With respect to Launceston, which continues still to be the principal town on the northern side of Van Diemen’s Land, there is not much to be related. It stands at the junction of the North and South Esk, and consequently at the head of the navigation of the Tamar, which is formed by these two streams. The town is pleasantly situated at the foot of a hill upon a small plain of about 200 acres of land. There are a few good houses in Launceston, but its improvement has not kept pace with that of Hobart Town; nor is it ever likely to increase very greatly, since a government establishment has been formed at George Town, a place about thirty miles lower down, and consequently much nearer to Port Dalrymple at the entrance of the Tamar, and more convenient in its access for large ships. George Town is well situated for every purpose of trade, but for agriculture it offers no advantages, the soil in the neighbourhood being very poor, and accordingly most of the settlers prefer remaining at Launceston. The population of the latter place may be nearly 1000, but no return of this has been met with apart from the population of the district to which the town gives its name. Launceston has a chaplain and a church, of which no particular account is given. There is also a Presbyterian teacher resident in the town. At Longford, near Launceston, may be found an example of “patient continuance in well-doing,” which deserves to be recorded for the encouragement of others. About the year 1830 the first clergyman stationed there, the Rev. R. P. Davis, began with a congregation of five, which appeared for some time stationary. A church had been built which it was thought would never be filled; but in eight years afterwards, the walls could not contain those who were anxious to hear the word of God in them. The grain of mustard-seed had literally grown into a spreading tree; the congregation had multiplied a hundredfold, and a large church was about to be built, to which the inhabitants had contributed 1500l.[149] Other small places might be mentioned, as Elizabeth Town, Perth, Brighton, &c., which are very pleasant and thriving little settlements; and the penal settlements of Port Macquarie and on Tasman’s Peninsula might be described. Port Arthur, one of these, is on the last-named Peninsula, a sterile spot of about 100,000 acres, surrounded by sea, except where a narrow neck of land connects it with the main island; and this isthmus is guarded, night and day, by soldiers, and by a line of fierce dogs. Nothing particularly deserving of further notice presents itself, and therefore we may conclude our brief sketch of Van Diemen’s Land, wishing it and all the other British colonies in Australia a progress no less rapid in religion and morals, than their recent progress in commerce, agriculture, riches, and luxuries has been. What condition of a country can be more truly deplorable than that which in holy Scripture is so powerfully set forth, when the boast, “I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing,” is heard proceeding from a land which in the sight of God is “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked?”[150]
The Australian colonies may be said to form a family group of British origin; and although the two elder sisters are undoubtedly the most advanced and interesting, yet some of the younger branches of the same family may justly deserve to be noticed. We may begin with the very recent colony called Port Phillip, which lies between New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land, and which, as we have already seen, had well nigh taken the place of the latter country in the honours of early colonization. The country in the neighbourhood of the inlet named Port Phillip is in many parts exceedingly rich and fine; the scenery is varied by hills, woods, and water; and besides much excellent pasture and sheep walks, there are thousands of acres ready for the plough, and capable of growing any European grain. The situation of the principal town here, called Melbourne, is on the Yarra Yarra river, just where its stream flows over a fall and mingles with the salt water from Port Phillip, from the head of which bay Melbourne is distant about six miles by the course of the river, but across the land not more than one and a half. The vessels generally lie at Hobson’s Bay, distant by land four or five miles, by water ten or twelve. There is a bar at the entrance of the river which prevents large ships from coming up close to Melbourne. The town appears to be rapidly increasing; the commerce of Port Phillip is yearly extending; its central position, the goodness of much of the surrounding soil, and the fact of its being less encumbered than is usually the case with wood, all these circumstances unite in rendering this outpost, as we may term it, of New South Wales, an important and interesting spot. Respecting its prospects of religious improvement and pastoral care, it is gratifying to be able to quote the following statement from a letter of the Bishop of Australia, of whose unwieldy diocese Port Phillip forms a part. “At Melbourne the zeal of the inhabitants has led them to undertake the erection of a church, the estimated cost of which is nearly 7000l. Although the certain and rapid increase of the town be such as will, at no distant period, call for a church of that importance, I greatly fear that resources may be wanting for its immediate erection.” Meanwhile the Bishop expresses his anxiety that temporary accommodation, at the least, should be provided for the great numbers collected at Melbourne, who are desirous of attending the church. “It is evident,” continues he, “that within a short interval there will be in the colony few stations, with the exception, perhaps, of Sydney itself, which will demand more assiduous care and attention on behalf of its spiritual interests, than the town whose streets extend over a spot where, not more than three years ago, the Yarra Yarra flowed through an almost uninterrupted solitude.”[151] The population of Melbourne is stated in a recent periodical to be 4479, while that of the whole settlement of Port Phillip is 11,758. By the same authority the numbers of the members of the Church of England in this English colony are said to be 6194; that of the Presbyterians, 2045; of the Wesleyan Methodists, 651; of other dissenters, 1353; of Roman Catholics, 1441; of Jews, 59; Mahommedans and Pagans, 10. The mention of Jews, who are to be met with in almost all these remote colonies of the southern ocean, can scarcely fail to recall to mind God’s threatenings to his chosen people (see Deut. xxviii. 64). We shall conclude this notice of Port Phillip with mentioning two important items in the estimates of its expenditure for 1842:—Police and jails, 17,526l. 8s.; clergy and schools, 5350l.;[152] and, as a commentary upon these disproportionate estimates, which are by no means peculiar to Port Phillip, the words of Sir George Arthur may be added:—“Penitentiaries, treadwheels, flogging, chain-gangs, and penal settlements,” says the late governor of Tasmania, “will all prove ineffectual either to prevent or to punish crime, without religious and moral instruction.”
The next of the infant colonies of Great Britain in New Holland, which offers itself to our attention, as the eye ranges over the map of that huge island, is the very recently formed settlement of Southern Australia. This is situated upon the southern coast likewise, and consists of a large block of country, the inland parts of which have not yet been explored, forming three sides of a square, with the fourth side broken and jagged by the inclination and indentations of the coast, which are here very considerable. The area of South Australia thus marked out is supposed to be about 310,000 square miles, containing upwards of 98,000,000 of acres; that is to say, it is double the size of the three British kingdoms, and not much less than that of France.[153] The mode of colonizing this extensive tract of country is proposed to be upon different principles from those elsewhere followed in Australia. No transported convicts are ever to be sent there. No free grants of land are to be made, but land can become private property by purchase alone, and the whole of the purchase-money is proposed to be spent in the encouragement of emigration. The emigrants to be conveyed by means of this fund, without expense to the colony, were to be of both sexes in equal numbers, and the preference is to be given to young married persons not having children. The prospect of having a representative assembly was held out to the colony, but the population was to exceed 50,000 before it could be lawful for the Crown to grant this.
To attempt to state accurately what the soil and capabilities of so vast an extent of country may be, would evidently be to attempt an impossibility. Of that small part of it which is already occupied, much is barren, hilly land, especially upon the coast. Nevertheless, it would appear that South Australia has, so far as we can at present judge, its full proportion of good and available soil, both for the purposes of farming and for pasture.[154] The situation of that part of the colony, where the principal settlements have been commenced, is very well chosen, for it lies upon the Gulf of St. Vincent, a very deep inlet of the sea, and is well backed with a range of hills to the eastward, beyond which the country yet unexplored extends to the banks of the river Murray; so that, in fact, the Murray and the Gulf of St. Vincent, form natural boundaries to those settlements which are already begun, and within these limits it is said that there are the means of supporting comfortably from one hundred to two hundred thousand inhabitants. This statement agrees with Captain Sturt’s report of the existence of several millions of acres of very beautiful and fertile land in the same district. The climate of South Australia is healthy, though very warm;[155] and the usual disorders of Australia, complaints of the eye and relaxation of the bowels, were the ailments least uncommon among the new settlers. In March 1841, the population of the colony was estimated at about 14,000, and the amount of land under tillage about 2000 acres. But since that time there has been a considerable increase in both items. The quantity of provisions in proportion to the inhabitants was considerably greater than in England. A small commerce is springing up, and slate, which abounds in South Australia, and oil, the produce of the adjacent seas, together with wool from the flocks fed upon the neighbouring hills, begin to form materials of traffic.[156]
The capital of the province of South Australia bears the honoured name of Adelaide, and is placed upon the eastern side of the Gulf of St. Vincent. The country around it is hilly and well timbered, but not too thickly encumbered with wood, and the soil is generally good, with abundance of water. The British settlers removed to this spot from Kangaroo Island, which is at the entrance of Gulf St. Vincent, but which they found less desirable for a colony from the difficulty and expense of clearing away the timber there. Adelaide is supposed to be well and centrally placed for the capital of a province, and it now has a good port,[157] to which vessels of four or five hundred tons may come and discharge their cargoes.
The town stands on gently rising banks, between which flows a pretty stream, named the Torrens, and commands a view of an extensive plain, reaching down to the sea, over which the fresh breezes generally blow from the south-west. Behind Adelaide is a fine wooded country, and six miles distant is a range of hills, with the wooded summit of Mount Lofty forming their highest point. The population of the capital of South Australia and its immediate neighbourhood, is supposed to be about eight thousand. The town has not yet many buildings or establishments of any importance, but there is a hospital, and also a savings’ bank, in which last, during six months of 1841, the deposits had increased from 130l. 0s. 2d. to 520l. 2s. 10d. It had four newspapers and one colonial chaplain in 1842, and the estimates for that year contained the following items:—Police, 9112l. 19s. 4d.; jail, 1034l. 8s.; colonial chaplain, 370l. But we must do the colony of South Australia the justice to state that this is not the whole sum which is there spent on religious instruction. The voluntary system, as it is called, has been brought into action there, and hitherto, it would appear, successfully enough, so far as pounds, shillings, and pence are concerned, if it be true that in four years,—the four first years of the colony,—upwards of 11,500l. had been voluntarily contributed for religious and educational purposes, and “the clergy,” (as all teachers are now denominated,) supported at an annual charge of 1200l. But, of course, the voluntary principle, as its name implies, is a little apt to be wilful; and, accordingly, in Adelaide alone, with a population of eight thousand souls, it is stated that there are ten or twelve public “places of worship,” and a corresponding number of “zealous, highly-educated, and efficient clergymen.” Every settler apportions his mite to Paul, to Apollos or to Cephas, according as it seems right in his own eyes; and occasionally it may happen, when any little offence is taken, that the popular saying is actually realized, and Peter is robbed that Paul may be paid. And to some persons, who cannot, one would think, have read their Bible with much attention, this system appears actually to be the very height of perfection. The following brief quotation from a letter of the Congregational teacher at Adelaide is said to be “most satisfactory:”—
“Religion.—The whole circle of denominations is filled up with their appropriate pastors, churches, and places of worship. Adelaide is well supplied. The country is not altogether neglected; but, as it fills up, will be better attended to. I do not think the religious prospects bad. Truth and piety, I expect, will flourish in South Australia. The clergy of the Churches of England and Scotland are evangelical; the Wesleyans have been very active and useful. Of us, you read in the Report of the Colonial Missionary Society. The other bodies are also making their way.”[158] Would this report of religion in South Australia be “most satisfactory” to that apostle, who teaches that “there is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling?”
Still let us not judge harshly of the infant colony, nor reproach it for a leprosy, with which it has been inoculated by the mother country. While we hail with gladness the good spirit which has been shown in raising so much money for religious objects in the very infancy of the settlement, let us hope, that the “places of worship” may diminish in number, while the churches increase, and that the country districts may have a larger share of assistance than they can now receive out of what remains of 1200l. a year, after Adelaide and its ten or twelve clergymen have been supplied.[159] Undoubtedly, in this province of Australia there is much zeal and good feeling awakened, and the efforts of the South Australian Church Building Society are deserving of every success. To the members of this Society it must be indeed a cause of thankfulness and joy, that they can call to mind during the lapse of only four years, the quick succession of an open spot, a tent, a reed hut, a wooden shed, and lastly, a church capable of holding six hundred persons, being respectively used for places of divine worship. And now, not only do they see one church finished, but two others are, ere this time, no doubt completed.[160]
The British colony in the great southern land to which the attention of the reader may next be directed, is that of Western Australia; or, as it was called in its earlier days, during its first struggles into existence, the Swan River Settlement. This is situated upon the coast of New Holland, opposite to the colony of New South Wales, lying in nearly the same latitude, but thirty-four or thirty-six degrees of longitude to the west of it. The first discovery of this spot was made by a Dutchman, Vlaming, in 1697, who named the stream Black Swan River, from the black swans, which were then seen for the first time by Europeans, and two of which were taken alive to Batavia.[161] The banks of the Swan River were first colonized in 1830, and the mode in which this was effected is peculiar and different from the usual course. A few gentlemen of large property undertook to found the colony, at little or no expense to the mother country, receiving immense grants of land in return for the expenses incurred by them in this attempt; which grants, however, were to revert to government, unless they were cultivated and improved under certain conditions and in a given time. Great difficulties and many privations were endured by the first settlers, but these appear to have been overcome, and so soon as the stream of emigration shall have set steadily into Western Australia, (which is, perhaps, all things considered, the most desirable of our Australasian colonies for a respectable Englishman to fix himself in,) there can be little doubt that its progress will be not less rapid than that of the sister settlements. Along the sea coast, the country is hilly and barren; nor is it much better in the immediate neighbourhood of the principal settlements, Perth and Fremantle; but beyond these there is plenty of good grass country, and near the inland town of Guildford, the arable land in the valley of the Swan River is surpassingly rich and productive, so that it has been known to bear eleven successive crops of wheat in as many years, without any manure, and the last year’s crop averaging twenty-five bushels to the acre. In some parts this good land approaches more nearly to the coast; but still a large proportion of the soil is poor and sandy, although even of this a great deal is capable of cultivation, and is thought to be especially fitted for the growth of the vine.[162] The climate is exceedingly healthy and delightful; indeed, it is even superior to other parts of Australia, and rain is more abundant here than elsewhere. Plenty of fish is likewise to be found in the neighbouring bays and inlets, which are very numerous; and the whales are so plentiful, only a few hours’ sail from the shore, that oil is a principal article of export, but the Americans are allowed to occupy this fishery almost entirely, and it is stated that from two to three hundred of their ships have been engaged in the whale fishery off this coast during a single year. The population of Western Australia is small, not being computed at more than 2700 souls in the beginning of the year 1842. The number of acres cultivated in 1840 were, according to the returns of the local Agricultural Society, 1650 in wheat, and 3296 in every kind of culture. This settlement is, more than others, in want of that article of which England especially needs to be relieved—population; and if a man is frugal, sober, and industrious, if he will bear in mind that “on no part of the face of the globe will the earth yield her increase, but as it is moistened by sweat from man’s brow,”[163] Western Australia is, possibly, the best and most agreeable country where he can find a happy home. Although this large district is yet so thinly peopled, it is, nevertheless, in a state of colonization and civilization surpassing what might have been fairly expected. And the absence of convicts, though it renders labour scarce and expensive, brings with it counterbalancing advantages, and prevents the double danger of immediate taint to society from the unhappy criminals, and of future schism arising between the emancipated convicts, or their children, and the free settlers.
Fremantle is at the mouth of the Swan River, and contains some tolerable houses, with a jetty and various other conveniences for trade, especially for the whale fishery; from the ships engaged in which pursuit, (chiefly American vessels,) a great portion of its commerce is derived. One cause of its trade and population not having increased more rapidly may be the bar across the mouth of the Swan River, having only a depth of six feet at low water, and preventing the approach of ships of large burden. The soil around is sandy, and produces little or no grass; but when well cultivated, it yields excellent vegetables. Two miles from Fremantle, up the river, there is a ferry across to Perth, the seat of government and capital of the colony, which is well situated, the river extending into a broad sheet, named Melville Waters, in front of the town. Here is good brick-earth and garden-ground, and near the town there are some tolerable farms. But at Guildford, seven miles further up the river, commences the rich corn-land of the colony, and the town itself contains six or seven hundred inhabitants. York is forty-eight miles eastward of Guildford; and King George’s Sound, on the coast, where there is another settlement, is about one hundred and fifty miles from York.