Boards and scantling have sold at £\. 5s, per hun-
dred feet until now, and we cut the timber on the
roads, and it costs us nothing. On the whole I like
it much, and I see no reason why it wiH not become
one of the most plentiful and wealthiest places in the
world. The rains come on regular in the spring;
nothing can lie in the ground long after being sowk;
and the soil (especially the woodland) is iqirtiensely
rich, and capable of supporting crdps for a great



119

many years without manure, and without failing for
the want of it. The best land in England is not to
Ih; compared with it for fertility; any industrious
l^an meay. soon become an independent man^ as he
can get a. piece of land and live with all the economy
of Aoaerica^ and still receive all the benefit, or more,
of Australia for his surplus produce. But many
come here thinking to get rich as if by magic, with-
out doing anything^ or having any money to spend,
but they, of course, are mistaken. We have bad a
cargo of coal from C!oal Bay, and it bums well,
but it has a great deal of gas in it, which causes a
smell, but I do not know whether a disagreeable one
Of, not ; however, they say that it is not.
Yours truly,

William Cullbn.
From Samuel Newport to the Rev. J. King^ Rec^
tor of Bredenham, Bucks ; the Rev. W. R, John-
son^ of West Wycombe ; and G. IT. Dashwood^
Esq, of High Wycombe Park.
NehoUy 16th November ^ 1842.
To the Rev. I. King.
