elements of empire, that it has been settled
for so brief a period, and that its pioneers consisted of the overflow
of English jails and prisons. The authentic record of life in the
colonies of Australia during the first few years of their existence is
mainly an account of the control of lawless men by the strong and cruel
arm of military despotism, often exercised under the most unfavorable
circumstances. Situated more than twelve thousand miles away from their
base of supplies, famine was often imminent, and the unavoidable
sufferings of officers and men, of officials and prisoners, were at
times indescribably severe. The earliest shipment of criminals hither
was in 1787, consisting of six transports with about eight hundred
convicts, two hundred of whom were women. These were disembarked at Port
Jackson, in Sydney harbor; so that the first settlement of New South
Wales was strictly a penal one.

CHAPTER IV.

Interesting Statistical Facts.--Emigration.--Heavy
Indebtedness.--Curious Contrasts.--New South Wales.--A
Populous City.--A Splendid Harbor.--The Yacht
"Sunbeam."--Street Scenes.--Gin Palaces.--Public Gardens of
Sydney.--A Noble Institution of Learning.--Art
Gallery.--Public Libraries.--Pleasure Trip to
Parametta.--Attractive Drives.--A Sad Catastrophe in Sydney
Harbor.

Before proceeding to take the reader from city to city, and to depict
their several peculiarities, a few statistics gathered by the author on
the spot will afford as tangible evidence of the growth and present
commercial standing of the colonies of Australasia as anything which
could be adduced.

The annual revenue raised by these colonies aggregates a larger sum than
that realized by Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, and Greece
united. Five hundred million dollars are annually paid for imports; and
exports to a like amount are sent from the country. Up to the present
writing Australia has realized from her auriferous soil over three
hundred and thirty million pounds sterling. Her territory gives grazing
at the present time to over seventy-five million sheep. This is more
than double the whole number of sheep in the United States. When it is
remembered that the population of this country is sixty millions, and
that Australia has not much over three millions, the force of this
comparison becomes obvious. The amount of wool exported to the mother
country is twenty-eight times as much