Page:An account of a voyage to establish a colony at Port Philip in Bass's Strait.djvu/80

( 55 ) that, first inducement, the charms of female society, feel no inclination for a barren promenade, but, following the example of the fair sex pass their time in listless indolence, and, like the swallow, remain in a state of torpidity till the return of spring.

Those gradations of fortune, which exist in, and indeed appear to be the necessary consequences of a well-regulated society, are not to be found in the Brasils; the only distinction is the rich and poor; the former are proud though ignorant, and ostentatious though avaricious; and the superabundance of all the mere necessaries of life alone, prevents the latter from being indigent beggars. Those who can acquire half a do-