Land on the Upper Paterson was selling, in 1837, at 20s. per acre, in lots of six hundred and forty acres, of which not more than forty or fifty were arable land, the rest being what is called here, common bush land, thinly covered with trees, and affording tolerable pasture for cattle. Purchasers of land at the above-named rate, have, I believe, found their bargains profitable, notwithstanding the heavy expense they had to incur in clearing and fencing the arable portion of it, in addition to the outlay for a dwelling, out-offices, &c. The settler on a small farm of this description is almost sure to do well, if he is industrious, and provided that he keeps clear of that colonial pest, the public-house. He will have very hard work the first two years; but his returns will well repay him even in moderately favourable seasons, while, in good times, they will be very profitable. A neighbour of mine raised, in the season of 1837-38, on eighteen acres of fresh cleared land, a crop of tobacco, which he cured and manufactured into negro-head on the spot: it yielded one hundred and fifty kegs of 100lb. weight each; and the whole was sold at 1s. 4d. per pound, thus giving a total of 900l. This farmer had fifteen hands, who, in addition to the tobacco, enabled him to cultivate wheat and maize sufficient to supply the farm, and to leave 200l. worth for sale. The outlay for the twelve months, including every thing, did not exceed 350l.; and I have shewn the returns to have been 1100l. This slight sketch will afford an idea of what an industrious farmer may do in the Paterson district. As soon as he can collect a few pounds, they may be profitably invested in the purchase of some good cows, which will not only supply him and his family with butter and milk, but will pay well by their annual increase. In 1838, stock was worth, in this neighbourhood, as under:—Cows, 5l.; Fat Cattle, 7l. 10s.; Working Oxen, 10l.; Brood Mares, 40l.; good Roadsters, 40l.; Sheep,—Ewes, 2l., Wethers, 17s. 6d. Things have changed since that time: but more of this hereafter.
During the three years I resided in Australia, I lived almost entirely on the banks of the Paterson, and the reader may therefore depend upon the correctness of my information regarding every thing in that neighbourhood. It bears a high character for the salubrity of its climate; and very justly so, according to my experience. Not a member of my establishment was ill the whole time we were there; nor do I recollect a serious case of illness among our neighbours. The winter is mild,—just cold enough to make a fire comfortable; while the fine frosty mornings do great good to one who has arrived from India. I used to enjoy them exceedingly, and invariably walked out before breakfast to breathe the fine clear air. The cold weather sets in in April, and continues till September. This is the season to enjoy a gallop in chase of that most extraordinary animal, the kangaroo. Notwithstanding that this part of the country is rather hilly, the hardy horses manage to carry their riders across it in safety. The river abounds with wild duck at this season, as well as with perch and a small fish here called herring, from its resemblance to that fish. The settler may thus not only find amusement for himself in shooting or fishing, but may make a very agreeable addition to his bush fare by his morning's ramble. The flesh of the kangaroo is literally good, for nothing: the tail makes very good soup, but the carcass of the full-grown animal is otherwise of no value to the European, though the native contrives to make an occasional meal of it. The young kangaroo of two or three months old, makes a tolerable substitute for jugged hare, and is frequently on the tables of the settlers. As population advances up the country, the kangaroo retires. I have, however, seen some hundreds of a large size in their native woods, skipping about, and bounding off on the approach of man. The notion, that a kangaroo makes use of his tail in leaping, is a mistaken one. I have watched them bounding along a plain, and could see distinctly that the tail never touched the ground. The female, when pursued, will retain its young one in the pouch with which nature has provided it, till very closely pressed by the dogs: it will then drop the little one, leave it to chance, and make off with increased speed. A full-grown male ("old man," the aboriginals call them) is more than a match for a single dog, and will frequently severely punish a couple of assailants before surrendering. These animals are easily tamed, and make very pretty pets in a garden. Speaking of a garden, we had an excellent orchard, which supplied us with abundance of apricots, peaches, nectarines, figs, green-gages, apples, pears, and oranges, while the garden furnished many a dish of strawberries: for gooseberries, the climate is not cold enough.
In March and April, the farmer is busied in preparing his fields for wheat-sowing, which ought to be finished by the middle of May. Of this grain, the ground here yields a fair crop, though not equal to that usually reaped near Maitland: it is, however, generally more than sufficient for the use of the district, which may be called a grain-exporting one. Some farmers sow wheat on land from which they have just reaped a crop of Indian corn: this proves, I need scarcely say, in the long run, very bad economy. On a farm where wheat, corn, and tobacco are grown, there is always abundance of employment for old and young. Should field labour be suspended by the inclemency of the weather, or by any other cause, the farmer finds his servants full occupation in husking maize, threshing wheat, stripping, shifting, and curing tobacco. I used to keep my convict-labourers employed in light work, such as the above-mentioned, till ten o'clock at night: this I had no right to exact; but my plan was, to keep a regular account current with every convict on the place, giving him credit so much for every extra hour he worked, and letting him know, every Saturday night, how much was due to him, which I allowed him to take out in any shape but money or spirits. Giving him the former, would have enabled him to procure the latter. It was generally taken out in tea and sugar; and I never had the slightest trouble in settling these little accounts. I had ten convicts assigned to me by Government; and I confess that I would rather have had those men than most of the free emigrants that came to the Colony. Over the convict, the master has great power, the knowledge of which on the part of the servant, with good treatment and a firm hand held over him, will make him do a great deal of work. The Government allowance of rations does not include tea, sugar, or tobacco; but most masters allow two ounces of the first and last, and one pound of the second per week; which not only makes the men contented, but gives the master more hold over them, as they stand in fear of his stopping the indulgence in the event of misconduct. From my own observation I should say, that nine-tenths of the misdoings amongst convict-servants, that one hears of in New South Wales, arises from bad masters. What, for instance, can be expected from men assigned to a drunkard, who not only drinks himself, but makes a point of inducing his servants, whether free or bond, to take out their earnings in rum, of which he has always a plentiful supply on hand? What from the servants of a master who neither pays any attention to the Sabbath himself, nor makes those under him observe it; who, on the slightest provocation, drags his men before the magistrate, and swears literally to any thing, to have them flogged; who never affords them the slightest indulgence, and whose whole aim is, to get the greatest possible quantity of work out of them for the smallest possible outlay? Nothing tends more directly to promote the good order of a farm, than mustering everybody on it at noon on Sunday, for the purpose of reading Divine service to them. Setting aside the moral benefit that this practice may be supposed to produce, it puts an effectual stop to distant wandering on that day. A man who has to appear cleanly dressed on Sunday at noon, cannot stray far from home either before or after that hour. On farms where this custom is not kept up, the convict starts at daylight for some haunt where spirits are to be had, to pay for which he has most probably robbed his master; there he spends the day in riot and ribaldry, and reels home about midnight in a state that renders him very unfit for resuming his work on Monday morning. The convict-servant soon finds out what sort of a master he has to deal with, and, to use their own slang, after trying it on for a bit, in nine cases out of ten, he yields to circumstances. Two of mine tried a few of their old pranks at starting; but a timely, though moderate application of "the cat," put an entire stop to them. It is, however, useless to say more on this subject, as the system of assigning servants to private individuals has been done away with by orders from the Home Government. The female convicts are much more difficult to manage than the men, and often set their masters at defiance: they are generally of the lowest and most wretched class of women.
The summer sets in in October, and wheat harvest begins in November. The weather then becomes exceedingly hot, and the heat is occasionally increased by the hot winds that blow from the north-west. These generally (I speak of what I have observed on the Paterson) blow for three days successively, with considerable violence, and do no small injury to the farmer: they are very dry, make the lips crack, and the skin feel as if about to crack; and should they come across a field of wheat just shewing the ear, they would blight it to a certainty. After expending their force for three days, they are usually succeeded by a sharp southerly gale, which is frequently accompanied with rain, and soon makes every thing not actually blighted look green again. Though the sun, during summer, has, apparently, as much power as in India, I have never experienced any injurious effects from it, though frequently exposed to its rays all day, both on foot and on horseback. The European labourer works in the field here through the day, the same as in England, and does not seem to suffer from the heat. During the hot winds, indeed, he is liable to an almost unquenchable thirst, to relieve which, he may drink with perfect impunity a large quantity of sugar and water; but those who have recourse to water only, are sure to suffer for their imprudence, though not seriously.
November and December are the busy months at sheep-stations, all hands being then employed in clipping the wool and preparing it for market.
CHAPTER X.
NEW SOUTH WALES.
BUSH-RANGERS—THE DROUGHT OF 1838-9—THE SETTLER'S TROUBLES—ORNITHOLOGY OF AUSTRALIA—ABORIGINAL TRIBES.
On the Paterson, we were never troubled with those dangerous characters called in the Colony, Bush-rangers. I can give no reason for their avoiding this neighbourhood, but know that they did avoid it, and that none of the residents in the district ever gave them a thought. Other parts of the Colony are not so fortunate; and loud complaints are constantly being made, of want of protection against those daring marauders. They are runaway convicts, who take to the bush, either to get clear of hard masters, or from a love of old habits; and, now and then, they keep a whole county in a state of alarm. Frequent instances of their daring occurred during my residence in Australia, some of a ferocious character, while others tended more to excite laughter. Three of those scamps visited, at noon-day, a settler's house, and, coolly walking in, called for luncheon, and made themselves quite at home. While thus regaling themselves, they happened to see a violin hanging against the wall, and asked their host, whether he could play. On being answered in the affirmative, they made him strike up, while they danced to his music. When tired of this amusement, they helped themselves to whatever struck their fancy, and then went to the stable, picked out three of the best horses, leaving their own tired jades behind, and rode off. The master of the house was the only person at home at the time, and was unarmed; all his men were engaged in a distant field; and he was threatened with instant death, should he give the slightest alarm. Resistance, therefore, was impossible. Such depredations have latterly been much checked by the exertions of the mounted police. This very efficient body is composed of men drafted from Her Majesty's regiments stationed in the Colony, who are mounted and dressed at the expense of the local Government, and trained for their work. They patrole the country in all directions, and have captured and brought to justice many of the most desperate Bush-rangers, as well as given a check to the several organized bodies of cattle-stealers.