Part 2 (1/2)
The roads and bridges which have been made to every part of the colony, are truly surprising, considering the short period that has elapsed since its foundation. All these are either the work of, or have been improved by, the present governor; who has even caused a road to be constructed over the western mountains, as far as the depot at Bathurst Plains, which is upwards of 180 miles from Sydney. The colonists, therefore, are now provided with every facility for the conveyance of their produce to market; a circ.u.mstance which cannot fail to have the most beneficial influence in the progress of agriculture. In return for these great public accommodations, and to help to keep them in repair, the Governor has established toll-gates* in all the princ.i.p.al roads. These are farmed out to the highest bidder, and were let during the year 1817, for the sum of 257.
[* For a list of tolls, see the Appendix]
The military force stationed in the colony consists ofseven companies of the forty-eighth regiment, and the Royal Veteran Company; which, form an effective body of about seven hundred firelocks. These have to garrison the two princ.i.p.al settlements at Van Diemen's Land, to provide a company for the establishment at the Coal River, and to furnish parties for the various towns and outposts of the extended territory of Port Jackson: so that very few troops remain at head quarters. The colony is consequently considered to be greatly in need of a further accession of military strength. Much anxiety is felt on this subject by the generality of the inhabitants, who have not yet forgotten the insurrection which took place when the whole population was not nearly so great as the present amount of the convicts, although the military force was of equal magnitude.
That insurrection indeed was easily quelled; but the result of another, under existing circ.u.mstances, would in all probability, be very different.
An equal degree of anxiety is felt, and more particularly by the mercantile part of the community, that a sloop of war, or a king's vessel of some description, should be stationed in the harbour, both as a protection against the easy possibility of outward a.s.sault, and to frustrate the numerous combinations which the convicts are constantly forming, and often too successfully, to carry away the colonial craft, to the certain destruction of their own and the crew's lives, and to the ruin of the unfortunate owners Not fewer than three piratical seizures of this nature have been effected within the last three years. On all of these occasions the vessels so seized were run ash.o.r.e on the uninhabited parts of the coast, and all hands on board, the innocent crews, as well as the abandoned pirates, either perished from hunger, or were immolated by the spears and waddies of the ferocious savages.
When Governor Macquarie a.s.sumed the command in 1810, the population was only half its present number; and yet a sloop of war was stationed at Port Jackson, and the military force also was on a much more extended scale. Why a diminution has thus been made in the means of protection and defence, when there appear to be such strong grounds for their augmentation, merely with reference to the internal state of the colony, it is no easy matter to conjecture.
The expediency also of putting the colony in a better posture to repel outward attack, is not less obvious; for although we are now at peace with the whole world, it would be absurd to overlook the possibility of future wars. The only battery of any strength is called, ”Dawe's Battery;” and is, as I have already casually noticed, situated in the extremity of that neck of land, on which the western part of the town of Sydney is built. This battery, if I remember right, mounts fourteen long eighteen-pounders, but the carriages of the guns are in a bad state of repair, and the embrasures are so low, that a single broadside of grape would sweep off all who had the courage or temerity to defend it.
Fort Philip stands on the highest part of the same neck of land, and nearly in the centre of that part of the town which goes by the name of ”the Rocks.” This fort was erected by Governor King, immediately after the insurrection, to which I have alluded. It is a regular hexagon, but it never was quite finished, and there are no guns yet mounted on it. The glacis, in fact, is not sufficiently levelled to allow a proper range for artillery, and the circ.u.mjacent ground is so irregular and rocky, that an enemy might at once erect batteries at fifty yards distance. Besides, this fort is so completely hemmed in with houses, that a great part of the town would be inevitably destroyed by the fire from it. Its situation, therefore, is in every point of view objectionable, and succeeding governors have evinced their good sense, in not perfecting a work which would be attended with a very considerable expense, and could never become of any utility.
A new battery has lately been commenced on Bennilong's Point; but this and Dawe's Battery are both too near the town to protect it from the most insignificant naval force. It is indeed a matter of surprise, that during the last American war, not one of the numberless privateers of that nation, attempted to lay the town of Sydney under contribution, or to plunder it. A vessel of ten guns might have effected this enterprise with the greatest ease and safety; and that the inhabitants were not subjected to such an insulting humiliation, could only have arisen from the enemy's ignorance of the insufficiency of their means of defence.
The climate of the colony, particularly in the inland districts, is highly salubrious, although the heats in summer are sometimes excessive, the thermometer frequently rising in the shade to ninety, and even to a hundred degrees and upwards of Fahrenheit. This, however, happens only during the hot winds; and these do not prevail upon an average, more than eight or ten days in the year. The mean heat during the three summer months, December, January, and February, is about 80 degrees at noon.
This, it must be admitted, is a degree of heat that would be highly oppressive to Europeans, were it not that the sea breeze sets in regularly about nine o'clock in the morning, and blows with considerable force from the N. E. till about six or seven o'clock in the evening. It is succeeded during the night by the land breeze from the mountains, which varies from W. S. W. to W.
In very hot days the sea breeze often veersround to the North and blows a gale. In this case it continues with great violence, frequently for a day or two, and is then succeeded not by the regularland breeze, but by a cold southerly squall. The hot winds blow from the N. W. and doubtless imbibe their heat from the immense tract of country which they traverse. While they prevail the sea and land breezes entirely cease. They seldom, however, continue for more than two days at a time, and are always superseded by a cold southerly gale, generally accompanied with rain. The thermometer then sinks sometimes as low as 60 degrees, and a variation of temperature of from 30 degrees to 40 degrees takes place in half an hour. These southerly gales usually last at this season from twelve to twenty-four hours, and then give way to the regular sea and land breezes.
During these three months violent storms of thunder and lightning are very frequent, and the heavy falls of rain which take place on these occasions, tend considerably to refresh the country, of which the verdure in all but low moist situations entirely disappears. At this season the most unpleasant part of the day is the interval which elapses between the cessation of the land breeze and the setting in of the sea. This happens generally between six and eight o'clock in the morning, when the thermometer is upon an average at about 72 degrees. During this interval the sea is as smooth as gla.s.s, and not a zephyr is found to disport even among the topmost boughs of the loftiest trees.
The three autumn months are March, April, and May. The weather in March is generally very unsettled. This month, in fact, may be considered the rainy season, and has been more fertile in floods than any other of the year. The thermometer varies during the day about 15 degrees, being at day-light as low as from 55 degrees to 60 degrees, and at noon as high as from 70 degrees to 75 degrees.
The sea and land breezes at this time become very feeble, although they occasionally prevail during the whole year. The usual winds from the end of March to the beginning of September, are from S. to S. W.
The weather in the commencement of April is frequently showery, but towards the middle it gradually becomes more settled, and towards the conclusion perfectly clear and serene.
The thermometer at the beginning of the month varies from 72 degrees to 74 degrees at noon, and from the middle to the end gradually declines to 66 degrees and sometimes to 60 degrees. In the mornings it is as low as 52 degrees, and fires become in consequence general throughout the colony.
The weather in the month of May is truly delightful. The atmosphere is perfectly cloudless, and the mornings and evenings become with the advance of the month more chilly, and render a good fire a highly comfortable and cheering guest. Even during the middle of the day the most violent exercise may be taken without inconvenience. The thermometer at sun-rise is under 50 degrees, and seldom above 60 degrees at noon.
The three winter months are June, July, and August. During this interval the mornings and evenings are very chilly, and the nights excessively cold. h.o.a.r frosts are frequent, and become more severe the further you advance into the interior. Ice half an inch thick is found at the distance of twenty miles from the coast. Very little rain falls at this season, but the dews are very heavy when it does not freeze, and tend considerably to preserve the young crops from the effects of drought. Fogs too are frequent and dense in low damp situations, and on the banks of the rivers. The mean temperature at day-light is from 40 degrees to 45 degrees, and at noon from 55 degrees to 60 degrees.
The spring months are September, October, and November. In the beginning of September the fogs still continue; the nights are cold, but the days clear and pleasant. Towards the close of this month the cold begins very sensibly to moderate. Light showers occasionally prevail, accompanied with thunder and lightning. The thermometer at the beginning of the month is seldom above 60 degrees at noon, but towards the end frequently rises to 70 degrees.
In October there are also occasional showers, but the weather upon the whole is clear and pleasant. The days gradually become warmer, and the blighting north-west winds are to be apprehended.
The sea and land breezes again resume their full sway. The thermometer at sun-rise varies from 60 degrees to 65 degrees, and at noon is frequently up to 80 degrees.
In November the weather may be again called hot. Dry parching winds prevail as the month advances, and squalls of thunder and lightning with rain or hail. The thermometer at day-light is seldom under 65 degrees, and frequently at noon rises to 80 degrees, 84 degrees, and even 90 degrees.
Such is the temperature throughout the year at Port Jackson.
In the inland districts to the eastward of the mountains, the thermometer is upon an average 5 degrees lower in the morning, and the same number of degrees higher at noon throughout the winter season, but during the summer months it is 5 degrees higher at all hours of the day. On the mountains themselves, and in the country to the westward of them, the climate, in consequence of their superior elevation, is much more temperate.
Heavy falls of snow take place during the winter, and remain sometimes for many days on the summits of the loftiest hills; but in the valleys the snow immediately dissolves. The frosts too are much more severe, and the winters are of longer duration. All the seasons indeed are more distinctly marked to the westward of the mountains, and bear a much stronger resemblance to the corresponding ones in this country.
From the foregoing account of the state of the weather and temperature during the various seasons of the year, it will be seen that the climate of the colony is upon the whole highly salubrious and delightful. If the summers are occasionally a little too hot for the European const.i.tution, it will be remembered that the extreme heats which I have noticed as happening during the north-west winds, are of but short continuance; and that the sea and land breezes, which prevail at this season in an almost uninterrupted succession, moderate the temperature so effectually, that even new comers are but little incommoded by it, and the old residents experience no inconvenience from it whatever. The sea breeze indeed is not so sensibly felt in the interior as on the coast, by reason of the great extent of forest which it has to traverse before the inhabitants of the inland districts can receive the benefit of it. This circ.u.mstance not only diminishes its force, but also deprives it in a great measure of that refres.h.i.+ng coolness which it imparts when inhaled fresh from the bosom of the ocean. The heat consequently in the interior, particularly in low situations, is much more intense than on the coast; but by way of compensation for the advantage which in this respect the districts in the vicinity of the sea possess over the inland ones, these latter are from the same causes that impede the approach of the sea breeze, exempt from the sudden and violent variations of temperature, which are occasioned by the southerly winds, and are without doubt the reason why pulmonic affections are so much more prevalent in Sydney than in the interior. The hot season, however, which is undoubtedly the most unhealthy part of the year, does not, as will have been perceived, continue above four months. The remaining eight possess a temperature so highly moderate and congenial to the human const.i.tution, that the climate of this colony would upon the whole, appear to justify the glowing enthusiasm of those who have ventured to call it the Montpellier of the world.
Abdominal and pulmonic complains are the two prevalent diseases. The abdominal complaints are confined princ.i.p.ally to dysentery. This disorder is most common among the poorer cla.s.ses and new comers. In these it is generally intimately connected with scurvy, and in both cases it is for the most part greatly aggravated by the excessive use of spirituous liquors, to which the ma.s.s of the colonists are unfortunately addicted.
The pulmonic affections are generally contracted at an early period by the youth of both s.e.xes, and are occasioned by the great and sudden variations of temperature already noticed. They are not, however, accompanied with that violent inflammatory action which distinguishes them in this country; but proceed slowly and gradually, till from neglect they terminate in phthisis. They are said to bear a strong affinity to the complaint of the same nature which prevails at the Island of Madeira; and it is remarkable, that in both these colonies a change of air affords the only chance of restoration to the natives; whereas foreigners labouring under phthisis upon their arrival in either of these places, find almost instantaneous relief.
There are no infantile diseases whatever. The measles, hooping cough, and small pox, are entirely unknown. Some few years, indeed, before the foundation of this colony, the small pox committed the most dreadful ravages among the aborigines. This exterminating scourge is said to have been introduced by Captain Cook, and many of the contemporaries of those who fell victims to it, are still living; and the deep furrows which remain in some of their countenances, shew how narrowly they escaped the same premature destiny. The recollection of this dreadful malady will long survive in the traditionary songs of this simple people. The consternation which it excited is still as fresh in their minds as if it had been but an occurrence of yesterday, although the generation which witnessed its horrors, has almost past away. The moment one of them was seized with it, it was the signal for abandoning him to his fate. Brothers deserted their brothers, children their parents, and parents their children; and in some of the caves on the coast, heaps of decayed bones still indicate the spots where the helpless sufferers were left to expire, not so much perhaps from the violence of the disease as from the want of sustenance.