NEW SOUTH WALES. 



Jan. 1836. 



was to congratulate myself that I was born an Englishman. 

 Upon seeing more of the town afterwards, perhaps my admi- 

 ration fell a little ; but yet it is a fine town ; the streets are 

 regular^ broad, clean, and kept in excellent order ; the houses 

 are of a good size^ and the shops well furnished. It may be 

 faithfully compared to the large suburbs, which stretch out 

 from London and a few other great towns in England : but 

 not even near London or Birmingham is there an appear- 

 ance of such rapid growth. The number of large houses just 

 finished and others building was truly surprising ; neverthe- 

 less, every one complained of the high rents and difficulty 

 in procuring a house. In the streets, gigs, phaetons, and 

 carriages with livery servants, were driving about ; and of the 

 latter, many were extremely well equipped. Coming from 

 South America, where in the towns every man of property is 

 known, no one thing surprised me more than not being able 

 to ascertain readily to whom this or that carriage belonged. 



Many of the older residents say, that formerly they knew 

 every face in the colony, but now that in a morning^s ride 

 it is a chance if they know one. Sydney has a population 

 of twenty-three thousand, and is rapidly increasing : it must 

 contain much wealth. It appears that a man of business can 

 hardly fail to make a large fortune. I saw on all sides fine 

 houses,— one built from the profits of steam«vessels, — 

 another from building, and so on. An auctioneer, who was 

 a convict, it is said, intends to return home, and will take 

 with him 100,000 pounds. Another has an income so large 

 that scarcely any body ventures to guess at it — the least 

 sum assigned being fifteen thousand a year. But the two 

 crowning facts are, — first, that the public revenue has in- 

 creased 60,000/. during this last year; and secondly, that 

 less than an acre of land within the town of Sydney sold for 

 8000/. sterhng. 



I hired a man and two horses to take me to Bathurst ; a 

 village about one hundred and twenty miles in the interior, 

 and the centre of a great pastoral district. By this means 

 J hoped to get a general idea of the appearance of the 



