they couldn't\nstand it, you see, like that man, who has been\nbruised about all his life time, most likely.\nBut they seldom put these gentlemen-convicts\nor J?e\\on-swells, as we call 'em, to any hard\nwork like ' ganging,' and such like; they are,\nalways wanted for other purposes, such as\nstore-keepers, writers, aud other clean and easy\nwork, which it is difficult to get done well, as\nthere are so few of that sort that come out here.\"\ni So much the better,\" said I, alluding to the\nlatter part of his observations.\n$ True, true; but you know luck is luck,\nand life is uncommon strange, and you would\nsay so too, if you were to hear one half of what\n1 am obliged to hear every day,\" he exclaimed.\nOn my arrival at Wollongong, I soon found m.\nSYDNEY.\n67\nthe Revd. Mr. M\n\u25a0, to whom I had a\nletter1 of introduction, who turned out a kind-\nhearted and hospitable Irishman; in fact, the\nonly really gentlemanly-minded man that I\nhad met with for some time. We took a survey of Wollongong together, and he and 1 endeavoured to measure the chances of my succeeding in that place, when, for reasons which\nI will shortly detail, it was decided in the\nnegative. The fact is, there were two medical\nmen already located there, which were more\nthan sufficient to attend to the | ills which flesh\nis heir to\" in that limited but fashionable\nwatering-place. This Wollongong is rapidly\nincreasing in population, being a convenient\ndistance from Sydney; but there is one great\ndraw-back to its prosperity, which it will be\ndifficult to overcome\u2014the dangerous state of\nthe coast, and the consequent inconvenience\nof landing. Steamers are constantly plying\nhere; but the surf in general beats heavily\nagainst the shore, and many of them with\nm\nI\n1st.\nWillis*\nrr lit\niliL\n\u00bbVJ mm\nm\nJii\n68\nSYDNEY.\ntheir cargoes of live stock are compelled to\nreturn to the capital, whence they had come\nto improve their health and spirits. I put up\nat the head Inn, the Royal Hotel, kept by one\nDillon, an Irishman; and so full was the house,\nthat I was compelled to sleep on a sofa, then\non a table with a bundle of women's petticoats\nfor my pillow, and, at last, I had great difficulty in procuring even that luxury, so great\nwas the competition for accommodation. I\nwashed my face, as usual, in the morning\u2014the\nutmost luxury of that kind, that I could indulge in\u2014but they brought me such a dirty\ntowel at first, that a lady, who observed it from\nan adjoining room, gave me a clean one of her\nown, observing, at the same time, that it was\na shame to treat u gentlemen\" in such a manner, and at the head inn, too, of the place. I\nfully agreed with her, and took her to be a\nperson of much discrimination, a quality not\noften met with in this topsy-turvy portion of\nthe world; but the fact is, it would have been pill\ni\nSYDNEY.\n69\nquite useless to complain, as the landlord and\nhis wife were half slued all day long, and\nalmost always fighting, half-play, half-earnest.\nWalking round the town, and looking at\nthe curiosities and characteristics of the place,\nI met my companion, the constable, who was\nalso on the stroll, which gave me an opportunity of acquiring some information about many\nthings, of which I was completely ignorant,\ntherefore I joined him with some degree of\npleasure. Sauntering along, and talking of\nthis and of that, in his peculiar style, we, at\nlength stopped at a small house, where they\nsold spirits and tobacco, which we entered, sat\ndown on a bench, and then re-lit our pipes.\nThere we had a 1 drain\" of rum together,\nwhich I paid for, of course, and smoked my\npipe, while the constable and the landlord, or\nstorekeeper, were holding a conversation together. The storekeeper, I must tell you, was\nquite a character in his way\u2014he was a short,\nm\n11 SI\n\\mi\n\u00a3\nWffl\nmm\nfl\nliil m\n*r\nSYDNEY.\nquick, bustling, cock-sparrow, sort of a man.\nknew everything, talked to every one, about\nanything [or nothing, and didn't care a pin\nwhat you said or did, so long as you purchased\nhis spirits and tobacco ; and, if you would\nonly stand a $ drain\" for himself, you was\neverything, in an instant, in his estimation.\n\" Well,\" exclaimed the fubsy little man, | so\nyou nabbed him, did you?\" speaking to the\nconstable about his prisoner of the preceding\n'day. \u2022.\u25a0'\u25a0\u2022 ^\nuOh, yes, it is all right; I dropped on him\nat Appin,\" replied the latter.\n6i I suppose you'll give him the ecruel'\nagain?\" alluding to some peculiar mode of\npunishment, which they inflicted on runaways\n\u2014said the storekeeper.\n\u00a7 That's of no use; he has had that so many\ntimes; they will give him a * Norfolk dumpling'\nnext time, and that'll tie up his stockings pretty\ntight,\" returned the constable. SYDNEY.\n71\nu That'll c choke him off,' and no mistake;\nnone on 'em can stomach that; it stuns 'em\nall,\" exclaimed the storekeeper.\n\" And pray, Mr. Constable, what may be a\ne Norfolk dumpling ?\"' I enquired.\n\" That's what we call sending 'em to Norfolk Island, the most out-and-out, cruel, punishment that they can give,\" replied he.\n\" Well, that's the only way to put \u00a3 a stopper ' on such outdacious coves, as him,\" popped\nin the storekeeper, by way of a closer, seeing\nthat we had finished our spirits, and not disposed to have any more.\nI A smart little mfrn, that,\" said I to the\nconstable, when we had left the store.\n$c Yes, he is; and knows his business too. He\nis up to a move or two, and no mistake. Get\nhim out to talk about London, and then you'll\nhear a bit that'll amuse you. Mind, I don't\nmean the low, slangy, and blackguard life* in\nEngland ; for he's a superior sort of man, and\nHi\nIljll\n,\u2022;\u25a0\u25a0\u00bb;\u2022!\u25a0 41\nIKS! 1 72\nSYDNEY.\n*r\nhas been well brought up in the world,\" he\nreplied.\n11 should'nt have thought that,\" I remarked, % if I may judge from his language\nand his manner.\"\n\u20aci That's habit, at least a good deal on it is*\nI can assure you ; when he likes he can come\nout in the right style, and then he astonishes\nthem all, above a bit, in this quarter,\" responded the constable.\n\" I should like to bring him out, then,\" I\nexclaimed.\nri Well, so you shall, and when you like.\nHe'll do anything for me, for I've given him\na turn now and then, which cost me nothing,\nbut was of great service to him,\" replied my\ncompanion. \" If you have half-an-hour to\nspare, When you have finished your stroll,\nwe'll drop in upon him; I see he's a Httle\nbk 8 on\" now, you've only to wet him, as they\nsay of a hedgehog in my country, and he's sure\nto open\" observed the constable. SYDNEY.\n73\nf With all my heart,\" I replied, \" for I'm\nvery partial to everything of the curious and\nuncommon in life, which you must have seen\na great deal of, since you have been in these\nquarters.\"\nM Well, Mr. Watson, we have come to have\na glass of your \"yankee particular\" after\ndinner, if you have no objection,\" observed\nthe constable, as we re-entered the store of\nthe little spirit-dealer, which we had visited\nin the morning.\nfl Walk in, gentlemen, walk in,\" exclaimed\nthe active boniface, u there, go into my little\nsnuggery behind, there's nobody tbere,.and I'll\njoin you in a jiffy.\"\nWe all three smoked, we all three drank,\nand heartily too, for the constable was a\nregular soaker, and nothing seemed to come\namiss to him\u2014he could stretch his throat, like\na ribbed stocking, to anything, from a pen'orth\nof gin up to a frothy pot of heavy-*\u2014and we\nall three talked, but not in the same ratio, for\nI-'' 74\nSYDNEY.\nI said little, the constable said much, but the\nlandlord said the most, which particularly\npleased me, as I was anxious to hear the history of his adventured through life.\n\" When I first came out to this country,\"\nexclaimed the landlord.\nThe constable whispered in my ear, \" Came\nout, indeed ! he was sent out! a little difference\nbetween you and I.\"\na Well, well, I know what you mean, but\nI don't care about that. I've always behaved\n6 fair and square' since 1 have been here, and\nshow me the man that's done better, considering what I've had to fight against,\" alluding\nto our tete-a-tete, which I would gladly have\navoided, but the constable was getting a little\non himself.\n\" I meant no harm, I assure you, Mr. Watson,\" exclaimed the constable, \" I was merely\ncracking a joke upon the difference between\n6 came out' and * sent out,' which we hear so\noften up at Sidney; but I never thought for SYDNEY.\n75\na moment that it would * bring you out' in\nthis way, or would'nt have drop't a word to\nmy friend beside me.\"\n\" Ah ! that's all very well, you are like\nmany others that I know here ; you must have\n\" a fling\" at us ' out-siders,' you can't help\nit,\" retorted the landlord. 1 Let a man once\ncommit himself\u2014it's all up with him, then;\nhe may be as good as an angel all his lifetime\nafterwards, but they won't forget^ it\u2014that's\njust like the world,\" continued Watson, who\nseemed disposed to turn sulky and ' shut up\nshop,' as the saying is.\n| Mr. Watson,\" I put in, | I've heard our\nfriend, the constable, give you the best of\ncharacters, during our stroll this morning,\ntherefore I hope you won't take amiss what\nhe said to me just now\u2014I'm sure he meant\nno harm to you, as I'm certain he respects\nyou too much for that. In fact, to tell you\nthe truth, it was only what he said to me\nabout you, that induced me to come back to\ne 2\nKb\nI1\nIII\nllfd\nI I* if*\n7u\nSYDNEY.\n9f\nyour place, and take a glass of grog with you\",\ntherefore I shall take it as a personal favour\nif you won't allude to it again. Here's to\nyour very good health, Watson; may you\nlive long and die happy.\"\n*' Thank you, sir, thank you\u2014the same to\nyou,\" responded the landlord. \" Well, I was\ngoing to tell you why I'm out here,\" continued his boniface friend, f and to make a\nlong story short, I'll begin at the beginning.\"\nIn the mean time our glasses were replenished and our pipes re-filled, at my suggestion.\n% I was born, bred, and educated, in a small\ntown in Northamptonshire, and my parents\nwere respectable farmers, and pretty well to\ndo in life. As a start in the world, I was\napprenticed to a linendraper in the country ;\nserved five years, and learned my trade, such\nas it was; then removed to London, to try\nmy fortune in that great whirlpool of struggling care, honest industry, ambitious hopes, \u2022SYDNEY.\n77\nsplendid success, and, I must say, of crushing\nmisery to the many, whatever advantage the\nlucky few may obtain\u2014in that great industrial\ngame which is always on, and never played\nout, in one way or another, within its eddying\nrounds. I was lucky at first in obtaining a\nsituation at twenty pounds a year in one of\nthose large houses\u2014whose gaudy fronts and\nwell crammed windows, which denote a very\nplethora of opulence* are an infallible cynosure\nto ladies eyes\u2014situate in the neighbourhood\nof St, Pauls. Our governor\u2014wo never called\nhim master\u2014was a religious man, and lived\nout of town, and, in his way, not a bad sort of\ncharacter either; but as deeply bitten with\nthe conventional morality of the trade, as any\nshopkeeper possibly could be. His motto was\n\u2014' sell, sell\u2014fairly and honestly, if you can\u2014\nbut you must sell, or you won't do for me.' If\na lady came in, and one of the young men\u2014\nor women either\u2014for there were a great\nnumber of the latter in the shop\u2014could not\nmM\nm\n11\nI\n1!\ni\npis, \u2022 '\nP\n11\nm\n\u2022\np&\nKsS\ni-lpl\n\\*\nfej\n|H m\n*r\nm\nSYDNEY.\nsuit her with an article, he was considered a\nbad salesman, and depreciated instantly in his\nannual value, if indeed he was allowed to stop,\nwhich was seldom the case. The result of this\nsystem\u2014which is almost universally observed\nthroughout London\u2014with a few exceptions\u2014\nis the rearing up of young men and women\nthus employed, as unmitigated and rotten liars,\nwhich it would be impossible to surpass, as the\nutmost ingenuity and ability are exercised in\ndevising new schemes to entrap customers,\nand fresh devices to prevent their escape without making purchases, when once entrapped.\nI have known some of the most audacious\nliars in those establishments, and well they\nmight be so, for many of the after-hours of\nbusiness were spent in telling the tricks and\ndevices of the day, in order to sell goods, or,\nin other terms, to make a ' good book,' which\nthe governor most scrupulously scanned next\nmorning. If you were a good salesman, or,\nwhich is synonymous in linen-drapery ety- \u2014\nSYDNEY.\n79\nmology, a great liar, that is, technically\nspeaking, if you could shave the ladies well,\nand took a good amount every day, you would\nbe sure to obtain the approbation of the heads\nof the house, and receive an approving smile\nor nod from the governor-m-chief, as he made\nhis morning's survey through his well-drilled\nestablishment. That is a very corrupting\nschool, let me remark, and, I believe, that\ncompetition, or the great glut of goods, has\nproduced it in that branch of trade, more\nthan in others. My next move in life was to\na large wholesale house, which abound in\nLondon, where I received a good salary, and\nsucceeded comparatively well. But there you\nmay observe the same system of lying, deceit,\nand chicanery, and of a more atrocious nature\ntoo, as far as genuine morality or common\nhonesty is concerned; but the parties upon\nwhom it is practised are of a more crafty kind\nthan the e ladies' in the retail shops\u2014being no\nless than the buyers and masters of these same\n7\n'\u00ab!*'\nPi\nrail\nBMW\nmm\nmm 80\nSYDNEY.\nshops\u2014therefore to compete with them is\nverifying completely the old proverb of ~ dog\neating'dog,' and to beat that class of men,\nthe most pre-eminent of liars, you must\nobtain a % sad pre-eminence' indeed, in\nthe art of lying yourself. Having ran\nthe round of the large Houses, with the\nview of enlarging my experience, and improving\nmy finances, in both of which I greatly succeeded, I at length determined to commence\nbusiness on my own account. The times were\ngood\u2014money was easy\u2014I was well known in\nthe manufacturing districts, as a buyer\u2014others,\nwith less means, had succeeded, which greatly\nannoyed me\u2014therefore, I made up my mind\nto try my luck. Imagine me in business with\nabout twelve thousand pounds stock, with\nliabilities to about fifty thousand, and literally\nowing twenty thousand\u2014similar to many and\nmany a man in the city of London, I will venture to say, at the present moment\u2014a great\ndepression in trade, a panic in the money mar- SYDNEY.\n81\nket, no bills discounting in any shape; you are\ndesperately hard up for the needful, and with\na balance at your bankers', which they had\nlong hinted as too tapery, or too fine, as their\nrespective terms might be ; what could you\nhave done under such circumstances?: What!\n\u2014why stop payment, of course 1 Nothing but\na miracle, which never occurs in methodical\nLondon, in the shape of a secret mine, could\nsave you. That was my case in 1837, and\nhere I am in 184\u2014 little thinking that I should\nhave ^experienced so many and such peculiar\nchanges. Ah! that is an infernal system of\nbusiness, and breaks many a man's heart. No\none should embark in such a business without\nhe has ample capital to carry it on with ease, I\nthink I hear you say; very true, but almost all\nyour wealthy men in England, and especially\nin London, many of whom have fallen under\nmy observation, have commenced with comparatively little capital. The fact is, when a\nstorm sets in, no matter whence it blows, the\np. i-i fy\n. fti 82\nSYDNEY.\nsnr\ngreat commercial world of England feels it\nmost keenly, and many of her strongest and\nmost stately trees are swept down by it, although\nfully prepared to live in fair and quiet weather.\nTalk of misery, too; what can equal the feelings of a man who wishes to do well; who\nwould gladly pay twenty shillings in the\npound, and yet cannot turn himself round to\ndo it ? Many and many a time have I gone\ninto London in a morning with the most\nagonized feelings; and many and many a man\nhave I saluted in the well-known Omnibus,\nwith an apparent smile upon my face, who\nwas similarly circumstanced to myself. Talk\nof the tread-mill\u2014that must be a luxury when\ncompared to the misery which a poor devil\nmust endure who has a heavy bill coming due\nand very little at his banker's to meet it. He\ngoes home to his excellent and careful wife,\nthe mother, perchance, of several children, all\nof whom must be provided for, and, of coarse,\nin a respectable manner, if he wishes to main- SYDNEY.\n83\ntain his status in his neighbourhood; he listens\nto a little music, which, for the moment, drives\naway the thoughts of the abill;\" he goes to\nbed, tries to sleep, and from sheer fatigue dozes\nor dreams an hour or two, all of which time his\nthoughts are disturbed, his mind is wandering\nover figures, cheques, stamps, bill-discounters\nand bankers, which cause him to tumble about\nand \" fan \" the sheets right and left, when his\ngentle spouse\u2014that guardian angel of his\nexistence, who instantly divines that all is not\nquite right\u2014gently taps him, which procures\na momentary cessation in hisKbodily move-\nments. When he rises 3n the morning he\nfeels fatigued, hurries to the city to read the\n\" city article,\" never cares about the '''splendid\nLeader,\" although it may be in The Times^-\nnot even the \"Jupiter tonans \" himself can\nseduce him from the one overwhelming idea\u2014\nthe unprovided-for bill at the banker's. A\nman\u2014I mean a fair, round dealing man, such\nas abound in the city of London, who would\nm\nm\nm pay if he could\u2014who has bills falling due and\ncannot command the means to meet them, and\nwishes to keep up his credit, may as well have\na live cat in his belly, scratching its way out\nevery morning of his existence\u2014no sinecure\nthat, you will say.\n\" But,\" you will naturally exclaim, \" what\nhas all this to do with my being here, o will\ntell you, and you will find it has more to do\nwith the circumstance than you imagine. One\nmorning I was desperately hard up; had gone\nthrough all the phases of mental agony which\nI have feebly attempted to describe ; had some\nthousands coming due at my bankers', and very\nlittle to meet it; could force no sales, which,\nafter all, was only precipitating the event;\nhad exhausted every means of renewal, borrowing, exchanging cheques, drawing \u00a7 pig on\npork,\" as it is technically called; therefore\ncame to the fatal resolution of writing another\npartie's name across a stamped bit of paper\u2014\nor, in other terms, as you know all about it* >-s\nSYDNEY.\n85\ncommitted forgery. When I wrote the name\nI trembled; when I took it with others to the\ndiscounter's I almost fainted, and felt sick at\nheart; and yet I endured all this to prolong a\nmiserable existence\u2014to hide a false feeling\u2014\nfalse, in relation to a criminal act\u2014of shame ;\nand rather than brunt the supercilious sneers\nof the world, plunged into a crftne of the\ndeepest dye, and inflicted a lasting stigma upon\nmy family and friends, which no after-exertion\ncan thoroughly efface. Oh! could I but live\nmy time over again, how differently would I\nact; but that, you will say, is idle rant\t\nit isn't much better.\"\nFor a moment or two Watson paused, as\nthough in deep agony of mind, and never shall\nI forget his countenance as he fixed his little\nkeen eye upon ine\u2014his face, at the same time,\nlit up with the fiery spirit we had been drinking\u2014when he exclaimed in a measured,\nsolemn, and deep-toned, voice,\n\"If I wished any one to be miserable\u2014\nkm\nmi\n11\nm\nlii\nII\nti 86\nSYDNEY.\n9f\nreally and truly miserable\u2014to have all feeling\nof kindness and humanity thoroughly crushed\nin his bosom\u2014I have only to wish him\nthe feelings I experienced while standing at\nthe bar of the Old Bailey\u2014to see an old\nfriend sneaking in one corner of the court,\nlooking at you on the sly, and ashamed to acknowledge you; to bid your wife and family\nan everlasting good-bye; to be thrust amongst\nthe lowest criminals, and obliged to hear their\nblasphemous language, and see their filthy and\ndisgusting habits; to make a long voyage, under every species of hardship, mental and\nphysical; then to be ordered about like a dog;\nand if all that would not gratify a malignant\nheart, then I don't know what human feelings\nreally are.\"\nWhen he had finished, he fell back for a\nmoment in the seat; his pipe dropped from\nhis hand; the cold perspiration seemed to hang\non his brow ; and altogether he seemed really\nand truly a miserable man. SYDNEY.\n87\n1 Come, cheer up, my trump,\" exclaimed the\nconstable, \" let us have another ' drain' before\nwe part; and let by-gones be by-gones; and,\nif ever you be so down upon your luck again,\nwhen I introduce a gentleman to you, hang\nme if I'll enter your house.\"\n\"Agreed, agreed, my friend,\" exclaimed\nWatson, at the same time extending his hand\nto the constable, who shook it most heartily,\nand then drank his | last drop,\" as a matter of\ncourse, and your humble servant did the same.\nm\nm\n\u00ab\/W\n515!\nII! i\nMil1?\nIII\nm CHAPTER III.\nWr\nPi! !i\nSYDNEY.\nII\nsl'i\nAs I found the ground occupied at Wai-\nlongong, I took my departure for Shoalhaven,\naccording to the advice of Mr. M , who\ngave me a letter of introduction to his friend\nB , one of the largest occupiers of land in\nthat quarter, and, indeed, the principal settler.\nMy first day's journey was through a line of\ncountry of rich and varied wildness\u2014flats?\nrivers, hills, tall trees, and tangled brushwood, SYDNEY.\n89\nalternating the scene. Nature was arrayed in\nall her glory, and most luxuriantly displayed\nher charms. Here a thick and inter-twined\nmass of scrub and brush, utterly impervious\nto the human frame\u2014there an open space,\ndotted over with isolated tufts of grass, the\nfavourite couch of the Kangaroo and Opossum,\non which \" the foot of man had ne'er, or rarely,\nbeen,\" to disturb their almost unbroken solitude.\nThe trees, in many instances, were of the most\ngigantic growth, and, in others, of the most\nfantastic forms, which added greatly to the\nbeauty of the woody scene. The enormous\nferns, the thick-girthed gums, shooting up to a\nheight of a hundred feet with their branchless\nbolls, and their peculiar barks; the caoutchouc,\nor Indian fig-tree, with its tortuous branches\npiercing the atmosphere in the most fantastic\ndirections, were flourishing in unrestrained\nluxuriance. The Banksia, with its orange-red\nflowers, in shape like the cone of a pine, and\nperfuming the air with a scent as delicious as\nW\nMil\nMBit Qui 90\nSYDNEY.\nw\nthat of the honey-suckle; the Dryandra, with\nits flowers shooting from the end of the branch,\nlike the head of a large thistle; the Xanthorea,\nor grass tree, with its sooty-coloured trunk,\nits long, pendulous, thickset tuft of grass, from\nthe centre of which springs up a stem several\nfeet in height, covered with small white blossoms ; then there, was the Xylomela, with iter\nfragrant flowers, and its pear-like seed-vessels;\nthe Zamia Spiralis, with its black trunk, and\nits foliage like that of the wild date tree\u2014the\nfruit of this tree is a favourite with the natives,\nand a condiment resembling arrow-root has\nbeen made from its pith\u2014which, curious to\nrelate, has often been found in a fossil state in\nEngland; but the tree of trees in Australia\u2014\nthe glory of her forests\u2014is the Nuytsia\nJloribunda, or cabbage-tree, with its bright\nyellow-and-red-tinted flowers, profusely scattered over the foliage, and, at sun-set, glittering like a mass of molten fire; these, and many\nothers, variegated the richly-spread landscape SYDNEY.\n91\nin whatever direction you turned your eye.\nThe luxuriance of Flora, too, was beyond\ndescription ; she had decked herself out in the\nutmost profusion\u2014her robe glittering in the\nwildest gaiety of colouring, and enriched with\nevery variety of tint and shade. There was\nthe purple Kennedia, climbing here, there, and\neverywhere; and, also, the scarlet Kennedia,\ncreeping along the ground, in the same fantastic forms; then the pale green Arragosanthus,\nwith its velvet-like, ruby stem; the scarlet\nComptoniana ; the Drosera, with its pink and\nwhite blossoms; the orange Camilanthium;\nthe slate and yellow-coloured Chrysanthimums ;\nthe elegant Thysanotus, or lace flower; the\nwhite, pink, and gold-tinted Xeranthemum,\nwere peeping up in every direction, with their\npeculiar shapes, and their rich and brilliant\nhues. The variety of birds, with their gaudy,\nyet superb, plumage, skimming here and there\nin apparent wonderment at the sight of an\nobject like myself, was perfectly staggering;\nMi\nmm\nMP!\nill 92\nSYDNEY.\nm\\\nllil\nand the stillness\u2014the almost breathless\nquietude\u2014and my utter loneliness, which\nadded to the peculiarity of the scene\u2014all conspired to throw my mind into that dreamy\nstate, which strangely bewilders one's\nthoughts, and utterly baffles description.\nThis district of Illawarra is certainly the\nmost beautiful portion of New South Wales,\nand amply deserves all the fine things said of\nit. Being fatigued, I sat down on a log of\nwood, ate the lunch which I had brought\nwith me, and, after contemplating the enchanting scene around me to the full of\nmy fancy, 1 fell off to sleep as soundly\nas though I had been feather-bedded in old\nEngland, by which I felt greatly refreshed.\nWhen I awoke I jumped up and shook myself to ascertain, as it were, my c whereabout,'\nso indistinct and dreamlike did everything\nseem around me, for a few moments; at\nlength, feeling the reality of objects, I trudged\non and reached a small place called Dapto, SYDNEY.\nl\/i?\nwhere I stopped for the night, and indulged\nin the luxury of a lie-down, infinitely preferable\nto what I found at Wollongong, although it is\nthe fashionable watering-place\u2014the Brighton\n\u2014of the Sydney people. The next day I\npassed through Jamboroo and reached the\nvillage of Kiama\u2014consisting of three houses\n\u2014where I fell id with a native and his family,\nquietly squatted under the branches of a tree,\nround a queer sort of fire which they had\nkindled, and eating a peculiar kind of seaweed which they had cooked, after a certain\nfashion. Blackey, his Gin, or wife, and two\ngirls, all of the true Australian breed, and\nmyself, bivouacked together that night; and,\nas he had picked up a few words of broken\nEnglish amongst the settlers, with whom he had\nbeen e on' and ' off' for some time, his company was not a perfect blank, as far as speech\nwas concerned. He wished me to understand\nthat he was king, or a bigwig of some kind or\nother among the natives, and wore round his 94\nSYDNEY.\n,\nneck a semi-lunar piece of brass, which some\none had given to him, and upon which was\ninscribed the name of a chief of a certain\nAustralian tribe. I gave him some tobacco,\nwhich he seemed to enjoy very much, and, as\nhis sable majesty was going the same way as\nmyself, we set off early in the morning on our\njourney. When we were all fairly en route\nI had an opportunity of observing the habits of\nthe Australians in their migratory excursions,\nand was highly amused at everything I saw.\nThe Gin carried a bundle of all sorts on her\nback, which was pretty heavy; the eldest\ndaughter had a few things in a bag, and a\nlighted stick in her hand, toddling steadily\nalong with her mother, whilst the youngest\nran and rolled in the sand, and tumbled about\nin the tufts of grass, like a jovial young\nsavage, which she really was; her black skin\nglistening in the sun, for she was almost 'as\nnaked as she was born,' and with a long reed,\nlike a sprit sail-yard, run through the cartilage SYDNEY.\nm\nof her nose. The chief 'of this bright host '\ncarried his waddy, or club, in one hand, and a\nfew spears in the other; and wore over a portion of his body an old shirt, almost as black\nas his skin, which he had picked up somewhere, not having the slighest idea of washing\nit, or of the comfort that would be derived\nfrom such an operation. The lady-blacks were\ndecked out in pieces of old blankets, just as\ndingy as the skeleton shirt of their lord; and\nso careless were they about such a covering,\nand so utterly insensible did they appear to\nanything like shame, that they allowed their\nbits of blanket to float free about their sable\npersons, and took no pains to restrain the\nliberties of the saucy and capricious wind,\nwhich blew about them where it listed, and\nseemed to make a sport of their half-covered\nnakedness. At length Blackey scented some\nfriends of his in our immediate neighbourhood ; and thinking, perhaps, that he could\nget nothing more out of me, shammed head- tsata\n96\nSYDNEY.\nmm. \u2022 i\nifffi\nache. \" Cobbera sick,\" said he\u2014then asking\nme for \" tick pence,\" left me to pursue my\nway quite alone, which was anything but irksome, as it gave me ah opportunity of indulging in one of those quiet communions\nwith nature, which invariably leave behind a\npleasing sensation in the mind.\nWandering about the neighbourhood of\nKiama in search of something out of the\nordinary routine of nature's phenomena, I\nobserved a bold and rocky point jutting right\ninto the sea; the waves beat furiously against\nit, interrupting their full-flowing and free\ncourse, and sent up their foam and spray, which\nfloated like a fleecy cloud in the atmosphere,\nuntil the wind spread them like a white mist\nfar over the cliff and the forests, when at\nlength they were dissolved into a good smart\nshower of rain, which felt both cool and refreshing. But the most curious object that\nmet my eye was the crater of an extinguished\nvolcano, which spouted up a column of water SYDNEY.\nat least thirty feet in height, and with\nimmense force, as its splashing fall on the sides\nof the vitrified and rocky cone could be heard\nat a great distance. The sea had worked its\nway by a bend of the coast to the base of\nthe volcano, the hollow cone of which soon\nbecame filled ; and the water rushing out\nwith great force through a narrow aperture,\nformed a foamy column, whose feathery spray,\npresented an object of the most unlooked for\nand startling beauty. This phenomenon is\nthe Lion of the place, and every visitor, as a\nmatter of course, is sure to see it. For my\npart, I candidly confess, that I never witnessed\na more beautiful sight, and I lingered about\nfor hours, looking at this fine natural jet d9eau,\nand even returned on the morning, before I\nbad adieu to the place, to indulge in the luxury\nof another and a longer look. Before I arrived\nat Shoalhaven, I passed through Jeringong,\nwhich is a small place; made my way over a\nrocky and winding road, which was intersected\nII\nsi\nf\n11\n! 98\nSYDNEY.\nwith woody scenes of singular richness, and\nat length came to the sandy beach of the sea,\nalong which I trudged for seven or eight miles,\nholding a boot in each hand, and allowing the\nspent surges to lave my feet, which I found to\nbe agreeably cool and refreshing. A dead\nwhale on the shore was the only object that I\nsaw of importance, throughout the journey,\nafter leaving Blacky, and the volcano waterspout of Kiama. When I arrived at B 's,\nI was most hospitably entertained, but instantly dissuaded from attempting the project\nI had on foot, which was the principal, if not\nthe sole, cause of my visitig so out- of-the-way\nplace as Shoalhaven. There were as many\ndoctors as they required in that neighbourhood, the settlers enjoying a very good state of\nhealth, from their temperate habits, and their\nindustrious pursuits; and, had I been allowed\nto set myself down amongst them, it is withiJn\nthe range of possibility that they might have\nfared worse, as young beginners must make a SYDNEY.\n99\ntrade if they wish to do as well as their neighbours, although I should feel ashamed to establish myself at the expense of others-rthat is,\nby creating a raw in the healthy sides of the\ncommunity, as I have seen others do since I\nhave been in this quarter of the world.\nB is a Scotchman of the truly industrious breed, and has accumulated a large\nproperty by his own unaided exertions, if\nI exclude his two sisters and his three\nbrothers, which perhaps I ought not to do,\nalthough they followed him to New South\nWales. He is the owner of 70,000 acres of\nland, a member of Council at Sydney, where\nhe generally resides, and employs, altogether,\nabout two hundred hands. He has constructed\na wind-mill, and several saw-mills; makes\nhis own casks, and all his iron work; contracts\nlargely to supply the government with salt\nprovisions; and the shoemakers, carpenters,\nsmiths, butchers, and salters, which wTere employed on his establishment, were nearly all\nf 2\nllii\n\u25a0i:,': \u25a0' . I'\nWA\nmm\ne'I:\njiffs\nill\nI? I i 100\nSYDNEY.\nI ill:\nill lit\nmm\nconvicts. I observed a patch of wheat of about\nthree hundred acres, growing in the most\nluxuriant condition on the other side of the\nriver (the Shoalhaven) which I crossed to pay\na visit to B 's bailiff with whom I stayed\ntwo nights, but was compelled to sleep in a\nmere sea-cot, through which the wind whistled\nwith terrific violence. There I was regaled\nwrith salt mutton, damper, tea, and the usual\neatables and drinkables in the bush, but here\nI had an additional luxury\u2014milk\u2014which was\nquite a treat to me. This was the regular fare,\nall the year round, at Shoalhaven; and also,\nexcept the milk, at almost all the other settlements which I visited. Before I left Shoalhaven, M arrived to preach his monthly\nsermon, as usual, when I acted as his clerk,\nthe first time that I ever assumed such a\nvocation in my life. He performed service\nunder a verandah of B......V house, and\nall the congregation appeared decorous and\nattentive in their demeanour Here I wit-\n^ SYDNEY.\n101\nnessed, for the first time, the performance of\nthe Corrybory, by a tribe of natives, who were\nwandering about the settlement, as they were\nin the habit of doing at certain periods of the\nyear. It was a kind of merry-making with\nthem, or meeting to dispense justice, according\nto their barbarous ideas of jurisprudence; and\nit generally ended by the natives dancing in\nthe wildest and most grotesque manner, and by\nshouting and hallooing in the most savage\nand unearthly tones. The women were ornamented about the head with the white tips of\nthe native doo;s' tails, and with Kangaroo-teeth :\nand their faces patched about with pipe-clay,\nwhich gave them the most extraordinary appearance. Some had their lips whitened only;\nothers the inside of the leg; while a third\nportion had drawn over their heads a small\nnet, which was stuck over with swansdown,\nlooking something like a powdered head-dress\nof the olden time. The men were, also, as comically decorated as the women, and both formed\nIlls 102\nSYDNEY*\nas singular a coup oVaeil, as well could be met\nwith in this world. I must, also, tell you that\nthe men rejoiced in certain peculiar names,\nthat had been given them by different settlers,\nand mostly through caprice or fun, as there\nwas no affinity between the meaning of\nthe Jljerms and objects to which they were\napplied. One was called \"Ugly Jack;\"\nnother u Blanket;\" several assumed the\ntitles of | Broken-nose Tom,\" and \"Waterman Bill;\" and one fellow was glorying in\nthe appellation of u Fryingpan.\"\nThese Aborigines are proverbially lazy,\nand can only be induced to work at\nintervals; so naturally opposed is savage life\nto regular and consecutive industry. Before\nthe ceremony was closed some of the youths\nwere- admitted to the rites of manhood, which\nare performed at a certain age; when after\nundergoing a peculiar, and I should suppose,\npainful, process of initiation, they are permitted to indulge in the luxury of a wife, m\nSYDNEY.\nwhich is strictly prohibited up to that age\u2014\nso at least I was informed by my old friend\nand companion\u2014Blacky. Some of the women\nwere not badly formed, and by no means\nunattractive\u2014especially the younger ones; but\nthose of more advanced age were ugly and\nrepulsive in the extreme. One old damsel\nmight be termed a finished specimen of ugliness; nevertheless, she seemed to command\nconsiderable respect, moving among them, like\nsome mere defamille , and apparently possessed\nof considerable authority.\n?!\u2022\u25a0\u25a0\n*M\nm\nfcf*\n\"lis*\nxm\ni\n9\nsal*\nw*> CHAPTEB IV.\nSYDNEY.\nBidding adieu to my hospitable friends at\nShoalhaven, I set out on my journey back to\nWallongong; but not exactly by the same\nroute, although, as a matter of necessity, I\ntouched at the same places, for there alone\ncould anything be found in the shape of eating, drinking, and sleeping; and everything\napproaching to civilization, however coarse it wll\nSYDNEY,\n105\nmay be in its condition, is always acceptable to\nthe way-worn and weary wanderer, especially\nif he happen to be in the primeval paths of an\nuntrodden and uninhabited forest. Necessitas\nnon habet legem\u2014or, as we used to translate\nthe axiom somewhat freely\u2014Necessity has no\nlegs; and when poor human nature is really\nhard up, as your humble servant was at that\nprecise period, and in that particular spot, it\nmust stump along as well as it can, and leave\nthe more measured manner of its movements\nto luckier and happier times. After enjoying\nthe soft and refreshing breezes of the ocean\nfor an hour or so, I tramped bare-footed on the\nsands, which most agreeably cooled my feet;\nthen plunged once more into the deep and\numbrageous woods, which almost fringed the\nwater's edge for miles along the shore, and en-\ndeavoured to shape my course to Jeringong;\nbut the new and singular phenomena which\nnature spread before me at almost every turn\nand step I took, caused me to diverge strangely\n$ till\nill\nW-\nm 106\nSYDNEY.\nSill\ntWi;\nfill.\nfrom the zig-zag, and roughly-hewn, way\nwhich travellers had formed for themselves in\njourneying from Shoalhaven to Wallongong.\nEverything appeared so fresh and gay, and\nso truly enchanting to my mind, which was in\nprime condition for observing the beauties of\nnature, being free, healthy, and fully flushed\nwith the hearty breakfast which I had partaken at my friend's, although I had seen\nthe same objects frequently before; yet,\nevery time that I viewed the face of nature in\nthose deep and unbroken solitudes, I could\nalways discover some fresh beauty, some unexpected phase of design, which gave new zest\nto my wandering propensities, and even added\nanother pleasure to my existence. The morning was bright, clear, and warm; and the dew\nhung in pearly drops on the bushes and flowers,\nwetting me to the skin, as I forced my way\nthrough the tangled masses of underwood which\nopposed my path. Then I saw, to great advantage, the enormous webs of the spider-class of SYDNEY.\n107\nInsectivora, set out to catch their prey; and\nmany of them exhibited great ingenuity in\nconstruction, besides strength and size; and\nfar surpass our western Arachnids in both the\nlatter respects. These webs were very troublesome to pass through, as they clung so stickingly\nto the face and hands; and from their mul(ty?\nplicity, intersecting thorns, and bushes, and\nflowers, in almost every direction, you soon\nacquired a gummy coagulation all over\nyour clothes, which was somewhat difficult to\nremove. As I brushed past some of these webs,\nout would come the owner, and with terrific\nglare scamper back along the line to his\nhiding place, utterly staggered, apparently, at\nthe havoc which I had committed in his house-\nbold arrangements. Some of these spiders\nare of enormous size, and peculiar colour;\nand like our European species, used their\nlong antennas with amazing power and agility,\nwhenever a victim chanced to become entangled in their springes. I amused myself\n111\n%m\n*wj 108\nSYDNEY.\n9 - ' \u25a0:;\nrWiii;\nwith .teazing them, watching their movements\nwhenever a fly, or any other insect, attempted\nto cross their path; and observed that they\nfrequently fought hard for their prey, especially\nif it happened to drop on the contiguity of two\nor more webs\u2014a sort of no man's land\u2014which\nwould immediately bring out their respective\nowners to the rescue, and bitter and sharp\nwould be the contest between them for a time.\nAt certain seasons of the year, the Arachnida?\nhave plenty of food, as the air teems with\ninsects; while, in others, there must be great\nscarcity, for the periodical fires which sweep\nacross, and utterly lay bare whole districts,\nmust completely destroy the nests, eggs, and\nlarvae of all the insects which happen to come\nwithin their range. For miles and miles the underwood is blackened with the flames and smoke;\nand when not destroyed altogether, is so scorched\nand dried up that no insect could survive or\nexist, while the conflagration lasts; and, as\nthere are thousands and millions of these insects SYDNEY.\n109\nbuzzing about the long grasses and flowers,\nwhich almost everywhere intersect the country,\nthey are completely swept away by the ravaging\nelement, and the balance of nature is somewhat disturbed by such irregular and fitful\nassailants. 1 say that the \" balance of nature'\nis somewhat disturbed in the Australian forests,\nby these destructive fires, which are frequently\ncaused by the negligence or the design of the\nnatives; and that portion of the spider-class,\nwhich does not happen to fall a victim to the\nelement, is almost sure to pine and starve for\nwant of food. Many of the birds and lizards\nalso, exist almost exclusively upon the\nArachnidae, and the Insectivora, therefore,\nmust be desperately hard up whenever a\nraging and destroying fire has swept over\nthe plains, which is the nursing place of\ntheir food and existence. The musquitoes\nI found exceedingly troublesome, especially\nin swampy places, and their bite is blistering and sharp in the extreme; but the\n||\n:|\nIII\niiiis\nm\nm 110\nSYDNEY.\nJfe,'\n%\nants are the most formidable of the annoying\ninsects, which man must make up his mind to\nencounter in all hot climes and new countries,\nand they sting you with merciless pain. There\nare several kinds of ants\u2014the black, the white,\nand the red\u2014and one species, called the lion-\nant, is a most terrible assailant whenever his\nanger is aroused, and that is, when you chance\nto trespass within the boundaries of his domain,\nwhich is somewhat extensive in the forests of\nAustralia. You will meet with the paths of\nthese industrious creatures in almost every part\nof the forest, which they have formed with\nsingular care and assiduity, along which\nthey periodically migrate from one nest to\nanother, some of the latter being of a prodigious size, and extending over a wide space.\nIn many spots, where the ants have pursued\ntheir instinctive industry, you will find the way\ncleared of every obstacle, as though the hand of\nman had been there employed; and so carefully\ndo they remove every obstruction to their SYDNEY.\nill\nintercourse, that scarcely a stone will be left\nunturned, which lies immediately in their path.\nI also observed a great variety of the Reptilia\u2014\nespecially snakes, lizards and tortoises; some of\nthe snake and lizard genus being exceedingly\nvenomous, but the greater part are, I believe,\nharmless, and all fly at the approach of a human\nbeing. There are several kinds of frogs, and some\nof them beautifully coloured; particularly one\nspecies, the dark green-backed kind, with brown\nspots and stripes intersecting his body ; his belly\nwas yellow, and his eyes were peculiarly bright,\nwhich he seemed to open rather largely as I\naccidentally dropped on him.\nBeating my way through the bushy\nunderwood, which produced a crackling\nnoise, whose echo seemed to startle the\nsunny silence of the spot, as though I\nwere the cnly destructive being in the wide\ncircumference around me, I suddenly came\nupon an open space, which contained some\nwater holes; and if you had heard the flutter\njfj{|\nffffll 112\nSYDNEY\nof birds, the scampering of animals, and the\nrustling noise in every direction, of something\nor other scudding away from me, you would\nnever have forgotten it.\nI sat down on a clump of trees, pulled out\nmy pipe, lit it, and smoked in quiet contemplation of the scene around me, which was full\nof animation and intelligence to an active and\ndiscursive mind; and when the calm had become somewhat restored, and I betrayed no\nsymptom of existence, except the curling\nwreaths of smoke which ascended from my\npipe, out came the animals, one by one, but\nmost provokingly cautious, to have their feed\namong the young grass, which was profusely\nscattered over the ground, and their drink at\nthe cc holes,\" which had been dug, I presume,\nby some of the settlers, although it was in such\na wild, sequestered, and unfrequented part of\nthe forest. The birds, too, hopped down from\nthe trees and bushes, and exchanged mutual\nsigns of contentment, after the strange in- SYDNEY.\n11^\ntrusion, which I had committed on the silence of\ntheir habitations, and which must have strangely\npuzzled them. I felt at that moment the beauty\nof Byron's splendid stanza, which has embalmed\nthe spirit of solitude, as it exists in thronged\ncities, and amidst the busy hum of men; contrasting it in a felicitous vein of irony with the\ncheerful and healthy communion with nature,\nwhich the mind may hold, when properly\ntuned, as to place and condition; but I shall\nforbear quoting the stanza\u2014it has become\nso trite and hacknied, especially amongst those\nwho have the least opportunity of experiencing\nits truthful beauty and sublimity.\nAt length, feeling somewhat hungry, and\nhaving taken my fill of the animated scene\naround me, I made my way as well as I could\n.to the beaten path which I had quitted, but,\nit was a long while before I could reach\nit, having no clue to direct me, and the underwood, was of more than ordinary thickness\nand density, so that the day was far 114\nSYDNEY.\n.\nJt-'i\nI\nadvanced before I found myself on the right\nroute for Jeringong. On I trudged, however,\nfor some time, until I saw the sun was declining fast on the horizon; and, as there is\nno twilight in this hemisphere, I became somewhat anxious to reach my destined point,\nhalf regretting that I had dallied so long for\nthe mere purpose of indulging in beautiful\nscenery, which I could do freely every\nday of my existence, in this quarter of the\nglobe. Yet, so it was; and before I reached\nJeringong it was long after sun-down; nevertheless, I indulged in a comparatively comfortable sleep at the house of a freed man,\nwho had been a convict, and who, considering\nhis position, and the scenes that he had gone\nthrough, was by no means a common man.\nBefore I reached his station I was wandering\nsome time by the light of the moon, which\nseemed like a large lamp suspended in the\nsky, and never before saw an Australian\nnight to so much advantage. The heavens SYDNEY.\nwere beautiful and clear, and the stars were\nout all over the bright expanse\u2014and so sharply\ndefined were they on the dark ground of the\nsky, and of such a resplendent order, that I\nlooked at them with an almost silent awe\u2014\nthe moon, too, was Queening it in the most\nlustrous style, and steered her radiant course\nin such quiet beauty over the arched expanse of the dark, deep blue, that I could\nscarcely take my eyes off the enchanting\nscene, had not chillness and hunger somewhat\ndamped the poetic temperament of my mind.\nThe stillness of the night in the forest of\nAustralia is peculiar, and almost unbroken;\nexcept you chance to be in the neighbourhood\nof the wild dogs, which occasionally intrude\non the haunts of man, especially when pressed\nby hunger, and then their howling is\nmournful and monotonous in the extreme.\nWhen in the pursuit of their prey these dogs\nseldom bark, but generally make a \" yapping\"\nnoise, something similar to that of the fox in CSBS\n116\nSYDNEY.\n;:>'<,\u25a0,\u2022\"!'\nm.\nB'\nEngland, when hunting down the rabbit; but,\nlet a poor beast stray behind, when on your\njourney, through fatigue or sickness, and\nyou will presently have a whole multitude of these dogs upon it, yelping, fighting,\nand tearing each other, and quarrelling\nover their victim, although a few minutes\nbefore you would scarcely have seen one\nin the whole range of your view. At\nnight time these dogs drop down upon the\nkangaroo and dalgoyt, the latter sometimes\ngoing out to feed when the sun goes down;\nbut the instinctive sagacity of the latter is\ngenerally a match for the dog during the day,\nsmelling them a long way off, and conscious\nof their approach, these timid creatures make\noff with the utmost fear and rapidity. There\nis an owl in these quarters which takes its\nnocturnal round and is abroad in search of vermin when everything else seems buried in sleepy\nrepose, startling the tf dull ear of night\" with\nits drowsy and lonely cooing ; but, in general, SYDNEY\n117\nthere is an almost death-like silence pervading\nthe nights of Australia, when you are distant\nfrom the habitation of man, and his living\nappendages.\nNext morning, after I had somewhat refreshed myself, I started for Kiama, which I\nreached about noon, rested myself for an hour\nor so, then pushed on to Jamboroo, where I\nstopped for the night. There I obtained a\nbed, or rather a settle before the fire, at an\nIrishman's store, and a pretty comfortable kind\nof affair it was too; the next day I trudged\non to Dapto, where I found somewhat decent\nquarters, and stopped all night, but the fleas\nwere so active and industrious that I could\nscarcely sleep, therefore, I rose in the morning\nmore fatigued than when I retired to'rest. This\nstore was kept by a Scotchman, who, like most\nothers in a similar condition of life had been a\ntransport, and had recovered his liberty by good\nconduct and steady industry. At length I\nonce more reached Wollongong, paid my old\n:llrPf\nj |||Jj\n; life \u25a0\n311:2\nlit\nV 118\nSYDNEY.\nm\nlilMi\nV'\njp'd \u25a0\nj] M; \u25a0 .\nmm?\n\u00bb\nSo I immediately enquired about it, and found\neverything to my satisfaction. I shipped myself aboard at once, and on the 24th of November we were outside the Heads, running before\nthe wind with a fresh breeze, which soon took\nus into the deep blue ocean, and out of sight\nof the contaminated shore of Australia. We\nhad provisions on board to last us the first\ntwelve months at least; the remainder we\ncould procure from the different islands at\nwhich we intended to touch. The first night\nwe were at sea, it came on to blow, the ship\ntumbled about awfully, and we were in very\ndeep water, which washed over us like a half-\ntide rock. About midnight a heavy swell\nswept away the binnacle, carried overboard m\nSf\nJi\",!:- :\u25a0 HifJ\n:^l\n$&:<:\n;fe#%\n;J':V-!*\nSt.:\nI1\n122\nON THE LINE.\nthe compass, knocked off our cabin sky-lights,\nand poured down the water like a cataract into\nthe cabin, setting everything afloat. We car-\nried four whale-boats, ready for lowering, and\ntwo spare ones on the \"skids;\" and the sea,\nthat night, swept one away with a crash,\nbreaking the davits short off, at the same time\ncarrying every fastening with it. We tried\nhard to save it, but the elements were too much\nfor us. We then hoisted on board the larboard\nwaste-boat, and lay-to under close reefed main-\ntopsail, main try-sail, and fore top mast staysail, till the storm blew itself out, or, in other\nwords, till it appeared to have become spent.\nFor four months we cruized southward to\nabout latitude 38, having encountered heavy\nblowing weather, rolling seas, and gales of\nwind, with a few intervals of fine weather;\nbut with indifferent success, having taken only\nfive whales during all that time. Some of the\nlatter, however, were pretty large, and the oil\nwe obtained from them was worth about ON THE LINE\n\u00a32000, calculating it at <\u00a380 per ton, the then\nmarket price. We only killed sperm whales;\nfor the black, or Greenland, whale is rarely\nseen in these latitudes, nor have I seen a single\none during the whole voyage. Now, I will tell\nyou all about whaling.\nThe \" Jane\"\u2014our ship\u2014is a barque of\nabout 300 tons, carrying 32 hands, and is what\nis called a four-boat ship\u2014that is, she is able\nto lower four boats at a time, after whales.\nThere wTere five men to each boat to pull, and\nthe headsman at the steer-bar. A whale-boat\nis well loaded\u2014six harpoons, three lances, two\ntubs of line, short-warp, key for water, tinder\nbox, lantern, blue lights, compass, boat spade,\naxe, knife, whiffs, drogues, nippers, &c. Suppose the day to be Sunday, the ship going\neasily before the wind, and most of the hands\nturned in, or lying down on their chests, some\nasleep, others mending their clothes. Two men\nare stationed, from sunrise to sunset, at the\nmain-top-'gallant mast-head, and two at the 124\nON THE IXNE.\nfore. One of them sings out in a long, melan-\ncholy, strain\u2014\" T-h-e-r-e she s*p-o-u-t-s.\"\n\" T-h-e-r-e a-g-a-i-n\" and down goes the work\nor book, the skipper bolts out of his cabin and\nruns on deck, and the hands, all alive and\neager, come tumbling up the half-deck hatch\nand fore scuttle. Now, the following is something like the colloquy that takes place\nbetween the skipper, the mast-headsman, and\nthe man at the wheel. In the meanwhile, the\nboar's crews are in active preparation to lower\nat the first signal.\nFirst question\u2014\n% Where away ?\"\nf? On the weather bow.\"\n\" How far?\"\n\" Five miles off.\"\n\" T-h-e-r-e a-g-a-i-n\" sings out the man at\nthe mast-head.\n\u00a7f Here, Charley, hand up the glass I\"\n\u00a5 Aye, aye, sir.\"\n4c There she breaches; there again!\" ON THE LINE.\n125\n\" Mind what you are at there, at the wheel;\nwhy, d n your eyes, you are three points\noff the wind\u2014well so ; steady there; keep her\nas she is.\"\ne< Where are they now?\"\n3 Making to windward.\"\n\" Here\u2014give me the glass; mind your\nweather helm ; there's white water.\"\n^\"Near\u2014near\u2014no higher; you are now all\nup in the wind; top-gallant sails are shaking ;\nwhy, damme, you'll have her all aback\ndirectlv.\"\n\" T-h-e-r-e she s-p-o-u-t-s\" continued from\nthe mast-head\u2014the skipper having got as far\nas the fore-top-mast cross-trees, looks through\nthe glass, exclaiming\u2014\nThat's only current rip.\"\nT-h-e-r-e she s-p-o-u-t-s\" continued the\nmast-head man.\nu That's not sparm whales,\" exclaims one\nwho had been looking all along in the wrong\ndirection ; at length, coming along the horizon\n6(\nsH i\nttv.\n**'\n\u00abr\nim\nHHB \u2014\u2014 \"*-\u2022\n126\nON THE LINE.\nwith his glass, he sees the ff spout,\" and loud\nand joyously exclaims, H. sparm whales!\"\n\" Keep your luff there, you tiger; brace up\nthe yards a bit\u2014get your tubs in your\nboats.\"\nNow life commences. Twenty-four men\u2014\nthe crews of the four boats\u2014are now seen\nhauling away, pulling along the whale-line tubs,\nand rousing them into the boats\u2014tumbling\nover one another, and swearing, and singing,\nlike mad.\n\" Stand by to lower\u2014down with your\nfalls.\"\n\" There's blackskin,\" meaning the whale\nitself.\n\" There she breaches.\"\n\" That's only floptail.\"\nU There again, five miles off\u2014keep her to\nthe wind\u2014we will see if we cannot shave them\npretty close before we lower.\"\n\" There she breaches\u2014there again\u2014a whole\nschool!!\u2014we are making on them fast.\" ON THE LINE.\n127\nie T-h-e-r-e she s-p-o-u-t-s,\" again from the\nmast-head\u2014t-h-e-r-e a-g-a-in\"\n\" Four or five of 'em right ahead, sir.\"\n\" Steady there\u2014steer her steady\u2014don't be\nyawing the ship about that way\u2014we shall be\non the top of 'em directly\u2014man your clew\ngarnets\u2014stand by to back the main-yard\u2014\nbraces let go\u2014lay the topsail to the mast, boats\nb\novs\nP>\nNow there's a devil of a bustle, and all hands\nare jumping up to the boats.\nu Cast off your cram lines\u2014cut away your\nmousmgs.\n\u00bb5\nDown davit-tackle falls.\n\" Cast off the gripes\u2014hoist away\u2014sway up\nwell\u2014hold on, in with your cranes\u2014avast\nlowering there, you Jim Crow\u2014look out for\nthe steer oar\u2014lower, lower away, fore and aft\naltogether\u2014hurrah, boys ! Unhook, hand up\ntackle there\u2014jump in, d\u2014n you, jump in, you\nsleepy-headed beggars\u2014ship your tholes, out\nboat-hooks, shove off\u2014shove her off there,\nill\nllf\u00a7|fl\n111 128\nON THE LINE.\n'\n\u00ab'f\nforward\u2014keep her away from the ship\u2014ship\nyour oars\u2014pull, pull, pull, you beggars,\npull.\"\nf Where away, now ?\"\n\" Two points on the weather-bow.\"\nAnd away they go, pulling as if for life ; the\nsteersman standing and backing up the after-oar\nat every stroke. The boat pulls right alongside\nthe whale, puts two irons (harpoons) into her,\nif they can, takes a turn round the loggerheads, and eases the line out, now and again, if\nthe whale pulls the bows too much under water,\nand if she slacks at all, they haul upon it to get\nup to her. She (the whale) must come up to\nblow, and then the lances are ready to complete\nthe work of death ; the boat's crew dart them\ninto her as deeply and quickly as they can,\nuntil, at length, she gives up the ghost. There\nis always one man who acts as ship-keeper\nwhen the skipper is away, and who stands at\nthe masthead all the time, to keep the \"run of\nthe whales,\" make signals, put the ship about ON THE LINE.\n129\nand heave to. The compliment generally left\nto work the ship comprised the carpenter, the\ncooper, the steward, the cook, two boys and\nmyself. We all watched with intense excitement the proceedings of the boats\u2014now jumping up on the rail, now standing on the cathead or the skid, or half way up the rigging,\nand every one exclaiming, according to his\nfeelings and excitement, in short and rapid sentences, at the scene before them.\n\"There they are\u2014boats in among them\u2014\nlook at the humps !|\n\" The skipper is nearly up with them\u2014there,\nshe spouts again!\"\nP Mr. Kerr is laying with his oars apeak, to\ngive the green boat a chance.\"\n6C There\u2014he's into her\u2014didn't you see him\nstrike?\" ,; < ,\nf Pshaw; he's only getting ready.\"\n\" Getting ready do you call it; look how\nshe's dragging him through the water.\"\nmm\n111\nI W%!\n130\nON THE LINE.\nI'm,\n\u25a0I'M 11\nrtl!!i\nllffe\nml\n&m\nf!\nI I'll bet two niggerheads we get a couple of\n'em.\"\n\"Mr. B.'s got another; see, there goes a\nlance...they are fouling one another's lines...\nthere's a mess...one will have to cut.\"\n\" By Jove 1 she's carrying him right in the\nteeth of the wind.\"\n\"Brace-up the main yard; keep her close\nat it.\" \u2022' -%\n\" There she is again\u2014strike, you beggars,\nstrike.\"\n\" There she has it again\u2014now she fights.\"\n1 There's white water\u2014spouts clear yet.\"\n\"Now she tumbles\u2014another boat coming\nup\u2014he'll be at her directly.\"\n ml\n$!i'\\'\n! . 0\\ \u25a0;',;:'; :\n! . -jxwv\n'' ^fp:\n; ' j->.'> *\n\u00a5?**\n2lP\nat the mast-head will sing out, i T-h-e-r-e she\ns-p-o-u-t-s.\" This whaling life is a life of great\nexcitement. It suits me to a T. I am glad\nnow that I chose surgery, as a means for a\nlivelihood; it not only; enables me to maintain a\nrespectable position in the world, but it gratifies\nthat darling delight of my soul, which seems\nto \"grow with my growth and strengthen\nwith my strength,\" I mean the love of adventure, and the wandering to and fro, through\nthe world, with fresh scenes and characters\nconstantly starting up before my view. I enjoy, beyond description, visiting strange and\nunfrequented lands, although I have to endure\ngreater hardships than your quiet people on\nshore; but, as our old friend Miss P\t\nwould say, I am f manureoV to it now, and\nendure willingly all the inconveniences which ,\nare incident to such a life.\nAfter leaving Sydney, the first place we\nmade was Lord Howe's island\u2014one of the\nmost beautiful and romantic spots in the AT SEA.\n137\nPacific ocean. Some parts of the island rose\nperpendicularly from the water to the height\nof six or seven hundred feet; while others were\nlower, and, in some instances, there were\nportions undulating to the water's edge,\nalthough we experienced great difficulty in\nlanding. The interior of the island is richly\ncovered with trees, growing in all manner of\nforms, and covered with the most variegated\nverdure. There we saw the tall cabbage, with\nits graceful plume at the summit; the tangled\nfig-tree with its peculiar shape, besides a great\nvariety of almost all the tropical kinds. There\nwere three white men (English) on the island,\nand each of them had a wife and a numerous\nfamily; their wives were New Zealand women,\nwhich they had picked up, somehow or other,\nfrom ships putting in for food. Those\nthree Robinson Crusoes, a big lad, brother\nto one of the women, and their families,\nconstituted the whole of the population.\nThey had plenty of pigs, goats, poultry,\nand dogs for hunting; besides a canoe for\n\n151\npurpose, its extensive tracts which are ready\nfor the plough or the spade, and others equally\nrich, which only require the fern to be burnt\noff, to render them highly productive. There is a\nfine, black, loamy soil\u2014-the debris of thousands,\nof years of decayed vegetable matter\u2014with\nwhich a little skilful industry on the part of man,\nwould make a smiling garden. The natives had\nnumerous patches of land, producing maize, potatoes, water-melons, shallots, &c, and all appeared in the most exuberant state* The climate is infinitely superior to any that I know\nof in the whole circuit of New Holland; and\nthe rains are genial, mild, and abundant. The\nnatives are active, intelligent, and well-behaved ; and would, to a great extent, if under\nproper treatment, supply the Emigrant with\nwhat he so much desires, and is so much\ntalked of in all the colonies\u2014namely, a suffix\neiency of labourers. Many of the natives are\nexcellent sawyers; and some of them on the\nWest Coast, have learned several trades; so\ndifferent is their disposition to the lazy, crafty\nWW- 152\nON THE LINE.\nHi\n111\np\nw\ni\n*.';\n\u25a0\u25a01.1\nW.,M\nm\n.i-\nNew Hollander, whom I shall describe when I\ntouch upon Swan River, and other points of\nthe Continent which I have visited. All\nalong the Eastern Coast there are numerous\ncreeks and harbours for coasting craft;\nwith a small capital, and a little skill and industry, an emigrant on this island would\nrapidly progress, as compared with other settlements. To tell you the truth, I have purchased about 200 acres of land, which is situated on the river Typat, about five or six\nmiles northward of Mungonutie; and look\nforward to its becoming a place for building\nhouses upon, as it is just at the mouth of the\nriver, and a native settlement is already near it*\nI had made up my mind to purchase\nland in that quarter, when I left Sydney?\nfrom the accounts I had previously heard of\nit, which were more than confirmed by my\nown eyes ; and had furnished myself with the\nusual and useful articles for such an undertaking\u2014namely, blankets, cotton prints, powder,\nshot, double barrelled gun, rifle, soap, shirts^ \"^xKctI\nON THE LINE.\n15S\ntrousers, etc., etc, all of which are indispensable to the settler. It is possible, from the,\nuncertain state of property there at present,\nthat I may never possess it: nevertheless, I\nthought the risk not great, and the prospect\nhighly advantageous, when I made the purchase, and do not regret it. There are two\nnative houses on the estate at present\u2014they\nwill make capital pig-styes. Some of the huts\nof the natives are large, warm, and not badly\nput together; and one old chief, whom I visited\nat a place called Orudee, had a very comfortable\nhut, with a verandah and two windows, in\nwhich he was stowed away at his ease. When\nI arrived, the old chief, and his fat wife, were,\nenjoying themselves outside the house, and, as\nthe latter had taken just enough grog to make\nher feel funny, it was highly amusing to observe\nher deportment to her spouse and to ourselves.\nThis lady had done us the honour to visit our\nship in the morning, and, as a matter of course,\nwe returned the compliment in the afternoon*\nMl 154\nON THE LINE,\nli!\n'\u25a0'\u25a0m,\nBUM!\n^IVW-tf-1, i\n\u2022\u25a0\u2022: t\nI'll\nK ;\u25a0.;,\u2022';\u2022\u25a0\n'tik\nJa1'\nKg!;-\nr.ii.li i\nThey made us very welcome ; wanted us to\nstop all night, and would insist upon killing a\npig\u2014a great compliment, by the bye, to\nstrangers. The \"lady\" produced her spirits,\nwhich was what we call \"white face,\" or\n\" Yankee Particular ;\" sent her slave for water\nmelons, and brought out her best mat for us to\nrecline upon under the verandah, at the same\ntime, making me sit close beside her.\nDuring the whole of my stay here, the ship\nwas crowded with natives; each seaman had\nhis wife, and our crew numbered thirty-two, and\nthese wives their friends. They used, all of\nthem, to sit on the taffrail bowsprit, night-head,\nor on the top of the \" try works,\" and sing a\ncurious song, which they frequently composed\nfrom the passing incidents. They were very\nclever and showed great dexterity in that sort\nof amusement. These women were also fond\nof a game, at which two only could play;\nwhich consisted in performing a motion with\nthe fingers and hands, at which both must keep ON THE LINE.\n.55\ntime. They would play at this game for hours\ntogether I and when they left us, to go on a\nvisit to the Yankee ship anchored close by, we\ncould see them sitting on the hurricane-house,\nand almost all parts of the ship, amusing themselves in this manner. Fish were most plentiful in the Bay, and it was highly amusing to\nset the black girls to fish over our stern, which\nthey delighted to do, as it was a novelty for\nthem. While we stopped there, our crew were\nat work every day, taking in wood and water,\nand getting drunk\u2014indeed, I may safely say\nthat they were all drunk from the day we cast\nanchor, till we were out to sea again\u2014and\nheartily sick of it was your humble servant, I\ncan assure you.\nJr*B Jruii !';s:-',rf.!\nI II\nEM\nWm(M\nCHAPTER V1IL\nAT SEA.-\u2014THERMOMETER IN MY BERTH TO'DAIT\n84\u00b0 LAT. 3 MILES SOUTH\u2014EAST LONGITUDE\n177\u00b0 12'\nI had just commenced writing to you, some\ndays since, when \"spouts\" were hailed from\nthe mast-head, the boats were instantly lowered,,\nand all hands at their post, so that I was\nobliged to lay down my pen, and hurry on deck\nto take my part in the business In the course\nof the day, we had three whales alongside; and,\nwith little intermission, have been taking in AT SEA,\n\u00ab*\u2022\n157\nwhales ever since, having stowed down, in a\nvery short space of time, nearly \u00a34,000\nof oil, at the present market price. There is\ngreat excitement and bustle while the game\nlasts, and a great deal of dirt and work after\nit is over; but I have little to do with the\nlatter, except to mind the \" try pots,\" and\nprevent the oil running too rapidly into the\n\" coolers,\" which it is apt to do if the heat is\nkept up at too furious a pitch. But, before I\ngive you a description of my scenes and adventures since I last wrote to you, permit me to\nobserve that I have met with a somewhat\nserious accident, which very nearly prevented\nme writing to you again\u2014for some time at\nleast. I nearly cut off two of my right-hand\nfingers, and have just removed the bandage to\ntake up my pen; but I find them so stiff and\ncramped that I am fearful you will tcarcely be\nable to read my writing, so difficult do I find it\nto use them in any way. We had hoisted on\ndeck the jaw of a large whale, measuring about\n\u25a0 v .58\nAT SEA.\n\\$M,\nill\nseventeen feet in length, which contained some\nvery fine teeth; as all bands were busy in\ncutting them out, I took up a boat-knife to\nassist them, and began cutting away like the\nrest. The teeth of the whale are imbedded in\na tough, white, resisting substance, and it\nrequires some dexterity of hand and knife to\ncut them out cleanly from their sockets ; while\nI wa3 forcing the knife round a large tooth, my\nhand slipped over the handle, which was covered\nwith oily matter, on to the sharp blade which\ncut right to the bone of my little finger, and\nnearly through the joint of the next, for I was\ngrasping pretty tightly the handle of the knife.\nThe wound healed rapidly; but I have no\nfeeling in the last joint of the little finger, and\nvery little in the next, as the nerve is completely divided, so I have lost all power of\nmoving the joints of either of them.\nIn my last letter I endeavoured to describe\nthe treatment which we met with in the\nIsland of Mangonutie, and ended with an ac- AT SEA.\n159\ncount of the confusion and noise on board our\nvessel, occasioned by the women leaving, our\nsailors almost all drunk, and bidding; a mawkish\nadieu to the dark \" fair ones,\" who had been\nso generous in bestowing their favours upon\nthem; some of the native chiefs trading for\npigs and potatoes, while others were buying\nmuskets and cotton goods, to say nothing of\nthe bustle and shouting of the natives in their\ncanoes, who came alongside our ship, either to\nbarter or beg; the rafting of casks, and the\nstowing away of wood and provisions, so that\nI was heartily glad to get clear of the place\naltogether.\nBut I must be permitted to indulge in a few\nmore remarks on the scenes and incidents\nwhich I observed in that beautiful island, so as\nto make my narrative complete in all its parts.\nSome of the chiefs were tattooed in a most remarkable manner; and amongst the rest\n\" Jacky,\" or \" wide awake,\" the fellow who\ncame off with the sable \"mob\" to our ship,\nI':\"' | SSI]\nmm\nii'^iiL, w\nAT SEA,\n\u25a0ubr!\n*'\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0!\u00bb Wa!H\n%mi\nwhen we first sighted the island. The face of\nthe latter was lined in every direction, and\nwith great regularity ; and, altogether, he\npresented the best specimen of tattooing that\nI ever beheld. \" Jackey' was about the\nmiddle size; very firm and well set in his appearance, his features were good and regular,\nand his manner, altogether, had the air of a\nmelo-dramatic \" swell\" on the stage, so awfully fierce and energetic were some of his\nmovements. He was an off-shoot of the warrior tribes of New Zealand, and prided himself on his great qualities in that respect.\nSometimes he would come on deck, with no\nother covering than an old tattered shirt;\nwhile at others, he would sport a pair of clean\nduck trousers, a sbowry handkerchief round his\nneck, and his hair well-plastered, and glistening, with oil. Many of these men were tattooed all over their thighs, as well as their\nfaces; and most of the women were marked\nabout the lips in characters of a deep blue AT SEA. 161\ntint, which gave a singular appearance to their\notherwise not badly formed features; but, both\nmen and women had a large hole bored in each\near, through one of which they stuck the\nstem of their tobacco-pipe, while the other\nwas generally decorated with the tooth of the\ntiger-shark, suspended to a black ribbon, and\nornamented with red sealing wax. Both sexes\nseemed blessed with a luxuriant head of hair,\nbut greatly varying in quality, and in quantity,\nalso; some of them exhibited the frizly texture, while others were of the gently waving,\nas though they had indulged in \"Rowland's\nMacassar\" all their life-time. Some of the\nwhite settlers urgently requested me to stay\nin the island, as there was no disciple of\nEsculapius within some hundred miles of\nthem; while one old chief solemnly declared\nthat I should never want either \" pigs or potatoes,\" would I but consent to live among\nthem.\nI left the island with considerable regret.\nl**Ifll\nill\n#t$i\nm*i\ntii cam\n||l 111\nIIS\nirl\ntswii\nj\u00bb!fj|\nto\nAT SEA.\nWhen we had got our men together, dis-\nharged their \" wives,\" and their grog-bills,\nwe weighed anchor, and stood out to sea\u2014\nsighting Curtis's Island, and passing another\nwhich seemed uninhabited, except by goats.\nIt was our intention to have touched at\nNavigator's Island, to procure yams and pigs,\nbut we had such a continuance of foul winds,\nthat we were blown much more to the eastward than we w7ished; but, shortly afterwards,\nI landed at a small Island, mentioned by Cook,\ncalled Mangea, against which the surf beat\nwith tremendous force. Several canoes came\noff to land us, our boats being perfectly useless for that purpose in such a swell; and I\ncould not but admire the rude cunning of\nthe natives in the construction of their craft,\nwhich were built with an outrigger to prevent\ntheir capsizing, and seemed admirably adapted\nfor those seas. One of the \" natives\" beckoned\nme to come ashore in his canoe, which invitation I willingly accepted, and stepped into \u2014\nAT SEA.\n163\nit, when he paddled away until he reached the\noutside'of the point where the swell breaks\non the coral reefs. There he paused till three\ngood surges had passed ; then, taking advantage of the lull, both he and his companions\npaddled in with all their might, the next\nsurge merely wetting us to the skin, and\ngrounding us on a bar of gravel and shingle,\nwe all jumped out, standing ready for the swell\nwithin one hundred yards of the shore, which is\nbordered with coral rock. There was a crowd\nof natives waiting our landing, all of whom set\nup a loud shout when I touched the shore, and\nconducted me to the house of a native missionary, from Otaheite, where I sat down until\nall our party should arrive. The people on\nthe island were exceedingly civil, and I may\nsay with justice also, hospitable and ingenious,\nfor we were treated in a somewhat generous\nmanner, and by no means in a mean condition.\nThe natives were not a large race; they\nwis\n\u25a0Hit\n;\u00bb\u2022.-. \u25a0 164\nAT SEA.\ni\nwere brighter and clearer in colour than the\nNew Zealanders, and the expression of their\nfeatures was somewhat pleasing, and indicated\na mildness of disposition seldom met with in\na semi-savage race. I dined with the mis-\nsionary, who had prepared a boiled sucking\npig, some yams, bread-fruit taro, and sweet\npotatoes, by way of edibles; while cocoa-nut\nmilk, and lime-juice, served us for drink. I\nenjoyed my dinner greatly, and was highly\namused at the semi-religious and savage-\nsaintism of my host, who talked in quite an\nex-cathedra tone, simply because he took me to\nbe a thoroughly-ingrained sailor, whom he\ncharacterized as more barbarous, in a certain\nway, than the natives of the islands, to whom\nhe administered spiritual comfort. The next\nday I had the honour of dining with the\nSj King of the island\"\u2014an old man\u2014who entertained me in a similar manner to the missionary,\nexcept that he served up to table some roast\nfowls, which were exceedingly delicious eating. AT SEA.\n16\nft\nThere seemed a great plenty of the good\nthings of life on the island\u2014turkeys, pigs,\nducks, fowls, bananas, and almost every variety\nof tropical production. The natives are\nvery expert in making straw hats, nets, furs,\nplaited woman's hair-belts, mats, carved clubs,\nwooden bowls, and native cloth of various\ncolours and patterns, in many of which articles\nthey exhibit considerable skill. They exchange\nthese various commodities for cotton handkerchiefs, shirts, iron, scissors, needles, thread,\ntomahawks, soap, and other articles which they\nrequire for their use. One of the natives\ngave me a quantity of native cloth, which\nthey call Tappe, because I cured his sore eyes,\na disease which prevails to a great extent\namong them, especially in the younger classes.\nThere is a large church on the island, which\nI visited; the inside is painted red, white, and\nblack, and there are several carved pieces of\nwork, which evince considerably ingenuity in\nthe architect. The houses are large and lofty\n*J1th\n!''*\u00a3$>! \u2014 4-\n166\nAT SEA.\nm\niilll!\n! lis i *\"\nil\nand are put together without nails, and very\nstrongly and ingeniously lashed at the joints;\nand the better sort are carved and painted to\neven a sumptuous degree, considering the\nnature and condition of the place. The females\nare clean and tidy in their appearance; and\nmany of them exceedingly, good looking\u2014\nsimply clothing themselves in a scanty piece\nof native cloth, except the better sort, whose\nclothing partakes of more ample dimensions,\nalthough composed of the same materials. As\nI walked about the island the people followed\nme in crowds, gaping and staring in apparent\nwonderment, while the little boys and girls\ntried to touch my hands, looking up in my\nface, and rubbing my legs, and feeling down\nmy back\u2014sometimes giving me a poke, to see,\napparently, if it was all right, and flesh and\nblood, like themselves\u2014and on my turning\nround to see what was the matter, away they\nwould scamper in all directions, which afforded\nme a great deal of amusement. AT SEA.\n67\nIt was late before we had collected our\nthree boat's crews, who had been purchasing\ncommodities, and amusing themselves as Well\nas they could among the natives. I was then\nshoved off in the same canoe which landed me;\nand, after being nearly capsized, and getting a\ngood wetting in the surf, I reached our boat,\nwhich was lying off to avoid the breakers. I\nhad scarcely left the canoe when it was overset, and the five natives were swimming and\nchattering away at a furious rate; but our\npeople took no notice of them, and never\nmoved an oar, so accustomed were they to see\nthe Islanders in the water, and apparently in\nthe most dangerous plight. While our men\nwere arranging the cargo of fruits and livestock, which we were to take on board, I\nwatched the natives extricating themselves\nfrom their difficulty, and was highly amused to\nsee them pattering about the serf, and shoving\ntheir canoe to the shore. These islanders are\nexpert swimmers, and seem quite at home in\nl&SifH\n>V3\nmm-.\nM-\n1 re's'1\n168\nAT SEA.\nthe water, where an ordinary swimmer could\nscarcely exist; and I remember seeing one\nnative, breaking his way through the serf, and\nswimming towards our ship, which was at\nleast five miles off, with something in his hand,\nwhich he held above the water to keep dry;\nand, when tired with holding it in one position,\nchanged hands, still keeping it above his head,\nthat it should not be damaged, intending it for\nbarter or sale. The ship, however, had braced\nup her main-yard, and was going through the\nwater when he was about half-way, which,\nwhen he perceived it, caused him to return to\nthe island, still holding his commodity above his\nhead. Before we had arranged our cargo it\nbecame quite dark, and no one could see the\nship, which was lying off at a great distance;\nand, to make matters as bad as possible, no\none had taking her bearings, but almost every\nman differed in opinion as to her \" whereabout,\" so that we were compelled, as it were\nto grope our way over the waters, which with \\m\nAT SEA.\n169\nm\nour living and dead stock was no sinecure;\nnevertheless, we reached her in the course of\nthe night, and glad enough we were to get to\nwhat seemed our home.\nAfter leaving Mangea, we steered for a\nsmall island called Whylotacke, sighted Harvey's Island, which is' said to be uninhabited\nat the present time, although there were people\nupon it when Cook landed there; and after\ntwo nights and a day-and*half's sailing, we\nreached the former, when we sent two boats\nashore to procure yams for sea-stock, which we\nfound both plentiful and cheap. The island\nproduces bananas, bread-fruit, taro, tobacco,\nlimes, pumpkins, water-melons, and other rich\nfruits and vegetables; besides pigs, fowls and\nturkeys, all of which were in excellent condition, and proved very agreeable eating.\nMr. Riley, an English Missionary, resides\nthere, for the praiseworthy purpose of converting the heathenish natives to Christianity;\nbut, how far he has progressed in his holy en-\ni\nm\nm\nifOtit\n;*;:\u25a0; 170\nAT ' SEA.\nB!M!\nm \u25a0\u25a0\niiy<\nmM.\nimm\nterprise, I am incompetent to give an opinion*\ntherefore shall content myself with simply\nrelating what I saw, and leave you to infer the\nprecise condition of his progress. I learnt\nthat Mr. Hiley came out in the Missionary\nbrig, Camden, in company with poor Williams,\nwho was so cruelly murdered at Eromango*\nby the savage natives of that island; and\nmany singular stories are told of the humbug\nand duplicity of both missionaries and natives\n\u2014the one wishing to believe that they had\nmade converts, by way of gratifying their\nvanity, in swelling their own importance in\nthe eyes of the home authorities; the other\ndisssembling, in the most artful manner, and\npretending to embrace the doctrines of the\nmissionary* by way of serving some cunning\npurpose, or acquiring some paltry gain. I\ncould fill a page with the artful dodges which\nare practised on both sides, as little creditable\nto the pretended piety of the one, as it is indicative of the low cunning of the other. AT SEA.\n171\nAs soon as I landed I made enquiries for\nMr. Riley, for whom I had brought a letter\nfrom Mangea, and was told that I should find\nhim at church, where he was performing\ndivine service, although on a week-day, which\nstruck me as being somewhat extra-pious;\nbut upon further enquiry, I also learned,\nthat the natives were seldom occupied steadily\nin their pursuits for many days together,\ntherefore had a great deal of idle time on\ntheir hands, which caused the missionary to\npreach a few extra sermons, by. way of keeping\nthem up to the mark, and preventing them\nfrom sliding down the declivity upon which,\nwith much praiseworthy perseverance, and\npious energy, he had contrived to raise them.\nI soon made my way there, and found the little*\n* We should sincerely regret if any inference unfavourable to the Missionaries in the South Seas\nwere drawn from the above remarks, as we deeply\nvenerate their character, and can bear testimony to\nthe value of their services. The Missionaries have\nI 3\n:I3:\niViW. 172\nAT SEA.\nman peppering out the service to his numerous\nand dingy congregation, in a somewhat smart\nand fluent manner; but thinking, perhaps,\nthat my presence\u2014a white man, and a stranger,\ntogged in sailor's costume\u2014would distract\nthe attention of his hearers, if it did not disconcert himself, I withdrew until the service\nwas oyer, and then delivered my letter in\npropria persona to Mr. Riley, as he came out\nof the church. Our mate was with me, and\nwe waited outside the church for some time,\ntaking a view of the surrounding scene, which\nwas peculiarly interesting from the religious\ndone much to humanize the savage islanders, and\nprepare them for a higher state of civilization; and\nthe sacrifices which many of the former have made\nto carry out their sacred purpose, may be classed in\nthe choicest category of human martyrdom. We\nhave no desire to make exceptions, but must give\nour testimony to the great services which the Wes-\nleyan Missionaries have rendered in the cause of\nprogress and civilization, especially in the Southern\nSeas. AT SEA*\n173\nassociations with one's native land. The tune\nsung by the natives at the conclusion of the\nservice, although in a nasal and conventicle\ntone, reminded me of many a chaunt which I\nhad heard in my youthful days at home, and\nthrew my mind into a melancholy mood,\nwhich seemed, for the moment, like a sweet\ndream of the past\u2014and that even here, in this\nlone and remote island of the oeean, the holy\nand benign influences of religion were beginning\nto be felt.\nWhile we were waiting, a shower of rain\ncame on, which caused us to seek shelter in\nthe hut of a native close by, the owner of which\nbrought us a mat to sit down upon, and began\nquestioning us about \"this and that,\" in his\nbroken English, as though he were intent on\nturning a penny, either by direct sale or by\nbarter. When the S darky \" learned that our\nmate had given \"two needles\" for his straw\nhat at Mangea, which he had in his hand, he\nheld up his hands in astonishment, and laughed\npi 174\nAT SEA.\nviW\nheartily at the idea of his being so egregiously\ncheated by bartering the article at so dear a\nrate. At length, the congregation came out,\nand many of them saluted me, as they passed,\nwith \" Your honour, Bo,\" this being the common \"good morning, fine day,\" of these\nislanders; and almost all seemed as decorous\nand devout as they possibly could be, considering the sunny nature of their skins, the\nwarmth of their blood, and their strong animal\npassions, which, in spite of the thick covering\nof continual devotion which had been impressed\nupon them, peeped out in their sly, slanting,\nand laughing eyes. Many of the women wore\nbonnets, and the favourite trimming seemed to\nbe a bit of red rag, which they had obtained\nfrom the sailors; therefore, a soldier's red\ncoat, and a sailor's flannel shirt, if torn into\nshreds, would be valuable at Whylotacke, and\ncommand a considerable amount of produce in\nexchange. I paid a visit to the missionary's\nhouse, which was a large and lofty building,\nIK\nif *\nAT SEA.\n175\nbut somewhat rude in shape; the walls of\nwhich were composed of coral rock, the natives\n\u2022having erected the whole building at their own\nexpense. The church, also, is very large, considering the number of inhabitants to be\naccommodated; but coolness, and not space, is\nwhat is generally required in public buildings\nin these islands\u2014hence their apparent disproportion to the domestic huts of the natives.\nMr. Riley is a deliberate, smooth-faced and\nprecise little man, with a white shirt and tie\nscrupulously clean, and neatly put on ; a light\nblue dressing-gown was wrapped negligently\nround his person\u2014a dressing-gown in the\npulpit! new fashion that, thought I\u2014and he\nwalked along ia as prudish and pedantic a\nmanner, as any provincial pedagogue would\nhave done among his squad of unruly boys*\nMrs. Riley was no great shakes, so 1 shall pass\nher over at once; although I ought not to\nforget that she treated us with some delicious\nmilk and oranges\u2014the former, we learnt, was 176\nAT SEA.\ni\nkm\nfrom a cow and two heifers which the missionary had contrived to pick up among his English\nfriends, and nurtured on the island. While\nwe were seated on the sofa at Mr, Riley's, and\nfanned by a native girl, the judge of the island,\ntwo fat female Otaheitans, old servants of Mr.\nR., and several other natives, squatted themselves on the floor in a semi-circle around us,\nand seemed to take great interest in our\nconversation. Altogether, the scene w7as\nhighly amusing, and I shall never forget\nit. Mr. Riley told me that he had\nexperienced great difficulty in reclaiming\nthe natives, and that a large party called the\n\"Tutiony,\" or opposition-mob, still held out\nagainst his instruction and ministration, and\nresolutely adhered to their heathenish customs.\nThe judge of the island, learning that I was\na surgeon, or one skilled in the use of medicine,\nparticularly wished to have me tattooed, with\nthe view of inducing me to stay there; and\nthe venerable chief actually spoke to Mr. AT SEA.\nIll\nRiley on the subject, thinking that he might\npersuade me to adopt that course. I made\nthe old gentleman a present of a bundle of\nEpsom salts, for which he seemed extremely\ngrateful; and taking my leave of the missionary and his pious, but, apparently, prudish\nwife, I bade adieu to the island. As we made\nour way to the shore, where the barter and\ntrading was going on, we were followed\nby three or four nioe, plump, laughing girls,\nwho were joined by others, until there was\nquite a mob of them, all playing the same\ntricks, exhibiting the same wonderment, and\nfull of the same savage wantonness, which we\nobserved in the islanders of Mangea; but they\nw-ere perfectly harmless, and only wished to\nindulge in a little innocent curiosity at the\nexpense of our convenience, but by no means\nagainst our will and pleasure. I must not\nomit to mention the visit which I paid to the\n\" old king\" of the island, whom I found greatly\nadvanced in years, his eyes being nearly\ni 5\nill\nm\nm\n>\u25a0 I mm\n.?*W'\njl'fl\n1\nV\n<*vu lis\nAT SEA.\n1*\n\u00a5.W[\nclouded by his white, shaggy eye-brows; his\nhair was short, grizzly, and frosted with age,\nand his harsh, crabbed, and dried-up countenance, exhibited all the phases of impotent\ncunning, and used-up duplicity. When I\nentered his house he requested me to take a\nseat upon an old sofa, by his side, which had\na table before it, with certain fruits upon it,\nsome of which I gladly partook, and made\n\" his majesty\" a present of some medicine in\nthe shape of a few bundles of Epsom salts, in\nreturn for which he seemed highly grateful;\nbut, on taking my departure, I observed a\nnative girl, who was weeping bitterly, with\nher hands and feet confined in a wooden\nstructure, something like the old stocks in the\ncountry towns of England, and altogether she\npresented a very melancholy and pitiable appearance. I inquired the cause of such treatment,\nwhich appeared cruel in the extreme, when I\nwas informed that the old chief had turned\nmissionary, and had married the girl\u2014and, in i\nAT SEA*\n179\nshort, that she was compelled by missionary law\nto sacrifice her young and blooming beauty to\nan old man, contrary to her notions, her education, such as it was, and all the associations\nand customs of her companions, at the same\nage of life. Mr, Riley had married them;\nhad converted his \"majesty;\" had made him\na good christian, by confining him to one wife*\nand as the old gentleman could not treat her\nin a manner suitable to her age, her wishes,\nand the notions in which she had been reared\nbefore missionaries or single-blessedness, in\nthe shape of one wife, had set its foot on the\nisland, it seemted the height of cruelty to\nsacrifice that young being to an old and in*\nfatuated dotard\u2014yet so it was. The fact was\nthat the young and beautiful islander had\nviolated the marriage vow; and she was suffering for her guilt at the instance of the\nmissionary, as I understood, and, certainly\naccording to the wishes of the jealous old chief.\nThere she sat\u2014that prepossessing creature^ 1 l'?\u00a7f $*$\nwas\nin all the fulness and freshness of youth and\nage; her long, dark hair flowing to her waist\nin waving curls; her bright and beautiful eyes\nshining from beneath her smooth and well-\nturned forehead; and, from my soul, I pitied\nher. The features of that young creature\nwere singularly fascinating; her skin was\nclear, and her general expression was mild\nand pleasing; and her feet and hands were\nparticularly small and well-formed, a peculiarity, by-the-bye, which I observed in almost\nall the females on that island.\nWhen we had finished our bartering with\nthe natives, for yams, pigs, ducks, fowls, turkeys, and potatoes, for which we gave them\nboat-axes, blue cotton prints, and dungaree,\nand had stowed all away in the boats, we\nshoved off, and were soon outside the reef of\nrocks and aboard, the ship having beat in pretty\nclose to shore. The yards were instantly\nsquared, the main sacks brought aboard, and in\nan hour we lost sight of that pleasant little AT SEA.\n181\nisland, and stood away to the north. We intended to touch at Palmerston Island, to take\nin cocoa nuts for our live-stock, thinking it\nwas uninhabited as it used to bej but hearing that some white men were there, and not\nof the best character, we declined, although it\nabounds in nuts and fruits, which we greatly\nstood in need of at that time.\n><\nm CHAPTER IX.\nSANDWICH ISLANDS, OAHU.\nWe put in here to obtain provisions, after a\nlong, dreary, and profitless voyage to the\nnorthern latitudes of the Pacific, having sought\nthe \"field\" of whales, which we heard of\nwhen down at Mangea, in vain; for this was\none of the chances of war to which we wandering whalers are subject, and often have to\ncruise three or four months, with a man at\neach mast head on the look-out, without the\ncheering sight of a single fish. Indeed, we SANDWICH ISLANDS.\n183\nought to have been cruizing more to the\nsouthward, as the whale-herd had migrated to\nthat quarter, according to their natural instincts, in search of the food which was there\nin abundance\u2014the insects blown off the immense tracts of land which are washed by the\nPacific, forming a glutinous mass which floats\nwith the periodical currents; but, as our captain\nwished to do a little business on his own account, he too readily listened to the reports of\nothers, and the more so, as they tallied with\nhis own interested views.\nAfter touching at numbers of the small\nislands which, within a few hundred leagues,\nstud the great basin of the Pacific^\u2014sometimes to exchange articles of trade for native\nproduce, at others, to take in provisions solely\n\u2014we traversed the greater portion of the 49th\nand 50th degrees of North latitude without\nmatching a single fish, and found ourselves at\nVancouver's Island, as rich as when we left\nport, as regards the real object of our voyage.\nm\nX,tfi\n\u25a0W'i\nthe coast in lower latitudes, especially in\nUpper California, which are blown from the\nocean, and stunt down, even when they have\nnot sufficient power to blight, the cereal crops.\nThe potatoe grows to an enormous size, and\nseems to thrive most luxuriantly on the island;\nthe Indians having large patches under cultivation, which frequently serve them for food,\nwhen the hunting-season is not on, or not so\nproductive as they expect.\nThe natives, for the most part, are a fine\nrace of men, have their faces tattooed according to the savage rites of their respective\ntribes; are excessively fond of ardent spirits,\nfor which they will exchange their very souls\nif possible; not indifferent to beads, pins, or\nanything in the shape of metals in a manufactured state; are industrious and friendly, but\ncannot possibly abstain from thieving whenever\nthe slightest opportunity presents itself.\nHaving stored ourselves amply with provisions, and our captain done his utmost to SANDWICH ISLANDS.\n189\nturn a penny on his own account, which was\nnot always in unison with the interests of the\nowners of the vessel, nor of the crew, we left\nthe island for the south, and kept coasting\nalong for some days, until we stood in for\nMendocino, a cape on the Coast of Upper\nCalifornia. But, before we could reach it, the\nwind changed, and we again stood out for sea,\nstill steering for the south ; when, after a few\ndays' fishing, in which we were unexpectedly\nsuccessful, having stowed away a couple of\nwhales, we sailed for San Franciscos,* with the\nview of recruiting our stock of water and\nprovisions.\nAs the tide sets in heavily at certain changes\nof the moon in the deep channel leading to\nthe Bay of San Franciscos, we were obliged\nto steer the vessel steadily in one direction, so\nas to avoid the strong eddies on either side of\nthe stream. The Bay is one of the finest and\n* Vide Appendix.\nBar\njSWMWfiBfO\nM\n>&- SANDWICH ISLANDS.\nW\nm\n1\n\u25a0 wv?> \u25a0\n\u25a0\u25a0J^4ajs|ti\nmost capacious in the world3 not excepting\nSydney Cove, and a thousand vessels could\nride at ease in its deep basins which widen out\nand stretch far into the land north and south\nbeyond the point where we cast anchor.\nThere were several ships in the harbour besides ours ; some of them for trading purposes\nfrom New York and Boston, with their floating retail-shops of dry goods, trinkets, and\nwearing apparel, the latter especially adapted\nto the habits and climate of the country;\nothers were there for repairs, and for recruiting their stock of provisions and water, like\nourselves; and almost all their crews became\nalike noisy, drunken, and quarrelsome, which\nmade it anything but agreeable to be in their\nneighbourhood even, much less their company,\nas we were sometimes compelled to be. The\ntown of San Franciscos lies on the southern\nextremity of the channel which leads to the\nBay, and vessels may anchor almost elose to SANDWICH ISLANDS.\n191\nshore with perfect safety. The passage to the\nlatter is about two miles in width, bounded by\nsteep basaltic rocks, and the tide is sufficient,\nas we have already observed, to carry you in\nwithout the wind being in your favour. The\nBay extends about twenty miles N. E., and\nabout thirty miles S. W.; the northern part\nnarrowing to a passage which opens into a\nbasin about ten miles wide, called San Pablo,\nand a second pass unites this basin with another, into which most of the great rivets\nempty themselves. The favourite anchoring\nplace for whalers is called San Salito, opposite\nto Yerba Buena, where fresh water and provisions can be readily obtained. There are\nseveral islands in the Bay of Franciscos, the\nlargest lying in the northern part of the first\nbasin, and is easily distinguished, even from\nthe ocean; the next in size is opposite to the\ntown of Yerba Buena,, and is the habitation of\ngoats, birds, and game, being covered with\nwood and wild pasturage.\nm\n$\nI\nii'ia\n\u25a05 192\nSANDWICH ISLANDS.\nThere are a few merchants in the town, some\npoor Indians, a few half-caste Spaniards, and\nhere and there an old friar strolling about; the\ndwellings, for the most part, are miserable,\nbeing built of adobes or unburnt bricks, for the\nbetter kind of houses, while the meaner huts\nare simply composed of rough poles, covered\nwith dry grass, having a small aperture for the\nentrance. The climate is beautiful, except\nsome dense fogs which come steaming off the\nocean at certain seasons of the year, but they\ndo not extend far inwards; in other respects\nthe atmosphere is pure, clear and invigorating\n\u2014bracing up the nerves to a most healthy\ntension, and imparting an elasticity to the\nlimb, which is only occasionally felt in the\nmore temperate regions of the globe. The\nland all round San Franciscos seems highly\nproductive, and requires but little cultivation ;\njudging by the indolent habits, and the lazy\nmovements of the inhabitants, who appear, in\nthat particular respect, to take things very 1MB\nSANDWICH ISLANDS.\n193\nllfilf\neasy. The wheat is sown broad cast on the\nland when it has been sufficiently ploughed and\ncrossed; the latter being occasioned by the\nconstruction of the plough which cannot cut\nup and turn over a furrow as with us, but\nsimply leaves a rut, therefore the soil must be\nbroken by repeated crossings, before it is\ncapable of receiving the seed. The land is\nprepared in the same way for the maize, oats\nbeing little cultivated, although in some parts\nthey grow wild and luxuriant\u2014so at least I\nhave been informed by parties well acquainted\nwith the interior of the country. In many\nparts of California they are obliged to irrigate\nthe land to produce corn, but round San Francisco the rains and dews are sufficient for that\npurpose. The same remark will apply, doubtless, to the rich valleys lying between the two\ngreat mountainous chains which run from\nNorth to South, and are parallel with the line\nof the coast. Barley is cultivated in comparatively small quantities, as it only serves for\nK\nill\nm\n'\nJal\n\u25a0a\nua y-1\nw-'f!\nfood to the horses, distillation from this grain\nbeing unknown. The price of wheat is about\ntwo dollars the fanega, or 11. 5s. the English\nquarter, and maize at 1-| dollar, or XL per\nquarter. Barley is about the same price as\nwheat, the latter being mostly cultivated.\nClover is also grown, and serves as excellent\nfodder for the cattle; and flax is found in a\nwild state, the Indians using it for their nets\nand rope3. Vegetables of almost every description we found in abundance, and exceedingly cheap ; potatoes, beetroot, onions, carrots\nbeans\u2014besides fruits of almost all kinds, such\nas apples, pears, peaches, melons, grapes, plums,\ncherries, figs, oranges, and pomegranates, were\noffered at an extremely cheap rate, and most\nexcellent in quality. Many of these fruits, we\nwere credibly informed, grew wild, especially\nthe strawberry and the grape, the former\nattaining an extraordinary size, and deliriously\nsweet in flavour.\nBut the principal occupation of the Cali- fornians, and the foreign settlers, must be in\nrearing cattle, which not only supply them\nwith meat, but also yield a profitable return\nfrom their hides and tallow. These cattle are\ncomparatively wild, roaming at will in the\nimmense praries which are covered with vegetation, or in the rich valleys watered by the\nnumerous streams, which lie between the great\nmountain chains of the Sierra Nevada and the\nRocky range. Judging by the price of skins,\nwhich were heaped up in huge piles ready for\nshipment, with that of animal food^ it might\nreasonably be inferred that the herds of cattle\nmust be very numerous, and in excellent condition. The management of the dairy is\nalmost unknown among the natives; cheese and\nbutter being procurable only from the foreign\nsettlers. The pigs are fatted for their lard, of\nwhich a large quantity is exported; while the\nsheep does not seem so plentiful, nor so much\nprized, although, with an improvement \u00a9\/ the\nbreed, it would prove more profitable, in their rich pasturage, than either the ox or the\nThe population is a strange mixture of\nMexicans, Germans, Americans, and English\nthe first are proud, ignorant, and lazy; the\nsecond, as far as we could learn and observe,\nare quiet, laborious, and intelligent j while the\nlatter partake of their national characteristics\u2014\nindustrious and dominating, according to the\npeculiarities of their disposition and education.\nThe Indians are quiet and docile; lazily disposed, and scarcely fit for continuous industry\n\u2014their wild habits and roving spirit being\nutterly inimical to such a condition of ex*\nistence.\nWe left San Franciscos with regret, having\nexperienced a more than ordinary amount of\ncourtesy and kindness, both by the Americans\nand our own countrymen; and our captain\nhad made up his mind to put in there on his\nreturn from the south, had he not been pre*\nvented by the (C winds and the waves,\" whose SANDWICH ISLANDS.\n19?\nmandates no sailing vessel dares dispute, and\nto which we were obliged to submit, although\nmuch against our inclinations. As we cleared\nthe harbour and stood out at sea, with the\nintention of steering southwards, we soon\nfound that it would be useless to attempt it,\nas the southeast wind, which blows with such\nterrific violence up the Pacific, had set in\nsomewhat earlier than usual, and compelled us\nto take a nor-westerly course. At length,\ndrifting about for some days\u2014sometimes in a\ncalm, sometimes in a storm\u2014and constantly\n^n the \"look-out\" for our game, which, by-\nthe-bye, seldom appeared, we found ourselves\noff the Sandwich Islands, after sweeping over\nhalf the Pacific; and, as we had lost a mast,\nand otherwise damaged our vessel, we made up\nour minds to put in the first convenient port,\nby way of squaring our timbers\u2014as a landsman\nwould say\u2014or, in other words, to put our ship\nin order, so that she might weather another\nstorm or so before she reached her final desti-\nm\ni8;\nfc\nm\nnation. I\nCHAPTER X.\nSYDNEY.\n\u25a0\nB*\nmm\nI have been sojourning for the last three\nmonths at Sydney, not only to purge myself\nof a little scurvy which 1 picked up in my\nlast whaling expedition, but also with a view\nof studying the strange phases of society here,\nto which, neither in its origin or present conr\ndition can any prototype be found in the\nhistory of the world. It was precisely on this\nday sixty years ago that Governor Philip laid\nthe foundations of this now important Colony SYDNEY,\n19&\nat the head of Sydney Cove; and strange,\nin truth, were the materials which were placed\nat his disposal. Indeed, there was no idea\nthen of colonizing even at some future time\nthis distant acquisition of the British Crown.\nThe loss of our American Colonies had de^\nprived Great Britain of a place of exile to\nwhich she was accustomed to banish those of\nher sons whose crimes had placed them out of\nthe pale of liberty, and civilization ; and New\nSouth Wales was, in this predicament, selected\nsimply as a penal settlement for all the roguish\ndepravity which was supposed to be incorrigible at home.- This, the first stage of the\npresent colony, has been compared with the\nearly state of ancient Home, in which the\ncommunity were nothing more than an association of robbers and outlaws; but, there is\nthis remarkable difference to be observed between them\u2014the robbers and outlaws of\nancient Rome were independent and free,\nwhile those of New South Wales were in a SYDNEY.\n\u2022\n5\nmm\nIII'\nMr- Jw'\n.VBitki '\u25a0'..\nstate of slavery more rigorous in principle than\neven negro slavery in the West, because the\nlabour and submission exacted from them was\nnot merely considered by their masters as a\nright, but as a punishment also, which it was\ntheir duty to render effectual, both for retribution and correction.\nThe great blunder committed in the outset\nwas in endeavouring to construct a community\nof felons alone, which was to be continually\nincreased by fresh accessions of convicts* The\nmachinery of government, even in its most\nsimple and orderly state, cannot be carried on\nwithout hands, and much less in a state of\nsociety almost exclusively composed of unruly\nspirits, who are to be kept under rigid surveillance and coercion, because the local government had no alternative but to select from this\nvery class nearly all its subordinate functionaries. Public works were necessarily filled by\nthose convicts whose better educacion only\nrendered them more dangerous as confidential SYDNEY.\n201\nS-rwWi\nemployes. The frauds and robberies in particular practised upon the government in the\ntimber-yard\u2014that is the depSt for the materials\nand stores belonging to the Office of Public\nWorks\u2014were most enormous and audacious.\nEvery Overseer and Clerk on coming into\noffice at once set about building on his own\naccount with the labour and materials of\ngovernment; and 6uch was the fellow-feeling\namongst the convicts that the practice was very\nrarely split upon, or detected. Some of the\nlargest fortunes now enjoyed in the Colony by\nEmancipists, or their descendants, have no other\norigin but this.\nIt was not until the appointment Sir Thomas\nBrisbane, in 1821, that the tide of free emigration steadily set in for New South Wales, and\nenabled the government to keep the felon population somewhat more at arms-length. In the\ncourse, however, of thirty years, under the\nsystem I have alluded to, that class had\nacquired, as a body, great wealth, and becam\u00a9\ntrfflR?\n\u25a0 I\ninflated with extravagant pretensions. Nor?\nunfortunately, was the assignment system\nwhich was now brought into full vigour, however well calculated in other respects to promote the progress of the Colony, calculated\nto check the growth of this evil. In fact, it\nwas through the facilities which existed of\nabusing the assignment system that transportation, instead of conducting the malefactor to a\nplace of punishment, only opened for him a\nroad to fortune; and that we at this dav witness\nthe anomaly of the opulence and luxury of a\nrising Colony being represented by a class,\nwhom our criminal legislation had intended\nthat they should reap nothing from their\nlabours in it, but privation and disgrace.\nI am not, however, going to moralize, or\nphilosophize, on this subject; and you will,\ntherefore, merely regard the above observations\nas necessary to your fully entering into the\namusing sketches which the most common-place\nobserver cannot fail to draw from those singular \u25a0M\nSYDNEY.\n< m\nadventures which have rendered societv in\nSydney what it now is.\nA few words first3 however, as to the nature\nof the assignment system itself. By it all free\nsettlers could command the unpaid labour of\nas many convicts as they could satisfy the\ngovernment they were able to employ and subsist, on re-imbursing the Government for the\ntrifling expense of the convict's dresses; and\nthe masters of these assigned convicts had the\npower of rewarding them for good conduct by\nrecommending them for a ticket of leave. In\nconsequence of these regulations a very different fate was in store for the ignorant convicts\nfrom the rural districts of the mother-country.,\nand the better educated criminals from the\ncities and towns. The former were, of course,\nselected by settlers in the interior, who, in the\nevent of their proving worthless, returned them\nupon the hands of the government, to be enu-\nployed in chain-gangs upon Public Works, and\nif thej^ proved useful and valuable, never re*\nma 204\nSYDNEY.\nm\nlinquished their services until the term of their\nsentences expired. Not so, however, with\nyour Gentleman-forger, Cracksmen, Swell-\nmob-men, &c, who might escape for a ten or\nfifteen years retirement to Sydney, at the\npublic expense. This class of offenders are\nusually | fallen angels \" from a better sphere\nof society, and, together with the accomplishments acquired in the earlier and more virtuous\nportion of their career, bring with them also\nthe unscrupulous cunning which they have\nimbibed during their rise and progress in crime.\nThis sort of people had very little difficulty in\nprocuring eligible assignments in the Colonial\nMetropolis; and in most cases proved themselves so useful to their masters, that they\ncould command from them a very early recommendation for a ticket of leave, as the condition\nof continuing to devote their talents to their\nservice. In frequent instances they would\ninsist, not only upon a ticket of leave, but\neven upon a sub rosa partnership with their Mm\nSYDNEY.\n205\nassignee masters, and the latter, for their own\ninterest, were compelled to submit, because,\nthough assignees of the mere manual labour of\ntheir convict-servants, they had no power to\nexact the exercise of their professional skill, or\nother acquirements, except upon their own\nterms.\nBut there was something still more in favour\nof this class. Your swell-burglars, fences,\nforgers, swindlers, mail-coach robbers, &c.,\nalways advised some old hands in the Colony\nof their coming, so as to have assignees of the\nright sort to apply for them on their landing.\nThese gentry, moreover, always took care\nbefore conviction at home to secure the spoils\nof their raids on the public so that they could\nenter into partnership with their pseudo\nassignees at once, and, frequently, by the time\nthat they underwent the ceremony of Emancipation, they were prepared to start a carriage-\nand-four, and liveried retinue, a town ho.use\nand a cottage ornie, with extensive pleasure-\ni\n||f|\nm\nm\nm\nflfc\/kj 206\nSYDNEY.\n!\n\u2022Hi\n1m\nwmi\ntmr.\ngrounds delightfully overlooking the finest sea-\nscenery in the world.\nIt often happened, too, with the highest class\nof criminals\u2014lawyers, for instance, who had\nrobbed their clients with so much ingenuity\nthat they were not allowed to practise it any\nlonger at home\u2014that the very enormity of the\noffence was a sure and immediate passport to a\nmuch greater degree of affluence here than\nthey could ever have aspired to in their native\nland. Their fame, as clever practitioners, preceded them, and the incompetent professional\nmen of the Colony were all on the qui vive to\nobtain from Government a preference of their\nassignment, and to outbid each other with the\nconvicts themselves for their services. I met\na man this morning, driving his barouche and\npair along George-street, whose hfctory is a\nfair illustration of the manner in which thes.e\na*\nnd he\ngentry get on. His name is W\t\nwas at one time an attorney of considerable\nrepute and practice in Liverpool. Like many SYDNEY.\n207\nother clever people, however, who are not\ncontent with making respectable fortunes by\npersevering in their own calling, this man would\nfain become rapidly rich by secretly entering\ninto speculations alien to his profession ; and,\nas it mostly happens, he found that he had been\nthrowing away his substance by grasping at\nshadows. To meet his engagements, and with\nthe hope of retrieving himself, he took to abusing\nthe confidence of his clients, and, ultimately,\nforged a will, and was sentenced to be transported\nfor life. The dexterity, however, with which he\nhad prevented the fraud from being discovered,\nfor several years, was a theme of general conversation, and the fame of it had reached the\nColony before his arrival. A young lawyer\nnamed A , who had previously been destitute of business, was fortunate enough to obtain\nthe assignment of this celebrated rogue, and\nfrom that day clients beset his offices in shoals.\nW \u2014 of course was, under the rose, the\nactive, and A only the sleeping^ partner in\nm\n\u25a0 ml\nmmrLM =\n208\nSYDNEY.\n;ffi\nmm&\nU\nthe concern; and the former thus jumped into\na vastly more lucrative business, on the strength\nof his bad character, than he had enjoyed at\nhome on the strength of a good one.\nThere was also another dodge, which was\nthe more remarkable, because it was generally\nconnived at by the authorities; but, as before,\nI had better give you an example, than a\ndescription, of it. A Jew in Petticoat Lane,\nwho had been a notorious fence for years in\nLondon, at last carried his pitcher to the\nwell once too often\u2014in short he was nabbed\nand lagged. From the first he was quite\naware that the scene of his future destiny\nwould be laid in New South Wales; aud he\nset about providing for the change in the most\nbusiness-like way imaginable. He realized all\nhe possessed, and had it placed to the account\nof his wife in one of the Sydney banks; and\nthe day after he received his sentence, sent\nher forward to the colony to be ready for his\narrival. Immediately upon his landing, his 0\nSYDNEY*\n209\nbetter half was ready with a petition to the\nGovernor to have him assigned to her as a\nconvict servant* and, as she had qualified as an\nhouseholder, the assignment was made to her\nas a matter of course. Indeed, a wife, if she\nhad a family of children to back her claim\u2014\nand if she had not, she could easily borrow\nthree or four brats for the occasion\u2014rarely\nfailed in having her husband assigned to her;\nand thus the transported felon not only became\nhis own master, but found himself in a place\nwhere he could employ the fruits of his past\nnefarious courses to more advantage than he\ncould have done, had he been allowed to continue his career at home.\nThe large and rapid fortunes which these\ngentry have made in Sydney would almost appear fabulous, even in the purlieus of Capel\nCourt during an epidemic mania for speculation. The spectacle of a millionaire Emancipist\nis by no means a rara avis; and from five, to\ntwenty, thousand a year may be taken as the\nk\u00ab3\n^11 \\l\nW3k>\n: km:.-\nmm average incomes of the aristocracy of that\nworthy class. Indeed they quite over-top the\nfree and respectable inhabitants; and the exhibition is the more glaring because they endeavour to revenge themselves for the noli me\ntangere of the untainted citizen, by the most\nostentatious display of their wealth. You\nshall count hundreds of carriages-and-four,\nbarouches, landaus, &c. on the race-course at\nFive+dock Farm; and your cicerone in giving\nyou an account of their proprietors will only\nbe giving you a catalogue of the most successr\nful felonry of the colony. Still, in spite of\ntheir display, there is always the meanness of\nthe parvenu amongst these gentry; for they\nwill give anything to acquire a footing in the\nsociety of the free settlers, whom, at the same\ntime, they appear so ambitious of out-shining.\nI know an instance of a wealthy emancipist,\nwho had for a long time been endeavouring in\nvain to induce a respectable draper to lend\nim his countenance, by taking a seat in his 'I\nSYDNEY. 211\nbarouche; despairing at least of being able to\nscrape an acquaintance with him, he turned\nhis attention to a person in the same trade,\nbut in more humble circumstances, over the\nway. He finally succeeded in corrupting his\nvirtue, and in enrolling one free settler on the\nlist of his acquaintances, by the lavish expenditure of himself and his emancipist friends.\nIt has often struck me that these people,\nwho are certainly not endowed with any excess\nof modesty, so rarely return to dazzle their old\nfriends and enemies at home. I only know\none instance of the kind; and if the reception\nhe met with in his native place was generally\nknown, I do not think that it would deter\nothers from following his example. Master\nP was a very large horse-dealer in Lincolnshire, ransacking all the fairs in the\nUnited Kingdom for hunters, carriage-horses,\nand hacks, and, after making them up, disposing of them to great advantage amongst the\ngentry, within fifty miles of his stables. He\n*'i. was a master-hand at his craft, and had, notori*-\nously, accumulated considerable wealth; but\none luckless, (or, as it ultimately turned out,\nlucky) day, he happened to sell a horse at a\nhigh figure to a gentleman who returned it as\nunsound, and, as our hero refused to return\nthe money, a series of expensive law-suits\nwas the result, in which he was finally discom-\nfitted. Enraged at this issue of his shiftiness,\nhe turned everything he possessed into ready\nmoney, and procured a docket of bankruptcy\nto be struck against him. His opponent, however, stuck to him like a bull-dog, and palpably\nproving in the Bankruptcy Court that he must\nhave made away with his property to defraud his creditors, he was prosecuted for the\noffence, convicted of it, and sentenced to\ntransportation for fourteen years.\nAn assignee master, however\u2014a large\nemancipist, stock and landholder\u2014was ready to\napply for him as a convict servant on his arrival,\nwith a large sum which he had saved\n:1pff'!\nIIIH out of the fire\" by \"smashing\" at home,\nhe purchased a share of his sham-master's business. Now, although they are very good\njudges of breeding horses in Australia, they\nknew nothing of training them to their paces,\nand making them up for market; and Sam\nP possessed these peculiar qualifications\nto perfection. Before three years had passed,\nhe and his partner became the largest exporters of chargers to India, where they\nalways commanded enormously high prices,\nand where the breed* of Master P and\nhis partner had already grown high into repute,\nabove all others. At the expiration of eleven\nyears P received a full pardon, and he returned home with a large fortune. Instead,\nhowever, of sneaking into his native place,\nlike a returned convict, he entered it in an\n* The horses on a stock-farm in Australia are\nall branded with some peculiar mark by the owner\nwhen yearlings.\nmvm\nlaSB iM\nopen carriage-and-four to the tune of u See the\nconquering hero comes,\" by a couple of braying bugles; and the same evening gave a\nsumptuous feast to his old neighbours and\nfriends, whose flattering reception of him, I\npresume, must be imputed to their.attributing\nhis return with health and wealth to the interposition of Providence in favour of persecuted\ninnocence 1 When I last heard of him he was\nenjoying all the pleasures and sports of a\ncountry gentleman's life, within a few miles of\nthe stables which, before he left England, he\ndid not disdain to clean out himself.\nBut, if the strange fortunes of our male\nconvicts may be called the romance of crime,\nthat term is still more applicable to those of\nthe female convicts. They remained after\narriving at Sydney, eight or ten days on board\nbefore they landed, during which a portion of\nthem found assignee-masters, and the remainder were then sent to what is called the Factory\nat Paramatta. Such, also, of those who were SYDNEY.\n215\nassigned, and did not conduct themselves to\nthe satisfaction of their masters, were returned\non the hands of the Government, and sent to\nthe Factory, where they are provided with an\nabundance of food, without being subject to\nany labour or discipline, and enjoyed, also, in a\nrange of extensive gardens, all the pleasures of\ngregarious intercourse. Indeed, the female\nconvicts soon found out that the Factory was\nthe very best market for their charms imaginable.\nThe settlers in the interior are always anxious\nfor the male convict servants marrying; and\nthe latter, when they- become free, are equally\nbent upon matrimony, because, apart from\nother considerations, a wife and children are of\nconsiderable value in the Colony, as indeed\nthey are in ail thinly-peopled, grazing, countries. The wife can always command good\nwages in the same service as her husband;\nwhere a boy of ten years of age is as useful in\nthe management of a flock, and of twelve years\nin the management of stock, as many a grown-\nw<> 216\nSYDNEY.\nmm*\n.\"':.\nrw1'!\nml mi 11\nilffipl' 11\nup adult. When one of these Benedicts wag\non the look out for a spouse, and could not, as\nhe very rarely could, find a mate to pair with\nnear home, he applied to the Factory.* The\n* A painful circumstance, in relation to Paramatta, occurred some years ago, and, as it points a\nmoral, by showing that the only romance is in real life,\nwe shall repeat it here. A yonng man who had been\nsome years in Australia, came up from the Bush as\nusual to dispose of his produce, and take unto himself\na wife ; when he arrived in Sydney, he was advised by\nhis friends to choose his \" fair one I from Paramatta,\nas a fresh importation had recently arrived from England, and women were then scarce in Sydney. Accordingly,!^ took his way to the Factory, speculating\nin his mind what kind of being he would be able to\nselect; when, to his utter astonishment, his own\nsister was in the file of the women he had to choose\nfrom, and the effect upon his mind was so stunning\nthat fatal consequences nearly ensued. At length\nthe young man recovered ; obtained the freedom of\nhis sister by means of a ticket of leave ; and both\nare represented to have lived happily together,\nand to have accumulated an easy competence.\nIt is needless to observe that his sister was a convict. unmarried frail ones were drawn up in a line\nfor inspection; and after examining their\npoints with as much curiosity as if he was about\nto bargain for a brood-mare, he beckoned with\nMs finger for the one to step forward from the\nrank, who happened to strike his fancy the\nbest. After a short conference in private, the\ntreaty of marriage was generally agreed upon ;\nand, if not, the amorous adventurer had only\nto try his luck again and again, until he succeeded in bringing one of the fair Calistas to\nterms.\nIndeed, from the moment that the female\nconvicts acquired any knowledge of the convict customs of the Colony, marriage was\nthe. subject which pre-occupied all their\nthoughts.\nAs soon as the transport-ship arrived at\nSydney, they devoted the few days of their\nQuarantine in preparing to make their descent,\nupon the natives, with the greatest possible iirl':\neffect. Most of them carried out some little\nfinery with them ; but your lady-sinners made\ntheir appearance in all the gorgeousness, in\nwhich they had been accustomed to tread the\npave* of Regent Street, or the saloon of old\nPrury\u00bb\nThus decked out, they disembarked to\npresent themselves before their future\nmasters; and were frequently besieged hy\ncaptivated suitors even before they arrived at\ntheir new habitations. But the assignee-\nmaster had the power of 6i forbidding the\nbanns,\" though his obstinacy rarely continued\nlong, for my w lady,\" by playing the part of a\nprincess instead of a servant, could soon extort\nfrom him her conge for the Factory, where the\nsurliness of a master would no longer be a bar\nto her matrimonial projects.\nBad, however, as all this was, it was hit\nfinitely better than that the Colony should be\nleft, as it since has been, almost entirely with? out a supply of female immigration into the\ninterior. My friend Onslow, however, has\nalready enlightened you on this subject, better\nthan I can do, and I will, therefore, conclude\nwith the assurance of my respectful esteem. CHAPTER XI.\nSYDNEY.\n\u25a0am:\nI have to thank you for the flattering compliment that not only you (from whose friendship I might expect some little partiality), but\nthe circle also of your private friends, to whom\nI am a stranger, take great interest in my\ncommunications from this part of the world.\nI will not, however, affect to be surprised that,\nhowever homely the style of them, the\nmatter should possess some charms for you\ndenizens of the old world; because I can easily SYDNEY.\n221\nperceive that the adventures and scenes, and\nstrange conditions of society into which I have\nbeen led by my rambling disposition, and\nwhich have left such vivid impressions upon\nme as an observer of, or actor in, them must,\neven in description, however feeble, have the\ncharm of novelty for those who are languishing\nfor want of excitement, under the jog-trot\nsameness of civilized and conventional life in\nthe West. Nor will I deny that I derive much\npleasure from corresponding with you on these\nsubjects, because it is only when I sit down\nto recal my experience, and embody it in\nlitteris scriptls, that I begin to reflect and\nphilosophise upon it, and to feel that I have\nnot travelled from Dan to Beersheba, and\nfound all barren of useful and entertaining\nknowledge. Your last, however, contained a\nrequest with which I shall not be so foolish as\nto attempt to comply. You wish me to give\nyou some ideas of \"Life in the Bush;\"\nbut, personally, I know little of it, except 222\nSYDNEY*-\nllii\nHm\nm\nOff*\na ramble or two to the Cow-Pastures,\nwhich I have already described, and which,\nafter all, is but the mere fringe of life, and\ncharacter, and incident, in the \"Bush.\" Nor\nare any accounts of it to be gathered in the\nsettled districts, (beyond which my erratic star\nhas never led me to penetrate to any extent)\nat all to be relied upon. Indeed the shopkeeper, or broker, of Sydney knows no more\nof & Life in the Bush,\" ex officio, than the\nslop-seller of Portsmouth does, by virtue of\ncheating Jack when on shore, know of life\nafloat. It is true that the Bushman comes\ndown once a year to Sydney to dispose of the\nproducts of the Bush, and to take back provisions and other necessaries in return; but\nthe Bushman in the colonial metropolis is no\nmore like what he is while exerting his un-\nceasing watchfulness and activity in the\nsolitude of the interior, than the seaman, who\ncomes to London with his pocket full of money*\nto unbend himself, after the privations and SYDNEY.\n223\nrestraints of ten or twenty months' voyage, is\nlike the same man buffeting, with an eye\nalways to the weather, the winds and waves\nin the solitude of the ocean. You must recollect, too, that there were no bagmen who\ntravel into the Bush for orders, as they do\ninto the rural districts in England, and hence\nthe most valuable class of anecdote-mongers\nare wanting to give us even sketchy outlines of\nthe life of a Bushman; and as for your mere\nbook-keeping travellers they know as little of\nit as a Frenchman would learn of the graziers\nof Lincolnshire from a Smithfield salesman,\nwho had never been further north than Bar-net\nin his life. <\nFortunately, however, though I can tell you\nlittle or nothing on this subject of my own\nknowledge, I am enabled to furnish you with\nsome interesting particulars at second hand.\nAbout a month ago I received a long letter\nfrom an old friend of mine in the Bush, in\nanswer to one from me which anticipated the 224\nSYDNEY.\nill\nUJ *? \u25a0 w I;\nvery request contained in yours. I had hear$\nby accident at Sydney that my old hospital\nchum, Charles Onslow, had come out about\n.six years ago, and had proceeded at once into\n;the interior to commence the life of a Bushman. I at once wrote to him to inform him\nthat I also was in this part of the world, and\nfhaviDg related my own ups and downs since\nwe had last parted in London, desired that he\nwould in like manner gratify my friendly\npuriosity as to his own. I enclose his answer,\nwhich will sufficiently speak for itself; but it\n\/will perhaps be better to preface it by informing you out of what materials this successful\nand happy Bushman has been made,\nCharles Onslow's father was a surgeon, en-\nJoying a first-rate practice in a provincial town*\nand educated him (he being an only child) to\nJus own profession, with. a view of his succeeding at a proper age to the business. He\nreceived a tolerably good education\u2014though\nhe was much fonder of stealing a mount upon one of his father's spare horses than making\na hobby of poor Pegasus\u2014and in due time\nhe was sent up to \" walk\" one of the hospitals\nin London. It was there that I first met him\nas a fellow student; and, although our temperaments were strongly contrasted, it was\nperhaps to that very reason that we became\nsuch intimate friends. I was always observing\neverything, but in a quiet way, whereas,\nOnslow, though equally ardent to acquire a\nknowledge of the world, was never happy unless the pursuit of it was productive of some\nstrong and stimulating excitement. You may\nsuppose, therefore, that there was a good deal\nof that reckless dare-devil about him which\ndoes not qualify a young man, for gaining\nfavour in that ordinary level of society, where\nlie proprieties are considered to be almost as\nessential as the virtues. Whether under ordinary circumstances, his tendency to become a\nscapegrace might not have been checked as\nmaturer age taught him the necessity of not II\n!f I \u00bb\noffending the sober prejudices of the world in\nwhich he was about to move, I cannot say;.\nand his sudden succession, just after he had\nattained the age of twenty-one, to a fortune of\nseven thousand pounds by the death of his-\nfather, cut off every chance of this problem\nbeing solved. What course of life he led for\nsome time after this event, you will be able\nto infer pretty well from his letter, of which\nthe following is a transcript\u2014\nrt My dear , ^\nsi I have not experienced\nso much surprise and delight since I have resided here, divisus toto orbe as it were, in the\nBush as I did on the receipt of your letter.\nNot that I have any hankering for the blase\nold world which I have quitted; but one\ncannot refrain from indulging in speculations\nas to the fate of one's former friends and\ncompanions; and curiosity is gratified by any SYDNEY.\ninformation which enables one to retrace with\nthe mind's eye the scenes of our earlier\ncareer, and note the changes which time has\nwrought in the characters and fortunes of\nthose who once played a part in them. Need\nI, therefore, repeat that to hear from you, not\nonly the earliest, but I may say the only,\nfriend (of course, I except my father) with\nwhom 1 ever truly sympathized in my younger\ndays, afforded me inexpressible gratification.\n\" Nor will you wonder, my dear , you\nwho know how pleasurable any sort of excite-*\nment is to me\u2014that this gratification was\ngreatly heightened by my astonishment on\nfinding that you also should have made a weary\npilgrimage to the Antipodes, in search of adventures to satisfy an uneasy spirit, as well as\nmyself. As for me, my impetuosity and my\nimpatience of anything that is stale and con*\nventional, was certain to hurry me, sooner or\nlater, into taking a tangential flight from the\ncentre of civilization into distant and unknown SYDNEY.\nregions, in search of something natural and\nnew. But for your more quiet temperament,\ndashed as it is with a sort of semi-professional\npassion for dissecting human nature, I should\nhave thought that the study of the excrescences\nwhich the luxuries and privations of civilization have engendered in the body social of the\nworld in which you were born, would have\nbeen sufficient. I should have as soon expected\nto hear of a curious oyster leaving his ' native'\nbed at Burnham to examine into the condition\nof his fellow-creatures in the pearl fisheries of\nCeylon, as to hear of your whaling in the\nPacific, or philosophizing and trading at\nSydney.\n. uBut a truce to these prosy reflections.\nYou wish to know what I have been doing:\nsince we parted; and, like a true Bushman, I\nwill dash in medias res at once.\n\" You are aware that just after having\nattained my majority, and my examination at\nthe \\ College,' my father died, leaving me about SYDNEY.\nseven thousand pounds, and the reversion of\nhis practice. However, it would have been as\nlittle desirable as it would have been agreeable\nfor me to start alone in my profession at that\nearly age; and I, therefore, contracted with a\nmedical man of name and standing to take a\nshare in the business, upon the condition that\nhe should manage the whole of it himself for\nthree years, while I was acquiring a little more\nknowledge and manliness in London. Small,\nhowever, was the portion of my time which I\ndevoted thenceforward to Professors and Pharmacopoeias. Possessed of so considerable a\nsum of ready money, and with the best share\nof a lucrative practice to fall back upon, if that\nfund should be exhausted, I abandoned myself\nto the indulgence of my craving for excitement\nwithout stint. My first step was to make\nmyself at home at those places of convivial\nresort\u2014Coal-hole, Cyder-cellars, &c\u2014^where\nthe sons of Apollo andThespis enjoy their midnight revels, after having gone through the laborious harmony and forced humour of the*\nsta^e. But I was soon tired of this sort of\nThe sameness of it, night after night,\nin a short time only produced that sort of\nweariness which the musician in an orchestra\nmay be supposed to feel, who is doomed to sit\nthrough the performance of the same opera for\nhalf a season without change. There was\nalways the same set, and the same * feast of\nreason and flow of soul,' until the affair at last\nbecame as intolerable as it would be to sit\ndown to the same dish with the same set of\nfaces before you for twelve months together.\nI therefore looked out for something else, and\nchance threw me into the t ring,' and here, for\na time, I certainly found a source of more\nanimating excitement. To a medical student\nthe development of physical power in the\nheroes of the 'ring' is always an interesting\nstudy; and besides this branch of t comparative\nanatomy,' the science of Fistiana presents to\nthe novice seducing opportunities for making SYDNEY.\n23\nhimself practically acquainted with the 'Doctrine of Chances.' In fact, while the amusement to be found at the 'Sporting Houses' of\nthe East and West continued to be racy from\nits novelty, and heightened by the additional\nexcitement of betting, it was all very well.\nBut the manners of the P.K.., which at first\nattracted from their unsophisticated rudeness,\nsoon disgusted by their revolting coarseness;\nand even the passion for gambling in such an\narena vanished as soon as I discovered that in\nevery match to which I was a party, and in\nevery bet into which I was drawn, I was uniformly planted upon as a victim and a dupe by\na set of blackguard sharpers who, while flat-^\ntering and spunging upon me, were only\nchuckling in their sleeves at the fat flat who\nhad fallen into their clutches.\nH With the change of scene, however, no\nchange took place in the bent of my inclinations^ Even the mortification of having been\ngulled did not efface the pleasing infatuation of 23%\nSYDNEY.\nhaving something worth one's anxiety de-\npendent upon the hazard of events; and I only\nsought to find what had become the principal\ncharm of my existence in a somewhat more\nrefined sphere. In short, J next sought to\ndissipate the irksomeness of mental inaction\nby \" roughing\" it among the well-dressed\n(and iu many instances, well-bred) black legs\nof the turf, and the fashionable roues of the\nsecond-rate Hells in Bury Street, and the\nQuadrant. But even here the fascination gave\nway before the satiety of sameness; and so it\nwas in every subsequent stage of \" Life of\nLondon;\" until at last, thoroughly fatigued\nwith the the vain pursuit after a stimulus\ncapable of exhausting the overflow of my\nanimal spirits, I sat down coolly to consider.\nwhether I had not adopted a mistaken course\nfor that purpose, from the first.\"\n\"I shall never be able, I thought to myself,>\nto keep down these ever-teeming humours of\nmy temperament by such drastics as I have SYDNEY.\nhitherto been taking to expurgate them. My\ndiseased state of mind requires a medicinal\nregimen, the basis of which must be more\npowerful ingredients than any I have hitherto\nprescribed for myself\u2014and those ingredients\nare toil, difficulties, and dangers. As soon as\nthis new light broke upon me, I, at first,\nturned my thoughts to the army; but then, in\nthese piping times of peace, I should be much\nmore likely to find my lot cast in the enervating lethargy of a Colonial barrack, than\namidst the exciting apprehensions\" and aspirations of the march, the retreat, and the battlefield^ Then foreign travel, with its surprising\ndiscoveries and ever-present perils invited me ;\nbut my forture was no longer adequate for\nsuch a life of adventure, as I had barely fifteen\nhundred pounds of my original patrimony left.\nI had been turning these and other schemes\nover in my mind without arriving at any satisfactory result for more than a fortnight, when\nI accidentally alighted upon an amusing article\nmm Pflr\n234\nSYDNEY.\n'\na >',m, I\n***'\u00ab! \u2022(\u25a0:\nin one of the Magazines, descriptive of the\nhardships and enjoyments of life in the Bush\nof Australia. No fiction of romance ever interested me so much as the startling realities\nwhich were there portrayed. Eureka I I exclaimed, with more rapture than ever astronomer did over the discovery of a long-\nsought star; and my mind was instantly, and\nunchangeably, made up to pursue my destiny\nin the virgin wildernesses of the southern\nhemisphere. I have said that I had still fifteen\nhundred pounds left; I disposed of my interest\nin my late father's business to my partner for\nanother twelve hundred pounds; and in less\nthan ten months I found myself at Sydney,\nwell equipped for a residence in the Bush, and\nwith an account of \u00a32,500 at the Bank of\nAustralia.\nIf Being a single man, and in rather independent circumstances, I resolved, before\nfinally settling down, to acquire some experience by a tour of observation in the Bush for SYDNEY.\na twelve-month. Mounted upon a strong and\ngood-paced horse, and with no other baggage\nthan my arms, which consisted of a musket, a\nbrace of pistols, and an axe, and a knapsack\nfurnished with a blanket, a change of linen,\nand a supplementary pair of stout, moleskin\ntrousers, behold me crossing the frontier of the\nnarrow belt of sea-board which comprises the\nsettled district of New South Wales. The\nfew necessaries I required, such as tea, tobacco, &c, were stowed away in the capacious\npockets of my stout, fustian shooting-jacket.\n\" The appearance of the country before me\nwas, at first, anything but promising ; tracts of\nstunted scrub and stony waste succeeding each\nother, alternately, for a considerable distance.\nThis cheerless phenomenon, however, did not,\nas might have been expected, depress me; on\nthe contrary, I never experienced more\nelasticity of spirit in my life. Of course, I\nattributed this to the stimulus of the adventures in store for me; but I afterwards learned 236\nSYDNEY,\n91 \u25a0',(\u25a0\nm II\n\u25a0Eft:\niir\nto account for it in a much more natural way;\nOnce beyond the taint of the denser haunts of\nmen, the atmosphere of Australia is the most\nexhilarating in the world; the genial warmth\nof it not being counteracted, as the similar\ntemperature of India and America, by steaming exhalations from the soil. It is not, however, altogether exempt from the sudden convulsions common to all climes, in which the\nair is unequally rarified, as I had an opportunity of testing before I had travelled twenty\nmiles into the interior. A tornado suddenly\ngave evidence of its approaching from the\nEast, by the huge spiral column of dust and\nleaves, and even branches of trees which\nseemed to sport madly on the wings of the\nwhirl-wind; in less than two minutes it was\nupon me, and had not my steed understood the\nnature of the crisis better than I did, I should\ncertainly have been unhorsed in the very outset of my first trip in the Bush. The sagacious animal turned his head to leeward, and planting his fore-feet into the ground at an\nangle, and drawing in his hind quarters at a\nparallel inclination, opposed the resistance of\nhis whole weight to the fury of the storm,\nwhile, by throwing myself forward on his;\nmane, I afforded it as little surface as possible\nto act upon. In ten minutes it had passed\nas far to the West as I had first observed it in\nthe East; and, except that I was smothered\nwith dust, I suffered no inconvenience from\nthe rencontre.\n\" The appearance of the country at last began\nto improve. Belts of woodland and pasture\nsucceeded to those of scrub and flint; and huts\nwhich appeared in the distance like dark spots\nscattered over the horizon indicated that at\nthis point man had again re-commenced bis\nlabours upon the soil. As the sun was now\nsetting, I resolved to stop for the night at the\nfirst station in my path, well knowing that,\nbelong to whom it might, I should be hospitably entertained.\nm\njwi \u25a0 _. imv atfl&li l,;\nift\nhi i:\nI8jr||\nI!\niJi,;;-.\nMl\n\u00ab8!i,Ip\niilll\n\"On approaching the hut, I was much\nstruck by its external appearance; for, contrary to what I had been led to expect, it\nseemed as if the owner had been attempting\nto give to it something of the air of a sporting-\nbox on the northern Moors of our native land.\nThe hut-keeper, who welcomed our arrival,\nafter informing me that his master had been\nfor some time down at Sydney, conducted me\ninto the hut, the parlour of which, I was surprised to observe, was, though excessively\ndirty, ornamented with a profusion of guns,\nsaddlery, and other appurtenances, which indicated far greater taste for the rural diversion\nof old England than for the privations and\ntoils of the Bush. The Major Domo set before\nme a dish of mutton chops, some damper\u2014that\nis, cakes similar to the short cakes of Lincolnshire, only that they are baked in the hot\nembers instead of upon a tile\u2014and a large\npanikin of tea, which I was compelled to\nsweeten from the stock of sugar I had with me. But though this was my first taste of\nBush fare, I enjoyed it heartily; and not finding my deputy host a very conversible companion, I retired early to rest.\n\" I learned afterwards that the owner of this\n\"run\" was a young man of good family, who\nbad come out with about three thousand\npounds, and had purchased it ready fenced\nand built upon to his hands. His first object\nwas to reconcile his dwelling with the tastes\nand habits which he had acquired at home;\nand of which, though they had partially ruined\nhim there, he had not the sense or pluck to\ndivest himself in the very different country of\nhis adoption. He had, as might be expected,\nbeen pretty well fleeced in the stocking of his\nland; and as his continual hankering after the\nbilliard rooms and other gaieties of Sydney,\nled him to abandon the management of his\nflocks to a superfluous number of hired servants, everything was going to the devil as\nfast as possible. In less than a year after my\nKB? 240\nSYDNEY.\njfti\n-\n| 111\nvisit, the whole concern was sold under execution ; and the exquisite colonist returned a\nbeggar to his friends in England, who had\nfondly afforded him this chance of retrieving a\ndissipated fortune, to abuse the colony, its inhabitants, and everything connected with it.\n\" 1 continued my journey the next morning,\nthe woodlands, and belts of pasture becoming\ngradually broader and more luxuriant, and the\nintervals of arid and stony land less frequent.\nAbout noon I entered a forest which I had to\ntraverse for about twelve miles; and here, for\nthe first time, burst upon me all the glories and\nsublimities of the solitude of the Bush. Solitude indeed it could hardly be called, for never\nhad I seen animated nature so joyous and beautiful before. From every branch the mocking\nparrot, or coquettish cockatoo, were carrying\non their lively mimicry or flirtation ; and, as I\nrode along, I was amused, without ceasing, by\nthe tricks and evolutions which I could almost\nfancy these feathered jesters and tumblers were\n: m SYDNEY.\ngoing through to testify the welcomeness of\nmy visit amongst them. The forest scenery,\ntoo, was different from any I had ever beheld\nbefore. Though the trees stood as densely as\nin the forests of Europe, they did not interpose\nan umbrageous and gloomy canopy between\nthe light of Heaven and the traveller. The\nleaves presenting their edges, instead of their\nsurfaces, to the sun, the sward beneath appeared\nlike a carpet of golden ground intersected\ncapriciously by dark zigzag lines which, ever\nvarying with the trembling foliage from moment\nto moment, presented, like the kaleidoscope, a\n0\nsuccession of pleasing designs to the eye.\nIndeed, it was not until I emerged again into\nthe silent and monotonous pasture, beyond, that\nthe sense of being alone returned upon me.\n| Once more, at sunset, I pulled up at a hut,\nand received that invariable greeting which is\ntendered to every stranger in the Bush. The\nhost, on this occasion, was a stout man, past\nthe middle age, and whom, from his build, you\nM\nW< 14\nSYDNEY..\nwould at once pronounce as an emigrant farmer\nfrom the mother country. Finding that I was\na i new chum '\u2014that is, a new arrival in the\nColony\u2014he regretted that he shotfld not be\nible to ? sleep ' me very comfortably, but hoped\nthat I should be able to plank it, nevertheless,\namong the good company with which his hut\nwas then honoured. On entering into the\nsalle a manger, he introduced me to nine or ten\nother visitors who had all casually dropped in,\nand who were then busily engaged in making\nscarce the eternal mutton chops, damper, and\npannikins of tea. I was soon one of them;\nand, in spite of the homeliness of our beverage,\nand the vulgarity of our short and blackened\npipes, it was one of the most agreeable evenings\nI ever spent. To be sure, we had no political\ndiscussion, no theatrical criticism, no fashionable scandal, nor even so much as the news of\nthe day wherewith to amuse ourselves; but we\nbad something, to me, infinitely more piquant\n\u2014 stories of Bush-ranger's actrocities, of fights SYDNEY.\n243\nat alarming odds with the Aborigines, of the\nravages and hunting down of the native wild\ndogs, of the mysterious loss and miraculous\nrecovery of whole flocks and herds, and of the\nperils and disasters of long journeys, with their\nheavy drays, between the far Bush and Sydney,\nthrough almost impassable forests, across precipitous ravines, and swollen rivers, and over\nswamps and morasses, which threatened to\nengulph not only wain and oxen, but the horse\nand his rider. For me, the narratives possessed\na more romantic interest than I can describe,\nand confirmed my sanguine anticipations that\nhere at least I should find adventures sufficiently\nrapid and stirring to work off the hot blood\nwhich ' my mother gave me ' to the utter unfitting of me for the dull and unvaried recreations of civilized life.\n% As our host could only supply one, or at\nthe most, two of us with a bed by giving up\nhis own, that courtesy was by universal consent\nawarded to me; but I refused to avail myself\nm 2\nmm\n.\/Ml\n1\ntil\n\u2022m'&\\ If,'- II \"\nSpIp\ni\u00bb 'ft.\n' '\"ft ?\nSYDNEY.\nof it; I was eager to commence my life in the\nBush in earnest, and therefore persisted in\nbivouacing for the night with the rest of the\nparty in the wool-shed. Wrapt in my blanket,\nand stuffing my shooting-jacket into the knapsack to make a pillow, I threw myself upon\nthe floor, and slept a more refreshing sleep\nthan I had ever enjoyed on a bed of down.\n\" I arose early the next morning, and had\ntime to look about me before breakfast, as I\nwas anxious to do, in order to contrast the\nmanagement of a born and bred farmer with\nthat of the \" gentleman\" Bushman at whose\nstation I had last sojourned. My inspection\ngreatly disappointed me, for I found as much\ninactivity, disorder and slovenliness at this\nstation, as at the other. The bullocks had\nstrayed during the night, and the driver\nand his watchman stood gaping at each other,\nas if waiting for some inspiration as to the\ndirection in which, like Saul the son of Kish,\nthey ought to seek them; and the good man SYDNEY,\n246\nhimself seemed to think that he was fully\nmeeting the urgency of the case by lustily\nswearing that his two trustworthy servants\nspent the whole of their time in finding the\ncattle one day, and losing them the next.\n(j Not so his guests. No sooner were they\nmade acquainted with his loss, than they were\nall in their saddles, myself included, and prepared to scour the country round for the recovery of the wanderers. We radiated off in\npairs to the different points of the compass,\neach pair being attended by a rough, Scotch\ncolly, and a bob-tailed, Smithfield lurcher, and\narmed with those formidable stock-whips,\nwhich the wildest bullock, who has once had a\ntaste of her lash, never hears without trembling.\nOff we went at a spanking gallop, taking no\nheed of up-hill or down-hill, however steep,\nand clearing the fallen timber and creeks in\nour way, at a fly. When we had in this way\ndeparted about a couple of miles from the\n\u2022'.\u00ab; \u25a0\u25a0'\u2022..\nmm SYDNEY.\nii\n.-'':'\u25a0-\n'\ncentre of our movements (the hut), at an\nunderstood signal we severally turned short\nto the right and followed each other rapidly\nin a circle around it; and the experienced Bushmen, having ascertained that the cattle had not\npassed this cordon, dispersed themselves over\nthe area within it, to discover in what amphi-\ntheatrical valley they were browsing, or to\nwhat gulley they had resorted for water.\nPresently the clang of whips, the short, sharp\nbarking of dogs, above which rose the Bushman's cry of c Tail 'em! Tail 'em, boys!5\nwhich was heard to our right; and, the\nother parties all making in that direction,\nwe were soon in a body driving the cattle\nfuriously before us at a pace, which no one\ncan conceive who has not witnessed the extraordinary speed of the Australian kine.\nNever did I enjoy a half-hour's burst behind\nthe most clipping pack of fox-hounds so much,\nor relish after it a deviled bone and a draught SYDNEY.\nOctober, more than I did the mutton\nchop and pannikin of tea, which awaited us\nafter our exploit.\n\" The road of one of my new friends not\nlying very wide from the direction of. my Own,\nhe kindly offered, in order to show me the\nnearest route, to see me ten or twelve miles\non my way g and, as we rode at our leisure,\nI learned from him some particulars respecting\nour late host, which explained to me the causes\nwhy the management of his i Bun9 was, obviously even to me, so very indifferent. He\nhad occupied rather a large sheep-farm in\nWiltshire, and finding that his returns did not\nenable him, with the utmost economy, to face\nthe landlord and the tax-gatherer, without\ntrenching upon his capital, he resolved to\nemigrate to a land where those unpleasant\nvisitors are unknown, jj He came here,' said\nmy informant, Iand took to the \\ Bun' he\nnow holds; but, though he had been living\namong sheep all his life-time in England, he jit\nmm:\n248\nSYDNEY\nmf\nan\nWm\nm\n\\V\\\n11 i\nwas as little calculated for the management of\na sheep-farm in the Bush, as if he had not\nlearned the difference between a ewe and a\ntup. Sheep-farming in England is an occupation over which the grazier and his shepherd\nmay almost go to sleep, except in the lambing-\nseason ; but here a man need have a hundred\neyes, and a hundred hands to conduct it successfully. Indeed, here it is a different business\naltogether, when we have those two curses to\ncontend with, the scab and the wild dog, to\nsay nothing of the wide extent to which our\nflocks are apt to ramble if not diligently attended to ; and, therefore, the man who comes\nout here to make his fortune by breeding sheep\nwith the conceit that he knows all about their\nnature and habits, is sure to make a failure of\nit, because he will not set about unlearning\nhis old lessons, and learning the little which is\npeculiarly required for his calling in this\ncountry. Our friend, too, made another serious blunder in bringing out with him his very knowing old shepherd to superintend his flocks,\nand one of his waggoners to officiate as his\nprincipal bullock-driver. A Manchester weaver,\nor a Birmingham button maker, or a Sheffield\ngrinder, make much better shepherds here,\nthan any born and bred shepherds from England, Scotland, or Wales; because the former\nhave no prejudices to get rid of, while you\nhave to drive (if you can) a host of old notions out of the heads of the latter, before you\ncan drive into them the slightest conception of\nwhat they are required to do, and to contend\nwith, in the Bush. Besides, your English\nfarmers, and farm-servants, have been used to\nso many conveniences that they have no idea\nof the shifts that must be, and, where there is\na resolute will not to be beat, can be made in\nthe Bush ; and hence they leave a hundred\nthings undone, which are all material to success, because they have been accustomed not\nto do them at home. What is wanted here is,\nm 5 m If\nif\n'mis- \u2022\u25a0:\nffiJe\nan\nrlffm^\n\u00a7*l(v\n\u25a0 W\nIT Si ' '\nSYDNEY.\nnot an European education in agriculture, but\nan active mind which can apply itself to anything, and which will fish out for itself, not\nonly what, under the peculiar circumstances, is\nto be done, but how it can be done; and, it is\nfrom the want of this quality in our friend\nand his servants that the management of his\n6 run' is so slovenly and unsatisfactory as it is.\n\"I was comforting myself with the reflection that I was at least unencumbered with any\nprevious knowledge of the business to which I\nwas about to devote myself, when my fellow\ntraveller directed my attention to several dark\nand motionless objects which appeared on our\nfield of view about a furlong out of the line\nwhich we were traversing. In reply to his\nquestion, what I conceived they might be, I\nsaid that I took them for the burnt stumps of\ntrees; upon which he gave a loud crack with\nhis stock-whip, and these seemingly inert\nmasses of matter at once started into life and SYDNEY.\n251\nscampered away from us in an oblique direction, and with a speed, which would have done\ncredit to the swiftest of your sporting pedestrians*\n8 My companion informed me that this sort\nof pose plastique was a trick, to which the\nAborigines usually resorted when they wished\nto avoid observation; and that, therefore, he\napprehended that the blackies, who had just\ngiven us leg-bail, had some mischief in hand.\nNor was it long before these apprehensions\nwere verified:\u2014we had not proceeded more\nthan a mile when we observed a dense cloud\nof smoke, issuing, as it were, from the bowels\nof the earth, at some distance from us to the\nnorth west; and then a lambent and lurid\nflame burst forth, which ran with terrific\nrapidity in a line parallel to that of the route\nwe were pursuing; and then, having deployed,\nas it were, to the full extent of its forces, began\nto advance upon us at the rate of the quick\ninarch of an attacking enemy.\nM\nm\n\u2022Si? 252\nSYDNEY.\nn \u00a7\n|i|.\n\"t Those viUanous blackies,9 said my com*\npanion, c have set fire to the dry herbage\u2014let\nus haste on to the nearest station, and give the\nalarm, or the fire will be down upon them, and\nconsume them, before they can entrench themselves against it.'\n(8 And driving his spurs deep into the flanks\nof his horse, he was off at a furious gallop, as if\non a business of life or death. Of course I\nfollowed in his wake, and in about twenty\nminutes we arrived at the station where he was\nso anxious to give the alarm. From this point\nthe advance of the fire was just then concealed\nby a high ridge of upland; but no sooner were\nthe inmates apprized of the coming danger than\n&11 hands were busily employed in entrenching\ntheir little fortress against it\u2014an operation\nwhich consisted in clearing a considerable\ncircular space around it, by setting fire to the\ngrass-, and when it had been sufficiently burnt\ndown to afford no pabulum to the hostile\nflames which were coming down upon them?\nm beating it out with branches of trees, or anything else that was at hand for the purpose.\nScarcely had we thus fortified ourselves within\na little desert, which tabooed us, as it were,\nfrom the incursions of the approaching conflagration, than it made its appearance on the\ncrown of the upland ridge to which I have\nalluded, swept down the declivity like a stream\nof liquid flame, and then advanced steadily\nupon us, until at last we found ourselves surrounded, as it were, by a circular wall of fire.\nThe heat was intense, but of short duration,\nfor the destroying angel did not slacken in his\npace, but passed on steadily to the East, and\nwas followed by a refreshing breeze, to fill up\nthe vacuum which its scorching breath had\ncreated. Little or no damage had been done ;\nhaving taken lunch with the proprietor of the\nstation, my companion summoned me to prepare for our departure with as much nonchalance\nas if nothing extraordinary had happened.\n'You will find some difficulty,' observed\nm J-54\nSYDNEY.\nmP'\nmm\nmm\n\u25a0ill\n\\mtl\nW\\\nis'i\nllr\n1111\nMr. Smith (for such was the name of my\nguide) c in continuing your route to the point\nyou intended, because the blaze which these\nrascals have kicked up will have obliterated all\ntraces of the track we shall pursue. 1 do not,\ntherefore, think that you could do better than\ncome with me, and pass a few days at my\nstation, if time is no great object to you, as you\nwill there meet with all the principal settlers\nfor forty miles round, who are about to assist\nme in conducting the sports, and doing the\nhonours, of my annual Bushman's feast.'\n\" I gladly complied with this invitation, and\nin a few hours we arrived, and Were welcomed\nby a numerous retinue of servants at his hut.\n!Mi;\n\u25a0 !$&\nliil\niipf\nElct'te\n**f\nwith a hatchet, but with nothing more. For\nthe first three days they struggled onwards\nwithout either food or drink; and on the\nfourth, famine and despair could be read by\neach in the glaring eyes of his companions.\nSimultaneously a horrid thought struck them\nall: namely, that one must fall to satisfy the\nfurious cravings of the survivors; and then,\nCD y *?\nalso, simultaneously, each was seized with the\nhorrid fear that he was marked out as the\nvictim by the other two. All day long they\nwalked abreast, neither of them daring to\nleave his companions in his rear, and each\nmanoeuvering, by side-way movements, so as\nnot to be the centre of the line, lest he should\nbe cut off from flight, both to the left and\nright. Night came, but they dared not sleep ;\nand in the morning they moved on in silent\nbut terrible agitation as before. At last one\nof them made a sudden leap, and with the\nblow of his hatchet brought down the man\nupon his left. 11 cannot go through the details of the\nworse than Cannibal-feast which succeeded.\nThe survivors fed their full, and resumed their\njourney; but, though their appetites were for\nawhile appeased, they made no approach to\ncompanionship. They felt that they were only\ntwo\\ and that, when the dire necessity recurred, there was no alternative for them but\nto murder, or be murdered, to satisfy it.\nNeither of them dared to remain within arm's\nlength of his fellow traveller, lest he should\nbe unawares attacked ; and yet, neither of\nthem was willing to allow the other to get at\na distance from him, lest his prey should escape.\nAt last, after two wearisome days, and sleepless nights, one of them sank to the earth from\nutter exhaustion; the last man sprang upon\nhis prostrate body, but when he had butchered\nit, he was seized with an unaccountable loathing for the feast he had so long been craving\nfor, and fled in horror from the corpse. He\nwas now alone! No, not alone; for his sicl$ ma\n260\nSYDNEY.\nwfcx\n; -.v.-'p\n.\u00ab. ilta. .Wn\nand fevered brain conjured up his slaughtered\ncompanions? who seemed on either side to accompany him, and with fixed and glaring eyes\nto be watching for an opportunity to inflict\nthe same fate upon him, as they had suffered\nthemselves. How long he wandered under\nthis maddening hallucination is not known.\nHe was found by some stockmen on the borders of a forest in a senseless state; and to\nthem, when he was restored to consciousness,\nhe confessed all that he had done and undergone, and implored them to deliver him up,\nthat he might terminate his miserable ex-\nistence as soon as possible by the gallows. His\nwish was, of course, complied with; and, at\nthe time that we were assembled under our\nhospitable friend's roof he was awaiting the\nexecution of his sentence.\nAt an early hour we retired to rest; the\nguests, who had each brought his own blanket,\ncontenting themselves with a shake-down of\nclean straw on the thrashing floor of the barn, SYDNEY.\n261\nm\nand making their saddles serve as pillows for\nthe nonce. At dawn we turned out into the\nstock-yard, thoroughly re-invigorated, though\nof course we had dispensed with the refreshing\nluxuries of the toilet; and here we found a\nstrong accession of neighbouring stockholders\nto our party, who had dropped in with their\nhorses and dogs before dav-break. A sub-\nstantial breakfast was soon dispatched ; and\nthen presto! every man was in his saddle and\nprepared for the stock-hunt. Our (field' consisted of nearly thirty horsemen, with a pack\nof upwards of a hundred dogs, such as I have\nbefore described, and without further delay we\ndispersed ourselves into the Bush to tail the\ncattle, and drive them into the Camping-\nGround. This is mostly achieved without\nmuch trouble, for the Camping-Ground is\ngenerally a shaded and well-watered spot, to\nwhich the cattle have been disciplined by the\nStockmen to resort to during the heat of the\nday, and the gathering, therefore, is effected\n\u00a71\n\u00a711\nmi\nMM:\nMm\nHi\nmti\n\\WL 262\nSYDNEY.\nm\n5\n?Sp?\n'\u2022;\nwithout much difficulty by noon, except when\na scarcity of grass has induced the cattle to\nroam in search of better pastures at a distance\nfrom their 'run.' But then comes the tug of\nwar. The cattle have now to be driven from\nthe Camping-Ground into the Stockyard,\nwhere they have to be drafted into separate\npartitions, in order that the stockholder may\nc take stock' respectively of his cows, bullocks,\nheifers, and calves, and also baptise the latter\ninto his herd with the branding iron. Urged\non by the sharp, pistol-like, cracks of the\nstockwhips, and by the incessant barking of\nthe dogs, the cattle, at first, appear to obey\nwith much docility; but no sooner does the\nsight of the stockyard recal to the recollection\nof some of the more sagacious old ones the\nrough treatment they have formerly received\nthere, than they set an example of resistance\nwhich is, of course, followed bv the whole herd.\nWith one consent they turn round, and in\nevery direction attempt to break through the SYDNEY,\n263\ncordon of horsemen and dogs, which, up to\nthis time, they have allowed to close in gradually upon them; and then commences an uproar of bellowing, and barking, and hallooing,\nand swrearing, and a feu-de-joie of stockwhip\nthongs, which makes the welkin ring again over\nthe visible horizon. Not one must be allowed\nto escape\u2014but see, there is one off, and bounding across the 'run' like a land-porpiose. A\ncouple of horsemen and their dogs are after\nhim; but the beast has got a good start, and\nnow is the time to prove the horsemanship of\nthe Bushman! A flowing rein is given to his\nsteed, with a simultaneous plunge of the spurs\ninto his flanks, and awTay he thunders over the\n'run' after the fugitive, while his rider, his\ngaudy i Belcher' fluttering, and his long hair\nstreaming, in the wind\u2014for his hat seems to\nbe towed after him by the string which secures\nit to his jacket\u2014urges him furiously over fallen\ntimber, and perilous fissures on the earth, and\nthrough rocky gullies, and swampy creeks,\nI'M\n*ij\u00bb\nill\nm which a Centaur himself might reasonably\nhesitate about f taking !' Ah ! he has headed\nhis game, and is driving it homeward \u2014but no\n\u2014the beast has doubled like a hare, and is off\nonce more for the far wilderness! Quick as\nthought the well-trained steed has spun round\ntoo, and is after him\u2014the same manoeuvres are\nrepeated again and again, the beast never\ndoubling until the horse is running him neck-\nand-neck, until at last the former is completely exhausted, and is compelled to make\nhis way back, foaming, panting, and bleeding,\nas the only means of obtaining a respite from\nthe Bushman's knout, which at every stroke\nhas cut him to the flesh. Within your field\nof view twenty such scenes as these are being\nenacted at the same time; and the excitement\nof the melee is occasionally increased by a wild\nbullock, who has found his way amongst the\nherd, and who, scorning either to obey or fly,\nfights like an Andalusian, and only yields\nwhen he is pinned, nose and heel, by half-a-\ndozen of the dogs. fj When the cattle are once got into the\nstock-yard, the sport may be said to be over.\nIn drafting, the poor creatures receive a plentiful measure of goading and cudgelling, and\ntail-screwing, as a punishment for not comprehending the wishes of their masters; but\nthere is not much amusement in this, and still\nless in the branding and cutting of the 'rising\ngeneration' among the herd which follows. It\nis late in the day before all these labours are\ncompleted, and then they are wound up in the\nevening by the 'Bushman's Feast.'\n\u00a5 With the exception that our party was more\nnumerous, and perhaps somewhat more bent\nupon enjoying themselves, this evening was\nspent pretty much in the same manner as the\nlast. I gathered, however, a i new w?rinkle' as\nto Bush life in the course of it. I found that\nthe stock-holders of the Bush\u2014of which class\nour party was exclusively composed\u2014not only\nregarded the drudgery of sheep-breeder as\nvexatious, but its pursuits as comparatively\nN\nHI SYDNEY.\nignoble. Indeed, the life of a stock-holder is\nby far the'most romantic, as he is constantly on\nhorseback from morning to night, and ranging\nfar and wide with some exciting obiect in view\n\u2014tracking stray cattle, or exterminating the\nwild dog\u2014while, on the other hand, he has\nnothing to do with that filthy and everlasting\ntorment of the sheep-run, the scab. The feeling of the thorough-going Stock-holder towards\nthe duller'and more tiresome, but more profitable occuption of sheep-breeding is somewhat akin to that which the military adventurers of the era of chivalry may be supposed to\nhave entertained for the plodding and exacting\nbut more lucrative pursuits of commerce. I\nneed hardly tell you that my election was made\nat once, and that I have since sought health\nand wealth in the tending of my herds.\n\" Our party broke up the following day;\nbut Mr. Smith, aware that my more immediate\nobject was to acquire information, which might\nprove valuable to me when I should determine SYDNEY.\n267\nto settle down in a c Run,' invited me to prolong my visit ad libitum. I gladly accepted\nthe offer and for more than a fortnight attended\nhim in the overlooking of his extensive concerns. Nothing could be more admirable than\nthe vigour, the regularity, and what was of\nequal importance, the liberality of his management ; for it is of the utmost consequence to\nthe success of a large Stock-holder that, while\nhe keeps his Stock-men rigorously up to their\nwork by his \"vigilance, he should also attach\nthem to his interest by the well-timed generosity of his treatment. And, would you\nbelieve it\u2014this same Mr. Smith was in Eng-\nland nothing more than a linen-draper! Finding, as he informed me, that the old game in\nthat trade of buying job-lots of draperies,\nwhich had become depreciated by the superannuation of their patterns, and then blazoning them forth to the public as the\neffects of a bankruptcy to be cleared in a few\ndays at a stupendous sacrifice,' had grown\nn 2\nI Ifl\ni\nill\nt$ffl\n\/\nM If\nwl\n* flat, stale, and unprofitable,' he resolved to\ncapitalize his assets, and try his fortune in the\nyet unreclaimed wilds of Australia. You\nmust not, however, suppose that Mr. Smith\nwas an aboriginal cockney. In fact, there are\nvery few stirring men of business in the\nmiddle walks of life in London, who have\nnot, in the first instance, pushed their way up\nfrom the country\u2014younger sons, and others,\nwho are compelled to make up, by enterprize,\nfor the accidental disadvantages of birth, or\nstation\u2014and these men never forget the pursuits and the sports amongst which their boyhood and youth were past. Mr. Smith had\nbeen one of these cadets of the agricultural\norder; and, therefore, although his genuine\ncockney friends shrugged up their shoulders\nat the wildness of his Australian adventure*\nhe was not quite so unfitted to prosecute it\nwith success, as, in their ignorance of his\nreal character, they supposed.\n\"Indeed he was the better fitted for it, SYDNEY.\n269\nfrom not having become bigoted, by force of\nhabit, to any of the * provincial systems of\nfarming, in favour of which such strong, local\nprejudices exist at home. His mind was open\nto square his own system with the necessities\nwhich he might have to encounter; and, by\nthe advice of his friend, who was an old settler\nin New South Wales, he selected such servants\nas he chose to take out with him, from classes\nwho would have still less to unlearn in the\nnew world they were going to, than himself.\ne That fellow\/ he said to me one day, pointing\nto a man who was working in the best ordered\nkitchen-garden to be found within fifty miles\nof his station, P is worth his weight in gold to\nme. I knew that I should want'a gardener;\nbut, instead of selecting one of your blue-\napron professionals, who can shave lawns and\ntrim hedges and box-borders as neatly as a\nbarber will shave the chin and trim the\nwhiskers of a dandy, I fixed upon a cobler,\nwhom I accidently observed one Sunday morn-\nI SYDNEY.\ning planting cabbages and hilling potatoes on\non a few perches of a large piece of waste,\nopposite the old church of St. Pancras, which\nhad for years been abandoned to any one who\nchose temporarily to cultivate it, until customers could be found to take it upon building-\nleases. This man was, of course, in his way\nan example of the * pursuit of knowledge\nunder difficulties\/ had learned how to make\nanything do for a tool, when he was not master\nof a proper one, and to make a thousand shifts\nwhich an educated Scotch gardener would\nnever have dreamed of\u2014and in fact was just\nthe man for the Bush, where few things that\nare wanted in the way of implements are at\nhis hand, and where, if his mother-wit cannot\nfind a substitute for them, he is of no more\nuse than a man without hands. A kitchen\ngarden is invaluable here; but I never should\nhave had one if I had trusted to one of your\nscientific gardeners, who can do nothing without a whole out-house full of tools.' SYDNEY.\n** Ultimately, as our intercourse proved mutually agreeably to us, it was arranged that I\nshould serve my year's probation with Mr.\nSmith; but, as the nearest distance at which\nan unlicensed 'Run' was to be obtained was\nnearly two hundred miles further into the interior, he kindly proposed to accompany me\nthither, for the purpose of advising me in\nmaking a prudent selection. This is a matter\nwhich requires great knowledge of the country,\nfor there are many places which, at certain\nseasons, would tempt the eye, by the luxuriance of their verdure, but which, at other\nseasons, would become nothing more than arid\nplains, or swampy marshes, from the drying\nup, or overflowing, of the stream^ upon which\nthey bordered. Our excursion\u2014which Mr.\nSmith assured me cost him nothing on the\nscore of time, as he only sacrificed to it a long\nvisit which he had intended to make to Sydney,\nand which would have been productive to him\nof less pleasure\u2014occupied us more than six\nx,\n'law\nI J: ft\nSYDNEY.\nweeks. Of the nature, however, of the reception and adventures we met with, you can\nform a tolerably correct idea from my description of the past. To me the scenery and\nmode of life would have been charming without alloy, had it not been for the total absence\nof the greatest of all the charms of civilized\nlife\u2014I mean female society. After we had\nleft Mr. Smith's station fifty miles behind us,\nwe did not meet with one European woman\nduring the whole of our future travels into\nand about the 'Bush'\u2014an unfortunate feature\nof life in the Bush, which I have since observed with a more painful feeling than one of\nsimple regret, to be as productive of moral\nevil, as it is fatal to real domestic enjoyment.\n\" With such a Mentor as Mr. Smith I could\nnot fail to secure an eligible jj Bun;' and, this\nobject being accomplished, we turned our\nbacks on the still untrodden wilderness to the\nnorth, and returned, by a direct route, to the\nhome where my short apprenticeship as a SYDNEY.\nBushman was to be passed. The time seemed\nto speed as rapidly as it was spent pleasantly,\nand I may say profitably, also; for Mr. Smith's\ntuition, together with the active part which he\ntook in selecting my stock, and household outfit for the Bush, enabled me to commence the\ncareer of a Stockholder without suffering any\nof those losses, impositions, and obstructions,\nwhich generally fall to the lot of what, in\n'Bush-patois, is called a ' raw arrival.' And\nhere I am now enjoying the labours, the\nsports, and the pleasures of life in the Bush\nwith as much zest as I did the first day that\nI set foot upon it. I can say, my dear ,\nthat I am neither a disappointed, or discontented man; and who among our friends in\nthat blase old world of theirs can conscientiously say as much.\n\"Yours, &c.\n\"J. 0.\"\nWfc\nlift\nN 5 rer\nCHAPTER XII.\nWHALE FISHERIES, THEIR IMPORTANCE TO THE\nCOLONIES.\u2014AT SEA.\n\u25a0i&iH\nMany thanks for the parcel, my dear ,\nof papers, reviews, &c., which in due course\nreached me yesterday, just before we dropped\nanchor for our present excursion; and especially for your kind consideration that the\npamphlet on our Fisheries in this part of the\nworld would be peculiarly interesting to me.\nIt is a strange coincidence that many of the\nviews on this subject, which Mr. Endcrby has AT SEA.\n275\nset forth in his proposal for the re-establishing\nour Fisheries in the Southern Pacific have\nbeen for some time elaborating themselves in\nmy own head, which, since my last trip to the\nWhaling Grounds, has been full of vague\nconceptions as to the riches which our hardy\nseamen might reap there, if our enterprising\nmerchants could only hit upon some more\ninexpensive mode of gathering in the harvest,\nand transporting its fruits to their own warehouses in England. This idea first struck me\nfrom noticing the advantages wrhich our\nWhaling expeditions from Australia possessed\nover those sent out from Europe or America,\nalthough their products had to be realized in\nthe same distant market, and, in spite of their\ninferiority on the score of Capital. All these\nadvantages are directly referable to their contiguity to the scene of the Whaler's labours;\nor rather, I should say, all the disadvantages\nunder which the Southern Whale Fishery has\nbeen gradually abandoned by the merchants of\nWm\nfiSs!\nV,\nVI1::\nfal I.I\nMi\n11\ntill mi?\n: r \u25a0\u201e:\nlilfi\n*f\"1\nGreat Britain are directly referable to the great\ndistance of the place of outfit from the actual\nfield of enterprize\u2014an economical consideration\nwhich I am surprised should have escaped the\nnotice of a class of men who are accustomed in\nall their mercantile operations to take into strict\naccount the smallest items of profit and loss,\nand especially as in this particular matter the\nwaste of labour, time, and materials, under the\nold system, was such a large figure in the\nbalance-sheet of every voyage, that it could\nhardly have failed to be suggestive of the\nquestion, whether there were no means of\navoiding it.\nCuriously enough, this idea first struck me\nas I stood gazing over the Pacific from one of\nthe Hills of that very island which Mr. Enderby\nproposes to convert into a depdt for the produce\nof the Southern Fisheries. In the month of\nApril last, the Whaler to which I was engaged\nstopped at Auckland Island, not to refit\u2014for\nyour Colonial Whalers only being out one AT SEA.\nseason, are not subject to such inconveniences\nand delays\u2014but simply, pour passer le temps\nfor awhile, because we had ascertained that we\nshould otherwise be somewhat too early on the\nWhaling Ground, and of course I did not lose\nthe opportunity of making myself as much as\npossible acquainted with the spot which may\nbe considered as one of the solecisms in the order\nof nature. Few spots have been discovered,\neven in the most barren and secluded quarters\nof the globe, in which some Aboriginal, or\nmigrant race has not been found, or in which\ntraces, at least, could not be detected of their\nhaving at some former time been inhabited by\nman. But in this island there is no sign whatever of its having been a habitation of the\nhuman species before it was discovered by\none of Mr. Enderby's Whaling ships in 1806.\nThere is something imposing in the thought\nthat you are penetrating into such an undoubted\nprimeval solitude; the excitement of curiosity\nis dashed by a feeling of awe as the imagina-\nS'fl\ni'i< ,v.-t..-.,.\/! MmJPHI\n\u25a0\u00abFfs\nAT SEA.\ntion suggests that you are about to trespass on\none of the sanctuaries of nature, hitherto undisturbed from the date of its creation, except\nby the tuneful choristers of the woods; and I\nhave wandered whole days moralizing, and\nphilosophising, or dreaming, of Alexander\nSelkirks and Robinson Crusoes, while I thought\nI was simply investigating the botany and\nornithology of this terra incognita.\nBut how, my dear , the poetical, even\nin a reverie, gives way to the utilitarian, when\na glorious scheme is suggested to the acquisition of riches! When I had made myself\nmaster of Mr. Enderby's splendid project for\nconverting this hitherto uninhabited spot into\na flourishing seat of cheerful industry and\nactive commerce, I could not refrain from discussing the subject with myself in the following\nstrain:\u2014After all, I reasoned, there is little\ncause for wonder in this island having been so\nlong doomed to the neglect of man, and still\nless for regret that it should be at last brought\nm within the sphere of civilization. For how\nmany ages have the most wonderful secrets of\nnature been hidden from man, because he has\nbeen too incurious, or too indolent, or too\nbigotted to deviate from the beaten track?\nAnd when, at last, some accident, or\nsome adventurous, or inquisitive, spirit\nhas brought them to light, of wrhat a large accession to the aggregate of human happiness\nthey have been productive! If some wizard\nwere to afford us, by his magic speculum, a\nprophetic exhibition of the changes which will\nsome day be effectuated in that island, what a\ngreat and happy transformation would he foreshadow ! First, he would exhibit it to us as\na little desert in the ocean, walled in against\nthe aggression of the waves by precipitous,\nbasaltic cliffs, and clad in a defensive dress of\nrampant verdure matted with thick and tangled\nunderwood, as if to ward off the intrusion of\nman. Suddenly the scene dissolves away, and\nanother is gradually lighted up within the M\nJP\nill\nMSB1:\nAT SEA.\nfield of view. The wild, choking, vegetation,\nand the impervious brushwood of ages seems\nto have retired at the approach of man, and\na broad belt of fertile gardens, fruitful orchards, luxuriant pastures, and golden cornfields, encircles the Bay in which a whole fleet\nof Whalers are lying ready to discharge the rich\nproducts they have gathered on the Whaling\nGrounds of the Southern Seas, or in the\nWestern Coasts of Africa, or the sea-board\nwhich stretches along the shores of the\nAmericas. Silence has been affrighted from\nher retreat of ages, and the air is resonant of\nbusiness and life. Around the head of the\nharbour rise warehouses, and docks, and\nwharfs, and quays; and crowds of happy, or\nanxious wives and children awaiting to receive\nthe adventurous whalers after the perils and\nlabours of the season are over, and welcome them\nto repose and enjoyment, until the song of the\nApril bird again warns them that the harpoon\nmust hang no longer idle on the walk Hark! AT SEA.\n281\nfrom beneath yon spire, which towers above\nthe humbler dwellings of the settlement, there\nis wafted a sweet strain of holy harmony\u2014it\nis the hymn of praise and thanksgiving, which\nthe hardy mariners are offering to the Most\nHigh for his past mercies to them amidst the\nperils of the deep! Who would wish that\nyour Magician\u2014and his name is TIME\u2014\nshould restore the picture to its original state,\nhowever wild and picturesque it may have\nbeen?\nThe extent of the field, which is comprised\nunder the term of the Southern Fisheries is\ngenerally misconceived in Europe. The popular impression is, that the prosecution of the\nSouthern Fisheries is only followed in the\nhigh latitudes towards the South pole, just as\nthe Northern Fisheries are prosecuted in the\nhigh latitudes towards the North. But this is\na mistake. The field of the Southern Fisheries\nconsists of nearly two-thirds of that broad\ncentral zone of the globe, which is in width\nIII\nifl\nl> l&rtpj\nIP\nm\n'\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0> u\n.i&'ttHJMf':\u2022\nW\\ %ife\nfell r;i\nnearly ninety-five degrees of latitude, and\nonly indented by the Southern projections of\nthe Asiatic and African Continents. It\nstretches fron 50 South to 45 North latitude ;\nand from 75 West, to 18 East longitude; embracing the coasts of Chili, Peru, the Polynesian Islands, Japan, New Zealand, and the\nEastern Archipelogo. They are simply called,\nthe Southern Fisheries because ships from\nEurope must sail Southward to reach them.\nAnd a fine, free, and easy trade, it is which\nthey offer to the adventurous Mariners. To\nbe sure, there is occasionally some labour in\nvain; but there are no tariffs or treaties, to\nperplex them; or quarantines, or Customhouse squabbles, to detain them. They roam\nover the waters in search of their game as free\nas the birds of the ocean themselves, and,\nwere it not for the irksome length of the\nvoyage, a sea-faring life would present no more\nseductive adventure.\nAnother popular error on this subject amongst you is, that your Fisheries have fallen\noff in consequence of the introduction of gaslight; whatever diminution in the demands\nfor oils may have arisen from this cause it has\nbeen more than doubly or trebly compensated\nfor by the increased demand for them in manufacturing processes. The total quantity of\nfish and vegetable oils imported into Great\nBritain in 1821 was under 50,000 tons, and in\n1845 they considerably exceeded 100,000 tons\n\u2014the increase being thus accounted for, that\nwhile the quantity of fish oils fell from 32,000\nto 22,000 tons, the quantity of foreign vegetable oils increased from 16,000 to 82,000 tons.\nNor is this to be wondered at, seeing that\nSperm oil in England has been 82\/. per ton,\nwhile Olive oil has only been 47\/., and common\noil 29\/., while Linseed oil has been only 27\/.\nThe vegetable oils, therefore, at such relative\nprices have naturally had the preference;\nwhile in America, where Sperm oil has only $1 IP\n$ 1 iiii\nl8K'!:\n|ol|:\nIflli\nbeen 561. per ton, and common oil 21\/. per ton,\nthe vegetable oils meet with no such favour.\nThe question, therefore, in a Mercantile\npoint of view, appears to me to be this\u2014could\nnot our Southern Whalers compete with the\nforeign vegetable oils, as the Americans do,\nby affording it at the same price as they do ?\nAccording to the present system of course\nthey could not; but, could they not, by\nadopting the Colonial plan of fitting out vessels\nof a more moderate size, from a station contiguous to the Whaling Grounds, and shipping\nthe produce of each season annually for\nEurope, instead of waiting to bring home the\naccumulated produce of those seasons at the\nend of the fourth|*year from setting out ? I\nhave made some calculations for the solution\nof this problem, which may be worth the at*\ntention of some of your mercantile friends in\nEngland.\n\" Your present system is to send out a AT SEA*\n285\nvessel of 350 tons, fitted for a four years\nvoyage; that is, for three years on the Whaling\nGrounds, and a year for their voyage out and\nhome. The ship will cost you 18\/. per ton,\nand 21. per ton per year for stores, provisions,\n&c, in all 9,100\/., to which you must add\ninterest at 5 per cent., or 1,820\/. for the four\nyears, during which you are without any return for your capital. Your whole cost of\nequipment, therefore, is 10,920\/.\nOn the other side of the account, your crew\nwill be thought to do well if they ship fifty\ntons of sperm oil in each season, or, 150 tons\nduring the whole cruize, which, at 80\/. per\ntun, would yield 12 000 Z. Of this the crew's\nshare (32 in number) would be S,50Ql, so that\nyon would net only 8>500Z. You may also\nconsider your ship still worth half her prime\ncost, or 3,150\/., so that you will have 11,650\u00a3,\nstanding in your favour against 10,920\/. the\ncost of equipment, which shews a balance of\nkim> 286\nAT SEA.\n' :\nif\nmm\n,,.s \u2022\n730\/. in your favour, or a profit rather less than\n7 per cent.\nBut a ship sent from a station contiguous to\nthe Whaling Ground to fish only for a season,\nneed not exceed 250 tons, which at 18\/. per ton\nwill only cost 4,500\/.; and her fitting out with\nstores and provisions for four successive seasons\nat 21. per ton per year, would come to 2,000\/1\nmore\u2014altogether to 6,5606. Moreover, as two\nyears would elapse before a cargo could be\nrealized \u2014 one year for collecting it, and\nanother for carrying it to Europe, and remitting the proceeds\u2014two years interest, or\n650\/. must also be charged to the ship, making\nher total equipment 7,150\/.\nOn the other hand the ship will make four\nvoyages in the four years, and, therefore, collect 200, instead of 150, tons of sperm oil,\nwhich, if sold in England at the American\nprice of 561. per ton, would produce 11,200\/.\nBut from this you must first deduct 61. per AT SEA.\n287\nton for freight to England, or 1,200\/.; and,\nsecondly, the share of the crew who, being\nonly 22 in number, would be better paid by\n2,500\/. than the crew of the 350 tons vessel\nwere by 3,500\/; these deductions would reduce\nyour as&ts to J,500L, to which you would have\nto add 2,250\/. for the then value of your\nvessel (half of its prime cost); so that you\nwould have resulting in your favour 9,7oO\/.\nagainst 7,150\/., which is something more than\n36 per cent.\nFrom these comparative statements, the\nreasons why it would pay so much better^ at\nthe American price for oil, to prosecute the\nSouthern Fisheries from a station in the\nvicinity of them, than to prosecute them from\nEngland at the extravagant price, under which\nthe oil cannot now be afforded there, are\nobvious.\nA ship setting out from a Colonial station\nneed only be five^ievenths the tonnage of a\nwhaler from England, and a crew in propor-\nm\nft'ul 288\nAT SEA.\nM\n\u25a0\u25a0\n\u00bb\ntiW\nNIP\n\u00a3 -\u00bbflf 1\u00bb\u25a0\u00a3\nIff * ' - \u25a0 \u25a0 -\n!iflfc|;\nBl*f^>;\nlion; and she not only makes an annual return\nof her produce, but makes four seasons, while\nthe other makes three; but there is another\nconsideration still further in favour of the\nColonial vessel which is only absent one season\nfrom the first of her departure. It is an es-\ntablished fact that the oil which she makes in\na season exceeds more than one-half the\nquantity which an English whaler makes; nor\nis this surprising, when we consider the difference between the two services. Neither on\nboard the English or American whalers does\nthe monthly pay, earned by the seamen,amount\nto anything like that given on board of ordinary trading vessels; and hence, instead of\nexperienced seamen, jbheir crews are made up\nof U green hands,\" who, after having acquired a knowledge of their calling, during\ntheir four years apprenticeship to the whaling\ntrade, of course quit it for some other branch\nof the merchant service, in which the wages\nare higher, and the privations of shorter AT SEA.\n289\nduration. Indeed, no small portion of them\nanticipate the period of their emancipation\nfrom the whaler by desertion, an occurrence\nwhich so frequently takes place as to cause\nthe most serious obstruction to the prosecution\nof the voyage. With the crew of a Whaler,\non the contrary, fitted out from a station in the\nSouth Pacific, for a single year's voyage, circumstances are entirely different. Instead of\none Jourth of their time being unprofitably\noccupied in going to and returning from the\nWhaling Grounds, they are in them at once,\nand are fishing every hour that they are out.\nThis greatly enhances their part in the venture,\nand as that is only for a twelvemonth, they\nnever think of deserting it, but work like\nTurks to make the most of it ; hence, they are\nneither disgusted by the length or unprofitable?\nness of their voyages, but rather become\nenamoured of them as short, enterprising cruises,\nand the service is never in want of practised\nand trustworthy hands. And again; it is\no\n\u00ab\u00bb\n\u00ab* yptfllr\nBIS!\nAT SEA.\nutterly impossible to prevent the master of aa\nEuropean Whaler, which is out four years,\nfrom neglecting his owner's interest by employing the time which ought to be devoted\nexclusively to fishing, in trading on his own'\naccount. An Esculapian brother assured me\nthat he was once in an English Whaler, which\nonly spent 850 days in these parts, and that\nduring 310 of them he was lying to at one place\nor another, to traffic on his own account with\nthe inhabitants. This abuse cannot be prac*\ni^ised in Whalers fitted out from a port in the\nSouth Seas, because the masters would have no\napology, except on extreme occasions, to put in\nanywhere. It is no wonder, therefore, that\nColonial Whalers make such better yearly\nreturns of oil than those from England, or even\nfrom America. In 1845, it appears that the\nAustralian Whalers made 88 tons per annum,\nwhile British Ships made only 50; but, supposing that the former, in a series of years only\naveraged 70 tons, the accouut of expenditure\nitt: i ' I It! AT SEA.\nand returns, given at page 29* would assume\nthe following form :\u2014\n280 Tons of Oil at \u00a356 per ton . JL \u00a315,680\nDeduct\nCrew's Share .... 35001.\nFreight to England at 61.\nper ton 16801. 5,180\n10,500\nValue of the Vessel. . . . . 2,250\n: If '\" ' '* 1^,750\nEquipment as before . . . . 7,150\nProfit ......... 5,600\nwhich is upwards of 78 per cent.\n* Vide the able and explicit pamphlet of Mr\nEnderby, entitled a \" Proposal for re-establishing the\nBritish Southern Whale Fishery,\" published by\nEffingham Wilson, which clearly demonstrates the\nimmense advantage that must accrue to England,\nand her Colonial possessions, especially Australia, in\nthe event of the Fisheries in the Southern Latitudes\nbeing prosecuted upon the plan proposed therein.\nThe Americans employ between 600 and 700 vessels^\no 2\n'fSli\u00a3 We must not forget, however, that there are\ntwo features in this trade, which render it rather\nrepulsive to individual enterprise\u2014namely, its\nuncertainty, and its liability to abuse, when\ncarried on by agents at a distance. The owner\nof a single ship may incur a very serious loss,\nby its making what is termed a clean voyage \u2014\nthat is, by its falling into a track from which\nthe fish have been disturbed, and coming home\nwith its deck unsoiled by the blubber of a\nsingle whale. Some other ship, of course, will\nfall in with the fish in more than usual abun-\nmanned by upwards of 18,000 seamen, in these\nFisheries; and the oil produced between 1838 and\n1845 was 37,459 tons, one third of which was exported. The capital employed by our transatlantic\nfriends iu this branch of industry amounts to\n.\u00a31,500,000; while the produce of Great Britain during\nthe last year\u2014including the Greenland Fishery\u2014\nwas only 5,565 tons, or one-eighth of that of America,\nwhich represents a capital of only .\u00a3249,181. The\nbalance in favour of Jonathan, in capital employed\nin the Whale Fisheries is, therefore, \u00a31,171,266. dance ; and if the two ships belong to ihe same\nparty, the gains of the one wo#ld make up for\nthe losses of the other. In short, a number of\nships should be employed, so as to mutually\nensure each other; and this mode of\nimparting certainty to the trade can, of course,\nbe adopted only by a confederation of capitalists, who agree to divide the aggregate profits\nof the whole of it amongst each other, according to the amounts which they have invested\nin it. I need hardly say that a company\nalone could organize an agency, under such\nchecks and responsibilities as would prevent\npeculation, or any other malversation.\nTo such a company the high rate of profit\nwhich I have shown to be possible, from prosecuting the fisheries, from a station contiguous\nto them, offer a most inviting prospect; supposing the rate of profit to be only 40 per\ncent., instead of 70 per cent., it would leave,\nafter making a liberal allowance for the foundation and management of the station, a net\nm\\.\\ AT SEA.\nprofit to the shareholders, larger and more\ncertain than any other speculation of modern\ndays.\nNor is this any new conception. More than\nseventy years ago, the capacious and penetrating mind of Burke comprehended the vast\nriches which are to be gathered from this\nsource, and foresaw that we were allowing our\nAmerican brethren to pre-occupy the field,\nwhere they were to be gathered, before us. In\nhis speech on American affairs in 1774, he reproached us for our envy and indolence in the\nfollowing terms\u2014\ny \u2022'.\nif \u25a0 \u25a0 \u2022\nness of their toils. Neither the perseverance\nof Holland, nor the activity of France, nor\nthe dexterous and firm sagacity of English enterprise, ever carried this most perilous mode\nof hardy industry to the extent to which it\nhas been pursued by this people ; a people who\nare still in the gristle, and not yet hardened\ninto the bone, of manhood.9\nI fear that you will have found this letter\nsomewhat uninteresting, not being of the same\nrambling and anecdotic character as my letters\nusually are; but you must, for once, forgive\nmy taking the liberty of riding a hobby of my\nown, however dull it may be, and expect to be\nrecompensed by a something more amusing in\nmy next. SYDNEY.\u2014 MINING INTERESTS. DESTINY OF\nAUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES.\nI cannot but admit that I, in some sort, sympathize with the psychological yearning to\nwhich you give expression in your last. You\nsay that you cannot reflect upon the wonderful discoveries in mechanical, chemical, and\npathological science, which seemed to have\nmarked the present as an epoch from which\nthe march of intellect, after ages of desultory\nand digressive efforts, has in reality commenced, mm\nSill\nillll\nwithout a curious longing for a spiritual privilege to revisit the world a hundred years\nhence, and note the startling changes which, by\nthat time, man will have worked out in his\ncondition, as lord dominant of the creation,\nby his progressive mastery of the secrets of\nnature. In like manner I cannot reflect upon\nthe expansive power with which the colonization of this vast continent has begun to extend itself, without regretting that I am unable to pierce through the present, and have\nrevealed to me the destinies which are in store\nfor it, within even the very brief term of a\nfew fleeting generations!\nWhen I remember, too, the happy geographical position of Australia, in reference\nto the Equator\u2014that it is blessed with a\nclimate which enables its soil, wherever it is\nfit for cultivation, to yield in abundance not\nonly all the cereal and esculent vegetables,\nwhich are indigenous or naturalized within the\nmore temperate latitudes of Northern Europe* out the wine, and oil, and other productions of\nits more genial \"garden-lands\" in the South,\nand even the cotton and the spices, and other\nrich fruits of the Tropics\u2014I am at times\nseduced into a belief that we shall almost see\nher leap, per saltum, as it were, into a position\nfrom whence she may face proudly the im-\nmemorially inhabited regions of the ancient\nWest. But these flights of fancy are soon\ncurbed by the obtrusive truth, that the growth\nof communities of men, like that of the individual, must be slow; and that a wilderness\nis not to be peopled by the human species with\nthe same rapidity, as it frequently is by the\nlower orders of creation, to whom it is capable\nof furnishing all the necessaries of life without\nany exertion or preparations of their own.\nThe adventurous race which is reclaiming\nAustralia must be content to toil through the\nusual stages which have marked the progress\nof every new community to an established\nstate of material prosperity; for many of the\nm\njm ilpli\nPfll.&K\n.fP&'J\nSYDNEY.\nmost essential resources of that prosperity\nmust be created by themselves, before they\ncan hope to attain it* When they have inter*\nsected the located parts of the country with\nroads and canals, which, with commodious har^\nhours and quays, are the first objects to which\ntheir surplus means should be applied; and,\nwhen they have accumulated capital to assist\nnature by art in preparing the soil for the\nfiner operations of agriculture, which cannot\nbe done until, by the increase of population,\nlabour becomes more abundant and cheaper,\nthen it will be sufficient time for them to turn\ntheir attention to the vine, to the olive, and\nthe cotton tree; but for many years to come\nthey must look to the more primitive occupations of the soil for the acquisition of that\nwealth, without which, if they hurry precociously into more expensive exploitations,\nthey will only verify the proverb of the\n*' most haste, the least speed.\"\nTo this, however, as a general economical SYDNEY.\n301\nprinciple, for advancing the progress of the\ncolony, there is an exception.\nThe colonization of South Australia was\nfirst commenced at Adelaide in 1835; but,\nalthough there wras no deficiency in the quantity\nor quality of land available for settling, the\ncolony was in a state of general insolvency\u2014\nthe government as well as the people\u2014before\nthe end of 1842. These were the consequences of the impolitic restrictions of the\nWakefield system, by which no grants of land\ncould be made in less quantities than a square\nmile, or at a less price than 11. per acre, and\nby which, therefore, all small capitalists were\nproscribed from becoming owners of the soil,\nand they must have been fatal to the colony,\nhad it not been for the fortunate discovery of\nthe Great Burra Burra and Kapunda copper\nmines in 1843. From that time the colony\nhas wonderfully revived; and if the mineral\nwealth, of which the Burra Burra have afforded the first indication, is industriously\n?m\nrea ft\n\u2022>V. ii.'l\/ ..:,\niH\n! 1 ;\u2022*-\u00bb*,'\u25a0*\nm\nSYDNEY.\ntracked through the mountain range which\nruns from the south towards the north, not\nonly will the capital of the colony rapidly increase directly from this source, but indirectly,\nalso, from the demand which will be created\nnot only for the agricultural products of the\ncolony, but for foreign imports, by which the\ninternal trade will be encouraged and extended.\nHitherto, however, the South Australian\nMiners have not had fair play, having suffered\nmuch inconvenience and loss from an entirely\nuseless privilege, with which the British Ship*\nowner finds himself invested to their cost.\nThe importation of their ores into England is\nprohibited except in British Bottoms; and the\ncommerce between Adelaide and England has\nnot attained such a degree of magnitude and\nregularity that freights in British Bottoms are\nalways to be engaged there. In fact, the exportable produce of South Australia is not yet\nsufficient to supply employment for a constant SYDNEY.\n303\nline of trading vessels to and from the Mother\nCountry, and, as the Colonists are prohibited\nfrom sending it in foreign bottoms, their opportunities of forwarding it to England are\nboth rare and precarious. So situated, the\nMining Agents in South Australia are compelled, either to allow a large stock of ore to\naccumulate on their hands, by which their employers suffer a great loss of interest in the\nCapital which it represents, or to forward it in\nany old brig or bark to Sydney, and there re-\nship it for the English market, by which the\nexpense of freight is considerably increased.\nOf course this is only a consequence of that\nprinciple of the navigation laws by which\n(wisely or not) it is sought to secure to the\nBritish Shipowner the carrying trade between\nthe Mother Country and her Colonies; but\nas the British Shipowner himself does not\nthink this particular branch of it to be one\nwhich it would be worth his while to undertake, it is very hard that the Government\nm\ny t\nIfe.\nIlilf\nm\nm\nm\nshould play the dog in the manger in his be\u00bb\nhalf, and refuse the Colonists the privilege of\ngetting others to do for them what he declines\ndoing for them himself. Some time since the\nColonists petitioned the Government at home\nthat German ships, which imported mining\nlabour from Germany into the Colony, might\nbe permitted to return with the produce of\nsuch labour to England; but the boon was\nrefused. It would have been a contravention\nof the Navigation Laws, which Lord Grey\nthought inadmissible, though the case was one\nto which the framers of those laws could never\nhave dreamed of its occurring, and calling for\ntheir application.\nThe principal miners in South Australia are\nGermans, many of whom came out from\nBremen last year, and they live in a village,\nalmost in an isolated state near the Kapunda\nmines, which is some distance from Adelaide.\nThey have a pastor of the Lutheran church,\nwho presides over their spiritual interests; and SYDNEY.\n305\ntheir temporal affairs are almost exclusively\nconfined to Mining operations, few of them\nbeing connected with the agricultural industry\nof the Colony. They are a quiet, industrious,\nand slow-working race ; but, in the absence of\ngood, stout English miners, whose strength and\ncapacity is about double to that of the Germans, they have proved of great utility in developing the resources of the Colony. These\nGermans understand the process of smelting\nthe ore, according to the manner of the Hartz-\nsmelters, which is expensive when compared\nto that of England, as pursued at Swansea;\nthe first using wood, while the latter have\nplenty of coal, to say nothing of the superior\nskill and capital employed in England in such\noperations.\nBut the great difficulty to overcome, in\nAustralia, is the transport to England, which I\nhave already remarked upon ; nevertheless, to\ngive you a clearer conception of its injurious\neffects upon the interests of the Miners, and of\n;|||ji\nKl\nmm \\\n306\nSYDNEY.\nthe Colony also, I shall note down a few facts\nwhich must carry conviction with them, even\nto the most prejudiced mind. In the course of\nthe year 1846 there were raised, and sent to\nEngland, from the Kapunda Mines alone from\n1,200 to 1,500 tons of copper ore, of first-rate\nquality\u2014200 tons of this quantity having been\nsold at Swansea at an average of 191. 3s., and\nanother 300 tons averaging 211. 9s.\u2014notwithstanding the great impediment to its transport,\noccasioned by the navigation laws.\nThe Burra Burra Mines have been equally\nproductive, and more successful in some of the\nsales, as regards the price realized for the ores\n\u2014some of the latter having sold as high as\n311. 6s. 6d. per ton at Swansea; and when a\nregular cummunication shall be established\nwith England\u2014the most effective and practical\nsuggestion yet made for so desirable an object\nis that of a central depot, where the ore can be\ndeposited as freight homewards; which must\nhave the effect in a still greater ratio of in* ducing freights outwards, the return cargo\nbeing the great desideratum with the merchants\nand shipowners in this country\u2014the copper\nmines of Australia may vie with those of Cuba,\nand other slave-holding states, and will have,\nalso, a tendency to solve that knotty problem\n\u2014the slavery question\u2014which so strangely\nperplexes our statesmen, however experienced\nand weighty may be the amount of their\nknowledge. There is, certainly, a growing\nconviction that the most effective blow which\ncan be aimed at the slave-trade, is to prove\nthat free labour is cheaper than that of slavery;\nand when the Mines of Australia shall become\nmore productive, as they cannot fail to do when\nthe ores can be more easily transported to their\nproper market, then it will be seen that the\ncopper of the Antipodes will supersede that of\nEurope, and also that a simple incident in the\nindustrial and commercial interests of the world\nwill prove more potent in suppressing a great\ncrime, and in wiping out a moral stigma on the\nm\nI !$'S!\n-;i; $\\\"\n3ffl'\nm>\nenlightenment of the nineteenth century, than\nthe proud and gigantic schemes of your politico-\neconomical statesmen, with almost unlimited\nresources at their command.\nOh, man ! how impotent, after all thy display\nof power and ingenuity, appear thy works,\nwhen compared to His who moves in a way so\nsimple and so grand, that it seems to rebuke\nthe ostentation of thy efforts; and while you\nhave been straining your nerves to the utmost,\nand wasting your means most prodigally, in the\nnon-attainment of a single object\u2014the suppression of slavery\u2014from an opposite, and unlooked-\nfor quarter comes the true solution of all your\ndifficulties!\nI have often heard it doubted whether\nsociety in Australia did not receive an original\ntaint which will, for a long time, prevent it\nfrom settling down into that gradation of\norders for which the Mother Country is, beyond all others, remarkable; and there certainly does exist a serious obstacle to wealth\nUfjtiiyt:\n\u00ab \u25a0\u25a0\u25a0!:; '\u25a0'\u00bb SYDNEY.\nraising itself into an indisputable Aristocracy,\nas it does in reality everywhere else, whatever\nmay be the form of Government. The Emigrant who brings a large capital here has rarely\nany other view than that of repairing or improving the fortunes of his family, and has\nseldom any idea of making the Colony his\nfuture hereditary home. Those, too, who have\nleft their father-land voluntarily in search of\nthat independence, without which no man can\nfeel comfortable in England, are prompted, by\npride as well as love of country to return to\nit when the object of their ambition is accomplished. Hence the opulence of the Colony\nwill for a long while be represented by the\nmost successful of that class who would rather\nbanish every idea that is associated with their\nmother country than otherwise. But then, on\nthe other hand, it will be long before the\n(i Colonial origin\" of these people will be forgotten, and the resident wealth of the Colony\n. \u00bbE\nSYDNEY.\ncommand the respect and influence which i$\nthe cement of civil society.\nAnd there is also another question under\nthis head, which it is as painful to speculate\nupon as it is difficult to solve. What, as the\ninroads of the white man take a deeper and\nbroader range, will become of the Aboriginal\npossessors of the soil ? Reasoning by analogy\nfrom past experience, we should conclude that\nthey will be unavoidably exterminated; for\nsuch has been the fate of the savage in almost\nevery quarter of the world ; and, of all savages\nhitherto discovered, the Australian seems to\nbe the very lowest in the scale of humanity.\nWe found him in what philosophers have supposed to have been the rudest and primeval\nstate of our species. He had not the least\nidea of rendering the soil tributary to his sub-\nsistance, or of contriving defences even against\nthe climates, by which he was continually\nharassed. He had no conception of any mode SYDNEY.\nof social government, not even the patriarchal,\nand was utterly devoid of all religious, or even\nmoral, impressions. Even of the rudest conveniences and contrivances, common amongst\nall other savage tribes, he was utterlv ignor-\nant; his invention, not having soared even so\nfar as a vessel for holding water, or the bow,\nthe spunge, and the net, for supplying himself\nwith animal faod. In the latter respect, too,\nhe does not seem to have been endowed with\na taste to make any distinction, devouring insects, reptiles, fish or flesh, clean or unclean,\nindifferently; and his culinary art extended\nno farther than roasting the flesh of animals9\nunder hot embers, alike ungutted and un-\nskinned. And, lastly, so circumscribed were\nhis ideas, that he had no terms to express any\nbut visible objects, or divisions of time, or\nquantities, beyond the number three. Whether\na race so deplorably backward can survive the\nintroduction of a highly civilized people amongst them, may, indeed will, be doubted,\nwhen we reflect upon the extinction, under the\nsame circumstances, of other uncivilized races,\nwho bad arrived, comparatively speaking, at a\nhigher pitch of savage refinement. APPENDIX\nCHAPTER L\n*vj\ns\nThe unlooked-for discovery of the mineral\nriches of California, made long after the preceding pages were in print, has imparted a new\ninterest to that quarter of the globe. The\nauri sacra fames has resumed its magic influence on the mass of mankind, and thousands\nare hurrying, under the excitement, to participate in the discovery of the treasure. Over\nseas and continents, through morasses and\ndeserts, traversing the highest mountains, b\nfill\nfording the most dangerous and rapid rivers \u2014\nin short, no obstacle is too great, no difficulty\ntoo appalling, for men to attempt when hurried\non by greed, and blinded by avariee. They\nwill neglect the treasure which lies immediately beneath their feet, to hunt after that\nwhich tempts the eye at a distance upon the\nsurface of the earth; it is the old story of the\nTortoise and the Hare retold\u2014the craving\ndesire of the many to gratify their wishes\nwithout the necessity of labouring for the\nmeans, or, in other terms, the hop-step-and-\njump process of procuring a competence, in\ncontradistinction to the old, steady, refreshing,\nand healthy-toned habit of acquiring it by\nwell-directed industry.\nAs the public mind is too strongly bent towards the Californian Fldorado for our feeble\nvoiee to influence it in a contrary direction, we\nshall endeavour to act in the same way, as\nthough we were unfortunate enough to be\nplaced in a vehicle, with the horse rattling\ndown hill at a neck-or-nothing pace\u2014in short,\nrunning away\u2014and simply content ourselves\nwith pointing out the best route to arrive at\nthe scene of wealth, to prevent a useless\nsacrifice, and an immense amount of suffering, APPENDIX.\non the part of the treasure-hunters, just the\nsame as we should coolly guide the reins of\nthe horse\u2014to diminish the chances of having\nour own neck broke.\nEvery now and then the world is awakened\nfrom its ordinary and even movements by some\nstartling event or other; but it must be something to strike the million, to flash on the c mind's\neye' of the many to produce such a result. It is\nnot your scientific discoveries that have the\ndesired effect, although in reality the incipient\ncause of such phenomena, for they are confined to the choice and limited few, and are\nonly palpable to the multitude when embodied,\nperchance, in the form of a locomotive steam\nengine, for the first time let loose upon the\nworld\u2014a flying, thundering, screaming monster, tearing along and snorting fire, with\ntons of weight and whole towns of people in\nits rear. Such a phenomenon strikes upon the\nsenses of the vulgar many in too unmistakable\na manner\u2014they look, they wonder, they are\nastonished; while your informed mind, without\nany such excitement, can easily reason, by\nan inductive process, to so magnificent a result, A revolution, for instance, which smashes\np 3 li\nHi\n,%m\nAPPENDIX.\na throne, and scatters a dynasty, is an\nevent which may properly be called a\n1 startler,\" especially when we see the fragments before our eyes, in the shape of a\n4 discrowned king,' white-haired and worn-out,\nrudely thrust from his imperial abode, and\neven glad to shelter his feeble frame\nfrom the rough and ugly storm in an old\npilot coat. Who is so blind as not to see\nsuch an event as this, in its befitting amplitude? Again, the discovery of the gold on\nthe banks, and in the estuaries, of the Sacramento in California, must naturally be deemed\na * startler;' as it hits the latent desire of the\nheart of man, the darling object of his aspirations\u2014power, in one shape or other \u2014\neither to exercise an influence, or to indulge\na passion\u2014ft to be the observed of all observers,\" be they what they may.\nHaving eased our mind of these bits of\nsentiment which somewhat clogged the even\non\ncurrent of our practical ideas, we shall\nnow proceed, as briefly as possible, to indulge\nin a few observations upon the several suggestions which the gold-event has naturally\ngiven rise to. First, let us turn finger-post, and point the\nway to the \" dust.\"\nThe country in which the precious metal\nhas been found is called Alta-California, to\ndistinguish it from lower California, in which\nthe 6 metal' is supposed to exist as abundantly\nls in the former. So say the geologists, and\nwho will question their dicta, based, as it\nunquestionably is, or ought to be, upon the\nmost scientific data? This country forms a\nportion of the western part of America, and\nthe eastern shores of the Pacific, and extends\nfrom north to south about 700 miles.\nIn the text we have already described the\nvarious phenomena of the country, as far as\nour knowledge and observation extend; therefore shall content ourselves with having\nrecourse to other authorities, from whose scat*\ntered accounts we may be enabled to combine\na brief, intelligent, and practical summary.*\nThe Sacramento river is the largest of West\nCalifornia, and the only navigable one. It\n* We ought to except the Notes to Wyld's Map\non California, which comprise all the useful information necessary to an Emigrant, in addition to a\nnumber of facts and observations not found\nelsewhere. The map is also the most faithful and\naccurate of any yet extant.\n?3&m m\n!\n#.'.\n. vJlfi APPENDIX.\nand never have been, over nice in their scruples\nas regards the law of meum and tuum, as their\nsubjects can too plainly prove. I except the\nCompany, of course, from this remark; whose\nrule is a blessing compared to the native\nchiefs of India, although the conditions of the\nland-question, as it stands at present, require\nvery grave consideration.\nThe hoarding of the precious metals must\nrather increase than diminish, under the disturbed state of the world, and the protracted\npolitical struggle of the present age; and any\nincrease, therefore, from the mines, to any\nconsiderable extent, would meet with a counteracting check in this strange, but in some\nrespects pardonable, passion of mankind.\nj i1)' \u25a0sll\nm\n3\nt*M\n;'!\u2022'\u25a0\nCHAPTER VI.\nWHAT EFFECT WILL TnE DISCOVERY OF THE\nMINES IN CALIFORNIA HAVE UPON THE IN-*\nDUSTRIAL RELATIONS OF THE WORLD?\nBefore a satisfactory answer can be given to\nso important a question, it is necessary to consider the conditions under which it has risen.\nFirst.\u2014The discovery of a new source for\nthe production of the precious metals, must\nnaturally create an impression that the general\nquantity in the world will be greatly augmented.\nSecondly.\u2014A sudden increase in the quan- MKA\nAPPENDIX.\ntity of the precious metals will have a tendency\nto derange their relative value to other com-\nmodifies | and such derangement must\nnaturally disturb the commercial dealings of\nnations, the pecuniary settlements of society,\nand the equitable relations of debtor and\ncreditor.\nFirst.\u2014Will the discovery of the California\nMines\u2014the new productive source\u2014lead to an\naugmentation of the quantity of the precious\nmetals ?\nIt is barely possible that the supply of the\nprecious metals from California may be so\nabundant that they will be materially depreciated as compared to other commodities,.and\ntheir utility, as instruments of exchange, and\na standard of value* greatly impaired; and\nwere this inconvenience to arise, gold would\nsimply take the place of silver, and silver that\nof copper, in their relative exchangeable\nvalues\u2014in short, copper would be useless, as\nsilver would exchange for the smallest computable quantity of commodities. But these\nare not probable events\u2014and we ought to\nlimit our hypotheses to the probable, and not\nextend them to the possible, range of contingencies\u2014for if any fertile mines of either gold\nm Lj\n'im\n111\nmi r*& hi\nAPPENDIX.\nor silver were discovered, or even the present\nmines to yield far more abundantly, it would\nsoon be found, that, owing to the increased\nquantity of these metals, their value would be\ndiminished in proportion; and the least fertile\nmines, whose produce would be no longer equal\nto the expense of working them, would necessarily be closed. This happened in the 16th\ncentury, when the Spaniards discovered the\nmines in South America, and procured unusual\nsupplies from that quarter; the greater part\nof those in Europe were soon abandoned, as\nthe cost of working them was too great for the\nvalue of their produce in the markets of the\nworld. And the same results will again obtain\nin the event of unusual quantities of the precious metals being found in California; the\nleast productive mines, now in operation, must\nnaturally cease to be worked.\nAgain, there is an a priori argument against\nthe immense quantity of the precious metals\nalleged to exist in the newly discovered regions\nof California. All history attests, that gold\nhas been found in small quantities \u2014indeed, it\nseems an essential result from the condition of\nits existence\u2014and in similar states, from the\nmost remote period to the present tim APPENDIX.\n&\netren, the able and learned historian, enters\nelaborately into the condition of the Mines of\nSpain, when first discovered by the Phenicians,\ntrading to that country. That adventurous\npeople found the silver lying upon the surface\nof the earth, the natives having no means of\nexchanging it, and only estimating its value\nby its utility; but when the adventurers had\nexhausted the first supply which was of so\neasy access, they were compelled to dig deep\ninto the bowels of the earth for the second,\nand to expend a great deal of labour, involving\na vast outlay of capital, before they could\nobtain additional supplies of the metal. At\nlength, according to the natural laws which\ngovern production, mining in Spain became a\nlaborious, expensive, and exceedingly precarious undertaking, which barely paid those\nwhose capital was embarked in it; and, upon\nthe discovery of the Athenian Mines shortly\nafter, when silver became depreciated in the\nmarket, the Phenicians abandoned those of\nSpain, from the fact of the outlay being too\ngreat for a profitable return. I have already\nremarked upon the abandonment of the European mines, when those of America were dis-\nMM-1\nm\"i hi\nm mm:.\nI\nmm\n\u25a0f.;.'>i:p\u00b0\niHlMfl\ntmffi\nifli\nSill\njliijjS\n>if Mis\nIf a\nii\nAPPENDIX.\ncovered, from the same causes, precisely, as\nthose which closed those of ancient Spain; it\nwill only be necessary to state another event\nin the hisljpry of the precious metal-disomvery,\nto illustrate simply and clearly, the point at\nwhich I am aiming.\nThe discovery of gold in the Ural Chain of\nSiberia led to the most exaggerated estimates\nof its quantity, and suggested many enquiries\nwhich have resulted in a more correct knowledge of its positive conditions. In the gullies\nand ravines of the water-courses the precious\nmetal was found in abundance; but in the\nwide estuaries* formed by the rivers, over\nwhich the debits of that high mountain range\nhad been washed for ages, it was scattered\nabout in comparatively diminished quantities.\nAfter the first gathering was accomplished, it\nbecame a settled form of labour, involving a\ndefinite outlay of capital, and yielding an\naverage, but not an enormous, rate of profit.\nIndeed3 the profit barely exceeds that of the\nBrazilian and Mexican Mines, which have\nbeen long in operation.\nNor has the working of the Ural mines materially changed the relative value of gold, which\nIpI\n. \u2022'\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0\nroil APPENDIX.\nwas confidently anticipated*, as the quantity annually produced approximates to a given sum\u2014\nabout \u00a3 2,0C0,000 odd\u2014but with this drawback,\nthat the amount of labour is almost annually in-\ncreasing, while the quantity of metal produced is\nnot augmenting in the same ratio. Again, when\nwe consider the conditions under which the\nprecious metal is generally found, it will\nbe readily inferred that the quantity must\nbe exceedingly limited; and that the expense of obtaining it must always keep up\nits relative value to other commodities.\nv In the lofty chain of mountains running\n* The reader may feel some interest in knowing\nto what extent the mines of the Ural and Siberia\nhave proved productive. In the year 1837, the\ngold produce of the Ural mountains exceeded 304\npoods i this portion is considered the richest of the\nmountain-chain, as all the other mines only produced\n104 poods. In 1842, the total amount had already\nreached 100 poods\u2014nearly double that of 1838\u2014\nand in the last year, 1843, it swelled to the enormous quantity of 1342 poods. Taking the pood at\n43 lbs. 103 dwts. troy, and estimating the ounce\nof gold at 3\u00a3. 17s. 10^d., and the fineness of\nthe gold at the British standard, the sterling value\nof the last year's produce of Kussian gold amounts\nto 2,751,962\u00a3. Vide, Murjchison-'s \" observations\non the Ural mountain.** \u25a00\n356\nAPPENDIX.\n*\u00bb\n.; ;..\u2022>\u25a0*>\u2022:'..\nlip\n#11\n\u00ab\u00a3#\u00ab\u00a3\nBf'\nnearly due north, which form as it were the\nbackbone of Central America, shoot out an\ninfinite number of elevated spurs; these, running in a N. E. and S. W. direction, form\neither deep ravines or elevated table lands.\nThe plains are composed, at the Base of the\nRocky Mountains, of limestone overling granite. In a lower latitude they are superstra-\ntified with serpentine, and greenstone trap;\nand in the Sierra Nevada, the rocks are composed of granite\u2014consisting of white quartz,\nfeldspar, and black mica\u2014porous trap, or\nbasalt. The granites of this part of the world\nare nearly all auriferous (California\u2014but the\ngeological phenomena are nearly the same in\nthe Ural chain,) and from their granular and\nloose structure, undergo rapid decomposition.\nDuring the winter season, the crests of these\nmountain-ranges are deeply covered with snow;\nand at the periods of thaw, and during the\nrainy season, which lasts from November until\nMarch, torrents of water sweep from the\nmountain-tops down the deep gullies and\nravines into the valleys, and carry with them\nthe disintegrated rock, and the particles of\ngold. Thus the valleys of the region are\nannually inundated, and masses of decomposed\nfill APPENDIX.\nrock are scattered over their surfaces. The\nid deposits are found in the heads of\nthe ravines, and although the valleys may\nyield large returns, the richest accumulation\nwill be found at the heads of the deepest\ngullies. Hence the pursuit of gold-finding is\nvery uncertain, although throughout California and Upper Mexico the washings of the\nmountains have accumulated since the creation\nof the world, yet in valleys the gold is seldom\nfound below a few feet from the surface, and\nthe smallest undulations upon the surface of\nthe valley may considerably lessen or increase\nthe residuation of the metallic grains. Thus,\ntherefore, in most parts of the world where\ngold deposits have been found, the superficial\nworking has been successful: but as the pursuit is extended, very large tracts are often\nexplored unsuccessfully. This has been the\ncase in the Ural, in Columbia, in Costa Rica,\nand other places.\" (Wyld's notes.)\nIt may readily be inferred from the preceding observations, that no great quantity\nof the precious metals will be obtained in\nCalifornia; none, at least, that will have any\ngreat disturbing influence on its relative value\nin the markets of the world, as many alarmists\n111 358\nAPPENDIX.\n1\n\u25a08$\nU*&\n.\nAt\napprehend,* from too limited a view of the\nnature and conditions of the question. The\ncost of the labour to obtain it will soon assimilate the Sierra Nevada to the conditions of the\nUral Chain; when the cream is swept off\u2014\nif we may be pardoned such a phrase\u2014the\nII Wiggins will gradually diminish, and the\nec\n* Vide the pamphlet of a Merchant, entitled\nReflections on the manner in which property may\nbe affected by a large influx of Gold in California!\"\nThe following may be taken as a sample of the\nwriter's reasoning powers\u2014\" In all the gold mines\nhitherto discovered, circumstances have imposed a\nlimit on the extent to which they could be worked.\nIn Africa, the impediments are a bad climate and a\nbarbarous people. In the Oural mountains the sterility of the soil prevents any increase of population.\nIn South America and other countries, where the\nmetal is obtained exclusively by excavation, that\nvery circumstance restricts the number of miners,\nas few can be employed at a time in a shaft.'* In\nall these instances of the t merchant,\" a wrong\ncause is assigned for the limited production of gold.\nThe cause is simply this\u2014mining will not repay the\ncost of labour employed in it. In Africa, Mehemet\nAli foilnd that the forced labour in the gold mines\nof Darfour and Nigritia cost him more than the gold\nwas worth\u2014therefore abandoned them as unprofitable undertakings. The Emperor of Russia, or rather\nthe Pafince Demidoff, and the owners of the Ural\nmines, find that no more labour can be profitably\nemployed upon them ; the sterility of the soil has\nlittle to do with the question, even were it in that \" diggers ' will be gradually reduced to the\nskimmed-milk state, as the labourers are at\npresent in the Russian Mines.\nHaving treated of the first branch of the\nproposition which I set out with, I shall now\nconsider the subject in another form, so as to\nmeet the conditions of the second branch.\nLet us assume, for the sake of argument,\nthat a large influx of gold from California will\nO O\ntake place. What effect will that quantity\nhave on the monetary relations of the world ?\nThe possessors of the precious metal, like other\npeople, will be desirous of employing advantageously the greater part of their property ;\nan increase of currency, which would naturally\nensue from a large influx of the precious\nmetals, would therefore cause more competition for its employment, and, consequently, the\nnominal price of commodities would rapidly\nli\ncondition, which is not confirmed by intelligent\nobservers, (vide, Murchison.) In South America\nalso, the mines would have been more extensively\nworked, had they yielded a profit; and not simply\nbecause \" the metal is obtained by excavation, that\ncircumstance restricting the number of miners,\"\nwhich could soon have been obviated by a profitable return. We have one word for this species of\nreasoning\u2014Niaiserie. i MUm\nadvance. I assume, at the same time, that the\nquantity of commodities has not increased\npari passu with the gold. After prices had advanced, a new relation would be established\nbetween the circulating medium -and commodities ; and the competition for the extra\ncurrency would immediately cease. An augmentation of the precious metals in any one\ncountry will advance the price of commodities\nin that country, but not always in proportion\nto their excess, as a part]would most likely be\nexported for profitable employment elsewhere;\nand, as prices advanced, the inducement to\nimport foreign goods would increase, which\nwould be paid for in the precious metals, until\na more equable relation was established between the importing and exporting countries,\nas regards the pric^e of commodities.\nMany people regard the importation of gold\nand silver as a benefit greater than results from that of other commodities,\nand consider the exportation of tbem as a\nnational detriment. A superabundance of\nthe precious metals is no proof of the increase\nof national wealth. An individual possessed\nof a large quantity of these metals may be\nconsidered opulent, but if he does not ex- gauwwfcp\u2014 .\nAPPENDIX.\nchange them for other objects which can add\nto his property, it will continually diminish by\nall the amount of expense that he incurs. So\nit is with the aggregate of individuals constituting the nation. Every superfluity of wealth,\nnot employed usefully for the reproduction of\nanother value, is placed in a state of total consumption, and the national wealth accordingly\ndiminishes. Were an increase of metallic currency to afford additional facility to the circulation of goods, then production might be encouraged, and a greater supply of gold and\nsilver would be desirable; but every excess,\nbeyond what can encourage production, proves\nuseless, and occasions wasteful expense. Let\nus pursue this argument a little further, as\nmany are smitten with the notion that the acquisition of the precious metals is the acquisition of wealth. Such reasoners do not bear\nin mind that the foreigners, who send gold and\nsilver to this country, take away what they\ndeem of greater value; in like manner, the\nexporters, also, of the precious metals to other\ncountries calculate, as if they sent other goods,\nupon obtaining from thence a greater value\nR\nPI\nW\nm\ni\nIf\n11,\nI m\nAPPENDIX.\nin return, and were no benefit to result, the\nexportation would cease.\nThe importation or exportation of gold and\nsilver does not, necessarily, imply the transfer\nof capital from one country to another for the\nsake of permanent employment. Either of\nthese, like the importation or exportation of\nany other commodity, is most frequently the\nexchange of the excess of one kind of capital\nwhich cannot be so usefully employed where it\nis, as if it were forwarded to another country,\nfor the acquisition of a different kind of\ncapital, from which the owners expect a greater\nbenefit.\nEvery advantage, therefore, which may be\nsupposed to arise from the augmentation in\nthe quantity of the precious metals in any particular country, is altogether without foundation. %\nNo country can retain a n excess of them in\ncirculation, greater than would occasion a\ndiminution in their value, equal to the risk and\nexpense of conveying them to other countries,\nunited to a moderate rate of profit. The augmented value attainable from other nations,\nwhich are in comparative want of the precious \"*\nAPPENDIX\nmetals, beyond what they will exchange for\nwhere they exist in superfluity, must always\nprove an inducement to export them for commodities of greater value, and even to carry on\na contraband trade in them, too powerful to be\ncontrolled.* Spain furnishes a memorable example of this fact.\n+ Nueva Becopilacion, ley 27, Madrid 1548.\nThere were several laws of this kind passed before and\nafter the period cited, prohibiting the exportation\nof the precious metals. In consequence of that prohibition Spain suffered two disadvantages. First,\nevery possessor of gold and silver in the kingdom\ncould obtain less for them than he otherwise would,\nhad he been permitted to send them freely to the\nbest market. Secondly, foreigners received additional\nencouragement to carry on a forbidden trade with\nthe Spanish colonies, as all goods sent from Spain to\nthe former were a per centage dearer than those sent\nfrom other countries, in as far as the price was enhanced by the prohibition of the export of gold and\nsilver. The colonies returned raw produce to Spain\nin payment for what they received, then the price of\nthe returns in the mother country would have\nbeen sufficiently enhanced to equalize the advance on the goods sent out. But the result was\ndifferent when returns were made in coin or bullion,\nwhich was more valuable to foreigners than to Spanish\nMerchants, by the per centage of prohibition imposed\nn 2\nam in mm\nAPPENDIX.\nWe must also bear in mind that the circumstances of the world are vastly different to what they\nwere when the Spaniards discovered America,\nand inundated Europe with the precious metals.\nThe elements of production were comparatively\nlimited, and commodities, therefore, but few;\nand the means of diffusing those commodities\nthroughout the world, and carrying on an extended commercial exchange, were but scanty\nand meagre, as compared to the present day.\nA voyage across the ocean was a marvel and\nwonder which few could undertake; and even\nfrom town to town, not to say from country to\ncountry, a communication was of but rare\noccurrence. The influx of the precious metals\ninto Europe at that period, therefore, must\nhave had an instantaneous effect upon prices,\nas commodities were but few, and not capable\nof rapid augmentation. The manufactures\nwere almost exclusively confined to Spain and\non the latter. The prohibition of the exportation of\ngold and silver from Spain was consequently a tax\nupon the trade both of the mother country and of\nthe colonies. The design was to preserve a large\nquantity of the precious metals in Spain; but\nthe effect was to diminish their importation into\nthat country, and to ruin her manufactures and com-\nmerce.\nj:: . APPENDIX.\nFlanders ; France and England, at that period\nemploying but few hands in such occupations.\nThere were then no Manchesters, Glasgows,\nBirminghams; no Lyons, Paris, Rouen, St.\nQuentin; no Strasbourgh, Eiberfeldt, Mul*\nhausen, Abbeville; no Milan in Italy for\nmanufacturing renown\u2014no Berne in Switzerland for its ingenious devices; all these busy\nhives of industry had not awakened into existence, to send forth to the world the marvellous\nprodigies of their power, to excite the cravings,\nto indulge the tastes, and to satisfy the wants\nof mankind: at the period to which we refer\npopulation was thinly scattered over the globe,\nits desires few and easily supplied; its power\nof satisfying its wants were exceedingly limited.\nGold must, therefore, have been but little in\nrequest among the mass of the community, and\nseldom used as an instrument of exchange, although it was adopted, as the precious metals have\nbeen in all ages, among civilized nations, as the\nstandard of value, by which every article in its\nsaleable capacity was measured. The merchants of that day\u2014those of Grenoble, Venice,\nBarcelona and Seville, had a measurement of\nits value, and minutely watched its fluctuations in the markets of the world, as far as\nit\nml\nm\nml\nill\nmi\nm\\i\nml\n\u2022Mil *:-^\n1*\nHi:-.:'''\ntheir limited knowledge of the rise and fall of\nthe precious metals at that period, would allow\nthem; but the mass of men\u2014and even the\ngoverning few\u2014knew little about it, or cared\nfor comprehending the laws which governed its\nvalue, although it was almost daily affecting\nthe relations of their whole property. Contrast\nthe present state of the world with what it was\nin the 16th century, when the influx of the\nprecious metals affected so great a change\nin the relative value of commodities. In\nthese days we can produce commodities\nmuch faster than we can dig or delve gold from\nthe earth, and were mankind to discover a real\nPactolus, with nothing but gold for its sands,\nthe spinning-jenny in our great hives of industry would keep pace with it, and produce\nas rapidly as the value of the metal could possibly fall, so that the standard measure\nwould not be greatly disturbed by the discovery. The ships now off the coast of California, to omit those announced for that quarter,\neven in this country alone, contain more ex -\nchangeable commodities than the relative value\nof the discovered gold is worth, and must\nquickly absorb it; so that the chance of a \/\nAPPENDIX.\nlarge importation from thence is but\nremote, except in exchange for commodities,\nand any surplus quantity that may reach either\nEurope or America will be instantly diffused\nby the multiplicity of articles awaiting a\nprofitable exchange, and the many wants of\nmankind which are only scantily gratified. To\nsum up these few remarks\u2014the productive\npower of our manufacturing and agricultural\nindustry is much greater than that which produces the precious metals, as is clearly demonstrated by the fall in the price of commodities in relation to silver and gold; while,\non the contrary, the production of the\nprecious metals in the sixteenth century was\nmuch greater than that of commodities, hence\nthe great fail that ensued in the value of the\nformer, as compared to the latter. The positions\nare precisely reversed.\nIf any large increase, therefore, of the\nprecious metals result from the discovery in\nCalifornia, the absorbing power is snfficiently\ngreat to counteract the effect of depreciation\nin those metals ; and it may be safely inferred^\nthat the disturbing influence will not be so\ngreat as many alarmists are disposed to believe,\nwP\nIP '! if\nwhich fulfils all the conditions required in the\nproposition.\n* Should the influx of gold from California into\nEurope ultimately prove as large as it is at present\nexpected to be, it would produce two effects, according as we consider it, first\u2014as increasing the\nwhole aggregate of the coined monies circulating\nthroughout Europe; and, secondly, as we consider\nit, as merely altering its own relative value to that\nof silver. With respect to the latter effect, though\nit may not be so serious as anticipated, yet the\nconsequences which will flow from it, will be of a\nmost momentous character. Let us suppose, for\ninstance, that gold, instead of bearing as it does\nnow a relative value to that of silver, as 15^ to 1,\nshould become so depreciated by its abundance, or\nrather by its cheapness of production, that it should\nbe only twelve times the value of-silver. It would\nthus be depreciated about one-fifth; and the 113\ngrains of fine gold in our sovereign would be only\nworth sixteen shillings. In fact, it would require\nfour shillings-worth more of gold, at that price, or\n28 grains more, that is, 141 grains to discharge an\nobligation of one-pound sterling. In all our existing\ncontracts, the bond between the creditor and\nthe debtor is, that for every pound sterling of\nobligation, the former shall demand, and the latter\nshall not be called upon to pay more than 113\ngrains.\nThe operation of such a change will not\nonly effect the public creditor, but all those great\nsocial institutions, Life Assurance and Reversionary\nCompanies. For instance, the former, at some distant date, on being called upon to satisfy a Policy, APPENDIX.\nafter having taken for a series of years of the\nInsurer gold which was worth twenty shillings, would\npay his representatives in gold which would be\nonly worth sixteen shillings. And, on the contrary,\na Reversionary Society which had advanced a sum\nof money in gold worth twenty shillings for the distant Reversion of a larger sum, would, when that\nReverson fell in, have to receive it in gold worth\nonly sixteen shillmgs. In fact, all the calculations\nwhich these Institutions have made during the last\ntwo generations would be stultified to the immense\ngain of one class, and the immense loss of the\nother. wm\nCHAPTER VII.\nillf\nISTHMUS OP PANAMA.\nThe accidental development of mineral wealth\nin the far west, has naturally directed public\nattention to the Isthmus of Panama, which\nseems on the map like a thin line of thread\nuniting the two great continents of America.\nNothing seems easier than to snap it asunder,\nand force a passage for the two oceans to join\ntheir masses of water together, so that the\nships of the world might sail proudly through,\ninstead of having to sneak some thousands of\nmiles round Cape Horn, not only to their great\nHrivi APPENDIX.\nendangerment, but also at an immense sacrifice\nof time, one of the most important elements\nin an economical calculation. Yet, so it is.\nScience, with all its gigantic accomplishments,\nseems appalled at the effort to remove this\nobstacle to the world's enrichment; she can\nfill the earth with her wonders, and has enabled man almost to outstrip even time and\nspace, yet she cannot annihilate the distance between the Atlantic and Pacific\nOceans\u2014a mere forty-five odd miles\u2014which\nwould immediately bring the East and West\ninto polite proximity to each other; at least,\nif brother Jonathan would leave off his \" tarnation go-a-head intrusiveness,\" and John Bull\nwould not insist upon thrusting down the\nthroat of the fastidious Chinaman his commercial rules and regulations. But this will never\nbe, although the Isthmus should cease to~mor-\nrow, under the magic mastery of a Stephenson\nor Brunei; it would simply precipitate the great\ndestiny of modern discovery, that the Anglo-\nSaxon branch must ultimately subdue the\nwhole human race. On\u2014on\u2014is the instinctive\nwatch-word which echoes in the heart of England and America; movement is the law of\ntheir existence; the^ends of the earth will\nM.\n\\ Elli\nLIB\nI ?||\nm\n11\u00bb >'\u2022\n372 APPENDIX.\nultimately recognise their presence and give\nevidence of their sway. When? Let time\nanswer; in the meanwhile we may speculate\non the events which will lead to the precise\nperiod when that answer will be given.\nEver since the discovery of America the\nproject of cutting down the Isthmus of\nPanama has been entertained at one time\nor other. Old Christopher Columbus was\nthe first to estimate its importance\u2014the\ndiscoverer of that new world saw at a\nglance that it would immensely assist maritime intercourse between the Eastern and\nWestern hemispheres, were that barrier\nknocked down; but all the Kings of Spain,\nnor all the wealth of their sumless mines,\ncould not accomplish it; and there it stands,\nlike an ugly eye-sore, to reproach the boasted\nexploits of man, and to humble the otherwise\nsuperb flights of his soaring and scientific\nmind.\nHumboldt has penned even a sublime summary of the advantages that must accrue to\nmankind, were the Isthmus knocked on the\nhead; and Monsieur Michel* Chevalier has\n* Vide Journal des Debats. July, 1846.\nUL APPENDIX.\ndrawn up, most ably, the report of M. Garella,\nwho surveyed it in a very scientific manner,\nand the former concludes that it never can\nbe accomplished in our days\u2014at least, upon\nthe plan projected by his countryman;\nM. Garella proposed to cut a canal through\nthe solid rock of the Isthmus at an elevation\nof 140 metres (460 feet), which would require\na lockage for every three metres\u2014or 48 metres\non the one side, and 54 metres on the other,\non account of the difference of tides in the\ntwo oceans; or to pierce a tunnel at the same\nelevation, of dimensions sufficient to let ships\nof 1,200 tons burthen pass through with their\nlower masts standing. Of these two projects\nM. Garella inclined to the latter, and estimated\nthe work as follows : \u2014\nus\n! W\nSliB\nHeight from the bottom of canal to crown of\nthe arch 37 metres (122 feet)\nBreadth 21 metres (69 feet)\nTotal length 5,350 metres or 5,900 yards.\nM. Garella considers that the tunnel would\nbe cut through a solid rock of porphyry, and\ncalculates the expens*\nP\niO * 374\nAPPENDIX.\niffifft\nFor Canal, tunnel, conduits, and ports\u2014139\nmillions of francs, or in English money\u2014\n5,56O,0O0Z.\nSeveral objections to this project were soon\nstarted ; and most of them well-founded. Like\nothers, of a similar nature, it died a natural\ndeath. Since then the Americans have surveyed the Isthmus, but nothing, at present,\nhas resulted from their survey.\nThe most feasible, and, at the same time\nthe most practicable, is the plan proposed by\nDon Jose de Garay, who caused the survey of\nthe Isthmus at Tehuantepec to be made, under\nthe sanction of the Mexican Government,\nin 1842. C ~ >w\/\nM. Moro, to whose scientific skill M. Garay\nis indebted for the survey, declares the Isthmus\nat Panama to be impracticable, from the enormous expense that it would involve.\nHe next examines the plan projected of\ncutting a canal to the lake of Nicaragua,\nor making the river St. John, which runs\na distance of 93 miles, navigable; and finds\nthe physical obstacles so great, that he abau\ndons it in despair.\nM. Moro then proposes the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, as the most eligible point for\nconstructing a canal, the greater part of the\ndistance which separates the two seas, being\noccupied on the south by lagoons and extensive plains, and on the north it is traversed by\nthe river Coatzacoalcos; so that the principal\nworks to be executed would be comprised\nwithin a space of about fifty miles in length.\nHe calculates that the canal would be navigable for ships drawing twenty feet water;\nwill ensure excellent ports at both extremities; and alleges that the materials for construction cannot be more abundant, superior\nin quality, or better distributed in any part of\nthe Isthmus. In point of health, Tehuantepec\nis exceedingly favourable; while, on the contrary, Panama is a complete pest-honse, so\nmuch so, that Messrs Loyd and Falraarc could\nnot complete their exploring labours, which\nthey undertook in 1827 and 1828, by order\nof Bolivar.\nBesides these purely local advantages, Tehuantepec is more favourable for navigation,\noffering to vessels proceeding to Asia or the\nN. W. coast of America, a communication\nmore direct, and through a more genial climate. On their return, they are now obliged 1=\nr 2\n\\m\nAPPENDIX.\nto keep in northern latitudes, and direct their\ncourse towards the Californias, in order to\nescape the influence of the trade-winds, and\nfor these also the route would be less circuitous. Lastly, the fresh but not dangerous\nnorth and north-easterly winds are common\nto the whole of the American Isthmus, but\nTehuantepec is not subject to the protracted\ncalms, which at some seasons of the year,\nparalyze navigation at Panama.\nM. Moro estimates the cost of the undertaking as follows:\u2014\nCost of 150 locks at \u00a38000 \u00a31,200,000\n50 miles of canal at 30,000 1,500,000\n15 miles of trench ,. 400,000\n3 miles of trench 120,000\nRegulation of the Coatzacoalcos\nlakes, and Bocca Barra 160,000\nit\n\u00a33,380,000\nThe estimated returns to repay this outlay\nof capital, are based upon the maritime commerce of the four principal shipping nations\nof the world\u2014England, United States, France, APPENDIX.\nand the Netherlands. M. Moro states that\nthe aggregate quantity of tonnage, conveyed\nround Cape Horn annually, amounts to 1,500,\n000 tons, relying upon documentary evidence:\nthis, with other items of profit, would produce\u2014\nFor transit duties \u00a3600,000\nSale of lands, and steam navigation 50,000\nTimber, &c., &c. 550,000\nTotal. \u00a31,200,000\nWe shall leave to others the task of analysing these statements, simply contenting ourselves with placing them prominently before\nthe public; nevertheless, we may be allowed\nto observe that, from our slight experience in\nsuch matters, the proposal of M. Garay appears the most practical of all that have been\nas yet submitted to public adoption, and\npromises as great advantages as can possibly\naccrue from such an undertaking. Surely\nEngland will not be backward at this important\ncrisis ; the requirements of her commerce, and\nthe adventurous instincts of the age, demand\nthat she should be prompt and decided. The\nsame policy that dictated the necessity of\nM APPENDIX.\nmaking Aden a station to protect the Overland-\nroute to India ought, we must presume to remark, to prevail as regards the Isthmus of\nPanama ; and there can be no great difficulty\nabout the matter, if pursued with promptitude\nand energy. We hold Gibraltar, the key to\nthe Mediterranean, and wisely too ; then ought\nwe to lose the opportunity of securing the key\nto the Pacific, in whose waters we have so\nmany and such mighty interests ? Common\nprudence says no\u2014emphatically, no. Jonathan\nis already alive to the importance of the\ncrisis, and has directed his keen and calculating\neye upon the Isthmus, knowing well the immense advantage that must accrue to him,\nwhen a free communication shall be made\nthrough it; and it will be a hard race with our\ncommercial and manufacturing interests and\nthose of America, when the distance to the\nEastern hemisphere shall be shortened to the\nformer some thousands of mile3. We must\nhold our power over the great maritime artery\nof the world, through which the life-stream of\nnational enterprise must naturally and inevitably flow ; and that artery must lie athwart the\nback of the Isthmus of Central America.\nAgain, the cutting a canal through the APPENDIX.\nTsthmus, at the most eligible point, would not\nabsorb a large amount of capital, when compared to other works which have been effected\nto benefit our commerce, the profitable returns\nof which have been more than doubtful; we\nallude more particularly to the Caledonian\nCanal, and the Exploring Expeditions to the\nNorth Pole. Indeed, a free passage through\nthe Isthmus for our mercantile marine would,\nin a great measure, supersede the advantages\nof a North-west passage, even could the latter be\neffected; we allude, of course, to the mercantile advantages, and shall not presume to undervalue its scientic results, which are justly\nappreciated by all. We feel confident that the\nBritish Government will lose no time in the\nmatter, as the Central States have been always\nready and willing to dispose of the beneficial\ninterest to any party who would undertake\nsuch a noble work. The late King of Holland\nseriously entertained the idea of a canal,\nbefore the revolution of 1830 shook him from\nhis purpose; and the state of Nicaragua proposed the same measure to the Belgian Emigration Society, which was abandoned from a\nsimilar cause, and would gladly do the same to APPENDIX.\nEngland, with full and guaranteed right of possession.\nIn our next chapter we shall attempt to\nanalyze a project which, from the sudden\ncelebrity of its author, has largely attracted\npublic attention. CHAPTER VIII.\nPRINCE LOUIS NAPOLEON'S PROJECT TO CONNECT\nTHE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OCEANS BY\nMEANS OF A CANAL.\n*v\nIn the year 1846, Prince Louis Napoleon,\nthen an exile in this country, circulated, among\nhis friends, a project to connect the Atlantic\nand Pacific oceans, which excited considerable\nattention, not only from the singular position\nof its author, but also from the great practical\nknowledge which it evinced of the subject.\nThe project, it appears, was first suggested to\nthe u Imperial mind\" by the following circumstance. ilii\n382\nAPPENDIX.\nI In the year 1842, several influential\npersons of Central America wrote to the\nprisoner of Ham, through a French gentleman\nin Jamaica, with the view of inducing him to\nask for his liberation and proceed to America,\nwhere, as they said, the Prince would be welcomed with enthusiasm, and would find occupation worthy of his name and active mind.\"\nThe Prince declined the proposition ; nevertheless, it made a strong impression upon his\nmind, if we may judge by the terms in which\nhe alludes to it\u2014gj The more closely,\" he remarks, \"the body is confined, so much more is\nthe mind disposed to wander in unbounded\nspace, and to canvass the feasibility of projects\nwhich it would scarcely be at leisure to entertain in a more active existence.\". And a French\nNaval Officer, who was about to start for\nCentral America, having paid Louis Napoleon\na visit in his prison, was directed by the latter\nto make observations on the practicability of\ncutting a ship-canal that should join the two\noceans, especially through the lakes of Nicaragua and Leon. This incident was duly\ncommunicated to Head Quarters at Paris, and\nthe Citizen King whose microscopic mind\nunduly magnified the mole-hills that came APPENDIX.\n283\nwithin its range, instantly despatched M.\nGarella to make surveys for a contemplated\ncutting across the Isthmus of Panama, not\nwith the most distant view of carrying it out,\nbut simply to check-mate a rival whose power\nhe affected to despise, and whose apparent influence, at that period, was at zero on the\npolitical scale. What a singular destiny is that\nof Louis Napoleon I\nIt was a favourite saying of his uncle\u2014\n\" there is but one step from the sublime to the\nridiculous,\" and many have remarked that\nLouis Napoleon has always taken that step.\nThe Strasbourg!) and Boulogne affairs partook\nlargely of the a ridiculous'' portion of the\napophthegm; they certainly embodied but a\ntrifling amount of the \" sublime.\" The projected cutting of the Isthmus, which has engaged so many and such marvellous minds, and\nyet unaccomplished, must stand upon its own\nmerits\u2014it is simply in print, and will be judged\naccordingly. Has Louis Napoleon put his\n\" ridiculous,\" or his ie sublime,\" foot foremost\nin stepping into his present position ? He has\nnever yet taken a right measure of his movements; not from want of pluck, but from failing to perceive that there is an immense distance\n1\nill\niJm\nBlip\/'. 384\nAPPENDIX.\nrat\nlull\nit\nbetween the conception and the execution of\na scheme.* Be that as it may, we have no\nright, perhaps, to introduce political dissertation while considering a plan which is purely\ncommercial and scientific, therefore shall proceed to analyze that of Louis Napoleon as fairly\nand justly as we are able. In a preceding\nchapter we have already alluded to the surveys\nof M. Garella, and pointed out their impracticability, even had the French Government\nbeen desirous of seeing them completed.\n* The avowed policy of the President, among his\nfriends in this country, is to break up the Centralization-System, which was the grand aim of his Uncle to\naccomplish; the first, wishes to scatter the fiery\nspirits of the Capital over the provinces, on the principle of divide etimpera ; the latter did all he could\nto concentrate them on one point, in order that he\nmight the more effectually rule them. Napoleon was\nin his element when directing the collective wit and\nwisdom of his empire ; and Louis Napoleon, we can\nimagine to be anywhere but in his element, when\nattempting to direct either one or the other. Has\nhe the grasp to \" hold in leash,: the fiery and subtle\nspirits which encircle him\u2014:to say nothing of the\ndare-devil and desperate few who oppose him 1 Has\nhe the genius to start the right game, and keep them\nwell on to the scent 1 He stands, in our opinion, a\nmuch greater chance of realizing the fable of Actoson\n\u2014nor will he be the first, by a great many, who has\nfallen a victim to his own followers. APPENDIX.\nfTSI\n*\u00bb\n46\nThe Prince states, after a few preliminary\nemarks upon the condition of Central America,\nthat five principal points have been p roposed\nas eligible for the opening of a communication\nbetween the two seas. The first, on the northern side, through the isthmus of Tehuantepec;\nthe second, through the isthmus of Panama;\nand finally, two other projects, through the\ngulf of Darien. Of these, the passage through\nthe isthmus of Tehuantepec presents almost\ninsuperable difficulties, according to the surveys\nof General Orbegoso, and the valuations of\nM. Garella;* besides, this canal would have\nthe immense disadvantage of opening into the\ngulf of Mexico, dangerous to navigation, and\nalso of lengthening, by several hundred miles,\nthe route to South America. The opinions\ncollected by M. Chevalier, are quite unfavourable to the adoption of the two proposed routes\nthrough the gulf of Darien, There remain only\ntwo available projects; one by the isthmus of\nPanama, the other by the river San Juan and\nthe lakes of the state of Nicaragua. If all\n* We have already observed that the surveys of\nM. Garella are not to be depended upon. They were\ngot up to serve a political purpose.\ns 386\nAPPENDIX.\n1\/ii\nWmm\nthese projects were available, the last is the only\none that should be adopted, inasmuch as it is\nthe only one conducive to the real interests of\nCentral America, and the world at large. The\nproposed canal must not be a mere cutting\ncalculated to convey from one sea to the other\nEuropean produce simply; it must, above all,\nrender Central America a maritime state,\nprosperous by the interchange of its internal\nproduce, and powerful by its extensive commerce.\" A canal can only do this by running\nthrough a fertile country, with a highly- productive and numerous population, with many\nwants and plenty of means to gratify them.\nThe prince commits a pardonable error in\npolitical economy\u2014as many others have done\nbefore him\u2014namely, in mistaking a consequence\nfor a cause. Canals do not create the conditions required by the hypothesis, no more\nthan railwavs through a sterile district create\nactivity and industry ; but they are created in\nconsequence of those conditions being already\nin existence. When a people have produced\neommodities, then canals are highly useful to\ncirculate them; but all the canals in the world\nare not able, to oreate commodities, where the APPENDIX.\n387\npeople are deficient in the elements for their\ncreation.\nThe Prince observes\u2014| that if a canal\ncould be made to cross this territory of Central America, situated on the Caribbean sea,\nand ending at Realego on the Pacific, that\ncanal would completely satisfy the required\nconditions (?), for Kealego has a good harbour,\nand San Juan offers a good roadstead, sheltered\nfrom the north-easterly winds, which are the\nonly violent ones upon the coast. Neither at\nPanama, nor at Chagres, nor on any point of\nthe same coasts, is there any moorage to be\ncompared with that just mentioned.\"\nWe enter the more minutely into this project of the Prince, from the fact of the public\nmind being largely directed to the subject, as\na natural result of the recent discoveries in\nthat region of the goble; and we already perceive, by the announcements in the papers, that\nspeculation will run strongly in that direction,\nand blindly too, if not cautiously, and judiciously instructed. The two oceans must be\nunited through the medium of the Isthmus,\nat one point or other; the wants of the world\nwill accomplish the union sooner or later.\nThe Prince objects to Panama for the\n&u \u25a0\u25a0\n^~\n388\nAPPENDIX.\nreasons frequently assigned\u2014| at Panama su\na canal could only cross a country marshy,\nunwholesome, uninhabited, and uninhabitable,\nwhich would offer a passage of but thirty\nmiles, amidst stagnant waters and barren rocks,\nyielding no spot of ground fitted for the\ngrowth of a trading community, for sheltering\nfleets, or for the development and interchange\nof the produce of the soil.\"\nThe proposed canal between the Atlantic\nand Pacific, commencing at the port of San\nJuan, and terminating at the port of Kealego^\nwould be as follows\u2014\nLength of the river San Juan\nLake Nicaragua\nRiver Tipitapa\n,5 Lake Leon\nIsthmus between Lake Leon and\nPacific -\n>9\n99\nMiles.\n104\n90\n20\n35\n29\nTotal length 278\nEighty-two miles only of this length will\nneed exploitation, as the lakes are navigable for ships of the largest size. According to the\nmost accurate surveys of the whole contemplated course of the canal, the following results\nhave been obtained :\u2014\nAbove the Atlantic Above the Pacific\nft. in. ft. in.\nHeight of the Lake\nof Nicaragua 147 9 128 3\neight of the Lake\n^of Leon 176 5 156 11\nHeight of superior\nlevel of land 231 11 212 5\nThe difference of level between high-water\nin the Pacific and low-water in the Atlantic\nbeing, according to M. Garella, nineteen feet\nand a half, it will require less lockage on the\nside of the former; and not prove an obstacle\nto the construction of the canal, as many, unacquainted with hydraulic works, suppose.\nThe Prince anticipates overcoming all the difficulties in the San Juan river> in spite of\nshallows, rapids, lockage, and 57,906 yards, or\n33 miles of complete transformation; but, on\nthis point, there appears considerable difference\nof opinion, and, as it involves the practicability\n^HPSWIJ 390\nAPPENDIX.\nWit\n#\nof the plan, we may as well cite other authorities, who seem to have thoroughly studied and\nmastered the question.\n| The Isthmus of Nicaragua seems to offer\nmany advantages; but upon a more minute\nexamination there appear many difficulties, and\nthese of an insurmountable nature. From the\nreport published by the command of the\nGovernment of the State of Nicaragua in reference to the exploration of that Isthmus,\neffected during the years 1837 and 1838 by Mr.\nJ. Bailey, it seems that the course of the river\nSt. John, with all its windings, is about 93\nmiles in length, six and a half of which are\nobstructed by four rapids, caused by ledges of\nrocks stretching across the whole width of the\nriver. These obstacles were considered such\nformidable impediments as to suggest the construction of a canal as an easier operation than\nthat of rendering the river itself navigable.\nTowards the South, a distance of nearly 17\nmiles between the lake and the Pacific, the\nterritory is occupied by a chain of mountains\nwhich, although not very elevated, would occasion works of extraordinary magnitude. It\nwould be necessary to excavate a considerable\nportion of it to a depth much greater than has\n\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0tfi APPENDIX.\nbeen hitherto customary in works of this kind,\nand for 3 J miles it would be indispensable to\nbore the mountains, and open a tunnel of sufficient dimensions to admit the large vessels\nemployed in transatlantic navigation. Besides,\non the side of the Atlantic, the port of San\nJuan de Nicaragua, into which the river San\nJuan empties itself over a bar with only three\nfeet of water upon it, now only affords anchorage for a few vessels drawing 10 feet\nof water; and could not be formed into a harbour for large ships, except at an enormous\nexpense ; and the Port of St. John, Souths on\nthe Pacific side, is not adequate from its small\ndimensions for large shipping, as its access is\ndifficult, if not impossible, when the North\nand North-east winds, which are common, prevail.\"* I\nThese are grave objections, and, in cur\nopinion, which is also confirmed by other authorities, fatal to the scheme of the Prince;\nnevertheless, we shall lay the whole of it before\n\"V\n*Vide An account of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec\nby Don Jose de Garay. APPENDIX.\nthe public, so that they may be able to judge\nfor themselves, premising that the surveys of\nSignior de Moro confirm those of Bailey and\nothers.\nThe estimated cost of the works is as\nfollows\u2014\nWorks on the river San Juan\n\u201e Tipitapa\nThe Isthmus of Bealego\nAt the extreme ports -\nPurchase of tools, engines, waggons\nOther works -\nCasual expenses and reserved fund\n99\n\u00a3860,808\n318,760\n2,157,445\n80,000\n120,000\n80,000\n399,987\n\u00a34,000,000\nIlh!\nAfter specifying the immense advantages\nthat must accrue to commerce by opening a\ncanal from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as it\nwould shorten the voyage from Europe to the\nwester coast of American 2,846 miles, and\nsave, on an average, forty-eight days, he estimates his revenue upon the following data.\nWm\nBtiSUBa Of the 1,203,762 tons, which the commerce\nof the leading maritime nations measured in\n1841. he assumes that 700,000 tons at least\nhave doubled Cape Horn; in addition, he\ncalculates upon an augmentation of 200,000\ntons by the impulse that would be given to\nthe enterprize of the world\u2014\n600,000 tons at 10s. \u00a3300,000\n300,000\n300,300\nYearly revenue of the canal \u00a3600,000\nEn.\nor 12 per cent upon the capital employed,\nafter deducting 2 per cent., for repairs, and\n1 per cent, for sinking-fund.\nThe difference of tollage of ten shillings\nper ton would be charged to the ships of the\nUnited States, as they would gain double, their\nvoyage being shortened by two months; but\nhow long Jonathan would submit to such a\ndifferential item, the Prince does not consider\nit worth while to consider. \n394\nAPPENDIX.\nThe economy to the ship- owner he estimates\nthus\u2014\nIn the maintenance of the crew\nInterest at 1| per cent, on the value of\nthe cargo, supposed to be worth\n\u00a34,000 -\nInterest at 1 per cent, on the value of\nthe ship, valued at \u00a33,000\nB eduction of insurance at 1 per cent.\n\u00a3120\n60\n36\n76\nTotal saving \u00a3292\nEqual to a saving of 195. Id. per ton.\nThe following calculations of time required\nfor voyages to different points on the globe,\nwill be read with interest, whether the project\nof the Prince be carried out or not, and clearly\nindicate the importance of piercing the Isthmus\nat one point or other. APPENDIX.\n397\nFor reasons stated in a preceding chapter\nwe consider the project for the Tehuantepec\nroute, greatly preferable to that of' Nicaragua,\nas it will secure the same advantages to commerce, and will be much easier of being carried\ninto effect. CHAPTER IX.\nSHORTEST ROUTE ACROSS THE ISTHMUS OF\nPANAMA.\nThe following details from a traveller who has\nrecently crossed the Isthmus, and upon whom\nevery reliance may be placed, will be read\nwith interest at the present moment: \u2014\nf* The route across the Isthmus from\nPanama to Chagres is perfectly easy at almost\nall seasons of the year, and may be accomplished in about 28 or 30 hours, with due\ndiligence and energy on the part of the\ntraveller. The land-portion of the journey is APPENDIX.\n399\nabout 21 miles, from Panama to Cruces; the\nremainder is effected by means of the river\nChagrcs, which is navigable for small boats at\nall seasons, and admits even heavy-weighted\nCanoes to sail on its bosom for a considerable\nportion of the year, The best route to take\nfrom Panama is to Grorgona, and not Cruces,\nas the road, except in the rainy season, is more\neasily traversed by the mules; while the\nlatter is stony and in a roughly broken-up\ncondition. The Cruces' road, as its condition\nclearly indicates\u2014excellent materials lying scattered about in almost every direction shewing\nthat it must have been expensively constructed\u2014\nWas the old route of the Spaniards, before the\ncolonies were separated from the mother\ncountry, and the common high-way between\nthe Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Indeed, the\njealousy of that secret and selfish government\nwas ever opposed to a free and open communication across the Isthmus, from an apprehension that its influence would be lessened, and\nthat the needy and prying foreigner would\nacquire too large an insight into the richly-\nproductive power of its possessions. The instructions of the mother country to her viceroys\n\/ APPENDIX.\nin America were highly characteristic of this\nfeeling, as we may learn from Alcedo,* who\ninforms us that the kings of Spain itnerdicted,\non pain of death, the opening of the two\noceans. \" En tiempo de Felipe 2nd,\" he says,\njjjj se projecto cortarlo, y communicar los dos\nmares por medio de un canal, y a este!Fefecto\nse enviaron para reconocerlo dos Ingenieros\nFlamencos; pero encontraron diflcultades in-\nsuperables, y el consejo de Indias represent 6\nlos perjuicios que de ello se seguirian a la\nmonarquia, por cuyd razon mando aquel\nMonarca que nadie prospusiese 6 tratare de\nello en adelanto, pena de la vida.\"\nThe road branches off about three leagues\nfrom Panama, to the right towards Cruces,\nand to the left towards Gorgona. Before you\nreach this point you lose sight of the Pacific,\nwhich lies spread out before you with its indented shores, its islands, and its countless\nbeauties, presenting, at almost every turn of\nthe road, a fresh and enchanting landscape\nto the view. Gorgona is a small place\n* Vide, Die. Geo. Hist, de las Indias Occidentals, ad verbum Istmo. APPENDIX.\n401\ncomprising a few shabby tenements built\nprincipally of the reeds, which grow so\nabundantly and so richly throughout the Isthmus ; and the occupation of the inhabitants is\ngenerally as muleteers, store-keepers, boatmen or bagos, the remainder are employed in\nagricultural pursuits, simply to gratify their\nlimited wants. From Panama to Gorgona the\nroad is excellent in summer, or the dry season,\nbut impassable during the rainy season, which\nlasts from the end of July to the beginning of\nDecember. The distance from Gorgona to\nChagres may be accomplished in about\neighteen hours in favourable weather, that is\nwhen the currents of the river, which winds\nabout in so many directions, are not effected\nbv the winds which blow with terrific violence\nw\nduring the rainy months. The scenery on the\nbanks of the Chagres, when it flows evenly\non its course, is richly picturesque; its water\nis pellucidly clear, and you may trace the\nbottom with ease as you silently float along\nin the canoes, undisturbed by a single object,\nif you except the dip of the paddle or the\nbuzzing nuisance of musquitoes. The cost of\na journey from Panama to Chagres, with a 402\nAPPENDIX.\nmoderate allowance of baggage, is about 18\ndollars\u2014\nDollars,\nFrom Panama to Cruces or Gorgona,\nwith two mules, one for saddle, the\nother for luggage 8\nFrom Cruces to Chagres by a Cayucu 10\nTotal\n18\n1 1 t\u00ab- \\>l\nft\nThe Cayuca is a small boat or canoe which\nis the quickest conveyance for a single passenger with little luggage; but a canoe is\nnecessary if you have a large quantity of\npackages and of considerable weight. The\nlatter are conveniently built for navigating\nrivers, and are worked by negro watermen who\npaddle them along with considerable dexterity;\nsome of these canoes are laden with 60 or 80\nbales, averaging 150lbs. weight each, besides a\nbed or two, luggage for the travellers, and an\n' no o *\nawning, or toldos, made of cane and leaves, to\nkeep out the tun and rain, which adds considerably to the weight and draft of the canoe.\nThe freight of goods is about as follows:\u2014\no o APPENDIX.\n403\nDol. Rial.\nFrom Chagres to Cruces per Canoe. 1 5\nMule-hire from Cruces to Panama\n(7 leagues) 2 4\n(On each bale of 150lbs. weight) . 4 1\nWere a tram-line laid down from Gorgona,\nor better still, from Cruces to Panama, the\n76 miles, which the windings of the river, and\nthe detours of the road occasion, across the\nIsthmus, while its line measurement is only 32\nmiles, might be effected in a comparatively few\nhours, and to the immense advantage of commerce\nand civilization. One example will fully illus-\nJrate our meaning:\u2014\no\nTime required from England\nto Lima via Panama.\nEngland to Jamaica\nby Steam \u2022 . .\nJamaica to Chagres\nChagres to Panama\nPanama to Lima .\nDays.\n23\n4\n1\n9\nTotal... 37\nTime required via Cape\nHorn.\nAverage voyage\nfrom England\nto Lima via\nCape Horn .\nDeduct Panama\nRoute . . .\nDays.\n110\n37\njmmijm 404\nAPPENDIX.\nTherefore, the difference between the\ntwo routes, for travellers and light goods,\nwould be 73 days! which requires not\nsingle word of comment.\nWm\nTHE END.\nI ;\nJi \"-;\nP ","type":"literal","lang":"en"},{"value":"Other Copies: http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/oclc\/65315985","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/hasType":[{"value":"Books","type":"literal","lang":"en"},{"value":"Correspondence","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/identifier":[{"value":"F5804.1.W2","type":"literal","lang":"en"},{"value":"I-0015-II-0440","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/isShownAt":[{"value":"10.14288\/1.0222612","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/language":[{"value":"English","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/provider":[{"value":"Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/publisher":[{"value":"London : Thomas Cautley Newby","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/rights":[{"value":"Images provided for research and reference use only. 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