own, shopping and
lounging away their idle mornings. Whether they are the wives,
daughters, or mistresses of the owners of the carriages, it is difficult
to tell; but the conclusion that every second one contains a mistress,
would not be far from the truth. Such is the society the unwary stranger
sometimes falls into, before he knows what he is about; nor does he
become fully aware of the evil consequences of his imprudence, till he
finds out with whom he has been associating, and that all access to the
really respectable society of the place is closed against him. It is
quite as requisite for a stranger arriving in Sydney to be on his guard
as to his associates, as it is for residents to be careful whom they may
admit into their families.

There are many wealthy families in and near Sydney, whose heads came as
convicts to the Colony. The days when such men could make rapid
fortunes, are gone by; and the convict who looks for any thing of the
kind now-a-days, will find himself wofully mistaken. There are too many
respectable tradesmen in Sydney for ex-felons to have much chance; and
the time when a shopkeeper would not condescend to take a piece of cloth
off his shelf to satisfy a customer, but would point to a lot with his
stick, and ask, "Which will you have?" has also gone by. Every attention
is now shewn to customers by Sydney shopkeepers, some of whom are not a
whit behind their London brethren in the art of recommending their
wares.

New South Wales had been for many years a British Colony, before any
Israelites found their way thither as _free_ men; and I have heard,
that it was the return of a Jewish convict with well-lined pockets, that
first attracted their attention to his place of exile. Be this as it
may, there are more Jews than enough in Sydney now; they are to be found
in every quarter of the town; and certainly, they keep up their ancient
character for perseverance in search of their idol, money. I do not
think, however, that I ever came across a Jewish settler: why they seem
to avoid that occupation, I know not.

It is common, in Australia, to hear persons talk of the Colony as their
adopted country, and so forth. No faith ought to be put in these
declarations; nor do I believe there is a family in the Colony, who do
not entertain some hope of once more seeing their native land. During
the time that high prices were obtainable for stock, hundreds of
settlers who were wont to talk of their adopted co