the
following sketch of the premises of an out-settler on the river
Williams, at the back of the Swan River settlement, in Western
Australia, may be at once instructive, and not unsuitable to the subject
of this chapter. The house was made of a few upright poles, to which, at
the top, cross poles were fastened, and a covering of rude thatch tied
upon the whole. It was open at both ends, and exposed to the wind,
which, as the situation was high, was very unpleasant. Here, however,
were the elements of future riches, a very large flock of sheep, in fair
condition, also a well-supplied stock-yard, and cattle in beautiful
order; while upwards of twenty dogs, for hunting the kangaroo, completed
the establishment. The settlers were four in number, and, except four
soldiers quartered about sixteen miles from them, there were no other
Europeans within fifty miles of the spot. All stores and necessaries
were sent from a distance of 120 miles, through a country without roads,
and exposed to the power of the native inhabitants. In this but might
be seen a lively picture of the trials occasionally endured by _first
settlers_; they had no flour, tea, sugar, meat, or any provision
whatever, except their live stock and the milk of their cattle, their
sole dependence for any other article of food being the kangaroo dogs,
and the only thing their visitors were able to do to better their
situation was to leave them some shot. All other circumstances were on
the same scale with them, and one, supposing them to have been faithful
members of the Church of their native land, must have been the most
grievous privation of all:--

"The sound of the church-going bell
Those valleys and rocks never heard;
Never sighed at the sound of a knell,
Nor smiled when a sabbath appear'd."

They had but one old clasp knife; there was but one small bed, for one
person, the others sleeping on the ground every night, with little or no
covering; they had no soap to wash themselves or their clothes, yet they
submitted cheerfully to all these privations, considering them to be
necessary consequences of their situation. Two of these out-settlers
were gentlemen, not only by birth, but also in thought and manner; nor
can it be doubted that they were really happier than many an idle young
man to be seen lounging about in England, a burden to himself and to his
friends. Idleness and vice have often in England been the means of
levelling with t