18 



KII>!>\- OWN JOURNAL. 



■it T placed a 1 >;> i- of copper, about one loot fence la pre fe rred before all others, as it keeps 

 knag and three inches wide by one inch thick, in a out sheep, pigs, and inch like quadrupeds ; it is 

 situation exposed to the hot wind and the sun *s rajs; formed of pieces of timber, large and small, all 

 when it had been thus placed for about two hours, cut into equal lengths, either of seven or eight 

 1 wrapped some common pest letter paper round feet, and placed close and upright in a trench two 

 tu in doing so, it accidentally came against feet deep, and tightly rammed; a rough batten 

 my hand, which it burnt, and in a few hours after being nailed along the top as a hand. The '' ditch 

 the place blisten 1. After the paper had been in and hank," and "dog and log " fence are ooca- 

 cont id with the copper about an hour, the color sionally met with. A simple hut ingenious con- 

 changed to ' deep straw or pale brown ; and it triranoe is frequently used for gate-hinges to the 

 ■ relied and rotten, that it broke in pieces " post and rail " fence, viz. : the hack upright of 



when I attempted to unwrap it. During the pre- the gate is made long, so as to form a top and 



valence of the i, the high clouds, cirrus, bottom spur, the top spur is pushed through a hole 



and stratft, dis ippear, while the lower remain un- formed to receive it in the ton rail of the fence, 



changed; and at night the air is commonly filled and the bottom spur is bevelled to 4 point, and 



with beautiful sheet-lightning tt is believed thai fitted into the conical bottom of a stout or wine- 



are no noxious gases in these winds, and 



they are said to exercise no deleterious effects on 



the health of man : the climate would, neverthe- 

 less, be more salubrious without them, as, during 



their prevalence, nearly all persons of weakly or 

 debilitated constitutions suffer extreme lassitude 

 and depression. The moisture dries from the i 



the lips become parched and cracky, the breathing 



short and quick, the air as it enters the mouth 

 Feels burning hot ; and while sitting perfectly still, 

 the perspiration oozes from every pore in the skin. 



Ii dividuals of robust constitution, however, are not 

 thus affected ; the hardy, sun-tanned colonists 



fie 1. expose themselves to the fiery blast; and, 

 breathing the hoi air full of dust and sand, toil on 



imlill'erent to every thine; hut the demand of a 



parched thirst, and, in some i wolfish appe- 



tite. When questioned, they reply: "Oh. the 

 heal is no nuisance ; it's the choking dust that's 

 unbearable." 



The same hook that thus speaks of the climate, 



tells us also something rery Interesting about the 



farms in Australia ; also ahout the fanners ami 



their wives : — 



"The farm houses are rough, hut generally sub- 

 stantial and commodious : they are buill of differ- 

 ent materials, according to circumstances ; it 



stone or slate la bandy, it is used ; if not, and suit- 

 able clay exists in the neighborhood, bricks are 



■ted to; ami when none of these materials 



are to he had, the dwelling is built wholly of wood. 

 These residences usually h ive no ceiling, nor 



Upper floor — when you look up you see the roof; 

 the walls are not plastered, painted, nor in any 

 way decorated except those which occasionally get 

 a lime wash. The windows are sometimes canvas, 



sometimes glass, and the fire-places and chimniei 



are constructed as already described. For flooring, 



some have only earth, sonic are paved with stone, 

 some with slate, a few with hricks, and a very few 



have wood Boon. Water for domesl lc and other pur- 

 poses is usually procured hy sinking wells; and al- 

 though occasionally pure and excellent, it is in 

 general impregnated with minerals, hard and 

 Brackish to the taste, and more or less nnwhole 

 some. Near the farm house is the rough hut 

 Strongly-built stock-yard, harn, Stable, and other 

 needful outhouses. 

 There are no ESnglish looking green hedges in 



the colony ; the farms are enclosed with rude, 

 misshapen wood fences ; the three-rail "post ami 

 rail" is the most usual ; it will cost from 70/. to 

 HO/, to enclose an eighty-acre section with this 

 fence. "Whoro timber is plentiful, the " kangaroo " 



bottle, which is sunk into the ground neck down- 

 wards. This hinge never unships, and well 



answers its purpose. 



Tie' farmers furnish their dwellings with few 



articles of domestic convenience. Only a few 



wood-bottomed chairs, an uncushioned cedar sofa, 

 one or two plain cedar tables, bedsteads of the 

 plainest description, ami sometimes a small look- 

 ing-glass, are to he met with in the dwellings of 

 the more wealthy; most of the poor farmers make 

 their own furniture, which generally consists of a 

 few rude forms and stools, a table and bedstead ; 



and not unfrequently the only partition between 



the bed-room and the sitting-room is one or two 

 outstretched sheets. Their cooking utensils and 

 mode of cooking are similar to those of the urban 



population of victoria. They all live on plain 



but substantial dishes, and some keep a good 



stock of European wines, and British bottled stout 



and al(>. They of course raise nearly all their 



own edibles ; and in order to live on fresh meat, 



three or four of them will club together, and in 

 turn each kill a sheep or hullock, as the case may 



be. 



The fanners, and indeed all persons who reside" 

 away from the towns, dress in the coarsest ap- 

 parel. The usual male attire is a pair of common 

 slop trousers, a blue guernsey, with a leather belt 

 to keep the trousers Up and the guernsey down, a 



flaunting red cotton handkerchief as a nock-tie ; a 

 broad-brimmed cabbage tree hat, and a pair of 



heavy hobnail hoots. Some wear a coarse regatta 

 shirt under the guernsey, and others, when cir- 

 cumstances permit, enjoy ill the hot weather the 

 luxury of nakedness, l>y dressing in only a shirt 

 and a pair of hoots. The fanners' wives ami 

 daughters Usually dress in cottons; their attire, 

 although common and coarse, is neat, chaste', and 

 tidv; thev wear high dresses, and cotton bonnets 

 made with a large curtain to keep the sun from 

 freckling the neck ; they nevertheless have their 

 jewels, silks, iX:e., which they wear on festive 00- 

 casicUS, Many of them are well educated, devoid 



of affectation, thrifty, and industrious. Indeed, I 

 was struck in mv travels in the colony, with the 

 beauty, the accomplished graces, the glowing 

 health, the vivacity, and the open-heartedness of 

 the fair sex in the rural districts ; and 1 should he 

 Wanting in gratitude did I not record their dis- 

 interested kindness, attention, and general liho- 

 rality to the wandering stranger. 



Most of the fanners and others, who dwell in 

 the rural districts within the hundred of the 

 counties, are, although parsimonious to a fault, 



