armers" were henceforth noted as a favored class; and many,
anxious for the same recompense, borrowed, enclosed and improved, until
they had not a rood of land to call their own.

The most distinguished money-lender was Sheriff Ferreday, whose ordinary
charge was 35 per cent., or less with ample security. After a few years
(1834) he returned to Europe, having realised L20,000 by usury. At his
death, he devised a portion of his wealth to Oxford, to found a
scholarship. He suffered much vituperation, probably with little
comparative justice. "His bible," said Mr. Gellibrand, "is his bill
book, and his gold his god"--a quotation from Burke, highly relished at
the time.

The treasury was again robbed in 1832. It was observed the office papers
were deranged: constables were stationed to watch, and a sentinel was
placed at the door. The sudden examination of the chest by the governor
discovered a more serious transaction. It appeared, capital had been
borrowed from the chest without authority, to the amount of some
thousands; the money was, however, restored. No public care could
reclaim these funds from their tendency to escape, and they were not
deemed sure until out of the custody of the government.

The secretary of state directed the public cash to be deposited with the
banks. The treasurer was not authorised to retain more than L10,000 of
paper, and the Van Diemen's Land and Derwent establishments each
received charge of L10,000 cash. During six years, the revenue had risen
from L30,000 to L60,000: notwithstanding a very liberal official
expenditure, the surplus funds (1831) amounted to nearly L40,000.

The interior communication was facilitated both by the business of the
police and the cheap labor in the hands of the crown. The post of
Sorell's time was a private speculation, conveyed on foot, afterwards on
horseback. On the 19th June, 1832, a "cheap and expeditious conveyance,
to and from Launceston," was announced. The owner, Mr. J. E. Cox, drove
tandem, at the rate of forty miles a-day: only one passenger was
accommodated, at a fare of L5. The practicability of the journey was
then the subject of considerable betting.[160]

In 1827, and during two following seasons, New South Wales suffered a
serious drought, which increased in severity. Rivers were exhausted, and
their beds left dry. Not only the want of rain was felt, but a withering
blight, travelling in a defined current over the cultivated districts,
cut