And what is the appearance of these people?

They are ugly, with flat noses, and wide mouths, but their teeth are white, and their hair is long, glossy, and curly.  They adorn their tresses with teeth, and feathers, and dogs’ tails; and they rub over their whole body with fish oil and fat.  You may imagine, therefore, how unpleasant it must be to come near them.

THE COLONISTS OR SETTLERS.

Once there were only black people in Australia, and no white; now there are more white than black; and it is probable, that soon, there will be no black people, but only white.  Ever since the white people began to settle there, the black people have been dying away very fast; for the white people have taken away the lands where the blacks used to hunt, and have filled them with their sheep and cattle.

There are two sorts of white people who have come to Australia.  They are called “Convicts,” and “Colonists.”

Convicts are some of the worst of the white people;—­thieves, who instead of being kept in prison, were sent to Australia to work hard for many years.  It is a sad thing for Australia, that so many thieves have been sent there, because after their punishment was over, and they were set at liberty, some remained in the land, and did a great deal of harm.

Colonists are people who come of their own accord to earn their living as best they can.

It is a common sight when travelling in Australia, to meet a dray drawn by bullocks, laden with furniture, and white people.  It is a family going to their new farm.  In the dray there are pigs, and you may hear them grunting; there are fowls, too, shut up in a basket; and besides, there are plants and tools.  When the family arrive at the place where they mean to settle, they find no house, nor garden, nor fields, only a wild forest.  Immediately they pitch a tent for the mother and her daughters to sleep in, while the father, his sons, and his laborers, sleep by the fire in the open air.  The next morning, the men begin to fell trees to make a hut, and they finish it in a week;—­not a very grand dwelling, it is true, but good enough for the fine weather; the floor is made of the hard clay from the enormous ant hills; the walls—­of great slabs of wood; the roof—­of wooden tiles, and the windows—­of calico.  When the hut is finished, a hen-house, and a pig-sty are built, and a dairy also underground.  A garden is soon planted, and there the vines, and the peach-trees bear beautiful fruit.  The daughters attend to the rearing of the fowls, and the milking of the cows, and soon have a plentiful supply of eggs and butter.  The men clear the ground of trees, in order to sow wheat and potatoes.  Thus the family soon have all their wants supplied; and they find time by degrees to build a stone house, with eight large rooms; and when it is completed, they give up their wooden hut to one of the laborers.  This is the way of life in the “Bush;” for such is the name given to the wild parts of Australia.