Australia, its history and present condition

Australia, its history and present condition, by 1 Australia, its history and present condition, by William Pridden This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Australia, its history and present condition containing an account both of the bush and of the colonies, with their respective inhabitants Author: William Pridden Release Date: December 5, 2009 [EBook #30607] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUSTRALIA--HISTORY, CONDITION *** Produced by Nick Wall, Anne Storer, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) Transcriber`s Notes: 1) Morrumbidgee/Murrumbidgee each used on several occasions and left as in the original. `Morrumbidgee` is the aboriginal name for the Murrumbidgee. 2) Used on numerous occasions, civilisation/civilization; civilised/civilized; civilising/civilizing; uncivilised/uncivilized: left as in the original. Australia, its history and present condition, by 2 3) Same with variations of colonisation/colonization, and a few other "z" words that should be "s" words in their English form. * * * * * The Englishman`s Library. XXVI. AUSTRALIA, ITS HISTORY AND PRESENT CONDITION; CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT BOTH OF THE BUSH AND OF THE COLONIES, WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE INHABITANTS. BY THE REV. W. PRIDDEN, M.A. VICAR OF BROXTED, ESSEX. "Truth, in her native calmness and becoming moderation, shall be the object of our homage and pursuit; and we will aim at the attainment of knowledge for the improvement of our reason, and not for the gratification of a passion for disputing."--Address of the Bp of Australia in 1841 to the Church of England Book Society. LONDON: JAMES BURNS, 17, PORTMAN STREET, PORTMAN SQUARE. 1843. LONDON: PRINTED BY R. CLAY, BREAD STREET HILL. * * * * * [Illustration: Map of Australia] PREFACE. A few words by way of Preface are requisite, in order that the objects of the present Work may be stated to the reader, and that he may also be made acquainted with the sources whence the information here communicated is derived, and from consulting which he may still further inform himself concerning Australia. The aim of the writer of the following pages has been,--while furnishing a description of some of the most flourishing and interesting settlements belonging to the British Crown, which, at the same time, exhibit in contrast to each other the two extremes of savage and civilised life;--to call the attention of his countrymen, both at home and in the colonies, to the evils which have arisen from the absence of moral restraint and religious instruction in colonies of civilised and (nominally) christian men. And although it must in many ways be a disadvantage that the person professing to describe a particular country should have gained all his knowledge of it from the report of others, without ever having himself set foot upon its shores; yet, in one respect at least, this may operate advantageously. He is less likely to have party prejudices or private interests to serve in his account of the land to which he is a total stranger. In consequence, probably, of his being an indifferent and impartial observer, not one of our Australian colonies wears in his eye the appearance of a perfect paradise; but then, on the other hand, there is not one of those fine settlements which prejudice urges him to condemn, as though it were barren and dreary as the Great Sahara itself. And the same circumstance--his never having breathed the close unwholesome air of colonial party-politics--will render it less likely that his judgment respecting persons and disputed opinions should be unduly biassed. There will be more probability of his judging upon right principles, and although his facts may (in some instances, unavoidably) be less minutely accurate than an inhabitant of the country would have given, yet they may be less coloured and less partially stated. Instead of giving his own observations as an eye-witness, fraught with his own particular views, he can calmly weigh the opposite statements of men of different opinions, and between the two he is more likely to arrive at the truth. With regard to the present Work, however impartial the author has endeavoured to be, however free he may Australia, its history and present condition, by 3 be from colonial passions and interests, he does not wish to deceive the reader by professing a total freedom from all prejudice. If this were desirable, it is impossible; it is a qualification which no writer, or reader either, possesses. But thus much may be stated, that all his prejudices are in favour of those institutions with which it has pleased God to bless his native land. In a volume that is intended to form part of a series called "The Englishman`s Library," it may be permitted, surely, to acknowledge a strong and influencing attachment to the Sovereign, the Church, and the Constitution of England. The object and principles of the present volume being thus plainly set forth, it remains only to mention some of the sources whence the information contained in it is derived. To the Travels of Captain Grey on the western coast of New Holland, and to those of Major Mitchell in the interior, the first portion of this Work is deeply indebted, and every person interested in the state of the natives, or fond of perusing travels in a wild and unknown region, may be referred to these four volumes,[1] where they will find that the extracts here given are but a specimen of the stores of amusement and information which they contain. Captain Sturt`s "Expeditions" and Mr. Oxley`s "Journal" are both interesting works, but they point rather to the progress of discovery in New Holland than to the actual state of our local knowledge of it. Dr. Lang`s two volumes upon New South Wales are full of information from one who has lived there many years, and his faults are sufficiently obvious for any intelligent reader to guard against. Mr. Montgomery Martin`s little book is a very useful compendium, and those that desire to know more particulars concerning the origin of the first English colony in New Holland may be referred to Collins`s account of it. Various interesting particulars respecting the religious state of the colonies in Australia have been derived from the correspondence in the possession of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, free access to which was allowed through the kind introduction of the Rev. C. B. Dalton. Many other sources of information have been consulted, among which the Reports of the Parliamentary Committee upon Transportation, in 1837 and 1838; and that of the Committee upon South Australia, in 1841, must not be left unnoticed. Neither may the work of Judge Burton upon Religion and Education in New South Wales be passed over in silence; for, whatever imperfections may be found in his book,[2] the facts there set forth are valuable, and, for the most part, incontrovertible, and the principles it exhibits are excellent. From the works just mentioned the reader may, should he feel inclined, verify for himself the facts stated in the ensuing pages, or pursue his inquiries further. In the meantime, he cannot do better than join the author of the little book which he holds in his hand, in an humble and earnest prayer to Almighty God, that, in this and in every other instance, whatever may be the feebleness and imperfection of human efforts, all things may be made to work together for good towards promoting the glory of God, the extension of Christ`s kingdom, and the salvation of mankind. [1] Published, all of them, by T. and W. Boone, London, to whom it is only just to acknowledge their kindness in permitting the use that has been made of these two publications in the first portion of the present Work. [2] See Dr. Ullathorne`s Reply to Burton, especially at p. 5, where it appears that the judge was not quite impartial in one of his statements. Dr. Ullathorne himself has, in his 98 pages, contrived to crowd in at least twice as many misrepresentations as Burton`s 321 pages contain. But that is no excuse. The Romish Church may need, or seem to need, such support. The cause defended by Judge Burton needs it not. #Contents.# INTRODUCTION. [Page 1.] Subject of the Work--Discovery and Situation of New Holland--Its Interior little known--Blue Mountains--Conjectures respecting the Interior--Van Diemen`s Land, or Tasmania. CHAPTER I. 4 CHAPTER I. [Page 8.] The Bush described--Remains of it near Sydney--North-western Coast of New Holland--Sandy Columns and Fragments--Recollections of Home--Gouty Stem Tree--Green Ants--Fine Volcanic District--Cure for Cold--Travelling in the Rainy Season--Rich sequestered Valleys-- Plains near the Lachlan--Falls of the Apsley--Beauties of Nature enjoyed by Explorers--Aid afforded by Religion--Trials of Travellers in the Bush--Thirst--A Christian`s Consolations--Plains of Kolaina, or Deceit--Bernier Island--Frederic Smith--A Commander`s Cares--Dried Streams--Return from a Journey in the Bush--Outsettlers--Islands on the Australian Coast--Kangaroo Island--Coral Reefs and Islets. CHAPTER II. 5 CHAPTER II. [Page 42.] Forbidding aspect of coast no argument against inland beauty and fertility--River Darling--The Murray--Other Rivers of New Holland-- Contrasts in Australia--The Lachlan, Regent`s Lake, &c.--Sturt`s Descent down the Murray--His Return--Woods--Difficulties and Dangers of Bush travelling--Wellington Valley--Australia Felix--Conclusion. ... - tailieumienphi.vn