262 NEW SOUTH WALES. 



ries and a police magistrate. The former are three in number, two 

 clergymen and an agriculturist. They have under instruction forty 

 men, women, and children, but the wandering and capricious habits of 

 these aborigines render it impossible to keep the adults with them. 

 Mr. Watson, the eldest of the missionaries, has now with him fifteen 

 children, whom he does not allow to leave his house, and is endea- 

 vouring to teach them the habits of Europeans, and the English 

 language. He considers them as equal to white children in docility 

 and intelligence, and several of them had made as much proficiency 

 in the various branches of education, as could be expected at their 

 age. They could read and write with facility, and solve questions in 

 elementary arithmetic. They had a natural aptitude for music, and 

 they joined with much harmony in singing common English tunes. 



Mr. Hale was greatly indebted to the chief missionary, Mr Watson, 

 for his hospitality and the aid he furnished in his researches into the 

 language, manners, and customs of the natives. 



While at Wellington, he passed a few days at the station of W. O. 

 Raymond, Esq., one of the magistrates of the colony, who is owner 

 of a large stock of cattle and sheep. His house is situated on the 

 Macquarie, and here an opportunity presented itself of seeing the 

 operation of washing and shearing the sheep. This took place at the 

 time of their visit, and was, on account of the lateness of the season, 

 about a month later than usual. 



The sheep were plunged and held in a tub of hot water, until their 

 fleeces were thoroughly soaked ; they were then taken out and made 

 to swim about in one of the deep pools of the Macquarie, for half an 

 hour ; after this they were held under the spout of a pump, where they 

 were rubbed, combed, and rinsed, until their wool was considered 

 sufficiently clean. 



The sheep are shorn when dry, and the fleeces assorted according 

 to their fineness, in lots, which are afterwards packed in bales of from 

 two to three hundred pounds : these are then compressed by a lever-press. 



The average weight of a fleece is about two and a half pounds. 

 Mr. Raymond calculates the cost of transportation to Sydney at about 

 two pence per pound, and the average price of the wool there is 

 eighteen pence per pound. The freight to England is one and a half 

 pence ; and there it has to compete with fine wools from other coun- 

 tries. As to the question whether this can be done profitably, there is 

 a considerable difference of opinion between well-informed persons in 

 the colony. According to some, it can be afforded even at a much 

 lower rate, but in this estimate the labour of those who are employed 

 as shepherds is no doubt calculated as being that of convicts, and it 



