238 



are employed in clearing the country, in the first place, for 

 the immediate wants of the settlement, and when that is 

 accomplished, they go in order to prepare it for setders, 

 as has been done in the case of Newcastle, only 65 miles 

 north of Sydney, which was cleared by culprits, but which, 

 in 1823, I gave up to free settlers from England, and it is 

 now one of the richest and best districts of the country. To 

 escape from these Penal Settlements is almost hopeless, as 

 they are surrounded by ferocious races of people, who would 

 murder an Europsean for any part of his clothing or appoint- 

 ments. In the same manner, and at no remote period from 



Wal 



Moreton 



which will require the local government to grant settlements 

 still farther north upon the coast. It is remarkable bow 

 much better the condition of the aboriginal inhabitants ap- 

 pears upon the coast than it is in the interior. While at 

 Moreton Bay, I fell in with natives who had never seen an 

 Europaean. One old chief put his hand all over my arm and 

 shoulder to feel if my clothes were part of myself, when the 

 ecstacy of some was beyond my powers of description. They 

 had no weapons but long spears, and perhaps, if l^ft ^^ 

 themselves, would not arrive at the possession of bows and 

 arrows for some centuries. They had never seen i^on or 

 steel, and when I presented them with tomahawks, knives 

 and scissors, it produced the most extraordinary surprise 

 one of the natives throwing himself down on the sand, rolling 

 over and over, roaring and making a hideous noise, but all 

 through pure delight," 



Mr, Fraser, as Colonial Botanist, was directed to establish 

 a public garden at Brisbane Town, to collect the vegetable 

 products of the country, to make observations on their uses 

 and importance, especially on the forest trees, and to report 

 on the nature of the soil, and to what extent it is fitted for 

 agricultural purposes, or grazing. How far this zealous 

 naturalist has succeeded in the object of his mission wiU 



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