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but they will also be grateful to him for having furnished in his own person the most striking tribute to them since the days of Dante ; indeed , as we have said before , the tribute paid by Poets and chivalrous natures to that gentle , yet exalting influence which it is woman ' s glorious privilege to exercise , is as nothing compared with the tribute paid by Auguste Comte , a man of austere science , a man grown old and solitary , without the passions or the illusions which are usually thought to be the impulses to adoration . Happy he who has Love for the helm and star of Life : who can say of one woman , that to be worthy of her , Ogni basso pensier dal cor m ' avulse , he has banished every unworthiness from his life !
1190 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
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" Day ami night itro of nearly equal length throughout ; the year . The . sun never reinahiH above the horizon more than ahoul , fourteen and a half hours , nor Ichs than ten and a hall "; ami , as twilight , < loen not , linger in these latitude , t , ho changes from day to night , and from night , to morn , me to an Englishman unpleasantly abrupt . " The greater number of the nights nre most enchanting . The southern con-Htelhitions shine forth from tho hunl , < hnk heavens in unrivalled brighlncHH , ami the haloed moon pours her chastened radiance on tho plains and hills with sueh refulgence , tliat everything for miles around is distinctly visible . The . light of both the win and the moon is inoru intense than in Uritain . 1 should Hay the dilUsrenee ia uh live to three . " Tho climate throughout tho Auatrnlinn provinces in decidedly hot . The
thermometer in Sydney and Melbourne during summer , frequently reaches 90 or 100 deg . Fahr . in the shade ; and occasionally 110 deg ., or even more . In winter if rarely ranges below 46 deg . Fahr . ; hoar frost sometimes occurs : ice , seldom or never . " The variations in temperature are great and sudden : noonday is frequently 20 deg . hotter than morning or evening , while the heat of one day often differs from that of the next by 15 deg . Then , as the southerly winds are altogether more moist than those from the northward , a change of wind without any' alteration in the thermometer often chills severely ; indeed , the climate is much affected by the direction of the winds . That which blows from the northward is always extremely
dry , and often violent . In winter it is moderately warm , in summer it is intensely hot , and rushes on with the velocity of a hurricane , raising the thermometer in the shade to 110 deg ., or even 120 deg . Fahr ., drying up the grass like hay , depriving the grape of its watery elements , rendering iron exposed to its influence so hot as to burn the hand on touching it , doing injury to tne promising harvest , and filling the air with such quantities of dust and sand , that the sun ' s rays are shut out and only darkness is visible . The current of heated air appears confined to no particular altitude , but rushes upwards or downwards , according to circumstances ; sometimes it assumes a rotary movement , as if revolving on a series of horizontal axes thus : lllllll ; or undulates thus : — Occasionally the hot wind travels
so slowly that its movement is scarcely perceptible ; there is then little dust , the heat of the sun ' s rays is great , and the earth is so torrid , that a thermometer which I sunk horizontally into the ground to the depth of 2 _ inches , in a situation , exposed to the sun and the wind , stood at 151 deg . Fahr . On another occasion I placed a bar of copper about one foot long and three inches wide by one inch thick , in a situation exposed to the hot wind and the sun ' s rays ; when it bad been thus placed for about two hours , I wrapped some common post letter-paper round it , and in doing so , it accidentally came against my hand , which it burnt , and in a fewhours afterwards the place blistered . After the paper b , ad been in contact with the copper about an hour its colour changed to a deep straw or pale brown , and it was so scorched and rotten that it broke in pieces when I attempted to unwrap it .
During the prevalence of these siroccos , the high clouds , cirrus , and strata frequently disappear , while the lower remain unchanged ; and at night the air is commonly filled with beautiful sheet lightning . " Ifc is believed that there are no noxious gases in these winds , and they are said to exercise no deleterious effects on the health of man ; the climate would , nevertheless , be more salubrious without them , as , during their prevalence , nearly all persons of weaklv or debilitated constitutions suffer extreme lassitude and depression .
The moisture dries from the eyes , the lips become parched and cracky , the breathing short and quick , the air as it enters the mouth feels burning hot , and while sitting perfectly still the perspiration oozes from every pore in the skin . Individuals of robust constitution , however , are not thus affected : the hardy sun-tanned colonists freely expose themselves to the fiery blast , and , breathing the hot air full of dust and sand , toil on indifferent to everything but the demand of a parched thirst , and , in some cases , a wolfish appetite . When questioned , they reply : ' Oh , the heat is no nuisance : it ' s the choking dust that ' s unbearable . ' "
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" The variation in temperature , from the hot northern blasts to the chilling squalls from the south , is as great as it is sudden . In November , 1850 , a hot wind was blowing ; my thermometer in Melbourne stood at 108 deg . in the shade , a south wind came , drove back the north , and , in rather less than five minutes , the thermometer fell to 60 deg ., and I shook with cold from head to foot . This vanation , 48 deg ., is the greatest that I have registered on these occasions ; the least is said to be 25 deg . Though perhaps disagreeably sudden , the change is , nevertheless , most refreshing to all animated nature . The birds of the air , and the beasts of the earth , come out from their hiding-places , and gleefully wanton m the bracing breeze ; even the dogs that have buried their noses in the corners of your room , and would not go out , though you severely flogged them , now lilt up thenheadand with a wouh ! h ! joyously rush into the open air . The efflect on
s , g woug man is equally great ; in an hour or so all lassitude has vanished , and your wonteu vigour returned . " Mr . Lancclott instituted close inquiries into the state of mortality , and lie thus Hums up the results : — " 1 st , Melbourne is the churchyard of infants ; but the mortality ot children m the country districts ia not so great as in Britain . 2 ndly . Healthy natives ot the Hritwli Isles , of both sexes , who arrive in Australia in the heyday of life , and w > u t there , may expect to die about ten years sooner than they would had they roinauic at home . Srdly . Natives of Great Britain , either male or female , who have passe the meridian of life , will in nil probability add ten or twenty years to their cms - lllHJ Hill 1111 ( 111 Ul HH- 'j ¥ V *¦! * J * «*** . ^ l \/ t / l « trj * lUJ »« . * .. « ~~ .- ^ „ , -.-there 4 tlily
ence by going to either of the colonies , and ending their days . . - vidualn born in Australia , or taken there in infancy , arrive at maturity earlier . . they would in England , especially the females ; at fifteen a girl possesses all _ charms and many of the graces of womanhood . 5 thly . The climate usually emu dynm . psia , checks a tendency to consumption , increases nervous debility , an I purontly develops the latent seeds of insanity . Othly . During ( wmniftr . ^ iU * ^ sore lips and mouths , and bilious and intermittent fevers occur . 'I he leveis ever , are neither no violent , so fatal , nor so ficlient as in India , China , and - hot countries , where marsh miasma abounds . 7 thly . The fm , uent and hi - changes of temperature , CHpecially at tho clone of spring and c 0 " ' 0011 ' ' ' !"' ' h autumn , often induce diarrlum and dysentery ; indeed these maladies , »' » £ seldom fatal , are- of common occurrence . Hthly . Tho < -limat « exercises a r ¦ clliict on diseases of the kidneys , renders those of the skin nioro virulent t . ia Britain , occasionally induces derangement of the liven-, is baneful to Mm « - >
and beneficial to the gouty . . Ah the idwiH "bout tho healtliineH . s of > Aiifll , nilia lira very ^ ntfuo , it well to bear in mind the conclusion arrived at by our author : "It is , however , by no menus advisable for those who enjoy buoyant health in - cold , moist winter and spring of England , and suffer lassitude ia the he . glit ol . * mer , to settle in Australia ; for the climate , althoug h highly sal ,, J , rio .. H « . > iR «« ^ senHc , is an extreme oiH—Rivut dryncHK and heat being its < ; lmni ! " 1 ' (!" 7 j * vr , 10 S 0 the hot winds turn green haves yellow , so they shrivel u ,, thone , nd , v dual ^ physical conformation only fits them , to dwell in more temperate cli v . j , who are not scrofulous , who Holler fro ,,, cold and n . o , « ture and are most 1 ^ ^ in hot weather , have nothing to fear from the elnnafe ot * » f ^ ' ; Htanccs of such individuals , after a few ycara * residence in tho < -olomcH , quite robust , and much invigorated . al , mT > tivo habit "Ah before atnted , it is an ascertained fact , that pfliwnH of a consumptive
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AUSTRALIA AS IT IS . Australia as it is . its Settlements , Farms , and Gold Fields . By F . Lancelotfc , Esq . Mineralogical Surveyor of the Colonies . 2 vols . Colburn and Co There are travellers with an eye to the picturesque , travellers with an eye to comfort , travellers with an eye to their own glorification , but veryfew travellers with an eye to what will be of practical advantage as well as interest to the public ; of this last-named order is Mr . Lancelott , whose scientific position has aided him in writing the most instructive and not the least amusing book on Australia which has fallen in our way .
Keeping himself and his own affairs modestly in the background , he presents us with a calm spectator ' s view of colonial life in town and country . The book is correctly indicated in its title , Australia as it is . Mr . Lancelott cares more about interesting us in zoology , botany , geology , and climate , than in his own personal mishaps and adventures ; and we are abundantly grateful for the preference . He has described the Australian farms and farm-life , the cultivation of vine and other crops , the various inducements and drawbacks which ought to influence emigrants , —and he has described them in a sensible , vivid , trustworthy style .
The second volume is devoted to the diggings , which are described mineralogieally , practically , socially , and politically . The subject acquires fresh interest from , his sensible and authoritative treatment ; but we must refer to the volume itself ; our readers will be more tempted by various glimpses of Australian life to be met with in the first volume . Here , at the outset , is a picture of
AUSTRALIAN CONTRASTS . " Almost everything in nature is , in Australia , the reverse of what it is here . When we have winter they have summer , when we have day they have night ; we have our feet pressing nearly opposite to their feet : there , too , the compass points to the south ; the sun travels along the northern heavens ; the mercury of the barometer rises with a southerly and falls with a northerly wind ; the animals are disproportionately large -in their lower extremities , and carry their young in a pouch ; the plumage of the birds is beautiful , their notes are harsh and strange ; the swans are black ; the eagles are white ; the moles lay eggs ; the owls screech
and hoot only in the day-time ; the cuckoo ' s song is heard only in the night ; the valleys are cool , the mountain-tops are warm ; the north winds are hot , the south winds are cold , the east winds are healthy ; the bees are without sting ; the cherries grow with the stone outside ; one of the birds has a broom in his mouth instead of a tongue ; another creature ( the duck-billeted platypus ) unites with the body , fur , and habits of a mole , the webbed foot and bill of a duck . Many of the beautiful flowers are without smell ; most of the trees are without shade , and shed their bark instead of their leaves : some indeed are without leaves , in others the leaves are vertical ; and even the geological formation of the country , as far as ascertained , is most singular . "
The chapter on the Aborigines and on the zoology and botany are interesting , though containing nothing novel . As of more immediate importance to those emigrating , or "whose friends have emigrated , read this on tho
CLIMATE . " The seasons in Australia are the reverse of ours , July is mid-winter , January , mid-summer . The spring and autumn are brief , and the transition from one season to the other is so imperceptible , that it is difficult to say when the one begins or the other ends . Spring sets in early in September , when the atmosphere acquires a delightful warmth ; as the season advances , the fall of rain decreases , the heat increases , and about the middle of November , summer commences . Tho heat now becomes great , and by the end of December , nearly all the rivers are dried up , vegetation has ceased , and tho country assumes the appearance of an arid desert . At tho close of February a diminution of temperature commences , autumn beginning about the middle of March , and early in April genial showers carpet the country with bright verdure , and the atmosphere- becomes pleasantly cool and buoyant .
" lilarly in June , the season that can only be called winter from its ( situation m the calendar , commences , and by the middle of . July torrents of rain have inundated tho country , and rendered the water-courses mighty rushing streams ; this cold rainy season generally terminates by the middle or end of August . " Ketween the rains at thin season of the year , there are days , and , in some years , whole ; weeks together , of delightful weather , cool and bracing a-n spring in England , hut more beautiful and exhilarating . " With the exception of about twenty-live extremely hot , davs , and sixty disagreeable wet or cold days , tlu- weather throughout the year is indescribably pleasant , the air is balmy and bright , scarcely it cloud is visible , and tho sun looks down from the deep blue sky in unveiled splendour .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 11, 1852, page 1190, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1964/page/18/
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