April 05, 2003

IT MUST have been fun

IT MUST have been fun living here back in the early days:

The English feared the Irish right from the start in Australia. They also despised them for their ignorance.

Many Irish convicts believed China lay 150 miles to the west of Sydney and groups would abscond into the bush in search of this fabled place, despite all the efforts of the governors to give them geography lessons.

So ignorant were the Irish that one group even had a compass drawn on a piece of paper, believing it would guide their path.

This faith in paper led many of their descendants to become Sydney Morning Herald columnists.

Posted by Tim Blair at April 5, 2003 03:57 PM
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