anything specially affecting German interests in the colony, they can at least influence one vote in Parliament. The reason why the number of Germans in Australia is yet so small is undoubtedly owing to the high price of land. The same quantity which can be purchased in the United States for one dollar costs £1 here, and this solely because the Colonial Government contracted a loan in former days with the wealthier colonists, for which they pledged the land, which was taken at £1 per acre; this has never been paid off, so that the mortgagee is virtually the proprietor of the soil, without Government being in a position to profit by its contract or get rid of its liabilities. It thus has become necessary for them to enhance the value of the land, and this seems to be the chief difficulty in the way of lowering the acreage price, to the manifest encouragement of emigration and the cultivation of the soil.
Sir William conducted us, now on horseback, now on foot, now in his carriage, over his extensive domain, and did not fail to acquaint us with the details of everything that could be interesting or useful. Wine cultivation in Australia, though only first raised into importance in 1838, has made such rapid strides, and has proved so profitable, that in no long time England, hitherto so deficient in wines, will be enabled through her colonies to vie with the choicest vintages of Europe; for those of Australia and the Cape are little inferior even now in body and bouquet to those of Spain, and it is only the smallness of the quantity hitherto manufactured, and almost entirely reserved
for private consumption, that has stood in the way of their being much more extensively dealt in European markets. The entire product of wine in 1858 was 60,000 gallons, but the reason why the quantity is so limited is not in the unsuitability of the land devoted to it, but the great difficulty of procuring labour, and of getting it at the precise moment when it is most wanted. As often as the journals launch forth upon the discovery of some fresh gold-field, the field hands forthwith strike work, and make off to the "diggings." On such occasions many thousand men are suddenly smitten with the gold fever, and their ordinary avocations are at once abandoned. We saw on one occasion a number of half-finished houses, which had been left in that incomplete state by the thirst for gold of the labourers, who are omnipotent here. "There are no greater tyrants than the labourers of this country," was Sir William's pithy remark, as he looked sadly on their work, abandoned unfinished, and the half-cultivated fields around.
Our host made us taste various descriptions of wine, which in every respect greatly resembled sherry, while a redder sort strongly reminded us of Muscat. Even in Australia, the grape has already been attacked by that mysterious disease which has done such mischief in various parts of Europe, and especially in Madeira, but its noxious effects have as yet been confined to a few species only. Much damage is occasionally done by a species of worm, for the extirpation of which boys are engaged at from 1s. to 2s. per diem. The
vintage in Australia usually begins in March and lasts till far on in April.
We passed a short hour very agreeably in Sir William's study, which comprises a library full of valuable particulars as to the history of the country. At every moment the traveller from long-settled countries, feels an emotion of surprise at the numerous and costly collections of rare works and valuable cabinets of natural history he finds in a country where he might expect that the universal rush after earthly dross must render such pursuits valueless. The fact is, that in forming an estimate of the country he is almost certain to omit taking into account that, in addition to the convicts and gold-diggers, there have come out hither a considerable number of young men of the highest circles of English society, who, provided by Government with tracts of land for settling upon, are in hopes of more speedily attaining fortune and position than in England, where the younger sons of the aristocracy are in too many instances apt to lead a sauntering life of dependency. Such cadets of leading families have, since the commencement of the present century, settled in considerable numbers in various parts of Australia, and have introduced with them that taste for combined elegance and comfort, which the foreign traveller in that country has such reason to feel surprise at, as well as to be thankful for.
After our visit to Camden Park we spent the rest of the day at Campbelton, making preparations to continue our
excursion as far as Appin and Wulongong, in the district of Illawara. From Campbelton to Appin is a distance of 12 miles, by a tolerably wide level road, partly through cultivated farms, partly through forest scenery. We encountered but one vehicle the whole distance, containing a family dressed in their best, to accompany a body to the grave—probably some father or sister. "A funeral in the bush," said our driver to us with a somewhat serious face, as he called our attention to the cart moving on slowly through the stillness of the wood. In a simple little forest hut, whose inhabitants are engaged in avocations that necessarily imply the closest daily intimacy, the stroke of death must fall with redoubled severity, as he strikes down some of the dearest and best beloved.
When we reached Appin the day was already too far spent to admit of our reaching Wulongong, the end of our journey, the same evening. Uninviting as was the filth of the little village ale-house where we alighted, we had to make the best of its accommodations, as it was the only inn in the place. The dialect which now saluted our ears unmistakeably proved that we were domiciled in an Irish house. The people were by no means poor, they possessed an extensive "run" near the hotel, but it is part of the character of Irish settlers to be superior to the virtues of cleanliness and order. Quite close at hand began the forest, a visit to which was rewarded by the capture of several species of birds peculiar to New South Wales, among others
the laughing jack-ass (Dacelo gigantea) and the beautiful blue-black atlas bird (Kitta holosericea).