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    of a great deal of manual laboilf . This inconvenience and expense will be altogether obviated by the floating' basins , which will at all times of the tide contain from seven to eight feet depth of water , and will therefore enable barges already unloaded to be replaced at any time by others , to be brought alongside the wharf while their cargoes are being discharged . ^ . The gates to the entrances of the tidal basins can remain open for an hour and a half or two hours before and after high tide , so that from three to four hours will be available to clear the basins of all empty craft , and replace them by others laden . The entrances are to be thirty feet wide , to give ample room for barges to pass in and out at the same time . The floating basins are to be connected throughout

    the entire length , from Westminster bridge to Stt Paul s " bridge , so that the water opposite , each of the wharfs will always stand at the same levelj and all tidal entrances can be open at the same time and for a similar period . . In addition to the advantages to be gained which , are briefly stated in the foregoing description , the storeage and wharfage room along the river will be considerably increased on both sides , where it is much required , and has become most valuable . The design for the Surrey side is so simple that it requires no further explanation than that already given , as it consists only of a broad road , the river lying on one side , and on the other a fine row of dwelling-houses and shops ,

    with stores and wharfs connected therewith ; and at the same time the distribution of the property will not in any way injure the existing interests , but by . means of the proposed floating basins will tend to place the present proprietors of wharfs in a far better position . . ¦ ... ¦ With regard to the effect these works will have on the river itself , it has been clearly proved before the several commissioners appointed to inquire into " The Embankment of , the Eiver Thames , " that the navigation alid scouring power will be materially improved , and that it will be the means of making the river maintain h more uniform depth , and prevent the formation of shoals , which are constantly making their appearance , and obstructing the free navigation of the river at low tide .

    Should it be found desirable to have a minimum depth of water for the entire width of the river and along the quay walls , it can easily be effected by dredging . Ample provision , is made in the plan to found the quay walls , at a sufficiently low level , to admit of such a deepening of the liver . The cost of the works necessary to complete these improvements has been carefully gone into in detail , and , allowing more than ordinary prides for the different descriptions of work , the total amount of the estimate , including every contingency ^ is under l , 500 , 0 OOZ . The annual ground rents of shops , warehouses , wharfs , &c , with the receipts derived from the railway , on a moderate calculation , amount to 100 , 0002 . on 1 , 500 , 000 ? . of outlay .

    It is needless to say anything further at present as to the merits of this design ibr the " Thames Improvement , " as it attains the object in view , viz ., that of beautifying the river , without interfering with any vested interest , or without requiring any pecuniary aid from Government , and in addition will be the means of purifying the river , and tend considerably to improve the healthiness of a large district of the metropolis .

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    A "GENTLEMAN AT LARGE" IN AUSTRALIA . The following extracts from a private Australian letter have been placed in our hands . We print them in the belief that they convey a striking and salutarymoral to that large class of " fast" young men at home to which the much-suffering writer himself belonged . The writer of this letter was one of the numerous victims of an artificial society and a defective education •—ono of those gentlemen for whom , like Sir Harry Lester in the Game of Speculation , " society has created no employment / ' " fool themselves fitted for everything , and so in reality are fitted for nothing . "

    However , our young friend h as found out his own good qualities of heart and bone on that broad and rugged field of pitiless competition , where the race is to the Hwift and tho battle to the strong , and whoro a master of five or nix languages is a poor match for a 1 rnllock-driver . " Verily , in the working man ' s dominions straw-coloured kid gloves and patent-leather bootn are at a sad discount , and the fine gentleman in a sorry substitute for tho man without the gentleness . Melbourne , July 3 lHt , 18 CT .

    T ) ear —— , I write thin letter on board the Sir "William . Vfolkes , and purpose having it finished ready for immediate postago on landing , for I expect to have Imt little spare time on my hands , it being my full intention to go to work as soon as possible after my arrival . I know you will be glad to receive my scrawl , ho I nhall make no apology for it , disconnected , patched , and jumbled as it in . I think I may say that on tho whole I manage to pass my timo pretty agreeably , although a long noa voyage in necoHsarily very monotonous , and although J iun labouring under tho great ,

    disadvantage of sailing in an '' equality" ship , that is , all the passengers faro tho same as to grub , although thoro « iay Ixj a difference fts to cabin accommodation . Eaeh individual has to take his own rations to oook , and wash vrp , < & <> ., for himself . Each man knows ho has paid us muoh as another , m / o , ho in an good as another . J'his leads to constant unploasantnosH , and somotimoH * ° pugilistic encounters . One groat source of discomfort is , that wo havo but ono Hmall galley stove to cook all our meals at , tho apparatus for culinary purpOBcn of 111 emtgnmtM being About tho siao of » u

    ordinary - stove , as used in any private gentleihan a house in France . You will easily imagine the confusion attendant on such an arrangement . Our various scanty rations of flour , raisins , sugar , suet , and so forth , are-dealt out to us , and as often as we can we indulge in the luxury of a cake or a shouter pudding , by way of varying our diet of salt junk , pork , and miserably inferior preserved meat . I am become ^ a proficient in the culinary art , but more particularly in making bread , cakes , and puddings . Should I ever return to England , ( which I pray God I may I ) I think I shall be qualified to take the situation of "Dolly Mop , " as I am able to wash up dishes , plates , &c , make beds .

    clean boots , knives , forks , and spoons , mend clothes , wash artd iron shirts , darn stockings , and go through a variety of other little accomplishments too numerous to mention . I am sorry to say there is no discipline on board our ship , either amongst sailors or passengers , consequently might makes right , and the weakest goes to the wall , for we have a terrible rough lot on board . I can give you no idea of the filthy , dirty manner in which our food is served out to us . Things are incomparably better conducted in any decent kennel or pigstye at home . Should you have any friends coming out , caution them against " equality" ships , and at the same time against the " Telegraph Line of Packets . "

    Intending emigrants should always take care to look out for a vessel whose agents are respectable men . Our accommodation generally is very bad . During-rainy weather the water conies into my cabin at all parts , not only Wetting me , but rotting everything in the place , bedding 1 , clothes , &c . At times I am obliged to sleep with a Mackintosh over me , so badly is the snip's roundhouse put together . The captain refuses to have anything done , notwithstanding that I am a quarter-deck passenger , and have a right to a dry bunk ; malgrf tout cela mon cher ami , my cabin is the rendezvous of all

    * ' good fellows , " on board , Here I nightly hold my levee . We snioke , chat , sing , and drink , not brandies and waters , but lime juice and water , for the Sir William Ffolhes is a teetotal ship , and there are no alcoholic beverages to be had . At the time I write this , the 4 th February , it is scorching weather , such as you have never experienced ; nevertheless I find no inconvenience therefrom , further than a slight ^ irritation of the skin from prickly heat . We are within ten days sail of the Cape of Good Hope , and expect to be at Port Philip the latter end of March . * * « *

    March 18 th . —I cannot write to you so fully as I could wish , for nearly all my time is occupied taking stores , cooking , washing , mending , &c . I would that I could have given you a detailed account of the voyage , and various little incidents connected therewith , which , although trifling in themselves , would , I know , have been interesting to dear old , but I find it impossible . Besides , we have run down southward to catch certain currents of wind , always blowing in a favourable direction , and I assure you it is no easy matter to write with a heavy sea on .

    During the passage we have had but little amusement in the way of fishing or shooting . We have seen several shark , but only succeeded in capturing one . The said animal was taken with my hook . Ho was not very hungry , and played with the bait , a 31 b . piece of pork , for some time , consequently we had plenty of time to examine him in his native element . Ho measured six feet in length . Several of tis caught albatross and Malay hawks , and both these birds are good eating . Two flying fish fell in the rigging . We saw myriads of them .

    Here we are w ithin 350 miles of Port Philip , and , to our great annoyance , becalmed . It is time , however , we arrived , for our provisions are running short . The fresh meat , salt fish , butter , tea , and raisins , are gone from our gaze " slick entirely . " Tho beof , rice , flour , and biscuits are bad . I assure you many of us are in a half famished stato ! Some of us carry tbe signs of starvation very plainly written on our faces . I now think I faro well , ay , sumptuously , if I havo ono mouldy biscuit and butter for breakfast , ditto for dinner , and rico or a piece of salt pork for supper . Now that wo are ho near tho place of destination I am full of disbelief and despondency , although I am assured by

    thoso on board who havo boon to Australia , have returned to visit tho old country , and are now on thoir way brick again to Australia , that I shall faro badly if I do not make a fortune in fivo yoars at the most . Tho bugbear continually haunting me , is the doubt as to whether tho immense tido of emigration that is now setting in will not materially change tho state of things . I go , bowovor , determined to work , and shall take any situation , or Hot about any kind of work by which I can honestly gain a living . So far as self is concerned I am not ambitious , but I do wish to

    realize enough to enable mo to return honourably to dear old England , or to bo in a position to send for thoso who aroi near and dear to mo . Of my pormiverance I have no doubt , for already I am considered by both passengers and sailors to bo one of the most industrious on board . I assuro you I am quite vain on this score , I have boon paid so many compliments . Ono old Irish jjfonfcloman said I should make a " fine thrasuro of a husband" for any woman , I was so "indunthrioiiH . ' You cannot think , my dear iriontl , how I am changed . At ono timo I thought mysolf incapable of any real

    exertion , but circumstances have brought out the latent energy , and I feel equal to almost any undertaking . None but those leaving the Fatherland can ever know the feelings created by meeting a vessel homeward bound . It was a lovely day as we floated along nearly becalmed . We were crossing the Line , and it was then we spoke a ship on her way to Liverpool . Amongst all those of an affectionate and sensitive disposition there evidently existed a most intense

    excitement as we approached each other , and when we lay with pur yards laid back , broadside to broadside , I had the most painful struggle to prevent myself from openly shedding tears ; indeed I never remember experiencing such a trial . Had I possessed the sole -and exclusive right to any hole or corner I should have rushed in and cried bitterly . The remembrance of this meeting is and will for a lon g time be fresh in my memory . It is a grief not to be described . It must be felt to be appreciated

    Now for Australia . When I was at the mines of Korong I heard a digger express his opinion that Australia- is a country " damned at both ends , and cursed in the middle . " Now , although so far as I have seen I dislike the country , yet I cannot go so far as this man , for Australia , like every other country , has its good aa well as bad qualities . I find there exists a very general dislike of the place , and with many a positive feeling of disgust . The cruel misrepresentations that have been told have much tended to create this latter feeling . We have heard of people sleeping all the year round without any other covering than a single blanket . It is a well known fact here that hundreds of strong

    healthy , hardy men are injured for life through this mode of living , and many die therefrom . I assure you I lave felt frost here quite as intense , if not intenser , than at home , and have been rather expressive in my language when marching through the Black Forest in a storm of snow , hail , rain , and icy wind . Here one is never safe from the bite of centipedes and scorpions , even close to the town of Melbourne , and in the bush venomous snakes abound , not to speak of lizards and guanos . This latter "love of an animal " is in shape like a lizard , only much larger , sometimes measuring four feet in length , and as large round the body as a cat .

    With rega , rd to the climate I am assured by an old resident , and indeed by many others , that the thermometer often varies thirty degrees in the course of twenty-Four hours . Indeed this must be the case , for the nights are often very frosty , and the sun shines out almost intensely at noonday . As to Victoria being a healthy place , I know that the medical men of Melbourne ordered a friend of mine to leave it , and go to some spot where the air was drier , and the temperature more even . Dysentery is very prevalent here ; many die of it , and many suffer repeated attacks . The hot winds are dreadful . The flies also are a great nuisance . It is wonderful the annoyance created by

    these insects ; each one seems bent upon making his way right under the eyelid to the ball of the eye . Fleas and lice abound . As for mosquitoes , to see tho result of their bites on the physiogs of some people , you would declare the bitet to be in a bad stage of small-pox . Another pleasing appurtenance to tho colony is what the " old hands" term tbe Brick Fields . My word , this is certainly delightful . It consists of a cloud of flinty sand , gravel , and dust blown about by fierco winds to the height of some thirty feet , and is flo dense that a man walking a yard distant from any object , aay a bullock dray , is unable to see either cattle or dray whilst the '' brick field" is raging . At all times

    the dust is dreadful , and in summer the heat is intense . In tho province of Victoria one may journey some thirty miles without finding a water hole , and when found , probably the water is bad , being salt , Bweet , brackish , and altogether very unpalatable . Although a good supply of water may bo had from holes during winter , in consequence of excessive rains , yet in summer these are dry . It is a curious fact that hitherto it has been found useless to sink wells at tluH district , notwithstanding that at Sydney , Adelaide , and other places in tho colony , they are common as at home . In consequence- of tho scarcity of water , uhcop stations , cattle stations , and townships , are necessarily far

    distant . Indeed , with tho exception of tho tfold fields , Victoria seems to bo tho least favoured part of Australia . At Melbourne , jih at tho diggings , we are obliged to l > uy water , and at a very dear rate . At Korong tho price is ' , 1 s . i \ d . per huckcbiull , and has to bo fetched ? i distance of six miles . On my w ; iy to and from tho diggings the water 1 used for tea ( tins uni vernal bush < lrii ) k ) waH generally taken from a whool-rut , or a hole made- by tho traffic of horses or bullocks , tho colour of the said bovorago being a deep rich brown , tho component parts being min wator , mud , guin loaf ,

    rotton sticks , liquid ' manure , strongly flavoured of cattle guano . Tho proportions liooojwarily ilopond on tho wotnosH of tho season and distance of encampment from tho roads . I am not aware that any chemical analysis has yet boon mado . Information on this subject would bo very interesting to intending emigrants . "They say there ' s broad and work for all . " I know them ' a flour , at any rato if a man doos not go too far into tho bush , and has the wherewithal to purchase tho same . I know ono party at , tho diggings who lived ( from nooouaity ) on juaewfc for three weeks . 1 know Many

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    NdV ^ cB ^ fe 12 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 1085

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 12, 1853, page 1085, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2012/page/5/