262 ASSIGNED SERVANTS. 



clean and well arranged. The men in most in- 

 stances take care of the property entrusted to their 

 charge, and are surrounded by every comfort ; 

 man)^ of them (particularly those from the sister 

 kingdom) have frequently assured me they 

 never were so happy and well off before ; and 

 regarded their transportation as a blessing from 

 Providence ; and it certainly appeared to be a 

 delightful change to many of the poor fellows, 

 from the previous wretched lives they must have 

 passed, both from their " unvarnished tales," as 

 well as what we know to be too true in unhappy 

 Ireland.* 



Proceeding on my journey, the Tumat was 

 occasionally visible ; the road often leading away 

 from it, to avoid the extensive reedy swamps 

 which abound close to its banks, in some places, 

 whilst in others fine meadow land, with profuse 

 and rich herbage, about which herds of cattle 



* When travelling as a stranger in the most secluded 

 part of the colony, and sometimes obliged to seek refuge 

 for the night in a hut, of whom the person in charge and 

 those about him, were convicts, or having to depend upon 

 them for directions as to the road, having my watch and other 

 property with me, I never missed the most trifling arti- 

 cle, and always found them ready and willing to afford every 

 assistance : there are, of course, always exceptions among a 

 multitude ; but I state the result of my own experience, after 

 travelling upwards of six hundred miles in the colony. 



