consider miserable at home, it is looked upon as in a good state. We left this great store shop of the west in the forenoon. It is said to be the healthiest place in Australia.

The country now changed its features considerably. The roads, though not made except by the passage of bullock drays into the interior, was better than any we had yet travelled by; and the forest became less dense, the trees being larger and wider apart, and with less underwood. Every now and then the road ascended and descended the various ranges, and I had a glimpse of one of the best districts I have seen; it lay at the further end of the plain of Bathurst, and belonged to a General S―, who was, for a short time, deputy-governor of the colony; during which period, he granted himself, as was then a custom not unusual, a large track of country in this spot, about thirteen thousand acres in extent; and here he now lives, retired from the world. I had also an extended bird's-eye view of the plain, at least a great portion of it, forty miles in circumference.

No halting place occurs for twenty-three miles on this road; and at one part of it called the "Rocks," Rocks," a craggy and difficult pass, peculiarly adapted for murderous deeds, we had to walk, carrying our loaded arms: the bushrangers have a particular fancy for the spot, and not long ago it was the scene of several serious affairs. It is, in fact, scarcely possible for the traveller to make any defence, as the rifle is generally at his ear before he is aware of the neighbourhood of his assailant. Our precautions proved unnecessary; for throughout twenty-three miles we only saw one horseman and four pedestrians, who seemed just as much on their guard against us, as we were against them; and after passing some pretty undulating slopes

136

MONEY ORDERS IN THE BUSH.

we arrived at this wretched inn, called "Guyon," without any adventure.

The habits of the colony have introduced a custom in Australia, connected with the circulating medium, which is singularly significant of the state of society, Bills of exchange, as is well known, were invented by the Jews, in consequence of the extortion they were subjected to throughout the world. The same propensity to get possession of the property of others is prevalent in New South Wales, and has forced upon the inhabitants the necessity of substituting for money a species of bill, which is an order upon an agent or banker in Sydney, or in other towns, for the sum required, however small: nobody, therefore, carries money with him. These orders circulate as bank notes do at home, and very frequently do not reach the person upon whom they are drawn for many months, and, from loss or other causes, sometimes not at all. This is, in every way, an advantageous arrangement for the settler in the country, and the only safe one. In settling my bill to-day, I received in payment of the balance a 3s. order of my son's, given to some one several months before.

After leaving Guyon, the country still continues to improve, that is to say, the forest becomes more open; but the roads are still very fatiguing, and continue to mount to the very summits of the hills.

In this stage, we passed through a pretty valley, Frederick's Valley, which has been sold in small allotments to settlers; neat cottages are springing up, and fields and patches or paddocks, of maize, adorn the sides of the roads. These small settlers are a description of persons that do well in this country. Possessed of a few hundred pounds, they purchase one of these allotments, which are

generally backed by the bush, into which no one will go, as the frontage and water are, of course, preoccupied; so that after tilling the allotment, and accumulating a little fund, they buy cattle or sheep, and gradually extend their holdings: such persons certainly change for the better in coming to Australia. And just so with a still poorer class, who, like Lauchlan Mackay, have only mechanical and labouring skill for their capital. Lauchlan's whole wealth was seven pounds.

In this pleasant valley there were some large fields of maize in great luxuriance, belonging to a Captain Rayne: it is, I think, a prettier crop to look at than any of ours. The maize is sown in rows, at some interval apart, and grows to the height of six feet; the leaf is pendant, of a beautiful shade, and of a rich green colour. The flower and the head are very handsome, and of all grain it is the most prolific; it is sown in October and November, and is reaped in April and May. It is, however, used in Australia as food for animals only, but in other countries it is found to make good flour. It not unfrequently happens, as in Mackay's case, that different crops are got in succession from the same ground, without the labour of the husbandman in preparing the ground or sowing the seed. There is something peculiar to the country that causes the ear to fall, even when the crop is cut for green fodder, in sufficient quantity to produce a second and even a third crop. They, of course, lessen in quantity as well as in quality, and I have no doubt there would be more profit if the usual process were resorted to. Two or three ploughings, I see, are given to land intended for wheat, which is the only bread corn in Australia. The seed-time is from March to June; the harvest in November and December. Thus there are two seed-times and two harvests each year

in this favoured clime. Oats and barley are sown and reaped in the same seasons as wheat. Maize will produce on an average fifty or fifty-five bushels to the acre; and wheat will give twenty-five bushels of sixty pounds weight; of course these quantities and weight must vary with culture and soil, but they may be taken as the average. Lucerne is now grown in many parts of the colony, and is esteemed excellent food for horses; it is, however, generally mixed with green oats, which, as I have already stated, are the common fodder of the country. The potato yields two crops in the year, in the lower districts of the country; so readily do the soil and the climate second the industry of the settler.

We were cheered on our journey to-day by the loud notes of the native thrush: it is in plumage like the magpie, but its note is full and rich, and very like that of our Scottish mavis. Flocks of little green parroquets, and several varieties of the chattering noisy parrot tribe, were on every side. Some of these, from their brilliant plumage, would have been much prized in England, particularly one called the "Lowry;" its feathers, which were crimson and blue, of the most beautiful shades imaginable, shone splendidly in the sun. Nothing has struck me more since I have been in this country than the novelty of seeing the sun, at mid-day, in the north instead of the south. It will be a long while before I get familiar with these accompaniments of southern latitude, or the alteration of the seasons. Daylight, too, is short on the 23rd of December, the longest day, the sun rises at fifty-two minutes past four, and sets eight minutes past seven. In our longest, in June, it rises at five minutes past three, and sets forty-eight minutes past eight; a wide difference in the pleasant hours of the pleasantest period of time.

While on the subject, I may as well compare our winters also on the 21st of June, the shortest day here, the sun rises at eight minutes past seven, and sets fifty-two minutes past four-giving nine hours and forty-four minutes of light; while our shortest, in December, gives us only six hours and fifty minutes light; the sun rising thirtythree minutes past eight, and setting twenty-three past three. Thus good old Scotland has in summer an advantage of three hours and twenty-seven minutes more of daylight; and in winter has its comforts of candles and a seacoal fire one hour and twenty-nine minutes sooner than Australia.

Betwixt our last inn and Peisley's, to which we were travelling, we passed the first grave-yard I have seen in the bush. A few rude pales put up in an oblong square round the grave, marked the spot where six individuals rest. It is a lonely peaceful place, many miles from any abode of man: no inscription records the names of these exiles from their country, and the passing reflections of the traveller are their only requiem. Jacob desired to be laid with his fathers; and however little it may signify in the opinion of some where dust returns to dust, I confess my wish is that mine may mingle with that of my own people and kindred in my own land.

On Sunday, the 7th, we arrived at Peisley's inn, the last hostelry within the boundaries of the colony in this direction, and one of the very best that I have been in since I entered the country. A little rivulet divides the colony of New South Wales from the wilderness, which, however, is settled by stockholders nearly two hundred miles further to the west. All the country within the boundaries has either been bought from Government by individuals, or is leased from it. All beyond the bound