'The Secret River' and 'Convict Society and its Enemies'

I have been lucky to get these two books together. The book by J.B. Hirst is very interesting. At the end, on page 193 he writes about the native born who grew tall and strong and did not inherit the vices of their parents. This was almost miraculous. Among all the reasons given for the fine character of the native born perhaps we should add the earerness of officialdom and the immigrants to see that they did well.

The Secret River I have just been given by Jo, who ordered it from Pearson. It is very well written and deals with the grim background of the convict hero and his wife and how they make good in the colony against overwhelming odds. At the moment in the book they seem to be seizing their opportunities. William has been trained as a boatman on the Thames and gets land on the Hawksbury. I'm not sure how the book ends.