NEW SOUTH WALES. 173 



All the religious sects of the British Islands have their representa- 

 tives here. Each has its ardent advocates, who appear to be in con- 

 tinual war with those of the others. The contest between them had 

 risen to a great height at the time of our visit, which is probably to 

 be ascribed to the agitation of a question in relation to the distribution 

 of the school-fund. 



In one particular, a most striking difference is to be observed be- 

 tween the scenes to be witnessed at Sydney, and in the cities of the 

 United States. This consists in the open practice of the vice of 

 drunkenness, which here stalks abroad at noonday. It is not rare at 

 any time, but on holidays its prevalence surpasses any thing I have 

 ever witnessed. Even persons of the fair sex, if they may be so 

 called, were there to be seen staggering along the most public streets, 

 brawling in the houses, or borne off in charge of the police. However 

 highly coloured this picture may be thought, it is fully corroborated 

 by the police reports of the Sydney papers on Monday mornings. 

 The police officers themselves are among the venders of the intoxi- 

 cating liquid. 



The facilities for indulgence in this vice are to be seen every 

 where in the form of low taverns and grog-shops, which attract 

 attention by their gaudy signs, adapted to the taste of the different 

 orders of customers, as the " King's Arms," the " Punchbowl," the 

 "Shamrock," the "Thistle," the "Ship," the "Jolly Sailors." Of 

 these, two hundred and fifty are licensed by the government, or more 

 than one to each hundred souls. Among them a small shop was 

 pointed out, which, from the extent of its custom, yielded the enor- 

 mous amount of £200 for rent to its owner annually, a sum far beyond 

 the apparent value of the whole property. The quantity of rum which 

 is consumed in the colony may be estimated from the facts, that the 

 revenue derived from its importation was, in 1838, £189,450, and that 

 the supply amounts nearly to eight gallons annually for every indi- 

 vidual in the colony. 



This state of things arose, of course, originally from the habits of 

 the abandoned persons who formed the nucleus of the population. 

 It might, therefore, have appeared to be the duty of the successive 

 governors to restrain the vice, or even to render its commission impos- 

 sible, by prohibiting importation. So far as penalty goes, this has 

 been attempted, and a fine of five shillings is levied on all who are 

 convicted of drunkenness before a magistrate; but, on the other hand, 

 rum was actually at one time the only circulating medium, and in it 



vol. 11. 44 



