Page:An account of a voyage to establish a colony at Port Philip in Bass's Strait.djvu/81

( 56 ) a dozen slaves, live in idleness upon the wages of their labour, arid stroll the streets in all the solemnity of self-importance. In their general expences, the rich are penurious, and the marriage of their children alone seems to thaw their frozen generosity; on these occasions, they run into the contrary extreme, and ridiculous extravagance becomes the order of the day. I have seen a bridal chemise, the needlework of which had cost fifty pounds, and the rest of the marriage paraphernalia was in the same proportion of expence. Their entertainments are profuse in proportion as they are rare, but seldom possess any title to elegance, and sometimes want even common cleanliness to recommend them to an English appetite *. The riages