NEW SOUTH WALES.
CLASSES OF SOCIETY IN SYDNEY--DISAPPOINTMENT OF
EMIGRANTS--CHARACTERISTICS OF IRISH AND BRITISH
EMIGRANTS--AVAILABLENESS OF CHINESE
LABOURERS--AUSTRALIAN COAL MONOPOLY--TORRES'
STRAITS THE BEST PASSAGE FOR STEAMERS--BOTANY
BAY--PASSAGE FROM SYDNEY TO BATAVIA.
To obtain admission to good society in Sydney, when my family first
arrived there, was no easy matter. Not that there was any lack of it in
the place, but the residents were, very properly, shy of strangers,
unless provided with testimonials as to their respectability.
Fortunately for us, a kind friend in Singapore, who had been in New
South Wales, and knew the value of the favour he was conferring,
supplied us with a whole packet of introductory letters to the first
families in the place; while we were further aided in the matter by my
old friend, Thos. Macquoid, Esq., then Sheriff of the Colony. In a place
like Sydney, where society is formed of such varied and extraordinary
materials suspicion of strangers, on the part of the really respectable
portion of the community, is natural enough; and those who have not been
sufficiently wary in this respect, have had cause to regret their want
of caution. The tide of emigration is now bringing numerous highly
respectable families to Australia, as well as thousands of hard-working,
honest labourers, while the importation of felons has ceased. This state
of things will, in time, do away with the necessity for such extreme
caution and mistrust. It will, however, take a number of years to clear
the Colony of the half-reformed villain who still hankers after his old
ways,--of the _emancipist_, whom the law looks upon as a reformed
character, but whom experience has taught the world to look upon with a
very different eye,--and of the convicts for life, who still amount to
thousands. Until the Colony is pretty well weeded of such characters,
society will not, and cannot, dismiss the suspicion with which it is now
rendered necessary, by circumstances, to regard the unintroduced
stranger.
I found no lack of agreeable society, both male and female, in any part
of New South Wales that I visited. In many instances, the conversation
certainly turned rather too much upon sheep and cattle; but this ought
to be excused, where ninety-nine hundredths earn their daily bread by
means of those animals. In Sydney, we found the dinner and evening
parties highly agreeable, and composed of elegant, accomplished, and
intelligent persons of both sexes. What more can be said of any
community? During the government of Sir Richard Bourke, an attempt was
made by him to introduce into his own parties some emancipist families;
and on one occasion, the grand-daughter of a late Sydney hangman
actually made her appearance at a ball at Government-house. This fact
being found out by the heads of families present, a representation was
made to His Excellency through his aide-de-camp, and, after some show of
opposition on the part of the Governor, a stop was put to it. I do not
mean to say that, among the class called emancipists, consisting of
persons who have been convicts, there may not be found men and women who
have become thoroughly reformed and fit to adorn society. This, however,
is the exception, not the rule. A large majority of the class in
question are quite unfit for any company but that of a low pot-house.
Some of the most stylish equipages in Sydney are the property of men who
came to the Colony with fetters on their legs. In them may be seen, any
and every day, gayly-dressed women, driving about the town, shopping and
lounging away their idle mornings. Whether they are the wives,
daughters, or mistresses of the owners of the carriages, it is difficult
to tell; but the conclusion that every second one contains a mistress,
would not be far from the truth. Such is the society the unwary stranger
sometimes falls into, before he knows what he is about; nor does he
become fully aware of the evil consequences of his imprudence, till he
finds out with whom he has been associating, and that all access to the
really respectable society of the place is closed against him. It is
quite as requisite for a stranger arriving in Sydney to be on his guard
as to his associates, as it is for residents to be careful whom they may
admit into their families.
There are many wealthy families in and near Sydney, whose heads came as
convicts to the Colony. The days when such men could make rapid
fortunes, are gone by; and the convict who looks for any thing of the
kind now-a-days, will find himself wofully mistaken. There are too many
respectable tradesmen in Sydney for ex-felons to have much chance; and
the time when a shopkeeper would not condescend to take a piece of cloth
off his shelf to satisfy a customer, but would point to a lot with his
stick, and ask, "Which will you have?" has also gone by. Every attention
is now shewn to customers by Sydney shopkeepers, some of whom are not a
whit behind their London brethren in the art of recommending their
wares.
New South Wales had been for many years a British Colony, before any
Israelites found their way thither as _free_ men; and I have heard,
that it was the return of a Jewish convict with well-lined pockets, that
first attracted their attention to his place of exile. Be this as it
may, there are more Jews than enough in Sydney now; they are to be found
in every quarter of the town; and certainly, they keep up their ancient
character for perseverance in search of their idol, money. I do not
think, however, that I ever came across a Jewish settler: why they seem
to avoid that occupation, I know not.
It is common, in Australia, to hear persons talk of the Colony as their
adopted country, and so forth. No faith ought to be put in these
declarations; nor do I believe there is a family in the Colony, who do
not entertain some hope of once more seeing their native land. During
the time that high prices were obtainable for stock, hundreds of
settlers who were wont to talk of their adopted country, used every
exertion to realize their property in order to return to England. Many
succeeded, and actually left the Colony, rejoicing in the idea of once
more planting their foot on British ground. The exceptions to this
general rule, are to be found in the emancipist class; in the persons of
notorious scamps who could not shew their face in respectable society in
England, and who have sense enough to know that they are better off in
the southern, than, by any chance, they could be in the northern
hemisphere.
From extensive experience, I am convinced, that a very large majority of
emigrants are lamentably disappointed on reaching the shores of
Australia. Not that I think they have cause for half the complaints they
make; but they have received, before leaving home, such flattering
representations of the good fortune that is in store for them, that
their expectations are raised to a pitch far beyond the probable, and
disappointment is the natural consequence. The tales told them prior to
their embarkation, render them difficult to please on their arrival;
they demand exorbitant wages, and more rations than they could possibly
consume without waste; and the consequence of this is, that many of them
remain weeks and months in Sydney, out of employment, living upon the
little money brought from home, although, in the meantime, eligible
offers may have been made them. This stay in Sydney not only empties the
emigrant's pocket, but breeds idle habits, leading him to the
public-house, where his last penny is soon extracted from him. Then
comes want, with all the horrors of a starving wife and family; grown-up
daughters are driven to prostitution; and the emigrant himself is
ultimately compelled to accept any offer made him in his degraded state.
This is no overdrawn or rare picture, as any one acquainted with the
subject can testify. Emigrants that come to the Colony in what are
called Government ships, and who are brought out at the public expense,
are provided for on their arrival, till employment offers for them; but,
the moment they are known to have refused a fair offer, Government aid
ceases. Even that circumstance, however, has little or no effect upon
the more stubborn of them, who abate or yield in their demands only when
compelled by necessity. Many emigrants, from their fondness for a town
life, refuse good offers of employment in the country. Great evils arise
from this: one is, that it frequently happens, that Sydney is overrun
with idle labourers in search of employment, while the settlers in the
country are all crying out for help. To such a height had this evil
risen, and to such distress were numbers of infatuated men reduced by
remaining idle in town, that Government was recently applied to for its
interference, and actually paid the expense of sending hundreds of men
into the country, where they got immediate employment, which they might
have had many months before, had they been reasonable in their demands.
It is remarked all over the Colony, that the emigrants generally are
very difficult to satisfy in the matter of rations; and that the man who
had been the worst fed at home, was the most difficult to please abroad.
An Irishman is generally found the chief grumbler here; a Scotchman
ranks second; while an English peasant, who has all his life fared
better than either, is found, in Australia, to be most easily satisfied.
I do not attempt to explain or account for this; I have, however, not
only frequently observed it, but have heard my neighbours make the same
remark. I hired an Irish labourer and his wife, to whom I gave the
following pay and rations:--22l. a year to the man; 12l. a year to his
wife; weekly between the two, 14 lbs. of beef, 20 lbs. of flour, 3 lbs.
of sugar, 6 oz. of tea, and 4 oz. of tobacco. With this allowance, for
half of which thousands of families in England would be thankful, the
couple were not satisfied, and actually complained that they had not
enough to eat. It was summer time when they came to my farm; and they
were warned, that the blow-flies would destroy their meat, if it was not
covered up: they were too lazy, however, to take the slightest care of
it; and, as I saw their second week's allowance lying on a table the day
after it was served out, covered with a mass of blow-flies, I took them
severely to task for their wanton waste and neglect. But it was of no
avail. And this couple had lived upon potatoes and butter-milk all their
lives! It is but just to add, that, on mentioning to a major in an Irish
regiment, whom I subsequently met in China, the difficulty usually found
in satisfying his countrymen in New South Wales, he expressed his
astonishment, and remarked that the reverse was generally found to be
the case with Irishmen in the army.
Several ships with emigrants from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland,
arrived at Sydney during the years 1838 and 1839. These people were, in
general, unwilling to accept of employment in any shape, but preferred
taking clearing-leases of small patches of land on their own account.
This plan, many of them succeeded in carrying into execution, much to
the disappointment and annoyance of the community at whose expense they
had been brought to the Colony; and it was reasonably complained, that
these men, in place of supplying the labour-market, as was intended,
actually created an increased demand for labour, by requiring aid in
their own operations before the first twelvemonth had passed over them.
Be this as it may, they are a hard-working, industrious set of men; and
whether their plans raise or depress wages, they have added materially
to the quantity of grain grown in the colony.
Now that we have a footing in China, I would draw the attention of the
inhabitants of New South Wales to Hong Kong for an unlimited supply of
cheap labour. There, by means of an agent on the spot, they may procure
thousands of able-bodied labourers, who will go to Australia for five
dollars (22s. 6d.) per month, with their food. This rate of pay is much
lower than what is paid to European labourers; and the ration of rice
for the China-man might be procured from Java, Bally, or Lombak, and
laid down in Sydney at (or under) three halfpence per pound; which is as
cheap as No. 3 flour in the most abundant seasons, and much cheaper than
that article usually is. For field-work, the China-man is fully equal to
the European labourer. I speak advisedly, having tried them together,
side by side, for months at a time. In a recent Singapore paper I find
it stated, that the Home Authorities have authorised an agent to treat
for the transmission of Chinese labourers from the Straits' settlements
to the West Indies; and, from my knowledge of those places, I have no
doubt that thousands of men will be induced to avail themselves of this
new market for their labour. Had New South Wales the same permission
from Government, she might be equally, and probably more successful,
because China-men always prefer emigrating to a country having frequent
communication with their own. This advantage, New South Wales possesses
over the West Indies, for as many as twenty or thirty vessels annually
leave Sydney for China. There would be no difficulty in getting the
Chinese labourer bound for five years, his pay to begin from the day he
landed in Sydney, and his passage down to be paid by his employer. This
last charge would add 30s. per annum to his wages; but even then, he
would be the cheapest labourer within reach of the Australian farmer.
Many gentlemen have turned their attention to Bengal for a supply of
labour. The men procurable from that country, are not equal in physical
strength to the China-men, nor are they to be had for lower pay. I had
six Bengal Coolies in my employ in the Bush, and have no hesitation in
saying, that three China-men would have done their work. The proper
immigrant to obtain from Bengal, if the Colonists choose to apply to
that part of the world, is the Pariah, the man of no caste, who will eat
any thing, apply himself to any kind of work, even to the killing,
curing, or eating a pig, and give far less trouble than any of the
high-caste men. The best season for despatching ships with emigrants
from China to New South Wales, is from November till February, both
inclusive.
A source of vast wealth will open to Australia on the expiration of the
Agricultural Company's coal-monopoly. That body, on its establishment in
the Colony, obtained the privilege of working coal for thirty years, to
the exclusion of all others. The injustice of granting such a privilege
to a Company who do not work more than one coal-mine, when there are
literally thousands on the eastern coast of this Continent, is too
obvious to require comment. Many landed proprietors who have rich veins
of coal on their estates, are, under the present regulation, actually
compelled to purchase the Agricultural Company's coal for the use of
their own kitchens. It may well be imagined, that the money is paid with
a very bad grace. Up to the time I left Sydney, the only coal-pit in
operation was one at Newcastle, at the mouth of the river Hunter. From
this source, an abundant supply of very fair quality was obtained, for
which, if I mistake not, 12s. per ton was demanded at the pit's mouth.
The Company's coal waggons descend the hill from the pit, by an inclined
plane, on iron rails, the descending waggon dragging up the empty one.
At the foot of this inclined plane, a wharf or jetty runs a little way
into the sea, so that vessels of four or five hundred tons burthen can
haul alongside, and have their cargoes shot by waggon-loads down their
hatches. All this is as it should be; and when forty or fifty such pits
are in full work, Australia may expect to reap some benefit from her
mineral riches. The importance of a never-failing supply of coal in
these days of steam travelling, is too evident to require a single word
of remark.
Talking of steam puts me in mind of the anxiety felt in Australia to
secure the advantage of the Indian Overland Mail, and of a plan for
effecting their object which I have frequently thought of. On the
arrival of the mail at Port Essington, from Singapore, why should it not
be sent to Sydney in a steamer by sea, _viâ_ Captain King's _inner
passage_ through Torres' Straits, instead of adopting the far more
expensive and _uncertain_ overland route formerly mentioned? This may
seem a bold, and, to most people, an extraordinary suggestion; the plan
is, however, in my opinion, practicable at all seasons of the year,
though more particularly so during the fine or south-east monsoon. I
have sailed through Torres' Straits, and would not hesitate a moment to
undertake to carry a powerful steamer from Port Essington to Sydney,
through the admirably surveyed channel just mentioned. During the
south-east monsoon, from April till September, the wind would be against
her; but she would have the benefit of moderate and clear weather, and
find no difficulty in seeing and evading every danger. In the north-west
monsoon, the steamer would have a fair wind, but hazy weather, with
frequent squalls to contend against. The thick weather would undoubtedly
be a disadvantage, as it would render objects less easily
distinguishable; but then, the strong north-west winds and squalls would
knock up a heavy sea, which would make the water break on every reef,
thereby rendering them easily both seen and _heard_ in the thickest
weather. On the coast of Sumatra, I have heard the breakers seven miles
off. Allowing that they can be heard half that distance, this would give
a steamer plenty of time and space to keep clear of them. Running in
the night would, of course, be out of the question in any season. It
appears to me, that there is as much real danger in beating through the
Palaware passage in November and December, which dozens of vessels do
every year, as there possibly could be to a steamer in passing to and
fro between Port Essington and Sydney, at any season of the year, by
King's inner passage. The weather in the Palaware, during the months I
have mentioned, is as thick and stormy as can well be imagined; and the
reefs, shoals, and other perils of navigation are numerous enough. The
best route for passengers proceeding to Australia from Suez, would be
_viâ_ Ceylon, whence a steamer would run down south-south-east to the
fortieth parallel of south latitude in thirteen days, under steam: then
she would get the prevailing strong westerly winds, which would take her
under canvas to Hobart Town in ten or twelve days: let her stop two days
there to take in coal and land passengers, and, in three days more, she
would be in Sydney. By this route, the passenger for Sydney would find
himself at his journey's end in sixty-three or sixty-five days from
Southampton, while the mail _viâ_ Marseilles would be of four days
shorter date. I have my doubts, indeed, whether New South Wales is in a
position to bear the expense of such a plan: it certainly could not be a
profitable venture for years to come; and whether the Colonists would
be willing to be so much per annum out of pocket, in the meantime,
remains to be seen.
In describing Port Jackson, I omitted to notice the neighbouring
harbour, called Botany Bay, originally discovered by Captain Cook, and
subsequently abandoned for its rival. It is a noble and beautiful bay,
entered through a gap in the cliff facing the Pacific. This being much
wider than that leading into Port Jackson, and the heads not overlapping
each other in the least, Botany Bay is exposed to the fury of the
easterly gales, which renders it, during their prevalence, an unsafe
harbour. From its great width, I was induced to suppose that this evil
might be obviated by ships seeking shelter behind the heads; but, on
inquiry, I learned, that the depth of water does not admit of this: the
water is shallow all round the bay, which compels vessels to anchor a
considerable distance from the shore, and leaves them exposed to the
eastward. In short, as a harbour, it will not bear comparison with Port
Jackson. The name of Botany Bay was given to it from the very great
variety and beauty of the native flowers found on its shores. I am not
botanist enough to describe these flowers, but I noticed them with
surprise and admiration. I saw nothing else, however, to attract any one
to the neighbourhood: the soil is wretchedly poor, principally covered
with scrub, and, with the exception of a few spots in the hollows,
utterly valueless to the farmer. A few half-starved cows only, belonging
to Sydney families, and called the town herd, may be seen picking up the
poor and scanty herbage. In this neighbourhood, the Sydney hounds meet,
and occasionally amuse their proprietors, by chasing a miserable "native
dog" to death. The only buildings of any interest on the shores of this
bay, are, the monument built by the French Government to the memory of
the unfortunate La Perouse, and a solitary mill on the banks of a little
stream that runs into it from the westward. How this mill is employed in
such a lonely place, where no cultivation is to be seen, I cannot
imagine, but should not wonder if a few pounds' weight of tobacco and
gallons of spirits found their way into the Colony hereabout, without
benefiting the revenue.
In April 1839, I left the shores of Australia, with my family, bound for
Batavia and Singapore _viâ_ Torres' Straits. We had a fine run up the
coast, and made the celebrated Barrier Reef on the morning of the
fourteenth day after leaving Sydney. We were fortunate in finding a
magnificent entrance into the Straits, in latitude 12° 18' South, and
were fairly inside the barrier by nine A. M. This entrance, which is at
least three miles wide, it is worth any ship's while to seek for: it may
be known by two small rocks on the south side, as you enter, resembling
hay-cocks in shape and size: we saw them three miles off, and they were
the only objects visible above water, on the portion of the Barrier
within our view. From our entrance, we had a fine run, and found nothing
to stop us for a minute (during daylight), till clear of Booby Island at
the western end of the Straits, which we passed at 10 A. M. on the
seventeenth day from Sydney.
These celebrated Straits pick up and destroy some half a dozen ships
annually, and are so much dreaded by underwriters, that they refuse to
insure loaded vessels through them. From my own observation, and what I
have heard from others who have passed through Torres' Straits on
various occasions, it appears to me, that a great proportion of this
loss of property arises from carelessness on the part of ship-masters.
The current in the Pacific Ocean runs very strong to the north-west in
the neighbourhood of the Barrier; and this current is often forgotten or
not sufficiently allowed for by ship-masters the night before they
expect to make the reef. At sun-down, the night before we made it, we
were eighty miles from it; we went under easy sail all night, and, from
the distance _logged_ during the night, expected to make the reef at
noon, having made all sail at daylight; instead of which, we came
_suddenly_ on it at 8 A. M., thus having been thrown four hours out of
our reckoning since sun-set the night before. Many ships, by not
heaving-to at all, or not doing so in time, the night previous to making
the reef, drift too far to the northward during the night, miss the
passage they were endeavouring to make, and are compelled to run along
the reef in search of another; for there is no getting back to the
southward against wind and current. This neglect throws many a vessel up
to the Murray Islands' passages, which are notoriously the most
dangerous, and are now generally avoided by shipping. Then there is hazy
weather occasionally in those parts, even in the finest months: during
its continuance, no vessel ought to approach the Barrier, though many
are imprudent enough to do so, and too frequently pay the penalty. In
the Barrier, there are many gaps, called "horse-shoes," which, in thick
weather, look like real entrances, the breakers at the bottom of them
not being visible from the ship. I have known many vessels lost by
taking a horse-shoe for a real entrance in hazy weather. Other vessels
get wrecked from paying too little attention to the dangers that beset
them, after getting safe through the Barrier. There are small patches of
reef here and there, in the middle of the many channels that run between
the main reefs: these pick up many vessels that might be saved, were a
careful look-out kept on board. I could give instances of losses
happening in each of these ways; but the careless have suffered so
severely from their neglect, that I would not hurt them by naming the
ships.
We had a fine run to Batavia, where we arrived in thirty-one days from
Sydney. A sail from Australia to any part of the Malayan Archipelago,
during the south-east monsoon, is, perhaps, the pleasantest voyage a
traveller could undertake: he has smooth water and a fair wind all the
way, with a constant succession of magnificent scenery among the
numerous islands of perpetual summer with which those seas are studded.
I have heard many seamen talk lightly of the dangers of Torres' Straits
and the Barrier Reef, and have known more than one of those
over-confident gentry subsequently wrecked there. For my own part, I
have a great awe of those dangers, and can vouch for some ship's crews
having the same feeling. On our approach to the Barrier, our crew, which
consisted of as rattle-pated a set as sailors usually are, were doubly
active, obeyed every order with alacrity, and so quietly, that the fall
of a pin might have been heard at any part of the ship. Some ships avoid
entering the Barrier towards sun-set: this precaution is unnecessary, if
they are sure that the entrance they are approaching is a true one.
Although, outside the Barrier, there are no soundings at a hundred
fathoms, a ship is not twice her own length _inside_ it, before she is
in good anchorage with eighteen to twenty-five fathoms water. There, she
may drop her anchor, and ride in perfect safety till daylight enables
her to pursue her course. Were she to keep outside all night, the
current would drift her to the northward, and compel her to seek a fresh
entrance next day. The Barrier Reef extends from the coast of New
Holland to that of Papua or New Guinea, with numerous gaps or entrances
in it, which appear to be kept open by the current that, for six months
in the year, runs through them from the Pacific to the Indian Seas, and
in the contrary direction during the other six. Notwithstanding this
current, however, I think it extremely probable, that the industrious
coral insect, whose labours never cease within the Tropics, will, sooner
or later, fill up the entire space, close Torres' Straits, and join
those two mighty islands, between which the Barrier Reef, or, more
properly, Reefs, now stand like a line of gigantic stepping-stones. The
gaps in the Reef, in and about the ninth and tenth parallels of south
latitude, are much narrower than those further south, some of them being
not twenty yards wide; which looks as if, agreeably to my theory, the
minute architect had commenced operations on the coast of Papua, and was
gradually working his way southward. What a magnificent line for a
rail-road this Reef will then make, with the boundless Pacific on one
side, and the reefs and islands of the Straits on the other! What a
splendid thoroughfare would this highway form to New Guinea, New
Britain, New Ireland, and the countless islands in their immediate
vicinity! But I shall be thought to be looking _rather too far_ into
futurity.
On our passage from Booby Island to the Java Sea, we passed through the
Straits of Alas, which run between the Islands of Lombak and Sambawa.
The scenery in these straits is very fine. On the left, you have Lombak
Hill, 7000 feet high, sloping gradually from the peak to the sea, and
covered with thick forest. On the right, is the coast of Sambawa,
exhibiting the most extraordinary collection of sugar-loaf hills I ever
saw: they look as if they had been dropped there at random in a shower.
The whole collection would hardly be seen on the top of Lombak hill.
Half this island was laid completely waste in 1816, by an eruption of
one of its volcanic mountains: thousands of the inhabitants, with their
cattle and poneys, were killed; and the effects are visible on the spot
to this day. Sambawa is celebrated for its race of poneys, which are
certainly very fine, spirited little animals. Hundreds of them are
brought by the native boats every year to Batavia and Singapore, at both
which places they meet with a ready market.