EMIGRANT'S CONDUCTED BY SAMUEL AND JOHN SIDNEY, AUTHORS OF "A VOICE FROM AUSTRALIA," "AUSTRALIAN HAND-BOOK," VOL. I.-No. 2.] "RAILWAYS AND AGRICULTURE," &c. &c. THURSDAY, 12TH OCTOBER, 1848. EMIGRATION is essentially a working man's question. It affects most those who have no other capital than their strength, skill, and industry. It is, where wisely and honestly conducted, for their benefit, for the benefit of those who depart, and of those who remain. If, in a particular employment, one hundred and fifty labourers are ready to do what can be done quite as well by one hundred, the wages which would have been distributed among a hundred will be reduced by the competition of the fifty extra hands one-third. If the fifty can be conveyed to some country where a fertile soil and useful natural productions only require the hand of labour to become productive and valuable, in a few years they will not only attain independence, but become customers for those manufactured goods which can be produced more cheaply in an old long-settled, thickly-populated country. soil. The theory of emigration is drafting out redundant labour-of colonization, planting labour upon an unpeopled or thinly-peopled In the practice there are difficulties. In the United States this process is carried on in the simplest manner. No sea divides the unpeopled from the settled districts. Whenever any of the inhabitants of the older states find themselves too much crowded up, they take the road leading toward the unoccupied lands, and until they reach a place where labour is dear enough, or land cheap enough to afford a fair prospect of future good fortune. Thus, therefore, although poverty and misery exist in the crowded cities of the United States, as well as in Europe, to the willing and able-bodied there is always open in the unoccupied lands a labour test and a livelihood, with a fair chance of independence. In our own country the case is very different. There are, it is true, among the colonies of Great Britain lands affording every variety of climate, and the amplest prospect of return for willing labour, if they could be reached and occupied. But to cross the ocean and quit our native home requires an effort which nothing less than the pressure of distress will induce any considerable number of persons to take. More important still, the emigration of an individual to the nearest of our colonies requires, in cost of passage and outfit, a considerable sum of money. The money difficulty is the real difficulty. The great question really is how funds are to be found for conveying those who are anxious to emigrate to colonies suitable for their capacities. This question especially interests the working man, because he only represents the class which suffers quickly and keenly from the depression in manufactures and agriculture. There are, from time to time, individuals among the learned professions, and others of the wealthier and educated classes, who are willing to become emigrants, but the great majority of us have ties and advantages in this country which incline us rather to bear those ills that we have, Than fly to others that we know not of. A great army of emigrants can only be recruited from the labouring masses. The talk about emigration of all classes of peers, country squires, physicians, lawyers, &c., &c., will only end in talk. Patriotism and enthusiasm will never send any considerable number of persons in easy circumstances from a country on which millions have been spent to make it comfortable. Whereever on a well-chosen colony-an industrious population have settled, capital will follow fast enough without coddling or legislative aid. We hear of all Manchester, or Sheffield, or Leeds, in distress at the same time, and we feel that at such times unmitigated good would be effected by removing some thousand families. We hear of half Ireland in a state of semi-starvation, while in our colonies harvests go unreaped and flocks perish for want of reapers and [ PRICE 2D. STAMPED 3D. shepherds. But we have never heard of a thousand medical men applying for out-door relief, or of five hundred lawyers compelled to throw themselves upon the mercy of the mendicity society. Hitherto all the laws and regulations respecting emigration and colonization have been in the hands of those who have only a secondary interest in promoting either the one or the other. Parties whose chief object has been to get rid of a certain amount of population, anyhow and anywhere, no matter how, so that they were heard of no more. The parties most active in promoting colonization have either been land companies with land to sell, or wealthy established colonists, anxious to have such a number of servants imported at once as would enable them to lower the rate of wages. To the self-interest of these two parties, the cause of colonization in British colonies has hitherto been sacrificed. That man generally comes to be badly off whose estate is managed by uncontrolled trustees. The working men willing to emigrate have it in their power to make terms with these two parties, and to do service, to themselves as well as to the ratepayers and the capitalist colonists, by stimulating the now languid process of colonization. All laws and regulations with respect to colonization have been founded on the assumption that capital is much more important than labour, and that therefore it is necessary to hedge capital round with some special protection. With this view, in all our colonies, especially Australia and New Zealand, impediments are thrown in the way of the possession of land by men of small means, lest the capitalist should not find labourers to work for hire. To undervalue the advantage of the union of capital with labour would be absurd; but there is no doubt that, in a fertile newly-founded colony, hoes, and spades, and ploughs, and strong arms to work them, are of more value than an overflowing capital. It is the hundred pound men, not the thousand pound men that create wealth in a colony. In South Australia, until the emigrants had spent nearly all their money, they never thought of tilling the ground, but lived on each other. When they were all reduced to the condition of day-labourers, the healthy prosperity of the colony began. In British North America, the prosperity of the colonies has been permanently impeded by reckless grants of land made under the old system, to influential persons, for party purposes. In Australia, in the supposed interest of the capitalist class, first reckless grants were made, and then, flying into the opposite extreme, the Colonial Office raised the price of land, and adopted a system of sale under which men with less than from 500l. to 1000/. were and are intentionally debarred from the purchase of land. This selfish policy has seriously injured, if not ruined, the capitalists it was intended to serve. The land does not sell; and, not selling, there are but limited funds to import labourers; wages have risen to prices which ruin the farmers and stock-holders; and the old story of the dog and his shadow is realized. In the United States, an opposite policy has been uniformly adopted the wild lands are all for sale in lots of forty acres and eighty acres, at from 4s. 6d. an acre. The forms of obtaining a title are simple. The result is a large annual sale, and annual increase of cultivation and population in all fertile districts. In British North America, a railroad or other great public work for opening up markets to the waste lands, would be the greatest boon that could be conferred on labouring emigrants, by insuring them work immediately on their arrival, and to the colony, by rendering those districts valuable that are now out of reach. In Australia, the substitution of the American system of small lots at a dollar an acre for the monopoly at present secured to capitalists by confining sales to 640 acres at 17. an acre, would enable thousands to be conveyed to that fine country free of cost, who now pine in this country on insufficient wages or work house fare. These are two practical points, to which the great body of the working classes will do well to turn their attention. SCHOOLMASTERS FOR THE COLONIES.-Government has just despatched sevetheir wives), to establish primary schools in the Mauritius. Before starting they ral members of the scholastic profession, male and female (principally men and received 120l. to provide the necessary outfit, and on landing in the colony they are to have 257. to defray immediate expenses. Their salary, commencing at 80%. is to gradually increase to 2001. per annum. LIFE IN THE BUSH; OR, PLAIN DIRECTIONS FOR THE AUSTRALIAN EMIGRANT. BY A BUSHMAN.-No. I. WHAT shall I do when I land, and what shall I have to do in the ordinary employments of the colonies? What difference is there between living in England and Australia? These are questions constantly put by intending emigrants to Australia. I will endeavour to answer them in detail. Australia is not, although nearly eighteen thousand miles distant, a foreign country. The language, the manners, the customs, the laws, are all English. Liberty of action, speech, and printing, exists as fully as in England, without the accompanying taxation, and much more freely than in republican America. All religions are paid by the Government. Taxation out of the limits of towns is unknown; and you may pass months without seeing either magistrate or policeman. At the same time, the peaceful members of the community are protected. Crime against either person or property is rare, except in the far districts where convicts are congregated. There are no privileged bullies and unpunished assassins; no lynch law, as in the backwoods of America. In the Bush all men carry clasp knives, but I never heard of a case of stabbing. The three colonies, of which Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide, are the capitals, so much resemble this country, that if by any magic process a man could awake in any one of them after sleeping in England, he might fancy that he had been conveyed to some watering-place on the west coast, where straw-hats and shooting-jackets were all the fashion. LANDING FROM THE SHIP.-On landing, the man with money in his pocket makes his way to a boarding-house or hotel. That was not a bad plan of the traveller, who, arriving at New York, left his carpet-bag with an honest-looking Irishwoman at a stall, until he found a boarding-house to his mind. I would sooner trust an Irish basketwoman than most Sydney merchants. All seaport towns in all parts of the world swarm with swindlers, who rob their victims under the guise of friendship. Trust no one, and consult no one but the captain or surgeon of the ship, and the Government agents, whose duty it is to protect the emigrant in British and colonial ports. Mechanics can obtain board, lodging, and washing, for 12s. a week, and a man with a family may rent rooms, or a cottage, and find provisions, for less money than in any town in England. Intemperance is the bane of British emigrants; the native-born white race are sober, and succeed. The labourer or mechanic at the present time will find no difficulty in obtaining employment the moment he is ready to accept it. No sooner is the ship declared clean by the Board of Health, than dozens of gentlemen from the interior will jump on board, and endeavour to strike a bargain for your services. New arrivals seldom get more than 207. a year for the first year; a man and his wife will get 407. a year with rations, which consist of 10 lbs. of meat, 10 lbs. of flour, 4 lb. of tea, and 2 lbs. of sugar, a week, for each full-grown person. Some masters give as much as 12 lbs. of meat and of flour, and lb. of tobacco. There is also included in the hiring, a wooden hut of two rooms, with a frying-pan, an iron pot, and a bucket. Bedding and other furniture you find yourself; but the bedsteads consist invariably of a few posts put in the floor of the hut, and made like the berths on board ship; chairs are made by sawing round blocks from the log of a tree; tables are made also of posts stuck in the ground, and a sheet of bark nailed on the top. A substitute for crockery ware is found in tin quart and pint pots; the former to boil, the latter to drink your tea or soup out of. These, with a tin dish to hold boiled meat in, completes the furniture of a shepherd or labourer's hut. There are now very few parts of the colony where the blacks are to be feared. Young men should never hesitate to go to the far interior, where they learn most, and where wages are highest. Men with families should try to arrive between the months of November and February, when the wool-drays come down, and, on their return, may be used for carrying women and children. A written engagement for a year is advisable, including not only wages and amount of rations, but also the price at which extra rations and clothes are to be supplied, if required; that is to say, about twenty-five per cent. on prices at Sydney or Melbourne. (To be continued.) FEMALE EMIGRATION FROM PARISH WORKHOUSES. IN January 1847, the proportion between the male and female population in New South Wales Proper, including Australia-Felix, was 118,000 males to 77,000 females, or about seven to four. In South Australia the proportions were more favourable, 12,600 males to 9,600 females, or about four to three. The serious evils of this discrepancy between the sexes it is not here necessary to dilate on. Without very active measures on the part of the Government, it will be difficult to produce an equality between the sexes for many years, because, although the Colonization Commissioners take care to secure an even number among the emigrants sent out by them at the expense of the land fund, there is annually a considerable emigration of men at their own expense, while hitherto very few females have ventured on emigrating, except with their husbands and relations. It would be well if arrangements were made for encouraging respectable females to join, at their own expense, the ships in which female emigrants are conveyed out at public expense. The charge for a woman, under such circumstances, ought not to exceed 107. An important step in the right direction was taken when Lord Grey decided on sending out the female orphans from the Irish workhouses. These girls receive an excellent education; indeed, the best kind of plain education-superior to that within the reach of many of our middle class and tradesmen class. They are not only instructed by well-educated, carefully-selected teachers, in reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and in their moral and religious duties; but in household work, in which the Irish peasantry are generally so deficient, they learn cleanliness and order in the workhouse, virtues difficult of practice in an ordinary Irish cabin. Five thousand such girls will effect a moral revolution in the homes of Australia. Another important step has been taken in England by an arrangement between the Colonial-office and the parish of Marylebone, by which, on the parish paying 51. a head for each juvenile female emigrant, and finding an outfit, the Commissioners of Colonial Lands and Emigration will defray all the remaining charges from the place of embarkation, and will undertake all the necessary measures for the safe conveyance of the emigrants to their destination." Under this arrangement, twenty-seven young women, from sixteen to twenty years of age, and twenty-three girls in the school of the workhouse, of whom twenty are orphans, have already petitioned to be allowed to emigrate. It appears that the outfit of these girls will cost 77., and thus, with the contribution toward passage money, parish will be relieved of them for 127. each. At present they each cost 58. a week, or 15l. a year. Therefore, less than a year's expense will relieve the parish of them for ever. It is to be hoped that this example will be followed by other parishes, and that a regular system of communication, for the purpose of female emigration, may be organized between neighbouring unions, by which the expense of the operation might be diminished, and its efficiency increased. Half a dozen unions would be able to make a ship's freight of female emigrants, with the assistance of parties who might be inclined to pay their own expenses. the There is one suggestion made by the parish of Marylebone, which is just one of the mistakes into which Englishmen without colonial experience are likely to fall. They desire that the girls shall all be apprenticed within twenty miles of a town. Now the best arrangement for the moral welfare of these emigrants would be, that they should be placed with married squatters as far from towns as possible. It would be well that, at least, two girls should be placed together in each family, and that the nearest magistrate or commissioner of Crown Lands should visit them, at least, twice a year. Apprentices in this country suffer more from insufficient food than anything else; in the bush of Australia plenty, in the shape of beef, flour, and tea, is ever to be found. But should you not be hired from on board ship, you need not despond in the least. Very few old hands ever hire in Sydney. Men hired in Sydney are always cheaper; they get less wages than those hired in the Bush by at least twenty-five per cent. Take your blanket and your bed-tick, put inside it a tinder-box, some dry rag, a pound of tea, a couple of pounds of negro-head, and a couple of pounds of sugar, with a clean shirt; strap this on your back, with a pint and quart pot in your belt; inquire the road to Goulburn, Wellington Valley, or Maitland, or in the same way to the interior if you land at other ports, and every eight or ten miles after you leave the more settled districts you will find shepherds on stock huts. There they will tell you where a shepherd or hut-keeper is wanted, drag you in and give you something to eat, and shew you the road to the head station, where the master, superintendent, or overseer resides who hires the men. Recollect the farther you get out from the towns the more likely you are to get employment, and the STEAM TO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. better wages are given. You will get the highest wages about three THE Government has advertised for tenders for a steam communication hundred or four hundred miles from Sydney. between Singapore and Sydney and New Zealand, with the view of formMAXIMS.-Never forget that any man will make a shepherd or hut-ing, by means of the steam and overland service to India now performed keeper, even if all the rest of his life has been passed as a clerk or draper's by the Oriental and Peninsular Company, a communication with our great assistant. South Sea Colonies much more certain and rapid than anything we at present possess. It would probably reduce the post time between London and Sydney to two months. Don't commence your shepherding with a flock of lambs just weaned, if you can help it; as an inexperienced hand is more likely to lose them and himself than any other description of sheep. If you have more clothes than you can take with you to the Bush conveniently, leave them with a respectable merchant who is in the habit of taking charge of things for Bushmen. You need not encumber yourselves with clothes, as all the settlers keep a store, from which they supply their men with all sorts of goods and clothing or boots they require, deducting it from his wages; but they charge high: 15s. for boots which cost 68.; 158. for trousers which cost in Sydney 78.; 6s. for tea which cost 1s. 9d.; 8d. for sugar which cost 2d. &c. &c.; these charges are made to cover the expense of carriage. It is possible that if many emigrants be sent out this year, the rate of wages quoted from the last accounts may be reduced one-third. Married emigrants sent out free are allowed to remain twelve days on board, to give them time to choose a situation. A good master who pays punctually, and sells the stores required by the labourer at a fair price, is to be preferred to one who promises high wages, pays in dishonoured checks, and compels his men to take out a large part of the wages in truck, at a profit of one hundred per cent. There are such men ; therefore, emigrants should, if possible, inquire a little into the character of their intended masters. All Bush servants are allowed to cultivate as much garden ground as they like round their huts; therefore, a few seeds of onions, melons, cucumbers, as well as potatoes, will be worth taking up the country. On the strength of this advertisement, some parties have taken it for granted that a contract will certainly be concluded in the course of next month. It is to be hoped that their anticipations may prove correct, as nothing would tend more to advance the colonization of those great islands than quick and punctual communication. We hear, however, that there are grave doubts whether any established steam-packet company is in possession of sufficient information as to the probable traffic to enter into so weighty an undertaking. The Government advertisement speaks of steam propellers: these would be useless; nothing but steamers of the first class and power would ensure the only valuable part of such arrangement,-perfect punctuality. If the branch vessels between Sydney and Singapore be late a day, the Indian mail steamer would be obliged to leave without the Australian letter-bag, and the links of the postal chain would be broken for that month. It is understood that, with the view of ascertaining the cost and probable receipts of an Australian Steam-Packet Service, the Oriental Packet Company have proposed to bear one-third of the expense of a twelvemonth of experimental trips, the remaining cost to be borne in equal proportions by the Home Government and by the Colonial Governments. This seems fair. At any rate, it is to be hoped that in some shape or other the thing will be done. Lord Grey requires some act to render him creditably remembered as Colonial Minister; as yet we have had nothing but speeches, signifying nothing. CORRESPONDENCE. Questions from readers of the Australian Hand-Book will, in future, be answered in this Journal. (Answers continued from No. I.) 17.-Outfit may cost from 151. to 2007.; but the first sum is enough for the voyage and the Bush. See col. of "Information," p. 12. Outfitters contract to give a labourer's outfit for 41. a head. 18.-The Colonization Circular is 2d.,-3d. by post; and may be obtained from Smith, Elder & Co., the publishers, Cornhill, or from any respectable bookseller. 19. Land in Van Diemen's Land may be bought from old settlers at a few shillings an acre, as all who can are leaving a country deluged by convicts. Government land is offered for sale, on the Wakefield system, at 17. an acre. The soil is very productive; the climate like the south of England. There is no opening for agriculture. Wheat growing does not pay at present prices as an investment, without combining grazing with it, for which there is no room. 20.-Schoolmasters will find a plain education in demand in the smaller towns of Australia. We cannot venture to advise any school speculation. 21.-Children two years of age and under fourteen are charged half-price, viz. 77. 108. a head; but the shippers are always open to contract: it is a matter of bargain. 22.-501. Capital can be invested in cattle or mares; you can live with the settler you purchase them of, engaging to pay a small sum for their keep, till they have increased to a number sufficient to make a herd. This plan has often led to a fortune in Australia. 23.-A Steerage Passage may be had for 157. a head. No discount for one married couple. 24.-Land can be purchased from the settlers occasionally in as small quantities as thirty acres, at prices varying from 57. to 157. an acre, according to the nature of the soil, distance from water, &c. 25.-Timber may be cut in any quantity off Government land. It is generally considered a nuisance in the bush, and almost anybody allows you to cut down fire wood or fencing stuff. 26.-Dogs are charged 57. a head; but it is a matter of bargain. It is not what they eat, but the water they charge for. 27.-Millwright.-There is a better opening in Canada or the United States for this trade than in Australia. In Illinois, millwrights earn from 88. 4d. to 12s. 6d. a day. 28.-Working Engineers are in good demand in Sydney, and in South Australia; but we should say there is no place like England at the present time for such workmen. 29.-Musquitoes swarm in some parts of Sydney, when there is not one to be found in other parts. They do not trouble much after the first or second year. 30.-Shirt-making is well paid in the interior; but you must find the stuff as well as the work. Coarse labouring men's shirts fetch 5s. or 68. each away from the towns. 31.-A Farmer's son and Scotch lawyer's apprentice, with a good knowledge of rural affairs, must depend on his agricultural knowledge and Scotch mother wit, and not on his legal education: the salary he will get as a clerk will scarcely pay for his wear and tear of clothes. He cannot be worse off than in London at the present time. Any of the three colonies—Sydney, perhaps, for a Scotchman, as there are plenty of his countrymen who may give him a lift of advice. Barton-on-Humber.-Read preceding. Fifteen per cent. has often been obtained and is legal, on mortgage; but the banks will probably allow five per cent. on deposit. To take stationery, or wine and spirits, would be a dangerous speculation. The three thousand pounds in good bills on a bank, with a man who could sample wool blindfold, would be the best investment. A Merchant's Clerk with 1507. must decide for himself, after reading answers to other correspondents, and our "Hand Book." He may, after twelve months' experience in Australia, as an unpaid overseer, take his money out of the Bank, and invest it in cattle and horses, or he may trade in the interior, if he has a knack for buying and selling. Australia for choice, because pastoral pursuits are easier to learn than agricultural, and the climate is so fine. NESCIO QUID.-This important letter requires a detailed answer, which shall appear in our next. We look with great suspicion on the schemes of anonymous advertisers. Any lawyer will point out the difficulties and dangers of a partnership with unknown parties. Enquire through your own banker of one of the Australian Banks. W. L., Liverpool.-Six months' residence in the United States, and less than 17. of expense. The details shortly. Want of space excludes Clericus's excellent letter until next week. We publish the following series of questions, forwarded to us by a country gentleman, in full, because they are so neatly drawn up that our answers cannot fail to be generally useful. Question. If it is the fact that the Colonial Office does not make grants of land, of course no steps can be taken to procure a grant till after a settler's arrival in the colony. Answer. The right of selecting land in New South Wales and the Port Philip district (not in South Australia), may be purchased in England; but it will only be advisable to avail yourself of this right under circumstances detailed in answer nine. Q. Are there any means by which the nature of a district, in regard to the quality of the soil, wood, water, and its general features, can be ascertained without an actual inspection? A.-Inspection of land before purchase, by a competent authority, is indispensable. Q.-The minimum price of land being fixed by the regulations of the Colonial Office at 17. per acre, does land often fetch a higher price, and if so, how much? A.-Choice lots in the neighbourhood of towns, or particularly well situated for water, have brought 258. and upwards in Australia Felix; but land partly reclaimed may frequently be bought from settlers in large lots, with the buildings thrown in, at much less than 17. an acre. A few days ago (1845), a farm of two thousand acres of excellent land, well watered, all fenced, in a great part under cultivation, with a large and substantial dwelling-house, an orchard, garden, stables, men's huts, and barn, was all offered for 8001."—Rev. David Mackenzie's Ten Years in the Bush. Ready money will do wonders in Australia, where the possession of stock is a passion with most men. Q.-What extent of land would it be advisable for a person going out with a family, and say 5,000l. or 6,000l., to purchase? A.-Unless a very eligible opportunity, such as above described, occurred, it would be better not to buy land at first, but to become a squatter; that is to say, to lease from the Crown for fourteen years a tract not less than ten miles square of grazing land. On this land erect all the buildings necessary for residence and stock. Under a late Act of Parliament, you will be at liberty to purchase any portion of this run at any time during the continuance of your lease at 1. an acre, without competition. In the course of your lease you will discover the finest lot in the run, and secure it. Commence with a mixed herd of cattle, and breed blood horses for the Indian market,-this is the safest and pleasantest pursuit. Sheep can be added afterwards. Q.-In what part of Australia is there the greatest quantity of land combining the varieties of soil suitable not alone for wool-growing, but for the general purposes of agriculture; similar, in short, to an English estate? A.-Australia Felix decidedly; but there is very fine land, where the crops never fail and droughts have never been felt, about Summerhill, near Bathurst; lightly timbered in park style, and black loam soil; also on the Macintyre, both in New South Wales Proper. Q. What is the character of the woods in Australia? Are they in thick forests, as in America, or thinner, and more intermingled with open ground? A.-Evergreen, and generally lightly timbered, so that we ride and drive our bullock-drays through them,-occasionally thick scrubs, but a park-like country is always to be had. Q.-I presume that, generally speaking, the wooded lands, when cleared, are the best for agricultural purposes? A. Never clear, if open land can be had. For grain crops, light soils should be chosen; strong clays are too expensive. Q. What is meant by the terms "stations," "squatters," and "runs?” and who are those runs leased from? A.-A run is a tract of wild land on which cattle or sheep are depastured on a poll-tax, and license or lease from the Crown. Station is the house, hut, and residence of the occupant, whether master or overseer. Squatter is the person leasing or holding the run. The lease and fixity of tenure is a recent boon to squatters. Squatters include all the gentlemen of the colony, as well as successful servants. Q.-Would it be advisable for an emigrant, such as described in Question 4, to take out with him a few agricultural labourers, such as ploughmen, &c., and two or three mechanics, such as masons, carpenters, a blacksmith, &c. ? A.-Not unless some strong tie existed between the parties, as there is no law to enforce any contract, either for labour or cost of passage; and they might and would probably leave immediately on landing, if they got a good offer. If you feel enough confidence in a ploughman who understands bullocks, and a blacksmith (each married) and any other useful farm servants or handy country mechanics, not masons— there is no stone-select at least five adults, or as many children as will amount to five adults (see Colonization Circular), and lodging 1007. with the Emigration Commissioners, you will have a free passage for these people, and a credit for 1007. worth of land whenever you make a purchase in the colony. After all, you will probably find such people very troublesome and very expensive, unless they are attached to you. Q. How could the risk be obviated of such labourers quitting their employer as soon as they landed, or at the first prospect of obtaining higher wages elsewhere than he might be able or willing to give them? A.-Contracts entered into in this country could not be enforced. Q. If so, would it be advisable, after purchasing a tract of land, to allow each labourer to rent a small portion of it? In this case, what quantity of land would it be desirable to let each man or family have? and how should the rent be adjusted? A.-Each labourer would have a hut, which costs 57. to build. No rent is charged for garden land. You only pay 107. a year, in addition to the poll-tax on cattle and sheep, for ten miles square. Nothing would fix servants more than having married couples, giving them good cottages and gardens. Q. How is a settler to manage when he arrives on his newly-acquired land before he can put up a house? Would tents answer, especially for ladies? A.-Place ladies in a house in Melbourne, or at an hotel. And after engaging an experienced bushman as stockman, go up and contract with parties whose trade it is to build your house. In that fine climate, sleep under the dray, or beneath a sheet of bark. All this in a forthcoming article entitled "The Squatter." Q. Are there different districts in which the different races of the British islands may be considered as peculiarly located; that is, English in one part, Irish in another, and Scotch in another; or are they all intermingled indiscriminately? A.-In the districts to which it will suit you best to go all are intermingled, except that Scotchmen generally have Scotch servants. But in pastoral life there are only families and stations, no population in a European sense. Q.-The same question applies to the various religious persuasions, viz., Q. Is it advisable to take out furniture, or can this be procured as cheap and of as good quality at Sydney, Port Philip, &c. ? A.-A list of what it would be advisable to take shall be given in an ensuing number, here it would take up too much space. Q.-The object of the inquirer is not to make suddenly a fortune, but to endeavour to settle himself on something like an English estate, with a tenantry around him. Is such an object practicable? A.-Certainly; by not buying land for some two or three years, and not laying out too much money in stock, but keeping half the capital in a bank, you will turn your leased run into a good estate. Q. Are there any works which give a more detailed account of the different settlements in Australia, especially of Australia Felix, to which the inquirer's views are chiefly directed? A.-" Haygarth's Life in the Bush," in " Murray's Colonial Library," and "Mackenzie's Emigrant's Guide," are excellent pictures of Australia. Westgarth has written a useful laborious statistical account of Australia Felix. THE LADIES' COLUMN. Of 1.-There is an unlimited demand for wives of all ranks, from the shepherd to the gentleman squatter, with his 1,000 head of cattle, and 20,000 sheep. The Colonists, as a body, whether emigrants or native born, make good husbands, kind, indulgent, and generous. They are all rather rough in their language to each other, but no one ever heard of a Bushman beating his wife. In the towns there is as much gaiety as in England. Rather more. The Bush huts have not generally been very comfortable; but there is no reason why they should not be as well built and furnished as in English farm houses. Young widows and orphans of small means will find themselves in reality much safer in an Australian town than in any of the great towns of Europe, better protected, and with better prospects. course some caution is necessary before accepting the first offers made, but there is very little difficulty in finding out an Australian settler's character. There are obvious advantages in two or more ladies joining to make a party for the sea-voyage, besides reasons of economy. There can be no more impropriety in going to Australia than to India for the same purpose. Adelaide is at present the best port for young ladies, as there is a committee of ladies there who receive and protect female emigrants. For Governesses, there is a moderate demand. We should only recommend those to think of emigration who are not comfortable here. Every lady thinking of emigrating should know how to bake, boil, roast, wash, and iron, and then although she may not have to do these things, she will feel independent. For Domestic and Farm-servants the demand is unlimited, and will so continue for many years, as a good sober cook, housemaid, or nurse, is worth any wages, and may always have a house of her own within twelve months. A clever maid-servant is sure to better her position by emigrating to Australia, and will frequently save part of the passagemoney by attending on one of the lady passengers. Never stand out for high wages at first. Get a house over your head, and then change if you can for the better. Country girls, Irish and others, not able to become domestic servants, would make excellent shepherdesses. All dry flocks, that is, not breeding ewes, will be under the charge of women, whenever an equality of sexes has been produced by copious female emigration. INFORMATION FOR AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS AND MECHANICS, &c., DESIROUS OF EMIGRATING. PERSONS desirous of obtaining a free passage to any of the Australian colonies, should address themselves either personally or by letter to S. Walcot, Esq., Secretary to the Colonial Land-office, 9, Park-street, Westminster. Agricultural labourers will be preferred. All, except children, must be capable of labour, really working for wages, and going out with that intention, and not to buy land or invest in trade. Married couples not above forty years of age, with no children under seven years of age, most eligible. COST OF PASSAGE. A passage in the steerage to Quebec, New Brunswick, New York, or New Orleans, with full allowance of provisions, in a first-class ship, will cost about 51. 5s.; without provisions, from 27. to 31. 10s. A steerage passage to Sydney, Port Philip, or South Australia, with an ample allowance of provisions, will cost from 157. to 201. The time for sailing to Canada or the United States (except New Orleans) commences the first week in April and ends in August. New Orleans is only healthy in winter. Emigrants landing at New York will do well to place themselves in the hands of the agents of the St. George's, the St. Andrew's, or the St. Patrick's Society, who kindly and gratuitously perform in that port the office filled by Government Emigration agents in British and colonial ports, affording sound advice, and protecting the ignorant against the tricks of the swindlers who swarm in all large towns. CORNISH MINERS.-Among the earliest arrivals by the autumn fleet is the Caroline of London, from St. Ives in Cornwall. She brings many families of Cornish Miners, who, so far as we can find, have come under different ideas,—some to find employment on the mines of Lake Superior, others to rejoin connections or to pursue indefinable objects in the Western portion of the United States. We feel much interested in these people, who are thoroughly English in their style and appearance, and seem greatly to want good advice and information. They are under no contract with any of the mining companies, and in our opinion need not go further west than Lake Ontario and the Welland Canal, if they wish to settle in agricultural pursuits.-Montreal Gazette. VANCOUVER'S ISLAND.-" With respect to the colonization of Vancouver's Island, it is by no means my desire to discourage settlers from proceeding thither; though to tell such parties that Vancouver's Island possesses excellent harbours, a fertile soil, a good climate, fine timber, and coal of excellent quality, obtainable with little labour is probably all that could at present be said about it. But harbours without ships to frequent them, a soil and climate yielding produce for which there is no demand, beyond that of the settlers themselves, and the same as regards timber and coal, will not afford the colonists the means of obtaining clothing, tools, or other necessaries from England, or elsewhere, since without external intercourse they would not be able to pay for them. It appears to me that in order to induce parties to settle in Vancouver's Island you must be prepared to show-first, that the ports will be frequented by shipping; and, secondly, that there will be a demand for the produce of the soil, viz., corn, animal food, wool, timber, coals, &c., over and above that of the consumers themselves -expectations which, I confidently predict, can alone be realised by making Vancouver's Island a whaling station in the manner stated. Other than a branch station, however, it cannot become, as the reasons are conclusive for the main one being to the southward of the line.-Mr. Enderby's Letter to Sir John Pelly. CANADA WEST AS AN EMIGRATION FIELD. THE population of Canada West exceeds 600,000 persons, and is decidedly the most important and thoroughly English colony under the crown. Although the cold is severe, and the winter long, they consider. it Italy itself as compared with the Quebec country, where a pail of water, in less than an hour, is converted into a solid lump of ice the shape of the pail, without a drop of moisture remaining; and the milk is brought to market in bags and sacks, every separate block of milk being scribed with a knife or a nail to mark the price; whilst the half-finished tumblers of brandy and water, left on the tavern tables overnight, are all solid ice the following morning. In Canada West matters are not so bad as this, even in the most severe seasons; and, generally speaking, the soil is drier and better drained than any of the Western States of the Union. So that with a view to emigration, if people will emigrate, which nobody should do if they can anyhow manage to "get along" at home-to use an American phrase they had better go at once to Canada West, and not stop till they reach Toronto or Hamilton. Lower down, the climate puts emigration out of the question. Settlers might as well go to Russia or Siberia. The Home District, Niagara District, Gore District, London District, and Western District, are the five best and favourite spots in the province. There is land enough for generations to come, and every year a residence is becoming more and more tolerable. In any of these districts, if they will build their log-house high and dry, and take the pledge against intoxicating drinks, they cannot fail to lead a happy life. The settler in Canada West must not expect to live without work, but he should recollect that the state of labour is the very condition of enjoyment here, as everywhere else; and if the settler were compelled to pass his time in the lazy ease of a dull country life, he would indeed be wretched. Therefore Canada West is the best place, and from Toronto and Hamilton, round by St. Catherine's to the grand river as far as London, are all first-rate places, and farming and farm labourers in any of those quarters will do well. The whole triangular peninsula of Canada West, situate between the three great lakes of Ontario, Erie, and Huron, is a rich elevated plain, containing twenty millions of acres of as fine land as any in the world; and when the emigrant gets down to the shores of Lake Erie, in the Talbot District, to Windsor and Sandwich, and the country opposite to Michigan, the climate is much warmer, where tobacco is cultivated with facility, and the wheat is excellent. Hamilton is a very thriving, well-situated, but drunken town, at the head of Lake Ontario, containing about 12,000 inhabitants. Everything appeared rough, prosperous, cheap, and abundant; those who abstained from ardent spirits were good-looking and healthy; whilst a four-wheeled chaise and pair of horses seemed to be universal amongst the population both of town and country. Beef, mutton, and pork are 24d. to 3d. per lb.; ham, 4d.; bread, the very best, 6d. the 4 lb. loaf; milk, Id. per quart; fresh butter, 5d. per lb.; very fine green tea, 2s. per lb. ; and coffee, 6d.; tobacco, 4d. per lb.; clothing and house rent as cheap or cheaper than in England; potatoes and lake fish excellent and very cheap; furniture also very cheap and good. It is also a good harbour, and well situated under a ridge, or mountain, as they call it, of limestone, and is the key to a wide and fertile country to the north and west, and is sure to go on increasing in prosperity. The soil is superior to anything we have any notion of in Great Britain; and the young wheat and clover were the finest looking I had ever seen in my life. The hay harvest seldom or never fails in Canada; whilst inferior oat hay has often been sold in Sydney at 207. per ton, or 10s. and 12s. per truss, and flour at ten guineas per sack! Besides, Canada West is an older and more populous country, having nearly 600,000 inhabitants, about the same size as Canada West, that is, in the settled parts. which is five times more populous than Australia; which is, besides, Toronto is a large, bustling, cheerful, and wealthy city, containing twenty-four thousand inhabitants, but it is a sad drunken place, and there is no part of her Majesty's dominions where the influence of some Father Mathew is so loudly called for and required. The trade or importance of the town does not seem to have suffered by the removal of the seat of government; on the contrary, building is going on in all directions, as indeed it is in Hamilton, a town about thirty miles further west, to which place there is a steam-boat every afternoon. Toronto has an excellent harbour, formed by nature, and enclosing a sheet of water large enough for some hundred vessels. There are a great many rich persons living on their fortunes, and in the winter season the military and better classes of the inhabitants keep up a constant round of visits and festivities. Everything is English, whilst the spacious streets, substantial houses, and handsome stores, make it preferable to even Rochester or Albany.-Rubio's Rambles. SHEEP-FARMING IN AUSTRALIA.-In my opinion, 50007. is the smallest sum with which a man should attempt sheep-farming. For this reason, at the price wool has sold at for the last eight years, it is the general opinion of the squatters that small numbers of sheep do not pay, It is not till you have 8,000 sheep that the profits begin to tell. A grazier with 3,000 or 4,000 sheep is put to as much expense in drays, bullock-drivers' wages, and other things, as the squatter with 6,000 sheep. Again, after lambing, you cannot arrange your flocks properly. From 2,000 ewes you wean 1,600 lambs -80 per cent. much too large a number for one flock, and too small for two. You are therefore obliged to run them in two flocks, two flocks require three men, which does not pay. Whereas, when you lamb down 6,000 ewes, and wean 4,000 lambs, they make four nice flocks, taking six men, and so, in the same ratio as your flocks increase, your expenses diminish. But two brothers or two friends who would take upon themselves the duties of watchmen or shepherds, might get on very well with 2,000 or 3,000 sheep; such a number, however, would not admit of overseer, superintendent, or gentlemen idlers of any description. I have no hesitation in asserting that a man with 5,000l. judiciously laid out in sheep living at and himself superintending his station, enjoying all reasonable comforts, may bring up and provide for a large family much better than a man can with 20,000/. in land in England.-Sidney's Australian Hand Book. AUSTRALIAN MINERALS. SOUTH AUSTRALIA.-The mineral resources of South Australia are not only very extensive but highly valuable. Rich copper mines have been opened, and large quantities of ore, yielding a very considerable assay, have been sold at Swansea. Soon after the discovery of this new source of wealth, a mining mania pervaded nearly all classes; mineral land was purchased from the Government at most exorbitant rates; every one was interested in certain mines, reputed to contain good lodes of ore, but which have never been found, or, if found, were too poor to bear the expense of working. Even in South Australia, everything is not copper ore which the adventurous townspeople convey to their stores and warehouses-a fact which received undoubted confirmation, when presumed mineral specimens laboriously, though enthusiastically, collected, were submitted to the judgment of a sapient, knowing friend, whose opinion at once corrected their lofty expectations, and blasted their fond hopes of acquiring, by a single turn of Fortune's eccentric wheel, the means of unbounded affluence. The principal mines are, the Burra Burra, the Kapunda, the Kanmantoo, the Princess Royal, and the Montacute; besides which, there are many others possessing favourable indications, though not having been sufficiently developed, it is not requisite to particularize them. With respect to the first of these, the accounts are most astonishing: 6,359 tons of ore were raised during the first year, ending 30th September 1846, and 10,745 tons in the course of the succeeding twelve months; while the profits realized have provided the very fortunate shareholders with dividends, amounting in all to 600 per cent., equal to 73,9207. In the last half-yearly Report (19th April, 1848) of the Burra Burra Mine, it is stated that there were 567 operatives engaged in raising and dressing the ore, and in other pursuits connected with their establishment: that in future, so long as the then satisfactory prospects continued, the Directors proposed "paying dividends of two hundred per cent. on the capital stock, on the first day of every third month." The funds necessary to purchase the land in which the mine is situated were procured by issuing 2,464 shares of five pounds each, the greater number of which are held by the colonists and are now saleable at about one hundred and twenty pounds! The following return, compiled from the Swansea ticketing papers, exhibits the produce shipped from the South Australian mines, during the last two years; the sales of copper ore in 1845 having been comparatively limited: : The average price per ton obtained for the ores thus sold, was, in 1846, 187. 7s. 2d.; in 1847, 207. ls.; but the heavy depreciation which has lately taken place in the copper market will very materially diminish the amounts realised for South Australian ore. This circumstance will im NEW EXPLORING EXPEDITION IN AUSTRALIA. WE learn by the last papers from Sydney, that Mr. Kennedy, who accompanied Sir Thomas Mitchell in his last expedition into the interior of Australia, and who afterwards so successfully explored the sources of the Victoria, is about to start on another expedition of discovery, into an entirely new region, it is called York Peninsula, supposed to contain much valuable country. Its maritime boundaries will render it in all probability, at no very distant period, the seat of a new colony, if so it will form a valuable depot for the shipment of horses to India. His instructions are to proceed with his party in the Tam O'Shanter to Roshingham Bay, in the parallel of 18° S. and if ready, under convoy of her Majesty's ship Rattlesnake, to travel thence by land to Princess Charlotte's Bay and Cape York, keeping the most convenient distance from the coast. After communicating with the Rattlesnake or Bramble, at Port Albany near Cape York, and receiving a supply of provisions to be forwarded by the Government in four months time, the explorer will move down the east coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, to the water Plaaets, to ascertain whether this is the estuary of Leichardt's river Mitchell, and if so to follow it up to the junction of the Lynd. From the junction of the Lynd with Mitchell River, the expedition is to strike off W.S.W. to the Flinders, ascertaining its source, and from it to connect the journey with Sir Thomas Mitchell's discoveries in 1846 by the Bellyindo or some other convenient point, and thence return is to be made to Sydney. The party will consist of twelve persons, under the direction of E. B. Kennedy, Esq., viz., Mr. Hall, the young naturalist, who accompanied him in the former expedition. Mr. Cafow, who came out four years ago as a gardener, and whose knowledge of colonial plants is said to be considerable. Mr. Niblett, who is to act as superintendent. eight other persons, and Harley, the aboriginal native who was employed on the last journey. The equipment for this party is to consist of 27 horses, 250 sheep, 4750 lbs. of flour, 1,428 lbs. of sugar, 196 lbs. of tea, 3 lbs. powder, 252 lbs. of shot, and sufficient ammunition to serve as protection, in case of necessity. The instruments employed will be a syphon barometer, by Chevalier of Paris, three large and one pocket sextant, two prismatic compasses, an azimuth, an altitude circle, two artificial horizons, and 3 ft. telescope on a stand. The arms consist of seven double-barrelled carbines, one single carbine, four double-barrelled guns, one rifle and thirteen brace of pistols. The expedition is also provided with two very necessary aids for carrying water and crossing rivers. For the former purpose, there are two threegallon kegs, and twelve air pillows; and for the latter, one water-tight cart, and two life-preservers. Thus equipped, it is confidently believed that no expedition hitherto sent out has had greater promise of success. ADVANTAGES TO THE CAPE SETTLER.-In making the purchase of his estate, he need not place so great a stress upon the immediate vicinity to a market, as he would in Britain. If the roads are not irremediably bad, he may put up with the difficulties of distance, the evils of which are not so great in this colony as elsewhere, and more particularly if his produce conveyed in the country waggons. In visiting the market towns he be wool or some such article, which is of considerable value and easily travels in his own waggon, a vehicle usually fitted up with all the con part additional importance to the operations of the party recently de-venience of a house; he has to pay no toll keeper on his route, but spatched from this country to commence smelting works in the colony. NEW SOUTH WALES.-Mr. Macarthur, of Arthusleigh, has sought and found copper, and recently, when casually reconnoitering a stony bank, has found strong indications of a richer mine than that which he originally opened. Major Lockyer has also, on his estate, found abundance of iron which we are told has only to be put into the forge and worked. If such be the case, and from the source from whence we derive our information we have no doubt of the fact, in proof of which we may say that we have handled a specimen of the iron, after it had been in the forge, and it appears to be of very good quality; on one further up the country, Mr. Hardy has been working a lead and silver mine; indeed the neighbourhood of Yass is said to abound with minerals, and so intent are the inhabitants of that district in pursuit of minerals, that go where we will we find gentlemen with stones in their pockets, and it is becoming quite common to have mantelpieces adorned with all the different, specimens of ores that are found in the several districts. Mr. Wentworth's mine, near Molong, has, we learn, produced some exceedingly fine specimens of copper from a lode recently opened, under the superintendence of Mr. Pasmore. This discovery was made on a different part of the set from that on which the workings were commenced. Should the lode prove of the same quality as the specimen we have seen, we may shortly expect to hear that the mine is working with success. -Simmonds's Colonial Magazine. SOUTH AUSTRALIA.-ADELAIDE.-Advices and journals, received to June 16th, represent the colony as progressing rapidly, and the mineral stores of the place become daily more and more developed. The mining interest has received the greatest encouragement. New lodes are almost of daily discovery. The Burra Burra yields from twenty to thirty tons of copper ore weekly; aggregate length of the levels open in the mines, 3 miles 4 chains 52 links. On June 1, the Burra Burra directors made the quarterly dividend of 200 per cent. (or 107. on every 57. paid up). From a census taken at the Burra there were, on May 13, 1848, no less than 913 males and 573 females. Dr. Rankine has purchased the Strathalbyn mines which are likely to turn out very profitable: a large and promising main lode has been opened, giving excellent ore. The mines of the Port Lincoln Company have been opened, showing one lode perfectly regular at the surface, nearly 30 inches in width of solid ore, yielding 51 per cent. of pure copper. Other lodes have been found. The late accounts of the Bon Accord mine are encouraging. The Adelaide Smelting Company for working Dr. E. Davy's patent are now making active preparations for the establishment of their works; ten acres of ground, presented by Osmond Gilles, Esq., adjoining Albert Town, have been accepted for the works. The smelting works are named Yatala, after the hundred in which they are situated. At the Greenock Creek mine, fine ore in large quantities is being raised. affairs of the Royal Mining Company are very promising north of the Kapunda. The brings the produce of his industry up to the market scales without a single impost. If he has not the enjoyment of inns on the road, he has no long-drawn tavern bills to pay, and no inducements to irregularities or extravagance, but under skies the most balmy, often amidst the most beautiful snatches of scenery, he enjoys his hearty meal cooked by his own hands, or by his driver at the waggon sides, to which health, contentment, and appetite, give the highest seasoning. No crusty landholder threatens to send him to the cage for cutting a stake to boil his tea kettle, or to send his hungry cattle to the village pound for intruding upon or nibbling the green sod; fuel, water, and pasturage, although protected from wanton outrage, being considered common to all travellers. No officious gamekeeper calls upon him to surrender his gun, partridge or hare, every wild animal being considered the property of all. The luxury of this free mode of life is exemption from restraint from the insolence of office, the impertinence of wealth, and the palpable manifestation of power, under South African waggon trip, enviable by the freeborn Englishman.- Chase. AMUSEMENTS.-Races, and all their concomitants on the turf, with race balls, and race dinners, take place annually at most of the principal towns of the Cape, and winter assemblies, private card parties, and other kinds of social amusement are frequent. It is in the frontier districts, however, where the chief amusements afforded by the colony field sports are to be enjoyed with all their zest and excitement. From the timid hare to the lordly lion, there is ample opportunity for the display of courage. Game of the feathered tribe is abundant and of most kinds known to European sportsmen, besides several peculiar to the colony, amongst which is the Paww (a bustard), 12 or 14 lbs. weight, and the Koerhaan, both delicious birds. It is, however, on the northern borders of the eastern province where the huntsman revels in unbounded license. Troops of light and elegant antelopes of innumerable kinds, with their delicate fawns, everywhere enliven the plains; the bounding gnu gracefully gambols in sheer scorn of its pursuers, and the elegant zebra and frolictheir persecutors. There is the stately ostrich literally on the wings of some quagga invite the herd in a cloud of dust as they scamper away from the wind, with pinions outstretched, every plume of which is coveted for some ball-room beauty, whose image is enshrined in the heart of the fearless rider; but caution! there is a stealthy panther watching the quarry which the huntsman has put up:-And stop! that sound which sedgy pool, under the cover of those waving reeds, disturbed by Juno, just boomed across the ear is the growl of the lion concealed in yonder Pero, Dido, and the whole of the pack who were wishing to slake their thirst at that rare treat, "a fountain in the desert." Such are the excitements and such the perils and pleasures of the sportsman's life in the eastern province of the Cape. - Ibid. |