Excerpt from New Homes: The Rise, Progress, Present Position, and Future Prospects of Each of the Australian Colonies and New Zealand, Regarded as Homes for All Classes of Emigrants Having thus given a reason why I think such a book as I am writing Should be presented to the public; having stated that I write from no mere hearsay, but as having for so long a time dwelt amid the scenes I describe; and having also re moved what might have raised a prejudice against myself as a chronicler of Australian history, I will without further preface address myself to the task before me. And if, within the compass of a small volume, I can take you out to the colonies, travel with you from one to the other of them, tracing by the way their rise, progress, present condition, and future prospects, and then bring you safely home on a voyage by steam, round that region of storms, Cape Horn, I think you will agree with me that I have beaten the electric telegraph hollow. But who shall go on the voyage? For whom are. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.