lse whatever--neither pie, pudding, or cheese; but they had given
themselves a good wash, and a change of linen, and a bottle of Barclay
and Perkins at dinner had now restored them to good humour.

They found that the company at the table was much better than the
dishes, and that they had all gone through the same miserable landing at
the Fort, and some of them had even suffered considerably by falling
down in the mud; so, as we draw comfort out of other men's misfortunes,
and it is better to laugh than weep, our newly-arrived emigrants began
to think the place was not so bad after all. They were, at any rate,
great travellers, and were determined to make light of troubles and
inconveniences, as all travellers do. They saw that the gentlemen at
table were a very nice set of fellows, and as they had evidently had to
rough it, much more formerly, than was necessary at the present day,
they should make up their minds to think well of everything--to look
only at the advantages of the Colony--and in their letters to any London
friends, they were resolved decidedly to recommend the place--but not a
word about the mud.

The Town of Adelaide, as depicted on the maps, is the very beau ideal of
all possible cities--there is an elegance and vastness of design about
it, that almost makes one blush for the comparative insignificance of
London and Stromboul; of Paris and Canton;--but on going to the spot,
like many other works of art and imagination, it resembles the picture
very slightly--it is altogether on too large a scale; and of all the
follies committed by the inexperience of the surveyor-general, who is,
nevertheless, in every other respect a most gentlemanlike, entertaining,
and intelligent person, next to its inland situation, this monstrous
extent of Adelaide will turn out to be the most fruitful of complaints.
You may lean against any tree in the City and exclaim, "This shadowy
desert, unfrequented woods, I better brook than flourishing peopled
towns."

And yet there are sprinkled up and down the place a few substantial
buildings; one belonging to the Company, on an enormous scale--another
good brick house to Mr. Hack--another to the enterprising Mr.
Gilles--one to Mr. Thomas, and a couple of new taverns. The rest of the
dwellings are made of very slight materials, and the number of canvas
tents and marquees give some parts of the settlement the appearance of a
camp. Most of the new-comers settle down on what is called