Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.3)

530 NEW SOUTH WALES. Jan. 1836. There are many serious drawbacks to the comforts of famihes ; the chief of which, j^erhaps, is being surrounded by convict servants. How thoroughly odious to every feeling to be waited on by a man, who the day before, perhaps, was flogged, from your representation, for some trifling misde- meanor. The female servants are of course much worse hence children learn the vilest expressions, and it is fortu- nate if not equally vile ideas. On the other hand, the capital of a person without any trouble on his part, produces him treble interest to what it will in England ; and with care he is sure to grow rich. The luxuries of life are in abundance and very little dearer, and most articles of food cheaper, than in England. The climate is splendid and quite healthy ; but to my mind its charms are lost by the uninviting aspect of the country. Settlers possess a great advantage in finding their sons of ser'V'ice, when very young. At the age of from sixteen to twenty they frequently take charge of distant farming stations ; this, however, must happen at the expense of their boys associ- ating entirely with convict servants. I am not aware that the tone of society has assumed any peculiar character ; but with such habits, and without intellectual pursuits, it can hardly fail to deteriorate. My opinion is such, that nothing but rather severe necessity should compel me to emigrate. The rapid prosperity and future prospects of this colony are to me, not understanding these subjects, very puzzling. The two main exports are wool and whale-oil ; and to both of these productions there is a hmit. The country is totally unfit for canals ; therefore there is a line not very distant, beyond which the land carriage of wool will not repay the expense of shearing and tending sheep. Pasture every where is so thin, that settlers have already pushed far into the interior : moreover the country further inland becomes ex- tremely poor. I have before said that agriculture can never succeed on a very extended scale ; therefore so far as I can see, AustraUa must ultimately depend upon being the centre of commerce for the southern hemisphere, and perhaps on