A Voyage to Australia and New Zealand [New Zealand sections]

John Askew

First published by Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. in 1857

Digitised and made available online by the University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services.

Epub © 2013 Early New Zealand Books Collection

ISBN 978-1-927288-12-2

[TITLE PAGE]

A VOYAGE
TO
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND

INCLUDING A
VISIT TO ADELAIDE, MELBOURNE, SYDNEY, HUNTER'S RIVER, NEWCASTLE, MAITLAND, AND AUCKLAND;

WITH
A SUMMARY
PROGRESS AND DISCOVERIES MADE IN EACH COLONY FROM ITS FOUNDING TO THE PRESENT TIME.

BY A STEERAGE PASSENGER,
JOHN ASKEW.

"ADVANCE AUSTRALIA"

LONDON:
SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & Co.
COCKERMOUTH:
D. FIDLER, 70, MAIN-STREET.
1857.

D. FIDLER, PRINTER, COCKERMOUTH.

[DEDICATION]

BY PERMISSION

MRS. BENNET KENNEDY,

DAUGHTER OF THE

Rev. JOHN WORDSWORTH,

VICAR OF BRIGHAM,

THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

BY HER VERY HUMBLE

AND OBEDIENT SERVANT,

JOHN ASKEW.

[PREFACE]

PREFACE.

Prefaces are more frequently matters of form than subjects of utility. The briefer, therefore, the better. All I deem it necessary to say is, that having been in an extraordinary manner permitted to visit Australia and New Zealand, and that at a time when the utmost excitement prevailed owing to the discovery of the Australian Gold Fields. I have published the various circumstances which came under my personal observation.

Everywhere I obtained the means of transit by self-exertion. I left home an invalid, with a faint hope of surviving the voyage; but, through the goodness of Divine Providence, I was permitted to return to my native land in perfect health.

My travels I have now placed in the hands of the public, hoping that they will deal leniently with the imperfections which must necessarily exist in a work written under such peculiar circumstances.

For much of the valuable information contained in the eighth chapter I am indebted to Mr. W. R. BIRKETT, of Workington, and Mr. J. BONWICK, of Boroondara, Victoria, both of whom have been residents in Victoria many years.

Brigham, July 1st, 1857.
JOHN ASKEW.

[CONTENTS]

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER 1.

Quitting Home – Liverpool – Scene on board the Anna – Lying in the River – -First Night on Board – Parting Scenes – Leaving Liverpool – Out at Sea – Singular Characters – Henry Howard Dodds – Praise God Cooper – Mrs. Webster – George Roberts – Mother Gibson – Thomas Wyld – Bay of Biscay – Sea-Sickness – North East Trades – Appearance of the Sea and Skies – Amusements – The Doctor – Newspaper – Smithers the Cook, his Conduct and Trial – In the Tropics – Crossing the Line – Shaving – Night Scenes in the Tropics – Night Scene in the Steerage – Death and Burial of Captain Roddy – Rounding the Cape – Amsterdam Island – Squalls and Rainbows – Cape Pigeons – Whales – Albatross – Concerts and Theatricals – Thunder Storm – Kangaroo Island – Gulf of St Vincent – Riding at Anchor – Scenes in the Gulf – End of the Voyage – Landing at Adelaide.

CHAPTER II,

Fort Adelaide.. Road to Adelaide.. Adelaide, Description of.. Domain Gold Diggers.. Marriages.. Legislative Council.. Wages and Labour.. Survey of the City.. Public Buildings.. Places of Worship.. Hotels.. Banks.. Newspapers.. North Adelaide.. Houses.. Fuel.. Gaol.. College.. Hospital.. Scenery.. Cemetery .. Police.. Water.. River Torrens.. Willunga.. Price of Provisions.. Breeds of Cattle.. Horses., Glen Osmond.. Fruits of the Colony.. Mountain Ramble.. Mount Barker.. Tatiara Country.. Gawler Town.. Auction Rooms.. Home-made Articles.. Colonial-made Articles.. Natives.. Circumcision., Social and Moral Condition of the Working People. Climate.. Diseases.. Fauna and Flora.. Advice to Intending Farmers.. Donkeys.. Stock., Carts,. Implements.. Agriculture.. Discovery of a Gold Field.. Effects of the Discovery.. Ants.. Anecdote.. Leaving Adelaide,, Port Adelaide.. Tom King.. Scenes at the Port.. Leaving the Port.. Out at Sea.

CHAPTER III.

Strong Breeze.. The Rudder Chains foul.. Cape Otway.. Sick Passenger.. Breakfast.. Appearance of the Land.. Port Philip Heads.. Appalling Night Scene.. Getting up the Anchor.. Australian Steamer.. Scenery of Hobson's Bay.. At Anchor opposite Williamstown.. Thunder Storm at Night.. Chusan Steamer.. Duke of Bedford.. Arrival at Sandridge.. Incidents on the Road to Melbourne.. Canvass Town.. Sticking in the Mud.. Lodgings.. Tankard's Temperance Hotel.. Tankard.. Tame Magpie.. Diggers.. Anecdote.. Melbourne., Description of Streets.. Nuisances.. Desperate Characters.. Dread of a Pestilence .. Mortality.. Croft the Undertaker.. A young Widow.. View of the City.. Milch Cows.. Policemen.. Yarra Yarra River.. My Lodgings.. Smither's, the Cook of the Anna.. Crew of the Anna .. Wages of Compositors.. Henry Howard Dodds.. Provisions.. Labour.. Wages.. Rents.. New Houses.. Steamers.. One-horse Carts.. Horses and Cattle.. Social and Moral Condition of the People.. Robberies.. Gold.. Flinder's Lane.. Scenes in the Theatre.. Digger's Weddings.. Fast Men.. Nuisance at my Lodgings.. Day Dream and Musings about the Future Melbourne.. Dog Fights.. Robbery at Mr, Grant's.. Nocturnal Visit of Two Robbers to my Lodgings.. Daylight Attempt to Rob in Great Collin's Street.. Condition of the Working Man.. Climate.. Advice to Emigrants.. Gold Diggings .. Leaving Melbourne.. Nuisances on the River.. Gipsy Steamer .. Shamrock Steamer.. Fight about Berths.. City of Manchester .. Sailing down the Bay.. Wreck of the Isabella Watson and Conside Steamer.. Out at Sea.. A Case of Delirium Tremens.. Sea Sickness – Irish Girl.. Gold Digger.. Black Cook.. The Irish Girl's Choice.

CHAPTER IV.

Night.. The Irish Girl.. Cumbrian Captain.. Cape Howe.. Appearance of the Country.. Monaroo Downs.. Appearance of the Sea.. A Wasterl.. Appearance of the Sky.. Black North-Easter.. Bateman's Bay.. Jervis Bay.. False Alarm.. Five Islands.. Hat Hill.. Port Hacking.. Botany Bay.. Aspect of the Shore.. Reflections.. Sydney Heads.. Light House.. Sydney Harbour.. Scenery of the Harbour.. Scene on Landing at Sydney .. My Lodgings there.. Description of Sydney.. Streets.. Dogs .. Goats.. Macquarie Street.. Evening Scenes.. Tawell's Shop and Chapel.. Fires.. Churches and Chapels.. Public Houses.. Concert Rooms.. The Theatre.. Actors and Singers.. Life in the Theatre.. Circuses.. Menagerie.. Museum of Natural History.. Public Museum.. Ryley Estate.. Omnibusses.. Handsome Widow.. Promenade.. Lovers' Walk.. Two Blind Men.. Hyde

Park.. Botanic Gardens.. Bathing Places.. Description of the Gardens.. Markets.. Labour.. Wages.. Moral Status of the Labourers.. Night Alarm.. Influenza.. Variety of Labour.. Register Offices.. Houses.. Rents.. Climate.. Old Smith.. Natives.. Currency Lasses.. Cookery.. Boating.. Fishing.. Lime Works.. Lime.. Excursion in the Harbour.. Ships.. Islands.. Native Call.. Fish.. Oysters.. Perils of Fishing,. The Shark.. Southerly-Wind.. Evening Bells.. Newspapers.. Flying Pieman. Account of Maitland.. Voyage to Newcastle.. Incidents of the Voyage.. Landing at Newcastle.. First Sight of the Hunter's River.

CHAPTER v.

Hunter's River.. Crayfish.. Lobsters.. Huts.. Farms.. English Emigrants.. Irish Emigrants.. Clearings.. Mosquito Island.. Count Hickie's Residence.. Gardens.. Fruit.. Cora.. Raymond Terrace.. Hinton.. Morpeth.. Size of the River.. Resembles the River Colne, near Uxbridge.. Natives, Scene with.. East Maitland Harvest.. Reaping.. Aspect of the Country.. The Schoolmaster, Breeds of Cattle.. Leaving Morpeth.. Sailing down the River.. At Newcastle.. Rough Sea.. Put back to Newcastle,, Landing there.. Voyage to Sydney.. Young Sailor.. Leonard Elvy.. His Family.. Great Britain Steamer.. Frightful Murder of an Old Man.. Boating Excursion.. Little Inn.. Chaffing the Currency Lasses.. Leaving Sydney.. Arrival at Newcastle.. Rogers.. Bathing House.. Mistake.. Alarming some Ladies.. Accommodence Hole.. Dreary Aspect of the Sea and Land.. Description of Newcastle.. Fitz Roy Pillar.. Nobbies.. Reef.. Pits.. Coal.. Trade.. Preserved Meat.. Wages.. Cruel ties to Convicts.. Bushranger's Revenge.. James Backhouse.. Dr. Bowker .. Scenes in Convict Life.. Reuben Page.. Polly Hyde.. Yankee Jack.. Natives.. Hannels.. Innkeepers.. Remarks about Public Houses,. Christmas Day.. Hot Wind.. Ball.. Bush on Fire.. Mosquitoes.. Chinese Coolies.. Funerals.. Joseph Spragg, his Doings.. Price of Land.. Mr. Chester's Concert., Mountebanks.. William Hyde.. Ship.. New Zealanders.. Trip to Maitland.. Scenes on the Road.. Halfway House.. Pleased Irishman.. The Last Native.. Arrival at Maitland.

CHAPTER VI,

Description of Maitland.. Scotch Burr.. Return to Newcastle,. German Lady.. William Hyde,. Putting the Cattle on Board... Price of Cattle, Sheep, and Horses.. Their Quality.. Leaving Newcastle.. Passengers.. Mrs. Applethwaite.. Captain Applethwaite.. Natives, how we got them on board.. Jackey Jackey.. Jimmey.. Anecdotes of.. Last Sight of Australia.. Watering the

Sheep.. Tempestuous Weather.. The Three Kings.. North Cape .. Ships. State of the Cattle.. Fight with a Maorie.. Bay of Islands .. Scenery of the Shores of New Zealand.. Entering into Auckland Harbour.. Appearance of Auckland.. John Wesley and other Ships.. Going Ashore.. First Night and Morning in Auckland.. Description of Auckland.. Fruit.. Dairy Produce.. Churches.. Missions.. Resemblance to Madeira.. Road Making.. Scoria.. Winyard Pier.. Burial Places.. Remembrances... Aspect of the Country.. Loweswater.. Buttermere.. Borrowdale.. Mechanics' Bay.. Maories.. Maorie War.. Sailor.. Anecdote.. Maorie Women.. German Women.. Jews.. Half casts.. Maorie Dealers.. Dock Making in Prospect.. Appearance of the Country beyond Parnell.. Night Scene.. Gentlemen's Seats.. Keswick.. Ambleside.. Mount Eden.. Parnell.. Brandling Gill.. Mr. Churton.. Baseness.. Native Girls.. St. Michael.. Going on Board.. Preparing for Home.

CHAPTER VII.

Soldiers.. Last Night in Auckland.. Passengers.. Crew.. Visitors.. Leaving Auckland.. William Hyde.. Mrs, Applethwaite.. Gastronomic Incidents.. Description of the Passengers.. Change of Weather.. Succession of Storms.. Sea-Sickness.. Soldier's Provisions.. Robert Martin.. His Death and Burial.. J. B. Smith.. Robinson.. Night and Morning.. Sufferings of the Stock.. Intense Cold.. Terriffic Storm.. Dark Nights.. Cooking the Ducks.. Rudder Chains fast during a Gale.. Awful Thunder Storm.. Auction.. Provisions.. Cabin Scene.. Preserved Meats.. Sunrises and Sunsets., Trinidada.. Flying Fish.. The Sultana Schooner .. Privations of the Soldiers.. Marlow.. Robinson.. The Azores .. Terceira.. Calling there.. Bill of Health.. Provisions.. State of the Crew from Drinking.. The Mate.. His Conduct.. Leaving Angra.. Gulf Stream.. Fair Winds.. In the Channel.. At Anchor in the Downs.. Parting Scenes.. Gale.. Sailing up the Thames .. London Dock.. Berkhampstead. Journey to Liverpool.. Home.

CHAPTER VIII.

Australia – Its extent – Bays – Deserts – Mountains – Rivers – Salt Lakes – Discovery – Colonies – Governors – Progress – New Constitution – Extension of the Franchise – Vote by Ballot – Squatting – Aborigines – Geology – Coal – Gold – Its supposed origin – Gold-bearing Rocks. Tasmania. New Zealand. Ornithology – Botany – Climate – Winds – Tides – Storms – Earthquakes-Magnetism – Explorers – their dangers.

[SUBSCRIBERS]

SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES.

Miss Burdett Coutts
W. N. Wills, Esq., (Household Words. )
EDINBURGH.
W. & R. Chambers
KENT COUNTY.
Rev. J. Dufton, Warehorne
Rectory
BIRMINGHAM.
W. Dufton, Esq., M. D.
Mr. W. W. Whitelock
BRIGHAM.
Rev. J. Wordsworth, Vicar
J, Harris, Esq., Hill
Mr. J. Gibson, Hall
.. J. H. Lowther
.. J. Nawells
.. J. Robinson
Mrs. J. Fawcett
Mr. J. Johnstone
.. J. Tolson
Miss M. Mains, Fitz Gate
Mr. W. Thompson, Parsonage
.. John Fawcett
.. J. Fawcett
.. J. Watson
.. E. Norman
.. A. Shepherd, sen.
.. A. Shepherd, jun.
.. Isaac Clark
.. Jon. Faulder, Clerk
.. W. Walker
.. B. White
.. W. Vicars
.. J. Asbridge
.. J. Harling
.. J. Allison
Miss S. Allison
Miss Nicholson
Mrs. Dixon, Scales Farm
.... Hannah Harris
Miss Robinson
Mr. W. Taylor
.. J. Graham, East House
.. T. Harrison, Ellerbeck
Miss E. Stoddart, do.
Mr. J. Routledge, do.
.. B, Stagg, Hill
.. Jonathan Mirehouse
.. W. Black, Teacher
.. J. Todhunter
.. William Stamper
.. J. Park, sen.
.. J, Park, jun.
.. W. Skelton, Bt. Cross
.. T. Bennett, do.
.. H. Willis, Stoneybeck-hall
.. E. Taylor
BROUGHTON GREAT.
Rev. J. Nadin
Mr. R. Kerruish
.. John Walker
,. John Hird
.. John Litster
.. James Atkinson
.. Roseanna Ralph
BROUGHTON LITTLE.
Miss Ruston
Mr. J. Renny
.. T. Bedelton
.. J. Lister
Sarah Chambers
Ann Taylor
Mrs. S. Rogerson
Mr. W. Beattie
.. Francis Head
.. Jon. Pearson, Linefoot

SUBSCRIBERS NAMES.

COCKERMOUTH.
Gen. Wyndham, M. P. Castle
Miss Clift [2 copies
R. Benson, Esq. St. Helen's
W. Bragg, Esq.
R. Bell Esq., M. D.
Thomas Wilson, Esq.
Rev. G. R. Hoskins, Higham
Mr. Jon. Cooper
.. E. Wilson
.. John Thwaite
.. F. Moore
.. John Wilson
.. Joseph Brown
.. John Banks
.. W. M. Lennox
.. Joseph Martin
.. T. Martin
Mrs. S. Sprott
Mr. Gibson Sprott
.. Isaac Evening
.. Henry Burns
T. Walker, Esq.
Miss Ritson
Mr. D. Rapley
.. Jas. Scott
.. J. Jenkinson, jun.
.. John Burnett
.. J. Pearson
.. Jos. Fleming
.. D. Fidler
.. F. James
.. John Fearon
.. S. Green, Green Bank
.. J. H, Watson
., John Birkett, jun.
.. Joseph Adair
.. Jos. Ramsey
.. W. Irwin
.. G. Todcastle
.. G. Hewetson
.. W. Robinson
.. W. Barker
. W. Crone, jun.
.. T. F. Taylor
.. George Sanderson.
Mr, James Dixon
.. James Bolton
.. Robert Graham
Miss Corrie, Elm Cottage
Mr. W. Ferguson
.. George Reay
.. Jonathan Cape
CARLISLE.
Messrs. J. &R. Steel, Journal Office
Mr. Perring, Patriot Office
.. Martin
.. Ellsworth
Mrs. Fisher
DONCASTER.
Rev. J Millman, Fishlane
Mrs. Ornsby
DARLINGTON.
Mr. William Beattie
Mrs. Theakson
DEAN.
Mr. J. Hewitt, Teacher
Miss B. A. Rothery
Mr. H. Hodgson
.. W. Fearon
.. R. Howe
.. W. Armstrong
Miss J. Armstrong
DEAN SCALES.
T. Benn, Esq.
Mr. John Jackson
.. J. Graham
., John Russell
DEARHAM.
Rev. James Corrie
Mrs. J. Walker
Mr. Jonathan Ostle
W. Lightfoot
J. Sherwen
W. Iredale
J. Waugh
J. Pearson
T. Craig
DOVENBY.
Mr. William Richardson

SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES.

BRIDERIRK.
Mr. A. B, Morphet
.. Jonathan Sandwith
W. U. Slack, Esq. Ann's Hill
Mr. W. Pattinson, do.
BIRKBY.
W. Ostle, Esq.
Miss Jane Scaife, Lodge
P. W. Beeby, Esq.
CROSBY.
John Currie, Esq.
Mr. Daniel Greenup
.. William Park
ELLENBOROUGH.
Mr. Henry Whinfield
STANDINGSTONE.
Mr. Richard Clark
.. Henry Nixon
TALLENTIRE.
Miss Stockdale
Mr. John Sharp
.. John Allison
.. Mason
.. John Smith
.. William Briggs
BUTTERMERE.
General Benson, Haseness (4 copies)
Mr. Pringle
CAMERTON.
Mr. John Quail
.. Hugh Cottier
CLIFTON GREAT.
Mr. W. Mason
.. W. Emerson
.. John Rothery
.. S. Sparks
Miss M. J. Percival
CLIFTON LITTLE.
Mr. Joseph Kendall
.. Thomas Wilkinson
Messrs. W. & T. Braithwaite, Bridgefoot
EAGLESFIELD.
Mr. John Robinson, Bank
Mr. W. Tiffin, Moorland close
Miss Harrison, Waterloo
Mr. John Fox
Joseph Bacon
D. Saul
William Walker
Isaac Nicholson
J. Newton
Thomas Norman
GREYSOUTHEN.
Joseph Harris, Esq.
I. Fletcher, F. R. S, Tarn-Bank
Mrs. T. Banks, Overend
Mr. J. Stephenson, do.
Miss M. A. Black
....R. Beck
....M. Simpson
....A. Sewell, Mayfield
Mr. Simpson
.. C. Hodgson
.. B. Park
.. T. Akitt
.. J. Blackburn
J. Weatherstone
.. Jos. Simpson, Sheffield
BLINDBOTHEL.
Mr. F. Norman, High-dyke
.. John Bank, Howe
Miss Nicholson, Hill
Mr. T. Briggs, Brandlingill
REDMAIN.
Miss Briggs
ARKLEBY.
Mr. Andrew Bell
ASPATRIA.
Rev. E. Salkeld,
Joseph Lucock, Esq.
Mr. Matthew Harper
GILCRUX.
Rev. J. H. WhitElock
T. Hall, Esq.
Mr. John Willis
.. W. Layfield
.. H. Fidler

SUBSCRIBERS NAMES.

MOSSER.
Mr. Thomas Hall
.. John Harrison
.. W. Alderson, Beech-hill
.. John Fearon, Sosgill
.. Jacob Fox, do.
MOCKERKIN.
William Fletcher, Esq.
John Dodgson, Esq.
Mr. John Bushby
.. Robert Bewsher
.. Isaac Fletcher
PARDSHAW.
Mr. G. M. Robinson
.. Joseph Robinson
.. John Lacklinson
.. Joseph Walker
.. W. Scott
ULLOCK.
Mr. Thomas Walker
.. William Walker
.. James Mirehouse
.. W. Harrison
Miss Atkinson
.... Sarah Walker
Mr. Gibson, Moorhouse
.. Thompson, Wyndham Cottage
.. J. Dickinson
BRANTHWAITE,
Mr William Harrison
.. James Pearson
.. William Thompson, jun.
., Henry Jameson
LOWESWATER.
Rev. J. Atkinson
Miss Skelton, Foulsyke
.. Sarah Pearson, Park
Mr. G. Mattocks, Graithwaite
.. J. Wilkinson, jun, Miresyke
.. W. Jackson, Thrush-bank
.. H. Pearson, Kirkstyle
.. J. Robinson, Kirkgate
Mrs Simpson, High Cross
Mr. R. Bell, Latterhead
Mrs. Iredale, Redhow.
Mr. J. Iredale, Thackthwaite
.. John Pattinson, Littlethwaite
WHINFELL.
Mr. W. Robinson,
.. J. Dixon, Todal
Elizabeth Allan, do.
EMBLETON.
Mr. J. Fletcher, Low Abbey
LORTON, LOW.
Mr. Joseph Martin
. Joshua Finlinson
.. Daniel Ladyman
Mrs. Churnside
.. Jane Pearson
LORTON, HIGH.
John Wilson, Esq.
Mr. Jonathan Musgrave
.. J. Jennings, jun, Tenters
SHATTON.
Rev. W. Armitstead, Lodge
Mr. Thomas Longcake
PAPCASTLE.
John Steel, Esq., M. P., Derwent Bank
Mr. Jno Harris, Wood-Bank
.. J. W Harris
.. G. Mawson, Gill-house
.. Henry Lamb
Mrs. T. Green
KESWICK.
Rev. T. D. H. Battersby
.. J. F. Crosthwaite
J. Hall, Esq., Solicitor
Miss Southey
Mr. W. Gaspey, Bookseller
.. T. Bewley, Longclose
MARYPORT.
Mr. J. Lyndall, Sec. M. C. R.
W. M. Sewell, Esq., Hayborough-house
T. Walker, Esq.
John Seymour, Esq.
Miss Asbridge
Mrs. R. Ritson, Ellen-bank

SUBSCRIBERS NAMES.

Mr. D. Stoddart, Ellen-grove
John Cockton, Druggist
H. Kenyon, Ship-broker
D. Holliday, (2 copies)
James Bookless
J. W. Sealby, Draper
SEATON.
Christopher Holliday, Esq,
Mr. John Blake
Joseph Horner
T. Jackson, Seaton Mill
J. Glover, Salmon-hall
FLIMBY.
Isabella Parkin
Mr. Thomas Ritson
Mrs. Lumsden
Mr. J. Roe
.. J. Burnett
.. H. Hartley
. T. Sanderson
.. W. Fletcher
.. T. Ellwood
Mrs. Telford
.. J. Scott
Mr. Henry Moon
.. R. Wanles
.. R. Donald
.. J. Richardson
.. J. Hodgson
WORKINGTON.
H. Curwen, Esq., Workington Hall
Charles Lamport, Esq.
Mr. P. Birch, (2 copies)
Mr. James Smith, Tailor
Miss M. Raven, Schoose
Mr. John Houston
.. John Mordy
HARRINGTON.
Mrs. B. Kennedy
.... Robinson
Messrs. Williamson & Son
Mrs. J. Gibson
....E. Thompson
Miss Moordaflf
Mrs. W. Wilson
Mr. Samuel Martin
.. John Elliot
WHITEHAVEN.
Messrs. Callander & Dixon
Mr. J. A. Shaw, (Pacquet)
Mr, W. Smith, (Herald)
.. Jonathan Porter
.. John Walker
Miss S. Boadle, Belle-house
OUGHTERSIDE.
Mr. Joseph Sim
.. J. Dand
.. T. Steel, Old-hall
.. D. Irving, do.
.. Tindall Saul
.. John Johnson, Prospect
HAYTON.
Mr. John Atkinson,
.. J. Fisher, Castle
ALLONBY.
Mrs. Williamson
PRESTON.
Mrs. J. Fearon
BOTHEL.
Miss D. Hodgson, Sail
Mr, Thomas Rooke
BOLTON.
Mr. J. Douglas, Lowhouses
.. E. Gale, Broughill
WIGTON.
Mr, John Lemon
.. Joseph Boustead
.. Henry Barron Smith, Brookfield
.. John Gate, Zion and Lamb Inn
.. Francis Backhouse
LAMPLUGH.
.. Thomas Nicholson
.. Jonathan Mirehouse
.. M. Hodgson, Armathwaite-hall
.. H. Wood, Brownrigg
.. John Brown, Armaside
.. R. Askew, Beckermont
.. James Ivinson

CHAPTER V. [Part]

...concert given in the court-house by Mr, Chester. Mrs. Chester was the principal and only female singer. She had been a professional both in London and Sydney. Mr. Chester was a clerk at a store, and had only been a short time in the city. Concerts were rare things in Newcastle; and when the night came, the house was crowded with all the fashion and beauty of the city and neighbourhood. Mr. Spragg, in order to be in full trim for the occasion, had two nights of rehearsal in his own drawing-room. A short time before the concert hour, the kitchen was turned into a green-room. I lent him a long pair of ridge-and-furrow Scotch stockings, which he drew on over white trousers and fastened at the knees with pieces of red ribbon. A loose shooting-jacket was thrown across his shoulders, and a rustic hat well floured, crowned the whole man. As a finishing-stroke, his face was coloured with rouge, and his hair was dusted with whiting. He spent an hour at this evening's toilet. His duty was to shine in the character of a country clown; and before a large glass on the chimney-piece he studied his part so well, that he was "perfect" by the time he was called upon. Mrs. Chester sung several popular songs, accompanied by the piano; Master Sydney Chester, a boy of 14 years, sung several nigger melodies; Mr. James Hannel sung an Irish song; and then came Mr. Spragg, who sung the "Country Fair."

This song elicited a hurricane of applause, which died away in the gruff sounds made by some clever imitator of a braying donkey. The whole of the proceedings passed off so well, that there was another concert on the following week, at which Mr. Spragg appeared in the same character, and Mr. Rogers, grotesquely attired, sung his usual ditty.

Some days after this, a number of mountebanks, from Maitland, paid a visit to Newcastle, and by permission, located themselves in Mrs, Croft's yard, at the end of Mr. Spragg's premises. These nimble gentry stayed four days, and were amply enriched by their visit.

One lovely evening, while standing upon the verandah, amusing myself with a telescope I held in my hand, on directing it towards the sea, I saw a fine barque rounding the Nobbies and making for the harbour. After some time I went down to the wharf. She proved to be the William Hyde, of London, and had come from Sydney to take in a cargo of cattle, sheep, and horses for Wellington, New Zealand.

I had a great desire to see the country, so I engaged a berth in the cabin, at steerage fare, £8, and mess with the steward.

The crew consisted of eleven Maories, or New Zealanders, and six Europeans, in addition to the officers. The Maories all came into the city that

night, and their singular appearance attracted much attention. They were strapping young fellows. Some grotesquely tattooed; one or two had ear-rings of a peculiar kind of shark's teeth suspended by a piece of ribbon from their ears. There were a few who were not disfigured by tatooing, and their complexions were as fair as those of our agricultural labourers. The others were of a brownish olive tinge, but none were very dark. After strolling about the place for a considerable time, they mustered in front of James Hannel's, to look at a group of black fellows and gins, who were dancing a corrobory. The gins and their lubras, however, were so lazy that neither drink, tobacco, nor money, would induce them to go through aught beyond the preliminaries of that wild pastime. No sooner had they ended, than the Maories commenced their terrible war song. Squatting themselves down, with their legs crossed in the oriental fashion, they began by making a noise not unlike the snorting of an "iron horse," heard half-a-mile off. This noise was accompanied by violent gestures, and the rapid motion of their hands through the air. As they became more excited, their eyes rolled in frenzy, and their heads turned from one side to the other. And at every turn they sent forth roars the most piercingly savage and demoniacal that I ever heard from human beings. When the song was finished, one of them went round with his

cap and made a collection. After the collection was secured, they all started to their feet, gave a tremendous yell, ran down to the ship and divided the spoil.

There were some valuable materials that evening for an ethnologist. Four, at least, out of the five different races into which Blumenbacke has divided the human family were present in the city. The Negro race, by the natives; the Malay, by the Maories; the Mongolian, by the Chinese; and the Caucassian, by the English, and other Europeans.

The William Hyde would be ready for sea in twelve days, and I determined to have another excursion up the country before I left. I decided on going to Maitland. The distance from Newcastle to that place, by road, is twenty miles, and by river forty. The fare by mail was 4s.; by steamer 4s. 6d., and 2s. from Morpeth by omnibus, in all 6s. 6d. I chose the road, and took a seat in the mail cart. It was a low square box, firmly bolted together, seated on all sides, and well-adapted in every other respect for the roads of the bush. The driver was a fine young fellow – a native, and the best whip in the colony. My fellow passengers were two Irishwomen, a little girl, and a shepherd. The latter was nearly blind with ophthalmia, and was a patient of Dr. Bowker's, who had given him little hope of recovering his sight. We started on the journey about six o'clock in the morning. The

day was exceedingly hot, and nothing but the very lightest kind of clothing could be endured. A broad brimmed white felt hat, and a loose fitting linen blouse were my dress, and the others were arrayed in the lightest manner possible. One of the women, the mother of the little girl was both good-looking and agreeable. She had also that keen natural relish for fan, so peculiar to Irish females. The other was lean and ill-favoured, and to make matters worse, not entirely sober. There was only room for three of us in the body of the cart, on account of the mail bags. so I took a seat in front, by the side of the driver, the little girl sat on my knee. These preliminaries being arranged, off we started. The cart was drawn by three horses, which for powers of endurance and swiftness could not be equalled out of New South Wales. On we went at a rapid pace, down the long straggling street, and across the green space which borders the bush. The road, for the first two miles, had many windings, and was overhung by immense gum and iron-bark trees, giant cedars, and graceful wattles.

The rapid manner in which we swept along gave to the scenery a shifting character of the most romantic and enchanting description. The driver pulled up to cut a handle for his whip, which till then he had not thought of using. Shortly after, we came upon a fine piece of road, bounded on each side by a thick forest. This road, for two miles,

was straight as an arrow. We had not gone far till we met two handsome young ladies, riding on fine-looking bay horses. One was dressed in a tight fitting linen jacket and cabbage-tree slouch, the other in a black silk visite, and bonnet and veil, of the latest fashion from Sydney. Both wore long riding-habits, made of some light material. A few minutes more brought us opposite a small clearing, with a few shed-like buildings on the far side, close to the trees, and sheltered from the fierce rays of the sun. Three or four milch cows, and a few dairy utensils stood outside the dwelling. This was Iron Bark Farm, the residence of the two young ladies we had recently met. The road now became much worse; stumps of trees, deep ruts, and other impediments, tested the skill of the driver. We nevertheless, still kept on our course at full speed, and our whip felt proud while showing his ability in steering clear of all obstacles. Now and then however, we were well jolted, despite his dexterity. On one occasion, whilst passing over a very bad piece of road, the car gave a tremendous shake, and one of the women threw her arm round my waist, to avoid being thrown upon the mail bags, I must confess that I felt uncomfortable in this ludicrous position, although some of my fellow passengers seemed highly delighted at the predicament. And, as if to add to my discomfiture, the woman every now and then gave me a hearty

squeeze, by way of reminder of her "attachment." There was, however, no shaking her off, and no help for the annoyance; for had I made the least objection, I might have fared worse. so I bore it and laughed with the rest. The pleasant prattle of the little girl on my knee, and the lovely scenery through which we were passing, made me forget my tormentor.

The purity of the atmosphere, our rapid rate of travelling, and the bright gleams of golden sunshine that streamed through openings amid the trees, the clear blue sky above, long stretches of forest expanding before us, and here and there the Hunter river, like a brilliant mirror, reflecting the loveliness of the ever-changing scenery – all tended to impart a buoyancy to the animal spirits, and produce an impression on the mind similar to that made by the perusal of the first fairy tale read in early life. Again, passing through the umbrageous parts of the forest, where lofty trees and low scrub interwoven into a thick veil that shut out the sunlight, was like reading a gloomy page in the "Pilgrim's Progress."

We came next to a steep hill, called Iron Bark Brow, at the bottom of which there is a small creek and swampy ground. The creek was crossed by a low ricketty wooden bridge. This place had been remarkable in the history of the road, for upsetting mail carts and other conveyances. Down

the hill, and across the bridge we went in a few seconds, to the foot of another brow of less elevation on the opposite side. After this ascent, the road turned to the right, and kept close to the left bank of the Hunter, as far as the eye could reach. A narrow strip of firm greensward, with the river on one side and the forest on the other, formed the road, and over it our horses bounded along at a marvellous rate. Many of the large trees we passed presented splendid specimens of the stag-horn fern, growing upon them, about fifty feet from the ground.

Iron bark huts, and other tenements, began to make their appearance, some with half-a-dozen children scampering about in the greatest glee, looking the very picture of health and contentment. We were then within the boundary of Hexham township, and in sight of the half-way house, at which we shortly after arrived. Mr. Smith, the owner of the place, and two brawny shoemakers with their leather aprons on, came out to receive us. These men had committed crimes, and were doing their lagging with Mr. Smith, who appeared to be a very humane man, and they seemed to have easy times of it. The house was a plain building, of two stories, having a kitchen and other out-offices at the rear. We entered the bar; it was presided over by Mrs. Smith, a pale looking slender Irishwoman, as agreeable in every respect as her husband.

Both of my female friends ordered a nobbler immediately as a foundation for breakfast; but I turned into the breakfast-room, and the rest soon followed. The breakfast-table was covered with a white cover, and spread over with joints of cold meat, bread, butter, cheese, and the most delicious cream, to which was added tea and coffee. The charge was 1s. Breakfast finished, the females again paid their respects to the bar, where they were joined by a tall broad-shouldered countryman of their own, a farmer in the neighbourhood. He paid particular attention to my good-looking friend, and a piece of pleasant banter passed between them that kept the place in a roar of laughter till the time for starting. This son of Erin wore a long blue coat and light fustian trousers. He was finished at the head with a large cabbage-tree hat, and at the feet by a pair of enormous brogues. His beard was long, stiff, and grizzly. When we were seated in the car, he came to shake hands with Mrs. Tierney, his lively countrywoman, and she flung her arms round his neck, and gave him a most loving salute in true Irish style. He was so much pleased with this unexpected frolic, that he doffed his hat, and threw it up in the air with gestures and a yell peculiar to excited Irishmen. Off we started, leaving him to finish his fandango, and the bystanders to recover their gravity. He scampered about in front of the house, amid the

cheers and laughter of the crowd; and the last thing we saw about the place, as it faded from our view, was the cabbage-tree hat rolling in the air, high above the top of the half-way house.

The next stoppage was at Hexham post-office. An old native, the last of his tribe, wall-eyed and nearly blind, came to the side of the mail cart, not to beg – but to speak to the driver, whom he knew. He seemed highly pleased with the little girl, and still more so when he was told she was a native like himself. His only covering was an old blanket, and in his face there was perceptible none of that low cunning, which is so peculiarly characteristic of savage tribes. On the contrary, his countenance was indicative of frankness and intelligence. His wants were abundantly supplied by a few individuals residing near the river, on whose banks he spent much of his time in basking in the sunshine. From his emaciated condition it was evident that the tide of life was ebbing fast, and that he would soon be gathered unto his people.

We took up another passenger here, a gentleman farmer, resident in Hexham, who was going to Maitland on business; and off we went again. The road passed through the principal part of Hexham. In the middle of this village there is a neat wooden chapel, and a short distance from it a small school, and about half-a-dozen houses scattered over the distance of nearly a mile among the fields. There

were grazing paddocks covered with rich herbage, fields covered with stubble, nearly a yard high, the remains of the last crop. In others, rich crops of Indian corn enlivened the scene.

Two miles from Maitland there was a lone cottage by the road side, which presented a melancholy appearance. Its owner and his family had gone to the diggings. The windows were broken, some parts of the wood-work removed, and a portion of the roof had fallen in. The little square garden plot behind was full of rank weeds, in the midst of which stood a fine peach-tree heavily laden with luscious fruit; but none felt inclined to gather them. We arrived in Maitland about noon.

CHAPTER VI.

CHAPTER VI.

Description of Maitland.. Scotch Burr.. Return to Newcastle.. German Lady.. William Hyde.. Putting the Cattle on Board.. Price of Cattle, Sheep, and Horses.. Their Quality.. Leaving Newcastle.. Passengers.. Mrs. Applethwaite.. Captain Applethwaite .. Natives, how we got them on board.. Anecdotes of.. Last Sight of Australia.. Watering the Sheep.. Tempestuous Weather.. The Three Kings.. North Cape .. Ships.. State of the Cattle.. Fight with a Maori.. Bay of Islands .. Scenery of the Shores of New Zealand.. Entering into Auckland Harbour.. Appearance of Auckland.. John Wesley and other Ships.. Going Ashore.. First Night and Morning in Auckland.. Description of Auckland.. Fruit.. Dairy Produce.. Churches.. Missions.. Resemblance to Madeira.. Road Making.. Scoria.. Winyard Pier.. Burial Places.. Remembrances... Aspect of the Country.. Loweswater.. Buttermere.. Borrowdale.. Mechanics' Bay.. Maories.. Maorie War.. Sailor.. Anecdote.. Maorie Women .. German Women.. Jews.. Half casts.. Maorie Dealers.. Dock Making in Prospect.. Appearance of the Country beyond Parnell.. Night Scene.. Gentlemen's Seats.. Keswick.. Ambleside.. Mount Eden.. Parnell.. Brandling Gill.. Mr. Churton.. Haseness.. Native Girls.. St, Michael.. Going on Board.. Preparing for Home.

MAITLAND is a town as large as Uxbridge, which it much resembles. A beautiful river the size of the Colne, meanders through it; and its sloping banks are laid out in neat parterres, well-cultivated gardens, and fruitful orchards, where flowers, and herbs, and fruit, grew in abundance.

The surrounding country, and the manner in which it was divided into fields, reminded me of Middlesex and Buckinghamshire.

All the inns, and even the small public-houses, had the chequers upon the door-posts, as may be

seen in the above-named counties. The neat little church, situate in the central part of the town, is a fac-simile of many I have seen in the south of England. The houses and shops surrounding the church called to mind the pretty village of Hillingdon, near Uxbridge. Some of the houses are of wood, rest upon wheels, and may be moved from one locality to another. The major part of the buildings are of brick, and a most irregular kind of architecture obtains.

There are many fine inns, and two or three coffee houses, where accommodation could be obtained at a reasonable rate. I went into one of the most respectable. It had a pillared front, and two projecting wings, and was only one storey high. At the entrance, placards were hung, stating the bill of fare. One of these was headed by the Australian arms, painted in water-colours, and manifesting little artistic skill, having also the motto – "Advance Australia," in large letters, on a red ribbon at the bottom. I was conducted through the place by the owner, who appeared desirous of making his customers as comfortable as possible. Some of the back rooms had been turned into shoemakers' shops to suit the requirements of some of his permanent boarders. These each paid him 14s. per week, a sum which many could earn in a single day.

There are several extensive corn mills, soaperies, tanneries and boiling-down establishments, in the

vicinity of Maitland. Great quantities of tallow are sent from here to Sydney for exportation.

Maitland has one newspaper. The Maitland Mercury, published twice every week, is well-conducted, and very popular throughout the colony. I was taken through the establishment by a brother of the editor and proprietor, with whom I became acquainted on my first visit to Maitland. The proprietor's house and the offices of the paper are under one roof, in a neat edifice, built of red brick, two storeys high, and situate in the central part of the town in the principal street. The words "Mercury Office," are painted in large black letters on a white ground, and were affixed to the eastern gable. The western end was overshadowed by a magnificent white cedar. In the rear, there is a large paddock, where Mr. Jones keeps two horses for his own use. The newspaper was printed by a Columbian press, constructed on an improved principle, and everything about the place was in first-rate order. In the clerks' office I met with a fellow Cumbrian, Mr. Carruthers, from Carlisle. He was the chief clerk; but he was then unwell, and had been at Newcastle only a few days before, consulting Dr. Bowker. It gave him much pleasure to converse with one who came from the same county in England, which he was likely never to see again. The pleasure was not one-sided.

In the afternoon I vent to Mr. Gorrick's, and booked for a seat in the mail-cart returning next morning to Newcastle. This done, I partook of some refreshment with Mr. Jones, and then strolled out through the western part of the town into the country, taking the direction of Singleton. About a mile out, I came to a neat little dairy farm, and in the barn almost adjoining the house, two men were thrashing corn with flails. This was the first time since my arrival in the colony, that I heard this familiar sound, and I could scarcely resist going into the barn to have a swing with an old acquaintance. During my stay in Sydney, several complaints among the farmers had found their way into the newspapers. The farmers of Golburn in particular, complained of the rapid spread of the Scotch burr. This weed is a great annoyance to the Australian agriculturists. Indeed, so great a pest is it, that one correspondent of the Sydney Herald stated, that some fields in Golburn had been covered to such an extent that they were nearly valueless. I made several enquiries of the farmers in Maitland, but found that although it did exist there, it had not been productive of much injury,

London and its vicinity appears to have supplied the greatest part of the population of Maitland. The Cockney idiom is to be heard in every part of the town.

There are no places of public amusement, nor free concert-rooms as in Sydney. The principal pastime among those who frequent the inns is "Judge and Jury," a sort of performance in which parties personate the various characters of judge, jury, lawyer, criminal, &c. The cases brought before these mock tribunals are mostly of such a description as renders the morality of such pastime far from commendable. Maitland is noted for its horse-races. They are held annually, and attract great numbers of people from all parts of New South Wales.

Farm labourers were much in request. Wages were high, and food cheap and abundant. There is ample room for a large population between Maitland and Morton Bay. The land for hundreds of miles round is the richest in the world, either for pasturage or agriculture. Thousands of sheep, horses and cattle roam about in the immense plain, and hundreds never return to their owners, straying into the mountainous regions of New England, they become wild, and afford sport for the Australian hunter. Many a daring sportsman and his steed have perished in this perilous chase.

The Maitland women are very pretty, the young women especially. I do not remember seeing a single face that could be called either ugly or forbidding. The entire place had a well-to-do contented like appearance. I could not help thinking

how different in that respect this fine inland town was to similar towns at home. There was not a beggar to be seen; nor were there any pitiable ballad-singers, nor tormenting music grinders. Every one who could work had plenty to do, and was well paid for doing it. Like all other towns in the colony, it had too many public-houses. These to a great extent, absorbed the savings of the working-classes, and were highly detrimental to the interests of the community.

After strolling about till nightfall, I returned to the Mercury establishment, where I remained till morning. About six o'clock, the mail cart was ready for starting. The passengers were a gold-digger and his wife, a pitman's wife, and myself, A short distance from Maitland, the driver stopped to take up another passenger, an old German lady, who lived in a neat cottage by the roadside. A little pet dog was her companion, and she detained us a quarter of an hour in making arrangements for it till her return. At length, she made her appearance, and a singular one it was. Her style of dress had been obsolete at least sixty years. She wore a light buff-coloured gown, very straight in the skirt and short in the waist, with tight-fitting sleeves, fastened by a band round the wrist. A small drab-coloured shawl, fastened in front with a gold pin, covered her shoulders. A false front of dark auburn hair, fell in ringlets over her brow.

A large Leghorn bonnet, with a light brown gauze veil attached, adorned her head. Her feet were encased in high-quartered shoes, well blackballed, and neatly fastened with black silk ribbon. Australia was the last place in the world where I would have expected to meet with such an old fashion on a living model. The old lady was highly amused when we told her that she must be a very important personage, or the royal mail would not have stayed till she supplied the wants of her dog. While we were talking, crack went the whip, and away we bounded through the mazes of the forest. After an hour's pleasant drive, we arrived at the half-way house, and partook of an excellent breakfast. The German lady was shown into a private room, upstairs; but not relishing her morning meal in that unsocial style, she speedily joined us at the public breakfast-table. Her private history was, doubtless, an interesting one, though none of her fellow-passengers knew anything of it, and on the subject she was silent; yet all might easily perceive, from her politeness and general demeanour, that she had seen better days.

When the allotted time had passed, we resumed our journey, and speedily reached the foot of Iron Bark Brow. Here we all dismounted, and walked to the top. When near the summit I turned round, and was rather surprised to see the poor old lady nearly exhausted, and only a short distance from

the base of the hill. The gold-digger and myself immediately returned to her assistance. She very good-humouredly charged us with lack of gallantry, for which we apologized as politely as possible.

We soon after passed Iron Bark Farm, got upon the good road, and in the course of half-an-hour, the Nobbies and Fitz Roy pillar made their appearance. A few minutes after we went into Newcastle full speed; and such were the excellent qualities of our horses, that they seemed almost as fresh as when they left Maitland.

The William Hyde was now ready for her cargo. The fittings for the cattle and horses in the 'tween decks were complete, and the upper deck was covered with sheep-pens, made of thin scantlings nailed to the bulwarks. The cattle were shipped first. They had been driven into a fold upon the wharf, close to the vessel. At the entrance of the fold stood a sailor, having in his hand a long pole, by which he threw a running nooze over the head of the nearest animal. The nooze was attached to a rope which run through a pulley at the end of the mainyard. As soon as the nooze was affixed, the rope was hauled taut by those on board. The animal was then dragged by the neck into the water, close to the ship, a fore leg was then thrust through the nooze to prevent strangulation. An instant after, the animal was suspended in the air, swung over the hatchway, and lowered into the

hold. The cattle were all treated in this way, and many were severely injured. The horses were similarly managed; but when each reached the water it was conveyed between two boats fastened together by a spar across their bows, so that a horse could pass between them. A pair of strong canvas stays were then drawn underneath by an iron crook. On both sides of the stays were loops through which passed the rope that connected them with the block at the mainyard. A rope also prevented the stays from slipping. Three horses, harnessed in a light wagon, to which the tackle was attached, were driven along the wharf, raising the other horse into the air, where it was allowed to remain till it ceased pawing; the rope was then loosed from the wagon, and the animal gradually lowered into the hold. Two days were occupied in putting the cattle and horses on board. A gangway was then made for the sheep, and they were all driven on board in an hour.

There were upwards of 140 cattle, between 40 and 50 horses, 700 sheep, about 30 rams, and two calves. The whole of this living cargo was from Patrick's Plains, in the neighbourhood of Singleton. The average cost of the cattle was about £5 each, and the horses £10. The most valuable amongst them cost £40. The sheep cost about 6s. each.

The cattle were a mixed lot. Brown was the prevailing colour. They were all in good condition,

and two or three of them gave a considerable supply of milk. The horses were light-limbed, none would be more than 14 hands high, and some much below that. The prevailing colours were light bay and chesnut. A beautiful chesnut horse was killed by slipping out of the stays whilst suspended from the mainyard. The sheep were of the Spanish or Merino breed, and when fat would weigh about 401bs. each; but they are more prized for fine wool than for feeding properties in New South Wales.

Large ironbound trusses of hay were lashed on each side of the poop, and stowed away in the ship. Maize and other requisites for the horses were shipped in abundance. To these were added medicines, and a stock of fresh water, and our ship was ready for sea

I took leave of my kind friends, Mr. Spragg and his wife, on the morning of the 26th of February, 1853, and went on board the William Hyde, just as she was leaving the wharf. There were five cabin-passengers, Mr. Hayward, a German, and his wife, a pretty young Englishwoman; Mr. Holstead and Mr. Trinadad, of Patrick's Plains; and Mr. Singleton, of Singleton. In addition to these were Mrs. Applethwaite, the captain's wife, a nurse and two children, one a fine girl three years old, and the other a boy about ten months.

Mrs. Applethwaite was a pretty little woman, a native of Sydney, and about 22 years of age. She had in perfection the finely chiselled features so peculiar to the women of Sydney. Her hair was dark brown, and was shaded back in luxuriant tresses, fastened behind with a plain black ribbon. She generally wore a black satin dress, and a small white collar round her neck. Her name was Lucy, and she was as amiable as beautiful. Captain Applethwaite was a stout, broad-faced, good-looking Englishman, about 30 years of age, a thorough son of the sea, as strong as two ordinary men. Mr. Holstead was a noble-looking Englishman, about 40 years of age, and stouter than the Captain. He was a veterinary surgeon at Patrick's Plains, where he had both an inn and a large farm. He had been fifteen years in the colony. Mr. Trinadad was Mrs. Applethwaite's uncle, and an extensive farmer near Singleton. Mr. Singleton was about 25 years of age, exceeding six feet in height, stout and well-proportioned. He was a horse-dealer, and had assisted in shipping the horses. He resided at the village of Singleton, a name given to it by his father, who was the first resident there and an extraordinary and daring character. Mr. Hayward had been a shopkeeper in Melbourne; but he disliked that place so much that he sold his stock-in-trade, and purchased a house in Wellington, of which he was now going to

take possession. He was fond of talking about Saxony and other parts of Germany; but his English was so bad that we understood very little of what he said, except on one subject, and that was, his love for duelling in early life. His right hand was minus the forefinger, which had been cut off in an encounter with a German student. He had a pair of beautiful duelling pistols, and a sword, which he kept for the purpose of defending his honour.

Mrs. Applethwaite's father-in-law, Mr. Holmes, of Sydney, came to see us off. He had purchased a large tract of land, which he called the Fitz Roy estate. It contained abundance of coal, limestone, and iron. He had sent some specimens of the iron to Mr. Herapath, of Bristol, to be analysed, and to Sheffield to be manufactured into knife-blades. The cutlers spoke in high terms of its excellent properties, and Mr. Herapath reported that the iron was superior in quality to any found in Europe.

The crew of the William Hyde, consisted of three able seamen, shipped at Sydney for £6 per month, two mates, and two apprentices, eleven Maories, and four Australian blacks. We had much coaxing to get the latter on board. When we lay in the harbour, we saw the tallest of them standing on the wharf, lifting his hand to his head in imitation of drinking. The other three were a considerable way off. These gestures had the

desired effect; they gradually approached the wharf and got into one of the ship's boats that was waiting for them. When they came on board, the captain told them they would get plenty of "boul," (rum) if they would consent to go and help to take care of the sheep and cattle. A black bottle of rum and water was handed to them by the steward with the cork driven in as tight as possible. They squatted down on the forecastle, and after a great effort, extracted the cork and divided the contents, chattering and laughing at each other all the while, so delighted were they with the contents of the black bottle. Mr. Holstead, who was well acquainted with their habits, said that the more difficulty there was in extracting the cork, the more highly the contents were prized.

Two of these black fellows were very interesting characters. Jackey Jackey was a servant with the unfortunate Kennedy, who perished whilst on a surveying expedition in North Australia. The description this savage gave of the death of his ill-fated master was in the highest degree poetical; but unfortunately we cannot give it in his own words. Whilst exploring a part hitherto unexplored, they were surrounded by hostile natives. One of them threw a spear at Mr. Kennedy, and wounded him so that he expired soon after. Several spears were thrown at Jackey, but he dexterously evaded them. When Mr. Kennedy fell, the hostile

natives fled. Jackey then took his dead master on his shoulders, and carried him towards the setting sun till it went down. He then in the stillness of eventide, buried him amid the sands of the desert. After a perilous journey he reached the sea-coast, hailed a vessel, and told his tale of horror to the crew. Ultimately the government erected a tablet to the memory of Mr. Kennedy, in St. James's church. They also gave Jackey a pension, a horse worth £20, and a medal with an inscription upon it, relating to his master's virtues and his own. The name of the other was Jimmey. He was a diminutive, broad-nosed, large-mouthed, curly headed fellow, with a good-humoured expression of countenance. He had been many years a servant with Mr. Holstead, who told us some very amusing anecdotes respecting him. We give one by way of illustration. On one occasion he had fitted out Jimmey with a new suit of clothes for the Maitland races. These consisted of a green Newmarket coat with bright brass buttons, a drab-coloured waistcoat, drab cord breeches, yellow top-boots, a white shirt, blue neck-cloth, and a black hat with yellow hat-band. Off went Jimmey in his new toggery to the races. Mr, Holstead followed him in an hour after, and found him capering about the course in his shirt. The other clothes had been so much admired by some of his tribe, that to please them, he divided the garments amongt them. On

the race-course, and proud of their acquisitions, might be seen Jimmey's friends; one with the hat, another with the coat – each wearing one of the items, which jointly conspired to make respectable Jimmey's outer man. Jimmey seemed to care so little about his property that he was the proudest man of the strange group; and as none of the articles wero restored, Jimmey returned in his shirt to the house of his master.

The last day in the harbour of Newcastle we spent in fishing, and relating our experience of Australian life. The harbour swarmed with fish, so that if any offal was thrown into the water it was devoured directly. We caught several fine schnapper and some salmon. On this day also, several jars of honey and other delicacies were sent to Mrs. Applethwaite by residents on the river. Old Tom Hyde, of Mosquito Island, brought us a basket of green peas.

Next day at noon, the pilot boarded us, and the anchor was weighed and the sails trimmed for sea. Half-way between the Nobbies, the wind suddenly shifted, and we were taken all aback. Down went the anchor to prevent our grounding on the reef. In a few minutes the wind changed, we tacked several times, and shivered the mainsail, as the pilot directed, till we got outside the Nobbies. There we plunged into a short jumbling sea, which made the houses of the city seem as though they

were dancing a polka. About half-a-mile from the Nobbies, a fair wind sprung up, and the pilot left us, accompanied by Mr. Dent and Mr. Holmes. The yards were then squared, and before sunset nothing could be seen in our wake but a faint glimpse of the sunny shores of Australia.

We had fine weather and fair winds for the first two days. But the air was sultry, and the vessel swarmed with flies. At meal-times they annoyed us greatly by lighting on the food, and frequently the sugar-basin was covered with a black mass of these tormentors.

Wind-sails were rigged down all the hatchways to cool the vessel. The horses and cattle were put in stalls athwart ships, with their heads towards an open space. Those that were restive were tied by strong halters to the stall posts.

On the second day came the tedious operation of watering the sheep, which was performed every alternate day during the voyage. This duty fell to the lot of the Maories, who each carried a bucket of water and a porter bottle. The bottle was filled with water, and put into the mouth of the sheep. After a sufficient quantity had been given to the animal, a piece of rope yarn was tied round its neck, to distinguish it from those not watered. There was little difficulty in getting them to take the water thus; and long before the end of the voyage they had become well-acquainted with the Maories and the black bottles.

On the third day, we had a strong breeze from the south, and a heavy sea. The vessel rolled about at a fearful rate. She was run alternately twelve hours on each tack, but we made no headway in the direction of Wellington. One or two of the sheep died every day, and one was killed every alternate day for the ship's use. When we had been eight days at sea, two of the cattle died, and a fine horse, the property of Mr. Holstead, leaped out of his stall down one of the hatchways, and was killed. The calves were drowned in a heavy wave that rolled over the forecastle into the lower hold. On the morning of the eighth day we sighted the Three Kings, some small islands to the west of North Cape, New Zealand. We passed them in the course of the day. The largest of them was covered with grass and short scrub. Here and there through the openings, we caught glimpses of lovely green valleys that would have been most welcome to our storm-tost cattle and sheep.

After passing these islands, we fell in with a strong current, which set in from the North Cape. On the water there was a distinct ripple, nearly a mile in breadth, forming a pleasing contrast to the boiling and foaming ocean on each side of it.

Early in the afternoon, we saw Cape Maria Van Dieman; and soon after a small schooner with her ensign flying, appeared to the northward. As she approached several of Marryat's signals were run

up her rigging; but the captain and officers of our vessel were too much engaged to reply. An hour after the schooner swept past our stern, and came up on the weather side within a hundred yards. Then came the exciting hail, "Ship ahoy! Where do you come from? Where are you bound to?" She was from Sydney, bound to Auckland, with passengers. Several other questions were put. The Captain of the schooner advised Captain Applethwaite to put into Auckland, as he would find as good a market for his stock there as at Wellington. As it became evident that if we beat down to Wellington with the wind against us, not more than half the stock would be living when we arrived, the captain at once directed our course to Auckland. The sheep were now sickening fast, and were mostly very lean. A space on each side of the cuddy was made into an hospital for them, and there were sometimes eighteen or twenty of them in it at once. Mrs. Applethwaite nursed them as carefully as ever Miss Nightingale nursed the wounded soldiers at Scutari; but all to no purpose, die they would and did, in spite of all her efforts to save them.

We were six days in rounding the North Cape. Three or four more of the cattle died during that time. In the course of two days more we came in sight of the opening to the Bay of Islands – a place much frequented by the whale ships that visit these seas.

Our ship was difficult to work, owing to the sheep on deck. A narrow plank on each side was laid upon the top of the sheep-pens, and on these the sailors had to walk. The Maories soon got out of humour with this state of things, and two or three of them became very unruly. One morning, Malby, the second mate, ordered one of them called Banks, to do some duty. Banks flatly refused; Malby pushed him; he then struck Malby, knocked him into one of the sheep-pens, and before he recovered himself, very much disfigured his face. The captain came out of the cabin after the scuffle, and when he saw the state of Malby's face he was so enraged, that he took a piece of wood lying near him, and struck Banks upon the head, who gave a tremendous roar, and fell amongst the sheep. This overawed the rest, there was no more trouble with any of them afterwards. The wound caused by the blow, bled profusely. I assisted Mr. Booth, the mate, to dress the wound, and fastened it up with sticking plaister, and in the course of a few days all was right again.

One of the apprentices – Ainsley, a Scotch boy, had been very ill of dysentery, from the time we left Newcastle. I was told of a cure for that disease by. Mr. Usher, a gentleman at Newcastle. The medicine consisted of the inside bark of the Australian wattle-tree. As I had provided myself with a quantity of this bark, I gave some to Ainsley,

told him to steep it in a pint of warm milk, and then drink the milk. The first dose effected a cure. The medicinal properties of this bark are well known by the natives of Australia.

I frequently went into the forecastle to see the Maories dine. None of them had arrived at a state of civilization requiring a plate, knife, fork, or spoon to eat with. Their meal, whether it consisted of boiled pork and pea-soup, or boiled beef and rice, was handed to them in a large kit. They then squatted themselves round it on the floor, each seized the kit with one hand, and dipping the other into the mess, put fistful after fistful into their mouths with astonishing rapidity. What a group of beauties they were before the meal was finished, may easily be imagined. No matter how hot the mess was, it was speedily despatched with their naked hands.

There were two or three droll characters among them. One named Henry, always made a prayer over the dead cattle, and when one was thrown overboard, he would cry out – "A fair wind tomorrow." He would sometimes walk the poop, and imitate the captain in command. Another, called Jackey, often gave rehearsals of cabin scenes, to the great amusement of the other Maories and the sailors. All the Maories had English names, except Pepui.

The winds were variable, and it was many days before we got much from the Bay of Islands. The

weather, however, was charming, we stood near the land towards evening, to catch the shore breeze, which was a leading wind for us during the night, we were sometimes within half-a-mile of the beach, and we could see the smoke arising from the Maorie fires, a short distance into the interior. The sunsets and sunrises were very beautiful. The sea was studded with rocks, some rising forty and fifty feet out of the water. Sometimes we came opposite a green valley, and gentle rising hills covered with the magnificient kaurie-tree. At others we were sailing along a dark rock-bound coast, with frowning precipices, having caves and grottos fantastically carved by the action of the sea. One could not help thinking of Captain Cook, and the early navigators of these seas. How anxious must have been their night watches: and how necessary it was for them to keep sounding, to avoid the dangers that beset them.

Mr. Hayward, on one or two occasions, took some of the rocks for full rigged ships, or "full ships," as he called them. When we were tacking about, and making little headway, he would look over the side of the ship, and exclaim. "Oh, mine got, this is the mis-e-r-a-b-le." We saw the schooner several times between us and the land, as we gradually approached the neighbourhood of Auckland.

On the 18th of March we sighted the Great Barrier Island. The next morning we were opposite

to it, and the wind shifted to the north, but remained light during the whole day. Towards night the breeze began to freshen, and we went along at a rapid rate. Soon after sunset we passed a low rock to the north of Kiahow. This was the only dangerous rock in our course. There was no lighthouse at the entrance of Auckland Harbour; but the captain was well acquainted with the place. About midnight we made the entrance, and before one in the morning we were safe at anchor, in the middle of the stream, opposite the Caledonian Hotel. We lost fifty sheep, eight cattle, and two horses, during the voyage. The whole of the stock was in a lean dirty state.

The next day was Sunday; when light came I went upon the poop with Mr. Hayward and Holstead, to look at Auckland.

The harbour is a mile broad, and we were fully half-a-mile from the nearest houses on the beach. Mr. Hayward had an excellent glass, with which he could read the signs of the Caledonian and Victoria Hotels; and see distinctly what was going on in the city.

At the entrance of the harbour are many small fields, and two or three houses for the pilots, and the keeper of the Flagstaff. On the opposite side was a strip of macadamised road that led up into the country, past a small chapel, and a number of

neat houses. Nearer the city, on a point, several cannon were mounted to command the entrance.

The ground on which Auckland stands, rises nearly perpendicular from the harbour, in some places to the height of fifty or sixty feet. Part of this perpendicular front is composed of a brownish sandstone, others of conglomerate.

The Caledonian and Victoria Hotels stand in front of a breast-work of that description. The Caledonian suffered severely from a land-slip, some years ago.

From this front the land ascends to the height of four or five hundred feet. On the highest part of this elevation is a white windmill, conspicious from every part of the city. Two miles beyond is Mount Eden, a conical shaped hill, 1,500 feet high, covered on one side with low trees, and fern, to the summit, and on the other with fern and grass.

All the inclosures were covered with verdure. The look of them was refreshing in the highest degree, after a tedious sea voyage. The captain went on shore soon after daylight, to make arrangements for landing his cargo.

A small schooner came to the entrance of the harbour, and then nearly up to where we lay; after that she again tacked and made for the entrance. To our surprise she kept sailing in that way two hours, and none of us could make out the cause. At last a boat from the shore put off to her; after-

wards we heard she had lost her anchor and cable in a gale, and was obliged to run about till she got new ones from Auckland.

The ships then lying in the harbour were, the John Wesley, missionary brig; Kestrel, brig from Melbourne; Edward, American whaler; Royal Shepherdess, St. Michael, and William Hyde, barques from London.

A short time before noon, a lighter came alongside to convey the sheep on shore, and about a hundred of them were placed in the boat, carried to the nearest point of the beach, and put ashore by two of the Maories. A number of boys aided in driving them to some green paddocks above the city. Having a great desire to see Auckland, and knowing that for some time at least, there would be no way of going ashore but by this boat, on its next approach to the vessel, I took a place amongst the sheep. On reaching the shore, I made for the Caledonian hotel. In going there, I had to scramble along a slippery footpath, overhung by long grass, the tide being too far up for me to pass by any other. The way was so steep and slippery, that I was frequently obliged to hold on by the tufts of grass to save myself from rolling over the precipice into the surges below.

When I arrived at the hotel, dinner was on the table, for which I was charged one shilling. After that I retired to a small room, and put myself

through a series of ablutions – a course which I much required after a tedious voyage.

The rest of the day I spent in conversing with Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds, the host and hostess. At night I was shown into a neat bed-room on the first floor, I lay down to rest, and was soon lulled to sleep by the gentle murmurs of the rippling wares upon the pebbly beach.

I rose early next morning, and when I looked out I almost fancied myself in one of those quiet English sea-side towns, which have listened to the winds and waves of centuries. A number of boats were lying high and dry upon the beach, where the tide had left them, and many men wearing blue jackets and sou-westers, were basking in the sunshine on the small piers running out into the harbour. There was none of that bustle and excitement which prevailed in most of the seaport towns in Australia.

The Caledonia and Victoria hotels had a homely peaceful air about them. They are both plain two story buildings, with a verandah running along the front of the upper story. Dram-drinking is conducted in a more comfortable way here than in most of our public-houses at home; seats are placed in the bars for those who pay their devotion to Bacchus. Dram-drinking is one of the greatest evils in the colony. A good breakfast, dinner, or supper could be had in either place for 1s., and

board and lodgings for 12s. per week. In some parts of the city these could be had as low as 10s. per week.

The wages for joiners, masons, brickmakers, shoemakers, and tailors, were from £2 to £3 per week. Carpenters, and those engaged in loading and discharging ships, were earning from £3 to £4 per week. Farm-labourers, and those employed on the roads and public works, were receiving from £1 10s. to £2 per week. The 21b. loaf cost 6d.; butcher's meat, including mutton, beef, and pork, from 6d. to 8d. per lb.; potatoes were a halfpenny per lb.; cabbages, turnips, radishes, onions, pumpkins, and other kinds of garden produce were cheap and plentiful. There was plenty of employment, and a great demand for all kinds of labour.

There had been a great drain on the labour market for the gold-fields of Victoria, and other parts of Australia. In wandering through the place I saw many empty shops and houses, having "To Let" in the windows. Numbers of the small tradesmen had gone to try their fortunes in Melbourne. Most of the shops could be rented for 3s. or 4s. per week, and the houses for 2s. 6d. and 3s.; such places would have cost 10s. or 12s. per week in Sydney, Newcastle, or Maitland.

Auckland stands upon several small hills, and has a brook of clear water running through some of the valleys lying between. There are no large

trees near the city. The uninclosed portions of ground are covered by a low dark-green scrub, somewhat resembling the heather in appearance and the rosemary in fragrance. The brooks in the neighbourhood abound with the finest water-cresses.

One of the principal streets, Story-street, runs nearly parallel with the perpendicular breast-work of the harbour, and has a gradual ascent for about a quarter of a mile from the Victoria hotel to its other extremity near St. Paul's church. Half way up this street, on the right, is the Exchange hotel, the principal one in the place. It is a wooden building, having a narrow front, and no pretensions to elegant architecture. Its premises are extensive, and many of its rooms are fitted up with all the conveniences and comforts of an English hotel.

All the merchants' offices are in this street. It also contains many fine shops. In this district the Jews predominate. One of them, Mr. Levi, has a shop opposite the exchange, which contains all kinds of second-hand goods. Mr. Levi was one of the regular "old clo'" description. Any one standing a moment or two before his shop was sure to be accosted, and business matters introduced in the course of the conversation.

A little above this on the same side, is a shop for the sale of war-weapons, and other curiosities of Maorie manufacture. A museum of such commodities might be purchased there for about £3 or £4.

Some of the houses at the top of the street are perched on the edge of the perpendicular scaur which bounds the harbour, where a landslip, which is of frequent occurrence, would send them to destruction in an instant. A catastrophe of that kind happened a short distance from Auckland during the time I was there, and a family of seven persons were buried alive near Wanganouie. The house in which these unfortunate people resided stood close to the bottom of a dangerous scaur.

Several narrow streets branch from Story-street to different parts of the city. One, leading past the Victoria Hotel, is composed of small shops devoted to the sale of sailors' outfits and the fruits of the colony. In one of these shops I saw some fine apples, which in flavour were equal to any of British growth. The grapes and peaches were not equal to those in Australia.

The produce of the dairy farms in the vicinity of Auckland is excellent. The cheese is equal to our second-rate Lancashire; and the butter equal to any produced in North Britain.

Queen-street is much broader than Story-street. It passes along a valley opening into the harbour below the Victoria hotel, where it intersects the above-named street at right angles. It contains some fine shops and public-houses. Within a foot of the shops a brook runs past, which opposite every door has a bridge or crossing of planks; in

the vacant spaces where are no houses, it is left without such protection, and forms a dangerous obstacle on a dark night. Many narrow streets lead from this up the hill sides. Some are occupied by the more civilized Maories, Jews, Germans, and Tahitians. The Roman Catholics have a noble chapel and a large school in one of these streets.

St. Paul's stands on a hill at the top of Story street. It belongs to the Episcopalian or established Church. It is a plain brick building, in the form of a long square. The windows are small and lancet-shaped. The walls are supported by buttresses, and the whole of the exterior is covered with Portland cement. The interior is fitted up with low seats, in three divisions, having aisles between them. There is no gallery, nor any marks of social distinction.

The Wesleyans and Independents have fine chapels in the city. The presbyterians have also a place of worship, built of scoria, on the Parnell and Epsom road.

The Wesleyans here are numerous and influential. A short distance from Auckland, they have a large training institute or college for their preachers. Their numerous mission stations in different parts of the colony have been productive of much good; not only by converting the Maories to Christianity, but by teaching them to cultivate the ground. Some of their preachers have done wonders in this

way. Wherever a mission station is planted, the " wilderness soon blossoms like the rose. " And such is the influence that some of the preachers have over the Maorie chiefs, that they will not transact any kind of business without first consulting them. New Zealand owes much of its prosperity to the disinterested labours of the missionaries. The John Wesley was then taking in a cargo of clothes and other necessaries for the missionary stations in the Fegee Islands, All the tradesmen spoke in the highest terms of the punctual manner in which these articles were paid for.

The streets were in the same unfinished condition as those of Adelaide and Melbourne. After a wet day they were ankle-deep in mud. And the lamps of the publicans were the only lights in the streets at night.

Many of the policemen were Maories, and looked as well in their blue regimentals, and handled their, short staves with as much dignity and importance as any of their European brethren.

Colonel Wynyard, the governor, resided in a pretty wooden house, a short distance from St. Paul's Church, on the side of a gently sloping hill, at the foot of which, a fine spring of the purest water gushed forth without intermission, both summer and winter. A small jetty, erected by the Royal Sappers and Miners, runs out into the harbour from this spring, and here most of the ships lake in their supplies of water.

Beyond this are a number of lovely gardens and orchards, having footpaths winding around them which lead to pretty villas, perched on rocky eminences overlooking the harbour. A Portuguese boy, whom the captain of the St. Michael brought to Auckland from Madeira, was in raptures with the place. The first time he saw these gardens, he held up his hands, and exclaimed in the best English he was master of – "All the same as Madeira! all the same as Madeira!"

The Post-office and Government-buildings are in a short street to the right, from the top of Story-street, and there is also a fine inn called the Masonic Hotel, in this street. The Freemasons hold their meetings there. There are a number of men of that order in different parts of the colony. Beyond the Masonic hotel, on the highest ground in the city, are the Barracks, the Public Gardens and Promenade ground. The Barracks occupy a space several acres in extent, the whole of which is surrounded by a wall, twelve feet high. In the centre of the yard is a large grass plot, with gravel walks, leading to all the buildings. The situation is said to be a healthy one. The soldiers had rendered good service to the colony, by making many excellent roads. Many were then employed in breaking stones, for which labour the Government paid them extra, at the rate of 2s. per day. When the weather was favourable, the Military band played

every Thursday afternoon, in the public gardens. These gardens occupy about five acres of ground. There is a neat lodge, and a large white gate at the entrance. The fence is low, so that the whole of the gardens can be seen from the adjoining road. The old Government house, which was burned down several years ago, stood on the site now occupied by the gardens. Specimens of all the New Zealand flora, and many rare plants from different parts of the world, are to be found there.

Most of the houses in the city are built of wood, and shingled, as in Australia. But many of the warehouses and stores are of scoria. The Roman Catholic Chapel, and the Barracks, are of that material. Most of the large shops, brokers' offices, and some of the public-houses, are of brick.

Scoria is a dark porous stone, found in great abundance upon the land, at the base of Mount Eden, and scattered here and there over the surface of the whole Island. It makes excellent roads, and fences, and is much used for that purpose. It is much easier to break than limestone, or the hard boulders, used for road-making in England. It soon beds, and being porous, all the surface water drains off, leaving the road dry and firm. A road well made of this material, is very durable. Scoria is not so well adapted for building purposes. If the walls are not made unusually thick, the water penetrates the pores of the stone, and renders the interior of the dwellings damp and unhealthy.

There are no wharfs in the harbour. The only attempt made at anything of the kind was the Wynyard Pier, which forms a continuation of Queen-street, and projects about 150 yards into the harbour. Only the small vessels can come up to it, even at high water. It was made of upright posts fastened together by crossbeams. These beams met the posts at right angles; and the importance of the triangle in keeping the fabric in form, by diagonal braces, was evidently overlooked or unknown. The framework was planked along the inside, and filled in with brushwood and earth. No provision had been made for the drainage of the surface water, and the result of such negligence was – the swelling of the inner material, the bursting of the planks encasing it, and rapid decay and dilapidation on all sides. The boats from the ships made a convenience of it to land at, but it was one of the most awkward places imaginable, even for that purpose. The planking intended for the roadway was piled up here and there in such confusion that a stranger was in danger of breaking either neck or legs in passing over them. In some places the earth was several feet below the crossbeams, so that a person, to get on comfortably, was obliged to step from one to the other. Yet this work, I was told, cost £7,000. In consequence of this want of wharfage, all vessels are obliged to lay at anchor in the middle of the harbour, and are

loaded and discharged through the mediumn of lighters.

Beyond the Wynyard pier, to the left, is a fine sandy beach, on which vessels are run up and repaired. Upon it were erected extensive docks, where several small brigs and schooners were being built. A long range of sheds and dwellings for those employed, stand along the margin of the beach. I saw many Maories sawing away at large Kaurie-trees, which they were cutting up in a workmanlike manner. The use of the two-foot rule, compasses, and chalk-line, seemed to be thoroughly understood by the greater part of them. They were dressed, carpenter fashion, in fustian jackets and trousers, and striped shirts.

Amongst the timber of the dock-yard, I saw some trees which only the province of Auckland can produce. They exceeded eighty feet in length, were more than two feet square, and straight as an arrow. Numbers of short logs were lying about of much greater girth than any of the largest Canadian timber sold in England. The Kaurie wood is much firmer than the latter, although it is quite as easy to work. When planed, it is of a pretty yellow colour. It is also very durable, and most of the houses in Auckland are built with it. An extensive forest of these magnificent pines is one of the most imposing sights that can present itself. The kaurie discharges large quantities of

gum, which is used for varnish, and now forms an important article in the export trade of the colony.

After I had been round the city, I took a ramble into the country. My first excursion was up Queen-street, past the windmill, and along part of the country west of Mount Eden. All the land to the north-west, where Queen-street terminates, is of a wild moor-like description, composed of a stiff whitish clay, suitable for brickmaking. Several brick-works were in operation upon different parts of it. And a number of good brick houses stand here and there along the sides of the road.

Beyond this, to the west, are large inclosures, set apart for grazing and hay-ground, and many corn fields. The soil, which was once covered with fern and scrub, is well adapted for growing wheat; but it is considered inferior in quality to the scoria clearings. The fencing and clearing of fern land costs about £5 per acre; scoria, £6. The soil of the scoria is a rich dark loam, easy to break up, and well adapted for either wheat, barley, or potatoes. Oats grow better on fern land, which is principally composed of a firm brown loam, not easily exhausted by successive crops. The scoria land, after clearing, is sometimes sown with grass seeds, and in the course of a few months becomes an excellent pasturage. I saw wheat grown on both lands. It was of good quality, but much inferior to the produce of Adelaide; about equal to

the best grown in the North of England. The yield per acre was from twelve to fifteen Carlisle bushels.

Beyond the windmill, to the south, are the cemeteries of the city. That of the Roman Catholics is distinguished by a large wooden cross, painted white. There was neither grass nor flowers upon any of the graves. The soil was a stiff wet clay, destitute of vegetation, and enclosed within a low wall of scoria, It had a most dreary aspect. On the Other side of the road is the burial-place of the Protestants, of all denominations. All the graves were covered with long grass and fern. The ground had a gentle slope towards a winding brook which murmured sweetly past. There were several neat monuments, with marble tablets. Altogether, the place had a solemn and melancholy air, which much reminded me of the peaceful resting-place of the Friends in the old country.

On leaving these I came to a high fence of whins, so thick as to be alike impervious to rain or sunshine. This to me turned out advantageously, for I was suddenly compelled to seek its welcome shelter from the passing shower. The scene before me was rendered much more home-like by the pelting rain, swept across the country in long undulating streams by a strong breeze which smote fiercely upon the furze, and brought forcibly to my recollection many pleasing memories of country

life, when during the harvest-time I and my fellow reapers had similarly sought a shelter beneath the neatly-trimmed hedgerows of England, from the drenching rain of the appalling thunder-storm.

The climate of New Zealand is more temperate than that of Australia. The winter is never so cold as in the British Isles. Nor is the summer so intensely hot as in Australia; for owing to the refreshing breezes from the sea the atmosphere is kept at a comfortable temperature. Auckland is visited with high winds during the whole year.

In rambling through the country there is nothing to dread from snakes or other venomous reptiles. There is said to be a large spider of a dangerous kind existing amongst the scoria; but it is invisible like the fabled Bunyp of Australia, for I not only never saw one, but I never met with an individual who had. A pretty green lizard may sometimes be observed running across the bypaths in the more retired parts of the country; but it is very timid and seldom approaches a human habitation.

On leaving the hedge, I turned to the left, up a narrow road which wound its way past some farms, to the foot of Mount Eden. This part of the country bears a striking resemblance to some parts of Cumberland. so much so, that it was like taking a ramble through Loweswater and Buttermere. The snug farm-houses, with clusters of trees before them, and the small green croft, enclosed within

scoria walls, that seemed to have stood for centuries, like the mountain walls of the Lake district, heightened the allusion. Many of the farmers were ploughing with two horses yoked as in Cumberland. And every now and then, milk-boys who had been at Auckland went jogging past on their ponies, with their empty kegs behind them. The smell of the fern and the white clover I trod upon, the beaten path made by the horses' feet, the narrow strip of grass between it and the wheel-ruts, – all reminded me so much of our mountain land and mountain roads, that I almost fancied myself in Borrowdale or the vale of Lorton.

On passing a small farm, I heard the sounds of the flail, and on approaching the barn, I met the farmer, who had been thrashing. We had a most agreeable conversation, in the course of which he gave me a slight sketch of his history. He was a Cornishman, and had been a long time in the colony. I examined carefully the grain which was scattered on the barn floor, and was rather surprised to find it inferior to that grown on the moor lands of Cumberland. He assured me that it was a bad sample.

An extensive view of the country can be had from Mount Eden, but I was wearied, and it was too far advanced in the evening to make the ascent. When I came in sight of Auckland, the lengthening shadows of evening gave it a pleasing

appearance. The houses looked clean and white. The sky was clear and cloudless, and the atmosphere unpolluted by smoke. The waters of the harbour were motionless, and bore a striking resemblance to Loweswater Lake, as it bursts suddenly into view at the turn of Mosser Fell, on a sunny summer's day. It was nearly dark when I got back to the hotel, where I dispatched an excellent supper, with a relish known only to those who have breathed the pure air and enjoyed the pleasure of rambling among the beautiful scenery of New Zealand.

My next excursion was through Parnell and Epsom, to the east of Mount Eden, in the direction of Wanganouie. The road into this part of the country, passes the public gardens and the Presbyterian chapel; winds round the bottom of a hill, turns to the right, and makes a fine circular sweep round the top of Mechanics' Bay.

This bay, which forms part of the harbour, is one of the most interesting places near Auckland. The Maories bring all their produce there for sale. In fact it is their market, and the shopkeepers and others who deal with them go there to make their purchases.

I have seen fifty large canoes drawn up on the beach, some laden with potatoes, others with corn and pigs, and a few of the smaller ones with fish and firewood. These were accompanied by two or three hundred Maories of both sexes.

A square of wooden houses by the roadside contained store-rooms for their produce, more especially for such as might soon be injured from exposure. The Maories seldom live in houses during their stay at the bay. The greatest part of them dwell in canvass tents, made after a peculiar fashion, with two poles about fifteen feet in length. These are fastened together at the ends with a strong rope. The other ends are separated to a suitable angle for the entrance. The two ends fastened together rest upon the ground, and the other two are elevated to a convenient height by upright posts. Over these a strong canvass covering is spread, and fastened to the ground with pegs, ropes, &c. Cooking utensils, bedding, boxes, or furniture belonging to the family are generally stowed away in the rear of the tent. A fire to cook with is kept burning during the daytime in front of each, and if the weather be cold, through the night also.

The scenes produced by the Maories grouped in front of their tents, are picturesque in the highest degree. Most of the traders, the men especially, are dressed in the costume of their forefathers, as described by Captain Cook, i. e. a mat made of native flax, with a hole for one arm to pass through near the top edge. The right arm is thrust through this, and the mat drawn over the shoulder is fastened under the left arm, leaving the left

shoulder exposed. The mat reaches nearly to the knee, and is frequently fastened round the waist by a belt of the same material. In warm weather it is allowed to hang loosely round the body. The common mats can be bought in Auckland for 2s.; but those of elaborate workmanship and more costly materials, cannot be purchased under £3.

Some of the men are tattooed upon the legs, and resemble the pictures of Greek and Roman soldiers. Many of those I saw at the bay were noble-looking fellows, with well proportioned limbs, broad chests, and countenances decidedly benevolent in aspect. Many of the faces, among the men, were of a Jewish cast – viewed in profile especially. And some had as fair complexions as many of the Jews in Auckland. Their average height is from five feet six to five feet ten inches. The largest man I saw was a chief; he was under six feet, and might weigh sixteen stones.

Much has been said respecting their powers of endurance, and being more than a match for the British soldiers in the Maorie war. All, however, who have seen the British soldier or sailor, and the Maorie pitted together, in a hand-to-hand fight, speak otherwise: the Maorie is greatly inferior in point of strength, and much deficient in pluck to either.

This has often been exemplified by rowing matches with the sailors, in Auckland harbour. If

the sailors got a-head in the least, the Maories lost heart, and ceased to contest; but if allowed to keep a little before, they would pull away at a tremendous rate.

A sergeant of the 58th regiment told me he was an eye-witness of one of the most desperate hand to hand encounters that occurred during the Maori war. A sailor belonging to H. M. Steamer, Rattle-snake went ashore in a boat in company with several of the crew. The boat landed near a pah, or Maorie encampment. Without being aware of his nearness to the enemy, one of the tars, more daring than the rest, wandered a short distance inland. When he was considerably in advance of his companions, three Maories who lay in ambush rushed upon him. They were armed to the teeth, having spears, clubs, and muskets. Jack was also armed; his weapons were a musket and a harpoon. The first Maorie that approached was transfixed with the harpoon and pinned to the ground. The next was shot dead; and the brains of the third were dashed out with the butt-end of the musket. This was the work of a few minutes. The Sergeant saw the whole affair whilst coming up with the foraging party to assist Jack and disperse the Maorie encampment.

They are, however, a highly interesting people, and very hospitable to strangers. On passing their tents, I was saluted with "taner, ake-kouie," (good

morning) by the men. The women addressed me by gestures and most bewitching smiles. Most of the females are very pretty, and the style of dress much enhances their beauty. Their chief costume hangs loose, after the fashion of a gentleman's dressing gown, and is fastened at the waist with a belt. The sleeves are wide, and closed at the wrist with a narrow band. Their hair, which is either dark brown or black, is put up tastefully – shaded from the middle of the forehead and well oiled. They have fine dark brown eyes, round full faces, and complexions as fair as many of our own country girls, who are much exposed to the sun, or employed to field labour. All the married women are tattooed on the under lip, half-way down the chin. The tattooing tapers up to each corner of the mouth, and forms a semicircle.

The prettiest women in or near Auckland are to be found among the Jews, Germans, and Maories. Exposure to the sun, and active employments, add much to female beauty in New Zealand. All I saw thus engaged were good looking, and some eminently beautiful.

The Auckland ladies appeared to be almost overwhelmed with ennui. There are no places of amusement; no theatres, nor exhibitions of any kind. Balls were of rare occurrence, and were mostly got up by ship-captains and held on board their vessels. The sailors, who, by the way, are

excellent judges of female beauty, declare that they never saw such a deplorable absence of good looks among English ladies of the higher class, even among the various colonies of the Pacific, as they saw at New Zealand. Jack's authority on many subjects relating to distant countries may often be called in question; but on this, his opinion is not to be disputed.

Females employed at dressmaking, and other sedentary employments, were pale looking, and had an unhealthy emaciated appearance.

The Maorie girls are fond of pink robes; but the women who have children generally wear dark coloured prints. Many Englishmen in Auckland have Maories for wives, and good ones some of them make. I knew one who kept her house and children as clean and tidy as any Englishman could desire. She was a pretty woman, and devoted to her husband.

The children who are the produce of these marriages are proud of their origin. When asked if they are Maories, they will look up with an air of superiority and say, – "No, Sir, I am a half-cast; my father is an Englishman." And often have I thought while conversing with the descendant of an untutored savage, and my own countrymen, that it was something to be an Englishman.

On a Sunday forenoon I have seen Maorie girls, who have been converted to Christianity, coming

from the country to their respective places of worship, mounted on horses, and dressed in riding habits, hats and veils, in imitation of the English ladies, and their husbands or brothers walking by their side, in black cloth, made after the newest fashion. They did not, however, seem to be good equestrians, for I never saw them on horseback, without a man holding the bridle, and walking alongside.

Some of the young men make good house servants and excellent waiters at hotels. P. Berry, Esq., the sheriff of New Zealand, had one called Nichol, who had been with him nine years, and was a fine-looking, clean, active young fellow. I once heard Mr. Berry describe the parting scene between himself and Nichol, when about to leave Auckland for home. They stood on Wynyard pier – master and servant looked at each other – neither could speak for several minutes. At length, Nichol offered Mr. Berry all his wages, as a token of gratitude, and burst into tears. His master kindly refused the money, was much affected, and endeavoured to induce Nichol to accompany him to England, but in that he failed. Nichol, though he liked his master more than money, loved Auckland or some dark-eyed Maorie maiden more than either, so they "parted in silence and tears."

Beyond the market-square, close to the road, are two neat shops, where Maorie clothing of all

descriptions is sold. The Maories are fond of red and blue blankets, and red handkerchiefs.

A short distance beyond the shops is a manufactory for making ropes from the native flax. A long shed in which these are made runs along the side of a brook, about 150 yards up the valley.

On the Queen's birthday, the Maories muster in great numbers from all parts of the country, and hold monster tea-meetings in this shed. They take great interest in celebrating the anniversary of Victoria.

It is exceedingly amusing to deal with them. They are very suspicious of being cheated, and well acquainted with the meaning of the word gammon, which they often repeat, if any attempt is made to lower the price of their commodities. Many of them do not understand the relation sixpence bears to a shilling. And there are others who will take no copper, not being acquainted with its value. The pound sterling, crown, half-crown, and shilling they nearly all know the worth of. The shilling they call "one herring;" the sixpence "ek a penny." Those who know what relation a penny bears to sixpence or a shilling, add the coppers to make these, by saying "ek a penny, one penny," for sevenpence. "Eik a penny," for eight-pence, and so on. The "herring," for shilling, is doubtless derived, like many other of their slang words, from the sailors, and others settled in the

island from the metropolis. I often purchased potatoes, firewood, and sometimes onions of them. When a great number came to the bay, and there was a large quantity of potatoes in the market, I have bought a kit containing 28lbs, avoirdupois for one shilling. Onions at one penny per lb.; and firewood at eight shillings per ton. Cabbages, carrots, parsnips, turnips, and pumpkins were sometimes in such abundance as to be had almost for nothing. I have seen large kits of cabbages sold for sixpence. The kits are made of native flax. They have two handles or loops to lift them by. They are the same in shape as those used by the carpenters, and some are as well made. The potatoes are neatly packed with fern leaves, and the kit firmly fastened up with a piece of strong flax. In quality, they are much superior to any of our home produce. They have darkish coloured, thin skins, and when cooked are mealy, and have a good flavour. They had been slightly affected by a disease, similar to that which still prevails at home; but it had entirely disappeared from every part of the province of Auckland.

Fat pigs, weighing about 2001bs. (sinking the offal), could be bought of the Maories for £2 10s. It was quite an amusing occurrence to stand by them when the butchers of the Bay came near to purchase. To the question, "What will you take for the pig?" they generally replied – "Three

pounds ten herring, or two pounds ten herring." If the purchaser tried to lower the price, "Kanhowrie" (cannot) was the reply of the Maorie. If he was disposed to give all they asked, "Kaupie" (very good) was the response, and the business was soon transacted. The Maories pay much attention to pig breeding, I was told by one who had lived amongst them, that the "wyenas" (women) who had children at the breast, frequently fed the sickly ones with their own milk.

A gentleman living at Parnell, who was acquainted with engineering, &c., pointed out to me the facilities afforded by Mechanics' Bay for the construction of a wet-dock. This might be done by erecting a strong sea-wall across the entrance, and deepening it a few feet towards the top. One part of his plan was, to connect the two hills at the top of the bay by means of a viaduct, under the arches which would be erected, warehouses, &c. On the roadway of the viaduct, he would have a steam engine and a crane to move on rails. Such an undertaking would doubtless much increase the commerce of the port, wild as the scheme may appear to some who know the harbour. Certainly, it would have been much better if the money had been expended this way than on Wynyard Pier,

On the north side of the bay is a small ship-yard, where the coasting vessels of the Maories are built and repaired. Many of the chiefs have tidy little schooners employed in the home trade.

On leaving the bay, the road crosses a small bridge which spans the brook that glides by the rope manufactory. It afterwards turns to the right and has a gradual ascent for more than a mile. To the right of the road is a large tract of unenclosed land, of a wild and moor-like appearance, covered with scrub and fern. A well beaten footpath runs through this wild, from the upper part of Parnell, down to the bay.

On the left are many pretty cottages along the roadside. The first of these is a grocer's shop, and is dignified by the name of "Parnell House." Farther up again is a butcher's shop and another grocery, kept by Mr. Walthouse. Higher still is a public-house kept by Mr. Johnson, who is the owner of some brickworks and several cottages opposite. A mile beyond these stands the beautiful residence of Colonel Hullam, surrounded by a fine plantation, neat gardens and shrubberies, all in the true English style. The house is not large; but is built in that tasteful villa style of architecture, which makes the modern residences of our country gentry so enchanting and picturesque. All the country, for miles beyond this, is divided into fields of various dimensions, surrounded by hawthorn hedges. For many miles, the road on each side is fenced by neatly trimmed hawthorn trees. The road itself is formed of scoria, and is

as good as those resting on the chalk formations of Hertford, at Berkhampstead and Tring.

This part of the country much resembles the neighbourhood of Keswick or Ambleside. Numbers of charming country residences are scattered here and there in every direction. Some seem snugly sheltered by overhanging rocks of scoria, others were perched on green hill sides, whose summits are adorned by the majestic kaurie and wild tea tree. Brooks of the purest water murmur through the fields and by the wayside. so home-like were some of these green fields that I could not resist climbing over the gates and strolling along under the shadow of the thorn fences, through which the wind sighed as pleasantly as I have heard it at Autumn-time in the green fields of home. Beyond Colonel Hullam's is a public-house, called "the George," near which are the slaughter-houses for the Auckland market.

A short distance from this, on the right, is the Government domain, a large tract of land reserved for botanical gardens. Near the domain is one of the prettiest country seats in the colony, the residence of the late sheriff of New Zealand, P. Berry, Esq. The house is one of the neatest in the province, and the adjoining grounds and gardens display an uncommon degree of taste and skill. Every advantage is taken of the admirable situation to give a pleasing variety to the scenery by

which it is surrounded. In front are crofts with hedges full of sweetbriar and wild geraniums. At the rear is a woody maze or wilderness, with a broad coach road passing through it to a large white gate, which opens into a beautiful garden, with broad walks and abundance of the choicest flowers. The kitchen garden and other conveniences are all on a most improved scale. This place was sold by Mr. Berry, a short time before he left Auckland, for £1500.

The public road before-mentioned extends through a highly cultivated district to about a mile and a half beyond "the George," where it terminates in a tract of moor land which stretches away to the south from the foot of Mount Eden. The ground near the base of the mountain is covered with huge blocks of scoria – the debris of past ages, when it was a belching volcano. The more southern parts of the island have been occasionally visited by earthquakes. The inhabitants of the lovely valley of Hut, near Wellington, greatly famed for the luxuriance of its soil, and the grandeur of its scenery, are often alarmed by these unpleasant visitations.

The tract of land stretching away from Mount Eden is as wild and dreary in aspect as Raise Moor, in the county of Westmorland. The country towards Auckland, as seen from this point, closely

resembled Grasmere and Rydal, when viewed from Wythburn.

Whilst wandering over this wilderness, I fell in with a number of young Maories, of both sexes, who had come up from the bay to sing and amuse themselves with the war-dance. They had built several huts and covered them with fern, as temporary residences. The females were engaged in paring potatoes and preparing supper. The young men were sitting in rows among the scoria and fern, about two yards apart, facing each other. Their mode of sitting is peculiar: they squat with the haunches resting upon the back of their legs, and only their feet touching the ground. In this position they will sit for hours. When they saw me, one of the tallest arose and walked slowly up and down the space that divided each row of his comrades, singing as he went, and becoming gradually more excited, till his appearance became truly terrific. In about ten minutes, his comrades were wrought up to the same state of frenzy, and suddenly springing to their feet, they bellowed forth what seemed to me a yell infernal. I am quite sure that had any person of weak nerves witnessed their frantic gestures, or heard their terrific shouts, he would have been apt to conclude they were going to pounce upon him as an accompaniment to their potatoes, But the dark day of

cannibalism has passed away, and the Maories are wiser and better than their forefathers.

During the time I remained, this wild scene was exhibited, accompanied by their most horrid yells. When I began to retrace my steps, their frenzy was on the wane, and their wild notes soon died away. On my road, I passed by several Maories, who were of the industrious class, and preferred earning money to dancing and wasting their time. They were employed in filing carts with broken stones, and conveying them to where they were required. Their wages were 2s. per day.

It was dark before I passed through Epsom and Parnell on my way back to Auckland. Lights were flickering in the windows of the dwellings. In many of the comfortable parlours I saw cheerful and contented family groups round the table containing the evening meal. Over scenes like these, I often was induced to pause, and say to myself – "How much like home!"

When I approached within sight of the bay, a most enchanting night-scene was unfolded before me. The darkness of the night, lit up by the lurid fires of the trading Maories reflected by the waters of the bay – the fantastic forms of their numerous canoes – the dark outlines of their curious tents – and the wierd look of their sombre figures, as they moved to and fro, or sat singing round the fires –

all conspired to produce an impressive spectacle of the wildest grandeur.

There is a museum near the bay. It contains numerous productions of Maorie art, and many natural curiosities found in the province. About the time of my visit, search was being made for the relics of Captain Cook and his party, which might have been left on the island. Parties having these in their possession who were desirous of parting with them, were requested to inform the authorities at the museum.

The hospital is situated on a charming and salubrious spot, only a short distance from the late residence of Mr. Berry. Heart disease is not so prevalent here as in Australia; although I met with many cases, resulting from the same cause – excess in the use of animal food and spirituous liquors. Some obstinate attacks of dysentery are frequently induced by over-indulgence in fruit. The Maories are much subject to scrofula, which breaks out on the neck. This appears to be the only disease they are troubled with, and it is quite possible it may have been contracted by their intercourse with Europeans. Captain Cook found them free from all cutaneous disorders.

Auckland has two weekly newspapers – the New Zealander and the Southern Cross. The former is the government organ, and the other the opposition. The cargo of the William Hyde was advertised in

the New Zealander, and was sold at the exchange. The average price of the horses was £22; the cattle £9; the sheep 12s. and rams 15s. The horses were lean, ill-conditioned, and seemed more fit for the knacker's yard than active service. The cattle were no bad representatives of Pharaoh's lean-favoured kine. In a short time after the sale, the change they had undergone was truly astonishing; several of the horses had altogether thrown off their gaunty appearance, and the cattle were rapidly attaining excellent condition.

At this sale I met with Mr. Holstead, who in the course of the conversation said he was much surprised to find no donkeys in Auckland. He told me that there were none in any part of New South Wales; and it was his opinion, that, any person sending a cargo of these animals from England to New Zealand or Australia, would find it a good speculation. The climate of both is well adapted to the horse species; and there is every probability that the donkey would in course of time become a much finer animal than in England. It would, at all events, be most useful, and owing to its great powers of endurance, would be of great service to the colonists in their long journeys through the bush.

Auckland, like the cities of Australia, is well stocked with public-houses. Drinking is carried on to an alarming extent amongst the operatives,

although it is conducted in a much less showy manner than in Australia. This state of things is much to be lamented, as most of the working-men might soon be independent if they were careful and sober. The publicans were liable to a penalty of £5 for selling intoxicating drinks to the Maories; but this law is almost openly violated; most of the inns have back-rooms where the Maories may be concealed, and have as much as they like. The police seldom interfere; and when they do, the matter is "hushed up" before it gets to the ears of the magistrates. On several occasions I witnessed a small room, at the rear of the Caledonian, full of Maories of both sexes, and now and then a chief amongst them, drinking and bordering on a state of intoxication. Those Maories who are addicted to the use of intoxicants soon die; and owing to this cause alone, numbers have perished in the vicinity of Auckland. Whether the race will become extinct, as many savage tribes have done, or whether they will be absorbed by intermarriage with the Europeans, are not uninteresting subjects for the Ethnological speculator.

I was so much pleased with the appearance of Parnell and Epsom, that I returned on the day following and engaged lodgings at Parnell. I paid 3s. 6d. per week for a modestly furnished room and attendance. The room was on the first-floor, in the front, and had a large window, originally intended

for a shop, but had never been so applied. The house stood by the roadside, and adjoining it was a butcher's shop. A short distance from it also stood the shops of the grocer and baker. The view from my window was of a mixed character, presenting an extensive range of heath covered with scrub, the windmill, and many pretty country villas. Not far beyond was a road to the left, leading into a beautiful valley. A brook of clear water meandered through it, from which I often obtained a welcome supply of the finest water-cresses. Its banks were fringed with wild geraniums and numerous plants of the mallow family; graceful willows and beautiful striped grasses drooped their pendent forms into the limpid waters as they rippled past.

On one side of the valley there was a brewery and many neat brick and wooden tenements, surrounded by pretty gardens. One of these, the residence of the late Mr. Churton, had a desolate appearance. The garden was overgrown with weeds. A gate, on which was a brass plate, having "Rev. I. Churton " upon it, was leaning in a dilapidated condition against the posts. The whole place seemed in mourning for its late master. Mr. Churton was a worthy minister of the established church, and his loss was deeply felt by all who knew him. He left behind him a large family.

One portion of Parnell bears a striking resemblance to Brandling Gill, the beautiful residence of Mrs. Ostle, near Cockermouth, with this difference, the hedges are full of wild geraniums, and the woods, instead of being composed of oak, with a sprinkling of firs, for the most part consist of the slender wattle and majestic kaurie-trees. The stream flowing through it abounds with water-cresses and aquatic flora of the most pleasing varieties. Across the stream, and on the other side of the valley, stands the mansion of Mr. Blackett. A thick plantation hides the rear of the house and the outbuildings. From, an elevated position the chimney-tops may be seen;: and from this stand-point the scenery around much resembles Haseness, in Buttermere, the romantic seat of General Benson.

In front of the house are extensive gardens, a small greenhouse, and vinery. The edifice is built in the Italian style, with a broad flight of steps leading to the principal entrance, where there is a terrace covered with gravel, and bordered with choice flowers. Near the foot of the steps is a sun-dial on a white pillar in the centre of a shrubbery. A high thick hedge of hawthorn and beech runs along the entire length of the gardens. A short distance from the dial is a natural doorway with an arched top. Through this is an orchard and a road leading to a wilderness, where rustic seats are placed in shady spots by the margin of a streamlet

that winds its way through the grounds to the harbour.

On the evening of this day, I left the Caledonian hotel and took possession of my new lodgings. Shortly after retiring to rest I was entertained much against my will, with a series of furious curtain lectures delivered alternately by the butcher and his wife. The subject I could not understand had I been ever so desirous; for they were Cornish people, and although their addresses to each other were conducted with extraordinary vehemence their remarks were as unintelligible to me as though they had been uttered in the New Zealand tongue. Their sleeping-room was separated from mine by a thin wooden partition; and these curtain lectures, repeated nearly every night, were rather annoying at first, but I soon got used to them, and went to sleep long before their conclusion.

Numbers of the Maorie girls came every day from the bay with potatoes, fish, and firewood. My window was sometimes completely surrounded with them. I bought all my vegetables and fuel from them. Although I always gave the price they asked, I have frequently purchased potatoes for half the price charged in Auckland market. My bargains were concluded on their part with the most bewitching smiles, and "kaupie, kaupie" ad libitum. On the average, my food cost only 7s. per week. Washing was one of the heavy items;

it cost me 3s. 6d. per dozen. Fuel was cheap; I only paid 4d. for what lasted a week.

The person with whom I lodged was a descendant of Sir Joshua Reynolds. He had been two years in the colony, and on leaving England, had taken with him a capital of £500. With this he had bought land and commenced farming; but no returns had resulted from his labours. He was then filling the humble post of tide-waiter, with the prospect of promotion. His wife was an excellent housekeeper and a most amiable and intelligent woman, and he had seen much of life in various parts of the world. But of colonial farming he unfortunately knew nothing, and the result was – failure. His experience in New Zealand agriculture was dearly purchased; but he still possessed a little property in England, which he was about to dispose of and settle down with the proceeds as a useful colonist in the vicinity of Auckland. This is no isolated case; many who have gone out to Australia and New Zealand with limited capital and romantic notions, and the worthless theories of writers biased by interest, who draw more largely from imagination than any other source.

I would urgently advise all who intend embarking capital in farming, either in Australia or New Zealand, to put their money into the bank as soon as they land, and engage themselves for twelve months with a farmer. During that time they will

acquire more practical knowledge of what is required to insure success than if they read all the books which have been written about these countries, since the days of Tasman or Captain Cook.

I remained at this place a fortnight, and then went to Auckland to take passage for the Feegee Islands, (in the John Wesley) which I had a great desire to see. On going into Brown and Campbell's office, to make enquiry respecting that business, I met with Captain Prance, of the Saint Michael, then in the harbour, bound for London, in the course of a few days, and I engaged to return home with him.

This was on Saturday evening; on the Monday following I went to the Wynyard Pier and waited till the boat returned to the vessel with provisions, and I was taken on board.

I may here mention that the operatives employed in getting us up fresh provisions were in great demand, both in Auckland and the Australian colonies. Good journeymen bakers and butchers had plenty of employment at wages of from £2 to £3 per week, with board.

I found every part of the ship in a state of confusion and disorder. The chief-mate and the steward had left during her stay at New Plymouth, and many of the crew had run away while she lay in Auckland harbour. The only person in the cabin was a Portuguese boy whom the captain had

brought from Madeira, and he was anxious for his liberty, and careless in the discharge of his duty. Mr. J. B. Smith, the mate of a Yankee whaler lying at Wanganouie, had just come on board. He was engaged by Captain Prance for the homeward voyage. He was a fine fellow, in many respects an excellent seaman, and he set to work with a will to put all things right in his department.

The cargo consisted of copper ore, wool, flax, sperm-oil, and kaurie gum. Carpenters were at work fitting up berths in the 'tween decks for twenty invalid soldiers. The berths in the cabin were engaged by first-class passengers, at the rate of £50, and upwards.

The Saint Michael was a tidy Sunderland built barque, of 377 tons burthen, flush from stem to stern, with the exception of two small houses aft, for the officers to sleep in; but these could only be tenanted in fine weather. She had a full figurehead of Saint Michael armed with a sword and shield. Her cabin was both comfortable and neatly furnished, having a sofa across one end, a table, and strong high-backed seats, firmly bolted to the deck in the middle. Underneath was the lazaret, or general store-room.

During the week previous to my departure I took many rambles into the interior of the country. The last day I went down to Mr. Blackett's to get some plants I wanted to bring home, and he kindly

permitted me to go through the whole place. The trees in the orchard were laden with fruit. Large apples, apricots, and peaches were lying upon the ground in all directions.

I wandered by the side of the stream, through the wilderness, and to the rising ground above, where I feasted my eyes with a last look of the beautiful scenery.

On the morning of the 14th of April, 1853, I took a final leave of my kind friends at Parnell, and many of the Maories at the bay, whom I had become acquainted with. I remained in Auckland a few hours, waiting for a boat from the ship, which Captain Prance had engaged, at the rate of ten shillings per day.

CHAPTER VII [Part]

CHAPTER VII.

Soldiers.. Last Night in Auckland.. Passengers.. Crew.. Visitors.. Leaving Auckland.. William Hyde.. Mrs. Applethwaite.. Gastronomic Incidents.. Description of the Passengers.. Change of Weather.. Succession of Storms.. Sea Sickness.. Soldier's Provisions.. Robert Martin.. His Death and Burial.. J. B. Smith.. Robinson.. Night and Morning.. Sufferings of the Stock.. Intense Cold.. Terrific Storm.. Dark Nights.. Cooking the Ducks.. Rudder Chains fast daring a Gale.. Awful Thunder Storm.. Auction.. Provisions.. Cabin Scene – Preserved Meats – Sunrises and Sunsets – Trinidada – Flying Fish – The Sultana Schooner – Privations of the Soldiers – Marlow.. Robinson – The Azores – Terceira – Calling there – Bill of Health – Provisions – State of the Crew from Drinking – The Mate – His Conduct – Leaving Angra.. Gulf Stream.. Fair Winds.. In the Channel.. At. Anchor in the Downs.. Parting Scenes.. Gale.. Sailing up the Thames .. London Dock.. Berkhampstead. Journey to Liverpool.. Home.

ON the morning of the 15th of April the soldiers were brought on board; eleven belonged to the 65th regiment; three to the artillery; one to the royal sappers and miners; a sergeant named Griffiths and his wife, and others, to the 58th regiment. Some of the poor fellows were sadly emaciated by rheumatism, heart disease, ophthalmia, and dysentery. Mr. Wade, the ship's surgeon on her outward voyage, was engaged to be their medical attendant. He was a native of Leeds, and although young, was accounted very skilful; he had been on board some time waiting to receive them.

At night, the principal part of the crew went on shore for the last time, and I went with them. The night was dreary, wet, and exceeding dark. The streets were ankle deep in mud; and the Maories were wandering about chanting their monotonous night songs. Groups of them were gazing into the shop windows, their appearance forming a strange contrast to the shop window admirers at home. Our party dispersed over the place to take leave of their friends. We were all to meet again on the Wynyard pier. The ship's cook and I visited several places, the last was a barber's shop in Story-street, where we parted with our superfluous locks, to be in trim for the voyage. It was midnight when we arrived at the pier, and none of our party was there. After waiting some time, we went to the Caledonian pier, and were fortunate enough in persuading a Maorie to convey us on board in a punt. He much doubted our paying him, and frequently entertained us by repeating the word "gammon," till we got to the ship. On reaching it, we each gave him a shilling, and he seemed perfectly satisfied. The night continued dark and wet, as if foreboding nights to come. We had only been on board a few minutes when the remainder of the party arrived with a good stock of spirits both in themselves and in bottles. A pint of rum (bottle included) cost 2s. 6d., and many measures of that "precious" stuff was consumed during the...

CHAPTER VIII

CHAPTER VIII.

Australia – Its extent – Bays – Deserts – Mountains – Rivers – Salt Lakes – Discovery – Colonies – Governors – Progress – New Constitutiqn – Extension of the Franchise – Vote by Ballot – Squatting – Aborigines – Geology – Coal – Gold – Its supposed origin – Gold-bearing Rocks. Tasmania. New Zealand. Ornithology – Botany – Climate – Winds – Tides – Storms – Earthquakes – Magnetism – Explorers – their dangers.

AUSTRALIA, the Southern Land, comprises the continent of New Holland, or Australia Proper, and the neighbouring island of Van Dieman's Land, or Tasmania. The several British settlements on that continent, including those in Tasmania, constitute what are termed the Australian Colonies.

This fifth division of the world is in the southern hemisphere, being nearly the antipodes of Europe. It lies south of Asia, and between Africa and South America. Western Australia is 5,000 miles east of the Cape of Good Hope. The northern part of the continent approaches the equator, being 4,000 miles to the south-east of India, and 4,000 to the; south of China. Timor, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and Singapore, in the Indian Archipelago, lie between Australia and India; New Guinea, the Spice Islands, and Phillippine Islands, lie between Australia and China; and the Polynesian or South Sea Islands, lie between Australia and America.

New Holland is an immense tract of land lying between 10 deg. and 40 deg. south latitude, and 110 deg. and 155 deg. east longitude. Its length from east to west, is 2,500 miles, and its mean breadth 1,200 miles; having an area of 3,000,000 square miles, which is fifty times that of England, and one hundred that of Scotland or Ireland.

The continent has been divided into five parts, in each of which English settlers are located. New South Wales lies between longitude 141 deg. and the Pacific, and north of the Murray river; its capital is Sydney, and this division extends over an area of 450,000 square miles. Victoria is situate south of the Murray, and east of longitude 141 deg., has Melbourne for its capital, and an area of 100,000 square miles. South Australia lies south of latitude 26 deg. and between longitude 132 deg. and 141 deg., has Adelaide for its capital, and covers an area of 300,000 square miles. Western Australia lies west of 129 deg. east longitude, has Perth for its capital, and covers an area of 1,000,000 square miles. North Australia is situate between Western Australia and the Pacific Ocean, and north of latitude 26 deg., and has an area of 1,000,000 square miles.

On the north side of New Holland is the Gulf of Carpentaria; on the west is Shark's Bay; on the south are the Australian Bight, Spencer's Gulf, St. Vincent's Gulf, Encounter Bay, Port Phillip, and Western Port; on the east are Botany Bay, Port Jackson, and Moreton Bay.

Three-fourths of the interior have been untrodden by civilized man. A great inland sea may exist. There are vast sandy deserts. No high ranges nor large rivers are known, but on the eastern side. One chain of mountains passes through the island on that side from north to south; the southern portion of this is called the Snowy Alps.

The rivers of Australia seldom run direct from their sources to the sea; they exist simply as connected water-holes, or else are absorbed in swamps and sands, or lost in some subterranean drainage. Branches frequently strike out, and after a circuitous course, again unite with the parent stream; these are called ana-branches.

An amount equal to five-sixths of the known drainage passes through one channel into the sea. The waters of the great rivers, Maranoa, Balonne, Macquarrie, Bogan, Darling, Murrumbidgee, and Lachlan, fall into the Murray, and so reach the Southern Ocean, by an outlet of less than a mile broad and six feet deep.

Many salt lakes have been discovered amidst the barren wastes of the interior. One, Lake Torrens, of a horse-shoe shape, is about 500 miles long by 20 broad. No stream is known to reach the sea along a thousand miles of the southern coast, and a similar distance along the northern.

Nothing certain was known of New Holland till the year 1605, when a Spanish ship discovered

Torres' Strait, and a Dutch vessel part of Northern Australia. A chart, bearing date 1542, shows a country south of the Spice Islands, called Great Java, supposed to be part of New Holland.

Western Australia was discovered by the Dutch in 1616; New South Wales, by Captain Cook, in 1770; Victoria, by Bass and Flinders, 1798; and South Australia, by Captain Flinders, in 1820. The aboriginal population is less than 30,000. North Australia was discovered by the Dutch and Spanish, in 1605; and in that year Torres passed through the strait bearing his name.

Each of these colonies is governed by councils, under the superintendence of a governor appointed by the Queen of England. The governor-in-chief of Australia resides in Sydney.

The colony of New South Wales was founded on January 18th, 1788. Captain Arthur Phillip arrived there in the Supply and Sirius, with 212 soldiers, 558 male prisoners, 228 female prisoners, 28 wives, and 17 children. The public stock consisted of two bulls, four cows, and seven horses. The first huts were constructed of the cabbage palm. Merino sheep were introduced by M'Arthur in 1797, and in 1810 had increased to one hundred and twenty thousand, and in 1821 to five millions. There are now (1857) ten millions of sheep, three millions of cattle, and a million of horses. The population is 300,000, out of which number Sydney

alone has 80,000. Since 1853, many of the bad streets in Sydney have been repaired; numerous old houses rebuilt; the circular quay, Sydney Cove, improved and extended; and Hyde Park greatly beautified. The revenue for 1854 was £991,683, of which £351,059 came from the land; the exports were £3,619,630, of which the wool was £1,044,000, and the gold £891,753. The export of coal from the thirteen Hunter River mines, last year, was one hundred and ninety-two thousand tons. The imports from the British colonies amounted to £545,000, against £1,624,700 exports. The public schools number four hundred and sixty, with twenty-eight thousand pupils. The railway to Paramatta is now completed.

The several governors of this colony and the dates of their arrival are as follow: – Captain Phillip, 1788; Captain Hunter, 1795; Captain King, 1800; Captain Bligh, 1806; General Lachlan Macquarrie, 1810; General Sir Thomas Brisbane, 1821; General Darling, 1825; General Sir Richard Bourke, 1831; Sir George Gipps, 1838; Sir Charles Fitzroy, 1846; Sir William Denison, 1855.

The colony of Victoria was founded in August, 1836, by Mr. John Pascoe Fawkner, who belonged to the original colony of Port Phillip, having been a lad in Governor Collins' fleet in the year 1803. Victoria was a dependency of New South Wales,

under the superintendance of Mr. Latrobe, and remained so until July, 1850, when Mr. Latrobe was declared lieutenant-governor of Victoria. In 1854, Sir Charles Hotham was appointed governor. The present governor, Sir Henry Barkly, was appointed in 1856. The gold discovery took place in July, 1851. The exports for the year amounted to £11,787,226, of which gold came to £8,770,798, and wool to £1,800,000. The imports were £17,742,996. The expenditure of the government for 1854 was £4,394,695. Gold is subject to an export duty of 2s. 6d. per ounce; and the total amount obtained during 1856 was 6,533,527 ounces, valued at £14,134,108 against 2,964,073 ounces, valued at £11,856,292 in 1855, and 2,192,699 ounces valued at £8,770,796 in 1854. The total revenue of the colony during the present year amounted to £3,346,671, or about £10 per head – an enormous ratio, and the more astonishing as it is raised without any perceptible pressure upon the people. Of this amount, the sum of £1,600,000 is raised by the customs, £90,000 from gold duty, and £750,000 from the sale of crown lands. The entire debt of the colony is £1,962,385, all of which has been expended on the erection of public works, which as necessary and permanent improvements, are most fairly made a charge upon the present and future generations. The quantity of crown land sold during the year

was 463,525 acres, realizing £738,493. The increase of the quantity of land brought into cultivation has been very great; and so much attention has recently been paid to agriculture, that the colony will soon be self-supporting, so far as the great staples of subsistence are concerned.

The population of Victoria is 310,000. That of Melbourne and its suburbs, 110,000; of this, Collinwood has 22,000, Richmond 10,000, Parham and St. Kilda 9,000, Flemington 700, Hawthorne 600, Northcote 600, Port Williamstown 4,000, Port Sandridge 5,000, and Emerald Hill (Canvass Town) between Sandridge and Melbourne, 3,000.

The number of sheep in this colony is about nine millions. The stock of the unsettled districts is – horses, twenty thousand; cattle, five hundred thousand; sheep, six millions. The exports of the produce of Victoria are, in proportion to the population, fifteen times that of the British Islands, and the government expenditure eight times as much. The revenue in September 1856, exceeded three millions.

Mails arrive at Melbourne from Sydney twice a week, and vice versa, travelling day and night. The road out of the city is metalled for a distance of twenty miles, and is in a passable state the whole way. A railway now connects Sandridge with the city and a branch from thence runs to St. Kilda. The electric telegraph has been in operation some time.

from Queen's Cliff to Melbourne, a distance of seventy miles, and another line from Geelong to Ballarat will shortly be opened; thence it will extend to Bendigo, and the various important diggings. The railway from Geelong is open for traffic half way to Melbourne; from this line a branch runs to Williamstown. The new houses of parliament are open for business, but not finished. The streets and roads are in excellent condition; gas and water have been introduced. The Tan Yean reservoir supplies the water from the Upper Plenty streams. Large tanks are placed upon pillars in different parts of the city, from which the water-carriers fill their carts. The corporation received at one time 2s. 9d per load of 100 gallons, but at present the charge is 1s. 9d. A steamer runs to and from Prince's Bridge to Richmond every half-hour; fare 6d. A theatre, estimated to hold fifteen thousand people, has been erected in Great Bourke-street; and a portion of one narrow street has been transformed into a splendid arcade. An exhibition building and several large chapels have been erected since 1853.

Education has also progressed rapidly under the fostering hand of government. In 1852 there were 54 public and 99 private schools; there were also 89 denominational, 9 national, and 17 other private schools, having 7, 850 children. In 1853, the denominational schools were 132, and the national

schools 25. In 1855, the denominational board of education had 306 schools and 16,500 children, and the national, 57 schools and 4,500 children. The sum voted for the schools in 1854, was £100,000; and in the same year the government granted the sum of £36,180, to be divided amongst various christian bodies. In 1855, the church of England had about a hundred places of worship; the Roman catholics forty-five. The church of England had 48 ministers, the Roman catholic 32, independent 15, baptist 6, united presbyterian 13, Wesleyan 17, kirk of Scotland 10, and the Scotch free church 15.

The new constitution of Victoria permits every man receiving £100 a year, either as wages or otherwise, to enter the list of electors. The diggers, by receiving a document called a "miner's right," which costs annually the sum of £1. This also secures the right to dig, and protection whilst so employed. In addition to this, the present ministry have carried a new electoral bill through the lower house of parliament, which confers the franchise on holders of real property of the value of £50, and on tenants paying a yearly rent of £5.

The electors vote by ballot. This measure was introduced by Mr. William Nicholson, a Cumbrian, who was subsequently offered the premiership. This he declined, owing to the sudden death of Sir Charles Hotham, the governor. The mode of voting

is very simple. A returning officer is chosen in the usual way, who declares the time when the poll will open. A list of electors, with ballot-papers corresponding, are placed in a public room. Each elector receives one of these ballot-papers, on which are the names of the candidates. He is then passed alone into a private room, where he may mark out the name of the candidate for whom he does not vote. The paper is subsequently folded and placed in the ballot-box. The returning officer affixes his signature to all ballot-papers, and each candidate has the privilege of appointing a scrutineer to sit beside that officer till the poll is closed. Melbourne has 8,500 electors, and amongst them the ballot system works well. At the close of the first election on this principle, so favourable was the impression generally made, that the Melbourne Punch eulogised Mr. Nicholson in the following strains: – .

"Briskly and gaily we wended home
From the scene of our present story,
To carve this tribute and pen these lines
To Nicholson's honour and glory."

Fifty-three years ago, Tuckey, the colonial historian, in recording the failure of Colonel Collins's attempt to establish a settlement on the banks of the Yarra, exclaimed – "The kangaroo seems to reign undisputed lord of the soil; a dominion which, by the evacuation of Port Phillip, he is likely to retain for ages," What a mistake! Look at Melbourne now!

The colony of South Australia was founded by Governor Hindmarch, in December, 1836. Colonel Gawler became governor in 1838; Captain Grey, in 1841; Colonel Robe, in 1845; Sir H. F. Young, in 1848; Sir E. Macdonnell, 1855.

The population is 110,000. Of this Adelaide contains 19,000, and Port Adelaide, eight miles from the city, 4,000. Between these places are Hindmarch and Albert Town. In this colony the proportion of females is greater than in any other Australian colony; and in 1854 the proportion of labourers was 1 in 17, farmers 1 in 16, shepherds 1 in 80, publicans 1 in 240, clergymen 1 in 870, lawyers 1 in 1416. The proportions of the several denominations were as follow: – Free church 1, church of Scotland 3, Congregationalist 3, Roman catholic 6, Wesleyan 8, church of England 24.

Adelaide and Port Adelaide are now connected by a railway, which was opened in April, 1856. The fares for the respective classes, during the first fourteen weeks, were Is. 6d., Is., and 8d.; after that they were raised to 2s., 1s. 6d., and 1s. The result was, that in the following ten weeks the receipts showed a decrease of £386 10s.

Captain Cadell explored the river Murray in the year 1852. His boat was made of canvass, so that he might the more securely pass the rocks and snags on the river. He sailed a thousand miles down the Murray in twenty-two days. About a

year after, through the liberality of Sir H. F. Young's government, he. was enabled to conduct a steamer up the river, far beyond Swan Hill, off Victoria. Now seven steamers and ten barges ply on the river through a distance of 2,000 miles. The runs in the vicinity have advanced from 25 to 50 per cent, since the opening of the navigation. Of cattle stations there are 58 on the Murray, and 70 on its tributaries; so sheep stations on the river, and 31 on its tributaries; the cattle number 3,000, and the sheep 1,300,000. A railway, six miles long, is in progress from Goolwa, off Lake Victoria, to Port Elliot, Encounter Bay, whence the produce can be taken to Adelaide, or exported. The exports of flour for 1856, were 20,000 tons, 80,000 bushels of wheat, and 5000 tons of copper ore. 758 persons are now finding employment in the Burra mines: 385 miners, 200 ore-dressers, 113 labourers, 47 mechanics and engine-drivers, and 13 officers.

The colony of Western Australia was established through private enterprise on June 1st, 1829. The several governors have been, Capt. James Stirling, 1829; John Hutt, Esq., 1839; Lieutenant-Colonel Clark, 1846; Captain Charles Fitzgerald, 18i8; Arthur E, Kennedy, Esq, 1855.

The population is 14,000; of which Perth, the capital, situate on the Swan river, has 3,000, and Freemantle, the port at the mouth of the river,

twelve miles below Perth, has 3,000. At the head of King George's Sound, in latitude 25 deg., is Wyndham, and on its west side Albany. These towns are 250 miles from Perth, by land, and 450 by sea; and 2,000 miles west of Melbourne. The exports of this colony are wool, lead, sandal-wood, and mahogany. In 1854, they amounted to £35,350, and the imports wero £121,000. In that year the public revenue was £39,000 and the expenditure £43,000. The colony has 200,000 sheep and 20,000 cattle. At present it receives British convicts.

The colony of North Australia has not, as yet, become a government settlement.

With respect to squatting, the first thing necessary for the settler is to apply to the Commissioner of the Crown lands for a depasturing license. This will secure him the run for six months; at the expiration of that time he will, however, be required to pay an annual sum of £10 for as much land as will graze four thousand sheep, or an equivalent number of cattle; and for every thousand sheep the run may be judged to carry over the four thousand, he will have to pay £2 10s. This not only gives full right to the run, but also the presumptive right to purchase when the government is disposed to sell. In addition to the sum paid for the license are the assessed taxes, collected half yearly, viz; – 0 1/2d per head on sheep, 1 1/2d on cattle,

and 3d. on horses. The squatter is burthened with no other taxes; there are neither poor-rates, church-rates, tithes, excise duty, nor any of those multitudinous imposts which are a constant drain on the resources of the English graziers. Having secured his run, the squatter has an almost permanent interest in the land, which he may purchase at the lowest price – £1 per acre.

The chief portion of the wool in Australia is produced by the squatters. They are indeed, the wealthiest men in the colonies. In forming a sheep run on a piece of maiden country, tenanted only by the wild dog, kangaroo, and emu, the settler collects his sheep, cattle, horses, and men, and proceeds slowly to his destination, allowing the stock to feed on the rich pasturage by the way, A team of eight or ten bullocks conveys the baggage of the party, together with a supply of provisions and a few carpenter's tools. Each night the party encamps, taking it by turns to watch the stock until the station is reached. A place for the hut and stock-yard is then marked out as near a supply of water as possible. Huts are erected in various ways, according to the skill of the architect or the materials at hand. Logs, mud, slabs, and bark are indiscriminately employed. The stock-yards for sheep are made of brushwood; for cattle, of strong posts and rails. A kitchen-garden and a few paddocks for the culture of wheat and other grain, and the station is formed.

The furniture of the hut is is the highest degree primitive, and like it, is more useful than ornamental the bedstead being the item on which most attention is bestowed. It consists of four stakes driven into the ground; upon these, rails are laid, with a few cross-pieces to support the occupant. The table is constructed on the same principle, and is crowned by a piece of bark. A frying-pan, an iron pot, a spade, bucket, axe, and a few other trifling, but highly requisite articles, complete the inventory of the bushman's dwelling.

With respect to the management of a sheep station, much depends upon the quality of the country. In thickly wooded districts, from 700 to 1000 sheep constitute a flock; but on the open plains, in the vicinity of the Murrumbidgee and Murray rivers, 3000 or 4000 may be attended to by one shepherd. The flocks are driven daily to the pastures, and brought home at night, when the watchman takes charge of them. His duty is to watch them during the night, and to cook for the shepherd, each being constantly attended by a dog. In the squatting districts of New South Wales, three acres per sheep is the average capabilities of the runs, or 213 to the square mile. Many of the early settlers allowed their ewes to rear two crops of lambs in the year. It is now deemed bad farming to have more than one lambing season; as the second crops are sickly, and their fleeces un-

sound. The proportion of rams is from ten or twelve to a flock of a thousand. Some settlers have their lambing-seasons in September and October; others in March and April. The September (spring) lambs are generally the best. The lambing season is a busy time with the shepherd, and forms a test of his skill and industry. From eighty to ninety per cent, is a good crop. Premiums are frequently paid on the extra lambs above ninety. The number reared, sometimes, though seldom, equals the number of sheep. The lambs are weaned at five months old; males and females are formed into separate flocks; they begin to breed at the end of eighteen months. Shearing season in Victoria commences in October, and closes in the western districts about the end of December. Great pains are taken in washing; spouts are in general use; and by their aid the fleece is stripped of all filthy matter – a task which could not be accomplished by the old mode of hand-washing. After washing, the sheep are allowed three days to dry; they are then shorn in large sheds built for the purpose, where the wool is packed in bales and sent to the nearest seaport for sale, or consigned to agents in England.

The diseases sheep are most subject to in Australia are scab and catarrh. The latter is a kind of influenza, rapid in its spread and progress, and fearfully fatal. The best remedy is removal from

place to place, and killing and burning those affected to prevent the contagion from spreading. A sheep attacked will shew symptoms of sturdy, become giddy, and cease to feed. In all cases this disease is brought on by too close breeding, sufficient attention not being paid to crossing. Scab is easily cured by a solution of tobacco and arsenic, prepared in large tanks. The mode in which this solution is applied is as follows: – About 30 sheep are driven upon a tilting platform resting on the side of the tank, and upset into it. They are then taken out, placed on a wooden grating, and allowed to drain over another tank, and then are driven into the field. This process goes on until the whole flock is similarly treated. On the whole, however, sheep farming is a profitable investment; the stock increases at a rate which beats compound interest, even at twelve per cent.

The first herd for a grazing farm should consist of cattle of all ages, in about equal proportions. Five hundred head of cattle is a good start. They are allowed to graze ad libitum, and are collected two or three times a year, to be inspected and branded. The process of mustering is a very exciting amusement, though, like other field sports, not unattended with danger. When the time comes, the cattle holder sends for his neighbours, who assemble at the summons, expecting similar aid in return. Ten or a dozen horsemen are then dispatched on their

errand, armed with stock whips. These are very formidable weapons; having strong handles a foot long, and thongs from twelve to fifteen feet, made of green hide, tapered to the end by a cracker of silk, the report of which resounds through the forest, and spreads consternation among the cattle. Thus terrified, the scattered herds come pouring in from all directions, the stockmen following in hot pursuit. The whole herd is now in a state of the greatest excitement, and ready to dash at anything in its way. The air is filled with the most dissimilar noises – cows lowing for their calves, calves bellowing for their dams, horses prancing as if going to start for the Derby – on they rush at full speed, meditating mischief or escape, and checked only by the dread of the stock-whip, till at length they are enclosed in the stock-yard, from whence they are drafted for cutting and branding, and the fat ones selected for sale, or dispatched by the butcher on the spot. Cattle are subject to no diseases if proper attention be paid to crossing. A disorder called "the blackleg," sometimes proves fatal to degenerate herds. Since the gold discovery, cattle grazing has become a most lucrative employment; a fat bullock weighing about 8001b. is worth from £12 to £15 to the breeder; the butcher sells the meat at 6d. per lb.

The majority of cattle holders in Victoria buy lean animals in the north, and drive them south to

the rich pastures of the gold country, where they soon fatten, and are disposed of at remunerative prices. A beast purchased in New England country for £4, when fat, will bring £12 in Victoria. The settlers in this colony prefer purchasing store cattle to breeding, for fattening purposes, the return for capital being much quicker. Cattle are very troublesome when first brought to a new run, having a strong predilection for returning to their old haunts; they require to be closely watched. They have frequently traveled hundreds of miles towards the country of their birth, and months elapse before they forget this patriotic propensity.

Horses are another source of profit to the bush farmer – they are in universal use – every man in the bush can keep his horse. The demand for good animals, both for colonial use and the Indian markets, is great. Good horses are selling at from £84 to £120, inferior sorts from £25 to £30. They are sure footed, remarkable for their endurance, and manifest high spirit. The climate of Australia is peculiarly favourable to the development of this noble quadruped.

The aborigines are employed by the squatter during the sheep-washing and shearing season. The young men are expert horsemen; they would astonish an English steeple chaser by their daring feats. I have known a New South Wales black boy exceed, in reality, all the feats we read of respecting

Arab horsemen in the romances of travellers. The race, however, is becoming fast extinct. One remarkable instance of this may be mentioned – out of a tribe of five or six hundred, known as the Western Port tribe, there has only been one birth within the last ten years. In the settled districts of Victoria, and in the vicinity of the gold fields, their appearance is revolting, reminding the European of the link between himself and the Ourang Outang. They impress the beholder with anything but the philanthrophic idea, "Am I not a man and a brother." They build no houses, nor would they inhabit them if built by others. They practice polygamy; and some of the tribes kill their old people when they are unfit to travel. Mr. Birkett once saw an old woman submit her head to the waddie with the greatest indifference. Their mode of marriage would hardly be approved of by his late reverence of Gretna. When the sable lover has made choice of his future spouse, (generally a young female of another tribe) he steals into their encampment, and knocks her senseless by a blow upon the head with his waddie; he then drags her off as a tiger would his prey. A fight between the tribes ensues, in which a few on both sides are wounded, and the loving couple are then declared married. The men are good shots, and hunt their prey by track or scent, hence, they are often employed to bring back runaway prisoners and stray cattle. Their

religion is a puzzle – they worship no idol – but they have a great dread of the devil. Mr. Westgarth properly observes – "The untutored savage shines with a lustre of his own, which appears so much superior, as in others it is manifestly inferior in the comparison with civilized man." It is not fair to judge of the aborigines by ourselves. Their roving life – their love of freedom and fun – and the supply of their natural wants are antagonistic to their becoming civilized. Without the anxieties of our refined existence, they have no relish for our pleasures, any more than for our work. They have no need to cultivate the ground and build houses; like the Maories – who are obliged to settle together from the different character of their food, which with them is abundant, consisting of kangaroos,, opossums, emus and other birds, fruits, seeds, roots, turtles, eggs, shellfish, and grubs. They bake the turtle in the shell to save the gravy. Natural death is not believed in; an evil spirit, or one of another tribe is considered the murderer. This is a frequent cause of war. The name of the deceased is never mentioned. Mourning is manifested by loud wailings, plastering the head with pipe-clay, and the women shaving off their hair. The dead bodies are burnt or buried, though some in North Australia place the corpse in the paper bark of the tea-tree, and deposit it in a hollow tree. Instances occur of loving

mothers carrying the remains of their children in a basket behind them for many weeks.

The mountain ranges of Australia are composed of slate, granite, and basalt. The plains are of recent sandstone and limestone. The highest mountains in Australia are from 5,000 to 6,000 feet above the level of the sea. At Moreton Bay, trachytic lava, quartz, porphyry, and red granite, constitute the rocks; in the vicinity of Sydney sandstone abounds; Melbourne stands on a slate formation; to the east and west of it, the rocks are dark basalt or bluestone; large blocks of magnetic iron are found at Cape Otway; soapstone and a valuable hematite iron are found near Flemington. Wilson's Promontory and the adjacent islands are of granite; Cape Patterson is of soft limestone. The recent limestone cliffs of the Great Bight are 500 feet high. On the coast of Western Australia, the basaltic rocks assume the appearance of the Giants' Causeway in Ireland. The south-eastern coast is of Murray limestone, forming cliffs of three or four hundred feet high along the shore, for hundreds of miles. Coral reefs abound on the coast of North Australia. In South Australia, the Murray runs for more than two hundred miles between cliffs of marine limestone, containing abundance of fossil remains of the recent tertiary period. The white marble country is fifteen miles across; on the western slope of Barossa are talc,

crystals, soapstones, glauber salts, rock silk, agate, jasper, garnets, amethysts, topazes, diamonds, veins of opal, and fibres of asbestos; the precious stones are not of the most valuable description.

Hunter valley is the chief seat of bituminous coal; the mineral was observed to crop out at the mouth of the river, and convicts were sent to work it as early as 1804. The Newcastle mine was subsequently held by the Australian agricultural company. In 1855, the coal district was leased in small fields, subject to an annual rental, and a royalty charged on each ton raised. On the Kaura at Port Stephens, a seam is known of above thirty feet in thickness. In one of the Hunter pits, 200 feet deep, the following strata were penetrated: – conglomerate 23 feet, coal 3, grit 44, coal 5, clay rock 43, coal 5, sandstone 50, coal 3. The presence of ferns and the lepidodendron fossil wood proved the coal to be of the true European character. At the Macquarrie may be seen an imperfect coal, with stumps of trees, not yet thoroughly changed. Bituminous coal is found in Doubtful Island bay, Western Australia. The Western Port coal measures, in Victoria, extend along the south-eastern side by Cape Patterson, to the Tarwin river. These are constantly interrupted by basaltic veins. As elsewhere, the coal which is highly bituminous rests on slate immediately below the tertiary series, A pit sunk in 1840 gave the following results: – blue

clay 3 feet, yellow stone 11, clay 16, coal 3, clay 9, coal 3, rotten stone 6, coal 5. Near Cape Patterson is a seam 6 feet thick, of first-rate mineral. The Queen seam, four feet thick, is below high water mark; some doubt, however, exists as to the permanent thickness and extent of these veins. In 1840, the coal was discovered twelve miles from any landing-place in that bay, and a fossil tree twenty feet long was found embedded in the coal. Seventeen years ago, a company sought to work this mine. Occasionally, there are found in the soft sandstone over the coal, silicious balls a foot in diameter.

Various are the opinions of Australian geologists as to what is the origin of gold. Some speak of a volcanic scattering of a shower of yellow crystals; others dilate on the potency of heat and the magic influence of chemical agency. Mr. Anstead, a geological writer, tells of the auriferous veins being first mechanically deposited, and then transmuted; their materials being derived from other gold-bearing rocks in gneiss. The Rev. W. B. Clarke, of Sydney, one of the first Australian savans, refers the gold and silicious impregnations to the steam of silex, forming quartz veins; and this action was beneath the surface of the ocean. He thinks that the gold and quartz were formed at the same time; and yet he finds evidence to show that some of the crystalline rocks must have been

sedimentary in their character. He notices the passages of indefinite variety, from true granite to sienite, &c,, and declares the horneblendic rocks to be the source of transmutations associated with the occurrence of gold.

The question of the volcanic origin of gold-bearing slate rocks has been settled since the discovery of fossils in them, by the Victorian geologist, Mr. Selwyn, and others. In similar Silurian rocks, in Bohemia, 1,200 different species of fossil remains have been found. The thickness of the Australian Silurian formation is thought by Mr. Selwyn to be 35,000 feet. Gold is also found in the granite of New South Wales, &c. There is a barren as well as a fertile quartz. The burnt quartz of diggers is a chemical cement of iron and gravel, without a fiery origin. The pipe-clay differs from slate in having more alumina with its silica, and no iron and potash. Mr. Selwyn considers the vast deposits of pipe-clay in Bendigo White Hills to be in situ – not derived from the washings of other rooks. The presence of gold, as of other mineral veins, is accounted for on chemical grounds alone, by Mr. Evan Hopkins. This gentleman believes that metals are mineral trees, dependent for growth and transformations upon the acids and alkalies in solution. The alluvial gold deposits of the Australian valleys are frequently of immense depth. With reference to this subject, Sir T. L. Mitchell

observes – "Vast lapses of time have contributed most of the accumulations of the fluviatile gold." Fresh water currents, and not marine, have borne such deposits, as there have been found in them several specimens of fresh water mollusca, as well as the remains of extinct marsupial animals. This would suppose Australia at one time to have received much more rain than at present; and also involves the supposition that the mountain ranges of Australia occupied a loftier elevation, and thereby attracted the moist atmosphere of the tropical regions.

The gold does not appear to lie deeply embedded in the rock, although it may exist in very minute particles, or in another unmatured form, awaiting the polarising action of terrestrial magnetism near the earth's surface; for, as Mr. Hopkins says – "Gold only becomes developed by crystallizing or efflorescing towards the surface." The operation of terrestrial magnetism is evidenced in the curious meridional direction of the auriferous bands. Humboldt, when among the Andes of America, in 1792, first noticed the parallelism of these crystalline rocks in the line of north-east and south-west. As the cleavage of slate has been artificially produced by the slowly continued action of the galvanic battery, we may yet live to see the production of metallic veins by a similar agency, and the dreams of alchymist gold-makers realised.

Experiments on the red earth of the gold-fields may not be without important results. As to the extent of the auriferous deposits, we believe that not only in the quartz and slate mountain districts will the Search be made, but beneath the sandstone floor of the Murray and Darling rivers, and the basaltic bed of Australia's fertile plains.

Gold is now sought for on geological principles, with which the generality of diggers are now fully acquainted. Wherever the slate and quartz formations occur, there the precious metal is found, especially when the cleavage of these rocks is parallel with the magnetic meridian of the place, or north and south. It is also obtained in considerable quantities by pulverising the quartz, mixing the dust with water and quicksilver, and agitating the mixture in a cylindrical vessel. The gold and quicksilver unite, are drawn off, and placed in a retort, and submitted to a slight heat; the quicksilver evaporates, and leaves the gold behind. With careful handling, no part of the mercury is lost, and it may be used in the process ad infinitum.

Copper is frequently found in the mountain ranges of South Australia, from Cape Jervis to Mount Remarkable. In this neighbourhood a shepherd one day found an unusually heavy stone on his run; he shewed it to a Cornish miner, and afterwards inserted it in his chimney. The news spread rapidly; and after due investigation, the

South Australian Mining Association was formed in April, 1845. The original capital invested was £12,320, raised in £5 shares. They purchased 10,000 acres of land at £1 per acre, and opened the wonderful Burra Burra mines on September 29th, 1845. For a time the dividends were at the rate of £800 per cent! In 1851, they raised 23,000 tons of ore, estimated at £350,000. From this mine was obtained a block of blue carbonate of copper, called "the punchbowl," thirty inches across, full of beautiful mineral crystals.

Australia has numerous natural curiosities. Near Mount Shank are several limestone caves, in which have been found the remains of gigantic emus and marsupial animals. The Devil's Punchbowl, in the same neighbourhood, is 260 yards in circumference, and contains a great depth of water. The country round Mount Gambier and Tatiara, although it has no rivers, is well supplied by subterranean streams, Descending one of the curious well shafts, by a rope, a person alights on a small island, around which there is water and room to sail a man-of-war. Several of these subterranean rivers run through this district; two of them fall into the sea south of Mount Gambier, Near Coombing, in New South Wales, are the Abercrombie caves, 200 feet long, 40 feet broad, and 80 feet high. At Burran Gilong creek, in Bathurst district, is a stalactitic limestone tunnel 700 feet long; the entrance is

130 feet wide, and the egress 120. In some parts it is 100 feet high; and in the excavations is a splendid hall of alabaster. A mass of native copper, weighing 1101b. was discovered in a cave at Molong. Near Anguston, South Australia, is a dropping well, which possesses a petrifying power like the English Knaresborough.

The island of Tasmania, or Van Dieman's Land, was discovered by Tasman, a Dutchman, in 1642. It lies 200 miles south-east of Australia, and is separated from Victoria by Bass's Strait. It is 250 miles in extreme length, and 200 in its greatest width; containing 24,000 square miles, of 16,000,000 acres, of which 150,000 are in cultivation. The population is 100,000, of which Hobart Town, on Sullivan's Cove, near the mouth of the Derwent, contains 20,000. The aboriginal population consists of five males and ten females.

The island was colonised by Governor Collins from the deserted settlement of Port Phillip, in February, 1804. It became independent of New South Wales in 1825. Governor Collins died in 1810; Colonel Davey became governor in 1813; Colonel Sorell, in 1817; Colonel Arthur, in 1824; Sir John Franklin, in 1837; Sir J. E. Eardly Wilmot, in 1843; Sir W. T. Denison, in 1847; and Sir Henry Fox Young, in 1855.

The exports of the colony are wool, corn, timber, oil, potatoes, and fruits. The value of these in

1854 was £1,483,002, and the imports £2,604,680. The revenue amounted to £275,554, and the expenditure £276,650. The acres in crop were 175,000. The revenue for 1855 was £295,760. At that period there were 17,000 horses, 100,000 cattle, and 2,100,000 sheep. In 1841, the land sold amounted to 62,183 acres; and in 1853, to 35,800 acres. In 1855, the ministers of the church of England were 49, Roman catholic 17, church of Scotland 11, independent 9, Wesleyan 7, free church 3, and baptist 2.

The highest mountain in Tasmania is about five thousand feet above the level of the sea. On the coast is the celebrated Tasman's arch, through which vessels may sail; the key-stone is forty feet thick, and the height 200 feet. There is a chasm about 200 yards inland, through which the sea rushes with great force, and the noise of the air through the blow-hole may be heard from a distance of five miles. Near Deloraine are extensive limestone caves, whose passages are two miles long. Several magnificent halls are found in these caves, the stalactites in which are magnificent. Excellent magnetic iron ore is brought from Deloraine. Anthracite coal is also found in abundance in Tasmania.

The three New Zealand islands are generally termed the colony of New Zealand, although on the southern island, there is no government settlement.

The colony is divided into six provinces, viz. – Auckland, Canterbury, Nelson, Otago, Taranaki, and Wellington. The islands lie about 1,500 miles eastward of New South Wales, and 5,000 miles west of Cape Horn. They cover an area of 100,000 square miles. The English population amounts to 50,000, and the native population to 100,000. A portion of the islands was seen by Tasman in 1642; but the entire group were not circumnavigated till the days of Cook, in 1769.

The colony of New Zealand was established in 1841, by Lieutenant Governor Hobson. Prior to this, it had been a dependency of New South Wales. Captain Fitzroy became governor in 1843; Sir George Grey in 1845; and Colonel Gore Browne, in 1855. In 1852, New Zealand was declared to be under a governor-general and six elected superintendents. In the elections, the Maories have equal rights with the British settlers. The first six superintendents were – Lieutenant-colonel Wynyard, for Auckland; T. E. Featherstone, Esq., for Wellington; A. Stafford, Esq,, for Nelson; J. E. Fitzgerald, Esq., for Canterbury; Captain Cargill, for Otago; and W. Brown, Esq., for Taranaki. Each of the provinces has a separate legislature subject to the central legislature at Auckland. The revenue of Auckland province for the year ending June, 1855, was £15,000. The imports for last year were £38,320, and exports £30,166.

The native produce, in 1854, came in 1533 canoes to Auckland, and was estimated at £12,417. The revenue of Nelson province exceeded the expenditure by £18,000. The acres in crop were 9,500 to a population of 6,000, Their exports for the last half-year were £19,700. In Wellington province the revenue for the last quarter, in 1854, was £18,023; and the expenditure, £10,329, Canterbury province exported wool, valued at £25,000, and the government funds are in a healthy state. Otago is flourishing. The colony imported from New South Wales, goods to the value of £872,100, and exported in return, to the value of £218,800. The public debt is £170,000.

The New Zealanders, though heathens, were never worshippers of idols. Their "atua," or gods, were the heavens, light, spirits of the dead, &c. These were the authors of diseases. The New Zealanders believed in witchcraft. Light and darkness they regarded as the first-parents of man. The spirits of the dead passed to the Reinga, near North Cape, and thence into the sea to the region of the blest. The "Tapu," or sacred prohibition of the use or injury of certain objects, exists amongst them, as amongst the other tribes of the Malay race found in the islands of the South Seas. One curious effect of this custom occurs in the arbitrary "tapuing," or forbidding the use, of certain words. The New Zealanders appear always to have been

slave owners; their slaves were for the most part captives taken in war. Like the ancient Jews, the natives shaved their heads and wounded their bodies when they mourned for deceased friends and relatives. According to their traditions, it would seem that about five hundred years ago, three canoes, belonging to a mighty fleet from Hawaii, were driven ashore on the coast of New Zealand, which had previously been fished up from the bottom of the sea by one of their gods. Some persons have considered that there are two races among them; one the bona fide Maorie, and the other an inferior, dark-skinned people, supposed to be the true aborigines of the New Zealand isles. Prior to the introduction of Christianity the different tribes were always at war with each other, and thousands have been thus exterminated. On one occasion, the Waikato Maories, under Te Whero, invaded Taranaki, and cooked two thousand people. Since their conversion to Christianity, a great change has taken place; cannibalism no longer exists, and the Maories are rapidly progressing in civilization.

When the Maories were first visited by Captain Cook, they were found living in well constructed houses, amply provided with food and mat clothing, and their canoes were splendidly finished. They were cannibals. Their knowledge was remarkable. They were acquainted with eight points of the

compass; reckoned thirteen months to the year; and to a certain extent understood numerical notation. At that period, the population is thought to have been at least half a million; but exterminating wars and raging epidemic diseases have reduced them to one fourth of that number. Up to a recent period, their intercourse with white men proved as destructive to their morals as their health. Now, however, being converted to Christianity, through the praiseworthy agency of self-denying missionaries, and under the care of protectors appointed by government, brought into contact with a better class of British settlers, they are comfortable and happy. On the part of the colonists generally, there is a great desire to treat this intelligent and high spirited people with kindness. As aborigines they certainly are superior to their fellows, and perhaps more advanced than any in the uncivilized portion of the world. Their pahs, or villages, are generally fortified. The readiness with which they acquire the habits of civilized life, is very striking; in a very limited space of time they become excellent seamen, mechanics, or agriculturists. Many of them possess extensive farms, tidy trading vessels, and considerable sums invested in the savings' banks. Their language is very comprehensive, and is divided into six dialects.

New Zealand possesses several high mountain ranges, some peaks of which are from 12,000 to

13,000 feet high. It is not so rich in minerals as Australia, although gold, copper, iron, and coal, have been discovered. Anthracite coal abounds; in the valley of the Waikatoo river, in the northern island of New Zealand, there is an area of 100 square miles of this mineral.

Many gigantic fossil remains have been exhumed in New Zealand. About fifty miles south-east of Cape Egmont, several remarkable specimens have been found. There were discovered the bones of the moa, a large apteryx, or wingless bird, measuring from four to twelve feet high, and whose upper jaw was indicative of great power in grubbing up roots. Along with these were also found fossil seals, nocturnal parrots, bones of dogs and existing birds. But more curious than all, there were the calcined bones of men, and spear heads and whalebone weapons, thus proving that the moa was in existence during the time when cannibalism degraded the land. Several moa eggs were discovered, which measured a yard in circumference.

The ornithology of the colonies is extensive and attractive. Australia possesses forty-five genera of birds, thirty-five of which are purely its own. Of 600 species, 300 are found in Victoria. Parrots, honey-eaters, and nocturnal birds, are numerous. There is also a number of fine singing birds and others of most gorgeous plumage. The largest birds are the emu and ardea; the males of which

attend to the eggs. Honey-eating paroquets are more numerous than the grass-feeders. The black and white cockatoos are gregarious; the pheasant cockatoo skips about like a monkey, The brush turkey has a wattle, or fleshy pendent from the neck, and its eggs are usually deposited in a heap of sand or vegetable matter; the mound thus made by the mountain pheasant of North Australia is often fifty feet in circumference. The bower bird is either satin or spotted, and makes a bower or play-ground of shells, that is not a nest, but through which the male and female chase each other. Large wedge-tailed and white-bellied sea eagles, and falcons or hawks are numerous. The black swan has a melodious note; and is not found north of the Mackenzie. The Cape Barren island goose is a fine bird. The porphyrio is a diver, with red bill, blue breast, and black tail. The crow is the bushman's path-finder; and those acquainted with its habits will never be lost amid the labyrinths of the bush. When the colonists have missed their way, they generally kindle a fire, which attracts the crows from a great distance in search of prey; special attention is paid to the direction from whence they come and to which they return; the wanderer directs his course accordingly, and is sure to reach a settlement or a supply of water. The laughing jackass has a heart-shaped tongue, and gives out a merry laughing note, it is brown

and green, and feeds on fish, snakes, &c. The morepork is an owl. Among the honey-eaters, the regent bird has a golden head and black body. The bell-bird, or miner, has a splendid note; other honey-eaters have brush tongues, and tails fringed with gold. The wattle-bird makes a noise like a person vomiting. The lyre-bird of Victoria has a magnificent tail like the bird of paradise; after pairing, the male lyre loses his fine colours. There are penguins, pelicans, rails, ferns, shags, albatrosses, grebes, musk-ducks, herons, cranes, water hens, snipes, stilts, dotterels, and turned up billed avosettas. In North Australia are found barking birds, grass-singing larks, banded thickheads, white eye-browed robins, whistling ducks, and clucking night-birds. Pigeons are generally found in large flocks, Mr. Strut in his wanderings found ground doves in the desert, sitting on the burning rock. Ventriloquist and harlequin doves are found in the north. The cuckoo arrives in New South Wales in October, and leaves in January. Magpies, swallows, and crows are common. The piping crow is the musical organ bird. There are day owls in South Australia. No two cat-birds can meet without fighting. A flock of tribonix in one night destroyed whole fields of corn near Adelaide.

In Tasmania are the superb warbler, black-caps, cobbler's awls, robins, quails, nocturnal goat-suckers, fire-tailed finches, emu wrens, and elegant

diamond-birds; the last build their nests under ground. The little emu wren has seven feathers to its tail, like the feathers of the emu. The ground dove makes a loud whirring noise; the friar imitates the sound four o'clock. The coach-whip of New South Wales, called so from its note, has a black head and breast. The rifle-bird is gorgeously clothed in green, velvet-black, and lilac. There are twenty species of finches; the splendid fire-tail is a finch; and the painted finch of North Australia has a plain upper part, but black and red underneath. The wattled peewit alarms by a scream. The mutton-bird is the petrel of the islands in Bass's straits, and their flocks are so numerous as frequently to darken the air.

New Zealand has sixty genera of birds – and only one species of mammalia – a fruit-eating rat. The kiwi, is an apteryx, or wingless bird. It is nocturnal, and runs quickly; it has sharp claws, black and tasteless flesh, a hook at the end of the stump of its wing, and a snout at the end of the beak to enable it to search for worms. Its bones are not hollow, and its height is two feet. The fireman, a sort of kiwi, stands three feet in height. The uia, of the size of the magpie, has a beautiful tail of twelve feathers. A nocturnal parrot feeds on fern root. The poll is a honey-eater. The crow is dark green. The kukupa is a wood-pigeon. The oyster catcher is a species of duck. The crested

cormorant, or king shag, is peculiar. The moa is a kind of ostrich, two feet high, having red legs, green and gold back, and purple breast.

Of ninety species of quadrupeds, seventy are marsupial or pouch-bearing. The kangaroos have twenty-eight teeth, of which six are cutting above, and two below. Of these there are forty species. There is the grey of Tasmania, and the red of North Australia. The five toes, on the fore feet, have nails. One species in the north, has a nail at the end of its tail. The euro, by Lake Torrens, reaches the height of six or seven feet; there are none north of latitude 28 deg. in Strut's Desert. The kangaroo rat has dog teeth. The little rat of the Darling builds a pretty nest of twigs. The rabbit rat, of New South Wales, likes sugar. The kangaroo mouse has thick fur. The nocturnal wallaby is a kangaroo. The opossum has fifty teeth, including eighteen cutting teeth. Of the flying opossum there are five species, the smallest is the flying mouse, two inches long. In North Australia it is the flying fox. The kaeola has fifty teeth and no tail. The native sloth is nocturnal, with small ears, and no regular pouch; it barks, and smells badly. The bandicoot is the link between the opossum and kangaroo. The rabbit-like talpero of the desert, has a long snout, or rabbit-like gait, and forty-eight teeth. The wombat, or pig, is a stupid, flat-headed, thick-haired, root-gathering burrower.

The burrowing porcupine ant-eater is a foot long, has a long snout, short thick legs, no teeth, small eyes, a waddling gait, and yellow spines, tipped with black. The mother sits on the shell-less eggs; when hatched, the little one attaches itself to the nipple of the pouch. The duck-billed platypus, or ornithorhynchus, is amphibious; its home is a hole, by a stream. It has two horny teeth, without root, a membrane and five toes, flat tail, short hind feet turned backwards, small eyes, and no external ear. It lays two shell-less eggs, and suckles its young. It is eighteen inches long; the male has a spur.: Like the porcupine, it rolls itself up. The dasyurns, or hairy-tailed family, is carnivorous. Of these are the Tasmanian tiger, five feet long, with short legs, and stripped body; the Tasmanian devil, with short fur, thick tail, black body, and white bands on the chest and haunches. The tiger cat, with its weasel-legs, brown skin, and white spots. All the dasyurni are fierce, blood-thirsty, cowardly, and nocturnal. The dingo, or wild dog, is not found in Tasmania; it is half fox and half wolf, of a reddish brown colour, bushy red tail, long thick hair, and white in .the tail. The insectivorous shrew is the native mole. Lizards and snakes abound. The king lizard, of North Australia, has an expanding tippet round its neck. The moloch lizard has horns on its head, and spines on the back. The harmless guana feeds on insects, &c.; it can expand its pouch. The

coorong snake is twelve feet long; and like the black and diamond snakes is very poisonous. There are alligators in the northern rivers, fifteen feet long; and vampire bats, three feet across the wings. The tarantula is the bushmans' flycatcher. The little native-bee has no sting. The noisy cicada springs from a grub, which lives many years. Kangaroo-flies, sand-flies, and mosquitoes trouble the north. The locust is a honey-eater. The grasshopper differs from it, having longer and more slender legs and antennae. The white ants, of North Australia, build hills twenty feet high. The pearl oysters of Shark's bay, West Australia, are valued at £50 a ton. Pearls as large as peas have been extracted from the mother of pearls.

The botany of the colonies is peculiar; and plants of one colony closely resemble those of another. Of course, North Australia possesses plants which could neither grow in Tasmania nor New Zealand, The number of species in the entire colonies is conjectured to be about 7,000. The leaf-stalks of the Australian trees are dilated, and set edge-wise on the stems; the glands are on both sides of the leaf. There are 100 species of great forest trees. Of these there are the blue, red, flooded, white spotted manna, stringy-bark, poplar, and mountain gum-trees. The Yarra box, West Australian mahogany, and the iron-bark are heavy and durable, and well adapted to ship-building. The stringy-bark strips in fibres,

the gum-bark in ribbands, and the iron-bark in masses. There are sixty species of great timber trees. The manna, dropping chiefly from dwarf peppermints, is condensed by the cicada or colonial locusts. The malle scrub rises from a knotted root, in shoots of ten or twelve feet long. Of this there are three varieties; one with bright green leaves, the wood of which is used for spears; another with leaves of a darker shade; and the red, or water malle, from the cut rootlets of which water may bo produced. On one occasion five pints were got in ten minutes. There are 120 species of acacia, some of which are 150 feet high. The he-oak and she-oak have no leaves, but instead, have long knotted twigs at the extremities of the branches; the male is upright and the female bending. The cherry-tree, with the stone outside the fruit, is also leafless. The pines are various; the Norfolk island pine reaches 200 feet; the Murray pine is often 40 feet high; and in addition to these are the mountain, desert, coast, and dwarf pines, The huon pine of Tasmania is valuable for cabinet work. The palms extend down to the mouth of the Snowy River, latitude 37 1/2 deg.. The corypha palm of New South Wales is 80 feet high. The head of the cabbage palm is an excellent vegetable. The pandanus, or screw palm grows near the sea, and has clusters of red pulpy fruit. The splendid tree ferns, from twelve to thirteen feet high, are

found in the gullies of the Illawarra, Latrobe, and Snowy rivers, and the mountain streams of Tasmania. The ocanthorrhoea, or grass-tree throws up a spike of flowers from five to eight feet high, which contains both resin and balsam. The grass-tree of North Australia has scarlet centre flowers. Extensive grass tree plains exist in the Capo Otway district. The banksia has rigid leaves and bottle-brushflowers. The tea-tree has also rigid leaves, and many snowy flowers. The cedar of New South Wales will not thrive when removed from associate native plants. The sassafras is a tall pyramidal tree, whose bark is medicinal. The beech of Cunningham reaches 1OO feet. The New South Wales nettle-tree is 20 feet high. The corryong, 40 feet high, has the form of an oak with the foliage of a poplar, and bears waxy flowers; its tenacious bark is wrought into native nets. The dogwood has fragrant orange coloured blossoms. Mr. Bunce found a flower, the bottom part of which was dead, while the top was fresh. The gorgeous waratah is a mountain laurel, from 20 to 30 feet high, with heads of brilliant scarlet wiry flowers, four inches across. The blue berries of the dianella hang in gorgeous festoons. The trailing kennedia is a beautiful crimson creeper. The pink lotus of the Campaspe, has a fragrant smell. The white star of Bethlehem abounds in the vicinity of Melbourne. Everlasting flowers are very common. There are 150 species

of the orchis. The three grasses are the kangaroo, the north barley grass, and the broad-leafed panicum or millet. The native bread is a fungus found in large lumps. The bottle-tree of North Australia, 40 feet high, tastes like a turnip. The bunya, a pine 150 feet high, bears a scented nut. The nebumbium, found near the lagoons of the Mackenzie, has one large leaf, on a leaf stalk, eight feet high, and a flower stalk of ten feet; the blossom is pink, and the seeds of the cone nearly an inch long. The Mackenzie river bean has a pod six inches long. The grass of the Isaacs river is fifteen feet high. There is a salt bush on the northern plains, which when dried, rolls about like a floating balloon. The zomatia, three feet high, has clusters of fragrant white blossoms. Van Dieman's Land vegetation is very dense. A gum-tree, near Brown's river, measures 104 feet in circumference. One near Hobart town is 86 feet round, at six feet from the ground, and 330 feet high, without the top. In 1853, a hollow tree of this species formed the dwelling of a solitary old man, in the neighbourhood of New Town, Sydney. There are myrtles 150 feet high. The richea, or broad-leafed grass-tree, 15 feet, has spike-like panicles of white flowers, which before opening have the appearance of grains of rice. There are sixty species of the pea family in Tasmania. The native rose, 12 feet, has white blossoms, which appear like snow, when falling.

New Zealand is a land of ferns; 150 species art known to exist, besides three of the tree ferns, which are found 40 feet in height. There are more than 80 species of mosses. There is a species of palm, about 50 feet high. Myrtles are common. The juice of the berries of the tupakihi is made into a mild agreeable drink, by the natives; but the seeds are of a highly intoxicating maddening nature. The phormium tenase, or native flax, makes excellent rope. The honey is delicious. There are several good native fruits. The kauri is the only cone bearing pine: the others have berries. The totara is a good timber tree. The rata, or native oak, has been found nearly 60 feet in circumference. This wonderful tree, first runs up and embraces the trunk of some large tree, which it afterwards supplants, and becomes in its stead a tree of immense size.

The annual mean temperature of Melbourne is 60 deg., that of London being 50 deg.. The mean temperature of Port Albert, according to Lt. Slade, is 54 deg. having its heat modified by the sea and mountains. Dr. Davy records a singular coincidence on Jan. 28th and 29th, 1855; when the thermometer was 112 deg. on each day at one o'clock; and 66 deg. at the same hour of the night. Sydney has a higher temperature than Melbourne; being 4 deg. nearer the equator; the mean temperature being 64 deg., that of Adelaide is 65 deg.. It is repeatedly 120 deg. in the shade,

in a hot wind. Captain Strut endured 157 deg. in the sun, and 134 deg. in the shade. Hobart Town experienced in a hot wind 134 deg. in the sun, in 1823; the mean temperature of that place has been 53 1/2 deg. for the last eight years; the same as New York. The longest day in Hobart Town is 15 1/4 hours; the shortest 8 3/4.

The mean annual quantity of rain at Melbourne for the last seven years is 31 inches, that of London being 24. The mean quantity at Sydney is 56 inches; the average for Adelaide 19 inches; Hobart Town 20 inches. As a contrast to the Australian rains, the following may be of interest: – -Tahiti 150 inches; Cayenne 250. Near Cape Horn, 150 inches fell in 40 days. In the Khassa Hills, north of Calcutta, during the rainy half-year, there fell 550 inches, of which, 25 came down in one day. In Siberia, only 10 inches fell in the year.

The westerly breezes are very prominent during the summer months in Melbourne, Dr. Davy found the south winds to be by far the most frequent. The north wind prevails there in winter. Those at Bendigo, were noticed by Mr. Ludwig Becker, to be from the north-west. The most common wind at Launceston, is that from the north-west. Lieut. Slade gives the following courses of currents of air at Alberton, in 325 days, viz.: – west, 154 days; south-west, 28; east, 29; north-east, 16; northwest, 14; south, 10; south-east, 6; north, 3 days.

The mercury falls when the wind is from north-east, and rises with south-west.

The tides are peculiar, though the tidal wave rises hut a few feet, yet local causes produce different elevations. At Cape Palmerston, the tide is 24 feet; Port Essington, 16; Port Stephens, 14; Western Port, 14; Port Macquarie, 8; Brisbane, 8; Lewis's Channel, Corner Inlet, 8; Port Dalrymple, 6 to 8; Kangaroo Island, 6 to 8; Newcastle, 7; Twofold Bay, 6; Sydney, 4 to 7; Port Lincoln, 4 to 6; Port Phillip, entrance, 3 to 6. On the north-west coast, the tide rises 37 feet. There is no tide running at Rockingham Bay. At Port Phillip Heads, the tides are seven hours and a half earlier, and Moreton, one hour and a half later than Sydney. The night tides are higher than the day tides at Sydney. The New South Wales alternating current is dependent on the Monsoons. It tends south-west in summer, within 20 miles of the coast, and then turns north-west; the contrary takes place in winter. The current often runs two miles an hour. Two tides, of eight feet, run 54 hours in Spencer's Gulf; one of four feet in Port Lincoln.

The storms are described by Mr. Dobson, of Hobart Town, as cyclones, immense whirling eddies in the air, extending vertically from, the space of the atmosphere, down to the earth, and moving bodily over its surface. In the Southern Hemisphere,

the eddy turns north-east, round to south-west; while in the north it is from north-west to southeast. The W. N. E. S. cyclonic points correspond to N. E. S. W. of the compass. These hurricanes travel rapidly. That of October 13th 1850, – in which the Grecian was lost at Adelaide – was felt the next day at Sydney. The cyclone of Swan River, July 8th, reached Launceston July 10th. That of August, 1843, moved 40 miles an hour. The storms begin with a north wind, and end with a south one. One on May 12th, 1851, produced the waterspout of the Burra Burra, which drove 1,500 persons houseless, from their creek warrens. The great cyclone of June, 1851, proceeded from Swan River, to Tasmania and New Zealand. The violent wind on Black Thursday, February 6th, 1851, was not a cyclone. Its effects were remarkable. There were desolating fires, immense heat, and alarming darkness. Ships at sea were covered with burnt wood and dust. Some of the burnt leaves, &c, from Port Phillip, were carried as far as Port Otago, New Zealand, the day following.

Earthquakes – though occasionally slightly felt in Australia – are almost confined to New Zealand. On the morning of the 17th of September, 1855, a smart shock was felt in Melbourne, which split several walls of houses. Earthquakes have been repeatedly felt in New Zealand. One occurred at Wellington, on Sunday night, October 16th, 1848,

in the midst of a violent storm of rain. Houses and chapels reeled and fell. The hills rocked to and fro. The ground quivered like jelly. The noise was compared to the crushing of ten thousand forests at once. The shock lasted but one minute. The next great shocks came after intervals of 38 hours each. Smaller ones followed, for months after. Another considerable earthquake happened on January 23rd, 1853; which was simultaneously felt at Wellington, Nelson, New Plymouth and Canterbury, occasioning some loss of life.

The South Magnetic Pole is in lat. 75 deg. south, by 154 deg. east. At 160 miles distance the magnet dips 88 deg.. The dip at Hobart Town is 70 deg.; at Wellington and Melbourne, 67 deg.; at King George's Sound, 64 deg.; at Adelaide, 62 deg.; at Sydney, 61 deg.; at Port Essington, 35 deg.. One line of no variation passes very irregularly through Japan, Canton, Bombay, Java and Australia to the South Pole. In the South Pacific, Captain Ross observed the variation change from 114 deg. to 40 deg. in only 360 miles. The needle is progressing eastward. The variation of New Zealand, in 1643, was 9 deg. east; it is now 14 deg. east. Storm Bay was 3 deg. in 1642; now it is 11 deg.. The variation of Port Essington is 2 1/2 deg. east. King George's Sound, 3 deg. west; Adelaide, 7 deg. cast, Portland Bay, 7 deg. east. King's Island, 9 deg. cast. Melbourne, 9 1/4 deg. east. In London, the variation was east before 1660; it is now 24 deg. west;

the dip was formerly 73 1/2 deg.; it is now 69 1/2 deg. A great magnetic storm was observed at the same time, on September 25th, 1841, at China, Canada, Swan River, Sydney, and Hobart Town. A simultaneous disturbance of the needle was observed for thirteen days, in Germany, Canada, and Hobart Town.

The principal explorers of Australia have been Cunningham, Mitchell, Kennedy, Bunce, Strut, Grey, Eyre and Gawler. In March, 1833, Allan Cunningham, the botanist, and twenty men reached the Began, on the banks of which Cunningham was lost; he was killed by the blacks. Sir T. L. Mitchell, the fortunate explorer of Australia Felix, in 1836, left Sydney on December 6th, 1845, to survey the country north of the Darling. He had a party of thirty, with eight drays, three carts, thirteen horses, and two hundred and fifty sheep. In his progress to that river he suffered much from thirst. For forty miles he sought in vain for water in the river Bogan. The heat killed his kangaroo dogs. After passing the Darling, he encountered few hardships. River after river appeared, with a large extent of excellent pasture land. From the Balome depot, he went ahead with ten men and light carts. In June he left the beautiful Maronoa, and discovered new realms of fertility. Well might he exclaim – "These beautiful recesses of unpeopled earth, could no longer remain unknown." The Claude, the Salvator, the Nogoa, the Nive, the

Warrego, the Belyando, the Maranoa and the Victoria were the principal waters he passed. The last named river, he concluded from its size and direction, would lead to the Gulf of Carpentaria; or, as he himself observed – "the country is open, and well watered, for a direct route thereto." They forsook the Victoria, with its perfume of lilies and waving grass, because their provisions were failing, and with the enumerated rivers the traveller complains of contending a whole year with scarcity of water. Observing no extensive or lofty ranges, he beheld lines of volcanic cones. The Claude, from its soft rich scenery, was named after a French landscape painter; and another picturesque looking stream, was called after the romantic painter, Salvator Rosa. The pastoral Mantuan downs, were named from the Mantuan pastoral poet Virgil; the Nive, from a battle in Spain; Hope's Table Land, after an officer, under whom Sir T. Mitchell served in the peninsula, thirty years before.

The enterprising Kennedy was sent in 1848, to explore York Peninsula. He had a party of twelve. They were provided with 27 horses, 250 sheep, and 4 tons of flour. They were landed at Rockingham Bay, and were to proceed to Port Albany, near Cape York. For four months they struggled over a frightful country, through which they could carry neither their flour nor their sheep. They killed their horses to sustain life. Leaving eight

of the party at Weymouth, Kennedy pushed on with the native Jackey Jackey, and three others, to gain the ship waiting with stores. An accident obliged him to leave the three -whites, and hasten on with the aborigine, to get medical assistance. The natives beset them at Escape River, Dec. 13th; when near Port Albany, Kennedy was mortally wounded, by several spears. His last moments are thus described by his faithful servant. "He said, 'Jackey, give me paper, and I will write.' I gave him paper and pencil, and he tried to write, but he fell back and died; I caught him as he fell back and held him: and I then turned myself round and cried. I was crying a good while until I got well." The good fellow buried his master, and succeeded, faint and wounded, after thirteen days struggling with blacks and scrub, in getting to the vessel. The crew hastened to those left at the bay and in the bush. Two living skeletons alone remained, the others had perished from fever and hunger. Governor Fitzroy afterwards presented the faithful Jackey with an engraved silver plate, to be worn on his breast.

Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt, a German naturalist, in 1844, organised an expedition with the aid of public subscription. To those who contributed money or stock towards the expedition, he showed his gratitude by naming rivers after them, – as Isaacs, Mackenzie, Cape, Suttor, Burdekin, Lynd, Macarthur, &c. In

their long journey of 1500 miles, the party's provisions were exhausted, and they fed on opossums, iguanas, and birds, until they fell in with wild buffaloes, towards the gulf. When they killed a beast, they dried the flesh in the sun. They were once fifty hours without water. On the Queen's birthday, they sweetened their tea by putting their last empty sugar-bag into the boiling water. Losing three horses in crossing the Roper, they were obliged to leave their botanical collection behind. Approaching the Alligator river, they found plenty of ducks and geese. They reached a home at Port Essington, Dec. 17th, 1845; and arrived by a vessel at Sydney, March 29th, 1846, having been long given up for lost. Assisted by government and private subscriptions, Leichhardt began a new journey, December, 1846, with a party of eight, and Mr. Daniel Bunce, as naturalist. They were provided with fourteen horses, sixteen mules, ninety sheep, forty cattle, and two hundred and seventy Cashmere goats. The object of this journey, was to discover the mountain source of the gulf rivers, to skirt Strut's Desert, and reach Swan River, Western Australia. This was an unfortunate expedition. The animals were often missing. The weather was unusually wet. Fever and ague constantly hindered their progress; the goats, and most of the cattle and mules were lost. The party subsisted upon sun-dried bullock's flesh, with birds,

occasionally, iguanas, snakes, &c. Want of nourishment and medicine prevented their recovering strength. They reached Strut's Desert, near Peak range, but were forced, at last, by sickness and weakness to return. Well might Leichhardt remark, that nothing but a continued chain of misfortunes attended them. Mr. Bunce in the homeward route, reaped the benefit of his benevolence and thoughtfulness, in unexpectedly eating of fruits and vegetables springing from his own sowing, months before. After a few months rest, Dr. Leichhardt courageously departed for Swan River. He took with him only three white men, Hentig, Glassen, Jack, a Bushman; and Mr. Bunce's Black Jemmy. He left Darling Downs, in March, 1848, and has not been heard of since. Mr. Haly went afterwards upon his track, and was told by some native women that the white men had been murdered, Mr. Bunce marked a good track 300 miles long, from the Darling, to Mount Abundance. Mr. Gregory – late Surveyor of Western Australia – left on his North Australian tour in 1855, for the Victoria River of Stokes, the Plains of Promise, &c. Captain Grey was the chief explorer of Western Australia by land. In 1837-8, travelling inland, he discovered Glenelg River and some excellent land. He entered a cave, on the sides of which were many rude drawings of men and animals. The Red hand was there, and the figures had bandages on their

heads, and garments to their ancles. Being wounded by the blacks, he was obliged to retire. He then explored the country of Sharks Bay, observing the Gascoigne River and Colaina, or Deceitful Plains, from the Mirage. On his way back to Swan River he was shipwrecked at Gantheaume Bay, and had to walk 300 miles southward, to reach the first settlement. Several rivers, as the Murchison, Hutt, Irwin, Chapman, &c., were passed, and some good country. The party endured much from sickness, hunger and thirst, and nothing but, the courageous conduct of Grey sustained the others. He sought strength from the scriptures. He very properly observes: – "In all my sufferings, I never lost the consolation derived from a firm reliance upon the goodness of Providence." One of the party – Mr. Smith – wandered from the rest, and perished from thirst. Falling in at last with some friendly blacks, they were feasted with roast frogs and by-yu nuts. Mr. Eyre, in 1840, proposed an overland trip to Swan River. Leaving Adelaide in June, he explored the shore of Lake Terrene. Unable to proceed westward, through the frightful desert, scrub and barren rocks, he came to Port Lincoln, with the intention of following the sea coast, to King George's Sound; a distance of twelve hundred miles. The danger was so obvious, that at Fowler Bay – the western limit of Australia – he sent back all but three black lads, and one

white man, the overseer. They journeyed over the Biscuit Cake Stones, and rounded the Great Bight, after three attempts. The poor horses were soon, so reduced, that they could only carry twenty pounds each. All other things were then abandoned. The want of water was a great trouble to the wanderers, horseflesh supplying food. On two occasions they travelled for seven days without water. They found some by digging in white sand near the sea. One day Mr. Eyre returned to the camp, after seeking for his lost horses,, and found his companion murdered, most of his provisions stolen, and his natives gone. Driving onward two or three horses, he set off on his journey through the desert alone. The lad Wylie, afterwards returned to him. When nearly perishing, the two walking skeletons fell in with a French whaler, by the coast of Rossiter Bay. There they were kindly treated. Pursuing their journey, they arrived at King George's Sound, in July, 1841. In 1831, Captain Barker was sent to survey the hill country west of the Murray. Landing on the shore of the Gulf of St. Vincent, he walked over the spot where Adelaide was afterwards built; passed over the Lofty Range – named a mountain after himself – and arrived overland at the mouth of the Murray. He swam over the river, with his instruments, to make observations, and was never seen again. The poor man was pierced

by the spears of the alarmed natives. Six years after, Captain Pullen and the Adelaide Judge were drowned, in trying to enter the Murray from the sea. Governor Gawler, in 1841, explored the country to the west of the Great Murray Bend. The party killed horses for blood to drink. Mr. Bryan, one of the number, was lost near the site of the Burra Mines, and was supposed to have perished for want of water. Mr. Drake surveyed the country north of Port Lincoln, in 1844, and discovered the barren Gawler range. He was mortally wounded by the natives, and died in great agony on his way back to the settlement. Mr. Horrocks – after whom a mountain is called – left Adelaide with a camel, on an exploring trip, believing this conveyance the best for so dry a region. On his journey he accidentally shot himself.

Captain Strut, Surveyor General of South Australia, in 1844, made an attempt in August 15th of that year, to penetrate the unknown interior. He followed the Murray to the Darling; striking off to the north west, he came to the Barrier and Grey Ranges. Approaching a rocky glen – in which there was water – the party formed a depot. Surrounded by deserts, they were completely shut in during the dry season, for 160 days; the heat on one occasion was 157 deg. in the sun, and 134 deg. in the shade. There Mr. Poole, the assistant, died of scurvy. Again and again did Captain Strut try to

discover water elsewhere. On one trip he reached the north eastern salt shore of Lake Torrens. At last they were permitted to move onward through the desert. A few channels of creeks were seen as O'Halloran and Strzlecki; also some salt lakes. Very few natives came near. Waterfowl passed in flocks towards the north west, as if some inland sea were still in that direction. No great mountain dividing range was observed. The rivers flowing inward from other hills, may he supposed to form a vast lake in winter, though the hot winds may pass over its dried surface in summer.

In lat. 27 deg., Strut entered the curious Stony Desert, one hundred miles long. Crossing this, the sand ridges reappeared. The dry channel of the Eyre Creek was passed, and the same dreary sand hills were spread out before him. so far were the party now from water, that they feared to go further. Their position was long. 138 deg. east, by lat. 24 1/2 deg. south. They hastened back just in time to get a drink, by straining mud through a handkerchief. Changing their course to the south east, they discovered a creek containing water, named after Judge Cooper, of Adelaide. The natives behaved kindly to the Englishmen, bringing them millet cake, baked fish and roast duck. Cooper's Creek is doubtless the continuation of Mitchell's Victoria River, and the outlet of the water is towards Lake Torrens. Loud cheers of welcome

saluted the worthy traveller, from the Darling and Murray tribes on his return. Captain Strut gained his happy home, January 19th, 1846. No discovery of importance has followed this expedition in that direction.

Sir John Franklin and his lady suffered much in a journey through Tasmania, from the capital to Macquarie Harbour. They ate wild greens for want of provisions. He was Governor of that island in 1837.

A few years ago, Mr. Brunner left Nelson, New Zealand, with two natives and their wives; he passed eighteen months in one of the most desolate countries in the world. They chiefly subsisted upon eels and birds. It rained almost continually. Water rose in one night twenty feet in a river. No good land was seen. The London Geographical Society rewarded Brunner's sufferings with a gold medal. His farthest point was lat. 43 1/2 deg. south, near Mount Cook, New Zealand.

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