I am also much indebted to William Westgarth, Esq., M.L.C. for Melbourne, who has furnished me with the Statistics in the Appendix; which, I hope, will be considered a valuable addition, and especially at this time.
I regret to say, the admirable likeness of William Buckley is the only illustration I can give, the great anxiety for gathering the golden harvest in Victoria, having driven not only the artisan, but the artist, from off the course of his usual industry.
I have nothing more to add by way of preface, or introduction: as for apologies for unavoidable imperfections, I make none,—why should I?
In giving the history of a life in the first person, and under such peculiar circumstances, I have endeavoured to express the thoughts of a humble, unlearned man, in that language of simplicity and truth which, in my mind, is best suited to the subject, and to the circumstances as they passed in review before me.
I have anxiously sought to induce a reliance upon Providence in all cases of danger and difficulty, having myself escaped so often from imminent and immediate peril. That man is the best able to judge of the value of God's Providence who has seen His power evinced in the various ways made manifest in the battle-field, in the boundless forest, on the ocean wave; of which those
"Who live at home at ease,"
know nothing, except by reading, and by the labours of others,—the Sailors, the Soldiers, the Explorers—the Pioneers of the world.
