GIFT OF 
 
 SEELEY W. MUDD 
 
 and 
 
 GEORGE I. COCHRAN MEYER ELSASSER 
 
 DR. JOHN R. HAYNES WILLIAM L. HONNOLD 
 
 JAMES R. MARTIN MRS. JOSEPH F. SARTORI 
 
 to the 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 SOUTHERN BRANCH 

 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 &'■ 
 
 
 Form I- '- 
 
 University of California 
 
 At Los Angeles 
 
 The 
 
 Library 
 
 Form L 1 
 
 
 *DU 
 
 
 S7 
 
 
 N63 
 
 

 
 
 4*
 
 SYDNEY, FROM THE SOUTH HEAD.
 
 • 
 
 \ 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 SYDNEY : THE CITY.— E. P. FIELD. pads 
 
 The Approaches to the City — The Heads — The Harbour — The Gardens— Public Buildings — Hyde Park 
 — Captain Cook's Statue — The Streets— Steam Trams — Pitt and I. orge Streets — New Post Office — 
 i hinese Quarter— Circular Quay — History of Sydney Cove — The Tank Stream— The Town Hall— 
 Peel .Market 1 
 
 SYDNEY : THE SUBURBS.— E. P. Field. 
 
 Coogee Bay — Maroubra Bay — The North Head — The South Head — Long Bay — Botany Bay — Litl 
 Kay— Hospital for Lepers— Point Sutherland — Dlawarra — The University — Newton n— Parramatta — The 
 Champion Course — Ryde — Old Government House — Watson's Bay — The Gap — Wreck of the Dunbar 
 — Bfiddle Harbour — Manly -Doable Ua.v and Rose Bay 14 
 
 SYDNEX lis ORIGIN.— E. P. Field. 
 
 Discovery of Sydney Harbour— Botany Bay— Landing at Sydney Cove — 'akin The Aborigines — 
 
 Loss of the Siriux — Famine -Mania] Law- Despair — Relief — Better Days — Past and Present . . 29 
 
 MELBOURNE PROPER.— The Editob. 
 
 General Features of the City and the Suburbs— Elizabeth Street— Australian Creeks — The Cathedrals 
 —The Churches — Government Eon e Princes Bridge— The Town Hall— The Wards— The Hospital— 
 The Public Library— The Working Man- Collegi — The Old and the New Law Court — The Royal 
 Mint— Collins Street— Flinders Street— Little Collins Street— Bourke Street— The Post Office and the 
 I in Market — Parliament House — Little Bourke Street . . . 38 
 
 GREATER MELBOURNE.— The Editob. 
 
 Distinctive Features — Richmond Park— The Yarra Yarra— Rowing ( Lube ami River Pionics— Suburban 
 
 Municipalities— Means of 1.. (Yillingwood -Prahran — Ilothatn — Exhibition Building and 
 
 the "Zoo" — Tli i lonial Oolney Satoh — Toorak — South Yarra— St Hilda— Brighton — Flemington — 
 Public Holidays— The Ports ol Melbourne: Sandridge and Williamstown — Origin of Local Names — 
 
 ral Collingwood 56 
 
 LITTLE B01 RKE STREE1 Hi HE Nibbet. 
 
 Aun.ti the Chinese at Midnight— Lotteries Chh 3hop \ Typical Cookshop -"The Grand 
 -A Gambling Hell -A Barber at Work -"Nance" (bang Home— Opium Dens— Taking a 
 
 ■I'm!! \ Pandemonium — Philosophy under Diflieulti D DC I B UBebreaker 7.". 
 
 LORD MELB01 RNE Tm Editob, 
 
 I'll, First Lord Mel " Daj First Lord Mell orne - In tie- House 
 
 oi' Con ii Home Secretary under Lord Grej Prime Minister ■" Kicked Ontl" — A United 
 
 Cabinet— Death oi William IV U 
 
 \ VANISHED WONDERLAND Pbofkbsob T. G Toi 
 
 The Hot Lakes \ Terrible Catastrophe— Oxford ami Cambrid irua— The Boiling Springs— 
 
 Ohinemutu— Whakarewarewa Wairoo La Tarawora Lake Rotomahana— The Wonderland— The 
 Whit i The Steam Demon— The Pink i ■ ed 1 — A New Wonderland . . .89
 
 iv CONTENTS. 
 
 BRISBANE G. Washisgtoh Power 
 
 The Approach by River— North Brisbane — Victoria Bl si — The Breweries— The 
 
 Gaol — The Water Supply — Ciiy Charities -Oram Sol 1- -The B cal Gardens— Government 
 
 and Parliament Hour-.- -The Churches— Exhibition Buildings and Places of Amusement — News- 
 papers — 'Buses and Trams— The Ferries 101 
 
 UNTRODDEN TRACKS IX I'M I— G. Whabtoh Mabbiott. 
 
 Fiji— lis History — Suva — Government House— Cricket and Tinka — Armstrong's Point — The Botanical 
 Gardens— Yiti L vn Sugar Plantations — Nandronga — A Fijian Bouse— -Fijian Comestibles— A Dance 
 — Yangona — An Early Start — Refreshments — A Native Hut — Photographing — Mount Tumainivi — 
 Sairdressing — Halts — Tin- Summit— Na Matakula — Fijian Boats — A Moonlight Dane.. — A Fish Weir 
 — Levuka 116 
 
 VASAWA-I-LAU.— G. WHABTOH Marriott. 
 
 The Start — Fijian Hospitality — A Beautiful Cave— A Weird Scene — More Caves — Late Dinner — 
 "Mekes" 136 
 
 HOBART— R. D. Pouustt-Habbis. 
 
 Situation — Cape Pillar and Tasman's Island — Port Arthur — Cape Raoul — Franklin Island — The Der- 
 went — A General View — A Bird's-eye View — Main Road — Macquarie Street — The Royal Society's 
 Museum — Franklin Square — The First Australian Brewery — The Queen's Domain — Domain Road — 
 Government House — The Botanical Gardens — Distinguished Legislators — The High School — Liverpool 
 and Elizabeth Streets — The Bank of Van Diemeu's Land — Memorial Church — "Mr. Robinson's 
 House " — The Roman Catholic Cathedral 140 
 
 THE ENVIRONS OF HOBART— R. D. PouHSTT-HABBIS. 
 
 .Mount Wellington — Cook's Monument — A Magnificent Prospect — The Pinnacle — -The Organ Pipes " — 
 Lost on the Mountain — The Wellington Falls — Brown's River — Kingston — Queenborough — The Bonnet 
 Hill— Mount Nelson — Mount Direction — The Largest Man in the World — Risdon — A "Rupert of 
 Debate " — Kangaroo Point and Bellerive — Mount Rumney — Newtown — Elwick Racecourse — A Land- 
 slip—Austin's Ferry — Bridgewater Causeway — Newtown and Cornelian Bays 156 
 
 GOLD— M. Gaunt. 
 
 The First Rush— Victoria Deserted — The Reflux — Life at the Diggings — A Primitive Post Office — 
 Ingenuous Advertisements — Law and Order— The Composition of the Police — The Force of Nature 
 —'•Big Finds and Petty Squabbles "—Open Rebellion— " From the East and the West, and from the 
 North and the Sonth"— Murder and Rapine— The Murder at Indigo Creek— The Gold Escort Attacked 
 and Defeated— A Raid on a Ship— Sailors' Luck— The Mongol and his Tribulations— Boisterous Ex- 
 travagance — Pegging out a Claim — Mining Processes, Past and Present— Alluvial Mining — The 
 "Jewellers' Shops" — -Shepherding'' — Big Nuggets — Quartz Mining— A Novice's Impression pf a 
 Gold Mine — Mount Brown— Kimberley 168 
 
 NEW GUINEA: PORT MORESBY TO KEREPUNA.— Hr/ME NlSBET. 
 
 An Island with a Future — Missionaries and Traders — Port Moresby — Elevara — Native Occupations — 
 The s Fever — Funeral Customs — An Unexecuted Sentence — The Ascent of Mount I'ullen — 
 The Laloki and Goldie Rivers — The Guilelessness of the Natives— Their Treatment of Women — 
 Courtship and Marriage— Betel Chewing— Native Hunting— Kapa-Kapa— Hula— The Bau-bau— A 
 Clever Trickster— Kerepuna— Nature and Civilisation— Work Days and Rest Days— Festivities— Spirit- 
 seers— Canoe Makers— Fond Farewells— Rejoicings 196
 
 CONTENTS. V 
 
 NEW GUINEA: KEREPIWA TO CAUTION POINT— Hoik Nisbet. 
 
 Cloudy Bay — South Capi — East Cape — Heath. Palm, and Dinner Islands — A High Sense of Honour — 
 Milne Bay — Cliffy and Teste Islands — A Nocturm — Caution Point — German New Guinea — An Expe- 
 dition up the Ami River 219 
 
 NEW GUINEA: YULE [SLAND AND THE TORRES STRAITS.— HUME NlSBl 
 
 Vulr Island — Motu-Motu — Across the Papuan Gulf — Darnley Island— The Murray Group — York 
 bland — Lotus-eaters --" 
 
 ADELAIDE— The Editor. 
 
 "A Model City" — The Plan of the City — South Adelaide — Victoria Square — King William Street — 
 The Post Office— The Town Hall— The Terraces— Hindley Street— North Adelaide— The Anglican 
 I thedial — A City of Churches — Religion and Morals — The River Torrcns and ite Bridg 
 Parliament Souse and New Parliament House— The Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery — The 
 University — The Park-lands— The Suburbs — The Mails — Port Adelaide — Semaphore— Lai - Bay — 
 ' ni'lg — Proclamation Tree — The First Government House — Brighton 231 
 
 BALLAEAT.— M. Gaunt. 
 
 Virgin Forest — The Gold Fever — Mounts Buninyong and Warrenheip — Black Hill — The City. The 
 Town, and The Borough— Si Streel -The Public Buildings— The "Corner"— The Town Hall- 
 Tin- Miners' City— "'Our Lake" — The Botanical Gardens — Ballarat East — Brid -The Chines* 
 Quarter — "Hunting il" — The Suburbs — Lal-Lal — Bakery Hill — Bungarei — An Iri>h Settle- 
 ment—Bits of Old England . . 247 
 
 Till. EUREKA STOCKADE.— M. Gaunt. 
 
 Bakery Hill — Desolation — Mutterings before the Storm — A Miscarriage of Justice — The Eate of 
 the Eureka Hotel — The Reform League — The Meeting on Bakery Hill — Declaration of War — 1 
 - ikade— The Night Attack— An Awful Scene— The Sequel 
 
 Tin: daii.v i. hi; OF THE BUSH.— O. Sawyer, 
 
 Stations ami Stations -Sheep or Cattle— General View of a Good Station— " Running In"— Bush 
 Hospitality — An Ardent Dancer — Loafers — " Mustering" — Stock Whips — Catholicism — " Sprees" — A 
 Thriving Drunkard — " Ton See" -Ti 
 
 DUNEDLN.— R. E. M. Twopenny. 
 
 n.w Zealand Towns First App -View of Dunedin : or r. Nature — 
 
 The l'eopU — Two Banke The Public Buildings— The Town B - to 
 
 — The University The I i Church— The 1 iraatic Asylum— The Hotels — 
 
 B - in Dunedin— The Harbon i Belt — The Suburbs -"Ocean Beach" > 
 
 ating Company - l>airy Farmii P y . 283 
 
 Till. V W.l.KY OF THE HUNTEB I Eippi a. 
 
 "Nobby's"- Newcastle Harbour N I nd— The Coal I hedral — 
 
 The Reseryi Lake M The Ship] River— H I Stroud— Miller's 
 
 Forest Morpeth The Patersoi Eg I and West U&itland Wollombi -Sinpletoi Huswellbroak — 
 
 Murrnrundj
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, 
 
 Sydney : The Cn v. 
 The Heads", Sydni y II 
 Statue of Captain Cook . 
 Plan of Harbour 
 Governmenl 1 1 < >use . 
 Farm Cove 
 
 Athletic Sports, Moore I'.irk 
 Tram-oar .... 
 Public Buildings of Sydney 
 
 Plan Of the City 
 
 The Post Office 
 
 Vestibule of the Town Hall 
 
 Arrival of the English Mail at the Post Office 
 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 8 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 11 
 12 
 
 The Circular Quay 13 
 
 Sydney: The Suburbs. 
 
 A Regatta, Sydney Harbour . 
 Coogee Bay .... 
 
 All' i 
 
 The University 
 
 Clontarf. from Shell Cove 
 
 Mrs. Macqoarie's Chair . 
 
 Sydney Ferry Steamer . 
 
 Parramatta, from the Park 
 
 The Champion Course 
 
 Old Government House. Parramatta 
 
 Lighthouse on South Head 
 
 The "Gap" .... 
 
 Middle Harbour 
 
 Si n\;.i : 1 r- I ITtloiN. 
 
 The Botanical Gardens . 
 Double Bay .... 
 T!i.' I Ibeervatory 
 Rose Bay and shark Island 
 S am Ferry. Sydney Harbour 
 Garden [aland by M ilight . 
 
 14 
 16 
 
 17 
 20 
 21 
 21 
 21 
 21 
 22 
 23 
 21 
 25 
 28 
 
 29 
 32 
 
 33 
 
 :;.; 
 36 
 37 
 
 Melbourne Proper. 
 
 Distant Vi n of .Melbourne from Doncaster 
 
 38 
 
 Plan of the City of Melbourne . . :;:> 
 
 In the Botanical Gardens .... 40 
 
 A Melbourne Gutter in Earlier Days II 
 Burke and Wills Monument . . . .43 
 The Scots and independent Churches, Collins 
 
 Street 44 
 
 Government House, from Botanical Gardens . 15 
 
 The Town Hall 4« 
 
 Melbourne Proper— (cob* 
 
 Interior of the Town Hall 
 IS) Ibourne Public Library 
 .Melbourne Hospital 
 The New Law Courts 
 Melbourne University 
 The Old Law Courts 
 The Mint .... 
 
 Greater Melbourne. 
 
 In the Fitzroy Gardens .... 
 Map of Greater Melbourne 
 Cricket Match, Melbourne 
 
 On the Yarra Yarra 
 
 The "Eight Hours a Day" Procession passing 
 
 the Town Hall 
 
 The Drive. Albert Park . 
 
 The Lake by Moonlight .... 
 
 The Pier and Esplanade. St. Kilda . 
 
 The Ports of Melbourne . 
 
 Brighton Beach on a Public Holiday 
 
 FAOC 
 
 17 
 49 
 51 
 52 
 
 .",3 
 
 54 
 
 :,( 
 
 57 
 
 59 
 
 HO 
 
 61 
 
 64 
 65 
 66 
 68 
 69 
 
 73 
 
 Little Bourke Street. 
 
 A Typical Scene 77 
 
 At Play 81 
 
 At Work : A Chinese Kitchen . . .81 
 Chinese Opium Smokers 83 
 
 ;land 
 
 Lord Melbourne. 
 
 Castle Street. Melbourne. Eng 
 
 Anns of Lord Melbourne 
 
 Lord Melbourne . 
 
 Melbourne Hall, Melbourne. Derbyshire 
 
 S4 
 S4 
 86 
 88 
 
 A Vanished Wonderland. 
 
 Ohinemutu 89 
 
 Waterfall at W'airoa 92 
 
 Fissure in Road near Tikitapu Hush, after 
 
 the Eruption 93 
 
 Lake Tarawera before the Eruption . 9(1 
 Lake Tarawera after the Eruption . . .97 
 The White Terrace. Rotomahana, before the 
 
 Eruption 100 
 
 Brisbane. 
 
 Brisbane, from Bowen Terrace . . . 101 
 
 Map of Brisbane 103 
 
 Steamer leaving Brisbane with Miners . . lo4 
 
 Public Buildings of Brisbane . . . 105
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 vn 
 
 Brisbane — (continued I. pace 
 
 Dry Dock. . . .... 107 
 
 The City from One Tree Hill .... 108 
 
 The River from One Tree Hill . . . i" s 
 
 View from the Botanical Gardens . . 109 
 In the Botanical Gardens . . . .11.' 
 A Bit of the Bush House, Acclimatisation 
 
 Gardens 113 
 
 Fountains 113 
 
 The Aviary 113 
 
 Sandgate Pier 11"' 
 
 HOB mit. 
 
 The City, from Kangaroo Point . . .140 
 
 Pillar 141 
 
 lii Franklin Monument, Franklin Square . Ill 
 The High School 145 
 
 Trinity Church 148 
 
 Port Arthur 149 
 
 Government House . . . .161 
 
 rnment Honse from Macquarie Point . 152 
 
 F.i i trance to the I Gardens ■ 153 
 
 I'M BODDl N TBACKS IX FlJI. 
 
 
 
 
 Ni ar Suva . . . . . . .116 
 
 View of the Rewa Eiver . 
 
 
 
 1 17 
 
 A Sugar-cane Plantation 
 
 
 
 120 
 
 Fijian Houses .... 
 
 
 
 IL'1 
 
 \ Fijian Village near Levuka 
 
 
 
 1 25 
 
 Head of a Fijian (Male) . 
 
 
 
 128 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Yasaw \-i -1. 
 
 A 1 i ian 1. igoon, Mango 136 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ni.w i Post Moresby, to Cebepi 
 
 \ New Guinea Temple .... 196 
 
 Port Moresby 197 
 
 Native Swellings at Port Moresby. 
 
 Elevara 201 
 
 Another Native House 201 
 
 on of New Guinea (Plan) . . . 204 
 
 A Tree House 205 
 
 A Heathen Temple 205 
 
 A Lime Calabash 
 
 The 1 > ley Ranges, from the Sea . 209 
 
 The Bau-bau nil 
 
 Hula 212 
 
 Tujiu 213 
 
 A Battle ' 215 
 
 Wooden Sword and Drum . 215 
 
 Kerepnna 216 
 
 Chiefs' Houses, Eerepnna .... l'17 
 
 New Guinea War Shield 218 
 
 New Guinea : Kerepuna to Cautiok Point 
 
 Cloudy Bay 
 Dinner Island . 
 Trading \ 
 P : ■ m Island 
 Cape 
 Native Hon e with Pahmi 
 Teste Island . 
 
 220 
 
 221 
 
 224 
 22 t 
 224 
 224 
 225 
 
 NEW <it IOTSA : Yt i i l-i LSD LOT) Tin: TORBES 
 Si i;. uts. 
 
 Murray Island 
 
 Darnley Island 228 
 
 Motu-motu 229 
 
 Prow of a Canoe 
 
 SONS "i HOBABT. 
 
 \ borigines of Tasmania .... 
 Kangaroo Point, l rom Hobarl 
 The Shi ' er, Brown's River Road 
 Mount Wellington, from the Huon Road 
 
 Newtown 
 
 The Grand Stand, Elwick I ae . 
 
 iB 
 
 The Whim 
 
 \ Gold Rush . 
 
 Pros] ag 
 
 A Post-office ;it the Diggings 
 
 Breakfast on the Gold-field* 
 
 \ I: er 
 
 A Store at the D ■ 
 
 The Whip, " Mum up 
 
 l oking" . 
 Cradling and Panning 
 
 ■ ashing 
 Boring 
 
 " Timbering 
 Teetulpa Gold-field 
 
 Am i tmi. 
 
 155 
 
 • William Street 
 
 . 232 
 
 1... 
 
 Supreme Court .... 
 
 . 233 
 
 [60 
 
 ■ileal Gardens .... 
 
 . 233 
 
 I'll 
 
 Museum and Ai I Gallet s 
 
 . 233 
 
 164 
 
 The Rosary, Botanical Gardens 
 
 . •_•:!(; 
 
 
 ain in Botanical Gardens 
 
 . 237 
 
 
 City of Adelaide (Plan) . 
 
 240 
 
 
 Torrens Lake . 
 
 241 
 
 168 
 
 l'..rt Adelaide Lighthouse 
 
 . 242 
 
 169 
 . 172 
 
 P tarnation Tn 
 
 . 246 
 
 i. ; 
 . 176 
 
 B U LABA1 
 
 
 . 177 
 
 The 1 ... 
 
 . iM7 
 
 180 
 
 M it Bu Lai . 
 
 . 248 
 
 181 
 
 The "Corner 
 
 1 
 
 l-l 
 
 ight 
 
 
 I8G 
 
 Lake Wendouree 
 
 
 . 188 
 
 The Lal-Lal Falls . 
 
 
 189 
 
 The Post Office 
 
 
 191 
 
 I men's 11" Point . 
 
 
 192 
 
 The tin. bom Black Hill 
 
 261 
 
 
 Gold Mn i 
 
 . 262
 
 VI 11 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The Ei beka Stockade. paoe 
 
 The Eureka Stockad Monument (from the 
 
 Designs) ....... 265 
 
 Distant View of Ballarat, from Mount 
 
 Warrenheip 269 
 
 Monument to Diggers who were Killed in the 
 
 Rising 272 
 
 Monument to Soldiers who Fell at the 
 
 Stockade 273 
 
 Tin: Daily Life op the Bush. 
 
 A Horse ami Cattle Station 
 
 Milking 
 
 A Stockyard . . . . . 
 A Two-storeyei 1 House in the Bush 
 A Stockrider 
 
 Dt'NEDIN. 
 
 Tli.- Cargill Fountain 
 Princes Street . 
 
 Dunedin (porUimt -/>. 
 
 Knox Church .... 
 The High School, from Roslyn 
 The Town Hall, as designed . 
 The Botanical Gardens . 
 Niohol's Creek Falls 
 Looking Across the Harbour from the South 
 West 
 
 PAOE 
 
 28S 
 288 
 
 289 
 
 292 
 293 
 
 295 
 
 
 \ The Valley of the Hunter. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Colliers leaving Newcastle Harhour . . 296 
 
 276 
 
 "Nobby's" .... 
 
 
 276 
 
 The Bathing Place. Newcastle 
 
 
 . 2!l!> 
 
 277 
 
 Newcastle Harbour 
 
 
 . 300 
 
 280 
 
 The Reserve, Newcastle . 
 
 
 
 . 300 
 
 281 
 
 Newcastle, from •• Nobby V 
 Watt Street, Newcastle . 
 A Bush Track, Murrurundi 
 
 
 
 . 301 
 . 804 
 . 305 
 
 283 
 
 
 
 
 
 284 
 
 Murrurundi 
 
 
 
 
 LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 Sydney, from the South Head . . Frontispiece 
 Sydney Harbour, from Belle Vue Hill .To foci- p. 30 
 The " Block," Collins Street, Mel- 
 bourne .">4 
 
 The Pink Terrace, Rotomahana . . . • .. 90 
 
 A Cocoa-nut Plantation. Fiji 
 
 132 
 
 Attack on the Gold Escort between 
 
 Mclvor and Melbourne . . . To face p. 182 
 
 Sunrise at York Island, Torres Straits 202 
 
 The Band Stand and Rotunda. Adelaide .. .. L'42 
 
 A Mob of Cattle 274 
 
 The Town Belt, Dunedin 294 
 
 We are indebted to the following photographers for the assistance our artists 
 hare derived from their photographs in preparing the illustrations on the pages 
 mentioned below : — 
 
 To Mr. H. King (Sydney), for those on pp. 1. 4. 9, 11. and 20 ; to Mr. Lindt 
 (Melbourne), on pp. 44, 51, 52, 53, 55 ; to Messrs. Lomer & Co. (Brisbane), on p. 
 105 ; to Messrs. Duftt Bros. (Levuka). on pp. 117, 133. 136 : to Mr. H. H. BAILEY 
 (Hobart). on pp. 152, 153 ; to Messrs. Anson Bros. (Hobart), on pp. 157, 160, 164 : 
 to Mr. Winter (Hobart), on p. Itij ; and also to Messrs. Burton Bros. (Dunedin).
 
 CASSELL'S : 
 
 Picturesque Australasia. 
 
 SYDNEY: THE CITY. 
 
 The Approaches to the City — The Heads— The Harbour — The Gardens — Public Buildings— Hyde Park— Captain 
 Cook's Statue — The Streets — Steam Trams — Pitt and George Street — New I'ost Office — Chinese Quarter 
 —Circular Quay— History of Sydney Cove— The Tank Stream— The Town Hall— Peel Market. 
 
 HPHERE are two principal approaches to Sydney, the one by 
 
 • * -*- sea. the other by land. The express from Melbourne runs 
 
 H through, by way of Albury, in less than twentj hours, and t< «i- 
 
 JH those who sutler from sea-siekness the l'ailwa\ journey lias its 
 
 advantages. The entrance into Sydney by rail is, however, 
 
 dull, fiat, and unprofitable; whereas the approach bj sea is 
 
 full of interest, and creates a delight which ran never be 
 
 ^i^A forgotten The North and South Eeads of Sydney Harbour 
 
 stand separated by a mile of troubled waters. On the south 
 
 the '/rev and yellow sandstone cliffs of the coasl trend to a 
 
 point of little altitude, while the North Head is a held and 
 
 almost perpendicular cliff, conspicuous at a great distance because 
 
 of its height and its peculiarly uncompromising appearance. As the 
 
 incoming vessel enters the Heads her bow points directly towards 
 
 another bold rocky point only Bome three-quarters of a mile distant from the South 
 
 Head. This is Middle Head, the southern point of the entrance to Middle Harbour. To 
 
 anyone looking in from the outside ocean, this last-menti d le.idl.md appears to mark 
 
 u-l \l\
 
 2 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. (Sydney: 
 
 the limit of the land-locked waters, and it was this fact, probably, that led Captain Cook 
 to pass over the place as of small importance. Once inside the Heads, a wide and 
 apparently endless expanse of waters is disclosed, and as the vessel steams along the 
 channel to the south and west, innumerable wooded headlands, with their corresponding 
 
 hays, are passed in quick succession 
 
 No words can fitly describe the wonders of this magnificent scene; no pencil 
 can adequately picture its beauty. Anthony Trollope, writing of it, says: "I despair of 
 being able to convey to any reader my own idea of the beauty of Sydney Harbour. I 
 have seen nothing equal to it in the way of land-loeked scenery; nothing second to it. 
 Dublin Bay, the Bay of Spezia, New York, and the Cove of Cork, are all picturesquely 
 fine. Bantry Bay, with its nooks of sea running up to GlengarirV, is very lovely. But 
 they are not equal to Sydney, either in shape, in colour, or in variety ... It is so 
 inexpressibly lovely that it makes a man ask himself whether it would not he worth 
 his while to move his household gods to the eastern coast of Australia, in order that 
 he might look at it as long as he can look at anything." 
 
 The windings and turnings of this inland sea are virtually endless. The shore-line 
 is said to have been calculated, and to amount to not less than several hundred miles. 
 The map of Port Jackson also shows eighty-two well-marked hays and nine islands, 
 and each bay is a delight to the eyes, each island a jewel set in silver. Shark Island 
 is a beautiful spot, and of no inconsiderable size: hut, as it is used for a quarantine 
 ground for cattle, it is little visited and little known. Clark Island is a favourite pic- 
 nicking and fishing ground ; and a little nearer is the City Garden Island, which was once 
 truly a natural garden, but is now being fitted for a naval depot, and has lost much of 
 its beauty. Tradition has it that this was a favourite duelling ground in the old days 
 when the home regiments were stationed in Sydney, and it is said that certain skeletons 
 have been dug up here, which gives colour to the story. 
 
 Not far from Garden Island is Fort Denison, a small stone fort and Martello tower, 
 built on a low-lying reef; it is of no real value as a defence in these days of modern 
 improvements, and is no longer seriously reckoned among the harbour defences. The 
 best of these are stationed a little closer to the city, in Farm Cove, where the Nelson, 
 the Mini nda, and other men-of-war lie at anchor. Beyond the Nelson stretches the 
 north shore, and a few hundred yards astern of her peeps out a charming point of 
 land, which bears the curious name of Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, ^Irs. Macquarie being 
 the wife of one of our most popular early Governors. 
 
 The Botanical Gardens, of which a view is given on page 29, slope down gently 
 to the very edge of the water. These Gardens take their horseshoe form from the 
 Cove, and are among the most beautiful in the world, owing very much of their beauty 
 to Nature herself. Here may be seen almost every variety of plants of tropical and 
 semi-tropical growth, the magnificent Norfolk Island pine being specially prominent 
 Long, sloping, well-kept lawns of emerald-green invite repose, and, though the city is 
 not far distant, its noise is heard only as a gentle murmur, mingling pleasantly with the 
 wash of the sea on the low sea-wall which forms the northern border of the Gardens. 
 Just topping this wall may be seen the white wings of yachts, and the masts and
 
 TlIK I'llV. 
 
 FARM COVE. 
 
 colours of the men-of-war beyond Between us and them many a bright flower-bed and 
 many a graceful shrub break the long stretch of sunlit green, and over the whole is 
 felt the happy influence of the azure waters, sparkling and brimming over with delight. 
 
 Truly the people of Sydney are blessed in the possession of these Gardens. And 
 the blessing appears to be well appreciated. < >n Saturdays and Sundays, when the 
 working world is at rest, hundreds of men, women, and children may be sen enjoying 
 themselves here, for the place, fortunately, is within easy access of almost every pari of 
 the city, and within fifteen minutes' walk of W'ooloomooloo, where many of the poorer 
 population live. The favourite 
 walk is through the Domain, 
 round Macquarie's Point, and 
 back through the < rardens. This 
 Domain is a very fine park, 
 some eighty or more acres in 
 extent, and as it lies higher than 
 the Botanical < rardens, it presents 
 many points from which distant, 
 views may be obtained. On its 
 eastern face lie the quiet waters 
 of W'ooloomooloo Hay, in which 
 are reflected the pleasant villas 
 and gardens of Potts Point. Here 
 also are the bathing grounds, 
 fenced off from the hateful 
 shark, the bete noin of Australian 
 bathers, by secure palisadings. 
 To the south of the Domain 
 another public park, named after 
 the Eyde Park of the mother 
 country. Btretches away, with its 
 leaf} avenues and flower-walks, 
 over an area of some fifty acres. 
 Aeain, on the north, the I lom.iin 
 is bounded by the Inner Domain, which includes the well-kepl grounds of Government 
 Eouse. Government House itself stands on the western point of Farm Cove, Mrs. 
 Macquarie's Chair occupying the eastern point, while the Botanical Gardens lie extended 
 between From every part of these grounds the views obtained of the water are perfect 
 in Loveliness. 
 
 It is extremely difficult — and, in truth, well-nigh impossible to convej to nn< 
 who lias not visited Sydney any adequate idea of the beauties of it- scene*] The 
 pencil of the artist has done what pencil can do, but the divine glories of the 
 Sydney skies do not allow of reproduction < »n a bright sunny morning, such 
 as is enjoyed on at least six days out of everj seven, the waters ol the Barbour 
 
 ri.W OF I HE 11 LBBOI B.
 
 i A<-!'.I.I.s IMi'Tl-IJESQUE Al'STKALASIA. 
 
 ISvi.nev : 
 
 reflecl the brilliancy ami colour of the sky. Indeed, the colours are vivid to such a 
 degree that if we might imagine it possible for the artist to depict the very same 
 colours on lus canvas, the ordinary untravelled Englishman would denounce his painting 
 as unreal and such as cannot be seen in nature. But here they are repeated day after 
 day in all their glory. 
 
 " Tlio suu is warm, the sky is clear, 
 
 The waves arc dancing fast and bright; 
 Blue isles ami bluer mountains wear 
 The purple noon's transparent might; 
 The breath of the moist earth is light 
 Around its unexpended buds; 
 
 Like many a voice of one delight. 
 The winds.' the birds." the ocean floods. 
 The city's voice itself is soft like Solitude's." 
 
 This sunny gladness, this joy of earth and sky, is the one great characteristic of 
 life in Sydney. Nature here breathes this feeling of jubilancy into the hearts of men 
 continually, and it is not too much to say that the influence of her inspiration can 
 be discerned even amid the wear-and-tear of everyday life. How can it be otherwise 
 when she bestows such cheery greeting morning after morning as we go to work, and 
 blesses us as we return ? 
 
 This trait of genial brightness is everywhere noticeable, and if the Gardens and parks 
 are full of it, the famous Macquarie Street, which skirts them, is no less so. Macquarie 
 
 Street runs north and south from the water's edge past 
 the Government House Grounds and the Domain Gates, 
 and contains several important buildings. The Free 
 Public Library, the Colonial Secre- 
 tary's Office, the House of Assembly, 
 and the Legislative Council Chamber, 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 <G®V*-!rirwri)iici)ii1aJ=j[«i!Me 
 
 ' 
 
 ■
 
 The City.] 
 
 PUBLIC BUILDINGS 
 
 \l;M ( 0\ E. 
 
 the Sydney Eospital, 
 
 and the Mint are all 
 
 placed bere, and formerly, within the 
 
 Domain dates, stood the large and 
 
 costly (lardell Palace. This famous 
 
 building, which was used lor the 
 
 purposes of an exhibition, formed while 
 
 it stood a very striking object, and could 
 
 be seen from a threat distance by vessels 
 
 entering the harbour. lint, in L880 it was 
 
 accidentally burnt down, and rarely has Sydney 
 
 witnessed a grander conflagration. It was in the 
 
 early hours of the mornine;, ami as a high westerly 
 
 wind was blowing at the time, portions oi the burning building were carried by the gale 
 
 for more than a mile. Fortunately, the structure hail b\ that time served the purposes P r 
 
 which it was principally intended, and by far the greater pari of the exhibits had already 
 
 been removed. 
 
 The other buildings which have been mentioned, if not remarkable for beauty, ore 
 all of a substantia] character. The Colonial Secretary's Office is perhaps the finest 
 Another large Btone building, intended as an addition to the old Hospital, is in 
 course of erection Composed of tic Sydney .-a mist one, these buildings, aparl from their 
 other qualities, lend a pleasing touch of clour to the scene, and the warm yellows ami 
 reds form a happy contrasl with the dark green of the avenue which runs down the 
 centre of Hyde Pari beyond. This avenue is composed chiefly of the broad-li 
 
 Moreion Bay fig-trees, together with firs of various s| ies, In the warm summer
 
 G < ASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Sydnkv : 
 
 months the smooth asphalte path under the thick shade of these trees is a favourite 
 promenade for all classes, and in the mornings and evenings especially there may be 
 seen here one long continuous stream of persons of both sexes going to and returning 
 from the business of the day. This walk at one point passes close by the statue of 
 
 Captain Conk, the great exploivr being represented at the moment when the glad sight 
 of this glorious land first bursts upon him. Between this statue and the Museum rims 
 College Street, which skirts Hyde Park along its entire length. The College, from which 
 the street obtains its name, is the old Sydney Grammar School — an excellent school, 
 in which many of the most eminent men in the colony received their education. 
 Separated from the Grammar School by only a small garden stands the Sydney .Museum, 
 a severe and massive building, very well lighted, and admirably adapted for its purpose. 
 Eere may be seen specimens of all the birds, beasts, and fishes of Australia. Without, 
 a visit to some such collection it would be impossible to form any fair appreciation 
 of the country itself, or the forms of life which it contains. A short distance from 
 the Museum stands the Roman Catholic Cathedral, which promises to be, when finished, 
 the finest building in Sydney, and will be larger than many of the famous Cathedrals 
 of the mother country. It is being built slowly, but' then it is being built for all time. 
 Moreover, no debt is incurred, but little by little is added as the money is obtained. 
 
 From College Street it is only to step across Macquarie Street, and then we 
 commence the easy decline of King Street, which, running east and west, and crossing 
 Phillip, Elizabeth, Pitt, and George Streets, thus passes through the centre of the city 
 till it reaches the waters of Darling Harbour. Near the eastern end of King Street 
 stands St. James's Church and the Supreme Court House, both ugly buildings, but 
 interesting because of their connection with the history of the town and colony. 
 ( nt'ortunately, while both are ugly and interesting, they differ from each other in 
 one respect. The former, which we may describe as belonging to the "Early Australian" 
 order of architecture, is at any rate well suited for the purposes for which it is 
 intended. The Supreme Court House is altogether unsuitable — small, badly lighted, 
 and bad for sound. It is, indeed, in every way inferior to many of the Court Houses 
 in the small country towns of the colony. 
 
 Along one frontage of the Supreme Court, and at right angles to King Street, 
 runs Elizabeth Street, with its tram-lines. The tram-cars, heavy and hideous, are drawn 
 by steam motors. From the Bridge Street terminus they run to almost all the suburbs. 
 even as tar as to Botany and Coogee, and the system is still being constantly extended. 
 When first introduced, these steam trams were the cause of many accidents, and from 
 a section of the public there has from the first been a constant outcry against them; 
 but the convenience of the majority is greatly served by their use, and now, wdien 
 accidents do occur, they are in most cases due to the negligence of the sufferers. 
 For any visitor to Sydney who has only a limited amount of time at his disposal, these 
 trams afford an excellent means of seeing the different parts of the city. Mounted on 
 the top of a Bondi, "Waverley, Coogee, or Botany car, a stranger may during the trip see 
 ;i \ei\- considerable portion of the city, and form some idea of its extent and of the 
 nature of the surrounding country; and, should he choose any of the three first
 
 The Citv.] 
 
 PITT STREET AN'D GEORGE STREET. 
 
 named, he will obtain on the way most beautiful bird's-eye views of Sydney ami the 
 blue mountains beyond with the blue waters of Botany Bay and the dark foliage of 
 the National Park stretching far to the south. On his return, he should gel off the 
 tram at the intersection of Elizabeth and Kins Streets, and walk down the latter to 
 see Pitt Street and George Street. These are the two principal thoroughfares of 
 the city, and contain many of the large business warehouses. Both, running more 
 or less parallel to each other, commence from Dawes Street and the waters of the 
 Sydney Cove, and extend through the city till they reach the suburbs of Red fern 
 and 1 Darlington. 
 
 ATHLETIC BPOETS, UOOBE 1'AKK (ji. Ill 
 
 Here, more than anywhere, 'be imagination is carried back over the past hundred 
 ye.u-s, and the mind is struck with the contrast between the place as it is now and as it 
 was then. Then the ground bad only been hurriedly cleared, and a few small huts 
 
 marked the lines now known as Pitt ami George Streets. Between these a small stream 
 
 flowed quietly down into the waters of the Harbour. It was Long known as the 'laid; 
 
 stream, from the numerous tanks which were placed there by the colonists for the 
 purpose of storing water as a supply in seasons of drought Now this old stream has 
 vanished underground, and, bricked into the form of a tunnel, serves to carrj off the 
 
 drain I 
 
 Thousands of tons of sandstone, bricks, and mortar have been reared above it. and 
 on both sides, into public offices, warehouses, and shops From early dawn till midnight 
 a ceaseless traffic passrs. and during business hours the noise of omnibuses, hansom cabs, 
 and vehicles of every description, and the crush of foot-passengers on the pavemi
 
 s 
 
 I ^SSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Sydney : 
 
 bear a close resemblance to the scenes characteristic of the capital of the mother country. 
 Here is. indeed, a little London, differing from the old metropolis chiefly in the absence 
 <>!' smoke, and darkness, and fog. Sometimes, indeed, there may be, to some tastes, a, 
 little too much sun: but, if there be, the long lines of verandah afford an excellent 
 protection From end t<> end of all the principal streets, and not only in the principal 
 streets but in many of the smaller lanes and byways, strong, substantial verandahs 
 of considerable height extend across the entire width of the pavements, so that in 
 the middle of summer, when the sun is highest, it is possible to walk for miles 
 without exposing oneself to its rays. in rainy weather also these awnings are a 
 great protection ; and under the heavy tropical rains which are not infrequent in Sydney 
 this is an important matter. These uses, however, are only incidental, for the chief 
 
 TUA.M-CAE. 
 
 object of the verandahs is, doubtless, to protect the goods displayed in the windows 
 of the tradespeople. The people themselves, of both sexes, conform closely to the 
 English fashions of dress, and present in this point no marked peculiarities for 
 observation. By the men, even in the summer months, tall black hats and black 
 coats are commonly worn, and those items which in England are generally regarded 
 as necessary parts of a Sydney outfit, viz., white ducks and helmet, are here seldom 
 seen. In the country, helmets and slouch hats are frequently worn ; but in Sydney 
 such a head-dress would at present be regarded as outre. Perhaps before long the 
 custom may change. At present, at any rate, the fact remains that in the general 
 view of a Sydney street these reminders of a warm climate are not by any means 
 conspicuous. 
 
 Probably, the best course for a visitor who wishes to understand the city of Sydney 
 is to take a view of it from the top of one of the many towers of large buildings 
 Of these the most remarkable is that belonging to the new Post Office, an immense
 
 PI i-.i.ic BUILDINGS OF 81 I'M V
 
 10 
 
 CASSELT/S I'K'TI'ItlCSQT-K AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [SYDNKV : 
 
 structure of warm-tinted sandstone, with one face to George Street ariv. one to Pitt 
 Street The tower is some two hundred and fifty feet in height, and from the top, 
 which is easily reached, a most extensive view may he obtained both of the city 
 and of the harbour. George Street is overlooked for the greater part of its length, 
 and at its far extremity the extensive buildings of the Sydney University stand up 
 boldly against the sky. Should the ascent of the Post Office tower be considered too 
 
 $Val*er& 
 
 PLAN* OF THE CITY. 
 
 arduous an undertaking, similar views may be obtained from the tops of some of the 
 Large furniture warehouses, where a comfortable lift carries the visitor to his lofty point 
 
 of view. 
 
 At the northern end of George Street we come into what is known as Lower George 
 Street. Here it is that the Chinese residents most do congregate, and the locality has 
 thus come to bear the name of the Chinese Quarter. The roadway on both sides is 
 bordered by Chinese stores, alternating with English public-houses; and scattered here 
 and there, with entrances chiefly from the byways and alleys, are the opium dens. 
 Over these the authorities keep a constant and salutary supervision, checking in great
 
 Tiif. City.] 
 
 THE CTRCULAB QUAY. 
 
 11 
 
 measure the habits for which 
 the < !hinese are noted Still, 
 gambling, opium-eating and 
 smoking, and vices of every 
 sort are continually carried 
 on, in spite of all the \ igi- 
 lance and activity of the 
 police, and, for those who 
 are interested in such 
 
 Tin: P0S1 OFFICE. 
 
 phenomena, constitute one of the sights of 
 Sydney. The foul plague of Leprosy now, 
 as in old time, perhaps the must fearful, 
 c riuiiily the most relentless, of diseases — has 
 been introduced by this people here, as in 
 America and in every other portion of the 
 globe in which they have been allowed to 
 settla But the Government medical au- 
 thorities are much on the alert, and on the 
 first suspicion of the disease, and before the 
 symptoms have had time to develop, the 
 patient is removed to the Little Hay Hos- 
 pital, and there secluded from all contact 
 with the outside world. 
 
 The northern end of Lower George 
 Street brings us to the Circular Quay, 
 
 close to that part of it where the Peninsular and Oriental steamers are usually 
 berthed. The sketch given on page L3 is taken from a part of Dawes Point which is 
 still further north than this, and shows the long reach of the Quay. This is the baj 
 known to the first colonists as Sydney Cove, and chosen bj them on account of its 
 depth and easy anchorage. Everywhere, close to the verj Bhore-line, the chart marks 
 not Less than four fathoms. In the immediate foreground is a portion of the old 
 and useless Dawes Poinl Battery. In the middle distance the Brisbane steamers 
 lie alongside, and in the background on the left of the picture, and on the 
 eastern hank of Sydnej Cove, stand some of the wool stores; behind these rise the 
 
 \ i -i 1BULE or Tin: TOWS n.w.i..
 
 12 
 
 CASMXl.s 1'IOTHESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Sydney : 
 
 
 
 -~§S i|h 
 
 
 
 
 if* 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ ~~ 
 
 1=1 
 
 
 -4 
 
 
 £S 
 
 
 ■', 
 
 
 jj 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 j^E 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 turrets of Government Bouse and the Leafy grounds of the Domain. The Circular 
 Quay itself is always full of life. The large vessels of the Peninsular and Oriental 
 Company and the Messageries steamers, and the hundreds of small steamboats carrying 
 passengers from all parts of the Harbour, present a brilliant and pleasing scene. 
 
 After feasting the eye on 
 all this movement and busy 
 life, it is interesting to read 
 the account of the same Kay 
 given in the history pub- 
 lished in 1798 by David 
 Collins, a .Judge Advocate 
 and Secretary of the Colony. 
 According to the description 
 of this author, "the spot 
 chosen for the landing-place 
 was at the head of the Cove 
 (Sydney Cove), near the run 
 of fresh water, which stole 
 silently along through a very 
 thick wood, the stillness of 
 which had then, for the first 
 time since the Creation, been 
 interrupted by the rude 
 sound of the labourer's axe.'' 
 The " run of fresh water " 
 here referred to, afterwards 
 called the Tank stream, is 
 shown in the plan of Sydney 
 Cove in Governor Phillip's 
 narrative of his voyage to 
 Botany Bay, published in 
 1789, nine years previous to 
 the account of David Collins. 
 This plan, which is dated 
 July, 1788, shows the waters 
 of the Harbour extending 
 much farther inland than they do at present — as far almost as the spot on which the 
 Sydney Morning EeroM Office now stands. Here, too, the Tank is seen flowing into the 
 Harbour waters, and forming a broad estuary, with sandy beaches. The whole of this, as 
 we have already said, has long since been covered with buildings, and, as far as physical 
 appearances go, no trace remains of what the place was in the past. Yet, alter reading 
 these descriptions of Sydney as it was, and examining the old pictures of the place, it is 
 easy, by paying attention to the natural slope of the ground, to trace the course of the old 
 
 ARRIVAL OF THE ENGLISH MAIL AT THE POST OFFICE.
 
 Thk City.) 
 
 FESTIVITIES. 
 
 i:: 
 
 Tank stream for at. least, a part of its distance. In Bridge Street the indications are 
 quite clear, for mi either side there is a slope down to where the old Bridge stood 
 
 .Must of the buildings of Sydney have already been described, but two still remain, 
 both of which deserve mention. The first is the Town Hall, the exterior of which 
 bas not secured universal admiration. The second is Peel Market, which presents a scene 
 full of human interest. Ibiv are not only buyers and sellers, but, disinterested spectators 
 who have no thought of buying, but go only to see and be seen. The climate of Sydney 
 tempts every one out of doors, and in the long evenings hundreds and thousands turn 
 out for a stroll. On summer evenings, and especially on Saturday, the crowds in the 
 principal streets are a sight worth seeing. On such nights the pavements are fax too 
 narrow to hold the people, who swarm out into the roadway till omnibus and cab 
 traffic is well-nigh stopped. At no time during the week are the streets so thronged, 
 for people come from all the surrounding suburbs, and swarm to see the various 
 street shows, and to listen to the music of the street bands, some of which are ly no 
 means to be despised. The scene is a gay one, and the hearts of the people are "lad, 
 and Sydney on these occasions, as on all others, maintains her character as the gaj 
 and joyous city of the South, whose pleasures cannot be understood until they are 
 experienced, nor its beauties realised until they are seen. 
 
 I III. CIKCl LAB '
 
 K, ^y 
 
 A REGATTA, SYDNEY HARBOUR. 
 
 SYDNEY: THE SUBURBS. 
 
 Coogee Bay— Maroulira Ba.v— The North Head— The South Head 
 — Long Bay — Botany Bay — Little Bay — Hospital for Lepers 
 — Point Sutherland — Illawarra — The University — Newtown 
 — Parramatta — The Champion Course — Ryde — Old Govern- 
 ment House — "Watson's Bay — The Gap — Wreck of the Dun- 
 bar — Middle Harbour — Manly — Double Bay and Rose Bay. 
 
 r T , HE suburbs of Sydney are as varied as they arc 
 
 -*- numerous and delightful There are harbour 
 
 suburbs and river suburbs, inland suburbs and coast 
 
 suburbs, suburbs of wood and suburbs of brick and 
 
 mortar. They are so numerous that it is no easy 
 
 "ts^ task to remember them, and so varied that it is 
 
 impossible to give any idea of their beauties. It 
 
 would, indeed, be difficult to find an}- town so gifted as Sydney is in its surroundings. 
 
 London lias its Brighton, fifty miles distant, and yet highly appreciated. But Sydney 
 
 is surrounded with a number of miniature Brightens all within a distance of some 
 
 five or six miles. A circle drawn from the Post Office as a centre with a six mile 
 
 radius would take in Bondi and "Waverley, Congee, and all the coast between. Take 
 
 Coogee Bay as an example. The tram runs down from the City terminus, in Bridge 
 
 Street, in less than three-quarters of an hour, skirting two sides of Hyde Park, and 
 
 running through the entire length of Moore Park — a favourite resort of those who are 
 
 given to athletics — and then between the Race ('nurse and the Water Reserve, so that the 
 
 journey is a pleasure in itself. Passing through Randwick, which will be afterwards 
 
 described, the tram sunn commences to descend the easy slopes of the hills which run down
 
 The Si-burim.) f'OOCEE. 15 
 
 to the sea. A sudden curve, and the beautiful Bay of Coogee is displayed. The beach 
 itself is small — barely half a mile in length — but composed of the finest golden -and, with 
 a gentle slope down to the water. Looking out to sea on the left, to the north of the 
 Bay, one sees a rocky promontory running out into the water. It is of no great height, but 
 is remarkable for its beauty. Under that overhanging ledge is a natural seat —a favourite 
 resort, where one may sit in safety and watch the huge breakers dashing themsi 
 upon the reef below. This reef runs out for some distance, and exactly parallel to it is 
 another ledge of rocks of equal length, distant from the first some hundred feet At the 
 seaward end of these reefs a line of sunken rocks serves as a barrier to keep out the 
 sharks and other things of danger, and within this, and between the reefs, lies the most 
 charming basin which it has ever been the writer's lot to behold. No such bathing- 
 places exists anywhere along this coast : and the old watering-places of the mother country, 
 Brighton and Eastings, Ramsgate, Scarborough, and Tenby, have no place that can be 
 compared with it. Whether in calm or storm this Coogee basin is equally delightful. 
 Art has assisted Nature, and years ago the rocks were cut and hollowed out, and the 
 depth of the basin much increased, so that now, even in the lowest tides, the bather 
 can dive off the rocks into a good depth of water, while in a high tide there is not 
 less, in some places, than from eighteen to twenty feet 
 
 But the best time to see the basin is when there is a good wind from the south and 
 east. After an easterly gale a long swell sets in, reaching right across the Bay from one 
 of its headlands to the other. .Mere than half a mile away the swell may be seen rolling 
 in, and as it sweeps onward, the reef forming the seaward barrier of the bathing-place seems 
 to brace itself up to receive the shock. The wave, upraised, dashes itself madly against 
 the rocks, the water shoots up to a height of thirty or forty feet, and falls in snow-white 
 foam into the basin Tens of water thus falling at a time, it requires a moderately good 
 swimmer to battle against the weight ; but after the first fall there is little risk, and it 
 is easy to avoid this first fall by diving to the bottom. New and then an incautious 
 or inexperienced bather is caught by such a wave, and is lifted like a straw and carried 
 over the landward reef; but accidents are very rate, and the basin will always retain 
 its supremacy over all the places along the coast. On the opposite side of the Bay is 
 the ladies' bathing-place, where a lamentable accident once occurred, three ladies being 
 washed out to sea b\ the rebound of a wave, and drowned. But all danger of such 
 
 a casualty has now been provided against Half a mile from the beach is a low rockj 
 
 island, over which, after a gale, the seas completely sweep; thus it forms a most 
 charming object in the genera] view. This island was evidently in former ages a part 
 of the headland just to the south of the Hay, and in low tides a sunken reel' may still 
 be observed connecting the two, and affording an unmistakable indication of the 
 
 extensive i •Ue|-o,|eh 1 1 Mill s of the sea Upon tile land at this spot. 
 
 Pleasant villas are dotted everywhere on the surrounding hills, and half-waj between 
 Coogee and Etandwick stands the palace of the Bishop of Sydney, nestling amid its leafy 
 surroundings. Coogee in years to come will doubtless be thickly built over, but at 
 present its residents have plenty of breathing space. All round it there are most 
 delightful walks and drives Take, i'or instance, the walk to the South Head of Maroubra
 
 1G 
 
 CASSBLL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Sydney : 
 
 Bay. Both headlands of Maroubra Bay arc noted for the grandeur of their rock 
 scenery. The sandstone here is the same as it is along the coast to the north, but 
 tor some reason which it would be difficult to explain the sea has washed it into 
 more fantastic shapes and bolder faces. The North Head is fully three hundred feet 
 high, coming down sheer into deep water. At its base, in a position which is hardly 
 accessible even in the lowest tide, is a Large, low cavern, reaching far back into the 
 recesses of the rock, and the resort of creatures to which imagination may lend terrific 
 attributes. Above the entrance to this cave, and about half-way up the face of the rock, 
 is a sloping ledge, which juts out further than the rest of the promontory. This is the 
 favourite spot of the most, intrepid of the coast fishermen, for from this Ledge a man 
 may throw his weighted Line far into the depths of water, and into a well-known 
 fishing-ground. The wonder is that the man himself ever gets back alive, for, looked 
 at from one side, it appears impossible for him to keep his footing, and if he once lost 
 it nothing could save him. Not far above his head, at the very verge of the summit, 
 is a monumental stone to mark the spot where a woman slipped and was launched 
 into eternity. Many schnappers and other fish are caught both here and on the 
 Southern Headland, while the long stretch of sand between the two is the place for 
 mullet and whiting. The South Headland is barely so high as that to the North, 
 but is still more curiously marked; and whilst it is impossible, save to a man 
 with the agility of a goat or chamois, to pass round the face of the latter, in the 
 
 ^ 
 
 COOGEE BAY.
 
 Tin: Suburbs.] 
 
 lox<; HAY. 
 
 17 
 
 name 
 
 viii<_r 
 
 A I IX. 
 
 ~~] former a path, 
 
 cut by i h e 
 waves, wiiH Is 
 for a full half- 
 m Lie u n <1 e c 
 overhang] ng 
 mountains of 
 rock. There is 
 i\ one spur here 
 which is known 
 as •■ The B] 
 Lngs," and this 
 ly worthy of a visit. 
 a somewhat fanci- 
 the place poetically 
 designation from the 
 Liver spray which are 
 •■instantly falling here. The sandstone 
 Mocks arc jointed with great uniformity, 
 and have worked into immense masses, with 
 Hat faces, placed at right angles to each 
 The effect of this is that a huge perpendicular shoot has been formed, so that even 
 on a calm day, when there is but slight motion in the water, the waves rushing 
 against the faces of the rock rind here a vent, and are thrown up to a considerable 
 height, affording a beautiful sight as they fall and rise again. In rough weather it 
 is mis. if,- i,, go near the place, for the high seas sweep not only lure, bul tar overhead, 
 and the hare tables of water-worn rock above shov the height to which the water 
 
 reaches. 
 
 A steep climb now brings us to the top, ami a good scramble through the scrub 
 for something like a mile will suffice to reach tin- calmer shores of Long Bay. This, 
 as its name implies, is an inlet of unusual length, and somewhat narrow. In cons,,,!, 
 of its peculiar shape, the seas which lash the slimes of Maroubra, < 'oogee, ami Bondi Bays 
 are here somewhat quieted, and this circumstance ._rj\vs a peaceful character to the scenery. 
 The southern ami western shores are well wooded, ami through the woods a good 
 military road leads down to the verj In .eh. Thick beds of bracken line the sides of 
 
 the road, a small cottage or two peeping through the w Is show signs of encroaching 
 
 civilisation, and the fisherman's boats rock themselves invitingly upon the waters. Fol- 
 lowing the southern shore for a short distance, the visitor will find one of the few 
 memorials of the time, not very loir.'- ago, when all these shores, from South Eead to 
 Long Baj and beyond to Botany, were the favourite haunts of the aborigines. Bere, 
 
 under an overhanging ledge of sandstone, which crops out Strangely in the middle of a 
 
 grassy slop,, in the wo.nl. was the " gibber-gunyah," or stone dwelling, of the Mack fellows. 
 When, not long ago, the floor of this "gunyah" was dug up with pickaxe and shovel,
 
 IS CASSELLS I'lCTURESyCE AUSTRALASIA. IBvdket: 
 
 many stone axes and spear-heads, together with bones of various descriptions, were 
 discovered. In all probability many still would be found there if close search were made. 
 At Bondi similar weapons, with skulls and other remains, have frequently been dug up; 
 and the collector of curiosities of this sort would find all this coast a good hunting- 
 ground. 
 
 Leaving the Gove behind, and following the coast-line, the visitor soon arrives 
 within sight of Little Bay, the smallest and prettiest of all the bays along this part of 
 the coast. The coast-line trends down on either side to a point, and when the two sides 
 have approached within thirty or forty yards of each other they suddenly open out on 
 the land side into the form of a lar^'o horseshoe, girdled with a strip of beautiful sand. 
 Bere the Coast Eospital has been built. Fronting the sea stand the neat wood and 
 iron buildings, with their broad verandahs, designed for the patients. The thought occurs 
 that here a man might make himself very much at home, and enjoy Ins quiet holiday, 
 even though in quarantine. The patients, indeed, do enjoy themselves, and find amuse- 
 ment in bathing, and also in fishing, for there is much of this to be done. One part 
 of the ground alone preserves a sombre and most melancholy interest, namely, that 
 devoted, to the lepers, who, fortunately, are few in number. The whole establishment, 
 at the time of my visit, consisted of some six individuals, all Chinese. These, in all stages 
 of the dread disease, live in small corrugated iron houses, and are supposed to cook and 
 generally manage for themselves. Those in the early stages of the malady would by the 
 ordinary observer be hardly recognised as ill at all, but the nervous twitchings and the 
 redd, ned skin drawn tightly over the joints tell their tale to the seeing eye. That old man 
 Lying on the bed has lost the use of his limbs, which are drawn together convulsively, 
 while the hands are bent and twisted into claws. His eyes start from their sockets in 
 agony, and his lips refuse all utterance, but still can mumble a doubtful prayer for rum. 
 Rum is a -feat treat to these poor outcasts, and they get a little of it every day. There 
 is no hope for them: the disease is absolutely incurable, and they know it. 
 
 Still on and on, over the breezy hill-sides knee deep in the ti-tree scrub, and in 
 less than an hour we are on the borders of Botany Bay. A few minutes' walk brings 
 us to the monument erected to the great French explorer, the brave, gallant, and sad- 
 fated La Perouse. This monument, standing on the very shores of the Bay, and 
 surrounded with trees and flowers, marks the last spot whence La Perouse was heard 
 of. Hard by lie the remains of the naturalist attached to the Astrolabe, the 
 scientific Abbe Receveur, who was one of the first white men wdro left their bones on 
 Australian soil. 
 
 From these memorial grounds an uninterrupted view is obtained of the larg 
 expanse of the Bay, with the immense length of Lady Robinson's Beach on the right 
 hand : opposite, on the far side of tic Hay, are the leafy knolls of the National Park, 
 and to the left of this the entrance between the Heads, while .just inside the South Head 
 is the historic Point Sutherland. After feasting the eyes on this extensive view, it is 
 interesting to refer to the account given by Governor Phillip of his landing in January, 
 1788. "At the very first landing," he writes, "an interview with the natives took place. 
 They were all armed, but on seeing the Governor approach with signs of friendship alone
 
 The Suburbs.] ILLAWAIM! A. 19 
 
 ;ii i* I unarmed, they readily returned his confidence by laying down their weaj They 
 
 were perfectly devoid of clothing, yet seemed fond of ornaments, putting the beads and 
 n-d baize that were given them on their beads or necks, and appearing pleased to wear 
 them." From other sources also we learn that the shores of this Bay were much 
 frequented in early times by the native's, whereas now, throughout the colony of New 
 South Wales, they have almost wholly disappeared. Very rarely are they seen any- 
 where along this coast or near Sydney, except on those periodical occasions when a 
 few of them come in to ohtain yearly gifts of blankets and other necessaries. Probably 
 in the old days they were attracted to this Day by the excellent fishing-grounds which 
 still exist. 
 
 Boats are kept at various places along its shores, and weather-beaten ancienl 
 mariners are constantly ready, for a valuable consideration, to show the inexperienced where 
 to throw the line. While in the boat it is well to row over to the other side and see 
 Point Sutherland, a place named after one of Captain Cook's seamen who happened to die 
 here. Eere it was that, in 1770, Cook first unfurled the British flag, and the spot is marked 
 by a small obelisk bearing as an inscription a short extract from the explorer's journal, 
 in the following words: "28th April, a.i>. 1770. We discovered a bay ami anchored 
 under the south shore, about two miles within the entrance, in six fathoms of water, the 
 south point bearing S.E. and the north point E." All the ground round this spot, 
 before many years ate past, will probably be covered by the rapidly approaching tide of 
 population Already large blocks of land have been cut tip and sold, and as the district 
 immediately surrounding the city is too much crowded, the surplus population is sure 
 to distribute itself along the shores. Between half a mile and a mile inland from the 
 western shore of Botany Hay runs the Illawarra Railway Line, ami all along this line, 
 as far as the National Park and the Waterfall, settlement has commenced, whilst, 
 llurstville and Kogarah have already grown into suburbs of no slighl importance. 
 
 It may be said of almost an}- of the suburbs of Sydney that thej aiv capable, in 
 a similar manner, of indefinite extension, and in this fact lies rich promise of future 
 greatness. To illustrate this characteristic of Sydney, imagine a common carriage-wheel 
 
 Let the axle represenl the waters of the Harbour, and the spoke-, so maii\ Ion- arms 
 of sea r unning up into the land, and the spaces between the spokes the land itself 
 Sydney and its suburbs are at present gathered close around tic axle, and all the 
 remainder of tic spaces is naturally perfectly adapted for expansion For example, this 
 
 Illawarra Railway has opened up the magnificent district of the Illawarra. with soil and 
 
 natural characteristics quite different from those of the country round Sydi 
 
 "Tin' Garden of New South Wales'' is the name which, by common consent, has 
 been given to this district, which consists of a more or less narrow strip of agricul- 
 tural and pastoral land, lying between tic- hills and the sea Its Qorthem end ina\ 
 
 lie reckoned an g tic suburbs of Sydney. Stanwell Park, the northernmost part 
 
 of the Illawarra district, is a most delightful Bpot, Here the sandstone hills, instead 
 
 of descending by gradual decline to tic sea, send "in their bold faces from three to 
 
 six hundred feet or more in the sheer. Two of these bold promontories encli 
 gentle curve of silver} sand, which alone divides the boisterous sea from the still w.
 
 20 
 
 r\"i:i.i.'s i'ic"iTi;i>nri; austkalasia. 
 
 [Sydney : 
 
 iif the lagoon (i.i tin- landward side. Standing on the sandy beach, and Looking to the 
 south, the eye can, on a clear day, easily discern the five rocky islands of Kiama on 
 the distant horizon. Between them and the spectator innumerable points of land oppose 
 themselves I i the snowy breakers, while hard by he sees the most dangerous part of the 
 coach road to Bulli, as it winds round the perpendicular face of the Coal Clin'. Let 
 him turn round now and look inland, to the west. The unrippled waters of the lagoon 
 reflect every detail of the sky and the well-timbered hills beyond: the tall, blue gums 
 point downwards to the apparently unfathomable depths, the fairy tree-ferns, the 
 brilliant cabbage palms, the giant lilies are all mirrored there; and so beautiful is the 
 
 fi M " ( ; VT\ 
 
 If, I ■■' - 
 
 Milton: 
 
 M 
 
 uRH| 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 sight that the eye lingers, and hesitates to look beyond. But when the face is lifted 
 there are the hills, stately and supreme, capped with the forms of ruined battlements 
 and turrets, such as this sandstone so frequently assumes. Such a scene makes the 
 heart glad. As yet, too, the place possesses a charm which, it is to be feared, it 
 must shortly lose — the charm of perfect rest and quiet. Although it is only some thirty 
 or forty miles from Sydney, civilisation has not yet become obtrusive, and the dweller 
 in towns, harassed by the anxiety of business, can here obtain the repose of which 
 he stands in need. Certainly there is nothing like it anywhere nearer Sydney, for 
 the altogether sufficient reason that everywhere round Sydney the sandstone reigns 
 supreme. 
 
 But let us return to the city by rail, passing over the Cook's River Bridge, and 
 into the Sydney terminus, which lies in the middle of the suburb of Redfern. Hard
 
 I. CLONTARF, PROM .-IIK1.I, COV] MRS MAI V UUES CHAIB 9 k SYDNEY PERRY STEAMER 
 
 I PARRAM \ l I \ I ROM mi P \KK.
 
 22 
 
 I ISSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [SVDNEY : 
 
 by stand the old Exhibition buildings, surrounded by the grounds of Prince Alfred 
 Park, and opposite to the <>M burying-ground of Sydney. The Part is much needed 
 here, for the whole surrounding districl is far too thickly populated, and many of the 
 houses of the poor are little better than hovels. About half a mile farther from Sydney arc 
 the University Grounds, enclosing the extensive University Buildings, which undoubtedly 
 deserve more than a mere casual mention. The building is in the Elizabethan style, and 
 consists of a large centre and wings. Placed on a slight, eminence, it is one of the 
 must remarkable objects presented to the eye in any general view of the city. The 
 Institution itself dates from the year 1850, when it was incorporated by Act of Parlia- 
 ment. Very large sums of money have already been spent upon it, and. while principally 
 endowed by the Mate, it has been must generously supported by private donations and 
 
 THE CHAMPION Col i 
 
 bequests, one bequest alone, that of Mr. Challis, amounting to no less than £180,000. To 
 any visitor the .Museum of Antiquities must prove an object of interest, and the Greal 
 Ball will always be a sight worth seeing. In it is a very fine, large organ, with some 
 three thousand pipes, and frequent recitals are given here on Saturday afternoons for 
 tic public benefit. 
 
 A very little distance south of the University Reserve is the suburb of Newtown, dusty 
 and populous; and beyond that again, Enmore, Petersham, and Marrickville, of all of 
 which little need be said; for, though these places may serve a useful purpose, they are 
 none of them picturesque or delightful to the eye. Probably, the chief reason why so many 
 people have come to live in these suburbs is that they are so readily accessible, tram- 
 ways, trains, and omnibuses all running there frequently. A little farther along the line 
 of the main Southern Railway lies Ashfield, then Burwood, and beyond that Parramatta, 
 Now in the old days this last was a place of considerable importance. It is almost 
 as old as Sydney itself, dating from the month of November, 17SS, when, as Collins 
 tells the story, "His Excellency the Governor, with the Surveyor-General, two officers, 
 and a small party of marines, went up to choose the spot, and to mark out the
 
 '1 in Si 
 
 Tin: CHAMPION COURSE. 
 
 L>:i 
 
 OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE, PAIiliAMATTA. 
 
 ground for a redoubt and 
 other necessary buildings : 
 and, two days after, a 
 party of ten convicts, 
 beine; chielly people who 
 understood the business 
 of cultivation, were sent 
 up to him, and a spot 
 upon a rising ground, 
 which His Excellency 
 named [lose Hill, was 
 ordered to be cleared for 
 the firsl habitations. The 
 
 soil at this spot was of a still' 
 
 clayey nature, free from that 
 rock which everywhere ob- 
 structed the surface at Sydney Cove, 
 
 will clothed with timber, and unob- 
 structed by underwood." The place 
 still presents the same characteristics, 
 
 ami the country immediately sur- 
 rounding is occupied by farms and 
 
 orchards and country seats in great numbers. But, though the distance from Sydney 
 is only some fifteen miles, and though a pleasanter place could not be desired, 
 Parramatta is not much used for residence by business men. because of the delays 
 of the journey. < 'n account of the d&our which the railway is compelled to make. 
 and because of the many intervening Stoppages, the trains take nearly three-cpiailers 
 
 of an hour to perform the journey, while the trip down the river by steamer, although 
 
 a \ery pleasant excursion, takes a lull hour and a half. Starting either from the 
 bottom of Kin- Street, or from the Circular Quay, the boat passes close to Goat Island, 
 rounds Long Nose Point, and then, taking a turn, skirts alone; by Cockatoo Island, 
 on which stands the reformatory for girls, nears Spectacle Island, with its powder 
 magazine, and soon enters on the waters of the Champion Course, the scene of the 
 
 BTOrld lamed sculling matches between llanlati and Beach. When such a race takes 
 
 place, the scene In re presented is almost unique, for everyone comes by water, and 
 hundreds of private steam launches and sailing yachts, with large public steamers, 
 rowing-boats, and every description of craft, croud up this river, which, about this 
 point, is from a quarter to bait a mile across, while tlie low, rockj shore-, on either 
 side are as one long ant-heap in appearance. Near here is a large iron bridge, con- 
 necting the two shores. On either bank pleasant villas, with long, si th, emerald 
 
 lawns, descending to the water are seen in considerable numbers, while in the back- 
 ground the large extent of country, covered with its original wood, gives some idea 
 of the quantity of space still left tor the encroachment of the Sydney population
 
 24, 
 
 CASSBLL'S I'HTntKs.iri-: atstrala-i \. 
 
 [Sydney : 
 
 A little further up the river comes Etyde, a small village on the northern bank, 
 and here the eye is caught by the beautiful dark green of the orange orchards. \n 
 the orange season one is reminded of Andrew Marvell's line — 
 
 " Like golden lamps in a green night." 
 
 The river is widening out to a considerable breadth, and extensive growths of the 
 mangrove mark the many shallows. The steamer seems to turn towards every point 
 of the compass until mnv it appears as if there were no outlet; but as the vessel 
 advances an opening is perceived, and, passing through this, we arc soon at our 
 
 LIGHTHOUSE OX SOUTH HEAD. 
 
 destination. This, however, is not yet Parramatta. A small but comfortable private 
 tramway meets the steamer, and, after a run of a few minutes, lands the passengers in 
 the very heart of the town. This line ends at the gates of the Public Park, and, after 
 passing through these, a short walk along the pleasant avenue, by the water-side, brings 
 the pedestrian to the old Government House, now- degraded into a lodging-house. This 
 venerable place is pictured in Collins's History, and, putting aside the modern improve- 
 ments which have been made to the house, the general appearance of the site is very 
 similar now to what it was nearly a century ago 
 
 Soon the road curves and Lads back to the town, and now a short drive takes 
 us to the orange orchards. These orchards, which extend for a considerable distance 
 on both banks of the river, are all arranged on much the same pattern. The trees
 
 The Suburbs.] 
 
 WATSON'S BAY. 
 
 25 
 
 are planted in regular rows, carefully dug and manured, and the dark green foliage 
 aided by the contrasted colour of the fruit, always makes a pleasing picture. 
 
 Returning to Sydney by train, all the principal railway suburbs are passed through; 
 but there is very little of beauty to be seen, and after the monotony of the journey, the 
 
 Tin: " G \i\ 
 
 eye is delighted I ace more the azure blue of the watera Taking a passage in 
 
 one of tin- numerous small steam-launches which constantly pass from point to point, 
 ire are shortly landed at Wat-en's Bay, where the Barbour waters are divided from 
 the outside sea bj a narrow strip of land. The cliffs here trend down on either side 
 to .i lower point, and as the surf im. tantly on the outside shore and threat, ns
 
 26 CASSELL'S PICTUEESQ1 E AUSTRALASIA. isvuxr.v ; 
 
 to force its way through, the place has received the name of the "'Gap," as prophetic, 
 probably, of what will be in years to come. This < i;q > is one of the few historical spots 
 around Sydney. To it will always attach a mournful interest, as the scene of perhaps 
 the most fearful wreck that lias ever occurred on this coast since tiist the colony was 
 founded It was in the month of August, in the year L857. On Thursday, the 20th. 
 about It) o'clock in the morning, the man on the look-out at the Smith Head descried 
 a sail in the offing, lr was the Dunbar. The people on board, who were chiefly 
 emigrants from the home country, gathered at the bulwarks to .see that land which 
 they had chosen for a new home. As the day wore on the land was approached 
 more nearly, and point after point disclosed to the view, until, at about seven o'cloek, 
 the light at the .South Head was seen. Previously to this the vessel had been lying 
 a course N.E. by N., and was coming along under easy sail, sail having been shortened 
 after the first sighting of the land. The weather was now thick with rain squalls, 
 the -wind blowing dead on land. Darkness had set in, yet many remained on deck, 
 expecting every moment to pass through the Heads into the smooth waters beyond, 
 and to see the lights of the city. 
 
 The light from the Lighthouse was shining brightly, hut served only to render the 
 surrounding darkness still more terrible, and nothing could be seen of the land hut a 
 dark mass looming on either bow. The captain of the vessel now judged that he was 
 well between the Heads, and a slight break in the darkness right ahead continued him 
 in this opinion. He accordingly gave the order to square the mainsail, and with the 
 wind right astern the large canvas filled out. The good ship lifted, and at the rate of 
 some fifteen knots an hour rushed headlong, and, ploughing up the white seas, and 
 dashing the swirling foam from her sides, hurled herself with one awful and gigantic 
 blow against the rocks. A moment longer, and the Dunbar had ceased to exist. 
 The masts went by the board, every timber was loosened, every plank parted, and in 
 the same instant of time several hundred souls, with all the dibria of the wreck, were 
 plunged into the water, with the black darkness overhead, and before them the 
 perpendicular cliff, which even here, at its lowest point, is some two hundred feet high. 
 A few seconds of time, a few weak cries for help where no help was, and all life 
 had fled from those already shapeless forms. One man alone crouched there under an 
 overhanging ledge of rock just beyond reach of the waves. This was Johnson, one 
 of the sailors, who, by some wonderful means — partly by the shock of the blow and 
 partly by the impetus of a huge wave — was cast up there while all the rest were 
 drowned Below him the battered corpses of his comrades float — welcome morsels for 
 the sharks, which pull them down and tear limb from limb. During the whole of 
 the Friday this continued, and from all sides these tigers of the sea, scenting the 
 pleasant least, hastened to join in the scramble. The next morning, Saturday, the 
 sea went down, and with its quiet repose tempted poor Johnson, who had been on 
 that ledge for some thirty hours without loud or water, and without rest or hope. 
 All seemed well-nigh over, and he thought that it was useless to struggle any longer 
 for his life. But in the meantime the planks and other portions of the wreck had 
 floated away on the waters and been sighted, and the news carried into Sydney, so
 
 TueSi-bceim MIDDLE HABBOTTE. 27 
 
 that it became known that there had been a wreck along the coast Search parties 
 were sent out, and suddenly there is a shoul above, and then another, and Johnson, 
 looking up, sees whence the shouting comes, and a young man, risking his own life, 
 slides down a rope two hundred feet from the top, seizes the poor, famished, almost 
 senseless sailor, takes him in his arms, and both are raised to the top. 
 
 Any such calamity would now be well-nigh impossible, for a wonderful electric 
 flash light, which can always be seen for many miles around, is exhibited imme- 
 diately south of the Gap. The new lighthouse, in which this light is placed, is a 
 most substantial stone structure; and well it need be, for on stormy days, when the 
 gale is blowing from the south and east, the waves dash over the cliffs and over the 
 lighthouse too. Up on thai circular platform at the top, how glorious the riew ! — glorious 
 in its details, in the brightness of its colours, and in its extent. No words can 
 possibly describe the wonders and delights of the place: northward the hilly -round 
 round Broken Bay, and the shores about the mouth of the Hawkesbury River, are well 
 in sight ; westward lie all the familiar glories of the Harbour, with the blue mountains 
 beyond; and to the smith stretches point beyond point of all the picturesque eastern 
 t Bondi Bay is the nearest, with its sand-dunes and wide expanse of blown sand; 
 and. beyond that, Waverley and Randwick, and Coogee, Little Bay, and Botany, already 
 described 
 
 If, on returning, a row-boat bo taken from Watson's Bay across the Harbour, a good 
 opportunity is afforded of seeing Middle Harbour and the north shore. Of the Middle 
 Harbour scenery typical views are given on the following pages, one taken from a spot a 
 little inside the entrance in Hunter's Bay, and the other of Clontarf from Shell Cove. In 
 the immediate foreground of the former is a broad table of that sandstone which is 
 characteristic of the country round Sydney, cropping oul everywhere, and lying in boulders 
 and in huge slabs. On the right a point of land, part of the .Middle Head, covered with 
 thick bush, projects into the water, and in the left distance the North Head shows its bold 
 profile. A little to the left of this, as one Looks out to sea. lies Manly < love and the little 
 village of Manly. This, .>!' all the suburbs, can most be likened to the English Brighton 
 lb re settlement has advanced more quickly than in the other coast suburbs, so that the 
 
 is now becoming crowded Certainly it possesses immense natural advanl The 
 
 North Head itself is only a part, the extreme point, of a very large promontory, which at 
 Manly is nam. wed down to a small neck of land not more than a quarter of a mile across. 
 
 On either side, this neck is bordered by a pleasant sand} beach, one beach looking acrosi 
 
 the quiet waters of the Harbour, tl ther receiving the thundering surges of the ocean. 
 
 The neck itself is comparatively flat land, and is completely built over, and occupied 
 chiefly by business houses; but the gently-rising grounds on either side are d 
 with delightful villas and gardens. A little to the south-east is the site ..f a large 
 residence for the Head of the Roman Catholic Church in Sydney, and. still further 
 south, is the principal quarantine station of the port, occupying a beautiful site, ami 
 from a slight distance looking comfortable and tempting. From this point it is possible 
 to obtain an uninterrupted outlook tor some live mill's across the Harbour, and the 
 Middle Barbour on the west, and Double Bay and Rose Baj on the south and west.
 
 28 
 
 CASSELLS PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA, 
 
 (Sydney. 
 
 are amply extended to the view. As a final word of praise, it may fairly be said, 
 at leasl of these wain- suburbs, that each one is a glory in itself In some eases 
 unqualified praise may seem to approach exaggeration, but to such an extent does this 
 
 f 
 
 MIDDLE HAKBOUR. 
 
 city and country seize hold of the very heart of a man, that the place almost assumes 
 the attribute of personality, and induces affection of the very strongest kind. Sydney 
 is a place which, to be loved, needs but to be seen.
 
 /£ 
 
 
 THE BOTANICAL GAEDEN8 Q). 
 
 SYDNEY: ITS ORIGIN. 
 
 Discovery of Sydney Harbour — Botany Bay — Landing at 
 Sydney Cov< — sic.-kiie.s-> — The Aborigine — Loss "f 
 the v Famine— Martial Law— Despair— Relief 
 
 — Better Days Pasi LPresi at 
 
 ' 
 
 ~—~ "~ ~— \ I'Tl'.l; what has been said of Sydney, it 
 
 •*-■*- will n.it be easy for the reader to 
 realise that in the pleasanl month of January, in the year L788, this favoured spot 
 of God's earth was unknown to civilised man. < in the 22nd of that month there 
 came three small boats sailing north from Botany Bay, and keeping almost under 
 the shallow of those rugged sandstone cliffs, until, as thej rounded the South Eead, 
 they loft behind them the heavy swell of the Pacific Ocean, and glided smoothly to 
 the west and smith over the wide waters of Sydnej Earbour. These boats were the 
 advance guard of that fleet consisting of the Sirius man-of-war and ten other 
 vessels, which in May of the preceding year had sailed from Portsmouth with 
 the express object of founding here a new penal settlement Botany Bay had been 
 visited by Captain Cook some eight years previously, and that great navigator had on 
 
 his return to England jjiven such a glowing account of tl ountry of Not South 
 
 Wales," as he himself had named it. that the Baj was chosen as the destination of 
 this tirst fleet. But Botan) Bay was found not all thai Cook's fancy had pictured. For 
 the purposes of a permanent settle nt it was altogether unfit, for although the Bay
 
 30 CASSEIX'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Bydmev; 
 
 includes an immense expanse of waters, these waters are nol only too shallow for rho 
 anchorage of large vessels, bul are also exposed to the full force of the prevailing 
 winds. Captain Arthur Phillip, R.N., the commander of the first fleet and the Governor 
 of the uriv settlement, after making an examination of the surroundings of the Bay, 
 decided that the place was unsuitable to bis purpose. 11" therefore ordered the fleet to 
 remain al anchor, while he himself set out in an open boat to explore the coast and to 
 look for a home. 
 
 The undertaking was a bold one. The coast was wild and surf-beaten. Its dangers 
 were many and unknown. Immense rollers broke upon the rugged shore, and seemed 
 to leave no sale landing-place for any boat. The shores were peopled by unfriendly 
 natives, who, standing in large numbers on the tops of the cliffs, hurled threats and 
 defiance at the boats as they approached. 
 
 Suddenly, after sailing north for about twelve miles, there came a break in the 
 coast-line about a mile in length from headland to headland. Seen from the open sea, 
 this opening appeared of little size, but as the boats rounded the inner head the immense 
 extent of the harbour was displayed. Alter exploring the different bays, that which 
 showed the deepest soundings was selected. "The different coves of this harbour," says 
 Captain Phillip himself,* "were examined with all possible expedition, and the preference 
 was given to one which had the finest spring of water, and in which ships can anchor 
 so close to the shore that at a very small expense quays may be constructed at which 
 the largest vessels may unload. In honour of Lord Sydney the (Governor distinguished 
 it by the name of Sydney Cove." Two days afterwards Captain Phillip returned to 
 Botany Bay, and on the 25th of the same month, seven days after the arrival of the 
 Supply, he left Botany and sailed to Port Jackson. 
 
 As at that time it happened to be blowing a strong gale, the rest of the fleet was 
 left under convoy of the Sirius, with orders to proceed to Sydney as soon as the gale 
 abated. Scarcely were the leading vessels out of sight when a strange sight appeared. 
 "About daylight, just as they were preparing for a start," two strange sail showed 
 themselves on the horizon. These gradually approached, and as they came nearer it 
 was seen that they were the Boussole and Astrolabe, ships of the great French 
 explorer La Perouse. 
 
 On the 26th of the month, according to Captain Phillip, the transports and store- 
 ships under convoy of the Sirius finally evacuated Botany Bay, and as in a, fair 
 wind the journey only occupies a few hours they were soon all safely anchored in Sydney 
 Cove. Without any delay the disembarkation was commenced, and all persons able to 
 work were set to clear the ground for the camp and to cut wood for the buildings. The 
 clearing of the bush was then, as it has always been, a task of great difficulty. "The 
 labour." says the Governor, "which attended this necessary operation was greater 
 than can easily be imagined by those who were not spectators of it. The coast, as well 
 as the neighbouring country in general, is covered with wood, and though in this spot 
 the trees stood more apart, and were less encumbered with underwood than in many 
 
 * '• The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay, with an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies 
 of Port Jackson and Norfolk Island.'' London, 1789.
 
 
 > 
 
 ►J 
 pq 
 
 o 
 « 
 
 « 
 & 
 o 
 
 H 
 
 a 
 
 W 
 
 Q 
 
 CO
 
 Its Origin.] DIFFICULTIES OF THE SETTLERS. . , I 
 
 other places, yet their magnitude was such as to render not only the felling but the 
 removal of them afterwards extremely difficult. By the habitual indolence of the convicts, 
 and the want of proper overseers to keep them to their duty, their labour was rendered 
 
 less efficient than it might have been. In the evening of the 20th the colours were 
 displayed on shore, and the Governor, with several of his principal officers and others, 
 assembled round the flagstaff, drank the King's health" (George III.), "and success 
 to the settlement." The first house to be completed was that of the Governor, the 
 materials and framework of which had been brought out ready-worked from England. 
 Other houses and huts of various sizes soon appeared, and all seemed fairly in progress, 
 when a dread enemy appeared in the midst of the camp. 
 
 On the voyage out there had been very little sickness, but now dysentery showed 
 itself, and soon took hold of a large number. Of the sufferers many died. Scurvy also 
 attacked the little colony, the members of which had fir months been deprived of fresh 
 food. Even after landing, fish or other fresh provisions or vegetables could rarely be 
 procured. For the dysentery the red gum was found to be useful, while for the scurvy 
 the chief thing that could be done was to grow vegetables and fruits with as little 
 delay as possible. Very little, however, could yet be done in this direction, and. mean- 
 while, recourse- was had to the various species of plants that were growing wild — 
 celery, spinach, and parsley — all of which, fortunately, were found in abundance round 
 the settlement. 
 
 At that time, according to the historians of the young colony, the public stock 
 consisted of one bull, four cows, one bull calf, one stallion, three mares, and three colts. 
 These were carefully preserved for breeding, and were shortly removed to the bay 
 adjoining Sydney Cove, which bay was none other than Farm Cove. Here, where the 
 Botanical Gardens now extend their pleasant glades, a small farm was started, from which 
 Farm Cove took its name. After strenuous efforts, matters began to improve a little, 
 and by the end of February or beginning of March the settlement was in fair progress. 
 The public Storehouses had been well begun, and although the stumps of the trees had 
 not been removed, the ground was cleared over a considerable extent, and Sydney town 
 was no longer a mere hope, but had become an accomplished fact. 
 
 Before this time, that is, very shortly alter the disembarkation, several of the convicts 
 had attempted to escape. On the very morning after the reading of the formal 
 proclamation nine convicts were found to be missing, and at various other times, owing 
 to the want of overseers, small batches of prisoners took themselves off Being without 
 
 provisions, and amongst hostile natives, the fugitives must soon have perished. 
 
 As to the dangers arising from the natives, many instances occurred to warn 
 die settlers. One evening a convicl who had been working as a labourer on 
 the farm was brought in seriously wounded. A barbed spear had entered his back 
 between the shoulders to about the depth of three inches. The account he Jfave of 
 
 the occurrence was thai having strayed beyond the limits of the farm with another 
 man, he had suddenly fell this wound in his back bul had seen no natives. The other 
 European had immediately run away. A day or two afterwards, adds Collins, the clothes 
 of the missing man were found, torn, bloody, and pierced with spears.
 
 32 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTUBESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [SYDNEY : 
 
 A similar incident is added, and is interesting as giving its name to what is now 
 
 o o o 
 
 a favourite and well-known part, of Sydney. " An officer who had been exploring the 
 
 Earbour came suddenly on the bodies of two convicts who had hccn employed for some 
 time in cutting rushes in what is now known as Rushcutters' Hay. These bodies were 
 pierced through in many places with spears, and the head of one was beaten to a jelly. 
 As it seemed improbable that, these murders should have been committed without 
 provocation, inmiiry was made. It then appeared that these unfortunate men had a 
 few days previously taken away a canoe belonging to the natives, for which act of 
 violence and injustice they paid with their lives." 
 
 Many similar instances are recorded in the old histories to which we have referred, 
 and there can be little doubt that the original number of the persons who landed, 
 namely, one thousand and thirty, was from this and other causes considerably reduced. 
 But as it was, the people were too many, and the supply of food too scanty. No 
 sufficient provision had been made for supplying food from the fruits of the land. Large 
 dependence had been placed on the storeships which had been anxiously looked for, 
 
 and were daily expected to arrive. 
 The seed- wheat that had been sown 
 turned out badly The Sirius and 
 the Goldt a Grove storeships had 
 been despatched for the purpose of 
 obtaining stores, and a week after 
 the departure of the former a fixed 
 deduction was, from motives of 
 economy, made from the public 
 rations. Shortly afterwards the 
 amount was still further reduced, 
 and as a consequence of "short 
 commons " various attempts were 
 made to commit thefts from the 
 general stores. The thieves were 
 brought up and severely dealt with. 
 The Sirius and Golden Grove re- 
 turned, bringing but small additions 
 to the public stock. " The Governor, 
 whose humanity was at all times 
 conspicuous, directed that no altera- 
 tion should be made in the ration 
 to be issued to the women. They 
 were already upon two-thirds of the 
 men's allowance, and many of them 
 either had children who could very 
 well have eaten their own and part 
 double bay ( t i. 21). of their mother's ration, or they had
 
 Irs Okigik.J 
 
 FROM BAD TO WORSE. 
 
 33 
 
 THE OBSEKVATUKY. 
 
 children at the breast ; and 
 
 although they did not labour, 
 
 yet their appetites were never 
 
 so delicate as to have found 
 
 the full ration too much had it been 
 
 issued to them." 
 
 In this state of affairs, a great and 
 distressing calamity fell upon the little 
 
 community in the loss of the Sirius upon a reef at Norfolk Island. This vessel had been 
 again despatched to obtain relief for the already hunger-smitten people, and upon news 
 of this calamity being received, it became necessary to adopt the most stringent measures 
 in order to preserve the lives of the people. 
 
 A irdinedy, a Council was called by the Lieutenant-Governor, and important 
 
 resolutions were arrived at. We are told that it was unanimously determined "that 
 
 martial law should be proclaimed ; that all private stock, poultry excepted, should be 
 considered tin- property of the State; that justice should be administered by a court- 
 martial, to be composed of seven officers, five of whom were to concur in a sentence 
 
 of death; and that there should be two locks upon the door of tlie public store, whi
 
 34 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Sydney : 
 
 one key was to be in the keeping of a person to be appointed by Captain Hunter on 
 behalf of the seamen, the other to be kept by a person appointed on behalf of the 
 military." The day after the meeting of this Council, the whole community — soldiers, 
 seamen, and convicts — were assembled ; these resolutions were publicly read, and all 
 present confirmed their acceptance of them, and their determination to abide by the 
 conditions. This was shown by all passing under the King's colours, which were displayed 
 on this occasion. 
 
 These stringent measures could merely check, not remedy, the evil, and at one 
 time it seemed as if the unfortunate colonists had little to look forward to but a 
 lingering and miserable death from starvation. The rations were still further reduced, 
 and now the amount was no more than two pounds and a half of Hour, two pounds 
 of pork, one pint of peas, and one pound of rice for each person for seven days. " Was 
 this," exclaims the historian of that day, "a ration for a labouring man? The two 
 pounds of pork when boiled, from the length of time it had been in store, shrank 
 away to nothing, and when divided among seven people for their day's sustenance 
 barely afforded three or four mouthfuls to each." The natural result was that labour 
 ended. The men were too weak to work, and matters at length reached such a pass 
 that even the convicts, such was their physical prostration, were permitted to remain 
 idle. Amid such extreme privation, it became necessary in the interest of the public 
 safety to inflict very severe penalties on all who attempted to steal from the public 
 stores. Many received for such offences three hundred, four hundred, and as many as 
 five hundred lashes. Yet even these most severe punishments failed altogether to check 
 the crimes to which these poor people were impelled by the dire necessities ot their 
 position. " The latter part of 1788," writes one historian, " and the first four 
 months of the following year, was one of the darkest periods ever experienced in the 
 history of the settlement. The gloomy prospect before the people, the decrease in their 
 rations, the severity and frequency of their punishments, and the strictness with which 
 the Governor found it necessary to husband every resource, bred in the minds of the 
 thoughtless and improvident feelings of recklessness and despair. The stock of pro- 
 visions brought out from England was well-nigh exhausted ; the few head of cattle also 
 brought out had disappeared, no one knew where; and nothing eatable had yet been 
 produced in the colony, with the exception of a few vegetables. Many of the prisoners 
 straying into the bush to search for edible roots or herbs were killed by the natives. 
 Seven soldiers detected in the act of plundering the public stores were hanged without 
 mercy. The case of the young settlement was daily becoming desperate." 
 
 All this time Governor Phillip was behaving with great generosity, and setting 
 the people a wonderful example of self-denial. Collins seems never tired of recording 
 this disinterested and self-sacrificing behaviour on the part of the Governor. " The 
 Governor," he writes in one place, "from a motive that did him immortal honour in 
 this season of general distress, gave up three hundredweight of flour that was his 
 Excellency's private property, declaring that he wished not to see any more at his 
 table than the ration which was received in common from the public store, without 
 any distinction of persons. To this resolution he rigidly adhered, wishing that if
 
 Its Origin.] ARRIVAL OF STORESHIPS. :).", 
 
 a convict complained he might see that want was not unfelt even at Government 
 House." 
 
 So excellent and noble an example was certainly not without its effect in assisting 
 many to keep heart and to struggle manfully through their distresses. And sunn the 
 unexpected arrival of two storeships from England infused new hope and vigour into 
 the almost starving people. 
 
 About half-past three in the afternoon of the 3rd of June, "to the inexpressible 
 satisfaction of every heart in the settlement," a sail was sighted from the South Head. 
 At mice, although a very strong wind was blowing, the Governor's secretary and two 
 other officers went off, and at considerable risk — for there was a heavy sea running 
 through the Heads — reached the ship, and brought her in safety into Spring Cove. She 
 proved to be the Lady Juliana, from London. She had been much delayed, having 
 been not less than ten months on the voyage. The Guardian, a much larger vessel, 
 which had sailed from England about the same time, had been wrecked on an iceberg 
 in 45° south, and all her stores lost. About a fortnight after the arrival of the J alia mi 
 the storeship Justinian also arrived, rive months out from England. The stores brought 
 by these two vessels altogether altered the complexion of affairs, and the more immediate 
 fear of starvation being removed, the people were enabled again to go about their proper 
 business, to till and improve the land, and by various met bods to gain a subsistence 
 from the soil. It seemed that a more friendly fortune was smiling upon the colony; 
 but there were still further difficulties at that very time approaching the shores of 
 the settlement. Three transports, the Surprise, the Neptune, and the Scarborough, arrived, 
 one after the other, with large numbers of convicts, and with much sickness prevailing 
 amongst them. By the 13th of the next month there were no fewer than four hundred 
 and eighty-eight persons laid up under medical treatment at the hospital. 
 
 Among some new regulations issued about this time by the Governor was one the 
 object of which was to enforce the attendance of the people at Divine Service on 
 Sundays. A large proportion of the rations was deducted from the share of each person 
 who absented himself from prayers on that day. Up to this time no very serious evils 
 had arisen from intercourse with the natives. A few stragglers, ami some who had 
 wantonly interfered with the goods or persons of the aboriginal inhabitants, had lost 
 their lives, hut as a rule the intercourse had been more or less of an amicable 
 
 description The Governor had especially endeavoured t iciliate the blacks, and to 
 
 show them that he wished above all things to he their friend. Two young natives, 
 
 .me of whom was named Bennilong, had been taken by him into his own house, 
 and kept there for some little time, in order that they might learn something of tin 
 habits atal comforts of civilised lite. Both, however, preferred liberty to everything 
 els,', and took an early opportunity to escap.-. The Governor, after this, hearing that 
 Bennilong had been seen in company with some natives in one of the numerous 
 coves of tin' Barbour, determined, regardless of the personal risk, to visit and again 
 endeavour to conciliate him. The cove was lull of natives allured by the attractions 
 of a whale least, for a whale a short time before had entered the Harbour and hen 
 unable to find its way out again. The Governor had distributed various tomahawks
 
 36 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Sydney : 
 
 and other articles as presents to the natives, and he was approaching one man with 
 arms extended in a friendly manner; but the black, misunderstanding his intentions, and 
 probably imagining that the Governor was intending to seize him, raised his spear, and 
 hurriedly bringing his throwing-stick into use, hurled the weapon at Captain Phillip. He 
 had employed such force that the spear went through the Governor's body, entering a 
 little above the collar-bone, and coming through on the other side 1 . Several other 
 spears were thrown at the rest of the party, but fortunately without doing much 
 
 STEAM FEKEY. 
 
 By his means 
 
 ROSE BAY AND SHARK ISLAXD (pp. 2 and |2S). 
 
 injury. The spears, though barbed, as is usual 
 with the native weapons, was satisfactorily re- 
 moved, and in some six weeks the Governor 
 had quite recovered. This adventure was not 
 without good effect, for Bennilong, grateful for 
 
 past favours, displayed much anxiety about Captain Phillip's well-being, 
 friendly communication was afterwards opened up with the natives. 
 
 It is worthy of record that in March of the year 1191 James Ruse, the first man 
 to whom land had been granted by the Government, announced to the Governor that 
 he would from that time be able to live on the fruits of his land without assistance 
 from the public stores. At the end of the same year it was found that there were in 
 all some thousand acres under cultivation, giving good promise for the years to come. 
 Four years later, in 1795, it was calculated that there were five thousand acres cultivated, 
 and after that the quantity steadily increased. There was no more fear of general
 
 Its Ouiuin.] 
 
 THEN" AND Now. 
 
 37 
 
 starvation, but the early privations of the settlers will never be forgotten. A wealthy 
 citizen, who arrived in the colony as a free person, told l>r. Lanj, r , who "ives 1 1 « » • 
 statement in his "History of New South Wales," that "his ration for a long period 
 was merely a cob or single head of maize or Indian corn a day, and that fur three 
 years be had lived in the colony in the constant belief that he should one day perish 
 of hunger." 
 
 But these old times have long been left behind ; privation, and the tear of it. are 
 things of the past. It will, however, always interest an English people, whether in New- 
 South Wales, or in the old country, or elsewhere, to read of the early struggles of the 
 founders of this flourishing city; and the interest is increased when one considers the 
 singularly rapid progress which it has made in commerce and in every other feature 
 of civilisation. To prosecute a careful inquiry into its history is not our present object, 
 nor would the general reader greatly care for an account of the reigns of the different 
 (iovernors, or of the rise and fall of political Administrations. Suffice it to say, that 
 the mutiny of the convicts, the deposition and expulsion of Governor Bligh by the 
 New South Wales corps, and the first discoveries of gold, form the most important 
 events in the city's career. 
 
 G \ i: 1 1 1 '. ;-i. imi BY UOONLIOB I. 
 
 910'];]
 
 1USTAST VIEW OF MELBOURNE FKuM DONCASTER TOWER. 
 
 Melbourne proper. 
 
 General Features of the City and the Suburbs — Elizabeth Street — Australian Creeks — The Cathedrals — The 
 Churches — Government House — Princes Bridge — The Town Hall — The Wards — The Hospital — The Public 
 Library — The Working Plan's College — The Old and the New Law Courts — The Royal Mint— Collins 
 Street — Flinders Street — Little Collins Street — Bourke Street — The Post Office and the Eastern Market 
 — Parliament House — Little Bourke Street. 
 
 TO the visitor who comes to Melbourne after Sydney, and to the reader who has been 
 hearing of the beauties of Sydney Harbour, it is necessary at once to say that on 
 the score of natural beauty Melbourne must own its inferiority to Sydney. The shores 
 of Port Phillip are not interesting in themselves, and they can ill bear comparison with 
 the infinite variety of coast-line, the constant interchange of point and cove that forms 
 the charm of Sydney Harbour, so different to the flat, low-lying expanses of sand that 
 skirt the upper end of Port Phillip, known as Hobson's Bay. Friends of Melbourne may 
 fairly contend that it has its pretty spots, and some even that seem fairly blessed by 
 nature, as, for instance, the Botanical Gardens ; but without the hand of the gardener 
 making smooth, sloping lawns. vTacvful curves, and richly-coloured flower-beds, even the 
 charming situation of the ground would have escaped the observation of ordinary eyes. 
 In Melbourne it is man's work, not nature's, that invites admiration; and it is from this 
 point of view that a traveller characterised Melbourne as "marvellous." No two places, 
 be tbey regarded as rivals or as sisters, could present greater contrasts than Melbourne 
 and Sydney. Some cities are founded, others grow. Some seem to have been arranged 
 and built according to a plan, others to grow according to their needs, seemingly 
 following their own sweet will. With certain limitations, Melbourne belongs to the 
 former class ; Sydney, from the very nature of its position, to the latter. 
 
 The City of Melbourne has been so carefully and regularly laid out that it is very 
 easy for a stranger to remember its plan, and to find his way about. It may be said
 
 Melbourne Proper.] 
 
 THE CITY AXD THL SUBURBS. 
 
 39 
 
 PLAN OF THE CITY OF MELBOUH.NE, 
 
 
 to consist of 
 a square and 
 two offshoots. 
 Uno of these 
 is the only 
 suburb lying 
 wholly within 
 the municipal 
 b lunds of the 
 city, the fa- 
 shionable Bub- 
 urb of East 
 Mel bou rii e, 
 
 held at arm's length from the city by the beautiful Fitzroy 
 Gardens. Here is Bishopscourt, the residence of the Anglican 
 bishop, and here, too, stand many comfortable villas and large 
 private houses. The other offshoot is south of the Yarra, 
 and consists of the Domain which includes the Botanical 
 Gardens, and of the Fawkner Park. A small portion of 
 the suburb, also fashionable, of South Yarra, is thus included 
 in the city for municipal purposes, though, curiously enough, 
 this fragment is in the Parliamentary borough of St. Hilda 
 Probably the reason for earning the boundary of the city so 
 far to the south is to secure that the richest municipality 
 should retain its share of the burden of park-maintenance. 
 
 East Melbourne and South Yarra are places of residence, whereas what may be 
 called Melbourne proper is chiefly a place of business. Business, however, is not 
 quite so absorbing as in London, for the chief hotels, the theatres, and the clubs, fall 
 
 within this business area The larger the size of a town, the mon mplete is 
 
 likely to be the division between the functions of its different quarters. The "City" of 
 London is wholly given up to shops, warehouses, banks, and places of business. When 
 these are closed, the City is deserted. On a Sunday, if it were not for the attractions 
 of St. Paul's Cathedral, there would be hardly a soul in the City except the caretakers. 
 Melbourne is never so completely deserted as this. It has well-marked divisions into 
 quarters, but these lie cheek by jowL Yet Melbourne proper is nol a place of resi- 
 dence In old days a tradesman lived over his shop, but modern conveniences of travel 
 enable him to live in a suburb, to surround himself with a garden, and separate himself 
 each evening from the outward signs of his business. A jolting in the train, lasting 
 each morning and evening from ten to fortj minutes, as the case may be, is the price 
 that he pays for the fresh air and the freedom. 
 
 Melbourne proper was to have been one mile square. Bight streets, running north 
 and south, divide the more famous streets that run east and west < ollins and Bourke 
 Streets are exactly a mile long, and each block in them is one-eighth of a mile. The 
 
 .'. Gmemmtnt Offices Pi 
 
 'IJ. Jtisttcf': 
 
 ij Easthielb-Crit 
 
 It'aUer e>BautaIts*
 
 40 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Melbourne 
 
 pedestrian can time himself on a measured mile. Even the very names begin most 
 regularly, and as if to form a memoria technica — King, William, Queen, Elizabeth; but 
 here the limits of mnemonic invention appear, and distinguished colonists, and even 
 those not veiy well known, claim their due. When we turn the other way the symmetry 
 is not so complete, but a new element comes in. The southernmost street, more or less 
 parallel to the river Yarra, is Flinders Street, called after the navigating explorer, famous 
 in early Australian history. Between Flinders and the next street, Collins, rumes Little 
 Flinders Street, otherwise called Flinders Lane. So, also, Collins and Bourke Streets 
 have each a little namesake lying to the immediate north. The idea in the original 
 scheme was that these should be really lanes leading to the back doors of the houses 
 in the larger streets. But land became too valuable for this luxury, and the smaller 
 streets soon won an existence of their own. Their narrowness, thus explained by their 
 history, forms an exception to the general rule of wide and airy streets so charac- 
 teristic of Melbourne. 
 
 Elizabeth Street, which, continued northwards though not exactly in a straight 
 line, becomes the Sydney Road, divides Melbourne proper into two nearly equal parts. 
 There is no doubt that the lower end of Elizabeth Street was originally a creek or small 
 brook, a branch of the Yarra. If a man takes his stand at the crossing of Collins and 
 
 Elizabeth Streets, the most crowded and busiest cross- 
 ing in Melbourne, on each side he looks up-hill. It 
 is not very long since each Melbourne street had 
 very wide gutters on each side, with wooden bridges 
 across them for the use of foot passengers wishing 
 to pass into the roadway. In the more important 
 streets there has been lately substituted a complete 
 system of underground drainage. 
 Before this change, however, there 
 was plenty of evidence that Elizabeth 
 Street occupied the place of a stream. 
 Whenever a shower of rain fell, the 
 water came streaming down this street. 
 All the streets that led out of it were 
 contributory, and the gutters were 
 soon full. When the rain was heavier 
 than a shower, and the town was fa- 
 voured with long rain or a tropical 
 downpour, it very soon became im- 
 possible to cross the road. So swift 
 ran the stream in the gutters, that 
 in the early days, when the streets 
 were not full of people, the drown- 
 ing of a child in a gutter is said to 
 ix the botanical gaedexs. have been no uncommon occurrence.
 
 Pboper.] 
 
 AUSTRALIAN CREEKS. 
 
 41 
 
 The swollen streams in the gutters sometimes even joined across the roadway, and 
 for a while the street hecame a river again. Shopkeepers naturally complained, and 
 this ultimately led the city authorities to adopt the underground drainage. It was 
 long argued that no pipes would be large enough to carry off the storm water, and 
 an arrangement has been made by which an overflow from the pipes will, it' necessary, 
 still be carried along the modem and moderate-sized gutters. The sight of this main 
 street flooded will be rarer in the future than in the past, but a very heavy rain will 
 probably yet enable it to be seen. Nothing less like an Australian creek debouching 
 
 A MELBOl'UNi: (UTTER IN EAHLIEl: 1>A\>. 
 
 into a river could well !"■ imagined than this prosperous street, with its large and lofty 
 houses, ended by a spacious but no1 very sightly railway station. Yet those who know 
 what Australian creeks are like ought not to find a difficulty in bringing back the 
 scene. Scattered over the bush there are thousands of them. Generally, where the 
 English language is spoken, a creek means a small inlel of the sea, but in Australia 
 a creek is literally what it is etymologically, a crack in the ground. In dry weather 
 there is very little water; perhaps in the height of summer the Btream altogether 
 ceases to run, and the creek becomes a string of water holes; but when the hea 
 arc opened, and the rain falls, it reappears a river. All around, the ground is uneven, 
 and smaller creeks drain into the larger. Great ''"aunt gum-trees till up the landscape. 
 
 It comes natural to cities to swallow up streams, and to turn brooks into main drains. 
 
 Melbourne lias only dour with tliis nameless creek whal London did with the Fleet 
 and with the ly-bum. Londoners grumble because their streets are always "up" for 
 repairs, and Melbourne people make the same complaint <*n one occasion a eurious
 
 42 CASSELL'S PICTUREsyfK AUSTRALASIA. i> ™t 
 
 relic of antiquity was brought to light by the picks of the workmen. At some distance 
 below tlic level cif the road the wooden planks were found that used to form the simple 
 bridge by which the early settlers crossed this very creek An interested crowd soon 
 collected, and many of the bystanders cul themselves chips to serve as mementoes. 
 Fancy the excitement among English antiquaries if such a find had been made 
 of an old bridge across the Fleet or the Ty ! But in the ease of Melbourne, it is not 
 forty years since the simple bridge was in use, and an antiquary is hardly needed. 
 
 If the old idea be adopted, and the possession of a cathedral and a bishop be 
 regarded as that which constitutes a city, then is Melbourne fortunate, for it has two 
 cathedrals. The Roman Catholic oathedral on the summit of the Eastern Hill has the 
 pride of place. It is already a beautiful Gothic church, and, when finished, it will be 
 certainly the chief architectural ornament of the city. The architect is Mr. WardeU, 
 who is allowed by all who know anything of the subject to have a true feeling for the 
 beautiful iii Gothic, architecture. With respect to the site of the Anglican cathedral, 
 which was commenced much more recently, a very fierce hat tie was waged There 
 were those wdio maintained that a cathedral ought always to be built upon a hill ; and 
 these were divided into two parties, advocates for the Eastern Hill and advocates for 
 the western heights. Others maintained that the cathedral should be in the true 
 centre of city life, and it was this part)-, strengthened by the vigorous eloquence of 
 Dr. Moorhouse, the then Bishop, since transferred to the see of Manchester, England, 
 as successor to Dr. Fraser — that carried the clay. The St. Paul's site, which was then 
 selected, is undeniably in the flattest part of the city, but the fact remains that it is 
 in the centre, if by centre we mean the point most easily accessible from all parts of 
 Greater Melbourne, that is, Melbourne and its suburbs. It is very close to two railway 
 stations to which gathers the traffic from by far the larger number of suburbs, and it 
 is not far from the starting-point of the northern omnibus and tramway systems. 
 Standing opposite the great bridge over the Yarra, it is at the entrance of the city by 
 its chief southern road. There is no site to which on week-days so many business 
 men could so easily collect, whether for a few minutes of quiet devotion or to listen 
 to an eloquent preacher ; no site to which on Sundays so many could so easily gather 
 by rail or road from their more distant homes. Arguments like these prevailed, and 
 the lowness of the position was atoned for by an instruction to the architect to make 
 the building itself lofty. 
 
 There are great differences of opinion with respect to the architecture, which is 
 strongly characteristic of the eminent English architect who designed it. " Oh, if 
 Butterfield is building your cathedral, he will afflict you with many stripes," was the 
 comment of a Rugby master, whose knowdedge of what Melbourne might expect was 
 drawn from the magnificent school chapel which Mr. Butterfield built at Rugby. In the 
 selection of materials for the Melbourne Cathedral, the architect took the utmost pains, 
 having large specimens of the stone sent to him, but there are many unaccustomed 
 to the variety introduced who regard with a feeling almost of horror the different 
 coloured bands of which the pillars are composed, and the diaper work in the gables. 
 
 It is unfortunate that disagreements arose at an early period between the architect
 
 Pbopbb.] 
 
 MELBOURNE CHURCHES. 
 
 43 
 
 and the building committee, with the result that Mr. Butterfield declined to have any- 
 thing further to do with the building. It is necessary to mention this dispute beca 
 Mr. Butterfield cannot be held wholly responsible for a building for which he only 
 furnished general designs, and the (•(instruction of which he only superintended up to 
 a certain point The local architects, who have taken up the work of construction, 
 maintain that they have sufficient clue for the completion of the building in keeping 
 with the design; and, at any rate, it is not the first cathedral begun under one archi- 
 tect and finished under very different superintendence. 
 
 Many of the Melbourne churches are the reverse of beautiful. They were built 
 after the revival of Gothic architecture 
 in England, but before that influence 
 was very widely spread. It must be 
 allowed that the times just before Pugin 
 and Gilbert Scott were specially bad 
 times for church architecture. More- 
 over, intercourse with England was much 
 more rare and difficult then than now, 
 and the early days of a colony cannot 
 bo expected to be days of good taste; 
 Nature has first to be conquered, and 
 necessaries come before ornaments. But 
 much more attention is now being paid 
 to ecclesiastical architecture. The lead- 
 ing denominations are very evenly 
 matched in numbers and wealth, and 
 they vie with each other in their church 
 building, as in other matters. After the 
 cathedral, St. Francis is the best of the 
 Roman Catholic churches, both for 
 architecture and music. Wesley Church, 
 in Lonsdale Street, is a very good 
 
 building, well proportioned throughout, and with a beautiful spire: but, probably, most 
 people will consider the Scots Church, in Collins Street, the gem of church architecture 
 in Melbourne. The style of architecture is Early English ; the material, a brown free- 
 stone, laced with a white stone from Kakanui, in New Zealand. The spire has very 
 graceful proportions, and its 212 feel of height make it the tallest in .Melbourne and 
 Suburbs. Inside the church there is an air of great wealth and comfort. Its carpi 
 passages and well-upholstered pews make it a drawing-room amongsl churches The 
 floor rises gradually to the end furthest from the pulpit This fact, and the central 
 position of the handsome pulpit, show a visitor at once that pulpit ministrations occupy 
 the most important place in the services of the church There is a tine organ, however, 
 and the music, until differences unhappily arose which divided the congregation into 
 sections, had a great reputation evidence of a change in l'reshyn rianism since the 
 
 lU'llKK AM) WILLS )ln\l MENT.
 
 44 
 
 CASSLLLS I'H'TrKESyl'E AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 (Melbourne 
 
 days when an organ was condemned as a " kist o' whustles." The Independent Church 
 does not look very much like an ecclesiastical editice, but it has the great advantage 
 of being admirably adapted for hearing. Wicked wags say that the intention of the 
 founder was to turn the building to some other purpose, if it failed as a church. Of 
 such failure there seems little prospect ; the pulpit of this church has had some of 
 the best preachers of the colony. 
 
 At the intersection of the streets, opposite these two churches, used to stand the 
 Burke and Wills monument, but the exigencies of the tramways drove it from its 
 position. The old site was certainly splendidly central ; the new site for this monu- 
 ment is in Spring Street, at the north-eastern corner of the city. .Melbourne is not at 
 all rich in statues, and cannot afford to put a tine monument like this out of the way. 
 A history of the exploring expedition in LSGO, in commemoration of which this monu- 
 ment was erected, will be found elsewhere in this work. The preparations for the 
 exploration, and its fatal termination, caused a great excitement in the public mind. 
 At a later day, the enthusiasm that was created in Victoria by the heroic endurance 
 and manly Christian character of General Gordon led to the determination to give to 
 the Melbourne streets a second statue, worthy of its predecessor. 
 
 Government House, which occupies a fine site in the Domain, to the south of the 
 city, is a building not much admired by people of taste. It has often been compared 
 
 THE SCOTS AND INDEPENDENT CHURCHES, COLLINS STREET.
 
 Proper.] 
 
 GOVERNMENT HOUSE. 
 
 45 
 
 
 GOVERNMENT HOUSE, FROM BOTANICAL GARDENS. 
 
 to a workhouse or to a factory. The story goes that Mr. Wardell, then the architect of 
 the Public Works Department, prepared a beautiful design for a Gothic house, bul the 
 Prime .Minister of the day, like Lord Palmerston, did not appreciate Gothic architecture 
 for domestic purposes. Ee was one of those who think thai Gothic is all very well 
 for churches, possibly even for public halls, bul is not suitable for private buildings. 
 So he exclaimed " Bring me a book of designs," and on the first page there happened 
 to be a picture of Osborne, of which he said, in a manner that some mi-ln call 
 despotic, some vigorous, "That's the sort of house we want: build a house like that" 
 Certainly the, present, (iovernraent House is a fair general imitation of Osborne. Bul 
 there is this difference. Osbome has a background of trees, and a slighl elevation; 
 the Melbourne Government Bouse, built on the top of a rising ground, has its outline 
 brought out l ■ \ a clear and often cloudless sky. The Governor's residence is certainly 
 not beautiful; it must be reckoned a lost opportunity, for the position is splendid, and 
 commands one of the finesl views of the city of Melbourne. The most that can be 
 
 said for the appearan I the house is that it is not equally had from all points of 
 
 view. The worst vi. us are those of the whole length : the I k - 1 are those, as from the 
 Yana or the Botanical Gardens, where the building is seen marly end-wise. It' not 
 beautiful, it is certainly commodious, and seme people would say that is better. The 
 state apartments, dining-room, and drawing room are very rooms, and the ball-room is
 
 46 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA 
 
 [MEL1» 
 
 THE TOWN II ILL. 
 
 one of the largest in the world It is said of the Town Hall that instructions 
 were given to the architect to make it a little larger every way than the Guildhall in 
 London. Similar instructions are not known to have been given in the case of Government 
 Bouse, but it is often repeated with pride that the dimensions are larger, even if only 
 a little larger, than those of the ball-room at Windsor. The danger for a Governor of 
 Victoria is rather that he should he over-housed than have too little accommodation, 
 but that is a fault on the right side for one who, from the nature of his position, must 
 
 entertain many visitors The 
 proportions of the ball-room 
 are admirable, and it is a 
 magnificent sight to see the 
 apartment crowded on a ball 
 night with handsomely dressed 
 guests, the bright uniforms of 
 many officers mingling with 
 the varied colours of the ladies' 
 dresses. In this room, too, the 
 Governor holds a levee on the 
 Queen's birthday in each year, 
 when more than a thousand 
 citizens usually attend to show 
 their loyalty. 
 
 Princes Bridge is a convenient starting-point for a walk through Melbourne. It is 
 the entrance byroad from the south, and it lies close to two railway stations, one called 
 after itself, the Princes Bridge Station, and not very long built ; the other named 
 Hobson's Bay Station. There used to be a short railway that led to the Bay ; and the 
 name still clings to the station, though the lines of the company which worked it 
 have been absorbed into the State system of railways. Old Princes Bridge, which 
 spanned the Yarra with one fine arch, 150 feet wide, was long the pride of Melbourne. 
 It was opened with great pomp and ceremony, but after thirty years it was thought 
 too narrow and inadequate. Tiresome restrictions had to be placed on the traffic 
 crossing the bridge. It was at length determined to have a new and broader bridge, 
 with a viaduct to keep the roadway at the level that it has a few yards to the north 
 and a tew hundred yards to the south. Not without great regret did many of the 
 inhabitants of Melbourne see the fine old arch pulled down. Swanston Street is in a 
 fine with the St. Kilda Boad, and on nearly the same level. The Anglican Cathedral 
 stands on the' immediate right. The Town Hall is at the corner, where Collins crosses 
 Swanston Street. Further to the north, the side of the Melbourne Hospital, and the 
 front of the Public Library, are features in the same street. 
 
 The Town Hall is very spacious, as has already been implied. It is a fine sight 
 when the Town Hall is thronged for a public meeting, and the audience is held 
 spell-bound by an orator ; or when it is occupied for a concert by a company of ladies 
 and gentlemen in evening attire ; or, again, filled with gay masqueraders at a fancy
 
 Proper.) 
 
 THE T(i\V.\ HALL. 
 
 47 
 
 dress balL It is generally said that the room will hold four thousand: ii mosl assuredly 
 will not seat that number. But when the public mind is agitated upon some political 
 
 question, for instance, the German occupation of New Guinea, no doubt fully four 
 thousand manage to find standing room. About two thousand four hundred can be 
 comfortably seated for a concert. One of the musical societies, known here by the 
 German name of Liedertafel, has sometimes a pretty way of arranging the room, breaking 
 up the long lines of seats by tree-ferns and pot-plants, and grouping the scats round 
 small tables. The acoustic properties of the room cannot conscientiously be praised, bul 
 architects generally, whether of churches or of lecture-halls, do not seem to pay enough 
 attention to the laws of acoustics. The best advice that can Vie given to one who has to 
 speak in the Town Hall is "Hold up your head, and speak straight to the further end 
 of the room ; do not turn to right or left in the course of your speech, and do net 
 try to speak too loud." Two speakers nut of three, however, even when these rules are 
 followed, will not be heard in large portions "I' the room. The Town Hall has other 
 smaller rooms, the offices of the Corporation, as well as a very handsome and well- 
 proportioned Council Chamber, ornamented with portraits of municipal celebrities. 
 
 The city of Melbourne, it may here be mentioned, is divided into seven wards, 
 each represented by an alderman and three councillors. The names of the wards 
 exhibit a combination of loyalty to the Crown with colonial patriotism. Victoria ami 
 All" it, need no explanation. 
 Lonsdale and Latrobe were 
 Governors of Victoria, Bourke 
 and (iipps, of New South 
 Wales, when what is now Vic- 
 toria was yet unseparated from 
 the parent colon)'. Smith was 
 a public-spirited man, seven 
 times Mayor oi Melbourne, and 
 of him it is remembered that 
 he imported the first jackass 
 (not laughing) into the colony. 
 Lovers of euphonious names, 
 however, cannot repress a feel- 
 ing that Smith ward is not to 
 lie regarded as a su ss in 
 
 INTERIOR er i in. rOWK IIAI.l.. 
 
 nomenclature. The Mayor of 
 
 Melbourne bolds SO important ,i position that many can be found to think he ought to 
 
 receive the distinctive title of " Lord Mayor 
 
 The Melbourne Eospital was founded in 1846. It is a good specimen of what is 
 known as the Queen Anne order of architecture. It looks very roomy, and stands 
 
 in grounds of its own. which, for a town site, ar rtainly extensive; but it has 
 
 been the subject of rery serious complaints, partly the revolt of overcrowding. Opon 
 high medical authority it is said to be "saturated with septic poison," and whether
 
 48 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Mslboohkb Pbopeb. 
 
 this strong statement can be proved or not, it is quite certain that the hospital is not 
 large enough, and not such as would be constructed in the present day. 
 
 Beyond the hospital stands the Public Library, with its fine fagade. This institution 
 consists of four departments, under the control of the same body of trustees, though 
 one of the four, the Natural History .Museum, is situated elsewhere, being at the back 
 of the University. The three departments housed on this large block of ground are 
 the Public Library, the National Gallery, and the Industrial Museum. The Library has 
 two large- reading-rooms, the Queen's and the Barry Hall, besides a newspaper-room. 
 It is much frequented, the average attendance numbering considerably over one 
 thousand a day. Boast is made that it is the freest library in the world. Any one is 
 admitted without recommendation or restriction, and readers are permitted to help 
 themselves to books from the shelves, the only exceptions being with respect to expensive 
 works of art and medical books. The collection is very extensive, and, according to the 
 article on "Libraries" in the " Encylopsedia Britannica" (ninth edition), there are only 
 nine larger libraries in the United Kingdom. The National Gallery is a collection of 
 modern pictures, amongst which many old favourites at the Royal Academy may be 
 seen. Long's "Esther" and Webb's "Rotterdam" are probably the most admired by 
 those who know, and Mrs. Butler's " Quatre Bras " is, through engravings, the most widely 
 known; but an enormous picture called the "Brigands" is the favourite with the genera] 
 public. The gallery also possesses portraits, some of great interest in early Australian 
 history, which are soon to be housed in separate rooms, and some reproductions of the 
 most famous statues and busts. Attached to the gallery is a school of painting, which 
 is already beginning to produce good fruit. The Industrial Museum is after the pattern 
 of South Kensington, and contains models of the fruits of the earth, models of mining 
 apparatus, and specimens of domestic appliances. As is natural in a young museum, articles 
 of this sort are better represented than curiosities, except in the matter of aboriginal 
 weapons and implements, Australian and from the South Sea Islands, of which the 
 collection is one of the best in the -world. An institution of this kind must grow 
 slowly, and on every side an air of incompleteness hangs about the exterior of the 
 buildings. 
 
 Across the street, from the back of the territory of the Public Library, stand the 
 Working Man's College and the old Supreme Court. The Working Man's College is 
 chiefly due to the liberality of one citizen, the Hon. Francis Ormond, who in this as 
 in other ways has shown a wise interest in the progress of education. An unfortunate 
 mistake was made by the Council responsible for its management, in not commencing 
 the institution with lectures and teaching, and waiting to proceed with a building 
 when the need of one was proved ; nor is it quite clear whether the college is to be 
 of a technical nature, or, like its London prototype, is to fill up the gaps in general 
 education. At any rate, it is most satisfactory that on its finished side the building 
 looks handsome, and that it is most conveniently arranged. 
 
 It would not be easy to find two buildings with the same purpose presenting a 
 stronger contrast than the Old and the New Law Courts. The latter might fairly be 
 described by the French name, " the Palace of Justice." No doubt it is right and 

 
 Pbopsr.] 
 
 CHANCERY LANE. 
 
 51 
 
 there are palatial establishments in which modern banks delight to do their busi] 
 Banks, it, must bo mentioned, are a greal element in Australian life. There is no 
 country in the world in which, in proportion to the population, such a large banking 
 business is done or so many accounts kept, What with branches in very small town- 
 ships, and palaces in the large towns, this business has outward and visible signs which 
 cannot be overlooked. From a few minutes after six in the evening until eight in the 
 morning, and for the whole of Sunday, Collins Street is almost deserted 
 
 Other parts of 
 Melbourne have their 
 special characters. At 
 the west end of Flin- 
 ders St rort there is a 
 strong nautical flavour. 
 The houses there are 
 opposite the wharves. 
 though at a consider- 
 able interval : and it 
 is natural that the 
 
 sailors should frequenl 
 
 them, and that the 
 shops should "cater" 
 for the tastes of sailor-,. 
 Little flinders Street 
 or Flinders Lane, or 
 
 " the Lane," as it is 
 
 sometimes fondly 
 
 called, is the street 
 for large wholesale 
 warehouses of ready- 
 made clothing, woollen 
 
 g Is, ami the like. 
 
 The local name lor all 
 ibis is - soft-goods." 
 
 North of Collins Street is Little Collins Street, a part of which, lying well v.. 
 the centre, is known as Chancery Lane. It need hardlj be explained that this is where 
 the barristers' chambers are. On one side goes forth Temple Court, which has. however, 
 of late been nearly deserted in favour ol a sel of chambers, more modern and more 
 commodious, mi the other side of Chancery Lane, called after Lord Chancellor Selbome, 
 equally well known as sir Roundel! Palmer. Besides being more commodious, these 
 chambers are somewhat nearer to the new Courts. 
 
 Bourke Street has a character of its own. It is a streel devoted both to husin. ss 
 an. I to pleasure. It has mam large shops; but it is more important to notice that 
 here are the theatres, and the caffo and the shops devoted to the theatre liepi, i, 
 
 MKI.Iilll'HXr. HnslTI M,
 
 52 
 
 CASSELL's PICTUBESQTTE A.USTEAXASIA. 
 
 [MtLBOLRNE 
 
 THE XEW LAW COURTS. 
 
 In half the streel —the eastern half — there is as much traffic an hour before midnight 
 as at any period of the day. In the centre of Bourke Street is the General Post 
 
 < »tlice, from the 
 tower of which 
 the arrival of 
 mails from Ens?- 
 land is notified 
 by flags in the 
 day-time and 
 by lanterns at 
 night. The 
 Post Office is 
 not a small 
 building ; but 
 it gradually be- 
 came too small 
 for its work, 
 which, as in 
 England, in- 
 cludes the Tele- 
 graph and Sa- 
 vings Hanks, and must soon also include the carriage of parcels. In England the 
 Post Office is a source of profit to the general revenue. In the colonies, because of 
 sparser population and great distances, it is not. This colony, therefore, has no penny 
 postage ; but a generation that has seen the reduction on English letters from a 
 shilling to half that price, with a proportionate increase in speed, lives in hope of 
 further postal improvements. From the Post Office, by the way, distances are 
 measured; the number on a milestone after "to Melbourne" meaning the number of 
 miles to this centre. 
 
 Bourke Street has other sights. To the west of Elizabeth Street, the space for 
 some distance seems devoted to horses. There are saddlers' shops in a row, and then 
 great yards for the sale of horses, carriages, and carts. In the morning horses are 
 being trotted in the street to show their paces. Nearly opposite the Post Office stands 
 Cole's Book Arcade, an interesting place, with a brilliant-coloured rainbow for a sign 
 By the attractions of music people are encouraged to frequent the shop, and to read 
 books in the hope that they will buy them. Mr. Fronde was most struck with the 
 number of young men engaged in skimming shilling dreadfuls and exciting novels. But 
 had he known the shop well he would have found much else, solid food for the intellect 
 as well as stimulants for the imagination. Passing further up Bourke Street, towards the 
 Houses of Parliament, the visitor comes to the Eastern Market, a comparatively recent 
 ion on the part of the City Corporation. This is commodious, and complete with 
 modern appliances, including the electric light; and yet there are found those who regret 
 the old and rougher Paddy's Market, Saturday night was the time to visit this in all 

 
 Psoras.] 
 
 PADDYS MARKET. 
 
 53 
 
 its glory, when side by side with the genuine marketers there were found the quacks and 
 the conjurers, who formed the attraction of an old English fair. But even though the 
 fun may not now be so fast and furious, there is much that will interest a visitor to 
 the Eastern Market. Even in the day-time it is well frequented ; at night there is a 
 much larger attendance; on Saturday it is so crowded that locomotion is difficult, and 
 with the crowd there is such a noise that a lover of quiet had better stay away. Am 
 one who wants a dog, or a canary, or a parrot, or any of the many Australian birds, 
 can here find what he seeks. Every kind of article is being sold by cheap jacks, who 
 shout at the top of then- voices. Here men are trying then strength by blows upon a 
 machine ; others are testing their lungs, or being weighed. A little further on a man 
 has charge of an electric machine, and is prepared to give a shock for a consideration. 
 Vendors of vegetable pills, and other quack medicines, seem to be doin^ a roaring trade: 
 and here stands an ardent disciple of phrenology, who, for a very small sum, is prepared 
 to feel your bumps and tell your character therefrom, or will tell you how to educate 
 your children in accordance with bump-lore, until one is reminded of the father of 
 Mr. Midshipman Easy. 
 
 Leaving behind us — may we hope '. — everything in the nature of nostrums, quackery, 
 and the art of gulling fellow-creatures, we come to Parlia- 
 ment House. When this pile is completed, according to 
 
 Ml LBOUBNE INIVERSITY.
 
 54 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 |Mi:l i 
 
 THIS DLI) LAW COURTS, 
 
 Jgf* 
 
 THE MINT. 
 
 its design, the groat bus}' street will "be 
 worthily closed. On the granting of 
 Parliamentary government to the colony, 
 it was determined to have a noble plan 
 for a building, and to carry out parts 
 of the design. Melbourne has often 
 
 been described as a city of unfinished buildings. The charge is true, but the incom- 
 pleteness is based upon worthy reasons and a care for posterity. Better a part of a 
 good design, than a whole building executed upon a plan which must in after days 
 prove too small or too mean. The present generation sutlers, but posterity gains. 
 Parliament Bouse has long looked very ugly, because unfinished. The inside has been 
 attended to first, and the two Houses of Legislature have handsome debating chambers, 
 separated by a very spacious and handsome lobby, with a well-arranged and well- 
 stocked library. With the exception of their debating chambers all the arrangements 
 of the building — library, refreshment-rooms, billiard-rooms, and the like — are shared in 
 common by the members of both Houses. Following the precedent of the Lords, the 
 Upper House has a far more gaily decorated apartment than the Lower: in it the 
 ceremonies of opening and closing Parliament by His Excellency the Governor take place. 
 In addition to the billiard-room, Parliament House has an open asphalt tennis-court 
 and a large garden When the tennis-court was first proposed, much fun was made of 
 the proposal, which easily lends itself to ridicule. But, the idea is the same as in the
 
 PSOFI i'.. I 
 
 THE CHINESE QUARTER. 
 
 55 
 
 case «it' a billiard-room — that it is desirable to keep members in the precincts of the 
 House, though not necessarily in the House itself, when their attendance may at am 
 time be required Many would expect better legislation from legislators fresh from 
 tennis, than from legislators fresh from billiards. 
 
 Nut far from Parliament House are the Public Offices, with resnect to which the 
 question will arise whether they are not too large for a young country with a population 
 of a million. When the answer is given thai every nook and corner of the building 
 is occupied, doubt still finds place whether the colony be not over-governed Architecturally 
 the old Treasury is the handsomest of the offices. As a building it is too thin, bur. it 
 has an excellent front 
 
 One other street in Melbourne has a very special character — Little Bourke Street, 
 the Chinese quarter. There arc a great many Chinese in Australia, and some tew have 
 risen to the position of wealthy merchants. As a rule which knows tew exceptions, 
 they are very industrious, and render good service to housekeepers as hawkers of fish 
 and vegetables. In mining places they can make a living where no Englishman can. 
 Put they are' not good colonists, because they come with the intention of saving as 
 much money as they can scrape together, and then returning to China. Moreover, 
 they bring no women with them, and by providing temptations to gambling, and in 
 other ways, are the cause of not a little immorality. Our artists, under the protection 
 of two policemen, ventured into the Chinese haunts in Little Bourke Street, and have 
 reproduced some features of the strange life which is daily going on there within a feu 
 hundred yards of the Chambers of Legislature. But this .subject is so strange and 
 S] ial that we have devoted to it a separate chapter. 
 
 a ► .-■ 
 
 EXHIBITION BUILDINGS, MELBOURNE.
 
 56 
 
 GREATER MELBOURNE. 
 
 Distinctive Features — Richmond Park — The Yarra Yarra — Rowing Clubs and River Picnics — Suburban 
 .Municipalities — Means of Locomotion — Collingwood — Prahran — Hotham — Exhibition Building and the 
 "Zoo" — The Colonial Colney Hatch — Toorak — South Yarra — St. Kilda — Brighton — Flemington — Public 
 Holidays — The Ports of Melbourne : Sandridge and Williamstown — Origin of Local Names — Admiral 
 Collingwood. 
 
 [~T will be of interest to consider what are the distinctive features of Melbourne. And 
 -*- herein we are sneaking not only of the city, but of the city together with its suburbs. 
 of what, following the precedent of the popular name "Greater Britain," lias been called 
 Greater Melbourne. The two features that will strike every stranger are spaciousness 
 and variety. The first of these shows itself in the great extent of ground that is 
 covered, the width of the streets and main roads, the large number of public parks 
 and gardens by which over-building has been prevented, or, at any rate, its inconveniences 
 modified. The width of the streets helps to give the city proper an air of magnificence. 
 Wlniv the traffic is considerable, a feeling of satisfaction arises that ample provision 
 has been made for it. But the roads are too wide. In a country where violent wind 
 is not unknown, and where dust rises even to the magnitude of a plague, very broad 
 roads and wide street spaces are a real inconvenience. It is true that the dust nuisance 
 would be much mitigated, though not altogether removed, whilst a decided improvement 
 would be made in the general aspect, if the roads, being far too wide for the traffic, 
 were made narrower by plantations of trees along their sides. These plantations should 
 be fenced for the protection of the trees, and inside the enclosure there should be grass. 
 This has been done with good effect at various points, but the misfortune of Melbourne 
 roads lies in the variety of municipal government, and in the need of some central 
 authority or metropolitan board of works. 
 
 It is unfortunately true that in the decade after 1876 little or no progress 
 was made. One road which was formerly splendidly smooth has become a byword 
 and a disgrace. The St. Kilda Road was kept in admirable order in the days of 
 tolls, but tolls were abolished by the legislature without providing a substitute. 
 This road suffers from a divided jurisdiction, for the division line between the city 
 of Melbourne and Emerald Hill (or South Melbourne) is the middle of this road, and 
 though the people of Melbourne are famed for their practical business qualities, they seem 
 unable to discover a method of keeping this particular road in good repair. There are 
 several places near Melbourne where the road is so broad as to be a simple nursery 
 of dust, and where a wise municipality would have made a central plantation, circular 
 or triangular. In Paris such spaces would have been seized for a little garden, with a 
 fountain playing in the midst, and pleasant seats for the wayfarer. These little neglected 
 opportunities arc the more to be regretted because Melbourne has beautiful gardens 
 on the large scale. The wise foresight which almost encircled Melbourne proper with 
 public gardens, driving future suburbs further afield, and the skill with which these 
 gardens have been laid out, have provided Melbourne with admirable places of public
 
 Greater Mii.bourne.1 
 
 FITZROY GARDENS. 
 
 57 
 
 resort Some of them are as delightful as any gardens in the world. There is shade 
 in summer heat ; there are spacious and inviting lawns ; there are flowers and trees to 
 charm the eye. 
 
 Tin; view of the Fitzroy Gardens given below was taken on a lovely moonlight 
 night worthy of the tropics, when it was so light that the artist could without difficulty 
 
 IN Tin: FITZROY <■ \ i: I >i. ns. 
 
 see to sketch. "Weeping willows," to use his own words, "giants compared with English 
 willows, wen- trailing their branches; there were deep shadows with tender lull tones; 
 the grass and fern-tree gully were filled with mystery; whilst glintings of silver, or 
 rather golden, moonlight fell on edges of trunks, fronds, and leaves; and the whole 
 
 scene was made musical by the plashing of a tiny Stream hidden from view under a 
 
 spreading greenery."
 
 58 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Gbkateb 
 
 Passing, however, from poetry to measurements, the ordinary width of main roads 
 is three chains, and an exaggerator, with a touch of American humour, once said that 
 
 iok him half a day to cross the St. Kilda Road, which in parts is even wider than 
 the orthodox three chains. Side mads often reach to two chains, and a man lias 
 been heard to urge it, as a reproach against another that he " lived in a one-chain 
 mail" in much the same spirit as that in which tin; American tourist upbraided the 
 Oxford traveller who stopped at the ancient city of Trent with "Surely y<>n are not 
 going to visit such a one-horse place!" 
 
 Although land is very expensive in the near neighbourhood of the city, and fetches 
 a good price throughout the suburbs, private gardens abound, especially along the main 
 highways. Villas stand in what Anglo-Indians call a "compound" This is a com- 
 
 ion of shrubbery and garden ; sometimes there is a grassy lawn, oftener a lawn-tennis 
 ground, here generally, in spite of the. prefix "lawn," laid in asphalt. The result of 
 these large spaces is that the suburbs are far apart. One of the Americian cities is 
 known as " the city of magnificent distances." A name of the kind would be not 
 inappropriate to Melbourne; and the tax upon the ladies of visit-paying, which modern 
 society demands, is made much heavier because of the distances that have to be tra- 
 versed between friend and friend. 
 
 The second feature in the appearance of Melbourne is its diversity. A poor house 
 stands side by side with a good house, a cottage, one might almost say a hovel, in 
 close proximity to a palace. It is only fair to say that there is nothing in Melbourne 
 like the "lonn'. unlovely street " of London, nothing so hideous as Cower Street or Har- 
 le\ Street, neither of which expresses more, as has been caustically remarked, than "the 
 impotence of the architect to express anything." There is nothing like Regent Street 
 in London or the Rue Rivoli in Paris, for in the streets there has been very little con- 
 tinuous building, or building in a block upon the plans of a single architect. Subject 
 to certain municipal restrictions, each man has built as seemed good in his own eyes 
 or in the eyes of his architect. There are handsome individual buildings, some few 
 in admirable taste, but the general effect is often marred by the surroundings. The eye 
 at once marks a great difference in the height of the houses as well as in their 
 architectural st \ le. 
 
 In 1882 a traveller remarked that in this city there were no houses with more than 
 two storeys, but. on account of the expense of the land, some of the newer shops in 
 Melbourne proper have been built very tall, reminding a visitor of houses in older cities; 
 and these shops have a tendency to look absurd, because their neighbours are so much 
 -hoitcr in stature. In time much of this inequality will be removed. The rapid growth 
 of .Melbourne partially explains it. But then it is not all new cities, or new parts of 
 cities, that are built irregularly. The buildings that have been run up in the last 
 decade in new parts of Paris, lor example, are as regular as the houses in the older 
 quarters of the city. We must seek the difference rather in the character of the 
 people. The Victorians are great lovers of independence, and are. many of them, 
 sprung from a stock that chsrished as its principle what Burke describes as the 
 " dissidence of dissent, and the Protestantism of our Protestant " character. And yet,
 
 Melbou.sk.] suburban .MUNICIPALITIES. 63 
 
 early years spoke the native language fluently, maintains that this is a popular delusion, 
 and that the name means " 1% Gum Trees." Unfortunately, the native languages are 
 fast disappearing and will soon he "dead" in a sense other than that in which we apply 
 this epithet to the classics. 
 
 Within the circuit of Greater Melbourne no fewer than seventeen boroughs are 
 included of these, five are classed as cities, one is a town, and eleven are only 
 boroughs. It may he asked wherein the distinction lies. If hi England, according 
 to the old doctrine, a bishop and cathedral made a city, what makes it in Victoria ' 
 Tic Local (iovernment Act requires that a borough shall not exceed in area six square 
 miles, that no point in such area shall be more than six miles distant from any other, 
 and that there shall be not less than 300 inhabitant householders. All towns and 
 ,-ities are boroughs, distinguished from other boroughs by the amount of gross municipal 
 revenue in the year preceding the declaration of them as such by the Governor in 
 Council. A gross revenue of £10,000 makes a town, one of £20,000 a city. 
 
 The live cities are South Melbourne, or Emerald Hill (population, 32,500), l'rah- 
 ran (^7,000), Richmond (26,503), Collingwood (25,500), and Fitzroy (23,500). Many 
 an ancient and historic city in England has a smaller population than any of these. 
 Eotham, with a population of a little under 20,000, is the solitary "town." And the 
 eleven suburban boroughs, in order of population, are St. Kilda, Williamstown, Port 
 Melbourne, or Sandridge, Brunswick, Hawthorn, Footscray, Kew, Brighton, Essendon, 
 Fleming-ton, with Kensington, whilst the latest declared is Northcote. Each of these has 
 a mayor and corporation, with all the appurtenances of municipal government. Upon 
 public occasions, as at a Governor's levee, the furs of mayors and aldermen are verj 
 conspicuous. These, with the wigs of judges and barristers, give rise to the reflection 
 that tic English are a very conservative race, or in a new country they would have 
 devised new emblems. The tall black hat is still our badge of respectability, whilst 
 furs and wifiTS have often to be worn in a summer heat which makes them quite 
 intolerable. Another visible sign of municipal government is the large number of 
 handsome town-halls, useful for public meetings, concerts, and balls, though dancers 
 naturally object to a floor lately trodden by the ordinary working boot With these 
 town-halls are combined the municipal offices and council chambers. The neigh- 
 bourhood of Melbourne reminds one of Belgium for the pride which is taken in the 
 externals of municipal government. 
 
 We have already noticed the way in which towns expand into suburbs. Business 
 ami domestic life are nowadays quite distinct. This separation was common with the 
 merchanl before it was tine of the tradesman, but now it is pretty general with all 
 classes. The barrister lives away from his chambers, the solicitor from his office, ami 
 
 even in some cases the doctor from his consulting rooms. Melbourne is singularly well 
 supplied witli residential suburbs. Railway lines go out in different directions, and 
 
 along all these lines there run many full up-trains in the i -nine and down-trains in 
 
 the later part of the afternoon There are no fewer than fifty suburban railway stat 
 and some fifteen more which lie a little beyond the radius that can be fairl\ called 
 suburban. As far as Richmond m\ lines abreast (/.-.. three up ami three down) have
 
 64 
 
 CASSELLS PICTl-RKSyn-: AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Greater 
 
 been laid, and at certain periods in the day, though trains run every ten minutes, 
 every train is crowded 
 
 I '..^ides the trains, locomotion is assisted by omnibuses, trams, and cabs. In former 
 
 THE "BIGHT HOTJBS A DAY PROCESSION PASSING THE TOWN HALL. 
 
 davs tlic Melbourne cab was a kind of Irish ear, popularly known as a "jingle." Most 
 of the cab-drivers are still Irish, but the jingle has been ousted by the one-horse 
 waggonette, holding six persons. These can either be hired separately or used in 
 common as a kind of small omnibus. To many of the suburbs there is a line of 
 waggonettes running at regular intervals, each passenger paying only threepence. In the
 
 AlELUUUBXE.] 
 
 .MEANS OF LOCOMOTION'. 
 
 65 
 
 THE LAKK 11V MOONLIGHT. 
 
 chief streets there arc stands of conifortahle hansoms. Stands of drays and Eurniture- 
 waggons also are to be found. That Melbourne omnibuses do a good business is shown 
 by tin; high price thai shares in the Company fetch. The ordinary omnibus is in many 
 cases being replaced by tram-cars. These are pulled by a continuous rope. Under- 
 ground, between the tram-lines, is a cylinder in which a strong steel rope works. 
 Near the middle of cadi line there is an engine-house, the steam machinery in 
 which causes the rope to colli iu uously revolve. Kadi passenger car is preceded bj 
 what, is called a dummy, iii which there is a gripping apparatus. When this has 
 hold of tlie rope underneath, the car goes forward, at the same pace up-hill and 
 down-hill. As the rope is let go, a break is put on. and tin' car stops. Since the 
 
 break is very powerful, a car can he stopped in a very lew feet The gravest risk 
 
 of accident is that when two cars are passing each other otic may he hidden behind 
 
 the other. A warning hell is. therefore, frequent!} employed, ami at night verj 
 brilliant lights also.
 
 66 CASSELL'S PICTUBESQOX AISTRALASIA. [Greater 
 
 The different suburbs have characters of their own. The working-men are most at 
 
 home in Collingw 1. Prahran, and Hotham. In certain streets in those places the 
 
 cheapest shops arc situated In Collingwood the inhabitants are most crowded together, 
 and some of the streets are as narrow as in an old English town. Prahran has in 
 the last few years made greal strides. Large spaces which had not a house are now 
 covered Many of the houses are small; but at the eastern end, at Eawksburn and 
 Armadale, there arc more of the kind described by auctioneers as desirable villa resi- 
 dences. Even the small houses of an Australian town do not in their variety look so 
 mean as the rows of small houses in such towns as Sunderland or Hartlepool, or as 
 the acres upon acres of monotonous rows that occupy the east and south-east of 
 London. The houses of the Melbourne working-men have some little individuality : 
 and though the extensive use of corrugated iron is not a picturesque feature of them, 
 the verandas e-ive a character lacking in the London houses. It is at once noted 
 that a great mam' are built of wood, which is a clean material when new, but implies 
 that long life is not intended for the house. Fires are frequent, and in the chief 
 suburbs there are watch-towers erected, where a bell is rung the moment that a fire 
 is seen ; and devices are used in ringing the bell to denote the quarter in which 
 the fire has been seen. Wood has the great advantage of cooling quickly. When 
 a hot wind blows, as it sometimes does for three days, a stone or brick house is 
 at first a great protection, but in the end it is an oven, and remains one for long 
 alter the wind has changed A wooden house becomes quickly hot, but cools as 
 evening comes on ; and to be cool at night is of course a great boon. Hotham is 
 a large working-men's suburb on the north-west of Melbourne. The Benevolent Asylum 
 is partly in Hotham and partly in the city. Carlton and Fitzroy may be described 
 as middle-class or bourgeois suburbs. Emerald Hill and Richmond might fall under 
 the head either of middle-class or working-class cities. Between Emerald Hill and 
 the St. Hilda Road is a large tract of low-lying land, on which Canvas Town used 
 to stand. When the gold rush took place, enormous crowds came from all parts of 
 the world to Melbourne. There were not sufficient houses to accommodate the new 
 arrivals. Canvas Town, as its name implies, was a collection of tents, and many a 
 one of the new-comers was sdad enough to secure a tent, and sfround on which to 
 pitch it. The ground on which Canvas Town stood more than thirty years later was 
 not occupied with houses, because the situation is so low that it is sometimes flooded 
 by the Varra. But it is hoped that Sir John Coode's improvements will prevent 
 floods in the future. At the south side of Emerald Hill stands the Albert Park. This 
 has a lagoon, partly natural, partly artificial, which gives opportunities for sailing and 
 rowing. Un certain days in the summer a fashionable gathering of carriages and riders 
 assembles in the Albert Park, and resales itself with the music of a band. Some have 
 tried to ,<, r ive to this assemblage the name of Rotten Row, but the name is exotic, 
 and it is a question whether the institution will take root. 
 
 Carlton is a large suburb in the north of Melbourne. Part of it is becoming the 
 smokiest of all quarters of Melbourne. There are huge factory chimneys which do not 
 by any means consume their own smoke. Fortunately, they are rather intermittent in
 
 mklikwrne.] the "Zoo." 67 
 
 their action, but at times they send forth into the air volumes of smoke which threaten, 
 unless legislation intervene, a reproduction of the English " black country." Here dweU 
 the workers in iron, and here are certain very huge mills, and there is a monster 
 brewery, the proprietor of which is a public benefactor, who has set up a large town 
 cluck. Melbourne is becoming smoky, and sometimes the atmosphere, if the whole 
 truth must be teld, is positively murky. But let us add that it is only open to 
 that grave accusation on exceptional occasions, for we should hardly like our English 
 readers to think that we always, or even often, live in such an atmosphere as that. 
 As a rule, Melbourne skies can be compared, for clearness, to Italian, but this 
 character will not long be preserved unless something be soon done in the way of 
 smoke prevention. 
 
 Carlton is a suburb that includes many institutions within its bound. Of these 
 the largest is the Exhibition Building, in which the successful Victorian Exhibition of 
 1880 and 1881 was held. It occupies the middle of the large Carlton Gardens. The 
 greater part of the building then erected was permanent, though for the Exhibition there 
 were extensive annexes of a temporary nature. In the interval between exhibitions the 
 great hall is used for various purposes— for monster bazaars, for dog and poultry shows, 
 for very large meetings. Part of it has been used as a Government printing office, the 
 former office having been burnt down, and part has been fitted up as an aquarium. 
 In Carlton also the visitor will find the Cemetery, the University, and the Women's 
 Hospital The Cemetery is like unto most large town cemeteries, carefully portioned out 
 amongst religious denominations, so that those who have been divided in life may lie 
 divided also in death. Beyond the University and its affiliated colleges, on the north- 
 west of Melbourne, is the loyal Park, standing high and healthy. A portion of it has 
 been set apart as the ground of the Acclimatisation Society, generally known as " the 
 Zoo." The collection of animals to be seen here is well worth a visit. It is, of course, 
 especially strong in native specimens. Most of the creatures have plenty of space. 
 Kangaroos and wallaby may be seen in a paddock, and rabbits are not kept in hutches, 
 nor rats in cages. Wild animals, however, are still housed in dens that must be to 
 them inconveniently small. As London and Paris have been surpassed in the space 
 given to many animals, it may be hoped that the lions and tigers will he granted 
 spare as large as they have in London, and perhaps a return compliment might be 
 paid to our friends the kangaroos. Those in the Gardens in Regent's Park are so 
 
 miserably cramped that they are much to he pitied. 
 
 Amongst Other suburbs of a different character, Hawthorn and Kew may he mentioned 
 
 as very pleasant residential suburbs, rich in villas and gardens. In Kew two lunatic 
 
 asylums are situated, one called alter the suhiirh. and the other Yarra Bend In popular 
 conversation the latter, perhaps from its peculiar name, lakes the place occupied in 
 
 England by Colney Hatch or Hanwell— "a joke worthy of yarra Bend," 'conduct of 
 which no one would l>e guilty, except an inmate of Yarra Bend." Of the two asylums, 
 ono is a barrack, anil the other is divided mi the cottage system. 
 
 The suburb with the most magnificent mansions is Toorak. which is largely affected 
 
 by wealthy squatters, especially successful Scotchmen. The question is often asked why
 
 68 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTUBESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [GilEATEU 
 
 Australia does not devise an architecture suited to its mvn wants. Perhaps some day 
 it will, and in sneh aivhiteeture of tlie future the verandah and the balcony will be 
 found to play a prominent part. An outward sign of wealth can be seen in the two 
 spires that ornament Toorak Hill. The place is still embosomed in trees that stand 
 
 THE PIEU AND ESPLANADE, 
 
 round the big houses. The native name certainly has a somewhat uncouth sound, and 
 the wife of a Presbyterian minister coming here from Scotland created some amusement 
 by deploring that her husband was being "sent to a place called Toorak," when really 
 the lines had fallen to them in about the pleasantest place in the colony. South Yarra, 
 which has no independent municipal existence, has upon high authority been described 
 as the place of residence of " curled darlings." Lying just beyond the precincts of
 
 Melbourne.] 
 
 BRIGHTOX. 
 
 69 
 
 Government House, this suburb may be thought to gain some reflected glory from 
 
 proximity to vice-royalty. St. Hilda is a favourite seaside place within easy reach of 
 
 Melbourne, is provided with large hotels, and is proud of its baths, pier, and esplanade. 
 
 The young Australian, 
 
 it is well known, is not 
 
 easily abashed, and a 
 
 story is told of one on 
 
 a visit to England who> 
 
 being shown Brighton, 
 
 with its four consecutive 
 
 miles of substantia] 
 
 houses, only remarked 
 
 to his host, " You shouli 
 
 see St Hilda." St. Hilda 
 
 is within a very short 
 
 distance of Melbourne, 
 
 and its pier is a 
 
 favourite resort on 
 Sundays, its baths 
 on any hot day in 
 summer. 
 
 Brighton lies 
 further off, and is 
 generally a quiet 
 
 pli , covering a 
 
 large area, but with 
 
 houses somewhat 
 
 sparsely scattered 
 over it. A man 
 might still move 
 out from a crowded 
 suburb to Brighton to enjoj "three acres and a cow." No less than five suburban 
 
 railway stations use the name of Brighton surely a mark of poverty oi invention. 
 The parts of the Brighton district that lie furthest away from the sea are much 
 affected by market gardeners, whose carts move marketwards in the night, especially 
 of Fridays, returning laden with stable manure on Saturday afternoons. I'm the 
 
 
 PORTS OF U
 
 70 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Greater 
 
 tii i 10 to see Brighton is on a public holiday, when it is the favourite place of popular 
 resort The beach thronged with holiday-makers is a subject for an artist like Frith. 
 The Chinaman in the foreground of the accompanying view is an Australian speciality; 
 otherwise the scene might well be laid at some English watering-place. By-the-bye, 
 
 the term " watering-place " is not generally used in this sense in the colony, but liter- 
 ally for a place where horses arc taken to drink. A thoughtful boy once asked his 
 master whether horses in England drank salt water, because he found in his geography 
 that the watering-places were at the seaside. 
 
 On public holidays the trains are crowded in a way that, to an Englishman brings 
 back reminiscences of the Handel Festival at the Crystal Palace. He would be a churl 
 indeed who objected to five additional persons standing in a railway compartment that 
 has its usual complement of ten. It is often said that in Australia there are more public 
 holidays than in England, and that when opportunities offer of holiday-making they 
 are not neglected. Perhaps it is the sunnier climate, perhaps the higher average of 
 prosperity, but loyalty gives two genuine holidays in Melbourne, where in England one 
 only is observed, and that partially. Australians celebrate not only the Queen's birthday, 
 but also that of the Prince of Wales. Many Englishmen do not even know when the 
 Prince of Wales's birthday falls, but no Australian is ignorant of the date. The Lord 
 Mayor's Show falls in London's foggiest month, but "the ninth" is in our bonny spring. 
 ( Ihurch festivals are respected by many who pay attention to no other ordinance of the 
 Church. Christmas ;uid New Year fall at a time of year when the weather is usually 
 fine, tempting men out of doors. Up country, a race meeting is an excuse for the pro- 
 clamation of a local holiday, and on the occasion of the Melbourne Cup all the shops, 
 and most of the schools in Melbourne, are closed. Fancy an English school with a 
 holiday for Derby Day ! Here the practice is defended on the ground that discipline 
 is sure to be broken by parents talcing some of the children with them ; and parents 
 who think races dangerous have holidays themselves, and take their children else- 
 where to avoid contamination. It should be added that in our holiday crowds there is 
 a good deal of noise and merriment, but that few of the pleasure-seekers are seen under 
 the influence of alcohol. 
 
 Tne most horsey part of the neighbourhood of Melbourne is Flemington, where is 
 the meat racecourse, that has been so often favourably compared with the English 
 racecourses. Trainers and training stables are not far off. Of late years a second racing 
 colony has appeared at the other side of Melbourne, near the racecourse at Caultield. 
 To a non-racing man it seems as if every week there were some races or other at no 
 great distance from Melbourne. Almost every Saturday little boys in the streets solicit 
 him to buy "correct cards." 
 
 At Klemington great attention is paid to the comfort of visitors. A magnificent 
 grand stand has been erected, capable of holding 15,000 spectators, and in front of it a 
 large and prettily-arranged lawn The great day in the year is the Melbourne Cup, a 
 race which does not depend on any ecclesiastical festival, but is generally run on the 
 first Tuesday in November. Visitors come from all parts of the colonies, from Queens- 
 land, New Zealand, Western Australia ; and many go to the races on that day who
 
 Melbourne.) THE PORTS OF MELBOURNE. 71 
 
 never attend a racecourse on any other day in the year. Ignorant even of the horses' 
 names, some go to meet friends, or to see the spectators. The ladies' dresses are observed 
 quite as much as the races, and many ladies spend fabulous sums on the toilets that 
 are there closely inspected. Mr. Worth, of Paris, is believed to know the importance of 
 the Melbourne Cup. In the year 1885 it was estimated that 123,000 persons were 
 present. The Racing Club gives away annually no less a sum than £19,000 ; and since 
 the establishment of the Club a total of £217,900 has through its agency been 
 distributed. 
 
 It would be absurd to describe either Sandridge or Williamstown as simply a 
 suburb of Melbourne, yet both are very important adjuncts to the city. They are the 
 ports of Melbourne, though it must be remembered that Melbourne is itself a port. It 
 lias been already stated that the advice of the distinguished engineer. Sir John Coode, 
 has been obtained by the Melbourne Harbour Trust; and that when all his improve- 
 ments have been carried out, the passage up the Yarra will be made easier, and open 
 to larger vessels. These at present stay at Williamstown or .Sandridge, the large 
 steamers, as a rule, at the former place, and the large sailing-vessels at the latter. 
 The large ocean steamers belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental Company, those 
 of the Orient line, and the French Messagerie steamers, all of which cany mails, now 
 eome alongside the Williamstown Pier. When one of the mail steamers is departing, 
 especially if it carries away some very popular citizen, the pier is even dangerously 
 crowded, and the whole scene singularly animated. Not a few tears have been shed on 
 Williamstown Pier ; and it has been the place of not a few joyous meetings. When a popu- 
 lar sailing ship departs, it is generally drawn oft' into the open roadstead of Hobson's bay. 
 and those who wish to see their friends off go to and fro in a small steamer. A charge 
 of a florin damps the enthusiasm, and diminishes, if it does not altogether prevent, 
 overcrowding. And if the departing guest be very popular, with a reputation for horses 
 or dogs, or is son,,' " potent voice of Parliament." a special tug or steamer will be hired by 
 lib friends. Ami if he be of Scotch extraction, the bagpipes will be requisitioned for 
 flic occasion, to the discomfiture of mere Saxons. Sandridge is nearer Melbourne, but 
 Williamstown has the advantage of its rival in the possession of a large dry dock, into 
 which so large a ship as H.M.S. Nelson can pass, and there be thoroughly overhauled 
 Not only Williamstown, but all Melbourne, may lie proud of tliis dry dock Its proper 
 title is the Alfred Graving Dock It is the first sight that, on arrival, many a visitor is 
 taken to see. On a Sunday a great crowd always gathers at both the ports. Sight- 
 seers now claim it as a right to be allowed to ■_•• over the ships and steamers that lie 
 alongside the piers. The result is that they swarm over them, sometimes not quietly, nor 
 without mischief Sunday is by no means a popular day with captains and officers 
 in port. 
 
 At Williamstown there is to I.,- seen a little white tower, formerlj a lighthouse, 
 
 and now used chiefly to mark the time by the descent of a ball when the hour of 
 noon is telegraphed from the Melbourne Observatory. 
 
 Probablj most visitors reach Melbourne ly one of the mail steamers, and therefore 
 approach by way of Williamstown, and thence by rail. Unfortunately, the railway
 
 7:2 UASSBLL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Greater Melbourne. 
 
 journey from Williamstown is tedious, because the line has to skirt round the north of 
 Eobson's Bay, and through country bo dull and uninteresting that the visitor is to be 
 congratulated who makes his first acquaintance with it after dark. The must thriving 
 suburbs through which the line runs are Yarraville and Footscray. Though not amongst 
 the most fashionable, they arc yel very prosperous places. The former name is an 
 unsatisfactory compound of French with the aboriginal language, and permits the 
 inhabitants to pass under the unfortunate soubriquet of " Yarravillains." 
 
 The names of the suburbs can be grouped under four heads — native names, names 
 of places elsewhere, names of people, and fancy nanus. Of these, the first are the best 
 and must distinctive, but there are, unfortunately, very few of them — Prahran, Toorak, 
 ami South Varra. The first of these used to be accented on the first syllable; the accent 
 now always falls on the last. Some say the waggonette drivers hailing for passengers 
 altered the pronunciation, rinding the name easier to pronounce with the accent on the 
 second syllable. The names of places elsewhere are the least satisfactory, for they invite 
 comparison, or at least introduce associations, and seem generally due to poverty oi 
 invention on the part of the namer. Such English names ;i s Windsor and Kew make 
 a new arrival look out for the castle or the famous gardens. Brighton, Malvern, and 
 Richmond suggest comparisons which cannot be sustained. Sometimes we have foreign 
 towns like Coburg and Brunswick. Balaclava is one of a batch of Crimean names that 
 mark the date of the laying out of the suburb; others, applied to roads and streets, 
 are Alma, Inkerman, and Redan. Balaclava has been promoted from a road to a 
 district. Amongst the fanciful names are Hawthorn, (called after the bush, and not 
 after the American novelist), Hawksburn, Armadale, and St. Kilda. There is good 
 authority for saying that the last of these was named after a yacht, The Lady of St. 
 Kilda, the property of Sir Thomas Acland, and not directly after the seldom-visited 
 island that lies beyond the Western Hebrides. 
 
 Two suburbs with fanciful, but distinctive designations, Emerald Hill and Sandridge, 
 have lately thought it worth while to shed their names, and ring confusing changes on 
 the name of Melbourne. It rnay be quite true that the former was no longer on a 
 green hill, just as Newcastle dates from the time of William Rufus. But " South Mel- 
 bourne," the new style and title of Emerald Hill, sounds like a denial of the separate 
 existence of the suburb. Port Melbourne, the new name for Sandridge, seems to sug- 
 gest that when the weary traveller to Melbourne has reached the pier he has reached 
 his goal, which is not quite the case. 
 
 Williamstown is evidently named from Queen Victoria's predecessor. Hotham and 
 Fitzroy are called after Governors of the colony : Northcote, after Sir Stafford Northcote, 
 the late Lord Iddesleigh. One of the most populous of the suburban cities has honoured 
 itself by assuming the name of a great English sailor. The name of Nelson is used fre- 
 quently in these colonies, and so is that of Wellington; they stand for towns and 
 provinces in New Zealand, and for legislative provinces in Victoria. Wellington is a 
 mountain in Tasmania, as well as a small town in New South Wales. 
 
 Nelson's companion in arms is held in memory in the city of Collingwood ; and as 
 this worthy's memory seems to be growing somewhat dim with this later generation, it
 
 75 
 
 LITTLE BOURKE STREET. 
 
 Among the Chinese at Midnight — Lotteries — Chinese Shops — A Typical Cookshop — " The Grand Secret " — A 
 Gambling Hell — A Barber at Work — "Nance" going Home — Opium Dens — Taking a ''Pull" — Vice in a 
 Veil — Pandemonium — Philosophy under Difficulties — A Devoted Housebreaker. 
 
 ITTLE BOURKE STREET is a world apart from the city 
 of Melbourne, and the race which occupies its 
 crowded courts seems to have no connection with 
 the other people who by day or night promenade 
 along the pavements of Bourke Street proper. 
 Few Victorians who look with just pride upon 
 the vast, clean-kept streets and lofty buildings of 
 their monster city know or dream of the life so 
 far removed from all their ideals of home com- 
 fort which is seething quietly a few feet from 
 where they are walking and laughing in happy 
 ignorance. Bet me begin by lifting a single 
 comer of the veil which nicely covers up all, 
 and show a scene or two from the Chinese quarter. 
 With two detectives as our guides, for no sane man would think of venturing into 
 those quarters alone, particularly at night, we did the round, and as might be expected 
 under the circumstances, saw everything couleur de ruse. Our visit had evidently been 
 expected Men talk of the advances of civilisation, of telephones, and the like, but the 
 rapidity with which news can circulate through thieves' quarters surpasses all the 
 inventions of modern science. We began our walk at 9 p.m.. having made our arrange- 
 ments with the courteous head of the police about rive hours before; but we had not 
 advanced ten yards into the streel before a woman hailed one of the guides with the 
 cheerful words, "They all know you are coming down to-night with two gentlemen, so 
 you won't see iiiu.'h fun." Possibly we had been seen and watched coming from the 
 dete, -tive station, and so the password had travelled to and through the whole district 
 First we visited the shops where lottery tickets are' sold to the Chinese. The 
 law prohibits any being sold to Europeans, therefore we had no chance of testing 
 Dame Fortune, but the system was thoroughly explained by our friends, and the Lottery 
 vendors were "child-like and bhmd." most politely allowing us to see and handle every- 
 thing, regarding us the while with thai placid air and gentle smile SO characteristic of 
 the Celestials. The mysteries of the lottery ticket systems are too intricate to enter 
 upon tew, but everything seemed fair and above board Regret would cross the mind 
 that we were not permitted to purchase a few -a regret which was somewhat diminished 
 when we heard so much of the losses, and so little of the gains, of this very open- 
 handed game of Chinese lottery. It seems a strange combination, but all the Chinese 
 gamble, and all smoke opium, yet they are industrious and cleanly, rising early and
 
 76 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Lima 
 
 working late, and on Saturdays their week's savings go to the Lottery Hank or the 
 Kan-Taii Some people deny the cleanliness, but writing from personal experiences of the 
 Melbourne Chinese, I boldly affirm that cleanly they are. 
 
 Some of these Chinese shops are delicious in colour and picturesqueness — lanterns 
 swinging about, throwing down soft light on the assembled figures; jars and grotesque 
 china monsters standing on the shelves ; bills, boxes, and packages : vermilion labelled 
 with (piaint Chinese characters; rice books set before the markers, who were dotting 
 off tickets with their vermilion or black paint pots and pointed poonah-brushes. 
 Groups of forbidding-looking Europeans, or rather a conglomeration of nationalities, 
 half-castes and white men, were lounging about, casting scowling, yet timid, hangdog 
 glances on the intruders, muttering sounds like maledictions, yel nol plain enough 
 to be resented. Above the counter-top stood an altar-piece with its hideous god, 
 or rather complex symbol of Nature, and before it the daily ottering, a cup of tea, 
 which no European is allowed to touch. All was cleanly and sweet-smelling, except 
 when the filthy European mongrels chewed tobacco and spat about the floor. The shop- 
 keepers and their friends, open-faced and placid, wore a cpiiet and unobtrusive air. 
 whether clad in their own blue nankeens, or in English fashion, showing a neatness of 
 attire very different from the Europeans around. We prefer to see them in the costume 
 of their own country : like a cooked tomato, a Chinaman a VAnglaise is a Chinaman spoilt. 
 
 From the lottery ticket-shop, with its jacket-loafers, we next enter the cookshops, 
 and watch the dough being rolled into long, thin ribbons, and afterwards chopped 
 up into squares so exactly correct in size that it seems a marvel how such skill can be 
 acquired One man made the dough on a flat table, and rolled it out by the yard about 
 an inch wide, another cut it into little squares, while a third filled each square with 
 pork and folded it up into rolls. This is next put into a pot by the cook and made 
 into delicious soup; long soup they called it. Up aloft are berths like ship-bunks. 
 the sleeping quarters of the Chinese, and inside are the dining-rooms. It is wonderful 
 what a limited space can hold these people. In a room about twelve feet square a 
 dozen Chinamen can exist comfortably. We went into one house, a hovel from the 
 outside, with little windows like pigeon-holes, yet inside clean and comfortable. It was 
 one o'clock on Good Friday morning, and these were decent, hard-working fellows, at 
 least, Chinese who had never been convicted. One lay in a bed like a shelf, tired, as 
 the other Chinamen observed, while our informant was just beginning to hang his 
 line across the five-feet general apartment preparatory to doing his daily washing; and 
 above him, reaching to a little loft, were placed rows of shelves, the couches of Chinamen 
 not yet home. The detectives told me that these were good specimens, and that this 
 one now awake would be up by daybreak and away on his rounds with his pack — he is 
 a licensed bawdier — that from early morning of the day before till late at night he 
 had been tramping over miles of ground, and from late at night till this hour had 
 been summing up his day's expenses and gains, and sorting his merchandise against the 
 morrow; thai he would do his washing before going to bed, and perhaps scrub out his 
 cabin; and all this from Monday till Saturday, week after week, and year after year. 
 
 "lint how can they stand the strain and want of sleep?"
 
 Bourke Street j 
 
 A COOK-HOUSE. 
 
 77 
 
 " Opium, that's the grand secret. Of course they don't last long, and don't want to." 
 The kitchen of the cook-house was a rare treat for us, and the cook an object nut 
 to be easily forgotten. On one stove pots were bubbling away, some tilled with water, 
 others with long and short soup, l'cside the oven stood the cook, shrivelled and lean, 
 
 \ r y pn \ i 
 
 with parchment visage and lank pigtail. On another side st 1 an immense 1 toiler, and 
 
 near by bung the carcass of a pig very carefully scraped, and entire. Chinamen are 
 splendid customers to the butchers, bul the} must have their pigs killed and dressed in 
 their own way. Le„ with the head, and all complete and undamaged. On the ground 
 was placed a low iron stove with tea, a free gift to any one coming in, and always 
 ready delicious tea, taken without sugar or milk, and always fresh drawn, without
 
 78 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Uttlb 
 
 much colour. Two or three Chinese sat on the ground squatting and sucking their 
 opium pipes. 
 
 "By whom arc these shops mostly patronised?" 
 
 "Thieves, garrotters, housebreakers, pickpockets, and women of all sorts, most of 
 
 them being addicted to the habit." 
 
 " What habit '." 
 
 "Opium; but you'll sec presently." 
 
 As we passed out of the shop we saw in one little den a Celestial regaling himself 
 on the lone' soup : it was boiling hot, yet he supped it up without pausing. Further 
 down the passages we gained a glimpse of another room where two genteel-looking, well- 
 dressed young ladies sat eating a plate of cut chicken. They nodded to the detective 
 as we passed, and he remarked laconically, "Clever girls, these, both thieves." The 
 outside shop was crammed with quaint jars, ornamental vases, bottles of sauce and 
 pickles ; and on the ground, counters, and low shelves, were splendid vegetables — 
 cabbages, leeks, parsnips, potatoes, &c, of such development as we could find in no 
 other place than a Chinese vegetable shop. 
 
 Our next visit was to the Fan-Tan shop, where heavy stakes are laid and lost, or 
 won. Here a large crowd was assembled, mostly Chinese, with a Blight sprinkling of 
 the wolf and jackal species of white men, and a few darkies. The excitement was great. 
 We stood in the shadow watching the faces and backs of the players. The light above 
 the coin-covered table was bright, and streamed upon the yellow heads of the banker 
 and his colleagues, with their coiled-up black plaits, on the shining, evil faces of the 
 gamblers, on the gold, silver, and copper coins, and strings of leaden counters before the 
 hanker ; the wall was bare and whitewashed, and the ceiling was destitute of ornament, 
 and by no means clean. Between us and the bright gaslights most expressive backs 
 could be seen in shadow relief. 
 
 Passing through the lobby into the street, we came upon the barber waiting at this 
 early hour on customers, and as we repassed the window outside in the dark lane we 
 saw the barber standing, and his customer sitting, with a luminous glow of colour, framed 
 by the blackness of that little window-sash. The barber stood behind the chair plaintively 
 unplaiting the tail, and laying on one side the horsehair additions, while the customer 
 sat with drooping, melancholy head, the coloured lantern above his head, and on the 
 wall gay-coloured Chinese designs on screens. Although it was early morning, there 
 seemed no signs of shutting up. 
 
 Into alleys where no one could dream of finding a passage we stumbled, every 
 little hole and corner laden with its own burden of depravity and crime. Here, in a 
 dark cornel-, with fearful-looking, tumble-down sheds on three sides of the yard, and 
 the damps and chills of foulness underground, one of my guides had lain a whole 
 night watching for some daring burglars, and had been rewarded by catching them. 
 Lighting a match, he pointed out to me strange dens and hiding-places. In one an old 
 sack and some straw flung in a corner on the bare floor told us that the birds had 
 not yet forsaken their vile nest. In another alley the policeman showed us where he 
 had recovered a large " plant " of jewellery. In capturing the Chinese receiver he 
 
 &
 
 Bourke Street.) OPIUM DENS. 79 
 
 had nearly been killed by a blow on the head with a cleaver. As we were standing 
 listening a figure slid softly past, yet not too softly to evade the sharp ears of the 
 detective, who called out the name, and received in reply, " Good night." Shifting a 
 loose paling aside, our guide crushed through; we followed, and lo, another land lay 
 revealed. It was no longer Little Bourke Street, but a vast territory of horrible dens 
 of infamy. What we saw was vile enough, but yet innocence itself to what we could 
 not see, as our visit had been notified, and the inmates were mostly out, or if in, 
 hiding and pretending to be out. Most of these dens had Chinese characters upon 
 the lintels ; and as we went on we passed shambling, indistinct figures, who kept to 
 the shadow side of the wall, and tried to move past unseen, yet all had to announce 
 some errand to the vigilant policeman. The graceful outline of a well-dressed girl 
 brushed me in passing, and she tendered her excuse for coming against me in a 
 soft tone and educated accent. " Going home, Nance ? " inquired the detective. " Yes, 
 sir," sweetly returned the young girl, and became lost in the obscurity. " That girl 
 is a perfect slave to the opium-habit," I was informed by my guides. 
 
 Presently we came to another wooden building, on its last legs, or, rather, piles. It 
 slanted down sideways amidst the mud, and rags filled up the holes of windows, while 
 the thin morning breeze flapped some loose boards with a dismal sound. A loud 
 knock against the door, to which no reply was given; then a rough shove, and the 
 door yielded, and we entered an apartment pitch-dark. 
 
 "Take care of your feet," muttered our guides, "and walk softly." We groped our 
 way along until a turn revealed to us a low light burning in a far-off room, like a 
 candle in a fog, while the pungent odour of opium-smoke filled our nostrils with its 
 rather pleasant perfume. On we went, and presently entered quickly upon the scene 
 where the habit was being indulged. Here we saw a hideous, yellow-visaged, shrunken- 
 eyed Chinaman, and a young woman about twenty, neatly dressed and comely, while 
 between them stood a tiny oil-lamp, the light of which had shown us the way in, 
 and near the lamp a little saucer with a dark, treacly substance at the bottom. She 
 held the long opium-pipe to her lips, and waited; he slowly extracted a small quantity 
 of the glutinous liquor from the saucer on the point of a needle, and, rolling it round 
 like a pea, held it over the lamp-flame. He rolled it round and round until it frizzled, 
 swelled, and then became reduced in size, so as to lit into the tiny aperture of the pipe 
 which the woman held glued to her lipa As he pushed it in, and held the tilled 
 pipe over the flame, the girl inhaled one long, sucking breath, which she swallowed. 
 and then it. was all over -to begin again alter we left, pipe alter pipe — one long suck 
 
 to cadi elaborately-prepared pipe. 
 
 We went into other dens. In some we saw Englishmen indulging in the pernicious 
 
 habit : in others young females, with sweet, pure looking faces and gentle manners, who 
 would have deceived me as to their vocation ii seen elsewhere Yel others there were 
 in which Chinese alone congregated, to prepare and smoke their evil pipes; and these 
 dens were invariably clean. In one I tried lour pipes; hut evidently I had not done 
 the business right, for I felt none ot the delightful sensations which I >e Quincej so 
 vividly describes. I only rose with a dry, nasty taste in my month, feeling nothing
 
 80 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA [Little 
 
 more than I felt before; and the taste was only in a measure removed by a visit to 
 the cookshop, and a plate of Long soup, with the native sauce added to it, followed 
 by a saucer of cut chicken. The Chinese, it should be mentioned, cut their chickens 
 in! i square pieces, bones and all, and roast them perfectly, but do not indulge in 
 stuffing. This feast, cost us the sum of sixpence per head. 
 
 In one English house which we entered — tilled to the door with harsh-voiced women 
 and coarse-looking men — I seemed to recognise for the first time the noisy vice of 
 London slums. In all the other places we had seen refinement and gentleness — 
 the gentleness of demons — an air of courtesy and education which appalled me more 
 than the worst language of Billingsgate. We are accustomed to associate vice with 
 curses and blasphemy; but it seemed more hideous and revolting when accompanied 
 l>\ -vntle tone's and educated language. Victoria swarms with State schools and free 
 education, and yet villainy is not stamped out, but rather intensified, by the power 
 which books have given. There were no brutal ruffians in the dens I saw, with the 
 exception of this one house. I heard no vulgar jests or blood-curdling oaths. Those 
 of English race spoke gently, as the Chinese did, and in set phrases, the men looking 
 like world-worn gentlemen, while the women spoke like blase ladies, with modest attire 
 and girlish figures; only here and there in the lanes might be seen a recognisable 
 blackguard, smoking coarse tobacco, or a bloated, unmistakable night-bird; and these 
 were merely the prowlers of the dark outside. Inside, refinement and villainy blent 
 too readily not to be suggestive of a poetic ideal of the damned. 
 
 Hut in this one dark-covered house were assembled larrikins and females with coars6 
 features and corresponding figures. Here were arms tattooed, scowling faces, unkempt 
 locks. We were prepared at a glance for anything, from the garrotter down to the 
 kinchin-layer, and left with the feeling that all the surroundings were in accordance 
 with the proper fitness of natural laws outraged. This was ordinary vice, and about 
 it we thought no more. Does not the poet say 
 
 " Viee is a monster of so frightful mien, 
 As, to be hated, needs but to be seen"? 
 
 And this was a case in point. But the Chinese lepers of morality gave us more concern. 
 We could not but wish Little Bourke Street demolished and the plague-spot wiped 
 out altogether, warehouses built in the dilapidated quarter, crime crushed and the 
 vermin driven out. 
 
 How calmly and philosophically these Chinese bear losses and gains ! In one 
 house, called a lodging-house, we found the keeper, a splendidly-developed animal of a 
 Chinaman. We were told that he had broken the banks several times, and only last 
 week had lost at Fan-Tan over £2,000, his whole filthy earnings. He showed us over 
 his premises, kept and cleaned by him alone, and looking like a man-of-war for order 
 and neatness, with one narrow stair like an upright ladder. Men could be pitched 
 down, and their necks broken very easily. He was proud of his establishment, and showed 
 no regret over his losses. " As well spend it that way as any other : a man cannot take 
 it with him when he leaves this world." Thus the creed of Confucius consoled him, and
 
 BoDBKE STREET.] 
 
 A SAD SCENE. 
 
 M 
 
 Vb^-^-^^ 
 
 rendered him happy and con- 
 tented even in poverty and utter 
 vice. 
 
 It was growing very near day- 
 light, and we were utterly tired out, 
 and disgusted to the heart's core with 
 our eight hours' experiences, lit the 
 last house thai we visited, we saw on 
 one bed of the opium den three young 
 colonials Lying making up their own 
 pills, and languidly sucking at the 
 pipe-stems one after another. Here 
 
 also we saw a Chinaman anil a loveh 
 
 girl el' ahoul sixteen years, while her 
 companion, also aboul the same age, 
 with a bundle of purchases at her 
 side, was sitting down. Behind the 
 door on a chair, in halt' shadow, sat a 
 6
 
 82 CASSl'.I.I.s PICTURESQUE AISTRALASIA. [Little 
 
 most lady-like woman of about twenty-five. As our eyes grew accustomed to the dim 
 light, we saw a blear-eyed old hag with a face wrinkled and marked like a parchment 
 record of iniquity, and, most pathetic sight of all. a young man tenderly nursing a 
 baby. 
 
 "Ha! Tom. lad. is the youngster any better?" inquired one of the detectives. 
 
 - Not much, sir," quietly replied the young man. " Vet sine : Nelly came out he 
 has been easier with his cough." 
 
 -So y<>n are there, Null.'" asked the detective, looking at the woman behind the 
 door. 
 
 " Yos, sir." 
 
 " Nine girl, isn't she, gentlemen," lie continued, waving his hand carelessly, with the 
 air of the proprietor of a wild beast show, "and the smartest pickpocket in Melbourne, 
 ay, or the world either, for that part, as I think we can nearly heat Creation in the way 
 of (he under professions." 
 
 - Yes, 1 think I have seen more of real blackguardism to-night than in my previous 
 lilt's experience, and I have seen a few places pretty had.'' 
 
 The woman sat with her hands folded on her knees, and gently smiled, while the 
 three young colonials made a motion as if to rise. 
 
 " Don'1 stir, gentlemen, we are going in a moment." 
 
 The three young men sank back languidly on the bed, and prepared another 
 opium puff. 
 
 "Where is the pleasure in this?" I asked one of the pleasantest faced, as he lay 
 hack looking passively at me with half-closed eyelids. 
 
 "Well, you see, when a working man like myself" — he certainly did not appear like 
 a hard worker — " comes home of a night too tired to eat or sleep, we come here and 
 take a pipe or two, and feel as if we could go fresh to work once again without needing 
 either to sleep or to eat. You have read De Quineey, haven't you'" 
 
 " Yes," I replied, feeling a sudden interest in this opium victim. 
 
 " Well, ho tells you all about it." 
 
 "But are you all working men?" 
 
 " I ertainly," replied the other two young fellows, who had not spoken before. 
 
 " None of your lies!" harshly broke in one of the detectives, with a sudden scowl; 
 and at his voice the young man seemed to shrivel up. "I'll tell you what they are. 
 That fellow you have been speaking to is not two days out of gaol for a case of 
 burglary and violence. The other two were in the same haul, only we hadn't evidence 
 enough to convict them. Better luck next time. This young man is a sort of all- 
 round man, although I know his tricks best in shoplifting. He is the friend of Nelly 
 over there, and the baby he is nursing is hers, before she took up "with him." 
 
 " And the ethers '" 
 
 " < >ld Mother .Murphy, with crimes enough to sink a frigate, past all use event 
 Opium-SUcking now: and these two on the bed — well, they are called ladies by day, 
 and keep a villa in one of the fashionable outskirts of Melbourne ; only they cannot 
 exist without their pipe, and come here under cover of the night to enjoy it quietly."
 
 Lord Melbourne.] 
 
 THE FIRST LORD. 
 
 85 
 
 Sir Peniston Lamb had two country seats, Brocket Hall, near Hertford, afterwards 
 famous as the seat of Lord Palmerston, and one in Derbyshire, near a village which, 
 fortunately for us, bears the melodious name of Melbourne. His first title was Lord 
 Melbourne of Melbourne, in Ireland, whereas, we believe, there is no place called Melbourne 
 in Ireland ; but sometimes, when an Englishman was rewarded with an Irish peerage, 
 it was the practice for him to take bis title from some place in England, representing 
 it as " in Ireland." This was in the days before the Union, and it was manifestly unfair 
 that a peerage should be given for services that had nothing to do with Ireland, with 
 
 l.nKl) MELBOURNE. 
 
 which country it seems that Lord Melbourne had no connection. It' the Irish peerage 
 roll had not been unfairly stuffed, it would not, perhaps, at the Union have born neces- 
 sary to resort to the expedient of representative peers, 
 
 lu 1815, the Waterloo year, Sir Peniston was made a peer of the United Kingdom, 
 Viscount Melbourne, of Melbourne, in the county of Derby. His son, William Lamb, 
 our Lord Melbourne, was educated at Eton, from which he passed to Trinity Coll 
 Cambridge. As the English Universities in those days made no provision for education 
 beyond classics and mathematics, he passed from Cambridge to Glasgow, in order to 
 study law and political science under an eminenl professor at that University. 
 
 In L805 he entered the Bouse of Commons, being elected for Leominster. He
 
 86 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. CLo™ 
 
 ranked himself amongst the Whigs under the leadership of Charles James Fox, a 
 brilliant phalanx but in a decided minority. One may almost say that during the whole 
 of George lll.'s reign, and until the passing of the Reform Bill, in L832, the Tories 
 in office. Now and thou, of course, there were short breaks. From Waterloo, 
 however, to the Reform Bill, the Whigs were growing in trength. Winn Lord Liverpool, 
 in L827, was struck with paralysis and compelled to resign, King George IV., after much 
 hesitation, and what with a loss exalti onage would be called "shilly-shallying," 
 
 appointed .Mr. Canning Premier. Mr. Canning, clever, brilliant, witty, was little prepared 
 to join those who blindly resisted all change. Ho was therefore distasteful to high 
 Tories such as the Duke of Wellington, who held aloof from him, but, obtaining the 
 support of many Whigs, he formed a ministry from the moderate men. Mr. Lamb 
 joined him, accepting the office of Secretary for Ireland. Carrning was soon worn out 
 1>\ tin- labours, anxieties, and annoyances of office. Four months of it killed him. After 
 a short interval of government in the weak hands of Lord Goderich, in January, 1828, 
 the Duke of Wellington became Prime .Minister. During all these changes Mr. Lamb 
 remained in office, hut the Duke did not like the more Liberal or Canningite section 
 of his Cabinet, and quarrelled with them : and in May of that year Mr. Huskisson, Lord 
 Palmerston, and others resigned, amongst these others being Mr. Lamb, who soon after- 
 wards succeeded his father, and became Lord Melbourne. 
 
 The particular matter which caused a split in the Tory Cabinet was a question of 
 Parliamentary Reform. Two boroughs, convicted of corruption, having been condemned 
 to lose their representatives, Mr. Huskisson and the so-called Canningites voted that 
 the right of election should be transferred to Manchester. Indeed, the feeling for Par- 
 liamentary Reform was growing in the public mind. The Duke of Wellington, the Prime 
 Minister, said that the representation could not possibly be improved, and, as a result, 
 the Ministry was upset. The Canningites mostly joined Lord Grey, in whose adminis- 
 tration, formed in the autumn of that year, Viscount Melbourne was Home Secretary 
 and Lord Palmerston Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Mr. Huskisson was no more. 
 Two months previously he had attended the opening of the Manchester and Liverpool 
 Railway, the first passenger line opened in England Seeing the Duke of Wellington, 
 with whom he had not been on friendly terms since the split in the Ministry, he 
 stepped out of the railway carriage to shake bands, and was killed by an engine 
 coming up suddenly — the first of a long list of victims to accidents on English 
 railways. 
 
 For four years Melbourne remained at the head of the Home Office, and during 
 that time the great Reform Hill was carried About his administration of his office 
 there is a great difference of opinion. It was a time of great excitement. Reformers 
 called Lord Grey's coming into office "the year One of the people's cause." Expecting 
 too much — a sort of return of the Golden Age — they were naturally disappointed, and 
 have vented their disappointment on ministers for ills that they could not cure. It 
 was creditable to English good sense that, with much excitement, there was little dis- 
 turbance; but there were riots in some towns, and rick-burnings in various parts of the 
 country. The maintenance of order is in the hands of the Home Secretary, and the
 
 MELBontsK] LORD MELBOURNE'S MEANNESS. 87 
 
 friends of order complained, but apparently without much ground, that Lord Melbourne 
 lacked vigour in this work. 
 
 In August, 1834, Lord Melbourne became Prime Minister. William IV.. who 
 had supported the Whigs in the matter of reform, was beginning to turn against 
 them: and Lord Melbourne accepted office upon the resignation of his late chief. Lord 
 (irey, because the majority in Parliament were prepared to support him, and not 
 because he had the confidence of the king. In December the king, in summary, almost 
 in sailor fashion, dismissed his Ministers, and consulted the Duke of Wellington about 
 tiie formation of a Tory Ministry. " H. 15.," the great caricaturist of the day, has a 
 picture of a Cabinet meeting, into which Lord Melbourne rushes, m great excitement, 
 shouting, " We're kicked out! we're kicked out:" By way of salve for the sore that the 
 kick produced, my lord was ottered an Earldom and a Garter, fait he had the self- 
 respect to decline both. 
 
 The Duke of Wellington advised King William to make Sir Robert Peel Prime 
 Minister; but la; was enjoying a holiday in Italy, and had to be sent for. Meanwhile, 
 how was the king's Government to be carried on? Always fertile in resource, and not 
 caring what people thought or said, the Iron Duke took the whole government on 
 
 himself. Ai rdingly " H. l'>." lias another picture of a Cabinet meeting, with the duke 
 
 himself occupying all the chairs. It was a very united Cabinet — in fact, literally 
 unanimous. 
 
 Sir Robert Peel, on returning to England, became Premier, and, to help him. 
 Parliament was dissolved But the new Parliament still showed a majority against 
 him, angry at the way in which the Whigs had been treated, and Peel finding it quite 
 impossible to remain in office, Lord Melbourne was reinstated in April, 1835, and 
 remained in power until September, L841. 
 
 In June, 1837, William IV. died, and was succeeded by his niece, the presenl Queen. 
 It is said that, her Majesty liked her first Prime Minister very much, but out of doors 
 his popularity was not, great. He was careless in his manner of receiving deputations. 
 When bis visitors were discoursing learnedly and gravely, he would blow a feather into 
 the air and watch it with delight ; or he would place a cushion on his knee and seem 
 to concentrate all his attention on nursing it. The imnetus of reform was spent, and 
 Melbourne's star was waning before the growing influence of Peel. In May, 1839, on 
 an important division on a colonial question, the ministers could onhj obtain a majority 
 of five in the House of Commons and therefore resigned. This led to what is known 
 as the ■■ Bedchamber Question." The great ladies ol the Queen's household, appointed 
 
 a: her a ssion, were relatives of the retiring ministers. Sir Robert Peel informed the 
 
 Queen that he < hi not take office unless he were permitted to change these. The 
 
 Queen refused, and Lord Mell ne and his colleagues, " sheltered behind the petticoats 
 
 of their wives and sisters," returned to office for two and a half more years, when, at 
 length, their opponents, the followers of Sir Robert Peek had so large a majority that 
 the\ had to give up office. Melbourne now practically retired from politics, although 
 he did not die until November, 1848. 
 
 One cannot finish this sketch without a quotation from Sydney Smiths famous
 
 ss 
 
 -IXL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 |LuUD UELBOUBHE. 
 
 character, which may stand in place of estimate of our own. "If the truth must he 
 told," says the wittj dean of St Paul's,"our Viscount is somewhat of an impostor. Every- 
 thing about him seems to betoken careless desolation: any one would suppose from his 
 manner that he was playing at chuck-farthing with human happiness: that he would 
 
 giggle away the Great Charter, and decide by the method of teetotum whether my 
 lords the bishops should or should not retain their seats in the House of Lords. I am 
 sorry to hurt any man's feelings, and to brush away the magnificent fabric of levity 
 and gaiety that he has reared; but I accuse our minister of honesty and diligence; 
 1 d.ny that he is careless or rash. He is nothing more than a man of good under- 
 standing and good principle, disguised in the eternal and somewhat wearisome affecta- 
 tion of a political roa6." 
 
 HELBOUHNE HALL, MELBOURNE, ENGLAND.
 
 OHINEMUTU. 
 (From a Photograph i>n Messrs. I^n-lon Bros., Dinted in.) 
 
 A VANISH KM WONDERLAND. 
 
 The Hot Lakes — A Terrible Catastrophe — Oxford and Cambridge — Rotorua — The Boiling Springs — Ohinemutu 
 — Whakarewarewa — Wairoa — Lake Tarawera — Lake Rotomahana — The Wonderland — The White Terrace 
 — The Steam Demon — The Pink Terrace — Vanished ! — A New Wonderland. 
 
 f I MIH Hot, Lake district of Now Zealand lies in the Auckland province, about one 
 -*- hundred and fifty miles south-east of the city of that name, and forty-five miles 
 south from the port of Tauranga, on the Bay of Plenty. Setting aside the giant lake 
 of Taupo, which should be treated alone, the thermal region includes Lakes Rotorua, 
 Roto-iti, Roto-ehu, Roto-ma, Tarawera, and numerous other rotos of smaller extent. All 
 these have their charms of position or of shape, if not their volcanic wonders, but the large 
 lake of Rotorua and the little lake of Rotomahana are the chief centres of interest. 
 There are two inducements to visit the region, cure-seeking and sight-seeing. For the 
 former purpose the township of Ohinemutu, on Rotorua, with its hot-springs and 
 sulphur-baths, is the special resort ; for the latter all the interest culminates upon 
 the terraces and geysers of Rotomahana. Or rather did culminate ; for though Rotorua 
 and its medicinal springs remain very much as they were, Rotomahana, with its terraces 
 and fumaroles, is now represented, so tar as can be ascertained, by a vast and 
 awful crater, <>r assemblage of craters, active and unapproachable. 
 
 All the world has heard of the marvels of this mysterious region, and all the 
 world has heard, too, of the catastrophe which befell it on June Huh. 1886. < >n that day 
 Mounl Tarawera, a hill some two thousand feet in height, and situated at the south- 
 easl corner of the lake of the same name, suddenly hurst into violent eruption. It 
 
 Startled the g I people from their beds in Auckland, a hundred and fifty miles away. 
 
 It strewed the earth with a thick coat of ashes all along the Bay of Plenty, forty or 
 lit;\ miles distant. It vomited mud and scoria in tons overall the surrounding country,
 
 90 CASSELL'S PICTTTEESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [A Vakished 
 
 burying the European village of Wairoa, nine miles off, and blotting from the face of the 
 earth several picturesque Maori hamlets, along with their luckless inhabitants. Standing, 
 as it did.just behind the famous terraces of Lake Rotomahana, it naturally enough i 
 an end of those wonders which Nature had been accumulating for thousands of years. 
 The whole region was for some time turned into a scene of panic and of the wildest 
 desolation But at length we arc in a fair position to estimate what has been lost, 
 even if we cannot as yel say definitely what has been gained in its place. Such 
 volcanic outbreaks, however, seldom destroy without also creatine-. 
 
 Those who had the good fortune to visit the Wonderland of New Zealand before 
 this awful calamity robbed it of its most delightful, if not of its nmst marvellous, 
 features, will be more overwhelmed by the present reality of the catastrophe than 
 astonished at the fact that it should have occurred at all. No one gifted with the least 
 imagination could walk warily among those seething cauldrons, those pools of boiling 
 mud. and those unnumbered jets of steam, without realising something of what was 
 going on beneath : and occasionally a disturbing thought would steal into the mind, 
 and grow and grow — "What if this should be the moment of an outburst?" Yet 
 familiarity bred contempt, and whenever at Rotorua a new mud-spring burst up 
 suddenly through a cottage floor, it would cause but a mild surprise, and in a da\ or 
 two the occupant of the domicile would be utilising it for the cooking of his potatoes 
 or the curing of his rheumatism. At rare intervals a human being, a cow, or a horse 
 would through some slight inadvertence fall into a boiling pool, and only be recovered 
 thence in ghastly shreds. A newspaper paragraph might record the fact, the Maories 
 would hold a tangi, and then men and women would go on cooking their food in 
 convenient holes, and the children would go on playing upon isthmuses of questionable 
 thickness which separated cauldrons unquestionably fatal. And all this was perfectly 
 natural. Any accidents which occurred had been due to carelessness. Mother Earth 
 herself had never been treacherous; she had, indeed, occasionally developed a new hole 
 here and a fresh pipe of steam there, but she had let the roads and townships alone. 
 
 And even now. after the warning which was given on the 10th of June, and after 
 finding day turned into night, and feeling all the thin earth beneath quake and shiver 
 for hour alter hour, the ordinary resident goes about his avocations, and the tourists 
 flock to the scene, just as if the event had been one of a century ago. 
 
 There are two routes to Ohinemutu, which is the central starting-point for viewing 
 the whole district. The one is overland from Auckland, the other by sea to Tauranga, 
 ami thence b road. It was only a few short months before the catastrophe that the 
 presenl writer was amid the scene. We chose the overland route, which is now 
 admittedly superior to that by way of Tauranga. The latter is not indeed without 
 very great attractions, passing as it does through many miles of magnificent bush, and 
 through the Mangarewa Gorge. Vet the sea voyage to Tauranga in a comparatively 
 small vessel, and on a rough coast, is apt to be unpleasant and monotonous. The 
 railway, on the contrary, passes through varied scenery in the plain of the large 
 Waikato River, which was once the great field of campaigning, but now smiles with 
 prosperous agriculture. Cattle may be seen browsing quietly by the remains of the
 
 o
 
 - FOREST NMMKVAL." 
 
 .Mauri pa and the British redoubt; and Maori faces may be seen grinning a c] 
 recognition where once they gloated over the slain. 
 
 Fur those who would make the journey with the greatest comfort and satisfai 
 the way li^s by rail from Auckland to Cambridge, distant about a hundred miles; 
 and thence by special vehicle through Oxford to Ohinemutu, the main township of the 
 Lake District, which Lies upon Lake Rotorua, fifty-five miles distant. Of the al 
 named places, Cambridge is but a Little agricultural village, and Oxford but a place of 
 entertainment for man and beast; but where there is a Cambridge there must be an 
 Oxford, and no doubt both will in due time become places <>i importance. The carriage 
 drive from < >xford to < >hinemutu is itself worth all the trouble, the road being diversified 
 enough for every taste. The besl part of it is, perhaps, the eleven miles <■( "forest 
 primeval," where on both sides of the winding track there is an infinity of druse jungle, 
 full of that luxuriant growth which distinguishes the North Island >A' New Zealand. 
 The tall kauris, the puriri, the rimu, the stealthy merciless rata-vine, winding itself 
 a baleful serpent round the trees from which it sucks the life-blood, the 
 thick undergrowth <>f raupo and turn -all this reminded one more of the Amazon or 
 the Orinoco than of anything else in Australasia. Gigantic tree-ferns and grai 
 nikau-palms edged the road, while curious parasites bulged out here and there upon 
 the tree-trunks, as if the growth were not already thick enough without them. Sometimes 
 the buggy would sway for a mile or so along the edge of the precipice, where we could, 
 if we had nerve enough, gaze down upon gullies which were the consummation *<l 
 sylvan beauty. 
 
 Emerging from this piece of bush, we descend into the plain of Rotorua The 
 lake itself is at this point uninteresting, nor, for some few miles, does there seem 
 to be anything particularly attractive or wonderful. A long, Hat stretch of clayej 
 soil, covered with monotonous ti-scrub, lies between the liills to the right and the 
 lake to the left ; and ahead, upon a kind ef promontory, we catch sight of the low-lying 
 township of Ohinemutu. As we draw nearer along the dusty road, our first perception 
 
 is ■ of the nose. Then mes upon the breeze a perfume which is not balmy, and 
 
 yet is not strong enough to be called detestable. Gradually it grows mure pronounced, 
 and emphatically suggests over-ripe eggs, or those matches which unblushingly describe 
 themselves as ohne phosphor. The inhabitants say that one grows to Like this sulphurous 
 odour. For our part, we never got beyond toleration. 
 
 lb-re and there, amid the ti-scrub, we notice a kind of bald patch, with a yellowish 
 covering, which will, on inspection, turn out to !»• composed of stones coated with 
 
 sulphur. Next, we I >m ■ aware of numerous small columns of steam rising h\ the 
 
 roadside, or issuing here ami there amid tin' ti-trees, and these grow more and mure 
 frequent as we near the town. An exaggi rated idea may perhaps he entertained <>( the 
 size and appearance of the boiling springs, whose presence these columns of steam 
 betoken In size and shape they are like an ordinary pool which forms itself in the 
 fields after heavy rain, being of an irregular edge, and of all sizes, from a squan 
 to many square yards Somewhere towards the middle ef them bubbles m.i\ be dot 
 rising from a "pipe" which communicates with an unknown depth anic mysl
 
 92 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [A Yammikd 
 
 Sometimes one of them steams away all alone, like an exile, far away in the scrub, but 
 rally they are in clusters, with only a foot or two of ground between, and how solid 
 that ground may be no man knoweth. 
 
 The little township, half native, half European, stood calmly that day amid the 
 springs, jusl as if they were things thai "no family should be without," Between house 
 and house a disregarded cauldron or two steamed and steamed, so that the general 
 appearance of the settlement from a distance was as if every householder were burning 
 
 WATEIiFALL AT WAIKOA. 
 
 ) 
 
 a few heaps of garden rubbish. The springs were not provided with any fence, and 
 the tourist had need to accept the warnings he received at his hotel to keep his eyes well 
 upon the ground, never to wander from the main road after dark, and to beware of 
 putting an enemy into his mouth to steal away his control over his feet Accidents 
 did occur from time to time, but fencing was no one's business in particular, and as 
 no Cabinet Minister or bishop had ever been boiled alive, the danger was allowed to 
 remain. It may be observed that the "hot" springs are really hot, the water having 
 a genuine record of 212 degrees. The first sensation in walking amid all these 
 wonders was rather disappointing, for the simple reason that there was so much
 
 Wohdkoahd.] THE LOBSTER-BATH. 93 
 
 of them, and the residents took all so much as a matter of course. They went to 
 
 their baths— especially to tl ne which turned them red, and which was called the 
 
 lobster-bath — and they discussed the effect on their rheumatism or sciatica, but nothing 
 
 PI8SI BE l\ ROAD M M: THE TIKM Mi 1.1 3H, M Ml: THE 1:1:1 PTIOJJ. 
 
 was said of the wonder or 1 1 1« - awe. Even the new-comer was more amused with dropping 
 o sixpence into a shallow pool, and fishing it oul again as Mark as ink, than astonished 
 al these marvels of Vulcan.
 
 94 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. |a v 
 
 Though many of the springs keep at nothing less than boiling point, others are of 
 a milder temperature. Nature seems to have graduated them tc suit all requirements) 
 balneatory or culinary. But by a peculiar c incidence, the hottest and largest pools are 
 ; i be mel with exactly where they are likely to prove most dangerous. From a 
 medicinal point of view, the merits of some of the baths constructed from these natural 
 thermal springs are incapable of exaggeration The faith in their potency displayed by 
 sufferers from all parts of the world must be most unaccountable if it is baseless, most 
 touching if it is a delusion. The Government has declared its belief in them by 
 establishing a sanatorium on Sulphur Point .Many a cripple is said ti> have been able 
 to take up his bed and walk after due treatment in the baths of Rotorua. 
 
 There arc, therefore, good hotels at Ohinemutu, and much company of a cosmo- 
 politan nature. There is, moreover, a delightful blending of civilisation and barbarism. 
 As one roams through the village, keeping a wary eye upon the ground, he stumbles 
 against old .Maori carvings of the most, grotesque description He will not be surprised 
 to behold an English church here, an English store there, and a Maori wkare, or a Maori 
 meeting-house, in another direction. ( fhinemutu was one of the earliest fields of missionary 
 work, and a Maori may he beheld conducting a service or a catechism, in bis soft native 
 tone-tie, inside a building which was once used for councils of war and other pagan 
 purposes. All around, the rudely-carved figures of Maori ancestors, with eyes of shell, 
 protruding tongues, and three-fingered hands crossed over the stomach, look on benignant l\ , 
 if leeringly. The visitor will not he astonished to meet with a neatly-railed tomb, 
 which sets forth, by means of its headstone, how "Helen Hinemoa Wilson was accidentally 
 scalded to death" in such and such a year. He will, if he takes care of his steps, 
 arrive safely on a little promontory, where stand the tokens of an old jm, which formerly 
 stood high and dry. hut lies now beneath the water. The point has sunk still lower of 
 late, and its total disappearance is but a question of time. 
 
 Beyond curiosities such as these, and its medicinal advantages, Ohinemutu otters 
 no charms to detain the visitor. It is the head-quarters of the whole district, and it, 
 gives a foretaste of the expected marvels: hut the air is heavy with sulphur, and the 
 scenery of little value. As a starting-point for expeditions on Rotorua, to the island 
 of Mokoia, rich in legend, to Roto-Iti on the north-east, and to Rotomahana east by 
 south, the town is something as Keswick is to the English lakes, though without any 
 pretensions to the beauty of that place. 
 
 We mount our buggy again, and as the sulphurous odour grows fainter and fainter 
 behind us, we make, for Wairoa, over the hills. Wairoa is the settlement which has 
 played the part of Pompeii in the late catastrophe. We have some eleven miles up 
 and down hill to drive, and the last half of them shall not yield the palm of beauty 
 to any Trosachs or Vosemites you can name. 
 
 The tirst half of the journey is not interesting. A little to the right we pass 
 Whakarewarewa, with its mud-pools and geysers. Whakarewarewa is a Maori hamlet 
 of a size by no means commensurate with that of its name. Its mud-springs form 
 an agreeable change from the Ohinemutu fumaroles. They are more alive, and show 
 more varied phenomena than those everlasting water-holes. Generally speaking, they
 
 Wootsblakd.] BY DAY AND BY NIGHT. 95 
 
 □able so many porridge-pots, sel over a slow fire. To sit up to the neck in a 
 bath of the battery mud, thai laps and hugs the limbs with a plea anl tenacity, is 
 a luxury highly appreciated by the natives, and nol altogether despised of the 
 European. The same mud is said to be edible, and the Maori smacks his lips and 
 cries "Kapai" ("First-rate") as he attempts to swallow if. Jt appears, however, to 
 be caviare to the general. Unfortunately our recollections of Whakarewarewa are 
 ii'ii of the must, pleasant. It is a kind of private reserve, whose owners are absurdly 
 extortionate natives; for be it known that the Maori soon learns to higgle for the means 
 wherewith to purchase gin. 
 
 The journey to Wairoa should be made both by day and by night No more 
 bewitching drive can be imagined in the broad light of day than to plunge downward 
 through the dim twilight of the Tikitapu • bush, and then out upon the read which 
 winds by the shores of Tikitapu, the lake whose waters are blue, and Etotokakahi, 
 the lake whose waters an; green The Blue and Green lakes are undeniably what they 
 call themselves, yet, beautiful as they are. there is something weird about them ; an air 
 of mystery, suggesting a secret preserved from a wondrous past. And what of the future ' 
 
 During the late outburst the road alone- which we passed was rent across with 
 a yawning gulf, the hush was overwhelmed and broken down with a foul weighl oi 
 mud and ashes, and the shores of the lakes were stripped of all their marge of verdure, 
 till Tikitapu 1 ame desolate as Avernus. 
 
 Then the drive at night, with a faint moon peering through the arboreal canopy! 
 Nothing was ever more fascinating. Along tin' roadside, under the ferns, tins of 
 thousands of little lanterns were brightly burning. They were only the glow-worms, 
 but the Laid; was as beautiful as if strewn with diamonds. And now the bush 
 is -uprooted." ami all the foliage and the glow-worms covered with scoria and mud. 
 Alone- we go, under the moon, with the Blue lake and the Green turned each to 
 
 burnished silver, anil finally, through a noisy crowd of natives, we dash up to the d ■ 
 
 of that hospitable hotel whieh we now know is " wrecked," and its surroundings buried 
 Under ten feet of blue mud and ashes 
 
 It is inconceivable. The little township of Wairoa. almost entirely native, lay in 
 a narrow glen some hundred feet or so above the head of I. tike Tarawera. It was one 
 
 of the most picturesque spots in the world, with its half-civilised inhabitants grouped 
 about in their parti-coloured attire, with its wattled wkarea built on the hillsides amid 
 the eternal green, and with its haka danees and tangi wakes. And now many of these 
 
 tatt I denizens are overwhelmed, the vegetation and the wliares are ten feet deep in 
 
 mud: a foid-smelling, desolate stretch of ashes covers the most romantic spot on the 
 earth! Where is the genial M'Crae, our guide, philosopher, and friend' Where is 
 the sturdy guide Kate, with her Humane Society's medal ' Their occupation has 
 gone for many a day, unless thej are following it in other fields of wonder and 
 mystery. A beautiful spot was this Wairoa, with its waterfall in the bush, its peeps 
 through frames of foliage on to the lake Tarawera below, its jovial Maori life, its 
 apparent separation from all the rest of the world and the world's cares. No d 
 
 in a few years the mud will have cleared away, the vegetation will have been renewed,
 
 96 
 
 (ASSKI.I.K I'lCTURKSljrE AUSTRALASIA 
 
 [A Vanished 
 
 and that most charming nook will again be filled with a joyous, cureless population of 
 the two races, 
 
 Descending in the curly mom along a winding path, we reach an arm of Tarawera 
 
 Lake, whereon we emhark in a boat manned by eight stalwart Maoris. The lake broadens 
 
 LAKE TARAWERA BEFORE THE ERUPTION'. 
 (From a Photograph by Messrs. Burton B I 
 
 into a little sea, rimmed in with harmless-looking hills, but we keep always near the 
 shore on our right, under the pohutukawas which hang tenaciously from the fire-seared 
 rocks. Our Maoris chant as they row, and over and anon stop to perform a rhythmical 
 gesticulation, which vastly amuses them and does not hurt us. 
 
 Two-thirds of the journey are over whin we touch at a tiny native settlement called 
 Te Moura — now, alas! swept away, along with its little population of thirty. To have 
 refused to call there would have been to violate all the traditions. Ever since strangers 
 first rowed across Tarawera, they have by prescription been compelled to purchase at 
 Te Moura a certain kind of diminutive crayfish. These provisions are subsequently to 
 be cooked in the boiliiiLT water close by the Ten-aces, and their consumption is a 
 necessary part of the programme. There are hundreds of people in every part of the 
 world who will recollect and grieve for the sociable people of this little place of call. 
 Its place knows it no more, and they would not so much as recognise the sheltered 
 corner in which it stood.
 
 Wonderland.] 
 
 THE WHITE TEBBACE. 
 
 97 
 
 Another chant, a short race with a rival boat, and at eight miles from Wairoa we 
 reach another now vanished settlement called Te Ariki. At the mouth of a tepid little 
 stream we disembark. The stream runs out of Lake Rotomahana, which is but half a 
 mile distant, and it is usual to descend it in a canoe, but as the current is strong, and 
 the course winding, tourists in going upwards make a short cut on foot through the 
 scrub. Suddenly we come on the crest of a little hill, and lo! the Wonderland of the 
 World lies before us. The scene has often been described, but never hi such a way as 
 to fully satisfy those who have beheld it. We cannot here do it justice, and must 
 content ourselves with an outline, necessarily inadequate even as a sketch. 
 
 Before us, towards the right, lies a lake of something over a mile in diameter, and 
 just at our feet is what may be called the bottom step of the belauded and bepoemed 
 Te Tarata, the White Terrace. It is only separated from us by the little stream afore- 
 mentioned Stretching away along the shore of the lake is the realisation partly of 
 Inferno, partly of Paradise. The awe, perhaps, exceeds the beauty. The White Terrace, 
 
 LAKE TARAWBBA \1 111: Tin: i.ia PTION. 
 ' Photagrofh by Heart. Burton • I 
 
 a mass of silica, rises tier above tier, and culminates in an impenetrable m\ 
 
 of strain. To the right of it the low hills are all alive with jets of vapour. The 
 whole side of the range seems to smoke We must look at the terrace from every 
 part, and the neanr the better hi, ever} stage of its white surface there are pools
 
 98 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [A Vanished 
 
 of water of a celestial blue, while the edge of each platform is emhroidered with curious 
 incrustations, and its sin-tan' strewn with petrifactions of much beauty. Higher and 
 higher we mount, and the water that trickles over grows hotter and hotter, until we 
 reach the topmost level, and there take our stand on the edge of a boiling horror. 
 We cannot see across it for the dense .steam; we cannot sound it; we can only gaze 
 in wonder. Well do we remember two figures which had approached from a different 
 side, and had taken up their position upon a peak of rock, where the}' loomed of 
 more than mortal size: Dante and Virgil to the life, from Dore's cartoons. Then 
 we turn and gaze down upon the ever-widening expanse of white and blue below us, 
 and we feel that we never knew colour before, and that the beauty, the grandeur, the 
 awfulness, are too much for the soul to feel at once. 
 
 The impressions formed of the Terrace from different points of view were very 
 various. At one time it seemed as if we were walking over snow, marked with those 
 curious and fantastic patterns which frost creates. Here we took delight in the more 
 minute work, the little silicious fretworks spread over the surface of a platform, or the 
 delicate laccwork which fell over its edge. In another place it was the regular sweep 
 of the arcs, as sta^e rose above stasre, that called forth our admiration. Again, we 
 met with a space which seemed broken up into a series of pockets, whose white depths 
 were filled with baths of azure Avater of every degree of temperature. Nearer the 
 summit the gradation was less regular, the formations less symmetrical, and buttresses 
 had formed themselves upon the vertical walls. And this we might expect, for at 
 different times the angle of ejection of the silicated water inclined in different directions ; 
 and while this would give irregularity to the shape of the upper platforms, the lower 
 and wider stages would receive a more even distribution of the deposit. 
 
 Perhaps the English language never was so ransacked as for terms adequate to the 
 description of this Terrace. How shall we give a simple understanding of the formation 
 as a whole ? Perhaps thus : From the summit downwards it spread itself, in shape like 
 an enormous fan, in build like a vast flight of alabaster steps rising to a throne — the 
 throne of Nature; not the benignant, life-giving Nature, but the Titanic Nature which sent 
 its giant brood to war with the gods at Phlegra. W 7 here the throne should stand, was a 
 hissing cauldron, and the scorching vapour hid the ruling majesty from human sight 
 
 These vast steps had taken myriads of years to form, for the plebeian names 
 which those pigmy barbarians Smith and .Jones inscribed, according to their Vandal 
 wont, upon these great white platforms in the year 1SG0, were to the last as visible as 
 when they were first scrawled: a quarter of a century had not contrived to blot them 
 out with an appreciable fraction of an inch of deposit. 
 
 < >ver all the steps a film of water, as soft to the touch as satin, glides incessantly, 
 and trickles into the lake till it gives it its name, Rotomahana — the Warm Lake. 
 Descending, and entering the neighbouring scrub, we pass warily among holes in which 
 mud boils and leaps up, subsides again, again leaps up, and forms huge bubbles, 
 which explode with a "flopping" sound. We stand beside a basin of rock in whose depths 
 we hear ominous rumblings and seethings. Suddenly comes a rush of water, and we 
 flee to a safe distance, turning round in time to see a column of water spout up and
 
 WraDERiuiD.] THE 1'IXK TERRACE. 99 
 
 fall again with a most gruesome swirl. Yet further, and we become conscious i 
 loud and sustained roaring, like that of a hoarse steam-whistle, proceeding from a 
 hole or tube of rock some two or three yards square. There is no water or steam 
 visible, but 1 know nothing more fearsome than that bole. Von can look into it, and 
 hear the roaring deeper and deeper down. The suggestion is of an unfathomable depth, 
 but that hoarse voice of the steam demon is the most terrible of earthly sounds. 
 And all the while a muffled nnise is heard as if a diabolic steam-hammer were working 
 deep, deep down in the earth. 
 
 Standing mi the side of this ridge, putting our fingers in our ears, and turning 
 our backs upon the screaming depth, we look out through the trees over the peaceful 
 little lake and its brilliant shore, thinking it a scene of retirement tit for a Sans-Soud. 
 lint turn once more, and there are the steaming breath and the horrible yell of the 
 volcanic demon. The sounds and sights are apt to haunt one's dreams tor many a day. 
 
 It took long t<> examine all these things so new and strange; and it was nut un- 
 common for tourists to camp for some days upon the scene. When curiosity was 
 appeased on this side, it was customary to enter a canoe and be shot swiftly across a 
 corner of the lake to the Pink Terrace, Otukapuarangi, in all respects like the White, 
 except in colour and size. It is smaller, more comprehensible, so to speak. Compared 
 with the White Terrace, it was a toy; yet it was necessary to complete the picture. 
 It derived its name from a coloured deposit found among the white silica, and to 
 be seen in perfection it, required one of the brightest, of New Zealand days. Ah! 
 
 its sapphire ] Is were the most delicious baths that man ever knew, soothing the 
 
 sense, and yet, filling the soid with ecstasy! Now a frightful cavern is belching 
 and vomiting where that work of beauty was. Let us row off into the lake, and 
 post ourselves where we call see on the one hand the White Terrace, and mi the 
 
 other the Pink. An azure sky is above us, the sun-lit lake before us ; the leafage 
 around is of a glorious green, and here and there we catch sight of a native in 
 gay attire. Let no man deny the truth of any painting he may hereafter see of 
 the terraces of which New Zealand was so proud. Imagination deserts us when we 
 think of them as gone, and tor ever. Yonder .Mount Tarawera looked as if his day 
 was done; but so did Vesuvius in the year of grace 79. Yet Pompeii and Herculaneum 
 were hut commonplace cities, and might, perhaps, have been spared The terraces of 
 New Zealand were unique, unparalleled. They are now only, or little more than, a 
 tradition. That awful roaring in the "Devil's Mole" meant something, a perpetual 
 warning, as awful as it sounded. Little did we think, as we paddled down the stream on 
 our way back from Rotomahana, trying to think we had fullj appreciated what was 
 appreciation, that another year would see the whole of this wonder and magnificence 
 wiped from the face of the earth. Nature truly is cruel to her own works. One 
 
 who has never visited the scei an scarcely understand the grief and wonder of the 
 
 New Zealander who knows it well. The Wairoa Valley, the little tepid stream, the 
 terraces, all the wonderful places, sights, ami sounds, gone, and something, perhaps 
 
 more awful, hut not for centuries as beautiful, left in its place! The children of the 
 
 future will see the terraces only in pictures, which thej will call exaggerated. Truly
 
 100 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUST1! AI.ASIA. 
 
 IA VAKI8BED WONDERLAND. 
 
 this was the event of a century. Similar events will no donlit occur in time to come. 
 The Maoris have Long had traditions of Lost mountains and other wondrous changes, and a 
 Maori tradition always rests upon some basis. Yet we may imagine that the feeling of 
 awe will soon subside, and that the neighbourhood will quickly become inhabited again. 
 
 Since the above words were written there comes the news that another Wonderland 
 has been discovered, or rather opened up. A few miles to the south of the old 
 Wonderland, and within the same immediate volcanic radius, lies a mysterious valley 
 
 THE WHITE TERRACE, ROTOMAHANA, BEFORE THE ERUPTION. 
 
 (From a Photograph by Messrs. Burton Bros.) 
 
 named Waiotapu, winch, though known to surveyors, was otherwise unvisited of white 
 That it had its volcanic phenomena was suspected, as being a matter of course, yet, 
 Lying away from the broad and beaten road, it was neglected for its inconvenience sake, 
 lint when such a loss as the one we have been describing befalls a country, it is not 
 to be expected that the enterprising explorer will sit still. The colonist is confident of 
 his resources, and therein he is justified. This solitary valley, guarded by two hills of the 
 awe-inspiring names of Maungaongaonga and Maungakakaramea, is, we are told, as full 
 of its geysers and its "Devil's Holes" as were the shores of Rotomahana. Nay, it even 
 possesses its incipient terrace ; and there is every reason to expect that " Ichabod " will 
 sound but for a little while in the province of Auckland, and that " Eureka " will 
 triumph in its stead.
 
 BRISBANE FROM BOWEN TERRACE. 
 
 BRISBANE. 
 
 The Approach by River— North Brisbane — Victoria Bridge— Stanley Street— The Breweries— The Gaol— The 
 Water Supply — City Charities— Grammar Schools — The Botanical Gardens — Government and Parliament 
 Houses — The Churches — Exhibition Buildings and Places of Amusement — Newspapers — 'Buses and Trams 
 — The Ferries. 
 
 FN the visitor reaching Brisbane by steamer, the first object that excites attention and 
 -*- elicits admiration is the noble stream on which the city stands, and after which it 
 is named. From the mouth of the river, at the township of Lytton, the distance to the 
 wharves is about fifteen miles. After the halfway point is reached, not far below 
 the Hamilton Pavilion, the stream begins to narrow to a breadth of about a quarter 
 of a mile, whilst the swampy mangrove banks give place to high ridges, rising here and 
 there into pretty wooded crests, on which are perched many handsome private residences. 
 Owing to some sharp bends in the river, the |ourney up from Breakfast I about 
 
 four miles from town) occupies more than half-an-hour. Rounding the last corner, we 
 see to the right some imposing residences; on the left is the Kangaroo Point slip. 
 and further on, facing the stone quarries that nestle beneath the heights of Bowen 
 Ten-ace. the new Immigration l>e]>ot Reserve. With some difficulty, and at a very slow 
 pace the vessel swings round Kangaroo Point Corner, and the main portion of the city 
 is before us. The British India Steam Navigation Company, which is subsidised by 
 the Queensland Government to carry the European mails ,■/,»' Torres Straits, has lately 
 built the only wharf on the Kangaroo Point side. With the exception of the narrow 
 tongue of land that constitutes the " Point " proper, this bank is too steep to be 
 favourable for wharf construction, and the river frontage is chiefly occupied by private 
 residences. <>n the opposite side are the wharves of Howard. Smith, and Co., of Gibbs, 
 Bright, and Co., of the Queensland Shipping Company, and the two Australian St 
 
 Navigation wharves, in tl rder named. Further on is the office of the rnspi 
 
 of Harbours and Rivers, with a small wharf attached ; and the Botanical Gardens end the 
 
 reach. In the next one is the Government House Domain on the north side, and further 
 
 up, about two hundred yards below the Victoria Bridge, is the wharf of the Government 
 
 i / inda, in which the members of the Ministry are wont to hold cabinet
 
 102 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Brisbane. 
 
 meetings and picnics. On the opposite or South Brisbane bank a tine wharf has 
 been erected for the Corporation, mar the Dry Dock; hard by is the terminus of the 
 South Brisbane Railway, which brings coal down to the vessels from the neighbourhood 
 of Ipswich 
 
 The city of North Brisbane proper lies in an almost perfect triangle, of which two sides 
 are formed by the river, and the third by Ann Street, which runs from Pefrie's Bight, 
 opposite the Kangaroo Point Corner, to a point on the river about two hundred yards 
 above the Victoria Bridge. If we cut off from this triangle the smaller triangle 
 embracing the Botanical Gardens and the land attached to Government House and the 
 Parliament Buildings, we have left a figure with two parallel sides — Ann and Alice 
 
 its. The principal thoroughfare is Queen Street ; all the streets parallel with it 
 are named after ladies whose surnames have not been preserved, and are, on the north, 
 Ann and Adelaide Streets; on the south, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Mary, Margaret, and Alice 
 Streets. The cross streets are, starting from the west, William, George, Albert, Edward, 
 Creek, and Eagle Streets. The last-named, however, is not at right angles to Queen 
 Street, but runs alongside the wharves. For breadth, the streets will compare favourably 
 with those of Sydney, though this, perhaps, is not saying a great deal. From Queen 
 Street to Ann Street there is a gradual rise, which continues till we reach the Ob- 
 servatory Hill and Wickham Terrace. Brisbane, surrounded as it is by hills, possesses 
 a series of what are called "Terraces," high ridges surmounted each by a winding road. 
 on one side of which (the upper) are long rows of private houses. Of these, Wickham 
 Terrace is nearest, to the city. In the hollow between "Wickham and Petrie Terraces are 
 a public park and the Railway Station Reserve; the Sandgate railway passes by the 
 Grammar School into Victoria Park, through which it rims. The Southern and 
 Western Railway runs between Petrie Terrace on the right, and the North Quay, 
 which lies on the river's bank to the left, and so passes westwards towards Milton 
 and Towong, where One-tree Hill stands out clearly in the distance. 
 
 At the western extremity of Queen Street is the Victoria Bridge, a magnificent 
 structure, spanning the river between North and South lirisbane. It is nearly a quarter 
 of a mile long, and was only completed after many futile attempts to obtain a safe 
 foundation. More than once during its erection the strong floods which at that time 
 flushed the river, undermined the piles; and though begun in the year 180:3, it was not 
 finished until LS75. For the first year after its opening a toll was levied on traffic, 
 but the bridge is now entirely supported by the Corporation funds. It was fitted with 
 a swinging girder to allow the passage of vessels with tall masts; beyond this point, 
 however, the river is now navigated only by small craft, and at the time when 
 tramway lines were laid across the bridge, this girder was permanently fixed. In the 
 "good old times" before the extension of the railway system to Brisbane, the greater 
 part of the traffic to Ipswich and the interior went by water, and this beautiful stretch 
 of forty miles was a second Mississippi, with small Mississippi steamers doing a brisk 
 and profitable trade. 
 
 The chief street in South Brisbane is that nearest to the bridge, and running along 
 the river bank — Stanley Street. Melbourne Street is the one leading to the bridge;
 
 KANE. ] 
 
 STANLEY STREET. 
 
 103 
 
 it stretches out in the direction of West End. Stanley Street is the business centre of 
 South Brisbane; the others are mostly occupied by private houses. At its southern 
 end are the Dry I lock and the terminus of the South Coast and Oxley Railways. Near 
 the hailwav Station it is crossed by Vulture Street, which runs along the chain of hills 
 that Hanks this portion of the city, and leads into River Terrace, where the beetling 
 cliffs tower over Government House Domain and the Botanical Gardens on the opposite 
 side of the river. River Terrace terminates in Main Street, which runs downhill to 
 Kangaroo Point Corner; and 
 now there is only the river 
 between us and Ann Street. 
 
 We have supposed a visitor 
 coming to Brisbane. His first 
 care is to select his hotel; and 
 we shall find that in de- 
 scribing Brisbane its hotels 
 constitute a good starting-point. 
 The difficulty in choosing an 
 hotel arises more from an 
 embarras de richesses than 
 iVoin any other cause, the 
 number of such establishment 3 
 being very large ; larger, pro- 
 bably, in proportion to the 
 population than in Sydney and 
 Melbourne. For Brisbane in the 
 summer is. indeed, a thir 
 place, and the breweries do a 
 fine trade. I fntil the year L878 
 Perkins' < lity Brewery was the 
 onlj one in existence. It i 
 dow a compact pile of build- 
 ings, with capacious cellarage, 
 
 extending fr Mary Street to Margaret Street, in a wide block, and with a five- 
 storeyed tower for the brewing process. In tin' year mentioned, Messrs. Fitzgerald, of 
 the Castlemaine Brewery Company, erected premises tor brewing purposes at Milton. 
 about a mile from the city, on the Southern and Western Railway. Still later (about 
 L884), the Queensland Brewing Company commenced operations on the river hank 
 at Bulimba, mar Breakfast Creek Besides the hotels there are clubs, where bachelors 
 can tind accommodation — the newlj erected Queensland Club, the town-house of 
 squatters, ami of country members of Parliament, who are here situated close to the 
 scene of their labours; the Union, in Charlotte Street; and the Johnsonian (Literary), 
 in William Street, presided over 1>\ Australia's foremost living poet, Mr. .1. Brut 
 Stephens. 
 
 - 
 
 MAT el' BRISB Wi:.
 
 104 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Bm ' 
 
 In Brisbane the working man holds a strong position. He works eight hours on 
 five days dt the week, five on Saturdays, and has a special annual holiday (Eight 
 Hours' day) all to himself. On this occasion he makes a -rand display, and walks in 
 a procession, with numerous banners. The chief trades of the city are represented by 
 iron foundries, shipbuilding yards, saw-mills, masonry and rope-works: ice-works also are 
 naturally numerous. The wood and coal consumed in the city come chiefly by rail 
 from the neighbourhood of Oxley and of Ipswich. The absence of fish in the river 
 for some years past has been attributed to the effect on the river water of the refuse 
 from the gasworks. 
 
 The prisoners formerly had their home near the Police Barracks on Petrie Terrace, 
 
 STEAMER LEAVING BRISBANE WITH MINERS. 
 
 until it was transferred to a position near Woolloongabba, South Brisbane, where it 
 is the scene of a variety of industries ; while the penal establishment at St. Helena, 
 a small island in Moreton Bay, set apart for long-sentence prisoners, bears evidence, in 
 its flourishing crops of sugar-cane, and in a pier erected for the accommodation of 
 steamers, of the enforced diligence of its population. Its insular position and con- 
 siderable distance from the mainland have not prevented escapes being frequently 
 attempted and sometimes accomplished. The venturesome swimmer has, however, 
 more than once fallen a victim to the sharks that abound in the locality. 
 
 The Brisbane water supply is drawn from an artificial lake at Enoggera, about 
 eight miles north-west of the city. This lake is fed by a number of pretty creeks that 
 flow down from the range of mountains by which it is encircled Some years ago it 
 was the favourite haunt of the sportsman who was lucky enough to come armed with a 
 permit from the Board of Waterworks, which licensed him to use the official boat and
 
 VXE.] 
 
 THE SCHOOLS. 
 
 107 
 
 schools of the colony. The competitors must be under the age of fourteen. A number 
 of scholarships are awarded annually by the Grammar School Trustees (al the Brisbane 
 Grammar School the number is six), by which the term of the State School Scholar- 
 ship is continued for two years longer, so that the foremost boys obtain five years' 
 grammar-school education free of charge. Finally, three exhibitions (each worth £300), 
 are annually awarded by the Government, and are open for competition to those 
 under the age of nineteen who wish to proceed from any grammar-school to any 
 university. 
 
 The chief Primary School in Brisbane is the "Normal School," a stone building at 
 the corner of Edward and Adelaide Streets, which has a daily attendance of over five 
 hundred. There are other large primary schools in both North and South Brisbane. The 
 Boys' and Girls' Grammar Schools are in close 
 proximity in the Victoria Park, opposite 
 Gregory Terrace. The Boys' School was built 
 in L880, when it was found that the old 
 building in Roma Street would be needed by 
 the railway authorities; the Girls' School is 
 still more recent The former is a handsome 
 brie, >e in the Gothic style, and consists 
 
 of a main building, with two cross buildings 
 at its ends and a large hall across the centre. 
 The hall is fitted with two large stained-glass 
 windows, one of which contains pictures of 
 the Queen and prominent English worthies. 
 The grounds are attractively planted with 
 English and tropical flowers and trees; two 
 Moreton Hay figs, planted by the two sons of 
 
 the Prince of Wales on their visit in 1881, are especially handsome, and thrive vigorously. 
 In the school ground are a gymnasium and several lawn-tennis courts, while at the other 
 
 side of the Sandgate Railway, about three hundred yards off, is a tinted cricket ground. 
 Not far away, further round Gregory Terrace, is the Christian Brothers' Catholic 
 School, a flourishing institution with about two hundred pupils There are innumerable 
 pi ,: chools in town and suburbs for the education of both sexes; one of the most 
 important being All Hallows' Convent, which is built on perhaps the finest of the many 
 tine sites iii Brisbane, situate at the river end of Bowen Terrace, the convent towns 
 over Petrie's Bight and Kangaroo Point Corner on the opposite side of the river; it 
 is visible from almost every part of the town, and is the first object in the eit\ that 
 bs the eye of the visitor who arrives by steamer. It is a two-storeyed building, in 
 
 the simplest possible style. 
 
 [mportant adjuncts to a popular education exist in the School of Arts and the 
 
 Museum. The former is a spacious building, with wide verandas suitable to the 
 
 climate, and is situate in Ann Street The upper Boor is occupied by ladies' and 
 
 gentlemen's reading-rooms, where Colonial and English newspapers are to be found. 
 
 DRY DOCK.
 
 10S 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTUBESQUB AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Brisbane. 
 
 1 THE CITY FROM ONE TREE HILL. 
 2. THE RIVER FROM ONE TREE HILL. 
 
 Downstairs 
 is a circu- 
 lating library 
 of several 
 thousand vol- 
 umes. The 
 Museum is in Wil 
 Ham Street, on the 
 river's bank, below 
 the bridge ; its speci- 
 mens of mineralogy and 
 natural history, its stuffed 
 quadrupeds and bipeds, 
 and the live cobras in 
 their glass cases always 
 attractive to the country 
 Almost next door to this 
 building is the Immigration Depot, 
 a scene of great bustle and ex- 
 citement when every fresh batch of 
 immigrants arrives, and would-be 
 
 prove 
 
 visitor.
 
 Brisbake.] 
 
 THE BOTANICAL GARDEN'S. 
 
 10!) 
 
 masters and mistresses assemble to select or be selected by their future "assistants 
 the term goes. 
 
 The chief place of recreation in the city is the Botanical Gardens. The portii 
 these gardens nearest to the city is called the Queen's Park, and is not planted like 
 
 VIEW FUOM Till: BOTANIl \! GARDENS, 
 
 tlie rest, but kept as a reserve for tennis, cricket, ami football Upon entering by the 
 principal gate (a1 the end of Albert Street), the visitor is under a huge canopy of the 
 
 evergreen baml , which affords in summer delightful shade to the wean eitizen and 
 
 his untiring companion the mosquito. To the right is a small lake, whose bank is 
 
 lined with baml s, and whose surface is decked with pink and white water-lilies; 
 
 beyond this are the tennis courts, where the bank clerk and the Law student may be
 
 110 CASSELLS PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Brisbake. 
 
 seen taking their exercise between four and six in the afternoon. To the left of the 
 entrance is a wide spare, turfed in the centre, where three cricket clubs practise in 
 the summer months; during the winter it serves the same purpose for footballers. 
 Brisbane produces some good footballing talent, and has bravebj held its own with 
 Sydney during the last few years; but cricket is not what it should be, owing partly 
 to the inferior quality of the wickets, which results chiefly from the lengthened 
 droughts, and partly, perhaps, to the enervating effect on the players of a Queensland 
 summer. There are various other cricket and football grounds at a little distance 
 from the town — the Union Ground at Toowong, the Albert Sports Ground at Bowen 
 Hills, and Kcdron Park, near Lutwyche; all of these are well patronised on Saturday 
 afternoons. 
 
 The possession of such a splendid river ought to be a great incentive to rowing 
 men, and there are some half-dozen rowing clubs in Brisbane ; but the city has not 
 yet produced a Beach or a Laycock, and does not seem likely to, for training in the 
 summer months would be too great a punishment even for the athlete. Sailing, 
 however, is extremely popular, and many delightful trips are made to the Bay for 
 fishing purposes between Saturday and Monday. There are several fine yachts on the 
 river, and the Brisbane larrikin, when he hoists his shoulder-of-mutton sail on his flat- 
 bottomed and square-nosed ':punt," may be seen scudding before the wind at a high 
 rate of speed. But let us go back to the Gardens. 
 
 The ground occupied by the Botanical and Government House Gardens, and the 
 land attached to the Houses of Legislature, occupies the river frontage for a distance 
 of about two miles. The Botanical Gardens are tastefully laid out with walks, flower- 
 beds, shrubberies, and groves of trees, native and tropical trees being predominant. The 
 whole of what now forms these Gardens was once an immense swamp, of which the 
 only remaining relics are some half-dozen pretty lakes, overgrown with lilies, and hidden 
 beneath clumps of the umbrageous bamboo. The curator's house stands on a gentle 
 rise at the far end; between it and the river is a small aviary. Altogether, these Gardens, 
 though small in comparison with some in the southern colonies, are in point of situation 
 and general attractiveness surpassed by none. 
 
 Government House Domain is entered by way of George Street — the lodge is just 
 beside the Parliament Buildings. Government House itself is pretty, but exceedim/lv 
 small ; indeed, from the cliff, on the opposite side of the river, it looks quite insignificant 
 As a matter of fact, the extensive hospitality demanded from it has on several in- 
 teresting occasions of late years caused the erection of marquees and annexes. The 
 Governor has a summer residence at Southport, while his predecessor bestowed some 
 eclat on Toowoomba by selecting his summer seat near that town, on the summit of 
 the Main Range. 
 
 Parliament House is a substantial block of stone buildings, rising to three storeys, 
 and capped with little turrets of galvanised iron. Resides the two Legislative Chambers, 
 with their galleries for reporters and the public, there is a. magnificent Parliamentary 
 Library, and also a dining-hall. 
 
 Two important public buildings stand close together in George Street — the Land 

 
 BwsBure.] PLACES OF AMUSEMENT. Ill 
 
 Office and the Supreme Court. The former is a brick building, chiefly noticeable to 
 one walking along the street by reason of the large clock which stands out from the 
 front door. The Supreme Court buildings are well removed from the street, and occupy 
 the whole block between George and William Streets. The courts proper are on the 
 second floor; downstairs are comfortable chambers for the three judges and their 
 associates, as well as for the registrar and other functionaries. 
 
 There is one cathedral in Brisbane, and one pro-cathedral, besides a goodly number 
 of churches. St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Cathedral is in Elizabeth Street, opposite the 
 City Police Court, and behind the Post Office: it is a handsome stone biulding, with an 
 elegant steeple and artistic stained-glass windows. It is especially noted for possessing 
 a fine choir. St. John's Anglican Pro-Cathedral, between George and William Streets, 
 has attached to it a splendid peal of eight bells, which is heard to great advantage, 
 e pecially by those in the immediate neighbourhood, on Sundays, and on one evening 
 in the week, when there is a practice. The other principal Anglican Church is 
 All Saints, at the junction of Creel; Street and Wickham Terrace, and next to it is a 
 Presbyterian church; this denomination possesses another further down Creek Street, 
 with a, spire one hundred and twenty feet high. St. Mary's (Anglican), Kangaroo 
 Point, is a pretty little church, perilled on the high cliff that rises from the water's 
 edge. 
 
 The chief places of amusement in town are the Theatre Royal, in Elizabeth Street, 
 and the Albert Hall, in Adelaide Street. The latter is much used for concerts and balls; 
 the theatre, though an immense improvement on the wretched wooden building that did 
 duty in that capacity less than eight years ago, is still not good enough to satisfy the 
 growing theatrical taste of the Brisbane public. Shakespearean representations, and 
 tin- better class of comedy, are at present rarely put upon the boards. The chief 
 English and Comic Opera Companies, however, generally spend a couple of months in 
 the year at Brisbane. The Exhibition Building, apart from the prominence into which 
 it rises every August, when the Queensland National Association holds its annual 
 show, is much used for tea-meetings and large balls, such as the Mayor's annual ball. 
 The Brisbane people, perhaps because the community is small — the last census returns 
 show a population of fifty-two thousand inhabitants- are extremelj sociable, ami 
 
 notwithstanding tin' warm weather that prevails even in the winter months, the 
 "season" lasts for more than six months of the year. At Christmas and Easter 
 many of the citizens proceed to Southport and Sandgate, to recruit themselves with 
 sea-breezes and salt-water, and at these places, even in the middle of summer, dancing 
 is not unknown. 
 
 Tin 1 chief of tl it\ streets is Queen Street ; and this we have left to form the 
 
 conclusion of our sketch of Brisbane. At tic- corner of G ge and Queen Streets 
 
 stands the Hank of New South Wales, the first of a series of banks thai we shall meet. 
 Further down Queen Street, on the left hand side, is the Town Hall, a building of 
 considerable age, and showing signs of wear. The upper floor, at the rear of the 
 building, is occupied ly barristers' chambers. On the ground floor is an open quad- 
 rangle, around which are the small offices of ; untantS and commission agents;
 
 112 
 
 CASSKLLS riCTl'RESyrE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Brisbane. 
 
 those of the mayor and the other municipal authorities are nearer the street The 
 acoustic properties of the large hall are very deficient, though it is chiefly used for 
 public meetings; and a site for a new Town Hall has been selected at the corner of 
 
 Albert and Roma Streets (the latter 
 is a wide thoroughfare leading out 
 to the railway station). ( >n the 
 same side of Queen Street, and 
 at the comer of Albert Street, is 
 a pile of buildings that would do 
 credit to any city in Australasia, 
 occupied by shops of drapers, hook- 
 sellers, and photographers. Passing 
 
 "---. 
 
 IX THE BOTANICAL GARDENS. 
 
 on, still eastwards, at the corner 
 
 of Queen and Edward Streets we 
 
 have four important buildings. The 
 
 first is the largest draper's shop in 
 
 Brisbane. The second, on the opposite side of Queen Street, is the recently-erected 
 
 Brisbane Arcade, which runs in a curve from Queen Street to Edward Street. The 
 
 lower storey is divided, as is the manner of arcades, into a number of tasteful shops; 
 
 the upper balcony opens into the offices of various commission agents. On one of
 
 IiKIM 
 
 THE SHOPS. 
 
 L13 
 
 the two remaining corners are the premises of the Australian .Mutual Providenl 
 Society; on the other is the immense seven-storeyed pile of the Brisbane Newspaper 
 Company. This Company issues three papers- -The Brisbane Courier (price 2d), the onlj 
 morning daily, of which the Observer is an evening edition (price Id.), intended chiefly 
 
 
 ' 
 
 m ■ 
 
 
 
 ■t-M 
 
 "-* 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 i n OF THE BUSH HOI SE M CL] M \ i ISATIOS G \ i:e 
 I 'il M \INS. in: 
 
 i'nv the working man. as a rival to the Liberal organ, 7 7- « Daity Telegraph ; the weekly 
 journal of the Company is the Queenslander. Further down, on our left ately 
 
 block containing the shops of a jeweller, a tailor and an ironmonger; further still is the 
 Joinl Stock Bank Opposite the 'Royal"are the Posl and Telegraph Offices, The locale 
 "l the latter was formerly in William Street, bul some ■■ o it was found more 
 
 8
 
 114. CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Brisbabk. 
 
 convenient to have the two establishments together, and a second building was erected 
 alongside the first, and a facsimile of it. There is often <i considerable difference between 
 the time indicated by the Posl Office clock and that recorded by the gun fired from 
 the Observatory at 1 p.m. on six days in the week, which is supposed to represent 
 standard time. Brisbane time, i1 may be mentioned, is about five minutes taster than 
 Sydney, and thirty minutes faster than Melbourne, time. Adjoining the Royal Hotel is 
 tin! Brisbane Exchange, which lias been removed from its former position, at the 
 comer of Queen and Albert Streets. In the reading-room, downstairs, weather and 
 business telegrams arc to be seen. The rest of the building is taken up with the office 
 of the Secretary and those of many prominent business men. 
 
 The last, but by no means the least, notable edifice is at the corner of Creek 
 Street — the newly-erected and splendidly finished premises of the Queensland National 
 Dank, certainly the finest, though not the largest, building in the city, and one of 
 the handsomest banks in the colonies. It is built in the classical Italian style, and 
 the stonework is highly ornamental. This bank has the custody of the Govern- 
 ment moneys, and its half-yearly balance-sheets show a progressive development since 
 its foundation unsurpassed by that of any bank in Australia. At the opposite corners 
 are other large banks. 
 
 At the comer of Queen and Eagle Streets is the omnibus stand, from which 'buses 
 run to South Brisbane and Woolloongabba, West End, Toowong (a pretty but usually 
 dust} - drive as far as the general cemetery, along the river's bank nearly the whole 
 way), and likewise to Petrie Terrace and Kelvin Grove ; others run along the 
 Enoggera (Waterworks) road. Erom the other end of Queen Street 'buses ply to 
 Gregory Terrace, the Valley and New Farm, Breakfast Creek and the Hamilton. The 
 introduction of tramways has considerably diminished the business of the 'bus pro- 
 prietor. The tram-cars are roomy, and generally well built ; some have the top 
 storey. 
 
 We shall conclude with a short reference to another important means of public 
 conveyance — the ferries, which are invaluable to the residents of Kangaroo Point and 
 some parts of South Brisbane. Kangaroo Point possesses one steam ferry, owned by a, 
 company, and three boat ferries, leased by the Corporation. The former runs from 
 the foot of Elizabeth Street, North Brisbane, at regular intervals between 7 a.m. and 
 7 p.m. Since the construction of the British India Steam Navigation wharf on the 
 Point side, the dray traffic by this route has been very large, while it is generally pre- 
 ferred for personal transit to the slow and somewhat, unwieldy ferry-boats. The 
 "lower" ferry runs from the foot of Queen Street to the end of Main Street, 
 Kangaroo Point: the '■middle" ferry, from Alice Street; and the "upper" ferry, from 
 the far end of the Gardens to the rocks below River Terrace; the journey by this 
 route involves the passenger in an arduous climb. Other ferries run to South 
 Brisbane from the western end of Alice Street and the North Quay. 
 
 Sandgate, to which reference has already been made, is a rising watering-place 
 prettily situate on the shores of Mbreton Bay and Cabbage Tree Creek, some twelve 
 miles north of Brisbane, with which it has intimate railway communication. The
 
 BANE.] 
 
 SANDGATE. 
 
 115 
 
 enterprise of its inhabitants has provided a pier of no mean pretensions for the accom- 
 modation of visitors from the capital; the Corporation — for although tin- population at 
 the last census was only about 1,500, the town has for several years been under 
 municipal government — has also greatly improved the facilities for hathing, by erecting 
 several public bathing-houses and shelter-sheds. With these and other attractions, it is 
 not surprising that the place should be so largely resorted to by the citizens of 
 Brisbane, pining for breezes that are as the breath of life to lungs which, in the heated 
 air of the capital, have almost forgotten their office. 
 
 SANDGATE PIF.lt.
 
 NEAR SUVA. 
 
 (From a Photograph by Burton Bros., Dunedin.) 
 
 UNTRODDEN TRACKS IN FIJI. 
 
 Fiji — Its History — Suva — Governmeut House — Cricket and Tinka — Armstrong's Point — The Botanical Gardens 
 — Viti Levu — Sugar Plantations — Nandronga — A Fijian House — Fijian Comestibles — A Dance — Yangona — 
 An Early Start — Refreshments — A Native Hut — Photographing — Mount Tomainivi — Hairdressing — Halts 
 — The Summit — Na Matakula — Fijian Boats — A Moonlight Dance — A Fish Weir — Levuka. 
 
 WAX TED a holiday, I wanted to get away from letters, from work, from the worry 
 -*- of business and the worry of pleasure. I longed to see something of the tropics, 
 and, much as I love England, to view her from the greatest possible distance. So 1 
 started for the Pacific, taking my passage to Auckland, by direct strainer to New 
 Zealand round the Cape, as it would have been unpleasantly hot by "the Canal" 
 in August. From Auckland I took a passage to Suva in the Union Steamship 
 Company's steamer Arawata, of over one thousand tons; and after running up to the 
 picturesque Bay of Islands to coal, we steered straight for our destination. 
 
 Before going further with my story, it may be as well to say that the Crown 
 Colony of Fiji consists of over two hundred and fifty islands, nearly a hundred of which 
 are inhabited, situated in the tropics between 15 c and 22° S. latitude, and 177 W. and 
 1 T.j F. longitude, the opposite meridian to that of Greenwich passing through the middle 
 of them. They are dotted about over an area of two hundred miles from north to south, 
 and throe hundred from east to west, and are midway between New Caledonia and the 
 Tongan (or Friendly Island) group. Their estimated area is a little over eight 
 thousand square miles, or rather larger than that of Wales. Viti Levu, the principal 
 island, in which the present capital, Suva, is situated, contains about half this area. 
 Tbe population of the whole is estimated to be nearly 127,500, of whom about 115,000 
 are Fijians, 5,700 Polynesians, 2,500 Asiatics, 800 half-castes, and 3,500 Europeans.
 
 Fiji.] 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 117 
 
 Tasman, the great Dutch navigator, discovered the islands in 1643, and was the 
 first to make them known to Europeans. Ee called them Prims Wilhelm's Eylanden, 
 After this they appear to have been unvisited for upwards of a century, when Captain 
 Cook touched at one of them. In 1804 twenty-seven convicts, who appear to have 
 been monsters of iniquity, escaped from New South Wales and settled here, chiefly at 
 ltewa and Ban. In lb,59, King Thakombau offered the sovereignty of the islands, 
 under certain conditions, to Great Britain, but it was declined then, as was also a similar 
 offer made in March, 1874; but by a deed of cession dated the 10th of October, L874, 
 the islands wen- ceded to the British Crown, and a Charter was soon afterwards issued 
 making them into a separate colony. Sir A. H. Cordon, G.C.M.G., arrived in June, 1875, 
 and on the 1st of September assumed the Governorship. He was succeeded by Sir 
 G. W. liis Vceux, K.C.M.C, and during his absence from the colony the Hon. J. B. 
 Thurston, C.M.G., was appointed Administrator; his successor was Sir C. B. H. Mitchell, 
 k.C.M.C. The affairs of the colony are administered by a Governor and Executive 
 Council The laws are prepared by a Legislative Council of thirteen members, oi 
 whom seven are official, and six nominated by the Governor. The Imperial laws are 
 followed, except where there has been local legislation Trial by jury has been aho- 
 : bed, and jury cases are decided by the judge and two assessors. 
 
 The Arawata had a fair passage across the thousand miles of calm sea that separate 
 
 \ n:w or Till: BEWA RIVER.
 
 US CASSELLS PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Fiji. 
 
 New Zealand from Fiji, and we obtained a glimpse of Gondavo, the most southerly 
 island, soon after sunset on the fourth day after leaving the Bay of Islands. We thru 
 
 i.'d slowly towards Suva so as to enter the channel through the reefs by daylight 
 
 These are the latitudes where life on a steamer is a real pleasure, lor it is warm 
 enough to sit constantly on deck, to revel under the awning by day. and in the evening, 
 after dinner, to ^it chatting at, intervals with our captain and fellow-passengers while 
 we gaze at the glorious sunset clouds. Later on, songs and yarns are the order of 
 the evening. 
 
 As we pass through the narrow channel in the reef opposite Suva, and approach 
 the pier, the long roofs of Government House are visible about a mile to the right. 
 In front is the town of Suva, spread along close to the shore, with a road in front of 
 the houses just above the beach. Dotted about the hills are wooden villas with spacious 
 verandas, and away on the left, unbroken forest, stretching away to a range of mountains. 
 On the pier there is a gay crowd to meet us — Europeans who have sauntered down 
 to hear the news and look at the new arrivals, and Fijians, Samoans, Tongans, and 
 Indian natives, people of all colours, from white through every shade of brown to black, 
 all laughing and chatting together. 
 
 A couple of stalwart natives carrying my baggage precede me to the hotel, and on 
 the way I have time to revel in the gay colouring and sunny aspect of the place, to 
 admire the fern-like grace of the cocoanut palms, with their great fronds trembling in 
 the breeze, and to get my first glimpse of the curious native canoes, with their out- 
 riggers of wood. There are good hotels here, and the charges are reasonable ; and we 
 soon find our way to one of the best, where we found that there was plenty of good 
 society to be had. Many of those employed m the different Government departments 
 reside here, and others who have houses come to it for meals, as it saves them many 
 of the troubles of housekeeping. 
 
 A mile or so away, near Government House, is the native village, the houses made 
 of reeds and leaves. In close neighbourhood are one or two good houses of high 
 officials, surrounded, as most of the houses are, with gardens, gay with crotons and 
 other "foliage" plants. A fine airy building, this Government House, long and irregular, 
 built of wood, and covered with shingles instead of the eternal corrugated iron, with, 
 of course, plenty of veranda space, a bold flight of steps leading up to it, and a 
 sentry pacing to and fro at the bottom — a fine fellow with a white sulu (a cloth from 
 the waist to the knee) and jersey, and red sash round the waist, and carrying a rifle. 
 He is one of the armed native constabulary. 
 
 Passing through the gardens of Government House, we came upon a grass field with 
 a few native houses round the sides, and entered one to call on the wife of the native 
 officer of the armed constabulary. My companion, who talks Fijian fluently, introduced 
 me. and we sat down on the mats spread all over the floor, and found the good lady 
 very pleased to see us, while her jolly little boy, about twelve months old, came and 
 "tamaed" to us, taking our hands and putting them to his lips, making a peculiar 
 guttural noise. Another day. when I came here, I found the men playing cricket with 
 great zest, and delighted at my joining in and " fielding out." One or two wore a
 
 Fiji.] A HUGE SUGAR MILL. 119 
 
 jersey, but most of them only a stilu round the waist, ami one fellow with pads on 
 his bare legs looked very comical One of the men, who was bowling, had his face 
 blackened to look smalt, but though he was such a dandy he bowled well, and was 
 sunn able to get me mil. 
 
 in another part of the ground some of the men and a tine lad of sixteen or so 
 were playing tinka This is a very favourite game with Fijians. It consists in 
 throwing a bamboo or reed spear with a head of hard wood of an elongated oval 
 shape. It is held between the lingers and thumb, with the forefinger on the end, and 
 a short run is taken to throw if. It strikes the ground ten or twenty yards away, 
 and then bounds up ami goes a long way in the air, at a height of three or four feel 
 from the ground. 
 
 Further on we come to Armstrong's Point, near which Mr. Armstrong has a plantation 
 of nearly a hundred acres of bananas. These arc brought down by a tram to a creek, 
 where they are loaded into barges, in which they are afterwards taken round to the 
 harbour and sent by steamer to Sydney or New Zealand. The current price here is one 
 shilling a bunch, and the freighl is one shilling, but in .Sydney they fetch four or five 
 shillings. A good many cases of pineapples are sent too, ami an amusing sight it is to 
 go out to the Sydney steamer just before she sails, and to watch the boats, chiefly 
 cutters and large canoes, owned by natives, crowding round waiting their turn to 
 unload, amid a babel of voices. 
 
 From the Poinl we get a view of the opening to the Rewa river, where we 
 sec a three-masted ship anchored, waiting to take its load of sugar from the huge sugar- 
 mill up thi' river. The null belongs to the Colonial Sugar Company, and is said to be 
 the largest in the world. As we recross the little bridge over the creek, we notice the 
 lone' seed-, or seed-pods of the 1 mangrove, like very long, narrow cigars, floating awa\ 
 upright in the water with the root end down, ready to found a new plantation of 
 mangroves wherever the current, may drift them. 
 
 On the other side of Suva a walk ot a mile or so brings one to the Botanical Gardens, 
 which, though only in their infancy, are well worth seeing, for they contain many fine 
 trees and shrubs, among them being cinnamon, with its branches terminating in pale-red 
 
 je, cacao, sarsaparilla, candle-nuts, &c. : but towering above all, and worth going far 
 to see, is a magnificent banyan tree. It is apparently pushed high above the earth by 
 
 its roots, and the proper trunk of the tr sommences many feel above the ground. 
 
 Near it there is a path, on each side of which are a few grave-, one of which is 
 marked onlj b\ a great bush of gardenia covered with flowers. 
 
 In the year L875 there was a war in Viii Levu, in a district called Tholo. 
 The natives had not then asked for English rule, and they fought against it. Their 
 rising was treated as a rebellion, which after some fighting was put down b\ Sir 
 
 Arthur Gordon, some of the leaders being shot as rebels. Now the district is quiet 
 enough, but the authorities watch it carefully, knowing that the old wild spirit might 
 be again roused in some paltry quarrel, and when once excited might be difficult to 
 quell. It is a mountainous tract of country, and the natives have little intercourse 
 with while men. ami live here much in their old state, though thej have given up
 
 120 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Fiji. 
 
 cannibalism and club-law and devil worship. Some, no doubt, still hanker after canni- 
 balism, and there seems to have been a little relapse in that direction during the war. 
 
 This district seemed to l>e the most interesting to visit, and I applied for per- 
 mission i ' travel there — for no one can do so without permission of the Government, 
 I was given the necessary, authorisation by the Acting Colonial Secretary, who at the 
 same time conveyed to me a gracious invitation from the Hon. J. 11. Thurston, the 
 
 A SDGAE-CANE PLANTATH '.V 
 (From a Photograph by Messrs. Burton 
 
 Administrator, to accompany him, as he was going to visit the district, and, if possible, 
 make the ascent of Tomainivi, the highest mountain in the Fiji group. 
 
 On the morning we were to start I met Mr. Thurston at Government House, and 
 at tin' jetty below we wore joined by the Chief Justice (Mr. Fielding Clarke) and 
 Lieutenant Malan, R.N. Half-a-dozen of the native constabulary soon pulled us out to 
 the Clyde, the Government steamer. Our plan was to go some sixty miles down the 
 
 i land, and cross the island from south to north, stopping at Fort Carnarvon, in 
 the middle of the island, for a few days, and ascending Tomainivi on our way from the 
 Fort to the coast, where the Clyde was to meet us.
 
 Fiji. J 
 
 SKCAR PLANTATIONS. 
 
 121 
 
 After coasting slowly along for two or three hours, most of the time inside the reef, 
 and with the captain or one ot the men most uncomfortably perched on an iron bar 
 nsarly at the top of the foremast, looking out for isolated patches of reef, we reached 
 Naitonitoni, and went ashore to visit the sugar plantations near the mouth of the Navuo 
 
 river. "We first passed 
 through one which had 
 tailed, and was a melan- 
 choly sight, with the cane 
 not properly attended to, 
 and costly tramrails, ma- 
 chinery, and buildings 
 to ruin. We 
 then crossed the river 
 by boat to the flour- 
 ishing sugar plan- 
 tation of the Fiji 
 SugarCompany. Here 
 
 ri.UAN HOUSES 
 
 everything Looked prosperous and well managed. In this plantation there are seme 
 seven hundred acres ol cane, bul cane from mere than twice that number of 
 
 acres is crushed here. The lal r employed is chiefly thai of coolies; the number of 
 
 in Fiji is surprising, and one would 'nave supposed that the large popula- 
 tion of these islands, and of the countless islands of the Pacific, would have suf- 
 ficed. But as one cannol "indenture" the natives for a term of years, and so insure
 
 1-22 CASSELL'S PICTTJRESQUE AUSTBALASIA. tFui 
 
 regular labour, the Government imports coolies from India, who are indentured for 
 ten years to the planters. They have to give £21 for each coolie, find hospitals and 
 1 idgings, and pay wages. The pay averages about one shilling a day for men, and 
 ninepence for women We got on a sugar truck, and were run gaily up the planta- 
 ti m behind a little engine of French make. There was cane ready to cut, eane cut, 
 and cane being planted, everything apparently going on at once. The soil was red and 
 hard, like burnt clay, so that it was presumably of comparatively recent volcanic origin 
 We had a pretty view looking over a considerable extent of sugar-cane and fields, with 
 the coolies working like bees below, the bends of the river visible here and there, and 
 hilly country in the dista 
 
 The next day we made an* early start, and steamed most of the time just outside 
 tin' reef, and though apparently there was hardly any swell, and there were no waxes 
 where we were, on the reef there were fine breakers, which rose in some places several 
 feet, and then fell on the reef in splendid cataracts of foam. Opposite Nandronga, 
 a native town, there was an entrance in the reef, and we were "pulled" in by some of 
 the native constabulary in the galley, and a hard pull they had, for we had t<> go 
 between a small island and the mainland, and the tide was racing out of the channel. 
 
 We landed at a little jetty near Nandronga. Round the town was a high 
 bamboo fence, but over the entrance one or two bamboos were tied at a height of 
 about four or rive feet. I thought this an inconvenient sort of entrance, but was told 
 it was to insure everybody's stooping on entering, as a mark of respect to the chief 
 We found the latter — the roko> of Nandronga is his title — and the principal men of 
 the town sitting on the ground, or on their heels; on the Administrator approaching 
 they "tamaed" to him. The "tama" is a mark of respect, and varies in different parts 
 of the colony. Here the natives- give guttural noises like "Oe, ugh," pronounced slowly, 
 and then hit their hands together — I can hardly call it clapping them — striking the 
 palm of the left hand rather slowly, and all at the same time. 
 
 Then the roko rose and shook hands, a custom to which the natives have taken 
 very kindly. Sometimes it is amusing to see them shaking hands with one another, 
 and also to see them dawdling down the streets at Suva or Levuka, one man with 
 his little ringer linked in that of another. 
 
 After the interchange of a few words we went to the roko's house and shook 
 hands with his wife, who was lying full length on the floor with her little boy beside 
 her; and then we all sat down on the floor, or lay down and gazed up at the roof. 
 There are quantities of cocoanut leaves under the mats, and on a hot day one can lie 
 there, taking no notice of anything, for aq hour or two with great comfort, and at 
 the same time with the happy consciousness that he is doing the right thing. Mr. 
 Thurston conversed with the roko, and some of the older men came in and sat at a 
 respectful distance and listened. Smoking goes on on these occasions, with the aid of 
 seleukas, as they are called, of native tobacco, rolled up into a piece of banana leaf, 
 and handed to you in a split reed; one often sees a native with one or two ready 
 in advance, stuck through the hole in his ear. The house is built on a very 
 high platform of stones, eight feet above the ground, with a log placed at an angle of
 
 Pot.] A "MANGETE." 123 
 
 about forty -live derives reaehiny up to the entrance. There were niches cut in it for 
 the feet, and in this case the unusual help of a long pole stuck in the ground was 
 provided, but even thus one had to be careful, for a fall from near the top would be 
 no slight matter. The house is oblong, with a roof-tree supported on two big posts, 
 one near each end of the dwelling. The measurements would be about forty feet long 
 by twenty wide, and perhaps thirty high. 
 
 Near the coast the houses are generally oblong, with a ridge, and the roof-tree or 
 ridge-pole sometimes projects a .yard at each end, and is very often ornamented with 
 large white cowrie shells. In the interior they are generally nearly square, with rounded 
 corners; they have a huge post in the centre, inside, and the roof rises in a conical 
 shape to a great height, while the sides or walls, of a sort of wicker- work, are not more 
 than about live fret high. There are no nails used in building, but the houses are put 
 together either with creepers bound round where the timbers, poles, or bamboos join or 
 abut against each other, or with sinnet, which is a stout string made by the natives. 
 Tlie hot house which I saw had walls — as 1 must call them, though they were made 
 of fords — interwoven with sinnet. with sixteen posts ol greenwood inside, to which the 
 wall-plates were tied Then near each end of the house were two large posts tapering 
 to the top, and about two toot in diameter, supporting a long roof-tree nearly a foot 
 in diameter, which projected about three feet beyond the roof outside the thatch, and 
 the ralters, in this case of poles, but very commonly of bamboo, were tied at one end 
 to the wall-plate, and at the top to the roof-tree, and supported at three diffen nt 
 points by purlins. Wherever two pieces of timber cross one another they are bound 
 together by black and yellow .sinnet, wound round so that the colours form hold 
 patterns. The doorways are closed by mats hung on sinnet, and the roof is covered 
 with a broad-leaved grass, with wild sugar-cane plaited on the inside, and the walls 
 outside with reddish-brown leaves ah nit the size and shape of Spanish chestnut leaves. 
 The floors are covered with mats spread on cocoanut leaves. Better mats indicate the 
 sleeping-place, while a hollow sunk in the floor, and a frame round it of heavy wood, 
 with smoke wreathing slowly upwards, mark the fireplace. 
 
 In the evening we had a present of food called a mangete, and after that a 
 yangona tneke, or formal yangona drinking. Yangona, or kava, is the rool of the 
 yangona tree, and a very important ceremony is made of drinking it. All the principal 
 men in the Tillage came in, and sat down on the floor at the sides and one end of 
 the house, while tin' Administrator it at the other end on a chair, and we round 
 him. A yangona howl, a big wooden basin on lour dwarf legs, with a rope attached to 
 one side, was broughl out and placed at the end >>\' the house furihesl from us, with 
 tic' rope carefully arranged so that tie- end should point towards .Mr. Thurston A 
 matter of particular importance is this of the rope, and we were told that in tin' old 
 
 days an\ passing between the chief and the howl, or across the rope, would have 
 
 received a finishin g touch with a club. A root of yangona, which was presented with 
 great ceremony, was then scraped and cut int i greal mouthfuls 1>\ one ft the men. 
 
 and handed to some young men to chew. They sat near the yangona howl at the 
 end, slowly munching away at their enormous mouthfuls, and when they had done this
 
 124 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. U''' J '. 
 
 for some time, they took the chewed root out of their mouths and placed it in the 
 howl. Water was then added, being ladled into the howl in a cup made of coeoanut 
 shell, and the yangona maker commenced In-, apparently arduous labours. 
 
 Two men now began to sing, and after they had Bung a few words, the strain 
 was repeated by the rest, while all swayed their bodies, first in one direction, then in 
 another, stretching out their arms, and striking their hands together at intervals, and 
 all simultaneously, and ending the chorus with a sort of grunt At the same time a 
 tinkling was made on a drum, which consisted of a length of bamboo. Then there 
 was a pause for a minute or so. when the two men began again, and the rest struck 
 in as before. 
 
 All the time this was going on, the man at the bowl was working hard stirring 
 the yangona about with a swab made of fibre. When it was ready to he drunk 
 there was a great noise, the lali, or wooden drum, which is a piece of a big tree with a 
 hole dug out of it with an adze, being beaten, and conches, which look like gigantic 
 whelk shells, being blown. The fine deep note of these shells can be heard a great 
 distance. A cup of coeoanut shell was next tilled, and a man carried it, half-stooping 
 and half-crawling, until he came within about five feet of Mr. Thurston, when, resting 
 on his knees and one hand, he stretched the other with the yangona towards Mr. Thurston, 
 who by dint of a great stretch got hold of it and drank it oft'. Afterwards we came 
 in for our cup, and then the natives, hi order of precedence, except the J'oung men, 
 who are not allowed to drink it, as it is apt to excite them and lead to mischief. 
 There is, by-the-bye, a heavy tine for supplying the natives with intoxicating liquor, 
 which seems to have a good effect. 
 
 I had made up my mind to drink yangona, though, of course, one is not pre- 
 possessed in its favour by witnessing the mode of its preparation. The cup, half of an 
 enormous coeoanut shell, nearly full, was handed to me by the native sprawling below 
 me. I just saw that the liquid was thick-looking, like coffee, with a little milk in it 
 — sighed, breathed an inward aspiration that I might behave like a dauntless English- 
 man, took a deep inhalation, so as to finish it at one draught if I could, as that is 
 the correet thing, and went at it. I was agreeably relieved at finding it of a dean, 
 subacid nature, without much flavour, and finishing it, took the cup between my finger 
 and thumb, and gave it a little spin on the mats near my grovelling friend. A few 
 claps followed, which I took as applause, though, of course, they were not meant so, and 
 then I began to experience a rather pleasant astringent feeling in the throat. Many 
 Europeans are very fond of yangona, as it has a slightly exhilarating effect, and is a 
 decided "pick-me-up," they say, for a tired person. Two or three cups, however, produce 
 intoxication, if that may be called intoxication which does not attack the brain. The 
 head is perfectly clear and unclouded, but is made only too well aware, if it directs a 
 movement, that it has absolutely no control over the legs. Continued excess in yangona 
 drinking — and some Europeans drink half a gallon a day — sometimes destroys the eye- 
 sight, and usually causes a deplorable wreck of the whole system. One doctor told me 
 he considered persistent yangona drinking worse than the excessive use of opium or of 
 alcohol.
 
 2! 
 
 

 
 12G CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Fin. 
 
 The following morning we made an earbj start, and a fine procession we were, ourselvo3 
 and Mr. Thompson the magistrate from Nandronga — with horses, then some halt' a 
 
 score of nativ astabulary from Suva, with the Administrator's master of ceremonies, as 
 
 I must call him, and his servant, a native who could cook a little, and about thirty 
 prisoners sent down with one or two constables from Fort Carnarvon as carriers. We 
 had to furnish ourselves with rugs and mosquito nets, native mats for sleeping on, some 
 clothes, and a large amount of biscuits, tinned meal and soup, bacon, whisky, and tea. 
 As enough provisions had to ho taken for a fortnight, and all this had to be carried 
 swung "ii bamboos between two men over narrow paths, often very steep, our escorl 
 can hardly 1"' thought excessive. We started in heavy rain, and as we left the 
 village we saw the yellow flowers of the cotton plant, the remains of an old plantation. 
 At one time everybody was to make his fortune with cotton. And this is all that 
 is left : 
 
 After skirting th i shore for some way, our path led inland across rather hare 
 undulating ground, hut presently we saw the river and village of Singatoka below us, 
 with its plantations of plantains and its thatched roofs, overshadowed with cocoa palms. 
 Here we had a, maugete presented to us. The arrival of the Administrator is greeted 
 by the " tama," or double grunt, and the formal clapping of hands alter it. He shakes 
 hands with the chief, and then we have to sit down, very often on the edge of the 
 raised platform surrounding a house, or on a log. Perhaps the first thing that is 
 offered is a young cocoanut for each of us to drink. Oh ! how dcliciously cool this 
 draught is after a hot ride. If the nuts are not ready, up goes an agile fellow, not 
 swarming, but almost, walking, up the rough bark of the bare stem, and throws them 
 down; then the outer rind is struck on the end of a pointed stick, and torn off with 
 hands and teeth, then four taps with the edge of a long knife, and a neat little piece 
 is cut out of the top, and it is ready. Now the women appear, with cooked yams 
 and taro, the root of a sort of lily (Calm/in m esc uh-n turn). How funny they look 
 with either a sulu or a niko, or fringe of fibre, from a few inches up to, perhaps, 
 eighteen inches wide, tied round them. They come bending forward, carrying the food, 
 put it on the ground, then fold their arms behind their backs, and go away, still 
 bending, as a mark of respect. Next come men with great wooden trays with cooked 
 pigs — enormous pigs, and little pigs, and pigs of all sorts and sizes, but all looking 
 ghastly. The bones of their snouts are all bare from being cooked, and huge bits of 
 stone and leaves have been placed inside them to keep them warm. The men bring 
 forward the things the women have borne in, and pile them up, and. perhaps, bring a 
 couple of ghastly boiled fowls, with long, headless necks, one leg resting peacefully on 
 its breast, and the other pointing wildly to the sky; these are for our special delecta- 
 tion. Very likely there are also some yangona roots. A man now comes forward 
 stooping, and sits down near us on his heels and presents the mangete. Our master of 
 ceremonies receives it with clapping of hands, and then proceeds to divide the food, 
 keeping a certain amount for our escort, and leaving the rest for the villagers who 
 have provided it. Our fellows get hold of immense chunks of pig and huge yams, and 
 till themselves as full as they can, eating on until we really think they are drunk
 
 F"|.] A FIJIAN HOUSE. 1 27 
 
 with it, they In -come so stupid. What a time those prisoners had! What Fijian 
 would not be a prisoner in like circumstances? — for the natives do not think it much 
 of a disgrace to he prisoners. The natives of the village walked off with their share 
 to their houses. 
 
 Alter the mangete there was an inspection of the school children in the native 
 church We suspected that several of them were children for that occasion only, as 
 they must have been quit eighteen years old, but, of course, they helped to make a 
 show. They sang a "nieke" or sort of song, descriptive of a disease they had been suf- 
 fering from, and its cure by means of sulphur. From this village we followed the course 
 of the river Singatoka, there being a road, or, rather, a narrow footpath, all the 
 way. This is often bordered by, or passes through, native gardens, or plantations of 
 plantains or taro, and at other times runs through low hush or high grass, something 
 like Pampas grass, which effectually prevents one from leaving the path or taking short 
 cuts. In the afternoon we reached Raiwanka, a tine village with a broad "rara" — 
 a street or open place — in the middle, ami en each side two rows of houses, with, as 
 usual, plenty of cocoanuts. I shall not again describe the mangete. Suffice it to 
 say. we had one presented at every village we passed through, and occasionally it was 
 brought to us on the road when we passed near a village without entering it. At 
 Raiwanka we had a very good native house allotted to us. At first it seemed an in- 
 convenient mode of living, hut afterwards one gets used to it, and ultimately enjoys its 
 perfect simplicity. 
 
 One enters on hands and knees into a dark interior — I say dark, because it is 
 generally pretty late when one finishes the day's travel, and even at midday a house 
 with no windows, and only one or two xcry small entrances, seems dark after the 
 glare outride. Presently one discovers a big post in the centre, and two or three 
 wooden pillows, or rather head-rests, generally made of a piece of bamboo. We each 
 choose a spot to sleep upon, ami put our ho.xes near it, and the provision boxes are 
 placed between tin: roof-pole and the door. We get hold of a candle, and make it 
 stick on a box, and then we all sprawl aboul on the floor and vote what we will 
 have for dinner, and wait patiently while it. is cooking, or if there he a bathing-place, 
 as there generally is where we stop, we have a hath. Winn dinner comes we sit on 
 tin- floor; plates, knives, forks, ami spoons are strewn round us; and our cook brings 
 
 in preserved soup boiled and served in its own tin, then some meat treated in the same 
 way, with, perhaps, sonic yams and taro from the mangete ami we finish up with 
 
 bread and jam, and drink either tea. cooked in a "billy," c ia, or whisky. Alter a 
 
 while we tie up our mosquito nets, and get our rugs and turn in. We rise early the next 
 day, take iap, toothbrush, and even razor and looking-glass down to the river, and 
 perform our toilet there. Then have a cup of tea ami some hiscuits, and having packed 
 up, we are off We stop for breakfast about ten, or later, to take our midday rest 
 
 It. was a verv pretty scene, our leaving Raiwanka We Bhook hands with son f 
 
 tin- principal men, and then started ahead of our long line of attendants. All the 
 village, of course, took care to see us start, the women keeping in the background, and 
 I ring out of the houses, the children looking wide-eyed at us. tlie very small ones stark
 
 128 
 
 CASSELL'S I'll I i i;l> H'E AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 II. H. 
 
 naked. A laughing, merry group from the village follows us sonic distance. We made 
 a short sta\ at Vunavuvundra, crossed the river, which was about up to the waist, and 
 then reached Matinavato, a grand pile of rocks, with a precipitous lace on one side, 
 from underneath which a clear, cold spring came forth The path most of the wa\ was 
 arched over with a sort of mulberry, a row having been planted on each side. We saw 
 a -rcat quantity of castor-oil plants on our way, and late in the afternoon, as we 
 
 approached the village of 
 Baimana, passed a very fine 
 banyan tree. 
 
 On entering this village 
 we met the magistrate from 
 Fort Carnarvon, who had 
 come down to meet us. The 
 chief here was the proud 
 owner of a rather good 
 heifer, about half-grown. I 
 suppose it was a fancy of 
 his, for there were no others 
 in the place. It was com- 
 pletely master of the village, 
 but luckily it was very quiet; 
 whenever it walked in any 
 direction, the natives, how- 
 ever hie' and burly, cleared 
 out, and it seemed very 
 much surprised and hurt 
 that we would not budge 
 for it, or acknowledge its rule. 
 Next morning there was 
 quite a gay scene in the 
 village, for wc took a phot >- 
 
 graph or two of the place, 
 
 and some of the people, in- 
 cluding certain of the wo- 
 men, understood what wc were about, and came out specially smart in consequence, 
 some with green garlands thrown gracefully across their shoulders, and others with 
 decorations of leaves over their stilus. The women, however, do not "take" very well. 
 I '.ei,,e- photographed is rather a. solemn thing at the best of times, and when a 
 Fijian woman is standing up before a white man with a (piecr instrument, and the 
 whole village is looking on, no wonder if she feels as if she was about to be 
 martyred, and loses her pleasant, genial, half-smiling expression. 
 
 A ten-mile ride under a hot sun brought us to Fort Carnarvon, where there is a 
 handful of native constabulary, well drilled and armed, with between two and threescore 
 
 lll'.AI) OF A FIJIAN (MALE).
 
 Fiji.] 
 
 A BATHE. 
 
 129 
 
 prisoners. The fort is on the summit of a mound which slopes down to the 
 Singatoka, about two or three hundred yards off, with mountain ranges a few 
 away in every direction. It is surrounded with a 
 bamboo fence, overhung in many parts with mul- 
 berries, and surrounded in its turn with a ditch. 
 There are a good many dwellings inside the fence for 
 the native constables, the native officer, the prisoners, 
 and the magistrate, who has five houses 
 for his quarters, each house, however, 
 
 river 
 
 miles 
 
 i:l\ EH BATH] S 
 
 i •! 1 1 \ consisting of one room. There was a splendid 
 bathing-place in the river below, and as Baimana 
 had no such accommodation, we were vr\ glad to pay it a visit On Sunday I 
 wont to church in the morning. The native clergyman, or reader, had on a white 
 shirt, not badly washed and ironed, and a sulu A white shirt is the distinctive mark 
 of a teacher or clergyman here, apparently. He road the prayers and lessons in Fijian, 
 with -ie.it distinctness 1 should say. and read oul a hymn, each line, after he said it. 
 being sun-' very Loudly to a wondrous variation of the old Hundredth One of the 
 native constables led, and the others gave their ideas of the tune at the same time.
 
 L30 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Fiji. 
 
 Another Sunday when I was presenl the magistrate's bulldog, Tiger, sal immediately 
 opposite the reading-desk, and seemed aever to take his eyrs off the preacher. I never 
 
 ire saw a dog apparently so much impressed, or so reverent in church The next day 
 we had a great array of school children from the villages near. As before, several were 
 rather advanced in years. They wire put through their paces in reading and writing 
 and some simple sums, which they did on slates in the orthodox fashion. They were 
 spread out in two long lines inside the fort, and we sat above them on the stone front, 
 of the house; altogether then' were about a hundred and seventy of them. 
 
 The next day the Administrator, Lieutenant Malan, the magistrate, and 1, 
 
 ed on an expedition to the top of Tomainivi I was mounted on a very old grey 
 horse, and had to get off and scramble up all steep bits, as 1 was afraid of knocking 
 him up, and I often let him help me by holding on to his tail, much to the amusement 
 of the natives. We crossed the river, and soon reached Matuwalu, where they sent a 
 man or two aloft for cocoanuts, which we soon finished. We had pigs, yangona, yams, 
 and sugar-cane in the mangete here. Most of the older women have their lips, and 
 all the space between their noses and chins, tattooed a uniform blue colour. The 
 
 men are not much given to this form of decoration, though many of them are latt id 
 
 a little about the body and limbs, but it seems to be just according to the fancy of 
 the individual. We saw here a man who had the bad reputation of having murdered 
 a whole family on a plantation not far off. 
 
 From this place we ascended by a path, from which we got, lovely views. Our 
 way lay through parched grass, and high stuff like Pampas grass, until we readied 
 the forest, which was at a height of about 1,300 feet. It was full of ferns, one sort 
 having fronds twenty feet long. The wild ginger is very effective amidst the other 
 foliage, for it has perfectly straight reddish-brown stems, and at the top great leaves 
 pointing upwards, these leaves being between three and four feet long and a foot broad, 
 and the stem and leaves together reaching a height of from twenty to perhaps thirty 
 feet. Then, besides sarsaparilla and shaddocks, the latter covered with the fruit, and 
 the ground below strewn with it in every stage, from ripeness to rottenness, there were 
 le. nous, caladiums, dracsenas, tree ferns, climbing ferns, rattans, various flowering shrubs, 
 and a great variety of ferns. We reached a height of nearly three thousand feet, but 
 afterwards descended some thousand feet to a stream, where we camped in the middle 
 of the forest. We had sent some men on in front, and they bad made us a capital 
 shelter of small poles, covered entirely, sides and roof, with wild ginger leaves, tied on 
 with creepers, and the floor strewn with grass. There were a good many men waiting 
 to receive us with a mangete. Some of them had their faces painted: one had all 
 bis face below the eyes black, with a broad streak of black down the middle of his 
 forehead: another appeared with his nose painted red, red spots on his forehead, and 
 the i - est of his face black. Most of the men shave ; they take a great deal more 
 trouble with their hair than any other men I ever met, and are very particular about 
 polishing up their arm-rings of shell, which they wear just above the elbow; and there 
 is a great deal of quiet swagger in the way some of them walk. I was told that they 
 shave with flakes of glass, and the following petition, which I saw on a slate, was
 
 Fin.] EVERY MAX HIS OWN HAIRDRESSER. 131 
 
 translated to me: — "Be of a good mind like unto a (love, and give me a razor to 
 shave myself, as it hurts me to shave with glass." A Fijian's hair is a study. And one 
 such varieties of ways of dressing it. Many have huge, shock heads of hair, but 
 must carefully combed, sticking out straight away from the head all round, and beauti- 
 fully trimmed at the ends. Others have the same arrangement in front, while behind 
 a number of little corkscrew curls hang down to the neck, each tied at the end. 
 Yet others have their hair sticking out in all directions, but hi locks, like locks of 
 wool Then there are so many colours of hair, from red to dark brown, and sometimes, 
 owing to the use of lime, two or three tints are to be seen on one head. Very often 
 you notice a man or woman with hair like a well-powdered flunkey's, being plastered 
 e to the head with lime, while others have a poudrd appearance. 
 The next morning we started pretty early, and found it pleasantly cool in the 
 forest. We had lunch at a place where we found natives waiting for us with a mangete. 
 Opportunity was taken to photograph the chief Rawabalavu, who looks well enough 
 pleased at the operation, and perhaps at the compliment of being included in the same 
 picture as the Administrator. These natives had come from the town of Xalmtautau, 
 one of the last strongholds of the "rebel" mountaineers. All the way occasional 
 glimpses of the valleys on each side below us, and also of distant mountains, were 
 to be had. We were in the forest nearly all day, and then went down a steep decline 
 to the Singatoka river, and came to the little town of Nandrow, a village of some 
 score of houses. We had placed at our service a small house, which was rather 
 difficult to get into, and still more difficult to get out of, the entrance was so narrow, 
 and not. more than two feet nine inches high. One could manage to crawl in, hut 
 in cia\\ line out, the Hour being one or two feet above the level of the ground out- 
 side, curious gymnastics had to he resorted to. This town lies right at the bottom ol 
 a gorge with an ahrupl face of rock opposite, ami the river makes a great noise. 
 The bub' (or chief) is a tine, tall old man, who walks aboul holding a stall' about, 
 
 seven feel long. 
 
 Next day. up we had to go some seven hundred feet by an excessively Steep path; 
 the horses we had sent, round ly a long detour. We reached Nangatangata about 
 ten, hut did not, enter the village. It, was amusing to watch an incipient flirtation 
 between a girl from the village and oik' of our attendants. Me gave her a tine reeking 
 chunk of pig and some yam from the mangete in a banana leaf, and as she took it 
 she put her hand below and pressed his. The children were much amused and 
 astonished at, the horses, and were delighted when we Opened their mouths and showed 
 
 then- teeth. Probably no horses had been in this part before. After going through the 
 forest for some way, we descended to Na Bilia, a village consisting of thirteen houses, 
 which, like most, of the houses about here, look like small, had haystacks, for they are 
 thatched to the ground, and are nearly round, hut with the sides slightly flattened, and 
 generally a little raised on stones. In the mangete here were some howls of fresh- 
 water prawns and small fish, mixed up and floating in liquid ; hut. dearlj as we all 
 loved prawns, the whole thing looked too nasty for us, so I contented myself with 
 sitting under an orange-tree and drinking quantities of water. Another steep pull
 
 L32 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE At'STRALASIA. [Fiji. 
 
 up a hill that Looked impossible for horses, but which they managed to climb, 
 although it consisted of a slippery rock tilted sideways, and then the forest was again 
 reached. Here Mr. Thurston found what he believed to be a new variety of fig, some 
 of the bunches of which are over five feet long, with a small, insipid fruit about, an 
 inch in diameter, some red and ripe, and others green. The tree grows to a height of 
 from twenty to thirty feet. 
 
 After a rest, at, Xa Matakula we started for the base of Tomainivi, leaving our 
 horses, and only taking food for a day or two. We had only about three miles to do, 
 but it was up and down a steep hill through the forest. After going about half the 
 distance we had a beautiful view of the valley below us, with wooded hills all round, 
 and the highest point of Tomainivi opposite and well above us, though we were up 
 some three thousand feet. The only sign of man anywhere to be seen was the little 
 grass hut they had prepared for us a mile or so further on. After a very steep 
 descent, we reached a stream falling over rocks like a mountain stream in Scotland, and 
 then crossed a level plain of grass which had been formerly cultivated for taro, ami 
 arrived at our camping place, where the men soon made shelters for themselves. 
 
 Next morning we were off by six, and after half a mile in the open entered the 
 forest. We found a very rare climbing pineapple and a new creeper with bell-shaped 
 flowers of a waxy white, some of them with a pink tinge. A path had been cut for us 
 nearly to the top of the mountain, which we reached about nine o'clock. The forest 
 was very thick all the way to the summit, which we found was about five thousand 
 feet above the level of the sea. It was rather foggy at first; but after breakfast, which 
 we took there, the fog cleared off, and gave us a tine view on three sides — in one 
 direction right away t<> sea, where we could make out several islands, including 
 the Yasawas and Mamanuea, while nearer we had magnificent views over the 
 island, and saw several distant peaks, such as Mount Pickering, Mount Evans, and 
 M ni-T.ido. Before descending we drank the Queen's health, and formally named the 
 highest point of Tomainivi Mount Victoria We got back to our camp late in the 
 afternoon. 
 
 We were off early next day, and breakfasted at Xa Matakula. A native had 
 picked up one of our empty green cartridge eases, and put it through the hole in his 
 ear, and it was no doubt admired as a pleasing variety in ear ornaments. The native 
 eye perhaps tires of seeing old round tin match-boxes, and occasionally small empty 
 medicine bottles used as ear ornaments. Xa. Matakula is at the head of a charming valley 
 of park-like ground with hanging woods on the slopes on each side, and the valley 
 itself lias great stretches of grass, interspersed with trees here and there, and with 
 forests at t!ie northern end. As it is at a considerable elevation it would make a 
 splendid sanatorium for Fiji. In crossing a little bridge — made of three or four poles 
 with earth on them — over a nearly dry watercourse, my horse, which I was leading, put 
 his foot through, and then tumbled over about six feet bcloAV on his back into mud 
 and water, but luckily was not hurt. Passing through the forest for three or four 
 miles, and several times crossing and recrossing a nearly dry stream edged with ferns, 
 we emerged into the open at a dip in the top of a high range of mountains, which
 
 F'j'.l LEVUKA. 135 
 
 a ccrt.;i in position, and at others every other performer would fall into an almost sitting 
 posture, while the intermediate ones would lift high their clubs, and hold them up a 
 if about to brain a conquered foe, both sots staying perfectly motionless for a while, 
 when they would change to some other graceful movement. 
 
 The next day our party separated 1 could not tear myself away so easily from 
 uncivilised life, and so, while the rest of the party went, hack to Suva, I turned inland 
 once more to spend a little more time in the Tholo district, and returned to Nailanga a 
 month later, when tin; manager of the Now Zealand Sugar Company's plantation at this 
 place was obliging enough to allow me to go in their S.S. Rarawei to Levuka The trade' 
 wind was dead against us, hut. it was pleasantly cool in consequence. We anchored for 
 the night at Ellington, close to the mainland, and to leeward of a small island, and, 
 finding tin- night hot, slept on deck, sheltered with an awning. The next day we 
 entered Vita Levu Bay, and were much interested in seeing a fish-weir which the 
 natives had put up. There were two long fences of reeds eight feet high fastened to 
 posts; these were about a hundred yards long, and converging to a point thus, A. At 
 the apex was a circular fence, making a trap about twelve yards across, into which the 
 fish were guided hy the fences, but from which they could not easily escape. 
 
 In the afternoon we approached the island of Ovalau, and soon after saw Levuka, 
 a much prettier town than Suva, The hills rise to a considerable height immediately 
 behind it, leaving very little room for houses between them and the shore; and Ha' 
 whole u covered with trees to the water's edge, the n Te at number of cocoa palms and 
 breadfruit trees looking very pretty. There is a road all along the shore, and even at 
 low water the sea comes up to it. On the land side of the road are the shops and 
 houses and hotels, while a little to the right and left of the town are native villages, 
 and to your right, as you look seaward from tin; town, the old Government House, but 
 it is round a projecting space of mountain, so that you cannot sec it from the town. 
 Levuka seemed to me a cooler place than Suva, as at the former place the trade wind 
 blows directly ashore, while at Suva it blows rather along the coast They have a 
 pleasant club here, righl down by the sea Levuka was the capita] of Fiji until recently, 
 when it was supplanted by Suva, although Levuka is much more centrally situated. 
 After a, short stay. I went on to Suva. On the voyage we saw the greater part of the 
 
 hull of the Syria on a coral reef, with her stern reclining a few yards further ot't. 
 
 She was i olie ship, and when she was wrecked about fifty coolies perished; close by 
 
 the sharp black tin of a big shark appeared above the water as he swam slowly along.
 
 A FIJIAN LAGOON (MANGO). 
 
 YASAWA-I-LAU. 
 
 The Start — Fijian Hospitality — A Beautiful Cave — A Weird Scene — More Caves — Late Dinner — " Melees." 
 
 /^\NE of the most charming expeditions which the traveller in Fiji can make is to a 
 ^-^ group of islands called Yasawa-i-lau, about forty miles from Ba, in Vita Levu (the 
 vowels are pronounced as in Italian, and the last letter, as the diphthong in the English 
 word "loud"). We went in two cutters, one Act Vulori {The Flora), of about ten tons, 
 the other, the Kathleen, somewhat larger. They were decked boats, with tiny cabins, 
 and the crews were Fijian. Our party consisted of Mr. Alexander Eastgate (whom wo 
 called the Commodore, as he commanded the squadron), Mr. Le Hunte, Mi - . Marriott, 
 in)- sister, and myself. We dropped down at the mouth of the Ba river one evening, 
 so as to be ready for an early start next morning, when we had a delicious sail across, 
 and cruised about among the islands, passing exquisite little bays, edged with gleaming 
 coral sand, the luxuriant vegetation growing right down to it, and the native houses 
 peeping out from groves of bananas and cocoanut palms. We dropped anchor off one 
 of these native towns about five o'clock, and went ashore, where we found houses 
 ready for us, a native magistrate having landed beforehand to prepare the inhabitants 
 for our arrival. In all our travels we found the Fijians very hospitable. They always 
 prepared houses for us with plenty of clean mats, and would bring a present of food, Le., 
 pigs, cooked whole, with piles of yams, besides dainties, such as boiled chicken, tare, 
 bananas, and cocoanuts ; in general, the women would bring the food in procession, 
 crouching as they walked, in token of respect. 
 
 The next day we embarked about ten o'clock, and went to another island for the
 
 Yasawa-i-i.au.] 
 
 A WEIRD SCENE. 
 
 1.S7 
 
 night, and on the third morning made a very early start for the one containing 
 the caves, of which we had heard .so much. Having landed, and while breakfast was 
 being prepared, we went to see one cave that was close by, a most beautiful one, quite 
 Gothic in structure — paving, arches, and pinnacles in the Early English style; at the 
 bottom clear, blue-green water, of great depth. The Eijians at mice jumped in, and 
 began swimming and diving, and one could see them when quite near the bottom, so ex- 
 quisitely clear was the water. The cave was a very large one, with entrances from it 
 into Others; and when the natives shrieked and groaned in these adjoining caverns, we 
 could bear the voices dying away, and sounding very demoniacal. Altogether, the scene 
 was quite weird, when peopled with dusky figures, either in the water, or clambering 
 about the rocks and jumping from great heights into the water — the highest leap was 
 over forty feet. They generally come down feet foremost, dividing the water with them, 
 instead of with the hands, 
 as one is accustomed to see 
 done. The light came from 
 an opening very high up, 
 but we could not sec it 
 from where wo stood. 
 
 After gazing our till, we 
 returned to breakfast, and 
 enjoyed a native dish called 
 loti, which our Commodore 
 had got a party of men to 
 come over and make for us, 
 bringing the necessary im- 
 plements and materials in 
 their canoe. It was brewed 
 in a huge "go-ashore," as 
 tho Maoris call it, or three- 
 legged iron pot, is stirred 
 with tho stem of a cocoanut 
 leaf, is poured out with a 
 
 ladle made of a cocoanut 
 shell lashed to a reed, and is 
 served in banana leaves laid 
 on trays of plaited cocoanut 
 
 leaf. The kitchen was the 
 
 seashore, so that the scene 
 
 was quite picturesque. The 
 
 loti is made with bananas and cocoanuts, and is 
 
 very delicious. After breakfast we stalled to climb 
 
 the hill, in quest of more caves, and a \< rv rough 
 and steep climb it was 0V6X SCOria, making us \, i\
 
 L38 ( \sm:i.i.-s picturesque austealasia. [yasawa-i-lao. 
 
 hot, and, therefore, most grateful for the cool shelter of the caves when we reached 
 them, and for draughts of cocoanut milk from the nuts which the natives had thought- 
 fully carried up. The first cave we came to was like the interior of a splendid church, 
 with fine arches, niches for saints, a magnificent pulpit, side chapels, tombs, places for 
 holy water, &c. It was not difficult, even, for the fancy to discover gas-pipes in 
 the roots of the haka-trcc (a sort of banyan), which ran perfectly straight down the 
 walls, and along the ground. There was also a long creeper, banging clear from the 
 roof, which did for the bell-rope. The walls and groined roof were of white, tinged 
 in parts with blue and green Some places looked like a bridecake, lavishly iced, with 
 the sugar running over. 
 
 From this cavern, we made our way to another through passages in which we had 
 to crawl, one, indeed, being so very narrow that it was a mercy none of its were Stout 
 This second cave was a very lofty one, and the bright light shining through a rift in 
 the roof, a great way up, gave the effect of moonlight or limelight: indeed we, some 
 of us unintentionally, grouped ourselves quite dramatically, two of the party reclining 
 on a bank of the lovely white marble-like formation, under the full strength of the 
 light, whilst a group of natives lurked close by in shadow. After leaving this cave, we 
 had a fearful scramble up steep rocks, with very insecure foothold; indeed, in cue 
 place, 1 was panic-struck when told to climb over a shoulder of reck overhanging a 
 steep descent, and shrank into a cleft, feeling I must end my days there, being unable 
 to retreat or advance, but the Fijians arc ready and clever, and thej seen gol me over 
 the perdous place, some hoisting me up, and one crouching down so that I could make 
 a step of his back. After this clamber we sat t<i rest and cool ourselves at the entrance 
 to another cave, out of which a blast of delicious cold air came, but the approach was 
 too precipitous for us to enter, so we had to be satisfied with peeping down into its un- 
 canny depths. The rest of the party afterwards went to the top of the hill ; but when 
 I heard that I should have to make my way over rocks with a sheer precipice of some 
 hundreds of feet on one side, I thought discretion the better part, and sat down while 
 the others completed the ascent. Where 1 waited, however, the view was magnificent 
 I could see all the Yasawas; and the sea was of the most brilliant blue. The return 
 journey w T as comparatively easy, and on reaching our encampment we were regaled with 
 pineapples and cocoanut milk. By-tke-bye, on this island, which was a rugged, unin- 
 habited one, we picked quantities of those small scarlet berries with a black speck on 
 them that arc used to ornament boxes, &c. They grow in pods, which burst open when 
 ripe, and the clusters of these pods look very pretty with the rows of bright little 
 berries showing from the inside. 
 
 We embarked about three o'clock, and had a sail of six hours before reaching our 
 destination for the night — a very lonely town, the capital of the group. As the Fijians 
 always take two hours, at least, to prepare dinner, ours that night was a very late one ; 
 fortunately, we had had a substantial afternoon tea on board, and it being a lovely 
 moonlit night, we sat patiently on the beach till dinner was announced at eleven 
 o'clock. Even in a small open boat the Fijians arc equal to the task of making tea, 
 for they carry their fire in a wooden box with some earth at the bottom, and soon
 
 Va iwA-i-LAff.] A GROTESQUE SUPPLICATION. 139 
 
 have the kettle boiling. Not having matches, they carry fire-sticks to light the inevitable 
 saluka, of which I have spoken in the preceding article, and without which they could 
 not be happy. Arriving so late at this place, we had to be satisfied with one house, 
 but across one end was a slight screen of reeds about four lot high, which made it. 
 a house of two rooms instead of the usual one large apartment. When all our beds 
 were up it looked like a gipsy encampment. The bed consists of a mosquito net, 
 with a square of calico for its roof, ami muslin curtains hanging down all round, 
 enclosing a mat, pillow, and shawl. One hangs the square of calico from the rafters, 
 and spreads out the mat, tucking the curtains underneath it all round 
 
 The next morning we said good-bye to our beautiful fairyland, and started for Ba; 
 but to our delight the wind proved unfavourable, and after beating about for a few 
 hours, we sailed for an island we had not before; visited. It was Sunday, and we bail 
 service on board in Fijian. In Fiji houses evening prayer is customary, when every one 
 is prayed for, from the Governor down to our humble selves. One of our party bail 
 been nicknamed "the Dormouse," and I am afraid that our feelings were not so devoul 
 as they ought to have been when on one occasion we heard him prayed for with great 
 fervour as " .Mini Dormausi." 
 
 There was a light breeze when we again made a start, and we sailed peacefully 
 along till about lour o'clock, when we cast anchor off a native town and went ashore. 
 Next morning we at last left our islands behind us, to our great regret However, we 
 were becalmed half-way across, ami had to sleep on board It was aii exquisite night, 
 and some of us preferred the deck as being cooler than the cabins, and were rewarded 
 for our enterprise by a splendid sunrise. We did not reach Ha till one o'clock, when 
 we had our first meal for tbe day. Travelling in Fiji, by the way. makes one used to 
 waiting: a favourite word there is "malua," which has several meanings, tbe chief one 
 being " by-and-by." 
 
 Some of the best "mekes" we saw were at the great meeting or "hose" at l!all. 
 — once the native capital of Fiji, and situated on a small island of the same name 
 
 in the Yasawa group — at which Sir Arthur Gordon kindly arranged that we should 
 be present A great number of men dance in these "mekes"— one hundred or 
 more at a time. They dress themselves up in white tapa cloth, which hangs in festoons 
 from waist to knee, giving them the appearance of ballet dancers in short skins. Then tiny 
 
 have streamers all about, them, and altogether they look very smart. * hi one occasion 
 each man had a long spear and a fan. and they went through all sorts of evolutions. 
 
 a combination of a ballet-dance and military manoeuvres. They have wonderful figures, 
 and their weapons are wielded with singular precision and nerve; the accompanying 
 music is a monotonous chant from a number ol people sittting on the ground and 
 
 beating time on their wooden songs.
 
 HOBART. 
 
 Situation — Cape Pillar and Tasman's Island — Port Arthur — Cape Raoul — Franklin Island — The Derwent — A 
 General View — A Bird's-eye View — Main Road — Macquarie Street — The Royal Society's Museum — Franklin 
 Square — The First Australian Brewery — The Queen's Domain — Domain Road — Government House — The 
 Botanical Gardens — Distinguished Legislators — The High School — Liverpool and Elizabeth Streets —The 
 Bank of Van Diemen's Land — Memorial Church — "Mr. Robinson's House" — The Roman Catholic Cathedral. 
 
 VISITORS to Tasmania are often asked whether they most admire the situation of 
 Hobart or of Sydney. The question is not an easy one to answer, from the fact 
 that the approaches to the two cities are of a widely different character. Few sights arc 
 so exquisite or so surprising in their beauty as that which bursts upon the visitor to 
 Sydney when the ship which has conveyed him along the coast of New South Wales 
 enters a passage through the lofty cliffs, and the whole of Port Jackson opens at 
 once to view, showing the city as it stretches along the further shore, with its lovely 
 suburbs of villas and gardens adorning the creeks and inlets, and extending for miles 
 around the bay on eitlier side. If the day be tine, and the approach be made soon 
 after sunrise, before the glare of the sun begins to impair the clearness of vision, the 
 view is one of enchantment. It is one of those sights which are remembered as an 
 epoch in one's existence. The approach to Hobart is scarcely less lovely, but it is less 
 striking. The beauties of the city's surroundings open gradually to the view. Hobart 
 stands at the head of an estuary, which joins the ocean forty miles off. The coasts 
 close in very slowly as we ascend the bay. There are no surprises such as await 
 the traveller who enters Sydney Heads for the first time ; but there is a progressively 
 increasing beauty and grandeur in the scenery as we advance. And when at lengtb, 
 after four hours' journey from the Heads, we turn a slight bend in the coast, and come 
 in full sight of the city, with its long suburb of Sandy Bay, backed by a range of lofty 
 hills culminating in Mount Wellington, we are quite able to understand how Hobart 
 may challenge comparison with Sydney for beauty of situation, though the beauty is 
 of an essentially different character.
 
 HOBAnT.l 
 
 CAPE PILLAR. 
 
 141 
 
 The visitor to Hobart by one of the regular lines of steamers which trade to that 
 port must come either from Melbourne, Sydney, or New Zealand. Whichever of these 
 be his route, he must round the south-eastern promontory of Tasmania to enter Sturm 
 Bay. The island, at this point, terminates in a grand headland, nearly 900 feet high. 
 It is named Cape Pillar, from a tall rock, shaped somewhat like an obelisk, which 
 
 CAPE PILLAR. 
 
 rears itself from the water close by. Near tins again a rocky, lofty, and barren island 
 rises ti> a height nearlj equal to thai of Cape Pillar. This is named Tasman's Island, 
 and as we round it we see a series of basaltic columns rising directlj from the water, 
 and Looking so graceful anil fragile that their endurance of wind ami weather seems 
 almost marvellous. The sight of Cape Pillar and Tasman's Island is singularly 
 striking, ami as we proceed westward the same character of rugged majesty prevails. 
 Sunn we pass the mouth "f a deep bay encircled l>\ mountains, which look blue in 
 the distance. This is tbr far-famed Port Arthur, associated In the minds ol men with
 
 142 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. IHo..m:t. 
 
 all that was most hateful in the history of Van Diemen's Land, at the time when the 
 island was one vasl prison. Passing the mouth of the bay, we conic to another head- 
 land, correspondent to Cape Pillar, and similar in character. This is Cape Raoul, 750 
 feet high. Here also a beautiful set of basaltic rocks extends outwards from the cape, 
 and tonus one of the noteworthy sights of the southern coast. The beauty of these 
 rocks was somewhat impaired in the early part of the year 1884 by the wanton incon- 
 siderateness of the captain of one of the ships of the Australian squadron, who, by way 
 of exercising his men in gunnery practice, directed them to aim at the heads of these 
 columns. Fortunately they had been repeatedly photographed before this stupid outrage 
 was committed, so that we know how they used to look while they were still 
 uninjured. 
 
 A little less than two hours' run from Cape Raoul brings us to a small wooded 
 island rising high out of the water, and known officially as Franklin Island, but more 
 familiarly as Betsy's Island.* It lies near the head of Storm Bay, and at the mouth of 
 Frederick Henry Fay, close to a strangely-shaped promontory known as South Arm. 
 This island was the private property of Lady Franklin till about twenty years ago. 
 In those days a mania prevailed for the acclimatisation of all sorts of English birds and 
 animals, useful and useless. An Acclimatisation Society was formed Some of the older 
 members of it had been in correspondence with Lady Franklin ever since her husband 
 ceased to be Governor of Tasmania. At their suggestion she was duced to make 
 a present of the island to the Society. Hares, partridges, pheasants, and other I irds 
 and animals dear to the sportsman were introduced, and the little island was soon 
 overrun with their offspring. An old Scotchman was placed in charge as gamekeeper, 
 and for a while all lovers of sport rejoiced in the existence of a preserve so well 
 suited, apparently, for supplying live game to all parts of the colony. The affair, how- 
 ever, proved a failure, and the Acclimatisation Society is now remembered chiefly in 
 connection with the names of two men, of whom one was an enthusiast in natural 
 history, and the other no less an enthusiast in all that related to field sports. Both 
 of these gentlemen are now dead. One of them was a son of John AVoodcock 
 Graves, the Cumberland poet, who wrote the most spirited and popular hunting-song 
 in the English language, "D'ye ken John Peel?" Old sportsmen who have heard this 
 song sung by their fathers more than sixty years ago will be surprised and interested 
 to learn that the author was still alive and residing in Hobart in the year L886. He 
 died in the month of August of that year, and although he was not, as the newspaper 
 obituaries stated, in his hundredth year, he had reached the ripe age of ninety-one. 
 
 A short distance to the west of Franklin Island is a lighthouse, popularly 
 known as the Iron Pot. The Government have now given it the more euphonious 
 name of the Derwent Lighthouse. It is erected on a smooth reef of low shelving 
 rocks, and serves as a guard against a very serious danger to ships entering the 
 estuary of the Derwent. Here it is that Storm Bay may be considered as ending : and 
 from this point onwards the scenery changes its character, as we sail up the Derwent 
 
 * The correct name is Betts's Island, the first owner having been a person of the name of Betts. 
 Popular usage has sanctioned a different" spelling.
 
 Hobabt.i A GENERA! Vli:\V. I }:{ 
 
 estuary. Due west of the lighthouse lies Denne's Point, the northern headland oi 
 Bruny Island. Between Bruny and the mainland lies D'Entrecasteaux Channel On 
 the further side of the channel, in a line with Denne's Point, and overlooking it from 
 the top of seme commanding cliffs, are the bouses of the two pilots, who act under 
 the authority of the Marine Board. No vessel can pass the lighthouse unseen by them, 
 and it, is their duty, in turns, to board everj ship entering the Derwent, with the 
 
 exception of those strainers or coasting vessels which bold exemptions fr pilotage. 
 
 From this part onward the Derwent is about two miles wide' up to the imme- 
 diate vicinity of Huhart. The town itself is not visible till we get within aboul a 
 mile of it, when a bend in the beach-line brings it lull in view. It is beautifully 
 situated on the lower slopes of Mount Wellington The visitor who approaches it by 
 water gees "it his right hand a series of hays and inlets backed ly a line of bigh 
 wooded hills, which terminate beyond the town in one of commanding beight and 
 beautiful contour, known as Mounl Direction. Close to this is another of peculiar 
 shape, called the Quoin, and these, with a third named Grass-tree Hill, close the 
 view tn the right, as seen in our approach by water. Then, carrying our eye to the 
 left, wo sec Governmenl Eouse standing on a bright green promontory, which shuts 
 off the view of the higher bends of the river. This is a remarkably fine building, 
 
 flirted of the excellent freestone of the colony. It is milch the hands, n nest, of 
 
 all the vice-regal residences of Australia, though not nearly so large as thai of 
 Melbourne Immediately to the left of Government Eouse rises the Queen's Domain, 
 or People's Park, which, as seen from the water, presents the appearance of a hill of 
 considerable height but gentle slope, wooded to the summit Then in the foreground 
 ee the wharves and shipping, and at the hack of them, <>n the edge of the 
 Domain, Christ's College, popularly known as the High School, standing at the head 
 of a line, sloping lawn of two acre-, surrounded ly beautiful shrubberies; and above 
 the college the new houses of Glebe Town, piled in apparent confusion, and standing 
 out white and bright against a dark background In the foreground, as the eye 
 travels to the left, we have a foresl of mast>, and in the background Trinity Church, 
 with Perpendicular Gothic tower, standing on the apex of one of the numerous hills 
 
 whirl nstilute the site of Ih.liait, Thi, is the only rhinvh in the island which 
 
 rejoices in the possession of a peal of bells. further to the left we see in the 
 foreground a mass of line public buildings, and in the background a series of hills, up 
 
 which the streets of the suburbs seem to run almost into tin- regi f cloudland 
 
 The view is closed to the left ly Mount Wellington, rising more than 4,000 feet above 
 
 i!i lea level. 
 
 Such is the aspect of Hobart a- seen from the hay. A still higher appreciation 
 
 of the beaut] of its situation may 1 btained by crossing the river to Bellerive in 
 
 one of the little steamers which ply thither at half hour intervals. From this point ol 
 view Mount Wellington forms the background, rising far above the highest parts ol 
 the city, which we now see encircling a deep and lovelj bay. Tin- i- a sight on 
 
 which the eve can least for hours without satiety. Hut if we wish to know what 
 
 the town itself is like, there is no view to be compared with that which is obtainable
 
 14-i 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [HORABT. 
 
 from the terrace of Christ's College. All the handsomest and largest public buildings 
 are seen close at hand from this position; and for a town of its size, Hobart has a 
 large share of handsome public edifices. The college is so situated that the view all 
 round from its terrace forms a magnificent panorama. We here face the bay, and in 
 consequence have Mount Wellington on the extreme right. The range already 
 mentioned as lying at the back of Sandy Bay stretches forward on the right till it 
 terminates in Mount Nelson. Nearer, and still on the right, is St. George's Hill, 
 covered with houses, and surmounted by a church, with a tall tower terminating in a 
 sort of cupola. Still somewhat to our right, and much nearer, we look down upon a 
 mass of handsome public buildings, as already mentioned. Most of these are of the 
 Italian style of architecture, and built of the fine freestone of the colony. In the 
 immediate vicinity ot Hobart an admirable freestone of slightly yellowish tinge is 
 obtainable in large quantities; and at Bellerive, on the opposite side of the river, there 
 are quarries of a perfectly white stone, which has been largely used for building purposes 
 in the other colonies, as well as in Tasmania. The view in full front commands the 
 bay, which here seems to be shut in by South Arm and Betsy's Island. The 
 panorama terminates to the left in Kangaroo Point (Bellerive), on the other side of 
 the river, and in the Domain Hill on the Hobart side. Domain Hill rises close to the 
 left of the college grounds, and shuts off the view on that side. 
 
 While, however, the view from the college terrace is that which shows Hobart 
 to best advantage, it is not the one which best enables ns to see the plan of the town 
 
 and the direction of the hills. To get a comprehensive 
 
 bird's-eye view we must ascend one or other of the streets 
 
 ( which run up the sides of Knocklofty, a hill on the west 
 
 of the city, one of the lower spurs of Mount Wel- 
 lington. Several of the streets of Hobart run parallel to 
 one another, and terminate in steep ascents on the side of 
 this hill. From the top of Liverpool Street or 
 Goulborn Street, or, best of all, from Lansdown 
 
 < Irescent, which 
 lies high up on 
 the side of the 
 hill, one gets a 
 fine and exten- 
 sive view, com- 
 prehending the 
 whole of the city 
 and the harbour. 
 ( >n a tine day the 
 white buildings, 
 the deep blue 
 water, and the 
 
 THE FRANKLIN MONUMENT, FRANKLIN SQUARE. OTOWn WOOUe
 
 HOBA] 
 
 THE STREETS. 
 
 145 
 
 hills beyond Bellerive, add to the other beauties of the scene the charm which results 
 from contrast in colour. 
 
 The streets in Hobart are not so wide as those of Melbourne and of other Austra- 
 lasian towns of later date. They cross one another in nearly parallel sets, but not 
 absolutely at right angles. The extremely uneven character of the ground has from the 
 first prevented the monotonous regularity which characterises so many colonial towns. 
 The busiest thoroughfares of the city are Liverpool and Elizabeth Streets. Must of 
 the best shops in the town are to be found hi these two streets. At its eastern end 
 Liverpool Street runs out into the Domain, while on the west it runs far up into the 
 hills, and terminates in a series of villa residences. Elizabeth Street crosses it almost 
 at right angles, extending to the wharves on the south and far out along the Main 
 Road to the north. The name of Main Road is given to the very fine coach read, 
 
 nM Wl»llWimWWB«llHmitlMl , «PMIMH»tCHBWrc:ilW' ■ I'M. I 1 ' '". rcniHUWMHIMIF B 
 
 
 
 THE HIGH SCHOOL. 
 
 made by convict labour, which runs from Eobart to Launceston, and passes through 
 several of the principal townships of the island. 
 
 Of all the streets in the town, Macquarie Street is especially noticeable to the 
 lover of the picturesque. It is a streel of line public buildings and handsome private 
 resiliences. It runs from the Queen's Domain up to the foot of Mount Wellington. 
 From the lower end of it one can see more than a mile in a straight line, until the 
 view is shut in by a slight bend, which seems to lead into a region of gardens and 
 cultivated woodland before it is closed by the mountain background. At the Domain 
 end it crosses the railway and the Town Creek, between which lie the gas company's 
 works. A little beyond the creek, and on the right side, we pass the New Market, a sort 
 of arcade running from Macquarie Street into Collins Street. On the left, proceeding 
 upwards, we have the Royal Society's Museum, a handsome stone building, containing 
 good collections of all thai one expects to find in a museum, together with a \<r\ 
 valuable Library of scientific works. A few yards higher up we come to the Town 
 10
 
 146 CASSEU/S PICTUEESQL-E AI'STIIALASIA. IHoiubj. 
 
 Hall, another handsome stone building, containing the municipal chambers and corpora- 
 tion offices on the ground floor, while the first Moor is occupied by a spacious assembly 
 room, much in demand for balls, concerts, lectures, and public meetings. This room 
 contains a large organ, of excellent tone. One wing of the building is appropriated to 
 the public library, a most valuable institution. It contains about 9,000 volumes, and 
 is open to the public for nearly twelve hours every day. In connection with it there 
 is also a spacious news-room, furnished with the principal English mid Australasian 
 papers, as well as with the most popular magazines and reviews. Women as well 
 as men avail themselves largely of the privilege afforded by the reading-rooms. 
 
 A little further up the street is Franklin Square, a public pleasure-ground, 
 prettily laid out in walks and shrubberies, and adorned with an ornamental fishpond, 
 stocked with gold and silver fish, and planted with water-lilies. In the very centre 
 of the square, on a pedestal of fine Tasmanian granite, is a bronze statue of Sir John 
 Franklin, the Arctic explorer, who was Governor of the colony from lis:)7 to 1N4:>. 
 In front of the pedestal is a large bronze cannon captured during the Crimean War. 
 and presented to the colony by the British Government. Just beyond Franklin 
 Square, and on the same side of the street, are the Tost Office and other Government 
 buildings, containing the offices of all beads of departments. On the opposite side of 
 the road is the Church of England Cathedral, a massive stone building, in a somewhat 
 incomplete condition, since it has neither chancel nor tower. 
 
 We now come to a region of banks and offices, and a little way further on to a 
 house which has an historical interest, not only as being itself one of the oldest 
 houses in the colony, but as immediately adjoining the spot on which stood the very 
 first dwelling erected in Hobart. It is a tall, flat-faced house, of a style of domestic 
 architecture common in England about the beginning of the present century. For 
 many years it was the principal hotel in Hobart, and though it has not been used as 
 such for fully thirty years, the name of Macquarie Hotel still clings to it by per- 
 sistent tradition. It is now a private residence. Many persons who were alive within 
 the last ten years remembered when this was the only house on its own side of 
 the sti'eet. 
 
 There are two other objects of historical interest in this street. One is the 
 Hutchins School, noteworthy in the history of the colony as the first grammar-school 
 established in Tasmania; the other, nearly a mile further on, and at the extreme end 
 of Macquarie Street, is the Cascade Brewery — important not merely in the history of 
 Tasmania, but in that of Australia at large, as the first brewery erected in any of the 
 Australian colonies. It is of this that Sydney Smith speaks in a clever article on 
 Australia, published in The Edinburgh Review in 1823. "What two ideas," he says, 
 "are more inseparable than Beer and Britannia' What event more awfully important 
 to an English colony than the erection of its first brewhouse? And yet it required 
 in Van Diemen's Land the greatest solicitation to the Government and ail the 
 influence of Mr. Bigge to get it effected." 
 
 The above passage, indeed, gives but a faint notion of the hard battle which the 
 founder of the brewery had to fight against the Government of the colony before he
 
 Hobakt.1 GOVERNMENT HOUSE. 147 
 
 was enabled to take possession of a suitable site and to obtain the water privilege 
 essential to Ins operations. His life was an eventful one. A native of France, dri ei 
 thence in early life by the terrors of the Revolution; Mr. Degraves took refuge in 
 England became a naturalised subject, then a colonist, and ultimately the founder of 
 the most famous brewery in the Australian colonies. The original building has long 
 given place to a handsome, massive edifice of grey stone, most picturesquely situated 
 at the foot of a richly-wooded hill, which forms one "I' the lower slopes of Mount 
 Wellington. 
 
 .Mention has already been made of the Queen's Domain. This, the chief re- 
 creation-ground of the city, is situated on the eastern side of it, between the town 
 and the Derwent, with a frontage looking out <>u the hay. Suppose a pear sliced 
 Lengthwise from the stalk, and one of the halves placed on its Hat side — that half pear 
 would give a tolerably correct notion of the general contour of the Domain; the 
 smaller end heing the one nearest the city, and the larger end representing the 
 wooded height A road runs round this hill near its base. Following the road, you 
 come back to your starting-point, after a delightful drive of about a mile and a half 
 tliroiiv.il a wooded region, sufficiently open to show a charming succession of views. 
 The part of the road along the river-side' is on a lower level than the portion which 
 overlooks tin' town. Going out by the lower road, anil enjoying the view of the bright 
 blue waters of the Derwent, which is here about a mile wide, we soon arrive at the 
 entrance gates of Government House. 
 
 Thirty years ago the residence of the Governor of Tasmania was a long, low 
 wooden building situate in Macquarie Street, running across the end of Elizabeth 
 Street, so as to shut off the view of the hay, and, with its garden, occupying the 
 whole space included in the sites of Franklin Square and the Town Hall. The present 
 building was commenced during the period of exceptional prosperity which succeeded 
 the discovery of gold in Victoria, and was completed in the year 1858, Sir Henry Fox 
 Young being Governor at the time. Its architectural beauty deserves great praise. 
 The hall-room, dining-room, and drawing-room will not easilj he forgotten by anyone 
 who has seen them, and the gardens, st retching down to the river, owe SOmethh 
 
 their beauty to the g 1 taste of each successive Governor. Following the Domain 
 
 Road for a short distance, we come to the Royal Society's Gardens, also called tho 
 Botanical Gardens. They immediately adjoin the gardens of Government House, and 
 are beautifully situated on the slope of the Domain, between the road and the i 
 The Main Line Railway runs through the gardens near the waterside, and is crossed 
 i ornamental bridge. The -rounds are well kept They are planted with trees. 
 Bowers, and fruit from everj part of the world, and are under the management of the 
 Royal Society of Tasmania, a society established in L844 for the purpose of developing 
 and illustrating the natural history, the productions, and the physical character of the 
 
 island Great taste has been shown in laying out the grounds; and for the ace mo- 
 
 dation of the public numerous garden seats have been placed in positions which 
 
 command lovely views of the hioad. hhie Derwent, with its hrown background ot 
 wooded hills.
 
 L48 
 
 I \"i:i.L's PICTl RESQl i: A.TJSTB LLASIA. 
 
 [HoBUIT. 
 
 
 Following the Domain Road Erom the gardens, we find it rising gradually, till it 
 has rounded the broader end of the hill. Here we gel a magnificent view of the 
 valley of the Derwent, extending many miles, till it is shut in by hills looking faintly 
 blue in the far distance. Saving rounded the end of the hill, we arrive at a gate, 
 which leads out inwards Newtown, one of the suburbs of Eobart. A little way outside 
 this gate we sit a handsome private residence, with a tine garden and grounds. This 
 belongs t" the family df the Hon. T. D. Chapman, by whom it was built, and who 
 died here suddenly in the early part of the year 1884 For more than thirty years 
 Mr. Chapman had been one of the most prominent and distinguished of Tasmanian 
 legislators. Before the introduction of constitutional government he had been amongst 
 the most active opponents of the transportation system, and from the time when the 
 
 Parliamentary system was established in Tas- 
 mania, Mr. Chapman was always a leader, either 
 on the Ministerial or the Opposition side of the 
 House. He held office in several administrations, 
 and no man could be named who has occupied 
 such a conspicuous position in the political his- 
 tory of the colony, or who has so influenced its 
 legislation. 
 
 Proceeding past the gate just mentioned, 
 but not through it, we soon arrive at the highest 
 point of the Domain Road The slojie 
 is now downwards. On our right we 
 catch frequent glimpses of the town 
 through openings in the trees. Ere 
 
 ,'<JLLi;r«Stt 
 
 
 loii'' we again come within sight of 
 
 TUIXITY CHURCH. 
 
 *-'" • Government House, now lying below 
 us on the left, and at length we 
 arrive at the spot whence we started 
 round the Domain by the lower road 
 Meanwhile we have passed the wooded hill, and have arrived at a large open space, 
 extending to the river on the left and the harbour in front. This part of the 
 Domain may be considered the recreation-ground of the city. Here were played all 
 cricket and football matches for many years, and it is still used largely for practice 
 and for matches of secondary importance in both those games ; but in the early part 
 of L882 a new and well-appointed cricket-ground was opened on a plateau some way 
 up the Domain. It was inaugurated by a match between the Southern Tasmanian 
 Cricket Association and an eleven from Melbourne. A new road has recently been 
 constructed from the old recreation-ground to the new cricket-ground, and near the 
 junction of this with the Lower Domain Road a drinking fountain has been placed as 
 a memorial to the Hon. Charles Meredith, wdio was for many years one of the most 
 distinguished amongst the public men of Tasmania, and had been a prominent member 
 of three different administrations.
 
 IIciBArtT.] 
 
 PRIMITIVE COMMERCE. 
 
 151 
 
 iffijlli 
 
 I 
 
 establishment marks an era in the history of the colony. It contributed greatly to 
 regularise the means of exchange. During the first and great pari of the second decade 
 of the present century there was little or no English money in the colon}'. A system 
 of barter prevailed. Pounds and chests of tea, bottles and hogsheads of rum, sacks 
 of corn, and other articles, had a conventional value as equivalent to so many shillings 
 or pounds. A hogshead of rum was the upset price of certain town allotments in the 
 Sandy Bay suburb of Hobart, and within the last twenty-rive years some of the 
 original purchasers of these : llotments were still living. When Sydney Smith in one 
 of his essays represents a New South Wales jui'or as excusing himself for non- 
 attendance at the Assizes on the ground that he had sent a man fifty miles with a 
 sack of flour to buy a pair of breeches, ami that his messenger had not returned, he 
 pretty accurately describes the system of exchange actually prevailing in the earlier 
 days of Van Diemen's hand. 
 
 As an almost, inevitable consequence of the 
 inconvenience connected with transactions of 
 this sort, there arose a. system of payment by 
 promissory notes, which passed from hand to 
 hand, and which led to frequent loss and 
 litigation where the notes were not issued by 
 men of undoubted solvency. Some merchants 
 of established reputation combined a soil of 
 banking business with their other transactions, 
 receiving deposits, and issuing notes on en- 
 graved forms, similar to those of regular 
 banking establishments. Early in the second 
 decide of the century the local government 
 adopted a system of currency which, we 
 
 believe, was peculiar to this colony. They imported Spanish dollars, intrinsically 
 equal in value to five shillings of English money, and to prevent exportation they 
 cut out a -dump" from the middle. In payments from the Treasury they issued the 
 "dumps" at Is. 3d. each, and the mutilated dollar — or ring-dollar, as it was called — at 
 five shillings. About the years l<sl!) and 1820 there was a large influx of gentlemen 
 colonists, and these found ii their best policy to change all their money into dollars 
 before emigrating, since they thus gol 6s. .'id. currency for ever] live shillings ex- 
 pended. Even then the amount of coin in circulation was inadequate to the re 
 quirements of business. Hence, when a company of leading merchants ami settlers 
 established the Hank of Van Diemen's I. ami. obtaining a charter from the Governor- 
 General, issuing their own notes, and importing specie to a considerable extent, the 
 relief to all business transactions v.as immense. Hut. the adoption of the English 
 currency came much later, for more than twenty years after the establishment of 
 
 tin' bank the ring-dollar, at five shillings, was the r ignised standard of currency 
 
 in \'an Diemen's Land. 
 
 After passing the Hank oi Van Diemen's hand, there is little in Elizabeth S 
 
 
 GOVERNMENT HOUSE.
 
 152 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 BOBAKT, 
 
 to interest us beyond the numerous shops, which are not generally either large or 
 showy. Fnnn the point where it crosses Liverpool Street there is a continuous rise for 
 more than a mile. At its junction with Brisbane Street is a handsome church with 
 a spire. The spire is not quite lofty enough to be in perfect harmony with the rest 
 of the building, but the church is an ornament to the town in spite of this slight 
 detect. It belongs to the Congregational body, and is named the Memorial Church, 
 having been erected in memory of the Rev. Henry Miller, who was the first, and for 
 some years the only, Congregational minister in the Australian colonies. Just beyond 
 this is a large square stone house, which was for many years the residence of 
 Mr. Henry Hopkins, the founder of the wool trade of Tasmania. When he arrived 
 
 GOVERNMENT HOUSE FROM HACQUARIE POINT. 
 
 in Hobart, about the year 1820, he found that the settlers were in the habit of burning 
 their wool to get rid of it. He made himself known as a purchaser, and was able to 
 buy at a very low rate, and to buy largely. Shipping the wool to England, he made 
 enormous profits, and laid the foundation of a large fortune. Others followed his 
 example, and it was not long before the settlers discovered that wool was the most 
 valuable and important product of their estates. 
 
 A little way further on, on the left-hand side of the street, there is a house which 
 is noticeable in the history of the colony as the one to which the small remnant of 
 aborigines still surviving in the year 1834 were brought by Mr. Robinson, a man who 
 devoted himself for years to the task of conciliating those poor savages and preserving 
 them from total destruction. In the local publications of that date, and in narratives 
 of visitors to the colony, it is spoken of as "Mr. Robinson's house." It stands a little 
 below the present level of the street, and is remarkable for a peculiarly-shaped roof. 
 A good account of the aborigines, of the so-called Black War, of Mr. Robinson's
 
 HOBART.] 
 
 THE ROMAX CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL. 
 
 153 
 
 missions, and of the final extinction of the race, will be found in " Fenton's History of 
 Tasmania." 
 
 From the point which \vc have now reached, Elizabeth Street is suburban in 
 character, and for about three-quarters of a mile consists mainly of private residences 
 There is a gradual ascent to a point known as Swan's Hill, which marks the town 
 boundary. Here begins the suburb of Newtown, and here a glorious prospect 
 opens. We see Newtown itself extending more than two miles from the spot where 
 we are standing. A mile oft lies the Invalid Depot, or Queen's Asylum, with a 
 
 r.NTHAXCK to tin: ikivai. sih-ti:tvs i;.m:i)I-:xs. 
 
 church tower rising from the centre of the building. On the left is the Wellington 
 Range. To the right of the township we see the valley of the Derwent for more than 
 twenty miles, with the river itself looking like a series of Lakes, owing to the windings 
 of its course and the frequent interceptions of the view by low hills along its near r 
 bank Then, on the right, about three miles off, rises Mount direction, imposing in its 
 altitude, and beautiful in its contour; and far away the view is closed in by mountain 
 ranges, looking pale and blue in the haze of distance 
 
 Amongst the noteworthy public edifices of Eobarl a prominent place must be 
 given to the Roman Catholic Cathedral It lies on the western side of Harrington 
 Street, which is parallel to Elizabeth Street. It is a handsome building in the Per- 
 pendicular style, ('lose to it lies tin- Present at ion Convent of St Mary, another 
 large and handsome building. I'.oth the cathedral and the convent are built of white
 
 154 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Hobaut. 
 
 Tasmanian freestone, and, lying high on a steep hillside, are visible from every part of 
 the town. The view from the convent is a very extensive and lovely one. It takes in 
 
 the lli-ii School and Glebe Town, with the wooded Domain as background, the bay, 
 LVllerive, with the hills that lie beyond it, and all the left bank of the Derwent, as 
 far as South Arm and Betsy's Island. The residence of the Roman Catholic bishop lies on 
 tin steep hillside, immediately above the convent grounds, and forms part of this band- 
 si cm • -roup of ecclesiastical buildings. The sisterhood who occupy the convent devote 
 themselves chiefly to the work of education, and have a large number of pupils. 
 
 The only noticeable ecclesiastical buildings in Hobart, besides those to which 
 reference has been made in other connections, is St. George's (Anglican) Church, 
 standing out conspicuously on a hill, and distinguished by its Grecian portico and its 
 composite tower and cupola. The architectural style is that which prevailed amongst 
 the London churches erected about the end of the last or beginning of the present 
 century, before the revival of Gothic architecture. The Anglican churches of St. 
 John, Goulbourn Street, and All Saints, Macquarie Street, may, however, be cited as 
 graceful specimens of modern Gothic. 
 
 
 • 
 
 ' ^^sBSDS^qe
 
 tv i«v l fire . 
 
 ABORIGINES i>r TASMANIA. 
 
 THE ENVIRONS OF HOBART. 
 
 Mount Wellington — Cook's Monument — A Magnificent Prospect — The Pinnacle — "The Organ Pipes" — Lost 
 on the Mountain — The Wellington Falls— Brown's River — Kingston — Queenborough — The Bonnet Hill — 
 Mi mnt Nelson — Mount Direction — The Largest Man in the World — Risdon — A "Rupert of Debate'' — 
 Kangaroo Point and Bellerive — Mount Rumney — Newtown — Ehvick Racecourse — A Landslip — Austin's 
 Ferry — Bridgewater Causeway — Newtown and Cornelian Bays. 
 
 VERY prorninenl amongsl the surroundings of Hobart, both for beauty and for gran- 
 deur, is Mount Wellington There are other mountains in Tasmania which rise to a 
 greater height above the sea, but there is not one which looks so lofty. Its lower slopes 
 extend to the water's edge, and thus its whole height of 4,166 feet is seen at a glance, 
 and no part of its grandeur is lost, by any imperceptibly-ascending approaches. It is 
 generally the first object of interest to visitors, and no one willingly leaves the city 
 without having made the ascent of the mountain The distance from the Post Office 
 to the summit is about seven miles. The toil of the ascent lias been much lessened 
 by the construction of the Huon Road, since by it one can drive nearly tour miles, and 
 save the effort of scaling a very steep hill. The old ascent was along Macquarie Street, 
 
 past the Cascade brewery, and on by some wood-cutters' tracks. To a g 1 pedestrian 
 
 tins is still the most interesting way of seeing the mountain, since it leads through 
 some magnificent forest land containing fine specimens of the giant eucalyptus, tor which 
 .Mount Wellington is famous. But since the construction of the Euon Road this i 
 of ascent has been little used. 
 
 To enjoy the excursion thoroughly, a day should be chosen which seems likely to 
 be fine but not very hot The starl should be made as soon as possible after breakfast 
 Luncheon baskets should be provided Then, having made all requisite preparations, we 
 
 drive out to the end of Davey Street, a distan »f al I a mile, and emerge upon the 
 
 lluon Road This runs along the mountain side, with a gradient of one foot in fifty, 
 is admirably constructed, and is a fine specimen of engineering skill A drive of about
 
 150 CASSELI/S PICTI'IiESiirE ATTSTRAT.ASTA I rvn 
 
 three miles brings us to a wayside hostelry, known as the Fern-tree Tun. Here the 
 vehicles may be left, and, taking our luncheon-baskets, we follow a track leading to the 
 waterworks, whence the city receives its copious supply of fresh, clear water. Here is seen 
 a structure popularly designated "Cook's Monument," It, is not, however, a monument of 
 the great navigator, nor, in fact, of anyone else, but a memorial structure, recording 
 the inauguration in the year 1861 of the waterworks and reservoir constructed by the 
 Corporation of Hobart, during the .Mayoralty of Mr. Henry Cook. It is situated in a 
 beautiful grove of fern-trees, known as the Bower. Here are benches and roughly- 
 constructed tables, eminently convenient for picnic parties. A finger-post indicates the 
 commencement of the "Mountain Road." It is a steep path, quite impracticable for 
 vehicles, though not absolutely so for a well-mounted horseman. On gaining the 
 summit of the first acclivity, we arrive at a tolerably level bit of road. Proceeding 
 along this for about a quarter of a mile, we come to a steep much more fatiguing than 
 the last. Several breathless halts will generally be demanded before the top of this 
 second acclivity is reached. We are now at the part known as "The Springs"; and by 
 this time the exertion of the walk will probably have produced a craving for a draught 
 of the bright, tempting water which here gurgles over white pebbles in a narrow channel. 
 
 From this part of the mountain-side a wonderful panorama meets the eye. No 
 description can do justice to it. In front and away to the left is seen the winding 
 course of the noble Derwent — now diminished in the distance to a mere streamlet, 
 now spreading out into a lake, and anon peeping out in azure patches among the 
 countless hills and mountains extending tier after tier into the faint blue of the far 
 distance. Plains green with verdure, and dotted with villages and homesteads, are to be 
 seen at intervals, while the city itself nestles far below at the foot of the mountain ; 
 and away to the right we look over and beyond the bay, and see the open ocean sloping 
 upward to the line of the horizon. Near " The Springs " is a hut occupied by an old 
 couple, from whom cooking utensils, plates, and teacups can be hired if we wish to 
 take our luncheon here on our way up, or a cup of tea on our way down. Proceeding 
 from the hut along the watercourse, we are not long in arriving at the last of the 
 steep ascents. A resolute effort soon brings us to the top of this, and here we find a 
 wooden structure with a heavy sloping roof, covered with turf and brushwood. This 
 is known as the ice-house. It contains snow gathered from the mountain-top during 
 the winter months, and tightly packed, to be used by the confectioners in Hobart 
 in the preparation of ice-creams. Just beyond the ice-house stretches a vast plain, 
 consisting of enormous rounded boulders firmly wedged together. This is the far- 
 famed "Ploughed Field." It requires some care in crossing, since it is often necessary 
 to jump from one boulder to another: but there is no danger of serious accidents 
 After it is crossed, there is a long but easy ascent to the wide table-land at the 
 summit. Nothing in the appearance of the mountain has prepared us to suspect the 
 existence of such a plain at its top, and the sight of it always comes as a surprise to 
 those who make the ascent for the first time. 
 
 The soil of this elevated plain is soft and spongy. It strikes cold to the feet, even 
 in the warmest weather, though at this elevation the air is never very hot The cold
 
 OF HOUART. ) 
 
 THE ORGAN PIPES.' 
 
 157 
 
 moisture of the turf is due to the melted snow. For nearly half the year snow 
 lies unmelted on tin' top of the mountain, ami for some distance down its sides. 
 and it is this which keeps the springs running, and renders the supply of water 
 continuous. Keeping near the edge of the table-land for about a mile, we come to the 
 \iiy highest point of the mountain. It, is known as "The Pinnacle," and is marked by a 
 square pile of logs, which can easily be climbed by men, and without much difficulty 
 by any ladies who are anxious to feel that they have "done" the mountain thoroughly. 
 
 k \\i. LROO POINT, PEOM HOBAHT. 
 
 Tic pili' of logs was erected as a landmark b\ ill.- men engaged in the firsl trigono- 
 metrical survey of the island. Not far from the base of the pinnacle is an abrupt and 
 deep precipice, where, in ancienl days, part of the mountain must have fallen away 
 
 laying bare a perpendicular fai f rockj columns, known a- "The Organ Pipes," This 
 
 forms oi E the most marked peculiarities of the mountain as seen bom below; but 
 
 we can scarcely form, even approximately, an estimate of the heighl of the columns till 
 we look down ami see lmw \.rv I. if below tis lie ['he Ploughed field'' and other 
 
 parts of the mountain at the fool of the precipice. 
 
 The view from the pinnacle is bewildering from its extent, but is scarcely equal
 
 158 CASSEIX'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Erviroot 
 
 in beauty and interest to the one which we obtain trom "The Springs." Distance does 
 
 in it always lend enchantment to the view. It will sometimes happen that a hank of 
 clouds lies between the top of the mountain and its lower slopes, intercepting the 
 view beneath, while the atmosphere above is quite unclouded It will even chance 
 at times that showers tall from those clouds while the sun is shining brightly on the 
 
 summit ; and on such occasions we see the curious phenomenon of a rainbow tar down 
 beneath our feet. It is this descent of cloud which s dimes causes persons to lose 
 
 their way on the mountain side. What is cloud at a distance is dense toe; when one 
 is actually in it. Even on good roads there is nothing so bewildering as tog; and in 
 the perplexing labyrinth of forest tracks the attempl to rind one's way is hopeless 
 when the mist has descended on the mountain. 
 
 Occasionally a member of an excursion party gets left behind, and does not return 
 at nightfall, or some schoolboys go up the mountain and have not returned home by 
 the next morning. In such cases search parties are organised, a code of signals is 
 arranged, and an energetic search instituted. This is generally successful: but it will 
 happen at times that the wanderer has unconsciously passed to the back of the 
 mountain, and emerges, to his great surprise, at New Norfolk, or on the northern side 
 at Bridgewater, or on the southern side at the Huon. It is many years since any- 
 one has actually perished through losing his way on the mountain. The last case of 
 the sort was that of a Dr. Smith, who hail taken a passage to Hobart as surgeon on 
 board the ship Derwentwater. He went up the mountain on the 23rd of January, 
 L858, in company with some of his shipmates, but was missing when they returned 
 His companions went in search of him next day. The mountain tracks were not 
 nearly so well defined or so well known then as they have since become, and when 
 two days had elapsed without bringing any news of the wanderer, the whole community 
 became alarmed. Numerous search parties were organised by persons well acquainted 
 with the mountain. The Freemasons especially bestirred themselves in the matter, 
 since Dr. Smith was one of the fraternity. The search was continued till the 28th 
 of the month. On that day his dead body was found near the edge of "The Ploughed 
 Field," where he had perished from fatigue and exposure. A small monumental structure 
 marks the spot where he last drew breath, but his remains were brought down from 
 the mountain and interred in St. David's churchyard. A tombstone erected by the 
 Masonic brotherhood records the date and manner of his death. 
 
 The Wellington Falls are amongst the attractions of the mountain. They lie 
 towards the back of it, on the southern slope, and may be reached by a walk of four 
 miles from "The Springs." The water falls 210 feet, and the scenery around is very im- 
 posing The view extends southward as far as the townships of Franklin and Victoria 
 
 Among the pleasant excursions which may be made in the neighbourhood of 
 Hobart few are more popular than that to Brown's River. This name, which belonged 
 originally to a little stream discharging itself into a small bay, has been extended to 
 the bay itself and to the township which has grown up about the banks of the river, 
 and wdiicb is officially known as Kingston. The town lies about ten miles south of 
 Hobart. The chief attraction of the place is a beautiful bit of coast and a beach of
 
 ofHobart.) A CONSl'hTors LANDMARK. 159 
 
 tine sand, generally displaying a large and varied accumulation of shells heaped in a 
 
 curved line near the high-water mark. The beach, with its firm sand and its low, flat- 
 topped reeks, is one of the pleasantest places imaginable for a lounge, and a few hours 
 may always lie spent there delightfully in reading, smoking, or simply enjoying the 
 sunshine and scenery. Not far from the beach lies "The Blowhole," which is an object 
 of unusual interest. In a Held at the top of some cliffs on the southern bend of the 
 bay is an opening of considerable width and formidable depth. Looking down, we 
 see water below in a constant state of flux and reflux. The sea has worked a tunnel 
 through the cliffs, and a fall of earth from above has opened out this dangerous chasm. 
 
 There are many pleasant walks in the neighbourhood of Kingston. It. is a favourite 
 honeymoon resort, and a week at Brown's River is the immediate sequence of a large 
 proportion of the marriages contracted in Hobart. But apart from the attractions of 
 the place itself, the mere journey to and fro well repays the time devoted to it. The 
 mad from Hobart to Kingston is one of the "Teat works of Colonel Arthur's govern- 
 nient. A better made road cotdd hardly be found, even in England. Starting from 
 the city, we pass through the pretty suburb of Sandy Bay, gradually descending till we 
 reach a point at which the road is very little above high-water mark. On our way 
 we pass the Queenborough cemetery, a large oblong enclosure sloping down towards 
 the road, and conspicuous from its white headstones and monuments. Soon the lowesl 
 level of the road is reached. The water is now very close to us. On our left is the 
 long, sandy beach, whence the district is named; on our right are highly cultivated 
 lands, stretching back to the Nelson range of hills. 
 
 About a furlong of level road brings us to the commencement of an ascent which 
 is continuous for nearly all the rest of the journey. We pass through the village of 
 Queenborough, which gives its name to a large electoral district. The road then leads 
 us by the foot of Mount Nelson and runs up the side of some hills which form pari of 
 the Nelson range, being so admirably graduated that we are scarcely conscious of 
 ascending till we look back and see how far below iis are the parts which we traversed 
 ten minutes previously. Then, too, it winds round the head of ravines, showing gullies, 
 watercourses, and openings extending far back into the hills, while on tin 1 other side 
 the view of the estuary, with its islands, promontories, and inlets, increases in extenl 
 and beauty as we rise higher and higher. Within about two miles of the highest part 
 of the road is Mr. Moir's shot-tower, the only one in tin' Australia*, we believe. It in- 
 built of the line white stone so plentiful in Tasmania, and standing as it does on one 
 of tin' lo|'t\ cliffs which skirt the bay. it forms a grand landmark conspicuous tor many 
 miles. Close to the tower is the owner's residence, a pretty stone building in a well- 
 kepi garden extending from the road to the edge of the cliff. The tower is 17ti feel 
 high from the ground, but the fall for the molten metal within i-. about 200 feet 
 
 The road continues to rise till it rounds the end of the hill that terminates the 
 range, and which from tin- peculiarity of its shape is called the Bonnel Hill. Then 
 comes a rapid and well-graduated descent to the Kingston township. At tin' foot of 
 
 the hill is an inn, where horse and gig can be left while we go for uiir stroll on the 
 
 beach. The excursion, by the way, may be made b\ means of a public conveyance
 
 L60 
 
 CASSELL'S PKTrUEsnrK AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [l'.s\ iui-n, ,i| HOBABT. 
 
 which leaves the Eobarl Post Office at nine every morning, and the Kingston Hotel at 
 
 tour in the afternoon. 
 
 Mount Nelson, which has been referred to in the previous article, is a conspicuous 
 
 ul.jeet from the town, and has special importance as a signal station. Ships 
 
 whether from east or west, can be seen from the 
 pass I ape Raoul on the one side, or the more 
 on the other. Information is at once transmitted 
 nearer station on St. George's Hill, and this in its 
 
 entering Sturm Bay, 
 top as soon as they 
 distant Tasman's Head 
 by telegragh to a 
 
 THE SHOT-TOWER, BIIWS S KIVER ROAD. 
 
 turn hoists a flag, which indicates the character of the coming ship and the 
 port whence it sails. The code of signals is published in the various local directories 
 and almanacks. The height of the Mount is 1.191 feet It lies about threc-and-a- 
 half miles south of Hobart. The walk to the top is not arduous, and may be shortened 
 by aid of the Sandy Bay omnibus. The prospect is very fine. On the one side we 
 have an excellent view of the city, on the other of the estuary, the lighthouse, the 
 islands, the channel, and Storm Bay, opening out to the ocean. The station officer 
 is generally willing to allow visitors to use a large standing telescope of long range, 
 which shows distant objects with remarkable clearness. 
 
 On the northern side of the city, across the river, and about four miles distant, lies 
 .Mount Direction. There is no regular conveyance to it, but a cab will take the visitor
 
 11
 
 162 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Enviboot 
 
 as far as Risdon Kerry. The ferry-boal is worked by a wheel and rope. It has a wide 
 platform, and is sufficiently strong and large to take a heavily loaded waggon and horses 
 across the river. It was worked for many years by .Mr. Jennings, now landlord of the 
 Harvest Home Inn, on the Newtown Road, and supposed to he the largesl man in the 
 world. Mr. Jennings had not then acquired the excessive corpulence which has made 
 him one of the memorable sights of Tasmania The visitor to Mount, Direction can 
 either take bis cab across the river or leave it at the ferry-house. The terry lands him 
 oii the Richmond Road. Following this for about half-a-mile he comes to a gate leading 
 to a causeway across a narrow inlet of the river. Turning to the left, at the end of 
 the causeway, and following a road winding along the beach, he comes to another gate 
 opening on a private road, which leads to the residence of the lady who owns the Lower 
 slope of the mountain, and from whom leave ought to he obtained before commencing 
 the ascent. The height of the hill is 1,212 feet; it is much steeper than Mount Nelson, 
 and the ascent is rather toilsome, hut the view from the top amply repays the exertion. 
 A more lovely combination of landscape, mountain, and river scenery could hardly be 
 found in any part of the world. It may he mentioned incidentally that in the veranda 
 of a house near the foot of the mountain is suspended a series of copperplate engrav- 
 ings of remarkable historical interest. They represent the military exploits of Louis 
 the Fourteenth of France in his great campaign of 1672. It is a striking instance 
 of the persistence of family likeness that the face of the Grand Monarque, as delineated 
 in this very interesting series, bears a strong resemblance to that of Louis Philippe, the 
 last Bourbon ruler of France. 
 
 Near the foot of Mount Direction lies the scattered hamlet of Risdon Tins has 
 importance in the annals of the colony as being the spot on which the first encampment 
 was made, when the Government of New South Wales, in the year L803, decided on 
 occupying Van Dicmcn's Land as a settlement for doubly convicted prisoners. It was 
 here also that the first hostilities with the natives took place. A large hunting party 
 of the blacks had driven a herd of kangaroo before them, and were emerging towards the 
 camp. There was nothing to indicate hostile intention, hut the officer in command of the 
 soldiers was unfortunately absent, the men took alarm, ami fired into the approaching line of 
 natives, killing women and children as well as men, and thus commencing that lament- 
 able war of extermination which every successive Government endeavoured to prevent, 
 but which none was able to control. 
 
 It is commonly hut erroneously supposed that the name Risdon is an abridged 
 form of Rest-down, as indicating the spot where the first set of immigrants rested. As 
 a fact, the name, in its present form, was given by a Captain Hayes, who explored the 
 shores of Storm Lavas early as 1794, and went a considerable distance up the Derwent. 
 In a chart of the coast which he prepared, the Risdon Creek is somewhat exaggerated 
 in size, and is marked as Risdon Liver. 
 
 Later on Risdon hail celebrity of another sort as the residence of Mr. Thomas 
 George Gregson, who for nearly fifty years was one of the foremost public characters 
 of the colony. He was one of an important class of gentlemen colonists who Mere 
 attracted to Van Diemen's Land about the years 1819 and Ls2() by a system, which
 
 ofUobabt.] KANGAROO POIXT AND MOUNT RIWIXEY. In:} 
 
 Governor Sorell inaugurated, of giving grants oi land, varying in extent according 
 to the amount of capital brought by the individual settlers. Mr. Gregson was an 
 eager politician, a man of great natural eloquence, and of an impetuosity which made 
 liini quite a "Rupert of debate." When responsible government was conceded to the 
 colonies he became Premier of the second administration framed under the new 
 system. The pretty cottage which he inhabited stands on a small hill facing the 
 causeway which leads to Mount Direction. It is said to have been the residence of 
 the first Lieutenant-Governor, when Van Diemen's hand was still a dependency ol 
 New South Wales, and there is a tradition that an old ivy-covered chimney standing 
 in the -arden of the cottage was the first piece of brickwork ever erected in Tasmania 
 For many years Mr. (Jivgstm's cottage was the scene of the most genial hospitality. 
 In his later years health and spirits broke down under the pressure of overwhelming 
 calamities, but to the last he retained the warm attachment of not a few devoted 
 friends. 
 
 Mention has already been made of Kangaroo Point, or Bellerive. The latter is 
 the name of the pretty little township which has arisen on the Point : the former 
 name dates from an early period of the colony. At the first settlement of Van 
 Diemen's Land the new colony had to rely almost wholly for it.s food on supplies 
 from New South Wales. But in the year LS06 a disastrous overflow of the Ifawkes- 
 bury River destroyed the crops in New South Wales, and thus the elder colony 
 was too straitened in its own means to send any supplies to its offshoot At this 
 period of distress the younger colony was almost entirely dependent on kangaroo 
 hunting. The forests on the left bank of the Derwent furnished a large supply of 
 kangaroo and wallaby. The carcases used to be brought down to the Point, and 
 borne across in beats to llobart Town. Hence the little promontory derived its 
 name. It lies across the river, opposite to the south-eastern edge of the Domain. 
 Steamers start from each side every halt-hour, and as the crossing occupies little more 
 than ten minutes, a visit to Bellerive may be paid at any hour, and without any 
 special preparation. The convenience of easy access renders it a favourite place of 
 residence to persons having business establishments in town. It is also a favourite 
 resort tor parents with young children. On that side of the promontory which is not 
 visible from the town there is a tine beach of firm white sand more than a mile long, 
 where a family of young children will find amusement for hours together, digging 
 with their wooden spades, or dabbling with bare feet in the gentle surf It has 
 already In. a remarked that the view of the town and mountain from Bellerive is the 
 grandest and most comprehensive that can be obtained anywhere. 
 
 Within easy distance of Bellerive is Mount Rumney, 1,236 feet in height Of 
 late years it has come greatlj into vogue as a favourite resort of lovers of the 
 picturesque. Following the road which leads from Kangaroo Point to Sorell, a walk 
 of four miles brings us to a ivd -ate. Passing through this, three I".hU are seen 
 branching off in different directions. The middle one leads i . > Mount Rumney. It 
 is a bush track, with a good many deviations; but as the trees along the direct route 
 b'ave been "blazed," there is little danger of losing one's way The \i«w from the top
 
 lli+ 
 
 CASSKLL'S PinTUESQUK AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [EKVIRONd 
 
 is magnificent. It includes the Wellington range 
 and Hobart on one side, while in other directions 
 the eye ranges over the tine coast scenery of 
 Pittwater, Storm Bay, Norfolk Bay, Tasman's 
 Peninsula, Forestier's Peninsula, and Bruny Island. 
 It is estimated that more than 300 miles of varied eoast line are seen from this 
 point at one view, so deep are the indentations of the coast, so numerous the smaller 
 islands and peninsulas, and so vast the ex tint of sea and land visible from the top of 
 Mount Rumney. 
 
 Newtown is a very favourite residential suburb of Hobart. On the hillside stand 
 handsome villa residences, with fine gardens. A well-known authoress, describing it. 
 forty years ago, wrote thus: — "The scenery around Newtown (where many of the 
 wealthier merchants, Government officers, and professional men have tasteful resi- 
 dences), is the most beautiful I have seen on this side of the world, very much 
 resembling that of the Cumberland Lakes. The broad and winding estuary of the 
 Derwent flows amid lofty and picturesque hills and mountains clothed with forests, 
 whilst, at their feet lie level lawn-like slopes, green to the water's edge. But the must, 
 English, and therefore the most beautiful, things 1 saw there were the hawthorn 
 hedges. It seemed like being on the right side of the world again to see rosy 
 children with boughs of flowery ' May,' and to feel its full, luscious perfume wafted 
 across me." Such did Newtown appear in the eyes of a new arrival forty years ago, 
 
 and such might stand as its description in the pre, out day. More houses have 1 n 
 
 built since then, more orchards and gardens planted, more "bush" cleared, but in all 
 salient points it is the same — as English, and as beautiful. 
 
 A stretch of level road leads us to the Elwick racecourse. All is lovely here, and
 
 ofIIuhart.i A GREAT LANDSLIP. 1G5 
 
 the Elwick course is probably the most beautiful for situation of any m the world. 
 On one side is the broad river, dominated by .Mount Direction, on the other, the 
 glorious range which culminates in Mount Wellington. It lies on a promontory, 
 
 washed on two sides by the waters <A' the Derwent, and fringed with trees on tire land 
 side. The ground has just the amount of undulation desirable in a racecourse. The 
 grand stand is a handsome and solid structure, and adjoining it are saddling paddocks, 
 and every other requirement of a well-appointed racing-ground The principal meeting 
 of i he year is generally fixed early in February, a time when Eobart is full of visitors 
 from the other colonies. There are two days' races, and on the afternoons of those 
 days shops, hanks, and < iovernment offices are closed, and the whole community 
 devote themselves to holiday-making. A short branch from the .Main Line Railway 
 leads to the entrance-gates of the race-ground, and crowded trains run to and fro 
 during all the racing hours. With all this, the < 'up day is not so popular a holiday 
 as the Regatta day. The latter may be considered as the national holiday, and the one 
 which brings the most unmixed enjoyment to all classes of the community, including 
 those by whom horse-racing is regarded with disfavour. Nevertheless, the bright sum- 
 mer day, the pleasing excitement of a crowded field, and the beauty of the ground, 
 with its surroundings, attract to Elwick on racing days many persons who have no 
 particular interest in the horses. 
 
 If, as we pass the racecourse, we glance towards the Wellington range on our left, 
 we notice a long, yellow-looking strip of bare rock down the side of one of the mountains. 
 This is the famous landslip of 1 S72. On that portion of the range two mountain rills 
 unite and form a stream, known 
 as Humphrey's Rivulet. The 
 township of Glenorchy derives 
 
 its water supply from this -.-$} -..- t- 
 
 rivulet. In the first days of '"' : 
 
 .lime, 1872, heavy and con- ; > *|lffll||f'p 
 
 timiolis rains swelled Hum- JHT 1} I 'I'lljU hii" ' ' __. 
 
 ph.vy's Wivulet and its affluents, - >^«fMtf '' < '^TTFrF^ 
 and saturated a considerable ex- - 
 
 tent el' the upper side of the •^ !S *?5s^ T ; • fW 
 
 mountain, where the almost V^* 
 
 impenetrable scrub was inter- rm: , :I: \ N ,, stand, elwick racecoi 
 
 spersed with enormous gum- 
 trees, and the gravelly s,.il easily absorbed the water till ii reached the underlying 
 
 rock. Then, owing to the steepness of the hillside, a strip of land one hundred acres 
 in extent, thus Loosened by the rain, slid down into the narrow bed of the rivulet, 
 taking with it a perfeel foresl of trees, some of them forty or fifty tons in weight, 
 and with them a mass of undergrowth and boulders, thus completely damming up the 
 rivulet and keeping back its swelling waters. This dam increased until it Mas sixty 
 ieet high, forming a lake three hundred yards wide and nearly sixty feet deep, and 
 so completely choking off the flow of water that the rivulet almost ceased flowing, in
 
 166 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. IEkvi 
 
 spile of the heavy rain. At ten o'clock on the night of the 4th oi .liinc an appalling 
 sound, like the explosion of a powder magazine, was heard lor many miles. So terrific 
 was the crash, that persons residing at Risdon, six miles off across the river, sprang 
 out oi' lied, thinking that the roofs of their houses had fallen in. The dam hail 
 given way, and this immense mas<. urged by the weight of a million tons of water, 
 was borne down the mountain side like an avalanche, sweeping everything before it. 
 Only one life was lost, but buildings, gardens, and orchards wore hopelessly de- 
 stroyed It is estimated that the amount of earth, rock, and timber broughl down 
 by the landslip would have been sufficient to construct a causeway across the 1 »c rwent 
 at the part where the rivulet discharges itself into the larger river. 
 
 Beyond this lies a cultivated district, with just sufficient woodland to add charm 
 and variety to the landscape. Several tine country houses are passed; and one I 
 of farm-buildings standing near the road may be considered a model of its kind. It. 
 has also a further interest, as indicating the position of what was once known as Austin's 
 Ferry — the connecting-link between the northern and southern portions of the main 
 road before the Bridgewater Causeway was constructed. The road rises gradually for 
 some miles, until at a certain point we find ourselves at the brow of the acclivity, and 
 look down upon a stretch of road extending two miles, parallel to and near the river, 
 which has widened out very considerably at this part. The Bridgewater Causeway is 
 seen nearly at. the end of our view, for the river bends a little distance above tin- ('arse- 
 way, and a high mountain, named the Dromedary, cuts oft' the view in that direction. 
 As we descend the hill, we see on our left a little chapel peeping out amidst trees on 
 a private estate. We learn that this estate is called Hestercomhe — a name which will 
 excite warm interest in the mind of anyone who has lived in West Somersetshire, since 
 it is the name of one of the loveliest spots jn the beautiful valley of Taunton J lean. It 
 appears also that the original owner of the estate was a Mr. Govett, and this is a peculiarly 
 Somersetshire name. At the end of the descent there is a stretch of straight road as 
 far as the Causeway. The railway at this part runs parallel with the main road, between 
 it and the river. A sharp bend brings coach or train on to the Causeway, which lies 
 across the river at right angles with the direction of the road. 
 
 The Bridgewater Causeway is one of the most remarkable of that fine series of 
 public works which was commenced during the rule of Colonel Arthur, and carried out 
 by bis successors, at a time when the Government had an unlimited supply of prison 
 labour at its disposal. The construction of the Causeway is said to have been suggested 
 by a prisoner of inventive talent, who was working on the road near Bridgewater. At 
 this point the river is nearly a mile wide, hut it is very shallow for a considerable 
 distance from the right bank, deepening progressively towards the left hank, along 
 which there is a deep channel, available for navigation In the shallow portion of the 
 river a roadway was constructed by means of many thousand cartloads of earth and 
 rubbish, emptied into the water until the mound rose to a suitable height above the 
 surface. Then a W-w yards were Hanked with stonework, and a secure road formed for 
 carrying the work a little further. Thus, hit by hit. a strong and permanent roadway 
 was constructed for about three-quarters of the whole distance. The deeper portion was
 
 " Kobabt.] THE CORNELIAN BAY CEMETERY. L67 
 
 spanned by a bridge on piles, as far as the deep channel; here the communication is 
 completed by a drawbridge, which is opened when steamers or other vessels require to 
 pass through. The main road from Hobart to Launceston crosses the Derwenl bj 
 means of the Causeway. It was opened for traffic by Sir William Denison in L849 
 and contributed greatly to the progress of the colony, by increasing the facilities oi 
 communication between Hobart and the midland and northern districts of the island 
 The Main Line Railway also uses the Causeway up to the deep water, but has its own 
 set of piles and drawbridge. 
 
 The story of the manner in which the idea n\' the Causeway originated seems rather 
 a tradition than an ascertained historical fact. It is certain, however, that the Hobari 
 Town Mechanics' Institute used to possess a very pretty model of this Causeway, and 
 this was said to be the work of the prisoner who suggested the notion of it. The storj 
 further states that he obtained a conditional pardon as a reward tor Ids ingenuity. 
 
 At Newtown the Risdon road branches off to the right from the lowesl point of 
 the suburb. If we take tins turn we pass for about a quarter of a mile' througli 
 a succession of pretty villas and gardens to an inlet of the Derwent, known as New 
 l'.a\ ; and if, instead of proceeding along the Risdon road, we round the head of the 
 bay, we arrive at a large cemetery situated on a promontory formed by the Newtown 
 Bay, and by another, named Cornelian Bay. The latter, as the uearer to Hobart, has 
 given its name to this burial-ground, which is generally spoken of as the Cornelian 
 Baj Cemetery. The firsl interments tooi place here in 1s7l>. an Act of the I., 
 lature having previously closed all graveyards within the town boundaries, and pro- 
 hibited what it rather inaccurately designated intramural interments. The cem< 
 has been neatly laid out with walks and shrubberies, and some parts of it are thickly 
 studded with monuments and headstones, but it is so spacious that it will hardl\ hi 
 overcrowded a hundred years hence
 
 L68 
 
 GOLD. 
 
 The First Bash — Victoria Deserted — The Reflux — Life at the Diggings— A Primitive Post Office — Ingenuous 
 
 Advertisements — Law and Order — The Composition of the Police — The Force of Nature — " Big Finds and 
 Petty Squabbles " — Open Rebellion — "From the East and the West, and from the .North and the South " — 
 Murder and Rapine — The Murder at Indigo Creek — The Gold Escort Attacked and Defeated — A Raid 
 (■u a Ship — Sailors' Luck — The Mongol and his Tribulations — Boisterous Extravagance — Pegging out a 
 Claim — Mining Processes, Past and Present — Alluvial Mining — The " Jewellers' Shops " — "Shepherding" 
 — Big Nuggets — Quartz Mining — A Novice's Impression of a Gold Mine — Mount Brown — Kimberley. 
 
 OR years before Eargreaves' discovery of gold in 
 Australia there had been reports and rumours of 
 the fabulous wealth that lay hidden beneath the 
 surface of the earth. The aborigines had found gold; 
 the lonely shepherd, whose lot in life lay far from tin- 
 busy haunts of men, had found it ; the convicts had 
 found it. Still, these stories were few and far between, 
 and but little credence was given to them. Men were 
 not seeking gold ; the hopes of the majority were 
 centred in pastoral pursuits. They had no desire to 
 see their peaceful pastures invaded by a throng of 
 eager gold-seekers, and many, doubtless, shared the 
 freely-expressed opinion of one of the first Governors 
 — that the finding of gold and the consequent rush 
 of free immigrants woidd be the ruin of colonies 
 intended solely for convicts and their keepers. 
 
 It was hardly likely, however, that so much 
 wealth would remain hidden for long before the advancing tide of civilisation. The 
 gold discoveries in America took the world by storm, and Australia sent her quota 
 of emigrants — some 300 — to seek their fortunes among the rocky sierras and deep 
 canons of California So it happened that Edward Hammond Hargreaves, an English- 
 man of thirty-three, who had spent more than half his life in Australia, while 
 prospecting among the hills of California, was struck by their similarity in contour, 
 outline, and geological characteristics to those about his home at Bathurst, and on 
 his return to New South Wales he informed the Government that for a consideration 
 ho would show them where to find gold. The times were changed, his offer was 
 accepted, and in February, 1851, the business of gold-mining in Australia may be 
 said to have fairly begun. 
 
 As soon as it was known that gold had been found a rush took place, and nearly 
 half the male population of Sydney were to be found washing for gold at Summer Hill 
 Creek. Bathurst, or on the way thither. The quiet little gully became the scene of 
 busy life, and men of all ages and all ranks might be seen crowding along the banks 
 of the creek anxiously searching for the precious metal. The news soon spread far and 
 wide, and thither came eager gold-seekers from all parts of Australia, but more par- 
 ticularly from the neighbouring colony of Victoria 
 
 THE WHIM.
 
 Gold.] 
 
 REDUCED TO EXTREMITY. 
 
 109 
 
 Victoria, it will be remembered, had just succeeded in procuring separation from 
 
 New South Wales, and now the sudden exodus of her population threatened her very 
 
 existence. Clearly the only way to cheek this wholesale emigration was to find gold 
 
 \ 001 i' Rl SH. 
 
 within her own boundaries, and accordingly a reward was offered for the discovery 
 paying gold-field near Melbourne. Rumours of the presence of gold in Victoria had 
 not been wanting, A convicl shepherd had found it in the Pyrenees; someone 
 had found it al Chines, afterwards a paying gold-field; in fact, it had been found all 
 over the colony, but nowhere in sufficient quantities to attract attention Now, however,
 
 170 c.vssei.i.s I'lcrruKsQrK Australasia. 
 
 that a reward was offered, the whole country was overrun with anxious prospectors (the 
 ordinary term for men who go out expressly to look for gold in new ground), many of 
 whom had the vaguest notions of what they had come out to seel;. Soon gold was 
 discovered in the valley of the 1'lenty, near Melbourne, and an eager rush took place. 
 It, was not, however, very rich, and when, in August, L851, came news of the discovery 
 of gold by a man named Hiscocks, near the little township of Buninyong, the tickle 
 crowd deserted the Plenty, and before Ion- over 10,000 men were turning up the earth 
 :it what is now the prosperous and rising town of Ballarat Afterwards -old was dis- 
 covered in large quantities on the Bendigo Creek, now Sandhurst, at .Mount Alexander, 
 afterwards called Castlemaine, and also iu the Ovens district. In New South Wales, too. 
 mining at Bathurst continued to pay, and fresh fields were discovered, but in the 
 matter of gold the glory of New South Wales pales before that of her younger sister, 
 and in an article on gold-mining it is chiefly of Victoria that we must speak. 
 
 Victoria at first, like the rest of the colonies, was a purely pastoral country. Men 
 counted their wealth, like the patriarchs of old, by their cattle, and lived a peaceful, 
 uneventful life, settled quietly in what they hoped were to be their homes for years to 
 come. In Melbourne, too, life flowed on calmly as in a well-to-do country town. 
 Among these quiet people the knowledge of the wealth hidden away in their midst, 
 to be had, perhaps, for the mere scraping of the earth, by one whose only stock-in- 
 trade was a pick and spade and tin dish, came like a bombshell. Straightway the 
 desire for gold took hold upon every Member of the community. The clerk left his 
 desk and the merchant his office, the doctor his patients and the lawyer his clients. 
 the tradesman deserted his shop and the carpenter his bench: all ranks of society 
 were seized with the same thirst for gold, and all alike were to he found on the now 
 well-beaten tracks that led to the newly-discovered -old-fields. 
 
 Property in Melbourne went down, till, according to the expression, it could be 
 bought for a mere song. Those who were wise in their generation bought up all they 
 could, and waited for the turn of the tide that came only too quickly, but the majority 
 were eager to be off'. It was well-nigh impossible to get any work whatsoever done; the 
 streets in the earliest gold-mining days were empty and deserted — the very policemen 
 had gone to the diggings. 
 
 Meanwhile, in the gold-fields all was busy life. At every rush the course of events 
 was much the same. In those days they never dreamt of quartz batteries, deep sinking 
 diamond drills, and all the wonderful and expensive machinery that is now used to 
 get at the precious metal. A man, having come to the conclusion that his particular 
 claim was played out, or arriving late on the scene, and perhaps finding all the likely 
 spots taken up, shouldered his "swag" and set out in search of "pastures new." Some- 
 times he had a mate or mates, sometimes he went alone, but as a rule a party of 
 prospectors was composed of half-a-dozen old miners who knew what they were going 
 out to look for. Meanwhile the "green hands" and " new chums" stayed with the 
 crowd. Generally the prospectors possessed a dray, in which were packed their tools 
 and a few stores, and then, heavily armed, they went out into the wilderness to seek 
 their fortunes.
 
 Qou>J A "RUSH" OX BALLARAT. 171 
 
 The greater part of Victoria was a wilderness in those days, but of danger there 
 was Little, save that every-day danger of the Australian bush, want of water. An 
 occasional wandering tribe of aborigines, too, might prove troublesome, but that hazard 
 was lessening daily. They had never been very numerous, and the squatters bad from 
 the first been waging continual war againsl the dark-skinned denizens of the bush, who, 
 now reduced to half their original numbers, entertained a wholesome tear of the white 
 man's firearms. Into the virgin forest, then, went these prospectors, among the hills 
 and into the gullies, where the foot of civilised man had never yel trod. What if they 
 did disturb the ferns and the trailing creepers, and turn the pretty silver creeks rushing 
 down the rocky hillsides into dirty, yellow-tinged streams, and the fern-clad gully into a 
 desolate waste ' No one ever saw the beauty they spoiled, no one very likely ever would 
 have seen it, and these men, selfish as they no doubt were, have helped to build up a 
 mighty colony. 
 
 It, was along the banks of the creeks and water-worn gullies thai these pros- 
 pectors first sought gold For of the two sorts of gold-niining, viz., alluvial and quartz, 
 alluvial was the one first in vogue, being the easiest, and requiring little or no technical 
 knowledge. The newest ••chum" could trace the bed of a. dry creek above ground. 
 Equally easily recognised was the bed rock, though it might be a hundred feet below 
 the surface; and the water-worn gravel and sand, which the diggers washed for gold, 
 and consequently termed wash-dirt, was nothing, in point of fact, but the bed of an 
 ancient, creek, which in olden days had carried down the gold from its home in the 
 quartz hills. Having found what they sought, their natural desire was to keep it to 
 themselves. lint this was well-nigh impossible. It began to be whispered in the 
 nearest township that So-and-So's party had struck gold in paying quantities at such- 
 and-such a place, and within a week thousands of men had "rushed" the creek, which 
 a few days before the little party of prospectors had called their own. 
 
 A "rush" on the early gold-fields was like nothing else in the world. One day the 
 lovely gully, the wild, dense bush-land, untouched by the hand of man. and in less than 
 
 a week a place thronged with busy life. Rushes varied in size, sometimes consisting onlj 
 
 ol a few hundred men, while at others there were thousands in the field The new- 
 comers mi their arrival hastened to "peg out" their "claims" in what appeared to them 
 
 the most desirable spots, or took gratefully what the first comers had Left for them 
 The ring of the axe was heard, the great forest trees fell before strong and sinewy 
 arms that had Learned to wield the axe in the forests of California For miles around 
 the land was denuded of timber, tent-poles, firewood, and timber for the new claim 
 being an absolute necessity. 
 
 The climate of Victoria is mild compared with that of England, and the summer 
 is very hot hotter, perhaps, thirty years ago than it is now- but, south oi the dividing 
 range, at least, there are certainly three months of bitterly cold weather, when some 
 
 shelter is n ssary from the cutting wind and the driving rain. Consequently, as h\ 
 
 magic, in less than a week a largo canvas-and-bark town bad sprung into existence. 
 A somewhat ramshackle and tumble-down town it was, certainly, for each man was in 
 haste to be rich, and gave little thought t" his personal comfort meanwhile. '1 he
 
 172 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Gold. 
 
 great aim of all was to have the dwelling close to the claim. This, of course, 
 was not possible where the ground was rich and the claims lay dose together, 
 and. accordingly, there sprang up a long, irregular line of huts and tents. Tents 
 were most in favour, as being the simplest and easiest shelter to provide; but hark and 
 slab huts were by no means uncommon. Uniformity there was none: each man built 
 his house according to his own taste. Here was a frail bark hut, through the holes and 
 crannies of which the cold wind must have whistled full often; then: a neat white tent, 
 the property of some new "chum" who had been fortunate enough to get it safe up 
 country. In marked contrast would be the tent next door — a piece of tattered canvas, 
 so old and ragged and brown that it is surprising it held together at all. Farther 
 down the embryo street might be seen a neat hut built of slabs, with a weather-proof 
 bark roof: the property of an old bushman, this. He and his mate understand how to 
 make themselves comfortable, and the axe, which the new "chum" next door — residing 
 in a tumble-down mia-mia, a mere shelter of boughs or bark, of which a black fellow 
 would be ashamed — finds an unconquerable difficulty in using, is in his deft hands a 
 
 powerful and useful 
 tool. 
 
 Inside these huts 
 and tents very little 
 furniture was 
 to be seen. 
 The floor, of 
 course, was the 
 bare earth, and a stand- 
 ing bed-place or bunk 
 was generally con- 
 sidered a necessity, but 
 there was very little 
 else. Some luxurious 
 soul might make him- 
 self a rough wooden 
 table, or rig up a few 
 convenient shelves, but 
 this was rare. Boxes 
 and the flour-barrel, as 
 a rule, did duty as seats, 
 and the early digger's 
 sole possessions were 
 his mining imple- 
 ments, his blankets, 
 a tin billy, and 
 a frying-pan. All 
 prospecting. else was considered 
 
 sssJM.HATHEHEU—
 
 Golp.] 
 
 MAX MUST DRINK." 
 
 173 
 
 ■,« 
 
 w. 
 
 K'\THE?E.WU- V » 
 
 i -OFFICE AT THE DIGGINGS. 
 
 superfluous, and looked upon 
 as luxurious. The digger 
 himself was usually attired 
 in a blue or red shirt, mole- 
 skin trousers tucked into 
 
 high I ts, and a slouch hat, while at 
 
 his waist were pistols and knife, with- 
 out which weapons of defence and 
 offence no man was seen. In the middle 
 of the camp was the inevitable grog 
 shanty and general store, a place where 
 anything was to be bought, from a 
 
 needle to a sheet anchor, from the digger's tenl to the chamois leather bag in which 
 he carried his gold. The owner had found, in the sale of had liquor at exorbitant prices, 
 
 a surer r<>ad to wealth than any gold-mine in tin lony. "Man must drink." might 
 
 have been written of the earlj digger; and if he can't drink good liquor, he will drink bad, 
 and it' even that Tails him, he will console himself with Worcester Sauce or Friar's Balsam. 
 The practice of "shouting," or treating, was thru common, far commoner even 
 than it is at the present time, and it was not unusual lor a lucky digger to spend 
 £loo. or even £200, in "shouting," not only lor his friends, hut for am strangers who 
 happened to he hanging aboul the bar. It is onlj fair to add, so extraordinary wen 1 
 the prices, that hi' received for this outlay perhaps E10 worth of liquor. Thus it 
 happened that the grog shanty usually a large tent with a counter down the middle, 
 the stock-in-trade on one side and the customers on the other was generally,
 
 1 74 CASSBLL'S PICTUEESQTIE AUSTRALASIA. [Gold. 
 
 especially in the evening, crowded with men drinking, fighting, quarrelling, playing 
 cards, exchanging their hard-won gold lor the necessaries of lite — one and all aiding the 
 publican to pile up lor himself a snug fortune. If the "rush" were large there were 
 often three or four of these stores, but, as a rule, the Impassable state of the roads 
 and the high price paid both for stores and cartage required a large capital, and 
 practically forbade competition. 
 
 As soon as the "rush" became an undoubted fact a. post-office was established, 
 and, though it was primitive in the extreme, and letter-carriers were, of course, 
 unknown, it was an undoubted boon to the inhabitants. Kelly, the author of "Life in 
 Victoria," gives the following description of the first Ballarat post-office, which bears 
 a strong family resemblance to those on all the diggings in the colonies in the old 
 days :— 
 
 "The St. Martin's-le-Grand of Ballarat was a very primitive establishment, con- 
 tained within a moderate-sized log-cabin, the greater portion of which, even after 
 subtracting the household corner, was devoted to general business, and the person 
 who wanted an ounce of tobacco was attended to before the man in quest of letters. 
 The whole exterior of the edifice was papered over witli quaintly-worded and 
 ingeniously-spelled advertisements in writing. If you could find a vacant space you 
 were at liberty to occupy it, but woe betide you if caught either in pulling off or over- 
 riding a previously posted notice, which, under pick and shovel law, were allowed to 
 remain till they fell off. I annex a few as a general specimen: — 
 
 "'If this should meet the eye of John Tims be will hear of his shipmate at 
 Pennyweight Flat, next tent to the tub and cradle.' 
 
 "The sign of a store, I presume; but if not so understood, rather a vague direction 
 in a district like Pennyweight Flat, where some thousands were at work, each party 
 with a tub and cradle. 
 
 '"James dakin notyces the publik agin thrustin his wife.' 
 
 "'Pat Flynn calls on biddy to return to the tint forninst the cross roads.' 
 
 "'Ten pounds reward for my black marc. Xo questions asked nor ideas 
 insinuated.' 
 
 " But no indication where the reward was payable. 
 
 "'For sale several householt an kulenary articles as also a numerous frackshun 
 of odils & ends at the Tent oppsite the Frenchman's store at the Ureka.' " 
 
 Soon after the "breaking out of the gold" the Government had seen the absolute 
 necessity of putting someone in authority to ch.eck the lawlessness of the nondescript 
 crowd gathered together on a gold-fields' "rush," and accordingly on every diggers' 
 camp was a field Commissioner, and if it were large, there were three, and sometimes 
 four. The Commissioner's camp was invariably set on a little eminence overlooking 
 the diggers', and presented a marked contrast to it. Down there every man was as 
 good as Ids neighbour, were he peer of the realm or foul-mouthed convict from the 
 reeking gaols of New South Wales or Van Diemen's Land; but up in the police camp 
 the old order prevailed ; each man had his well-defined rank, and the Commissioner was 
 lord of all. In front of the camp, so as to be plainly visible to all, was the flagstaff,
 
 •Gold.] TEE MEN WHO KEPT THE PEACE. 175 
 
 from which floated the emblem of British rule, the Union Jack, and facing tliat 
 wen- the Commissioner's tents, usually lour in number — a mess tent, an office tent, a 
 bed tint, and another for Ids clerk. These, in contrast with the diggers', were all 
 floored with hard wood, carefully lined with green baize, and furnished with every 
 luxury — as luxuries were then understood. At tin/ back were the tents of the twenty 
 or thirty troopers in form of a square, and behind them again were the stables lor the 
 horses. 
 
 Close behind the Commissioner's quarters was the all-important gold tent, guarded 
 day and night by two armed sentries. In it were strong cedar boxes, and here was 
 deposited the surplus wealth of the diggers' camp. Every man broughl his gold, were 
 the quantity great, or .small, in a leather or canvas hag, and handed it over to be placed 
 in the strong box. A ticket with his name on it was attached to the parcel, and lie 
 received a receipl signed by the Commissioner, who was thenceforward responsible for 
 
 the .safety of the gold. When Sufficient quantity was collected, usually from GO to 
 90 11 is. weight, the escort started with it for Melbourne. In the early days, when 
 the roads were well-nigh inipassalilc, all tin- gold had to he carried on the hacks of pack- 
 bor es, and the precious metal heing (fad weight, and apt to give the horses sore hacks, 
 from 20 to 2o Lbs. weight was considered a fair load tor each horse. The gold 
 was packed in leather bags made something after the manner of old fashioned purses; 
 these were carefully locked in the middle by the Commissioner himself and then slung 
 across the pack-saddle. The day on which the escort started was a great day in the 
 camp, and crowds turned out to see them set off Usually the escort consisted of from 
 ten to twelve men. four pack-horses -aboul the usual number— required a man apiece 
 to lead them, ami as these men were necessarily much hampered, six heavily-armed 
 troopers formed a, guard. The Commissioner or an officer of police commanded the 
 escort, ami was responsible I'm' the safety of the gold, and generally there was the sergeant, 
 twelve men in all. 
 
 A line body of men were the police of those days. They were all young, or a; 
 least men in the mtv prime of life, and though their uniform was much the same as 
 that of the present, trouper, their orderliness, their natty get-up, their well-kepi horses 
 and shining accoutrements, contrasted forcibly with the careless and ofttimes frowsy 
 attire of tin- diggers in the camp below. The Gold Commissioner wore as uniform a 
 
 cavalry officer's undress, namely, a dark braided frock-coat, with a cap bound with 
 gold lace, and, of course, the usual boots and hive. lies. He and his clerk were gentlemen 
 by birth and breeding, hut most of the policemen were drawn from the working classes. 
 In the early days, however, many young men. the sons of gentlemen, came out to the 
 colonies with the very laudable object of making their fortunes. The only question 
 was "how'" That, question was at firsl easilj answered, " By gold digging, of curse." 
 hm gold getting in theory ami gold getting in practice were two wry different things 
 and many of these young men. unaccustomed to manual labour, and with no practical 
 knowledge t<> guide them, not merely found gold digging unprofitable, hut in very many 
 cases starvation absolutely stared them in the face, clad enough, then, were they to 
 
 Secure a "billet in the police three, where they were well paid and the work was not
 
 170 
 
 i VSSKLL'S PICT! RESyt'E Al STRALAS] \ 
 
 1 
 
 hard, or beyond their powers. These young fellows were formed into a separate body, 
 called "cadets," the only difference between them and the regular police being that 
 they were supposed to be eligible for promotion. Some few, indeed, did rise to the 
 rank of superintendent or inspector, but the majority, as the country became more 
 settled, drifted away into other paths of life more suited to their status and education, 
 while the few who remained were merged in the ordinary police force, never rose 
 beyond the rank of senior constable or sergeant, and were fain to confess that their 
 emigration to the "new and happy land" had in all probability ruined their lives. 
 
 Another class of peace preserver to be seen in the Commissioner's camp was the 
 black trooper. These men weri' recruited from the aborigines of the Murray District, 
 and, strange to say, although coming from the midst of savagery of the very lowest 
 type, they made most excellent policemen. Among men where discipline was most 
 strict, where accoutrements, horses, clothes had to be kept in the very highest, state of 
 perfection, the black fellow was no whit behind his white comrade. Tall and slight, 
 often good looking, a splendid horseman, managing his horse with grace and ease, this 
 son of that race which is truly counted one of the most degraded in the world was the 
 beau ideal of a trooper. Unfortunately there was a reverse side to the medal. It, was 
 utterly impossible to civilise the black man. After three months or so of civilised life 
 
 he would beg a holiday, 
 and return for a little to 
 his own people. Then, 
 should anyone pay a 
 visit to the blacks' camp, 
 a mile or so down the 
 creek, there might be 
 seen prone on the ground, 
 or crouching beneath a 
 wretched mia-mia, that 
 hardly served to keep out 
 the weather, a dirty, un- 
 kempt savage, stark-naked, 
 save for an opossum rug 
 or a filthy blanket, sur- 
 rounded by gnawed bones, 
 light ing do;_,-. and all the 
 conglomerate filth of a 
 blacks' camp. And this, 
 alas : was the manner in 
 which the smart black 
 trooper spent his leave. 
 Over and over again the 
 experiment has been made, 
 
 BREAKFAST OS THE GOLD-FIEI.DS. Only tO pi'OVC that it IS
 
 Gold.] 
 
 • TO ARMS ! " 
 
 177 
 
 utterly impossible to civilise the Australian black fellow. The smartest man in the 
 troop would have pined and died if he had not occasionally gone back to his 
 original savagery, whence he returned to his duties with a fresh stock of eners 
 and life. About 1855, however, recruiting from the blacks was discontinued, chiefly 
 because, although they made good troopers, they were hardly to be relied upon, ami 
 in any case the dignity of a white man was always terribly outraged if lie was run in 
 by a black fellow. One or two, however, were for many years kept attached to each 
 camp, where their services as trackers were invaluable; and when we think how often, 
 even at the present time, when law and order rule' supreme, and the country is rapidly 
 becoming settled and civilised, the services of the black tracker are put in requisition, 
 it will be seen bow trebly necessary they were in the early 
 days of which we speak. 
 
 For the first two or three years the history of the gold- 
 fields may be summed up briefly as a record of big finds 
 and of petty squabbles be- 
 tween the diggers and those 
 
 who were supposed to be 
 
 their guardians. On whose 
 
 side the fault, lay it is 
 perhaps difficult to say 
 
 after this lapse of time, 
 
 but it is very evident that 
 the law of the land was a 
 good deal to blame. The 
 licence-fee and its collec- 
 tion were a standing griev- 
 ance. No man might dig 
 until be bad taken out a 
 licence, fur which be paid 
 at tirst .",0s. a month, after- 
 wards E3, and then again 
 
 :!i)s. Even this lower amount was a most exorbitant sum for a poor man to pay, though, 
 doubtless, man} could have paid it quite easily. This Licence the digger was required to 
 produce whenever and wherever a trooper might ask for it, or be ran the risk of being 
 arrested there and then, and spending the night in the "logs," as tin' lock-up »;b termed. 
 faults there were on both sides, of course, am! if the police were arbitrary, the diggers 
 were most certainly lawless. "Joe, Joe! traps, traps ! " shouted the populace in scorn and 
 derision whenever they were beyond the reach of the arms of tin' law. - Traps, boj s, traps ' 
 yah! Joe, Joe!" cried even the children, with hatred at their hearts, as the trooper trotted 
 
 past them. It is little wonder that matters came to ;i crisis towards the end of L854, 
 
 when the diggers of Ballarat, who certainly had more to complain of than those on the neigh- 
 bouring fields, rose in open rebellion, ami were utterly defeated at the Eureka Stockade. 
 
 Alter this lamentable event, of which an account is given in a later article (p. 263), 
 12 
 
 A BLACK TROOPEB.
 
 178 CASSELL'S l'lCITIIESuri; A I STKALASIA. 
 
 the licence-fee was done away with, an export tax on gold levied, and the Miner's 
 Right substituted, so that for XI a year a man had the right to dig for gold, and, 
 
 what was still more valued, this .Miner's Right carried the franchise along with it. 
 Gold Commissioners were dune away with, at least in name, and an officer, called a 
 warden, substituted, whose duties, however, were practically exactly the same as those 
 of the obnoxious Commissioner-— the administration of justice on the gold-fields, and the 
 hearing and settling of all eases that, might arise between partners, also cases of en- 
 croachment, trespass, and disputed boundaries. For many years there were no courts, 
 and cases were heard by the warden, generally on the very spot where the dispute 
 arose; it is only of late that these eases on the gold-fields have been determined in the 
 ordinary court-houses. 
 
 Gold is the magnet that attracts all, old and young, rich and poor, good and 
 bad alike, and by the end of 1851 the fame of the Victorian gold-fields had spread to 
 the uttermost parts of the earth; the tide of immigration had commenced, and from 
 all parts of the world came emigrants for Victoria. They came by hundreds and 
 thousands, men from every nation under the sun. First came those from the neigh- 
 bouring colonies, and South Australia was nearly emptied of her male population; 
 they poured across the border from New South Wales ; they crossed Bass's Strait from 
 Tasmania; they came, not only white men, but Maoris, across the stormy seas from 
 New Zealand. Then from England arrived ship-load after ship-load of emigrants who, 
 as they passed through the Heads, cheered lustily for "the new and happy land." The 
 news spread farther afield, and all sorts and conditions of men came from Europe and 
 America; even the dark races of India and the East were moved by the impulse, 
 and from China came the yellow-faced Mongolians, not by tens or hundreds, but by 
 thousands. So great was the rush that in one year the population of Victoria, was 
 doubled, and yet the cry was "Still they come!" Amongst so many it was hardly 
 likely that all the immigrants would be desirable colonists. Ribbonmen from Inland, 
 Chartists from England, Socialists from Germany, Communists from France, Carbonari 
 from Italy, the disaffected from all lands, met on the gold-fields. But the worst evil lay 
 close at home. From the neighbouring colonies of New South Wales and Tasmania 
 came the offscourings of their reeking gaols — ticket-of-leave men, men whose time had 
 expired, men who had escaped, conditional-pardon men, all well versed in crime, past 
 masters in every iniquity under tin; sun. The natural result followed : murder and 
 rapine were rife on the gold-fields. Bushranging was common; every man went heavily 
 armed, and no man's life was safe: while the prevalence of such names in Victoria as 
 Murderer's Gully and Deadman's Flat tells its own miserable tale. In the grog-shanties 
 many a cruel scheme was hatched which the lonely gullies and desolate bush tracks 
 saw pnt into execution. " Bail up, throw up your hands ! " — the Australian equivalent 
 for "Stand and deliver ! " — was a common cry, and since dead men tell no tales, murder 
 was often added to robbery, or, with a cold-blooded cruelty such as was to be met with 
 only among the "old hands.'' the victim would be beaten badly, rendered incapable of 
 moving, and then left to take his chance of life, or, perhaps, still worse, would bo 
 bound to a tree and left to die by inches. One who has written of Victoria's early
 
 A TYPICAL CRIME. 179 
 
 days, tells how he, with a companion, was lost on the ranges near Ballan. His mate 
 knocked up entirely, and earnestly praying not to be left to die alone in the bush, he, 
 as a forlorn hope, climbed a tree and "cooeyed" at the top of his voice. Much to the 
 surprise of both men, there came across the tree-tops an answer so faint that at first 
 thej feared it might lie an echo. Another COOey and another answer set all doubt ai 
 rest, and so raised the hopes of the well-nigh dying man that he made another effort, 
 and accompanied his friend in the direction whence the sound proceeded. After pro- 
 ceeding some little distance, to their intense astonishmenl thej came upon two men 
 hound back to hack to a tree. Hastily loosening their bonds, they asked how they 
 came there, and were told they were two diggers who, on leaving Ballan the day 
 before, had been "stuck up" and relieved of their little store of gold-dust. Naturally 
 they had offered some resistance, but had been overpowered, and one was badly shot 
 in the leg. Not content with appropriating their hard-earned gains, the cold-blooded 
 thieves had tied them so firmly to a tree that their death would have been certain 
 had no one passed by, of which there was little chance. Almost certain, too, bul for 
 this opportune meeting, would have been the death of the two travellers, for though 
 the little township was scarcely a mile away, tin: chances were a hundred to one 
 against their hitting the track. 
 
 Even dose to the camps, too, murder might be done with hut little fear of detection. 
 It was so easy — so very easy. Shouts and cries were but little heeded on a rowdy 
 diggers' cam]); and as for pistol shots, every man carried a revolver, and made a 
 regular practice of tiring it, off every evening, in order to clean it; so that the report 
 of a pistol attracted no attention at all. 
 
 The murder of the German on the [ndigo Creek is a case in point. The land round 
 the creek, though rich in gold, was barren and sterile: the cully lay low, and by October 
 the ground was baked hard and dry, so that the diggers on the camp were even 
 more dependent than usual on the neighbouring townships for their supplies. Upon the 
 ranges at Wboragee, near Beechworth, dwelt a German, who, having found the land about 
 his new home rich and fertile, had made tbr himself a large market-garden, disposing of 
 his surplus vegetables among the diggers' camps around; and. since cabbages in those 
 days were worth from two to three shillings apiece, laying up for himself , we have little 
 doubt, a comfortable independence. Periodically he, with his bullock-team and dray 
 laden with fresh green vegetables, visited the camp at the [ndigo, where he (bund 
 a ready sale for his wares. One hot, still evening, just at dusk, the German, 
 having disposed ot his vegetables, stopped his emptj dray at the gro I ) known 
 as "Forty's," because the Forty Thieves were popularly supposed to congregate there. 
 Little he cared for the bad reputation of the place, lie did uot propose to stay there, 
 but tossed off his "nobbier," paid for it out of the little store of gold-dusl be had 
 that day received, called out in his broken English a cheery good-night to the men 
 standing at the "pen door, and, shouting to his team, moved off slowly along the track 
 into the darkening night No one bul his murderer ever saw the poor fellow alive 
 again. A man named Ryan, an "old hand" from Van Diemen's Land, noticing the 
 empty dray, and inferring, consequently, the lull pockets, slipped unnoticed from the
 
 180 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTtrRESQtnE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 
 shanty, followed the team, stole softly up behind the vegetable hawker, and, almost 
 
 within sight, certainly within hearing, of the Commissioner's camp, shot him through the 
 
 bead, robbed the dead body, and was back at Forty's, smoking and drinking with the 
 
 rest, before his short absence had been noticed. By-and-by some belated traveller — or 
 
 digger whose claim was farther out — noticed a team of bullocks with an empty dray 
 
 straving from the track, and, recognising <rr"~ 
 
 them f"r the property of the German ^^&^2 
 
 vegetable hawker, began to search for 
 
 their owner, who, according to the manner ot 
 
 the time, he concluded, was drunk. Soon he 
 
 found the body, still warm, and raised the alarm 
 
 at the police camp. Promptly the search began ; 
 
 but there would have been little chance of the 
 
 r^Si. 
 
 murderer's being discovered had it not been for the anxiety 
 of the culprit himself. Day after day he haunted the police 
 camp, wanting to know if anything had been discovered, 
 questioning the troopers, endeavouring to throw suspicion first on one man, then on 
 another, till, finally, the suspicions of the Commissioner were aroused, and he ordered 
 Ryan into custody. One way and another evidence of his guilt came pouring in, and 
 in the end he confessed to the murder, and was hanged for it. 
 
 A ease of gold robbery on a much larger scale was the "sticking up" of the gold 
 escort between Mclvor, or Heathcote, as it is now called, and Melbourne. The escort, 
 though private, and not that of the Government, was strong and well armed, and had 
 under its care several thousand pounds' worth of gold. The bushrangers, taking advantage 
 of a turn in the rough bush track at a place called the " Mia-Mia," felled trees, and 
 erected for themselves a sort of barricade along the side of the road, in such fashion
 
 QOI D 
 
 SEIZURE OF A SHIP. 
 
 181 
 
 though, that the advance guard passed without taking any particular notice oi the fallen 
 timber, and certainly never suspecting that men were concealed there. Then, as the 
 pack-horses bearing the gold came up, the bushrangers shot them down, and the fight 
 
 -I furiously round the fallen horses. Taken by surprise as they were, the troopers 
 gallantly defended their charge; but it was an unequal fight. The bushrangers were 
 hidden, and could aim at their ease, without fear, while the troopers, standing mounted 
 in the open, made capital targets, without being able to retaliate. Finally they abandoned 
 the geld and fled, and the I 'i i-l i rangers made off with the booty. Though a vigorous 
 search was at once instituted, the lust geld was mver recovered, nor were the bushrangers 
 ever taken. The popular and prevailing belief has never been contradicted: they are 
 supposed to he the Mime men who made away with the Madagascar. Net that it was 
 ever proved that the Madagascar had been made' away with; but smut' time in iv>7 
 this vessel, one of Messrs. Green's line of clippers, sailed away from Eobson's Hay, with a 
 rich cargo of specie, and was never afterwards heard of. By-and-by her name appeared 
 on that saddest list of all, "Missing," and then the rumour spread — whence it arose no 
 man could tell— that the miscreants who had " stuck up" the escort at the " Mia-Mia " had 
 either secreted themselves on board the ship, or else, in the dearth of men, had been 
 hired as part of the crew. Then, when the vessel was fairly at sea, they came out in 
 their true colours, overpowered, and very probably, if the 
 story be true, drowned the rest of the crew and passengers, 
 scuttled the ship off the coast of America, and. with the 
 Stores of gold they thus made their own, began life afresh 
 in California, or perhaps in some of the Republics of South 
 America. 
 
 Another gold robbery which occasioned a great stir at 
 the time was that of the ship Nelson as she lav in 
 Hobson's Bay, close to the shore. Her crew had deserted 
 her, no uncommon thing during the first few years after 
 the "breaking 
 out ' of the gold, 
 and though she 
 lay ready for sea, 
 no men could he 
 found willing to 
 work her. The 
 captain, in de- 
 spair, had gone 
 off to seek re- 
 
 emits, and the 
 ship was left ill 
 charge of two 
 men. At mid- 
 night there stole 
 
 V'i* 
 
 *&* 
 
 a ii i r
 
 L82 CASSELLS PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. (Gold. 
 
 a boat from tlio shore, which made softly and silently for the Nelson. Quietly her 
 crew stole aboard, and before the sleepy watchman could give the alarm, both he and 
 his mate were overpowered and hound; the gold was quickly taken out of the hold, 
 and before the pair had recovered from their astonishment, the boat and its eivw were 
 ashore again. The gold was hidden in the sand, and next day was taken to Melbourne 
 in an open buggy. Very little was afterwards recovered, and the daring robbery was 
 never brought home to anybody, only, as was but natural, the outcry against the old 
 hands from Tasmania and New South Wales became louder than ever. Decidedly these 
 were not a desirable class of immigrants, and it was little wonder that the Government 
 had done its best to check their incoming. This was by the Convicts' Prevention A.ct, 
 which Victoria, in despair, and in defiance of all precedent, passed, compelling all persons 
 coming from the neighbouring colonies of New South Wales, Tasmania, and the more 
 distant Western Australia, to prove, not only that they were free, but also that they 
 had never been convicts. 
 
 As we have said, it was no uncommon thing for ships to lie idle in the bay for 
 lack of hands to work them home again. Their crews deserted wholesale, coming out, 
 in fact, for that very purpose, for the gold-fields seem to have had an irresistible charm 
 for the sailor, and the number of ''Sailors' Gullies" that are even now in existence bears 
 witness to the large number of this class there must have been at one time on the 
 diggings. So great did the evil become, and so hopeless was it to think of preventing 
 the men from rushing for a share in the gold harvest, that at last it became a 
 regular practice for ship-masters to divide their men, one-half going up to the diggings 
 under his charge to try their luck for a month or six weeks, and then returning to 
 give the mate and the rest a turn. As a rule, at the end of the appointed time, the 
 crew returned to then duties cheerfully, even gladly foregoing any further chance of a 
 fortune, for digging was work to which they were unaccustomed ; it was toilsome in 
 the extreme, whilst they, with no technical knowledge to guide them, were exceedingly 
 likely to be taken in by the designing men who swarmed at that time on the gold- 
 fields. Vet sailors' luck is proverbial. Kelly tells a story of a party of sailors he met 
 at Ballarat with their captain in charge, in whose case the proverb was certainly 
 exemplified. These men, thinking it hardly worth while to sink a hole on their own 
 account, bought for £15 one which its former owner, having sunk to 45 feet without 
 finding gold, was anxious to be rid of. Accordingly he had carefully salted it, and the 
 sailors, seeing gold glittering in the dirt, gleefully concluded the bargain, rigged a 
 windlass, and unsuspectingly set to work. In a few- days they were down NO feet, and 
 had struck a fresh gutter of rich wash-dirt, which yielded them an average of an 
 ounce to a tub, or an aggregate of over £3,300. 
 
 Another class of immigrants came in such numbers that special laws were 
 enacted for their benefit, not only to govern them, but to keep them out of the 
 colony. These were the Chinese, who, as has been previously said, once the news of 
 the discovery of gold had been bruited abroad poured into the colony in one never- 
 ceasing stream. They were thrifty, they were sober, they were industrious, they could 
 live where a European would starve, and, for the most part, they did live upon what
 
 kjNMW^UUv-- **a^ 
 
 ATTACK OS THB GOLD B3CORT BETWEEN M iv.iu and MELBOURNE.
 
 Goli.j DOING HIS DUTY. 183 
 
 the white men abandoned as useless; and yet there went a cry over the colony that 
 Ishmael was taking the portion intended for Isaac — a cry for protection from t 
 strangers. Accordingly a poll-tax of £10 was set on every Chinaman who landed in 
 the colony, and rigidly enforced, although many came from Hong Kong, and were, 
 therefore, to all intents and purposes British subjects. But the patient new-comers 
 from the Flowery hand were not so easily "done." II they did not choose, or 
 had not sufficient money, to pay the heavy tax, they disembarked at Sydney, and 
 painfully made their way from the Braidwood and Kiandra gold-fields, high among the 
 snowy Alps, down to the Murray, and thence into Victoria, or else they went round to 
 South Australia, and by toilsome marches crossed the dreary desert that lay between 
 them and the land of promise. 
 
 Loud protestations arose from the white men. These strangers settled among them 
 
 in 4 of them, they were mere birds of passage; they brought nothing into the 
 
 country, while they lived on the merest pittance, saving all they could to return to 
 
 their own land: not even, could they help it, were their very bones allowed to rest in 
 
 an alien soil. 
 
 li is true these immigrants were drawn from the very lowest ranks of society— 
 for the most part from the river-folk 01 Canton. They were not very cleanly, nor, 
 perhaps, very honest if temptation were put in their way. They were addicted to 
 opium-smoking, and they brought with them leprosy and other diseases common to 
 Eastern nations. Still, the white men were hardly so immaculate themselves that they 
 might venture to sit in judgment The Chinaman had no friends. Wherever he was 
 
 he was beaten and ill-treated, and at one period riots against the Chinese were 
 common all over the colony. On the slightest pretext, or on no pretext at all, the 
 Chinese camp would lie rushed, and the unfortunate occupants driven from their tents 
 and huts. ()n one occasion the diggers, among whom was a large sprinkling of the 
 Yankee element, at a rush on the Buckland River, celebrated the glorious Fourth by 
 an unprovoked attack on the unoffending Chinese camp. There were about 800 China- 
 men and let a quarter as many white men; but the Celestials made little or no 
 attempt to defend their household gods, and tied out into the bush, pursued tor some 
 distance by the valorous diggers. Word of the state of affairs at the Buckland was 
 soon brought to the nearest Gold Commissioner, about ninety miles away, lie at once 
 down with twenty troopers at his back lb- was too late, however, for many of 
 the Celestials. As the little band of troopers rode through the bush on that bitter 
 -Inly night, they came across unfortunate Chinamen lying alone, dead and dung, 
 wantonly murdered by the drunken rioters. Some were hidden away in the scrub, 
 shivering with cold and fright, to. terrified almost to move, while others, in little 
 parties, crouching round a handful of fire, endeavoured to shelter themselves from the 
 keen winter's wind. Short and sharp was tin' Commissioner's justice. He and his 
 troopers promptlj reinstated the Chinamen, and if it was whispered that, in the re- 
 distribution of claims, the lion's share, or, more properly speaking, the best holes, tell 
 to tlu- foreigners, few will be found to blame the Commissioner now, and none dared 
 do so then.
 
 1N4 
 
 CASSELLS l'|riri:i:s(i|i: AUSTRALASIA 
 
 [Gold. 
 
 Tin' Buckland men, however, in those days found many who sympathised with 
 
 them and would gladly have followed their example. lint in spite of all opposition, 
 the Chinamen, patient, long-suffering, and industrious, made their way. Their camps 
 
 were little towns, often contain- 
 ing 4,000 or 5,000 inhabitants. 
 They had their own theatres, 
 their own shops, their joss-houses, 
 or temples, and then, as now, 
 they were governed by their 
 own laws among themselves 
 though outwardly they were 
 amenable to the laws of the 
 land in which they sojourned. 
 Their secret societies or guilds 
 were then, as they are at. the 
 present time, powerful and wide- 
 spread. A Chinese interpreter 
 soon became a necessary addi- 
 tion to the Government stall' en 
 every diggers' camp ; and the 
 
 Chinese were a recognised evil 
 throughoul the land. 
 
 Those were the days of 
 sudden and unexpected for- 
 tunes, and consequently of lavish 
 expenditure and reckless extra- 
 vagance. The lucky digger, who, 
 in England, had Imped for no- 
 thing hotter than 15s. or £1 a 
 week, i nice such easily wen 
 wealth was his, spent it right 
 royally. "Lightly come, lightly 
 go," runs the proverb, and it 
 was more than exemplified 
 during the first lew years of 
 the gold rushes. Did any actress 
 " possiCKDfG." take the popular fancy, she was 
 
 nightly showered with nuggets 
 instead of bouquets, and the very sweepings of the theatre were worth a small fortune 
 to the caretaker. Did the digger fancy a game at skittles, he set up bottles of 
 champagne as ninepins, when champagne was LI a bottle, and howled against them till 
 evcrv one was smashed. AVas he hungry, then it struck his fancy that he would have 
 a sandwich, in which a £1 or even a £5 note took the place of the more ordinary
 
 Gold.] 
 
 WASHING THE GOLD. 
 
 L8S 
 
 and much more digestible and nutritious beef or ham; and it is related that when the 
 diggers first elected a member for the Ovens, so overjoyed were they that they actually 
 
 shod his horse with gold, and, forming a procession, escorted him from the Woolshed to 
 Beechworth in noisy triumph. 
 
 In the early days a claim was twelve feet by twelve for each man, and this 
 space, accordingly, tin; digger on his arrival on the gold-field proceeded to peg out. Of 
 course, there were other ways by which a man might become possessed of a claim ; he 
 
 CRADLING ami PANNING 
 
 mighl buy one already in working order, or he might fake one abandoned by someone 
 
 else, but the mOSl usual way was to peg out a new claim for himself. Then lie and 
 
 his mate— as a rule the early diggers worked in pairs— if they were not "shepherds," a 
 alang term for men who waited to discover the laj of the gutter began sinking their 
 
 shaft, [f thej c ■ on the wash-dirt within a few feet of the surface, well and good; 
 
 this simplified matters exceedingly. The wash-dirt was taken out and put in a tub, i 
 
 was poured on it, and the still' clay puddled with a spade until it was thoroughly 
 
 mixed with the water, when all the more liquid portions were poured away. .More 
 water was poured on, and the process repeated, not once, but again and again, till at 
 the bottom of the tub remained only the heavier sand and gravel containing the gold, 
 which was, in fact, the heaviest of all. The residue was then put into a dish remarkably
 
 18G CASSELL'S HiTUlKSQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Gold. 
 
 Like the domestic milk-pun, water was poured on it, and a few twists and turns sufficed 
 to separate the gold from the dirt, and to show the anxious digger whether he had 
 in his nan a small fortune, or not oven "the colour." that is, not the minutest particles, 
 of gold. This last operation, called panning off or out, required some niceness and 
 dexterity in turning the wrist, as an awkward twist might succeed in upsetting the 
 pan. The. first day or so on a "rush;' tubs and pans, or even pans alone, would be the 
 only means used for washing the gold, as it was utterly impossible that a digger should 
 burden himself with much impedimenta on his way to the diggings, but as soon as the 
 "field" became an established fact "cradles" made their appearance on the scene, and 
 rows of them might be seen linimr the banks of the creek. The cradle was used 
 midway between the tub and the pan, and was a wooden box shaped like a cradle set on 
 rockers, and having an upright handle fixed at one end with which it was rocked, while 
 inside were shelves and obstructions to catch the gold, the water and mud making 
 their way out through an opening at the bottom. It will be seen that a cradle was by 
 no means a perfect machine, as the shelves, unless very carefully looked after anil 
 frequently cleaned, were apt to become covered with a smooth coating of sand and 
 mud, and much of the gold was then carried away with the mud and water. It has now 
 been almost entirely given up, and for the thousands that once were rocked along the 
 banks of the creeks on every gold-field, hardly one is to be seen. Sluices, or "long toms," 
 as they are called, or else the puddling machine, have entirely taken their place. The 
 long torn, which bears a family resemblance to a cradle, is a long narrow box, with an 
 iron bottom, and a grating, or "hopper," as it is called, at one end. The stuff is put in 
 the long torn and washed down it by a strong stream of water, the force of which 
 separates the gold from the dirt, while any lighter particles that are carried off with the 
 escaping mud and water are caught by a "ripple," that is, a small wooden bar fixed across 
 the end of the box, and should any escape that, it is caught on the " blanket," usually a 
 piece of green baize fixed on an inclined plane outside the long torn. The long torn 
 cannot, however, invariably he used in alluvial mining, for in some soils the water, instead 
 of separating the gold and dirt, cakes it all together in one hard ball, which succeeding 
 washing only serves to make more compact, and then it becomes necessary to substitute 
 the puddling machine for the long torn. 
 
 The puddling machine is a circular contrivance, the bottom and sides consisting 
 either of iron or of hard wood, while fixed in the centre of the circle is a horizontal 
 beam, to which are attached two harrows. This beam is moved usually by horse-power, 
 but not infrequently, in these later days, by steam, and dragging round with it the 
 harrows, it thoroughly mixes the clay and water. The water is brought in at one side, 
 and the mud, or "sludge," as it is called, is carried off by a gutter or pipe at the other. 
 The gold remaining at the bottom of the machine is finally cleared by panning off 
 
 In the present day, when gold getting has been brought to the highest state of 
 perfection, it is a matter of course that not a particle of the precious metal is allowed 
 to be wasted, but iii the old days it was not so, and both through ignorance and from 
 carelessness much was cast away that is now counted valuable. Many men, both Chinese 
 and Europeans, make comfortable livings picking over abandoned claims, or washing
 
 Gold.) THE JEWELLERS' SHOPS. 1 S? 
 
 once more the sludge from old puddling machines and the refuse from quartz batteries, 
 usually called "tailings." These men are always known as " fossickers," and are said to 
 be " fossicking." 
 
 As we have said, when the ancient river-bed was within a few feet of the surface, 
 gold-digging was neither toilsome nor expensive, but when sinking to 30, 60, 200, or 
 300 feet became necessary, matters assumed a different aspect The dirt Lad to 1 >e got 
 out of the drives somehow, and various devices were used for tin- purpose. The 
 commonest was the ordinary windlass and bucket, or if the shafl were a large one there 
 might be two buckets, one at each end of the rope, one being drawn up as the o 
 was let down. The "whip," too, was a good deal used in the early digging da\ s, and 
 was made by fixing a stake about twenty feet long firmly in the ground, so that it 
 started at an angle of about forty-five degrees, the end projecting over the mouth 
 of the shaft. In this end was fixed a grooved wheel, round which ran a rope with a 
 bucket attached t<> it, this bucket being raised and lowered by a horse travelling 
 backwards ami forwards. Hand whips were also used, hut it is obvious that whips are 
 at the hest both clumsy and awkward contrivances. 
 
 Far more useful, and, at the same time, more complicated, is tin' " whim," also worked 
 by a horse. This is a structure of strong timber, keeping in position a horizontally- 
 working drum, round which the ropes attached to the bucket are wound. Underneath 
 the drum is a long beam with shafts, to which the horse is harnessed. In these days 
 of big companies, of quartz reefs and deep-sinking, huge poppet-heads are erected over 
 the mouth of the shaft, and the heavy cages are raised ami lowered by steam, much 
 in the same manner as in the coal mines in England In some few mines ladders are 
 used for the purposes of ascent and descent, a practice brought into vogue by the 
 Cornish miners, but never in very high favour with Australians. 
 
 In the early gold-field days, as has before been said, only alluvial mining was puisne!], 
 and probably the richest alluvial claims in any part of Australia, or, for that matter, in 
 in; part of tin- world, were to he found on Ballarat Along the Buninyong Road, 
 especially, were some of such extraordinary richness that they were known as the 
 "Jewellers' Shops." The history of one of these, called the Blacksmith's claim, because its 
 first owner belonged to that craft, reads like a page of romance. The blacksmith, with 
 a part} of eight, all novices, sank the shaft in so irregular and unworkman-like a manner 
 that it was absolutely at tie- risk of his lite that a man made the descent to the 
 bottom. Without opening out a regular drive, they washed all the stuff within reach, 
 ami, after realising idi'vio, offered it for sale; hut so wet and rotten was the ground, 
 so badly sunk the shaft, that at first no purchaser could be found. At last a party 
 of ten plucked Up courage, ami bought all right and title to the claim and ' 
 for '.'77. 'Ilex entered into possession at noon one Saturday, and long before the sui 
 had in their possession £2,000 worth of gold By working day ami night in spells 
 till the following Monday, they raised this to E10.000. Then, after the usual reckless 
 manmr of lucky diggers, they let this mine of wealth, and went on the spree tor a 
 week. Their tenants made good use of the time at their disposal: they opened up two 
 drives, ami. before the week was out were the happy possessors of El 1 K)0 all ;
 
 188 
 
 cassklls PICTUBESQtTE \r>Ti; Al.AslA. 
 
 i<. 
 
 out of tlic claim. The other party then returned, and after a week's work, during which 
 they realised £9,000, they sold oul to a storekeeper for £100, who pul in a gang to 
 work in shares, and these, labouring in desultory fashion for a fortnight, took out £5,000. 
 At the end of thai time one of the party, an old hand from Van Diemen's Land, under- 
 mined the props, and next morning, on returning to work, the men found the whole of 
 the workings had fallen in. The rest of the party appear to have taken this misfortune 
 very calmly, and to have completely abandoned the claim, for no mention is made oi 
 
 their further proceedings; but it is related how the author of the mischief coolly marked 
 out a claim twenty-four feet square on top of the ruin, and, working with a hired party, 
 sunk a shaft straight as a die for the gutter. The first tubful of wash-dirt they raised turned 
 out 40 11 is.' weight of srold, and the next two averaged 10 lbs. each; and, as Ballarat gold 
 was, and is, superior to any other at all times, fetching at least £4 an ounce, those three 
 bucketfuls of earth were worth £2,880 to their fortunate possessor. Altogether, out of 
 that small area, hardly larger than a good-sized room, was taken in a few weeks gold 
 worth nearly £60,000 — "an amount," says Kelly, "unequalled in the annals of gold- 
 digging, and which may never again be paralleled" There were other claims among the 
 "shops"- — all, it was said, equally rich: but lucky diggers seldom kept account of their
 
 Gold J 
 
 • SHEPHERDING." 
 
 IS!) 
 
 gains, and even if they had, it would be monotonous to recount them one by 
 much is certain, that after these claims were considered worked out, a party 
 of the five acres on which they stood, 
 and realised a large fortune by wash- 
 ing up what the first diggers had lefl 
 behind them. Even at this time 
 fossickcrs, both European and China- 
 men, may be seen picking over the old 
 "Jewellers' Shops, " and in spite of bye- 
 laws, the sweepings of the Buninyong 
 lload are regularly washed for gold. 
 As the alluvial gold was found in 
 the ancient river-beds, it was the aim 
 and object of every man to discover, 
 
 one. This 
 
 JOt a lease 
 
 it' possible, the lie of the gutter I 
 
 sinking a shaft, as it was little use sinking 
 
 if there were no probability of striking 
 
 the wash-dirt This then gave rise to 
 
 the curious practice called ' shepherding." 
 
 It was impossible to ti\ by law how miieli work a man should do in order no 
 
 Forfeit his claim; therefore the shepherd would take em ,, i, . spadefuls, and then 
 
 contentedly sit and watch to see if lus neighbour succeeded in finding the gutter.
 
 190 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE A.USTBALASIA. Qoli 
 
 Of course, as soon as the latter had struck wash-dirt,, the gentle shepherd at once 
 began sinking, while should the first man find no bottom, the shepherd had been spared 
 a great deal of unnecessary labour. It not unfrequently happened, however, that the 
 shepherd lost by his waiting, for, having reached the gutter, he would find that 
 his neighbour had driven underground and taken away the valuable wash-dirt — a 
 thing easily enough done, for permission to go down a shall was seldom accorded in 
 the early days, and a refusal would have excited no surprise. Of course, gold-fields' 
 law in such a case would punish the dishonest, digger, if it could catch him, hut he 
 had in all probability cleared out by that time. In later days shepherding was done 
 away with by the law known as the frontage system, which enacted that when a 
 cutler was discovered the miner should take up a frontage of undetermined width on 
 the course of the lead, so that, if a shaft were sunk and the gutter not found, his 
 labour was not lost, for he still had a right to work to the right or to the left, as the 
 course of the gutter might lie. 
 
 It is in alluvial mining only that nuggets are found, although pieces so rich in 
 gold that they are called by this term are frequently broken off the parent rock. 
 The "Welcome Nugget" was discovered by a party of twenty-four at Bakery Hill,. 
 Ballarat, at, a depth of 180 feet, on the 15th June, 1858, and weighed over L80 lbs.. 
 or in avoirdupois weight, 1 cwt. 1 qr. 12 lbs., of which about 10 lbs. consisted of 
 quartz and clay. It was sold by its fortunate owners for £10,500, which proved a 
 little above its value, for, on being resold in Melbourne, it only brought £9,325, at 
 £4 4s. lid. an ounce. The "Blanche Barkly" was found by a party of four, quite by 
 itself, at Kingower, Victoria, at a depth of thirteen feet, and within five or six feet of 
 holes that had been dug three years before. It, was twenty-eight inches in length, and 
 ten inches in its widest part, weighed 145 lbs. 3 OZ. 13 dwt., and was worth £6,905 1 2s. 9d. 
 Its peculiar brightness and beauty (only 2 lbs. out of the 145 being quartz) made it 
 exceedingly valuable, for it was taken to England, and its fortunate owners were at one 
 time drawing £50 a week by showing it at the Crystal Palace. 
 
 Four seems to have been a fortunate number. That was the number of the party 
 of men who found at Canadian Cully, Ballarat, either in 1852 or 1853, the nugget 
 ■which takes the third place on the list. It, weighed 134 lbs. 11 <>/., and was worth 
 £5,532 7s. 4d., hut, unlike the "Blanche Barkly," was not attractive-looking, both 
 gold and quart/, being dark-coloured, and we presume the gold was not so pure, or 
 else the precious metal was cheaper at Ballarat in these days, for its value is 
 calculated at £3 17s. 9d. per ounce. 
 
 An aboriginal hoy found a prize he little expected, and perhaps hardly valued, 
 when, in July, 1851, among a heap of quartz on the surface of the ground, about fifty 
 miles from Bathurst, New South Wales, he unearthed a nugget weighing 106 lbs. troy 
 weight It was in three separate pieces, hut has always been considered as one nugget. 
 It could, however, hardly have been so beautiful as later specimens, for it contained 
 a large proportion of quartz. 
 
 But the nuggel before which all others pale was the "Welcome Stranger," found 
 at Dunolly, Victoria, by two men on the 5th February, 1869. It was close to the
 
 Gold.] 
 
 QUARTZ MINING. 
 
 i'H 
 
 surface, being barely covered with earth, and was within two feel of the bed rock, [ts 
 weight was never correctly ascertained, as before bringing it to the bank its finders 
 appear to have endeavoured to melt it down, in order to get ri<l of the quartz with 
 which it was partially mixed. The mixture, however, was very slight, and it Looked at 
 
 the first glance like one solid mass of ffold. When first it was weighed it was found 
 
 o o o 
 
 to turn the scale at 2,280 oz., of which 2.24s ox. were pure void, its value in coin of 
 the realm being £9,534. 
 
 These, then, are some of the larger nuggets which have been discovered in 
 Australia, but since anything in the shape of a lump of cold, 
 whether it weigh 2,000 oz. or only a tew dwts., is known as 
 nugget, the number found is by this time innumerable. 
 .Mr. Brough Smith in his book upon gold-mining has given 
 a list of no less than 150 that have 
 attained some celebrity. Of these twenty- 
 eight were found in other parts of the 
 world between the year-. 1502 and L869, 
 while the Australian rec ird only covers a 
 period of eighteen year-. 
 
 It ma\ be interesting to note that 
 the largest non-Australian nugget he gives 
 us an account of was found at Miask, 
 Ural Mountains. Russia, and weighed 96 lbs. 
 
 In ox. 2 dwt. It has never been melted 
 down, but is preserved in the Museum of 
 Mining Engineers, St. Petersburg. Its ex- 
 act value cannot, of course, be ascertained, 
 but is supposed t . » be £4,508 19s. 3d 
 
 Quartz mining entirely differs from 
 alluvial, is more expensive, and requires 
 greater labour, more complicated machinery, 
 and consequently greater returns to make 
 it pay. The first attempts al quartz cm b 
 ing were rude in the extreme, and a humble 
 
 machine, called a "dolly." was used. A large tree stump was chosen, ami the centre slightly 
 hollowed; in tin' hollow was placed the quartz, and a heavy stake shod with iron was 
 fastened to a sapling and used for crushing the quartz, the crushed quartz being afterwards 
 cleared by panning off This, as ma\ be seen, was an exceedingly laborious and un- 
 satisfactory way of getting out the gold, and before long quartz-crushing batteries were 
 introduced A battery consists of a number of cast-iron stampers worked by steam 
 power, and crushing the quartz to a powder in a Ion-' iron box known as the stamper- 
 box. Each Stamper now weighs Newt., though in the early days they were content 
 with much Lighter ones, and man} batteries were t,, !„■ found with stampers weighing 
 not more than :', cut. An\ cumber of stampers can be used, from live upwards; as a 
 
 
 
 - >±= 
 
 ri..
 
 L92 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 ' 
 
 genera! rule, however, twenty are found amply sufficient to crush the quartz raised from 
 one claim. At the Black Hill Company, Ballarat, they have the largest battery in the 
 colonies, which consists of forty stampers. The quartz is placed in hoppers, and carried 
 down to the stamper-box by shoots, and there crushed to a powder so fine that it is 
 washed by the constantly-running water through a grating or sieve containing 100 
 
 ■timbering." 
 
 holes to the square inch. Every five heads will crush five tons in eight hours, and to 
 do that properly they require eight gallons of water per minute. Every eight hours a 
 thimbleful of quicksilver is put in the stamper-box, and this amalgamates all the gold, 
 save a little so fine that it escapes through the grating along with the crushed quartz. 
 It is not, however, wasted, for the quartz is washed over copper plates carefully prepared 
 with quicksilver, which catches all the -old that has escaped from the battery. The 
 gold is afterwards cleared from the quicksilver by retorting. The hattery works 
 day and night, from one o'clock on Monday morning till twelve on Saturday night,
 
 Gold.) 
 
 A RICH YIKLD. 
 
 193 
 
 and the noise, as might be expected, is deafening. So accustomed to it, however, do 
 the dwellers around become that the unexpected stoppage of a battery will waken a 
 whole township from its peaceful slumbers. 
 
 Gold can, of course, be extracted from the quartz by the very rudest, contrivances 
 if only time is of no consequence and the stone is rich enough Two small boys at 
 Bendigo once, so the story goes, came to the owner of a battery with about 20 lbs.' 
 weighl of quartz on their backs and asked leave to use the pestle and mortar he 
 kept for testing samples, heave being readily given, they set to work, and, by dint 
 of patient labour crushing the whole of their load, they were rewarded, to the intense 
 
 teetulpa e.oi.n-ni'i.n. 
 
 astonishment of the bystanders, by very nearly 13 lbs.' weighl "oi pure gold The locality 
 where they found this treasure-trove these fortunate urchins, with a shrewdness not 
 uncommon to young Australia, kept a profound secret, and ten days after came again 
 with a harrow load, which musl certainly have yielded them over £1,200. The el 
 nf these young "millionaires of the future" could not, says the narrator of the story, 
 have been over twelve years of age. 
 
 Gold-mining at the presenl time is a very different thing from what it was thirty 
 
 ago. All the large mines are owned by greal companies, and minin g is recognised 
 
 a- an mpoirtant industry. The great "rushes" of former years are either utterly deserted, 
 
 lonelier, perhaps, than ever before, for the slight tokens that man has left of his 
 
 presence, or else thej have In ie thriving towns, differing after all hut little from 
 
 13
 
 194 CASSELLS l'!( 1TKKSQUE AUSTUAI.ASIA. I' 
 
 English t o^\iis of the same size. Mounds of earth, indeed, red, white, ami yellow, are 
 seen everywhere, and towering above them arc the poppet-heads of the claims in work, 
 while tin: clay-daubed miner with his tin billy is as common a sight as a collier in 
 Northumberland 
 
 Globe trotters and strangers from all parts of the world come to the great gold- 
 centres and desire above all things to inspect the mines, hut, after all, there is net much 
 to sec. In seme mines the visitor, in order to save his garments, puts upon him others 
 that are kept for the purpose. In many, however, this kind attention is forgotten, 
 and not lonsr ago a visitor, described as an "awful swell," had to roll down a 
 "jump-up" in the only ordinary suit of clothes he has with him. History records 
 thai he finished his visit in his dress suit. The stranger is placed on the cage, an 
 old miner is put in charge of him, and he descends 100, 200, 1,000, or even 2,000 
 feet, as a rule in pitch darkness, for the candles, after guttering a great ileal, go out 
 in consequence of the draught. Arrived at the bottom, he has his candle relighted, 
 and finds himself standing at the bottom of a shaft, with drives branching out to all 
 points of the compass, along one of which he is taken. It is always dirty, generally 
 muddy, and he is lucky indeed if it be not in some places ankle-deep in water, lie 
 goes down "jump-ups" and up "winzes." He sees men at work in all kinds of un- 
 comfortable attitudes, their candles stuck by mud against the walls. He squeezes close 
 up against the wall as a truck laden with quartz or "mullock" comes rushing past; 
 and he is shown, of course, some of the richest stone in the colony, which, to his in- 
 experienced eye, presents not a trace of the precious metal, while he is constantly 
 stopping, to the no small amusement of his guide, to inspect more closely tin' mica 
 or mundik which glitters in the candle-light. At the end of the drive he will come 
 upon the " stope," which is a boring following the descent of one of the veins of 
 quartz, with small shafts at intervals, through which the quartz is lowered to the level 
 below. The air, even though the mine be well ventilated, is hot and close, and the 
 miners look pale and ghastly in the artificial light. Still, he is told that the miner's 
 is not an unhealthy life, and is well paid, for the mere pitmen earn £3 a week for 
 eight hours' labour per day, while men in responsible positions, engine-drivers and 
 others, get more. The stranger breathes more freely when he regains the light of 
 day, politely tells everyone he lias been charmed, delighted, and deeply interested, and 
 L;-oes away feeling firmly coiwinced that the interior of a gold-mine is not a place a 
 man need see more than once. 
 
 There is plenty of gold in Australia yet, though the old days when every man 
 sought for himself have almost passed away/ Diamond drills have of late years come 
 into use, and fresh leads are by their agency being discovered every day. We have said 
 nothing of the gold-fields in Queensland, Tasmania, and New Zealand, though they are 
 by no means to be despised. Still, gold-niining goes through much the same phases all 
 the world over, and mining in Victoria remarkably resembles mining in any other colony. 
 
 Some of the gold-fields of New South Wales deserve special mention, because at 
 Mount Brown, north of the Darling, at which place there was a ereat rush in 1880, 
 quite a new process — new, at least, to Australasians — of separating the gold from the
 
 Gold.) MOUNT BROWN AND KLUBERLEY. 195 
 
 surrounding alluvial, prevailed — one, however, not much in vogue, nor ever likely to be 
 wherever water is fairly plentiful. At Lihbaborough — one of the fields at Mounl Brown 
 — however, and in all that district, water is conspicuous, as a rule, by its absence. Men 
 had little enougb for their own use — none whatever for washing gold, h is necessary, 
 thru, under these circumstances, to break up the wash-dirt as fine sible, and on 
 
 some day when the wind is high to pour it rapidly backwards and forwards from one 
 tin dish to another. By degrees, the greater part of the dirt blows away in the form 
 of dust — red dust it was at Mount Brown — and is thus got rid of. The heavier portions 
 which contain tin; gold are then again crushed, and the same process gone through 
 again ami again, till at last so little remains that the digger is able to clear his pan by 
 blowing the dust, away, ami whal gold there is can be clearly seen in the bottom oi 
 the dish. 
 
 At Mount Brown, on a windy day — and such days are the rule, not the exception, 
 since the country for miles towards the north, including Stint's Desert, is one vast arid 
 plain, over which the scorching hot winds blow for weeks together in the summer sea on 
 — with five or six hundred men at work " dry-blowing " dirt, the whole plain for miles 
 
 was enveloped in one vast cloud of dust. Worse; Still, even after the gold was secured 
 few men could indulge in the expensive luxury of a hath, hut remained, perforce, with 
 all tin' signs of their toil thick upon them. Mount Brown in 1880 was hardlj a desirable, 
 or even an ordinarily-pleasant place in winch to reside. In the latitude of, and barely forty 
 miles distant from, Sturt's Depdt Glen, the heat in summer is always very great, and with 
 water at three shillings a bucket, as it was in those days, it must have been something 
 appalling. Flour, too, rose till it reached two shillings and sixpence a pound; and 
 when an ordinary loaf cost ten shillings, it will easily he seen that only extraordinarily 
 rich yields could make the field pay. Soon, however, the rush there melted away, and 
 the place assumed the ordinary aspect of a small and unimportant mining township. 
 
 In Kimherlev alone, in the north of Western Australia, the old order still prevails. 
 There, where the gold-fields are Dearly three hundred miles in the interior, men croi 
 from all parts of Australasia, bringing with them, since it is a fare and d land, 
 
 all the a !i ssaries of life, even as thej did thirty years ago in Victoria. On the 
 road, or, rather, rough track, were seen all manner of con from the rich man's 
 
 bullock-dray to the modesl hand-carl or still more humble wheelbarrow. Hut. in spite 
 of the promise of greal things, there are signs that the glory of Kimherlev has already 
 departed. The drawbacks are numerous, and the field must be rich, indeed, that could 
 stand them, for the water is scarce, the blacks are troubli i Lunate is 
 
 tropical and unsuited to the white man, and, above all, the gold firsl found in the gullies 
 and flats is alreadj worked oul and there are nol appliances for further search, for 
 Kimherlev itself is beyond the very outskirts of civilisation, and it soon promises to 
 become thai abomination of desolation, a deserted gold-field. Teetulpa, in S 
 Australia, it may be added, is the in fields, having only come into 
 
 in Novi ml" r, L886.
 
 A NEW GUINEA TE-MTLE. 
 
 NEW GUINEA: PORT MORESBY TO KEREPUNA. 
 
 An Island with a Future — Missionaries and Traders — rort Moresby — Elevara —Native Occupations — The Sources 
 of Fever — Funeral Customs — An Unexecuted Sentence — The Ascent of Mount Pullen — The Laloki and 
 Goldie Rivers — The Guilelessness of the Natives — Their Treatment of Women — Courtship and Marriage — 
 Betel Chewing — Native Hunting — Kapa-Kapa — Hula — The Bau-bau — A Clever Trickster — Kerepuna — 
 Nature and Civilisation — Work Days and Rest Days — Festivities — Spirit-seers — Canoe Makers — Fond 
 Fa n'wells — Rejoicings. 
 
 IN New Guinea, a mighty island, generously productive, basking under the rays of 
 a fiery sun, yet fanned by the balmy monsoon, with all the conditions of health 
 and happiness within its range, waits with its many attendant isles, as the best 
 portions of Upper Queensland also wait, jipon the coming of civilisation. A mighty 
 island it truly is. and it is surrounded by others ever varying, and bewildering in 
 their loveliness, while beyond these are yet others, protected in most parts by 
 gigantic ban-'nr walls of coral-reef from the boisterous ocean, which perpetually lashes 
 and roars outside — barrier walls with splendid gateways every few miles opening 
 from the turbulent ocean — for the Papuan Gulf and (.'oral Sea are ever more or 
 less tumultuous — to the mirrordike lagoons inside, where ships of all sizes may 
 venture, and ride out the wildest storm in safe and quiet anchorage. Then there 
 are wide bays and peaceful harbours, with smooth, shell-strewn shores of golden sand, 
 fringed with fruit-weighted banana, palm, and mammy-apple trees; and beyond these, 
 indented mountains, reaching far above the rain-clouds which they gather about their 
 steep sides. 
 
 Without wishing to understate any of the real difficulties which must attend 
 either a visit to, or a stay in this country, it must be said that, hi comparison with
 
 New Qdxkea.1 
 
 PORT MOHESISY. 
 
 197 
 
 what it has been, Now Guinea is safe and open to the foot of the European, and 
 that this comparative safety is due to the heroic and unselfish labours of the mis- 
 sionaries and the no less heroic, if more interested, exertions of the dauntless traders 
 who have from time to time settled upon these coasts. 
 
 'The first point of attractioD to which all travellers tend is the English head- 
 quarters — Port Moresby. Vet this is by no means the most interesting portion of 
 British New Guinea, although interesting enough to the new arrival, who sees for the 
 first time the naked, copper-tinted 
 savages paddling aboul the ships 
 in their catamarans and canoes. 
 A feeling as of cold water run- 
 nine' down the hack is apt to 
 take possession of one when the 
 first half-dozen stalwart, mop- 
 headed young natives leap aboard, 
 
 for they are treacherous and re- 
 morseless in avenging wrongs, 
 real or fancied; but this sensa- 
 tion quickly passes away as we 
 look upon their mild, intelligenl 
 laces and shapely limbs while 
 the\ come up and stand gazing 
 about them wonderingly. 
 
 A lone- line of native houses, 
 built upon piles, stretches in front 
 of ns, partly in the water, and 
 with the entrances facing the 
 shore; at the other side, and 
 above them, wave the feathery 
 fronds of palm-trees, and dotting 
 the hillside aii' tin- few wooden 
 houses belonging to the white 
 residents. At present these houses 
 can he easily counted. Bere is 
 the Bungalow, or Government Residence, a small cottage with a veranda in 
 
 raised on piles, with a fence round it : and here is the hut buill lor the surveying 
 party who are planning out. the site of the iirv, city. Grenville it is to he called, 
 although why so, with such a lovelj native name ; is "Elevara" to hand, is i 
 than I can imagine. The Messrs. Eunter, twin brothers, who mighl well take the 
 part of the two Dromios, from the exact resemblance each hears to the other, act 
 as interpreters ami mediators between the Governmenl and the natives. The white 
 portion of port Moresbj consists of their house, of Mr. Goldie's store and residence, 
 
 and of the mission and native school houses, these last occupying the lull ahove the 
 
 UOKESBY. 
 
 front,
 
 I OS CASSELL'S TICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [New 
 
 little sea village ot Elevara. To these, perhaps, should be added the new gaol, which 
 is being built on the new city site on the other side of the bay. 
 
 The village of Elevara lies directly under the hill upon which the mission-house 
 
 is lmilt, ami is separated by an open space of about 400 yards from the other 
 village of Hanuabada, The natives of these villages appear to live in amity with one 
 another, although they belong to distinct races, called the Motu ami Coitapu tribes. 
 
 The principal occupation of the natives at Moresby is the making of earthenware 
 vessels and pots for cooking purposes. This manufacture of "hodu," as it is called, 
 is chiefly in the hands of the women. The men fish, and go out to friendly tribes 
 and villages along the coast as well as inland with the crockeryware, exchanging it 
 for commodities which they themselves recpiire. The women are also the gardeners; 
 and although they merely scratch the surface of the ground, and insert the seeds or 
 shoots which they wish to grow, the generous nature of the soil is such that the 
 result is all that could be desired. Outside the villages, and behind the mangrove 
 and croton bush, gardens and orchards are found in a state of picturesque confusion, 
 the ground strewn with a litter of dead banana and palm-leaves, whilst out of this 
 chaos of decayed vegetable matter rise flourishing groves of palm and other fruit 
 trees. Here the women — that is, the old women and matrons — labour during the 
 day, trimming, planting, and gathering, while the maids and boys bask in the sun, or 
 work about the houses, preparing the cocoanuts, yams, and taros for the home-coming 
 of their fathers and mothers. Each garden is protected by fences of twig palisades 
 from five to seven feet in height. 
 
 The neglected and decaying debris of orchards, mingling with the dead vegetable 
 accumulation of ages, is partly the cause of the malaria and fever that sap the 
 energy of natives and Europeans alike. The breeze which night and morning comes 
 without 1'ail from the valleys and inland mountains, bears upon what ought to be 
 health-giving wings these blood-poisoning exhalations. Another, and, I think, the 
 most dangerous, source of the fever is to be found in the filthy habits of the natives, 
 and their very abominable burial customs and superstitions. They are an intelligent, 
 hardworking race, open to conviction and quick at imitation, but as yet they have 
 not been taught the necessity of altering these old customs, and so one or two deaths 
 in a village are quite sufficient as a start to spread a general plague. The natives 
 observe the rites of burial and pay respect to the dead to such purpose that one 
 dead ancestor is almost enough to slay not only all his or her descendants, but all their 
 friends, and, indeed, all their enemies to boot, for miles around. While the remains 
 last, the departed themselves cannot possibly be overlooked or forgotten. Every breath of 
 that fatal land-breeze wafts them potently, not only before the remembrance, but right 
 down the throat. To enter a village even months after the death of a villager is an 
 experience which can be neither imagined nor described ; and to meet a full-fledged 
 mourner is about the most awful trial the olfactory senses can possibly experience. 
 Amongst the New Guinea natives in their present stage of social development one 
 might deem it a blessing to be deprived altogether of the sense of smell. 
 
 There had lately been an increase of the death-rate at Kerepuna and Moresby,
 
 Giinea.j PICTURESQUE VILLAGE. 199 
 
 and in consequence, Elevara and Hanuabada were tilled with sable-coated mouriicrs, 
 and the air was laden with fever germs. To call New Guinea essentially unhealthy, 
 when the causes are so vividly apparent, is to write an unwarranted libel on the 
 country. It is, in fact, too mountainous to he in itself insanitary; while the winds 
 by day sweep through the gullies, laden with ozone from the surrounding ocean, and 
 by night return to the sea from the mountain-crested clouds. The conditions seem 
 to be all on the side of health, and ready to the hand of man whenever he likes to 
 work out the problem of sanitation in the tropics. 
 
 The main, or, rather, only, street in the native village at Moresby runs along the 
 sands of tin' bay for about half-a-mile, the native huts being built upon the seaside 
 in such fashion that, when the tide is high, they are nearly surrounded with water. 
 These huts, well thatched with palm-leaves, and firmly secured by ropework fastenings, 
 have only one outlet at, either end. In front of each doorway broad platforms, made 
 up raft-fashion, and joined together with cross pieces of timber, are raised on the' piles, 
 the whole being, on the land side, five or six feet from the ground. As the shore 
 slopes upward between eight and ten feel above the level of the flood, each house is 
 separate from the others, yet all are so closely adjoining that it is quite easy for one 
 neighbour to pass from his platform to the one next door, and so on along the whole 
 village. Each house has its own rustic ladder placed against the platform and doorway. 
 They are all substantially built, the piles being very closely placed together; some 
 straight, some twisted and forked, all being rough, undressed limbs and branches of 
 gum and cotton trees. The effect of the whole is decidedly picturesque. The small 
 canoes float upon the water, or lie grounded between the piles when the tide is out. 
 These canoes are made from trunks of trees, and are ten to twenty feel in length, with 
 the inside chipped and hollowed out; and there is no attempt at ornamentation, except 
 the outriggers, which balance them when sailing. They never upset, no matter how 
 crowded, and go along remarkably fast, whether propelled by the paddles or under 
 
 .sail. 
 
 Here and there, as you walk along the village, you will come upon an old man 
 
 chipping away with his stone or iron adze at a rough trunk, making a nevt canoe. 
 It is a labour of time, but these suns of Nature are gifted with greal patience. I have 
 heard it said that i< takes them twelve months to sharpen their green-Stone axe-., 
 and yet they will part with one for eighl or ten sticks of trading toba 
 
 In front of the houses sit the old women making their earthenware jars and pots, 
 with wood tires near at hand to dry and harden them when wrought into shape. 
 Very deft they are at this work; and they generally cut rough ornamental borders 
 round the edges. The pots are black, and when completed look like ironware. It 
 is a pretty sight to see the women at work, with the thin vapour from the burning 
 wood curling up amongst the tree shadows and mingling with the purple fumes of the 
 setting sun 
 
 Inside the houses it is always twilight, for there are no windows, and as you 
 Look in at the doors a thing the inmates do not like strangers to do you 
 a^ soon as the eye gets accustomed to the dim obscurity, that everything is clean
 
 200 
 
 GASSELL'S PICTTJRESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 I N I-: \t 
 
 aad neat. Mothers and children are sitting or reclining on the bamboo floors, with 
 spears and shields, &c, ranged along the walls, making delightful Etembrandtesque 
 pictures. 
 
 On the other side of the street are planted thick groves of palm and banana 
 trees. In these groves — or, rather, by the side of the street, sometimes in the very 
 centre of it — you may stumble upon little bamboo-protected mounds with planks laid 
 across, and palm-leaves covering them. These mounds are graves, placed opposite the 
 
 NATIVE DWELLINGS AT TORT MORESBY. 
 
 houses which the deceased occupied when alive. It is from these mounds that the 
 odours issue that so constantly remind the stranger of the family bereavement. Long- 
 snouted pigs, assisted in their investigations by hundreds of mongrel-looking native 
 dogs, snort and burrow about the graves until they are driven from their pastime by 
 the ash-blackened widow, husband, son, or daughter, left behind to mourn. 
 
 When a death occurs in the family the friends assemble and lament. Then they 
 dig a hole, either under the house or in front of it. If near the water, the grave is 
 dug about two feet deep. The bottom of it, is spread over with palm-leaves, upon 
 which the body is placed; more leaves are added, and over these twigs and planks 
 are laid. This is the custom of the Motu tribes, and along the coast. Inland the sur- 
 vivors hang dead bodies upon trees, and observe practices which are too horrible to 
 be related. 
 
 From Mr. Andrew Goldie's journal, of which he kindly permitted me to make use, 
 I take the following extract regarding the funeral ceremonies : — " About three hundred
 
 GriM \.| 
 
 FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 
 
 :><)] 
 
 natives were assembled Two men and two women carried the body, which was that 
 of a woman, out of the house to the grave, which was a few feel in front of the 
 house, and only eighteen inches deep. There was a mat laid in the grave, upon which 
 the corpse was placed. The husband was then dragged out of the house in great 
 grief, and, throwing himself down upon Ins dead wife, wept pitebusly. Her daughters 
 and near relatives stood over the grave crying with great violence, and tearing their 
 hair and lares with their hands. The other natives stood quietly looking on — thai is, 
 with the exception of about twenty young men, who were ranged in a straight line, 
 with drums in their hands, beating time to a very solemn chant which they sang. 
 After about an hour of this ceremony, the relatives were removed, and the body 
 covered over with matting, two heavy hoards of old canoes being laid on the top. so 
 that the pigs might not get at it, and so the dead was for the time lefl alone. The 
 near relatives went into mourning by blackening their bodies all over with ashes. As 
 soon as anyone dies in the village a large drum is beaten at regular intervals, some- 
 thing like our village bells at home." Mr. Goldie, I may add, is a safe authority 
 on New Guinea, having lived long and 
 travelled extensively in the country in 
 which he has vowed to spend the re- 
 mainder of his life. 
 
 It may here be mentioned that at 
 Vide Island, to the west of Port Moresby 
 I met a hoy going into the woods at 
 sundown. His body was smeared over 
 with ashes, and in bis hand was a fire- 
 brand, which he was blowing to keep alight 
 
 ANOTHER NATIVE Hi 
 
 IRA.
 
 202 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [New 
 
 as he walked along. He Looked miserable in the extreme, and upon my stopping him 
 to ask what was the matter (Father Verjuice, a 1 i b priest, acting as interpreter), he 
 informed me that his lather had lately died, and, being the eldest son, he was compelled 
 to go and sleep in the woods alone every tughl for six months. The firebrand was to 
 light a fire with when he got there, to keep away the wild beasts and the ghosts. 
 He confessed that lie «ras horribly frightened at the idea .it' ghosts, and he looked it. 
 At Kerepuna 1 passed a tomb where three widows of a chief were imprisoned. 
 
 An enclosure had been built over the grave about the size of a large rabbit-hutch It 
 could not have been more than three feet high and four or live feet square, and this 
 spaee was completely covered, except that there were spaces between the planks for 
 ventilation. As we passed the bereaved ones, each stretched out a skinny, blackened 
 arm and hand through the cracks for "koko" (tobacco). The hushand had hen dead 
 nine months, and during those dreary months these jwor widows had not been per- 
 mitted to go outside their prison. The relatives fed them by pushing yams through 
 the crevices, and thus they were forced to stay, willing or otherwise, over the decom- 
 posing remains of their late lord and master for a period of three years. 
 
 At Aroma a ghastly widower made great friends with me, and wanted to embrace 
 me, which honour I energetically declined. Feeling lonely, no doubt, and longing 
 for company, he was good enough to choose me as his friend, but there was too 
 strong a savour of the cemetery about him to excite my complete sympathy. 
 
 For utility in the way of harbourage, Port Moresby is nearly all that could be 
 desired. The Government authorities have made a wise choice in the site of the 
 new township, to windward of the native villages, and protected by the hill behind 
 it, with deep water close up to the beach, and a considerable area of flat ground. 
 I went with the Government surveyor over his new site — through native gardens, 
 with the road cut in a straight line, and fruit trees cast down where they inter- 
 fered with the line of direction. The natives made a great outcry over the destruction 
 of their gardens, and demanded a life or two as compensation. However, they were 
 fain at last to be content with payment in the current coin of the land — " koko." 
 The surveyor, who with others of his party had been condemned to death, worked 
 on, perfectly indifferent to threats and dark glances. It was hard work to clear 
 these roads, the ants constantly tormenting the men, and the under-bush being 
 very dense. The plan has, however, been carried out successfully; and as we passed 
 through the clear-cut roadways, fenced with the dead timber, amid avenues of crotons, 
 mangroves, castor-oil trees, sago, betel palm, and stunted gum-trees, hearing the 
 surveyor explain his designs, we felt that although the gaol was early on the 
 ground, more agreeable consequences of civilisation would quickly follow. 
 
 From Mount Pullen. the highest point i n Moresby, a splendid view of the port 
 and harbour, as well as of some of the country inland, can be obtained. Like all the 
 mountains. Mount Pullen is exceedingly steep, and to climb to its top is to achieve 
 quite a feat. Getting a little Motu boy as my guide, I started off one morning 
 a little after sunrise. When we were past the garden fences, my guide struck out at 
 a rate which I could hardly keep up, and with an ease and utter unconsciousness
 
 Gu.v'ea.1 OX THE MOUNTAIN TOP. 203 
 
 of fatigue that astonished me. Ho never paused, except when I was breathlessly 
 forced to ask him, and then he looked with wonder at the tired white follow. 
 
 Our route lay up a pathway made by the natives, the highway, so far, to the 
 interior. At the point where the track left the path, just as I had emerged 
 from a thick copse, I came suddenly upon a party of mountain natives, armed with 
 shields, spears, hows and arrows, decorated with feathers, and painted with designs in 
 white, red, and black, looking altogether very formidable. Having heard much of 
 native treachery, and not knowing whether these were enemies or friends, I felt 
 somewhat uneasy, and looked at my revolver. However, I became reassured on 
 seeing my young friend walk on towards them calmly and address seme words to 
 them, upon which they drew to one side and permitted me to pass. My boy told 
 me that these men had come down with birds and plants, orchids and crotons, &c., 
 to trade with the white people in the village on the coast, and that they always 
 travelled ready for fighting, as they never knew the moment when they might he 
 attacked. 
 
 At length, after many rests, and much panting on my part, we reached the top. 
 Beside me grew a large cotton-tree with tortuous limbs and snaky branches, devoid 
 of leaves, and twisted ami gleaming like dried, bleached bones, but with the scarlet 
 blossom festooning the bare limbs here and there, like bits of red rag tied round 
 a dead tree. Behind the cotton-tree lay a dense scrub, with interlacing bush, and 
 tendrils crossing backward and forward, and up and down, like trellis-work. Where 
 the lives were not, tall grass between six and eight feet in height was growing — 
 silvery, shining grass, which, where the sunshine fell, looked almost like snow. From 
 these bowers, as I tried to force my way through them, myriads of amber-coloured 
 ants fell upon me, getting down my neck, and covering me with vicious bites 
 Through a parting on the thin side of this lovely natural trellis-work I looked towards 
 the far-away mountains and valleys of the interior. Tier behind tier they rose, 
 some beneath me where 1 stood, like sugar-loaves or pyramids, with straight, steep 
 sides, mostly grass-covered, although here and there dense forests of trees v . en 
 pread out; the valleys were so deep that the purple shadows hid their details: 
 between the cones were' vistas of plains, with miles of forests yet to he chared away 
 when tin' European takes possession and transforms these vast tracts into rice and 
 sugar plantations. Amid the lofty rugged ranges <>i' which 1 have spoken fkrw the 
 Laloki and Groldie Rivers, the junction of which was discovered bj the gentleman 
 after whom the latter stream is named, lie speaks of it as very treacl with 
 
 shifting bottom, and swarming with alligators, The hanks in some parts are very 
 precipitous, in others Hat and densely wooded, the jungle being so dm-,' that to get 
 through means a very five use of the axe. Supple-jacks and tendrils, ant-infested, 
 mesh about the traveller like a close network, prickles and thorns tearing the skin 
 and clothes at every step: these, with palm-trees in many varieties, and clumps of 
 fern-trees, over twenty feet in height, make up a truly tropical scene < f untrammelled 
 nature, with butterflies of every shade and size on the wing, carrying patches of the 
 glowing sunshine into deep recesses of shadow.
 
 204 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [New 
 
 The Laloki lies about four hours' hard walking past the village of Mourmia, and 
 ahoul thirteen or fourteen miles from Pert Moresby. At the junction of the two rivers 
 the scenery is very pretty and open, the Goldie winding along by the foot of the 
 mountain, with trees drooping over the banks. About here a little gold lias been 
 found, and it is believed to lie in great quantities in the heart of these volcanic 
 ri< Iges. 
 
 The Laloki is a fine river, fed by numerous streams rising in the Astrolabe 
 ranges. It has very precipitous cliffs and banks, and at some points it is a hard 
 
 £\' S '' \llatliugtll 
 
 ■h Miles o^ f %A 
 
 c 
 
 II a/it r t> i:„„l*U sc. 
 
 SECTION OF NEW GUINEA. 
 
 matter to follow the stream up, rapids occurring here and there both above and below 
 the great falls, which Mr. Goldie and Mr. Chalmers agree in considering indescribably 
 grand. The mountains run at a sharp angle on both sides, and in some places hate 
 cliffs, one to two thousand feet high, tower above the mighty trees in the gloomy 
 depth of the gorges below. 
 
 For many miles a full body of clear water leaps down deep shelves and over 
 huge rocks, 1 "'tween time-worn precipices. Then there is a clear space, where it 
 surges round a wooded island in the centre of the stream, smooth with the velocity 
 of its deadly race. Next it takes a mighty leap of about a thousand feet clear, 
 only broken in its course by a huge block of nigged boulder in about the middle 
 of its fall, and then into the tree-hidden, boiling cauldron it flings its vast strength 
 with a thunderous din; anon breaking over cliffs and rocks in foamy masses, far 
 below where the eye or the ear can follow, while up in the air, above the cedar tops,
 
 OUUIEA.] 
 
 THE FAR VIEW. 
 
 205 
 
 
 
 
 the mist-clouds float, sun-pierced, with the rainbow hovering perpetually within the 
 gauze-like fumes. 
 
 From where I stand, on Mount Pullen, 1 turn to the wide expanse of ocean 
 which lies in its amethyst repose. I can look through the fathoms of water that 
 
 cover the snowy beds of coral, and see 
 the pale green and the intense violel of 
 the deep passages betwi i q. Away Dear the 
 horizon-line are the gleaming fangs that 
 ever gnaw at the hidden reefs. Nearer, 
 jut out the dark brown and grey rock pro- 
 montories, which spread round like a cres- 
 cent moon, forming the almost land-locked 
 bay. Two or three small craft are rocking 
 in the deeper waters, Beche-de-mer and copra 
 boats come into the port for provisions. The 
 Governor Cairns is waiting upon his Excellency, 
 the Hon. John Douglas, and the tiny mail steam- 
 tug, The Victory, upon us, a shoal of canoes with 
 water-tanks on hoard surrounding the latter, 
 and crowds of natives filling her barrels. The 
 tide is far out, and the shallow waters are 
 with little black dots wading — native 
 
 A TREE HOI 3E 
 
 boys and girls basking in the sun, or 
 fishing with their nets and many-pointed 
 fishing-spears. There lies Elevara, with 
 the picturesque, Gibraltar-like rock-mound 
 behind it which T saw last evening purple 
 under the setting sun. And there is 
 Hanuabada, fringing the sands, the white 
 settlers' huts and cottages overtopping 
 both villages. The shining sides .it' the 
 hills opposite me are while in the fore- 
 
 i n rays, strongly in contrasl with the 
 
 violet shadows of the distant ranges; and 
 
 altogether it is a bewitching scene of rest and beauty, the gardens breaking the monotony 
 with their lovely bewilderment of tangle Before long all this natural confusion, and 
 these picturesque if fever-infested huts, will be done away with, and that grassy and 
 tree-covered lair, where the kangaroo and wallaby now hide, will be covered with 
 
 A HEATHEN TEMPLE.
 
 20G CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE ATTSTRAT.ARTA, [Nsw 
 
 square-built streets and trim wooden erections, while white helmets and duck pants 
 
 will replace the dusky skins of the natives 
 
 The danger of the levers of which I have spoken lies along the sea-shores, and in 
 the valley swamps; but on the mountain ridges it is impossible to catch malaria, while 
 the tribes to be met there, like all mountaineers, are live from some of the vices of 
 the lowland natives — more honest, although dishonesty is a vice which T, for my part, 
 never encountered, even on the coast; they are also truthful, and generous in their 
 intercourse with strangers. Hunters who have gone up in search of game have told 
 me that, they felt no insecurity when amongst these hill tribes; they were tenderly 
 looked after, and all their goods guarded jealously during their absence, and restored 
 to them intact upon their return. Furthermore, the presence of a white man with 
 firearms is regarded as a boon to be appreciated and taken great care of. Constantly 
 in danger as they are of surprises from hostile tribes, they look upon the visitor as a 
 protection, since he is dreaded by their foes. Apart, therefore, from the unavoidable 
 risks which attend the ignorance of language and customs, a man who trusts the 
 natives implicitly, and sets aside fear of treachery, will find that the further inland he 
 travels the greater is his safety. I would advise all future visitors to this country to 
 boldly strike out for the interior. 
 
 Whatever may be said against the burial customs of the natives, enough cannot 
 be told in praise of their treatment of their women, or of the high standard of 
 morality between the sexes. Before marriage woman is treated as a queen; her will 
 is paramount, and often she abuses her privileges, and behaves very harshly to the 
 humble aspirant to her hand. Young men have to stand back and wait till she shows 
 her preference, and after the happy youth is so far favoured, and has then shown, to 
 the satisfaction of the family, that he is rich enough to pay what, they demand for 
 the bride, he must go through a month of probation, obeying all the lady's whims 
 and caprices while she is examining his points critically, and studying his character. 
 Doubtless, at times Love sits in the scales and favours him during his period of 
 probation; but the ladies seem as a rule to go into the contract with the sedateness 
 and method of a French courtship, except that the woman has the principal "say"' 
 in the matter, and appears to calculate with a coolness and acumen which seem 
 almost incompatible with partiality or passion. 
 
 Here is an amusing incident which occurred while I was at Moresby, and which 
 illustrates this very methodical system of courtship. A youth, whom we called the 
 " Larrikin," because he was always in mischief, fell in love with one of the belles of 
 Hanuabada; and, selecting him from amongst all her other hibiscus-adorned suitors — 
 for the village dandies decorate their dyed and frizzled "mops" with hibiscus blossoms 
 — she graciously permitted herself to be engaged to him, that is, she took him on 
 approval. According to custom, "Larrikin" became a guest in the house of the 
 maiden, ate with its inmates, went out fishing with her. and made himself generally 
 
 d and agreeable to the intended father-in-law. In fact, he became both a slave 
 and a prisoner in the house of his lady love: the father going about with the lovers 
 constantlv. never leaving them for an instant alone together, and devoting his whole
 
 Guinea.] 
 
 •HAKI) TO PLEASE." 
 
 207 
 
 time to the task of watching over his daughter. For three weeks all went fairly 
 well, Larrikin much subdued and snubbed (luring that interval. A splendid fellow he 
 was, worthy of the love of any maid, and as a specimen of humanity worth 
 
 twenty of the girl he was fawning upon, for sin- was undersized, and as nearly ugly 
 as a New Guinea girl of sixteen could be; and I daresay he was just congratulating 
 himself that his troubles were nearly over, when the maiden suddenly discovered a 
 wart on his little toe, and ignominiously dismissed him from her presence taking 
 Straightway the next best favoured rival on the same terms. 
 
 Poor Larrikin, for this slight and only blemish, became an outcast, without the 
 chance of getting a wife in that village, for no other girl would have him after his 
 rejection, .leered and scoffed at by everyone wherever lie appeared, he' was forced to 
 take up with ns whites for company ; and he 
 retaliated by playing pranks all round. lie was a 
 good i' tnpered young Adonis, and was only humor- 
 ously cynical towards the scornful fair one, pretending 
 that lie did not, care nitieh about his rejection, and 
 wearing more hibiscus flowers than ever in his hair, 
 out of bravado, 1 suppose; but 1 noticed that he 
 smoked a great deal at the bau-bau, and chewed, 
 nearly constantly, the betel-nut. 
 
 When all has gone well, and in a manner 
 satisfactory to the lady, the final ceremony takes 
 place; that i-, the young man brings his pig, and 
 
 what else has 1 leen demanded from him as purchase- 
 money for his wife, and a feast is held, after the 
 
 ceremony of blessing the two mail te has been 
 
 performed, lint the troubles of the poor bridegroom 
 
 are not, nearly over yet. He has got the daughter, 
 
 hut the father has now to he conciliated. He is the master of the husband, who 
 
 must reverence him and bend before him each time he passes, and obej all his orders. 
 
 until he receives permission to take 1 ie his wife and fall into (he ordinary routine 
 
 ol life, hut even after that, a <[iialTel will send his wile home to her parents, and more 
 
 presents have to he rendered up before he can have her home again, so that 
 the husband who would not he ruined must he affable, and stand always on his 
 behaviour. 
 
 The women all work, and do not consider this a hardship, tor industry is one 
 of the virtues they practise, and idleness would he regarded as a vice. Alter the little 
 period of petty tyranny which has been described, husband and wife settle down to 
 
 the duties of life, rearing children, ; umulating property, and raising pigs. The natives 
 
 tire very fond of their pigs and dogs, and sleep with them, attending to them with quite 
 
 as much tenderness as they show towards their own offspring. 
 
 young girls tattoo one another by degrees until they are complete^ covered to 
 
 the waist with scroll-work; they also, when in a genial mood, frizzle the lock 
 
 A LI .Mi. CA1.A 1: AS !!
 
 208 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [N«w Gdisei. 
 
 their young men and brothers. Only the women are tattooed or dressed, the men 
 and boys being perfectly nude, with the exception of a cord round the Loins. 
 
 To strangers, the habit of betel chewing is very obnoxious. You will meet 
 old and young, male and female, with the lime calabash hung about the neck, 
 
 and with lips Mood-red and teeth jet-black, where not entirely worn down to ugly 
 stumps through this indulgence. Probably, it' you are in favour with some native, he 
 will present you with a nut and a bite at his pepper-stick, and then as naturally as 
 an old Scotchman may hand you his snuff-box, he will pass over his little calabash, 
 with spoon attached, this spoon most likely cut from some small human hone, in order 
 that you may help yourself to a lick or two of the lime powder. They will tell you 
 that it is good for the fever. Perhaps it is; but that it is not good for the teeth, a 
 look at the mumbling, toothless old men and women will at once convince you. Yet it 
 is astonishing how quickly the European gets accustomed to betel chewing and bau-bau 
 smoking, many of the traders presenting the same appearance about the lips and teeth 
 as the natives. Fortunately the latter have not yet taken to the tire-water, all the 
 spirits which come into the country being entirely consumed by the white residents. 
 
 Some of the calabashes are very beautiful in design, made from cocoa-nut 
 gourds, and the ornament cut through the fibre and then burnt in with a fine-pointed 
 firebrand, the lines being symmetrical and in parts very delicate, as are those upon 
 the musical instruments, war implements, and pipes, or as they call them, "bau-baus." 
 
 Leaving Moresby while yet the silvery morning vapours hung over the villages and 
 softened the outlines of the lofty mountains behind, we take our course along the 
 coast-line inside the reefs, for outside the sea is very rough; and although the steering 
 is difficult and dangerous, since we are surrounded on all sides by coral hummocks and 
 sandbanks, yet here the water is pleasant and calm, while the coast is so close at hand 
 that we can see the villages and natives distinctly as we steam slowly along. 
 
 Our pilot has climbed to the mast-head, and clings with bare feet to the rope- 
 work as he looks keenly ahead, guiding the man at the wheel with his hand, zigzag, 
 as if we were in a cab winding about a narrow, crowded street ; while the sun shines 
 down on the mottled-coloured waves and palm-fringed shores. We first pass Pyramid 
 Point, bold and tawny tinted, with ranges lost in the white lustre of the clouds, and 
 villages peeping from the bottom of deep gullies, half concealed in the large-leafed 
 bowers, and next, Bootless Inlet, threading our way very gingerly, and lost in admiration 
 of the ever-changing beauty of the scene. 
 
 As we sail along we can see our channel winding about the hummocks, and seeming 
 to be closed up a few yards ahead. We do not make great progress, as we have often 
 to hack out and find another passage. Round us the sea is clothed with delicate shades 
 of green, varied by sapphire threads of deep water. As we look shorewards, we see 
 natives wading about with their nets and many-pronged spears, or marching along the 
 shores with their burdens on their backs; while at some points volumes of blue smoke 
 wreathe up above the tree-tops, and show us wdiere they are burning out the wallabies 
 and kangaroos. 
 
 When the natives set out upon a hunt, they do it on a large scale, going to the
 
 mniiiiiiiiini' ' . 
 
 THJB Ofl i\l wi.l.s B \m.i 3 i ROM THI 
 
 14
 
 210 CASSEIX'S PICTUKBSQUE AUSTRALASIA. [New 
 
 ground, fasting, in single file, and in (lead silence — for it is a sign of bad luck if a single 
 word be spoken. They fix upon a bollow, surrounded by steep ridges; they then attach 
 a chain of nets to stakes round this amphitheatre, leaving three open spaces, at which 
 some of the bunters wait, hidden by the long grass, which also conceals the kangaroo. 
 After this arrangement is complete, they sel fire to the grass, which, being dry in 
 bunting seasons, burns quickly. This is the cause of the clouds of smoke that we 
 see. As the grass flames up, the hunters yell wildly, and utter strange sounds, the 
 effect seemingly being to stupefy their victims, who try in vain to escape from the snare. 
 Those that make towards the open parts are instantly speared by the hunters waiting 
 for them there. 
 
 Daylight is nearly over; we are still winding about, and at last decide to anchor 
 on a reef near Kapa-Kapa, where we have a view of the Owen-Stanley ranges, with 
 Round Head, a most glorious sun gilding sea, and sky. After some dodging about to 
 find a safe hold for the anchor, we brought to just as the sun was dipping behind 
 the distant reefs, the dark blue tumble of waters beyond the white surf-line cutting 
 it in half. Sunsets are always beautiful, if short-lived, in the tropics, but we had 
 lately been having a storm, which was still raging outside ; and with the haze which 
 a storm brines with it, this sunset was doubly beautiful. The sun floated in a violet 
 veil, orange lustred, with a scarlet glow above the haze ; only a I'^w feather-shaped 
 wreaths broke upon the graduating tints, mellowing from purple at the horizon through 
 the changes of orange, scarlet, gold, green, to an indescribable opal, which covered the 
 upper space with translucent beauty. Through this we seem to feel tin 1 dawning of 
 the coming stars, as we take our eyes away from the burnish upon the wavelets close 
 at hand and glance overhead. Then comes the hush of the evanescent twilight, and 
 with the eyes of heaven looking down upon us, we turn our naze shorewards, to where 
 Mount Owen-Stanley would be visible, had we light enough to perceive it, and were 
 there an upper space sufficiently free from mist. To-night the mountain is completely 
 shrouded behind the grey wall, and only portions of the nearer ranges can be caught, 
 with the village tires of Kapa-Kapa dotting the shores. The only chance we have of 
 viewing these stupendous ranges, rearing themselves nearly 14,000 feet above the level 
 of the sea, and as yet unexplored by the feet of civilised man. is during the few 
 minutes immediately before sunrise. We watched our chance, and fortune favoured us 
 next morning by giving us a (dear sky, and for a brief space we had an unimpeded 
 glimpse, such as is not often obtained from this point. 
 
 Completing another stage of our journey, we land at the village of Hula, and arc 
 well treated by Kema, a native trader, who acts as interpreter between us and the 
 natives. Kema has been educated by the missionaries, and sinus us hymns in the 
 South Sea language, while he sees that we are not overreached by the men and 
 women who bring their spears, nets, and ornaments to traffic with us. He is the only 
 man among them who is dressed, and he is vvvy loudly costumed in a coat of bright 
 yellow, with red and black spots. To Ins house the girls and old women came in great 
 crowds, without the reserve which the women show in other parts, and here we had to 
 taste the betel-nut and smoke the ban-ban. an attempt over which we nearly choked.
 
 Guinea.] SHARP PRACTICE. ^11 
 
 The bau-bau is a long and thick bamboo cane, with one end stopped up and the 
 other left open. A little bole is made near the closed end, into which the tobacco is 
 inserted, wrapped in a leaf, cigarette fashion,. A man lights the tobacco, while one 
 of the girls sucks at the large open end until the. hollow tube is filled with smoke, 
 after which the plug is withdrawn, and the pipe passes round, each one sucking a 
 mouthful ni' smoke and swallowing ii ! 
 
 It is a lovely walk along the smooth white sands, scattered over with pieces of 
 branch coral, and shells of all shapes and colours. I can hardly move forward for 
 stooping to pick up specimens spider shells, cowries, large and small, exquisitelj 
 shaped and delicately tinted. But the natives laugh at me lor wasting time over 
 such rubbish, even while they are good-natured enough to ease me of the labour 
 of carrying it. The sea is on one side, and the jungle a few yards on the other, a 
 jungle formed of a variety of trees -the erythrina, or coral-tree, covered with scarlet 
 blossoms, the umbrella-tree, with its great leaves, crotons of all colours, palms and 
 bananas. There is also a most, luxuriant, undergrowth of creepi i - s, and 
 
 shrubs. The houses are like the Motu buildings, square, with sloping roofs and high 
 
 Tin: BAT7-B ir OB npr. 
 
 piles. The women are taller and finer-looking than those of the Motu tribe. Some 
 we see blackened over, showing us that Death has been busy, hut those who are not 
 SOOl mated are very fail-, and all are lively and merry. 
 
 The women here are said to he less shy in their intercourse with strangers than 
 those df any other part. This is only true of the unmarried; after marriage the) 
 become rerj reserved. Mr. Goldie tells a story of one girl at Hula who played him 
 a smart trick while he was buying lish from her. She came to him with a basket- 
 load, and he bought one after a long bargaining, and gave it to his man, who 
 
 placed it iii a bag behind him. The girl disappeared for a moment, and brought 
 
 out another, and then others. The purchaser, who appears to have been looking more 
 at her than at her lish. hail boughl about half-a-dozen, when. Struck by the \.i\ 
 re aarkable resemblance of the seventh lish in size and shape to the other six. In 
 watched her as she disappeared, and caught her in the verj acl ol abstracting it 
 
 from his bag. She had sold him the same lish seven times over, and Ian 
 
 heariilv h hen caught in her trick, making good the bargain h\ giving i,j, n the 
 contents of her basket. 
 
 The natives enjoy practical joking, and nothing delights them s,, much as the 
 thought of over-reaching you in a bargain. A whole crowd will laugh uproariousrj 
 
 if tlie\ see you offering more than tiny expect for an article which they brie 
 
 sell. They will pat you on the back, and cry out "Oh! < >h ' Koi-koi!' which 
 
 means that thc\ have gammoned you, and are writing you down an ass.
 
 0|-> 
 
 c ISSELL'S PICT1 RESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Kkw 
 
 We once more go on board, and pass Hood's Bay. The 
 natives here arc said to be unfriendly, so, except at Pira- 
 matta, where there is a mission-station, and at Aroma, both 
 thriving and thickly-populated villages; we do not go ashore, 
 luil keep on our course to what might well be called a New 
 Guinea city — Kerepuna, the largest native town which we 
 had as yet seen along the coast. The natives 
 here are the finest-looking specimens of 
 humanity which I have ever beheld outside 
 a gallery of antique sculpture. The boys 
 are tall, with beautiful faces, large, soft, ex- 
 pressive eyes, fair skins, and limbs the per- 
 fection of suppleness and grace, due of them 
 walked as my friend through the town, in a 
 
 (State of nudity, and like some rare and 
 delicate statue of bronze freshly cast. There 
 was not a flaw upon him "from top to toe." 
 His movements also were full of lithe -race, quiet and stately, yet indolently unstudied. 
 When he leaned against a tree, waiting upon me as I sketched, I could hardly keep 
 my eyes off him, and yet he was only one of many equally noble examples of the 
 most perfect work of creation- man. 
 
 As we landed, three natives came forward to greet us, the tallest nearly seven feet, 
 and handsomely proportioned He good-naturedly offered me his broad shoulders as a 
 seat. There was room for two men as big as I to sit upon those brawny shoulders,
 
 
 A STATE OF NATURE. 
 
 213 
 
 while he had strength enough to carry a dozen. Be lazily leaned upon a huge 
 branch of gum-tree, which he carried about with him as a staff His two companions 
 were each over six feet, but not quite so good-looking as he, and both much darker in 
 colour. They were all perfectly nude, as the males always are, except for their 
 waist-bell of twin.', and they were without a single trace el' self-consciousness. So Adam 
 might have stood in the garden before the angels when Eve rose up from her first 
 
 l l I'l SELEI. 
 
 sleep ami saw thai she was qoI alone, Only by paying a visit to Ken-puna can 
 members of civilised races tell how much we must have degenerated. 
 
 At Kerepuna there are steeple-like structures that appeal- to be used as places for 
 keeping watch. Inside all was dark and empty, while on the platforms, raised high 
 in fronl of ilu in, by which you enter, we found large stains of Mood, as it' they were 
 used tor slaughterhouses. High into the air these spires rise, sixty, eighty, a hundred, 
 and in some eases over two hundred feel with pons projecting outwards, and extending 
 upwards far above the thatched portion. These poles have streamers flying from them 
 — woven grass and palm-leaves, and in their slender tracery and confusion 
 appear very Lighl and graceful. The b are built facing one another, as at 
 
 Tupuselei, with a narrow street of sand between. The streets as ba ■, village of
 
 214 OASSELL'S I'll TlKDSQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Not 
 
 olden times, offer vistas down which the delighted eye wanders. Deep shadows lie under 
 the piles and broad raves, while the lull glare of a tropical sun bleaches the hot sands 
 and the grey silver bark of the beams. The thatch of palm-fronds is of a grej 
 stone colour, Thus in this picture of light and shade, except when a gay-coloured 
 parrot Hits across the scene, or a gorgeously-tinted butterfly lights it up, there is little 
 positive colour, until the glance of your eye reaches the bright green and russet, Leaves 
 of the banana, in all its various stages of whole and tattered flutterings, or alights 
 upon the deeper tones of the Papuan apple-tree, its top weighted down by its generous 
 load of i'ri lit . Of these you catch glimpses over the roofs of brown-grey thatch 
 in the distance, for Kerepuna is placed in the centre of gardens. Occasionally there 
 passes a brown male figure or a tattooed female, the one with his fishing gear or 
 hunting spears, the other, it may he, with two water-jars, going to or coming from 
 the wells; or it may be that as you turn a corner you will come upon a group of 
 women preparing the taro and yams for dinner, or young mothers playing with their 
 brown babies, while on verandas tame parrots and cockatoos are nibbling away in 
 
 sleepy contentment. 
 
 Two rest-days are observed in every six, the people dividing their time by working 
 two days and resting on the third. On working-days you will find the township quiet, 
 and open to inspection, but on play-days it presents quite a different appearance. 
 Then the streets are crowded with workmen, hunters, warriors, women, and children 
 tho young girls decked out with gaily-striped grass petticoats, or " raniuas," stained red, 
 yellow, and Mack, while the men are decorated with their hornbills, shark-teeth neck- 
 laces, and twisted cane or hah armlets. The feathers of the cassowary hang over their 
 breasts, and scarlet tufts of the bird of paradise are stuck in their hair. They are 
 also adorned with breastplates of mother-of-pearl (very precious to them), with love- 
 tokens consisting of boars' tusks, spun (doth, heads, and fine feathers, and with pink 
 coral nose-sticks, their frizzed hair standing out all round their heads, while their ears 
 are hung with strings of fine shells. The warriors will parade armed with their 
 carved battle-axes and spears, their bows and arrows, their war-clubs, their richly- 
 cut w leii swords, large and small, and their tall wooden shields, some quaintly carved, 
 
 others mat-covered ami embroidered with leather and shell. The fishermen play with 
 their fish-prongs, while the young boys practise the throwing of the spear, their sires 
 looking on anil encouraging them in their exercises. 
 
 All day long, on these Sabbaths, it is a festive scene of life and movement, big 
 feasts being prepared by the women, while the men lounge about or hold their games 
 Even on festive occasions the latter are temperate. In their general behaviour they are 
 grave and silent, only giving a guttural grunt of satisfaction when a point has been 
 scored, or, it may he, a loud laugh of derision over some mistake perpetrated or 
 jest achieved. It is a most ordinary sight to see two or three brother-dandies or 
 braves walking along with beads erect, their arms Hung lovingly about one another's 
 necks. 1 'urinu' the day they will hardly speak to the "iris, the men keeping much 
 to themselves, and leaving tin- women to congregate and gossip together. 
 
 In the same affectionate manner do the men treat a stranger when he has been
 
 Gi-un * I 
 
 THi; HAN-TRAP. 
 
 ■nr, 
 
 A BATTLE-AXE 
 
 approved of. It is a case of I 'avid and Jonathan. Your friend will put his arms 
 
 round your neck, and draw yours round his, and will proudly take you amongst his 
 
 relatives. They lay aside suspicion very quickly, and give full trust and confidence 
 
 •when once they have become friends. 
 
 Of course, betel-nul and lime chewing and bau-bau smoking are the order of the 
 day during these festivals. It is only at such times that I 
 ever saw the men speak to the women. Generally a man will 
 hold out his bamboo pipe to some girl whom he is passing, 
 and she, taking hold of it, helps him to light it, sucking it 
 for him, and then handing it bark when full of smoke, and 
 quietly resuming her seat and her task of peeling the yam or 
 sp innin g the matting. When they are tired out with their 
 spear-throwing, wrestling, man-trap practice, and other amuse- 
 ments, they gather to their own family eireles, and begin to 
 least. The man-trap, by the way, is a very formidable weapon, 
 composed of a long, sharp-pointed stick, with a hoop attached 
 to the end. The sharp point projects into about a third of 
 the hoop, leaving plenty of room for the pursuing hunter to 
 fling it over the head of the running victim. The hoop 
 catches him under the chin, and jerks back his head against 
 
 the sharp point at the nape of the neck, pithing 
 
 him as oxen are pithed in the shambles. 
 
 When night comes on tires are lighted in the 
 
 streets, and songs are sung, dances danced, and 
 
 merriment made within the ruddy glow, or under 
 
 the pale lustre of the moon. And what glori.ni> 
 
 nights they are in this tropic land, when the moon 
 
 is full and streaming down over the roof-tops, making 
 
 ebony and silver of the platforms and the post-,: In 
 
 the warmth of the wood tire-, lie the old men and 
 
 women, the fathers and mothers, while the young 
 
 men and maidens dance to the sound of the drum 
 
 and rattle, or of the reed pipe-, shaped after the 
 pattern of Pan's. I sam some of these pipes, and 
 wondered to find that they were not a whit different 
 from the reed pipes which we used to see in England 
 at fail-, tied to the breast of the drum-beating show- 
 man, or which we see in the hands of Greek fauns. 
 
 < >t' course there will be love-making on these gala-nights, in spite of all rules anil 
 regulations, Young girls will steal out from the shadow of their homes, and find 
 
 their way through the trellised lanes into the dewy gardens and w Is to meet those' 
 
 whom they are beginning to like well enough to put into purgatory. In these gardens 
 and woods, in the pale light of the great moon, the dusky nymphs and fauns are 
 
 WOODEN SWORDS W> 
 DEI M.
 
 21G 
 
 i v-si:li;s picTURKsyn-: atstkalasia. 
 
 
 gliding about through the dead banana-leaves and dew- 
 drenched grass. The reed"raumas" of the nymphs 
 will not be any the worse for the dew-drenching, and 
 the fauns wear nothing to spoiL The fireflies dash 
 in the black shadows, and drips of lustre filter bc- 
 tween palm-fronds and mammy-leaves, making patches 
 of tarnished silver on the corrugated trunks, or gleam- 
 ing in diamond sparkles upon the gauze-like spider 
 webs which float from branch to branch 
 in the soft nighl gale. 
 
 At times the spirit-seers come into 
 
 the village, and then wild expectation 
 
 is raised. They are melancholy men. 
 
 these wizards, and hold 
 
 a faith somewhat akin to 
 
 that of the 
 
 spiritualists of 
 
 England and 
 
 
 ,'• - _ J~g£-£. 
 
 KI'.KEPUNA.
 
 Guinea.] 
 
 "FROM GRAVE TO GAT. 
 
 217 
 
 America. They say that they are possessed by the souls of the departed, who speak 
 through them, and tell what, is going to happen. The people have great faith in 
 these spirit-men, and evidently hold some kind of religious ceremonies, and believe in 
 a future existence. Their ghostly visitors do not depend alone upon verbal demon- 
 strations, but have masks and other disguises with which to terrifj the credulous 
 villagers, who, however, seem to know that it is all humbug, since they are read; 
 sell the spectre-masks to strangers for " koko," although while the performance lasts they 
 believe in the spirit which boo-boos behind the mask, and seem to he horribly frightened 
 We saw some very tine canoe-making at Kerepuna. All round the coast, latakois 
 are to be seen, double decked, with single, double, or triple sails, with handsome out- 
 riggers and carved prows, 
 fringed round tin: gun- 
 wale with cowrie shells 
 and birds' plumage, with 
 
 Ornaments at the mast- 
 heads, and streamers il\ - 
 ing from all points — 
 els which can be 
 handled with great dex- 
 terity, and which fly anil 
 tack before the wind like 
 sea-birds. They are some- 
 times from a hundred 
 
 to two hundred feet, in 
 
 length, although they 
 
 mostly range from fifty 
 
 to sixty feet. They are 
 
 usually the common property of a village, all helping to build and work them, so that 
 
 the loss of a latakoi is a calamity to the whole community. Towards the end of the dry 
 
 season the men make an annual trip round the coast lor trading purposes; and 
 
 when they are ready to go, the wizards are called in to predict the future, first 
 
 there is solemn music, while the Kates are being propitiated, alter which, it the 
 
 predictions are favourable, a universal farewell feast is held when all make merry. 
 While the women dance and sing, the young men show off by tacking and manoeuvring 
 their vessels in front of the dancers by the sea-shore, accompanied 1>\ their sweethearts. 
 gaily dressed, their breasts and heads covered with rare orchids and scarlet hibiscus- 
 blossoms. The ladies beal upon their drums which are covered with iguana and 
 alligator skins hake their hone and shell rattles, and laugh at the jests of the 
 
 young men. 
 
 Each trailer is a warrior, and goes all prepared to fight tor his rights, for then- 
 are pirates to he encountered, and enemies who may kill and cat him. Where). .re he 
 and his comrades cany the full complement of palm-wood spears and war-hows, with 
 stacks of poisoned wood arrow-. The wind is boisterous in some parts, and may 
 
 CHIEFS HOUSES, Kia:l :
 
 218 
 
 OASSBLL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA 
 
 INevv GlINtA. 
 
 blow them ashore on a land where only death or torture awaits them. They depart 
 on their voyages with the same anticipations with which a soldier goes forth to a 
 foreign campaign, and when the canoes part from the latakois the tears are plentiful 
 But when the south-east monsoon has ceased to Now, and the north-west monsoon 
 comes with its drenching rainfall, the women know that their husbands will soon be 
 home, it' they arc coming at all, and they prepare accordingly. II disease has broken 
 the ranks, or disaster overtaken the cargo, then there are heard wild weepings and 
 wailings, for they know that the next months must, be full of privation ; bul it' the 
 cruise lias been successful, then out with the drums and on with the hibiscus-blossoms. 
 The sun has no need to shine to make them merry ; they can dance in the pouring 
 rain. 
 
 They will know well enough when they sec the first speck of sail rounding the 
 far-off headland. Ships can crawl when dejected, as they can ny when successful, and 
 an empty vessel does not grip the water like a full one. Here they come, and not a 
 streamer wanting. With a slanting swine' they heave round the promontory, jaunty 
 and with the sails low, sweeping the roughened waves. They know full well that they 
 are watched by that anxious crowd of women and old men on the shore, and it is 
 not in human nature for tbem not to show off, so they tack till they nearly run the 
 carved nose against the bluff, and then again to seaward, with a jerking of ropes 
 and a reckless swinging of sails. 
 
 '■ Aha ! they have got the sago 1 " and each woman darts indoors to put on her 
 best " rauma," while the old men haul out the canoes through the white surf and 
 shallow waters ; then out come the jwomen adorned with their best, carrying their carved 
 paddles, and leaping about. They dash over the curling waves towards the daring 
 sailors — away under that rain-bulging sky, with the white-crested waves breaking 
 over their faces. The lithe arms are active with the carved paddles and with the cocoa- 
 nut scoop that clears out the water as it washes in; and the lagoon is covered with 
 those tiny, women-worked craft, all heading towards the flying crescent-shaped double 
 sails, while the moist air is filled with glad shouts of welcome. 
 
 NATIVE WAR SHIELD.
 
 219 
 
 NEW GUINEA: KEREPUNA TO CAUTION POINT. 
 
 Cloudy Bay— South Cape — East Cape- Heath, Palm, and Dinner Islands -A High Sense of Honour— Milne 
 Hay — Cliffy and Teste island — A Nocturne — Caution Point — German New Guinea— An Expedition up 
 i li i A in! River. 
 
 rTX) describe the houses of Kerepuna is to describe nearly all the bouses along the 
 -L coast from tins point to East Cape and Teste [sland No two villages, howi 
 are exactly alike in design; and there is hardly a single tribe that has not quite a 
 different language. This circumstance, by the way, makes it difficult to travel among 
 the natives of New Guinea, although none of the languages are in themselves 
 difficult to learn. 
 
 Leaving II I's Hay, in wbieh stand Piramatta, Aroma, Kerepuna, and many other 
 
 native towns and villages, we sail along towards Cloudy Hay. past Cape Rodney, Baxter 
 Bay, Table Point and May. As we pass the lofty ranges on our left, they take 
 upon them the varied lights and shadows of the day as it advances from morning to 
 midday, and on to the golden greys of afternoon and the royal purple of evening. 
 We gained glimpses of Mounts Suckling and Obree, with numerous unnamed ranges 
 towering between us and them, all grand and all abruptly rising up one from the other; 
 of dense forests and hare cliffs, and chasms down which we could look till sight was 
 lost in the purple obscurity ; of hill-sides, seamed with stream-courses and broken by 
 waterfalls ; of gullies where the alligator was lurking with her young, and the wild 
 boars were wandering in droves. We passed long cane-grass, tall enough to hide a 
 man on horseback, and patches of jungle where the rifle bird and the laughing jackass 
 roosted. Across Cloudy Bay we sailed, with the sky piled up with rain-clouds, and 
 the mountains dark and blurred. The savages bere are very ferocious, and slay and 
 i tbey can catch. As we pass Amazon and other bays, including Oran- 
 gerie Bay, the scenery grows hourly more rugged, and. at the same time, more sylvan; 
 then come more islands, ami points, and hays, until, leaving behind Mounts Suckling 
 and Simpson, we get round South Cape and the North Foreland. 
 
 Next morning the sun rose over South Cape with the lints and some of the 
 weird and fantastic outlines of that picture of Turner's, "Ulysses." The mountains 
 looked like giants waking up from sleep and flinging up violet arms out of rose- 
 tinted into saffron-col ■ed hazes. There were vasl rocks standing up clear from the 
 
 mountain sides like spires and battlements — pinnacles from a thousand to four 
 thousand feel in air. Great cones rose from the water's edge at sharp angles, hnt 
 covered to ihe mia summit with native gardens and zigzag paths, along which women 
 blithely bore their laden baskets. No mountains can I .pared to these for diver- 
 sity <>f shape and stupendous grandeur, or tor the fearsome hollows where the morning 
 shadow sleeps. It looked like Dante's land, onlj that it was too fertile and to,, highly 
 cultivated 
 
 At South < 'ape there are many villages, not far from the mission station, and as 
 .is a Sunday morning, we saw the gaily-attired procession of converted native
 
 220 
 
 i u/s i'ii Trui.sijri; .wstualasta. 
 
 [New 
 
 _— , — 
 
 CLOUDY hay. 
 
 filing into church. Gowns of all shades passed along 
 the silent beach, and gleamed fitfully between the 
 fruit trees — white, cream-tinted, yellow, rose-hued, 
 scarlet, crushed strawberry, browns, and varied depths 
 of bine and green. The rainbow was fully repre- 
 sented this quiet Sunday morning while the stalwart South Sea Island teacher was 
 beating upon an empty tin can which did duty for bell or gong. It is true that 
 the natives might have supplied him with a better instrument to call to prayer, but the 
 tin can represented civilisation, as did tins.- many-tinted gowns, while the iguana-skin 
 drum and cassowary fringes would have looked heathen. 
 
 Going ashore, and to church also, we were honoured with a place beside the 
 teacher and his wife, one of the most lovely South Sea Island women I ever beheld. 
 We could follow the airs sung, although we could not keep up with the words. 
 Beyond the teacher's house is a beautiful water-pool, with a fall coming from a high 
 rock, the whole densely hung with tropical foliage. On the beach many canoes 
 were drawn up, with matting over them to keep them from the sun; there were 
 also crowds of natives, who sat beside the canoes and huts, minus gown or dress. I 
 have no doubt the entire drapery of the (ape was then being steamed in church, 
 while the nude portion of the community patiently waited their turn. 
 
 Returning to our boat, we go on through China Straits, passing close to many 
 islands, with great walls of solid rock in some places sheer from the sea, guarding 
 fright coves and inlets. As we left, East (ape behind, the sun was fully up, and 
 vouchsafed to us rare treats of light and shade. Of course it. was very hot, even 
 with a head-wind, under such rays. Our costume consisted of very thin pyjamas, and 
 light canvas shoes to keep our feet from contact with the hot deck or the burning sands 
 A few moments in the sun burns blisters on our arms and feet, and when we pass 
 from under the awning it is like standing upon a heated oven. Yet it is astonishing
 
 Guinea.] 
 
 I1KATII ISLAM). 
 
 221 
 
 how quickly the human frame becomes accustomed to tropical skies. Already 1 like 
 
 the heat, ami prefer the sunshine to the shade; and after being blistered over once 
 or twice the skin gets tanned, ami the sun no longer hums, but only warms. A night 
 which would lie midsummer at borne makes one shiver with cold. Even the mos- 
 quitoes seem to be less t rouhlesi mie, and tu stah one with more leniency than they 
 did before. 
 
 Heath Island now bursts upon us as we round a promontory of rock and beautiful 
 vegetation — Heath Island, with a deep translucent bay and snowy sands, with over- 
 hanging branches, and trees shooting up into the azure space and halt' covering the 
 hill sides, with masses of rock peering nut from hanks of rich tropica] flowers -altogether 
 the perfection of an island. Frmn beetling cliffs, reflecting themselves in tip- deep, 
 clear, smooth waters, trail parasites and creepers, covered with blossoms of all hues. 
 
 DINNER ISLAND. 
 
 At the extremity of tl one a hut appears, emptj and going to pieces. It was raised 
 
 her by an unfortunate trader who net long ago was attacked and slaughtered by 
 
 the natives. 
 
 Another turn, and Palm Island lies mi our left, with Dinner Island in front of us, 
 where we dmp anchor ami go ashore. Bere we met Tom, a South Sea teacher, coal- 
 black and massive, who is to go with US up Milne l'.a\ to settle a dispute, and conciliate 
 the natives of Gile-Gile, who have been ill-treated in some way, and want a life. 
 He explains the eallse of the diseontellt as we steam Up Millie Bay, or rathe]- 
 
 Gulf, as it oughl to le called. It appears that a man who was iii charge of the
 
 222 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Nmr 
 
 Copra station had stolon some Inns, which had been left there b} the missionary. The 
 natives regarded them as a sacred trust The man. hearing thai thej were going to 
 murder him, had decamped, and was now staving at Dinner Island. Tom was going 
 
 up to claim the Inns, and inform the natives that he was satisfied, and so ought 
 they to be. But they were not easily brought to reason, their honour as protei tors 
 having been wounded. One of our party told them, through Tom. thai the liens 
 were their own property, not Tom's, because after they had been left behind they 
 were the property of those who lived on the land. He also offered to settle the 
 question once for all by paying the full price of the poultry in tobacco, but neither 
 Tom nor the simple-minded savages could grasp the subtleties of this legal quirk. The 
 original hens belonged to Tom, so he and the chief agreed that all the progenj must 
 still belong to him, and doggedly stuck to these simple lines of possession. At last 
 the gentleman who represented the intricate honesty of refined civilisation was fain to 
 leave the savage chief and the half-savage tea. her to settle the matter according to 
 their own simple code of morality. Tom, as a truthful man, translated the remarks 
 of the representative, but did it sulkily — remarks which the chief received with lower- 
 ing brows. Tom then stated his own case, in his own way, of which the chief saw 
 t lie force, and at last consented to leave vengeance alone, finishing up by saying. 
 "Hens belong to you, not to me; and I will not kill white thief unless he comes to 
 Gile-Gile ! " 
 
 Milne Bay has not yet been much traversed by vessels, and the shores have 1 ecu 
 little visited, the natives here being cannibals — cannibals, indeed, of a peculiarly 
 desperate kind. As I walked about sketching, with these facts in my mind, I did 
 not feel over comfortable, nor was I very sorry when we turned our backs upon 
 these specimens of savage life. Somewhere about this part, I am given to understand. 
 there is an inland tribe who go about in bands to trap unwary travellers. They do 
 not attack parties, but lie in wait for single victims, whom, when caught, they kill 
 and cut up, carrying the pieces about for trade purposes amongst the native villages, 
 much as butchers do with sheep and cattle at home. They are the professional 
 butchers of New Guinea. 
 
 Gile-Gile lies at the head of Milne Gulf, with houses on both sides of the Hay. 
 A large river runs into the Gulf at this point, and the native houses on the other side 
 are built upon the neck of land between the Bay and the river. Ahead of us the 
 water narrows in winding passages towards a chain of high mountains, with over- 
 hanging banks of foliage. The effect of these mountains, through this leafy frame- 
 work, is very soft, and as rain falls nearly every day throughout the year the 
 cloud effects from Gile-Gile, looking up and down that broad sheet of water, which 
 spreads out like a lake, surrounded by lofty and rugged mountains with silvery-grey 
 distances and cool shadows, are beautiful and ever-i hanging. 
 
 From China Straits, as we return, we get a fine view of Mount Cloudy in the 
 
 distance — a single cone, abruptly rising to an immense height from pyramidal-shaped 
 
 sides. A quick run past headlands and smooth bays, and for a short time we get 
 
 lear of land, to bring up before long at Teste Island, which lies off the coast of East
 
 Gome*.] A PERILOUS PASSAGE. 223 
 
 Cape— a large, fertile, and beautifully situated isle, forming the centre of a clu 
 Sere we find Cliffy, Bell, West, Boat, and other islands, all extending seaward 
 and shoreward, dotting the bosom of the open ocean with most marvellous formations. 
 It is night before we reach Teste Island, an hour or so before moomiso, but our 
 pilot knows the way well, and so, through the shoals and treacherous reef's, he drives 
 straight along, like a London cabman who knows how to handle his horse. He does 
 not fear to skirt the extreme limits of safety, almost grazing those deadly, wave- 
 covered walls of coral Once on these, there could be no getting off again. The 
 delicate coral branches, fan-shaped and ruse-shaped, so slight and tender that the 
 least pressure breaks them off in Hakes, appear harmless enough, as we lift them 
 gingerly in our hands for fear we should break off a petal of thai snowy, or amber- 
 tinted, or rosy sea-flower. But they will tear in an instant through the strong sheets 
 of copper which line the bottom of the ship, crunching through beams and planks like the 
 sharp teeth of rats, and leaving ghastly holes for the water to rush through A heave 
 of a high wave, or the white surf that is always lashing over the outside barrier, will 
 land a vessel on their tops, and the next return may heave her off again; but between 
 that wave and wave the deed has heen don.', and almosl before a boat can be lowi red 
 the ship has sunk to limitless depths. 
 
 Fortunately for our peace of mind, our pilot knows the passage, although there 
 are no charts yet made which can he relied upon. A phosphorescent rush of tire- 
 sparks is furrowed up as we plough alone, and a pale, dull whiteness, with a narrow 
 
 thread of blue-black close alongside, at times shows us t'he proximity of a reef. The 
 round dome of heaven, like a punctured canvas roof, with denser patches of darkness 
 where the smoke rolls from the funnel, meets our eyes as we glance up from the star- 
 reflecting oeean to the star-tilled sky. The gentle breezes humming through the 
 cordage and through the grass dresses which we have hung over the rail to air. lull 
 ii- into reposeful inattention to all things material. But we duck our heads, and wake 
 up quickly, as a thick blackness seems to fall suddenly upon us, and while we leek 
 up. startled, great cliffs and rm-ks, with intense black shadows, seem to lie sliding 
 
 down upon us. We are so close that it seems as if we could touch them witll our 
 hands, while they overhang so much as to give the impression that they musl fall anil 
 crush us to pieces. 
 
 We are now grazing the sides of Cliffy Island, an immense reek, perforated with 
 
 caves, where myriads of sea-birds make their hemes, and with a water-worn line 
 
 cut clean all round it at its base. Trees and luxuriant herbage deck the top, hut in 
 
 the lower part all is Steep, or rather projecting, precipice From the side we are 
 
 rounding, the island shelves inwards wry abruptly, giving a decided top-heavy ap- 
 pearance, Beyond it, ami aboul two miles distant, looms the dusk} outline of tin' 
 Bell Rock, rising hell-shaped out of the sea, ami over four hundred feel in air. Hut 
 to-night all its lines are indistinct, and only visible where they intercept the stars. 
 
 Ten minutes longer, and we bring ourselves to anchor as near Teste Island as 
 we dare approach, and a- soon as ma\ I-.' we an' over the side, into the dingey, and 
 pulling tor the shore, with canoes ami natives alongside showing the way. As
 
 224 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTUEESQUB AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 I N j w 
 
 we strike the beach, the moon rises over the eastern edge of the island, just where the 
 palms and houses of the natives are placed. A promontory shelters these houses 
 from the sea gales, and forms a secluded cove fringed by layers of coral reefs, s<> 
 thai the pool within lies almost without a ripple even while the waters are tossing 
 outside or moaning at the liar. It is a pretty, irregularly-built village, with palm- 
 trees growing by the sides of the houses and lining the sands. As we waded over 
 
 the .shadow places, and walked towards the trader's house, we watched the moon lit'l 
 
 itself above that dark promontory — the broad golden disc fringed and zigzagged 1>\ 
 the tops of hushes and trees. Softly it rose and paled its tires, the sands growing 
 whiter as the light strengthened and objects became more sharply defined— thatched 
 houses on piles, with palms, breaking the straight lines and casting dark shadows along 
 the beach— a canoe rocking with upright mast in the bay, the waters of which, as 
 they catch the gleaming moon-shafts, appear to become more ripply. The solemnity 
 i »reat silence was over all, for this was one of the working days, and now in 
 
 the evening everyone seemed to be asleep. 
 
 Even the natives who were with us when we 
 
 landed had glided away silently and gone 
 to bed, leaving their curiosity, now that 
 they were satisfied we were not 
 enemies, to be indulged on the 
 morrow. We went to one of the 
 houses, and peered into the 
 darkness within. 1 >eep breath- 
 ing, and a grunl or so, told us 
 that all were asleep except the 
 
 watchers, who had grunted 
 their disapproval at our im- 
 pertinence : then we went back 
 to the trader's bungalow, and 
 
 were shown a spare room into 
 which our guides had gone. It 
 was a large apartment, some- 
 thing like a barn, with a cane 
 floor raised, as usual, from the 
 ground, about forty young men 
 and hoys being huddled to- 
 gether, and asleep: there they 
 lay at sixes and sevens, their 
 limbs in all sorts of positions. 
 The wonder is that some of 
 the lesser fry were not squeezed 
 out of existence beneath the 
 
 3. PALM ISLAND. 
 
 1. NATIVE HOUSE WITH PALMS. Weight ol tllC eldel'S j yet tliey 
 
 l. ti:ai>im: \ essels. 
 'J. SOUTH CAPE.
 
 1 
 
 A DAZZLING MORNING. 
 
 ■2-ir, 
 
 all seemed comfortable, ami not even the light, held over their faces, disturbed their 
 slumbers. These young Spartans have worked hard all day, and arc tired out, but 
 to-morrow tiny will be up at dawn to begin again; they want neither couch nor 
 covering to make them sleep, nor will they grumble it' awakened suddenly, as they 
 were at our arrival. They are accustomed to surprises; and he who sleeps alter the 
 first warning to wake up dues not live kme'. 
 
 We slept that night much in the manner of the country, and, albeit troubled a 
 good ileal by hosts of mosquitoes, found our quarters on the whole comfortable. Next 
 
 : i. ISLAND. 
 
 morning we took our bath in the crystal lagoon. No danger of sharks hen-, for 
 it is well protected b\ the reefs. It is a dazzling morning; the natives are plunging 
 about beside us. and the islands seems afloat on the sapphire sea. Bell Rock, with its 
 fissures and rosy lights, or amber where the mass grows on its shelves and tops. 
 turns out to he a vast upheaval of basalt, over four hundred feel to its pinnacle; 
 Cliffy Island, looking as if it had once received a buffet on this side which had sent 
 Li all agee, has a perfect cloud of birds soaring about its dark purple sides; West 
 Island, with its grassy slopes slanting from us. is bathed in the gilding of the rising 
 
 sun; and Boal Island resembles some huge hippopotamus fallen asleep. Over the 
 reels, flying fish, dolphins, and other ocean denizens, are sporting in the cooling thud: 
 there are also ereseetil -haped tins floating quietly about, as near as they dare conic 
 15
 
 ~2±o CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [New Guivba. 
 
 to our bathing-place; while the white loam breaks merrily against the fretted under- 
 ledges of the rocky cliffs. 
 
 Ash, ire, the parrots and cockatoos arc chattering noisily amongst the branches. 
 
 Near the copra traders' sheds a great tamarind tree grows, with corrugated trunk and 
 half-exposed roots, its gnarled branches twisted round each other, or Hung far apart, 
 and dense with leafage, under the shelter of which crowds of men, women, and chil- 
 dren sit, with their mats, calabashes, baskets, and other curiosities, waiting until we 
 
 co to buy from them. Behind them are groves of deliciously green fruit-trees, cool 
 
 shadow-spots, where the grasses, long and fresh, are all misty with the sheen of heavy 
 dewdrops. It is a golden idyll of tropic life, from which we must tear ourselves 
 before we are nearly satisfied, to hurry away on the swift wings of the monsoon. 
 
 Our easterly limit was Caution Point, which we reached by way of Cape Moresby, 
 Collingwood and Dyke-Acland Bays. This brings us to the German division of 
 New Guinea Of this I may say, from inquiries made, that it is a very large slice of 
 the island. One of the most recent explorers, who was with me on the voyage down to 
 Brisbane, tells me that the cases of fever arc very mild in this part of the country, 
 and quickly cured, and that already they have begun to colonise. He explored most 
 of the level country, and found the Augusta River navigable for large vessels for a 
 distance of 310 miles — a broad, smooth river, ten to fifteen fathoms deep all the 
 way, and over 1,000 feet broad. The land on both sides was open country from thirty 
 to fifty miles deep, and would make splendid sugar and coffee plantations. The natives 
 ■were numerous and fairly friendly, open to conviction, and not at all difficult to 
 manage. These details were kindly imparted to me by \h: Knappe, German Consul at 
 .Samoa, who had been exploring New Guinea for his Government. 
 
 Since the above was written, I have had intelligence of a most successful expe- 
 dition up the Aird River, which will go far to open the hitherto almost unknown 
 interior of this land, and which proves that it may be pcneti-ated with impunity. This 
 expedition was organised entirely at the expense of the enterprising firm of A Iessrs. 
 Burns, Phelp, and Co., for the purpose of discovering an easy way into the interior, 
 with a view to future trading enterprise, and was placed under the leadership of 
 .Mr. Theodore F. Beven, an able New Guinea explorer. He writes: — "We steamed in 
 ■the Victor;/, seventy miles from Cape Blackwood as the crow flies, in a northerly 
 direction into the mountainous ranges, finding a broad channel which carried three to 
 seven fathoms of water right into the Aird River. Alter following it up, we found it 
 was only one of the many mouths of a great fresh-water river coming from the ranees 
 inland, a magnificent stream which we followed to the head, eighty miles in direct line 
 from the coast, carrying good water all the way to the mountains. On returning down 
 the river we struck a fresh branch and came out in Deception Bay; going hence to 
 Motu-.Motu, and returning, searching the coast, we found a magnificent new river, with 
 an entrance over three miles wide, close to Bald Head. We proceeded up this river one 
 hundred and ten miles, passing through ranges and gorges, in places 1,500 feet high 
 The country is splendid scrub country, with very rich agricultural land on both rivers."
 
 227 
 
 NEW GUINEA: YULE ISLAND AND THE TORRES STRAITS. 
 
 Yule Island — Motu-Motu — Across the Papuan Gulf — Damley Island— The Murray Group— Yorke Island— 
 
 Lon. 
 
 AFTER returning to Port Moresby from the east, which wo did in a day or so, 
 -£^- we bore towards Yule Island and the wesl of British New Guinea, Yule Island 
 lies about sixty miles from Port Moresby, and is separated from the mainland by a 
 narrow strip of sea. I should say. from what 1 saw, that it is one of the healthiest 
 places along the coast, for Europeans. Here we walked through fields of eane- 
 grass twelve to fifteen feet high, so that we had to keep hard mi the heels of our 
 guide, or we should soon have been hopelessly lust. On the hills it dees not grow so 
 tall, and as we ascend walking becomes easier, excepl for dense patches oJ jungle 
 here and there, the lair of the wild boar and of other game. From the hillside we 
 had a fine view of the sea and the mainland, with Mount Sule and other hills, and 
 dense forests — jungles of sago, cedar, cotton, eucalyptus, and umbrella trees. Crotons 
 and castor-oil plants meet us at every turn, and orchids exquisitely shaped and tinted 
 cling wherever they can find a dead branch to beautify. 
 
 Hospitably received by the three French priests who have here taken up their 
 abode, also by the Protestant native teachers, who are living in unity with them, we 
 explored the island, and saw two native villages, beautifully built in the centre of palm- 
 groves, with the grey sand swept carefully every day, and the roads kept like garden 
 walks. There is here a lovely smooth shore, with rugged promontories jutting out; 
 and as we turn corners we find ever fresh treats tor the eye — dark openings in the 
 mangrove jungle, caves, and arches, shells jingling against one another as the white 
 surf-line laps amongst them. 
 
 Our last stoppage on the mainland is the important township ol Motu-Motu, the 
 besl point on tin' highway inland towards Mount Yule. Here Mr. Eidelfelt has taken 
 up his post, with his plucky young wile, and means to prosecute his botanical and other 
 studies on this scientifically fertile mountain. During his former stay he was 
 strictly vegetarian, and had perfect health, although taking no precautions against 
 
 fever, his immunity from which, however, may he due to his living as much as 
 
 possible on the ranges and as little as possible on th iast The town of Motu-Motu 
 
 lies in Freshwater Bay, hut the coast is difficult of approach The surf was to,. 
 heavy for the dingey to be broughl out, and through our -lass,s we saw three canoes 
 swamped as the natives tried to launch them. At last we anchored in the lagoon 
 at the mouth of the river, and got ashore by a circuitous route. 
 
 It was night when, bidding farewell t" New Guinea, we lifted our anchor and 
 steamed across the tempestuous Papuan Gulf a nighl of clouds and gloom, with waves 
 running wickedly past us, and curling up into white crests, like snarling black dogs 
 
 showing their teeth. The "Gulf" is like the I'.av ol' Biscay always, or nearly 
 
 always, rough. We had steam, so we passed over it in comparative case, al- 
 though in one part we stu.k last on a sand-hank, and had to wail for high tide to
 
 228 
 
 ELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 | rORBBS 
 
 get off again. We also had many miles' dodging about to find our right, route before 
 we sighted Bramble Cay. From this point all wenl smoothly. We soon sighted the 
 magnificent Island of Darnley. As Mr. Norton, now curator of the Hobart 
 Museum, an old explorer in these parts, says, it is "one of the largest, and most. 
 fertile of this fruitful archipelago; an undulating sea of tropical verdure clothes lofty 
 
 MURRAY ISLAND 
 
 DARXLEY ISLAND. 
 
 hills and tranquil valleys, broken only by rugged cliffs and crags of sombre-tinted 
 rock, and bore and there a scanty patch of bright-foliaged bananas, papopaws, and 
 sugar-cane, flourishing freely among the yams and taro in the rudely-cultivated planta- 
 tions of the miserable remnant of a once-powerful race, whose silent and deserted 
 villages may still be seen nestling under the evergreen canopy of the cocoa-nut groves, 
 fringing the small snow-white beaches dotted at frequent intervals along the reef- 
 encircled foreshore of this island." 

 
 
 MUKRAY ISLAND. 
 
 229 
 
 From Darnley to the Murray group of islands the sea is filled with shoals and 
 , so that it must be traversed by day. One of the natives acted as pilol —a tall, 
 handsome, brown fellow, who glanced with wounded pride when the captain doubted 
 his directions, the captain being one of the old school, and strongly objecting to receiv- 
 ing orders in his own ship from a "nigger." However, the native knew his way, and 
 l'\ sundown wo were anchored safely before the mission-station, and were welcomed on 
 
 shore. 
 
 The native kins of the island came out to meet us with his boat's crow 
 
 o 
 
 MOT! -Mi I'll 
 
 dressed in hill naval uniform, bis cutter carrying the Union -lack, and his crew like a 
 ( 'ustom I [ouse crow on State sen ice. 
 
 This island is one of the principal stations of the Mission Society, and is very 
 finely situated in the centre of Meer and Dower islands. Fertile, as all the islands 
 are, Murray is composed of a large volcanic hill, with the crater visible from the sea 
 The mission-houses are buill upon terraces, and provided with gardens, along the 
 sheltered side of the hill. We walked through the plantations and gardens, and up 
 a winding pathway, verj beautiful, to the mission-house. Bere we were mosl kindrj 
 treated by the missionaries, one of whom acted as our guide, and showed us over the 
 island. It appears to !»■ healthy, although the missionary's wife has suffered much 
 from fever, while their two pretty children are rather fragile-looking, hut. like the 
 native children with whom the\ play, they seem to live halt' their lives in the sea 
 and swim like ducks, talking the native language even b< tter than their mother- 
 tongue. The description of Darnley applies equally to Murray, which we left with a
 
 230 
 
 ILL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 • UrAllS. 
 
 profound feeling of respect for the solitary and delicate lady who lives and works with 
 her husband and children amongsl these only half-tamed savages. Another ten hours' 
 steaming, and we anchor at Ybrke Island. The stars are rising, and the effecl is pecu- 
 liarly beautiful, though not more so than thai of the sunrise which greeted us next 
 morning. Here we find the beche-de-mer being prepared for the Japan and China 
 markets, with the iron sheds where it is smoked, and the natives who work and pre- 
 pare it for the trader. They permit him to stay with them, and they help him with 
 bis work, in return for which he keeps them all. Life is easy on these islands, the 
 natives working only when inclined, and this style suits the present trader, who finds 
 it best for his own interests, and not opposed to his inclinations, to let them have their 
 own way. The native king is the best dressed man on the island: he comes out. when 
 strangers arrive, with an old red soldier's jacket and cap. The trader himself possesses 
 one pair of trousers, much patched, and portions of a red flannel shirt, the patches 
 artistically, if not scientifically, put on by the king's sister, whom the trader has 
 married — a coal-black, stalwart Torres Strait queen The island is almost Hat, hut 
 richly wooded, and well guarded by reefs — the ideal pirates' isle : and when we turned 
 wist ward we felt as if it would not he very difficult to become reconciled to this 
 aimless but happy lotus-eating life. 
 
 
 PROW OF A NEW GUINEA CANOE.
 
 231 
 
 ADELAIDE. 
 
 ■•A Mode] City"— The Plan of the Ci i b Adelaide -Victoria Square— King William Street— The Post 
 
 Office— The Town Hall— The Town Clerk— The Terraces— Hindley Street— North Adelaide— The Anj 
 Cathedral — A City of Churches — Religion and Morals —The River Torrens and it- I'.ml -r- -Old Parliament 
 House and New Parliament House — The Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery — The University — 
 The Park-lands — The Suburbs— The .Mails — Port Adelaide — Semaphore— Largs Bay — Glenelg— Proclamation 
 Tree— The First Government House— Bi 
 
 ADELAIDE, besides possessing tin- nicknames of the "farinaceous village" and the 
 •-^A. "city of churches," has been described in the columns of a will-known London 
 paper as "a model city" — and in many respects it deserves the complin 
 Many Australian cities have been carefully planned and laid out, but it may be 
 
 doubted whether in any other case such skill has been shown. The g 1 p 
 
 of Adelaide have reason to be proud of Colonel Light, the officer of the Royal En- 
 gineers credited with the design of the city, and to treasure Lis portrait and hi 
 statue. Like till large cities, Adelaide has a great many suburbs, and with th< m 
 covers a una* space of ground; but there is no modern city in which the distinction 
 between city and suburbs is so clearly marked. It is as clear as in the ease of cities 
 of old time, which were walled about. The Adelaide walls are park-lands, which are 
 highly valued, and which will be more and more valued as time goes on. According 
 to the familar illustration, they are the lungs of the city. One accustomed to the 
 crowding of English towns might think that, it' anything; Adelaide was over-provided 
 with Lungs; but he would also hold that this is a fault, if fault it be, on the right 
 side The park-lands are in most part still waste lands. Their extenl has been too 
 greal for them to be laid out as yet, bul they cannot be built over. 
 
 Adelaide proper consists of two main divisions, North and South Adelaide, 
 separated by the river Ton-ens and the uneven ground on its banks. Each division 
 lias a separate and independent plan, and the park-lands, which surround the whole. 
 also intervene in rich profusion between the two. This intervening space has 
 used for large public institutions, many of them standing in their own grounds — the 
 railway station, Parliament Souse, Government House, the Public Library, the University, 
 the Hospital. These, however may be said to belong to South Adelaide, because they are 
 on the south side of the Tori-ens, though they lie outside its plan. South Adelaide 
 
 is an oblong— one mile on the shorter side, and one-third of a mile mor i the loi 
 
 but any appearance of stiffness in this arrangement is avoided by a prolongation 
 of the southern side and a kind of bulge in the south-eastern corner; yet of tins 
 corner it, is true, as Mr. Troilope observes, that there is "a regularity even in the 
 irregularity. This terrace, on the map of the town takes the form of a flight of 
 steps, for nothing so irregular .-is a sloping or diagonal Line has been permitted in the 
 arrangement of the streets." The streets, as in so many colonial ci are laid out 
 regularly, on the Philadelphia model, parallel and rectangular, and the meridian Line 
 lias been strictly preserved The streets run strict north and south, .strict east and 
 west. But streets of a mile long, crossed by streets more than a mile long, without 
 any variety, would be intolerably stilt, and an attempt has been ■ avoid such
 
 232 
 
 ELL'S I'M rritESQUE AUSTRALASIA 
 
 1 Am I.A1DE. 
 
 stiffness by tin; introduction of certain squares, which are public gardens — not like 
 London squares, the preserves of families thai enjoy a private key. Of these. Victoria 
 Square — at the onicr of which stand the Government Offices— is in the very centre 
 of South Adelaide, and the four other squares, with their outward corners rounded, 
 divide the space between the central square and the corners of the town. The five 
 squares are arranged like a card with five pips. 
 
 The central street of Adelaide is King William Street, and it is quite appropriate 
 that, the main street should be called after William IV., seeing that the city took its 
 
 KIXc; WILLIAM STREET. 
 
 name from his consort. It is written that the original designer meant King William 
 Street to be rather a residential than a business street, but designers cannot alwa} r s 
 have their way, and bushiess has gravitated towards King William Street, and now 
 all the chief banks and insurance offices, as well as the Post Office and the Town 
 Hall, are to be found there. As elsewhere, the banks vie with one another in the 
 splendour of their buildings. For a long time, some of them were content to be 
 housed in very poor quarters, but the force of competition has compelled all, one after 
 another, to spend large sums of money upon architecture, to the very great advantage 
 of the appearance of the city. 
 
 The two most conspicuous buildings in this part of the town — the Post Office and 
 the Town Hall — demand some description. The foundation-stone of the Victoria Tower 
 of the former was laid by the Huke of Edinburgh on the 5th of November, 18C7, upon
 
 234 CASSBLL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 the occasion of his first visit to Australia. The Post Office is very handsome, as it, oughl 
 to be, for ii cost a great dea] of money. There is a large central hall for the use of the 
 public, round which the offices are grouped to which those who have dealings with officials 
 need access. <>n its suitability to its purpose let us hearken to the opinion of a business 
 man, Mr. II. G. Turner, of Melbourne: — "The central hall, which is ninety feet by thirty- 
 five feet, and sixty-five feel high, is abundantly lighted from the d and paved 
 
 with Minton's tiles. Cool in summer, and protected in wet weather, ii presents the 
 beau ideal of a place lot- the public to do business in; and all requisite information, 
 meteorological, postal, and nautical, is displayed with lavish abundance and electrical 
 promptitude. There are probably not half-a-dozen buildings in all the colonies that 
 can surpass it for architectural merit, and not one for adaptability to its objects." 
 The building is of the Palladian order of architecture, with a tower, to the top 
 of which visitors are taken by zealous residents to see the view. As the lantern 
 for signalling the arrival of the mails at night stands over 150 feet from the ground, 
 there are a good many steps to ascend in order to reach it, but the exertion is 
 amply rewarded, especially if the visitor should desire to understand the geography of 
 his surroundings. The whole plain is visible, from the sea to the Mount Lofty Range, 
 whilst Adelaide, with its suburbs, lies at the feet like a map. The Adelaide Post 
 Office, it should be mentioned, is enriched with a pleasant chime of bells. Loth the 
 Post Office and the Town Hall are built of a beautiful white freestone, which is 
 brought from quarries about fifteen miles from the city. 
 
 The second tower that is at once seen in Adelaide belongs to the Town Hall, on the 
 other side of King William Street. Here there is a large room used for public meetings 
 and entertainments, and there are the municipal offices. In the Council Chamber there 
 are portraits of some of the early explorers, governors, and city magnates ; and the Town 
 Clerk has, with some trouble, made a record of the persons, without a. single exception, 
 after whom the streets and squares of the city are named. It has been well said that 
 this functionary, Mr. Thomas Worshop, is, in a literary sense, the true Recorder of tin 
 ( ity. He has published an excellent " History of the City of Adelaide." to which all 
 who desire to write adequately about Adelaide must acknowledge obligations. 
 
 In many cases Adelaide is the first Australian city visited by tourists from 
 Europe. Visitors will be interested to notice the importance attached to municipal 
 institutions in the colonies. .Stately town-halls and spacious municipal offices are the 
 outward tokens of this importance. These will be found, not only in the capital cities, 
 such as Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney but in much smaller places. The visitor will 
 soon remark the buildings in the numerous suburban cities that cluster round each capital. 
 In this matter Australia may be compared in her newness with the old cities of the 
 Low Countries, though it has not fallen to her lot to have such rare architects as 
 those who built the Hotel de Ville at Lonvain, or that at Ghent. It is in the zeal to 
 exalt city government, and to house it handsomely, that the point of the comparison 
 lies. It is df interest to dwell on this further, for Adelaide was not only the first city 
 in Australia to have a municipality, but, in the proud language of Mr. Wbrsnop, it is 
 "the birthplace of municipal government in the whole British Colonial Empire."
 
 ""I THE TERRACES. 235 
 
 King William Street is probably the broadest street in any lai n in 
 Australia with tin' single exception of Stmt Street, Ballarat, and. at its northern end, 
 one of the handsomest streets that can be seen anywhere. In former days it 
 was divided into two parts by Victoria Square, though the square was always bisi 
 by the street that runs from east to west. Traffic was diverted to the righl hand 
 ami to the left in a manner that was more picturesque than convenient. In a 
 struggle, however, between the picturesque and the convenient the latter always pre- 
 vails, and now the great central square of tl ity has been cut up into four small 
 
 squares, and the broad King William Stn | 3 through its midst. No little regret 
 was felt at the destruction of trees, for trees take long w. It certainly seems a 
 
 pity that all the trees were cut down, and that no compromise was effected by preserv- 
 ing at least si. me of them in belts. Even now, for the sake of the future, the read 
 crossing the square should be replanted with all convenient speed. Australians, ac- 
 customed to the freedom and space of the bush, take an especial pride iii broad str 
 which are often much wider than is at all necessary. Due care is. no doubt, being 
 taken for the future needs of traffic: but it should be remembered that broad sti 
 in order to bring oul their full beauty, must he planted Otherwise, the broader tin; 
 Btreet, the more the dust. 
 
 The boundaries of South Adelaide, en each of its four sides, are called Terraces, 
 though the houses are net in a continuous row as in a London terrace. In Adelaide 
 a "terrace" means that there are houses on one side of the road but not on the other. 
 <>n this account the terraces are popular, and land along them commands a high 
 price. Sere we will borrow a description from an account by the literary Melbourne 
 hanker before quoted, Mr. II. <;. Turner: — 
 
 " From the West Terrace there is a tine expansive view over the breezy plains 
 stretching to the ocean beach, and which takes in the shore from Glenelg to Larg's 
 Bay, with the shimmering waters of the gulf beyond. The onlj encroachments on 
 the park-lands facing this terrace are a reserve for cemetery purposes, which is not 
 maintained in a- good order as it should he. and the buildings connected with the 
 Observatory On the reserves facing South Terrace there are no buildings, while on 
 those fronting tin' East a rerj excellent racecourse has been laid out, with a oom- 
 modious grand stand and the other appurtenances of this popular sport. 
 
 "The view from the East Terra-.- is probably the finest in the city, and 
 many of the houses upon it are indicative of the wealth and : their owners. 
 The ever-varying light and shade which animates the picturesque outlines of the 
 Mount l...ti\ Ranges, facing this terrace, is a continuous delight to the eye. Tin- 
 dark foliage of tl live plantations, contrasting with the brighter green of the orange 
 
 groves; the sombre eucalyptus and the verdant (dump of English deciduous trees, the 
 brightness of the freshly growing crop, shaded oil' into the darkness of the adjacent 
 gully, and the park like aspect of the intervening lands, make up a picture of simple 
 
 Arcadian beauty. In no other city in Australia is the ins in n, -In so ible, and 
 
 to those accustomed to the Yankee-like stir and bustle of Melbourne, it seems 
 
 incredible that such a peaceful panorama can he enjoyed within almost a stone*s-
 
 236 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Al'KLAtl'E. 
 
 throw of streets that rival some of the shopkeeping centres of trade in the capital of 
 Victoria." 
 
 The most fashionahle of the terraces, however, is North Terrace. Indeed, by a 
 bull which is perhaps permissible, it has been said that the "West End" of Adelaide 
 is the north. North Terrace is the chief place for professional men, especially doctors. 
 What a number of doctors there seems to be in Adelaide, and how well they appear to 
 
 THE KOSARY, BOTANICAL GARDENS. 
 
 flourish ! On the North Terrace also is situated the Adelaide Club. To the hospitality 
 there so kindly shown many a visitor feels himself indebted. 
 
 The streets that run parallel to North Terrace, and nearest to it, are important 
 from a business point of view — Hindley and Rundle for shops and retail trade, Gren- 
 fell and Currie for warehouses and wholesale places of business. It may be noted that 
 each of these pairs makes really a single street, for, except King William, no name 
 for a si net is carried right through this part of Adelaide. As compared with the 
 breadth of King William Street, these streets are scarcely wide enough for the business 
 done in them: whilst the pavement is certainly too narrow. Some of the shops arc 
 large and excellent Hindley and Rundle Streets have the glory of being the first 
 streets in Adelaide in the order of formation. In Hindley Street is situated the 
 Adelaide Theatre, which was described only three years ago as "undoubtedly the 
 prettiest and best in Australia." Even if it cannot now be rated quite so high, it 
 will hold a forward place, for it is excellently planned and elegantly decorated.
 
 Adelaide J 
 
 THE ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL. 
 
 237 
 
 Whilst South Adelaide has more and more a tendency to become nothing but a 
 place of business, like the City in London, North Adelaide is, and will must likely 
 continue, a place for residence. It, stands higher than the other part of the city, and 
 ri^es somewhat abruptly from the valley of the Torrens. The eminence is not great in 
 itself, but as in the city of the blind 
 
 tl e ryi\ man was king, so in a flat 
 
 city advantage is naturally taken of 
 rising ground, and the southern edge 
 of North Adelaide is very valuable. 
 Pleasant, views can be obtained thence, 
 and from a sanitary point of view the 
 rise in the ground is treasured. The 
 greater part of North Adelaide is laid 
 out. in an irregular parallelogram, with 
 a square in tin; centre, called after the 
 Duke of Wellington. At its south-east 
 corner are two excrescences, two other 
 parallelograms, the lines of which bear 
 no relation to the lines of the main 
 parallels. There are thus produced a 
 lew curves pleasant to the eye. As a 
 ride, the parallels in North Adelaide 
 are not too regular, but yet preserve 
 their characteristic. 
 
 The Anglican Cathedral (St. Peter's; 
 stands near the entrance to North 
 Adelaide. It is very lofty, and, when 
 completed, will he a tine ( rothic church, 
 especially as seen from the inside. The 
 outside is spoilt by the deplorable 
 meanness of the tower, and will re- 
 main spoilt unless some sudden aco 
 siou to the church funds should enable 
 the authorities to build a worthier tower. 
 There is often a difference in the way 
 of regarding a cathedral church; that 
 of the worshippers is differenl from that 
 of some who are willing to help, hut might he described in the words Lord Eldon is said 
 
 to have used of himself, when he explained that he was "not a pillar of the church, hut 
 
 a buttress— a supporter, hut one that acver went inside." The former want a church, good 
 for hearing, good for music, suit a hie for crowded services and majestic (unctions ; the latter 
 
 want namenl for the city, [f the two objeel cannot he combined, it may reasonably 
 
 be conceded that the former \ieu has the better claim to exclusive consideration. 
 
 I "I MAIN IN Till: BOTANIC M. G M
 
 238 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Adelaide 
 
 Adelaide is especially strong in the matter of churches. There is. as we have seen, 
 an Anglican Cathedral— St. Peter's; there is a Roman Catholic Cathedral, of stately 
 
 proportions, dedicated to St. Francis Xayier; and lioth the Anglicans and Roman 
 ('at holies have plenty of other churches. Moreover, all the denominations are well 
 represented. Perhaps the Presbyterians are not so strong as in some other colonies, for 
 Adelaide is by no means a Scotch colony. There are Scotchmen there, as everywhere 
 else in the world, and, of course, prosperous Scotchmen, but not in any preponderance. 
 Indeed, Adelaide is a well-mixed community, and there is no disproportion either of 
 nationality or of religion. 
 
 One of the cardinal ideas of those who founded the colony of South Australia 
 was that it should enjoy the most perfect religious freedom. This idea has been fully 
 carried out. There are those in England who fancy that the absence of an Establishment 
 would produce an absence of religion. A visit to Australia would convince such of their 
 error. To no place can they be recommended to pay their visit sooner than to Adelaide, 
 for in none could they learn the lesson quicker. A glance at the streets of Adelaide 
 shows at once that there has been a rivalry of churches, which, desiring an outward and 
 visible sign of progress and prosperity, have built spacious edifices that are in many cases 
 ornaments to the town, and, where they are not handsome, are very useful Most 
 of the colonists belonged to the gi-eat English middle class, and the denominations 
 specially recruited from that class — the Wesleyans, the Congregationalists, and the 
 Baptists — have numerous adherents, adequate funds, and vigorous life. If one denomina- 
 tion be stronger than another, it is probably the Wesleyan. But it is not only in build- 
 ings that religion shows its strength in Adelaide. An Adelaide Sunday is a Puritan 
 Sunday — probably it is more Puritan than in any other Australasian city, except those 
 that are distinctively Scotch. In other matters also, such as having a vigilance com- 
 mittee to look after the morality of young men, Adelaide inclines, not without pro- 
 tests, to this Puritan side in religion. The city, like the colony generally, is quite 
 satisfied with religious equality, and has no hankering after the principle of an Establish- 
 ment. Even the Anglicans, who hold the same doctrines as the Established Church 
 in England, do not wish it, though they have at times difficulties as to funds that 
 may make them desire endowment. 
 
 The intervening space between North and South Adelaide is the part of the city 
 which can lay most claim to beauty. The river Torrens is not in itself a. tine river. 
 It has the weakness of many Australian rivers, and seems unable to make a channel 
 for itself all the way to the sea. If reproached upon the score of deficiency of beauty, 
 the river Torrens might well urge in its defence that it has always been very useful 
 to the people of Adelaide. Not thirty years ago the citizens used to rely upon the 
 river for their supply of water, which was retailed by water-cask at a charge of a 
 florin or half-a-crown a load. This very primitive water-supply was superseded by a 
 regular system, the river Torrens being tapped higher up ; and this diversion of a 
 stream never very strong naturally diminished its volume. The constant growth in 
 the size of the city has made it necessary that a fresh and larger reservoir 
 should be built. The original dam is about eight miles off; the new reservoir is in
 
 Adelaide.] THE TORRENS AMi lis BRIDGES. 
 
 the park-lands. It may. however be conceded thai formerly the Torrens, at the part 
 between North and South Adelaide, was nol beautiful, and that Mr. Trollope was right 
 in repudiating a laudatory expression which he had heard employed — that it was a 
 pretty stream, lint a few years since Adelaide- was blessed with a remarkably energetic 
 mayor, who summoned art to the assistance of nature. Just below the town the river 
 has been dammed in such a way as to give the appearance of a broad river, or almost 
 of a lake, to that which used to be an Australian creek The main mad that unites 
 the heart of South to the heart of North Adelaide, itself in a line with King William 
 Street, crosses the Torrens bj a fine bridge, with a very broad span. Boating-clubs 
 have been established, and rowing is very popular. Just beyond the river is an oval, 
 used as a cricket and football-ground. On a Saturday great crowds gather there, though 
 the interest taken in athletic sports is hardly so keen as in Melbourne. Besides this 
 central Adelaide Bridge, the river is also crossed by two other bridges, at convenient 
 distances above and below. The lower is called after the Queen— Adelaide is nothing 
 if not loyal— and the higher after the Prince Consort. The latter is not far from 
 the Zoological Gardens; the Victoria Bridge occupies the site of the Ford where, in 
 former days -i.e., before 1861, when the waterworks were completed — the watermen 
 filled their carts. It is described as having been a specially busy spot on the occasion 
 of a fire, when the sum of £5 was awarded to the man who first brought his full 
 water-cart to the scene of the fire. 
 
 South of the river, opposite North Terrace, there is a series of institutions, 
 standing in grounds of considerable size. Let us begin at the west end, anil take 
 them in turn. The railway-station is not beautiful — few are; it has, however, the 
 greal advantage of being central, and is conveniently arranged, old Parliament House 
 and New Parliament, House stand side by side, and form a great contrast. Simplicity 
 marks the old, ami splendour will mark the new, when it is finished Some hold that 
 the expense of tiie new building is a burden on the shoulders of the colony greater 
 than it is fairly able to bear, tor the cost is estimated at over £100,000. This ex- 
 penditure will certainly give a magnincenl building, worthy of any legislative body. 
 
 The outside is to 1 f Kapunda marble. Surely, if we take pride in our Parliamentary 
 
 system oi government, the Parliament of a country ought to be well housed On the 
 other side of the road stands Government House, surrounded by pleasant gardens. 
 
 According to law, the "Public Library, Museum, ami Art Gallery of South 
 Australia" only came into existence on July 1st, L884. That was the date fixed 
 by the Act of Parliament for its t imencement, but the institutions with the con- 
 glomerate title had reall\ existed much earlier under the title of the South Australian 
 Institute. In the final report of the Board of Governors of the Institute, mention is 
 made of the twenty eighl years of its existence, and a claim put forward which no 
 one will refuse to acknowledge— "that the South Australian Institute hail done good 
 work in its day, and had been instrumental in scattering the seeds of intellectual 
 cultivation and development far and wide over the colony. The Board hands over the 
 trust to its successors with the earnest hope and full confidence that in the future, 
 
 with a higher prestige and larger means, the} will realise to the utmost the ends for
 
 
 CASSELL • PK li RESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 
 City 
 
 OP 
 
 Adelaide 
 
 which the South Australian Institute was established in 1856." Tli<' South Australian 
 Institute was the product of a society founded in London only a few days after the 
 establishment of the colony. This society, under the title of "the South Australian 
 Literary and Scientific Association,'' chose eighty-two hooks in London, and senl this 
 handsome library to the colony. Though hooks wore dearer in L834 than fifty years 
 later, probably many an individual settler had a larger collection : and having per- 
 formed this difficult task, the London society seems to have disappeared. These 
 
 eighty-two hooks went to a .Mechanics' 
 Institute founded to receive thena, and 
 the Mechanics' Institute underwent, 
 various chances. First it nourished, 
 then it succumbed to a rival sub- 
 scription library: then there was an 
 amalgamation, and at length, in 1856, 
 by Act of Parliament, the Institute 
 was established. Its first local habi- 
 tation was in a building in King 
 William Street. As time went on, 
 a better building was erected on North 
 Terrace. As time went on further, 
 newer buildings were required. The 
 very handsome Museum was erected, 
 part of which is now used for the 
 Public Library. A portion of the 
 work of the Institute is continued 
 in the old building by the Adelaide 
 ( 'initiating Library, the books in the 
 Public Library never being allowed 
 to circulate. In the Art Gallery there 
 is already the nucleus of a good 
 collection of pictures. 
 The next building is the University of Adelaide, a description of which will be 
 given under the head of Australian Education. Beyond the University, and in a close 
 proximity to it, which must be very convenient for the medical student, stands the 
 hospital. 
 
 In every direction, as the visitor walks about Adelaide, he will in a short time 
 reach the park-lands. This article began with park-lands, and to them must now 
 return. These park-lands are indeed the distinctive feature of Adelaide. There is a 
 total of about 2.000 acres. Those that go round the two parts of the city average 
 about half-a-mile in width. Those that, intervene between the two parts are much 
 wider, but also much more irregular in shape. The park-lands arc reserved in per- 
 petuity tor the use of the people. No private house can ever be built within their 
 bounds, but portions of them are used for public purposes. In the intervening park- 
 
 Walker G-Boul
 
 Adelaide.] 
 
 THE EXHIBITION-. 
 
 241 
 
 lands, various public buildings arc established, and parts arc marked off for the use and 
 advantage of clubs and other sections of the people. The last of these institutions is 
 the Exhibition. The Great Exhibition of 1851 in London was only permitted to be 
 built in Hyde Park 
 on condition that at 
 the close of the Ex- 
 hibition the building 
 should be entirely 
 removed No such 
 condition has been 
 made in the present 
 case, but the land 
 round Adelaide is not "v .A 
 
 yet quite so valuable 
 as that in London. 
 For all that, the park-lands arc zeal- 
 ously watched .More than once 
 there has been a political crisis in 
 South Australia, with a singularly 
 empty exchequer, but no politician 
 has been found to propose the sale oi 
 a portion of the people's city domain 
 in order to replenish it. The lands 
 bring in a small revenue, for citizens 
 are allowed to depasture cattle on 
 payment of a small lee. Bu1 the 
 glory of the park-lands, it' nol of all 
 Adelaide, is the Botanical Gardens. 
 All modern cities have many 
 suburbs, and Adelaide does not 
 prove the rule by exception People 
 like living away from their busi- 
 ness, and enjoying country air. as 
 
 i lern conveniences of locomotion 
 
 readily permit Adelaide has the 
 pr I pre eminence of being t lie 
 
 tirst Australian citj to really adopt the tram: but, always modest, she has kept 
 herself to the horse-train, whilst Sydney has steam motors, an«l Melbourne, much 
 later in the field, uses the com inn oiis cable .system. Some of the Adelaide suburbs 
 are commonplace ome are exceeding y. It is unfortunate that, as a rule, the 
 
 native names have not been preserved. Medindie stands almost alone as keeping such 
 
 a name. Most of tin- oames of suburbs are Cocknej reminiscences, and often ol quite 
 
 middle-class parts of London, such as Islington and Hackney; Norw 1. Brompton, 
 
 16 
 
 TOBRENS i
 
 242 
 
 JELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 I Am i mi i:. 
 
 and Kensington are rather more fashionable names. The rlrsl settlers in Adelaide 
 must have been very fond oi London. But there is a worse thing in nomen- 
 clature than borrowing the names of second-rate London suburbs. Some designations 
 are made in the ridiculous American fashion of adding viUe to a proper name, with 
 deplorable results. Ye gods! fancy Walkerville! 
 
 TOUT ADELAIDE LIGHTHOUSE. 
 
 From a commercial and business point ot view, the suburbs that serve Adelaide as 
 seaports claim most attention. Adelaide is the Brindisi of the Australian Continent; 
 ,ll; " ,s '" s:,v - " is the place at which the mails arrive, and are thence distributed by 
 railway through the colonies. By landing the mails at Adelaide, at least a day is 
 saved to Sydney and Melbourne correspondents. Of course, it is easy to imagine places 
 which would give quicker mails— for instance, Port Darwin; but, in spite of the remark- 
 able enterprise of South Australia, it must be many .wars before the northern territory 
 can be connected by rail with the southern parts of Australia. No doubt a day will 
 come when all Australian letters from Euro],,, will be landed on the northern shore,
 
 Adelaide.] GLENELG AND SEMAPHORE. '2V- y , 
 
 and that will probably be before the time, which also is surely coming, when the 
 Indian and Australian mails will be conveyed from Calais overland to India, but it. 
 need hardly be said that that day has not yel dawned. 
 
 In Port Adelaide the city lias a splendid harbour. It is perfectly land-locked, and 
 therefore very safe, but unfortunately it is by no means easy of access. Sailing ships 
 which air nut in a. hurry use the services of a tug and go round to Port Adelaide 
 but steamers, in connection with which time seems always an object, avoid the Port. 
 With respect to the best place for steamers there is a bitter dispute. One of the greal 
 lines that run to Australia uses Glenelg, and the other Semaphore. Not a little 
 jealousy exists between the Orient and the P. and 0. lines, and a similar jealousy 
 has been established between their two ports of call. It may be said at once that 
 both seem very pleasant places, rich in seaside villas and baths, just the spots for 
 heat-oppressed citizens to seek ozone — and in the summer season Adelaide can be 
 very hot — but it must be added that neither is a satisfactory port of call. Each 
 is an open roadstead, sometimes acquainted with very rough weather, when passengers, 
 especially ladies, have to be hoisted on board. Each has a long jetty, but in neither 
 case can ocean-going steamers coin.- alongside. In the contest it is generally believed 
 that ultimately Semaphore will win. Glenelg stands by itself. .Semaphore has Port 
 Adelaide behind it, and the influence of the Port in all matters maritime is ex- 
 ceedingly strong. A semaphore is properly a signal-post, and, in the days before 
 
 raphs, the arrival of ships used to be signalled across to Port Adelaide by means 
 of flags hoisted a: the semaphore, but although this particular method of signalling is 
 now unnecessary and almost obsolete, the whole place has retained the peculiar name. 
 The name, by the way. had once a very good chance of wide fame, as the authors 
 of the well-known operetta H.M.S. Pinafore have said that their play was origin- 
 ally christened Semaphore. Semaphore is now a <piiet seaside plare. stirred once a 
 fortnight into activity by the arrival of a steamer from England; once a fortnight 
 by a departure, (ilenelg is a very similar though a rather larger place, with some 
 handsome villas standing in pleasant gardens. In both the train is allowed to run 
 through the streets in American fashion, though a hand-bell, suggestive of muffins, is 
 rung all the time that the train is moving in a street. The railway to Semaphore is 
 a continuation of the Line to Port Adelaide. A little above the Port the line, by means 
 of a swing bridge, crosses the broad creek the word is here used in an English, not an 
 Australian sriise upon which the Port is situated. It it were not for the Port there 
 would have been no Semaphore, and Glenelg, being a little further south, would then 
 have remained in undisputed possession of the steamer traffic. The narrow, sandy tongue oi 
 land between the estuary and the Gulf is known as befevre's Peninsula, and is about two 
 miles across, A little north of Semaphore is Largs Bay, named probably by some patriotic 
 A\ rshireman, after the place where the 1 lanes were defeated by King Alexander of Scotland 
 
 nearly 600 years before. , , , . 
 
 J J Of Largs he -r, v the glorious plain. 
 
 Where -nil gigantic bones remain, 
 
 \l. m. .nil ..I the Danish war."* 
 
 • Scott : Xfarmion, iii.. 24.
 
 244 CASSBLL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Adbi-au*. 
 
 Largs, in Ayrshire is now a fashionable watering-place, with fine houses in front, 
 and dirty, tortuous streets behind. The Largs of Smith Australia is struggling into 
 existence as a watering-place and a port. It enjoys a long pier and a dock. Pro- 
 bably the importance of the two places, Largs Hay and Semaphore, will increase 
 
 mse of the difficulty that ships experience in reaching Port Adelaide. 
 Port Adelaide is nearly as old as Adelaide, and it has always tried to keep abreast 
 
 of the times in the matter of harbour improvements — the deepening of the channel, the 
 iva] of rocks, and the construction of wharfs. It lias now over 13,000 feel of 
 wharf frontage, adequately provided with steam cranes and all the needful paraphernalia. 
 Glenelg has an especial claim for consideration, in that it was the place where, 
 more than fifty years ago, the colony of South Australia was proclaimed. The old 
 gum-tree under which Captain Eindmarsh issued the proclamation and took possession 
 of the country is still preserved, under the name of Proclamation Tree, though it 
 is in a very advanced stage of decrepitude. The following is the inscriptioB that it 
 bears : — 
 
 ON THIS SPOT, 
 
 ON THE L'STH DECEMBER, 1836, 
 THE COLONY OP 
 
 SOUTH AUSTRALIA 
 
 WAS PROCLAIMED AND ESTABLISHED 
 
 AS A PEOVINCE BY 
 
 CAPTN. JOHN II1NDMAUS1I, R.N., 
 
 THE GOVERNOR THEREOF, 
 
 ACTING IN THE NAME AND ON 
 
 BEHALF OF 
 
 HIS MAJESTY KINO WILLIAM IV.. 
 
 IN THE PBESEXCE OF THE 
 
 CHIEF OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE GOVERNMENT, AND 
 
 OTHER COLONISTS. 
 
 ON Tin: L'STH DECEMBER, 1857, 
 
 THE RECORD OF THE ABOVE FACT 
 
 WAS HERE PUBLICL1 AFFIXED BY 
 
 SIB R. G. Id MCDONALD, KNT., C.B., 
 
 G0VERNOH-IN-CHIEF OF THE PROVINCE, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 PRESENCE OF THE ASSEMBLED COLONISTS. 
 
 To COMMEMORATE THE EVENT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 l."NY ATTAINING ITS 21ST YEAR. 
 
 AND TO TESTIFY THEIR FEELINGS BY A 
 
 DAY OF !'! BLIC REJOICING. 
 
 GOD SAVE THE QUEEN. 
 
 This inscription, on a metal plate, was fixed to the tree, it will be observed, on 
 the day that the colony came of age. Grand preparations were made to celebrate 
 the i asion by an enormous picnic in the neighbourhood of the old gum-tree.
 
 Adelaide.] 
 
 AX HISTORIC TREE. 
 
 245 
 
 When some 20,000 persons had gathered together, sonic from distant parts of the 
 colony, and all in gay holiday attire, a pitiless storm of rain came on and broke up 
 the entertainment in great confusion. 
 
 Perhaps because of this example, the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the 
 colony was celebrated in a much more quiet fashion, though in a South Australian 
 December most people would gladly take the ducking in payment for the pleasure of 
 knowing that rain was falling on a dry and thirsty land. On the twenty-first anniversary 
 
 WmJm. 
 
 
 PROCLAMATION TREE, C.LENELG. 
 
 thousands had to wait in the rain for the return of a few omnibuses: on the occasion 
 of the fiftieth, two railways were carrying passengers between Glenelg and the city. 
 
 Everything was in a very primitive state when Captain Eindmarsh, the founder of 
 colony, landed It is recorded thai the pianoforte of his wife was Boated ashore, bul 
 there is no record of its tunefulness after the operation. The first Government House 
 was built by the sailors of II. M.S. Buffalo, the ship thai had brought him to South 
 Australia. The following is the description given of their handiwork: "Mud walls. 
 
 about five feet high; two r s, of six feel each, withoul flooring [il is to be presumed 
 
 six feet square: there certainly was do room for the piano!]; a thatched roof [apparently 
 of reeds]; two doorways, for egress and ingress [to serve as windows as well as doors];
 
 246 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQl i; AtsTRALASIA. 
 
 IADI I I D! 
 
 1 'in both fireplace and chimney were lost sight of till the place was built" Luckily, 
 tlir climate is dry, and cooking operations could be carried on out of doors. It, need 
 hardly be said that Glenelg has long ago passed out of its primitive stage, that its 
 houses are admirably built, or that all the comforts of civilisation ran be procured 
 there. 
 
 Further down the coast than Glenelg is a quiet little seaside place tailed 
 Brighton, to which, especially in hot weather, those citizens resort who find (denelg 
 too fashionable or noisy. It has the reputation of being exceedingly quiet ; there 
 are people who would say it is dull. hike many other colonial places, it has made 
 a mistake in taking the name of the English seaside town, hut it is not so ill-advised 
 as to challenge comparison with the most famous of British watering-places.
 
 ■247 
 
 BALLARAT. 
 
 Virgin Forest— The Gold Fever — Mounts Buninyong and Warrenheip — Black Hill — The City, the Town, and 
 the Borough— Sturt Street— The Public Buildings— The " Corner "—The Town Hall— The Miner's City 
 — "Our Lake" — The Botanical Gardens — Ballarat East — Bridge Street — The Chinese Quarter — '-Hunting 
 the Devil" — The Suburbs— Lal-Lal — Bakery Hill — Bungaree — An Irish Settlement — Bits of Old 
 England. 
 
 ^ "TP among the hills to the north-west of Melbourne, one 
 
 hundred miles from the capital by rail, though not 
 ■i i\v flies, lies Ballarat, the metropolis of the 
 second town in order of importance in 
 census gave the population as nearly forty 
 thousand, and a stranger may see at a 
 glance that the majority of these forty 
 thousand souls are well to do, and that 
 poverty, the bitter, grinding poverty of 
 the Old World, is unknown here. In 
 1851 the ground on which Ballarat now 
 stands was virgin forest and park-like 
 lands, untouched by the band of man, 
 ft barely even visited by him. It is true, it 
 was part, of a sheep-run, owned by some 
 brothers named Yuille, but a solitary shep- 
 herd, or an occasional tribe of wandering 
 black fellows, were the only human beings 
 who visited the site of what is now a hust- 
 ling town and an important mining centre 
 The Presbyterian minister, Mr. Hastie, 
 was thru, and is still, settled at, the older 
 
 town of Buninyong, seven miles away. He gives the following description of the place: 
 "I often passed the spot on which Ballarat is built, and there could not lie a prettier 
 spot imaginable. It was the very picture of repose. There was, in general, plenty of grass 
 and water, and often I have seen the rattle, in eonsiderahle numbers, lying in quiet 
 enjoyment after being satisfied with the pasture. There was a beautiful clump of wattles 
 where Lydiard Street now stands, and on one occasion, when Mrs. Eastie was with me, 
 she remarked, 'What a nice place lor a house, with the flat in front and the wattles 
 
 behind' Mr. Waldie had at that time a shepherd's hut, aboul where the head Eorse 
 Gully is, on the Creswick Road, and one day when 1 was calling on the hut-keeper, he 
 said that the solitude was so painful that he could not endure it : for lie saw no one 
 from the time the shepherds went out in the morning till the) returned at night 1 
 was the only person he had ever seen there who was not connected with the station." 
 
 The aborigines, though not numerous, were treacherous and cunning, and very 
 troublesome, and not only stole anything they could lay their hands on, but 
 
 ATHEDEAL.
 
 248 
 
 CASSELL'S I'KTl I{li>QCE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Ballakat. 
 
 murdered, in cold blood, any solitary hut-keeper or lonely shepherd they happened to 
 come across. 
 
 In lsol ^old was discovered by a man named Hiscocks, in the little gully near 
 Buninyong which still boars his name, and. as by magic, the low lands round the 
 Yarrowee Creek were crowded by adventurers eager to find the precious metal. 
 
 They came by thousands and tens of thousands, from all parts of the colonies, and from 
 the uttermost parts of the earth, until soon the whole of the valley was white with their 
 tents. Their watehtiros by night lit up the lonely forest, and their presence scared 
 away for ever the dingo and the kangaroo from their wonted haunts, liallarat, or more 
 
 MOUNT BUNINYONG, FROM I..U,-LAL. 
 
 properly Ballaarat, in aboriginal speech, means a resting-place, but it was a resting- 
 place no longer. He who came in the old diggings days came not to rest, but to 
 work, to work untiringly, from break of day to sunset, sometimes, perhaps, to be rewarded 
 with wealth beyond the wildest dreams of the avaricious, oftener to slave for the meresl 
 pittance, still hoping on, if not for a fortune, at least for enough to enable him to go 
 back and live in comfort in his own land. No one came to settle at liallarat, every 
 man was but a bird of passage, and, at first, no man dreamt of making a home here. 
 Slowly, but surely, this transitory character of the population passed away. The surface 
 diggings were worked out, and men could no longer start on their own account. 
 The claims were sunk deeper and deeper, more capital was required, and more special
 
 Ballarat.] 
 
 THE HILLS. 
 
 249 
 
 knowledge. Companies were formed, and gold-mining became a recognised industry, 
 carried on as regularly as cloth-making or coal-mining. Moreover, the land around 
 
 proved fertile, and suitable for agriculture, and soon 
 every acre was settled, mostly by men of tbe farmer 
 
 class. Ballarat became not only a mining centre, but 
 also tbe market of a large and prosperous agricultural 
 district. 
 
 It is a pretty town — a very pretty town — strangers 
 declare. Standing in Stun Street, and look- 
 ing east, one sees it is set in an amphitheatre 
 of low eucalyptus-clad ranges, with two largi c 
 bills, that serve to break the monotony. 
 Mounts Buninyong and Warrenheip are about 
 two thousand feet above the sea-level, ami 
 
 / \ 
 i s 
 
 some seven miles 
 apart, rising 
 from the ranges 
 — square, soli< 
 looking bills, 
 covered with for- 
 est. They an; 
 remarkably alike 
 
 in contour, and ^*(v— -r — 
 
 hardly to be distinguished one from the other. 
 The inhabitants of Ballarat and the surrounding 
 
 districts for a long time fondly cherished the idea that these mountains 
 were extinct \ i 'lea i n ii 's, and proudly showed to visitors the outlines of the 
 old craters. When a popular science lecturer pointed out their error, he 
 was hardly thanked for tearing away the halo of romance which they had 
 
 contrived to thmw around their hills ; and forthwith other authorities were 
 consulted, wlio confirmed the first dews upon the subject. 
 
 •■ It is not true thai b ml thoughts are best, 
 
 But first and third, which are a riper first, ' 
 
 From the top of either Warrenheip or Buninyong, a splendid bird's-eye view is to 
 
 be had of Ballarat, and a capital idea is to he -aincd of the straggling waj in which
 
 250 I LSSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [B*llabat. 
 
 the town is built The ranges which surround the town are for some reason, best known 
 to the earlj settlers, nol called by the quaint, and often pretty, native names, bul rejoice 
 respectively in such appellations as the Dead Eorse, W'liite Horse, Black Horse, and 
 Magpie Ranges. A spur of the Dead Eorse runs right up into the town itself, less than 
 a mile, in fact, from its very centre. Forty years ago Black Hill, as it is called, reared 
 its dark crest, clothed in dense forest, over the lonely gully where now stands Ballarat 
 East, and its steep sides were untouched by the foot of civilised man. But those steep 
 slopes proved rich in gold. The forest lias long since disappeared, and the hillside has 
 been tunnelled through and through, burrowed into, cut away, and turned over, till 
 half tit' it has disappeared Its former shape has been entirely lost, and Black Hill 
 presents to the town a scarred white face, precipitous in some parts, with mounds of 
 earth, old mining machinery, and heaps of quartz and "mullock,"* which gleam white 
 and look Dot unpicturesque in the sunshine 
 
 Ballarat is divided into three parts — Ballarat West, Ballarat East, and Sebastopo] - 
 the city, the town, and the borough. The West is the aristocratic and business portion 
 of the town. Here are all the best shops, and the best hotels, the lawyers' offices, and the 
 min ing exchange. Here, too, are the principal churches — the Anglican and the Roman 
 Catholic Cathedrals, the Presbyterian Kirk, and the new Wesleyan Chapel; and here, 
 too, are all the handsomest houses. A visitor is struck with the neatness of the broad, 
 straight, well-kept streets, running at right angles to one another, and carefully planted 
 with trees — oaks, elms, Oriental plane-trees, Californian pines, and, of course, the blue 
 gum. Sturt Street, the principal street, and one of the three chain mads of the colony, 
 bears off the palm for beauty. It has kept its original width of two hundred feet 
 nearly throughout, and is broader than most of the famous streets of the world. As with 
 the "Unter den Linden," at Berlin, a handsome avenue runs straight up the middle 
 of the street for fully a mile. It strikes one at first as being all of gum-trees, tall and 
 straight, with thick, close foliage, for they have been carefully pollarded in their youth, 
 and not allowed to straggle and grow ragged and untidy, as is the wont of trees of their 
 kind when left to their own devices ; hut on a second glance it is seen that each gum 
 alternates with a deciduous tree — an oak or an elm, or an Oriental plane-tree. Very 
 pretty and cool this avenue looks in the early summer, before the hot winds have withered 
 and shrivelled the leaves of the foreign trees: and their delicate green makes a lovely 
 contrast to the darker hue of the eucalyptus. These, too, are covered with white blossoms, 
 which fill the air with their aromatic perfume, and which bring into the town great 
 flocks of parrots, rosellas, in all the glory of their gorgeous plumage, blue and green, 
 red and yellow, and parroquets, all clothed in vivid green. These birds whirl in screaming 
 flocks round the gum-trees, feeding on the white blossoms, and, in their turn, proving 
 a soie temptation to the young colonial, who, satchel on hack, is wending his way slowly 
 to school, unwilling to leave the bright sunshine. Parrots are easily brought down by 
 " shanghais "—the name in this part of the world for a catapult ; hut a wise Town Council, 
 having a due regard for the windows, not to say for the persons, of the citizens, has for- 
 
 * " Mullock," the heaps of waste earth at the mouth of a shaft.
 
 Ballabat.] THE "CORNEE." 251 
 
 bidden the use of all shanghais within the town, and many a small boy, in the first flush 
 of joy and pride at a successful shot, is compelled to flee from Nemesis in the shape of a 
 stalwart Irish policeman, who, armed with all the terrors of the law, swoops down upon 
 him. In the summer evenings, too, this avenue is much frequented by another set of 
 people. It appears to be the favoured place of the lads and lasses of Ballarat for 
 courting, and the old, old story must have hern told again and again under those gum- 
 trees in Sturt Street. 
 
 In this street are most of the shops and principal buildings. At the intersection 
 of Lydiard Street, right in the centre of the town, is a monument to the ill-fated 
 explorers, Uurke and Wills, a nondescript erection, originally a fountain, but now a 
 lamp-post ; and a little farther down, opposite the Post Office, has recently been placed 
 a handsome statue, in white marble, of the poet Burns. What Burns had to do with 
 Ballarat no one seems exactly to know; but since he is there, and much admired, 
 there seems every probability that Tom Moore, also in white marble, will soon join 
 him. The Post Office, on the north side of the street, close to the Burke and Wills 
 monument, is a square white building, to which extensive additions are being made. On 
 the south side is the Mining Exchange — the "Corner," as it is popularly called. Here 
 the sharebrokers maybe seen transacting their business in the open street, and on busy 
 days stretching right across to the gardens that adorn the middle, buying and selling, 
 shouting and gesticulating as if their lives depended on it, as their livelihood most 
 undoubtedly do. Unluckily, it is not always busy times on the Corner, ami on a day 
 when shares are down and stocks arc dull, the Corner men arc hard put to it to employ 
 their time. A Chinaman trudging along, under the heavy weight of bis baskets full of 
 vegetables, is eagerly seized upon, and his cauliflowers and cabbages put up to auction, 
 while John himself sip tats down on the pavement, a smile on his stolid, yellow countenance, 
 for he knows that whatever the result he will be a gainer by the transaction. The dark 
 Indian trader from Cashmere, plodding patiently along with bis great white bundle on 
 his back, can now do a brisk business, while a load of wood — be it the humble one horse 
 load, or a great waggon that requires at least six horses to bring it down from the ranges — 
 is a perfect godsend, offering as it does excellent opportunities for a raffle, the driver 
 meanwhile, leaning carelessly against the wheel, cracking his long whip in a most artistic 
 manner to wile away the time pending the completion of the bargain. The bone} 
 merchant and the bird hawker, too, find for their wares a ready sale among the good 
 humoured ( lomer men. 
 
 Eigher up is the Town Haifa fine building with a lofty tower, from which a splendid 
 view of the surrounding country can be obtained; and higher up still are the Roman 
 Catholic Cathedral and the principal Presbyterian Church. Both of these are substantial 
 buildings of bluestone, whose dinginess is relieved in the case of the latter by a spire 
 and facings of white freestone, while round St. Patrick's Cathedral are hands,, me. well- 
 grown English trees. The Hospital, still farther Up Sturt Street, is a large white building, 
 
 set in a pretty, well-kept garden, and is rerj old, as buildings go in Ballarat, having been 
 begun just after the Eureka riots in ls;,.y The Deed of some place for the sick and 
 
 wounded was then sorely felt, and this Id to steps being taken for the erection
 
 252 CASSELL'S PICTURES! ill; AUSTRALASIA. (Ballakat. 
 
 of a hospital. The site chosen, though only three-quarters of a mile from the presenl 
 Post ottice, in the very heart of the town, was then in such thick bush that, strange 
 as it may seem to a modern traveller on the well-kept highway, it is recorded thai main 
 persons lost their way between it and the little township on the hanks of the creek. 
 All up Sturt Street, are simps and houses and buildings; and improvements are going 
 on everywhere. The streets are full of busy life, though not the life of a metropolis; 
 rather it. is the ordinary traffic of a well-to-do, up-country town — loads of hay and 
 straw from the agricultural districts of Learmonth and Windermere, carts laden with 
 potatoes from Buninyong and Warrenheip, and great leads of wood on creaking waggons 
 thai require at least six or eight horses to move them. An occasional bullock-dray, 
 laden with wool hales or wattlebark, drawn by its patient team, reminds one of the 
 outlying stations, whilst a great locomotive moving from the foundry where it was 
 manufactured, to he delivered at the railway station in Lydiard Street, connects the old 
 life with the new. 
 
 Everywhere are evidences of the chief industry of the town, and a. stranger cannot 
 help feeling that I'.allarat was made by the miner, and is still, to a certain extent, the 
 miner's city. Here and there, in all directions, even in Sturt Street itself, are mounds of 
 upturned earth, red and white, and not unpicturesque in themselves, hut often grass- 
 grown and deserted. Sometimes the remnants of the old wooden buildings that protected 
 the mouth of the shaft arc still left standing, utterly dilapidated and moss-grown, but 
 yet oftener even that has disappeared, and all that remains is an old iron truck, or a 
 chain or two, eaten away by rust, and the tall mound, twenty, thirty, or even fifty 
 feel high. Sometimes, particularly in Ballarat East, these wrought-out workings are 
 just those "of the surface diggings, and there the ground — acres of it — has been turned 
 over ami over. No shafts have been sunk very deep, so there are no tall mounds of 
 gravel and quartz to glisten in the sunshine, hut the whole surface presents the ap- 
 pearance of some desolate graveyard, where no kindly hand has planted gardens, or 
 raised monuments to the dead. 
 
 Many of the workings, both old and new, are of great extent, and many ['arts of 
 Ballarat are tunnelled under by drives, where, far below the surface, the miner earns his 
 daily bread. Many of these drives are deserted, but others are in full swing. Generally 
 they are far enough below the surface for the safety of those above, but not always, and 
 it is no uncommon thing to see houses out of the perpendicular, and going to rack and 
 ruin, because the earth has given way beneath them. Sites may be observed where no 
 attempt has been made to build, because the ground is rotten and unsafe. In Ballarat 
 East, St. Paul's Anglican Church has twice come to grief. Once the whole body of the 
 church went, and left the tower standing alone. It was rebuilt on the other side of 
 the tower, and, then, to the astonishment and disgust of the congregation, the earth 
 opened, and if it did not exactly swallow up the chancel, it at least dropped it down 
 too many feet below the rest of the church to allow of a comfortable celebration of Divine 
 Service. And at the present moment the destruction of St. Paul's is again threatened 
 by m inin g operations. The old Supreme Court, in Lydiard Street, was another place 
 that suffered, and had to be abandoned, as it was impossible to add to it, on account
 
 LAKE WEND01
 
 254 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Ballaiut. 
 
 of its foundations being undermined Appropriately enough, it is now used as the School 
 of Mines. Those wrought-out workings, which are near the centre of the town, arc last. 
 being levelled and carted away, as the demand for building sites becomes greater, and 
 
 pretty cottages and M oing gardens take their place. Ballarat is sometimes called the 
 
 Garden City, and seeing thai it- chief industry is gold-mining, this might seem strange, 
 were it not that nowhere do shrubs, Bowers, and trees flourish so well as on the levelled 
 workings of the wrought-out claims, where the ground has been trenched and dug over 
 and over again. Mining is now generally carried on by large companies, which employ 
 hundreds of men. and machinery in itself worth a small fortune. Digging by one man, 
 or by small parties, is not often seen within the precincts of the town. And yet this 
 mining on a small scale has not been quite abandoned in Ballarat. In the .Main Road, 
 Ballarat East, there may yet he seen small parties of men working in co-operation, and 
 leading that independent life which appears to possess a vast charm for the old gold- 
 mine 
 
 Going west, up Stmt Street, the shops gradually grow fewer and fewer, till when 
 the avenue comes to an end, even the smallest of them have disappeared altogether, 
 and villa residences take their place. Here the character of the street changes. In the 
 town the City Council have laid it. out with an avenue in the centre, and two roads, 
 one on each side. Here, beyond the shops, are two avenues, one on each side, 
 with a road in the middle, which runs for another mile — quite, in fact, into the open 
 country. These avenues are of Canadian elms and silver poplars, and as yet are young, 
 but they promise to be in time as handsome as their well-grown sisters in the centre 
 of the town. 
 
 To the west of Ballarat, within the bounds of the city, lies what in the eyes of 
 its inhabitants is its greatest attraction. On arrival, the first question asked of a 
 Stranger is not "Have yon seen the mines'" but "Have you seen our lake?" And 
 yet, after all, "our lake" is but a small sheet of water. Lake Wendouree (accent on 
 first and third syllables), known in the old days as Yuille's Swamp, is about four miles 
 round, and not more than a mile across : but, though not a lare-e lake, it is certainly 
 a very pretty one. It is enclosed in a reserve well planted with a variety of trees, while 
 all round the margin of the lake itself are rows of weeping willows, which thrive 
 wonderfully. On the eastern or town side of the lake are most of the boathouses, the 
 number of which shows how much this sheet of water is appreciated Twenty or thirty 
 small yachts are there, miniature steamboats ply for hire, and on a public holiday the 
 little lake is crowded with every imaginable kind of craft, from the tiny canoe with its 
 solitary occupant, to the steamer crowded with men, women, and children, of a more 
 sociable disposition. Strange to say. the lake lies higher than a great part of Ballarat, 
 so that from the deck of one of the steamers there is on a tine day a glorious view. 
 The town itself, save for the houses that, surround the lake, is barely visible, but the 
 hills beyond stand out clearly, and bound the horizon. To the north is Mount Rowan, 
 a conical, treeless hill, whose softly rounded outlines and vivid -lven form a pleasing 
 contrast to the stern squareness of Buninyong and Warrenheip, and the darker eucalyptus- 
 clad ranges which bound the picture on the east. In the foreground the white cliff's
 
 ballaru.] gondola breeding. 255 
 
 of Black Hill gleam in the sunlight, and nearer still arc the weeping willows at the 
 water's edge. Un the western side are the Botanical Gardens, where foliage of every 
 
 shade and hue meets the eve. Greal care has been exercised in laving out these gar- 
 dens, and though the oldest oak there has barely reached his majority, trees grow more 
 quickly in Victoria than in their native England, and oaks and elms, poplars and ash- 
 trees, begin to make a good show. Much of the grounds is, strictly speaking, not 
 garden at all, hut park-like land, carefully planted with trees. Here mi Sundays 
 and other holidays the good people of Ballarat come to hold high festival, to picnic. 
 and to thoroughly enjoy themselves. Every variety of deciduous tree ia found, and 
 numbers of the fir tribe of all descriptions, and from every part of the world, lh re 
 and there, too, remain, by way of contrast, an old gum-tree, or a she-oak, the latter in 
 its ragged greyness looking strangely out of place among the brighter-hued trees from 
 other lands. Right at the back of the gardens is an avenue of -olden wattles, which, 
 in the springtime, make the air heavy with their delicious perfume 
 
 As we look round on the pretty scene, it is hardly possible for us to conceive 
 that, thirty years ago these gardens were thick hush land, the haunt of the dingo and 
 the kangaroo, and that the bright little lake was a dismal swamp overgrown with reeds 
 and rushes, looked on askance by the blacks as the reputed home of the mysterious 
 "bunyip," and a place where the digger from the canvas township down by the creel* 
 might be sure of bagging a black swan or a wild duck for his evening's meal. The 
 wild duck and the black swan still visit Wendouree periodically, and are carefully 
 ptot,, led by the City Council, which makes every endeavour not only to preserve 
 the native birds and animals that already make the lake their home, but to add 
 fresh specimens to the list, and in every way to increase the attractiveness of the lake. 
 There is a story told that, one of the City fathers, who, having been to Europe, had 
 seen the wonders of the Old World, was desirous of introducing Venetian gondolas, 
 which he thought would pay well, and prove a great attraction. At a meeting of the 
 City Council, without describing a gondola, except by name, he proposed that they 
 should import at least a dozen. Then arose another Councillor. He also was in 
 favour of progress, and highly approved of the idea, being as anxious as anyone to 
 add to the attractions of the lake; but. like John Gilpin's wife, be had a frugal mind,' 
 and thought a dozen far too many to import at once the climate might not agree with 
 them let the City Council import a couple to begin with, and then they might breed! 
 
 This novel description of breeding has not yet been attempted at Ballarat, and the lake 
 has no gondolas. 
 
 Beyond the Corner, Stun Street si. .pes steeply down, and at the bottom of the 
 hill Ballarat West comes to an end and Ballarat East begins. The change from the 
 new to the old town is most striking. Bridge Street, the principal stret I of Ballarat 
 
 Mast, is a continuation of Sturt Street, but is onlj a third of its width, and is consequently 
 far too narrow to admit of any ornamentation in the shape of trees or gardens, such as 
 adorn it- younger rivaL It consists almost solely of shops, where ■< great deal of business 
 is done. On Saturday night market-day so dense is the crowd from end to end, that 
 
 vehicles arc not permitted to pass down the street. Near the middle it is cut in hall'
 
 256 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Uallauat. 
 
 I\ the Yarroweo Creek, once a limpid mountain stream, known as the river Leigh, rushing 
 down from the hills amidst rocks and terns, creepers and mosses, but now a huge gut- 
 ter, well hoarded over, ">^!\s ; ] v rr> * nto ^ vn ''' u ''"' drainage of city and 
 town is emptied 
 fact, the 
 
 I ? '"" Bridge Street lies very Low — is, 
 
 ' lowest part of Ballarat, and in the 
 
 v k - THE LAL-LAL FALLS. 
 
 • J>v v J \ olden days was visited periodically by floods, which swept out the 
 shops, and drove the inhabitants into their upper storeys. At first, 
 beyond an abundant use of profane language, not by the way an un- 
 common thing on a gold-field even without a flood, nothing seems to 
 have been done, but of late years the Water Commission has built a large 
 lam across a gully about four miles from Ballarat, and so created at the 
 Gong-Gong a pretty reservoir for the storage of water and relieved the people of 
 Ballarat of their annual flood. Ballarat East being the site of the old mining camp,
 
 Ballarat.) 
 
 THE CHINESE CAMP. 
 
 257 
 
 the streets do not preserve the same regularity as in the city, for having followed the 
 lines of the diggers' tents, they twist and turn, and bisect one another without respect bo 
 order or convenience. Bridge Street branches off into two streets, Victoria Street — or 
 the Melbourne Road, as it is generally called — and the Main Road. Going up the latter, 
 which is a copy of Bridge Street, only dingier, we come to the Chinese quarter. There 
 are about two thousand Chinamen " on " Ballarat — let the reader notice the use of the 
 preposition; on a gold-field, therefore on Ballarat — and they are, of course, common 
 enough in all parts of the town, for the yellow-faced, blue-bloused vegetable hawker, 
 with his neatly-coiled pigtail and his eternal smile, is an everyday visitant in most 
 households, where he is hailed with delight by the children, and trusted implicitly by 
 the house-mistress, who vaunts the superiority of her John over everybody else's John. 
 Here, down in Ballarat East, is John's abiding- 
 place. The Chinese 'camp itself is simply a 
 collection of tumble-down bark huts, built with- 
 out the slightest attempt at regularity, and 
 sadly in need of repair. 
 
 From the ridge-poles of most of the huts 
 are to be seen long strips of meat and fish 
 drying in the sun, while the family utensils, 
 scanty in the extreme, are ranged outside the 
 doors. There are plenty of children playing 
 about, for though there are no Chinese women, 
 a certain class of Europeans seem to have no 
 objection to John Chinaman as a spouse, and 
 the little half-caste children are, as a ride, 
 very good looking The Chinese are not con- 
 fined to the camp, but all along the Main Road 
 
 their shops are to be seen full of china, common English ornaments, and unsavoury- 
 looking eatables; outside swings the sign, a long coloured board, on which, in quaint 
 Chinese characters, are painted the owner's name and occupation. John Chinaman makes, 
 but lie does not mend. Many of these shops have their shutters up, and the whole 
 place has a generally tumble-down, uncared-for appearance. You may, and often do, see 
 spruce, (dean, neat Chinamen, but their houses arc invariably out oi repair, and sadly 
 in need of the coat of paint which they aiv never likely to get. 
 
 In former days there was at Ballarat a .loss-house, and the Joss was sumptu- 
 ously lodged among gold and scarlet banners, and much tinsel-coloured paper, and 
 sweet -scented sauila I- woods, bur the whole, being very combustible, cue day caught 
 lire and was burned to the ground, the -loss himself being consumed in the flames. 
 Since then the new .loss has been much more humbly lodged, the Chinese being of 
 opinion that as he could not take care of bis finery, it was hardly worth while supplying 
 him with more of it. 
 
 A (piaint Chinese custom, called Hunting the Devil," is thus described in one of the 
 local papers: 'The Chinese residing in the district had a high time of it at midnight 
 17 
 
 THE POST OFFICE.
 
 258 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Baluu 
 
 on Sunday, the occasion being the annual ceremony known as 'hunting the devil.' A 
 huge fire was lit in the yard of the Joss-house at Golden Point, and two «>r three cooks 
 were in an adjoining shed engaged in fashioning the many mysterious dishes of which 
 the Orientals are so fond, one, it is said, being a pie of roasted tom-cat, which is believed 
 to confer on those partaking of it many virtues, The priest chanted some Chinese poetrj 
 in a weird sort of way, and several others accompanied him on the tom-tom and other 
 musical (?) instruments. The scene was such an extraordinary one as might well have 
 been calculated to frighten his Satanic Majesty away did he happen to be in the 
 neighbourhood. The festivities were taken part in by about one hundred Celestials, 
 who frequently adjourned to the Joss-house and bowed to Joss; then adjourning to a 
 couple of adjoining rooms for a smoke of opium. After all was over, about £30 worth 
 of poultry, pastry, &c, subscribed for by the richer Chinese, was distributed amongst 
 their poorer countrymen, who came from far and near to receive the luxuries.' 
 
 In Ballarat East are many worked-out diggings, notably along the Buninyong Road, 
 In the old days, so rich were these diggings that they were known as the Jewellers' Shops, 
 and it is related, as a proof of their wealth, that two men working for six weeks in one 
 of these claims made, os im<jrn, eight pounds weight of gold apiece. Now they are 
 absolutely deserted, save for an occasional "hatter,"* Chinaman, or European, who rinds 
 it worth his while to wash "tailings." That it is worth while, especially for a China- 
 man, who can live on less than a white man, is very evident. 
 
 In the old days men were more careless, and left behind them much that is counted 
 valuable nowadays. Many of the roads in Ballarat are mad.' with the refuse quartz 
 left as valueless by the miners, and as the quartz is gradually ground down to powder 
 by the constant traffic, men rind it pays them to wash the sweepings of the roads for 
 the specks of gold it is sure to contain. As soon as this became generally known, the 
 roads wore in danger of being swept bodily away, and the Town Council found it necessary 
 to frame a bye-law forbidding the sweeping of the roads by anyone but the authorised 
 town scavengers. Nevertheless, on the J3uninyong Road, almost any evening, may be 
 seen men, Chinamen generally, shovelling up the dust and mud, in order to wash it for 
 gold. This is, perhaps, the foundation of the belief that in Ballarat the streets are paved 
 with gold 
 
 Beyond Ballarat East lie many little townships, or rather hamlets, which owe their 
 origin to the early gold-seekers. Canadian and Magpie, Napoleon and Durham — so varied 
 are the names — all lie within a short distance of Ballarat towards Buninyong, itself a 
 pretty little town, at the foot of the hill of the same name. It is fully ten years older 
 than Ballarat, and. unlike it, does not owe its origin to the gold. The place was 
 situated on the old bullock-dray road to Melbourne, and about 1841 a public-house was 
 put up there as a resting-place for the drivers of stock. Round this a little hamlet 
 gradually sprang up: for many men, both bullock-drivers and others, found it convenient 
 to leave their wives and children in some place where they were safe from the prowling 
 aboriginal, and the other dangers of the bush. But the discovery of gold killed Buninyong. 
 
 •' Hatter," a man working alone on wrought-out and deserted claims — hence any man working anil 
 living alone. A man working aim n a new gold-field is, however, called a prospector.
 
 Ballarat.] FALLS AT LAL LAL. 259 
 
 It is still a pretty little town, nestling up against the hillside, but no business is done 
 there. Its streets are empty, and no house has been built for years. As it was in 
 1850, so it is now: progress has passed it by, and the inhabitants of its prosperous 
 neighbour call it in derision the "ancient village." Buninyong is an aboriginal word, 
 meaning "knee hills," and the mountain was so called by the black fellows, because it 
 was supposed by them to resemble the raised knees of a man lying on his back. 
 
 Leaving the little town, and skirting the eastern side of the hill, the lead |. 
 through some very pretty country, mostly agricultural, till about twenty miles (rem 
 Ballarat it comes to another little township, that of Lai Lai, the aboriginal term for falling 
 water. Lai Lai is on a creek of the same name, and the Falls there are a favourite place 
 for picnic parties from Ballarat. In fact, this is the furthest limit for them. No one on 
 a day's pleasuring bent goes further, by road at least, than Lai Lai. Once a year, on New 
 Year's Lay, a race meeting takes place, and thousands of people visit the Falls. Un- 
 fortunately, like most of Australia's rivers, the creek is nearly dry at that season of the 
 year. It is possible, by a judicious use of stepping-stones, to cross dryshod, while it is 
 always easy, by taking off shoes and socks, to wade, so that the Falls on the 1st of 
 January are not at their best. Still, the water falls over rocks at least one hundred feel 
 high, and makes a cheery babble among the stones beneath. It is pleasant on a hot 
 summer's day to lie down among the ferns and scrub at the bottom of the gully, and 
 with the cloudless blue sky above to listen to the murmur of the waters and the 
 drowsy hum of the insects, and watch the sunlight making delicate tracerj with the 
 fern fronds on the stones and rocks that guard the creek. Far away, down the gully, 
 you can see waving corn-fields, and range after ran^e of wooded hills, which fade away 
 in the blue distance. To the left, too, is Buninyong, the hill to whose side it clings, 
 hardly to be recognised as the one which overlooks Ballarat 
 
 If, instead of leaving Ballarat by the Main Load, you choose the other branch of 
 Bridge Street, the Melbourne Road, you ascend the steep slopes of the hill. Bakery 
 Hill, of diggings days' notoriety, and find yourself in a broad street, as wide, indeed, as 
 Sturt Street, bounded on each side by an avenue of gum-trees. The street is uol oth< rwise 
 remarkable. The houses are for the most part one-storeyed brick cottages, sit in nice little 
 gardens, just the kind that are described in auctioneers' advertisements as "eligible villa 
 residences.'' About a mile from Bridge Street is the Orphan Asylum, a large brick 
 building, on the very outskirts of the town; around it are the WTOUght-OUt workings 
 of the old Eureka lead, and just behind it, not half a mile away, is the Eureka monument, 
 erected on the very site of the Eureka Stockade. 
 
 Leaving the Orphan Asylum, and passing under the aicb of the Geelong and 
 
 .Melbourne Railway, you find that the town has been left behind, and that you are in 
 
 the open country. Warrenheip, which means in the aboriginal tongue "emu-feathers," 
 
 as the trees upon it were supposed by the blacks to resemble the plumage of that bird, 
 is (dose at hand, and the road takes you fairly into the district of Blingaree and the 
 Bullarook Forest. Here is some of the finest land in the colonj rich chocolate soil 
 in which potatoes ami corn grow to perfection, and which, in some parts, is worth £60 an 
 
 acre. Most of the first settlers iii I ',i ii i-a ive were, for seme unknown reason. Irish, and
 
 260 
 
 CASSBLL'S PICTtTRESQlTE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Ballarax 
 
 Irish they have remained to the back-bone. Mostly Roman Catholics, and hanging to- 
 gether as they do, they haw b< me quite a power in the land, and as they belong to the 
 
 electorate of Hallarat Mast, their vote is enough to turn an election, and is consequently 
 eagerlj sought by would-be M.P.'s. They generally contrive to make things "warm" for 
 the unfortunate candidate for Parliamentary honours who has earned their displeasure. 
 Never an election passes but the unpopular candidate has received some marks of their 
 favour iii the shape of rotten eggs, dead eats, or stale cabbages, while lucky is he whose 
 buggy bas not been smashed, nor bis scrutineers beaten. It is related of one unfortunate 
 man, whom they bad put out, that after the declaration of the poll, rising to address 
 the electors, with wrath and bitterness in his heart, be began — "Gentlemen of Hallarat, 
 
 CHINAMENS HITS AT OOI.DEX POINT. 
 
 and savages of Dungaree ! " Dut spite of their addiction to whisky at election times 
 and on market-days, the men of Dungaree are to be applauded for the industry and 
 vigour with which they have converted the heavily-timbered forest lands into fertile 
 farms and rich pasture : and it is hardly necessary to add that these Sturdy Jrisb 
 farmers have brought to their new home under the Southern Cross the hospitality 
 and warm-heartedness that have ever distinguished their countrymen in all lands. 
 
 Dallarat is surrounded on all sides by small townships, which, like Ballarat itself, 
 owe their origin to the miners, and are mainly dependent on the gold for their existence. 
 Creswick, about eleven miles to the north, connected with Ballarat by railway, has about 
 four thousand inhabitants, and several paying claims; and twelve miles beyond it, on 
 the same line of railway, is Chines, a town of about the same size, and greatly resembling 
 it. Kingston and Smeaton are small hamlets among the hills that surround Creswick. 
 and not only is gold found there, and paying claims worked, but the land is rich.
 
 Ballarat.J 
 
 LEAII.MOXTH AND BtTRRUMBEET 
 
 261 
 
 Still smaller are Smythesdale and Scarsdale, hamlets to the south ot Ballarat, which, 
 set among scrubby ranges, where the land is poor, depend entirely on the yield of 
 gold for thuir existence. To the west of Ballarat the character of the country com- 
 pletely changes, and at Learmontli and Burrumbeet, instead of thickly-wooded ranges, 
 we see softly-rounded, conical bills isolated one from another, and for the mosl part 
 
 THE CITT, PROM BLACK HILL. 
 
 treeless. This formation begins at Mount Rowan, about four miles from Ballarat, and 
 behind it is Dowling Forest, which is not, and never was, a forest at all, but rolling, 
 park-like lands, entirely free from undergrowth, and with prettj trees dotted here and 
 there. Eere, in Dowling Forest, at the foot of another hill, Mount Pisgah, is the race 
 course; and the people of Ballarat claim for it that, if it is not the most important, 
 it is at least the prettiest course in the colony. Learmontb and Burrumbeet are 
 little agricultural townships on the shores of lakes five miles apart, the one thu
 
 262 
 
 ( LSSELL'S PICT1 RESQUE W STRALASIA. 
 
 [BaI im-u. 
 
 and the other fourteen milts from Ballarat. Lake Learmonth is a pretty little lake 
 i the same size as Lake Wendouree, and though no Town Council lias made it 
 the object of its rare, its beauties are far greater, for it is embosomed among hills 
 whose gentlj swelling slopes come down to the water's edge, and are mirrored in 
 its shallow depths. The countrj is purely agricultural, the earth has never been turned 
 up in the greedy search for gold, and the little township on the margin of the lake, 
 surrounded by farms, with their neat hedges of gorse, privet, or thorn, and their well- 
 grown English trees, reminds Englishmen, they say, more of heme than any ether place 
 about Ballarat. At Burrumbeet the scene is mere desolate: the hamlet is on the borders 
 of a lake 1 thirty miles round, and the farms appear larger and mere scattered. Few 
 persons ever venture on the lake, for it is deep and treacherous, subject to sudden 
 squalls, which are dangerous in the extreme, and more than one victim lies beneath its 
 brackish waters. Beth Learmonth and Burrumbeet send rich stores of grain and farm 
 produce to Ballarat, and much of the business of all these little towns finds its way to 
 the Golden City in their midst. 
 
 Mining is, of course, a very fluctuating source of wealth, hut mere leads are being 
 discovered and opened up, and the gold-fields of Ballarat are far from being exhausted. 
 The districts round are fertile, and every day sees land increase 1 in value: and thus, 
 rich in mines, and girdled with farms, and its situation high among the hills giving 
 it a much more bracing air than that of Melbourne, so that it is becoming quite a 
 sanatorium fir all parts of Victoria, the place has before it, its people hope, a future 
 of greal prosperity. 
 
 GOLD MIXEl:s TOOLS.
 
 263 
 
 THE EUKEKA STOCKADE. 
 
 Bakery Hill — Desolation— Muttering* before the Storm — A Miscarriage of .Justice — The Fate of the Eureka 
 Hotel — The Reform League — The Meeting on Bakery Hill — Declaration of War— The Stockade— The 
 Night Attack — An Awful Scene — The Sequel. 
 
 r piIK ^ivatiT part of Ballarat Kasr, is built on the low-lying Hats of the Yarrowee Creek, 
 -*- which arc bounded on the west by the plateau on which stands Ballarat West, while 
 on the east it is overlooked by Bakery Hill. Bakery Hill is now much built over, I >i it. 
 behind the houses the red turned-up earth and the deserted workings still bear wifa 
 to the industry of the early miners. Here among the worked-out and abandoned claims, 
 about half a mile behind the Orphan Asylum, is situated the Eureka Stockade reserve 
 — a reserve set apart by the Town Council as a memorial of the historic fight between 
 the diggers and the authorities on the morning of Sunday, old of December, 1 s.~> 1. Uncared 
 for, and enclosed only by a white picket-fence, sadly in need of a coat of paint, there 
 is Qothing to mark the reserve from the surrounding diggings, but close to the street — 
 
 Eureka Street — which in the old days was the track followed by the bullock-drays t'r 
 
 Melbourne, stands a blue stone monument, whose only beauty consists in its severe 
 simplicity and solid strength. Seemingly the Town Council have already more than 
 half repented the building of that monument, for it is unfinished and neglected, and 
 the guns which are to stand at the four corners have never even been placed on their 
 carriages, but lie rusting and half buried in the grass-grown earth. There is no beauty 
 about the place; the native trees have lone' since disappeared, no kindly hand has planted 
 others, and even the grass finds but scanty nourishment among the stones and rubble 
 thrown up by the miners. No one lives there, i'vw people go there, and only the old 
 residents remember the early days when gold first 'broke out" at Ballarat A stranger 
 may show a passing interest in the place, and I hen for his benefit is told once again the 
 half-forgotten story of the Eureka Stockade. 
 
 Lou-- before the fight at Ballarat there had been murmurings and discontent on 
 the gold-fields. The license fee was bigh at first, 30s. a month, then double that, and 
 afterwards 30s. again, besides which the digger was required to produce his fici use 
 v :. : lever it was demanded b\ the < lommissioner, or by any of i he troopers. Thirty shillings 
 a month was an exorbitant sum; many a man could not make so much at such uncertain 
 and untrustworthy work as gold-digging, and have enough for his necessarj expenses, 
 though doubtless many could have paid it easily. Then arose the difficulty of collecting 
 this unpopular poll-tax. .Men would not pay willingly, and the troopers therefore had 
 
 \<< collect it by force. It is laid to their charge that they Used more violei than uas 
 
 absolutely necessary. Certain it is thai the difficulty of collecting the License fees became 
 greater ami greater as time went on. Armed troopers, in small parties, swooped down 
 ■ hi the diggers at unexpected times, and a cry of " Traps ! traps ! " was sufficient t" send 
 everj man flying tor refuge to his claim, with intenl to there remain hidden b\ friendly 
 mother earth till the coast uas clear. Matters were in this strained state ii"t oiil\ at 
 Ballarat, but on everj gold-field throughout the colony, when a new police magistral
 
 204 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Tire Burbka 
 
 Ballarat, or rather, as it was then called, the "district ( .f Buninyong." was appointed. 
 He was a tall, ffood-lookin^ man. with the manners and address of a gentleman, but 
 was utterly unscrupulous, and in fact was. as the diggers declared, a "thorough 
 
 had Int." 
 
 On Specimen Hill, a little ascent ever against Bakery Hill, was a small hotel, or rather 
 shanty, hall' wood and half calico, kept by a man named Bentley. This place was in no 
 good repute, but offering as it did the attractions of bowling-alley, skittles, billiards, and 
 unlimited liquor so long as there was money to pay for it, it was much patronised by 
 the dingers, and was open, as a rule, and generally crowded, both day and night. Much, 
 of course, of the diggers' hard-won gains found its way into Bentley's pocket, but beyond 
 bestowing a few hearty curses on the money-grubbing publican, they would not have 
 grumbled at that. Bentley, however, was generally believed — and the popular impression 
 has never been contradicted — to be the creature of the gentlemanly Police .Magistrate, 
 who received most of his profits, or at the very least shared them. To this shanty, 
 then dignified by the name of the Eureka Hotel, there came one night a young man 
 named Scobie, who to his surprise found it shut up. As this was contrary to custom, 
 he beat at the doors, shouted, and created such a disturbance as finally had the effect 
 of bringing out not only the landlord, but two or three other men. A scuffle ensued, 
 Scobie was assaulted, and died soon afterwards of his wounds. Then Bentley and 
 the others who had taken part in the disturbance were brought before the police 
 magistrate and the two resident Commissioners, and, in spite of the remonstrance of 
 the junior Commissioner, and to the astonishment and disgust of the diggers, were ac- 
 quitted 
 
 So high ran the popular indignation at this miscarriage of justice, that on the 
 12th October, 1854, a public meeting was called to consider the best method of 
 bringing the culprits to justice. The meeting was held just outside the Eureka Hotel, 
 and on the very spot where Scobie had met his death. A large crowd collected, 
 and the camp officials, not unnaturally fearing some act of violence, sent a guard of 
 police to protect the hotel, with its obnoxious landlord. Several men rose up and 
 addressed the diggers. At first it seemed as if things might pass off quietly, but 
 the speeches grew more and more inflammatory, the crowd increased rapidly, and at 
 last Bentley, who evidently considered discretion was the better part of valour, was 
 seen to leave the back of the building, mount his horse, and set off at full gallop 
 for the police camp, with the intention both of saving his life, which he evidently 
 considered in danger, and of sending more help to the police stationed at his hotel. 
 His flying figure and terror-stricken face as he raced down the gully which separated 
 Specimen Hill and Bakery Hill from the camp on the opposite plateau attracted the 
 attention of those diggers who had not attended the meeting, and leaving their holes 
 and their tents, they joined the crowd in front of the Eureka Hotel, which must by 
 that time have numbered nearly ten thousand men. For a moment the issue seemed 
 doubtful. But the slightest thing sways a crowd. A boy, thoughtlessly, more in sport 
 than in earnest, took up a stone, and flung it at the glass lain]) which hung in front of 
 the hotel, smashing it to atoms. The fate of the Eureka Hotel was decided. As the
 
 STOCKAUt:.] 
 
 WRECKING THE HOTEL. 
 
 265 
 
 glass fell jingling down on the stones beneath, from a hundred throats burst the cry, 
 "Down with the place! down with it! Burn the whole place!" And the excited mob 
 rushed on the house. It was carried in a moment : such a multitude was irresistible. 
 The police gave way at once, and the place swarmed with men whose blood was 
 up, and who in their indignation wrecked the house in less than five minutes. Then 
 one man, to finish the work, gathered an armful of paper and other combustibles, and 
 set light to them in the windward corner of the bowling-alley. In one moment 
 the place, built as it was of canvas and wood, dry as tinder now with the suns of early 
 summer, was one mass of flames, and in less than a quarter of an hour not a vestige 
 
 
 
 ■?/* 
 
 V* WAT'-". lOV, L *— * 
 
 THE EUREKA STOCKADE MONUMENT (FROM THE DESIGNS). 
 
 remained. Then the diggers, hearing the tramp of the soldiers and police coming to 
 the rescue quietly dispersed, fully satisfied with the vengeance they had taken. 
 
 But the Government could hardlj let this flagrant act of disorder pass unnoticed. 
 It was impossible to punish eight thousand men, yel the difficulty was to find the 
 ringleaders. It was no easy task to pick them out from amen-' so many, and yet some 
 there must have been who were more to Manic than the rest 
 
 Finally, three n w.-iv pitched up.>n. It was urged by the rioters that tins was an 
 
 unfair choice, for though one of them had ■been present at Bentley's I! I far 
 
 from assisting, he had used his best endeavours to dissuade the people from taking the 
 law into their own hands; and that, as for the other two, they had uever been there 
 at all. What was the truth upon this subject it is impossible to say after this space 
 of time, but the magistrates disagreed with popular "pinion, and the three men were 
 committed for trial Bail was 3peedily found, and a large crowd, awaiting the prisoners
 
 266 CASSBLL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA IThb Bdbeka 
 
 opposite tlic police camp, escorted them back to the township in the gully with main 
 shouts of defiance, and much firing of pistols into the air. 
 
 Meanwhile the authorities in Melbourne, serin.,'- thai something was seriously wrong 
 "ii the Ballarat gold-fields, sent a special Board of Commissioners w> inquire into the 
 affray by which Scobie lost his life, the result being that the police magistrate was 
 dismissed, whilst Bentley and his associates were sentenced to three years mi the roads. 
 The diggers, however, were nol satisfied with this tardy justice. Thej wanted manhood 
 suffrage; they wanted short Parliaments; and, above all, they wanted the abolition of 
 the license fee, and the liberation or acquittal of the three prisoners. These three men 
 were -wisely, perhaps, considering the state of popular feeling — brought to trial in 
 Melbourne, and as the jury recommended them to mercy, were sentenced to terms of 
 imprisonment varying from three to six months. 
 
 At this, indignation in Ballarat knew no bounds. A Reform League had been formed 
 to air the grievances of the diggers, of which League the Secretary, Mr. Eumffray, was 
 a man of moderate views, sincerely desirous of attaining reasonable ends by moderate 
 means. But there were wilder spirits than bis in the League, disaffected irishmen and 
 foreigners — Italians, Frenchmen, and Germans— who would stick at nothing, and by 
 them the Secretary was regarded with dislike and suspicion. As soon as the conviction 
 of the prisoners was known in Ballarat, Humffray went to Melbourne and procured an 
 interview with Governor Hotham, who intimated that if a proper memorial were sent 
 to tin' Government the prisoners might be released. But the turbulent spirits in the 
 League, distrusting Eumffray, sent delegates of their own, and on the 25th of November 
 two men, an Irishman and an Englishman, arrived in Melbourne to demand the release 
 of the prisoners. Such a demand was, of course, refused by Governor Hotham and 
 his Ministers. Anxiously the diggers at Ballarat awaited the return of their delegates, 
 and a monster meeting was called for the 29th of November, on Bakery Hill, so that 
 the members of the League, and all others interested, might hear their reports. 
 
 Bakery Hill on the 29th presented a scene of the wildest excitement. The sky 
 was cloudless, and the sun shone warm and brilliant. To the east was Warrenheip, its 
 virgin forest still untouched, while to the west, on the opposite plateau, could be seen 
 the white tents of the Government camp peeping between the trees. All the trees were 
 gone by this time from Bakery Hill. Here and there might be seen a stump burnt 
 and blackened, but the surface of the hill itself was covered with upturned earth 
 thrown out from the claims, while here and there was a digger's tent, with his simple 
 hius, hold possessions ranged outside. Down in the gully beneath were the soldiers and 
 police, drawn up in order, ready, in ease of any outbreak, to at once quell it. On top 
 of the hill a platform bad been erected, and over this, for the first time, floated the 
 insurgent flag, the stars of the Southern Cross on a blue ground. On this platform the 
 chief members of the League took their stand with the delegates, who were to deliver 
 their reports, and around it surged a crowd of over twelve thousand people, men from 
 every nation under the sun. whom lust of gold had brought to this out-of-the-way 
 corner of the earth. Fair-haired Swedes and dark-eyed Italians, ricrv Frenchmen and 
 phlegmatic Germans, canny Scotchmen and reckless Irishmen, miners from the tin mines
 
 Stockade.] RAISING THE STANDARD. 267 
 
 of Cornwall, and pickpockets from the slums of London, together with "old hands" from 
 Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales. The majority were young, or men in the 
 prime of life, and almost all were diggers, clad alike in the ordinary garb of a digger, the 
 
 flannel shirt, trousers tucked into their long hoots, and slouch hat, while all, or almost 
 all, carried arms — revolvers and long knives. The meeting was a turbulent one ; the 
 diggers were wild with a sense of injustice and injury, and the speeches from the platform 
 were not calculated to calm them. Peter Lalor addressed the meeting, and so did the 
 returned delegates from Melbourne. Speeches were also made by Frederic Vem. a 
 Hanoverian by birth, and a little red-haired Italian named Carboni Raffaello, to whose 
 being conspiracy was essential, and whom, on account of his gift of tongues, Peter 
 Lalor, the undoubted leader, made his aide-de-camp, as he (Lalor) knew no language 
 but his own, whilst many of his followers were foreigners in like predicament. Humffray, 
 who was a Welshman, brought down the wrath of the meeting on his head by still 
 counselling moral force, and was stigmatised as a trimmer. One man in the crowd, 
 having raised his voice in favour of constitutional action, was hardly saved from the 
 infuriated diggers by the influence of the chairman and his associates. Several resolu- 
 tions were proposed, and carried unanimously. Another meeting was called for Sunday, 
 the 3rd of December, to choose a committee for the Reform League, and before dispersing 
 the crowd made bonfires of their licenses, and all the arms and ammunition were 
 distributed that the rebels could lay their hands on. Such was the declaration of war, 
 and it was much to the surprise of the troops in the gully that the meeting of the 
 ^!Jth of November passed oft' without any open violence 
 
 Acting under the orders of Governor Hotham, wdio, stout old sailor as he was, 
 thought he could manage these turbulent diggers as in the old days he had done his 
 ship's crew, the authorities on the 30th made another effort to collect the license fees. 
 The whole force, both soldiers and police, turned out, and the diggers fled before them. 
 Once or twice they made a slight attempt at resistance, and shot-, were tired, and stones 
 thrown at the advancing troops. Some few prisoners were made, and then the force 
 returned to camp. But now the most desperate among the diggers, with Lalor as their 
 leader, and Vera ami Raffaello as his coadjutors, hoisted the insurgent flag once more 
 on Bakery Hill, and, kneeling around it, swore, with right hands uplifted, mutual defence. 
 When the rebels were about a thousand strong tiny marched in procession, bearing the 
 flag before them, to the site of the present Eureka monument, close to the old Melbourne 
 I and established themselves in an entrenched camp, or rather stockade. It is a 
 fact to be in , ted that although twelve thousand people bad been present at the meeting 
 the day before, had applauded the most seditious speeches, ami had openly burned 
 their licenses, yet now- that war was actually declared, ami Lalor ami his friends were 
 in arms against the Government, the number of their followers had dwindled to a 
 thousand, while later on, on Sunday morning, when the soldiers attacked the Stockade, 
 their strength from one cause and another had actualh decreased to about three 
 hundred. All work on liallarat ceased, and the people were in a state of the wildest, 
 excitement, all waiting, as it seemed, the issue of this daring rebellion. 
 
 Though many Would not join the insurgents, still the majority sympathised with
 
 268 OASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. ITbe Eubbka Stockade. 
 
 tin i i i to ii certain extent, and nunc were found willing to help the soldiers or the police. 
 It seems incredible thai any man in his senses could for one moment have seriously 
 contemplated the overthrow of a Government, and the establishment of a republic, with 
 
 a handful of men, not, a thousand strong, the half of whom were armed with picks ami 
 shovels, and pikes made of pieees of steel tixed mi to long poles. That Lalor and his 
 associates did contemplate this is evident, and Lalor's "minister of war" drew up a 
 Declaration of Independence, in which this is distinctly stated. The insurgent camp, 
 the Kitreka Stockade, as it was called, was situated on the top of Bakery Hill, and 
 was surrounded by a rude fence of slabs, strengthened wherever they thought necessary 
 by overturned carts, boxes, barrels, and anything, in fact, they could lay their hands 
 on. The rebels were no engineers, and the ground enclosed was over an acre in extent 
 — far too large for their purpose. 
 
 Drilling went on with vigour, and small armed parties were sent out to forage, for 
 the rebels were not only short of arms, ammunition, and supplies, but of money as well. 
 This difficulty was surmounted by giving the storekeepers written receipts, certifying 
 that the goods had been received, payment to be expected when the new republic was 
 firmly established. These pioneers — the would-be founders of another nation — were not 
 clever, apparently, with the pen. Here is one of the precious receipts which have come 
 down to us: — "Received from the Ballarat store 1 Pistol for the Cointee X. Hugh 
 M'Carty. Hurras for the people." Another. — "The Reform Lege Comete — 4 drinks, 
 fouer chillings, 4 pie for fower of the neight watch patriots. — X. P." Whether the 
 proprietor of the Ballarat store ever realised on that transaction is extremely doubtful, 
 but at the rate charged, his losses on the " neight watch patriots' " supper must soon 
 have been made up. 
 
 Meanwhile, at the Government camp, Captain Thomas, the commanding officer, had 
 not been unmindful of the treasonable proceedings that were going on around. There 
 were two companies of the 12th and 40th Regiments stationed at Ballarat, together with 
 nearly a hundred policemen. Reinforcements were hourly expected from Melbourne 
 under the command of the Major-General, Sir Robert Nickle; and Captain Thomas, while 
 waiting, put his camp into a state of defence. The women and children were placed in 
 a building supposed to be shot-proof, and the men were kept under arms night and 
 day. These precautions were very necessary, as the Government officials had no means 
 of arriving at any clear idea of the exact number of the rebels. That they, if only 
 unanimous, must far outnumber the soldiers and police seemed certain. The suspense 
 grew very wearing, and the men waited impatiently the moment when they should either 
 attack or be attacked. On Saturday, the 2nd of December, although the troops from 
 Melbourne had not yet arrived, Captain Thomas decided to wait no longer, but to endeavour 
 to crush the insurrection at one blow. To do this he knew he must carry the Stockade 
 by storm. He dared not attack in the daytime, because he had no force to leave behind 
 to protect his own camp, but a night surprise, and especially a Saturday night surprise, 
 would, he felt sure, be effective. On Saturday night, as he knew, many of the diggers 
 would be away, some at their own homes, and more in the drinking and gambling 
 saloons, of which there were enough and to spare in the little township down in the
 
 DISTANT VIEW OP BAIXAKAT, FROM MOUNT w \i:i:i \ III IP
 
 270 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [The Eureka 
 
 gully between the two ramps. And of those who remained in the Stockade, many, he 
 knew, would not be so modesl in their libations as the "fower neight watch patriots" 
 who shared "4 drenks" among them. There was little sleep in the Government camp 
 that night, and long before the first faint streaks of the earlj summer dawn appeared 
 in the sky Captain Thomas bad his little army — in all nearly three hundred police 
 and soldiers fairly on the march. 
 
 The Eureka was not above two miles away, bul to reach it the little force were 
 obliged to steal down the gully, and through the sleeping town. Silently they marched, 
 one hundred and seventy-six foot and one hundred mounted men, through the spectral 
 white tents, past the claims, deserted now. and up the steep incline of the opposite 
 hillside. So well was the project, carried out, that they had encircled the Stockade 
 on all save the southern side before the rebels discovered their proximity. As soon 
 as the alarm was given in the Stockade, a volley was tired in the direction of the 
 advancing troops. It cheeked them not a moment, and they came on little the worse 
 for it. "For," says one of his historians. "Captain Thomas knew that undisciplined 
 men firing upon a body of men advancing up a steep incline were sure to tire over 
 their heads." The event proved the correctness of his theory, and, with a shout and 
 a cheer, the Government men reached the Stockade, and in spite of the stoul re- 
 sistance of a body of pikemen, and the sharp but desultory fire of the other rebels, 
 carried it, The foot police entered first, and were met by a body of pikemen who 
 stood their ground sturdily, but the soldiers ably supported their allies, and the fight 
 was continued hand to hand within the palings. For a few minutes the insurgents 
 held their own bravely, then their ammunition began to fail, and they tell back before 
 the steady advance of Captain Thomas's men. The flagstaff in the centre was soon 
 reached, and the soldiers tore down the Southern Cross and trampled it under loot. 
 Then it was each man for himself: the rebels turned and fled, dashing down the 
 hillside, taking refuge in the holes, fleeing away to the ranges, tor the Republic of 
 Victoria was utterly crushed at its very birth, and its supporters were in no wise anxious 
 to answer for its deeds. In less than tive-and-twenty minutes, before the rising sun had 
 dispersed the shadows and mists of the early morning, Captain Thomas found himself 
 master of the Stockade on the top of Bakery Hill. 
 
 This result had not been gained without bloodshed < laptain Wise, the second in 
 command, lay mortally wounded. Lieutenant Paul] was also hurt. Four of the soldiers 
 were dead, and about a dozen more wounded, while no less than fifteen of the rebels lay 
 dead, and as many more were wounded, many of whom afterwards died. About a 
 dozen of the rebels, seeing no chance of escape, surrendered — among them Raffaello, 
 Laior's aide-de-camp — and were marched by their captors down the gully to the Govern- 
 ment camp, and then put in the lock-up, the soldiers sparing neither jeers nor taunts 
 by the way. All the tents and the barricades, everything, in fact, that would burn, was 
 tired by the attacking party, and soon the site of the Eureka Stockade, the stronghold 
 of the Republic of Victoria, was covered with smoking ruins. The soldiers, having 
 taken away their dead and wounded, left the camp, which was immediately "rushed" 
 by the friends and relatives of the diggers. An eye-witness thus describes what followed : —
 
 Stockade.] COWED. 271 
 
 "The scene was awful — twos and threes gathered together, and all felt stupefied. 
 
 [ went with R to the barricade. The tents all around were in a blaze. 1 was about 
 
 to go inside, when the cry was raised that the troopers were coming again. They did 
 
 come, with carts to take away the bodies. I counted fifteen dead. <>w G , a fine, 
 
 well-educated man, and a great favourite. I counted fifteen others, but the spectacle 
 was sn ghastly that I feel loathing at the remembrance. They all lay in a small space 
 with their faces upwards, looking like lead. Several of them were still heaving, and at 
 every rise of their breasts the blood snouted out of their wounds, or just bubbled out 
 and trickled away. One man, a stout-chested, fine fellow, apparently about forty years 
 old, lay with a. pike beside him. ... I counted fifteen wounds in that single carcase. 
 Some were bringing handkerchiefs, others bed-furniture and matting, to cover up the 
 laces of the dead. Oh, God! sir, it was a sight for a Sabbath morn that I humbly 
 implore heaven may never he seen again. Poor women, crying for absent husbands, and 
 children frightened into quietness. ... A little terrier sat on the breast of the man 
 I spoke of, and kept up a continuous howl. It was removed, but always returned to 
 the same spot, and when his master's body was huddled, with the other corpses, into the 
 cart, tin' little dog jumped in after him, and lying on his dead master's breast, began 
 howling again." 
 
 The leaders of the rebellion escaped, and the authorities, though they had a greal 
 many prisoners, found they were ignorant men, for the most part of no account, who 
 had been led away, and were more .sinned against than sinning. Peter Lalor, the leader, 
 had been shot down early in the tight, and, as he lay on the ground, some friendly hand 
 covered him from sight with slabs. After the fight was over he was taken away to the 
 ranges, and afterwards smuggled into Ballarat. to the house of a certain Father Smythe, 
 a Roman Catholic priest, who had more than sympathised with the rioters. Here Lalor's 
 arm was amputated, and though a reward of £200 was on his head, and the secret of 
 his hiding-place was known to many people, lie was never caught. For Veni's appre- 
 hension a. reward of £500 was offered, the authorities erroneously supposing him to be 
 the leader of the riot, and £200 was also offered tor that of another of the leaders. 
 Great black and white placards containing full descriptions of the three men were 
 printed, and fastened on trees in and aboul Ballarat, hut, although the whereabouts of 
 ili.' men was widely known, none betrayed them. 
 
 Ballarat was like a greal swarm of bees which lias been rudelj disturbed, and 
 Captain Thomas kept his little force close within the precincts of the camp, anxiously 
 awaiting the arrival of sir Roberl Nickle, the Major-General, who was hourly expected 
 lint the diggers were utterly crushed. Those who were coming from Creswick to join 
 the rebels returned quietly to their work, and the men at Ballarat, though they buried 
 
 their dead with all the pomp and ceremony they could command, gave up all idea of 
 
 openly opposing tin' < tovernment 
 
 All Sunday and Monday the men in the cam]) remained under arms, and on the 
 .Monday some sho; s were exchanged between them and the diggers. So strained were 
 
 their relations, that probabbj it was a relief to both sides uhen early on the morning 
 
 of the 5th the advance guards of sir Robert Nickle's force were -ecu defiling from the
 
 272 
 
 CASSELI/S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 ITllt El'KEKA 
 
 ranges, and long before nightfall eight hundred men, with four field-pieces, and a large 
 
 butly of blue-jackets from 1 1. .M.S. Ehrtra, were in camp. Next, day martial law was 
 proclaimed, and in obedience to a general order many of the inhabitants brought in arms 
 and ammunition, but it was very evident that Captain Thomas had utterly crushed the 
 insurrection, and in less than a month, all further apprehension of an outbreak having 
 
 ceased, the Major-General, with the guns 
 and the sailors, marched back to Mel- 
 bourne, leaving about eight hundred men 
 as a guard at Ballarat 
 
 Not till the 1st April, L855, were the 
 State prisoners brought to trial on a 
 charge of high treason, and acquitted, 
 amidst the cheers of the people. After 
 this the rewards for the capture of Lalor 
 and the other leaders were withdrawn, 
 and the three were once more free men. 
 And so ended the Ballarat riot — a foolish, 
 wanton waste of life, by which nothing 
 was gained, for the amendment of the 
 mining laws and abolition of the license 
 fee would most certainly have been 
 attained quite as easily without blood- 
 shed. That the diggers were wronged 
 bitterly wronged — there is no doubt, and 
 a number of disaffected Irishmen and 
 foreigners, the sweepings of Germany, 
 Frame, and Italy, to whom all rule was 
 obnoxious, seized the opportunity to stir 
 them up to strife. Governor Hotham 
 was not far out when he stigmatised the 
 leaders of the rioters "as designing men 
 who had ulterior views, and who hoped 
 to profit by anarchy and confusion," and 
 as "men who wen' not suffered to remain 
 in their own countries in consequence of the violence of their characters, and the deeds 
 they had done." 
 
 It is an old story hi Ballarat now. The t »wn has extended its arms right round 
 the lonely bush cemetery, where soldiers and insurgents alike sleep) their last, long sleep, 
 and when.' monuments, of which we give illustrations, have been raised to their memory. 
 The gully, where nestled the tents of the diggers, the steep hillside up which the soldiers 
 charged, and the plateau on which was the Government camp, are now thick with houses. 
 A peaceful and prosperous city has taken the place of the old turbulent gold-fields 
 township, and the Eureka Stockade is all but forgotten. 
 
 , ; 
 
 = ' 
 
 .- > 
 
 I 
 
 MONUMENT TO DIGGERS WHO WEltE KILLED IN 
 THE RISING.
 
 Stockade.] 
 
 A STRANGE CHANGE.. 
 
 ■r,-.\ 
 
 "The whirligig of time brings in his revenges," and Mr. Peter Lalor is now the 
 Speaker "I the Victorian Lower House. Curiously enough, the leader of the Eureka 
 rioters is in these days the strictest advocate of law and order, and is acknowledged by 
 all to be the best Speaker who lias ever presided over the deliberations of the Legis- 
 lative Assembly. 
 
 MOXU.MI.NT TO Sill.MKUS \\ 1 1 ■ > 1'EI.L AT Till: STOCK ADI'. 
 
 18
 
 l'74 
 
 THE DAILY LIFE OF THE BUSH. 
 
 Stations and Stations— Sheep or Cattle General View ol a ition—" Running [n" Bush Hospitality — 
 
 An Ank'iit Dancer — Loafers --.Mustering:" — Stock Whips — Catholicism — " Sprees " — A Thriving Drunkard 
 
 "YOU Sit." 
 
 "T~\I|) you not find it terribly 'lull in the bush?" is a query thai very frequently 
 -*—^ greets the country visitor on his arrival in town. Like must other questions, 
 this admits of more than one answer. As Addison's shrewd old knight observed, there is 
 much to he said cm both sides. Much, of course, depends upon the tastes and mental 
 resources of the individual ; much on the society, surroundings, and thousand and one 
 ether circumstances which go to make anj place pleasant, or the reverse, residentially. 
 Speaking broadly, however, and supposing the individual to be a person of average 
 mental and bodily activity, a life in the wild bush, or in "the hack blocks," as 
 it is called, is not by any means so dull as might at first be supposed, even to 
 one who has been bred and educated in a town. By a "bush life" is meant chiefly 
 life on a sheep or cattle-station, or on a reunite seleetiun ; the life of the Australian 
 hush township is in many respects different, and to most people far less agreeable, 
 hut of this a more detailed account will be given later on. 
 
 The term "station" or "run" is a pretty comprehensive one, and may include 
 nearly anything, from the large country house and estate in the neighbourhood of Mel- 
 bourne or Sydney, almost English in its comfort and even luxury, to the "slab" 
 or "wattle and dab" hut far away in the hack country, where the pioneer squatter 
 who has just taken up fresh land, with perhaps two or three white assistants 
 and a few blacks, leads a life of unceasing toil and watchfulness, and carefully 
 tends his few sheep in the wilderness. Then, again, it may be either a sheep 
 or a cattle station, or a combination of the two, and the life on each of these 
 differs considerably from that mi the others. As a rule, the country when first 
 occupied is used to run cattle, and as things are gradually got into order sheep are 
 either wholly or in part substituted, being at first shepherded, and afterwards allowed 
 to roam at large in enclosed paddocks, from a few acres to many square miles in 
 extent. Accordingly a greater degree of comfort is usually found on a sheep than 
 on a cattle station. 
 
 The homestead, or "station" par excellence, is generally a wooden building, large 
 and straggling, and, in parts where the heat is extreme, supported on piles driven into 
 the ground. It is usually built in the shape of a hollow square, with the fourth 
 side open, or closed only with a low fence. It, is almost invariably surrounded, on 
 two or three sides at least, with a broad veranda, beneath which the greater part 
 of the "indoor" life is spent, especially during the summer months. Besides this, 
 there are generally numerous detached buildings, the kitchen, bachelors' quarters, billiard, 
 play, or lumber-rooms, stahles, a store, offices, men's hut, and a wool-shed, at distances 
 from the main building varying from a few yards to a mile or more. All these are 
 almost invariably of a single storey. A two-storeyed house in the hush is a veritable 
 rant avix, and is evidence of a high stage of civilisation.
 
 Daily Lin a Bi ».| A SQUATTER'S HOUSE. 275 
 
 At a little distance is the stockyard, where the horses or cattle are "run in," and also 
 the slaughter-yards, fowl-houses, and piggeries, with the miscellaneous sheds inseparable 
 from a country bouse in all parts of the world. Although there are almost always stables 
 of some sort, the reader must uol imagine that the borses on a station are usually kept 
 in them, as they are in England. Commonly, our or two are kepi either in the stable 
 or in a small paddock, where they can be easily caught in case of em . and for 
 
 the purpose of "running in" the rest. This "running in" is effected in the following 
 way: A man mounts the stabled horse and rides after the others, which are scattered 
 over the horse-paddock, feeding. The horse-paddock is often lour or five square 
 miles in extent, and is frequently intersected with gullies, clumps of ti-tree, and 
 other timber. As soon as the rider sees the horses that he wants, be 'jots in front 
 of them, rounds them up, and drives them before him towards the yards. Any 
 recalcitrant animal that endeavours to break away is soon brought to reason with 
 the terrible stockwhip. Arrived at the yard, in which a gap lias been left by taking 
 down slip panels, the horses rush in pell-mell. The panels arc then replaced, the 
 horses required arc caught and bridled, and then the rest are turned out again to 
 graze once mere. It is nol always an easy thing to catch your borse even in the 
 yards; but, though here and there an ill-conditioned brute will always remain trouble- 
 some, after a little practice you can catch most borses easily enough. Only it is well 
 to watch, lest, as you are making lor your own horse, some other animal's heels come 
 into unpleasant neighbourhood with your head. 
 
 The squatter's house, built where possible on the banks of a river, lagoon, or 
 creek, s'amls in a large garden well stocked with vegetable and fruit-trees, and 
 a lady's hand is often visiUe in the profusion of flowers. Frequently, too, vi 
 honeysuckle, and creepers are trained over verandas and walls: a lawn, more or less 
 level, suggests tennis; and there is a boat, or punt, upon the water in the distance. 
 There are generally at least two "living" rooms, besides the "office," where the 
 squatter makes up his account,, pays his men, writes his letters, and keeps his guns. 
 The rest oi tin' house is occupied by his wiie and family, governess, servants, and 
 visitors from town or from neighbouring stations, who are sure of a hearty welcome; 
 for the hospitality of the luish is proverbial. Indeed, it is often remarked that a 
 house there is never so full bul that it will hold half-a-dozen more When all the 
 beds in all the bedrooms are occupied, 'shake downs" arc made up en sofas, billiard- 
 tables, and camp bedsteads, on and under tables, and on the floor. When there is 
 no more room inside, the residue of the guests sleep on the veranda, whilst the late 
 arrival, who can find no vacant space to spread his blanket even there, will find a 
 comfortable "camping-ground" in the harness-room. A place is found for everyone, 
 even if everyone is not always in his place. As may he imagined, some ol these 
 places of rest are not quite so luxurious as the proverbial bed of down; but the 
 fatigue induced by exercise iii the pure, stioii- air of the hush makes the visitor ready 
 to sleep soundly even on the bare ground. 
 
 The elasticity of a hush house is prettj thoroughly tested on th icasion >>\ any 
 
 social gathering, such as a wedding, kangaroo battue, or ball. Indeed, the /est with
 
 276 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE A.USTRALASIA. 
 
 [Daili I 
 
 which Australian country people enter into amusements of all sorts, and the enormous 
 distances they will travel to attend them, arc notorious. There is a story extant oi 
 a young squatter who was anxious t<> attend a ball at a neighbouring station, but was 
 unable to get away from his work until nine o'clock on the morning of the dance. 
 The place was seventy miles away. But that, was a trifle Mounting bis best horse, with 
 the valise contain- 
 ing his dress-clothes 
 strapped in front oi 
 him, he started on 
 
 V/.V/Wcu-r 
 
 mi 
 
 his long ride. 
 Rain had fallen, 
 and the going 
 
 was heavy, but 
 by dark he had almost 
 reached his destination, 
 only to find that, in Antipo- 
 dean phrase, the river was 
 " down," a l>road sheet of 
 water lying between him 
 and the "haven where 
 he would be." Nothing 
 daunted, however, he first 
 unsaddled his horse, and, 
 hobbling him by the fore 
 feet in the usual manner, 
 turned him loose to craze. 
 He then disencumbered 
 himself of his boots and superfluous garments, and, having firmly strapped his valise 
 upon his head, entered the water, swam across, and presented himself at the house 
 en deahdbillA — like the character in The StraTiger, "not, indeed, dead, hut very 
 wet." It is added that, having danced all night, he re-swam the river in the morning, 
 and was hack in time to start shearing on the following day. Some people hint, 
 however, that in this exploit he was actuated by another fair and goodly reason, 
 over and above a passion for the waltz. It is pleasing to he able to add that 
 the young gentleman's dancing days are not by any means over, and that the 
 
 1. A HORSE ASD CATTLE STATION. ■_'. MILKING.
 
 of thi: Bush.] 
 
 LOAFING. 
 
 277 
 
 fair loadstone who exercised such a magnetic attraction upon him became in due time 
 his wife. 
 
 Dancing, however, is by no means the only amusement, though a "hop" is almost 
 in variably the culminating point of riding-parties, kangaroo hunts, and other festivities, 
 for dwellers in the bush will organise a carpet-dance on the smallest provocation 
 and at ten minutes' notice. 
 
 But the reader must not imagine that station life is nothing but one round <>f 
 enjoyment. There is work — and hard work too — to be done, and even visitors rind 
 
 ". 
 
 A STOCK} u;i>. 
 
 themselves, after a few days, joining in the daily routine of the station. In the bush 
 there is no sympathy for the "loafer." Indeed, the word there carries with it a 
 meaning far more odious than to the oars of a townsman. And yel 'bo breed does 
 unfortunately exisl even away in the " Never Never Country," the wilds of Queensland 
 The affable traveller is by no moans unknown who will ride up and. introducing him- 
 self in the blandesl of tones as Mr, De Courcy Montmorency (bis real name being 
 Muggins), ask for a - shako-down " for the night, Ids horse, as he explains, having 
 "knocked up." On the following day he makes no proposal to move from Ids com- 
 fortable quarters, and will hang on sometimes for months- sitting at the squatter's 
 table, drinking bis wine, smoking bis tobacco, and boring his friends, disregarding 
 
 the br lesl hints, until at last the master of the house, grown desperate, informs 
 
 him that bis liorso will bo ai the door at a certain hour the nexl morning. Even
 
 278 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Daili 
 
 then it is ten to one if he does not, on some excuse, hang on a few days Ion 
 and if finally be bas not to be almosl pushed out of the door. It is men of this class 
 thai are the pests of society in the bush, abusing, us they do, that spirit of free and 
 open-handed hospitality which is one of its chief charms. The bushman's hospitality 
 transcends thai of the Arab. The writer lias known a squatter sit for several evenings 
 in his bedroom, smoking in gloomy solitude, rather than have to endure the odious 
 society of one of these loafers in his sitting-room; and yel he would nol tell the 
 man in plain words to go. " I can't turn the fellow out," he said ; " it seems so 
 inhospitable." The man had come withoul an invitation, and had already been Staying 
 five weeks without moving so much as a finger to make himself useful 
 
 In the morning, immediately after breakfast, the horses are nm in from the horse- 
 paddock into the' yard — lor no one in the hush will walk if he can help it ; he will 
 rather spend halt' a day trying to catch a horse in the paddock, under a broiling sun. 
 than walk a couple of miles. Once in the yard, each man catches his horse, ami. 
 having bridled and saddled him. sets out on his day's work, often remaining out from 
 daylight till eight or nine al night. Only the ladies, and perhaps a man or two who 
 have work aboul the plac \ remain at home. The rest, will, in an hour's time, he 
 scattered in all directions — some riding along fences, to see that they are sheep or 
 cattle-proof; some off to distant paddocks, to draft sheep, or to run in fresh 
 horses for the work of the station; some to clear out water-holes, or to distribute 
 the rock-salt for the stock. Occasionally, when "mustering" has to he done, yen 
 will see ten or a dozen mounted men start off at daybreak, and see them return at 
 nightfall with jaded horses, driving before them, with "a. running lire of stock-whips," 
 a mob of perhaps five or six hundred cattle. These stock-whips, by-the-bye, are very 
 formidable weapons in the hands of a man who knows how to use them, though a 
 "new chum" is more likely than not to cut out his own eye if he attempts to crack 
 one. With about a foot and a half of handle, and a lash from ten to sixteen feel 
 long, they can be made to resound with a crack considerably louder than the report 
 of a pistol, so that the noise can he heard under some circumstances at a distance of 
 a mile or more, whilst on occasion the stockman can literally "cut. a piece" out of a 
 refractory beast. The reader can imagine the noise that is made when a dozen of 
 these whips are all being cracked at once. For it is the sound, and not the lash, 
 that is chiefly relied on, the cattle flying from the crack of the whip far more than 
 from its sting. 
 
 The social life of the hush, in all its freedom and simplicity, is well illustrated by the 
 character of its religious observances, which are eminently suited to the circumstances 
 of the case. Tin' bushman, as a rule, has the greatest respect for religion in the 
 abstract, and the very haziest notion of the dogmas peculiar to any particular creed, 
 though, as a rule, he professes adherence to one of the leading sects; for there is no 
 Established Church in any of the Australian colonies. He considers it a point of honour 
 to attend the service, or, as he calls it, the "preaching" of any clergyman who 
 comes round to the station where he happens to he working. The writer, when stay- 
 ing at a small station, was present at a service conducted by an itinerant minister "t
 
 oi i> Bi -.i.i THE BUSH PARSON. 21 9 
 
 the Bible Christians. It was held in the dining-room. There were present the master 
 and mistress of the house, who were Presbyterians; the governess, an [rvingite; the 
 overseer, a member of the Church of England; two Roman Catholic women servants; 
 a Chinese gardener, and five men from the "hut," not one of whom was of the same 
 creed as the parson They all, hicluding the Chinaman, took part in the service with 
 the greatest decorum, and would have regarded it as a gross breach of bush etiquette 
 it' they had not done so. The effect was singular. After service the minister smoked 
 a pipe with the squatter, and they discussed whisky-and-water and the Land Act until 
 the small hours. 
 
 Even the bush, however, is not entirely free from religious bickerings and in- 
 tolerance, and tliis is more especially the case in the small towns, or, as tiny are 
 usually called, "bush townships." There the different denominations quarrel and cavil 
 to their hearts' content. There is more joy over one not particularly clean 'cross-breed" 
 entieed from the opposition told, than over ninety and nine snow-white merinos that 
 have n ver belonged to the heretical Hock. The quarrelling, however, does not usually 
 set in until the township has become thoroughly established ami fairly prosperous; 
 tor in the first days <>l settlement everybody has too much on his hands to find 
 time for it; and Presbyterian, Anglican, Wcsleyan, ;m ,| j ew w ;n : ,i] unite in further- 
 ance of the Fancy Fair to lmild the Catholic Church, which, a few years afterwards, 
 some of them would be almost ready to pull down. Nor is it only in religious 
 matters that these petty bickerings are aroused: municipal and social differences excite 
 the wildest animosity, and politics lend a helping hand, until in some places one half 
 of ih'' township is not on speaking terms with the other half. It is only fair to 
 add that a case oi' real distress will unite for the nonce all denominations, cliques, 
 and political parties in the cause of charity. 
 
 The hush parson, of whatever denomination, makes his head-quarters at some 
 country town, and from this centre makes pastoral excursions into the surrounding dis- 
 trict, visiting remote selections and splitters' camps away back, riding imi tense distances 
 and undergoing great hardships often for a mere pittance. Especially is this the case 
 in very sparsely-populated country, such as the districl of Queensland known as the 
 "Never Never Country "—presumably because a person who has oi been there in- 
 variably asseverates, with more or less solemnity, that he will -never, never," on any 
 consideration, go hack. The creed chiefly represented in the grazing districts is the 
 Presbyterian, a large percentage of tin- squatters being North Britons; hut other de- 
 Dominations also have their ministers. The standard of education among bush parsons 
 
 is not as a rule high — a fact that can hardly be wondered at. considering the small 
 
 opportunities afforded them for study; hut brilliant exceptions are occasionally met 
 
 with, and the writer has overtaken on a hush track a traveller in shirt-sleeves and 
 a Cabbage-tree hat. mounted upon the sorriest of weeds, who has proved to be a 
 cultivated scholar and polished gentleman, and whose conversation has beguiled many 
 a weary mile. Amusing stories are told of the adventures of "new chum" parsons, 
 and hoaxes and practical jokes upon them ate not unknown, but these are generally 
 considered unfair. For the most part tiny are treated with consideration and respect.
 
 I'M I 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Daiu Lin 
 
 The great vice of the bush is drinking. Not that as a rule bushmen drink when 
 at work, but it only too often happens that ;it periods varying from two months to a 
 year they obtain a cheque for the full amount of their earnings, ride into the nearest 
 township, hand their cheque to the publican, and remain in a state of intoxication 
 until that worthy declares that their money is exhausted and pushes them out into 
 the street, or, as an exceptional favour, allows them to sleep off the effects of the 
 poison upon the tap-room floor. This is called, in bush vernacular, " a spree." As 
 soon as his "spree" is over, the bushman will return to his work, and for the next 
 
 A TWO-STORETED HOUSE IX THE BUSH. 
 
 six months touch nothing stronger than tea. What makes these orgies the more 
 injurious is the poison supplied to the unfortunate men. Provided that it burns the 
 palate and intoxicates the brain, the bushman is not very particular as to the taste 
 of his drink, and no stuff is too vile to use for the laudable purpose of emptying his 
 packets. In the absence of other liquor he has been known to "spree" on "Pain- 
 killer." The intelligent reader may perhaps infer from these remarks that the bush 
 publican is not, as a rule, a model member of the commonwealth, and in this surmise 
 he would be tolerably correct. Yet the rule is not without its exception, and many 
 bush hotels are conducted as decently and honestly as need be. Push publicans 
 sometimes make large fortunes, turn squatters, and become eminently respectable 
 members of society: but more often they themselves succumb to the vice upon which 
 they have thriven, and die in poverty. 
 
 Hard drinking is by no means confined to the labouring men; most neighbourhoods
 
 ■ I THE D -ii 1 
 
 THE FORCE OF NATURE." 
 
 28] 
 
 can point to shocking examples in the way of drinking squatters and settlers. 
 These, having larger opportunities, drink more persistently and continually than the 
 
 si. i ion -hands." It is hardly n ssary to say that their affairs usually go from bad 
 
 A STOCKS I 
 
 to u irse, until they end ly losing stock, Station, and all. Sometimes, however, nature 
 is too bountiful for them, and thej thrive in spite of themselves. A story is told of 
 
 a Queensland Squatter which well illustrates this. Some years ago In' and Ins 
 
 brother, members of a good English family, had taken up a run a long distance 
 "back," /.- .. far in the interior. Their drays hail been down to Rockhampton with wool,
 
 282 CASSELL'S I SQUE AUSTRALASIA. ">■ Busb. 
 
 and were returning with stores for the station, ALmongsl other things ordered was a 
 five-hundred-gallon tank, ami Mr. Bibulus, thinking it a pity thai this should come u]> 
 empty, gave orders that it, should be filled with rum. On its arrival, a general orgie 
 of all hands took place, until the liquor was exhausted A friend of the writer 
 chanced to call at the station the day after its arrival, and was greeted by the pro- 
 prietor— "Oh, come in, Mr. Blank — come in. Delighted to see you! I'm drunk, my 
 brother's drunk, the overseer's drunk, and all the men arc drunk: and still the station 
 pays!" Generally, however, the squatter, at all events when at home and at work, 
 is a most sober and temperate man. rising early, and generally eating the bread of 
 carefulness; for in spite of the boast of the hero of the above story, backed by the 
 popular idea of the enormous profits of squatting, it is only by tin- greatest energy, 
 care, and economy, that station properties nowadays can be got to pay, and even then 
 the risk from drought and other causes is considerable. 
 
 To the student of character, a residence in the Australian bush is by no means 
 uninteresting, the solitary life and want of society producing the most eccentric speci- 
 mens of the genus man. There may be met with, fossilised, as it were, and en- 
 crusted with a coating of bush habits and ideas, characters that almost seem to have 
 stepped from the pages of Fielding or Smollett, More especially is this seen in the 
 old pioneer colonists from the north of the Tweed, many of whom retain almost un- 
 impaired the ideas and prejudices of forty years ago: and you may occasionally hear, 
 in George Street, Sydney, or in Collins Street, Melbourne, language almost identical 
 with that which Scott puts into the mouth of the Bailie Nicol Jarvie. The news 
 papers literally teem with good stories anent these old "identities," and some, which 
 the reader would suspect were inventions, or at least gross exaggerations, are 
 literally true. For the most part, they illustrate precisely the same traits of character 
 as their subjects would have shown in their own "land of the leal," as an eminent 
 statesman called North Britain in one of his bursts of oratory. There is one 
 illustrative at once of the shrewd mother-wit of the average Scot, and of the personal 
 peculiarity of its subject, which is perhaps worth setting down. Mr. McPanel (may 
 he live a thousand years!) is in the habit of adding the words "you see" to every 
 remark he makes, a custom which is well known, and is the subject of no little 
 amusement in the neighbourhood of his station. One day his wood-shed was burned 
 to the ground, by an incendiary fire, as was supposed, lighted by a " swagsman," 
 or tramp, who had been refused a supper. A few weeks alter Mr. Med', discovered, 
 carved upon a gum-tree, the following: — "Mr. McPanel, 3 T ou see, if you had assisted 
 the poor traveller, you see, you wouldn't have had your shed burnt, you see!" The 
 ■111 gentleman carefully took out his pocket-knife, adjusted his spectacle's, and for some 
 time was observed to he very busy, when it, was ascertained that he had carved 
 underneath the following words : — " You're a (forcible but unparliamentary adjective) 
 fool, you see; the place was insured, you see; and we're going to build a better one 
 with the money, you see!" And he did.
 
 2s;J 
 
 DUNEDIN. 
 
 New Zealand Towns— First Appearances— View of Dunedin from the Bay— The Surveyor <•. Xature— The 
 People— Two Banks— The Public Buildings— The Town Hall— The Athenaeum— The High Schools— The 
 University — The Churches — First Church — Knox Church — The Lunatic Asylum— The Hotels— Bumm.-- 
 in Dunedin— The Harbour— The Town Belt— The Suburbs— "Ocean Beach" — The Refrigerating Company 
 — Dairy Farming — General Prosperity. 
 
 THE lout;-, narrow shape of the islands of Xc-w Zealand 
 naturally breaks up the colony into a series or chain of 
 districts, each link of which has its own outlet-port or focus. 
 Hence population is more evenly distributed than is usual in 
 colonies. Wellington, with some 30,000 inhabitants, is the 
 political capital, but Auckland is almost twice its size, with 
 Dunedin and Christchurch, in the order in which the names 
 appear, separating them. For a quarter of a century Dunedin 
 JOtX was the largest city, and though Auckland has recently over- 
 
 - .\ jJm i '4tifaL - hauled it in the number of inhabitants, it still retains many 
 
 claims to the premiership. So far as buildings go it is 
 advanced, and its commercial interests are still mere important 
 Its educational institutions are on a larger scale, and its 
 churches look more substantial than those of Auckland. 
 For the last five years things have been almost stationary in 
 Dunedin, and this gives it a more settled aspect than Auckland, 
 where the large buildings arc mostly of recent erection, and 
 seem scarcely to have shaken down into their places. Going further back, Dunedin, 
 which is Gaelic for Edinburgh, was founded by Scotch Presbyterians with malice afore- 
 thought, and derived -grand" ideas from the gold-fields which built up its prosperity, 
 whilst Auckland, like Topsy, has "growed" somehow, deriving scant advantage from 
 having been the scat of Government in early days. If one may be allowed yet other 
 odious comparisons, I would add that Auckland has been largely affected by Sydney, and 
 Dunedin by Melbourne, ideas, whilst semi-ecclesiastical Christchurch bears a distinct re- 
 semblance to Adelaide. K<>r Wellington we cannol find a parallel nearer than Washington. 
 Auckland and Dunedin are essentially commercial cities, though the churches ol 
 Dunedin hint at the origin of the settlement. Christchurch is rather the country 
 town where business plays second fiddle, and the squatter and tanner support the 
 
 cathedral, which forms the central point. Government Bouse, Parliament Buildings, and 
 the Government Offici s, give the key to the character of Wellington, though the 
 rapidly extending wharves also point to its growing importance as a distributing centre. 
 Even the Victorian, who is popularly supposed by other colonists to look upon 
 London as representing quantity without quality in comparison with Melbourne, always 
 recognises that Dunedin is a city, and a tine city The first appearance of the town 
 is much in its favour. Whether yon land at the wharf from the Australian steamer, 
 or have come by rail from Port Chalmers, where the ocean steamers stop, you
 
 284 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTUKEsgriO AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 |H M I'!-.. 
 
 at once face the heart of Otago, as tin.' district of which Dunedin is the capital 
 is called. A vacant space, soon to he made a thing of beauty, gives an open 
 \ieu to a row of fine warehouses forming the righl side of a triangle, with the 
 railway station for its base, and the wharf, or rather the street containing the 
 wharf, for it-- left side. At the apex is a fountain, erected to the memory of Captain 
 Cargill, the founder of the province, which marks the centre of the city. Flight and 
 left runs Princes Street. At the corners are two palatial hanks, and in front is the 
 Grand Hotel, the largest and most imposing in Australasia. 
 
 I'KINCKS STREET. 
 (From a Photograph by Burton Bros.) 
 
 And the sights that precede the business-like scene round the Cargill Fountain put 
 the visitor in a humour to he pleased. Unless he has made the journey overland 
 from Invercargill, in which case he traverses a fertile but not very interesting 
 district, he must come up the Otago harbour, the meanderings of which are pretty 
 enough to delight everybody except the Sydneian, for whom there is but one harbour, 
 and all those who live around it are its prophets. The view of Dunedin from the 
 bay is attractive. It is a long narrow town, winding along the base and slopes of a 
 range of bills, the lower portion of which is known as the " Flat," having been re- 
 claimed from the bay. A belt of grass and bush land, on which building is 
 prohibited, forms a dark background, which throws up the town as viewed from the 
 bay, and divides it from suburbs extending along the top of the hills. Behind these
 
 Ill KEDXN. I 
 
 UP HILL AND DOWN. 
 
 285 
 
 rise higher hills, forming a branch of the Southern Alps, and separated from those on 
 which the town is laid out by a narrow valley which cannot be seen from the bay. 
 In front of the town, the bay stretches for about a mile across to the opposite penin- 
 sula, a high-lying plateau, which rises almost precipitously from the water, in the 
 distance one catches a glimpse of the open ocean across a narrow neck of low land. 
 
 A more picturesque situation it would be difficult to conceive; it is much more 
 picturesque, indeed, than convenient, for enormous have been the sums spent in levelling 
 a tract of ground sufficient to lay out 
 a main street at the toot of the hills, 
 in cutting out tracks up the hillside 
 and. as the town grew more populous, 
 in reclaiming land from the water to 
 provide room for expansion. One fea- 
 ture that strikes attention as you ap- 
 proach, is thai several of the streets 
 ascend the hills in a direct line, and 
 are crossed by terraces laid out hori- 
 zontally. It is said, with what truth 
 I am not prepared So vouch, that the 
 useless expense and inconvenience of 
 these steep streets arose from the town 
 
 having I n laid out on the rectangular 
 
 plan in Edinburgh before the pioneers 
 started, under the supposition that the 
 site would be level, or nearly so. 
 When no level site was obtainable, 
 it came to a choice between altering 
 the plan, or making out a new one 
 with the usual zigzag ascents of a 
 
 town built on the side of the hill. 
 But the surveyor was not prepared to 
 depart from his instructions on his own 
 responsibility, and thus nature was made to bend to the Edinburgh plan. In latter 
 
 davs these hills have proved admirably titted lor cable tramways, of which Dimedin 
 
 constructed the first in Australasia. Indeed, Dunedin is generally considered to be 
 
 as enterprising a place as could well be found. The first settlement was established 
 in 1848 under the auspices of members of the free Kirk of Scotland, who did not 
 welcome other creeds and nationalities, and took lite hardly, without making much 
 
 material progress. Bui iii 1861, the discover] oi gold-fields at Gabriel's Gull} now the 
 pretty township of Lawrence about seventy-two miles from the town, flooded the pro- 
 vince with an adventurous population principally hailing from the Victorian gold-fields 
 
 the yields from which Were then slackening. These •new iniquities," as they Were 
 
 called by the "old identities," soon made a little Melbourne of I'unedin, but without 
 
 
 KNOX CHI ttCH.
 
 2Mi CASSELL'S PICTURESQl E AUSTRALASIA. [Donhmh. 
 
 altogether destroying its fundamentally serious character. The graft of the adventurous 
 Victorian upon the stout and canny Scotch stork lias been very successful. The moral 
 
 fibre of Otago will stand comparison with that of most i munities; and if. Dunedin 
 
 has led the way in commercial enterprise, its long-headed pioneers introduced a good 
 system of education at the first, and established a university directly the void flowed 
 in. which university still maintains its pride of place. 
 
 The traveller who comes from Australia, or lias been to other parts of New 
 Zealand, will notice that the Otago type of humanity is distinct What sailors rail 
 the "cut of the jib" bespeaks the origin of the settlement at once. Probably scarcely 
 half the present population are Scotch by birth or descent, yet you could not mistake 
 them for any other nationality, the Scotch having given the lead to the rest. The 
 superior stamp of the working classes is specially remarkable. A more intelligent- 
 looking population it would be hard to find. There is a general sharpness of feature 
 and angularity of bodj as compared with the average English croud; not, much 
 animation, hut an occupied air. Country visitors are tew. This is essentially a town, 
 and the passers-by townsmen. The buildings around, and the style of the shops, are 
 certainly superior to what would he found in an English town of the same size. 
 It is obvious, too, that the enormous, well-built warehouses supply a much larger 
 population than that of the province, although you will learn later that direct steam 
 communication with England has rendered it inexpedient to keep large stocks in 
 hand nowadays, and many of the warehouses are larger than is now necessary. Nice 
 fresh faces the people have, not so fresh as at home, but delightful after the sallow 
 Australian complexions, and not so different from the English as to strike attention. 
 The proportion of young people, however, is noticeable, and also the general healthy 
 appearance. Everybody is well, though rather carelessly, dressed, much after the 
 Scottish fashion. Beards are much worn. The business man is in a black frock-coat 
 and tall hat; clerks and the generality in more modest, tweeds and round hats. Few 
 have gloves with them, and of these not half wear them. After all, it is very much 
 like Glasgow, only rather "more so." 
 
 The banks by which the Cargill Monument is flanked on either side are the 
 Bank of New Zealand and the Colonial Bank of New Zealand. And here one must 
 own that strangers will at first find some difficulty in discriminating between banks 
 and insurance companies which rejoice in similar names. The want of inventive power 
 in this direction presents a striking contrast to the American fertility of nomenclature. 
 In the States the value of a distinctive name for advertising purposes is too well 
 appreciated tor similar names to he adopted ; in Australasia one might think that new 
 companies were trying how near they could get to the name of some old establish- 
 ment without infringing the law. But to return to the hanks in question. The 
 Colonial Hank, with its clock tower and handsome arcade, looks far more like a town- 
 hall than a hank. It was built in the days when Otago enjoyed Home Bide, and was 
 to he the seat of the provincial authority, hut when the Provincial Governments were 
 abolished, the Provincial Buildings, as they were called, were sold to the Colonial 
 Bank of New Zealand, an institution horn in Dunedin and managed there. The Dank
 
 DoNmm.] AIM'IHTKCTrUAL. 287 
 
 of New Zetland (without the "Colonial") has its bead-quarters in Auckland It is the 
 principal financial house in the colony, and keeps the Government account. The 
 Dunedin establishment is only a branch office, but this doe nol prevenl it from being 
 the handsomesl building in the town, admirably suited to its purpose, and c astructed 
 with exc iste in every detail. 
 
 A remarkable ttructure is the head office of the Union Steamship Company — the 
 company which enjoys the monopoly of the inter-colonial and coast traffic. The 
 architect has succeeded in giving the building a maritime air, by means of a 
 number of little turrets surmounted by weathercocks. There are many more fine 
 commercial buildings: insurance offices on a much larger scale than a prudent share- 
 holder can approve; warehouses than which there are none larger in Melbourne and 
 Sydney. But buildings of this type arc all very much like each other, and a di 
 scription of the petty differences which distinguish them could only weary the reader. 
 Somewhat out of the ordinary, however, is the interior of Messrs. Sievwright, Stent. 
 and Co.'s office. These gentlemen arc lawyers, but they have cast aside the old- 
 world traditions as to legal offices, and built theirs after the model of a bank, there 
 being a large central hall, into which the light is let through a stained -lass roof, 
 with a large counter at the end of the ground floor, and offices round. 
 
 But we ought to see the public buildings first. Walking up Princes Street, we 
 eoine to the Octagon, an eight-sided "square," which might be mad very pretty if it 
 were entrusted to the care of a good gardener. On the upper side of the Octagon 
 is the Town Hull, or rather its facade, for the hall itself is not likely to be built 
 for many a year to come. Nevertheless, the front is very imposing, and the chances 
 are that you do net notice the posterior deficiencies of the building unless some apolo- 
 getic cicerone calls attention to them. This Town Hall is no bad emblem of the 
 history of the province, with its "grand" ideas and love of putting its best foot 
 foremost In the sixties and seventies everyone thought that Dunedin was -nine to 
 be a little London, but the eighties have changed all that, and many are the citizens 
 w ho ha\e begun their private town-halls in the sanguine belief of indefinite progress, 
 and were stopped short in the building by subsequent -bad times." On the lower 
 side of the Octagon is the Athenaeum, of which no Dunedin citizen cans to have 
 ,n,, re notice taken than he can help- I' is the only approach Ao a public library 
 that this line town can beast, but it is an approach carefully guarded from tl 
 wlm most need it by a guinea subscription, whilst both the quality and the condition 
 f the books leave something to be desired There is. however, a reading-room with 
 newspapers and magazines, to which visitors to the town can have free access by 
 giving their names to the librarian. At the University there is a librarj containing 
 seme good bonks, hut it has ben starved ever since the depression set iii. Iii the 
 Supreme Court, again, there is a legal library, to which one can get access without 
 much difficulty. But it remains the darkest blot upon the fair fame of Dunedin that 
 
 it has no public library 
 
 Although laid out on level ground, the public gardens are pretty, but un- 
 fortunately they are situated at the northern extremity of the town, practically
 
 288 
 
 cyssells i>irrn:i:s<>ri; ai'stualasia. 
 
 [DVNKDIN. 
 
 beyond the reach of two-thirds <>l the population. The Museum also is too far 
 north to lie conveniently accessible. Hut it is well arranged, and quite worth a visit, 
 though neither so large uor so popular in character as the famous museum at Christ- 
 church. The building in which it is located is remarkahk: for simple good taste. 
 
 Probably the largest public building is the Sigh School, a pretentious structure, 
 unpleasantly heavy but decidedly striking, standing out, well on the brow of the hill. 
 It is a building which conveys the just impression that the community values 
 higher education Nor have the school endowments been expended merely on out- 
 ward show, for school inspectors declare the interior arrangements to be a model of 
 convenience. "The boys are dratted and yarded easier than sheep," was the expres- 
 sion in which this intelligence was conveyed to the writer; and ample sums have 
 been provided to secure efficient, teaching. The school is attended by over three 
 hundred pupils, whose blue cricket caps with white facings are to be seen out, 
 of school hours in every epiarter of the town. 
 
 Not far from the Boys' High School 
 is the modest building which they pre- 
 viously inhabited, now turned over to the 
 girls. Such is our degenerate chivalry ! But 
 the girls are as well taught as the boys, 
 which was scarcely the case in the days 
 of "Place aux dames." One of the most 
 
 THE HIGH SCHOOL, PEOM nosi.YX. 
 (From Burton liros.)
 
 Dl'NEDIN.] 
 
 THIi L'XIVERSITY. 
 
 289 
 
 interesting sights in the town is that of the High School girls going through the 
 gymnastic exercises which form part of the school course. 
 
 It would be a weary task to count the number of primary schools in this land 
 of free, secular, and compulsory education. Over halt' a million sterling a year is 
 spent upon education by a population of just half a million. Wherever, out of the 
 business streets, you see a good-sized building, it is sale to put it down to be a State 
 school; and one must, add that as a rule these school buildings are respectable in 
 architecture, and admirable in their interior arrangements. They form a fitting 
 antidote to the overpowering 
 materialism of the business 
 quarters of the town, which 
 are calculated to give the im- 
 pression that colonists think of 
 nothing but money-making, and 
 devote much more care to the 
 glorification of their places of 
 business than they are worth. 
 
 In a tine open space on 
 the banks of the Water of Leith, 
 a stream which runs into the 
 harbour at the north-eastern 
 end of the town, stands 
 the University, a fine but 
 not exactly handsome 
 stone building, attended 
 by two scholastic-looking 
 red-brick double houses, 
 the residences of four of 
 the professors. This is the 
 oldest University in the 
 colony, and, although af- 
 filiated to the New Zea- 
 land University— which, like that of London, is a purely examining bodj it has been 
 allowed to retain the designation of the Otago University, whereas its neighbours in 
 Canterbury and Auckland have to content themselves with the title of Universit} 
 College. The Universitj ma\ reasonably be considered well equipped in the matter of 
 professors, and on the average about a hundred students attend the lectures. The 
 
 medical scl I lias been specially successful and attractive. Besides the I niversity, 
 
 the lli.u'h School, and the primarj schools, there is a normal school in Dunedin 
 which serves for the whole district. 
 
 The hospital is an ugly building, with nice gardens round it ; it was originally con- 
 structed to hold an International Exhibition, and therefore is perhaps not verj suitable 
 for its present purpose. Bui the large empty central hall lias at least the advantag 
 19 
 
 THE l'n» n ii a 1,1 , as i) i SIGN] D 
 (From a
 
 290 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Dckbdik. 
 
 affording ample ventilation. The dormitories contain nearly 200 beds, and are lofty 
 and admirably kept, though in the male wards male nurses are employed. AmongSl 
 other charitable institutions in and about the town are the Industrial School for 
 Destitute Children, the Benevolent Institution, and the Church Orphanage. Nor 
 amongst public buildings ought one to omit mention of the Supreme Court, the Post 
 Office, the Custom House, all unpretending, useful buildings, massed round the Cargill 
 Monument, or of the Garrison Hall, the largest building of the kind in Australasia. 
 
 Churches, as previously noted, form a striking feature in the panorama of the 
 town. There is one on the eminence opposite the railway station, which every stranger 
 takes for the Cathedral, owing to the prominence of its site and the pretentiousness 
 of its architecture, which one can only describe as "wedding-cake" Gothic. It is the 
 Presbyterian " First Church," so called, not because it was the first church built in 
 the town, for it was not, hut from its being the leading church. Another large 
 Presbyterian place of worship in the Gothic style is the Knox Church, at the northern 
 end of the town. A little way up the Roslyn cable tramway is the Roman Catholic. 
 I ' ithedral, certainly the prettiest of Dunedin churches. Both this and Knox Church, 
 like the University and the High School, are built of a gloomy dark blue stone found 
 near Port Chalmers, faced with a handsome white freestone which abounds in the 
 Oamaru district. When fresh, this white stone can be carved with the greatest ease. 
 and thus lends itself readily to ornamentation ; but, unfortunately, it speedily loses its 
 colour. St. Matthew's, southward, is a large edifice belonging to the Church of England, 
 larger than can easily he filled by the Churchmen of the neighbourhood, and unattractive 
 both without and within. 
 
 The inevitable Lunatic Asylum, generally the handsomest building of colonial 
 cities, may be sought in vain. You will see it from the railway, about fifteen or 
 twenty miles out of Dunedin on the way north, at Seacliff, where it makes up for 
 its distance from town by the magnificence of its proportions and the luxury of its 
 architectural embellishments. In the old world palaces are built for kings : in the 
 new, for idiots. 
 
 The town is well paved, well lighted with gas, and well kept. Many of the streets 
 are named after those of Edinburgh. They are mostly of good width, and recently a 
 splendid boulevard, Cumberland Avenue, has been laid out after the most approved 
 French fashion. The water supply is ample, but occasionally of questionable quality 
 in summer, and never so good as a water-drinker would wish. Of the footpaths one 
 cannot speak too highly ; throughout the town they are asphalted, and even in the 
 most out-of-the-way suburban lane comfortable provision is made for " Shanks's " mare. 
 The ocean breezes keep Dunedin amongst the healthiest towns in the world ; hut 
 this is more than its citizens deserve, for the sj'stem of drainage extends over a 
 veiy limited area, and the sanitary arrangements generally are deplorable. 
 
 Cabs and hotels are practically the stranger's first want on arrival, and should 
 perhaps, therefore, have been dealt with earliei. Waggonettes are the kind of cab most 
 used — primitive ramshackle boxes on wheels, with leather coverings: but excellent 
 hansoms and livery carriages are easily obtainable. The tares are about twenty-five per
 
 Dwedin. THE BUSINESS EXD. 2! 11 
 
 cent, higher than London prices. Of the hotels, the largest and besi arranged is the 
 "Grand," but "Wain's," the front of which is pretty, is also comfortable, and old- 
 fashioned folk still keep to the "Criterion" There is likewise an excellent club, situated 
 in charming grounds on Fern Hill. The best means of getting about arc the horse 
 tramways, which run the whole length of the town at the foot of the hills. There are 
 also cable tramways to Roslyn and Mornington up the two hills nearest the centre. 
 These lines ascend the most formidably steep places, sending nervous strangers' hearts 
 into their mouths. 
 
 The business part of the town is on the Hat, close to the Cargill Monument . 
 the manufactories lie mostly northwards. It is the proud boast of Dunedin to be the 
 most advanced of all New Zealand towns in her industries, which include woollen and 
 clothing factories, iron-works, tanneries, breweries, oil-mills, soap and candle-making, 
 the manufacture of coffee and spices, furniture-making, brass and iron-work, coach- 
 building, confectionery and jam manufacture, chemical works, paper-mills, and meat 
 refrigeration. A visit, to the New Zealand clothing manufactory is specially to be 
 recommended. It astonishes everybody by the excellence of its arrangements for 
 the convenience and health of the hands employed, presenting, unfortunately, a 
 great contrast iii this respect to the majority of Australasian factories. In shops, too 
 Dunedin can claim the pre-eminence, and her connection with Melbourne has taught 
 her tradesmen the art of dressing their windows to advantage. Among other 
 characteristics of the town is the excellence of its medical practitioners, which is 
 probably due to the circumstance that the medical school in connection with the 
 University attracts good men. The extent to which the telephone is used may be 
 quoted as another illustration of the enterprise of the citizens. The number of houses 
 connected with the wire is far larger than in any other New Zealand town. .May one 
 also without treason hint that in the important department of ladies' dress Dunedin 
 claims the first place' In the matter of theatres and public amusements, how 
 Auckland has of late surpassed her, though she has two theatres and half-a-d 
 fair-sized public halls. 
 
 liefore going out to the suburbs, a word must he said with fear and trembling 
 about the harbour. If you were to believe what you hear in every other port in the 
 colony, it is a hole, or at best a ditch, scooped out by lavish expenditure, which will 
 
 s i be tilled up again by sand, and is not yet tit to admit any decent-sized ship. 
 
 Nevertheless, steamers of over two thousand tons burthen come up every clay to 
 Dunedin, and two ships drawing nineteen feet of water are at the time of writing 
 
 at the wharf, whilst the large ocean steamers of 5,000 t"li- come deeply laden as 
 
 far as Port Chalmers. On,' must admit the existence of a bar, but its surface has 
 been dredged off, and by means of a mole, constructed by the advice of sir John 
 Coode, it has already been shifted a considerable way out to sea, and may be 
 shortly to disappear altogether. As regards the upper harbour, it also is improving, 
 and we need not despair of seeing the ocean steamers lying aloi Dunedin 
 
 wharves before mam years are over. There lias been a large and not invariably 
 economical expenditure in dredging, reclamation, and other works for the improvement
 
 292 
 
 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Ill SI DIN. 
 
 of the harbour, but it is improving almost daily, and the principal work which 
 remains is to improve its reputation, for it is only two years since the inter-colonial 
 oers have been able to come up to Dunedin, and in 1883 the colony stood 
 aghast at the daring of the captain who broughl the first ocean steamer over the 
 dreaded bar to Port Chalmers, the little town about eight miles from Dunedin, where, 
 until recently, all but the small coasting vessels used to lie. 
 
 So much from the practical point of view. From the aesthetic, it would he hard 
 to praise the Otago harbour too highly. Auckland claims superiority by reason of the 
 richer colour of a semi-tropical climate, and the superb dominant feature of Rangitoto, 
 the island volcano; hut there is a greater variety of scenery to he obtained in the 
 Otago harbour, though no one of the views is so impressive. 
 
 The squares, reserves, and parks, like the streets, are kept in excellent condition 
 To balance the botanic garden at the north-east end of the town, there are several 
 cricket-grounds to the south-west, and also the town-belt, which divides the suburbs 
 on the hills from the town. Some of the original "hush," which once covered the 
 whole hillside, is to he found on this belt, giving one the idea that the scene has 
 been shorn of much of its beauty by the clearance that has been effected No visitor 
 should miss the view of the city and harbour from the <\>ueen's Drive, which runs 
 along the middle of this belt, or tail to ascend by 
 cable tramway to Mornington and Roslyn, the pretty 
 suburbs on the top of the hill, where Ik 1 will soon 
 learn that the wind is given to blowing very stronglj 
 in New Zealand. It is only a fair price to 
 pay tor such glorious views as the residents 
 of Roslyn and Mornington enjoy, ami 
 the wind is fresh and healthy. 
 
 Tin; ItiiTAXIeAI. OAUDKXS. 
 " Photograph by Bitrton Bros.)
 
 
 AX UNPLEASANT LOCALITY. 
 
 293 
 
 Going southwards from the Cargill Monument, the hills soon recede, and o 
 to the genuine flat, where the town broadens into the suburbs of South Dunedin, St. 
 Kild.i, and Caversham, mainly inhabited by artizans, who may. with a little exaggeration, 
 be said to live with one foot in the water and the other in the <, r rave. At present 
 constant strong winds keep these suburbs fairly healthy, bul they are almost on a 
 
 NICIC'l. a CREEK PALL. 
 (From a J 
 
 level with the sea, subjecl to frequent floods, ami without any system of drab 
 
 It is nut rash to prophesy that soi lay these parts will he visited with a calamity. 
 
 Ai the southernmost end of tin' hills lie-, the township >>t' St. ('lair, which promises 
 to become a fashionable watering-place. It is built partlj en the flat, which is a little 
 higher in this direction, and partly on the "rise." A prettj hit of rock gives character 
 to the place, and there are a primitive esplanade, and a bathing place scooped out of 
 the rock. Thence eastward the sand} beach stretches, some three miles in length,
 
 :>'.»4 CASSELL'S PICTTOESQUE AUSTRALASIA. Ddkkddi. 
 
 past the Forbury Race-course, where meetings arc held lour or five times a year, 
 
 and the "Ocean I'.each," about half-way between St. ('lair and Lawyer's Head. The 
 ocean is only divided from the upper end of the harbour by some five or six 
 hundred yards of low-lying sandy country, the neck of the peninsula The harbour 
 
 side of this peninsula is the most pleasant part of the district to live in, everywhere 
 facing more or less to the north, and mostly sheltered from the southern winds. This 
 is the place for beautiful gardens; there is plenty of sun, and the town commands a 
 lovely view over the bay of Dunedin, which should be seen by night as well as by 
 day. The season on this side of the harbour is three weeks earlier than in town. 
 
 The drive round the peninsula, as well as that up the North East Valley, across 
 the hill to Blueskin, is not to be missed. It is a hilly country for driving and 
 riding, but for variety of charming walks the neighbourhood of Dunedin is not easily 
 surpassed. In every direction the scenery is different. Prettiest of all the walks is that 
 tip Nichol's Creek to the Waterfall Gully, the last part of which is through an arcade 
 of ferns and foliage, with a torrent rushing through the rocks, over which rocks you 
 pick your way to the waterfall. Of the harbour scenery, the finest view is obtained 
 from the hills which divide the town from Port Chalmers, close to what is known 
 as the Junction Hotel, because the Port Chalmers and Blueskin roads meet there. 
 A ramble through the bush on the town-belt is no bad way of spending an after- 
 noon. In short, Dunedin has many attractions as a summer resort, and it is strange 
 that it is not more used as such. From Christinas to Easter the weather is generally 
 beautiful, and the air always bright and clear. Certainly no other town in Aus- 
 tralasia presents so many advantages of climate, scenery, and situation during the 
 summer months. 
 
 At Burnside, about four miles out of town, are the Refrigerating Company's 
 works, where about three hundred sheep can be killed and frozen in a day. Some 
 six miles further west lies the township of Mosgiel, the seat of the largest and most 
 successful woollen factory in Australasia. Mosgiel tweeds are sold in Australia in 
 spite of the terrible duty upon them, and the chief fault that can be found with 
 them is that they never wear out. The blankets fetch about twenty-five per cent, 
 more than the best English blankets in the shops, and the difference in warmth is 
 most remarkable. The reason of course is that it would not pay to mix cotton 
 with the wool, which is obtainable on the spot, of the best quality and at prices con- 
 siderably lower than in Australia. The factory is well worth a visit, being solidly 
 built, admirably arranged, and lighted throughout by electricity. What is more, this 
 is one of the few industries which continued to flourish through tin' worst of the bad 
 times, extending its operations yearly. 
 
 Mosgiel is easily accessible by rail or road. The district around, known as the 
 Taieri, is admirably adapted for dairy farms, and supplies Dunedin with butter which 
 cannot be excelled. Hitherto each farm has made its own butter, and the market 
 has been restricted to the neighbouring towns, but during the last two years, since 
 wheat farming has proved less profitable than of yore, dairy-farming has received a 
 great impetus, and factories are now springing up on every side, to which the milk
 
 'A
 
 DUNBDIN.] 
 
 BUTTER FOR ENGLAND. 
 
 I".!.", 
 
 from the farms is sent to be made into butter and cheese, principally exported to 
 Australia. As soon as the Australian demand is satisfied, it is intended to send the 
 butter to England in refrigerating chambers, so that there is practically no limit to 
 the extension of this industry. 
 
 At Green Island, just beyond Burnside, on the road to Mosgiel, a sort of lignite 
 coal is worked, and at Kaitangita, some fifty miles to the south-west, a little oti' the 
 Invcrcartrill route, there is abundance of excellent coal of the same kind Its 
 peculiarity is that it burns to a white ash. which smoulders for two or three days, 
 occasioning many a fire in wooden houses. These lignite coals do not burn well in 
 the ordinary English fireplaces and ranges, so that special kinds of stoves are made 
 locally, which can only burn such coals. 
 
 And now we have seen most of what is worth seeing in Dunedin and its im- 
 mediate neighbourhood. In a walk or drive round, it will be noticed that the 
 residences of the citizens are well built, often with some architectural pretension, 
 some of the smaller houses being perched on precipitous rocks, seemingly inaccessible. 
 Everywhere there is an air of comfort, and an absence of all appearance of poverty, 
 somewhat in contradiction to the grumblings about "the depression" which fill the 
 hotels and streets. No doubt there are fewer carriages kept here than formerly, and 
 the richer classes have suffered considerable loss by the fall of prices, which has told 
 also upon the middle class; but the working-man still commands as good a wage as 
 in any other part of Australasia, and no one seriously doubts that good times will 
 ivt i irn ere long, and the city once more begin to progress. 
 
 LOOKING A.OBOSS Tin: BAKBOtTR, FROM THE BOUTH-\ 
 
 (From a 1'tiolograyh by Ihntou Bros.)
 
 ■ 
 
 COLLIERS LEAVING NEWCASTLE HARBOUR. 
 
 THE VALLEY OF THE HUNTER. 
 
 " Nobby V — Newcastle Harbour — Newcastle — The Business End — The Coal Centre — The Cathedral — The 
 Reserve — Lake Macquarie — The Shipping — The River — Raymond Terrace — Stroud — Miller's Fori 
 Morpeth — The Patcrson — East and West Maitland — Wollombi — Singleton — Muswellbrook — Scone — 
 Murrurundi. 
 
 |j ENTRANCE to the region it is now our purpose to describe is gained, from the sea, 
 -L-^ at Newcastle. The voyager sees standing out conspicuously, as a gate-post, the pro- 
 montory which in early maps is marked Nobby's Island. On the northern side the 
 doorway has no such feature. There lies a low, sandy beach, curving far away into a 
 distance which leads the eye to the blue projections on the horizon that are known as Port 
 Stephen's Heads. " Nobby's," no longer an island, is a rugged, storm-beaten, rust-stained 
 mass of rock, wherein strata of cord may be traced. The influences which reduced ii to 
 its present proportions still operate; time's effacing fingers will one day banish it from 
 among the things that are. < hie may suppose that it was once the extreme point of 
 the s.a cliff', from which, by the action of the waves, it was separated, and entitled 
 to the designation island. By artificial means the beach has been once more closed. 
 Between Flagstaff or Signal Hill and Nobby's, when the Hunter River was discovered 
 in 1797, by Lieutenant Shortland, the waves of the Pacific had free course. And even 
 now, under the stress of a southerly gale, they dash wildly against the barrier, and 
 throw over it masses of spume. The preliminary essential to making the estuary 
 of the Hunter a harbour was, therefore, the closing of the pip. Convict labour was 
 employed to quarry huge Mocks of stone, and cast them into the waters that raved over 
 the sunken foundation of the cliff which had been fretted away. A somewhat lengthened 
 conflict with an ocean not easily quelled, in spite of its name, ended in the erection of 
 a small sea-wall, firm and faithful. In later days advanced engineering skill, free labour, 
 and improved appliances were brought to the work. On the structure thus raised, wind 
 and wave beat ceaselessly; films of the stone disappear constantly under their action. 
 so that the barrier is confessed to be hut temporary. Yet there are the railway and
 
 The Valley of the Hunter.] 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF NEWCASTLE. 
 
 297 
 
 the quarry, and necessity and man's determination, and the Pacific must own 
 beaten. 
 
 The work of filling in the gap between Nobby's and the mainland did not, however 
 make the harbour secure, and it. was not until a breakwater extending into the sea beyond 
 Nobby's had been constructed that the mouth of the harbour was rendered impregnable 
 to southerly and south-easterly -airs. On the northern shore, also, a breakwater of 
 less formidable dimensions has been eonstriieted. which has had th of increasing 
 
 the scour in the harbour mouth. 
 
 Observed from Nobby's, Newcastle presents the appearance of a city built on 
 irregular terraces. Extending along the harbour front, is a level space, but behind it 
 the houses rise up the sides to the top of a ridge, so steep in parts that some <<( the 
 streets are inaccessible save to foot traffic. On the left side, in the foreground, is 
 Flagstaff Hill, where a fortification has recently been completed. The fort has been 
 excavated, so that the heavier guns are below the surface of the soil, and are raised 
 by machinery to the embrasures, discharged, and lowered for reloading. In a deeper 
 excavation is placed the magazine. About the fort there is nothing frowning. It 
 presents small token of the grimness of its purposes; it is, indeed, surmounted by 
 antiquated pieces of obsolete artillery for show, but beneath these engines of war stretch 
 slopes of green turf, which conceal the place where lurk the real weapons of defence. 
 
 
 M \\r 1ST] E, 
 
 The business part of Newcastle is circumscribed. It is situated on the level 
 which begins below Fortification Hill, ami spreads along to where bake Macquarie road 
 in one direction, and the road to Wickham in another, branch off; it includes the 
 harbour front of the city, the terminus of the Great Northern Railway, and Hunter
 
 298 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Toe Valley of 
 
 Street. Within it are placed the Custom House and the Colliery and Shipping Offices; in 
 Hunter Street all the principal shops and hotels will be found, also the city market 
 From the point at which deep water begins, at the southern end of the harbour, all 
 along the frontage extends a continuous line of wharf, whereon are erected the steam 
 cranes used in loading coal. Branches from the railway run beside the- wharf, as the 
 means whereby the laden trucks are brought beneath the cranes. The steamers' wharf is 
 in the same line further inland ; next to it is a small harbour made specially for boats. 
 This is a scene of activity in the sale of farm produce, fish, and the like. Besides the 
 cranes other modes of loading coal are employed. Development of the coal trade in 
 late years has called into existence a second series of cranes up the harbour, on what 
 was called Bullock Island. The place has been re-named Carrington, in compliment to 
 the popular Governor of New South Wales. 
 
 Newcastle is the centre of the coal-mining activity of the north. All about it are 
 settlements depending solely on that industry. Planted originally in the wilderness, 
 they are gradually passing from a condition of rugged slovenliness to a state of order 
 and some beauty. For the most part they are under the local government of a 
 mayor and councillors, and improve under it. They contribute to the city its chief 
 support; it is, indeed, becoming a part of the nearest of them, by the progress of 
 building over the intervening space ; and Hunter Street, its main thoroughfare, always 
 lively on pay Saturday night — the fortnightly occasion on which all workmen in the 
 district receive their wages — is then the channel of a many-coloured stream of human 
 existence, flowing from seven o'clock till eleven without ceasing. The mines, the ships, 
 the factories, the houses of the city, all send tribute to the stream. 
 
 Above this busy thoroughfare are the parts of Newcastle wherein it leads its 
 quieter life. Watt Street, which crosses the head of Hunter Street at right angles, 
 leads thither. All the churches are on the side of the ridge, or on its summit. 
 Newcastle is the scat of an Anglican bishop, who could boast of possessing the very 
 ugliest cathedral in the world, a brick structure, erected in 1817 by the building Governor, 
 Macquarie, as an inscription on its front testified. The foundations of a nobler edifice 
 are, however, laid, and the site is one to which the finest building will but add a 
 charm. It commands on one side the Pacific, stretching away till sky meets sea, 
 whereon, on most days, may be descried the white wings of ocean-going ships ; on 
 another, the city, sloping to the harbour, which bears on its bosom numberless craft of 
 varied rig and character; to the north and south the coast-line is distinguished, till the 
 most remote headland fades away in a blue mist ; while inland, in every direction, are 
 displayed the daughter settlements of Newcastle, with railways winding in and out 
 among them. Beyond lies an expanse of forest, whose surface varies with every change 
 of cloud ; and, lastly, there is outlined against the sky a mountain range, with which 
 we shall make a closer acquaintance hereafter. 
 
 The city is growing fast on this hill. The Obelisk, set up to serve as a waymark 
 to mariners, is surrounded by private residences, and house is monthly added to house. 
 Newcastle is not rich in public grounds, but the forethought of early rulers of the 
 colony has here supplied it with a recreation enclosure, the value of which cannot be
 
 THE II 
 
 THE RESERVE. 
 
 299 
 
 easily over-estimated. The Reserve is a section of the sea-cliff, where it dips to form 
 a great gulch, at the bottom of which a stream of fresh water constantly trickles. 
 From one end of the bank of the gully to the other, and rounding its head, a semi- 
 circular walk has been formed, while beneath it, on the slope, is a continuous plantation 
 of ornamental trees. The Reserve — variously called the Horseshoe, from the shape of 
 the path, ami the Lovers' Walk, from the opportunities it supplies for that seclusion 
 in which two are company — inter- 
 venes between Shepherd's Hill, a 
 higher elevation, looking seaward, of 
 the plateau on which the domestic 
 portion of the city is built, and that 
 portion of the cliff which ends at the 
 fortifications. Landward, the ground 
 from the top of Shepherd's Hill de- 
 scends in a long slope to Lake 
 Macquarie Road; coast wards the hill 
 overlooks a series of rocky shelves 
 stretching into the sea, but opening 
 here and there to small sandy beaches. 
 On one of these the fair of Newcastle 
 ami the district take their sea-baths, 
 while the bathing-place for men is 
 below Shepherd's Hill. 
 
 With holiday-makers from inland 
 the beaches and rocks are a favourite 
 resort. Newcastle folk who desire 
 change, on the other hand, repair to the 
 green fields in the upper part of the 
 Hunter Valley, or betake themselves to 
 a noble inlet of the sea, about twelve 
 miles disi. nit alone' the southern coasl 
 — Lake Macquarie. To pass a few 
 days in fern-embroidered dells, or in 
 
 sailing in ami out of the hundred Lovely bays that diversify the coast-line, or in 
 fishing, is the Newcastle man's ideal of bliss. .Many of the more wealthy citizens 
 have acquired land ami built houses on the shores of this tine sheet of water. Here 
 they retire to banish care. The region is traversed by the railway line in construction 
 between the northern district and Sydney, and will thus become generally accessible 
 It. will be a sanatorium. Abundant supplies of coal underlie its whole surface, it 
 has immense agricultural capabilities, its stores of valuable timber are vasl ; and eventu- 
 ally a large population must here find occupation and livelihood. 
 
 Newcastle Harbour is at all seasons of the year full of \essek The chief 
 commodity that tiny seek makes it a place of necessary resort It is true that latterly 
 
 Tin: BATHING-PLACE, NEWCASTLE.
 
 300 
 
 casselL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 [Tut Vaii t \ or 
 
 a direct trade in merchandise with 
 England, and the export at Newcastle 
 of much of the wool grown in the 
 northern part of New South 
 Wales, have increased the ship- 
 ping. Still, coal is the principal 
 merchandise of the port. The 
 dust of the city is black, so 
 much do particles of coal pervade it, 
 and at evening hands of men are met 
 with grimy faces set homewards, 
 whose occupation has been " lumping " 
 coal — adjusting it in the holds of ships. 
 From all quarters of the compass come 
 vessels for coal, but the great develop- 
 ment of the trade has occurred within 
 the lifetime of many persons yet in their prime. Old denizens 
 of Newcastle can remember when small vessels, coming at long 
 intervals, were laden by barrow-loads taken across planks by 
 convict workmen. The contrast is great between such an export and appliances, on 
 the one hand, and the 2,113,372 tons sent away from Newcastle in 1885, and the 
 perfection of the various modern means of loading, on the other.
 
 THE n 
 
 GENERAL I'EATUnX 
 
 30J 
 
 Above Newcastle the Hunter is for mam- miles a broad stream, embracing numer- 
 ous small islands. The larger of these are under cultivation; the largest, named Ash 
 Island, is situate about ten miles from the city. The river flows between banks for 
 the most part, low, muddy, and shaded with mangrove trees, but here and there bits 
 
 NEWC ISTLE, FBOH " NOBBY 3. 
 
 of charming woodland scenery relieve the eyes of the voyager. Hexham a settlement 
 cm the bank above Ash Island, is fasl going to decay. From this point to Raymond 
 Terrace the hanks of the river rise; well-cultivated farms appear, principally on 
 the left-hand bank, and the character of the country has visibly changed. Usually, 
 the farmhouse is .-lose to the river, which is the principal highway A boal is always 
 an adjunct, and a rude jetty, in most cases, juts out into the stream. A.1 these primitive
 
 302 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. lint Vu.i 
 
 wharves small river strainers stop to deliver or receive cargo. Hero, too, fanners load 
 their boats with produce, to be taken to Newcastle for sale. The oars are plied some- 
 times by the sturdy arms of men. but not, infrequently by those of tanner lasses, strong 
 by dint of life in open air, and much exercise of muscle and lung. 
 
 Raymond Terrace is an old and thriving settlement on the right hank of the 
 river. In this neighbourhood Kinross vineyard is situate, famed for its white wine, of 
 the character of a hock. About the designation Raymond Terrace a story is told In 
 the olden days a surveyor, named Raymond, was despatched to the Hunter on professional 
 work. He did the work, and sent the results to head-quarters. But being allured by 
 the situation of this locality, he stopped there till his death — hence the site was 
 called Raymond Terrace. The story is bald, but that is all there is of it. 
 
 The road from Maitland to the eastern coast territory passes through Raymond 
 Terrace, where a steam ferry crosses the river. The first settlement is Stroud, twenty- 
 eight miles away, the entrance to the estate of the Australian Agricultural Company 
 The village of Stroud is distinguished as the only "fenced" city in New South Wales. 
 A mile square was set apart and enclosed by the Company, and within the boundary- 
 its servants were permitted to occupy building lots. At each entrance to the enclosure 
 gates were erected, and the government of the settlement was rigorous. Each villager 
 was, fur instance, obliged to cultivate a flower-garden about his cottage. This was long 
 ago. The Company failed in this attempt to acclimatise English habits, as well as in 
 many other efforts. The modern Stroud is the property of settlers who have bought 
 their freeholds of the Company, and are emancipated from its rule. 
 
 At Raymond Terrace the traveller first sees the fertile region which justly entitles 
 the Lower Hunter Valley to be called the garden of New Smith Wales. Over against 
 the village, across the river, lies Miller's Forest, a spacious alluvial plain, once clothed 
 with a dense wood, but now wholly cleared, traversed by roads, dotted with farmhouses. 
 and smiling with lucerne and maize crops. The Hunter embraces this plain in an 
 immense bend, separatine- it from another expanse of agricultural land, called Nelson's 
 Plains. This latter area is drained by the first great affluent of the Hunter, the Williams, 
 which discharges its waters a short distance above Raymond Terrace. The Williams is 
 navigable by large ocean steamers as far as Clarence Town, and is the medium of a 
 -cat export trade in hardwood timber, brought from forests inland. 
 
 Morpeth is situate on the left bank of the Hunter, about eight or nine miles above 
 Raymond Terrace, and at the head of the more important navigation. At Morpeth the 
 Sydney steamers receive the greater part of their burdens of wool, hay. and other 
 produce. Here the second great tributary of the Hunter, the Paterson, joins the larger 
 stream at Hinton. just where the river is crossed by a steam ferry. The Paterson has 
 its rise in mountains to the east of Scone, and drains an extensive area. Its course is 
 everywhere distinguished by rare beauty. In its upper parts the river flows with sungilt 
 ripples over pebbly strands: in places it laves the feet of shaggy mountains, and 
 nourishes gay green trees and gorgeous flowers, which contrast with the sombre clothing 
 of tlie hillside: ever and anon bands of rock extending from bank to bank make foamy 
 cascades, which day and night sing a sweet entrancing lullaby. When the stream nears
 
 iheHodtkr.] MORPETH. 303 
 
 the haunts of men, wild loveliness is exchanged for softer charms. The channel broadens, 
 
 its course winds, willows and water-oaks, the cedar, the native hibiscus, and the wild 
 grape-vine grow in unchecked vigour on each bank, and mirror themselves in the 
 
 placid waters. That is the aspect of the river for mile after mile, while the landscape 
 on its borders varies. Open foresl above well-grassed slopes, broad level tracts under 
 cultivation, meadows with undulating surface, orange groves, vineyards, and orchards, 
 are the elements. Paterson town is built on a hilly site where the surroundings <■( the 
 
 stream begin to change their look. An elevation immediately opposite, rising almost 
 directly from the water's edge, is called Hungry Hill. This ominous name is derived 
 from a legend that, in the old convict times, an adventurous prisoner who had escaped 
 was starved to death on this inhospitable eminence. 
 
 Morpeth, to which it is time for us to return, would probably have become one oi 
 the chief inland towns on the Hunter had the early rulers of New Smith Wales enjoyed 
 any distinct foresight. As it was, they effectually handicapped the settlement. The 
 site, called then the Green Hills, with a considerable portion of the valley river front 
 was granted to a worthy gentleman who had served his country with distinction in the 
 Peninsula War. The Anglican church at Morpeth owes its existence to the gratitude 
 of this gentleman. During an engagement in Spain he was in extreme peril, and was 
 saved from death in circumstances which he viewed as providential. He vowed that, 
 if ever he were able, he would build a church as a memorial of his rescue. The 
 opportunity came at length. Lieutenant ('lose was the grantee of Morpeth in New 
 South Wales. He performed his vow, and the church is the monument of his thank- 
 fulness. For many years prior to its erection he weekly read the service of the Church 
 of England in a house in Morpeth. After the church was completed, he provided 
 the stipend of the clergyman for a lengthened season, and likewise made permanent 
 provision for paying the incumbent. 
 
 The site of East Maitland, which is the next place we come to, is admirably fitted for 
 
 the position of a great town. It is elevated, so that the sea-breezes play over it ; it 
 commands a prospect of the valley of the Hunter, where that valle) is broadest and 
 most fertile. A large part of the site overlooks the plain, which at morning and evening 
 is obscured in river mists. The facilities for drainage are great, and the eucalyptus 
 forest grows around it, which breathes balmy influences. In the early days of the 
 place, although land was open tor sale, red tape restrictions. Govemmenl regulations 
 bordering on the absurd, slowness of survey, and a genera] state of muddle, made the 
 acquisition of allotments no easy matter. Unhappily, in the near vicinity land «;e 
 obtainable at a cheap rate, and with little formality. The site of Maitland— many of 
 
 the older denizens of the town repudiate the distinctive title Bast : there is onlj one 
 
 Maitland, they say is divided from a portion oi the valley by a water-COlirse, called 
 Wallis's (r.ek. or Brook, the term creek being used in Australia for am small stream 
 or rivulet* A huge slice of the area lying in an angle, this creek and the rivi r forming the 
 sides, had been granted to an old soldier, who is remembered onlj as -loo the Marine, 
 and to his paramour, one Moll] Morgan The grant made a fair estate of immense 
 
 • Set II.
 
 304 
 
 CASSETJ/S I'lCTUnKSyri- A1STKALASIA. 
 
 [Valley OB THE QOMTBB. 
 
 prospective value. But Joe and Molly, being well-stricken in years, childless, and fond 
 ill' rum. chose t<> enjoy tlir present. They were eager to sell, and stories run that many 
 a fine allotment changed hands, a bottle of nun being the equivalent for "lawful British 
 money." As land could be easily got, West Maitland grew with comparative rapidity 
 Dii both sides of the Great Northern Road, and has at the present date a population 
 of over six thousand inhabitants. East Maitland, favoured by State patronage, by the 
 residence of Government officials, by the distinction, for many years enjoyed, of being 
 the only assize town in the northern district, and by an incomparably superior site 
 
 was, for a time, by dint of 
 these circumstances, the chief 
 town, hut lost "'round as the 
 district became more populous, 
 and lias never been able to 
 outstrip its very much bet- 
 ter halt on the other side of 
 Wallis's Creek. Bast Mait- 
 land has a population now 
 exceeding two thousand souls. 
 In West Maitland are found 
 
 the great business establish- 
 ments, whose trade vies with 
 that of the metropolis. The 
 larger churches are in West 
 .Maitland: it is also the home of 
 a convent of Dominican nuns, 
 
 and of the chief State sehools. 
 Within its precincts all 
 gatherings representative of 
 the district take place. Eere 
 are found the head-quarters of the parent agricultural society of New South Wales — 
 the Hunter River Agricultural and Horticultural Association. West Maitland is the 
 chief cattle and horse market of the north of New South Wales; it is the seat of many 
 mills and manufactories; and works are being constructed to supply its inhabitants, and 
 those of all the settlements down to the sea, including Newcastle, with water drawn from 
 the Hunter. 
 
 The spectator standing on the Stockade hill sees East Maitland clustering imme- 
 diately below him on the right hand, and rising and spreading on the gaol-crowned 
 height opposite. Beyond stretches the river valley, wherein the winding course of the 
 stream may he discerned. At one bend we get a gleam of its surface. In mid-distance 
 appears the village of Largs, built on a point of high land hounding the valley on the 
 northern side, and further still to the right a distant view is gained of the hills facing 
 Morpeth. The landscape is pleasantly diversified — cultivation, woodland, pasture, vary 
 it. The hill-slopes are scantily clothed with trees, and farmhouses and barns here, as 
 
 WATT STREET, NEWCASTLE.
 
 '.•■>^w.;vs % 
 
 V" 
 
 'A v 
 
 < I 
 
 ■ > - 
 
 20 
 
 A IUSII TKACK. mi 1:1.1 1:1 MH.
 
 306 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE A.TJSTRALASIA. [Tn« Vallby of 
 
 everywhere in the valley, indicate the presence of human life and activity. To the left 
 lies West Maitland, from this point of view a compact town, apparently tilling up the 
 whole breadth of the valley. In reality it occupies onbj one bank of the river. Above the 
 housetops gleam the church spires; in what seems a suburb the dwellings are shaded by 
 tree-, aineiie- which the tall poplar is conspicuous. Almost at the feet of the spectator, 
 and just seen over the curve of the hill, runs the brook, Wallis's (reek, which divides 
 Maitland into West, and East. Its course is defined by willows and other trees, and its 
 boundary to the south of West Maitland is an alluvial plain Hen.' we have the typical 
 Lower Hunter scenery. Squares and oblongs of freshly-ploughed soil alternate with 
 squares and oblongs of land under lucerne crop — patches of green and patches of dark 
 brown, to which in due season are added fields of Indian corn and potato rows, 
 thin threads of green across the dark texture. Lucerne grows so luxuriantly in this 
 deep mould — the deposit of ages, enriched from time to time by inundation — that it 
 ma\ be cut from four to six times a year. The aspect of the whole expanse is that of 
 a huge, well-tilled garden. Here and there an orchard rises above the level of cultivation, 
 but the staple products are lucerne and maize. The farmer is always engaged either 
 in gathering these crops, or in preparing his land for them. This Australian soil is 
 truly well-nigh rich enough to justify Douglas Jerrold in saying that you need hut 
 tickle it with a hoe to make it laugh with a harvest. 
 
 The farther boundary of the scene we are describing is a region of hilly and 
 broken country which comes into view at the right hand, and extends round till it 
 dips above West Maitland. Range rises behind ranee in gradual elevation, the sight 
 distinguishes each by noting how. as the distance increases, the trees on the hillsides 
 cease to he definable, and how the blue tint deepens, till at last against the sky a solid 
 outline may he traced, hut no details. In this hilly territory many hundreds of miles 
 are embraced. It is among these elevations that the Paterson pursues its lovely way, 
 and on clear daj-s, in the extreme distance, through a gap in a nearer range may be 
 descried the mountain top where the infant Hunter rises. A stretch of comparatively 
 low woodland lies beyond West Maitland to the north-west, hut over the trees can he 
 seen the blue crown of part of the Wollombi ran^e, which to the south-west rises boldly 
 against the sky, and continues round to the rear of the spectator. This range divides 
 the water-sheds of the coast; on its sea side vegetation is luxuriant, thanks to a moisture 
 never absent. Ferns abound, vines embrace giant trees in wild tangles, the rock lily in 
 its season burdens the air with its powerful odour, in springtime gorgeous blooms adorn 
 and spangle the hillside, and in profusion grows a giant red flower, made up of a 
 cluster of chalice-shaped blossoms, wherein lurks a sweet compound to which bush- 
 bees repair with eagerness. On the land side the range presents the ordinary aridity 
 of bush vegetation, but in deep gorges, shaded from the sun, threaded by brooks 
 trickling and brattling over water-worn rocks, are treasured rare beauties of tree and 
 flower. Commonly, the Australian bush is silent. But here, from mom till eve, the air 
 thrills with the note of the bell-bird, varied now and then by one resembling the sharp 
 crack of a stock whip. The perpetual joyous tingling in the traveller's ears on a 
 bright day gives him the impression that the sunshine has taken voice, an impression
 
 mi. Hi mi:k. 1 
 
 A SCENE OF DKSOLATIOX. 
 
 307 
 
 deepened by the fact that though you may hear the bird's note quivering in the air 
 close to you, the nimble songster eludes the quickest eye. The baunl of the bell-bird 
 is a green shade; trees make' an embroidered roof, through which the sun's rays are 
 filtered; the ground is always damp, and in these favouring circumstances terns of all 
 kinds flourish The)- carpet yards of ground; staghorns drape grey-lichened and i 
 grown rocks with their tender green; on trees and boulders the bird's-nest fern with its 
 Long palm-like fronds attains splendid proportions; on the slopes which the sun 
 the clematis bloom displays its fleece-like beauty; ami timber-treeSj fed by soils enriched 
 by centuries of vegetable decay, tower majestically above a troubled sea of verdure. In 
 such a haunt as this Wallis's (reek has its source. The spring is on the range. The 
 young stream passes in a slender thread over mighty stones, and scoops out for itself 
 many a hollow where the water lies in still pools, darkened by the shade of foresl oak 
 and myrtle, and at last, gaining in size, it flows deviously through a valley ever widening, 
 till at West .Maitland its waters are poured into the Hunter. 
 
 The expanse, with its varied beauty, which wc have been surveying from Stockade Hill, 
 has at times presented another and sadder appearance. When the Hunter comes 
 down in flood, the environs of Maitland are a spectacle of desolation The 
 yellow tide spreads over miles of fertile land, defeats the farmer's hopes. 
 destroys the fruit of his labour, and ousts him for the time from his 
 
 habitation. Fatal incidents have not usually accompanied Hunter tl Is; 
 
 and sincethe telegraph has been available, residents in places liable to 
 inundation may receive warning to remove in time to avert inconveni- 
 ence. In Maitland there are two flood-boat services, means of rescue 
 in times of necessity, and of food supply to such persons as may be 
 islanded in their houses, but are not driven from home. West 
 Maitland is in flood seasons partially under water, and boats ply 
 in the principal thoroughfare. In one direction, in the valley 
 drained by Wallis's ('reek, it is possible to take a boat with per- 
 fect safetj some thirteen 
 miles iii a straight line. 
 Cattle and other stock 
 
 may be transported to 
 
 high land, but. of course, 
 
 growing crops are lost 
 
 wholly, and garnered 
 crops also, unless the far- 
 mer be prudent enough 
 to be active in early 
 removal Floods are a 
 calamity under which 
 the region about Mait- 
 land suffered olmo I 
 yearly in the interval
 
 308 CASSELL'S PICTTJEESQUB AUSTRALASIA. [Thb Vaixbv or 
 
 between 1856 and L876, but since the latter year the visitations have been infrequent, 
 and nut alarming. In their evil there is a sou] of goodness. To their recurrence in 
 past ages the soil owes its unrivalled richness, which their modern visits serve un- 
 doubtedly to renew. The value of agricultural land ranges between £50 and £100 pel- 
 acre — -it has been purchased at such prices by the industrious farmers who till it — and 
 it has attained that value because it is built up, as it were, of flood deposits. 
 
 Wollombi is a village on the Wollombi Brook, situate about forty miles from 
 Maitland, on the road to Sydney. The thoroughfare to the Wollombi passes through 
 Cessnock, a half-way settlement which forms an outlet to an immense vine-growing 
 district. Vineyards clothe the slopes of the ranges, for the soil is a vegetable mould 
 on a basis of limestone, and eminently adapted for the production of light and whole- 
 some wines. Wollombi, a small collection of houses spread over low hills, depends for 
 existence on the through traffic of stock, and on a limited agricultural industry. 
 
 The stream above Maitland soon shrinks; fords are numerous, alternating with 
 long, deep pools. The borders, though not so fertile as those lower down, enriched by 
 long-retained flood waters, are prolific; farm, vineyard, orchard, and pasture lands are 
 the constituents of the landscape, while the uplands and hills which hem in the valley 
 on each side are the haunts of valuable herds. Seven miles from Maitland is Lochin- 
 var, and five miles further is situate Greta, and between the two places the road 
 crosses Harper's Hill half-way up the steep slope of the eminence, into the side of 
 which it is cut. The thoroughfare overlooks a scene of agricultural loveline 
 Thousands of feet below, seen over the tops of the trees, are green fields, among 
 which the winding course of the river may be traced. Kaloudah vineyard, famed 
 among those of the Hunter, lies close to Lochinvar; and near Branxton, seven miles 
 farther on, is a still more noted vineyard — Dalwood. 
 
 Thirty miles from Maitland stands the town of Singleton, the centre of a pro- 
 gressive and thriving district. Herein are carried on with vigour and enterprise the 
 industries of cattle and horse breeding, wine making, and tobacco and wheat growing. 
 Some of the most famed racehorse studs in New South Wales are found in this 
 locality. Here, too, Durham and Hereford cattle of the highest strains charm the eye 
 of the stock connoissewr; and the viticuLturist who stood nexl to the winner of the 
 German Emperor's prize for wine at the Victorian International Exhibition carries on 
 his operations close to Singleton. The town is situate on the bank of the Hunter, in 
 Patrick's Plains. That name was bestowed by the discoverer, one Howe, an Irishman, 
 who emerged from the bush on this wide extension of the river valley on St. Patrick's 
 Day in 1818, or thereabouts. Before leaving Singleton, we may say that its population 
 is about 2,000, and that of the police district, 7,022. 
 
 From Singleton to its source the Hunter drains a district mainly pastoral, and 
 possessing the same general characteristics throughout Vest by north from Singleton 
 lies Denman, where the largest inland tributary of the river, the Goulburn, joins it. 
 
 Muswellbrook is the next considerable settlement above Singleton. This is a pic- 
 turesque town of nearly 2,000 inhabitants. It lies at the junction of the north-western 
 road from the Goulburn with the great northern road, and is also a station of the
 
 THE IIlNTER.] 
 
 MUSWKLLUKOOK. 
 
 309 
 
 Great Northern Railway. The town is built upon the high south bank of the 
 Hunter, and overlooks a fertile plain on the opposite shore. lis main feature is 
 the Anglican church, St Alban's, built of white stone after designs by the late Sir 
 Gilbert Scott, and noted as one of the most attractive specimens of church architecture 
 in the northern part of New South Wales. About nine miles above Muswellbrook the 
 river takes the waters of an affluent, the Page, which has its source in the Liverpool 
 Range above Murrurundi. Above the railway bridge the river is a shallow stream 
 which frequent obstructions in its bed break into rapids and even into cascades. The 
 country it drains is wild, broken, and mountainous; but among the hills are valleys 
 of rare verdure, and tree-shaded dells of infinite charm. One of the marvels of the 
 
 rsr** 9 
 
 : 
 
 MI KIM Kl S 
 
 region is a brook, which flows on the top of a hill, and disappears in the soil; and 
 another is a lakelet which gems a mountain's breast, and never in the driest season 
 fails or even materially shrinks. On the margin of the river the land is invariably rich. 
 Scone, a town of some six hundred souls, is situate on Kingdon Ponds, a stream 
 feeding the Page. The traveller by rail at this place traverses TuranvUle, a grazing 
 estate which skill and taste have transferred into a model of what can be done in the 
 Australian bush, by cultivation, to increase production and create beauty. Beyond 
 Scone, the railway re-enters a region of mountains which embrace valleys— " peace n 
 posing in the bosom of strength." Near Wingen, a wayside village, the traveller is 
 told of a burning mountain, whose top maj be descried This mountain long enjoyed 
 the reputation of a volcano, bul is now known to be the seal of a perpetually-burning 
 eo, ( l seam. A coal mine is in fact worked in this locality. When the country opens 
 again it is the valley of the Upper Page, much of which is under cultivation At the 
 head of the valley stands Murriirundi. beneath, and in the embrace of, the Liverpool 
 Range, which dominates the landscape everywhere. Many picturesque knolls al the
 
 :;i<> CASSBLL'S PICTUBESQTJE A r> 11; A I.ASIA. [Valley of the Hukter. 
 
 four are crowned with trim cottages, and brightened by orchards, flower gardens, or 
 green crops. Over miles of its surface the valley is dotted with farmhouses, for agri- 
 culturists have for long years established themselves here and share (airly with the 
 grazier the industry of the Locality. Eere the Page river is a stream which lias cut 
 its wa\ through the shallow alluvium resting on a bed of gravel Being close to its 
 mountain source, and subject to receipt of the immediate drainage of the surrounding 
 hills, ir is sudden and quick in flood, but the overflow runs off as rapidly as it rises. 
 The stream has no grandeur as a river, hut some of its clear, deep pools, shaded by 
 swamp oak, are pleasant to see. Unquestionably the finest, view of Murrurundi and of the 
 valley beyond it is gained from the railway line, a few hundred yards from the mouth 
 of a tunnel which pierces the mountain. Far below is seen the town, compactly 
 ranked between the towering range on one side and some lower hills on the other. 
 Beyond it extends the plain, fair and green, with river and road winding through it: 
 and the eye follows the expanse till in the distance hills rise in terraces on the horizon, 
 and fade away until the distinction between earth and sky is lost. 
 
 Near .Murrurundi the wayfarer will notice huge mounds of stone, weather-worn, 
 and still fretting away under the influence of wind and wet. Some arc unmistakably 
 natural, and bear trees on their summits, although no soil is apparent which may yield 
 nutriment to vegetation But others bear a strong resemblance to antique castles of 
 thi' old world, and the imagination has no difficulty in investing them with the attri- 
 butes of buildings which owe their existence to human labour. 
 
 The territory between Singleton and Murrurundi is mainly in pastoral occupation. 
 It is the region of some of the great estates of New South Wales, rich in flocks 
 and herds, but seldom cultivated by the plough. The most wealthy men of the 
 colony reside in this area. 
 
 We have thus passed from the mouth of the Hunter at Newcastle to the northern 
 extremity of the valley of which it is the principal drain, and have endeavoured to 
 indicate its varied characteristics. The territory under notice comprises a portion of 
 New South Wales which ranks high for beauty, fertility, enterprise, and progress, 
 and it is no exaggeration to sa}' that this fruitful tract, under wise and energetic labour, 
 could be made to feed the whole of New South Wales bounteously — to satisfy, indeed, 
 the wants both of man and of beast. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 Printed by Cassell k Company, Limited, La Belle Sai \.v.i . London, E.o.
 
 D 000 435 955 
 
 
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 LIBRARY