[Editor: This brief untitled review of The Three Colonies of Australia (by Samuel Sidney), was published in the “Literature” segment of the “Editorial notes” section in Putnam’s Monthly (New York, USA), February 1853.]
[The Three Colonies of Australia (review)]
That portion of the earth, which, a short time since, was the sink of British felony, has become a chief subject of interest in England; and Australia has now more books written about it, than any other division of the globe.
The latest of these publications is called “The Three Colonies of Australia,” and was written by Samuel Sidney. It is historical, descriptive and practical, and gives us as much information about the new El Dorado as any one would care to get. On the whole, it is one of the most reliable works called forth by the gold discoverers.
Source:
Putnam’s Monthly (New York, USA), February 1853, p. 233, column 2
Editor’s notes:
El Dorado = (Spanish) “the gilded one”; a place of abundant wealth (especially of gold) or great opportunity; as a place, this was originally a reference to a wealthy gold-laden land or city that was believed to be located somewhere in South America, but the term has since been used to refer to any place of real or imagined wealth or opportunity (“the gilded one”, i.e. someone covered in gold, was originally a reference to a South American tribal chief who, as an initiation rite, covered himself with gold dust and dove into a lake)
sink = a place which is characterised by various forms of corruption, low morality, and/or vice; a cesspool or sewer
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
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