246 



AUSTRALIA. 



tor than Britain is to the north, (In* climate is 

 warmer in summer and milder in winter ili.-m with 

 us. All authorities agree in the prosit uniformity 

 of the temperature throughout almost its whole 

 extent. It does not vary to a high degree even at 

 different seasons of the year, nor is it liable to 

 sudden transitions from heat to cold. The average 

 temperature of Spring is (55-5., of Summer 72, 

 of Autumn 66, and of Winter 55. In Sydney, 

 the thermometer is rarely below forty. As re- 

 gards climate, every thing in Australia is the re- 

 ver-e of what it is in Britain. There the north 

 is the hot wind ; the south, the cool ; the westerly, 

 the most unhealthy, and the easterly the most salu- 

 brious. It is summer with the colonists when it 

 is winter at home, and the barometer is considered 

 to rise before had weather, and to fall before good. 

 The following summary of the weather in New 

 South Wales, during the year, is extracted from a 

 Sydney newspaper. 



" January. Generally the hottest month of the 

 year. Wheat harvest ends. The locust's song 

 gets weaker, and insects of the finer tribes begin 

 to die off. Fruit plentiful: water melons in abun- 

 dam e. The orange-tree in blossom. Thunder- 

 storms frequent, accompanied by showers of rain. 

 Average temperature seventy-three degrees. 



" February. Heavy close weather may be looked 

 for in this month. Thunder-showers now and then. 

 Last of the hot north-west winds, commonly the 

 most intense. Stone-fruits begin to get scarce. 

 The grape, pear, fig, and apple, in their prime. 

 Mosquitoes congregate in clouds, and prove singu- 

 larly troublesome to the lieges. Average temper- 

 ature seventy-four degrees. 



"March. Rains may now be expected. The ve- 

 getable world begins to recover from the parching 

 effects of the summer sun, and plants of European 

 growth or parentage lift their drooping heads. 

 The equinoctial gales blow fiercely as in all other 

 parts of the world. Average temperature seventy 

 degrees. 



"April. Heavy rains during this month, and the 

 weather broken and uncertain. News of ' acci- 

 dents by field and flood,' from the Hunter and 

 Hawkesbury Rivers. Sydney a quagmire, and 

 mudboots a necessary appendage. Australian fruits 

 vanish, and apples make their appearance from Van 

 Dieman's Land. Monsieur Mosquito tenders his 

 farewell card, leaving only a few skirmishers to 

 look after the fresh arrivals. Average temperature 

 sixty-five degrees. 



" May. The finest month of the year, and the 

 most congenial to the European constitution. 

 Weather clear, cool, and bracing. The sun sets 

 and rises in a cloudless sky for weeks together. 

 Heavy mist at times, succeeded by tolerably mild 

 days. Average temperature fifty- eight degrees. 



"June. Wheat -sowing finished in all the districts. 

 Oranges brought to market, and continue in season 

 for six months. Vegetables of all kinds in the 

 greatest abundance, and of the finest quality. 

 General character same as last month. The maize 

 harvest ends. Average temperature fifty-three 

 degrees. 



"July. Generally clear and cool like the two 

 preceding months. Ice may be seen a few miles 

 out of town ; and thirty or forty miles inland, the 

 thermometer falls to thirty and thirty-two degrees. 

 In and 'about Sydney it is rarely seen under forty 

 legrees. Average temperature fifty-two degrees. 



" August. Broken weather about this period, with 



heavy gales of wind. The bull-frog all alive in 

 the ponds and marshes 'Croak, croak, croak." 

 Heavy rains from the S. S. E. and S. W. The 

 pencil-tree puts forth its delicate blossom about 

 the middle of the month, clothing the gardens and 

 orchards with beauty. Average temperature fifty- 

 five degrees. 



" September. The vernnl equinox ; fresh, hard, 

 and heavy gales. The orchards present a beauti- 

 ful appearance this month, the peach-true forming 

 the principal feature in the picture. Towards tin- 

 latter end of the month, the thermometer begins 

 to rise, and the mornings are pleasantly warm. 

 Average temperature fifty-nine degrees. 



" October. Planting of maize, or Indian corn, 

 commences. Two hours alter suniise, that is, 

 from six till eight o'clock, the finest part of the 

 day. Monsieur Mosquito makes his first appear- 

 ance on any skin. Average temperature sixty-four 

 degrees. 



" November. The hot weather sets in. Dust 

 ankle deep, and fine as tooth-powder, possessing 

 peculiarly searching qualities. ' The bush' i 

 with flying, creeping, and crawling things. Wheat 

 harvest commences in the northern districts, and 

 sheep-shearing is begun throughout the colony. 

 Average temperature seventy degrees. 



" December. Hot winds now and then, generally 

 followed by a southerly wind and a cloudy sky. 

 Thunder, lightning, and rain, at intervals. The 

 locusts in full voice, and congregating on the oaks 

 and gum-trees in myriads. The Christmas dinner 

 is eaten with open doors and windows, and the 

 thermometer standing at eighty-five degrees of 

 Fahrenheit in the shade. Average temperature 

 seventy-four degrees." 



The excellence of the climate of New South 

 Wales may be inferred from the variety of its ve- 

 getable productions. All the finer kinds of fruits 

 are produced there in abundance, as apples, pears, 

 plums, strawberries, cherries, mulberries, apricots, 

 peaches, nectarines, figs, grapes, oranges, lemons, 

 pomegranates, &c. Green peas are gathered twice 

 a year. Brandy is distilled from the peaches, but a 

 want of proper management has hitherto prevented 

 the successful manufacture of wine from the grapes. 

 Indian corn and wheat are the two chief kinds of 

 grain raised in the colony. Wheat on good soils 

 averages from twenty to thirty bushels in the acre; 

 maize from forty to fifty bushels. Oats and barley 

 have as yet been chiefly cultivated for fodder. 

 Tobacco of good quality is grown. 



In Australia, the prevailing rock is sandstone, so 

 that the soil is in many places dry and loose ; 

 and as the trees are all evergreens, the ground is 

 not annually enriched by the succession of veget- 

 able matter, caused by the fall of the leaves, as is 

 the case in the fields of Europe and America. The 

 rich lands of Australia consist chiefly of the allu- 

 vial soils on the margins of the rivers ; and hence 

 the country near the Hawkesbury and Hunter rivers 

 is considered the granary of the colony. The lia- 

 bility, however, of the rivers to inundations, must 

 be taken into consideration in estimating the elegi- 

 bility of a settlement. During a rainy season vast 

 torrents of water are poured into the rivers, which 

 soon overflow their bounds, and on reaching the 

 more level country, the water, no longer propelled 

 by its gravity, accumulates to an immense extent, 

 and produces a great destruction of property. The 

 Hawkesbury, as we have already stated, has been 

 known to rise ninety feet above its ordinary level. 





