Page:Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies.djvu/59

1832.] Parrots, to settle down at once to some useful occupation. In the course of this excursion for amusement, he sustained an injury by falling from a horse, that long disabled him from earning a livelihood. Pursuing our route over low hills, some clear of wood and others covered with Black Wattle, Acacia affinis, yielding a gum like Gum Arabic, we at length reached Green Valley, where we received a hearty greeting from Agnes Dixon, a native of Lewis, one of the Western Islands of Scotland, who soon prepared a refreshing cup of tea; after which, we gladly resigned our weary limbs and blistered feet to rest.

George Dixon emigrated to this colony eleven years ago, he was trained to agricultural pursuits, and has brought a portion of his location of land into cultivation, both in the growth of wheat and other grain; he has also formed a good garden, which is well stocked with fruit trees and has a Hawthorn hedge. The common fences of the country are formed of logs, branches, or posts and rails. His house is built of split wattles, plastered and whitewashed, the roof projecting in front and resting on wooden pillars so as to form a verandah, a common style of building in this country. The house consists of two front rooms with boarded floors, and two behind,—a kitchen and store room,—floored with stone. His land consists of basaltic hills with grassy forest, and he has about a mile of frontage on the Clyde, which at this season of the year is little more than a chain of pools—called here lagoons—of various length and depth, and about 30 ft. in width. In winter this becomes a considerable river. Some parts of its banks are open, others bushy, and some rocky. In one place a rock like a steeple stands between a cliff and the margin of the river; this is depicted in the annexed etching, which presents also a fair representation of the woody hills of Tasmania, and their white barked Gum-trees. G. Dixon's shepherd is a prisoner, but a man of religious sensibility: he became a thief from the influence of intoxicating drink, but does not shew any dishonesty when he abstains: he had a ticket-of-leave, but lost it, in consequence of being persuaded to drink a glass of porter, which immediately revived his thieving propensity.