THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE 465 



ing: but no more wheat is sown than sufficient for the annual 

 support of the labourers employed on the establishment. The 

 usual number of assigned convict-servants here is about 

 forty, but at the present time there were rather more. Al- 

 though the farm was well stocked with every necessary, 

 there was an apparent absence of comfort; and not one 

 single woman resided here. The sunset of a fine day will 

 generally cast an air of happy contentment on any scene; 

 but here, at this retired farm-house, the brightest tints on 

 the surrounding woods could not make me forget that forty 

 hardened, profligate men were ceasing from their daily 

 labours, like the slaves from Africa, yet without their holy 

 claim for compassion. 



Early on the next morning, Mr. Archer, the joint superin- 

 tendent, had the kindness to take me out kangaroo-hunting. 

 We continued riding the greater part of the day, but had 

 very bad sport, not seeing a kangaroo, or even a wild dog. 

 The greyhounds pursued a kangaroo rat into a hollow tree, 

 out of which we dragged it: it is an animal as large as a 

 rabbit, but with the figure of a kangaroo. A few years since 

 this country abounded with wild animals; but now the emu 

 is banished to a long distance, and the kangaroo is become 

 scarce; to both the English greyhound has been highly de- 

 structive. It may be long before these animals are altogether 

 exterminated, but their doom is fixed. The aborigines are 

 always anxious to borrow the dogs from the farm-houses: 

 the use of them, the offal when an animal is killed, and some 

 milk from the cows, are the peace-offerings of the settlers, 

 who push farther and farther towards the interior. The 

 thoughtless aboriginal, blinded by these trifling advantages, 

 is delighted at the approach of the white man, who seems 

 predestined to inherit the country of his children. 



Although having poor sport, we enjoyed a pleasant ride. 

 The woodland is generally so open that a person on horse- 

 back can gallop through it. It is traversed by a few flat- 

 bottomed valleys, which are green and free from trees: in 

 such spots the scenery was pretty like that of a park. In the 

 whole country I scarcely saw a place without the marks of a 

 fire; whether these had been more or less recent whether 

 the stumps were more or less black, was the greatest change 



