Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/118



alluded more than once to the depressed state of the colony with regard to money matters, or, as it has been called in the council, the state of monetary confusion. I have casually remarked, too, on the depreciation of all kind of property. The value of stock at Port Phillip may be taken to be about one-fifth of what it was four years ago—I mean stock sold fairly, and without precipitation; for when there have been forced sales, property has been actually given away. Under the latter circumstances sheep have been sold at Sydney at less than one shilling each; cattle for ten shillings; horses for fourteen shillings; and land at Maitland, on the Hunter river, at one shilling and three pence per acre. A Mr. Bourne, in his evidence before the committee on the insolvent law, mentions a case where between 2,000 and 3,000 sheep, 150 head of cattle, a splendid station, with drays, farming implements, &c. &c. were sold for £250. The wool on the