LETTER XIV

Summary

Upper Yackandanda Creek, March 1st, 1853.

The crowds which every day oppress, as I may truly say, the diggings, grow constantly and rapidly. They are discontented crowds, and far from healthy ones; and I should not give a true picture of the real condition of the gold-fields, and of the colony generally, if I did not at some length here endeavour fairly to state the causes of these facts. We will despatch the question of the salubrity of the colony and the diggings first, as the soonest dealt with.

If we were to judge of the healthiness or unhealthiness of the colony of Victoria by the amount of sickness in the population, we must pronounce it to be very far from a healthy country. But this would be by no means a fair judgment. There are many circumstances to be considered before drawing a conclusion on so very important a point, as it regards emigration. In the first place, this is a new country, and a country yet uncultivated to any considerable extent. It is to Englishmen a new climate; and, however mild and delightful a climate for six months in the year, for the other six months it is a far hotter climate than England; and it is not to be supposed that, were there no other causes to affect the health of immigrants, this change of climate could be made by adults with impunity.