Jan. 1836. 



NEW SOUTH WALES. 



527 



victim. But the ant enjoyed a better fate than the fly, and 

 escaped the fatal jaws wliich lay concealed at the base of the 

 conical hollow. There can be no doubt but that this pre- 

 dacious larva belongs to the same genus with the European 

 kind, though to a difl'erent species. Now what would the 

 sceptic say to this ? Would any two workmen ever have hit 

 upon so beautiful, so simple, and yet so artificial a con- 

 trivance ? It cannot be thought so : one Hand has surely 

 worked throughout the universe. 



January 20th. — A long day's ride to Bathurst. Before 

 joining the high road we followed a mere path through the 

 forest ; and the country, with the exception of a few squatters' 

 huts, was very solitary. A squatter" is a freed, or ticket 

 of leave" man, who builds a hut with bark on unoccupied 

 ground, buys or steals a few animals, sells spirits without 

 a licence, receives stolen goods, — and so at last becomes 

 rich and turns farmer: he is the horror of all his honest 

 neighbours. A " crawler" is an assigned convict, who runs 

 away, and lives how he can, by labour and petty theft. The 



bush ranger " is an open villain, who subsists by highway 

 robbery and plunder: generally he is desperate, and will 

 sooner be killed than taken alive. In the country it is 

 necessary to understand these three names, for they are in 

 common use. 



This day we experienced the sirocco-like wind of Austra- 

 lia, which comes from the parched deserts of the interior. 

 Clouds of dust were travelling in every direction ; and the 

 wind felt like that which has passed over a fire. I after- 

 wards heard that the thermometer out of doors stood at 1 1 9°, 

 and in a room in a closed house at 96°. In the afternoon we 

 came in view of the downs of Bathurst. These undulating-, 

 but nearly level plains are very remarkable in this country, 

 from being absolutely destitute of a single tree. They sup- 

 port only a very thin brown pasture. We rode some miles 

 across this kind of country, and then reached the township 

 of Bathurst, which is seated in the middle of what may be 

 called either a very broad valley or narrow plain. 



