ne years, and some for life. How
did the place get the beautiful name of Botany? which means "the
knowledge of flowers." Because there were so many beautiful flowers seen
there, when Captain Cook first beheld it. Yet the name Botany Bay, does
not seem beautiful to us; for it reminds us not of roses, but of rogues;
not of violets, but of violent men; not of lilies, but of villains.

SYDNEY.

This town is close to Botany Bay. It is the largest town in Australia.
It is a very wicked city, because so many convicts have been sent there.
Many of the people are the children of convicts, and have been brought up
very ill by their parents. Of course there are many robberies in such a
city, far more than there are in London. Who would like to live there!
yet it is a fine city, and by the sea-side, with a harbor, where hundreds
of ships might ride,--safe from the storm. It is plain, too, that Sydney
is full of rich people, for the streets are thronged with carriages,
driving rapidly along. The convicts often become rich, after their time
of punishment is over, by keeping public-houses, and when rich they keep
carriages.

If you were in Sydney, you would hardly think you were in a savage
island; for you would see no savages in the streets. What is become of
those who once lived in these parts? They are all dead, or gone to other
parts of the island. The last black near Sydney, used to talk of the old
times, and say, "When I was a pick-a-ninny, plenty of black fellow then.
Only one left now, mitter."

ADELAIDE.

It is much better to live here than in Sydney, because convicts have
never been sent here. Numbers of honest poor people are leaving England
and Ireland, every year, to go to Adelaide. When they arrive at the
coast, they get into cars, and are driven seven miles, passing by many
pretty cottages, and gardens, till they arrive at Adelaide. There they
find themselves in the midst of gardens; for the houses are not crowded
together, as in our English towns, but are placed in the midst of trees,
and flowers, and grass; because there is plenty of room in Australia.

But there is one great evil both in Sydney and in Adelaide, which is the
dust blown from the desert, and which almost chokes the inhabitants. If
there were more rain in Australia, there would be less dust.

Australia is divided into three parts:--

I. New South Wales. Capital, Sydney.
II. Western Australia. Capital, Perth.
III. South Australia