good horsemen, and exceedingly fond of being about horses. But in all moral and intellectual qualities, they are further below the Polynesian races, than these latter are below Europeans. The Australian never learns any of the arts of industry and civilization; he never has been known to cultivate the ground or to build a house, or to reside permanently on any spot; he never accumulates money, nor has he indeed any notion properly speaking of earning it. Those who are employed by the settlers receive no wages; only their board and clothing, with an occasional present of money to buy tobacco and spirits. Even the native police who are stationed on the border to keep down the depredations of the wild blacks,' get only nominal pay. They are delighted to serve for short periods for the pleasure of riding about in uniform. But they stick to nothing long; various attempts have been made to attach and fix them, but all have failed. Like the gipsies, they are untameable. They travel about the country, sleeping always in the open air, and living on yams and other roots, kangaroos (when they can get them), but, above all, on opossums, and never encamping long in one place. Each tribe has its hunting-ground, and a trespasser is invariably punished with death if caught. They hang about towns and stations for the sake of the offal, &c., and occasionally do little jobs to earn as a reward spirits or sugar, or tobacco. Like the Maories, their numbers are rapidly diminishing, which is not, as in the Maories' case, surprising or unaccountable. There is one other difference which is worth remarking, namely, that the Australian blacks are not, and never can be, in the slightest degree formidable, as a nation, to the settlers collectively; because they have not the least capacity, or even idea, of combination, and because they never possess the means of procuring firearms or ammunition. The New Zealanders, on the contrary, are, almost without exception, well armed with fowling pieces and muskets, while, though there has never been anything like a national feeling or federation, embracing all the tribe,still there is ample capacity

for forming such an alliance; indeed, I have no doubt at all but that it would be formed, if they had a cause which enlisted general sympathy. It is remarkable that neither in New Zealand, nor in Australia, does the simple contrivance of bows and arrows appear to have been adopted before the introduction of firearms. The use of spears and tomahawks as missiles prevailed universally; but these are very defective in comparison. There are, I am told, a good number of half-breeds who are good-looking and intelligent, but I hear also that they almost invariably prefer the savage to the civilized mode of life. I have heard one instance of a fullblooded native settling down into respectability, as a shepherd, and what is more wonderful, getting an Englishwoman to marry him. I mention this the more particularly, as I never heard of another similar case, and I never knew an instance in New Zealand of a white woman either marrying, or having illicit connexion with, a native. All the half-castes are whites on the father's side. There are terrible stories told in Sydney, on such good authority that I fear some of them, at least, must be true, of its being, or at least having been, quite usual for the shepherds and stockmen in the outlying districts to destroy the wild blacks with as little scruple as if they were wild dogs, both by poison and by shooting them.

We

Early in the morning after our visit to Brownlow-hill, I started to ride back to Sydney, with the friend who had come out with me. passed, as usual, a great number of wool-drays on their way from the interior. There is nothing in which the stockowners feel the increased prices more severely than in the carriage of their wool and stores, which costs, they tell me, in many places 200 per cent. more than it did two years ago. From Sydney to Yass (two hundred miles), I was informed that the cost of carriage was, in February last, 187. a ton; from Yass to Sydney, 101., having formerly been only 31. 10s. Yet the stock-owners told me they found it pay better to employ professional carriers than their own teams -such risks and such expenses

1853.]

are they subject to from the untrustworthiness of their servants. As the distance from the port increases, the ratio of the carrier's charge increases also, and when they get very far back, it is impossible to induce a carrier to go at all; so that some of the squatters are compelled to use their own teams. The greatest distance of land-carriage for wool which I have heard of from a sheepstation to a port is seven hundred miles.

com

One evening we went to see the market of Sydney, which is worth seeing, chiefly on account of the exceeding profusion and cheapness of the fruit. Peaches from 4d. a dozen -grapes from 2d. a pound upwards, and yet every one told us it was a bad year for fruit, and also that in consequence of the demand for Melbourne, every portable kind was extraordinarily dear. Putting houserent and wages out of the question, the cost of living is but little, if at all greater than in London, either there or even at Melbourne. This will appear evident from a parison of prices. Actual necessaries are not very dear at Sydney, even now. The price of flour fluctuates wonderfully; it has been up to 457. and down to 127. a ton within the last six months. When we came away it was at 221. a ton. Bread was at 6d. the 2lb. loaf; meat was at 5d. and 6d. per lb. retail; this unprecedentedly high price of meat is caused chiefly by the difficulties which the graziers have in getting their fat sheep driven down, a most disagreeable job, as the shepherd has to camp out every night with them, in all weathers, and literally breathes nothing but dust the whole way down. How a man can exist for days in the atmosphere which prevails in the rear of a flock of sheep on an Australian road is to me an incomprehensible mystery. The butchers give 8s. a head for them, and 31. for bullocks. Meat is still very cheap up the country. A gentleman tolà me he was visiting, not many months ago, a large boiling-down establishment, about two hundred miles from Sydney, and near a considerable town. The owner told him everybody in the place knew they might have as much mutton as they pleased for the asking, before the carcases

645

were thrown into the boilers, yet they would hardly ever take the trouble to come for it. I gave away,' he added, 'one leg of mutton this week, and I don't know when I have been asked for one before.' Tea and sugar are cheap, the former can be had, good, at 1s. 6d. per lb., the latter at from 3d. to 7d. The New South Wales tariff is, I should think, the most liberal and simple in the world. There are but eight articles taxed, tea, sugar, wine, spirits, beer, coffee, tobacco, and dried fruit. All the duties are extremely light. That on tea, for example, is 14d. per lb.; rum, 4s. per gallon; sugar, 2s. 6d. per cwt.; tobacco, 1s. per lb.; wine, Is. per gallon. So that imported articles would be all cheaper than in almost any other country, if it were not for the extravagant freights now required by ships round to Sydney, and the expense of labour, storage, &c., after arrival. Butter is dear and bad; we used to pay 2s. 2d. per lb. for fresh butter. Milk, in the genuine sense of the word, unless you have a cow, is not to be had. You pay 6d. a quart for a very mild mixture, which goes under that name. The shops are showy, but the articles sold are, I hear, generally of very inferior quality,I mean the manufactured goods imported from England. The Australian market was supplied with sugar and coffee from Manilla almost exclusively until lately, when the fall of price in the Mauritius, consequent on the change of duties in England, has caused the importation of several cargoes from that colony, which have paid very well, being much superior in quality to Manilla, and it is likely that this commerce will increase. Manufactured tobacco comes also from Manilla; spirits of all kinds, as well as wine, from England. With the exception of sugar, tea, coffee, and cigars, Sydney has hardly any

foreign' trade. The Yankees have occasionally sent flour and 'notions,' but I believe their ventures have not been successful. It is interesting with reference to the effect of political connexion upon general intercourse, to observe the contrast afforded by California and Australia. Both lie at about equal distances from England and the Eastern States

of America, their staple export is the same-gold; their wants are the same people, and every kind of manufactured articles. One would suppose, according to strict economic theory, that the natural laws by which exchanges are regulated, would carry the trade of these countries, so similarly situated, into the same channels. Yet America almost monopolizes the Californian trade, and England the Australian.

In

1851, six-sevenths of the imports were from Great Britain. I should think that the consumption of what may be called the vulgar luxuries in Australia was almost unparalleled, even before the gold discoveries, for I find that in 1851 the importation of sugar was at the rate of 120 lbs. a head for the whole population; tea, of 8lbs. a head. The greater part of the spirits consumed is distilled in the colony; it pays an excise duty of 3s. 8d. a gallon, enjoying a protection to the amount of 4d. only. The chief industrial enterprises in New South Wales are distilleries, breweries, tanneries, sugar-refining establishments, and manufactories of a kind of cloth, made exclusively of wool, which wears very well, but does not hold its colours. Almost all the sugar consumed is imported raw, and refined in the colony. Fuel was immensely dear. Wood 25s. a load (about half a 'cord'), coals 31. a ton, chiefly on account of the high freights demanded by coasters, who have to give 107. a month to their

men.

It is impossible not to feel much interest in the efforts which the Australian colonies are making to promote education. There are two systems countenanced and supported by the legislature of New South Wales. One they call the 'National;' it is conducted upon precisely the same principles as the Irish National Schools. The other system they call the 'Denominational,' which is analogous to that on which the Parliamentary grant is distributed in England by the Privy Council; that is, the four most important religious denominations— the Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and Wesleyan, receive a share each, proportioned to their respective numbers, of a public grant. Here, as at home, the officials and

philosophers are strongly in favour of the National' or 'Non-sectarian' system, while the public generally prefer the Denominational,'-that is, they like better sending their children where they are taught the religion of their parents, as well as secular matters, whenever there is a choice. The bishops (Anglican and Roman Catholic), and most of the clergy, oppose the National Schools; still they seem to be well supported and well conducted, and I have no doubt will, by degrees, make their way into public favour, especially in country districts, where there is not a sufficiently large population of any one religion to support a good school. The number of children at all the schools, public and private, in the colony in 1851, was 21,000, out of a population of 197,000. Of these 11,000 were Denominational; 2800 National;' the balance 'private.' Just 50 per cent. of the population profess to be Anglicans, about 25 per cent. Roman Catholics, 20 Presbyterians, 5 Miscellaneous. The master of the Central School is, I am told, a very intelligent, competent man. They tell an amusing story about his appointment, which I retail, without vouching for its truth. It is said that the local government wrote to request that the Colonial Office would procure and send out a master, well acquainted with the Irish National system.' The Office' applied, with its usual discrimination, to the Bishop of London, who sent them а very good man, trained at Battersea. Mr. Downing-street, and was received by the clerk, who said :

went to

Oh! you're the schoolmaster for Australia. You understand the Irish National system?'

Never even saw it in operation,' said Mr. —, aghast.

Oh! never mind, you'll soon learn it, I dare say. Your wife is an experienced mistress ?'

'My wife! I never was married.' 'Well, you'll have to get a wife before you sail, for they want a master and mistress, who must be married. And you have not much time, for there's a vessel sailing for Swan River on Friday week, chartered by Government, and there's a berth kept for you in her.'

'Swan River! I have been engaged for Sydney.'

Oh, never mind, there are plenty of ways of going from one part of Australia to another. At any rate, it's settled so, and you must be ready.'

Whatever may be the truth of this story, Mr. certainly got

safe to Sydney; and being really a clever man, and an excellent schoolmaster, he has given complete satisfaction to his employers and the public. He gets 300l. a year, and the school fees, estimated at 1501. more.

There are several charitable institutions at Sydney, chiefly hospitals, and schools for orphan children, supported partly by voluntary contributions, and partly by the Government. There is also a kind of poorhouse, called the Benevolent Asylum,' where destitute, infirm, and aged people of both sexes are received. There are about 700 inmates at present, and it is inconveniently crowded. This also is

647

supported by voluntary subscription, and managed by a committee, but this plan is admitted to be unsatisfactory and inadequate, and everybody says that there must be a compulsory tax, either in the shape of a poor-rate on land, or of a contribution from the general revenue, applied to the purpose.

cabins

On the 28th February we went on board the vessel in which we had taken our passage to England, after having gone through inconceivable difficulties in getting our things packed and our fitted up. On the 2nd March we weighed anchor, but did not land our pilot till the following day. We made a fair run across the Pacific, although we were driven by northerly gales as far south as 60 degs. south lat., and saw a great deal of ice. We rounded Cape Horn on the fortieth day from Sydney, and sighted the Lizard Point on the 13th June, after a favourable and uneventful voyage of 103 days.

THIS is an age of compensations. European progress penetrates into China and sets on foot a revolution. China sends over her 'Cochins, or Shanghaes' (Chang-hais), looking like overgrown clumsy animated Dutch toys, and revolutionizes our poultry-yards.

No domestic animal seems more susceptible of variety in size, form, and colour, than the common cock and hen; none, if properly treated, gives a more profitable return: and though we have not yet lived to see the benevolent wish of that vert galant, Henry the Fourth of France, fulfilled, there can be no doubt that a judicious selection of the breeds best calculated for the locality of the breeder would fill many a seething pot with good, rich provant, that now seldom turns out anything but potatoes and those not of the best quality, if it did not occasionally contain a good fat hen,' with its baconian accompaniment for cottage consumption.

That the cock and hen were in Britain before the invasion of Great Julius,' and were then forbidden food, is manifest from the fifth book, De Bello Gallico: Leporem et gallinam et anserem gustare fas non putant: hæc tamen alunt, animi voluptatisque causâ.' So that before our hamlets witnessed the march of the Roman soldiery, this isle must have been the paradise of hares, geese, and common fowls, though we suspect that the aborigines sometimes solaced their palates withAn egg or two on holidays, at most, But their religion ne'er allow'd a roast. We can quite understand the pleasure of keeping the gallant chanticleer with his ambulatory harem among an uncivilized and warlike

race:

Le Coq est chauld, hardy, luxurieux,
Craint du lyon, combatant à oultrance:
Qui par son chant donne signifiance
Du brief retour du Soleil gracieux.†

Dryden has given a highly finished portrait of this feathered sultan when

And so befell that he cast his eie
Among the wortés on a butterflie,
He was ware of the foxe that lay full
low,

Nothing then list him for to crow,
But cried cocke, cocke,' and up he stert,
As one that was afraid in his hert.

Exquisitely true picture!

But whatever was their enviable state before the advent of the Romans and even afterwards, under the mild reign of Chaucer's

Poor widdowe somdele istept in age. The conquerors and their descendants doubtless soon made the birds

acquainted with the interior of the flesh-pots; and the race is now spread over the face of the civilized world, affording large measure of the most nutritious human food both in the egg and the flesh, always appearing as a standing dish in the eternal sameness of an English dinner, either in an insipid shroud of white sauce, or in the form of the more sapid roast.

But whence did our domestic poultry originally come; and what was the original stock?

The first question is more easily answered than the second; for the very necessity of a fowl-house points at once to regions warmer than our own. We, doubtless, owe this most excellent addition to the denizens of our farm-yards to the East. Persia and India sent them forth. If you have any doubt on the point inquire of Peisthetarus, who will tell you why the cock is called Περσικός ὄρνις, and how chanticleer reigned over that country before Darius and Megabyzus. Pennant is of opinion that they were brought to Britain by the Phoenicians, who traded to these

Aristophanes, Aves, 483, et seq.

islands some five hundred years before Christ, and Pennant is an authority of no mean grade: but it must be confessed that most antiquaries, whenever they find themselves at any loss to account for the introduction of anything into Europe, turn straightway to the Phoenicians, who, if all tales be true, were the great benefactors of the European race.

Whoever introduced the birds, we find the ἀλεκτρυών and ἀλεκτορίς, no other than our domestic cock and hen, among the Greeks, from the earliest periods of their history; while the ancient Italian, obtaining the fowls, most probably, from the Greeks, rejoiced in his Gallus and Gallina. The coinage and gems of both nations bear them, and they figured in the public shows and games. The cock was dedicated to Mars, Apollo, Mercury, and also to Esculapius, to whose altar the dying Socrates reminded his disciples that one was due. The fowls of Rhodes (Martial, iii. 58) and those of Delos, appear to have enjoyed a high celebrity for the table and the cock-pit. The gallina altilis' was fed for the luxurious with sweet meal, in darkness while the luculli of the day were as aware of the excellencies of a capon (Martial, xiii. 62) as the writer of the old French quatrain : Qu'est-ce un chapon, sinon un coq chastré,

Pour l'engressert et faire estre plus tendre,

Quant au manger? il fault aussi entendre

Qu'aux repas est plus souvent accoustré.

Among the ancient engraved gems which have come down to us, there is a very spirited one, (carnelian) with a cock and Mercury, in which the bird is gigantic, towering high on his legs, with ears of corn in his beak, above the god and his caduceus; another, also a carnelian, shows a cock on a globe, bearing a trophy in the raised foot; a third, a car driven by a fox, and drawn by two cocks (red jasper); and a fourth, a most queer chimera, in which the cock predominates, (onyx.) These are figured by Leonardo Agostini ; and, in all of them, the nearly erect position of the bird is remarkable.

'a capon in grease.'