from residents were received
only at stated periods; and when the herds were exhausted by loans, and
the stores by the issue of rations, were indefinitely postponed; but
such as brought orders from the secretary of state, were accommodated at
once.

The newly-arrived emigrant, distrustful of reports, or ignorant of the
nature of the country, usually went out in search of a home. He was
received with hospitality as a guest, but found himself unwelcome as a
neighbour. Often, after long travel, he would scarcely find a spot
within an accessible distance unclaimed. "All that is mine!" was the
common answer to his enquiries. A present of sufficient value removed
many such obstacles, and gave the wanderer a clue to a desirable resting
place. Such as were too dull to comprehend this process of discovery,
often lost much time in unavailing toil.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 169: _Counties in Van Diemen's Land._

Northern. Midland. Southern.

Devon, Westmoreland, Kent,
Dorset, Somerset, Buckingham,
Cornwall. Glamorgan, Pembroke,
Cumberland. Monmouth.]

[Footnote 170: The writer was present when a newspaper was delivered,
directed from Sydney to "Launceston, Cornwall." It was conveyed to
England, where the Cornish postmaster wrote, "Try Van Diemen's Land."]

[Footnote 171: 53 Geo. iii. cap. 153.]

SECTION XI.

Sir Thomas Brisbane,[172] to facilitate the employment of prisoners,
required that the grantee should, for every 100 acres of land granted,
enter into bonds to employ one convict for the term of his
transportation, or the average, ten years. By receiving a second convict
for one year, he was promised a bonus of a second 100 acres.

This condition was a serious obstacle to the ready sale of location
orders. It was not, however, unnecessary: many casual visitors and
masters of merchantmen obtained grants, which they sold instantly and
cleared a considerable sum. Land speculators were greatly disconcerted
by the incumbrance: many were anxious to throw up land orders, and
attempted to recover money for the goods given in exchange. A trial
(1825), in which Mr. Underwood, of Sydney, was the plaintiff, is a
curious example of this traffic. The defendant had given in payment for
21 cwt. of sugar, an order for 200 acres of land; but when the convict
clause was promulgated, the land was