AUSTRALIA, OR AUSTRALASIA. 



985 



New Holland presents a series of striking contrasts to tliose parts of the world with which we 

 are most familiar, and which have been thus summed up by a resident. " Ii is New Holland, 

 where it is summer when it is winter in Europe, and vice versa ; where the barometer rises be- 

 fore bad weather and falls before good ; where the north is the hot wind, and the south the 

 cold ; where the humblest house is fitted up with cedar (Cechela toona) ; wdiere the fields are 

 fenced with mahogany [Eucalyptus robusta) ; and myrtle trees (.Myrtaceoi) are burned for fuel ; 

 where the swans are black, and the eagles are white ; where the mole [Anatinus platypus) lays 

 eggs, and has a duck's bill ; where there is a bird (JllelUphaga) with a broom in its mouth in- 

 stead of a tongue ; where there is a fish, one half belonging to the genius /»«;'«,, and the other 

 to that of the Squalus ; where the pears are made of wood [Xylomelum pyrijorme) , with the 

 stalk at the broader end ; and where the cheny (Exocarpus cupressiformis) grows with the 

 stone on the outside." 



New South Wales comprises an indefinite extent of country, the actual settlements stretch- 

 ing about 200 miles inland, and about 600 miles along the coast from Moreton Bay in 27° to 

 36° south latitude. The colony is divided into 17 counties, which are subdivided into parishes 

 and townships. The principal product is wool ; the colonists are also actively engaged in the 

 whale and seal fisheries. The population amounts to about 60,000, of which about 25,000 

 are convicts. The latter class are persons, who, being convicted of certain crimes in England, 

 are sentenced to transportation. On their arrival, part are retained in the service of govern 

 ment, and the remainder are distributed among the free colonists as laborers and servants. 

 Those in the service of government are divided into gangs, under the raanagemcAt of over- 

 seers. They are clothed, fed, and lodged, at the expense of government, and are permitted 

 to spend the latter part of the day in amusement or in labor on their own account. Those dis- 

 tributed among the colonists are supported by their masters, and either work by task, or for 

 the same number of hours as those in the service of government. At the expiration of the 

 term for which they were sentenced, they may return to England, or remain in the colony, re- 

 ceiving a grant of 40 acres of land, stock, and provisions. 



Sydney, the capital, stands on Port Jackson, one of the most spacious and safe har- 

 bors in the world. It is irregularly 

 built, and contains several churches 

 and meeting-houses, public schools, 

 banks, &c., with about 18,000 in- 

 habitants. It carries on an active 

 commerce not only with the Cape 

 Colony and England, but with New 

 Zealand, China, and India. Para- 

 matta, also upon Port Jackson, in a 

 pleasant situation, is the usual resi- 

 dence of the governor ; it is a flour- 

 ishing town with 3,000 inhabitants, 

 and contains an observatory. Swan 

 River Colony on the western coast 

 was founded in 1829, and is in a 

 flourishing state. Perth is the cap- 

 ital. The population here consists 

 of voluntary emigrants, and numbers 



Sydney, New South Wales. 



about 5,000 souls. The soil is represented to be good in this vicinity, but the heat is intense, 

 and the droughts are discouraging to the husbandman. The little colony of Southern Austra- 

 lia, situated between 132° and 141° east longitude, lies around Spencer's Gulf on the southern 

 cofist. The company has received from the crown a grant of 400,000 square miles, the pro- 

 ceeds of the sales of which are to be applied to the conveying of laborers to the colony. The 

 interior of this tract has not been explored. The climate of New Holland is temperate and 

 agreeable, the soil, as far as is known, not remarkable for fertility, and the country is hable to 

 long droughts, which do much injury. The natives are blacks, and not numerous. 



New Holland was discovered by the Dutch in 1606, but it was not till about 12 years later 

 that they began to be aware of the extent of the newfound land, and to make systematic explo- 

 rations of the coast. Between 1618 and 162S, they had visited points of the whole northern, 

 western, and southern coast, from the Gulf of Carpentaria to the vicinity of Spencer's Gulf, 



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