The laughing jackass is almost as useful as a clock,
and it is called, "the bushman's clock."
BOTANY BAY.
This is a famous place, for here the English first settled, and here it
was thieves were sent from England as a punishment. Some were sent there
for fourteen years, and some for twenty-one years, and some for life. How
did the place get the beautiful name of Botany? which means "the
knowledge of flowers." Because there were so many beautiful flowers seen
there, when Captain Cook first beheld it. Yet the name Botany Bay, does
not seem beautiful to us; for it reminds us not of roses, but of rogues;
not of violets, but of violent men; not of lilies, but of villains.
SYDNEY.
This town is close to Botany Bay. It is the largest town in Australia.
It is a very wicked city, because so many convicts have been sent there.
Many of the people are the children of convicts, and have been brought up
very ill by their parents. Of course there are many robberies in such a
city, far more than there are in London. Who would like to live there!
yet it is a fine city, and by the sea-side, with a harbor, where hundreds
of ships might ride,--safe from the storm. It is plain, too, that Sydney
is full of rich people, for the streets are thronged with carriages,
driving rapidly along. The convicts often become rich, after their time
of punishment is over, by keeping public-houses, and when rich they keep
carriages.
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