ing; banking facilities at one time freely afforded, and at another
suddenly withdrawn; ventures beyond the means of those engaged in them;
imprudent speculations, in which useful capital was either rashly risked
or hopelessly sunk--these unquestionably have been amongst the causes
which have brought on the commercial disasters of New South Wales. It is
seldom advantageous for an emigrant, newly arrived, to become a
proprietor of land in any part of Australia, unless his capital be
considerable; but the eager desire to become possessed of the soil
overcame all prudential considerations; land at Port Philip was eagerly
bought, at prices varying from 12_s._ to 500_l._ In 1840 the influx of
moneyed immigrants from England and Van Diemen's Land, to a
newly-discovered and extensive territory, produced a land fund exceeding
the sum of 300,000_l._, and engagements were entered into by the
colonial Government, on the faith that the land fund would produce
annually a large amount, but in 1841 it fell down to 81,000_l._; and
though in 1842 as much as 343_l._ 10_s._ per acre was given for building
ground in the town of Brisbane, district of Moreton Bay, it was
impossible for this to continue; and even for valuable lands in the
neighbourhood of Sydney, in the very same year, wholly inadequate prices
were obtained. The colonial Government became embarrassed by the
expenditure exceeding the revenue; and in 1842, Sir George Gipps, in an
official despatch, says, "Pecuniary distress, I regret to state, still
exists to a very great, and even perhaps an increased, degree in the
colony, though it at present shows itself more among the settlers
(agriculturists or graziers) than the merchants of Sydney. When,
however, I consider the vast extent to which persons of the former class
are paying interest, at the rate of from 10 to 15 per cent., on borrowed
money, I can neither wonder at their embarrassments, nor hope to see an
end to them, except by the transfer of a large portion of the property
in the colony from the present nominal holders of it to other hands,
that is to say, into the hands of their mortgagees or creditors, who, in
great part, are resident in England." This official prophecy is now in
the act of fulfilment; and when the storm has spent itself, the colony
may be prosperous again.

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.--The want of Government protection which is felt by
the British resident at the Cape of Good Hope is well illustrated by the
fol