THE PICTURE OF AUSTRALIA.*

EMIGRATION engrosses so much of public attention at present, that any publication treating of one of the points towards which the tide seems to be flowing, is sought after, and read with avidity. The work before us, however, is not one which we think will assist the emigrant in his selection, as to the point in Australia towards which he should bend his steps, nor will it at all assist him in his proceedings when he gets there : he wants a small, neat, little two and sixpenny pamphlet, bearing and deserving the title of " The Emigrants' Guide and Manual to Australia." This should contain all necessary information for him, from the time he decides on quitting his native country, till he is sheltered by his covering of bark, or shingles, in his own hut— on his own land—in the Great Australia. We shall, in noticing the work before us, endeavour to lay before our readers a few useful hints as to emigration to New South Wales, which accident has just placed within our reach; and which we think will be of more interest to the emigrant than the account that " Captain Dick Hartog visited the land from Cape Escarpee to North West Cape, called Endraghts Land, in 1616 ;" or that "the land about Cape Leeuwin was seen by Peter Wugts, a Dutchman, in 1672." This, and such like information, which the compiler of the work before its (for it is a compilation of the published voyages of navigators from Captain Dick HARTOG, in 1616, to Captain P. KING, in 1822) has dignified with the name of " The Picture of Australia." Our emigrant may judge of the value from the summing up of the author (page 31.)

"From this summary of the reports of those who have examined the shores of New Holland, it appears, that with the exception of the middle part of the east coast, there is little in them from which even a guess at the nature and appearance of the interior can be drawn. From its comparatively small breadth, we may indeed conclude that the whole of the peninsula to the eastward of the Gulf of Carpentaria, is an arid waste, more especially the narrow part of it towards Cape York. As for the rest of those shores, upon which no river equal in size to either of those, that rise nearly op- • posite to each other in Van Diemen's Land is found, they seem to be har- riers; but of what they are the barriers, they are so dissimilar to any other shores with which we are acquainted for enabling us to know or guess even by that least satisfactory of all means, analogy.—If our knowledge of the shores of New Holland be not of the most satisfactory nature, yet it is perfect information compared with what we know of the interior. In all the other continents, with perhaps the exception of that part of Southern Africa which lies to the northward of the territory of the Cape, there are some great fea- tures, indicated at the shores, by means of which we can form a hypothesis of the whole of the country which wants only the Ring up of the details from actual observation. The termination of a vast ridge of mountains, en- ables us to say, that here the water divides, and the courses of the streams are to opposite seas, large rivers enable us to be certain, before we have em- barked on the absolute survey, that here are valleys of ample dimensions, or . the smallness of the streams makes us sure that here the central elevation is

* The Picture of Australia; exhibiting a faithful Representation of the Geographical Position, Surface, and Appearance of the Country ; of the Seas around its Shores ; of its Climate and Meteorology; of its Native Productions and Native Inhabitants ; of the several Colonies in New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, the Swan River, Melville Island, and other Places; of the Agricultural and Commercial Resources of the Coun- try, and the prospect which it holds out of Advantage, whether to the intending Settler, to the Merchant, or to the Country at large. London, 1829. Whittaker, and Cc.

at no great distance from the sea ; but in New Holland, except in so far as actual observation has gone, and compared with the whole magnitude of the country, that is yet but a mere speck, we can speculate nothing. For full seven-eighths of the circumference, there is not one indication, save the con- tinuity of the shore, that would lead us to conclude that what we saw were anything else than a portion of an island of less dimensions than many of those by which this regular continent is surrounded. Wilson's promontory, which is of considerable elevation, and, according to Messrs. Bass and Flinders, of hard granite, might at first be considered as the termination of a central ridge of mountains ; but such is not the case,—it is detached from the high land in the interior, not only by a low, flat sand, but nearly by a salt-water lagoon ; so that it can be regarded as nothing more than an insulated rock, which may at some time and probably not at a time very remote, have stood detached in the sea. Cape Howe also stands among sandy shores ; and though in the country to the south of Sydney, some of the high points on the coast be connected with the interior, yet none of them has the appearance of the beginning of a continuous ridge. The same is the case with the mountains that lie further north upon the east coast. It is the same with Cape York, that is not high itself; and the country to the south of it contains only hummocks of sand. The two points of the north coast, west of the Gulf of Carpentaria, are upon islands; and throughout the whole of that and the north-west coast, the hills that appear are evidently detached masses; and in many places they are, during the rainy season, insulated by the inundations. On the west coast there are no better indications. North-west Cape is the termination of a sandy promontory ; and the elevations between that and the Swan River appear to be merely hummocks running along the coast. Swan River itself, or Cape Leeuwin, give no more ;indication of an extent of either hill or valley. The south coast is still more puzzling. Where mountains appear, they seem to be insulated, and have not the least appearance of rising in elevation toward the centre of the country, as is usual in the other continents : then the five hundred miles of elevated coast in the very centre of the south, with the strata perfectly horizontal, is so contrary to what is observed in other countries, that it darkens rather than explains. There are some instances in which the summits of the rocks and reefs that run out into the sea determine the direction of the mountains, and thus afford a key to the internal geography of the country. But the reefs in the vicinity of New Holland are not of any such use. The reefs there have nothing to do with geology. They are not the effects of those mighty causes, affecting the mass of the globe, which have girdled Europe with the Alps, Africa with the Atlas, Asia with the Himmaleh, and America with the Andes. They spring from no such convulsion of nature as those which have spotted the Atlantic with many of its isles, and stretched the chain of the Sunda Islands from Sumatra to Timor. They are the work of means equally wonderful, but much more humble. They are built quietly under the sea, by countless myriads of little insects. As will be more particularly explained afterwards, the coral insects build their little habitations, one generation above the ruins of another, till, from the depth of hundreds of fathoms, they reach the surface; then another ridge follows, the sea fills up the chasms with broken coral, sand, and other marine remains ; after which the reef is manured and planted by the birds, and in time becomes an.island.

"Thus the theory of the geography of New Holland cannot proceed one step beyond the details that have been proved by experience ; and though observation, where it has been made, is just as good with respect to the local parts of New Holland as to any other place, it bars all inference. Where theory would lead the geographer to look for a river, there is a thirsty sand ; and where he would from the analogy of other countries expect a mountain, there is a marsh.

" Of the whole 7,750 miles, which, by a rude calculation form the shores of New Holland, the rivers that have been discovered, or that, to all appear- ance, are discoverable, running towards the sea, are confined to a very small portion, not exceeding five hundred miles,—that is, from Shoal Haven in the south, to Moreton bay in the north ; and the sources of those rivers, where they have been traced, are so circuitous and crooked, that they are of little use in communicating an idea, either of the general character, or the general shape of the countries."

In fact, the only part which at present it can be of any service to the emigrant to be acquainted with, is, that portion of New South Wales which is now or soon will be, available for the settler, and the new settlement at Swan River. But first of all, let us ask those who have decided on quitting their country, what has induced them to do so. Are you dissatisfied with the political institutions of England ? Do you look for more freedom than you find there ? Are the laws not impar- tially administered ? Can the rich and the proud man trample with impunity on the poor and the humble ? Have you not ample means for the moral and religious education of your children? Are you dissatis- fied with the Church Establishment ? Do the clergy not labour for you both by precept and example? If all or any of these questions are answered in the negative, then we say, don't go to New South Wales, expecting any one of them improved ; for although the laws are as impartially administered by upright and independent Judges in New South Wales as in England, yet the constitution of the courts is such as certainly will not please those, who are dissatisfied with the administration of justice at home. If dissatisfaction with the institu- tions of your country has not operated with you, in your contemplated removal from the lands of your fathers, but if the desire of settling your family more comfortably, with more moderate means, than you have the probability of doing in England, has induced you to emigrate, then we say, you may turn your attention to New South Wales ; with this hint, however, at starting—there is nothing in it to be compared to England except the climate, which is far superior to that of England. If you go with a cheerful and contented mind, determined to overcome the many hundred annoyances with perseverance and good humour,—not expecting to make a fortune for either yourself or your family, not having your expectations raised too high, but on the con- trary expecting to meet and prepared to meet obstacles and rebuffs at every step,—then it is likely the colony may eventually prove a resting- place for yourself, and you may lay a good foundation for a comfort- able independence for your children. But so much depends upon the temper and expectations with which one sets out—there have been so many failures, and annoyances from overstrained expectations—that at it is of the first moment to the emigrant to set him right on the point. Let no man settle in New South Wales in the hope of speedily re- ali7ing a large fortune, for he will assuredly be disappointed. At the same time, we know of no place (except Swan River, and the grounds

for this reservation we shall state by and by) in which a man of moderate capital with the prospect of an increasing family, can, if he has a little share of prudence, industry, and patience, do better for himself and family than in New South Wales.

There are two classes of persons for whom the colony holds out prospects,—mechanics, and those who, whether claiming the name of agriculturists or not, intend to settle on their land, and turn their attention to the tilling the ground and the breeding of sheep and cattle. The mechanics are always sure of high wages, if they are of sober and industrious habits ;—for the convict mechanics although very often first-rate craftsmen, are idle and dissolute, and not to be de- pended upon. A good carpenter will readily obtain from sixty to seventy pounds a year, and his board and lodging; a blacksmith and wheelwright, the same ; and a joiner and cabinetmaker, something more. Emigrant tradesmen, such as tailors, shoemakers, &c. do not obtain proportionably high wages ; there being so very many of the first-rate employ6es of these classes in England sent out as convicts. But those who go out as settlers are generally such as have been agri- culturists or graziers, or at least intend to become so : to them we think the Emigrant's Manual should be principally addressed. They will find it necessary to follow a very different system of agriculture from that with which they have been acquainted in England, Scotland, or Ireland. Few, if any, who have gone out with the determination of putting their knowledge of husbandry into practice, in New South Wales, have succeeded. The seasons are different, and more uncer- tain ; the soil is less kind ; manure more difficult to be obtained ; the farm-servants being freed labourers, are more careless ; the seed ripens more unevenly ; and unless the settler lias all the means within him- self, he is harassed by a thousand circumstances which in England would scarcely be thought of. If a bullock chain is broken and he should not have a blacksmith on his farm, he may be forced to send ten or twenty miles to have it mended ; a delay ensues, which leaves his bullocks idle the best part of a week ; in the mean time the wea- ther changes, and his opportunities are gone. These mischances have happened to those with whom we have conversed, repeatedly.

The grazier has generally been the most profitable speculator, and with less risk. Hitherto the price of meat has been very.liberal- from 6d. to 4d. per pound ; and the range of pasture unbounded. We speak of a period within the last seven years ; but now, that by a recent act of Council every man is obliged to fence his land, the price of beef is under two-pence per pound ; and the grazier will be forced to take his turn with the agriculturist in the change of prices, but with less prospect of redemption. The nugiber of cattle is great, and the increase of late years prodigious—far beyond any possibility of Colonial consumption ; and there is no outlet for exportation except a few hides to England. In a very few years cattle will not be much more valuable in New South Wales than they are at present in South America.

The contract for the Government requisition for the present year has been taken at a penny-farthing the pound ; in 1823 it was taken for sixpence. The Commissary advertised for tenders for beef salted in the colony, which was to be warranted to keep for twelve months : but it did not answer, owing, it is supposed, to the contractors using Colonial salt, which had been prepared without proper attention, and was found to contain a considerable quantity of magnesia, which is prejudicial to dead animal fibre. This, however, will be remedied by a little experience and care. At present, Liverpool salt, which is im- ported in considerable quantities, and is sold from six to eight pounds the ton, is alone depended on for the curing of meat. The Penal Settlements are chiefly supplied with Irish pork, to the shame of the Colonists.

The following are the Colonial Regulations under which land is granted.

"GOVERNMENT ORDER.

"Colonial Secretary's Office, 5th September 1826. "Regulations for the Granting aiul Sale of Land.

"His Excellency the Governor is pleased to notify that the following regulations, in fur- therance of His Majesty's instructions for the disposal of land, have been established until his Majesty's pleasure shall be known.

"1st. Persons desirous of obtaining land will address themselves to the Colonial Se- cretary, who will furnish them with the established form of application. When the Go- vernor shall be satisfied of the character and respectability of the applicant, the Colo- nial Secretary will be instructed to furnish him with a letter to the Land Board, in order that the amount of capital which he can command may be ascertained. Stock of every description, implements of husbandry, and other articles which may be applicable to agricultural purposes, are to be considered as capital, as likewise any half-pay or pen- non which the applicant may receive from Government.

"2nd. The Land Board will carefully investigate the particulars of the capital which the respective applicants are stated to possess, it being of importance that settlers'shouid not receive a greater extent of land than they are capable of improving, and that grants should not be made to persons who are desirous only of disposing of them. The regula- tions fixing the period within which persons receiving grants without purchase will not be allowed to alienate the lands, (without subjecting themselves to a forfeiture of the grants) will be hereafter notified.

"2d. When the Governor is satisfied as to the amount of capital possessed by the ap- plicant, the latter will be furnished by the Colonial Secretary with a letter to the Sur- veyor General, who will afford him every necessary information, and will give him a written authority (for which he will pay a fee of 2s. W.) to proceed in search of land.

"9th. When he has made his selection, he will apprize the Surveyor General by letter, who will point out in his report (to be transmitted twice as month for the Governor's in- formation) the situation, &c. &e. of such lands as have been selected. If approved by his Excellency, the Colonial Secretary will give the applicant a written authority to take possession of the laud (in which the conditions wilt be specified) until his Majesty's pleasure be known, or the grant be made out.

"5th. The following boundaries have been fixed, within which persons who may be allowed to purchase, or to receive grants, on paying an annual quit rent, will be per- nutted to make their selection. The Northern Boundary to be from Cape Hawke, in a line due west to Wellington Valley. The Western Boundary to be the River Mac- quarrie, from Wellington Valley to the :;3rd parallel of latitude, from thence the line to he extended to the 146i degree of east longitude, and from that pent directly south, until it reaches the RfiC4-Lacklan, thence due east to Campbell's River, pursuing the line of that river to the southward, and so on to the latitude of Bateman Bay, which forms the Southern Boundary.

6th. The Government will reserve for its own use 10,000 acres, in the immediate neighbourhood of the settlement at Bathurst, which the Surveyor General will mark oat, without loss of time, so that settlers may not be impeded in selecting their land.

"Tth. Land, granted without purchase, to be held in free and common socage, the grantee paying a quit rent of five per cent. per annum, on the value, to be fixed by the Commissioners.

" 8th. The payment of the quit rent not to commence until the end of seven years, after the grantee shall have been authorized to settle on the land : within that period' however the grantee must expend, in improvements on the land so granted, a sum equal to one-fourth of the value estimated by the Commissioners, under the penalty of forfeit- ing the grant.

" 9th. The quit rent to be redeemable at the option of the grantee, on payment into the Colonial Treasury of a sum equal to twenty years' purchase after the date and execu- tion of the grant.

"10th. Lands to be granted in square miles. in the proportion of one square mile, or 640 acres, for every 0001. sterling of capital, which the applicant can immediately com- mand, to the extent of four square miles, or 2,560 acres, which is the utmost that can be granted without purchase. The Crown reserves to itself the right of making and con- structing such roads and bridges us may be necessary for public purposes, on lands to be granted as above. and also to such indigenous timber, stone, and other materials the produce of the land, as may be required for making and keeping the said roads and bridges in repair.

" llth. The land selected by individuals, who have obtained leave to purchase, will be valued by the Commissioners with as little delay ate possible, and will be put up to sale for one month (by proclamation) as directed by his Majesty's instructions, and will not be sold eta lower rate titan the value so fixed.

" 12th. Sealed tenders, for the purchase of the land advertised as above, to be ad- dressed, under cover, to the Colonial Secretary, and marked "fender for land.' At the end of a month, from the date of the proclamation, the tenders will be opened in the presence of such persons as the Governor may appoint, when the land will be disposed of, as directed by his Majesty's instructions to the person making the highest tender, if approved by the Governor, lands purchased will be held in free and common socage, paying a yearly quit rent to the Crown of one pepper corn.

" 13th. The purchaser will be required to deposit ten per cent. of the purchase-money previously to his receiving possession of the land, and the sale will be confirmed by the necessary instrument, when the present arrangement shall be approved by his Majesty. "14th. No person will be permitted, by any contract or succession of contracts, to be- come the purchaser of more than 2500 acres, including the land he may have previously purchased, unless duly authorized by a special order from the Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies.

" 15th. Persons desirous of obtaining reserves of land,' or Grants in Extension,' will make application in the prescribed form, through the Colonial' Secretary ; and if no objection exists, the Governor will authorize them to occupy the land they make choice of, until his BIajesty's pleasure be known, on their engaging to pay rent, in the mean time, at the rate of It. sterling per annum for every 100 acres.

" By His Excellency's command, ALEXANDER M. Luray."

From these regulations it appears, that after paying the expenses of his outfit, the settler must have at least 5001. capital before he can ob- tain 640 acres, the smallest quantity of land granted by the Colonial Government, and 20001. before he can receive the largest grant, 2560 acres. With this information before him, he will naturally ask what is the quality of the land for which I am to possess a capital in the proportion of 500/. for every 640 acres ? The answer is not altogether encouraging—very uncertain. The arable land is not abundant, and the pasture land does not yield one-fourth the nutriment that the same quantity in England yields. Taking it altogether, New South Wales is as to soil a very unequal country, and very badly watered. Here and there you have patches of good land, but they are so chequered by those of an indifferent quality, that a man thinks himself very for- tunate if in his grant of 2560 acres he finds 500 of productive arable soil.

The country looks very beautiful in the Spring, and two first months of Winter ; and many a weary and anxious settler, in looking out for his future " park "—(for often the poor fellow who has just mustered enough to make him eligible for 640 acres, gives you an earnest of his expectation in styling his seat such and such a " park, or his log-hut such and such a Castle," for instance, 1` CaStle Forbes, and Mac- quanie Park)—is so taken with the appearance which the grass hears, that, quite enraptured, he turns his horse's head towards Sydney, and urging the poor brute to the top of his speed, hastens, in momentary dread least some person may be before him, to report his selection to the Surveyor-General and get his letter of occupation. But a few months tells him, he should have looked deeper than the surface : the drought sets in, the tinkling rill is stopped, the grass dried up, and withered : he is forced to set his labourers to dig for water, to save his cattle and his family from perishing; and if he Ends it, it is most likely to be so fully impregnated with aluminous salts, as to be totally unavailable to himself and very dangerous for his stock.

Our author, in speaking of the appearance of the country, says-

" Along with this diversity in the form of the surface, there is a diversity in its appearance. Forest timber, brushwood, and grass, arc not formed into zones according to their elevation, as in countries of snore uniform surface and severe climate. It is the soil chiefly that determines the native vegetation of Australia; and as that is continually varying with the form and the exposure of the surface, the native pastures come much nearer to landscape gardening than anything that is met with almost in any other country. 'There is a grove here, a-lawn there, a shrubbery in another place, and in another still, a natural wall of the light-coloured stone appears at the openings of the foliage, as if it were part of the enclosure of a garden. Sometimes these arc all upon so small a scale, that they would suit a labourer's cottage ; at others, they would answer for a villa ; and sometimes there is a vast extent, with a few clumps and scattered trees, as a domain ample enough for the most splendid palace. On the elevated country to the north-cast of Bathurst, and that for a very considerable extent, a stranger would find some difficulty in persuading himself that he were in a country, not only which the hand of man had not touched to improve it, but where there was not one fixed, and hardly even a wandering inhabitant. As connected with another country at the Anti- podes, and to a people who, by supplying their wants from every portion of the globe, cannot think of comfort, and hardly of existence, without com- mercial intercourse, these delightful regions lie under the disadvantage of being approached with difficulty ; but to those who would be content with the produce of a fertile soil and the enjoyment of a genial climate, in their own locality few pikes are more inviting than this."

But this is only the fair outside : the comparative value of this beau- tiful appearance may be estimated when we state, that it is calculated in the Colony, that taking the average of the soil, it requires from eight to ten acres to keep a cow or bullock all the year round ; and three acres are, under the most favourable circumstances, barely capable of maintaining two sheep for the same period. These facts will serve to make the emigrant consider the scale he should go upon. In speaking of the natural appearance of Australia, however, the author before us has fallen into a very common error.

" The name of Botany Bay, conferred upon the comparatively barren coast where Cook and Banks first landed, is a permanent proof of the rich field of vegetable novelties which the latter met with there." The land about Botany Bay is anything but a permanent proof of a rich field of vegetable novelties—it is barren in the extreme : the appearance of those " wee modest flowers," as BURNS would call them, the Epacudeo and the Baroneco, is certainly beautiful ; but they grow in nothing but the poorest sandy soil ; as indeed do many of the most beautiful flowers of New South Wales ; and the meadows which COOK 'spoke so glowingly of, are nothing but salt water swamps, which look well at a distance, from which alone he judged.

The author divides New South Wales into ten provinces. For provinces, we rather think we should, in following the official nomen- clature of the Colony, read " counties ;" and he seems to have found a commodity of good names for them, which is not allowed in the Colony. Curious stories, we believe, might be told of certain authori- ties endeavouring to renominate some of the counties, in favour of some kind friend, some sub-official benefactor, whose name should be handed down to lasting ages, a monument of grateful remembrance.

" The ten counties (we beg the author's pardon) are denominated Cumber- land, Camden, Argyle, Westmoreland, Northumberland, Roxburgh, Lon- donderry, Durham, Ayr, and Cambridge." [The names are nothing, so long as the boundaries are well defined ; which they certainly are not at present. One of the causes from which great discontent has arisen in the Colony has been the want of surveyors ; and to this is owing the undefined limits not only of counties but parishes, and even grants. The prompt attention, how- ever, of the Colonial Department, has been directed to relieve this cause of complaint.] " Cumberland extends about fifty miles along the coast, from the conflu- ence of the Hawkesbury with the sea, to the coal cliffs southward of Botany Bay, and the commencement of the forest of Illawarra. Its inland boundry follows the course of the Hawkesbury and Nepean, to the sources of that branch which has been called the Cow Pasture River. Thus its greatest breadth, from the heads at the entrance of Port Jackson to Emu Ford on the Nepean, may be about forty miles. Though, with the exception of the banks of the Hawkeshury, and of that part of the Cow Pasture plains that lies seaward of the Nepean, Cumberland is not the most fertile part of the Colony, yet it was the first settled, and is still the best cultivated and most populous. Containing the capital, it is the place where the most wealthy of the settlers reside, and the centre both of commerce and intelligence. Many of the seats in it are handsome, and some elegant, and, unless when there is a want of rain or a visitation of caterpillars, by either of which the vegeta- tion is destroyed, it wears an appearance of considerable luxuriance and beauty. Towards the sea-coast, and, generally, at a distance from the banks of the rivers, the greatest disadvantage under which Cumberland labours is a want of water. On the sandstone formation toward the sea, this is of course to be expected ; and though when tanks are formed in the argillaceous strata, the water be more easily retained, it is apt to become, more especially in the dry season, impregnated with the aluminous salt which is so abundant in the soil."

The whole of the lands in this county have long been granted and are therefore of little import to the emigrant. Except on the banks of the Hawkesbury and Nepean River, the south and east creeks, and one or two insulated spots, the land is of very inferior quality ; but it • may be a matter of consideration with him whether it be not advi- sable to rent a farm on which is built a neat cottage with garden, &c. for his family, until he has prepared for them a snug retreat on their own estate : such may be had for 601. or 701. per annum. Except upon the banks of the Hawkesbury and Nepean, the average crop of wheat in this county does not exceed fifteen bushels to the acre: the chief value of it is, its propinquity to the capital.

" Camden lies to the south of Cumberland. The whole of the lands in this county have been granted, except the district called the Cow Pastures and the Illawarra. The land is not above mediocrity : the latter, however rich, is difficult of access, both by sea and land. It has furnished some good specimens of cedar ; and the Five Island Boats, as they are called, have kept up a pretty brisk trade with Sydney in that article. " Argyle lies to the south-west of Camden ; and consists of plains upon the banks of the Wolandelly and some other branches of the Nepean, and the country southward indefinitely toward the mountains. The southern part of this country is mountainous; and the climate, consequently, much colder than that of Sydney. Snow and hail are not unfrequent in the winter months. The wild cattle, which have been to a considerable extent expelled from the Cow Pastures, have taken up their residence in some parts of Ar- gyle. Goulburn and 13raedalbane Plains, on the Wolandelly, are by no means had grazing ; a purpose for which all this part of the Colony is much better fitted than for the plough. Near the sources of the Wolandelly, though not communicating with that or any other river, there are two lakes, Bathurst and George, the latter covering a considerable extent of surface ; but they are shallow, appear to be of recent formation ; and the land in the neigh- bourhood is bad. Between those lakes and Shoal Haven River, there is a considerable ridge. The Goruck Mountains which are understood to termi- nate southward in an extensive flat, destitute of timber, to which the name of Brisbane Downs has been given. These downs which are said to be about forty miles across, are represented as terminating toward the south in a ridge of mountains, so high as to be in winter completely covered with snow. On the west side of the downs, the rivers South Fish and Morumbidgee have their courses toward the west ; so that the downs and the marshy country about the lakes, form the summit level; and in all probability those rivers may be branches of one parallel to the Lachlan, on the south, and separated from it by a ridge similar to that which divides the Lachlan from the Mac- quarrie. This cold and elevated part of the country abounds in Australian game—kangaroos, emus, and wild ducks ; but it does not hold out many temptations for settlers, as the soil is poor, and the communication with the coast difficult."

The author is in error with respect to the boundaries of the county of Argyle : the west is not defined as yet in the surveyor's book ; the east and south-east are bounded by Shoal Haven River, which, de- scribing a segment of a circle, separates Argyleshire from Jarvis's, Bateman's, and Two-Fold Bay. This county, along the sea-side, is in some places very rich ; but it is almost inaccessible. It is called St. Vincent's county. It is left out of The Picture altogether. A curious anecdote is told of the description given by two explorers to Jarvis's Bay, the late Surveyor:General, Mr. OXLEY and Mr. THROSBY. The official visitor reported the county to be very poor, and without any running stream of fresh water. The other, who went with a more careful eye to find pasture for his herds in a season of great drought, described it differently, and said, he found a large stream of called for a written report from both these gentlemen : the excellent water running into the bay. The Governor (MACQUARRIE) they pertina- ciously kept to their statements, but Mr. OXLEY said he rowed, and Mr. THROSBY said lie rode round the bay,—Mr. THROSBY'S cattle found the water There are some portions of good land in this county, but they are all located.

" Westmoreland occupies the eastern slope of the Blue Mountains, from Argyle northward to the parallel at which the Hawkesbury falls into Broken Bay. The surface of this portion of the Colony is very irregular, as besides the general chain of the Blue Mountains, lying north and south, there are branches that stretch eastward, almost to the bank of the Nepean. One of these ridges, the King's Table Land, between Cox's River on the south, and Grose River on the north, affords a fine prospect of the country along the Hawkesbury and part of the Nepean, and also along. the Grose, on sonic parts of which both the soil and the scenery are very inviting."

There are some of the valleys in this county very rich and very beautiful, with plenty of running fresh water. The valley of Burra- borang, or Happy Valley, where the Nattai and Wollandelly Rivers unite, is picturesque in the highest degree, and possesses some very rich soil. It is extensively depastured upon.

" Northumberland occupies the sea-coast from Broken Bay northward, to Hunter's River, and extends indefinitely into the interior, which has not been completely explored. The sea-coast of this country is far from promising, but many parts of the interior are understood to be fertile. The summit- level in Northumberland is chiefly elevated plains, and not mountains ; and the plains have the advantage of those in the South of Argyle, both in climate and in soil." •

" Durham extends along the coast from Hunter's River to Manning River, which falls into Farquhar's Inlet in latitude 320. The sea-coast is re- markably irregular, and the land, though hilly, is watered by a number of small streams. Toward the banks of Hunter's and Paterson's Rivers, there are large extents of fertile ground, and the high land in the interior is opea, or has only partial brushes of timber."

" Ayr is the name given to the country on Port Macquarrie and the banks of Hasting's River. The surface of this part of the Colony is very much di. versified. There are many rivers, and also hills; one of which Sea View Hill, so called because the sea, though about fifty miles distant, is seen from the summit, has an elevation of nearly six thousand feet. The scenery in the interior is also in many places wildly grand ; but there are here and there extensive portions of rich soil, of which a number are so elevated as to he completely free from inundations. The forests in the richer places have the tangled, if not altogether the tropical character of the Illawarra. NIL Oxley, who first explored this part of New South Wales, paints the general land- scape, and particularly the valley of Apsley River, in the north-west of this country, in the most glowing colours. The following is an extract from the journal of his tour eastward from Liverpool Plains, after he had traced the Macquarrie River to the marsh in which it terminates :—` We proceeded up the Sydney River, (a stream running northward on the cast of the mountains that divide the eastern and western waters) to the south-east about three miles, before we could find a convenient place to cross, as the stream ran with great rapidity over a rocky bottom. The country on each side, sloped. to the river with gradual declension, and was an open forest country. On crossing the river, we passed through some noble forests of stringy bark, growing generally on the sides and ridges of stony, barren hills. These forests extended about two miles from the east of the river ; after which, the country became perfectly open, and of a level, or rather alternately rising surface. To the north and north-east, the river was beautiful, the same description of country extending as far as the eye could reach, with no ele- vated points or ridges to obstruct it. The determination of all the hills and slopes is northerly, and the rivers which we have crossed have taken the same direction. We proceeded nine miles further through the finest open country, or rather park, imaginable. The general quality of the soil is ex- cellent, though of a stronger and more tenacious description than further westerly. We halted its a fine spacious valley, where art, so far as it is an auxiliary of beauty, would have been detrimental to the fresher and simple garb of nature. This valley was watered by a fine brook, and at a distance of a mile we saw several fires at which appeared many natives. Upon discover- ing us, however, they immediately departed. I think that the most fastidious sportsman would have derived ample amusement during our day's journey. He might without moving have seen the finest coursing, from the com- mencement of the chase to the death of the game ; and when tired of killing kangaroos, he might have hunted emus with equal success. We numbered swans and ducks among our acquisitions ; which in truth were caught with- out much exertion on our part, or deviating in the least from our course. Granite and a hard whenstone (rather unusual neighbours) were the most predominant among the stones ; small pieces of quartz and loose rotten slates covered the tracks, on which grew some of the finest stringy bark-trees that I ever saw. Indeed, the other timber, which consisted chiefly of the common blue gum, was far larger than usually seen on forest lands.' But the whole country was not of this character ; for when they had proceeeded for some distance eastward among the mountains, they came to what would effectually have stopped the career of the most adventurous hunter. `This tremendous ravine,' says Mr. Oxley, ' runs nearly north and south, its breadth at the bottom does not, apparently, exceed ont.hondred or two hundred feet, whilst the separation of the outer edges is from two to three miles. I am certain that in perpendicular depth it exceeds three thousand feet; the slopes from the edges were so steep, and covered with loose stones, that any attempt to descend them, even on foot, was impracticable. From either (each) side of this abyss, smaller ravines of similar character diverged ; the distance be- tween which seldom exceeded half a mile. Down them trickled small rills of water from the range on which we were. We could not, however, discover the way in which the water in the main valley ran, as the bottom was con- cealed by a thicket of vines and creeping plants : indeed, though there had been no thicket, it would not have been an easy matter to ascertain the di- rection of the current, at a horizontal distance of a mile and a half, and an elevation of more than three thousand feet. How dreadful (exclaims the traveller) must the convulsion have been that formed these glens !' Now the fact is, that there has not been any convulsion about the matter. The ravine, as Mr. Oxley afterwards found, was nothing but the bed of the river Apsley; and whether the depth was three thousand or three hundred feet, the whole had been the working of the stream, in which of course the floods would very powerfully assist ; and if the channel be of the magnitude stated, it proves that the strata must be of a very soft description; and further down the river, the spoils of this hill must form a depositation of vast size, enough to destroy thousands of acres.

" The divisions which have been enumerated comprehend the whole con- nected coast of New South Wales from Bateman Bay in the south, to Port Macquarrie in the north, a distance of about three hundred miles, and stretching from the sea to the mountains, or the summit-level, where the water divides, and other rivers have been discovered running toward the interior : the whole of this district appears to have a threefold diameter. The shores, though they alternate of swamp, heath, and barren rocks, may in general be considered as unprofitable for the settler, except where they are eligible for the foundation of towns, or productive in forest-trees or coal. The intermediate parts are, where neither exposed to inundations or to drought, not ill adapted for agricultural purposes ; while the uplands are, to a great extent, fit for grazing, without any preparation but that of procuring a supply of water for the stock. The remaining parts to the westward of the summit, to which, so far as they have been discovered, the names of London- derry, Roxburgh, and Cambridge are viven, appear also to consist of three kinds of country, though not exactly the same as those on the coast. To- ward the Blue Mountains and the summit-level, the lands are evidently best adapted for grazing ; the central track where the limestone is found must be fit for tillage ; while the dreary and desolate country towards the termina- tion of the rivers in the marshes, does not appear to be fit for any useful purpose." The county of Ayr better known by the name of Port Macquarrie, is the point towards which we would direct the attention of the emi- grant. It has been and perhaps is at this moment, a penal settle- ment ; but it is understood that the Home Government have directed the Governor to throw it open. The retransported convicts whose Colonial sentences have been for short periods, will be allowed to re- main ; but those of more extended terms, or whose conduct has not entitled them to consideration, will be sent to Moreton Bay, a more northerly penal settlement. At Port Macquarrie, the late Governor, Sir THOMAS BRISBANE, instituted a number of experiments, which will eventually prove of the greatest acquisition to the Colonists. He planted sugar-canes, and sewed Sea Island cotton. The results have been most promising. Sugar, of a coarse but rich grain, has been produced; the canes have thriven rapidly ; and they have been procured from Otaheita, which bear so high a character that they have been sent in abundance to our West India Islands. Samples of the Sea Island cotton have been sent to England, and been highly. approved of. Here then are mines of wealth open to the enterprising and industrious settler; and here we would advise him to pitch his tent. A fine river, abundance of the richest alluvial land, a great extent of pasture country, and that happy climate where, in addition to the productions of the more southern set- tlements, he can raise with facility, as has been proved, the most lu- crative productions of tropical growth—sugar, cotton, and coffee. Port Macquarrie is beyond the limits pointed out in the Government Regulations ; but we are aware that it is to be, if not already declared, a free settlement ; and perhaps we are the first to make it known. We have already extended our remarks beyond our usual limits ; but in re- suming them, which it is our intention to do on an early occasion, we shall refer to the question of labour in the Colony, as well as to the comparative value of the two settlements, New South Wales and Swan River. The great interest of the subject at present, cannot fail, we think, to make it agreeable to our readers.