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 r L °S ANGELES LIBRARY