Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia — Volume ISturt, Charles
History
Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia — Volume I
Sturt, Charles
New South Wales -- Discovery and exploration; Sturt, Charles, 1795-1869
the different departments of the Colonial Government to the settlers;
and it is entirely his own fault if he trifles away his time in search
of information elsewhere than at the fountainhead, or if he trusts to
any other opinion than his own, supposing him experienced as to the
quality of the land he may fix upon. Let him be speedy in his
selection, and fix himself upon his allotment as soon as possible.
Instead of overstocking his farm, or employing more labourers than he
can afford to keep, let him be satisfied with a gradual increase of his
stock, and wait patiently till he can better afford to employ labour;
above all, let him avoid embarrassing himself by the purchase of any
superfluous or unnecessary comfort. I consider that man has already
failed, who runs into debt in the first instance, or who exhausts his
means in the purchase of large herds, from the vain expectation that
their increase will clear him. The time was when those idle
speculations were occasionally attended with success, but such is not
now the case. The energies of the agriculturist are directed to their
proper channel, and if the few are unable to make rapid fortunes, the
many have escaped inevitable ruin. No farm in a state of nature can be
expected to yield any return of consequence for the first year. It is
incumbent on a settler to provide for his establishment, or to retain
the means of providing for it as circumstances may require.
Farming implements are as cheap in Sydney as in England. Horses and
cattle are cheaper. It requires little, therefore, to stock a farm in a
reasonable manner. On the other hand, the climate is so mild that the
want of a house is scarcely felt, and a temporary residence easily
constructed. On the whole I am convinced, that a man who regulates his
conduct by prudence, and who perseveringly follows up his occupations,
who behaves with kindness to those around him, and performs his social
and moral duties with punctuality, will ultimately secure to himself a
home that will make up for the one he has quitted in the land of his
fathers, and place him in as respectable and as happy a situation as
that which he there enjoyed.
*****
PROGRESS OF INLAND DISCOVERY.
Having thrown out the foregoing remarks for the information of the
general reader, and of persons who look to Australia with the more
earnest views of selecting a colonial home, I now return to the
immediate object of these volumes; but before entering on the narrative
of my own expeditions, I think it necessary to advert cursorily to the
discoveries previously accomplished.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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