Australia, its history and present condition - containing an account both of the bush and of the colonies, - with their respective inhabitants
203 pages
English

Australia, its history and present condition - containing an account both of the bush and of the colonies, - with their respective inhabitants

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203 pages
English
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The Project Gutenberg EBook of 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. 3) Same with variations of colonisation/colonization, and a few other “z” words that should be “s” words in their English form. The XXVI.

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Publié le 08 décembre 2010
Nombre de lectures 29
Langue English
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The Project Gutenberg EBook of 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.
3) Same with variations of
colonisation/colonization, and a few
other “z” words that should be “s”
words in their English form.
TheXXVI.
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.
[missing 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 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 Newthe 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.

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.
[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 theBush—Outsettlers—Islands on the Australian
Coast—Kangaroo Island—Coral Reefs and
Islets.

CHAPTER II.
[Page 42.]
Forbidding aspect of coast no argument against
inland beaut

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