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 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 the 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 labourers, 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 roofof 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 labourers. This is the way of life in the "Bush ;" for such is the name given to the wild parts of Australia.

Some settlers keep large flocks of sheep, and gain money by selling the wool and the fat, to make cloth and tallow. A shepherd in Australia leads a very lonely life among the hills, and he is obliged to keep ever upon the watch against the wild dogs. These voracious animals prowl about in troops, and cruelly bite numbers of the sheep, and then devour as many as they can. Happily there are no large wild beasts, such as wolves, and bears, lions, and tigers; for these would devour the shepherd as well as the sheep.

But there are men, called "bush-rangers," as fierce as wild beasts. These are convicts who

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have escaped from punishment. They often come to the settlers' houses, and murder the inhabitants.

The natives are not nearly as dangerous as these wicked white men; indeed they are generally very harmless, unless provoked by illtreatment. They are willing to make themselves useful, by reaping corn, and washing sheep; and a little reward satisfies them, such as a blanket, or an old coat. When some of the flock have strayed, the blacks will take great pains to look for them, and seem as much pleased when they have found them, as if they were their own sheep. The black women can help in the wash-house, and in the farm-yard; but they are too much besmeared with grease to be fit for the kitchen. It is wise never to give a good dinner to a black, till his work is done; because he always eats so much that he can work no more that day.

Some of these poor blacks are very faithful and affectionate. There was one who lived near a settler's hut, and he used to come there every morning before the master was up; he would enter very gently for fear of waking him,-light the fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together, and set the kettle on to boil; then he would approach the bed, and putting his hand affectionately on the hand of the

sleeper, would whisper in his ear, till he saw him open his eyes, when he would greet him with a kind and smiling look. These attentions were the mark of his attachment to the white man.

This black was as faithful, as he was affectionate. Once he was sent by a farmer on a message. It was this, "Take this letter to my brother, and he will give you sixpence, and then spend the sixpence in pipes for me." The black man took the letter, and went towards the place where the brother lived. He met him on horseback. The brother after reading the letter, rode away without giving the sixpence to the bearer. What was the poor black man to do? "Shall I go back,” thought he, "without the pipes? No. I will try to get some money." He went to a house that he knew of, and offered to chop some wood for sixpence, and with that sixpence he bought the pipes. Was not this being a good servant? This was not eye-service: it was the service of the heart. But there are not many natives They are generally soon tired of working. For instance, a boy called Jackey, left a good master who would have provided for him, to live again wild in the woods, and went away with the blanket off his bed.

like this man.

ANIMALS.-There are few of our animals in