Illawarra district. Soil of Sydney. 

 Horticultural exhibition. 



NEW SOUTH WALES. 



Grains grown in the colony. 

 Natives of Australia. 



123 



In the Illawarra district a totally distinct state of 

 things exists. Here is to be found all the luxu- 

 riance of the tropics lofty palms, among them the 

 corypha australis, with tree-ferns of two or more 

 varieties, different species of ficus, a scandent piper, 

 and very many vines. The forest of this district is 

 thick, and alive with animal life. 



This district is about fifty miles long, and forms 

 a semicircular area about thirty miles in its greatest 

 width. The peculiarity of the situation of this dis- 

 trict would tend to show what would have been the 

 probable state of New Holland, or rather its east- 

 ern side, if the mountains were sufficiently high to 

 intercept the moisture of the ocean, and prevent 

 the access to it of the dry hot winds from the 

 interior. Illawarra may be termed the granary of 

 New South Wales ; here the crops seldom, if ever, 

 fail, and are very abundant. 



The soil of Sydney consists of black mould, 

 mixed with a clean white sand. The quantity of 

 sand is such, as in the dry seasons to affect the 

 vegetation. This sand, I understood, is now ex- 

 ported to England at a great profit, being found a 

 valuable article in the manufacture of plate glass. 

 This soil, however, is made to yield a plentiful sup- 

 ply of fruits and vegetables ; and the display exhi- 

 bited at the horticultural exhibition was highly 

 creditable, not only for the perfection to which the 

 productions had been brought, but for their great 

 variety. The exhibition was held in the large mar- 

 ket-house in George Street, which was tastefully 

 decorated for the occasion with branches and fes- 

 toons of flowers. In front of the door was an arch 

 formed of beautiful flowers, with the motto, " Ad- 

 vance Australia ! " surmounted by a crown, and 

 the letters V. R. in yellow flowers. Behind this the 

 band was stationed, which, on our entrance, struck 

 up Yankee Doodle. Tickets were sent to the con- 

 sul' for those belonging to the squadron. There 

 were a great many South American plants in pots. 

 A premium was received for tropjeolum penta- 

 phyllum, mauraiidya barclayana, and for two spe- 

 cies of calceolaria. There were likewise amaryllis 

 belladonna and umbellata, bouvardia triphylla, 

 cobsea scandens, and several passifloras, and a 

 variety of hyacinths, dahlias, tuberoses, &c., all 

 fine. 



The grapes exhibited were beautiful, and some 

 of them in very large clusters. Nectarines, peaches, 

 apples, pears, small oranges, shaddocks, pine- 

 apples, chesnuts, and walnuts, were also in abun- 

 dance. 



After viewing the fruit we examined the vegeta- 

 bles, which consisted of potatoes, carrots, turnips, 

 very large pumpkins, cucumbers, cabbages of dif- 

 ferent kinds and very fine, particularly the curled 

 Savoy and early York, tomatoes, celery, squashes, 

 vegetable marrow, beets, capsicums, and beans. 



After the vegetables came specimens of native 

 wines, and a silver cup was given as a premium 

 for the best. The white wine resembled hock in 

 taste ; the red, claret. The climate is thought to 

 be favourable to the production of the grape. The 

 first wine made in the colony was by Mr. Blaxlaud, 

 on his estate at Newington. 



The grains grown in the colony are, wheat, rye, 

 barley, Indian corn, and oats. The wheat yields 

 from six to twenty-five bushels to the acre, and 

 some low ground as high as thirty-five bushels. Its 

 weight per bushel is sixty-two pounds. The crops 



of this grain are subject to great fluctuations, and 

 the most promising appearance may in a single 

 day be entirely destroyed. 



Tobacco has been cultivated, and it is thought 

 will succeed ; but the frequent frosts render it 

 a very uncertain crop. 



Cotton has been attempted, but with little suc- 

 cess. The value of pasturage, and its profitable 

 yield in sheep-walks, will long be a bar to the 

 extensive cultivation of any plants that require 

 much labour in their production. Our horti- 

 culturist remarks, that cherries do not succeed 

 well, being affected by the dry cutting winds which 

 occur in the blossoming season. 



The orange, citron, and lemon trees present a 

 scraggy and yellow appearance, and produce small 

 and insipid fruit, in comparison with that of the 

 tropics. Peaches thrive, and grow in large quan- 

 tities, and of high flavour. Every farmer has his 

 peach orchard; and the fruit is so plentiful that 

 they fatten their pigs on them. 



The natives of Australia are fast disappearing. 

 The entire aboriginal population has been estimated 

 as high as two hundred thousand ; this estimate is 

 founded on the supposition that the unexplored 

 regions of the country do not differ materially from 

 that part of it which is known, which cannot well 

 be the case. Other estimates, and probably much 

 nearer the truth, are given at from sixty to seventy- 

 five thousand. 



The ravages of intoxication and disease, combined 

 with their occasional warfare, will readily account 

 for the rapid disappearance of the native popula- 

 tion; and but a few more years will suffice for the 

 now scanty population to become extinct. In 1835, 

 the surveyor-general, Mitchell, estimated that in 

 about one-seventh of the whole colony, which he 

 had examined, the natives did not exceed six 

 thousand in number ; they are in many parts most 

 wretched-looking beings, and incorrigible beggars : 

 the moment they see a stranger, he is fairly 

 tormented to give something; a shilling or a six- 

 pence contents many, and when laid out for rum, 

 or bread, is shared by all present. 



The introduction of European arts has caused 

 but little improvement, while the vices which 

 accompany them have been the bane of the native 

 population, which has thus acquired a fondness for 

 ardent spirits and tobacco. The natives usually 

 lead a wandering, vagabond life, hanging about the 

 houses of the settlers where they are well treated, 

 and doing little jobs for a slight recompense' in the 

 above articles. Their habitations are mere tempo- 

 rary shelters, formed of boughs and bark piled up 

 against the stump of a fallen tree, rather to shield 

 them from the wind than for a regular habitation ; 

 the reason for this may be, that owing to super- 

 stitious scruples they never encamp in one spot 

 three nights in succession. At Illawarra, their 

 huts were made by setting two forked sticks up- 

 right, on which another was laid horizontally; on 

 the latter, one end of pieces of bark, taken from 

 the nearest gum tree, is laid, while the other end 

 rests upon the ground. A fire is built on the open 

 side, which not only warms them, but keeps off 

 the myriads of musquitoes and other insects. As 

 many as can enter such a hut, take shelter in 

 it, lying upon the soft bark of the ti tree. 



The natives of Australia differ from any other 

 race of men, in features, complexion, habits, and 



