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THE

PICTURE

OF

AUSTRALIA:

ЕХНІБІТING

NEW HOLLAND, VAN DIEMEN'S LAND, AND ALL
THE SETTLEMENTS, FROM THE FIRST AT
SYDNEY TO THE LAST AT THE

SWAN RIVER.

LONDON:

WHITTAKER, TREACHER, AND CO.

AVE-MARIA-LANE.

1829.

BL G

1

[blocks in formation]

SHACKELL AND BAYLIS, JOHNSON's-court, fleET-STREET.

то

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

GENERAL SIR GEORGE MURRAY,

ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S PRINCIPAL SECRETARIES OF

STATE,

&c. &c. &c.,

THE

PICTURE OF AUSTRALIA

IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,

BY

THE AUTHOR.

1

NOTICE.

THE great Southern Continent, with the adjacent island of Van Diemen's Land and the smaller islets, has been the subject of much description, some of which is of a conflicting and contradictory nature. On the one hand, those countries have been held out as a "Canaan of plenty," where the settler has nothing to do but set down and wax wealthy by the mere operation of nature; and, on the other, they have been depicted as the abodes of crime, and the sport of the seasons. The new settlement at the Swan River has given them more than their wonted degree of interest; but, at the same time, it has tended to concentrate the public attention, perhaps too much, to that particular spot.

Keeping these circumstances in view, it has been my object to set Australia before the reader in its true aspect and condition, as far as there are data for determining these; and leave him to draw his own conclusions. In order to accomplish this, I have collated the published authorities with some care; and I have been fortunate enough to receive, from those upon whose ability and veracity I can

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