this order; but South Australia was saved from absolute ruin, and the
Secretary of State declined to recall the edict. In vain it was urged
that a great part of the land was not worth more than two or three
shillings an acre; the answer was that land was worth whatever people
were willing to pay for it. For a time it seemed as if this view had
been sound, and land was eagerly purchased, even at the advanced prices;
in 1840 the amounts received from land sales were three times as great
as those received in 1838. But this was mostly the result of
speculation, and disastrous effects soon followed; for the prices paid
by the purchasers were far above the real value of the land. If a man
brought a thousand pounds into the colony and paid it to the Government
for a thousand acres of land, he reckoned himself to be still worth a
thousand pounds, and the banks would be willing to lend him nearly a
thousand pounds on the security of his purchase. But if he endeavoured,
after a year or two, to resell it, he would then discover its true
value, and find he was in reality possessed of only two or three hundred
pounds: every purchaser had found the land to be of less value than he
had expected; every one was anxious to sell; and, there being few
buyers, most of it was sold at a ruinous price. Men who had borrowed
money were unable to pay their debts, and became insolvent. The banks,
who had lent them money, were brought to the verge of ruin; and one of
the oldest--the Bank of Australia--became bankrupt in 1843, and
increased the confusion in monetary affairs. In order to pay their
debts, the squatters were now forced to sell their sheep and cattle; but
there was scarcely any one willing to buy, and the market being glutted,
the prices went down to such an extent that sheep, which two years
before had been bought for thirty shillings, were gladly sold for
eighteenpence. Indeed, a large flock was sold in Sydney at sixpence per
head. Fortunately, it was discovered by Mr. O'Brien, a squatter living
at Yass, that about six shillings worth of tallow could be obtained from
each sheep by boiling it down; and, if this operation had not been
extensively begun by many of the sheep-owners, they would, without
doubt, have been completely ruined. So great was the distress that, in
1843, the Governor issued provisions at less than cost price, in order
to prevent the starvation of large numbers of the people.

Yet, the Secretary of State in England