care about their beef and biscuit having run out: so long as their tobacco lasted they were contented. We supplied them liberally with the weed, as well as a part of our flour and biscuit; and having obtained a stock of green nuts for the natives, we left them, as they declined coming with us, being certain that, although he was so far behind his time, the captain of the vessel which had left them there would still call and take them off. Nor were they disappointed, as I saw my friend three months afterwards at Eimeo, an island near Tahiti. He told me that the cause of the delay consisted in the vessel having made a direct trip to Sydney, instead of calling for them on her way. They were picked up, with all their stock of oil, a few days after we left them, and taken to Tahiti.

We called at numerous islands before we reached that which was the residence of our native passengers. Perhaps no people in the whole world are fonder of their own particular homes than are the South Sea islanders. The impatience and longing of those with us to get once more a glimpse of their own dear island home was extreme. Every morning at daylight, with eager eyes would they be on deck scanning the various islands we passed, and never did the watch cease, until one morning, as I was going on deck, I heard a tremendous yell, and Aitutaki, Aitutaki!' shouted out with a perfect transport of passionate delight and eagerness. As we neared the shore, they became more and more excited. There is no proper anchorage; but ships lay off and on in a particular bay; and as we coasted round the island to reach it, and as they recognised each well-known object on shore, which was a mile distant then, I thought they would all go daft' together. At last one could stand the slow movement of the vessel no longer; he was pointing with trembling earnestness to some spot on the beach, when all at once he uttered a yell and sprang clean overboard. One or two followed his example, so eager were they to tread once more the soil of their dear island. They had been absent six months, and of course had long ago been given up as lost. Such a scene as ensued when the meeting took place! All the population had assembled, and at the unexpected sight of their long-lost friends, such a yell arose! Such rubbing of noses together; such howlings of joyful recognition! As our Yankee skipper said, I guess it 'ud require forty donkeys to describe the echo of it.

All belonging to the vessel were treated with the utmost kindness; indeed I do not remember anywhere spending a happier week than that of our sojourn amongst these simple and hospitable islanders; and it was with regret that we left them to steer our course to Tahiti.

INFORMATION FOR INTENDING EMIGRANTS. We are in the daily habit of receiving letters soliciting information and advice on emigration; and to all these we have but one reply-that we have no special knowledge on the subject beyond what we communicate from time to time in this Journal, and that we shrink from the responsibility of influencing the decision of strangers in a question affecting the whole of their future fortunes. Even when drawing the attention of our correspondents, as we now desire to do, to the Emigration Circular,' the existence of which, we fancy, is less widely known than it ought to be, we would caution them against gulping its details without examination or thought, as matters coming from authority. The 'Circular' is a closely-printed pamphlet, containing about the same quantity of matter as one of our numbers; it is issued by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, and published, in order to render it accessible to all, at the low price of twopence.* The last

*By Charles Knight and Co., and Smith, Elder, and Co., London; but sold no doubt by all other booksellers.

number appeared at the end of July, and the next is intended to be issued next spring.

In a

The reason why we would suggest that some caution should be used in receiving many of the most interesting particulars, communicated even in a work the respectability of which is beyond suspicion, is simply that correctness is impossible. At home, prices are comparatively steady, or, if they move, they do so gradually, and with so obvious a tendency, that the limit of the rise or fall may frequently be foreseen. colony, on the contrary, but more especially a new colony, in addition to a more than ordinary share of other kinds of uncertainty, the fluctuating amount of population forms a new and peculiar element in the fluctuations of the market. There, in fact, is the true school for the study of political economy. In an old country we may be mystified by a thousand artificial complications, but in a new one we can trace the movements of the simple machinery, and observe the operation of the natural law of adjustment between prices and supply. The arrival of a single cargo of goods or emigrants may change for a time the whole aspect of a limited colony, and falsify the most important items in its Circular.' A little attention to this fact will prevent much disappointment. If we are told, for instance, that in Australia the wages of common artisans are 8s. per day, and are invited-common artisans being scarce at the money-to flock out in thousands or tens of thousands to this new El-Dorado of labour, what do we understand by the invitation? Reflecting persons will perceive that it is of the extravagance of the tariff the colonists complain, and that their desire for a fresh multitude of hands is merely the desire to obtain labour at a price they can more easily pay. To suppose that, if the summoned thousands obeyed the call, they would be engaged at Ss. per day, is an absurdity. The price of labour would adjust itself according to the supply; and if that was greater than the colony could in anyway use, the emigrants would find that out of the fryingpan at home they had leaped across the ocean into the fire.

The first question an intending emigrant asks is, to which colony he shall betake himself? The answer to this will depend upon various circumstances. The three principal fields of emigration are the North American colonies, the United States, and the Australian colonies, including New Zealand.

In estimating the inducements offered by these several fields, we are without materials for including the United States, but hope to have some early opportunity of throwing light upon this branch of the subject. The commissioners are more communicative with regard to New Zealand; but at anyrate, a sixpenny pamphlet, of sixty-four well-filled pages, comes just in time to serve shall make free use of it, though not without expressing as an appendix to this portion of the Circular, and we our sense of obligation to those who have favoured the public with so cheap and useful a compendium of the latest information.*

The demand for labour in the North American colonies is at present almost confined to New Brunswick. mercial difficulties still continues, although a reaction In Canada, the paralysis occasioned by the late comis confidently looked for. In Nova Scotia and Prince Edward's Island, the demand for additional labour is very limited; but in New Brunswick the rate of wages is steadily advancing to a higher point than it has ever before attained. The reason is explained to be, that the number of able-bodied labourers has latterly borne too small a proportion to that of the whole body of immigrants; and the government agent states, that 1000 good and healthy labourers (with their families equal to 5000 souls) would find employment in various parts of the province during the season of 1848 at fair wages.'

*The Emigrants' Guide to New Zealand. By a Late Resident in the Colony. London: Stewart and Murray, Old Bailey. 1848.

In New South Wales, the demand for labour is confined to shepherds, farm servants, agricultural labourers, and female domestic servants; but all these are much wanted, and would meet with great encouragement. In Port Philip, in addition to these classes, there is a demand to some extent for carpenters, masons, bricklayers, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, and other mechanics. This report continues to the end of last January. In South Australia, agricultural labourers, shepherds, miners, mechanics, and female domestic servants, are the principal hands wanted; and notwithstanding a recent pretty abundant supply, the high rate of wages is maintained. The government secretary, however, in that colony remarks, that although no reduction has yet been effected in the rate of wages by the arrival of immigrants, it must be anticipated that their continued influx may produce a change in this respect;' and he suggests that it would be well, in order to prevent the disappointment which would in such an event be naturally felt by those who may be induced to emigrate with expectations founded on the present scale of wages, that they should be warned, before leaving England, of the probability of such a contingency.' This warning they received not long ago from ourselves, in the midst of the most wildly-clamorous invitations from the colonists, and equally hearty responses of the press.

There is one feature, however, in the reception of immigrants into South Australia which is deserving of special notice. A house in Adelaide is prepared for young unmarried females who have no friends or relations on board, and who are removed thither on their arrival, and at once find themselves surrounded with every necessary comfort, and with persons of their own sex to assist them in obtaining desirable situations. The following notice greets the poor solitary shrinking female as she first sets foot upon the new world of the antipodes :- To newly-arrived female immigrants. The committee of ladies appointed to watch over the interest of the unmarried female immigrants newly arrived in the colony, offer their protection and encouragement to every respectable young woman who, landing on the shores of South Australia, feels the want of a home. The governor has kindly promised to supply rations, and to provide rooms for present accommodation. Ladies will visit the young women, and assist them to procure desirable situations.' This document is signed by Mrs Bagot, Mrs Farrell, and Mrs Giles; and these ladies, we are sure, will not derive less pleasure from their philanthropic labours when they know that their names, through such agencies as ours, are even as household words in every cottage in England.

In New Zealand, the classes most in demand are shepherds, agricultural, farm, and other labourers, and domestic servants. To a less degree there is also employment for mechanics, such as miners, shoemakers, and tailors. Mercantile clerks and young men of no trade or capital always fail to obtain situations. But it is not less new than delightful to find that there is already a strong rivalry carried on in the labour market by the natives. The following extract respecting them is from the Emigrants' Guide,' and is copied there from a report of the superintendent of the military roads in the district of Wellington, dated last January - some months later than the information in the Circular :

"They rapidly improve as workmen, and it is extraordinary that men whose previous lives have been passed in uncontrolled idleness should now work for months together so incessantly, as to rest but one hour out of ten, and under such restriction, as not to be allowed to smoke or even to talk, to the interruption of their work; yet this result has been obtained by means so slight, as to appear quite insufficient. An idle workman is occasionally fined sixpence, or if so talkative as to interrupt work, he is placed alone without listeners; if he has given satisfaction, he perhaps receives his week's wages in crowns, or, if otherwise, in sixpences. If a

troublesome character, he is discharged; and though the superintendents of parties have been detached many miles from any Europeans, besides their overseers, in the wildest and most inaccessible places, there has never been an instance of violence towards them or the overseers. The greatest crime has been that of stealing an axe by a discharged native, when another of the tribe, after working all day, travelled all night to recover it, and returned with it in time for work the next morning.'

It is mentioned that out of sixty natives employed upon one work at Auckland, there was not one who could not read, and only one who could not write his own language. The money obtained by these people for their labour on the roads is spent, according to the New Zealand Spectator' of 1st March last, either in the purchase of clothes and other necessaries, the produce of English manufacture, or else invested in stock, horses, or cows, thereby adding to the permanent wealth of the colony. But there is another side to the medal. 'We want land, labour, and capital,' says the last quoted authority. The roads now in progress open up fresh districts to the settlers, but the absentees in too many instances interfere to prevent their profitable occupation; there is an absolute scarcity of labour of all kinds, and but little prospect of a remedy for this want; the wages of labouring men are from 3s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. a day, while female servants are hardly to be procured on any terms. An influx of fresh capital would materially assist in developing the resources of the colony.'

In Van Diemen's Land, according to the latest information, there is a great demand for free labourers; and in Western Australia, labourers, shepherds, and female servants are in great request.

It would occupy too much space to give the rate of wages in the several colonies for the different trades, but we select a few of the more common hands, in order to give an idea of the relative proportion.

A blacksmith receives from 5s. to 5s. 2d. per day in the North American colonies, where his expense for board and lodging is from 10s. 6d. to 13s. 6d. a week. In the Sydney district of New South Wales his wages are 5s. 6d. per day, and in the Port Philip district, 78.; in South Australia, 6s. 6d.; in Van Diemen's Land, 4s. 6d. ; in Western Australia, 8s.; and in New Zealand from 3s. to 5s.

A bricklayer receives from 5s. to 7s. in the North American colonies; 5s. 6d. in Sydney; 7s. in Port Philip; 6s. 9d. in South Australia; 5s. 6d. in Van Diemen's Land; 8s. in Western Australia; and from 5s. to 7s. in New Zealand.

A carpenter and joiner, 5s. 34d. to 68. 3d. in the North American colonies, and 5s. 6d. to 10s. in Australia, the highest rate being given in New Zealand. These may suffice for common examples.

The difference in prices is in proportion. In South Australia the best bread is 14d. per lb., and in the other Australian colonies from 2d. to 24d. per lb.; while in the North American colonies it is from 14d. to 2d. per lb. Fresh meat from 2d. to 3d. per lb. in Australia, excepting Western Australia, where it is 4d.; and in the North American colonies, beef from 24d. to 4d. per lb. (to 8d. in Newfoundland), and mutton from 2d. to 4d. Potatoes from 5s. 10d. to 9s. a cwt. in Australia, with the exception of Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand, where they are only 3s.; and in the North American colonies, Is. 6d. to 4s. per bushel. Tea, 2s. to 3s. per lb. both in Australia and America.

The relative cost of passage is another subject of interest. The cabin passage to North America is from L.10 to L.20, including provisions. The cheapest is from the Irish ports; the next from the ports in the Clyde; the next from Liverpool; and the next from London. Intermediate, from L.5 to L.10; the same without provisions, L.2, 10s. to L.7. Steerage, with full allowance of provisions, L.4 to L.7; without provisions beyond the legal allowance, L.2, 58. to L.5, 103.

Cabin passage, with provisions, to New South Wales,

L.55 to L.100; intermediate, L.40; steerage, L.18 to L.20. Cabin passage to Van Diemen's Land, L.50 to L.90; intermediate, L.35; steerage, L.18 to L.20. Western Australia and South Australia, cabin, L.60 to L.90; intermediate, L.40; steerage, L. 18 to L.25. New Zealand, cabin, L.60 to L.100; intermediate, L.40; steerage, L.18 to L.25.

In the Circular' and the 'Emigrants' Guide' full information will be found on the subject of free passages. In Upper Canada, the present price of crown lands is 68. 7d. sterling per acre; in Lower Canada, from 38. 24d. to 4s. 11d.; in Nova Scotia, 1s. 9d. per acre, in lots of not less than 100 acres. In New Brunswick, the land is sold by auction at an upset price of 2s. 8d.; 50 acres being the smallest quantity.

In Australia, the lowest upset price is L.1 per acre. This is considered to be much too high in a country where the bulk of the capital is sunk in flocks and herds, requiring thousands of acres for each establishment. The question is argued shrewdly in a shilling pamphlet, entitled Sydney's Australian Handbook,' professing to teach emigrants how to settle and succeed in Australia.*

'As to the class of men who should emigrate thither,' says that work, 'the first is the labourer, with no capital, but stout arms and a stout heart, not burdened with any ridiculous fears about blacks and bushrangers. If he can get landed in any Australian port-Sydney, for choice, as the London of the colony-he is quite sure of good wages and plenty of food, with no expense for fuel, and very little for clothes. He has no long winter to endure, as in Canada, and no severe frosts to guard against by coats and flannels. A wife, provided there are no helpless infants, is no disadvantage. As I have before observed, a previous knowledge of agriculture, which is indispensable in Canada, is quite unnecessary on an Australian stock or sheep-farm. For shepherds or hut-keepers I prefer Manchester, Birmingham, or Sheffield men, even if they never noticed a sheep before except in a butcher's shop, to the best English, Scotch, or Welsh shepherd. Townsmen are better educated, quicker witted, and less prejudiced. European shepherds have their trade to learn over again. The agricultural labourer is useful on a farm, and can do better for himself when he comes to settle on land of his own.

'To obtain a shepherd's situation, a man has nothing to do but start at once for the bush. Instead of wasting his time in the emigration barracks, or in Sydney, let him strap his blanket on his back, take a bit of bread, some tea, sugar, and tobacco, and take any of the main roads into the interior, and hire at the first station where there is a vacancy for a man of his sort. He will be at scarcely any expense, if at any; but he will get a hearty welcome, a bed, and a bellyful. Should he be benighted, a camp out under a tree will do him no harm, as there are no dangerous beasts in Australia. 'Professions are, and always will be, rather overdone. To succeed in trade, a man must have a great deal of colonial experience, and rather a Yankee spirit. 'Among_mechanics, the clever Jack-of-all-trades is the man. It is impossible to carry a box of tools on your back. A good bush carpenter will do anything with an axe, an adze, and a few other things, but when you get to a station they find you tools.'

The Circular,' as emanating from government authorities, bears no reference to the United States. Our impression, however, is, that, Australia excepted in reference to sheep-farming, the States are greatly preferable as a field of emigration for nearly all classes of persons -artisans for the towns, and labourers and agriculturists for the country. A greatly-preferable point in the States is the cheapness of land (about 4s. 2d. an acre), and the perfect ease with which it can be purchased at once at a land office. In settling in the States, there is of course the disadvantage of becoming the

*Pelham Richardson. London: 1848.

citizen of a foreign country; but it may be doubted whether the intolerable mismanagement of the colonies is not fruitful of much greater discomfort. On this delicate matter each party must be left to judge for himself.

Eolumn for Young People.

THE PEACOCK.

A TALE FOR LITTLE GIRLS, AND QUITE TRUE.

WHAT a beautiful peacock we saw to-day, mamma, at Mrs Forrester's!' said Fanny to her mamma. "Very beautiful indeed, Fanny,' said her mamma. There was silence for some minutes, when Fanny again spoke. 'Mamma, I would give the world for a peacock.' 'Softly-softly, my child,' said her mamma: consider for a moment what you say. Would you give your papa and mamma for a peacock?'

the world-I only meant the world itself."' 'Oh no, indeed, mamma: I did not mean the people in

'You spoke very foolishly then, Fanny,' said her mamma; 'for there are a great many peacocks in the world.'

Well, mamma, I believe I meant my own world-my dolls, my playthings, my pigeons, my Pussy. Oh, poor Pussy, I should not like to part with you; but I think that I would give even Pussy too for a peacock. Pray tell me, mamma, about peafowl. Did you ever see a peacock

before?'

know a good deal about them; for when I was a little Fanny's mamma answered, 'Yes, I have seen many, and girl like you there were a great many about the country where I lived, and I was very fond of rearing them. They came originally from India, where they are larger and more beautiful than with us. But they are now common in many parts of the British islands; but in the northern parts, such as where we now live, they are scarce, and difficult to rear. In the south, where I was brought up, the peahens had all the trouble themselves; and when the little ones could fly, which was very soon, the hen would sometimes take wing, followed by her entire flock, and migrate to some other demesne; but then, in lieu of our lost one, a peahen belonging to some one else would alight with her brood in our Encyclopædia, you can read all about them yourself, and farmyard. If you take down the proper volume of the then I can tell you anything more that you wish to know concerning them.'

Fanny got the volume of the Encyclopædia, and found the place she wished for, and was quite astonished at finding that there were eight species of this beautiful bird. Her mamma desired her to read aloud the first on the list— the Cristatus, or common Peacock.' When she had finished reading, she put the book into the bookcase, and again sat down; then turning to her mamma with an anxious countenance, she said, 'Oh, mamma, how I wish I had a peacock-it is so beautiful! How could I get one?' 'I wish, Fanny,' said her mamma, that it was in my power to gratify you, but I know of no way of procuring one at present; and I am sorry for it, as I like young people to have living pets, as taking care of them teaches the exercise of judgment and forethought, besides drawing forth the best affections of the heart, and also gives an amusing occupation for leisure hours; and it is beautiful to see wild creatures become tame, and able to hold communion with mankind. When I was a little girl, I was given two gilt cages, with a goldfinch in one, and a canary in much about them, and am ashamed to say that they the other; they sang delightfully, but I did not care would have been often neglected, only for my brother, who was two years older than myself, and who was fond of small pets. He took care of them when he found that I forgot to give them seed and fresh water, and to clean their cages regularly; and when all the family went to the country-house for the summer, and he only was obliged to stay in town, except a servant, the canary and goldfinch became his companions, along with a Tom cat; and it was extremely amusing to see the order in which he had them. He began at first to tame them by placing their crumbs and bits of sugar. The cat was left to sit on the cages on the breakfast-table, and helping the birds to a few carpet, and supplied with a saucer of milk with bread broken into it. So he had something to do; and if he attempted to look too lovingly at the birds, he was scolded or slapt. In a short time my brother opened the doors of