tM- StAtE OF SOCIETY. #3 



our former road, and ascended Mount Victoria, t slept at the 

 Weatherboard, and before dark took another walk to the amphitheatre. 

 On the road to Sydney I spent a very pleasant evening with Captain 

 King at Dunheved ; and thus ended my little excursion in the colony 

 of New South Wales. 



Before arriving here the three things which interested me most were 

 - the state of society amongst the higher classes, the condition of the 

 convicts, and the degree of attraction sufficient to induce persons to 

 emigrate. Of course, after so very short a visit, one's opinion is worth 

 scarcely anything ; but it is as difficult not to form some opinion, as it 

 is to form a correct judgment. On the whole, from what I heard, more 

 than from what I saw, I was disappointed in the state of society. The 

 whole community is rancorously divided into parties on almost every 

 subject. Among those who, from their station in life, ought to be the 

 best, many live in such open profligacy that respectable people cannot 

 associate with them. There is much jealousy between the children of 

 the rich emancipist and the free settlers, the former being pleased to 

 consider honest men as interlopers. The whole population, poor and 

 rich, are bent on acquiring wealth : amongst the higher orders, wool 

 and sheep-grazing form the constant subject of conversation. There 

 are many serious drawbacks to the comforts of a family, the chief of 

 which, perhaps, is being surrounded by convict servants. How 

 thoroughly odious to every feeling, to be waited on by a man who the 

 day before, perhaps, was flogged, from your representation, for some 

 trifling misdemeanour. The female servants are of course much worse : 

 hence children learn the vilest expressions, and it is fortunate if not 

 equally vile ideas. 



On the other hand, the capital of a person, without any trouble on 

 his part, produces him treble interest to what it will in England ; and 

 with care he is sure to grow rich. The luxuries of life are in abundance, 

 and very little dearer than in England, and most articles of food are 

 cheaper. The climate is splendid, and perfectly healthy ; but to my 

 mind its charms are lost by the uninviting aspect of the country. 

 Settlers possess a great advantage in finding their sons of service when 

 very young. At the age of from sixteen to twenty, they frequently take 

 charge of distant farming stations. This, however, must happen at the 

 expense of their boys associating entirely with convict servants. I am 

 not aware that the tone of society has assumed any peculiar character ; 

 but with such habits, and without intellectual pursuits, it can hardly fail 

 to deteriorate. My opinion is such, that nothing but rather sharp 

 necessity should compel me to emigrate. 



The rapid prosperity and future prospects of this colony are to me, 

 not understanding these subjects, very puzzling. The two main exports 

 are wool and whale-oil, and to both of these productions there is 

 limit. The country is totally untit for canals, therefore there is a not 

 very distant point, beyond which the land-carriage of wool will not 

 repay the expense of shearing and tending sheep. Pasture everywhere 

 is so thin that settlers have already pushed far into the interior : more- 

 over, the country further inland becomes extremely poor. Agriculture, 



