"
14. I have described in a former Despatch, that rich pastoral District
of the tableland which is known as the "Darling Downs." The droughts
and the epidemic diseases which are frequently fatal to sheep and cattle
in other parts of Australia seem alike unknown in this favoured region.
Many large fortunes have been amassed there during the last 15 years.
15. While the impression created on my mind by the journey across the
Darling Downs was still fresh, I stated in my reply to the Drayton
address, that it had "filled me with surprise and admiration". Even
before I left England I knew by report the rich natural resources and
the picturesque beauty of this district, the scenery of which vividly
recalls to my mind the classic plains of Thessaly. But I confess that I
was not fully prepared for so wonderfully rapid an advance in all that
can promote and adorn civilization, an advance which has taken place
during the fourth part of an average lifetime. Not only have I seen vast
herds of horses and cattle, and countless flocks of sheep overspreading
the valleys and forests, which, within the memory of persons who have
yet scarcely attained to the age of manhood, were tenanted only by wild
animals, and by a few wandering tribes of savages; not only have I
travelled over roads beyond all comparison superior to the means of
communication which existed less than a century ago in many parts of the
United Kingdom; not only have I beheld flourishing towns arising in
spots where hardly 20 years back the foot of a white man had never yet
trodden the primeval wilderness; not only have I admired these and other
proofs of material progress, but I have also found in the houses of the
long chain of settlers who have entertained me with such cordial
hospitality, all the comforts, and most of the luxuries and refinements
of the houses of country gentlemen in England.
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