spoke of the "poor fellows" as we passed a road party; an amiable way, at all events, of betraying his origin. The objects of his sympathy looked so very lazy and sulky as they sat together breaking stones, that my compassion was chiefly spent upon the warder, whose duty it was to stand watching them, and I could not help thinking that it would be pleasanter to break the stones oneself, than to have the officer's occupation. The road at this place was deep with sand, so that for a long distance we could only go at a foot's pace, but that was six years ago, and the warders and convicts between them have since then made it more fit for fast travelling.
The whole of our journey lay through forest, except when passing the clearings near and around the town of Guildford, which is ten miles from Perth; after that the wilderness closed in on us again, and the road became so lonely that I fancy I can recall to mind every group which we encountered in the remaining fifty miles. In spite of our seeing so few persons, I felt some surprise that our driver should be able to furnish me with the history of nearly all of them; but a short residence in the colony seemed to put me on a par with him in this kind of information; the list of the names of its principal inhabitants being as easily acquired and remembered, as that of one's fellow-residents in a not over-large English parish.
The first wayfarers whom we met were two handcuffed prisoners, on foot, but accompanied by a mounted policeman, who was walking his horse for their benefit. My maid recognized the manacled pair as a couple of sailors from our ship, who had, it seems, taken French leave, and run away from their work of unloading the cargo. Yet a few
