166 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I. 



tropical heat ; and he is not separated from his kind, nor hardened in his heart, by the 

 debasing influence of open or concealed slavery. It is true, that he is surrounded by 

 those who have the brand of crime and punishment upon them, and w^ho are, therefore, 

 to a certain extent infamous ; but he has the satisfaction of knowing that it is his duty 

 and interest to improve, not contribute to the farther degradation of, these fallen beings. 

 (IVidowsons Present State of Van Dieinens Land. 1829.) 



1037. New Holland, Notasia, or what may be called the continent of Australia, is 

 of a size nearly equal to the whole of Europe. So extended a surface naturally 

 presents different characters of climate, elevation, and soil. But the climate is said to 

 be every where temperate and salubrious ; to the north it may be considered semitropical, 

 to the south not materially different from that of England. The whole country being 

 south of the equator, the seasons are like those of the southern parts of Africa and 

 America, and consequently the reverse of those of Europe. The surface of the country 

 is in general low and level ; far northward it is hilly, and a chain of mountains is said to 

 run north and south, very lofty and irregular. Hills and mountains, however, form but 

 a small part of this extensive country. Lakes and rivers are not very frequent ; but in 

 the interior there are extensive marshes and savannas, covered with luxuriant grasses. 

 In some places the country is highly beautiful. Mr. Evans, who made a journey of 300 

 miles into the interior, in 1818, states that <* the farther he advanced the more beautiful 

 the scenery became ; both hill and dale were clothed with fine grass, the whole appear- 

 ing at a little distance as if laid out into fields divided by hedge-rows. Through every 

 valley meandered trickling streams of fine water. Many of the hills are capped with 

 forest trees, chiefly of the eucalyptus ; and clumps of these, mixed with mimosas and the 

 cassuarina, were interspersed along the declivities of the hills, and in the valleys, so as to 

 wear the appearance of a succession of gentlemen's parks. " 



1038. The mineral productions include coal, limestone, slate, granite, quartz, sand- 

 stone, freestone, and iron, the last in great abundance. The coal is of the best quality, 

 often found in hills, and worked from the side like a stone quarry without expensive 

 drainage. 



1039. The soil towards the south is frequently sandy, and many of the lawns or 

 savannas are rocky and barren. In general the soil towards the sea coast is naturally 

 more fertile than in the interior ; but almost every where it may be brought into cultiva- 

 tion with little labour and abundant success. The colony of New South Wales 

 possesses every variety of soil, from the sandy heath and the cold hungry clay, to the 

 fertile loam, and the deep vegetable mould. Tlie prevailing soil hitherto subjected to 

 agriculture is a thin black earth resting on a stratum of yellow clay, which is again 

 supported by a deep bed of schistus. 



1040. The productions of nature in New Holland present a remarkable sameness 

 among themselves, and a no less remarkable difference from those of the rest of the 

 world. This applies more particularly to the animal and vegetable kingdoms. The 

 rocks, mountains, and earths, resemble nearly the inorganic substances which are met 

 with in other parts of the world ; but the animals and plants are decidedly peculiar. 

 The natives are copper-coloured savages of the very lowest description. The quadru- 

 peds are all of the kangaroo or opossum tribe, or resemble these, with one or two 

 exceptions, among which is the Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, a quadruped with the beak of 

 a bird. The fish are for the most part like sharks. Among the birds are black swans 

 and white eagles, and the emu, supposed to be the tallest and loftiest bird that exists ; 

 many of them standing full seven feet high. Every one acquainted in the slightest degree 

 with the plants in our green-houses is aware of the very peculiar appearance of those of 

 Australia, and there is scarcely a gardener who cannot tell their native country at 

 first sight. Mr. Brown, who is better acquainted with these plants than any other botanist, 

 observes that the Acacia and Eucalyptus, of each of which genera there are upwards of 

 one hundred species, when taken together, and considered with respect to the mass of 

 vegetable matter which they contain, calculated from the size as well as from the number 

 of individuals,' are, perhaps, nearly equal to all the other plants of that country, {^pp. to 

 Flinders s Voyage.') 



1041. There is no indigenous agriculture in any part of New Holland ; but the colony 

 of New South Wales, which was established in 1788, has appropriated extensive tracts 

 of country in that quarter of the island, and subjected them to the field and garden cul- 

 tivation of Europe. Every thing that can be cultivated in the open air in England can 

 be cultivated in New South Wales ; the fruits of Italy and Spain come to greater per- 

 fection there than here, with the single exception of the orange, which requires a slight 

 protection in winter. Pine-apples will grow under glass without artificial heat; the 

 apple and the gooseberry are the only fruits which are found somewhat inferior to those 

 produced in Britain, But the great advantage of this colony to the agriculturist is, that 

 it is particularly suited to maize and sheep : maize, it is well known, produces a greater 

 return in proportion to the seed and labour than any other bread-corn ; and the wool of 



