PREFACE.
The principal object of the writer of the following pages has been to lay before the British public an unbiassed picture of Australia Felix, both as regards its physical and social state, in order to enable them to form a judgment as to its eligibility as a field for emigration. He feels that, at a period like the present, when this subject occupies so much of public attention, and has indeed become a matter of such vital importance to England, it is peculiarly desirable that the fullest information should be afforded. In doing this, he has not attempted to conceal any disadvantages under which the colony may labour, nor has he shrunk from exposing what seem to him (whether right or wrong) the errors of the systems which have been, or are still in force. If, in the performance of this ungracious task, he has inadvertently made use of expressions which may be considered strong, he disclaims, once for all, while finding fault with some of their measures, the
