The climate is splendid, and
perfectly healthy; but to my mind its charms are lost by the
uninviting aspect of the country. Settlers possess a great
advantage in finding their sons of service when very young. At the
age of from sixteen to twenty they frequently take charge of
distant farming stations. This, however, must happen at the expense
of their boys associating entirely with convict servants. I am not
aware that the tone of society has assumed any peculiar character;
but with such habits, and without intellectual pursuits, it can
hardly fail to deteriorate. My opinion is such that nothing but
rather sharp necessity should compel me to emigrate.
The rapid prosperity and future prospects of this colony are to me,
not understanding these subjects, very puzzling. The two main
exports are wool and whale-oil, and to both of these productions
there is a limit. The country is totally unfit for canals,
therefore there is a not very distant point beyond which the
land-carriage of wool will not repay the expense of shearing and
tending sheep. Pasture everywhere is so thin that settlers have
already pushed far into the interior; moreover, the country farther
inland becomes extremely poor.
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